Borussia Dortmund confirm Fullkrug talks as Couto signs from Man City

Dean Smith will be a very proud man when he leads Aston Villa out at Wembley after they dramatically beat Leicester City 2-1 to earn a place in the EFL Cup final.

The game at Villa Park looked destined for extra time after Kelechi Iheanacho cancelled out Matt Targett s opener to make it 1-1 on Tuesday and 2-2 on aggregate.

However, Trezeguet steered home a right-wing cross from Ahmed El Mohamady on the volley in stoppage time to spark scenes of jubilation, with fans invading the pitch following the final whistle.

Villa, who last won the trophy in 1996 and were runners-up in 2010, are likely to face Manchester City in the showpiece, with Pep Guardiola s side holding a 3-1 aggregate lead over Manchester United ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednes…

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With their spot as league leaders entering 2019 already confirmed, Jurgen Klopp s high-flyers will welcome Arsenal to Anfield on Saturday evening.

Liverpool

Starting with the hosts, now holding a six-point buffer over Tottenham at the top of the table, Liverpool have confirmed their spot as league leaders entering 2019 and many believe it is now their title to lose. Still the only team in England yet to be beaten in the Premier League this season, the Reds are 16 points better off than at this stage last season. Along with holding the best defensive record in the top-flight, Jurgen Klopp will also be impressed by his sides stellar record at Anfield. They are undefeated in 30 Premier League home games,…

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has jokingly questioned whether his Manchester United takeover rival Sheikh Jassim even exists after completing the purchase of a minority stake in the Red Devils.

Ratcliffe and Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim were the two public bidders looking to take full control of United from the Glazer family which has owned the club since 2005, before Ratcliffe’s focus switched to securing a smaller stake.

His Ineos company now controls football operations as part of a deal which will see him own 28.9 per cent of the club by the year’s end.

Reflecting on the long road to the completion of the deal, Ratcliffe admitted he did find it strange that there was an apparent lack of interest in buying United in comparison to when Chelsea came onto the market …

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has signed for Championship side Stoke City. 

The ex-Nigeria captain spent the 2018-19 season in England s second tier with Middlesbrough before joining Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor. 

However, Mikel left the club in March after expressing concerns about the league s decision to continue playing matches as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in Europe. 

He is Stoke s fourth signing during the off-season, following Morgan Fox, James Chester and Steven Fletcher to the bet365 Stadium. 

We re delighted to bring John to the club. His playing career speaks for itself and underlines his calibre as a player, manager Michael O Neill said. 

I was really impressed with him when we met for the firs…

Ajax dumped Juventus out of the Champions League as a stunning 2-1 second-leg victory at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday completed a famous 3-2 quarter-final triumph.

Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt scored either side of half-time to overturn Cristiano Ronaldo s opener and send the Eredivisie side through to the last four of the competition for the first time since 1997.

The Bianconeri appeared on course to progress after Ronaldo, on target in last week s 1-1 draw in Amsterdam, nodded them ahead in contentious circumstances.

But Erik ten Hag s thrilling young side took command thereafter and collected another high-profile scalp having already ended Real Madrid’s reign in the previous round.

Ajax lost Noussair Mazraoui, deputising for suspended le…

As Inter Milan look to extend their buffer at the top of the Serie A table, there are a handful of eye-catching Italian affairs on the cards this week.

With five fixtures from across Serie A and Serie B respectively, we have taken a glance at a pair of intriguing Italian betting tips from Wednesday night.

19:30 Venezia vs Cittadella

While Venezia might have eventually fallen short in their bid to punch a play-off ticket last season, Wednesday’s hosts are sat in the driving seat to book a Serie A return in 2024. Opening up Wednesday’s showdown battling it out in the top-two chase, Paolo Vanoli’s men will be smelling the chance to lay down another marker here.

Last seen over the weekend picking up a dramatic 2-1 win away at Pisa, the Winged Lions h…

Jose Mourinho believes the Premier League table means little so early in the season despite Tottenham s fine start to the campaign.

Tottenham are sixth in the table – two points behind leaders Everton – ahead of hosting Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.

Spurs have lost just one of their opening six league games and have netted more goals (16) than anyone else, leading to suggestions they could challenge for the title.

But Tottenham head coach Mourinho said it was too early to make judgments based on the standings.

I believe the table now doesn t mean much. I believe that by February, March, you look to the table and understand the reality of the competition, he said.

A part of that special season with a special Leicester [in 2015-16], a pa…

Cristiano Ronaldo s performance will be decisive when Juventus meet Milan in a huge Serie A clash on Wednesday, says Andrea Pirlo.

The Juve forward has racked up 14 goals in 11 Serie A games this season, netting a double and adding an assist in Sunday s 4-1 thumping of Udinese.

Pirlo will take charge of a match against Milan, with whom he spent a decade as a player and won the Champions League twice, for the first time.

Despite Ronaldo s form, Juve sit 10 points adrift of impressive leaders Milan, albeit the Bianconeri have a game in hand. 

From the beginning we have tried to exploit Cristiano for his characteristics, clarity and incisiveness in the final third, said Juve boss Pirlo ahead of the San Siro battle.

Is he decisive? Of course, as he…

Having spent much of his time as Manchester United manager promising to do so, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finally unleashed the kids in their Europa League opener against Astana.

Mason Greenwood, Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes were all given their first starts of the season, while Axel Tuanzebe lined up in defence after making only one substitute appearance since returning from a fruitful loan spell.

As a contest, it certainly was not as straightforward as Solskjaer would have hoped, as United made hard work of overcoming the Kazakh champions.

Yet Solskjaer s experimenting was just about vindicated by Greenwood getting the only goal of the game 17 minutes from time the forward bailing out his more experienced team-mates on a frustrating evening at Old Trafford.

N…

Neymar, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland are among the most notable players to have missed out on the top 10 of the Ballon d Or.

The first 20 names from the 30-man shortlist have been announced, with Haaland just failing to break in at 11th, while Neymar is 16th and Harry Kane is down in 23rd.

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, who led Inter to their first Serie A title in 10 years last season, is just behind Haaland in 12th, while Manchester United s Bruno Fernandes did not make the top 20, finishing joint-21st in the voting.

Of players from Europe s top five leagues, only Bayern Munich centre-forward and Ballon d Or favourite Robert Lewandowski scored more goals in all competitions than Haaland s 38, which the Norway forward netted at a rapid rate of one every 87.66…