English Clubs

Chelsea defeated Arsenal 3-2 on Saturday at Stamford Bridge in London. But the Gunners repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with some shocking wayward shots, chief among them the first Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang miss.

Arsenal, under new coach Unai Emery following longtime boss Arsene Wenger’s departure after last season, lost its first two matches of a season for the first time since 1992. Much of that comes down to some poor finishing.

Manchester City fans have been anxiously waiting for a Kevin De Bruyne injury update for their 2017-18 Player of the Year for two days and here it is. De Bruyne recently flew to Barcelona for scans to determine the extent of the problem and the Premier League champion confirmed Thursday he suffered lateral collateral ligament (LCL) damage in his right knee that will keep him out of action for three months. He will not require surgery. 

Do not read on if you, like myself, are still coping with last week’s announcement that David Silva and Gerard Pique are calling it quits with the Spanish national team. International football, it seems, may soon be suffering another casualty, though perhaps we have a couple years to prepare for this one.

All or Nothing: Manchester City will be released through Amazon Prime on Friday, Aug. 17, and after watching the first four episodes of the eight-part series, it’s evident that the show qualifies as can’t-miss TV. With a camera crew embedded amongst the Citizens throughout a historic, record-breaking 2017-18 campaign, All or Nothing is so wonderfully and dramatically produced that it’ll appeal to even the most casual of fans, but it’s also littered with revealing moments that’ll fascinate football obsessives around the planet.

Another bit of news to file into the “It’s 2018 and this is ACTUALLY still happening” file. Premier League champion Manchester City has launched an investigation into discriminatory language used by youth scout Dean Ramsdale made in early June.

During a meeting in front of colleagues and agents at the club, Ramsdale, who joined the Manchester City ranks in 2017 and has more than 20 years of experience in English youth football, is said to have used the acronym “BBQ” when talking about promising youngsters of African descent.

How fast is Leroy Sané? The 22-year-old Manchester City winger experienced a somewhat subdued first season in England, but he exploded into life last year after scoring 10 goals and adding 15 assists in 32 Premier League appearances. The native of Essen, Germany, was named the PFA Young Player of the Year for his contributions to City’s march to the title, but he was curiously omitted from manager Joachim Low’s World Cup squad (we all know how that turned out for die Mannschaft).

Between the closing of the Premier League transfer window and last Friday's match between Manchester United and Leicester City, we learned that the Red Devils intend to keep Paul Pogba. We also realized that Jose Mourinho is finally doing something right — Pogba captained the team. What we have yet to learn is this: Is Pogba set on staying with United?