The Detroit Lions are coming off their second (and biggest) win of the year and head to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to take on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16 of NFL action on Sunday. With quarterback Jared Goff unlikely to suit up for the Lions, NFL betting lines have the Lions as 5.5-point road underdogs for this Boxing Day contest.
With Atlanta needing to win out and get a bunch of help to make the playoffs, here are our best free NFL picks and predictions for Lions vs. Falcons on December 26.
Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti believes the Bundesliga giants new youth academy is a good answer to Paris Saint-Germain buying Neymar.
The German champions opened a €70million youth academy on Monday, leading to president Uli Hoeness saying it was the club s answer to current transfer madness and salary explosion .
Ancelotti agreed it was a good response by Bayern to PSG s world-record €222m move for Neymar.
It s true, the academy is a good answer, the Italian told Bild.
The target of the academy is to bring players from here into the first team, to form our own professionals.
Ancelotti, who led Bayern to the league title last season, hopes he can bring players through from the academy.
The 58-year-old pointed to his record at …
Lukasz Fabianski has left Swansea City following their relegation to the Championship and signed for West Ham.
Poland international Fabianski joins for an undisclosed fee and has put pen to paper on a three-year contract at London Stadium, just one day after the Hammers signed Issa Diop for a club-record fee reported to be £21.9million.
The 33-year-old goalkeeper impressed across four seasons at Swansea, who he joined from Arsenal in 2014, making a Premier League-high 506 saves in that period and missing just three matches.
West Ham is a massive club so I m really happy to be joining at such an exciting time here. I will do my best on and off the pitch to help the team to achieve the best results possible and can t wait to start this new chapter of my career, …
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba would be the ideal gift for Andrea Pirlo following his appointment as Juventus head coach, according to former team-mate Luca Toni.
The France international won eight major honours in four seasons with Juve three of those playing alongside Pirlo before returning to Old Trafford in 2016.
Pogba was strongly linked with a move back to the Allianz Stadium last year and is into the final season of his United contract, though there is an option to extend that by 12 months.
Retired forward Toni, who played with Pirlo at both club and international level, believes Pogba would be the perfect signing to mark a new chapter at former club Juventus.
Knowing Andrea, he will start building from midfield, he told Tuttosport. The i…
Liverpool s trip to Old Trafford on Sunday highlights the growing gap between the Premier League leaders and rivals Manchester United.
Alex Ferguson famously declared he would knock the Reds off their perch , a goal he achieved in some style by leading United to a lengthy period of domestic dominance, but there is no doubt who is on top now.
Liverpool are yet to drop a point this season with their winning run in the Premier League standing at 17 games, building an eight-point cushion over defending champions Manchester City.
United, meanwhile, sit two points above the relegation zone in 12th after losing 1-0 away to Newcastle United last time out, a result that increased the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Sunday s Manchester meeting offers Liverpool …
Harry Kane inspired a turnaround in the final 12 minutes to transform Tottenham s Champions League outlook as they beat PSV 2-1 to move to within three points of second-placed Inter.
Spurs appeared to be doomed as they trailed for much of the Group B match, but they turned things around late on to capitalise on the Italian side dropping points at home to Barcelona.
An early Luuk de Jong header forced Spurs to throw caution to the wind and they racked up 30 shots, but, for the most part, they came up against an inspired goalkeeper in the shape of Jeroen Zoet.
Spurs pressure eventually told in the 78th minute as Kane got the equaliser and he then had a major role in the winner as Trent Sainsbury deflected the England striker s header past the despairing Zoet, t…
Darwin Nunez’s evolution into a genuine number nine for Liverpool continues as his brilliant fourth goal of the season proved vital in securing a 3-1 home victory over West Ham.
The Uruguay international scored in back-to-back games for the first time since February as Jurgen Klopp’s side made it five successive Premier League wins to move into outright second spot, behind champions Manchester City, with Arsenal and Tottenham drawing at the Emirates.
Captain Virgil van Dijk had spoken of the 24-year-old turning his potential into quality after the midweek Europa League win over LASK, in which Nunez scored a penalty but could have had a couple of others.
His rasping 60th-minute volley from an exquisite Alexis Mac Allister lofted pass restored their lead after …
Manchester City failed to restore their six-point lead at the Premier League summit as they were held to a goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Monday.
Palace had been looking to complete a first league double over City since 1987-88 but settled simply for frustrating Pep Guardiola s side, who went the closest to opening the scoring in the first half when Joao Cancelo rattled the woodwork.
Kevin De Bruyne was also denied by the frame of the goal after the interval, with no late winner forthcoming at Selhurst Park.
The stalemate meant City moved just four points clear of second-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand and are yet to play the champions at the Etihad Stadium.
Michael Olise poked narrowly wide in the opening stages, while Bernardo Silva sp…
Best Odds: 2/1
Bookmaker:
Looking to make a welcomed return to winning ways in the early hours of Sunday, Inter Miami will travel to Philadelphia this weekend.
Philadelphia Union
Starting with the hosts, while Philadelphia might have come flying out of the traps when opening up the 2024 campaign, the Union have largely struggled with their consistency over recent times. Left frustrated last week as they eventually had to settle for a 2-2 stalemate at home against Montreal, Jim Curtin’s men have now registered just a single victory from any of their previous 10 MLS appearances. With that extended wobble stemming all the way back to a 2-1 win against Nashville on April 7th, Philadelphia have also continued to show some glaring issues on home soil. Along with mu…
Former Brazil international Zico has paid tribute to the late Pele, stating his legacy in football will remain forever .
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, had been moved to palliative care early in December after his body stopped responding to cancer treatment. His death was announced on Thursday.
Tributes have flooded in for the footballing icon after he left a lasting legacy on Brazil and Santos, for whom he scored 643 goals in 659 matches over an 18-year period.
Zico, who played 71 times for Brazil between 1976 and 1986, has paid his respects, saying: Today is a very sad day for Brazilian football, and for world football. We lost our king.
REI PELÉ
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol)
May Edson Arantes do Nascimento rest in peace, but …
PSG playmaker celebrated his 29th birthday with a brace against Barcelona in a 4-0 victory
Big-spending French champions PSG’s 4-0 hammering of Spanish champions Barcelona in the last-16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night was surprising.
Unai Emery’s side recorded the first leg victory courtesy of a brace from Angel Di Maria and goals from Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani.
The French side ripped the Spanish champions apart at times in a devastating display. Barcelona were uncharacteristically poor in Paris, but that should take nothing away from PSG’s display.
A team trying to establish themselves in the elite
For Parisians, football is probably not their biggest passion. In fact, PSG was only formed in 1970 after the merger of two s…