Manchester United´s torrid penalty shoot-out run continues against Derby

Prediction: Draw

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Happy New Year one and all! It s safe to say that 2019 has been one hell of a year for us all, and in the world of football, 2020 looks set to be even crazier with everything from the Summer Olympics to UEFA Euro 2020 and beyond. Before all that, though, there s still a whole half of the season to go in the domestic leagues all across the land including in the Premier League. Today, we ll be looking at a pretty intriguing game up in the North East as Newcastle United host high-flying Leicester City.

Newcastle

From their aerial presence to their strong structure, Newcastle United have been much better than anyone was really expecting them to be over the course of the last few months. Steve Bruce has turned a neg…

Bundesliga sides Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburger SV are reportedly in the chase for Corinthians forward Paolo Guerrero, .

The experienced striker recently expressed his desire to return to Europe, putting himself in the shopping window ahead of the final week of transfer dealings in top European leagues.

Bild has learned that Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg are showing interest in the 31-year-old, who has already left his mark on German Bundesliga.

Paolo Guerrero began his professional career at Bayern Munich, where he scored 10 goals in 27 league outings before joining Hamburg.

The striker went on to make 134 league appearances for the Red Shorts, but left the club on a bad note, following several much publicized incidents.

Guerrero left Germany to …

Mohamed Salah will be the Liverpool player to watch as Jurgen Klopp leaves the club, with Stephen Warnock wondering if the superstar winger s sale might represent an opportunity in the Anfield rebuild.

Hugely popular Liverpool manager Klopp announced last week this season will be his last at Liverpool, departing after almost nine years on Merseyside.

Klopp s coaching staff are following him out of the club, while sporting director Jorg Schmadtke is to exit at the end of the January transfer window.

The shock announcement of Klopp s decision leaves Liverpool with lots to do before the next campaign, and calls may have to be made around some of the key men who have made the manager s tenure such a success.

For Warnock, who played for the Reds under Rafael B…

Barcelona will go into the FIFA Club World Cup as favourites to win the competition for the first time, but winger Lionel Messi says they must learn the lessons from their last involvement.

The Club World Cup is the only international honour missing from Barcelona s well-stocked trophy cabinet after their previous attempt to win it, in 2006, ended in a 1-0 defeat to Brazilian side Internacional.

I think the most important lesson we ve learned is not to be over-confident and to get to know our opponents in depth, said Messi, in an interview with the FIFA website on the eve of the December 9-19 tournament here.

The last time we maybe thought that the other sides were a bit below us and that s something we can t afford to let happen again if we want to be champio…

The winner of the Ballon d Or was finally announced on Monday, but the man who claimed the trophy has been widely accepted for months. Sort-of-new prize, same old story.

There will be no red-carpet gala to honour the victor this time, thanks to the end of FIFA and France Football s joint venture; no global broadcast of the glum-faced holder, Lionel Messi on this occasion, handing over the prize to Cristiano Ronaldo in a ninth round of pass the parcel at the pinnacle of football s individual standings.

Messi s disappointment will be just as real, though. More so, perhaps, as we may never see his name on the golden ball again.

In January, after winning for an unprecedented fifth time, he said: It s incredible and it s much more than anything I could have dreamed…

Pep Guardiola felt guilty that Manchester City misfired against Southampton but stressed it was not because they failed to sign a new striker. 

The Premier League champions were held to a goalless draw by Saints at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and only registered one shot on target, that attempt coming from Phil Foden in the 90th minute. 

Guardiola had infuriated some supporters by calling on more to turn up for the top-flight clash after a crowd of 38,062 attended the 6-3 Champions League thumping of RB Leipzig in midweek. 

There were 52,698 watching the stalemate against Southampton and Guardiola felt responsible as City were unable to put on a show. 

[The fans] come to see a show, to see a game. When it doesn t happen I feel a bit guilty beca…

Diego Costa has been compared to Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero by Atletico Madrid team-mate Filipe Luis.

Costa has scored an outstanding 30 goals in 40 matches for Diego Simeone s side this season, keeping Atletico in the hunt for domestic and European silverware.

The Spain international scored the only goal of the game against Espanyol on Saturday to keep Atletico hot on the heels of city rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga title race.

And Luis believes Costa s ability to produced a moment of magic when it really mattes is reminiscent of former Atletico striker Aguero who joined City in 2011 after five years at Vicente Calderon.

Every time we seem to get stuck, Diego proves to be decisive, he told Marca.

He always manages to create chances from not…

Market: Aston Villa win

Odds: 3/4 @

Looking to extend on their Champions League charge on Saturday evening, Aston Villa will make the trip to Kenilworth Road when they meet Luton.

Starting with the hosts, crashing out of the FA Cup earlier in the week following a 6-2 drumming at the hands of Manchester City, it is no secret that Luton are tipped as a leading contender to be hit with an immediate Championship return. While Rob Edwards’ men might have gained plenty of plaudits from across England’s top-flight this season, the Hatters are enduring a real crisis. Last seen in Premier League action suffering a collapse at Anfield as they slumped to a 4-1 loss against Liverpool, the former Watford boss has a real job on his hands at Kenilworth Road. Opening Saturd…

Verdict: Home win

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France have established themselves as one of the top teams in Europe, and barring a major collapse they should not have problems to secure a berth in the 2018 World Cup. With that objective in mind, Les Blues will play against Paraguay this Friday, in a friendly match that will serve both teams as a test match ahead of the upcoming qualifiers.

France

France have been in very good form of late. Even though they did not win the 2016 European Championship, it is hard to deny Les Bleus have been one of the top European sides in the past few years. Led by an experienced core and filled with interesting young players, Didier Deschamps men are already considered one of the favourites to make a deep run in the upcoming…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted Takumi Minamino can have a big impact after scoring his first goal for the Premier League champions in the Community Shield.

FA Cup holders Arsenal upstaged Liverpool 5-4 on penalties following Saturday s 1-1 draw in the new season s curtain-raiser at Wembley.

Minamino s first Liverpool goal cancelled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang s 12th-minute opener in London, where a shoot-out was needed behind closed doors.

Japanese attacker Minamino joined Liverpool from Salzburg in January, however, he found opportunities limited as the Reds secured their first league crown in 30 years.

But after Minamino opened his account for Liverpool, Klopp told reporters: It was big for him and big for us because it was the only thing he …