Villa turn attention to Heaton

Market: Real Betis double chance

Odds: 2/5 @

Looking to extend on their impressive start to the 2022/23 La Liga campaign, Real Betis will make the trip to the Mallorca Estadi on Saturday evening.

Starting with the hosts, eventually dragging themselves over the finish line last season and hanging onto their La Liga status thanks to a one-point buffer, Mallorca could be heading for another relegation scrap this time around. However, opening the 2022/23 campaign with a hard-fought 0-0 stalemate away at Athletic Bilbao, Head Coach Javier Aguirre has seen his side enjoy a summer boost. Unbeaten in each of their six pre-season friendlies, the Pirates will be desperate to spring an upset on Saturday evening. Making their first appearance at the Mallorca Estadi this wee…

Lionel Messi might have been embroiled in something of an argument with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) on Thursday, but he spent his Friday imploring his team-mates to give their all in the Copa America Centenario final against Chile.

Messi took to social media to voice his displeasure with the AFA after their flight to New Jersey ahead of the final was delayed, but he called for everyone to unite for one final push in the United States as Argentina look to avoid Copa America final heartbreak at the hands of Chile for the second year running.

Now is not the time to give nothing because we are very close to achieving the objective that we came here to achieve, he said.

In this last year, we have grown a lot as a group and as a team. We arrived in a ver…

Zinedine Zidane insists James Rodriguez is happy at Real Madrid amid speculation the Colombia international could swap LaLiga for the Premier League.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea have been heavily linked with moves for the playmaker after he dropped down the pecking order in the Spanish capital.

James only made 17 starts in the league in 2015-16 – his second season with Madrid and he was only given 13 minutes of their opening league match of this campaign against Real Sociedad on Sunday.

His lack of action has seen him linked with a move away, but Zidane has consistently echoed the comments of Madrid president Florentino Perez in insisting the 25-year-old is not looking to leave.

He is well and happy, Zidane said when asked about James after the 3-0 victor…

Barcelona have completed the signing of Brazilian full-back Douglas Pereira on a five-year contract.

The Catalan giants announced that a deal had been agreed with Sao Paulo for the 24-year-old s services on Wednesday.

Douglas has now completed his medical and penned terms at Camp Nou until 2019.

Barca have paid an initial €4million to the Brazilian side, with an extra €1.5million due dependant on appearances.

After a busy day which included his medical the Brazilian came to the club offices this evening to [put] pen to paper on the five year deal worth 4million Euros, with a further 1.5 million depending on the number of games he plays, read a statement on Barca s official website.

The Brazil Under-20 international joined Sao Paulo in 2012 an…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic became Sweden’s all-time top goal scorer after netting a brace against Estonia on Thursday.

The 32-year-old took his overall goal scoring tally to 50, one more than Sven Rydell whose record had stood since 1932.

Needing just three minutes to draw level with the record, Ibrahimovic moved past Rydell with a typically audacious flick in the 24th minute of his country’s 2-0 win. The Sweden captain took off his shirt in celebration to reveal a message for the fans which read You made it possible .

The Paris Saint-Germain striker said after the game he was relieved to break the record, admitting to being nervous in the lead-up to the clash against the European minnows.

[I] was a little bit, given that [everyone was waiting] for me to bea…

United Arab Emirates businessman Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim the mastermind behind the purchase of Manchester City is to buy 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth it was revealed by the club on Wednesday.

Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak has been looking to sell the club for a while and after seemingly successful talks held in Rome where Al Fahim is attending the Champions League final Pompey issued a statement.

A period of formal legal and financial due diligence will commence next week, it read.

We cannot make any further comment on the future structure of the club until this period has been completed.

Portsmouth also added that they hoped the deal will be concluded as soon as possible .

Al Fahim is no longer part of the consortium that owns Manchester…

Socceroos captain Lucas Neill has been nominated for the AFC Player of the Year award, while Mark Schwarzer is also up for an honour.

Neill has been nominated for the Asian Football Confederation s highest honour alongside Iran s Ali Karimi and Mohsen Bengar, as well as Zheng Zhi of China and Korea Republic s Lee Keun-ho.

The AFC Player of the Year award remains a controversial prize as only players who can attend the presentations, which this year will be held in Kuala Lumpur on November 29, can win.

Neill, who plays for Al Wasl in the United Arab Emirates, will become Australia s second-ever winner of the award if he triumphs, after fellow Socceroos defender Sasa Ognenovski was named the AFC Player of the Year in 2010.

Schwarzer is one of three nominat…

Luciano Spalletti hinted that Victor Osimhen could be fit to play in Napoli s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Milan on Wednesday.

The striker has 25 goals in 29 games for I Partenopei this season, but sustained a thigh injury while representing Nigeria during last month s international break, causing him to miss last Sunday s 4-0 loss to Milan.

Napoli recovered from that humbling and took themselves closer to a first Scudetto in 30 years with a 2-1 win at Lecce on Friday, when Osimhen was again absent.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo s header was cancelled out by Federico Di Francesco, before a second-half own goal from Antonino Gallo handed Napoli three points.

It wasn t easy to secure this result after last Sunday s defeat and some injuries, Spall…

Mikel Arteta hailed Aaron Ramsdale for producing magic moments that could be pivotal in the Premier League title race after Arsenal s 2-2 draw at Liverpool on Sunday.

The Arsenal goalkeeper produced a trio of expert saves to deny Liverpool a late winner after Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino scored to drag the Reds back into the game from 2-0 down.

Ramsdale denied Darwin Nunez when one-on-one, superbly tipped a deflected Salah curling effort around the post and somehow thwarted Ibrahima Konate from point-blank range in the dying seconds.

Arteta likened Ramsdale s influence to the impact Alisson has had for Liverpool in recent years after the England international starred at Anfield, where Salah missed a second-half penalty.

The Arsenal manager said durin…

Erling Haaland has handed Manchester City a major injury boost after returning to training.

Haaland, with 19 goals in all competitions this season, has been sidelined with a foot injury since City’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on December 6.

But the Norway international was pictured in training with the squad ahead of their third-round FA Cup clash against Huddersfield on Sunday.

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

Jeremy Doku, who has missed his side’s last eight matches with a muscular injury, also trained with his team-mates.

Both players had previously been training individually.

The imminent return of Haaland and Doku will send a warning to City’s rivals with Kevin De Bruyne also stepping up his return.

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