Woodgate close to Middlesbrough return

Sunderland are on the verge of signing former France international Anthony Reveillere on a short term deal, .

Black Cats boss Gus Poyet currently faces a defensive crisis with Billy Jones and Seb Coates both on the side-lines, and is set to turn to the former Napoli man who has recently been training with the North East club.

Prior to his move to Naples in 2013, the 34 year old spent ten years at Lyon where he five league titles and two French cups.

Internationally, he was capped twenty times for France, scoring his only goal for his country in a 3-0 win over Albania in qualification for Euro 2012.

Sunderland sit thirteenth in the table after losing just one of their seven games so far, though they are the division’s draw specialists having drawn…

Nigeria star Aiyegbeni Yakubu is in line to make his first Everton appearance in 10 months after recovering from a ruptured Achilles.

Yakubu scored for the Everton reserves in a 3-0 win over Burnley on Tuesday evening and, having come through the match unscathed, was included in the squad to travel to the Czech Republic for a Europa League tie on Thursday.

David Moyes s side are not expected to have any problems wrapping up a place in the group stage of the competition after beating Sigma Olomouc 4-0 in the first leg of their play-off tie.

The outing with the reserves was Yakubu s first game since he ruptured his Achilles in a match at Tottenham in November 2008.

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Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal is closing in on a switch to Athletic Bilbao, .

The 29 year old moved to the Emirates Stadium from Malaga in the summer of 2013, having begun his career with fellow La Liga side Osasuna.

During his time with the Gunners, the Spain international has racked up eighty-six appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring twice while he was part of the squad that won back to back FA Cups in 2014 and 2015.

Internationally, he has sixteen caps for his country though he hasn’t feature for them since playing the whole ninety minutes of a 1-0 friendly defeat to South Africa back in November 2013.

He is now expected to sign a two-year deal with Bilbao, with the option of a third year, for a fee of around £6m.

Ars…

Chelsea have had a bid in excess of €25million for defender Alessio Romagnoli rejected by AC Milan, the Italian club have confirmed.

The Blues are in the market for a new centre-half with John Terry and Gary Cahill the only fit, recognised players in that position currently on the books.

Kurt Zouma is targeting a September comeback from a serious knee injury, leaving coach Antonio Conte short of numbers in the interim.

Napoli s Kalidou Koulibaly is another reported target and Conte may opt to step up his interest in the Senegalese having been knocked back by Milan.

The Rossoneri announced via their TV channel they had rejected an offer higher than the fee they paid Roma for Romagnoli last year.

The 21-year-old came through the ranks at the …

Perth Glory enjoyed an exhilarating start to their 2020-21 A-League season as they beat Adelaide United 5-3 in a thrilling encounter on Wednesday.

Glory s preparations for the season have not been ideal after they were forced to quarantine once their part in the AFC Champions League was over at the end of 2020, but for the most part they looked impressive against Adelaide.

Playing for the first time this year, Glory opened the scoring after 10 minutes as Neil Kilkenny converted a penalty after Bruno Fornaroli was bundled over, and Nick D Agostino s deflected effort just past the half-hour mark made in 2-0.

Nathan Konstandopoulos punished a defensive calamity to pull one back before half-time, but Fornaroli restored the two-goal advantage in the 51st minute and …

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 7/10 @

In what could be another lively affair on Wednesday night, Benfica will welcome PSV to the Estádio da Luz as both sides look to pick up an early advantage.

Starting with the hosts, enjoying what was an eye-catching pre-season run and gaining some perfect momentum, it appears that Benfica have dragged that form into the new campaign. Eventually landing themselves what was a deserved 4-0 aggregate romp against what some thought could be a tricky Spartak Moscow earlier in the month, Head Coach Rui Costa should find the mood in his camp at a high. Once of just four sides who have claimed back-to-back wins since opening the 2021/22 Primeira Liga season, The Eagles have in fact won all four of their competitive contests so fa…

Deportivo Tachira, Defensor and Boyacá Chico opened the 2009 Copa Libertadores with victories over Guarani, America de Cali and Aurora respectively.

The very first goal of the group stage was scored by Pedro Chavez after 38 minutes in the match between Guarani Asuncion and Deportivo Tachira, to give the Paraguayan home side a 1-0 lead.

However, Gerson Chacon equalised four minutes before the break and Edgar Perez netted the winner for the Venezuelans with 11 minutes to play.

Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting needed only one goal to beat Colombian champions America de Cali. Pablo Gaglianone scored what turned out to be the decider on 37 minutes.

Another Colombian side, Boyaca Chico, were much too strong for Aurora Cochabamba in Bolivia. Antonhy Tapi…

Russia coach Guus Hiddink has warned his side not to under-estimate Slovenia when the two sides clash here on Saturday in the first-leg of their World Cup play-off.

Russia, semi-finalists at Euro 2008, are the overwhelming favourites to reach the finals in South Africa next summer, but Hiddink insists that unheralded Slovenia can rise to the occasion.

We should never underestimate Slovenia, Hiddink said. They are a very strong team, both in terms of their results and playing style.

Slovenia are very disciplined and hard-working with a modern concept of playing. Their strength is their unity, there are no individual stars in their line-up.

Dutchman Hiddink added that the outcome of the two-legged play-off with Slovenia will have an effect upon the deve…

West Bromwich Albion have given Saido Berahino time off to consider his future, .

The striker’s proposed move to Tottenham Hotspur failed to materialise during the recently closed transfer window, and has said that he would never play under Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace again.

Peace rejected four offers from Spurs’ for the striker, who has racked up eighty-three appearances for the Baggies since breaking into the first team in 2013.

Manager Tony Pulis has allowed Berahino time to recuperate during the international break, after which he is expected to return to West Brom fold.

The Midlands side secured their first league win of the campaign last Saturday when the beat nine-men Stoke City 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium.

Their next opponen…

French daily newspaper Le Parisien has suggested that Marseille were offered an opportunity to sign Argentine winger Lucas Ocampos.

The French giants wanted to recruit the former River Plate starlet last summer and coach Marcelo Bielsa later confirmed his interest in the midfielder.

And with the 20-year-old failing to nail down a regular starting berth at Stade Louis II, the player s agent offered the youngster to Marseille in the January window.

However, Monaco chiefs were not interested in letting their prized asset leave, meaning Marcelo Bielsa will have to wait for another opportunity.

Lucas Ocampos joined the Principality club from River Plate as a teenager in August 2012 and he has since shown a great deal of potential at Stade Louis II.

Th…