Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Mesut Ozil is in need of a boost to his confidence after his run without a goal extended after a 2-0 Premier League win at home to Hull City on Saturday.
The Germany international has not found the net since December 12 when he scored against Stoke City, Ozil making eight Premier League appearances since his last goal.
Ozil was lacklustre against Hull, spurning numerous chances to shoot, with Wenger believing the playmaker needs to score to provide an important shot to his confidence.
Maybe it s time for him to score a goal again, Wenger said after Arsenal bounced back from successive Premier League losses.
He needs to find confidence again. He misses chances that don t look unfeasible for him.
I felt h…
Bastia have confirmed the signing of Brazilian striker Brandao from Saint-Etienne on one-year deal.
Brandao, who spent two seasons with his former employers, also has an additional one-year option in his contract.
The 34-year-old forward hit 16 Ligue 1 goals in his time with Saint-Etienne, with Bastia set to become the third club he has represented in the French top flight.
After leaving Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009, Brandao moved to Marseille, where he netted 16 goals in 65 league appearances, before loan stints at Cruzeiro and Gremio in the Brazilian Serie A.
A brief return to Marseille followed before the striker moved on to Saint-Etienne.
Brandao will join up with Claude Makelele s squad as they look to improve upon their 10th-place finish last se…
PSV could end a seven-year wait for their 22nd Eredivisie title this weekend, should results fall in favour of Phillip Cocu s side.
Cocu s men have been dominant this season, at one point stringing together a run of 16 wins and one draw from their 17 matches between early October and late February.
Defeats to Ajax and Feyenoord since then have delayed their charge slightly, but a favourable set of results in the 30th round of action would see the club take the title for the first tme since 2008.
Ahead of their home clash with PEC Zwolle on Friday, PSV enjoy a 10-point lead over nearest challengers Ajax, who have won the league in each of the past four seasons.
Should PSV take all three points against Zwolle, defeat for Ajax at relegation-threatened Herac…
England defender Danny Rose told his family not to come to Russia for the World Cup over concerns they may be racially abused.
The Russian Football Association was fined £22,000 by FIFA, after racist chants were directed towards black French players during a friendly between the two nations in March, a seemingly lenient punishment Rose labelled disgusting .
I am not worried about myself, Rose told Standard Sport. But I ve told my family I don t want them going out there because of the racism and anything else that may happen.
Rose, who will be competing at his first World Cup, revealed his family were heartbroken, but believes it is in everybody s best interests for them to stay away.
My dad s really upset. I could hear it in his voice. He said he may…
Arjen Robben has waxed lyrical about life at Bayern Munich and insists he is not considering a move away from the Bavarian giants.
The Netherlands international moved to Bayern from Real Madrid in 2009 and has enjoyed a trophy-laden stint in Germany.
Robben has picked up three Bundesliga titles, as well as winning the UEFA Champions League in 2013, scoring the all-important goal in the 2-1 final victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
There was talk in the close-season that Robben would move to Manchester United to be reunited with Louis van Gaal who he worked under at Bayern and with the national team but the 30-year-old s glowing description of life in Munich means any such move in the future seems unlikely.
I am enjoying it so much over here, he to…
Michael O’Neill has told Shea Charles he must learn from his dismissal after Northern Ireland suffered yet another 1-0 defeat in Euro 2024 qualifying, this time at home to Slovenia.
The 19-year-old Charles has been one of the bright spots for Northern Ireland in a hugely frustrating qualifying campaign, among the young players who have grabbed the chance to establish themselves in the side amid an injury nightmare.
But his international copybook got its first blemish as he collected two yellow cards to be sent off just before the hour mark at Windsor Park, meaning his run of starting every game so far in this campaign will end when Northern Ireland head to Finland next month.
Get the lowdown on tonight s narrow defeat in Belfast
— Northern Ireland (…
Real Madrid bounced back from consecutive defeats by earning their first La Liga points of 2015 with a routine 3-0 home win over Espanyol.
A Liga defeat to Valencia last weekend was followed up by a Copa del Rey loss at bitter rivals Atletico Madrid on Wednesday but, although Fabio Coentrao was sent off early in the second half, Real never looked at risk of losing three games in a row for the first time since 2009.
Karim Benzema provided Espanyol with an early warning as he blasted against the post after just 10 minutes, and the breakthrough followed shortly after as James Rodriguez found the net following Cristiano Ronaldo s assist.
The FIFA Ballon d Or nominee then watched on as Gareth Bale doubled Real s lead with a fine free-kick in the 28th minute.
QPR striker Charlie Austin has been in superb form for his club this season and must be close to an England call-up
As expected on Friday night England made easy work of their Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania with a 4-0 victory at Wembley.
Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck was the star of the show on the wing scoring a goal and being a constant threat to the Lithuanian defence.
Withdrawn
However, Welbeck has now been ruled out of the Three Lions friendly international on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old has joined fellow forwards Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling in returning home through injury.
That means that the England squad is down to just two recognised forwards in captain Wayne Rooney and youngster Harry Kane. That should be eno…
Cristiano Ronaldo saw an extra-time penalty saved by Jan Oblak, but recovered to convert in the shoot-out as Portugal survived a huge scare to beat Slovenia on spot-kicks following a goalless draw in the last 16 at Euro 2024.
Ronaldo had a glorious opportunity to send Portugal through in the first half of extra time, but broke down in tears when his tame kick was repelled by the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper.
He had earlier missed chance after chance in regulation time as Slovenia – chiefly thanks to the efforts of Oblak – kept Roberto Martinez s team at bay to force spot-kicks.
However, he made no mistake with his second attempt from the spot, and Diogo Costa kept out all three Slovenia kicks from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic.
Diogo C…
Victor Moses is looking to leave Chelsea as soon as possible, and the claim Manchester United are now favorites for his signature.
Chelsea have enjoyed a highly successful start to the season, and the fact that Moses is yet to play a minute of Premier League football says a lot about manager Maurizzio Sarri s plans when it comes to the Nigerian despite him winning the Premier League title in 2016/17 under Antonio Conte. Since joining the club from Wigan in 2012, he had loan spells with Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham.
The winger worked with United manager Jose Mourinho during his days at Chelsea, and it is to be expected the Portuguese will have no problems in persuading him to move to Old Trafford should his departure become imminent. Apart from the 20-time Englis…