Tag: Premier League

Arsenal forward Kai Havertz has had a knee operation, but the Premier League giants are upbeat about the Germany international’s prospects of a swift recovery.

Havertz, 26, missed Arsenal’s 5-0 thrashing of Leeds at the Emirates last Saturday with an injury he sustained following the Gunners’ opening-weekend victory at Manchester United.

He has now undergone what Arsenal said Thursday was a “minor surgical procedure”, with the north London club understood to believe Havertz will be missing for weeks rather than months.

“Further to sustaining a knee injury after our recent game against Manchester United on 17 August, subsequent assessments and specialist reviews with Kai confirmed that surgery would be required,” said an Arsenal statement.

“Today, Kai underwent a successful minor surgical procedure. He will shortly begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, with everyone fully focused on supporting Kai to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Havertz’s injury came shortly before Arsenal scuppered Eberechi Eze’s proposed move to arch-rivals Tottenham by signing the England international from Crystal Palace for an initial fee of some £60 million ($81 million).

Eze was presented to the Emirates crowd before Arsenal’s victory over Leeds and is set to make his debut against Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, with the Gunners desperate to end their 22-year wait for an English top-flight title.

As well as being without Havertz for the trip to Merseyside, manager Mikel Arteta is also unable to select Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard after they sustained hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively, against Leeds.

Christian Norgaard and Ben White are also doubtful, while Gabriel Jesus remains a long-term absentee with a knee injury.

READ: Olympic marathon champion Hassan opts for Sydney ahead of worlds

Liverpool needed a 100th-minute winner from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha to beat Newcastle 3-2, after blowing a two-goal lead against 10 men, in a Premier League thriller on Monday.

Ryan Gravenberch and long-time Newcastle target Hugo Ekitike struck for the English champions, either side of Anthony Gordon’s red card for a wild lunge on Virgil van Dijk.

But amid a frenzied atmosphere at St. James’ Park, the Magpies battled back through Bruno Guimaraes and William Osula only to be denied by teenage sensation Ngumoha, who became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history.

“This is also what makes the Premier League special,” said Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

“Maybe it wasn’t the best game in terms of tactics or in terms of playing football, but I think every fan everywhere around the world enjoyed watching this game of football.”

Victory takes Liverpool level on maximum points from two games with Tottenham and title rivals Arsenal, who travel to Anfield on Sunday.

Newcastle remain without a win as they miss their wantaway talisman, Alexander Isak.

The Swedish striker scored the winner when the sides last met in the League Cup final in March as Newcastle lifted their first domestic trophy for 70 years.

But Isak is yet to feature for Eddie Howe’s men this season as he seeks an exit from Tyneside.

Liverpool are the likely destination if Isak does leave before the transfer window closes in a week’s time.

The Reds have reportedly had one bid of £110 million ($149 million) rejected as Newcastle want a British transfer record of £150 million.

Adding to the Magpies’ frustration is the fact that the Premier League champions also won the race to sign Ekitike, who Newcastle had lined up as a potential Isak replacement.

After failing to land a number of striker targets in the transfer market, Newcastle’s lack of a clinical number nine was exposed as they failed to break down 10-man Aston Villa in a 0-0 draw to begin their season last weekend.

And it cost them again during a dominant opening 30 minutes.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Roared on by a ferocious capacity crowd of over 50,000, Newcastle penned Liverpool inside their own half without finding the final finish.

Instead, it was the visitors who took the lead completely against the run of play on 35 minutes.

Gravenberch took aim from well outside the area and powered an inch-perfect shot off the inside of the post.

It got even worse for Newcastle before the break as Gordon took out his frustration by charging late into Van Dijk and was dismissed after a VAR review showed his studs had raked down the Dutch defender’s Achilles.

Slot had not even taken his seat for the second half by the time his side doubled their lead 20 seconds in.

Ekitike scored two goals in as many Premier League games with a composed side-footed finish from Cody Gakpo’s pass.

Newcastle’s sense of injustice only increased when Ibrahima Konate escaped a second yellow card moments later for a push on Harvey Barnes.

But this time, the home players and crowd channelled their anger more positively.

Minutes after being booked for taking his protests too far, a fired-up Guimaraes outmuscled Milos Kerkez to head in at the back post.

Liverpool struggled to make their man advantage count for the entirety of the second half and were made to pay.

Despite his lack of forward options, Howe has been reluctant to field Osula, but the young Dane netted just his second Premier League goal when he bundled the ball beyond Alisson Becker from a Dan Burn flick-on.

Newcastle continued to charge forward in search of a memorable winner, only to be picked out by Liverpool’s attacking quality.

Mohamed Salah’s pass was brilliantly dummied by Dominik Szoboszlai to leave Ngumoha unmarked to curl calmly into the far corner just days before his 17th birthday.

READ: Oman announce squad for historic Asia Cup debut

Liverpool defender Jeremie Frimpong faces several weeks out of action with a hamstring injury, Reds manager Arne Slot said Thursday.

Jeremie Frimpong suffered the setback during the Premier League champions’ 4-2 opening win over Bournemouth at Anfield last Friday.

The former Bayer Leverkusen full-back, a reported £29.5 million ($39.6 million) replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, went off after an hour of his home league debut for Liverpool.

“The medical team were completely right about Jeremie to tell me to take him off because he is out until the end of the international break (September 10), and that happened during the game,” Slot told a pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s game against Newcastle on Monday.

“I think I got criticised for taking him off, didn’t I?,” the Dutch boss added.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“It had nothing to do with how he played, but we felt he had an issue with his hamstring, and by we, I mean the medical staff. It was a good call to take him off; otherwise, he would have been out for longer. We expect to have him back after the international break.”

Conor Bradley, Liverpool’s other option at right-back, only returned from injury to training on Thursday.

The build-up to Monday’s Premier League match at St. James’ Park has been dominated by Liverpool’s pursuit of unsettled Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, with the Magpies reported to be demanding a British record transfer fee of £150 million ($202 million) for the 25-year-old Sweden international.

READ: John Cena set to retire from WWE on THIS date

Chelsea suffered a Club World Cup hangover as they were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace to open their Premier League campaign on Sunday.

Palace were denied an early opener when Eberechi Eze’s free-kick was ruled out by a VAR review for Marc Guehi obstructing the Chelsea wall.

New Chelsea signing Estevao came closest to snatching a winner for the home side, but the newly-crowned world champions were blunt in attack against a well-organised Palace defence.

The Eagles key duo of Guehi and Eze started despite mounting speculation the England internationals are set to join Liverpool and Tottenham, respectively.

“As long as they are 100 percent committed, they will play as they are so good,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner.

“They didn’t just show they are great footballers, but they are great persons and that’s what I expected.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Eze thought he had opened the scoring with a blistering free-kick that had too much power for Robert Sanchez.

The goal was disallowed for Guehi’s role in creating a gap by man-handling Moises Caicedo into the Chelsea wall.

Chelsea’s demolition of European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final last month had raised the Blues’ hopes they can challenge for a first Premier League title since 2017.

But Enzo Maresca bemoaned his side’s lack of preparation time since beating PSG in New York just 35 days ago.

“They played about eight (pre-season) games, we played just two so we tried our best,” said the Italian.

“We expected a tough game. Apart from the first half free-kick, we didn’t concede any chances.”

Estevao scored against Chelsea at the Club World Cup in his final game for Palmeiras.

The Brazilian has been hyped as one of the world’s brightest young talents but lacked the composure to finish when he sliced high and wide from the middle of the box.

Nottingham Forest made light of manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s pre-season fears over a lack of signings with a dominant 3-1 win over a much-changed Brentford.

Chris Wood struck twice either side of Dan Ndyoe’s debut goal for Forest on a nightmare afternoon for new Brentford boss Keith Andrews.

“It was a very good first half. The combinations were really good, beautiful goals,” said Nuno.

“This is why we are insisting on a good balanced squad that gives us options and solutions.”

The Bees have lost their manager, captain and top scorer in the off-season.

Thomas Frank left to take charge of Tottenham, Bryan Mbeumo got his dream move to Manchester United and Arsenal secured Christian Norgaard.

Yoane Wissa was also missing from the Brentford squad ahead of an expected move to Newcastle.

Igor Thiago’s first goal for the club from the penalty spot late on was the only consolation for the visitors.

“I do have genuine belief but we have to take responsibility for a first half that wasn’t good enough,” said Andrews.

READ: Reserve Lionel Messi scores in Miami win while Son gets first MLS win

Liverpool struck twice in the final minutes through Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah to overcome a battling Bournemouth 4-2 in a thrilling start to the Premier League season on Friday.

Antoine Semenyo looked to have rescued a point for the Cherries by scoring twice, after he had reported an incident of racial abuse from a fan, to cancel out Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo’s strikes for the defending champions.

But on an emotive night as Anfield remembered Diogo Jota, Chiesa was the unlikely hero as the injury-hit Italian fired the home side back in front before Salah rounded off the scoring.

Liverpool’s joy at celebrating a record-equalling 19th English top-flight title turned to tragedy during the off-season as forward Jota was killed alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car accident last month at the age of 28.

Just 11 days prior to the accident, the Portuguese international had married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children.

A large banner at the front of The Kop stand read: “Rute, Dinis, Duarte, Mafalda – Anfield will always be your home. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

During a minute’s silence, fans held up a giant mosaic with the initials of Jota and Silva, who was also a footballer, and their shirt numbers in the Portuguese flag.

“The main emotion should be how emotive the tribute for Diogo was,” said Liverpool boss Arne Slot. “It was all so impressive and powerful.”

Despite romping to the title with four games to spare last season, Liverpool have undergone a major transformation in the transfer market, spending close to £300 million ($407 million).

Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, and Jeremie Frimpong made their first competitive starts for the Reds.

More could be yet to come with Liverpool linked with a British transfer record move for Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and interested in Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.

The visitors were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men less than 15 minutes in when Marcos Senesi clearly directed the ball out of Ekitike’s path with his hand when the French striker had a clear run at goal, but VAR surprisingly did not intervene.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The game was briefly halted on the half-hour mark as Semenyo reported to referee Anthony Taylor that he had been the subject of racist abuse from a Liverpool supporter, who was seen to be removed from the stands by police at half-time.

“Totally unacceptable,” said Bournemouth captain Adam Smith. “Kind of in shock it happened in this day and age.”

Liverpool said in a statement that the incident is now the subject of an ongoing police investigation.

Shortly after the resumption, Ekitike settled Liverpool’s nerves as he got the break of the ball and slotted past Dorde Petrovic.

Gakpo then coolly left two Bournemouth defenders on the ground and rolled into the bottom corner just after half-time.

But Slot’s men have struggled to find the right balance in pre-season and in losing the Community Shield to Palace last weekend, as a new-look, slick attack could not compensate for wide open defensive gaps on the counter-attack, and so it proved again.

David Brooks broke the offside trap and squared for Semenyo to pull a goal back.

The Ghanaian then rounded off his eventful evening for good and bad with an incredible equaliser.

Semenyo collected possession just outside his own box and sprinted through a vacant Liverpool midfield before firing into the bottom corner 13 minutes from time.

Chiesa was barely used by Slot in his debut season in England, but became the unlikely hero when he pounced on a loose ball inside the Bournemouth box in the 89th minute.

Salah then broke clear in stoppage time to score his customary goal in the opening game of the season and paid his own homage to Jota by mimicking one of his goal celebrations.

The Egyptian then broke down in tears after full-time as a chant in Jota’s name was belted out from the stands.

READ: Lionel Messi expected to return for Inter Miami against Los Angeles Galaxy

Mohamed Salah has been voted Premier League player of the season for the second time after inspiring Liverpool’s march to a record-equalling 20th English title.

Salah earned the prize after scoring 28 league goals — five more than anyone else — and producing 18 assists for Liverpool so far this term.

Heading into Sunday’s final game against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, the 32-year-old Egyptian superstar is two assists off the single-season record held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

This award is decided after votes from the public are combined with those from a panel of football experts. He also won it in the 2017-18 campaign.

He has broken the run of Manchester City players winning the award for the past four seasons.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Salah’s teammate Virgil van Dijk was the last non-City player to win the award in 2018/19.

Van Dijk, who like Salah signed a new contract with Liverpool earlier in the campaign, was one of the players Salah beat in the voting.

The others were Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, Brentford talisman Bryan Mbeumo, and Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest.

Earlier this month, Mohamed Salah was named the Football Writers’ Association player of the year, securing almost 90 percent of the votes, marking the biggest winning margin this century.

READ: Clinical England Women defeat West Indies to seal T20I series

Everton said goodbye to Goodison Park in style with a 2-0 Premier League win over Southampton thanks to a double for Iliman Ndiaye on an emotional Sunday in Merseyside.

Home of the Toffees since 1892, Goodison will play host to Everton’s women from next season as the men move to a new 52,000 capacity stadium.

Legends of Everton’s past, including former England captain Wayne Rooney, watched on impressed as Ndiaye produced two fine first-half finishes to ensure there was a happy ending for the home fans.

The business on the pitch was a sideshow with already-relegated Saints providing the perfect opposition for a glorious goodbye.

Sun-kissed streets around the ground were covered in acrid blue smoke hours before the noon kick-off as thousands of Everton fans even without tickets made the pilgrimage for a final time.

The Toffees have not won a major trophy for the past 30 years.

But Goodison was the scene of the club’s bygone glory years.

Only four clubs have won more English top-flight titles than Everton’s nine.

There is hope that the move to a new state-of-the-art stadium in Liverpool’s docklands, allied to new ownership under the US-based Friedkin Group, can help restore good times on the field after seasons of battling relegation.

“It will be sad when it goes, but we’re moving into something which we think will give us a bigger and better future,” said Everton manager David Moyes.

Mired in financial troubles, Everton have had to fight for survival in recent seasons to maintain an unbroken 71-year stay among the elite.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

If there is to be a brighter future next season, Ndiaye is likely to be at the heart of it.

The 25-year-old Senegalese international has proved a much-needed spark in his debut season for a side lacking a potent striker.

Southampton had frustrated Manchester City in a 0-0 draw last weekend to ensure they will not end the season as the worst side in Premier League history.

However, they were undone just six minutes in as Ndiaye curled into the bottom corner to make sure there would be no spoiling the Everton party.

Beto found the net twice more but on both occasions had strayed offside before finishing off fine team moves.

Ndiaye’s quick feet did double the advantage for Moyes’ men just before the break as he rounded Aaron Ramsdale and slotted in his 11th goal of the season.

The second half of Everton’s 2791th game at Goodison will be quickly forgotten.

But the memories of a stadium referred to locally as the “Grand Old Lady” will live on for generations of supporters.

READ: Crystal Palace stun Manchester City to win FA Cup for first time

Liverpool demolished Tottenham 5-1 to clinch the Premier League title at an impassioned Anfield on Sunday, sealing a record-equalling 20th English top-flight crown.

Arne Slot’s men stormed back after conceding a surprise early goal to dominate the match, feeding off the crackling energy from the 60,000-plus crowd.

Liverpool, who can no longer be caught by second-placed Arsenal, are now level with bitter rivals Manchester United as the joint-most successful club in English top-flight history.

It is just their second title of the Premier League era and the first they have celebrated in front of fans since 1990 — their 2020 triumph came at a near-empty stadium due to Covid restrictions.

Slot, who is in his first season in English football, said he had built on solid foundations left by Jurgen Klopp, who departed last year after a successful nine-year reign.

“Almost the whole season we were on top of the league and had a team that could win it,” he told Sky Sports. “We know how tough the Premier League is, but we always had the belief we could win it.”

“The work Jurgen (Klopp) and (assistant) Pep (Lijnders) left, the culture, work-rate, quality, was outstanding. We started (the season) really well and maybe it helped that (Manchester) City had a difficult spell that they have not had in five years.

“When the season started, we would have been happy with top four. But I don’t think that is fair to the players as they are much better than that, and they have shown it this season.”

Slot’s men started on the front foot at an expectant Anfield after a stirring rendition of club anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in the warm spring sunshine, but they were rocked by an early goal from Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke.

However, Liverpool barely blinked and roared back with a Luis Diaz tap-in and a screamer from Alexis Mac Allister.

Now the party was well and truly started, and Cody Gakpo made it 3-1, slamming a shot into the bottom corner after a much-changed Spurs team failed to clear.

The Liverpool fans ran through their full repertoire of songs as their team pushed for a fourth goal in the second half.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Top-scorer Mohamed Salah scored the goal the crowd craved, collecting Dominik Szoboszlai’s pass before cutting in and blasting his shot into the bottom corner.

Liverpool had a fifth when Spurs defender Destiny Udogie poked the ball past his own goalkeeper from close range with 21 minutes to go.

As the game went into added time the club’s anthem rang out again as scarves were held aloft and the final whistle elicited a thunderous roar.

The win leaves Liverpool on 82 points, 15 clear of nearest challengers Arsenal with just four games remaining.

Tottenham are a miserable 16th in the Premier League table after their 19th defeat of the season, putting manager Ange Postecoglou under enormous pressure.

Tens of thousands of fans swarmed around Anfield in the build-up to kick-off in anticipation of Liverpool’s coronation, setting off flares as the home team bus arrived.

Flags and scarves saying “Liverpool 20-time Champions” were on sale from stalls outside the ground.

At the start of the campaign, Pep Guardiola’s City were favourites to extend their dynastic Premier League reign and make it five titles in a row but their form collapsed.

Arsenal emerged as Liverpool’s closest challengers, but they drew too many games, failing to take advantage of the rare slip-ups from Slot’s team.

It was feared the club’s players would need time to adapt to the methods of Slot but the former Feyenoord boss has sailed serenely through the season despite relentless speculation over the futures of three of his biggest stars — Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Both Salah and Van Dijk have now signed two-year extensions, though England defender Alexander-Arnold is believed likely to be on the verge of a move to Real Madrid.

“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we are truly deserved champions of England,” said Van Dijk. “The most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this.”

READ: Mohammad Amir comments on dismissing Babar Azam in PSL 10

Manchester City midfielder Rodri will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, dealing a huge blow to their hopes of winning a fifth straight Premier League title.

City manager Pep Guardiola said the Spain international, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in last week’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal, had gone under the knife on Friday.

“He had surgery this morning, ACL and some meniscus,” he said. “So, next season he will be here. This season is over.”

Rodri is one of City’s most important players and his loss will be keenly felt by Guardiola, who is also seeking to regain the Champions League crown.

The City boss, speaking on the eve of his team’s Premier League match against Newcastle, said it was the worst news possible, underlining the importance of the defensive midfielder he has called “irreplaceable”.

“We have to do it as a team and find a way to play during a lot of months without an important player for us,” he said.

“Everybody knows it. Speedy recovery and next season he will compete against them.

“We are stronger with him, we’re stronger with Nathan Ake, we are strong with Oscar Bobb.

“All the injuries we did not want it, but football happens.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Rodri played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win a fourth straight Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as Spain emerged triumphant.

Each of City’s past four Premier League defeats have all come when the former Atletico Madrid player has not featured in the side.

The 28-year-old, touted as a potential Ballon d’Or winner, is unbeaten in his past 52 Premier League appearances, a run stretching back to February 2023.

Guardiola, whose team are top of the Premier League, said he had a number of alternatives among his group of “magnificent players”, including Mateo Kovacic, a like-for-like replacement.

“Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) can play in that position. John Stones and Manu (Manuel Akanji) have played in that position. So we have an alternative to do it,” he said.

Guardiola was asked whether City would dip into the transfer market in January.

“We’ll talk today with Txiki (Begiristain, the director of football), we’ll see how it’s going on,” he said.

“It’s closed until January, so we’ll have time and see potential problems we have, and after we’ll see.”

Rodri, who joined City in 2019, had already had a frustrating start to the season, missing Manchester City’s first four games, including the Community Shield, after suffering a hamstring injury.

Only last week he joined a host of high-profile players to speak out about the ever-increasing fixture workload facing the game’s top stars, and said he thought players could be “close” to striking because of the overloaded calendar.

City will also be without Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for their trip to Newcastle as he continues to recover from injury.

READ: Liam Livingstone smashes Mitchell Starc for record 28 runs in an over

Manchester City will be without Rodri for the start of their Premier League title defence after Pep Guardiola revealed the Spain midfielder has been ruled out of Sunday’s opener against Chelsea.

The influential 28-year-old has only just returned to training after being forced off at half-time during Spain’s 2-1 win against England in last month’s Euro 2024 final.

While England trio Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker hope to feature at Stamford Bridge after their post-Euros break, Rodri has not been cleared to return to action.

Asked on Friday if Rodri could be involved against Chelsea, Guardiola told reporters: “No chance.

“He is in training. I don’t know, I haven’t seen him yet. He feels good. We’ll have to see how he feels after training.”

Rodri’s absence is an early blow to City’s bid to win a fifth successive Premier League title.

Manchester City would love to make a strong start to their title defence in west London, but Guardiola admitted fitness issues could hamper them on the opening weekend.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Foden, Stones and Walker are not fully fit after only returning to training in midweek following their holidays.

“I’m pretty sure they won’t be ready for 90 minutes, maybe yes, maybe 15 minutes,” Guardiola said.

“The important thing is everybody is back and except for Oscar (Bobb) the rest are OK.”

Bobb will have surgery on Friday to repair a fractured bone in his leg following a non-contact training ground incident on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola expects the young Norway winger to be sidelined for up to four months.

“Unfortunately, he had a big impact and got injured,” Guardiola said. “He is having surgery this afternoon.

“Hopefully, it will go well and he will be back in three or four months. We are so sad for him.”

Bobb’s setback follows the recent departure of Argentina forward Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid and Guardiola said he could be forced into the transfer market for replacements.

“Maybe or maybe not, we will see,” the Spaniard said. “I’m really pleased with the squad I have, we will see. I’m set.

“We will see what happens in the market. We can continue to January in that way or maybe we will add some players.”

READ: Salman Butt names three fittest players in Pakistan team