Sports

Kalidou Koulibaly insisted he loved Napoli, but said we ll see what happens amid speculation over his future.

Koulibaly, 29, has regularly been linked with a move away from the Serie A side, with Liverpool reportedly interested in the defender.

The Senegal centre-back, who is contracted at Napoli until 2023, acknowledged the interest in him, but said he loved the Italian club.

I love Naples and Naples loves me, that s the most important thing, Koulibaly said, via Sky Sport, after Thursday s 1-0 Europa League win over Real Sociedad.

I always make myself available game after game, I still have three years of contract, I m calm, the teams are looking for me but I m still here.

I play at my level and I help this team and these people because I wa…

Liverpool continued their relentless march towards the Premier League title with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham while Sergio Aguero sent records tumbling in Manchester City s resounding win at Aston Villa.

The Reds moved 16 points clear at the top thanks to Leicester City s defeat to Southampton – as Danny Ings kept up his superb form – though the gap was reduced slightly when City thrashed Villa on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Manchester United ended a three-match winless streak with a resounding 4-0 triumph over lowly Norwich City.

We review the key top-flight matches with the help of Opta data.

CHAMPIONS-ELECT SET NEW BENCHMARKS AS TITLE TILT CONTINUES AT PACE

Barring a collapse of epic proportions, it seems certain that the Premier League…

Mohamed Salah is rightly jealous of former Liverpool team-mate Dejan Lovren appearing at the World Cup, according to the Croatia defender.

Lovren is set to feature in the finals for Croatia and the centre-back knows he cannot come up against ex-Reds colleague Salah, who failed to qualify with Egypt.

A missed penalty from Salah in a shoot-out against Senegal in March proved costly as the Pharaohs missed out on a place in Qatar.

Asked on Sunday whether Salah would be jealous of him making it to the tournament, Lovren said: One hundred percent! I would be jealous too.

He said he would support me but, to be honest, I m sad he didn t qualify. He was very close. He said he would come with the Croatian flag!

Croatia start their campaign against Morocco…

Prediction: Leeds United to win 1-0

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Newcastle United have a chance in midweek to drag themselves away from the relegation dogfight as they host Leeds United at St James Park.

The Toon come into Tuesday evening s clash in absolutely horrendous form but are coming up against a Leeds side who are somewhat low on confidence themselves.

Newcastle United

Despite a somewhat promising start to the campaign in which Steve Bruce s men lost four of their opening 11 league games, Newcastle are now in the midst of a horrendous run of form that has seen them plummet towards the relegation zone. The Magpies are winless in eight league games, having lost their last four, with two places, and seven points, now separating the club and the drop z…

Premier League action coincided with Valentine s Day this weekend and Southampton ended a long drought of a particular kind on the most romantic day of the year.

There was also an impressive scoring feat for an Arsenal striker to enjoy on February 14, as the Gunners sent the White Roses of Leeds United back to Yorkshire with their tails between their legs.

A Valentine s Day chocolate variety set was the only box Harry Kane got near this weekend after a tricky time of it against Pep Guardiola s Manchester City, as Ilkay Gundogan continued his remarkable run.

All the above feature in our quirky facts from the weekend s top-flight action!

51 Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Oriol Romeu has received 51 yellow cards in the Premier League, 11 more than an…

Caretaker boss Gary Mills was proud of his Burton players after they beat Blackpool 1-0 to register a first win in nine League One matches.

Bobby Kamwa netted the game’s only goal after 10 minutes, with play-off hopefuls Blackpool unable to respond.

“It was a really good performance and really proud of the group,” Mills said.

“The energy and pride they showed in their performance was excellent and that is credit to everyone at the football club. They deserve that.”

Albion got off to a fast start and were rewarded when Kamwa’s teasing cross beat everybody and nestled in the far corner.

“It was a message (getting at Blackpool early) that we hammered home before the game,” Mills said. “We wanted to start fast and right, full of ener…

Guillermo Ochoa has agreed personal terms with Salernitana and is now set to join the Serie A side as a free agent, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Mexico goalkeeper is scheduled to travel to Italy this week to complete the medical and sign the necessary paperwork.

Having risen through the youth ranks at CF America in Mexico, Ochoa played for Ajaccio in France, Malaga and Grenada in Spain and Standard Liege in Belgium, before returning to his first club in the summer of 2019. His contract there expires at the end of the year and he ll be joining Salernitana as a free agent in January.

In his previous spell there, he helped America win Mexican Clausura in 2005 and the CONCACAF Champions Cup the following year. He also has one Belgian Cup to his name, as well as four Go…

Harry Maguire claimed the best team lost as Manchester United tumbled out of the Europa League against Sevilla at the semi-final stage.

Luuk de Jong, a Premier League flop with Newcastle United six years ago, showed he knows the way to goal when he fired home to give the Spaniards a 2-1 victory in Cologne.

Bruno Fernandes early penalty had been countered by an equaliser from Suso, and De Jong struck in the 78th minute after United passed up more than half a dozen decent chances.

It s difficult. The boys are devastated in there, captain Maguire told BT Sport as he emerged from the United dressing room.

We created numerous amounts of chances and we ve got to win the game. The best team lost and they ve punished us for missing the chances.

We ve b…

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny is refusing to bemoan his luck as he prepares to take on the might of France without his emerging star striker.

Irish fans were licking their lips in anticipation when 18-year-old Evan Ferguson plundered a Premier League hat-trick for Brighton against Newcastle on Saturday evening just days before he was due at the Parc des Princes for a showdown with the World Cup runners-up.

However, a knee injury has forced his withdrawal from the squad for the game and the home clash with Netherlands which follows it on Sunday, much to the disappointment of Kenny, whose reign has been punctuated by misfortune ever since he lost frontmen Adam Idah and Aaron Connolly to what proved to be false positive Covid-19 tests in the run up to their Euro 20…

Gareth Southgate s decision to remain as England manager has left his players absolutely delighted , according to Kieran Trippier.

The former Middlesbrough boss considered walking away from the post he has held since 2016 after his side were edged out in the World Cup quarter-finals by France.

With a semi-final appearance at Russia 2018, and a runner-up finish at Euro 2020, there had been questions over whether Southgate could depart before the end of his contract, which runs through to Euro 2024.

The subsequent confirmation he is staying has been positively received by his players, with right-back Trippier indicating the 52-year-old has the full backing of the squad he took to Qatar 2022.

We are all absolutely delighted about it, Trippier told the i new…