Cristiano Ronaldo is looking to engineer a move away from Juventus with Manchester City his top priority, according to reports in France (L’Equipe).
The 36-year-old has been with Juve for the past three years after joining the club in the summer of 2018.
The Portuguese forward has scored 101 goals in 134 games for the Old Lady and has won two Scudettos, two Italian Super Cups and one Coppa Italia in his time there.
Ronaldo’s contract at the club expires next year and a move away may suit both parties as the Italian giants could get cashback for the former Real Madrid star.
He has been linked with a move to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain in recent weeks and has even publicly addressed the speculation surrounding him.
The all-time Portuguese national team top scorer did not start Juventus’ opening day draw with Udinese, playing 30 minutes from the bench.
The club’s Vice President Pavel Nedved spoke on the topic and is quoted by GFFN: “We are not going to try to create sensationalist stories when there are none. It was a decision we shared with the player. At the beginning of the season, he is naturally not at top form.”
Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is looking to get a part-swap deal that includes the striker’s countryman Bernardo Silva, who wants to leave the English champions.
Aymeric Laporte is another name mentioned that could be part of a deal but City boss Pep Guardiola has been impressed with him recently.
The Portuguese captain could be seen as an alternative to Harry Kane.
Mendes is confident that a deal can be done and that his star client can get his move.
It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will add to the exciting 2021 summer transfer window or if this saga will fail to come to fruition.
Manager Marcelo Bielsa appears to be very happy with his squad but competition will be needed to improve results this season
Leeds have finally gotten their first points of the season after a well-needed comeback draw against Everton. This came after a disappointing thrashing to Manchester United in the opening game of the season.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side improved on this with a strong performance beating Crewe 3-0 in the EFL Cup. In this game, the manager tried out a few rotation players and some in new positions. Although it was an easy victory some players did not seem as comfortable against such a lower league side.
The club is still linked with a few signings before the end of the deadline day. Could these signings push Leeds up a gear and compete for the top ten?
A young player with Premier League experience that Leeds have been linked heavily with is Josh Brownhill. The Burnley midfielder is being lined up as a backup for star Kalvin Phillips and could give some well-needed competition in the squad.
The rumors of this transfer going through have heated up in the last month with reports of Leeds making inquiries into the player in recent weeks.
It would not be a cheap investment with Brownhill being valued at an estimated £15 million.
Another likely signing for the Yorkshire club is Danish striker Mikkel Damsgaard. The young forward was thrust into the limelight after some great performances in Euro 2020 where Denmark reached the semifinals.
He currently plies his trade with Sampdoria in Serie A. If Leeds will want his signature, they will need to compete with Liverpool and Aston Villa in the transfer market.
The 21-year-old has an estimated market value of €20 million but would likely go for more.
Denmark break the deadlock thanks to an outstanding effort from Mikkel Damsgaard#ENGDEN#EURO2020#RTEsoccer
The Whites have also been looking at more experienced players to bulk up their squads. Bielsa has been looking at Man United’s Daniel James and Liverpool’s Divock Origi.
James had previously been linked with Leeds before signing for the Reds two years ago. Both signings would be more expensive for the club and it is likely that they might pursue a loan move to make sure they suit Bielsa’s system.
Wolverhampton v Man United – Preview, Lineups, Betting, TV Coverage
Wolves will host Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man United at Molineux on Gameweek 3 of the 2021/2022 Premier League season.
Wolves will go head-to-head with title contenders Manchester United on Sunday in what is a must-win game for the home side. While a win for United will keep them in contention for a possible title charge.
Wolves Retrospective
After current Tottenham manager Nuno Espírito Santos left Wolves at the back end of last season, he was replaced by Portuguese manager Bruno Lage.
The former Benfica coach has been in charge of Wolves past two league games. Seeing his squad lose to Leicester City and Tottenham, both by a 1-0 scoreline.
Still yet to score this season, they face tough opposition here, and is a must win game in some aspects. Starting of with 3 losses from 3 is not a particularly good start.
It os way to early for relegation talk, but a constant run of losses will fire them in that direction.
Manchester United Retrospective
After a great start to the new season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his squad had to settle for a 1-1 draw away to Southampton in a dull affair.
Falling behind to a Fred own goal, in form Mason Greenwood continued his impressive run of goals with the equaliser that saved them a point.
Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane are yet to make their full debut for the club and will bolster their defence and attack when they finally do start to get a continued run of games.
Date, kick-off time and venue
This game between West Ham United and Crystal Palace will kick-off at 4:30 pm BST (British Summer Time) on Sunday, August 29, 2021, at the Molineux Stadium.
Where to watch Wolves v Manchester United
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League starting at 4 pm.
Wolves v Manchester United team news
First team players Willy Boly is out with a thigh injury but may feature from the bench. While Pedro Lomba Neto is ruled out with a knee injury, with his return unconfirmed.
Marcus Rashford is still recovering from shoulder surgery, while Phil Jones, Alex Telles and Eric Bailly are all out.
Edison Cavani is set to make a return to action.
Wolves v Manchester United prediction
Wolves showed a lot of bravery and some good overall play against Tottenham, only losing to a penalty.
They should have come out with a draw with a one-on-one that was saved by Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris but came out with a loss.
Man United looked flat against Southampton and could not continue their hot form from their opening day win over Leeds.
In this game, I see Wolves knicking a win here. I believe both teams will score but I have that sly feeling an upset will happen.
Prediction: Wolves 2-1
Predicted Line-Up
Wolves Predicted XI – (3-4-3)
J. Sá, M. Kilman, C. Coady, R. Saiss, N. Semedo, R. Neves, J. Moutinho, Marcal, F. Trincao, R. Jiménez, A. Traore.
Manchester United XI – (4-2-3-1)
D, Gea, L. Shaw, H. Maguire, V. Lindelof, R. Varane, A. Wan-Bissaka, S. McTominay, Fred, P. Pogba, B. Fernandes, J. Sancho, M. Greenwood.
Wolverhampton v Man United – Preview, Lineups, Betting, TV Coverage
Betting Odds
Wolves To Win: 15/4
Draw: 12/5
Manchester United to Win: 3/4
For more news and stories on all things, Premier League clickhere.
West Ham United v Crystal Palace – Preview, Lineups, Betting, TV Coverage
West Ham United will host Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace at the London Stadium on the Gameweek 3 of the 2021/2022 Premier League season.
This game will be an interesting game for both teams. The last time these two sides met was in last season’s tie at Selhurst Park where David Moyes’s side came out 2-3 victors. West Ham also took 4 points from 6 from Crystal Palace in the 2020/2021 season.
West Ham United Retrospective
The Hammers enjoyed a surprisingly successful 2020/2021 season, finishing sixth, only missing out on Champions League football by 2 points.
This season so far, they have carried on last season’s fine form into their first two fixtures of the current season.
Beating Newcastle away from home 2-4 and on Monday night, hammering European hopefuls Leicester City 4-1 at home to go top of the Premier League with two wins from two.
Scoring 8 goals and conceding 3, they are one of few in-form teams that have carried on their impressive run from last season.
Michail Antonio has scored 3 goals in 2 games with a brace in their 4-1 win over Leicester being a standout.
David Moyes has turned a lot of people’s heads, turning West Ham from relegation favourites into European contenders.
Crystal Palace Retrospective
In his first competitive game as manager, Patrick Vieira oversaw his team lose 3-0 away to Chelsea.
Last week, during their first home game of the season, Palace drew 0-0 to newly-promoted Brentford at Selhurst Park.
Even at such an early stage, Palace and Vieira will be hoping for a win to kick start their season after an inevitable poor start.
They will now face off against an in-form West Ham United who will come into this match as heavy favourites and have home advantage.
Date, kick-off time and venue
This game between West Ham United and Crystal Palace will kick off at 3 pm BST (British Summer Time) on Saturday, August 28, 2021, at the London Stadium.
Where to watch West Ham United v Crystal Palace.
The game will not be televised live on any UK channel.
West Ham United v Crystal Palace team news
Winston Reid and Arthur Masuaku are major doubts for this game, with but sustaining knee injuries in recent weeks.
For Palace, Michael Olise is reportedly out until mid-September with a lower back injury.
While Eberechi Eze is suffering from lower leg problems and will be ruled out for the foreseeable future.
West Ham United v Crystal Palace prediction
Expect Crystal Palace to drag on their poor start to the Premier League with a loss here.
West Ham is in fine form and does not look like they are slowing down anytime soon with two impressive back to back victories, scoring 8 goals in the process.
With Michail Antonio scoring for fun and is on the verge of becoming West Ham’s all-time Premier League goalscorer, Palace and co should be fearful coming into this game.
Prediction: West Ham United 2-0
Predicted Line-Up
West Ham United Predicted XI – (4-2-3-1)
L. Fabianski, V.Coufal, C. Dawson, A. Ogbonna, A. Cresswell, T.Soucek, D. Rice, J. Bowden, P. Fornals, S. Benrahma, M. Antonio
Crystal Palace XI – (4-3-3)
V. Guaita, J. Ward, J. Andresen, M. Guehi, T. Mitchell, C. Gallagher, C. Kouyaté, J. McArthur, W. Zaha, C. Benteke, J. Schlupp.
West Ham United v Crystal Palace – Preview, Lineups, Betting, TV Coverage
Betting Odds
West Ham United To Win: 8/15
Draw: 14/5
Crystal Palace to Win: 5/1
For more news and stories on all things Premier League clickhere.
The Leicester star has been included in the national team’s squad to face Lithuania, Estonia and Switzerland.
The news comes after Brendan Rodgers said that the 33-year-old’s situation would be reassessed after the international break.
“It’s just ongoing with Jonny and the injury,” Rodgers said. “We said we would see where he’s at after the international break. He’s not near to playing as of yet.”
The Northern Irish centre-half has been struggling with a foot problem for several months and initially pulled up on it in a Premier League game against Newcastle United but was passed fit for the cup final.
Baraclough has vowed not to risk the defender’s long-term fitness during the September international break.
“Jonny is definitely going to be a doubt but I wasn’t going to name the squad without him if there was a small chance he was going to be involved,” said the boss. “He hasn’t started training with Leicester yet so it is a big ask for him to be involved but through conversations with him and Brendan, we all know the situation.
“Nobody is going to put him at risk when he’s not quite ready and gamble on him. If he can play a small part in the 10 days that we have together, we’ll give him every chance of that.
“We hope that we see him back fit and playing. We’d like to have him among our ranks, Leicester certainly would like him to be involved in their campaign so fingers crossed, but it is a doubt, I have to say.”
Ireland’s Colin Judge fell to Chinese table tennis star Zhao Ping in the first round of Group G of the Class 3 men’s singles event at the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The World number six made it difficult for Judge from the start and his nerves showed as he surrendered the first set 11-6.
The Dubliner got into the game and took it to Zhao in the second set, pulling one back and forcing a third set to determine the winner.
The Paralympian was level with Zhao late in the second set with a win needed to stay in the game.
Judge produced an impressive finish to keep himself in contention, scoring multiple points on the bounce to set up a promising final set.
However, it was not to be for the Irishman, as Zhao won the deciding set as comfortable as he took the first – an 11-6 victory.
The Paralympic athlete can still progress in the event if Zhao wins his second match of the tournament this evening against Brazilian Welder Knaf.
Zhao will play Knaf at 4:00 am Irish Standard Time – Judge will face Knaf after this match in his second match of the Paralympic games regardless of the result.
To see how Ireland’s other Paralympians performed on the first day, click here.
Team Ireland had their first cyclist in action at the Tokyo Games this morning with Richael Timothy taking part in the pursuit
Richael Timothy – C3 3000m Individual Pursuit
Timothy took to the Velodrome for the qualifying rounds of women’s individual pursuit just after 02:15 in the morning. The Irish woman came onto the track for heat three and lined up against Austria’s Yvonne Marzinke.
This race would be made up of 12 laps of the track completing a 3000m race. Most athletes will be going at speeds nearing 40 kilometers per hour. The eight fastest riders would go into a medal race later today.
Timothy had a tough prospect ahead of her after she saw China’s cyclist break the Paralympic record in the C1 category on the first run of the day.
Timothy started strongly and established a good lead in the opening laps. She flew around the track and by 2000 meters she lapped her Austrian opponent.
She was unlucky that she had to overtake Marzinke on a bend, losing out on some time, making it a longer journey for her.
The Roscommon woman finished the three kilometers in a time of 4:11.699, the fastest at that time and a new personal best for herself. She cycled at an impressive average speed of 42.99 km/hr throughout the race.
Timothy remained in the medal places until the final three heats. These six athletes happened to be very fast with Australia’s Paige Greco setting a new world record with a 3:52.283 time.
The Irish woman finished in ninth place overall only a few seconds off the top eight. Timothy still has a busy Paralympics ahead of her and will next compete on Day Three in the C1-3 500m Time Trial.
Richael Timothy will kick things off for Ireland in Tokyo in the early hours of the morning (02:00am) as she competes in the 3000M Individual Pursuit.
Team Ireland had three swimmers in the pool in the early morning of Day One of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Starting just after 01:00 in the morning, Ireland’s swimmers began their Paralympic journey in the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.
Barry McClements – S9 400m Freestyle Heat 2
McClements lined up in lane seven of a strong heat. The 19-year-old began fast, making the first turn in third. Australia’s Tuckfield quickly burst away from the pack as the Irishman battle for a top-three finish.
By the halfway mark, he had dropped into fourth by milliseconds from Italy’s competitor. McClements began to tire in the outside lane coming into the final 100m.
The Down man finished the race in fifth place in a time of 4:27.11 which was a personal best for him at his debut Paralympic Games. This ranked him as the first reserve for the final that is later today.
This is Turner’s second Paralympic Games as she lined up in a heat with strong competitors. She got off to a decent start settling in with the rest of the pack in the quick race.
By the end of the length of the pool, Turner finished in fifth place in 35.47 seconds. This time set a new personal best for the swimmer. The Laois woman now moves onto the next race later today.
Ní Ríaín, although in a good first heat, came in with high hopes starting in lane six. She is Ireland’s youngest athlete at this Paralympics at 16 years old.
From the start, she was pushing for the top. After a fast first length, she found herself in third place as four swimmers pulled away up top.
Ní Ríaín only continued to speed up in the final length and was very close to taking second place in the heat. She finished in a time of 1:08.18.
After the remaining heats, she finished in eighth place overall qualifying for the final later today. She stands less than two seconds behind a medal place, now wanting to go one step further.
At 16-years old, Róisín Ní Riain will make her #Paralympics debut as the youngest member of the @ParalympicsIRE squad. The talented swimmer made her International Championship debut earlier in May where she won bronze in the S13 backstroke! pic.twitter.com/hpe2lpdLAx
Robertson has played 177 times for the Reds, scoring 5 times and assisting 37 times in the four years he has spent at the club.
The Scotsman has won four trophies with Liverpool – the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Premier League.
The left-back finalised the deal at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday and spoke to Liverpoolfc.com of his delight in doing so.
“Obviously when the negotiations started and it looked as if my future was going to be here longer term than what it was, then I think it’s no secret that I’m happy at this club,” Robertson told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I want to stay at this club for as long as possible and to extend my stay, it’s always a happy time for me, for my family. We’re settled here, we love everything about this football club and I’m glad that the journey is continuing.”
Since joining the Reds from Hull City in the summer of 2017, Robertson has established himself as a core member of Jürgen Klopp’s side.
The 27-year-old becomes the fifth member of Klopp’s squad to commit his future to Liverpool in recent weeks, following Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.
Robertson continued: “When you sign for a massive club, I still remember the day as if it was yesterday when I signed here and obviously you have ambitions to become a regular player for Liverpool, to win trophies for this club, to do everything else but the way it’s gone has been excellent.
“But since the very start of my career I’ve always been one to look forward: that’s in the past, that’s something that I can sit down with the people who want to listen to me when I’ve hung up my boots and retired and I can tell them all the stories that we’ve already made.
“But I’m certainly one, and I know a lot of people in this training ground just now are people to look forward and people [who want] to create more history, more stories. Hopefully people get bored of me when I’ve retired and I can sit down for hours and hours and tell them about all the stories!
“They’re certainly building up but I want to make more and obviously hopefully starting with this season. We want to achieve more, we want to bring hopefully more trophies, more happiness to this club.
“The only way of doing that is by working hard and having the same application that we have done since day one.”
Ulster Rugby will allow 10,000 fans to attend their pre-season friendly against RFU Championship winners Saracens on Friday, September 3.
The eagerly-anticipated clash against the five-time Premiership and three-time Heineken Champions Cup winners will be played in front of the largest crowd at the home of Ulster Rugby since the February 2020 win over Toyota Cheetahs.
All of those in attendance will have to have Ulster season tickets for the upcoming 2021/22 season – no individual tickets for the match will be on sale.
There will be no enforced social distancing for the fixture so season ticket holders will be able to sit in their own seat or stand on their allocated terrace for the match.
However, each terrace will operate to 30% of normal capacity to provide some social distancing in busy areas.
Furthermore, a socially distanced area will be available as an option for those who would like to socially distance themselves.
A section of the AbbeyAutoline Family Stand will be held for those who would prefer to sit in a socially distanced area.
The food village will be in operation for the game but no stadium bars will be open, except for table service in hospitality.
If you wish to become a season ticket holder ahead of the clash, there will be two priority windows in advance of this fixture for people to secure their season tickets.
2020/21 #TogetherUlster Members will have access to a Season Ticket priority window from 10 am on Tuesday 24 August until 10 am on Wednesday 25 August.
Those who have signed up to the Season Ticket waiting list before 5 pm on Tuesday 24 August will have access to a priority window from 10 am on Wednesday 25 August until 5 pm on Tuesday 31 August.
Both of these groups will be emailed their exclusive priority booking link at the time the respective windows open.
Ulster Rugby will have measures in place for the fixture in order to ensure a safe return of supporters.
Staggered entry and exit times will be utilised to avoid queueing and congestion.
Digital tickets will be accepted to provide contactless and secure entry through the turnstiles.
An alternative option to print your match tickets at home is also available.
There will be enhanced cleaning to disinfect busy areas pre and post-match and automated hand sanitising units have been fitted to turnstiles and stands.
Face coverings must be worn when moving around the stadium and in any indoor areas – the latter areas will have increased ventilation.
Numbers entering toilets will be controlled by stewards and one-way systems will be in operation where possible.
Ulster Rugby would also advise that anyone attending the fixture should test themselves using Rapid COVID-19 tests before they attend, and on days 2 and 8 after the event, in order to identify any positive cases and allow them to self-isolate.
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