Liverpool have asked for next season’s opening match to be played away from home to allow preparations to be completed on their new Anfield Road stand.
Work, which began in September 2021, is on course to be finished this summer on the £80million redevelopment and will add around 7,000 extra seats, taking the ground’s overall capacity to more than 61,000.
However, with test events and potential additional work required on the pitch as a result of the building work – which will see the roof of the existing stand removed at the end of the season – Liverpool are looking to buy themselves more time to ensure everything is ready to open on the second weekend of the new campaign.
The club made a similar request to the Premier League when they completed the new…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored and was sent off as Arsenal played out a 1-1 Premier League draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Gabon international put Mikel Arteta s side ahead with a typically clinical finish early on before Jordan Ayew secured a point for Roy Hodgson s men nine minutes after the interval.
Palace might feel they should have gone on to seal all three points after a VAR review deemed Aubameyang s challenge on Max Meyer in the 67th minute worthy of a straight red card.
The result leaves Arsenal in 10th position, one point behind the Eagles and eight adrift of fourth-place Chelsea.
The points are shared.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal)
Arsenal started with a spring in their step and opened the scoring in the 12th minute, c…
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Two sides turning their attention back to Coppa Italia duties on Wednesday night, Juventus will make the trip to the Stadio Artemio Franchi when they meet Fiorentina for their first-leg showdown.
Fiorentina
Starting with the hosts, hit with a stunning last-gasp defeat away at Sassuolo over the weekend, there is no doubt that Fiorentina will be seeking an immediate response here. Eventually leaving the Mapei Stadium with a 2-1 defeat, that result also brought an end to the Viola s eye-catching three-match winning run. However, booking their spot in the semi-final of this year s Coppa Italia after coming past Italian giants Atalanta, Head Coach Vincenzo Italiano should still find the mood in his camp at a high. With their sights firmly…
Central Coast Mariners and Sydney both recorded slender away victories over Newcastle Jets and Western United respectively in Saturday s A-League action.
Sydney briefly moved up to second in the table after an Adam Le Fondre penalty – his first goal since returning to the club secured them a 1-0 triumph on their visit to Mars Stadium.
Referee Shaun Evans deemed Ivan Vujica had handled inside the penalty area and pointed to the spot, the official confirming his initial decision after a lengthy VAR check.
United goalkeeper Ryan Scott had kept Sydney at bay up until that point but was unable to deny Le Fondre, who is back after a spell with Mumbai City in India.
| pick up the three points in Ballarat.
— A-League (@ALeague)
However,…
Aston Villa are set to complete the signing of Emiliano Martinez from Premier League rivals Arsenal, according to . It has been reported by the British tabloid that the 28-year-old will undergo a medical at Villa today, and that the announcement could be made as early as this afternoon.
Martinez has been on the books of Arsenal since 2010, but he has not been seen as a regular for the Gunners. It was only due to the injury to Tom Heaton in the final weeks of last season that the Argentine got his chance, and he was very impressive between the posts.
Tom Heaton is the first-choice goalkeeper at Villa, but he is injured at the moment and will not be ready for the start of the season. Martinez, if he passes his medical and becomes a Villa player, will go straight into the …
It s matchday 32. No midweek games and precious points to pick up in the run home.
It s that time of the year when the unconventional pick can define one s season. Who dares wins, in other words.
With that in mind, let Stats Perform lead you by the hand with Opta data as we pick four players who might just give you those precious extra points in the latest Premier League gameweek.
VICENTE GUAITA (Leicester City v Crystal Palace)
The last time Leicester were kept scoreless at home by Crystal Palace in the Premier League was in December 2017, when Claude Puel was still manager of the Foxes.
In 2022, however, only Alisson and Ederson have kept more clean sheets than Vicente Guaita in the Premiership, with Guaita s four coming in his last five appea…
It was a dramatic offseason for quarterback movement in the NFL, but there was no bigger transaction than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signing Tom Brady.
The six-time Super Bowl winner left the New England Patriots after 20 years and now, at the age of 43, is bidding to lead his new team to the promised land.
The Bucs Raymond James Stadium will host the Super Bowl on February 7 and if they go all the way it will be the first time a team has won the Vince Lombardi Trophy on their own turf.
With the first quarter of the 2020 season in the books and Bruce Arians team set to face the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football, we have used Stats Perform data to scrutinise how Brady and the Bucs have fared so far.
I’m so grateful to all the players and coaches…
Kevin De Bruyne has been named the Premier League s Player of the Season.
The Manchester City star has driven Pep Guardiola s team to the verge of a fourth title in the space of five seasons with some sensational displays.
Despite having a rather stuttering start to the campaign after suffering an eye injury in last season s Champions League final, and then sustaining another problem during Belgium s Euro 2020 quarter-final defeat to Italy, the 30-year-old has gone on to score 15 goals in the Premier League so far in 2021-22.
Remarkably, those goals have come from an expected goals (xG) value of just 5.8. He has also provided seven assists.
Four of those came in City s 5-1 thrashing of Wolves earlier in May, with De Bruyne becoming the first player since …
Julian Nagelsmann claimed Kingsley Coman is one of the top wingers in the world when fit and said the Frenchman must remain patient for a chance at Bayern Munich.
Coman, 25, joined Bayern initially on a two-year loan from Juventus in 2015 and subsequently made the move permanent.
The France international underwent a minor heart operation in September and has managed just 84 minutes in the Bundesliga this term with the Bavarian giants.
Nagelsmann, however, insisted that Coman ranks among the best in his position on his day as he addressed questions over his rotational policy ahead of Bayern s DFB-Pokal clash with Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday.
I ve emphasised many times that King [Coman] is an amazing person who I really enjoy working with, Nage…
Sergi Barjuan says the Barcelona players can feel the pressure ahead of their crunch Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev but knows a win will change the tense mood at the club.
A 1-1 home draw in LaLiga against Deportivo Alaves on Saturday did little to lift spirits at Camp Nou following Ronald Koeman s sacking.
Barca will now travel to Kiev for a crucial contest that will play a huge part in determining their prospects of progression in Europe.
A 1-0 win in the reverse fixture gave Barca their first points in Group E but they still trail Bayern Munich and Benfica with three matches to play.
The players need to find a way, whatever way they can, to achieve this victory, said interim head coach Sergi. The players are under a lot of pressure, Tuesday…