It’s been an enthralling season of Premier League football so far, with the title race shaping up to be one of the most open in decades. And now we’re at the midway stage (well…most teams are, although Aston Villa still have about 94 games in hand), we have a rough idea of how each side will fare over the course of the campaign. We’re still a few months away from awards season, but it’s always fun to have a look at where our standouts have come from. So, here are the Premier League mid-season awards. Best Players Third Place – Heung-min Son Son is playing brilliantly this season The Korean has been one of the standouts at Tottenham Hotspur for a few years now, but this season he seems to have elevated his game to a new level. If he registers just three more goals in the next 20 games, Son ...
Manchester United take on Liverpool in the FA Cup this Sunday and the Red Devils will look to send their rivals crashing out of the competition with a win at home. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have all the momentum heading into Sunday’s game and they will be the favourites to win here. Liverpool are in a bit of a crisis right now and they have won just one of their last six matches. The Reds have several injury problems across the pitch but United should be able to field their best eleven here. The only injury problems for the home side are Phil Jones, Brandon Williams and Marcos Rojo. The Red Devils have failed to beat Liverpool in their last six meetings and they will fancy their chances of breaking that streak this week. The home side are unbeaten in five of their last six matc...
Jordan Henderson felt Liverpool were the “better team” against Manchester United, but has admitted that his side have allowed their standards to slip in recent weeks. Liverpool welcomed United to Anfield on Sunday knowing that they could return to the top of the Premier League standings with a victory. However, confidence within the Reds’ camp wasn’t at its highest point after uninspired draws against West Brom and Newcastle and a dismal defeat away at Southampton, with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino all struggling for form in the final third. Unfortunately, the talismanic front three were quiet once again as Jurgen Klopp saw his team struggle to break down a well organised United outfit in a 0-0 draw. Liverpool had No.1 goalkeeper Alisson to thank for keeping them in the ga...
Liverpool will face Manchester United in Sunday’s must-win title clash at Anfield in the Premier League and Jurgen Klopp’s team selection largely depends on the fitness of Joel Matip. The Premier League champions, who are on a 67-game unbeaten run at Anfield, find themselves third in the league table, but they can regain the top spot with a win against the Red Devils. A defeat here will not only see United stretching the gap to a healthy six points, but the psychological blow could also have a detrimental effect going into the second half of the season. The Reds are heading into this game on the back of a 4-1 win against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, but they need to get back to winning ways in the Premier League. Ahead of the match, Jurgen Klopp insisted that he hasn’t decided whether ...
The 19th round of fixtures in the Premier League features some important matches at both ends of the table. Liverpool versus Manchester United is the standout game, with the two old enemies set to go head-to-head at Anfield on Sunday. The lunchtime match at Molineux got the weekend off to a thrilling start as West Bromwich Albion triumphed 3-2 against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves led 2-1 at the break, with Fabio Silva and Willy Boly turning things around after Matheus Pereira’s penalty had given the Baggies an early lead. However, goals in the second half by Semi Ajayi and another Pereira penalty gave Sam Allardyce his first victory as West Brom manager. There are two games at 3.00 pm, with West Ham United hosting Burnley while Leeds United take on Brighton & Hove Albion. HALF-TIME ...
6,727 days. That is how long ago Wayne Rooney made his senior debut as a footballer. In his long and illustrious career, Wazza pretty much did and won it all (except an international trophy). Now, ‘Roonaldo’ has decided to hang up his boots in favour of smoother patent leather shoes, so let’s take a look back at the last 18-odd years when he has graced football pitches all around the world. An early introduction Rooney joined the Everton youth set-up aged nine after scoring 99 goals in one season in a local junior league – ninety-nine. That was a sign of things to come, and they started on July 15, 2002, when Rooney netted for Everton in a friendly against SC Weiz, an Austrian club. About a month later, the teenager made his Premier League debut when he started in Everton’s match against T...
Manchester United are likely to compete Chelsea in the race to sign West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice at the end of the season, a report from ESPN claims. The England international was regularly linked with Frank Lampard’s side last summer, but nothing materialised beyond the speculation. He continues to remain on the radar of the west London giants and it has been recently suggested that he may prefer to remain in the English capital. However, United appear to be keeping a close eye on the player’s situation and it is reported that they could rival the Blues for the midfielder’s services next summer. Rice has more than three years remaining on his contract and the Hammers have the option of extending his deal for another 12 months. Hence, they are in a strong position to keep hold of...
Wayne Rooney has been appointed as Derby County’s new manager on a permanent basis, as confirmed by the club via their official website. The Manchester United legend agreed to join Derby in August 2019 on a player-coach role starting in January 2020. Since then, he has made 35 appearances for the Rams, scoring on seven occasions. From November 26 onwards, Rooney has been taking charge of Derby on an interim basis. This sparked an impressive turnaround, going unbeaten in their next six games having lost the previous four. Captain. Leader. The greatest.@WayneRooney: The Manager 🐏 — Derby County (@dcfcofficial) January 15, 2021 And now the England national team’s all-time top goalscorer has been rewarded with the job permanently. The 35-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half year contra...
Liverpool take on Manchester United in the Premier League this weekend and Jurgen Klopp has confirmed a number of injury blows for the Reds. During his pre-match presser, the Liverpool manager confirmed that midfielder Naby Keita won’t be involved against United with an injury and Joel Matip is close to returning but he hasn’t had sufficient training so far. It seems that the defender could miss out once again and Liverpool might have to field a makeshift back four against United. Klopp says Naby Keita will not be involved v United.#LFC — Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) January 15, 2021 Jurgen Klopp says Joel Matip is “close” to returning. “Does it make sense to throw him in with one or two sessions he hasn’t done yet? I don’t know, we have to decide, look at him, how he trains. We have differ...