Best odds: 7/10

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Freiburg are set to welcome Bayer Leverkusen to their Schwarzwald-Stadion in front of the empty stands on Friday evening as the two teams take each other on in a game that will open the 29th round of the 2019/20 season in the Bundesliga. With five rounds remaining to be played, both teams have a lot to play for and it should be an interesting match.

Freiburg

The hosts reside in the tightly knit group below the top five, currently led by Wolfsburg in sixth with 42 points. They are eighth with 38, one less than Hoffenheim in seventh and one more than Schalke in ninth. Hertha Berlin come next with 35, and then FC Koln in 11th with 34. Six teams being within eight points of each other means all of them are still within a shot of securing …

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed club-record signing Jack Grealish following his memorable Champions League debut, while lauding the ruthlessness of his team in their 6-3 rout of RB Leipzig.

Grealish – who arrived from Aston Villa in a reported £100million deal during the previous transfer window – scored in City s victory over visiting Leipzig in Manchester on Wednesday.

The England international teed up Nathan Ake for City s 16th-minute opener before scoring a goal of his own approaching the hour-mark midweek.

Grealish became the first Englishman to both score and assist on their Champions League debut since Manchester United great Wayne Rooney against Fenerbahce in September 2004.

2 Jack Grealish is the first Englishman to both score a…

European Clubs Association (ECA) senior vice-president Umberto Gandini says it is almost inevitable Qatar s World Cup will be held in winter.

With concerns over the temperatures in the Middle East country during June and July, FIFA have been pushing for a move to cooler months to avoid the searing summer heat during the 2022 World Cup, which was awarded to Qatar in 2010.

While this would mean the competition taking place at the same time as the domestic football calendar in many countries, it increasingly appears this is the only option.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is expected to propose a vote over the issue when the FIFA executive board meets in early October.

Milan director Gandini said the idea of the calendar remaining in permanent flux depending on where th…

Dick Advocaat has quit his job as coach of Belgium and is poised to sign a contract to succeed Guus Hiddink as manager of Russia.

Advocaat, 62, took over Belgium s national side in October 2009 and was under contract with the Red Devils until after the 2012 European championships.

According to Belgian news agency Belga, Advocaat is due for a hefty salary hike, from 650,000 euros a year with Belgium to four million euros with Russia.

He has managed Belgium in conjunction with coaching Belgian club AZ Alkmaar, a situation which provoked a certain amount of criticism from some quarters.

Advocaat, who could be replaced by his current assistant and former Belgian international, Marc Wilmots, is well respected in Russia having led Zenith Saint Petersburg to th…

Manchester United claimed their 600th Premier League victory with a 3-1 win against managerless Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday.

Marouane Fellaini s first league goal of the season, a thundering strike from Jesse Lingard and an injury-time Antonio Valencia finish secured maximum points for Jose Mourinho s side and lifted into fifth place in the table, piling the misery on Boro at the end of a week in which Aitor Karanka lost his job.

Mourinho – whose men are now unbeaten in 18 top-flight matches – had claimed that a draw would be a good result for his side, given their exhaustive exploits in the FA Cup and Europa League this week, and Boro certainly started in the ascendancy against a United side shorn of a number of first-team regulars.