NIGERIA
FIFA has appointed Portuguese official Luis Godinho as referee for the international friendly match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Asian giants Saudi Arabia, coming up at the Estadio Municipal de Portimão thirteenth October.
Godinho will be assisted by compatriots Bruno Jesus as assistant referee one, Tiago Costa as assistant referee two and Miguel Noguera as fourth official at the match kicking off by 5pm Nigeria time.
Also appointed are Helder Carvalho to head the situation in the Video Assistant Referee VAR room, to be assisted by Bruno Vieira.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will also play another friendly encounter against the Mambas of Mozambique at the same venue sixteenth October.
Rivers United are poised for a tough CAF Confederation Cup draw.
The official draw for CAF’s second-tier club competition will be conducted on Friday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It will be followed by the CAF Champions League draw.
Nigerian international, Ola Aina, who plays for Nottingham Forest, has been ruled out of the Super Eagles upcoming friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique.
Aina was named on the 25-man list released by Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro second October for the warm-up games.
The Super Eagles players are expected to assemble in Portimao, Portugal tenth October.
Sporting Lagos midfielder, Chinedu Ufere, says the team is in good shape ahead of the clash against Akwa United.
The team will play away to Akwa United on matchday two of the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League season.
The much-anticipated game is scheduled for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, on Sunday.
Lobi Stars have inspected the Lafia Township Stadium ahead of their clash against Sunshine Stars.
The Pride of Benue adopted the Stadium as their home ground for the 2023-24 Nigeria Premier Football League season after their original ground failed to meet the standard approved by the league body.
Vice Chairman of the club, Dominic Iorfa, alongside the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Nasarawa State, Isaac Danladi, took an inspection tour of the pitch.
Nigerian international, Paul Onuachu has reflected on his impressive start to life in the Turkish Super Lig.
Onuachu joined Trabzonspor from Sky Bet Championship side Southampton on a season-long loan deal from last month.
He scored three goals and registered one assist in his first three games for the Blues Burgundy.
Nigerian international, Jordan Torunarigha, who plays for KAA Gent, is a major doubt for Super Eagles’ friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique.
The centre-back is among the twenty-five man squad for the friendlies billed for Portugal.
Torunarigha who was ruled out of Gent’s UEFA Europa Conference League clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, featured in the Buffalos’ last league game against RWD Molenbeek.
Former Rangers assistant captain, Ugochukwu Ugwuoke, has successfully had a knee surgery to help him get back to competitive football actions with the seven-time Nigeria League champions.
The surgery that lasted nearly five hours at a private health facility in Enugu with over nine medical personnel on ground seeing to the success of the surgery.
An elated Ugwuoke was full of joy and praise to the club’s General manager, Amobi Ezeaku for keeping his promise.
ENGLAND
Two Manchester United players have been included in the worst Champions League team of the week by sports data company SofaScore.
The Red Devils were beaten three-two by Galatasaray and now sit bottom of their Champions League group, which also includes reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and Copenhagen.
SofaScore revealed their best and worst teams of the second Champions League round and it makes for a grim reading as far as Manchester United fans are concerned.
Former Aston Villa star, Chris Sutton believes Manchester United have ‘blundered’ their decision to replace David de Gea with Andre Onana.
Erik ten Hag let De Gea walk at the end of his contract this past summer after twelve seasons with the Red Devils.
United spent forty-seven million pounds to replace the Spaniard with Andre Onana from Inter Milan, with Ten Hag reuniting with his former Ajax keeper in big part, due to his superior ball-playing skills.
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has described Rico Lewis as one of the best players he has ever coached.
Lewis played a starring role in City’s Champions League three-one win at RB Leipzig.
He produced a fine display as the holders maintained a winning start to their campaign on the continent.
Manchester United legend, Gary Neville has claimed the Red Devils have become a ‘graveyard for coaches and players’.
Neville also said he feels sorry for Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag amid the club’s poor start this season.
The back-to-back defeats have subsequently piled pressure on Ten Hag, with a selection of Manchester United supporters questioning whether the former Ajax coach was the right man to lead their club back to the top of the game.
Former Chelsea defender William Gallas has hailed winger Mykhaylo Mudryk while comparing him to Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Junior, and Kylian Mbappe.
Gallas said Mudryk makes things look really easy, adding that everything the Ukrainian does on the pitch of play was fast.
According to him, Mudryk has the potential to become an elite-level player despite receiving criticism for his performances since moving to Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in the January transfer window.
Manchester United legend, Paul Scholes believes Raphael Varane’s legs are ‘looking sluggish’ and fears the defender cannot keep fit.
Varane’s form has been questionable this season, while he already missed a month of the campaign due to injury.
The Frenchman was at fault for Kerem Akturkoglu’s equalizer, when he drifted out wide and allowed a pass through his legs during Manchester United’s recent Champions League three-two defeat to Galatasaray.
England manager Gareth Southgate has recalled Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins for October’s games against Australia and Italy at Wembley.
Watkins, who last featured for England in March 2022, continued his impressive start to the season with a hat-trick against Brighton.
Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling is left out of a fourth successive squad.
England manager, Gareth Southgate has attacked VAR following the Luis Diaz controversy that left the system under the microscope like never before.
Diaz wrongly had a goal ruled out for offside as Liverpool were beaten at Tottenham last Saturday, leading Reds boss, Jurgen Klopp to demand the game be replayed.
Republic of Ireland winger, James McClean has confirmed he will retire from international football at the end of this year as he insists it is the ‘right time to step aside’.
Ireland’s friendly at home to New Zealand next month is set to provide the stage for the Derry native’s final match.
The Irish centurion made his senior debut in 2012 and has so far won one hundred and two caps for his country, scoring eleven goals and playing in two European Championships.
Former England midfielder Kieron Dyer has left hospital after having a successful liver transplant.
The Chesterfield coach was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver condition with no cure, in 2019.
He said in a statement that he was discharged from hospital on Thursday.
OTHER LEAGUES
Barcelona has confirmed that the team’s striker, Robert Lewandowski has sustained a left ankle sprain.
Lewandowski came off injured in the first half of Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League one-nil win over Porto.
He was replaced by Ferran Torres after 34 minutes of Barcelona’s tie with Porto.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has shed light on his troubled relationship with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
The Swede joined the Catalan giants in a blockbuster deal in 2009, scoring sixteen goals in twenty-nine appearances for the club but he struggled for regular minutes and clashed with his coach.
As he opened up on his difficult time at the Nou Camp, Ibrahimovic said he no longer had the freedom on the pitch’ to succeed as he became surplus to requirements.
Republic of Ireland manager, Stephen Kenny has named Celtic defender, Liam Scales in his Republic of Ireland squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar.
Scales, who has been in previous squads but is uncapped, is included after Sheffield United centre-back John Egan was ruled out by a leg injury.
Jake O’Brien, who made his Lyon debut, earns a first call-up.
OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis, World number one Aryna Sabalenka progressed to the quarter-final of the China Open with a straight-set victory over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
Belarusian Sabalenka, US Open runner-up last month, beat the world number thirty-six, 6-4, 7-6.
The Australian Open winner will face 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the last eight.
In Cricket, England batter, Joe Root, says England must “stay calm” despite being trounced by New Zealand in their World Cup opener,
The defending champions posted 282-9 in Ahmedabad, only for the Black Caps to chase it down inside 37 overs with nine wickets in hand.
Root top-scored with 77 as all 11 England batters reached double figures the first time such a feat has occurred in a one-day international.
In Rugby, George Ford and Owen Farrell will start together as fly-half and inside centre for the first time since March 2021 when England take on Samoa on Saturday.
Their partnership, a key part of the run to the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, has been disrupted by injury and Marcus Smith’s emergence as a Test player.
Manu Tuilagi is outside Farrell at thirteen, while Ben Earl retains his place at number eight ahead of Billy Vunipola.
TODAY’S FIXTURES
IN SPANISH LA LIGA
Athletic Bilbao vs Almería
IN ITALIAN SERIE A
Empoli vs Udinese
Lecce vs Sassuolo
IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
ON SATURDAY
Luton Town vs Tottenham Hotspur
Burnley vs Chelsea
Everton vs AFC Bournemouth
Fulham vs Sheffield United
Manchester United vs Brentford
Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest
ON SUNDAY
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Liverpool
West Ham United vs Newcastle United
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Aston Villa
Arsenal vs Manchester City
IN SPANISH LA LIGA
ON SATURDAY
Cádiz vs Girona
Real Madrid vs Osasuna
Mallorca vs Valencia
Sevilla vs Rayo Vallecano
ON SUNDAY
Villarreal vs Las Palmas
Atlético Madrid vs Real Sociedad
Alavés vs Real Betis
Celta Vigo vs Getafe
Granada vs Barcelona
IN ITALIAN SERIE A
ON SATURDAY
Inter Milan vs Bologna
Juventus vs Torino
Genoa vs AC Milan
ON SUNDAY
Monza vs Salernitana
Frosinone vs Hellas Verona
Lazio vs Atalanta
Cagliari vs Roma
Napoli vs Fiorentina
TODAY’S THOUGHT
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