Brendan Rodgers faces Ross County on Celtic return as Rangers take on Kilmarnock

Brendan Rodgers will kick off his second spell as Celtic boss with a home game against Ross County on Saturday, August 8.

The curtain raiser for the reigning Scottish Premiership champions at Celtic Park will be televised live on Sky Sports with a 12:30pm kick-off.

Rangers start their first full season with Michael Beale at the helm with a trip to Kilmarnock later the same day, as they seek to win just a second title since 2011 after finishing seven points adrift of Celtic last campaign.

The game at Rugby Park will kick off at 5:15pm and will also be televised live.

The Glasgow rivals meet in the first Old Firm Derby of the season on matchday 4 with the champions travelling to Ibrox on September 3 for an early test of Rodgers’ second incarnation since r…

Euro 2016 diary: England fans salute their hero – no, not him…

England triumphed in the so-named Battle of Britain against Wales, Northern Ireland stunned Ukraine and Germany were thwarted by Poland in another eventful day at Euro 2016.

As ever, we present the pick of the more seldom-seen moments of gold from the tournament in France, featuring England s coronation of a new hero and Will Grigg on you-know-what

 

MARSEILL-EASE

After a frantic few days in Marseille, it was reassuring to find the pace of life had slowed down significantly on Thursday.

Following the carnage of the weekend when Russian fans went on the rampage around the Old Port and inside the Stade Velodrome not to mention the scenes of anti-social behaviour from thousands of England fans Marseille barely had time to recover before France and …

Phil Parkinson hails Wrexham character after battling win at Crawley

Manager Phil Parkinson was full of praise for the way his Wrexham side battled with 10 men after a first-half goal from striker Ollie Palmer gave them a 1-0 victory at Crawley.

Wrexham came back three times after having a player sent off to clinch a 3-3 draw at Crewe a fortnight ago and the Red Dragons held firm for the last 24 minutes at the Broadfield Stadium with a man down to move above Crawley and into the top seven.

Palmer’s 13th-minute goal against his former club proved decisive and Parkinson was delighted with the way his men dug in after substitute Andy Cannon received a straight red card for bringing down Adam Campbell only seven minutes after coming on.

Parkinson said: “It was a huge win and there is a great togetherness about this group.

World Cup 2018: Day-by-day schedule

World Cup 2018 in Russia promises to be a wonderful tournament across an enormous, and diverse, country.

Here, we map out the day by day schedule for the group stage (all times are host city):

June 14
Russia v Saudi Arabia (Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow 1800)

June 15
Egypt v Uruguay (Ekaterinburg 1700)
Morocco v Iran (St Petersburg 1800)
Portugal v Spain (Sochi 2100)

June 16
France v Australia (Kazan 1300)
Argentina v Iceland (Spartak Stadium, Moscow 1600)
Peru v Denmark (Saransk 1900)
Croatia v Nigeria (Kaliningrad 2100)

June 17
Costa Rica v Serbia (Samara 1600)
Germany v Mexico (Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow 1800)
Brazil v Switzerland (Rostov 2100)

June 18
Sweden v South Korea (Novgorod -1500)
Belgium v Panama (Sochi 1800)
Tunisia v …

Mbappe, Kane or Ronaldo: Who will win the Golden Boot at Euro 2024?

From Gerd Muller to Marco van Basten, Alan Shearer to Fernando Torres, some of the greatest strikers to have played the game have had the honour of winning the Golden Boot at a European Championship.

When Europe s finest descend upon Germany for the 17th edition of UEFA s flagship international tournament, a mix of established greats and young prospects will vie to be the continent s best goalscorer.

Can Cristiano Ronaldo mark what will surely be his final major tournament by becoming the first two-time recipient of the Golden Boot, or might Harry Kane or Kylian Mbappe upstage the Portugal legend?

As the build-up to Euro 2024 continues, we delve into the Opta data to assess the chances of the leading contenders, pick out a couple of potential dark horses and ask…

Southgate heartbroken for Alexander-Arnold after Euro 2020 injury blow

Gareth Southgate described Trent Alexander-Arnold s injury as heartbreaking for the Liverpool full-back, who will miss Euro 2020.

Alexander-Arnold sustained a thigh injury late on in England s friendly win over Austria on Wednesday, and scans the next day confirmed he will face around six weeks out.

His place in the 26-man squad for Euro 2020 had been the subject of fierce debate in the media, but the 22-year-old made the cut.

With three other right-backs in his squad, Southgate will make a call on who replaces Alexander-Arnold in his selection after Sunday s friendly against Romania in Middlesbrough.

But for now, the England manager offered his support to Alexander-Arnold, whose focus will be on returning to fitness ahead of Liverpool s 2021-22 campaign.…

5 memorable Clasico clashes as Barcelona and Real Madrid prepare to do battle

Barcelona host Real Madrid on Saturday with just a point separating the teams in the LaLiga table as they go toe to toe in El Clasico.

With Barca a point behind their rivals, both teams know that victory at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys could have a major impact on the title race, albeit surprise early challengers Girona may go on to have a critical say.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five memorable meetings between the two Spanish superpowers.

Barcelona 5 Real Madrid 1 – October 2018

Barca romped to a stunning home win with a performance driven by a sensational Luis Suarez hat-trick. Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring after 11 minutes before Suarez got the first of his treble from the penalty spot. Marcelo dragged the visitors back into it jus…

Kane at the peak of his powers as he takes inspiration from Ronaldo´s 900th goal

Harry Kane feels at his peak ahead of his landmark England appearance on Tuesday, taking inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo s latest goal-scoring achievement.

Kane is set to make his 100th England appearance at Wembley in their Nations League fixture with Finland, becoming only the 10th player to reach that milestone.

His landmark appearance will see him awarded with a golden cap ahead of kick-off, the first player to receive one since Wayne Rooney did so in November 2014.

The Bayern Munich striker has made 86 starts for the Three Lions and has 83 goal involvements (66 goals an England record and 17 assists) to his name.

He averages a goal every 117 minutes, having 3.5 shots and 1.6 shots on target per 90, creating an average of 1.1 chances per 90.

Manchester City´s 2019-20 Premier League fixtures in full

Manchester City s bid for a third consecutive Premier League title starts away to West Ham on August 10.

City s first home game sees Tottenham visit the Etihad Stadium the following weekend, while they do not face expected title rivals Liverpool until November with the return date, which City host, set for early April.

A testing run of games from late February clashing with the Champions League knockout rounds sees City face Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool within five league fixtures.

But City, who won their last 14 games to see off Liverpool s challenge last term, appear to have a more straightforward run-in than the Reds on paper with Pep Guardiola s men ending the campaign at home to newly-promoted Norwich City.

Manchester City s 2019-20…

Rodgers ´on last couple holes´ of NFL career, fancies Super Bowl LIX chances

Aaron Rodgers admits he is on the last couple holes of his glittering NFL career, but the 40-year-old fancies his chances of winning his second Super Bowl ring with the New York Jets this season.

Rodgers joined the Jets last year after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, who he inspired to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

However, the four-time league MVP suffered a ruptured Achilles against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 and missed the remainder of the 2023 season as the Jets went 7-10.

Now fully fit ahead of the Jets 2024 opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, Rodgers is keen to make his 20th campaign in the NFL count as he approaches the end of his career.

I m on the last couple holes, Rodgers told Sky Sports.…