English Premier League

English Premier League

The Liverpool striker gave Eddie Howe further cause for regret with a gamechanging, match-winning performance at Anfield, however, as Arne Slot's side found the consistency that has eluded them too often this season to record a second impressive win in succession. Ekitike struck twice against the club that had agreed a deal to sign him from Eintracht Frankfurt before Liverpool swept in. Their initial outlay of 69m, rising to 79m, is proving money very well spent.

Though not an official term, in football 'bomb squad' is widely used to describe players who have fallen out of favour but still remain under contact. Those players are often excluded from first-team training and have to attend separate sessions with the club's youth teams, or even on their own in extreme cases. Some clubs even go as far as restricting any contact between the first-team and 'bomb squad' members by scheduling training sessions at times of day that will minimise the crossover between players.

In La Liga, Espanyol missed a chance to consolidate their high-flying position as they lost 2-1 at home to Alaves they took the lead through Roberto Fernandez in the 15th minute, but Antonio Blanco levelled 12 minutes later and the points were secured when Lucas Boye finished a counterattack from close range with 19 minutes remaining. It means Espanyol go into the weekend fifth but that defeat extended their winless run to five games.

The Weekend Crossword from FourFourTwo is your weekly accompaniment for a slow Sunday morning coffee before a feast of football. Welcome to FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword, the ultimate football fan's grid of top tricky teasers. We've come up with a criss-cross of clues. Some are tap-ins, some might even need a team effort, but you'll do well to get them all without serious football knowledge. There's no time limit but there is a clock so you can let us know your time.

Crystal Palace have signed Evann Guessand on loan from Aston Villa. Guessand makes the move to Selhurst Park until the end of the season, with the Eagles having the option to sign him on a permanent deal thereafter. The Ivory Coast international joined Villa from Nice in August on a five-year deal. However, he made just 13 starts, with his tally of two goals in 21 appearances marking a disappointing start to his career in the Premier League.

These are the rules. Hopefully the Premier League next season instead of 18 outfield players they will do 20. I beg them from here, [have it] like it is in the Champions League, because it's much better to manage the squad, to maintain the value of the players, to maintain the mental health of the players as nobody wants to get out of the squad.

Christmas is long gone and the scramble of the transfer window is about to come to an end so it feels like we really are now at the business end of the season with teams' goals, be they promotion, survival or building for next year, programmed for the run-in. In the Championship Middlesbrough might have quite fancied facing Norwich a month ago but the Canaries are a different proposition these days, while Portsmouth against West Brom has 'relegation scrap' written all over it.

The two which perform best across the three European competitions this season will be handed European Performance Spots (EPS). That means fifth place in the Premier League table could go from being a Europa League place to a ticket into the Champions League - Newcastle benefited this way last season. But will an English club get that reward again? To work out who are the successful nations, Uefa takes into consideration the overall performance of clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

A crazy night of Champions League action on Wednesday concluded the league phase for another season. All six Premier League sides have progressed, with only Newcastle having to play in next month's play-off round. Holders Paris St Germain and Real Madrid both failed to seal automatic spots. PSG could only draw 1-1 at home to Newcastle United, a result that left both sides facing a playoff despite starting the final night in the automatic places.

Chelsea are now interested in signing the Hoffenheim striker Fisnik Asllani. The London club is looking to improve the attacking unit despite spending on two strikers at the start of the season. Liam Delap and Joao Pedro have not been prolific enough, and Chelsea are looking at alternatives. The 23-year-old has done quite well in the Bundesliga, and he could prove to be an excellent addition for Chelsea, as per Fichajes.

"It still doesn't feel real," Abraham told VillaTV. "Since this first time I arrived here, I fell in love with the club. Ever since I left this club, I've pretty much watched every game, so I've been keeping track. "We had an amazing season [in 2018-19], amazing outcome, and I always told myself [that] if I had to come back to England, Villa would be one of the special teams to come back to.