April 2023 - Dunda Football

April 30, 2023April 30, 2023

Manchester United are seeking to sign a new keeper

Livakovic celebrating a win for his team.

Manchester United are seeking to sign a new goal keeper, their main target, Dominic Livakovic. He has developed into one of the most prolific goalkeepers and has proven himself on the world stage. He plays as the number one Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper and doubles up as the Croatian national team goalkeeper. His impressive performances at club and national team levels are why he is now considered one of the most sought-after goalkeepers.

Livakovic exploits at club level

Livakovic was born on the 9^th of January 1995 in Zadar, Croatia. He started his club career at the NK Zagreb team, where he made his senior debut on the 31^st of August 2012. He joined Dinamo Zagreb at the beginning of the 2015/16 season and debuted for the club on the 2^nd of October 2016. Since then, he has stayed at Dinamo Zagreb, playing a crucial role in their hunt for accolades.

At Dinamo Zagreb, he holds the record for the longest time since the start of the season without conceding a goal. He set the record of 535 minutes on the 2^nd of August 2019 while playing against Gorica. His most impressive club performance for Dinamo Zagreb was noticed in the 2020-21 Europa League group stages. During that season, he conceded only one goal in 5 group-stage games while saving a crucial penalty. He was also instrumental when they eliminated Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 16 of the competition granting Zagreb their first Europa League quarter-finals appearance in history.

Dinamo Zagreb’s number one has been linked to a number of top sides following his great consistent performances. Photo Credits: Dinamo Zagreb

Livakovic exploits for the Croatian team

Dominik Livakovic earned his first international call-up to the Croatian National team in May 2016. He had to wait until 2017 to debut against Chile in the China Cup. In 2018, the Dinamo Zagreb shot stopper got the significant call-up to join the Croatian National team for the World Cup, where he won a silver medal after finishing runners-up to France. He did not play a game during the tournament, with Daniel Subasic being the leading man.

He was finally rewarded with his first competitive debut against England in a goalless Nations League match. It took several disappointing performances by Lovre Kalinic for Livakovic to be considered Croatia’s number 1 goalkeeper. He started playing this role satisfactorily against Wales on the 8^th of June 2019.

His most impressive performances were noticed at the 2022 world cup, where he played eight matches for Croatia. He kept two clean sheets against Morocco and Belgium in the group stages and helped his team advance to the round of 16, where they faced Japan. His three crucial penalty saves ensured his team qualified for the quarter-finals.

He saved another crucial penalty against Brazil in the quarter-finals. He ensured they got to the competition’s semi-finals for the second consecutive edition, where they were beaten 3-0 by Argentina. He, however, became the 15^th player ever to be awarded a 10/10 performance by France magazine L’Equipe for his heroics against Morocco as they settled for the bronze medal.

His world cup heroics have massively contributed to him being wanted by several clubs since he has proven to be a technically gifted player.

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Career Statistics

The Manchester United target has played at least 388 club games since he started playing his trade for Zagreb. These include at least 300 league and 70 European games. For the Croatian national team, he has played a total of 43 games.

Honours

The Dinamo Zagreb shot stopper started winning trophies as early as 2014 with NK Zagreb, where they won the Croatian championship. At Dinamo Zagreb, he has won 5 league cups, two Croatian and two Croatian super cups. He won the world cup silver medal with Croatia while adding another bronze medal in the last world cup edition.

Livakovic in action for the Croatian national team — Livakovic in action for Dinamo Zagreb. The shot stopper has been linked with a move to Manchester United. Photo Credits: Dinamo Zagreb

Individual Honours

He has been named to the Croatian league team of the year seven times and named Croatian’s best goalkeeper for four consecutive years since 2019. After his superb performances, he was named to the Europa League breakthrough team of 2018. In 2020/21, he was named to the Europa League squad of the season.

How much will it cost Manchester United to get Livakovic

The Croatian has a release clause of around 8.9 million euros that Manchester United is seemingly ready to pay. They are currently the only major club interested in the Croatian international, seeking to level up on David De Gea. If they can pay this release clause, Dominik Livakovic might make his appearance at Manchester United next season.

The Premier League title is Manchester City’s to lose

by Bruce Mandela

Haaland celebrates scoring vs Arsenal in a 4:1 thriller

The Premier League title is Manchester City’s to lose after impressively firing 4 goals past Arsenal in an entertaining premier league clash at the Etihad. The Cityzens came into the match inspired to reduce the gap on top of the table to two points and proved they were serious in the first half when they struck twice.

Kevin De Bruyne scored the first goal to put Man City in front before John Stones slotted the second home from a well taken free kick. In the second half Kevin De Bruyne scored another to put the game to rest. Rob Holding scored a late consolation before Erling Haaland scored deep into extra time to dent Arsenal’s title hopes.

The Premier League title is in sight for Guardiola’s side..

Pep Guardiola celebrating his sides victory over Arsenal in a crucial league match. — Pep Guardiola celebrating his sides victory over Arsenal in a Premier League title determining match. Photo Credits: Manchester City

The win has left Manchester City just 2 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal who have played two more games than Manchester City. Arsenal were once 8 points clear of Manchester City before a poor run of four games denied them maximum points. Three consecutive draws to Liverpool, West Ham United and Southampton messed up Arteta’s good form before Manchester City hammered them to make the title race even more interesting. At the same time, Manchester City have been winning their games and collecting crucial points that have now made the EPL trophy visible to Pep Guardiola’s side.

Manchester City are now considered clear favorites to win the league courtesy of the two games in hand they have. They are in good form and almost all conditions look favorable to them. Arsenal will need to show character as they are yet to face Chelsea and Newcastle United in the next few days.

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Manchester City still have a treble to fight for with a two legged semi finals against Real Madrid on the cards. They also have an FA Cup final to play against rivals Manchester United. This means that they face a congestion of fixtures with 7 premier league games to play. Manchester City might seem like the ultimate winners of the premier league but the race is still on.

Europe/Serie A

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023

The scramble for top four spots in Serie A

by Bruce Mandela

Napoli players celebrating a past win in Serie A

The Serie A top four race is taking shape as Napoli are carving themselves out as the clear favorites to win the league. With the league being considered a done assignment by Napoli who are having an impressive 75 points lead. 6 other top clubs are fighting for the coveted champions league spots. Maurizio Sarri’s side Lazio have been impressive this season and have maintained the second spot for the past few weeks. They have amassed 61 points from 31 games.

Lazio have beaten all odds and have played their cards well as they aim to make a comeback to the champions league where they last appeared seasons ago. Juventus are in third spot after their initially deducted points were granted back to them. Juventus had been deducted 15 points after breaking some key Serie A rules but recently they have been granted back the points that have pushed them back to 3rd position. They currently have 59 points.

AC Milan or Roma, who misses out?

Rafael Leao celebrating his goal for AC Milan. Photo Credits: Serie A

AC Milan complete the fourth spot with 56 points gained, same as Roma who have an inferior goal difference and who have taken position five. AS Roma lost the chance of joining the top 4 after losing to Atalanta 3-1 during the last game week. Atalanta are now in 6th position, 4 points off the top. Inter Milan are in 5th position after securing three points away at Empoli over the weekend.

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Juventus would have taken the second position but unfortunately lost their home game to Napoli courtesy of a late Raspadori strike. Lazio also lost at home to Torino and failed to consolidate their second place.

The top four race in Serie A is still open with five clubs fighting to join the lethal Napoli side in next season’s competition. The clubs whose cards will be played well will be the winners of the day. Seven more game weeks will determine the top four. Who will taste Champions League football next season?

Manchester City’s Quest for the treble

by Bruce Mandela

Pep Guardiola celebrating his side proceeding to the FA cup finals. Photo Credits: Manchester City

Manchester City is leading a charge for a treble after qualifying for the FA Cup finals over the weekend. A hat trick from Riyad Mahrez was enough to spur the Pep Guardiola-coached side to victory over Championship side Sheffield United. Pep Guardiola would aim to win the FA Cup after missing out on the other domestic cup, the Carabao, to bitter rivals Manchester United.

The Cityzens had a smooth run in the Champions League and eliminated German giants Bayern Munich from last week’s competition. They are now set to meet Real Madrid in the semi-final set for May. Despite never winning the competition, they have been rated as the cup’s favorites.

In the league, Manchester City is only five (5) points behind Arsenal with two games in hand. The Gunners were 11 points on top before slipping in their last three games and losing six crucial points. This slip has rekindled the fight for the title, with Manchester City also looking like a possible winner.

Riyad Mahrez scored a hat-trick in the Wembley Stadium versus Sheffield United guiding his side to a semi-final victory. — Mahrez celebrating a goal as Manchester City played Sheffield United in the FA cup semi-finals. Photo credits: Manchester City

A footprint in Premier League’s hall of fame: Manchester City treble

Two of Sir Alex Ferguson’s records are on the verge of being broken by Pep Guardiola’s side if they can win the elusive treble. They would have replicated his famous three-peat, where he is the only EPL manager to win the premier league title thrice in a row. Furthermore, winning the treble would also mean Sir Alex Ferguson ceases to be the only EPL manager to manage that feat.

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The odds of winning the treble are in Manchester City’s favour due to their superb form and squad depth that can sustain them in all competitions. However, they have to floor three football heritage giants to achieve this feat. Firstly, they will have to battle it out with a wounded Arsenal in the league on Wednesday to prove they have the nerves to win the league. Secondly, they have to eliminate the Champions League defending Real Madrid from the competition’s semi-final. Finally, they have to beat rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup finals to lift the coveted domestic cup. If they manage these three wins, Manchester City could be on the verge of becoming the second EPL side to win a treble.

Will Alejandro Garnacho feature for Argentina U-20?

by Bruce Mandela

Alejandro Garnacho celebrating his goal in past match for Manchester United

Eighteen (18) year old Talented Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho is a wanted man in the Argentina Under 20 national team camp. The young sensation is needed to bolster the attack of the squad ahead of the FIFA under 20 World Cup that is set to be played in a months time. The forward has been impressive for Manchester United this season netting 4 goals and recording 4 assists in 29 games.

The former Atletico Madrid academy player is particularly remembered for his superb stoppage time winner against Fulham FC and his late assist to Marcus Rashford that gave Manchester United the win against Manchester City. His superb form had earned him a call up to the Lionel Scaloni coached Argentina National Team before he unfortunately sustained a injury.

His needed presence at Old Trafford

As they near the end of the season, Manchester United are facing some key injuries as they try to compete for the FA Cup and a top 4 finish. The young forward is a crucial part of the squad and is expected to help add firepower to their forward line as they aim to achieve some of their targets. The head coach of Argentina under 20 national team Javier Mascherano, is believed to be a big fan of Garnacho. The under-20 coach would like him to be one of his key players as they aim to replicate what the senior team did in Qatar.