While the Premier League might be taking a brief winter break this weekend, we still have a host of noteworthy meetings from up and down the country. On that note, 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 January 29th
BST 15:00 QPR vs Reading
Starting with the hosts, while QPR would have been disappointed to have only picked up a single point against Swansea in midweek, the mood in Mark Warburton s camp should still be at a real high. Only continuing to gain a host of plaudits from across the Championship so far this season, the Hoops are firmly sat in pole position to clinch at least a play-off spot this year. In fact, now sat just three points adrift of climb…
Prediction: Draw
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
Domestic football has been put on pause for a few weeks in favour of the return of the international break the first one of the new campaign. In the wake of the Euros and Copa America, as well as the Olympics, many would expect this to be a fairly inconsequential few weeks. Alas, the pandemic has ensured we have to speed up the process on the road to Qatar with Northern Ireland and Switzerland being two of the many European nations attempting to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Northern Ireland
The days of Euro 2016 feel like a distant memory for this Northern Ireland side but if nothing else, they still have a lot of heart residing in their squad. Some have long since wondered whether or not the impending…
Bruno Fernandes declared Manchester United must make winning a habit after their revival gathered pace with a 3-1 victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
Despite being under pressure for long periods, United dealt the Gunners their first defeat of the campaign after Marcus Rashford followed up Antony s debut strike with a second-half brace, with Fernandes laying on the England international s first.
Since Fernandes made his Premier League debut in February 2020, he has recorded 26 assists in the competition – only Manchester City s Kevin De Bruyne (29) has teed up more goals in that time.
Meanwhile, United s four-match winning sequence is their longest in the Premier League since last April (a run of five) and has provided welcome relief for Erik…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not thinking about retiring from professional football despite needing a physio to watch his every step.
Since returning to Milan in January 2020, Ibrahimovic has scored 30 goals and supplied nine assists in 54 games in all competitions.
However, the striker has struggled with injuries and featured in only half of the Rossoneri s Serie A games in 2020-21, while he was forced to pull out of Euro 2020 duty with Sweden.
Still, he became the fourth-oldest scorer in Serie A history this season when he struck against Bologna last month and took his domestic league tally to 400 versus Roma a week later.
Ibrahimovic acknowledged he has had to learn to listen to his body more and seek treatment as quickly as he can, though it has not m…
Sunderland have reached an agreement to sign 17-year-old Jobe Bellingham from Birmingham for an undisclosed fee.
The Black Cats have been targeting Bellingham for some time and will complete the deal when he returns from international duty with England Under-18s.
Jobe is the younger brother of England midfielder Jude Bellingham, who also completed his move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Jobe made his debut for the Blues at the age of 16 in January 2022, and made 22 appearances for the club in last season’s Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Bellingham told Sunderland’s official website: “I’m delighted to sign for Sunderland AFC and I can’t wait to get started.
“The opportunity for young players to move here and progres…
Injured winger Callum Hudson-Odoi moved closer to a Chelsea comeback as he took part in an open training session at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old has been sidelined since rupturing an Achilles tendon in April.
Hudson-Odoi was linked to Bayern Munich before and after the setback but is reportedly on the cusp of signing a new contract with the Premier League club.
Agreeing fresh terms could come as a double boost with the England international upbeat about an imminent return to playing.
Great to be back in training, it s another step in my recovery, Hudson-Odoi said in a video Chelsea posted on Twitter.
Can t wait to be back at the Bridge playing again. See you soon!
One step closer!
— Chelsea FC (@Chels…
Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen is hopeful Spurs can keep Christian Eriksen, who has been linked to LaLiga giants Real Madrid.
Madrid have emerged as a possible destination for Eriksen after the Tottenham star revealed he wants to try something new .
Eriksen s bombshell came following Tottenham s unexpected run to the Champions League final, which they lost 2-0 to Premier League rivals Liverpool.
Amid reported interest from across Europe, Vertonghen – preparing for Belgium s Euro 2020 qualifier against Scotland on Tuesday – hopes Spurs can retain the services of the Denmark international.
Obviously when the transfer window starts there are a lot rumours, but there were rumours last year and everyone stayed together, so I m hopeful, Vertonghen told …
Moise Kean ended his goal drought and Adrien Rabiot scored twice as rejuvenated Juventus eased to a 4-0 win over Empoli on Friday.
Kean had not scored since April, but the striker set Juve on their way to victory with an early strike at the Allianz Stadium.
Weston McKennie doubled the Bianconeri s lead with his first Serie A goal of the season, heading home in the second half, and Rabiot added a late double to cap an impressive performance.
That is now back-to-back wins for Massimiliano Allegri s side, who moved up a place to seventh ahead of a must-win Champions League clash at Benfica next week.
Juve started with great intensity and were rewarded just eight minutes in when Filip Kostic whipped in a cross from the left and an unmarked Kean applied the fi…
Best odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
The 29th round of the 2021-22 season in Ligue 1 was opened on Friday, when St-Etienne shared the spoils with Troyes in a 1-1 draw, but arguably the most interesting duel of the weekend in the French top flight is set to take place on Sunday, when AS Monaco welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade Louis II.
AS Monaco
Having won the title in 2016-17, when their team boasted players like Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Thomas Lemar and Radamel Falcao, Monaco have struggled to reach anywhere near those heights since. At the moment, they re in eight place in the table with 41 points, six points behind Strasbourg in fifth the last to lead into a European competition, two points behind LOSC Lillie in sixth, one poi…
Sergio Aguero netted a scruffy brace as Manchester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 and go top of the Premier League, however momentarily.
City were without a win in each of their past three matches immediately on the back of Champions League duty and, after drawing 1-1 at Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek, Burnley had them up against it once more through Dean Marney s superb 14th-minute volley.
Pep Guardiola s side lacked fluency and intensity but Aguero s supreme poaching instincts came to the fore as he converted a 37th-minute corner and was on hand to net in similarly scrappy fashion with an hour played.
Burnley, hindered by the loss of Marney and Johann Gudmundsson to injury, were unable to avoid a third loss at a typically vociferous Turf Moor th…