Premier League
Ndidi, Iheanacho on brink of Premier League exit after sorry season
After Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo in Southampton, it appear it is the turn of another Super Eagles; duo to get into Premiership relegation with their club.
Seven years ago, Leicester lifted the Premier League trophy. Now they are on the brink of relegation from the top-flight after a miserable season.
The Foxes, who drew 0-0 at Newcastle on Monday, will only avoid relegation if they beat West Ham this weekend on the final day of the season and fourth bottom Everton drop points at home to Bournemouth.
Dean Smith adopted a safety-first approach against Newcastle and Leicester failed to muster a shot until stoppage-time, but they kept their first clean sheet in the league since November.
It is a far cry from the heady days of 2016, when Claudio Ranieri delivered a fairytale triumph for the ages, overcoming monumental odds to win the title after Leicester narrowly avoided relegation the previous year.
Despite that incredible success, the Italian did not last long at the King Power Stadium, but the arrival of Brendan Rodgers in 2019 gave fresh impetus to the Thai-owned club.
They finished fifth in the Premier League two years in a row — just missing out on Champions League qualification — and won the FA Cup for the first time in 2021.
Even last year the club ended a comfortable eighth and reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
But things began to unravel for Leicester in the first game of this season when they let a 2-0 lead slip to draw 2-2 with Brentford.
What followed was a horror show as they lost six straight league matches and despite sporadic mini revivals they have been unable to pull themselves clear of danger.
Leicester have scored more goals — 49 — than any other club in the bottom half of the table but their defensive problems have cost them dear.
Smith, who was appointed as interim manager after Rodgers left by mutual consent in April, was unapologetic after his side’s defensively minded performance against Newcastle.
“We haven’t kept a clean sheet for too long and the reason we are where we are is because of that in my opinion,” he said.
The former Aston Villa boss added: “If it’s too little, too late, who knows? But we’ve taken it to Sunday now.”
– Problems mount –
Leicester have long been a byword for canny recruitment with Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and Kasper Schmeichel playing starring roles in their title-winning side.
They continued to recruit well, bringing in players of the calibre of Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Wesley Fofana.
Fofana signed for Chelsea last year while Schmeichel left for Nice, depriving the club of leadership and experience on the pitch. Vardy is now a fading force.
Signings including Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare, Jannik Vestergaard and Wout Faes have not made the desired impact.
Rodgers raised the alarm in the early weeks of the season, saying he had “not had the help in the market this team needed”.
“I came to Leicester to compete and initially I was able to do that,” he said in September. “You have to add quality but in the last two (transfer) windows we haven’t been able to do that.”
Two of Leicester’s star names — Tielemans and Maddison — are likely to leave the club if they go down.
Vardy, for so long the team’s talisman, is 36 and has had a peripheral role this term, while central defender Jonny Evans has only played 12 league games all season.
Dropping into the Championship is not the financial calamity it once was, with clubs cushioned by generous parachute payments for up to three years.
But losing their Premier League status for the first time in nine years will be a huge blow to the pride of a club who had experienced the unexpected thrill of winning silverware so recently.
Premier League
Salah uncertain about his future at Liverpool
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Egyptian publication, Ahram has published that Liverpool’s Egyptian winger, Mohamed Salah, expressed uncertainty about his future with the club on Sunday, citing the impending expiration of his contract at the end of this season.
The 32-year-old shone on Sunday as Liverpool delivered a stunning 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in a Premier League fixture.
Salah played a pivotal role in the win, assisting in the first two goals before finding the net for the third, bringing his goal tally to three in three games so far this season.
“I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know it’s my last year at the club, “Salah told Sky Sports after the game on Sunday.
“Nobody at the club has spoken to me yet about a new contract so. I just play this last season and then see at the end of the season.”
When asked about the possibility of playing for Manchester United, Salah responded that it is premature to discuss such matters.
“So far, we don’t know with which club, but so far yeah my last game here with Liverpool. It’s not up to me but nobody talk to me about a contract with the club. We’ll see.”
The Egyptian winger joined Liverpool in the summer of 2017 from Italian side AS Roma.
He has made 352 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool, scoring 214 goals and providing 92 assists.
Premier League
Man Utd humbled as Diaz double helps Liverpool humiliate rivals
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Two goals from Luis Diaz and one from Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool stroll to a 3-0 victory at Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, with Erik ten Hag’s side humbled by their fierce rivals.
Liverpool dominated a United team who could not keep pace with them in the first half, the visitors taking the lead in the 35th minute through a back-post header from Diaz after United midfielder Casemiro had given the ball away.
Casemiro was again at fault for Diaz and Liverpool’s second, again supplied by Mohamed Salah, with the Colombia international sweeping home three minutes before the break, sending United supporters off for their halftime refreshments early.
With United on the ropes, Liverpool smelled blood after the break, Salah adding a third 11 minutes into the second half, but the visitors settled for three as they maintained their 100% record this season under new coach Arne Slot.
“The goals are always self-inflicted,” United captain Bruno Fernandes told Sky Sports. “You need to commit a mistake to give them the goal. We don’t need to be pointing fingers at everyone. that won’t help us now.
“When you concede a goal you can’t just point at one mistake. We don’t have to look at the past. We just have to make it different. We lost the game, congratulations to Liverpool, they were more clinical. I don’t look at the stats but the game was tight.”
After a positive summer in the transfer market and fresh faces in the boardroom, last week’s last-gasp defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion gave United supporters a stark reminder of the improvements still needed on the pitch.
Sunday’s visit of a Liverpool side who had lost just one of their previous 12 Premier League meetings with United will have caused a great deal of concern pre-match.
Those more pessimistic fans were fearing the worst as Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to have fired Liverpool into an early lead at Old Trafford, only for VAR to step in and save the hosts, adjudging Salah to be offside earlier in the move.
United settled into the contest without troubling Liverpool down the other end of the pitch, allowing the visitors to pick their moments when they came.
Casemiro’s wayward pass ensured the Slot’s side did not have to try too hard to unlock their rivals, Diaz applying the finishing touch to get Liverpool up and running.
Diaz’s third of the season was another fine finish, but another Casemiro will want to forget. The flying Liverpool forward has now scored more Premier League goals against United than any other opponent.
Yet another mistake in midfield, this time from Kobbie Mainoo, was ruthlessly punished by Salah in the second half, the Egyptian cementing his pace as the highest-scoring opposition player at Old Trafford in Premier League history — seven strikes.
The visitors thereafter cruised to a victory that means Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win his first meeting with United since Bob Paisley in November 1975, and just the second to do so away from home after George Kay in November 1936.
“Everything what you want to see as a manager you saw in this game,” Slot said. “There were difficult moments for us, United started really well but then we have disallowed goal and there was no negative reaction, kept on playing, scoring three, could have scored more.
“There were two important saves from our goalkeeper and the work rate was incredibly well without the ball and that makes it a very positive day.”
-Reuters
Premier League
Brighton end 10-man Arsenal’s winning start
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Brighton and Hove Albion ended Arsenal’s winning start to the new Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at The Emirates on Saturday, with the home side holding on with 10 men after Declan Rice’s second-half sending off.
Arsenal dominated the first half and deservedly lead at half time after Kai Havertz finished brilliantly in the 38th minute, having been played in expertly by Bukayo Saka.
Four minutes into the second half, however, Arsenal’s task was made all the harder when Rice was sent off after picking up a second yellow card. Brazilian striker Joao Pedro fired Brighton level 12 minutes later.
Both sides missed golden chances to win the contest late on, but they each had to settle for a point that keeps Arsenal and Brighton unbeaten from their three games so far.
“We started the game really well,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports. “We scored the goal, 1-0. We started the second half really good but then there is the decision that changes the game completely.
“If it (second yellow card) happens throughout the game in a consistent way it is fine but it didn’t. It is the inconsistency.”
After narrowly missing out on their first Premier League title since 2004 last season, Arsenal started the new term in perfect fashion.
With champions Manchester City also coming into this weekend’s fixtures with two wins from two at the start of the new season, Arsenal know any slip-up, even this early in the campaign, could be costly.
They appeared set to be course for a ninth successive league victory after a dominant first-half display. Skipper Martin Odegaard should have scored earlier in the opening period before Havertz lofted home his second of the campaign.
Rice’s second yellow for trying to stop Brighton taking a quick free kick, a decision that was met with consternation around the stands, turned the tide in the visitors’ favour.
Since Boxing Day 2019 – Mikel Arteta’s first game in charge of Arsenal – the Gunners have been shown 16 red cards in the Premier League, at least three more than any other side. But it was Rice’s first red in his 245th Premier League appearance.
Following his last-gasp winner against Manchester United last weekend, Pedro reacted first after Yankuba Minteh’s shot had been saved to pull Brighton level, and the game opened up thereafter.
Saka could have snatched the win late on, while Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had to be at his best on several occasions to keep Brighton from earning all three points, but both seemed content with a draw after an exhilarating tussle.
“We didn’t create enough chances when they went down to 10 men, but we will go away and look at it,” Brighton captain Lewis Dunk said.
“We always believe we can win any game of football. We are in a good place and we know we can beat anybody.”
-Reuters
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