Month: November 2024

Market: Bayer Leverkusen win

Odds: 4/11 @

Looking to make an immediate return to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, Bayer Leverkusen will travel to a struggling Darmstadt.

Starting with the hosts, while Darmstadt might have booked a famous Bundesliga return for this season, it is no surprise that the Lilies are tipped as a landslide relegation contender in 2024. Last seen putting in another toothless display as they suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of fellow strugglers Union Berlin, Torsten Lieberknecht s men sit rock-bottom of the table. Putting just 11 points on the board from their 19 Bundesliga appearances this season and already six points adrift of top-flight safety, the Hesse-based outfit are without a single win from any of their previous 12 straight sh…

Ipswich Town welcomed Liverpool to Portman Road on Saturday, in the opening round of the 2024/25 Premier League season. The Merseysiders walked away with all three points, courtesy of second-half goals from Diogo Jota (60 ) and Mohamed Salah (65 ).

The teams

It s been more than two decades since Ipswich last played in the Premier League. Like many promoted clubs tend to do, they ve done significant transfer business this summer to try and strengthen the squad for the upcoming challenges, the main of which will surely be to stay in the English top flight. Whether it proves enough remains to be seen losing the opening game to a team like Liverpool can hardly be taken as any kind of a sign.

Coach Kieran McKenna selected Christian Walton, who spent most of last season in t…

Zinedine Zidane has ruled out taking over at Bayern Munich, amid suggestions Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is also of interest to the Bundesliga giants.

Bayern have been frustrated in their search for a successor to Thomas Tuchel, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season after overseeing their first failure to win the Bundesliga since 2012.

Preferred candidate Xabi Alonso – who was also linked with Liverpool – has reaffirmed his commitment to Bayer Leverkusen, while Julian Nagelsmann decided to continue as Germany boss after being linked with a return to the Allianz Arena.

Ralf Rangnick was the latest coach to be linked with the Bavarian giants last week, only for the Austria boss to follow Alonso and Nagelsmann by saying he will stay in hi…

Juan Antonio Pizzi thinks his Saudi Arabia team could be unstoppable in the 2019 Asian Cup if they manage to consistently reproduce the sort of display that saw them hammer North Korea 4-0 in their opener.

Although Pizzi s men were boosted by the sending off of Han Kwang-song just before half-time, Saudi Arabia were already 2-0 up and well on their way to three points.

As such, Saudi Arabia look well placed to progress to the knockout phase for the first time since 2007, when they finished runners-up.

Up next on Saturday is a meeting with a Lebanon side who lost 2-0 to Qatar in their opening game, meaning Saudi Arabia should be confident of moving on to six points.

But Pizzi is looking even further ahead than that match and potential progression, suggesti…

Marko Arnautovic could be handed a rare start for Inter Milan as they begin the defence of their Coppa Italia title on Wednesday with a home clash against his former club Bologna.

Inter sit four points clear at the top of the Serie A table but Bologna are one of only two teams along with Sassuolo to take points off them at San Siro this season after a 2-2 draw in October.

Nerazzurri boss Simone Inzaghi is likely to rotate his players with Saturday’s league clash against Lecce the priority but Inter will aim to set up a quarter-final date against Fiorentina, who they beat 2-1 in last season’s final in May.

Davide Frattesi and Kristjan Asllani are among the likely starters while France defender Benjamin Pavard, who suffered a knee injury in early November, coul…

Italy held world and European champions Spain to a 1-1 draw on Sunday to kick off the action in Group C of Euro 2012.

Antonio Di Natale drew first blood for Italy on 60 minutes, coming off the bench to put his side ahead.

But only four minutes later Cesc Fabregas equalised to ensure Spain ended up with a share of the spoils in Gdansk.

The headline news which preceded the match was the inclusion of Fabregas, nominally a midfielder, as the man charged with leading the line, ahead of recognised strikers Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente.

Meanwhile, Italy coach Cesare Prandelli handed a debut to Juventus defender Emanuele Giaccherini.

After Daniele de Rossi deflected the ball into the path of Andres Iniesta, the first chance of the game fell to S…

The draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar took place on Friday, and there are some tantalising fixtures to look forward to before the knockout rounds even begin.

Spain and Germany, two of the tournament s past three winners, are in the same group, while hosts Qatar now know they will kick things off against Ecuador on November 21.

Three teams are still to be determined, with two inter-confederation play-offs and a European play-off to be staged in June – potentially meaning an all-British affair for England, who will open up their campaign against the United States.

Reigning champions France face Denmark, Tunisia and one of Peru, the United Arab Emirates or Australia. Brazil should be confident of progressing from Group G, while Belgium, Portugal and Argentin…

Competition: Champions League
Market: Man City to win the Champions League
Odds:

Following a successful season that saw them win the Premier League and Capital One Cup, Manchester City now have eyes on winning the Champions League.

The Citizens made it to the last-16 of the Champions League last season, which is the furthest they’ve ever got in the tournament.

The players and management are all going to be striving for the European competition next season, and will also strengthen the side to ensure they can better 2013/14.

As a result, Bet 365 are giving odds of 9/1 for Manchester City to go all the way next season and win the Champions League for the first time in their history.

While the Premier League went down to the wire, Ma…

Spain scraped through to the Euro 2012 final after defeating Portugal in a penalty shootout on Wednesday.

With the scores locked at 0-0 after 120 minutes, Cesc Fabregas struck the winning penalty to clinch the 4-2 shootout win at Donetsk s Donbass Arena.

Bruno Alves struck the crossbar with his penalty attempt that ultimately proved costly for the Portuguese.

Both Spain s Xabi Alonso and Portugal s Joao Moutinho had their opening penalties saved before the sides traded goals.

Alves failed to convert with the score at 3-2, allowing Fabregas to send Spain through to their third straight final at a major international tournament.

Spain will meet either Germany or Italy in the final at Kiev s Olympic Stadium on Sunday.

…

Most World Cups have one truly iconic player who is intrinsically linked to that tournament for eternity, a standout star head and shoulders above the rest.

Pele had 1958 and 1970, Diego Maradona had 1986. There was Paolo Rossi in 1982, while Ronaldo was arguably that man in both 1998 and 2002.

But there aren t many instances of a World Cup final having two players vying for a victory that would have seismic consequences on their respective legacies. Or at least not to this degree.

Qatar 2022 s final is France against Argentina, but it s more than that. It s also Kylian Mbappe v Lionel Messi.

Both are teetering on the precipice of achievements that ll long outlive them, and it all rides on one match.

Messi s last chance

For many, there is …