Liverpool’s Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho faces up to three weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, coach Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Thursday. Arguably Liverpool’s player of the season so far, Coutinho limped off during the first half of his side’s 1-0 League Cup semifinal first-leg victory at Stoke on Tuesday. Dejan Lovren was also injured in the same game, adding to Liverpool’s swelling numbers in the sickbay. Martin Skrtel has already been ruled out until February with a similar injury, while Mamadou Sakho missed the match at the Britannia Stadium with a knee problem. Kolo Toure, who came in…
Author: David F.
Scraping a victory when under pressure is often a sign of backbone in potential title winners and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was delighted his side “dug deep” to beat Newcastle United on Saturday. Laurent Koscielny grabbed the only goal following a corner after 72 nervy minutes at the Emirates Stadium as the Londoners finally found a way past a fired-up Newcastle to go two points clear at the Premier League summit. It was not vintage Arsenal and there was little of the style and incision that typically characterises Wenger’s sides. However, after claiming a fifth win in six league matches,…
Striker Alexis Sanchez will miss Arsenal’s FA Cup third round tie with Sunderland on Saturday as a precautionary measure, manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed. The Chilean has been sidelined for more than a month after picking up a hamstring injury against Norwich City on November 29. He was expected to return to the side before Christmas but suffered a setback that delayed his recovery, and Wenger is unwilling to risk him given that Arsenal have key Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and Stoke City next week. “The bad news of the week is that Alexis is not quite ready. It…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hopes to complete the signing of FC Basle midfielder Mohamed Elneny by early next week after reported work permit issues threatened to stall the transfer. With midifielders Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin out with injury, Elneny would be an welcome addition to squad, which was stretched thin during the festive period. “It’s complicated a little bit, but we are working hard on it and hope in the next two-three days we get to the end of it,” Wenger told reporters on Friday, ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash against Sunderland. “I don’t rule out anybody else…
Didier Drogba denied reports of his retirement on Wednesday, saying he had not yet taken a decision over his future amid speculation about a possible coaching role with former club Chelsea. The Montreal Impact striker said he was still in discussions with the Major League Soccer outfit, who he joined last year. “Lovely to receive these messages but I have not yet announced my retirement & am still in discussion with @impactmontreal about my future,” Drogba wrote on Twitter. French newspaper L’Equipe earlier reported on Wednesday that the Ivory Coast legend had already informed Montreal of his plans to quit…
Chelsea’s Oscar and Diego Costa faced up to each like bulls, never threw punches and ended up laughing together, interim manager Guus Hiddink said on Friday as he denied reports of a training ground bust-up. British media reported on Thursday that the Brazilian and Spanish internationals nearly came to blows after exchanging tackles in a practice session ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third- round tie against Scunthorpe United. “They were like bulls who were chesting a bit after a charge from behind by Oscar,” Hiddink said. “He got Diego and they stumbled over the ground and then they chested a…
Chelsea must not fall victim to another FA Cup giant-killing as they did last year because their chances of success in the Premier League are limited after a poor start to the season, manager Guus Hiddink said on Friday. Chelsea, who have lifted the Cup four times in the last nine years, face League One (third tier) Scunthorpe United in the third round at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Chelsea suffered one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s 145-year history last year when League One Bradford City beat the Premier League leaders 4-2 in the fourth round at Stamford Bridge…
Arsenal’s sights are set on the Premier League title but Gunners defender Calum Chambers says the possibility of becoming the first club in the modern era to lift the FA Cup for a third successive season will fire their defence of the trophy. Arsene Wenger’s side face Sunderland in the third round at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday eight months after their 4-0 victory over Aston Villa in last season’s final. And having ended the club’s nine-year wait for a trophy by beating Hull City 12 months earlier, the Gunners last suffered defeat in the FA Cup way back in…
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has apologised to Jurgen Klopp for suggesting the German’s tactics were to blame for seven Liverpool players suffering hamstring injuries. “I got asked a question by a friend of mine, Alan Brazil. ‘What do you think the injuries are down to?’,” Allardyce told British media. “I gave an opinion of the question that Alan asked me, which was perhaps the high-pressing game in all the games that they have had created that little bit more fatigue and that was maybe a cause of why they have picked up so many hamstrings. “But if Jurgen is listening,…
Odion Ighalo has admitted that he would find it tempting to turn down the chance of moving to Old Trafford if Manchester United came calling for his service. The 26-year-old was referring to speculation of being linked with a move away from Watford with interests coming from clubs in Italy and Spain. The Nigerian international doused any possibility of leaving the Vicarage Road in this transfer window but could not hide his wish to join English giants, Manchester United, if they made an approach. “There has been speculation from Spain and Italy but I’ve played there and now want to…
Chelsea have usurped Manchester United and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League’s wage bill chart, according to annual figures released on Friday. The data, published by Companies House, the United Kingdom’s registrar of companies, showed that Chelsea spent more money on player salaries last season than any other team in the English top flight. They had topped the table prior to the 2011-12 season, when City, who won that year’s title, overtook them. Chelsea, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, reported a total wage bill of £215.6 million ($314.3 million, 289.7 million euros), a rise of £25…
Several Manchester United players are in the ‘red zone’ according to manager Louis van Gaal as he weighs up his options for Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie at home to Sheffield United. A hectic holiday programme, including four games in 15 days, has taken its toll on United’s squad and Van Gaal fears that many of his over-stretched players risk injury or burnout. Defender Phil Jones is ruled out through injury while winger Ashley Young might not be risked with United set to face a Premier League clash at Newcastle United three days after playing third tier Sheffield United.…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said on Friday he would welcome Pep Guardiola to the Premier League and does not fear the Bayern Munich coach will take his job. Guardiola this week expressed his interest in managing in England when he leaves the Bundesliga champions at the end of the season. While he is widely expected to take over at Manchester City, Guardiola has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford, but Van Gaal sees no problem in the timing of his former Barcelona captain’s announcement. “You have to set always your goals, as a manager also,”…
Ivory Coast international, Yaya Toure, is displeased that he has failed to win the African Footballer of the Year for a fifth successive year. The Manchester City midfielder was beaten to the biggest individual African prize by Gabonese international, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, by just seven votes and the Ivorian is “disappointed.” The Ivorian said he would accept losing the individual honour he has won four consecutive times rather than “complain.” Despite the disappointment of finishing second in the African Footballer of the Year award, the 32-year-old congratulated Aubameyang for clinching the gong and believes the Gabonese did “brilliantly” in the year…
Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo was inevitably among the goals in the Barclays Premier League as the top-flight in England reached the halfway mark this term. The forward’s first half goal was, however, insufficient to help the Hornets escape a 1-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. The goal represented Ighalo’s sixth successive goal in six league matches. Erik Lamela gave Spurs the lead on 17 minutes in which Watford’s main man, Ighalo, enjoyed little joy with the duo of Dier and Jan Vertonghen. Ighalo’s first sight at goal came in the 27th minute when Nathan Ake curled in a cross…
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has declared that Sadio Mane will stay at the club beyond the January transfer window amid reports of a likely exit. The Senegalese striker has been linked with Manchester United and speculation has been fuelled further by his exclusion from the their Barclays Premier League game at Norwich City last weekend. Manchester United have reportedly attempted to open discussion for the 23-year-old this week but the Saints have turned down the overtures and Koeman has further buttressed that the striker is “not for sale.” Koeman insisted that the Senegalese international is happy to stay at the…
Gabon and Borussia Dortmund star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on Thursday upstaged favourite Yaya Toure to win a first African Player of the Year Award. In a vote of coaches and technical directors of Confederation of African Football (CAF) member-nations, Aubameyang tallied 143 points ahead of Manchester City and Ivory Coast star Toure, who scored 136 points and was bidding for a fifth successive award. Swansea City and Ghana striker Andre Ayew was third on 112 points. It was sweet revenge for Aubameyang after he lost the 2014 prize to Toure who scooped the prestigious individual accolade in 2011, 2012, 2013…
The chairman of DAAR Communications PLC, Chief Raymond Dokpesi said the ongoing probe into the purchase of arms, is just an attempt to rubbish the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This is coming on the heels of the arrest of the PDP publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh. Dokpesi said “I wish to emphasise that the current ruling party is making efforts to impede our journey to political maturity through the manipulation of the federal system to serve purely partisan interest. “Our party is indeed experiencing a massive persecution, political reprisal and vendetta, of the kind never before seen on our shores and…
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that President Muhammadu Buhari does not dictate to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on how to do its job. Mohammed made the statement in response to claims that Buhari was trying to silence the opposition by ordering the arrest of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh. “I think the first point to make is that this government is not micro-managing any of the anti-graft agencies. I know for a fact that they don’t contact the President or anybody before they do their job,” the minister said…
A group loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja to protest the arrest of Olisa Metuh, the party’s national publicity secretary. The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Metuh yesterday, Tues. Jan. 6 at his Abuja resident over his alleged involvement in the $2.1billion arms scam. The protesters were said to have carried banners and placards with inscriptions such as “No to selective justice” among others. They also condemned the arrest of Chief Raymond Dokpesi. It was gathered they spent about 25 minutes at the party’s secretariat.