Euro hopes rise

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Head Start

Transfer window: what to expect

The Summer transfer window opens in under two weeks. We expect there’ll be lots of activity in the window this time round… 

… crosses fingers …

But let’s look at some of the key Premier League signings to look out for. 

Arsenal will be on the look out for a striker. Surprisingly, not a single Arsenal player has surpassed 16 Premier League goals in four campaigns… 

… considering they were second for goals scored last season, it’s pretty impressive. 

While Arteta’s men goal motto is ‘sharing is caring’, a 20-goal-a-season striker could prove the difference maker. It’s no wonder Napoli are expecting a bid for Victor Osimhen soon…

Everton are in a similar, but more serious, situation… 

• They scored the fewest open-play goals last season… five fewer than Sheffield United.

• They scored the second-fewest goals (40) - underperforming their xG by 16 goals.

So… no prizes for guessing the sort of player that Sean Dyche will be looking for.

A few clubs have a problem they will need to solve: age. 

Chelsea, with the youngest average XI, are losing 39-year-old Thiago Silva who started 27 games.

And the fact they conceded eight more goals than any previous Premier League campaign makes it obvious that injecting some experience in their defence will be key. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Fulham had the oldest average starting XI…

… and they used the least amount of players last season. It’s probably why they tailed off at the end of last season, winning just two of their last nine league games. 

They’ve already enquired about Arsenal’s 23-year-old midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe and (click-bait warning) The Sun report they’re willing to spend £30 million on 25-year-old Eddie Nketiah. 

Then there’s Ipswich. Only six players of the newly promoted side’s squad have played in the Premier League…

It’s safe to say, Kieran Mckenna will want to recruit battle-hardened legs into his squad.

Plus…

Chelsea announce Enzo Maresca as their new head coach following Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking (More)

Lucas Paqueta has requested an extension to respond to alleged betting breaches charge (More)

The FA “recommended a ban on alcohol” before England’s Euro 2024 opener against Serbia (More)

Three Champions League final pitch invaders have been charged by the police (More)

Stats Zone

Euro 2024 Friendly: England 3 - 0 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cole Palmer 60’ (P), Trent Alexander-Arnold 85’, Harry Kane 89’

→ This was the first time England’s starting line-up didn’t include a player from Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City or Tottenham since 1994.

→ England have ended a run of three games without a win (D2 L1) with this their first victory since November 2023 against Malta. They’ve now won 13 of their last 15 friendlies (D1 L1).

Gibraltar 0 - 2 Scotland | Croatia 3 - 0 North Macedonia | Germany 0 - 0 Ukraine | Albania 3 - 0 Liechtenstein

Euro 2025 Qualifier: France Womens vs England Womens (Tonight @ 20:00 BST, ITV)

→ England Women dropped out of the automatic qualification spot in their group after France Women came from behind to beat the Lionesses 2-1 on Saturday. 

→ Although Leah Williamson said the return fixture is a “must-win”, England’s record against France is poor having only won two of their last 16 meetings (8L, 6D).

Australia 2 - 0 China PR | Japan 4 - 1 New Zealand

Additional fixtures in On Today below.

Euro Hopes Grow

German confidence

It’s notorious that the Germans don’t buckle under pressure…

• They’ve won every penalty shootout they’ve been involved in at the World Cup.

• They’ve scored 94% of their penalties, with only 6% of them saved. 

• They’ve only ever lost one penalty shoot out at the Euros, but have won all six they’ve contested in since then.

… so it’s no wonder that they aren’t breaking a sweat as they gear up to host the Euros this summer.

How do we know this? Well, a recent survey showed that out of 227 Bundesliga players, nearly 40% think that Germany will win the Euros. 

(France (22%) and England (15.4%) were second and third on the list.)

Interestingly, last year, 63% of the cohort did not think Germany could win the title. But, it seems like the sentiment is changing among the hosts… 

In the same survey, former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita was voted the “biggest disappointment of the season” by his fellow players.

That’s like your colleagues and competitors coming together to say that you’re simply not up for it.

We’re not sure why this question was asked but - heck - we’re not complaining.

Off The Pitch

🎶 The four members of ABBA have been knighted in Sweden (More)

🇲🇽 Claudia Sheinbaum has won a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female president (More)

🗳️ A YouGov poll of 2,400 people found that two-fifths of Britons think people who vote are more attractive (More)

💰 ‘Magnet fishing’ enthusiasts say they pulled up a safe containing $100,000 from a New York Lake (More)

🛹 Northern Ireland becomes the first part of the UK to offer skateboarding as part of the PE curriculum at GCSE level (More)

⛳️ Robert MacIntyre claims his first PGA Tour title with his father as caddie who was called up at short notice (More)

Photo of the Day

On this day in 1977. Scotland were reigning Home International champions and needed a victory over England at Wembley to retain their title. After a 2-1 victory for Scotland - including goals from Gordon McQueen and Kenny Dalglish - many of the 98,103 crowd invaded the pitch. The Wembley turf was torn out and the goalposts were wrecked. The Scots became the first country to beat England after they had won the World Cup in 1966.

Around The Football World

🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé has not been named in France head coach Thierry Henry’s preliminary 25-man squad for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Borussia Dortmund loan winger Jadon Sancho admits that he’s ready to rejoin Manchester United this summer, but only if boss Erik ten Hag leaves (More)

🇬🇶 FIFA judges have ruled that AFCON top scorer Emilio Nsue was never eligible to play for Equatorial Guinea throughout his entire 11-year international career (More)

🇮🇹 Napoli are expecting a bid from Arsenal for striker Victor Osimhen as the Italian side hopes to recoup as much of the Nigerian international’s $120 million exit clause as possible (More)

🇺🇸 LA Galaxy are in advanced talks with free agent Marco Reus (More)

Extra Time

Jude Bellingham gives a full interview in Spanish.

Did… Ligue 1 just throw shade at Mbappé?

Every Premier League manager’s wages last year.

Saint-Étienne didn’t leave their changing room in good condition after being promoted to Ligue 1… and Metz weren’t happy.

Everton fans aren’t too pleased with Dwight McNeil’s cringey video.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s European Championships stats… because why not?

The Athletic simulate Kylian Mbappé’s career at Real Madrid on Football Manager 24. 

The Revista de La Liga show was the golden era for punditry.

Game Face On

Question: Which player never received a yellow or red card in 654 competitive games?

Hint: Ready Salted.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

Euro 2025 Qualifier: Israel Womens vs Scotland Womens (15:00 BST, BBC iPlayer)

Euro 2025 Qualifier: Northern Ireland vs Portugal (19:00 BST, BBC iPlayer)

Euro 2025 Qualifier: Ukraine Womens vs Wales Womens (19:00 BST, BBC iPlayer)

Euro 2025 Qualifier: France Womens vs England Womens (20:00 BST, ITV)

MEN’S FOOTBALL

Friendlies: Romania vs Bulgaria (19:30 BST, Premier Sports)

Friendlies: Ireland vs Hungary (19:45 BST)

Friendlies: Italy vs Turkey (20:00 BST, Premier Sports)

TENNIS

French Open: Day 10 (9:30 / 12:00 BST, Discovery+ & Eurosport)

CRICKET

ICC T20 World Cup: Afghanistan vs Uganda (9:30 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

ICC T20 World Cup: England vs Scotland (15:00 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

ICC T20 World Cup: Netherlands vs Nepal (16:00 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer: Gary Lineker.

Hottest Take of the Day

Today’s Hottest Take of the Day is: Maldini is his prime could win a 1v1 against Messi in his prime. Thanks to Ethan M from West Virginia for the suggestion. Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.