Sheffield United picked up a 1-0 win against Newcastle United to snap the longest ever wait for a victory at the start of a Premier League season.

The Blades had failed to win any of their opening 17 top-flight games this season, losing all but two of those without keeping a clean sheet in any.

Chris Wilder s men were winless in 20 games in the competition stretching back into last season, but they finally got off the mark against Newcastle on Tuesday.

Substitute Billy Sharp converted from the penalty spot 17 minutes from time for his 100th league goal for the club and Newcastle, who had Ryan Fraser sent off in the first half, could not respond.

The south Yorkshire club s 18-game wait for a win at the start of the season is the second longest in English t…

The Premier League may have to scrap its mid-season break due to the overcrowding of the football calendar.

The change could come into effect next season with FIFA’s revamped 32-team Club World Cup set to take place in the summer of 2025, as well as a larger-scale World Cup the following year.

The Premier League introduced the break – which this season will take the form of a structured two-week period in January – in 2018 in a bid to ease the workload on players, but chief executive Richard Masters admits it is under discussion as it could become unworkable.

“It is one of the things we are discussing with the FA and EFL. We want the Premier League, the big cup competitions and the EFL to flourish and that requires an adjustment,” he said.

“It…

Pele helped to grab the hearts and minds of football in the United States during his time with the New York Cosmos, the club s former COO told Stats Perform.

Brazil legend Pele passed away on Thursday following a battle with colon cancer, with news announced by his daughter after his family travelled to be with him at Sao Paulo s Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital before Christmas Day.

As well as the lasting legacy he left on Brazil and Santos, Pele s move to the Cosmos in 1975 also helped to massively grow the sport in the United States.

After Pele, the only man to win the World Cup three times, joined the Cosmos, fellow superstars such as Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto followed him to the team, while others such as Johan Cruyff, Eusebio and George Best al…

Arsenal are interested in signing Raheem Sterling from Premier League rivals Manchester City in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Arsenal are ready to explore a move for Sterling, who can operate as a winger or as an attacking midfielder, should last season’s Premier League champions make him available.

Mikel Arteta, now the manager of Arsenal, was a coach at Manchester City and worked well with Sterling. The 27-year-old former Liverpool star has been on the books of the Citizens since 2015 and has won the Premier League title thrice.

Sterling has made 22 starts and six substitute appearances in the Premier League for City this season, scoring 12 goals and providing three assists in the process. The attacking midfielder scored thre…

Robert Lewandowski marked his 100th appearance in the Champions League with his 79th, 80th and 81st goals in the competition as Bayern Munich sealed their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League by beating Benfica 5-2 at the Allianz Arena.

Further goals from Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane secured the win and confirmed Bayern as winners of Group E with two games still remaining.

The victory, in what was Bayern s 500th game across all European competitions, means Julian Nagelsmann s men have won all four of their group games, and it is now between Benfica, Barcelona and Dynamo Kiev to fight it out for the remaining qualifying spot.

Benfica started brightly, with Pizzi forcing a save from Manuel Neuer in the first minute, before the visitors had a goal …

Market: Atletico Madrid win

Odds: 8/11 @

Smelling a real chance to make a return to winning ways in midweek, Atletico Madrid will make the trip to the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez on Tuesday evening.

Starting with the hosts, while Getafe might have managed to hang onto their La Liga status with time to spare last season, Azulones find themselves in the midst of a real nightmare this time around. Already firmly at the heart of a relegation scrap, the Blues are now one of just two top-flight sides who are yet to get a single point on the board. With the mood in their camp at a real low, Head Coach Míchel will be more than aware that his side face another overwhelming test in midweek. Last seen over the weekend putting in another woeful display, Getafe were blown away …

In normal circumstances, Pep Guardiola s landmark achievement might have been the focus ahead of Manchester City s clash with Aston Villa.

Yet the build-up to Sunday s fixture at the Etihad Stadium was overshadowed by City having been accused of over 100 breaches of the Premier League s financial regulations.

While City will defend themselves off the pitch, their players stepped up by beating Villa 3-1 to ensure Guardiola s 250th Premier League game in charge was marked in style.

Stats Perform has looked at the numbers from Guardiola s time in England s top tier.

FULL-TIME | All three points!

3-1

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

The numbers

1 – Guardiola has the highest win rate of any manager to have coached in 100 or m…

Antonio Conte believes Tottenham have taken a step forward this season, despite their final chance of silverware being ended by Milan on Wednesday.

Spurs were unable to overturn a 1-0 deficit from last month s Champions League last-16 first leg as they played out a 0-0 draw in the return fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Despite knowing they needed a goal to stay in the tie, Spurs failed to muster a single attempt on target in the first half and only seriously troubled Mike Maignan once all game.

The Milan goalkeeper produced a fine save to keep out Harry Kane s late header, which came after Cristian Romero was sent off for two bookable offences.

It means Tottenham s wait for a trophy of any sort will stretch into a 16th year, with a top-four battle i…

After the final matchday of Euro 2016 qualification on Tuesday, we take a look at who has made it to next year s tournament in France.

Group A

Czech Republic confirmed their status as group winners and completed a humiliating campaign for Netherlands with a 3-2 win in Amsterdam. The Dutch limped to fourth place on 13 points  five behind Turkey, who secured automatic qualification as the best third-placed team thanks to Selcuk Inan s Beckham moment . His 89th-minute free-kick saw off runners-up Iceland 1-0, providing high drama in the final round of fixtures.

Group B

Belgium s 3-1 victory at home to Israel secured top spot and elevated Marc Wilmots side to number one in the FIFA  rankings, while Gareth Bale s seventh goal of the campaign helped seco…

Inter head coach Antonio Conte welcomed the news of Jose Mourinho s Roma appointment and deflected questions about his own future.

Former Chelsea boss Conte clashed publicly with Mourinho during the pair s time in England, when the latter led Premier League rivals Manchester United.

At one stage Mourinho referred to Conte as a clown , while the latter called the Portuguese a little man .

However, Conte insisted he fully respected ex-Inter coach Mourinho, who will replace Paulo Fonseca at Serie A rivals Roma from next season.

It s great news for everybody, I wish him the best, except when he plays against Inter, Conte told Le Iene.

For sure, there is great respect between us.

Conte s own future has been the subject of speculation, despit…