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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! The Fiver isn’t in any position to accuse anyone else of living in the past, given we’ve spent the last 20 years banging on about ZX Spectrum games, regional ITV and Spurs. But really, the folk who vote for the Ballon d’Or will have to stop pretending it’s still 2011 at some point. Did winner Lionel Messi really have a better year than 53-goal Robert Lewandowski? Was sixth-placed Cristiano Ronaldo really better in 2021 than Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappé, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Erling Haaland, Romelu Lukaku, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Raheem Sterling, Neymar, Luis Suárez, Simon Kjær, Mason Mount, Riyad Mahrez, Bruno Fernandes, Lautauro Martínez, Harry Kane, Pedri, Phil Foden, Theme Pub O’Fiver, Nicolò Barella, Rúben Dias, Gerard Moreno, César Azpilicueta and Luka Modric? Was he? OK, we’ll give you Theme Pub O’Fiver, but other than that, our point stands. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian http

With fewer Santas donning their suits and more demand for holiday cheer, Santa will be in short supply.

England Women’s youth team coach will move to WSL strugglers ‘A senior coaching role is something I’ve always wanted’ Lydia Bedford has said she is “unbelievably excited” after being announced as the new manager of Leicester City’s women’s team on a contract taking her to the end of the current season. She will step into the vacancy left by Jonathan Morgan, who was sacked last Thursday after failing to win a single point from the promoted side’s first eight games of the Women’s Super League season. Bedford, who will take over on Monday after leaving her head coach role with England Women’s youth team, will be joined at the club by Brent Hills, a former head of women’s elite development at the Football Association. The former Leicester and England men’s striker, Emile Heskey, had taken temporary charge but will revert to his role as the club’s head of women’s football development following Sunday’s League Cup game at Manchester United. Continue reading... from Football | The G

No one is disputing award of the Ballon d’Or to a player who picks improbable passes and finds space where there is none It is rare that the women’s football community is united when awards season rocks around but no one could argue there was a worthier winner of the Ballon d’Or than Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas. Social media was awash with debate over the order of the players placed second to 10th: should the Arsenal forward Vivienne Miedema be as low as fourth? Why was Chelsea’s Fran Kirby down in 10th? But no one remembers who didn’t get their hands on the mounted, golden football. Only 22 points separated third and 10th, with the top 10 amassing 544 points. Putellas collected a staggering, but unsurprising, 186 and her clubmate Jenni Hermoso finished second on 84. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/alexia-putellas-barcelona-ballon-dor

Our cartoonist on the new interim manager at Manchester United, gegenpressing and Sean Dyche in the snow Like what we do? Consider supporting our journalism Doing some shopping? Buy a cartoon here Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2021/nov/30/david-squires-on-ralf-rangnick-ronaldo-and-the-pressing-question

Interim manager will not take charge against Arsenal Michael Carrick to stay at helm for Thursday’s match Michael Carrick will remain in charge of Manchester United for Thursday’s Premier League match at home to Arsenal because the club have not received the requisite paperwork for Ralf Rangnick. The German has been appointed as interim manager until the end of the season but has not yet been granted a work visa. A United statement said: “While the club follows the regulatory process around a work visa, Carrick will continue at the helm.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/ralf-rangnick-work-visa-issues-delay-debut-as-manchester-united-manager-carrick-arsenal

Football Weekly picks up podcast of the year award Jonathan Wilson wins writer of the year for the third time The Guardian has been named newspaper of the year at the Football Supporters’ Association awards – winning the award for the eighth time. The award was one of three big prizes for the Guardian, with the Football Weekly podcast winning podcast of the year and Jonathan Wilson picking up the writer of the year prize for the third time. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/guardian-wins-fsa-newspaper-of-the-year-award-for-eighth-time

Heavy deflection gives Australia 88th-minute equaliser Ashley Hatch’s second goal in two games opened scoring early On Saturday it took Ashley Hatch 24 seconds to score the USA’s opener. Three days later the Matildas made it to three minutes and 16 seconds without conceding to the very same player. By the simplest of definitions, this is an improvement. Likewise, a 1-1 draw in Newcastle is better than a 3-0 loss in Sydney. Apart from that there is not much more to say after this two-match friendly series. There is little more learned than what we already knew: that Australia play freely in attack but struggle with the final ball, and that they also play freely at the back – though in a less complimentary sense. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/late-kyah-simon-strike-salvages-1-1-draw-for-matildas-against-usa

The bank had 475 branches just over a year ago, but a fresh round of closures will leave it with 220.

Stock markets slide after Moderna boss casts doubt on vaccine effectiveness against new variant.

Prize was not earned in domestic competition or Champions League but in his spectacular Copa América domination And so it was Lionel Messi again , for the seventh time and, barring the most extraordinary of all career finales at the World Cup in Qatar, surely the last. Whatever the idiosyncrasies of the Ballon d’Or, Messi’s excellence has been both absurdly consistent and absurdly resilient, and those seven titles since 2009 are some reflection of that. To achieve that level of sustained success at any time would be spectacular; to do so in the age of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won five Ballons d’Or since 2008, is extraordinary. Nobody else in history has won more than three – although there is a pleasing symmetry in the fact that when France Football reevaluated those years before the award was opened up to non-Europeans, Pelé also won seven in 13 years. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/lionel-messi-ballon-dor-copa-

Sillett led Coventry to 3-2 win over Spurs in 1987 final He played for clubs including Chelsea and managed Hereford John Sillett has died at the age of 85, his family have announced. Sillett managed Coventry between 1986 and 1990 and led the club to FA Cup glory in 1987 when Tottenham were beaten 3-2 in a memorable Wembley final . A statement from the Sillett family read: “Obviously the family are really saddened by Dad’s passing but we are all so proud of him and what he achieved … His ability to spot things tactically, change them during a game and enhance the abilities of players was top class, the respect he had from top people in the game and the kind words we have already received already underline the high regard in which he was held by the football world. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/john-sillett-fa-cup-winning-manager-with-coventry-dies-aged-85

Marta Ortega will replace Pablo Isla as chairwoman of Zara’s parent firm Inditex.

Tale of how sons of a former British army officer and Orthodox priest helped to shape the side is told in this book extract In 2001, exactly 50 years after the Iraqi national team was formed, I made a discovery. I was reading a comment on the old sports forum about a player named Saeed Easho. It was the start to unearthing the story of Iraq’s first national team. Many years later I contacted the ex-footballer, and through him it seemed as if everything fell into place. He had spent the best part of 60 years living outside Iraq so no one knew what had happened to the centre-half of Iraq’s first national side. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/three-forgotten-men-and-the-birth-of-iraqs-national-football-team

Updates from the second game between the Matildas and USWNT Kick-off at McDonald Jones Stadium is 8:05pm AEDT, 4:05am EST Any thoughts? Email or tweet @mike_hytner The 2019 Ballon d’Or Féminin winner Megan Rapinoe may be missing tonight, but Sam Kerr will lead out the Matildas tonight, fresh from coming third in this year’s vote. The Chelsea striker’s stellar season for Chelsea and Australia was rewarded, coming in behind Alexia Putellas and Jennifer Hermoso, the Barcelona and Spain pair. “I feel proud just to be on that list so to be third it hasn’t really sunk in yet but I feel really proud and honoured that I was before a lot of great names,” Kerr has just told Channel 10. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/nov/30/australia-vs-usa-w-live-football-soccer-matildas-v-uswnt-womens-international-friendly-how-to-watch-what-time-team-when-kick-off-scores-players-teams-latest-news-updates

But the airline's boss says it is early days and that summer bookings are close to pre-pandemic levels.

People with leases on new-build houses say freeholders are charging them exorbitant amounts.

Amazon workers in the US state will get a second chance to unionise in a major blow to the online giant.

Australia's second largest bank has agreed to pay $81m in penalties and compensate customers.

The last time the tech visionary left Twitter, he set up another company now worth $100bn.

A lack of recycling facilities in Africa has spurred one Dutch company to import broken phones.

As worries emerge over a new Covid variant, hospitality fears it could thwart the busiest time of year.

Shopkeepers are concerned about enforcing mask-wearing and terrified they will have to close again.

Manager says ‘January’s an incredibly difficult window to recruit in’ as his side resumes quest for first Premier League win It was Eddie Howe’s 44th birthday on Monday but Newcastle’s manager had no time, or apparent inclination, for celebrations. Howe is in the unique position of helming arguably the world’s wealthiest football club at a moment when even its cash-rich Saudi Arabian-led owners are incapable of purchasing the only currency that counts: Premier League points. “We’re certainly going to have to start winning soon,” he said before a watershed week featuring home games with Norwich on Tuesday night and Burnley on Saturday. “There’s a huge challenge ahead.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/29/huge-challenge-ahead-eddie-howe-realistic-newcastle-premier-league

Australia winger discusses the trademark hair ribbons that inspired her writing and why City are the perfect team for her Hayley Raso is back in Australia for the first time in a long time. “Seventeen months,” she clarifies. Her native country’s strict Covid-19 border restrictions had shut out the rest of the world and the Manchester City winger with it. Now she is finally ensconced in Sydney, and yet still separated from family, this time courtesy of Queensland’s unbending border closure which stopped them travelling from the Gold Coast to watch the Matildas’ two-match friendly series with the United States. “Only my dad can come,” she says, “because he lives in northern New South Wales.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/29/manchester-city-hayley-raso--book-brother-family-australia-ribbons

Alternatives to be put to top-flight clubs for consideration Crouch review calls for change but new ideas likely to be divisive Secret talks between the Premier League and the EFL have been held to discuss removing the controversial parachute payments system, with alternatives set to be put to top-flight clubs for consideration. Discussions have been ongoing throughout the Covid period about how better to organise financial redistribution. Whereas the EFL has targeted parachute payments as a major problem , the Premier League had remained defiant in support of the current system – citing the £1.5bn it transfers down the leagues over a three-year period. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/29/premier-league-and-efl-in-secret-talks-to-remove-parachute-payments

The Chelsea forward toiled again during their frustrating draw with Manchester United and patience in him is wearing thin Sometimes it is easy to forget that there is more to Timo Werner’s game than comedy misses, doomed dribbles and an inability to stay onside. Labelling the forward a dud would be an exaggeration. Werner has his uses in certain scenarios and, for true devotees, there will always be that decoy run in Porto – the moment when Turbo Timo zipped from right to left, pulling Manchester City’s defence out of shape, and made the space for Mason Mount to send Kai Havertz through to score Chelsea’s winner in the Champions League final . You had to appreciate the unselfishness. On the one hand Werner had been at his most infuriating earlier in the evening, bungling a series of inviting opportunities to give Chelsea the lead. On the other, look at what he does without the ball. Look at the scurrying, the pressing, the boundless enthusiasm; only then will you develop a true appre

A home defeat by Atalanta and an investigation into transfers rounded off a dreadful week for The Old Lady After losing 4-0 to Chelsea , Juventus’s week only went downhill. Tuesday’s Champions League drubbing was followed up by another loss at home to Atalanta on Saturday. In-between, the club’s offices were raided by police, who seized documents relating to player transfers and financial accounts. A statement from the Turin prosecutor Anna Maria Loreto explained on Friday that these searches were part of a wide-reaching investigation. The present focus, she explained, was to assess whether Juventus, a publicly listed company, had issued false communications to investors and invoices for non-existent transactions. But Loreto noted that further matters were also under scrutiny, including services offered by agents and intermediaries. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/29/juventus-season-is-going-from-bad-to-worse-on-and-of

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning , Jonathan Wilson and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan as the Premier League title race hots up in snowy grounds across the country Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts , Soundcloud , Audioboom , Mixcloud , Acast and Stitcher , and join the conversation on Facebook , Twitter and email . Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning , Jonathan Wilson and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan as the Premier League title race hots up in snowy grounds across the country. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2021/nov/29/rangnick-in-ronaldo-out-and-a-title-race-to-savour-football-weekly

The founder and chief executive will step down from leading the company, media reports say.

Mark Uth was the homegrown hero on the pitch in the rout of Gladbach but the fans are eating out of the manager’s hands An outpouring of emotion at FC Köln is always taken with a pinch of salt by the rest of German football. It’s boom or bust, on top of the world or on hands and knees on the floor. This was the former, with local boy and goalscorer Mark Uth telling Sky at full time he’d be lobbying Steffen Baumgart for “two days off and a beer,” a request that was swiftly validated. “If he’s asking for it,” said Baumgart, “he’ll definitely get it.” Yet even in the glow of derby day victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach this felt like something a little different. Seeing the coach be so accommodating wasn’t the greatest surprise. Normally stoic on the touchline in his trademark flat cap – even when top scorer Anthony Modeste whips it from his head and attempts to instigate a samba with him – Baumgart had willingly approached the Südkurve and (literally) tipped his hat to the supporter

If Mauricio Pochettino wants to win the Champions League, he needs to find his best team quickly – with or without Neymar By Eric Devin for Get French Football News Despite a frustrating loss to Manchester City in the week, there was an air of celebration about PSG’s trip to Saint-Étienne on Sunday. The hosts, hamstrung by injuries and a lack of impactful signings this summer, had been largely uninspired under Claude Puel , even if they had experienced a slight upturn in form of late. Sergio Ramos made his long-awaited first start for the league leaders and it looked as if, even with Marco Verratti still absent, PSG could begin to have some sense of rhythm about their play. Not topping their Champions League group is a disappointment, but the squad is now largely fit and starting to fire – as shown by Lionel Messi’s hat-trick of assists in the 3-1 win over Saint-Étienne, no mean feat even against 10 men. Perhaps progress could be made by using the league and cup matches between no

One traveller told the BBC he had found an alternative flight home, but he faces extra costs of £4,000.

What rights do you have if your holidays plans or rules change, as a new Covid variant affects travel?

The Omicron variant could exacerbate the shortage of chips used in cars, Makoto Uchida tells the BBC.

German arrives following agreement with Lokomotiv Moscow Rangnick will be retained by United as a consultant until 2024 Ralf Rangnick has been confirmed as Manchester United’s interim manager to the end of the season after a deal was struck with Lokomotiv Moscow to release the German from his contract. Rangnick has been working since July as Lokomotiv’s head of sports and development on a three-year deal. He has agreed to take the United job on a short-term basis on the condition that he will be retained as a consultant until 2024 and will have the power to influence decisions. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/29/manchester-united-confirm-ralf-rangnick-as-interim-manager

Ralf Rangnick has plenty to consider, Eberechi Eze needs time and Watford may have a goalscorer to give hope The good news for Ralf Rangnick is that no manager, whoever it might be, could possibly extract less from Manchester United’s squad than has been the case over the last few months. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was rightly held responsible for this – though it is worth noting that had Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw given him performances that were as good as poor, he would still have a job. In any event, a difficult run for United ends with Arsenal on Thursday, after which they face an easier programme that should, in theory, leave them well-placed to secure a top-four finish. The decision Rangnick must make is whether to change as little as possible and simply improve what’s there – the lower-risk, lower-reward option – or introduce further complexity into an already busy period by introducing the style in which he wants United to play as soon as possible, in the knowledge that it might ma

A spate of top-flight departures shows the lack of job security but the pressure is even more intense in the lower leagues The reality for every manager is that you will get sacked at some point in your career, but that does not stop you feeling sorry for colleagues when you see it happen to them. You learn very quickly that it is starkly different to life as a player: a run of sub-par performances on the pitch might see you dropped to the bench, but if you’re the guy in the technical area then every bad period of results ramps up that feeling of uncertainty. It has been a brutal spell for some managers in the Premier League recently, culminating in Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s departure from Manchester United , and that gives you food for thought. You look at your own situation when you see others losing their jobs: you realise you are fortunate but also understand how quickly that can change. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov

Former Granada coach has immersed himself in the Premier League and Championship since leaving the Spanish club “There were almost tears in my eyes, bloody hell,” Diego Martínez says. “Friday night, the first game I’d been at with fans for 18 months. Brentford-Arsenal, back in the top division after 70-something years. Everyone singing Hey Jude, a cappella. Just the walk to the ground, the tube. The people. That’s where it started. Tottenham – Totnúm , no? – Chelsea, West Ham, Watford. Fulham, taking photos of it all. Those wooden seats, by the river. Wonderful. Everton, Liverpool, Man City, United …” Four months earlier, Martínez had taken Granada to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, leading them from the second division to a first appearance in Europe and reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League. But this time was different: this time the stadium was full and, having decided to take a step back in the summer, now he sat in the stands not on the bench. What does a man

Manager dismisses idea of another long winning run David Moyes rues visitors’ lack of quality in front of goal Pep Guardiola described as “fantasy” the idea that Manchester City can launch another long unbeaten run to match last season’s 28-match sequence following their 2-1 win against West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. The victory featured goals from Ilkay Gündogan and Fernandinho, with Manuel Lanzini registering an added-time consolation for the visitors. City’s fifth consecutive win came almost 12 months after a 2-0 loss at Tottenham on 21 November last season proved to be City’s last defeat until losing 2-0 to Manchester United on 7 March. Guardiola was asked if he senses his players are in the same groove as this time last year. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/pep-guardiola-manchester-city-west-ham

Thiago Silva put in an assured display while Timo Werner had a game to forget, and Bruno Fernandes looked uncomfortable in an unfamiliar role Édouard Mendy The goalkeeper was helpless when United broke after Jorginho’s calamitous error in the second half. Sancho gave him no chance with a cool finish. 6/10 Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/chelsea-1-1-manchester-united-player-ratings-from-stamford-bridge

Nasa has asked the private sector to design new spacesuits that can be used on the Moon.

A prominent gambling industry figure in Macau is believed to be among those arrested.

Carrick: ‘We wanted to stop the passes to Jorginho’ Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel: ‘We were the better team’ Michael Carrick said after Manchester United held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge that Ralf Rangnick had no influence on his decision to name Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench. Rangnick is set to take over at Old Trafford on an interim basis this week, with a consultancy role to follow from June 2022, but Carrick insisted that the German had no say in his team selection against Chelsea. The caretaker opted for a counterpunching approach against the league leaders and he was quick to play down Gary Neville’s suggestion that the idea to leave Ronaldo out came from United’s incoming manager. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/michael-carrick-says-ralf-rangnick-had-no-input-in-dropping-ronaldo

Interest in buy now pay later options is surging, with growth fastest among users in their 40s and 50s.

Efforts to create "green jobs" need to intensify if the government is to meet its target, a report says.

David Martindale criticises ‘doughballs with snowballs’ Rangers 3-1 victory is first in league for their new coach Rangers fans who held up play for 10 minutes by pelting the Livingston goalkeeper Max Stryjek with snowballs on Sunday have been criticised by the Livingston manager David Martindale. Martindale, whose side lost 3-1 against the champions, walked on to the pitch to stand with his players and plead with the visiting support to stop throwing snow – which had built up in front of the advertising boards – on to the artificial pitch. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/scottish-premiership-livingston-rangers-celtic-aberdeen

Manchester United’s new interim manager would have been watching closely as his soon-to-be players did their auditions at Stamford Bridge As Cristiano Ronaldo prepared to enter the pitch with an hour gone at Stamford Bridge, having performed a dutiful kind of warm-up, meandering along the touchline like a venerable old don taking a stroll on the college lawn, a large book of laminated diagrams was waved in front of his nose. Ronaldo, to his credit, made a show of having a look. Two decades into one of the great elite-level careers, CR7 is not too proud for your diagrams. But there might have been a temptation to grab that folder and scour the handwritten notes, to look for a sign, a prognosis of his own future in this peculiar, mid-season evolution. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/nov/28/hand-of-ralf-rangnick-can-be-seen-already-in-the-dropping-of-ronaldo

It was a day when Manchester United defended in numbers, when they sacrificed all attacking ambition in pursuit of something, anything, to stop a rot that had claimed the manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, and sent their Premier League season into meltdown. It was a long way from being pretty but with Ralf Rangnick looking on from afar – the manager who is set to step in until the end of the season, the interim to the current interim, Michael Carrick – the club got what they wanted. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/chelsea-manchester-united-premier-league-match-report

Updates from the match at Stamford Bridge (4.30pm GMT) Rangnick’s arrival is a response to Tuchel’s Chelsea revolution Get in touch! Email Rob with your thoughts here “Both Tuchel and Klopp can’t be Kraftwerk,” says Bob Coyne. “Klopp is definitely more Faust.” I did think about Faust, and I was also tempted to slap Amon Düül II on the table, but I decided they weren’t famous enough to be Klopp. I’ll level with you: it was, at best, a half-arsed analogy, I didn’t give it that much thought. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/nov/28/chelsea-v-manchester-united-premier-league-live

Match called off a little under an hour before kick-off ‘Both managers agreed the spectacle wouldn’t have been great’ The Premier League match between Burnley and Tottenham was called off a little under an hour before kick-off on Sunday due to heavy snow at Turf Moor. After snow began to fall in late morning, attempts to clear the pitch began around 90 minutes before the scheduled 2pm kick-off but proved in vain, with snow coming down as quickly as it could be moved. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/burnley-tottenham-premier-league-match-report

The club’s four-state, eight-match road trip is under way and not without drama around the former Liverpool striker Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen, for the greatest travelling roadshow the A-League Men has to offer. Touring until 15 January, your favourite team from Western Australia, Perth Glory, will be bringing their purple-powered wares to a ground near you. Don’t miss out on a chance to see Bruno Fornaroli, Brandon O’Neill and special marquee attraction Daniel Sturridge across nine different dates. Yes, coach Richard Garcia’s Glory will assume the role of ALM travelling circus in the week’s ahead; WA’s stringent border restrictions sending them out onto the road early in the season in the fleeting hope that, come the back end of the campaign, conditions will have changed enough to allow them to stage a series of home games. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/29/daniel-sturridge-should-consult-a-map-because-per

This was a muted affair with an exciting finish in which Manchester City kept West Ham on a long lead and twice pounced expertly via Ilkay Gündogan and Fernandinho to claim the points. The strikes were flashes of high quality from the champions whose control, once they settled, will please Pep Guardiola. But despite their control, they needed Fernandinho’s goal, as Manuel Lanzini struck four minutes into stoppage time. Gündogan’s finish came on 33 minutes and from this juncture City were hardly troubled by David Moyes’s men until the very end. As the congested winter schedule begins there was also an economy of effort that should be welcomed by a manager whose squad was depleted for this 13th Premier League game of the campaign that ended with his team in second place. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/manchester-city-west-ham-premier-league-match-report

Claudio Ranieri appreciated the heartwarming welcome he received on his first managerial return to Leicester City but Jamie Vardy showed why he has never gone away as his two goals proved the difference between the sides. The whole home crowd had taken to their feet just before kick-off to chant Ranieri’s name and applaud the manager who led their team to the Premier League title five years ago. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/leicester-watford-premier-league-match-report

Everton head into the Merseyside derby in a terrible state. No change there, but that does not ease the suffering of their supporters or do much for the prospects of Rafael Benítez as he prepares to face his old club. The Spaniard insisted prior to this game that he had the full backing of the club’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, but after witnessing his side lose for a fifth time in six games, he can no longer be certain. A week after delivering an incredibly ineffective display against Manchester City , Everton showed more intent and , on a bitingly cold day in west London but ultimately they were still poor, performing once again with little identity or, frankly, quality. It is now no wins for the Merseysiders since 25 September and it is hard to see that run ending any time soon. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/brentford-everton-premier-league-match-report

Ligue 1 leaders come from behind to beat Saint-Étienne 3-1 Milan slip to second successive Serie A defeat Lionel Messi set up all three goals as Paris Saint-Germain stretched their Ligue 1 lead to 14 points with a 3-1 comeback win away to 10-man Saint-Étienne as Neymar sustained a possible ankle injury and was taken off on a stretcher on Sunday. PSG made the most of Timothée Kolodziejczak’s red card on the stroke of half-time as Messi fed Marquinhos for two headed goals and Ángel Di María struck to seal a clinical turnaround after Les Verts had opened the scoring through Denis Bouanga. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/european-roundup-psg-messi-ligue-1-serie-a-la-liga-real-madrid-atletico-milan

Goals from Rhian Brewster and Billy Sharp gave Paul Heckingbottom a winning start as Sheffield United manager, beating Bristol City 2-0 on a snowy afternoon at Bramall Lane. Heckingbottom, who was caretaker manager for a spell last season after Chris Wilder’s departure and was hired to replace Slavisa Jokanovic on Thursday, was introduced to the crowd before kick-off. Other members of the new management team – including Stuart McCall and Jack Lester – also took their places on the bench. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/sheffield-united-bristol-city-championship-match-report

The British Retail Consortium says people should show consideration to store workers and other shoppers.

Updates from the Premier League matches (2pm GMT) Live scores: all the goals from the games around Europe Get in touch! Email your thoughts to Daniel here Manchester City are a peculiar construction. Watching them play Paris off the pitch on Wednesday night, it was hard not to think that they’re the best team in Europe. And yet, watching them play Paris off the pitch on Wednesday night, it was also hard not to see why their own league s topped by a more solid side, and why they’ve still to win the Champions League: ultimately, their defence is still suspect and they now lack a reliable goalscorer. Nevertheless, if they play like that this afternoon, West Ham are in trouble ... and yet it’s not impossible to visualise a scenario in which they limit chances, survive a few missed sitters, and catch their hosts on the counter. Which is to say this is an intriguing fixture, and the one on which we’ll principally be focused. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://w

Only four top-flight clubs are in line to be unaffected by tournament that kicks off in Cameroon on 9 January “I love the fact that we have so many African players … until the Africa Cup of Nations starts. Then it’s: ‘Oh my God!’” Jürgen Klopp is not the only Premier League manager who will have Afcon on his mind over the coming weeks. With the delayed 33rd edition of the continental showpiece due to begin in Cameroon on 9 January, planning for the absence of up to 40 players from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Wilfried Zaha during one of the most intense periods of the domestic season will present a major headache for several. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/28/aubameyang-to-zaha-how-africa-cup-of-nations-will-hit-premier-league

The airline has temporarily stopped flights after more of its staff were forced to isolate.

Corruption allegations swirling round the country’s football scene mirror a wider malaise From his hideaway in Bosnia-Herzegovina, to where he dramatically fled on the eve of his conviction for fraud three years ago, Zdravko Mamić, once the most powerful figure in Croatian football, turned to his Facebook account last Thursday to rub salt in some wounds. “Netflix: let Narcos go, come here,” he wrote in reference to the hit TV show about the wholesale corruption of Mexico and Colombia by narcotic gangs. “For the last weeks and months I have been quietly working on judicial reform, and today you can see another one in a series of results of what we started together.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/28/croatias-soccer-superstar-the-former-boss-and-a-sport-dogged-by-scandal

United capable of going on winning run, caretaker manager says Chelsea lead United by 12 points before Stamford Bridge fixture The statue of Manchester United’s Holy Trinity is a feature of the Old Trafford landscape. For a club increasingly burdened by unflattering comparisons to their past, while invariably generating more, the spectre of an unholy trilogy looms larger. Forget Best, Law and Charlton, this threatens to be an autumn to rank among their worst. Sunday brings a third meeting with title contenders, their supposed peers, and the first two amounted to humiliations. United kick off at Stamford Bridge 12 points behind Chelsea and after conceding more than five times as many goals. Liverpool scored five of them , Manchester City a mere two , but neither bothered to add to their tally in the final 40 minutes as they seemed to declare against vanquished opponents. As Michael Carrick conceded, a gulf has opened up. If there is a divide between the best and the rest, United ar

Palmeiras 2-1 Flamengo aet Substitute Deyverson scores winner in extra time Palmeiras won the Copa Libertadores for the second year in a row as an extra-time goal from Deyverson secured a 2-1 win over Flamengo in an absorbing all-Brazilian final. It is the third time the São Paulo club have won South America’s equivalent of Europe’s Champions League, following victories in 1999 and 2020. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/palmeiras-flamengo-copa-libertadores-final-match-report

Frank Lampard and now Thomas Tuchel have helped create perfect conditions for homegrown players to flourish There was Josh McEachran and Ola Aina. There was Dominic Solanke and Gaël Kakuta. There was the season under Maurizio Sarri when he did not give a single debut to an academy player. There was the Chelsea manager who argued in a presentation to the technical director, Michael Emenalo, that the club should scrap or scale down its academy as it was costing too much and producing no tangible benefit to the first team. For all of them, and all of this, Chelsea’s third goal against Juventus on Tuesday night was an ornate kind of closure: Reece James peeling away towards the back post with his customary menace, Ruben Loftus-Cheek twisting and shuffling in the area, Callum Hudson-Odoi applying the finish. A goal made in Chelsea, conceived at Cobham: perhaps the fullest vindication to date of Roman Abramovich’s frequently ridiculed, frequently wasteful vision of a Chelsea first team bri

Nine games have been disrupted or abandoned in France’s top flight this term with authorities struggle to stem the rage This was supposed to be a season of celebration and new acclaim for the French league. Not only would crowds return to stadiums after a year of matches behind closed doors but Lionel Messi’s arrival at Paris Saint-Germain guaranteed unprecedented global interest in Ligue 1. Three months in, France is shocked and embarrassed and the talk among authorities is of an existential crisis. A wave of fan violence since the start of the season led the president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), Vincent Labrune, to denounce “a gangrene that could kill us”, while France’s minister of sport, the former swimming champion Roxana Maracineanu, said: “Every time I go to a stadium [to watch a Ligue 1 match] I tell myself it’s a good thing I got my son into rugby rather than football.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football

Thirty-one shots, plenty of ambitious attacking football, a web of tactical intrigue, and no goals. The wind blew in off the English Channel, and the Amex howled and roared to keep out the cold, and yet still the ball refused to drop for either Brighton or Leeds, for whom an autumn of underachievement is threatening to give way to a winter of discontent. Brighton are now without a win in eight, and you don’t need to be as gifted a coach as Graham Potter to gauge where their problems lie. Chance after chance ended up trickling wide or disappearing into the stands, many of them from the boot or the shin of Neal Maupay. For their part, this was painfully thin stuff from Leeds, who for all their customary industry and their flick-book of formations still appear to be missing Patrick Bamford. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/brighton-leeds-premier-league-match-report

The question was not whether Liverpool would score once again but how long Southampton would make a contest of their latest daunting assignment at Anfield. The answer was two minutes. When Diogo Jota converted at the end of Liverpool’s first meaningful attack it proved the cue for Jürgen Klopp’s team to deliver another procession on home soil and expose the vast gulf between the Premier League elite and those in their slipstream. Jota scored twice, Thiago Alcântara and Virgil van Dijk one apiece, as Liverpool made it 10 goals at Anfield without reply inside a week. In doing so, they became the first top-flight team to score at least twice in 17 consecutive matches since Sunderland in 1927. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/liverpool-southampton-premier-league-match-report

The first meeting between two of the greatest midfielders to have graced the Premier League in their new habitats as managers ended with a triumph that Steven Gerrard must have savoured. Trailing to Matt Targett’s early goal and having delivered their worst performance since Patrick Vieira took over for Roy Hodgson in the summer, Crystal Palace were left frustrated by a stubborn rearguard effort from Aston Villa as they failed to find a breakthrough despite a vastly improved second-half before John McGinn made sure of the points for the visitors late on. Marc Guéhi’s consolation goal arrived far too late for Palace. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/crystal-palace-aston-villa-premier-league-match-report

Wolves were able to hold off a late challenge from Norwich to secure a point in a goalless draw at Carrow Road. Dean Smith’s tenure got off to a winning start with a 2-1 home victory against Southampton last weekend and that was followed up with a significant point against a top-half Wolves team. The visitors went into the game having won five of their previous seven matches but struggled to find their rhythm. Norwich had just one victory to their name when Smith replaced Daniel Farke eight days after his own dismissal from Aston Villa. The Canaries have taken four points from his first two games and here pulled level on points with Burnley in 18th having played a game more. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/norwich-wolves-premier-league-match-report

Returning Erling Haaland seals 3-1 victory after early setback Dortmund go top ahead of Bayern Munich’s late kick-off Erling Haaland scored on his return from injury to help Borussia Dortmund move top the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg . Defending champions Bayern Munich can restore their previous one-point lead with a win over Arminia Bielefeld in Saturday’s late match, a week before Dortmund host Bayern. Haaland hadn’t played in the Bundesliga since scoring twice in a 3-1 win at Mainz in October. Manager Marco Rose delighted Dortmund fans on Friday when he said Haaland may return sooner than originally thought and he followed through by bringing on the 21-year-old in the 72nd minute in Wolfsburg. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/european-roundup-bundesliga-la-liga-serie-a

A controversial equaliser from substitute Ched Evans earned Preston a deserved 1-1 draw at home to promotion-chasing Fulham. Evans bundled home from close range with 18 minutes to go, but Fulham players protested vociferously as they believed a handball offence was committed just before the ball hit the net. A draw was probably a fair outcome at the end of an entertaining clash which saw chances at both ends. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/championship-preston-fulham-bournemouth-coventry-swansea-reading

Updates from 5.30pm GMT kick-off at the Amex Stadium Clockwatch: 3pm games in Premier League and beyond Get in touch! You can e-mail Scott here Some pre-match entertainment for Loiners everywhere. A magnificent long read on how Howard Wilkinson’s ten-year plan took a mere four years . Enjoy, enjoy. Three changes for Brighton from the XI that started the 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa. Robert Sanchez is back in goal after serving a one-match suspension for his red card against Newcastle, while Neal Maupay and Joel Veltman are also back. Jason Steele, Adam Lallana and Shane Duffy make way; all three are on the bench. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/nov/27/brighton-leeds-united-premier-league-live-updates

In the absence of Steph Houghton the centre-back and acting captain was on inspired form again against Austria When Millie Bright lashed the ball goalwards from 25 yards in the first half, it flew wide of Manuela Zinsberger’s net. It was inconsequential, an unremarkable moment in a comfortable win in uncomfortable conditions, but it spoke to the confidence of the centre-back, who has flourished as anchor at the base of England’s spine. Steph Houghton, England’s captain, has not played a minute of international football since Team GB’s heartbreaking 4-3 extra-time defeat to Australia at the Olympics. An ankle injury has limited her to just four games this season with Manchester City. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/nov/27/millie-bright-looking-imperious-and-undroppable-as-englands-anchor

Updates from the 3pm games in Premier League and beyond Live scores | Follow Arsenal v Newcastle with Scott Murray Get in touch! You can email Barry here or tweet him Norwich: Krul, Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Williams, Gilmour, Normann, McLean, Rashica, Pukki, Sargent. Subs: Rupp, Dowell, Cantwell, Tzolis, Lees-Melou, Gunn, Giannoulis, Idah, Omobamidele. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/nov/27/liverpool-v-southampton-and-more-football-clockwatch-live

Newcastle briefly threatened to defy the norms established both by their work this season and a decade’s worth of endeavours at the Emirates, but ultimately normal service was resumed. They remain winless in all competitions and they have now lost 11 straight games at Arsenal’s home, this defeat ending up as comfortable as most of them. Eddie Howe could take the positives of a respectable first-half performance in his first match overseen from pitchside but after the restart their opponents were too strong, scoring well-taken goals through Bukayo Saka and his replacement Gabriel Martinelli. His side remain bottom, a fact few away from Tyneside will mourn, while Arsenal maintain interest in a top-four spot after casting aside any residual gloom from last weekend’s heavy defeat at Liverpool. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/arsenal-newcastle-premier-league-match-report

England 1-0 Austria (White 38) Goalscorer celebrates 100th cap in bleak conditions Sarina Wiegman limbered up for her first trip to Wearside by watching the Netflix documentary series Sunderland ‘Til I Die . It is, in part, a cautionary tale about pride coming before a fall but, on this evidence, there seems little danger of Wiegman’s England suffering a collapse in any way comparable to Sunderland AFC’s painful tumble from the Premier League to League One. Under the tutelage of the former Netherlands coach, the Lionesses have now won their first five qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, scoring 33 goals and conceding none along the way to the top of Group D. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/england-austria-womens-world-cup-qualifier-match-report

David Moyes may fancy his chances of plotting a result to remember at the Etihad Stadium considering doubts over Phil Foden and Jack Grealish and the number Crystal Palace did on Manchester City here two home games ago, winning 2-0. But Pep Guardiola’s side defeated Paris Saint-Germain in midweek and generally have the look of a champion side reaching their very best. Which is very good. Jamie Jackson Sunday 2pm Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/manchester-city-west-ham-match-preview-premier-league

They say the table does not lie but it can sometimes distort the truth. Few would argue Tottenham resemble a team sitting seventh, especially following their latest Europa Conference League embarrassment to Slovenian minnows Mura on Thursday. On the flip side Burnley can feel slightly aggrieved to be in the relegation zone considering their only defeat in the last seven games was at Manchester City. Burnley’s problem has been a tendency to draw too many games – six – and another stalemate could be on the cards against a Tottenham side yet to find their feet under Antonio Conte, especially with James Tarkowski and Ashley Westwood suspended. Stephen Hollis Sunday 2pm Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/burnley-tottenham-match-preview-match-preview

The young Scot is thriving in Serie A after his bold move from Hearts to Bologna paid off: ‘I didn’t expect to play so regularly’ They used to say at Hearts that you would barely know when Aaron Hickey was in the room. The crucial anomaly was that a shy, understated off-field presence was tenacious and composed after crossing the white line. Hickey was always destined for great things. Fourteen months on from departing Tynecastle, Hickey is flourishing in Serie A with Bologna. Milan have been credited with an interest. There is definite attention from the Premier League – partly linked to the added value of Scottish players in a post-Brexit world – in a 19-year-old who has continued on a steep upward curve under Sinisa Mihajlovic. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/aaron-hickey-scotland-bologna-serie-a-interview

Updates from the 12.30pm GMT kick-off at the Emirates Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend Get in touch! You can email Scott here Just one change for Arsenal from the 4-0 thumping by Liverpool. Martin Odegaard comes in for the benched Alexandre Lacazette. No starting spot for Kieran Tierney as he returns from injury, so Nuno Tavares, who had an absolute shocker at Anfield, retains his place. Newcastle United make three changes to the side that drew 3-3 with Brentford last week. Martin Dubravka replaces Karl Darlow in goal, while Emil Krafth and Ryan Fraser replace Ciaran Clark and Jacob Murphy, who both drop to the bench. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/nov/27/arsenal-newcastle-united-premier-league-live

Follow the 12.30pm GMT kick-off at the Stadium of Light Defence, laughter and records: key England talking points Get in touch! You can email Luke here or tweet him England have cruised through World Cup qualifying thus far, winning 8-0 against North Macedonia , 10-0 against Luxembourg , 4-0 against Northern Ireland and 10-0 against Latvia . Today’s home encounter against Austria in Sunderland doesn’t look so straightforward: the visitors have won three out of four, along with a draw against Northern Ireland, scoring 21 goals and conceding three. This is a proper test, then, against a side who would go top of Group D with a victory. But England won’t be lacking motivation, particularly Ellen White, the clinical finisher who plays her 100th match for her country at the Stadium of Light today. As well as becoming a cap centurion, White is now just two goals behind Kelly Smith’s all-time England scoring record of 46, although a goal-fest today seems unlikely given the calibre of

Brentford’s injury woes are easing slightly and Yoane Wissa, a hero off the bench in his most recent two appearances, against Liverpool and West Ham, should be fit to return after six weeks out. The Bees have not won in the league since Wissa scored with the last kick at the London Stadium and have not claimed three points at home since the opening weekend. Thomas Frank has called for bravery and a display of his side’s buccaneering best should trouble Everton. Like their hosts, the Blues have taken only a point from their last five games; Rafa Benítez’s side need to improve on tedious blanks against Spurs and Manchester City. Nick Ames Sunday 2pm Sky Sports Premier League Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/brentford-everton-match-preview-premier-league

Claudio Ranieri is sure of a warm welcome as he returns to a King Power dugout for the first time since February 2017. But his aim will be to upset the home crowd by plotting a win for Watford, who will arrive flushed with confidence following last Saturday’s trouncing of Manchester United. Leicester, by contrast, have been rather fragile recently and were booed off after last week’s defeat by Chelsea, but Thursday’s encouraging win in the Europa League may have restored some belief. That defence still looks jittery, however, and Brendan Rodgers will be hoping Jonny Evans is fit enough to start. Paul Doyle Sunday 2pm Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/leicester-watford-match-preview-premier-league

Manchester United are close to making Ralf Rangnick their new interim manager, but Michael Carrick will still be in the dugout when they visit Stamford Bridge. Carrick triumphed against Villarreal in his opening game and his next task is to find a way to outwit Thomas Tuchel, which is easier said than done. Chelsea are top of the league and, although they will be without Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kanté, Tuchel’s team are in tremendous form at the moment. Jacob Steinberg Sunday 4.30pm Sky Sports Premier League Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/27/chelsea-manchester-united-match-preview-match-preview

Brazilian is the world’s longest-serving next-best footballer but his moments of genius are increasingly rare Who weeps for Neymar? Not many people. Except perhaps Neymar himself, who cries a lot and not always out of sadness. A quick internet search of “Neymar tears” reveals 4.73 million hits, from Brazil tears to Barça tears, to brave tears, sad tears, tears as Neymar greets [insert celebrity friend], to full, cinematic hot salty snot-washing tears. So, so many tears. The good news is you can also get a more cheering 18 million hits for “Neymar happy”: cue for a series of wonderful beaming grins and winks and million-dollar smiles. Some people have that glow about them. I once saw a woman faint in an airport departure hall after coming unexpectedly face to face with Bill Clinton – please, no comments – who has the same sense of human event glamour. Clinton just kind of giggled, a laugh of recognition – yes siree, ma’am, that’s what I do – as his victim was led away. Continue readi

A record crowd pointed to a bright future, but the same old problems remain for the Matildas Almost as soon as it was locked in, Saturday afternoon’s meeting between Australia and the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) was positioned as a celebration of the present and future of Australian women’s football. But in downing the Matildas 3-0 the United States provided another potent reminder to Australian football that, despite the great expectations it holds with a home World Cup on the horizon, the future is never guaranteed. As 36,109 fans watched on - the highest ever crowd for a women’s football match in Australia - the United States proved quite happy to spoil their hosts’ party, proving to be simply the better team in the moments when it counted; taking advantage of some calamitous errors and naivety in approach to claim a clinical win behind goals from Ashley Hatch, Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan (who made good on her goal of “shutting up” a hostile home crowd). Contin

Sporting director Leonardo says: ‘We don’t want him to leave’ No contact and no meeting with Zidane, Leonardo adds The Paris Saint-Germain sporting director, Leonardo, has insisted that the club have not met with Zinedine Zidane and remain behind the manager, Mauricio Pochettino. It has been a tumultuous week for PSG and Pochettino, after Manchester United sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjær on Sunday. It has seen United revive their long-standing interest in Pochettino and he do little to discourage it , particularly when he was in Manchester for Wednesday night’s Champions League tie at City, which his team lost 2-1 . Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/26/psg-give-pochettino-their-backing-and-say-no-talks-held-with-zidane

Czech billionaire purchased 27% stake in club earlier this month He can buy Sullivan and Gold’s shares at set price, papers reveal Daniel Kretinsky has agreed an option for a full takeover of West Ham as part of his purchase of a 27% stake in the club. The Czech billionaire became West Ham’s second-largest shareholder last month and documents submitted to Companies House this week show an option is in place for him to acquire the shares owned by David Sullivan and David Gold for a set price. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/26/daniel-kretinsky-agrees-option-for-full-takeover-of-west-ham

Last season’s Women’s FA Cup Final is yet to take place but this season’s competition is already under way and offers a chance to dream for players and fans of smaller clubs. We will be documenting one game from each round, starting with photographer Sophie Grew’s visit to Sporting Khalsa for their game against Wolves With only six miles separating the teams’ home grounds, the draw for the first round proper threw up a local derby between Sporting Khalsa and Wolverhampton Wanderers Women. The teams had previously faced each other once before, back in September 2020 when both sides were in the Women’s National League Division One (Midlands). Wolves won that match 5-0 and were promoted to the third-tier Northern Premier Division where they are unbeaten so far this season. Sporting Khalsa, who beat sixth-tier Thrapston Town to reach the first round, will have to be on the top of their game to cause an upset. Sporting Khalsa emerged from humble roots as a Sunday League side to become es

Patrick Vieira and Steven Gerrard locking horns in central midfield was a highlight of many a Premier League and cup encounter 15 to 20 years ago, not to mention a particularly gruelling group game at Euro 2004, but now there is the somewhat safer distance between the managers’ technical areas to separate them. Their aggressive personalities on the pitch are at odds with their calmer demeanours now but their desire to succeed has not diminished. Gerrard is four years Vieira’s junior but arguably has the edge in managerial experience – certainly in trophies. It is of course all about what their players can do for them now but there may be times on Saturday afternoon – or maybe the whole game – when those of a certain age wish Gerrard and Vieira were still doing battle on the pitch. Conrad Leach Saturday 3pm Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/26/crystal-palace-aston-villa-match-preview-premier-league

Chip shortages lead to production dropping to the lowest level recorded for October since 1956.

Chances missed to stop Bob Higgins abusing schoolboy players Club apologises over abuse there from mid-70s to late 80s A string of missed opportunities allowed the predatory paedophile Bob Higgins to sexually abuse scores of schoolboy footballers while he worked as a coach at Southampton, a damning report by the children’s charity Barnardo’s has concluded. Higgins, regarded as a “god-like” star-maker by youngsters who dreamed of a career in football, was able to operate “seemingly undetected” at Southampton from the mid-1970s until the late 1980s and continued to work elsewhere in the sport until 2016. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/26/southampton-historical-sexual-abuse-failures-revealed-in-damning-report-bob-higgins-barnados

Latest news with World Cup play-off draw at 4pm (GMT) Howe tests negative for Covid | Ten things to look out for Get in touch! Email Barry , tweet him or comment BTL Arsenal v Newcastle: Eddie Howe has been cleared to travel to the Emirates with Newcastle tomorrow after a spell in quarantine but his assistant coach Jason Tindall was in charge of talking to the media this morning ahead of the squad’s trip to the Big Smoke. “In terms of training, the lads have worked extremely hard, and there has been a constant dialogue with the manager,” he told reporters. “You want your leader and manager here with you, so we’ve missed him as staff and I’m sure the players have missed him on the grass and on the sidelines. We are certainly looking forward to having him back and I’m sure the fans will want him on the touchline.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/nov/26/premier-league-team-news-chelsea-manchester-united-arsenal-ne

Australia midfielder on being apart from her wife and daughter for six months and what playing in eight countries has shown her Few can say the pandemic came at a good time, but the Australia midfielder Tameka Yallop is one of the exceptions. On 21 August 2020 Yallop and her wife, Kirsty, welcomed their daughter, Harley Rose, into the world and suddenly the virus that had halted the football and travel of the globetrotting player had an upside. “It was definitely weird,” says Yallop, who has competed in eight countries and joined West Ham in May. “Timing-wise I was quite lucky because that was when my daughter was due and she is our first baby so all the nerves and the not knowing what to do took up a lot of my time and it was actually time that I really appreciated spending with my family. So, for me, it was kind of lucky timing with the world going into lockdown because I was trapped in my own bubble anyway with a new little baby.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardia

Howe making unexpected return after missing Brentford game He traced onset of symptoms to earlier date than last Friday Eddie Howe will make an unexpected return to the technical area at Arsenal on Saturday after returning a negative Covid-19 test in time to take charge of Newcastle United for the first time in person. Newcastle’s manager has been isolating in his Tyneside hotel suite since testing positive during a routine club screening last Friday. He was forced to miss last Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Brentford at St James’ Park, delegating managerial duties to his assistant, Jason Tindall, and seemed set to be absent until Tuesday night’s home game with Norwich. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/26/eddie-howe-clear-to-manage-newcastle-at-arsenal-after-negative-covid-test

Testimonies of former schoolboy footballers sexually abused by the coach show his manipulative and destructive behaviour While Bob Higgins is almost two and a half years into a 24-year sentence for abusing schoolboy players, the men he preyed upon are left to untangle the roots he put down in their personal lives. A running theme among those interviewed is that he set himself up as a “father figure”, pulling the wool over parents’ eyes but also inveigling himself into the affections of children whose backgrounds were less stable. In many cases, psychological control was only the start. One section of the Barnardo’s report into the horrific sexual abuse Higgins committed at Southampton explains how he would punish some of the boys – by failing to select them, humiliating them or physically assaulting them – to press home the message that he owned their claim to a football career, paving the way to further abuse. “My relationship with Bob was that I could never do well enough,” one is

The boss of the world's largest fertiliser producer says gas prices are responsible for higher food prices.

Mentor to Klopp and Tuchel honed his coaching philosophy on his rise from Germany’s sixth tier to the Champions League The Premier League just got more interesting. Ralf Rangnick, set to be appointed as Manchester United’s interim manager and then as a club consultant after the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, has already had a successful impact on English football: his belief in fast-paced transitions has influenced Jürgen Klopp and he was mentor to Thomas Tuchel and gave him his first coaching job (as Stuttgart’s youth coach). Now, after a long flirtation with the English game – Rangnick was close to the England job in 2016 and to roles at Everton in 2019 and Chelsea last season - comes the opportunity to put his stamp on a team. And there will be a stamp because, with Rangnick, it always comes back to identity. He has a clear style of play that he demands from his teams. He has said that all of Europe’s top coaches “know what their football looks like”. For the first time in sev

BA-owner IAG and EasyJet see their shares fall ahead of a suspension of flights from six countries.

It comes as China's technology industry regulator reviews compliance with new privacy rules.

Manchester United travel to Chelsea under Michael Carrick, Leeds’ impressive young goalkeeper has another tough evening ahead and Newcastle have decisions to make “Why are you playing Fred?” That’s the question Roy Keane wanted to ask while pinning Ole Gunnar Solskjær against a dressing room wall, and maybe Solskjær would have struggled to answer. But apparently Michael Carrick knows what Fred does well because the Brazilian was one of Manchester United’s best players in their midweek win at Villarreal, contributing intelligently to both of United’s goals and covering the left-hand side when in defensive mode. The question now is whether he will start against Chelsea, where containing Reece James should be an important part of the visitors’ game plan. Carrick also found uses for Donny van de Beek and Jadon Sancho when it had previously seemed United signed both without knowing why. Starting Sancho on the right may be the best way of exploiting the absence of Ben Chilwell. PD Chelsea

Analysts say this year's sale will be the biggest ever, but struggling retailers won't offer as many discounts.

Wife of a former Nissan boss on trial in Japan says he is a forgotten victim of the Carlos Ghosn affair.

It is unclear whether the placement scheme for 16-24 year olds is working, says National Audit Office.

Black Friday is back and Americans, flush with Covid cash, are going out to spend.

Steve Finch of toy retailer bopster, explains the pressures his firm is under for Black Friday this year.

The contents mulls over the same glaring issues and structural dysfunctions as previous reports with one huge difference For the many lovers of football who have long campaigned for reforms to the game’s modern mega-commercialisation, the contents of Tracey Crouch’s “fan-led review” are so familiar it manages to be simultaneously agonising and strangely reassuring. It mulls over the same glaring issues and structural dysfunctions as all the previous earnest reports that have piled up since the Football League’s First Division clubs broke away to form the Premier League 29 years ago, and reaches essentially the same conclusions. But there is a huge difference this time, making it a genuine landmark. The review shows politicians have had enough of being fobbed off, and veteran campaigners in the Football Supporters’ Association, who worked extensively on the details, have learned from previous reports producing too little change. So however unlikely it appears that a Conservative gove

Controlled, composed and convincing. Giovanni van Bronckhorst will face sterner challenges as the manager of Rangers – Sparta Prague provided feeble opposition – but this has to be considered a wholly acceptable start to his tenure. For good measure, following this dismissal of the Czechs, it was confirmed Rangers will progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League for a third year in succession. A boost, perhaps, to the new manager’s January transfer aspirations. On an evening full of positives for Van Bronckhorst, the role of Alfredo Morelos was most notable. The striker, not unreasonably criticised for his form already this season, scored twice and was a general menace to the Sparta defence. So far, so good, for the former Feyenoord manager’s regime. Rangers played with zip, purpose and aggression throughout. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/25/rangers-sparta-prague-europa-league-match-report