IN UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
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Aston Villa’s remarkable winning run continued as Unai Emery’s side beat Basel two-one in the Europa League, their eighth successive victory in all competitions.
Evann Guessand and Youri Tielemans scored a goal each for Aston Villa, while Basel’s only goal was scored by Flavius Daniliuc.
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Nottingham Forest star Igor Jesus scored late on as the team boosted their hopes of progressing automatically to the Europa League knockout phase with a two-one victory at Utrecht.
The striker grabbed the winner just 82 seconds after coming off the bench, slotting in after Dan Ndoye’s header had been parried towards him.
Arnaud Kalimuendo scored Forest’s second goal, while Utrecht’s only goal was scored by Mike van der Hoorn.
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Ferencvaros has defeated Rangers two-one in Budapest to inflict a fifth defeat in six matches on the Ibrox outfit.
Bence Otvos and Barnabas Varga scored a goal each for Ferencvaros, while Rangers’ only goal was scored by Bojan Miovski.
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Crystal Palace has cruised to a dominant three-nil victory against Shelbourne in Dublin to strengthen their chances of claiming a place in the last 16 of the Conference League.
First-half goals from Christantus Uche, Eddie Nketiah and Yeremy Pino put Palace in complete control, with the only surprise being they could not add any goals after the break.
The Eagles, who won the FA Cup last season to qualify for European football for the first time, are now ninth in the league phase with one match to go, at home against Finnish side KuPS next Thursday.
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Wolves technical director Matt Jackson says the team got their transfer business wrong in the summer.
The under-fire executive chairman Jeff Shi insisted that he could empathise with protesting fans.
Rob Edwards’ side are bottom of the Premier League with just two points and have not won in the top flight since April, while their current eight-game losing run has equalled a club record set in 1981-82.
It comes after a summer in which Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri were sold to Manchester United and Manchester City for a combined ninety-two point five million pounds, and captain Nelson Semedo left on a free transfer.
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Bournemouth attacker Antoine Semenyo is attracting major interest from at least three Premier League clubs heading into January, with Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham among those with a genuine interest in the 25-year-old.
Manchester United have also been credited with an admiration for the player.
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Supporters hoping to attend next year’s World Cup final face paying vast prices, with tickets in the ‘supporter value tier’ starting at three thousand, one hundred and nine.
Fans’ group Football Supporters Europe has said it was astonished by Fifa’s extortionate pricing strategy.
The high prices for group games and the final have been leaking out as Fifa informs national associations of their allocations.
It means the price of the cheapest ticket for Fifa’s showpiece event has increased almost sevenfold compared with the 2022 World Cup.
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IN NIGERIA
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Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle has unveiled a 28-man squad for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Chelle named Stanley Nwabali, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Zaidu Sanusi, Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka, Victor Osimhen, and Ademola Lookman in his selection.
He also included Chidozie Awaziem, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Raphael Onyedika, Samuel Chukwueze, and Moses Simon.
Others called up are Francis Uzoho, Igoh Ogbu, Paul Onuachu, Ryan Alebiosu, Usman Muhammed, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, Tochukwu Nnadi, and Salim Lawal, who will be joining the squad for the first time.
The Super Eagles will clash with the Pharaohs of Egypt in a friendly encounter at the Cairo Stadium on Tuesday, 16th December.
Nigeria is drawn in Group C with Tanzania Tunisia and Uganda.
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Ademola Lookman will play his final match for Atalanta this year on Saturday before departing to join the Super Eagles’ camp ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Nigerian winger and his teammates will face Cagliari at the New Balance Arena in a special Christmas charity match, a tradition championed by club president Antonio Percassi and now in its 15th edition.
Lookman is expected to leave for the Super Eagles’ camp on Sunday to prepare for Nigeria’s friendly against Egypt on 16th December as part of their AFCON build-up.
Super Falcons has dropped to 37th position in the latest FIFA Women’s World ranking.
The new ranking was released on the world’s soccer governing body official website.
The Super Falcons were not in action during the last FIFA international break.
Justine Madugu’s side was previously ranked 36th in the world.
Nigeria maintained top position in Africa despite their drop globally.
Banyana Banyana of South Africa, Black Princesses of Ghana, Copper Queens of Zambia, and Atlas Lionesses of Morocco complete the top five African teams on the ranking.
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The Nigeria Women’s Football League, has imposed sanctions on Ekiti Queens following assault on match officials during their home fixture against Edo Queens.
Its Chief Operating Officer Modupe Shabi condemned the attack and reiterated the league’s firm stance on safety and professionalism.
Following the preliminary review of official reports and video evidence, the NWFL found Ekiti Queens guilty of multiple breaches of league regulations, including failure to provide adequate security, failure to control supporters, and allowing an unsafe environment that led to the attack on officials.
Ekiti Queens has been fined a total of two points five million naira for the varying breaches.
The league also ordered the club to play their next three home matches at a neutral venue in MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta.
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Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen, who plays for Galatasaray has been named Sportsman of the Year in Turkey.
Osimhen went home with the individual accolade at the 2025 GQ Türkiye Men of the Year Awards.
The Nigeria international was instrumental to Galatasaray’s domestic success last season.
The 26-year-old registered thirty-seven goals and seven assists across all competitions for Okan Buruk’s men.
Osimhen scored eleven times in fourteen outings across all competitions for the Yellow and Reds in the current campaign.
The striker expressed gratitude to the organisers, the club, and the supporters after receiving the award.
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Nigeria international Igoh Ogbu says he is confident that Slavia Prague can still make it to the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen despite losing three-nil to Tottenham.
Ogbu insisted Slavia Prague should not be written off, stating that the team has a chance to qualify if they perform positively in the remaining matches.
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Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has unveiled a powerful 28-man squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The squad features the country’s biggest stars, led by Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bounou, Sofyan Amrabat, and striker Youssef En-Nesyri.
Regragui kept faith with the majority of the players that reached the 2022 World Cup semi-final in Qatar.
Morocco is drawn in Group A with Comoros, Mali and Zambia.
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South African coach Hugo Broos has criticized FIFA’s decision to give clubs in Europe until 15th December to release African players for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Broos described FIFA’s decision as being unfair and believed the European clubs could have also influenced the dates.
The AFCON kicks off on 21st December and ends with the final on 18th January.
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Former Ghana head coach Claude Le Roy has rated Senegal as second favourite ahead of the Super Eagles, to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Le Roy stated that Senegal was blessed with an array of talents capable of challenging host and favourite, Morocco, for the AFCON title.
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Former world champion Carl Froch has cast doubt over the Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua fight despite having flights booked for the 19th December bout in Miami.
The British boxing legend dismissed Paul’s recent claim that Lawrence Okolie gave him a black eye during sparring, suggesting the YouTuber-turned-boxer is not good enough to properly spar with the former cruiserweight champion.
Benue Queens Women’s Volleyball Club on Thursday defeated Kada Emeralds 3–0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-23) at the ongoing 2025 Comptroller General of Customs Volleyball Premier League, in Abuja.
The match was played at the indoor sports hall of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
The Benue Queens maintained control to secure the straight-sets victory( 26-24, 25-18, 25-23).
Benue Queens will face COAS team on Friday, while Kada Emeralds are set to battle Wikki the same day.
Nigeria recorded her third victory against Sierra Leone on Matchday 7, beating fellow West African rivals by 68 runs at the second West Africa Trophy tournament.
The third round of matches commenced at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Thursday with a spirited Zambian team enduring a 23-run victory against Rwanda.
Rwanda had defeated the team in their first two meetings in the tournament but failed to record third win against the side.
Meanwhile, the second game of the day saw Nigeria win the toss and elected to bat first.
OTHER LEAGUES
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Barcelona star Marcus Rashford says he finds nothing at Barcelona and is enjoying a new language of football as he continues to thrive since his move from Manchester United.
The England forward, joined the Spanish club on loan in the summer following a difficult period at Old Trafford, spending the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa.
His move to La Liga has so far been a success, scoring six goals and making eight assists in twenty-one appearances.
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Cremonese striker Jamie Vardy has been named as the Serie A player of the month for November, becoming the first English player to win the award.
The former Leicester City captain played three matches in the Italian top flight last month, scoring one goal against Juventus.
Fellow nominees for the award, which combines fan votes with statistical data, included AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, Napoli winger David Neres, Genoa’s Leo Ostigard and Nicolo Zaniolo of Udinese.
Vardy scored four goals in ten appearances for promoted Cremonese, who are ninth in Serie A.
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OTHER SPORTS
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Tennis great Billie Jean King says the Battle of the Sexes’ match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios is not the same as her era-defining meeting with Bobby Riggs.
American King famously beat self-proclaimed chauvinist Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in Houston in September 1973 for a winner-take-all prize of seventy-four thousand, seven hundred and sixty-five pounds.
World number one Sabalenka, will face 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios, in Dubai on 28th December in a match being billed under the same ‘Battle of the Sexes’ banner.
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In Formula one, Lewis Hamilton says after the final race of what has been an annus horribilis for him at Ferrari that he wanted to shut off from the world over the winter.
His remarks reflect the toll this season, his first in which he has scored not a single podium finish in a grand prix, has had on Hamilton.
The 40-year-old Briton joined Ferrari with the ambition of winning that elusive eighth world title, which he and a good number of others, believes he should already have won.
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In Cricket, Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior says Jamie Smith needs to relish being the heartbeat of England’s team and be up for the fight of trying to help the tourists recover from two-nil down in the Ashes series.
Smith has struggled in recent matches, failing to pass thirty-three in his past eight Test innings, while mistakes have crept in behind the stumps with the Surrey man dropping Australia’s Travis Head in the second Test in Brisbane.
England needed to win the third Test in Adelaide to retain a chance of winning the Ashes and Prior said a re-focused Smith was vital to turning round England’s fortunes in the series after two opening defeats.
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In Rugby, Director of rugby Mark McCall says George Martin will be followed by more signings in the coming weeks as Saracens aim to restore their glory days.
England’s second row Martin’s arrival from Leicester for the start of next season, while Saracens have been heavily linked to Gloucester scrum-half Tomos Williams, whose contract at Kingsholm expires in the summer.
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In Athletics, Two-time one hundred metres world record holder Asafa Powell has teamed up with Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Noah Lyles to help those affected by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica.
The category-five hurricane hit the Caribbean island in October, killing at least twenty-eight people.
Powell, a member of Jamaica’s four by one hundred metres gold medal-winning team at the 2016 Olympics, lives in capital city Kingston and has visited areas most heavily hit to help those affected.
Lyles won the one hundred metres gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games and is also a four-time two hundred metres world champion.
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In Cycling, Sir Chris Hoy says he is on crutches and hobbling about after breaking a leg in a cycling crash which he described as the worst of his life.
Six-time Olympic champion Hoy announced in October 2024 that his cancer was terminal, but the 49-year-old has continued to ride his mountain bike since entering a bit of a stability period in his treatment.
Hoy, whose seven Olympic medals also include one silver, is Britain’s second-most decorated Olympic athlete behind fellow track cyclist Sir Jason Kenny on seven golds.
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SOCCER ACTION CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND
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IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
ON SATURDAY
Chelsea vs Everton
Liverpool vs Brighton
Burnley vs Fulham
Arsenal vs Wolves
ON SUNDAY
Crystal Palace vs Manchester City
Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland vs Newcastle United
West Ham United vs Aston Villa
Brentford vs Leeds United
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IN SPANISH LA LIGA
ON SATURDAY
Atletico Madrid vs Valencia
Mallorca vs Elche
Barcelona vs Osasuna
Getafe vs Espanyol
ON SUNDAY
Sevilla vs Real Oviedo
Celta Vigo vs Athletic Club
Levante vs Villarreal
Alavés vs Real Madrid
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IN ITALIAN SERIE A
ON SATURDAY
Torino vs Cremonese
Parma vs Lazio
Atalanta vs Cagliari
ON SUNDAY
AC Milan vs Sassuolo
Fiorentina vs Hellas Verona
Udinese vs Napoli
Genoa vs Inter Milan
Bologna vs Juventus
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus…words from Alexander Graham Bell.
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