06/05 | ||||||
10:30 | Meizhou Hakka – Shandong Taishan | 2 | NO GOAL 1.80 | |||
12:30 | FC Botoșani – FC Universitatea Cluj | 1X | UNDER 1.57 | |||
14:00 | Fortuna Düsseldorf – Holstein Kiel | 1 | OVER 1.53 | |||
14:35 | Chengdu Rongcheng – Qingdao Hainiu | 1 | NO GOAL 1.62 | |||
15:00 | TSV 1860 München – SC Freiburg II | 1X | GOAL 1.62 | |||
16:00 | FK Teplice – FK Pardubice | 1X | GOAL 1.57 | |||
16:00 | Gefle IF – Västerås SK | X2 | GOAL 1.67 | |||
17:00 | Wolverhampton – Aston Villa | X2 | UNDER 1.67 | |||
17:00 | Ross County – Livingston | X2 | UNDER 1.67 | |||
17:00 | Alloa Athletic – Dunfermline Athletic | X2 | OVER 1.75 | |||
17:00 | Peterhead – Falkirk FC | 2 | OVER 1.57 | |||
17:30 | Lokomotiv Sofia – Arda Kardzhali | X2 | UNDER 1.62 | |||
19:15 | Club Brugge – Royale Union Saint-Gilloise | 1X | GOAL 1.57 | |||
19:30 | Liverpool – Brentford | 1 | OVER 1.50 | |||
19:30 | SV Werder Bremen – FC Bayern München | 2 | OVER 1.33 | |||
20:00 | Chamois Niortais – Metz | 2 | UNDER 1.90 | |||
20:00 | Pau FC – Quevilly-Rouen Métropole | X2 | UNDER 1.60 | |||
21:30 | Lanús – Huracán | 1X | UNDER 1.53 | |||
23:00 | Real Madrid – Osasuna | 1 | OVER 1.60 |
Tag: Aston Villa
Emery named new Aston Villa manager
Aston Villa have named Unai Emery as their new head coach, replacing the sacked Steven Gerrard.
The club have paid Emery’s 6-million Euro release clause from Villareal, just 24 hours after Emery led the club to a 2-1 home win over Almeria on Sunday.
The Spanish club also confirmed the news with a communique in which they explained he had “decided unilaterally to rescind his connection to the club.”
Emery led Villarreal to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League last season and he leaves with them seventh in the table with 18 points from 11 games.
The Spaniard replaces Gerrard, who was sacked after a 3-0 defeat to Fulham last week, and returns to the Premier League where he previously had mixed fortunes at Arsenal.
Emery led Arsenal to the UEFA Europa League final in 2019 and a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, but he was sacked after a poor run at the start of the following season.
Without Gerrard in the dugout, Villa won 4-0 at home to Brentford on Sunday.
Marcelino Garcia Toral is the current favorite to coach Villarreal – whom he coached between 2013-2016 – after leaving Athletic Bilbao last summer.
EPL Saturday roundup – Merseyside Derby ends in barren draw as Manchester City held
Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made a string of saves to keep Liverpool at bay, with Jurgen Klopp’s side also hitting the woodwork several times.
Meanwhile, Everton also hit the post and had a goal ruled out for a tight offside, while Alisson also had to make some big saves to keep Everton out.
Everton remains winless, but coach Frank Lampard will be pleased as they continue to show the fighting spirit, while Liverpool risks being left behind in the title fight.
Manchester City also dropped two points when it was held to a 1-1 draw away to a battling Aston Villa. Erling Haaland’s 10th goal of the season put City ahead, but Aston Villa dug deep and Leon Bailey’s 74th minute strike gave them the reward, after Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez made two fine saves to deny Haaland his second goal of the game.
Chelsea came from behind to win a tight and controversial London derby at home to West Ham United.
Michail Antonio put West Ham ahead in the 62nd minute, but former West Ham player Ben Chilwell poked home the equalizer in the 76th minute.
West Ham hit the post in the 87th minute, just a minute before Kai Havertz won the game for Chelsea with a near-post finish. West Ham then thought they had equalized in injury time, but Maxwel Cornet’s effort was harshly ruled out when the VAR spotted a possible foul on Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy.
Ivan Toney netted a hat-trick as Brentford won 5-2 at home to Leeds United, with Bryan Mbeumo scoring the fourth for the ‘Bees’ and Yoane Wissa adding a fifth. Toney netted a penalty and a stunning free kick to put Brentford 2-0 up, before new signing Luis Sinisterra gave Leeds hope. Marc Roca again gave Leeds a chance after Toney’s third but Mbeumo and Wissa assured a home win.
Daniel Podence’s goal on the stroke of halftime gave Wolverhampton a 1-0 win at home to Southampton, which was their first victory of the campaign and ended a winless run of 12 matches running into last season.
Newcastle and Crystal Palace drew 0-0 in what was another entertaining match where both sides had enough chances to claim all three points, while Bournemouth staged an incredible comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 away to Nottingham Forrest.
Forrest looked to be cruising in the game between newly promoted sides when Cheikhou Kouyate put them ahead in the 33rd minute and Brennan Johnson’s penalty in first half injury time gave them a comfortable lead.
However, Philip Billing pulled a goal back for Bournemouth in the 51st minute and Dominic Solanke equalized 12 minutes later, before Jaidon Anthony’s winner three minutes from time sent the visiting fans into raptures.
Games to watch in Premier League week 2
The weekend’s opening game sets the tone as Aston Villa entertains Everton. Steven Gerrard’s side produced a tame opening day defeat away to Bournemouth and needs to improve to satisfy pre-season expectations against rivals who also kicked off with a setback.
Everton lost Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey to injury last weekend but has compensated by signing Conor Coady on loan from Wolves to shore up their defense.
Arsenal lived up to its billing as top-four hopeful with a convincing win away to Crystal Palace to kick off its season and will be optimistic of following it up with three more points at home to Leicester City.
Leicester let a two-goal lead slip against Brentford a week ago and has Youri Tielemans and Wesley Fofana in its side, with Arsenal still keen on signing the former and Chelsea chasing the latter.
Brentford’s fightback last week showed they know exactly what they are doing and that the team has personality and spirit – something that can’t be said of Saturday’s visitors, Manchester United.
It took less than an hour for the pre-season optimism around Old Trafford to disappear in a 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton and Erik ten Hag clearly has work to do to give his side an identity. Defeat in southwest London would certainly start alarm bells ringing at a club whose fans are becoming increasingly fed up by what is happening on and off the pitch.
Brighton impressed last weekend but face a tough home opener with Newcastle United visiting the Amex Stadium. Expect a tactical battle between teams coached by two of the best English managers in the game (Graham Potter and Eddie Howe) where Newcastle’s extra firepower could be decisive.
Manchester City strolled to victory away to West Ham and will expect to do the same against Bournemouth, who returned to the top flight with a win against Aston Villa.
This marks the start of a tough run of matches for the visitors, with Arsenal and Liverpool on the horizon and anything Scott Parker’s men can get from these games will be a bonus.
Southampton needs to improve drastically on its 4-1 thrashing away to Spurs when it entertains Leeds United, otherwise, there will be justified early relegation worries at St Mary’s.
Meanwhile Wolves will want to improve on its opening day defeat to Leeds when it faces a Fulham side, who will be boosted by its opening day display at home to Liverpool and looking for Aleksandr Mitrovic to put fear into a Wolves defense without Conor Coady.
Sunday sees the biggest match of the weekend with Chelsea at home to Tottenham, who travels on the back of its thumping win over Southampton. A win for Antonio Conte against his former club, would only strengthen Spurs’ title hopes, while raising more question marks over Chelsea, whose attack was further depleted by the sale of Timo Werner this week.
Premier League football returns to the City Ground when Nottingham Forrest entertains West Ham, while Liverpool is at home to Crystal Palace on Monday, knowing it can’t drop points after its opening day slip-up.
Palace disappointed against Arsenal and there were signs they will miss Conor Gallagher, who returned to Chelsea after last season’s successful loan spell.
Man City win EPL title on nerve-cracking final day
Manchester City won their record 6th English Premier League title after overcoming Aston Villa scare at the Etihad on Sunday.
Manchester City trailed Aston Villa 2-0 in the Etihad Stadium after Matty Cash’s 37th-minute header and Philippe Coutinho’s impressive 69th-minute strike.
At that moment, Liverpool were drawing 1-1 with Wolves with Sadio Mane’s tap-in canceling out Pedro Neto’s third-minute opener for the visitors.
Another goal at Anfield would have made Liverpool champions, and that goal and another came thanks to Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson in the 84th and 89th minutes of the match. But by then Man City had turned things around in dramatic fashion.
Substitutes Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan combined for Gundogan (who is expected to move on this summer) to head City back into the game in the 76th minute.
Two minutes later, Rodri slid home a slide-rule shot inside the post to draw Guardiola’s side level, and three minutes after that, Gundogan put the ball into an empty net after brilliant play from Kevin de Bruyne to send the Etihad Stadium wild.
Liverpool’s goals arrived after that meaning the title was in the balance until the final whistle blew in Manchester, but City hung on to claim their eighth league title and their fourth in five years.
Tottenham assured themselves of fourth place and a spot in next season’s Champions League with a 5-0 win away to Norwich, to complete an impressive turnaround since the arrival of Antonio Conte.
All Spurs had to do to assure fourth was to avoid defeat away to bottom side Norwich, and the result was never in doubt after Dejan Kulusevski put them ahead in the 16th minute and Harry Kane doubled the lead before the break. Kulusevski netted a third in the 64th minute and Son Heung-min, who has been magnificent all season, added two more to seal the win.
Tottenham’s victory meant that Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Everton at the Emirates Stadium was in vain.
Everton never looked like offering much resistance after avoiding relegation on Thursday and Gabriel Martinelli’s 27th-minute penalty and another goal from Eddie Nketiah in the 31st minute put Arsenal in front.
Donny van de Beek pulled a goal back in first-half injury time, but Cedric Soares and Gabriel quickly made it 4-1 and Martin Odegaard added a fifth.
Leeds United survived a nerve-shredding last day to retain their top-flight place with a 2-1 win away to Brentford thanks to a Raphinha penalty and Jack Harrison’s 94th-minute strike.
Sergi Canos had made it 1-1 for Brentford, but his sending off with 10 minutes left to play made life a lot easier for Leeds.
That result means that Burnley are relegated after their 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle United, who went 2-0 up through two goals from Callum Wilson before Maxwell Cornet gave Burnley hope.
Manchester United will play in the Europa League despite another defeat as they lost 1-0 away to Crystal Palace, who finish an excellent season on a high with Wilfried Zaha’s goal.
West Ham were unable to take advantage of another poor display from Manchester United and will play in the Conference League after goals from Joel Veltman, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck saw Brighton overturn Michail Antonio’s opener for the visitors.
In the day’s other games, Leicester City beat Southampton 4-1 while Chelsea won 2-1 at home to Watford thanks to Ross Barkley’s injury-time goal.
Aston Villa sign Philippe Coutinho permanently
Aston Villa confirmed the permanent signing of of Brazilian forward Philippe Coutinho from Spanish side FC Barcelona for a deal worth around 20 million euros on Thursday.
The Brazilian has agreed a four-year contract and made permanent the six-month-loan deal the Premier League outfit reached from Barca at the start of the year.
It also represents a huge loss for Barcelona on the estimated 150 million euros paid to Liverpool for the attacking midfielder in January 2018, although the sale will lower Barca’s wage bill and allow them to make signings this summer.
Coutinho’s move to Aston Villa saw him reunited with former Liverpool player, Steven Gerrard, who now coaches the club and Gerrard expressed his satisfaction at the deal.
“As we look to build towards next season, it is incredible to work at a club that executes its business so decisively and smoothly,” he said.
Meanwhile Barca have assured 50 percent of any future sell-on fee and said they would like to “publicly state their thanks to Philippe Coutinho for his commitment and dedication, and wish him success and all the best for the future.”
Philippe Coutinho back in Premier League
Philippe Coutinho has returned to the English Primer League with the Brazilian playmaker joining Aston Villa on loan from Barcelona until the end of the Premier League season.
His decision to join the Villans is believed to have been influenced by his former teammate and captain at Liverpool and now Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard.
The 29-year-old left Liverpool for Barcelona in January 2018 for a club-record fee of £146m but things didn’t quite work out for him as he has struggled to hold down a first-team place at the Nou Camp which saw him spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Bayern Munich.
Coutinho scored 41 Premier League in 152 appearances for Liverpool, whom he joined in a £8.5m move from Inter Milan in January 2013.
The deal Villa includes an option to buy the player for £33m at the end of the season. He is due to travel to Birmingham in the next 48 hours.
Coutinho wanted to return to England and play regular football and sees Villa as an ambitious club that are building something special for the future.
Dean Smith axed by Aston Villa after five straight defeats
Dean Smith is the latest Premier League manager casualty after he was axed Sunday following their fifth consecutive loss.
Coming in the wake of a Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Southampton, Aston Villa’s chief executive Christian Purslow explained the decision saying that “after a good start to last season, this year we have not seen the continuous improvement in results, performances and league position which we have all been looking for.”
“For this reason, we have decided to make a change now to allow time for a new head coach to make an impact,” he said.
Smith joined the club in October 2018, leading them to promotion to the Premier League and keeping them in the top-flight in the two subsequent campaigns – finishing 11th last season.
“When Dean joined us in October 2018 our team was really struggling in the Championship. He immediately transformed the atmosphere and performances and achieved the ultimate success of leading Villa back to the Premier League within the same season – a rare feat.”
“The board would like to sincerely thank Dean for his many excellent achievements, on and off the pitch, during this time,” continued Purslow.
Despite the sale of star player Jack Grealish to Manchester City in the summer, Aston Villa had a positive start to the season thanks to the arrival of players such as Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey. However, they have struggled since the end of September, and now stand 15th on the table with 10 points from 11 games.
Smith is the second Premier League coach to lose his job this weekend, just hours after Daniel Farke was sacked by bottom club Norwich City shortly after his side won 2-1 away to Brentford to claim their first win of the season.
Samatta: I blame no one for my Aston Villa exit
Taifa Stars skipper Mbwana Samatta has revealed he does not blame anyone for his poor show in the English Premier League side Aston Villa.’
The East African spent just half the season with the Villans, and managed to score just two goals in the 16 appearances made and was offloaded to Turkish giants Fenerbahce albeit on loan.
“I cannot blame anyone about what happened at Aston Villa, for me it was a great experience before I could join a big club like Fenerbahce,” the 27-year-old striker told Fenerbahce’s online TV.
“I took everything positive and I think it was God’s plan that I should go to a big league like England’s before I could come here. But I am taking it positively especially for the experience at Aston Villa.”
The forward also revealed what the Yellow Canaries’ fans should expect from him.
“My playing style combines speed, agility but after all, why should I have to say everything here, the defenders will know them because I will be giving them my secret.
“I like to play at the shoulder of the defenders but the most important thing for me is scoring goals. That is something I enjoy doing for the team.
“You know I am a striker and helping the team score goals and win games and in this kind of game, football, you know the one who has more points is the one that wins the leagues.
“I hope, like many other people, we are going to work and be better this season.”
Aston Villa offloads Samatta to Fenerbahce
Tanzanian striker Mbwana Samatta has been offloaded on loan to Turkish side Fenerbahce less than seven months after signing for Aston Villa.
The Taifa Stars skipper struggled in the English Premier League for the Villans and in the 16 matches played in all competitions, he scored just two goals.
This could be this reason the club decided against relying on him and bought Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore, and sent the Tanzanian on loan to Turkey.
The striker has been loaned for the 2020/21 season but the Yellow Canaries will have an option of buying him once his loan deal expires.
“Our club has added Mbwana Samatta, captain of the Tanzania national team from Aston Villa, England, to their squad for four years,” read a statement from the 19-time Turkish Super Lig champions.
“This season, the player who will wear our shirt on loan will receive the testimonial at the end of the season. We welcome Samatta and wish him well in the striped jersey.”
The 27-year-old has set sight on helping his new team win ‘many’ trophies from next season.
“I know how big Fenerbahce club is, not only in Turkey but around the world,” said the 27-year-old Samatta after completing the move.
“I am happy to be here in such a family because it will be a new and a big challenge for me. Fenerbahce has a lot of supporters and they always want to win. I also want to win.
“I am very happy and I hope we will win many trophies.”