Sam Allardyce has told his West Ham side to do beleaguered Aston Villa no favours in Saturday s Premier League clash at Upton Park.
Villa manager Paul Lambert has come under increasing pressure after a run of six straight top-flight defeats that has left his side just a point above the relegation zone.
There were plenty of positives for Lambert in last weekend s 2-1 loss to Tottenham, though, not least the fact Andreas Weimann s opener ended a barren run in front of goal that lasted 547 minutes.
However, the game swung on Christian Benteke s dismissal for raising his hand into Ryan Mason s face 25 minutes from time, and Spurs duly took advantage with late goals from Nacer Chadli and Harry Kane.
And Allardyce has called on his in-form side to extend Villa …
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone says he is proud to be part of the Europa League final as his side prepare to face Athletic Bilbao.
Simeone s will play the showpiece final on Tuesday in Bucharest where Bilbao will be looking to deny Atletico a second Europa League title in three seasons.
Atletico won the competition in 2010 after beating Fulham in Hamburg, and Simeone is hoping his team can repeat that success in his first season in charge.
The work we have been doing is very positive, I think it s not the best time to give my opinion before the end of the season, but I can identify with the team, the Argentine said.
The players have shown that they are very competitive and they have got used to playing every Sunday Tuesday for several months.
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Spanish Primera Division side Sevilla have attracted Frenchman Sébastien Squillaci for the coming four seasons.
The defender makes a move from French champions Olympique de Lyon and is to be presented by Sevilla on Thursday. This was announced on the club s official website.
Squillaci, 27 years old, joined Lyon from AS Monaco in 2006 and grew to become one of the team s key players. During those two years, the player formed part of the side that won two national championships and a Coupe de France.
Although Squillaci was selected to form part of the French national team for Euro 2008, he was never given a chance to make an appearance in Switzerland. In the past, he did play thirteen games for les Bleus .
Sevilla are said to pay around six million …