Liverpool and Arsenal, the two teams currently occupying the top two positions in the Premier League table, faced each other at Anfield on Saturday and shared the spoils at the end.
Gabriel Magalhaes hit a fine header in the fourth minute to sent the Gunners ahead, and Mohamed Salah again showed his quality with an excellent equalizer in the 29th. There was a number of chances at either end in the remaining hour, but the scoreboard stood still at 1-1.
Top teams, top game
The first thing to say about this game is that both teams played at a very high level, completely justifying their respective positions in the table. It was a proper derby-style battle, loaded with duels, creativity, fine defending, smart runs, dribbles, excellent game-reading, and very few mistakes.
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 2/3 @
Smelling a real chance on the road in midweek, Roma will make the trip to the Stadio Ezio Scida when they face off against Crotone on Wednesday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Crotone might have managed to pick up a much-needed 2-1 win against Parma when heading into the festive break, I Pitagorici came crashing back down to reality over the weekend. Despite taking a shock lead away at Inter Milan, Giovanni Stroppa s men were hit with a 6-2 drumming at the San Siro and they still find themselves at the heart of a relegation scrap. Still sat two points adrift at the foot of the table and seen as leading relegation contender, fans around the Stadio Ezio Scida will at least take some solace from their recent improv…
John Heitinga is Everton’s latest defensive recruit. The strong right back, also able to play centre back, is at the club’s training centre for the latest medical tests.
The last days there were reports that the defender of Atletico Madrid didn’t want to leave Spain but it seems that he changed his mind.
Everton pays € 8 million for the 25-year-old defender.
Last week Everton and Atletico already reached an agreement about the transfer fee for the Dutch international.
Heitinga wasn’t too keen about leaving Madrid after just one season, last week he mentioned that he wanted to fight for his chance in the Spanish capital.
In the summer of 2008 he left Ajax to join …
Former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho has been named the new boss of Osasuna after Jose Angel Ziganda was sacked earlier on Monday.
Osasuna said in a statement that an agreement between Camacho and the club had been made on Monday evening and Camacho would be the new coach until June 2009.
After six league matches, which includes four draws and two defeats, Osasuna sit in 16th place with just four points.
Ziganda, who arrived at the club in 2006, was the second Spanish top flight coach to be sacked this season following Manolo Zambrano s axing by Recreativo Huelva last week.
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Manchester City have loaned new signing Enes Unal to Genk.
Unal was manager Manuel Pellegrini s first signing of the close-season, the highly-rated striker arriving from Turkish team Bursaspor earlier this month.
The 18-year-old travelled to Australia and Asia for City s pre-season tour, but the Premier League side have decided to send the prodigy away to gain experience in the Belgian Pro League.
Unal became the youngest goalscorer in Turkish Super Lig history when he netted against Galatasaray as a 16-year-old in 2013, while he scored four times in 37 predominantly substitute appearances for Bursaspor.
After news of his move emerged, Unal tweeted: I m going to play for @KRCGenkofficial this season on loan, it d be great experience for me and I m impat…
Marc Albrighton has been handed a new four-year deal by Leicester City, joining fellow Premier League winners Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Kasper Schmeichel in penning fresh terms at the King Power Stadium.
A largely unheralded free-transfer signing from Aston Villa in 2014, winger Albrighton flourished under Claudio Ranieri last season, his endeavour and guile complementing Mahrez s trickery on the opposite flank.
Albrighton had almost three years left on his original Foxes deal, but his new contract follows a trend at the club, manager Ranieri is another to have extended his stay since the Premier League title was won in thrilling circumstances last season.
Four. More. Years.
Marc Albrighton signs a new deal until 2020!
Full stor…
Maps are crucial if you have long-term plans to play in any Minecraft world. As the name suggests, maps allow you to chart specific areas in the world so that you always know how to get to certain locations. Luckily, making them is fairly straightforward, but they won’t operate as intended if you make them wrong. Don’t worry; this guide details everything you need about crafting and using a map.
How to craft a map
To craft a map, you need the following items first: one compass and eight papers. As soon as you get your hands on those items, go to a Crafting Table, and you should see an option that’ll allow you to make one. But if it doesn’t appear, you’ll want to place all the items, as shown in the picture below.
It’s also worth m…
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City must work harder, play better and pray to close the gap to Liverpool, but he is confident a fully fit squad could still compete for the Premier League title.
City have won the league in each of the past two seasons, yet they are now 14 points off the rapid pace set by Liverpool, who also have a game in hand heading into 2020.
While an ageing City squad have fallen below the standards set in previous campaigns, Guardiola is keen to emphasise the impact of key injuries on his team with Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane out for long periods and David Silva and Sergio Aguero also dealing with issues.
Asked what his team must improve on to catch Liverpool, the City manager told reporters: Work harder, play better and pray.
Wit…
Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus insisted his focus was on helping his team at the World Cup, not winning the Golden Boot.
Jesus is set to start up front for the Selecao, who are among the favourites in Russia and begin their campaign against Switzerland on Sunday.
The Manchester City star would become the first Brazilian since Ronaldo in 2002 to top score at the World Cup if he wins the Golden Boot.
But Jesus said that was not among his focuses heading into Brazil s first game of the tournament.
Even before we had these options given by Tite [of playing Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Willian up front] I have always been relaxed. I m very active with or without the ball, he told a news conference.
Not just because of a formation, but because of every…
Alex Ferguson has stated that he will retire as manager of Manchester United should he lead the club to the Champions League trophy in 2009 and 2010.
I d love the club to win more European trophies than they have done and I think I ve made this point a few times over the years, Ferguson told CNN.
I don t think we ve won the number we should have won. There have been years when we ve been unlucky and years we ve been disappointed, and there ve been years when we ve thrown games away, and that sort of gives a kaleidoscope of what football s like.
If we could win a couple more European trophies I then would definitely quit.
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