Market: Milwall double chance
Odds: 8/13 @
Looking to pile even more pressure onto Swansea this weekend, Millwall will host the play-off contenders from behind closed doors on Saturday lunchtime.
Starting with the hosts, while many feel that Millwall might have left it too late to snatch a late play-off spot this season, The Lions are enjoying a real purple patch of late. Making a string of improvements after what was a sluggish start to the 2020/21 campaign, the South London outfit were last seen earlier in the week picking up a 2-1 win away at Stoke. Continuing to climb up the Championship table and smelling a chance to cause what many would bill as an upset in the capital this weekend, Gary Rowett s side have won each of their last three second-tier matchups…
Athletic Bilbao rounded off their season with a 2-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna at San Mames on Saturday to finish eighth in the final Spanish league table.
Bilbao had been fighting for a Europa League spot, lying sixth with six games left, before falling away at the key stage but their eighth place is their best finish in La Liga since 2004 when they were fifth.
There was nothing but pride at stake for Bilbao or Depor, now down in 10th, but Athletic signed off with a comfortable win thanks to goals from Iker Muniain and Javi Martinez.
Bilbao took a 19th minute lead through teenager Muniain who cut inside before firing a terrific curling shot into the corner.
Muniain is the latest product of Bilbao s impressive youth system and made history in Octob…
Sam Allardyce remained defiant over his record as West Ham manager after assessing his former club s 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth on BBC Match of the Day.
Allardyce left Upton Park after four seasons in charge when his contract was not renewed at the end of the previous campaign.
His successor Slaven Bilic a former crowd favourite when he starred as a defender for West Ham during his playing days oversaw a surprise 2-0 win at Arsenal on the opening weekend of the season.
But that performance has now been followed up by back-to-back home losses to Leicester and Bournemouth, the type of results West Ham largely avoided when Allardyce established them among the early pacesetters last term.
Their form fell away after Christmas as familiar criticisms of Allardyce…
Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion are interested in signing Leonardo Lopes from Hull City in the summer ransfer window, according to . Hull are likely to lose the 21-year-old midfielder this summer after getting relegated from the Championship to League One.
Lopes has been on the books of Hull since 2019 and is rated very highly. According to , the Portugal Under-20 international midfielder made 33 starts and seven substitute appearances in the Championship for the Tigers this past season, scoring two goals and providing three assists in the process.
Both Leeds and West Brom will play in the Premier League next season after winning automatic promotion from the Championship. The chance to turn out at Elland Road or at The Hawthorns could be very tempting for Lopes, a…
Market: Juventus win
Odds: 8/11 @
Looking to make an immediate return to winning ways as they turn their attention back to Champions League duties, Juventus will make the trip to Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, suffering a deserved 3-1 loss when they made the trip to Turin last week, there is no doubt that Maccabi Haifa will face another real test on Tuesday night. Failing to pick up any kind of momentum over the weekend as they were hit with a sluggish 1-0 defeat away at Maccabi Bnei Raina, it appears there is some growing pressure on Barak Bakhar s shoulders. While the Israeli heavyweights might have claimed another domestic crown last season, the Greens have largely come crashing back down to earth. Losing each of their opening three …
(GSM) Real Madrid have admitted their admiration for Athletic Bilbao s Fernando Llorente despite backing out of form striker Karim Benzema.
Los Merengues sporting director Miguel Pardeza has strengthened Benzema case insisting that the Madrid giants have no intention of selling the Frenchman, who has struggled to establish himself in Madrid since his big-money move from Olympique Lyon in 2009.
The 22-year-old has scored just once in six games this season while Real had a total of just nine from seven competitive matches before their 6-1 rout against Deportivo La Coruna last time out.
The club has been linked with bringing in a new striker, and targetman Llorente mentioned as a possible recruit.
The 25-year-old bagged a brace in Spain s 3-1 win over Lithu…
Tottenham will seek inspiration from the Club Brugge class of 1987 as they attempt to overturn a 3-0 deficit in their Europa League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund at White Hart Lane on Thursday.
Only once have Dortmund failed to progress in a European tie having won the first leg at home, with Club Brugge proving their nemesis in the UEFA Cup in the 1987-88 season.
On that occasion, the Belgian club progressed 5-3 after extra-time to shock Dortmund, but it would take a huge leap of faith to suggest Tottenham can emulate that feat and make it to the quarter-finals.
Dortmund were irresistible in the first encounter at Signal Iduna Park, with Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and a Marco Reus brace doing the damage, and if anything the scoreline was flattering to Spu…
Christian Pulisic thinks the sky is the limit for Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho.
Sancho has plundered four goals and six assists in 11 Bundesliga matches this season to help propel his side to the top of the table.
The 18-year-old s performances in Germany have also seen him establish himself in the senior England squad, underlining the success of his decision to leave Manchester City in search of first-team football in 2017.
And Pulisic, another of Dortmund s talented young forwards, believes Sancho has a great career ahead of him.
The sky is the limit for a guy like that, he told Sky Sports. He s got so much talent and he s a great young player.
We ve talked about playing against each other possibly. It would be a lot of fun because…
Newcastle United are interested in signing Emile Smith Rowe from Premier League rivals Arsenal in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Smith Rowe is not happy with his lack of playing time at Arsenal, who are willing to sell him at the end of the season. Newcastle are keen on bringing him to St. James’ Park.
TEAMtalk has reported that Newcastle are willing to sign Smith Rowe on a season-long loan deal in the summer of 2024 with the option/obligation to make it permanent in the summer of 2025. Arsenal are ready to offload the England international winger for good and are looking for £45 million in transfer fees for him.
Smith Rowe has come through the Arsenal youth team and has been part of the senior side for a fair few years now. Ho…
A positive start to France s FIFA World Cup preparations against Norway could help banish bad off-field memories of recent tournaments.
Didier Deschamps men play the first of three pre-World Cup friendlies against their Scandinavian opponents at the Stade de France on Tuesday knowing they must avoid the pitfalls that led to dressing room debacles in 2010 and 2012.
The former France international took over after his nation were dumped out of the UEFA European Championship by Spain, with that disappointing campaign following the nightmare 2010 World Cup.
Their exit in South Africa was one of the more shameful chapters in recent French football history as the team effectively went on strike following Nicolas Anelka s expulsion, and dressing room unrest resurfaced in Pol…