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The Africa Cup of Nations is underway as football fans prepare for weeks of entertainment and unpredictability. International football is a chaotic part of the beautiful game and AFCON consistently lives up to that reputation and we re expecting that trend to continue. Today, we re going to take a look at what should be a really fun showdown between Nigeria and Egypt.

Nigeria

After only reaching the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, Nigeria have their eyes on Qatar later this year but that doesn t mean they should be underestimated in the AFCON. They finished third in 2019 after winning it all in 2013 but their inconsistency often leads to frustration for many of their supporters. Now, all they can hope for i…

Valerien Ismael kicked off his Watford reign in magnificent style with a 4-0 win over a hapless QPR at Vicarage Road.

The red-hot Hornets produced a swashbuckling first-half display which saw them score all their goals inside 43 minutes as Rangers showed why many have tipped them to struggle to stay up this season under Gareth Ainsworth.

The visitors, who were without first-choice centre-backs Jimmy Dunne and Jake Clarke-Salter due to injury, handed a full senior debut to Joe Gubbins alongside recent signing Morgan Fox and both struggled to contain a rampant home side.

It took just 33 seconds for the Hornets to open the scoring when Tom Dele-Bashiru slotted past Asmir Begovic after a sublime reverse pass from the impressive Imran Louza caught out the flat-footed …

Liverpool have become only the second club after Manchester United to score 2,000 goals in the Premier League.

The Reds hit the landmark figure in Saturday s meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion thanks to Mohamed Salah s 61st-minute penalty to put his side 2-0 ahead.

Jurgen Klopp s team are still some way off United in terms of all-time goals in the competition, however, with their fierce rivals boasting 2,173.

Arsenal are next on the list behind United and Liverpool with 1,997 goals, followed by Chelsea (1,953) and Tottenham (1,716).

20 goals for the 4th time in his 5 seasons with the Reds.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

Liverpool s highest scoring Premier League season came in 2013-14 when netting 101 times, making them one of only…

Erol Bulut welcomed the return of Cardiff’s confidence after the Bluebirds moved within seven points of the Championship play-offs by beating Huddersfield.

Famara Diedhiou’s first-half finish secured a 1-0 victory as Cardiff claimed three consecutive wins for the first time since September.

“The last four games, I’m happy,” Bulut said after taking a 10 points from those matches.

“We are performing – it was not easy after the Bristol City win on Saturday, a derby – and we have to think positive.

“If you win games you feel much better. The last games we get our confidence back and it looks much better.

“We have 10 games to play and hopefully we can show much more.

“But I don’t think about play-offs right now. We take …

Nottingham Forest have been docked four points for breaching Premier League financial rules.

The deduction drops Forest into the Premier League’s relegation zone, leaving them 18th with nine games to play.

The Premier League said Forest admitted breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by £34.5million above their permitted threshold of £61million.

Clubs are usually allowed maximum losses of £105million over a three-year assessment period but this is reduced by £22million per season for any seasons within the period spent in the Championship.

The commission which imposed the sanction on Forest praised the club for their “exceptional co-operation” in their dealings with the Premier League on this issue.

The commission noted F…

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was left scratching his head by the lack of interest in midfielder Eberechi Eze during the transfer window.

Eze, who joined Crystal Palace from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, has attracted plenty of interest for his performances with the Eagles over the years.

The 26-year-old got his tally up and running for the new Premier League season on Sunday, netting the equaliser in Palace s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Last season, Eze completed more dribbles (69) and created more chances (54) than anyone else in the Eagles squad, also scoring 11 goals in 27 league appearances.

But another one of Palace s top performers last term, Michael Olise, sealed a £50million move to Bayern Munich.

Parish, however,…

Isabella Hobson came on from the bench to score a record-breaking goal as Everton Women drew 1-1 with Arsenal Women in the WSL.

Arsenal had been hoping to move level on points with second-place Chelsea on Sunday, and were on course to do just that when Alessia Russo scored from close range in the 80th minute.

That opener came after a glut of missed chances from the visitors, who were wasteful throughout at Walton Hall Park.

Russo should have put the game to bed in the third minute of stoppage time, only to blaze over with the goal gaping, and the Gunners were subsequently made to pay.

Arsenal failed to clear their lines from a corner, with Hobson able to rise up and plant a brilliant header into the back of the net, with the 16-year-old becoming the young…

The road surrounding Rio de Janeiro s world-famous Maracana stadium will be renamed in honour of Pele, city mayor Eduardo Paes announced.

Paes said the road known as the Avenida Radial Oeste – West Radial Avenue – would be named Avenida Pele, and declared it would be confirmed formally by the city on Wednesday.

That led to suggestions the renaming did not go far enough, however, and that the road should instead be titled Avenida Rei Pele – King Pele Avenue.

Paes did not disagree, asking his 691,000 followers: What do you think?

He put the matter to a poll on Twitter. After 13,200 votes on the ongoing poll, some 89.6 per cent of voters preferred it to be named as Avenida Rei Pele.

Muita gente sugerindo que a Radial Oeste passe a se chamar Re…

It wasn t long ago that Sevilla fans were dreaming of actually winning LaLiga for the first time since their only title success in the 1940s.

Sporting director Monchi built the squad and Julen Lopetegui maximised its potential, using a brilliant defence as the platform for a solid and effective team.

Ultimately, Sevilla s form in the final weeks of the 2020-21 season saw their challenge tail off, but they finished just nine points adrift of eventual champions Atletico Madrid.

Essentially going toe-to-toe with three teams whose budgets dwarfed their own was itself an achievement, and the positivity carried through into the 2021-22 campaign.

At the end of matchday 20, second-placed Sevilla were just two points behind Real Madrid and 10 clear of Real Betis i…

Jurgen Klopp has insisted his comments about Manchester City s ownership were not in any way xenophobic.

Last week, ahead of Liverpool s meeting with the reigning Premier League champions at Anfield – which finished 1-0 to the Reds – Klopp claimed his side were unable to compete with City due to the financial might of their owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group, which bought the club in 2008.

City have gone from Premier League also-rans to a dominant force in English football, having won the title six times since 2012.

Indeed, four of the last five Premier League titles have gone City s way, with Liverpool pushing them hard in two of those seasons as well as winning the top flight themselves in 2020.

Klopp said: There are three clubs in world football w…