The fifth round of the FA Cup kicked off with Arsenal visiting League One side Portsmouth on Monday. Because rules makers in England are about as smart as blade of grass, just three of the eight matches this round will feature a VAR. The lunacy of this decision was highlighted by a horrific Lucas Torreira injury that went unpunished.
Former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge has been suspended from all football-related activity until June 17 after he was found guilty of breaching betting rules, English football's governing body (FA) said on Monday.
Sturridge became a free agent earlier on Monday after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract with Turkish side Trabzonspor.
He had been charged by the FA in July with 11 alleged breaches of its betting rules, nine of which were dismissed by an independent regulatory commission, and banned for six weeks — four of which were suspended.
With the biggest clubs resting their starters until the later rounds of the competition, the League Cup is effectively England’s litmus test for who has the deepest squad of them all. It’s an opinion that’s supported by the fact that Manchester City has now won the competition five of the last seven years, including three straight.
Raúl Jiménez scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season on Sunday (equalling his total from last campaign with 10 games remaining), and it was an all-important match-winner as Wolves defeated Tottenham in North London. With the victory, Wolves moved above Spurs and into sixth-place. The club’s now level on points with fifth-place Manchester United and only three behind Chelsea in fourth.
Liverpool’s remarkable run is over. The Reds were run off the pitch by 19th-place Watford in a shocking 3-0 defeat on Saturday, ending a run of 44 Premier League matches unbeaten, spanning and incredible 422 days.
Liverpool fans had been living a dream for the past year and a half. Having won the Champions League in 2019, the Reds are running away to their first Premier League title ever, playing some of the most inspired football England has ever seen.
Sam Kerr hasn’t had quite the barnstorming start to life in England as many expected. Since coming to Chelsea on a big-money move from Chicago, where she scored 18 goals in 2019, she had scored just one goal in league play.
But even when she’s not scoring, Kerr is one of the best in the world, as she showed in a 2-1 win in the FA Women’s League Cup final against Arsenal on Saturday.
Training sessions at Newcastle United will be a lot less cordial after manager Steve Bruce said on Friday that players and staff had been advised to avoid handshakes in a bid to prevent spreading coronavirus.
The United Kingdom now has 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus and Bruce said the club was not taking any chances.
"There's a ritual here that everybody shakes hands with everybody as soon as we see each other every morning; we've stopped that on the advice of the doctor," Bruce told a news conference ahead of Saturday's match against Burnley.
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been charged by the Football Association for a post from his Snapchat earlier in February.