Arsenal boss Unai Emery hopes to have at least one player recover in time for the visit of Liverpool on Saturday as his side face an injury crisis in defence.
Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac will be assessed as they battle back from hamstring injuries, while there will also be late fitness tests for Hector Bellerin (thigh) and centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos (ankle).
With Laurent Koscielny and Konstantinos Mavropanos still sidelined, the Gunners have been forced into defensive reshuffles in recent matches, which has included Granit Xhaka being deployed as a makeshift left-back.
However, with Matteo Guendouzi suspended and Mohamed Elneny also injured, Xhaka could well be needed in his regular midfield role when Liverpool visit Emirates Stadium.
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Jose Mourinho believes Iker Casillas secretly challenged his authority while the pair worked together at Real Madrid.
Casillas spoke bluntly about Mourinho s spell in charge of Los Blancos during a recent interview, five years on from the Portuguese becoming the first coach to drop the goalkeeper.
A broken hand in January 2013 ruled Casillas out for two months and the club acted by bringing in Diego Lopez from Sevilla – the Madrid youth product subsequently keeping his place even after Casillas returned to fitness.
Mourinho departed at the end of the 2012-13 season, though Casillas remained second choice to Lopez in the first campaign of successor Carlo Ancelotti.
Casillas said he would take the bull by the horns and confront Mourinho if he could ha…
Manchester United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he warned his players that they should never be outworked before Saturday s thrashing of Cardiff City.
The Red Devils claimed a 5-1 win in south Wales courtesy of two goals from Jesse Lingard and one each from Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera and Anthony Martial.
It was the first time since Alex Ferguson s retirement in 2013 that United had scored five in a Premier League match, and marked an ideal start to life for Solskjaer, who replaced the sacked Jose Mourinho on Wednesday.
It was put to Solskjaer that this is the first league game in 2018-19 in which United had outrun their opponents they covered 104 kilometres compared to Cardiff s 99 and the former Norway star stressed that such work rate is a minimu…
Market: Cork City win
Odds: 2/5 @
Simply looking to widen their buffer at the top of the First Division standings, Cork will welcome the Finn Harps to Turners Cross on Friday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Cork might have lost their Premier Division status last season, the Rebel Army are breezing their way to an immediate top-flight return. Embarking on what has been a sensational romp this year, Tim Clancy’s men open this weekend’s fixtures holding a remarkable 15-point buffer over the chasing pack. Last seen putting in another routine performance as they secured a 3-1 victory away at Wexford, fans around Turners Cross find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Signing off June with a 1-0 win against Bray, the former St. Patricks boss has seen hi…
Arsene Wenger has insisted that Danny Welbeck will not be sold this month, according to Talksport.
The England international has been linked with moves to both Crystal Palace and Besiktas but the Gunners boss isn’t willing to listen to any offers.
The twenty-seven year old has struggled with injury since moving to the Emirates Stadium from Manchester United and has played just sixteen times in the league so far this season, scoring three goals.
Only seven of those appearances have come from the start while sixteen was the amount of appearances he made in the entirety of last season, and the tally was eleven the season before.
In total he has played ninety-one times for the North London side, scoring twenty-two times while his last outing for Englan…
Crystal Palace have completed the signing of ex-Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor on a free transfer until the end of the season.
The 31-year-old, who also counts Metz, Monaco and Real Madrid among his former clubs, has scored 96 goals in 230 Premier League matches.
Adebayor was strongly linked with moves to Aston Villa and West Ham after being removed from the first-team picture at Tottenham, who released him from his contract by mutual agreement last September.
BREAKING: are delighted to announce the signing of striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
— Crystal Palace FC (@CPFC)
Despite boasting an impressive scoring record, Adebayor s time in the Premier League has been marred by leaving clubs on somewhat sour terms.
John Terry will make a return to Chelsea by playing in a charity football match at Stamford Bridge.
The former captain won five Premier League titles during his time at the club, as well as the Champions League in 2012.
Terry, who also skippered England during his playing career, retired last year after spending his final season with Aston Villa in the Championship.
The 38-year-old is now assistant to manager Dean Smith at Villa Park but will be pulling on his boots again for Soccer Aid on June 16.
Terry will represent an England side managed by Sam Allardyce and television presenter Susanna Reid, wearing the number 26 shirt and playing alongside Mo Farah and Jamie Redknapp.
Being back at Stamford Bridge will of course be very significant for me…
Real Madrid have been paired with Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals, while Bayern Munich will face Atletico Madrid.
Friday s draw in Nyon means outgoing City manager Manuel Pellegrini will have a chance to get one over his former team, having coached Madrid in 2009-10.
Madrid who saw off Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals lost to Juventus in the 2014-15 semi-finals. They won the competition in 2013-14, beating cross-city rivals Atletico 4-1 after extra-time for their 10th European Cup triumph.
City, meanwhile, are the rookies in the semi-finals, having never made it to this stage before. They failed to advance past the round of 16 in 2013-14 and 2014-15, but accounted for Dynamo Kyiv and Paris Saint-Germain on the way to the semi-finals this seas…
Uli Hoeness will be welcomed back as Bayern Munich president whenever he is ready to take the role, according to chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Hoeness resigned from the position in 2014 after being found guilty of tax evasion, the former Germany international subsequently sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Karl Hopfner replaced Hoeness as president, but Rummenigge says he will step aside when the former incumbent is ready to return to the Allianz Arena.
When Uli Hoeness want to be president again Bayern is ready to welcome him, he told Kicker.
I would not be surprised if he wants to run for president again.
In this case, the very sympathetic Karl Hopfner would waive his candidacy. Everything would be done my mutual agreement.…
Barnsley have been expelled from the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player in their first-round replay against Horsham.
Seventh-tier Horsham will now progress to round two, where they will visit League Two strugglers Sutton.
The Tykes were 3-0 winners in last Tuesday’s replay, after the first game had finished 3-3 at Oakwell, but have since acknowledged a “regrettable”, “unintentional” error that has seen them kicked out of this season’s competition by the Football Association.
A club statement read: “Today the FA has advised us that we will no longer be able to participate in the FA Cup this season.
“An administrative error was brought to our attention regarding the eligibility of a player who played in last Tuesday’s game with Horsh…