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Leicester boss Dean Smith knows he will have fulfilled a “big ask” if he can guide his side to Premier League survival on Sunday.

The Foxes must beat West Ham at the King Power Stadium and hope Everton do not win against Bournemouth if they are to avoid relegation to the Championship.

Smith was parachuted into an eight-game SOS mission following Brendan Rodgers’ sacking at the beginning of April but has recorded just one victory from his first seven games and accepts that his side have not done as well as he thought they would.

The 52-year-old has experience of producing the great escape as he led Aston Villa to seven points from their final four games of the 2019/20 season to beat the drop and says something similar would be required.

Smith said: �…

The excitement is building ahead of the opening round of fixtures in the 2022-23 Premier League season this weekend.

Liverpool and reigning champions Manchester City look the teams to beat in the title race once again, while a number of clubs will fight it out for Champions League qualification and all the riches that come with it.

Newcastle United fans are excited after a brilliant end to what was once a relegation-threatened campaign, as they start as one of a number of clubs who will be hoping they can sneak into the European places.

Nottingham Forest are returning to the Premier League for the first time since 1998-99 and will fight it out for survival alongside the other new boys Bournemouth and Fulham.

Ahead of an action-packed first weekend o…

It wasn t particularly certain we would arrive at Kylian Mbappe s five-year anniversary at Paris Saint-Germain.

For well over a year, it was widely expected the superstar forward would swap the French capital for the Spanish and join European heavyweights Real Madrid.

But, lo and behold, an eye-watering new deal that runs until June 2025 was agreed back in May, much to the fury of Madrid and the joy of the PSG faithful.

A lot has changed since 2017, not least the fact Mbappe is now a World Cup winner with France.

And yet, there is a feeling that the PSG mission is very much not accomplished, so just how do we judge Mbappe s success at the Parc des Princes thus far?
 

DOMESTIC DOMINANCE

Mbappe has won Ligue 1 in four of his five seasons w…

Wolfsburg hammered Fiorentina 5-0 on Wednesday to secure their spot in the group stage of the Women s Champions League.

The two-time Champions League winners, who won 7-0 away from home in the first leg, completed a 12-0 aggregate rout to qualify in emphatic fashion.

Fenna Kalma needed just three minutes to get the ball rolling, with Vivien Endemann grabbing a double before substitutes Jule Brand and Tabea Sellner got in on the act.

The match facts were bleak for Fiorentina, who allowed 21 shots on goal, nine on target and 4.23 expected goals against (xGA).

Abpfiff in Wolfsburg! Die Wölfinnen gewinnen mit 5:0.

— VfL Wolfsburg Frauen (@VfL_Frauen)

Swedish side Hammarby, meanwhile, shocked Benfica to win 2-0 in Portugal and secure a…

Chief executive Neil Doncaster has hailed the Scottish Professional Football League’s multi-year extension to its partnership with Loch Lomond Group.

The partnership between the SPFL and Vodka brand Glen’s owner, The Loch Lomond Group, started in 2020.

Glen’s Vodka, as well as several other of Loch Lomond’s Scotch whisky brands, will continue to work closely with the SPFL and many of its clubs across both league and cup competitions.

Doncaster said: “It is fantastic news to be able to announce this extension to our relationship with Glen’s Vodka and Loch Lomond Group.

“This partnership, with a growing and much-loved Scottish brand, will continue to see us working with our friends at Loch Lomond to provide new commercial opportunities, includ…

Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were on target as Paris Saint-Germain kept alive their hopes of retaining the Ligue 1 title with a 4-0 victory over Reims on Sunday.

Mauricio Pochettino s side will go into next weekend s final round of the season against Brest one point behind leaders Lille, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Saint-Etienne.

PSG will only get their hands on the title if they better the result Lille get against Angers next weekend, needing Christophe Galtier s team to slip up.

Neymar opened the scoring early on with a penalty after Yunis Abdelhamid had been dismissed for handling an Mbappe shot. World Cup winner Mbappe, Marquinhos and Moise Kean wrapped up the most routine of victories.

A big-time showing! Four goals, three points and some momentum…

Samu Castillejo has become Gennaro Gattuso s first signing as Valencia head coach after completing his move from Milan.

The forward, who made just five appearances for the Rossoneri last season, has put pen to paper on a three-year deal at the Mestalla.

Castillejo is Los Che s first arrival since the appointment of Gattuso, who is only the third Italian to manage the club after Claudio Ranieri and Cesare Prandelli.

The pair reunite having worked together during Castillejo s first season at Milan in 2018-19.

Bienvenida a lo Gattuso |

— Valencia CF (@valenciacf)

The Spaniard featured regularly during his first three campaigns at San Siro; racking up 108 appearances across all competitions and scoring 10 goals.

However…

Romelu Lukaku has returned to Chelsea after the European champions signed the Belgium forward from Inter for a reported £97.5million (€115m) fee.

After winning the Champions League, Chelsea have been in the hunt to further bolster Thomas Tuchel s squad with the acquisition of a top-tier striker.

Erling Haaland was a target, but Chelsea saw their approach rebuffed by Borussia Dortmund, who are in no need to sell the Norwegian star after they brought in €85m (£72.6m) for Jadon Sancho.

Chelsea subsequently switched their focus to Lukaku, who led Inter to their first Serie A title in a decade last season, netting 24 league goals.

An initial offer was reportedly turned down but, after Lukaku – who had earlier claimed he wanted to stay at San Siro and …

Goals proved hard to come by The Hawthorns aside on a day of low-scoring games in the Premier League.

One goal was enough for Arsenal, Manchester United and Burnley to beat Brighton and Hove Albion, Wolves and Sheffield United respectively.

Meanwhile, Southampton s home meeting with West Ham finished goalless, but Leeds United clearly did not get the memo as they hit five against lowly West Brom.

Here is the pick of the Opta facts from Tuesday s action in the Premier League.

Man Utd close in on Liverpool 

— Premier League (@premierleague)

Brighton 0-1 Arsenal: Super-sub Lacazette inspires Arsenal

Alexandre Lacazette scored from the bench to make it back-to-back victories for Arsenal in the Premier League for the first time sinc…

Milan will go into the derby with Inter having suffered another early blip in the Scudetto race after being held to a 0-0 draw at Sassuolo.

The defending Serie A champions got back to winning ways at the weekend with a 2-0 victory over Bologna, having previously been held by Atalanta.

But they were not at their best on Tuesday in a game they would have lost had Mike Maignan not saved a first-half penalty from Domenico Berardi – the Italy international who later came off with a seemingly concerning injury.

It means Milan are still unbeaten with two wins and two draws from four games, but the stalemate offered Inter – along with the likes of Roma, Napoli and Lazio – the chance to leapfrog the Rossoneri in this round of midweek fixtures.

Milan u…