Kevin De Bruyne puffed out his chest on behalf of his team after Manchester City took another step toward reclaiming the Premier League title with a 2-0 defeat of Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
De Bruyne neither scored nor assisted in the win, but the reigning Premier League Player of the Year played a pair of through balls that became goals and plunked the woodwork with a free kick in a Man of the Match performance.
Man City is just an unfair opponent to see on your favorite team’s docket right now, out-producing Leicester 1.98-0.28 in expected goals and not showing any signs of worry despite 63 percent possession and a 6-0 shots advantage producing just a 0-0 halftime scoreline.
“The first half we totally dominated,” De Bruyne said. “They had the once chance from Vardy but it was offside. It was basically one team playing. Second half Leicester did a little bit better but I think if you look at the 90 minutes, and it was 2-0, we deserved even more goals. After an international break, I think that’s really well done from the team.”
Man City continues to set the standard for defensive play, conceding fewer goals than any team in Europe’s top leagues… across all competitions. So despite playing more games than most teams, they still have the lowest goals conceded total.
That’s astounding.
28 – Man City have kept more clean sheets (28) and conceded fewer goals (26) in all competitions this season than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues. Foundation. #LEIMCI
Man City now heads into its Champions League quarterfinal versus Borussia Dortmund before meeting Leeds and heading to Dortmund for the UCL second leg. Then comes Chelsea away in the FA Cup semis, Villa away, and the April 25 League Cup final versus Tottenham.
Guardiola was asked about City’s depth delivering at every turn and the lack of truly poor performances. Guardiola credits the pressure that winning puts on players to keep up production in order to stay in the XI and 18.
And he added that Fernandinho’s gusto despite being a part-time player and captain is contagious, the veteran Brazilian registering two interceptions and three tackles while getting involved in 19 duels and seeing a terrific goal called back for offside.
‘When you are winning and winning, the guys that play know they have to play good to try to play again because the guys who played the day before were brilliant,” Guardiola said. “That’s a part of the competition is nice but the solidarity between them. … Just see our captain. You see Fernandinho play like he did today and the other ones must follow him. That’s why.”
🗣 "When you are winning, winning the guys that played know they have to play good to try and play again."
Pep Guardiola on why the rotation at Manchester City isn't affecting their level of performances pic.twitter.com/j0rYCO1pDz
Jose Mourinho will be back in the European spotlight once again, when his Roma side takes on Sevilla in the Europa League final in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday (3 pm ET).
It’s a second straight season that Mourinho and Roma will end their campaign in a European final, after winning the inaugural Europa Conference League this time last year. Doing so made Mourinho the first manager to win all three of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
Sevilla are no strangers to winning European trophies themselves, having won the Europa League an astonishing four times in the last nine seasons, with a chance to make it five in 10. Either way that Wednesday’s final goes, it will simply be another notch in the belt of Sevilla, or the master Mourinho.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Sevilla vs Roma.
For Roma, it was another subpar Serie A campaign this season, as they failed to qualify for the Champions League for a fourth straight season. However, a victory in Budapest would send them back to UEFA’s premier competition for the first time since 2018-19. Typical to form for Mourinho, as they allowed precious few goals (37 in 37 league games) while struggling to score enough (48) to push higher up the table. Paulo Dybala leads the way with 11 Serie A goals (plus four more in the Europa League, joint-most alongside Lorenzo Pellegrini’s four) and former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham chipping eight (and one) of his own.
Speaking of disappointing domestic campaigns, Sevilla sit 11th in La Liga with one game left to play (they can climb as high as 7th on the final day). Three different managers have guided Sevilla this season, with Julen Lopetegui lasting until early October before his successor, Jorge Sampaoli, was also dismissed in March. Also not unlike Roma, it’s been a struggle for Sevilla to score goals (46) as well as preventing goals (52), which is very much out of character for them.
Sevilla’s Europa League journey
Champions League group stage: finished 3rd (5 of 18 points), behind Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund
Europa League knockouts: def. PSV Eindhoven 3-2; def. Fenerbahce 2-1; def. Manchester United 5-2; def. Juventus 3-2 (AET)
Roma’s Europa League journey
Europa League group stage: finished 2nd (10 of 18 points), behind Real Betis
Europa League knockouts: def. Red Bull Salzburg 2-1; def. Real Sociedad 2-0; def. Feyenoord 4-2 (AET); def. Bayer Leverkusen 1-0
Plenty of PL giants are heading to play elsewhere in the USA, Asia and Australia as the Premier League preseason schedule has now turned into a truly global celebration.
Below is the full Premier League preseason schedule, with details via the Premier League, as you can see where teams will be heading off to all over the globe this summer.
19 July v MLS All-Stars (Washington DC) 22 July v Man Utd (New York) 26 July v Barcelona (Los Angeles)
Aston Villa
Premier League Summer Series in USA 23 July v Newcastle (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) 26 July v Fulham (Exploria Stadium, Orlando) 30 July v Brentford (FedExField, Landover, Maryland)
Brentford
Premier League Summer Series in USA 23 July v Fulham (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) 26 July v Brighton (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta) 30 July v Aston Villa (FedExField, Landover, Maryland)
Brighton
Premier League Summer Series in USA 22 July v Chelsea (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) 26 July v Brentford (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta) 28 July v Newcastle (Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey)
Chelsea
19 July v Wrexham (North Carolina) 2 August v Dortmund (Chicago)
Premier League Summer Series in USA 22 July v Brighton (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) 26 July v Newcastle (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta) 30 July v Fulham (FedExField, Landover, Maryland)
Crystal Palace
26 July v Millonarios (Chicago) 30 July v Sevilla (Detroit)
Fulham
Premier League Summer Series in USA 23 July v Brentford (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) 26 July v Aston Villa (Exploria Stadium, Orlando) 30 July v Chelsea (FedExField, Landover, Maryland)
Leicester City
23 July v Spurs (Bangkok) 30 July v Liverpool (Singapore)
Liverpool
30 July v Leicester (Singapore) 2 August v Bayern Munich (Singapore)
Manchester City
23 July v Yokohama F Marinos (Tokyo) 26 July v Bayern Munich (Tokyo)
30 July v Atletico Madrid (Seoul)
Manchester United
12 July v Leeds (Oslo)
19 July v Lyon (Edinburgh) 22 July v Arsenal (New York) 25 July v Wrexham (San Diego) 26 July v Real Madrid (Houston) 30 July v Dortmund (Las Vegas)
Newcastle
18 July v Rangers (Ibrox Stadium)
Premier League Summer Series in USA 23 July v Aston Villa (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) 26 July v Chelsea (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta) 28 July v Brighton (Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey)
Tottenham
18 July v West Ham (Perth) 23 July v Leicester (Bangkok) 26 July v Roma (Singapore)
West Ham
15 July v Perth Glory (Perth) 18 July v Spurs (Perth)
The U20 World Cup takes place in Argentina from May 20 until June 11 as 24 teams full of the best young players on the planet go head-to-head to be crowned World champs.
And of course, the USA have plenty of talented youngsters so all eyes will be on Mikey Varas and his squad as they aim to go better than the quarterfinal spot they’ve reached in each of their last three U20 tournaments (2015, 2017, 2019) and they won Group B with three wins from three to reach the knockout rounds.
England, Brazil and hosts Argentina are among the favorites to win the tournament as Argentina stood in at the last minute to host the event after the tournament was moved from Indonesia.
Below is everything you need for the U20 World Cup.
Match 38: Tuesday, May 30: USA vs New Zealand – 1:30pm
Match 37: Tuesday, May 30: Uzbekistan vs Israel – 5pm
Match 40: Wednesday, May 31: Brazil vs Tunisia – 1:30pm
Match 42: Wednesday, May 31: Colombia vs Slovakia – 1:30pm
Match 39: Wednesday, May 31: England vs Italy – 5pm
Match 41: Wednesday, May 31: Argentina vs Nigeria – 5pm
Match 44: Thursday, June 1: Gambia vs Uruguay – 1:30pm
Match 43: Thursday, June 1: Ecuador vs South Korea – 5pm
Quarterfinals
Match 46: Saturday, June 3: Winner Match 37 vs Winner Match 40 – 1:30pm
Match 47: Saturday, June 3: Winner Match 42 vs Winner Match 39 – 5pm
Match 48: Sunday, June 4: Winner Match 43 vs Winner Match 32 – 1:30pm
Match 45: Sunday, June 4: Winner Match 38 vs Winner Match 44 – 5pm
Semifinals
Match 49: Thursday, June 8: Winner Match 45 vs Winner Match 46 – 1:30pm
Match 50: Thursday, June 8: Winner Match 47 vs Winner Match 48 – 5pm
Third-place game
Match 51: Sunday, June 11: Loser Match 49 vs Loser match 50 – 1:30pm
Final
Match 52: Sunday, June 11: Winner Match 49 vs Winner mtahc 50 – 5pm
Group stage results
Group A
💣 ¡GOLAZO DE CARBONI!
⚽️ Valentin se tomó confianza, regateó y tiró con fuerza para lograr la remontada de la Albiceleste.
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) May 20, 2023
Saturday, May 20: Guatemala 0-1 New Zealand – 2pm
Saturday, May 20: Argentina 2-1 Uzbekistan – 5pm
Tuesday, May 23: Uzbekistan 2-2 New Zealand – 2pm
Tuesday, May 23: Argentina 3-0 Guatemala – 5pm
Friday, May 26: New Zealand 0-5 Argentina – 5pm
Friday, May 26: Uzbekistan 2-0 Guatemala – 5pm
Group B
The breakthrough! @diegoluna1511 makes his mark off the bench
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) May 20, 2023
Saturday, May 20: USA 1-0 Ecuador – 2pm (92nd minute winner from Jonathan Gomez)
Saturday, May 20: Fiji 0-4 Slovakia – 5pm
Tuesday, May 23: USA 3-0 Fiji – 2pm
Tuesday, May 23: Ecuador 2-1 Slovakia – 5pm
Friday, May 26: Slovakia 0-2 USA – 2pm
Friday, May 26: Ecuador 9-0 Fiji – 2pm
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) May 24, 2023
Sunday, May 21: Israel 1-2 Colombia – 2pm
Sunday, May 21: Senegal 0-1 Japan – 5pm
Wednesday, May 24: Senegal 1-1 Israel – 2pm
Wednesday, May 24: Japan 1-2 Colombia – 5pm
Saturday, May 27: Japan 1-2 Israel – 5pm
Saturday, May 27: Colombia 1-1 Senegal – 5pm
Group D
¡No se cansan de anotar👏!
Matheus Martins dispara con potencia y ya cae el sexto de @CBF_Futebol.
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) May 24, 2023
Sunday, May 21: Nigeria 2-1 Dominican Republic – 2pm
Sunday, May 21: Italy 3-2 Brazil – 5pm
Wednesday, May 24: Italy 0-2 Nigeria – 2pm
Wednesday, May 24: Brazil 6-0 Dominican Republic – 5pm
Saturday, May 27: Brazil 2-0 Nigeria – 2pm
Saturday, May 27: Dominican Republic 0-3 Italy – 2pm
Group E
Monday, May 22: England 1-0 Tunisia – 2pm
Monday, May 22: Uruguay 4-0 Iraq – 5pm
Thursday, May 25: Uruguay 2-3 England – 2pm
Thursday, May 25: Iraq 0-3 Tunisia – 5pm
Sunday, May 28: Iraq 0-0 England – 2pm
Sunday, May 28: Tunisia 0-1 Uruguay – 2pm
Group F
Monday, May 22: France 1-2 South Korea – 2pm
Monday, May 22: Gambia 2-1 Honduras – 5pm
Thursday, May 25: France 1-2 Gambia – 2pm
Thursday, May 25: South Korea 2-2 Honduras – 5pm
Sunday, May 28: South Korea 0-0 Gambia – 5pm
Sunday, May 28: Honduras 1-3 France – 5pm
The inaugural Premier League Summer Series is heading to the USA in 2023 as teams will square off across multiple American cities in a brand new tournament.
And now you can start to purchase your tickets to the Summer Series.
If you registered for early access you can purchase tickets on pre-sale on Tuesday, April 25 only, while tickets will be available on general sale on Wednesday, April 26 from 10am ET by clicking on the link above.
Six Premier League teams — Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Fulham and Newcastle United — will be playing in nine games across five U.S. cities in July and it will be one heck of a summer party.
The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer spoke to ProSoccerTalk (full interview above) about why this Stateside tournament is going to be special.
“It is fantastic news. I have been lucky enough to spend time with the guys at Premier League Mornings Live and be at seven of the eight Fan Fests that have happened and it is fascinating,” Shearer said. “I love the passion of the fans. I love the friendly rivalry. For them to get up at stupid o’clock and queue for hours and come in and watch their teams and mingle and all get together, I love it. To have six teams coming over to America in the summer, I think it is fantastic and something to look forward to.”
Created by the Premier League, the Summer Series will see games take place in Atlanta, Orlando, Harrison, NJ, Philadelphia and Landover, MD.
“I love how passionate the fans are,” Shearer said about Premier League fans in the USA. “They are obviously very knowledgeable. They obviously love their football very much. I understand it might not be the No. 1 sport in America but soccer is growing and it is growing really fast… The more events like this, the more times that we, the Premier League, come over to America and showcase the Premier League and the trophy at these organized events, it is only going to get bigger.”
“I think this will be the first of many,” Shearer added. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was going to happen every single season. It will be a great tournament and a chance to see some Premier League legends and huge football clubs.”
Aston Villa duo excited to experience the United States
Aston Villa and Brazil star Douglas Luiz, who was just named Villa’s Supporters’ Player and Players’ Player of the Season, is excited to play in front of fans in the USA, making the most of the hot weather and exploring the cities to learn more about their history.
“I am so happy. It is a good weather like it is in Brazil, I am so happy and excited to go to the US,” Luiz said. “It is a very good, very good people and I want to visit and I want to know so much more. I am so excited to go with Aston Villa and I want to enjoy seeing as much as I can.”
Aston Villa and Jamaica winger Leon Bailey is no stranger to playing Stateside and is looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere.
“I like the U.S. a lot, so I’m looking forward to a great time in the USA traveling to different States. It is a nice atmosphere, the people always come out in numbers and the support is brilliant. I’m really looking forward to it and I think it is going to be brilliant… I’ve been to LA, Houston, DC and Orlando, with the last Gold Cup most of our games [with Jamaica] were played in Orlando. It’s great and we always get time to explore. So it is nice and you are playing football and you enjoying it but you are enjoying it in a different in a city, which is great.”
Which teams are playing in the Summer Series?
The teams competing in the Premier League Summer Series in the USA in 2023 are:
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters is extremely excited about the league hosting their first-ever preseason tournament in the USA.
“We are delighted to be bringing six clubs to the USA in July for the first-ever Premier League Summer Series,” Masters said. “Our clubs have incredible supporters in the US, who passionately follow their teams throughout the season. We have seen this dedication first-hand from the tens of thousands who have attended our Mornings Live fan events and are excited to be building on this by bringing live Premier League action to five cities this summer.
“We are currently enjoying one of the most competitive Premier League seasons of all time at both ends of the table and I am sure we will see some thrilling matches during the tournament.”
Below are all the details you need on the the tournament.
Premier League Summer Series 2023 schedule, dates, how to watch live
Where: Atlanta, GA, Orlando, FL, Harrison, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Landover, MD When: July 22-30 Tickets: Via the Premier League – April 25 (pre-sale), April 26 (general sale) How to watch: Across the NBC Sports platforms, including Peacock
Saturday July 22
Match 1: Chelsea vs Brighton – 7pm ET at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Sunday July 23
Match 2: Fulham vs Brentford – 4pm ET at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Match 3: Newcastle vs Aston Villa – 7pm ET at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Wednesday July 26
Match 4: Brentford vs Brighton – 5:30pm ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Match 5: Chelsea vs Newcastle – 8:15pm ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Match 6: Fulham vs Aston Villa – 7pm ET at Exploria Stadium, Orlando – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Friday July 28
Match 7: Brighton vs Newcastle – 7:30pm ET at Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey – WATCH LIVE ON PEACOCK
Sunday July 30
Match 8: Aston Villa vs Brentford – 12pm ET at FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland – WATCH LIVE ON USA NETWORK
Match 9: Chelsea vs Fulham – 2:45pm ET at FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland – WATCH LIVE ON NBC
