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Northern Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifying misery continued as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Kazakhstan after the long trip to Astana.

It was a fifth consecutive defeat in this campaign, and the fourth time in the last five Michael O’Neill’s injury-ravaged side have been unable to muster a goal.

Kazakhstan put the first nail in the coffin of Northern Ireland’s qualifying hopes with their smash-and-grab 1-0 win in Belfast in June, and added another here with Maxim Samorodov’s 27th-minute strike enough to take three points.

Northern Ireland can only envy the progress of a side ranked 40 places below them, with this Kazakhstan’s fourth win in Group H, keeping them in the thick of the qualification fight.

O’Neill has more than enough capital – bot…

Celtic are closing in on the signing of Aston Villa winger Scott Sinclair.

Manager Brendan Rodgers strongly hinted that a move was close on Friday after the Championship side s manager, Roberto Di Matteo, confirmed a new bid had been made by the Scottish champions.

Reports suggest the clubs have agreed a £3.5million deal and that Sinclair will be in Glasgow for a medical this weekend.

Celtic are eager to make a signing before Sunday, which is the final day they can register players for their pivotal Champions League play-off tie against Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Rodgers managed Sinclair, 27, for two seasons at Swansea City.

There s no smoke without fire and there s been a lot of smoke, said Rodgers.

Scott s a player I know well. I had him in a…

Manchester United s Tom Cleverley will miss England s forthcoming friendly matches against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil.

The midfielder picked up a calf injury during the Premier League champions dramatic 5-5 draw against West Brom on the last day of the season and has not recovered in time to be available for his country.

In withdrawing, Cleverley joins an absentee list that includes forward Andy Carroll and midfielders Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere, all of whom are out through injury.
Jack Rodwell of Manchester City was last week called up to cover Cleverley s absence, but has himself struggled for full fitness during the 2012-13 season.
His last England appearance was in a 1-0 victory against Sweden in November 2011, and the former Everton man will hope to a…

PSV Eindhoven midfielder Kevin Strootman is close to becoming David Moyes’ first signing at Manchester United, theunderstands.

The former Everton boss originally registered an interest in the Dutch international some months ago, requesting detailed scouting reports on the player with a view to him replacing Marouane Fellaini should he move on.

Manchester United have been on the lookout for a new centre midfielder following the retirement of Paul Scholes, with moves for Fellaini, Juventus’ Claudio Marchiso and Barcelona duo Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara all mooted.

Strootman helped PSV to a second place finish in the Dutch Eredivise last season, scoring six goals in thirty-five league appearances.

The 23 year old is currently in Israel as …

John Stones’ injury has given England manager Gareth Southgate the chance to explore his centre-back options in the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.

The City defender was forced off with a problem in Tuesday’s Champions League win over Young Boys with boss Pep Guardiola admitting it is “deep bad news”.

Stones only returned to action in October after a two-month absence with hamstring and hip problems but Southgate had no hesitation in starting him in the important qualifying win over Italy.

But with qualification for the summer’s tournament in Germany already secured, Southgate – who names his squad on Thursday – can afford to look at his back-up options.

Brighton captain Lewis Dunk and AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori start…

David Villa closed in on Samuel Eto o at the top of the goalscoring charts scoring his 24th and 25th goals of the season as Valencia defeated Real Betis 2-1 to boost their Champions League hopes.

Spanish international Villa struck the opener on 65 minutes and grabbed a second in the 79th minute as Valencia closed to within two points of third-placed Sevilla and opened up a six-point gap over rivals Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.

Villa may be heading for a big summer move but his loyalty to Valencia remains unquestioned and he has scored 25 out of their 60 league goals this season and is now just one goal behind Barcelona s Eto o.

Valencia and Villa s next challenge is a home match against Barcelona this Saturday when they want to avenge their 4-0 thrashing earl…

According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, Manchester City and Manchester United have both let Leicester City know that they are more than willing to pay a fee of around £65 million in order to try and secure the services of Harry Maguire. Talks have been ongoing for quite some time now, but up to this point, no deal has been officially agreed. Maguire is said to be happy with the Foxes and isn’t going to try and force a transfer, but at the same time, he is more than willing to talk over his options. Leicester have reportedly said that they would only accept bids in the region of £75 million or more, which would break the record set by Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk for the most expensive defender in world football.

Maguire’s stock rose dramatically last summer af…

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West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal will face each other in the Premier League this weekend. The match at The Hawthorns is slated to kick off at 8pm UK time on Saturday.

West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion are having a torrid time in the Premier League at the moment and are in real danger of going down to the Championship at the end of the season. The Baggies are second from bottom in the league table with just eight points from 16 matches.

The Baggies will head into the match against Arsenal on the back of a 5-0 hammering at the hands of fellow promoted club Leeds United at The Hawthorns. Sam Allardyce’s side had held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at Anfield in the league this past weekend…

DC United head coach Ben Olsen has confirmed the club s interest in signing Wayne Rooney from Everton.

England s record goalscorer has been linked with a move to MLS after a largely disappointing campaign since returning to his boyhood club last July.

Everton boss Sam Allardyce said on Friday that he thought there had been some discussions between the player and DC, although he insisted Rooney had not asked for a transfer.

Olsen has now admitted they want to bring the former Manchester United captain to the United States, but a deal is far from concluded.

I m not sure what you re talking about, he initially told TMZ Sports when asked about the interest in Rooney.

He then added: Certainly, the deal is not done. Obviously, there is some interest fr…

Former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has agreed a contract extension with Feyenoord and will remain at his boyhood club for another season

Van Persie returned to Feyenoord in January 2018 after cancelling his contract with Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

Having helped his club clinch the Dutch Cup with a sublime goal in April’s 3-0 win over AZ Alkmaar, the 34-year-old said he was not ready to hang up his boots and has now officially signed a deal that will keep him at club for another campaign.

The club’s technical director Martin van Geel and the manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst were pleased to tie the experienced forward for yet another year.

Van Persie did well in his return to Feyenoord and is edging towards the finish line of…