England´s Maddison makes timely training return after knee injury lay-off

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta dropped out of the Spain squad for the Confederations Cup because of an injury and will be replaced by Valencia s Pablo Hernandez, the Spanish Football Federation said Friday.

Medical tests carried out on the 25-year-old confirmed that his thigh muscle injury was more serious than previously thought and could require him to be sidelined for up to two months, it said in a statement.

There is a strong chance of a relapse. He already had one in the Champions League final and we don t want another. He needs a long period of recuperation, federation doctor Oscar Celada told a news conference.

Iniesta picked up the injury at the beginning of last month and he aggravated it during Barcelona s 2-0 Champions League final win over Manc…

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With a chance to potentially move level on points with Liverpool, Manchester United will welcome a high-flying Aston Villa to Old Trafford on Friday night.

Manchester United

Starting with the hosts, while they might have left it extremely late earlier in the week, Manchester United did manage to pick themselves up what was a last-gasp 1-0 win against Wolves. Although the former Premier League champions might have been drastically struggling with their form when opening the 2020/2021 campaign, the Reds have managed to bounce back in a hugely impressive fashion. With that woeful 6-1 drumming against Tottenham back in September now a distant memory, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side find themselves enjoying a real purple patch. Knowing that thr…

Jurgen Klopp confirmed Liverpool are still working to make a signing in the transfer window ahead of Thursday s deadline, even if he will be relieved when it is all over.

Reds manager Klopp revealed last week he had changed his opinion on the need for a new midfielder at Anfield, having previously insisted his squad was strong enough.

When the Liverpool boss made those comments, ahead of facing Bournemouth at home, they were still winless.

Bournemouth were subsequently swatted aside 9-0, but Klopp is pressing ahead with the new plan to make a signing, although the really important stuff will follow after the window closes.

Asked if Liverpool were still active, Klopp replied: Ish . Somehow, yeah, but the closer we get to the last minute, the more unlikely …

Fernando Torres s double on his final Atletico Madrid appearance was not enough to secure victory for Diego Simeone s 10-man side as Ruben Pena s stunner earned Eibar a 2-2 draw.

Captaining a second-string Atleti side – playing four days on from their Europa League triumph against Marseille in Lyon – at a celebratory Wanda Metropolitano, Torres netted either side of the interval in Sunday s clash.

Having cancelled out Kike Garcia s opener just before the break, Torres edged Atleti ahead on the hour, rolling back the years with a fantastic run and delicate finish.

Any hopes Torres had of making way to a standing ovation were ended shortly after he netted his second, though, as Jose Gimenez entered the fray for Atleti s third change after Lucas Hernandez had se…

Jose Mourinho admits Tottenham may soon start to feel the effects of playing catch-up in the race for a top-four finish and believes it will be a different story next season.

Below-par Tottenham salvaged a 2-1 comeback win against Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday, four days on from a disappointing 2-0 home loss to Chelsea.

Spurs are once more three points behind Chelsea, who went down 2-0 to Southampton, but Mourinho is realistic about their prospects of finishing in the top four.

Mourinho, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month with Tottenham 11 points adrift of the Champions League places, told reporters: I started with minus 12 here. Minus 12. 

With minus 12, you have to recover 12 points that s a lot. You can tell me, A couple of days ago y…

Reece James has reached an agreement with Chelsea over a new long-term contract, set to make him the best-paid defender ever at the club, according to . The contract is expected to be signed and officially announced in the coming days.

Chelsea opened talks with James, as well as attacking midfielder Mason Mount, earlier this week. The negotiations with James have obviously produced results more quickly. The terms of the current deal have the England international tied to the club until the summer of 2025 as one of the lowest-paid players at the club, and the  relevant people within the hierarchy are keen to reward the 22-year-old for what they consider to have been an impressive rise in the game .

Chelsea also hope in this way to repel the interest reportedly shown in …

South Africa will host friendlies against Namibia and Cameroon next month as they continue preparations for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

The national football association said Monday the Namibia fixture is scheduled for central diamond city of Kimberley on November 4 while the north-western town of Rustenburg welcomes Cameroon 15 days later.

These are the final internationals this year for South Africa, who are staging the Confederation Cup next June ahead of becoming the first African hosts of the quadrennial World Cup the following year.

Bafana Bafana (The Boys) will seek a fourth consecutive victory when they face neighbours Namibia after defeating Equatorial Guinea in a 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup qualifier and Malawi and Ghana in friendlies.<…

Arsenal attacker Lukas Podolski will come up against his former-club Bayern in the  Champions League knockout stages with something to prove.

A few days ago I wrote an article about how Arsenal were set for another season without silverware. Arsenal’s only hope of claiming silverware is the Champions League.

The Gunners face a tough challenge in the first knockout stage of the competition though.

Key

Arsene Wenger’s side face German giants Bayern Munich in a bid to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

This evening’s first leg tie at the Emirates Stadium could be the key to progression.

Bayern are extremely strong on home soil and Arsenal will need a lead to take back to the Allianz Arena for the second leg.

Inconsiste…

Eden Hazard says his goal to end Tottenham s Premier League title hopes was his best memory of last season.

The 25-year-old scored a superb late equaliser as Chelsea battled to a 2-2 draw at home to Spurs in May, a result which crowned Leicester City champions at the expense of Mauricio Pochettino s side.

That outcome was emphatically celebrated by Chelsea s players and supporters at Stamford Bridge despite a poor season that saw them finish 10th in the table after Guus Hiddink had replaced the sacked Jose Mourinho.

Hazard also had a miserable campaign, with the strike against Spurs one of only four he netted in the top-flight, but he loved the opportunity to hurt Chelsea s rivals.

That was the best memory of last year because of the rivalry with Totte…

Steven Naismith regards Sunday s showdown with Manchester City as an opportunity for Everton to show where we are at .

Roberto Martinez s side produced a superb away-day performance to triumph 3-0 at Southampton last time out, but are likely to face a sterner test from high-flying City.

The 2013-14 Premier League winners have scored six goals without reply in their opening two games, including a 3-0 victory over defending champions Chelsea last weekend.

But Scotland international Naismith insists confidence is high in Everton s dressing room ahead of City s visit to Goodison Park, telling the club s official website:  We are going into each game believing we can win.

Maybe our confidence took a wee knock last season with the amount of games and how thi…