West Brom
Arsenal, West Ham and more – 10 players you didn’t know won Premier League Player of the Month
Every month since the beginning of the 1994/95 season, Premier League players, experts and fans have been voting for the league’s best player from the month’s action of football. Usually, the award goes to one of the titans of the league. Sergio Aguero has claimed the prize a record seven times, while Bruno Fernandes and Ilkay Gundogan have almost formed a monopoly on the award in recent times. However, March 2021 saw an underdog win the prize, with Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho scooping the award. Here is a look back at some of the other underdogs who win the Premier League Player of the Month award. Alex Manninger Manninger won the award despite being Arsenal’s second-choice goalkeeper at the time Remember that Austrian goalkeeper who was Arsenal’s back-up for a few years, Juventus’...
Spurs warned transfer target’s value will have skyrocketed after what Southgate did
Former Tottenham Hotspur right-back Alan Hutton has told the North London club that they might have to pay more than they have bargained for West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone following his England call-up. With Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford sidelined, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate decided to call-up the West Brom star for this month’s World Cup qualifiers. He could earn an England cap if he impresses the coaches in training. Spurs are reportedly keen on signing Johnstone as Hugo Lloris’ potential replacement this summer, and Hutton reckons they could have a repeat of the Jack Grealish transfer saga on their hands should the goalie become an England international. Tottenham refused to meet Aston Villa’s news demands for the midfielder back in the summer of 2018, with...
Gareth Southgate names 26-man squad for World Cup qualifiers
The latest England squad has been released ahead of the upcoming international break. The Three Lions are set to begin their qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the closing days of March. They begin by welcoming San Marino to Wembley before a trip to Albania. Finally, they’ll face Poland at home. Several players miss out on the squad through injury. Leicester City duo James Maddison and Harvey Barnes have been sidelined in recent weeks, while wingers Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish are also unavailable. Regular number one Jordan Pickford misses out after being substituted early against Burnley, while Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez remain long-term absentees. Jesse Lingard has earned a recall to the England setup following an impressive loan spell at West Ham United. John ...
Why Wilfried Zaha is no longer taking the knee
Wilfried Zaha became the first Premier League player not to kneel before kick-off on Saturday since top-flight footballers started using the gesture to protest racial injustice last summer. The Crystal Palace winger instead chose to “stand tall” ahead of the match with West Brom, something he had said in February he was going to do but hadn’t started a game since then due to injury. Zaha released a statement ahead of kick-off outlining his intention to do so and his reasons for it. What he said “My decision to stand at kick-off has been public knowledge for a couple of weeks now,” the Ivorian international said. “There is no right or wrong decision, but for me personally I feel kneeling has just become a part of the pre-match routine and at the moment it doesn’t matter whether we kneel or ...
Chelsea boss shuffles his pack, key Leeds player ruled out
The 28th round of fixtures in the Premier League features some eye-catching match-ups at both ends of the EPL table. We’ll update this story with reports, results, highlights and the latest Premier League standings throughout the weekend. The action kicked-off on Friday evening, with Newcastle United drawing 1-1 with Aston Villa. Elland Road is the venue for the early game on Saturday, with Leeds United going head-to-head with Chelsea. 📋 Changes for both teams in today’s lunchtime kick-off ⚪️🔵 Leeds make three, Chelsea make six… 🎙 @DFletcherSport and Steve McManaman take us through the line-ups and formations! pic.twitter.com/Fm4yLbRX9g — Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 13, 2021 Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has shuffled his pack ah...
Chelsea stars ruled out, Tottenham sweating on key player’s fitness
The 2020/21 Premier League season continues this weekend, with some intriguing EPL fixtures scheduled over the next four days. The action gets underway on Friday evening as Newcastle United go head-to-head with Aston Villa at St James’ Park. The early kick-off on Saturday is at Elland Road, with Leeds United facing Chelsea. The Blues will be without Tammy Abraham and Thiago Silva, with manager Thomas Tuchel confirming they are sidelined with injuries. There are three other games later the same day, with the clash between Fulham and Manchester City the pick of the bunch. Fulham have given themselves a great chance of avoiding relegation, but they could have their work cut out against the champions-elect. The Sunday line-up features a quartet of matches, headlined by the north London derby b...
Premier League Results: Can the champions fend off Tottenham and Arsenal?
The 27th round of fixtures in the Premier League features some intriguing match-ups at both ends of the EPL table. We’ll update this story with reports, results, highlights and the latest Premier League standings throughout the weekend. The action is already underway, with Burnley drawing 1-1 with Arsenal at Turf Moor. James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams got the goals as Southampton ran out 2-0 winners at Sheffield United. Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton Wanderers is next on the agenda, with Brighton & Hove Albion vs Leicester City following. There are four games on Sunday, with the Manchester derby between City and United at the Etihad Stadium the pick of the bunch. Liverpool are in action at home to Fulham, and they will be eager to return to winning ways. The Reds are currently seventh in ...
Premier League preview: Can Arsenal and Tottenham finish ahead of the champions?
The 2020/21 Premier League season rumbles on this weekend, with some eye-catching EPL fixtures scheduled over the next few days. With Manchester City looking nailed on to win the title, attention has switched onto the battle to qualify for Europe. Arsenal have the opportunity to boost their chances when they visit Burnley in the early game on Saturday. A victory at Turf Moor would move the Gunners just three points behind Liverpool, who are currently in seventh place. There are three further games later the same day, with the Midlands derby between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers the pick of the bunch. Villa are also in the running to bag a European qualification spot but may find it difficult to break Wolves down. There are four fixtures on Sunday, headlined by the Manchester derb...
Premier League fans call for VAR changes after controversial Thursday
VAR has once again taken centre stage after a highly controversial round of Premier League fixtures which saw three goals harshly ruled out. The first came at Craven Cottage in the clash between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. On loan striker Josh Maja thought he had netted an equaliser for the home side, only for the cameras to spot a handball by Mario Lemina in the build up. The game ended 1-0 to Spurs. Despite the fact that Lemina’s arms were quite clearly by his side, the goal was chalked off. The handball law states that intent doesn’t matter if a handball leads to a goal – which is a frankly ridiculous rule. Lemina has the ball booted at him and his arms are down by his side, I’m genuinely baffled how they’ve disallowed it. Premier League referees really do have a concerning lack of co...
10 VAR decisions that show Arsenal, Liverpool & other PL clubs are right in asking for better refereeing
The introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in 2019 was heralded as a massive step forward for the Premier League. The days where controversial decisions were made were supposed to become a thing of the past, and football would be a better place for it. However, the reality has proved to be much different, with barely a week going by without some VAR-related nonsense occurring in England’s top flight. Whether it’s diving going unpunished or penalties not being given, VAR has not cleaned up the mistakes many thought it would have upon introduction. We’ve waded our way through the list of VAR decisions in the Premier League to pick out 10 of the most contentious since it was introduced. Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool – October 2019 Liverpool were unstoppable during the 2019...
Ancelotti confirms three Everton players will miss out, gushes over 23-year-old star
Everton will travel to Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Thursday night. Carlo Ancelotti confirmed in his press conference today that three players are definitely missing for this game – Yerry Mina, Fabian Delph and Jean-Philippe Gbamin. The Italian boss has also revealed that the club will make checks on four players – James Rodriguez, Tom Davies, Seamus Coleman and Robin Olsen – ahead of the match. Everton training this afternoon. Will be checks on James, Davies, Coleman and Olsen ahead of tomorrow’s West Brom game Mina, Delph and Gbamin still out — Patrick Boyland (@Paddy_Boyland) March 3, 2021 A lot of hype has been going on around Ben Godfrey who has been simply outstanding since his move from Norwich City in the summer. Rio Ferdinand praised the 23...
Big blow for West Ham, Man City star returns, Chelsea man misses out
The 26th round of fixtures in the Premier League features some key match-ups at both ends of the EPL table. We’ll update this story with reports, results, highlights and the latest Premier League standings throughout the weekend. The action is already underway, with Manchester City going head-to-head with West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium. Ruben Dias and John Stones got the City goals, with Michail Antonio replying for the visitors. West Bromwich Albion versus Brighton & Hove Albion is the 3.00 pm kick-off, with Leeds United vs Aston Villa following. Newcastle United round off proceedings today with a tough home fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers. There are five games on Sunday, with the clash between Chelsea and Manchester United the pick of the bunch. The Blues will be witho...
