Soccer

8:08 AM ET Aramide Oladipo Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has said the decision to continue the Premier League festive schedule is “absurd” and warned the quality of games will decrease due to physical fatigue. During a meeting involving the Premier League, Football Association and representatives of the 20 clubs on Monday, it was agreed

3:07 PM ET Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez won’t be popular at Sevilla, and that has nothing to do with whether he inspires his squad of talented youngsters and downbeat senior pros to a slightly unlikely looking victory over Los Rojiblancos at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Tuesday (3 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+).

2:55 PM ET Ian DarkeESPN.com writer Close Darke, who called games for the network during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is ESPN lead soccer voice in the United States. He has covered the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League since 1982, and has one of the world’s most recognizable soccer voices.

4:24 AM ET Less than 18 months have passed since Mikel Arteta played a pivotal role in convincing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign a contract extension with Arsenal. The striker was coveted throughout Europe at the time, with Barcelona, Inter Milan and even London rivals Chelsea sensing an opportunity to snatch away the Gunners’ prized forward

5:25 AM ET Tottenham Hotspur are out of the Europa Conference League after UEFA decided the club “forfeited” their final Group G match against Stade Rennais after the Premier League side cancelled the match following a COVID-19 outbreak within their squad. Spurs were due to play the Ligue 1 side on Dec. 9 but the

6:40 PM ET It was another weekend full of talking points around Europe, as the Premier League grappled with postponements due to coronavirus cases and the Bundesliga kicked off again behind closed doors. Beyond that, Barcelona wrapped up a dramatic win, Arsenal surged into the top four for Christmas thanks to Gabriel Martinelli, and Borussia

3:31 PM ET LONDON — Liverpool needed some calm amid the chaos. The Premier League‘s battle to continue amid rising COVID-19 cases across Britain gives every game that goes ahead a heightened sense of unpredictability, and Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur was perhaps the most anarchic example yet. Usually, it is Virgil van Dijk

6:00 AM ET With just over a month before the United States men’s national team resumes World Cup qualifying, the primary objective for Saturday’s international friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina — a 1-0 win in Carson, California — was to keep the potential contributors for that window as sharp as possible. The prospect of asking

10:13 PM ET Cole Bassett scored on his United States debut in a 1-0 win over 10-man Bosnia and Herzegovina in Carson, California, on Saturday night. Jordan Morris, who was making his first start for the U.S. since suffering a knee injury with Swansea City in February, saw a golden opportunity saved just before the

2:23 PM ET Arsenal remain fourth in the Premier League after a dominant 4-1 over Leeds United on Saturday. Getty Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 win over an injury-hit Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday, the only Premier League game to go ahead amid multiple postponements. An early brace from striker Gabriel Martinelli, as well

10:43 AM ET The 2021 MLS season is now in the books. The good news is that, well, it’s in the books, something that was by no means a sure thing when the campaign began its delayed start in mid-April. Now that it’s all over, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle looks back on the 26th season in

7:30 PM ET Roughly nine months since being left off the United States‘ Olympic qualifying roster, USMNT and FC Dallas striker Ricardo Pepi called the snub a turning point to his season. “It just made me hungry,” Pepi said Friday. “It made me hungry to go on for the year. To do good for my

1:27 PM ET Bernardo Silva has been Manchester City’s key player this season, all this coming months after he was reportedly heading out of the club. Lynne Cameron/Manchester City Last season, we celebrated a number of players aged 27 or older who, like Ilkay Gundogan, had either pushed their respective games to new heights or thrived

Dec 16, 2021 Thomas Tuchel has a list of targets to plug Chelsea’s leaky defence — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: Anthony Martial’s agent comments did not have the desired effect, and the MLS hotshot on the radar of Premier League teams. Jump to: MLS star attracts Premier League interest | Martial exit

4:56 PM ET LONDON — It felt like everyone involved in Chelsea‘s 1-1 draw with Everton was either chewing their fingernails, or holding on by them. Chelsea will lament the two points dropped and ground conceded in the title race, partly through their own profligacy but also due to a series of brilliant saves from

9:47 AM ET The Premier League is about to embark on its busiest period of the season, with 40 games — plus all four Carabao Cup quarterfinals — due to be played in the space of 17 days starting this Saturday. But a resurgence of COVID-19 is threatening to wreak havoc on the fixture list.

4:45 PM ET Juventus are in the news for the police investigation into player trading, with 42 of 62 ‘suspicious transactions’ under scrutiny involving the Serie A giants. Visionhaus You may have heard the term “player trading.” You sign a player for a million, he does well, appreciates in value, and you let him sign with

1:01 PM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — For nearly two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has weighed heavy on Major League Soccer. The 2020 season barely got to the finish line in the wake of postponements and delays, while negotiations on a revised Collective Bargaining Agreement with the MLS Players Association meant a delay to the start