🚨 Arsenal star a SHOCK target for Barca, Chelsea & Spurs battling for striker, Man Utd star to leave for FREE, UCL round-up, & more
Today's Briefing, featuring Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and much more!
Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!
Today's top stories:
Arsenal star linked as shock Barcelona target
Chelsea and Tottenham battling for Spanish forward
Plus UCL round-up, Man Utd exits, and much more
Champions League round-up
Liverpool grind out deserved win over Real Madrid
Liverpool haven’t been at their best recently, but they put in a solid display to earn a 1-0 win over Real Madrid at Anfield last night.
Thibaut Courtois made a number of fine saves, most notably from Dominik Szoboszlai’s chance in the first half, but Liverpool eventually got the breakthrough from Alexis Mac Allister’s header. The Argentine then appeared to use Trent Alexander-Arnold’s celebration.
It wasn’t a vintage Real Madrid display, but Jude Bellingham showed great footwork to set himself up for a chance, which was well saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
FT Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid [Pictures from Amazon Prime Video Sport]
Arsenal make it eight wins and eight clean sheets in a row
Arsenal rotated a bit against Slavia Prague last night, but it didn’t stop them picking up an eighth win an eighth clean sheet in a row.
Bukayo Saka scored from the penalty spot before a second-half brace from makeshift striker Mikel Merino, who was only filling in up front because of an injury to Viktor Gyokeres.
Arsenal will have tougher games than this, but it’s yet another commanding performance as they continue to look unstoppable at the moment.
FT Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Micky van de Ven scores solo stunner in Spurs victory
Tottenham thrashed FC Copenhagen 4-0 in their Champions League game last night, with Micky van de Ven scoring a potential Puskas Award contender.
The Dutch defender ran the full length of the pitch before slotting home superbly, showing great pace, skill and technique to cap a memorable evening for Spurs in Europe.
Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha were also among the scorers on the night.
FT Tottenham 4-0 Copenhagen [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Champions League results in full:
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal
Napoli 0-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Atletico Madrid 3-1 USG
Bodo/Glimt 0-1 Monaco
Juventus 1-1 Sporting Lisbon
Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid
Olympiacos 1-1 PSV
PSG 1-2 Bayern Munich
Tottenham 4-0 Copenhagen
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Arsenal
Martin Odegaard is a target for Barcelona, but Arsenal do not want to sell their captain and will instead prioritise getting him to sign a new contract. (Fichajes)
Javi Guerra is a top target for Arsenal as they line up a raid on Valencia to further strengthen their midfield. (Fichajes)
Barcelona
Martin Odegaard is a target for Barcelona, but Arsenal do not want to sell their captain and will instead prioritise getting him to sign a new contract. (Fichajes)
Lamine Yamal could reportedly be set for a spell on the Barcelona bench after a bit of a dip in form recently. (Marca)
Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Yan Diomande is emerging as a target for Chelsea and other top clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United. (TBR Football)
Chelsea are battling Tottenham for the transfer of in-form Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, who came close to joining the Blues just over a year ago. (Fichajes)
AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan remains a top target for Chelsea, and talks over a new contract at the San Siro have stalled. (Fichajes)
Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk's preference was always to stay at Liverpool this summer despite reports stating that he pushed to join Real Madrid. (Fabrizio Romano)
There could be a real worry for Liverpool with another defender, however, as Real Madrid have a genuine interest in Ibrahima Konate, who is edging closer to becoming a free agent. (Fabrizio Romano)
Van Dijk had an awkward exchange with Wayne Rooney after the Real Madrid game as he hit back at the pundit’s recent criticism of him - watch it here!
Arne Slot has been advised that there’s one Liverpool star he can’t keep leaving out of his starting line up - find out more here!
Manchester City
Erling Haaland insists he’s nowhere near the level of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, saying he’s just a Norwegian guy scoring goals. (Press conference)
Manchester United
Manchester United are leaning towards letting Jadon Sancho leave for free next summer instead of activating an option to extend his contract by one more year. (talkSPORT)
Real Madrid
Real Madrid player ratings - how did the Spanish giants get on in their defeat at Anfield?
Virgil van Dijk reportedly wanted a move to Real Madrid this summer before he eventually ended up signing a new contract with Liverpool. (AS)
Tottenham
Tottenham could move for Jonathan David this January as the Canadian striker is already facing an uncertain future at Juventus. (Sky Sports)
Tottenham are also eyeing Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus as they look to strengthen up front this January. (TEAMtalk)
Chelsea are battling Tottenham for the transfer of in-form Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, who came close to joining the Blues just over a year ago. (Fichajes)
West Ham United
Niclas Fullkrug wants to leave West Ham this January - full story here!