Some sort of pre-arranged period of time in which a club was allowed to recruit extra help in areas of the pitch they require it, perhaps. We’d imagine that would’ve been really useful to prevent this sort of overwork. RETRO CORNER Kids, ask your parents about this one, but Manchester City weren’t always part of a merciless, lavishly-funded, multi-national football corportation: once upon a time they were just a hapless team from a spicy part of town, who occasionally achieved extraordinary results.
FRIDAY’S BIG HEADLINES Tottenham hit by Kaneocalypse Of all the things which could go wrong for Tottenham and Jose Mourinho - aside from, say, forcing a team doctor out of the club for simply doing her job - losing Harry Kane for a prolonged period of time would be up near the top of the list. And, lo, the Kaneocalypse has arrived with the news that Tottenham’s captain requires surgery on the hamstring injury he sustained in the recent defeat at Southampton and will be ruled out until April.
Indeed, unbeaten in 12 games, of which they've won 11, Porto are in sparkling form and confidence is sky high coming into the match. That being said, a concerning aspect has crept into their game in recent outings and that's a decrease in defensive solidarity, having now conceded a 5 times in their last 3 matches.
It may be the season of good cheer, but those festive celebrations have been on short supply in Torquay as the football club have been extremely poor on the pitch and have failed to win any of their last seven league games. With so little points coming in, it should come as no surprise to learn that they have dropped down the league and they go into this weekend’s fixture just five points off the bottom four.
This is one of the few matches from Australian lower leagues who will be played in the morning and I see surely here at least three goals. With just little luck, even four or more is also pretty good option. So, Dandenong City is not just in this moment very efficient team, but also last year, they are played two spectacular duels against Heidelberg United. In first one, it was even 5-1, while in last official duel 2-3. After those duels and with this current form, I believe it is ok to bet on goals here. Over 3 is ok.
Video - Manchester United plan huge January spending spree. Haaland is just the start - Euro Papers01:27 Solskjaer ready to deal with Raiola The Mirror runs a story that Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is prepared to do business with Mino Raiola in order to sign RB Salzburg’s Erling Braut Haaland.
Having fallen short of automatic promotion last season, Leeds are making sure they’re far enough clear this time around. Given that they are on a brilliant run, they’ll be hoping to add another three points to their tally this weekend.
And although you could hardly call them long-suffering, it would be unfair on a generation of Liverpool fans who have seen pictures of Emlyn Hughes, Phil Thompson, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen lifting the top domestic honour to be denied the vision of Jordan Henderson doing the same. Deciding relegation, promotion and who secures the fifth bonus Champions League spot are areas up for debate - going on current league places, introducing a mini play-off system or, reluctantly, keeping teams in their existing leagues, but at the apex at the top of the English football structure there should be no debate.
Arsenal are on a really poor run, by their standards, and looking at their away record, there is a general feel that they will struggle here. Norwich are coming from a crucial win over Everton, which saw them rise from the bottom. However, they don’t have a good home record, losing four of six and have no clean sheet in the six. They beat Manchester City there and will hope to replicate this against Arsenal but from the balance of performances by the two sides, we see a scoring draw here.
One of the major questions on the lips of every football fan is whether the Premier League season will reach its conclusion. But does it actually matter when it comes to the final standings? All 20 Premier League clubs are committed to finishing the season, but what if that proves impossible? If the campaign cannot be completed, one option could see the table as it stands now (after 29 games for most teams) declared final.
Burnley have kept clean sheets in three of their last four Premier League matches. Burnley have won their last two away matches in the Premier League. Newcastle have failed to score in any of their last three Premier League matches. Newcastle have failed to win nine of their last ten Premier League matches.
One hundred days after Leicester City hammered Aston Villa 4-0 on 9 March, the Premier League resumes on Wednesday with the first of 92 games to be played behind closed doors over the next six weeks. Relegation-threatened Aston Villa's home match with European hopefuls Sheffield United (18:00 BST) marks the restart of the 2019-20 season, which was stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic. And while Liverpool, who lead the table by 25 points, are all but certain to be crowned champions of England for the first time in 30 years, there are lots of other issues to be resolved.
West Ham United slipped into the Premier League relegation zone after giving up a two goal lead as they were held 3-3 at home to fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Issa Diop put West Ham ahead on the half hour, sliding in to poke home a Robert Snodgrass free kick, whipped in from the left.
Things didn’t get much better on home soil during this period, leaving them with a record of two wins, one draw and five defeats in their last eight home league games. MK Don’s recent improvements do bring some optimism to the table, but they’re facing a very tough Bristol Rovers side on New Year’s Day.
Kidding but they need to stop the rot. That's five conceded and squat scored on two games, and the question must be asked why didn't Klopp select a full-strength team? Much of Liverpool's problems post winter break appears to be a lack of rhythm. Therefore it surely made sense to field a full strength team to attempt to get back into their stride.
Real Esteli is going to face Diriangen. The hosts in the last five won twice, draw twice and lost one clash. They scored five goals and conceded three. Esteli at home won 5 of 8 matches, scored 17 goals and conceded only three. Four wins in a row it was a great strike for Esteli at home but they draw in the previous round against Managua. Diriangen lost 0:3 against Juventus Managua on away and 1:2 against Managua FC. I don't think that Esteli will struggle in this clash and not win. I pick an Asian handicap -1 for Real Esteli
Posted at 85' Casemiro (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the left wing. Posted at 85' Foul by Felipe (Atlético de Madrid). Posted at 85' Foul by Federico Valverde (Real Madrid). Posted at 85' Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half. BookingPosted at 83' Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Posted at 83' Foul by Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid).
I did not stop. I wanted to do it and I did it with passion. I have always said the Premier League is my natural habitat is where I am most loved is where I felt if I had the option is the league and the country that I considered the best and found most enjoyable and where I am really happy. When you decide to stay more years in the country – I think Mr Wenger was probably the last of that generation of big era in football clubs, Sir Alex and Mr Wenger.
Posted at 80' Foul by Lauren Hemp (Manchester City Women). Posted at 80' Jasmine Matthews (Bristol City Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Posted at 77' Foul by Jill Scott (Manchester City Women). Posted at 77' Charlie Wellings (Bristol City Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half. SubstitutionPosted at 76' Substitution, Bristol City Women.
Lokomotiv goalkeeper Martin Lukov, however, told local media on Tuesday: "We no longer have the right to make statements. Bulgaria, which declared a state of emergency until May 13 to halt the spread of coronavirus, has already imposed a ban on groups of more than two adults congregating together. The regional health inspectorate in Plovdiv said they warned Lokomotiv with a protocol, saying any training sessions during the state of emergency were prohibited.
Zinedine Zidane's side were reeling from a 4-3 home defeat by Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey on Thursday and started badly when Unai Nunez gave Osasuna the lead in the 14th minute with a diving header from a corner. Real showed little sign of panic, however, and midfielder Isco equalised in the 33rd minute with a volley before captain Sergio Ramos put them in front five minutes later with a header from close range after a flick-on from Casemiro.
Leeds have managed to recover with recent wins over QPR and Blackburn, but their away form needs to return to the previous heights for them to claim promotion. Leeds are winless in four away league games (W0 D2 L2) since winning their first four away league games of the season – their current winless away run is their longest since going 11 without a win between December 2017 and April 2018.
SubstitutionPosted at 72' Substitution, Aberdeen. Ryan Hedges replaces Dylan McGeouch. Posted at 72' Attempt missed. Lewis Ferguson (Aberdeen) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Posted at 71' Foul by Ilkay Durmus (St. Mirren). Posted at 71' Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
They are eighth in the Premier League, eight places above their opponents Brighton and Hove Albion. The Gunners may be plenty of places ahead of the visitors but there is only a four point gap between the two sides. Arsenal struggled to get a point at Norwich on Sunday but they did at least get closer to the top four.
VAR INCREASES PRESSURE ON EVERTON'S SILVA If Everton manger Marco Silva fails to ride out the storm at Goodison Park he will rue the cruel moment VAR handed Leicester City their winner on Sunday. Everton were hanging on for a point at 1-1 when Kelechi Iheanacho ran through to score for Leicester in stoppage time, only to have his celebrations cut short by an offside flag.
With all 20 Premier League clubs playing twice in the space of the past four days, it is was another hectic - and entertaining - Christmas period. Liverpool thrashed second-placed Leicester and then edged past Wolves to move 13 points clear at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Manchester United and Everton - the latter under the guidance of new boss Carlo Ancelotti - also earned back-to-back wins, while Southampton and Watford picked up four-point hauls to help their battles against relegation.
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho admits changes have to be made to his squad in the summer after a spate of injuries derailed the club's season. Forwards Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are sidelined along with captain Hugo Lloris and midfielder Moussa Sissoko. We know that we have to build a squad more balanced for next season," said Mourinho, whose team are five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. You have to be ready to cope with these unpredictable things.
West Ham midfielder Declan Rice says no Premier League players want the Video Assistant Referee system used after his side were denied a late equaliser at Sheffield United. Robert Snodgrass' injury-time effort was ruled out by VAR because the ball struck Rice's arm in the build-up. Hammers boss David Moyes also insisted the goal, which would have made the score 1-1, should have counted. We are fuming.
Barcelona live 3 March 20 | Friday Night Live (April 24th) 8 hours ago — Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona live free 3 March 2024 - uipln 2 hours ago — 0:22Watch Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona live stream. Watch this game ...
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BookingPosted at 90'+2' Andrew Shinnie (Luton Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Posted at 90'+2' Harry Toffolo (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Posted at 90'+2' Foul by Andrew Shinnie (Luton Town). Posted at 89' Foul by Harry Toffolo (Huddersfield Town). Posted at 89' Danny Hylton (Luton Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Posted at 87' Attempt blocked.
Celtic fined for banner and chantsCeltic have already been fined £11,000 after fans set off flares and threw objects during a Europa League play-off round win over AIK in Stockholm in August. They were then fined £10,400 after supporters set off flares during the group-stage win over Cluj in October. The club also face a hearing on 12 December relating to another Uefa charge regarding the "use of pyrotechnics" during their win over Lazio in Rome on 7 November.
They want reassurances to questions they have around the return to training protocols and the specifics around the spread of the virus. We're due back in this week. I've said I'm not going in," Deeney, 31, told Eddie Hearn and Tony Bellew on the Talk the Talk YouTube show. It only takes one person to get infected within the group and I don't want to be bringing that home. My son is only five months old.
Smolevichy-STI are winless so far in the league and also have scored only 1 goal. Including the last 2 friendlies before the start of the season, they have scored only once in the last 4 games. Of the last 10 official home games of Smolevichy-STI 8 went under the 2.5 goals.
Media playback is not supported on this device What could happen next at Man City after European ban? But does the conclusion of the Riza case just three weeks ago give City and their sizeable team of lawyers cause for optimism, and partly explain their defiance? Leading British sports lawyer John Mehrzad thinks so. That case will be at the forefront of their lawyers' minds," he says. They can't have missed it.
Almost every footballer out there has their own book these days. You know the drill - the obligatory autobiography telling of great victories and what makes them tick on and off the field. However, plenty of footballers have also ventured deeper into the literary world. On World Book Day, we take a look at a handful of those players and managers - and one wordsmith in particular - who put pen to paper on something other than a contract or the standard tell-all tale.
Manager Steve Cooper will be particularly frustrated with this defeat because his team had overturned a deficit only to fall victim to a comeback themselves. QPR boss Mark Warburton will feel the same pain for different reasons. He watched his side suffer a limp 2-0 loss at Huddersfield that keeps them in 17th place.
How did it come to this? Coventry leave Ricoh ArenaCoventry & Birmingham agree FA Cup ticket splitTrade down £2,000 on match days - the businesses left behindCoventry's move to Birmingham has proved financially tough for some businesses close to the Ricoh Arena. The Bull & Anchor, one of the few pubs within two miles of the venue, used to be a popular meeting place for fans before and after matches.
The hosts have already seen six 2-2 draws this season, while Bristol City have avoided defeat in 75% of their away games. We think both sides could use the point following their recent form, so we’re backing them to share the spoils in another 2-2 draw.
Not just crosses. I remember he taught me some easy rules. The first one, was on touch. That I don’t use too much power and trying to destroy the goal or the goalie with ball. I think that I was thinking about doing that and it was something new that he told me. I trained a bit on that, but without scoring.
Both are now honorary citizens of Bergamo and appear on a mural in the city. Gomez, 32, has stayed loyal after becoming renowned for his "floss" dance goal celebration in 2016-17, before it appeared in online video game Fortnite and became a viral craze. Humble and selfless, he typifies Gasperini's Atalanta and why their passionate fans have taken them to heart. They have never relied on one or two key players.
By the time the football kicks off on Saturday afternoon, all the talks about who shall run the country will be in the past and the game will take centre stage. However, given that the Fleetwood Town owner came out with a message of support for the Tory government this week, it seems likely that around half of the players in the league will want to raise their game against a side who’s political allegiances do not match their own.
