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Arteta urges Arsenal fans to turn up volume in Premier League title push

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Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal fans to produce “full energy” as they chase a sixth straight Premier League win against Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Arsenal Arteta

 

The third-placed Gunners, five points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand, have scored 21 goals in their five league games so far in 2024, conceding just twice.

 

But they are licking their wounds after losing the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Porto 1-0 on Wednesday, courtesy of a stoppage-time strike.

 

 

Arteta said the team were hungry to put that defeat behind them.

“What happened in another competition is there,” he told his pre-match press conference on Friday(today).

 

 

“What you cannot deny is what is in your tummy after a defeat and we have to use it in a really powerful way to do even better.”

 

 

The Spaniard, whose team finished second in the Premier League last year despite leading for most of the campaign, wants a crackling atmosphere in the 2000 GMT kick-off.

 

 

“We want to create an atmosphere in the stadium from the beginning,” he said. “I ask everybody to go there tomorrow night with full energy because the team is going to need it.

 

 

“We are in a really good moment in the Premier League and we want to continue to be there, and tomorrow’s game is vital to achieve that.”

 

 

“We can be better,” he added. “The most important thing is that we continue to believe, to perform at the level that we are doing and that we have the squad available.

 

 

“If we have those two things we are going to give them a real go.”

Liverpool’s title challenge could be threatened by a lengthy list of injuries and a demanding schedule as they go for four trophies.

 

 

Arsenal, by contrast, were dumped out early in both domestic cups and Arteta said his players had plenty left in the tank for the title run-in.

 

 

“And the other ones because after what happened last year, we want to make sure that this season is very different and that brings a lot of energy because we know what we are facing.”

“A lot of players haven’t played significant minutes this season, and some important players as well, so I can sense that there are still five or six that still have a lot to offer to the team,” he added.

 

 

The Gunners, who have not been crowned league champions since 2004, faltered in the home stretch last season, allowing Manchester City to overtake them, but Arteta said his team were “where we want to be”.

 

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Iraola: My Fight With Isak Has Never Been About Goals

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Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says Alexander Isak is a “massive” player for him – but adds he “fights” with the player about needing to do more for the “collective”.

 

Isak scored twice in the opening nine minutes in the 2-0 win over Ipswich to take his tally to three for the season – but Iraola hinted the player needs to do more off the ball for the team.

“He’s a massive player for us,” he told Sky Sports. “My demands will not be about the goals: he’s fit, in a good shape and he will produce the numbers.

“But my fights with him are more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations. But it’s good he has played two full games and today a good amount of minutes, scoring the goals.”

Iraola did not reveal which specific areas Isak needs to improve, but it could be interpreted that Iraola wants his striker to do more in the pressing.

“I will demand other things so we can play well,” he said in his post-match press conference about those demands to Isak. “And if we play well, we are in good positions, the goals will come.

“He has to contribute to the collective and when everyone helps, after the goals and results will come.”

Iraola also said to Sky: “Today we were much, much better in our press. We were recovering very high and then we can contact him in good positions.

“If we recover the ball lower, it will be more difficult to find him to have less spaces. So we need more quality effort to put our No 9 in situations like he had today.”

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‘It’s So Strong’ – Sabalenka Halts Play Over Cannabis Smell

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Aryna Sabalenka briefly halted her US Open match against Kamilla Rakhimova because of a strong smell of cannabis before cruising into the fourth round in New York.

 

Top seed Sabalenka raised the issue after going 3-0 up in the first set against Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova, telling umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that “someone is smoking weed”.

The Belarusian asked the umpire to intervene “because it’s so strong”.

Asderaki-Moore spoke to an official on her radio and made a smoking gesture to someone behind her, before play continued.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka went on to secure a confident 6-3 6-4 victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium as she chases a fifth Grand Slam singles title.

Sabalenka said afterwards she was not sure where the smell of cannabis was coming from but asked fans to be more mindful.

Smoking is not permitted on site at Flushing Meadows but the smell of cannabis sometimes wafts on to court from the nearby Corona Park.

It is legal to smoke it in New York for adults aged 21 and over.

“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best,” Sabalenka said.

“I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium.

“I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”

Sabalenka is not the first player at this year’s US Open to complain about the smell of cannabis at Flushing Meadows.

Britain’s Katie Boulter previously said it was distracting, while Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also noticed the smell.

In past years players including Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have also complained.

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Onana Gets Twins As Salah Welcomes First Son Weeks After Joining Turkish Team

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Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah has welcomed his third child and first son, named Lail, Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan said after the Turkish club’s third-round league match against Amedspor.

 

Doğan said Salah and his Cameroonian teammate André Onana travelled outside Turkey following the match as their wives were due to give birth.

“After the Amed match, we travelled abroad with Onana and Salah. Onana welcomed twins, while Salah welcomed a baby boy. I congratulate their families and wives,” Doğan was quoted as telling Turkish media.

Salah’s sister, Rabab Salah, later revealed the baby’s name on Instagram, posting a photograph of a baby hat and congratulating her brother on the birth of Lail.

The child is Salah’s first son. The Egyptian star and his wife, Magi, already have two daughters, Makka and Kayan.

Doğan’s comments came after a photograph of Salah and Onana aboard a private jet circulated online, prompting questions among Trabzonspor supporters and local media about the reason for their trip.

The club president said both players had travelled for family reasons following the match.

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