Erling Haaland scored his 24th goal of the season and Kevin De Bruyne delivered a masterclass as Manchester City beat holders Liverpool 3-2 to reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
The two heavyweights served up a thriller at the Etihad Stadium in their first game after the World Cup break, and it was the Premier League champions who deservedly came out on top.
Haaland opened the scoring, only for Fabio Carvalho to equalise in the first half of a pulsating tie on Thursday.
Riyad Mahrez restored City s lead right at the start of the season half, but Mohamed Salah soon levelled with his 15th goal of the campaign.
The outstanding De Bruyne then provided a second assist of the game for Nathan Ake, and Jurgen Klopp s men were unable to respond for a third time, su…
Ever since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus, it s been hard to pin down a Clasico duel to rival the Portugal star s battle with Lionel Messi.
We could have one on Wednesday, though, from two pretty unlikely sources.
Ivan Rakitic and Federico Valverde are likely to start at Camp Nou this week, when Spain s grandest rivalry renews with the LaLiga head-to-head record locked at 72 wins each from 178 meetings (Barca, it s worth noting, have never been ahead of Madrid in terms of league wins).
Each player has become potentially pivotal for this latest meeting, which is fairly remarkable given their respective standings in the first-team picture when the season got underway in August.
RAKITIC: FROM PARIAH TO PIVOTAL
It looked like Rakitic cou…
England captain Millie Bright vowed the Lionesses are prepared to play the ‘game of their lives’ when they face Spain in their first World Cup final.
England could be crowned world champions for the first time since the men’s team triumphed in 1966, but on the eve of the monumental encounter the skipper’s focus was fully in the present.
And, while no one needs to explain the magnitude of the moment to the 29-year-old defender, she urged her team-mates to approach the most important match in their history no differently from any other.
Last training session of our journey
— Lionesses (@Lionesses)
Bright said: “I think for us we live in the moment, and yes it’s a World Cup final, but for us our mentality is it’s another game.
…
Marcos Llorente has praised off-season additions in Axel Witsel and Alvaro Morata, prompting him to suggest Atletico Madrid will compete on all fronts this upcoming term.
While the likes of Luis Suarez, Hector Herrera and Sime Vrsaljko departed this off-season, Witsel joined Atleti on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract with Borussia Dortmund, while Morata returns from his loan spell at Juventus.
Llorente became a utility of sorts for Diego Simeone last term, earning time on the pitch as a right-back, on the right wing and in central midfield as Atleti sputtered to a third-placed finish in LaLiga.
The 27-year-old believes that while Witsel has needed some time to adapt to Simeone s game plan, he will bolster Atleti s midfield, enabling them to compe…
Bayern Munich are making plans for Lionel Messi, but Hansi Flick is well aware of the threat of the rest of the Barcelona team in their Champions League quarter-final.
Bayern face Barca in Lisbon on Friday in a match the Bundesliga champions are expected to win, having been in dominant form in recent months.
But the Blaugrana have Messi in their ranks, the six-time Ballon d Or winner seemingly determined to get his hands on a fifth European crown, the most recent of those coming in 2015.
Questions at Flick s pre-match news conference focused on the threat of Barca s number 10, yet the head coach was keen to remind reporters there will be more to the match than Messi.
It s not Bayern Munich against Messi, but against Barcelona, he said. Of course we have …
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal after returning an adverse sample.
The France international tested positive for testosterone in a random drugs test following Juventus’ Serie A game against Udinese on August 20, when he was an unused substitute.
After the Italian anti-doping body issued a statement on Monday evening confirming Pogba’s suspension, Juventus said the club would now consider “the next procedural steps”.
If found guilty of doping, a suspension of between two and four years could be handed out to Pogba.
“Juventus Football Club announces that today, September 11, 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National An…
Inter have confirmed Romelu Lukaku will be absent for at least a week with a thigh injury.
The Belgian forward sustained the issue in a training session on Sunday and will be reassessed next week, though his absence means he will miss two crucial games for the Nerazzurri.
Lukaku will be forced to watch on in Tuesday s Serie A clash against Cremonese and will remain absent for the derby against defending champions Milan this weekend.
It is also likely that the Chelsea loanee will not be able to feature when Inter commence their Champions League campaign against Bayern Munich next week.
A statement on Inter s website confirmed Lukaku had suffered an injury to the flexor of his left thigh and said his condition will be re-evaluated next week.
Reports…
Neymar scored one and set up another as Brazil maintained their perfect record in CONMEBOL 2022 World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 victory over Peru in Recife on Thursday.
Playing for the first time since Sunday s qualifier against Argentina was controversially suspended mid-game, Selecao netted twice in a lively first half to set up the win.
Brazil s opener came in the 14th minute when Neymar laid off for Everton Ribeiro, who scored the winner in last week s 1-0 triumph in Chile.
Neymar grabbed the second goal five minutes before the break, the Paris Saint-Germain star tapping home from close range as Brazil made it eight wins from eight games on the road to Qatar 2022.
On a night when Argentina s Lionel Messi overtook Pele as the leading goalscorer in Sout…
Mikel Arteta believes that David Raya s save to deny Ollie Watkins changed the momentum during Arsenal s 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Gunners maintained their winning start to the Premier League season through second-half strikes from substitute Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey at Villa Park.
But the encounter could have taken on a different complexion had it not been for a crucial intervention from Arsenal s goalkeeper eight minutes after the interval.
Amadou Onana saw his deflected effort come back off the crossbar and into the path of Watkins, who looked certain to get his tally up and running for the campaign.
However, Raya produced a remarkable instinctive save to deny the Villa striker, who had spurned another golden opportuni…
Market: Over 1.5 goals
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Two Championship outfits that are seeking some much-needed stability, Swansea will welcome Preston to the Liberty on Friday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Swansea might have snatched a 2-1 victory away at Rotherham earlier in the month, it appears that might have just been a minor boost. Last seen putting in another worrying performance as they slumped to a 2-1 loss at the hands of Middlesbrough, the Welsh outfit have recorded just a single win from any of their previous seven Championship appearances. With that extended rut stemming all the way back to October 28th, some in Swansea’s camp will be starting to look over their shoulder at a looming relegation scrap. Signing off November with a 3-1 defeat against promotio…