The Big Friday Premier League Quiz

UEFA has opened proceedings against Romanian officials Sebastian Coltescu and Octavian Sovre in relation to the events that led to the postponement of Istanbul Basaksehir s Champions League match at Paris Saint-Germain.

The game at the Parc des Princes was suspended after only 13 minutes when it was alleged Coltescu had exposed Basaksehir assistant Pierre Webo to racist language.

Demba Ba, playing for the Turkish side, was seen remonstrating with Coltescu and could be heard saying: You never said this white guy . Why, when you mention a black guy, do you have to say this black guy ? .

The match was completed a day later with PSG running out 5-1 winners. Prior to the resumption, players from both teams warmed up in No to racism T-shirts and took the knee in the c…

After the year Karim Benzema has had, you could be forgiven for thinking he came straight from a computer game.

Appropriately, the Real Madrid and France striker has been awarded the highest rating in FIFA 23 ahead of its release later this month.

EA Sports has announced its ratings for the top 23 players for this year s edition of the popular football simulation, with Benzema the top-ranked on 91, while the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane have fallen.

Benzema scored 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions for Madrid last season as they went on to win both the LaLiga and Champions League titles, and has already notched four goals in six appearances this season.

Last year s top-ranked, Messi, has seen his rating fall from 93 to 9…

West Ham United will consider a move for former striker Demba Ba when the transfer window reopens in January, .

Only the bottom four teams in the division have a worse return than the Hammers’ goal tally of eight in ten Premier League games this season, while Ricardo Vaz Te is their only striker to have hit the back of the net this term.

They have failed to score in six out of ten top flight games this season, with their latest blank coming in a goalless draw with Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.

Ba has made just five appearances since Jose Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, and the Senegal international has failed to hit the back of the net since 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City at Wembley in April.

The 28 year old had a brief…

Fabrice Muamba said Bafetimbi Gomis sudden collapse at White Hart Lane on Wednesday evoked memories of the day he clinically died.

Muamba, playing for Bolton at the time, fell to the ground at the London venue during an FA Cup quarter-final with Tottenham in March 2012.

The Congolese midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest, and his heart stopped for one hour, 18 minutes.

Now retired, Muamba, 26, said Gomis scare playing for Swansea against Spurs brought back the memories of his near-death experience.

I was busy trying to concentrate on my uni work that takes priority nowadays but I heard about Gomis through social media, Muamba told the Daily Express.

You are not sure of the full details but you can put two and two together and then it came out tha…

Wayne Rooney has revealed that Everton made it clear they wanted him to leave the club before his move to DC United last month.

Rooney returned to Goodison Park last July following a trophy-laden 13-year stint at Manchester United, and went on to net 11 goals for the Toffees, finishing 2017-18 as their top scorer.

The 32-year-old failed to find consistency in an often-struggling side, though, and new manager Marco Silva and director of football Marcel Brands confirmed in June that the former England captain was in talks with MLS club DC.

The forward finally completed the move on 28 June, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract, suggesting at the time that the decision to leave Merseyside was not just down to him.

He has now expanded on the reasons behind…

Manchester United are interested in signing Raphinha from Leeds United in the summer of 2021, according to . It has been reported by the Brazilian news outlet that the agent of the winger is aware of interest from United, and that he plans to hold talks with the Whites regarding a potential move to Old Trafford.

Raphinha joined Leeds from Rennes in the summer of 2020 and has been superb for the West Yorkshire club so far this season. According to , the 24-year-old has made 18 starts and three substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Whites so far this season, scoring five goals and providing five assists in the process.

While Leeds may not be willing to sell Raphinha in the summer of 2021, United are a massive club and are a superpower. A move to the Red De…

Could he have done much more?

Following Scotland’s pretty dismal failure to qualify for the World Cup many people thought George Burley would be relieved of his duties as national manager. He stayed in the role and then led his side to a terrible 2-0 defeat in a friendly in Japan. To be fair to him he had very few regular players available for that game but it was poor none the less.

Excuses

He still kept his job and led his side to their friendly in Wales on Saturday. This time there were no excuses. Apart from Celtic’s Scott Brown and Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon they were at full strength and playing against a young an inexperienced Welsh team who were without the few stars they have. Defeat was unthinkable.

What transpired, of course, w…

A rare good day?

Saturday 28th November

Aston Villa v Tottenham

This is a battle between two of the pretenders for the top four. At the moment Tottenham are looking the more likely to make the big breakthrough sitting in fourth place. Villa are just one place and three points behind.

Tottenham had a remarkable 9-1 win over Wigan last week and must be about as full of confidence as it is possible to be.

Villa had a 5-1 win in their last home game but could only manage a draw at Burnley last time out.

The safest bet here looks to be a score draw.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-1

Blackburn v Stoke

A mid-table battle between two pretty dour sides. Blackburn are getting better but their 3-0 defeat at Fulham in midweek was something of a set…

West Brom head coach Tony Pulis has been ordered to pay former club Crystal Palace £3.77million in damages after losing his High Court appeal against the findings of an independent mediation tribunal.

The case centres on a £2m bonus that was to be paid to Pulis on the condition he kept the club in the Premier League and was still employed on August 31, 2014.

Pulis is said to have asked for  and been paid the sum around a fortnight earlier than had been agreed, before informing Palace of his decision to leave the club a day later.

The Welshman was accused by Palace of offering assurances on August 8 six days before he left the club that he was committed to the Selhurst Park outfit and required the money urgently to buy land for his children.

The P…

West Ham United are considering separate loan offers for defender Reece Oxford, according to the Mirror.

Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar and La Liga side Eibar are interested in signing the teenager on a temporary basis, with him barely featuring for the Hammers in the last two seasons.

He made two appearances in the FA Cup last term while in the league his only action came as a late sub in a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace back in January.

He spent most of last term on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach where he played eight times while he also had a brief spell with Reading during the 2016/17 campaign.

In total he has played seventeen times for the Hammers while internationally he has represented England at every level from U16 to U20.

West Ham travel …