Soccer

4:44 PM ET LONDON — It took Liverpool almost three months of pondering and prevarication before they suddenly snapped into action and completed the £20m signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich last Thursday. Within five minutes of his debut against Chelsea on Sunday, you had to wonder why Liverpool spent so long making up

Sep 11, 2020 Jeremy WillisESPN.com EPA/Matt Dunham It seems Chelsea‘s delay in replacing goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga finally caught up to it against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge Sunday. With Liverpool already up a goal, and Chelsea down a man due to a red card issued against Andreas Christensen, Kepa took a chance with a bad pass

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3:53 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — If there was any optimism left at Old Trafford, it disappeared over the course of 90 frightful minutes against Crystal Palace. Manchester United lost 3-1 to a team who finished 14th last season, but it could have been worse. It was still United’s worst opening day defeat

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11:26 AM ET Are you ready for some calcio? The Italian Serie A season kicks off Sept. 19 with a doubleheader of Fiorentina vs. Torino, followed by Hellas Verona and AS Roma (watch all Serie A matches all season on ESPN+). There will be plenty of storylines to watch for throughout the campaign — most

5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted that Manchester United‘s summer transfer window has not gone as planned. United are set to start their season against Crystal Palace on Saturday with one new recruit in their squad after signing Donny van de Beek from Ajax. But the club have struggled to get

12:10 PM ET Are you ready for some fussball? The 2020-21 German Bundesliga season kicks off on Friday with serial champions (and winners of the last eight titles) Bayern Munich hosting Schalke — watch live in U.S., 2.30 p.m. ET, ESPN — and with that, plenty of anticipation for what promises to be an exceptional

3:53 AM ET Manchester United transfer news features in this week’s ESPN’s Insider Notebook. Plus: Why Arsenal fans had to wait so long for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s contract renewal. Jump to: Arsenal fans’ wait for Aubameyang | Real Madrid plot project Mbappe | Suarez rejected record MLS payday | La Liga’s football gaffe a pain for

9:18 AM ET It’s another leap into the unknown for Andrea Pirlo and for Juventus, who are entrusting their mega-investment in Cristiano Ronaldo — $375 million over four years in wages and transfer fee — and their perennial hunt for the Champions League to a new manager who, until last month, had coached zero minutes

3:27 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent It has been anything but a summer of fun for Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Add up captain Harry Maguire getting arrested in Greece, Paul Pogba contracting the coronavirus, Mason Greenwood breaking COVID-19 regulations on England duty and being sent home, the failure to sign Jason Sancho and defeat

4:52 AM ET Liverpool are ready to fend off rival interest from Manchester United by stepping up their efforts to sign Bayern Munich star Thiago Alcantara after contacting the Champions League winners over a £27 million move for the midfielder, sources have told ESPN. Jurgen Klopp has been determined to add the former Barcelona player

3:42 PM ET French football authorities have opened an investigation into Neymar’s claims of racist abuse during a contentious loss to Marseille on Sunday and banned him two matches for fighting in that same game. – Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only) The Paris Saint-Germain star was sent off after a fight broke

10:10 AM ET Timo Werner has said he made the right decision to choose Chelsea over Liverpool as the two clubs prepare to face each other in the Premier League this weekend. Werner, 24, moved to Stamford Bridge this summer in a deal worth £47.6 million after months of speculation linking Werner with a move

3:38 AM ET Jose Mourinho has sanctioned Tottenham‘s attempt to re-sign Gareth Bale, despite being warned by former Real Madrid associates that the 31-year-old will struggle to meet expectations in the Premier League, sources have told ESPN. As reported by ESPN on Tuesday, Spurs have moved ahead of Manchester United in the race to sign

3:59 PM ET This weekend will see the start of the 2020-21 Bundesliga season and with that, a green light to start allowing fans back into the stadiums — home fans only, with plenty of caveats and regulations — for the first time since the initial shutdown in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. –

3:00 AM ET Generally speaking, German football is a reliable mirror of the most efficient and effective style of the day, which has meant a lot of different things through the years. In the 1970s, it meant building from the back and playing an approximation of Netherlands’ Total Football, only with a bit more physicality

1:51 PM ET Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Austin Lindberg We’ve enjoyed another week of frantic MLS action in a wildly condensed schedule, and another week in which Caleb Porter’s Columbus Crew demonstrate that they are the class of the league. Further