Jamie Carragher has refused to blame Gareth Southgate for England s Euro 2024 final defeat, saying the Three Lions star players froze when it mattered most.

England were deservedly beaten 2-1 by Spain in Sunday s Berlin showpiece, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring the winner after Cole Palmer cancelled out Nico Williams opener.

The Three Lions struggled for control throughout the game, enjoying just 34.9% of the possession as Spain accumulated 1.77 expected goals (xG) to their 0.55.

It was a familiar sinking feeling for Southgate, who was also criticised for England s failure to maintain control when leading against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

England lost possession 98 times in total and completed only 66.5% of …

England were knocked out of the World Cup following a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Croatia in the semi-final on this day in 2018.

Gareth Southgate’s youthful squad had travelled to Russia without the weight of expectation on their shoulders, but ignited the nation with a remarkable run to the last four which sparked genuine hope of bringing an end to their wait for tangible success.

Not since Sir Alf Ramsey’s men had lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley in 1966 had England got their hands on a major piece of silverware, and the near misses of Italy 90 and Euro 96 had simply increased the hunger.

Having emerged from Group G as runners-up to Belgium, England edged past Colombia on penalties in the last 16 and dispatched Sweden 2-0 in the quarter-finals to set u…

Everyone loves a good revenge story. Hell, Liam Neeson has made a movie career out of it.

From Batman to “The Big Payback” to BuzzFeed clickbait about vengeful exes, we eat up tales of retribution. And as sports bettors, we may enjoy a good revenge spot a little too much.

I’ve always been cautious when calculating revenge into my wagers, especially when it comes to my NFL betting picks. While the media will muckle on to a revenge storyline with foaming jaws (see: last Sunday Night Football), I question just how much extra a potential revenge plot can push a team.

In college sports, sure. We’re talking about 19-year-olds who want to pick a fight if someone scuffs their Yeezys. Revenge is like throwing Jägermeister on the fire…

The calendar flips to June, which is kind of the dark side of the moon for NFL betting. 

The smoke has settled on the NFL Draft and offseason moves, the preseason is still two months away, and Week 1 seems like it may never come. 

However, through the darkness we find that this lull in excitement is one of the best times to dig into the NFL odds – lookahead lines, futures, win totals, props – and lay the foundation for a fantastic year of football betting.

Our weekly NFL betting notebook helps you do just that. Enjoy.

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The countdown to Super Bowl LVII is finally over with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs set to go head-to-head in Arizona tonight.

In a Super Bowl odds finale that’s set up to be an all-time classic, we’ve got two well-balanced teams, two aggressive head coaches, and a long list of potential X-factors on both sides of the ball. 

As always in the build-up to the biggest night of the NFL season, there are Super Bowl player props galore — and I’m taking a closer look at the impact that Kansas City’s do-it-all running back Jerick McKinnon can have on the big stage as the Chiefs try to outsmart a ferocious Eagles defense.

For a Super Bowl deep dive, remember to check out our Super Bowl predictions.

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The AFC West goes to war when the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 odds.

Los Angeles comes to Arrowhead Stadium on a short week after a dud of a loss to Dallas this past Monday night, while Kansas City has enjoyed an extended break after dropping Denver two Thursdays ago.

The NFL odds have the Chiefs installed as 5.5-point home chalk, giving K.C. its respect but also guarding against this heated rivalry that has seen L.A. cover the spread in four of the last five head-to-head clashes.

We’ll size up this AFC West grudge match as I give my best NFL picks for Chargers vs. Chiefs on October 22. Be sure to check out our favorite Patrick Mahomes props heading into this matchup as well.

Chargers vs Chiefs odds

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It’s Wild Card weekend in the Super Bowl odds and the hits keep coming, with books wasting no time releasing NFL odds for defensive player props. I dig into the sack and tackle props and bring you my favorite betting plays when it comes to the latest Wild Card odds.

Along with being bullish on rookie pass rusher Will Anderson Jr., I’m fading Alex Highsmith in what should be a run-heavy game in Buffalo, and backing Antoine Winfield to rack up hits on Monday night. Here are my best free sack and tackle NFL picks for Wild Card weekend.

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Two teams who believe they have their quarterback of the future square off on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium when the Chicago Bears take on the Indianapolis Colts. 

Through two week, neither has shown anything worth writing home about, but my Bears vs. Colts predictions lean in favor of Caleb Williams playmaking ability. 

Find out why in my NFL picks for Sunday, September 22.

Bears vs Colts prediction

My best betBears moneyline (+105 at BetMGM)

My analysis

The Chicago Bears head to Lucas Oil Stadium with a 1-1 record, and we can definitely say two things about them through two weeks: the defense is good, and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams hasn’t been.

The Bears’ stop unit has impressed with ran…

As the Premier League season draws to a close, a new Women’s Super League campaign is rapidly approaching, and Aston Villa Women start pre-season training next week for our first year in the top flight. We have announced two signings with more to come, and the first games are scheduled for the first weekend of September, which will be our chance to establish ourselves at a higher level and set new benchmarks and targets.

It was really important that we kept the core group that got us promoted and before we brought anyone in we made sure that 13 of those players were retained. A number of them are from Birmingham and I think it was really important to maintain that DNA within the team, to have a squad that shows young girls that it is possi…

RODRYG … OH

Congratulations to Pep Guardiola, who has made the shortlist for April’s Premier League manager of the month award! The other names in the running are Brentford’s Thomas Frank, Burnley interim Mike Jackson and Jürgen Klopp of Big Cup finalists Liverp … oh Pep. Oh City. How on earth has it come to this? Overturning that two-year European ban will feel like the mother, father and extended family of pyrrhic victories right now.

Ah well, at least the experience will stand City in good stead going forward. Right? Eh? And what an experience it was. City, who could easily have been 4-0 up after 20 minutes of the first leg, could easily have been 4-0 up on Wednesday night after Riyad Mah…