Switzerland Football Fans

Premier League newcomers Fulham are set to seal the signing of Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga right-back Kevin Mbabu after the Switzerland international agreed to reduce his wage demands, as reported by BILD. There was a bit of a hold up earlier this month, Fulham’s deal for the one-time Newcastle United youngster hitting the buffers. Did Mbabu have concerns about joining a club who’s last two seasons in the top-flight ended in relegation? Did he want to stay and fight for his place at Wolfsburg?

According to BILD, the reason for the delay was not down to any doubts on Mbabu’s part. It was, instead, simply the sort of wrangling you would expect to see during contract negotiations. Mbabu, the report adds, wanted around £50,000-a-week at Craven Cottage. Now, he’s agreed to accept a lower wage. Fulham will pay around £6 million for the rampaging right-back, one of the best in his position over in Germany before losing his starting spot at the Volkswagen Arena to the excellent Germany international Riedle Baku. Continue reading £6M MAN SET FOR FULHAM AFTER LOWERING £50K-A-WEEK WAGES, DEAL CLOSE

Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers are eyeing a move for Switzerland international HarisSeferovic during this summer’s transfer window as revealed by the various media reports. The specific report from Portuguese media outlet Correio da Manha said Wolves want to sign the 30-year-old Switzerland striker as he’s set to leave Benfica in the Portuguese top flight.

Benfica have already lost the services of Uruguayan star Darwin Nunez to Liverpool in the Premier League and his former teammate Seferovic could follow him to the English top flight with Wolves keen on his signature. Benfica could be bidding farewell to Switzerland international Seferovic this summer as well to add to the aforementioned Nunez.
The report from Correio da Manha was propelled by the picture of Seferovic and Wolves manager Bruno Lage at a hotel. Continue reading WOLVES EYEING SEFEROVIC TRANSFER – REPORT

Portugal and Switzerland will both endeavour to claim their first wins of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League at the second attempt during Sunday’s League A Group 2 clash at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon.

Fernando Santos’s side left it late to rescue a 1-1 draw against Spain on matchday one, while the visitors fell to a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic.

Match preview
Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench during a Portugal game is truly a collector’s item, and manager Santos defended his decision not to start the five-time Ballon d’Or winner as the Selecao claimed a point in an opening stalemate with Iberian neighbours Spain.
Alvaro Morata finished to hand La Roja an early advantage in the 25th minute, and while Ronaldo would make an expected appearance off the bench, it was another substitute in Ricardo Horta who would restore parity for Portugal in the 82nd minute.
Horta’s first-ever goal for Portugal sees them occupy second place in the embryonic standings after one game, and a battle with the Czech Republic also awaits the inaugural Nations League champions either side of their double-header with the Swiss.
Portugal Nations League form:
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Portugal form (all competitions):
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Switzerland Nations League form:
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Switzerland form (all competitions):
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Team News
Preview: Portugal vs. Switzerland – prediction, team news, lineups
Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Jose Sa was forced to withdraw injured from the squad before the draw with Spain, but Portugal did not sustain any fresh issues on Thursday night.
Switzerland also did not pick up any new injury worries on Thursday night, but Yakin will likely make some alterations to the forward line after a distinct lack of a clinical nature.
Portugal possible starting lineup:
Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Pereira, Guerreiro; Silva, Neves, Fernandes; Jota, Ronaldo, Leao
Switzerland possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Widmer, Schar, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Shaqiri, Freuler, Xhaka, Zuber; Okafor, Seferovic

Preview: Portugal vs. Switzerland – prediction, team news, lineups
We say: Portugal 2-0 Switzerland

Arsenal are now reportedly interested in Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji, with Manchester United also in the race for the Swiss international. According to Sport Bild, the north London side have entered the competition for the 26-year-old, with Akanji looking increasingly likely to leave Dortmund this summer with the club already signing two new defenders.

Both Niklas Sule and Nico Schlotterbeck will join the Bundesliga giants in the summer, and the two confirmed transfers could see Akanji depart Dortmund, with Arsenal reportedly interested in the former FC Basel star. The north London side aren’t alone, though, in their pursuit of Akanji, with United being linked with the Bundesliga superstar for some time and looking the most likely side to make a move for the defender. Continue reading ARSENAL TO RIVAL MAN UTD FOR BORUSSIA DORTMUND SUPERSTAR

Switzerland national team star Granit Xhakahas been nominated for the Player of the Month award at Arsenal for April 2022. The Switzerland international is on a four-man list for the award as announced by Arsenal on Wednesday. Apart from the ex-Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder, the other nominees are England international Bukayo Saka, Egyptian international Mohamed ElNeny and young England striker Eddie Nketiah.

Arsenal have had a testing month in April 2022 due to a mixed run of results. They started the month with a surprising 3-0 defeat against hosts Crystal Palace in the Premier League London Derby before the 2-1 home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion in the same competition. The Gunners made it three matches in a row when Polish defender Jan Bednarek scored the only goal of the game to give Southampton a 1-0 win at home to the North Londoners.

The Mikel Arteta-led Arsenal side were able to end their run of three successive Premier League defeats with the impressive 4-2 away win over Chelsea thanks to the brace from the aforementioned Nketiah with a goal in each half. Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka (penalty) also scored for the Gunners, while Cesar Azpilicueta and Timo Werner scored for hosts Chelsea.

In their last game in April 2022, Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-1 at home to make it two straight league victories on the back of three straight losses. Switzerland international Xhaka scored the goal that clinched the result against the Red Devils, while Nuno Tavares and Bukayo Saka (penalty) were also on the scoresheet for the Gunners. Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal for the visitors.

Xhaka has been able to win the Arsenal fans to his side following his performances in recent weeks. The Gunners faithfuls have been impressed with him in the last two games especially with the team going for a place in the top-four as far as the Premier League log is concerned.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wanted a trusted player at left-back the last Premier League clash with Brighton&Hove Albion in the absence of the injured Kieran Tierney and he went for experienced Switzerland player Granit Xhaka. In the end, the gamble made on the Switzerland senior national team skipper didn’t work as Arsenal made it two successive losses in the Premier League with the 2-1 loss at home to Brighton last weekend.

Arteta and his Arsenal players were looking to make a big response to the feeble performance at Crystal Palace in their last league games before they welcomed Brighton to the Emirates Stadium. Eventually, they could not produce a positive response to the Crystal Palace defeat after Brighton exploited the gap in the left-back area on the way to a 2-1 win. Switzerland midfielder Xhaka was culpable in the build-up that led to the first Brighton goal from Belgian forward Leandro Trossard. Xhaka was nowhere to be found in the left-back area and that prompted Zambian international star EnockMwepu to exploit the space on the right side of the Seagulls attack. His pass was finished by Trossard for the only goal in the first half. Continue reading ARSENAL: XHAKA LEFT-BACK EXPERIMENT FAILS

Switzerland senior national team skipper Granit Xhaka was on from start to finish asArsenal suffered defeat to Liverpool in their rescheduled Premier Leagueencounter at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. The Switzerland international started the game as part of a two-man central midfield alongside Thomas Partey, but he could not stop Liverpool from beating his team via a 2-0 scoreline with goals from Diogo Jota and substitute Roberto Firmino in the second half. Switzerland player Xhaka is an important member of the Arsenal squad under current manager Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal came into the Liverpool game on the back of an impressive run of five successive wins in the Premier League. As a matter of fact, the Gunners were unbeaten in six league games before they took on Liverpool at home. Continue reading XHAKA FEATURES AS ARSENAL RUN ENDS

Switzerland international Fabian Schar was one of the goalscorers for Newcastle United as they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 at home in the Premier League to move further away from the relegation zone.

Newcastle United came into Brighton game on the back of a seven-game unbeaten run in the league and with a record of four wins and three draws. They made a bright start with Scotland national team star Ryan Fraser getting the opening goal of the game beforehe turned provider for Switzerland defender Schar to double the lead via a header from his corner kick. Switzerland star Schar had not scored in the Premier League this season before he added a second goal for his team against the Seagulls. Continue reading SCHAR ON TARGET AGAINST BRIGHTON

Arsenal have been boosted by the news that Norwegian playmaker Martin Odegaard has returned to training ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg clash with Liverpool. Arsenal will take on Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night and Odegaard is expected to return to the starting XI after missing the first leg due to Covid-19. The ex-Real Madrid and Real Sociedad midfielder returned to training earlier in the week as confirmed by Charles Watts, the Arsenal correspondent for popular media outlet Goal.

Odegaard missed the first leg after testing positive for Covid-19. Without him, Arsenal were able to battle to a goalless draw despite playing over an hour with ten men after Switzerland national team skipper Granit Xhaka was sent off in the first half. The Switzerland international was given an early bath for a foul on Liverpool attacker Diogo Jota who was through on goal. Xhaka denied a goalscoringopportunity and was dismissed by centre referee Michael Oliver.

Switzerland midfielder Xhaka should have missed just one game for his red card, but he will miss two games as the former Borussia Moenchengladbachstar had already been sent off earlier in the season. He was given a red card during the Premier League defeat at holders Manchester City in August. Xhaka was sent off in the first half of the Manchester City game for a foul on Joao Cancelo. The one from the Liverpool game in the Carabao Cup is his second red card of the season.

Xhaka will miss the second leg against Liverpool on Thursday and the Premier League home game with Burnley on Sunday. In his absence against the Reds, Odegaard could take his place with the Gunners short on first team midfielders. Belgian international Albert SambiLokongais the only available first team midfielder for the Liverpool game.

Five European clubs have held talks over a move for Switzerland national team star Dennis Zakaria according to the latest reports emanating from the media. Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano specifically revealed three of the five teams keen to sign the 25-year-old Switzerland international.

Romano stated that German champions Bayern Munich, Spanish giants Barcelona, Italian team Juventus and two unnamed English teams are keen on signing Zakaria who plays his club football for Borussia Moenchengladbach in the German top flight at the moment. He has six months left on his existing contract at Borussia Moenchengladbach and the midfielder can start to speak with foreign teams over a free transfer move in the summer of 2022.

In the past, Zakaria has been seriously linked with a move to German club Borussia Dortmund. Zakaria is an important player for both club and country. At country level, the midfielder was part of the Switzerland team that went all the way to the quarterfinals at the Euro 2020 tournament in the summer. He was a regular in the Switzerland midfield as they reached the last eight of the tournament before they were beaten by Spain on penalties.

At club level, Zakaria was a top performer for Gladbach until he suffered a serious knee injury at the start of last year. The knee injury ruled him out for the better part of last year and the Bayern Munich target was unable to regain top form when he returned to fitness. He has not performed to the best of his immense talents since returning from the aforementioned knee injury.

Zakaria is an asset as he can play a lot of positions on the pitch. The Switzerland player is versatile as he can play in defence and midfield. The Swiss senior national team star can play as a defensive midfielder and as a box-to-box midfielder in addition tobeing adept as a central defender.