Competition: Champions League
Market: Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich to draw
Odds:
Atletico Madrid welcome Bayern Munich to the Vicente Calderon for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash, in a game that may well end up a stalemate. The hosts are notoriously difficult to beat in their own backyard, while Bayern are likely to settle for less in the away leg, so it may be hard to separate the two sides tonight.
Atleti are deemed underdogs over the two legs, but the manner in which they disposed of the holders Barcelona should be taken into consideration. Diego Simeone’s men reached the final of this competition in 2013/14 against all odds, and they’re in good enough form to threaten a repeat.
As for Bayern, the German Bundeslig…
Steven Gerrard says Rangers were close to perfect as they claimed an important victory over Brondby in the Europa League.
First-half goals from Leon Balogun and Kemar Roofe sealed a 2-0 win at Ibrox – and the hosts first points of this season s competition.
That helped Gerrard s team move off the bottom of Group A at the halfway stage, while closing the gap on second-placed Sparta Prague to just a single point.
The Rangers boss admitted the pressure was on his side, who began their campaign with defeats against Sparta and runaway leaders Lyon.
But he was ultimately delighted with the way his players rose to the occasion on Thursday.
I thought it was a strong home performance in Europe, Gerrard told BT Sport.
We ve kick-started our Euro…
Sandro Tonali says he closed all other doors when his childhood team Milan made it clear they wanted to sign him.
Milan announced the signing of the Italy international on loan with an option to buy for a reported €35million last week after three impressive seasons with Brescia.
Tonali, compared to Italian great Andrea Pirlo, had been tipped to join city rivals Inter, but he says the opportunity to join the Rossoneri was too good to turn down.
More or less everyone supports Milan where I m from, including my father, who passed that passion onto me as a kid, he told a media conference.
I ve wanted to wear this jersey for a while. I didn t speak much to Massimo Cellino [Brescia president], but he realised straight away what it meant to me. He said…
Market: Dulwich Hamlet win
Odds: 7/10 @
Looking to extend on their recent flurry, Dulwich Hamlet will travel to Imperial Fields when they meet Kingstonian on Wednesday night.
Starting with the hosts, last seen over the weekend putting in another worrying display as they eventually slumped to a 4-1 drumming at home against Whitehawk, Kingstonian are enduring a major seventh-tier nightmare this season. Opening Wednesday’s showdown sat rock-bottom of the table and already 12 points adrift of safety, it is no surprise that Tutu Henriques’ side are tipped as a landslide relegation contender in 2024. In fact, along with collecting just a pair of points from any of their previous six appearances, the Ks have also won just one of their last 23 contests across all co…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 5/6 @
Looking to cause what would be an upset on the road this weekend, Blackpool will make the trip to Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon when they face off against Sheffield United.
Starting with the hosts, while Sheffield United might have been left sweating over the weekend, they did manage to pick up local bragging rights. Eventually claiming an action-packed 3-2 win against Barnsley at Bramall Lane, the Blades are now trying to seek some stability. Bouncing back from that 2-1 defeat at the hands of Millwall earlier in the month, Slaviša Jokanović s men still find themselves battling it out in the bottom-half of the Championship table. Really in an uphill battle if they re to somehow secure an immediate Premier League re…
Stuttgart have confirmed the signing of Francisco Rodriguez for an undisclosed fee from PSV, with the centre-back penning a three-year deal.
The Mexico international, also known as Maza, has been added to cover an area where Stuttgart have been looking to strengthen.
In Maza, we have signed an experienced central defender, sporting director Fredi Bobic told the club s official website.
Following the loss of Matthieu Delpierre through injury, we wanted to have a further option in that position. Maza is familiar with European football and won t need a long period of integration before he can help our team.
The 29-year-old, who signed for Dutch club PSV in 2008 and spent three successful seasons there, spoke of the next step in his career.
Stutt…
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has indicated he will soon sign a contract extension with the team following another win in Euro 2012 qualifying.
The 60-year-old took charge from Luis Aragones in July of 2008 in the wake of Spain s victory at the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland and extended the team s winning trend two years later with the World Cup triumph in South Africa.
Spain have secured qualification for Euro 2012 after Tuesday s 6-0 thrashing against Liechtenstein and Del Bosque confirmed he will soon extend his current deal, which expires in the summer of 2012.
There is no problem with that (contract extension0, del Bosque said.
I have spoken with the president of the Spanish Football Federation (Angel Maria Villar) and the gene…
Fabricio Coloccini dedicated his goal in Newcastle United s 2-0 Premier League win at West Brom to team-mate Jonas Gutierrez.
Jonas has not played competitive football since April and it was revealed in September that the Argentine winger had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Manager Alan Pardew confirmed some good news regarding the 31-year-old earlier this week revealing Jonas could return to training in a month after winning his battle with the illness.
And, after scoring his first Premier League goal since January 2011 at The Hawthorns on Sunday, skipper Coloccini paid tribute to his compatriot, who he is set to visit in their homeland during the international break.
It has been a very good week for the team and a very good week Jonas too, he to…
Porto face a tricky trip to Belarus as they meet what should be a fired up BATE Borisov in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
Julen Lopetegui s men are two points clear atop Group H after going unbeaten through four games, three of which they have won.
Having already qualified for the knockout stages, the Primeira Liga giants can take a step towards sealing top place.
In good news for Porto, Brazilian defender Danilo is fit for the clash after getting through training on Saturday.
It means Lopetegui has a full squad to choose from for the trip to Borisov Arena.
BATE, who have already clinched their ninth straight league title, still have a faint chance of reaching the knockout stages.
But Alyaksandr Yermakovich s men are five points adr…
Juventus are prepared to wait until the end of the 2017/18 season to sign Emre Can, according to the Express.
The Serie A giants have been strongly linked with a move for the Liverpool midfielder with mention of a £30m plus bid going in this summer.
However, with the twenty-three year old unlikely to pen a new deal with the Reds, Juve may wait until his contract runs out in twelve months time.
Can moved to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2014 and has since racked up one hundred and twenty-nine appearances for the Merseyside outfit in all competitions, scoring eight goals the last of which named as the BBC Goal of the Season as he netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over Watford back towards the end of the 2016/17 campaign.
He has been…