Liverpool return to the Premier League’s Saturday lunchtime kick-off time when they take on Brentford this weekend.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has been a long-time critic of the slot and here, the PA news agency looks at Liverpool’s record in early kick-offs under Klopp.
Early birds
The clash at the Gtech Community Stadium will be Liverpool’s 44th Saturday lunchtime kick-off since the German arrived on Merseyside in October 2015, which is the most of any Premier League club in that time.
Manchester City and Tottenham have each played 39, ahead of Manchester United (34) and Chelsea (33).
Klopp has overseen a total of 21 wins, 14 draws and eight defeats in the early Saturday slot, which equates to 1.79 points per game.
That represents the second-…
Al-Hilal have confirmed the signing of Joao Cancelo from Manchester City.
The right-back has reportedly signed a three-year contract after joining the Saudi Pro League club for a fee of £21million.
Cancelo originally joined the Citizens in August 2019 in a deal worth £60m, making him the most expensive right-back in history.
He made 154 appearances for City, winning three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
Cancelo spent last season on loan at Barcelona after a falling out with Pep Guardiola, and led the club s defenders in chances created (35), crosses (82) and shots (32), but the Catalan side opted not to extend his stay.
In his last full campaign at City in 2021-22, he played the most minutes of any outfielder for the team, whil…
What is the your biggest Euro 2016 disappointment so far? / Image via gettyimages.com
As we take a day off to catch our breath and count the casualties at Euro 2016 following the closure of the group stage, it is always a good thing to draw a line and showcase the greatest impressions from the tournament thus far.
We will start by discussing the worst of the worst at the 2016 European Champions, including all aspects and participants, both on collective and individual level.
Lined up in no particular order are our biggest disappointments so far. Feel free to add your own in the comments below:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Euro 2016 has been a frustrating tournament for Sweden and the main star of Erik Hamren’s team Zlatan Ibrahimovic alike.
The t…
Qatar have been cleared of any wrongdoing following a FIFA report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Qatar s successful bid for the 2022 showpiece faced particular scrutiny due to several allegations of corruption.
However, an investigation led by former United States attorney Michael Garcia, who heads the investigatory chamber of FIFA s Ethics Committee, confirmed the Gulf state will not face any sanction. Neither will Russia, who will host the 2018 tournament.
The report, published by FIFA on Thursday, read: The evaluation of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is closed for the FIFA Ethics Committee.
The chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee finds that the investigation into the said biddin…
Manchester City and Manchester United will meet in the FA Cup final for the second year in a row after City beat Chelsea and United survived a thrilling semi-final against Coventry.
Here, the PA news agency looks at their head-to-head record in the competition and the historical significance of next month’s clash.
Previous meetings
Ilkay Gundogan’s goal after 12 seconds – the fastest FA Cup final goal in history – is the abiding memory of City’s 2-1 win last year.
Bruno Fernandes equalised from a penalty but a second Gundogan strike sealed City’s fourth and most significant victory in nine FA Cup derbies dating back almost a century.
City won the 1926 semi-final 3-0, Tommy Browell scoring twice, but went on to lose the final 1-0 to Bolton. Th…
Oliver Skipp is on the verge of leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Leicester City in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Skipp has completed his medical, with Tottenham and Leicester now in full agreement over a deal.
Skipp has been on the books of Tottenham since 2008 and has come through the North London club’s youth academy. The 23-year-old midfielder, who had a loan spell at Norwich City in the 2020-21 season, is now part of Spurs’ first team, but he is not guaranteed a place in the starting lineup.
Football Insider has claimed that Leicester will pay Tottenham £20 million plus add-ons for Skipp, who is deemed surplus to requirements by Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou. Skipp has made 77 appearances in the Premier League so far in…
Refereeing at the 2014 World Cup will be radically altered with the possible introduction of goal-line technology and the use of extra officials, a top FIFA executive said on Thursday.
FIFA have come under increasing pressure to introduce technology and video replays after a series of howlers at the World Cup.
England s Frank Lampard had a perfectly good goal ruled out against Germany when the referee and his assistant failed to spot the ball had landed behind the line after coming off the crossbar.
Mexico were also furious when Carlos Tevez s goal for Argentina was allowed to stand despite the striker being in an offside position.
FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said the Lampard incident had been a bad day for organisers.
We re talking abo…
Lionel Messi will remain at Barcelona for at least the next five years, assured technical secretary Robert Fernandez.
Messi, 28, graduated through the youth ranks at Barcelona and has expressed his desire to spend the rest of his playing days with the Catalan club.
However, his current deal only runs through to the end of the 2017-18 season, and speculation remains over whether he will continue on with the Spanish giants.
But Fernandez assured Messi will at least be around until 2021 when the club are set to inaugurate the new Camp Nou.
Messi will continue in 2021, that is for sure, he told Estudio Estadio.
We are talking about the best player in history with great sporting and personal qualities.
Many are surprised to know hoe how…
The 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey put in their most impressive performance of their warm-up matches for Euro 2008 here on Thursday as they eased to a 2-0 win over Finland.
Goals by Middlesbrough s Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk, leading scorer in the Turkish championship last season, gave Turkey a deserved win and will have done them no harm of good ahead of their opening Euro 2008 Group A match against 2004 finalists Portugal.
While Tuncay and Semih got the goals it was the young Turk Mevlut Erdinc that caused interminable problems for the Finnish defence, as the striker, who plays for French First Division side Sochaux, twisted and turned them everywhere.
Equally encouraging for fiery coach Fatih Terim was that his defence re-enforced by Servet Cetin…
Bruce Arena decided to call up an alternative squad for the 2017 Gold Cup Source: USSoccer.com
The United States Men National Team are one of the top teams in the CONCACAF region. There is no question about that, as they tend to be the top dog in the region alongside Mexico.
With a deep pool of players and several established stars featuring in Europe, their head coach, Bruce Arena, decided something quite interesting. Arena will face the upcoming 2017 Gold Cup with an alternative squad. It makes sense in a way, because winning this tournament does not give a berth to the Confederations Cup, and there is nothing to play but pride this year.
If there is one team that can make this, it s the USA squad. We have seen this before, though. Mexico did in the 2015 …