While it might be the Premier League that steals center stage this weekend, we look set for another action-packed weekend from across British football. So, for those of you looking to place a Saturday acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.
Saturday March 4th
BST 15:00 Manchester City vs Newcastle
Extending on their FA Cup adventure earlier in the week as they claimed a routine 3-0 victory away at Championship outfit Bristol City, Manchester City will simply be looking to find some recent stability. However, while Pep Guardiola s side might have been disappointed after opening their Champions League knockout stage adventure on February 22nd with a 1-1 draw away at RB Leipzig, the Sky Blues came roaring back last weekend. E…
Verdict: Both teams to score
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Israel and Romania are fighting for the 2nd place in group I, with Switzerland being the favourites to finish 1st. The match will be played in Hungary at Pancho Arena, starting at 21:45, with a limited attendance.
Israel
Israel s faith to qualify for next year s EURO has a lot of ups and downs. Although they were favourites to win a crucial last Sunday game against Kosovo, they surprised everybody by losing 1-0. It seemed that Israel s faith had been sealed after the shock result against Kosovo. However, the disappointing match was quickly forgotten on Wednesday night when Hanan Hazan s players pulled a vital comeback against Switzerland by scoring a late equalizer (1-1 final score).
Israel sit…
Pep Guardiola reiterated his admiration for the free-kicks of James Ward-Prowse, insisting the Southampton midfielder is the world s best over dead balls.
The Manchester City manager described Ward-Prowse as the best free-kick-taker he had ever seen in December 2020 after his side won 1-0 at St Mary s Stadium.
The England international scored a spectacular long-range goal in the 3-1 loss to Wolves last week that took him to 12 goals from direct free-kicks in the Premier League, a tally bettered only by David Beckham (18) in the history of the competition.
Since the start of 2012-13, Ward-Prowse s first in England s top flight, only Hakan Calhanoglu (14), Miralem Pjanic (15) and Lionel Messi (33) have scored more often directly from set-pieces. His 12 goals have…
France international Wissam Ben Yedder was sentenced to six months and one day in prison and fined €133,798 by a Spanish court on Tuesday for tax evasion.
The 32-year-old forward has had the prison sentence suspended, with the offence dating back to his time playing in Spain.
Ben Yedder spent three seasons at Sevilla, arriving from Toulouse in July 2016 and leaving to join Monaco in August 2019.
A ruling from the Provincial Court of Seville, dated March 9, was released and outlined how Ben Yedder failed to submit an income tax return on time and consciously falsified a self-assessment by not declaring interest he received as income in three accounts, also not declaring earnings from a sponsorship deal with Adidas.
The court said Ben Yedder paid €225,3…
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Belarus and Switzerland begin their respecting campaigns within the Euro 2024 qualifications on Saturday, when they face each other in the opening round of Group I of the UEFA region. The group also contains Andorra, Israel, Kosovo and Romania.
Political controversies
Belarus are, of course, meant to be the hosts of the match, but they’ve been banned from organizing any international matches on their soil due to their support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There have been calls for them to be banned from taking part altogether, but FIFA are content with the limitations they’ve put in place.
Consequently, the game will be played at the Karadjordje Stadium in Novi Sad, Serbia, and visiting the country he feels strong po…
Sarina Wiegman is delighted to have the opportunity to take on Norway forward Ada Hegerberg at the Women s Euro 2022, declaring her involvement so good for the women s game .
Hegerberg had been absent from her national team since 2017 following a dispute with Norwegian football authorities over the disparity in pay between their male and female sides.
However, the maiden winner of the Ballon d Or Feminin has returned to the fold for her country in the run-up to this year s Euros, scoring a hat-trick in her first game back during a 2023 Women s World Cup qualifier against Kosovo in April.
Hegerberg – a six-time Women s Champions League winner with Lyon – did not net in Norway s opening 4-1 win over Northern Ireland but was highly influential and did pr…
The Ligue 1 title tussle between Paris Saint-Germain and Lille is going to the wire, and it is Les Dogues who hold a slender advantage heading into the final day.
Lille could have won the title – their first since 2010-11 – last week had they beaten Saint-Etienne and PSG dropped points against Reims.
Neither of those outcomes came to fruition, however, and Lille are just one point ahead with one game left to play. It is the smallest gap between a leader and the second-placed team at this stage in a Ligue 1 campaign since 2001-02.
Christophe Galtier s team need only to beat Angers to guarantee their triumph, but the mid-table team are one of the only three sides Lille have lost to this season in Ligue 1, while PSG face Brest.
Just below the title bat…
A late Julian Alvarez goal earned Atletico Madrid a dramatic 1-0 win at Celta Vigo on Thursday to lift them to third in LaLiga.
Atletico looked to be heading to a second straight draw, but the substitute was alert in the final minute of the 90 to ensure they returned to Madrid with all three points.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak was key as Celta suffered their first home defeat of the season, producing an excellent save to deny Iago Aspas at his near post just before the break.
He kept his side in it throughout a poor showing, also keeping out Borja Iglesias twice after the break as Celta struggled to find their clinical edge.
But big-money signing Alvarez struck in the dying minutes, stretching out a leg to meet Antonie Griezmann s pinpoint cross to poke his seco…
In what was a heavyweight showdown from Hamburg on Friday night, France booked their EURO 24 semi-final ticket as they secured a nail-biting penalties victory against Portugal.
Two superstar squads that have struggled to find much of a clinical edge over in Germany this summer, chances came at a premium and it almost appeared inevitable that Friday’s battle would be heading to spot kicks.
AC Milan defender Theo Hernandez scored the winning penalty after substitute and former Chelsea loanee Joao Felix hit the outside of the post with his effort, the only miss between both camps.
Looking to get their hands on a first European crown since 2000 this summer, Didier Deschamps’ men will meet Spain on Tuesday night for what looks set to be an iconic semi-final battl…
James Ward-Prowse’s move to West Ham gives him a fresh chance to match a Premier League record set by David Beckham.
The former Southampton captain has scored 17 goals directly from free-kicks in the competition, just one behind the competition’s highest tally set by former England skipper Beckham in his Manchester United days.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at Ward-Prowse’s dead-ball record.
World-class
James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick highlights reel is ridiculous! have signed a set-piece specialist
— Premier League (@premierleague)
Former Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has called the England midfielder “for sure one of the best in the world in this part of the game” and Ward-Prowse has the free-kick numbers to back up tha…