Soccer (FIFA)

Soccer (FIFA)

Cementing their spot as one of Scotland's ultimate surprise packages this year, Jens Berthel Askou's men find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Snatching a late 1-1 draw at home against Rangers earlier in the week, the Lanarkshire-based outfit currently sit in fourth-place and they should be smelling the chance to make another statement here. Signing off January with a 2-0 victory away at Livingston, Motherwell are unbeaten in all of their previous seven appearances across all competitions.

However, although Jagoba Arrasate's side might find themselves at the heart of a relegation scrap, the Pirates should take some solace from their recent success on home soil. Last seen in front of their own supporters putting in a thumping performance as they cruised their way to a 4-1 romp against Sevilla, Mallorca have won three of their previous four showdowns in Palma.

Bayer Leverkusen climbed to fourth place in the Bundesliga after a commanding 4-0 win over relegation-threatened St. Pauli. Jarell Quansah and Patrik Schick struck early on at the BayArena, before second-half efforts from Edmond Tapsoba and Ernest Poku completed the rout. The hosts broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, when Quansah headed home Poku's dangerous cross via the underside of the crossbar.

I tossed and turned with the adrenaline. It was a late night, but it's always better when you win!

In a period where continuity and leadership can define a club's trajectory, Bayern Munich has chosen stability (at least for now) at the heart of their defense and belief in a player who has steadily grown into one of Europe's most complete center-backs. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen emphasized both development and unity when reflecting on the extension. "Dayot Upamecano has matured into a top-level player with us. We're delighted he'll continue his journey at Bayern, also proving once again our status in international football.

Risk is part of the sport. But depending on the score, the stage of the game, or the situation, you take more or less of it. And even when you make a mistake, the game isn't always over. I try to put it out of my mind as quickly as possible. It's not easy, but it's essential to keep going.

"I'm sorry that I gave away the penalty. We were playing well at that point. It didn't feel like a foul to me. There's always some contact in a tackle, but after looking at the footage and consulting VAR, that's how it turned out," said Lynen.

While nearly all the official NFL events were in San Francisco, fans still showed up in droves for events in the South Bay organized by the San Jose Sports Authority, Visit San Jose and the city of San Jose during the week leading up to the big game. A city report on foot traffic in downtown San Jose shows about 459,000 unique visitors to downtown from Jan. 31 through Feb. 8.

For Indian cricket fans travelling to Sri Lanka this weekend, the opportunity to watch their team take on archrivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup has come at the cost of inflated airfares, soaring hotel prices and a long wait for matchday tickets. But these are mere sacrifices that thousands are willing to make to witness the most heated rivalry in the sport as it unfolds on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Share Fun fact: When Bruno Guimaraes doesn't start, Newcastle tend not to win. They have only won of the 13 matches which the Brazilian midfielder has not started since his full debut in March 2022, losing six and drawing six. Today they were rocked by the news that he will miss at least eight matches with a hamstring injury.

Chelsea and Manchester City are reportedly both still keen to pursue the transfer of Igor Thiago despite him signing a new contract with Brentford. DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CAUGHTOFFSIDE APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY

But it is also an understandable response to an entity that has become a content machine, perfectly structured to meet the requirements of any moreishly successful streaming drama. Those requirements are: action that is endlessly repeatable but always essentially the same. Nothing ever really happens. But there is still a strong sense of things always happening. And the main characters must appear to be stuck together inexorably in the same space, at least until they can be replaced by others who are also stuck together in the same space.

Reports suggest that the youngster and his representatives have already engaged in discussions with a host of top-tier English clubs. Alongside Manchester United, both Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest are high on the list of suitors. Brighton, known for their world-class pathway for youth players, and Forest, who have been aggressive in their recent recruitment, are both providing compelling arguments for the defender to join their ranks.

Pep Guardiola spoke of the slog of the schedule and Manchester City went out and performed as if dog-tired, yet with only Phil Foden and Rayan Ait-Nouri having started Wednesday's win against Fulham, this was no excuse. City were abject and half-paced and in danger of being forced into extra time, at least, until Marc Guehi's 80th-minute close-range strike doubled the lead. It was his first goal for his new club.

Above all, we have to play for PSG in order to win matches. If we play as individuals on the pitch, it won't work, we won't win the titles we want. Last season, we put the club before everything else, before thinking about ourselves. We have to rediscover that, especially in these matches. We know we're in the second half of the season. And Paris Saint-Germain has to come first, not individual players.

In the WSL last night, Manchester City got back to winning ways with a dominant 6-0 victory against Leicester City, who currently sit at the bottom of the table. Vivianne Miedema scored twice, with Khadija Shaw, Yui Hasegawa, Kerolin and Aoba Fujino also adding to their goal tallies. Leicester now find themselves struggling in a relegation battle, with rivals Liverpool finding some form.

After what felt like 40 days and 40 nights of darkness and rain, the sun came out in Dublin. Cold, yes, and a grey day by kick-off but bright enough to throw light on an Ireland side scrambling for their footing, and a bullish Italy one looking to break new ground. Never having won a Six Nations game in Dublin might be the sort of statistic to weigh you down.

After a relatively inactive first half, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer left his team's match at halftime leading 2-0 after being seen chatting with the team doctor. Before exiting, Neuer completed 20 of 22 passes (91%) and had one run out, but no saves as he was not threatened by a toothless Werder Bremen attacking group. However, his early exit had fans wondering that was going on.

Liverpool look like the early frontrunners for Gordon, one source said. He grew up there, and his family are Liverpool fans despite him previously being at Everton. Liverpool's interest is strong, they've admired him for some time and there may already have been some informal contacts to assess the possibility of a move, another source told me. The problem is Newcastle will do everything they can to make life difficult for Liverpool again as they did with Alexander Isak.

In the city where a few handfuls of rupees were melted down to make the original Calcutta Cup, it was Scotland who lost their shape when the heat started to rise and the pressure to build. England won by five wickets and though it was, in the end, emphatic it was not exactly a rediscovery of peak form, even if Tom Banton appeared to have located his with a 41-ball 63 that powered his team to victory.

We are in talks with Ibou Konate over new deal so that tells you what we want, Slot said. It's clear we would like him to stay, negotiations are ongoing, let's see where that ends. We wouldn't be in negotiations if we didn't want him to stay! That certainly sounds encouraging for LFC, despite previous reports from the Athletic that there had still been no breakthrough in negotiations.

Clearly the Tottenham job was just not the right fit for Frank, but one imagines he might fare better at Selhurst Park. The expectations at Brentford and Spurs are very different, but Frank might be more suited to the kind of environment he'd find himself in if he were to take the Palace job. Admittedly, Glasner won't be an easy act to follow after the fine work he's done there, but it's easy to see why the club might view Frank as a strong candidate.

We want to win. You can't go out there aiming for a draw. We take the field to win; you don't prepare matches to draw. My focus is clear: to bring greater consistency to our performances and compete with conviction in every match.