Watford 1, Crystal Palace 1: One could hardly tell from the thunderous expression on his face at the full-time whistle, as his new charges at Crystal Palace were held by Watford, but big Sam Allardyce said he was “excited” to be back in the big time.

The Premier League’s top six take stock this week ahead of the hectic festive football programme. How many of the clubs genuinely retain hopes of being top of the tree next May? The answer may dictate how busy they are in the January window.

Ger McCarthy looks at five players set to take Europe by storm.

Crystal Palace 1 Newcastle United 1

Premier League

Spurs 2 Arsenal 1: Mauricio Pochettino had his doubters when he was made Tottenham manager and some close to the club feared he might not see the season out after a slow start, but he is gradually winning them over.

Premier League

Swansea and Manchester City have agreed a fee of more than €30m for the transfer of Wilfried Bony.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez was pleased to see striker Romelu Lukaku shouldering some responsibility in the 1-1 FA Cup draw at home to West Ham.

Bacary Sagna hopes to have brought the FA Cup-winning formula with him to Manchester City.

Manchester City are still without captain Vincent Kompany (calf/hamstring) and strikers Edin Dzeko (calf) and Sergio Aguero (knee) for their FA Cup third-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

Papiss Cisse's fifth goal in six games launched a Newcastle fightback as they ended a four-match losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Everton.

Anyone who had Sergio Aguero in their Fantasy Football squad has been cursing last weekend’s performance, as Man City’s talismanic striker limped off and is now out until January. 

All the team news from around the grounds ahead of Week 8 in the Premier League - more to follow as it comes in.

Arsenal have confirmed the sale of Ivory Coast forward Gervinho to Roma.

Neil Lennon has warned doubters not to underestimate Celtic ahead of the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash against Juventus at Celtic Park night.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has no fresh injury concerns ahead of his side’s trip to face Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday.

West Brom 0 Tottenham 1

Arsenal 1 Stoke 0

Arsenal 0 Manchester City 2

QPR 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Manager Arsene Wenger has not ruled out bringing Arsenal legend Thierry Henry back for a third spell with the club.

Manager Arsene Wenger has not ruled out bringing Arsenal legend Thierry Henry back for a third spell with the club.

Old habits die hard.

A Sligo-based sports group that counts Real Madrid, Juventus, and Man City among its clients last year recorded an 8% increase in profits to €2.4m after revenues rose 25%.

Sergio Aguero came off the bench last night to hand Manchester City the advantage in their Europa League tie against Porto.

THE Ivory Coast made hard work of winning their first game in this year’s African Cup of Nations last night, beating Sudan 1-0.

THE Libyan squad had a few decisions to make.

JAMES McCLEAN may take some convincing, but it is highly unlikely the youngster’s glaring second half miss at Stamford Bridge diminished his all-round performance in the eyes of the Giovanni Trapattoni.

MANCHESTER CITY boss Roberto Mancini does not believe Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is racist, but feels it was important he apologised for a mistake in the Patrice Evra affair.

CHELSEA’S progress into the fourth round of the FA Cup was anything but serene, no matter what the scoreline might suggest, and the rewards were most certainly mixed.

HATEM BEN ARFA: Is he a special talent who must be embraced by Newcastle United or a maverick who will never adapt to the unique demands of the Premier League? Discuss.

WAYNE ROONEY’S two goals offered a short, sharp response to those pundits who believe he could be on his way out of Old Trafford due to differences with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

EGYPT, winners of the last three tournaments, will not be there when the African Cup of Nations begins in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in a fortnight. Neither will Cameroon, who won in 2000 and 2002.

MANCHESTER CITY manager Roberto Mancini has raised the possibility of the world’s richest club not being able to fill their bench for Sunday’s mouthwatering FA Cup tie with Manchester United.

WHO said the north-east wouldn’t have a say in the outcome of this season’s Premier League title?

STRIKER Thierry Henry will this weekend complete his return to Arsenal in a short-term deal.

NEWCASTLE boss Alan Pardew is readying himself for a difficult transfer window as he attempts to drag the club out of its recent slump.

IF CHELSEA fans, just a week ago, sat down to compile the arguments for and against their team winning the Premier League title in 2012, they would have found it a very lopsided list as they weighed up their chances.

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS, who has only been at Chelsea for 20 weeks after arriving as the prodigal son from Portugal and who has yet to make a real signing of his own, is in serious danger of being home again for Christmas.

WE won comfortably on Saturday against Wolves, kept a clean sheet and scored three goals that were more than a little pleasing to the eye.

WE won comfortably on Saturday against Wolves, kept a clean sheet and scored three goals that were more than a little pleasing to the eye.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly says everyone going to the Aviva Stadium tomorrow night can expect a performance and a result from Giovanni Trapattoni’s side to seal the deal of qualification for Euro 2012.