Francisco has been sacked as Almeria head coach following a disappointing start to the Liga season.

The Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos outfit currently sit three places off the foot of the table, although they are level on points with Cordoba, Deportivo la Coruna and Elche beneath them.

Francisco appointed in June 2013 narrowly preserved Almeria s top-flight status last season, but has overseen a run of eight matches without a win in the Spanish top flight this this term, with their most recent victory coming at Deportivo in September. 

That poor sequence culminated in a 5-2 thumping at Eibar on Monday a result that proved to be the final straw for the Almeria board.

In a statement on the club s website on Tuesday, Almeria paid tribute to their…

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter praised the atmosphere as he hailed a special night at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in their Champions League last-16 second leg.

Heading into the game 1-0 down from the first leg in Germany, Chelsea started well and scored either side of half-time through Raheem Sterling and a retaken Kai Havertz penalty.

Dortmund arrived on the back of winning 10 games in a row, but had no answer to a Chelsea team seemingly buoyed by the weekend s victory against Leeds United, which was only their second in 12 games prior to Tuesday.

Really pleased. Fantastic atmosphere, fantastic evening, Potter said at his post-match press conference. The players and supporters were tremendous. We had to be against a team that have 1…

Julian Nagelsmann has no fears about being fired by Bayern Munich if he hits a rough patch of form this term, saying the only pressure he feels is his own need to succeed.

The Bundesliga champions get their new campaign under way against RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup on Saturday, before kicking off their league title defence next Friday against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Head coach Nagelsmann tasted success in his maiden season at the helm at Allianz Arena, but the 35-year-old s first campaign was far from the cakewalk Bayern have appeared to enjoy under varying predecessors in the past few years.

The loss of Robert Lewandowski this term also represents a major blow when it comes to firepower, and questions are being asked about whether this could be the year the c…

Competition: Premier League

Market: Southampton to beat Brighton

Odds:

The Premier League continues on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week as the league games come thick and fast following a weekend of FA Cup action. The fans will want to see their favourite teams return to action by picking up all three points, and with this in mind, Southampton host Brighton on Wednesday.

Southampton have been very poor this season and they are in need of a run of wins to escape the danger they have found themselves in. After 24 games they have won four, drawn 10 and lost 10, scoring 24 goals and conceding 35 times. In their last five games they have drawn three times and lost twice, which has seen them onto 22 points. Their current points tally means they are…

Competition: Premier League

Market: Arsenal to beat Everton

Odds:

The Premier League returns to its more usual spot at the weekend as the league continues to heat up. A number of clubs were condemned to damaging defeats in their last games and they will be desperate to bounce back with a morale-boosting win. With this in mind, Arsenal host Everton on Saturday.

Arsenal were one of the teams that lost in the week as they were punished by relegation-threatened Swansea City in a 3-1 loss meaning it is vital that they bounce back this weekend. After 25 games they have won 12, drawn six and lost seven, scoring 46 goals and conceding 34 times. In their last five they have won once, lost twice and drawn twice which has seen them onto 42 points for the …

Laurent Blanc has played down France s hopes of defeating Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

Les Bleus stumbled into the knockout stages on the back of a shock 2-0 defeat to already-eliminated Sweden on Tuesday night.

France had gone into their final Group D fixture unbeaten in 23 games and confident of holding off the threat of England to claim top spot.

However, they were undone by goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sebastian Larsson and ended up sneaking into the last eight, where they will now face reigning world and European champions Spain.

The aim tonight was to win and finish first in the group, but we were not able to do that and we must just deal with it, the former Bordeaux boss told reporters after the game.

The problem with S…

Now that the dust has settled somewhat on the departure of Kevin Keegan from Newcastle I thought it would be an idea to look at exactly what has gone on at the club.

The situation is still volatile with both Keegan and Newcastle making conflicting statements and accusations and the matter will certainly end up in the hands of lawyers.

On announcing his resignation, Keegan said, I ve been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors, but sadly that has not proved possible. It s my opinion that a manager must have the right to manage and that clubs should not impose upon any manager any player that he does not want.

That statement was pretty clear and told us all just what had happened during the transfer window. Keegan was known to be unhapp…

Gianluigi Buffon praised Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain for leading by example in Juventus 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Juve already had top spot in Group D wrapped up ahead of their trip to Leverkusen, who needed to avoid defeat to have any chance of advancing to the last 16.

Peter Bosz s side had the best of the chances in the first half but Ronaldo tapped home from Paulo Dybala s cross in the 75th minute and Higuain drilled into the bottom-right corner in stoppage time to send the hosts into the Europa League.

Buffon praised Ronaldo and Higuain for showing their team-mates they must work hard in every match throughout the season.

If we face the games this way, I am sure we can all do great things. However,…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer distanced Mason Greenwood from comparisons to Wayne Rooney after the teenage forward starred in Manchester United s 4-0 win over AZ.

United continued their December resurgence despite a lacklustre first half against their Eredivisie opponents, with Greenwood to the fore.

After Ashley Young opened the scoring, the 18-year-old striker fired home two sublime finishes either side of winning a penalty that Juan Mata converted.

All the goals came in the space of 11 second-half minutes, with Solskjaer s men now seeded for Monday s knockout-stage draw.

He s different class as a finisher, Solskjaer told BT Sport. In and around the box you expect him to get a shot off and on target. He s so precise in his finishing.

He s good how he c…

Nottingham Forest are keen to agree a permanent deal for Gary Gardner, .

The 22 year old moved to the City Ground on loan in January, and now looks set to extend his stay beyond the summer after impressing in his nine appearances so far.

He scored his second goal for the club in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Reading, a result which moved them to within ten points of the play-offs.

Prior to his switch to the East Midlands outfit, he had made eighteen appearances for parent club Aston Villa while he has also had loan spells with Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton and Hove Albion.

Internationally, he has five caps for England’s U21s and scored twice in a 5-0 win over Iceland in qualifying for the 2013 European Championships.

Forest tra…