Tottenham leading and then dropping points has become a bit of a habit this season but, according to manager Jose Mourinho, it is not his fault.

The 58-year-old has earned a reputation as a master tactician and defensive-minded coach, but his Spurs side have now lost 15 points from winning positions this campaign after Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

Tottenham fell behind at St James’ Park through Joelinton’s precise finish, but Harry Kane’s double put them ahead, before on-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock pounced on a loose ball to earn Newcastle a point with an 85th-minute strike.

So, who is to blame for letting leads slip?

“Same coach, different players,” was Mourinho’s response when BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Juliette Ferrington pointed out his teams are usually good at defending leads.

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The latest setback saw them miss out on climbing back into the top four – and a Champions League qualification spot – for the first time since 2 January, after Chelsea’s defeat by West Brom.

Eleven of those 15 dropped points have been lost in the final 10 minutes of games – the most of any side in the Premier League – while the north London side have also failed to win six games in which they led at half-time, again the most in the league.

So how does that compare with Mourinho’s time at other Premier League clubs?

His side only need to drop one more point from a winning position for it to be the worst season in that regard – with his 2014-15 Chelsea side also dropping 15 points.

During his initial three-year spell at Stamford Bridge, which covered 120 games, he only dropped 14 points from winning positions. His Manchester United side dropped 18 in just over two seasons.

Asked if he has more work to do with Spurs’ players, Mourinho said: “I don’t think so. We work well, we work hard.

“But there are mistakes which I probably shouldn’t even call mistakes because they are related to qualities that players have.

“Looking at the second goal, it’s easy to understand because there’s three different moments – the cross, the ball at the far post where they won it, and then the ball in the face of the goal where our two centre-backs were in position. You can analyse it easily.”

And speaking to Match of the Day, Mourinho added: “It’s not just about the defensive mistakes that lead to goals. We have situations where we have the ball and I know already the ball is going to end with [keeper] Hugo Lloris.

“That’s the way we sometimes create instability to ourselves.”

Real Madrid are currently completing the last training session ahead of Saturday’s match against Eibar in La Liga and both Toni Kroos and Eden Hazard were able to rejoin the squad, meaning that even if they take a cautious approach and miss the game, they should be ready to face Liverpool next Tuesday.

Kroos’ chances of featuring in the starting lineup then are much higher than Hazard’s though. The Belgian attacker could come off the bench but his recent issues with injuries suggests that coach Zinedine Zidane should keep Hazard on the bench until he’s able to improve his conditioning and be fully recovered.

Zidane will likely use the match against Eibar to make sure that everyone is in good form to face Liverpool, given that Madrid’s chances of competing for the Liga title are very slim at the moment.

Valverde, Ramos and Carvajal are still out and while some reports suggested that the Spanish right-back could make it in time for the first leg, it seems unlikely right now.

Police were called to the Stadium of Light following claims Oxford United goalkeeper Jack Stevens was headbutted at half-time in the U’s 3-1 League One defeat at Sunderland.

Oxford boss Karl Robinson admitted he did not see the incident which happened in the tunnel during the break.

“We are waiting for the police to come, one of my goalkeepers was headbutted at half-time,” he told BBC Radio Oxford.

“I don’t want to use names, it’s not right to do that

It proved a bad-tempered game, with Robinson sent to the stands after Aidan McGeady scored Sunderland’s second, while Oxford midfielder Mark Sykes was also sent off for a second yellow card just after the hour.

Robinson added: “There was a melee, something got said, which tends to happen generally in football, Jack walked behind somebody, no malice, they just turned round grabbed him and headbutted him. Everyone has seen it, their players have seen it as well.

“This club has had more TV cameras than any other club in world football following them for the last two years and for some unknown reason they all seem to be off at half-time.

“It’s something we will deal with internally. We will be waiting for some sort of conversation to see where we go from here with this legally.”

Sunderland manager Lee Johnson suggested there was more trouble at the end of the game, but played down the severity of the half-time incident.

“Genuinely, I didn’t see what happened at half-time, I was in the toilet, waiting for the boys in the dressing room wondering where everybody was,” he told BBC Newcastle.

“Look, it happens all the time, especially in a condensed area. It was handbags a lot of it.

“It happened at the end as well, which is not ideal, and I think that one was provoked, to be honest with you.

“As a football club, I want us to act with class, but I also want us to look after each other when there’s moments.

“It was an incident that wasn’t great to see, but at the same time is probably not worth being blown out of proportion because not a lot happened.”

Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo has left Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur out of the squad for Saturday’s Serie A game against Torino after they breached Covid protocols.

The trio were fined by the club after USA midfielder McKennie hosted a dinner party on Wednesday.

Argentina striker Dybala and Brazil midfielder Arthur were among 10 guests at the gathering.

Italy currently has a nationwide curfew from 2200 to 0500 daily.

“The three players involved are not called up for tomorrow’s game and will return to work over time, we’ll see when,” said Pirlo on Friday.

“I made the decision and the club did the rest. For the selection part, I decided. It was not the right time to do it [have a party], we are examples, and it is right that we behave like this.”

Juventus, who are looking to win a 10th successive Serie A title, are third in the table, 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan.

Pirlo is in his first season in charge and Italian newspaper reports suggested he could face the sack with poor results in their next two games.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he was “surprised” and did not “understand” Trent Alexander-Arnold’s omission from the England squad.

The 22-year-old was left out of the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland.

England boss Gareth Southgate said the right-back had not performed this season like he had in recent years.

“If Trent Alexander-Arnold is not in the squad then England must have an extremely good squad,” said Klopp.

“I was surprised when he didn’t get the call-up. I respect the decision, of course I do. But I didn’t understand it.

“I am a manager myself, I make decisions every day, every weekend, every midweek about team selections and squad selections.

“We always make decisions that other people probably do not understand.

“I respect that Gareth makes his own decisions, of course, but I didn’t understand it anyway because Trent Alexander-Arnold was in the last two seasons at least, let me say the season before and the season before that, the stand out right-back in world football – that is the truth and at an unbelievable young age.

“He started the season with Covid and you can imagine it took him a while to get into the season, but from the moment when he was in the season he was one of our most consistent players and a stand-out player.

“He could play all the time, high level all these types of things, so that cannot be the reason that he was not in the squad.”

Alexander-Arnold has been one of a number of Liverpool players to draw scrutiny for a loss of form during their struggle in defending the Premier League title.

The Reds – champions by 18 points last season – sit seventh this term, 25 points behind leaders Manchester City.

They face a trip to Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said the club are unlikely to buy a striker this summer to replace the outgoing Sergio Aguero.

City confirmed on Monday that Aguero, 32, will leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Guardiola has been looking at options, with Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Braut Haaland, 20, at the top of the list of potential targets.

However, Guardiola feels the fees currently being quoted are too high.

“I don’t know what is going to happen but at these prices we are not going to buy any striker,” he said.

“It’s impossible. We cannot afford it. All the clubs are struggling financially, us as well.

“Today there is more chance we will not buy a striker next season.”

Dortmund are reported to want at least 150m euros (£128m) for Norway international Haaland, whose agent Mino Raiola has met with Barcelona and Real Madrid about a move.

Haaland’s current deal expires in 2024, though it is thought to contain a release clause of 75m euros (£64m) that can be activated next year.

England captain Harry Kane is another possible option for City, though his Tottenham contract also does not expire until 2024.

Aguero, who signed from Atletico Madrid in 2011, is City’s record goalscorer, with 257 goals in 384 appearances for the club.

He famously scored the injury-time winner against QPR in 2012 which clinched the club’s first English title in 44 years, and has since helped City win three more Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five League Cups.

Guardiola said it is “impossible” that City could replace the Argentine with someone who would replicate his achievements.

“We know how important he is in present and past, these decisions are never easy,” he said.

“Maybe we are going to find a new player to replace him but in terms of numbers? Impossible.

“In terms of what he means? Impossible.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s moment of frustration at a controversial decision in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday is turning into something positive.

The captain’s armband the Portugal star threw to the ground when he was controversially denied a stoppage-time winner against Serbia has been sold at auction to raise money for a six-month-old baby’s medical treatment.

Duty firefighter Djordje Vukicevic picked up the armband from the pitch after Ronaldo had stormed off at the end of the 2-2 draw in Belgrade.

“Ronaldo was agitated [and] he threw the armband. It fell right next to me,” Vukicevic said.

He decided to put it up for auction to raise money for treatment for Gavrilo Djurdjevic from Serbia, who is suffering from spinal muscular atrophy.

“The entire crew agreed this [armband] will go for little Gavrilo,” he said.

Vukicevic said he was ready to sell any memorabilia he could collect from players to help Gavrilo’s parents collect the £2.1m needed for the treatment.

The winning bid for the armband was 64,000 euros (about £54,000). Gavrilo’s mother Nevena said proceeds from the sale would be would be a significant contribution to their treatment fund.

“We could not believe that some people who do not even know us… would take the armband, auction it and help our child,” she said.

Manchester City are keen on bringing both Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi, 33, and Borussia Dortmund’s 20-year-old Norwegian striker Erling Braut Haaland to Etihad Stadium in the summer.

France midfielder Paul Pogba could leave Manchester United as early as this summer, with Juventus keen to re-sign the 28-year-old and willing to consider offloading Argentina striker Paulo Dybala, 27, in a swap deal.

Tottenham are confident of keeping England striker Harry Kane, 27, and will not consider selling him to another Premier League club, amid mounting interest from Manchester City and Manchester United. 

Bayern Munich are interested in Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, 28, and are willing to be patient in their pursuit of the South Korean, who is contracted to Spurs until the summer of 2023 and has had a new long-term deal offered to him by the London club. 

Chelsea, Manchester United, Juventus and Real Madrid remain in the hunt to sign Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, 22, who has rejected two offers of a new contract at AC Milan.

Barcelona are seen as favourites to sign 30-year-old defender Georginio Wijnaldum when his contract at Liverpool expires in the summer, but the Catalan club face competition from Chelsea, Juventus and Paris St-Germain. The Merseyside club themselves have not given up hope of keeping the Dutch international.

Ramos said he suffered the injury while on international duty with Spain

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is set to miss both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool after suffering a calf muscle injury.

The 35-year-old defender picked up the injury while on international duty.

Real face the Reds on Tuesday, 6 April and Wednesday, 14 April, either side of El Clasico with Barcelona in La Liga.

“If there is something that hurts me, it is not being able to help the team in these highly demanding matches,” said the Spaniard on Instagram.

Real are at home for the first leg against Liverpool.

Former Liverpool defender Daniel Agger will begin his managerial career at Danish second-tier side HB Koge from the start of next season.

Agger, who played at Anfield between 2006 and 2014, will be joined by former Everton defender Lars Jacobsen, who is the new first-team coach.

“HB Koge is the perfect place for me to start,” the 36-year-old said.

“I am very much looking forward to getting started, and I look forward to coming under pressure again.”

Both Agger and Jacobsen have signed contracts that will run until the summer of 2024, and they stated that their ambition is for HB Koge to win promotion to the Danish Super League within that period.

Agger made 175 Premier League appearances during his eight-year spell with the Reds, and helped them win the League Cup in 2012.

Prior to that, the former Denmark international was part of the Brondby squad that won the Danish league and cup double during the 2005-05 season. He eventually finished his career at Brondby.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is targeting Erling Braut Haaland as Sergio Aguero’s replacement – but there are other options if he misses out on the Norwegian, and they include England skipper Harry Kane.

On Monday it was announced City’s record goalscorer Aguero will leave the club at the end of the season.

Guardiola has had a plan to bring in a new striker for some time now, which meant Aguero was likely to have even less playing time than he has had recently.

The finality over the Argentine’s future does leave City clear to pursue replacements. And no matter who they eventually sign, it will be one of the biggest deals of the summer.

It is no surprise 20-year-old Haaland is at the top of Guardiola’s wish-list.

The Norway and Borussia Dortmund forward has become the most coveted young number nine in Europe through his sheer weight of goals and he will be looking to add to his tally against City in their Champions League quarter-final.

Only prolific Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has scored more than Haaland’s 21 goals in the Bundesliga this season, while earlier this month he reached 20 Champions League goals in only 14 appearances.

However, signing Haaland is not straightforward. His controversial agent Mino Raiola seemed to be suggesting the striker would be on the move this summer when in a recent interview with the Athletic, he told a story of an unnamed player who, together with his parents, decided to stay with his club despite interest from elsewhere.

The player then suffered two ligament injuries, which virtually ended his career. “Sometimes football is a train that passes by,” he said. “You can say ‘let’s take the next train’. But sometimes the next train doesn’t come.”

Daniel James’ late header gave Wales a precious win over the Czech Republic in a fiery World Cup qualifier in which both teams had a man sent off.

The visitors dominated a goalless first half with Jakub Jankto missing several chances, while Gareth Bale wasted the best opportunity of all for Wales.

Czech striker Patrik Schick was shown a straight red card early in the second half for raising his hand to the face of Connor Roberts, who was later sent off for a second booking.

As both sides searched desperately for a winning goal, Bale delivered an inviting cross from the left wing, which James met with a brilliantly directed header to secure Wales’ first win of the campaign.

The result moves Wales up to third place in Group E, one point behind the Czech Republic in second and four adrift of leaders Belgium, albeit having played one game fewer than both.

Despite only being Wales’ second game of the campaign, this fixture already had a heightened sense of significance for both sides.

When the draw was made, Belgium were overwhelming favourites to top Group E and qualify automatically as the world’s number one-ranked team.

As a result, Wales and the Czech Republic were expected to battle it out for second place and a play-off spot, though the visitors might have set their sights higher after drawing with Belgium on Saturday.

Wales may also have felt they could chance their arm for a shot at top spot because winning their Nations League group in November had already all-but guaranteed them a play-off place.

If they did have such lofty ambitions, Wales would have parked them during a first half in which they were overrun and outplayed.

The Czech Republic started purposefully, passing the ball confidently and pressing Wales into uncomfortable positions, forcing them to play long balls which came to nothing with their usual target Kieffer Moore on the bench.

With Wales unable to keep the ball in attack, the away side enjoyed as much as 75% possession and created three early chances for Jankto, who fired one shot at Danny Ward and another two narrowly wide.

Wales looked devoid of ideas, playing the kind of direct football Moore would relish – just without the Cardiff City striker on the pitch.

For all their struggles, however, it was the hosts who created the best chance of the first half.

Neco Williams curled in a fine cross from the left and Bale rose well to meet it, but volleyed his shot into the ground, allowing Tomas Vaclik to tip it over the bar.

Apart from that squandered opportunity, the Czech Republic were still well on top and, after Schick and Jankto both went close with another two chances, Wales were glad to go into the break level.

The Republic of Ireland failed to secure a first win under manager Stephen Kenny as they were held to a 1-1 friendly draw with Qatar in Debrecen.

James McClean’s deflected strike gave the Republic an early lead during a vibrant first-half performance.

Mohammed Muntari levelled for the World Cup hosts with a well-struck shot early in the second half.

Muntari and Republic substitutes Callum Robinson and Josh Cullen all spurned chances to score a late winner.

The non-competitive Group A game was originally scheduled to take place as the Republic’s home match in Dublin, but the two teams agreed to reverse the order of their fixtures because of the Irish government’s Covid-19 quarantine rules.

Kenny made eight changes to the side that started Saturday’s shock defeat by Luxembourg with only Gavin Bazunu, captain Seamus Coleman and Dara O’Shea retained.

The Republic boss would have been delighted with their bright start as McClean drove them into a fourth-minute lead with his first goal since the 2018 World Cup qualifying win over Wales in October 2017.

Daryl Horgan exchanged passes with Robbie Brady in a well-worked short corner routine before crossing for McClean, whose shot took a wicked deflection to deceive Qatar keeper Saad Al Sheeb.

The Qatari response was immediate with the World Cup hosts awarded a penalty after Bazunu’s foul on Pedro Miguel, only for Hungarian referee Balazs Berke to change his decision to a free-kick after his assistant pointed out that the challenge took place outside the Irish penalty area.

Miguel was involved down the right flank once more in the 18th minute when he crossed for Almoez Ali, who should have tested Bazunu with his misdirected bullet header.

Shane Long, impressive on his return to the line-up, could have doubled the Republic’s lead just before the half-hour mark when he latched on to a poor backpass, but failed to generate enough power in his shot to trouble Al Sheeb.

Qatar hit back in second half

While there were plenty of positives for the Republic to draw from the opening 45 minutes, the second half began in concerning fashion as Muntari drew Qatar level.

After being slipped in by Ali, Muntari swept his clinical equaliser low and to the right of Bazunu in a fashion not dissimilar to Gerson Rodrigues’ goal for Luxembourg on Saturday.

Qatar could have taken the lead on the hour when Hassan Al Haidos drove through the Irish midfield before curling a shot straight into Bazunu’s grasp.

Muntari then tried to catch the young Republic goalkeeper out at his near post but shot wide during a spell in which Kenny’s side struggled to keep possession.

Having dictated much of the early play, the Republic looked flat in the second half, failed to fashion a clear-cut chance for a winner until the 88th minute when Robinson dragged his shot wide after Muntari had failed to add to his tally when he fired over from the edge of the penalty area.

Cullen came close to scoring a last-gasp winner for the Republic but the Anderlecht midfielder saw his header saved after a fine Cyrus Christie cross.

Brighton’s Leandro Trossard and Leicester’s Dennis Praet scored their first Belgium goals in a crushing World Cup 2022 qualifying win over Belarus.

Michy Batshuayi got the first before Hans Vanaken’s volley made it 2-0 to the number one team in Fifa’s rankings.

Trossard’s exquisite finish from 22 yards extended the lead before Jeremy Doku added the fourth before half-time.

Praet netted the fifth, late goals by Christian Benteke, Trossard and Vanaken completing the rout.

The result lifted Belgium, with seven points from three games, to the top of Group E.

The Czech Republic had started the day at the summit but dropped to second after losing to Wales.

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez could even afford the luxury of leaving star players Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku on the bench for his team’s third match of this qualifying campaign.

They were not required as Belgium eased to victory, Martinez’s side 5-0 ahead inside 50 minutes as they opened up a three-point lead at the top of the group.

Before kick-off, the Belgium team came on to the field wearing black T-shirts featuring the words “football supports change”, in reference to the well-publicised plight of migrant workers in Qatar, hosts of the next World Cup.

It followed similar messages to those promoted by the Netherlands, Norway and Germany teams in the past few days.

Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to help spare Portugal’s blushes and deny Luxembourg another major World Cup 2022 qualifying win.

Luxembourg beat Republic of Ireland on Saturday and led the European champions through Gerson Rodrigues’ header.

But Liverpool forward Jota headed home in the final attack of the first half.

Ronaldo tapped in early in the second half to turn the tide in Portugal’s favour, with Joao Palhinha glancing in a header to seal the win.

Before that Jota had gone close with a header that hit the bar, while Ronaldo could have had a second goal himself, but failed twice to beat home goalkeeper Anthony Moris after running clear of the defence.

What at one stage looked to be a night of such promise for Luxembourg ended with them reduced to 10 men as Maxime Chanot was shown a second yellow for a foul on Renato Sanches.

The win takes Portugal to seven points in qualifying Group A, level with Serbia, with whom they controversially drew 2-2 at the weekend.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos will stop playing for the German national team after the upcoming 2021 UEFA Euro, according to a report published today on German newspaper Bild.

Kroos will establish Real Madrid as his main focus during the last few years of his career as a professional football player, something which could eventually help him in having a better decline and ultimately maybe even retire later than what he could be planning.

The midfielder has played 101 matches for Germany, scoring 17 goals and winning a FIFA World Cup and a UEFA Eurocup in the process.

It won’t be easy for Germany to replace Kroos, but this is good news for Real Madrid if the report is accurate. Los Blancos will enjoy Kroos’ career for a longer period of time and the midfielder himself will also avoid injuries and fatigue during FIFA breaks.

Kroos’ contract with Real Madrid expires in 2023 and he will be 33 years old then.

Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry said that “enough was enough” and he had to make a stand against racism on social media.

The 43-year-old said last week he was removing himself from social media because of racism and bullying across platforms.

He said the problem was “too toxic to ignore”.

“It was time to make a stand,” said Henry, speaking to the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday.

“Things I used to hear in the stadiums and the streets are coming more and more into social media, especially in my community, and the sport I love the most, football.

“I thought it was time to make a stand and time to make people realise it is not OK to get abused online, it’s not OK to be bullied or harassed online.

“The impact it can have on your mental health is second to none, we know people are committing suicides because of it. Enough is enough. We need actions.

“It is too easy to get an account and get away with it at times.”

On Monday, Tottenham and Wales forward Gareth Bale said he would support a boycott of social media over the issue, if a campaign could be organised.

Henry won two Premier League titles with Arsenal, where he played between 1999 and 2007.

Last September, he detailed instances of racism he experienced during his playing career with Arsenal and France.

“It is not a safe place,” Henry added. “[Crystal Palace forward] Wilfried Zaha says when he goes on social media he is scared to look at the comments, it should not be like that. It should not be like you feel you should not do something.

“I think everybody should be concerned about what’s happening. All I’m saying is, ‘can it be a safe place?’ At the end of the day it is a great tool and is vital and a great way to connect with your fans, or to put out a statement to rectify something.

“But it is too easy for the people who are trying to harm people to get away with it and hide behind fake accounts. For me it is about accountability.”

Twitter has said it is “committed to Kick It Out’s initiative to tackle online hate, and look forward to continuing these discussions and developing solutions with our partners in football”.

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, said it took action on 6.6 million pieces of hate speech between October and December last year and will “take tougher action when we become of aware of people breaking our rules in DMs [direct messages]”.

Record goalscorer Sergio Aguero will leave Manchester City at the end of the season, the club has announced.

The 32-year-old striker’s contract expires at the end of the season and he has been told it will not be renewed.

The Argentine, who signed from Atletico Madrid in 2011, has scored 257 goals in 384 appearances for the club.

“With the guidance of the owners and the contributions of many players, we earned a place among the greatest of the world,” Aguero said.

He will be honoured by a statue at Etihad Stadium, alongside title-winning captain Vincent Kompany and influential playmaker David Silva, who left the club in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

The trio played leading roles in City’s renaissance, with Aguero famously scoring the injury-time winner against QPR in 2012 which clinched the club’s first English title in 44 years.

Since then, the striker has helped City win three more Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five League Cups.

“Sergio’s contribution to Manchester City over the last 10 years cannot be overstated,” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said.

“His legend will be indelibly etched into the memories of everyone who loves the club and maybe even in those who simply love football.”

Striker Dani Olmo scored a stoppage-time winner as Spain edged past Georgia in 2022 World Cup qualifying Group B.

Spain, who have not lost a World Cup qualifying game in 28 years, were behind at half-time after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fired Georgia ahead.

Manchester City’s Ferran Torres slid home Jordi Alba’s cross to equalise.

Alba was also credited with the assist for Olmo’s late long-range effort which gave the visitors a crucial win in front of 15,000 fans.

Georgia’s Levan Shengelia was then sent off moments before the final whistle.

Spain, who host Kosovo on Wednesday, drew their opening qualifier 1-1 at home to Greece.

Georgia visit Greece on Wednesday.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski will miss Wednesday’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley with a knee injury.

The 32-year-old Bayern Munich player limped off during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Andorra after scoring two goals.

The Polish FA say he faces up to 10 days out with ligament damage.

Lewandowski now has a race to be fit for Bayern’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris St-Germain in nine days time.

He has returned to Germany for further treatment on the injury.