Jamie Vardy missed two good chances to extend his goalscoring streak to 12 straight games but a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick sent Leicester back to the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Sunderland 0 Southampton 1<br>

Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 2: A moment of frustration left Tim Sherwood with a hamstring injury – but the Aston Villa boss was delighted with his team’s performance despite having to settle for a draw against Sunderland.

Jermain Defoe answered Sunderland’s call in their hour of need to hand head coach Dick Advocaat a first Barclays Premier league point of the season.

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS: Sunderland 1-3 Norwich, Swansea 2-0 Newcastle, Tottenham 2-2 Stoke, Watford 0-0 West Brom, West Ham 1-2 Leicester

Everton midfielder James McCarthy last night ended speculation about his future as he signed a new five-year deal, which will now see him remain at Goodison Park until 2020.

West Brom 0 QPR 1

QPR boss Harry Redknapp is still looking to add players to his squad in a bid to secure Barclays Premier League survival.

Arsenal are ready to stretch their rigid pay structure to push through a new deal for Theo Walcott, which could be signed ahead of this weekend’s Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester City.

Arsenal are ready to stretch their rigid pay structure to push through a new deal for Theo Walcott, which could be signed ahead of this weekend’s Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester City.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has warned Arsenal to forget about signing striker David Villa during the January transfer window.

The French Football Federation has banned midfielder Yann M’Vila from the national team until the end of June 2014.

Moussa Dembele was today set to be unveiled as a Tottenham player as further doubt was cast on the future of Rafael van der Vaart.

Hamburg today vowed to do everything possible to re-sign Rafael van der Vaart from Tottenham before the transfer window closed.

Andre Villas-Boas has admitted that Luka Modric is expected to complete his transfer to Real Madrid this week.

Arsene Wenger maintains Arsenal will only move for a “special player” in the closing days of the transfer window.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger continues to weigh up his options of how best to replace defensive midfielder Alex Song.

Croatia’s head coach is disappointed Andre Villas-Boas is not picking Luka Modric, but expects the unsettled playmaker to complete his move from Tottenham to Real Madrid soon.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has confirmed his interest in Brazil starlet Lucas Moura as he attempts to strengthen his squad for the new season.

Arsene Wenger insists he is not looking to sign Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila, but admits any injury setbacks during the summer may lead him to reconsider his options.

Robin van Persie was all smiles as he returned to Arsenal pre-season training yesterday, but the future of the Gunners skipper remains uncertain.

Robin van Persie was all smiles as he returned to Arsenal pre-season training today, but the long-term future of the Gunners skipper remains uncertain.

Didier Deschamps last night agreed to take on one of the toughest tasks in internatinoal football after he agreed to become the new France coach.

The French Football Federation (FFF) have opened disciplinary proceedings against four members of France’s Euro 2012 squad.

The French Football Federation have opened disciplinary proceedings against four members of France’s Euro 2012 squad.

Robert Lewandowski (Poland)

France’s ‘1987 Generation’, so-called after the year of their birth, had been tipped to lead Les Bleus to a repeat of the team’s success at Euro 2000.

Defender Bacary Sagna has lamented the “avoidable” infighting that he believes “wasted” France’s hopes of glory at Euro 2012.

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of striker Olivier Giroud from Montpellier.

Olivier Giroud could be confirmed as an Arsenal player later today after Montpellier president Louis Nicollin revealed a deal had been completed for the in-demand France forward.

France drifted into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 despite second-half goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sebastian Larsson providing a rousing Group D send-off for already-eliminated Sweden.

Sweden 2 France 0

France coach Laurent Blanc says Yann M’Vila has returned to fitness following his ankle injury, but said he was unlikely to start tonight’s opener against England.

Ireland

Arsenal will not be rushed into making an announcement on Robin van Persie’s future, chief executive Ivan Gazidis insists.

Ben Lyttleton on the young guns who’ll fire in Poland and the Ukraine

England’s Euro 2012 hopes suffered a major blow yesterday after Frank Lampard was ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury.

Defender Bacary Sagna is confident Arsenal can keep hold of captain and star striker Robin van Persie this summer.

When Arsenal needed it most, they knew who to turn to.

Newcastle playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa is the eye-catching name among the initial list of 12 overseas-based players selected for France’s Euro 2012 training squad.

France coach Laurent Blanc admits midfield is an area of concern as he prepares to release his preliminary squad for next month’s European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.

Yann M’Vila has admitted he would love to join Arsenal.

Neil Lennon admits Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper responded in fine fashion to his recent criticism of the strike duo by sharing the goals in Celtic’s 3-1 Europa League win over Rennes at Parkhead last night.