Almost every footballer out there has their own book these days. You know the drill - the obligatory autobiography telling of great victories and what makes them tick on and off the field. However, plenty of footballers have also ventured deeper into the literary world. On World Book Day, we take a look at a handful of those players and managers - and one wordsmith in particular - who put pen to paper on something other than a contract or the standard tell-all tale.
Five of the last six Premier League matches that Leicester played featured fewer than three goals. Five of the last six Premier League matches that Crystal Palace played featured fewer than three goals. Leicester have failed to score in two of their last three matches in all competitions. Palace have failed to score in their last two matches in all competitions.
If you want to survive at the top you need to bounce off competition right left and centre. He went through a difficult patch last season but he has been very good this season. I trust David 100% percent. Diego Simeone's side had been lifted by last week's 3-1 win over Villarreal and their 1-0 Champions League success over Liverpool but struggled against a determined Espanyol and fell behind through an own goal from Stefan Savic in the 24th minute.
Will Preston be able to bounce back from their weekend loss to Derby? That trip halted their promotion push, with Leeds jumping above them in the table. Now Hull could add to that misery, with the hosts now eying up a position in the top half. Will the Tigers pull off a home victory on Wednesday to leave Preston trailing their promotion rivals?
Otherwise, the highlight of the half was the performance of Dean Henderson, who made two fine saves from Raheem Sterling and then, on 36 minutes, after Chris Basham fouled Riyad Mahrez in the box, saved Gabriel Jesus’ poor penalty. The second period was not as invigorating as the first, but eventually City imposed their class and, on 68 minutes, Aguero replaced Jesus.
Gillingham have scored almost double the amount at home that Portsmouth have on the road, while they've performed much better at the other end too, particularly of late, as they've kept three clean sheets in their last four at Priestfield. In contrast, Portsmouth have shipped an abundance of goals in recent away games, conceding four away at Accrington and three away at MK Dons. Such form should worry those fans travelling up from the south coast for Wednesday's fixture. The hosts have also performed better at home in terms of shots. They have an average shot supremacy of +4.75. Portsmouth's is +1.8 on the road.
Posted at 89' Patrick McNair (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Posted at 89' Foul by Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest). Posted at 88' Foul by Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough). Posted at 88' João Carvalho (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick on the left wing. SubstitutionPosted at 87' Substitution, Middlesbrough.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “The smooth way Reece has fitted into the team so quickly despite missing the start of the season has been clear for everyone to see, and the fact another exciting young player is part of the future of the club is a result of great work by our academy, our loans department, our new coaching staff and of course the player himself.
Today's performance will have only increased demand for his services. KEY MOMENTS 18' - GOAL! Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace (Bernard): This is a lovely goal. Walcott, who scored the winner last week, shows quick feet to get away from his marker before delivering a cross to the back post where Bernard fires the ball past Guaita on the first time volley.
That clinched him a transfer to Inter Milan but he was unable to win a regular place amid questions about his attitude and he was loaned to Benfica where he also failed to reproduce his Brazil form. He subsequently returned to Santos on loan and again started grabbing the goals , so that when Flamengo offered him the chance to join their squad of expensive, highly rated recruits he did not hesitate.
Following an order from the Bas-Rhin authorities concerning the spread of the coronavirus, the meeting is postponed," PSG said in a statement. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that all schools and nurseries in the departments of l'Oise, in the north, and le Haut-Rhin, in the north-east, will be closed for two weeks from Monday. The local authorities added: "The arrival of 26,000 at the Stade de la Meinau, a quarter of which would come from the Haut-Rhin region, is likely to promote the spread of Covid-19.
Aves have lost their last nine matches and have conceded the opening goal in 73% of their games this season, so it’s hard to see the visitors turning their form around against a Moreirense side that have only lost once in their own backyard so far.
All things considered, backing Both Teams to Score looks the best way to play and is something we're more than happy to do. As mentioned above Wednesday's last 7 games have seen goals at either end, as have their last 5 away games and with score draws having been on display in Forest's last 2 outings, we think a 1-1 draw could well be on the cards in this one.
Familiarity clearly breeds success for the Blades. It's also a dressing room without any prima donnas, perhaps as a result of the players' unglamorous routes to the big time. Midfielder John Fleck and forward Billy Sharp, as well as Basham, O'Connell and stand-in keeper Simon Moore, were all regular starters when Sheffield United won League One with 100 points in 2016-17. Some of Wilder's key players have even tasted non-league football on their way to the Premier League.
France's failure to go beyond the quarter-finals of the World Cup may cost her here though. Sofia Jakobsson Club: CD Tacon Nation: SwedenAge: 29 Honours 2019: NoneScored in Sweden's World Cup quarter-final victory over Germany but has made a slow start to life in Spain after moving from Montpellier in the summer. Sam Kerr Club: Chelsea Nation: AustraliaAge: 26 Honours 2019: Cup of NationsAs forwards go Kerr's record isn't bad, is it? The all-time leading scorer in the National Women's Soccer League in the US and the Australian W-League, she also hit five at the World Cup this summer, leading Australia to the last 16.
Austria Vienna and Admira will face each other in the upcoming match in the Austrian Bundesliga, relegation group. Austria Vienna this season have the following results: 5W, 10D and 7L. Meanwhile Admira have 4W, 7D and 11L. This season both these teams are usually playing attacking football in the league and their matches are often high scoring.
SPFL vote breakdownVotes in favourVotes againstPremiership (nine supporting votes needed)101Championship (eight supporting votes needed)72League 1 & League 2 (15 supporting votes needed)163Some clubs have gone public with their stance on the plan put forward by the SPFL, with Hibernian, Livingston and St Mirren publicly backing it in the Premiership. However, Rangers and Hearts both publicly condemned the plan, which would have seen the latter relegated if the SPFL deemed top flight fixtures could not be completed.
SubstitutionPosted at 71' Substitution, Newcastle United. Sean Longstaff replaces Emil Krafth. SubstitutionPosted at 68' Substitution, Chelsea. Ross Barkley replaces Mason Mount. Posted at 67' Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Posted at 67' Foul by Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United). Posted at 66' Attempt blocked. Jorginho (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden v 1. FC Nürnberg (Highlights) Watch SV Wehen Wiesbaden v 1. FC Nürnberg (Highlights) live & on-demand on DAZN LI, in HD and on any device. Sign up today.
Nurnberg en direct} [SV Wehen Wiesbaden - UK.COM Retrouvez également tous les scores, résultats et classements de rugby.". Aired: 09 February 2024. Rating: TV-14. Buy Now:.UK.COM · 1 hour ago
From start to finish we were better than them, they created the odd chance here and there but they're a good side. Not many teams have taken four points from Forest this season, let alone come here and got three. It should have been more [goals], we should have won by more. We've been in every game away from home except the weekend just gone. We're now three points nearer to the target of staying up that we need.
United released a statement on Wednesday saying that once they return to Old Trafford "all home matches are currently scheduled to go ahead as planned". Solskjaer also added that none of his players had been tested for coronavirus and he was unaware of any plans to play the second leg against LASK behind closed doors in Manchester. TEAM NEWSOdion Ighalo is likely to start up front for Manchester United, who will be without Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford in Austria.
Eintracht Frankfurt are set to travel to the Bundesliga's last-placed team, Paderborn, this Sunday in the German Bundesliga. Both of these two teams have been in relatively poor form in recent weeks. However, Eintracht Frankfurt have been the Bundesliga's poorest side, of late.
Inter's match at Juventus, which was to have been played later on Sunday, was one of five which were postponed by Serie A on Saturday. The games, all in regions where sporting events have been banned by the government, had been due to be played behind closed doors. Italy has registered more than 1,100 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the contagion came to light in wealthy northern regions on Feb.
Hoffenheim will host Mainz in German 1 Bundesliga round 12. The host are 5th in the league table with 20 points from 11 matches scoring 16 goals against 14, in the beginning of the season things didn't go all that well, but recently they picked great form since 6 last game undefeated, and I believe that they will keep that wonderful form rolling to be able to get a Champions league place next season, Mainz are in relegation zone presently and will give everything here to secure a point or points, after 11 matches they have scored 12 goals against 30 and with just 9 points to show for it. I don't think that they can be able to stop the host with the type of quality they present.
Manchester United have completed the signing of Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon. The initial fee for the 25-year-old is around 55m euros (£47m) but add-ons could increase the overall cost to 80m euros (£67. Fernandes, who made his Portugal debut in 2017, has played 19 times for his country and was part of the squad that won the Uefa Nations League in 2019. He joined Sporting from Italian side Sampdoria for £7.
He's lifted the place, lifted everyone around him and it's still early days. I think he can get even better," former United winger Ryan Giggs told Sky Sports. City could be missing the services of their own midfield talisman Kevin De Bruyne due to a shoulder injury sustained in the League Cup final win over Aston Villa.
Both teams scored in 50% of Den Haag’s home games as well as 50% of Groningen’s away games this season, and Den Haag have only kept clean sheets in 25% of their home games while Groningen have also only kept clean sheets in 25% of their away games, which bodes well for our final score prediction of 1-1.
Defensively, Reims are an astute side, while they've also developed an excellent habit of keeping themselves in games, even if they do lack forward power. On their own patch, Sunday's hosts are particularly good at keeping teams at bay. They've lost just one out of eight at Stade Auguste-Delaune, have conceded only three goals in the process and have kept an encouraging six clean sheets. Making headway at the other end hasn't been their strong point, as just five goals for suggests, but you can't have everything!
It won't all be one way traffic though and Wolfsberger have enough about them to get on the scoresheet and cause the visitors some problems. Ultimately it should be Monchengladbach who come away with all three points however and we're predicting a 2-1 win for the Germans as they look to qualify for the round of 32.
Dijon have drawn three times at home this season and Metz have drawn three times on the road, with the hosts averaging 1.50 points per home game and the visitors averaging 0.67 points per away game. Dijon score an average of 1.00 goals per home game and concede an average of 1.00 goals while Metz score an average of 0.44 goals per away game and concede an average of 1.67 goals, adding further weight to our prediction for a 1-1 draw this weekend.
I hope this doesn't carry on for the rest of the season. We want the fans to be with us from the beginning to the end, but we cannot control that. Zidane added: "I have not spoken to him [about the jeers], I have only congratulated him. I can't tell you if it's unfair or not. Everyone can say what they want. Gareth Bale: 'Disrespectful, misguided, ungrateful'Bale: 'I definitely have a bit more excitement playing for Wales'Bale has endured a difficult relationship with the Bernabeu crowd since joining from Tottenham for a then world-record fee of £85m in 2013, despite helping the club win four Champions League trophies.
