The plan
Despite a strong start, Brighton endured a frustrating end to last season. Finishing seventh, one place down on the previous campaign, and narrowly missing out on their record points tally will have been a disappointment for Hope Powell and her side.
This summer’s exodus of players will have concerned fans. The departure of the ever-present Maya Le Tissier to Manchester United has left a defensive hole to fill. Equally, the loss of Finland’s Emma Koivisto and playmaker Inessa Kaagman has presented Powell with a recruitment headache.
Players have come in, although a few more bodies would not go amiss. There has been an emotional reunion on the south coast as Rebe…
Erik Ten Hag admitted Brentford’s late equaliser is likely to prove costly in Manchester United’s already dwindling bid for a place in the Champions League.
United did little to turn down the noise surrounding manager Ten Hag’s future after an ultimately dramatic but largely uninspiring 1-1 draw in west London.
They looked to have turned a lifeless display into an unlikely three points after Mason Mount climbed off the bench to fire them ahead six minutes into stoppage time.
A night to forget but a memorable moment for Mason ||
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
But Brentford equalised less than three minutes later through Kristoffer Ajer to snatch a point which was the least they deserved.
“We didn’t deserve to win but if you a…
The deadline day of summer 2018 produced the usual frantic dash for clubs to strengthen their squads prior to the kick-off the Premier League campaign. However, some clubs enjoyed better luck on deadline day than others.
Here in my view are the winners and the losers of the transfer window in our opinion:
Winners
The big stories of the transfer deadline day were at Everton and Fulham who were both very active on transfer deadline. The pair strengthened their squads with some big signings.
Everton completed some massive deals in the dying embers of the transfer window. The Toffees finally completed a £28.5million deal for Barcelona centre-back Yerry Mina. The 23-year-old is highly-rated and was one of the star players for Colombia at the World Cup.
Mina…
Aston Villa will be hoping that they can get their charge for a champions league berth back on track, while Burnley look to find some form under new manager Brian Laws.
As recently as the Christmas period and neutral fans all over the country were admiring Villa s style, penetration and will to win. A couple of months later and they seem to have fizzled out. No one is underperforming but the likes of James Milner, Ashley Young and Gabi Agbonlahor are no longer setting the world alight, with their performances going from dazzling to mediocre. It s hard for young players to maintain such form and perhaps it was somewhat inevitable that there may be some burnout this season. Villa s rise up the premiership is built on solid foundations and it will take time for their plans to come…
Vancouver Whitecaps latest arrival, Stuart Armstrong, is relishing the challenge of the MLS as he aims to aid his new side’s push for the playoffs, starting with FC Dallas this weekend.
Armstrong, who arrived at BC Place as a free agent following his release from Southampton last season, provides a wealth of international and domestic experience for Vanni Sartini’s team.
The Whitecaps returned to league action last week with a win over Austin FC, leaving them fifth in the Western Conference table, four points behind Colorado Rapids with two games in hand.
And Armstrong, who will reunite with former Dundee United team-mate Ryan Gauld at the club, provided insight into what fans can expect from him for the remainder of the campaign.
Hopefully, I can br…
Liverpool dominated the voting for UEFA s Champions League Team of the Year 2019, with five Reds players making the final XI alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Jurgen Klopp led Liverpool to their sixth European title in Madrid in June, with Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi on target in a 2-0 victory over Tottenham at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Virgil van Dijk was named man of the match and he features alongside Anfield defensive colleagues Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, as well as goalkeeper Alisson.
Sadio Mane is the other Liverpool player in the line-up, part of a front four completed by Messi, Ronaldo and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong earned blockbusting moves to Juventus and Barcelona…
Tottenham took the gamble of confirming managerial novice Tim Sherwood as their new head coach on this day in 2013.
Sherwood had no experience at leading a club prior to assuming Spurs first-team duties one week earlier in the wake of Andre Villas-Boas’ sacking.
Yet after one defeat and one win, the Tottenham board had no trouble in supporting Sherwood to lead them further up the Premier League table, with the then 44-year-old appointed on a contract running to the end of the 2014-15 season.
The north London club had been expected to challenge for a top-four finish after a heavy outlay over the summer, yet they sat seventh in the table and were four points adrift of the Champions League places.
Villas-Boas was dismissed a day after a demoralising 5-0 ho…
The New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts will kick off Week 9 Thursday night. Can Mike White and the Jets make it two in a row? Can Carson Wentz overcome some miscues from last week to get the Colts back on track?
We put in the time and did the heavy lifting so you don’t have to and have found four solid props for Thursday night’s Week 9 battle.
We bring you our favorite free prop picks and predictions for Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup between the Jets and the Colts.
…
The Pittsburgh Steelers will start their first season without Ben Roethlisberger for the first time since 2003 vs. the reigning AFC champs in the Cincinnati Bengals. However, there is an argument that this Pittsburgh team is better without Big Ben but isn’t being priced like it.
With a quarterback that can get the ball down the field and some upgrades on the O-line, is Pittsburgh +6.5 the side here considering they were 3-point dogs in Cincinnati a season ago?
Find out with my best NFL picks and predictions for Steelers vs. Bengals, with kickoff on September 11.
…
Saturday sees the Baltimore Ravens travel to Raymond James Stadium to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after losing their historic 24-game preseason win streak to the Commanders last week. The big question is whether John Harbaugh’s team will get back to its winning ways, or if that loss starts a trend.
With the regular season around the corner we’re going to see two careful head coaches, but which man will have the edge in the NFL odds on Saturday? Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for Ravens vs Buccaneers on August 26.
Ravens vs Buccaneers odds
Ravens vs Buccaneers predictions
Last week we saw the end of the Ravens’ incredible preseason win streak, but the Commanders only prevailed …