Month: October 2024

While it isn’t quite regular season football, it feels amazing to have our favorite sport back when the Lions take on the Giants on Thursday.

The Lions reached the Conference Championships last season, while the Giants had a terrible 6-11 season. However, this is a fresh year and both teams are looking to the future.

Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for the Lions vs Giants.

Lions vs Giants prediction

My best betGiants -3.5 (-105 at BetMGM)

My analysisYou never really know what to expect to in preseason and the Detroit Lions trip to MetLife to face the New York Giants is even trickier to call than usual. Ordinarily, we’d look at how both coaches have treated preseason previously but neither Dan Camp…

Carlo Ancelotti admitted that Jude Bellingham was “not at his best” in the first leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich, but backed him to come good in the return game at the Bernabéu next week.

Ancelotti revealed that Bellingham was suffering from cramp and fatigue during the game, a problem that has often afflicted him in the past, and one that led to his substitution here after 75 minutes.

Vinícius Júnior gives Real Madrid edge in semi-final after Kane rouses BayernRead more

“Bellingham was just tired,” Ancelotti said. “He couldn’t continue any more. I have enough good players on the bench. He will get back to his best performance. I think he was injured, which affe…

The entire concept of “days of the week” is just an imaginary construct at this point, with no distinguishable difference from one to the next. John Harbaugh, head coach for the Baltimore Ravens, is all of us. I feel ya, man. It’s all just one giant blur of questions and isolation. I literally almost forgot what day it was while writing this. When football came back, I thought there would at least be some normalcy to my schedule — I knew I could count on there being football on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday. Then they had to go get all weird because of COVID-19 and start playing Monday doubleheaders, Tuesday night games, and most recently, a Wednesday matinee game. There is absolutely nothing normal about any of this. Harbaugh, who just coached the Ravens in their meeting wit…

Portsmouth have released three players from their academy following disciplinary proceedings in relation to discriminatory messages sent in a group chat.

The League One side began an investigation after images appeared on social media of posts from a private conversation among a number of under-18 players following England’s Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy earlier this month.

Concerns raised over how football clubs will enforce new heading restrictionsRead more

Disciplinary action was instigated once it was concluded there was a case to answer and as a result of that three youngsters have been released.

“We can confirm that a decision has been made today to release three players from the…

The France captain, Wendie Renard, said on Friday that she will not play at this year’s Women’s World Cup to preserve her mental health, adding that she “can no longer support the current system”, with fellow internationals Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani following suit.

Renard, who plays for Lyon and is widely considered to be one of the best defenders in women’s football, represented France in international games against Norway, Denmark and Uruguay earlier this month. The 32-year-old has won 142 caps for Les Bleues.

According to a report in French multimedia outlet RMC Sport, Renard will not play for the national team as long as the coach, Corinne Diacre, is in charge. Renard was stripped of…

Ronwen Williams can pinpoint when his life changed for ever. In 2002, the future South Africa captain was a 10-year-old from Gelvandale, a notorious suburb of Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, when his cousin was shot dead while working as a security guard.

“He was killed around the corner from where we were playing in the street,” Williams says. “The next thing you know, my cousin was being rushed to hospital. The area was filled with gangsterism, alcohol and drug abuse.”

Thanks to the guidance of his football-obsessed family, however, Williams was able to escape. He was spotted playing for the local side Shatterprufe Rovers and moved to SuperSport United’s academy in Pretoria two years after h…

It’s Norway and then everyone else. That’s how Group A will shake out, even with hosts New Zealand trying to defend home territory from two European foes and a debutant from Asia. The runaway favorites to win the group are the Nordic, who will be one of the countries making the journey from the northern tip of Earth all the way south for the global showcase. This is the first FIFA Women’s World Cup where there’s guaranteed to be only two teams advancing from every group, as the tournament expanded from 24 to 32 teams for this edition, just in time for their male counterparts to also grow from 32 to 48 teams. Who else has a shot in Group A? The increase in eight female teams making their way to Australia and New Zealand means three teams are most likely fighting for one spot to a…

The following is excerpted from the team chapters of the always-excellent Football Outsiders Almanac. Buy the PDF for $12.50 or order the printed book from Amazon. AFC East New York Jets: With Marty Mornhinweg and his West Coast Offense now in New York, that could mean good things for Mike Goodson. Regardless of system, expecting consistent production from either Santonio Holmes or Kellen Winslow, Jr., is foolhardy, so the Jets may wind up throwing a bunch of short passes to the running backs. Over the last three seasons, LeSean McCoy has caught 180 passes in just 42 games while playing under Mornhinweg. Last year, Shonn Greene led all Jets backs with 19 catches, but a healthy Goodson—who is a better receiver than Chris Ivory—could easily double that number. The offense won't b…