World Cup winner Olivier Giroud was left out of Chelsea s matchday squad to face Everton on Saturday.
The Blues were unchanged for the clash at Goodison Park but France international Giroud, an unused substitute against Aston Villa in midweek having started the previous game against West Ham, was not among the replacements.
Giroud s place on the bench went to Ross Barkley, who has recovered from illness and could feature against his former club.
With Chelsea now able to sign players in January after their transfer ban was halved on Friday, Giroud appears to be heading closer to the exit door.
Duncan Ferguson, appointed as Everton s caretaker manager following the sacking of Marco Silva on Thursday, made two changes to the Toffees starting XI as Theo W…
The experienced 34-year-old Italy striker Marco Borriello is on the move once again, with former Milan, AS Roma, Juventus and West Ham striker on verge of securing a summer move to Palermo, which will become his 17th club since 2001-02 season.
Currently an Atalanta player, Marco Borriello is nearing the end of his contract and in two weeks’ time he will be free to sign a proposed two-year with Palermo worth €600,000 per season, .
Rosanero will first cut ties with another experienced Italian international Alberto Guilardino, who has been Palermo since 2015.
Guilardino scored 10 goals in 33 Serie A appearances but will leave the club during summer to make way for Marco Borriello.
It is understood that Marco Borriello has already gave a nod to Palermo p…
Granada attacker Isaac Cuenca is keen to end Barcelona s La Liga title hopes when he takes on his former team on Saturday.
The 25-year-old came through the ranks of the Barca youth academy, but eventually left the Catalans on a permanent basis in July 2014.
Cuenca has since worn the jerseys of Deportivo La Coruna and Bursaspor before joining Granada in February, and he is desperate to play a role in the title race.
Luis Enrique s men sit atop of the table heading into their final league game of the season, holding a one-point lead over arch-rivals Real Madrid.
A win over Granada would guarantee their 24th La Liga title in history, but Cuenca hopes to avoid a title party at Los Carmenes.
To score the winning goal in the last minute would be perfec…
Prediction: Belgium to win 3-1
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Belgium and Austria will lock horns with each other in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group F this weekend. The match between Domenico Tedesco’s side and Ralf Rangnick’s team will be held at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Saturday.
Belgium
Belgium have established themselves as a major power in European and world football in recent years and have done pretty well in recent major competitions. True, the Red Devils have not won a major international competition in the last few years, as then manager Roberto Martinez simply could not get the team over the line. The nation will hope for something more and better under now head coach Domenico Tedes…
Bukayo Saka scored a jaw-dropping first career hat-trick as rampant England roared to a 7-0 victory against North Macedonia in Monday’s memorable Euro 2024 qualifier.
Gareth Southgate’s side are all but assured of making it to Germany having reached the halfway point of qualification with four wins from their four Group C games.
Harry Kane struck twice in an Old Trafford annihilation that also saw Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips get in on the act, but ever-improving talent Saka was the star of the show with his tremendous treble.
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They might have given us a lovers tiff or two on the pitch but, as a key Valentine s Day engagement arrives, Paris Saint-Germain forwards Neymar and Edinson Cavani have shown themselves to be the hottest couple in Europe.
Neymar and Cavani can spearhead PSG s bid to unseat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday knowing no two players in Europe s top five leagues this season have combined more often for goals than the seven their partnership has yielded.
Cavani surpassed PSG s all-time scoring record with the help of five Neymar assists, while also laying on a couple of goals for the Brazilian. Perhaps tellingly, no Madrid duo make the rundown.
The next most prolific pairings on the continent have produced six goals in tandem, including Lionel Messi …
Manchester United s goalless draw with Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday highlighted two facts we already knew: Jose Mourinho s side are unadventurous but incredibly hard to beat, and David de Gea is a genius.
The Spain goalkeeper added one more to his catalogue of best saves towards the end of the first half, producing a quite remarkable reaction stop to deny Luis Muriel s close-range header.
It was a moment that dominated plenty of the post-match talk (at least, when nobody was discussing Paul Pogba) and underlined why De Gea is widely considered the best goalkeeper in England and, perhaps, the world.
Well, the former is certainly true, if Opta s data for the 2017-18 Premier League season is anything to go by
14 David de Gea has conceded 19 …
Paris Saint Germain are leading the race to sign Ivory Coast defender Serge Aurier,.
Premier League trio Arsenal, Swansea City and Queens Park Rangers have also been linked with a move for the 21 year old right-back, though it is the French champions who are favourites to complete a deal.
Aurier scored six goals in thirty-four Ligue 1 appearances for Toulouse last season while internationally he played every minute of his countries unsuccessful World Cup campaign in Brazil this summer.
He has spent his entire professional career so far in France having started out with Lens, for whom he made fifty-four senior appearances before moving to the Stadium Municipal in January 2012.
Laurent Blanc’s side eased to the French top flight title last season fin…
Brendan Rodgers has warned his striker Luis Suarez to be on his best behaviour if he is to fulfil his world-class potential.
The Uruguayan’s time in the Premier League has been a mixture of controversy and impressive performances, but more often than not it has been the former which has made the headlines.
Most recently, Suarez was banned for 10 games by the Football Association for biting Branislav Ivanovic and it is this sort of behaviour which boss Rodgers feels could be hampering both himself and his club.
The Liverpool manager claimed that Suarez can never be called a great player while he continues to be involved in situations such as this and said the club wanted to help improve his image.
Everyone isn’t perfect, Rodgers said. If you have a s…
Barcelona could not compete financially with Paris Saint-Germain if the French champions approach Lionel Messi, presidential candidate Agusti Benedito has conceded.
Six-time Ballon d Or winner Messi failed in an attempt to engineer a move away from Camp Nou in the close season but is due to become a free agent at the end of this campaign, meaning he is able to open talks with other clubs from next month.
Manchester City and Inter have been strongly linked with the Argentina international, but reports from Spain last week suggested PSG are the frontrunners for Messi s signature, although his father and agent Jorge has since labelled that speculation false .
Neymar recently hinted he would love PSG to bring his former team-mate to the Parc des Princes, and Benedit…