Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Cunha’s ban could reignite relegation battle, Nketiah is full of confidence and Manchester United have lost fear factor

A clear contrast in styles will be visible in a game that could have major ramifications for the Champions League qualification hopes of both Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. No team in the Premier League has averaged less possession than Forest’s 40.1% this season and no team has more of the ball on average than Manchester City (60.4%). So the fact a 59-point chasm between the teams from last season has been completely eroded – Nuno Espírito Santo’s men are actually a point better off than the champions after 27 games – suggests possession is not the footballing essential it once was. City were routine winners at home to Forest in December but beating Nuno’s side at the City Ground is a far sterner challenge. Arsenal and Liverpool are among the sides who have failed to do so in recent months. Dominic Booth

Nottingham Forest v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Brighton v Fulham, Saturday 3pm

Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town, Saturday 3pm

Liverpool v Southampton, Saturday 3pm

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Premier League revenues almost double those in La Liga and Bundesliga

  • New Uefa figures show extent of Premier League power
  • Report says Chelsea 2024 squad was most expensive ever

The Premier League’s financial power continues to blow its European rivals out of the water, with combined revenues almost double those in Germany and Spain according to newly released figures from Uefa.

In the latest evidence of England’s sizeable competitive advantage, Uefa’s annual European club finance and investment landscape report showed Premier League clubs reporting revenue of just over €7.1bn (£5.9bn) in the 2023 financial year. The top flight’s nearest competitors, La Liga and the Bundesliga, brought in €3.7bn and €3.6bn respectively. It forms part of a wider picture in which revenues in the continent’s top divisions totalled €26.8bn, 17% more than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Real Sociedad 1-1 Manchester United: Europa League last 16, first leg – as it happened

Joshua Zirkzee opened the scoring but Mikel Oyarzabal levelled from the spot in San Sebastian

6 min: A free kick for Sociedad out on the right. Kubo curls it in. Dalot heads half-clear. Barrenetxea returns the ball into the mixer from the left. Too long. Kubo tries again from the other side. He can neither get a cross in nor a shot away. United finally clear their lines.

4 min: Garnacho has started the game on the right. Hojlund fills in on the left with a direct dribble and low cross that’s easily cleared, but the run offers United some early hope.

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Harvey Elliott admits to anger and frustration at lack of Liverpool starts

  • The ‘chosen one’ scored dramatic first-leg winner at PSG
  • ‘I want to play, but need to respect manager’s decisions’

Harvey Elliott has said a starring role as Liverpool’s “chosen one” against Paris Saint-Germain compensated for the anger and frustration he has felt at his limited game-time under Arne Slot.

The Liverpool forward believes his match-winning goal on Wednesday in the Champions League last-16 first leg, scored 47 seconds after replacing Mohamed Salah, underlined the determination of every squad member to contribute this season plus the quality of Slot’s decision-making. But having been restricted to 507 minutes of football, and only 76 minutes in the Premier League, the 21-year-old admits Slot’s outstanding debut campaign has had its challenges.

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PSG 0-1 Liverpool: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened

PSG dominated, creating chance after chance, but came up against Alisson in inspired form, eventually succumbing to Harvey Elliott’s late smash-and-grab winner

2 min: Ruiz hassles Gravenberch down the PSG left but the Liverpool midfielder holds firm and buys a cheap free kick. PSG soon try again, this time down the right, Hakimi nearly getting the better of Diaz, but again the Liverpool player sticks to his guns and Hakimi runs the ball out for a goal kick.

1 min: An instant blast of jeering as Liverpool start with some midfield possession.

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Raphinha strikes to give 10-man Barcelona last-16 edge over Benfica

Raphinha struck a second-half winner to give Barcelona a lion-hearted 1-0 victory at Benfica on Wednesday as they overcame a red card for Pau Cubarsí early in the game to steal an advantage in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Barcelona’s teenage defender Cubarsí was given a straight red card for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute, but the visitors hung on with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny putting in a brilliant performance.

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‘A league of passion’: José Mourinho open to managing Rangers or Celtic

  • Mourinho states he is not looking to leave Fenerbahce
  • Takes aim at sacked Clement before Europa League tie

José Mourinho has not ruled out managing Rangers or Celtic. The Fenerbahce head coach is preparing for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 first leg in Istanbul against Rangers, who have Barry Ferguson in interim charge after the sacking of Philippe Clement.

Mourinho, whose Porto side beat Celtic after extra time in the 2003 Uefa Cup final to secure his first European trophy, took some of his coaching badges in Ayrshire in the 1990s. Asked whether coaching in Glasgow appealed to him, he said: “In this moment, no, because I have a job that motivates me and a job that demands loyalty. But why not in the future? People can say that the Scottish League is a league of two teams, but it’s a league of passion.

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Football League: Burnley concede at last but win anyway; Birmingham lose

  • Clarets beat Cardiff despite clean sheet run ending at 12
  • Bolton stun League One leaders; Wycombe close gap

Burnley’s run of Championship clean sheets finally came to an end on Tuesday night, but they kept the heat on in the promotion race with a 2-1 win at Cardiff.

Yousef Salech’s firm header in the 42nd minute was the first goal the Clarets had conceded in 1,132 minutes of league action, a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets broken. But by the time Salech scored it, early goals from Josh Brownhill and Maxime Estève had already put Scott Parker’s side in charge, and the win puts them two points behind second-placed Sheffield United.

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