Football Mag

Maurizio Sarri is yet to decide if Kepa Arrizabalaga will start Chelsea’s midweek Premier League clash with Tottenham, but insists the club “don’t want to kill” their goalkeeper following his act of defiance in the Carabao Cup final. When asked about that selection call, Sarri told reporters: “I don’t know, I have to decide yes or no. I think [he is fit], he only had a recovery yesterday but I think so. It will be the decision of the group, of all the players.” Sarri added on his discussions with Kepa since seeing his instructions waved away: “I spoke to Kepa, I spoke to everyone. He said sorry to the technical staff, but it was not enough." “He said sorry to the players and the club. We don’t want to kill him. It was a big misunderstanding.”

Anthony Martial has been ruled out of Manchester United's Wednesday night trip to Crystal Palace amid an Old Trafford injury crisis. "Martial is not going to be ready for this one, either, we can't risk it," said Solskjaer ahead of the trip to south London. "So, maybe [he will be ready for] Southampton [at Old Trafford on Saturday], but we're not going to risk another one." "In hindsight, Jesse was eager, he ticked all the boxes in training, with his recovery work and rehab, but maybe a couple of days too early. It was Liverpool and he was desperate to be part of it." Defenders Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia are also on the missing list.

Former Liverpool boss Rodgers is in the Midlands after discussions on Monday night and a deal to replace the sacked Claude Puel is believed to be close. Former boss Neil Lennon has agreed to take over at Celtic until the end of the season, with first-team coach John Kennedy expected to take charge for Wednesday's Scottish Premiership trip to Hearts. "Brendan has indicated that this is an opportunity he wishes to investigate further," Celtic said in a statement. Ex-Liverpool manager Rodgers cut short a BBC Scotland interview after the champions' win over Motherwell on Sunday when asked about the Leicester vacancy. Celtic are eight points clear of nearest rivals Rangers in the league as they chase an eighth successive title. Rodgers has won every domestic trophy he has contested - two Scottish Premierships, three Scottish League Cups and two Scottish Cups - since arriving at Parkhead in the summer of 2016. They reached the group stages of the Ch

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has issued a public apology to referee Mike Dean after angrily confronting the official at the end of his side's 2-1 defeat at Burnley. The 46-year-old Argentine, who also argued with the fourth official during the match, had already admitted he "crossed the line" with Dean. He has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association over the matter. Addressing a news conference before Wednesday's Premier League game against Chelsea, Pochettino added: "Watching my behaviour afterwards on video, I need to accept the charge from the FA. I need to apologise to Mike Dean, I cannot behave in that way. "My behaviour was public and now I want to apologise in a public way. I need to apologise to him and all of the officials." Dean has been moved from his fourth official duties for Spurs' game at Chelsea (20:00 GMT). Pochettino would not reveal what Dean had said to him during their altercation on the pit

Roberto Firmino's injury is not as bad as first feared and he could even be fit enough to feature against Watford, says Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. The Brazil forward hobbled out of the first half of the goalless draw at Manchester United on Sunday with an ankle problem. But, having had the opportunity to assess Firmino, Liverpool are now positive about his chances of playing against Everton in the Merseyside derby on Sunday, while he could even feature against Watford. "He looks good. We were obviously lucky," Klopp told a news conference. "It is not as serious as we thought at first." "If Bobby goes down and has to leave the pitch, it's a bad sign because he's a pretty hard boy." "For tomorrow, it will be very close, but [he has] a big chance for the derby. Because it’s Bobby, I would say yes [he has a chance for Watford] but I don’t know if I would use that chance because we play on Wednesday after playing on Sunday. "But

Karim Benzema would be forgiven for lamenting the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, but the striker admits he is happy to be be playing his "real football" as he takes charge of leading the club's attack. “Before there was a guy who scored more than 50 goals per season and my role was to provide assists,” the striker said. “I played to help Cristiano, we formed a good partnership. I was always looking for him with the intention of helping him to score even more goals." “Now though, I'm the leader of the attack. It's up to me to make the difference. I'm very happy because now I can play my real football.” Benzema enjoyed 10 fruitful years alongside one of football's all-time greats, forming an unspoken link with the Portuguese attacker that would help propel the Spanish capital club to two La Liga crowns and four Champions League titles.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has been charged with improper conduct by UEFA following an incident during the 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus. UEFA did not confirm what action Simeone is being charged in connection with, reports suggest that it is related to him celebrating Atleti's opener by clutching his crotch while gesticulating to the crowd. Simeone attracted criticism from some for the gesture but he apologised after the match, explaining it was directed at Atletico fans, showing them "that we have cojones". "To start [Diego] Costa and Koke after they hadn't played for a month takes balls," he added. The Argentine admitted that it is not the first time he has performed such a celebration. "I did it as a player in Lazio vs Bologna and I did it again to show our fans that we have cojones. It wasn't aimed at the other team, I was turning towards our own supporters, " said Simeone.                        Here is hi

Barcelona were interested in signing Girona’s Cristhian Stuani in January, the striker himself has confirmed. “Yes, there was interest from Barcelona,” Stuani stated. “I'm proud that a team as great as Barcelona thought about me." “But I'm also happy about signing a new deal with Girona." The 32-year old Uruguay international has set La Liga on fire in the past two campaigns, scoring 21 goals last season for Girona as they finished 10th in their first campaign in the Spanish top flight. He has scored 13 goals so far this season.

Goals HOF: Andrej Kramaric (22') RBL: Willi Orban (89') RB Leipzig stayed on course to finish in the Bundesliga top four and earn a place in the Champions League next season after a late equaliser from left back Willi Orban earned them a 1-1 home draw with Hoffenheim. The result left Leipzig fourth on 42 points from 23 games, one behind third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach and four ahead of fifth-placed Wolfsburg. Hoffenheim, who like Leipzig stretched their unbeaten league run to five games, stayed 8th with 34 points. Highlights :  YouTube

In a recent interview to a newspaper, Jose Mourinho confirmed that he has already turned down a club despite a lucrative offer as the team doesn't quite fit his ambitions. The manager, who is temporarily working as a TV pundit, revealed what he is looking for in his next job. “I don’t know if it is a bad translation from Portuguese to English but focus on these two words, ‘structure’ and ‘empathy’. I want to work with structural empathy. A club is a structure, a complex structure where the manager is an important part of that structure but he is not the structure. “I want to work in a club that understands there is a structure in place. I don’t want to work in a structure of no coincidence [unity] in the thinking. People sometimes say ‘this manager doesn’t like to work with a football director’; ‘this manager doesn’t like to work with chief scout’; ‘this manager doesn’t like to work with an owner’; ‘this manager doesn’t like to work with president’. During my career I have been wor

Chelsea have fined Kepa Arrizabalaga one week's wages for refusing to be substituted during the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City. The Spanish goalkeeper went to ground with an apparent injury in the closing moments of extra time, prompting manager Maurizio Sarri to ready penalty specialist Willy Caballero to enter for the impending shoot-out. A messy cross-field exchange ensued as Kepa argued with Sarri - who had to remain on the touchline - over his ability to remain in the game. Chelsea would go on to lose the shootout, with Kepa letting a tame penalty run underneath him to contribute to the defeat.