NFL Underdogs: NFL Picks, and Predictions Week 14

Mohamed Salah has just one year left on his Liverpool contract, but is not thinking too deeply about his future just yet.

Salah has started the Premier League season with two goals in as many games, and also provided an assist for Diogo Jota s strike against Ipswich Town.

Liverpool have won both of their top-tier matches under new boss Arne Slot, though the Dutchman faces his biggest task as Reds boss so far when his team face Manchester United on Sunday.

With Salah in sharp form, Liverpool will fancy their chances at Old Trafford, though Sunday s clash may ultimately be the Egypt international s final match at Old Trafford.

Salah is out of contract at the end of the season, and while he has no concrete plans over his future, says for now his intention is…

Bayern Munich have tied promising defensive midfielder Adrian Fein down to a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Fein, 20, spent last season on loan at Jahn Regensburg and has been plying his trade at Hamburg in the 2. Bundesliga this term, making 20 appearances in all competitions.

The Germany Under-21 international s contract was set to expire in 2021, but the fresh terms will keep him at the Allianz Arena for another two years.

I was born in Munich, I spent many years of my youth at Bayern, so I m very happy I could extend my contract, said Fein.

The time at Hamburg is very important for me. I can gain match practice and make progress.

Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said: Adrian has gained a lot of match practice in the 2. Bundesliga over…

Suspended ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter was paid $3.76million in 2015 according to the Financial and Governance Report issued by world football s governing body.

The results showed FIFA reported a loss of $122m as a number of key sponsors deserted it during a scandal-ridden year.

It is the first time FIFA has recorded a loss since 2002, although much of the focus from the results is sure to focus on the organisation s disgraced former leader.

Blatter was succeeded as FIFA president by Gianni Infantino in the election at last month s Extraordinary Congress in Zurich, with the 80-year-old Swiss having been suspended on full pay last October in relation to a payment made to his then-UEFA counterpart Michel Platini in 2011.

The duo were banned from all footb…

Preston North End have parted ways with manager Ryan Lowe, the Championship club confirmed on Monday.

After just one game of the 2024-25 season, the 45-year-old has left by mutual consent.

Preston fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Sheffield United on the opening day, leading Lowe to be booed off the pitch by fans.

He has been at the helm for two and a half years, overseeing 125 matches. In that time, he has guided Preston to 13th, 12th, and 10th-place finishes and leaves with a win percentage of 38%.

We can confirm that manager Ryan Lowe has left the club by mutual consent.

We’d like to thank Ryan for his hard work and wish him all the very best for the future.

— Preston North End FC (@pnefc)

“Now is the right time for the cl…

The Buffalo Bills are in the driver’s seat for the AFC East after a convincing 33-21 win over New England last week. Now, Josh Allen and the Bills will look to run the table starting with the Atlanta Falcons, who enter Week 17 as 14.5-point underdogs in a game that will see mid-30 temperature, wind, and possibly snow.

Can the Bills ride the momentum from last week’s win and continue to dominate bad teams? Can Atlanta improve on its 1-5 ATS record against teams with winning records?

Find out in our free NFL picks and predictions for Falcons vs. Bills.

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The Detroit Lions head to U.S. Bank Stadium for an NFC North clash against the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Eve. The Lions are atop the division standings with a 10-4 record while the 7-7 Vikings can’t afford to keep losing if they want to stay in the playoff picture.

NFL odds opened with the Lions as 3-point road favorites with the Over/Under at 47 for this Week 16 showdown. Here are my best free NFL picks and predictions for Lions vs. Vikings on Sunday, December 24. 

Lions vs Vikings odds

Lions vs Vikings predictions

The Detroit Lions offense has been a well-oiled machine and while they have occasionally struggled outdoors (especially in cold or windy conditions), they’ve excelled indoors on turf.…

The American Gambling Association (AGA) announced Tuesday it expects $35 billion to be bet on the NFL through legal sportsbooks during the 2024 season, which would easily surpass 2023’s total of $26.7 billion. 

The U.S. gambling industry trade group cites the expansion of legal sports betting to North Carolina, Vermont, and Maine and continued market maturation as the driving forces behind its projection, which would make this the most wagered NFL season since PASPA was overturned in 2018. 

This is the first time the AGA has listed an NFL betting projection before a season, which gets underway Thursday when the Baltimore Ravens visit the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Rafael Benítez insists he has the full support of Farhad Moshiri and that Everton’s majority shareholder understands there will be no quick fix for the club’s malaise in the January transfer window.

Everton have not won in six matches and visit Brentford on Sunday without the long-term injury absentee Dominic Calvert-Lewin and his fellow first-choice striker Richarlison. The Brazil international is suspended after collecting five yellow cards in eight appearances this season. The joint leading goalscorer Demarai Gray is a major injury doubt.

Moshiri has shown little patience with managers during his erratic tenure but Benítez, who was visited at Everton’s training ground this week by the chairman, Bill Kenwr…

They hadn’t expected him but Villarreal awaited Nicolas Jackson with open arms when he landed back in Spain on board the same plane in which he had left. It was late January and the journey, supposed to be one way, hadn’t gone as planned. He had flown to England to join Bournemouth for €25m, but a failed medical forced a return, his big opportunity gone.

At 21, still on a B team contract six months since he was playing in the third tier, and with just eight first division starts and a hamstring injury that would limit him to a solitary minute until April, he didn’t know if another would come.

Mauricio Pochettino attracted to join Chelsea by club’s ‘winning culture’Read more

The answer, to their surprise…

If Michigan is going to have any chance of turning around its season, Saturday's Big Ten game against visiting Iowa at Ann Arbor, Mich. would be the logical place to start. The Wolverines (7-12, 2-6 Big Ten) have faced adversity all season. Michigan was without head coach Juwan Howard for the first 10 games as he recovered from an offseason heart procedure. More recently, the Wolverines have only had part-time service from their most dynamic player, sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel. On Jan. 10, McDaniel was suspended by Howard for a string of six road games to work on academic issues. The Wolverines have already lost both road games without McDaniel, falling at Maryland on Jan. 11 and at Purdue on Tuesday. The Wolverines' 99-67 loss at Purdue was the worst defeat by scorin…