Sports

Market: Manchester United win

Odds: 

Already booking their spot in the knockout stage, Jose Mourinho and his Manchester United side will travel to a struggling Estadio de Mestalla on Wednesday night.

Starting with the hosts, although Valencia have already confirmed that they will be dropping down into the Europa League after booking a third-place finish in Group H a fortnight ago, Marcelino García Toral will know his side must perform on Wednesday. With a 1-0 win over little known Ebro the Bats only victory in their last four outings, they also hold just a four-point buffer over the relegation zone in La Liga. Now managing to pick up just one win in their last eight Champions League matches, a run that stems back to 2015, Valencia have failed to score in six of…

According to a recent report from Sky Sports, Manchester United are one of a series of clubs that is interested in signing Reading striker Danny Loader. The 20 year old is set to be out of a contract during next summer’s transfer window, and while it looked like he may end up signing a brand new deal with the Royals, talks on said deal have stalled. 

He was initially going to be leaving Reading on Deadline Day earlier on this year, only for a possible switch to Wolverhampton Wanderers to fall through. The Championship side are obviously eager to keep hold of him at all costs but at this stage, if the right sort of offer comes in, it’ll be difficult to say no given the financial incentive that will undoubtedly come alongside it. 

Either way, at this age, this mov…

Prediction: Total Goals Under 1.5

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Tottenham Hotspur have a tough task to get back to winning ways as they face Arsenal in the North London Derby on Saturday afternoon.

Mauricio Pochettino s men have slumped to back-to-back defeats and whilst they still sit third in the Premier League table, the Gunners are now only five points behind. Thus, this game could represent a huge opportunity for either side to strengthen their pursuit of the top four.

Tottenham Hotspur

Despite what has been a positive season so far for Tottenham, they have now fallen to consecutive defeats following losses against Burnley and their unconvincing defeat at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea. The North Londoners have not lost three consecutive league games sinc…

Ivan Rakitic jumped into his pool to celebrate Sevilla s Europa League success on Friday.

Sevilla won the title for a sixth time with a 3-2 victory over Inter in a thrilling final in Cologne.

Rakitic has been linked with a return to the club after spending six seasons at Barcelona.

The midfielder was doing an interview with SFC Media when he threw himself into his pool, fully clothed, to celebrate the club s success.

Rakitic won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2014 before joining Barca, where he has claimed four LaLiga titles and a Champions League among numerous other honours.

The Croatia international is linked with a move away from Barcelona, where Ronald Koeman has replaced Quique Setien as coach.

Rakitic was left on the bench as Bar…

Gerard Pique, Frenkie de Jong, Clement Lenglet and Marc-Andre ter Stegen have all signed contract extensions with Barcelona, the LaLiga giants announced.

Barca said the agreements come after weeks of negotiations and include temporary salary adjustments in response to difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Pique, who was sent off in the second half of Barca s 5-1 Champions League win over Ferencvaros on Tuesday, has signed an extension until June 2024. 

The 33-year-old s future at Camp Nou had been in doubt after saying he would be the first to step aside following a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in last season s Champions League quarter-final.

Pique has played 548 games for Barca, who say his extension is subject to him featuring …

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp lamented the fact the World Cup will be held in Qatar and said the media should have done more to hold FIFA to account.

The tournament is due to begin on November 20 after Qatar won the right to stage it in controversial circumstances 12 years ago, when FIFA also announced Russia as the 2018 hosts.

Those decisions came under heavy scrutiny amid allegations of corruption within world football s governing body, which has since undergone a reshuffle following the exit of embattled former president Sepp Blatter.

Critics have cited several reasons why Qatar is not a suitable host nation, with its human rights record, treatment of migrant workers and laws against same-sex relationships of particular concern.

For its part, FIFA has…

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford said he would like to retire at Old Trafford, insisting it wouldn t sit right to wear another club s shirt.

Rashford, who joined United as a seven-year-old, emerged from the youth team in 2015 and has since established himself as one of the stars of the Premier League.

The 23-year-old academy product has gone on to score 77 goals in 232 appearances for United, including three in the Premier League and six in the Champions League this season.

Rashford hopes to see out his career as a one-club player, saying: For me, I never look beyond Manchester United.

As a kid, I ve never looked beyond Manchester United.

In my mind, it wouldn t sit right for me to be pulling on another shirt.

I just want to do t…

Graham Potter defended his decision to leave Brighton and Hove Albion for Chelsea after Seagulls fans booed him upon his ultimately unhappy return to the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Potter spent three years at Brighton prior to departing for Stamford Bridge earlier this season, transforming them into an entertaining side after taking over a struggling team in 2019.

Saturday was his first return to Brighton with new side Chelsea and Potter was widely jeered by the home fans, who also sang you re getting sacked in the morning .

Brighton won the game 4-1, dealing Potter his first Chelsea loss and preventing him from becoming the only English manager to go unbeaten in his opening 10 games in charge of the club.

When was asked about his reception after the game,…

Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic has lashed out at World Cup organisers and Canada boss John Herdman, stating his side deserve respect .

The 2018 World Cup finalists opened their Qatar 2022 campaign with a goalless draw against Morocco in Group F, which kicked off at 1pm local time on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of his side s next match however, Dalic hit out at FIFA, suggesting his team should have been handed a cooler, more favourable late-day slot for their match as incumbent runners-up.

The fact that we played the first match at 1pm disturbed our rhythm, he stated. I attribute our lack of energy in that first match to the early kick-off.

The fact that Croatia plays at 1pm is not respectful. England, Spain, France and Brazil are not playing at that time…

Market: Central Coast Mariners win

Odds: 4/7 @

Looking to extend on their A-League romp, Central Coast will welcome Perth Glory to the Industree Group Stadium on Sunday morning.

Starting with the hosts, while Central Coast might have opened up the 2023/24 campaign in the midst of a real struggle, the Mariners have come roaring back in some style. Last seen putting in another thumping display as they cruised their way to a 3-0 romp away at Brisbane, it appears that the mood in Mark Jackson’s camp is at a red-hot high. Firing on all cylinders and extended on their AFC Cup adventure earlier in the month, the former MK Dons boss will be calling on his squad to make a New Year’s Eve statement here. In fact, with their recent purple patch underlined by a 4-0 victo…