Market: Bayern Munich to win by 2+ goals
Odds: 19/20 @
Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Bundesliga table, Bayern Munich will host Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday night.
Starting with the hosts, last seen heading into Germany s festive break with a thumping 4-0 win at home against Wolfsburg, it is no surprise that Bayern Munich are once again tipped as a landslide pick to reclaim their Bundesliga crown. Marking their return to action on Friday night holding a commanding nine-point buffer over the chasing pack, Head Coach Julian Nagelsmann will be looking for his side to lay down another marker here. Signing off their 2021 run by winning each of their previous seven matchups from across all formats, the former RB Leipzig bo…
Crashing out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle away at Championship outfit on Sunday evening, Arsenal fans will be hoping for a boost behind the scenes over the coming weeks.
Opening the New Year with that hugely controversial 2-1 defeat at home against Manchester City, will be desperate for his side to refind the same momentum they had when heading into 2022.
Still hanging onto their spot in the top-four and looking to secure a Champions League return this season, many around north London are expecting what could be a frantic few weeks at the Emirates.
While the Gunners might be heavily linked with the likes of Fiorentina ace Dušan Vlahović, Arsenal could also see some of their stars head in the other direction.
Already watching make the loan switc…
QPR have signed Uruguayan striker Javier Chevanton on a three-month contract to boost their injury-hit forward line.
The 33-year-old, whose arrival is subject to international clearance, was released by Serie B club Lecce at the end of last season, bringing to an end his third spell with the Italian outfit.
Chevanton was capped 22 times by his country between 2001 and 2008, scoring seven times, and manager Harry Redknapp has called on him to step into the void created by injuries to Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson.
With the injuries we ve had to Bobby and AJ, we re really short of options in that department, Redknapp told the Championship club s official website.
Javier has spent time with us and integrated into the group very well.
He arrives with a good p…
Eddie Howe was keen to look at the positives after Newcastle United secured seventh place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes were among the goalscorers as Newcastle won 4-2 at Brentford to finish their Premier League campaign.
The victory ensured a seventh-place finish, and a Manchester City victory over Manchester United in next Saturday s FA Cup final will confirm Newcastle s place in next season s Europa Conference League.
While this season did not quite live up to the heroics of last term, which saw the Magpies finish in the Champions League spots, Howe still feels it has been a successful campaign.
We are United.
We have felt your support every step of the way, both inside the stadium and all over the world. T…
Roma stalwart Daniele De Rossi wants his club to revitalise themselves under new manager Rudi Garcia this season.
Roma will enter their third successive campaign with a different manager, aiming to break into the top five in the Serie A for the first time since 2009-10.
Garcia has bought well in the close-season with Kevin Strootman, Mehdi Benatia, Maicon and Morgan De Sanctis the headline arrivals at the Stadio Olimpico.
The last few seasons have not gone well, that is clear, De Rossi said.
What we need is to be reborn. And we start from here, we start with pre-season. It s the preparation for a revival ahead of an important year.
The club has always been a strong one, even in the years that things didn t go so well.
However, something has been missi…
Southend United manager Phil Brown is relishing the prospect of taking on former club Hull City in the FA Cup fourth round.
Brown led Hull to the Premier League in 2008 and kept the club in the top flight before being placed on gardening leave the following season, which ended in relegation.
An unsuccessful spell at Preston North End followed for Brown before he took charge of League Two Southend in March 2013.
The 54-year-old will now welcome Hull, who are back among England s elite clubs under Steve Bruce, to Roots Hall on January 25 or 26.
You couldn t write the script; it really is what the FA Cup is all about, Brown told Southend s official website.
It s a great draw for me personally coming up against Hull, but also for the players to test themselves …
Deputy secretary general Markus Kattner has been sacked by FIFA following breaches of his fiduciary responsibilities .
The German has been reported to have been aware of the disloyal payment made by then-president Sepp Blatter to Michel Platini in 2011 which resulted in the pair being banned from all football-related activity for six years – the Frenchman s suspension has since been reduced to four following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Kattner joined FIFA as the finance director in 2003 and had been serving as acting secretary general since January after Jerome Valcke was hit with a 12-year ban after FIFA s Ethics Committee found him guilty of numerous acts of misconduct.
However, Kattner has now been dismissed by world football s go…
Hull City manager Steve Bruce believes Paolo Di Canio s outdated approach to management proved to be his downfall at Sunderland.
Di Canio was dismissed by the Wearside club on Sunday having overseen a run that saw his side pick up just one point from their five opening games and left them rock-bottom of the Premier League.
The Italian only joined the Stadium of Light outfit as Martin O Neill s replacement in March, helping them preserve their top-flight status thanks partly to a 3-0 derby win at Newcastle United.
But Sunderland have failed to build on that success this term despite recruiting 14 players in the transfer window, while Di Canio has regularly criticised his players in public after poor results.
And Bruce, who managed Sunderland from 2009 to 2011, fe…
Former Swansea City defender Chico Flores has joined Spanish club Granada, it has been revealed.
The 30-year-old was a free agent as his contract with Al Duhail had expired, and he signed a one-year deal with Granada, with an option for a further year.
Flores will attempt to help los Rojiblancos return to the elite division after they were relegated from La Liga last term.
The experienced defender had represented Cadiz, Racing Portuense, Barcelona B, Almeria and Mallorca before moving to England in 2012.
Flores then enjoyed two very successful campaigns with Swansea City, making a total of 57 Premier League appearances.
…
FIFA have announced the worldwide extensions of bans given to 26 players by the Italian Football Association for match-fixing offences.
The FIGC handed out suspensions ranging from two months to four years back in July and August after conducting further investigations into match-fixing relating to Serie B games in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons and Serie A contests in the 2010-11 campaign.
Torino s Belgium international goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet was among those to receive one of the longest bans, with the 34-year-old banned for three years and seven months for offences relating to two matches involving former club Bari in 2008 and 2009.
A match official was also handed a four-year ban, and those sanctions will now be implemented on a worldwide scale.
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