Dominant English football clubs eye rare clean sweep of all three European trophies April 27, 2022 English clubs can complete a clean sweep of three European club trophies – Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League – this season, a feat not seen for more than 30 years, writes Frank Dalleres. Vienna, May 1990: Frank Rijkaard darts on to a pass round the corner from Marco van Basten, sprints clear [...]
Trevor Steven: If Liverpool pull off the quadruple the achievement will never be repeated April 26, 2022 Who is the best English club side of all time? The Liverpool of the 1970s? Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United? If the current Liverpool team can do the previously unthinkable and complete the quadruple over the next few weeks then it will unquestionably be them. Already EFL Cup winners, they are in the FA Cup [...]
Trevor Steven: Why Erik ten Hag can be Manchester United’s answer to Jurgen Klopp April 19, 2022 Manchester United have made the right choice if they have identified Erik ten Hag as their next manager – but they will have to give the current Ajax coach complete and unwavering support. United need someone to rebuild the first team from scratch with clear ideas and a philosophy. Ten Hag has long been a [...]
Manchester City and Liverpool trade blows but neither finds a knockout in title fight April 10, 2022 It was more slugfest than sweet science, but Manchester City and Liverpool lived up to their billing as the heavyweights of the Premier League in this wildly entertaining 2-2 draw, which leaves the title race finely poised. The champions and their closest challengers traded haymakers for 90 minutes but ultimately neither delivered a knockout blow [...]
Trevor Steven: Only Manchester City can sew up Premier League in showdown with Liverpool April 8, 2022 Sunday’s Premier League showdown between Manchester City and Liverpool has been billed as a title decider and it’s hard to disagree. If either team wins they will not only have the upper hand in the table with seven games to play but also receive a huge boost – and inflict a body blow on their [...]
World’s richest football clubs: Manchester City top Deloitte Money League for the first time March 21, 2022 Manchester City have been named the world’s richest football club in the latest edition of Deloitte’s Football Money League. City topped the list, which is based on revenue, for the first time after increasing their income to €645m (£571m) in 2020-21 – despite the effects of the pandemic. The Premier League champions climbed five places, [...]
Curse of Kepa returns to haunt Chelsea in Carabao Cup final defeat February 27, 2022 Future Chelsea managers could be forgiven for keeping Kepa Arrizabalaga well away from Carabao Cup finals. In 2019, the Spanish stopper refused to be substituted and could not prevent the Blues losing to Manchester City on penalties. Today at Wembley he was sent on solely for the shootout after a 0-0 draw, only to let [...]
Inter Milan stumbling into path of rampant Liverpool in Champions League February 16, 2022 When Uefa bungled the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League in December, Liverpool had good reason to feel hard done by. Having originally been paired with Salzburg, knockout stage debutants and arguably the weakest side left in the competition, Jurgen Klopp’s team were handed a tie against European royalty in Inter Milan [...]
Premier League tightens rules on Covid match postponements January 26, 2022 Premier League clubs must have at least four Covid-19 cases in their squad in order to request postponement of a fixture under stricter rules agreed today. It follows concerns that teams were able to game the previous system, which has seen more than 20 games being called off in the competition this season. The new [...]
Liverpool and Chelsea breathe new life into Premier League title race January 23, 2022 Call off the trophy engravers; hold that order of sky blue ticker tape; put Pep Guardiola’s dancing shoes away for now: we may have a Premier League title race after all. Leaders Manchester City’s slip-up at Southampton on Saturday dropped blood into the water and 24 hours later Liverpool and Chelsea showed they still have [...]