Verdict: Away win both teams to score
Best odds:
Bookmaker:
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen aims to bounce back from the last-round defeat with a win at Hoffenheim. The game will be played at PreZero Arena with 30,000 fans keen to see their favourites replicate the 2020 win against the visitors.
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim was successful last term when the former Stuttgart boss, Pellegrino Matarazzo, brought TSG back to the European competitions following a 7th-place finish that guaranteed a presence in the Europa League. Although the hosts ended their previous campaign with a shocking home win against Bayern Munich (4-2), the Summer preparations were not going according to plan.
However, Hoffenheim tested its power against top English sides …
Following a very long and extremely worrying transfer saga, Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool to join Barcelona in January 2018, despite the best efforts from everyone connected to the club to convince him to give the move up and stay put for the revolution that was about to unfold under Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool, however, reinvested the money they got wisely, signing defender Virgil van Dijk in the same window, as well as goalkeeper Alisson Becker and midfielder Fabinho the following summer right after reaching the Champions League final. The rest, as they say, is history, and perhaps it wasn t so for Coutinho, but the Merseysiders never looked back.
For a long time there was talk about replacing the Brazilian playmaker, who liked the roaming No. 10 role the most…
Best odds: 8/13
Bookmaker:
Liverpool were an unsolvable problem for Arsenal throughout several previous seasons. The Gunners would occasionally win a game against them, but more often than not, they were victims of a well-drilled machine that Jurgen Klopp had created, whether it was Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery or Mikel Arteta in the dugout.
This season however, it s a completely different story. Arsenal are running towards their first Premier League title in almost two decades, while Liverpool are an unsolvable problem only for themselves.
On Sunday, the two teams will meet at Anfield in their second clash this season. The first, a highly controversial one played back in early October last year at the Emirates, the Gunners won by 3-2, courtesy of an early …
Luton are one game away from the Premier League after reaching the Championship play-off final with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Sunderland.
If the Hatters go on to clinch promotion at Wembley they will have the smallest stadium of any team to have played in the Premier League.
Here, the PA news agency’s Reuben Rosso-Powell takes a closer look at their Kenilworth Road ground and what changes it will have to undergo to comply with Premier League requirements.
Current condition
Kenilworth Road was built in 1905 and has a capacity of 10,356, meaning it would become the smallest ground in the Premier League next season, behind Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, which holds 11,379.
The unusual entrance for away fans at the Oak Road End of the ground is on a …
Gerard Pique insisted it is not farewell after playing his final game for Barcelona at Camp Nou before retirement.
Pique was substituted to a standing ovation in the 84th minute of Barca s 2-0 win against Almeria on Saturday after second-half goals from Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong had set the Blaugrana on their way to an 11th win in their last 12 LaLiga games.
The 35-year-old announced the imminent end to his playing career earlier in the week, with the club agreeing to mutually terminate his contract prior to the start of the World Cup in Qatar later this month.
It is not yet clear whether Pique will play any part in Barca s final game before then, away to Osasuna on Tuesday, but it seems unlikely given his emotional departure against Almeria in which he…
QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has stepped down from the role.
Ferdinand, 56, spent eight years as a player at the club and returned to Loftus Road in 2014, initially as head of football operations.
QPR were relegated from the Premier League in 2015 and have spent the last eight years in the Championship, narrowly avoiding relegation last season.
Ferdinand told the club’s official website: “This has not been an easy decision. My life is football, I love football and I want to stay in football, but I do feel this is the right time for me to step down from my position here.
“Everyone knows how special Queens Park Rangers is to me and it has been a privilege to be back at the club.
“There have been challenging times and I have had to …
Watching the European Championship qualifiers get back underway this week, a high-flying Portugal will be looking to complete their Group J romp.
In the midst of what has been a stellar EURO 24 qualifying flurry this year, there are also a host of European Championship betting markets that are worth taking note of.
In what could be a defining fortnight of EURO 24 qualifying action, we have taken an in-depth look at what could unfold and some of the most intriguing EURO 24 betting tips that are available this month.
Who is leading the chase in Group J?
Although Portugal might have come under plenty of scrutiny out in the Middle East over the winter as they crashed out at the quarter-final stage following a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Morocco, the former European …
Real Madrid: Ancelotti tempting fate by not signing a Benzema backup as he eyes elusive third season
Carlo Ancelotti s return to Real Madrid last year came as something of a surprise to most.
While the job he d done at Everton was generally seen as fine, there was nothing about his time at Goodison Park that suggested the Italian would be back at the top of the game in his next job.
His appointment at the Santiago Bernabeu could ve almost been interpreted as a pointed dig at Clasico rivals Barcelona, where managerial hirings tend to be based around philosophy – few could say that about Ancelotti, a coach arguably regarded more for his motivational skills, tactical flexibility and winning than for sticking to one defined brand of football.
Regardless of how surprising Ancelotti s return was, he certainly got the job done. Madrid looked certainties for the title…
Poland finally ended their goal drought on Saturday, but last-minute defensive errors saw them draw 1-1 in a friendly against fellow Euro 2012 hosts Ukraine.
Fresh from Champions League success with his French club Auxerre, on-form striker Ireneusz Jelen hounded the Ukrainian defence from the outset, with Poland s attacks belying the visitors edge in possession.
Ukraine s Serbian-born Marko Devic hit back in the 11th minute, but was denied by Polish keeper Artur Boruc.
Minutes later, Jelen failed to latch onto a cross from Jakub Blaszczykowski, but Ukrainian keeper Andrei Pyatov conceded a corner.
Polish-born former Germany Under-21 Sebastian Boenisch on his first call-up after opting for Poland last month headed wide of the goal and then returned to the…
Jack Grealish has earned a recall to the England squad under interim boss Lee Carsley, who has named four uncapped players in his first selection.
Gareth Southgate left his role as Three Lions manager in the wake of the 2-1 loss to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
Grealish was a notable absentee from England s squad for that tournament, but the Manchester City attacker has returned to the fold for next month s Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
The 28-year-old is joined in the squad by four new faces, with Noni Madueke, Morgan Gibbs-White, Tino Livramento and Lille midfielder Angel Gomes all included.
Grealish s club-mate Kyle Walker has been left out, while Kieran Trippier confirmed his international retirement on Thursday.…