Best Odds: 1/2

Bookmaker:

In what could be an enjoyable friendly showdown on Tuesday morning, Spanish giants Barcelona will travel to the New National Stadium when they meet Kobe.

Starting with the hosts, last seen putting in another action-packed display as they clinched a 3-2 win against Tokyo on May 26th, Kobe are enjoying what has been a real purple patch. Although Takayuki Yoshida’s side might have been forced to settle for a downbeat bottom-half finish last season, the Cows have come roaring back this time around. Riding what has been a real wave of momentum, the Okayama-based outfit are unbeaten in each of their last seven appearances a run that stems all the way back to a 3-2 loss against Yokohama on April 22nd. Looking to make another statement on Tue…

A new day, and with it come fresh transfer rumours, and some updates on some that you ve probably heard before. As always, make sure you come back to this page a few times during the day, as it s being frequently updated with newest developments.

Let s dive into it.

James Maddison race intensifies

James Maddison has been linked with departure from Leicester City for a very long time. Following Leicester s relegation from the Premier League, the 26-year-old attacking midfielder is indeed likely to leave the King Power Stadium this summer, and with his contract about to enter its final year, the Foxes are surely open to offers.

Recent reports suggested the race for Maddison would come down to a fight between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle, and according to multi…

Nemanja Matic believes Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title, claiming that, for the Red Devils, every game is the game of our lives .

United came from behind to win 3-2 at bottom club Sheffield United on Thursday to move within two points of second-place Tottenham, with a game in hand.

Two goals from Marcus Rashford and one from Anthony Martial saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side become just the fourth team in English top-flight history to record 10 consecutive away league wins.

They have also scored at least twice in 10 away league matches, the longest such run in the top tier since Spurs did so in October 1960.

United would be just two points behind leaders Liverpool if they win their match in hand against Burnley and, although they …

“But I know now this was the best plan for me, and last summer when I came back to the club and became a pivotal part of the team words cannot describe how I feel here. how you (fans) make me feel.

“Having the confidence of the boss and the staff, and then having your love and support made me feel 10 feet tall… so thank you Gooners, this if for you. We are together and let’s keep moving.”

Saliba, who will move to the number two shirt next season, did not make his competitive Arsenal debut until the start of last season, despite joining from St Etienne in 2019 for a reported £27million.

Instead, the centre-back was loaned back to his former club before also spending time at Nice and Marseille – being named Ligue 1 young player of the year after a fine…

Romelu Lukaku s final kick of his first spell at Chelsea came in a Super Cup.

On August 30, 2013, the Belgian – then 20, still young, albeit one with the physical stature of a player much further on in his career – missed the decisive penalty as Chelsea became the first team to lose successive Super Cup fixtures, going down in a shoot-out to Bayern Munich.

Not long after that game, Lukaku headed to Everton, initially on a loan deal before he made a permanent move to Goodison Park a year later. A return to Chelsea, however, has always seemed a possibility for the striker who stormed onto the scene with Anderlecht in his teens.

Whereas a Super Cup marked the end of his first spell in London, Wednesday s meeting with Villarreal showed just why the Blues are se…

Former Villarreal star Robert Pires believes Liverpool are the best team in Europe , but insists the Yellow Submarine can overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit to reach the Champions League final.

After a routine Liverpool win at Anfield last Wednesday, Villarreal will attempt to become just the second team to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit in a Champions League semi-final (after Liverpool s 4-3 aggregate win over Barcelona in 2019).

Villarreal did not manage a single shot on target in their away reverse, but Pires former club did win their only previous home game against Liverpool in European competition (a 1-0 win in 2015-16 s Europa League semi-finals).

Although Pires said quadruple-chasing Liverpool are the best team on the continent, he does not think …

Slaven Bilic has been sacked as Watford head coach after just six months in charge, with Chris Wilder taking over for the rest of the season.

Wilder will be the Hornets third permanent boss of the season after Rob Edwards was relieved of his duties in September having overseen just 10 league games, with Bilic named his replacement.

But after a 0-0 home draw with Preston North End at the weekend, Bilic now leaves Vicarage Road after a run of just one victory in his last eight Championship fixtures and with the club four points off the play-off spots.

Ben Manga, Watford s technical director, said a change of coach was the only option available to re-energise for the final games ahead .

Wilder, who led Sheffield United from League One to the Premier League d…

Chelsea slipped from first to third in the Premier League over the weekend after a costly defeat at West Ham, which included a bizarre late winner for the hosts.

Divock Origi was told to Be Divock by Jurgen Klopp, so duly went and scored a 94th minute winner for Liverpool at Wolves, while Ralf Rangnick achieved something his fellow German didn t in his first game as interim boss at Manchester United.

Antonio Conte and Steven Gerrard also continued their positive starts to respective gigs at Tottenham and Aston Villa in a sentence that feels like it s straight from your favourite football management simulation game rather than real life.

With all that and more, here are some of the weekend s quirky stats from the Premier League

Chelsea Hamme…

Defending champions Spain will face Ukraine and Slovakia in their qualifying group for the 2016 UEFA European Championships.

Vicente del Bosque s men swept to a 4-0 victory over Italy in the 2012 final held in Kiev, to back up their 2008 success under previous boss Luis Aragones.

Spain are currently enjoying one of the most dominant eras in history, having also collected the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Ukraine co-hosts of the 2012 tournament with Poland will hope to provide a stern test of the holders credentials, while Luxembourg, the Macedonia and Belarus complete Group C.

Gibraltar are appearing in their first UEFA competition and were originally drawn to appear in Group C.

However, the island nation will instead play in Group D, as a decisio…

Best odds: 12/25

Bookmaker:

Liverpool are set to welcome Ajax to Anfield on Tuesday evening in a match that will be a part of the second round in Group A of this season s Champions League campaign, after the two teams played two very different games in the opening round last week.

Liverpool

The Merseysiders traveled to Naples last week and endured what has been described as the worst 45 minutes of football they ve played since the appointment of Jurgen Klopp as the manager back in October 2015. They were 3-0 down at the break, with Piotr Zielinski, Andre Zambo Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone on target for Napoli as the Serie A side continuously broke through their defensive ranks and threatened Alisson Becker. The Brazilian goalkeeper actually saved his team furt…