-
)
LaLiga
18 Feb 21:00
)
Levante
)
Villarreal
- - -
)
Serie A
18 Feb 21:45
)
ACMilan
)
Como
- - -
)
Premier
18 Feb 22:00
)
Wolverhamp
)
Arsenal
- - -
)
Bundesl
20 Feb 21:30
)
Mainz05
)
HamburgerS
- - -
Serie A
20 Feb 21:45
)
Sassuolo
)
HellasVero
- - -
)
Ligue 1
20 Feb 21:45
)
Brest
)
Marseille
- - -
LaLiga
20 Feb 22:00
)
AthleticBi
)
Elche
- - -
LaLiga
21 Feb 15:00
)
RealSocied
)
RealOviedo
- - -
Serie A
21 Feb 16:00
)
Juventus
Como
- - -
Bundesl
21 Feb 16:30
)
FCKoeln
)
Hoffenheim
- - -
Bundesl
21 Feb 16:30
)
BayernMuni
)
EintrachtF
- - -
Bundesl
21 Feb 16:30
)
UnionBerli
)
BayerLever
- - -
Bundesl
21 Feb 16:30
)
Wolfsburg
)
Augsburg
- - -
Premier
21 Feb 17:00
)
AstonVilla
)
LeedsUnite
- - -
Premier
21 Feb 17:00
)
Brentford
)
Brighton&a
- - -
Premier
21 Feb 17:00
)
Chelsea
)
Burnley
- - -
LaLiga
21 Feb 17:15
)
RealBetis
)
RayoVallec
- - -
Ligue 1
21 Feb 18:00
)
Lens
)
Monaco
- - -
Serie A
21 Feb 19:00
)
Lecce
)
Inter
- - -
Bundesl
21 Feb 19:30
)
RBLeipzig
)
BorussiaDo
- -
WHAT WAS HE HIDING? THE MYSTERY BEHIND UNAI EMERY’S "WEIRD" SKY SPORTS INTERVIEW
Jamie Redknapp slams Unai Emery’s "odd" interview after Villa’s loss to Everton. Is the pressure of the title race showing?
Jamie Redknapp and Ashley Young just couldn’t make sense of Unai Emery’s painfully awkward post-match interview after Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Everton.
Villa had a real shot at climbing to second in the Premier League with a win at Villa Park, especially since Arsenal and Manchester City had both dropped points earlier that weekend. But instead, they put in one of their flattest performances of the season. Thierno Barry’s clever finish ended up being the only thing between the two teams.
Evann Guessand hit the woodwork, but honestly, Villa barely offered anything in response. And things nearly got worse—Jake O’Brien actually scored early on, only for the goal to be chalked off for offside.
So, Arsenal wrapped up the weekend with a comfortable seven-point lead at the top, with City sitting above third-placed Villa on goal difference after 22 games. For Villa, that’s three games out of their last four where they’ve dropped points. They’ll try to turn things around next weekend at St James’ Park against Newcastle.
After the final whistle, Emery looked like he weighed the world on his shoulders. He told Sky Sports that his team simply weren’t “top-five contenders” with the way they’ve been playing. “We are not contenders to be in the top five. We are still not being contenders,” he said. “There are other teams with more potential than us.”
When a reporter pressed him on what it would take for Villa to actually be contenders, Emery just repeated himself—“Because there are other teams with more potential than us.” He wouldn’t elaborate, just stared down at the ground, then glared at the reporter before walking off. It was tense, and honestly, a little uncomfortable.
Back in the Sky Sports studio, Mark Chapman said Emery looked like he was “seething about something”, but nobody could quite figure out what had set him off. Redknapp and Young looked just as confused by Emery’s “weird” and “odd” behaviour.
“He looked really angry,” Young said. He guessed maybe it was all the injuries—another one for John McGinn, plus they’re still missing Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana. “Is it the loss of Donyell Malen? Is he trying to send a message to the owners, saying he needs more players?”
Young thought Emery would have more to say about the game itself and the missed chance to close the gap on Arsenal. “To say there are five teams with more potential, it was weird.”
Redknapp called it “one of the oddest interviews I have ever seen,” especially the part at the end when Emery just went silent. “I don’t know what he’s trying to allude to. I guess he’s just genuinely devastated by that performance and result. They do need players.”
He pointed out how thin Villa’s bench looked. “They haven’t got the options. Harvey Elliott hasn’t worked out and wasn’t on the bench; Jadon Sancho was ill. Boubacar Kamara looks like he’ll be out for a long time; John McGinn’s got a knee problem. They need to strengthen that midfield.”
Redknapp said Arsenal got away with one since Villa “blew an incredible opportunity” to put some real pressure at the top. “They couldn’t have started any worse. Everton hit the post in the first few minutes, and you thought that would wake Villa up, but it never happened. Then they lost John McGinn, and, really, they just wasted the chance to go after Arsenal.”
“They didn’t have it in any area today. The players who can bail them out just didn’t turn up. It was a really tough afternoon for Villa—they never got going. Maybe it’s the pressure, maybe it’s the missing players. Either way, they just weren’t at it.”
LONDON DERBY: CHELSEA AND TOTTENHAM TO BATTLE FOR BAYERN’S KIM MIN-JAE THIS SUMMER
Kim Min-Jae is back on the radar! Discover why Chelsea and Tottenham are racing to sign the Bayern Munich defender this summer.
Are Chelsea and Tottenham about to scrap over a top defender this summer? It’s not out of the question.
Both clubs have different priorities right now, but things could get interesting if Bayern Munich decide to let Kim Min-Jae go. That would put two London rivals on a collision course, each desperate for defensive reinforcements.
Chelsea, under Liam Rosenior, appears to be a different team, boasting eight wins from eleven games in all competitions. Rosenior’s barely had time to settle in, and he’s already been tested on four fronts. They’re hungry, and the mood around Stamford Bridge has shifted.
Tottenham, though, are in a very different place. They’re flirting with the relegation zone, and this time the threat feels real. West Ham, Leeds, and Forest are all clawing for survival. Spurs have Igor Tudor in charge until the end of the season, and managing in England for the first time while juggling a pile of injuries isn’t exactly a dream start. If they stay up, and right now, that’s still a big "if", they’ll need to strengthen fast.
That’s where Kim Min-Jae comes in. Both Chelsea and Spurs are eyeing him up, according to reports. Bayern paid £43 million to bring him in from Napoli last year, making him the most expensive Asian player ever. He helped Napoli win the Scudetto before that, and he’s won titles in Germany and South Korea, too. The guy knows how to get over the line.
But things haven’t clicked at Bayern. Kim was excellent in their 3-0 win over Bremen last weekend, but he’s mostly been third-choice behind Upamecano and Tah. Ten Bundesliga starts, just two in the Champions League. Not exactly what he signed up for. Bayern insider Christian Falk says Chelsea and Spurs have both shown interest, and Kim’s on their shortlist. Liverpool have been linked to, but right now, it’s the London clubs circling.
Chelsea have a hole at the back ever since Thiago Silva moved on. Kim, at 29, would instantly become the oldest player in the squad – not a bad thing for a team packed with young talent that sometimes looks a bit lost under pressure. They need his experience.
Spurs, on the other hand, have a solid pairing with Van de Ven and Romero, but if they lose one, things get thin pretty fast. Kim would be an upgrade on their depth and could slot straight into the starting eleven. And let’s be honest, the Son Heung-min effect is real. Kim would draw huge support from South Korea, just like Son has.
Kim isn’t agitating for a move just yet, but if Bayern decide to cash in and the right offer lands on the table, don’t be surprised to see him in the Premier League next season. Whether it’s in blue or white, that’s the part nobody knows yet.
PGMOL SIDELINES CHRIS KAVANAGH AS REFEREEING STANDARDS COME UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY
Chris Kavanagh won't referee this weekend! Analyse the PGMOL decision and Wayne Rooney’s "worst ever" handball claim at Villa Park.
Chris Kavanagh won’t be refereeing any Premier League games this weekend, and honestly, that’s no surprise after all the drama in last Saturday’s Aston Villa vs Newcastle FA Cup match.
Kavanagh and his assistants, Gary Beswick and Nick Greenhalgh, got hammered by critics for how they handled that fourth-round tie at Villa Park. There was no VAR in play; none of the matches in that round had it, so the officials had to make the big calls themselves.
They missed Tammy Abraham standing offside for Villa’s first goal. Then Lucas Digne put in a high challenge on Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy, the sort of tackle that usually gets a red card, but nothing happened. Later, Digne got penalised for a handball, but he was clearly inside the box, and somehow the ref gave a free-kick outside instead.
This weekend, Beswick is working as an assistant for the Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool game on Sunday, but Kavanagh and Greenhalgh are nowhere to be seen on the official appointments list.
Referees are judged on their performances. The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) decide who gets which games based on a bunch of factors, including independent assessments after each match.
Still, Kavanagh is well-regarded among refs. He just made it onto UEFA’s top officials list and often gets Champions League matches. Earlier on Monday, Wayne Rooney chimed in and said the mistakes from Saturday showed just how much refs have come to rely on VAR.
On BBC’s live coverage that night, Rooney called the handball decision “one of the worst” he’d ever seen. Later, on his podcast, he said, “I think there’s over-reliance on VAR. Now the officials are used to it; they wait for VAR to bail them out. With no VAR, they have to make the call themselves, and they’re so used to keeping the flag down that it cost them yesterday.”
Graham Scott, who used to referee in the Premier League, joined the podcast too. He pushed back against the idea that refs hide behind VAR. “I work with them closely; I know these guys, and they’re not like that,” Scott said. “That’s not how they think or work. I spent half my career with VAR and half without it – well, actually, without it first. Even when I was in the Premier League, I’d sometimes ref in the Championship with no VAR. You’re in and out, but your process doesn’t really change.”
VAR comes back for the FA Cup from the fifth round. In the Premier League, officials are told to trust their own judgement. The English top flight actually has the lowest rate of VAR interventions in Europe’s major leagues. Here, they only overturn a call if it’s clearly and obviously wrong.
Premier League Standings
Must Read
_1771255785.webp)
Read More News