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Best odds: 6/5

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On Saturday evening, Mestalla will be the venue for an intriguing La Liga match, as Valencia host Real Betis with both teams competing for a European spot in Spain s top division.

Valencia presently hold seventh place in the La Liga standings, trailing sixth-placed Real Sociedad by three points. Meanwhile, Real Betis occupy eighth place, trailing their weekend opponents by two points.

Valencia

Valencia endured a notably disappointing 2022-23 season, landing in 16th place in La Liga, marking their lowest finish since relegation to the Segunda Division in 1986. However, this term has showcased considerable improvement, with the team amassing 47 points from 31 matches, securing seventh position in the league standings.

Cur…

Best odds: 37/50

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Fiorentina aim to secure a second consecutive Europa Conference League final appearance as they host Club Brugge at the Stadio Artemio Franchi for the first leg of their semifinal clash on Thursday night.

La Viola had to rely on extra time to overcome Viktoria Plzen in the quarterfinals, while Club Brugge comfortably progressed to the last four with a convincing two-legged victory over Molde.

Fiorentina

After narrowly advancing past Maccabi Haifa with a 5-4 aggregate scoreline in the round of 16, Fiorentina encountered difficulties breaking through Viktoria Plzen s resilient defense in the quarterfinals. The tie seemed destined for penalties after a goalless deadlock over two legs.

However, Fiorentina s persistence pa…

Roberto Martinez believes Belgium s players can handle the expectations of a potentially legacy-defining tournament as they prepare to open their Euro 2020 campaign against Russia in St Petersburg.

The Red Devils sit atop FIFA s world rankings, a position to which a lavishly gifted squad have become accustomed over the recent past.

However, an improvement upon their third-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup will be required to make good on their incredible promise.

Until that run under Martinez, quarter-final exits at Brazil 2014 and Euro 2016 went down as disappointments for the generation of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, the latter of whom will sit out the Group A opener alongside Axel Witsel.

I m sure that the last three years, when …

In what was a season-defining showdown on Tuesday night, Manchester City moved to the cusp of this season’s Premier League title as they secured a 2-0 victory against Tottenham.

While the Sky Blues might have been dethroned at the top of the table last weekend as Arsenal clinched a 1-0 win away at Manchester United, Pep Guardiola’s men didn’t show any signs of a phycological wobble here.

Although City might have struggled to find top gear for large spells of the first-half, they quickly breached Spurs’ defence as attacking talisman Erling Haaland tapped home from close range minutes after the restart.

With all of the pressure on their shoulders and with Arsenal fans nervously watching on, it was eventually Haaland who dragged City to a definitive victory…

Interim San Jose Earthquakes boss Ian Russell is keen to carry the momentum from last week s crucial victory over the Chicago Fire into Saturday, when Sporting Kansas City visit PayPal Park.

The Earthquakes halted a nine-match winless run and recorded their first victory in three games under Russell last time out, Hernan Lopez s goal proving enough to beat Chicago.

San Jose remain six points adrift of their nearest rivals – Saturday s opponents Sporting – at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but Russell hopes last week s win can be a turning point.

We needed a win. The Clasico was disappointing and against St. Louis we were flat. I thought we were on the front foot and deserved to win, Russell said.

We re happy with how the players r…

Italy must be meaner when they face Spain in Thursday s heavyweight Group B clash after starting Euro 2024 with an unconvincing win over Albania, says Luciano Spalletti.

The Azzurri were stunned by the fastest goal in European Championship history on Saturday as Nedim Bajrami put them behind within just 23 seconds, but goals from Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella saw them rally for a 2-1 win.

The defending champions enjoyed 68.3 per cent of the possession, created five big chances to Albania s two and recorded 34 touches in the penalty area to their opponents seven.

However, they still had to survive a major scare at the death as Gianluigi Donnarumma turned Rey Manaj s attempted lob wide, clinching the three points.

After seeing Group B rivals Spain…

Ousmane Dembele is happy in Barcelona and wants to stay, amid reports linking him with a move to Paris Saint-Germain in his native France.

Dembele has had a mixed time in LaLiga since arriving at Barca for big money from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, but the 25-year-old has enjoyed a productive spell since Xavi took charge last season.

He has been involved in more goals than any other Blaugrana player since Xavi became head coach in November 2021, scoring eight and providing 20 assists.

That includes six goals and seven assists in 22 games this season (17 starts), and Dembele also provided two assists in his seven appearances for France as they finished as runners-up at the World Cup in Qatar.

However, despite stories suggesting PSG could be in line to bring…

Kevin De Bruyne is the most incredible playmaker in world football according to Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez.

The Manchester City midfielder dazzled with a goal and an assist in Belgium s 2-1 win over Wales in the Nations League on Thursday.

De Bruyne, who is the reigning Premier League Player of the Season, also had a first-half shot hit the post.

It s a message for all our fans, don t take for granted watching Kevin De Bruyne play, Martinez told reporters. For me he s the most incredible playmaker in world football at this present time.

His way of seeing the game, his way of seeing the time and space and then the execution in front of goal.

I thought his performance was magical today. But he s been doing that, I look back at Poland [1…

Xavi hopes the news he is stepping down as head coach will spark an improvement in Barcelona’s fortunes.

One of the club’s greatest ever players, the homegrown star returned to the Catalan giants as head coach in November 2021.

Xavi led Barca to last season’s LaLiga and Supercopa de Espana crowns, but things have gone somewhat awry this term.

Xavi Hernández: I want to announce that on June 30 I will no longer continue as the coach at Barça. I think the situation needs to change course, and as a culer, I cannot allow the current situation.

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The Blaugrana languish fourth in the standings – 11 points behind surprise leaders Girona – and the former Spain star announced on Saturday that he would be leaving o…

Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart has revealed he wanted to end his playing career on his own terms and could not imagine finishing it at any other club.

The 75-times capped England international this week announced his decision to retire at the end of the season, when he will be 37.

The former Manchester City player rejuvenated his career after moving from Tottenham in the summer of 2021, adding a clean sweep of Scottish domestic trophies to his full collection of English major honours.

And he wants the focus on his future to quickly switch to his attempts to continue that success as Celtic bid to rise to a strong title challenge from Rangers after losing top spot in the cinch Premiership last weekend.

Hart said: “I have loved every moment of being here, myse…