Mohamed Salah is joined by Liverpool team-mates Naby Keita and Sadio Mane on the preliminary list of nominees for the 2018 African Player of the Year award.
Salah scooped the individual prize in 2017 after impressing for both club and country, with Egypt reaching the Africa Cup of Nations final and also qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The 26-year-old faces competition for this year s honour from two familiar faces, with Guinea midfielder Keita who moved to Liverpool in the last transfer window after agreeing to join from RB Leipzig the previous year and Senegal forward Mane also in the running.
Riyad Mahrez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who won the award in 2016 and 2015 respectively, are also included on a 34-name shortlist announced by the Con…
West Brom ended their miserable Premier League run on Saturday, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 at the Hawthorns to record their first league triumph in 21 games.
Having won their two opening games of the season, the Baggies soon fell apart, leading to the sacking of Tony Pulis.
The appointment of Alan Pardew failed to spark an immediate turnaround, West Brom lurching into a winless run so long that only the miserable 2007-08 Derby County team possess a longer drought in Premier League history.
Pardew secured his first victory in all competitions at Exeter City in the FA Cup last week, and the visit of the Seagulls offered a fine chance to get on a roll Chris Hughton s men have now failed to score in nine league games on the road this term.
With that…
Borussia Dortmund qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League thanks to a 2-1 win over Slavia Prague on Tuesday.
Inter s 2-1 loss to Barcelona means Lucien Favre s side finished three points above the Italians in Group F and will be in the hat for the knockout draw, which takes place in Nyon on Monday.
The impressive Jadon Sancho opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Tomas Soucek scored a deserved equaliser for the Czech side shortly before half-time.
However, Julian Brandt sealed the win with a powerful strike shortly after the hour mark, although Dortmund had Roman Burki to thank for their progression after a string of stunning saves either side of Julian Weigl s dismissal for a second yellow card with 13 minutes remaining.
*Deep Breath*…
According to reports in England, Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck could well leave the club on a free transfer next year, with no new deal being discussed for the Englishman. In recent months Welbeck has been proving why he s a handy option for Unai Emery to have, putting in a series of good performances for the Gunners. He initially joined the club back in 2014 from Manchester United, and while he s certainly had inconsistent spells, he s certainly one of the more underrated strikers in English football.
Welbeck would likely be following in the footsteps of both Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, although the latter s situation still has yet to be resolved. It appears as if Arsenal are unwilling to offer too many new contracts, which is interesting, as it serves as an indication of …
Liverpool against Manchester City throws up a number of intriguing sub-plots as the only two remaining Premier League sides in the Champions League go head-to-head in the quarter-finals.
Jurgen Klopp is one of the few managers around to have a strong record against City s Pep Guardiola, for example, while the Catalan is seeking his third Champions League title as a coach after relative failure in Europe with previous club Bayern Munich.
But much of the attention will be around the two teams respective star players, with City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne set to face off against Liverpool s Egypt international Mohamed Salah over the two legs.
The pair have been tipped as the two outstanding candidates for this season s major player of the year awards in England bu…
Sergio Ramos says he has four or five more years left at a high level despite struggling for game time since his move to Paris Saint-German.
The 36-year-old has endured an injury-hit first campaign in the French capital, playing 392 minutes across his seven appearances in all competitions, just four of which were starts.
However, the former Real Madrid defender impressed on his return to the line-up in PSG s 6-1 thrashing of Clermont last time out, as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe each netted hat-tricks and Lionel Messi claimed three assists.
Ramos completed 99 of his 105 attempted passes – both of which were game highs – during the Ligue 1 leaders dominant win.
The defender now says he believes he can play at the highest level into his forties, in…
Best odds: 3/4
Bookmaker:
Liverpool are set to welcome Chelsea to to what should be a full Anfield on Saturday afternoon in the third round of the 2021-22 Premier League season. This match is obviously a contest between two of the best teams in the English top flight and Europe at the moment. Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 and followed it up with the long-awaited Premier League title in 2020. Chelsea are now the Champions League holders, and it remains to be seen what the current league campaign holds for them, but they ll sure be hoping to repeat what Liverpool did last year.
Liverpool
Last season was a most difficult one for Jurgen Klopp s team. They were without their first three centre-backs for more than half of it, and the manager s decision t…
Well, it is a return to football, but strictly speaking, Guiseppe Rossi never really stayed away from football. Italian striker and former Manchester United striker has been without a club for a while now and seeing him getting closer to actually striking a deal is a very good sign.
Rossi could now be joining Real Salt Lake from Major League Soccer, according to Italian Football TV. The striker is still just 32 years old (and getting closer to 33), but he has been without a club ever since the end of 2017-18 season. In that summer of 2018, he finished his deal with Genoa and left the club, but he has been unable to find a new club for him.
Now, he has been training with Real Salt Lake for a while and there were rumours of him potentially getting a deal. He is set for a …
The owners and board members are driven to help make Birmingham City a football powerhouse.
Birmingham have claimed John Eustace was sacked because his ambitions conflicted with those of the club’s hierarchy as they prepare to appoint Wayne Rooney
— Times Sport (@TimesSport)
Players to watch
Erling Haaland: Manchester City are hoping to giver their star 23-year-old striker, who has already scored eight goals in the Premier League this season, a new contract, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport says. The contract would remove a £173million release clause to stave off interest from Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Ivan Toney: TEAMtalk reports that Arsenal are working to sign the 27-year-old striker from Brentford, with Chelsea also in the mix for his…
Mikel Arteta hinted Aaron Ramsdale may retain his place in Arsenal s starting XI over Bernd Leno after keeping a clean sheet on his Premier League debut for the Gunners.
Arsenal shelled out for a deal that could reach a reported £30million to prise goalkeeper Ramsdale from relegated Sheffield United during the last transfer window.
Leno had the jersey for the opening three league matches of the season, which saw Arsenal beaten by Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City without scoring a goal.
Ramsdale came into the fold for Saturday s 1-0 win over Norwich City and put in an assured display, albeit he was rarely tested by a Canaries side that managed a solitary shot on target.
Since Leno joined Arsenal ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, the German has a slight…