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Grimaldo helps Leverkusen win 4-3 at Mainz to stretch record unbeaten away run

Leverkusen moved up to 14 points in fifth place with their third straight league winSpain international Grimaldo opened their account with an 11th-minute penaltyBERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo scored twice in the first half to guide them to a 4-3 victory in a thrilling clash at Mainz 05 on Saturday, stretching their record unbeaten run on the road in the Bundesliga.Leverkusen, who host European champions Paris St.

Marc Guehi to leave Crystal Palace, says Glasner

LONDON: Marc Guehi has told Crystal Palace he will not sign a new deal at the club, manager Oliver Glasner has said. The England center-back almost joined Liverpool on transfer deadline day last month, but Palace pulled the plug at the last minute, missing out on a sizeable fee. Glasner revealed the defender, in the final 12 months of his contract, has already informed the club this will be his final season at Selhurst Park. “The club wanted (him to stay). They offered Marc a new contract but he said, ‘No, I want to make something different’, and that’s normal,” he said. “And for us, it’s how we can deal with this situation.

Minnows Mjallby on verge of ‘impossible’ Swedish title win

Should the tiny club from a fishing village on the Listerlandet peninsula do so it will be the greatest shock in the history of footballA combination of superb scouting and a science-based approach have helped Mjallby top the 16-team leagueSTOCKHOLM: The nervousness of Hammarby and AIK fans ahead of Sunday’s Stockholm derby will pale into insignificance compared to those of Swedish minnows Mjallby AIF, who will become Swedish champions if Hammarby fail to beat their city rivals.Should the tiny club from a fishing village on the Listerlandet peninsula do so it will be the greatest shock in the history of football, according to Torbjorn Andersson, an academic specializing in football at Malmo University.“(It would be) completely unique in the history of football, and that it’s happening now is even more unlikely,” he told broadcaster Radiosporten ahead of what could be the decisive weekend in the Allsvenskan title race.A combination of superb scouting and a science-based approach have helped Mjallby top the 16-team league on 63 points after 26 games, 11 points ahead of second-placed Hammarby, whose resources dwarf those of their smaller southern rivals.Though the club draws support from all over the county of Solvesborg, the town of Mjallby has a tiny population of just over 1,200, and academic Andersson said that, on paper, a club of their stature should have no chance of winning the title.“There’s so much money in it (football), it should be totally impossible,” he said as Mjallby look to replace Malmo, who have won the title a record 27 times, as champions.“If you look at the annual reports the (Swedish) football association has published ...

Rain washes out the 1st T20 international between New Zealand and England

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand: Rain forced the abandonment of the first Twenty20 international between New Zealand and England after the visitors posted 153-6 in their completed innings Saturday. Sam Curran top-scored with 49 not out from 35 balls. He hit three fours and two sixes — and 19 runs from the final over of the England innings. Jos Buttler with 29 from 25 balls and Harry Brook with 20 from 14 both made starts but were unable to go on as the England batters struggled when the New Zealand bowlers took the pace off the ball. A shower caused a 15-minute break while England was batting, then returned more heavily between innings, finally causing the match to be abandoned around 10.10 p.m.

Conceicao named as new coach of Al-Ittihad

RIYADH: Former AC Milan manager Sergio Conceicao will take over as coach of Al-Ittihad following the sacking of Laurent Blanc, the Saudi Arabian Pro League club announced on Wednesday. The Portuguese coach, who also won 52 caps as a player, was revealed in a video on social media titled “The King Rules the Game.” “Victory is not a choice,” says Conceicao, 50, in the video.

Germany’s Woltemade not yet in team training after flu

BERLIN: Germany striker Nick Woltemade returned to light individual training on Wednesday after recovering from a flu, as the national team prepare for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Northern Ireland. The Germans, third in Group A on three points, host Luxembourg on Friday before traveling to Belfast to face Northern Ireland, second on goal difference, three days later. Slovakia are top on six points with Luxembourg bottom on zero. The 23-year-old Woltemade, who has made a strong start since joining Newcastle United this season, scoring in the Premier League and Europe, including Sunday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, missed Germany’s training on Tuesday after joining the team a day late due to his illness. Woltemade is firmly in the spotlight ahead of the qualifiers after quickly becoming a crowd favorite in Newcastle.

Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture

MILAN: Footballers should respect the money they make and their employers, Serie A Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo said on Wednesday in response to AC Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot’s concerns over his club’s planned league match in Australia. Italy’s Serie A have turned the unavailability of the San Siro in February due to the Winter Olympics into an opportunity for Italian football to increase international visibility, and Milan’s fixture with Como will be played in Perth. Rabiot, currently on international duty with France, called the decision crazy when he spoke to French newspaper Le Figaro on Tuesday. “I was surprised when I learned that AC Milan will be playing a Serie A match against Como ... in Australia,” Rabiot said. “It’s completely crazy.

Calculators at the ready to determine African World Cup aspirations

CAPE TOWN: African fans will need their calculators over the next week of World Cup qualifiers to figure out if their favored team remains in contention for a place at next year’s finals in North America. The nine group winners all qualify automatically and will be determined when the group qualifying program ends on Tuesday. While that is simple enough, there is the possibility of an additional 10th African team reaching next June’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States via a lengthy playoff route. The four best runners-up from the nine groups will go into a playoff next month to determine a sole African representative for a further intercontinental playoff planned for March. Calculating the four best runners-up from the nine African groups would have been easy had Eritrea not withdrawn before the start of the campaign, but after the draw was made, and left one of the groups with five teams instead of six. Therefore, because the five countries in Group E played eight qualifiers instead of 10 in all the other groups, the four best runners-up will be determined not by their overall points tally but by their results only against the third, fourth and fifth-placed sides in their respective groups. In other words, any points that the runners-up accumulated in matches against the last-placed finisher are expunged, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed. The penultimate round of qualifiers began on Wednesday and with two rounds to play, there are only two confirmed group winners, no confirmed runners-up and four teams condemned to last place. Morocco and Tunisia last month secured top place in their respective groups, and a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, while Djibouti (Group A), Seychelles (F), Somalia

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England Sport News

Grimaldo helps Leverkusen win 4-3 at Mainz to stretch record unbeaten away run

Marc Guehi to leave Crystal Palace, says Glasner

Minnows Mjallby on verge of ‘impossible’ Swedish title win

Rain washes out the 1st T20 international between New Zealand and England

Conceicao named as new coach of Al-Ittihad

Germany’s Woltemade not yet in team training after flu

Serie A chief dismisses Rabiot concerns over Milan’s Australia fixture

Calculators at the ready to determine African World Cup aspirations