Author: David Great

The Spanish La Liga’s 5.36 cards per match are the highest across Europe’s top-five leagues, a sports company says. The site has presented data showing that the Spanish league’s 1220 matches between January 2020 and March 2023 drew an average of 5.08 yellow cards and 0.28 red cards/match, the highest in the continent. Following in the second spot was the Italian Serie A with an average of 4.95 cards/game (4.71 yellow and 0.24 red). The French Ligue 1 wrapped the top 3 spots with 4.81 cards/game (3.89 yellow and 0.29 red). Meanwhile, the English Premier League was the most disciplined…

Mauricio Pochettino is not using an agent as he negotiates the finer details of his appointment as Chelsea’s next head coach. (Telegraph – subscription required)  Pochettino has reached a verbal agreement with Chelsea to take over as the club’s next manager. (Talksport) Manchester United want to sign 29-year-old England striker Harry Kane, but will walk away and pursue other options rather than get involved in a lengthy battle over transfer fees with Tottenham. (Star) Sir Jim Ratcliffe will allow Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, to keep 20% of the club as part of his latest offer. (Times – subscription required) Spain goalkeeper David Raya and England striker Ivan Toney,…

Twitter and Facebook, two of the biggest social media platforms were targeted by governments worldwide for their role in facilitating communication and mobilization, data presentation by Atlas VPN team reveals. The data showed that protests and active conflicts were the primary triggers of the internet shutdowns. Governments restricted access to Twitter 13 times in 2022. As of February 2022, Twitter has been inaccessible in China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan due to government restrictions. Last year, Facebook’s access was also limited by governments on 13 occasions. Besides the usual suspects who blocked Twitter, Uganda’s president banned Facebook…

Manchester City struck a hammer blow in the Premier League title race as they outclassed leaders Arsenal 4-1 with an electrifying display in a seismic clash of the top two at the Etihad on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola’s relentless side ran riot as they made it 12 successive league wins against Arsenal with a masterful Kevin De Bruyne scoring twice and Erling Haaland also on target as City seized control of their destiny. De Bruyne fired City ahead in the seventh minute and City bombarded Arsenal’s goal before John Stones deservedly doubled their lead with a header in first half stoppage…

Brazilian forward Danilo scored his first goal for Nottingham Forest to help seal a 3-1 Premier League victory over Europe-chasing Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday, a win that moves his side out of the relegation zone. Brennan Johnson missed an early penalty for Forest at the City Ground and Brighton deservedly led when 18-year-old Argentine Facundo Buonanotte also netted for the first time in the Premier League. But Forest forced Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross to put the ball into his own net seconds before halftime, and Danilo capitalised from more sloppy play to put the home side in front…

Chelsea lost their fifth successive game since the return of Frank Lampard as Brentford won at Stamford Bridge to strengthen their position in the Premier League’s top 10. The visitors did not have a shot on target in the first half but took the lead midway through when Mathias Jorgensen’s flick from a corner hit Cesar Azpilicueta on his shoulder to deflect into the back of the net. Chelsea once again struggled to create chances and a hugely disappointing first half ended with boos from some of the home supporters. The Blues did improve after the break, thanks largely to…

A federal high court in Lagos, on Wednesday, struck out an interim order of forfeiture obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, seeking to seize 14 properties linked to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state. Justice Nicholas Oweibo struck out the suit on the ground that Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution prevents the institution of any criminal or civil case against a sitting governor or the President. The judge had, on February 22, granted the temporary forfeiture order, following an ex parte motion filed by the anti-graft agency seeking to seize 14 properties located in Lagos, Abuja,…

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe will have a transfer budget of up to £150m to spend this summer with Arsenal and Scotland left-back Kieran Tierney, 25, among the targets. (Sun) Newcastle are monitoring Roma’s Brazil centre-back Roger Ibanez, 24. (Nicolo Schira) Newcastle will consider selling French winger Allan Saint-Maximin, 26, this summer. (Football Insider) Reece James’ injury record could prevent Real Madrid from following up their interest in Chelsea’s England right-back and making an attempt to sign the 23-year-old. (AS – in Spanish) Liverpool want to sign Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips in the summer and the 27-year-old England international is open to the move. (Star) England midfielder Mason Mount has one year left on…

President Joe Biden launched his re-election bid on Tuesday with a promise to protect American liberties from “extremists” linked to former President Donald Trump, who he beat in 2020 and might face again in 2024. Biden made his announcement in a video released by his new campaign team that opens with imagery from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Trump’s supporters. “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we’re in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are,” Biden said. “This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why…

The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arrested 48 internet fraud suspects, including two women, Precious Malachi Zidyep and Tina Patrick Omoyeme, in a sting operation in Kaduna. The suspects also include two ex-convicts: Williams Justice Gankon and AbdulWasiu Yunus who were apprehended at Yoruba Street, Yakowa Expressway, Karji, Kaduna State. They were previously arrested on April 10, 2022, prosecuted and convicted on August 31, 2022 by Justice Nasiru Umar Sadiq of the Kaduna State High Court. The other suspects are Triumph Abdul Yakub Faith, John Joseph Ojima, Benjamin Odey Sunday, Wisdom Omofunhe Billy,…