Sports

Man Utd kick off Premier League season before Man City face new-look Chelsea

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10 months ago

August 16, 2024

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Manchester United kick-off the 2024/25 Premier League season at home to Fulham on Friday before Manchester City begin the defence of their title at free-spending Chelsea on Sunday.

New Liverpool manager Arne Slot will be under the spotlight on Saturday with a trip to newly-promoted Ipswich for his first competitive game since succeeding Jurgen Klopp.

AFP Sports looks at what to expect from the opening weekend of the new season:

Ten Hag needs fast start

Manchester United’s shock FA Cup final win over Manchester City back in May went a long way to keeping Erik ten Hag in charge at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman has been backed by United’s new football operations hierarchy, led by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, and was handed a contract extension to 2026.

Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs De Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui have arrived to strengthen Ten Hag’s squad for around £150 million ($192 million).

But after finishing eighth last season — United’s worst ever Premier League finish — Ten Hag needs a fast start to the new campaign to dispell doubts he is the man to lead the club forward.

Fulham won at Old Trafford for the first time in 20 years in February.

Any repeat on Friday will have United fans fearing another season to forget.

Ipswich plan Slot shock

Arne Slot faces a tricky start to his Premier League career when Liverpool travel to an Ipswich side back in the top-flight after a 22-year absence and buoyant after successive promotions.

Liverpool are yet to make a single signing in the transfer window but have been rampant in pre-season with eye-catching wins over Arsenal, United and Sevilla.

Victory at Portman Road would bring some relief to Liverpool fans still coming to terms with the end of Klopp’s iconic reign.

The Reds could then build some momentum with a comfortable run of fixtures to come before the October international break.

But Ipswich defender Axel Tuanzebe is confident of maintaining Ipswich’s proud home record over the past two seasons.

“We’re going to empty the tank and give everything we’ve got,” Tuanzebe told the BBC.

“They’re just humans” he added. “It is just 11 v 11 on the pitch. Not many teams win at Portman Road and we intend to keep it that way.”

Chelsea chaos v City continuity

New Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has a baptism of fire against his former club.

Maresca was part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at City before leading Leicester to promotion from the Championship last season.

The Italian inherits a chaotic situation at Stamford Bridge with a first team squad now boasting over 50 players and question marks over the future of most of them.

Chelsea’s issues were exposed in a torrid pre-season, that included a 4-2 defeat to City in the USA.

By contrast, there have been few changes for Guardiola’s champions.

Brazilian winger Savinho is the only new arrival, while Argentine forward Julian Alvarez departed this week for Atletico Madrid.

City’s England trio of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden, plus Spanish midfielder Rodri, only returned to training this week after competing in the Euro 2024 final and are unlikely to start against Chelsea.

Fixtures:

Friday (all times GMT)

Manchester United v Fulham (1900)

Saturday

Ipswich v Liverpool (1130), Arsenal v Wolves, Everton v Brighton, Newcastle v Southampton, Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth (all 1400), West Ham v Aston Villa (1630)

Sunday

Brentford v Crystal Palace (1300), Chelsea v Manchester City (1530)

Monday

Leicester v Tottenham (1900)

Related Topics:Chelsea MAN City Man United Premier League Season

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Sports

How I cleaned gutters and fetched water for N30 – Osimhen reveals

In a candid interview with media personality Daddy Freeze, Osimhen, a former African Footballer of the Year, recounted the hardships he endured growing up and the daily hustle that helped shape his journey.

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

OhiBaba

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Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has opened up on his humble beginnings in Lagos, recalling how he took on menial jobs like fetching water and cleaning gutters to survive before rising to stardom.

There was a building in front of our house, a typical face-me-I-face-you,” Osimhen said.

“I used to fetch water for tenants there for N80. Sometimes, I would clean gutters when spirogyra started growing in them, and I got paid N30.”

(BusinessDay)

Sports

LASG Donates Sports Equipment to 1,664 Public Schools

Some of the equipments are table tennis boards, running vests and pants, spike shoes, footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, chess sets with clocks, Scrabble boards with dictionaries, draught boards, tennis rackets, and first aid boxes with medical kits.

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

OhiBaba

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The Lagos State Government on Thursday distributed various sports equipment to 1,664 public schools in the state, as a way of shaping the sporting abilities of the students.

The donation was facilitated by the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund with a total of 1,020 primary schools and 644 secondary schools from the six education districts and the 20 Local Government Education Authorities of the state receiving the equipment.

These items were handed over to the Tutor-Generals/Permanent Secretaries of the six educational districts in Lagos.

Lagos State Head of Service, Bode Agoro, represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary of the Land Bureau, Kamar Olowosago, said the distribution marked a significant milestone in Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration’s efforts to promote sports development and excellence in education.

“In the last six years, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration has shown great commitment to our students through the continuous improvement of school infrastructure, which ultimately enhances the teaching and learning environment in our public schools,” Agoro said.

Sports

Nigeria’s Army Boxers chase gold at African Military Boxing Championship in Morocco

Team Nigeria’s medal haul currently stands at four bronze medals, with the potential for more precious metal as two boxers remain in the competition’s latter stages.

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

OhiBaba

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Nigeria’s Armed Forces are chasing their first gold medal at the 6th African Military Boxing Championship in Rabat, Morocco, after securing four bronze medals with two fighters still in contention for the ultimate prize.

The Nigerian contingent, led by coach Aweda Kehinde, a former Olympian who represented the country at the Atlanta, Georgia, 1996 Games and currently serves as the Nigeria Army boxing coach, has delivered impressive performances at the championship that began on June 14th and will end on Sunday, the 22nd.

Team Nigeria’s medal haul currently stands at four bronze medals, with the potential for more precious metal as two boxers remain in the competition’s latter stages.

Rilwan Lawal of the Nigeria Army has reached the final and stands on the brink of delivering the country’s first gold medal at the tournament.

The army boxer’s journey to the final represents the pinnacle of Nigeria’s campaign in Morocco.

Gbadamosi Quadri, also from the Nigerian Army, is currently competing in the semi-final stage, offering another route to a potential gold medal for the Nigerian team.

The bronze medal winners have already guaranteed Nigeria a respectable showing at the continental championship.

Balogun Emmanuel Adeola of the Air Force settled for bronze after what would have been a hard-fought campaign in his weight category.