Manchester City extended their record winning streak to 18 games and moved 15 points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.

Someone in the Garda Press Office has posted a cheeky joke - with an important message - ahead of Ireland’s match with Denmark on Saturday.

Between a lack of game time at West Brom and the vilification he routinely receives from the stands and on social media, the Premier League must sometimes feel like a cold house to James McClean.

In a week when the five most popular picks for captain all failed to find the net, you knew the mood among the FPL community was about to darken.

Sean Dyche celebrated his fifth anniversary as Burnley manager with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle that moved them up to seventh.

James McCarthy has been named in a 34-man Republic of Ireland squad for next month's World Cup play-offs against Denmark.

Tomer Hemed's hooked strike denied Newcastle the chance to move fourth in the Premier League as Brighton prevailed 1-0 at the Amex Stadium.

Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as Manchester City stormed to the top of the Premier League with a 6-0 rout of Watford at Vicarage Road.

O'Neill selects a 25-man panel for two qualifiers against Georgia and Serbia.

Weeks of pre-season conjecture and speculation were finally put to rest last week, as millions of FPL managers worldwide tinkered their last.

Rather pointedly, Rafa Benitez refused to add to the brickbats being hurled Jonjo Shelvey’s way. 

Skipper Jonjo Shelvey was sent off for standing on Dele Alli as Newcastle's return to the Premier League was ruined by Tottenham.

Fantasy Premier League is back, and oh how we’ve missed it!

Fantasy Premier League is back, and oh how we’ve missed it!

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has confirmed Daryl Murphy is on his way out but Rob Elliot is on course to start their Premier League return as his No 1.

Cork City goalkeepers Mark McNulty and Alan Smith are literally lending a helping hand to the Irish cause.

Packie Bonner has no concerns about Darren Randolph retaining the goalkeeper’s jersey for Ireland despite recently losing his place at West Ham.

Ireland international keeper Rob Elliot is hoping to reignite his Ireland career after confirming a Premier League return with Newcastle.

Ayoze Perez struck twice as Rafael Benitez succeeded in his mission to guide Newcastle back to the Premier League at the first attempt with a resounding victory over 10-man Preston.

Martin O’Neill yesterday acclaimed the role Ireland fans played in Thursday night’s defeat of Germany, when the Aviva Stadium rediscovered the old Lansdowne Roar.

When Roy Hodgson was asked recently to contrast the centre-halves England have brought to France (John Stones, Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling) with the choice Sven-Goran Eriksson had at World Cup in 2006 (Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher and John Terry), he couldn’t quite bring himself to dispute the gulf in quality.

Injury time – that’s where Irish football finds itself right now.

Ireland and Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot admitted the tears flowed when he discovered the seriousness of the knee injury which will rule him out for the rest of the season, including the European Championships in France.

Many people are of the opinion that international friendlies at this time of year are meaningless but I have never viewed them that way, writes Liam Brady

Republic of Ireland 2 Slovakia 2: If Friday against Switzerland was a night when the defence showed way, here was a game where all Ireland’s better play came at the other end of the pitch, with the novel strike partnership of Shane Long and James McClean both getting on the score sheet — albeit from the penalty spot — while Wes Hoolahan once again showed how vital he is to the team’s attempts to play a more creative brand of football.

It’s a striking problem in every sense with which Martin O’Neill has to wrestle ahead of tomorrow night’s game against Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium.

The big positives and worrying trends that came out of yesterday’s friendly...

Speaking in Dublin earlier this month, Damien Duff highlighted some of the problems which face players in late-season and pre-tournament international friendlies.

It was a bad day for Everton, Villa and Newcastle today.