Author: News Desk

Michael Owen says he is ‘astonished’ that VAR did not intervene to award Aston Villa a penalty in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Anfield on Saturday evening. Goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah sealed the victory for Arne Slot’s side, who are now five points clear at the top of the Premier League. However, Villa felt they were denied a clear penalty with the score at 1-0 when Conor Bradley pulled Pau Torres to the ground inside Liverpool’s area. VAR checked the incident but did not tell referee David Coote to review his decision on the pitchside monitor. Owen, however,…

Arsenal included 14-year-old Max Dowman in their first-team training session before their Premier League clash against Chelsea on Sunday. Mikel Arteta’s side are looking to get back on track after suffering back-to-back defeats away to Newcastle United and Inter. The Gunners currently sit 10 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League and a defeat at Stamford Bridge on Sunday would put another huge dent in their title ambitions. Arteta and his players were making their final preparations ahead of the game against Chelsea and Dowman was a surprise inclusion among the first-team squad. The 14-year-old midfielder is highly regarded by…

Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of Manchester United for the final time as interim boss against Leicester City on Sunday. United scored four times in the first-half in a 5-2 win over the Foxes in van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge in the Carabao Cup last week. After a draw against Chelsea and a first European win of the season against PAOK on Thursday, the Dutchman will be looking to sign off in style. Amad Diallo strengthened his case for a starting role with a superb individual performance against the Greek champions, scoring twice in the second-half. The Ivorian…

Mikel Arteta will be tempted to bring Martin Odegaard back into his starting XI when Arsenal take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend. After being sidelined for three months with a ‘significant’ ankle injury, the Gunners captain made his long-awaited return off the bench in the Champions League against Inter Milan on Tuesday night. Odegaard entered the fray for the final minutes at San Siro and will no be pushing for a start on Sunday. In his press conference on Friday, Arteta said a final call will have to be made on starting Odegaard but with his side on…

England and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has been tipped for a sensational return to one of his former clubs. Gerrard, 44, is under huge pressure at Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, who have slipped to 12th in the table after winning just three of their opening 12 league games. The Anfield hero took the job in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023 and signed a two-year contract extension in January to keep him at the club until 2027. But Al-Ettifaq are reportedly considering sacking Gerrard following a dismal run of form which has left the club just four points…

IPP scandal: Stop scaremongering over prisoners trapped by indefinite jail terms, ministers told Ministers have been accused of “scaremongering” after revealing they will not resentence thousands of prisoners trapped under indefinite jail terms. This will leave more than 2,600 languishing under “torture sentences” with no release date, including James Lawrence, who is still in prison 18 years after he was handed an eight-month jail term; Thomas White, who set himself alight in his cell after serving 12 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery. Despite…

Call to review ‘cancel culture’ in universities after ‘ostracised’ Oxford student takes own life A coroner has called on the government to examine the prevalence of “cancel culture” on university campuses, after ruling that a 20-year-old Oxford student took his own life after being “ostracised” by his peers. Alexander Rogers, a third-year studying materials science at Corpus Christi College, died in January. His body was recovered from the River Thames, and he was found to have suffered a head trauma. Following an inquest into his death, a coroner has now ruled that “in the preceding days Alexander had been ostracised”…

Ukraine war led my son to join the army, says defence secretary The defence secretary has revealed his son joined the army as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the conflict is now “personal”. John Healey said his son’s decision to join the British army reservists has allowed him to better understand the real-life impact of decisions he may make in a ministerial capacity. He said: “It weighs heavily on me as defence secretary, knowing that if we face conflict, it will be my decision to send British forces and personnel into situations which put them at risk.…

Angela Rayner opens door to four-day working week in local councils The government has dropped official opposition to the introduction of a four-day working week by a local council: a move which could pave the way for other local authorities to do the same. The previous Conservative government objected to the plan by South Cambridgeshire District Council after it was introduced in 2023. But local government secretary Angela Rayner has criticised the previous administration for “micromanaging” local authorities over the policy. The four-day working week continued past the end of its trial period in March this year as the council…

NHS crisis ‘a million times worse’ than under Tony Blair, former health secretary warns The NHS is “drinking in the last-chance saloon”, Labour’s top health adviser and a former health secretary has warned, saying it must stop asking for more money. Alan Milburn, who was a minister under Tony Blair, said the service needs radical reform rather than more cash, calling for an end to what he said was a “more, more, more culture”. He called for clinics to be paid for keeping people healthy and out of hospital in an attempt to improve both care and efficiency. It comes…