We’ve had a fun week behind us, with plenty more fun to come our way during the weekend. It is never boring when the season of sports is in full swing. Things are getting heated in the NBA, the Premier League, NFL, UFC, and in many other sports. There were injuries, controversies, good results, and bad streaks continuing. Here, we’re going to cover a few of these stories we find the most interesting at the moment. 

Richard Sherman Can Still Rattle The Bets of WRs

During his years with the LOB at Seattle Seahawks, Richard Sherman has become famous for his sharp tongue, feuds with wide receivers, and an ability to talk the talk and walk the walk. After wrapping up his career in the NFL, as did many of his colleagues, Sherman turned to punditry. After the Dallas Cowboys’ loss at the hands of the Detroit Lions, 44-30, Sherman was quite critical of George Pickens’ performance. It was evident that Pickens was not having a good day, and he was slacking on the field. Sherman was quick to point this out during his post game commentary, and as you could expect Pickens didn’t take the criticism lightly. 

He was quick to take his frustrations on Instagram in a now deleted post, where he said that there’s no need for him to be singled out in what’s a team game and a team’s performance. Sherman described Pickens’ performance as half assign it and said that the player looked uninterested in playing football. Later on, Sherman took his stance to Twitter where he stated that at the same age and time in his career he was preparing for a second Super Bowl concluding this talk with the Dallas’ star WR. You can bet that this is not the last time we hear from Pickens, that much is known. 

OKC Thunder on a Historical Run 

You will be hearing a lot about the Oklahoma City Thunder team this season. Last year’s champions are favorites this season too according to most Sportsbook websites. If you’re looking for reasons for Thunder being so heavily favoured, why don’t you take a look at their 14 win streak. Shai Gilgeous Alexander is looking unstoppable at the moment and is running another MVP campaign as we speak. His last outing was a 33 point match against the Dallas Mavericks. OKC currently has a record of 22-1, which speaks volumes for itself. SGA is on a historical run too, with him scoring more than 20 points for 95 consecutive games. Everything is going well for the Thunder, with the only question remaining whether there’s a team in the NBA that could stop them. 

The regular season champs will be, and come the payoff time, it is hard to see anyone in the West stopping them, and at this point, the Final would be another routine series for a team that’s so well constructed that no flaw is noticeable at the moment. Yes, it is early to talk about what will happen come the end of the year, but the way things stand now, it is impossible not to see OKC Thunder as one of the most dominant franchises in the making. 

Lightning sign Ryan McDonagh to 3 year Deal

The Tampa Bay franchise has pulled an expected move when they decided to sign a new deal with their veteran defensemen Ryan McDonagh. We’re talking about a $12.3 million deal that will tie McDonagh to Lightning for the next three seasons. At the end of the deal he will be 37 years old, and this move is not seen as one for the future, but for the immediate present. 

Ryan McDonagh was instrumental for the Lightning when they won the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cups, and they will be hoping that he can be a part of the team’s immediate success during this season and during the next two years. It was evident that the team missed his presence during the years when he was traded to the Nashville Predators. Once again, he is back in Tampa Bay, and while currently injured, the Atlantic Division leaders will be looking for his return in a bid for another late season success. 

USMNT to face Paraguay, Australia & an EURO Qualifiers Team 

The draw for the 2026 World Cup has been made. One of the host nations, the USA, has been drawn into a favourable group. The USMNT will face the likes of Paraguay and Australia. The third opponent for the USA lads will be decided once the European qualifiers are done with. The teams that could join them in the group stages of the 2026 WC are Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo. The other hosts, Mexico, have been drawn into a group with South Africa, South Korea, and an European team which comes out of the matches between Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark and North Macedonia. 

The third host, Canada will play against Switzerland, Qatar, and a team from Europe which will be decided between Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With just a bit over six months to go until the biggest football competition in the world, we can’t wait for Stake.com and other betting outlets to release their odds for each match of the tournament. 

Rodri Set to Return as Man City Desperately Needs The Spaniard 

It’s the second year in a row that Manchester City under Pep Guardiola looks shaky. Last season it cost them the title, while this time around they’re struggling to keep up with Arsenal. As far as Pep is concerned it all comes to the defensive issue his team has, with the issue he pinpoints being the absence of their talisman, Rodri. The Spaniard was out since the start of October and an injury he suffered against Brentford. While his return is not yet set in stone, Pep believes that Rodri will slowly be eased to the team during the next few weeks. 

For Guardiola, Rodri’s return is crucial so that the team don’t suffer scares such as the one against Fulham when the London side nearly caught up to City after the Manchester side took a 5:1 lead in a duel that ended 5:4. A world class presence such as Rodri’s is surely missed and Pep can’t stress just how vital the Spaniard has been to his tactics. At the moment he will surely miss duels vs. Sunderland in the PL, and against Real Madrid in the Champions League, but after that we can expect to see more and more of Rodri in the Man City first 11. 

Aston Villa Hot Streak Continues 

When the season started back in August, Aston Villa was awful. After a few rounds their form had them poised for relegation. Today, after beating Arsenal 2:1, Aston Villa find itself on a run of seven consecutive Premier League wins. A win with a goal in the dying seconds of the match had Villa fans and players ecstatic, and Matty Cash described the feeling of the win as fantastic. He was the one that gave Villa the lead at half time. After Arsenal’s equalizer, Unai Emery railed up his guys, and Aston Villa gave their fans more reasons to be happy during December too, after an amazing November the team went through. After a slow start to the season, Villa finds itself in the title contention after the last round. The team is currently at the spot No3, with only three points less than the rival they’ve beaten today. 

While everyone in Birmingham is well aware that Villa probably doesn’t have the depth necessary to compete with the likes of Arsenal or Manchester City, it is only natural to believe in wonders, especially if you’re the team with the best form in the world at the moment. While at times it appeared that both teams were going to settle for a draw, a late kick by Emiliano Buendia secured win for Villa, showing everyone that the team’s early struggles were behind them and that moving forward Villa is going to be a team that needs to be on everyone’s radar. With their next being West Ham away, we can already claim that their good run of form is going to continue. 

Mbappe vs. Haaland Finally to be Settled

Both fans and pundits are sure that the next big rivalry in football is the one between Mbappe and Haaland now that Messi vs. CR7 is no longer relevant. The two men have been at the top of their game for some time now, but with the players not playing in the same league nor for rival teams their quality was not put under the spotlight the way Cristiano’s or Messi’s was. Now, the debate of who is better can be finally put to bed, as we’ve had France and Norway pitted in the same group at the 2026 World Cup. 

The two players will most certainly represent their teams, and when France meets Norway in North America, the two strikers will be the most talked about players at the WC. If everything goes according to plan, we will see them in the latter stages, and maybe facing more than once at the World Cup where the debate of whom to do this era belongs could be settled at least for a summer. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo Out Close to 4 weeks

The Greek Freak is not having the best of seasons. The year is still young, but his nagging injuries and the lack of quality of the players surrounding him in Milwaukee, produced a lacklustre start to the season by the Bucks. During the week, Giannis got injured and according to the team’s head coach, Doc Rivers he is about to miss at least a month with a right calf strain he suffered. There were talks about Antetokounmpo being back in two weeks time, but Rivers remains adamant that the team’s medical staff will not be rushing their star player back. 24 matches into the season, the Bucks have a 10:14 score, and are currently sitting in the play in position. 

It remains to be seen how well the team fare in December with their best player being out of commission till the new year. With the team finding issues with form and chemistry it is hard seeing them remain competitive without the Greek Freak. Giannis had a stellar start to the year, at least individually, as he averaged 28.9 points per game with 10.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and all of it on 63.9% field goal percentage. He was one of the main names in the MVP race during the first two months of the season, but there are fears that even if he’s eligible for the reward come the end of the year, he will get left behind by his peers in SGA, Joker, Luka, and Cade Cunningham. 

Real Madrid Eyes a Greek Prodigy 

It’s been a while since we had a player with a wonderkid moniker attached to their name from Greece. The times are changing and Olympiacos starlet Christos Mouzakitis finds himself on the radar of Europe’s elite. Manchester United has been tracking him for some time, but now it appears that Real Madrid also has set their eyes on him. The reason is that the youngster played a good kind of football at Santiago Bernabeu when the Greek side met hosts Real Madrid. The current price touted for the youngster stands at €45 million but with more teams asking for his services, it could rise further.

In addition to Los Blancos and the Red Devils there are a plethora of teams interested in his services. Other teams monitoring the situation include AC Milan, Juventus, and Atletico Madrid. While RM is one of the biggest teams in the world, it is hard for youngsters to get playing time there. As far as United goes, they’ve been a talent graveyard since Sir Alex Fergusoin left and that also might not be a good place for Mouzakitis to thrive. The way things stand now, and with Kenan Yildiz, Francisco Conceição, Miretti, Thuram and Adzic getting playing time at Juve, Christos should consider them before other teams on this list.