Roberto Martinez considers Leicester City an inspiration as he prepares his Everton side for the visit of the Premier League leaders on Saturday.
Claudio Ranieri s team returned to the summit with an impressive 2-1 victory over defending champions Chelsea on Monday.
Jamie Vardy took his Premier League tally this season to 15 with the opening goal, while Riyad Mahrez – who has been involved in 18 top-flight goals this season – also hit the back of the net as Leicester extended their unbeaten run to nine matches by winning what proved to be Jose Mourinho’s last game as Chelsea boss.
Everton manager Martinez thinks seeing a team with a smaller budget exceed expectations on a consistent basis proves to others there is always a chance of pulling off a surprise…
What the papers say
Manchester United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to wait until the end of the season before deciding on the future of manager Erik ten Hag, reports the Daily Star.
Meanwhile, Liverpool knocked back an approach from Chelsea for forward Darwin Nunez last summer, says The Times.
According to the Independent, Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim is a leading contender to replace Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp if they miss the chance to secure Xabi Alonso .
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Bayern’s new manager will also be involved in decision over Mathys Tel’s future.
Tel wants to stay at Bayern, he loves the club but needs more guarantees on game time.
His departure would have been likely if Tuchel had remained at Bayern.
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Andres Iniesta says Barcelona are determined to leave Stamford Bridge with a win over Chelsea in their Champions League semi-final.
The first leg will be held at Stamford Bridge in London ahead of a return leg at the Camp Nou, and Iniesta insists his team will adopt an attacking approach against the Blues.
We will go out with a winning mentality, trying not to commit any mistakes, because they are so costly here, Iniesta said.
We always go out to win, but we have to think that this is a two-legged tie and we have two matches coming up. We will have a tough game on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old scored the decisive goal in 2009 at Stamford Bridge which sent Barca to the Champions League final, and he admitted that he has fond memories of that strike.
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France striker Olivier Giroud said Les Bleus are aiming to reach at least the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and claimed England are particularly afraid of Didier Deschamps side.
The 1998 winners were drawn in Group C and will face Australia, Peru and Denmark as they look to improve on 2014 s march to the quarter-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by Germany.
Giroud scored four goals in eight appearances as France ran out winners of World Cup qualifying Group A ahead of Sweden and the Netherlands.
The 31-year-old expressed his belief in the talent available to Deschamps, and also indicated he had gauged the mood of the England internationals he plays alongside at Emirates Stadium.
We obviously want to get out of this group, but I have always respected…
Best odds: 23/20
Bookmaker:
Zrinjski of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be hosting Moldavian side Sheriff Tiraspol at the stadium of Bijeli Brijeg in the town of Mostar on Wednesday evening, in the first leg of their clash in the first round of the Champions League qualifications.
Zrinjski
HSK Zrinjski, as they re properly called, won the title in the Bosnian Premier League in 2021/22, finishing a whopping 27 points ahead of Tuzla City in second place, and a round 30 ahead of Borac in third. Given the highly questionable strength of the league, the top spot warrants no more than a place in the opening round of the qualifications for UEFA s elite club competition, making it realistically very difficult for them to reach the group stages.
Given that the summe…
Chelsea will look to collect a sixth Premier League title this season and become the first side since Manchester United in 2008-09 to retain their crown.
They will do so buoyed by the news head coach Antonio Conte has signed an improved two-year contract.
New signing Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko are already in the building but, with a replacement for marginalised hitman Diego Costa still required, how many of these memorable triumphs from last time around will they be able to match or better?
ARSENAL 3-0 CHELSEA (24/09/2016)
A devastating first-half display from Arsenal at Emirates Stadium propelled the Gunners into an early title challenge and left Chelsea fans feeling wretched.
Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil all …
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA boss Michel Platini will go on trial facing corruption charges in June, Switzerland s Federal Criminal Court (FCC) has confirmed.
The pair were last year charged with fraud and other offences by Swiss authorities relating to a payment made in 2011.
Switzerland s attorney general s office (OAG) published an indictment following an investigation that began in 2015.
Both men are accused of unlawfully arranging a payment of CHF2million from FIFA to Michel Platini , the OAG said at the time.
The date for the trial to start has now been set for June 8, with proceedings set to last until June 22.
The case centres on a payment made by FIFA to Platini in 2011, authorised by Blatter, which the OAG alleges was …
Market: Finland win
Odds:
With the mood in their camp at a continued high, Finland will welcome a struggling Greece to the Ratinan Stadion on Thursday night.
Starting with the hosts, coming off the back of a very eye-catching display in their 2-0 win away in Liechtenstein back in June, Finland have continued to shine and Markku Kanerva s side have their sights firmly set on securing a spot at Euro 2020. Now winning each of their three Group J appearances since a close-fought 1-0 loss against Italy in their qualifying opener, fans around the Ratinan Stadion will be most excited by Finland s continued defensive resolve. Along with Norwich ace Teemu Pukki leading the line, Huuhkajat have also now not picked the ball out of their net in almost 300 minutes of actio…
Domenico Tedesco felt Belgium were the victims of bad luck after they exited Euro 2024 following defeat by France in the round of 16.
The Red Devils, who crashed out of the 2022 World Cup group stages, suffered another early departure, as Jan Vertonghen s own-goal five minutes from time was enough to settle the tie in Dusseldorf.
Aged 37 years and 68 days, Vertonghen became the oldest player to put through his own net at the European Championship, and the first Belgium player to do so.
The 1980 finalists subsequently exited the tournament having failed to score in three of their four matches, excluding their 2-0 win over Romania, with Romelu Lukaku unable to open his account while seeing three goals ruled out following VAR reviews.
Tedesco empathised with…
Jamie Carragher has given three reasons why Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe is the ideal man to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Howe is one of the frontrunners to succeed Southgate, who has decided to step down as England boss despite .
Southgate led the Three Lions to two consecutive European Championship finals as well as the semi-final and quarter-final of the World Cup.
His side unfortunately came up short at both finals, losing 2-1 on Sunday against Spain thanks to goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal.
The FA had hoped Southgate would decide to stay for the 2026 World Cup in North America but his decision to resign was confirmed on Tuesday morning.
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