Market: Santos win
Odds: 7/10 @
Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Serie B standings, Santos will welcome Coritiba to the Vila Belmiro in the early hours of Tuesday.
Starting with the hosts, while Santos might have lost their Serie A status last season, the Peixe have their sights firmly set on securing an immediate top-flight return. While some in Fabio Carille’s camp might have been frustrated over the weekend as they had to settle for a 1-1 stalemate away at Vila Nova, the former Corinthians boss has seen his squad muster 10 points from their previous four Serie B appearances. Storming back from their brief wobble last month, it is no secret that Santos are pencilled in as a standout promotion contender this year. Opening …
Manchester City bought Erling Haaland to be the difference on nights like this.
In cagey Champions League matches, against Europe s top sides, the striker was the player who could turn possessional dominance into victory.
Yet for 84 frustrating minutes against his former club Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, Haaland toiled. World-class players – strikers especially – only need a moment, a split-second, however, to do the damage.
And so it proved, when Joao Cancelo lofted in a left-wing cross to the back post that mere mortals could not have reached. But Haaland, now the youngest player in Champions League history to score for and against the same side in the competition, is no mere mortal.
Nico Schlotterbeck had told the press he knew how to stop H…
Liverpool players are not discussing the possibility of an unprecedented quadruple because the Premier League title race is out of their hands, says Andy Robertson.
Manchester City retained their one-point advantage over Liverpool at the summit after the teams drew 2-2 in an enthralling encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The Reds will take on City again on Saturday with a place in the FA Cup final on the line at Wembley, where Jurgen Klopp s side lifted the EFL Cup earlier this season.
Liverpool could also meet Pep Guardiola s side in the Champions League semi-finals if they overcome Benfica and Atletico Madrid in their respective quarter-finals, the second legs of which take place on Wednesday.
Mohamed Salah said prior to the City game th…
Best Odds: 4/7
Bookmaker:
Desperate to try and find a boost on the road this weekend, Barcelona will make the trip to the Mendizorrotza when they face off against Alaves on Sunday night.
Alaves
Starting with the hosts, while Alaves might have just about managed to extend on their La Liga status last season, El Glorioso once again find themselves at the heart of a relegation scrap. Putting in a hugely worrying display earlier in the week as they were blown away thanks to a 4-0 drumming against Real Betis on the road, Head Coach José Luis Mendilibar has quite the job on his hands. Sat three points adrift of safety when opening this weekend s fixtures, fans around the Mendizorrotza now find their side in the midst of an eight-match winless run across all formats,…
Erik ten Hag acknowledges Donny van de Beek must improve in order to be a success at Manchester United, but is refusing to give up on the midfielder.
Having impressed in an advanced role for Ten Hag s Ajax team, Van de Beek moved to Old Trafford for an initial fee of £35million in 2020, but has since struggled for consistent game-time.
Van de Beek made 27 Premier League appearances across his first two campaigns with United, and has only played 19 minutes in the competition this season after enduring an equally frustrating loan spell at Everton earlier in 2022.
Those struggles have seen Van de Beek lose his place in the Netherlands squad ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, but Ten Hag – who started the midfielder in Thursday s Europa League win at Real Sociedad �…
After some speculation that Mauro Icardi might be joining Juventus from Inter Milan this season, it seems that the Argentine might be going to Monaco instead.
The 26-year-old joined Inter in 2013, where he replaced Andrea Ranocchia as captain in 2015, and in November 2016 he signed a new contract extension until 2021. Two successful seasons followed, but in 2018/2019 the striker failed to repeat his previous successes. Things went sour between the player and the club when his wife and agent Wanda Nara, made inappropriate comments about Intern’s management on TV, prompting the club to strip Icardi off his captaincy, to which he replied by refusing play in the club s UEFA Europa League match against Rapid Wien the following day.
When in July 2019 Inter announced it had …
Real Madrid star Eden Hazard says he has rejected multiple offers from Paris Saint-Germain and would never sign for the Ligue 1 champions.
The Belgium international claims he has always made it clear he would only return to France s top flight to play for former club Lille, the team he left in 2012 to join Chelsea.
PSG were linked with a move for Hazard before the completed a switch to Madrid this year for a reported €100million fee.
No, never, he told L Equipe when asked if he would ever join PSG.
They ve often wanted to sign me. I didn t want to come back to Ligue 1 and with another club to Lille.
I always told them no. In my head, it was clear.
They re a club who can help you win the Champions League, but they were not in my plans…
Marco Reus has completed a move to the MLS, linking up with the LA Galaxy after leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season.
Reus, who made 429 appearances across a 12-year stint with Die Schwarzgelben, has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract through to the end of the 2026 campaign.
During his time with Dortmund, the 35-year-old registered 301 goal contributions (170 goals and 131 assists), winning four major honours in the process.
He has twice been voted German Footballer of the Year, as well as receiving the Bundesliga Player of the Season on three occasions.
Reus featured in both of Dortmund s Champions League final losses, with his last outing for the club coming in their 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid at Wembley back in June.
The fo…
Burnley have completed the signing of Peter Crouch from Stoke City, according to Sky Sports.
The Clarets become the veteran striker’s seventh Premier League club, in a deal that sees Sam Vokes, and an initial sum of £7m head in the other direction.
Crouch played over two-hundred-and-sixty times for the Potters across seven-and-a-half seasons, scoring sixty-two goals.
The thirty-eight-year-old has also had spells with Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Southampton and Aston Villa in the English top flight while he also boasts relatively impressive international stats.
He won forty-two caps for England between 2005 and 2010, scoring twenty-two goals – one of which came at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany in a 1-0 group stage win over Tr…
Canada advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2009 following their goalless draw with Honduras.
The Canadians had exited at the group stage of the past three tournaments after they failed to progress as co-hosts in 2015, but that changed in Texas on Friday.
Canada move into the last eight as runners-up to Costa Rica – who eased past French Guyana 3-0 – in Group A.
Honduras came into the final Group A fixture with plenty to play for after they were awarded a 3-0 victory against French Guyana, who were penalised for fielding ineligible forward Florent Malouda in the scoreless stalemate.
That result moved Honduras to within a point of Canada before kick-off, though the Hondurans can still reach the knockout stage as one…