Football (Soccer) News
Keith Andrews and the high-scoring Igor Thiago face difficult second album after outperforming expectations
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 8th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 9th
Continue reading...New head coach Marco Rose has a lot to live up to after last season’s sixth-placed finish while fans have a first year in Europe to look forward to
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 6th
Continue reading...In a mailbag edition of his newsletter, Jonathan Wilson answers questions about Michael Carrick, VAR and the Premier League’s new teams
Manchester United finally seem to have something that resembles stability in the dressing room under Michael Carrick. I feel with quality signings in defence and midfield, they could mount a decent challenge for the Premier League next season. How do you feel they will fare? – Sterling.
There’s an odd sense that Michael Carrick’s level of achievement last season was at precisely the most awkward level for the board. United didn’t produce indisputably brilliant football under him but equally 12 wins and three draws in 17 games was good enough that they pretty much had to give him the job. But it’s one thing to turn out those kinds of results when the pressure’s off, you’re already out of both cup competitions and you don’t have any European football; it’s quite another to do it in the heat of a full season. United don’t have to have an especially amazing season to play 15 more games this season than they did in 2025-26.
This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here.
Continue reading...Unai Emery’s task seems to get harder each year, and the Europa League winners need their big signings to shine
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 4th
Continue reading...With most of their rivals changing managers, can the champions go back-to-back for the first time in more than 90 years?
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 1st (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons’ prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 1st
Continue reading...Mikel Arteta’s team and the Brazilian star could be a perfect match. It also could be a risk that ends in disaster
Sometimes what is needed is something different.
There is a long history in football of counterintuitive thinking being successful, of the benefits of creative tension, of adding grit to the oyster to generate the pearl, but even so, the news that talks between Vinícius Júnior and Arsenal on personal terms are progressing comes as something of a shock. Mikel Arteta’s great followers of a blueprint adding a free spirit like the Brazilian? Really?
This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian. Subscribe for free here.
Continue reading...Poland striker scores double on his home MLS debut
Messi returns as Inter Miami draw 2-2 with Columbus
Robert Lewandowski scored two goals on his home debut as the Chicago Fire eked out a 2-1 victory over Charlotte FC on Saturday. The win is Chicago’s first in Major League Soccer since the end of the international break.
Lewandowski, signed in late June as a free agent, produced a vintage performance to help the Fire (9-6-2, 29 points) close an ever-narrowing gap with the Eastern Conference’s top three clubs. Charlotte (7-7-4, 25pts) has now lost four of its last five road matches.
Continue reading...Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta is perhaps best placed to fill the void but the coaching contenders are legion as another season looms
This used to be a land of giants. This used to be a land where big men fought. This used to be a land where Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger tussled, then José Mourinho joined the fray. This used to be a land where Jürgen Klopp made Pep Guardiola reconsider, and he changed his style and won anyway.
Not any more. Next season will be the first since the inaugural Premier League in 1992 not to feature any of the five big managerial beasts – not Ferguson, not Wenger, not Mourinho, not Klopp and not Guardiola.
Continue reading...Measures planned to run throughout 2026-27 season
Ifab yet to give permission for proposed rule change
English football will introduce a trial this season in an effort to end the goalkeeper tactical time-out.
The trial – backed collectively by Pro Ref (formerly Professional Game Match Officials), the Football Association, Premier League, English Football League, Women’s Super League and National League – aims to prevent goalkeeper injuries used to disrupt momentum and allow opportunities for tactical instruction.
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Continue reading...Argentinian surplus to requirements at Chelsea
Deal follows Morgan Rogers’ switch to Stamford Bridge
Aston Villa have confirmed the loan signing of the Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho, as a summer of change continues at Villa Park.
The deal for Garnacho’s season-long loan includes a conditional obligation to buy a player who joined Chelsea last August from Manchester United in a deal worth £40m. Villa will be expected to pay a similar fee for Garnacho, who struggled to impress at Stamford Bridge despite featuring in 43 games in all competitions and scoring eight goals.
Continue reading...33-year-old German could be hit with one-year ban
South-coast club denied chance to win promotion
Southampton’s manager, Tonda Eckert, is facing the possibility of a lengthy suspension from all football activity in England, and perhaps beyond, after being charged with three counts of misconduct by the Football Association.
All three relate to the ‘Spygate’ scandal and involve breaching FA rules during covert missions to illicitly observe Championship training sessions involving Middlesbrough, Ipswich and Oxford last season. The 33-year-old has until Tuesday to respond to the charges and may well fear the precedent set by Fifa when it banned Bev Priestman, the English-born former Canada women’s head coach and assistant England women coach, from football worldwide for 12 months. In 2024 Priestman, then in charge of Canada, was found to have authorised a spying mission involving the use of a drone to monitor New Zealand’s training during the Paris Olympics.
Continue reading...Captain says promotion would bring ‘the most happiness’
He visited largest shareholder Daniel Křetínský in Prague
Jarrod Bowen has said he intends to remain with West Ham after the club’s relegation to the Championship. The forward has attracted interest from Premier League teams but has spelled out his desire to stay after a summer during which he travelled to Prague for talks with the largest shareholder, Daniel Křetínský.
“I feel like we’re moving in the right direction as a club,” Bowen told West Ham’s media channels. “There’s a lot of thinking time over the summer and a lot of things that go in your head. But I look in years and years to come of when I retire, what’s going to bring me the most happiness. For me now that’s getting this club back into the Premier League.”
Continue reading...Australian Sports Group takes over licence from Capital Football
New owner has option to introduce ALM side for the 2028/29 season
The future of Canberra United has been secured, with a new owner found for the two-time A-League Women champions.
After two years of uncertainty, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced on Friday that Australian Sports Group (ASG) has taken charge of Canberra’s licence.
Continue reading...FA could follow Fifa precedent with 12-month suspension
Manager to face media on Saturday in pre-season friendly
The future of Southampton’s manager, Tonda Eckert, remains shrouded in uncertainty as he waits to learn the outcome of a lengthy and detailed Football Association investigation into last season’s spygate scandal.
In May the English Football League expelled Southampton from the Championship playoff final against Hull after finding that a club intern engaged as a first-team analyst had spied on a key Middlesbrough training session before the semi-final first leg at the Riverside.
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