London (AFP) – Three months and six days after their glittering coronation as Premier League champions, Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City launch the new season with a trip to promoted Hull City on Saturday. The novelty of their 5,000-1 triumph is still to wear off, but Leicester are already looking to the future. Midfield lynchpin N'Golo […]

Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Southampton manager Claude Puel begins his Premier League career by pitting his wits against Watford boss Walter Mazzarri in a battle of two newcomers to the English top-flight. Both men know they have a task on their hands to match the achievements of their predecessors as the two sides meet […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – If anyone should know how to derail the USA's women's charge of a fourth consecutive football Olympic gold it should be the woman charged with plotting their downfall in Friday's quarter-finals. Pia Sundhage was US coach for their gold medal runs in Beijing and London, but leads her native Sweden […]

Last weekend was an awful one for MLS. Broadcasts of the league averaged just 139,000 viewers on TV during weekend, the worst of the season. FOX Sports 1 delivered the two least viewed matches of the season with both games failing to break the 100,000 viewer mark. You would certainly expect more from a doubleheader featuring […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was so angry with the collapse of his side's Premier League title challenge last season that he says he felt like killing his players. Pochettino's men were hot on the heels of eventual champions Leicester before a four-match winless run at the end of the season ended their […]

London (AFP) – Watford's Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo has signed a new five-year contract at Vicarage Road, the Premier League club announced on Thursday. "Odion Ighalo has signed a new five-year contract with #watfordfc," Watford wrote on the club's official Twitter account. "Congratulations @ighalojude!" Ighalo, 27, scored 17 goals in 42 appearances last season, but […]

With Sling TV adding NBCSN to its new Sling Blue streaming service, you can watch Premier League games televised on NBCSN and NBC without needing a cable or TV subscription. In addition to NBCSN and the Premier League, Sling Blue also includes NBC, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, FOX, BBC America, Univision, UniMas and […]

Nice (France) (AFP) – Nice's football club will honour the 85 victims of the July 14th terror attacks by wearing special shirts bearing the names of those who died, when they take on Rennes in Ligue 1 on Sunday. The attack which claimed the lives of 85 people and injured hundreds more happened just four […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Argentina's new coach Edgardo Bauza said Thursday he was optimistic he can convince Lionel Messi to come out of international retirement after meeting the five-time World Player of the Year. Bauza said he had "a good conversation" with the 29-year-old superstar when they met earlier on Thursday in Barcelona. "We only […]

Berlin (AFP) – Thomas Mueller says Bayern Munich are desperate to end their German Super Cup drought against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday after three years without getting their hands on the trophy. The German champions have lost the last three Super Cup showdowns, when the best two teams in Germany go head-to-head, and they face […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri joked on Thursday that there is more chance of aliens landing in London than there is of his side successfully defending their Premier League title this season. Leicester defied odds of 5,000-1 to win last season's title and on the eve of their new campaign, which […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted on Thursday that he is "very disappointed" by head of recruitment Paul Mitchell's decision to leave the club. Mitchell, 34, followed Pochettino to White Hart Lane from Southampton two years ago and helped to shape the team that threatened to pip Leicester City to the Premier […]

Istanbul (AFP) – Istanbul giants Fenerbahce have sacked Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira after just over one season in charge following the Turkish side's exit in the qualifying stages of the Champions League, reports said Thursday. Fenerbahce's board decided to part company with Pereira after the team's defeat at the hands of Monaco in the third […]

Paris (AFP) – Edinson Cavani and captain Thiago Silva are injured and will not feature for Paris Saint-Germain when the champions travel to Bastia in their Ligue 1 season opener on Friday. The Brazilian defender has a hip injury and Uruguayan striker Cavani is sidelined with a thigh problem, coach Unai Emery confirmed on Thursday. […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said current captain Philipp Lahm could be offered a key upstairs role at the club once he hangs up his boots. The 32-year-old ex-Germany captain, who retired from international duty after lifting the 2014 World Cup, has a contract until 2018 and has spent virtually his […]