Best Odds: 8/13

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Two sides who will be desperate to claim a first-leg Europa League advantage on Thursday evening, Brighton will make the trip to Italian icons Roma.

Starting with the hosts, while Roma might have continued to show some extended domestic inconsistencies this season, the Wolves are in the midst of a recent purple patch. Picking up some perfect momentum over the weekend as they stormed their way to a stellar 4-1 romp away at Monza, Daniele De Rossi’s men should find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Extending on their Europa League adventure on February 22nd after edging their way past Dutch giants Feyenoord, Roma have won all of their previous four appearances across all competitions. Likewise, aside from an action-packed 4-2 l…

Manchester City have moved to try to extend Ilkay Gundogan s stay at the Etihad Stadium in recent months.

The 32-year-old signed a four-year deal with City in 2019, meaning he is out of contract at the end of this season.

However, Gundogan has been in and out of the City starting line-up in recent months and has been weighing up his future.

TOP STORY GUNDOGAN SET ON BARCELONA SWITCH

Ilkay Gundogan s heart is set on leaving Manchester City for Barcelona in the off-season, claims SPORT.

Barcelona head coach Xavi is eager to land the German midfielder, who scored a double on the final day of last season to clinch City the Premier League title, for his versatility.

The report claims Gundogan feels it is time to move on from Manchester, having …

Juventus slow start to life under Massimiliano Allegri continued on Saturday as second-half goals from Matteo Politano and Kalidou Koulibaly saw them lose 2-1 at Napoli.

After being held by Udinese before suffering a shock home defeat to Empoli, it looked like being third time lucky for Allegri in his second spell in charge as Alvaro Morata profited from a terrible Kostas Manolas error to open the scoring early on.

But Napoli responded through a Politano strike shortly before the hour mark after Wojciech Szczesny pushed the ball into the forward s path, and the hosts completed the comeback thanks to Koulibaly s finish five minutes from time.

It is just the second time in 51 Serie A campaigns – the other occasion being in Allegri s first tenure in 2015-16 –  …

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Jonathan David from Lille in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Tottenham are on the hunt for a new striker to replace Harry Kane, and that Juventus and Canada international star David is among those who are on their radar.

Kane is one of the best strikers in the world and was the best player for Tottenham for a number of years. During his time in the Premier League, the England international striker made 320 appearances, scoring 213 goals and providing 46 assists in the process.

David has been on the books of Lille since 2020 and has established himself as one of the best young strikers in the French league. The Canda international striker scored 24 goals and gave four assists in 36 Ligue 1…

According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United s Facundo Pellistri will join Granada on loan for the rest of the season by the end of the day (Tuesday). The negotiations between the two clubs were long, but a full agreement has been reached and the move is now imminent.

The 22-year-old winger, playing predominantly on the right, rose through the youth ranks at Penarol in his native Uruguay and joined United in a €8.5 million deal in the summer of 2020. At the age of 22, he already has some experience in the Spanish top flight, having spent a total of 18 months over two separate loan spells with Alaves, the club he represented on 35 occasions, 33 in La Liga.

As for United, Pellistri has played 24 matches for his parent club and he is yet to score his first goal, thoug…

Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez combined brilliantly as Inter survived a late Sassuolo recovery to win 4-3 at Mapei Stadium on Sunday.

Defeat to Juventus before the international break shunted Antonio Conte s men down to second in Serie A but a superb performances from their front two trimmed the margin at the top back to a point.

Martinez made an early incision and Lukaku struck twice in seven minutes to establish a two-goal advantage at half-time, Domenico Berardi having fleetingly restored parity for the hosts.

The exceptional Martinez won the penalty for his strike partner s second and, in the 71st minute, dispatched a spot-kick of his own, although the visitors were made to fight for victory as substitutes Filip Djuricic and Jeremie Boga set up a gr…

Cristiano Ronaldo joined an elite list of players by scoring the 700th goal of an incredible career in Portugal s 2-1 defeat to Ukraine on Monday.

Portugal may have suffered a setback in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, but it was still an occasion to remember for the 34-year-old in Kiev.

Ronaldo converted a second-half penalty to reach the personal landmark, 17 years on from scoring his first senior goal for Sporting Lisbon against Moreirense.

Here, we take a closer look at the Juventus forward s scoring stats for club and country down the years with the aid of Opta.

700 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 700th career goal for club and country:

Sporting CP 5
Manchester United 118
Real Madrid 450
Juventus 32
Portugal 95

Legendary. <…

Kepa Arrizabalaga has always been a fine goalkeeper when on his line, but the other areas of goalkeeping have always been problematic, with a mistake never too far away.

Liverpool s opening goal against Bournemouth at Anfield on Saturday, scored by Luis Diaz, was a perfect example of that. The reasons for the former Chelsea shot-stopper deciding to rush out of his box like that can only be explained by a complete misjudgment of the long pass from Ibrahima Konate.

Nothing should, however, be taken away from Diaz s finish, which still took some top-class composure.

Tremendous pass. Incredible composure.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

…

Michel admitted that Girona are no longer the same team that took LaLiga by storm last season and urged them to rediscover their identity.

Girona were the surprise package last season, going toe-to-toe with Real Madrid and Barcelona in the title race before eventually finishing third in LaLiga.

However, the club let go of Golden Boot winner Artem Dovbyk, who scored 24 LaLiga goals last season, and influential midfielder Aleix Garcia in the transfer window.

Though they brought in reinforcements, including Donny van de Beek from Manchester United, they have not yet found their rhythm, losing each of their last three games in all competitions.

In that run, which includes a 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League debut, they have managed …

Everyone, even Liverpool players and fans, could understand Vinicius Junior s reaction.

It was 27 minutes into the Champions League quarter-final first leg, around 30 seconds after Real Madrid s opening goal, finished with stylish composure by the Brazilian. He turned to the architect, Toni Kroos, and bowed.

It was a simple gesture to mark the simple brilliance of Kroos long pass. A swing of the right foot, a burst of water from the slick Valdebebas turf, and the ball was arcing through the darkening Spanish sky and into Vinicius run, right between two Liverpool defenders.

At 60.4 yards, it was the second-longest pass of the first half by an outfield player, and unquestionably the most impactful. It was also the fifth attempted long ball by Kroos in the first 45 …