“Liverpool won a fourth successive Premier League match thanks to an incredible 94th-minute winner from Diogo Jota against Spurs at Anfield. Goals from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and a Mohamed Salah penalty put Jurgen Klopp’s team in a commanding position in the first 15 minutes, as Spurs found themselves all but beaten in the first third of a match for the second Sunday running. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic – Liverpool and Tottenham are at the crossroads: What can they learn from each other?
Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham: A thriller that underlines why neither team are top four
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“One of the more eye-catching aspects of Erik ten Hag’s first year at 
“We are on the home straight of the Premier League season and while 
“… Real Madrid’s right flank has been central to some tweaking in recent weeks, especially with 
“The Etihad Stadium. A Champions League quarter-final. Manchester City and Bayern Munich. John Stones is strolling out of central defence into midfield, having spent the last few weeks doing the same but from right-back. It is the latest tactical curiosity from City manager Pep Guardiola’s back catalogue and another string to the bow of one of the most technically gifted defenders of a generation. Stones is named man of the match as City win 3-0. The previous afternoon, about four and a half miles eastwards and eight stops along Manchester’s tram system, Curzon Ashton are hosting Spennymoor Town in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football. …”
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“On the night Enzo Fernández left Benfica, nobody mentioned his name. As they gathered in the changing room before their game on the last day of January, his soon-to-be-former teammates would have known roughly what was happening. The club was settling the finer points of Fernández’s $130 million transfer to Chelsea. The player was awaiting permission to fly to London. The silence, though, was not rooted in discomfort. Fernández’s absence did not weigh especially heavy on Benfica’s squad. …”
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“‘Intriguing tactical battles’ are generally considered to be a euphemism for matches that are tight, tense, and uneventful. This is something of a myth, however. Commentators, pundits and presenters refer to games in this manner when nothing else is happening, in an attempt to convince the armchair viewer that sitting through it isn’t a complete waste of their time. But 
“Imagine, for a second, that 
“From the outside, it appeared to be just an ordinary marketing video sent to Paris Saint-Germain season ticket holders to try to coax them into a renewal. But then, on Thursday, an Instagram story appeared on Kylian Mbappe’s account, expressing to his 102 million followers that he was unhappy about the whole thing. … This was not the first time Mbappe has used social media to vent his frustrations. Last October, after a 0-0 Ligue 1 draw with Reims, Mbappe dropped a subtle message on an Instagram story about his perceived unhappiness at being played as a central striker. …”
“The simple concept of risk and reward is a major part of football tactics, and seems to be particularly crucial in contests between 
““’We don’t have a hierarchy of clubs – this is not a pyramid-type model,’ Joshua Wander insisted after 777 Partners completed its purchase of a 64.7% majority stake in 
“Getting older is a peculiar experience, particularly hitting 40. There are highs—a new decade, the chance for over the top and extended celebrations—and then there are lows— your mortality suddenly hits you over the head and won’t leave you alone, you feel ‘past it’, angry that you’ve not done nearly enough in your life nor are the person you thought you would become. Suddenly the cliche of a midlife crisis becomes clearer, more understandable, perhaps more desirable. After going through various phases in my 20s and 30s, I felt like I wanted to reclaim myself, to become more me, whatever that would end up meaning. It was football that helped me come back to myself. …”
“On Friday night, our train pulls into Wolfsburg. Four chimneys stretch into the dusk from the Volkswagen plant, a hulk of concrete, steel and brick sitting adjacent to the station and spreading as far as the eye can see. This is the heart of the city and yet, late at night, it’s eerily quiet. When Wolfsburg was created in 1938, it was conceived as a community to serve the mass production of an affordable family vehicle, what would become the Volkswagen Beetle, and the auto manufacturer still defines the city. …”
“John Stones’ performance against 
Scissors Kick 