BREAKING NEWS: Rakitic rejoins Sevilla after six years with Barcelona

Ivan Rakitic has rejoined Sevilla from Barcelona after six years at Camp Nou.

The Croatia midfielder has signed a four-year deal with Julen Lopetegui s side.

According to Sport, Barca will receive a maximum fee of €8m for the player depending, on whether Sevilla qualify for the Europa League or Champions League over the next two seasons.

New Barca head coach Ronald Koeman is said to have made it clear to Rakitic, who made 42 appearances in all competitions last season, that he would not be in his plans for 2020-21.

Negotiations stepped up on Monday, with Rakitic undergoing a medical after a fee was agreed between the clubs.

Rakitic was a fan favourite at Sevilla and captained them to Europa League glory in 2013-14 before signing for Barcelona.

Pires: Liverpool will win title unbeaten, but Arsenal ´Invincibles´ had it tougher

Liverpool will win the Premier League and match the Arsenal Invincibles as there are no teams good enough to stop them, according to Robert Pires.

Jurgen Klopp s side are 19 points clear at the top of the table after winning 23 and drawing one of their 24 top-flight matches.

The Reds have not lost a league match in more than 12 months and look destined to win a first league title in 30 years, while they could also match Arsenal’s feat of going the entire league season unbeaten in 2003-04.

Pires, a key part of Arsene Wenger s fabled side during that astonishing campaign, sees no reason Liverpool cannot surpass their achievement as he believes the quality in the Premier League is not as high.

When asked if Liverpool could go unbeaten for the season, Pires…

Bitesize Prediction: Reims vs Nantes – 28/01/24

Market: Reims win

Odds: 4/5 @

Looking to extend on their European charge this weekend, Reims will welcome Nantes to the Stade Auguste-Delaune on Sunday afternoon.

Starting with the hosts, although Reims might have eventually fallen short in their bid to book a top-half finish last season, Will Still’s side are enjoying a history-making flurry this time around. Although Les Rouges might have watched their Coupe de France adventure come to an abrupt end last week following penalties heartbreak at the hands of second-tier outfit Sochaux, the former Beerschot boss should still find the mood in his camp at a continued high. Making a real Ligue 1 statement on January 13th as they stormed their way to a famous 3-1 romp away at Monaco, Reims find themselves sat in the…

Moyes warning for Man Utd boss Solskjaer: We know what happens if you don´t win enough games

David Moyes has warned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he will need to improve results soon if he is to remain Manchester United manager.

Scrutiny on Solskjaer has been building in the wake of back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Istanbul Basaksehir.

United were particularly poor in the Champions League loss in Turkey, with Demba Ba s opening goal – in which he was given a free run from inside his own half following a clearance from a corner – leading club great Paul Scholes to compare the Red Devils defending to that of an under-10s team.

Solskjaer has overseen impressive victories over Newcastle United, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig this season, and United had been on a club-record 10-match winning run away from home prior to the visit to Istanbul, but inconsist…

Salzburg 2-6 Bayern Munich: Lewandowski nets twice as late flurry keeps champions perfect

Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Bayern Munich maintained their 100 per cent start in the Champions League with a rollicking 6-2 win at Salzburg despite a scare on Tuesday. 

The holders eased to victory over Atletico Madrid in their opening game and then saw off Lokomotiv Moscow but looked as though they might come unstuck in Austria when Masaya Okugawa levelled matters at 2-2 in the 66th minute  just 42 seconds after he was introduced as a substitute.

Jerome Boateng, Leroy Sane, Lewandowski and Lucas Hernandez all scored inside the final 11 minutes to clinch the points, however, with Bayern earlier bouncing back from Mergim Berisha s opener to lead through a Lewandowski penalty and Rasmus Kristensen s own goal.

The late show leaves Bayern sitting pre…

Bayern Munich boss Flick ´annoyed´ after defeat to Bayer Leverkusen

Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick was left annoyed after his side wasted a host of chances in their 2-1 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

Leon Bailey scored a first-half brace in Saturday s Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Stadium to inflict a first defeat on the reigning champions since Flick was named interim boss.

Bayern hit the frame of the goal three times and had 11 attempts on target but could not add to Thomas Muller s first-half strike, despite Jonathan Tah being dismissed nine minutes from time for a last-man challenge on substitute Philippe Coutinho.

I can t really criticise my team s performance today, Flick said at his post-match news conference. They played well and tried all they could to win. It s annoying to not take any points from a game like tha…

Man Utd boss Solskjaer enjoying ´exciting´ Premier League title race

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he is excited by the openness of the Premier League title race this season as the Red Devils eye silverware.

United visit Burnley on Tuesday level on 33 points alongside rivals and defending champions Liverpool atop the table, and with the chance to move to the summit having played a game less.

Liverpool cruised to Premier League glory by 18 points last season, but only a point separates the leaders and third-placed Leicester City this term, while Chelsea are just seven points adrift in ninth position through 17 rounds.

Solskjaer is relishing the competitiveness as United seek to win their first Premier League trophy since 2012-13.

I think all the teams want to take a grip on the Premier League, of cour…

Klopp pays tribute to quadruple-chasing Liverpool after beating ´best team in the world´ Man City

Jurgen Klopp was overjoyed after seeing Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 to reach the FA Cup final in their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple, convinced they beat the world s best team.

Liverpool secured their spot in the English football showpiece for the first time since 2012 with a thrilling victory at Wembley on Saturday, though for a while it looked set to be far more comfortable than it ultimately proved.

The Reds were 3-0 up at half-time thanks to an Ibrahima Konate header and Sadio Mane s double – his first punished a Zack Steffen lapse, before then lashing in an excellent volley for his second.

City pulled one back through Jack Grealish and forced a tense finish when Bernardo Silva made it 3-2 in stoppage time, but Liverpool held on to leave Klo…

Premier League Data Dive: Young Gunners provide the spark for Arsenal, Man Utd defence on worrying r

It appears there is still life in Arsenal, as Mikel Arteta oversaw a potentially season-changing 3-1 win over Chelsea on Boxing Day.

The Gunners had been on a dreadful run, but with the odds against them they produced their most complete performance in a while, with some of the youngsters playing important roles.

Leicester City and Manchester United began the day s action with an entertaining draw that doubled as a microcosm for the Red Devils season.

Using Opta data, we have looked at the pick of the action on a busy Saturday.

The best Boxing Day performance was ______________  

— Premier League (@premierleague)

Leicester City 2-2 Manchester United: Red Devils clicking in attack but let down by defence

Manchester United s unbe…

Prediction: Espanyol vs Barcelona

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker:

Knowing that they can wrap up this season’s La Liga crown on Sunday night, Barcelona will make the trip to bitter local rivals Espanyol.

Espanyol

Starting with the hosts, while Espanyol might have claimed a crucial 1-0 victory at home against Getafe when signing off April, Luis Garcia’s men came immediately crashing back down to earth. Eventually suffering an action-packed 3-2 loss away at Sevilla last time out, the Periquitos find themselves at the heart of a real relegation scrap. Opening up this weekend’s fixtures sat three points adrift of safety and tipped as a leading contender to be hit with a Segunda return, Espanyol have recorded just a single win from any of their last 10 straight La Liga appearances. In fact, with tha…