Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain believes Schalke pose a threat if the Premier League champions allow the last-16 Champions League tie to be played on their opponents  terms.

Pep Guardiola s side were rewarded for winning their group with a trip to Gelsenkirchen in the first leg on February 20 – one of three Bundesliga-versus-Premier League ties after Liverpool and Tottenham were paired with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

Second in Germany s top flight last season, Schalke have struggled domestically this time around having lost star midfielder Leon Goretzka to Bayern and are languishing in 13th.

But, following a pair of tightly contested 2-1 wins over Hoffenheim in the group stage, former Barcelona winger Begiristain d…

Christian Eriksen made a memorable return to Parken by scoring while captaining Denmark to a 3-0 friendly victory over Serbia on Tuesday. 

Brentford midfielder Eriksen was playing at the stadium in Copenhagen for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest there during the Euro 2020 game against Finland last June. 

The 30-year-old, who had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator fitted, only returned to competitive action in February and was handed the captain s armband for the game by Kasper Schmeichel. 

Eriksen was welcomed to the pitch with a banner that read Welcome back, Christian and followed up his goalscoring comeback against the Netherlands last week with a fine curling effort from just outside the box in the 57th minute. It rounded off the win …

Market: Millwall win

Odds: 

Handed the chance to potentially finish the weekend in the play-off spots, Millwall will welcome Barnsley to South London on Saturday afternoon.

Starting with the hosts, making yet another statement and picking up a 1-0 win away at Derby last weekend, few across the Championship would have expected Millwall s resurge under Gary Rowett. Also shinning in their 2-1 win away at Bristol City earlier in the month, the South London outfit are in the midst of a seven-match unbeaten run that stems all the way back to the 2nd of November. Skyrocketing away from the drop zone and knowing that another victory on Saturday could see them break into the top-six, the mood around the Den only continues to soar. Also losing just a single matchup on hom…

James Tomkins has signed a new long term contract with West Ham United,.

Bar a brief loan spell with Derby County in 2008, the 25 year old has spent his entire career so far at Upton Park, racking up over two hundred appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals, and he is now set to stay at Upton Park until 2020.

Internationally, he has represented England at every level from U16 to U21, while he was also part of Great Britain’s squad for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

His last game for the Hammers came on Sunday afternoon, where his nose was broken following a clash with Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, though he is expected to start against Southampton on Wednesday evening.

Victory at St Mary’s would see Sam Allardyce’s me…

Jerome Boateng will not be returning to Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga champions have confirmed, despite returning to train with the his former club as a free agent.

Bayern are believed to be looking to sign a defender, whether in January or next summer, following the departure of Benjamin Pavard to Inter Milan. They were keen on Chelsea s Trevoh Chalobah, but no agreement was reached between the two clubs.

Boateng, who spent a fruitful decade wearing the Bayern shirt and made a total of 363 appearances for them in all competitions, has been a free agent since his contract with Olympique Lyon expired at the end of June this year.

Jerome Boateng will not be returning to the FC Bayern Munich squad. The club made this decision on Friday and informed the long-servin…

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has rejected the club s latest contract offer, describing it as unacceptable .

The Slovakia international is out of contract at the end of next season having been a regular feature at centre-back since arriving at Anfield from Zenit in 2008.

However, the 30-year-old s time with the club looks to be coming to an end after Skrtel turned down Liverpool s latest offer.

It s unacceptable for me, he told Slovakian website Aktualne.  I think that contracts like this are offered to players who are much older than me or the player who had some health problems.

The contract which has been offered to me is unacceptable, so I did not sign it.

I have one year left and there has been some speculation about the interest fr…

Egypt s team doctor has stated Mohamed Salah was still suffering with an injury when he played for Liverpool in the Champions League final.

Liverpool talisman Salah suffered an adductor injury in the FA Cup final win over Chelsea on May 14, and was unavailable for the Reds next Premier League fixture.

The forward came off the bench to score in a 3-1 win over Wolves on the final day before playing the full match against Real Madrid in Paris on May 28, though he was unable to inspire Liverpool to a seventh European crown as Vinicius Junior s second-half goal gave Los Blancos a 1-0 victory.

Salah then captained Egypt in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea on June 5.

After that match, Egypt coach Ehab Galal claimed Liverpool had asked Salah t…

Market: Stuttgart draw no bet

Odds: 20/21 @

Looking to extend on what has been a remarkable Bundesliga flurry this weekend, Stuttgart will make the trip to a struggling Union Berlin on Saturday afternoon.

Starting with the hosts, while Union Berlin might have gained a string of plaudits last season as they claimed a famous top-four finish, the Iron Ones have come crashing back down to earth since opening up the 2023/24 campaign. Last seen heading into October’s international break with an action-packed 4-2 loss against Borussia Dortmund, Urs Fischer’s side have come under increasing scrutiny. Losing their opening two Champions League appearances against Braga and Real Madrid respectively, the Reds have now lost each of their previous seven straight appearanc…

Best Odds: 21/10

Bookmaker:

Turning their attention back to Premier League duties on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United will welcome Leicester to Old Trafford.

Manchester United

Starting with the hosts, opening their Europa League knockout stage adventure with a thrilling 2-2 draw away at Spanish giants Barcelona in midweek, Manchester United are in the midst of a stellar purple patch. While the Premier League giants might have opened the 2022/23 campaign with a public wobble, they are now flying high under Erik ten Hag. Gaining immediate revenge on Leeds last weekend as they claimed a 2-0 victory at Elland Road, the former Ajax boss has seen his side gain a string of plaudits. While the Red Devils might still be seeking a minor miracle if they re to mount a f…

Manchester City will have to beat their own inconsistency first in order to beat the resilient Toffees and reach the Capital One Cup semi-finals. Everton are heading to the Etihad stadium with the 2-1 lead and will be looking to close the deal in the return leg.

Manchester City

The Citizens are desperate to go back to the Capital One Cup final once again after their victorious campaign two years ago, when they beat Sunderland to lift the trophy. The Blues will however have to over-turn the 2-1 deficit from the first semi-final leg against Everton who came out on top after goals from Ramiro Funes Mori and Romelu Lukaku. Manchester City have been pretty inconsistent lately, failing to notch back-to-back wins since the beginning of December. However, with the exception of the los…