Arsenal have the chance to go ten points clear at the top of the Premier League with a win over Newcastle on Tuesday night. With two wins, the Gunners have picked up where they left off before the World Cup break. They’re about the only ones who have.  Their rivals have struggled, with Manchester City

Olivier Giroud, fine player that he is, didn’t have pace when he was 21 and he certainly doesn’t now. When he’s sprinting past you in a World Cup semi final and you can’t keep up, it’s probably time to call it a day. That’s exactly what happened to Morocco captain Romain Saiss, who played on

In possibly the least anticipated World Cup semi final in history, France take on Morocco at the Al Bayt Stadium. How many ‘potential World Cup underdog’ theories were posited in the build up to and early rounds of the tournament? How many of them mentioned Morocco? None of them did, because what Morocco have done

The first World Cup Semi Final takes place Tuesday night as heavyweights Argentina face a dogged Croatia team. Argentina are the favourites, but that hasn’t meant much in this tournament and it certainly doesn’t against Croatia. The 2018 runners up must be a terrifying prospective opponent. Like principal Skinner pursuing a truant Bart Simpson, they

A controversial World Cup featuring Lionel Messi and a particularly petulant Cristiano Ronaldo means people aren’t talking about Olivier Giroud. That will suit him. France’s freshly-crowned all-time top goalscorer has always fought for recognition and continues to do so in Qatar. With Portugal eliminated, the prospect of a Messi VS Ronaldo final is off the

Arsenal look set to be the biggest victims of the winter World Cup after Gabriel Jesus required knee surgery.  Gabriel Jesus took a knock during his first World Cup start, a dead rubber against Cameroon to conclude Group G. The Brazilian striker was immediately ruled out for the tournament pending a scan to determine the

Many of us are facing the frightening prospect of having to get a life for the next two days with no World Cup action.  When the football resumes on Friday, we have four tasty quarter final ties to get our teeth into. Brazil are the narrow favourites to win the World Cup at 7/1, but

Before their round of 16 tie, Morocco coach Walid Regragrui described Spain’s famed ‘tiki taka’ style of play as ‘boring’.  A common criticism, often made in miserly tones and perhaps a little disingenuous. Spain’s pass-intensive, positional strategy can be wonderful to watch, but it certainly can be rendered boring by an obdurate and equally miserly

No one team has risen above the pack at the World Cup so far, but France are clicking into gear. Their round of 16 opponents Poland challenged them more than they challenged Argentina in their final group game. However, France’s firepower won out in the end. After a first half in which Poland had their

For three gorgeous minutes, Japan and Costa Rica were in the knockout stages at the expense of Spain and Germany.  Ultimately, Costa Rica’s zeal undid them as Germany picked them off to eliminate both and send Japan and Spain through. It didn’t look like we were in for a fairytale World Cup night. Germany went