Newcastle United interested in Blackburn Rovers star Ben Brereton Diaz

With the Europa League stealing centre stage on Thursday night, we are treated to a bumper schedule from across the continent.

With both Liverpool and Brighton looking to lay down their own respective markers on Thursday night, we have found a pair of Europa League markets that are worth keeping an eye out for.

20:00 Liverpool vs Toulouse

Suffering real frustration last season as they eventually missed out on the chance to book a top-four finish, Liverpool certainly haven’t shown any signs of a hangover this time around. Enjoying what has been an eye-catching start to the 2023/24 campaign and looking to lay down another marker on Thursday night, it is no secret that Jurgen Klopp’s side are tipped as a leading Europa League contender.

Marking their …

Gillingham handed a lifetime stadium ban to a supporter who appeared to racially abuse Omar Bogle during the side’s 2-0 home defeat to Newport, in which the striker scored twice from the penalty spot.

Bogle won County’s first spot-kick in the 20th minute when he was fouled by Gills goalkeeper Jake Turner after capitalising on Cheye Alexander’s miscued back-pass.

Having beaten Turner from 12 yards, Bogle appeared to be racially abused by a Gillingham fan as he celebrated his team’s opener. The club promptly issued a lifetime stadium ban to the fan, with a social media post from director of operations Joe Comper confirming the individual had been arrested.

Disgusting from one individual in the Rainham End. Arrested, and a lifetime ban from Priestfield issue…

Best Odds: 11/10

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Hoping to extend their stay at the top of the Serie A standings on Saturday evening, Inter Milan will travel to Bergamo when they meet local rivals Atalanta.

Atalanta

Starting with the hosts, while Atalanta might have missed out on the chance to punch a lucrative Champions League ticket last season, La Dea are dreaming of the chance to mount another genuine top-four charge. Last seen earlier in the week putting in another rampant performance as they cruised their way to a 3-0 victory away at Empoli, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side should find the mood in their camp at a real high. Marking their return from October’s international break with a 2-0 win at home against Genoa, the Bergamo-based outfit have lost just one of their previous…

France edged out Croatia 2-1 thanks to Kylian Mbappe s late effort in an end-to-end Nations League encounter.

Buoyed on by a limited, albeit raucous, home crowd in Zagreb, Croatia looked well placed to push on when Nikola Vlasic cancelled out Antoine Griezmann s stunning eighth-minute opener.

Mbappe failed to convert a gilt-edged chance soon after the world champions broke the deadlock, and Croatia could have made France pay earlier if not for an excellent stop from Hugo Lloris, who was then beaten by Vlasic after the break.

Despite a superb stop from Dominik Livakovic to deny Paul Pogba, France had their winner when Lucas Digne brilliantly teed up Mbappe with 11 minutes remaining.

16 Kylian Mbappé has scored 16 goals with France since his debut on 25 M…

Watford manager Javi Gracia praised Troy Deeney s influence after the skipper hit the winner over West Brom in his 300th league appearance for the club.

The 29-year-old coolly converted a one-on-one in the 77th minute to secure his side a 1-0 home victory, their second in as many Premier League matches.

Deeney, who joined from Walsall in 2010, looked set to swap Vicarage Road for the Hawthorns in January before Baggies boss Alan Pardew switched his attention to Daniel Sturridge.

Instead, the striker has netted three goals in four appearances for Watford to help make Gracia s appointment an immediate success.

I am very happy with him. I do not know what happened with him in the past, I do not want to know, Gracia told reporters.

I see him working…

Juventus launched their Coppa Italia title defence with a commanding 4-1 victory over Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium.

A free-kick from Juan Cuadrado gave the reigning champions a 25th-minute lead, while Daniele Rugani s first Bianconeri goal in almost three years doubled the advantage after the break.

Andrea Conti replied for Sampdoria, whose fortunes were overseen by Felice Tufano following the sacking of coach Roberto D’Aversa on Monday.

But substitute Paulo Dybala put the hosts back in control, before Alvaro Morata s penalty sealed their place in the quarter-finals.

Juventus had won eight of their nine previous Coppa Italia meetings with Sampdoria, while they had not been eliminated from this stage of the competition since 2005.

The Bianc…

Rio Ferdinand has questioned whether Manchester United can be considered serious Premier League title contenders with Harry Maguire starting regularly at centre-back.

Maguire, a reported £80million signing from Leicester City in 2018, has struggled for consistency in his third season at Old Trafford.

He has started 27 games for United this term – a tally bettered only by Bruno Fernandes (32) among outfield players – but was benched for Saturday s stalemate with Watford.

Interim boss Ralf Rangnick put that down to fitness reasons, but Ferdinand does not believe the United captain s strengths are suited to the German s style of play.

Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube show, Ferdinand said: Is Maguire going to enable you to win the league? That s a…

As Jofra Archer proved in the second Ashes Test, pace changes everything.

Senses are sharper, adrenaline pumps and numerous elements thought to be under control escape it.

Monday s Premier League showdown between Wolves and Manchester United at Molineux – which ended with the spoils fairly shared in a 1-1 draw – was similarly a contest at its best when clattering along without a thought for the consequences.

Only with a full pre-season under his belt can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer truly be considered at the United wheel. And his is a team built for speed.

As in their 4-0 thumping of Chelsea on the opening weekend, plenty of United s early work was scruffy and without structure – they completed only 70.7 per cent of their first-half passes – but they …

Antoine Griezmann declared he will give everything in his limited minutes after playing the role of super sub in Atletico Madrid s remarkable 2-1 Champions League win over Porto on Wednesday. 

After 100 minutes and 21 seconds, Griezmann nodded home the latest Champions League goal on record (excluding extra-time) to guide Los Colchoneros to a dramatic victory.

Mario Hermoso had broken the deadlock in the 91st minute before conceding a penalty that was scored by Matheus Uribe, meaning Atleti s win over Porto is just the second Champions League match to ever feature three goals scored after the 90th minute (excluding extra-time).

In a remarkable turn of fate, the previous instance was when these two sides met last December, when Diego Simeone s men ran out 3-1 wi…

All eyes will be on the race for the top four in the Premier League again this weekend, with Manchester United and Tottenham tussling at Old Trafford.

Both sides have fallen behind Arsenal in recent weeks, with the Gunners having at least a game in hand on each of their rivals, but a victory for either team could provide a little extra belief.

Certainly given United s poor defensive record and Harry Kane s habit of scoring on the road, Spurs will fancy themselves in with a decent chance.

And that seamlessly takes us into this week s Opta-powered quiz. You ll find the answers at the bottom of the page… No cheating!

1. Tottenham s Harry Kane has scored 93 goals in 137 Premier League away games – one more will see him equal the record. Who currently hold…