Sports Poets Society

MARK PAIN/ALAMY LIVE NEWSThe feelgood factor arrives at Spurs as Richarlison is swarmed after his opening-day scissor kick. It did not last 24 Jan 2026 THE GUARDIAN / Sport This weekend’s match-ups are the same as the first round but plenty of managers, players and optimism levels are not. Sachin Nakrani and David Hills reassess the story Aston Villa 0  Newcastle 0 Then Aston Villa  Mood not great given the previous campaign had ended with them being pipped to Champions League qualification by their opening-day opponents. Newcastle  Alexander Isak was refusing to play as part of an attempt to force a move to Liverpool. Attempts to lure Yoane Wissa from Brentford were also proving difficult. Now Aston Villa  Firmly ensconced in third on the back of 11 successive wins at Villa Park, a run brought to an end by Everton last weekend. Morgan Rogers has delivered eyecatching displays. Newcastle  Eighth – very good home form but very poor away form. Nick Woltemade – Is...

League leaders have scored a glut of goals from dead balls this season – and they may be about to master throw-ins too 24 Jan 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Niall Mcveigh Set pieces are dominating the Premier League this season, with almost 30% of goals coming from corners, free-kicks, penalties or long throws. The leaders, Arsenal, are kings of the dead ball, scoring 17 of their 40 league goals from set pieces (including penalties). But what makes Mikel Arteta ’s side so effective in these areas, and what can opponents do to stop them? The data provides some answers. Rice and Saka in the swing Arsenal have scored 19 goals from corners in all competitions this season. Much of the credit for that goes to their primary corner takers, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka . Taking corners from the left with his right foot, Rice has created eight goals, compared with five from Saka , who offers left-foot deliveries from the right. The vast majority of Arsenal’s corners (81%) are in-swinging, and statis...

24 Jan 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Jonathan Wilson The problem Manchester United have – after 13 years and seven managers of failure – is that for whatever action they take now, there is a bad precedent. Keep Michael Carrick on, and it’s just another Ole Gunnar Solskjaer situation. But replace him and, for almost whoever they appoint – be it a Premier League veteran, foreign maestro, renowned pasthis-best winner, Red Bull-adjacent gegenpresser, austere Dutchman or Portuguese ideologue – they have done it before and it hasn’t worked. It’s almost like the biggest problem at the club isn’t the manager. Carrick’s start was undeniably impressive. There was pace and zip and creativity. The relief of players being released from the 3-4-2-1 was akin to one of those videos of cows being allowed back into the pasture after being kept in a barn over the winter. Who could possibly have predicted that Amad Diallo would excel as a right-sided forward, or that Bruno Fernandes might thrive as a No...

Jakob Ingebrigtsen's magnificent obsession ‘Winning is an obsession,  but it’s one I’ve been feeding my whole life’ At home in Norway, the iron man of athletics says his career feels like ‘99% losses’ but plans to retire as the greatest distance runner in history ‘For me, this is not only a job,  I’ve had this life for as long as I can remember’ ‘I am very much an introvert in general,  but am an extrovert in an environment where I feel safe’ 24 Jan 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Sean Ingle On a bone-cold new year’s morning, the world’s most compelling athlete is sweating so much that tiny puddles are starting to ooze across his treadmill. MARIE VON KROGH/ THE GUARDIAN For 40 minutes Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes 6min 40sec mile pace look like a Sunday stroll, breezily chatting away even as the heatbox in his home gym pushes the temperature inside to more than 32.4C (90F). Only when I ask the double Olympic champion what his super-strength is does he pause to take a proper brea...

Renate Reinsve in una scena di Sentimental Value con l’attore svedese Stellan Skarsgård, 74 anni, premiato per il film con il Golden Globe al miglior attore non protagonista. È il padre di Nora, il personaggio interpretato da Reinsve Pronta a correre per gli Oscar, racconta l’esperienza collettiva di  Sentimental Value : «Si è generato tra noi attori uno scambio continuo attorno al nostro stare in una famiglia». Il connubio col regista danese, Joachim Trier, al terzo lavoro con lei: «Agisce sempre su temi profondamente umani su cui va a fondo creando intimità» «SUL SET EMERGEVANO LE EMOZIONI DI TUTTI,  ABBIAMO PIANTO DI CONTINUO.  IO SAREI LA ISABELLE HUPPERT NORVEGESE?  SE CI CREDO SONO NEI GUAI...» 23 Jan 2026 - Corriere della Sera - Sette di CRISTIANA ALLIEVI Ci sono imbarazzi difficili da sostenere. Per Renate Reinsve, 38 anni, attrice ed ex modella norvegese, uno di questi è sentirsi dire che in Francia parlano di lei come «nuova Isabelle Huppert scandinava». D...

‘Passion and devotion can bring you to your knees’ Amanda Seyfried The Testament of Ann Lee star on madness, motherhood – and Manchester accents The Testament of Ann Lee is a bonkers fantasia about an obscure religious sect.  Star Amanda Seyfried and writer-director Mona Fastvold talk obsession, devotion – and the joy of paired socks ‘I’d work on my Mancunian accent  by watching videos of Maxine Peake’ 23 Jan 2026 - The Guardian / G2 Ryan Gilbey Not many actors take an interest in the audience’s aftercare. When it comes to The Testament of Ann Lee , however, Amanda Seyfried is hands-on. “Did you watch it with someone you could talk to?” she asks, giving a worried look when I admit that I saw it alone. “It’s nice to process it with somebody else.” Her concern is understandable. Heady and rapturous, this is the sort of go-for-broke phantasmagoria – an 18th-century musical biopic complete with feverish visions and levitating – that was once typical of Lars von Trier . I confe...

Brazilian midfielder Léo Scienza endured depression and hard times to finally be thriving with Southampton ‘Friends ask me if I dream of playing for Brazil.  That’s crazy, but in a good way. It’s not reality’ 23 Jan 2026 - The Guardian Thiago Rabelo Seven years ago Léo Scienza’s life broke into a thousand pieces. On his 20th birthday his father died and the young footballer locked himself in his room for two months, having lost the will to live . “You know when everything is bad and nothing makes sense any more?” the Southampton midfielder says. “My life had no meaning any more. “Everyone has a dark side and I’m not the best person to talk about depression or what depression is. In fact, I only understood it later. My father died on my birthday – that will always be marked in my life. After he died I just wanted to stay in my dark room doing nothing. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to talk to anyone.” The Brazilian can talk about it now but it is clear it remains a haunt...

NATE KOPPELMAN/SUSA/ICON SPORT - Maple, Zayu et Clutch,  les mascottes des pays hôtes de cette édition, le 14 janvier, à Washington. FOOTBALL - Dans un contexte international tendu, même si pour l’instant aucune sélection n’a annoncé son intention de boycotter la Coupe du monde 2026, des voix s’élèvent contre la politique de Donald Trump et appellent à ne pas participer à l’événement. En décembre, Gianni Infantino décernait le prix de la Paix de la FIFA au président états-unien. 23 Jan 2026 - L'Humanité ÉRIC SERRES Alors que la Coupe du monde 2026 (du 11 juin au 19 juillet, aux ÉtatsUnis, Canada et Mexique) se rapproche à grands pas, où 48 nations se disputeront le plus prestigieux des trophées du football, certains montent au créneau pour appeler au boycott de la compétition, et tout particulièrement des matchs qui se dérouleront sur le territoire états-unien. Les motifs de mécontentement se multiplient face au diktat du président Donald Trump, qui veut tailler l’événement à sa ma...

Comme la plupart des équipes professionnelles,  la formation belge Soudal-Quick Step est monté au Coll de Rates  (voir aussi ci-dessous) lors d'un de ses stages d’intersaison. Situé sur la Costa Blanca, en Espagne, le Coll de Rates est devenu, ces dernières années, un des lieux les plus prisés des professionnels pour s’entraîner et des amateurs pour se montrer. "Là, c’est encore un peu tôt, mais mi-janvier,  vous pouvez voir quasiment toutes les équipes  pros sur une seule journée"    -  VALENTIN PARET-PEINTRE,        GRIMPEUR DE SOUDAL QUICKSTEP 23 Jan 2026 - L'Équipe YOHANN HAUTBOIS COLL DE RATES (ESP) – Et puis le silence, enfin. Une voiture de TotalÉnergies, gyrophare éteint, vient de quitter le parking, les derniers cyclotouristes ont entamé la descente vers Bolulla et Callosa d’en Sarria, laissant derrière eux le murmure des dérailleurs et le Coll de Rates à sa quiétude, après une matinée à être escaladé par des centaines de c...