Ronald Koeman is intrigued how his Netherlands side will cope without captain Virgil van Dijk when they visit Germany on Monday.
Koeman s Oranje travel to Allianz Arena to round off their October internationals with a mouthwatering clash against another European heavyweight.
The Netherlands will do so without star centre-back Van Dijk after the Liverpool defender was dismissed in their last 1-1 draw with Hungary in their Group A3 meeting.
Koeman acknowledged their towering captain will be a sore miss against Julian Nagelsmann s side, with Stefan de Vrij or Denzel Dumfries expected as his replacement.
Virgil is someone who coaches a lot from the back. Now others have to do that. Some people are more capable of that than others and it also has to do with e…
Making the trip to Carrow Road knowing that they needed just a single point to book their Champions League return, Tottenham signed off the 2021/22 campaign with a real flurry.
Eventually breezing their way to a 5-0 romp against an already-relegated Norwich on Sunday afternoon, Antonio Conte s men will also be celebrating the fact that they managed to clinch a top-four finish at the expense of Arsenal.
Watching their free-scoring attacking trio all get themselves on the scoresheet at Carrow Road, Tottenham also underlined what has been another nightmare Premier League run for the Canaries.
Running rampant in east Anglia and with an exciting summer ahead in north London, we have taken a look at the main talking points from Sunday s showdown.
Spurs find top g…
December 23 marks the 10th anniversary of Diego Simeone s appointment as the head coach of Atletico Madrid.
The Argentine s return to his old club altered the modern history of LaLiga, as Atleti firmly established a big three in Spain alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona while making waves in Europe.
While their style of play has not always courted admirers, Simeone s Atletico have won eight trophies – including two LaLiga titles and two Europa Leagues – and twice reached the Champions League final, all on a budget that has never matched that of their two biggest rivals.
In his decade in the capital, Simeone has also worked through a sizeable turnover of players, some of whom have established themselves as modern greats at the club.
Here, Stats Perf…
Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich makes him the latest Englishman to ply his trade in the Bundesliga.
Only a handful of the small group which has gone to Germany have been truly successful but the England captain will be looking to add his name to that list.
Here the PA news agency looks at those who impressed for Bundesliga sides.
Kevin Keegan, Hamburg 1977-80
Keegan set the gold standard. Having made his intention to leave Liverpool clear the forward’s £500,000 transfer set a new British record and almost doubled the German mark.
His choice of a club which had not finished higher than sixth in two decades was something of a surprise but Hamburg paid him more than five times his salary.
There were rewarded though as Keegan helped them win …
Ipswich Town have confirmed the signing of Jack Clarke from Sunderland on a five-year contract.
The winger has joined the Premier League new boys in a deal reportedly worth up to £20million.
Clarke initially joined Sunderland on loan from Tottenham in 2022, before making the move permanent later that year.
He made 114 appearances for the Black Cats in all competitions, netting 28 goals and registering 23 assists.
Clarke was the club s top scorer in the Championship last season, netting 15 times, while his 91 chances were also the most amongst his team-mates.
Welcome to Town, Jack Clarke.
— IPSWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown)
I m really excited to have joined the club and can t wait to get going, Clarke said.
Ipswich have be…
Prediction: Man City win
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
We re heading back into the fire of the FA Cup as we reach the latter stages of this season s competition. There are 16 hungry teams ready and waiting to make a push for Wembley, but for now, the fifth round is what lies ahead. Today, we re going to be taking a look at a classic David vs Goliath encounter as Championship side Bristol City play host to Manchester City later this week.
Bristol City
Ever since failing to reach the Premier League back in their 2008 play-off final, Bristol City haven t really challenged for promotion again in a serious manner. They tend to float around the midtable section of the Championship but after putting together a few nice performances as of late, the tide may be beg…
Two-time Germany international Roman Neustadter has been named in Russia s final 23-man squad for next month s Euro 2016.
Neustadter, who was born in the Soviet Union in what is now Ukraine, is eligible to play for Russia after only representing Germany in international friendlies.
However, the 28-year-old Schalke defender is still awaiting his Russian passport, but coach Leonid Slutsky and Co. are confident it will come in time for the Euros, which gets underway in France on June 10.
Brazil-born goalkeeper Guilherme was also included in the squad, having received his Russian citizenship in 2016.
Slutsky, fresh from guiding CSKA Moscow to the Russian Premier League title on Saturday, picked eight of his own players, while Neustadter is the only foo…
Lionel Scaloni says Argentina are not resting on their laurels as they prepare for a tough Copa America title defence.
The Albiceleste won the 2021 edition of the tournament, beating Brazil 1-0 in the final, before lifting the World Cup in Qatar a year later.
Argentina are among the favourites to lift the trophy again, for what would be a record 16th time, edging past Uruguay, who also have 15.
However, Scaloni believes they need to put their recent successes behind them ahead of their opening game against Canada on Thursday.
We are talking about things that have already passed. [Winning the World Cup and the Copa America] was very nice, but it s over, he said in his press conference.
Football matches are all different, there are no easier games…
Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Tottenham s £65million signing Dominic Solanke will miss this weekend s Premier League encounter against Everton.
Solanke, who made his debut for the club in their 1-1 draw with Leicester City in their opening game of the new season, picked up an ankle injury in the East Midlands.
The 26-year-old made a promising start to his Spurs career at the King Power Stadium, recording the most shots (three) and shots on target (three), with his eight touches in the opposition box only bettered by Son Heung-min (10).
It serves as a huge blow for Postecoglou as he aims to improve on their fifth place finish in the division last season, with Solanke s arrival thought to be the missing piece to his front line.
His 22 goal involvement…
AS Monaco are the front-runners in the race for the signature of West Ham defender Thilo Kehrer, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Ligue 1 side are ahead of AC Milan, AS Roma and Atalanta, all of whom have expressed an interest as well.
Kehrer played for several German clubs at youth level and finally made the senior squad at Schalke 04 in 2015. Three years later, he earned a move to Paris Saint-Germain, but though he had a fine first season in the French capital, injuries prevented him from establishing himself as a regular starter later on. In 2022, he left to join West Ham for a reported fee of €12 million, and he has so far made 50 appearances for the Hammers in all competitions, helping them win the 2023 Europa Conference League.
This season, the 27-year-old spen…