Author: RevSportz Comment

RevSportz Comment The last thing any professional footballer wants is to lose to his or her former club, especially if you had once been a cult hero there. Yet, that was the sobering reality for Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose Anfield return lasted less than 15 minutes and was played out to a cacophony of boos and jeers. His Real Madrid side were played off the park in a 1-0 defeat, with the scoreline kept respectable only by some stunning saves from Thibaut Courtois in Los Blancos’ goal. The run-up to the game had seen Alexander-Arnold’s mural outside Anfield defaced, with a…

RevSportz Comment Liverpool-Manchester United has largely been a rivalry shaped by geography rather than results. When Liverpool ruled the roost under Bob Paisley and his successors, United weren’t regular challengers for the title. And when Sir Alex Ferguson knocked Liverpool off their perch in the early 1990s, it was Arsenal and, later, Chelsea that shaped up as United’s biggest on-field rivals. In recent seasons, the other Manchester side, City, were the ones Liverpool went toe to toe with, as United slipped further and further behind. In that sense, Sunday’s 2-1 win at Anfield was a seismic result, a small…

Speaking at the Together for Palestine concert in London last month, Eric Cantona – Manchester United legend and maverick French footballer of the 1990s – minced no words. “I played for France and Manchester United,” he said. “I know that international football is more than just sport. It is culture, it is political, it is soft power. “In a way that a country represents itself on a global stage, the time has come to suspend Israel from that privilege.” He also pointed out what he viewed as hypocrisy on the part of FIFA, which had banned Russia within days of their invasion of…

RevSportz Comment When India and Pakistan were at war in 1971, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi and Intikhab Alam – all playing for the Rest of the World against Australia down under – would gather around a transistor radio and listen to updates from the conflict. More than three decades later, even in the aftermath of the Kargil War, it wasn’t uncommon to see Indian and Pakistani cricketers going out for dinner together. But there was no thought of breaking bread over the past three weeks in the United Arab Emirates, as politics and sport collided as never before…

RevSportz Comment Paris Saint‑Germain (PSG) lifted their first UEFA Super Cup at Udine’s Stadio Friuli after the latest of late fightbacks against an impressive Tottenham Hotspur side that had controlled big stretches of the game. PSG’s triumph was all the more noteworthy because their penalty shootout win came without Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose goalkeeping heroics helped clinch their first Champions League title in May. Club World Cup Fatigue The champions of Europe trailed until deep into injury time, with many of their star players looking heavy legged and off the pace. It should be noted that PSG’s 2024-25 season ended only…

For the first 20 minutes or so, things were going very much to plan for Liverpool in the FA Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the English football season. The new signings had made a stunning impact, with Florian Wirtz setting up Hugo Ekitike for the first goal and Jeremie Frimpong’s mishit cross looping over Dean Henderson for the second. Though Liverpool had conceded an equaliser against the run of play after a clumsy foul from Virgil van Dijk, they were very much in control of proceedings. Some of their interplay, movement and speed on the break was frightening to…

In a parallel universe where time stood still, David de Gea might have been playing in the Community Shield on Sunday. The club that he joined in the summer of 2011 were serial winners, having lifted the English Premier League (EPL) four times in the previous five seasons. The last of those, months before De Gea signed on the dotted line at Old Trafford was title No. 19, taking them past Liverpool and into first place when it came to league titles won. In his first two seasons, De Gea played 80 times for Sir Alex Ferguson, winning title No.…

RevSportz Comment On the surface, a 2-2 draw in England, especially when your talismanic bowler could play only three matches, is an excellent result. Australia haven’t won an Ashes series in England since 2001, and while England have lost a few shorter home series, it’s hard to get the better of them over five Tests. But as you sift through the evidence, you realise how much of an opportunity was lost. Jofra Archer played just two Tests. Gus Atkinson, outstanding at The Oval, was part of just one. Ben Stokes sat out the last game. Of the four to cross…

RevSportz Comment India were 1-0 ahead in the 2014 series against England when the team arrived in Southampton for the third Test. As part of the preparations, the team management asked Michael Holding – then part of the SKY Sports commentary panel – to take a look at the pace bowlers. Afterwards, he spoke to an Indian journalist on the sidelines. At the time, the mood in the Indian camp was fairly euphoric and the journalist asked Holding what he thought of India’s pace crop and the prospects for the rest of the series. Holding was typically blunt. He said:…

What the non-debate over whether India are a better Test team without Jasprit Bumrah – the cricket equivalent of saying the Earth is flat – reveals is the extent of data illiteracy among those in the media. Numbers bandied about without an iota of context are just figures. When people start talking these random numbers seriously, then you have a problem. Let’s examine the most-exposed ‘statistic’ of all – that India have lost more matches (23) than they have won (20) with Bumrah in the side. It was this little nugget that astonished David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and spawned hundreds of…