Analysis

5. Alex Stepney Alex Stepney was Manchester United's starting goalkeeper from 1966 to 1978 after a brief spell at Chelsea, and he ended up playing over 400 games in the English top flight for the Red Devils. Although Stepney's name doesn't come up as often when discussing the great Manchester United goalkeepers, he won the league, FA Cup, and European Cup with the club, producing an acclaimed save in that European Cup Final at Wembley against Benfica. The save game from short-range to stop a scorcher from Benfica striker Eusebio, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in world football history. In fact, Stepney's save was so remarkable that Eusebio himself applauded the Manchester United goalkeeper. Stepney recalled, "I saw it on telly afterwards and what had happened ...

With Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool icon Sadio Mane spearheading the attack and role players like Alex Telles and Marcelo Brozovic surrounding them, Al-Nassr have ambitions of dominating the Saudi Pro League but still sit behind Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad in the table. Here are five players Al-Nassr could try to sign in the coming January transfer window to pre-arranged future deals - or to immediate winter transfers - in order to become an even bigger power in Saudi Arabia. Manchester City AM Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne has been increasingly linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League over the past couple of years, and even though he remains the premier playmaker in the Premier League, 2025 could be the year the Manchester City midfielder makes his move elsewhere....

From Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard to James Maddison and Cole Palmer, the Premier League is filled with top-class playmakers who provide highlight-reel assists and slick dribbles. Here is a ranking of the best playmakers in the English top flight in 2024. 10. Andreas Pereira, Fulham A lot of people wrote Andreas Pereira off after he put up mediocre numbers for Manchester United for years before going to Brazil, returning, and turning his career around with another historic Premier League side in Fulham. Now, Pereira is playing the best football in his career at the age of 28 and has become one of the best passers in the final third in the entire Premier League. He is a playmaker in his prime and one of the premier set-piece specialists in the English top flight. Pereira had a...

Liverpool have one of the best center back partnerships in world football between Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, but it's time to add more talent to the pool, especially with VVD getting closer to 35. Here are five center back targets the Reds should consider signing in the winter 2025 transfer window. Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton Manchester United were in hot pursuit of Jarrad Branthwaite for much of 2024, but they ultimately balked on the Everton star because of a 70 million pound asking price. Instead, Manchester United sign Leny Yoro for 60 million euros from Lille, paying a premium price to make sure Yoro chose them over PSG and Liverpool. By not waiting for Real Madrid in 2025, Yoro had already chosen against his dream club and the favorites to sign him. With Branthwaite...

Premier League Matchday 7 features a full slate of matches, including Aston Villa vs. Manchester United, Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest, and Brighton vs. Tottenham. To help you get ready for all the action, here are our EPL predictions for these big matches. Aston Villa vs. Manchester United  After beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, Aston Villa are flying. Unai Emery has brought the club to a level many Villa fans probably thought they would never see again.  Things couldn’t be more different at Manchester United. The Red Devils were embarrassed by Tottenham last week. They are in 13th place and have won just one of their last five Premier League matches.  Despite this poor run, Erik ten Hag told Sky Sports that there’s nothing to worry about at Man Utd. I c...

When Brighton broke their club transfer record to sign João Pedro ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season, there were a lot of doubters. I’m ashamed to admit that I was one of them.  Brighton needed a goalscorer and Pedro had scored three goals in 31 Premier League appearances for Watford. He scored just 11 goals in the Championship the year prior.  A year-and-a-half on since his signing, I’ll admit I was wrong. Pedro isn’t just the reliable goalscorer that Brighton desperately needed. He is also one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. The Goalscorer Before I get into why I’m so high on Pedro, let’s go over just how wrong myself and the other doubters were about him last year.  Pedro went on to score 20 goals across all competitions for Brighton in the 2023/...

10. Liverpool RB Trent Alexander-Arnold Honestly, I can't comprehend why there are so many amateur pundits who spend their days disparaging Trent Alexander-Arnold's defending as if he were on the level of a backup at Lecce when, in fact, he's an excellent one-on-one defender as a fullback. It's just that people can't seem to understand that an attacking fullback who actually tries to add value to his team going forward is going to inevitably get caught out defensively on occasion, with the frequency of those occurrences unduly distorted by an army of fail comp "artists" who clearly need a job. Alexander-Arnold is a better one-on-one defender than Reece James, who apparently earned a reputation as a superior defensive right back on the grounds of being physically bigger and having on...