Reigning champions Manchester City end the year as hot favourites to win the Premier League again, but how many of Pep Guardiola s players should make it into a team of the year?

Do any of the Manchester United players Gary Neville described as whingebags deserve a place in an elite XI? And is there a case to be made for any players from beyond the big six ?

The answers to those questions are: a) five, by our estimations; b) yes; and c) yes.

Using Opta data, Stats Perform selected a dream team for 2021, packed with standout performers from the calendar year.

Safe hands? It has to be Mendy

Chelsea s Edouard Mendy had a save percentage of 74.36, which put him fourth among goalkeepers with five or more Premier League appearances. Curiously, his Blue…

Real Betis are interested in signing Xherdan Shaqiri from Liverpool in the summer transfer window, accepting to . It has been reported that defending Premier League champions Liverpool are willing to sell the Switzerland international, and that Betis want to pay an initial transfer fee of €11 million for the 29-year-old winger.

Shaqiri has been on the books of Liverpool since 2018 and is essentially a squad player at the Reds. The 29-year-old winger won the Premier League title last season and the Champions League the year before, but his overall contribution to the team’s success has not bene great.

According to , the winger has made five starts and eight substitute appearances in the Premier League and made one start and four substitute appearances in the Champion…

Barcelona head coach Xavi compared Pedri to Blaugrana legend Andreas Iniesta, while he hailed the performance of Ousmane Dembele against Athletic Bilbao.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang s fourth goal in his past two LaLiga appearances put the Catalan side in control against Athletic on Sunday, before a late flurry added deserved gloss to the scoreline.

Substitute Dembele, whose future remains in doubt after failing to agree to an extension on a contract that expires at the end of the season, scored one and assisted two more for substitutes Luuk de Jong and the fit-again Memphis Depay.

With those involvements, Dembele become the first Barca substitute to play a part in at least three goals in a single LaLiga game in the 21st century.

After moving back into La…

Adam Lallana scored a late equaliser but Liverpool saw their winning streak in the Premier League come to an end with a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s beleaguered side took the lead through Marcus Rashford s controversial opener, with Liverpool claiming Divock Origi was fouled prior to a rapid United break finished off by the England international.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp cut an incensed figure on the touchline and his mood hardly improved when Sadio Mane had a goal disallowed following a VAR check for handball but, in the absence of the injured Mohamed Salah, his side lacked their usual fluency in attack.

United defended doggedly to hang on to their slender advantage, yet their hard work was undone when they allowed substitute Lallana …

Gianluigi Donnarumma stands by his decision to leave Milan for Paris Saint-Germain despite having to share goalkeeping duties with Keylor Navas since arriving in France.

Italy s Euro 2020 hero Donnarumma has only made 10 league starts since joining PSG on a free transfer last year, while Costa Rican competitor Keylor Navas has appeared between the sticks in 13 of the side s Ligue 1 outings.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Donnarumma, who made 215 Serie A appearances at Milan after coming through the Rossoneri s youth ranks, thanked his former club for their role in his development, but stressed that he was happy with life at PSG.

I can only thank the club for what they did for me , the 22-year-old said. I improved as a man and as a footballer in Milan.

FA Cup hero Will Grigg hailed Wigan Athletic for making the impossible possible after his goal secured a stunning 1-0 upset win over Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Grigg kept his cool after an error from Kyle Walker in the 79th minute to slot beyond Claudio Bravo and book a quarter-final place for Paul Cook s League One side, ending Pep Guardiola s quest for a historic quadruple in the process.

Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho wasted glorious chances for City in the first half, but their task was complicated by Fabian Delph being sent off for a rash lunge on Max Power.

Wigan still had to withstand long spells of pressure after the break, doing so magnificently, before Grigg coolly dispatched his seventh goal in as many FA Cup matches this season.

…

Argentine defender Walter Samuel plans to leave Inter Milan at the end of the current campaign, according to Il Corriere dello Sport.

The veteran stopper will be out of contract in the summer and he has reportedly informed the club of his desire to move on.

Il Corriere dello Sport seems to believe that Samuel wants to return to Argentina and spend the remainder of his playing career in his native country.

The 35-year-old, who scored the winning goal for the Nerazzurri against Sassuolo last night, has been at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza since 2005, having joined from Real Madrid.

Samuel went on to enjoy a great deal of success with the club, playing an important part as Inter won five league titles, three Coppa Italia trophies and the 2009/2010 Champions Leagu…

Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw

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Slovakia and Wales will lock horns with each other in a friendly international match this weekend. The game between Francesco Calzona’s side and Rob Page’s team will be held at Stadion Antona Malatinskeho in Trnava, Slovakia and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45 pm UK time on Sunday.

Slovakia

Slovakia are a modest footballing nation, but they will play in the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany this summer. It is the third time in a row that they have qualified for Europe’s premier international football.

The Falcons finished second in Group J after winning seven of their 10 matches in the qualifying campaign. Slovakia did not have the best of times in March, though. They lost to Aus…

Richarlison s goal and Jordan Pickford s heroics between the posts breathed life into Everton s Premier League survival bid as the Toffees beat Chelsea 1-0 at Goodison Park.

Burnley s dramatic win over Watford on Saturday left Everton five points from safety with two games in hand, and despite being underdogs for the visit of Chelsea, Frank Lampard s side rose to the challenge.

There were four more yellow cards than there were shots on target during a bruising first half, but the entertainment ramped up after the interval thanks to Richarlison s composed opener.

Vitalii Mykolenko wasted the chance to make it 2-0 before Pickford produced two stunning saves to keep Everton in charge as they ultimately held on to a potentially vital win.

A feisty opening per…

Inter midfielder Hernanes claims that the club could be challenging for the Serie A title over the next two years.

Hernanes has become a regular in the Inter midfield under Walter Mazzarri since arriving from Lazio in January.

With Inter in contention for a spot in next season s UEFA Europa League ahead of Saturday s trip to Parma, the Brazilian feels the club can continue to progress next term.

Since winning five straight titles between the 2005-06 and 2009-10 seasons, Inter have finished second, sixth and ninth, but Hernanes feels the likely investment from president Erick Thohir can enable them to challenge the likes of champions Juventus.

Much will depend on how we close out the season we must do it in a certain way, it will give us confidence and the fans to…