Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Raheem Sterling has been told that improving his goalscoring record is the key to securing his long-term Manchester City future. Sterling could have moved to Arsenal in August as City tried to secure the £60million ($78million) signing of Alexis Sanchez, but both deals ended up falling through. The England winger […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes he deserves credit for not complaining more about Paul Pogba's injury problems and those affecting the rest of his squad. France midfielder Pogba has been absent for almost two months because of a hamstring injury sustained during a 3-0 Champions League victory over Basel […]

Lima (AFP) – Peru's hopes of reaching the World Cup suffered a setback Friday when striker Paolo Guerrero was banned for 30 days for returning an "abnormal result" from a drugs test, ruling him out of his country's play-off against New Zealand. The Peruvian football federation (FPF) said that the suspension had been ordered by […]

Marseille (AFP) – Patrice Evra was handed an initial one-match ban by UEFA and suspended by his club Marseille on Friday after the veteran defender aimed a karate kick at the head of one of his team's own supporters. The former Manchester United star was red-carded for the assault during the pre-match warm-up at Thursday's […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Lionel Messi will celebrate his 600th start for Barcelona on Saturday in what his manager Ernesto Valverde hails as "a monstrous" achievement. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner becomes only the third player to reach the milestone for the Catalan club after ex-playmaker Xavi Hernandez (767 appearances) and the current captain Andres Iniesta […]

Abidjan (AFP) – Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha will make his long-awaited debut for Ivory Coast in a do-or-die World Cup qualifier against Morocco on November 11. The 24-year-old has never played for the African nation which he left with his family when he was just four. However, Zaha will need to hit the ground […]

London (AFP) – Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and centre-back Toby Alderweireld will both miss Tottenham Hotspur's home game with Crystal Palace on Sunday due to injury, manager Mauricio Pochettino confirmed on Friday. Lloris, the Spurs captain, sustained a groin injury and Alderweireld suffered a hamstring strain during Wednesday's stunning 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the […]

Brussels (AFP) – Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan was named in Belgium's squad for upcoming friendlies on Friday after missing the Red Devils' final four World Cup qualifiers. Coach Roberto Martinez in September had explained his decision to leave Nainggolan out of his last two squads was for "tactical reasons" and because he wanted to "work […]

London (AFP) – Sadio Mane could make his Liverpool comeback at West Ham United on Saturday after making encouraging progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury, manager Jurgen Klopp revealed on Friday. The Senegal winger has not played for Liverpool since October 1 after getting injured on international duty, but he returned to training […]

Lisbon (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo was surprisingly left out of the Portugal squad announced on Friday by coach Fernando Santos, who suggested it was merely to give his superstar a break. Santos denied the omission was due to the four-time Ballon d'Or winner's relatively meagre goal-scoring start to the Spanish league season. Ronaldo has scored […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has pledged that his side will fight fire with fire when they tackle free-scoring Premier League pace-setters Manchester City on Sunday. Pep Guardiola's City are five points clear at the top of the table — and nine points above Arsenal — after amassing 35 goals in their opening […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku believes it is unfair to judge him as the finished article as he plots to end the first goal drought of his Old Trafford career. Having scored 11 goals in his first 10 games after joining United from Everton in a £75 million ($98.1 million, 84.4 million […]

Madrid (AFP) – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was grilled by a judge in Spain on Friday over accusations of a 3.3 million euro ($3.8 million) tax fraud during his time in charge of Real Madrid in 2011 and 2012. After leaving the brief closed-door hearing, the 54-year-old told reporters he had paid everything he […]

Marseille (AFP) – Marseille's Patrice Evra was handed an initial one-match ban by UEFA Friday prior to a disciplinary hearing following his sending-off for launching a karate-style kick at a fan's head before a Europa League match against Vitoria Guimaraes. Marseille announced they had opened an inquiry after the 36-year-old full-back was handed a red-card […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Wydad Casablanca coach Hussein Amotta said it would be "suicidal" to try and defend the 1-1 CAF Champions League final first-leg draw when they meet Al Ahly again Saturday. A goalless second leg at the Stade Mohammed V would give the Moroccans victory over the Egyptians on the away-goal rule in the […]