Mikel Arteta's Gunners were top of the tree at Christmas for a second successive year but trail leaders Liverpool by two points at the halfway point of the season.

The second round of the Bangladesh Premier League will get underway today before the league goes into a two-week sabbatical for the national elections on January 7.

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin underwent a successful coronary artery bypass surgery yesterday at a city hospital, said a BFF statement.

A gender-equal Olympic Games next year will coincide with increasing sponsorship opportunities for female athletes, experts say, after the Women's World Cup soccer tournament underscored the growing popularity of women's sport in 2023.

The Stamford Bridge sound system blared the old disco hit "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" after Chelsea's hard-fought 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, but momentum is still sorely lacking for Mauricio Pochettino's team.

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min was named in South Korea's Asian Cup squad on Thursday as coach Jurgen Klinsmann aims to end the country's 64-year continental title drought.

Elsewhere, Chelsea's Noni Madueke scored a late winner from the penalty spot in a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace to lift spirits at Stamford Bridge after a miserable 2023 while Wolves hammered fast-sinking Brentford 4-1.

The Gunners are without five players for Thursday's match at home to West Ham.

Hojlund had gone 14 games without a league goal since his August move from Atalanta for £72 million ($91 million).

Year 2023 could have easily been termed as the best year for men's football in Bangladesh in recent years as the national team, for a change, performed decently.

This was an essential victory for Liverpool's title ambitions.

The 71-year-old with a 25 percent stake in United said there was no quick fix.

No club in English football history has enjoyed such a successful year.

Meanwhile, Rahmatganj MFS came from behind twice to tie 2-2 with Bangladesh Police FC in Munshiganj, after losing 2-1 to the same opponents in the quarterfinals of the recently concluded Independence Cup.

Wood left Newcastle to join Forest in a £15 million ($19 million) deal in June, but had scored only four times for his new club.

Brazil have struggled in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and presently occupy sixth place in the South American table, the last spot that affords direct qualification.

The opening day's action will be staged across two venues. Star-studded Kings take on Fortis FC in Gopalganj while Rahmatganj MFS clash against Bangladesh Police FC in Munshiganj.

The year 2023 was expected to witness Bangladesh women's football progress in an upward trajectory on the back of winning the SAFF Women's Championship in September last year. It was not meant to be, unfortunately.

In a letter to a Brazilian soccer executive, the game’s governing body said on Sunday that the country's soccer body CBF could face suspension if it does not heed its call to wait and instead holds a swift election to replace Ednaldo Rodrigues as president regardless.

Salah posted a black-and-white picture of a Christmas tree on his social media pages, saying he was approaching Christmas with a heavy heart amid the fighting in Gaza, which has been under intense bombardment by Israel since Hamas militants launched a cross-border rampage on Oct. 7.