Manchester City are ready to halt the Liverpool juggernaut and get their Premier League title defence back on track January 2, 2019 It was at this stage last season that Liverpool ended Manchester City's unbeaten run in the Premier League with a 4-3 win at Anfield. Until then City had looked unstoppable, but they came undone when visiting Anfield on 14 January and have been unable to beat Liverpool in three attempts since. Thursday night's trip to [...]
Five things we learned from Liverpool 3, Manchester United 1: Reds pass another test; Jose Mourinho’s men losing touch with top five; Xherdan Shaqiri proves his worth December 16, 2018 The tests keep on coming for this Liverpool team and, with a new-found composure and a growing sense of destiny, Jurgen Klopp’s side keep on batting them away. On Sunday the challenge was to translate their momentum into a first Premier League win over Manchester United since 2014 and return to the top of the [...]
Weekend football talking points: Ralph Hasenhuttl makes Southampton mark; Tottenham super-subs; Leroy Sane shines in Benjamin Mendy’s absence; Rangers make Celtic sweat December 16, 2018 Southampton’s first home Premier League win since April, a harum-scarum 3-2 victory that ended Arsenal’s 22-game unbeaten run in all competitions, was a day to remember for new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl. The impact of the Austrian, known as a task-master who favours a high-intensity approach, was evident on Sunday as the Saints gave the Gunners [...]
Does winning your Champions League group make any difference make any difference to how far a team goes? December 11, 2018 With qualification for the last 16 long since sewn up like the seasoned Champions League veterans that they are, Manchester City and Manchester United could be forgiven for viewing Wednesday’s final group games as an unwanted additional burden in the busiest month of the season. Yet Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, with two winners’ medals [...]
The seven trends in the digital sport world to look out for in 2019 December 11, 2018 This has been a transformative year for the digital sport landscape, from tech giants Amazon and Facebook making major rights acquisitions to a rise in behind-the-scenes and self-authored content. Here, Charlie Beall of consultancy Seven League assesses the trends that dominated 2018 and look set to shape the next 12 months. 1. Athletes becoming media As [...]
Did Football Leaks kill financial fair play? Where breakaway threats and claims of systematic cheating have left Uefa’s rules December 6, 2018 Credibility has always been hard to come by for Uefa’s financial fair play rules, but a series of recent claims involving some of the sport’s richest and most powerful clubs has made the European governing body’s attempts at regulation look weak at best and, at worst, doomed. Central to the current crisis surrounding FFP is [...]
Champions League: What do Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool need on matchday five? November 26, 2018 English clubs return to Champions League action this week in the hope of securing their places in the last 16, although that task is looking a good deal easier for some than others. Here is what is at stake for Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool on Tuesday and Wednesday. Man City: The Premier League [...]
Manchester City brush off financial allegations with dominant derby win over Manchester United November 11, 2018 If last week’s Football Leaks reports suggested that Manchester City’s success owes as much to creativity in their accounting as in their attacking play, then the visit of Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday could hardly have been better timed. Because for all of City’s alleged gaming of Financial Fair Play rules by [...]
Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Manchester City, Manchester United, West Ham, Wolves and Richarlison November 4, 2018 1. Man City on course ot beat their own records Premier League records tumbled as Manchester City waltzed to the title last season, not least in the goalscoring stakes, with the Blues netting 106 times and finishing with a goal difference of +79 – both new bests. Dauntingly for those teams who aspire to rival [...]
Pretenders Liverpool miss chance to put pressure on champions Manchester City October 7, 2018 On an afternoon of few chances at Anfield, Riyad Mahrez was guilty of the most conspicuous miss, blazing a late penalty high into the stands when a winning goal and all three points beckoned for Manchester City. But in a few months’ time, when the battle for Premier League supremacy between two of the three [...]