Table of contents for 3-Sep-2019 in MATCH!

PERFECT PLAYMAKER Silva h has proven that you don’t need to be big and strong to boss the Prem – he’s done it by pure skill! The little playmaker is perfect for City’s slick passing style because he’s got incredible ball control and brilliant vision – and no player has created more Prem chances than Silva since his arrival! CITY LEGEND Wherever he stands on the Prem’s list of legends, Silva is right at the top of City’s! In the Premier League, he’s played more games, won more matches and created more goals for The Citizens than any other player, and has won the title with them four times! ASSIST MACHINES Silva is seventh on the list of all-time Prem assists, behind Ryan Giggs, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard,…

MARIO BALOTELLI Marseille to Brescia Free The transfer window wouldn’t have been complete without a move for Super Mario! After scoring 41 league goals in three seasons in France, he’s back in Italy with his hometown club. If Brescia can get the best out of him, they could take Serie A by storm! PHILIPPE COUTINHO Barcelona to Bayern Munich Loan Coutinho’s future was one of the transfer window’s biggest talking points, but eventually Bayern won the race for his signature. The Bundesliga champs lost James Rodriguez, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben over the summer, so they needed Coutinho to add some flair to their squad! JOAO FELIX Benfica to Atletico Madrid £113 million Felix made an instant impact in Atletico’s first La Liga game of the season, dribbling half the…

KYLIAN MBAPPE PSG We’d be stunned if the PSG superstar isn’t the highest-rated wonderkid on FIFA 20! Mbappe has the potential to rival Messi and Ronaldo as the best player on the game, so we reckon his OVR is gonna be well into the 90s. Baller! GIANLUIGI DONNARUMMA AC MILAN The wicked goalkeeper has been a permanent fixture on FIFA’s list of wicked wonderkids ever since he burst onto the scene as a sick teenager a few seasons ago. He was rated 83 on FIFA 19, and he’s gonna be even better on the new game! MATTHIJS DE LIGT JUVENTUS The ex-Ajax skipper’s mega £67.5 million move to Juve means he’ll be one of the best defenders on the new game, and definitely the best young centre-back! He combines tough…

REP. OF IRELAND v SWITZERLAND Thursday, 7.45pm Switzerland are still playing catch-up in Group D after Nations League duty over the summer. Can they close the gap GERMANY v NETHERLANDS Friday, 7.45pm This is one of the biggest rivalries in international footy and has seen 12 goals in the last three meetings! WALES v AZERBAIJAN Friday, 7.45pm This is a must-win game for Ryan Giggs – his team desperately need points and their opponents are bottom of the table! MK DONS v AFC WIMBLEDON Saturday, 12pm In 2004, MK Dons replaced the original Wimbledon when they went bankrupt, so this is a massive League One rivalry! CHELSEA W. v TOTTENHAM W. Sunday,12.30pm TheFAPlayer Tottenham’s first-ever season in the WSL begins with a London derby! Can they upset the two-time champions…

HER JOURNEY! LIV SAYS: “I’ve always been football crazy! I learnt to juggle sitting down after suffering a bad back injury playing for Blackburn’s academy. It wasn’t long until I discovered the world of freestyle football and fell in love with it. I carried on learning freestyle football while still trying to play football for a year, but I then realised I couldn’t be the best freestyler in the world AND play footy for England – Ihad to choose!” FAVOURITE TRICK! LIV SAYS: “My signature move is now the ‘thigh pop’, which is when the ball is trapped between your heel and bum. When you extend your leg sharply, you pop the ball out and upwards. I have lots of variations of this trick, like popping the ball up during…

LIONEL MES SI Real Betis v Barcelona La Liga March 2019 Messi’s on the list of nominees for a record seventh time and, to be fair, he scored loads of goals that could’ve been contenders this year! FIFA have picked his wicked chip against Real Betis. Not only wasit an incredible finish, it also sealed the 51st treble of his class career – what a legend! ZLATAN BRAHIMOVIC Toronto v LA Galaxy MLS September 2018 Only Messi and Neymar have had more Puskas Award nominations than Ibrahimovic, but this latest one is particularly special. His acrobatic spin and volley brought up the 500th goal of his career! AJARA NCHOUT Cameroon v New Zealand Women’s World Cup June 2019 Nchout’s waltz through New Zealand’s defence and ice-cool finish in the dying…

HOW TO VOTE! Go to the MATCH Facebook page now and you’ll see two shortlists – one for Player Of The Month and one for Goal Of The Month. Then just vote for your choice. Well easy! NEVES The Wolves CM hit an absolute wonderstrike to win his side a point against Man. United! DOUGL AS LUIZ Aston Villa’s new signing produced an early goal of the season contender with his OMG long-range belter v Bournemouth! STERLING Raheem’s started the new season where he left off – totally terrorising opponents’ fullbacks and scoring for fun, including an ace hat-trick v West Ham! PUKKI No Prem player in history scored as many times as Pukki in their first two matches – and his volley against Newcastle was out of this world!…

ARSENAL Deadly dutch duo Vivianne Miedema and Danielle van de Donk were the stars of last season’s title win and, if they’re on form, it’ll be difficult for anybody to stop The Gunners! Only two teams have retained the WSL title – and Arsenal are one of them! Time to do it again? MAN. CITY After selling last season’s top scorer Nikita Parris to Lyon, Man. City need their new-look front line to click if they’re going to improve on last season’s second place. Luckily for them, they’ve signed England’s World Cup goal machine Ellen White, so they’ve got a pretty good shot! CHELSEA The 2017-18 champs have arguably the most exciting attack in the league! Last season’s top scorer and new Lionesses star Beth England will be supported by…

Prem Twister! The Norwich and Newcastle boys had a fun game of Twister! Fab Firmino! Bobby is always busting out new celebrations! Paul’s prank! Pogba looks like he’s riding an invisible hoverboard! Cheeky Chicharito! No-one could burst Hernandez’s bubbles after scoring v Brighton! Groovin’ Guardiola! Pep loves it when YMCA blasts out of the Man. City speakers! Cavani’s challenge! How many of those balls busted net then, Edi? Funny fans! These Southampton fans definitely caught our eye! Desserts disaster! Pickford and Deeney had a mid-match chat! Shirt shocker! Richarlison got in a right mess with his jersey! Hat hair! The one problem with wearing a cap is when you take it off...…

WHO AM I? Can you work out the mystery star from the clues? I’m a 30-year-old forward who plays for Austria! I’ve played football in Netherlands, Italy, Germany and England! I play in China after moving from the PL! TRANSFER TRACKER!  Fill the gaps in the career of ex-England and retired PL hero Peter Crouch’s career! SPORT SWITCH! Which Three Lions legend is a big fan of archery? THE NICKNAME GAME! Match these South American sides to their cool nicknames! GROUNDED!  Which Scandinavian country play their home matches here?…

Matheus Cunha RB Leipzig It’s hard to decide what we love more about this goal –the roulette to beat the defender, or the cheeky chipped finish! Fabio Quagliarella Sampdoria Quagliarella is famous in Italy for scoring spectacular goals, but this volleyed backheel has got to be one of his best ever! Juan Fernando Quint ero River Plate Everybody was expecting a cross from a free-kick 40 yards out on the right wing, but he spanked it into the top corner! Amy Rodriguez Utah Royals Rodriguez carries the ball from well inside her own half before sending an absolute screamer into the roof of the net. Wow! Billie Simpson Cliftonville Ladies You’ve got to see this one to believe it –Sion’s GK takes a goal kick, and Simpson volleys it in…

Steven Davis Club: Rangers Age: 34 Position: Midfielder Country: Northern Ireland The Rangers CM made his Northern Ireland debut over 14 years ago, and now he’s on the verge of becoming their most-capped outfield player ever! He’s getting on, but he’s still a legendary leader for his country! Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Club: Liverpool Age: 26 Position: Midfielder Country: England When you spend over a year out injured, it’s normal that you’d be a bit rusty coming back – but the Ox has looked really sharp at the start of 2019-20! Can he keep himself fit all season, though Seamus Coleman Club: Everton Age: 30 Position: Right-back Country: Republic Of Ireland The Toffees have spent big money two summers in a row, but one man that hasn’t lost his place in the…

THE LOWDOWN WHO? Atletico Nacional and Independiente Medellin – two of Colombia’s biggest clubs! WHERE? The two teams share a stadium in Colombia’s second biggest city, Medellin! WHAT’S THE BEEF? The two sides play in the Estadio Atanasio Girardot, and they are always battling to be the biggest team in Colombia. Independiente are one of the oldest clubs in the country, but their fans have had to spend loads of time waiting for silverware, while their local rivals have become the Categoria Primera A’s most successful team! HEROES & VILLAINS Lethal Medellin-born striker Victor Aristizabal bagged a record 19 derby goals in four different spells with Nacional! Independiente goal machine German Cano has been the league’s top scorer for the last two years, but he’s only netted four times against…

Daniel James came so close to joining Leeds back in January, he even posed with their shirt! Non-league Hartlepool have one of the weirdest footy nicknames around – they’re known as the ‘Monkey Hangers’! 100 Joao Felix had 100% shot accuracy and completed 100% of his dribbles on his La Liga debut! 10 Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian actually played as a striker until he was ten years old and his club needed a new goalie! Marseille sacked defender Adil Rami after he skipped a training session to appear on a French reality TV programme. Fail! 6 Eden Hazard’s new Madrid house has six bedrooms, a pool, tennis courts and a cinema room! Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa is nicknamed ‘El Loco’ – ‘The Crazy Guy’ in English! 7 Sadio Mane says he…