SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Leeds v Sheffield United Friday 27th October, 19:45 Live on Sky Sports Leeds back to winning ways Leeds manager Thomas Christiansen opted to stick by his 4-2-3-1 formation last weekend despite losing four of five previous Championship outings, including three immediately prior to their trip to Ashton Gate to face high-flying Bristol City. However, the Whites boss pushed Kalvin Phillips into the number 10 role and recalled Ronaldo Vieira to partner Eunan O'Kane in a more balanced midfield pairing, offering both brawn and flair. The result was obvious with Vieira dominating the match in a wonderful 3-0 triumph for Leeds. Samuel Saiz bagged an early brace as the Whites cemented their position in the top-six in emphatic style and should again feature from the flanks. Gaetano Berardi's red card means the defender is absent whilst Stuart Dallas remains a doubt following a family bereavement. Sheffield United flying high Goals from Paul Coutts and Billy Sharp helped Sheffi...

Germany Bundesliga Hoffenheim v B. Monchengladbach Saturday, October 28, 2017 Betfair Back Odds -  Home   2.00  Draw  3.65  Away  3.25 Fair Value Odds -  Home   1.69  Draw  4.30  Away  5.60 Recommended Bet:  Back Hoffenheim above fair value   England Premier-League Manchester United v Tottenham Saturday, October 28, 2017 Betfair Back Odds -  Home   2.16  Draw  3.20  Away  3.40 Fair Value Odds -  Home   3.00  Draw  3.30  Away  2.72 Recommended Bet:  Back Tottenham above fair value   England Championship Sunderland v Bristol City Saturday, October 28, 2017 Betfair Back Odds -  Home   2.60  Draw  3.30  Away  2.50 Fair Value Odds -  Home   2.30  Draw  3.60  Away  3.60 Recommended Bet:  Back Sunderland above fair value France Ligue-1 Bordeaux v Monaco Saturday, October 28, 20...

Manchester United v Tottenham Saturday 28th October, 12:30 Live on Sky Sports Man Utd aim to bounce back from Huddersfield horror show Jose Mourinho questioned the attitude of his Manchester United players following last weekend's shock 2-1 defeat at Huddersfield. The Red Devils failed to recover from a dreadful first-half performance and managed just three on-target efforts despite enjoying 78% of possession at the John Smith's Stadium. A much-changed United bounced back to triumph 2-0 at Swansea and progress to the League Cup quarter-finals in midweek thanks to a Jesse Lingard double but Mourinho's focus was always likely to be on Saturday's appetising lunchtime showdown. The hosts will again be without Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Phil Jones but Eric Bailly looks set to return to the fold and should partner Chris Smalling in the heart of United's defence this weekend. Tottenham title challengers Tottenham fielded a much-changed X...

West Brom v Manchester City Saturday October 28, 15:00 Baggies finding evolution a hard task Having further established West Bromwich Albion as a solid force in the Premier League (they finished tenth last season, and 14th the campaign before, but were well clear of the dropzone), Tony Pulis is now trying to take the Baggies to the next level. The Welshman's strengths as a manager have always been good organisation and man-management, but now he wants to show that his teams can play with a bit more flair and consistently open up defences. The problem with such lofty ambitions is that they can lead to a decline in what made you successful in the first place. As Atletico Madrid found for some of last season, playing in a more open fashion can lead to defensive issues, as you try to judge how adventurous to be. Albion only leaked 51 goals in the Premier League last season (1.34 goals per game), but despite a strong start to this campaign, they have started to spring a few leaks....

Bournemouth v Chelsea Saturday October 28, 17:30 Live on BT Sport 1 After wins for these two sides last weekend, the opportunity to record back-to-back victories is something that both will be desperate to achieve for very different reasons. The Blues came from behind to beat Watford last time out, but it was a performance that left a lot to be desired for the fourth game running from Conte's side. Still nine points adrift of pace-setters Manchester City, the Italian knows he faces a real mission to retain the title and one that would likely become impossible if they were to fall further behind. The Cherries, meanwhile, will look to exploit the instability that the champions have shown since their superb victory in Madrid to drag themselves out of the drop zone, hoping that another upcoming European tie will distract focus. Former Chelsea fringe players with a point to prove Eddie Howe will have been buoyed by Callum Wilson's goalscoring return to action in midweek, ...

Arsenal v Swansea Saturday October 28, 15:00  Wenger can finally pick his best side Sunday's game at Everton was arguably the first time all season that Arsene Wenger could field his strongest XI. Well, almost. When fit, Shkodran Mustafi would probably start ahead of the ageing Per Mertesacker. But both the team selection and the system looked the one best suited to the resources at the Frenchman's disposal. Hector Bellerin and Saed Kolasinac both look well-suited to play as wing-backs and the 'double-pivot' of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey provides a nice balance of steel and creativity. But most important of all of course was the fact that it was the first time in the 2017/18 campaign that the former Monaco boss could play his best attackers together- Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette. And despite progressing in the Cup in midweek, everyone should be fresh. Not a single player who took part in the 2-1 extra-time win over Norwich is expected to...

Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim Wednesday 25 October, 19:45 I've been a football journalist for 20 years and yet the sport continues to surprise.  Last night contained a nasty shock, as an Oostende side that had lost all five home games thrashed a Sporting Charleroi team that was second in the table 3-0. With a head bleeding from all the scratching, I'll take you to northern Germany, because Werder Bremen are set to take on Hoffenheim in the German Cup. Werder have a  proud record  in this competition, as they haven't been beaten at home in a cup game since 1988. Their current record in the Bundesliga isn't so good, with no wins from the first nine matches. However, I believe that some of their performances have  deserved better,  and they have some reasons to be confident of pulling off a shock against high-flying Hoffenheim. Firstly, they pushed Hoffenheim all the way on the opening weekend of the season, before losing 1-0 courtesy of a deflected Andrej Kr...

Chelsea v Everton – (Thur 5:45am) Trouble is a word we can associate with both clubs in recent weeks – the only difference is that one of them has been able to fight through them while for the other they have just gotten bigger. Everton sacked manager Ronald Koeman and his staff following the 5-2 loss at home to Arsenal and things don’t look like improving any time soon. They have won just 2 of their last 13 matches and one of those was their last EFL Cup match at home to Sunderland. Chelsea may want to take a leaf out of Chelsea’s ‘dealing with adversity’ book. With Kante sidelined they continue to lose the midfield battle but have found a way to get results. They found a late equaliser against Roma and 2 goals in the final minutes in the match against Watford. Cheslea have won their last 3 against The Toffees with a combined scoreline of 10-0. The Wolf cannot see Everton making any impression. Best: Chelsea WIN ($1.44) Value: HT/FT – Chelsea/Chelsea ($2.05) Tottenham v Wes...

Chicago Fire v New York Red Bulls Thursday, 01:30 The fun starts in Chicago, where the Fire are favourites to overcome a lacklustre New York Red Bulls. The awkward thing about tipping anything in this game is the fitness or otherwise of  Bastian Schweinsteiger . He makes a marked difference for the Fire, and he hasn't started since September 2nd. Rumours are that he'll be fit to play, and so I'll continue on that basis. The two sides played twice in the regular season, with the  Red Bulls winning at home and the game here finishing 1-1 . Chicago struggle against sides that play with high energy (as Houston did last season), and the Red Bulls certainly don't possess that kind of game. They've looked sluggish in this last part of the season, strange for a team that normally finishes so strongly, and while there's a theory that they've been waiting for the play offs, I don't buy that, and think that  Chicago are backable at   2.20  to come away with ...