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Liverpool Win Premier League Title: Where the League was Won and Lost

Yes! There is nothing more exceptional than being crowned champions of competition at the comfort of your home.

Just like how you enjoy best casino site games, Liverpool players had the same euphoric moments on Thursday night. Liverpool are Premier League Champions.  A match between Chelsea and Manchester City was enough to secure the title for the Red side of Merseyside. 

However, a glance on how Jürgen Klopp’s side managed to pull quite a show will go a long way for some. One will ponder how did Liverpool managed to be so rampant in a tough competition with Manchester City involved. Well, you need to remember that there are key results that won Liverpool the title. Let’s have a look! 

Norwich City 3-2 Manchester City – 14 September

The brilliant Pep Guardiola’s team was the one to take a first nod in the title race. Despite the Citizens dropping points at home against Tottenham before they visit Norwich. On paper, the defending champions were ready to go stride for stride against Liverpool. 

But Manchester City were rattled with injury woes after Aymeric Laporte suffered a knee ligament. This made shockwaves amongst the City defense as Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones failed to contain the wrath of Todd Cantwell and Teemu Pukki. On that note, Liverpool had earlier beat Newcastle cementing a strong advantage. 

Sheffield United 0-1 Liverpool – 28 September  

Even though Liverpool dropped points for the first time against Manchester United. They kept their head high. Their level of consistency faced a serious test against a tough newly promoted Sheffield United. Liverpool’s breakthrough against Sheffield came through in the 70th minute as Georginio Wijnaldum utilised Dean Henderson goalkeeping error. 

Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City – 10 November 

Going into this match Liverpool were enjoying a crucial win 8 days ago against Aston Villa. This clash of the two league teams had its countless controversies. The major one came through after Alexander-Arnold handball contributed to Fabinho’s opener. Did you know that at jeux de casino sur crazyvegas you can place a bet on your favourite team and stand a chance to win big.

The Liverpool right back was found wanting for the same offence yet again in the late stage of the game. Unfortunately, and fortunately, no penalty was rewarded. 

The three-decade waiting is over for Liverpool and their next match will be against Manchester City where they will get the guard of honour.

All games off in Laois, Kildare and Offaly

All games are off in Laois, Kildare and Offaly for the next two weeks after the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) confirmed a partial lockdown in the three counties from midnight on Friday.

The restrictions will affect contact sports greatly such as Gaelic Games and Soccer. These sports have got back in track in recent weeks but that now will be stalled.However , horse racing meetings will be allowed to continue behind closed doors. Non contact sports and games can continue providing no more than 15 people. A statement was issued on Friday with the GAA and LGFA collaborating to say, “It was confirmed that the “suspension on activities covers all collective training, matches, in-person meetings and camps.”GAA grounds in the three counties will not be allowed to open until further notice. A meeting with the Covid advisory group will issue more details to club on Monday. The FAI also issued a statement. They said, “This suspension includes all matches and organised training” in the three counties”.

In terms of the games that will not be going include four games in the Kildare SHC as well as four games in the Offaly SFC. There are also games at underage level and junior levels but obviously these now will not be going ahead. Laois GAA issued a statement saying, “We are very disappointed, we had our senior fixtures last weekend and we had a round of fixtures tonight, which we have pulled. The news was very late, at 6 o’clock, to allow us to do that”. “We will continue to abide by the government guidelines. It is sport and I know there are people’s lives, at the minute, with business and that, which are going to be affected. We will comply and we will get over it and we will get over more again.”

 

Bohemians put dent in Dundalk title bid

Bohemians have put a massive dent in the Dundalk bid with a 2-1 win at Dalymount Park on Friday. It was a good game but the Dundalk title bid is now looking likely to becoming to a premature end.

Dundalk drew 1-1 last week with St Pat’s and were poor going by their high standards. Vinny Perth’s side are now two points behind Bohs and a further five points behind league leaders Shamrock Rovers who have a game in hand with Derry on Sunday. The two goals came courtesy of Keith Buckley and Daniel Grant. Michael Duffy registered a goal for the away side.

Keith Buckley makes it 2-0 thanks to a deflection #rtesoccer
Subscribe to https://t.co/9HrAoXnXYd to watch over 55 games pic.twitter.com/wjo6WX9y2l

— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) August 7, 2020

Bohs were very creative in the game, creating chances and showing signs of the excellent qualities they possess. They will target a top four finish and by the way they are playing they are well on the way to this. If they stay in touch with the their Dublin rivals then they may be able to pose a threat. Bohs took the lead after just 7 minutes of play. Twardek did excellent on the left side, before pulling it back to Anthony Breslin. He in turn crossed to find Daniel Grant at the back post who finished past Gary Rogers. Bohs doubled their lead on 15 minutes with that man Twardek causing problems for Sean Gannon, Grant got on to ball to lay it back to Buckley who scored via a deflection of Andy Boyle.

Dundalk looked sluggish at times and some sloppy play by Jordan Flores allowing JJ Lunney to be put through by Twardek but Rogers saved. Colovic moved to the right wing now for Dundalk. Andy Boyle headed over from a Duffy corner and Dundalk needed a goal to have any chance after the break one thought. That goal eventually came. Colovic, crossed to find Michael Duffy to head home past Stephen McGuinness. Bohs to their credit were comfortable after the restart. Dundalk, had a chance with Patrick Hoban heading off the bar when it looked a certain goal.

With a half hour into the second half Dawson Devoy hit a curled effort wide of the post. Dan Cleary also had a shot but it wasn’t to be for Dundalk. They will have to improve if they are to get into the title race once again.

Dundalk: Rogers; Gannon, Boyle, Cleary, Massey (Oduwa 87); Kelly (Mountney 34), Shields, Flores (Patching 66), Duffy; Colovic; Hoban.

Bohemians: McGuinness; Lyons, Casey, Cornwall, Breslin; Grant, Buckley, Lunney, Twardek; Ward (Devoy 72); Wright.

Connacht set to play in 24 team Champions Cup Rugby 2020/21

There was great news for Connacht Rugby fans this morning when EPCR chief Vincent Gaillard confirmed 24 teams will compete in the 2020/21 Champions Cup.

There has been no confirmation on the structure of next season’s tournament, but its suggested that there will be eight groups of three teams, each group will feature a team from the Pro 14, Top 14 and the Aviva Premiership.

Connacht fans were left in a precarious position with the season finishing just before make or break clash with the Scarlets which may have decided who finished third in their pool.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Video highlights of Connacht Rugby signings Ben O’Donnell and Abraham Papali’i

We have video highlights of the two new Connacht Rugby signings – Australian 7s player Ben O’Donnell and Bay of Plenty Number 8 Abraham Papali’i.

The pair will link up with the squad before the start of the 2020/21 Guinness PRO14 season.

Ben O’Donnell joins from the Australian Sevens programme, having played 95 matches for his country since he was handed his debut in 2017 under Andy Friend. The 24-year old went on to score 47 tries in that time and has been a key figure in their progression through the World Rugby Seven Series over the past three seasons.

O’Donnell was voted Australian Sevens Player of the year in 2018 and subsequently went on to be the first Australian player ever nominated for the World Sevens Player of the Year. But he got an ACL injury earlier this year so let’s hope that it is healed.

New Zealander Abraham Papali’i arrives from Bay of Plenty where he was a key member of the squad that won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship last year. The Auckland-born duel code player started his Rugby Union career with North Harbour before being recruited into the New Zealand Warriors (Rugby League) pathway. In 2015 Papali’i signed a two year contract with the Sydney Roosters of the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). This is a huge gamble for Connacht so lets hope it pays off

Following his time with the Roosters, Papali’i joined Lézignan Sangliers in the premier French Rugby League competition before the 6’4” number 8 returned to New Zealand and successfully restarted his Rugby Union career with Bay of Plenty.

Head Coach Andy Friend says today’s announcement is a significant boost ahead of the return to rugby.

“I am delighted to welcome Ben and Abraham to Connacht Rugby.

I got to know Ben very well on the Australian Sevens scene. It did not surprise me that he went on to become such an important player for them and I am thrilled that he has chosen to join Connacht.

Abraham is a powerful number 8 who has all the attributes to become a really valuable player for us while furthering our options in the back row. I know every Connacht supporter will be excited to see what he can offer.”

Friend expressed his excitement about the announcement and what the squad can achieve in the upcoming season.

“Today’s announcement comes on the back of discussions that started a number of months ago and we are delighted to eventually be able to share this exciting news with all of our supporters today.

These signings bring our squad up to 43 players for next season. We have freshened up and added depth to our squad in a number of key areas, having signed a healthy blend of young exciting players who have come through our Academy system as well as bringing in some additional quality and experience from further afield.

We are an ambitious group and I firmly believe we have all the tools we need to kick on to the next level and achieve success in what is going to be a really exciting season.”

UEFA plan August review for fan return

UEFA plan an August review for a fan return to the Champions League, Europa League and domestic seasons. The European football body held a video conference on Thursday to discuss these plans.

At present there are measures in place, with regular testing been conducted. These tests are for both players and staff members as the various domestic leagues are set to be completed for the season. New guidelines will be coming in to place next season, which may mean teams  who will be competing in European competitions will have to forfeit games if they fail to inform UEFA of travel restrictions.

No guidance has been released in terms of when teams will be allowed have fans in stadiums. However, UEFA have discussed this and this will be addressed in a further meeting later this month. UEFA released a statement saying, “UEFA and the General Secretaries of the 55 National Associations met in a video conference today to discuss topics related to the restart of UEFA competitions in the light of the current situation; most notably those for clubs, national teams and youth”.

It continued, “It was stressed that, in order to comply with travel restrictions and quarantine requirements issued by authorities, some matches may need to be moved to neutral countries/stadia and the detailed scenarios were presented”. Hubs have also been put in place to allow neutral games to take place in Poland, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary which FIFA thanked for their cooperation. “UEFA is constantly monitoring the evolution of the regulatory landscape in the different countries and a review of the situation is planned around mid August to see if the current decision of playing all matches behind closed doors can be at least partially changed.”

Champions League quarter finals will be played on August 12th four nights in a row. These will be single knockout games and will be played in Benfica and Lisbon. The semi-finals will also take place on the 16/17th of August, with the final pencilled for the 23rd. Meanwhile, the Europa League will take place in Germany from the quarter-finals onwards.

Premier League clubs says no to five sub rule

The Premier League clubs in England have said no to the five sub rule. Clubs were allowed to use five subs which was increased from the usual three when the league restarted in June due to Covid 19. However, clubs have now opted to vote against the five sub rule for next season.

Teams will now go back to the usual three subs after a vote on Thursday afternoon. In addition to this the Premier League have also stated that it has “approved the implementation of VAR with full FIFA protocol”. This news comes after FIFA took over control of overseeing video assistant referee system from IFAB. Referees will also be using pitch side monitors more in terms of checking goals, red cards and goal kicks. Furthermore, in relation to goalkeepers, if a goalkeepers foot is over the line when he saves a penalty then the penalty will have to be retaken. Players who encroach in the area when a penalty is taken – and have a material impact on the outcome – will be judged by any part of their body that is on the ground when the kick is taken.

In relation to the five substitute rule FIFA have said this can be used in all competitions up until August 2021. Of course this will now mean that the Copa America and the European Championships can adopt this method if they so wish. Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho as in support of keeping the rule, speaking to Sky Sports he said, I like the 20 players [in the squad]. It doesn’t make any sense to travel with 20 players and then you arrive in the stadium and have to send two guys to the stands when the clubs pay every player and invest in every player”. He continued, “And it’s much better for a manager to have on the bench a right-back, a left-back, a centre-back, a winger, a midfielder, a striker”.

The Premier League is set to resume on September 12th.

Increase in number of inter-county players seeking GPA assistance

There has been an increase in the number of inter-county players seeking GPA assistance. This has more than likely arisen from the recent Covid 19 pandemic.

As we reported earlier in the week there was a massive uptake in players getting assistance been it educational. life help or professional development with numbers going over 1,400. 629 players have contacted the GPA this year according to their report. 608 of these players are current players, with 21 former inter-county players. Neil McManus, current Antrim hurler said, “There has been a lot of negative stuff said and a rhetoric out there about the GPA for some time,”. “You’re not going to change peoples’ minds who think a certain way. But here’s the thing – there are inter-county players who are still with us today and that’s mainly down to the help they have received from the GPA. I don’t say that lightly”.

The GPA were also in the spotlight when they published the average salaries for it’s employees. The average salary was 65,000 euros. McManus also discussed the GPA and why it was viewed negatively by some individuals. He said,My own father is a dyed-in-the-wool GAA man and has held every possible position with Cushendall,”. The Cushendall man continued, “When Dad saw how the GPA helped me, it was then that he appreciated what they stand for”.

McManus stated that “everyone is entitled to their opinion” but he said that talk to people who are receiving GPA assistance to get the full story on what is going on.

Farrell sets Ireland target of winning Six Nations

Ireland rugby head coach Andy Farrell has set Ireland the target of winning the Six Nations which resumes in October. The Irish will face Italy and France on October 24th and 31st respectively.

Farrell has said that Ireland’s fate is at their own hands. Despite a poor World Cup losing to New Zealand in the quarter-finals, the side have progressed under Farrell. They beat Scotland and Wales, but failed in beating England. Eddie Jones’ side winning 24-12. The Grand Slam cannot be won this year as all teams lost games. So with two games to go Ireland are still in the mix to win a 4th title in 7 years. Ireland will need bonus point wins in their final two games.  England only have one game left against Italy where they are sure to rack up a big winning margin.

Speaking to reporters Farrell said, “We were gutted the competition didn’t keep rolling on. After a disappointing game against England, the only thing the boys wanted to do was get back on the horse against England. We had a great reflection week and we were brimming to go over to Paris and see what we could do”. Farrell said “destiny is in our own hands”. “All our lads are aware, I’ve been in contact with them, they know what is coming around the corner, from the inter-pro games to get selected and back into that Six Nations” he continued.

He was also asked about the upcoming 8 team competition which will run from November 8th to December 5th. As already mentioned this will include the Six Nations sides plus Japan and Fiji. These games will be broken into two pools of 4 teams and will act as a replacement for the Autumn international games. Farrell said, “We certainly will take it seriously. Any competition that you’re involved in, you want to win it. We’ll never shy away from that”. “What the tournament would bring, with all the big games that are going to happen, is that you would probably utilise a squad that is a little bit bigger than normal – simply because of the run of games, which is World Cup-esque. But we’ll roll with the punches and see where it takes us.”

Farrell was also about players James Lowe and Simon Zebo. On James Lowe, who is now qualified to play for Ireland due to the residence rule he said, “I think he’s been a great tonic for Irish rugby, he’s played some outstanding rugby over the last few years. Like all players, we’ll see how he comes back, whether he comes into form in the early part of the season”. In relation to Simon Zebo, he said that he will not be considered for selection until he returns to Ireland. He said, “The unwritten rule is there to protect Irish rugby. I’m all for that. If Simon Zebo, like anyone else, came back into Ireland, and was at the top of his game, then, knowing the type of form that Zeebs can bring, we’d look at him like everyone else.”

Ireland’s first game in the resumed Six Nations takes place on October 24th with Italy, which will be followed on October 31st with a date with France .

Leinster Rugby announce 28 new contracts

Leinster Rugby announced 28 new contract for the 2020/21 season, while also announcing some players that will be leaving the club.

Leinster Head Coach Leo Cullen also welcomed the announcement of the new contracts, while he also acknowledged the circumstances around some players. He told Leinsterrugby.ie, “We are delighted to be able to confirm the list of 28 contracts today and in particular with so many of them coming through the clubs and the schools of Leinster. A huge amount of work goes into developing players at all levels of the game so it’s incredibly pleasing for us to have five players promoted directly from our Academy”.

Five players are promoted from the Academy to the senior squad. These are Harry Dunne, Ryan Baird, Harry Byrne, Tommy O’Brien and Dan Sheehan. Leo Cullen welcomed the players to the squad and said, “It is always a hugely special day for them, their families and their clubs and schools so I would like to congratulate Ryan (Baird), Harry (Byrne), Jack (Dunne), Tommy (O’Brien) and Dan (Sheehan).

However, 7 players will leave the club. Jack Aungier, Bryan Byrne, Barry Daly, Oisin Dowling, Gavin Mullin, Roman Salanoa and Joe Tomane. Cullen thanked the players for their contributions over the past number of seasons and said, “To Bryan, Barry and Joe from the Senior squad and to Jack, Gavin, Roman and Oisín from the Academy we would like to thank you all for your contribution and effort that you have given the club”.

Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney will stay at the club until completion of the 2019/20 season in which Leo Cullen said he was “delighted” with. The former Leinster and Ireland second rower said, “Both players have given so much to the team over the course of their careers as ‘one club’ men and hopefully, they can both contribute strongly to the team for the games that we still hope to play out”.

Leinster Rugby – New Senior Contracts:

1. Vakh Abdaladze, 11 Leinster Caps (LC), 1 Leinster Tries (T)*
2. Ryan Baird, 7 LC, 3 T
3. Michael Bent, 4 Ireland Caps (IC), 135 LC, 4 T
4. Adam Byrne, 1 IC, 57 LC, 20 T
5. Ed Byrne, 52 LC, 7 T
6. Harry Byrne, 9 LC, 2 T
7. Ross Byrne, 6 IC, 84 LC, 5 T
8. Will Connors, 15 LC, 2 T
9. Seán Cronin, 72 IC, 181 LC, 41 T
10. Peter Dooley, 76 LC, 2 T
11. Caelan Doris, 2 IC, 29 LC, 4 T
12. Jack Dunne, 7 LC, 0 T

13. Scott Fardy, 39 Australia Caps (AC), 58 LC, 10 T
14. Jordan Larmour, 24 IC, 46 LC, 12 T
15. Dan Leavy, 11 IC, 63 LC, 14 T
16. James Lowe, 43 LC, 28 T
17. Ross Molony, 95 LC, 3 T
18. Josh Murphy, 32 LC, 2 T
19. Tommy O’Brien, 3 LC, 1 T
20. Rory O’Loughlin, 1 IC, 67 LC, 21 T
21. Rowan Osborne, 4 LC, 1 T
22. Andrew Porter, 26 IC, 62 LC, 9 T
23. Rhys Ruddock, 26 IC, 172 LC, 10 T
24. James Ryan, 26 IC, 37 LC, 2 T**
25. Dan Sheehan, 0 LC, 0 T
26. Devin Toner, 70 IC, 244 LC, 4 T
27. James Tracy, 6 IC, 108 LC, 8 T
28. Josh van der Flier, 26 IC, 80 LC, 9 T

Academy Players Promoted to Senior Squad:

1. Ryan Baird
2. Harry Byrne
3. Jack Dunne
4. Tommy O’Brien
5. Dan Sheehan

Leinster Rugby – Departees:

1. Jack Aungier, 5 LC, 0 T
2. Bryan Byrne, 47 LC, 12 T
3. Barry Daly, 36 LC, 19 T
4. Oisín Dowling, 6 LC, 0 T
5. Gavin Mullin, 2 LC, 0 T
6. Roman Salanoa, 3 LC, 0 T
7. Joe Tomane, 17 AC, 21 LC, 3

*Statistics correct as of 24th June 2020
**Already announced as centrally contracted by the IRFU

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