Roberto Martinez wants Everton to make Goodison Park a fortress in the final months of the Premier League season, starting against West Brom on Saturday.
Everton have struggled at home in 2015-16 with only four triumphs from their 13 league matches, the most recent of those coming against Newcastle United on February 3 to end a sequence of five without a win.
Luckily their away form has kept them in the top half of the table with 13 games to play, Martinez s side only losing once all season on their travels – a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in October.
The Spanish manager wants that resilience to be transferred to their remaining home matches as Everton look to keep building towards achieving their Champions League qualification ambitions.
Our away record ha…
Sunderland have agreed a fee for AZ striker Jozy Altidore, the Dutch club confirmed on Saturday.
The 23-year-old has already agreed personal terms with Paolo Di Canio s side, and will complete his move after undergoing a medical examination.
The United States international has previously spent one season in the Premier League, scoring one goal in 28 appearances for Hull City during the 2009-10 campaign.
Altidore began his career in Major League Soccer with the New York Red Bulls before departing for Europe in order to join La Liga outfit Villarreal.
Loan spells with Xerez, Hull City and Bursaspor followed before the striker moved on to AZ having made just nine appearances in total for his parent club.
He has since excelled for the Eredivisie club, and hit 2…
Louis Saha has backed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to help galvanise and lead Manchester United to trophies when he returns from a knee injury.
Ibrahimovic is back at Old Trafford after signing a one-year contract last month, having initially not been offered a new deal at the end of last season following a serious knee ligament injury.
The 35-year-old striker had been tipped to make his return to action January but his inclusion in United s squad for the Champions League group stage suggests he could be available before the New Year.
And former United forward Saha is relishing Ibrahimovic s comeback as Jose Mourinho s men seek to bring the Premier League title back to the club for the first time since 2013.
Ibrahimovic is an immense player who will galvanise t…
Record-breakers: No Champions League, but departing Pep has Bayern perfectly placed to continue Bund
Atletico Madrid ended Bayern Munich s Champions League dreams on Tuesday, but the Bavarians sealed a fourth consecutive Bundesliga title with a 2-1 win over Ingolstadt on Saturday as Robert Lewandowski s brace sealed an historic triumph.
We take a look at what Pep Guardiola has achieved in his three years at the Allianz Arena, and the legacy he leaves behind as he prepares to join Manchester City.
Making history
No team had ever won the Bundesliga title four times in a row.
Bayern made it three in succession on three separate occasions, but a fourth title proved to be beyond them each time. Gerd Muller, Uli Hoeness, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer were unable to do it in the early 1970s. Klaus Augenthaler, Lothar Matthaus and Jean-Marie Pfaf…
The 2018 World Cup in Russia has already seen more penalties awarded than at the last tournament, with the impact of VAR clear.
South Korea s Jang Hyun-soo conceded a spot-kick for handball against Mexico on Saturday, with Carlos Vela tucking away from 12 yards.
It was the 14th penalty given by referees at Russia 2018, one more than the total amount during the whole of Brazil 2014.
With VAR in place for the first time at the World Cup, a new record for spot-kicks awarded appears inevitable with the second round of group-stage games not yet complete.
14 Carlos Vela s penalty was the 14th taken at the 2018 World Cup; already one more than in the entirety of the 2014 tournament (13). Spotted.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Since Opta began rec…
Portugal heavyweights Sporting CP have been linked with a move for the Saint-Etienne defender Leo Lacroix, according to the Portuguese press.
The 25-year-old Swiss international only joined French side last year but is already linked with a move away from France after a season during which he made 21 Ligue 1 appearances.
Sporting CP are actively searching for reinforcement in the defensive department following the departures of Ruben Semedo and Paulo Oliveira. And with centre-back Douglas also heading towards the exit doors, Jorge Jesus is desperate to add to the backline begore the transfer window closes.
Portuguese giants are thought to have already contacted the French outfit in regard to the transfer of Leo Lacroix. Saint-Etienne are keen to do business but …
West Ham stormed to a 3-1 win over an abject Manchester United to pile further pressure on Jose Mourinho.
The United manager selected Paul Pogba from the off following a week-long soap opera at Old Trafford but Felipe Anderson gave West Ham an early lead with his first Premier League goal.
Things rarely picked up after that setback as Victor Lindelof deflected in Andriy Yarmolenko s shot to double the advantage for Manuel Pellegrini s team two minutes before half-time.
Marko Arnautovic sealed the points after Marcus Rashford briefly gave the visitors hope, although more uncomfortable questions await Mourinho, who omitted Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and captain Antonio Valencia from his matchday squad.
A United line-up that looked cautious on paper start…
The Mail Online understand that Manchester City are ready to make a move for Leicester City midfielder Riyad Mahrez when the transfer window reopens in January.
Chelsea and Arsenal have also been monitoring the Algeria international’s situation over the past few months and are likely to battle with the Premier League leaders in an attempt to secure his services.
Pep Guardiola is hardly short of talent in midfield but is keen to further strengthen his squad as he looks to wrap up the title, while the twenty-six year old would also be eligible to play in Europe with the Foxes having struggled to hit the heights of the 2015/16 campaign last time around.
Mahrez signed for Leicester in January 2013 and has since racked up one hundred and fifty-one appearances fo…
Lionel Messi is the best in football history and LaLiga president Javier Tebas is open to naming a trophy for the competition s best player in his honour.
Barcelona superstar Messi, a five-time Ballon d Or winner, is LaLiga s all-time leading goalscorer on 390 and has lifted the title on nine occasions.
The Spanish top-flight s end-of-season awards have not been handed out since the 2015-16 campaign due to a desire to reformat, and Tebas would be keen to show recognition for the 31-year-old in the same way daily sports newspaper Marca have named accolades after Telmo Zarra, Rafael Pichichi Moreno and Ricardo Zamora.
Asked about dedicating a trophy to Messi, Tebas told Omnisport: I like that idea, we would have to think about.
I think Messi will be the be…
Ajax goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is aware of interest from Barcelona, head coach Peter Bosz has confirmed.
A report in the Netherlands on Friday claimed that the Spanish champions have lodged a bid of close to €12million for the keeper, as they attempt to land a replacement for Claudio Bravo, who is wanted by Manchester City.
Cillessen came in for criticism after the 1-1 Champions League play-off draw with Rostov, after he was wrong-footed by Christian Noboa s free-kick early in the first half.
Though he denied Barca distractions were to blame for the goal, Bosz admits that the 27-year-old is struggling to ignore the speculation, though he remains hopeful that he will stay at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Jasper is a very great goalkeeper and I hope that h…