Mikel Arteta pointed to Arsenal’s growing maturity as a key factor in driving their Premier League title challenge ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Brighton.
Victory at the Amex Stadium will see the Gunners finish Saturday back on top of the table with leaders Liverpool not in action until Sunday, as they chase a first league crown since 2004.
At 20 years it is the club’s longest streak without winning the top flight since they were first champions in 1930-31.
Mikel has provided a fitness update on Saka
— Arsenal (@Arsenal)
The last two decades have seen Arsenal consistently written off as being psychologically lacking when it comes to the title-race home straight.
There have been a number of significant collapses in form, partic…
The new LaLiga season starts this weekend but Barcelona and Real Madrid still have work to do in the transfer market before the big kick-off.
Barca and Madrid have lost much-loved club icons, with Cristiano Ronaldo departing the capital after a hugely successful nine-year spell and Andres Iniesta leaving the Catalan giants for a new chapter in his career in Japan.
Ernesto Valverde s side won the double last season and, on paper, seem to have strengthened more than Madrid, who have strenuously denied they will move for either of Paris Saint-Germain s superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The deadline may be just over two weeks away, but how are Barca and Madrid shaping up in terms of transfers ahead of the new season?
BARCELONA
Arrivals:…
This is a really interesting match up betseen perhaps the two teams mosat likely to fight it out for that crucial fourth placed spot which of course secures Champions League qualification.
Man City will be delighted with Mancini s start to his career as Manchester City coach, but as was noted early in his tenure, the fixtures list was very kind to him. With nine or ten eminently winnable games to kick off his new job, it was always likely that the blues would march up the league. However, the last cople of results could have been better and there is now talk of just how important it is for Mancini to make fourth spot by the end of the season. Word has it that the board will accept nothing less, and this sort of pressure may just begin to tell on Mancini. Of course they have an …
Craig Bellamy insisted that there is more to come from his Wales side as his maiden outing as their new head coach ended in a goalless draw against Turkiye.
Having seen Aaron Ramsey and Joe Rodon squander golden opportunities early on, Bellamy thought his side had netted the first goal of his tenure in the 37th minute.
Ramsey s searching ball picked out Sorba Thomas behind the Turkiye defence before lobbing the ball over Mert Gunok, only for the offside flag to be raised.
The hosts played for just under half an hour with a man advantage after Baris Alper Yilmaz was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Neco Williams.
But Wales were unable to find a breakthrough, and they have now failed to score in four consecutive international matches for the first …
FIFA has revealed a record amount was spent on transfers in 2019, with deals for Eden Hazard, Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix topping the bill.
A report issued by world football s governing body on Wednesday revealed $7.35billion (£5.6billion) was spent by clubs in the transfer market in 2019, an increase of 5.8 per cent on the previous year.
The study also confirmed that English clubs spent the most, though the total figure of $1.52billion (£1.14billion) was a 22.1 per cent decrease from 2018.
Joao Felix s €126million transfer from Benfica to Atletico Madrid – who sold Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona for €120m – was the biggest deal of 2019, while Hazard left Chelsea for Real Madrid in a deal reportedly worth €100m.
22 João Félix was t…
Nicolas Anelka agreed not to perform his controversial ‘quenelle’ gesture again on this day 10 years ago.
The France forward made the sign – described as an inverted Nazi salute – after scoring the first of his two goals in West Brom’s 3-3 draw at West Ham on December 28.
France’s sports minister Valerie Fourneyron accused him of making a “disgusting anti-Semitic” gesture.
Bravo à Anelka pour sa !! Magnifique !! Et merci pour ton soutien !!! !!
— Dieudonné Officiel (@MbalaDieudo)
West Brom responded, saying: “Nicolas was asked to explain his goal celebration by caretaker head coach Keith Downing within minutes of the game finishing at West Ham.
“Nicolas said that he performed the gesture to dedicate his goal to a …
Nothing lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change. And it’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain.
Axl Rose may not know shit about NFL betting, but he sure knows about good things going bad.
For NFL bettors, that candle has been underdog profits, with teams getting the points going 67-53-1 ATS so far this season (56%).
Since 2010, NFL underdogs have covered 54 percent of the time between Week 1 and Week 8 of the schedule, including a scorching 10-4-1 ATS mark for pointspread pups last week.
Once the calendar flips to Week 9, however, and the cold November rain moves in, those thriving underdog NFL picks wither, covering at just a 49 percent clip for the remainder of the season.
There are a couple reason…
The New Orleans Saints ease into the post-Sean Payton Era against the Atlanta Falcons — a team many have pegged to finish dead last in the NFL this season.
Despite Payton’s departure, New Orleans has continuity in its coaching staff with long-time defensive coordinator Dennis Allen promoted to head coach and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael carrying over Payton’s playbook as offensive coordinator.
Atlanta faces a new era of its own after trading away the face of the franchise, Matt Ryan, this offseason. The Falcons replace him at quarterback with Marcus Mariota, who could be keeping that No. 1 seat chair warm for rookie QB Desmond Ridder.
Atlanta is still very much in the midst of a rebuild, which is why the NFL Week 1 odds ha…
The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will look to wrap up their preseason on a positive note as they host the Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon.
The Chiefs started the preseason with a loss, but bounced back with an emphatic 38-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals last weekend. The Browns are coming off an 18-18 tie with the Philadelphia Eagles in their last outing.
The Browns have hinted that they might give their starters a bit more playing time than the Chiefs in the final week of exhibition play which is why the NFL odds sit where they do. We’ll break down whether that’ll be enough for Cleveland to cover the spread in our free NFL picks and predictions for Browns vs. Chiefs on August 26.
Browns vs Chiefs odds
The 6-2 Detroit Lions look to keep rolling as they head to the West Coast to face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10 odds. The Lions have won five of their last six games but the Bolts have won four of their previous six contests and will be at home.
NFL odds hit the board on Monday with Detroit at -1.5 and money has come in on the road faves with that spread moving to -2.5 for this clash. Here are my best free NFL picks for Lions vs. Chargers on November 12.
Lions vs Chargers odds
Lions vs Chargers predictions
The Detroit Lions have been on fire by going 5-1 straight up and against the spread in their last six games. Fresh off a bye, they’re also getting healthier on offense with Pro Bowl guard Jonah Jackson,…