News

Seven months without a club Philippe Coutinho has been a free agent since February. Now Brazilian outlet UOL reports that Santos are waiting on nothing more than the player’s word before finalising a move. No signature yet. The former Liverpool and Barcelona playmaker is 34. Signing at Santos would reunite him with Neymar, who went…

A meeting nobody was supposed to know about February 2025. Didier Deschamps had just confirmed he would step down at the end of his contract, and while he was still very much the France manager, the federation president was already sitting across a table from his successor in a private room in Paris. Philippe Diallo…

47.5% against 27.4% Those are the two numbers that define Arsenal’s season so far. Across their first three Premier League matches, 47.5% of the club’s touches in the opposition half came in the right-hand third of the pitch. Just 27.4% came on the left. Both figures are the division’s extremes, and not narrowly. Arsenal spent…

A hundred and forty goals. That is the wall. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 140 times in 183 Champions League matches. Both marks are the competition record, and on Tuesday night two men took another step towards them. Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring after a Yann Bisseck error in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Inter. Erling Haaland…

Five goals, five matches, one stadium Anfield. Again. Marcos Llorente scored the opener on Wednesday night before Liverpool turned things round to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1. The script is getting repetitive. Last season the Spanish midfielder took both Madrid goals on the same pitch, and Liverpool still got out with a 3-2 win courtesy of…

Eight goals in seven meetings That is Erling Haaland’s return against Manchester United, and only two of those came on the road. He arrives at Old Trafford on Sunday off a brace in Porto. Opta’s supercomputer has run round four of the Premier League match by match, and the derby is the weekend’s centrepiece. Manchester…

Thirteen tries, zero wins Thirteen meetings. Two draws. Eleven defeats. Chelsea are the one WSL side Manchester United have never found a way past, and the two meet again on Sunday at Progress with Unity Stadium in round two. Only four teams in the competition’s history have run into the same opponent that often without…

Roazhon Park opens round four Two absentees, a raised security perimeter around the away end, and a manager playing down his own side’s chances at home. That is the backdrop to Friday night in Brittany. Rennes host Marseille to get round four of Ligue 1 under way, and Franck Haise wants nothing to do with…