Bitesize Prediction: Torino vs Salernitana – 04/02/24

(GSM) Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra has reiterated his desire of staying at Ibrox following his starring role for Algeria in their qualification to this summer s World Cup finals.

The 27-year-old defender, who joined the Glasgow giants from Charlton Athletic in 2008, has been a key player at the back forging a successful partnership with David Weir.

However, there has been speculation regarding his future as in recent year Ibrox defenders Jean-Alain Boumsong and Carlos Cuellar made quick departures to the English Premier League after impressing in Scotland s top flight.

But the Algerian insists he would rather stay than follow the path south.

I m happy. Everybody asks me but I ve two years left on my contract and am going to enjoy them. I hope I can…

Pep Guardiola insists the emotion of his return to Barcelona will not distract him from the task of guiding Bayern Munich to the UEFA Champions League final.

Bayern take on Barca at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the semi-finals on Wednesday, marking the first time Guardiola has faced his former employers since leaving his post as coach in 2012.

The German team beat a Barca outfit coached by Guardiola s successor Tito Vilanova 7-0 on aggregate in the 2013 semi-finals on their way to lifting the trophy, though the Bayern chief is not expecting a repeat performance.

Guardiola told a pre-match press conference: It s fantastic to be able to come back here. I have many memories. It s really special for me. I spent many years of my life here.

Now I m the coa…

The Mail Online understands that Burnley are set to move for Nottingham Forest midfielder Henri Lansbury as they aim to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The Clarets immediate return to the second tier was confirmed at the weekend, despite them picking up maximum points from their clash with Hull City.

Manager Sean Dyche made a move for Lansbury in January, though the Lancashire club’s offer of £3m was rejected by the East Midlands’ club.

The former Arsenal midfielder has scored eleven goals from midfield for Forest this season, taking his tally to twenty-three in one hundred and two appearances for the club in total.

Prior to his move to the City Ground in 2012, the 24 year old had loan spells with Scunthorpe Unite…

Lyon launched an emotional appeal calling for Ligue 1 s sudden cancellation to be overturned on Sunday while denying a new date has been agreed for the Champions League clash with Juventus.

In a highly-charged statement, Lyon warned of French clubs facing cumulative losses of €900million, highlighted bankruptcy fears, and expressed concern over football lovers who are deprived of their passion .

There remains time, until May 25, to walk back and avoid an immense rout of the French championship, the statement said.

The Ligue 1 season was abandoned in late April after French authorities
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decreed there would be no live sport in the country until at least September.

Lyon missed out on qualifying for Europe through Ligue 1, finishing seven…

Best Odds: 2/3

Bookmaker:

Two sides who are looking to open their Europa League run with victory on Thursday night, Leicester will welcome Italian giants Napoli to the King Power.

Leicester City

Starting with the hosts, while Leicester might have put in a largely impressive display on home soil when returning from the international break, the Foxes were hit with a 1-0 defeat against Manchester City. Despite lifting both the FA Cup and Community Shield over the summer, Brendan Rodgers side have shown some inconsistencies this time around. Once again missing out on a Champions League return at the final hurdle last season, the one-time Liverpool boss has seen his side muster just six points from their opening four Premier League matchups. Blown away in the capita…

Real Betis have rejected the possibility of cashing in on forward Ruben Castro, .

The same source has learned that los Verdiblancos received a €5 million proposal for the experienced forward from Al Jazira on transfer deadline day.

The club from Abu Dhabi were even prepared to pay the majority of the amount up front, but the La Liga side ultimately rejected the offer.

Both the club chiefs and boss Pepe Mel wanted to keep one of their key players at the club and thus passed on the opportunity to improve their financial situation.

Ruben Castro has had little success during his early career, but it was the switch to Real Betis in 2010 that helped him make a name for himself.

The forward has since been scoring goals for fun at the biggest stage, no…

A Turkish court has charged three more people as part of a match-fixing probe, bringing to 30 the total number of suspects jailed pending trial, the Anatolia news agency reported Friday.

Among those charged was a former footballer from a second-division club, the agency said, without giving details on the remaining two.

The exact charges against the suspects will become known when prosecutors draw up their indictment.

Four other suspects were released after questioning, the agency said.

The investigation, which the Turkish Football Federation has kept a tight lid on, hit the headlines last month when police rounded up scores of suspects, including players from the country s top league and lower divisions, managers and club administrators.

At leas…

Issa Hayatou s 29-year reign as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is over after Ahmad Ahmad was voted in as the organisation s new leader on Thursday.

Hayatou had been the head of CAF since 1988 and was also on FIFA s executive committee, unsuccessfully standing for the presidency of the governing body in 2002.

However, he did take up the role as FIFA s acting president once Sepp Blatter was suspended from the position in 2015, staying on until Gianni Infantino was elected the following year.

Now Hayatou has lost his position with CAF, too. The election, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopa, saw Ahmad prevail by 34 votes to 20.

A former player and coach, Ahmad is the head of the Madagascar Football Association.

The 57-year-old …

Juventus are interested in bringing Manchester City s Phil Foden and Borussia Dortmund s Jadon Sancho to Turin, according to .

Foden started his professional career with City in 2016/17, an though he didn t play a single minute for them in that campaign, he has made 15 appearances, scored one goal and assisted three times in the sky-blue shirt to date. Manager Pep Guardiola rates the 18-year-old highly, and the midfielder is reportedly in line for a new, improved deal with the club, which would make it very hard for Juventus to prize him away.

On the other hand, Sancho has already signed a new deal that is set to keep him at the Signal Iduna Park until the summer of 2022. Having left Manchester City last year, the 19-year-old winger played 12 games in the Bundesliga las…

Market: Borussia Dortmund win

Odds: 10/11 @

Looking to lay down another marker on their travel this weekend, Borussia Dortmund will make the trip to a struggling Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday evening.

Starting with the hosts, watching now-former boss Marco Rose make the move to BVB over the summer, Borussia Mönchengladbach have struggled to find their feet since opening the 2021/22 campaign. Despite landing a gritty 1-1 draw against defending champions Bayern Munich on the opening weekend, Die Fohlen were last seen putting in another downbeat display. Despite many across the Bundesliga feeling that they had a golden chance away at Augsburg, Adi Hütter s side were hit with a worrying 1-0 loss on their travels. With just a single top-flight win to their…