List of All Articles with Tag 'epsocmag'

Jamie Carragher was stunned by the “very harsh” penalty awarded to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella was ruled to have fouled Erling Haaland in the box. Haaland converted the penalty to give the champions the lead in the Premier League clash, but Chelsea were furious and insisted Cucurella had actually been fouled by Haaland as they grappled at the back post. Replays suggested that Haaland may have initiated the contact with the Chelsea full-back, before the striker went to ground after Cucurella pulled on his shirt. Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot and although VAR checked the incident, it decided not to overturn the on-field decision. "No, no, no. This isn’t right,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “The VAR has looked the end of the tussle. He needs to look at the start. This is very harsh." "Haaland had hold of him as well. I think that’s what gets him in front of him." Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was also dismayed by the decision, and Haaland took full advantage as he slotted past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. There was a dramatic turnaround before half-time, however, as goals from Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling against his former club gave Chelsea the lead at Stamford Bridge and put the champions in trouble. Manuel Akanji equalised for the visitors before the break at the end of a breathless four-goal first-half. Read More Chelsea’s downward spiral offers stark warning to Man City Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later, says Pep Guardiola

The names feel a throwback to a different time. As the final whistle blew, the players on the pitch for Graham Potter’s Chelsea included Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Cesar Azpilicueta, Hakim Ziyech and Jorginho. A mismatched group who had Chelsea’s worst season for decades can claim few distinctions but they remain the last Premier League side to leave Anfield without Mohamed Salah either scoring or assisting a goal against them. That stalemate was in January and it is starting to look very possible that Salah will complete a year of decisive contributions on home soil. A brace against Brentford had a certain predictability but knowing about Salah’s threat and stopping him are very different things. There is a certain normality to his brilliance. For a 15th consecutive league game here, Anfield’s Egyptian king reigned. For a sixth in a row this season, he scored, and only Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and Thierry Henry have started a Premier League campaign in similar vein. Not for the first time, Salah is in elite, esteemed company. He is accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the goalscoring greats and he may yet give Erling Haaland a battle for the Golden Boot. A dozen games into the campaign, Salah is already in double figures for top-flight goals. There was a precision to the latest pair: his ninth was both a trademark Salah goal and a high-class team strike. It was a clinical finish after crisp, incisive passing: Trent Alexander-Arnold fed Darwin Nunez who picked out Salah. He, in turn, found the far corner of the Brentford net. It continued the profitable alliance of Nunez and Salah: all nine of the Uruguayan’s Liverpool assists have come for the Egyptian. Salah’s second of the afternoon came as many a player on either side simply stood and watched. They seemed to think the ball was out after a sliding Kostas Tsimikas crossed and an unmarked Salah planted a header past Mark Flekken. Yet the goal stood and it was the start of the second double: Tsimikas, found badly wanting in Thursday’s defeat to Toulouse, got two assists. The second owed more to Diogo Jota, who jinked infield and fizzed in a shot from the edge of the box. It was his sixth goal in his last seven outings at Anfield – Salah is not alone in enjoying home comforts – and Liverpool could have had six of their own. There might have been a hat-trick for their top scorer. Some of Alexander-Arnold’s passing was sublime and Salah volleyed wastefully over from the vice-captain’s cross. Before the deadlock was broken, Nunez had an idiosyncratic double of his own, with two goals chalked off inside five minutes, both for offside and after consulting VAR. The first was marginal, the second altogether clearer. Nunez finished adeptly after intercepting Dominik Szoboszlai’s misdirected shot and then spectacularly with an overhead kick; the offside flag rewarded goalkeeper Flekken, who had saved brilliantly from Virgil van Dijk’s header before Joel Matip headed the ball to Nunez. The striker was excellent; perhaps it was perversely typical that one of his best performances did not bring a goal. For Liverpool, though, there was a win to end what had been, in terms of performances, their worst week of the season. Below par at Luton, rather worse in Toulouse, they had attacking verve, if not always defensive solidity. But perhaps it was understandable Liverpool were too open. A makeshift midfield, shorn of five injured or suspended players, contained a forward, in Cody Gakpo, and a man making a first Premier League start at Anfield, in Wataru Endo. The Japanese rightly survived a VAR check for a red card for a challenge on Christian Norgaard, irritating Thomas Frank, and Brentford, often the scourge of the big six, posed Liverpool problems. They ought to have returned south with a goal to show for their efforts. Quick-witted and sharp of foot, Bryan Mbuemo brought Brentford a menace on the break and, almost, a lead. He latched on to a loose touch by Alexander-Arnold to shoot wide. He raced on to Mads Roerslev’s long pass, in behind the Liverpool defence; Alisson’s expertise in one-on-one situations was required to deflect his shot and allow Alexander-Arnold to clear. Norgaard came close with a volley from Mbuemo’s corner; the imperious Van Dijk also hooked a Norgaard header off the line. Yet their bid for a club record fourth consecutive Premier League win was ended by Salah, just as Liverpool’s record of winning every match at Anfield this season by at least two goals continued. They still average exactly three goals a game on their own turf, with 27 in nine. If it takes a team to forge such statistics, they are helped when they have someone of the consistency and quality of Salah. Anfield is a fortress but, in part, that is the Salah effect. Read More Jurgen Klopp reignites early kick-off row ahead of Man City vs Liverpool clash Liverpool vs Brentford LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Father of Luis Diaz reveals details of kidnapping ordeal

Kieran Trippier insisted “there’s no need to panic” as he addressed his exchange with a Newcastle United fan at the end of their defeat to Bournemouth. The England defender was heard shouting: “Are the lads not giving everything? How many injuries have we got?” when confronted by a supporter after the 2-0 defeat. “Fans are emotional, of course they are, they’ve travelled a long way and they all spend a lot of money to come and watch us,” Trippier explained. “I was just having a chat with one of them. Saying that we are giving everything, there’s no need to panic.”

Chelsea host Manchester City in the Premier League this afternoon seeking to earn back-to-back league wins after they triumphed over Tottenham in a bizarre and highly entertaining encounter last time out. Mauricio Pochettino’s men defeated Spurs 4-1 but struggled to break down the north London outfit after they had been reduced to nine-men due to red cards for Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie. Raheem Sterling set up Nicolas Jackson in the 75th minute which broke Tottenham’s resolve and two further late goals for the 22-year-old striker saw him complete an unlikely hat-trick. That win took the Blues back into the top-10 and they will be hoping to make further inroads up the table with a positive result at Stamford Bridge. In contrast, Man City hammered Bournemouth 6-1 before competently sweeping aside Young Boys 3-0 in the Champions League during the week. Pep Guardiola’s men are in top form and despite Chelsea earning a much needed win on their previous outing Pochettino’s men will be up against it today. Follow all the Premier League action below plus get the latest odds and tips for the game right here: Read More Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea’s downward spiral offers stark warning to Man City Gareth Southgate admits Reece James’s injury record could impact England’s Euro 2024 squad decision

Liverpool take on Brentford this afternoon in their bid to maintain a challenge towards the top of the Premier League table. The Reds are three points behind leaders Manchester City, though Pep Guardiola’s men face Chelsea in Sunday’s late kick off. Still, three points for Liverpool will add a bit of pressure to City’s trip to Stamford Bridge and Jurgen Klopp will want his team to get back to winning ways today. Klopp’s men suffered a setback against Luton in their last league outing, with Luis Diaz’s stoppage time goal rescuing a point at Kenilworth Road. Defeat to Toulouse in the Europa League continued Liverpool’s downward trend and they will want to turn around the form that has seen them take only eight points from their last five league games. In contrast Brentford are in fine shape. Thomas Frank’s men have won each of their last three fixtures after a slow start to the season and are now up to ninth in the table. A win at Anfield would be another impressive results and give the Bees a realistic sense that they can compete to get into Europe during this campaign. Follow the action from Anfield below plus get the latest odds and tips right here:

After surviving a chaotic Monday night fixture against Tottenham, Chelsea are back in Premier League action as they welcome the champions to Stamford Bridge. Manchester City travel down to London looking back to their best, scoring 12 goals in their last three games for the concession of just a single consolation at Bournemouth last weekend. By contrast, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have yet to find consistency this season, though Nicolas Jackson’s hat-trick in the win over Spurs should have done the striker’s confidence some good. The Londoners will be hoping to put a horrible recent record against their visitors behind them and secure a win Here’s everything you need to know. Get the latest match odds here. When is Chelsea vs Manchester City? Chelsea vs Manchester City is due to kick off at 4.30pm GMT on Sunday 12 November at Stamford Bridge. How can I watch it? Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage due to begin at 4pm GMT. Subscribers can stream the action via Sky Go. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider. Team news A numbers of Chelsea’s injury absentees are moving closer to a return, though both Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia remain out for now. Enzo Fernandez and Reece James, who asked to be left out of the England squad this week, should be available to feature, though. Manchester City suffered their own injury blow in midweek Champions League action, as John Stones left the pitch after picking up a knock. Pep Guardiola admitted his side could be “in trouble” if the versatile defender misses a significant period of time. He was unable to put a possible timeline on a return ahead of this game, while it is also unclear when Kevin De Bruyne will be back to fitness after a long lay-off. Predicted line-ups Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Caicedo, Fernandez, Gallagher; Palmer, Jackson, Sterling. Manchester City XI: Ederson; Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Walker, Rodri, Kovacic, Doku; Silva, Alvarez; Haaland. Odds Chelsea win 4/1 Draw 13/5 Manchester City win 3/4 Get all the latest Premier League odds here. Prediction Manchester City win. Chelsea 1-3 Manchester City Read More Liverpool vs Brentford LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Kieran Trippier confronts Newcastle fans after defeat at Bournemouth Mikel Arteta praises VAR and officials as 10-man Arsenal beat Burnley Victor Lindelof: Scoring more goals is next step for Manchester United Man United can ‘make life easy by scoring goals’, says Erik ten Hag after Luton win Chelsea’s downward spiral offers stark warning to Man City

Mikel Arteta made a point of praising the officials and VAR as 10-man Arsenal beat Burnley on Saturday afternoon (11 November) to move level with Premier League leaders Manchester City, Fabio Vieira was sent off late on for a high challenge on Josh Brownhill, who had earlier cancelled out a brave Leandro Trossard opener. But Arsenal had already secured the points by the time Vieira was dismissed, William Saliba heading them back in front before Oleksandr Zinchenko secured the points with an acrobatic volley.

Manchester United host Luton Town at Old Trafford in what could be seen as a must-win match for the Red Devils to stop their slide into full-blown crisis. Almost everything that can gone wrong has gone wrong for United this season and manager Erik ten Hag is finding his job under increasing scrutiny as the bad results pile up – the latest of which saw them lose 4-3 to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League in midweek. Luton have battled hard in their maiden Premier League season, and currently sit outside the relegation zone on goal difference, but United will expect to beat the Hatters at home and any other result will only increase the heat heading into the international break. Follow the latest action from Old Trafford below:

It all comes down to this: Malmo v Elfsborg, separated by three points, meeting in the last game of the season with the Allsvenskan title on the line. It has been dubbed “the final” by Swedish media. Malmo will deploy more security guards than at any game in the club’s history. Elfsborg’s fans will be “caged” in one corner of the Stadion Malmo, in an effort to stop celebrations or fury spilling on to the pitch. Malmo shouldn’t even be alive in this race. Henrik Rydstrom’s free-flowing team lost 4-2 at third-place Hacken last weekend and thought they were done. But somehow Elfsborg only mustered a draw at home to relegation-threatened Degerfors, scoring a 95th-minute equaliser but failing to add their Aguero moment at the death. The pressure got to both teams, and so it goes to the wire. Malmo and Elfsborg are wildly contrasting clubs. While Elfsborg hail from a small town, Malmo is Sweden’s third city, the literal and metaphorical birthplace of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and its football team is the most successful in the country’s history with 22 league titles. Their style of play is unique in Swedish football, and eight or nine players can often be found filling the same side of the pitch to progress the ball upfield, or to quickly win it back in hunting packs. They play with a positional freedom that looks off the cuff, but contains patterns of passing and movement drilled on the training pitch by the innovative Rydstrom. Rydstrom is an unusual character in football, with a masters degree in literary studies and a past writing music reviews in magazines. He is known for his strong socialist principles and his outspoken comments have drawn criticism from right-wing politicians. The manager has been described in the Swedish media as “methodical, process-driven and sophisticated” in his approach, and his methods extend to giving players tactical homework. The coach demands utter dominance of the ball – Malmo’s average possession this season is 64.8 per cent, a long way clear of the rest and higher even than Manchester City in the Premier League (63.2). But he is no disciple of Pep Guardiola. Rydstrom’s style has been likened to the fluid Brazilian football of Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz, who recently led his team to the Copa Libertadores and whose “anti-positional” tactics – dubbed Dinizismo – are in stark contrast to Guardiola’s more rigid structure so popular in Europe. Elfsborg are a more typical Swedish team, defensively stable, with the most clean sheets this season. They don’t sit deep, but possession is not of high importance to head coach Jimmy Thelin, whose team are dogged and difficult to play against. Elfsborg have committed more fouls than any other side in the league. But there are no prizes for aesthetics, as the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen stressed this week. “Style plays a role only if it culminates in glory,” writes Noah Bachner. “Defeats can be erased from memory if ultimately they don’t affect the final table. But only one thing counts. You can drag up statistics on short passes, shots taken, how many Swedish Krona per point and every expected goal. You can moan about Elfsborg’s way of playing … But only the trophy matters.” Elfsborg are based in a town called Boras, not far from Gothenburg (the name Elfsborg refers to the region). They have won six Swedish titles in their 120-year history, the most recent in 2012, and their home ground is nicknamed ‘Elfsborg Fortress’ – a riff on an actual fortification off the coast of Gothenburg – in appreciation of what a notoriously hard place Boras is to go and win. What plays in Elfsborg’s favour is that Malmo have consistently been found wanting in the biggest moments under Rydstrom. “If you want to take charge of the title race, which Malmo had and lost several times, you have to take points from the teams you’re fighting against,” writes Bachner. He has a point: Malmo have not won any of their five games this season against key rivals Djurgarden, Hacken or Elfsborg, who thrashed Malmo at the Fortress in May. Malmo had 73 per cent possession, took 19 shots and scored no goals. Elfsborg committed 26 fouls and scored three. Rydstrom’s reputation as more than just a coach who paints pretty pictures depends on this result. “My conviction is that Rydstrom is right for Malmo, regardless of how it goes on Sunday,” adds Bachner. “But I am equally convinced that nothing is going to stop him from being branded as something other than a winner [should Malmo lose]. Another missed opportunity, after slipping again like last Sunday, will take time to scrub away.” But this time it is Malmo with home advantage. Elfsborg do not have a Fortress to defend. They are the visitors, and they must travel 150 miles south into the lion’s den to claim the prize that narrowly eluded them last weekend. For Elfsborg, a point will do. Malmo must win. It all comes down to this. Read More Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola

Emma Hayes said the “time is right” for her to step down as Chelsea manager after it was confirmed last week she will leave the Women’s Super League champions at the end of the season. However, she would not be drawn on reports linking her with the vacant United States national team job, and said the decision to depart is motivated by a desire to spend more time with her five-year-old son, Harry. “I’ve been in post for 12 years and I’ve dedicated my life to this place,” she told reporters. “So the time is right and I will work with the club in the succession plan and do everything I can to make sure there is a good transition.”

In one of Europe’s biggest three-horse races, an unexpected fourth leads the way. Where usually Barcelona, Real Madrid and, on sporadic occasions, Atletico Madrid reside, there’s an altogether less-expected club sitting top of LaLiga after a third of the campaign – a free-scoring, attack-minded team who spent a net of barely £4m in the summer, have a stadium capacity of under 15,000 and whose best-ever season in LaLiga to date saw them finish 10th. Welcome to Girona FC. The story of their rise is a tale in itself, but their opening 12 games of this campaign might yet make for the stuff of local legend. As recently as 1999 the club was playing in the Catalan regional leagues, the fifth tier of Spanish football, but after achieving their first-ever top-flight campaign in 2017-18 and surviving for a second, they returned to LaLiga for 2022-23 and ended 10th last year – just as they did five years earlier, in fact. There appears to be no danger of season four emulating season two, though. Where then they were relegated, this term they top the table, two points ahead of Real Madrid, four clear of champions Barcelona and a full six ahead of Atletico. Between Girona and fifth is a massive 10 points, after just a dozen matches. Masterminding this unexpected rise is head coach Michel Sanchez Munoz, better known just as Michel, a former Rayo Vallecano and Real Murcia player who has been in the dugout at Estadi Montilivi since 2021. Michel has the team playing offensive football – they’ve not only won more games than anyone this term, they’ve also outscored everyone in LaLiga– and the manner of it is even more impressive given the turnover of the squad: 10 in, three out, another half a dozen loaned away. That new group has been quickly moulded into a cohesive unit with a very identifiable approach to matches, as one of those new arrivals, former Manchester United and Ajax defender Daley Blind, told The Independent. “It’s always difficult to compare managers, each one has his own ID and way of playing. But what stands out is the manager is really clear in how he wants to play football, he has a really clear idea about every game we play and having a real tactical plan,” Blind says on a call. “He tries to give that to the team and make sure we understand the gameplan. “The story he told me before I came to Girona was really intriguing and I can’t say anything other than he did not lie – I got excited and wanted to play here after speaking to him. “You can’t know it for sure beforehand but we’re really happy with how it’s going and it’s always important for a coach to be clear about that.” Blind is happily effusive about Michel’s man management as well as his tactical acumen. Having spent most of his career under the likes of Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, father Danny Blind and others, he’s well placed to talk about who is impressive or otherwise on the coaching ground. And while he won’t directly look at matching up Michel’s attributes to anyone else’s, he makes the point that there’s a real connection between coach and squad. “I don’t want to compare [to others] but, for me, he’s a manager who is human, who connects on a personal level as well. He joins in the rondo [training game of keep-ball] and is part of the guys; at the moment training really starts he’s then really on top of it and not holding back,” the centre-back explains. “He expects every training [session] to be the best but there’s always time for a joke here and there. He has a good connection with every player – that’s very special.” Blind freely admits that his spell in Spain came at the second time of asking. He got the call from Girona last year after leaving Ajax; while considering his next move, Bayern Munich swooped in and he felt he needed to go. This summer, though, he was confident Girona was the right move. While the Dutchman has been a mainstay at the back this term, central midfielder Aleix Garcia has caught the eye, while in attack young winger Savio has been impressive and new centre-forward Artem Dovbyk has not so much hit the ground running as thundering through defences, scoring six in eight starts or one every 109 minutes. Among LaLiga’s best goal-getters, only Gerard Moreno (105), Alvaro Morata (105) and top scorer Jude Bellingham (95) can beat the Ukrainian’s strike rate. So has the fast start by Girona altered their season aims, made them aim higher than might have been the objective at the start of the campaign? Not for Blind, who maintains the “one game at a time” mantra. “For me, it hasn’t changed, you want to finish as high as possible in the league and that’s what we aim for. We’ll see where that is at the end of the season,” he says. “You always be ambitious and have an aim but in the end, you look game by game because the next one is most important and you want the three points. But you see which games are in the next couple of weeks and be ambitious about it. It’s not for me to reveal what we say about [those runs] but it always comes back to the next game.” For Girona, the next game is away on Saturday to Rayo Vallecano, Michel’s oldest and most closely linked club. Beat them and the Catalan club will remain top across the international break, the envy of not just smaller clubs around Europe hoping to improve their own fortunes and challenge higher in the league but of every club in Spain – including the very biggest and the supposed best. Perhaps, just perhaps, they won’t be this year. Watch LaLiga on Viaplay, available in the UK on Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime Video and via streaming Read More Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Ange Postecoglu gives injury update for Tottenham star James Maddison Football stadium plunged into darkness after rivals turn off lights during title win Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Ange Postecoglu gives injury update for Tottenham star James Maddison Football stadium plunged into darkness after rivals turn off lights during title win

Liverpool can secure progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League if they achieve a fourth straight win in Group E this evening. Jurgen Klopp’s side have beaten Toulouse, LASK and Union Saint Gilloise and travel to face the French side in the return fixture. Toulouse have struggled domestically this season and go into the match 14th in Ligue 1, having managed just two wins in 11 matches, but they are second in the Group E with four points. When the sides met at Anfield, Darwin Nunez starred and Mohamed Salah netted off the bench in a 5-1 hammering, which included Wataru Endo’s first goal for the club. While the temptation for Klopp may be to rotate once more, getting progression wrapped up early would leave two matches where more changes can be made and opportunities handed to fringe players. Follow all the live action in the blog below and get all the latest match odds and tips. Read More Luis Diaz’s father freed by kidnappers in Colombia Luis Diaz ‘happy’ to start Liverpool match hours after kidnapped father’s release Jamie Carragher identifies two key players for Liverpool to become title challengers