Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

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Premier League schedule today: How to watch, TV channels & live stream

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.

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Fear and loathing linger as Millwall and West Ham resume ferocious rivalry

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.

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Todd Boehly exits Chelsea diminished after having his fingers burned

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.

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

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

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Europa League roundup: Ferencvaros pile more misery on troubled Celtic

  • 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.

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Real Sociedad 1-2 Bournemouth, Crystal Palace 4-0 Lech Poznan, and more: Europa League – as it happened

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.”

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Pino kickstarts Crystal Palace’s Europa League rout of Lech Poznan to ease Sage’s worries

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.

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‘It is for every fan who has ever followed us’: Bournemouth’s European debut caps journey from the brink

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.

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Xhaka promises ‘fire’ from Sunderland on long-awaited return to Europe

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.

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Are Manchester United as poor as the early Premier League table suggests?

Michael Carrick’s side are 13th in the table after four games but, City mitigation aside, several areas need attention

Manchester United are 13th in the Premier League, having taken four points from their first four games: a 2-0 defeat at Hull, 5-2 win against Ipswich, 2-2 draw at Everton and the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday. Mitigation regarding the City reverse can be found in the derby coming three days after the Champions League win against Sabah on Thursday, with Enzo Maresca’s side having 48 hours more rest after winning at Porto. So are United, who host Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before visiting Fulham in the league on Sunday, as poor as the table suggests?

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European football: Inter roar back to beat Udinese and join Roma at the top

  • Inter and Roma lead Serie A, Como move up to third

  • Real Betis beat struggling Villarreal in La Liga

Inter fought back ⁠from two goals down ​to beat Udinese 5-3 on Monday, maintaining their perfect Serie A start alongside Roma, who won 2-0 at Torino before Saturday’s match between ⁠the joint leaders. Both sides have 12 points from four matches and share top spot before their encounter at the Stadio Olimpico, while Como are third on 10 points ⁠after beating Parma 2-1.

Udinese stunned Inter with two goals in the opening 16 minutes, as James Abankwah headed home ​unmarked after nine minutes before Jurgen Ekkelenkamp doubled ‌the visitors’ lead with a ‌close-range finish seven minutes later. Inter hit back through Carlos Augusto, whose long-range effort flew into the bottom corner, ‌before Nicolò Barella levelled 10 minutes before half-time.

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Leeds United 4-1 Newcastle United: Premier League – as it happened

A dominant performance from Leeds sees them run over Newcastle and move up to third in the league

Jaissle did, of course, have a choice; he might’ve picked Touré. But it makes sense that in so competitive a contest and such an intimidating environment, he’s decided that one new face is enough.

Elanga, though, is a big miss. When he was playing age-group football, I really liked him – he combined the agility of a winger with the instinct of a striker. But when he broke into the Manchester United first team, his touch didn’t look good enough for the level, and even at Forest, he was more of a runner than a footballer. His worth-ethic, though, is unreal, and it might just be that he’s improved his technique to the point he’s growing into an all-round threat.

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Premier League schedule today: How to watch, TV channels & live stream

How will Leeds United and Newcastle United fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options

Leeds United and Newcastle United have both enjoyed an unbeaten start to the Premier League season, hinting that Monday’s encounter could be highly competitive between two teams seemingly on an upward trajectory.

After avoiding relegation last season, Leeds are looking to push themselves even higher up the table and have lost just one of their last 12 league games. Newcastle, though, are unbeaten in their last six meetings with Leeds.

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Top of the table, empty in the stands: inside the revolt against Lazio’s owner | Nicky Bandini

Despite an impressive start under Gennaro Gattuso, supporters are boycotting the Stadio Olimpico to wage war against Claudio Lotito

Gennaro Gattuso has given some memorable post-game interviews down the years. Who could forget his “sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit” rant at OFI Crete, or the face of the beleaguered interpreter tasked with translating it? Last year, not long before taking charge of the Italian national team, Gattuso got into a finger-jabbing, language-swapping, almost-nose-to-nose shouting match with Josko Jelicic on Croatian television.

And yet there was something more affecting about the soft way he spoke this Saturday, in Calabrian-accented Italian. Without anger, but with an air of melancholy. “For me, football without fans is shit,” he said. “What do you think? I’d say it’s better to stay home. Better to go for a walk with the dogs.”

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