{"id":921797,"date":"2026-07-22T20:18:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T01:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/youll-get-punished-nigerian-star-warns-coventry-city-ahead-of-arsenal-epl-opener\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:18:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T01:18:38","slug":"youll-get-punished-nigerian-star-warns-coventry-city-ahead-of-arsenal-epl-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/youll-get-punished-nigerian-star-warns-coventry-city-ahead-of-arsenal-epl-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou\u2019ll get punished\u201d \u2013 Nigerian star warns Coventry City ahead of Arsenal EPL opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal, Champions League, Final. Copyright: ImagoxChrisxFoxwellx<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 2026\/2027 Premier League season kicks off on the 21st of August, with Arsenal set to take on Coventry City in the opening fixture, Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sky Blue Stars will play top-flight football for the first time since 2001 after Frank Lampard led them to triumph in the EFL Championship last season. Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka was a key player in that team and has warned Coventry against complacency in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Arsenal, meanwhile, broke their 22-year jinx to win a Premier League title with a game to spare, edging Manchester City by seven points.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal. Copyright: ImagoxChrisxFoxwellx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get Our Sports News First \u2013\u00a0Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Onyeka spent five seasons in the English Premier League with Brentford, but the absence of quality playing time saw him seal a loan move to Coventry City, playing a key role as they sealed a return to the English top flight.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old joined Frank Lampard’s side permanently in the summer and has set his sights on staying in the Premier League, and has warned his teammates about the quality of the players they’ll be up against.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019d have to say Man City, Arsenal, Brighton, Liverpool,\u201d the former FC Augsburg midfielder said in an interview with Coventry Live<\/a><\/strong>, telling his teammates what to expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the teams that you know will have the ball a lot and so you need to run and you need to defend. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the teams that are really getting close to you so you need to be compact and you need to be focused.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Frank Onyeka and Jack Rudoni of Coventry City. Copyright: ImagoxJorgexHorsted\/NewsxImagesx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cIn terms of individuals, the likes of De Bruyne, Odegaard and Foden because what they do is they are so clever playing behind you so you can\u2019t really see where they are, so I would say those are a few players that you know it\u2019s quite difficult to get to,\u201d Onyeka continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be focussed throughout because, again, you can get punished at any time. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we need to be tactically strong and we need to defend well and make sure we take our chances from set-pieces and counter attacks. This has to be one of our strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Frank Onyeka in action for Coventry City. Copyright: ImagoxMIxNews<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frank Lampard signed a new contract as Coventry City manager<\/a> on June 30, 2026, which ties him to the club until 2029, and given the relationship with the coach, Onyeka was delighted the ex-Chelsea midfielder put pen to paper to continue at the CBS Arena.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was nice because I\u2019d heard some rumours that he was maybe gonna leave and that was like, oh! But it\u2019s great because he\u2019s a legend of the game and I watched him play. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, for me, being proud of this group, you know, it\u2019s huge for me and I\u2019m really grateful that he gave me the opportunity to be here and be part of this club.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when I heard I was really happy to be his player and to continue working with him,\u201d the 45-cap Super Eagles star concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka. Copyright: xSFSIxImago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coventry City will play against Arsenal, Hull City, Manchester City, Brighton and Nottingham Forest in their first five Premier League games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Adefolahan Guerreiro” src=”https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f64d35abfd960f4a5a400c4bb517f7f0be6c48b655560fbdd37e59d9fc9ca58?s=80&d=mm&r=g” height=”80″ width=”80″ loading=”lazy” decoding=”async”>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tAdefolahan Guerreiro\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAdefolahan is a multilingual CAF-Accredited sports journalist and football writer whose work spans outlets like Soccernet Nigeria, Pure Football UK, and Royalsportz. <\/p>\n

With a sharp eye for detail and a background in college sports, he tells the African football story with depth, flair, and global perspective.<\/p>\n

Fluent in English, Spanish, and German, he brings a cross-cultural voice to his coverage, blending insight with accessibility for readers around the world.
\nHis portfolio includes interviews with top Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, Sikiru Alimi, Sodiq Ismaila, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.<\/p>\n

A devoted Borussia Dortmund fan, Adefolahan thrives on the emotion and rhythm of the beautiful game. Away from work, he\u2019s a sci-fi enthusiast and series lover who enjoys exploring how sport, storytelling, and culture collide.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Adefolahan Guerreiro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal, Champions League, Final. Copyright: ImagoxChrisxFoxwellx The 2026\/2027 Premier League season kicks off on the 21st of August, with Arsenal set to take on Coventry City in the opening fixture, Soccernet.ng reports. The Sky Blue Stars will play top-flight football for the first time since 2001 after Frank Lampard led them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":921798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35192,2005,545],"tags":[151203,7463],"class_list":["post-921797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-punished","category-soccer","category-youll","tag-punished","tag-youll"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}