Martial: Van Gaal did a lot for me

Competition: La Liga

Market: Sevilla to beat Las Palmas

Odds:

La Liga returns this weekend for even more incredibly exciting action as the competition continues to heat up. The league table has remained exceptionally tight as a single win can quite often see a side rise up a number of places. With this in mind, Sevilla travel to face Las Palmas on Saturday.

Las Palmas have been struggling massively this season and they are in real danger of being relegated to the second division. After 23 games they have won five, drawn three and lost 15, scoring 17 goals and conceding 50 times. In their last five they have managed to win twice, lose twice and draw once which has seen them onto 18 points. Saturday s hosts are currently two points short of safe…

Manchester United are monitoring the progress of Porto full-back Alex Sandro, .

The Red Devils scouts have been regular at Porto games, watching James Rodriguez and Eliaquim Mangala, but it appears the Brazilian defender also caught their attention.

Sir Alex Ferguson is searching for a long-term replacement for veteran defender Patrice Evra and Alex Sandro is one of the first names on his hit-list.

The 22-year-old has been making steady progress since joining the Dragons from Santos in the summer of 2011 and he has been one of club s star performers this season.

Sandro scored one goal in 19 Primeira Liga matches, but also impressed in 6 Champions League fixtures.

The talented defender has earned 6 Brazil caps and he made another three appearances…

The Dutch Football Association have confirmed the return of Louis van Gaal as Netherlands coach.

Following Bert van Marwijk s resignation as Netherlands boss after a disastrous Euro 2012 campaign, the KNVB has turned to a man it sacked just over a decade ago in the wake of the team s failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

We are delighted to have come to an agreement, KNVB director of football Bert van Oostveen said on Friday.

We were looking for a coach with a lot of experience and with personal and professional charisma.

Van Gaal has left his mark nationally and internationally and we know him as a dedicated and very motivated coach.

Meanwhile, the former Barcelona boss, who has been out of the coaching game since parting company with B…

Erling Haaland is a real pleasure for Phil Foden to play alongside at Manchester City.

The Norwegian forward has been in devastating form in his inaugural campaign in the Premier League, leading the scoring charts with 28 goals in 26 matches.

Haaland s heroics have not just been limited to the push for the title, in which they trail Arsenal by eight points but hold a game in hand, having entered the international break with eight goals in his last two matches.

In the FA Cup against Burnley, Haaland secured his hat-trick by tucking home a rebound after Foden had struck the post, leaving the England international puzzled by his excellent positioning.

It s a pleasure, I don t know how he does it. The one that I hit off the post, he always seems to be in the…

A frustrated Sergio Busquets hit out at the inconsistency of referee Javier Alberola Rojas and questioned why Barcelona did not benefit from a VAR review, after they were denied an injury-time penalty in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad.

Fourth-placed Sociedad were good value for their point against the reigning LaLiga champions, which was earned through Alexander Isak s 62nd-minute strike after Barca had come from a goal down to lead.

However, the visitors felt they should have had a late spot-kick when Gerard Pique claimed his shirt had been pulled by Diego Llorente as the pair fell to the ground in the Sociedad box.

Barca s frustrations were heightened by the fact they had fallen behind to a Mikel Oyarzabal penalty, awarded when Busquets was ruled to ha…

Inter Milan have opened talks with out of favour Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic,.

The Serie A giants were hopeful of agreeing a loan deal for the Montenegro international, though the Premier League champions are keen for him to leave on a permanent basis.

Jovetic arrived at Eastlands in the summer of 2013, and has since racked up thirty-nine appearances in all competitions, scoring eleven goals.

He has started just nine games in the league this season with Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko ahead of him in the pecking order, while the addition of Wilfried Bony in January saw his chances even more limited.

City are holding out for a fee close to the £22m they paid Fiorentina to secure his services in the summer of 2013.

The 25 year old s…

The Port Elizabeth stadium, which initially had construction delays, will now be ready well before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, organisers said on Tuesday.

We at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa are delighted with the progress made with the construction of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, organising committee president Danny Jordaan said.

It is extremely exciting to see a brand new 2010 FIFA World Cup venue taking shape so many months ahead of its FIFA World Cup completion deadline.

The venue had been the only new stadium chosen for this year s eight-nation Confederations Cup in June before being discarded in July 2008 because of problems.

About 40,000 of the 48,000 seats have already been installed, more than half of th…

Chris Hughton is optimistic as he prepares for his first visit to the Sports Direct Arena since his sacking almost two years ago.

Norwich City have yet to win a Premier League game this term, having lost 5-0 on the opening day before posting three consecutive draws.

However, the 53-year-old Norwich City manager is of the opinion that the Carrow Road outfit have been playing well enough in recent weeks, and believes an inevitable change in fortunes will see them win.

What we are missing is the wins, Hughton admitted to the club s official website.

We’ve performed particularly well in each of the last three games and they were three games that could have seen us win.

We played well enough and created enough chances in each of them to have won…

While might have eventually missed out on a Champions League return back in May, the Gunners have really come flying out of the traps this time around.

Laying down another marker over the weekend as they breezed their way to a 3-0 romp away at Premier League returners Bournemouth, Arteta s youngsters have won each of their opening three top-flight contests.

Enjoying what has been a stellar summer in north London and watching the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko make an immediate boost since arriving at the Emirates, Arsenal have gained plenty of early-season praise.

However, despite already splashing the cash this summer, it has been reported that Arteta is not done there.

Along with stating on Monday that Arsenal are planning a late swoo…

According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Cristiano Ronaldo has opted to remain at Juventus for the 2021/22 season.

There had been great speculation as to what Ronaldo would do next with his career after a few years with the Old Lady. Now, it seems as if his immediate future has been guaranteed, although there’s no doubt in our mind that a similar question will be raised next summer if this deal does in fact go through.

Ronaldo still maintains his position as one of the best players in world football today and regardless of whether he stays or goes, we can’t see that changing anytime soon.

CR7 knows just how valuable he is to the Italian giants and he also knows that if he decided not to stay on their books, a parade of other clubs would be lin…