Blog – Page 8 – Football Scout

Liverpool should thrash Newcastle, right? Not so fast. Your Premier League weekend preview

With international break over, The Exploding Heads predict Liverpool vs. Newcastle and ruin some cake in the process.

Craig Burley and Steve Nicol have different opinions on the significance of Aymeric Laporte’s injury to the Premier League title race.

Shaka Hislop examines whether or not Raheem Sterling has what it takes to become an elite star following his top form for club and country.

Club football is back! Nick Miller gets you ready for all the Premier League action with a new-look weekend preview.

THE WEEKEND’S BIG QUESTIONS

Will Newcastle pull another performance out of the bag against Liverpool?

Newcastle United have a case for being the strangest team in the Premier League. They’re a pretty uninspiring bunch, for the most part, but have nonetheless pulled off two of the most impressive results of 2019, being the last team to beat Manchester City and, of course, claiming…

Michael Owen shows he’s not just Mr. Nice Guy, ranting about Liverpool, Man United, fan hate and his regrets

MALPAS, England — Michael Owen laughs a lot. It’s one of the first things you notice when you are in the company of the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United forward. The common perception of Owen is that he is, and always has been, an extreme version of the modern-day sportsman who has been managed and polished to within an inch of his life, but the reality is very different.

We are chatting in the Owners Lounge at Manor House Stables, a thoroughbred horse racing training complex…

Gareth Bale is starring again for Real Madrid but don’t think he’s forgotten how they treated him

“Things can turn quickly in football and it is just a matter of time,” said Gareth Bale, and he knows. He’s been told it, he’s seen it, he’s lived it. Somehow, somewhere, there’s always a way back.
In the late spring of 2018 — when he wasn’t playing for Real Madrid, when Zinedine Zidane had left him out of every European game since Valentine’s Day and had no plans to put him back in, when he was at a loss to explain it all and his manager was in no hurry to explain it to him either — someone…

Toe Poke Daily: Daniel James could match Solskjaer’s Old Trafford goal record… if Man United boss doesn’t bench him

Shaka Hislop says Manchester United’s David de Gea needs to “check back in emotionally” to reclaim the form that led to his rise to stardom.

Although it’s early days, the ESPN FC panel talk Romelu Lukaku’s time at Inter and how he’s changed since his disappointing time at Manchester United.

After Michael Keane and Harry Maguire surrendered three goals against Kosovo, ESPN FC’s Craig Burley re-examines England’s centre-back partnership.
The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.
Jump to: Mateo Messi shows he can celebrate like his dad | Neymar has PSG jersey delivered by bike | Thomas Muller celebrates 30th (THIRTIETH!) birthday with Bayern cake | New contract announced with adorable dog video
># Sounds like @Daniel_James_97 could be set for a very brief appearance on Saturday…#MUFC #MUNLEI pic.twitter.com/1GqN6q58LB— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 13, 2019

Daniel James has made a flying start to life as a Manchester United player by scoring three goals in four appearances…

Germany’s Bundesliga is great but not for the reasons you’d think

The ESPN FC panel break down Group F and talk whether Inter or Borussia Dortmund would be able to knock Barcelona out of the group stage.

Mainz have consistently developed coveted players and sold for big profits, which in turn has helped sustain the club’s entire operation.

The execution isn’t always perfect and the emotion is perhaps still too raw, but watching the emergence of a new talent is one of the few magical moments left in soccer. At a time when the sport is drowning in super teams, inconceivable fees and a drive for entertainment over all else, it’s worth recognizing where you can reliably watch the next generation of stars. In European football, the Bundesliga is that place.

“We’re sensitive when we hear the description ‘developmental league,'” said…

Harry Kane has declined over the past year. Should Spurs fans be concerned?

If you had to guess, you could probably get most of the names. Over the past 10 years, who would be on the top 10 for most shots attempted in a single Premier League season?

The list doubles as a pretty good summation of the most impactful players in the league over that span. There’s Luis Suarez, who is on there twice. Wayne Rooney’s on there. So is Cristiano Ronaldo. The two defining Chelsea players of the era, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, both make appearances, as do Gareth Bale and Robin…

Toe Poke Daily: Messi accepts Ronaldo’s dinner invitation

Cristiano Ronaldo notched his 10th 4-goal game for both club and country in Portugal’s 5-1 win over Lithuania.

The Serie Awesome podcast crew provide their grades on Juve’s summer dealings, where questions arise over keeping “dead weight” players.

As Barcelona’s stuttering start continued with a 2-2 draw at Osasuna, Steve Nicol is still baffled they’re struggling even without Lionel Messi.
The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.
Jump to: Barcelona’s new kit inspired by Ronaldo — no, not that one | Kevin-Prince Boateng admits to buying three cars in one day

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could be sharing a table for two soon.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has accepted an invitation to dinner from his great rival, Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
While the pair were sat next to each other in the front row at last month’s UEFA…

Could anything derail Manchester City and Liverpool’s Premier League title bids?

The FC guys examine Man City’s defensive options with the possibility that Aymeric Laporte could miss an extended period of time with a knee injury.

ESPN FC’s Steve Nicol thinks Sadio Mane’s temper tantrum is “the reason Liverpool are so good.”
Doing a fair impersonation of invincibility, Manchester City resume their quest for a third successive Premier League title at Norwich on Saturday.
Surprisingly, they have been held to 0-0 draws at Carrow Road on their last two league visits. You could get rich putting money on a repeat of that scoreline this time around.
The newly-promoted Canaries, a bold bunch, are quoted at 20-1 by bookmakers to win this weekend and that is a realistic assessment of their chances given the lethal attack of City…

ESPN’s Ultimate XI: We pick our dream team that could win anything

If money was no object, which 11 players would you sign to form the ultimate team? This is the question we put to ESPN FC’s experts ahead of the Champions League group stage, which begins Sept. 17.

We asked our experts to pick the XI they felt would be both indispensable and unbeatable in the pursuit of long-term glory. There were some basic rules:

– no more than two players from the same club
– use the 4-3-3 formation, a base template for so many top teams
– remain true to each player’s position:…

One-man wall: Gurpreet’s reflexes defy Qatar

India may not have made the brightest start to their World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, but it hasn’t been due to any lack of effort from the team’s No.1, Gurpreet Sandhu. 
After pulling off a series of remarkable saves in the opening game against Oman, Gurpreet was it again in Doha, diving left, right and centre to frustrate the Asian champions Qatar. 
His reflexes in the first half kept India in the game, and ESPN’s live blog busy. 
Here is how he rose to the occasion once more: 
4’…

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