As Week 17 is upon us, we look at a week with important playoff implications and potentially some matchups that could pose as playoff previews as the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals do battle and the red-hot Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals meet as we see two teams trending in opposite directions.
Here’s a look at my favorite spreads, player props, and totals I’ll be targeting in Week 17.
Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary will be able to play over the coming months after world sport s top court granted him a temporary stay of execution on a suspension imposed by FIFA.
The Court of Arbitration of Sport froze the sanction first meted out on El-Hadary and Swiss club Sion in April while it examines the dispute over his controversial transfer to the Swiss side last year from Egyptian club Al-Ahly.
World football s governing body had suspended Egypt s star goalie, who recently left Sion, for four months and ordered the joint payment of 900,000 euros to Al-Ahly.
Such decision is now frozen until the end of the CAS procedure, the Lausanne-based arbitration body said in a statement after Sion and El-Hadary appealed against FIFA s ruling.
The C…
Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said Chelsea forward Olivier Giroud would be a useful signing for the Serie A giants.
Giroud, 34, is again linked with a move from Chelsea after making just six starts in all competitions this season.
Juve and Inter are among the clubs linked with the France international, who has managed nine goals for Chelsea in 2020-21.
Pirlo confirmed Juventus interest as he seeks a back-up forward in January.
Giroud? We could use him, he told DAZN after a 4-1 Serie A win over Udinese.
But these are things that [Juventus sporting director Fabio] Paratici knows better than me.
We talked about it but let s see if we will do something in the next few days.
Juventus are fifth in the table, 10 points behind leaders…
Chelsea have completed the signing of Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria on a season-long loan deal.
The Switzerland international will spend the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign at Stamford Bridge, while it has been reported there will be an option to buy in the deal.
Chelsea were in the market for a midfielder, with Thomas Tuchel keen to bolster the area in the wake of N Golo Kante s injury issues.
They had been linked with a move for PSV s Ibrahim Sangare, though instead turned their focus to Zakaria on Thursday.
Welcome to Chelsea, Denis Zakaria!
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Zakaria joined Juventus from Borussia Monchengladbach on a four-and-a-half-year contract in January, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 win over Hellas Verona.
…
Everton boss Sean Dyche hit out at the “slow-mo” VAR decision which saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin shown a straight red card late on in the goalless FA Cup third-round tie at Crystal Palace.
Nathaniel Clyne went down wincing following a sliding tackle by Calvert-Lewin, who appeared to catch the Palace defender’s shin with his studs.
Referee Chris Kavanagh went to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and decided the contact was enough to dismiss the Toffees striker, who was sent off for the first time in his career.
If you want to slow-mo everything, slow-mo everything
Sean Dyche calls out the inconsistency of VAR and states Everton will look into appealing the red card for Dominic Calvert-Lewin | |
— ITV Football (@itvfootball)
Martin Paterson s headed goal helped Northern Ireland secure the first win of their World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign by beating Fabio Capello s high-flying Russia.
The diminutive striker combined well with Niall McGinn throughout proceedings but the pair s efforts were rewarded with 43 minutes on the clock when Paterson thumped the ball home.
That was enough to give Northern Ireland fans a first victory to celebrate since August 2011, when they ran out 4-0 winners over minnows Faroe Islands, while it also marked manager Michael O Neill s first victory in charge.
For Russia, however, it was a huge opportunity missed to return to the top of their group above Portugal.
With Jonny Evans and Kyle Lafferty both absent through injury and illness, and Chris …
Santi Cazorla is keen to swap Arsenal for Atletico Madrid at the end of the season, .
The Spain international, who moved to the Emirates Stadium from Malaga in the summer of 2012, is keen to secure a move back to his homeland in the summer after becoming frustrated in North London.
Since signing for the Gunners, the 29 year old has made one hundred and fourteen appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring twenty goals – one of which came in the FA Cup final victory over Hull City at Wembley back in May.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is well stocked in the attacking midfield area with Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all competing with the Spaniard for a first team place.
The …
Paulo Dybala wants a reunion with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba at Juventus.
France international Pogba arrived at United from Juve for an initial €105million in 2016 but has struggled for consistency in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old was dropped by Jose Mourinho in 2017-18 as reports of a strained relationship between the pair surfaced, leading to links with a return to the Serie A champions.
Dybala inherited the Bianconeri s number 10 jersey from Pogba and is keen to link up with his former team-mate again.
Hearing that he is maybe coming back, I m very happy, even more with the relationship I have with him. Now we could stop making video calls and we would go back to training together, the Argentina star told TyC Sports.
Pogba…
Kylian Mbappe made history as France booked their place in the World Cup s knockout rounds with an unconvincing 1-0 Group C defeat of Peru.
France were fortunate in their 2-1 opening win over Australia and they had slices of luck again at the Ekaterinburg Arena on Thursday.
Mbappe s goal, which came from close-range after Olivier Giroud s shot took a wicked deflection to beat goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, saw the 19-year-old become the youngest player to score for France at a major international tournament.
As they did in losing narrowly to Denmark, Peru had plenty of chances, returning captain Paolo Guerrero firing at Hugo Lloris and Pedro Aquino clipping the post with a super strike from range.
However, Peru were unable to find a way through and Ricardo Ga…
Atletico Madrid will welcome Joao Felix back with open arms if Chelsea decide against pursuing a permanent move for the forward, says club president Enrique Cerezo.
Joao Felix joined Chelsea on loan in January as part of a flurry of mid-season transfer activity at Stamford Bridge.
However, the Portugal international has managed just two goals in 11 Premier League appearances to date, and Frank Lampard has named him on the bench for Chelsea s last two games.
While Joao Felix endured a strained relationship with Atletico boss Diego Simeone before departing on loan, Los Colchoneros will find a place for him if he returns to the club next season.
Asked about the forward s future, Cerezo told Cadena SER: You can t anticipate things, everything is yet to be se…
Jordan Henderson hailed Liverpool s reaction to the setbacks in their narrow 3-2 Premier League victory over struggling Nottingham Forest.
Jurgen Klopp s side edged a five-goal thriller at Anfield on Saturday, despite twice being pegged back as strikes from Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White cancelled out goals from Diogo Jota.
Mohamed Salah s 70th-minute effort settled the contest, in which the hosts were twice caught out by long throw-ins, as they made it back-to-back wins.
Though acknowledging there is plenty of room for improvement, Henderson was pleased by his team-mates character.
The good thing is we kept going, not once, but twice, and we kept going and to find the winner is definitely a positive, the Reds captain told Sky Sports.
But …