Best Odds: 8/11
Bookmaker:
Hoping to extend on their Champions League charge, Athletic Bilbao will travel to the Power Horse Stadium on Monday night when they meet Almeria.
Almeria
Starting with the hosts, while Almeria might have eventually clung to their La Liga status last season, Gaizka Garitano’s men are enduring a public nightmare this time around. Only continuing to show a string of issues, the Andalusia-based outfit sit rock-bottom of the table and already with one foot in Spain’s second-tier. Last seen getting hit with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Valencia, La Union have remarkably collected just six points from any of their 23 La Liga appearances this season. Breaking a string of unwanted records on either side of the festive break, Almeria should…
Japan and Kashima Antlers defender Atsuto Uchida is set to join German powerhouse Schalke 04 after the World Cup finals starting in South Africa next month, press reports said Thursday.
The two clubs will work out details of his contract after the J-League goes into a World Cup break on May 17, the reports said.
It won t take long until the deal is finalised, Kashima s director of technical development, Mitsuru Suzuki, told Kyodo News. The club s public relations official, Hiroki Koshini, could not confirm the reports.
Uchida, a 22-year-old right back, helped Kashima clinch a third straight J-League title in the last March-December season. He has scored one goal in 31 matches for Japan since his international debut in January 2008.
Japan coach Takeshi O…
Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara revealed Manchester United goalkeeper and Spain team-mate David de Gea wanted him to sign for the Premier League club.
Thiago moved to Bayern from boyhood club Barcelona in 2013, in a bid to gain more game time.
The 24-year-old resisted interest from Manchester United to reunited with former Barca coach Pep Guardiola in the Bundesliga, despite De Gea s best efforts to persuade his international team-mate to join him at Old Trafford.
There was never any firm proposal, he told the Daily Mail.
David de Gea wanted me to join. He wrote a message on my match ball after we d beaten Italy in the [UEFA U21 Championships] final.
But I d have done the same with him. He is one of the greatest goalkeepers in t…
Thomas Tuchel will be offered a new contract at Mainz if he wants one , according to sporting director Christian Heidel.
The 40-year-old coach has led Mainz throughout their four-and-a-half-year stay in the Bundesliga.
He led the club to a fifth-place finish in 2011 and they are pushing for UEFA Europa League qualification this term.
Mainz are keen to keep hold of Tuchel, with the hope he can continue to take them forward.
We are very pleased with Thomas, Heidel told Bild. And if he wants to renew with us then it will only take a few minutes.
In the coming weeks we will start to talk about it.
Mainz are currently seventh in the Bundesliga table, one point behind Borussia Monchengladbach, who occupy the final European spot.
…
LaLiga president Javier Tebas believes an early kick-off time for the Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid allows more people around the world to tune in.
The October 26 clash between the LaLiga rivals will take place at Camp Nou with a kick-off time of 13:00 CET (12:00 BST).
With both sides in Champions League action during the preceding week, Barca will have a day less recovery time than Madrid after returning from Slavia Prague.
Tebas indicated the decision to hold the Clasico early in the day was made with Asian television markets in mind.
Now you put a Clasico at one o clock and you can see it in more places across the world, he said on Friday.
Our international work consists of that. If we don t put it at that time, in Asia they w…
Best Odds: 21/20
Bookmaker:
With a golden opportunity to build on what has been a stunning week for Arsenal, the Gunners will make the trip to relegation scrappers Aston Villa on Tuesday night.
Aston Villa
Starting with the hosts, undoubtedly left heartbroken to have seen Everton snatch an 88th-minute equalizer at Goodison last week, Aston Villa know that they re hanging onto their Premier League status by a thread. Entering their penultimate game of the season, Dean Smith s men sit three points adrift of safety and know that they must leave Villa Park with something to show for themselves in midweek. With a final day trip to a resurging West Ham later in the week, last year s Championship play-off winners have managed to win just one of their last 13 top-fligh…
Should Spain get to the World Cup final, in-form striker David Villa could write a new page in the tournament s history and over-take Raul as his country s all-time top scorer in one match.
Whereas strike partner Fernando Torres has laboured in four scoreless appearances on his return from ankle surgery in April, Villa appears to have the Midas touch.
Virtually everything the Barcelona new boy has touched has been turning to goal, the hiccup of an early loss to Switzerland aside.
For a generation, Spanish fans have been weaned on goals from Real Madrid goalscoring machine Raul, but suddenly his 44 goals in 102 games look mundane because Maravilla has already smashed 42, in 40 games less.
Despite their stellar midfield and two of the best strikers in the …
In what was a heavyweight Champions League showdown on Wednesday night, Napoli and Barcelona were forced to settle for a first-leg 1-1 stalemate at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
While Xavi’s side might have failed to find a first-half breakthrough on foreign soil, the Spanish giants eventually took a deserved lead on the hour mark as Robert Lewandowski produced a slick finish.
However, while Barca might have dominated large spells prior to the half-time break, the Catalonia icons missed out on what they had billed as a potential opportunity away from the Nou Camp.
With attacking talisman Victor Osimhen bagging a first goal of 2024 and salvaging Napoli a late equaliser in what was Francesco Calzona’s first game in charge, both camps will feel that they …
Hoffenheim goalkeeper Koen Casteels has undergone a successful operation on his broken leg.
The Belgian, who is set to miss the remainder of the season and the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, was forced off on a stretcher during his side s 1-1 Bundesliga draw with Hertha Berlin on Sunday after colliding with opposition striker Adrian Ramos.
The club confirmed the 21-year-old had suffered a broken tibia on their Twitter account on Sunday, and have now offered an update on his condition.
According to the doctors, the almost two-hour long procedure went without complications, read a statement on the club s website on Monday. It is expected on Wednesday Casteels will leave the Berlin clinic and can start after having first light rehab exercises in the TSG training centre in Zuze…
Ezequiel Garay has stressed that he is happy at Benfica but is unsure whether he will remain at the club beyond the end of the season.
The Argentina defender has long since been linked with a move away from the newly crowned Primeira Liga champions, who he joined from Real Madrid in 2011.
Premier League side Manchester United are among the teams said to be interested in the 27-year-old s services as a result of his impressive campaign.
Benfica secured a 33rd Portuguese title with a 2-0 win over Olhanense, but Garay gave no assurances over his future with the Lisbon outfit after the game.
I don t know, we ll see, Garay told A Bola when asked if he will stay at Benfica.
My wife and I are very happy here and I hope to stay more years.
Garay has made 37 …