ITV holds talks with BT as it eyes Champions League broadcast rights January 12, 2020 ITV is said to be in discussions with rival BT as it looks to secure broadcast rights to Champions League football matches. The public service broadcaster is eyeing up a bid for a package of games held by the telecoms giant after losing out in an auction in November, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: [...]
Can anyone stop Liverpool from becoming invincible and breaking Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten record? January 9, 2020 If Liverpool avoid defeat against Tottenham on Saturday evening, they will have gone 38 league games unbeaten; the equivalent of a full season. Unfortunately, there are no medals for that in isolation, but there will be a trophy come the end of the season assuming they stay on course to end their 30-year top-flight drought. [...]
January transfer window: Why Premier League clubs could hold off splashing the cash in mid-season January 8, 2020 The hype and bluster surrounding the Premier League transfer windows, and the shorter January version in particular, is well established. Rumour, counter-rumour and 24/7 rolling news with reporters in club car parks were designed for such occasions and have become ingrained in football culture. All the window means in practice, however, is that after five [...]
Mikel Arteta has restored Arsenal’s work ethic – now they can relaunch their season January 7, 2020 Looking at Mesut Ozil’s face as he departed the field towards the end of Arsenal’s 1-0 FA Cup win over Leeds, you could tell that he had put in a hard shift. At full-time of the first few games of Mikel Arteta’s tenure as manager, that effort has been visible in Ozil’s team-mates, too – [...]
Brendan Rodgers returned to England as a winner and has the skill set to lead Leicester to EFL cup glory January 7, 2020 If one accusation can be thrown at Brendan Rodgers during his first stint in the Premier League it is that, while a good manager, he did not prove himself a winner. After being sacked by Liverpool, following a campaign that saw him come as close as any Reds manager since 1990 had to winning the [...]
Arsenal 1-0 Leeds: Confidence in Mikel Arteta grows as half-time anger sparks comeback in the FA Cup January 6, 2020 His tenure as Arsenal manager may be only 18 days old so far, but Mikel Arteta has already been witness to the many sides of his new side. Having crumbled to succumb to a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea and shone in a 2-0 win over Manchester United, the Gunners tonight combined their previous performances to [...]
Chelsea must rediscover creative spark as Mourinho looks to spoil Lampard’s party December 19, 2019 Christmas is traditionally a time for reuniting with family and friends, and on Sunday Jose Mourinho and former protege Frank Lampard will come together once again as Tottenham face Chelsea in north London. The pair enjoyed huge success together at Stamford Bridge, but Mourinho can expect an acrimonious and hostile reception from the travelling Chelsea [...]
The Big Sport Quiz of 2019: How much do you remember from a vintage year of sport? December 19, 2019 World Cups of cricket, rugby union, netball and women’s football. The end of Tiger Woods’s long wait for another Major. An epic men’s Wimbledon final. More success for Lewis Hamilton. Liverpool’s re-emergence as a football superpower. The return of Andy Murray. This has been a vintage sporting year all right. But how closely were you [...]
Rajasthan Royals: With Stokes, Buttler and Archer on board the franchise are aiming to become the United Kingdom’s go-to Indian Premier League side December 18, 2019 Like every other Indian Premier League side, Rajasthan Royals will take part in an auction on Thursday. The day of chaotic, intense and exciting player recruitment, which starts at 15:30 IST in Kolkata (10am UK time), will shape the season for all of the eight franchises, but looking at the wider picture, Rajasthan already have [...]
Review of 2019: Stokes has been England’s inspiration and Archer has broken through December 18, 2019 This year has been a memorable one for English cricket, with the World Cup and the Ashes getting people talking about the sport. My end-of-year review could not overlook that impact. Player of the year I can’t pick anyone other than Ben Stokes, who became the first cricketer since Andrew Flintoff in 2005 to win [...]