We are now a full week into Euro 2024, and the tournament continues to serve up plenty of entertainment – sometimes in the places fans least expect.
While there was nothing to separate the Netherlands and France in a dour goalless draw on Friday, Austria put on a show in Group D s other match, eliminating Poland with a 3-1 win.
Earlier on, there were emotional scenes as Ukraine claimed their first major tournament win since Euro 2020, fighting back to beat Slovakia 2-1 in Group C.
There was also plenty more happening away from the pitch, and we run through the best of the day s content here, in our social media round-up.
Tears of joy for Ukraine
Ukraine s first game at the tournament fell flat as they were thrashed 3-0 by Romania, and they were…
Barcelona suffered their first LaLiga defeat of the season after going down 4-2 against Osasuna at Estadio El Sadar.
Ante Budimir scored twice, while Bryan Zaragoza and substitute Abel Bretones were also on target for the hosts, who claimed their first league win over the Blaugrana in nine attempts.
Osasuna were unbeaten in their six previous home league games and took an 18th-minute lead when Budimir nodded home from Zaragoza s cross.
The latter, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, doubled the advantage 10 minutes later when he rounded off a swift counter.
Pau Victor halved the deficit eight minutes after the restart, but Budimir s 72nd-minute penalty put the hosts back in control, before Bretones made it 4-1 with seven minutes remaining.
Lamine Y…
PSV Eindhoven are in talks with Ivan Perisic over the possibility of the Croatian winger joining the club as a free agent, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Perisic, 35, has had an extremely illustrious career. Having started as a youthful talent at Hajduk Split, he played for Sochaux in France, and KSV Roeselare and Club Brugge in Belgium, before moving to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund in 2011. He spent 18 months there and 18 months at Wolfsburg, and made a notable mark over four years with Inter Milan. He had a loan spell with Bayern Munich, winning the 2020 Champions League with the Bavarians. He then returned to Inter and spent another two years there, before leaving as a free agent to join Tottenham Hotspur. In January this year, he returned on loan to Hajduk and signed a …
Lionel Messi finally secured his holy grail this weekend as Argentina claimed a 1-0 win over bitter rivals Brazil at the Maracana to lift the Copa America.
The six-time Ballon d Or winner has cleaned up time and again with club side Barcelona but major honours at international level had repeatedly proved elusive.
Germany beat the Albiceleste 1-0 after extra time in the 2014 World Cup final, after which Messi was named player of the tournament – a much disputed award given he appeared to be shadow of himself during the closing knockout stages.
The same could not be said when the 34-year-old lifted the individual gong in Rio. Although he was not Argentina s standout performer in the final, Messi was a man on a mission who would not be denied throughout the com…
Fifty-four passes. In two minutes and 41 seconds of unbroken possession during the closing stages of their Euro 2020 semi-final win over Denmark, England moved to the brink of a 2-1 win in beautifully assured fashion with a 54-pass move. Over the course of the entire additional half hour, they completed 198 passes – more than the Three Lions managed in the entirety of the 1-0 Euro 2000 win over Germany.
Thirty-eight passes. Five days later in the final, Gareth Southgate s team could only manage 38 successful passes in the entire first half of extra time against Italy. That ticked up to 47 during the final 15 minutes of the 1-1 draw but still stood in stark contrast to the supreme example of modern, pro-active game management from the preceding midweek.
Southgate has o…
Tottenham s Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick at Villa last time out and will be looking to add to his tally at Sunderland on Saturday
This weekend’s Premier League action kicks-off at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland host Tottenham in the early kick-off on Saturday.
The hosts surprised champions Manchester City 1-0 last time out and have now claimed two consecutive victories.
The Black Cats face a tough challenge on Saturday though against high-flying Spurs.
The visitors are fourth in the Premier League table, after winning 4-0 at Aston Villa courtesy of a hat-trick from Gareth Bale. Andre Villas-Boas’ side could go third in the table with a win in the north east.
Aston Villa have conceded 12 goals in their last two Premier League games a…
Selecting quarterbacks in the first round of the NFL draft is not an exact science.
No matter how much homework a team does on a potential draft pick, there are a ton of variables that can play a part in a player’s development (or lack thereof).
Just ask the Indianapolis Colts if they want a do-over on their 1990 first-overall selection Jeff George. Or if the Raiders want to rethink selecting JaMarcus Russell first overall in a draft that featured Hall of Famers Calvin Johnson (No. 2) and Joe Thomas (No. 3). Oh and some guy named Adrian Peterson was taken at No. 7.
This brings us to the San Francisco 49ers and their extremely big reach on Trey Lance with the third overall pick in the 2021 draft.
The Niners appeared set at QB wit…
The NFL season is past the midway point and with it comes a ton of opportunistic prop markets. We’re looking into every market to uncover some of the week’s best side, team, player, and derivative prop bets. We do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to!
Week 13 is here and we’re looking at a pair of running backs who have the keys to the offense, a tight end taking over No. 1 duties, and fading a backup quarterback.
We bring you our favorite free prop picks and predictions for Week 13.
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In another potential snoozefest Thursday, the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears will try to make us forget about last week’s TNF game.
This should be a very close game with the lowest total of Week 6 and the Bears sitting as 1-point home favorites. There is some value in betting on a heavy rushing approach from both sides which could also mean more field goals.
Find out in my free NFL prop picks for Thursday Night Football between the Commanders vs. Bears.
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Week 4 of the NFL season concludes on Monday with a Monday Night Football showdown between Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants. The Seahawks enter with a 2-1 record but a Bottom 5 defense in most major defensive categories. Can they keep a terrible Giants offense at bay? Or will Daniel Jones find a way to nickle and dime his way to victory. NFL odds favor the Seahawks slightly at -1.5, but the Giants should put up a good fight.
While there are a number of different subscription-based TV channels and streaming services available to watch this game… did you know that you can also live stream Seahawks/Giants directly from legal sports betting sites?
Caesars, BetRivers, and Fanatics Sportsbook are three of our most trusted NFL betting sites — and th…