Ezri Konsa had to scrap plans for a winter getaway after his late call-up but the Aston Villa defender always believed it was a case of when rather than if his England chance would come.
The talented 26-year-old has long been tipped for a senior call-up, only to once again miss out on a maiden call-up when the squad for the final Euro 2024 qualifiers was announced last Thursday.
But an injury to Lewis Dunk opened up a last-minute spot in Gareth Southgate’s set-up, leading to a surprise phone call after Villa’s 3-1 victory against Fulham at the weekend.
“I was literally driving home after my game on Sunday,” Konsa said. “Me and the missus were talking about having a little break, going away.
“Two minutes later I ended up getting the call. It wa…
Market: Over 2.5 goals
Odds:
Continuing to shine during qualifying, a high-flying Italy will make the trip Bosnia s Stadion Bilino Polje on Friday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Bosnia may have managed to pick up a 2-1 win over Greece last month, they still remain in an uphill battle to secure a shock spot at Euro 2020. Hunting down a five-point deficit with just two Group J matches left, Head Coach Robert Prosinečki will take some solace from his side s form on home soil. Yet to taste defeat at the Stadion Bilino Polje since way back in October 2017, the hosts have landed back-to-back victories in front of their own supporters and have found the net nine times in those two victories. It should also be noted that each of their previous four matches on …
Manchester United have confirmed that midfielder Facundo Pellistri has completed a permanent move to Panathinaikos.
Pellistri, who made 25 appearances for United following his move from Penarol in 2020, has signed a four-year deal with the Greek side for a reported £5.1m transfer fee.
The Red Devils have inserted a significant sell-on clause – thought to be 45% and have a buy back option that lasts for three years.
Pellistri spent the second half of the 2023-24 season on loan with LaLiga side Granada, notching four goal involvements, two of which came in a 3-3 draw against Barcelona back in February (one goal and one assist).
The 22-year-old also featured for Uruguay at this year s Copa America, turning out in all of La Celeste s fixtures as they f…
France marched to glory on home soil at the 1984 European Championship and 1998 World Cup, and a richly gifted squad means Didier Deschamps side appear well-placed to repeat the trick at Euro 2016.
Even allowing for the conspicuous absence of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema due to his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to blackmail international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena – another absentee – the depth of quality at Deschamps disposal is arguably the envy of the tournament.
Antoine Griezmann is coming off a career-best season with Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid, Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud s scoring record continues to confound doubts over his capabilities for club and country, while in Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman, Deschamps can call upon two…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 7/10 @
Two sides who will be looking to extend on their respective EFL Cup adventures on Tuesday night, Bolton will welcome Mansfield to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Starting with the hosts, suffering major play-off heartbreak at Wembley back on May 18th as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Oxford United in north London, Ian Evatt’s side are desperate to go one-step further this time around. Signing off their pre-season preparations with a routine 3-0 romp away at Port Vale, the Trotters are certainly pencilled in as a standout promotion contender this year. Getting the new League One campaign underway last weekend with a 2-1 win away at Leyton Orient, the former Barrow boss will be looking to lay down another early ma…
Prediction: Match to end in 2-2 draw
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Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco will face each other in Ligue 1 this weekend. The match between Les Phocéens and Les Rouge et Blanc will be held at Stade Vélodrome and is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time on Saturday.
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille are one of the biggest and most historic clubs in the world. They have won the Ligue 1 title as many as nine times in their history, but their last success came in 2009-10 before bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain began their domination of French club. Marseille finished second in in the league table in 2021-22 and in 2019-20.
Marseille are third in the Ligue 1 table at the moment at the moment with 42 points from 19…
Juventus have completed the signing of Teun Koopmeiners from Atalanta for €54.7million.
The 26-year-old midfielder has signed a five-year deal with the Bianconeri.
Koopmeiners was a key member of the Atalanta side that ended Bayer Leverkusen’s long unbeaten run in last season s Europa League final, and had been at the club for three years after joining from AZ in 2021.
He missed out on a place in the Netherlands Euro 2024 squad after suffering an injury in a warm-up match and has represented his national side 21 times, scoring twice.
This is it, this is happening
The great wait is over
— JuventusFC
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Mansfield closed in on top spot in League Two as they equalled the club’s all-time record league win from 1932 by destroying in-form Harrogate by an astonishing 9-2 scoreline.
The visitors had won four and drawn two of their last six but were simply blown away, Hiram Boateng scoring a hat-trick in the highest-scoring Football League game since 2011.
From the 13th minute when Lucas Akins buried a home penalty after Derrick Abu had hauled down Baily Cargill, the Stags never looked back in a one-sided first half.
It was 2-0 on 20 minutes as Boateng won a tackle 25 yards out, ran to the edge of the box and slammed home a powerful finish.
On the half-hour Davis Keillor-Dunn’s square pass 18 yards out set up Boateng for his second and four minutes later Ste…
Jay Stansfield was on target against former club Birmingham City as Fulham swept aside their League One hosts with a comprehensive 2-0 victory in the EFL Cup second round.
Marco Silva s side fell short against Liverpool in the semi-finals of this competition last season, but made another good start to the new cup campaign on Tuesday after easing to victory at St. Andrew s.
Raul Jimenez opened the scoring with a 10th-minute penalty, awarded for handball against Alex Cochrane, before Birmingham were undone by a familiar face just four minutes later.
Striker Stansfield spent last season on loan with the Blues and, owing to that spell, refused to celebrate after profiting from Joachim Andersen s long pass before finishing with a clinical edge.
Birmingham coul…
Mats Hummels sees no reason why Borussia Dortmund cannot go on and win the Champions League following their hard-earned semi-final victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
The Black and Yellow are through to the final of Europe s premier club competition for only the third time after sealing a 2-0 aggregate over the reigning Ligue 1 champions, who struck the woodwork six times across both legs.
After Niclas Fullkrug settled last week s first leg at Signal Iduna Park, Hummels second-half header was the difference in the return at Parc des Princes, where Edin Terzic s side produced another defensive masterclass as they claimed their sixth clean sheet in this season s competition.
Dortmund, who lifted the trophy 27 years ago, will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich …