Liverpool has been having a difficult season ever since Virgil Van Dijk sustained the season-ending injury at Goodison Park at the hands of Jordan Pickford. Since then, almost all of their first team center-backs have been out with injuries sustained throughout the campaign.
However, the threat to Liverpool’s season has extended to a place in the Champions League. The reds are currently eight points behind Chelsea, but with a game in hand, and are in 8th place right now.
Should they finish outside the top four this season, they could be looking at a financial loss worth £50 million for sure. While their sponsorship deal with Nike does not include any penalty or reduction for not making it to the Champions League, a second consecutive season outside the top flight of Europe will cause Nike to ask for reductions.
Additionally, Liverpool will be missing out on certain bonuses that Nike has in their contract with the Merseyside club. The contract is meant to be worth £30 million and will be a big blow considering the current financial climate due to the pandemic.
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The club has been careful enough to include financial reductions in the contracts of players and coaching staff should they fail to qualify for the Champions League. And considering the scary drop inform that they have had to endure over their games since the turn of the year, it looks ever so unlikely that they will manage to end the season in the top four.
Manchester City is emerging as the frontrunners in the race to sign Erling Haaland this summer. Their rivals, United, are also interested in signing the player. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s relations with the striker are excellent. While he could convince the player to join him at Old Trafford, it is unlikely that Mino Raiola will deal with United again and that his father, Alfie Haaland, will entertain bids from the Reds.
Premier League clubs Chelsea and Liverpool are the only other clubs apart from City and United who are willing to spend the money to bring in the Norway international. However, it must be remembered that Dortmund has a €75 million release clause in the player’s contract that comes into effect from 2022.
The release clause states that the entirety of the €75 million must be paid in one go, which is not something that many clubs in the world will be able to afford, given the current financial climate.
Mino Raiola has had a strained relation with Pep Guardiola regarding the falling out between himself and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona. However, the super-agent is willing to bury the hatchet and move on to better and more important business pieces that will be beneficial for everyone.
The arrival of Haaland at City will mean a permanent replacement for Sergio Aguero, who is yet to agree on a new contract with the club since his current deal expires at the end of the season.
Haaland’s only condition that will get transferred; this summer is if Dortmund fails to qualify for the Champions League. Otherwise, we will have to wait till 2022 to see the transfer saga unfold.
The entire North America sales data for February 2021 has been released by the NPD group, and this year the industry continues to shape up well. February numbers were so impressive especially year-on-year with players spending $4.6 billion on games, additional hardware, and content. Comparing to February 2020, that’s up 35%.
Hardware sales were particularly noticeable, up 121% year-on-year, with both the Switch and PS5 setting records. The PlayStation 5 is the fastest-selling console based on dollars generated in US history after four months on the market, although Switch did beat it, which had the best February of any console since the Wii in 2009. As of March, Switch has crossed the DS, making it the second best-selling Nintendo platform of all time behind the Wii.
On the software front, the dominant Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War fell down and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury acquired the top spot in the chart. Meanwhile, Persona 5 Strikers and Little Nightmares II both did their debut very well with acquiring number 3 and 6 spots respectively.
According to NPD, here are the top 20 games of February:
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Persona 5 Strikers
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Madden NFL 21
Little Nightmares II
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
FIFA 21 Electronic Arts
NBA 2K21
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Mortal Kombat 11
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Ring Fit Adventure
Just Dance 2021
Minecraft (PS4 Edition)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Here are the top 10 best-selling games of 2021:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Madden NFL 21
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Persona 5 Strikers
Ring Fit Adventure
What you are going to choose from the lists? Let me know in the comment section.
The Vivo X60 series is now launching globally including India and the launch date has been scheduled for March 25. The Vivo X60 series includes three smartphones, they are Vivo X60, Vivo X60 Pro, and Vivo X60 Pro+. Recently, leaker Ishan Agarwal has come out with the details of their color, memory variants.
For the Vivo X60 model we can expect two storage variants as well as two different colour options in this smartphone. We can expect this phone to come in black and blue colour options. The storage variants expected in this phone are 8+128GB and 12+256GB.
The Vivo X60 Pro model is expected to come in black and blue colours and only one storage option of 12GB RAM + 256GB storage. Whereas, the Vivo X60 Pro+ model is only expected to have a blue colour option along with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage.
The design remains intact from the Chinese version of the Vivo X60 Pro+ variant and is also expected to retain all the specs and features including the Snapdragon 888 SoC in the Indian version also. The other two models Vivo X60 and X60 Pro might pack the Snapdragon 870 SoC, but this is yet not confirmed. We are willing to wait a bit longer for more specs to surface about all the three devices ahead of the India launch.
Micromax, the Indian multinational electronics company, has announced that they will be launching a new IN 1 smartphone in India on March 19. The entire specification of this new smartphone is now announced on Twitter. Many people are terming the new device as a watered-down variant of the IN Note 1.
The tipster has revealed that the device is expected to sport a 6.67-inch FHD+ display and come with a screen resolution of 2460 × 1080 pixels. It will also have a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera and comes without a 21:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is expected to be powered by MediaTek’s Helio G80 chipset.
EXCLUSIVE: Micromax IN1 Specs:
• MediaTek Helio G80 • 6.67-inch FHD+ punch hole display • up to 6GB RAM • up to 128GB ROM • 5000mAh battery, 18W charging • 48MP + 2MP + 2MP (no ultrawide) • 8MP selfie camera • Rear fingerprint scanner#IN1#MicromaxIn1https://t.co/I1xkbQ7MzQ
The IN Note 1 we are talking about was powered by MediaTek’s Helio G85 SoC. It is being sold at Rs 11,499 (4 GB RAM) on Flipkart. According to the leaked report, the Micromax IN 1 will be coupled with a 6 GB RAM and a 128 GB storage option. But as compared to Note 1, it won’t be having an ultrawide lens.
In terms of optics, the upcoming smartphone will sport a triple-camera setup. The main camera will have a 48 MP lens and will be supported by a pair of 2 MP sensors. Talking about the selfies, it will have an 8 MP selfie shooter. It will draw energy from a 5,000 mAh battery cell and will be paired with an 18W fast charging support. From the leaks what we can infer is that the company wants IN 1 to be a mix of IN 1b and IN Note 1 handsets.
The price of this device is still unknown but we will get all the specs and price after just one week. Hopefully, the new smartphone can attract customers as Micromax tries to regain the Indian market which they lead in 2010-2015.
Barcelona were unable to repeat the Remontada against PSG, and were knocked out of the Champions League in the Round of 16, ending another frustrating campaign in European competition for Lionel Messi and co. His ‘rival’, Cristiano Ronaldo also suffered the same fate as Juventus were dumped out of the tournament by Porto.
This is the first season in 16 years that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be competing in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Both of them have had frustrating exits to the Champions League in recent seasons, with Juventus being eliminated by Ajax, Lyon and Porto while Barcelona being defeated by Liverpool, Bayern and PSG rather infamously in all cases.
Given that Ronaldo is 36 and Messi is set to turn 34 this June, we must slowly start accepting that the two greatest players in the world are, or rather, have entered the final years of their footballing careers.
On the other hand, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are both in the quarter finals of the Champions League this season. While Haaland became the youngest player to score 20 Champions League goals in history, Mbappe is the youngest player to score 25, dethroning Lionel Messi as the previous holder of that record.
The two players are 20 and 22 respectively, and considering the performances we have seen from them both, it’s not a question any more. We are in fact, looking at the next big rivalry in football and the heir to the Messi-Ronaldo saga that has never truly been conclusive.
The upcoming summer transfer window is shaping up to be one of the most high profile ones in recent memory. Many big names are out of a contract at the end of the season, while others are on the verge of leaving their current clubs.
The likes of Sergio Aguero, Paul Pogba, Jerome Boateng and Jason Sancho miss out on the list simply because the others outweigh them in terms of recent performances on the pitch and demand.
Here are the Big Six players who are being linked with a move away from their current clubs:
6. David Alaba
Alaba has already made it clear that he will be leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season. However, where the Austrian will end up hasn’t yet been sorted out. Real Madrid are leading the race for the defender, who will be available on a free transfer. However, his salary demands have made things a little difficult to sort out.
5. Kylian Mbappe
TOPSHOT – Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Dijon, on February 29, 2020 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Real Madrid and Liverpool are the two names linked with a move for the French superstar, and the former has been rumoured to be preparing a €200 million bid this summer for as long as the mind can recall. All this could become reality if PSG do not agree a new contract with Mbappe by the summer window.
4. Erling Haaland
While the player has a release clause that comes into play from 2022, the variable happens to be whether Dortmund manage to achieve a top four finish at the end of the season to qualify for the Champions League. If they fail to do so, they might have to sell Haaland since he has made it clear that he wants to compete in the top flight of European competition.
3. Sergio Ramos
The Real Madrid captain is yet to agree on a new contract with his club, and at the end of the season, will be without a club if no deal is agreed. The situation has been stale for a few months, and Florentino Perez himself is set to be involved in negotiations with Ramos towards the end of the season.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
To clarify, we must put it out there that Ronaldo’s time at Juventus has been an individual success. However, considering that the purpose of bringing Ronaldo was to win the Champions League, the project has not been successful. Juventus have only made it into the quarter finals of the tournament since Ronaldo arrived, and have been knocked out in the Round of 16 for two years running. Juventus are now reportedly looking to offload Ronaldo’s hefty wages from their books, and a return to Madrid seems to be on the cards.
1. Lionel Messi
Despite Joan Laporta being re-elected as the new Barcelona president, Lionel Messi is still in the final months of his contract at Barcelona and will have to leave the club if the new project does not convince him to stay. Fans of the club will be waiting anxiously to learn the outcome of the Messi transfer saga that has been looming ever since he handed in the burofax transfer request last summer.
Team India lost the first T20 against England last night. The visitors took the lead in the series by beating Virat Kohli’s men by 8 wickets.
Before the first T20I, India skipper Virat Kohli promised that Indian Batsmen will be more expressive and aggressive in the T20 series. But the things have gone wrong for the Men in Blue in the first T20 at Motera’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
England won the toss and elected to bowl first. They restricted India within 124 runs in 20 overs. In response, England reached the target within 15.3 overs with 8 wickets in hand.
Virat Kohli made some interesting changes to the team. Rohit Sharma was given rest in the first T20. Shikhar Dhawan played in place of the ‘Hitman’. The skipper himself has gone for a duck. After that, some questions arose again regarding Kohli’s recent form.
After the match, former England captain Michael Vaughan slams Virat Kohli and Team India for the poor performance. He tried to troll Team India by saying, “The Mumbai Indians are a better T20 team than Team India.”
However, he got some responses from the Indians as well. Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer replied, “Not all teams are lucky enough to play four overseas players Michael.”
5 England cricketers were not originally England natives. Jason Roy was born in Durban, South Africa; Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan were born in Barbados; Ben Stokes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and Englan captain Eoin Morgan was born in Dublin, Ireland.
Team India will surely try to respond the critics in the next game. They will face England tomorrow at the same venue.
In a now-deleted tweet by a Twitter user Raihu, it was reported that Intel’s Xe HPG could have 960 EUs instead of the expected 512 EUs for the top-end model. The cores will also be increased from 4096 to 7680 and also will increase the card’s expected TFLOP rating if true.
Intel’s Chief Architect Raja Koduri has posted an image of what appears to be the upcoming Xe HPG GPU from Intel on his Twitter handle. When we focus on the image posted, we note that the benchmark was running a test that could only have been run on the HPG GPU.
According to sources, the test was being conducted in the XDR or raytraced 3D Test. The Intel Xe HPG GPU is the company’s upcoming GPU and will feature many new features, including hardware-based ray tracing. In the tweet, with the image enhanced, of course, you can see that the 3DMark screen shows the XDR test on the extreme right side of the window – implying this is either the Xe HPG (aka DG2) GPU.
From 2012 to 2021 – same Intel Folsom lab, many of the same engineers with more grey hair , I was at Apple back then, getting hands on with pre-production crystalwell, 9 years later playing with a GPU that’s >20x faster! pic.twitter.com/RgmRJuhOXw
The GPU in question is on a test-board that features a high-flow CPU-style cooler and heatsink. Raja is known for dropping critical hints at the time, and if Raja is teasing the GPU then we are likely looking at on-shelve availability in a few months.
It took the DG1 roughly 6 months from going from the final prototype testing to being officially announced and if the same holds, we might see Xe HPG in some form before the year is over.
One common complaint of smartphone users is that the more they use their device, the faster the battery discharges. It is a general problem that the battery of smartphones swells up and it loses the robustness and longevity because of which it was purchased. The US tech giant, Apple, is moving towards solving this issue of customers.
The company aims to prevent user device’s batteries from swelling and eventual wear and tear. Now, Apple has reportedly filed a patent for a technology that will allow a device to ‘detect’ a swelling battery. They have filed for another patent for making smaller devices thanks to improved batteries. This will eventually help Apple to create smaller devices that can be carried easily.
Both of these technologies will go together to make the battery better so that they don’t get swelled up. The Cupertino-based giant is aware that every battery which is backed with the lithium-ion design suffers from this wear and tear. Thus, making something new to counter this will be a huge step-long usage of smartphones. According to reports, a metal shell will be placed around the battery housing to counter any swelling up of the battery.
This metal shell will make components be packed closely to the battery. Thus, limiting the damages caused to other parts due to the expansion of the battery case. Apple aims not only the early detection of battery swelling up but also is trying to build a processor which will slow any such expansion. As this is just a patent, we have to wait for sometime before Apple is able to make such a product. But seeing their willingness towards solving issues of customers has to be applauded.
