Luton the latest TV victims as fans lose again
It is hardly breaking news that the interests of match-going fans are not given a second thought by TV companies but Luton’s 400-mile round trip to Burnley on Friday night is a staggering insult nonetheless. The game was chosen for the televised Monday night slot in October, with the caveat it could be switched to Friday or Sunday depending on whether the clubs had an FA Cup replay or Burnley reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals. Confirmation of the rearranged date arrived with Luton’s third-round draw against Bolton on Sunday. As Tony Scholes from Up the Clarets said: “To be sat waiting for the result of a game to decide the date of the next game less than a week later is totally unacceptable.” The Football Supporters’ Association added: “We’ve raised this problem with leagues, broadcasters and the authorities repeatedly but little progress has been made. We are going to keep banging this drum. TV selections should not come with multiple caveats – supporters need to have certainty about when games are being played so they can make their arrangements in good time. If a game is at risk of being moved twice or more we don’t think it should be eligible for selection – simple as that.”
- Burnley v Luton, Premier League, Friday 7.45pm (all times GMT)
Asian Cup kicks off in Qatar
Those watching the Asian Cup’s big kick-off this weekend will probably recognise the backdrops from the Qatar 2022 World Cup, though there have been a couple of changes. Stadium 974, made from recycled shipping containers, has been dismantled and two smaller venues, the 15,000-capacity Jassim bin Hamad and the 10,000-capacity Abdullah bin Khalifa, were commissioned instead. The former, in Al Rayyan, will host South Korea’s opening match against Bahrain on Monday. Before that, Japan, clear favourites for the competition, runners-up in 2019 who impressed at the World Cup, begin against Vietnam on Sunday in Doha’s Al Thumama. Defending champions – and hosts – Qatar, coached by Tintín Márquez, a Spaniard previously with Al-Wakrah, start the whole thing off on Friday by facing Lebanon in the Lusail Stadium, which hosted 2022’s final. The Lusail, current capacity 88,000, is soon to be reduced in size, but will also host the final on 10 February before that operation begins.
- The Asian Cup kicks off with Qatar v Lebanon, Friday 4pm
Colwill finding life tough on the left
It was clear that Michael Carrick wanted to target Levi Colwill when Middlesbrough beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. Colwill has been uncomfortable at left-back this season and if Carrick saw him as a potential weakness then why has Mauricio Pochettino continued to persist with the youngster in an unfamiliar position? Sadly for Chelsea, the answer is a lack of alternatives. Marc Cucurella is unavailable and Ben Chilwell, who is close to returning from his latest hamstring injury, was mostly used as a left-winger by Pochettino at the start of the season. Colwill surprisingly started at left-back instead of Chilwell, whose fitness record is unreliable, but with mixed results. Opposition wingers have regularly hurt Colwill, whose long-term future surely lies in central defence. Pochettino must see it. But with alternatives thin on the ground, he might have to persist with Colwill at left-back when Chelsea host Fulham. The alternative is moving the right-footed Malo Gusto to the left and starting the inexperienced Alfie Gilchrist on the right.
- Chelsea v Fulham, Premier League, Saturday 12.30pm
Mowbray can get St Andrew’s rocking after Rooney blues
Whether you think Wayne Rooney was unfairly treated at Birmingham or it was madness he was ever there in the first place, he has left behind an unholy mess. The club are 20th in the Championship, having plummeted from the giddy heights of fifth when the former England striker took over in October, and need a quick upturn in results under Tony Mowbray. Aged 60, in his ninth full-time job of a 20-year managerial career and having just been sacked by Sunderland, Mowbray’s appointment may not immediately excite. But this is a man who transformed Sunderland into a vibrant attacking side with his focus on youth and creativity. He got them to a Championship playoff semi-final in buccaneering style and had them knocking on the door again when he paid for his overachievement in December. The Sunderland fans certainly didn’t want him out, and now he can show them what they are missing. Birmingham’s big-time owners want to reach for the stars with a team who dominate the ball and put bums on seats. Rooney couldn’t fulfil the brief, but in Mowbray they may just have stumbled on a man who can.
- Birmingham v Swansea, Championship, Saturday 3pm
Pompey look to rediscover their mojo
In mid-December, as Portsmouth racked up their fourth win on the bounce, it looked like nothing could stop John Mousinho’s table-topping side from returning to the second tier for the first time since 2012, leaving the other League One promotion contenders to fight it out for one spot. But the Pompey chimes have been out of tune over the past month, with one win in five allowing the chasing pack to close the gap. Now four points cover the top quartet, with Bolton, Peterborough and Derby all with games in hand over the leaders and winnable fixtures this weekend. Portsmouth’s loosening grasp at the summit is not being helped by an injury crisis – midfielder Alex Robertson, on loan from Manchester City, the latest to fall victim – but even so they should get back to winning ways at home to an improving Leyton Orient side on Saturday. A victory would ease the building pressure but anything else and things might begin to get very twitchy on the south coast.
- Portsmouth v Leyton Orient, League One, Saturday 3pm
Guimarães needs repeat performance against City
Before Newcastle’s restorative FA Cup third-round win at Sunderland last Saturday Eddie Howe’s side had suffered seven defeats in their previous eight games in all competitions. The true extent of their recovery will be revealed when Manchester City visit St James’ Park on Saturday evening and Howe must cope without, among others, the injured Joelinton. Much may hinge on Bruno Guimarães’s performance in a central midfield department bound to miss his fellow Brazil international. Guimarães, currently coveted by Paris Saint-Germain and whose contract contains a £99m release clause, shone at the Stadium of Light but must now reprise that display without Joelinton by his side against vastly superior opponents. With Darren Eales, Newcastle’s chief executive, having made it abundantly clear that the club’s board remain “hopeful” of European qualification this spring, Howe could certainly do with starting to close the 11-point gap currently separating his ninth placed side from the top four.
- Newcastle v Manchester City, Premier League, Saturday 5.30pm
Clubs handed cash boost in Women’s FA Cup
Teams competing in the third round of the women’s FA Cup this weekend will be the first to benefit from the increase in prize money announced by the FA in November. Total prize money has increased from £2,970,250 to £5,994,000 with the rise being concentrated on the latter stages of the competition, after the entry of WSL and Championship sides. Clubs competing in the third round will take about £44,000 this time out, up from £12,500. Some of the teams from outside the top two divisions that will benefit are big-spending Newcastle, who face Manchester United on Sunday in a big test for a side with ambitions of making it up into the WSL. Watford travel to Arsenal, having benefited from a number of loanees from the Gunners this season. Ambitious Ipswich play Charlton, Luton host Brighton and Portsmouth-based Moneyfields travel to Championship side London City Lionesses, recently bought by the Washington Spirit owner Michelle Kang.
Osimhen in the Afcon spotlight
The announcement of Victor Osimhen’s new Napoli contract and release clause has sent transfer speculation into overdrive but before anything comes to pass, he will lead Nigeria’s line in the Ivory Coast. Like Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Sadio Mané and others before him, Osimhen will carry a huge burden in the Africa Cup of Nations by being a star striker in a tournament that is not always kind to the goalscorers. Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar managed to score eight in 2021 as his team fell at the semi-final stage; Mohamed Salah could only score twice as Egypt finished runners-up. Judging by Nigeria’s 2-0 loss to Guinea on Monday, the Super Eagles enter the tournament with problems. Moses Simon and Sadiq Umar were José Peseiro’s starting forwards while Osimhen and Alex Iwobi, both recent arrivals from their European clubs, sat on the bench. Equatorial Guinea await on Sunday before a showdown with the hosts follows.
- Nigeria v Equatorial Guinea, Africa Cup of Nations, Sunday 2pm
Calvert-Lewin must step up after VAR reprieve
Common sense prevailed where it seemingly has no place with the Football Association’s decision to uphold Everton’s appeal against Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s red card against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited, embarrassed yet again, should be thankful Everton did not go out of the competition with 10 men as a consequence of VAR’s ludicrous intervention and Chris Kavanagh’s worrying decision. Calvert-Lewin’s availability for the visit of Aston Villa, along with the Palace replay and Premier League trip to Fulham, is a huge relief for Sean Dyche after five games without a win and with every quality option required against Unai Emery’s impressive side. However, there is no doubt the Everton manager needs Calvert-Lewin to make the most of his rightful reprieve. The striker remains integral to Everton’s approach but has gone 12 matches without a goal and is showing an inevitable lack of confidence in front of it. The threat to his place from Beto is increasing.
- Everton v Aston Villa, Premier League, Sunday 2pm
Ten Hag gets view of reinforced Spurs
How Erik ten Hag must wish his shaky Manchester United had been bolstered in the window by Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin as Ange Postecoglu’s Tottenham have. A No 9 to compete with Rasmus Højlund and a centre-back to upgrade the defence are top of the Dutchman’s list. But, instead, Ten Hag remains with a £72m striker still firing Premier League blanks and a rearguard which has a 36-year-old free transfer, Jonny Evans, at its heart. Spurs, in fifth, arrive eight points ahead of United so if Ten Hag’s men are serious about Champions League qualification they surely have to win.
- Manchester United v Tottenham, Premier League, Sunday 4.30pm
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