SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Liverpool v Brighton Saturday 25 August, 17:30 Live on BT Sport 1 Klopp's title protests will fall on deaf ears Liverpool boss  Jurgen Klopp  has a point that it's far too early to tip the Reds as Premier League title winners after just two games, but that won't stop the buzz from growing louder. Liverpool fans, starved of title success since 1990, are  daring to dream.  Although Manchester City have set the bar at a record high, there's a lot to like about the Liverpool squad. In Alisson they have a solid goalkeeper who commands his area well. Defender  Virgil van Dijk  was positively Herculean in Monday's 2-0 win at Crystal Palace,  Naby Keita  had some jaw-dropping moments in midfield, and Sadio Mane has already banged in three goals in two games. The bench looks stronger than it has for years, thanks to some hefty investment over the summer, and Fabinho was left out entirely at Selhurst Park. The  Opta  stats show that ...

Real Valladolid v Barcelona Saturday, 21:15 Live on Eleven Sports and Betfair Live Video Alavés scrapped admirably, but in the end  Barcelona did what they do best . Two late goals put gloss on the scoreline - and gave this column a nice winner - but really they might have been home and dry long before that, the woodwork and some wayward finishing having let their visitors off the hook a few times. To look at Ernesto Valverde's squad is to see  an embarrassment of attacking riches : Philippe Coutinho, Arthur and Arturo Vidal only made cameos off the bench, while Rafinha and Malcom didn't feature at all. If they ever need a super sub, they should be well covered. What Real Valladolid would do for even a quarter of that depth. They lost a good chunk of their firepower  when Jaime Mata left for Getafe  (he scored 35 of their 78 goals in segunda last term) and look undercooked in other areas. A draw at Girona was a decent enough way to return to the big time, but...

Middlesbrough v West Brom Friday August 24, 19:45 Live on Sky Sports Football Middlesbrough looking to cement their lofty position First-half goals from  Martin Braithwaite  and  Britt Assombalonga  put  Middlesbrough  on the path to a 2-0 victory last Saturday at Bristol City. The Teessiders were in control of proceedings for large swathes of the Ashton Gate encounter, only coming under sustained pressure in the latter stages. Despite guiding his group to a 10-point haul from their first four fixtures (W3-D1-L0), Boro boss  Tony Pulis  insists the club need to strengthen the squad for a concerted bid to return to the Premier League. A loan move for Yannick Bolasie looks dead at the time of writing and no new recruits are expected before Friday. However, summer signing  Jordan Hugill  has edged closer towards a first-team return from a hamstring injury having scored in a midweek friendly.  Rudy Gestede  is also nea...

Bayern Munich v Hoffenheim Friday 24 August, 19:30 Live on BT Sport 2 Hoffenheim to give Bayern a scare Sweden delivered our first winner of the week, as a thrilling 2-2 draw between Malmo and Midtjylland in the Europa League comfortably landed our  BTTS bet. Any long-term readers of these scribblings will know the Bundesliga is very much a favourite of mine, so we have to drop in on the league's big kick-off. Bayern Munich begin their bid for a  seventh consecutive Bundesliga title  tonight, as they take on Hoffenheim. It's been all change at Bayern this summer, with former FCB midfielder  Niko Kovac  taking over as coach. Last season the Croatian delivered Eintracht Frankfurt's first major trophy in 30 years, beating Bayern in the final of the DFB Pokal. He kicked off his spell with the champions by crushing his former club Frankfurt 5-0 in the German Supercup, although a 1-0 success against Regionalliga side Drochtersen/Assel in the Pokal hardly ...

Malmo v Midtjylland Thursday 23 August, 18:00 Defences to be dominated Our Dynamo didn't generate enough power  last night,  as the men from Kiev went down 3-1 at Ajax. A tough start to the week, but we move on. We'll head to Sweden for a Europa League qualifier between Malmo and Midtjylland, not quite a local derby, but certainly a regional one. Malmo were edged out on away goals by Hungarian side MOL Vidi in the Champions League, and failure to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League would constitute a  major setback.  Domestically Malmo are on a charge, having won their last four games, but they are still 11 points adrift of the current Allsvenskan leaders AIK. Midtjylland are the reigning Danish champions, but in their short history they are yet to reach the group stage of a European competition. They comfortably disposed of Welsh side The New Saints in the previous round of the UEL, having been dumped out of the Champions League by Kazak...