MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Premier League clubs have splashed an estimated £1 billion ($1.2 billion) in the arms race for new talent ahead of the start to the 2022/23 season on Friday, but champions Manchester City remain the side to beat.
After winning four league titles in five years, Pep Guardiola’s squad has been bolstered by the biggest name arrival of the summer in Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian had his choice of Europe’s top clubs after scoring 85 goals in 88 games for Borussia Dortmund and followed in the footsteps of his father Alf Inge — a former City captain — to the blue side of Manchester.
Haaland may have had a debut to forget as he missed a glaring opportunity toward the end of City’s 3-1 Community Shield defeat to Liverpool on Saturday, but Guardiola warned the pretenders to his side’s throne that “the goals will come.”
“There is no reason not to be confident,” added Guardiola. “What these guys have done, not just in the Premier League, but in the cups, the steps we have made in Europe and in many things.”
In a window of significant change at the Etihad, Argentine forward Julian Alvarez and England international midfielder Kalvin Phillips have also arrived.
But Guardiola has let plenty of experience go to Premier League rivals with Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko heading to Arsenal and Raheem Sterling joining Chelsea.
Liverpool are best placed to pounce on any slipping of City’s standards.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were denied a historic quadruple by the finest of margins last season as they were pipped to the title by a point and lost the Champions League final 1-0 to Real Madrid after winning the League and FA Cup.
The Reds have also refreshed their front line with the imposing presence of Darwin Nunez coming in to compensate for the loss of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich.
Nunez did make an immediate impact in the Community Shield, winning a penalty and scoring to turn the game in Liverpool’s favor late in the game.
City and Liverpool have dominated English football for the past five years, but if there is to be a challenge from the chasing pack, it could come from Tottenham.
Ahead of Antonio Conte’s first full season in charge, the Italian has been heavily backed by the normally thrifty Spurs board with the signings of Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Djed Spence, Clement Lenglet and Fraser Forster.
Crucially, Tottenham have also retained the star duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min as they aim for a first league title in 62 years.
Arsenal have been in blistering pre-season form with Jesus on fire in thrashings of Chelsea and Sevilla.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel blasted his side as “not competitive” after losing 4-0 to the Gunners in Orlando and the Blues are a team in transition following Todd Boehly’s takeover.
There is also plenty of work ahead for new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag with the uncertain future of Cristiano Ronaldo hanging over start of a new era for the Red Devils.
Amid the scale of big spending from English clubs, Newcastle have been surprisingly quiet in their first summer window since a takeover from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
The Magpies have spent just short of £60 million on Dutch defender Sven Botman, England goalkeeper Nick Pope and a permanent deal for left-back Matt Targett.
New boys Nottingham Forest have splashed over £70 million on 12 new signings in the two-time European champions’ first season back in the top flight for 23 years
That sum does not even include a one-year deal for Jesse Lingard worth a reported £200,000-a-week after he joined on a free transfer from Manchester United.
Aston Villa’s transfer business is arguably the best example of the growing financial gulf between the Premier League and the rest of Europe.
French international midfielder Boubacar Kamara and Brazilian center-back Diego Carlos have turned their backs on Champions League football with Marseille and Sevilla respectively to join Steven Gerrard’s side, who finished 14th in the English top flight last season.
Man City, Liverpool renew title fight as Premier League clubs flex financial muscle
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Man City, Liverpool renew title fight as Premier League clubs flex financial muscle
- City and Liverpool have dominated English football for the past five years, but if there is to be a challenge from the chasing pack, it could come from Tottenham
Green Falcons resume training before facing US in Texas
- Saudi national team are part of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
- Squad is split into two groups for training
SAN DIEGO: Saudi Arabia’s national football team resumed training in San Diego on Monday ahead of Thursday’s match against the USA in Austin, Texas.
The Green Falcons arrived in Los Angeles last week to take part in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, hosted by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football.
Coach Herve Renard divided the squad into two groups. The first was made up of squad members who played in the match against Haiti on Sunday, with training including recovery exercises in the hotel gym. The remaining players took part in a warm-up followed by passing training, games and stretching exercises at the San Diego Performance Center.
An MRI scan revealed that Hassan Kadesh has sustained a hamstring injury. He is currently undergoing treatment under the supervision of medical staff. Teammate Muhannad Al-Saad is also continuing his rehabilitation program.
The Green Falcons leave San Diego on Tuesday afternoon local time to travel to Austin, where they will continue match preparations with a closed training session at St Edward’s University.
Saudi Arabia are riding on a wave of success after their victory against Haiti, when Saleh Al-Shehri’s 21st-minute penalty kick gave his team a 1-0 win in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A.
Samsonova downs Osaka in Berlin WTA first round
- Samsonova’s victory sets up a last 16 clash with American world number three Jessica Pegula on Wednesday
- Osaka broke her opponent twice in the opening set
BERLIN: Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova came from a set down to beat Naomi Osaka 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in the first round of the Berlin Open WTA event on Tuesday.
The world number 20, who won the tournament in 2021, took two hours and 36 minutes to get past the four-time Grand Slam winner.
Samsonova’s victory sets up a last 16 clash with American world number three Jessica Pegula on Wednesday.
Osaka broke her opponent twice in the opening set but Samsonova held her serve in the second before winning a tie break, winning the final four points.
Both exchanged breaks in the final set before the Russian 26-year-old broke a second time, putting her on track for victory.
Osaka’s defeat is the latest setback in the former world number one’s comeback since returning from maternity leave last year.
Osaka was also defeated in the first round of the French Open.
This is the fourth meeting between the two since Osaka returned to the circuit at the beginning of 2024, with the ledger standing at two wins each.
One of the oldest women’s tournaments in the world, the Berlin Open switched from clay to grass courts in 2021 and has since become a popular warm-up event for Wimbledon, which starts at the end of the month.
Later on Tuesday, world number four Qinwen Zheng faces 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
The top four seeds at the tournament, including French Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, along with Pegula and Jasmine Paolini, all enter at the last 16 stage on Wednesday.
Flamengo’s impressive Club World Cup start sets up mouth-watering Chelsea showdown
- The Brazilian Cup champions next face Chelsea, who beat MLS side LAFC 2-0 earlier in the day, in a mouth-watering clash at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Friday
Flamengo’s dominant 2-0 victory over Esperance de Tunis on Monday will have caught the attention of Group D favorites Chelsea, and suggests the Brazilian side could have a significant impact at FIFA’s revamped tournament.
The Brazilian Cup champions next face Chelsea, who beat MLS side LAFC 2-0 earlier in the day, in a mouth-watering clash at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Friday that should determine the group winner.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:
It has been over a decade since a European team lost at the Club World Cup but the ease with which Flamengo dispensed with Esperance will give them confidence they can end that run when they face Chelsea on Friday.
The London side were the last European team to taste defeat at the tournament, losing to Corinthians in the 2012 final, but since then the continent’s clubs are undefeated in 27 matches.
Palmeiras and Boca Juniors came close to wins over Porto and Benfica in their openers at the current edition, and South American sides have six games left against European opposition in the group stage to break their stranglehold.
Flamengo are unbeaten in over a month and lead the Brazilian league playing a solid brand of football under the calm guidance of former Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis.
KEY QUOTES:
Flamengo midfielder Jorginho: “We enjoyed the goal, and the fans were amazing, as I’ve seen before but now I’m living it. The most important thing is the performance that we did. I think we controlled the game, we played well and we deserved the win, I think that was the most important thing for us.
“It felt really good, because we have great players who understand the game, I feel that we can understand each other very quickly, and it’s going to be a good bond with the group and everything, so we just need to keep working together and move forward.”
Flamengo manager Filipe Luis: “At the beginning we managed to control the game with possession, then after the first goal we slowed down a bit and that cost us a bit of time with the ball. But in the second half we managed to score the second goal and a great win, three points. Now we have to face the next chapter for this group, Chelsea is a difficult team, but very happy with the win.” (Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
Williams scores 40 points and Thunder win 120-109 for a 3-2 NBA Finals lead over Pacers
- Williams was 14 of 24 from the field, and Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists
- Teams that win Game 5 of an NBA Finals that was tied at 2-2 have gone on to win the series 23 times in 31 previous opportunities, or 74 percent
OKLAHOMA CITY: Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Oklahoma City Thunder moved one win from a title by beating the Indiana Pacers 120-109 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.
It was the 10th — and by far, the biggest — time the Thunder stars combined for more than 70 points in a game. Williams was 14 of 24 from the field, and Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists.
Pascal Siakam had 28 points for Indiana, who now trail the series 3-2 and will host Game 6 on Thursday night. TJ McConnell added 18 for the Pacers, who whittled an 18-point deficit down to two in the fourth — then watched the Thunder pull away again, and for good.
“That’s a really good team over there,” Williams said. “You just don’t trip into the finals.”
True. But now, everything favors the Thunder.
Teams that win Game 5 of an NBA Finals that was tied at 2-2 have gone on to win the series 23 times in 31 previous opportunities, or 74 percent. And teams with a 3-2 lead in the finals have won 40 times in 49 previous opportunities, or 82 percent.
But Game 5 was not easy. Far from it.
Down by 18 late in the second quarter, the Pacers — the comeback kings of these playoffs, with as many wins in this postseason from 15 points down or more (five) than the rest of the league has combined, including in Game 1 of this series — did what they do, chipping away. And they did it with Tyrese Haliburton reduced to basically playing decoy on offense because of a leg issue that he aggravated in the first quarter.
Led by McConnell, who scored 13 points in just under seven minutes of the third, the Pacers got within five late in that quarter.
Then, Siakam went to work — a pair of free throws with 9:19 left got Indiana within four, then a 3-pointer about a minute later made it 95-93. In the play-by-play era of the NBA, starting with the 1997 playoffs, teams with leads of 15 points or more in the finals were 80-9.
Make that 81-9 now, and the Thunder are one win away.
“That was honestly the same exact game as Game 1,” Williams said. “Learning through these finals, that’s what makes a team good.”
One more win, and his team will be certified as great.
Tiafoe crashes out, Rune cruises through at Queen’s Club
- British No. 2 Jacob Fearnley joined Evans in round two after he made short work of Australia’s Alex Bolt with a 6-2 6-4 victory
- Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald got the better of 38-year-old Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4
LONDON: Frances Tiafoe fell to a first round exit at Queen’s Club on Monday as veteran Brit Dan Evans rolled back the years, while fourth seed Holger Rune eased through.
Evans, who needed a wildcard for his place in the draw after sliding to 199 in the world rankings, proved too good for the seventh seed in a 7-5, 6-2 win.
“I still believed I’ve got that tennis in me and I still believe I can do good things inside the top 100. But believing it and it happening is a lot different,” said Evans after winning the first men’s match on the newly-christened Andy Murray Arena.
The 35-year-old was a fitting victor as he had partnered Murray in his final match before retirement in the men’s doubles at the Paris Olympics.
“A few people mentioned it, that I had finished with him in his last match and then played the men’s event, the first match,” added Evans.
“It was pretty cool to do that.”
Rune had no such problems as the Dane eased into his grass court season with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Australian lucky loser Christopher O’Connell.
British No. 2 Jacob Fearnley joined Evans in round two after he made short work of Australia’s Alex Bolt with a 6-2 6-4 victory.
But there was disappointment for another home favorite in Cameron Norrie, who was beaten 7-6 (8/6) 1-6 6-1 by Czech rising star Jakub Mensik.
The 19-year-old, who beat Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Masters in March, next faces Roberto Bautista Agut, who edged out Nuno Borges 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4.
Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald got the better of 38-year-old Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz plays for the first time since his remarkable French Open victory over Jannik Sinner on Tuesday when he begins his quest for a second title at Queen’s against fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
