But what also helped Atletico was that Liverpool's final ball was so poor - often it was simply over-hit - and that too many of Liverpool's players had an off-night. Liverpool's starting XI in Madrid were beginning a game together for the first time this seasonI thought the front three were lethargic and even Virgil van Dijk looked a bit uneasy, which is not something I would often say about him. Trent Alexander-Arnold was another player who did not produce the quality we know he can, and his deliveries were disappointing.
Manchester United were keen to sign him and even offered him a tour of their training ground and an introduction to Sir Alex Ferguson around the same time German newspaper Bild reported in March that Borussia Dortmund had agreed a deal to sign him. Despite speculation surrounding his future, the youngster's performances in Birmingham's first team remained consistently high either side of football's suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kopenhag started the season with a win against asgabat and a draw with altn asyr but lost their next two games against sagadam and Ahal. They will face Merw who started with a win against energetik followed by losing their last three games but returned to winning ways by winning their last home game against Medici. On the road Merw have lost sixteen of their last eighteen games. At home Kopendag have won six of their last ten games.
Verona moved up to sixth place on 34 points, stretching their unbeaten run to eight games. What we need to realise is that winning is not to be taken for granted," Juve coach Maurizio Sarri told DAZN. We have to work harder, get dirty when we need to and not rest on our laurels. This team is accustomed to winning comfortably in recent years and we have to get it into our heads that we can’t afford to waste points.
When I was going from Arsenal to City to start coaching and we were looking at that position, he was one of the players on my list," Arteta, a former Arsenal midfielder, told the British media before his first match in charge at Bournemouth on Thursday. I was happy when Arsenal signed him because I thought he awas going to be a terrific player.
Indeed, but for the swathes of empty seats at the empty Cardiff City Stadium, you would never have known these teams had not played competitively for over three months as the visitors in particular started assuredly. Marcelo Bielsa's side had the better of the early running without making any clear-cut chances, though Leeds did appeal for a penalty when they felt Joe Bennett had impeded Helder Costa.
If they are to stand a chance against PSG, the principality side will need to stabilize their defence, having conceded 26 goals in 18 games this season, for they will face one of Europe's most intimidating firepowers. Between them, Icardi, Mbappe and Neymar have scored 28 goals in Ligue 1 this season from a combined 33 games while Di Maria added six goals and eight assists.
Uerdingen and Meppen will face each other in the upcoming match in the 3. Liga in Germany. Uerdingen this season have the following results: 12W, 6D and 10L. Meanwhile Meppen have 11W, 9D and 8L. This season both these teams are usually playing attacking football in the league and their matches are often high scoring.
One big development since that Watford defeat is the revival of Jamie Vardy. Under Rodgers’ watch, the Foxes frontman has become the leading striker in the Premier League. Under his current boss, Vardy has scored 22 league goals. That’s six more than any other player has managed in that time. He’s also topping the scoring charts for the current season, hitting 10 goals in his last eight matches to take control of the golden boot race.
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is available after suspension, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is fit after knee surgery. Sergio Aguero has again been ruled out. Manchester United forward Anthony Martial could make a swift return from the minor injury that caused him to miss Wednesday's win over Spurs. Paul Pogba's absence because of an ankle problem is set to continue, while fellow midfielder Nemanja Matic is close to a return to fitness.
Paper Round’s view: This move may be workable. Thibaut Courtois has yet to truly convince in Spain this time around, but it may be tough to get him to move on due to his family commitments - perhaps he could switch back to Atletico if Jan Oblak moves on. As for De Gea, it appears that he is in need of a switch, and United could use the funds of a sale for their squad rebuild.
Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha says he does not feel "100% safe" in the USA. Onuoha plays for Utah-based Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer after spending six years at QPR. I am always very wary of how I behave and how it could be viewed by people who have power," Onuoha, 33, told BBC Radio 5 Live. For me personally, overall I don't like to say it but I have a fear and distrust towards police.
THURSDAY’S BIG STORIES Breaking: No Liverpool game today The Warm-Up was just getting used to it. A new festive tradition, perhaps: advent calendar in the morning — oh, hey, a little chocolate Santa — and then, come the evening, a Liverpool game. Anyway, hopefully this strange experiment in back-to-back football is gone, and never to be repeated.
Only Leicester's Jamie Vardy, on 19, has scored more. That is not a bad record for a player who only managed seven in the league last season and whose England career entails 31 minutes of a game against Lithuania in 2015. He was the outstanding player on the pitch at Vicarage Road, even aside from his goals.
As they sit just three points away from the coveted top six, Fleetwood are in a decent position, but there can be no denying that they've slipped a bit of late. Joey Barton's men have won just one of their last seven matches. It's not that they're getting beat on a regular basis, losing only two of their last seven, but their failure to get their heads in front on a regular basis is preventing them from breaking into the play-off places. It's now three games since the Cod Army tasted victory.
For Palace, the best they can achieve for the season is a 13th placed finish and that will need Newcastle United to draw or lose their final match. Crystal Palace won their first match after resumption of football, beating strugglers Bournemouth 2-0, but it has been downhill since, with seven straight losses and they have been misfiring as well in these matches.
Deportivo Saprissa will play against Herediano in the Primera Division of Costa Rica on Wednesday. Saprissa are currently on top of the table and just lost one of the last 10 matches in the league . Saprissa's last game finished in Draw against Zeledon. While Herediano are currently on third of the table. Herediano lost last game to Limon by 0-1 after enjoying unbeaten run of 14 matches . However 8 of the 14 matches finished in Draw . Also 5 of the last 7 away matches of Herediano also finished in Draw. Also two of the last three head to head matches finished in Draw .
Non-European players travelling far for international matches racked up most air miles, with Brazil's Marquinhos (110,787 km) and Roberto Firmino (97,907 km) and South Korea's Son Heung-min (88,289 km) the top three, his research showed. Paris Saint-Germain's Marquinhos alone accounted for 53. CO2 emissions, while Ballon d'Or hopefuls Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Virgil Van Dijk of Liverpool were responsible for 20.
Troy Deeney (Watford) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Abdoulaye Doucouré. Dean Henderson's three late saves ensured Sheffield United beat relegation-threatened Norwich to boost their hopes of claiming a surprise Champions League spot. The hosts looked in control when Billy Sharp headed in his third goal in four games after starting only his seventh league game of the season.
In the second half it was better. The win was necessary for us and very important. Fulham boss Scott Parker:"I think overall the performance in the first half was exceptional. We took the game to a very good side. I thought we were superb then. Over the course of the game we needed to be more clinical. We should have put one away in the first half. They were more efficient in the final third than us.
Varnsdorf and Brno will face each other in the upcoming match in the Division 2. Varnsdorf this season have the following results: 5W, 7D and 13L. Meanwhile Brno have 16W, 6D and 3L. This season both these teams are usually playing attacking football in the league and their matches are often high scoring.
Preston v Leeds Championship TV channel, live stream Dec 25, 2023 — What TV channel is Preston v Leeds on? You can watch the game live on Sky Sports Football from 12pm. You can add the Sky Sports Premier League ...
Escazucena won 2-1 in the first game of the final after the turnaround, so I hope they will now show an even better game and I think they will register another counter attack victory and thus win the trophy. . .
Everton have been in the market for a striker for some time, it was a priority under previous manager Marco Silva, with Cenk Tosun surplus to requirements and the burden falling on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. It will also be hoped that if Ibrahimovic joins Everton he can help Moise Kean who has struggled since his £25 million move from Juventus last summer.
However, as his goal demonstrated he is also a dangerous proposition going forward and could hold down a place across the left flank for years. Man of the match - Serge Gnabry The ex-Arsenal man struggled at West Bromwich Albion once but now is one of the best players at Bayern Munich. He was at the heart of the first-half success and without him their season would have been far worse.
What is the background?Premier League clubs previously said they would ask players to take a 30% pay cut in order to protect jobs. However, the Professional Footballers' Association said such a cut could harm the NHS, adding players were "mindful of their social responsibilities". Speaking to BBC Sport earlier on Wednesday, former England striker and Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer said it should be up to the players to decide the best way to help.
Mourinho comes up against his former club Manchester United on Sunday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are on a high after their derby win over Manchester City last weekend moved them up to fifth, just three points off Chelsea, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games. Frank Lampard's Chelsea are away to struggling Aston Villa on Saturday.
That doesn’t make the answer ‘yes’ for Messi. His 36 goals in 34 league appearances certainly make a case, as do his 12 goals in the Champions League. It wasn’t his fault Barcelona threw away a three-goal lead at Anfield in that extraordinary semi-final – a three-goal lead he practically built on his own.
My Iranian friends in my local cafe will have been celebrating with double espressos and baklava after their countryman scored two goals in two games. They kept telling me he was a player, although he struggled to get a regular run of games under former Brighton manager Chris Hughton. Graham Potter is a more attacking manager and he has found room for the Iran international. Potter has been suitably rewarded for putting his faith in the player.
Who is not happy?Plenty of organisations and people are not happy with the decision to host the event in Saudi Arabia - a nation with many human rights issues. The deal was only signed after Saudi Arabia agreed women would be able to attend the games. Human rights organisation Amnesty International has highlighted the country's "abysmal" human rights record. Heavy restrictions on freedom of expression and women's rights have been raised, as has the use of the death penalty for offences not recognised as crimes under international law.
It [the flag] was directed only to the media because they had been writing very infantile and stupid stories from people that do not know him," added Barnett. The truth is he has done fantastically for Real Madrid in the years he has been there and helped them win so much. It's hard to imagine why the crowd react the way they do to him and listen to people that say things in the press. People say it would be better if he speaks the language but he speaks fluent Spanish and people write things that are complete rubbish.
He has scored goals in every league he's played in and I always had him earmarked to come back in and he showed us what he was about. Newcastle manager Steve Bruce told Sky Sports: "The first half in particular we did not do enough with or without the ball. We felt we were harshly done by with two free-kicks, but the way Conor Hourihane has executed them made it a difficult night. Conor is very good, I have seen it many times and he has the accuracy and power to score.
Dinamo Brest need to get back in winning ways after the dramatic 2-0 loss at Vitebsk. They are tenth but still only three points off the top of the table. Home form has seen them lose once this season but it's generally strong. Their opponents are struggling for goals at the moment with none scored in open play in their last four games. That includes a 2-0 loss at Dimamo Brest and the tip here is for a home win.
Puskas Academy will play against Ferencvaros in the OTP Bank Liga of Hungry on Sunday. Puskas Academy Drawn last game to Mezokovesd - Zsory by 0-0 and Drawn by 1-1 against same Opponent in Hungarian Cup. They are Winless from last four games in all competitions. On the other hand, Ferencvaros Defeted Ujpest by 1-0 in the away game and Defeated Debrecen by 2-1 in the last home game. They are currently unbeaten from last five matches in OTP Bank Liga. Ferencvaros Played well on road this season while Puskas Academy played average at home. So Ferencvaros likely to win this .
All the managers complained about it but they [the authorities] don't care. A distance of two or three days [between games] again and again. The players suffer. They want to do well and the clubs have a lot of pressure to win or qualify for the Champions League. We push and push. The body says 'stop', 'enough'. With that number of games, the players break down. After a phenomenal start to the season, when he scored 14 goals in his first 16 games, the form of another England forward, Raheem Sterling, appears to have slowed.
Wolfsburg occupy second place in Group I despite only managing to win one of their four matches so far but that victory arrived against Oleksandria in the pairs reverse fixture in September. Oleksnadria are yet to record a victory in Group I but have only lost once, as mentioned above, holding teams to draws in their other three games, so we are expecting a close and competitive ninety minutes between the pair.
IghaloGetty Images Fernandes had a bright first half. He prodded and cajoled his teammates into moving. Asking for the ball in space and suggesting to his colleagues that they might want to try the same thing when he was in control. Obviously, given their years of coasting after one manager and then another, and given Solskjaer’s rudimentary tactics, this fell on deaf ears.
These teams last met on the first day of the season with the game finishing 1-1 despite Strasbourg dominating much of the action. However, we don't think les Grenats will be as lucky this time considering both sides' form. Strasbourg have just one clean sheet in their last five league games while Metz have scored in five of their last six matches in Ligue 1 so we're backing both teams to score, a market which has won in the last two clashes of these sides, in five of Metz's last six league games and in three of Strasbourg's last five league matches. However, given les Alsatians form at the tail end of last year, we're backing the visitors to win 2-1.
Al Jeel will host Al Najoom for this fixture of the league. Both teams are not very good teams in this league. Al Jeel is very average team. They are currently on the 13th place with 32 points. Hosts have highly variable results. True, they played against more strong rivals. Also, we have Al Najoom who's is one of the outsiders in this season. They are currently on the 19th place with 22 points. In any case, the visitors have a very difficult task on the road. Al Najoom are more vulnerable and for me they could lose. My pick - Al Jeel to win.
Preview: Leeds United vs Preston North End 1 hour ago — How to watch: The match has been selected for live television coverage within the UK on Sky Sports. Live video is available in selected ...
Watford were averaging 0.5 goals per game before Pearson joined the club, showing just how far they’ve come in a short space of time and they’ve also been able to improve defensively, conceding just two goals in their past four, compared to the 30 in 17 prior to their good run of form. They will be much more confident of avoiding the embarrassment of a cup defeat to a team in League One and will be confident of ending the weekend in the pot for the fourth round.
Bobby works with West Ham as an education and charity ambassador. He is a keen footballer too, and played against former Hammers striker Jermain Defoe at primary school level - "he scored five in the first half with me as a hapless defender and their teacher subbed him off at half-time as an act of mercy"Seagull, who grew up in East Ham, is best known for his stint on University Challenge as captain of the Emmanuel College Cambridge team, who lost to Eric Monkman in the 2016-17 semi-final.
