Manchester City obliterate struggling Swansea to maintain their 11-point cushion at Premier League summit December 13, 2017 Runaway leaders Manchester City maintained their 11-point lead at the Premier League summit after chalking up a regulation 4-0 thrashing of bottom of the table Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. City made light work of the struggling Swans as David Silva continued his rich vein of goalscoring form with a double strike – the 31-year-old [...]
Newcastle nearing takeover after positive talks between Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley December 13, 2017 Newcastle are nearing a takeover by financier Amanda Staveley and her investment firm PCP Capital Partners after receiving a £300m offer for the Premier League club. Controversial owner Mike Ashley, keen to sell the club, held talks with Staveley at a London curry house last week that are believed to have reached an amicable conclusion [...]
Huddersfield Town 1, Chelsea 3: Antonio Conte heaps praise on oft-criticised midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko as Blues cruise December 12, 2017 Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte heaped praise on Tiemoue Bakayoko after the £40m midfielder went some way to silencing his critics as the Blues returned to winning ways at Huddersfield. Bakayoko, who was hauled off at half-time as Chelsea lost at West Ham on Saturday, opened the scoring, while further strikes from the impressive Willian [...]
Football Association chiefs to probe Old Trafford tunnel fracas December 11, 2017 Football chiefs have launched an investigation into the fracas in the Old Trafford tunnel which marred Sunday’s derby between Manchester United and runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. City coach and former Arsenal skipper Mikel Arteta suffered a cut to the head and milk and water was thrown in the direction of United boss Jose [...]
Ostersunds’ English manager Graham Potter welcomes Arsenal Europa League tie December 11, 2017 The unheralded Englishman who has helped to transform Ostersunds from Swedish fourth division side to Europa League contenders has welcomed the prospect of a David and Goliath tie against Arsenal. The Gunners have been drawn against giant-killing Ostersunds in what is – on paper at least – one of the mismatches of the Europa League [...]
Cristiano Ronaldo wins fifth Ballon d’Or to equal Lionel Messi’s tally December 7, 2017 Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo toasted a year of extraordinary success with the Spanish club after he drew level with rival Lionel Messi by receiving a fifth Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo, 32, retained the award for the world’s best player after he beat Barcelona star Messi into second place in the poll of leading journalists organised by [...]
Champions League last 16: Who could Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City face in the next round? December 7, 2017 For the first time in history, there will be five teams from a single country in the last 16 of the Champions League after Premier League sides reversed years of underwhelming results by collectively booking their place in the knock-out rounds. Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham all progressed as winners of their group, [...]
Trevor Steven: Elite managers like Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have restored English clubs’ fear factor in the Champions League December 5, 2017 During their dominant years of the 1970s and ‘80s there was an intimidating quality about English teams; even the top clubs on the Continent wanted to avoid them. With the Premier League’s finest flourishing in the Champions League again this season, that fear factor is starting to return. Their renewed success is down to an [...]
Liverpool draw Everton in FA Cup third round as holders Arsenal head to Forest December 4, 2017 Merseyside will do battle on FA Cup third round weekend after seven-time winners Liverpool were pitched at home to Everton in Monday’s draw. It will be the first all-Merseyside clash in the competition since the 2012 semi-final, which Liverpool won 2-1 courtesy of a late strike from £35m club-record signing Andy Carroll after Luis Suarez [...]
Crystal Palace reveal £100m Selhurst Park transformation plans ushering in “new era” for the club December 4, 2017 Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace today released plans for a massive revamp of their Selhurst Park stadium. Costing between £75m and £100m, the club want to hike home capacity from 26,000 to more than 34,000 and wrap the ground in glass – paying homage to the historic original Crystal Palace exhibition venue. A new stand [...]