Thursday Night Football will be the backdrop for the final preseason tune-up for the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans. The visiting 49ers enter as 3.5-point favorites as both teams are expected to run their starters out to begin the game.
Both teams won’t begin the regular season until September 11. Find out where my best bet lies in our free NFL picks and predictions for 49ers vs. Texans on August 25.
Sami Khedira is not in the Germany squad for their Nations League opener against France, but Joachim Low says the Juventus midfielder remains available.
Khedira is the headline absentee from the Low s first selection since Germany were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage.
Leroy Sane was omitted from the Russia 2018 squad, but the Manchester City winger returns, while Thilo Kehrer, Kai Havertz and Nico Schulz have received their maiden call-ups.
Jonathan Tah of Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg striker Nils Petersen are back in the squad after missing out on the World Cup.
Arsenal star Mesut Ozil is out after retiring from international football, but Sane s City team-mate Ilkay Gundogan keeps his place after apologising for the pair meeting Turkey…
Hakan Calhanoglu is determined to reward AC Milan for the faith they have shown in him after he joined the club following a FIFA ban.
The Turkey international was suspended for four months after it was deemed he had breached a contract with Trabzonspor, a club he had agreed to join in 2011, only to extend his stay with Karlsruher SC.
That ruled him out of Bayer Leverkusen s Bundesliga campaign from February onwards and has fuelled the 23-year-old s desire to hit the ground running at San Siro.
I want to thank you for making this transfer happen and trusting in me. I want to give a lot back, he told Milan TV.
The last four months have been hard for me, but I am very happy to be here in Milan. I want to give my best performance for the fans, the club and …
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon does not expect Gareth Bale to leave the club but says the forward s future will depend on the whims of current chief Florentino Perez.
Bale joined Real in September 2013 for a world-record transfer fee and helped them win the UEFA Champions League in his first season at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, Bale has been hampered by injuries this campaign and the subject of much criticism from media and fans for his performances, leading to speculation he could leave for Manchester United.
Calderon, Real president from 2006 to 2009, told the International Business Times: It [Bale s future] will depend on the whims of the president [Perez].
But you have to have in mind that he protects much the players that he si…
Dedryck Boyata will join Hertha Berlin after his Celtic contract expires at the end of June, the Bundesliga side have confirmed.
Belgium international Boyata joined Celtic from Manchester City in 2015 and made 135 appearances for the Scottish club, including 32 outings this season.
But with his contract at Parkhead up at the end of the campaign, Hertha handed the 28-year-old a long-term deal.
Boyata told his new team s official website: I am pleased that the deal has worked out. It is an ambitious club and we have similar goals.
I am looking forward to the new season and want to achieve something with the club.
Boyata has not played for Celtic since March because of a knee injury and was not part of their squad for Sunday s Scottish Premier Le…
Mesut Ozil rejected crazy offers from Asian clubs worth a reported £1million a week to stay at Arsenal, according to his agent.
The 30-year-old agreed to a new deal with the Gunners in February which is said to be worth in the region of £300,000 per week, after months of speculation over his future.
His representative, Dr Erkut Sogut, has denied money was the main problem during protracted negotiations with the club and suggested Ozil could have earned world-record sums had he agreed to move away from north London.
We had some really big offers from Asia. There were some crazy offers, he told Standard Sport. But, for Mesut, money was by no means the biggest factor.
Money is definitely one important thing to consider, but people must remember that f…
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola accepts the pressure is on to deliver silverware this season if he is to keep his job at the Premier League heavyweights.
City have enjoyed a flying start to the season in their bid to build on the titles won in 2011-12 and 2013-14, top of the table ahead of neighbours Manchester United on goal difference.
But after failing to land a trophy in his first season in England after arriving from German champions Bayern Munich, expectations are high on Guardiola to deliver this time around.
And the former Barcelona boss is clear on what it will take to remain in charge.
I cannot deny it is to win titles. Everybody expects that, Guardiola told BBC s Gary Lineker on The Premier League Show.
We are going to be judge…
Paul Scholes has been fined £8,000 by the Football Association (FA) after admitting to breaching betting rules.
Former Manchester United and England star Scholes was charged in April in respect to 140 bets placed on football matches between August 2015 and January 2019.
Scholes brief tenure as manager of League Two club Oldham Athletic began in February this year but he fell foul of FA regulations because the bets in question took place when he was a director of Salford City.
Alongside former United team-mates Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and David Beckham, Scholes owns a stake in Salford, who were promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history last season.
Eight of Scholes bets were placed on FA Cup matches, a…
Newcastle United are lining up a loan move for Everton winger Aaron Lennon, according to ESPN.
The former Tottenham Hotspur man has made just nine Premier League starts this season and is set to move down the pecking order following the signing of Theo Walcott and the return to fitness of Yannick Bolasie.
Since signing from Spurs, initially on loan during the 2014/15 campaign Lennon has racked up seventy-seven appearances in all competitions, scoring nine goals.
Prior to his move to Merseyside he spent almost a decade at White Hart Lane, playing three hundred and sixty-four times and scoring thirty goals.
He has been capped twenty-one times for England and played at both the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany and the 2010 World Cup finals in South Afr…
Marko Arnautovic is focused again on delivering for Bologna after he was linked with a remarkable move to Manchester United earlier this month.
The Austria international returned to Europe from the Chinese Super League last year, swapping Shanghai Port for the Serie A outfit ahead of the 2021-22 campaign as he signed a two-year deal.
A fine run of form last season saw him net 15 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions and attract the attention of United, who are managed by his former coach Erik ten Hag.
But the left-field bid from the Premier League giants was widely questioned, with the backlash seemingly warning United off a deal.
Speaking ahead of the new Serie A season, Arnautovic sought to move on swiftly from the episode as he looks ahead to …
Competition: La Liga
Market: Valencia to beat Deportivo La Coruna
Odds:
Spain s top league returns for yet another round of games that will surely bring more goals, excitement and controversy. The table has remained very tight with the exception of Barcelona at the top, meaning that a win can quite often see a side climb up a number of places, and with this in mind, Valencia travel to face Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Deportivo La Coruna have been struggling this season and they are in need of a number of wins to get out of the situation they have found themselves in. After 18 games they have just four wins, while they have drawn four times and lost 10 games, scoring 20 goals and conceding 35 times. In their last five they have won once, dr…