IN ENGLAND
Manchester United has advanced straight to the Europa League last sixteen as Kobbie Mainoo scored one and assisted another to help Ruben Amorim’s side to a narrow win at FCSB.
After a relatively drab first sixty minutes Mainoo’s low pass found wing-back Diogo Dalot, who was unmarked at the back post to comfortably tap United ahead.
Eight minutes later the England midfielder got on to the scoresheet by side-footing home Alejandro Garnacho’s cut-back.
United finished the match strongly, ending the competition’s league phase in third, and will play their last-16 ties in March.
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Tottenham overcame yet another injury setback to reach the last sixteen of the Europa League as the team’s new generation shone in a three-nil win over Elfsborg.
Spurs, who were already without 12 players because of injury and ineligibility, lost defender Radu Dragusin when he went down hurt in the second half with the game goalless.
Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore scored a goal each for Tottenham.
Spurs finish the league phase in fourth place with seventeen points and can now concentrate on domestic matters until the last-16 stage in March after avoiding a play-off tie in February.
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Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji says his side can beat every team in Europe after qualifying for the Champions League play-off round.
Pep Guardiola’s side survived a scare to beat Club Brugge three-one on Wednesday and set up a knockout tie against either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
Defeat would have meant a shock elimination for City and Switzerland defender Akanji said the club was happy its made it to the play-offs.
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs takes place on Friday, 31st January.
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Newcastle United winger Miguel Almiron has rejoined Atlanta United on a permanent deal for eight million pounds.
The 30-year-old Paraguay international signed for the Magpies from the Major League Soccer side in 2019 for a then club record fee of twenty million pounds.
Almiron made 223 appearances for Newcastle, scoring thirty goals, but struggled recently to gain a place in manager Eddie Howe’s starting line-up.
Atlanta United play in the Eastern Conference of the MLS, with the 2025 season starting on 22nd February.
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Arsenal has been charged by the Football Association after players confronted referee Michael Oliver following Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial dismissal in the one-nil win against Wolves.
Oliver showed Lewis-Skelly a straight red card in the first half after the teenager fouled Matt Doherty, with the referee ruling it was serious foul play.
The Gunners appealed against the decision and the 18-year-old’s three-match ban was overturned earlier this week.
Arsenal has until 3rd February to respond to the FA charge.
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Brighton has rejected a significant offer from Saudi Pro-League club Al-Nassr for Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma.
The bid was believed to be worth fifty-four point forty-two million pound, but sources with an understanding of the situation say Brighton have no need to sell and dismissed the offer out of hand.
However, it is anticipated Al-Nassr will return with a higher bid.
Al-Nassr, whose players include Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte, are close to signing Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran for a reported sixth-five million pounds.
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Everton manager David Moyes has lost midfielder Orel Mangala for the remainder of the season and striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin for several weeks after injury setbacks struck the club again.
Belgium international Mangala suffered an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury late during Saturday’s one-nil win at Brighton.
He made twenty-two appearances for the Blues since joining on a season-long loan from Lyon last summer but must see a specialist “to determine the next step for his recovery
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Chelsea women has agreed a deal to sign Barcelona’s England midfielder Keira Walsh on the Women’s Super League’s transfer deadline day.
Sources at Barcelona said the total deal was worth up to eight hundred, thousand pounds, including add-ons.
Barcelona had been unwilling to sell but it is believed Chelsea’s bid was accepted late on Wednesday, and Walsh was due in London for a medical on Thursday.
It is another huge signing for Chelsea with Walsh becoming the second most expensive female footballer in the world.
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IN NIGERIA
Enyimba and Heartland battled to a one-all draw in their Nigeria Premier Football League matchday 21 encounter in Aba on Thursday.
Heartland took the lead from the penalty spot through Daniel Ekpo in the 15th minute.
Joseph Atule restored parity for Enyimba ten minutes after the break.
The People’s Elephant is now winless in its last five games across all competitions, while Heartland on the other hand are unbeaten in its last three games.
Rivers United held Bendel Insurance to a two-all draw, while Katsina United claimed a one-nil victory over Plateau United and Niger Tornadoes pip Kwara United two-one.
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Former Nigerian international Sylvanus Okpala has advised Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle to focus more on the team’s 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Rwanda and not the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Okpala noted that qualifying for the World Cup should be Chelle’s priority at the moment.
He also said for Nigeria to emerge champion at the 2025 AFCON, the team must first qualify from Group C that consist of Tunisia, Tanzania and Uganda.
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Bayer Leverkusen forward Nathan Tella has expressed his hope of getting a recall to Super Eagles.
Tella got his first call-up to the Super Eagles in 2023 under former coach Jose Peseiro for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
He said he would be delighted to feature for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations and FIFA World Cup if the opportunity comes.
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Tanzania head coach, Hemed Suleiman Ali says his team is not scared of Super Eagles and the other teams in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations group.
Ali is optimistic things would be different this time around.
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Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy says Super Eagles star Wilfred Ndidi will return to full training next week.
Ndidi was withdrawn in the 58th minute of Leicester City’s two-all home draw with Brighton.
The midfielder has not returned to the pitch since then.
The Nigerian International has been in ‘partial’ team training with his Foxes team-mates and van Nistelrooy is hoping he can step that up over the coming weeks.
Delta Force Women’s Basketball Club of Asaba beat Victoria Queens of Ogun 50-45 on Thursday at the ongoing Louis Edem Invitational Basketball Championships.
The match was keenly contested by both teams, as Delta Force had to dig deeper to execute their win.
Delta Force took the first quarter 13-8, making use of their quick ball rotation and fast pace to torment Victoria Queens in their defence.
However, a resolute Victoria Queens woke up in the second and third quarters to contend with Delta Force’s dominance.
Victoria Queens recorded 18-11 and 13-10 in the second and third quarters of the game and were almost running away with the victory before Delta Force got back into the game.
Simon Nkom, President of the Nigeria Hockey Federation (NHF) says he is optimistic that the country’s representatives for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup for Club Championship (ACCC) in Egypt, will excel.
Nkom who said this in Abuja while bidding farewell to the teams participating in the championship, said that the country’s representatives were capable of winning the trophy.
According to the president, the majority of the national team players have participated in top-level tournaments, and he is sure that they will represent Nigeria well.
“The team comprises highly experienced players who have played against powerhouse teams from the Netherlands, Malaysia and other prominent hockey nations.
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IN OTHER LEAGUES
Celtic face a wait to find out if their fans will be banned from their next game away from home in the Champions League after a smoke bomb was thrown on to the pitch during Wednesday’s game against Aston Villa.
The Scottish champions were handed a suspended ban on selling tickets to away fans after the use of pyrotechnics during their match against Borussia Dortmund in October.
European governing body Uefa is awaiting the details from their match delegate report from Villa Park, but the use of pyrotechnics is likely to be noted.
Uefa is also likely to investigate banners and chanting from the match in Birmingham.
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Neymar has agreed to sign for his former side Santos in Brazil, saying it feels like he is going back in time.
Brazil’s record goalscorer is expected to sign a short-term deal at the club where he began his career.
The forward has already cancelled his contract at Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal by mutual consent, ending an injury-hit spell with the club for who he played just seven times after joining in a seventy-seven point six million pounds deal in August 2023.
Major League Soccer (MLS) club Chicago Fire attempted to bring Neymar to the United States but he turned them down in favour of returning to Santos.
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The former Aston Villa and Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has left his role as manager of Al-Ettifaq by mutual consent after eighteen months in charge.
Ex-England and Liverpool midfielder Gerrard signed a two-year extension to his initial deal in January 2024, contracting him to the club until 2027.
Al-Ettifaq won just five of its seventeen league matches this season, leaving them five points above the relegation zone.
Al-Ettifaq club president Samer Al Misehal said Gerrard transformed the club.
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IN OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis, Captain Leon Smith says Great Britain’s Davis Cup qualifying tie against Japan is a great opportunity for others in the absence of Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie.
World number 77 Jacob Fearnley is the highest-ranked Briton in the squad in his first call-up to the team.
Scotland’s Fearnley, who had a meteoric rise in 2024, is joined by Billy Harris and doubles specialists Joe Salisbury and Neil Skupski.
British number one Draper opted to miss the tie to continue his rehabilitation from a hip injury, while Norrie withdrew with illness.
Englishman Harris will face Japan’s world number 63 Yoshihito Nishioka in the first match on Friday, before Fearnley faces 2014 US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori.
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In Rugby, Sam Prendergast has been retained at fly-half for Ireland’s opening Six Nations match against England on Saturday.
Leinster’s Prendergast started Ireland’s last two November Tests and is entrusted to make his Six Nations debut from the start this weekend by interim head coach Simon Easterby.
Jack Crowley played every minute of Ireland’s Six Nations title-winning campaign last year, but despite impressing for Munster in recent weeks, the 25-year-old must settle for a place on the bench.
Easterby, who has stepped up to replace Andy Farrell while the latter focuses on leading the British and Irish Lions this summer, has also recalled Ryan Baird to the back row.
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In Formula one, Rwanda and South Africa are vying for pole position and hope to realise their ambition in 2027.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has long been an advocate for an African grand prix, and that sentiment is spreading among fellow drivers.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, meanwhile, thinks Africa would be the perfect place to introduce F1 to new audiences.
Rwanda is offering an innovative vision, aiming to blend motorsport with sustainability and natural beauty.
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In Cricket, Usman Khawaja’s maiden double century and a hundred on debut from Josh Inglis gave Australia complete control of the first Test against Sri Lanka after two days in Galle.
At the age of 38, Khawaja’s 232 made him the second-oldest Australian to make a double hundred in Test cricket, after the great Sir Don Bradman.
He extended his third-wicket partnership with Steve Smith to two hundred and sixty-six before Smith, standing in as captain for Pat Cummins, was out for one hundred and forty-one.
The tourists were eventually able to declare on 654-6, their highest total in a Test in Asia.
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In Golf, Rory McIlroy hit his second career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour in the opening round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Starting on the back nine at Spyglass Hill, McIlroy struck his ace on the par-three 15th.
The 35-year-old’s effort went straight into the 119-yard hole off the flag, without touching the green, and he celebrated with partner Ludvig Aberg, amateurs Jeff Rhodes and Jimmy Dunne, and the players’ caddies.
The world number three’s only previous hole-in-one on the PGA Tour came at the Travelers Championship in 2023.
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SOCCER ACTION CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND
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IN NIGERIA PREMIER FOOTBALL LEAGUES
ON SATURDAY
Sunshine Stars vs Remo Stars
Bendel Insurance vs Katsina United
ON SUNDAY
Kwara United vs El-kanemi Warriors
Plateau United vs Shooting Stars
Enugu Rangers vs Ikorodu City
Lobi Stars vs Enyimba
Heartland vs Rivers United
Abia Warriors vs Akwa United
Kano Pillars vs Bayelsa United
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IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUES
ON SATURDAY
Nottingham Forest vs Brighton
Bournemouth vs Liverpool
Everton vs Leicester City
Ipswich Town vs Southampton
Newcastle vs Fulham
Wolves vs Aston Villa
ON SUNDAY
Brentford vs Tottenham
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
Arsenal vs Manchester City
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IN SPANISH LA LIGA
ON SATURDAY
Getafe vs Sevilla
Villarreal vs Real Valladolid
Atletico Madrid vs Mallorca
Espanyol vs Real Madrid
ON SUNDAY
Barcelona vs Alaves
Valencia vs Celta Vigo
Osasuna vs Real Sociedad
Real Betis vs Athletic Club
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IN ITALIAN SERIES A
ON SATURDAY
Monza vs Verona
Udinese vs Venezia
Atalanta vs Torino
Bologna vs Como
ON SUNDAY
Juventus vs Empoli
Fiorentina vs Genoa
AC Milan vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Napoli
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
I think luck falls on not just the brave but also the ones who believe they belong there…words from Novak Djokovic.
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