Month: November 2024

Germany coach Joachim Low feels Thomas Muller is going through a difficult phase as he backed the forward to return to his best.

Muller, 29, has struggled to find his best form for Bayern Munich, who are fifth in the Bundesliga, this season.

But he remains part of Low s plans and the coach said Muller – the Golden Boot winner at the 2010 World Cup – could still play a key role for Germany.

Although he hasn t stuck out lately at the national team or his club, Thomas Muller is a player who gives a lot of energy and can lead and animate the youngsters, he told a news conference.

He still has those qualities of a great finish, of backing up. I have seen him in good form against [Borussia] Dortmund. Bayern s players were in a good form for 60-70 minutes.…

Marcus Rashford was dropped from Manchester United s starting XI for Saturday s trip to Wolves due to internal disciplinary reasons.

The England forward has been in great form for United this season and looked particularly sharp since returning from the World Cup.

He scored in each of United s first two games after Qatar 2022, while he also got an assist in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Manager Erik ten Hag has managed to get the best out of the 25-year-old after a particularly disappointing 2021-22 campaign, but something behind the scenes has put an obstacle in Rashford s path.

Asked why he removed Rashford from the team after looking so lively in United s two previous games, Ten Hag told BT Sport: Internal disciplinary. No [details]. O…

Verdict: Marcus Rashford to score anytime 

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Looking to make it six top-flight wins on the bounce, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s Manchester United side will welcome Brighton to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester United

Starting with the hosts, with their 1-0 win at Tottenham last weekend seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equal Sir Matt Busby s winning start to life at Old Trafford, few would have expected Manchester United s resurge. Booking their spot in the fourth round of this year s FA Cup and now winning all five of their Premier League matches under the Norweigan legend, the Reds sit level on points with Arsenal and their top-four dreams might still be alive and well. With Solskjaer handing United a newfound attacking ide…

Two penalties from Cristiano Ronaldo helped Real Madrid to a 4-1 win at Valencia on Saturday and eased the pressure on head coach Zinedine Zidane.

The 32-year-old scored the 100th and 101st spot-kicks of his senior career to give the champions a first LaLiga win in four trips to Mestalla, with Santi Mina s second-half header proving to be just a consolation as Marcelo and Toni Kroos struck fine late goals.

The scrutiny on Zidane s position intensified this week when Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey with a 2-1 home defeat to Leganes, and he responded by naming a strong side to face Marcelino s men, which included the return of Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale to the starting line-up together for the first time since the 3-2 loss to Barcelona last April.

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Best Odds: 8/11

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Hoping to find a route out of the La Liga drop zone on Monday night, Celta Vigo will travel to Ray Vallecano.

Rayo Vallecano

Starting with the hosts, while Rayo Vallecano might have opened the 2023/24 campaign with a real La Liga flurry, Francisco’s side have rather drastically come crashing back down to earth. Last seen in top-flight action putting in a nightmare performance as they were hit with a 4-0 drumming away at Athletic Bilbao, the Red Sashes have quickly come tumbling down the table. In fact, along with heading into November’s international break with a 2-1 defeat against Girona, the Vallecas-based outfit are without a win from any of their previous five La Liga appearances. Almost finding themselves stuck in top-flight …

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed the quality of football in the Premier League was exactly as he expected it when he signed for Manchester United – over-rated.

After leaving his native Sweden, Ibrahimovic played four seasons in the Netherlands  Eredivisie, seven seasons in Italy s Serie A, four seasons in France s Ligue 1 and a year in Spain s LaLiga, winning 12 domestic titles in total.

The 116-cap Sweden international finally made the move to the English top flight in July 2016, aged 34, and he explained how he anticipated he would need to adjust to English football.

Ibrahimovic netted 17 goals in 28 games during his first season at Old Trafford and the striker, now at LA Galaxy in the United States  Major League Soccer, can only imagine what would have ha…

Diego Costa s impending return to Atletico Madrid has been confirmed and, for Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte, it has been a long time coming.

Speaking during pre-season, Conte claimed the matter of Costa s future had been very clear since January.

This was when speculation over a possible move to the Chinese Super League surfaced and, although Conte temporarily buried the hatchet, this can now be interpreted as a pragmatic call made to keep the Blues successful title tilt on track.

But Costa and Conte are far from the only major names to have shown how strained relations can come between the stars of the dressing room and the man calling the shots.

MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI v LEONARDO BONUCCI (17/02/2017)

Allegri has always had something…

According to multiple sources, Napoli have agreed the transfer of Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea. Final details are being discussed between the two clubs and the player, and the move is now very close to completion.

Napoli will pay £30 million for the services of the 31-year-old striker, who has plenty of experience in Italian football, having played for Inter Milan and AS Roma. The contract he is expected to sign with the Serie A side will be valid for three years, and Chelsea will have the benefit of a sell-on clause in case he leaves Napoli before its expiration.

Meanwhile, Chelsea continue to be linked with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, but they reportedly face competition from several top clubs for the Nigerian. Also, with their squad consisting of over 40 players at…

According to a recent report from Estadio Deportivo, Mikel Arteta will hope to complete the signing of Sevilla youngster Antonio Zarzana if he is indeed announced as the new manager of Arsenal Football Club. 

Arteta is in advanced talks over becoming the Gunners’ new boss, and with the January transfer window looming large, he has quite a bit of work to do. 

Nobody can quite say how Arteta is going to perform one way or another, but one thing he needs to do is shake up the squad in a big way. If he’s unable to do so in January, then fans will immediately place him on the back foot. 

Zarzana, who is just 17 years of age, has been turning heads as one of the rising midfield stars over in Spain. Arteta is familiar with that part of the world and won…

Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw

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Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur will face each other in the Premier League this weekend. The game at the Molineux Stadium is slated to kick off at 7:15pm UK time on Sunday.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers are having a rather inconsistent season in the Premier League, but they still remain in the hunt for the Champions League places. Nuno’s side started the month of December with defeats to Liverpool and Aston Villa, but they then got the better of Chelsea 2-1 at home before going down 2-1 to relegation candidates Burnley at Turf Moor in the league.

The Wanderers are 11th in the Premier League table at the moment with 20 points from 14 matches. Nuno’s …