Rodrigo De Paul says the Argentina captaincy still belongs to Lionel Messi despite his extended injury lay-off.

The Inter Miami star has been out of action since the Copa America final due to an ankle injury and will not be involved in Argentina s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia.

Messi is still a key part of Lionel Sclaoni s plans with the national side, and he played in all but one of their games at that tournament, though only registered one goal and one assist for the tournament.

Angel Di Maria retired from international duty after their Copa America triumph and was the usual deputy to Messi, who has captained Albiceleste since 2011.

With neither of those two available, it is expected that De Paul, who has 69 international cap…

Liverpool s frustrating run continued as they slipped to a 1-0 Premier League defeat against Southampton, handing further impetus to Manchester United and the chasing pack.

Having drawn their final two games of 2020 to West Brom and Newcastle United, Liverpool were downed by an early goal from their former striker Danny Ings at St Mary s.

They remain top, above United on goal difference having played a game more ahead of a crunch clash between the two old rivals at Anfield on January 17.

Ings earliest goal of his Premier League career came after Liverpool switched off from a James Ward-Prowse free-kick.

Southampton might have added to their lead before half-time, but although Jurgen Klopp s champions dominated after the restart, they could not avoid a …

Javier Hernandez was the super sub for Manchester United, as the Mexican helped his side come back from two goals down to beat Villa 3-2.

Saturday’s Premier League action produced a host of goals as usual.

One of the games of the day saw Arsenal and Fulham draw 3-3 at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners took the lead on 11 minutes, Oliver Giroud beating Aaron Hughes to the ball to head home Theo Walcott’s corner.

German international striker Lukas Podolski flicked Arsenal into a two goal lead on 23 minutes, after being setup by Mikel Arteta. Fulham were back in the game in the 29th minute, Dimitar Berbatov heading home Bryan Ruiz’s corner when left completely unmarked.

Fulham were back on level terms in the 40th minute, as substitute Alex Kac…

Liverpool made a pre-tax loss of £9million last season as increased commercial income did not offset a drop in money made from media and matchday revenues.

The previous 12 months had produced a small profit of £7.5m.

Liverpool’s biggest income stream in 2022-23 was the £272million, up £25m, generated from off-field income but a last-16 Champions League exit a year after reaching the final meant television money dropped by £19m to £242m.

Matchday revenue also fell by £7m due to fewer games being played across last season after the previous campaign when the club played in every fixture – a total of 63 – they were eligible for, winning both domestic cups and reaching the Champions League final.

While overall revenue remained the same at £594m,…

The New Orleans Saints go on the road in Week 18 to face the rival Atlanta Falcons, with a win only part of the equation New Orleans needs to make the postseason.

If the Saints can march out of Atlanta with a W and the Rams can beat the 49ers, then New Orleans will find itself in the tournament. Before scoreboard watching, can NOLA take care of business in Atlanta?

Find out with our NFL picks and predictions for Saints vs. Falcons on January 9. 

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The bulk of NFL Week 17 picks and predictions kick off on New Year’s Day, not only giving football bettors a clean slate to start off 2023 but also time to reflect on past wagers. 

It’s a perfect chance to set some “New Year’s Resolutions” around your NFL gambling habits, rather than the usual hollow personal promises like losing weight or calling your parents more. 

No matter how far up or down the sports betting food chain you sit, you can always be better. Here are some of my resolutions for betting NFL odds in 2023. Feel free to tail:

• Beware the 4-point favorite: The 4-point spread is the “no-man’s land” of lines and has been a Bermuda Triangle for betting in recent years: money go…
  

We’re nearing the end of the NFL season with Week 17 already here, but the betting opportunities are not drying up by any means. 

I think there are some soft lines to take advantage of in the NFL odds, particularly in the early Sunday window. Join me as I highlight my free NFL parlay picks for Sunday, December 31.

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Despite ultimately coming up short in last year’s NFC Championship Game, the Detroit Lions are poised for another huge season in 2024 and it all starts tonight on Sunday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams.

Detroit’s David Montgomery is out to show that he isn’t going to be an afterthought behind Jahmyr Gibbs in the pecking order and our Rams vs. Lions predictions have him pegged for a big game.

I dig deeper into Montgomery’s role in my NFL picks for Sunday, September 8 below.  

Rams vs Lions SNF prediction

My best betDavid Montgomery Over 12.5 rushing attempts (-115 at bet365)

My analysisThe Los Angeles Rams have always been a team that doesn’t have a lot of depth thanks to selling their future. However, this …

For Roy Hodgson, the “easy thing would have been to disappear off into retirement”. So said Dan Ashworth in February 2019, as he reflected on Hodgson’s failed tenure as the England manager, and the view of the Football Association’s former technical director would have found broad agreement.

Only not with Hodgson.

What happened with England remains the biggest stick with which to beat the 74-year-old, even if the Liverpool support might beg to differ. The quarter-final showing at Euro 2012, after Hodgson had been parachuted in at the last minute, was creditable but then came the group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup. And then came Iceland at Euro 2016.

Hodgson is not the sort of ma…

The Football Association will “100%” reject any offers for Sarina Wiegman, its chief executive, Mark Bullingham, has said in the build-up to the Lionesses’ first World Cup final, against Spain on Sunday.

After USA were eliminated at the last-16 stage of the World Cup, American fans and journalists have argued that US Soccer should go all out to recruit the back-to-back Euros winning manager Wiegman to replace Vlatko Andonovski, who resigned this week.

“We’ve seen lots of rumours, and look, she is a special talent. We know that,” said Bullingham. “From our side, she’s contracted through until 2025. We think she’s doing a great job.

Teenage sensation Selma Paralluelo can fire Spain to World Cup gl…