Didier Deschamps praised France s determination after defeating Finland 2-0 in Tuesday s World Cup qualifier.

Les Bleus ended a five-game winless run with victory in Lyon as they continued their unbeaten streak and created a seven-point gap over second-place Ukraine in Group D.

Despite an underwhelming return after a poor Euro 2020 showing, it is the first time since 2006 that France have not lost any of their first six matches in qualifying for a major tournament (W3 D3).

Indeed, consecutive draws against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine had placed pressure on Deschamps, which is why he hailed Tuesday s win as crucial.

It s easy to talk, I m doing what I think is good for them and the interests of the France team, Deschamps told TF1 post-match.

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With the midweek fixtures opening up on Tuesday, we have another stacked schedule on our hands from across England s lower leagues. On that note, for those of you looking to stick on a Tuesday flutter, we have searched far and wide to find you a few helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Tuesday 26th January 

BST 19:00 Bristol City vs Huddersfield Town

Starting with Tuesday s hosts, despite enduring what was a worrying run of form when opening December, Bristol City have largely refound their form in 2021. Looking to prove that their 2-0 loss against Championship leaders Norwich earlier in the month was just a minor blip, the Robins put in another professional display over the weekend. Managing to extend on their FA Cup adventure in what quickly …

Neymar must ignore the envy and malice of those that have celebrated his World Cup ankle injury and focus on coming back stronger, according to Brazil great Ronaldo.

There has been a mixed reaction to Neymar being ruled out of Brazil s game against Switzerland, and possibly the next fixture against Cameroon too, even among supporters of the Selecao.

Neymar s support for Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who was defeated by Lula in elections last month, has seen some turn against the 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward.

That is despite Neymar appearing to be Brazil s most likely driving force at Qatar 2022, where the team are chasing a sixth World Cup title.

Ronaldo was the star of the team that landed the fifth of those trophy successes…

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Napoli winger Lorenzo Insigne, according to . Insigne is out of contract at Napoli at the end of the season and could sign a pre-contract agreement with Tottenham from January 1.

It has been reported that Tottenham have already made a move to sign the 30-year-old Italy international winger. Spurs are aiming to finish in the Premier League top four this season, and head coach Antonio Conte knows all about the Napoli winger.

Insigne has made 14 starts and one substitute appearance in Serie A for Napoli so far this season, scoring four goals and providing five assists in the process. The Napoli winger has scored one goal and provided one assist in three Europa League matches so far this campaign.

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Everton defender John Heitinga is unhappy at the club and will consider the possibility of a move away, according to his agent Rob Jansen.

Heitinga has made just eight league starts for Everton this season, after finding himself behind Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka in the fight for a starting berth at centre-back.

And the Dutchman s representative has admitted his client, whose contract at Goodison Park expires in the off-season, would be open to a January exit.

Heitinga is certainly not happy about how things are going at Everton, Jansen told VI Radio.

We don t have to be mysterious about that. We ll be looking for a solution. If the right situation is there, we certainly wouldn t ignore the chance of a transfer.

The 29-year-old Netherland…

Aznhi Makhachkala midfielder Lassana Diarra has decided to close the door on the national team of France.

The former Real Madrid player was left out of the Les Bleus squad to face Georgia and Spain, and admitted that his international career was over.

“Les Bleus, it’s finished. Team France it was great,” the 28-year-old .

“I met Vieira, Makelele, Trezeguet. There was also a meeting with Raymond Domenech, who introduced me in the national team.”

It’s been almost two and a half years since Diarra was last called to the national team, with neither Laurent Blanc nor Didier Deschamps holding the player in high regard.

Diarra’s decision to leave Real Madrid for Anzhi might have played a part, but at least he has been playing regular footb…

Zinedine Zidane knows Real Madrid are in for a tough match at Athletic Bilbao s San Mames fortress, but the coach does not expect Saturday s crunch encounter to determine the outcome of LaLiga s title race.

Madrid head to the Basque Country in first place, two points clear of Barcelona and with a game in hand over Luis Enrique s reigning champions.

Athletic have not tasted defeat in their own backyard since going down 1-0 to the Catalan giants in the opening round of the season, while only Osasuna, Alaves and Atletico Madrid have earned draws away to Ernesto Valverde s side.

As you said, the only game that they have lost was against Barcelona, Zidane replied when questioned about the challenging fixture at a news conference on Friday.

We know it s going…

Treble talk is swirling around the Bayern Munich dressing room, according to full-back Rafinha.

Bayern completed a clean sweep of Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League in 2012-13 under Jupp Heynckes and are in the running for all three titles once again this time around.

Carlo Ancelotti s side suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at Hoffenheim on Tuesday but they still hold a 10-point lead at the summit ahead of Borussia Dortmund s visit for Der Klassiker this weekend.

Real Madrid follow at the Allianz Arena in Wednesday s Champions League quarter-final first leg, while another showdown with Dortmund comes towards the end of the month in the DFB-Pokal semi-final.

Since the seasons since they were last kings of Europe, Bayern have fallen in three consecutiv…

Van de Beek has made 10 Premier League appearances for United in total and scored his only goal in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in September.

The 23-year-old has yet to assist a goal and has created just two big chances for his team-mates across those 10 matches.

His average of 50.2 passes per 90 minutes ranks below fellow midfielder Bruno Fernandes (60.17), Paul Pogba (62.02), Fred (62.85) and Nemanja Matic (76.08) but above Scott McTominay (48.37).

Van de Beek ranks higher for dribbles completed (1.43), however, with Pogba (1.75) the only midfielder above him in that metric.

Solskjaer continued: He knows he is important for us and knows he is going to play many games.

He will definitely be involved in this game against Liverpool and he might…

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne advised Mikel Arteta to consider taking the next step in his coaching career amid reported interest from Arsenal.

The Gunners are said to have held talks with the City assistant in their search for a successor to the sacked Unai Emery.

Arteta, 37, became an understudy to Pep Guardiola in 2016 after retiring from playing at the end of his fifth season with Arsenal.

De Bruyne, who starred when the teams met in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, said City should let Arteta leave if the Spaniard decides he is ready to move.

He is helping us a lot, but if he gets a good opportunity to be a head coach, and he thinks it s time for him to take that, I think as a club you need to let somebody go, De Br…