Month: November 2024

Lionel Messi, Neymar and World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe are among the final players named on the 30-man Ballon d Or shortlist.

They are joined by Mbappe s France team-mates Hugo Lloris, Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane, as well as Croatia star Luka Modric, who won the World Cup Golden Ball.

Modric s international team-mates Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Rakitic are also on the shortlist, as are Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

Completing the final 15 nominees for France Football s prize are Real Madrid s Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak and Barcelona forward Luis Suarez.

Mbappe scored 21 goals for Paris Saint-Germain last season before starring in France s triumphant Russia 2018 campaign, netting three times on their w…

RB Leipzig are interested in signing Tyler Morton from Liverpool in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Liverpool are willing to sell Morton for £20 million.

Morton has been on the books of Liverpool since 2009 when he came through the youth system and has played for the Merseyside club’s first team. The 21-year-old midfielder had has loan spells at Blackburn Rovers and Hull City in recent years.

Liverpool finished third in the Premier League table last season and will be determined to beat Arsenal and Manchester City to the league title next season under new head coach Arne Slot. As for RB Leipzig, the German club ended up fourth in the Bundesliga table last season and will be keen on at least challenging for the title in the next …

Russia beat 1988 champions Holland 3-1 after extra-time in their Euro 2008 quarter-final here on Saturday.

Two goals in extra-time from Dmitri Torbinsky and Andrei Arshavin sealed a deserved victory for the Russians, whose coach Guus Hiddink is a former Dutch national coach.

Arshavin extended Russia s lead in the 116th minute for his second goal in two matches after Dmitri Torbinsky had restored Russia s lead in the 112th minute with his first goal of the tournament, though, an earlier booking had ruled him out of the semi-final.

Roman Pavlyuchenko had opened the scoring in the 56th minute his third goal of the tournament.

However, Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised for Holland in the 87th minute his second goal of the tournament and taking him equal with…

Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez believes his side are stronger now than they were three years ago when they made the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.

Martinez s side, who are currently first in the FIFA rankings, will play their World Cup semi-final conquerors France in the final four of the Nations League on Thursday.

After their third-place finish at Russia 2018, Belgium were beaten by Italy in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals in July, prompting suggestions the Red Devils golden generation had missed their chance for silverware.

Martinez s starting XI in their World Cup semi-final defeat was the oldest (28 years, 356 days) of all of Belgium s line-ups during the tournament, which some might argue was evidence of them being at the peak of their powers.

Betwe…

Real Madrid are currently seven points clear of second-place FC Barcelona in the La Liga table, with a game in hand, meaning that they have complete control over their destiny at the moment.

To say that Los Blancos have been on scintillating form this season might even be an understatement.

Jose Mourinho s side have won 18, drawn one and lost just two games in Spain s top-tier in 2011-12.

In 21 games, Madrid have bagged a whopping 71 goals, while conceding just 19. Truly remarkable.

Now then, let s take a look at Real Madrid s top goal-scorers of the season.

Top Goal-scorers

Iker Casillas has put together yet another good season in goal for Real Madrid. The Spain international has kept eight clean sheets in 21 La Liga fixtures, s…

Monday Night Football in Week 9 features a battle between a pair of historic NFL franchises as the Chicago Bears face the Pittsburgh Steelers. We’re mentioning these clubs’ pasts because the present doesn’t look great and we’re a bit annoyed at the schedule makers who’ve given us some head-scratching matchups in prime time lately.

But hey it’s still football action on Monday night even if these sluggish offenses are giving us the lowest total on the NFL betting board this week. So here are our best free Bears vs. Steelers picks and predictions for Monday, November 8.

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The Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs will have a quick turnaround as the two best teams in the AFC West battle on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 2.

Keenan Allen is looking like a no-go but there is value to be had still in the L.A. passing game while bettors should be looking at the Chargers secondary for tackling opportunities as the Kansas City offense can’t be stopped. 

Here are my free NFL player prop picks for Thursday Night Football’s game between the Chargers and Chiefs.

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We’ve got our first Sunday of the 2023 NFL season coming up. While quarterback remains the most important position in the game, the guys who get after the passers remain highly coveted as well.

The 49ers giving Nick Bosa $170 million and the Chiefs line struggling without Chris Jones on Thursday is yet more evidence of the value of an elite pass rusher, and they are judged primarily on a single statistic: sacks.

I’ll be bringing you my best sack prop picks and predictions every week and in the Week 1 odds, I’m backing a pair of former Defensive Player of Year winners in Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald. 

For more NFL prop plays, check out out weekly NFL prop picks, as well as our NFL touchdown props column. We also have full-game NF…

For decades, the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving game hadn’t been anything to get too jazzed up about while enjoying your feast. Detroit is 37-44-2 on Turkey Day, after all.

This year is different with Dan Campbell’s Lions on pace to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and they could even win 12 or more games for the first time since 1991. NFL odds even have the Lions as more than a touchdown favorite over the Green Bay Packers, thanks in part to Jared Goff taking his game up a notch this season in the Motor City.

As a result, I’m looking at Jared Goff odds to take advantage of his solid play heading into NFL Week 12. 

You can see how I’m betting on the Lions quarterback as we dive into the TNF odds in my free NFL picks bel…

With the explosion of sports betting, there are endless ways to place NFL picks on Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

Super Bowl odds go way beyond the point spread and Over/Under total, with a laundry list of NFL props and oddsmakers squeezing out every drop of imagination to create new and engaging options for events on and off the field in Las Vegas this Sunday.

But what if you don’t care about those alternative NFL odds? What if you don’t know most of the players on the field? And what if you’ll spend the halftime show taking the dog for a walk?

This is the article for you.

I keep my Super Bowl predictions clean and quick, giving you three reasons why the San Francisco 49ers will wi…