The Numbers Game: Austria face Turkiye in race of Euro 2024 ´dark horses´

Perennial dark horses Turkiye meet genuine dark horses Austria in an enthralling Euro 2024 last-16 tie on Tuesday.

Austria beat the Netherlands 3-2 to seal top spot in Group D ahead of the Oranje and tournament favourites France.

Turkiye, meanwhile, bounced back from a 3-0 defeat to Portugal by beating Czechia 2-1 and sealing their progress from Group F as runners-up.

These teams have landed in the kinder half of the draw, with a quarter-final against Romania or the Netherlands up for grabs.

Here, we preview the clash in Leipzig using Opta data.

What s expected?

Let s dig straight into the Opta supercomputer s prediction. The model is forecasting an Austria win, giving Ralf Rangnick s team a 48.2% chance of victory.

Turkiye have a …

Rio 2016: ´Brazilian football is not dead!´ Micale hails historic gold medal

Head coach Rogerio Micale proudly declared that Brazilian football is not dead after leading the nation to a historic Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016.

A pulsating gold medal match against Germany finished 1-1 after extra time at the Maracana and fittingly it was the poster boy of Brazilian football, Neymar, that hammered home the winning spot-kick in a 5-4 shoot-out victory. 

It was a moment of history for the proud footballing nation, who have won the World Cup on five occasions but had never triumphed at the Olympics before Saturday s dramatic final.

For Brazil, the win goes some way to eradicating the painful memories of their home World Cup two years ago when they were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals.

And Micale believes that his team hav…

Leicester 1-2 Aston Villa: Emery´s men record narrow victory

Aston Villa held on to secure a second Premier League victory of the season, winning 2-1 away at Leicester City courtesy of goals from Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran.

Leicester – who have only managed to collect one point from their opening three Premier League fixtures – faced an Unai Emery side who were in no mood to be charitable at the King Power Stadium.

The visitors were on top for much of Saturday’s encounter and they opened their account with a well-worked free-kick routine that resulted in a second goal of the campaign for midfielder Onana after 28 minutes.

Villa doubled their lead after the break when Duran made an immediate impact from the bench, heading in beautifully from Lucas Digne’s centre, but Steve Cooper’s men were not done yet and a sub…

Wenger tips Germany for top honours at Euro 2008

ArsenalÂ’s manager Arsene Wenger has tipped Germany to beat Spain in SundayÂ’s Euro 2008 final in Vienna.

In an interview with reporters on Tuesday he said that Germany had the mental toughness that no other team at Euro 2008 had.

He added that Germany also had the most consistent player in the tournament, ChelseaÂ’s midfielder Michael Ballack of Chelsea.

He went on to say that Ballack was the main source of inspiration to the team and along with Lukas Podolski who was having an unbelievable tournament, these two formed a formidable partnership and difficult for other teams to overcome.

Wenger also rated RussiaÂ’s twenty seven year old Andrei Arshavin a great prospect after having lifted the Russian side afte…

Barcelona 2017-18: Five key matches in LaLiga title triumph

Barcelona were stung last year when Real Madrid took back the Liga crown and became the first team to win back-to-back Champions Leagues in the modern era.

Well, order has been restored from a Camp Nou perspective in 2017-18. Barca have regained LaLiga, the 25th league championship success in their history, and they have done so without losing a match.

Although the campaign is not yet at an end, their invincible run is still a remarkable achievement. Arsenal managed it in the Premier League in 2003-04, but you have to go back to the great Athletic Bilbao side of 1929-30 for the last time the feat was accomplished in Spain s top flight.

With Madrid imploding domestically, it has rather felt like a procession for Ernesto Valverde s side, but there have nonethele…

Uruguay v Colombia: Tabarez´s men finding form of 2011 title win

Uruguay face Colombia in the Copa America quarter-finals in Brasilia on Saturday buoyed by recent form that could see them challenge for the trophy again.

La Celeste are the most successful side in the competition s history with 15 wins but their last came 10 years ago when they beat Paraguay in the final in Buenos Aires.

Their 2021 campaign began inauspiciously with defeat to Argentina and a draw with Chile, but consecutive wins over Bolivia and Paraguay secured their place in the quarter-finals.

They may only have scored once through Edinson Cavani s first-half penalty, but Oscar Tabarez s men fired in 18 shots in their previous game and 22 in the win over Bolivia. Those are the most they have attempted against South American sides in this competition since the…

Bills vs Jets Week 10 Picks and Predictions: Josh Allen Needs To Bounce Back

The Buffalo Bills slumped to a defeat against the Jaguars last week and now they face another struggling team, in the New York Jets, in this AFC clash. Can Josh Allen and the Bills get back on track or will the legend of Mike White continue to grow?

If you’re betting on this game, then ensure you read our NFL picks and predictions for the Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets.

Commanders vs Lions Week 2 Picks and Predictions: Stop Sleeping on St. Brown

The Detroit Lions welcome the Washington Commanders to Ford Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions lost their home opener last week but kept things close and Week 2 odds opened with them as 2.5-point home favorites for this contest. That line has since shortened to -1.5, but still snaps a streak of 24 consecutive games where Detroit has been an underdog.

Here are my best free NFL picks and predictions for Commanders vs. Lions on September 17.

Week 2 NFL Teaser: Niners, Ravens Lead the Way

I was feeling pretty damn good about hitting my Week 1 teaser after the Las Vegas Raiders took care of their leg vs. the Denver Broncos. But sadly, the Dallas Cowboys crashed the party and viciously put me out of my misery early. As a result of that humiliating loss by the New York Giants, this article is off to a 0-1 start, but bounce-back season is here!

If you’re new to this article, here’s how it works: I rank my five favorite teaser legs of the week and the top two are my official teaser bet. I follow basic teaser strategy of crossing as many key numbers as possible while never teasing through zero.

Let’s get into the Week 2 teaser action with my NFL picks!

Seahawks vs Rams Odds, Picks, and Predictions Week 11: Tight Battle in NFC West Showdown

The Los Angeles Rams welcome the Seattle Seahawks to settle their Week 11 odds on Sunday. This is the mother of all revenge games, with the Rams clobbering the Seahawks 30-13 in front of their home fans in their season opener. Since then, the Seahawks have won six of eight games while the Rams have lost six of eight.

Books are expecting a much closer contest than the first meeting, with NFL odds set at nearly a pick ’em for this west-coast showdown. Here are my best free NFL picks and predictions for Seahawks vs. Rams on November 19.

Seahawks vs Rams odds

Seahawks vs Rams predictions

This is an interesting matchup because that first meeting, way back in Week 1, was such an outlier. The Rams went into hostile te…