Lionesses captain Williamson to miss United States clash

England captain Leah Williamson will miss Friday s friendly against the United States at Wembley after sustaining an injury in training.

Williamson, who led Sarina Wiegman s team to a remarkable European Championship triumph in July, requires further assessment on the unspecified injury.

Fellow Euro 2022 winners Lotte Wubben-Moy and Nikita Parris have been added to England s squad, the Football Association said, with West Ham defender Lucy Parker withdrawing through injury. Former skipper Steph Houghton remains out of the picture for now, but Wiegman has said the door remains open to her.

The sell-out clash with the reigning world champions will represent a stern test of England s credentials ahead of next year s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

En…

Toure prays Man City end long wait for Champions League glory

Kolo Toure believes it is high time Manchester City won the Champions League as they renew battle with Real Madrid.

Former City defender Toure will be praying for his old team to come through the second leg of their last-16 tussle, following a hard-earned 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu in February.

Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne have put Pep Guardiola s side in the ascendancy ahead of the Etihad Stadium reunion on Friday.

With huge financial backing, City have been competing in European football s elite competition each season since the 2011-12 campaign, reaching the semi-finals in 2015-16 when Madrid edged them out 1-0 over two legs.

Now is the chance to turn the tables on the 13-time European champions.

Toure told Stats Perfo…

Reus move to MLS hinted at by former Dortmund team-mate Burki

Marco Reus waved farewell to Borussia Dortmund after Champions League agony on Saturday, with former team-mate Roman Burki expecting the Germany veteran to join him in MLS.

Burki ended a seven-year stay with Dortmund in 2022, switching the Bundesliga for MLS football as the goalkeeper joined the newly created St. Louis City.

The St. Louis goalkeeper faced Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba in Sunday s 3-3 draw with Inter Miami, and hinted that the league could soon welcome another European star.

I talked to Marco Reus ahead of the Champions League game, I texted, we didn t talk about the move then because he was obviously focused on the game, but Major League Soccer has a very good chance of seeing him next year or the summer, Burki told E…

Rumour Has It: Man Utd make Cristiano Ronaldo approach, Madrid line up four transfer targets

Cristiano Ronaldo s name is still chanted at Old Trafford, 11 years on from his Manchester United exit.

The 35-year-old enjoyed great success in Manchester, while he has gone on to break records with Real Madrid and Juventus.

However, the Juventus superstar could reportedly be set for a second stint at the Theatre of Dreams.

 

TOP STORY – UNITED EYE RONALDO RETURN

Manchester United are looking to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus, according to ESPN broadcaster Christian Martin.

Ronaldo spent six years at United, winning three Premier League titles and the Champions League, before joining Real Madrid in 2009.

The five-time Ballon d Or winner swapped Madrid for Serie A champions Juve in 2018, but he has been linked with a …

Turkey v Wales: Omens good for Gunes´ men despite Italy loss

Turkey face Wales in Group A hoping to continue a long streak of avoiding consecutive defeats in a meeting between two sides looking to recover from underwhelming starts to Euro 2020.

The tournament s opening fixture saw Turkey blown away by Italy in Rome, with the hosts breezing to a 3-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico. A day later, Wales were fortunate to claim a 1-1 draw with Switzerland, VAR sparing Rob Page s side as Mario Gavranovic saw a winning goal ruled out for offside.

Given the possibility for the third-placed side to progress, Wednesday s encounter in Baku is not necessarily a must-win for either side.

But both will be eager to make significant improvements from matchday one to boost their hopes of progressing to the last 16, with Turkey – seen by ma…

Prediction: Switzerland vs Germany

Best Odds: 8/11

Bookmaker:

Looking to sign off Group A with three victories on the bounce, Germany will meet Switzerland at Deutsche Bank Park on Sunday night.

Switzerland

Starting with Switzerland, while Switzerland might have been disappointed earlier in the week as they eventually had to settle for a 1-1 stalemate against Scotland, Murat Yakin’s side are sat in the driving seat to follow Sunday’s opponents out of Group A. Opening their European Championship adventure on June 15th with an eye-catching 3-1 victory against Hungary, the Rossocrociati should find the mood in their camp at a real high. Despite failing to find much fluidity during their EURO 24 qualifying campaign last year, the Swiss have suffered just a single defeat from any of their previou…

Solskjaer sacked: Who could replace him as Man Utd manager?

Manchester United s 4-1 embarrassment at the hands of Watford proved to be the final straw for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Red Devils have performed poorly this season, losing five of their past seven Premier League fixtures, with the loss at Vicarage Road their heaviest defeat against a promoted side since September 1989.

Saturday s demolition may have been the final nail, but a 5-0 crushing by Liverpool on October 24 seemed to make Solskjaer s departure a case of when, not if. 

The thrashing by Jurgen Klopp s side set several unwanted records, including United s largest margin of defeat against Liverpool at home and the first time the Red Devils had trailed by four goals at half-time in the Premier League.

Solskjaer only signed a new three-year deal with…

Allegri shuts down Scudetto talk as improving Juventus prepare for Milan clash

Massimiliano Allegri shut down talk of a Scudetto challenge as his improving Juventus prepare to face Milan at San Siro on Sunday.

The Bianconeri are on an eight-match unbeaten run in Serie A, their longest such streak since December 2020.

Having lost three times in six matches in a tough spell in October and November, Juve have won six and drawn two to close back to within a point of the top four, with Milan seven points ahead in second and champions Inter a further two clear at the top of the table.

Allegri, though, is not prepared to look beyond the challenge of facing the Rossoneri, who have lost only once in the past four league meetings with Juve, having been beaten in 14 of the previous 17.

We re experiencing a good moment, but the path is still …

´Milan in the Champions League could be a nice reunion´ – Brugge star expects De Ketelaere to join R

Charles De Ketelaere appears to be on the brink of a move to Milan, and Club Brugge team-mate Hans Vanaken revealed the Belgian champions squad are resigned to his departure.

Milan are in the market for attacking reinforcements after winning their first Serie A title since 2010-11 last season, and Brugge star De Ketelaere has emerged as a target after scoring 18 goals in all competitions last term.

The Rossoneri s sporting director Paolo Maldini revealed he was confident of striking a deal for the 21-year-old after travelling to Belgium for talks this week, despite Brugge coach Carl Hoefkens insisting De Ketelaere would only be permitted to leave at the right time .

De Ketelaere s team-mate Vanaken has revealed the Brugge players are resigned to losing the Belgi…

Klopp in awe of ´incredible´ Emery ahead of Villa Park showdown

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the incredible job Unai Emery has done during his time at Aston Villa ahead of Monday s contest between the sides.

Emery guided Villa into the Europa Conference League in his first campaign in charge, where they made it to the semi-final stage.

The Villans Euro campaign was ended by Olympiacos on Thursday, but they are one win from securing a Champions League spot for next term.

Emery s men, who lost 1-0 at Brighton last time out in the league, can get themselves over the line with a game to spare when Liverpool visit Villa Park next up.

He s done an incredible job, Klopp said. Emery is one of the best we have in the business, 100 per cent. Wherever he was, he had success.

Sometimes clubs were not read…