Championship: Burnley 3 Middlesbrough 1

Gareth Southgate said the club rivalries that tainted England s chances in the era of Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard will not be an issue for his players as they aim to make their own history .

Ferdinand, Gerrard and former team-mate Frank Lampard spoke publicly in 2017 about how communication was strained between England players plying their trade at rival Premier League clubs, suggesting the Three Lions Golden Generation lacked cohesion.

Those comments have been used by Southgate to help his players understand the importance of creating camaraderie in the England set-up.

  We have listened to compelling interviews from Rio and Frank and Steven and we ve used those to say we ve got to make sure we put those club situations to one side, but I don t think there…

Mikel Arteta says he is not thinking about the prospect of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving Arsenal during the January transfer window.

Aubameyang has been linked with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter having hit 13 Premier League goals this season, despite the Gunners poor run of form that lead to Unai Emery s departure.

Responding to rumours about his future, the Arsenal striker this week told RMC: For now, I m here. I m 100 per cent here.

Aubameyang became Arsenal s captain after Granit Xhaka was stripped of the armband by Emery and Arteta is determined to keep the Gabon international, whose contract expires in 2021, at the club.

Asked if Aubameyang could leave in January, Arteta told reporters on Thursday: I don t even think about that possibility wi…

Mexico defender Diego Reyes will miss the World Cup after failing to recover from a hamstring injury.

The Porto centre-back sat out both friendly matches with Scotland and Denmark this month, but head coach Juan Carlos Osorio was keen to wait until as late as possible to give him the chance to prove his fitness.

However, a statement from the Mexican Football Federation has confirmed Reyes was not able to satisfactorily complete his recovery and will play no part in the finals in Russia.

He will be replaced in the squad by Pachuca s versatile 22-year-old Erick Gutierrez.

Reyes struggled with fitness problems throughout 2017-18 but was still expected to be a key part of Osorio s first-team plans.

Mexico were already without defender Nestor Araujo, w…

Carlo Ancelotti The Italian enduring difficult time at Bayern

Football has long lost its virtue of patience and with Germany’s greatest Bayern Munich enduring a three-match winless run across all competitions, the world has taken upon itself to label Bayern’s current mess as a huge crisis.

And by the standards Bavarians did well enough to set themselves over the last couple of years, one might say the public opinion is spot on.

Hindrance of Hindsight

Perhaps the Bayern Munich fans have become too relaxed, but to offer some validity for their fears and anxiety, there is a fact that Bayern Munich are no longer top of Bundesliga – for the first time in last 14 months.

It is very well the first mini-crisis for Bayern Munich in nearly half a decade, bu…

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has warned Graham Potter he can expect a different pressure at Chelsea but believes it is a fantastic move .

Potter has been named as Thomas Tuchel s successor at Stamford Bridge, following the axing of the Champions League-winning boss on Wednesday.

New Blues owner Todd Boehly has been extremely active since taking over from Roman Abramovich, splashing vast amounts of money in the transfer market, and has now made his first managerial appointment.

Chelsea received permission from Brighton and Hove Albion to speak to Potter on Wednesday and confirmation of his appointment followed on Thursday.

Rodgers, who has experience in high-pressure clubs following his time with Liverpool, has told Potter he will encounter diff…

Manchester United descend on relegation-threatened Middlesbrough this weekend knowing another three points will leave them on the brink of a third consecutive Premier League title.

But United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he cannot afford to unleash all his big guns at the Riverside given that his squad will have only two days to recover before defending a 1-0 advantage in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal.

With a three-point advantage over Liverpool and a game in hand, United have a significant margin for error in the league.

But with testing fixtures to come next weekend s Manchester derby and Arsenal s visit to Old Trafford on May 16 Ferguson will demand that no mercy is shown to Gareth Southgate s strugglers.

…

Alex Ferguson has backed Avram Grant to succeed at Portsmouth and believes the former Chelsea manager has the ability to save his new club from relegation from the Premier League.

Ferguson will renew his rivalry with Grant when Manchester United travel to Fratton Park on Saturday looking to secure a win that would cut Chelsea s lead at the top of the Premier League to two points, ahead of the leaders trip to Arsenal on Sunday.

The last time Ferguson and Grant were up against each other was the Champions League final of 2008, when United beat Chelsea on penalties to be crowned European Champions.

Now Grant s first game back in English football is against the team which provided him with his darkest hour in the game. Despite coming within a successful spot kick of…

Putting in a professional performance at Wembley on Saturday evening, Manchester City booked their spot in the final of this season’s FA Cup thanks to a 3-0 victory against Championship outfit Sheffield United.

While the Blades might have come close to grabbing a famous opener in the capital as 23-year-old Lliman Ndiaye missed a glorious chance inside the six-yard box, Pep Guardiola’s side certainly didn’t look back as Riyad Mahrez converted from the penalty spot two minutes before the half-time break.

With Guardiola electing to name a superstar starting XI here, it was Mahrez who stole all of the headlines as the Algerian ace bagged a stunning FA Cup semi-final hat-trick and became the first player to do so since 1958.

Bagging a second-half brace as spear…

The 2009 edition of the Confederations Cup kicks off on Sunday, when hosts South Africa take on Asian champions Iraq.

South Africa slowly appear to be getting in better shape ahead of next year s World Cup, and this Confederations Cup will be a great way for them to test how well they cope with the pressure of hosting a tournament. Of course, more is expected from the Bafana Bafana than usual and the players will certainly be aware of this.

Arguably, the best known name in the South African squad is Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar. The only other player that is active in the Premiership is Aaron Mokoena of Blackburn Rovers. Of the 23 selected players, 14 play their club football in South Africa.

Iraq earned their Confederations Cup invitation by winning the 20…

Atletico Madrid are in talks to sign Catania s Alejandro Gomez, according to the Italian club s president Antonino Pulvirenti.

The Argentine signed from San Lorenzo in 2010, and has racked up over 100 appearances at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.

The 25-year-old has played in 35 games this season, scoring eight goals to aid the club to eighth place in Serie A with one fixture remaining.
A string of impressive displays have led to speculation of a move, with Pulvirenti confirming there have been several bids for the player s services.
And it looks likely the winger will be plying his trade at the Vicente Calderon from next season, with Atletico close to tying up a deal.
The negotiations with Atletico Madrid are very advanced, we have some serious bids. I think Gomez will g…