Gareth Southgate has offered heartfelt thanks to England fans for their support ahead of a first major tournament final appearance in 55 years.
The Three Lions have played five of their six games en route to the showpiece fixture of Euro 2020 in front of a partisan crowd at Wembley Stadium.
And they will contest a sixth at their home ground on Sunday when they take on Italy aiming to win a first piece of silverware since the 1966 World Cup.
Ahead of that showdown, Southgate has placed on his record his appreciation for the backing he and his team have received both from the stands and further afield.
He said: I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to everybody for the incredible support we ve received throughout this tournament.
We…
Fifty-four passes. In two minutes and 41 seconds of unbroken possession during the closing stages of their Euro 2020 semi-final win over Denmark, England moved to the brink of a 2-1 win in beautifully assured fashion with a 54-pass move. Over the course of the entire additional half hour, they completed 198 passes – more than the Three Lions managed in the entirety of the 1-0 Euro 2000 win over Germany.
Thirty-eight passes. Five days later in the final, Gareth Southgate s team could only manage 38 successful passes in the entire first half of extra time against Italy. That ticked up to 47 during the final 15 minutes of the 1-1 draw but still stood in stark contrast to the supreme example of modern, pro-active game management from the preceding midweek.
Southgate has o…
Tottenham s Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick at Villa last time out and will be looking to add to his tally at Sunderland on Saturday
This weekend’s Premier League action kicks-off at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland host Tottenham in the early kick-off on Saturday.
The hosts surprised champions Manchester City 1-0 last time out and have now claimed two consecutive victories.
The Black Cats face a tough challenge on Saturday though against high-flying Spurs.
The visitors are fourth in the Premier League table, after winning 4-0 at Aston Villa courtesy of a hat-trick from Gareth Bale. Andre Villas-Boas’ side could go third in the table with a win in the north east.
Aston Villa have conceded 12 goals in their last two Premier League games a…
A pair of teams with renewed optimism, following major roster improvements, face off in a cross-conference battle when the New York Giants host the Denver Broncos in a late afternoon Week 1 matchup.
While New York made some big offseason acquisitions, a multitude of key injuries has resulted in the G-Men being NFL betting home underdogs against Denver, which has a revamped defense and a quarterback that will not be a total negative.
Here are our best free NFL picks and predictions for Broncos vs. Giants on Sunday, September 12 with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. ET.
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Sunday night is capped off with a pivotal AFC West battle between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead, with Mahomes and Co. entering as 9.5-point NFL betting favorites.
Andy Reid is coming off the bye and we all know what that means. Can Javonte Williams expose a weak Kansas City rush defense with a likely bigger role? Can Mahomes and the offense hit some big plays versus Vic Fangio’s defense?
Find out in our free prop picks for Sunday night’s Broncos vs. Chiefs battle.
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Week 6 of the NFL season sees the first bye weeks coming into play, as the Lions, Texans, Raiders, and Titans will all sit this Sunday out.
Though there will be two fewer games on the wagering slate, there are still several strong sides to consider. Here are our NFL parlay picks for Week 6.
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The NFL season will be 22% of the way through when Week 4 kicks off. And it’s at this point that books and bettors start to see teams for who they really are.
We have three weeks of results, with spreads and totals tightening and any misconceptions or over-evaluations correcting quickly. That means getting the best of the number is more important than ever.
And getting that best number requires jumping on opening NFL odds or waiting for lines to move later in the week. It’s what we do here every Sunday night, as I headline a spread and total to take now and ones to push pause on for later.
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Not all touchdown markets are created equally, and there is plenty of value to be had by shopping around and getting the best price. But that’s just one aspect of creating a profitable touchdown card when it comes to handicapping NFL odds.
This year’s total profits are at +11.3 units heading into Week 14 odds. For Sunday, I’m targeting a running back who has taken back his No.1 role, betting on the best wide receiver in football at a great price, and then taking a pair of Buffalo RBs in a great running matchup.
Read more in my latest NFL picks.
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The Philadelphia Eagles’ disastrous December and subsequent early playoff exit prompted them to overhaul both sides of the ball.
Kellen Moore is the new offensive coordinator, utilizing a bevy of weapons on this Eagles attack — including offseason add RB Saquon Barkley. However, none of that matters if the defense can’t keep opponents out of the end zone.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and his sneaky schemes are the remedy for a stop unit that hemorrhaged points down the stretch and sunk to the bottom of the defensive rankings in 2023.
The NFL odds like those moves, pricing Philadelphia among the top teams in the NFC. It enters 2024 with a season win total of 10.5 (Over -134) and is a favorite in 13 games. For those bettors sti…
Back in the old days, when Mikel Arteta was an Arsenal player and the team had suffered one of those Arsenal defeats, maybe away from home in the Champions League, it was him and only him who would front up to the press and say what needed to be said.
Actually, that is not true. It was Arteta or Per Mertesacker, sometimes both but never anyone else from the squad. Arteta would be collared as he headed for the team bus, its engine revving impatiently, in the bowels of the stadium in, say, Milan or Dortmund, and he would burn with frustration.
They say that you learn more about a player in the low moments, about their character and leadership credentials, and that was certainly true of Arteta. Perhaps it was magnified…