With a stacked weekend schedule from across Europe s top-tiers on our hands, Saturday offers us a host of noteworthy meetings. For those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.
Saturday February 26th
BST 15:00 Brentford vs Newcastle
Starting with Saturday s guests, while Newcastle might have opened 2022 in the midst of a real struggle, they do appear to have breathed life back into their charge for survival. Last seen putting in another impressive display as they claimed a 1-1 draw away at Champions League outsiders West Ham, the mood in Eddie Howe s camp should be at a real high. Despite dealing with some public injury issues at St. James Park, the former Bournemouth boss has s…
Sam Allardyce put West Brom s hard-fought draw at Liverpool down to grit, determination, organisation and team spirit after he continued his fine run at Anfield.
In his second game in charge of the struggling Baggies, Allardyce masterminded a 1-1 draw at the home of the reigning Premier League champions on Sunday.
Allardyce is now unbeaten in each of his previous four Premier League games at Anfield, managing a win and three draws. Each trip came while in charge at a different club – Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton and West Brom.
The result moved his current employers onto eight points, still five from safety, while Liverpool are now just three points clear of the chasing pack, led by their Merseyside rivals in Everton, one of Allardyce …
Prediction: 2-2
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Chelsea will look to continue their charge in the UEFA Europa League as they travel to the Commerzbank-Arena on Thursday night to take on surprise package Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Blues are currently in a battle to get into the Premier League top four and with it UEFA Champions League football, so the Europa League could be an excellent method for Maurizio Sarri s men to return to the top table of European football.
Chelsea
In comparison to their form in the Premier League this season, Sarri s Blues have been practically irresistible in the Europa League this season and look one of the favourites to claim the trophy. The Londoners have won every single game in the competition besides one this campaign, that occ…
Ajax have lost another key member of their run to the Champions League semi-finals last season, with Lasse Schone departing for Genoa.
The Serie A side are reported to have paid €1.5million to sign the Denmark international, who was in the last year of his contract at Johan Cruijff ArenA.
Experienced midfielder Schone follows Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Maximilian Wober and Daley Sinkgraven in departing Ajax after their incredible run to the last four of the 2018-19 Champions League, where they lost to Tottenham.
The 33-year-old joined Ajax on a free transfer from NEC Nijmegen in 2012 and went on to make 287 appearances for the club, scoring 64 goals.
Schone won three Eredivisie titles, the Johann Cruyff Shield twice and one KNVB Beker during hi…
Didier Deschamps insists he was not surprised by the extraordinary quality shown by Kylian Mbappe during France s successful World Cup campaign and championed the forward s self-awareness.
France defeated Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final to lift the trophy for a second time, with Mbappe getting himself on the scoresheet with a fine 30-yard finish.
But that was only one of several brilliant moments the 19-year-old had in Russia, with his two-goal display in the 4-3 last-16 triumph over Argentina arguably one of the best individual performances of the entire tournament.
Mbappe went on to claim the Best Young Player award for his efforts, but Deschamps was more surprised by the Paris Saint-Germain star s intelligence than his impact.
I was not surprised, …
Duncan Ferguson made an instant impact as Everton s caretaker manager following the sacking of Marco Silva, guiding them to a 3-1 win over Chelsea and lifting them out of the bottom three.
Silva was sacked on Thursday in the wake of a 5-2 hammering in the Merseyside derby but Ferguson s first game at the helm proved there is life in the Toffees yet, with Chelsea losing for the third time in four Premier League matches.
Richarlison got Ferguson s interim reign off to a flying start when heading in after only five minutes, with the Brazilian netting for the third successive Premier League match.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin capitalised on defensive haplessness to make it 2-0 early in the second half and, although Mateo Kovacic s first league goal for Chelsea offered the …
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard enjoyed his first Champions League victory as a manager but warned his team: Now the hard work begins.
A 2-1 victory away to French side Lille made up for some of the disappointment of last month s home defeat to Valencia, and armed Chelsea with points and confidence to take into back-to-back clashes with Ajax.
Tammy Abraham, on his 22nd birthday, and Willian, making his 300th appearance for the club, got Chelsea s goals at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Victor Osimhen netted a header from a corner to bring Lille level at one stage, and the space he found in the centre of the penalty area was a worry for Lampard.
But there were more positives than negatives from the trip to north-east France for Lampard, who captained the Blues …
England forward Lauren Hemp feels the Lionesses have moved on from their Euro 2022 triumph and are determined to refocus attention on their World Cup campaign.
Manchester City’s Hemp started every game for boss Sarina Wiegman during an historic run that ended, one year ago Monday, with England lifting their first major trophy at Wembley, igniting unprecedented interest in women’s football across the UK.
As a result of injuries and retirements, the England boss’s World Cup squad features seven players who were not part of that monumental match, while Rachel Daly, last summer’s left-back, is a forward for this competition.
Asked if it was fair to place sky-high expectations on her largely changed side, Hemp said: “I think, as a team, yes that happened las…
And so, after debates over his best position, his place in the side for club and country, being dropped by club and country and any number of tabloid storms, comes the landmark.
Wayne Rooney s strike against Stoke City to snatch a 1-1 draw established him as Manchester United s all-time record goalscorer, ending a prolonged and, at times, unbecoming wait.
Rooney, one of the Premier League s greatest ever forwards – his lofty place in United history puts this beyond dispute – became convinced he was a midfielder towards the end of last season.
250 Wayne Rooney is now s all-time leading goalscorer with 250 goals. Legend.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Then-England manager Roy Hodgson agreed, but incoming United boss Jose Mourinho insisted he would…
According to Florian Plettenberg of Sky in Germany, Paris Saint-Germain are set to make an official offer for Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Randal Kolo Muani. The personal terms have already been agreed between the representatives of the France international and the Ligue 1 champions, and all that remains is for the two clubs to agree on a transfer fee.
That, however, might prove difficult, if Plettenberg s sources in Germany are right in their reckoning. Eintracht sporting director Markus Krosche is apparently determined to get more than €100 million for the services of the 24-year-old, and it remains to be seen of PSG are willing to meet his demands.
Muani rose through the youth ranks at Nantes. He had a brief loan spell at Boulogne and came back to play two seasons …