Football (Soccer) News
Hull always knew that, sooner or later, they would lose a Premier League game but no one can say that Sergej Jakirovic’s team did not do everything in their power to try and delay that inaugural top tier defeat.
After conceding two goals in the opening seven minutes Hull could easily have folded but Jakirovic’s promoted players are made of sterner stuff than that. Tellingly, they also sensed the fragility of a gifted but injury hit and extremely youthful Newcastle.
Continue reading...Spurs scored their first goals of the season but Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendía earned the win for Villa
This is the 176th meeting between the sides.
Spurs have the historical edge having won 79 to Villa’s 62. There have been 32 draws.
Continue reading...How will Brighton and Arsenal fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options
Arsenal have picked up where they left off – as the team to beat at the top of the Premier League table. Indeed, four wins from four games have underlined the strength of Mikel Arteta’s team with the Gunners favorites to retain the title they won last season.
Brighton have also started the new season on a strong foot, losing just one of their opening four league fixtures and fighting back from 2-0 down to knock Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup this week. Fabian Hürzeler’s side boast genuine quality.
Continue reading...How will Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are still searching for traction in the Premier League this season with both teams without a win in their opening four matches. It’s against the angsty background that Saturday’s fixture will be played.
Spurs are also yet to score their first league goal. Roberto De Zerbi’s side have failed to score against Brentford, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Everton. After the optimism of the summer transfer window, a familiar malaise has set in around the North London club.
Continue reading...Brentford beat Chelsea at home for the first time since 1938 thanks to a second-half flurry
2 min: Schade advances menacingly down the left, chasing after a long ball by Lewis-Potter. He enters the box ahead of Fofana, but the Chelsea defender does magnificently well to catch up, take over possession, and brush Schade off the ball. Schade claims for a penalty, but not with any real conviction. We play on. It was a fine challenge.
Chelsea get the ball rolling at the Gtech. More accurately, Palmer sends it sailing directly into touch, rugby-style, down the right. A wonderful few-Friday-night-pints-in atmosphere. “If Brentford have no defence at centre back, do Chelsea have a defence anywhere?” wonders Richard Hirst.
Continue reading...How will Brentford and Chelsea fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options
On and off the field, this is a fixture between two close neighbours. Just one point divides Brentford and Chelsea in the Premier League table, with just five miles between the two clubs’ stadiums.
Brentford enter Friday’s match on the back of a 10-game unbeaten run. Keith Andrews has forged a team with a clear identity and playing style. The same can’t yet be said for Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea.
Continue reading...Tottenham begin Saturday’s action against Aston Villa while at Brighton Arsenal are aiming to keep their 100% winning record
Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Continue reading...The Metropolitan police have been granted special powers to tackle violence as the south and east London teams meet again on Saturday after 14 years
Absence has not made the heart grow fonder. Millwall and West Ham meet for the first time in 14 years on Saturday, but it is not going to be a joyous reunion at the Den. The atmosphere will be ferocious and the main hope is that the focus is on the football rather than any nonsense away from the pitch.
These two have plenty of previous, even though they so rarely play each other. The most glaring example is the shocking disorder inside and outside Upton Park when Millwall lost in the second round of the League Cup at West Ham’s old ground in August 2009. A 44-year-old man was stabbed in the chest as trouble raged outside and riot police struggled to maintain order during the game, with play suspended briefly when home supporters invaded the pitch after one West Ham goal.
Continue reading...The billionaire’s departure will change little day-to-day but could be significant for club’s stadium plans
Not since a doomed foray into the thorny world of the transfer market has Todd Boehly had any real influence over the day-to-day at Chelsea. The American exits football as a diminished figure four years on, along with his fellow investor Mark Walter, and the first thing to say is that little will change in the Stamford Bridge boardroom just because Boehly has left the scene.
Clearlake Capital, the US private equity firm founded by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, was already the majority owner and guiding force. The trio of Boehly, Walter and the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss had an equal share of a 38.5% stake but have drifted into irrelevance since the BlueCo consortium bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for £2.5bn in 2022.
Continue reading...Spurs and Villa meet in desperation derby and Andoni Iraola faces test on south-coast return
Chelsea have not won this west London derby since Brentford’s first Premier League season. Each visit since October 2021’s 1-0 win, Ben Chilwell the scorer, has been a draw. This season has continued the divergence between the clubs’ respective approaches, Brentford’s solidity and continuity compared to Chelsea attempting their latest reboot. Kevin Schade, after two well-taken goals at Bournemouth, will fancy facing a defence not yet attuned to Xabi Alonso’s configurations. Only one team has won a Premier League title with a defensive trio: Chelsea’s last title team, in 2016-17 under Antonio Conte. Alonso’s attack has been rather more successful, presenting another challenge for Jannik Schuster. Replacing Nathan Collins, the 20-year-old central defender had a tough examination from Bournemouth’s Evanilson on his first Premier League start, emerging with credit. For Chelsea, João Pedro has registered three goals and three assists, but doubts surrounding his fitness could lead to Danny Welbeck’s first league start. John Brewin
Brentford v Chelsea, Friday 8pm (all times BST)
Tottenham v Aston Villa, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...Hoops beaten again after chastening loss to Rangers
Juventus hammer NEC, Besiktas pile woe on Marseille
Celtic suffered another European embarrassment as the Scottish champions were beaten 3-1 at home by Ferencvaros in the Europa League. Just weeks on from crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers to Austrian side Lask, despite at one point holding a four-goal lead, Celtic’s defensive flaws were exposed once more.
Martin O’Neill’s team also suffered a chastening 3-0 defeat to rivals Rangers last weekend and failed to deliver on their manager’s promise to respond. Bamidele Yusuf opened the scoring for the visitors before Mika Baur equalised late in the first half. However Kristoffer Zachariassen quickly put Ferencvaros back in front before Daniel Arzani’s sensational strike, on his return to Celtic Park, capped a fine night for Ferencvaros.
Continue reading...A good night for Bournemouth and Palace but a miserable one for Celtic
TNT’s Connie McLaughlin asks Celtic boss Martin O’Neill to “talk to us about the thinking behind” replacing goalkeeper Sam Johnstone with Viljami Sinisalo … and receives an unnecessarily abrupt and cranky response. “No I’ll not talk to you about the thinking behind that … he was always going to play … believe it or not, Connie, my job is not actually to explain every single situation to you … do you know what I’ll do? … I’ll tell the fans … through my Celtic TV.”
Would he like to talk about the other three changes? “No, absolutely not … I don’t want to be ruinous here of this situation … start again, and tell me all about it … give me the rest of the changes … [McLaughlin tells him] … I’m delighted you’re taking about James Forrest … he’s been a fantastic player … getting on a little bit … he’s been a fantastic impact sub … let’s see what he can do … can he last the game? … I doubt it very much … thank you.”
Continue reading...It was worth the wait for Crystal Palace. After being denied their rightful place in the Europa League last season, Pierre Sage’s side made the perfect debut by brushing aside Lech Poznan with a victory that will take some of the heat off their new manager.
The Frenchman has big shoes to fill in replacing Oliver Glasner after his predecessor won three trophies in 12 months and there had been some talk of disquiet behind the scenes following his decision to drop the teenager Jaydee Canvot at the weekend. But while Palace face a testing trip to face in-form Leeds on Sunday having conceded 11 goals from their opening four Premier League matches, they were given a big helping hand by their opponents here well before Radoslaw Murawski was sent off late on for a reckless foul on Canvot.
Continue reading...Club legend Steve Fletcher reflects on the wild rise over two decades to playing Real Sociedad in the Europa League
It is 13 years since Bournemouth, a couple of months after finishing runners-up to Doncaster in the third tier, hosted Real Madrid. It was a balmy summer’s day, officially Carlo Ancelotti’s first match in charge, and, a few hours after checking into the Haven hotel on the Sandbanks peninsula, a wave of galácticos took to the pitch: Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Kaká, Karim Benzema, the list goes on.
An early, wayward Ronaldo free-kick broke the wrist of an 11-year‑old boy before Madrid ran out 6-0 winners in a bucket-list friendly.
Continue reading...Captain looking forward to intimidating atmosphere when Wearsiders host AZ, after 53 years away
When Sunderland last played European football, club directors viewed it as a useful means of raising the cash necessary to fund floodlight upgrades at Roker Park necessitated by England’s widespread adoption of colour television.
Back in the autumn of 1973 a lighting system compatible with the demands of broadcasting in black and white was proving increasingly outdated and Sunderland responded by doubling admission prices for the second leg of their opening European Cup Winners’ Cup tie against Vasas of Budapest. Coming at a moment when miners and railway workers were engaged in long-running industrial action and north-easterners’ finances were duly tight, it dictated that a disappointing crowd of under 23,000 turned out to watch Dennis Tueart’s penalty secure a 3-0 aggregate win.
Continue reading...