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Competition: Premier League

Market: Everton to beat Bournemouth

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The Premier League is gearing up for its final game week of 2017 as every team in England is looking to finish the year on a high. The festive period has been one that has separated the weaker from the stronger in the league, and one side that will be sorry to see December end is Everton, and they travel to face Bournemouth on Saturday.

Bournemouth are in awful form recently and they are in real danger of being relegated this season. After 20 games they have won just four times, drawing five games and losing 11 matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding 31 times along the way. The 17 points they have collected has barely been helped by the fact they have claimed just two points …

Jose Mourinho has described reports suggesting he will quit Manchester United at the end of the season as garbage .

United have won just one of their last five games in all competitions, prompting suggestions the Portuguese was growing disillusioned with life at Old Trafford and seeking a way out in June.

However, speaking ahead of Friday s FA Cup third-round clash at home to Derby County, a forthright Mourinho insisted he was going nowhere.

Asked about the speculation, he said: It depends what you want to know and what you want to speak about. If you want to speak about some news – I say garbage, I don t find better words to define the talk.

If you want to ask me directly, which I suppose you want, if I see myself next season at Manchester United, …

Premier League high-fliers Southampton spoiled Paul Lambert s 100th game as Aston Villa manager by snatching a late 1-1 draw at Villa Park.

Nathaniel Clyne, fresh from making his England debut in the recent international break, scored his third goal of the season nine minutes from time to secure a share of the spoils.

Villa spent much of the first half under the cosh, but went ahead against the run of play thanks to the persistence of Gabby Agbonlahor, who capitalised on Fraser Forster s error.

The goal was the first that Southampton had conceded in over seven hours of Premier League football, but they struggled to break down a resolute home backline.

Having snapped a run of six straight defeats with a 0-0 draw at West Ham before the international break,…

Premier League club Liverpool are said to have agreed a deal in principle with Real Betis over a summer transfer of in-form full-back Riza Durmisi.

Liverpool were linked with Denmark international last summer and local reports claim Reds have been monitoring the Real Betis star closely ever since.

The 24-year-old has been in fantastic form for Les Verdiblancos since joining from Brondby in 2016 and will be rewarded for his great exploits with a lucrative move to England next summer.

A summer move has been reportedly agreed with Liverpool unsure over the long-term future of Alberto Moreno. The Spaniard kicked off the new season on a high note for the Premier League side but ended up losing his starting berth of late.

Should former Sevilla man leave Liverp…

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez says Roberto Mancini s recent praise of Robin van Persie will only serve as added motivation for his side.

The English Premier League champions sit seven points behind neighbours Manchester United, and the Italian recently lamented his attacking unit s lack of goals so far this season.

The club s defensive coach Angelo Gregucci revealed this week City were chasing a deal for Napoli forward Edinson Cavani, but Tevez insists this will only spur the current crop on.

Those words were a motivation for the strikers and we know that we need to carry on fighting, Tevez told reporters.

City s front men have shared 10 goals between them in their past three games, with only Mario Balotelli failing to score in that run.

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The agent of Ajaccio and Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has played down speculation linking him with a move to Liverpool.

The 27-year-old has been in fine form in Ligue 1 and is rumoured to be a potential replacement for Pepe Reina, who has been linked with Barcelona, who are set to lose goalkeeper Victor Valdes on a free transfer.

Ochoa s agent Jorge Berlanga has been quick to dispel any talk of a move to Anfield, but has claimed there is genuine interest in his player from several clubs.

Many clubs are interested in Memo, and they have been watching him, but we are still at the stage of rumours, Berlanga told So Foot.

Ochoa has been at Ajaccio since the summer of 2011, having started his career at Mexican side Club America in 2004.

The 50-c…

Liverpool will carry out checks on Curtis Jones after the midfielder missed the 3-0 friendly defeat to Strasbourg on Sunday due to a mystery injury.

A day on from Liverpool beating Manchester City 3-1 in the Community Shield, a largely second-string XI lined up at Anfield for the visit of Strasbourg.

Two goals from Adrien Thomasson and one from Habib Diallo condemned the hosts to a defeat in their last match before the Premier League season gets under way.

Klopp had planned on using Jones, who made just a fleeting appearance off the bench against City, but revealed the 21-year-old had a problem that would need further examination.

It remains to be seen whether Jones is fit to play any part when Liverpool launch their league campaign at Fulham on Saturday…

Manchester City were a class above en route to winning a third Premier League title in four seasons last term but Pep Guardiola s champions face a tricky beginning to the 2021-22 campaign.

Indeed, the Citizens play four of their fellow-dubbed big six sides in their opening seven fixtures, with a trip to Tottenham on the opening day starting their title defence.

City host Arsenal on August 28, before heading to Leicester City on September 11 after the international break. Back-to-back fixtures against Chelsea and Liverpool take place on September 25 and October 2.

The first Manchester derby of the season will take place at Old Trafford on November 6, with United returning for the reverse fixture on March 3.

A traditional busy Christmas period has City sch…

Phil Parkinson is struggling to come to terms with Bradford City s shock 4-2 win at Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round.

Phil Parkinson believes Bradford City s astonishing 4-2 FA Cup fourth-round victory at Chelsea will take time to fully sink in.

Few gave the League One side much hope of avoiding defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and a routine home win looked on the cards when Chelsea took a 2-0 lead.

However, goals from Jonathan Stead, Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates saw Bradford mount an incredible comeback to send the visiting fans wild as they celebrated one of the greatest FA Cup shocks in the competition s long history.

In the first 20 minutes we did okay but then we conceded the first goal and gifted them a second, City boss P…

A plague of mistakes in their 5-2 loss to France on Friday left Switzerland frustrated with their performance at the FIFA World Cup.

France scored three times in the first half at the Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova to take control in Group E and Didier Deschamps men led 5-0 with nine minutes remaining in the match before Switzerland pulled two goals back to add a sliver of respectability to the scoreline.

Throughout the contest in Salvador, the Swiss, who are ranked 11 spots ahead of France in FIFA s rankings, could be seen pointing at each other in frustration as the likes of Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud and Mathieu Valbuena ran rampant up front.

Switzerland s Johan Djourou claimed after the game that he and his fellow defenders must improve ahead of their final ope…