Sports

Manchester United have completed the signing of Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.

United confirmed at the end of July that they had reached an agreement to bring France centre-back Varane to Old Trafford.

However, Varane had to go through a quarantine period upon his arrival in the United Kingdom due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

The France international was finally introduced to the Old Trafford fans minutes before kick-off in their Premier League opener with Leeds United on Saturday.

Varane, who had less than a year remaining on his Madrid deal, has now sealed his move to the Red Devils and will play in the Premier League for the first time.

United are reported to have paid a fee of £42.7million (€50m) to secure the services of the …

A familiar pairing helped Tottenham return to winning ways in the Premier League this weekend. 

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were both on target as Jose Mourinho s side ended a four-match winless streak in the competition with a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Leeds United. 

Their rapport has been one of the defining stories of the season but, away from north London, several other games produced some interesting statistics.

With the help of Opta data, we take a look at some of the quirkiest stats from the weekend s action, with Leicester City s win at Newcastle United a source of a couple of fascinating facts.

Kane and Son combine again

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min s almost telepathic understanding was on show again in Tottenham s�…

Jurgen Klopp believes the criticism that has come Liverpool s way in recent weeks has been justified, as he quipped he is relishing the chance to read a newspaper again.

Liverpool have had an underwhelming start to the season and sit ninth in the Premier League following Saturday s 3-3 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion.

They bounced back in the Champions League on Tuesday, beating Rangers 2-0 at Anfield thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold s free-kick and Mohamed Salah s penalty.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor pulled off a string of excellent saves to keep the scoreline respectable, with Darwin Nunez frustrated in his search for a first Anfield goal, but the Reds got the job done with a minimum of fuss to claim a second straight win in Group A following their 2-1…

The contract of Wilfried Zaha at Crystal Palace is well in its final season, and as its expiration date at the end of June next year approaches, the winger is certain to attract more attention with each passing day. The 29-year-old winger will be allowed to negotiate with clubs outside England from the turn of the year, and according to the Evening Standard, Juventus and Barcelona are watching the situation closely with a view of taking advantage of it to boost their attacking ranks.

Zaha joined Palace initially on loan from Manchester United in the summer of 2014, and the deal was made permanent the following winter. Since then, he s gone on to wear the Eagles shirt on 441 occasions, scoring 88 goals and chipping in with 74 assists as well. He remains an important player for P…

Market: Lens win Under 4.5 goals

Odds: 1/1 @

Two sides who should are enjoying their own eye-catching runs of form, Lens will welcome Toulouse to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Friday night.

Starting with the hosts, putting in another rugged display over the weekend as they grabbed an impressive 1-0 victory away at Marseille, Lens are enjoying what has been a stellar start to the 2022/23 campaign. Only continuing to gain a string of plaudits from across France, fans around the Stade Bollaert-Delelis have now seen their side win three of their previous four Ligue 1 outings. With that run highlighted by another 1-0 win at home against Lyon when returning from September s international break, Franck Haise s men have been tipped to clinch a shock top-four finish this…

Florian Wirtz needed only 10 minutes to spark Euro 2024 into life.

After a brilliant season for Bayer Leverkusen, in which he was named the Bundesliga s Player of the Season, Wirtz came into Euro 2024 as one of the standout youngsters.

His first-time finish to put Germany ahead in Munich on Friday, a cute side-footed effort that Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn could only help in off the post, proved why everyone is so excited to see how Julian Nagelsmann gets the best out of a player who scored 18 goals and set up 19 more in all competitions in 2023-24.

Wirtz s goal set Germany on their way to a 5-1 rout – the biggest win for a host in the opening match of a Euros in the tournament s history.

He was not the superstar of Germany s performance, though. His…

Troy Lesesne knows his D.C. United team must improve in possession if they are to end their miserable run of form when the Houston Dynamo visit Audi Field on Saturday.

D.C. have slipped to 11th in the Eastern Conference standings by failing to win any of their last seven matches, their last victory coming against Atlanta United on May 12.

They were beaten 1-0 in a rematch with the Five Stripes in midweek, leading Lesesne to lament their failings with the ball.

It s a tough position to be in right now, Lesesne said.

Everyone s frustrated — that s clear to see — but at the same time we re not doing enough to earn ourselves points, and that s the truth. We have to demand more.

When you re playing at home you can t allow a team to come into a …

Pep Guardiola has admitted he needed to learn to control his emotions more effectively before guiding Manchester City to the treble last season.

A new club-produced documentary which will screen on Netflix from Tuesday goes behind on the scenes of City’s historic season, and shows the message Guardiola gave to his players at half-time during the Champions League final in Istanbul, when the match against Inter Milan was still goalless.

Guardiola is seen trying to settle the nerves of his players, reassuring them they can improve in the second half, before they went on to win 1-0 through Rodri’s 68th minute goal.

Inside the dressing room at half-time of the final…

Watch the full Pep talk in Together: Treble Winners

Coming to on 2nd April

Erik ten Hag s bid to guide Manchester United to a new era of Premier League success will begin with the visit of Brighton and Hove Albion.

The top-flight title has eluded United since 2013, with Ten Hag the fifth permanent manager since Alex Ferguson s departure that year.

After hosting Graham Potter s Seagulls on the opening day, United head to Brentford before hosting rivals Liverpool.

The first Manchester derby of the campaign will take place at the Etihad Stadium on October 1, with the champions heading to Old Trafford on January 14.

Ten Hag will take his charges to Anfield in March and close the season by welcoming newly promoted Fulham.

A potentially favourable festive period, following on from the World Cup in Qatar, sees United host Nott…

Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League with a penalty shoot-out defeat to Sporting CP on Thursday, and Mikel Arteta will be looking for an instant response in the Premier League.

The title is now their sole focus, and with Manchester City in FA Cup action this weekend, the Gunners can move eight points clear at the top should they beat Crystal Palace, who on Friday sacked Arsenal great Patrick Vieira after an 11-game winless run.

Palace are 12th but only three points above the relegation zone, and that picture could change by the time they play on Sunday.

After Nottingham Forest welcome Newcastle United on Friday, Bournemouth visit Aston Villa, Leicester City have a tough trip to Brentford, Southampton host Tottenham, and Wolves and Leeds United face off in ano…