Borussia Dortmund wants to sign Naby Keita

Borussia Dortmund is plotting a summer move for Naby Keita as the midfielder considers his future at Liverpool. The Guinean has been one of the finest midfielders in the Premier League when he plays, but that doesn’t happen often and he could leave the Reds as a free agent in the summer. Liverpool have been in talks with his entourage over a new deal, but progress has not been made so far and the midfielder’s future remains up in the air. Matchplug understands that BVB is now considering a move for him and they believe he can improve their midfield. He enjoyed huge success when he played for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and BVB expects him to have a similar impact if he joins them. They expect to sell Jude Bellingham next summer and Keita would be a good experienced replacement for the Englishman.

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Steelers Shut Down Pickett Rumors Despite Loss

This wasn’t very surprising, but the entire world was anticipating a quarterback change in Pittsburgh. The Steelers just recently lost to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. It was a pretty good start offensively in the first half of the game, but they just forgot how to move the football in the second half of action. Fans have already been clamoring to bench Mitchell Trubisky in exchange for the rookie Kenny Pickett. The sluggish performance in the second half made everybody anticipate that change, but it never happened.  According to the team’s head coach Mike Tomlin, they didn’t even think about making the change. Reporters relentlessly asked him about the possibility of re-evaluating the position following their second straight loss. He had a simple answer for that, saying, “I’m not in that mindset, I’m interested in reviewing his tape and looking at the totality of it and figuring how we collectively get better. So, the answer to that question is definitively no.”  Steelers Need More From Trubisky Trubisky threw for 109 yards and a touchdown while only missing on four out of his 13 total pass attempts in the first half. It looked like the Steelers were shaking it up and letting it fly early on in the contest. Unfortunately, they didn’t adjust in the second half in the slightest. Cleveland forced punts on four out of the Steelers five total drives in the second half. They scored only three points in the drive they didn’t punt in and lost by double digits. By the time the game finished, Trubisky completed 20 out of his 32 passes for only 207 yards and that sole touchdown.  Trubisky was targeting the sidelines heavily throughout the night. He completed nine out of 12 passes for 129 yards when throwing intermediate passes to the sidelines. He was only one for six when throwing the ball deep for just 36 total yards. The Browns clearly knew this pattern was happening and started to shut down the side of the field and forcing him to keep targeting the middle of the field. I think it’s safe to say that Pittsburgh will have to open the playbook up a little bit for him moving forward.  To wrap up his interview, Tomlin said, “I thought he made some plays but we all collectively came up short, and so that’s how we measure performance. Winning is our business and we didn’t handle business. So, we don’t break that apart and look for the feel-good.”   What do you guys think about the approach that Pittsburgh has been showing with their quarterback room? Does Trubisky deserve to keep pushing forward as the starter? Or does the rookie Pickett deserve his own opportunity to get out there and show the world what he can do? It’s a pretty difficult situation that is going to be covered quite a lot as the season progresses. I say that Pickett starts sometime this year, but it won’t be this upcoming week.   Click here for more of our content!

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MLB Picks – Astros Aim For Revenge Against Orioles

MLB Predictions    Houston Astros vs. Baltimore Orioles  Over/Under: 7.5  Odds: Astros -176, Orioles +148  Time: 7:05 PM ET    MLB Predictions MLB Picks continues this week with the Houston Astros taking on the Baltimore Orioles. These two teams have met up twice in the last two days coming into this one, with Baltimore surprisingly winning both matchups by a combined 8-0. Now, some might think that the Orioles are going to blank Houston for a third straight time and get another win. The problem with that is that the Astros are still one of the best teams in the league. They aren’t going to be going down without a fight.   The Houston Astros are coming into this game with Framber Valdez starting on the mound here. Valdez has been one of the league’s better pitchers in the league with a 16-5 record to show for it. The last time he started for the Astros, he pitched six innings and allowed just two runs and four hits during the course of the game against the Oakland Athletics. His ERA for the season is at a stellar 2.52 and it’s helped him achieve his whopping 25 straight quality starts recorded. I mean, we literally haven’t seen this man start a game and not pitch for more than five innings in the contest.   On the other hand, the Baltimore Orioles will be sending out Mike Baumann. Baumann is making just the second start of the season for this team but in the games, he’s appeared in, he’s worked to a 1-3 overall record. The last time we got to see Baumann pitch, he threw for just 2.8 innings and gave up three hits and one run in that stretch. His stats aren’t that great though. He is pitching on a 4.29 ERA with opponents’ batting an average of .301 against him across 10 total games. Putting this up against an Astros batting lineup that has held onto a .245 batting average as a team might be a disaster for the Orioles.   MLB Picks Today It’s hard to pick anybody but the Astros here for the MLB Picks. Houston has held onto one of the best batting lineups all season long to couple with their stellar pitching rotation that some consider to be the deepest in the MLB. Valdez has statistics that show him to be the best pitcher that will hit the mound this game. Meanwhile Baumann really hasn’t given us much in terms of holding his opponents from scoring. I like the value that the Astros are giving us against Baltimore. I find it hard to believe that the Astros are going to drop three straight games to this Orioles squad.  The total for this matchup is set at 7.5 runs scored. I believe the under looks better than the over here. Valdez isn’t going to allow Baltimore to get started off hot in this upcoming contest. His ridiculous arm talent is going to keep the Orioles from scoring runs for the entire time he’s out there. Baumann leaves this up in the air considering the batting average he’s allowing to opponents over the season. However, if he gets torched early on, he won’t be out there for long.   Final Pick: Astros 176  Over/Under Choice: Under 7.5  If you’re looking for more content, click here! 

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NFL Picks – Undefeated Chiefs Take On Winless Colts

NFL Predictions    Kansas City Chiefs vs. Indianapolis Colts  Over/Under: 50.5  Odds: Chiefs –5.5, Colts +5.5  Time: 1:00 PM ET    NFL Predictions NFL Picks continues with the Kansas City Chiefs going up against the floundering Indianapolis Colts. The Chiefs are undefeated this season with back-to-back solid performances. Meanwhile, the Colts have looked like one of the worst teams in football, falling into a tie with the Houston Texans and a shutout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Who would have ever thought we would say that through two weeks?   The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t look great in their last win, but that’s to their standards. This is still one of the hardest to beta teams in the NFL right now. Patrick Mahomes threw for 235 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions while Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 74 yards on a 9.3 yards per carry average. Defensively, the Chiefs didn’t do much that was impactful against the Los Angeles Chargers. They did come up with a HUGE 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, but it’s hard to bet that this is going to happen for a second straight week. For right now, it’s not a time to doubt the Chiefs.   Look, the Colts have some serious issues. It’s getting to the point where there is so many, I don’t know where to start. The Colts just got shut out by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Matt Ryan threw for just 195 yards and three interceptions during the contest, and they only rushed the football 13 times. Jonathan Taylor had nine attempts for 54 yards, yet they stopped going to that well when it was clearly working. Honestly, you can’t blame the defense for keeping them in games that they deserve to get blown out in. This is all on the coaching staff and the offense. Any mistakes usually lead to points for the Chiefs and turning the football over has been a staple in the Colts offense so far this season.    NFL Picks Today The spread has the Chiefs as the favorites for this game at –5.5 points. This is a pretty straightforward game to make a choice for. What we’ve seen from the Colts has been absolutely horrendous offensively. I just can’t see any way that they dominate time of possession and outscore the Chiefs in this game. Patrick Mahomes and this offense are going to come out firing, and you can bet on them capitalizing off of Indianapolis mistakes. For this game, I’m taking the Chiefs in this game with the points with a TON of confidence. The Colts have to show significantly more.   The total for this game is set at 50.5 points. Once again, I’m liking the over here. The Chiefs are a fantastic offense and has been for the past few years now. Couple this with the fact that the Colts keep turning the football over and are going to be without Shaquille Leonard due to a back injury, and you have yourselves a choice that feels like a guarantee.   Final Pick: Chiefs –5.5  Over/Under Choice: Over 50.5  If you’re looking for more content, click here! 

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NFL Picks – Eagles Clash With Commanders

NFL Predictions    Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Commanders  Over/Under: 47.5  Odds: Eagles –6.5, Commanders +6.5  Time: 1:00 PM ET    NFL Predictions We enter into Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season with the Philadelphia Eagles squaring off with the Washington Commanders. The Eagles just picked up a huge win over the Minnesota Vikings in dominating fashion in prime time. Meanwhile, the Commanders crumbled under the pressure to a Detroit Lions team that is catching everybody off guard. The Eagles are currently undefeated on the season with a 2-0 record to back it up. From what we’ve seen on the year, it’s been an excellent showing. Jalen Hurts is coming off of a game in which he threw for 333 yards, a touchdown and an interception while only missing on five passes. They pretty much got whatever they wanted against the Minnesota Vikings last week, beating them 24-7. Philadelphia has also averaged 470.5 yards per game and 31 points per game through the first two weeks of the 2022 regular season. Their defense didn’t look good in the season opener but Darius Slay just grabbed two interceptions while shadowing Justin Jefferson last week in a lockdown performance.    As for the Commanders, they’ve been an interesting team to follow. Carson Wentz has shown flashes of potentially being a wonderful addition to this team, and then other times he looks like he just doesn’t belong. They were just stomped throughout the entire first half of their last game against the Detroit Lions, and their rally in the second half wasn’t enough. The problem that I keep seeing is the lack of a run game. For example, Antonio Gibson took 14 carries and mustered only 28 yards and a touchdown. You can’t expect to win games by ignoring the run game and leaving it all up for Carson Wentz to make something happen.   NFL Picks Today Given how the first two games have gone for each of these teams so far in 2022, I believe this is going to be a higher scoring game. These are division rivals that are familiar with one another, and usually end up scoring a good chunk of points against one another every time they face off. With Hurts and the Eagles averaging over 30 points per game and the Commanders allowing roughly 30 points per game, points will be aplenty. When it comes down to selecting a winner for this matchup, I have to roll with Philadelphia for NFL Picks. I have the utmost confidence in this Eagles offense from what I’ve seen so far, and the Commanders are just far too inconsistent with Wentz to know what they are going to do week in and week out.   The total for the contest is set at 47.5 at the moment. I have faith that this is going to be a game where each team gets onto the board early and often. However, division games are usually always difficult to predict every time they meet one another. In the end though, the over should be the one to cash out.   Final Pick: Eagles –6.5  Over/Under Choice: Over 47.5  If you’re looking for more content, click here! 

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Aaron Judge Could Win The Triple Crown

The Triple Crown is still currently in Aaron Judge’s hands for the time being. The New York Yankees superstar player is setting himself up to be in contention for a title that is very rarely awarded to players nowadays. When we passed the All-Star Break, there were only two players that were really in the conversation to win the Triple Crown. Those being the St. Louis Cardinals first basemen Paul Goldschmidt and New York Yankees Aaron Judge. With the regular season coming to a rapid close, Judge is in the lead to become the 11th player in AL/NL history to get the Triple Crown. For those that don’t know, the Triple Crown is when a single player is able to lead the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs.   Judge is currently on a record-breaking season, so his inclusion on this list isn’t really surprising. After all, he’s at 60 home runs right now. This is just two away from the AL single-season home run record. It was previously set by Roger Maris 61 years ago. Judge is barely in first place when it comes to batting average at .316. The next closest is Bogaerts at a .314 and Arraez is right behind him at .313. Judge is far and away up towards the top of the home run category at 60 coming into this next game. And finally, he’s batted in approximately 128 total runs.   There has only been one player since the 2012 season that has been able to win the Triple Crown title. That 2012 winner happened to be Miguel Cabrera on the Detroit Tigers. The gap between him and the next title winner was Carl Yastrzemski on the Boston Red Sox. This happened all the way back in 1967.  Triple Crown Could Be Many Firsts So, assuming Judge can pull away with this title and close it out down the stretch, it’d be a wonderful feat for a few different reasons. The first is that he’d become the third player in Yankees history to win the title. Following both Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig. No other franchise in MLB history has watched three players win the Triple Crown. It would be historic for two different reasons right there. Judge would also be the first player in 100 years since the first Triple Crown was won by Hornsby back in the year 1922. Then lastly, Judge would be able to extend the Triple Crown run in the American League to seven. A player from the National League hasn’t been able to win this title in over 85 years. Goldschmidt could wind up putting together a phenomenal final stretch of the season to steal it back from Judge. But it would certainly take a lot of effort to do so. If he can however, it would be the first National League player to do so in a historic amount of time.   If you’re looking for more content from us, click here to head over to our main page!  

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Arsenal is targeting a Bundesliga winger

Arsenal has started making plans to bolster their squad in the January transfer window as they consider a move for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jesper Lindstrom. The Gunners are at the top of the Premier League table now, but they know it would be a very long season and they need depth. In the last campaign, their failure to bolster their squad in January derailed their bid for a top-four finish and they want to avoid that in this campaign. The Gunners remain one of the best clubs in Europe this season, but Mikel Arteta wants a new winger and he has identified Lindstrom as a top target. He helped Frankfurt to win the Europa League last season and caught the eye of the Spanish manager, who now hopes they can secure a deal in January, Matchplug understands. It remains unclear if Frankfurt will want to lose him in January, but every player has a price and Arsenal might pay his.

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‘We’ll see what happens in the winter’ Chelsea target could make January move

Chelsea transfer target  Josko Gvardiol has opened the door to a January move even though he insists he is happy at RB Leipzig. The defender is just 20, but he has emerged as one of the top young defenders in the world now and the Blues were desperate to buy him in the summer. They reportedly offered 90m euros to RB Leipzig for his signature, but the Germans turned it down because they consider him an indispensable member of their team. The Croatian is happy with the decision and insists he wants to remain at the Bundesliga club to improve himself even further. However, he could agree to a move in January. He said, as quoted by Matchplug:  ‘I’m happy at Leipzig, I still have a lot to learn and need to work on myself.  ‘I have people who deal with it, I didn’t think about a transfer. We’ll see what happens in the winter.’

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Kenny Golladay Confused About Lack Of Snaps

Kenny Golladay is having a rough stint with the New York Giants. It hasn’t been going the way that either side planned it to be. It seems to just be getting worse and worse as time goes on though, with no end in sight. Last week, the Giants were able to come away with a victory against the Carolina Panthers, 19-16. During the course of that game, Golladay logged just two total snaps played on the afternoon. Interviewers have been peppering him with questions since they heard about this and apparently Golladay wasn’t informed as to the reason why he isn’t out there.  Golladay was quoted saying, “Nah, I think it’s probably going to be a little different. But like I said, I really, I still really don’t know. I’m preparing like I’m going to be playing. But who knows.” He continued by talking about how he’s trying to just keep his head down and listen to the coaches but is genuinely confused as to the lack of time. He said, “No, I mean that’s what I said. The GM, head coach, all these coaches keep saying you do everything right. You handle yourself the right way. So, like I said, it’s a little confusing.”  Kenny Golladay Got A Massive Contract For those that aren’t already aware, Golladay was a big-ticket signing made by Dave Gettleman in 2021. Golladay was handed a four-year, $72 million deal right after he posted back-to-back years of 1,000 yards receiving with the Detroit Lions. In 16 total games with the Giants, Kenny has caught just 29 passes for 543 yards without a single touchdown. So, factor in the fact that he is set to make $17.75 million throughout the course of the 2022 season. If he plays in 17 games, he is set to earn over a million per outing. That means the Giants paid this man $522,000 for each snap that he played in Week 2 against the Panthers. At this point, they might as well just cut their losses and move on.   However, the problem is they can’t do that either. Cutting Golladay would force them to take a $25.4 million dead cap hit for the year. Which simply puts this option off the table for New York even if they want to head down that route.   Attitude Could Be A Reason Now, Golladay could be taking a backseat for his attitude, something that has reportedly been a problem since arriving in New York. There were times when he legitimately didn’t seem like he wanted to be out there for a losing season with the Giants and wasn’t a fan of their quarterback Daniel Jones. This bad appearance last year might be the reason why new head coach Brian Daboll is forcing him to wait his turn now that they are starting to turn it around. This doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a split between these teams. Nor does it mean that Golladay won’t be hitting the field more often soon. It just means that there does seem to be a plausible reason for why the Giants aren’t giving Kenny Golladay a chance to redeem himself after a failed 2021 campaign.   Click here to catch more news!

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Pavard could make Premier League move next summer

Benjamin Pavard has revealed he had offers from several clubs in the summer before deciding to stay at Bayern Munich. The defender was linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer, but he eventually stayed at Bayern for another season. However, his contract is running down and it doesn’t seem he will sign an extension to the forms at Bavarian. This would serve as a boost to Premier League clubs wanting to sign him and the player has revealed he will consider leaving at the end of this season. He said via Matchplug: ‘I questioned myself, I had calls from different clubs with my agent. Afterwards, I had the Bayern coach with whom we spoke and with whom we have a good relationship. ‘He made me understand that I was in his plans, that I was important for the team. Maybe one day I will go to one of these clubs, you never know what the future holds. ‘I’m still a year at Bayern Munich. Afterwards, we have time to project ourselves.’ 

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