Month: January 2023

Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot set to miss Manchester United’s clash against Arsenal News Briefing

Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot set to miss Manchester United’s clash against Arsenal

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Anthony Martial and DIogo Dalot are out of today’s game (Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Manchester United will be without Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot for today’s Premier League clash against Arsenal.

Erik ten Hag’s side travel to the capital to take on the table-topping Gunners at the Emirates this afternoon.

United can move to within five points of Mikel Arteta’s side with a win but they’ll be without Casemiro, who picked up a fifth yellow card as United conceded late on against Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

That draw took some of the wind out of United’s sails and there was more bad news as the club travelled to London last night.

Neither Martial nor Dalot were with the travelling party as the pair have failed to recover from injury complaints.

Ten Hag’s side are unbeaten since their defeat to Aston Villa (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Martial lasted just 45 minutes against Manchester City last Saturday, while Dalot hasn’t featured since the 3-0 win against Charlton in the EFL Cup.

It could mean a second start for Wout Weghorst after the Dutchman started against Palace, having trained with his new team-mates just once following his move from Besiktas.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka has excelled in Dalot’s absence and is expected to retain his spot.

MORE : Antonio Conte has already decided to leave Tottenham at the end of the season

MORE : Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hints at ‘surprise’ solution to replace suspended Casemiro against Arsenal

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‘That could be curtains on his career’ – Carl Froch sends retirement warning to Chris Eubank Jr following defeat News Briefing

‘That could be curtains on his career’ – Carl Froch sends retirement warning to Chris Eubank Jr following defeat

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Eubank Jr was rocked in Manchester on Saturday night (Picture: LAWRENCE LUSTIG/BOXXER)

Carl Froch has warned Chris Eubank Jr could now face retirement from boxing following his upset defeat to Liam Smith.

Eubank Jr was the bookies’ favourite heading into his Manchester showdown on Saturday night, planning lucrative showdowns with boxing legends in Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez later in the year after dealing with Smith.

It didn’t go according to plan, however, with the Brighton fighter rocked by a devastating uppercut in the fourth round. Eubank Jr was unable to recover with Smith finishing the fight shortly after, condemning his rival to the third defeat of his professional career.

Eubank Jr had been well-placed to challenge WBA and IBF middleweight champion Golovkin had he been victorious but in the aftermath of his defeat, fighters and pundits have questioned whether he can still make the 160lbs weight-limit.

He has previously fought at super-middleweight but came unstuck against George Groves in his world title challenge at 168lbs in 2018.

Former world champion Froch now believes Eubank Jr is now facing a very difficult decision over his future in the sport.

He told Sky Sports: ‘I don’t know how he’s done the weight or if it’s a problem for him, but at 33 years old, middleweight may not be for him. Where does he go from here? That could be curtains on his career. I don’t want to say he should retire now. It was a bad defeat.

Eubank Jr also suffered a nasty eye injury (Picture: Getty)

‘Where does he go now? Middleweight or super-middleweight? Regardless of the weight, I don’t think we should take away from what a magnificent performance it was from Liam Smith.

‘He took his time from round one, he won round one and round two on my card, bit of a bad round three. Liam Smith, I thought he had a great start and he was landing more punches and he was putting Chris Eubank on his back foot and controlling and dictating the pace round the ring.

‘Then when he started to land shots, it was fight over.’

Eubank Jr has a rematch option to try and get revenge over Smith while he still has unfinished business with Conor Benn after their October bout was postponed due to the welterweight’s failed drug test.

While suffering a damaging defeat, former cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson believes Eubank Jr still has good options around him.

‘There’s fights out there. Look at this place [the Manchester Arena], this place was absolutely rocking. They could do that again. They could do that again at Anfield, wherever it is. But he’s got to think about what weight he’s going to carry on boxing at and what his dreams are.’

MORE : Chris Eubank Jr suffers gruesome eye injury in Liam Smith defeat but issues challenge for Anfield rematch

MORE : Conor Benn and Billy Joe Saunders brutally mock Chris Eubank Jr after shock defeat to Liam Smith

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