Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Man City can do no wrong, Man Utd worries mount, don’t write off Chelsea, Spurs calm in storm and West Ham need support August 19, 2018 No Kevin De Bruyne? No problem. Come to that, Manchester City also rested Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker and used Leroy Sane sparingly against Huddersfield on Sunday. Ominously, the record-breaking Premier League champions still won 6-1. City can currently do no wrong; every tactical tweak made by Pep Guardiola pays off in spades. Here, it was [...]
Tottenham v Fulham: London sides in completely different boats ahead of Premier League clash August 17, 2018 Tottenham and Fulham could hardly be in different states coming into their Premier League match at Wembley tomorrow. Spurs have a great deal on their minds. The delay to their new stadium construction is chief among them and manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted yesterday it was “massively disappointing for everyone”. With the transfer window closed and [...]
Vitality Blast: Domestic Twenty20 tournament flourishing despite ECB direction August 16, 2018 The group stages of England’s domestic Twenty20 competition comes to a close tomorrow. But with England’s Test series against India taking much of the attention of late, the Vitality Blast has occupied its own space, largely away from television and the back pages. Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board has been busy blue-sky thinking, [...]
Eleven Sports: Live-streaming service grapple with the future of sports broadcasting August 15, 2018 It’s fair to say Eleven Sports’ first foray into the UK sports broadcasting market did not go to plan at the weekend. The new boys on the scene arrived with hopes high and viewers intrigued, offering two days of the US PGA Championship for free, with a seven-day trial making the entire tournament available on [...]
Trevor Steven: Why Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri had the best result of the Premier League’s opening weekend August 14, 2018 On an opening weekend that saw most Premier League results unfold as you would have expected there was one that stood out. Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Huddersfield was no upset, but a long trip to Yorkshire still represented a tough test for a new-look Blues team and it could have turned into a difficult afternoon. [...]
A new Premier League season is upon us: Here are 5 key rule changes that may affect how the campaign transpires | City A.M. August 10, 2018 With a new Premier League season upon us, how will fans, players and managers react to a plethora of adaptations in the rule book? Here are five key changes for this campaign. VAR or no VAR? The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been excluded for this Premier League season, amid ongoing controversy over its usage. [...]
Five Premier League transfer window trends: Costly keepers and mid-table sprees but spending falls for first time this decade | City A.M. August 9, 2018 With a flurry of left-field deals rather than a slew of blockbuster signings, the summer transfer window closed for English clubs yesterday. These are the key trends. Spending down For the first summer since 2009, aggregate spending among Premier League clubs fell year-on-year. Having obliterated records with a £1.4bn outlay in 2017, the 20 clubs [...]
How Premier League clubs are using social media in global football supporter arms race | City A.M. August 9, 2018 Premier League teams may be about to resume hostilities this weekend, but away from the field on social media the battle for supremacy never went away. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Weibo have emerged as key frontiers for clubs from the world’s most high-profile competition as they aim to attract an increasingly global supporter base. And [...]
Trevor Steven’s Premier League preview: Manchester City will see off Liverpool in a two-horse title race and Arsenal could surprise everyone | City A.M. August 9, 2018 With the World Cup long forgotten already all focus has switched back to the Premier League and, like everyone, I’m hugely looking forward to the new season starting this weekend. It’s the best league in the world and that’s not just my view – Chelsea’s new boss Maurizio Sarri has said it himself. People want [...]
From supply and demand to game theory, football is full of economics lessons | City A.M. August 8, 2018 The football transfer window closes tomorrow, and the opening days of August have seen the usual flurry of activity at all levels. The window in the rest of Europe stays open until the end of the month. Do we detect here the hands of Monsieur Barnier, in another dastardly European Commission plot to do us [...]