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Desperate to take a giant step towards this summer’s European Championships, Wales will welcome Finland to Cardiff on Thursday night.

Wales

Starting with the hosts, while Wales might have opened their EURO 24 qualifying adventure in the midst of a public struggle, Rob Page’s side still have their sights set on punching a ticket to Germany. Just about dragging themselves to a bronze medal finish in Group D, the Dragons know that they have to go about things the hard way. However, unbeaten in all of their previous six appearances across all competitions, Wales should take plenty of positives away from their end to 2023. With their recent turn in fortunes underlined by a 2-1 victory against World Cup bronze medalists Croatia, Page’…

John McGinn admitted that he is still not over Scotland s disappointing early exit at Euro 2024 as they prepare for their latest Nations League campaign.

Scotland only took one point from a possible nine in Germany, getting thrashed by the hosts in their opener before a late loss against Hungary snuffed out their hopes of reaching the knockout stages after a draw with Switzerland.

It followed a similar showing from the Tartan Army at Euro 2020 as they failed to make a mark on their major tournament return.

Having played in both European Championships for Scotland, McGinn said it was an experience that has stayed with him long after the tournaments finished.

You definitely don t park them, McGinn said. I still think about getting relegated at St Mirren. W…

Lawrence Shankland is allowing himself to dream of adorning his already distinguished Hearts career with Scottish Cup glory as he targets semi-final revenge on Rangers this Sunday.

In less than two seasons at Tynecastle, the 28-year-old Scotland forward has firmly established himself as a hero in the eyes of supporters by notching 56 goals for the Jambos.

But Shankland knows captaining Hearts to their first silverware in 12 years would elevate his status at the club even further.

“It would be amazing,” he said. “You’re allowed to dream when you’re at this stage.

“The semi-final, one step away from a final, it’s obviously something you’re looking at. But you need to concentrate on the task at hand first and if you can get by that, you can c…

Manchester United are interested in signing Declan Rice from Premier League rivals West Ham United, according to . The report in the British tabloid has claimed that the Red Devils are considering a bid for the 23-year-old England international midfielder, who could cost £70 million.

Rice has been on the books of West Ham since 2014 and has established himself as one of the first names on manager David Moyes’s teamsheet. While the 23-year-old is able to play in defence, it is in central midfield that he has made a name for himself.

Manchester United are doing well under head coach Erik ten Hag at the moment and could finish in the top four of the Premier League table this season. West Ham are really struggling at the moment and could end up getting relegated to the C…

Darwin Nunez is confident he can follow in Luis Suarez s footsteps at Liverpool and explode in his second season.

The Uruguay forward has struggled to find consistency since arriving at Anfield from Benfica in June, scoring in his opening two appearances but only managing eight goals in 23 since.

Nunez s struggles in front of goal have come alongside Liverpool s own issues, with Jurgen Klopp s side languishing in ninth spot in the Premier League and out of both the EFL Cup and FA Cup.

Though he recognises the problems he has encountered in the first half of his debut season in English football, Nunez identified Suarez s own slow start on Merseyside and feels he can bounce back in similar style.

Former Ajax striker Suarez scored just 15 goals in 44 Premier…

Karim Benzema should collect the Ballon d Or trophy in Paris on Monday. The votes have been counted, and nobody seriously expects another outcome, even with football s propensity for surprise when it comes to a ballot.

But as if to emphasise his outstanding candidacy for France Football s coveted world player of the year award, Benzema scored and captained Real Madrid to victory over Barcelona in El Clasico, football s biggest domestic game.

One man does not make a team, but without Benzema it was a guileless Real Madrid that took a hideous 4-0 whacking by Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in March.

It was back to normal service on Sunday, the skipper delivering the sort of accomplished centre-forward performance he has repeated time and again in recent seasons,…

Barcelona moved up to third in LaLiga after Ferran Torres brace and goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Riqui Puig sealed a routine 4-0 win over Osasuna at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Torres set Xavi s men on their way to a fourth consecutive top-flight win with a brace before the midway point of the first half, the first of which came from the penalty spot.

Aubameyang added a third before half-time and Puig wrapped up the scoring 15 minutes from full-time with a close-range finish. 

The Blaugrana, who are 12 points adrift of leaders Real Madrid, are level on points with fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, but have a game in hand on Diego Simeone s side.

5 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang  has scored five goals in six games, the second-fastest player to reach f…

It s the most wonderful time of the year the Premier League is back after the World Cup break, and with the top flight s return comes the chance to made inroads in your fantasy league.

The congested festive fixture list always makes December tough to navigate, but things are a little different this year, with many players availability in question following their trips to Qatar.

With the start of the campaign a distant memory and many of the league s best players likely to be sidelined, how will fantasy managers make the correct selections?

That s where Stats Perform hopes to help, delving into the Opta numbers to identify four players who could make a flying start when the Premier League resumes.

Which player will hit the ground running when the ?

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Paulo Dybala s absence from Roma s starting line-up against Everton had nothing to do with the rumours regarding his future, head coach Daniele De Rossi has said.

The Argentina international was brought on for the final 15 minutes of Saturday s 1-1 pre-season friendly draw at Goodison Park, with De Rossi fielding a strong side in Roma s final warm-up game.

Dybala has been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League during the close season, but De Rossi is adamant he was not left out for that reason.

The line-up does not depend on rumours, he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. Nothing influenced my decisions. I deployed the team that I wanted to see against Everton.

The start of the season is near, and we must be more similar to what we want to be. I experime…

Sarina Wiegman was the missing puzzle piece England required to get over the line and win a major tournament, former striker Lianne Sanderson has told Stats Perform.

England Women landed their first major title on Sunday with a 2-1 victory against Germany at Wembley in the European Championship final.

In doing so, Wiegman became the first manager to win the tournament with two different nations, having previously gone all the way with the Netherlands in 2017.

Wiegman, who officially took over as head coach last September, has a record of 12 wins from 12 matches at the Women s Euros.

Sanderson herself went close to winning the competition in 2009, a substitute as England tasted defeat to Germany in the final.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea playe…