Coco Gauff kicked off her 2024 U.S. Open with an easy victory over little-known Varvara Gracheva, but can the top-ranked American overcome a challenging summer to successfully defend her title? The third-seeded Gauff opened the tournament at +1000 by DraftKings to win the women's title. That's well behind top-ranked Iga Swiatek at +400 and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at +210. Sabalenka fell to Gauff in last year's final and is seeking to add a U.S. Open to her pair of Australian Open titles. The Belarusian star leads the draw with 19 percent of the total bets and 31 percent of the money backing her to claim the trophy at DraftKings. Swiatek is next with 16 and 24 percent of the action, respectively. The clay-court star did claim the U.S. Open title in 2022 and added a fourth French Open to her trophy case earlier this summer. But she crashed out in the third round of Wimbledon before losing to Qinwen Zheng in the semifinals of the Olympics and in straight sets to Sabalenka in the semis of the Cincinnati Open. It has been an even tougher summer for Gauff, who followed a stunning fourth-round upset at Wimbledon with a third-round loss at the Olympics. She then failed to get out of the third round in either of her two warm-up events to the U.S. Open. Gauff, 20, made quick work of Gracheva on Monday and will next face unranked Tatjana Maria in a second-round match on Wednesday. Her half of the draw also includes 27th-seeded Elina Svitolina and the seventh-seeded Zheng ahead of a potential semifinal showdown against Sabalenka. Swiatek also faces a potentially difficult semifinal match against fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, who has drawn just 3 percent of the money at +1000. No other player in the women's draw has shorter than the +1400 odds the sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula opened the tournament with. –Field Level Media Relatedsports betting sitesnew betting sitesbest apps for bettinglive sport betting siteslive betting oddscash out sportsbooks
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Koulibaly left Napoli for Stamford Bridge in a £33.8million (€40m) deal last July, as part of a huge spending spree sanctioned in Chelsea s first transfer window under the Todd Boehly regime.
However, Chelsea have endured a dire first campaign since their change of owner, sitting 11th in the Premier League table after sacking two bosses in Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
Caretaker manager Frank Lampard oversaw a 1-0 defeat to Wolves in his first game at the helm on Saturday, leaving the London side 17 points adrift of the Champions League places.
While Koulibaly admits he has not perf…
Liverpool opened up a 13-point advantage at the top of the Premier League as Roberto Firmino scored twice in a 4-0 victory at Leicester City.
The Reds showed no sign of fatigue after winning the Club World Cup in Qatar last weekend, with their nearest challengers Leicester overwhelmed at the King Power Stadium.
Former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers saw his side fall behind to Firmino s first-half header before Jurgen Klopp s men scored three times in seven second-half minutes.
Substitute James Milner made it 2-0 from the penalty spot before Trent Alexander-Arnold teed up Firmino for his second and then finished the scoring himself as Liverpool moved closer to a long-awaited title.
A magnificent performance from the leaders
— Premier League …
Chelsea defender Ashley Cole signed a new four-year contract with the Premier League club on Wednesday.
Cole is the second Chelsea star to commit his future to Carlo Ancelotti s team recently after captain John Terry put pen to paper on an improved five-year deal on Monday.
England star Cole joined the Blues in a controversial move from London rivals Arsenal in 2006 and remains arguably the best full-back in the Premier League.
He has won the FA Cup twice and the League Cup once with Chelsea, as well as reaching the 2008 Champions League final.
Chelsea FC is delighted to confirm that Ashley Cole has signed a new four-year contract, a statement on Chelsea s website confirmed.
…
Croatia are playing England at Wembley tonight. That very phrase makes your average England supporter cringe. In November 2007 a point against the Croatians at Wembley would have seen this allegedly ‘golden age’ of English footballers on the plane to Euro 2008.
Qualifying hadn’t gone brilliantly and we looked to have blown it with defeat in Russia but other results went our way and everything was going to be alright.
Inept
The only potential problem we had in getting a draw against Croatia was that England had their most inept manager at the helm for many years and I include Graham Taylor in that!
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Mancini worked with the Brazil international during the 2013-14 campaign, before returning for a second stint at Inter last season.
The former Manchester City boss came off second best in Sunday s friendly as Gala for whom Melo was not playing defeated Inter 1-0 thanks to Wesley Sneijder s goal against his former employers.
He [Melo] is a player who could bring something to Inter, but right now he has a contract with Galatasaray. We ll see what happens, Mancini told TRT Spor.
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Mexico international Miguel Layun bagged his first Watford goal inside the first quarter of an hour and that scoreline remained for over an hour of play until Ross Barkley hauled Everton level with a superb long-range strike.
Back came Watford, as Odion Ighalo stepped off the bench to restore their advantage with seven minutes to play.
But, as Watford s fans began to d…
Harry Maguire would be a good signing for Manchester United if they can lure him from Leicester City, says Wayne Rooney.
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Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Leicester have already turned down two offers for the England international, who missed training on Monday, although James Maddison joked on social media his team-mate s absence was due to an upset stomach.
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This stance has been prompted by recent reports by various outlets claiming Gündogan is a target for Guardiola s former club . The La Liga title holders have lost their long-serving midfielder and captain Andres Iniesta, and despite spending the vast sum of €160million to bring Philippe Coutinho in from Liverpool in January, they see Gündogan as a potential replacement for Iniesta. They are reportedly willing to pay over £50million for his services.
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Banned duo Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor will be able to resume playing for Scotland if the new manager wants to pick them, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) signalled on Wednesday.
Ferguson, a former captain of the national team, and Rangers goalkeeper McGregor were banned for life for their behaviour before and during a World Cup qualifier against Iceland in April.
The pair were dropped after an all-night drinking session and then made V signs at photographers from the bench.
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