It was billed as the Eden Hazard show: Belgium s global star was back in Lille, the north-eastern French town where he made his name, a stone s throw from the Belgian border.

Instead, the Euro 2016 quarter-final between Wales and Belgium was dominated not by the number 10 in blue, but in red.

Aaron Ramsey produced the finest performance of his career on that unforgettable night as Wales achieved the greatest result in their history, fighting back from a goal down to win 3-1 and reach the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time.

That Belgium game was a historic moment for us, for Wales, Ramsey said this week. Obviously, that s going to live in people s memories for a long, long time. We started a bit shaky, they scored a screamer, but we settled dow…

Shakhtar Donetsk delayed Barcelona’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages after claiming a shock 1-0 win in their Group H clash in Hamburg.

Danylo Sikan headed the only goal in the 40th minute from a cross by Giorgi Gocholeishvili, while Shakhtar had a second effort from 18-year-old Newerton ruled out for offside.

The defeat ended Barcelona’s 100 per cent start to the group and enabled Porto to pull level on nine points at the top after they beat 10-man Royal Antwerp 2-0.

Victory evening in Hamburg

What emotions! What a victory

— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng)

Evanilson’s early penalty and a late strike from Pepe sealed victory for the hosts and left the Belgians, who had Jurgen Ekkelencamp sent of…

Germany captain Michael Ballack, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday in three weeks, said Thursday he will decide if he will continue playing after the World Cup in June next year.

I will decide after the 2010 World Cup if I will continue playing or if I will stop, the Chelsea star told the Express newspaper while preparing for Saturday s friendly against South Africa in Leverkusen.

I will continue as long as I enjoy it and still have ambitions in the sport.

Ballack, who played in the 2002 World Cup final and the semi-final of the 2006 tournament, has scored 41 goals in 93 appearances for Germany.

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Sergio Aguero has signed a one-year contract extension at Manchester City that ties him to the Premier League champions until 2021.

Aguero is City s all-time leading goalscorer with 204 strikes and is in his eighth season at the club, having joined from Atletico Madrid in 2011.

The Argentina international, who has scored three goals in five Premier League appearances this season, expressed his satisfaction at signing a deal that would see him celebrate a decade at the club when it expires.

I am happy for this additional year, said Aguero in a statement.

My idea was being here for 10 years. I ve been here for seven years, it s going to be 10 when the contract expires.

This was the main reason I signed. I m very happy because they have treated …

The Premier League is back, with another fascinating season in store.

The 2021-22 title race went right to the wire, with Manchester City pipping Liverpool at the last, while the picture at the bottom was similarly dramatic as Leeds United survived.

The dominant top two have strengthened – including City pinching Leeds talisman Kalvin Phillips – and the league again looks so tough to call at both ends of the table.

Thankfully, Stats Perform AI is able to do that. It has predicted the outcome of the coming campaign, estimating the likelihood of teams finishing in each position informed by their expected results in each match.

These are calculated using betting odds and Stats Perform s team rankings – based on historical and recent team performances �…

The new Premier League season has not even begun yet and we re already enjoying some enthralling narratives.

Beyond the mundane matter of who might win the league, who will beat the drop and how thick the VAR lines will be, there are some tantalising stories we ll be following closely in the coming weeks.

Below, Stats Perform takes a look at some of the big talking points

Blue Benitez

Predicting football is often a fool s game – especially in an era when Lionel Messi no longer plays for Barcelona – but Rafael Benitez at Everton? Who saw that coming?

The Spaniard is back in the Premier League, two years after walking away from Newcastle United, having been tempted by the same project that won over Carlo Ancelotti before the lure o…

Burkina Faso begin their quest for Africa Cup of Nations glory against Gabon in Group A on Saturday.

Burkina Faso s quest to put their 2013 Africa Cup of Nations disappointment behind them begins when they face Gabon on Saturday.

The West African nation made it all the way to the final two years ago, but were subsequently beaten 1-0 by Nigeria in Johannesburg.

Gabon are their opening opponents in Group A this weekend as the 2015 tournament gets under way, with head coach Paul Put keen to get a good start in Bata as Burkina look to progress from the group stages for only the third time in their history.

Belgian Put has been in charge of Burkina since 2012 and much is expected of his side after the success in South Africa, especially with Jonathan Pitroipa…

It’s the dress rehearsal for the 2021 NFL season as the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills will meet in the third and final installment of the preseason on Saturday.

Both clubs are taking very different approaches to this abbreviated tune-up as the Bills will start Josh Allen and play the majority of their starters, while the Packers will sit Aaron Rodgers and most of the team’s No. 1’s.

Due to these very different game plans, the Bills come into Saturday’s home match as an unheard-of 9.5-point preseason favorite after opening at -4 and blowing past the 7 and the 9. The total has been less volatile but did jump two points to 36.5 after the Bills announced that Allen would start.

Here are our NFL free preseason picks and predicti…

With the 2021 NFL betting calendar entering December, books and bettors know exactly who they’re dealing with. 

Oddsmakers now have three months’ worth of data coursing through their icy veins, which means getting the best of the NFL spreads and totals takes cunning and perfect timing. And there are plenty of options on the table based on current NFL Week 13 odds.

That’s where our Week 13 “Bet Now/Bet Later” betting analysis comes in: predicting early moves and public perception in order to pinpoint the optimal time to place your wagers. Check out our top spreads and totals to bet now and the best NFL lines to bet later.

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With four weeks in the books, the rankings are settling in and the Top 10 has certainly seen a shakeup with the play of the Eagles, 49ers, Rams, and Packers. The Top 2 spots remain unchanged while the bottom-feeders are still bad. However, everything in the middle is still wide open as only nine teams have a losing record heading into Week 5.

In games on a neutral field, every higher-ranked team would be favored or, at least, a pick ’em on the moneyline in this format. For two teams ranked closely together, the difference in the spread would be a home-field advantage (if any), which varies slightly from team to team. 

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