Premier League giants circle around Ramsey

Inter secured their place in next season s Champions League and condemned Empoli to relegation as Radja Nainggolan s late goal sealed a 2-1 win in a dramatic game on the final day of the Serie A season.

Luciano Spalletti – whose position continues to be the subject of intense scrutiny – said earlier in the week that he wanted his players to treat the game as a cup final and they duly responded in the early stages, with only the brilliance of Empoli goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski preventing them from putting the game to bed before half-time.

Keita Balde Diao s introduction at the interval proved a masterstroke as the 24-year-old superbly whipped past Dragowski from outside the penalty area to open the scoring. 

Empoli took full advantage of Mauro Icardi s pe…

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo renew world football s greatest individual battle when they meet in Saturday s much-anticipated Clasico.

Barcelona have the benefit of a healthy lead in LaLiga and know a win at the Santiago Bernabeu would be a major blow to Real Madrid s title hopes.

The potentially decisive clash could boil down to which of the sides superstars takes control.

Using Opta data, we analyse which player has enjoyed El Clasico most across their stellar careers.

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano)

MESSI THE MASTER

Even a finely-tuned goal machine like Ronaldo cannot match Messi s scoring supremacy when it comes to this fixture. 

The agile Argentinian is the most prolific player in Clasico his…

According to a recent report from Sky Sports Italia, Christian Eriksen is ready to get down to the nitty gritty details of his personal terms ahead of a potential move to Inter Milan later on this week. The belief is that he will be leaving North London for a fee of around €16 million, which many will probably see as a bargain given the potential that he has shown across his many years with Tottenham Hotspur. 

Inter have made it clear that Eriksen is one of their primary targets, especially after it became clear that Real Madrid wouldn’t be pursuing him in the same manner as they have been doing across the last few years. 

Eriksen’s future with Spurs has looked questionable for longer than most of us can remember, and now, it finally looks like we’re getting c…

Alan Browne, Kevin Long and James Collins all scored their first international goals as Republic of Ireland eased to a 3-1 friendly win over Bulgaria.

In a match where all the goals came in the second half, Browne put Ireland ahead when he slotted into an empty net after Ronan Curtis  initial shot was spilled.

Bulgaria equalised through Ivelin Popov s spot-kick after John Egan, who captained Ireland for the first time, gave away a penalty.

But a Long header and a close-range finish from Collins gave the hosts a comfortable victory in Dublin.

The result means Ireland remain unbeaten in Mick McCarthy s second stint as manager.

A night to remember for our five debutants

— FAIreland (@FAIreland)

McCarthy made 10 changes from the…

Leicester City claimed a slice of Premier League history when they crushed an abject Southampton 9-0 at St Mary s on Friday.

Ryan Bertrand s red card for a challenge in the build-up to Ben Chilwell s 10th-minute opener put Ralph Hasenhuttl s Saints at a disadvantage, but the collapse that followed was humiliating.

Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy both netted hat-tricks, with Youri Tielemans and James Maddison also getting in on the act as Brendan Rodgers Foxes ran riot.

Here, with some help from Opta, we look some of the remarkable statistics thrown up on a stormy English night when it rained goals.

20 Leicester have earned 20 points from their opening 10 Premier League games of 2019-20; one more than at the same stage of their title-winning 2015-16 campaig…

Thomas Tuchel insisted Chelsea are trying their very best to tie the impressive Antonio Rudiger to a new contract, while also hailing the evergreen Thiago Silva.

Rudiger joined from Roma in July 2017 and has been an integral part of the Blues backline under Tuchel, starting the most games since the German s arrival last January (50) and ranking first for minutes played (4,575).

However, the centre-back s contract is due to expire at the end of the season, with clubs now able to negotiate with the 28-year-old should he not agree on negotiations with Chelsea.

A host of Europe s elite clubs, including Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, have been linked with the defender but Tuchel remains hopeful his international compatriot will commit his future to the Champions Lea…

Italy boss Roberto Mancini handed first call-ups to Atalanta captain Rafael Toloi and Spezia midfielder Matteo Ricci as he selected a 38-man squad for the three upcoming World Cup qualifiers. 

Brazilian-born Toloi has been residing in Italy since leaving Sao Paulo to join Atalanta in 2015 and has received the citizenship that makes him eligible to represent the Azzurri. 

The 30-year-old has been summoned at the first opportunity by head coach Mancini, who has observed the centre-back as a prominent member of the Atalanta team that has caught the eye in Serie A and the Champions League. 

Ricci, 26, joined Spezia from Roma in July 2018 and helped the team win promotion to Serie A last season. 

He has yet to score in the top flight for Spe…

The last time Cristiano Ronaldo played at Old Trafford, Manchester United abandoned tradition.

In every home game, certainly in the last decade, United and opposition players have walked out of the tunnel in the corner of the Stretford End to the sound of music, usually This Is The One by The Stone Roses. The handshake formalities follow, as does the Champions League theme on those European nights. Then, stadium announcer Alan Keegan reads out the line-ups, always starting with the visitors .

Not so in March 2013. As the first 22 began to get into position, United s team was read out first, in the usual numerical order. Real Madrid s followed, starting from goalkeeper Diego Lopez and number two, Raphael Varane, until it jumped from six, Sami Khedira straight to 10, Mesut…

Prediction: Denmark to win 3-0

Best Odds:

Bookmaker: 

Denmark and Northern Ireland will face each other in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group H this week. The match between Kasper Hjulmand’s side and Michael O’Neill’s team will be held at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Friday.

Denmark

Denmark have progressed a lot as a team on the pitch in recent years and are now a force to be reckoned with, especially in European football. The Danes qualified for the 2022 Qatar World Cup amid huge expectations and hype, but they could not really make an impact at the tournament. Kasper Hjulmand s side drew with Tunisia, lost to France and went down to Australia and finished at the bottom of Group D and got knock…

Liverpool have completed the signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich in a deal worth up to £25million (€27.5m).

Thiago was rumoured to be a target of Jurgen Klopp s before the transfer window opened, with the Reds boss aiming to add more creativity to his midfield unit.

The Premier League champions have now got their man, with the 29-year-old – whose deal at Bayern was due to expire in June 2021 – signing a four-year contract at Anfield.

Stats Perform News understands Liverpool will pay an initial £20m (€22m), with an additional £5m (€5.5m) in bonuses.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…  

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

Liverpool s pursuit of Thiago developed into something of a saga, with the midfielder acknowl…