AFCON 2025 power rankings, featuring Morocco and top 9 other favourites Who are the favourites to win the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations, kicking off in Morocco this month? From the West to the North, we take a look at the top 10 nations with the best shot at glory in AFCON 2025. The odds are already stacked heading into Africa’s biggest football event, and with some historical statistics backing some campaigns, others will be keen to rewrite the narratives. Nevertheless, 2025 has been some year for CAF teams, with a new format of World Cup qualifiers…
Author: Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
Laliga teams continue to struggle in the Champions League. Five teams in Europe’s premier club competition is a sign of a standout league, but six games into the season, LaLiga is only standing out as the worst of the top five European leagues playing in the Champions League. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal, and Athletic Club have all struggled in this season’s Champions League, with their few wins coming against teams outside the top European leagues. Their struggles are both comical and frustrating. Especially given that these teams are the showstoppers in their domestic league, with four of the…
Mohamed Salah was left out of the Liverpool squad for the Champions League trip to Inter on Tuesday night as the club imposes disciplinary measures following the Egyptian’s explosive interview after being dropped from the starting XI for the third straight game. The winger has struggled since the end of Matchday five, a drop of form that coincided with the club’s poor performances, and since then, they have gone from first place to mid-table in the league, while things are not going well on the continent either. Liverpool have won just two of their last 10 Premier League games, placed…
Barcelona are bracing up for Robert Lewandowski’s summer exit after four years since his famous move from Bundesliga heavyweights Bayern Munich, which made him the first to make such a move since Patrik Andersson in 2001. The move has been a success for Barcelona’s plans as it helped the club make up for some of the goalscoring burden left by the departure of Lionel Messi the previous summer before the Pole arrived. Lewandowski helped Barcelona to the league title in his first year, claiming the Pichichi with 23 goals and assisting seven others in 34 LaLiga games. It was revealed…
I was fortunate to see a Nigerian Premier League match for the first time this season, and a lot hit me, as I found the league I thought had moved 20 years closer to the elite leagues to be 40 years behind. As a fan, my live experience of the Nigerian top-flight league had been limited to the Southwestern part of the country, where stakeholders are pressured into moulding their clubs into the company of the best around. From Remo Stars to Shooting Stars, Ikorodu City, Sporting Lagos, and the likes, they leave fans anticipating every home game not only…
New Chelsea, better Arsenal Stamford Bridge will play host to the fiercest Premier League fixture this season as second-place Chelsea entertain leaders Arsenal as the London rivals battle in a decisive match on the back of impressive wins. The Londoners have emerged as two of the best sides in the world currently, and after their most recent wins, Chelsea against Barcelona, and Arsenal against Bayern Munich, in the Champions League, it wouldn’t be blasphemy to tag them the two best teams in the world. Talk of form, both have been on special runs, with Chelsea winning five and drawing one…
Starters and finishers; a Mikel Arteta philosophy. Mikel Arteta’s rise as a football manager sterns not only from his tactical brilliance but also wise choice of words, and his recent ones, ‘starters and finishers’ has become a motivation to his players, maintaining the high level of performances at all point of their games. In the wake of their impressive Champions League victory over Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, Mikel Arteta chose his words intelligently yet again, and such has been part of his aid in building a dominant Arsenal team. “Everybody’s ready. Whether it’s a starter or a finisher, the…
For the first time in more than a decade, Arsenal finally earned their first victory over Bayern Munich, and this time, ended what has been an unbeaten start to the season, which has made the Bavarians the best team in the world. Before their trip to the Emirates, Bayern Munich had won 18 and drawn one in 19 games across all competitions this season, scored at least two in each of these games, and kept consistent positive attacking numbers. They were the highest scoring team in Europe and had the joint most Champions League goals alongside defending champions Paris Saint-Germain,…
Lamine Yamal meets the Premier League, a different ball game Just like Robert Sanchez remarked, every player can be considered good until he comes to the Premier League’, while this doesn’t make Lamine Yamal just any player, it does highlight the reservations, so much so that a 17-year-old youngster may never achieve the heights of the Spaniard, even if they have bigger talents. Last night, Lamine Yamal played a Premier League team for the first time, and while he was not unimpressive, he was made to realize that the English League is a class of its own. The Spanish sensation…
Rodrygo’s time at Real Madrid is done There have been a lot of comments lately from the Rodrygo Goes, especially during the international break, as the media wanted to know what was going on behind the scenes about his future, which remains uncertain under Xabi Alonso. In response, the Spanish manager gave him the nod against Elche on Sunday evening, but that decision backfired as the 24-year-old stood out as Real Madrid’s least performing attacker in his almost an hour spent on the pitch. Created no chance. Failed to trouble the goalkeeper with four shots. Completed none of his attempted…