SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Leeds v Aston Villa Friday 1st December, 19:45 Live on Sky Sports Leeds back on track Leeds  manager  Thomas Christiansen  targeted six points from nine during a gruelling six-day schedule last week and his Whites' team delivered his wish when beating Barnsley 2-0 at Oakwell thanks to first-half goals from  Samuel Saiz  and  Gjanni Alioski  in a controlled performance. United climbed to eighth following that positive result with the manager admitting the recent international break was crucial in allowing him the time to try and arrest the slide after form in the league had nosedived. Sticking doggedly to his  preferred 4-2-3-1 formation , the fruits of a thousand hours spent huddled around laptops at the training ground is starting to take shape. Christiansen brought goalkeeper  Felix Wiedwald  back into the first-team equation at Barnsley and handed  Caleb Ekuban  only a second Championship start in the lone strik...

Stoke  6.40  v Liverpool  1.59 ; The Draw  4.60 Wednesday, 20:00 Which side of Stoke will turn up? Stoke's erratic start to the season continued at the weekend when they lost to rock bottom  Crystal Palace . It's hard to predict which Stoke side will turn up from week to week. They have pulled off shocks this season against  Arsenal  and Manchester United, but have equally dropped points when you'd expect them to win. A big issue for  Mark Hughes  is that his team lack a reliable goalscorer, with no Stoke player having scored more than three goals this season. Until that issue is addressed, it will be hard for Stoke to get any kind of run going and a season trying to keep clear of the relegation zone awaits. Hughes could welcome Geoff Cameron and  Glen Johnson  back to his squad after a period on the sidelines, but Stephen Ireland is still out with a broken leg. Salah streak continues If Stoke are struggling b...

Manchester City v Southampton Wednesday, 20:00 Winning streak goes on It's a hard-to-fathom  18 straight wins  for Man City in all comps and and  11 on the bounce in the Premier League. That superb record  came under pressure at Huddersfield  on Sunday as City found themselves 1-0 down. But their  resilience  was shown with a second-half turnaround and, to be honest, an evening kick-off at a bouncing Huddersfield (where Man Utd had lost) on the back of a Champions League win was a  recipe for awkwardness . Rather than a sign that City are creaking, it was  another tough hurdle cleared  and there's no reason why they shouldn't use the comeback as a  slingshot  for another dominant win. Saints boosted After a few murmurs of discontent, Southampton have disappeared into mid-table obscurity after a  convincing 4-1 home win  over Everton at the weekend. The Toffees, who had just been thrashed 5-1 a...

Everton v West Ham  Wednesday November 29 20:00  Live on BT Sport Unsworth blew his chance but will it be Big Sam? It's a shame that  David Unsworth  went on such a bad run of results that meant he was never really going to be given a shot at having the Everton job on anything more than a caretaker basis. At least it would have been a change from the never-ending merry-go-round of Managers who arrive at a Premier League club, stay there for a while,  get sacked  or leave for some other reason only to emerge somewhere else a few months later as if it all never happened. Allardyce, Pardew, Pulis, Moyes...you can probably add a few of your own to the list. We'll have to wait and see if  Sam Allardyce  does in fact get the Everton job  he's hot favourite for  and what sort of  length of contract  he's given if it does materialize. But it will be Unsworth in charge for this one in what may well be his last game as ...