Author: WTX Sports Team

Mikel Arteta says he will hold talks with Thomas Partey over his Arsenal future, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season. After a difficult and injury-stricken campaign in 2023/24, Partey is enjoying somewhat of a mini-revival this season, starting all of Arsenal’s Premier League and Champions League games so far. In fact, he has already played more league minutes this season (799) than he did in the entirely of last season (789). The defensive midfielder has helped fill the void left by injured captain Martin Odegaard, while his versatility has also proved very handy, deputising…

Former Manchester United star Jaap Stam is confident Matthijs de Ligt will have a very bright future under Ruben Amorim but warns there will be ‘question marks’ over the new manager. After parting ways with Erik ten Hag this week, United have moved quickly to secure the services of the Sporting Lisbon head coach. A two-and-half year deal has been agreed with the 39-year-old set to arrive in Manchester in mid-November during the international break, with Ruud van Nistelrooy to remain in charge on an interim basis until then. Amorim is regarded as one of the best young coaches in…

Erik ten Hag reportedly wanted to re-sign former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck before being sacked by the Premier League club. Ten Hag’s largely disappointing spell in the Old Trafford hot-seat came to an end following United’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Sunday. The Dutchman arrived in England with a big reputation having won three Eredivisie titles with Ajax and leading the team to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, when they were minutes away from reaching the final. Ten Hag enjoyed a promising first season at the Theatre of Dreams as United finished third in the Premier League…

Paul Scholes says current Chelsea skipper Reece James ‘doesn’t look like a captain’ after Enzo Maresca questioned his leadership qualities. Maresca recently admitted he ‘expected more’ from James in terms of his leadership since he took over of the Stamford Bridge club in July. James, who has been at Chelsea since the age of six, was appointed captain ahead of the 2023-24 campaign following Cesar Azpilicueta’s departure. Speaking before Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Sunday, Maresca criticised James’ leadership qualities and urged him to ‘do more’. ‘I spoke with him and I expect from him more in terms…

Paul Merson has urged Enzo Maresca to bench Jadon Sancho for his return to Manchester United and backed Chelsea to prove too strong for the Red Devils. Maresca takes Chelsea to Old Trafford on Sunday hoping to get back to winning ways following a disappointing defeat to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Chelsea beat Newcastle 2-1 in the Premier League last weekend but lost 2-0 at St James’ Park in midweek to crash out of the Carabao Cup before the quarter-final stage. The defeat represents a rare blip in what has been a promising start to…

Former Valencia footballer Jose Castillejo has died as a result of the flash floods that have devastated the Spanish city. Flash flooding has hit eastern Spain with a year of rain falling in one day. 150 deaths have been confirmed in the Valencia region with 28-year-old Castillejo among them. ‘Valencia CF mourn the passing of José Castillejo, casualty of the flash floodings,’ a statement from the La Liga giants read. ‘José Castillejo came up through the [club’s] youth system up to U18 level and played for others teams in the region.’ Castillejo, a midfielder, played for Valencia’s various youth teams…

Mikel Arteta has ruled Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard out of Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Newcastle United, but says Gabriel Magalhaes should be in line to feature. £42m summer signing Calafiori has missed Arsenal’s last two games after hobbling off during the Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk. He will miss a third successive match on Saturday when Arteta takes Arsenal to St James’ Park to face Newcastle. Long-term absentee Odegaard will also miss the game despite recent reports suggesting he could make his long-awaited return in the fixture. The Arsenal captain has been out since the start of…

Mikel Arteta has no doubt that ‘big talent’ Ethan Nwaneri is ready to make a breakthrough into the first team after a superb performance in Arsenal’s win at Preston on Wednesday night. The Gunners beat the Championship side 3-0 at Deepdale with Gabriel Jesus opening the scoring, Kai Havertz completing it and Nwaneri scoring a peach of a second. The midfielder is just 17 years old but has already featured four times in the Premier League this season and has helped Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. Asked if the teenager is ready to force his way into…

Enzo Maresca felt there was no need to bring on Cole Palmer on Wednesday night as Chelsea fell to Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle United. The Magpies beat the Blues 2-0 at St James’ Park, with Alexander Isak opening the scoring and an Axel Disasi own goal completing a bad night for the west London club. Newcastle move onto the quarter-finals, where they will take on Brentford, while Maresca will look elsehwere for his first bit of silverware as Chelsea boss. Seen as the home side was ahead after just 26 minutes, it seemed a little unusual that Maresca made…

Pep Guardiola suffered more injury headaches on Wednesday night against Tottenham as Savinho was taken off and Manuel Akanji was struggling in the warm-up. Spurs beat the Premier League champions 2-1 to progress to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup thanks to goals from Timo Werner and Pape Matar Sarr. Akanji was due to start but was injured shortly before kick-off and Ruben Dias took his place in the starting XI. On the Swiss defender, Guardiola told a post-match press conference: ‘Akanji yesterday, I didn’t know it, in the last action felt something miniscule in the muscular part of his…

Someone on the internet (unpromising start but stay with me) harvests clips of football managers, the odd actor and for some reason always Dion Dublin delivering classic football lines. The mystery man edits them into montages so funny they will make you snort out your tea. One of my favourites is called This is the Premier League We’re Talking About. As we zip down through (nearly) all the teams in the league, it quickly becomes obvious that it is actually Manchester United We’re Talking About Here. Then halfway through the video, it dawns on you. Every pundit, player, coach, everybody…

Glenn Hoddle believes Chelsea would be ‘in a better state’ if new England boss Thomas Tuchel was still in charge at Stamford Bridge.  Tuchel took over at Chelsea in January 2021, replacing club legend Frank Lampard, and went on to enjoy a largely successful if turbulent 20-month spell in west London. The German ended his first season at Stamford Bridge by lifting the Champions League trophy – Chelsea beating Manchester City 1-0 in the 2021 final – and having reached the FA Cup final. Chelsea reached two domestic cup finals the following season but lost both to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. …

Manchester United have been tight-lipped over the club’s move to appoint Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese coach is the leading contender to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday following the club’s dismal start to the campaign. United have expressed an interest in paying Amorim’s £8.3m release clause but the move has been delayed due to Sporting demanding around £4.5m for his backroom staff. There is a further complication in that Amorim’s release clause includes a 30-day notice period, which means he therapeutically could have to wait until December to manage United. But, leaving Old Trafford…

Arsenal are still waiting to learn the extent of Gabriel Magalhaes’ knee injury with their problems at the back growing ahead of the trip to Newcastle United. The Gunners will again be without the suspended William Saliba who will also miss the visit of Chelsea on 10 November after his straight red card shown in the defeat to Bournemouth. His partner at the back Gabriel was forced off in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool following a tussle with Darwin Nunez. The Brazil international felt something in the back of his knee, initially attempting to play on before being replaced shortly…

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Liverpool19:30Sky Sports+Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace19:45Sky Sports+Manchester United vs Leicester City19:45Sky Sports+Newcastle United vs Chelsea19:45Sky Sports+Preston North End vs Arsenal19:45Sky Sports+Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City20:15Sky Sports+Carabao Cup Round Four

Uefa promises 1bn euros to European women’s football UEFA Commits €1 Billion to Transform Women’s Football in Europe UEFA has unveiled a bold €1 billion (£830 million) investment plan for women’s football over the next six years, aiming to establish it as the most-played team sport for women in Europe. This historic commitment draws from competition revenues and UEFA’s own investments, with funds earmarked for national team competitions, club competitions, and national associations. Through its ambitious initiative, UEFA aims to make Europe “the home of the world’s top players,” with a vision of creating six fully professional leagues and supporting…

Australian police recover 40,000 stolen Bluey coins Australian police have recovered over 40,000 limited-edition Bluey coins, stolen months before their release. In July, 63,000 coins were reported missing from a warehouse in Western Sydney. On Tuesday, authorities seized 40,061 coins in a raid just 10 km from the site, following the arrest of Christina Vale, the third person arrested over the alleged theft.  The coins, valued at A$1 but selling online for ten times that, feature characters from the beloved Bluey cartoon. Police launched “Strike Force Bandit” to investigate. In August they arrested 44-year-old Steven Nielsen, who was an employee…