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The huge spending of the Saudi Pro League has served as an extra motivation for players plying their trade in the Gulf state, says Fabio Martins.

Four Saudi clubs – Al Ittihad, Al Nassr, Al Hilal and Al Ahli – made huge moves over the course of the transfer window.

Karim Benzema, Neymar, N Golo Kante, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Marcelo Brozovic, Riyad Mahrez, Franck Kessie and Ruben Neves were among the big names to join Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit, Martins, a Portuguese winger who first played in Saudi Arabia in 2020 and now plays for Al Khaleej, believes the eyes of the world are now on the Saudi Pro League, and that is only an extra motivation for players who are able to go up against superstar nam…

Fabinho believes Liverpool are well-placed to benefit from the World Cup break as Jurgen Klopp s team look to chase down their Premier League rivals.

Having fallen narrowly short of winning a second title of the Premier League era when amassing 92 points last season, Liverpool now sit sixth in the top flight, seven points adrift of a top-four place.

Jurgen Klopp s side did improve before the Premier League paused in November, and they could win three consecutive games for the first time this season when they visit Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

With France s Ibrahima Konate the only Liverpool player to remain involved beyond the quarter-finals at the World Cup, Fabinho believes the break has benefited the Reds.

It can be good, he told the club s website. I h…

Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw

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Marseille will lock horns with Manchester City in the Champions League this week. The Group C match at Stade Velodrome is slated to kick off at 8pm UK time on Tuesday, and it promises to be a hugely exciting and entertaining game of football.

Marseille

Marseille kicked off their 2020-21 Champions League campaign on a disappointing note. Andre Villas-Boas’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Olympiakos away from home in Greece last week. Ahmed Hassan’s goal in the first minute of injury time proved to be the difference between the two sides. The French club bounced back from that loss with a narrow 1-0 victory over Lorient away from home in Ligue 1 at the weekend.

Les Olympiens finished…

Barry Robson believes new goalkeeper Ross Doohan will be an “important asset” to Aberdeen.

The 25-year-old has joined the Dons on a two-year deal from EFL League Two side Forest Green to become Robson’s sixth summer signing.

After graduating through the youth ranks at Celtic, Doohan had a loan spells at Ayr, Ross County and Dundee United before he joined Tranmere in 2021, initially on loan, before making the move permanent.

Doohan, capped 13 times at Scotland Under-21 level, earned a move to Forest Green in January 2023.

“Despite his age, Ross has gained a lot of experience, at various levels both here in Scotland and in England,” Robson said.

“He is composed and decisive and we look forward to helping Ross continue his professional de…

Domenico Tedesco has been named the new Belgium head coach after Roberto Martinez left his role following the Red Devils shock group-stage exit in Qatar.

Belgium crashed out of the World Cup after winning just one of their three Group F matches, failing to match their excellent third-placed finish at the 2018 edition in Russia.

Having led Belgium to first in FIFA s world rankings between 2018 and 2021, Martinez left his post after the tournament in Qatar and has since taken charge of Portugal s national team.

Tedesco, who was sacked by RB Leipzig in September after a poor start to the campaign, will be Martinez s successor after signing a contract to lead Belgium until after the 2024 European Championships.

Domenico Tedesco is the new head coach of our De…

The 2021-22 Serie A campaign commences on Saturday following a busy close season that saw more than half of the 20 teams change head coach.

Antonio Conte departed Inter after guiding the club to their first Scudetto in more than a decade, with Simone Inzaghi being plucked from Lazio, who in turn turned to Maurizio Sarri.

Sarri s former club Juventus decided to end the Andrea Pirlo experiment after just a year and opted for a familiar face in six-time title winner Massimiliano Allegri as his replacement.

Luciano Spalletti is back in Serie A with Napoli, meanwhile, and Jose Mourinho has returned to Italy with Roma some 11 years on from his hugely successful stint with Inter.

There will be just as much focus on the dugouts as the field when the new season g…

Liverpool have emerged at the top of the Premier League table, if only temporarily, after beating Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday evening. Darwin Nunez broke the deadlock after less than six minutes with a fine strike, and a deft finish from Diogo Jota in in the final minute set the final score, marking the 50th goal of the Portuguese forward for the club in all competitions.

The game

Liverpool certainly deserved their victory, though the outcome could ve gone either way. Jurgen Klopp s team stamped their authority over the proceedings from the start and throughout the first half, continuously attacking, without Burnley showing any capability of hitting back. In fact, the home side didn t even shoot on goal before the break, while goalkeeper James Trafford faced a total of 14 …

Manchester United are interested in signing Jonathan David from Lille in the summer of 2024, according to . The report has claimed that United are going to target players who are in the final year of their contracts, and that David is on the radar of the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners.

Jonathan David has been on the books of Lille since 2020 and has established himself as one of the best players for the French club. The 24-year-old Canada international forward has scored eight goals and given one assist in 17 starts and three substitute appearances in Ligue 1 this season and scored 24 goals and gave four assists in 36 starts and one substitute appearance in the league last season.

Manchester United are sixth in the Premier League table at the mo…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic seems to have announced his return to Spain, having played for Barcelona in 2009/1o when he scored 21 goals in 45 appearances for the Catalans.

At the moment the 38-year-old striker plays for LA Galaxy, but his contract with the MLS side expires at the end of the year.

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1189141831822516224

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The Premier League and Championship titleholders produced a classic for the ages to launch the 2020-21 top-flight season in England.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp promised Leeds United a ferocious baptism in the Premier League and a procession looked to be on the cards at Anfield when Mohamed Salah scored an early penalty.

But Marcelo Bielsa s team dazzled as they have since the coaching visionary arrived in West Yorkshire, with Jack Harrison, Patrick Bamford and Mateusz Klich all on target.

Each Leeds goal was an equaliser but Salah had the final word when he netted his second penalty of the contest to secure the points in the 88th minute.

Here, we look back at how a trilling encounter unfolded on Merseyside.

35 Liverpool have now won each of t…