There is “no chance” that Napoli striker Victor Osimhen will end up at Man Utd in the January transfer window, according to reports.
The Red Devils have been struggling to score goals in the Premier League this season with Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee struggling to get the numbers required of them.
However, Rashford and Zirkzee got a brace each as Man Utd beat Everton 4-0 in the Premier League on Saturday as Ruben Amorim won his first home league game in charge of the Red Devils.
That has relieved some of the pressure around the strikeforce and calmed the need for a new centre-forward in the January transfer window, although Man Utd could still consider potential options.
One player rumoured to be a possibility in the January transfer window for Man Utd is Osimhen with the Napoli striker currently on loan at Turkish side Galatasaray.
But Italian journalist Paolo del Genio insists there is “no chance” that Zirkzee could be used in negotiations to bring Osimhen to Old Trafford with the Red Devils’ interest in the Nigeria international a “market lie”.
“There is no chance, at the moment, that the striker now at Manchester United could end up at the court of mister Antonio Conte in the possible negotiations between the Red Devils and the Neapolitans for Victor Osimhen.”
And transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio insists that Napoli striker Osimhen wants to see out the season at Galatasaray before considering his options again next summer.
Di Marzio told bettingexpert.com: “First of all, Osimhen wants to finish the season at Galatasaray. He is very happy to be there and doesn’t want to talk about other clubs.
“He wants to play and win there. I will leave a small percentage for Galatasaray to try to buy him and I will discuss with Napoli to find an agreement.
“It would probably be less than the release clause, but Galatasaray are so happy with him that they plan to find a solution with Napoli.
“I also know that a club in Saudi Arabia wants him. I don’t know the name of the club, but they are prepared to buy him for Napoli and get him back at the end of the season.
“The problem is that they want to sign him now and Osimhen doesn’t want to sign now, he wants to wait. He wants to use this season as an opportunity to let the Premier League club decide whether to make an offer to Napoli.
“PSG are always an opportunity, and they’re the only club who have made an offer for him this summer. They offered €220m for Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia, so maybe they’ll try to get both again.
“But he wants to finish the season at Galatasaray, even if the Saudi Arabian club want to sign him now.”
Strap in, everyone, it’s time for some Utter Woke Nonsense.
You may have already seen that Ipswich captain Sam Morsy refused to wear a rainbow armband at the weekend. He was alone among the 20 Premier League captains to do during the designated week in which the Premier League supports Stonewall’s long-running Rainbow Laces campaign to promote inclusivity and tolerance and show support for ‘all LGBT people in football and beyond’.
It really isn’t much to ask, and the reasons given for Morsy’s refusal are, obviously, horsesh*t. Ipswich’s statement is horsesh*t.
‘Ipswich Town Football Club is committed to being a fully inclusive club that welcomes everyone.
‘At the same time, we respect the decision of our captain Sam Morsy, who has chosen not to wear the rainbow captain’s armband due to his religious beliefs.
‘We will continue to grow an environment where all are valued and respected, both on and off the pitch.’
Nah, lads, that’s not how this works. They’ve tried to slip it past you there, haven’t they? That actually what they’re doing is being tolerant by allowing Morsy’s beliefs as a practising Muslim to stop him making this one tiny gesture of support for an entire community that for multiple long-standing and depressing reasons can find football unwelcoming in the extreme.
And right here is where Ipswich fall foul of the old tolerance paradox. To be tolerant you must always be intolerant of intolerance.
Respecting Morsy’s conveniently strongly held beliefs in this one particular area is not tolerance. It’s the opposite. There is no justification here. We do not have to tolerate intolerance masquerading as religious conviction. Almost every religious person of every stripe picks and chooses which of their faiths apparently inalienable beliefs and tenets apply to them.
Morsy is a professional footballer in the 2020s; he’s worn plenty of gambling logos and adverts on his kit before now without having a sudden fit of religious devotion. We’d be genuinely interested in how he squares that circle in his mind.
Ipswich for their part have just very obviously and very straightforwardly got this wrong. It’s 2024. “Are we going to let the gays and theys enjoy football, do we reckon?” is no longer a question up for discussion or a matter of personal choice. You don’t get to hide behind your personal beliefs to exclude people in this way. If Morsy wouldn’t wear the armband, Ipswich should have found a new captain.
They certainly shouldn’t have defended him out of what is at best misguided and at worst disingenuous ‘tolerance’ of intolerable, exclusionary views.
Imagine being an LGBT employee at Ipswich today. From training ground to academy to boardroom to canteen. You’d be so f***ing demoralised. The club that employs you is definitely all about being inclusive and open to everyone, but yeah sure it’s okay to be just a little bit homophobic here and there if it’s not even your fault because religion.
It’s interesting, of course, that a lot of those instinctively drawn to support Morsy’s freedom to make his own choice – and what better way to show your refusal to bow down to daft cult-like groupthink than to hide that deeply personal choice behind ‘religious beliefs’ – react very differently when, say, James McClean declines to wear a poppy.
But we can’t land that gotcha without addressing the Uno reverse version. Aha, they’ll say. You can’t support players not wanting to wear the poppy and then criticise Morsy for making his own decision! We can and we will, thanks. And here’s why: it is not the same.
To use McClean’s specific example, he has clearly stated and explained truly personal reasons for not wanting to involve himself in glorification of the UK armed forces. Whether or not you agree with them, they are there in black and white. Morsy has no such basis for his stance on a rainbow armband.
But even more generally, it really should not be necessary to point out that an overtly geo-political symbol in support of one country’s armed forces and an all-encompassing symbol of support for LGBT people throughout the world really are not the same thing at all.
Being a club captain is a position of privilege and responsibility. If Morsy truly couldn’t bring himself to wear the armband then it should have gone elsewhere. That sends a far clearer message of tolerance than Ipswich’s mealy-mouthed capitulation. There was absolutely nothing to respect about his stance.
And until Morsy can explain the inconsistency with his religious beliefs being so apparently unbending here but so malleable elsewhere, it really does amount to nothing more than his own prejudice. And tolerating that leads only to more intolerance.
Paul Merson doesn’t see any other outcome than a “comfortable and easy” victory for Arsenal against Man Utd on Wednesday night.
The Gunners have been back in good form again recently with three wins in a row in all competitions after a spell of four Premier League matches without a win.
Arsenal, who are still nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool, have moved up to second in the Premier League table with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest and a 5-2 victory over West Ham.
Man Utd are in a decent run of form too with Ruben Amorim’s side taking their unbeaten run in the Premier League to four matches with a 4-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
Amorim has continued Ruud van Nistelrooy’s solid work as interim boss by grabbing four points from his opening two Premier League matches against Ipswich Town and the Toffees.
Man Utd travel to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal on Wednesday night and Merson would “be shocked” if the Gunners don’t beat the Red Devils by three or four goals.
Merson told Sportskeeda: “I don’t see anything but an Arsenal win here, it will be comfortable and easy.
“I’d even go three or four nil to Arsenal in this one, they will destroy Manchester United.
“We shouldn’t get carried away by that Manchester United win against Everton. I watched them against Bodo/Glimt and they weren’t great.
“Ipswich were also by far the better team when they met during Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge.
“Considering how well Arsenal are playing now, I’d be shocked if they don’t win three or four nil at the Emirates.
“Arsenal work day in and day out on their set-pieces and it’s clearly showing this season. It’s not just luck that they are scoring so much from such situations.
“However, the one thing that could work in favour of United in this game is the suspension of Lisandro Martinez. He’s not the tallest of defenders and will now most likely be replaced by Harry Maguire, who is like a magnet when defending set-pieces.
“But United are still working on their best shape under Amorim, while Arsenal under Arteta are flying at the moment. The Arsenal players know everything about their game and you will see that on the pitch in this game.
“I don’t see any other result than an Arsenal win, but I will go kind on the scoreline. Arsenal 3-0 Manchester United.”
In the 15th round of the UPL, Ingulets won the first victory of the season, defeating Vorskla with a score of 3:0. Dynamo drew with Kolos and shares the first place with Alexandria.
The 15th round of the Ukrainian Premier League gave Ukrainian fans a lot of emotions, both positive and negative. In particular, fans of Ingulets can rejoice, because their team won for the first time in 15 rounds, fans of Veres and Zarya are happy about the strong-willed victories of their players, fans of Kryvbas are happy about Yegor Tverdokhleb's hattrick, despite the blackout during the game, but Chernomorets players let their fans down. UNN decided to tell the results, new achievements and regular scandals of the 15th round of the UPL.
Unexpected defeat in Poltava
In the first match of the round on Friday, Vorskla Poltava was visited by Ingulets Petrovsky, who did not yet know the taste of winning the UPL. There are only 6 draws and 8 losses in 14 games. The debut of the match was a surprise not only for Poltava residents, but also for all fans.
After the starting whistle, the Vorskla players threw the ball forward, which was intercepted by Ingulets. Pyatov in the center of the field threw his head at Belotserkovets, who ran down the flank and served into the penalty area. Vorskla defenders knocked out the ball, but it was picked up by Losenko, who took a delicious hit on shkiryan from 30 meters away and opened the scoring already at the 19th second of the match, which is still the fastest goal in the current UPL draw – 1:0.
It seems that the head coach of "Ingulets" Vasily Kobin did not even understand what happened.
A quick goal was definitely not part of the plans of Maksimov's wards, but while Poltava recovered from it, Ingulets doubled the advantage. In the 12th minute, Malysh shot at the goal, the Vorskla defender took the shot, but the ball bounced to Pyatov, who beat three home players at once in the penalty area and shot accurately into the far corner from the Toe – 2:0.
Interestingly, in the first half, Ingulets played as if they were losing. Kobin's wards did not stop there and had the opportunity to score for the third time, but the blow of The Hairy Isenko pulled. Only at the end of the half did Vorskla recover and start creating chances.
At the beginning of the second half, Vorskla earned the right to a penalty. Sklyar came up to the mark, but could not beat Palamarchuk, who deflected an eleven-meter shot for the fifth time in a row, which was a repeat of the record of the 2021/2022 season, when Dmitry Reznik deflected five consecutive penalties, who, by the way, then played for Vorskla.
"Willibald says to me before hitting:" Lech, fight back, please." They beat me on the right, beat me on the left, and now they're in the center. I fell – the ball hit my feet. Thank God I did. They said that I repeated the record for deflected penalties. So, we need to recapture the sixth one. I want the team to win and everyone to have positive emotions. There is the first victory in the championship, we need to work further," Palamarchuk said after the match.
This moment further broke the home team. Until the end of the match, Vorskla could not score at least a goal, and Ingulets played successfully defending the result. Already in the time added by the referee, Ingulets ran out on the counterattack, sad brought Belotserkovets face-to-face with the goalkeeper, who easily scored the third goal.
The final whistle recorded the first victory of Ingulets, which broke the unbeaten record Club Series at 15 matches, as well as the first away victory of Vasily Kobin as head coach of the UPL club. It is interesting that this happened in his 50th match in all official tournaments at the top level.
However, this victory did not allow the Kabin team to rise from the last place in the table.
"Winning is important for us, regardless of the score. We continue to believe in our style of play and strive for the football we want to see. Each of the players must work 100%, demonstrating balanced and modern football," Kobin said after the match.
Strong-willed victory of Veres
In the first match of Saturday, LNZ Cherkasy was visited by Veres Rivne. The first symbolic shot of the match was performed by Bogdan Klyuchka and his son. Bogdan volunteered at the end of April 22. After the training ground, he joined the 3rd Battalion, 110th separate Mechanized Brigade named after Cornet General Mark Bezruchko, where he served before being wounded.
He was wounded near the village of Krasnogorovka, Pokrovsky district. he was awarded the golden cross badge and the medal for injury. Currently, he is the captain of the amp football and volleyball teams sitting at MSK Dnipro.
Both teams started the match quite actively, creating chances at the opponents ' goal. However, it was LNZ that managed to take the lead. In the 27th minute, the Veres midfielder played clumsily at his own goal and gave the ball to Yashara, who went one – on-one with the goalkeeper and opened the scoring in the match-1:0.
"Veres" won back in the 39th minute, although three minutes before that, Kutsia, who hit the post, could have equalized the score. It was after this moment that Putrya mowed down Dakhnovsky in his own penalty area – the referee awarded a penalty, which Luan converted – 1:1.
The teams started the second half cautiously again. But in the end, the Veres players escalated. In the 70th minute, the LNZ goalkeeper knocked the ball exactly on Stepanyuk's leg in his own penalty area, but the rivnenan forward could not beat the goalkeeper. However, in 5 minutes "LNZ" "brought" the second time, but Luan does not forgive mistakes. Nonikashvili gave a weak pass to the keeper, Luan intercepted and entered the penalty area, where he "put the LNZ goalkeeper on the lawn" and scored – 2:1.
The final whistle recorded a strong-willed victory for Veres, which allowed Shandruk's wards to extend their unbeaten streak to nine matches.
Hettrick Tverdokhleba and the blackout
In the second match of Saturday, Kryvyi Rih "Kryvbas" was visited by Zhytomyr "Polesie". Traditionally, the first symbolic strike was performed by Andriy Haiduk, a fan of Kryvbas, a military man who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on September 1, 2022, participated in defensive operations in the Kherson, Donetsk and Kharkiv directions, and now serves in the 17th separate Mechanized Brigade in the Kursk direction. He was wounded twice and received awards for his courage in battle.
The beginning of the game was reserved for Polesie. Already in the first minute, Makhankov had to work hard to cope with two consecutive shots from outside the penalty area. It was especially sharp after Lednev's shot, but the keeper managed to fold and hit the ball with his feet. In the 2nd minute, the lights went out at the stadium, but the game was quickly resumed. All in the same 2 minutes, the Kryvbas players did not keep track of Wendell, who shot a header at point-blank range after a corner kick, but above the goal.
Subsequently, Kryvbas began to carry out their dangerous attacks and already in the 11th minute Vernidub's wards opened the scoring. Bandeira threw an out far, Tverdokhleb picked up the ball after a discount from Sosa, and immediately shot – a rebound and the ball was in the goal – 1:0.
In the 25th minute, Kryvbas somehow miraculously did not score a second time – first Volynets pulled a shot close to Sosa, and then successfully reacted to finishing off Kuzik.
At the end of the half, Kryvbas scored for the second time, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside from Shevchenko.
At half-time, the lights were turned off again at the stadium, Allegra continued on time
The beginning of the second half was accompanied by "Polesie", who actively put pressure on the goal of "Kryvbas", which eventually succeeded in the 61st minute. After a series of passes and ricochets, the ball bounced to Hutsulyak, who accurately shot into the near corner – 1:1.
However, in the 73rd minute, Kryvbas again took the lead-a long diagonal across the field from Bizimana, a pass to the penalty area performed by Mikitishin, from where Tverdokhleb powerfully shot under the crossbar – 2:1. after 14 minutes, Tverdokhleb scored a hat – trick, impaling the ball into the goal after Bandeira's pass-3:1.
The final whistle recorded the victory of Kryvbas, which extended the winless series to 6 matches. Moreover, the second goal was the 400th for the teams of Yuri Vernidub in the UPL Championship for all the years of his coaching career.
"Indeed, it is a very important game for us. Polesie is a competitor in the table. I am very happy that we were able to win, that I scored a hat-trick. A memorable evening, you might say.
Yes, this is the first hat-trick of my career. I don't even think I've scored two goals in one match before. And here are three at once-I am very happy that I succeeded. I dedicate these goals to all those people who protect our Ukraine from the aggressor, the terrorist country. A low bow for their courage, for what they do for the country. Thanks to them, we can continue to live with our favorite business and get positive emotions," Tverdokhleb shared his emotions after the hit hit.
"Left bank" escapes in the last minutes
In the final match of Saturday, "Left Bank" and "Obolon" met in the capital derby. On the same day, a farewell ceremony was held in Kiev at the Obolon Arena for the founder of the Obolon ultras, Pavel Vedybida (call sign" Obolonchik").
Pavel has been a participant in military operations since 2014, in particular as part of the duk PS, defending Saur-Mogila, Donetsk airport and other strategic positions. In 2022-2024, he served in the 112th Brigade of the TRO of the Obolonsky District, participated in the defense of Kiev, the battles near Lysychansk, the liberation of Klishcheyevka and the defense of Chasovy Yar, where he died on November 13, 2024.
A symbolic blow in the match was performed by Pavel Ishchenko, who since 2015, as part of the 14th separate Mechanized Brigade, participated in combat operations until 2018, and after 2022, as part of the 72nd brigade of Black Cossacks, stopped columns of rashists in Gostomel and Irpen. In addition, he participated in the operation to blow up a dam on the Irpen River, which played a key role in the defense of Kiev, for which he was awarded the order "for courage". He was wounded in Bakhmut.
At the start of the match, the teams did not particularly force events, playing virtually in the center of the field. The first dangerous moment came as early as the 17th minute-Sukhoruchko headed over the Obolon goal after a corner kick.
"Obolon" immediately responded with its moment, but, unfortunately, Vitenchuk's beautiful goal was canceled due to the game with Dubko's hand. In the end, it was Obolon that was destined to open an account. This time without breaking the rules. After a long draw of the standard, Dubko was ahead of the goalkeeper, who made a mistake on the way out, and sent the ball into the goal with his head – 1:0.
The second half was not particularly different from the first. Despite the expectation that the" storks "would fly forward, it was the" Brewers " who attacked more sharply, but it did not reach the decisive blow. Nevertheless," left bank " in the last attack in the 5th added minute managed to win back-a crazy episode that lasted almost a minute, and in the end, after a series of shots, ricochets, takeaways, the ball was in the goal. Akimovna scored a goal.
The final whistle recorded a draw – 1:1. "Left Bank" avoided the 10th defeat in the UPL, but its winless series increased to 10 matches (four draws, six defeats).
"Circus" in Kirovohrad Region
A real drama played out at the Nika Stadium in Alexandria, where the eponymous team was visited by Chernomorets Odessa. The first symbolic strike in the match was performed by defender of Ukraine Volodymyr Sobovenko, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who defended Ukraine during the ATO, and on March 5, 2023, while performing a combat mission, a car in which Vladimir and three of his brothers were traveling ran over an anti – tank mine. From the explosion, the brothers suffered minimally, and Vladimir Voin was seriously wounded, as a result of which he lost two legs.
The coach of" Alexandria " Ruslan Rotan presented our defender with a memorable T-shirt with the number 89.
The first episode of the match occurred in the 16th minute, which completely turned the tide of the match. Alexandria winger Alexander Belyaev took the ball on the flank from Bogdan Butko, who flew to Alexander Martynyuk. The left defender made a cross, but the defenders of the "Mariners" knocked the ball exactly on the leg of Vashchenko, who in touch powerfully shot under the crossbar – 1:0.
After the goal was scored, a real drama broke out on the football field. The fact is that the players of Chernomorets immediately began to appeal to the referee, who believed that Belyaev violated the rules by stepping on Butka's foot. While" Alexandria " scored, Butko continued to lie on the lawn. Mariners keeper Artur Rudko received a yellow card for condemning the referee, and a second later his partner Ivan Petryak received a direct red card for pushing the referee.
At this point, the emotions did not fade, but on the contrary intensified. In the 20th minute, Bezera burst into the penalty area, where she was hit by Chernomorets players. The referee did not see the penalty and "Alexandria" received only a corner kick after the ball was knocked out of the field by the "sailors". However, Bezzera was lying on the lawn and holding his leg, and some of the defenders of the "sailors" said to him: "get up, s*Ka." The teams began to appeal to the referee, and the most active in condemning the referee was Butko, who received a yellow card for talking.
In 8 minutes, Belyaev knocked down Butko, which the latter did not like. The defender got up from the lawn and pushed the offender. The referee did not react to the episode with a violation, which Butko did not like, which the referee sent directly. What Butko said can be read on your lips. For this, Butko was removed from the field, and Chernomorets remained in the nine. This removal did not please the coach of Odessa, who went on the field and tried to take his team to the subtribe room, but the game continued.
In fact, this and the previous episodes decided the fate of the fight. The game was completely dominated by "Alexandria", although the "sailors" successfully played in defense. Ruslan Rotan's team was able to take advantage of the two-player advantage only after 80 minutes. First, Denis Kostyshin scored a goal from Skorko's feed, although the referee decided to score a goal for a long time, because there were doubts that Skorko could have been offside, and Artem Kozak put an end to the match, who closed the near head after Kostyshin's feed.
The final whistle recorded a crushing victory of "Alexandria" – 3:0, which increased the record unbeaten club streak in the UPL Championship to 19 matches-in the 180th home game in the elite division.
"First of all, I am very grateful to my team for the fact that they were still strong, moving, rebuilding and, in principle, until the 75th minute.we had a scoring moment when spurn could have scored in the 1st half. But I just watched this episode with the 1st ball – well, let the referees sort it out. In my opinion, this is a pure foul on Butka. And I heard, and the stands heard, that it was a foul. We didn't do enough on the rebound later, but I think it's a 100 percent foul on offense. And if I had come home from ballet as a coach, maybe I would have behaved a little more calmly, reacted a little calmly to these situations. But I think that there was one foul, and we also had another foul on Butka when we didn't whistle. Therefore, this situation is nervous, and the guys, of course, feel it on the field and react in this way. How can we not react? We have a team spirit, and we fight for everyone," Babic said after the match.
Dynamo hits the post in Kyiv Region
In the second match of Saturday in Kovalevka, in the Kiev region, Dynamo Kyiv came to the local "Kolos", which had to win, because "Alexandria", having won its match against Chernomorets, threw the "White and blue" to second place.
The first symbolic performance was performed by the defender of Ukraine Bohdan Duba – in February 2022, he defended Kiev from Russian invaders. After Kiev, he liberated Chernihiv region, Sumy region, and then defended Kharkiv region, where he was wounded in the leg during the Storming of the Cossack Lopan.
Kiev started the match quite actively, which led to a goal scored in the 5th minute of the match-Nazar Voloshin on the right flank rolled the ball to Brazhka, and the central midfielder hit exactly the far corner of the goal with a shot from outside the penalty area – 0:1.
After scoring a goal, the game slowed down somewhat. "Dynamo" had possession of the ball, but did not sharpen it, while the opponent was not particularly near their goal. The first dangerous attack from Kolos occurred inside the first half, when Tsurikov forced Buschan to enter the game.
However, already in the 33rd minute, Kolos still scored. Alefirenko received a pass on the approaches to the penalty area, none of the defenders of Kiev did not have time to cover it, and after the midfielder's shot and rebound, the ball flew into the corner of the goal past Buschan – 1:1. one can only sympathize with Taras Mikhavko, who scored 3 goals in his own goal this season, and this ball flew after a rebound from his foot.
In the 40th minute, the Dynamo captain could have scored a "dry sheet" in the style of the legendary Valery Lobanovsky, but the Kolos keeper was able to pull it out from under the post. And in the 46th minute, Kolos took the lead – Demchenko got a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside. It's a pity, the goal turned out to be no less beautiful than Alefirenko.
The second half was accompanied by Dynamo, but Kiev failed to realize their chances. Guerrero could have scored, but he missed the goal from a few meters away, Tymchik shot over the goal, Vanat could not beat Pakholyuk, who in this match, and especially in the second half, worked wonders on the tape.
In the end, the match ended in a 1-1 draw, which, although it brought Dynamo to the first place, but shares points with Alexandria. On Wednesday, December 4, a match for 6 points will take place, in which the wards of Alexander Shovkovsky and Ruslan Rotan will meet.
It should be noted that Kolos players were expected to receive a pleasant surprise from the team's President Andrey Zasukha in the form of bonuses after the match.
We respect Dynamo, so I gave a small bonus to the players. Although there were no promises about this before the match. The guys played as usual, " Zasukha said after the match.
Rukh snatches points from Shakhtar in the last seconds
In the last match of Sunday, Shakhtar Donetsk was visited by Rukh. The match was held at the arena Lviv, which is home to Rukh, but the yellow-blacks were guests in this match.
The match began with a minute of silence for Dmytro Tvardovsky, the father of Shakhtar goalkeeper Denys Tvardovsky, who died at the front defending Ukraine. While performing a combat mission, Dmitry and his brothers came under enemy fire and received injuries incompatible with life. He was 45 years old.
Rukh players actively started the match, creating several chances at the Reznik goal – first Klimchuk shot with his head, and then Lyakh tried to break through the Donetsk keeper, but in vain.
Shakhtar recovered by the middle of the half and were able to open the scoring in the 22nd minute-captain Mykola Matvienko turned the ball into the net with his head after a corner kick – 1:0.
After the goal, the game calmed down and the first dangerous episode appeared closer to the end of the half – Artem Bondarenko could not spin the ball into the far corner of Rukh, although it was close.
The second half, like the first, was actively started by the "movement" that dictated the game during the second half. At first, Pidgursky from a killer position could not close the feed from the flank with his head, later Reznik pulled Klimchuk's shot from under the post, and a moment later the Donetsk keeper coped with Didyk's shot.
At the end of the half, Rukh missed a counterattack, in which Lasina Traore doubled the advantage, but the ball was canceled due to offside. Everything went to the fact that Shakhtar would get another victory and get closer to the leaders of the season, but the "black and yellow" were of the opposite opinion.
Already in stoppage time, at 90+2 minutes, they managed a decisive attack. Sych served from the right flank, and Didyk burst from deep and shot Riznik from the goalie's Line – 1:1. Shakhtar immediately rushed forward, but there was not enough time.
"Now the team lacks stability due to its age, and this is quite normal. We can play a high-quality match with Shakhtar, and then Rukh holds a low-quality match with conditional outsiders. I am grateful to the guys for this game, because not every team can force Shakhtar to play to keep the score. I think that in the second half we completely outplayed the opponent, so this result is natural. "Rukh" was better in intensity, played better and created more chances (…). In addition to a goal from the standard, the opponent actually had no scoring chances in this match. I am convinced that both tactical schemes have paid off. Substitutions also strengthened the game – Ilya Kvasnitsa, Oleg Fedor and Cliver added sharpness to the attack," Rukh coach Vitaly Ponomarev shared the secret of success.
A strong-willed victory closed the Tour
The last match of the tour was held in Kiev at the Valery Lobanovsky Stadium, where the Lviv "Carpathians" visited Zarya Luhansk. Both teams started quite actively from the first minutes and the first dangerous moment arose for the "Carpathians", when Dryshlyuk out of the Blue gave the ball to Polegenka, but the latter could not beat Saputin.
Nevertheless, the" Carpathians " managed to open an account. Lviv organized their attack, Bruninho gave in the center to Kostenko, who broke into the penalty area and removed the locksmith on the attempt, but the midfielder hit the leg of the Karpaty player and the referee awarded a penalty, which Polegenko realized – 1:0. After the goal, the teams started playing more openly, creating even more chances, but both goalkeepers played well in the first half.
The second half started with the attacks of the "Carpathians" and if not for Saputin, who pulled an incredible header from Neves, the "White-Green" could have taken the lead. In the end, Zarya also found their moment – Michin stretched the flank, gave it to Yatsyk, who turned to Michin and moved to the center with a billiard shot shot exactly into the corner – 1:1 in the 69th minute.
Both teams did not agree to a draw, so they rushed forward immediately, which played a cruel joke with the "Carpathians". In 11 minutes, Zarya earned the right to take a corner – the players decided to play, Kiryukhantsev executed a pass into the penalty area, where after a fuss the ball bounced to Michin, who scored a double, bringing victory to the Luhansk club.
"Karpaty" in the end could have equalized, but Ustimenko got the ball only with his hair. The final whistle recorded a strong – willed victory of Zarya-2:1, and the match was also remembered for the jostling at the end of the match.
After the 15th round, the standings are as follows: Dynamo, despite the draw with Kolos, continues to lead in the table. "Alexandria "thanks to the victory over" Chernomorets "equaled" Dynamo " on points, but still continues to be in second place. The victory of "Kryvbas" over "Polesie" allowed Kryvyi Rih residents to push "Wolves" in the tournament.
Erling Haaland has edged ahead of Phil Foden in their personal Big Six scoring battle – only two Manchester City players are ahead of the Norwegian now.
The podium positions are pretty obvious but there is room for legends such as Jesus Navas and Martin Demichelis, as well as the rogue inclusion of some fella called Frank Lampard. They are among this list of every player to have scored for Manchester City in Premier League matches against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham since the start of the 2010/11 season – the first in which they comprised the top six.
We have even broken it down into goals against each opponent before confirming the overall totals. These numbers are accurate as of the last Manchester City game versus a Big Six side (0-2 v Liverpool on December 1, 2024).
v Arsenal Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne (8)
Raheem Sterling (6)
David Silva (4)
Erling Haaland, Leroy Sane (3)
Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Ferran Torres, Yaya Toure (2)
Martin Demichelis, Edin Dzeko, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan, Joleon Lescott, Riyad Mahrez, James Milner, Alvaro Negredo (1)
v Chelsea Sergio Aguero (10)
Kevin De Bruyne (5)
Erling Haaland, Raheem Sterling (3)
Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Carlos Tevez (2)
Manuel Akanji, Mario Balotelli, Fernandinho, Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus, Vincent Kompany, Frank Lampard, Riyad Mahrez, Samir Nasri, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Yaya Toure (1)
v Liverpool Sergio Aguero (6)
Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane (4)
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says summer signing Leny Yoro “could be in the squad” to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Yoro is yet to make his competitive debut for Man Utd after injuring his metatarsal against Arsenal in a pre-season friendly.
He could make his Red Devils nod against the same opponent on Wednesday evening.
Indeed, Amorim confirmed Yoro “could be in the squad”. He also said the fitness of other players will be assessed in training on Tuesday.
“He (Yoro) is a special talent,” Amorim told reports on Monday. “We have to be careful in the first moments.
“We have not had a lot of training together, he has been training in a small group.
“He is really fast, a modern defender, which is really good when you want to press high. He can manage one one-on-one with strikers and he is good with the ball so I am really excited to see him play.”
One defender who has played consistently since joining Man Utd in the summer is Noussair Mazraoui.
Mazraoui joined the club alongside Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich and has been very impressive in his early months at Old Trafford.
“In games, he is a top player,” Amorim said of the Moroccan. “He understands games, knows how to attack, is very technical, very good defensively [and] in one on ones.
“He is a modern player – he is the future of our team. You need more players like him who can control the the play, are comfortable with the ball and understand the game.”
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Amorim also confirmed that captain Bruno Fernandes will feature despite having ice on his ankle after being substituted in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Everton.
Facing the Gunners will be his “biggest” test since replacing Erik ten Hag as head coach, Amorim says.
“It is important to be brave (against big teams),” he said. “Not in pressing all the time high, we have to understand the game and moments of the game.
“We need to have the ball – we also want to dominate some moments of the game because in these matches it is hard to control all of the game. We have to be brave and to play the game.”
Finally, Amorim says he feels “a bit embarrassed” to hear chants about him from the crowd, “because I am the coach. They have to chant for players and the club”.
“Not a good thing for me,” he added. “I appreciate the connection with supporters but I want them to support the players because they are on the pitch.
“But I am honoured, I feel the connection with supporters but we need results to maintain that.”
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Mo Salah has scored more Premier League goals for Liverpool against all but one other Big Six team since the 2010/11 season.
From the slew of predictable leading names to single-goal stalwarts such as Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic and Jonjo Shelvey, here is every player to have scored for Liverpool in Premier League matches against Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham since the start of the 2010/11 season – the first in which they comprised the top six.
We have even broken it down into goals against each opponent before confirming the overall totals. These numbers are accurate as of the last Liverpool game versus a Big Six side (2-0 v Manchester City on December 1, 2024).
v Arsenal Roberto Firmino (11)
Mo Salah (10)
Sadio Mane (7)
Diogo Jota (5)
Philippe Coutinho (4)
Martin Skrtel (3)
Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez (2)
Joe Allen, Dirk Kuyt, Adam Lallana, Joel Matip, James Milner, Takumi Minamino, David Ngog, Darwin Nunez, Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum (1)
v Chelsea Mo Salah (5)
Sadio Mane (4)
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Christian Benteke, Philippe Coutinho, Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Georginio Wijnaldum (2)
Daniel Agger, Conor Bradley Emre Can, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Naby Keita, Dejan Lovren, Raul Meireles, Maxi Rodriguez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Skrtel, Dominik Szoboszlai (1)
v Manchester City Mo Salah (8)
Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane (4)
James Milner, Martin Skrtel (3)
Andy Carroll (2)
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Cody Gakpo, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Diogo Jota, Dirk Kuyt, Adam Lallana, Alexis Mac Allister, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Georginio Wijnaldum (1)
v Manchester United Mo Salah (12)
Steven Gerrard (6)
Luis Diaz (4)
Roberto Firmino, Dirk Kuyt, Daniel Sturridge (3)
Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane, Darwin Nunez, Xherdan Shaqiri, Luis Suarez (2)
Christian Benteke, Naby Keita, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Virgil van Dijk (1)
v Tottenham Mo Salah (9)
Roberto Firmino (5)
Luis Suarez (4)
Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane (3)
Philippe Coutinho, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Andy Robertson, Raheem Sterling (2)
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mario Balotelli, Stewart Downing, Harvey Elliott, Jon Flanagan, Curtis Jones, Lazar Markovic, Alberto Moreno, Martin Skrtel, Georginio Wijnaldum (1)
Christian Benteke, Adam Lallana, Darwin Nunez, Andy Robertson (3)
Andy Carroll, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Xherdan Shaqiri, Fernando Torres, Virgil van Dijk (2)
Daniel Agger, Joe Allen, Mario Balotelli, Conor Bradley, Emre Can, Stewart Downing, Harvey Elliott, Fabinho, Jon Flanagan, Dejan Lovren, Alexis Mac Allister, Lazar Markovic, Joel Matip, Raul Meireles, Takumi Minamino, Alberto Moreno, David Ngog, Maxi Rodriguez, Jonjo Shelvey, Dominik Szoboszlai (1)
Here is the worst player for every Premier League club in 2024/25. We are using WhoScored average match ratings, so shout at them, not us.
We are only including players with at least 400 minutes played.
Every Premier League club’s worst player this season
Arsenal: Leandro Trossard (6.62) Trossard is a super sub. He won’t like the tag but that is what he is. The midfield experiment failed and Mikel Arteta should have put more trust in Ethan Nwaneri. In fairness to the Belgian, 6.62 is far from poor and he has messed about positionally. He is still the best £20m Arsenal have spent in a decade.
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Bournemouth: Adam Smith (6.33) Smith’s poor performance in the 3-2 defeat to Brentford has succumbed him to a position on this list. That, and Julian Araujo not playing enough minutes.
Brentford: Mads Roerslev (6.28) Roerslev has been at Brentford for four years and we could not name you one thing he has done in that time. Make of that what you will.
Brighton: Jack Hinshelwood (6.45) Harsh on Hinshelwood, we reckon. He is only 19 and has been impressive in our eyes. The algorithm isn’t as convinced.
Chelsea: Malo Gusto (6.44) Being Reece James’ back-up is more strenuous than being Reece James, so Gusto has played a lot since joining Chelsea in 2023.
Enzo Maresca trusts him, just as Mauricio Pochettino did. Rightly so.
Crystal Palace: Daichi Kamada (6.29) Tipped to be the bargain of the season, Kamada has been pants and a red card against Fulham did not help his case.
Everton: Jack Harrison (6.26) Harrison has zero goal involvements in 628 minutes this term.
Fulham: Calvin Bassey (6.38) This is another one that feels harsh. Bassey has played in all 12 matches and hasn’t looked that bad.
Ipswich: Wes Burns (6.07) Ipswich finally won a Premier League match but Burns did not play. He is struggling to shine in Our League.
Leicester: Oliver Skipp (6.33) It has been tricky start at the King Power for Skipp, who has three yellow cards from seven appearances in the Premier League.
Liverpool: Cody Gakpo (6.60) Liverpool are on fire this term but it had to be someone. Sorry, Cody.
Man City: Kyle Walker (6.36) Walker has had a difficult year. And when we say difficult, we are politely saying he has been rubbish. He should not be starting for Man City anymore and his ridiculous ‘defending’ against Timo Werner should be enough to prove that to Pep Guardiola.
Man Utd: Joshua Zirkzee (6.36) A match-winning goal on his debut was the perfect start. Everything since then has been, well, a little s**t.
Newcastle: Jacob Murphy (6.37) Newcastle fans probably didn’t expect Murphy to be a regular three years into their Saudi Arabian project.
Nottingham Forest: Anthony Elanga (6.45) Elanga has two assists this season but is Forest’s worst player with a respectable average match rating. James Ward-Prowse is 19 minutes away from taking his place with a horrendous 6.07.
Southampton: Jack Stephens (5.93) The worst rating in the entire division (minimum 400 minutes played), Stephens got sent off against Manchester United on September 14, didn’t play again until October 26, had a couple of OK performances, and then dropped a 5.78 in a defeat to Wolves.
Tottenham: Pape Matar Sarr (6.64) Sarr has been far from poor this season. Remarkably, Spurs have the highest-rated player here.
West Ham: Edson Alvarez (6.16) The red card against Forest did Alvarez no favours.
Wolves: Jose Sa (6.29) It doesn’t feel like Sa has been Wolves’ worst player since coming back into the team but he probably was before being dropped for Sam Johnstone.
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There’s not been much good news for Manchester City recently, so here’s some. As things currently stand, their lowly fifth place in the Premier League would still see them into next season’s Champions League. See? Not all doom and gloom, is it?
In five of the last seven seasons, England would have claimed one of those two spots. Last season, when it mattered, they didn’t; England trailed in behind Germany and Italy, with Newcastle and Man United’s pre-Christmas exits from Europe a key early factor before a series of disappointments across all three competitions in the knockout stages.
The system for working out the co-efficient rating that decides which leagues come out on top is (relatively) simple.
Every win in Europe – whether Champions, Europa or Conference League – is worth two points to your country’s tally, and every draw one. There are then assorted bonus points to be awarded based on finishing positions in the bumper new league tables as well as further points for reaching different knockout rounds.
All teams competing in the Champions League phase are awarded six points just for being there. You get an additional 0.25 points for finishing 24th in the final table, with an extra 0.25 points on offer for each position from there up. So 23rd gets 0.5, 22nd gets 0.75 and so on all the way up to six points for the table-toppers. The Europa League has no bonus points for competing, but again offers 0.25 points to the team that ends 24th and six to the team finishing first on the same sliding scale as the Champions League.
Just to keep us all on our toes, it’s slightly different again in the Conference. Here you get 0.125 points for 24th, and an extra 0.125 points for each position up to ninth, and then 0.25 points for each extra position you can climb in the top eight.
Long story short, the table-toppers in the Champions League will get 12 points altogether, Europa League toppers six points, and Conference League four.
Champions League teams will get an extra 1.5 points for each knockout round they participate in (last 16, quarter-final, semi-final, final), Europa League teams one point for each round, and Conference League teams 0.5 points. There are no bonus points on offer for reaching the playoff round that teams finishing between ninth and 24th in each competition have to deal with.
So if you qualify for, say, the Champions League quarter-final by winning both legs of your last-16 clash, you collect 5.5 points for your country’s tally: two for each win and a bonus 1.5 points for reaching the next stage. If you get through with a win and a defeat it’s 3.5 points (two for a win, plus the qualification bonus). And so on.
The total number of points accrued by all teams from a particular league are then divided by the total number of teams from that league who began the season in European competition to obtain an average rating that determines the all-important standings.
So taking last year’s table-toppers Italy as an example, their teams between them amassed 147 points across their European campaigns. They started the season with seven teams in Europe, so 147 divided by seven gives their final score of a nice neat 21.000.
This also therefore means individual match wins are worth more to the score for a country that had fewer teams involved to begin with; a win for any Dutch side this season, for instance, is worth 0.333pts to the final tally because it is two points divided by the six teams they had in contention when the season began, while for Italy or Germany a two-point win is worth only 0.250pts to the total after it has been divided by eight.
It’s very early days in every conceivable way, but as things currently stand Manchester City would still qualify for next season’s Champions League with England sitting second in the current standings.
1) Portugal – 8.000pts Sporting and Benfica have each picked up three Champions League wins, which carry plenty of early heft with only five teams to divide the total by. Braga and Porto are both in the top 24 on the Europa League table, while Vitoria have three wins and a draw from four games in the Conference.
Total points: 40.000 Total teams: Five Teams still active: Five League phase: Sporting (UCL), Benfica (UCL), Porto (UEL), Braga (UEL), Vitoria (UECL)
2) England – 7.571pts A repeat of last year’s damaging pair of early Champions League exits for Newcastle and Manchester United doesn’t appear to be on the cards this time around, with Liverpool top, Arsenal just inside the top eight and Aston Villa just outside. Even City, for all their antics, remain well clear of the bottom 12 and elimination for now. Meanwhile, Spurs and Man United both look well placed for the play-offs at least in the Europa League while Chelsea are cruising through the Conference with almost embarrassing ease.
Total points: 53.000 Total teams: Seven Teams still active: Seven League phase: Manchester City (UCL), Arsenal (UCL), Liverpool (UCL), Aston Villa (UCL), Tottenham (UEL), Manchester United (UEL), Chelsea (UECL)
3) Belgium – 7.400pts Club Brugge are in contention for a play-off spot in the Champions League, currently sitting 22nd and two places above Real Madrid, while Anderlecht look good for a top-eight spot in the Europa League. Union Saint-Gilloise currently sit a nervous 24th, but both Cercle Brugge and Gent should make the play-offs at least in the Conference.
Total points: 37.000. Total teams: Five Teams still active: Five League phase: Club Brugge (UCL), Union Saint-Gilloise (UEL), Anderlecht (UEL), Cercle Brugge (UECL), Gent (UECL)
4) Poland – 7.125 Legia Warsaw and Jagiellonia Bialystok have between them racked up seven wins and a draw in eight Conference League games, but as the only two point-scorers left for Poland they will inevitably tumble down these rankings soon enough.
Total points: 28.500 Total teams: Four Teams still active: Two League phase: Legia Warsaw (UECL), Jagiellonia Bialystok (UECL) Eliminated: Wisla Krakow, Slask Wroclaw
5) Czechia – 7.100pts Viktoria Plzen look set for the Europa League play-off round at worst, but Czechia’s other three remaining teams all have work to do to reach their respective top 24s. Another country whose time in the top five here is set to be short and sweet.
Total points: 35.500 Total teams: Five Teams still active: Four League phase: Sparta Prague (UCL), Viktoria Plzen (UEL), Slavia Pragua (UEL), Mlada Boleslav (UECL) Eliminated: Banik Ostrava
The Ukrainian national team won 9 medals at the World Junior Diving Championships in Rio de Janeiro. Ukrainian athletes won 2 Gold, 2 silver and 5 Bronze awards, becoming leaders among 42 countries.
At the World Junior Diving Championship, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Ukrainian athletes won 9 medals. The competition was attended by 242 participants aged 14 to 18 years. This is reported by UNN with reference to The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and the National Olympic team of Ukraine.
Details
In general, Ukrainians became leaders in the number of medals, taking first place among 42 countries.
The national team of Ukraine was represented by 14 divers, including 15-year-old Mark Gritsenko, who was a member of the Olympic team of Ukraine-2024, but did not participate in these competitions.
Ukrainian athletes have reached the podium 9 times, winning 2 Gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze medals.
