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Aston Villa looking for 10th consecutive win and Afcon begins – matchday live

21 décembre 2025 à 13:54

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There’s some interesting debate raging below the line about the tempestuous meeting between Tottenham and Liverpool last night, where Xavi Simons and Cristian Romero were sent off but Micky van de Ven, whose challenge ended Alexander Isak’s involvement was not.

Thomas Frank was certainly of the view that Simons sending off was unjust. “I don’t like those types of red card because I think the game is gone if that’s a red card,” he told the BBC soon after the game finished. “I don’t think it’s a reckless tackle. I don’t think it’s exceptional force. We have the referee’s call and that was a yellow, so that’s why I don’t think that’s a red.”

Crystal Palace target Brennan Johnson, Maresca on Manchester City links: football – live

The Guardian

Par :Michael Butler and Tom Bassam (earlier) · Dominic Booth (now)

19 décembre 2025 à 16:53

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Re the players that have made it to Afcon, this is a handy explainer of the extent to which Premier League teams will be affected.

Some of the names not featuring at Afcon are remarkable, and feature some of the most talented footballers from the continent. The main reason for this is that their nation has not qualified (for example, Ghana), but there have also been omissions from squads that have made it (unexpectedly Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra, who was voted the best young player at Afcon 2023, providing a fine assist for the winner in the final) and there has even been an unexpected retirement on the eve of the tournament (Nigeria’s William Troost-Ekong, who was voted the player of the tournament at the last Afcon).