Best odds: 29/10
Bookmaker:
Real Madrid travel to Seville to take on Real Betis on Saturday evening at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in the third round of the 2020/21 season in La Liga. It will actually be the second league game for the defending champions who had their first-round contest with Getafe postponed due to post-lockdown involvement in the Champions League.
Real Betis
Betis will not have been too happy with the way 2019/20 ended in the Spanish top flight for them. They could hardly have hoped for European qualification, but to have finished no more than five points above the relegation zone will not have gone down too well.
There have been some notable changes at the club this summer. First of all, they appointed Manuel Pellegrini as head coa…
According to Sky Sports sources, Italian side Sampdoria have put forward a loan offer to Southampton for Manolo Gabbiadini. The deal would see the 27 year old forward make the jump over to the club, with an obligation to buy in a move believed to be worth around £10.75 million. It’s no secret that the Italian forward has been struggling in English football after an initially positive start to life down south, and now, he seems to be gearing up for his big return to his homeland.
Gabbiadini made the switch to the Saints back in 2017 in a move that was said to be worth around £14.6 million.
This isn’t a done deal just yet, though, with Real Betis also being interested. That isn’t all too surprising that Manolo is still young enough to make an impact in European fo…
Market: Gremio double chance
Odds: 8/15 @
Meeting for the second time in the space of a few days, Gremio will travel to the Arena Fonte Nova when they turn their attention back to Copa do Brasil duties in the early hours of Wednesday.
Starting with the hosts, suffering a last-gasp heartbreak at the hands of Gremio over the weekend as they eventually slumped to a 2-1 defeat on home soil, Bahia find themselves in the midst of a public Serie A struggle. Although Renato Paiva’s men might have made their top-flight return this season, the Tricolor have recorded just a single win from any of their previous 11 straight appearances within 90 minutes a run that stems all the way back to May 7th. With that run highlighted by another 2-1 loss against Fluminense last week…
Paul Scholes claimed Paul Pogba will still be doing this stupid stuff at the age of 35 after the Manchester United midfielder disappointed against Atalanta.
Pogba was restored to the starting line-up for Tuesday s Champions League game after missing the 3-0 Premier League win at Tottenham due to suspension.
However, the France international was substituted with 69 minutes gone despite United trailing 2-1 to the home side after a frustrating performance.
Pogba gave up the ball 13 times in the United midfield, including once when he dawdled on the ball on the edge of his own box and had a pass cut out, with Eric Bailly scrambling to deny Duvan Zapata a clear shot at goal.
United in the end salvaged a 2-2 draw, with Cristiano Ronaldo, who had earlier cancell…
Orlando Pirates coach Julio Leal was pleased with Benson Mhlongo’s performance during their 2-1 Telkom Knockout Cup victory over Black Leopards on Saturday.
It was Mhlongo s first match since picking up a knee injury in October 2009 against AmaZulu.
The midfielder replaced Andile Jali, who was injured in the 70th minute, and received a standing ovation when he took the field.
Within minutes of coming on, Mhlongo had a hand in the second goal scored by Rudolf Bester, and Leal says he was delighted to see the defender contributing to their success.
I like the player very much; his character and his personality. Unfortunately due to the injury he has been unable to continue performing well for Pirates and Bafana Bafana, he told Kickoff.com.
When…
Japan Football Association president Junji Ogura says his country will not bid to host the 2013 or 2014 Club World Cup.
Ogura said the JFA wanted to increase its chances of holding bigger events, including the Women s World Cup.
The 2011 Club World Cup is currently being staged in Japan, where the tournament was played from 2005 to 2008, before it moved to the United Arab Emirates for the past two years.
Ogura told Kyodo News that Japan, which is already scheduled to host the 2012 event, would not be bidding to host the Club World Cup in 2013 or 2014 to help it secure bigger tournaments.
If we do it every time, it becomes difficult to host other competitions, Ogura said.
If we want the likes of the Under-20 World Cup and the Women’s World Cu…
Borussia Dortmund s star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang insists he will definitely not be leaving the club in the remaining weeks of the transfer window.
The Gabon international has regularly spoken of his ambition to play for Real Madrid and has been linked with a move to Premier League side Manchester City.
But Aubameyang, who has scored 80 goals for Dortmund since joining from Saint-Etienne in 2013, wants to focus on challenging Bayern Munich s dominance of the Bundesliga rather than speculation over his future.
I will definitely stay at BVB and I would like to no longer respond to this question, Aubameyang explained at a press conference.
We hope that we can annoy Bayern.
Aubameyang has been key in helping Dortmund new boy Ousmane Dembe…
Iker Casillas is keen to put his high-profile errors behind him as Real Madrid prepare for another season of challenging for titles.
The 33-year-old has enjoyed a glittering career for both club and country, winning five La Liga crowns, three UEFA Champions League titles, two European Championships as well as the World Cup in 2010.
After being a mainstay in the Real goal for the best part of 15 years, Casillas was used solely in the cup competitions by Carlo Ancelotti last season, with Diego Lopez taking his place for La Liga fixtures.
Casillas appeared rusty as a result, making a mistake that led to Atletico Madrid s goal in the Champions League final, as well as committing costly errors as Spain s World Cup defence ended in a dismal exit at the group stage.
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Mauro Icardi s second-half brace helped Inter to a 3-1 Serie A victory over Roma on Luciano Spalletti s return to the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Edin Dzeko fired Roma in front after quarter of an hour and the hosts dominated for long periods before Icardi struck twice his third and fourth goals of the season to stun the home crowd and Matias Vecino completed the scoring.
Inter had welcomed former coach Stefano Pioli back to San Siro with a 3-0 defeat of Fiorentina his new side on the opening weekend and it had looked to be Spalletti s turn for an unhappy reunion as Roma cast the visitors aside in a devastating first-half display.
Roma s Radja Nainggolan had earlier been forced to deny claims he had retired from international football after Belgium s bizarre s…
UEFA is not investigating Manchester City despite LaLiga calling on European football s governing body to assess the Premier League club over potential Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches.
Javier Tebas, president of Spain s top flight, made two complaints to UEFA on August 22, asking the organisation to investigate Paris Saint-Germain and City.
UEFA confirmed last week they have begun to examine PSG, with the Ligue 1 side responding by saying they are very confident they will be able to comply fully with the rules.
But UEFA have denied there is any investigation into City after Tebas called for scrutiny, with particular reference to state aid rules, which LaLiga felt was being breached to fund lavish expenditure.
UEFA said on Monday: There is no investigat…