Category: Sport News

LONDON: Roy Keane says, Pep Guardiola is the right person to guide England, if Lee Carsley is not interested in becoming a permanent manager.

After losing 2-1 at the hands of Greece, England, who were temporarily controlled by Carsley, came back to beat Finland 3-1.

His gamble – dropping Dean Henderson for the first time in four years and deploying Trent Alexander-Arnold at left-back – proved to be paying off.

Liverpool defender Jack Grealish and Declan Rice were on target at the Olympic Stadium to secure victory in the UEFA Nations League action.

But England are still looking for Gareth Southgate’s replacement with Carsley more likely to return to guide the country’s under-21 squad.

According to Keane, England should be looking for the best manager to continue the mission of the group of talented players that are currently there.

“Take Pep (Guardiola), take the best. The FA needs to find the best, I don’t know if financial factors play a role.

“If Lee is not interested, the FA should continue to look for the right individual,” Keane said.

Guardiola’s contract at Manchester City expires next summer.

After winning his first two games as caretaker manager, Carsley began to be positioned as a candidate to replace Southgate on a permanent basis.

But the manager of England’s youth squad feels that he is not yet eligible for promotion and is more interested in continuing his mission with the under-21 squad.

LONDON: Predictions of the final standings of the English Premier League (EPL) have been revealed after a supercomputer made thousands of predictions of match results with some of them surprising.

Liverpool top the table ahead of their second international break of the season with new boss Arne Slot enjoying a dream start to his managerial career at Anfield.

Manchester City and Arsenal trail close behind with just one point separating the top three after seven games, while Chelsea have impressed under Enzo Maresca.

Erik ten Hag’s third campaign at Manchester United saw them look to challenge for the title but instead endured their worst start to an EPL campaign and remain 14th in the table.

Now, Opta’s supercomputer has processed the data and predicted fans will celebrate the new EPL champions next May ending City’s stranglehold on the English premier league.

The predictive points model uses statistics from the season so far to simulate and rank the 20 teams competing with United fans expected to have a bad year if the numbers prove true.

The computer picked Liverpool to win the title for the second time in the EPL era, fending off challenges from Arsenal and Manchester City to do so.

Chelsea – buoyed by the sensational form of Cole Palmer – were surprise favorites to finish second in what was seen as an encouraging result for Maresca after years of the club’s struggles.

The Blues are expected to finish ahead of their London rivals, Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta’s men predicted not to finish in the top four but instead slump to eighth at the end of the season.

Pep Guardiola’s City are expected to drop to third place after winning the league for a record four seasons in a row, with Tottenham fourth and Aston Villa fifth.

However, Manchester United is predicted to end the season in 10th place which will see the club face consecutive ‘disasters’.

Wolves, Leicester and Ipswich are predicted to be relegated to the Championship League after struggling in the early weeks of the EPL.

LONDON: Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique said he did not know how long it would take his team to bounce back in European competition after losing 2-0 to Arsenal in the Champions League at the Emirates.

The French champions, who lost their prolific striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid last summer, lost for the first time this season.

Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka netted for Mikel Arteta’s side, and PSG saw both of their efforts hit the post.

Enrique, who dropped striker Ousmane Dembele due to a disciplinary problem, accepted responsibility for the defeat but questioned the fighting spirit of his men in London.

“Today we performed below the level required for a game like this. Arsenal were much better in terms of pressure, intensity, they won every fight.

“It’s impossible to get positive results when you don’t win every battle on the pitch, their defense pressures our strikers and our defense doesn’t do the same to their strikers. Arsenal are better,” Enrique said.

The Spanish operator took PSG to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season after they beat his former club Barcelona in the quarter-finals with Mbappe scoring twice and Dembele also finding the target.

Dembele is considered Mbappe’s replacement in PSG’s attack this season, but Enrique’s decision to drop the player ahead of the trip to the Emirates raises questions.

The 27-year-old was punished by Enrique after he showed his displeasure at being sent off in Friday’s win over Rennes.

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has defended captain Bruno Fernandes after the midfielder’s lackluster start to the season, saying it is only a matter of time before the Portugal international returns to his best form.

Fernandes has completed just one assist and is yet to score a goal this season and the midfielder has been criticized for his performances in United’s last two games in draws with Crystal Palace and Twente Enschede.

Ten Hag was asked if the 30-year-old was tired after a difficult last season when he played more than 4,000 minutes for United before representing his country at Euro 2024.

“I think the team put him in a situation. I think he can and has proven it, many times in the Premier League, he can create many chances,” Ten Hag told reporters yesterday ahead of Sunday’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur.

“I’m sure he won’t do it any differently. He’ll get back to his best form.

“He has created chances but he will make the last pass, he will score 100 per cent. Only time will tell.”

United have conceded just five goals in the league this season and sit 11th in the table.

“We have players in the team who are capable of scoring goals. But it’s clear when you look at all the chances we create, we don’t score enough goals,” said Ten Hag.

United have failed to beat Spurs for two years and are in a clash that has traditionally produced plenty of goals.

Ten Hag said he expects a tough match against Ange Postecoglou’s men who have collected seven points and are 10th on goal difference.

MILAN: Liverpool celebrated their return to the Champions League after a year away with a 3-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro.

Despite a slow start, Arne Slot’s squad secured the three points with goals from Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai.

The clash between the two European giants saw Milan punish Liverpool’s defense with Christian Pulisic’s third-minute goal.

But the visitors began to dominate the game and both Liverpool centre-backs found the target before the break, with Szoboszlai securing victory in the second half.

“A great way to celebrate my birthday. You wouldn’t be able to say this after five minutes, but after that we played well,” said Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who turned 46 yesterday.

Pulisic opened the scoring by sprinting down the right unchallenged and scoring from a difficult angle.

The joy of the home fans did not last long as Liverpool began to dominate the game until the end.

“A shaky start with a goal conceded. But after that, with calmness shown, keep playing, try to find answers, I think it’s very good to see,” said Van Dijk.

Konate equalized in the 23rd minute when he leapt high to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick – his first goal in two-and-a-half years.

Captain Van Dijk put Liverpool in front after he headed home Kostas Tsimikas’ corner before the break.

Szoboszlai confirmed the win in the 67th minute by completing Cody Gakpo’s pass.

It was Slot’s first Champions League game with Liverpool since he replaced Jurgen Klopp.

They also managed to make up for the disappointment of the English Premier League after being surprised 1-0 by Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday.

The last time the visiting team came from behind to win the Champions League at San Siro was Liverpool in December 2021.