Everton manager, Sean Dyche says he has more pressing concerns to focus on than striker Neal Maupay’s disrespectful behavior towards the club on social media.
The Toffees was defeated two-nil at home by Nottingham Forest, with Maupay posting on X that whenever he was having a bad day, he just checks the Everton score and smiles.
The Frenchman, is currently on loan at Marseille with his last Everton appearance coming against Doncaster in August 2023.
Dyche is trying to guide Everton away from a relegation battle, with the club sitting two points above the relegation zone after eighteen matches and having won only one of its last ten league games.
The coach also mentioned that there has been no contact from anyone regarding England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, despite the 27-year-old being linked with a move to Atalanta.
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Crystal Palace star Ebere Eze says the team is determined to improve in 2025.
The attacking midfielder has been in superb form this season, helping the team distance itself from the relegation zone.
The England international expressed that the team is not yet where he wants it to be.
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England head coach Thomas Tuchel is set to watch his first round of club fixtures this week, starting with Tottenham’s Premier League match at home to Newcastle on Saturday.
The German, was confirmed as the Three Lions boss in October, replacing Gareth Southgate, before officially starting his role on 1st January.
Tuchel and his team are preparing for England’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, which starts on twenty-one March against Albania at Wembley.
Meanwhile, Tuchel has added three members to his backroom staff – goalkeeping coach Henrique Hilario, performance coach Nicolas Mayer and analyst James Melbourne.
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Former Leicester City women’s manager Lydia Bedford is set to become head coach at Calgary Wild, one of six teams forming the Northern Super League in Canada.
Bedford is currently in charge of Brentford’s under-eighteen men’s team and spent the summer with England’s under-nineteen squad at the Women’s European Championship.
Canada’s new NSL is set to kick-off in April and will become the top tier of women’s football in the country.
Calgary Wild will join Halifax Tides, Montreal Roses, AFC Toronto, Ottawa Rapid and Vancouver Rise in the six-team division.
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IN NIGERIA
Heartland goalkeeper, Kelvin Ogunga says he is delighted after making a successful debut for the Naze Millionaires in their goalless draw against Lobi Stars.
Ogunga, who joined the five-time NPFL champions from Bayelsa United ahead of the 2024/2025 season, demonstrated exceptional skills to keep a clean sheet in his debut match for the club.
Technical Manager, Emmanuel Amuneke entrusted Ogunga with a starting role in the match and the young goalkeeper lived up to the challenge, making a series of outstanding saves.
Reflecting on his performance, Ogunga credited his courage and confidence to divine intervention.
Looking ahead to the second-leg in Owerri, Ogunga urged his teammates to stay focused in order to secure the three points.
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The management of Rangers International FC, Enugu has appreciated its fans for their strong support in 2024 and urged them to do even more in 2025.
The General Manager of Rangers, Amobi Ezeaku, in his New Year message issued on Thursday in Enugu, also thanked the club’s coaches, players and staff for their strides in 2024.
Ezeaku thanked Gov. Peter Mbah for his all-time support and belief in Rangers FC, “which has in no small way led the club to the heights already attained and many more that will come.
The team, which is observing a weeklong break, will resume training activities for the second stanza of the 2024/2025 Nigerian Professional Football League season on Sunday, 5th January.
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Super Eagles star Ademola Lookman is in action for Atalanta who fell to a two-nil defeat to Inter Milan in the semi-finals of the Italian Super Cup on Thursday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A second-half double from Denzel Dumfries earned Inter Milan the win where the Serie A champions will aim to win the trophy for the fourth successive time.
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Super Eagles star Moses Simon has been voted Nantes’ Player or the Month for December.
The Nigeria international won forty-four percent of the votes to beat Douglas Augusto, Nicolas Cozza, and Matthis Abline to the award.
Simon will receive his latest award before before Nantes’ home clash against AS Monaco at the La Beaujoire on Friday, 10th January.
The 28-year-old has registered four goals and five assists in 14 appearances this season.
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Nigerian international Umar Sadiq is set to join Spanish club Valencia on loan for the remainder of the season.
Valencia will have an option to buy the Nigeria international permanently at the end of the season.
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The year 2025 promises to be a thrilling period for African football as CAF organises a series of competitions, while African teams take part in major FIFA tournaments across the world.
From the prestigious CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to youth championships and club tournaments, football enthusiasts can expect a packed calendar.
The first competition of the year will be the CAF African Nations Championships (CHAN), which will be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The competition featuring players plying in their domestic leagues will be played from 1st – 28th February, 2025.
CAF’s flagship tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), will take centre stage in Morocco from December 21st, 2025 to January 18th, 2026.
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Former two-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, on Thursday visited the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History in Lagos.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Idris Aregbe, who was in company of Joshua, disclosed this via his Instagram page.
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IN OTHER LEAGUES
Rangers has reduced Celtic’s Scottish Premiership lead to eleven points in stunning style as Philippe Clement claimed his first Old Firm derby victory at the seventh time of asking.
Ianis Hagi early on, then Robin Propper and Danilo after the break, produced the decisive moments as the hosts overwhelmed their opponents in front of a raucous home support.
Victory ends a barren run of results for Rangers against Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, who had only tasted defeat once in twenty derby matches prior to this outcome.
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Rangers has condemned in the strongest possible terms an incident in which Celtic’s Arne Engels was struck by a coin during Thursday’s Old Firm game.
The substitute fell to the ground and needed treatment after being hit when going to take a corner towards the end of Rangers’ three-nil win.
There were no Celtic fans inside Ibrox because of the ongoing dispute about away ticket allocations and Rangers said they will assist police with their investigation.
Celtic said they believe Police Scotland are investigating two separate incidents.
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A double from Bruce Anderson helped Kilmarnock to victory over St Mirren and boosted the Ayrshire side’s top-six hopes in the Scottish Premiership.
In a tight and often scrappy affair, the home side had the better chances as St Mirren struggled to trouble a resolute defence.
Killie got its noses in front early and St Mirren only had themselves to blame.
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The Sugar Bowl between the US college football teams of Notre Dame and the University of Georgia has been postponed until Thursday following the New Orleans attack that killed fifteen people.
Sugar Bowl chief executive Jeff Hundley said the committee was devastated by the terrible events.
The game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is set to be the last of four College Football Playoff quarter-finals.
Agnes Keleti, the world’s oldest Olympic champion and Holocaust survivor, has died at the age of 103.
She passed away on Thursday at Budapest hospital, her press official Tamas Roth told AFP, confirming a report from local sports daily Nemzeti Sport.
She was hospitalised with pneumonia last week.
IN OTHER SPORTS
In Basketball, the injury-hit New York Knicks extended their winning streak to nine games with a 119-103 victory against the Utah Jazz.
Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns starred for the Knicks, with the latter becoming just the third player in team history to record at least thirty points and ten rebounds in three consecutive games.
The Knicks, whose record improved to 24-10, were missing star point guard Jalen Brunson for the first time this season because of a calf issue. Back-up guard Miles McBride sat out with a tight left hamstring.
The Jazz had raced into an 18-8 lead before falling to a fifth straight loss 7-25.
Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic scored twenty-three points, seventeen rebounds and fifteen assists for his 14th triple-double of the season as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Atlanta Hawks 139-120.
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In Tennis, Novak Djokovic kept his quest for a 100th career ATP title alive with a commanding 6-3, 6-3 victory over Gael Monfils in the Brisbane International round of sixteen.
The Serb, will face Reilly Opelka in the last eight after the American’s 7-6, 7-6 victory against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
Opelka awaits Djokovic in the quarter-finals, when the pair will play each other for the first time.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner says he will have to tailor his game to face the big-serving American, who hit 25 aces against Arnaldi.
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Also, World number one Aryna Sabalenka will face Marie Bouzkova in the quarter-finals after breezing past Yulia Putintseva.
The Belarusian beat Putintseva 6-4, 7-6, as she aims to win her 18th career title in Australia.
The 26-year-old will face world number forty-four Bouzkova, who beat former world number one Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina beat China’s Yue Yuan 6-1, 6-4 to set-up a last-eight match against Australia’s Kimberly Birrell, while world number 64 Ashlyn Krueger will take on Russia’s Polina Kudermetova.
Former world number two Ons Jabeur will play Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-final fixture.
Elsewhere, Russia’s Andrey Rublev was beaten 5-7, 6-3, 3-6 by Fabian Marozsan in the last-16 of the Hong Kong Open.
The Hungarian will take on China’s Juncheng Shang, as British number two Cameron Norrie prepares to face Kei Nishikori in the last-eight.
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Still on Tennis, Katie Boulter narrowly missed out on a stunning victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, as Poland ended Great Britain’s hopes of reaching the United Cup semi-finals.
Boulter needed victory to send the best-of-three tie into a deciding doubles, but lost 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 against world number two Swiatek in Sydney.
Britain’s hopes relied on Boulter causing a shock against the five-time major champion after Billy Harris narrowly lost to former world number six Hubert Hurkacz.
Harris pushed 16th-ranked Hurkacz in the opening match of the best-of-three tie before going down 7-6, 7-5.
Poland, one of the pre-tournament favorites, will face Kazakhstan in the semifinals on Saturday.
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In Cricket, Former Australia opener Justin Langer has been appointed head coach of London Spirit.
Langer joins the Hundred franchise after Trevor Bayliss’ departure last month following a three-year stint in charge.
Langer played one hundred and five Tests for Australia and was head coach of his home nation from 2018 to 2022, twice winning the Ashes and also lifting the T20 World Cup in 2021.
Spirit will be hoping Langer can turn the fortunes of the franchise around following a difficult two seasons.
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French skier Cyprien Sarrazin has left intensive care after successful surgery to drain a bleed on his brain following a fall in training.
Sarrazin was airlifted to hospital after losing control while training for the World Cup downhill in Bormio, Italy, on Friday.
Several skiers have suffered injuries at Bermio over the past week, with the slopes set to host some events at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
The men’s alpine skiing events at the 2026 Olympics will take place in Bormio, while the women’s races will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, five hours away by car.
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The world’s oldest living Olympic gold medallist and a Holocaust survivor, Agnes Keleti, has died at the age of one hundred and three.
Five-time Olympic champion Hungarian gymnast Keleti won her first gold aged thirty-one at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, before winning four more in Melbourne in 1956 to become the oldest female gymnast to win gold.
Keleti died on Thursday at Budapest Military Hospital, where she was being treated for heart failure and breathing difficulties, says the HOC.
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TODAY’S FIXTURE
IN SPANISH LA LIGA
Valencia vs Real Madrid
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IN SPANISH COPA DEL REY- LAST 32.
Granada vs Getafe
Pontevedra vs Mallorca
Racing Ferrol vs Rayo Vallecano
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IN ITALIAN SUPER CUP- SEMI-FINALS
Juventus vs AC Milan
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SOCCER ACTION CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND
IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
ON SATURDAY
Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United
Bournemouth vs Everton
Aston Villa vs Leicester City
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Manchester City vs West Ham United
Southampton vs Brentford
Brighton vs Arsenal
ON SUNDAY
Fulham vs Ipswich Town
Liverpool vs Manchester United
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IN SPANISH COPA DEL REY- LAST 32.
ON SATURDAY
Huesca vs Real Betis
Almería vs Sevilla
Barbastro vs Barcelona
Marbella vs Atlético Madrid
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IN ITALIAN SERIE A
ON SATURDAY
Venezia vs Empoli
Fiorentina vs Napoli
Hellas Verona vs Udinese
ON SUNDAY
Monza vs Cagliari
Lecce vs Genoa
Torino vs Parma
Roma vs Lazio
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
You have got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference….words from Chris Evert.
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