Joshua Oha, Author at Matchplug Blog

Manchester United interested in Napoli defender

Manchester United are reportedly lining up a bid for defender Kim Min-jae after his impressive debut season with Napoli in the Serie A.

The Red Devils want to bolster their defence this summer. They have identified the 26-year-old as the ideal candidate, following his showing at the heart of Napoli’s defence in their title-winning season.

Kim has spent just one season in Naples after arriving from Fenerbahce last summer in a deal worth €18million.

But according to reports in Italian news outlet Corriere dello Sport, the South Korean could be on his second move in two seasons as it has emerged that Manchester United are readying a bid for him.

The defender reportedly has a £40million clause in his contract at Napoli that can be triggered by foreign teams this summer. But Corriere dello Sport claims that Man United are looking to blow any rival suitors out of the water by tabling a bid that exceeds the release clause in Kim’s deal by offering £53million.

The Red Devils have lost Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez to long-term injuries, so Luke Shaw has been deployed in central defence for United recently.

Club captain Harry Maguire has also fallen out of favour at Old Trafford; therefore, there is a need for defensive reinforcements in the summer window.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

UEFA Champions League defending champions Real Madrid will continue their quest for a 15th UCL title this Wednesday when they welcome English Premier League leaders Manchester City to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Both European heavyweights are considered the favourites for this title, given the profile of their respective managers and the quality and experience among their squads.

Los Blancos are arguably the best club in Europe ever, with their record 14 UCL titles, at least seven more than any other club. Moreover, they come into this tie in a confident mood after sealing their first trophy win for the season courtesy of a 2-1 win over Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will now turn their attention to securing passage into the final of the UCL by another English opponent. The Spanish club defeated Chelsea 4-0 on aggregate to qualify for this round of the UCL.

But having faced weaker teams so far, Los Blancos will see Manchester City as the biggest threat so far. However, Ancelotti’s side will fancy their chances of winning here, given that they defeated City over two legs when both sides met in the semi-final stage last season.

Madrid’s record of winning 13 of their last 16 European home games (D1, L2) also places them in good stead to win here, even though they are on indifferent form across their last four games in all competitions (W2, L2).

Meanwhile, Manchester City will travel to the Spanish capital in solid form after winning their fifth game in a row at the weekend thanks to a 2-1 win over Leeds United.

Although that wasn’t their performance, the win made it 20 games without defeat for Guardiola’s side and kept them stationed at the top of the Premier League table.

But despite their apparent success domestically, it is in Europe that City remain unsuccessful and eager for silverware. The wealthy Cityzens are still hunting for a first European crown and will feel this could be their year, as they remain the only unbeaten side in this tournament.

They beat German giants Bayern Munich 4-1 on aggregate to qualify for this round. They will fancy their chances of finally beating a Madrid side that have dumped them out of the UCL in two of their last three semi-final appearances.

Meanwhile, Manchester City’s last four UCL away games have ended as draws. So it is difficult to predict what the outcome will be here. However, BTTS/GG is highly likely, given the quality of both teams in attack.

Click here to get accurate football predictions.

Udinese vs Sampdoria: Preview and Expert Prediction

Bottom-placed Sampdoria will travel to Udine this Monday looking to record just their fourth win of the season against Udinese.

The hosts come into this tie on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 win over Napoli, confirming Luciano Spaletti’s side as the Scudetto winners this season.

But for Udinese, their aim for the season remains to finish in the top half of the Serie A for the first time since 2012/13, and that draw boosted their chances of doing so as they sit in 12th position ahead of this round.

But they have won just one of their last six games (D2, L3) and need five more points to better last term’s haul of 47. Yet, there is some hope that they could get another win here as their last four home league games have seen them beat last year’s champions AC Milan 3-1 and hold this year’s title winners Napoli as part of a longer sequence of seven matches unbeaten on their turf (W2, D5).

With none of the last five home head-to-head against Sampdoria ending level (W3, L2), they’ll fancy their chances of claiming three points here against their struggling opponents.

Sampdoria’s 17 points after 33 matches have left them rooted at the bottom of the table with no hopes of playing Serie A football next season.

They come into this tie on the back of a 2-0 loss to Torino, which has left them ten points behind the 17th-placed side. So they desperately need a victory here to keep their wafer-thin survival chances alive.

But having won just one of their last 17 league fixtures (D5, L11), they will still finish the season with their lowest points total in the three-points-per-win era, regardless of where they play next season.

Meanwhile, their position in the league has been chiefly down to their poor away form. La Samp hasn’t won a league away game since early January (D2, L6 since) and conceded an average of 3.25 goals per game across their last four fixtures (D1, L3).

A tough finish to a miserable season awaits as they also travel to face AC Milan and Napoli after this.

Click here to get accurate bet tips today.

Fulham vs Leicester City: Preview and Expert Prediction

Leicester City will continue their fight for Premier League survival this Monday when they travel to London to face Fulham.

The Cottagers were one of the teams expected to challenge for a top-six fight towards the end of the season. However, they have endured a poor ending to the season, with seven losses recorded in their last nine league games (W2).

The most recent in that sequence was a narrow 1-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend which extended their losing streak to three games. As such, they come into this round of games sitting in tenth position, three points ahead of Chelsea.

Therefore, their league placement should still be considered a commendable achievement by Marco Silva’s men, especially as the Cottagers last three Premier League campaigns all ended in relegation.

Meanwhile, Fulham have won only one of their last five home PL matches (D1, L3), so another disappointing outing could be on the cards for the Cottagers, who will be desperate to give their fans something to cheer about.

Leicester City’s fight to avoid relegation remained on track as they held fellow strugglers Everton to a 2-2 draw in their last outing. Although Dean Smith’s side were outplayed in the game against Everton and needed the heroics of goalkeeper Daniel Iversen to snatch the result, they won’t be worried much as the result kept them above the relegation zone and extended their unbeaten run to three games (W1, D2).

They will travel to Craven Cottage, desperate to record their longest unbeaten run of the season. However, they would have to overcome the hurt of losing four of their last six matches on their travels (D2) to achieve that feat.

Meanwhile, Leicester have conceded first in all but one of their last 17 PL matches. So we expect that there will be a first-half goal in this game.

Click here to get accurate football predictions.

PSG target exciting Crystal Palace winger as Lionel Messi’s replacement

Paris Saint-Germain reportedly wants to sign Michael Olise once they confirm Lionel Messi’s departure this summer.

The Crystal Palace winger has been the talk of the town all season after his impressive showings for the Eagles, which has propelled them to Premier League safety.

And now, according to reports by Daily Mail, PSG want him to spearhead their attack next season alongside Kylian Mbappe once they confirm Messi’s departure.

The Argentina international is thought to be on his way out of the club after failing to agree to a contract extension. Barcelona and Saudi Arabia side Al-Hilal are the rumoured destinations, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

However, Messi’s departure means that PSG will at least have an extra £740,000 a week in loose change to spend. The Parisians are also looking to offload Neymar in an effort to reconnect with their fanbase and recruit young French players, of which Olise fits the bill.

PSG also want a centre-back, a holding midfielder, a striker and two wingers this summer.

Palace would not want to lose Olise, particularly with Wilfried Zaha also expected to go. But they are prepared for the worst and have been busy trying to seal the deal for Flamengo’s 19-year-old Matheus Franca over the past month. The Brazilian is seen as the ideal replacement should Zaha and Olise leave.

Brighton vs Everton: Preview and Expert Prediction

Brighton will look to continue their remarkable run of form when they welcome Everton to Amex Stadium this Monday.

The Seagulls kept their European hopes alive last Thursday night courtesy of a 1-0 win over top-four chasing Manchester United. They secured the win after scoring a dramatic 99th-minute winner from the penalty spot by Alexis Mac Allister.

The win ensured they came into the round sitting in sixth position, with the advantage of having crucial games in hand over most teams around them. As such, their destiny is firmly in their own hands.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side will be glad to see Everton as the next visitors to Amex Stadium, as they’ve thrived at home in games against struggling opponents. The hosts have avoided defeat in all eight of their home Premier League games against any team coming into the round inside the bottom ten (W7, D1).

They kept a clean sheet in six of those games and will fancy their chances of another clan sheet here, as only Brentford have managed to breach their goal in any home league game since the start of March.

Everton is the worst team to try to break down this stubborn Brighton defence, as the goal-shy Toffees are the lowest-scoring side in the Premier League. Sean Dyche’s side have scored just 27 goals in the PL this season, with only four sides from Europe’s big-five leagues scoring fewer ahead of this round.

However, they have scored exactly twice in three of their last five away matches, including last Monday night, where they put in a dominant attacking display against relegation rivals Leicester City.

But their 23 goal attempts were ultimately in vain as they were denied by a man-of-the-match display from Foxes’ goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.

Dyche said his side “didn’t get the full reward in terms of the three points” but insisted the performance did increase his side’s “feel-good factor”. The former Burnley coach will hope that performance against the Foxes can help inspire his players to finally end a poor run of 13 away games without a win in the league(D6, L7).

If the players require further inspiration, their manager’s record of having never tasted defeat in five away league games against Brighton could provide it (W2, D3). And the fact that Brighton have won just one of their 12 Premier League games played on a Monday (D8, L3) could also boost Everton’s morale here.

Click here to get correct score predictions.

Nottingham Forest vs Southampton: Preview and Expert Prediction

Premier League continues on Monday with a huge relegation battle to ensue at City Ground, where bottom-placed Southampton face fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest.

Forest comes into this tie in a relatively better shape, having won at least one of their last five league games (L4), unlike their visitors, who are winless in nine games (D3, L3) and sit at the foot of the pile. They also sit six points ahead of the Saints, having won one game more.

However, the hosts’ solitary win in 13 games has not helped them much, as they remain in the relegation zone ahead of this game. Steve Cooper’s side is sitting level on points with Leicester and Leeds United but has a worse goal difference.

This is primarily due to their porous defence that has conceded 62 goals this season, with only Bournemouth (64) and Leeds United (69) the side with the most goals conceded in this Premier League campaign.

But ahead of this game, Forest have the opportunity to close the gap to safety by completing the first top-flight league double over their visitors since 1995/96, having won 1-0 at St Mary’s in the reverse fixture.

But Southampton will look to ensure that does not happen when they visit City Ground. The Saints may be at the bottom of the table with four games to play, but they will consider themselves a quality side given how tough they could be to break down on their day.

Yet they are the second-lowest scoring side in the league with 28 goals, while they are also one of the four PL sides conceding 60+ goals this season.

That makes this trip more tricky for the Saints as Forest have kept clean sheets in three of their four home games against sides ranked 15th or worse (W3, D1).

Yet, they will be desperate for some joy and to end a run of nine games without a win (D3, L6). But their away form across their last eight trips doesn’t inspire confidence (W1, D2, L5), while their record on Monday night football is also a cause for concern as the Saints have lost each of their last three PL games to be played on this weekday.

But Forest are also winless in their last 12 PL games played on Mondays (D7, L5), despite getting on the scoresheet in seven of the previous eight. Therefore, this game has the markings of a dead rubber classic with few goals scored.

That said, an under 1.5 goals bet could be the best prediction here, while a mixed chance bet would also not be out of place.

Click here to get the best soccer prediction tips today.

West Ham United vs Manchester United: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

West Ham will look to end a poor run of form this Sunday when they welcome Manchester United to London Stadium.

The hosts still look over their shoulders in the relegation fight despite having just four league games to save their Premier League season. This is courtesy of a run of three consecutive league defeats against Liverpool (2-1), Crystal Palace (4-3) and Manchester City (3-0) that has left them sitting just four points above the bottom three ahead of this round of games.

They now face another top-six club, hoping to end their run of three straight defeats and go close to the 40-point mark that guarantees survival. Manager David Moyes will also be desperate to end his side’s three-game winless run of league games at the London Stadium (D1, L2).

However, facing his former club isn’t usually something to look forward to for the manager who’s won just five of his 36 personal H2Hs (D7, L24), including seven defeats from eight in charge of West Ham.

Meanwhile, Manchester United will look to get back to winning ways when they travel to London on Sunday. The Red Devils’ quest for a top-four finish took a big hit in their last outing as they narrowly lost to Brighton (1-0 away from home).

The loss ended a run of five league games without defeat for Erik ten Hag’s men and placed them just four points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool, who have found renewed hope in the race for the top four.

Despite this, United’s top-four destiny remains in their hands as they have a game in hand over their Merseyside rivals. But, their away form threatens to undo their good work this season, with Ten Hag’s men earning just 24 of their 63 PL points away from Old Trafford.

They have collected just one win from their last five away games in the league (D1, L3). This has been partly caused by a porous defence which has conceded 80% of their PL goals on the road. However, their attack is also partly to blame as Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho are leading an attack that has scored the fewest goals of any side starting the round in the top seven (49) but also hasn’t helped.

But facing West Ham should inspire confidence, given the Red Devils’ dominant overall head-to-head record in the PL era (W33, D13, L7).

Meanwhile, West Ham have seen 15 of the 23 PL goals they’ve conceded at home this season arrive before half-time. So, we reckon that a first-half goal prediction is the best for this game.

Click here to get accurate football predictions today.

Bayern Munich make Manchester United target their TOP SUMMER target

Bayern Munich have reportedly made Manchester United target Randal Kolo Muani one of the players they are desperate to sign this summer.

The Bavarians are keen on adding an extra attacker to their ranks after struggling to replace Robert Lewandowski this season. The Polish attacker departed for Camp Nou last summer, and the club signed Sadio Mane from Liverpool as his replacement in attack.

But the Senegal international has been largely unsuccessful in his bid to replace Lewandoski and could be sold this summer after falling out with the club.

So the Bundesliga club are looking to sign a new attacker this summer as they plan for an overhaul in that department. Names like Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen have been linked with a move.

However, according to Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, French attacker Randal Kolo Muani is ahead of the duo on the list of priorities for Bayern Munich this summer.

As per the report, the first round of talks has already occurred between the player’s party and Bayern. The Eintracht Frankfurt striker is one of Europe’s most sought-after players this season after a blistering season with the German club.

The 224-year-old has scored 21 goals and provided 42 assists in 42 appearances this summer. Frankfurt values him at €65million and considers themselves in a strong bidding position given that he has a long contract expiring in 2027.

Newcastle vs Arsenal: Preview and Expert Prediction

Newcastle United and Arsenal will battle for three points this Sunday, with both sides looking for the win to keep them on track for their respective quests.

Newcastle are looking to finish in the top four this season after a decade of absence from European football. And with five games to go, the Magpies are near their aim, so they will be desperate to win here.

Eddie Howe’s side come into this tie on the back of an impressive eight wins from nine Premier League games (L1). That run includes a 6-1 home demolition of Arsenal’s North London rivals, Tottenham, at this stadium.

So they will want to win again at St. James’ Park and extend their four straight league wins at home. They will also fancy their chances of getting maximum points given their home form.

The hosts have lost just once at home this season (W10, L5), while the eleven goals they have conceded on this ground is the second-fewest in the league.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s goal for the season remains to win the Premier League title despite their late collapse.

Although the Gunners have relinquished the top spot to Pep Guardiola’s relentless Manchester City side, they remain hopeful of winning the title.

Mikel Arteta’s side bounced back from a run of four games without a win last time out when they beat Chelsea 3-1 at home. They will now travel to Tyneside looking to record back-to-back league wins for the first time since April and to keep themselves one point behind City at the top of the table.

Meanwhile, No side has kept more PL away clean sheets than Arsenal’s nine this season – almost twice as many as any other side. Given their clean sheet record away from home and Newcastle’s strength at the back, this will likely be a low-scoring affair. So we suggest a bet of under 2.5 goals.

Joshua Oha

Manchester United interested in Napoli defender

Real Madrid vs Manchester City: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Udinese vs Sampdoria: Preview and Expert Prediction

Fulham vs Leicester City: Preview and Expert Prediction

PSG target exciting Crystal Palace winger as Lionel Messi’s replacement

Brighton vs Everton: Preview and Expert Prediction

Nottingham Forest vs Southampton: Preview and Expert Prediction

West Ham United vs Manchester United: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Bayern Munich make Manchester United target their TOP SUMMER target

Newcastle vs Arsenal: Preview and Expert Prediction

Instagram Feed

Stop Playing and Start Wining.

Contact us

Quick Links

Categories

Information

Follow Us