Anthony Gordon’s sixth goal of the season handed Newcastle a sixth-successive Premier League victory at St James’ Park as Manchester United became their latest victims.
The Magpies, who returned from Paris St Germain in midweek bitterly disappointed with a 1-1 Champions League draw, dominated for all but the final few minutes and perhaps should have secured the points in more emphatic fashion with Kieran Trippier seeing a first-half free-kick come back off the crossbar.
However, Gordon’s 55th-minute finish – the fourth-successive home league game in which he has scored – proved sufficient to clinch a 1-0 win and send Eddie Howe’s side above the Red Devils in the table, although his joy was tempered by a potentially-serious injury to goalkeeper Nick Pope.
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Michy Batshuayi s first-half goal helped Belgium to a 1-0 win over Poland, keeping the Red Devils in with a chance of reaching the Nations League Finals.
Less than a week after scoring five second-half goals in a 6-1 thrashing of Poland, Roberto Martinez s side were without several star names including Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku for the return fixture.
But Belgium were mostly comfortable after Batshuayi nodded them into an early lead, with Nicola Zalewski and Karol Swiderski squandering Poland s best chances to equalise.
Martinez s team trail the Netherlands by three points with two group-stage contests remaining, meaning the two rivals could be set for a straight shoot-out for qualification when they meet in September.
Wojciec…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 4/6 @
In what could prove to be an enjoyable League One showdown on Sunday afternoon, Bolton will welcome Wrexham to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Starting with the hosts, while Bolton might have suffered major play-off final heartbreak at Wembley back on May 18th as they fell to a 2-0 loss against Oxford United in north London, the Trotters haven’t shown any signs of a hangover since opening up the 2024/25 campaign. Getting proceedings underway last weekend as they secured a 2-1 victory away at Leyton Orient, Ian Evatt’s men will be looking to make another statement here. Extending on their EFL Cup adventure earlier in the week as they snatched a penalties victory against Mansfield, the former Barrow boss will now be ca…
Wolverhampton Wanderers are set to complete the signing of Joao Gomes from Flamengo, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Brazilian midfielder is set to travel to England on Sunday evening to undergo the pre-transfer medical and sign the necessary paperwork, after the two clubs reached a full agreement on a €17 million fee.
Gomes is a product of the academy at Flamengo. He earned a place in the first-team squad in 2021, and since then, he s gone on to make a total of 117 appearances for the Brazilian club in all competitions. The 21-year-old is an extremely versatile midfielder, capable of playing in any role between the defence and the attack, be it deeper, more advanced, on the left or the right. Nonetheless, he prefers acting through the middle, participating in the game at b…
Chelsea have released Ross Barkley from his contract, with the England international becoming a free agent.
Barkley was not given a squad number for the new season, having made just six Premier League appearances last term.
The midfielder was signed from Everton in January 2018 but never managed to solidify his place as a regular starter under Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard or Thomas Tuchel.
He spent the 2020-21 season on loan at Aston Villa, where he appeared to be striking up a promising partnership with Jack Grealish, but his form tailed off and his move was not made permanent.
On Monday, three days before the close of the transfer window, Chelsea confirmed they had agreed to cut ties with the 28-year-old, whose deal was to expire at the…
David Neres has completed a permanent move from Benfica to Napoli, the Serie A club confirmed on Wednesday.
Neres, who scored 17 times across a two-year spell with the Portuguese side, has signed for a reported £23.8m fee with add-ons potentially increasing that to £25.5m.
The Brazilian registered 15 goal involvements (five goals and 10 assists) for Benfica last year as they finished second in the Primeira Liga and won the Portuguese Super Cup.
He created 31 chances in the league last season, while also completing 34 dribbles, a total only bettered by Joao Neves (41), Rafa (51) and Angel Di Maria (55).
Neres has been brought in to provide creativity and goals from the wide positions alongside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with Napoli netting 55 times in Ser…
Market: Stockport win
Odds: 4/5 @
Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the League Two table, Stockport will make the trip to Rotherham on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Rochdale might have clung to their League Two status last season, it appears that Jim Bentley s men are freefalling their way out of England s fourth-tier this time around. Putting in yet another downbeat display over the weekend as they suffered a routine 2-0 loss at home against Gillingham, the Lancashire-based outfit find themselves sat six points adrift of safety. Although the Blues might have clinched a crucial 2-1 victory away at Bradford last month, it appears that was nothing more than a minor boost for the leading relegation scrappers. Along wi…
Jurgen Klopp kept his message to his Liverpool players simple ahead of their Champions League opener at Napoli, urging the Reds to play better after previous struggles in Naples.
Wednesday will mark the third time Napoli and Liverpool have met in the Champions League group stage in the past five seasons, with the Italian side winning home games against the Reds in both 2018-19 (1-0) and 2019-20 (2-0).
Klopp also lost 2-1 at Napoli while Borussia Dortmund coach, and he knows his players must improve on these previous showings.
I m a late bloomer, he said. I always need a little bit longer to achieve my stuff, and that means sometimes I have to try two times, sometimes three times, sometimes four times – and Napoli [could be] four times, obviously.
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists there was no chance of him becoming Manchester United boss, even after being wined and dined by Alex Ferguson in New York.
Guardiola s City make the short trip to Old Trafford with an eight-point advantage over their rivals at the top of the Premier League.
The former Barcelona boss locking horns once again with old adversary Jose Mourinho is a mouthwatering prospect, especially given the United manager s claims this week that City players go to ground and seek fouls too readily for his liking.
But pondering how close Guardiola came to taking up residence in the opposite dugout is also intriguing, given Ferguson s informal approach to the Catalan tactician during a one-year hiatus before taking charge of Bayern Munic…
According to the Telegraph, Chelsea are considering whether to move for Manchester United winger , and one of the possibilities would apparently be to offer the services of Raheem Sterling as part of a deal.
Sterling was left out of Chelsea s squad for both Premier League matches played so far, being expected to leave the club before the transfer window closes, and manager Enzo Maresca spoke about the need to offload a number of players when asked specifically about the 29-year-old winger.
Meanwhile, Sancho has had issues with United boss Erik ten Hag for quite a while, and like Sterling, he is yet to appear in a matchday squad in the league this season, though he did play seven minutes in the Community Shield against Manchester City, which his team lost on penalties.