With the World Cup draws over, teams are now left to prepare for how they would conquer whichever group they have been placed into. While every team who have qualified for the World Cup have a chance of winning the tournament, any country that would win would have to overcome their group stage opponents first. Here are a few eye-catching games in the group stages we believe you should not miss.   Portugal vs. Spain, June 15 Both of these sides are favourites for the competition. Spain who won the 2010 World Cup, has been on a decline for a few years now, and reigning European Champions would want to start their competition on a winning note. Argentina vs. Iceland, June 16 This could be Lionel Messi’s chance of winning the World cup, but Iceland would not be push overs. The small island nation shocked Europe by qualifying for this competition, and seeing how Iran almost held Argentina to a Stalemate in the last World Cup means there is room for upset here. Nigeria vs. Argentina, June 26 Nigeria beat Argentina 4-2 in a friendly in November, that game did not say much anyway, as these sides have met in five of Nigeria’s last six world cup appearances, and the Argentines have not lost a single game to them. England vs. Belgium, June 28 By the time these teams face off, both teams should have qualified but with Colombia or Poland possible next round opponents, they would both want to top the group and get a favourable draw.

Arsenal would be without the service of their French attacker Alexandre Lacazette after he limped off from their match against Huddersfield town. The former Lyon attacker had opened the scoring against the Terriers with a sweet effort, but was take off at half time as he struggled to remain in the match. Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he has a groin problem, which makes him available to face Red Devils. Lacazette joined the Gunners this summer for a club record fee, and although he has been slow to adapt to the Premier League, he is still one of the best performing players in the Gunner’s team. Meanwhile, Wenger believes Mesut Ozil has found a new “fight” that has seen him help the Gunners to a succession of wins. The German is set to leave the Gunners at the end of this season after refusing to sign a new deal. Many had expected the Gunners to cash in on him and Alexis Sanchez in the January transfer window, but that looks unlikely now as the Gunners would prefer to have them stay and help push them back into the Top Four. Ozil, Sanchez and Lacazette bagged a goal each while Olivier Giroud came of the bench to score twice and lead the Gunners to victory over David Wagner’s side.

Arsenal have completed a deal to bring Barcelona’s Sporting Director Raul Sanllehi to the Emirates. The Spaniard who has been credited with helping Barcelona make world class signings over the past few seasons, joined the Catalans in 2003. Sanllehi led the negotiations which brought in the likes of Neymar and Luis Suarez, who was claimed to have been signed for less than the price Liverpool intended to sell him at the time. Ivan Gazidis hailed the appointment of the Spaniard, claiming that they had been supplementing their team with some of Europe’s best hands for the past few seasons, which shows how much they want to take the club to the next level. According to  him, Raul is well known around Europe and comes with a lot of experience having been involved in some of the biggest deals around the world. Sanllehi is credited with assembling Pep Guardiola’s team that conquered the world in 2009. He would be hugely missed in his home country with the Spanish media claiming it would be hard to understand how Barcelona operates without the presence of Sanllehi. He is expected to join the Gunners in February.

Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela is set to return to a football pitch after 13 months out through injury. The Argentine has not featured for the Lilywhites since October 25 last year when they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Liverpool. He had been treated in Rome and other places before returning to London for the final phase of his recovery. Mauricio Pochettino had earlier in the season admitted that Lamela’s injury was a mysterious one and he could not say when the attacker would be ready to play again. However, speaking ahead of his side’s match against Leicester  City, Pochettino was happy to announce that Lamela is now available for selection. Lamela who cost Spurs £30 million in the summer of 2013 as they looked to cover the void left by the sale of Gareth Bale would also be delighted to be back as he seem to be a better player under the tutelage of Pochettino after initially struggling to justify his price tag. Many fans may have given up on Lamela, but Pochettino insists that he believed all along that his fellow country man would be back sooner.

Former Nigeria International Michael Emenalo has been unveiled as the new Sporting director of AS Monaco. Emenalo spent ten years at Chelsea and left just 21 days ago claiming he wanted to see his kids grow and also reflect on the work his has done so far. However,  the 52 years old has now taken up a role in Monaco and would report directly to the club’s Russian vice-President Vadim Vasilyev. He held several positions at Chelsea before being promoted to Technical Director in 2011. During his time with the Blues he oversaw the signing of some of their best players including Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante, and David Luiz. He also oversaw the sale of some fringe players like Kevin De Bruyne, Mohammed Salah, and Romelu Lukaku. These transfers netted the Blues huge profits, but the players would go on to have better careers and command larger fees for the buying clubs. He is said to have fallen out with both Antonio Conte and Roman Abramovich after a poor summer that saw the Blues lose out to their rivals on the signing of some of their key targets, and he was also blamed for the sale of Nemanja Matic to rivals Manchester United. Vasilyev is delighted to have landed Emenalo as claimed his recruitment shows they remain committed to being one of the best teams in Europe.