Premier League
Man Utd out to put a spoke in Man City’s title charge –
Manchester United have the opportunity to knock Manchester City off their perch when they travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday even if they will not be the main beneficiaries of a surprise Premier League win.
United’s new minority owner Jim Ratcliffe laid out his plans to return the 20-time English champions to the summit when he completed his acquisition of 27% of the club’s shares this month, including re-establishing the pecking order in the city.
With 15 points separating second-placed City to sixth-placed United, that ambition might take a while to come to fruition.
United are a long way from a gripping three-way title race also featuring leaders Liverpool and Arsenal, but would take immense satisfaction at denting City’s hopes of winning a record fourth successive Premier League crown.
City, who are one point behind Liverpool and one ahead of Arsenal with 12 games left, are unbeaten in their last 18 games in all competitions and warmed up for the derby with a 6-2 FA Cup win at Luton Town in which Erling Haaland scored five times.
United also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in midweek and were in a decent run of league form themselves until a 2-1 home defeat by Fulham last weekend.
“We are also on a good run, the spirit is very good,” manager Erik Ten Hag said on Thursday. “We have done it before against City, also against Liverpool. We will prepare well. The players are looking forward to it. I can smell it. I’m excited.”
United were humiliated 6-3 in the fixture last season but won the home match, although they also lost to Pep Guardiola’s side in the FA Cup final with City going on to match United’s 1999 feat by completing a treble.
City, who also won 3-0 at Old Trafford in October, are in ominous form, but Ten Hag says his side can halt their charge.
“We need a great day,” he said. “We like the challenge and we are looking forward to challenge with them. We know we have to give everything and show a team performance, if we want to get the result. But if you do it, it is possible.”
Liverpool have the advantage of playing first at the weekend with a trip to struggling Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while Arsenal go to bottom club Sheffield United on Monday.
Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool have been decimated by injuries to key players but have maintained the momentum with their League Cup final win over Chelsea last weekend and a victory over Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday — both of which highlighted the Anfield youth production line.
Free-scoring Arsenal, meanwhile, will be eyeing another chance to boost their goal difference against a Sheffield United side who have conceded 66 league goals this season.
The battle for Champions League qualification continues with fourth-placed Aston Villa away to Luton Town on Saturday and Tottenham Hotspur, who are five points behind with a game in hand, hosting Crystal Palace.
At the bottom, Everton will seek to crown a good week in which they had four points of their 10-point penalty for breaking financial rules returned on appeal.
Victory at home to West Ham United could lift them eight points clear of 18th-placed Luton.
“Adding on the points going back, and then adding a win on that against West Ham, then it’ll be a very good week,” manager Sean Dyche said. “We got four back, the league table looks different, now it’s about using that wisely and stepping on.”
-Reuters
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
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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
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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
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