Portsmouth have been forced to make 85 staff redundant as a result of ongoing cost-cutting measures.

Sol Campbell is refusing to give up hope on an England recall for the World Cup this summer.

Chester City have today been wound up in the High Court over an unpaid tax bill.

Injury news and squad lists will be posted below as soon as the managers reveal them but in the meantime watch our video previews, above.

Manchester United could be facing a fresh backlash tonight from their supporters after it was revealed that two thirds of fans are considering not renewing their season tickets next season.

Rafael Benitez has leapt to the defence of Steven Gerrard after the Liverpool captain appeared to make a two-fingered gesture to referee Andre Marriner during the 1-0 defeat by Wigan Athletic on Monday night.

Graham Onions has been ruled out of the first Test against Bangladesh with a back injury.

It took them 108 days, but Sunderland again experienced the heady sensation of victory in the Barclays Premier League last night.

Steven Gerrard is unlikely to face disciplinary action from the FA for allegedly making a two-fingered gesture to Andre Marriner, the referee, during Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic on Monday night.

The psychedelic strains of the Small Faces’ Itchycoo Park echoed around the Emirates Stadium as it emptied on Tuesday night. “It’s all too beautiful”, the song goes, and it has been a familiar refrain among Arsenal supporters in recent years, but not on an evening such as this.

The FA Cup is a sweet dream that seems ever more distant from the nightmare of Portsmouth’s Barclays Premier League season.

It is a journey that David Beckham has made hundreds of times before.

Formula One’s top teams fear their best drivers could be driven out of the World Championship by hopelessly slow cars forming dangerous roadblocks.

Arsène Wenger said last night that he wanted to be drawn against Manchester United or Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals after Arsenal became the first English team to reach this season’s last eight.

Neil Warnock, the Queens Park Rangers manager, admits that he has yet to master the pronunciation of Adel Taarabt’s name. But he will already know the value of the man he calls “Tarbs” to a team who have won both their matches since Warnock took over eight days ago.

Sir Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday that he is concerned about the threat of espionage after the revelation that conversations between England players and coaches were secretly recorded and offered for sale.

The three minutes that began with Samir Nasri’s goalline clearance and culminated in his glorious goal changed much. Not, though, the face of Arsenal’s season: they remain a better bet for the English title than the European, if less than favourites for either.

Michael Schumacher is bonkers: 41 years of age, the German retired three years ago to spend more time with his millions, has done little of note in the interim beyond crashing a few motorcycles and conducting tests for Ferrari, yet he dares to believe that he can return to the fastest and most exacting of sports and wrestle the glory away from a younger, sharper generation. “Schumi”, it is probably fair to say, is just about the only person on the planet who believes that he can win the title for an eighth time.

Sir Alex Ferguson was described as a “scary man” by David Beckham on Tuesday. It would be an exaggeration to suggest the Manchester United manager was, in turn, fearful of what Beckham might produce for AC Milan at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, but the Scot is too long in the tooth to dismiss out of hand the prospect of his former player enjoying a dream homecoming.

David Beckham has described Sir Alex Ferguson as a "scary man" as he prepares to return to Old Trafford for the first time since he left Manchester United in controversial circumstances 6½ years ago.

It has been a long time coming but Fabio Capello today received some good news about the parlous state of England's defence: Wes Brown should be fit for the World Cup finals.

Lewis Moody’s performances have been the only silver lining to England’s cloud throughout the autumn. It still was not enough to save him from being dropped to the replacements for the Calcutta Cup game with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Wayne Rooney has been passed fit to face AC Milan in the Champions League tomorrow night after training with his Manchester United team-mates this morning.

Deference to English cricket has long since disappeared throughout most of the sub-continent, but not in Bangladesh. By agreeing to spank around some farcical declaration bowling just before lunch, and then declaring generously, Bangladesh A allowed England’s batsmen a longer time at the crease in their second innings than would otherwise have been possible.

Among the first things Florentino Pérez pronounced upon reclaiming the presidency of Real Madrid last summer was that, even with the European Cup residing in that glittering trophy cabinet in Barcelona, Spanish football needed to break the stranglehold of the Premier League.