Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – For Leicester City, any good news is welcome at present, so two pieces would mean joy for Claudio Ranieri. The defending but faltering Premier League champions head for Stoke City on Saturday with last weekend’s stirring victory over Manchester City already a fading memory following a costly midweek defeat to […]

West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) – In-form Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes the club's luck has finally turned ahead of their clash with West Bromwich Albion. United manager Jose Mourinho recently lamented his side were playing much better than results and their position in the Premier League suggested. The Red Devils head to the West […]

London (AFP) – All-too-familiar questions about courage, backbone and durability surround Arsenal ahead of their trip to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the Premier League this weekend. Arsenal's 14-game unbeaten run had lain strong foundations for a determined tilt at the festive fixture list, only for Arsene Wenger's men to come unstuck in Tuesday's 2-1 […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – Bruce Arena launches his second spell as coach of the USA when the Americans take on Serbia in a friendly football match in San Diego on January 29. The former Los Angeles Galaxy boss was tapped to replace Jurgen Klinsmann at the helm last month. Former Germany player and coach Klinsmann […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Luis Suarez has agreed a new contract with Barcelona, keeping him at the Camp Nou until June 2021, the Spanish champions announced on Thursday. The 29-year-old Uruguay striker's new deal, which had been in the pipeline for some time, features a 200 million-euro (£167 million, $208 million) release clause. Barcelona said Suarez, […]

For almost a decade, Major League Soccer (MLS) executives have become obsessive about television ratings in the United States. While slight upticks in performance have taken place due to improved time slots on both the ESPN and FOX family of networks, the league’s ratings continue to lag well behind where they need to be. MLS has benefited […]

Paris (AFP) – A French court will Friday rule on a request by Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema to drop the investigation into alleged blackmail over a sextape featuring international teammate Mathieu Valbuena. Djibril Cisse, the former Liverpool and Marseille striker, could however be dragged into the investigation with prosecutors calling for him […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Carlos Tevez looks set to pocket 40 million euros ($41.6m) a season — 20 times what he currently earns at Boca Juniors — with a transfer to Chinese football, Argentine media said on Thursday. The striker is negotiating a move to Shanghai Shenhua and would be just the latest big name […]

Yokohama (Japan) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 500th club goal Thursday as Real Madrid eased past Mexico's Club America 2-0 to reach the Club World Cup final in Japan. The Spanish giants will face shock finalists Kashima Antlers, the J-League champions, in Yokohama on Sunday as they look to capture their second world title […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Scottish police are investigating more than 100 reports of child sex abuse in football, authorities said on Thursday, as British football confronts one of the biggest scandals in its history. A string of ex-footballers, including former England internationals, have come forward in the past month alleging they were the victims of sex […]

Sunderland (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Antonio Conte told his Chelsea players to go and make it 11 league wins on the bounce with victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday as they threaten to run away with the title. Rampant Chelsea are six points clear at the top of the Premier League following a 1-0 victory […]

Paris (AFP) – The powerful body representing Europe's top clubs on Thursday said it opposed the proposed enlargement of the World Cup, saying leading players were already under too much strain. FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to expand the World Cup to 48 teams starting with the 2026 tournament, with Asian countries already backing the […]

Middlesbrough (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp has offered Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius no guarantee of a recall after dropping the error-prone German for his side's 3-0 win against Middlesbrough. Reds boss Klopp admitted it was difficult telling the 23-year-old that he had been benched in favour of Belgium international Simon Mignolet for the comprehensive victory at the […]

fuboTV has announced several massive changes including the upcoming addition of channels from NBC, FOX and A&E as well as NBA TV and The Big Ten Network. The rapidly-growing soccer streaming service is branching out to compete with the giant streaming services from DISH (Sling TV), Sony (PlayStation Vue) and AT&T (DIRECTV NOW). With so […]

Mexico City (AFP) – French forward Andre-Pierre Gignac had gone two months without a goal for his Mexican club Tigres of Monterrey when he got an assist from an unlikely source: A hypnotist. Gignac met Chile-born John Milton in November after one of his shows, in which he collectively hypnotizes an audience. The 30-year-old striker […]