1 day ago · We look ahead to the first leg of this Championship play-off semi-final with our Coventry City vs Sunderland prediction and preview.. Can Sunderland rally from poor form for play-off trip to Coventry? Financially, Barcelona are desperate to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League, with the club having budgeted to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. The Magpies, who are third bottom in the Premier League, have brought in England full-back Kieran Trippier for £12m and signed striker Chris Wood from Burnley for £25m. There will be staunch opposition to the take that James is the best right-back in the world on current form from Liverpool supporters who back Trent Alexander-Arnold, and there are certainly arguments that can be made for both players. Jermain Defoe believes Tanguy Ndombele can force his way back into Antonio Conte's plans at Tottenham. Sinisa Mihajlovic's side could not make their possession count, however, and Colombia defender Cuadrado punished them when his deflected strike flew into the top corner midway through the second half. Mahrez scored his seventh Premier League goal this season Now it's Liverpool, Manchester United and defending champions City. Smith might have been sacked after a run of five successive league defeats which left Villa 16th in the Premier League, but it should not be forgotten what he achieved before his axing. It was two more changes that finally led to the breakthrough for Chelsea, however. We played a better first half last time than [in the league game]. But they did return to action with a decent win in the FA Cup last weekend, which should have helped blow a few of the cobwebs away. Lerma was shown a straight red card in the 67th minute for a late lunge on Blues substitute Hernandez. The partners of two ex-England international frontmen are embroiled in a libel dispute regarding allegations of stories being leaked to the press. If the Clarets stay in the Premier League, and they are currently four points from safety behind Everton with eight games left, Burnley's American chairman Alan Pace and his cohorts can congratulate themselves on a roll of the dice that paid off spectacularly. Conte said that Argentina centre-back Cristain Romero was very close to returning to action after two months out after sustaining a hamstring injury on international duty. Pick of the stats: Coventry City v Sunderland - BBC Sport 15 hours ago · Coventry City host Sunderland for the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Friday (20:00 BST). I sat on the sofa for 10 minutes not moving, I then called my agent first because my wife was sleeping, the former Raith Rovers defender said. And in the final moments of the match, Harry Winks crossed for Hojbjerg who had a free header from point-blank range at the far post, but he elected to square it to Kane and it was intercepted. Palmeiras were at the tournament by virtue of their 2021 Copa Libertadores win over Brazilian rivals Flamengo, while Egyptian side Al Ahly beat Kaizer Chiefs in last year’s CAF Champions League final. It produced the first of three early corners for the visitors, all of which were eventually cleared by the home defence, albeit not convincingly. The North African side fashioned seven big chances, averaging one per game, a tally that ranked significantly lower among teams that made it that far. Five months into his Paris Saint-Germain career, the Netherlands international finds himself with a fight on his hands.  Russian fans and journalists are only capable of looking at immediate impressions, though, and former Lokomotiv general director Ilya Gerkus claimed that, there are three matches left in 2021. If the Germans achieve good results, they will continue. If they don't, they won't. Right wing: Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast) - 8.42 rating Nicolas Pepe will hope for better fortunes at Arsenal once back from AFCON after some eye-catching displays for the Ivory Coast at AFCON. We've given you a clue for each one, giving you their total and the clubs for whom they scored the goals. Leeds cannot allow this comprehensive defeat by a side of City's class to inflict too much damage on morale. There is no time for that and there is no shame in being beaten by such quality. Manuel Fernandes has lived the derby as a fan, player and coach. He is Sporting's second all-time top goalscorer and is the man credited with bringing Sir Bobby Robson to the club in 1992, along with Jose Mourinho, who he insists was a member of the coaching team rather than merely a translator. Poland will have to settle for the play-offs - and reaching Qatar with a second-placed finish is not straightforward. Southgate has now joined an illustrious group of former England managers in Walter Winterbottom, Sir Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson and Sven-Goran Eriksson to have passed five years in the job. We spend time to talk to people around them, friends and team-mates, our contacts who might know them, the family, says Bai. What is their style and what are they like in the dressing room? Are they players who can assimilate into Valencia and function in a team? The outcome of this game could come down to how much each team has got left in the tank, because Aston Villa's players also put in a huge effort in their narrow defeat by Liverpool at Anfield. Three tackles per 90 is the sixth-best in the Bundesliga this season, while 2.2 interceptions per 90 ranks among the top 20 players in the division. Whoever comes in now is going to be the highest-paid player and then the next person in, and so on. They are literally buying someone for Saturday's game, which is a game they have to win.