#happy first day of the premier league 22/23 or whatever ….
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Here are some amazing bottom Louis fics that were posted or completed during the month of April. We really hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!
1) Heat | Explicit | 1433 words
In which Louis and Harry mate with each other.
2) A Desperate Time | Explicit | 2,52 words
Aka Harry and Louis have a pee kink that leads to Louis pissing in Harry's lap. Graphic, kinky smut. Read at your own desire.
3) Bohemian Rhapsody Is Not A Documentary (But Freddieismyqueen) | Explicit | 3933 words
Note: There’s a BH mention.
A day in life of Harry Styles and his smol sunflower [quarantine edition]
Aka how many wonderful adjectives can be applied to Louis Tomlinson and his everything?
4) Just A Bit Of Work | Explicit | 4027 words
In which Marcel is a virgin, and becomes his office's amorous co-worker's next big conquest.
5) I Don't Wanna Look At Anything Else That I Saw You | Mature | 4375 words
After the hiatus of One Direction, all 5 members have their own solo careers. Louis, who just can't move on from Alex, his ex-boyfriend and bandmate, meets Harry, who's supposed to be Alex's doppelganger in his new single's music video.
6) Like Lovers In A Movie | Explicit | 4565 words
A grumpy Louis and a movie night don't mix. Harry's still able to fix it.
7) Christmas Lights In Paris | Mature | 4671 words
In which Harry makes a big mistake and has to get Louis back, while Louis' a cute, soft baker.
8) Wasting My Time | Explicit | 7856 words
Harry is in love with Louis. He can't do anything about it, until he can.
Louis is in love with Harry. He doesn't have a chance, until he does.
9) The Promotion. | Explicit | 8143 words
After being promoted, Harry is challenged to prove he is one of the guys. Whatever it is he had in mind, he never thought he'd be expected to fuck an escort in front of his colleagues and boss during this corporate party.
10) Want You To Want Me | Explicit | 8836 words
Harry likes Louis, Louis likes Harry. But it's not that simple. Louis doesn't know if he can handle Harry's lifestyle and feels overwhelmed. Can Harry convince him he's worth it?
11) Don't Hold Back Now | Mature | 11103 words
Harry gives Louis everything he asks for except for the one thing he wants the most. If only Louis knew who Harry truly was.
Or the demon Harry AU.
12) We Will Get Through This | Mature | 11219 words
Because of quarantine, Louis has to stay home with his roommate, Harry, who he's never really hung out with before. He's a sweet alpha who seems to really care and that annoys the hell out of Louis. But as he gets to know the alpha, he realizes it might not be dislike that he's feeling
13 Sunrise and Pixie Dust | Mature | 14816 words
Harry's taking a walk at sunrise in the forest he knows like the back of his hand when the wind starts blowing, the sky turns pink, and golden glitter starts to fall from the sky. He’s not sure about what’s happening, but when he comes face to face with a gorgeous winged-creature, he can’t help but be immediately mesmerized.
Or an AU in which Harry finds himself crossing the borders between two worlds.
14) Happier | Explicit | 15590 words
Literally based off of Ed Sheeran's song Happier.
15) My Heart Was Stolen, Can You Return It? | Explicit | 15824 words
Based on the prompt: "He's a cop. He’s the owner of a record store. A sudden rash of break-ins brings him to his store over and over and over again, until it becomes obvious that he might be tripping the alarm on purpose—just to see him. That’s illegal—but he's kind of falling for him, too."
I don't remember where I found this, maybe in a book I own or in a post I saw, but credit to whoever actually came up with it.
16) V | Explicit | 20275 words
Harry pays him to dance, Louis enjoys the sex on the side, and that’s all that ties them together. Whatever else the enigmatic man does is none of Louis’ fucking business.
Louis works at a club owned by infamous Harry Styles, leader of the largest criminal organization this side of the country. As they twirl closer together police and rival gangs start to gain the upper hand, forcing everyone's loyalty to be questioned.
17) I’m Having Your Baby (It's None of Your Business) | Mature | 26383 words
A bet can cost you a lot. Harry learns this in the weirdest of ways.
Louis just wanted a baby, and he got so much more.
18) Crush | Explicit | 26741words
Based off the song Crush by Mandy Moore.
19) My Love’s Not Simple (It’s Fragile) | Explicit | 27554 words
Harry's new job is threatened by his impending rut. Desperate for a solution, he allows Niall to introduce him to Louis, an omega whose heat begins the same day. They click.
20) Naked Attraction #2 | Mature | 29159 words
Louis Tomlinson is the first openly gay football player in the Premier football League. He was outed by the paps, but he’s had to embrace it since then. To show he doesn’t have shame in it, he goes onto Naked Attraction, and all the money will go to LGBTQ+ support, but he has made some changes to the show. Incidentally, he meets a certain Harry Styles there, and that is when things get interesting...
21) Compete Against The Stars | Mature | 30980 words
An ABO au where Louis finds out he's claimed to another Alpha. Angst ensues.
22) Where I Should Be | Explicit | 31324 words
Or, the affair AU where Harry is getting married, Louis is in love with his best friend, and they only have this life to get it right.
23) Will You Be My Boyfriend? | Explicit | 32484 words
Based on the prompt: "You’re at a party when you spot an ex. Quickly, you urgently pretend to be dating the nearest person, who happens to be very attractive."
24) Descendants of the Night | Explicit | 34371 words
Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.
Harry is one of the old world. His best friends Liam and Niall are too. Zayn is a transient. Harry is newly back to the country after years of living in the city and he doesn’t know where to turn when confronted with finding Niall near death after a brutal attack.
“Liam, it’s me...I’ve heard you and the others talk about where to get medical care, Niall is in dire need. Where do I take him?”
There is only doctor in their remote part on England that Liam knows of who can help someone like Niall.
Louis Tomlinson.
Liam fears for what might happen when one like Harry meets one like Louis.
25) The Sidelines | Explicit | 47078 words
Note: There are mentions of Top Louis.
Or Harry and Louis play hockey for Penn state and can't stand one another, since they can't keep their hatred off the ice their coach and team do what they can to keep their hard earned spot in the playoffs and their two star players from killing each other.
26) Forgive The Urgency, But Hurry Up And Wait | Explicit | 53701 words
Note: This is the sequel to this fic.
Louis' going to do better. He’s going to have all of the uncomfortable conversations and the relationship talks. He’s going to make himself be a good boyfriend.
And he’s got absolutely no idea where to start.
27) Things I Can't | Not Rated | 67495 words
Louis has a plan for his life. He’s going to be the first in his family to finish college. He’s going to be a doctor - the best damn doctor in the country. And he’s going to work his ass off to make sure his younger siblings never have to wonder whether they have the means to pursue their dreams.
He doesn’t have space in his plan for a relationship with an effortlessly alluring musician, and certainly not for the child that unexpectedly results from that union. Louis is at a crossroads he never thought to plan for, and now he must make a decision: between what he wants now, and what he wants most.
28) Join Me In The Afterlife | Explicit | 262289 words
Or, the one where Louis is a simple guy - all he wants from his summer break is to spend some quality time with his mother, get to know her new husband, and learn to play the guitar. Nothing out of the ordinary, that is for sure. However, life has a funny way of working and when Louis finds a strange boy sitting on his bed one sunny day, his summer break takes a turn for the better (or worse) when he discovers a ghost has stolen his heart from the get-go.
Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.
You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.
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Post-Match Day Thread: Sevilla 3 - 3 Liverpool via /r/LiverpoolFC
Post-Match Day Thread: Sevilla 3 - 3 Liverpool
Sevilla 3 - 3 Liverpool
Player Ratings
Player Rating Karius 6.46 Gomez 7.50 Lovren 7.26 Klavan 7.09 Moreno (62') 5.98 Coutinho (62') 7.48 Wijnaldum 6.35 Henderson 6.37 Salah (86') 7.84 Firmino 9.62 Mané 7.48 Can (62') 6.24 Milner (62') 5.90 Oxlade-Chamberlain (73') 6.08
Group E
Pos Team P GD Pts 1 Liverpool 5 10 9 2 Sevilla 5 0 8 3 Spartak Moscow 5 3 6 4 Maribor 5 -13 2
Match Events
Goals Roberto Firmino 2' 0-1 Sadio Mané 22' 0-2 Roberto Firmino 30' 0-3 Ben Yedder 51' 1-3 Ben Yedder 60' 2-3 Guido Pizarro 90+2' 3-3
Links Post-Match Thread - credit /u/lrk2003 Match Thread - credit /u/MatchThreadder Pre-Match Thread - credit /u/_cumblast_
Thoughts
Formation
I have to say I would have preferred Can or Milner in midfield over Wijnaldum. I know Can has had some (in my mind unfair) criticism of his performance over the last few weeks, but he does provide some defensive solidarity that I think we would miss against a very strong Sevilla side. Similarly, Milner would have provided some much needed experience in a key game. Apart from that, no complains.
Firmino First Goal
I've gone back to watch the build up to the goals in this game because the .gifs don't really tell the whole story. This game started relatively slowly, but we pressed high up and forced Sevilla into a couple of mistakes. The corner comes from a nice give and go between Mané and Salah, and the former chased down a lost ball to get the corner.
http://ift.tt/2iLHonQ
The goal itself is very simple. Coutinho just whips the ball in to the penalty spot, and Firmino is going to run off the back of his defender to the unmarked back post.
http://ift.tt/2B5fXvJ
Wijnaldum heads it down to the back post for Firmino to run on to - being critical he could have probably scored himself. Not that it mattered. Firmino slams home from a couple of yards out and we jump out to a 1-0 lead.
Mané Goal
Another corner, another goal. This one comes from Henderson winning the ball back high up, then playing a lovely pass through to Firmino. He misses the one on one but, as we will see, we get a goal anyway.
http://ift.tt/2iLHrA2
It's stunning how similar this goal is. Coutinho, again, whips it in to the penalty spot. Firmino this time gets a head on it. Mané this time is running off the back of his defender to the far post. A lovely diving header into the far post. Just as simple.
Firmino Second Goal
Moreno plays a lovely ball in behind for Mané to run on to.
http://ift.tt/2B5LaPt
The only point I wanted to make here was how close our front three were. This was a long ball, and everyone's within 15 yards of each other. That gives us the advantage for any rebounds or ricochets, and forces the defence into mistakes.
Half Time
Three nil up, apparently in complete control, but the stats would say different. Sevilla had 70% possession, over double our passes, and far superior pass accuracy. We were playing on the counter and our finishing was lethal. However, I think in retrospect the danger signs were there. Our midfield was poor. Henderson and Wijnaldum gave the ball away far too often, playing passes they didn't need to. I think we should have made a switch, and bring on an extra midfielder. For all his positives Coutinho isn't a defensive player. At 3-0 we didn't need to keep him on the pitch. Bringing on Milner or Can would have given us an extra man in the middle of the park who can shut down Sevilla.
Ben Yedder First Goal
http://ift.tt/2iLHsUC
As the ball is hit Ben Yedder is making a run across the line of defenders. Moreno, at the near post, cannot see him. Quite rightly his eyes are on the ball. Firmino and Lovren, in the centre, have watched him go. They aren't marking anyone. Sevilla haven't exactly loaded the box. One of them needs to go with him and make it difficult for him.
http://ift.tt/2B5fZUn
My only criticism of Moreno on this goal is that he jumps straight up instead of attacking the ball. This allows Ben Yedder to get in front of him and score.
As I said in the post-match thread, this is a systematic issue. We use zonal marking. Everyone was in their zones - Moreno at the near post, Klavan and Lovren in the middle, Firmino at the back post. Ben Yedder runs straight through these zones and everyone assumes they've done their job. It would be interesting to see if someone, anyone, gave Moreno a shout that Ben Yedder was coming. If he had maybe it would have been different.
Ben Yedder Second Goal
Ugh. This is mistake that if made by almost anyone else would be almost excused. I've rewatched the first 15 minutes of the second half and, genuinely, do not think Moreno was having a bad game. I've already said I don't think he's at fault for their first goal. He also saved a second just before this. Now, Coutinho sells him short, playing an overhit pass back to him in a difficult position.
http://ift.tt/2iLHtrE
So Moreno's being charged down by three people. I will say he should just put his foot through this. Boot it out of play on the far side if you have to. He's under pressure and tries to trap it. I guess he just takes his eye off the ball and it bounces off his heel.
http://ift.tt/2B5LbTx
Klavan has let his man get three yards on him. He should be tracking much closer to that, and might have been able to clear up if so.
http://ift.tt/2iKuA0R
It is, clearly, a penalty. Moreno makes no attempt to get the ball, and steps on the man's foot. You might say he goes down too easily, but I disagree. I think he has to go down to get the correct decision. In the background you can see the ref is pretty far away - the delay was, I believe, him speaking to his two assistants.
Pizarro Goal
And the capitulation is complete.
http://ift.tt/2B5g2j1
I've highlighted Pizarro. He starts on the far side of the box, pretty much unmarked. Firmino has a man, Henderson has a man, Ox has a man. Can and Gomez, however, are left with a choice of two.
http://ift.tt/2iLHw6O
As the ball is kicked a problem has already arisen. Pizarro has, once again, run across the front of our defensive line, and once again we haven't picked him up. Can is left in no man's land, Gomez has now got a guy on him, and Ox has let his man run behind him. This is poor.
http://ift.tt/2B5LduD
Klavan wins the header, but now Pizarro is in acres of space. Henderson and Ox have both lost their men and are marking nobody. Someone needed to step up and stop him. This is the problem with the zonal marking system, but Klopp has done very little to fix it in his tenure.
Control
Well, we never had it, Even at 3-0 at half time Sevilla were hitting on the break with regularity. Nobody put their foot on the ball to slow the game own. In fact, there was only that little period after the third goal (where Gomez had his altercation with the ball man) that we even attempted to time waste. This is where the naivety of this team comes through. A Chelsea or United team would have shut that game down, a City or Spurs team would have passed them to death, we did neither.
Perspective
Ask most people on Tuesday what we would need from the next two games, and I imagine most of them would have said a win and a draw. Hell, even two draws was enough. We all know that the performance changes things but a draw away at Sevilla is a good result. We should be able to beat Spartak at home - and if we can't then maybe we don't deserve a spot in the knockout stages.
Also, to anyone trying to coin "Sevillanbul" or whatever bullshit twitter has been spouting: I imagine if Milan had won the penalty shootout, or we had still won the league after Palace, then nobody would give a shit. We're still top of the group, we still hold our destiny, we will still win this group. Everyone seems to forget that we weren't favourites to do so, and having fucked up our last two appearances in the CL I think we can all be happy with the performance so far.
Chelsea
The big call is whether or not we recall Robertson. I don't think Moreno deserves the criticism he's been getting, but at the same time I can see Chelsea targeting him.
Mignolet Gomez Matip Lovren Robertson Wijnaldum Henderson Coutinho Salah Firmino Mané
Our next fixture is against Chelsea in the Premier League. The match kicks off on the 25th of November at 17:30PM(GMT)/12:30PM(ET).
Submitted November 23, 2017 at 01:43PM by voliton
via reddit http://ift.tt/2mSFLc8
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Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd plan £130m bid, Neymar to Barcelona terms set, Arsenal scout | Football | Sport
Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip
Thursday, October 10
Man Utd are planning a double raid on Premier League rivals Leicester
£130m-rated James Maddison and Ben Chilwell are on United’s radar
Fenerbahce have opened talks to sign Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil
Maurizio Sarri is poised to raid Chelsea in January for Emerson
Manchester City have joined the battle to sign Benfica star Ruben Dias
Manchester City hijack
Manchester City have joined the battle to sign Benfica star Ruben Dias.
Dias, 22, has long been linked with Manchester United – but their city rivals could land the first blow.
Pep Guardiola’s side are eager to sign a central defender after the long-term injury to Aymeric Laporte.
And the Mirror claim City’s sights are locked on the 13-capped Portugal international.
Dias is reportedly available for £60million, but a new contract is in the pipeline that could raise his release clause to £80m.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Arsenal scouting
Arsenal are one of the Premier League teams monitoring Hwang Hee-chan after his recent impressive outing in the Champions League.
Hwang scored Red Bull Salzburg’s first goal in last week’s 4-3 defeat against Liverpool and has caught the eye of several English teams.
Arsenal’s London rivals Crystal Palace are another team linked with the South Korean international, who is under contract until the end of next season.
With Hwang approaching the final 18 months of his contract and the forward’s form peaking, it is unsurprising that so many clubs are interested in him.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Paul Pogba alternative
Real Madrid have identified an alternative to Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.
Zinedine Zidane’s side have frequently been linked with the 26-year-old World Cup winning international – but his £150million valuation is proving a stumbling block.
But there’s a Plan B in place.
Spanish reports claim Real Madrid are seeking alternatives and are monitoring Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Christian Eriksen
Real Madrid are planning January talks with Tottenham wantaway Christian Eriksen.
Eriksen’s contract is set to expire in 2020 and the Denmark international will be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of England in January.
However, Marca claim Real Madrid are prepared to do a deal with Tottenham to avoid missing out.
It’s said Tottenham would be receptive to talks because Eriksen is uninterested in signing a new contract with the Premier League club.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Neymar to Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to sell Neymar next summer – but they will not accept a loss.
The Brazilian playmaker was heavily linked with a return to Barcelona over the summer but the Catalan giants weren’t able to strike a deal with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Now, El Chiringuito pundit Francisco Buyo claims Al-Khelaifi will sell providing he recovers his investment.
“Al-Khelaifi wants to recover the investment made for Neymar,” Buyo said.
The French champions paid Barcelona a world-record £200million for Neymar in 2017.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Kalidou Koulibaly latest
Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly has distanced himself from transfer speculation linking him with a move to Manchester United.
The Red Devils are targeting an audacious move for the 28-year-old ahead of the 2020/2021 campaign, according to Goal.
But right now, Koulibaly is focused on Napoli.
“I’m used to it,” he said when quizzed about the rumours. “So many [stories] come out each day, which say I’m leaving. Right now, my only objective is to win with Napoli. I don’t care about the rest.”
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Wanted: Normann
Manchester United are keeping tabs on Norwegian international Mathias Normann, according to Goal.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly wants Normann, 23, to bolster his midfield options and provide an alternative to struggling duo Nemanja Matic and Fred.
Christian Eriksen and Mario Mandzukic still represent United’s top transfer targets – but the Rostov midfielder is viewed as a more attainable and cheaper option.
Solskjaer was in charge at Molde when the club signed Normann from Brighton on loan – and could secure his services for between £15-20million.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Leicester raid
Manchester United are planning a double raid on Premier League rivals Leicester.
The Red Devils are have made their worst start to a Premier League campaign in 30 years and reinforcements are needed.
The Sun claim midfielder James Maddison (£80m) and Ben Chilwell (£50m) are being targeted to help solve the crisis.
It’s said Ed Woodward and Co. are hopeful that summer signing Harry Maguire could influence the £130m-rated pair to leave the Foxes.
Orkun Kokcu targeted
Arsenal are considering a move for Feyenoord teenager Orkun Kokcu.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, who claim the Gunners are ‘closely monitoring’ the 18-year-old midfielder.
It’s reported that Unai Emery is interested in signing a replacement for Mesut Ozil, who earns £350k per week, and believes Kokcu could be signed for around £20million.
Kokcu is a regular for Jaap Stam’s Feyenoord, scoring six goals and providing four assists in 25 appearances.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Maurizio Sarri swoop
Maurizio Sarri is poised to raid his old club Chelsea in January for Italy full-back Emerson.
The Juventus manager, who took over in the summer after leaving Stamford Bridge, wants to be re-united with the 25-year-old, who he made a regular in the Chelsea side towards the end of last season.
Sarri at the moment has only the Brazilian Alex Sandro to rely on on the left of his defence, and his fitness is fragile.
Chelsea though have offered the former Roma player a new five year deal, and Frank Lampard does not want to lose a defender he regards as an important part of his plans, with a transfer ban currently preventing any chance of signing a replacement.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Jurgen Klopp – Germany manager?
Jurgen Klopp says he would consider managing the German national side – but not before serving his contract with Liverpool.
Low’s current deal as Germany boss expires after the 2022 World Cup – which coincides with Klopp’s deal at Anfield finishing.
“I will not leave before the contract is ending. That is my side. That is why a contract is important,” Klopp said. “I really can not say. I do not know if I would like to.
“Now, as of today, I do not feel like it. Stand up now, I’m totally happy with what I do and that’s important in the whole story.
“I also could not say one hundred percent if I was the right one [to replace Low]. If the question ever arises, I would think about it – but not now.”
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona news and gossip (Image: GETTY)
Antoine Griezmann backed
Antoine Griezmann will succeed at Barcelona despite a lacklustre start to life at the Nou Camp.
That’s according to his former Atletico Madrid colleague Saul Niguez, who suggested he’s not being deployed in his favoured position.
“A player of his level can succeed anywhere,” Saul told Sport.
“He has to feel comfortable, important, happy, the only thing he’s after is enjoying football and if he’s not enjoying the position he’s playing or whatever, he won’t be at his best. He doesn’t just contribute on the pitch, at least not at Atletico. He’s happy, positive. He’s one of the players that is always good to have.”
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Premier League Betting Guide For Week 3
PA online sports betting has another exciting slate of Premier League betting options to play this week. If you were with us last week, you know that we had three winners. We will again be looking for value this week. We don’t mind the wins, though.
Last week’s dominant story was the Video Assistant Referee denying Manchester City a late winner against Tottenham Hotspur:
Gabriel Jesus & Manchester City are not happy with the refs & VAR! #MCITOT pic.twitter.com/ildmuYhnz7
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 17, 2019
Pour one out for all the City bettors who had them at -310 and thought that bet — which I hated by the way — was going to come through after all. Whatever you think about video review in the Premier League, you’re going to need to get comfortable with it because it’s not going anywhere. Why the Premier League would voluntarily become more like the NFL, where you don’t know whether a score will count until some twerp in front of a screen confirms it, is really hard to understand. But here we are.
The Week 2 slate of matches went more or less to form, unless you consider City’s hard luck draw an “upset.” Liverpool and Arsenal beat inferior opposition, while both Chelsea and Manchester United drew with worthy adversaries. None of it was unforeseeable. This week’s offerings present a far more significant challenge; you need to look fairly closely to see where the value lies. These lines can be found at FanDuel Sportsbook PA. Remember to take advantage of FanDuel Sportsbook’s $500 risk-free bet for new users if you’re looking to place some wagers.
For those Premier League fans in New Jersey, be sure to check out our updated NJ online sports betting page. It’s loaded with great promos, bonuses, and free bet options.
NORWICH CITY (+320) v. CHELSEA (-125) — DRAW (+290)
When you’re closing in on 20, then the boss gets a foot in! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Ma0riXDHc7
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 21, 2019
The way Chelsea has started this season, manager Frank Lampard could be forgiven for considering putting himself in the XI. The Blues were crushed by Manchester United 4-0 in the league opener. They flew to Istanbul to play Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup, where they lost on penalties. And last week, Chelsea blew a lead at home to draw with Leicester City. Meanwhile, Norwich City bounced back from a season-opening beating at Liverpool to beat Newcastle last Saturday.
And yet…look at that line. Chelsea is favored outright. Norwich isn’t being given a look even to draw. Why?
Because for all of their failings, Chelsea routinely beat (and occasionally humiliate) much lesser competition. Fulham, Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City were relegated after last season. Chelsea won all six of those league matches, including a 3-0 decision at Huddersfield Town. Norwich City, a newly promoted team, beat a relegation-bound Newcastle United last week. Chelsea is an entirely different test.
Bottom line: If these two sides had opened as expected, with Norwich having the one point (or less) through two league matches and Chelsea having at least three points now rather than vice versa, this line would be something like Chelsea -175. This is a rare chance to grab a clearly superior side at a good price.
WOLVERHAMPTON (-125) v. BURNLEY (+400) — DRAW (+230)
FT | #TOR 2-3 #WOL
And that's full time! Wolves with a fantastic performance on the road take a one-goal advantage to Molineux in the second leg of the play-off round next week! #TORWOL
⏱🐺 pic.twitter.com/TeECdaqyGu
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 22, 2019
That was nice work from Wolverhampton, flying to Turin for a Europa League match on Thursday and getting a road win. It sets Wolves up nicely for the second leg at home on Thursday. That’s the good news.
The bad news for Wolves is that they only have two days between that high-stakes match on the European continent and this league match with a Burnley side that a. has had a full week’s rest and b. followed a win in their league opener with a close loss at Arsenal on Saturday. Combine the travel toll on Wolves with the simple fact that this is basically the definition of a trap game, and Burnley is the play here.
BUT…don’t take them to win or draw. Rather, scroll down to “Double Chance” and note that “Burnley and Draw” is there at -110.
Parlay
LIVERPOOL (-195) v. ARSENAL (+480) — DRAW (+350)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (-400) v. NEWCASTLE UNITED (+1000) — DRAW (+500)
BOURNEMOUTH (+1100) v. MANCHESTER CITY (-550) — DRAW (+650)
"It is not a two horse race this season"
Jurgen Klopp on why it doesn't matter when City or Liverpool play this season
📲 Live Premier League build-up: https://t.co/dYyOjE5a0P pic.twitter.com/sqhF0C1VKi
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2019
Klopp is right. City’s early stumble at home to Spurs last week has given Liverpool a two-point head-start over Pep Guardiola’s men. Arsenal can also dare to dream, having started with two straight wins. Perhaps the most telling stat is that Liverpool and Arsenal are the only two teams to begin with two wins — every other side in the league has already dropped points. So, at least for a while, this could be a pig pile at the top of the league table.
That means that none of these favorites (Liverpool, City, Spurs) can afford to give anything away, especially not this weekend with both Liverpool and Tottenham at home and City stinging from last week’s draw. None of them is an especially attractive favorite, so you know what’s coming.
It’s parlay time.
A 3 Team Parlay of Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will pay +123 if they all win. That’s better than even money that three of last season’s most dominant sides, i.e., the two Champions League finalists and the defending league champion, will hold serve. Which one of them will screw it up for you? Well, that’s half the fun, isn’t it?
Best of luck this weekend.
The post Premier League Betting Guide For Week 3 appeared first on Crossing Broad.
Premier League Betting Guide For Week 3 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp slams football’s increasingly hectic schedule
& # 39; The long-term situation is unacceptable & # 39 ;: Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool boss, succeeds in using football as an example for Sadio Mane & # 39; s enormous workload
Jurgen Klopp is not happy about the increasingly busy football calendar
Liverpool's manager used Sadio Mane's enormous workload as an example
Liverpool began the Premier League campaign at Norwich on August 9
By Dominic King for MailOnline
Published: 23:25 BST, 22 July 2019 | Updated: 23:25 BST, July 22, 2019
Jurgen Klopp has warned of the ever-increasing soccer football stuffing calendar and used Sadio Mane & # 39; s workload as evidence of the current surplus
Mane was a central figure for the World Cup last year in Senegal and that meant his campaign for the previous season ended June 28, 2018. He then had a short break before returning to pre-season training, where his first match was against Manchester City in New Jersey on July 25.
He would become an integral figure in a season that culminated in Liverpool winning the Champions League – Mane was the joint top scorer of the Premier League – before helping Senegal reach the final of the African Cup of Nations reach in Egypt which they lost to Algeria.
Jurgen Klopp has criticized the dangers of the increasingly fuller calendar of football
That game was played last Thursday, meaning he played 57 times for 359 days; following 54 matches for club and country in 2017-18. As a result, Mane will not return until 5 August, meaning he will miss the Community Shield and the first league match against Norwich.
Klopp knows that he is not only the manager who is influenced by the constant demands on players and the point he made was generally for all Premier League managers; he fears that there will come a point in the future when it will all become too much and affect the standard being produced.
& # 39; Ask Sadio how much vacation he has had & # 39 ;, Klopp said. & # 39; He has played almost every game for Senegal. He played every game for us. Every international vacation is gone. Ask him. We are sitting here and it sounds like I moaned or whatever.
& # 39; It's just the situation, it's not acceptable in the long run. Because here (in the preseason) this is not a problem. We have all the boys here, except the three in front and Alisson. That's not the biggest problem for Ali (just a few weeks to prepare), but we'll see the other three.
Sadio Mane went straight to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal after the end of season
& They need vacation. It's not like you can say to them after three days, "Hey! Come on! Let's run again!" They have had a difficult summer program. It's soccer. It does not ride a bicycle, so you lose a little bit (of the rhythm). It will all come back, but it will be a difficult start.
& # 39; Also for the other teams – Tottenham has had it roughly like us. But it is as it is. We need to change that in the future! It seems that nobody can imagine a week without football in the year. When did that happen? Another game, another game. & # 39;
The introduction of the Nations League this year added a new layer of games and Klopp feels the wish of UEFA to ensure that the tournament-worn prestige meant that players were selected for the task, although they were physically not. were in the best condition.
Klopp is without Liverpool & # 39; s front three by Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino
I said about the Nations League – I don't like it, & # 39; Klopp explained. & # 39; People looked at me and said "huh?" – every national coach around the world said, "No! I love it! It's brilliant and we go for something!" We now have the World Cup, the European Championships and the Nations League.
& # 39; So I watched the games. The boys are there four days after the final of the Champions League. Welcome! The Dutch boys, Shaqiri, the English boys. If it had been friendly games, the boys would not have been there at all. But no … It's the Nations League, so they have to go.
& # 39; There is always an important competition! The next important competition! There are so many things. You can't change it, so why should I talk about it? Together we must ensure that there is enough room for the boys to recover and then go again. There must be breaks. & # 39;
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Transfer news LIVE updates: Fekir to Liverpool OFF?, Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal gossip
New Post has been published on http://getyourgossip.xyz/transfer-news-live-updates-fekir-to-liverpool-off-chelsea-man-utd-and-arsenal-gossip/
Transfer news LIVE updates: Fekir to Liverpool OFF?, Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal gossip
Transfer News LIVE updates: Gossip, deals and rumours throughout the day from Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Saturday, June 9
10.00pm: Manchester United have signed a “left-footed version of Fernandinho” in Fred, according to South American football expert Tim Vickery.
Manchester City fancied signing Fred during the January transfer window but abandoned their interest after United arrived on the scene.
Vickery said: “He was linked with Man City earlier on after Man City played against Shakhtar in the Champions League. After the game, Guardiola was very impressed.
“You could see why Guardiola would be impressed. You could almost see a mini, left-footed version of Fernandinho in him. Even in the way his career has panned out with the way he moved to Ukraine and developed there.
7.30pm: Liverpool target Nabil Fekir will be staying at Lyon this summer.
The French club said in a statement: “Olympique Lyonnais informs that the tripartite negotiations with the Liverpool club and Nabil Fekir for the transfer of the captain of OL have not succeeded and that Olympique Lyonnais has decided to put an end to this negotiation tonight at 8pm.
“Although the club Liverpool has been the priority of a possible transfer of Nabil, and subject to other proposals consistent with the interest of Nabil and OL and from ambitious clubs, Olympique Lyonnais is delighted soon to be able to count on the presence of his captain who is a leading rookie for this season 2018/2019 during which the club will play the Champions League being in the 3rd hat of the draw.”
6.30pm: Liverpool are close to making Nabil Fekir their second signing of the summer – and three Reds stars should be worried according to ESPN FC pundit Craig Burley.
“If that is the three in midfield, by the way, the midfield that gets you to the Champions League final is just getting the old biff, the old Spanish archer, see you later,” he said.
“It’s a cutthroat business, like any business. If you want success, sometimes that has to happen.
“I still think Henderson will have a part to play in there because he’s very workmanlike.
“But looking at the ages of those players as well, they’re all sort of mid-twenties, 23, 24.
“They’re all young, they’ve got four or five years before they maybe even reach their peak.
“Add that to the players that are already there.
“James Milner has done a great time in several positions, we know how energetic Keita is, Fabinho can play midfield and at the back, Adam Lallana’s not been fit a lot this year.”
4pm: Liverpool target Nabil Fekir carried Lyon following Alexandre Lacazette’s move to Arsenal according to French football expert Julien Laurens.
“Well they’ll get a fantastic player who’s had the season of his life,” he told ESPN FC.
“He’s had the best season of his career with Lyon this year.
“Incredible numbers, but not just the goals and assists, the way he took the responsibility after Lacazette left, and (Corentin) Tolisso and (Maxime) Gonalons.
“He carried that team through, especially when they weren’t playing too well by being the main guy.
“I think he showed the character that he has as well as the talent he has with Lyon this season.
“They get a fantastic player with a wonderful left foot.”
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2:15pm: Uruguay ace Sebastian Caceres admits Arsenal’s reported interest in him is flattering.
Caceres told The Sun: “This was flattering to hear this as they are a top team. I don’t know much about their new manager but I watch Arsenal a lot as I like the style of football.
“To play in the Premier League would be a dream for me as my ambitions are firstly to play in Europa and then play a World Cup with the Uruguay first team.
“I like the Premier League a lot because it’s the league that is the most competitive in Europe.”
1:30pm: Tottenham are reportedly leading the race to sign Aston Villa’s £40m-rated Jack Grealish.
Both the Telegraph and the Mail report that Grealish could be heading to north London, a deal that would aid Villa’s current financial woes.
The midfielder, 22, is under contract with the Championship club until the summer of 2020.
12:00pm: West Brom have reportedly launched a bid for Bristol City midfielder Bobby Reid.
According to Sky Sports, the Baggies have tabled a £7m offer for the 25-year-old.
11:45am: Arsenal have reportedly agreed a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos,
The Daily Mirror report that the Gunners will pay £16m for the 30-year-old Greece international.
Sokratis will become Unai Emery’s second signing of the summer, following Stephan Lichtsteiner’s move to the Emirates last week.
9:30am: Real Madrid are willing to offer £88m and Marco Asensio for Liverpool star Mohamed Salah Marco Asensio this summer.
Salah has been one of Europe’s top stars over the past year, excelling for the Reds since moving from Roma.
Diario Gol have sensationally claimed that Real want him and are lining up mega swap deal including cash.
It is said Los Blancos president Florentino Perez is willing to offer £88m and Marco Asensio for the Egyptian.
8:15am: Manchester United have been given the chance to sign Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, according to reports.
Lewandowski has been one of Europe’s most prolific strikers over the past five years and is understood to be looking for a new challenge this summer.
Bild suggest the striker’s agent Pini Zahavi has offered the 29-year-old to United as well as to Chelsea, Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid.
Bayern are open to letting the Poland international leave this summer but would reportedly only listen to offers of at least £175m.
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ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI reportedly wants to leave Bayern Munich this summer – but who are the favourites to sign him?
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Barcelona – 66/1
7:30am: Manchester United target Marko Arnautovic insists he has ‘never heard anything’ about a possible move away from West Ham.
“I am happy with my job. Whatever happens will happen. I’ve never heard anything,” Arnautovic said.
“Even three weeks ago I haven’t heard anything. That’s why I cannot say anything about it.The only thing that bothers me is that I am in a good health and that I am able to play football.
When asked about his future, he replied: “I have a contract at West ham – that’s all we have to talk about.”
5.00am: Samuel Umtiti has told Nabil Fekir to sort his future out before the World Cup starts this week.
The Lyon playmaker has been heavily linked with a switch to Anfield and reports have suggested that a deal is all but confirmed following a successful medical.
And while Umtiti is unsure of how far along Fekir’s transfer is, he hopes that it is finalised soon so the squad can put all of their focus into performing in the World Cup.
“The situation of Nabil? I did not talk to him about it,” he said.
“It’s better to fix it yourself. I just hope it will be before the World Cup.”
12.00am: Arsenal are in concrete talks with Caglar Soyuncu and are just a fee away from landing the Freiburg star, according to his agent.
“Sven Mislintat has been keen on Caglar since he was at Borussia Dortmund,” Mustafa Dogru told Turkish Football.
“He first scouted him back in Germany. Sven is interested in Caglar, there are concrete talks, all that remains is for a fee to be agreed. We will see what happens next.
“What I will say regarding the Liverpool link is that there were four to five Premier League clubs scouting him over the international break.
“There are four Premier League sides who’ve made a move for Soyuncu, that we are in talks with.”
ARSENAL are in concrete talks with Caglar Soyuncu and are just a fee away from landing the Freiburg star.
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Friday, June 8
10.10pm: Nabil Fekir has reportedly chosen to sign for Liverpool over Bayern Munich for two key reasons.
L’Equipe have revealed the reasons why he decided on a switch to Anfield.
The playmaker is believed to be impressed with Liverpool’s performances in Europe after they narrowly lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final two weeks ago.
And Fekir was convinced it was the right move after holding discussions with Klopp, who outlined his vision for the club.
9pm: Arsenal’s approach to recruiting midfielders this summer will be based on Aaron Ramsey’s future.
According to The Telegraph, the Wales international’s contract holds the key.
His current deal expires in 2019 and Arsenal are trying to tie him down to fresh terms as Unai Emery wants to build his side around Ramsey.
But if he looks more likely to leave, investment will have to be made in the middle, with the defence the current priority.
8.10pm: Marouane Fellaini to Arsenal remains a possibility this summer.
But the Manchester United midfielder is not currently a priority for the Gunners, according to The Telegraph.
Arsenal are aware of the 30-year-old’s availability with his contract expiring at Old Trafford.
Fellaini is poised to become a free agent next month as he has failed to agree fresh terms with United.
7.15pm: West Ham and Austria star Marko Arnautovic has responded to rumours linking him with a move to Manchester United.
“I am happy with my job. Whatever happens will happen. I’ve never heard anything,” Arnautovic told Sky Austria.
“Even three weeks ago I haven’t heard anything. That’s why I cannot say anything about it.The only thing that bothers me is that I am in good health and that I am able to play football.
“I have a contract at West Ham – that’s all we have to talk about.”
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Belgium star Marouane Fellaini is set to leave Manchester United
6.25pm: Arsenal have reached a £16m agreement with Borussia Dortmund for the signing of Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
But an announcement over his transfer to the Emirates is not expected until as late as July.
Sokratis will follow Stephan Lichsteiner to north London this summer with head of recruitment Sven Mislintat raiding former club Dortmund again.
However, according to The Telegraph, the club will not announce Sokratis as an Arsenal player until next month.
It is unclear as to the reason behind the delay, given all matters appear to have been sorted with the move.
Sokratis, 29, won’t be at the World Cup after Greece failed to qualify but he is expected to pen a three-year deal.
5.50pm: Liverpool have confirmed that Emre Can will be released at the end of the month.
The Reds star will officially not be staying and signing a new contract at Anfield.
And it is expected the Germany international will join Juventus, having long been in talks with the Italian club.
Jon Flanagan will also leave Liverpool after the defender’s torrid time with injuries in recent seasons stalled his progression.
5.05pm: Nabil Fekir will be on higher wages at Liverpool than Mohamed Salah.
According to the Mirror, the Lyon star will receive a five-year deal, and that will make him the third-highest paid player at the club.
Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk earn more, but Fekir’s proposed wages of £140,000 a week surprisingly exceed Salah’s of £120,000 a week.
The PFA Player of the Year, though, is being lined up for a new improved contract at Anfield.
4.30pm: West Ham will have to strike a permanent deal with Inter Milan if they want to resign Joao Mario.
The Portugal international is set to leave the San Siro this summer following his successful loan spell at the London Stadium at the back end of last season.
However, Inter won’t entertain the idea of another loan deal with West Ham, who will need to pay £25m for Mario, according to Football London.
Following Manuel Lanzini’s serious knee injury ahead of the World Cup, the need to bring Mario back has grown greater.
Meanwhile, the Hammers face further interest from Manchester United in £60m forward Marko Arnautovic.
3.55pm: Liverpool wanted a second opinion on a knee issue identified with Nabil Fekir.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds sought extra help with the Lyon player’s medical.
However, any fears have been eased and France ace Fekir is poised to complete his £53m transfer to Anfield today.
GETTY
England striker Harry Kane has signed a new deal with Tottenham
3pm: HARRY KANE SIGNS NEW TOTTENHAM CONTRACT
Harry Kane has signed a new six-year contract at Tottenham.
It means the Spurs striker has committed to the club until 2024.
The England captain had been linked with a big money move to Real Madrid this summer.
But those rumours have been shot down with the signing of a new six-year contract.
That follows the news of Mauricio Pochettino also putting pen to paper on a new deal at Tottenham.
2.30pm: Nabil Fekir has been pictured in Liverpool kit for the first time ahead of a £53m move to Anfield.
The pictures appear to be genuine on social media with Starsport understanding a deal and announcement is likely soon.
The Reds have moved fast to snap up the France international before the World Cup.
And Liverpool fans went into a frenzy over the images.
One user said: “New home kit, new training kit in the background. Legit! Wow!”
Another added: “Done deal.”
A third explained: “I’m very very happy, but someone is getting fired!”
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49=. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) – £70m
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2pm: Manchester United will sign Cristiano Ronaldo this summer as he looks for an escape route out of Real Madrid.
That’s according to shock reports in Spain that claim Lionel Messi has discovered his arch-rival has his heart set on a Premier League return.
Ronaldo put Jose Mourinho on alert following the Champions League final win over Liverpool.
The 33-year-old referred to Real Madrid in the past tense when talking after the victory in Kiev.
Spanish outlet Don Balon, known for their outlandish transfer claims, say Ronaldo is keen on a move back to United.
The reports claim United would be willing to pay £132m (€150m) for the Portuguese this summer.
1.30pm: Chelsea forward Pedro has ruled out the possibility of leaving the Blues this summer.
“Obviously I have a contract at Chelsea and most likely I will stay. I’m good here,” he said.
“I’m very comfortable with my team-mates and, in football terms I’m very happy for having won the Premier League and the FA Cup in three years.
“I’m happy because it’s always difficult to win trophies in England.
“I’m enjoying my holidays right now, getting some rest and spending time with family, and then start the new season in the best way.”
1pm: Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini would be a good signing for Arsenal, according to Robert Pires.
“Yeah, why not?” he told Sky Sports.
“Everybody knows Marouane Fellaini in the Premier League.
“Of course last season it was very, very difficult, the relation with Jose Mourinho.
“But I think he’s a good player, if he wants to join Arsenal I think it would be good news.
“He needs a new start and I think, with his quality, I think he can help Unai Emery and he can help the Arsenal players in the squad.”
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20 THOUGHTS: Sorry Harry, pretty sure Rachel already moved to Seattle and married Mike???
AND we thought we had nothing to offer on the Royal Wedding.
As far as we can tell it was a joyous occasion to celebrate one single family’s reign over not just the UK but anyone still under the monarchical Commonwealth heavily improved by the inclusion of a batty Bishop from Chicago who added real flavour to the pomp and circumstance.
Bless him.
Otherwise, in the real world, one club from Tullamarine tagged themselves out of the Royal Rumble and one from Royal Parade tagged themselves in...
And yes, I know, wresting fans, you don’t tag yourself out of a Royal Rumble, but it meant we could use the word royal another couple of times, given the week’s events, oh never mind, onto the week in footy:
1. Let us start with the Bombers. Saw it mid-week from John Worsfold in his demeanour and it carried on into the game on the weekend. There appears to be the emergence of a real edginess to the team. It’s almost as if they’ve flicked a switch, finally moving on from this ‘recovery’ mode, a forced developmental phase, feeling the effects of those year-long suspensions. It felt like last week and then in their win over Geelong they became a serious side that no longer had any excuse or hangover from that period where expectations were lowered – now it’s about being taken seriously with no lingering effects of that time. Game faces. Desire, want, effort. Their coach is no longer helping a club out of travesty and is now demanding ruthless excellence. Let’s see where they go now.
2. Also, their form line shows great promise. In that whilst they have lowered their colours in their loss to Carlton, on Anzac Day, etc., they have shown to be capable of competing with the better sides. Only West Coast, Port Adelaide and Essendon have three wins against teams currently in the top eight. That’s something to build from. Their six losses to date will hurt their chances but on paper this is a list good enough to make finals and win one, their task will be to try and get there from this far back.
3. A small exercise to gauge form and credibility from nine rounds in, given some teams have had easier draws, or some teams have cashed in accruing wins against the bottom clubs: if we attribute 18 points for every team who has beaten West Coast right down to 1 point for defeating Carlton, and tally it all up, it makes for interesting reading. Even though Melbourne has won twice as many games as Essendon, because the Bombers have defeated the Crows, Power and Cats, they would be higher on this form ladder; the Dees yes have defeated the Roos but aside from that their other wins are against the current bottom five. Sydney would leapfrog Richmond because they defeated the Eagles in Perth, the Tigers got spanked at their attempt. Everyone else is largely where they sit on the real ladder give or take a few spots, so for those clubs their ladder position is somewhat validated. But interesting that Melbourne and Essendon essentially swap, despite how we ‘think’ they are going.
4. Last one on the Bombers, sorry Cats fans (positive couple on you next), Devon Smith continues to lead the way. Last week we spoke about his pressure and if his teammates could follow in behind. Another ten tackles on the weekend, moves into no.1 in the league now, but this time he had plenty of support and that showed in the result. He would be All-Australian squad for sure right now.
5. Onto their opponents on Saturday, couple positive and then a negative. Firstly Tim Kelly, out of the Rising Star calculations because of age but he is the best first-year player by far. The 23 year-old, a second round pick last year (Geelong took Lachie Fogarty ahead of him) after coming second in the Sandover, looks like a 100-game veteran from the get go. One of the Cats’ most important onballers already, averaging 22 touches, five inside 50s, four tackles and four clearances a game, he is a bonafide AFL jet. Great recruiting.
6. Just want to touch on a sliding doors moment out of the continual fallout in the life of Bomber Thompson. We all know the Essendon drugs scandal has left such a lasting impact, for life, for so many involved, but without the intervention of someone like Brian Cook, this scandal could have so easily played out down at Geelong instead. Thompson got Stephen Dank into the Cats’ football program back when he was senior coach but stronger heads within their tent, whilst sticking with Bomber which ultimately proved a masterstroke, gave Dank the boot for grounds probably very clear in hindsight. When Bomber moved on and joined the very inexperienced Hird at Essendon, a club who didn’t have the ‘strength’ of leadership like Geelong with Cook, Frank Costa, etc., Bomber played the ‘Dank card’ again, no-one intervened, and the most tormented chapter of one of the league’s great clubs ensued. Given the state of affairs with Geelong at the time, had Dank stayed at Kardinia Park it could have almost undone that club, so if it was Brian Cook who intervened, bloody hell, that’s massive.
7. Pointed out on one of the Monday night football programs that this marvel that is having Dangerfield and Selwood joined by Ablett in the centre square is far from being the effective weapon the rest of the comp thought it would. They have started 14 centre bounces so far this year for only three successful clearances. That’s bizarre. Mind you, they have only started so few together because with the likes of Kelly, Mitch Duncan and others, the luxury of Dangerfield or Ablett down forward is a weapon in itself.
8. China. Why are we taking some of our national culture over and trying to make that work in their backyard? How narcissistic of us! I mean it’s not like, shoe on the other foot, we let them, say, I dunno, bring their cuisine here and put a gazillion takeaway outlets on every corner, selling whatever it is they make, rice or meat or something, in something as preposterous as rectangle, clear, containers…. So that analogy doesn’t work, but nor does footy in China. Kochie. Bin it please. Nobody is bothered. But I am now definitely having beef and black bean for lunch, how delicious?
9. Carlton had their pants pulled down on Sunday by a Dees team that, yes, as we said, hasn’t beaten tonnes, but to their credit have been as impressive as a top-eight fancy can be in dispatching those lower clubs. But for the Blues, it is not all doom and gloom. This is still a young group who yes, will cop it this week, but we were piling into Essendon only seven days earlier so it can so quickly change. Plus, missing their two best players on the weekend, Charlie Curnow and Sam Docherty, the latter out for the rest of the season of course, they possess a very rusty captain, and are playing a lot of youth which is always a rollercoaster ride in itself – the kids were good for the Dees on Sunday but not so much were the Blues’ kids the same time.
10.Now St Kilda. Let’s be honest, Collingwood did not at all play well. The Pies don’t for whatever reason play Etihad with any alacrity (a home game against the Bulldogs this week at the same venue is anything but a home game) but even though they almost went a final quarter goalless under a roof, they had no troubles with getting the four points in reality. On talent, you could argue the Saints really struggle to stack up with any other club, so when their President still holds top four ambitions, either there’s a lot of untapped chemistry still to propel his team up the ladder or they desperately need a big fish or two to take the rest of the playing list there. Not good.
11. And as for old mate Tim Membrey, a horror two weeks. Kicked 1.8, so many of them were straightforward set shots that he has missed to all sides of the goals, so it’s not just a bad slice or hook, everything’s going wrong. If he doesn’t have a good week in front of the sticks this week I fear he will need to be dropped to find form. Which is a shame because everything else in his game is ok for playing inside 50 in a poor side, getting plenty of touches and taking good catches. It’s just the finishing.
12.On the flip side, gee, Jack Darling, a legitimate star is born. Always thought he was a bit flaky, happy to do the easy bits and be a ‘foil’, but overshadowing Josh Kennedy in a side that’s winning well is no small feat. Working very hard, showing as good a hands as any in the comp, and if you look at the last two premiers, a forward, in form, of Jack Darling size is part of the perfect recipe.
13.Getting way too far ahead of ourselves in May, but the Eagles are packing out that new stadium just nicely week in week out, so some home finals there would be another level, especially if the Eagles are able to host some deep into September. The game is in good nick in Perth and Adelaide, job well done.
14.As for finals, top four, at this point, we’d be pretty happy pencilling in, in very strong HB lead, Richmond, West Coast, Sydney and Adelaide, in no order. The reigning premier look good things to be thereabouts again, their opponents on Sunday look better still, the Swans might be better than the Eagles, and the Crows, doing really well thus far given their injury list to show that 2017 can still be bettered.
15.So, for the final four spots, Melbourne despite the form we exposed above has the talent to convert a 6-3 record into at least 8th, Port Adelaide, probably, then we’d be thinking two of Geelong, Hawthorn, North, Collingwood and GWS. 13 wins, or at least 12 and a half if your GWS, is what you’ll need. The Roos and Pies have the kinder draws in that group – that win for North up in Sydney will be enormous come the end of August.
16. Speaking of North. Hobart. Why are we there? This column is not against Tasmanian footy, not at all, we love Tasmanian footy like Rafael Nadal liked pottery class at high school, but less than 10k there on a lovely Saturday afternoon at Bellerive. Yes, North probably gets a better cheque for the game than if there’d been a crowd twice the size at Etihad, but clearly the locals are showing that they will turn up for their own mob but no-one else. The Hurricanes games in the BBL sell out, so the Taswegians are giving the Roos lip service.
17.Can we then get a Tassie team eventually? Not soon. Here’s why. 18 teams is possibly too many, which I’ll mention next, so we aren’t close to 19, 20 teams in expansion, it would then need to be an existing team moving south. Well how about North themselves? Now they didn’t take a massive package to head to the Gold Coast, so why take something smaller to cross Bass Strait, they are actually ok without being strong at the moment off-field, debt free, and only some on-field success away from a possessing a reasonable membership base. So, unless the league bails on the Suns or Giants such is the mess they find themselves in, sorry Tassie, no dice.
18.State of the game, have we got too many teams? Have we considered that the declining visual of the game has been pretty much aligned to going from 16 to 18 teams? 44 more players each week take the park in our wonderous, elite competition, that prior to would have been found in reserves footy. You think about the fringe players in the lower teams, be it youngsters who are getting games too soon, or guys at their second or third clubs now getting regular gigs, these players would just not be featuring pre-expansion. The talent pool definitely doesn’t extend to filling say 20 good, quality sides each week, we know this, so have we pushed the boat out too far by heading to Surfers Paradise and the Municipality of the Greater Western Sydney Shire Council?
19.Some non-footy to finish, firstly the cut lunches thrown at AAMI Park last Saturday. Yes, we’ve probably rightly outlawed physical violence in all our codes, but how about the nostril flaring, trouser-buckle adjusting taking place in the commentary box to lounge rooms everywhere when Curtis Scott, the 20-year-old Melbourne Storm centre, landed a couple beauties on the yappy Dylan Walker from Manly. He only got a two game suspension for that too, so given the arousal he gave red-blooded footy fans who yearn for the biff, and probably the extra couple thousand Insta DMs from the fairer sex who like a bad boy, I say a good weekend’s work to you, young Curtis.
20. And lastly, ice hockey. The NHL expanded from 30 to 31 teams this season, becoming the first major league to set up camp in Las Vegas. The expansion process was different to what we see in AFL, essentially each of the existing 30 teams could ‘protect’ ten of their roster from the Vegas franchise who then picked one ‘unprotected’ player from each club to create theirs. A bunch of misfits, average players, no stars, who would battle to be relevant and competitive in year one. This week though they defeated Winnipeg four games to one in their best of seven series to be crowned Western Conference champions and will play Tampa Bay or Washington next week for the infamous Stanley Cup. 500-1 at the start of the season to win the whole thing, and if they win four more games they will do just that. The kind of stuff they make movies about. Less of the dancing minions and talking safari animals, more movies like this please. Amazing story.
(originally published May 23)
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Denis Stracqualursi interview: Everton's fish-out-of-water cult hero who never stopped trying
#NYGvsWAS #INDvSL http://worldcupnews.info/denis-stracqualursi-interview-evertons-fish-out-of-water-cult-hero-who-never-stopped-trying/
Denis Stracqualursi interview: Everton's fish-out-of-water cult hero who never stopped trying
#Ashes #ChampionsLeague
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Denis Stracqualursi tells a lovely tale about his fish-out-of-water beginnings in English football.
The Argentinian striker, who became a cult figure among Evertonians for his big-hearted efforts in the 2011/12 season, did not have a single word of English when he set off for his first overnight stay with his new team and ended up going hungry as a consequence.
Sitting in a café in the Argentinian town of Tigre, he takes up the story. “I was used to eating at nine at night in Argentina,” he says. “The first time we slept over before a game I went downstairs at around seven o’clock, which is the time we have our merienda – some milk or a coffee with a bun. I saw the other players were eating but didn’t understand it was the custom so I got just a coffee and decided to save myself for the meal later. I then get to eight, nine, ten o’clock and there’s no food and I’m starving. I called my friend and said, ‘What time is dinner here?’. He said, ‘What do you mean, dinner? They have it at seven!’”
Stracqualursi arrived at Everton in 2011 from Tigre (Getty)
It is an amusing aside and illustrative of the broader sense of a young man entirely out of his depth, unable even to ask a simple question about mealtimes. Yet as the suddenly indispensable Oumar Niasse’s example this season underlines, Goodison Park loves a trier. Here was a player a ball prepared to fly in for horizontal headers, Andy Gray-style; a player still remembered today for the rabid work rate that shook up Manchester City when an injury-hit Everton upset the champions-elect on a raw January night in 2012. “If you’ve got to put your head in, you put your head in,” he remembers. “I think the affection I got from people was because of the way I played – throwing myself to the ground and heading the ball. I wanted to win whatever it took.”
It can take the simplest of things for a footballer to connect – to ‘click’ – with a certain club and its supporters, and Stracqualursi seems genuinely happy to look back and reminisce about his own case, and the cult status he gained. We meet at the train station in Tigre, a popular day-trippers’ destination, reached by a 45-minute ride through Buenos Aires’ affluent northern suburbs.
It was with Tigre that he had made his name as the Argentinian league’s 22-goal top scorer in 2010/11, prior to his move to England. Now back at the club, he arrives fresh from training, in hooded top and shorts, before leading me to a café where he orders lunch – and begins the story of his short life as a Premier League player.
Stracqualursi’s big-hearted efforts made him a fan favourite at Goodison (Getty)
Amid the slick, swift-footed South American imports who have graced our top flight, he resembled a product from the discount shelf: a lumbering No9, brought from a modest Argentinian club. “I’d never actually been outside Argentina before,” he says, remembering his arrival, aged 23, on the last day of the summer 2011 transfer window. He had come to England for a trial at Leicester City yet ended up on Merseyside instead. “It was strange – and fast,” he says. “It wasn’t planned.”
He adds: “It wasn’t my decision to go to Everton. It was the agent who represented me at the time, who lied to me. He said the club really liked me. It wasn’t true but there was money in it for them, but in the end it was the best time of my life.”
His new manager, David Moyes, had just lost Mikel Arteta, Yakubu and Jermaine Beckford, and his lukewarm evaluation of the qualities of his deadline-day loan gamble – “I’m not sure yet, we’ll find out in time” – was hardly a vote of confidence. Settling in was not easy. “I’d never trained with that intensity. [Moyes] wanted us to train as we played. I wasn’t used to that in Argentina and that was hard for me.”
His strongest memory of the Everton dressing room is of the “sense of belonging” fostered by Moyes. Dutchman Johnny Heitinga, formerly of Atletico Madrid, and Phil Neville, then taking Spanish classes, would pass on the manager’s instructions in stuttering Spanish, though it was Neville’s actions that provided the clearest message of the standards required.
Stracqualursi was never the most graceful but gave everything (AFP)
“I arrived there during the international break and lots of players were away. David Moyes had given the other players four or five days off and the first day I got to the club there was nobody there. The Under-23s were training, they were out there running and in the middle was Phil Neville. A player with a career like his and they’ve given him time off and he’s out there training. I told myself, ‘if that player – from Manchester United and the national team, with everything he has done – is out there training then I have to give five times more if I want to be at a club like Everton’.
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“It really struck me the hard work these players put in – players with big names, who’d been to World Cups. I didn’t know anybody when I arrived yet whenever I said to Tim Howard, ‘Can I do some finishing practice?’ he never told me no. That humility and the work ethic is not something you see everywhere.”
Stracqualursi’s story is a reminder that new players, especially youngsters from abroad, need time. He says it took a November training trip to Tenerife for him to feel integrated – “they started to trust in me” – though it was not until January that the hard work began to pay off. There were tears when he scored his first goal in an FA Cup fourth-round victory against Fulham, and then came the 1-0 victory over Man City. “The first ball I challenged for that night was against [Vincent] Kompany. I went in with all my strength and I just bounced off him. I went in with everything and couldn’t move him.
“I had a header which the defender who used to player for Everton [Joleon Lescott] cleared off the line. It was a night you dream of. It was how a night match should be – all the fans behind you, chasing for every last ball, hanging on, waiting for the clock tick down. I was man of the match and they gave me champagne.”
Stracqualursi remembers his time at Everton fondly (Getty)
Another magnum came his way after he struck his only Premier League goal in the next home fixture to complete a 2-0 win over Chelsea. “All my family at home in Argentina were watching and when I scored the goal it felt like touching heaven with my hand,” he says. “It was a day that even now I can’t keep out of my mind. If you go to my parents’ house there’s a big photo of the goal on the wall there. “There aren’t many Argentinians who go to the Premier League and even fewer who go from a team in Argentina straight to England. There’s usually a stepping stone in Italy or Spain which is easier for an Argentinian. So that moment, scoring a goal in that game, was news in all of Argentina.”
It is hard to imagine too many other top-flight footballers taking delight in attending a Player of the Month lunch for fans, but for Stracqualursi, it was all part of the adventure. As for those man-of-the match champagne bottles, they are precious mementos, never opened and now “all at home”, in the trophy room of his house in the Santa Fe province of Argentina.
Stracqualursi faded from the picture at Everton after Nikica Jelavić stepped into the team, moving back home to join San Lorenzo, yet he left considerably better memories than the more celebrated talent who had arrived at Everton on the same day as him, Dutchman Royston Drenthe. “He could do magic things on the training ground. If he’d not been so mad he could have been a great player. I thought, ‘What a waste, a player with so much ability’. He had different cars – a Rolls Royce, Ferraris. I remember one time during an international break he said to me, ‘Where are you off to?’. I said, ‘I’m going to Venice with my family’. He said, ‘You’re mad, why are you going to Venice? It’s cold there, come to Dubai with me, it’s hot’.”
Stracqualursi is back at Tigre after a well-travelled career (@simon22ph / Twitter)
Since leaving England, Stracqualursi has played in Abu Dhabi, won titles in Colombia and Ecuador but is now back at Tigre on loan. It was his year under the grey skies of Merseyside, though, that will always be his year in the sun. “I’ve seen teams lose in England but they get clapped off. Here that doesn’t happen. Because of the social problems today in Argentina, people don’t have jobs and they go to the ground to let out all that anger so football is about extremes. If you win, they love you; if you lose, they don’t. If you score, they love you; if you don’t score, they don’t.”
And, in England, he found a place where sheer hard work earned him a wave of warmth. “Just knowing that people there still remember me is worth more than any money to me,” he says, sweetly.
“Goodison Park has that look of England, when you see it on television you think that is England. It’s not the Manchester City stadium, which is so modern, but it represents where football came from, that mystique, with the people so close to you. I really felt it, the public supporting you.
“The experience at Everton was the best of all the places I’ve been too. Today my son who was only one when I was there says to me, ‘Papi, when are we going to go back to the Everton stadium to watch a game?’ When he’s bigger, I’ll take him there.”
And when he does come back, he will do his utmost to get his photo taken with another Evertonian, Wayne Rooney. After all, one regret of his stay in England is he was too shy to ask the then Manchester United player for a picture on the day their paths crossed. “We went one day to the horse races and he walked past me and said hello. I had him next to me and didn’t ask him for a photo. I was always a bit embarrassed to ask. I still kick myself for not asking.”
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Bournemouth 1-1 Everton LIVE: Score, Premier League news, Dominic Calvert-Lewin levels | Football | Sport
BOURNEMOUTH 1-1 EVERTON – WILSON (22), CALVERT-LEWIN (45)
Bournemouth XI: Ramsdale, Cook, Ake, Rico, Stacey, Billing, Cook, H.Wilson, King, Solanke, C.Wilson
Everton XI: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Delph, Schneiderlin, Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Iwobi, Calvert-Lewin
Callum Wilson opens the scoring when Everton fail to clear a corner
Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin levels on the stroke of half-time
BOURNEMOUTH 1-1 EVERTON
45: And we’re back underway folks.
Incidentally, Dominic Calvert-Lewin ended a run of 971 minutes without a Premier League goal, since netting against Newcastle in March. I knew you were desperate to know that piece of information.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
BOURNEMOUTH 1-1 EVERTON
HT: And that’s the last action of the half. And by my calculations, it’s set up nicely for a barmy second 45 minutes.
BOURNEMOUTH 1-1 EVERTON | DCL
45: GOAL! It’s all-square at the Vitality Stadium as the much-maligned Dominic Calvert-Lewin levels for Everton.
Richarlison whips a devilish cross into the penalty area where DCL rises highest to thump a header past Aaron Ramsdale.
44: Massive chance! Josh King squares it for the advancing Billing, whose goal bound effort is deflected wide by Morgan Schneiderlin. That was heading in.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
42: Another animated figure is Fabian Delph, who just received a booking for a high challenge on Harry Wilson. The former Manchester City star screams at his team-mates for improvements.
Close! Nathan Ake collects the diagonal free-kick and his wayward effort is deflected behind by Dominic Solanke.
39: You don’t often see Digne that animated. DCL just fluffed a reasonably good chance from just inside the penalty area and the Frenchman gives him an earful.
37: Close! Lucas Digne finally wriggles free of Jack Stacey down the left. He clips it to Richarlison, who glances it wide of the post. Billing was in close attendance.
35: The Cherries win a corner but inexplicably decide to take it short having just scored from a set-piece. It doesn’t work and Gylfi Sigurdsson hoofs it forward.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
33: Bournemouth win another free-kick in a threatening position as Callum Wilson goes down rather softly under pressure from Seamus Coleman. Harry Wilson’s effort is blocked by the wall.
30: Lucas Digne has ben unusually quiet for Everton this afternoon. He usually links up well with Bernard, but the Brazilian is warming the bench today.
27: I should mention that there was a VAR check to see whether King had used his arm to keep the ball in play. It was inconclusive and the goal still stands.
Bournemouth’s Josh King has been directly involved in eight goals in his eight Premier League matches against Everton (4 goals, 4 assists).
25: Callum Wilson looks to double the lead shortly after but he’s a fraction offside when trying to lob Jordan Pickford from 25-yards out. Everton look a touch rattled – especially Michael Keane.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
BOURNEMOUTH 1-0 EVERTON – WILSON
22: GOAL! The deadlock has been broken – and it’s Callum Wilson with the goal.
Diego Rico flicks a corner to the back post. Josh King just about manages to send it back into the six-yard box, where Callum Wilson nips in to head past Jordan Pickford.
21: Woodwork! Richarlison is allowed to drive forward in a central position and he doesn’t need a second invitation to fire at goal. The Brazilian’s fierce effort clips the top of the crossbar with Ramsdale stood motionless.
19: Aaron Ramsdale vs Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The first battle of the afternoon is won by the Bournemouth goalkeeper, who rushes off his line to block a prodded effort from Everton’s striker. Richarlison’s pass was just too heavy.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
16: Richarlison and Alex Iwobi have already switched flanks for Everton. Manager Marco Silva not happy with his team’s work-rate. Demanding his forwards press every ball in the Bournemouth half.
13: Bournemouth are growing into things now. And they have themselves an excellent opportunity with a free-kick in a central position around 20-yards from goal.
The Liverpool loanee steps up… poor. Didn’t really catch it and Pickford easily collects.
10: And that’s why Everton need to be careful. They’ve dominated the opening stages but one quick counter-attack nearly gives Bournemouth the lead. Josh King lays it off for Billing, who places the ball wide of the post.
7: Sigurdsson, fresh from his goal for Iceland during the international break, nearly catches Ramsdale cold with a cross/shot that the stopper tips over the crossbar.
The Cherries clear the first corner and the second… never arrives because of an infringement in the box.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
5: It’ll be interesting to see how Jack Stacey, 23, performs today. The summer signing from Luton makes his first start for the Cherries. Eight assists last year.
Anyway, Everton have a corner after Alex Iwobi shanked a squared cut-back from Richarlison. It comes to nothing with Nathan Ake clearing.
3: You always forget just how intimate Bournemouth’s ground is. Sky Sports cameras feel like they are virtually on the pitch.
Quick start from both sides. No passing around the middle – it’s been attacking and direct. I’m fairly certain we’ll see goals.
BOURNEMOUTH 0-0 EVERTON
1: And we’re underway at Dean Court. Or do we call it the Vitality Stadium? Whatever it’s called – the games has started. Just thought I would make that more difficult than it needed to be.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Here they come!
13:55: The players have lined up in the tunnel. Everton in royal blue with Bournemouth in their normal red and black stripes. No many pleasantries between the two sides – usually there’s a hug or chat or something but all players look totally focused.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Twitter round-up
Jon: Interesting to hear Harry Wilson talk about the differences between the Premier League and Championship ball and the adjustments he’s had to make to his technique. You never really even think of that.
Ally: Interesting to see how Solanke does today after Abraham’s hat trick yesterday and good start to the season..
Carl: Can any Everton fan explain why Kean is on the bench again and Calvert-Lewin starts? Just don’t understand the logic.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
The Wilsons
13:45: Sky Sports are doing a feature on Harry and Callum Wilson called Meet the Wilsons. Not accusing them of stealing my idea – but you have to admit that it’s a little close to The Dominics…
Anyway, the Bournemouth duo are having a chat by the sea and Harry’s just told a story that his grandad put £50 on him to play for Wales one day. And it returned £125k! Retired the very next day.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Golden Silva
13:40: Everton boss Marco Silva has lost against 22 of the 26 teams he’s faced in the Premier League – but he’s yet to lose against Bournemouth (P4 W3 D1 L0).
A little later
13:35: Time for some seamless self-promotion, folks. Just a quick reminder that we’ll have LIVE coverage of Watford vs Arsenal immediately after this one finishes on the south coast.
That’s Watford, who are now managed by Quique Sánchez Flores. Why does that sound familiar…
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Where’s Andre?
13:30: And his glorious barnet? Marco Silva has the answers.
“He felt something after the Wolves match. He tried to work during the week but in the last days he felt it again. He will miss the game today,” Silva explained.
“It’s the ribs. It’s something we will have to see day by day how he recovers from that situation. What we want to do is get him ready as fast as we can.”
Young Cherries
13:25: The average age of Bournemouth’s starting XI today is 24 years and 195 days, making it their youngest ever starting line-up in a Premier League match.
24y 195d – The average age of Bournemouth’s starting XI today is 24 years and 195 days, making it their youngest ever starting line-up in a Premier League match. Ripe. pic.twitter.com/pXKAgT5zdO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 15, 2019
Twitter round-up
Fawwaz: Today’s game features the two best free-kick takers in the Premier League. No doubt.
Tom: That’s a poor first XI. Morgan Schneiderlin and DCL, dear me. Andre Gomes a big loss. We’re not winning this one.
Adrian: No three points are a given in the Premier League especially away from home, hopefully we have the right mentality for today’s game and are on the front foot from the the first whistle.
I believe Fawwaz is referring to Lucas Digne and Harry Wilson. And I believe Fawwaz is completely correct.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
The Dominics…
13:15: We finally get to see a straight shoot-out between Calvert-Lewin and Solanke – something I’m dubbing: The Battle of the Dominics. Highly original, I know.
Both were members of England’s heroic Under-20 World Cup victory in 2017.
However, they have taken very different paths since that great success. DCL, until the arrival of Moise Kean, has ben Everton’s main striker – fending off Cenk Tosun.
While Solanke, 22, was sold by Liverpool for big money to Bournemouth – where he’s made two Premier League starts.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Team news – Bournemouth
13:10: Eddie Howe shakes things up with four changes from the defeat to Leicester.
Quite surprising these. Ryan Fraser, Jefferson Lerma, Chris Mepham and Adam Smith (hamstring) drop out of the starting XI.
They are replaced by Dominic Solanke, Diego Rico, Jack Stacey and Lewis Cook – Cook who starts after playing 60 minutes in a behind-closed-doors game earlier this week.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
Team news – Everton
13:05: Marco Silva makes two changes from the side who beat Wolves 3-2 at Goodison Park before the international break.
Andre Gomes misses out through injury with Morgan Schneiderlin replacing the Portuguese international.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin makes a return to the starting XI, he’s in ahead of summer signing Moise Kean.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Line ups confirmed, Premier League latest (Image: GETTY)
The sides…
13:00: And here are the line-ups. Quite a few surprises in there – Moise Kean drops to the bench with Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line. Dominic Solanke starts his first Premier League game of the campaign.
Bournemouth XI: Ramsdale, Cook, Ake, Rico, Stacey, Billing, Cook, H.Wilson, King, Solanke, C.Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Simpson, Lerma, Ibe, Fraser, Simpson, Mepham.
Everton XI: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Delph, Schneiderlin, Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Iwobi, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Stekelenburg, Holgate, Walcott, Sidibe, Bernard, Davies, Kean.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
So, draw?
12:55: Predictions. Bit early to be guessing the result today – but I can’t help myself given the two clubs’ records.
Bournemouth are unbeaten in all four of their top-flight home games against Everton.
However, the Cherries have won only one of their last eight Premier League home games.
The goals-per-game ratio in this fixture is 3.9 – that’s 31 goals in 8 games. So I’ll plump for a 2-2.
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: SIMPSONS)
Afternoon…
12:50: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Bournemouth vs Everton from a glorious Vitality Stadium.
How’s everyone feeling today? We had the annual carnival down my way last night. Y’know – torches, floats, fairground rides and the rigged ring toss game.
Didn’t win the ring toss despite burning a cool £50 on 900 throws. I did, however, come home with a goldfish. So… pretty successful evening.
Enough of that nonsense – I’ll have all the team news and line-ups for you in around ten minutes. Standby…
Bournemouth vs Everton LIVE: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
BOURNEMOUTH vs EVERTON – TEAM NEWS
Lewis Cook will be assessed before Sunday’s clash having been absent with a knee injury since December 2018.
Neither Lloyd Kelly and Simon Francis are ready for competitive action but have resumed training.
Marco Silva has summer signing Jean-Philippe Gbamin on the sidelines as well as back-up goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.
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Premier League Betting Guide For Week 3
PA online sports betting has another exciting slate of Premier League betting options to play this week. If you were with us last week, you know that we had three winners. We will again be looking for value this week. We don’t mind the wins, though.
Last week’s dominant story was the Video Assistant Referee denying Manchester City a late winner against Tottenham Hotspur:
Gabriel Jesus & Manchester City are not happy with the refs & VAR! #MCITOT pic.twitter.com/ildmuYhnz7
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 17, 2019
Pour one out for all the City bettors who had them at -310 and thought that bet — which I hated by the way — was going to come through after all. Whatever you think about video review in the Premier League, you’re going to need to get comfortable with it because it’s not going anywhere. Why the Premier League would voluntarily become more like the NFL, where you don’t know whether a score will count until some twerp in front of a screen confirms it, is really hard to understand. But here we are.
The Week 2 slate of matches went more or less to form, unless you consider City’s hard luck draw an “upset.” Liverpool and Arsenal beat inferior opposition, while both Chelsea and Manchester United drew with worthy adversaries. None of it was unforeseeable. This week’s offerings present a far more significant challenge; you need to look fairly closely to see where the value lies. These lines can be found at FanDuel Sportsbook PA. Remember to take advantage of FanDuel Sportsbook’s $500 risk-free bet for new users if you’re looking to place some wagers.
For those Premier League fans in New Jersey, be sure to check out our updated NJ online sports betting page. It’s loaded with great promos, bonuses, and free bet options.
NORWICH CITY (+320) v. CHELSEA (-125) — DRAW (+290)
When you’re closing in on 20, then the boss gets a foot in! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Ma0riXDHc7
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 21, 2019
The way Chelsea has started this season, manager Frank Lampard could be forgiven for considering putting himself in the XI. The Blues were crushed by Manchester United 4-0 in the league opener. They flew to Istanbul to play Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup, where they lost on penalties. And last week, Chelsea blew a lead at home to draw with Leicester City. Meanwhile, Norwich City bounced back from a season-opening beating at Liverpool to beat Newcastle last Saturday.
And yet…look at that line. Chelsea is favored outright. Norwich isn’t being given a look even to draw. Why?
Because for all of their failings, Chelsea routinely beat (and occasionally humiliate) much lesser competition. Fulham, Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City were relegated after last season. Chelsea won all six of those league matches, including a 3-0 decision at Huddersfield Town. Norwich City, a newly promoted team, beat a relegation-bound Newcastle United last week. Chelsea is an entirely different test.
Bottom line: If these two sides had opened as expected, with Norwich having the one point (or less) through two league matches and Chelsea having at least three points now rather than vice versa, this line would be something like Chelsea -175. This is a rare chance to grab a clearly superior side at a good price.
WOLVERHAMPTON (-125) v. BURNLEY (+400) — DRAW (+230)
FT | #TOR 2-3 #WOL
And that's full time! Wolves with a fantastic performance on the road take a one-goal advantage to Molineux in the second leg of the play-off round next week! #TORWOL
⏱🐺 pic.twitter.com/TeECdaqyGu
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 22, 2019
That was nice work from Wolverhampton, flying to Turin for a Europa League match on Thursday and getting a road win. It sets Wolves up nicely for the second leg at home on Thursday. That’s the good news.
The bad news for Wolves is that they only have two days between that high-stakes match on the European continent and this league match with a Burnley side that a. has had a full week’s rest and b. followed a win in their league opener with a close loss at Arsenal on Saturday. Combine the travel toll on Wolves with the simple fact that this is basically the definition of a trap game, and Burnley is the play here.
BUT…don’t take them to win or draw. Rather, scroll down to “Double Chance” and note that “Burnley and Draw” is there at -110.
Parlay
LIVERPOOL (-195) v. ARSENAL (+480) — DRAW (+350)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (-400) v. NEWCASTLE UNITED (+1000) — DRAW (+500)
BOURNEMOUTH (+1100) v. MANCHESTER CITY (-550) — DRAW (+650)
"It is not a two horse race this season"
Jurgen Klopp on why it doesn't matter when City or Liverpool play this season
📲 Live Premier League build-up: https://t.co/dYyOjE5a0P pic.twitter.com/sqhF0C1VKi
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2019
Klopp is right. City’s early stumble at home to Spurs last week has given Liverpool a two-point head-start over Pep Guardiola’s men. Arsenal can also dare to dream, having started with two straight wins. Perhaps the most telling stat is that Liverpool and Arsenal are the only two teams to begin with two wins — every other side in the league has already dropped points. So, at least for a while, this could be a pig pile at the top of the league table.
That means that none of these favorites (Liverpool, City, Spurs) can afford to give anything away, especially not this weekend with both Liverpool and Tottenham at home and City stinging from last week’s draw. None of them is an especially attractive favorite, so you know what’s coming.
It’s parlay time.
A 3 Team Parlay of Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will pay +123 if they all win. That’s better than even money that three of last season’s most dominant sides, i.e., the two Champions League finalists and the defending league champion, will hold serve. Which one of them will screw it up for you? Well, that’s half the fun, isn’t it?
Best of luck this weekend.
The post Premier League Betting Guide For Week 3 appeared first on Crossing Broad.
Premier League Betting Guide For Week 3 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/
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