Mark Doyle

After watching Premier League leaders Arsenal be held to a 2-2 draw by basement boys Wolves on Wednesday, former Gunner Alan Smith admitted, "That word 'bottle' will be used quite a bit in the next few days." And with good cause. Having blown a two-goal lead at Molineux against one of the weakest teams England's top-flight has ever seen, the obvious question now is whether Mikel Arteta's men are also going to throw away the title.

Did Gianluca Prestianni racially abuse Vinicius Junior at the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday night? We don't know. Not yet at least. And that's mainly because the Argentine very deliberately covered his mouth with his shirt as he exchanged words with Vinicius after being inexplicably enraged by the Brazilian celebrating his 50th-minute goal with a little dance in front of the corner flag.

Cesc Fabregas was one of the finest midfielders of his generation. He made his Arsenal debut at 16 and, by the age of 23, he'd already won a European Championship and a World Cup with Spain. So, when Como sporting director Carlalberto Ludi says that Fabregas is "even better as a coach" than he was as a player, it's quite the claim.

One regular weekend of refereeing, that's all we ask for. Will never happen. At least not in the current climate - because if the fourth round of the FA Cup taught us anything, it's that the absence of VAR definitely doesn't mean an absence of controversy. The first half of the Aston Villa-Newcastle game alone made a compelling case for the continued use of technology for offside decisions and penalty claims.

Igor Tudor to Tottenham was the managerial move that nobody saw coming. After Thomas Frank's inevitable dismissal last week, all of the UK's leading bookmakers promptly published lists of the frontrunners in the race to succeed the Dane as head coach. Tudor's name didn't feature on any of them. He wasn't even considered a rank outsider for the role - he was a non-runner.

Liverpool are by no means back to their best. And nor is Mohamed Salah. But there were enough positive signs from both in Saturday night's 3-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Brighton to suggest that this most trying of seasons might actually end on a positive note for the Reds. Arne Slot's men were actually quite flat in the first half, perhaps exhausted from the effort required to end Sunderland's unbeaten home record in the Premier League in midweek, but they still went into the interval ahead thanks to Curtis Jones' close-range finish from Milos Kerkez's cross.

It's just as well Manchester City once again spent big during the January transfer window, as Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo were needed off the bench to help Pep Guardiola's men overcome Salford City in a surprisingly competitive FA Cup fourth-round clash at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon. Despite being gifted an early lead through Alfie Dorrington's own goal, City struggled horribly to break down their League Two opponents, while at the same time giving the visitors a couple of clear sights of goal.

The official confirmation of Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille departure arrived at 2:35 on Tuesday morning. In that sense - and that sense alone - the timing of the news was odd. But there was nothing else remotely surprising about De Zerbi's exit. It had been coming for some time, and Sunday's humiliating 5-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes was obviously the final nail in De Zerbi's coffin.

The Metropolitano pitch has become a major talking point ahead of Atletico Madrid's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Barcelona. "Honestly, it's not in good condition," Koke admitted after Sunday's home defeat to Real Betis. "We slip, the turf comes up. Clearly, we have to play better, so it's not an excuse, but we're expected to perform at a high level and we need a pitch of that same quality to be able to do so."

On Sunday at Anfield, Liverpool lost to Manchester City for the second time this season. Arne Slot insisted after the 2-1 defeat that "the improvement" in his side since their demoralising 3-0 drubbing at the Etihad in November was "visible for everyone to see" and there were certainly some positive signs in the second half - but they still suffered a now almost-customary collapse in the closing stages.

We still have a title race in England! Manchester City's hopes of winning the Premier League looked to be over after they fell behind to another stunning free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai at Anfield on Sunday, but Pep Guardiola's men produce a sensational fightback to defeat Liverpool 2-1 and close the game to leaders Arsenal to just six points.

With half-time approaching and Liverpool losing 1-0 to Newcastle United, Anfield was already bracing itself for another disappointing defeat in this most trying of seasons. In the space of 138 seconds, though, Hugo Ekitike changed the entire mood on Merseyside. The Frenchman's first goal - a near-post finish from Florian Wirtz's clever cutback - may have been crucial, but it was his second strike that sent the fans into a frenzy.

Honest Ahanor is just 17 years old - and yet on Sunday he started his fifth successive game for Atalanta, against Como. Unfortunately, Ahanor's afternoon came to an abrupt end - and quite literally by his own hand. Just eight minutes into the game at Sinigaglia, the defender was involved in an innocuous, off-the-ball clash with Maxi Perrone, who shamelessly collapsed to the ground as if Ahanor had struck him in the face.

At the tail end of October, Dimitar Berbatov appeared on Rio Ferdinand's podcast and pleaded for patience with Liverpool's struggling superstar summer signing Florian Wirtz. "He will be unbelievable, trust me," the Bulgarian told his former Manchester United team-mate. "I’m sure that everybody [at Liverpool] sees his quality, and they’ll give him that time that he needs to fit into the team. And I guarantee you, he’s going to be a success.

Real Madrid have paid a heavy price for failing to replace Toni Kroos following his retirement in 2024, but then doing so was always going to be a tough task. For starters, the ex-Germany international ranks as one of the finest deep-lying playmakers of the modern era.

Three years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo stunned the sporting world by joining Al-Nassr. Six months later, the Portuguese trailblazer was joined in the Saudi Pro League by a number of high-profile players, including Karim Benzema, Neymar, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte. Some of those superstars were clearly past their prime, but the mere fact that they were willing to move to the Middle East felt significant.

The 2026 winter window closed on Monday, with Jorgen Strand Larsen's £48 million move from Wolves to Crystal Palace the biggest deal done on deadline day. Truth be told, though, it was a pretty tame end to what's been a fairly quiet month in the transfer market. Indeed, aside from Manchester City, most of Europe's top teams did next-to-no mid-season business, while there was very little movement at all in France, Germany or Spain - which wasn't that surprising, given January is traditionally a tough time to find good value for money.

January is a notoriously bad time for buyers because nobody ever wants to sell top talent midway through the season. There are, however, exceptions to the rule. Some clubs need to raise funds to balance the books, while others can be left with not option but to unload an unhappy player who has made it clear that he wants to join a stronger side.