Premier League news conferences: Aston Villa (09:00), Newcastle (10:00) & Liverpool (11:00)
Man Utd, Crystal Palace, Wolves & Brighton (13:00), Burnley (13:15)
Leicester, Man City, West Ham, Tottenham, Chelsea & Everton (13:30 all times GMT)
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Still waiting for the first manager news conference of the day with Astron Villa boss Steve Gerrard.
We will then have Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp before things get hectic around 13:00 GMT.
I see there is a piece in the Daily Telegraph, external entitled 'Inside the managerial mind of 'Big Dunc' - and why Everton's players should be afraid'.
As one or two burglars can probably testify to, I'd imagine you would not want to get on the wrong side of Duncan Ferguson.
As per our post at 08:36 looks like Hugo Lloris' immediate future at Tottenham is sorted.
Only two goalkeepers Pat Jennings (590) and Ted Ditchburn (452) have made more appearances for Spurs.
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Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Manchester United don't want to loan Jesse Lingard out. Jesse Lingard doesn't want to join Newcastle on a permanent basis.
It will be interesting to see whether the impasse will be broken before the transfer window closes on 31 January.
Effectively, Lingard wants to keep his options open. Tottenham did offer a loan with the potential for a permanent move in the summer but United don't want to do business with a top-four rival. The same is true of West Ham, who want Lingard back after his successful loan spell last season.
Newcastle are a different proposition but it seems only an increase in a loan fee for the remainder of the campaign can get any kind of deal done.
Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has taken to social media, external to apologise for his red card in their EFL Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool on Thursday night.
Image source, thomaspartey5That look from Gerard PIque probably sums up the mood at Barcelona at present.
Defeat deepened the gloom for Barca - sixth in La Liga and enduring a miserable season - with boss Xavi's only realistic hopes of a trophy this season now lying with the Europa League.
And these stats (if spot on) don't look too pretty for Jordi Alba, although in mitigation Xavi said that the left-back had played with a hamstring problem.
Image source, @BarcaUniversalAthletic Bilbao 3-2 Barcelona (AET)
Image source, Getty ImagesNot a good Thursday's night work http://for Barcelona.
Iker Muniain scored twice - including an extra-time penalty winner - as Athletic Bilbao knocked Barcelona out of the Copa del Rey in the last 16.
Muniain opened the scoring inside two minutes, before Ferran Torres scored his first Barcelona goal to level in the 20th minute.
Inigo Martinez thought he'd won it only for Pedri to fire in a last-gasp leveller and force extra time.
But Muniain's 105th-minute penalty clinched victory for the hosts.
Elche 1-2 Real Madrid (AET)
Image source, Getty ImagesReal Madrid survived a scare to reach the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, beating Elche after extra time at Estadio Martinez Valero.
Substitute Eden Hazard scored the winner five minutes from time.
After a tight game in normal time, the hosts took a shock lead when Gonzalo Verdu fired in from the edge of the area after his free-kick hit the wall.
Isco levelled on 108 minutes, before Pere Milla was sent off in stoppage time.
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
Wolves have rejected Tottenham's £15m bid for winger, external Adama Traore but they expect Antonio Conte to return with another offer before the transfer window closes.
The club would let Traore go to help fund Bruno Lage's squad building plans but, clearly, the price has to be right.
The Spain international has 18 months left on his contract and Wolves' attempts to agree an extension have so far met with failure.
Image source, Getty ImagesIn case you missed this one...
Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris has agreed a new two-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2024.
The France goalkeeper's existing deal was due to expire in the summer, and he has been free to talk to foreign clubs since the start of January.
A World Cup winner with France in 2018, the 35-year-old joined Spurs from Lyon in 2012.
He has since made 318 Premier League appearances, keeping 112 clean sheets.
Watford v Norwich (20:00 GMT)
Watford
Image source, Getty ImagesWhen Watford appointed Claudio Ranieri as manager in October, their aim was to stop the "negative trend" they had identified in performances and avoid the prospect of a Premier League relegation battle.
The club's owners, the Pozzo family, are famed for their ruthless dealings with managers. Ranieri is their 10th appointment in seven years and his predecessor, Spaniard Xisco Munoz, was sacked with the Hornets 14th in the table having collected seven points from their opening seven games.
Three months on and, following Saturday's 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Newcastle, Watford are a point above the bottom three.
It's now two wins and 10 defeats in all competitions since Ranieri came in, but few of those games have carried as much significance as their home game against Norwich on Friday.
With Newcastle out of the way - and Tuesday's trip to Burnley postponed - they face the Canaries knowing that defeat would see them drop into the relegation zone for the first time this season. They could even be bottom by the end of the weekend.
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
A winter World Cup will soon be a reality.
Tickets for the event in Qatar, which starts on 21 November, went on sale yesterday and FIFA reported 1.2m were requested by fans across the World.
Apparently, the highest demand came from fans from Qatar, followed by Argentina, Mexico, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, England, India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and France.
More than 140,000 tickets have been requested for the final, which will be held on 18 December and over 80,000 for the opening match, which will involve Qatar.
The group stage draw is on 1 April.
England are through, one of Wales or Scotland might make it, one of Italy and Portugal definitely won't.
Friday's back pages
The Times
Image source, The TimesFriday's back pages
The Daily Star
Image source, Daily StarFriday's back pages
Image source, Daily TelegraphFriday's back pages
The Guardian
Image source, The GuardianFriday's back pages
Image source, Daily ExpressFriday's back pages
Metro
Image source, MaetroNow then time for a flick through Friday's national newspaper back pages...
Got to be honest a World Cup every two years is not for me and that's before you even get to the demands on the top players or all the extra travel around the globe that may be required.
It's pretty special as a four-year event, which may well be diluted by one every couple of years.
Hit the thumbs up if you'd be all for it or thumbs down, if like me, you think it's best left as it is.
