London (AFP) – West Ham's owners backed under-fire manager Slaven Bilic on Sunday insisting they have "100 percent faith" in him despite their slide towards the Premier League relegation zone. Bilic's side crashed to a dismal 2-1 defeat at lowly Hull on Saturday that extended their losing run to four matches and ramped up the […]

London (AFP) – Guus Hiddink says he turned down the opportunity to manage champions Leicester City following the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri and instead recommended Craig Shakespeare. The experienced former Chelsea and Netherlands coach was in the frame to replace Ranieri after the Italian was sacked just nine months after leading Leicester to a shock […]

Madrid (AFP) – Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen cast doubt on his Barcelona future on Sunday, amid reported interest from Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola. Former Barcelona manager Guardiola chased the 24-year-old German international last year and Premier League side City are reportedly primed to go for Ter Stegen again at the end of this season. […]

Napoli supporters would have been waiting what feels like an eternity for this game. But finally, on Sunday at the San Paolo, they will welcome league leaders Juventus. All the ingredients are there for a fascinating occasion in Naples. There’s a needle between the two teams, the return of Juventus man Gonzalo Higuain and, perhaps […]

It's been a long time since both Liverpool and Everton felt as though they were each in the ascendency heading into a Merseyside derby. But that’s the feeling that’s engulfed the region on the brink of Saturday’s clash at Anfield. For the hosts, although dreams of a title challenge during October and November were dashed […]

Milan (AFP) – Napoli fans will treat former favourite Gonzalo Higuain to a barrage of abuse when he returns to the San Paolo on Sunday with Serie A leaders Juventus. Higuain was worshipped in the balmy southern port city as the striker banged home a historic 36 goals last season as Napoli made the cut […]

London (AFP) – Everton's bid to build a new £300 million ($373 million, 349 million euros) stadium received a boost on Friday as Liverpool City Council approved the establishment of a funding scheme. The Premier League club want to leave their historic Goodison Park home and will be allowed to borrow the necessary money, guaranteed […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger claims Alexis Sanchez will be happy to stay with Arsenal because his club are the only London team worth playing for. Sanchez is yet to sign a new deal with the Gunners amid suggestions he had demanded a transfer following a heated row with Wenger earlier this season. The Chile […]

London (AFP) – Stoke City striker Saido Berahino says he was an innocent party and did not take drugs claiming to the BBC someone spiked his drink which led to an eight week ban earlier this season. The 23-year-old — who moved to Stoke from Premier League rivals West Brom in the January transfer window […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund's teenage stars Ousmane Dembele and Christian Pulisic will be in the spotlight in Saturday's 150th Ruhr Valley at bitter Bundesliga rivals Schalke 04 in Germany's top derby. Both Dortmund and Schalke will be heavily stacked with the German league's top young talent at Gelsenkirchen's Veltins Arena. "In the category of […]

Burnley (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino has warned title-chasing Tottenham not to underestimate Burnley in Saturday's crucial trip to Turf Moor. Pochettino's side have won their last four matches and still have an outside chance of winning the Premier League as they try to close the 10-point gap on leaders Chelsea. Although Tottenham are […]

Paris (AFP) – Monaco have a real chance to end two years of complete domestic dominance by Paris Saint Germain when they face the title holders in Saturday's French League Cup final. Owned by billionaire Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, Monaco have banked on recruiting the cream of French youth whilst their Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Henrikh Mkhitaryan insists he was never concerned about his Manchester United career despite making a slow start to life at Old Trafford. The United playmaker made just one substitute appearance in two and a half months earlier this season as he struggled for fitness and form following his arrival from […]

Tuesday's broadcast of the Panama-USA game netted 1.41 million viewers across Telemundo and Universo combined, which ranked as the most watched show in Spanish-language television in its time period among Adults 18-49 in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver and Boston. The game averaged 257,000 on Universo (formerly known as NBC Universo) as well as 1,153,000 on […]

While many English-language sportswriters and sports business reporters in the U.S. were caught by surprise by Turner Sports' $180 million winning bid for the U.S. English-language media rights for the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League for August 2018-May 2021, this seemingly bold move by Turner Sports appears to this long-time observer of […]