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Watchalong live: Join us for Liverpool v. Chelsea

By NBCSports.comJul 22, 2020, 2:00 PM EDT
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Join us for a Watchalong event on YouTube for Liverpool – Chelsea on Wednesday (start time, 3:10pm ET on the NBC Sports YouTube channel).

It was an eight-goal thriller as Liverpool beat Chelsea 5-3, with Christian Pulisic scoring and assisting off the bench, while Jurgen Klopp’s side kicked on and put on a show in their final game of the season.

Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy after the game, while Chelsea need a win to try and boost their top four hopes heading into the final game of the season.

USMNT star Christian Pulisic featured heavily for Chelsea, as he missed Chelsea’s FA Cup semifinal win due to injury at the weekend.

Click on the video above to join us for the Watchalong, as ProSoccerTalk’s lead writer and editor, Joe Prince-Wright, will answer your questions and watch the action with you as you have a beer (or three) and some snacks.

Hit the reminder button on the video above to make sure you don’t miss the Watchalong.

The idea is to get fans together with JPW and have a good time watching the game.

Feel free to ask for his instant analysis on the game between the newly-crowned Premier League champions and Mikel Arteta’s young side by posting comments in comments section.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

JPW will join you for the entire game, as he breaks down the live action in Liverpool – Chelsea and you have the chance to have your say on what Jurgen Klopp and Frank Lampard should be doing in the game, plus dissect the tactics, which players are starring and more.

Basically, join us to watch the game (hence the snazzy ‘Watchalong’ name) and let’s all enjoy these juggernauts do battle with plenty of pride on the line as Arsenal try to put down a marker for next season.

[ PREVIEW: Arsenal – Liverpool: Everything you need to know ]

We hope you enjoy our Premier League Watchalong as two huge clubs collide at Anfield. Click on the video or link above to get involved.

Leeds United: 16-year journey back to Premier League worth the wait

By NBCSports.comJul 18, 2020, 10:55 AM EDT
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Every year for the last 16, I believed. No matter how circus-like the previous season had gone, I kept the faith that Leeds United would be promoted again to the Premier League.

[ VIDEOS: Leeds United fans, players, Bielsa celebrate ]

It was a long wait and so much happened since that 2004 afternoon in Bolton — a day that fell on the third anniversary of their home leg in the Champions League semifinals.

Points deductions, ownership ranging from stingy to criminal, manager after manager after manager (Thanks, Massimo Cellino!), star players leaving, young players blossoming elsewhere, hope in August only for a finish somewhere in the teens come May — there weren’t many positives in the last 16 years.

But when Marcelo Bielsa was hired in 2018 there was a feeling of change. This was Marcelo Bielsa, the man praised by former players like Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola. This was a man who was well respected globally taking up the challenge of getting a second division side promoted.

In one season Bielsa improved an entire squad, had players playing above their level, and instilled a belief that as a unit they could achieve great things.

It took a lot of belief that brighter days would come and the sentence, “Leeds United are back in the Premier League” would ever be uttered again.

But, here we finally are.

***

After last season’s crushing Easter weekend cost them automatic promotion, Leeds United’s Managing Director Angus Kinnear got right to the point in the Amazon documentary “Take Me Home” when he said “We’re not dicking around with the playoffs anymore.” The club backed up that statement, and it began with Bielsa returning for a second season following the crushing playoff semifinal defeat to Derby.

The manager’s influence on the squad was evident in Year 2. The improvement up and down the lineup was noticeable. This was a team on a mission. There would be no dance with the playoffs this season.

Promotion didn’t come easy. Nothing ever does with Leeds United. They started off strong, had a bit of a wobble at the turn of the new year, then opened the restart with one win in three games. Still, the teams chasing them dropped points, allowing fate to be in their hands.

At the time of the restart Leeds sat seven points clear atop the Championship. Each match was a stressful 90 minutes to earn three points. As the remaining fixture list kept getting smaller and smaller and promised land got closer and closer, it still didn’t feel real. Then Pablo Hernandez scored an 89th minute winner against Swansea.

That didn’t clinch promotion, but it put one foot in the Premier League.

So when the final whistle blew on Friday following Huddersfield’s win over West Brom, allowing Leeds to clinch automatic promotion, I thought about the last 16 years (after celebrating in my office).

Sometimes it’s about the journey and not the destination. For Leeds United, it was always about the destination. The journey brought few memories and plenty to forget.

Now it’s time for version 2.0 of Leeds United in the Premier League, and it was worth the wait.

Bielsa
Getty Images

Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Watchalong live: Join us for Arsenal v. Liverpool

By NBCSports.comJul 15, 2020, 5:42 PM EDT
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Join us for a Watchalong event on YouTube for Arsenal – Liverpool on Wednesday (start time, 3:10pm ET on the NBC Sports YouTube channel).

Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 after making the most of two costly errors from Liverpool in the first half.

Click on the video above to join us for the Watchalong, as ProSoccerTalk’s lead writer and editor, Joe Prince-Wright, will answer your questions and watch the action with you as you have a beer (or three) and some snacks.

Hit the reminder button on the video above to make sure you don’t miss the Watchalong.

The idea is to get fans together with JPW and have a good time watching the game.

Feel free to ask for his instant analysis on the game between the newly-crowned Premier League champions and Mikel Arteta’s young side by posting comments in comments section.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

JPW will join you for the entire game, as he breaks down the live action in Arsenal – Liverpool and you have the chance to have your say on what Arteta and Jurgen Klopp should be doing in the game, plus dissect the tactics, which players are starring and more.

Basically, join us to watch the game (hence the snazzy ‘Watchalong’ name) and let’s all enjoy these juggernauts do battle with plenty of pride on the line as Arsenal try to put down a marker for next season.

[ PREVIEW: Arsenal – Liverpool: Everything you need to know ]

We hope you enjoy our Premier League Watchalong as two huge clubs collide at the Emirates Stadium. Click on the video or link above to get involved.

Watchalong live: Join us for Manchester City v. Liverpool

By NBCSports.comJul 2, 2020, 12:50 PM EDT
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Join us for a Watchalong event on YouTube for Manchester City – Liverpool on Thursday (start time, 3:10pm ET on the NBC Sports YouTube channel).

Click on the video above to join us for the Watchalong, as ProSoccerTalk’s lead writer and editor, Joe Prince-Wright, will answer your questions and watch the action with you as you have a beer (or three) and some snacks.

Hit the reminder button on the video above to make sure you don’t miss the Watchalong.

The idea is to get fans together with JPW and have a good time watching the game.

Feel free to ask for his instant analysis on the game between the newly-crowned Premier League champions and the former champions by posting comments in comments section.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

JPW will join you for the entire game, as he breaks down the live action in Manchester City – Liverpool and you have the chance to have your say on what Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp should be doing in the game, plus dissect the tactics, which players are starring and more.

Basically, join us to watch the game (hence the snazzy ‘Watchalong’ name) and let’s all enjoy these juggernauts do battle with plenty of pride on the line as Man City try to put down a marker for next season.

[ PREVIEW: Man City – Liverpool: Everything you need to know ]

We hope you enjoy our Premier League Watchalong as the two best teams in the league collide at the Etihad Stadium. Click on the video or link above to get involved.

VIDEO: Bertrand on Black Lives Matter, Saints future, restart

By NBCSports.comJun 17, 2020, 11:49 AM EDT
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This week we spoke with Southampton and England left back Ryan Bertrand about the Black Lives Matter movement, his Saints future and the Premier League restart.

[ MORE: New PL TV schedule ] 

Ryan Bertrand, 30, has been at Southampton for six years and has become one of the most consistent left backs in the Premier League.

The former Chelsea full back spoke to our own Joe Prince-Wright about a plethora of topics, focusing on how the Premier League plans to support the Black Lives Matter movement in the coming weeks, months and beyond, plus gave an update on his own future as he’s been linked with moves to other clubs this summer.

“It’s that key word, understanding,” Bertrand said of the Black Lives Matter movement. “Understanding the context of what has happened. I’ve seen the support in terms of the understanding from all races that we just want equality. As a race, we have been stripped of things over the years and that is what everyone is understanding now. I think it is that element of understanding the full context of how we will go forward.

“Until there is that consistency of understanding and everybody knows there needs to be change and that is what everybody is striving for, we can go into the youth of tomorrow and start to educate them on things like racism and a broad view of other things. Once we do that, we can start to move forward.”

Click play on the video above to listen to the full interview with Bertrand, who had planned to attend a sports business seminar at Harvard University this summer but he will now be a little busy on the pitch as he tries to help Saints push for a top 10 finish in the Premier League.

Bertrand says he will be heading to Harvard next summer instead, and is focused on perhaps becoming a director of football after his playing days are over.

As for his current contract situation, he has one year left on his current deal at Southampton and is happy to remain at the South Coast club despite links with Leicester City, among other clubs, and reports about a new contract being offered to him.

“One thing is when talk does arise, sometimes that is just part of the game and people will try and string two and two together,” Bertrand explained. “I am very happy at Southampton. That is where my focus is at. I can’t wait to finish the season even stronger. Keep developing and keep learning and keep enjoying my football.”