No. 10 Illinois will go for its fourth win in a row when it visits Michigan State in a Big Ten Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in East Lansing, Mich. The Fighting Illini (17-5, 8-3) are coming off an 87-84 overtime victory on their home court against Nebraska on Sunday. That followed wins over Ohio State on the road and Indiana at home. "Typical day in the Big Ten," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said after the victory over the Cornhuskers. "It's the best league in the country. Great players. Great coaches." Now comes a tough challenge on the road against Michigan State (14-9, 6-6). The Spartans are coming off a 59-56 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday but are 12-2 on their home court. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wants to see a better performance from his team after the setback against the Golden Gophers. In the aftermath of the loss, Izzo fumed at his players' mistakes on the court. "I have no idea right now, none," Izzo said, when asked what ideas he had to bounce back. "I'm not worried about Illinois. I'm not worried about (this weekend). I'm worried about watching the film and figuring out what the (heck) happened. "And you're right, I am about as upset as I've been in maybe a couple of years. … You've just got to make plays, and sometimes plays are made by the guys who get other guys the ball." Tyson Walker leads the Spartans with an average of 19.0 points per game. He is shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc. Three other players are averaging double digits in points for Michigan State: Malik Hall (11.3), A.J. Hoggard (11.2) and Jaden Akins (11.0). Terrence Shannon Jr. leads Illinois with an average of 20.0 points per game. He is shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from 3-point range. Marcus Domask (15.7), Coleman Hawkins (12.0) and Quincy Guerrier (11.0) also are averaging in double figures in scoring for the Fighting Illini. Hawkins will look to stay hot after scoring a team-high 20 points against Nebraska. He also had seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. The Fighting Illini reside in second place in the Big Ten. They sit a half-game above Wisconsin and 1 1/2 games behind Purdue in the standings. "This is a big win," Hawkins said. "We're in control of our destiny." This will be the second and final meeting of the regular season between Illinois and Michigan State. The Fighting Illini beat the visiting Spartans 71-68 on Jan. 11 in Champaign, Ill. Hawkins, Domask and Ty Rodgers scored 15 points apiece, and Guerrier and Justin Harmon each added 10 for Illinois in that encounter. Walker scored 17 points on 8-for-17 shooting to lead the Spartans in that contest. Hoggard scored 16 points and Hall 14. —Field Level Media
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Hoping to try and find a route into the European places this weekend, Wolfsburg will make the trip to a struggling Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday afternoon.
Borussia Monchengladbach
Starting with the hosts, marking their return from the international break with yet another downbeat display, Borussia Monchengladbach find themselves in the midst of a real Bundesliga struggle. Eventually having to settle for a 0-0 stalemate away at Koln, Daniel Farke’s have only continued to show a string of issues on either side of the fortnight interval. In fact, along with opening Sunday’s showdown at Borussia-Park in the midst of a five-match winless run, the former Norwich boss has also seen his side claim just a single top-flight victory fro…
The Mail Online understand that Stoke City are considering selling defender Kevin Wimmer just twelve months after signing him for £18m.
The twenty-five-year-old centre-back featured regularly during the first half of the season but was sidelined following the arrival of Paul Lambert, who had concerns over his fitness.
The Austria international is now set to be moved on for a fraction of the fee the Potters paid Tottenham Hotspur to secure his services last summer, with Hannover 96 leading the race to secure his services.
In total, Wimmer played nineteen times for Stoke in all competitions while he racked up thirty-one appearances in one-and-a-half years with Spurs.
Internationally, he has been capped eight times for his country with three of those …
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers believes it will be very, very hard to stop Liverpool winning the Premier League.
Liverpool moved 13 points clear at the top after thrashing Leicester 4-0 at King Power Stadium on Boxing Day.
Rodgers said his former club, who have won 17 of 18 league games this season, would be difficult to stop.
They re going to be very, very hard to stop, there s no doubt. Fantastic team, confidence is high as well, he told a news conference.
They ve become winners now and haven t lost many games over an 18-month period, so to lose the games they would need to in the second part of the season they ve got enough players now, enough experience and enough quality to stay focused and get the job done.
There s still a lot to …
Liverpool are thrilled to have Arthur on board, but the on-loan Juventus midfielder will not be available against Everton, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed.
Arthur joined Liverpool on a one-season loan on Thursday, with the Reds having an option to buy the former Barcelona playmaker for £32.3million (€37.5m).
The Brazil international did not enjoy much success across the last two seasons in Turin, and had not featured in this campaign after making just 11 Serie A starts last term.
Liverpool had initially suggested their business was complete after the early acquisitions of Darwin Nunez, Calvin Ramsay and Fabio Carvalho, but injuries to Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson – who will definitely miss Saturday s derby at Goodison Park – forced Kl…
Everton midfielder Magaye Gueye has been loaned to Brest until the end of the season, the Premier League club announced on their official website.
The transfer was completed just few hours before the transfer deadline on Thursday, with Gueye becoming club’s third signing of the transfer window.
Florian Lejuene and Florian Raspentino had earlier joined on loan deals from Villarreal and Marseille respectively.
Gueye has been signed to help the team beat the drop in Ligue 1, with Brest currently sitting just four points above the bottom three.
The 22-year-old, who joined Everton from Strasbourg in the summer of 2010, has made just two Premier League appearances for the Toffees this term, although he did feature in four Cup matches.
This will be a …
Liverpool are lining up a summer bid for Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, .
Following some very disappointing showings by first choice keeper Pepe Reina, Brendan Rodgers is on the lookout for a new number one.
He has been linked with a move for Stoke shot-stopper Asmir Begovic, but with the Bosnian closing in on a switch to Old Trafford, Rodgers is forced to look elsewhere.
Daily Mail understands the Reds have now made Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi their number one target, with the Oman international also a cheaper alternative to Begovic.
Al Habsi, 31, is recognized by many as one of Premier League’s top keepers and he has been performing at a very high level ever since he joined the Latics from Bolton in the summer of 2010.
The experienced keeper ha…
The 21-year-old Spanish international Alejandro Grimaldo has attracted plenty of interest from the host of European top clubs.
Benfica defender is reportedly a target for Premier League outfit Manchester City, who are exploring the possibility of making a move for the talented footballer as early as January.
Pep Guardiola has kept a close eye on the talented defender for months now, with Manchester City scouts tracking Grimaldo on several occasions in the current campaign. The Spaniard will be handed a significant transfer kitty to boost his squad and Grimaldo is believed to be among the top priorities for former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager.
The Portuguese giants brought Grimaldo from Barcelona in 2015-16 and are reluctant to see their € 1.5 million inv…
Pep Guardiola made an exciting Bayern Munich team boring to watch and was lucky he had the players at his disposal to implement his famed possession philosophy at Barcelona, according to Peter Schmeichel.
Manchester City boss Guardiola enjoyed a trophy-laden four-year spell in charge at Camp Nou, winning three LaLiga titles as well as the Copa del Rey and Champions League twice apiece.
The Catalan then continued his success in the Bundesliga with Bayern, winning the league three seasons running between 2014 and 2016, while also lifting the DFB-Pokal twice.
However, Guardiola took over a team that had won a Bundesliga, Pokal and Champions League treble under Jupp Heynckes, and Schmeichel feels Bayern s direct style under the German was more exciting than Guar…
Liverpool defender Joel Matip has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle ligament injury.
Matip sustained the blow, which robs Liverpool of another key player at the back, in their 3-1 win at Tottenham on Thursday.
The Reds were already without long-term absentees Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, with Jordan Henderson and Nathaniel Phillips pressed into service at the heart of defence as Liverpool beat West Ham 3-1 on Sunday.
Moves to address the lack of defensive options were made on Monday s transfer deadline day, Liverpool signing Ben Davies from Preston North End and Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke until the end of the season.
On Matip s injury, manager Jurgen Klopp told Liverpool s official website: It was really unlucky because it …
Bayern Munich will face Al Ahly in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup after the African champions knocked out home favourites Al Duhail on Thursday.
The clash at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan was settled by a fine strike from Hussein El Shahat 30 minutes in, the winger finding the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box after Bassam Hisham had lost possession.
Walter Bwalya, who forced the defensive error, tucked away a composed finish but saw the goal disallowed for offside following a VAR review.
Qatari champions Al Duhail improved after the break, but Pitso Mosimane s men were relatively comfortable as they saw out the 1-0 victory.
Al Ahly will meet Bayern on Monday as the European champions bid to win the tourname…