Premier League
LIVERPOOL ARE 10 AWAY FROM EQUALLING ARSENAL’S INVINCIBLES
Liverpool’s incredible season has got fans dreaming beyond ending their 30-year wait for a league title.
With 21 wins from 22 games so far, they are chasing a Premier League record points total and a shot at an unbeaten season.
It has already been 39 games since Jurgen Klopp’s side were last beaten in the league by last season’s champions Manchester City’s in January 2019.
And it’s a trip to the Etihad Stadium, the scene of that last defeat just over a year ago, that would see Liverpool equal Arsenal’s incredible 49-game unbeaten run between 2003 and 2004.
Leroy Sane’s strike decided that game in 12 months ago, and ultimately the destination of the league title with City pipping Liverpool by just a point.
By quirk of fate, if Liverpool and City maintain their current pattern of results, it’s the game where the Reds could seal the title, as they need only 30 more points.
Ten wins from the next 10 would do it.
But they face some tricky assignments ahead of the trip to Manchester in early April.
Wolves lie in wait at Molineux on Thursday, while no one would relish bursting Liverpool’s bubble more than Everton.
Liverpool go to Goodison Park in mid-March, where they have not been on the losing side in nearly a decade.
Crystal Palace at home could be awkward – they are after the last visiting team to win at Anfield in the league in April 2017 – while Southampton, Watford and West Ham won’t be so straightforward.
While matching Arsenal’s Invincibles is a target in itself, they will have to keep going for a further six games to go a whole season unbeaten – as Arsene Wenger managed in 2003-04.
Those final half a dozen games include a final home game against Chelsea, and going to Arsenal in early May – where the Emirates Stadium will be desperate to stop Liverpool sharing their glory.
Arsenal’s own unbeaten run ended in infamy some 15 years ago, when Manchester United claimed a 2-0 win in a tempestuous game at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney both scored, the first goal from a contentious penalty won by Rooney.
In the years since it has become known as the Battle of the Buffet after Cesc Fabregas threw pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson in the tunnel after the final whistle.
LIVERPOOL’S NEXT 10 MATCHES
January 23: Wolves A
January 29: West Ham A
February 1: Southampton H
February 15: Norwich A
February 24: West Ham H
February 29: Watford A
March 7: Bournemouth H
March 14: Everton A
March 21: Crystal Palace H
April 4: Manchester City A
-Daily Mail
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- OBITUARY3 days ago
BREAKING: Nigerian Goalkeeping Legend Peter Rufai is dead
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Football Agent John Shittu Demands Retraction and ₦250 Million Damages from Samson Siasia Over Bribery Allegation
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Kwara United Clinch Historic First Title as President Federation Cup Final Goes to Penalties for the 18th time
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Rivers Angels Crowned 2025 Female Federation Cup Champions After Penalty Shootout Thriller
- OBITUARY3 days ago
Peter Rufai looked lean when I last saw him, says mourning NFF President, Gusau
- WAFCON1 day ago
Nigeria, Tunisia Set for High-Stakes WAFCON 2024 Clash in Casablanca
- OBITUARY3 days ago
Family issues statement on Peter Rufai
- IMMEMORIAL2 days ago
Peter Rufai’s Death Adds to Long List of July Tragedies in Nigerian Football