Pep Guardiola has stressed the importance of remaining calm ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby.
The Manchester City manager wants to take the emotion out of Sunday’s crunch Premier League visit of United.
The encounter marks the start of a critical month for champions City in their bid to win a fourth successive title, with games against rivals Liverpool and Arsenal to follow.
City have held the upper hand over United in recent years, and the form of the Old Trafford side this season has been patchy, but Guardiola is well aware of the pitfalls of this fixture.
PEP What I ve learnt with my experience in these games, [is to be] more calm, relax. Don’t talk about many things, just focus on tactical issues. The emotion will be there. Prepare the g…
Sandro Tonali marked his 22nd birthday by scoring twice as Milan moved a step closer to the Serie A title with a 3-1 triumph at Hellas Verona on Sunday.
Inter leapfrogged Stefano Pioli s side at the summit with victory over Empoli on Friday, and Milan s response at the Bentegodi started poorly when Marco Faraoni headed Verona in front.
However, Tonali struck either side of half-time – with the excellent Rafael Leao assisting both – to turn the game around.
Alessandro Florenzi s late third made sure as the Rossoneri remain on course for their first Scudetto since 2010-11, back two points ahead of Inter with two games to play.
Lorenzo Montipo had produced a fantastic save to deny a Rade Krunic header in the opening stages, before Tonali saw a low fi…
Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta is hopeful that head coach Antonio Conte will still be in charge at San Siro next season but is unable to offer any guarantees.
Conte guided Inter to their first Scudetto triumph since 2009-10 this season with four games to spare and is under contract for another year.
However, the Italian giants are facing well-documented financial issues and Conte is reportedly considering his future beyond the end of this campaign.
Talks are said to be planned between the ex-Chelsea boss and president Steven Zhang once Inter have played their remaining two league matches.
And when asked by Sky Sport Italia whether Conte will still be in the Inter dugout next season, Marotta could not give a definitive answer.
As a perso…
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On Wednesday evening (early Thursday morning in Europe) at the Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, Portland Timbers will be welcoming Los Angeles FC in the MLS. The match will be the 13th of the season for the hosts, and 14th for the visitors.
Portland Timbers
Portland Timbers as we know them today were founded in 2009, though they bear the name of a club originally formed in 1975. They ve been a part of the MLS since 2011, and they finished top of the Western Conference twice so far, in 2013 and 2017. Last season they ended in third place.
At the moment, the team led by Giovanni Savarese occupy the seventh place in the conference with 16 points, five less than LA FC in fifth, two less than Minnesota in sixth (though they …
Players could harm themselves if not given enough support during times of crisis, according to former Huddersfield youngster Tareiq Holmes-Dennis.
The defender was forced to retire in 2020, aged just 24, after a serious knee injury.
Holmes-Dennis needed counselling when his career was cut short and while he feels concern for player welfare has improved, claims there needs to be a prolonged push to aid those in need.
Former Manchester City youngster Jeremy Wisten took his own life in 2020 after being released following a battle with a knee injury and Holmes-Dennis worries about the mental health of others.
“When you see young boys that have taken their life because they can’t cope – coping with the stresses of being released – it should never get t…
As the Premier League title chase starts to reach a boiling point, we have a heavyweight Saturday schedule from across England’s elite.
With Arsenal looking to at least briefly climb back to the top of the table, Manchester United will also steal centre stage on Saturday lunchtime.
For those of you who are looking to stick on a weekend acca, we have found a trio of Premier League betting tips that are worth taking note of.
Saturday, March 9th
BST 12:30 Manchester United vs Everton
Suffering a late collapse away at the bitter local rivals Manchester City last weekend, it is no secret that Erik ten Hag finds continued speculation over his long-term future at Old Trafford. Eventually falling to a 3-1 loss at the Etihad, United have suffered back-to-bac…
Joao Cancelo has accused Manchester City of being “ungrateful” and claimed “lies were told” about his exit from the club.
The Portugal full-back is currently on a season-long loan at Barcelona after a spell at Bayern Munich in the second half of last term.
Cancelo had been a key part of manager Pep Guardiola’s squad until shortly before his unexpected, deadline-day departure for Germany in January 2023.
Stories later emerged suggesting Cancelo, who had fallen behind Rico Lewis and Nathan Ake in the pecking order, had been a disruptive influence in the dressing room.
The 29-year-old told Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola: “Lies were told. I was never a bad companion for them and you can ask either Ake or Rico. I don’t have any superiority or…
Chelsea could join the race for Villarreal winger Alex Baena, according to . The report has claimed that Liverpool and Manchester City are preparing an offer to secure the services of the 21-year-old Spanish winger, who has a release clause of €35 million in his contract, and that former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea could become involved in the race son.
Baena has been on the books of Villarreal since 2011 and has established himself in the first team now. The Spain Under-21 international turned out for Villarreal C and Villarreal B in recent years and spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Ginora.
The winger has made six substitute appearances in La Liga for Villarreal so far the season, scoring three goals in the process. Baena has also scor…
Mikel Arteta hopes Arsenal are reeling from giving up a two-goal lead against Liverpool as the Gunners manager outlined the importance of luck in the Premier League title race.
Arsenal hold a six-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table, although Pep Guardiola s team have a game in hand.
The Gunners led 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday, but a thrilling match ultimately finished 2-2, with Aaron Ramsdale having to deny Liverpool a late winner.
Reflecting on that draw ahead of a trip across the capital to face West Ham, Arteta said: When you concede in the last few minutes, you have to be upset.
We wanted to win the game, but as well we have to be realistic. We have to accept that we had an exceptional period in the first half where we should have ki…
Antonio Conte oversaw his first Serie A victory in charge of Napoli, who ran out commanding 3-0 winners over Bologna at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Giovanni Simeone were all on target for the Partenopei as they bounced back from their defeat by the same scoreline at Verona on matchday one.
The hosts had not lost their opening two games of a Serie A season since doing so under Zdenek Zeman in 2000-01, and they broke through in first-half stoppage time.
A lovely move culminated in Kvaratskhelia clipping a delightful ball into the box for the onrushing Di Lorenzo to control and fire home.
Kvaratskhelia doubled the lead with a quarter of an hour remaining; his shot after a fine solo run deflecting beyond Lukas…