Barclays Premier League Thread

**beavis** · 03-10-2023 18:50

Premier League - Team of the Week 7

Raya (Arsenal)

White (Arsenal) - Andersen (Crystal Palace) - Aguerd (West Ham) - Doughty (Luton)

Odegaard (Arsenal) - Guimaraes (Newcastle) - Ward-Prowse (West Ham)

McGinn - Watkins (Aston Villa) - Jesus (Arsenal)

**beavis** · 09-10-2023 18:41

Premier League - Team of the Week 8

Johnstone (Crystal Palace)

Trippier (Newcastle) - Romero (Tottenham) - Tarkowski (Everton) - March (Brighton)

McTominay (Man United) - Doucoure - Garner (Everton)

Harrison (Everton) - Isak (Newcastle) - Willian (Fulham)

**beavis** · 11-10-2023 22:54

Hazard ends football career

Former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has announced his retirement from football.

Hazard, 32-year-old, joined Real Madrid from Chelsea in 2019 for £89 million, but played just 54 league games for the Spanish giants and left the club at the end of last season.

He won 2 Premier League titles during his time at Stamford Bridge.

The Belgian had already retired from international football last December after being part of the squad which was knocked out of the 2022 World Cup during the group stages.

At Real Madrid, Hazard won the Champions League, a Club World Cup, a European SuperCup, 2 La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey and 2 Spanish SuperCups.

But his time in Spain is widely considered disappointing - he scored just 7 goals in 76 appearances in all competitions.

Hazard started his career with Lille, scoring 50 goals in 149 appearances and helping the club to win a domestic double of Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France in 2010-2011.

He moved to Chelsea in the summer of 2012, signing for a reported £32 million and went on to become a club great, winning the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2014-2015.

Hazard scored 110 goals across 352 appearances for the Blues, including the winner in the 2019 Europa League Final against Arsenal in his final appearance for the club.

He is also one of only 4 players in Premier League history - alongside Thierry Henry, Matt Le Tissier and Eric Cantona - to score 15 or more goals and provide 15 or more assists in a single season, having netted 16 times and laid on 15 assists during the 2018-2019 campaign.

After making his international debut against Luxembourg in 2008, Hazard earned 126 Belgium caps and scored 33 goals. He featured at 3 World Cups and 2 European Championships, as well as captaining the team 56 times.

**beavis** · 24-10-2023 21:16

Premier League - Team of the Week 9

Pope (Newcastle)

Dalot (Man United) - Dawson (Wolverhampton) - Van Dijk (Liverpool) - Robinson (Fulham)

Murphy (Newcastle) - Luiz (Aston Villa) - Maddison (Tottenham) - Elanga (Nottingham)

Son (Tottenham) - Wood (Nottingham)

**beavis** · 30-10-2023 18:00

Premier League - Team of the Week 10

Moraes (Man City)

Walker (Man City) - Pinnock (Brentford) - Van Dijk (Liverpool) - Mykolenko (Everton)

Silva (Man City) - Palhinha (Fulham) - Szoboszlai (Liverpool)

Mebumo (Brentford) - Haaland (Man City) - Nketiah (Arsenal)

**beavis** · 02-11-2023 08:25

**beavis** · 13-11-2023 19:51

Premier League - Team of the Week 12

Pope (Newcastle)

Lindelof (Man United) - Van Dijk - Matip (Liverpool)

Foden (Man City) - McGinn (Aston Villa) - Soucek (West Ham) - Zinchenko (Arsenal)

Solanke (Bournemouth) - Haaland (Man City) - Trossard (Arsenal)

**beavis** · 03-12-2023 17:38

**beavis** · 04-12-2023 23:24

Premier League agrees record domestic TV rights deal

The Premier League has agreed a new record £6,7 billion domestic television deal for Sky and TNT to show up to 270 live games per season.

The deal includes the BBC continuing to show highlights on Match of the Day.

The top flight said the deal, which covers the 4 years from the 2025-2026 season, is the "largest sports media rights deal ever concluded in the UK".

The BBC's deal includes MOTD2 and Football Focus plus additional digital rights for its online platforms.

Sky has been awarded 4 of the 5 packages and will show a minimum of 215 matches per season including Saturday 5:30PM kick-offs, Sunday 2PM and 4:30PM kick-offs, plus evening games on Mondays and Fridays and 3 midweek rounds.

TNT will show a minimum of 52 matches a season including all 12:30PM kick-offs on Saturdays and 2 midweek match rounds.

Sky Sports will also broadcast all 10 matches on the final day of each season.

Amazon, which shows 20 matches per season under the league's current deal, has not secured rights in the new agreement.

This is the first time the Premier League has been through a tender process for its rights since 2018.

The current £5 billion domestic TV rights deal, which expires at the end of the 2024-2025 season, was allowed to be extended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

**beavis** · 09-12-2023 14:43

Brighton without injured Fati for 3 months

Brighton & Hove Albion are set to be without on-loan FC Barcelona forward Ansu Fati until late February through injury.

Spain's Fati has not featured since he limped out of Brighton's 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest on 25 November.

Seagulls manager Roberto de Zerbi did not specify the nature of the injury at a news conference but said the 21-year-old faces a spell on the sidelines.

Fati joined Albion on a season-long loan from Barca in September and has scored 4 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions.

Brighton are paying 80% of Fati's contract to the end of June with an overall outlay in wages in the region of around £7 million.

Fati, who was born in Guinea-Bissau but chose to represent Spain and was part of their World Cup squad last year, signed a new contract with FC Barcelona in 2021 to run until 2027 which included a €1 billion buyout clause.

**beavis** · 29-12-2023 21:16

Romero out for up to 5 weeks

Injury-hit Tottenham Hotspur face losing centre-back Cristian Romero for up to 5 weeks with a hamstring strain, says manager Ange Postecoglou.

The 25-year-old Argentine picked up the injury during Saturday's 2-1 victory over Everton.

Defenders Micky van de Ven and Ryan Sessegnon are also out injured, while full-back Destiny Udogie is suspended for Thursday's match at Brighton.

World Cup winner Romero missed 3 matches through suspension in November and December after being sent off in Tottenham's 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea.

They picked up just one point in the centre-half's absence and lost to West Ham on his return, but have since won their past 3 matches.

Holland defender Van de Ven had built up a promising partnership with Romero before he injured his hamstring against Chelsea in November.

Postecoglou says Van de Ven is getting closer to a return to first-team training, but believes the 22-year-old centre-back will not be ready until the Premier League match at Old Trafford on 14 January.

**beavis** · 30-12-2023 12:47

Premier League - Team of the Week 19

Areola (West Ham)

Mavropanos (West Ham) - Van Dijk (Liverpool) - Murillo (Nottingham)

Elanga (Nottingham) - Foden (Man City) - Gross (Brighton) - Palmieri (West Ham)

Pedro (Brighton) - Wood (Nottingham) - McBurnie (Sheffield)

**beavis** · 02-01-2024 00:35

Soucek signs new West Ham contract

West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek has signed a new contract until June 2027.

The Czech Republic international, 28-year-old, has scored 30 goals in 182 games since joining - initially on loan - from Slavia Prague in January 2020.

West Ham won the Europa Conference League last season - their first trophy for 43 years - and are currently 6th in the Premier League.

**beavis** · 02-01-2024 22:39

Sarr signs new Tottenham contract

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pape Matar Sarr has signed a new 6-and-a-half-year contract.

The Senegal international, 21-year-old, has played 18 times for Ange Postecoglou's side in the Premier League this season.

The new deal keeps him at the club until the summer of 2030.

Sarr has been named in Senegal's squad for this month's African Cup of Nations, but his participation may be in doubt after he went off injured in Sunday's 3-1 win over Bournemouth.

After scoring the opening goal, Sarr left the field in the first half in tears, with Senegal's Afcon campaign in the Ivory Coast starting on 15 January against Gambia.

Sarr joined Tottenham from Metz in 2021 but spent the 2021-2022 season back on loan with the French side.

Since making his Spurs debut in January 2023, Sarr has made 33 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice.