Norway’s Elabdellaoui hospitalised with eye injuries after firework explodes

Istanbul (AFP) – Galatasaray’s Norwegian international defender Omar Elabdellaoui has been hospitalised with eye injuries after an accident with fireworks in New Year’s Eve celebrations, the doctor treating him said Friday.

Elabdellaoui injured both his eyes, according to Dr. Vedat Kaya of the Liv hospital.

While the Norwegian has not lost his sight, one eye was much more seriously injured than the other, Kaya said, adding that the player was “better today” but that it was too early to write off potential long-term consequences.

According to Turkish media, Elabdellaoui suffered burns to his face after a firework exploded in his hands at his home during celebrations to mark the end of 2020.

Elabdellaoui, 29, began his senior career at Manchester City although he did not make a competitive appearance for the Premier League club, instead going out on loan with Stromsgodset, Feyenoord and Eintracht Braunschweig.

He sealed a permanent move to Braunschweig, spending a year there before joining Olympiakos in 2014, with a brief loan period with Hull City in the Premier League. He joined Galatasaray in August.

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Fulham boss Parker unsure if Burnley match will go ahead

London (AFP) – Fulham manager Scott Parker does not know if his side’s trip to Burnley on Sunday will go ahead as a spike in coronavirus infections continues to wreak havoc on the Premier League schedule.

An outbreak in the Fulham squad led to Wednesday’s trip to Tottenham being postponed less than three hours before kick-off.

That was the second Premier League postponement this week after Manchester City’s trip to Everton was also called off.

“I don’t know whether the Burnley game is going to get played or not,” said Parker.

“We’ve had retesting the last few days. We’ve got a bunch of players and we’re preparing the best we can.”

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho branded the league’s handling of the situation “unprofessional”, which Parker has sympathy with.

“We were in exactly the same position as Tottenham were in. We were in a hotel, we didn’t know until late on as well.

“We were sitting 20 minutes away from the stadium, obviously ready to have pre-match and waiting around in the hotel so it was late for my side as well.

“There was no new information come Wednesday so the information was there on Tuesday but for one reason or another it didn’t get postponed or called off until the time it was. I was in exactly the same position and I understand Jose’s frustration.”

Pressure is growing on the Premier League to implement a short circuit breaker to try and bring infection rates within clubs down.

However, league chiefs insisted this week there have been no discussions on pausing the season.

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Guardiola confirms Man City without five players due to Covid isolation

London (AFP) – Manchester City will be without five players for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea due to positive tests for coronavirus, Pep Guardiola has confirmed as he defended the decision to postpone Monday’s clash with Everton.

City revealed there had been four positive cases at the club on Christmas Day, including for players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus.

A further round of testing found three more cases among the City squad on Monday, leading to the match being called off just four hours before kick-off.

“Five players are isolating for 10 days,” said Guardiola on Friday. “Some of them, the first cases that were released, it was four people – two players – and three more the second time.”

City have not revealed the identity of the other three players to test positive, who will also miss Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final against Manchester United.

The decision to postpone the Everton match attracted some criticism as City did have the required 14 fit senior players by Premier League rules to fulfil the fixture.

Everton said they would be seeking clarification from the league authorities on how the postponement came about. However, Guardiola highlighted the risk of his players passing on the virus to Everton’s squad.

“Personally I called (Everton manager) Carlo Ancelotti to announce the situation because we could play, but what happens if we travel on the coach and more players get it?” Guardiola said.

“The day before we were in touch all of us, and what would happen if the Everton players got infected from us?

“It was a huge risk, because it’s not about what happens here in Manchester City, it’s about what happens all around the world.

“People are unfortunately dying all around the world and in the UK. Unfortunately the problem is still here. Hopefully the next tests everyone is negative and the people who are positive right now can come back without a problem.”

City’s training ground was temporarily closed, but reopened on Wednesday after no more new cases were detected from another round of testing.

A full round of Premier League matches is scheduled to go ahead this weekend, starting on Friday.

However, after Tottenham’s clash with Fulham on Wednesday was also postponed, pressure is growing on the Premier League to halt the season with a circuit breaker to try and bring infection rates down.

“We will follow what the Premier League says,” added Guardiola. “They are doing an incredible job and have been since the first lockdown but it is unfortunate what happened.”

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard welcomed plans for Sunday’s match to go ahead, but warned there will be further disruption with infection rates across England soaring.

“It seems to me that the situation at the moment is that we go game by game.

“Games are being called off because of positive tests around the game and I understand that. Let’s see how it goes because these are uncertain times.”

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EPL commentator assignments on NBC Sports, Gameweek 17

NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League returns with the first matches of 2021 on Friday.

The action begins at Goodison Park in Liverpool with Everton hosting West Ham United, where the Toffees will climb into second place if they defeat the Hammers. Following that match is high-flying Manchester United who will go joint top if they can win against Aston Villa. In other games this weekend, highlights include Tottenham’s return to action after their midweek postponement against Fulham. The Lilywhites host free-scoring Leeds United. Then on Sunday, Chelsea-Manchester City promises to be an intriguing match.

Monday wraps up NBC’s Premier League “Festive Fixtures.” After Monday’s match, the Premier League takes a break until mid-January due to the FA Cup Third Round matches.

 

Here’s the schedule of soccer commentators for this weekend’s Premier League matches (all times Eastern):

 

Friday, January 1

Everton vs. West Ham United, 12:30pm, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Jonathan Beck and Andy Townsend

Manchester United vs. Aston Villa, 3pm, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Joe Speight and Jim Beglin

 

Saturday, January 2

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leeds United, 7:30am, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Peter Drury and Matt Holland

Crystal Palace vs. Sheffield United, 10am, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Jim Proudfoot and Don Hutchinson

Brighton vs. Wolves, 12:30pm, NBC, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Arlo White and Lee Dixon

West Bromwich Albion vs. Arsenal, 3pm, Peacock Premium — Steve Wilson and Jim Beglin

 

Sunday, January 3

Burnley vs. Fulham, 7am, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Conor McNamara and Leon Osman

Newcastle United vs. Leicester City, 9:15am, NBCSN, Telemundo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Seb Hutchinson and David Prutton

Chelsea vs. Manchester City, 11:30am, NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Arlo White and Lee Dixon

 

Monday, January 4

Southampton vs. Liverpool, 3pm, NBCSN, Universo, fuboTV, Sling Blue and Hulu + Live TV — Jim Proudfoot and Matt Holland

 

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Chelsea turn a profit despite impact of coronavirus

London (AFP) – Chelsea’s form on the pitch may have fallen away of late but the future looks rosy, according to chairman Bruce Buck, as the Premier League side posted a profit of £32.5million ($44.4 million) for the year ended June 30, 2020. 

The figures reflect the impact the halt to the Premier League season in March had due to the coronavirus pandemic as overall turnover for the group fell from £446.7 million to £407.4 million.

Broadcasting and matchday revenues decreased by £17.6 million and £12.2 million respectively largely due to the suspension of the campaign.

However, qualification for the Champions League and surplus made “on a number of player sales” helped them post positive results.

Reduced matchday costs because of games being postponed helped partially offset the losses from the pandemic.

Chelsea played their final four home Premier League games of the interrupted domestic campaign and also the conclusion of both the FA Cup and Champions League fixtures behind closed doors, the majority of which fell into the 2021 financial year.

Commercial revenue was also down by £9.5 million, with non-match day activities in and around Stamford Bridge also closed because of the pandemic.

Chelsea also invested £93.7 million in the squad during the 2020 financial year, which included existing player contract renegotiations.

However, the big-money summer signings of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell and Edouard Mendy are not covered in the 2020 results as they were all completed after June 30.

“In common with many, many businesses across the globe, the pandemic has had a significant impact on Chelsea’s income,” said Buck on the club website.

“But it is a sign of the strength and stability of our financial operation that the company was still able to post a profit in the past financial year.

“This was done while continuing to invest in our playing staff and indeed had normal football not halted in March, projections show a record profit and record turnover would have been achieved.

“That would have represented an increase in revenue for a fifth year in succession.”

Buck said there was an air of optimism and positivity around the club even though on the pitch they have taken just four points in their last five matches.

They head into Sunday’s home match with Manchester City seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

“Despite the impact of COVID, the revenue streams remained strong, our team is developing on the pitch and the club is in a good position to continue to grow when football is able to operate as it did previously, a time we are all looking forward to,” said Buck.

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Gerrard tells Rangers fans to stay home for 50th anniversary of Ibrox tragedy

London (AFP) – Steven Gerrard says Rangers fans should stay away on Saturday despite the emotional pull of it being the 50th anniversary of the Ibrox tragedy that resulted in 66 fans dying.

Gerrard can relate to their loss as his cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley, 10, was the youngest victim of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans died.

However, the Rangers manager said it would be foolhardy for fans of the Premiership leaders to come and pay their respects due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rangers are planning a scaled-back tribute to remember the fans who lost their lives on January 2, 1971, in a crush as they left following the 1-1 draw with bitter rivals Celtic.

Several children were among the victims with the youngest eight-year-old Nigel Pickup from Liverpool. 

Celtic — who trail Rangers by 16 points although they have three games in hand — are also their opponents on Saturday.

“In a normal situation, we’d have a lot of people around the ground and we’d obviously put a full service on so we could pay our respects that way,” said Gerrard.

“But because of Covid-19, things will look slightly different. However, as a club we still want to pay our full respects to everyone involved and to all the names that are no longer with us.

“It’s a very special day tomorrow (Saturday), myself and the players are all aware of that — but I would ask all our fans to stay away.

“I know that’s tough but we also have to pay respect to the situation we’re all in at the moment and stay safe at home.”

Gerrard said he could sympathise with their loss on a personal level. 

“Yeah for sure, there’s certainly a relation from my point of view with my connection to the Hillsborough disaster as well,” said Gerrard.

“I certainly know what this disaster means to people and I want to send my full respects to all the families and the survivors.

“I also want to pay my respects to the people who passed away.

“It’s a very poignant day tomorrow, the 50th year as well.”

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Where to find Man United vs. Aston Villa on US TV and streaming

If you’re trying to find out how you can watch Man United vs. Aston Villa on US TV in the Premier League, you’ve come to the right place.

For viewers in the US, Man United vs. Aston Villa will be shown on TV and streaming (more details below).

Match: Man United vs. Aston Villa

Kickoff: Saturday, 3pm ET

Looking to watch Man United vs. Aston Villa online from your work, home or on the go? If you live in the USA, there are several options to catch all the action.

 

We Recommend:

US Only.

 

Here are all of the details of where you can watch it on television and via legal streaming:

Who: Man United vs. Aston Villa
What: Premier League
When: Game kicks off at 3pm ET / Noon PT; Saturday, January 1, 2021
Where: Live on NBCSN, fuboTV, Hulu Live and Sling Blue (free trial)

 

 

With fuboTV, you can watch Man United vs. Aston Villa and tons more Premier League games with a 7-day trial. With the legal streaming service, you can watch the game on your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, Apple TV or hook it up to your TV with Google Chromecast.

Now with fuboTV, you can stream NBCSN, ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2 as well as beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, beIN SPORTS Connect, NBC (in select cities), CNBC, USA, FOX (in select cities), FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports Net, RAI Italia, Telemundo, Univision, Univision Deportes, UniMas, Eleven Sports, CBS, CSN, RAI Italia and YES.

Plus fuboTV, the legal streaming service, also streams Euro 2020, Serie A (in Italian via RAI), La Liga, Liga MX, World Cup, Women’s World Cup, MLS, UEFA Champions League (in Spanish), Europa League (in Spanish), Primeira Liga, Ligue Un, World Cup qualifiers, select USMNT games, select USWNT games, select Mexico games, select England games and more.

The fuboTV app is available for Windows PC, Mac, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, Android smartphones, Android tablets, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Kindle.

Courtesy of World Soccer Talk, download a complimentary copy of The Ultimate Soccer TV And Streaming Guide, which features details on where to watch all of the leagues from around the world on US TV and streaming.

 

SEE MORE: Schedule of Premier League games on US TV and streaming

 

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