LONELY

Constitutional lawyer and Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) on Thursday came down hard on proponents of the agitation of Biafra Republic, saying they are doing so for selfish reasons. Speaking in a chat with Daily Independent on why the agitation for Biafra became so serious after former president Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, Sagay said those clamouring for Biafra are doing so in order to intimidate President Muhammadu Buhari into giving the Igbos positions they don’t deserve having rigged themselves out of contention in the present administration. Describing the Igbos as die-hard loyalists of Jonathan, he said the Igbos who occupied 50 percent of federal positions in the country under the Jonathan administration resorted to rigging for the PDP in the last general elections. According to him, having lost out due to their lack of principle, opportunism and rigging, the Igbos decided to resurrect Biafra as a ploy to negotiate with the...

After a weekend without football for Liverpool, the Premier League is back. Jurgen Klopp's Reds are pushing for second place and are looking to build on a magnificent 5-0 thrashing of Porto in the Champions League. Standing in their way in West Ham and old foe David Moyes as the Hammers look to build on a victory against Watford last time out. Team news Klopp has almost a clean bill of health as his squad approaches full fitness. Joe Gomez is back and will compete with Trent Alexander-Arnold for the right-back berth. Nathaniel Clyne is back in full training but not yet fit enough to play a part. For the visitors Winston Reid is available after a throat infection and the Liverpool-linked Manuel Lanzini is also fit after a hamstring problem.

Manchester United vs Chelsea is one tie Premier League fans always look out for when the fixtures are released and with the race for the top-four heating up, Sunday’s clash at Old Trafford has plenty at stake for both sides. United, despite struggling for cohesion up top, are still second in the league table while Chelsea are just three points behind their rivals. It’s been a far from ideal campaign for both the big-spending Red Devils and the defending champions as Manchester City have left all trailing in their wake to effectively seal this year’s title. Thrown in a rejuvenated Liverpool (3rd) and Tottenham Hotspur (5th) in the mix and neither Jose Mourinho nor Antonio Conte (whose bitter feuds is a tantalising sub-plot) can take a top-four spot for granted. So with the Red Devils set to host the Blues at Old Trafford on Sunday in the highlight Premier League fixture of Matchday 28, The Statesman picks the five players likely to be at the centre of proceedings: Paul Pogba (Manche...

 On March 18, Russians will vote to decide who will be their next president, with every indication that Vladimir Putin will win his fourth term. "It is not difficult to win an election when your opponents are not actually on the ballot," says Vladimir Kara-Murza, a leading Russian opposition figure and activist, based in Washington. "Russian authorities have deliberately disenfranchised [opposition leader Alexei Navalny] with a politically motivated court conviction," says Kara-Murza. Without Navalny and Boris Nemtsov, another key opposition figure who was murdered in 2015, Putin is now running effectively unopposed. But some, such as Russian-American journalist Vladimir Pozner, believe Putin's popularity at home cannot be ignored. "Putin has a very high percentage of support," says Pozner. "And it's not because people are stupid." In Russia's highly-controlled media environment, dissenting voices have been suppressed, however...

The signing of Olivier Giroud in January created a revolving door effect across the transfer market. The move facilitated Arsenal’s purchase of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang as Borussia Dortmund were waiting to line up a replacement, which came in the form of Michi Batshuayi. The Frenchman moved to Stamford Bridge in search of first-team football. Olivier Giroud didn’t take too kindly to the signing of Alexandre Lacazette as he didn’t feel he would then get the sufficient playing time in light of the world cup this summer. Since moving to Chelsea, the 31-year-old has directly contributed to 2 goals in 3 appearances. However, his starting spot in the league is under doubt as he’s still competing with Álvaro Morata. Even with that, neither of the two started the blockbuster tie with Barcelona as Antonio Conte instead opted to start Eden Hazard at false 9. Against Manchester United, it would be suicide for the Italian to do the same, either Morata or Giroud needs to start. Let’s analyse ...

There are so many superb dribblers in European football right now that it’s difficult to distinguish the best of the best. That is, at least, until now. It’s all well and good looking to beat a man at any opportunity after all, only to turnover possession and frustrate the fans in the process. Then there are those that can hold off opponents with ease but are more cautious with their approach and only look to attempt dribble when a pass is not on. We at WhoScored.com, then, have compiled a select group of players based on the frequency of their successful dribbles and then assessed them in terms of overall success rate to decipher which has the best combination of both. To narrow our search down, only the 37 players to have started at least ten games across Europe’s top five leagues and completed a dribble under 30 minutes on average have been analysed. Plotting the frequency (minutes per successful dribble) against success rate (percentage of dribbles attempted that were successful...

Pairings for the Europa League round of 16 after the draw on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland:  Lazio (ITA) v Dynamo Kiev (UKR)  RB Leipzig (GER) v Zenit Saint-Petersburg (RUS)  Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS)  CSKA Moscow (RUS) v Lyon (FRA)  Marseille (FRA) v Athletic Bilbao (ESP)  Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Plzen (CZE)  Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Salzburg (AUT)  AC Milan (ITA) v Arsenal (ENG)  Matches to be played on 8 March and 15 March View image on Twitter UEFA Europa League ✔ @EuropaLeague The official result of the Round of 16 # UELdraw ! Most exciting tie? 1:19 PM - Feb 23, 2018 6,296 5,706 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy Europa League Calendar: Quarter-final draw, March 16 Quarter-finals first leg, April 5 Quarter-finals second leg, April 12 Semi-finals draw, April 13 Semi-finals first leg, April 26 Semi-finals second leg, May 3 Final in Lyon, May 16