SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

FC Astana v Legia Warsaw Wednesday 15:00 Our Danish Lions fell silent in  Macedonia last night , slipping to a 1-0 defeat at Vardar Skopje. Today we're hoping that Legia Warsaw can succeed where Copenhagen failed, and land a blow on their  eastern European  hosts. You might remember in the Champions League proper last season that the Polish army team were involved in the competition's highest-scoring game ever: an 8-4 defeat at Borussia Dortmund. Just before that game, they'd gone down 5-1 at Real Madrid. The crucial thing is, they scored. Legia have actually hit the back of the net in 10/12 Champions League away games since 2013 (including qualifiers like this one). Since arriving at Europe's  top table  in 2015, FC Astana have scored in 8/9 home matches, and conceded in 7/9. We fancy Legia to help them extend both of those exciting records at the  Astana Arena  today. Recommended Bet Back Both Teams to Score @  2.08   in FC Astan...

Tottenham v Roma  Wednesday 10:00am  Kyle Walker or no Kyle Walker Spurs are a serious unit and they are yet to go shopping. Pochettino is sure to add to the squad and has noted that although they have depth and an abundance of youngsters, the facts that their rivals have invested heavily will make things difficult. Trippier will lock down the right back role but look for them to add a key figure in each line of the formation. Ideally they will be seeking a versatile defender, an attacking midfield player and a backup for Kane. For Roma, the writing is on the wall. They have finished 2nd in the Serie A in 3 of the last 4 season but they have literally been stripped in recent months. Inspirational manager Spalletti was snapped up by Inter and a exodus has ensued. Mohamed Salah and Rudiger have made their way to Liverpool and Chelseas respectively, Totti has retired and De Rossi is pushing 35 years of age. They have picked up a stack of young blood with Pellegrini, Un...

Chelsea v Bayern Munich   Tuesday 9:35pm  If Chelsea’s first outing is anything to go by they are in store for another big season. Antonio Conte played close to a full strength lineup against Arsenal and it translated into a dominant 3-0 win. Willian and Kante were excellent with Batshuayi showing that he will rival Morata for the starting role up front. With Chelsea in the UCL this season and back to playing a full schedule look for him to get a lot more game time. Bayern will be looking to bounce back from a disastrous outing against AC Milan. Rafinha was exposed on multiple occasions at right back as a young and energetic Milan squad put 4 past them. The match may have just been a friendly, but when Bayern put out a line up that includes Lewandowski, Muller, Ribery, Coman, Tolisso, Bernat and Hummels you expect a world class performance. The Wolf says it is natural to expect a reaction from Bayern but says we will not see one. The key to this lies in the Blues focus on...

Norway v Denmark Monday, 19:45 Live on British Eurosport 2 Norway were supposed to be getting better under their new Coach Martin Sjogren, but their performances here so far suggest that he's simply not cut out for the job. Denmark showed how you can defend against the Dutch flyer Shanice Van De Sanden in the hosts' second game, but Sjogren did nothing to either prepare for, or react to, the chaos that she caused in the Group opener. He followed that up with poor selections against Belgium, and his team looked a demotivated shambles. I hear rumours that all may not be well in the camp, and Denmark are an absolute must bet to beat what's being billed as a tightly-contested Scandinavian derby. I'm not sure that it will be, as the Danes have a good result against Belgium under their belts, and were unfortunate to lose to the Netherlands. The Danes have serious quality in the shape of Pernille Harder, a normally reliable finisher in Nadia Nadim, and they are solid defensive...

Inter v Lyon – Monday 10:05pm AEST This is our first look at both clubs at the ICC but they have played several friendlies elsewhere in the lead up. The Wolf is predicting a tough season ahead for both sides due to a combination of losing key talent and their rivals strengthening their respective squads. Juventus and AC Milan have been very active but Inter seem to have been sitting on their hands. The biggest change has been the arrival of manager Luciano Spalletti from Roma. With a new manager one can only expect a number of changes to follow. Jovetic has been recalled from a loan spell with Sevilla but they have lost the services of silky midfielder Ever Banega. Winger Ivan Perisic has been targeted by Man Utd and we could see some sort of swap deal with Inter rumoured to be interested in Martial. For Lyon it has been a case of cashing in when you can. Arguably their two best players, Lacazette and Tolisso, have gone to Arsenal and Bayern Munich respectively and they will not be rep...

Sirius v Hacken Saturday 22 July, 17:00 It's been a strange week. We burned bright early on, but three near-misses have put us back where we started.  Last night  provided the cruellest cut of all, as a 90th-minute winner for Cabinteely sunk Shelbourne 1-0. We seek Swedish solace, in an Allsvenskan fixture between Sirius and Hacken. Sirius are enjoying life in the top flight after they were promoted as Superettan champions in 2016. Just four years ago, the Blasvart were in the third division, so it's been quite a rise for the men from Uppsala. This season they are fourth in the table, and they have collected  ten points  from their last four matches. Sirius haven't lost at home since mid-April, and they have won four of their six league games at Studenternas since then. They have scored in every single one of those six matches. Hacken have lost three of their last five league games, and they have drawn a blank in all three of those matches. Although they h...

New England v LA Galaxy Sunday July 23, 00:30 BST The Galaxy  have been in the news this past week as they took a 5-2 drubbing against Manchester United in a friendly. They then played again, this time in the MLS, on Wednesday night, but they suffered another defeat - 0-1 at home to Vancouver. Curt Onalfo's  side have now lost their last five matches - competitive and non-competitive - and they could really do with getting back on track sooner rather than later if they want to make the top six. A trip to  New England  isn't the easiest in the world but this recent blip aside, LA have done pretty well on their travels this year. They have actually won four of their last six away from home and been beaten just once. The hosts are also in poor form as they have lost five of their last six in all competitions. Their three most recent outings have seen them  lose all three times and even their last two MLS fixtures here have ended in defeat. I really ...

HJK Helsinki v Shkendjia Thursday 20 July, 17:00 Our first setback of the week came in Norway last night, as Rosenborg drew 1-1 with Dundalk after 90 minutes. Rosenborg scored a winner eight minutes into extra time, but that was about as much use as a chocolate teapot. We'll stay on the goal trail, and this evening we'll take in a Europa League qualifier from the Finnish capital Helsinki. HJK have their backs against the wall after a 3-1 defeat in Macedonia against Shkendjia. You have to go back to 2014 for the last time that HJK made it to the group stage of a major European competition, and they need their excellent home form to continue to have any chance of staying alive in Europe this season. They have won seven of their last eight home games in all competitions, and have kept clean sheets in every single one of those victories. However, that watertight defence sprung a few leaks in the first leg, as Besart Ibraimi scored a 19-minute hat-trick for Shke...

Netherlands v Denmark Thursday, 17:00 Live on British Eurosport 2 After beating Norway in their opening game, all eyes will once again be on Sarina Wiegmann and her Netherlands team as they face Denmark in Rotterdam, knowing that another win would make sure of a place in the quarter-finals. Given the stuttering starts made by both Germany and France, there are those who feel that the Dutch have a genuine chance of winning the title. They've shortened now to 8.40 , and are disputing third favouritism with England. That's understandable given the attacking flair that they displayed in their opener against Norway, but the worry about the Netherlands before this tournament was their backline, and a clean sheet hasn't made those issues go away. There were times against Norway when Caroline Graham Hansen tore the Dutch to shreds, and it was only the loss of form and confidence of Ada Hegeberg that stopped Norway from scoring. Denmark beat newcomers Belgium...

Rosenborg v Dundalk Wednesday 19 July, 18:15 We don't visit Macedonia much in this column, but we might start going there a bit more often, if  last night  is anything to go by. We backed Over 2.5 Goals, and Vardar Skopje took care of that on their own, as their 3-1 win over Malmo saw them through to the next qualifying round of the Champions League. We're off to Norway tonight, for a bit more Champions League glamour. Norwegian champions Rosenborg are up against Dundalk, and the tie is  delicately balanced after a 1-1 draw in the Republic of Ireland. Rosenborg tend to be pretty strong at the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim, and in the domestic Eliteserien they have won six of their last nine home games. They have only lost one of their last 11 competitive matches on home soil, so you can see why they are trading at  1.51  to win this. However, the trend I'm more interested in relates to goals. 19 of their last 22 home games in the league have featured t...

NYCFC v Toronto FC Thursday, 00:30 Live on Sky Sports Football Two of the teams vying for supremacy at the top of the Eastern Conference go head to head in the Bronx as MLS returns with a bang. This game will be billed as the battle of the last two League MVPs in the shape of Sebastian Giovinco and David Villa, yet there's a lot more depth to it than that. These are two exceptional teams, two really good squads, and it would be no great surprise if this ended up being the Eastern Conference Final in November, and with NYCFC unbeaten in their regular season encounters against Toronto,  Patrick Viera's team are trading at  1.96  for the win . The last time that they met, though, was in the post-season last year, and  TFC simply owned NYCFC . The tie ended in a 7-0 aggregate win, and those two matches will hang heavily over this fixture. Vieira will be out for revenge, and their recent home form suggests that they'll get it. They've  won four of their last five ...

Aalesunds v Molde Saturday July 08, 17:00 I once knew a tipster called Kevin. He backed Limerick and they did his head in. To his total dismay, they lost at Galway. Now he's feeling a bit of a cretin. A disappointing result  last night,  and a worse limerick to compound it, but at least we're still in profit for the week. Tonight we turn our attention back to Norway, because Aalesunds are facing Molde in the top-flight Tippeligaen. With half the season gone, both teams are on the fringes of the title race, but are  struggling to string wins together.  Molde haven't managed back-to-back wins in the league since April, while Aalesunds haven't won two games in a row since May, and they have only collected five points from their last five matches. While  Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's  Molde (if you didn't know, the headline refers to Solskjaer's old nickname) tend to score and concede plenty of goals, there are reason to think this may be a tight and defensiv...

Romelu Lukaku  would be the perfect signing for Manchester United. Though  Zlatan Ibrahimovic  had a fine season at the club and surprised with the amount of goals he scored at the age of 35, there is no doubt that the presence of the ageing forward slowed down the speed of United's attacks and made them somewhat predictable. Some 17 Premier League goals in 28 games from Ibrahimovic was a good return, but it came from a relatively poor shot conversion rate of just 14.8%. Collectively  Jose Mourinho's  side were even worse when it came to wasting chances. The team could only manage a 13% conversion rate, which saw them ranked 17th in the Premier League for that statistic, which is pretty appalling considering that United finished sixth. It's little wonder then that Mourinho cut such an aggrieved figure on the sidelines last season, but should he succeed in his pursuit of Lukaku, we might just see Mourinho's smile make a long-awaited return to his face. When spend...