Author: INDEPENDENT

Guardiola labels Arsenal and Manchester United as main title threatsSign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Manchester City secured their first Community Shield win since 2019, with Manuel Akanji scoring the decisive eighth penalty against local rivals Manchester United.The game started off in a slow fashion, with Alejandro Garnacho breaking the deadlock in the 82nd minute with a stunning strike, before Bernardo Silva equalised with just a minute of normal time to take the game to penalties at Wembley.There were just two misses from…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Pep Guardiola was staring at the start of a season that could span 48 weeks for Manchester City. He has often sounded the alarm about the impact of a crowded schedule for players and the Club World Cup will only add to it. He also reflected on the challenge City face to retain the Premier League title. “Everyone wants the crown that we have worn for four years,” he said. “I understand it.” Some of his rivals…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsBarclays has become the first bank to lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses that was originally imposed by the EU, which will allow employess to earn up to 10 times their salary.In a memo sent to staff on Thursday, the bank said the new bonus cap “should not change colleague expectations around total compensation”, which will not automatically increase.Last year financial regulators decided to remove the cap that limited the amount bankers could take home…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter There is a case for arguing that Ipswich Town rode to the rescue of the Football League and English football’s pyramid system last season. The three clubs relegated from the Premier League were the trio who had been promoted the previous year. Three of the top four in the Championship had been relegated from the top flight 12 months earlier.The interlopers, the exceptions, were Ipswich – marooned in League One, they then surged through the Championship at…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter The man who completed football had everything except a starting berth for the biggest club games. Julian Alvarez’s medal collection includes the World Cup and the Copa America, the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores, the Club World Cup and the European Super Cup, the Premier League and the Argentine Primera League, some of them more than once.He has been at Manchester City for two seasons and won more silverware than the club earned in the first…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Rangers’ Champions League hopes were handed a dramatic late boost when Cyriel Dessers levelled for a 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kyiv in Poland.The first-leg of the third qualifying round tie was played at the Arena Lublin due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and although Philippe Clement’s side made a good fist of the first half and hit woodwork they found themselves behind at the interval to a 38th-minute goal from Kyiv captain Andriy Yarmolenko.An open game…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsA market strategy known as the ‘carry trade’ is partly behind the mayhem that swept across world markets this week.Carry trades involve borrowing at low cost in one currency to achieve higher returns from investments in another currency. One of the most recent examples has been to borrow Japanese yen, expecting the currency to remain cheap against the U.S. dollar and for Japanese interest rates to remain low. The borrowed funds would then be invested…

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxingSign up to our free sport email for all the latest newsEmma Hayes didn’t win seven Women’s Super League titles with Chelsea by chopping and changing a winning formula.So, if the vocal fans that follow the USA women’s football team on social media were expecting anything else, they will get used to being disappointed.The Londoner takes her new team into the Olympic semi-finals against Germany in Lyon tonight having fulfilled her first mission – restoring their self-belief after early World Cup exit in…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Chelsea will discover their Europa Conference League play-off opponents on Monday when the draw is made in Nyon, Switzerland.The Blues have endured a tough start to pre-season, with defeat to Manchester City on Saturday. And there is an early test in their 2024/25 campaign as qualifying for the Europa Conference League begins.After Manchester United’s victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May secured Erik ten Hag’s side a place in the Europa League, the…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Manchester United are exploring options to keep parts of the current Old Trafford stadium, potentially for the women’s and academy teams, should they press ahead with the construction of a new stadium. Such plans would see the club retain iconic elements of the historic ground, especially the pitch, on which so much of United’s mythology has taken place.United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants the club to decide on stadium plans by December after a recent review,…