We’re in the NFL stretch run now, as all the bye weeks are behind us, and the first Saturday games of the season will take place. I’ve taken a look at the Week 15 slate and have formulated what will hopefully be two winning parlays.
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Thomas Tuchel felt that Chelsea stole three points with their 2-1 victory at Watford on Wednesday.
The Blues were far from their best from the off at Vicarage Road. They completed just 71 per cent of their passes for their lowest passing accuracy in all competitions under Tuchel and their worst since facing Liverpool in the Premier League in May 2018.
Mason Mount put them in front after a 30-minute break in play while a fan received medical attention after suffering from a cardiac arrest Watford later confirmed the supporter had been stabilised. However, Emmanuel Dennis became the first Watford player to score in three consecutive top-plight games since Troy Deeney in 2017 when he equalised before half-time.
Tuchel s men looked destined to drop points for the …
Paris Saint-Germain s Kylian Mbappe said Neymar is the centre of the club s project as he hailed the Brazilian star.
Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in a world-record € 222million deal in 2017, but he has been repeatedly linked with a return to his former club or LaLiga champions Real Madrid.
The PSG forward pledged to remain in Paris alongside Mbappe prior to Sunday s shock 3-2 Ligue 1 defeat to Lorient.
Mbappe – who is also out of contract in 2022 – has similarly been tipped to leave PSG for Madrid amid doubts over his future but talked up his relationship with superstar team-mate Neymar.
I ve always thought that great players were made to play together and that s clear between us two, Mbappe told France Football.
Our roles were est…
Thomas Frank admitted Ivan Toney made mistakes but questioned the Football Association’s decision to ban him from training for four months as part of his suspension for betting rule breaches.
Toney pleaded guilty to 232 breaches of the FA’s betting rules and has been banned from football for eight months and is not allowed to train with Brentford until half of the term has been served on September 17.
Frank jumped to Toney’s side as Brentford adjust to being without their 20-goal striker for the first half of the 2023-24 campaign.
The Brentford boss said: “Yes, Ivan did something wrong but what I don’t get at all is how can you not let him be involved in football at all for the first four months?
“What do you gain from that? If you want to reh…
Sean Dyche is nothing if not realistic and within minutes of achieving his sole aim of saving Everton from relegation he delivered his verdict on the state of the club – and it will have made for difficult listening for his bosses.
The 51-year-old has built a career on plain speaking and pragmatism but until another season in the top flight – the club’s 70th in succession – was secured he had to keep his own counsel, at least in public, on the state of affairs he inherited from predecessor Frank Lampard.
But in the immediate aftermath of the 1-0 win over Bournemouth which safeguarded the Toffees’ future, Dyche laid bare the extent of the problems he feels have riddled the club and outlined what needs to be done to change.
Whether owner Farhad Moshiri, w…
Putting in another rugged display over the weekend as they clinched a 1-0 victory away at Girona, Barcelona are in the midst of what has become a remarkable domestic flurry this season.
While Xavi s superstars might have eventually finished 13 points adrift of Los Blancos and recapturing their La Liga crown, the Spanish icons have made a string of improvements this time around.
Although Barca might have endured another public Champions League nightmare prior to the World Cup s winter break, Xavi s side now have their sights set on completing a famous domestic sweep.
With the mood around the Nou Camp at the highest it has been in recent memory, Barcelona now open February tipped as a runaway pick to claim a first La Liga title since 2019.
Laying down what…
Gareth Bale has backed Carlo Ancelotti to be amazing in his second spell in charge at Real Madrid, though the Wales international has reiterated he will not reveal his own future until after Euro 2020.
Ancelotti has returned to the Santiago Bernabeu to replace Zinedine Zidane, leaving Everton to undertake a second spell at a club where he previously spent two years in charge.
Bale was in the squad that won the Champions League under the Italian in 2014, scoring Madrid s second goal as they defeated Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the final to secure La Decima .
However, the forward fell out of favour under Zidane and spent the 2020-21 season back on loan at Tottenham, scoring 16 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions.
It remains unclear if he has a futur…
Julian Nagelsmann felt his team deserved to lose after two Exequiel Palacios penalties condemned Bayern Munich to a 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at BayArena on Sunday.
After title rivals Borussia Dortmund picked up three points on Saturday to move them top, a 22nd-minute deflected goal from Joshua Kimmich looked to have set Bayern on their way to retaking their position at the summit.
But Palacios converted twice from the spot after the break, both for fouls on Amine Adli, to inflict a third league defeat of the season on Bayern and hand Dortmund the advantage ahead of the pair s table-topping Klassiker after the upcoming international break.
Nagelsmann had no complaints with the defeat or the penalty decisions, both of which saw Adli initially handed a yellow …
Arsenal have completed the signing of Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid on a permanent deal for a reported fee of around £30million (€35.2m).
The Norway international, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Emirates Stadium, is thought to have agreed a four-year deal with the Premier League side.
Odegaard returned to parent club Madrid but was not part of their matchday squad for last week s 4-1 win over Deportivo Alaves on the opening weekend of the new LaLiga season.
Having been restricted to just eight league appearances for Los Blancos since joining in 2015, the majority of that time spent out on loan, the attacking midfielder has now departed the Spanish capital on a permanent basis.
Arsenal confirmed the news on their official web…
Shaun Maloney saluted two-goal marksman Charlie Wyke as Wigan wiped out their eight-point deduction inside four League One games after thrashing Bolton 4-0.
Wyke started and finished the scoring at Toughsheet Community Stadium with a Stephen Humphreys’ double sandwiched in between as Latics ended Wanderers’ 100 per cent start to the campaign in emphatic fashion.
The visitors’ third win of the season lifted them on to two points while Ian Evatt’s Trotters suffered a harsh reality check after four wins in all competitions.
“Every bit of credit goes to Charlie,” said Wigan manager Maloney of his frontman who had a defibrillator fitted after suffering a cardiac arrest in 2021.
“He came back on day one of pre-season in incredible condition. It wa…
Frank Lampard has revealed he tried to sign Erling Haaland for Chelsea during his first spell as the manager at Stamford Bridge.
The Manchester City striker came up against Lampard’s team in a pre-season friendly in 2019 while he was playing for RB Salzburg in Austria.
He scored 28 goals in 22 matches that season before signing for Borussia Dortmund the following summer, but Lampard said he attempted to bring him to west London instead during his 18-month spell in charge between 2019 and 2021.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Ultimately competition for the Norway international’s signature, together with the fact not everybody at Chelsea was convinced that a bid for Haaland would have been the right move, meant that Lampard was left frustrated.