soccer predictions calculate each team's chances of winning each match and the league title across 26 leagues.
Gab Marcotti speaks to Alexis Nunes about the proposed introduction of VAR in the Champions League and how it will be used.
The group stage draw for the UEFA Champions League takes place in Monaco on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. BST / midday ET. Join us to find out who will play who.
Group-stage draw pots
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Lokomotiv Moscow
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, Napoli, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma
Pot 3: Liverpool, Schalke, Lyon, Monaco, Ajax, CSKA Moscow, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia
Pot...
Jose Mourinho insists he is only interested in the future prosperity of Manchester United rather than his own position at the troubled club. Mourinho has found his future as United manager the subject of much discussion after a tempestuous period, dating back to a frustrating close-season transfer window. That led to conjecture that Mourinho was […]
The post ‘I’m a club man’: Mourinho insists Manchester United come before his future appeared first on Inquirer Sports.
Chelsea have denied Sunday press reports they're up for sale.
The Mirror says a club source insists nothing has changed at Stamford Bridge, and that the club is not up for sale at the present time.
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WOLVES will welcome the Premier League leaders to the Molineux this weekend.
Manchester City have started their title defence in style, with a 6-1 drubbing of Huddersfield following their opening day triumph at Arsenal.
City thrashed Huddersfield 6-1 on Sunday at the EtihadGetty - Contributor
What time is kick-off?
This match will take place on Saturday, August 25.
It will kick-off at 12:30pm.
The Molineux Stadium will host the showdown.
This match will be shown on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra HD.
Coverage will start at 11:30am.
Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via SkyGo and the SkyGo app.
If you don’t have Sky you can live stream the game with a Now TV day pass for £7.99.
Alternatively, you can keep up to date with all of the action as it happens on the SunSport LIVE BLOG.
Here's how Wolves line-up for this afternoon's @premierleague clash against @ManCity. #WOLMCI
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 25, 2018
After each matchday in La Liga and Serie A (as well as in the UEFA Champions League), Sportsnet will look at how Lionel Messi and Cristiano did, and compare their performances, while keeping a running tally over the course of the season.
CRISTIANO RONALDOThe Portuguese star made his debut for Juventus following his transfer from Real Madrid over the summer. And while Ronaldo didn’t score in Juve’s 3-2 road win over Chievo, he was a constant thorn in the side of the Flying Donkeys.
In total, Ronaldo recorded nine shots, but he ran into a hot goalkeeper in Steffano Sorrentino who made a trio of excellent saves to deny the Portuguese –including the potential winner with the match tied at 2-2.
The 39-year-old goalkeeper also suffered a fractured nose and whiplash after a late-game collision with Ronaldo inside his penalty area.
Before the collision, Ronaldo linked up well with Brazilian Douglas Costa in Juve’s 4-2-3-1 formation, and was especially dangerous when Mario Mandzukic was subbed on in the 64th minute, as he drifted more to the left flank than playing through the middle.
“[Ronaldo] moved well at times but he wasn’t picked out by his teammates,” Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri said. “He’s a different footballer, you can see that. He’s integrated into the team with ease.”
LIONEL MESSIMessi put in a man-of-the-match effort in Barcelona’s season opener on Saturday, a convincing 3-0 win over Alaves at the camp Nou.
The Argentine magician scored the opener in the 64th minute with a cheeky free kick from 22 yards out that went underneath the defensive wall and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco.
“Messi never fails to surprise you,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said.
Messi vs Alaves
It's just Leo Messi playing football. Pure magic.
So enjoy it all you can. pic.twitter.com/tH49Ljf5pc
— TEMPO 14 (@kodzaev10) August 19, 2018
Messi’s second goal came in the second minute of injury time, when he scored from close range after a pair of Alaves defenders couldn’t clear the ball after it was played into the box.
Messi’s free kick made history, as it was Barcelona’s 6,000th goal in La Liga.
SEASONS STATSLionel Messi in La Liga
Top line stats: Two goals, 0 assists, 1 game played
Total minutes: 90
Total shots: 8
Pass success rate: 81.1%
WhoScored.com rating: 10.00 (ranked #1 in La Liga)
Cristiano Ronaldo in Serie A
Top line stats: 0 goals, 0 assists, 1 game played
Total minutes: 90
Total shots: 9
Pass success rate: 90%
WhoScored.com rating: 7.54 (ranked #21 in Serie A)
While Ronaldo was involved in Juventus’ attack, and caused plenty of problems for Chievo’s defence, Messi was just as important for Barcelona and bagged a brace against Alaves.
Advantage: Lionel Messi.
NEXT UPRonaldo is expected to make his home debut for Juventus when the Bianconeri host Lazio on Saturday. On the same day, Lionel Messi and Barcelona face Real Valladolid on the road.
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With a new Serie A season set to kick off this week, Sportsnet takes a look at the players, teams and stories to watch in Italy’s top division in 2018-19.
CAN JUVE MAKE IT 8 IN A ROW?In case you hadn’t heard, Cristiano Ronaldo made the move from Real Madrid to Juventus over the summer in a Serie A transfer record worth USD $131 million. Ronaldo’s signing was meant to bolster the Bianconeri’s chances of winning the Champions League, but it also has the added benefit of helping Juve maintain its domestic dominance. The addition of the Portuguese star strengthens an already seemingly unbeatable Juve side that has won seven consecutive Serie A titles, and the league and Coppa Italia double in each of the past four years.
Ronaldo isn’t the only newcomer in Turin. German midfielder Emre Can arrived on a free transfer from Liverpool, and the Italian champions also welcomed back veteran defender Leonardo Bonucci, as part of a swap deal that sent talented defender Mattia Caldara to AC Milan. Other additions include goalkeeper Mattia Perin and Portuguese full-back/winger Joao Cancelo. Gone are striker Gonzalo Higuain (sent on loan to AC Milan) and legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who signed with Paris Saint-Germain after not having his contract renewed.
On paper, Juve has the best and deepest roster in Serie A, so they have to be considered the heavy favourite to win the scudetto. That being said, the Turin giants have clearly prioritized winning the Champions League, so that could leave the door slightly ajar for another club to slip through and end Juve’s run of consecutive Italian championships.
Here it is… Ronaldo's first goal for Juventus pic.twitter.com/mrMA6mLzOB
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 13, 2018
THE TRAILING PACKJuve wasn’t the only Italian team that had a busy off-season. Both Milan clubs were productive in the transfer market, and made significant roster moves in hopes of strengthening their positions in Serie A.
AC Milan notably added Gonzalo Higuain, Mattia Caldara, defensive midfielder Tiémoué Bakayoko (on loan from Chelsea) and Croatian full-back Ivan Strinic. Inter Milan pulled off a major coup in landing Belgian international Radja Nainggolan, who has been one of the best midfielders in Serie A over the past several years with Roma. Croatian fullback Šime Vrsaljko arrived on loan from Atletico Madrid, Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij made the move from Lazio, and forward Keita Balde was secured on loan from Monaco. All of these additions should make Inter the leading contender to challenge Juve for the title.
Napoli pushed Juve in the title race to the very end last season before ultimately finishing second by a mere four points. Manager Maurizio Sarri is gone, having joined Chelsea. His replacement is the legendary Carlo Ancelotti, who will take charge of a talented Napoli side that includes Dries Mertens and Marek Hamsik.
Roma will try to build upon its impressive third-place showing from a season ago when it also reached the semifinals of the Champions League. Manager Eusebio Di Francesco will be looking for more from Turkish prospect Cengiz Ünder, who was one of the breakout stars in Serie A last season, as well as to newcomer Javier Pastore, formerly of PSG. Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson is gone after being sold to Liverpool, and has been replaced by Swedish stopper Robin Olsen. Frenchman Steven Nzonzi was signed from Sevilla to help solidify the midfield.
KEEP AN EYE ONRonaldo’s arrival in Turin meant Juventus had to shed some of its payroll and sell off players. Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain was shipped to AC Milan as part of a $21 million loan deal – Milan has an option to buy Higuain at the end of the season for $42 million.
Higuain joined Juve two years ago from Napoli in what was then a Serie A record $99 million transfer fee. He ended up scoring 40 league goals during his short stay at Juve, and now the 30-year-old Argentine is off to rivals Milan, where he will serve as the main reference point of attack. If the Rossoneri are going to finish in the top four to qualify for the Champions League, Higuain will have to be at his very best.
NEWCOMER TO WATCHThere can only be one choice, right? After playing in England and Spain for two of the biggest clubs in the world in Manchester United and Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo will now test himself in Italy with Juventus, the undisputed kings of Serie A. It was a bit of a shocking move, as many pundits thought he would return to Manchester United. In the end, though, the lure of conquering a new nation proved to be too much for the Portuguese super star.
Even at age 33, Ronaldo is in great shape, and has plenty of gas left in the tank. Always known for his athleticism and work rate, he will no doubt receive special attention from Serie A defenders, who tend to be a bit more physical than what he experienced in the Premier League and La Liga. So, it’ll be interesting to see how he deals with the rough treatment, and whether he can continue his torrid scoring pace in a league that prides itself on the quality of its defending.
The moment @Cristiano scored his first goal! #VillarPerosa #CR7Juve pic.twitter.com/o0ilL4WxoA
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 12, 2018
PROMOTED CLUBSSerie A welcomes back three familiar faces this season in Parma, Empoli and Frosinone.
Based in the city of Florence, Empoli returns to the Italian top flight after spending only one season in the second division. The Tuscan club won the Serie B title in 2017-18 by an impressive 13 points, and former Roma coach Aurelio Andreazzoli has signed experienced defenders Luca Antonelli and Matias Silvestre. But he’s also lost forward Francesco Caputo, now at Brescia, who was the top scorer in Serie B last season with 27 goals.
Parma is back in Serie A following a three-year absence, winning promotion on the last day of last season. The northern club became embroiled in an attempted match-fixing case and was originally docked five points for the upcoming Serie A campaign, but that penalty was later reduced to a fine on appeal. Newcomers include Portugal defender Bruno Alves, Jonathan Biabiany, Federico Dimarco and Alessandro Bastoni, all formerly of Inter.
Based in the suburbs of Rome, Frosinone beat Palermo in a two-legged, promotion playoff to book its return to Serie A – its only previous campaign in the top flight came in 2015-16 when it finished 19th.
Crotone, Hellas Verona and Benevento were relegated to Serie B after finishing in the bottom three of the Serie A table during the 2017-18 campaign. Spal was the only promoted team not to go back down last season.
FIFA has officially eradicated corruption. All it took was pressing the delete key.
The post Keep bribes secret for 10 years, FIFA won’t punish you appeared first on Inquirer Sports.
Former England coach Sam Allardyce says Sir Alex Ferguson is confident attending Manchester United games in the New Year.
The 76-year-old former Manchester United boss was in "extremely serious" condition after brain surgery.
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MADRID — Barcelona has signed teenager Moussa Wague after impressing with Senegal at the World Cup.
Barcelona says it paid Belgian club Eupen 5 million euros ($5.8 million) for the 19-year-old fullback. Wague signed a five-year contract, which includes a 100 million euro ($115.8 million) release clause.
Wague played in all three of Senegal’s matches at the World Cup in Russia and became the youngest African scorer in tournament history when he netted in the 2-2 draw against Japan.
Wague will initially join Barcelona’s B team.
Superheros and Worlds colliding are a thing of the past.
Medieval knights should also move aside, as Fortnite Season 6 is looking to be the biggest and best one yet.
As players get their hands into Fortnite Season 5, they have been speculating as to what the next season’s theme will be.
Superheros was the theme of season 4
Return of the Ghoul
Many YouTubers and streamers have been saying we could see the return of the most sought-after skin in the game ‘The Skull Trooper’.
This was a Halloween exclusive skin which was integral to Fortnite Battle Royale’s initial launch and success.
The Skull Trooper is easily the most valuable skin in the game
A creepy ominous Halloween/horror movie theme is currently the top candidate in the community for Season 6.
Areas of the map could easily be overhauled to have a more sinister feel, with Haunted Hills already being an example of that.
Werewolf, alien, Frankenstein and more skins could also be part of the battle pass.
Epic Games have previously run a limited time Halloween theme
Atlantis rises
Due to some players looking through the code in future patch notes they uncovered that there may be more water areas coming to the Fortnite map.
This has led players to believe that the theme of season 6 will be ‘water based’ with a great flood taking over portions of the map.
The new Chomp Sr. outfit with matching pickaxe
This could again lead to new vehicles in the form of boats, and the opportunity for some more brilliant skins.
It has also been found that the skins from previous seasons often hint at what is coming next.
Leaks have shown two new scuba diving skins are going to be released as well as the already released Chomp Sr. skin…
Water-themed leaked skins for later in season 5
The evidence speaks for itself.
What are you hoping Fortnite Season 6’s theme will be?
“He’s still on the books?”
Pre-season is a particularly important time for any top-level player.
It’s that crucial point at the start of every campaign where the overpaid prima donnas can shred those excess pounds after spending an entire summer consuming their body weight in pukka pies.
SIGN UP NOW – It’s time to pick your fantasy football team for the new seasonGetty - Contributor Ideally your star striker won’t look like this in July[/caption]
It turns out however that not only is pre-season a time to work on fitness, it’s also the perfect time to work on old relationships.
The training ground of an average Premier League club in July resembles something more like Yer Da’s Friends Reunited party.
All of the faces everyone had forgotten about, turn up once again to make a (unwelcome) reappearance.
It turns out that the usual revolving door transfer policy implemented at top clubs, doesn’t actually apply to all players.
Here are six players who you totally forgot still play for Premier League clubs…
1 Lucas Perez
Getty - Contributor The Spaniard hides behind mannequins to avoid detection[/caption]
The arrival of Perez from Deportivo La Coruna in 2016 raised a few eyebrows at the time.
The striker had been somewhat of a journeyman before he arrived at the Emirates, and was soon packing his bags again after just 11 Premier League appearances for the Gunners.
Despite impressing when given the chance, Arsene Wenger took a disliking to the 29-year-old and sent him back to Deportivo on loan.
Perez made 35 league appearances back in Spain, scoring eight goals and providing six assists.
With Wenger no longer the man in charge at Arsenal, the Spaniard could yet be given a second-chance in north London under Unai Emery.
2 Lazar Markovic
News Group Newspapers Ltd Oxlade-Chamberlain hit puberty and became his teammate since Markovic last played at Anfield[/caption]
Brendan Rodgers once spent £20million on this man.
Markovic joined Liverpool from Benfica in 2014 alongside Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana. If that isn’t the basis of a hit sitcom, then I don’t know what is.
He looked almost immediately out of his depth at Anfield and has made just 19 league appearances for the Reds since joining.
The 24-year-old has been on a worldwide tour of loan moves since his Liverpool snub.
Markovic has been from Fenerbache to Sporting Lisbon, then back to England with Hull City, before spending last season with Anderlecht. Just think of the air miles.
He’s expected to spend another season away from Anfield this year, but the Serbian is doing his best to persuade Jurgen Klopp to let him stay.
In some weird time-warp, Markovic and Daniel Sturridge scored in a pre-season friendly against Blackburn. 2014 just called.
3 Sandro Ramirez
Getty - Contributor Technique[/caption]
The Spaniard was the closest thing to a striker that Everton bought last summer.
Sandro, once a Barcelona youth prospect, was signed from Malaga for around £5million last summer, as Ronald Koeman splashed the cash from the sale of Romelu Lukaku.
It turns out however, he didn’t splash it very well, with Sandro one of the biggest flops of the lot.
The 23-year-old made just eight league appearances for Everton, failing to score or get an assist, before he was shipped out to Sevilla in January.
The striker’s torrid time continued in his native Spain, as he went without a goal in 13 La Liga appearances.
Now back in training with Everton, presumably Sandro will be sold permanently this summer, if Marco Silva can find a buyer. We don’t have much hope.
4 Carl Jenkinson
Getty - Contributor He fills you with confidence[/caption]
We all wish we could live the life of Jenkinson.
The ‘defender’, who seemingly won the chance to play for Arsenal through a competition on the back of a cereal box, clearly isn’t good enough for the top level.
Jenkinson joined his beloved Arsenal in 2011 from Charlton and was immediately thrust into first-team action.
As much as fans wanted to like him due to his affection for Arsenal, his sloppy defending was pretty unforgivable.
Carl Jenkinson's Nan when he makes her watch videos of him 'defending' 
pic.twitter.com/ql00K8morx
— Dream Team (@dreamteamfc) March 16, 2016
The right-back did show signs of promise during the first season of a two-year loan spell at West Ham, before injury plagued him halfway through his second season.
Since then, Jenkinson has failed to establish himself anywhere and suffered another disappointing loan spell with Birmingham last season, in which he made just seven league apperances after a lengthy injury.
With Hector Bellerin and Stephan Lichtsteiner both ahead of him, surely this will be the summer when Jenkinson finally waves goodbye to his theft of a career at Arsenal.
He’s fun on Instagram though…
Getty - Contributor Mauricio Pochettino’s face says it all[/caption]
The 24-year-old was supposed to be the long-awaited back-up man to Harry Kane, even providing some healthy competition for the starting spot.
It turns out however that Janssen isn’t even fit to lace Kane’s boots.
The Dutchman has scored just twice in 27 league appearances for Spurs since joining from AZ Alkmaar in 2016.
Janssen spent last season on loan with Turkish club Fenerbahce, where he managed to net four times in 16 league appearances.
His long-term future in north London is still uncertain, with another loan move to Fenerbahce also an option.
6 Robert Snodgrass
Getty - Contributor Elite athlete[/caption]
He was meant to be the replacement to Dimitri Payet. Incredible banter, even from West Ham.
After joining from Hull in January 2017 for £10million, Snodgrass immediately looked out of his depth in the top flight.
The 30-year-old failed to score in 15 appearances for West Ham and was told at the end of the season that he could move on, either permanently or on loan.
Championship side Aston Villa picked up Snodgrass on a season-long loan, giving him the chance to actually do something in claret and blue.
The Scottish playmaker seemed much more at home in the Championship and became an integral part of Steve Bruce’s side.
Now back in training with West Ham, his long-term future seems certain to be away from east London, after a dispute with the club’s co-owner David Sullivan on Twitter.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech insists he can handle the system demanded by new manager Unai Emery.
Cech insists he can adapt to Emery's style of play.
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