That concludes the blog for the day. There’s a top of the table clash in the Championship tonight between Swansea and Norwich, and Bayern Munich are at Hertha Berlin before they fly off to Qatar to play in the Forgotten Club World Cup. And Inter could really do with three points from their match at Fiorentina as they chase down Milan. And that full round of Premier League action all weekend too. It never stops.
Our preview of an all-London derby.
Chris Wilder has joined Neil Warnock in paying tribute to ton-up Joe Root.
"That England team is being carried by a Sheff United Fan." 🏏
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) February 5, 2021
CW on his pride for local boy @root66. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Rsfwy2e2Cw
Transfer news: Chelsea in for David Alaba
Bad news for Ben Chilwell? Thiago Silva’s longterm replacement?
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Come for The Fiver, get your reference to GG Allin and the Murder Junkies.
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Nuno Espírito Santo has several “problems” in terms of team selection for Sunday’s Premier League visit of Leicester. Nuno would not be drawn into naming any new absentees but his injury list is already fairly lengthy. Rayan Ait-Nouri (abductor), Marcal (groin), Jonny (knee) and Romain Saiss (knock) all missed the 2-1 win over Arsenal and are unlikely to be back in time to face the Foxes, while Raul Jimenez (fractured skull) is a long-term absentee.
Wolves provisional squad: Patricio, Ruddy, Kilman, Hoever, Boly, Coady, Semedo, Saiss, Kilman, Neves, Vitinha, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Otasowie, Neto, Podence, Jose, Silva, Traore.
As stated previously, Jamie Vardy is available for Leicester after recovering from a groin operation. Boss Brendan Rodgers insists he will not rush the striker back into action but he will be in the squad at Molineux while Wilfred Ndidi (thigh) is a doubt. Wes Morgan (back), Timothy Castagne (hamstring), Dennis Praet (thigh) and Wesley Fofana (thigh) are out.
Leicester provisional squad: Schmeichel, Ward, Jakupovic, Justin, Fuchs, Evans, Soyuncu, Thomas, Pereira, Choudhury, Tielemans, Ndidi, Amartey, Mendy, Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes, Under, Perez, Vardy, Iheanacho.
Steven Gerrard is raging as Rangers striker Kemar Roofe faces a two-game ban after being handed a notice of complaint following Wednesday’s lunge on St Johnstone’s Murray Davidson.
The former Leeds and Anderlecht ace was booked by referee David Munro during the 1-0 Ibrox win after planting his studs into the Saints midfielder’s leg after miscontrolling the ball. But now Scottish Football Association disciplinary chiefs have decided further action is required after Munro reported he did not see the incident in its entirety. Rangers have until Monday to decide with a hearing set for Tuesday.
Gerrard is already without Alfredo Morelos for Sunday’s trip to Hamilton after he was charged with a stamp on Hibernian’s Ryan Porteous last week - said: “I’ve just found out literally 10 minutes ago we’ve had a notice of complaint over Kemar Roofe. I haven’t had time to (decide if we will appeal) because the notice of complaint came through 10 minutes ago, which is quite frustrating as we’ve had two sessions to prepare for Hamilton and he has been heavily involved in both sessions. In terms of the decision and what we’re going to do as a club we will deal with it in due course. In terms of the tackle, I haven’t thought that much of it because the referee dealt with it. He was five yards away and he has obviously seen the incident and gave the yellow card.”
Talking of Ligue 1, here’s another birthday.
❤️💙🇧🇷Join us in wishing @neymarjr a very Happy Birthday! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/lpRfQK6lMi
— Ligue1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) February 5, 2021
Ligue 1 will be televised
Per the Associated Press
The French football league has reached a deal with broadcaster Canal Plus to show matches in the top two divisions for the rest of the season, ending weeks of uncertainty. The LFP said in a statement Thursday that as from the 25th round of matches Feb. 12-14 Canal Plus has exclusive rights for all first-division games and eight matches from the second division. No financial details were given, but French reports said Canal Plus paid €200m for the rest of the season. The agreement will come as a considerable relief to French clubs starved of ticket sales during the coronavirus, and without TV revenue after a huge deal with Spanish-based broadcaster Mediapro collapsed.
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Worried, Spurs fans?
Tottenham manager José Mourinho after their latest defeat: 'I am doing my best. [Gareth Bale] is doing his best. Everybody is doing their best' pic.twitter.com/1BaSn0sEmp
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) February 5, 2021
Everton will continue to be without number one goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in that game with Manchester United. Robin Olsen is set to continue between the posts after an impressive performance against Leeds. Allan is set to return to team training on Friday but will not be fit in time for the weekend, while Jean-Philippe Gbamin also continues his recovery from a long-term lay-off.
Everton provisional squad: Olsen, Holgate, Mina, Godfrey Digne, Doucoure, Gomes, Iwobi, Rodriguez, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Keane, Delph, King, Nkounkou, Sigurdsson, Bernard, Coleman, Davies,
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been speaking
The Manchester United manager said the 9-0 win against Southampton has barely been mentioned such is the focus on beating Everton on the 63rd anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
Well, you’ve got to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad sometimes. What the boys took from that one is that we did the right things, we kept good habits. I don’t think anyone will get carried away with the scoreline because we know we played against 10 men for the full game and of course that’s demoralising when they lose players like they did. When we got the 2-0, the game was more or less over so it was just about doing the right things. We’ve not mentioned the game at all, really. Now all the focus has been on Everton.
It’s only the fourth time the game is played on the actual anniversary and it’s important that we put on a fitting performance and hopefully we can honour them with a result. It’s such an important part of our history and the spirit of the club. We have, of course, spoken to the players who’ve come into the club, who’ve not been here and been part of this anniversary. Hopefully we can put a team out that shows the Man United spirit.
Solskjaer expects to have Edinson Cavani available for Saturday’s clash with the Toffees, having taken him off at half-time against Saints due to an ankle knock. Eric Bailly is expected to miss out. He has not played for United since the win at Fulham on January 20.
Manchester United provisional squad: De Gea, Henderson, Grant, Wan-Bissaka, Williams, Tuanzebe, Lindelof, Bailly, Maguire, Shaw, Telles, McTominay, Fred, Matic, Van De Beek, Pogba, Diallo, Mata, James, Fernandes, Greenwood, Rashford, Martial, Cavani.
"We know we played against 10 men for the whole game." #MUFC need more consistency at home but the 9-0 victory over Southampton has helped build habits, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. pic.twitter.com/BhQRLQHeBF
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 5, 2021
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The Manchester City striker speaks to Josué Seixas about his early memories of football in Brazil, his greatest moment as a player and the title race.
It’s his birthday today, 36.
Cosa dire di più ❤️ Auguri, Super Campione!
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) February 5, 2021
Gli auguri a @Cristiano sono anche su @JuventusTv!
And a year older, it’s Carlos Tevez, still a Boca player.
¡Feliz cumpleaños, Carlitos! pic.twitter.com/IN6DVVbTfr
— Boca Juniors (@BocaJrsOficial) February 5, 2021
Here’s our news story on that Guardiola v Klopp contretemps.
Injury news from Leeds United: Rodrigo and Ian Poveda are expected to be out of action for several weeks.
Rodrigo sustained a muscle strain in last weekend’s win at Leicester, in which he was excellent, and Poveda injured his ankle while in action for the under-23s.Both players missed Wednesday’s home defeat to Everton and will not feature in Monday night’s home game against Crystal Palace.
“It’s not a question of days, more of weeks,” Marcelo Bielsa said. “Rodrigo fell and his legs separated and caused an elongation more than usual and this caused the injury I saw a picture of the position both of his feet ended up in and the difference between them was different to what we would expect.”
Bielsa had better news on long-term absentee Gaetano Berardi, yet to appear for Leeds in the Premier League after damaging knee ligaments towards the end of last season. The Swiss defender tore an anterior cruciate ligament in the victory at Derby in July, which required surgery. “He’s going to be returning to training on Monday with the team, and as he gains fitness he will start being incorporated with the under-23s,” Bielsa said.
Guardiola war of words with Klopp over Covid "break"
Per PA Media
Pep Guardiola says he expected better from Jurgen Klopp than to indulge in mind games prior to Manchester City’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday. Liverpool boss Klopp, in referring to City’s postponed game against Everton following a Covid-19 outbreak at the club over Christmas, has suggested Guardiola’s side had two weeks off as a result. The inference was the break helped fuel City’s rise to the top of the Premier League.
Guardiola said at a press conference: “He made a mistake. Jurgen has to see the calendar again. We had Covid, we had one week and we played with 14 players in Stamford Bridge. Tomorrow when I see Jurgen I will ask him how long we had off. I’m surprised, I thought Jurgen was not that kind of manager, I didn’t expect that comment. Maybe it was a misunderstanding.”
José has pursued the old “football heritage” line but David Hytner is not convinced.
That’s all from me - handing you back to John for more. Bye for now.
Jamie Vardy will be back for Leicester v Wolves after a hernia operation.
“He will be available for the weekend,” says Brendan Rodgers. “It was about trying to fit the operation in at the right time. He’s very fit and he’s recovered very well. He looks fit, strong and available, which is great.”
Liverpool team news and Klopp's thoughts on Leipzig Covid riddle
Over in Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp has been talking, too, as we touched on earlier. Some lengthier quotes below before the champions’ meeting with Manchester City:
Klopp hopes to have goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Sadio Mané and Fabinho available for the City game after all missed recent matches. “Ali feels much better, good enough to have an individual session today and Sadio and Fab will be in parts of team training today,” he said.
Regarding the new defensive signings, Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies:
“With our situation we will see who can play again, who can not play again and then we will see,” said Klopp. “In an ideal world we’d have a few weeks to work on defensive things, especially on organisation. Ben and Ozan yesterday had an analysis meeting where they got shown all the stuff we do usually, like a ‘centre-half movie’. Today proper session, tomorrow proper session and then we will see.”
Regarding the Champions League tie against Leipzig and the fact Liverpool cannot travel to Germany for the match due to Covid restrictions:
“With all the stuff we do I think it would have been absolutely reasonable to make an exception, but I don’t know exactly who decided it in the German government but they said ‘so far not possible’,” said the Liverpool manager. But maybe it is good to see for German people who are not in the subject, we are not infected. We have the same problems like you have. We know there is another strain but we are really in a bubble and we could play at Leipzig without spreading the virus. Let’s just say that once. But it is like it always was, the rules are rules and we will accept them so I don’t know where we will play.”
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Guardiola looks ahead to Liverpool game
The Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola is chatting to reporters ahead of the Super Soaraway Sunday clash with Liverpool. How is his squad looking fitness-wise? “Sergio [Agüero], Kevin [De Bruyne] and Nathan [Aké] are not available. The rest are fit.”
Is this City’s best chance to beat Liverpool, he is asked? “The game is for tomorrow, to win and three points. It’s not about how many years or centuries and so on ... it’s another football game, from 38 games in the Premier League, it’s one more.”
On the title race, and the idea that Liverpool might be out of it: “I don’t make predictions about the future because I don’t know. To anticipate the future, I don’t have this ability. Maybe one day I will have it.”
Textbook straight-bat answers from Pep. You’d hope he could at least slog-sweep one of these questions to mid-wicket á la Joe Root. But don’t hold your breath.
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Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo speaks to the media before the match with Leicester on Sunday, following their victory against Arsenal:
“Of course the confidence and the mood is better. The approach of the game [against Arsenal] was better, but it was a strange game to make a proper evaluation, because of the circumstances and the red cards. But the first half of the game shows we have to compete better in a lot of circumstances so this is what we’ll try on Sunday.”
On Joao Moutinho’s goal: “His confidence can only get better, it was a fantastic goal, a beautiful goal, and we are delighted.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjær is speaking now, before the match against Everton - first addressing that 9-0 thrashing of Southampton the other night.
“You’ve got to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad sometimes,” says Solskjær. (What?? Ed.)
“What the boys took from that one is that we did the right things, we kept good habits, I don’t think anyone will get carried away with the scoreline, because we know we played against 10 men for the full game, and of course that’s demoralising when they lose a player like they did. When we got the 2-0, the game was more or less over, so it was just about doing the right things. We’ve not mentioned the game at all really, all the focus has been on Everton.”
“Edinson [Cavani] should be available, yeah, definitely,” Solskjaer said. “He got a bad ankle knock there. Eric [Bailly] is a doubt and apart from that everyone’s raring to go.”
💬 Ole on the anniversary of the Munich disaster: "It's important that we put on a fitting performance and hopefully we can honour them with a result.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 5, 2021
"It's such an important part of our history and the spirit of the club, it's always been emotional for everyone."#MUFC #MUNEVE pic.twitter.com/etm3cALRmm
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Here’s our match preview for Newcastle v Southampton:
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From the ever-resourceful PA Sport, some in-depth Mourinho quotes from last night. The Tottenham manager was speaking following defeat by Chelsea. He probably feels like he could use a week lying on a beach drinking cocktails, but instead he has to get his team in shape to face relegation battlers West Brom on Sunday. It’s relentless. Here he is:
“I put pressure on myself every day,” Mourinho said. “I don’t need others to put pressure on me. I put pressure on myself every day. Every day. So since 2012 without three defeats in a row? But since when without a title? Maybe I can give one.”
“The most important thing now is West Bromwich,” he added. “I don’t even want to think about Everton or about City. I think after City, we go to Austria, again on Europa League, which is a big competition for us, we have good expectations in that competition. But I don’t even want to think about that. I want to think about West Bromwich. That’s a big game. Sometimes big games are just against the top six, or the London derbies. Other times, big games can be games like this. Is a big game for West Bromwich, because they need a victory, they need points, they need to survive. They need to get out of where they are. It’s a big game for us. Because we need to leave the position where we are, which is not a dramatic position like theirs is, but is a very bad position for us, we have to leave it, we need to win, we need to break the dynamic of three defeats like you saw. So it’s a very important match for us. But the reality is that, until the end of the month, we have great motivations in front of us.
“Europa League is something that, since the beginning, we put a lot on. I cannot forget that we had to play how many games to qualify for the group phase, and games with two days in between, travelling around Europe to do it. So we want, the team wants, the team is waiting for that, and maybe the squad needs that. But let’s focus on West Bromwich because it’s the next match and as you say, after three defeats, we have to win against West Bromwich, we cannot even think a different thing.”
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“Besides being a great footballer, he is a super-nice guy. He is eager to learn, hungry to win, open-minded and he can perform for any manager.”
Encouraging words for Mason Mount from the new Chelsea gaffer, Thomas Tuchel, following that win against zombie-Spurs last night. Jacob Steinberg has the story:
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Team news from Ancelotti ahead of their match against Manchester United on Saturday night.
The goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is out injured with an abdominal problem. Ex-Napoli midfielder Allan is back in training as of today but not yet match fit, while Jean-Philippe Gbamin is also nearing fitness but ‘it’s too early to say’ when he will be back.
Ancelotti also that he is planning to rotate his squad for the meeting with title-chasers Manchester United. More detail to follow on that when we get it.
🤕 | Carlo Ancelotti says Jordan Pickford will miss #MUNEVE through injury. Allan has started training with the team today.
— Everton (@Everton) February 5, 2021
Watch live: https://t.co/Mf1LFCo2qd pic.twitter.com/MyULqJnbFp
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Hello sports fans, Luke here, while John takes a break.
Everton’s Carlo Ancelotti has been talking - here’s how the club trailed his press conference on Twitter - the Handforth Parish Council banter is truly going off the scale:
🎬 | Carlo Ancelotti's #MUNEVE press conference is coming up. Watch live across all devices*.
— Everton (@Everton) February 5, 2021
*𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘥'𝘴 𝘪𝘗𝘢𝘥
The Jürgen Klopp press conference is on at the moment, and the news is that new signing Ozan Kabak is available for selection on Sunday. Alisson, Sadio Mané and Fabinho are all training today. There was a moment of Jürgen confusion when he was addressed as “Jackie” as in Jackie Weaver. He looked completely blank, and the wag from PLP had to explain his joke. He’s no Sean Dyche, is he? And Jürg clearly isn’t abreast of the goings-on at Handforth Parish Council.
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Team news for Fulham v West Ham.
New signing Josh Maja is expected to be in Fulham’s squad, although he is most likely to come off the bench. Fulham have no new injury concerns, although with the frequency of matches, some players will be assessed on Friday ahead of the game. Defender Terence Kongolo and midfielder Tom Cairney remain sidelined through injury.
Provisional Fulham squad: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Tete, Reed, Anguissa, Robinson, Loftus-Cheek, Mitrovic, Lookman, Rodak, Hector, Odoi, Ream, Decordova-Reid, Cavaleiro, Lemina, Bryan, Maja.
West Ham are almost at full strength with Arthur Masuaku the only absentee. Wing-back Masuaku is recovering from knee surgery but began jogging this week and is about a month away. Jesse Lingard is poised to start again following his two-goal debut at Aston Villa in midweek.
Provisional West Ham squad: Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Lingard, Benrahma, Antonio, Randolph, Johnson, Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Noble, Bowen, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Odubeko.
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Team news for that Newcastle v Southampton game.
Newcastle face a defensive crisis ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Southampton. Skipper Jamaal Lascelles (hamstring) and Federico Fernandez (muscle) are out, while Paul Dummett (muscle) and Jamal Lewis (hamstring) are doubts and expectant father Ciaran Clark could also miss out.
Loan signing Joe Willock is available for the first time since completing his temporary move from Arsenal, while fellow midfielder Matt Ritchie returns to the squad following the collapse of his proposed return to Bournemouth. Christian Atsu has been added to the 25-man league squad as a result of DeAndre Yedlin’s departure for Galatasaray.
Newcastle provisional squad: Darlow, Dubravka, Manquillo, Krafth, Lewis, Schar, Clark, Dummett, Shelvey, Hayden, M. Longstaff, S. Longstaff, Murphy, Fraser, Willock, Ritchie, Anderson, Hendrick, Atsu, Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Wilson, Joelinton, Gayle, Carroll.
Southampton’s injury crisis appears to be abating slightly, and Ralph Hasenhuttl could have Oriol Romeu and Yannik Vestergaard available. Takumi Minamino could be in line to make his debut after joining the Saints on loan from Liverpool towards the end of the January transfer window, with Shane Long and Yan Valery departing the club on loan.
Romeu trained on Thursday, but it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough, while Vestergaard has a slightly better chance of recovering in time. Alexandre Jankewitz is suspended after his early red card against Manchester United but Jan Bednarek’s dismissal was overturned on appeal.
Southampton provisional squad: McCarthy, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Stephens, Bertrand, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Adams, Ings, Forster, Redmond, Djenepo, Minamino, Ramsay, N’Lundulu, Ferry, Watts, Vokins.
Bruce hits out at 'conspiracy theories' over Newcastle arrival of Jones
Louise Taylor has heard from Steve Bruce this morning and he’s not happy with those suggesting Graeme Jones is around to take his job.
Steve Bruce hopes Allan Saint-Maximin might be able to return to his, er, maximum for Newcastle soon as he continues to recover from coronavirus. Southampton are the opposition this weekend.
He was idle - I mean really idle, because he had to be - for eight weeks. He’s now had four (lots of) 30 minutes, so we hope he’s as good as he’s going to be. We hope he has the effect on the team that certainly he had when he first came to the club. We know how important having your big players fit is and it’s good to see him back fit because certainly he will give us an edge, which he did do at the start of the season. Certainly we have missed him.
Dean Smith is not happy; his Aston Villa team have lost four from their last six Premier League matches. Dean Smith has told his misfiring Aston Villa players they need to raise their game against fellow mid-table battlers Arsenal. Villa have lost four of their last six Premier League outings and host Arsenal on Saturday..
The message was they’ve dropped below their standards. We’ve had some very high standards this season already and we keep speaking to the players, if we want to be a top team then we have to keep playing to those standards. For me, there were too many six out of 10s on Wednesday night and if you drop to that level then you’re going to get beat. We found that out. The lads understand that as well and they know what they have to do to put it right. It was the first time I thought we looked mentally tired more than anything, certainly there’s nothing in the numbers to suggest fatigue in any way, but it was the fifth game in 14 days, we’ve got our sixth game on Saturday in 18 days. The lads have to make sure they’re ready for each game because it’s a tough league and can be punishing if you’re not right.
A transfer brief: Norwich striker Josip Drmic has joined Croatian side HNK Rijeka on loan for the rest of the season, having not played at all this season for the Canaries.
It’s a good thing Sean Dyche is so funny otherwise things could get doomy at Burnley, who have a lengthy injury list. Graham Potter’s Brighton look in comparatively rude health.
Per PA Media.
Strikers Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, as well winger Robbie Brady, midfielder Josh Brownhill and full-back Charlie Taylor were all sidelined by a variety of injuries for the defeat to Manchester City in midweek. Dyche does not think any of the quintet will be sidelined for too long, but this weekend’s visit of Brighton may come too soon.
Burnley provisional squad: Pope, Bardsley, Mee, Taylor, Tarkowski, Pieters, Nartey, Dunne, Brownhill, Gudmundsson, Cork, Brady, Rodriguez, Vydra, Peacock-Farrell, Lowton, Long, Westwood, McNeil, Stephens, Wood, Barnes, Benson, Driscoll-Glennon, Mumbongo.
Brighton will be without Solly March after the winger hobbled off against Liverpool.
But boss Graham Potter could welcome back Joel Veltman and Alexis Mac Allister, who both missed the shock win at Anfield. Tariq Lamptey, Danny Welbeck, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Florin Andone are still sidelined.
Brighton provisional squad: Sanchez, Walton, Steele, White, Webster, Dunk, Burn, Veltman, Bissouma, Khadra, Propper, Lallana, Moder, Mac Allister, Alzate, Gross, Trossard, Izquierdo, Maupay, Tau, Zeqiri, Connolly.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer, definitely not during a pandemic, but David Moyes has said he might sign Jesse Lingard permanently if he maintains his stunning start to life at West Ham with two goals against Aston Villa on Wednesday.
The situation here is Jesse’s going to get a good chance to look at West Ham, see what he thinks of us and whether he likes it, and we’ll get a good look at Jesse and decide what we think in five or six months’ time.
Leah Galton has signed a contract extension with Manchester United Women.
✍️ We're delighted to announce @Leah_Galton21 has extended her contract with #MUWomen until 2024! ❤️
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) February 5, 2021
Joe Root is a ton up in his 100th Test, and fellow Yorkshireman Neil Warnock has offered his congratulations.
We sent this video to @englandcricket captain and all-round Neil Warnock fan @root66 to congratulate him on his 100th test cap 🏏 #UTB pic.twitter.com/q6ggRNXJKH
— Middlesbrough FC 🇨🇩 (@Boro) February 5, 2021
Quiz! Quiz!! Quiz!!!
Ajax's Onana banned for 12 months
All is not well at Ajax. After Sébastien Haller was mistakenly left out of their Europa League squad comes the news that their goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has been handed a 12-month suspension for failing an out-of-competition doping test, with the club claiming he accidentally took medicine meant for his wife’s consumption. They had hoped for a conditional suspension but the ban is effective from today. The club has released a statement.
On the morning of October 30, Onana was feeling unwell. He wanted to take a pill to ease the discomfort. Unknowingly, however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his wife had previously been prescribed.
Onana’s confusion resulted in him mistakenly taking his wife’s medicine, ultimately causing this measure to be taken by UEFA against the goalkeeper.
Furthermore, the disciplinary body of the football association has stated that Onana had no intention of cheating. However, the European Football Association believes, on the basis of the applicable anti-doping rules, that an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no banned substances enter the body.
The disciplinary body of the European football association, UEFA, has imposed a suspension of 12 months on Andre Onana for a doping violation.
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) February 5, 2021
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Yes, it had fully evaded my attention until now. Bayern Munich play Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga tonight, then fly to Qatar to play Al Ahly in the semi-finals on Sunday. Palmeiras, who only won the Copa Libertadores last week, play Tigres UANL, who beat the Korean club Ulsan in the quarter-final on Thursday. Al Ahly beat Al-Dusain - of Qatar and coached by the former Nottingham Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi - on Thursday.
The pub banter king, Sean Dyche, speaking to PA Media, has continued his message that laughter is the best medicine. As yet, he appears not to have commented on the leveraged buyout of Burnley that David Conn helped bring to light in these pages.
We’ve had some really tough times; very pressurised, full of anxiety and you’ve got to diffuse that at times. It’s certainly something I’ve believed in throughout my life. The hardest things can find the funniest moments, I don’t mean crass or awkward moments or horrible ones. It’s a deadly serious moment in our world but there still has to be a moment where everyone can relax a little bit. You still have to do the job, no matter who you’re playing against. A bit of humour doesn’t go amiss. I accept humour from the players as well. It’s not a one-way street, they can have the odd flippant or funny remark. Going back to lookalikes, we did have a lookalike board, I’m not going to tell you who was on it but there were some brilliant ones which the players put on themselves. If you try to have a joke or a one-liner or fun about anything, it’s turned around on you, virtually always. It’s a shame but that’s modern life, I get that. Some managers who probably have way more humour - and I know some that are for a fact - they just go ‘there’s no point because I ended up getting it turned on me’. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Most managers, in my experience, put a straight bat on it, bat it away and try to not show the truth of who they are.
Did we mention that there’s a lot of football on this weekend? That goes for sport too. Paul MacInnes has worked out the schedule.
And talking of the Champions League, there’s this riddle to solve.
A meeting about this is taking place today, presumably on Zoom. More as and when we get it.
West Brom v Tottenham will see the José Mourinho charm offensive continue.
His team were rotten against Chelsea.
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The big game, of course, is Sunday’s showdown at Anfield. Here’s what Alex Hess had to say in our 10 things preview, with obligatory Nigel Tufnell quote.
Pep Guardiola may be a tactical genius, but as Spinal Tap’s guitarist once said: “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.” The Manchester City manager has proven as much with his tendency to overcomplicate things in big matches. Few know this better than Jürgen Klopp, whose Liverpool team have more than once been grateful beneficiaries of Guardiola’s needlessly intricate one-off gameplans. There is no call for such complexity on Sunday. City head to Anfield having won 13 games in a row in all competitions, while their opponents have won three of their past 10, lost two on the bounce at home and kept one clean sheet this year. The Anfield crowd, which has in recent years fuelled early blitzkriegs against City, will be absent. Guardiola’s main task may be psychological rather than tactical: to ensure his players take to the pitch with the same freedom of the past two months. Or to put it in plain terms, to avoid messing with a winning formula.
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Preamble
Public health warning: there will be no Premier League football on tonight. But titter not, lest you be tittered, it’s back tomorrow and the cold turkey will be brief. There will be aching limbs all round, and a few suspensions too after a few red cards, not all of them rescinded.
So, what do we have in store? Saturday’s early game sees Aston Villa entertain Arsenal, with both teams coming off defeats in midweek. At 3pm, Burnley welcome in-form Brighton, slayers of Tottenham and Liverpool in four days. Sean Dyche, the lookalikey banter king, takes on Graham Potter, future England manager. After their *latest* 9-0, Southampton go to Newcastle, who lost to Crystal Palace on Tuesday in a game that already feels a long time ago. A London derby follows that, and it’s Fulham versus West Ham where future Hammers manager Scott E Parker takes on David Moyes, who has found the new Fellaini in Tomas Soucek. Saturday’s fun concludes with Manchester United struggling to score against Everton having used up all their goals against Southampton.
Tottenham versus West Brom is Sunday’s midday meeting of the entertainers, followed by Nuno’s Wolves, another team of thrill jockeys, taking on Leicester, who recovered themselves after losing to Leeds last Sunday by beating Fulham. Then comes Liverpool versus Manchester City, a match Jürgen Klopp may be relying on an outbreak of Cityitis to have any hope of defending the title. Sunday’s late game, Sheffield United versus Chelsea, will see Thomas Tuchel trying to out-tactic Chris Wilder whose Blades have glinted a glimpse of safety. The round of matches concludes on Monday with a discussion of Argentinian literature between Marcelo Bielsa and Roy Hodgson when Leeds play Crystal Palace.
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