Burnley striker Andre Gray has requested a personal hearing to answer Football Association charges relating to homophobic posts from his Twitter account in 2012.

The tweets were shared across social media after he scored in his side s 2-0 Premier League win over Liverpool last month, including one that read: Is it me or are there gays everywhere? #Burn #Die #Makesmesick .

Gray issued an apology in which he claimed he was now a wholly different person and did not hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever .

The FA nonetheless issued a charge of misconduct and had until 6PM on Monday to answer charges of comments deemed to be abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or bringing the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3(1).

Burnley have now…

Leeds United really want to return to Premier League football. After the heart-breaking 2018-19 season, in which they were Championship s leaders for much of the season, but failed to remain there and then easily went out of the play-offs, Leeds want to recuperate from the shock in the best possible manner by earning a promotion right next season.

And Dwight Gayle might be the man to help them do that. According to the Daily Star, Leeds are interested in Newcastle United s striker and are preparing a loan move for him. Gayle has been out of favour at the Magpies ever since they returned to Premier League and his knack for Championship goals could be crucial to any promotion-hunting side.

Gayle has scored 20-plus goals in the Championship twice, in 2016-17 and 2018-19, a…

Former Manchester United flop Bebe has sealed a return to Rayo Vallecano on loan from Eibar.

The Portuguese forward, a famously eyebrow-raising recruit towards the end of Alex Ferguson s reign at Old Trafford, spent the 2015-16 season at Rayo while on the books at Benfica.

His form there persuaded Eibar to take a punt on the 27-year-old and he scored five times in 26 appearances last season.

Bebe has been more of a bit-part player for Jose Luis Mendilibar s men this time around and he will now join Rayo s promotion push as they aim to end a two-season absence from LaLiga.

OFICIAL | Bebé es nuevo jugador del Rayo Vallecano. Llega cedido desde el hasta el 30 de junio de 2018.
¡Bienvenido Bebé!

— Rayo Vallecano (@RayoVallecano)

…

Alex Morgan and her family are fighting back after catching COVID-19 in California over the festive season, the United States women s football superstar has revealed.

The 31-year-old, twice a Women s World Cup winner, left Tottenham last month after a three-month playing spell in England.

Although London has become a coronavirus hot spot, Morgan says she was back in the USA when the virus struck.

She wrote on Twitter: Unfortunately, my family and I closed out 2020 learning that we had contracted Covid while in California over the holidays.

We are all in good spirits and recovering well. After our isolation is completed, I will follow US Soccer s return to play guidelines to ensure my body is fully recovered and I can join my team-mates back on the field…

Kylian Mbappe s days as a Paris Saint-Germain player are numbered, according to the striker s former France team-mate Adil Rami. 

The 21-year-old has been repeatedly linked with Real Madrid, while Premier League champions Liverpool have also been touted as having an interest in his future. 

Mbappe is contracted to PSG until the end of the 2021-22 season, and if he holds off signing a new contract then the prospects of him leaving before then may increase. 

He could join fellow World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Rami is convinced Mbappe is planning for a future away from the Parc des Princes. 

Speaking on RMC show Top of the Foot, Rami said the lack of news about a new deal for Mbappe at PSG makes his exit an inevitability…

The Netherlands missed the chance to become the first team at the World Cup to cement a last-16 place as Ecuador s Enner Valencia cancelled out Cody Gakpo s sublime strike in Friday s 1-1 draw.

As in Monday s win over Senegal, Louis van Gaal s team were far from their fluid best, though they still took an early lead when in-demand forward Gakpo rifled in from 20 yards.

However, Ecuador were lively throughout and were good value for their leveller, which made Valencia just the fourth player in World Cup history to score six consecutive goals for a nation at the tournament, though the striker was forced off injured just before the end of the contest.

That could impact his hopes of landing the Golden Boot, but Valencia s strike kept Ecuador and the Oranje locked to…

LaLiga leaders Real Madrid moved 13 points clear of rivals Atletico Madrid after a 2-0 El Derbi win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Karim Benzema got them on their way with a fine volley early on, before he was replaced at the interval by Luka Jovic after appearing to suffer a reoccurrence of a recent hamstring injury.

Marco Asensio ensured Atleti s winless run against Los Blancos stretched to eight games – their longest such run under Diego Simeone – with a second in the 57th minute.

The victory meant Carlo Ancelotti s men moved eight points clear of second-placed Sevilla, who have a game in hand, while Atleti are well off the pace in fourth.

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Los Blancos went ahead in the 16th minute when Benzema superbly volleyed past Jan Oblak fr…

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has conceded Spurs need change after a poor run of form has seen their Champions League hopes fade.

Spurs sit fifth in the Premier League, but a sorry performance against Chelsea in a 2-0 loss on Thursday left them seven points behind Aston Villa.

Tottenham have lost their last three matches, conceding nine goals, though those defeats have come against Newcastle United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

And while Postecoglou has had a promising first season, he stressed the requirement for changes to Spurs playing squad if they are to settle wholly into his preferred style of play.

We need change. Change has to happen, Postecoglou said ahead of Sunday s clash with Liverpool.

We re pivoting to a whole different direction, expec…

Dejan Kulusevski believes Ange Postecoglou’s fun football can bring more great results following Tottenham’s swashbuckling win against Manchester United.

A challenging year for everyone connected to Spurs was compounded on the eve of the season when star turn Harry Kane completed his much-discussed move to Bayern Munich.

Tottenham showed promise and resilience to draw 2-2 at Brentford the following day and this weekend summer appointment Postecoglou celebrated his first win since taking charge.

Plenty of contenders

Vote for your Player of the Match from now!

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)

United started strongly but Spurs eventually kicked into gear, with Pape Sarr’s strike and a Lisandro Martinez own goal secur…

Tottenham host Arsenal in a League Cup third-round derby on Wednesday, with the Gunners looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats.

Arsene Wenger s side lost to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and rivals Chelsea in the Premier League two matches which saw them receive a total of three red cards.

We have to move on and put things right on Wednesday, said midfielder Aaron Ramsey after the loss at Stamford Bridge. 

It is not good enough for a club like Arsenal to lose two games in a row. Hopefully now we can put things right. It will be a feisty game with hopefully some goals in our favour.

Arsenal face a resurgent Spurs side in a competition they have not progressed past the quarter-finals in since they reached the final back in 2011.