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FULHAM are ready to offer Wigan’s Antonee Robinson a stunning contract to win the race for his signature. Scott Parker’s side are prepared to pay the USA left-back, 23, about £50,000 a week to join them. The Cottagers are hoping the bumper offer will help convince Robinson to pick them ahead of West Brom, Sheffield […] More
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are in the dark over how many fans supporters they will be allowed to let into games. That is despite PM Boris Johnson giving the OK to plans for gates to open in just six weeks. The government have made it clear they are still on course to end the ban on […] More
CHELSEA legend John Terry has lost £207,000 after a trendy swimwear firm he backed went bust. The former England captain, 39, invested in luxury brand Thomas Royall in 2015. Terry, wife Toni, 37, and son Georgie, 14, have recently modelled for the company for whom the star was a director in 2018. The defender said […] More
MEMPHIS DEPAY is ready to prove his Premier League critics wrong by crushing Pep Guardiola’s Champions League dream. The former Manchester United forward, 26, was branded a flop during a disappointing three-year spell at Old Trafford. But he has really found his feet at European surprise packages Lyon. Depay’s penalty in last week’s 2-1 defeat […] More
CARL FRAMPTON’S Christmas stank as he could not wash himself but he is taking baby steps toward a third world title tonight.
The 33-year-old Belfast hero underwent a painful December operation on the scarred and heavy hands that have helped make him arguably the greatest fighter Ireland has ever produced.
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Carl Frampton broke both hands – leaving him unable to wash himself before a painful operation
The surgery left him unable to carry out the most basic of human tasks.
But, with the help of his beloved wife Christine, he got back on track for a crack at the WBO super-featherweight crown once Covid travel restrictions improve.
Ahead of his tune-up against Darren Traynor at an empty York Hall, Frampton told SunSport: “The hands are good. They look s**t but they’re all right, they feel good.
“I had the op five days before Christmas which was then a disaster because I had my hands bandaged for the week.
“I could barely eat or drink without help but wiping my arse was the big issue.
“But luckily the painkillers they gave me had me completely constipated, so I went eight days without a s**t!
“But the missus bathed me every second day, which was nice.”
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Frampton pictured with beloved wife Christine
The back end of Frampton’s celebrated career has been something of a rollercoaster.
He lost two fights after an opponent fell over in the shower and when a hotel statue fell on his hand and shattered one of his powerful paws.
It is hard to find a single person who does not want the 5ft 5in powerhouse to bow out on a high note, apart from one Twitter troll.
The Jackal said: “There is one guy who hammers me all the time, I almost always ignore him but one recently got to me and I replied.
“You can get too obsessed with social media and maybe I was for a little while so I leave it now.
“But that bloke is a proper d***head.”
After his East London bout, Frampton dreams of fighting Jamel Herring for his third title, on the mooted December 19 Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder trilogy show.
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In between he has another behind-closed-doors clash when his multi-million pound case with former manager and mentor Barry McGuigan is heard on September 8.
He said: “Part of the reason why I am trying to win a third world title is, when a kid in the playground says ‘Barry McGuigan was the best fighter Ireland has ever produced’, my kids can say ‘well actually my dad was a three-weight world champion and better than Barry McGuigan’.
“That’s part of the motivation.”
Carl Frampton’s wife Christine hilariously mimics his kettlebell workout with beer can
Coverage of Frampton vs Traynor begins at 8pm on BT Sport 2 More
MANCHESTER CITY know they will dominate the game against Lyon.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan will be given freedom with the ball from midfield, while Raheem Sterling will be given plenty of chances to make an impact.
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Kyle Walker’s covering pace could be crucial for Manchester City as they will not only need patience but also the ability to halt Lyon counter-attacks Credit: Getty Images – Getty
This should not be a surprise.
In the Champions League this season, Lyon have had less possession on four occasions — winning two, drawing one and losing one.
That loss was away to Juventus in the last 16 and they won on away goals.Over both ties against the Italians, they averaged just 37 per cent possession.
Against semi-finalists RB Leipzig in the group stage, they picked up three points with just 41 per cent possession.
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Attacking talents like Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan should receive plenty of space in deep positionsCredit: Getty – Contributor
Having less of the ball is their preference.
And Lyon are comfortable playing away from home — their away record in Ligue 1 is played 15, won six, drawn three and lost six, which was the third best in the division.
So for City, this will not be about how they can dominate possession.
Instead, it will be about making sure they cannot be caught on the counter.With this in mind, one of the most important players on the pitch will be Kyle Walker.
It would be wrong to suggest the England full-back is under-rated but he, perhaps, is not spoken about in the same vein as City’s wealth of superstars.
But he is incredibly important to Pep Guardiola and what he needs from his full-back playing his highly adaptable version of a 4-3-3.
Walker’s pace will be crucial in nullifying Cornet’s eye for a counter. Stop Cornet and you stop one of Lyon’s main attacking outlets playing from deep.
It’s a system that has worked very well for Pep over the last couple of years but there is always that danger of becoming vulnerable in certain areas. Extra protection is needed.
Rodri is the holding midfielder, while De Bruyne and Gundogan push forward.
The left-back, whether it is Joao Cancelo, Oleksandr Zinchenko or Benjamin Mendy, is the attacking outlet.
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Rodri, seen arriving with Aymeric Laporte, could have a pivotal role getting behind Lyon out wideCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Walker also gets forward but, more often than not, he tucks in from the right to play as that second defensive midfielder alongside Rodri.
This gives them a solid platform to deal with the counter, maintaining a four-man defence at the back.
This will be key for Walker and, subsequently, City as a whole, when they come up against one of Lyon’s biggest attacking threats in Maxwel Cornet.
He has been converted from an attacking, speedy winger into a clever wing-back who picks and chooses his moments to burst forward into space to bring Lyon up the pitch.
Pep will know all about him — he scored three of Lyon’s four goals when they met City in the 2018-19 competition.
Walker’s pace will therefore be crucial in nullifying Cornet’s eye for a counter.
City need width to stretch Lyon as much as possible. There may be some fragility at the back for City but their attacking talent will be enough
Stop Cornet and you ultimately stop one of Lyon’s main attacking outlets playing from deep.
But City cannot just rely on Walker to ensure Lyon are kept at bay. That starts from City’s attacking three.
Their collective press is phenomenal, just ask Raphael Varane.
He was pickpocketed for both City goals as they knocked out Real Madrid at the Etihad.
City commit so many players forward that when it is lost, they know how to press in a certain way to win the ball back as quickly as possible.
They squeeze you inwards, back towards your own goal.
The likelihood is Lyon will defend with a back five, so when City do have the ball, Sterling will be an important outlet.
He will have to figure out in the first five minutes just how to create space effectively.
Sterling can either play more centrally, encouraging the left-back to overlap and create more space out wide.
Or he can go wide himself as KDB and Gundogan go through the middle to exploit the gaps between the centre-backs and wing-backs.
In my opinion, it will be the latter. City need width to stretch Lyon as much as possible. There may be some fragility at the back for City but their attacking talent will be enough.
Coming back from lockdown after watching Liverpool stroll to a Premier League title, the determination and desire will be greater than ever to end this season with a bang.
For all Guardiola has done since he joined in 2016, he was brought in to deliver the Holy Grail — a Champions League.
All the great teams have one in the bag. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Liverpool.
A win for City will elevate them into that bracket. They will go all guns blazing to get it.
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FOOTBALL fans will finally begin returning to stadiums next month — but may not be allowed to sing. A further easing of lockdown rules will also see snooker lovers back in the Crucible this weekend for the World Championship. Rugby matches and racing at Goodwood are also on the list of approved “pilot” events in […] More
THE new football season will be the most hectic in history.
Premier League, FA and Carabao Cup dates were released yesterday as part of an eight-month coronavirus-enforced fixture pile-up. It means:
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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool face a gruelling schedule to defend their Premier League crown, including cup congestion and a packed mid-seasonCredit: AFP or licensors
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This amazing breakdown of when the fixtures fall shows the demands on top-flight players in the coming term
Almost a third of all Prem fixtures will be crammed into December and January.
Four rounds of the Carabao Cup are to be played before the end of September.
Tottenham face playing Europa League and Carabao Cup games in 48 hours.
But FA Cup replays have been scrapped to try to ease congestion.
Fans will finally be allowed to return to stadiums next month — but the Government will cap the number allowed inside and supporters may be banned from singing for fear of spreading the killer Covid-19 bug.
The new Prem season kicks-off on September 12, concluding on May 23, with the Champions League and Europa League finals to be played in the following week.
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And that leaves less than a fortnight between the end of the club season and the first game of the rescheduled European Championship finals.
Prem clubs also face a nightmare festive period with 12 matches between December 5 and January 30 — plus a possible FOUR domestic cup games.
With two rounds of Champions and Europa League games also being staged in December, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester, Arsenal and Spurs could be forced to play 18 games over nine weeks.
The bonkers fixture list will give fans a feast of football following the lockdown.
But world players’ union Fifpro chief Jonas Baer-Hoffmann has warned footballers face burn-out with an overcrowded calendar for three years.
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Spurs boss Jose Mourinho may end up having to field entirely different line-ups in the Europa League and Carabao Cup competitionsCredit: Reuters
He said: “There is a big question of how we manage the load in a very condensed period.
“Rather than eliminate fixtures, most leagues are cramming them into a shorter period of time.”
Wolves have just completed a 383-day season of 59 games, while Spurs are the first casualties of the fixture congestion.
Jose Mourinho’s men have to play three rounds of Europa League qualifying — on September 17, September 24 and October 1, all on Thursday nights two days after a Carabao Cup game.
Spurs are in talks with EFL chiefs to try to find a solution but they may have little choice but to field two separate teams in the two competitions throughout September.
PROSPECT OF NO PRE-SEASON
There will be a similar problem for Manchester City or Manchester United if either are needed to play in the Uefa Super Cup, which is also scheduled for September 24 in Budapest.
Both clubs also face the prospect of having no pre-season if they make it to this month’s Champions League final (August 23) and Europa League final (August 21) respectively.
And should City win the Champions League, they may well have to travel to Qatar to compete in the Fifa Club World Cup in December.
As it is, clubs who progress in the Carabao Cup will be expected to play a minimum of six league and cup games in the opening three weeks of the campaign.
The FA Cup begins on September 1 with the extra preliminary round, with the Wembley final set for May 15 — before the end of the Prem season.
But all replays have been scrapped, as have the two-legged Carabao Cup semi-finals, which will now be just one-off games.
The Premier League fixtures will be released before next weekend while the EFL games are announced at 9am next Friday.
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