Norwich chairman Bowkett steps down

Jordan Henderson believes it is Manchester City who set the standards in the Premier League and Liverpool will have to keep up with Pep Guardiola s men if they are to stand of chance of winning back the title.

Liverpool welcome City to Anfield on Sunday in what Henderson feels is undoubtedly the biggest match of the season so far for Jurgen Klopp s men.

The Reds can return to the summit with a win after Chelsea knocked them off top spot by beating Southampton 3-1 on Saturday.

Historically Liverpool boast a good record against City, having not lost consecutive home games against them since 1937 and losing just one of their past 18 meetings at Anfield.

But that solitary defeat came via a 4-1 thrashing in February as City cruised to the title, and although …

Moise Kean was the shoot-out hero for Paris Saint-Germain as they edged into the Coupe de France final by beating Montpellier on penalties after a Kylian Mbappe masterclass was not enough to finish the job in normal time.

Smarting after seeing their Champions League challenge ended by Manchester City and their Ligue 1 title defence severely dented by Rennes, two wonderful Mbappe goals, which sandwiched a similarly admirable Gaetan Laborde strike for Montpellier, appeared to have secured PSG s place in a seventh Coupe de France final in seven seasons.

But Andy Delort scored a late leveller to make it 2-2 in a dramatic finale to send an absorbing contest to penalties.

Five players from each team all delivered in a high-quality shoot-out, but the pressure proved too…

Verdict: Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals

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European heavyweights Liverpool and Bayern Munich lock horns at Anfield on Tuesday night in arguably the most eagerly-anticipated Champions League last-16 clash.

Liverpool

Starting with Jurgen Klopp s Liverpool side, while Tuesday s hosts might have seen Manchester City reclaim top spot in the Premier League, the mood in the Reds camp should be on a high. Picking up a 3-0 win over Bournemouth before going for nine days of warm weather training, they will be glad to make a return to Anfield in midweek. With their EFL Cup defeat to Chelsea back in September their only loss on Merseyside in any competition this season, it has been their home form in Europe really catching the eye. La…

Leeds United want to sign Freddie Woodman from Preston North End in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Leeds are among the clubs who are keen on securing the services of the former Newcastle United goalkeeper.

Preston are reportedly willing to sell the 25-year-old goalkeeper in the summer of 2023. Woodman has been on the books of Preston since the summer of 2022 when he joined from Premier League club Newcastle.

The 25-year-old former England Under-21 international goalkeeper has established himself as the number one between the posts for Preston and is one of the better players in his position in the Championship. 

So far this season, Woodman has made 34 appearances in the Championship, one in the Carabao Cup and two in the …

Aston Villa have sacked head coach Dean Smith after five consecutive defeats left the club just two points clear of the Premier League s bottom three heading into the November international break.

Smith was appointed at Villa Park in October 2018 and quickly led his boyhood club back to the top flight via the Championship play-offs.

Villa just about survived relegation in their first season back up and also reached the EFL Cup final, before kicking on last term and finishing 11th.

But Villa sold talismanic captain Jack Grealish to Manchester City for a British record £100million fee before the start of the 2021-22 campaign and have struggled in his absence.

Smith s side did win away at Manchester United on September 25, but they have lost every match sin…

Real Madrid

Real Madrid won the La Liga title last season, as Barcelona imploded and failed to challenge their bitter rivals until the very end. Zinedine Zidane’s side ended up as many as five points ahead of second-placed Barcelona to clinch what was their first league title since 2017. Barcelona have dominated the domestic arena in recent seasons, but with the Blaugrana having problems of their own, Los Blancos will be confident of making it back-to-back league title triumphs this season.

Madrid have yet to make a single major signing in the summer transfer window, as Spanish clubs struggle due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, Los Blancos are making the headlines for selling players. Midfielder Daniel Ceballos has returned to Arsenal on another season-long loan deal, w…

Domenico Tedesco expects to see even more from his Belgium side, despite an impressive 3-0 victory over Sweden in his first game as head coach.

Romelu Lukaku s hat-trick in Friday s opening Euro 2024 qualifier ensured Tedesco, who took over from Roberto Martinez last month, got off to a flying start.

While pleased to have picked up victory in the Group F clash in Stockholm, former RB Leipzig boss Tedesco can see room for improvement after his first 90 minutes at the helm.

I am satisfied with the team, because no victory is easy, Tedesco said. “But we started nervous here and lost some balls in situations where that should not have happened.

Yet we scored twice after two good counters with excellent flank play. After that, at 2-0 we performed less and…

Ivan Perisic will miss Croatia s Euro 2020 last-16 clash with Spain after testing positive for COVID-19. 

The Croatian Football Association announced the veteran winger s result on Saturday and said he will spend the next 10 days in self-isolation. 

All other national team members and staff tested negative, they said.

The rest of the team will fly from their base in Pula to Copenhagen on Sunday, with their last-16 match against Spain set for Monday. 

Hrvatski nogometni savez zaprimio je tijekom večeri rezultate redovnog testiranja na virus SARS-CoV-2 koje je pokazalo da je reprezentativac Ivan Perišić pozitivan na koronavirus. Priopćenje za medije:

— HNS (@HNS_CFF)

Perisic has scored two of Croatia s four goals at the Euros, wit…

Richarlison fired a first-half hat-trick before nervy Brazil almost squandered a 3-0 lead against Germany in their Tokyo 2020 opener, while Australia stunned Argentina.

Reigning Olympic champions Brazil eventually toppled Germany 4-2 in the Group D opener in Yokohama, a rematch of the final from the 2016 Games in Rio that went to a penalty shoot-out.

Brazil were pegged back to 3-2 on this occasion before Paulinho s stoppage-time strike ended 10-man Germany s hopes of snatching a draw.

Richarlison made a seventh-minute breakthrough when Germany defender Amos Pieper slipped to allow the Everton striker a clear run on goal. Although his first shot was pushed out by Florian Mueller, Richarlison lashed in the rebound on the half-volley.

A close-range header …

Premier League winner Shinji Okazaki has signed for Spanish side Malaga after leaving Leicester City on a free transfer.

The Japan international moves to the Segunda Division outfit on a one-year deal and becomes the first Asian player in Malaga s history.

Okazaki, 33, departed Leicester following the expiry of his contract at the end of June.

He spent four seasons at the King Power Stadium and scored 14 league goals, including five on the way to the Foxes famous title triumph in 2015-16.

Okazaki will be officially presented as a Malaga player at a news conference on Wednesday.

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