Premier League Diary: Sky start making regions fight one another for glory

Say what you like about Sky Sports – within the bounds of libel laws and common decency, obviously, you filthy-mouthed animal – but they know how football works. They know where the buttons are; they know what makes the ordinary fan tick. To any other television company, this weekend’s Premier League scheduling might have been a curiosity, something to mention in passing. But Sky, bouncing from the success of Red Monday a few months ago, saw their chance to create a whole new institution from whole cloth:

FA Cup: Baby daughter's birth saw Kane miss Aston Villa clash

Tottenham striker Harry Kane did not play for Tottenham against Aston Villa on Sunday following the birth of his first child.

Harry Kane had good reason to be absent from Tottenham's 2-0 FA Cup victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, with his partner having earlier given birth to the couple's first child.

Kane was left out of Spurs' starting XI for the third-round match at White Hart Lane – one of nine changes to the side that beat Premier League leaders Chelsea last time out.