Best Odds: 1/2
Bookmaker:
Looking to continue on their purple patch under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea will make the trip to an empty Bramall Lane on Sunday night.
Sheffield United
Starting with the hosts, while Sheffield United might still find themselves facing an almighty uphill battle if they re to somehow hang onto their Premier League status, the Blades have made some much-needed improvements of late. With Chris Wilder promising that his side will keep fighting, they managed to land themselves what was a crucial three points in a must-win showdown. Welcoming fellow relegation scrappers West Brom to Bramall Lane in midweek, United came from behind to pick up a late 2-1 win against the Baggies on home soil. However, still sat rock-bottom of the table and chasing …
Roque Santa Cruz settled a seven-goal thriller as Manchester City beat Sunderland 4-3 at Eastlands here on Saturday, but the victory might not be enough to keep Mark Hughes in a job.
Hughes s future as City manager has been the subject of intense debate since Wednesday s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham, which meant that the club had won only once in 10 Premier League matches.
And even during Saturday s amazing game the speculation continued, with reports coming out of Italy that the former Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini is close to a deal to replace the Welshman.
During the match, City announced that they would be calling a news conference for 1930GMT on Saturday.
Hughes took the City job in June 2008 and last week said he was targeting Liverpool s place in…
Real Madrid returned to the LaLiga summit as Carlo Ancelotti’s men came from behind to win 2-1 at Las Palmas.
Having fallen behind to Javier Munoz’s 53rd-minute goal, Real – without the suspended Jude Bellingham – hit back with Vinicius Junior equalising before Aurelien Tchouameni notched the winner with six minutes of normal time remaining.
A fifth successive league win for Los Blancos sees them move two points above Girona, who play at Celta Vigo on Sunday.
1-2 53 Javi Muñoz 65 84 |
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)
Third-placed Barcelona are 10 points off the top after two stoppage-time Villarreal goals saw the champions beaten 5-3 in a thrilling contest at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Trailing 2-0 via efforts …
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has had a lot to celebrate this season
Southampton host Liverpool on Sunday at St Marys with both teams in the race to claim a top four finish this season.
However, when the Saints faced the Reds in the reverse fixture on the opening weekend of the season nobody could have expected the team from the south coast to be in the top four in February.
Form
In truth though Ronald Koeman’s team produced a very decent performance in a narrow 2-1 defeat at Anfield and the decent performances just kept coming.
In the following months Koeman’s side has been maintained and despite a few blips along the way, has basically carried on to this point in the campaign.
Former-players
The issue of former-players cann…
Portuguese giants FC Porto are on the verge of agreeing a deal for Valencia winger Zakaria Bakkali, according to A Bola.
The 20-year-old has seen his first team appearances severely limited at Mestalla, making eight substitute outings in this year’s La Liga campaign.
It is his former coach Nuno Espirito Santo, now in charge of FC Porto, who has come calling and Bakkali looks set to join the Dragons in the winter transfer window.
The two clubs are in advanced talks over a January transfer and Valencia hope to get the deal done as soon as possible to that they can use the money on new signings.
Bakkali joined Valencia on a free transfer in July 2015 after a bright start to his career at PSV Eindhoven, but he never quite managed to prove his worth at…
Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has been provisionally released after he was arrested following a raid on the club s offices.
Bartomeu and ex-director Jaume Masferrer exercised their right not to testify on Tuesday when answering to charges of unfair administration and corruption of business.
The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) confirmed the case was still open.
The court of instruction 13 of Barcelona, within a case opened in May 2020 for crimes of unfair administration and corruption in business, has taken a statement today from the former directors of FC Barcelona, Josep M Bartomeu and Jaume Masferrer, as investigated, a TSJC statement read.
The two investigated, who today have gone to court, have availed themselves of t…
Market: Charlotte draw no bet
Odds: 19/20 @
Looking to extend on their US Open Cup adventure in the early hours of Wednesday, Charlotte will welcome a struggling Orlando to the Bank of America Stadium.
Starting with the hosts, making an immediate return to winning ways thanks to an action-packed display on home soil, Charlotte are enjoying what has been a stellar start to the 2023 campaign. Eventually claiming a 3-2 victory at home against New York City, the Crown should find the mood in their camp at a real high. Extending on their US Open Cup adventure on April 25th as they cruised their way to a 4-1 romp against USL outfit Tormenta, Christian Lattanzio s side have won three of their last four domestic appearances across all competitions. Suffering just a sing…
Montpellier coach Rolland Courbis is remaining upbeat despite the club s dismal run of form.
Courbis last week returned to the Stade de la Mosson for a second stint in charge of Montpellier following Jean Fernandez s resignation.
However, the 60-year-old could not inspire the 2011-12 Ligue 1 champions to victory over Saint-Etienne, who claimed a 1-0 victory thanks to a second-half strike from Max Gradel.
Courbis remains hopeful that Montpellier, following a run of nine league games without a win, can turn things around.
Let s stay positive, he said.
I am not in the habit of being easily discouraged.
We will move quickly into 2014 to see what improvements we can make.
I note a lot of nervousness, shyness (within the team), it is logical.
I …
Boss Steve Bruce hailed birthday boy Tom Huddlestone s masterclass in Hull City s 6-0 Premier League win over Fulham.
The midfielder starred as the hosts completed their biggest Premier League win, with a second-half goal spree to see off their struggling visitors.
Huddlestone who turned 27 on Saturday hit the post with a free-kick in the first half before the flood gates opened early in the second period, with Ahmed Elmohamady breaking the deadlock after 49 minutes.
Hull were 4-0 up by the 68th minute as Robert Koren, George Boyd and Huddlestone all found the net, while Matty Fryatt added a fifth a few minutes later.
Koren added his second in the closing stages to set the seal on the emphatic win, but it was Huddlestone who earned special praise from the manager…
Former Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has had his suspension for violating UEFA s anti-doping regulations increased from six to 18 months.
Nasri was originally banned for six months after he received a drip treatment at a Los Angeles clinic in 2016, which UEFA said contravened rules laid down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
But an appeal against the initial sanction by UEFA s ethics and disciplinary inspector has resulted in an extended suspension, announced on Wednesday.
The ban is backdated to July 1 2017 and while Nasri made eight appearances for Turkish side Antalyaspor during that time, the 31-year-old free agent can return to training in November.
A statement from UEFA read: The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body s decision o…