Liverpool and Chelsea in Bertrand chase

Liverpool and Chelsea are eyeing a move for Southampton full-back Ryan Bertrand,.

The twenty-seven year old is eyeing a summer transfer to one of the Premier League’s heavyweights after establishing himself as one of the division’s best in his position since leaving Stamford Bridge in 2014.

Bertrand, who started the Chelsea’s 2012 Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich, left the Blues in search of regular first team football and has racked up over one hundred appearances since signing for Southampton almost three years ago.

He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in 2015 and has been a regular in England squads since, winning twelve caps while he was part of the squad that attended last summer’s European Championship finals …

Verratti can match Pirlo – Ferrara

Italy midfielder Marco Verratti can one day fill the void left by Andrea Pirlo, according to former international Ciro Ferrara.

Verratti, 23, has made 15 appearances for the national team and is sure to play an important role for Antonio Conte s team at Euro 2016 in June and July.

Pirlo, a 116-time international, is still part of the Italy setup after reversing his decision to retire following the 2014 World Cup.

Ferrara believes Verratti, now at Paris Saint-Germain, is capable of producing for Italy – just as Pirlo has done for over a decade.

He left Italy, which is something that often happens with the best players from the Italian league, Ferrera told Omnisport.

He left to join an important league, but not as important as maybe the English,…

Prediction: Austria vs Germany

Verdict: Germany

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Reigning world champions Germany kick off their World Cup preparation campaign with a trip to their neighbours Austria. Das Team will welcome Die Mannscaft of Saturday evening hoping to extend the positive run of results.

Austria

A reported Manchester United target Marko Arnautovic put in a great show against Russia this week as Jose Mourinho kept a close watxh on his every move from the stands.  Austria glided to a 1-0 victory over the World Cup hosts with West Ham forward setting up midfielder Alessandro Schopf for the only goal two minutes shy of the half-hour mark to give Austria their sixth successive victory.

Das Team failed to qualify for the showpiece tournament in Russia which led to Marcel …

Neymar deal shows Bayern are falling behind European rivals – Effenberg

Former Bayern Munich captain Stefan Effenberg believes Neymar s €222million switch to Paris Saint-Germain shows the Bundesliga champions are falling behind their European rivals, claiming he would not be surprised if the club does not win the Champions League in the next 10 years.

PSG met Neymar s eye-watering Barcelona release clause last week to shatter the world transfer record and re-assert themselves as a European power following a disappointing first season under Unai Emery.

Bayern, meanwhile, broke their own transfer record in June with the acquisition of Corentin Tolisso from Lyon for the more modest fee by current standards, at least of €41.5m.

The Bavarians were last crowned kings of Europe in 2013 but Effenberg says Bayern will have to start compet…

Real Madrid 2-1 Elche: Benzema keeps Los Blancos´ title hopes alive

Real Madrid s LaLiga title hopes are still intact after Karim Benzema inspired a 2-1 comeback win over Elche on Saturday.

Having drawn their last two league fixtures, Madrid had the chance to leapfrog Barcelona into second place and close the gap on Atletico Madrid, temporarily at least, to five points.

But a lacklustre display looked like it would result in a third straight league draw – Benzema having cancelled out Dani Calvo s header.

Madrid s slim chances of catching Atleti were handed a late boost, however, when Benzema thundered in a supreme finish in stoppage time to snatch the points.

Nacho scored a stunning goal for Spain in the 2018 World Cup and the defender dispatched a similarly unerring finish into the top corner early on, only to realise…

Klopp wants Liverpool to tighten up following FA Cup exit at Chelsea

Jurgen Klopp put Liverpool s recent dip down to defensive issues after their FA Cup run came to an end at Chelsea on Tuesday.

The Reds went down 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, an error from Adrian – standing in for first-choice goalkeeper Alisson – allowing Willian to open the scoring before Ross Barkley added a second after the break.

Liverpool had also lost 3-0 at Watford on Saturday, their first reverse in the Premier League this season, and have now conceded two or more goals in three consecutive matches for the first time since 2016.

Joe Gomez s return to the starting XI next to Virgil van Dijk failed to shore things up at the back against Chelsea, though Klopp is not too concerned by a run of just one win in four outings.

Look, it went our way for…

Arteta receives boost with Tierney, Aubameyang and Lacazette all in line for Arsenal comeback

Kieran Tierney is in line to make a surprise comeback in Arsenal s Europa League semi-final first-leg tie at Villarreal, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are also in contention.

Scottish left-back Tierney suffered ligament damage to his left knee in the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool on April 3 and was originally expected to miss between four and six weeks.

Such a timescale would have left Tierney facing the possibility of missing the remainder of the season, but Gunners boss Mikel Arteta provided a much more positive update ahead of Thursday s trip to Villarreal.

He didn t need the surgery that we were afraid of, said Arteta.

He s been working like a beast every single day. I don t know if he s going to make it tomorrow, but he certainl…

Arteta stands by decision to leave out Aubameyang and backs Arsenal to advance

Mikel Arteta stood by his decision to drop Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal s Europa League tie with Slavia Prague and backed his side to progress, despite a disappointing 1-1 draw in Thursday s quarter-final first leg.

Club captain Aubameyang was named among the substitutes on the back of Saturday s 3-0 loss to Liverpool and was not introduced until the 78th minute against Slavia with the game still goalless. 

The Gabon international made an impact by playing in Nicolas Pepe for Arsenal s opener eight minutes later his 100th goal involvement for Arsenal in all competitions since joining from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018.

Arsenal failed to see out the victory on home soil, however, with Tomas Holes heading in a 93rd-minute equaliser that leaves the Gun…

Bitesize Prediction: Cardiff vs Swansea – 16/09/23

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 8/11 @

In what promises to be a fiery Welsh derby on Saturday night, Swansea will travel to the Cardiff City Stadium this weekend.

Starting with the hosts, last seen heading into the international break on the wrong end of an action-packed 3-2 loss away at Ipswich, Cardiff are still trying to find some much-needed stability. While the Bluebirds might have snatched a 2-1 win at home against Championship returners Sheffield Wednesday last month, that is the only victory that Erol Bulut’s men have claimed from their opening five second-tier appearances. With their early-season issues highlighted by a worrying 2-1 defeat at home against QPR on August 12th, many around the Cardiff City Stadium are fearing that their side could be s…

Inter 2-1 Lazio: Bastoni and Skriniar move champions back to the summit

Alessandro Bastoni scored one goal and set another up for Milan Skriniar as Inter returned to the top of Serie A with a 2-1 win over Lazio.

Bastoni found the back of the net for the first time since June 2020 to put the Nerazzurri in front at San Siro on Sunday, but Ciro Immobile equalised in the first half with his 18th goal of the season.

Inter were not to be denied an eighth consecutive Serie A win, with Bastoni setting up fellow defender Skriniar for the winner midway through the second half.

Victory for Simone Inzaghi s side against his former club in their first game after the winter break moved them a point above Milan at the summit.

Lautaro Martinez looked to have given Inter a deserved 16th-minute lead when he raced onto a defence-splittin…