Prediction: Both teams to score and draw
Odds:
Bookmaker:
The game of the weekend arguably gets underway on Saturday evening as Chelsea travel to Anfield to do battle with Liverpool. The Reds will hope to recover from their trip to Seville as they surrendered a three-goal lead at the Estadio Roman Sanchez Pizjuan while the champions will look to build on their emphatic victory in Azerbaijan mid-week.
Liverpool
Despite their difficult 3-3 result against Sevilla, Liverpool actually head into the home clash against Chelsea in relatively positive form. The Reds have only lost one game out of their last 11 in all competitions, that one defeat coming in the form of a 4-1 thumping at Wembley against Tottenham Hotspur. It is their attack that is in the most inspiring form …
Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Portugal eased to a 4-0 victory over Nigeria in their sole World Cup warm-up game, despite missing captain Cristiano Ronaldo through illness.
Fernando Santos side produced a dominant showing in Lisbon on Thursday amid the ongoing furore over the absent Ronaldo s scathing interview on Manchester United.
Fernandes first-half double, the latter from the penalty spot, set Portugal on their way in their final outing ahead of Qatar, before Goncalo Ramos scored after Emmanuel Dennis missed a second-half spot-kick.
Joao Mario added a late fourth and Portugal will now turn their attention to next Thursday s Group H opener against Ghana as they aim to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in four tournaments.
Fernande…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted in Borussia Dortmund s 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim to take his tally for the Bundesliga side to 100 in all competitions.
The Gabon international raced onto a throughball from Ousmane Dembele early in the second half before beating goalkeeper Oliver Baumann with a clever chip to salvage a hard-fought draw for BVB.
Aubameyang joined Dortmund from Saint-Etienne in 2013 and scored his first goal for the Signal Iduna Park side in a 4-0 Bundesliga win over Augsburg, a game in which he eventually netted a hat-trick.
The 27-year-old would end his first campaign at Dortmund with 16 strikes in all competitions and has since gone on to improve his record year after year, scoring 25 times in 2014-15 and then finding the net on 39 occasions in 2…
Tottenham Hotspur have slapped a £15m price tag on winger Andros Townsend, .
Both Aston Villa and Sunderland are interested in securing the services of the England international, who started just ten league games for the Mauricio Pochettino’s side last season.
The 23 year old made his debut for Spurs by scoring and being named man of the match in a 3-0 FA Cup third round win over Charlton Athletic in January 2011, but enjoyed loan spells with no less than nine clubs before become a regular for the North Londoners.
Internationally, Townsend has three goals in nine senior appearances for England, with his last outing coming in last month’s 3-2 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Slovenia.
Tottenham finished in fifth place last season, and begin the for…
Pele believes his status as Brazil s greatest player is secure, with not even Neymar able to challenge him.
A three-time World Cup winner and the scorer of more than 1,000 goals in a glittering career, the former Santos and New York Cosmos striker has already seen off plenty of challengers to his mantle since retiring, including Ronaldo and Romario, who earlier this month backed Neymar to surpass Pele s tally of 77 international goals.
Whether or not the 23-year-old Barcelona forward is able to do so remains to be seen, but Pele is not worried about the challenge of his fellow Santos graduate.
Asked on Wednesday in Melbourne if Neymar can replace him as Brazilian football s favourite son, he said: I think not.
I think to be the new king, the new Pele, i…
Bertrand Traore put in a match-winning performance as Burkina Faso beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 to qualify for the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Chelsea winger, who is currently playing his club football on loan at Ajax, had a hand in his side s first goal and scored their second as Burkina Faso progressed from the group stage of the tournament for the third time in their history.
The opening goal came courtesy of a first-half defensive mistake by Guinea-Bissau s Rudinilson Silva, who headed into his own goal, and the ever-dangerous Traore got his reward for an all-action performance when he scored the Stallions second after 57 minutes.
Guinea-Bissau were making their debut in the tournament this year and Baciro Cande s men gave a good account of th…
Former FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has repeated calls for football s world governing body to deal strongly with any corruption allegations after its secretary general Jerome Valcke was placed on leave, pending an investigation by the organisation’s Ethics Committee.
Valcke, the right-hand man to outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter since 2007, is reported to have denied claims that he was involved in a scheme that intended to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at above their face value.
The accusations made by former Israeli footballer and hospitality consultant Benny Alon are said to relate to a contract between JB Sports Marketing – a company for which Alon worked – and FIFA for Brazil 2014 ticket and hospitality packages.
Valcke has bee…
Adnan Januzaj has again taken aim at former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, criticising him for ruining his confidence and halting the Belgian s progression .
The 23-year-old looked destined for a successful career at Old Trafford when he broke into the first team as a teenager under David Moyes.
He became a key part of Moyes side and regularly impressed on the flank with his ability on the ball, but Januzaj subsequently struggled once the Scot was sacked and replaced by Van Gaal.
Chances for game time soon dried up, Januzaj starting just seven Premier League games in Van Gaal s first season before going on loan to Borussia Dortmund at the start of the 2015-16 campaign, but there he found opportunities even more difficult to come by.
After ano…
Leicester City s incredible surge to the Premier League title was not just a remarkable tale of the underdog, it was the story of a nice guy finally finishing first.
Claudio Ranieri has long been considered one of the more likeable bosses in European football and, while his charm is undeniable, his coaching prowess has regularly been called into question.
Last season, however, he silenced his doubters in scarcely believable fashion by guiding a Leicester team that narrowly avoided relegation in the previous campaign to Premier League glory, and his first domestic top-flight title.
His achievement in masterminding their stunning rise ensures he will go down as the greatest manager in Leicester s history something the club acknowledged as they made news of his depa…
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he has no concerns over his position amid speculation, claiming he is working on a long-term plan with the struggling Premier League club.
Solskjaer has overseen United s worst start to a season at home of any manager since 1972-73 following last week s 1-0 loss to rivals Arsenal in the Premier League.
United followed up that defeat with an insipid 2-1 defeat away against Turkish hosts Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League, heaping further pressure on Solskjaer.
While United have upstaged Champions League finalists Paris Saint-Germain and humbled RB Leipzig, the Red Devils have lost to Crystal Palace and Tottenham – who humiliated the English giants 6-1.
Another good shift at the Aon Train…