Russia beat Sweden to reach Euro 2008 quarter-finals

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah will aim to upset some familiar faces when he lines up for the Reds against former club Roma in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.

The newly crowned PFA Player of the Year comes up against his old employers at Anfield, and will aim to emulate a club goalscoring feat achieved by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in Europe s premier competition.

Roma proved their pedigree by producing a sensational second-leg comeback to down heavyweights Barcelona in the quarter-finals, with Edin Dzeko s prowess perhaps key to improving their away-day woes in Europe.

Below we take a look at the pick of the Opta stats ahead of a crunch last-four first leg on Merseyside.

7 – Mohamed Salah is the seventh different Liverpool player to wi…

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Quinten Timber from Feyenoord, according to . The report has claimed that Tottenham have been scouting the 22-year-old Dutch midfielder and has been impressed by him.

Quinten Timber is the twin brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber, who moved to the Gunners in the summer transfer window. The 22-year-old midfielder has been on the books of Feyenoord since 2022 and has established himself as one of the best young players in his position. Timber has scored one goal and given three assists in seven Eredivisie matches for Feyenoord so far this season. The youngster has also played twice in the UEFA Champions League this campaign.

Tottenham are second in the Premier League table at the moment with 17 points from seven matches, …

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This weekend, it s matchday 27 in the Premier Leauge, though of course, due to numerous postponements for various reasons throughout the campaign, not one of the 20 teams will have 27 matches played by its end on Monday evening, when Brentford host Fulham at the Brentford Community stadium. It ll be game No. 24 for the hosts, No. 26 for the visitors.

Brentford

Brentford have established themselves as a regular member of the English top flight since gaining that status in 2021. They ve proven a tough nut to crack for any team in the league, with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and United on their list of victims this term, and even  table toppers Arsenal failing to beat them at the Emirates.

Realistically speaking, a pl…

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has been detained by police in France as part of an investigation into the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

The French Ministry of Justice confirmed that anti-corruption officers took the 63-year-old in for questioning in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday morning.

Platini is currently serving a four-year ban from football after FIFA s Ethics Committee found that he received a disloyal payment  from former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

A statement from the Ministry of Justice, given to Omnisport, read: Platini was taken in for questioning on Tuesday by officers of the Anti-Corruption Office of the Judicial Police.

Following questioning, he was detained.

Qatar was awarded the 2022 World…

Barcelona great Xavi believes Neymar will win the Ballon d Or after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo s dominance ends.

The past 10 Ballons d Or have been won by Barcelona star Messi and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo, with Kaka in 2007 the last player outside that duo to claim the coveted individual honour.

Xavi, who finished third for the prize from 2009-11, feels Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar will claim the Ballon d Or immediately after the two modern-day greats slow down.

I have tremendous respect for Neymar, he s an amazing footballer, he told RMC on Wednesday.

When Messi or Ronaldo will be in a bad shape, and we ll see more at Cristiano because of his age [33], Neymar will be the next Ballon d Or winner. I m sure of that.

Xavi and Neymar …

West Ham progressed to the third round of the EFL Cup after a contentious late goal from Jarrod Bowen helped them edge fellow Premier League side Bournemouth 1-0 at London Stadium.

As the game looked to be heading for a penalty shootout, Bowen emerged as West Ham s hero, deflecting in the winner with just two minutes left on the clock, though the ball appeared to strike his arm.

Julen Lopetegui s Hammers were on the backfoot for most of the first half, which ended with Bournemouth winger Dango Ouattara testing goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with an acrobatic effort.

The visitors went close again as Marcus Tavernier brushed the woodwork with his free-kick eight minutes after the restart, but Bournemouth failed to find the back of the net despite creating plenty of ch…

Manchester City showed few signs of slowing as they recorded another win at Arsenal on Sunday.

The runaway Premier League leaders remain 10 points clear of both Manchester United and Leicester City, who each enjoyed victories of their own.

West Ham complete the top four, meanwhile, after a long-awaited triumph for manager David Moyes.

We start at the London Stadium in recapping the best of Sunday s action with the help of Opta data.
 

West Ham 2-1 Tottenham: Moyes ends miserable run against Mourinho

Moyes finally got the measure of Jose Mourinho as West Ham climbed into the top four with a 2-1 home win against Tottenham.

4 West Ham will spend a night within the top four places in a top-flight campaign after at least 25 matches have been …

Lyon have confirmed the appointment of Rudi Garcia as head coach on a deal reportedly running until June 2021.

The former Lille, Roma and Marseille boss replaces Sylvinho, who was sacked last week less than five months on from succeeding Bruno Genesio.

Laurent Blanc and Jose Mourinho were linked to the role, but a recruitment panel headed up by sporting director Juninho Pernambucano and including Gerard Houllier unanimously agreed on Garcia.

The 55-year-old won a domestic double in charge of Lille in 2010-11 and led Marseille to the Europa League final two seasons ago.

We can announce that Rudi Garcia has been appointed the new coach of .

— OL English  (@OL_English)

His appointment comes as something of a surprise given his chequered …

Verdict: Sevilla to score over 2,5 goals yes

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Sevilla are 90 minutes away from reaching the third qualifying stage in the UEFA Europa League and barring an epic collapse, they should advance rather easily. They will travel to Budapest to take on Ujpest, but already won the first leg by a comfortable 4-0 score so we shouldn t expect the Liga side to suffer in this one. The match will be played at 20.00 hrs (BST) at Ferenc Szusza Stadion. Kirill Levnikov (RUS) will be the referee.

Újpest

Let s be honest here. Újpest do not have a realistic chance of turning things around against Sevilla. We could say that anything can happen, and that Újpest will get a massive boost with the support of their fans. But we must keep this realis…

Barcelona are interested in signing Adama Traore from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2021, according to Traore was on the books of Barcelona from 2004 until 2015 and progressed through the ranks. However, the winger failed to establish himself in the first team at Camp Nou and moved to Aston Villa in 2015.

Traore has been very good over the years in English football and is now a key member of the Wolves team who have established themselves in the Premier League. According to , the 25-year-old has made 19 starts and eight substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Wanderers so far this season.

The Wanderers are unlikely to finish in the European places in the Premier League table this season and could be open to selling Traore. The winger himself coul…