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As struggling Nottingham Forest held to a 2-2 draw at home by struggling Arsenal, Arsenal brushed Burnley aside with a 2-0 victory on Saturday to take the top of the Premier League.

To put an end to their painful two-decade wait to become English champions, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have won five league games in a row.

After scoring his first league goal since mid-September at Turf Moor, Viktor Gyokeres gave Arsenal the lead after a Declan Rice corner in the first half.

In the 35th minute, England midfielder Rice himself scored the visitors’ lead twice before half-time.

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Arsenal have enviable options in attack, winning nine games in a row in all competitions, but their defense relies on a rock-solid defense, which has conceded just three league goals in 10 games so far this season.

When Casemiro scored the opener in the first half to take the lead, Manchester United, who are now looking for their fourth straight league win, appeared to be looking to move up to second place.

After the break, Forest, who had not scored a league goal since September 20, roared back and gave themselves back.

In the 48th minute, Morgan Gibbs-White headed home, but Nicolo Savona scored just two minutes later to end a dramatic turn.

United, who have greatly improved in recent weeks following a subpar start to the season, were saved with Amad Diallo’s sweet volley in the 81st minute.

Forest, who replaced Ange Postecoglou with Sean Dyche as manager last month, is still four points adrift in the championship table.

After suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Fulham at Craven Cottage, Rock-bottom Wolves are eight points away from safety.

When Emmanuel Agbadou was dismissed later in the first half, Wolves were reduced to 10 men after Ryan Sessegnon’s opener was scored early.

In the 62nd minute, Harry Wilson doubled Fulham’s lead, and Yerson Mosquera’s own goal put an end to Wolves’ misery.

With a header from Jean-Philippe Mateta and an own goal from Nathan Collins, Crystal Palace won for the first time in four league games, 2-0.

Danny Welbeck, the unstoppable star of the Premier League, scored his sixth goal of the year for Brighton against Leeds 3-0. Diego Gomez also scored twice.

Chelsea and Tottenham have a chance to finish second in the table when Tottenham take on their London rivals in the early evening kick-off.

In the late kick-off, champions Liverpool take on Aston Villa in an effort to end a four-game losing streak that has ended their title defense.

At the end of September, Arne Slot’s men were 12 points clear of Villa’s Unai Emery, but the two teams are now tied for 15 points in the midtable.

Manchester City will host Bournemouth on Sunday when they begin their Premier League campaign on Saturday.

In response to recent criticism, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick stated on Saturday that he will “protect” teenage star Lamine Yamal.

The 18-year-old winger struggled last weekend when Barca, the champions, lost, leaving them five points adrift in La Liga.

Yamal’s comments before the game, which made headlines among Los Blancos supporters and a significant portion of the Spanish media, were also controversial.

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Before Barca’s game against Elche on Sunday in La Liga, Flick stated, “We speak with him… we are very honest together, he with me and I with him, and this is the best way.”

“I will always be there for him,” he declared. He’s a fantastic player, fantastic guy, young player, and great leader for us.

Yamal has been dealing with a groin injury for a few weeks, but despite starting the Clasico, he still appears to be affected by it.

Lamine is excellent. He’s doing well, he said in a recent conversation, and I just spoke to him.

He obviously experiences some days of pain, but now he really works hard and does a lot better in these areas. This is what we can say because he is on a good evolution.

Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo are back at work, according to the German coach, but Barca are still without Pedri Gonzalez, Gavi, and Joan Garcia, among others.

Lewandowski and Olmo’s returns, according to Flick, had contributed to improving the training’s quality.

The last two training (sessions) were excellent, added Flick, “What I can see now with Dani and also with Lewy back.”

“They raise the standard and quality, and they also raise the level of the other players, as well as the younger players. It’s nice to see, and we’ll probably show it tomorrow.

Eder Sarabia, a former Barca assistant coach under Quique Setien, will lead the promoted side as they take on Elche at the Olympic Stadium.

Shehu Dikko, the national sports commission’s chairperson, has refuted allegations that the $1.2 million FIFA fund was used to extort funds for the construction of the mini-stadium in Kebbi State.

No one collected the funds, according to Dikko, who claimed in an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, insisting that FIFA had managed the project funds directly.

No one collected the money because that is where people are getting it wrong. They can defend themselves, but I’m not here to defend the NFF.

What happens to the NFF has an impact on the entire sports ecosystem, according to the leader of the country. Therefore, he said, “we need to set the record straight for people to understand how this works.”

The Munich Allianz Arena will host the 2028 Champions League final.

He explained that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) is denied access to the funds because the governing body appoints consultants, oversees contracts, and pays contractors directly under FIFA’s project structure.

I was in charge of FIFA projects, and I am familiar with its operation. Because FIFA manages its projects directly, no one collected the funds. The NFF’s job is to give the people’s wishes and land. According to Dikko, FIFA then chooses consultants, conducts procurement, and pays the contractor directly to complete the project.

The NSC chairman clarified that the project was approved in 2015 and that procurement started in 2016, clarifying that the project was not valued at the current exchange rate.

This project is not worth the $1.2 million it currently costs. The value was about $ 300 million when it was approved in 2015. He explained that that was the project’s original value at the time.

He added that construction and contract signing was postponed due to delays in obtaining land and gathering documentation, which FIFA’s appointed contractor then started doing.

A public tender and procurement procedure took place prior to the project signing. Simply put, people take pictures and assume they are incomplete. The project’s initial stage was only represented by the structure that was shown, according to Dikko.

Following widespread criticism of its appearance and value, the Birnin Kebbi mini-stadium project, which was funded through FIFA’s Forward Programme, has come under serious scrutiny.

FIFA’s use of the stadium’s image on its social media banner, which sparked outcry and inquiries into an investigation, led to the ensuing controversy.

Dikko reaffirmed that FIFA is still in charge of managing the project, insisting that all funds were handled honestly and to the highest standards.

Wembley and the newly renovated Camp Nou are both competing for the 2029 final, according to UEFA, while Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena is the only one of the two competing for the 2028 Champions League final.

Munich was the only city to advance to the 2028 final after hosting it in 2025 when Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter Milan 5-0.

Munich also hosted the Olympic Stadium’s 1979, 1993, and 1997 finals, as well as the Allianz Arena’s 2012 and 2025 editions.

The Budapest Puskas Arena will host the final of the season in 2027, while Madrid’s Metropolitano will host the Metropolitano.

Due to Arsenal’s ongoing fixture stack-up, Mike Arteta cautioned that the top priority for football’s rule-makers should be the player welfare.

On December 16, Arteta’s side will face Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarter-finals.

However, that would leave Palace with three games in five days, and Palace could lose to the FA Cup holders if their game was moved to the Emirates Stadium.

The final-eight game should be played on December 16th, according to what Arsenal are willing to accept in order to avoid further aggravated by the hectic Christmas schedule.

Arsenal are currently playing seven matches in just 22 days, with the Premier League leaders visiting Burnley on Saturday and then making their Champions League debut at Slavia Prague on Tuesday.

Every choice we make regarding a fixture must be based on two things; The rest must be very, very far away from the players’ welfare, followed by supporters, and that is it. And that rule should never be forgotten, Arteta told reporters on Friday.

We in our industry all won’t get there if we have that large piece of paper with those two principles in front of us before we make any decisions. Anything is possible if we don’t and simply ignore that. ”

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Rodri, a midfielder for Manchester City, stated last year that players could strike as a result of a rise in competition.

Arteta asked whether the discussion of player strikes would continue as the fixtures grew, noting that: “We will never get to that point.

The window must be closed there, we told the owner. That window cannot be opened. It needs to be closed. It is our most priceless asset. ”

With a 2-0 victory over Brighton on Wednesday, Arsenal advanced to the semifinals of the League Cup.

The red-hot Gunners won eight straight victories in all competitions under the banner.

With a four-point lead at the top of the table and a defense that hasn’t been broken in six matches, they’ll head to Burnley.

After finishing the previous three seasons as runners-up, Arsenal are hoping to capture the English title for the first time since 2004.

When asked if Arsenal are currently unstoppable in his camp, Arteta responded, “No, because you always feel like you have that sense of urgency, and you see the difficulties and challenges that the next opponent is going to bring you, and we know that and every three days, we have very little time to train and prepare.

We have a lot of room for improvement, but we must maintain that level of consistency, which is difficult.

We will need to reach those performance levels once more. ”

149 referees were suspended by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on Friday after being accused of betting on matches.

The TFF stated in a statement that three other referees’ investigations are ongoing, with the TFF stating that their disciplinary committee had issued suspensions ranging from eight to twelve months.

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The federation’s investigation into 571 Turkish professional league referees revealed on Monday that 152 of them had active betting accounts and 371 of them had sports betting accounts.

According to TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, “refereeing is a profession of honor.”

Anyone who violates that honor will never play football again, Haciosmanoglu added.

The TFF announced on Monday that 22 of the officials (seven match officials and 15 assistants) are employed by the highest league.

Ten of the TFF’s referees placed more than 10,000 bets, with one of them alone placing 18,227.

The head of Turkish football said on Friday that 42 referees had staked in more than 1, 000 football games.

He did not specify whether any of them were suspected of betting on matches they had officiated, though.

The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office has also begun an investigation.