Unai Emery is hoping Aston Villa can channel their competitive spirit once more as they aim for a first home win of the season against Everton.
Villa have so far won both of their away matches against West Ham and Leicester City by a 2-1 scoreline, digging deep to get their six points on the board.
However, they struggled at home against Arsenal, losing 2-0 despite having more attempts and creating a higher expected goals tally.
And despite Everton s recent struggles, Emery expects them to have to fight for the three points when they face off at Villa Park.
Every game is difficult, but we compete, Emery said. We did against Arsenal as well. We compete really well.
Competitive is what we want to be, but we always want to improve and try to perfor…
Steph Houghton has not been named in England s squad for the upcoming Euro 2022 tournament.
Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman named her 23-woman squad on Wednesday, and included recently recovered Manchester City forward Chloe Kelly and Chelsea s Fran Kirby.
There was no place for former captain Houghton, though, who has not played since January after suffering an Achilles injury.
The Manchester City defender has appeared at five major tournaments for England and made 121 appearances so far in her international career.
Speaking at a media conference for the squad announcement at St George s Park, Wiegman confirmed: It was a hard decision [to leave Houghton out], but she s just not ready to compete.
We set a plan in place with her for her a…
Marseille ended the year two points clear at the Ligue 1 summit after seeing off Lille 2-1 on Sunday.
Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi netted a half-volley in the 69th minute as Marseille ensured they stayed top of the table heading into the two-week winter break.
Batshuayi, who was given the nod ahead of Dimitri Payet after the Frenchman was dropped by coach Marcelo Bielsa due to poor training performances, controlled Florian Thauvin s cross before turning and firing the ball into the top corner of the net.
The match-winner came eight minutes after Idrissa Gueye equalised for Lille, cancelling out Marseille s first-half opener at the Stade Velodrome.
Marseille hit the front fortuitously in the 32nd minute when Lille s Nolan Roux sent the ball into his ow…
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England s Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September s Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it, Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate s decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
I have …
Nearly 40 years ago “A Christmas Story” was released, in which Ralphie wakes up on Christmas morning and gets the Red Ryder BB gun he desired so badly. Fast forward to the present day and Bears fans are getting a late Christmas gift that probably wasn’t on their list: The Red Rifle.
That’s right, it’s the last dance for Andy Dalton in Chicago this week with the veteran set to start as the Bears host the New York Giants in Week 17 of NFL betting action.
We’ve got everything you need ahead of this Soldier Field slog with our NFL picks and predictions for Giants vs. Bears, with kickoff on January 2.
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With just a month left in the 2022 NFL season, Super Bowl odds continue to take shape, with the San Francisco 49ers moving into the Top 5 despite turning to Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy at quarterback.
The Niners entered this season with futures odds of +1,600 but have surged up the board after a 9-4 start. They were at +900 entering Week 14, and after a dominant victory against the Buccaneers have moved to +800.
With a dominant defense and a rookie quarterback getting the job done, we break down the 49ers’ Super Bowl 57 futures heading into Week 15.
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In a game that has the makings of one of the most exciting ones we could see all season, the Dallas Cowboys are in Miami to take on the Dolphins in a game that many are calling the “Battle of the Frauds.” Fair or not, each team has made a habit of destroying inferior competition this season while they haven’t been at their best against upper-tier opponents.
NFL odds have tabbed the Fins as a 1.5-point favorite and the game has the highest total of the week at 50.5 points. Let’s dig into what we’ve seen from the teams this season as well as some strengths vs. weaknesses and I’ll provide you with my free NFL picks for Cowboys vs. Dolphins on December 24.
Cowboys vs Dolphins odds
C…
Moving spreads through multiple key numbers is the name of the game with teasers, and I’ve identified a handful of teams to target for Week 1. The Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills land in favorable home matchups and headline our teaser NFL picks this week.
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PSG dominate French football and, as a result, Ligue 1 is uncompetitive. At least, that’s the narrative driven by social media. It’s true that PSG have won seven of the last nine titles and, although they are not reigning champions, they have no real contenders this season. However, Ligue 1 is a league like no other. Its weakest teams are its strongest asset, as we are seeing again this season.
There is an obvious resource gap between the top and bottom clubs – PSG’s budget of €500m for this season dwarfs the €20m newly promoted Clermont can spend – yet Ligue 1’s supposed lack of competition can be partly explained by competitiveness further down the division. Of the 20-team major European top flights last season, the gap bet…
The Republic of Ireland’s behind-closed-doors match against Colombia in preparation for the Women’s World Cup was abandoned after 20 minutes for becoming “overly physical”, the Football Association of Ireland has said.
The decision was made after a number of rough challenges in Friday’s contest at Brisbane’s Meakin Park, and the key Ireland midfielder Denise O’Sullivan suffered bad bruising, although scans on Saturday cleared her of any break or fracture.
Moving the Goalposts | After an eight-year break, Ireland’s Sinead Farrelly is World Cup-boundRead more
Coach Vera Pauw said on Saturday that she hoped O’Sullivan will be fit for her side’s opening game against Australia in Sydney on Thursday, af…