Ben Johnson believes Ashley Cole’s influence can be key in England Under-21s’ bid to end their 39-year trophy drought.

The Young Lions host the Czech Republic in their Euro 2023 opener in Georgia on Thursday.

Cole – England’s most capped full-back with 107 appearances – has been part of Lee Carsley’s backroom staff since the boss was appointed in 2021.

He made his Premier League debut for Arsenal in May 2000 – when full-back Johnson was only four months old – and the West Ham youngster knows Cole’s input is crucial.

He said: “Ash is a top guy and a top coach. I think there could be a perception of him being here because of what he’s done for the seniors but his coaching is top drawer.

“He is a real encouragement to the lads…

Carlos Carvalhal left Sheffield Wednesday on December 24, 2017 after two and a half years in charge at Hillsborough.

The Portuguese, who guided the Owls to the play-offs in his first two seasons at the helm, departed the Sky Bet Championship club by mutual consent on the back of a seven-game winless run.

His exit came just hours after chairman Dejphon Chansiri released a statement of support for his head coach after fans chanted for his dismissal in the wake of a 2-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough a day earlier.

Carvalhal said on Wednesday’s official website: “The chairman and myself talked after the game and we believed this was the correct timing to make this decision.

“Of course, I am very sad at this moment because I have enjoyed my two seasons an…

The Green Bay Packers (4-1 SU/ATS) and Chicago Bears (3-2 SU/ATS) will renew their divisional rivalry at Soldier Field Sunday. The Bears are coming off a pair of wins — and covers — with Justin Fields under center while the Packers are riding a four-game winning streak and have won all four of the meetings with Chicago over the last two seasons.

Matt LaFleur is 4-0 ATS against the Bears and his Packers enter this Week 6 matchup as 4.5-point NFL betting road favorites. The total sits at 45 thanks to Chicago’s Top-10 DVOA defense and league-worst yards-per-play offense.

Here are our free picks and predictions for Packers vs. Bears for Sunday, October 17.

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The Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions play their first games of the NFL preseason on Friday night.

The preseason doesn’t always make for the most riveting showcases, but with both of these squads rebuilding and spots in the starting lineup at stake, it should be an intriguing matchup.

Falcons fans will get their first chance to see new quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, while the Lions are hoping that No. 2 draft pick Aidan Hutchinson can help turnaround their defense. 

Here our best free NFL picks and predictions for Falcons vs. Lions in Week 1 of the preseason.

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A new NFL season will soon be upon us, and with that comes a new season of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

Debuting in 2001, the series follows one NFL franchise during training camp and the preseason, providing an exclusive and intimate look at the inner working of a team. Hard Knocks documents team practices, meetings, and delivers raw, behind-the-scenes footage of coaches, players, and staff as they go through the rigors of preparing for the upcoming season.

To be selected for Hard Knocks, a team must not have a first-year head coach or have successfully qualified for the playoffs over the last two years. Additionally, the team must not have been featured in a season within the past 10 years. 

There are four teams in the running to headline the show in 202…

After a 69-point game indoors last week vs. the Browns, the Indianapolis Colts will again play hosts this weekend, this time to the rest-aided New Orleans Saints, who enter as a slight dog with a rising total according to NFL odds. 

With Gardner Minshew capable of running this Shane Steichen offense indoors and a generous Indy defense, should bettors be backing the Over 43.5 even after the move from 41.5?

Find out in my free NFL picks for Saints vs. Colts on October 29. 

Saints vs Colts odds

Saints vs Colts predictions

The Indianapolis Colts put up 456 yards vs. arguably the best defense in football last week. Gardner Minshew has had at least 350 total yards in all three starts (1,163 total yard…

With proper NFL playoff weather hitting hard this weekend, the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers had to wait until today for their Wild Card Round battle — just don’t expect offensive fireworks to warm up another cold day at Highmark Stadium.

The latest NFL odds have the Bills as heavy favorites, but the challenging conditions may level the playing field, with Mike Tomlin’s Steelers very comfortable in a physical, low-scoring contest.

We may not see eye-popping receiving numbers here, but there are still plenty of NFL player props to dig into ahead of what should be an old-school postseason clash. Here are my three favorite NFL picks in addition to your Steelers vs. Bills picks and predictions.

If that’s not enough, we’ve also got …

The first of two Monday Night Football games features a showdown between top-tier quarterbacks. Trevor Lawrence and the 0-2 Jacksonville Jaguars visit Josh Allen and the 2-0 Buffalo Bills in Week 3.

I dissect the NFL player props for both Lawrence and Allen and give my best NFL picks and Jaguars vs. Bills predictions below. 

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“There were hard times,” Jérôme Boateng says as his mind drifts back to Bayern Munich’s wobbles at the start of the season. “It’s like being a child. As a child if I had no confidence, if you don’t get trust from your friends, then you lose the joy of the game. That’s what happens now, even when I’m older.”

Boateng, one of the finest defenders of his generation, could feel the spark ebbing away. Bayern were on the slide under Niko Kovac, a coach struggling to connect with a champion squad, and time finally appeared to have caught up with the old guard. Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer were under pressure and Boateng, aware that people were starting to view him as a fading force, wondered whether a change of scenery was req…

The rise of Andy Robertson is such that he was associated with fairytale in Scotland long before the sampling of good times with the international team. It is just that there are parallels between the journey of a kid from stacking supermarket shelves to the summit of club football and what has transpired in the colours of his country.

When Scotland drew 1-1 with Canada in a 2017 friendly, the crowd at Easter Road was below 10,000. Hampden Park was more than half empty for the visits of Israel and Portugal a year later. Campaign after campaign of failure had sapped the energy from the Scottish public. Robertson’s supposed battle with Kieran Tierney for the left-back position created a narrative that quite evidently neither player could be …