dstv premier league 2024? The 2023-24 Premier League season will kick off on 12 August and will have a mid-season player break in January, the English top flight league said on Tuesday. This season will be paused after the coming weekend’s games for the mid-season World Cup in Qatar, and it will resume on 26 December with Boxing Day fixtures. The final match round of the season is scheduled for 28 May, giving players nearly 11 weeks before the next season kicks off. “The season schedule returns to normal following the Covid-19 pandemic and the Fifa World Cup 2022, which provided disruption during the previous three seasons,” the league said. “In keeping with commitments made to clubs this season to address the congested schedule across Christmas and New Year, no two rounds in this period will take place within 48 hours of each other.” The 2023-24 campaign will finish on 19 May, 2024, while the mid-season player break is scheduled for 13-20 January.Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said he does not require promises of job security from new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe amid uncertainty over his future, adding that he is focused on ensuring the club continues to progress and improve. Ten Hag was hired in 2022 and guided United to a third-place finish in the Premier League as well as the League Cup title in his first season, but their current campaign has been less convincing. United’s season has been plagued by inconsistent performances and injury woes, with the Manchester club in sixth place after their 2-1 league loss to Fulham on Saturday. The defeat, which came just three days after Ratcliffe vowed to bring United back to their glory days, added to the intense scrutiny and pressure on Ten Hag. Asked whether it would benefit the club for Ratcliffe to publicly confirm Ten Hag as United’s long-term manager, the Dutchman told reporters: “I’m under contract for three seasons, so I don’t care. “I am in this process, I’m only focusing on the process, so I don’t care what’s going on around me,” Ten Hag added, speaking ahead of a fifth-round FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. “I have many talks with Sir Jim Radcliffe, also with Sir Dave Brailsford and others in that group, so I know what we are talking about and I have a strong belief and I feel that they believe in me. “I want to win every game. I know I’m in a process, I know what I’m doing. I focus on those two points – progress of the team in this moment and the next game, and to think about the future, and to do that in togetherness.”Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma will likely miss the rest of the season due to a back problem, manager Roberto De Zerbi said on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Japan international had missed Brighton’s 1-1 home draw against Everton in the Premier League at the weekend with the same issue. Mitoma was also sidelined with an ankle injury in December but was called-up to the Japan squad for the Asian Cup, which concluded earlier this month. Japan were knocked out by Iran in the quarterfinals. Mitoma has three goals and six assists in 26 appearances across all competitions for Brighton this season. “I think we lost Mitoma until the end of the season,” De Zerbi told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers. “It’s an important problem. I think two or three months, finished (for) the season.” The Italian said Irishman Evan Ferguson, 19, will miss the game at Molineux through injury. Fellow forward Danny Welbeck also has a problem and will be assessed, while defender Joel Veltman will be out. Brighton, seventh in the Premier League standings after picking up 39 points from 26 matches, visit 12th-placed Fulham in the top flight on Saturday, followed by a trip to AS Roma for their Europa League last 16 first leg on 7 March.Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says under-performing Antony has the character to “fight back” based on his previous experience of managing the Brazil winger at Ajax. Antony has yet to make the starting line-up in the Premier League in 2024 but Ten Hag said the 24-year-old has “great abilities”. “I know from the past, he is unstoppable,” the Dutchman said on Tuesday. “No defender can stop him because he’s one of the quickest players in the first 10 yards. When he plays that game, he will perform. “I’m very confident he will do it for the future. He is resilient, he is a character and he will fight back. I back him and he now has to wait for his chance and once he is there he has to pick up.” Ten Hag was speaking ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Nottingham Forest, with United looking to rebound from their 2-1 loss to Fulham in the Premier League. The FA Cup represents United’s last realistic hope of a trophy this season, with Ten Hag aware of the expectations around the club. United face Manchester City on Sunday, where defeat would significantly dent their bid for Champions League qualification. “When you are unbeaten for January and February and you lose one game – we know our aim is to win every game, at United you have to win every game,” said Ten Hag. Casemiro is available for the trip to Nottingham after a cut head forced the midfielder off against Fulham. “Obviously it was a poor performance (against Fulham), a poor defeat, we are aware of this and we want to stay in every competition so, yeah, we have to win tomorrow,” said the United boss.Mauricio Pochettino believes he still has the backing of Chelsea’s owners after defeat by Liverpool in the League Cup final but accepts his future at Stamford Bridge is “out of my hands”. The under-pressure Argentine said he had had constructive conversations with Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali following Sunday’s 1-0 extra-time defeat at Wembley. The loss led to renewed criticism of Pochettino and his expensively assembled squad, with former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, now a TV pundit, accusing Chelsea of being nothing more than a “blue billion-pound bottle-job”. Chelsea, a mediocre 11th in the Premier League, will seek to revive their season at home to Leeds in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday. “I said hello to the owners when I saw them in the stadium and after (the final) I met Behdad and we were talking,” Pochettino said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “We were sharing our opinions about the game and the opportunity we missed to win a trophy because I think we played really well during the 90 minutes. “We created the best chances, we were not clinical enough but that is what has happened since the beginning of the season. “They (the owners) showed their support and after the game, Todd sent a nice message.” Pochettino, when asked if he would be given time to transform Chelsea’s fortunes, replied: “It’s not in my hands. We have a very good relationship with the owners, with the sporting director. “It’s up to them to trust or not. It’s not the coach’s decision.” In a fresh blow for the club, injury-ravaged France international Christopher Nkunku is set to spend up to a month on the sidelines with an unspecified injury sustained at the weekend. A hat-trick from Jarrod Bowen helped West Ham United to snap a six-match winless run in the Premier League as they secured their first victory of 2024 with a thrilling 4-2 home win over Brentford on Monday.David Moyes’ side moved up to eighth with 39 points, level with seventh-placed Brighton and five adrift of sixth-placed Manchester United. Brentford remain 16th with 25 points, five clear of the relegation zone. “I’d hoped it was coming. It was needed. Our form in six weeks has been poor. It’s good to score four goals and get a win at home,” Moyes told the BBC. “(Eighth place) is not bad at this time of the season. We’re always getting a level of criticism but we’re up there challenging. “There’s a lot of teams with a lot of money and experience. It was only three years ago we were battling to avoid relegation most seasons.” The hosts grabbed the lead five minutes into the game as Bowen collected Emerson’s pass from the left to slam home a fierce low shot before doubling the lead with a half-volley from close range two minutes later. Neal Maupay pulled one back for the visitors in the 13th minute following a pass from Keane Lewis-Potter, sliding through the centre of the box to lob the ball over French compatriot keeper Alphonse Areola. Bowen capitalised on Brentford’s sloppy defending to complete his first ever senior hat-trick with a header on the edge of the six-yard box in the 63rd minute, and Emerson made it 4-1 with a superb long-range shot into the top right corner in the 69th minute. Yoane Wissa scored eight minutes from time for Brentford, who came close to a stoppage time goal but fell short as they suffered their fifth defeat in their last six games. “There’s been a lot of games, at Hull City too, where I scored two but couldn’t get the third one,” Bowen said. “Inside I was really happy for myself to get that first hat-trick I’ve been waiting for many years. “We knew tonight we could create a home atmosphere with the fans and if we started well they’d respond to it.” West Ham next play at Everton on Saturday, while Brentford host Chelsea.Everton have had their points deduction for a breach of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules reduced to six points from 10, the club and the Premier League said on Monday. Everton were docked points with immediate effect in November after being found to have breached profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) relating to losses. The points deduction meant Everton dropped from 14th in the standings into the relegation zone with four points. The club filed an appeal against the initial deduction, which they labelled “wholly disproportionate and unjust”. “Everton can confirm an Appeal Board has concluded that the points deduction imposed by an independent Premier League Commission in November be reduced from 10 points to six points, with immediate effect,” a club statement said. The reduction means Everton move up to 15th in the standings with 25 points. “An independent Appeal Board has concluded that the sanction for Everton FC’s breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs), for the period ending Season 2021/22, will be an immediate six-point deduction,” the Premier League said in a statement.