Sports

Manchester City are keen to continue a contract for Chelsea and England defender Reece James this summer.The Blues Academy candidate has had meteoric success in recent seasons. After spending the 2018/19 promotion on loan at Championship side Wigan, James has now cemented his place in Chelsea's first team and is a regular in England's squad.He played 47 games in all competitions last season for Chelsea and played a full 90 minutes when Thomas Tuchel's side won over City in the Champions League final. The 21-year-old played…

Right. Enough of this one striker, ultra tactical system nonsense. It's boring and outplayed.Football is infinitely better when teams use two striker formations. Them's the rules. The following list ranks 30 of the greatest strike partnerships the sport has seen, and celebrates the two striker system for its newfound hipster status.Consider this the unofficial campaign to bring back two striker systems and ban the bores that don't comply.Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has a feisty scoring record / MARCEL ANTONISSE/Getty ImagesIn one of…

A strong defence is key to any side being a major success at club level. Bring that to international tournament football and the importance is multiplied tenfold.International football is entirely different grounds. Less time to implore a philosophy, a limited pool of players, and having to achieve as much as possible in a short span of games. A top defence is key to ensuring a successful run, be it with top players or management that turns an average bunch into world beaters.Sure, blistering goals and coming out on the big…

It takes more than just obscene skill and endless flashy technical ability to lead a side, not least an entire international team.Leadership at the highest level is a rare asset, but also one that is vital to a strong national team when heading into major tournaments. You can have all the talent in the world, but if there's no major motivator in the side ready to set the 'do or die' tone and rally the troops, then it's a waste of time.90min has compiled a list of 30 of the top captains to do it at international level. Some…

Three teams have secured their places in the last 16 at Euro 2020 after two rounds of matches in the group stage.While there is plenty of time for rival teams to make up ground – with the format ensuring only one side have been eliminated – many will already be making up their minds about potential champions.The Stats Perform Euros Prediction, created by Stats Perform's AI team with the use of Opta data, has done likewise.This model estimates the probability of the outcome (win, draw or loss) of each match, using betting…

England vs Scotland.25 years in the making at a major international tournament, 25 years since Paul Gascoigne scored that goal at Euro 96 and what's felt like 25 years - thanks to sodding coronavirus - since there was Scottish-themed chaos on the streets of London.To set the scene early doors; England had won their opening Group D clash against Croatia, while Scotland had slipped to a disappointing defeat to Czech Republic at Hampden Park. Victory would seal the Three Lions' passage into the round of 16, while the Scots just…

Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo is only the second men's player to pass 100 international goals.UEFA.com looks back over his 176 national-team games to see how he has built up that huge tally.Ronaldo's goals so far1. 12/06/04: EURO group stage L 1-2 vs Greece (n), 90+3 minute – header (assist: Luís Figo)2. 30/06/04: EURO semi-finals W 2-1 vs Netherlands (n), 26th minute – header (Deco)3. 04/09/04: World Cup qualifying W 2-0 vs Latvia (a), 57th minute – left foot4. 08/09/04: World Cup qualifying W 4-0 vs Estonia (h), 76th…

Euro 2020 is in full swing, with every team now having played their first game. Certain nations have made surprisingly efficient starts, while others look as though they'll need a bit of time to find their groove.Before the tournament we used Opta data and Stats Perform's AI team to predict the winners, ranking all 24 teams by the likelihood of lifting the trophy aloft at Wembley on July 11.Well, now that everyone's played, we've run the Stats Perform Euros Prediction model again to see how the early results have impacted…

International football is a weird spectacle.Plenty of teams are blessed with a roster of top level individuals ready to report for international duty whenever the time comes, but cannot find a way to get those players sparking together when the time is right - definitely not England and English players. Definitely not.On the contrary, there are often circumstances where the international stage is lit up by a familiar name every few years, despite that player not actually amounting to much at club level. With an honourable…

Tottenham striker Harry Kane has revealed that he is not currently in touch with the club about his future, and reiterates that his full focus remains on Euro 2020 with England.A frustrated Kane told Spurs in May that he wanted to leave. When he reached the Champions League final in 2019 aside, his boys team has gone backwards since he signed a long-term contract in 2018 and is now much further away from competing for the big trophies he longs for.Manchester City, who are now expected to cover a British record deal of 100…