Category Sports News

Right, what do you need from your Fantasy Premier League team on the final day?

If you’re in a close title race in your mini-league – especially if you are chasing a rival – then this is the dream scenario.

There’s no clear-cut captain and that means taking a punt on someone other than Mohamed Salah could be massively rewarded.

There are normally plenty of goals on the final day so if you’ve got nothing much to play for, why not slap the armband on a big differential choice – such as Leandro Trossard or Evanilson in this week’s team – and just have a bit of fun?

This team of the week should give you some final-day ideas, but it could be a week to go with your gut, take a flyer on your captain and then sit back and hope for the best.

Jamie Vardy, on maybe his final FPL appearance, Jarrod Bowen and double Everton defence were the heroes.

Boy, did the double Manchester City clean sheet wipeout in the 96th minute hurt!

A total of 53 points, not awful and not great.

David Raya, Arsenal, keeper, £5.5m – Southampton (a)

Worst attack in the league? Haven’t scored in three games? Nothing to play for? Arsenal defence is an easy pick this week for clean sheet against bottom-placed Southampton.

Jakub Kiwior, Arsenal, £4.9m – Southampton (a)

See Raya above!

Nikola Milenkovic, Nottingham Forest, £5.2m – Chelsea (h)

If you’re going for broke on the final day you want a defender with a goal in their locker.

Ezri Konsa and Marc Cucurella owners got that luck in gameweek 37.

Milenkovic has more goals than any other defender and Chelsea have only scored once in their past four games on the road.

In a must-win match, I’d rather back Forest defence than Chelsea attack.

Dan Burn, Newcastle, £4.5m – Everton (h)

Another Milenkovic-style pick. Burn has two double-digit hauls in four games and Newcastle have kept three home clean sheets in a row.

Milos Kerkez, Bournemouth, £5.2m – Leicester (h)

Six assists this season for Kerkez – who has been linked with a move to Liverpool – and he is in the top 10 for final-third touches and crosses among defenders.

Bryan Mbeumo (captain), Brentford, £8.2m – Wolves (a)

Mbeumo has six returns in his past five games and would have hauled more if not for a rare penalty miss last week.

He takes on a Wolves side who have conceded seven goals in the previous three games.

At this point, Mbeumo might be the most obvious FPL pick. He’s been involved in 43% of his side’s goals, so feels about as nailed on as you can be for at least some sort of return on Sunday.

Jarrod Bowen (vice captain), West Ham, £7.9m – Ipswich (a)

Bowen has 53 points in the past seven gameweeks – only Eberechi Eze has more with 57 – so you’ve got to roll with that kind of form and he’s a solid shout for captain this week.

Jacob Murphy, Newcastle, £5.2m – Everton (h)

Since gameweek 14, Murphy has started every game for Newcastle and in that time only Mohamed Salah (77) has more points than his 76 at home.

Murphy has five goals and six assists in that spell and, in a must-win game against Everton, you would hope he will be back on the right wing in a 4-4-2.

That’s where he has been most productive – and even more so if Alexander Isak is fit.

Leandro Trossard, Arsenal, £6.7m – Southampton (a)

Some sort of attacking Arsenal asset feels like a must against woeful Southampton.

But predicting how the Gunners approach the game, with second place effectively wrapped up, is tough.

Trossard has been Arsenal’s top-scoring attacking asset this season and he has started the past seven games, with five returns.

Evanilson, Bournemouth, £5.8m – Leicester (h)

The Brazilian has been unlucky this season – 66 shots in the box, 22 big chances, just 10 goals.

His expected goals (xG) is 12.18. By contrast, Chris Wood has 12.61 xG and 20 goals!

What I’m saying here is that Evanilson could have ended a decent season with even more points if he’d put away a few more of those big chances – such as when he hit the post at Manchester City on Tuesday.

He has a juicy match-up against a poor defence on the final day and could easily get double digits.

Erling Haaland, Manchester City, £14.9m – Fulham (a)

Call me foolish for going back to Haaland, who has been very quiet since returning from injury, but Manchester City still need a point on Sunday to secure Champions League football.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Bournemouth, keeper, £4.6m – Leicester (h)

Jorgen Strand Larsen, Wolves, striker, £5.2m – Brentford (h)

Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest, £6.5m – Chelsea (h)

Conor Bradley, Liverpool, defender, £4.7m – Crystal Palace (h)

Total team cost: £95m

Olav Kooij won a close-fought sprint on stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia as Isaac del Toro retained the pink jersey in Viadana.

Dutchman Kooij benefited from Visma-Lease A Bike team-mate Wout van Aert’s superb lead-out in the final kilometre.

Casper van Uden finished second with Britain’s Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers third.

“Only he [Wout] can do it, so to have him as support here is extraordinary,” said Kooij.

“I really need to thank him and also the rest of the team, they did a fantastic job.

“You don’t want to be too far [back] in that last corner, that’s maybe why we had to go a bit earlier than we wanted but I could jump on the wheel of Casper and pass him.”

Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG stayed out of the hectic fight for position in the closing stages to finish safely in the bunch and maintain his hold on the pink jersey.

A sprint for two bonus seconds at the Red Bull kilometre in Brescello means the 21-year-old heads into stage 13 with a 33-second lead over team-mate Juan Ayuso in the race overall.

1. Olav Kooij (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) 3hr 55min 40sec

2. Casper van Uden (Ned/PicnicPostNL) Same time

3. Ben Turner (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)

4. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek)

5. Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck)

6. Milan Fretin (Bel/Cofidis)

7. Max Kanter (Ger/XDS Astana)

8. Paul Magnier (Fra/Soudal Quick-Step)

9. Matevz Govekar (Slo/Bahrain-Victorious)

French Open 2025

Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris

Britain’s Emma Raducanu could face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in the second round of the French Open.

The 22-year-old, who was thrashed by Swiatek at January’s Australian Open, must first beat China’s Wang Xinyu in Paris.

British men’s number one Jack Draper plays Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in his opening match, with top-ranked Jannik Sinner a potential quarter-final opponent.

Italy’s Sinner, who has recently returned from a three-month doping ban, will start against France’s Arthur Rinderknech.

Defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz opens against Japan’s former world number four Kei Nishikori.

Novak Djokovic, who is aiming for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam, has been pitted against American Mackenzie McDonald.

Swiatek has dominated the women’s singles with four titles in the past five years, but comes into the clay-court major in uncertain form.

The Pole has not won a tournament this year and has dropped to fifth in the world – meaning she could face the leading players earlier than usual.

All eyes were on which quarter Swiatek would land in, with Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini – who Swiatek beat in last year’s final – her potential last-eight opponent.

To get that far, though, she might have to see off Raducanu and 11th seed Elena Rybakina – another former Grand Slam champion – in the fourth round.

Djokovic, perhaps not surprising as age catches him up, has also been well below his best.

He lost three matches in a row to start the clay swing and ended the coaching partnership with Andy Murray last week.

His draw could have been much worse in Paris.

The other British players in the men’s singles have landed eye-catching draws.

Jacob Fearnley’s rapid rise continues with a French Open debut against 40-year-old three-time major champion Wawrinka, who won the Roland Garros title in 2015.

Cameron Norrie has been given a rematch against Russia’s Medvedev after the former world number one beat the Briton recently in Rome.

In the women’s singles, British number one Katie Boulter starts against a qualifier as the 28-year-old aims to finally land her first Roland Garros main-draw win.

She warmed up by winning a WTA 125 title in Paris last week.

Sonay Kartal is playing in the main draw for the first time, having climbed more than 200 places in the rankings over the past year, and opens against Erika Andreeva of Russia.

If she wins her first two matches, 23-year-old Kartal could again face Coco Gauff – who beat her in the Wimbledon second round last year.

The first part of the European clay-court swing has been encouraging for the leading British players – now the real test of their credentials is about to begin.

Although Raducanu has made positive steps over recent months, she still does not feel totally at ease on clay.

Does she have enough natural movement and quality to cause a shock if she meets Swiatek? You would think not – even if the four-time champion has been below her best.

Draper, beaten in the first round last year, has become a genuine force on clay.

Reaching the Madrid final and Rome quarter-finals illustrated his rising stock, but the fifth seed has been handed a tough draw.

If he comes through against Bellucci – a creative left-hander trying to crack the top 50 – a host of bigger names are lurking down the line.

Men’s singles

Full draw

Women’s singles

Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard is in advanced talks over a new contract, with all parties now confident of reaching an agreement.

Trossard, whose current deal runs until 2027, has been in discussions with Arsenal since January, with the 30-year-old also subject to interest from Saudi Arabia.

However, the process has been accelerated in recent weeks and there is now growing optimism an agreement is close as multiple sources have indicated negotiations are likely to reach a positive conclusion.

Sporting director Andrea Berta, who joined the club last month, has led the most recent set of talks and it is understood Trossard has informed Arsenal his priority is to stay at Emirates Stadium.

Real Madrid captain Luka Modric has revealed he will leave the Spanish giants after the end of their Club World Cup campaign this summer.

The 39-year-old Croatia midfielder, the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner, will play his final match at Real’s Bernabeu home when they welcome Real Sociedad on Saturday in their final La Liga game of the season.

“The moment has arrived. The moment I never wanted to come, but that’s football, and in life everything has a beginning and an end”, Modric said on Instagram.

The Croat has won 28 trophies, including six Champions Leagues and four domestic titles, since joining Real from Spurs in 2012.

“I arrived in 2012 with the hope of wearing the jersey of the best team in the world and the ambition to do great things, but I couldn’t have imagined what came next”, he said.

“Playing for Real Madrid changed my life as a footballer and as a person.

” I’m proud to have been part of one of the most successful eras of the best club in history. “

Real will open their Club World Cup campaign against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal on 18 June and will also face Mexico’s Pachuca and RB Salzburg of Austria in the group stage.

Modric bagged two goals and six assists in 34 appearances in the Spanish top flight this season, as Real were pipped to the title by Barcelona.

He also featured in every game as Carlo Ancelotti’s side reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Arsenal.

Following the announcement that the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has formally joined World Boxing, Team Ireland’s future participation in the Olympic Games has been secured.

Although the Irish Boxing Association (IBA), the governing body for amateur boxing in Ireland, has a long history, IABA members overwhelmingly voted in favor of changing.

In an extraordinary general meeting in April, 116 of the 117 clubs represented approved of constitutional reform, which made it possible for an international federation to join the IBA and World Boxing.

Following a provisional recognition of World Boxing, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board made the recommendation to include boxing in the Los Angeles 2028 summer Olympics program.

After the IOC stripped the IBA of recognition in 2023 for its failure to implement reforms in governance and finance, the IOC held the boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games.

When the schedule for LA 2028 was first announced in 2022, the IOC had encouraged the sport’s national federations to establish a new global body.

The IOC stated that only World Boxing athletes whose national federations were members of the World Boxing organization could compete in Los Angeles at the time the 2028 Olympics qualifying events began.

Niall O’Carroll, the head of IABA’s board of directors, referred to the development as “an historic moment for Irish boxing.”

Every boxing player in the Association has a right to the Olympic dream, and their clubs have ensured that dream will continue into LA 2028 and beyond, he said.

“Irish Boxing has always valued our Olympic journey, from our first team of nine boxers in Paris in 1924, to maintaining our position as Team Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport.”

We have more Olympic podiums to climb and medals to win, but Kellie Harrington, a double Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, Katie Taylor, a champion boxer from Ireland in 1992, and Michael Carruth, a champion of boxing, are “the best of us.”