Best odds: 43/20
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Manchester City may be at the front of the race for the Premier League title, but the first trophy of the 2021-22 in English football will be decided between the two teams directly behind them. Liverpool and Chelsea are set to do battle in the Carabao Cup final, set to take place on Sunday at Wembley.
Chelsea
It has been a season of ups and downs for Thomas Tuchel and his team. They started rather strongly, but they occasionally dropped points where they shouldn t have and their chances of winning the title in the Premier League are very remote; purely theoretical, one might almost say. At the moment, the London Blues are third with 50 points, 13 less than City at the top though with a game in hand.
Chelsea had a decent group…
Diego Costa has reportedly asked Atletico Madrid to terminate his contract six months early in order to find a new club in the January transfer window.
The Spain international who agreed a return to Atleti in September 2017, though was not able to play for them until January the following year has endured an injury plagued 2020-21 that has restricted him to just seven appearances.
Atletico are said to be open to the possibility of offloading Costa should they find suitable cover, with Luis Suarez their only recognised out-and-out striker.
But how much of a loss would Costa actually be? Using Opta data, the time feels right to take a look at his attacking output in closer detail.
— Diego Costa (@diegocosta)
SCORING FEAT…
Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac says he always voted for Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d Or when he was Croatia head coach.
Messi produced another sparkling performance on Wednesday, scoring twice to give Barcelona a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Liverpool at Camp Nou and reach 600 club goals in the process.
His form in 2018-19 has made a mockery of his ranking in last year s race for the Ballon d Or, when he came in fifth place behind Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Cristiano Ronaldo and winner Luka Modric.
But Kovac, who was Croatia coach between 2013 and 2015, insists he has never had any doubt about who is the best player in the world.
There is only one Messi, he told a news conference on Friday ahead of Bayern Munich s Bundesli…
The good news for West Ham is Manchester City s visit to London Stadium is over and done with.
Raheem Sterling starred with a hat-trick as Pep Guardiola s reigning champions began their quest for a third consecutive Premier League title with an imposing 5-0 victory.
Playing their home games at the venue that hosted the 2012 Olympic Games has plenty of benefits for West Ham, but hosting City is not one of them.
Guardiola s men now boast an aggregate advantage of 22-1 in their games in Stratford. Here we look back at some painful hammerings for the Hammers.
It feels good to be back, doesn t it?!
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
January 6, 2017 West Ham 0 Manchester City 5 (FA Cup)
City were faltering midway through thei…
David Silva has that he will eventually leave Manchester City before his career comes to an end. The Spaniard signed a one-year contract extension on his previous deal last year which will keep him at the Etihad until 2020, although he noted that he d be 34 once that contract expires. Because of that, he has stated that he d probably go in search of a new challenge although he s ruled out the possibility of playing for another club in English football.
The 32-year-old has been a consistent force in the heart of City s first team ever since he initially signed back in 2010, quickly establishing himself as one of the greatest players in the club s recent history. City, who are coming off the back of a dominant Premier League title-winning campaign, are looking to become the firs…
At head coach Joes Mourinho s request, Tottenham Hotspur are sending scouts to watch and bring back reports on Edin Dzeko of AS Roma, according to .
Spurs have allowed Fernando Llorente to leave and join Napoli as a free agent, as his contract expired this summer. They haven t yet signed a replacement and that has now left them in a situation that they have no natural backup option for Harry Kane as the main man upfront. There is always the option of applying a different setup in case of Kane s unavailability, but Mourinho is keen on having a proper replacement for the England captain.
Dzeko has vast experience in the Premier League, having spent four and a half seasons with Manchester City before moving to Rome in 2015, during which he won two league titles, one FA Cup…
Aaron Connolly scored twice and Hugo Lloris suffered a serious arm injury as Tottenham lost 3-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion to cap a dismal week.
Humiliated in a 7-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek, Spurs needed a response to ward off rumours of disharmony but encountered only more pain at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Lloris bore the worst of it, the captain left in agony and taken from the field on a stretcher following a lengthy delay after landing awkwardly on his left arm in an incident that gifted the hosts a third-minute lead.
The goalkeeper dropped a routine Pascal Gross cross, stumbled backwards and was in too much anguish to keep Neal Maupay from nodding home the loose ball at point-blank range.
Connolly, 19, doubled Brigh…
With the Europa Conference League qualifiers getting back underway on Thursday, we look set for what is a lively night of action from across the continent.
Ahead of a stacked schedule from the likes of Holland and Ireland, we have found a pair of Conference League qualifiers that are worth keeping an eye out for.
19:00 Twente vs Hammarby
Eventually punching their Conference League ticket last month following a nail-biting 2-1 aggregate victory against Sparta Rotterdam, Twente have continued on a stellar purple patch on either side of the summer interval. Signing off their Eredivisie campaign with a famous 3-1 romp at home against Dutch icons Ajax on May 28th, Thursday’s hosts now have their sights set on mounting a genuine European charge in 2023.
Wi…
Manchester United held talks with Arsene Wenger over replacing Alex Ferguson as manager in 2001, former chairman Martin Edwards has revealed.
The Arsenal boss was identified as the number one choice to take charge at Old Trafford following Ferguson s shock announcement to the club that he intended to retire following the 2000-01 season.
Edwards, who was chairman of the club between 1980 and 2002, says discussions were held at Wenger s home in an effort to tempt him away from United s fierce rivals.
I have to say that his decision came as both a surprise and a shock to all of us, Edwards told GQ magazine when asked about Ferguson s initial plans to retire.
Once we realised that he was very serious about it and that his mind was made up, there were lots o…
Matheus Cunha has completed his move from Atletico Madrid to Wolves.
Cunha, a Brazil international who joined Atleti from Hertha Berlin in 2021, is the first signing of the Julen Lopetegui era at Molineux.
The 23-year-old has joined on loan, though the transfer will automatically become permanent should certain clauses be triggered.
Lopetegui had already confirmed the transfer on Friday, though the club made the official announcement on Sunday.
Cunha will officially join on January 1, subject to a work permit.
A member of Brazil s gold medal-winning side at the Tokyo Olympics last year, Cunha scored six goals in 29 LaLiga appearances for Atleti in the 2021-22 campaign, but has failed to find the net this season.
He s a good player. I kno…