Erik ten Hag described his first meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe as “very positive” but admitted he still has much to learn about the billionaire’s plans for Manchester United.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS group will assume control of footballing operations once his purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club has been ratified in the coming weeks, and he has been in Manchester this week for a series of meetings with club staff.

The meetings have been described as an opportunity for Ratcliffe, as well as senior INEOS officials Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, to get to know the club before they start work in earnest.

“It was very positive, I have to say,” Ten Hag said. “We had a long meeting, many hours we sit together and on many issues we are on the …

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The groups of the African Cup of Nations have been played out, and it s time for the knockout stages to begin. In the round of 16, Ivory Coast will take on Egypt at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.

Ivory Coast

Drawn in Group E of the tournament, Ivory Coast first faced Equatorial Guinea and won by a single goal, courtesy of Sivasspor forward Max-Alain Gardel. It was a bit harder when they took on Sierra Leone in the second round, with goals from Ajax striker Sebastian Haller and Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe only enough for a 2-2 draw. Finally, they beat Algeria by 3-1 to secure the top spot in the group, with AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Sangare and Pepe all on target to settle the outcome…

England manager Gareth Southgate has come under criticism from Nasser Al Khater for questioning Qatar s human rights record.

Southgate confirmed earlier this month that his side intend to use the World Cup in Qatar to highlight concerns around the host country.

However, he also stressed that they must be realistic as any demonstration will be complicated .

Qatar s stance towards women and the LGBTQ+ community was widely pointed to as a problem before FIFA awarded it the tournament in 2010. 

Meanwhile, the deaths of thousands of migrant workers have been reported during preparation for the finals, although Qatar s organising committee disputed what it called inaccurate claims around the number of fatalities.

Al Khater – the chief executive …

Arsene Wenger has accused Liverpool midfielder Fabinho of cheating in order to get Alexis Sanchez sent off in Tuesday s Champions League tie with Inter.

Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by the Italian champions in the second leg at Anfield but still advanced to the quarter-finals by virtue of a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Sanchez s dismissal came at a pivotal moment in the tie, the Chile international being shown a second yellow two minutes after Lautaro Martinez had struck to give Inter hope.

The former Arsenal and Manchester United player clearly got some of the ball but followed through on Fabinho, who got back to his feet once the red card had been issued.

It was the first red card Sanchez has received in his 64 games in the Champions League, and Wenger suggested…

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Two camps who are desperate to extend on their EURO 24 qualifying adventure, Georgia will welcome Luxembourg to Tbilisi on Thursday evening.

Georgia

Starting with the hosts, while Georgia might have clinched a EURO 24 qualifying semi-final spot thanks to their Nations League success 18 months ago, Willy Sagnol’s men have struggled to find any real stability over recent times. Last seen on November 19th signing off their Group A adventure with a routine 3-1 loss at the hands of European heavyweights Spain, the Crusaders also claimed just a single victory from any of their final six qualifying appearances. Alongside mustering just a sole competitive clean sheet since way back in September 2022, Sagnol’s side have also shown some exte…

Steven Gerrard wants to sign Connor Goldson from Rangers in the summer transfer window, according to . The former Rangers manager is now in charge of Al-Ettifaq, and it has been reported that the Liverpool legend is keen on a reunion with Goldson in Saudi Arabia.

Goldson has been on the books of Rangers since 2018 and has established himself as one of the best and most important players for the Gers. The 31-year-old has two more years on his current deal at the Ibrox club. Gerrard worked with Goldson when he was in charge of Rangers. He has given one assist in 30 Scottish Premiership matches this season.

Rangers are second in the Scottish Premiership table at the moment with 78 points from 34 matches. The Gers are three points behind leaders and bitter rival Celtic. Ran…

Shane Long is a doubt for the first leg of the Republic of Ireland s Euro 2016 play-off tie after suffering an ankle injury.

The Southampton striker, who scored the winning goal against Germany last week, picked up the problem while away on duty with Martin O Neill s side.

Saints boss Ronald Koeman has since confirmed Long could be sidlined for up to four weeks, which may rule him out of first leg of the play-offs, scheduled for the week beginning November 9.

The Shane injury is a disappointment. It s an ankle ligament injury and he will be out for two to four weeks,  Koeman said on Thursday.

That s a disappointment, but the rest of the players are happy to be back.

The Dutchman could welcome back Jordi Clasie for the meeting with Leicest…

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the return of Cristiano Ronaldo will provide everybody around the club with a timely boost.

United announced on Friday that a deal had been agreed to bring the Portugal captain back to the club for a second spell.

Five-time Ballon d Or winner Ronaldo will reportedly move from Juventus in a deal worth £12.8m (€15m) plus £6.9m (€8m) in add-ons.

The 36-year-old enjoyed a hugely successful first stint with the Red Devils between 2003 and 2009.

The forward scored 118 goals in 292 appearances while winning three Premier League titles, the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup before his world-record transfer to Real Madrid.

And Solskjaer is excited by the potential impact of his former team-mate,…

Prediction: FC Spartak Trnava to win 3-0

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Newtown AFC and FC Spartak Trnava will face each other in the second leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League this week. The match will be held at Park Hall in Oswestry and is scheduled to kick off at 6pm UK time on Thursday. FC Spartak Trnava won the first leg of the tie 4-1 against Newtown AFC at home.

Newtown AFC

Newtown AFC are a big club in Welsh football. Although they have not won the league title in Wales, they did win the Welsh Cup twice once in 1879 and again in 1895. Newtown AFC also finished runners-up in the 2011-12 League Cup as as well in the League of Wales in 1996 and 1998. They have never competed beyond the qualifying stages of any Europea…

Jules Kounde warned Barcelona are ready to strike a brutal blow to at least one European titan in the Champions League after landing in this season s group of death .

Drawn to face Bayern Munich, Inter and Viktoria Plzen in Group C, it is the German and Italian giants that Barcelona will be most worried about.

The Catalans start their campaign against Czech side Plzen on Wednesday, when nothing but a home victory at Camp Nou will be an acceptable result, given the challenges to come.

Barcelona, Inter and Bayern all begin as trophy hopefuls, but one or even two of the trio will have been eliminated by the time the World Cup comes around in November.

Kounde, recruited from Sevilla to fortify Xavi s defence, is determined Barcelona will not be among the earl…