Christian and Alexis bring on USMNT legend Tony Meola and Apple TV Keith Costigan to chat the state of MLS ahead of the 2025 season. Then, Christian and Alexis have 19 season MLS veteran Dax McCarty join the show to look back at a decorated career that includes beating Messi. Later, Christian and Alexis eact to news in Europe including West Ham sacking head coach Julen Lopetegui as well as Tottenham and Newcastle taking the lead in their Carabao Cup semifinal ties.
FA Cup third round: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Accrington face the ultimate test, long throws await Spurs and there’s a potential blockbuster in north London
“We’re aware we were once mentioned in a milk advert,” reads the bio on Accrington Stanley’s X page. “We hear ‘Who are they?’ and ‘Exactly’ a lot.” Don’t be misled by the weary tone regarding their mention in the famous 1989 Milk Marketing Board advertisement, for which the club received £10,000. The connection has always been embraced and never more so than in the buildup to their third round visit to Liverpool, the Premier League leaders. As the Accrington captain Seamus Conneely said: “We’ve made it to third and fourth rounds before, we’ve had League Cup runs and played in some great stadiums, but we’ve finally got that big one. Liverpool is going to top it all.” Accrington have sold their entire 4,700-ticket allocation and the tie is of huge significance to the striker Josh Woods, a boyhood Liverpool fan whose reaction to the draw went viral and prompted a reply from Ibrahima Konaté. Liam Coyle is another Red who started out in Liverpool’s academy, while the management team of John Doolan and Ged Brannan are also from Liverpool. This is an FA Cup moment to cherish. Andy Hunter
Liverpool v Accrington Stanley, Saturday 12.15pm (all times GMT)
Brentford v Plymouth Argyle, Saturday 3pm
Bristol City v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Saturday 12pm
Chelsea v Morecambe, Saturday 3pm
Leeds v Harrogate Town, Saturday 5.45pm
Manchester City v Salford City, Saturday 5.45pm
Continue reading...Beto and Ndiaye see off Peterborough as Everton’s caretakers pick up slack
Twenty-one days after Everton set course for a new era called stability the search for their ninth permanent manager in nine years is under way. David Moyes, or whoever the new owners ultimately appoint, was handed a place in round four of the FA Cup plus a graphic demonstration of the task that lies ahead by a slender victory over League One opposition.
The Friedkin Group felt they had no option but to sack Sean Dyche after he informed them he had taken Everton as far as he could. Performances such as this suggest he may have had a point. Peterborough United rarely threatened to add an upset to Everton’s latest day of turmoil but, like many Premier League teams before them, they did a fair job of containing the royal blue threat. Beto, on paper the most expensive signing of the Dyche era, and Iliman Ndiaye, one of the few pluses, scored at the end of each half to edge Everton past Darren Ferguson’s side.
Continue reading...‘A massive draw’: Salford ready for their biggest game at Manchester City
Karl Robinson’s side have won six games in a row and travel to the Etihad with a chance to put themselves on the map
Salford City are in the middle of their finest spell as a Football League club on the pitch as they prepare for the biggest game in their history. The Ammies travel fewer than five miles on Saturday to face Manchester City in a pivotal spell that could shape their future.
Karl Robinson’s side have won six matches in a row without conceding to thrust them into the League Two automatic promotion spots and have reached the FA Cup third round for the first time. Salford won four promotions in five seasons in the aftermath of the Class of 92’s purchase a decade ago but have plateaued in the fourth tier since 2019. After three mid-table finishes and a playoff semi-final, Salford finished 20th last season and the 15-year ambition to reach the Championship by 2029 seems more fantastical than when Gary Neville announced it.
Continue reading...Rob Edwards leaves Luton with club 20th after four straight defeats
- Edwards earned ‘legendary status’, says chief executive
- Hatters currently in danger of relegation to League One
Rob Edwards has left his job as Luton’s manager by mutual consent with the club in danger of relegation to League One after four straight defeats.
Edwards led Luton to the Premier League in 2023 but they came down after one season and are only two points above the bottom three in their battle to avoid a second straight relegation.
Continue reading...Young v Young: father-son FA Cup meeting could join football folklore
Ashley Young hopes to line up against his son Tyler when Everton face Peterborough in the FA Cup on Thursday
Arsenal v Manchester United and Tamworth v Tottenham are two of the more arresting fixtures in the FA Cup third round, but Everton’s encounter with Peterborough has the potential to create history. At Goodison Park on Thursday there is a chance the hosts’ 39-year-old wing-back Ashley Young will find himself on the same pitch as his 18-year-old son, Tyler, a promising midfielder who signed for Posh in League One last summer.
“WOW … Dreams Might Come True #GoosebumpsMoment #YoungVsYoung,” wrote the former England international on X after last month’s draw.
Continue reading...Neymar playing with Messi and Suárez in Miami is a fascinating idea. But is it a good one?
The former Barcelona teammates getting together for one last hurrah in MLS would draw in the fans. But injuries have taken their toll on the Brazilian
Lionel Messi’s Florida sanctuary for former Barcelona players could soon have another resident. Comments made by Neymar on Tuesday hinted at a possible reunion with his former Barça teammates, Messi and Luis Suárez, at Inter Miami seven years after the trio formed arguably the most formidable forward line in soccer history. The prospect of the ‘MSN’ reunited in MLS is tantalising.
But just because the signing of Neymar is a compelling idea, that doesn’t make it a good one. Neymar is a shadow of the player who scored 105 goals in 186 games for Barça. Injuries have taken their toll on the 32-year-old, sidelining him for much of the last year. He has only played seven games for Al-Hilal since joining the Saudi Arabian club in August 2023. There may not be much soccer left in him.
Continue reading...Neymar hints at ‘incredible’ reunion with Messi and Suárez at Inter Miami
- Brazilian’s contract with Al-Hilal ends in June
- 32-year-old targets final World Cup in 2026
Neymar says reuniting with his former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez at Inter Miami would be “incredible” as he approaches the end of his contract with Al-Hilal.
The Brazilian struck up a lethal partnership with Messi and Suárez to lead Barcelona to the treble in 2015 before his record-breaking $230m move to Paris St Germain in 2017.
Continue reading...Rob Edwards claims ‘gods are against’ Luton as loss to QPR deepens drop fears
The Luton manager, Rob Edwards, claimed the footballing gods are against his side after they were beaten 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers to deepen their relegation fears.
A fortunate deflected goal by the QPR defender Morgan Fox condemned Town to a fourth straight Championship defeat – and 10th in a row away from home. Luton are in danger of successive relegations, sitting two points above the bottom three.
Continue reading...Marcus Rashford a loan target for Milan as Manchester United mull Zirkzee exit
- Milan want United to foot much of Rashford’s salary
- Juventus interested in loan deal for Netherlands forward
Marcus Rashford is being targeted by Milan regarding a potential loan, with any deal dependent on Manchester United paying a sizeable portion of the forward’s salary of about £365,000 a week.
Whether United are willing to do so is yet to be decided. It is not their preference to provide a considerable percentage of Rashford’s wage, which makes him United’s highest-paid player. But Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls football policy, may decide Rashford departing for the rest of the season is in the best interests of all parties, particularly the head coach, Ruben Amorim.
Continue reading...Galaxy trade Jalen Neal for allocation money as club works to drop below payroll cap
The Galaxy have traded Jalen Neal to Montreal for $650,000 in general allocation money, a move that helps the club move below MLS' payroll cap.
Liverpool’s holiday wobble won’t matter if their rivals can’t punish it | Jonathan Wilson
Liverpool may have got away with one in Sunday’s thrilling draw with Manchester United. But without a sustained challenge from those in chase, it may not matter
Title races are never just about the winners. In other circumstances, a run of three draws in six games for Liverpool might be cause for concern. Are they tightening up? Is there validity to that vague sense that the fixture list so far has been kind to them? But even if there is, it doesn’t really matter. Before the first of those draws, at Newcastle on 4 December, they were nine points clear of Arsenal in second; after Sunday’s draw at home to Manchester United, they are six points clear of Arsenal with a game in hand.
And that really has been the story of the past month, the great hectic splurge of the festive period. There has been a lot of heat and light, a lot of drama and excitement, and in the end not much has changed. Liverpool were far from their best on Sunday, could easily have suffered a surprise defeat, but in seven of the last nine match days the chasing pack of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have managed one or fewer wins between them. That does, admittedly, leave Nottingham Forest, who will close to six points with a game in hand if they beat Wolves on Monday, and who are Liverpool’s next league opponents, but it has been a remarkable achievement for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side to get to where they are; realistically there is going to be some drop-off in the second half of the season.
Continue reading...Pellegrini rewards Ranieri’s call with starring role in Derby della Capitale | Nicky Bandini
The midfielder has been linked with a move away from boyhood club Roma but answered his critics against Lazio
Claudio Ranieri does not have all the answers. It can seem as if he does: the man who steered Leicester to a Premier League title and who long before that built a reputation in Italy as the first person to call when a top team was failing. In case of emergency, do not break the glass, just dial Claudio instead.
He had retired after leading Cagliari to an improbable escape from relegation last season, but Roma lured him back. The club – his club, the one he grew up supporting – was in shambles: 12th in the table despite an almost €100m summer transfer splurge and now seeking a third manager of this season. How could he say no, even at 73 years old, to his first footballing love?
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Guardiola warns Grealish over Savinho, Southampton hit new low and is Arsenal’s negativity holding them back?
So much about Trent Alexander-Arnold’s display on Sunday was puzzling. Real Madrid’s now-public courtship may have had something to do with it, but at times it felt he was being hung out to dry. Poorly as he played, he was deliberately exposed by his own team, left to deal with whatever threats Manchester United could conjure down their left flank while the only players likely to drop back and help him out, Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch, rarely did so. When it became obvious that he was having an off day, nothing was done to cover for it and nurse him back into the game. When his own poor clearance was returned in the buildup to United’s opening goal it found him briefly with four opponents to deal with by himself, demonstrating that Liverpool’s problems down the right were not just an individual but a systemic issue. He is (usually) an astonishingly good player, but miracles will sometimes be beyond him. Simon Burnton
Continue reading...European football: lifelong Roma fan Pellegrini takes down Lazio in derby
- Under-fire captain helps extend Ranieri’s perfect record
- Dembélé’s last-gasp strike wins French Super Cup for PSG
Claudio Ranieri extended his perfect record in the Italian capital derby as Roma beat Lazio 2-0 in Serie A to give the Giallorossi a much-needed boost in what has been a difficult season.
Roma’s captain and lifelong club fan, Lorenzo Pellegrini, scored a superb opener with a curling shot from the edge of the area to end his long wait for a goal. Then Alexis Saelemaekers finished off a counterattack to give Roma a two-goal advantage after 18 minutes.
Continue reading...