EPL

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Ed Woodward to sell nine Man Utd players

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ENGLAND  – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Ed Woodward that he wanted to replace nine players at Manchester United, according to reports. The 46-year-old is under major pressure at United following a week in which a goalless draw against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League was followed up with a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United. The loss at St James’ Park has left United with just nine points from eight games in the Premier League, while Solskjaer admits that finishing in the top six will be an ‘uphill task’. United spent around £150 million this summer on signing Harry Maguire, Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Solskjaer also allowed six first-team players [Read]

BREAKING: Messi Wins 2019 FIFA Best Men’s Player, Defeats Ronaldo, Virgil van Dijk

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Fresh report reaching NEWS FLAKES NG at PRESS TIME has it that Barcelona star Lionel Messi won the 2019 FIFA The Best Men’s Player award on Monday, beating out Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo.  It was the 32-year-old’s first win since the award separated from France Football‘s Ballon d’Or award in 2017. Congratulations, #LeoMessi Winner of #TheBest FIFA Men's Player 2019 🏆#TheBest | #FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/MKh2wV5T1M — #TheBest 🏆 (@FIFAcom) September 23, 2019 Since that separation, every player who has won FIFA’s The Best award has gone on to claim the Ballon d’Or as well. The 32-year-old has won five Ballon d’Or awards in his career, but individual silverware had eluded [Read]

EPL: Champions Man City Demolish Watford 8-0 At Etihad [SEE FULL STATS]

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There must have been moments out there when Quique Sanchez Flores will have wondered what he might have been doing this weekend had he not taken the call from Watford owner Gino Pozzo earlier this month: sitting on a beach, meeting old friends, undergoing painful dental surgery. Anything, you suspect, would have been preferable to this professional humiliation unfolding in front of him, a catastrophe for which there is no appropriate response. By 18 minutes half of the outfield players for Manchester City had scored and Flores was essaying a stare into the middle-distance, stoic and unyielding, without betraying the kind of tumult that must have been unfolding inside. Sure, [Read]

UCL: Lampard To Start Young Players Against Valencia Clash

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  Frank Lampard said he “believed and trusted” in striker Tammy Abraham as he prepared to unleash his young players against Valencia in Chelsea’s Champions League opener on Tuesday. Abraham, 21, scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win at Wolves on Saturday but his form has come as no surprise to Lampard. “I never had clear expectations for him apart from the fact that I believed in him and trusted him,” he said at a press conference on Monday at Chelsea’s training base. “I know a lot was made of the (transfer) ban giving opportunities for young players. But I thought now was his time.” As for the possibility of [Read]

Three things we learned from EPL this weekend [SEE FULL RESULTS + TABLE]

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Liverpool opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League as defending champions Manchester City crumbled to a stunning 3-2 defeat at newly-promoted Norwich. Behind the top two, there is a five-way tie between those likely to be fighting for the final two Champions League places this season with Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Leicester all on eight points from the opening five games. Here, AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Laporte injury hands Liverpool golden opportunity Liverpool did what City could not in recovering from conceding early to ease past Newcastle 3-1 and maintain their 100 percent start [Read]

Chelsea striker, Tammy Abraham Shuns Super Eagles, Chooses England

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England-born Nigerian striker, Tammy Abraham has finally dumped Nigeria for England as the country to represent in his international career. Abraham, who had represented England in the youthful competitions still had the exclusive right to choose which country to play as he not played for any senior team. President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick in July advised the Chelsea forward to choose the Super Eagles as he will have opportunity of regular playing time in the team. Abraham’s international future remains a subject of discussion among pundits and coaches due to his eligibility to represent either Nigeria or England. He has played for England in two friendly matches [Read]

Real Madrid To Battle PSG, Liverpool Vs Napoli As UEFA Unveils Draws For 2019/2020 Champions League [SEE FULL DRAWS]

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The Ligue 1 champions will face the La Liga giants while the Reds will match up with Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the group stage once again Real Madrid will face Paris Saint-Germain in the group stage of the Champions League after they were paired together Group A in the draw, which took place in Monaco on Thursday. The two clubs have been linked over the pursuit of PSG star Neymar, with Real Madrid mooted as one of the Brazilian suitors. The pair will be joined by Club Brugge and Galatasaray. Reigning champions Liverpool will see a familiar face in Group E, having been paired up with Napoli, who they narrowly [Read]

Student Fails French Exam After Naming Cristiano Ronaldo As The Goat [SEE PHOTOS]

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A student failed his French exam by a single mark after he named Cristiano Ronaldo alongside a picture of a goat. Ahmed Nabil, 15, was presented with a variety of different animals in the paper but rather than write down a sensible answer, he included a certain five-time Ballon d’Or winner in his answers. “It was a French exam I did two years ago.” he told SPORTbible. “For me personally, it was a very hard test and one of the sections was: write the meaning of every animal we show you but in french. “I couldn’t remember what a goat was called in french, so I thought I’d do something [Read]

Red Hot Lukaku Bangs – in Four goals On Inter Debut

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ITALY  – Former Manchester United striker, Romelu Lukaku on Sunday marked his first appearance for his new club, Inter Milan with a four-goal haul. Lukaku scored four goals in Inter Milan pre-season friendly against Virtus Bergamo. Lukaku left Man United to join Inter Milan in a £74m Deal last week. He didn’t play at all for United during the pre-season because of back injury but Inter manager, Antonio Conte handed him an opportunity against Serie D minnows Bergamo. Wearing the No 9 shirt, Lukaku took advantage by scoring four times in an 8-0 victory. Inter start their Serie A campaign against newly-promoted Lecce at the San Siro on August 26. [Read]

BREAKING: Super Eagles Forward, Henry Onyekuru Seals Monaco 5-Year Deal From Everton

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MONACO – Monaco have signed Nigeria international Henry Onyekuru on a five-year-deal from Everton, the French club announced on Monday. “I’m very happy to join a great club like AS Monaco. I will give everything to improve and help the club to have a great season. I look forward to meeting my teammates,” the 22-year-old told Monaco’s website. Onyekuru, who has made 11 appearances for the Super Eagles, originally joined the Premier League side in 2017 but has spent the two past campaigns on-loan with Anderlecht and Galatasaray. The winger scored 14 league goals in Turkey last season and reportedly joins the Ligue 1 outfit for 17 million euros ($19 [Read]

JUST IN: Manchester United Tear Chelsea Apart At Old Trafford in EPL Clash [SEE FULL STATS]

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Marcus Rashford’s double helped rampant Manchester United start the new season with a bang as Chelsea capitulated in Frank Lampard’s first match in charge. The Premier League kept the most eagerly anticipated of the opening weekend to last as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started the Reds’ latest transitional season against a side buoyed by the appointment of a club great. Lampard’s side were on top for large patches but ended up being blown away at Old Trafford, where Rashford’s double complemented goals from Anthony Martial and debutant Daniel James as United’s curtain-raiser ended in a dream 4-0 victory. Solskjaer will be first to admit the display was far from perfect, but this win [Read]

EPL: Title Holders Man City Thrash Westham 5-0 In VAR-Dominated Game

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Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as Manchester City got their title defence off to a winning start with victory at West Ham in a game that saw the video assistant referee play a significant role for the first time in the Premier League. The technology is making its debut in England’s top flight this season and, after last night’s curtain raiser between Liverpool and Norwich passed off without incident, it took centre-stage on Saturday. VAR was first called on when Gabriel Jesus appeared to have put City 3-0 up midway through the second half, only for Raheem Sterling to be ruled fractionally offside in the build-up. After Sterling added City’s [Read]

BREAKING: David Luiz completes £8m Arsenal transfer from Chelsea

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Confirmation of the Brazilian’s move from London rivals Chelsea – worth a reported £8m fee – has come via the club’s official website as well as social media channels, thus making him the sixth signing of the summer transfer window.   He joins Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba, Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe and Kieran Tierney as the new faces at the north London outfit since the end of last season. It’s understood that Luiz has signed a two-year deal at the Emirates Stadium and will challenge Sokratis, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Shkodran Mustafi for a centre-back spot under Unai Emery.   This deal also marks a reunion between [Read]

BREAKING: Man United, Inter Agree £74m for Lukaku Transfer

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ENGLAND  – Inter Milan and Manchester United have reached an agreement over striker Romelu Lukaku for a fee that could rise to 80m euros (£74m), BBC has reported. In July, the Premier League side rejected Inter’s £54m bid for Lukaku, who was fined by the club after missing training on Tuesday. Belgium international Lukaku, 26, has trained at his former team Anderlecht for the past two days. Lukaku’s agent, Federico Pastorello, flew to London on Wednesday in an attempt to resolve Lukaku’s future. Later that evening, Pastorello posted a photo on Instagram of them on board a private jet with the caption: “Ready to take off. Direction Milano.” United and [Read]

EPL: Check Out All Mouth-Watering Fixtures For 2019/2020 Season

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As the 2019/2020 Premier League kicks-off this weekend, here are all weekly fixtures for the entire season which will be subject to changes for television coverage, apart from the opening weekend of games which is already confirmed as obtained by NEWS FLAKES NG: Friday, Aug. 9, 2019 Liverpool v Norwich City (8 p.m. BST / 3 p.m. ET)   Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019 West Ham United v Manchester City (12.30 p.m. BST / 7:30 a.m. ET) A.F.C. Bournemouth v Sheffield United (3 p.m. BST / 10 a.m. ET) Burnley v Southampton (3 p.m. BST / 10 a.m. ET) Crystal Palace v Everton (3 p.m. BST / 10 a.m. ET) Leicester [Read]