Dana White Contender Series Week 1 Odds, Picks & Predictions (Aug 13)

Alvaro Morata scored a brace to help holders Chelsea into the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest as Cesc Fabregas missed a penalty in what appears to be his final game for the club.

Maurizio Sarri named Ruben Loftus-Cheek in his starting line-up and made Fabregas captain for the day, but it was Morata and Callum Hudson-Odoi who impressed for the Blues as the pair combined for both goals at Stamford Bridge.

Fabregas had the chance to bow out with a goal before his rumoured move to Monaco, but had his first-half spot-kick saved. Morata struck twice inside 10 second-half minutes, aided by the impressive Hudson-Odoi, whose own future has been at the centre of intense speculation this week amid confirmed interest from Bayern Munich. 

Loftu…

Wolverhampton Wanderers are ready to make a bid for Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, according to . The report in the British tabloid has claimed that Jose Sa wants to leave Wolves in the January transfer window, and that the Wanderers are looking at Johnstone as a potential replacement.

The Sun has reported that Palace could make Johnstone available for transfer in the middle of the season. Dean Henderson, who joined the Eagles from Manchester United in the summer of 2023, is fit and starting matches now, so the London club could decide to cash in on Johnstone.

Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Sa from Wolves in the January transfer window. Clubs in Saudi Arabia are also keen on the 30-year-old Portugal international goalkeeper, who wants to move on a…

Liverpool assistant boss Pep Lijnders says Darwin Nunez is having “a much better season than last year” and that he sees him as a player “full of fire”.

The 24-year-old Uruguay striker, signed from Benfica in 2022 and scorer of 15 goals in all competitions for the Reds in the last campaign, has seven so far this term.

Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United made it 10 club appearances without netting, his last Liverpool goal coming in the 2-1 Carabao Cup fourth-round win at Bournemouth in early November, but Lijnders says Nunez should not be judged on goals alone.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at home against West Ham, Lijnders said: “I think Darwin is full of desire, you see this in each game, and if we would only judge p…

Real Madrid has officially announced that midfielder Luka Modric has signed a new one-year contract extension to stay with the Spanish giants.

It will mark the 10th season that the Croatian has spent with Real after making his way over from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, confirming what many had suspected he’d do for quite some time now.

A few years back it seemed likely that Modric would leave and could potentially even make his way over to Inter Milan. Now, he looks set to stay, and potentially even retire in Spain.

He will go down in history as one of the best midfielders in his generation and rightly so, but it ll be interesting to see what he can accomplish before he officially hangs up his boots.

Madrid are smart to keep him on the books as a veteran…

Cristiano Ronaldo s lawyer says the Juventus forward vehemently denies a rape allegation and claims statements reportedly originating from the player are fabricated .

American Kathryn Mayorga has accused Ronaldo of sexually assaulting her in a hotel in Las Vegas in 2009, something the Portuguese has strenuously refuted.

German publication Der Spiegel first reported the claims, which also included the suggestion Ronaldo paid Ms Mayorga $375,000 in 2010 as part of a privacy agreement, preventing her from going public with the allegations. Ms Mayorga filed a lawsuit last month in an attempt to quash that agreement while Las Vegas police have re-opened an investigation.

Ronaldo s lawyer Peter Christiansen confirmed the payment was made to Ms Mayorga, but criticised a…

Prediction: Shamrock Rovers to win 4-0

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Shamrock Rovers and University College Dublin will lock horns with each other in the League of Ireland Premier Division this week. The match between Stephen Bradley’s side and Andrew Myler’s team will take place at the Tallaght Stadium in Tallaght, South Dublin and is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time on Friday.

Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers are one of the biggest and most well-known clubs in the Republic of Ireland and regularly challenge for the title. The Hoops won the League of Ireland Premier Division title last season, and it is very likely that they will do the same this time around. Rovers became the champions of the Republic of Ireland in 2020 and 2021 as well.

Ste…

Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a hefty instant return on their €20million investment in Erling Haaland as the 19-year-old wonderkid produced a debut to savour on Saturday.

Introduced as a second-half substitute with Lucien Favre s side 3-1 down at Augsburg, Haaland promptly scored a hat-trick to inspire a 5-3 victory.

The Norway international s first moments in Dortmund colours are sure to live long in the memory and he is in good company when it comes to elite strikers announcing their arrival with a bang.

Here, we look back at some other standout debuts.

Wayne Rooney

The 18-year-old Rooney arrived at Manchester United from Everton amid huge fanfare after starring for England at Euro 2004, but he also suffered a metatarsal injury early in the Three…

No close season seems complete without a transfer saga.

This window has seen Neymar take centre stage and not for the first time in his career either as we waited to find out his location by the end of September 2. 

Now we know. Despite all the speculation, and even with the media suggesting half of the Barcelona squad could be moving in the opposite direction, the Brazilian forward will not be back at Camp Nou but instead remain at Paris Saint-Germain at least for the next few months.

The story had more twists than the career of a rollercoaster designer. It was on, then off. Then back on again. Meanwhile, almost as a sideshow while the window remained open, the two clubs happened to start playing competitive games again in their domestic leagues.

Here, …

Duncan Ferguson has left his post as head coach of Forest Green.

The Gloucestershire club appointed the 51-year-old Scot in January but he was unable to keep them in League One, with Rovers winning just six of their 46 games.

“It had been a privilege to work with Dunc these last few months and this was a very difficult decision to make,” Rovers chairman Dale Vince said.

“I’m grateful to Dunc for joining us in such difficult circumstances and for all of his hard work at the club.

“But I feel this is overall the right decision for everyone and I wish Dunc well in his next coaching role. We are parting as friends. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

Forest Green have previously demonstrated a desire to steer away from the convention…

Lionel Messi is the world s best player because he is always a step ahead of everyone else , according to Inter striker Lautaro Martinez. 

Martinez had been tipped to join his compatriot at Barcelona during the transfer window, but the Catalans were unable to strike a deal with the Nerazzurri even after Messi had ended his attempt to leave Camp Nou. 

Still, Messi and Martinez have played together for Argentina since the latter made his international debut back in 2018. 

The 23-year-old says he always tries to learn from the six-time Ballon d Or winner – a player he claims understands football on a different level to his contemporaries. 

I know Leo more from the times we ve been team-mates for the Argentina national team rather than from havin…