Manchester City s 2-1 defeat to local rivals Manchester United has seemingly put an end to their title challenge for this season.

Pep Guardiola s two-time defending champions have won two of their last five Premier League matches and are now 14 points behind leaders Liverpool, with Leicester City six clear in second.

Now, City must bounce back as they take on Arsenal, who finally ended a nine-match winless run – their worst streak since 1977 – with a 3-1 triumph over struggling West Ham.

With temporary boss Freddie Ljungberg having got that first win under his belt, can he put himself right in the frame to be the next permanent Gunners manager by shocking City?

ARSENAL OUT TO EXPLOIT WOUNDED CITY

City s 2-1 Manchester derby defeat …

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Getting a new era underway at Ibrox on Thursday night, Rangers will welcome Hibernian to Ibrox as the former champions look to make up some ground in the title chase.

Rangers

Starting with the hosts, crashing out of this season s Champions League earlier in the year after a nightmare campaign on the European stage, Rangers will get a new era underway here. Making the call to appoint new boss Michael Beale last month, the former QPR boss will be desperate to get his tenure off to a flying start here. Although the Scottish giants might find themselves sitting nine points adrift of defending champions and bitter rivals Celtic, the Blues should be boosted by an eye-catching friendly display last weekend. Breezing their way to a 3-0 victor…

While Real Madrid might have completed a stunning last-gasp turnaround in the capital on Saturday evening, it was not enough to help Los Blancos make it back-to-back La Liga crowns.

Despite Karim Benzema and Luka Modric bagging two goals in the final minutes after Yeremi Pino s first-half opener for Villarreal, Atletico s 2-1 victory away at a relegated Real Valladolid was the final nail in Madrid s title ambitions.

In what was a lively meeting at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano, we have taken a look at what are the three big talking points after a rollercoaster day for the now-former Spanish champions.

End of the road for Zidane?

While Real Madrid might have completed that remarkable turnaround on Saturday evening, all eyes will firmly be on what the future ho…

Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font and former president Joan Laporta have welcomed Lionel Messi s decision to stay at the LaLiga giants. 

The Argentina superstar sent shockwaves through world football last week when he announced he wanted to leave Barca in the wake of the humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

LaLiga disputed Messi s claim that he could leave on a free transfer courtesy of a clause in his contract, though, and insisted any potential suitor would have to negotiate with Barca or pay the €700million release clause in his contract, with his option to leave for nothing having expired on June 10.

That resulted in Messi confirming on Friday that he would remain at Camp Nou because the option of a fre…

Dele Alli must power through the mental barrier to rediscover his form for Everton otherwise his wasted potential will be a tragedy , according to Toffees great Neville Southall.

England international Alli ended a seven-year spell with Tottenham to move to Goodison Park in January, with the midfielder signing a two-and-a-half-year deal in what was reported as an initial free transfer.

Everton will reportedly be obliged to pay £10million for the midfielder after he makes 20 appearances and subsequent performance-based add-ons may take the eventual figure as high as £40m.

The 25-year-old is yet to find his feet on Merseyside, while a torrid run of form has left Everton just one point above the relegation zone after earning only 12 points since the start of Octobe…

Neymar will be putting his friendship with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi aside as he chases his first Copa America title with Brazil in Saturday s final.

Brazil takes on Argentina in the Copa America 2021 decider at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, with both players pursuing their first-ever continental crowns.

Messi s Argentina have not won the Copa since 1993, while injury meant Neymar was not part of the Brazil squad which triumphed in 2019.

The pair have a close friendship from Neymar s four years in Barcelona, while they have both dominated this Copa.

Messi leads the Copa with four goals and five assists, while Neymar has contributed two goals and three assists for hosts Brazil.

Messi is, as I ve always said, the best player I ve eve…

It was impossible to make a case for the defence as Liverpool and Manchester United were humiliated after Everton s Colombia duo made history on another extraordinary weekend of Premier League action.

Champions Liverpool were demolished 7-2 at Aston Villa on Sunday after 10-man United had slumped to a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of rampant Tottenham.

Jurgen Klopp s side and the Red Devils are by no means the only ones needing to get a grasp of the art of defending during the international break, as the goals continue to flow far too easily in the top flight.

There was a Colombian first at Goodison Park, where surprise leaders Everton beat Brighton and Hove Albion 4-2 to maintain their perfect start.

With the help of Opta, we took a look at some of the more…

Jurgen Klopp is under no illusion as to the scale of the task facing his Liverpool side as they look to overturn a 5-2 deficit in their Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

After going 2-0 up in the first leg at Anfield, the Reds were put to the sword by Madrid as Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema each scored twice and Eder Militao also found the net.

It leaves Liverpool needing to pull off another Champions League miracle to reach the quarter-finals of the competition and keep their hopes of winning a trophy this season alive.

Liverpool have relatively recent history of overturning a three-goal first-leg deficit. They are one of just four teams to have progressed from a Champions League tie having lost the first leg by three or more goals, doing so in 2019 whe…

Over the past 17 years or so, few – if any – fixtures in world football have been more synonymous with drama, chaos and, above all, the world s best players than El Clasico.

In a way, we probably came to take it for granted what El Clasico meant in terms of entertainment and quality.

Of course, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo became the star attractions of the contest, El Clasico almost becoming its own side story in the wider narrative of their Ballon d Or rivalry.

Ronaldo s 2018 departure took away one element, and some might even suggest it impacted Messi negatively as well, as he failed to have a hand in a single Clasico goal after his old nemesis moved on.

Now both are gone, with Sunday s Clasico at Camp Nou the first of an era in which neithe…

Fernando Llorente has joined SD Eibar for the remaining part of the season as a free agent, the Spanish Segunda Division club have officially confirmed.

OFIZIALA

Fernando Llorente fitxatzeko aurreakordioa.

— SD Eibar (@SDEibar)

Llorente came through the youth ranks at Athletic Bilbao and played for Juventus, Sevilla, Swansea, Tottenham Hotspur, Napoli and Udinese, before his contract with the latter expired at the end of June this year. Eibar head coach Gaizka Garitano wanted to sign the 36-year-old for Bilbao, where he worked from December 2018 to this summer, but the deal never came to fruition due to the refusal of the Basque club to obtain his services. Garitano has now obviously got his wish at Eibar.

Llorente has three Serie…