FPL tips & team of the week: Brennan Johnson, Evanilson and Bryan Mbeumo are great value for Gameweek 7

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4 hours ago

October 4, 2024

FPL tips & team of the week: Brennan Johnson, Evanilson and Bryan Mbeumo are great value for Gameweek 7

David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.6m – home to Southampton

This is the second of Arsenal’s plum home games in a row and, despite last week’s disappointment, they are the team most likely to keep a clean sheet in gameweek seven.

Taking Raya is a hefty investment, but he has been worth it this season with three clean sheets and also six bonus points.

Riccardo Calafiori, Arsenal, defender, £5.8m – home to Southampton

Doubling up on Arsenal’s defence feels like a safe bet.

It’s a small sample size, but in Calafiori’s two starts for Arsenal, he has a higher expected goals number (xG) than goal machine Gabriel (0.26 to 0.21).

The Italian scored a cracker at Manchester City and is averaging a couple of shots per game he starts. He’s also had more touches in the box than any other Gunners defender in the past two games.

Rico Lewis, Manchester City, defender, £4.7m – home to Fulham

Speaking of touches in the box, Lewis leads that statistic for City and for just £4.7m he feels like an FPL cheat code, with a decent chance of an attacking return.

The flip side is you never know who Pep Guardiola is going to play on any given week in defence, but Rodri’s absence makes Lewis’ involvement against Fulham feel a bit more likely.

At the price, Lewis owners can make sure they have a decent fourth defender in case he stays on the bench.

Max Kilman, West Ham, defender, £4.5m – home to Ipswich

A budget defender at home to the team with the lowest xG so far this season – makes sense, right?

Kilman is a threat from corners – he scored twice last season for Wolves and has had two headers on target so far this term.

Team-mate Konstantinos Mavropanos has been more threatening from set-pieces this season, but he didn’t start the last game.

New signing Jean-Clair Todibo should eventually become Kilman’s defensive partner and he will make West Ham’s defence better.

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Keinan Davis saved Udinese, now two legends are reviving the Serie A club

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12 mins ago

October 4, 2024

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Keinan Davis saved Udinese, now two legends are reviving the Serie A club

“I don’t know how they got in,” laughs Keinan Davis.

The striker had scored the most important goal of his career and returned to his apartment to find ‘thank you’ posters and stickers from Udinese fans across his front door.

Davis’ first goal in Italy was also the one that kept Udinese in Serie A on the final day of last season, the substitute netting a 76th-minute winner at Frosinone that relegated the hosts and lifted his own club to 15th and safety.

“That was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in football,” adds the Englishman, who missed most of his debut season in Italy because of a calf injury.

“In football, you get your respect on the field with your team-mates and not being able to do it was a bit difficult. But it was all worth it to score that goal – 100%.”

From almost dropping out of the division in May, Udinese are now eighth, just three points off top spot, a position they occupied before defeats by Roma and Inter Milan.

Davis, largely from the bench, has already made more appearances this term than in his injury-hit first season, and has benefitted from the arrival of English-speaking head coach Kosta Runjaic.

The striker’s route to Udine, in north east Italy, has been unconventional.

Davis grew up in Stevenage but was let go by the League One club and was playing under-18s football at seventh-tier Biggleswade Town when he was scouted and signed by Aston Villa, going on to make more than 70 appearances in the Championship and Premier League before loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Watford.

In September 2023 Davis joined Udinese for an undisclosed fee.

“I was a bit scared to leave England because that’s obviously all I knew,” explains the 26-year-old. “When you get older different situations arise, like this one. It opened my mind to playing in a different country, learning a different language.”

He watched former Villa team-mate Tammy Abraham succeed at Roma, and now AC Milan, and brings a physicality to Serie A which can be rare.

“The tactical side of it is slower than English football,” says Davis. “I am physical and there are not really too many of those types of player.

“You see [Romelu] Lukaku and people with physical attributes do well. In England everybody is physical and everybody is fast.”

Joining Udinese has also presented Davis with the opportunity to link up and learn from one of his heroes.

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Football

Podcast: Mixed fortunes in Europe & Premiership preview

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1 hour ago

October 4, 2024

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Podcast: Mixed fortunes in Europe & Premiership preview

Iona Ballantyne, Kevin Thomson and Ryan McGowan discuss the big Scottish football news

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Football

Liverpool: Teagan Micah, Taylor Hinds, Fuka Nagano & Mia Enderby take on Honesty Cards

Published

2 hours ago

October 4, 2024

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Liverpool: Teagan Micah, Taylor Hinds, Fuka Nagano & Mia Enderby take on Honesty Cards

Liverpool stars Teagan Micah, Taylor Hinds, Fuka Nagano and Mia Enderby share the unfiltered truth with BBC Sport’s Ryhanna Parara as they take on the Honesty Cards.

Watch Tottenham v Liverpool in the Women’s Super League on Sunday 6 October at 14.00 BST on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app.

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Football

Lionel Messi scores twice as Inter Miami win MLS Supporters’ Shield for first time

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3 hours ago

October 4, 2024

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Lionel Messi scores twice as Inter Miami win MLS Supporters' Shield for first time

The trophy is Messi’s 46th piece of silverware in his glittering career for club and country.

By finishing top of the standings, Miami have secured home advantage during the post-season play-offs.

“The first objective has been achieved and now we have to think about what’s next,” said Messi.

“The first round is three games but then it’s one game and anything can happen. But we have the great advantage of playing all the games at home, which is what we were looking for. We are very strong at home.”

Miami need two wins from their final two league matches to beat the MLS record for most points in a regular season, which currently stands as the 73 amassed by the New England Revolution in 2021.

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Republic of Ireland: McGuinness earns first call-up with Doherty among absentees

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5 hours ago

October 4, 2024

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Republic of Ireland: McGuinness earns first call-up with Doherty among absentees

Smallbone and Coleman have not played for their clubs since featuring for the Republic of Ireland last month.

Coleman hobbled off with a leg injury in the 2-0 defeat by England.

Smallbone started in both home losses against England and Greece but a hamstring issue has prevented him from playing for Southampton since then.

Taylor, 26, has been in previous Republic squads but the Ipswich midfielder, who made seven appearances for the Irish Under-21 in 2019 and 2020, is yet to earn a full cap.

The Irish will face Finland in Helsinki on 10 October before taking on Greece in Athens three days later.

Hallgrimsson began his Republic of Ireland reign with last month’s two defeats and will be seeking significant improvement both in terms of performances and results in the Helsinki and Athens contests.

Republic of Ireland squad

Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth), Max O’Leary (Bristol City).

Defenders: Festy Ebosele (Watford, on loan from Udinese), Mark McGuinness (Luton), Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), Callum O’Dowda (Cardiff City), Robbie Brady (Preston North End).

Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough), Jack Taylor (Ipswich), Jamie McGrath (Aberdeen).

Forwards: Adam Idah (Celtic), Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Sammie Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Chiedozie Ogbene (Ipswich Town), Mikey Johnston (West Brom), Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City).

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