In the early hours of the 21st of January 2024, most South Africans woke up to find that Pretoria-born Dricus Du Plessis won the first ever UFC gold by a South African when he defeated the then-undisputed UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
The bout went all the way and had to go to the judges scorecards as neither one of the two men was willing to throw in the towel. The judges scored the fight (47-48 48-47 48-47), in favour of your new undisputed champion Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ Du Plessis.
With his resilience and offensive variety, Stillknocks did just enough to unseat the champion, who put up a superb boxing display with his own variation of the Philly Shell which is commonly used by the undefeated Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Sean’s counterpunches were not enough to prevent the challenger from relentlessly pressing forward though.
This fight was monumental for both fighters as this was Sean’s first title defence after winning the belt from Israel Adesanya, whom was first supposed to defend his title against Dricus in an all-African fight to determine the “real African fighter” but Dricus pulled out due to an injury.
Dricus on the other hand had the entirety of Southern Africa on his shoulders, as there has never been a champion in the UFC from that side of the world. Luckily, the man fighting out of Team CIT didn’t succumb to the pressure as he sticked to his game plan and got the win.
Liverpool’s dreamlike season came to a sour conclusion as the Reds narrowly lost both the English Premier League and a UEFA Champions League final to Man City and Real Madrid, thus serving a final blow to the stomach for Liverpool’s quadruple aspirations.
April has been a do or die month for most football teams in the Premier League with one’s eyeing for the impossible and others pushing for Champions League football and safety from being relegated.
Everton, who have been struggling to find their feet under Frank Lampard found themselves in a relegation battle for the first time since the inauguration of the Premier League.
Being one of the six teams to have never been relegated in the Premier League, this relegation battle came as a daunting task for the Toffees who basically have a status to uphold and some pride to maintain as their bitter neighbors are on the verge of footballing immortality.
Following a pulsating 2-2 draw against their closest challengers Liverpool, Manchester City retained pole position as the Premier League title race was left on a knife-edge.
During their second tie of the season, Manchester City and Liverpool traded blows throughout an enthralling clash between two Premier League heavyweights. Neither one of them though could land the knockout punch that would have seen either one of them on course to clinch the title.
Elsewhere, Arsenal who were on the verge of Champions League football for the first time since the 2015/16 season have slightly fell down the pecking order with their North London rivals closing the gap between them and potentially stealing the fourth spot from them.
Antonio Conte, who arrived at Tottenham in November, has made it his sole mission to accomplish Champions League football with Spurs, and with the current turn of fortunes, Spurs stand a better chance of achieving that than Arsenal.
Following a dramatic 3-2 loss to Tottenham in February, Guardiola’s Manchester City were to find themselves stumbling yet again as they were held to a 0-0 draw at the Selhurst Park.
With the draw coming just after City’s reassuring 4-1 win against intracity rivals Manchester United, fans were left stunned as Liverpool were within City’s definite reach for the first time since December.
Failing to beat Viera’s men once more this season, this draw meant that Liverpool would be a point adrift of Man City should they win all their matches. Going up against mid table clubs mostly, Liverpool would make certain that they are hot on City’s heels, setting the two up for a title-deciding match in April.
Subsequent to their league cup win towards the end of February, Liverpool’s 100% record in the league meant that not only do they stand a chance of snatching the league title from City’s reach, but they could do what no English club has ever done. Win a quadruple.
Following their 1-0 loss to Inter Milan at home, Liverpool would then go through on aggregate and on to face Portuguese outfit Benfica in the quarterfinals.
As unrealistic as it sounds, are Liverpool’s quadruple aspirations still possible, or are they dreaming on?
Recently founded Bromance amongst title rivals Manchester City & Liverpool was reignited as fellow title contenders Chelsea fell short in a series of games.
Chelsea, whom had been occupying the top spot for the longest of times, was seen drop to third as the currently in-form West Ham United beat them by three goals to two.
With Man City and Liverpool playing within the same day, celebrations from the latter were in order as they both had the chance to go top. Kicking off their match at 17:00UK time, Liverpool needed a last-gasp goal from none other than Divock Origi to momentarily go top.
Following their scrappy 1-0 win against Wolves, Liverpool then shifted their focus to Man City’s game up against Watford. In order to remain atop, Liverpool needed Man City to either lose or draw against the Hornets. With their eyes locked on the prize, Man City gave Watford a 3-1 thumping, thus crushing Liverpool’s hopes of remaining top.
As Matchday 16 neared, the title race between the three clubs was still on, and it was to remain like that as the three clubs won their respective matches in a rather peculiar way, if one was to say. During Matchday 16, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, and Manchester United, all won their games by a 1-goal margin. (Arsenal were the only team from the big six to win by a score higher than one.)
All playing against mid-table/bottom-table clubs, one had to wonder where the aforementioned teams left their goalscoring boots because nothing seemed to work for them, and they all had to rely on penalties to win their games.
The events that were to follow though were classic Manchester City. Following their scrappy win against Wolves, The Citizens relinquished their goalscoring thirst with a 7-0 thumping of Leeds United. Liverpool too proved that their 1-0 win against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa wasn’t a ruse as they comfortably won 3-1 against relegation-threatened Newcastle United.
Chelsea on the other hand continued to falter down as they drew against injury-ravaged Everton. The West Londoners drew first blood in the 70th minute as they seemed the favourites to win the game either way. Their sloppy defence was to disappoint them yet again though as they failed to defend 19-year-old Jarrad Braithwaite’s header from a freekick.
During matchday 18, City extended their lead atop with a 4-0 win against Newcastle. Chelsea and Liverpool were both to be held as they both respectively drew against their opponents. With Liverpool’s next game due to be postponed because of the Covid-19 outbreak in the EPL, City did not hold back in extending the gap. In a match that can arguably be called a Premier League classic, Manchester City thumped Leicester City 6-3 on boxing day.
With December coming to an end and Liverpool dropping points yet again against Leicester, City are considered to be on course of running away with the title, but could either one of Liverpool and Chelsea catch up to them and snatch it from their arms?
Despite falling to a 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend, West Ham United remain to be the one team that has undoubtedly stolen the limelight so far this season.
Subsequent to their sixth league finish last season, the Hammers have since improved, knocking out both Manchester United and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.
David Moyes, whom is in charge for his second spell at the London Stadium, has managed to transform a struggling West Ham United side into one of the finest teams in England.
Currently topping their Europa League group with two games to spare, one would’ve guessed that the Hammers would struggle coping with playing European football, considering how rigid Moyes’ side was last season.
During the 2020/21 season, there wasn’t much change done to the starting XI, with seven players starting at least 30 Premier League games. The likes of Antonio, Dawson, and the then loanee Jesse Lingard, were played whenever they were available, leaving them prone to injuries.
Nonetheless, West Ham are a force to be reckoned with now, one capable of beating the likes of Liverpool if given a chance.
Out of all the monumental work David Moyes has done, the gaffer deserves full credit for developing a winning mindset at this West Ham club.
Salah joins in on the celebrations following his tap-in against Leeds
On a rather bittersweet day for Liverpool fans, Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah scored his 100th Premier League goal in just 162 appearances as the Reds beat Leeds United 3-0 at Elland Road.
‘The Egyptian King’, as his fans call him, broke the deadlock for Liverpool on the 20th minute, courtesy of a Trent Alexander-Arnold masterclass.
Coming in from the right wing, Alexander-Arnold hammed a classic low drilled pass across the edge of the six-yard box into the path of the Egyptian, who opened his foot up expertly to guide the ball into the far corner.
According to Hamzah Khalique Loonat of Liverpool FC News, all that, was delightfully and effortlessly easy for Salah, a player already with two Premier League Golden Boot awards to his name and the all-time single-season goals record (31).
On a game which he was one of the standout players, Mo’s 100th goal proved to be the only highlight of his game as he pulled out yet another one of his superb displays.
Nonetheless, Salah’s milestone was yet to be overshadowed by an incident during the encounter. Harvey Elliott suffered what appeared to be a suspected broken left leg during Liverpool’s Premier League game at Leeds United.
The 18-year-old Liverpool sensation who had just broken into the first team was on the receiving end of a strong challenge when Leeds substitute Pascal Struijk tussled for possession down the right wing during the second half.
Elliott underwent lengthy treatment with the game stopped for several minutes before the youngster left the field on a stretcher with his left leg in a brace.
After a VAR check, Struijk was given a straight red card for the challenge, leaving Leeds to play the final half-hour with 10 men.
Elliott was well enough to applaud the Leeds fans from his stretcher as they gave him an ovation as he left the stadium.
It is believed the midfielder was due to be replaced in any case by skipper Jordan Henderson with Liverpool leading 2-0.
Whilst they have been insanely busy during this transfer window, Arsenal’s big name signing remains to be former Brighton & Hove Albion defender Ben White.
Standing at 1,82 m in height, the Poole-born defender was snatched up by Arsenal from Brighton for a whopping $69m.
At just 23 years of age, the Brighton academy graduate has become one of the most highly rated defenders in England. But what attributes does he have to justify that hefty price tag put on his head by Brighton?
Somewhat of a late bloomer, the 23 year old defender made his PL debut just last season, and my God, isn’t he a marvel?
Highly versatile, confident on the ball, and also an eager tackler, I think Arsenal has got not so much of a bargain, but a long-awaited dime considering they had to empty their pockets for the fellow.
So for this transfer I’d give Arsenal a 7/10, considering how good and young this signing is. For the first time in, I don’t know how long, Arsenal have actually found a solution to one of their never-ending problems.
Chelsea
Not much to say about the West-Londoners, it’s been nothing but rumors from them. Except of course the signing of goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, who isn’t something we would really call a ‘big name signing’.
Liverpool
Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Sport
Yet another club that I thought would be knee-deep in signings by now, but it’s been relatively quiet.
The 2019/20 English Premier League champions have only announced the signing of 21 year old former RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate. Whom to be fair, was signed out of fear after last season’s horrors.
Following Virgil Van Dijk’s injury during a match versus Mersey rivals Everton, Liverpool took a turn for the worst, having their 68 game home record being broke by PL outfit Burnley.
The injuries continued to pile up too. For the entirety of last season, Liverpool used close to 18 different center-back pairings, as their defensive aspect of the game was most affected by injuries.
Anyhow, with Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip all coming back from injury, there’s no certainty as to whether the French man will feature in the league, so I give Liverpool a 6/10 for this signing. He’s solid, but what does it matter if he possibly won’t feature?
Manchester City
A quiet transfer window thus far from the current PL champions, but with time I think some big name signings will soon be revealed. Linked with both Jack Grealish and Harry Kane, City are the likeliest to cash in on them.
Manchester United
Of all the big teams in the English Premier League, Manchester united spat out the most cash, signing both Jadon Sancho and Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane in the same transfer window.
Whilst these two have been one of the long-awaited signings amongst Man United fans, they came at no cheap price. Raphael Varane,28, cost the red devils ÂŁ41m whilst Sancho on the other hand was amounted to ÂŁ73m.
Both signings have exceptional CV’s, but as we have seen, such stars get ruined at Manchester United. The likes of Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Memphis Depay, Michael Owen, and most recently Alexis Sanchez, have all flopped at Man United despite their individual excellence and previous beast performances for their former clubs.
Nevertheless, these two are exceptional signings, and with good care, they can light up the Premier League and take Man United back to their glory days.
I rate these two a 8/10. They are mad talented and both come at a well-precedented time for Man United, whom have been a sleeping giant for the past half decade.
Tottenham Hotspur
Seemingly the least big of the ‘big six’, Tottenham has had a hard time attracting big name signings to its club, but nevertheless, a signing has been made. Sevilla’s Bryan Gil has been announced as the latest addition to the North London football club.
Bryan Gil of SD Eibar reacts during the La Liga Santander match between Sevilla FC and SD Eibar. (Photo by Getty Images)
Whilst the individual spent most, if not all his time at Sevilla on loan, he comes as a good addition to the already talented Spurs forward-line.
Bought for €25m in a swap deal that saw Argentine winger Erik Lamela go the opposite way, the 20 year old Spaniard has a 10 G/A from 54 games in La Liga.
To conclude, I grade this move a solid 6/10. The kid is obviously talented but he is a traditional winger. One has to wonder how he is going to fit into the squad since first-team wingers like Son, Bergwjin, and Lucas Moura are the modern-day cut-in & shoot wingers.
Sports Roundup With Theodore 