Premier League
LEICESTER CITY BOSS RELISHING ‘PERFECT’ FINALE AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers shrugged off Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur and believes next week’s Premier League finale at home to Manchester United is “perfect” as they try and seal a top-four finish.
When Leicester won eight successive league games between October and December they looked odds-on for a top-four finish and even looked capable of chasing Liverpool for the title.
But they have fallen away badly, winning only five times in the league in 2020 and they are in real danger of missing out on a Champions League qualification spot.
They remain fourth but are level on 62 points with fifth-placed United who can open up a three-point lead if they beat West Ham United in their game in hand.
United could also establish a goal difference advantage with a healthy win over West Ham (they are both plus 28), but Rodgers believes it will all come down to the last game of the season.
“It will be absolutely perfect. It will be all in,” Rodgers, whose side have been hit by injuries to James Maddison and Ben Chilwell since the resumption, said.
“The players have been fantastic. We’ve got one last opportunity. Whatever the result was today, we needed a result next week.”
Had anyone said last August that Leicester would be in with a chance of the top four with one game remaining, the club’s fans would have gladly signed up for that scenario.
But it would be a body blow to miss out, even if Rodgers was doing his best to disguise that on Sunday (July 19) when they trailed 3-0 at halftime against Tottenham Hotspur.
“I always felt that no matter how well you do, there will always be disappointment,” Rodgers said.
“Others will be gratified with the work done over the past 17 months to be in this position. I know there will be both feelings.
“The players, what they’ve done in the past 17 months, to put themselves in this position, it’s brilliant.”
He said his players were “leggy” at Tottenham but said they have a week to refresh themselves.
“I don’t want to be too negative,” he said.
“We go into a game next week with a fantastic chance to get into the Champions League. Top six was the aim, which you guys would admit would be a fantastic achievement.”
-Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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