Roberto Martinez believes his Everton side must look to benefit from their UEFA Europa League journey, starting against Wolfsburg.
Martinez s men welcome the 2009 Bundesliga champions to Goodison Park on Thursday in Group H for what will be Everton s first taste of European competition since 2010.
Both sides finished fifth in their respective leagues last term narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification and Martinez feels the fixture will offer more than just a chance to get early points on the board.
The former Swansea City and Wigan Athletic boss is eager for his charges to learn from their meeting with Dieter Hecking s side.
This is nothing new but we ve been really excited. The Europa League is a great competition and probably where we nee…
Best odds: 13/8
Bookmaker:
Feyenoord will have a chance to deal a powerful blow to Ajax s hopes of retaining the Eredivisie title this season when the two teams meet at the Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly referred to as De Kuip, on Sunday afternoon. The clash of the fierce rivals will be a game within round 17 of the 2022/23 season in the Dutch top flight.
Feyenoord
It s been almost six years since Feyenoord last won the title in Netherlands, and the De club van het volk faithful everywhere will be wondering at this point: has the time come?
A look at the Eredivisie table says it may have come. Feyenoord lead the pack with 37 points from the 16 games played so far, and the nearest chasers are actually AZ Alkmaar, who stand on 33 and will have an argu…
Verdict: Arsenal draw no bet
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Bookmaker:
Two sides who have a European finish at the top of their agenda, a resurging Arsenal will welcome Leicester to an empty Emirates on Tuesday night.
Arsenal
Starting with the hosts, despite showing plenty of cause for concern when making their return from the enforced break last month, it appears that Arsenal are a team on the rise. Really bouncing back from their stunning late defeat away at relegation scrappers Brighton, Mikel Arteta s side really made a statement away at Molineux over the weekend. Shocking many across the Premier League and landing a stunning 2-0 win away at Champions League chasers Wolves on Saturday evening, the Gunners have won their last four matchups across all competitions …
Barcelona midfielder Sergi Roberto is set for a spell on the sidelines with a calf injury.
No time frame has been put on the 31-year-old’s recovery as the LaLiga outfit’s injury problems continue to mount up.
Barca boss Xavi has been without injured players Jules Kounde, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski since before the international break.
MEDICAL NEWS | First team player Sergi Roberto has a soleus muscle injury in his right leg and will be unable to play until the problem goes away.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
A statement from the club’s official website read: “First-team player Sergi Roberto has a soleus muscle injury in his right leg and will be unable to play until the problem goes away.”
However…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 4/5 @
In what could prove to be a lively Championship affair from the Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon, Bristol City will host Norwich.
Starting with the hosts, while Bristol City might have signed off 2022 in the midst of an extended rut, the Robins have come roaring back in some style. Last seen putting in another eye-catching display as they clinched a 2-1 victory away at Preston, Nigel Pearson s men have come skyrocketing up the Championship table. Now with their sights set on trying to find a route into the top-half, the one-time Watford boss finds his side enjoying an eight-match unbeaten run across all formats. With the mood around Ashton Gate at the highest it has been in recent memory, Bristol City have also shown a re…
Paris Saint-Germain eased to a record-equalling 10th Ligue 1 title in the 2021-22 campaign, with Lille and Monaco the likely contenders to challenge the French giants in the following campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino s future remains uncertain at PSG despite securing the French top-flight title with four games to spare last season, with Nice s Christophe Galtier linked with the potential vacancy.
PSG have to wait until the ninth matchday to face Nice on October 2, but visit Lyon the game before on September 18 and face early clashes with Lille and Monaco on matchday four and five respectively.
The Ligue 1 champions host Marseille in the season s first Le Classique meeting on October 16, while PSG will have to negotiate a tricky period in February.
PSG vis…
Another wonder-goal from Lionel Messi helped Barcelona clinch their 27th Copa del Rey crown as they outclassed Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at Camp Nou.
With the league title already in the bag, Saturday s result secured a domestic double for Luis Enrique s side and kept them firmly on course for a remarkable treble ahead of next week s UEFA Champions League final against Juventus.
Athletic had come into the game looking to avenge their 2009 and 2012 final defeats at the hands of the same opponents, but rarely looked capable of causing an upset after Messi bagged a wondrous 57th goal of the campaign after 20 minutes.
Neymar duly doubled Barcelona s advantage 10 minutes later and Athletic s 31-year Copa drought was destined to continue when Messi added his second and Barce…
Alvaro Arbeloa has received a dizzying offer from a Chinese club, who want to make Real Madrid defender the latest high-profile player to come to Chinese Super League.
Following the record-breaking transfers of Aleix Teixeira and Jackson Martinez, Chinese clubs want to use the remaining days of the transfer window to bring some more big names to their league.
According to , Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa is the next in the line.
The experienced 33-year-old full back has rejected the opportunity to land a lucrative deal worth €8 million per season as the player is not keen on leaving Real Madrid at this point.
Arbeloa’s contract with Real Madrid expires in June and the Spanish international is willing to see it through and assess his options at t…
What Zlatan Ibrahimovic likes most about Qatar is everything.
He made that point in a Sweden press conference on Tuesday, giving 10/10 ratings to all aspects of the World Cup experience and saluting the country s lack of crime and drug problems.
The 41-year-old Milan striker had no part to play in the Qatar 2022 finals, owing to Sweden s failure to qualify, but he was a guest at the final, being pictured at the Argentina versus France showpiece game along with tennis superstar Novak Djokovic.
Asked for his impressions of the tournament and the country as a whole, Ibrahimovic said: It was fantastic. As awesome as it gets. I was there for two days with the family.
He gave a rundown of his ratings for all aspects he encountered, saying: The organisation: 10…
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi will stand trial over alleged tax evasion alongside father Jorge, according to reports in Spain.
The forward and his father have been accused of defrauding the Spanish authorities of €4.1million by benefiting from a complex network of companies set up to sell Messi s image rights in a host of countries.
The alleged fraud is believed to have taken place between 2007 and 2009.
Prosecutors initially stated earlier this week that charges against the Barca star had been dropped.
The 28-year-old had appeared set to be spared a trial on the grounds that, because of his age, responsibility for any alleged wrongdoing would be placed on his father, who it was claimed had control of his tax obligations .
However…