Luis Enrique showered praise on Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele after his brace kept the defending champions perfect in Ligue 1.
Dembele netted either side of Fabian Ruiz s 73rd-minute strike in PSG s 3-1 win over Brest on Saturday, having overcome Romain Del Castillo s opener.
The Frenchman has already scored as many goals in four league matches this season as he did in 26 encounters last season (three).
Dembele has also scored two headed goals this term, as many as in 211 career league games before that.
He also recorded the most shots on target (five) and touches in the opposition box (12) on Saturday, with his expected goals (xG) tally of 0.76 only bettered by midfielder Marco Asensio (1.08).
I didn t realise he scored two goa…
Best Odds: 7/10
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With their sights firmly set on recapturing their La Liga crown this season, Real Madrid will open the 2023/24 campaign when they travel to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday night.
Athletic Bilbao
Starting with the hosts, enduring what was a woeful run of form during the final couple of months last season, Athletic Bilbao certainly couldn’t have wished for a sterner opening weekend examination here. Failing to pick up any kind of momentum during their summer preparations, Los Leones have come under a huge amount of scrutiny since returning from the World Cup’s winter break. Eventually missing out on the chance to book a lucrative European return following their infamous late collapse, Ernesto Valverde will know that he has some mounting…
Jorginho missed the chance to make Arsenal tremble as he became the first Chelsea player since current manager Frank Lampard to fail with two penalties in a Premier League season.
The Blues midfielder had seen Tammy Abraham give his team hope by cutting Arsenal s lead to 3-1 at Emirates Stadium, so a 90th-minute spot-kick was the chance to heap pressure on the hosts.
With plenty of stoppage time ahead, a successful penalty could have been followed by a Chelsea equaliser, but Jorginho saw his kick saved by Bernd Leno.
That eased the pressure immensely for Arsenal, and they survived to claim a much-needed win.
Watching at pitchside, Chelsea boss Lampard may have remembered his own misses from 12 yards during his playing career.
In the 2013-14 Premi…
Arsenal boss Unai Emery says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe could be unleashed together against Tottenham in the north London derby.
The trio are yet to start a Premier League match as a front three since Arsenal made Pepe their club record signing, bringing the Ivory Coast forward in from Ligue 1 side Lille.
Lacazette has been battling an ankle injury and was left out of the France squad on Thursday, but Aubameyang has started the new campaign in fine form with two goals from three games.
Arsenal s attack is now arguably as strong as any in the Premier League, with Emery considering whether to choose the Spurs game for Aubameyang, Lacazette and Pepe to start together.
Yes, but be calm, Emery told reporters on Thursday w…
Ange Postecoglou admitted I don t celebrate goals any more after VAR denied Tottenham during their north London derby defeat by Arsenal.
Spurs were beaten 3-2 by their rivals, who kept their Premier League title challenge on track, despite a late rally having trailed 3-0 at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Trailing 1-0 to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg s own-goal, the hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven slotted past David Raya, However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.
Arsenal took advantage of their let-off with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz increasing their lead, while second-half strikes from Cristiano Romero and Heung-Min Son proved academic for Tottenham.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang s lack of playing time will cause problems for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, according to Gary Neville.
The Gabon international dropped to the bench for Monday s 2-1 defeat to Everton, with Arteta instead using Alexandre Lacazette and Gabriel Martinelli in attack.
Arteta turned to Eddie Nketiah from the substitutes bench before finally introducing Aubameyang five minutes from time.
Aubameyang missed a glorious chance shortly after Demarai Gray had fired in what proved to be a superb late winner for Everton to relieve the pressure on Rafael Benitez.
Arsenal s out-of-form captain has now failed to score in his last six Premier League appearances, which is his longest run in the competition and his longest goalless league run since…
Five years have passed since Leicester City stunned the football world and sealed their astonishing first Premier League triumph.
The Foxes had faced relegation the previous season before rallying late in the year but then stormed clear at the summit in 2015-16.
Leicester are now regular Champions League challengers, yet the story of that campaign remains remarkable.
With Opta data, we tell the tale of their title success through their three key performers.
VARDY S GOALS
Jamie Vardy s rags to riches football fairytale story is well documented, but by this point in his career it is fair to say he had not yet made the grade in the Premier League.
Having scored 16 times in their 2013-14 promotion campaign, Vardy scored one, created two …
Pep Guardiola is happy to lean on the knowledge of Manchester City s former Borussia Dortmund players ahead of Wednesday s Champions League meeting with the Bundesliga club.
Dortmund head to Etihad Stadium for their fifth meeting with City in the Champions League.
The clubs previously faced each other in the 2012-13 group stage and the quarter-finals in the 2020-21 campaign. City have won three of those matches, with the other one finishing as a draw.
Ilkay Gundogan, Sergio Gomez, Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji have all spent chunks of their career at Dortmund, with the latter two having signed for City from the German side earlier this year.
Akanji made his City debut in the 4-0 thrashing of Sevilla last week, a game in which Haaland scored twice, taki…
Erling Haaland has enjoyed a remarkably prolific start to life in England with Manchester City.
Ahead of Sunday s derby with Manchester United, Haaland has netted 14 goals in 10 appearances in all competitions for City since his off-season move.
The Norwegian joined City from Borussia Dortmund in June on a five-year contract, following interest from several top clubs.
TOP STORY – MAN CITY CONSIDERING IMPROVED HAALAND DEAL
It is only a few months into Erling Haaland s first Manchester City contract, but the English champions are ready to offer him a new and improved deal, reports the Daily Star.
City have gone early on revised contracts in the past to shore up key players before they become transfer targets for rivals and they will do the same w…
Prediction: Shakhtar Donetsk to Win
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The UEFA Europa League gets underway on Wednesday evening as Shakhtar Donetsk host Wolfsburg, with a place in the competition s quarter-finals the prize for the victors.
Heading into the clash, it is the Ukranian side that are ahead, having established a 2-1 lead in the first leg at the Volkswagen Arena. They will hope to retain, or even add to that advantage, and reach a last-eight tie against either Basel or Eintracht Frankfurt.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Having dropped into UEFA s second tier continental competition from the UEFA Champions League, Luis Castro s men were probably one of the strongest in the competition. That was justified in the last round as they managed to overcome Portuguese gian…