⚽ Dembélé makes history: French striker Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain was awarded the 2025 Ballon d’Or for footballer of the year. An outpouring of support for Liverpool and homegrown star Mohamed Salah flooded the internet, with many believing he was snubbed even as he moved up in the rankings, securing fourth place after a standout season with Liverpool — his best since entering the list in 2018.

TOP AWARD RESULTS-

  • Woman player of the year: For the third consecutive year, Aitana Bonmatí — Barcelona;
  • Young player of the year: Lamine Yamal — Barcelona;
  • Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma — Manchester City/Paris Saint-Germain;
  • Striker: Viktor Gyökeres — Arsenal/Sporting Lisbon;
  • Men’s club: Paris Saint-Germain;
  • Women’s club: Arsenal.

A continental showdown in Jeddah: Al Hilal is hosting Pyramids at Al Inmaa Stadium tonight for the African-Asian-Pacific Cup as part of the Intercontinental Cup competition.

Where things stand: Pyramids are walking onto the pitch fresh off a stunning 3-0 victory over New Zealand’s Auckland City. Our homegrown team aims to make a mark on the continental stage and secure a spot in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Al Hilal has had quite the journey, climbing back from Saudi Arabia’s second division to become Asian champions.

Egyptian league action: Al Ahly will face Haras El Hodoud in an away game at 5pm, as part of the 8th round of the Nile League. The Red Devils have finally found their form with a win against Ceramica Cleopatra, ending a rough patch that had them in 11th place with just nine points. They’ll want to secure all three points from this match before their showdown against Zamalek next Monday.

Meanwhile: Zamalek are taking on El Gouna at Cairo Stadium at 8pm tonight. The White Knights are comfortably at the top of the scoreboard with 16 points, just one ahead of Al Masry despite having a game in hand. A win would give them the momentum they need to extend their lead.

En España: Real Madrid is heading to Levante for their sixth La Liga game tonight at 10:30pm. Los Blancos have a two-point cushion over Barcelona after picking up 15 points from their opening five games.

Other Spanish fixtures tonight:

  • Athletic Bilbao vs. Girona (8pm);
  • Espanyol vs. Valencia (8pm);
  • Sevilla vs. Villarreal (10:30pm).

The Carabao Cup returns: The third round (Round of 32) of the English cup returns tonight with eight matches, with Liverpool and Chelsea among the Premier League teams in action.

Chelsea’s away day: The Blues are visiting Lincoln City at 9:45pm, desperately needing to snap a poor run that’s seen them without victory in their last three matches across the Premier and Champions Leagues.

Liverpool rotation expected: The Reds will be hosting Southampton at 10pm tonight at the historic Anfield. With their strong form continuing after beating out Atlético Madrid, we expect Slot to shuffle the deck. Salah, van Dijk, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, and Konaté are all likely to sit this one out.

Tonight’s other cup ties will be kicking off at 9:45pm:

  • Barnsley vs. Brighton;
  • Burnley vs. Cardiff City;
  • Fulham vs. Cambridge United;
  • Wigan vs. Wycombe;
  • Wolverhampton vs. Everton;
  • Wrexham vs. Reading.
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