Blog (Page 130)

[ad_1] Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal by winning a tightly fought contest with Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night thanks to Riyad Mahrez’s strike. Graham Potters’ hosts responded well to a pair of injury setbacks to create decent moments in the first half, but Jack Grealish’s low ball across the box picked out fellow substitute Mahrez to tap in at the back post in the 63rd minute. Raheem Sterling’s evening against his old teammates ended early on due to injury before Christian Pulisic suffered a similar fate, forcing substitutes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Carney Chukwuemeka to be introduced earlierRead More →

[ad_1] It has not been a good season for Liverpool so far with the Reds finding themselves trying to stay in the top-four fight rather than battling Arsenal and Manchester City for the Premier League title. Jurgen Klopp’s side have had to deal with some important injuries such as the long-term absences of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, something that has certainly hindered their attack. With Virgil van Dijk now also facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Liverpool may feel that the season is something of a write-off already. They sit in sixth place right now, seven points behind the in-form Manchester United whoRead More →

[ad_1] Attention turns back to the FA Cup this weekend as Tottenham prepare to host Portsmouth in the third round of the competition. It’s Spurs’ first taste of the FA Cup this season and could be a welcome distraction from the Premier League, where a tricky run of form ramped up the pressure before a second-half turnaround saw Antonio Conte’s side romp to a surprisingly comfortable 4-0 win over Crystal Palace. As for Harry Redknapp’s other favourite sons, Portsmouth find themselves down in mid-table obscurity in League One but with the games in hand needed to fire them right back into the play-off competition. They’veRead More →

[ad_1] Barcelona president Joan Laporta has ruled out spending a large transfer fee to sign unsettled Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva. Silva has been one of City’s most important players during a concentrated period of success since a £43.5m move from Monaco in 2017. During that time, the Portuguese has won four Premier League titles and five domestic cups in five and a half seasons. He was also named City’s player of the year for 2018/19 and has twice been in the PFA Premier League team of the year – most recently last season. But Silva, now 28, has been reconsidering his City future sinceRead More →

[ad_1] Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier has confirmed that Lionel Messi and Neymar will both sit out the club’s French Cup tie against Chateauroux on Friday night. Having lifted the World Cup with Argentina last month, Messi was granted extended leave to return home after the tournament. But he reported for PSG duty on Wednesday and trained for the first time since the triumphant World Cup final against France. “Leo trained yesterday and today. He won’t play tomorrow. We’re making sure he’s ready for the next game,” Galtier explained at a press conference. “We’ll take stock. I’ll be very attentive to what he’s going toRead More →

[ad_1] Aston Villa have completed the signing of England midfielder Jordan Nobbs, who leaves Arsenal after winning 12 trophies in just over 12 years with the Gunners. Nobbs, who has suffered a number of injury problems in recent years and missed both the 2019 World Cup and Euro 2022, has signed an 18-month contract with Villa until 2024. The deal also includes a 12-month option to extend it until the end of the 2024/24 WSL season. Nobbs will wear the number 88 shirt for Villa, a nod to the number eight she wore for Arsenal for so many years – Villa’s number eight is alreadyRead More →

[ad_1] Chelsea have confirmed the signing of centre-back Benoit Badiashile from AS Monaco on a seven-and-a-half year contract. The Blues are looking to bolster their squad this window and had already wrapped up a deal to bring in teenage striker David Datro Fofana from Molde in the final days of December. Speaking to the club’s official website after making the move, the defender said: “I’m very happy to be here at Chelsea. I’m so excited to start playing for this club. I can’t wait to see the fans and start playing in the best league in the world.” 90min first reported last month that ChelseaRead More →

[ad_1] The Premier League have named the four managers that will compete to be named the Manager of the Month for November and December. The monthly prize has been combined for both November and December because of the World Cup break. Two rounds of fixtures were played before the pause, with a further two taking place upon the return of domestic action. Making the cut for this award are four managers who boasted unbeaten records across the two months: Mikel Arteta, Thomas Frank, Eddie Howe and Jurgen Klopp. Arteta’s Arsenal went four wins from four across November and December. Victories and clean sheets over ChelseaRead More →

[ad_1] Xavi admitted that he was ‘uneasy’ following Barcelona’s narrow Copa del Rey win over third-tier outfit Intercity on Wednesday evening. La Blaugrana managed to beat Intercity 4-3 but needed extra time to do so after Oriol Soldevila Puig scored a wonderful second half hat-trick. Xavi’s team would eventually win out thanks to a 103rd-minute winner from the young Ansu Fati. Speaking to the press after the game, Xavi admitted that his side’s lack of ‘forcefulness’ in the final third was cause for concern. “We suffered too much,” he explained. “We had many chances to win before extra time, but we didn’t. We can’t leaveRead More →

[ad_1] Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois returned to training on Wednesday after being ruled out of the recent Copa del Rey win over Cacareno with a minor injury. Courtois wouldn’t likely have played the game in Caceres in western Spain anyway, having rarely been used in the competition in recent years. But the Belgian didn’t make the trip at all as a precaution. Courtois kept a clean sheet against Real Valladolid last Friday in Los Blancos’ final game of 2022 and first game since the World Cup. It is now expected that he will start against Villarreal on Saturday. Dani Carvajal and Mariano Diaz bothRead More →