Goal drought dragging Manchester United towards relegation zone October 17, 2019 Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford on Sunday already 15 points adrift of the Premier League leaders. If there was any lingering debate among United die-hards over a shift in power between England’s two most successful teams last season, that has surely been laid to rest this campaign. While European champions Liverpool look to [...]
The Hundred draft: How it will work, when it is happening and where to watch it October 16, 2019 English cricket is set to break new ground this weekend when a draft process takes place for The Hundred ahead of next summer’s much-anticipated start date. The look of the new eight-team, 100-ball competition, due to run from 7 July to 16 August 2020, has been gradually rolled out. Over recent months, the format, team [...]
Improving Ross Barkley should strive to be England’s Kevin De Bruyne October 15, 2019 Only two competitive fixtures stand between England and their opening Euro 2020 match at Wembley next summer, yet Gareth Southgate’s jigsaw is still missing a piece. The one glaring weakness is the midfield combination and, specifically, the lack of someone to take a hold of games when the chips are down. A midfield general, in [...]
What football can learn about the implementation of VAR from the Rugby World Cup October 15, 2019 Since the video assistant referee’s introduction to the Premier League this season, the technology seems to have caused as much controversy as it was intended to resolve. The current Rugby World Cup, which has shown the benefits of a sport accustomed to an additional match official overseeing a feed of the action, has only thrown [...]
European Championship revamp keeps football open to all October 13, 2019 Every time Indiana Jones takes a plane, his journey is illustrated by a red line moving gradually towards its destination, the aircraft pivoting now and again to refuel as it traverses continents. For those still recovering from trying to understand the Uefa Nations League, the Raiders of the Lost Ark motif helps explain what will [...]
Czech Republic v England: Mason Mount deserving of a first start ahead of Ross Barkley October 10, 2019 Tournament qualifiers hold a strange significance for England. On the one hand they are fully-fledged competitive internationals which need to be won in order to reach World Cups and European Championships. But on the other hand, England haven’t lost one in 43 instances – an unbeaten streak which dates back almost exactly 10 years, since [...]
European football chiefs quick to co-opt ‘the dream’ in fight for future of Champions League October 8, 2019 They may be on opposite sides of a bitter dispute over the future of European football but they both came to defend “the dream”, that somewhat nebulous but impossible-to-oppose tenet of sporting competition. Andrea Agnelli, the latest figurehead of a dynasty that has owned Juventus for nearly a century and the chairman of the European [...]
There is an undercurrent of unrest at Tottenham and the big players are not turning up October 8, 2019 No one could have seen Tottenham’s disastrous start coming but, having finished the last campaign on a low after losing the Champions League final, they just haven’t turned up this season. Their most consistent run of results so far has been two defeats and they have not had their eye on the ball at all [...]
Why piracy means the sports broadcasting rights bubble is ‘about to burst’ October 8, 2019 The value of sports broadcast rights is on the verge of collapse due to rampant piracy, the head of the world’s largest investor in managed rights has warned. Yousef Al-Obaidly, chief executive of Qatari media network beIN, said the “glorious media rights bubble” was set to burst due to the large-scale piracy of sports competitions [...]
Corbyn kicks up fresh row with Ashley October 7, 2019 A new footballing rivalry was formed over the weekend after Jeremy Corbyn took aim at retail tycoon Mike Ashley for his running of Newcastle United. The Labour leader has taken his war on corporate bosses to the football pitch after branding the high street billionaire “a bad owner” and accusing him of self-interest. “[Clubs] are [...]