Manchester United want Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong

Pep Guardiola is happier than ever with the way Manchester City are playing and says Liverpool are just one of many Premier League title contenders ahead of Sunday s clash at Anfield.

City were beaten 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday following an impressive 1-0 win at Chelsea last weekend.

The champions could go top of the table if they beat leaders Liverpool on Merseyside, where they won 4-1 last season to end a run of 17 away games without a league win over the Reds.

Guardiola feels his side, who trail the Reds by only a point after six games, are in great shape despite their setback in the French capital.

Asked about the importance of keeping pace with the leaders, the City boss said: I never thought about this.

Te…

Market: Victor Osimhen to score anytime

Odds: 4/6 @

Looking to extend on their recent purple patch, a free-scoring Napoli will welcome Udinese to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Tuesday night.

Starting with the hosts, certainly laying down another marker over the weekend, there is no doubt that the mood in Napoli s camp is at a real high. Enjoying a stellar purple patch over the past month, The Blues were last seen landing a 4-1 romp against Spezia on the road and they re sat in pole position to clinch a Champions League return. Marching on a six-match unbeaten run, a run highlighted by a stunning 5-2 victory against Lazio last month, Napoli will be calling on the red-hot Victor Osimhen to spearhead their charge on Tuesday night. Gaining a string of plaudit…

Manchester City averted an FA Cup upset and clinched a place in the quarter-finals as Phil Foden scored a brace in a 4-1 win over Newport County.

The League Two side frustrated the Premier League champions throughout a goalless first half at Rodney Parade and came agonisingly close to taking the lead despite City dominating possession on an uneven surface they initially struggled to adjust to.

Newport s admirable resistance was broken when Leroy Sane fired home from close range early in the second half, the winger scoring his 12th goal of the season on an afternoon when his customary flair was in short supply.

Foden then scored a brace either side of an 88th-minute Padraig Amond goal that gave Newport brief hope and extended his record of netting in every roun…

Antonio Conte wants Harry Kane to reproduce his world-class England form in a Tottenham shirt and believes the striker s World Cup qualifying feats were just the boost he needed.

A desperate start to the Premier League season by Kane has seen the striker net just once in 10 games for Spurs, and provide only a single assist.

After last season s 23 goals from 35 games, which he complemented with a career-high 14 assists, it marks a drastic waning in fortunes for the England captain.

The most widely advanced theory among those questioning that decline is that Kane is fatigued, not only from his exertions with England at Euro 2020 but from a drawn-out saga concerning his own future.

Kane was widely expected to be a Manchester City player by now, but that di…

Best Odds: 8/13

Bookmaker:

Turning their attention to EFL Cup duties in midweek, Wolves will welcome Championship outfit Stoke to Molineux on Thursday night.

Wolves

Starting with the hosts, marking their Premier League return with a 2-0 win away at last year s surprise package Sheffield United, many have Wolves tipped as a potential top-four dark horse this time around. Not having to split their attention with Europa League duties this season, Nuno Espírito Santo s men have certainly enjoyed a well-deserved break this summer. Making a return to Molineux on Thursday night, the Oranges should also be boosted by what is an eye-catching record in the Midlands. Including signing off the extended 2019/2020 campaign with back-to-back 2-0 and 3-0 wins against Crystal …

Casemiro is the latest Brazil player to endorse his former Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti for the Selecao s vacant head coach position.

Brazil are yet to appoint a successor to Tite, whose six-year stint in charge came to an end after the five-time world champions were knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the 2022 World Cup by Croatia.

Ramon Menezes, who guided Brazil s Under-20s to South American U-20 Championship in February, has taken over on an interim basis for Saturday s friendly against Morocco.

The coach who has been linked with the full-time role the most, however, is Ancelotti.

Several Brazil players have openly approved his potential candidacy and Casemiro joined the chorus, though the former Madrid player reminded his team-mates of a ne…

Kasper Dolberg starred on his former stomping ground in Amsterdam as Denmark stormed to a 4-0 victory over Wales to progress to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.

In for the injured Yussuf Poulsen, ex-Ajax striker Dolberg became the first Denmark player to score twice in a Euro knockout game since Henrik Larsen in 1992 with two clinical finishes.

With the backing of a partisan crowd at the stadium where the absent Christian Eriksen made his name, Denmark hit the front midway through the first half before Dolberg – on his first start of the tournament – doubled his tally shortly after the break.

Mathias Jensen, Martin Braithwaite and Joachim Andersen all hit the woodwork, though those near-misses mattered little when Joakim Maehle made sure of an emphatic Danish vi…

Barca line up Messi replacement

La Liga champions Barcelona are showing interest in Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, according to El Mundo Deportivo.

The Catalans appear to be preparing for life without Leo Messi and they seem to have found a perfect replacement for the Argentine superstar.

It was arguably the world s best footballer who urged the club chiefs to try and lure Paulo Dybala from Juventus, and they might just act accordingly.

The problem is that the Argentine only recently joined the Bianconeri in a mega money deal from Palermo and it is believed it would take at least €60 million to prize the 22-year-old away from Turin.

After impressing at Stadio Renzo Barbera last term, Dybala continued the rich vein of form, scoring 6 goals in 13…

Newly-promoted Premier League side Brentford have confirmed the signing of centre-back Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic.

The Norway international has penned a five-year deal with the Bees for what is reported to be a club-record fee of £13.5million.

Ajer has spent the past five seasons as a Celtic player, which includes half a season on loan with Kilmarnock in 2016-17, and has also previously played for IK Start in Norway s Eliteserien.

He featured 177 times for Celtic in all competitions and was a key part of the club s run of 12 successive trophies in four seasons before their spell of dominance was ended in 2020-21.

A statement on the Scottish club s official website on Wednesday read: Everyone at Celtic Football Club wish Kristoffer every success in his f…

Lazio president Claudio Lotito said the club will consider offers for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic amid growing links to Manchester United.

Midfielder Milinkovic-Savic reportedly has a verbal agreement to join Premier League giants United, with Ander Herrera having left for Paris Saint-Germain and Paul Pogba s future uncertain at Old Trafford.

According to reports, United are ready to offer €90million to prise Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio – who signed the 24-year-old Serbia midfielder in 2015.

As I said a long time ago, it doesn t matter how hard it could be [to keep Milinkovic-Savic], Lotito said.

We will see what the market can offer and all the conditions that are going to be.

We [as a club] feel great with Milinkovic, as he feels with the clu…