Bitesize Prediction: Southampton vs Leicester City – 01/12/21

Gareth Southgate hopes Hungary being forced to play their Nations League opener against England behind closed doors will serve to demonstrate the unacceptability of racism to younger fans.

Saturday s sparse crowd at the Puskas Arena will be populated by children after UEFA issued Hungary with a three-match spectator ban due to racist abuse by supporters during Euro 2020 games in Budapest.

UEFA rules state children along with one adult for every 10 young fans can attend behind-closed-doors matches, which England will also take advantage of when they also serve a one-match spectator ban during their home game against Italy at Molineux on June 11.

England s punishment was handed down after crowd trouble broke out prior to the Three Lions Euro 2020 final loss to Robe…

West Ham United are interested in signing Neto from Barcelona in the January transfer window, according to . It has been reported that the Hammers want to bring the 32-year-old Brazil international goalkeeper to London Stadium on a loan deal.

Neto has been on the books of Barcelona since 2019 when he joined from La Liga rivals Valencia. The 32-year-old is the second-choice goalkeeper behind Germany international Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Barcelona want to offload Neto and save on his wages.

Łukasz Fabiański and Alphonse Areola are the two main goalkeepers at West Ham at the moment. However, Fabiański is 36 now, Areola joined the Hammers on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021.

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Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood s superb post-lockdown performances sealed their places in Gareth Southgate s England squad.

The Manchester City and Manchester United youngsters were handed their first senior call-ups, along with Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, when Southgate confirmed a 24-man party for next month s Nations League trips to Iceland and Denmark.

Five of Foden s six career Premier League goals came in the period immediately after the coronavirus-enforced hiatus, as the 20-year-old became an increasingly influential performer for Pep Guardiola s side.

Meanwhile, no teenager has ever scored more goals in a single season for United as Greenwood did across all competitions in 2019-20 – his 17 matching the exploits of club greats George Best, …

Erik ten Hag praised goalkeeper Andre Onana for putting a difficult start to life at Manchester United behind him and saving the day in a narrow Champions League escape against Copenhagen.

Having kicked off Group A with defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, the Red Devils could ill-afford any slip-up against the Danish champions in Tuesday’s Old Trafford encounter.

Onana was guilty of poor performances in both of those Champions League losses but helped make amends in a brilliant conclusion to an emotional first home game since the death of Sir Bobby Charlton.

Stepped up when it mattered.

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— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

The United keeper saved Jordan Larsson’s stoppage-time penalty with what proved to be the last touch of t…

Stephan El Shaarawy has urged his Roma team-mates to maintain their superb run of form when they face Serie A high-flyers Inter Milan on Sunday.

Roma failed to win any of their first three games of the season and were thrashed 4-1 by Genoa at the end of September.

However, Jose Mourinho’s side have since won five games in a row in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and conceding just one in the process and are top of Europa League Group G with a 100 per cent record.

Last session before departing for Milan!

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN)

Asked if something had clicked following the defeat to Genoa, El Shaarawy told the club’s website: “No, it was something that defined us the past two years.

“We manage to work together i…

Jurgen Klopp hailed the desire of his players after Liverpool booked a Carabao Cup quarter-final spot by battling through Storm Ciaran to beat Bournemouth 2-1.

Substitute Darwin Nunez settled a challenging fourth-round tie staged in driving rain and swirling winds with a stunning 70th-minute winner.

Cody Gakpo gave the much-changed Reds a half-time lead at Vitality Stadium before the Cherries threatened an upset thanks to Justin Kluivert’s first goal in English football.

“It’s a top, top, top cup game,” said Reds boss Klopp, who made eight changes from Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest.

“It’s all about winning, it’s all about getting through.

“The good thing today is I don’t have to speak about the circumst…

Promising United States striker Ricardo Pepi has joined Augsburg from FC Dallas for a reported €18million ($20m) fee plus add ons.

Pepi, 18, impressed for Dallas in the 2021 season as he scored 13 times in MLS – the joint-most ever managed by a teenager in the competition.

The forward is also the youngest player to ever score in consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the USA and has previously been linked to some of Europe s top clubs, such as Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.

But Pepi has opted to move to Augsburg, who have signed the talented teenager on a five-and-a-half-year contract, while holding the option to extend for a further year.

The transfer represents a club-record deal for Dallas as Pepi dethrones Alphonso Davies move from Vancouver Whitec…

Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic feels his old side Schalke are the perfect club for Marko Pjaca to rediscover top form after a frustrating period at Juventus.

Pjaca tore his anterior cruciate ligament in March and is yet to return to competitive action for the Serie A giants.

Schalke confirmed this week they are close to signing the 22-year-old on loan until the end of the season.

And Rakitic, who played for the Bundesliga team from 2007 to 2011 before moving to Sevilla, expects his Croatia team-mate to thrive at Veltins-Arena. 

He told 24 sata: Pjaca made a good choice, Schalke is among the three to four best German clubs and by [the] club s organization, [a] top European club.

[The] fans are fantastic, Marko will play at one of nicest stadiums i…

Left furious to have seen Sunday s derby getting postponed almost 24 hours prior to kick-off, it is fair to say that Antonio Conte hasn t been impressed by his new squad s recent displays.

Hit with a 1-0 loss at home against London rivals Chelsea last week and eventually crashing out of the EFL Cup thanks to a 3-0 aggregate defeat, Spurs appear in a real uphill battle to claim a Champions League return this season.

With Conte remaining coy over what his future could hold, many have also been surprised to see the 52-year-old not add any new additions to his side since the transfer window reopened.

With under a fortnight left until the January window slams shut, we have taken a look at a handful of Tottenham stars who could still be heading for the north London e…

FIFA and UEFA have banned Russian teams from club and international competitions, denying them entry to the 2022 World Cup and Women s Euro 2022.

The decision means Spartak Moscow will be removed from the Europa League last 16, where they were due to face RB Leipzig.

UEFA has also ended its relationship with Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant that was a major sponsor of the Champions League.

A joint statement from FIFA and UEFA read: Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine.

Both presidents [Gianni Infantino and Aleksander Ceferin] hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.

The …