Best Odds: 19/20

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Looking to finish off the job on Wednesday night and book their spot in the final of this year s EFL Cup, Chelsea will make the trip to rivals Tottenham on Wednesday night.

Tottenham

Starting with the hosts, while Tottenham might have managed to extend on their FA Cup adventure over the weekend, Spurs will know that they avoided a major upset on home soil. Having to mount a late comeback after falling 1-0 down to League One relegation scrappers Morecambe, Antonio Conte has been vocal about the level of his squad over the past week. Although the Lilywhites might have found an immediate boost under the former Chelsea boss, they have once again shown some recent signs of an issue. Hit with a deserved 2-0 defeat when they made the trip t…

Nemanja Matic insists reports he had a bad relationship with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho were written by idiots .

Mourinho parted company with Chelsea last week after the Premier League champions lost nine of their opening 16 league matches.

There were persistent rumours of dressing-room unrest throughout a difficult campaign for Chelsea and the club s technical director Michael Emenalo cited a  palpable discord between manager and players as one of the reasons for Mourinho s exit.

Matic is one such player who is rumoured to have fallen out with Mourinho as the Serbia international struggles to replicate the form that made him such a key part of Chelsea s title success last season.

However, Matic says he and Mourinho merely laughed at th…

Lionel Messi and his father Jorge will begin their trial over tax fraud charges on May 31, the Catalan Superior Court of Justice has confirmed.

The Barcelona star and his father have been charged with three counts of tax fraud worth €4.1 million dating back to a period of time between 2007 and 2009 and has had his trial date confirmed as being between May 31 and June 3.

Messi had been set to avoid a trial on the grounds that Jorge Messi was apparently responsible for his son s tax obligations.

However, the state attorney later opted to overrule the advice of prosecutors and ordered both to appear in the Eighth Court of Barcelona.

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Pepe Reina has joined Como, whose preparations are under way for their first Serie A campaign in 21 years.

Como, coached by former Spain, Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas, gained promotion back to Italy s top tier last season by finishing second in Serie B.

And they have made 41-year-old goalkeeper Reina their seventh signing of the summer transfer window.

Ex-Liverpool, Napoli and Bayern Munich shot-stopper Reina, who played alongside Fabregas for Spain, joins Como after leaving Villarreal, where he had spent the last two seasons.

Como 1907 is pleased to announce the signing of Pepe Reina until June 2025.

An experienced goalkeeper, Reina has defended the goals of Barcelona, Villareal, Liverpool, Napoli, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Aston…

manager Jürgen Klopp says his club is ready to spend big money in the summer, and insists they can compete financially with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United.

Until quite recently, Liverpool s record signing was Andy Carroll, a target-man type striker whom they signed in 2011 for £35 million from Newcastle. In the last two transfer windows, they broke through that barrier no less than four times with the signings of Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita. While Keita is set to join the club officially on July 1st,  Salah and van Dijk have been an instant hit this season and Oxlade-Chamberlain is starting to find his feet.

As , Klopp repeated what he s been saying since his arrival at the club that it s not about spen…

Prediction: Cristiano Ronaldo first goalscorer

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Spain get their already-tumultuous World Cup underway on Friday night as they take on reigning European champions Portugal at the Fisht Olympic Stadium.

The 2010 champions kick-off their tournament without Julen Lopetegui and begin with a difficult task against Cristiano Ronaldo s men in Group B in Russia.

Portugal

The Portuguese arrive in Russia in excellent form having finished top of their qualification group. Fernando Santos men won nine out of their ten games to reach the tournament, only falling to a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland on the opening matchday. Despite that, the squad have not been in the best form since claiming their ticket to the World Cup. In seven warm-up matches …

Chelsea are moving fast to sign goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal, according to Fabrizio Romano, as they seek for a suitable candidate to compete against Robert Sanchez for the spot between the posts in Enzo Maresca s team.

Chelsea s initial offer for the services of the 22-year-old stood at around €20 million, and though it hasn t been accepted outright, the talks between the clubs are progressing. Jorgensen is keen on moving to Stamford Bridge and his representatives have already accepted their proposal of a long-term contract.

Nonetheless, Chelsea have a very good reason to want this transfer wrapped up as soon as possible, with Olympique Marseille interested in Jorgensen as well. The Ligue 1 side have also made contact, and Villarreal might opt to wait to…

Mehdi Taremi wasted a gilt-edged chance after Karim Ansarifard s penalty had thrown Iran a lifeline, but Portugal survived with a 1-1 draw to make the World Cup last 16 despite Cristiano Ronaldo s missed spot-kick in a match dominated by VAR.

The usually prolific Ronaldo was off target with a 53rd-minute penalty, awarded after a video-assisted review, as Portugal failed to build on Ricardo Quaresma s first-half stunner in the crucial Group B contest.

That miss from Ronaldo, who was perhaps fortunate not to see red for another VAR check after swinging an arm into the face of Morteza Pouraliganji, was punished when Cedric Soares was pinged for handball after referee Enrique Caceres again went to his video monitor.

Unlike Ronaldo, Ansarifard made no mistake with a p…

Arsenal are closing in on an agreement with Chelsea over the proposed transfer of Kai Havertz, according to David Ornstein of .

The two clubs are currently working on defining the structure of a deal worth £65 million; at this point, it s all about potential installments and the percentage of the total amount being covered by add-ons. The personal terms have already been agreed between Arsenal and Havertz, and the medical preceding the completion of the transfer is expected to take place soon.

The 24-year-old Germany international is a fully versatile attacker, capable of playing on either side, as a central striker (which is where he mostly played for Chelsea), or behind a striker as a No.10. Chelsea, who are said to be on the lookout for a classic No.9, are willing t…

Son Heung-min scored twice as Tottenham climbed to the Group D summit with a 3-2 victory over 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.

Antonio Conte s side fell behind to Daichi Kamada at an emotional Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Spurs were playing their first home match since the death of former fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone.

But the hosts responded with Son netting either side of a Harry Kane penalty and ran out victors despite late drama that saw Faride Alidou pull one back and Kane miss a second penalty against the Europa League champions, who earlier had Tuta sent off for two bookable offences.

Tottenham move top of Group D following Marseille s victory over Sporting CP, while Eintracht slip to the bottom of the pool.

class.

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