IN NIGERIA
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Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, Gbenga Elegbeleye has commended Rivers
United following their qualification for the group stage of the 2025/2026 CAF Champions League.
The Pride of Rivers will now earn a substantial one point three billion naira as their appearance fee.
Elegbeleye noted that Rivers United’s qualification has helped sustain the NPFL’s reputation as one of Africa’s
leading domestic leagues.
Responding to questions about the failure of Remo Stars, Kwara United, and Abia Warriors to progress to the
group stages, Elegbeleye described it as unfortunate.
Super Eagles Group C opponent at the AFCON 2025 Uganda will take on hosts Morocco in a friendly match.
The friendly match was announced on the official X account of the Moroccan national football team.
The encounter will hold on 18th November
at the Grand Stadium in Tangier.
Cranes of Uganda are using the tune
up game to prepare for the AFCON 2025 which will begin in December.
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Bayer Leverkusen head coach, Kasper Hjulmand has confirmed that Super Eagles star Nathan Tella will be
sidelined until next month,
Tella sustained a knee injury while in action for Die Werkself last month.
The Nigeria international was initially expected to return to action this month after returning to training.
Hjulmand has revealed that the winger will only be fit for action after the November international break.
Tella is now expected to miss Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffs next month.
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Nigerian international Paul Onuachu hopes to continue his impressive scoring form when Trabzonspor visit
Galatasaray this weekend.
The Black Sea Storm will be up against Okan Buruk’s side in a Turkish Super Lig clash at the RAMS Park on
Saturday.
Onuachu is currently the leading scorer in the league this season with seven goals.
The 31-year-old is keen to add to his tallly against the defending champions.
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Former Koln striker, Serhat Akin has rated Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen as the biggest striker in the Super
Lig.
Akin stated that Osimhen was the greatest striker to ever grace the Turkish top flight.
The Nigerian striker has been in sensational form, combining power and a relentless work ethic to lead the
Turkish giants both domestically and in Europe.
With six goals in all competitions, three in the Super Lig and three in the UEFA Champions League, Osimhen has
once again proven why he is considered among the top forwards in world football.
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Over 8,000 runners have registered to be part of the 10th Lagos Women Run – an all-women 10km race which
will come up on 8th November, starting at the Tafawa Balewa Square, and ending at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports
Arena, Onikan.
The race, which is themed “One run, a thousand opportunities”, will also be heralded by an empowerment
programme from 3rd to 6th November is designed to empower women with the different skills, knowledge.
The Director General, Lagos State Sports Commission, Lekan Fatodu, described the initiative as a platform that
celebrates the strength, resilience, and limitless potential of women as Lagos Women Run marks its 10th
anniversary.
Olympic silver medallist, Richard Torrez Jr has called out British-Nigerian heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma for
a showdown, declaring he would love to test the unbeaten rising star.
Itauma, who has a 13-0 record with 11 knockouts, is struggling to find an opponent for himself as many fighters,
including Jermaine Franklin and Filip Hrgovic, have rejected offers to face him.
The 20-year-old himself declined a chance at an IBF world title eliminator with Frank Sanchez, but it appeared his
problem was solved when the WBA ordered him to take on their regular champion, Kubrat Pulev.
However, in a stunning U-turn, Pulev has chosen instead to face former unified cruiserweight world champion
Murat Gassiev on 12 December.
About 150 players from 30 clubs in Africa, including Togo and the Benin Republic, began hostilities for the prize
pool of N5.5m, at the second Senator Abiru Mixed Team Table Tennis Championships on Thursday at the Molade
Okoya-Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
The three-day championship is the first mixed team tournament of its kind in Africa, hosted by the Senator
representing Lagos East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Mukhail Abiru.
Abiru emphasised that the initiative aligns with his broader philosophy of youth development.
IN ENGLAND
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Crystal Palace is set to play four matches in eight days because of a fixture pile-up caused by reaching the
quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Palace won three-nil at Liverpool on Wednesday to earn a place in the last eight, where they have been drawn
away to Arsenal in the week beginning 15th December.
Palace host Manchester City in the Premier League on 14th December, play KuPS at home in the Conference
League on 18th December and travel to Leeds in the Premier League on 21st December.
The team will most likely play the Carabao Cup tie on 16th December.
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Manchester United will take it steady with Lisandro Martinez’s return from knee surgery even though head coach
Ruben Amorim is delighted to have the combative defender back in training again.
The Argentine centre-back has been out since February after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in the home
defeat by Crystal Palace.
It was the fourth significant injury of the 27-year-old’s time at United, following on from knee trouble and two major
foot problems that have restricted Martinez to 52 Premier League starts, even though he moved from Ajax in the
summer of 2022.
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Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes says he stopped doing commentary work to fit his schedule
around the routine of his autistic son Aiden.
The former England playmaker co-parents the 20-year-old with his ex-wife.
After retiring as a player in 2013, the
50-year-old moved into management before working in the media as a pundit and commentator.
Scholes initially kept his son’s diagnosis secret during his playing career and revealed he was dropped by United
manager Sir Alex Ferguson while attempting to handle the situation privately.
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Al-Ahly director of football, Sayed Abdel Hafeez has dismissed reports circulating in the media that Liverpool star
Mohamed Salah is planning to leave Anfield.
Reports have stated that the Saudi Pro League’s offer for Liverpool attacker Salah remains on the table as they
aim to lure him away from the Premier League champions.
The Al-Ahly director of football stated that the Egyptian international was committed to his contract with Liverpool.
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Sheffield Wednesday’s administrators have said players and staff have received their full wages a day early,
ending a lengthy pattern of monthly payment delays.
The Championship club were placed into administration and hit with a 12-point penalty last week after months of
turmoil under owner Dejphon Chansiri.
In the days since, fans have ended a boycott of the club and Kris Wigfield, of administrators Begbies Traynor,
said supporters had already spent more than five hundred thousand pounds on tickets and in the club shop as of
Monday.
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England men’s football captain, Harry Kane has made no secret of his desire to one day play in the NFL.
The Bayern Munich striker, said trying to become an American football kicker was always something that’s in the
back of my mind.
One Super Bowl winner is willing to help him with that as he is not only backing Kane to make the transition, but
offering to train him.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has described Celtic as a really big football club but says he has had no
conversations with the Scottish champions and stressed he is in the middle of a long-term project with Ipswich
Town.
The London-born former Northern Ireland youth international has been linked with the job vacated by the
resignation of Brendan Rodgers on Monday.
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England women forward, Michelle Agyemang has confirmed she has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament and
will miss the rest of the season.
The 19-year-old, one of the key players in England’s Euro 2025 victory was carried off on a stretcher after
suffering the knee injury in a non-contact incident during the Lionesses’ three-nil win against Australia.
Agyemang, who is on loan at Brighton from Arsenal, had only been on the pitch for thirteen minutes after being
brought on as a second-half substitute.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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Juventus has appointed former Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti as their manager until the end of the season.
The 66-year-old replaces Igor Tudor, who was sacked after the Serie A side’s defeat by Lazio on Sunday.
Spalletti led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2022-23 before taking charge of Italy, who had failed to qualify for the
2022 World Cup under former boss Roberto Mancini.
He helped them qualify for Euro 2024 where they were knocked out in the last 16 by Switzerland.
Spalletti was sacked by Italy in June after a World Cup qualifying defeat by Norway, with the Azzurri at risk of
missing out on a third consecutive World Cup.
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Paris Saint-Germain star Desire Doue is expected to stay on the sideline for several weeks after he was injured in
the team’s one-all draw against Lorient in Wednesday’s Ligue 1 game.
Recall that the France international was stretchered off on the hour mark after suffering from a muscular lesion in
the right thigh.
The 20-year-old scored a brace in PSG’s 7-2 rout of Bayer Leverkusen in their last Champions League outing,
and his potential absence against Bayern on 4th November would represent a serious blow to Luis Enrique’s
European champions.
He is also expected to miss Tottenham’s visit to Parc des Princes on 26th November.
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OTHER SPORTS
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In Tennis, British number two Cameron Norrie has struggled to find his rhythm as he lost in straight sets to
Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot at the Paris Masters.
Norrie described his victory against world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round as the biggest win of
my career but was unable to reach that level again, losing 7-6, 6-4.
Vacherot, who beat his cousin Arthur
Rinderknech to win his first ATP title at the Shanghai Masters earlier this month, will face either Felix Auger-
Aliassime or Daniel Altmaier in the quarter-finals.
The 26-year-old was ranked world number 204 in September but entered this week’s tournament at 40th.
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In Cricket, Jemimah Rodrigues hit a remarkable unbeaten century as India completed a record chase to claim a
stunning five-wicket win over Australia and reach the Women’s World Cup final.
Set three hundred and thirty-nine to win after a wonderful hundred from Australia opener Phoebe Litchfield, India
held their nerve in a mammoth pursuit, with Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur leading the way with a one
hundred and sixty-seven-run stand.
Harmanpreet fell for eighty-nine with one hundred and thirteen still needed but Rodrigues remained, reaching her
hundred from one hundred and fifteen balls, and she was there at the end as the highest successful chase in
women’s one-day international history was achieved with nine balls to spare.
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In Rugby, Tane Edmed will start at fly-half for Australia when they face England at Allianz Stadium on Saturday,
while Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Max Jorgensen and Taniela Tupou are all recalled following last weekend’s win over
Japan.
With the fixture falling outside the official international window, the Wallabies are still without several European-
based players, including fly-half James O’Connor, lock Will Skelton and centre Len Ikitau.
Edmed has only started three Tests in his fledging Wallabies career and will face a tough test against England’s
vastly experienced George Ford on Saturday.
The 25-year-old’s rival fly-half Carter Gordon, who has secured a release from his NRL contract to resume his
rugby union career, is believed to be struggling with a quad strain and is not in the matchday 23.
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In Golf, Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin shot a course record sixty to take the first-round lead at the Hong Kong
Open as he attempts to secure a place at next year’s Masters and Open Championship.
The 22-year-old made an eagle and eight birdies at the Asian Tour event as he recorded the lowest round of his
career.
McKibbin, whose previous best round at a professional event was a sixty-two on the Challenge Tour in February
2022, broke Englishman Aaron Rai’s official course record of 61 at Fanling.
Fellow LIV Golf tour member Patrick Reed shot 59 in the event last year, but that did not count on official records
due to preferred lies in place.
He began with a birdie on the second hole, then carded an eagle on the third, before further birdies at the eighth,
10th 12th and 13th.
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In Athletics, World Athletics says it has sacked staff and called in law enforcement after discovering corporate
theft worth more than one point three million pounds.
The sport’s international governing body said the financial fraud, carried out by two of its employees and a
contracted consultant over several years, was uncovered during its first annual audit under a new financial
leadership team.
One of the employees had already left before the theft was discovered earlier this year, while the other and the
consultant had their contracts terminated following an internal investigation.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the organisation was determined to recover whatever monies we
are able using the full force of the law.
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SOCCER ACTION CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND
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IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
ON SATURDAY
Brighton vs Leeds United
Burnley vs Arsenal
Crystal Palace vs Brentford
Fulham vs Wolves
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
Tottenham vs Chelsea
Liverpool vs Aston Villa
ON SUNDAY
West Ham United vs Newcastle United
Manchester City vs Bournemouth
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IN SPANISH LA LIGA
ON SATURDAY
Villarreal vs Rayo Vallecano
Atletico Madrid vs Sevilla
Real Sociedad vs Athletic Club
Real Madrid vs Valencia
ON SUNDAY
Levante vs Celta Vigo
Alavés vs Espanyol
Barcelona vs Elche
Real Betis vs Mallorca
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IN ITALIAN SERIE A
ON SATURDAY
Udinese vs Atalanta
Napoli vs Como
Cremonese vs Juventus
ON SUNDAY
Hellas Verona vs Inter Milan
Fiorentina vs Lecce
Torino vs Pisa
Parma vs Bologna
AC Milan vs Roma
================
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
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