1) Gunn in line of fire for Norwich
Norwich’s hopes of following up on last weekend’s win over Everton by prevailing in Friday’s crucial six-pointer against Watford suffered a blow when it was confirmed Tim Krul would miss the game with a shoulder injury. While one goalkeeper’s misfortune is another’s opportunity, Norwich fans won’t take much confidence from Angus Gunn’s most recent spell deputising for Krul between the sticks, when it could be argued he could have done a lot better for four of the eight goals Norwich conceded in games against Arsenal and Crystal Palace over the festive period. “Gunny was disappointed with the results that we had in the two games that he played in,”…
A Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Kharkiv, a result which sends the Dutch out of Euro 2012.
Rafael van der Vaart broke the deadlock early on with a sumptous curling strike from distance. However, Portugal improved after, and despite squandering a barrage of opportunities, Cristiano Ronaldo would equalise in the 28th minute after a fine assist from Joao Pereira.
With chances at both ends in a competitive second half, the Dutch would come unstuck at the speed of the Portuguese breaks, with Ronaldo sealing his double 16 minutes from time to send their opponents crashing to a humiliating exit.
After a sustained opening period from the Dutch, who needed to win by two goals to stand any chance of progressing, they were wasteful early as…
Concussion substitutions in football are to be trialled in January 2021.
Football s lawmaking body IFAB announced on Wednesday the planned trials were approved after less than a year of detailed consultation with relevant stakeholders, medical concussion experts, team doctors, player representatives, coaches, competition organisers, refereeing and Laws of the Game experts .
Under the proposed protocols, players with an actual or suspected concussion will be permanently removed from the match to protect their welfare , with the team allowed to bring on a replacement.
IFAB hopes the approach will reduce the risk of players sustaining multiple head injuries in a single match but also ensure teams are not put at a disadvantage should a player be told to leave the pi…
Thomas Muller acknowledges it will be extremely difficult for Bayern Munich to emulate a trophy-laden 2013.
After winning the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League under Jupp Heynckes last season in an unprecedented treble for a German side, Bayern have continued to enjoy success following Pep Guardiola s appointment as coach.
Guardiola s men are top of their domestic league, lifted the UEFA Super Cup in August and added the FIFA Club World Cup title on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Raja Casablanca.
Bayern will now enjoy a period of rest due to Germany s mid-season break, and Muller believes the team can have no regrets after a superb year.
It s nearly impossible to play at the level we ve done in this calendar year, the Germany international told the cl…
It s been three decades and three years since Diego Armando Maradona led Napoli to their previous Serie A title, and the supporters of club will be thinking, it was about time it happened again.
Napoli domination
It happened. Napoli were simply brilliant for a large part of the season and they fully deserved the Scudetto. They were particularly good early on and went into the World Cup break undefeated, with 41 points from the possible 45, and 37 goals scored in 15 Serie A matches played up to that point. They reached a tally of 90 in the end, 16 more than Lazio in second place.
The success of Luciano Spalletti s team is even more remarkable when put into a bit of perspective, regarding the changes in the playing personnel they made last summer. Some of their long-serv…
The Indianapolis Colts wrap up the regular season by visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Week 18 AFC South clash.
There is always plenty of motivation to win a divisional game but the Colts actually need to win on Sunday, as it will secure them a playoff berth. NFL betting lines expect Indianapolis to deliver, with the Colts sitting as massive road favorites.
Here are our best free NFL picks and predictions for Colts vs. Jaguars on Sunday, January 9.
…
Week 16 of the NFL season offers up a fantastic AFC matchup when the 8-6 Los Angeles Chargers meet the 4-9-1 Indianapolis Colts.
The 45.5 total suggests we’ll see some points on the board, and I have three Monday Night Football props for you to consider.
Will Colts RB Zack Moss make an impact on this important AFC clash? Don’t miss our NFL prop picks for the Los Angeles Chargers vs. Indianapolis Colts, and check out our Chargers vs. Colts picks for more.
…
The TNF odds feature one team making a playoff push led by a former Super Bowl MVP, and the other features a team that thought it would be in that exact situation this December. Unfortunately for the New York Jets, the front office let Joe Flacco go and opted for Aaron Rodgers.
Nobody expected this season to play out the way it has for the Jets and Browns with their respective quarterback situations, and certainly nobody saw Flacco playing at this level. He’s been so good the NFL odds have Cleveland as 7.5-point favorites in what will be a game defined by quarterback play.
The Week 17 odds slate has arrived, so find out where my best bets lie in my NFL picks for the Jets vs. Browns on Thursday, December 28.
Be sure to also check out our Jets vs. B…
Not a ton is expected of either the Las Vegas Raiders or Los Angeles Chargers entering 2024, but a fairly even matchup on Sunday will present both teams with an opportunity to write a positive first chapter in Week 1.
With Los Angeles’ defense in need of serious improvement, find out why my Raiders vs. Chargers predictions and NFL picks are backing Vegas at +3.5 on Sunday, September 8.
Raiders vs Chargers prediction
My best betRaiders +3.5 (-125 at BetMGM)
My analysis
I can’t stress enough just how bad the Los Angeles Chargers defense was a season ago. They sat 24th in EPA per play, struggling most in the secondary ranking 26th in EPA per dropback.
Now they’ll enter Week 1 with some injury concerns before…
1) Gunn in line of fire for Norwich
Norwich’s hopes of following up on last weekend’s win over Everton by prevailing in Friday’s crucial six-pointer against Watford suffered a blow when it was confirmed Tim Krul would miss the game with a shoulder injury. While one goalkeeper’s misfortune is another’s opportunity, Norwich fans won’t take much confidence from Angus Gunn’s most recent spell deputising for Krul between the sticks, when it could be argued he could have done a lot better for four of the eight goals Norwich conceded in games against Arsenal and Crystal Palace over the festive period. “Gunny was disappointed with the results that we had in the two games that he played in,”…