Liverpool picked up their first opening-day win since 2008, beating Stoke City 1-0 in the Premier League curtain raiser at Anfield.
With suspended striker Luis Suarez in attendance, Daniel Sturridge gave the hosts the lead just before half-time, having seen an earlier effort disallowed for offside.
Liverpool kept the pressure on in the second half, but they found Asmir Begovic in superb form, ensuring that the nerves among the home fans would remained frayed.
A penalty in the dying stages looked to have denied Liverpool the win, but debutant Simon Mignolet dived low to his right to claw away Jon Walters effort.
Brendan Rodgers handed full debuts to Mignolet, Kolo Toure and Iago Aspas, while Erik Pieters made his Stoke bow. Mark Wilson was called into Mark Hughes …
Edwin van der Sar has tipped Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen to be a success in the Premier League if he completes his move to Tottenham.
The 21-year-old Denmark international was reported to be in London on Thursday ahead of a move to White Hart Lane.
Eriksen has been linked with moves away from the Amsterdam Arena over the past few seasons after impressing for the Eredivisie side.
Van der Sar who is now marketing director at Ajax admitted it would be a big blow to lose Eriksen, but knows he has the quality to succeed in England.
He s a very good player and I would be sorry if he were to leave us,” he said. “He has great quality.
(He) is two-footed, is very quick, gives you a lot of pace on the ball and his corners and free-kicks are very good.
…
Manchester United are ready to make a big money move for Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, .
The Red Devils have already been strongly linked with a move for Toffee’s striker Romelu Lukaku, but could also bid for Barkley as they look to add to their midfield.
The Liverpool born England international is could cost as much as £45m, with Lukaku valued a touch more at £50m.
Barkley broke into the Everton first team in the 2011/12 campaign and has so far racked one hundred and five Premier League appearances, the majority of which have come in the last three seasons.
He has also had loan spells with Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United while internationaly he has racked up twenty-one caps for his country scoring twice.
United face Everton at O…
LA Galaxy’s Robbie Rogers believes he may not have made it as a professional footballer had he revealed his sexuality earlier in his career.
The 26-year-old came out as gay in February, shortly after leaving English club Leeds United.
The USA international has enjoyed a stellar career both at home and abroad featuring for the likes of Heerenveen, Columbus Crew and Leeds.
He has also earned 18 caps for his country, making his debut against Sweden in 2009.
However, although he feels that nowadays he would likely be afforded the same chances in the game, he admits that growing up with the extra baggage of coming out as gay could have affected the opportunities he was given in football.
He told BBC Radio 5Live: When I was growing up I don t think I would have…
Isco paid tribute to Zinedine Zidane for his role in developing his talents after signing a new five-year Real Madrid contract.
The Spain international joined Madrid from Malaga in 2013 and has enjoyed an immensely successful time at the Santiago Bernabeu, winning 11 trophies with the club.
It was announced on Thursday the 25-year-old had agreed a new deal which will tie him to the club until 2022, rewarding him for becoming a key player in Zidane s squad.
Isco has not always had everything his own way at Madrid, however, with James Rodriguez s arrival in 2014 providing him with competition and forcing the Spaniard to accept a squad role.
But with James loan move to Bayern Munich in the close-season, Isco s success in their duel was apparent and the Valen…
The 34-year-old was said to be considering the deal, and he has now disclosed that the role on offer differs from his current position and requires careful consideration.
Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes. The contract extension the club has offered me is a different role and I hope everyone will understand I want to take the time to consider it carefully before making a decision, Terry wrote in an Instagram post.
In April, outgoing manager Guus Hiddink stated he had been giving the Chelsea captain work experience during his spell on the sidelines with an Achilles problem.
Terry has been involved in four Premier League title triumphs, five FA Cup wins and Champions League glory in 2011-12.
Despite reported interest from across the globe, the centre…
Algeria have parted ways with head coach Rabah Madjer following a run of four successive friendly defeats.
Madjer who won the European Cup with Porto during his playing career was appointed to the role for a fourth time in October 2017.
His latest reign started promisingly, including a draw with Nigeria and victory over Central African Republic, albeit the latter result is best remembered for Madjer s astonishing outburst at a member of the media in the post-game news conference.
However, the African nation have lost against World Cup qualifiers Iran, Portugal and Saudi Arabia in 2018, as well as a surprising 3-2 reverse to Cape Verde.
A short statement on the Algerian Football Federation s website confirmed the decision was unanimously taken to sa…
Verdict: Swansea win and both teams to score
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
It’s the return of the Premier League this weekend as Swansea host Newcastle at the Liberty Stadium. Both sides will be looking to build on their first league win picked up before the international break.
Swansea
Having been installed as pre-season relegation candidates, Swansea have made a pretty decent start to the Premier League. A 2-0 away win last time out to Crystal Palace and a 0-0 draw at St Mary’s mean the Swans are on a respectable four points from three games. It had seemed bleak just a couple of weeks ago when star player Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente left the club but some surprising signings in the transfer window has raised belief that it could be a successf…
Sebastian Giovinco has won his first Italy call-up for three years, but Mario Balotelli has been left out of the latest squad.
Toronto striker Giovinco, who has 23 senior caps, has not featured in international football since October 2015, when he was a substitute in a 2-1 win over Norway in Euro 2016 qualifying.
The 31-year-old is joined in coach Roberto Mancini s latest squad by Sampdoria s Gianluca Caprari, who is called up for the first time, while Marco Verratti, Alessandro Florenzi, Patrick Cutrone and Danilo D Ambrosio return.
Nice striker Balotelli has been omitted after a difficult start to the season in Ligue 1, as has Torino forward Andrea Belotti.
Italy face Ukraine in a friendly in Genoa on October 10, before they travel to face Poland in a …
David de Gea levelled a Premier League record by making 14 saves as Manchester United won 3-1 at Arsenal on Saturday.
The Spain international was in inspirational form as a Jesse Lingard brace saw United narrow the gap to five points behind league leaders and rivals Manchester City ahead of next weekend s derby at Old Trafford.
De Gea reacted superbly to stop Romelu Lukaku turning into his own goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half, but even more brilliance was to come after the interval with a sensational double save.
United s goalkeeper got down sharply to his right to keep out an Alexandre Lacazette snapshot and immediately leapt up and used his right boot to block the rebound from Alexis Sanchez, who could not believe he had failed to score.
…