stick

Erling Haaland calls on Man City to unit as Premier League club appeals more than 100 charges of wrongdoing.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland says the Premier League club must ‘stick together’ following the guilty verdict delivered on more than 100 charges for financial breaches.

The league leaders head to Liverpool on Sunday ⁠⁠for their first game since an independent commission found the club guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules over nine years, as well as charges relating to their failure to co-operate with the investigation.

City have insisted they are innocent of all charges and have appealed the decision. Should the verdict be upheld, City could face relegation, points deductions and fines.

“We are going to have a good time [on Sunday]. We have to stick together, we have to stay positive. We have to look ahead and try to win football games,” Haaland told the United Kingdom broadcaster Sky Sports.

“No matter what happens in life we always have to have a smile.”

“We have to enjoy the situation. We have to spread the love to each other, stick together, enjoy the ride and smile.”

Haaland welcomes Liverpool test for Manchester City

City have won all five of their matches in the Premier League this season and are three points clear of last season’s champions, Arsenal.

Liverpool are sixth in the league and six points behind City, after a mixed start for their new manager Andoni Iraola. The joint record Premier League winners, with 20 titles alongside Manchester United, are, however, undefeated.

The Reds will also be buoyed by what is expected to be an even more vociferous support than usual at their Anfield home.

During the period that Manchester City were investigated, 2009-2018, Liverpool finished second by two points behind City.

Under the management of Jurgen Klopp, they also twice finished just a point behind Pep Guardiola’s City in subsequent years.

The allegation from rival fans is that City’s financial wrongdoing was tantamount to cheating and gave the club a significant advantage during that time and the seasons that have followed the period in question.

With that, Anfield is expected to deliver an angry and hostile reception for the current City squad, but Haaland, who played with Molde, Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund before joining City, says the game itself is always a big occasion.

“It is always special to play against Liverpool,” Haaland continued.

“Especially with Pep and Klopp, I remember sitting in Molde, Salzburg and Dortmund watching the games and how much they pushed each other.

“It is always special to play a game there. Every game against Liverpool is special.”

What does the future hold for Haaland and Man City?

Haaland was born in England, while his father – Alf-Inge Haaland – was a player in the Premier League for City and Leeds United.

The 26-year-old Norwegian international has, alongside the majority of City’s squad, been heavily linked with a move away from the club, should they be relegated.

In the meantime, Haaland was keen to stress what the club means to him and his family.

“I care a lot about this place. I spent my first four years here. It is a special place for us [his family],” Haaland added.

“I care a lot about City and the fans, I am a fan myself and I feel with them.”

OLIVIA Bowen has revealed her four-year-old son came within millimetres of losing his eye after a freak accident at nursery.

An ambulance was called to rush little Abel to hospital after he impaled his eye with a stick while playing outside last year as part of forest school.

Olivia, 32, described the phone call informing her as the “scariest” of her life and she immediately made her way to the school to be by her son’s side.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Olivia said: “It was probably his first big accident, and when we got there, he just had a patch over his eye, there was blood everywhere.

“We didn’t know whether it had gone right into his eye and touched his eyeball, if it had missed it, if it was stuck, we had no clue, because he wouldn’t let us open it.”

Abel needed surgery to fix the wound, which included a sliced tearduct, and had a stent fitted to help with drainage during recovery.

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Love Island runner-up Olivia, who is also mum to Siena, one, said it was a “pure miracle” that Abel could still see and a follow-up eye test found he had 20-20 vision.

“I’ve never really thought about how important eyesight is, it’s something we take for granted every single day, especially with the kids, starting school, learning to read, it’s something I’ve never particularly thought about until that moment,” said Olivia.

The terrifying ordeal was the motivation for the mum-of-two to back a new campaign with The College of Optometrists that encourages parents to take their young children for free eye tests before they start school.

New research has found that just five percent of under-fives had an eye test last year.

Now, in a new drive to diagnose conditions early and achieve the best possible outcomes, The College wants parents to book appointments for their little ones.

In the UK all children under 16 are entitled to free eye tests, and this rises up to 19 for those still in full-time education.

And the research shows under-16s fare better than the preschoolers, with close to half having tested their eyes in 2025.

“The opticians, they’re just so kind,” said Olivia. “This is their job, this is what they do, and they want us to be going, because catching things in kids’ eye health early is so important, especially at that stage, before they start school.

“It’s daunting enough starting school, imagine if your child has got an issue with their eyesight? It’s going to make it even harder, so catching it at that point is probably the biggest piece of advice that they want to get through to everyone, and then follow up appointments, every one to two years.”