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As the majority of football fans prepare to enter a time of mini-hibernation due to yet another international injury window, we look at the number of players that the top clubs have had to release for this “break”.

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Arsenal

The Gunners have eight players involved in senior internationals during this break and they are:

 

sui  Granit Xhaka – Switzerland 
fra  Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Alexandre Lacazette – France 
wal  Aaron Ramsey – Wales 
nga  Alex Iwobi – Nigeria 
ger  Mesut Ă–zil – Germany 
egy  Mohamed Elneny – Egypt  Read the rest of this entry »

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According to some press reports, José Mourinho will leave Manchester United in the summer. He will take his travelling roadshow to Paris where he will challenge for the Champion’s League.

It’s as simple as that.

The problem is that the reasons given for his wanting to leave United are that he can’t compete with Manchester City and doesn’t get enough backing from the board. That simply is not true.

So, if that is the case JosĂ©, then au revoir et bonne chance. Read the rest of this entry »

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With two more meaningless friendlies on the horizon for a very average England team, the Premier League has, once again and for the third time already this season, ground to a shuddering halt.

These two games are against Germany and Brazil and withdrawals through injury mean that England go into the games with an even greater paucity of talent than usual.

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Mauricio Pochettino has decided that Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Dele Alli are not fit enough to even travel with the squad, never mind take part in the games. He has, as a token gesture, left Kieran Trippier who he thinks could benefit from the game time. Read the rest of this entry »

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Manchester United fans are a fickle bunch. The club sit second in the Premier League. They need one more point to ensure qualification to the knockout stage of the Champion’s League, having won EVERY game they have played, they are in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and last season they picked up two major trophies.

At ANY other club, with the possible exception of Real Madrid, this would be seen as success. JosĂ© Mourinho would be hailed the conquering hero and there would be talk of a statue being erected outside the ground. Read the rest of this entry »

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There is no big secret as to why Manchester City are top of the Premier League. There is also no big secret as to why they are unbeaten and have scored, by far, the most goals.

They may have some of the best players but, in general, their squad is no better than that of United or Chelsea.

So what is the difference?

The simple answer, as some may have already concluded, is Pep Guardiola. Yes, he is leading City to inevitable success in at least one competition this season, and maybe more. But is the way he is going about achieving that success really so revolutionary? Read the rest of this entry »

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(Author: IPC Publishing)

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher laid into Manchester United for their performance against Chelsea and was quick to criticise Henrikh Mkhitaryan for his role in the defeat.

The Red Devils were completely outplayed by The Premier League champions on Sunday evening and Carragher didn’t mince his words when assessing the match. United headed into the clash as slight favourites and this looked like a game where any fans, wishing to make extra money online, could do so by backing United to win.

Chelsea, however, had different ideas and matched United in every department and a 56th minute trademark goal by Alvaro Morata proved to be the difference in the clash at Stamford Bridge. Read the rest of this entry »

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Before the game in Manchester Sir Joe AgĂĽero was given his well deserved award for being good at doing goals.

In fact, he is now the best City player ever at that particular art, having surpassed Eric Brook’s total of 177 when he scored against Napoli in the Champion’s League last week. Read the rest of this entry »

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London looms large in this weekends big Premier League games. The top three non-London teams are all playing teams from the capital in a set of fixtures which may give us some clearer indication as to where the title is headed.

Only one of the six played on Saturday so this article serves as a review of one game and a preview of three. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yes, folks, believe it or not, the pundits were nearly all in agreement. This season would see the elevation of Everton to top seven status.

This was hardly a mind-blowing revelation as the Toffees finished seventh last season! So what was the point of predicting that they would finish in exactly the same spot?

Well, dear readership, what they meant was that Everton would make seventh spot their own. This they would achieve by virtue of the fact that they now have a very rich man in charge and, not only that, one who isn’t afraid to splash the cash. Read the rest of this entry »

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It is now five years since Chelsea, after very fortuitous wins in the semi-final and final, won the Champion’s League. Had they not had that good fortune back in 2012, then it would have been nine years since an English club last won the trophy, that being Manchester United, on penalties, against Chelsea.

Since that Chelsea victory England has had at least four representatives every season with only Manchester City, who reached the semi-final in 2016 under Manuel Pellegrini, getting anywhere near the final. Read the rest of this entry »