Dusan Vlahovic joins Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland as "the best players of their generation", according to Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Allegri signed Serbia international Vlahovic from Fiorentina in January in a transfer initially worth €70million, and the striker has managed four goals in his first seven Serie A games for his new club.
The former Viola star also netted 33 times in the league in 2021, matching Cristiano Ronaldo's record for the most scored in the Italian top flight during a calendar year.
Indeed, his 21-goal league haul last season was the highest recorded by a Fiorentina player in a single campaign since Alberto Gilardino in 2008-09 (25), and he has carried that form into the new campaign as well.
Vlahovic has registered 21 goals across appearances for Juve and Fiorentina in Serie A this season, making him the league's joint-top scorer – level with Ciro Immobile – while only Robert Lewandowski (31) and Karim Benzema (22) have scored more in Europe's top-five leagues.
Haaland, who has been limited by injuries at Borussia Dortmund, is ninth in the same list with 16 Bundesliga goals, striking once every 81 minutes on average, while Paris Saint-Germain's Mbappe is 11th with 15 to his name in the French top flight.
Allegri hailed the youthful trio as he expressed his excitement to see Vlahovic develop more.
"He is a young player with not much international experience. But he has quality. He wants and can improve. He has time to do it," Allegri said of Vlahovic in an interview with GQ, as quoted by CalcioMercato.
"He is ruthless in front of the goal and Juventus made an important signing. He, Mbappe and Haaland are the best players of their generation."
While there were expectations that Vlahovic's arrival may knock Alvaro Morata down the pecking order of Juve strikers, Allegri reiterated that the Spain international remains integral to his plans in Turin.
"I called him that night [when Juve signed Vlahovic] to tell him: 'You are going nowhere, with him, you will become even more important,' and that's what happened," Allegri added on Morata.
"It's crazy to question Morata. He can't be at his best if he is asked to do things that he can't. But he's always been available playing in a position which is not exactly the best one for him."
Allegri will be hoping for Morata and Vlahovic to link-up once more when Juve, who are fourth in Serie A and seven points adrift of leaders Milan, host Inter on Sunday.
St. Louis City v Houston Dynamo: Hosts are better than recent showings suggest, says Hackworth
John Hackworth has challenged St. Louis City to do better against Houston Dynamo after a disappointing loss to LA Galaxy last time out in MLS.
St. Louis had won back-to-back games before losing 1-0 to the Galaxy last time out in a game where they did not register a single shot on target.
They cannot make the playoffs, sitting 12th in the Western Conference on 34 points with just two games left, and Hackworth is looking to learn from their mistakes in the last game to end their final home match of the season on a positive note.
"We didn't play as well as we're capable of [against LA Galaxy], but I think that can be a good thing for us going forward," he said.
"I don't want anybody to accept that it was anything other than a loss. We can look at ourselves knowing we're much better than that."
Meanwhile, Houston bounced back from a defeat to Seattle Sounders with a 2-1 victory over New England Revolution.
With their playoff place already secure, their aim is to finish as high up the table as they can, currently sitting in fifth, with only four points separating them and Los Angeles FC in second.
Ben Olsen was particularly pleased with his defense against the Revs and believes that will be the key for them in the postseason.
"Our defense is what we hang our hat on," Olsen said. "Sometimes we get some credit for some of the build-up, but really we're a defensive team, and we can defend with the ball, but we've got a great back four.
"It's a collective effort, everybody's doing their part, but we're going to keep working so they know when they're good or when they're not up to snuff."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert has scored in each of his first three home appearances for St. Louis City, the only player in club history to do so.
Only one player in the last 20 years has scored in each of his first four career MLS home games: Federico Bernardeschi with Toronto FC in 2022 (first five).
Houston Dynamo – Adalberto Carrasquilla
The Dynamo have won a club-record eight away matches this season. Houston's 26 road points (W8 D2 L6) are the most they have ever collected in a single regular season in club history.
Adalberto Carrasquilla secured the record-breaking win for them against Austin on September 22 and added two more assists to his tally in the win over New England last time out.
MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
The home side have not lost any of the five meetings between St. Louis City and Houston, with St. Louis recording wins in both of its home matches against the Dynamo, including a 2-1 win in the first round of this season's Concacaf Champions Cup in February.
That bodes well for St. Louis, who have won 21 of their first 40 home matches in all competitions (D8 L11), scoring 75 total goals. They have won four of their last six at home in all competitions (D1 L1) after winning one of their previous seven at home (D2 L4).
However, Houston's 2-1 win over New England on Wednesday took them to 51 points for the season, equaling their total from last year. A win over St. Louis City would set a new club points record for the Dynamo, surpassing the 53 they earned in the 2012 campaign.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 32.9%
Draw – 25.6%
Houston Dynamo – 41.5%
Rudiger lauds 'ridiculous' Yamal after sensational LaLiga start
Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger has lauded Barcelona's Lamine Yamal as 'ridiculous' following the teenager's rapid rise to stardom for their fierce LaLiga rivals.
Yamal broke into Barca's first-team last term, making 50 appearances in all competitions before announcing himself on the international stage for Spain at Euro 2024.
He became the first Spanish player to register four assists in a single European Championship tournament.
It was also the joint most that any player has ever assisted at a single edition of the tournament that Opta has on record (1980 onwards).
Yamal also broke Pele's record from the 1958 World Cup final for Brazil against Sweden by becoming the youngest player to feature in a major international tournament final at the age of 17 years and 249 days in Spain's 2-1 win over England.
And the teenager has picked up where he left off in Germany, already notching 10 goal involvements (five goals and five assists) in 10 appearances in all competitions this season.
The 17-year-old has also completed the joint-most dribbles alongside Sevilla's Chidera Ejuke (23) in LaLiga this season, while only Raphinha (26) has created more chances for Barcelona in the league this season than Yamal (17).
"You have to give credit where credit is due," Rudiger told The Inside Scoop podcast when asked about Yamal.
"He is 17, it's ridiculous. The player he is already for them [Barca] at 17, it's quite scary. What he did in the Euros, you have to give kudos to him. He has a great future ahead.
"I think they [Barca] have a player who has a [big] career and hopefully, he will stay healthy."
Napoli 3-1 Como: Lukaku and McTominay on target to extend hosts' Serie A lead
Romelu Lukaku continued his fine start to life at Napoli as the Belgian notched a goal and two assists in his side's 3-1 win over Como on Friday.
The hosts found themselves ahead with just 26 seconds on the clock when Scott McTominay was picked out by Lukaku, with the Scotland international firing home his first goal for Gli Azzurri off the post.
But Como would draw themselves level two minutes before the break when Gabriel Strefezza's strike from distance rifled into the bottom corner.
However, Antonio Conte's side needed just eight minutes after the interval to restore their advantage when Sergi Roberto brought down Mathias Olivera in the box, with Lukaku stepping up from 12 yards to net his fourth Serie A goal of the season.
Napoli continued to push for a third goal to secure the victory, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia going closest but saw his effort saved by Emil Audero.
But the points were sealed in the 86th minute when Lukaku turned provider once again, holding off his marker before slipping through substitute David Neres who slotted home with a fine finish to extend Napoli's lead at the top of the standings to four points.
Data Debrief: Lukaku continues Conte love story
Lukaku has been a player reborn under Conte's stewardship. The Belgian is the player who has been involved in the most goals in his first five appearances for Napoli in Serie A since the Italian top-flight returned to 20 teams (since 2004/05) with three goals and four assists.
He has also managed to better his assist tally for the whole of last season, managing just three in 32 appearances for Roma last term.
McTominay's goal after 26 seconds is the third-fastest scored by Napoli since the start of a Serie A match in the three points for a win era, after Hirving Lozano's goal against Hellas Verona in 2021 (nine seconds) and Ezequiel Lavezzi's goal against Genoa in 2008 (25 seconds).
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