Leicester 2 Southampton 0: Leicester manager Nigel Pearson praised the way Esteban Cambiasso has adapted to a relegation fight during his first year in English football.

Everton 1 Southampton 0: Everton finally removed any lingering doubt that they will still be competing in the Premier League next season but the talk afterwards was as much about those not playing as the players who secured a third successive league win for the first time in a year.

Premier League

Southampton 0 Liverpool 2: Liverpool have Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal in their sights after taking their unbeaten run to 18 games with a victory at Southampton that underlines just how far they have come in the last fourth months.

Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren start for Liverpool against former club Southampton today.

Southampton 0 West Ham 0

The team news for tonight's Premier League games.

QPR 0 Southampton 1: Chris Ramsey speaks to his good friend Tim Sherwood regularly but even he was unable to clarify whether the former Tottenham manager will be taking over at QPR, whose season went from bad to worse when top scorer Charlie Austin limped away from Loftus Road with an ankle injury after their fifth successive defeat.

Team news for the 3pm Premier League games

Premier League

Match-winner Eljero Elia has thanked Southampton boss Ronald Koeman for handing him a chance to prove himself all over again.

Eljero Elia scored twice to fire Southampton back into third place in the Barclays Premier League with a hard-fought victory at Newcastle.

Southampton have reached a deal to sign Netherlands winger Eljero Elia from Werder Bremen.

Jan Vertonghen is confident he can make an immediate impact in the Premier League after agreeing terms to join Tottenham.

AFTER Christmas I’ve got a whole stack of cook books with lots of tantalising recipes to try — so much talent out there.

Holland winger Eljero Elia has revealed there was interest in him from Arsenal before he finally completed a deadline-day move to Juventus.

Juventus have completed the signing of Holland winger Eljero Elia from Hamburg, the Serie A club confirmed today.

'Father Ted' star Frank Kelly is swapping Craggy Island for the Yorkshire Dales after landing a role in 'Emmerdale'.

Diego Forlan has been handed the captaincy for Uruguay after defender Diego Lugano failed to make a full recovery from a knee injury for tonight’s World Cup semi-final against Holland.

ENGLAND’S World Cup quest may have been disappointingly brief, but the Premier League can still enjoy some reflected glory from the Netherlands’ charge to the semi-finals.

NETHERLANDS coach Bert van Marwijk yesterday played down striker Robin van Persie’s petulant reaction to being substituted during his side’s 2-1 win over Slovakia.

MATCH-winner Wesley Sneijder believes Holland could not be in a better position as they head into their final Group E match with qualification for the knock-out stages already in the bag.

Holland 2 Denmark 0

CHELSEA striker Didier Drogba conceded the Blues had under-estimated the threat of APOEL after the Cypriot minnows snatched a 2-2 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge.

THE country’s already struggling finances are being drained of at least €1.5 billion every year as a direct result of poor public nutrition standards and related conditions.

TONY MOWBRAY refuses to give up on the Europa League, despite a goalless draw at Hamburg which last night left his Celtic side needing a miracle to qualify from Group C.

Celtic 0 Hamburg 0

TONY MOWBRAY last night warned his Celtic players they face being sold in January if they fail to improve on their recent displays.

Celtic 0 Hamburg 1

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti left Joe Cole and Deco on the bench for the Champions League Group D encounter against Apoel Nicosia.

CAPTAIN Darren Fletcher admitted Scotland should have had a World Cup play-off spot wrapped up long before last night’s defeat to Holland ended any hope of reaching next summer’s finals.

Scotland 0 Holland 1

Cyprus 1 Republic of Ireland 2

Holland 3 Japan 0

BULGARIA overcame the absence of star striker Dimitar Berbatov and reignited their hopes of World Cup qualification with a hard-fought win over Cyprus in Sofia to claim their first victory in Group Eight yesterday.

ROBBIE KEANE handed boss Giovanni Trapattoni a precious victory in his first competitive game on home soil as the Republic of Ireland gained revenge over Cyprus at Croke Park last night.

Republic of Ireland 1 Cyprus 0

As expected, Craig Bellamy is passed fit to lead Wales in their Euro 2008 qualifier just a week after a groin operation.

CYPRUS coasted to an easy win over a San Marino side still without a point in what has been a dismal Euro 2008 qualifying campaign for them.

SLOVAKIA have lost two players through suspension for Wednesday’s Group D clash with the Republic of Ireland at Croke Park.

A FIRST-HALF penalty from Chrysis Michael was the least Cyprus deserved as abject Wales were easily beaten in Limassol last night.

Cyprus 0 Rep. of Ireland 1

Brian Kerr has opted for Graham Kavanagh to partner Kevin Kilbane in midfield as the Republic face a must-win situation in Cyprus tonight.