Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup has been mired in controversy, with the tiny country of just 2.6 million people - of which just 10% are Qatari - facing huge questions over human rights as it employs a huge migrant workforce to build not only the stadiums needed, but also the infrastructure - or in some cases, whole cities.A visit to the under-construction Lusail Stadium, an 80,000 capacity arena 23km north of Doha, that will host the opening match and the World Cup final on December 18, 2022, reveals completely deserted (in every sense of the word) land around it. The surrounding Lusail City is not yet built and instead there are vast mounds of sands as workers prepare land...
Tottenham are dreadful at the moment. They’re slow, dull and fragile and every aspect of their game has worsened since Jose Mourinho was appointed.That isn't necessarily Mourinho’s fault, of course, because it’s common to see chaos before any meaningful improvement. Nevertheless, what’s striking about his Spurs is just how little momentum they’ve acquired from his taking over and how few ideas they appear to have as a result of it.That poverty is the greatest concern. New coaching teams can take months or even years to realise their vision, but there’s typically some suggestion early of which path they intend to follow. With Mourinho and his assistants, that’s currently limited to slow, stale possession phases of no craft, or direct, back-to-front...
The two most expensive goalkeepers of all time ply their trade in the Premier League - well, three if you count Kyle Walker, thanks to his 10-minute stint between the sticks following Claudio Bravo’s red card against Atalanta, earlier on this season.When it comes to the numbers though, Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizaballaga and Liverpool’s Alisson are at opposite ends of the table.In datacollated by StatsBomb, Alisson leads the way for Adjusted Save Percentage (aSV), justifying Jurgen Klopp’s decision to replace Loris Karius at Anfield 18 months ago.The statistic is calculated by taking Expected Save Percentage away from Save Percentage - and though it is a good descriptor of current performance, it can’t necessarily predict the future.Following on from Alisson’s stellar season...
At first glance, Barcelona appear to be enjoying an excellent season. Ernesto Valverde's side occupy top spot in La Liga. They are through to the knockout stageof the Champions League and remain in the Copa del Rey.Diga little deeper, though, and there are several signs that all is not well at the Camp Nou.Barcelona have already lost three times in La Liga this term. They drew with Slavia Prague and were fortunate to beat Inter in Europe. The team is noticeably less than the sum of its parts, and Ernesto Valverde remains highly unpopular with sections of theBlaugrana's support.Results do not always match performances, and one statistic in particular suggests that Barcelona's displays have been unconvincing for much of 2019/20.As...
There are seven minutes on the clock for you to name every player who appeared in the first leg of the 2010 League Cup semi-final on January 19.Once you’re done, let us know how you got on by tweeting us a screenshot of your score to @FourFourTwo.THEN TRY Quiz! Can you name every player with 6+ Premier League goals in 2019? The Manchester derby takes place on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. But, we hear you ask, when was the last time City and United met at this stage of this competition (no, we definitely heard someone ask, honest)?The answer, helpfully, is 10 years ago this month – providing us with a useful marker...