1) Lukaku ready to show Anfield he’s the finished article
Romelu Lukaku’s first eight league games against Liverpool, when he was a much rawer prospect, yielded five goals, with Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho among those buffeted relentlessly and remorselessly by his bulldozing presence. Yet he failed to score in his subsequent seven against the Reds and it’s eight and a half years since his only goal at Anfield – a fine effort for West Brom while on loan during his first time under Chelsea’s umbrella. Thomas Tuchel is the man delighted to be holding the handle this time around, however, though Virgil van Dijk offers as stern a challenge as can be provide…
Clubs need to do more if weekend showcase is to shine
Women’s Football Weekend has become a staple of the season after its launch in 2019. It’s a smart idea, capitalising on the men’s international break to highlight the women’s game. This time was no different, with the Football Association, Sky and the BBC heavily promoting the fixtures, which were spread across the weekend. Big crowds duly followed, but there was disappointment with the north London derby being hosted at Brisbane Road while the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was used for Saracens versus Harlequins. The pitch was so poor at Leyton Orient that it was deemed unfit for the women’s match the following day. Meanw…
Cristiano Ronaldo is in line to make his Serie A debut for Juventus away to Chievo, while the release of the league s fixtures has handed AC Milan a daunting start.
Juve are aiming to win the title for the eighth year in a row and Ronaldo could be set to appear at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi on the weekend of August 18.
The Portugal captain could then make his home league debut for Juventus, who sealed a deal worth €112million to buy Ronaldo from Real Madrid, a week later against Lazio.
Milan risk losing defender Leonardo Bonucci back to Juventus and Gennaro Gattuso s side have been handed a tricky test in the opening month of the campaign.
| Our first 2018/19 fixtures
Matchday 1:
Matchday 2:
Matchday 3:
Matchday 4:
— AC Milan (…
This match up sees the Premier League s two worst performing teams face each, with both hoping to pick up a crucial three points.
Sunderland sit bottom of the formtable in the Premier League, having picked up a paltry four points from their last ten games. We have to go back to November for their most recent victory. Steve Bruce has not been helped by injuries to key players but worryingly for the club the return of some of these figures in recent weeks has not seen an uplift in results. Bruce wil hope that new signings Kilgannon and Hutton can shore up the creaking defence while Benjani, a last gasp signing from Man City, will be expected to add to the fire power of Darren Bent. Sunderland narrowly missed out on signing Maynor Figueroa during the transfer window and relation…
Carlos Vela has been named the 2019 MLS MVP after a record-breaking season with Los Angeles FC.
Vela received 69 per cent of the weighted vote to beat LA Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Atlanta United s Josef Martinez, and New York City pair Maxi Moralez and Heber to the award.
The 30-year-old Vela scored an unprecedented 34 goals in 31 regular-season appearances as LAFC claimed the Supporters Shield.
Mexican forward Vela also supplied 15 assists to set a new MLS benchmark for goal involvements, surpassing Sebastian Giovinco s total of 38 (22 goals, 16 assists) for Toronto in 2015.
Despite taking his goal tally for the year to 36 with a double in the Western Conference semi-final victory over rivals the Galaxy, Vela drew a blank as Bob Bradley s team were…
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski labelled Lionel Messi one of the best in history after the Barcelona star claimed a record sixth Ballon d Or.
Messi finished ahead of Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award in Paris on Monday.
Lewandowski, who placed eighth, paid tribute to Messi for his dominance for more than a decade.
For sure he is a great player. I can only say congratulations to him, he told reporters.
It s not the first time for him, one of the best in history not just the last few years.
I m glad to be close to so many players because we only get to meet each other on the pitch and now this is something different.
For sure he is a great player, not just the past year but f…
The UEFA Champions League group stages finally kick-off today, but I m here to predict Manchester United and Manchester City s fixtures for tomorrow. Yesterday I predicted that Chelsea would take down Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 and Arsenal would be upset 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund today. I ll be watching closely to see if my predictions pan out, but for now, let s get to United and City.
Manchester United. v. Benfica: from Estadio da Luz, Portugal
Despite United getting off to a flying start this season, this fixture in Portugal will be a tough battle. As a result, United will have to be ready for the challenge, both mentally and physically. Patrice Evra s comments to The Independent were spot on.
We are making it look easy but nothing is, he sa…
The finish line is so close for NFL survivor pool players, with just two more weeks of selections to go.
More than likely, those poolies still alive at this point in the schedule are having to make some tough choices after burning up the NFL’s best just to get to this standing.
If you listened to our survivor pool picks last week, then you’re standing strong as the calendar flips to 2022. We nailed the Falcons as our savvy selection, dialed in Dallas as our safe play, and said to avoid the Seahawks (who lost to Chicago at home).
We do our best Bear Grylls impersonation Sunday, giving up Week 17 survivor picks. Good luck.
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The Seattle Seahawks finally got the offense rolling last week and will look to make it back-to-back wins when they travel to Houston to take on the Texans who’ll be starting Davis Mills at quarterback. Russell Wilson & Co. enter the Week 14 contest as 7.5-point road favorites following Houston’s zero-point performance a week ago.
Can the Seahawks run the table and finish 9-8? Can the Texans be anything other than a tune-up game for their opponents, especially with Mills under center? Find out in our free picks, predictions and NFL odds for the Seahawks vs. Texans.
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Tom Brady enters Thursday night as a home dog for just the 13th time in his NFL career as the embarrassed Tampa Bay Buccaneers host Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in primetime.
The Ravens have fully committed to the run with Gus Edwards back and could have success as the Bucs were torched on the ground by D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard last week. Mike Evans and the passing game also have a great matchup vs. this Baltimore secondary.
We’ve covered all the bases in our Ravens vs. Buccaneers picks and predictions but I also give you my best NFL prop picks below.
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