Thursday s action at Euro 2024 brought our first group winners in Spain, and plenty of frustration for England.
Before La Roja clinched top spot in Group B by overcoming Italy, the Three Lions were pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Denmark, who were arguably unfortunate not to win the game.
Despite an underwhelming performance, Gareth Southgate s team remain in control of Group C with four points, after Slovenia and Serbia drew 1-1 earlier in the day.
Here, we round up the standout stats from Thursday s action.
Spain qualify as Group B winners
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024)
Slovenia 1-1 Serbia: Jovic rescues last-gasp draw
The early kick-off delivered yet another late twist as Slovenia were denied a landmark victory at the Europe…
Pat Noonan believes it was important for FC Cincinnati s confidence to keep a clean sheet at FC Dallas last time out, saying fans must trust the process ahead of their midweek trip to D.C United.
Cincinnati claimed their sixth straight road victory last time out by a 1-0 scoreline, returning to winning ways following a 2-1 defeat at home to the New England Revolution.
The Supporters Shield holders are just two points behind this year s pacesetters Inter Miami despite their squad going through something of an overhaul in pre-season.
While Noonan is pleased with his team s defensive resilience, he also feels there is much more to come.
We ve lost a couple of key pieces and we re trying to find our best group each game. We re still trying to find answers, N…
Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa believes 2017 will be his year as he trains his sights on lifting the Bundesliga and Champions League trophies.
Costa arrived at the Allianz Arena from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2015 and feels his 18-month settling-in period will allow him to produce his best form.
After an impressive maiden campaign, Costa made a slow start to 2016-17, his cause not helped by muscular problems.
However, the Brazil international began to make more of an impact prior to the mid-season break, scoring in a 5-0 rout of Wolfsburg before netting a stunning winner against Darmstadt in the following game.
2017 will be my year because I have been in Munich for two years. I m just more integrated, he told Bild.
I also took two years to play…
Atalanta do not consider themselves favourites for Wednesday s Coppa Italia final against Juventus despite their strong form, says coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
Atalanta have enjoyed a fantastic season, reaching the Europa League final – where they will face unbeaten Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on May 22 – and the Coppa Italia showpiece.
La Dea are also in the driving seat to secure Italy s fifth Champions League place for next season, after Sunday s 2-1 home win over Roma took them three points clear of the Giallorossi with a game in hand.
On Wednesday, an out-of-form Juve side await Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico, as Gasperini seeks his first trophy with the club he joined back in 2016.
I think it s a bit much to suggest we d be favourite…
Week 1 of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League is now on the books. And while there were some shocking and unexpected results, now it’s time to focus on individual performances.
These were the Top 5 performers during the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League Week 1.
Mislav Oršić – Dinamo Zagreb
There is absolutely no question that Mislav Oršić was one of the biggest stars of the UEFA Champions League Week 1. The talented Dinamo Zagreb winger, who is 26 years old, netted not one and not two, but three goals against Atalanta in the opening match for both sides. Against all odds, the reigning Croatia Prva Liga champions won this game 4-0.
Oršić, who recently debuted with the Croatia national team earlier this month, has been on top form for Dinamo in the current Ch…
Claudio Ranieri jokingly labelled Leicester City s hard-fought 1-0 win over West Ham as his best moment of 2016, despite leading the Foxes to the Premier League title last season.
Leicester defied all predictions to complete a remarkable title triumph in 2015-16, but a run of just one win in nine league matches had left them just three points above the relegation zone before the Hammers visited the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
However, Islam Slimani s thunderous 20th-minute header and a stoic defensive showing ensured Leicester have breathing space over the bottom three heading into the new year.
And wily Italian Ranieri is now hopeful of climbing away from the danger zone after celebrating what he quipped was his personal highlight of the year.
…
Manchester United are in desperate need of a Premier League win when they take on Aston Villa on Sunday.
The pressure has piled on Erik ten Hag after last week s sorry 3-0 loss to Tottenham.
United have lost three of their six league fixtures this season, winning just twice against Southampton and Fulham while they have lost their last two home matches in the top flight by an aggregate score of 6-0.
Their tally of seven points is their joint-fewest after six games of any Premier League season (two wins, one draw, three losses), having made identical starts under David Moyes in 2013-14 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020-21.
They now face another of the league s top teams when they take on Villa, who are fresh from their Champions League triumph ove…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is convinced Manchester United have developed significantly since suffering three semi-final defeats in 2019-20 as they prepare to host rivals Manchester City in the last four of the EFL Cup.
Had things gone a little differently last term, Man United might have ended the campaign with three trophy successes, breaking Solskjaer s duck as the club s boss.
But, United lost 3-1 to Chelsea in the FA Cup semis, suffered a late 2-1 defeat to Sevilla in the Europa League and fell at the same stage of the EFL Cup to City, losing 3-2 on aggregate.
The elimination by City was particularly chastening given the manner of the first-leg home loss, as United were swept aside and somewhat fortunate to only lose 3-1 – the 1-0 away win in the second meeting w…
NFL underdogs are 30-18 ATS entering Week 4 of the 2021 season – a 62.5 percent cover clip for those point spread pups. That’s the best three-week start for NFL underdogs since 2002, when dogs finished 29-16-1 ATS (64 percent).
But excuse me if I’m not doing cartwheels.
As a guy who prides himself on making his best NFL picks from only teams getting the points (and a guy who couldn’t do a cartwheel to save his life), I’ve seen this song and dance before. You see, underdogs always have an early-season edge.
In the opening month of the schedule, point spreads are made from public perception and offseason projections formulated from last year’s results. The so-called good teams are rarely as good as we think and ba…
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are on a mission to make the Super Bowl for the third year in a row but first, they’ll have to get by the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship on Sunday afternoon.
Despite losing to the Bengals at the start of the month, oddsmakers expect Kansas City to win comfortably in the rematch with NFL betting lines opening with the Chiefs as 7-point home favorites.
Here are our best free NFL picks and predictions for Bengals vs. Chiefs on Sunday, January 30, with kickoff at 3 p.m. ET.
…