Month: November 2024

Best Odds: 4/7

Bookmaker:

Two nations who are desperate to book an automatic route to this year s World Cup finals, Australia will welcome Japan to the Accor Stadium in Sydney on Thursday morning.

Australia

Starting with the hosts, while Australia might have already at least guaranteed themselves a spot in the fourth-round of this year s qualifying adventure, they are seeking some kind of stability. Last seen on February 1st when throwing away the lead twice and having to settle for a late 2-2 draw away at Oman, Head Coach Graham Arnold has seen his side pick up a single point in three of their last four outings. Marking their return to action on Thursday morning sat three points adrift of breaking into the top-two, the Socceroos should at least be boosted by t…

Leicester City are unbeaten and seemingly ready to rattle Manchester United when the Premier League resumes on Saturday.

Their Old Trafford record might be poor but a strong start to the new season and an in-form Jamie Vardy make the Foxes a fearsome prospect.

Harry Maguire will be tasked with stopping his former team-mate and delivering a clean sheet which would steady Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side following a three-game winless streak.

History, according to the Opta data, is in United s favour, but this Leicester side is on the rise.

LEICESTER OFF THE LEASH

Brendan Rodgers took over at King Power Stadium two days after Claude Puel s dismissal in February 2019 and is proving an inspired choice as manager.

Four games into the ne…

Real Madrid announced the arrival of Chelsea forward Eden Hazard on Friday to bring an end to the long-running transfer saga and potentially spell the end of Gareth Bale s time at the club.

Los Blancos have handed over a reported initial fee of €100million for the 28-year-old, who outlined his intention to leave the London club after scoring a brace in the Europa League final win over Arsenal.

The Belgium international joined Chelsea from Lille in 2012 and swiftly adapted, before becoming undoubtedly one of the English top-flight’s best players.

Hazard will be remembered as one of the club s true icons alongside John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, such is the impact he has had in his seven years.

And his arrival at the Bernabeu could push B…

Frank Lampard understands Fikayo Tomori s desire to play more regularly amid speculation the centre-back could be set to follow Danny Drinkwater in sealing a move away from the club. 

Tomori made 15 Premier League starts in the 2019-20 season but the arrival of Thiago Silva has pushed him further down the first-team pecking order. 

The England international has featured only once in the top flight this campaign – coming on as substitute in the home defeat to Liverpool back in September – and Chelsea are seemingly ready to sanction a temporary move to allow him to get more regular first-team minutes elsewhere. 

Serie A leaders Milan have been strongly linked with the 23-year-old, media reports suggesting the Italian club are pushing to com…

Lionel Messi was greeted with abuse upon his arrival at the Eighth Court of Barcelona to testify in a tax case.

Messi and his father, Jorge, have been charged with three counts of tax fraud worth €4.1million which date back to a period from 2007 to 2009.

The Barcelona forward s lawyer Enrique Bacigalupo was present when proceedings began on Tuesday, but the 28-year-old arrived to testify personally on Thursday.

Messi was met with a mixed reaction during his walk up the courthouse steps, but one voice from the crowd jeered: P*** off and play in Panama, b*****d!

Messi is due to represent Argentina in the first match of their Copa America Centenario campaign against 2015 winners Chile in California on Monday.

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Bayern Munich have confirmed Uli Hoeness will run for the club s presidency.

The 64-year-old was released from prison in February after serving half of a three-and-a-half-year jail term for tax evasion, and he will now look to regain the post he held for five years prior to his conviction.

Hoeness will learn whether his bid is successful at Bayern s next AGM, in November 2016, as members vote in an election to decide the club s president and committee.

Karl Hopfner, who succeeded the former West Germany international in the role, will not stand for election, the club announced in a statement.

In a nine-year playing career, Hoeness won three European Cups with Bayern, before serving as a sporting director until he took the presidency in 2009.

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Fenerbahce are maintaining a long-standing interest in Marcos Rojo of Manchester United, according to Turkish outlet Fotospor.

The defender, who played for Estudiantes, Spartak Moscow and Sporting Lisbon before fine displays for Argentina in the 2014 World Cup earned him a transfer to Old Trafford, has made a total of 114 appearances the Red Devils so far. However, the number of times his name appears on the team sheet per season has gradually diminished, from 41 in 2016/17 to just six last term.

United have signed Harry Maguire from Leicester City for a world-record fee for a defender this summer, and together with Victor Lindelof, the England international has instantly become the preferred option in the heart of defence for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. So much so th…

Inter s poor start to the Serie A season continued as Federico Dimarco s stunning late strike saw them suffer a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Parma, who claimed their first win back in the top flight.

Luciano Spalletti s men appeared to kick-start their campaign with a 3-0 win at Bologna before the international break, but they were wasteful in front of goal and ultimately paid the price.

The absence of Mauro Icardi – who could only make the bench due to a recent thigh injury – seemed to be particularly felt in the first half, when Inter crafted several chances but failed to take any.

Parma became more defensively minded after half-time and Inter struggled to break them down, before getting caught out late on.

Dimarco, who previously denied Ivan Perisi…

Michael Beale knows Rangers duo Kemar Roofe and Tom Lawrence will now be desperate for more game time after both returned to action after lengthy spells in a friendly against Hamburg at Ibrox.

First-half goals from attacker Fashion Sakala and captain James Tavernier, with a penalty, had the Light Blues comfortably ahead at the interval and before a slew of substitutions took place.

Amid the replacements, Nigeria forward Cyriel Dessers – signed from Cremonese – made his home debut with Roofe coming back to action after a hip injury had kept him out since February, with fellow attacker Lawrence making his first appearance since August 2022, after he had recovered from a knee problem.

Hamburg substitute Jean-Luc Dompe curled in a fantastic free-kick in the last …

Ernesto Valverde has called on his Barcelona team to help star man Lionel Messi as they cope with the absence of the departed Neymar and injured Luis Suarez.

Barca were thrashed 5-1 on aggregate by rivals Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana, with Neymar missed and Suarez suffering a knee injury that will see him miss four or five weeks.

Now, ahead of their LaLiga opener against Real Betis, Barca have only Messi remaining of their famed MSN strike force and Valverde wants his other players to contribute.

Messi is the best player in the world we are lucky but we all have to help him, he told a pre-match news conference.

We have to make him feel at ease so he can play his game and make his team shine. He needs a compact group around him.

31 ha…