Barcelona president Joan Laporta has given his full backing to coach Xavi and urged him to lead the club to victory against Real Madrid on Sunday. Barca facing Champions League elimination President has confidence in Xavi Laporta urged coach to get the win WHAT HAPPENED? Despite their unbeaten start to the season in La Liga, Barca are struggling in the Champions League after drawing 3-3 ...Full Story »

Barca face further financial troubles Club could be knocked out of Champions League Laporta still working on new signings WHAT HAPPENED? Barca have been strapped for cash over the last year and had to sell off some of their assets in the summer to fund their transfer business, which saw them spend big on the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde. Despite the issues facing...Full Story »

Ivan Toney sent a World Cup message to England boss Gareth Southgate by firing Brentford to a 2-0 win over Brighton.Bees striker Toney was called into the Three Lions squad for the first time last month but failed to get on to the pitch for the matches against Italy and Germany.But the 26-year-old looks determined to book a seat on the plane to Qatar, and he is becoming hard to ignore after boos...Full Story »

Ross County manager Malky Mackay has reported no fresh injuries for the cinch Premiership basement clash with Dundee United.Full-backs George Harmon (hamstring) and Connor Randall (broken leg) are getting close to making returns.Attacker Alex Samuel remains out with a long-term knee injury.United could have former Scotland internationals Charlie Mulgrew and Steven Fletcher back in their squad.Mu...Full Story »

Aberdeen have close to a full squad for the cinch Premiership visit of Hearts.Midfielder Callum Roberts (hamstring) is the Dons’ only absentee.Cammy Devlin is suspended for a Hearts team whose injury problems escalated during their 5-1 defeat by Fiorentina on Thursday.Australia full-back Nathaniel Atkinson is a major doubt after aggravating a foot injury.Josh Ginnelly, Michael Smith and Ga...Full Story »

Cinch Premiership leaders Celtic will again be without Jota when they face Hibernian because of a minor muscle injury but fellow winger Liel Abada has shaken off a dead leg.David Turnbull (ankle) and Stephen Welsh (knock) drop out of the champions’ squad.Callum McGregor and Carl Starfelt both remain sidelined by knee injuries.Rocky Bushiri and Demi Mitchell are back in the Hibs squad follo...Full Story »

Jonny Evans is a doubt for struggling Leicester’s clash with Crystal Palace.The defender has a tight calf and boss Brendan Rodgers is hoping he will be fit for Saturday afternoon’s crucial game.Wilfred Ndidi (hamstring), Ricardo Pereira (Achilles), Nampalys Mendy (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) are all out but Timothy Castagne (face) is fit.Will Hughes misses out for Palace through i...Full Story »

Sunderland will be without suspended captain Corry Evans for the visit of Wigan.Evans will serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth booking of the season in the defeat at Swansea.The Black Cats remain without a senior striker due to injuries to Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms, although Simms took part in training on Thursday for the first time since suffering a toe injury against Reading la...Full Story »

Dejan Kulusevski will not be available for selection when Tottenham host Everton.The Swedish midfielder underwent another MRI on Friday and was ruled out of Saturday’s clash, and could be doubtful for Spurs’ trip to Old Trafford on Wednesday.Antonio Conte will also be without the services of Emerson Royal, who is serving a three-match suspension following his red card in the north Lo...Full Story »

Fulham will make a late call over the fitness of Aleksandar Mitrovic for the visit of Bournemouth on Saturday, with a further assessment on Friday evening.Willian will be available to Fulham manager Marco Silva, but Kenny Tete and Layvin Kurzawa are out injured.Manor Solomon is on the long-term injured list and is expected to be fit at the beginning of December.Bournemouth’s options have b...Full Story »

Toto Nsiala is a doubt for Fleetwood’s game against Shrewsbury.The defender came off in the second half of the draw at Portsmouth last week.Drew Baker, who replaced him, is standing by to deputise again but Jayden Reid (hamstring) and Louis Thompson (broken leg) remain on the sidelines for boss Scott Brown.Michael Devlin also came off against Pompey while Darnell Johnson has an Achilles pr...Full Story »

CHELSEA star Marc Cucurella is expecting his third child with fashion designer girlfriend Claudia Rodriguez. The 24-year-old recently signed for Chelsea for £62million and life is busy for the defender with a baby on the way. Marc Cucurella has revealed that his girlfriend is pregnant Both parents posted the snap of them holding the photo from the scan - Cucurella captioned it: "Baby num...Full Story »

Barcelona president Joan Laporta met with coach Xavi in the aftermath of last night's 3-3 draw with Inter Milan. The result leaves Barca's hopes of reaching the Champions League round of 16 hanging by the thread. Sport says Laporta chose to wait for things to calm down before leaving the executive box to speak with Xavi outside the home dressing room. The president decided against speaking w...Full Story »

Liverpool are maintaining interest in West Ham midfielder Declan Rice. Football Insider says Liverpool are continuing to lay the groundwork for a marquee midfield signing next year and have a "strong interest" in the Hammers skipper. It has been reported that the Reds could reignite their interest in Rice after they highlighted his qualities last summer but couldn't front West Ham's transfer...Full Story »

Chelsea are reportedly ready to try again for the potential transfer of Bayern Munich full-back Benjamin Pavard after looking at him in the summer. The France international will decide his future after the World Cup, but has been tempted to try playing in the Premier League at some point and could get that opportunity with Chelsea, according to Todo Fichajes. Pavard has had a fine career for...Full Story »

Argentina winger Angel Di Maria is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup, after Juventus said on Thursday that he sustained a low-grade hamstring injury and will be out until early November. Di Maria picked up the injury in their 2-0 defeat against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League on Tuesday and the 34-year-old underwent scans on Thursday. "Angel Di Maria underwent diagnostic tes...Full Story »

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said it was “not a coincidence” that it was his in-form side who ended Bodo/Glimt’s run of 14 consecutive home European wins.The Gunners left the Arctic Circle with a hard-fought 1-0 Europa League victory as Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the evening in fortuitous circumstances.The win, Arsenal’s 11th in 12 games across all competitions t...Full Story »

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson reminded his players they had to compete physically with Fiorentina to save themselves from an even bigger defeat in Italy.Neilson was unhappy with his players’ first-half approach after they shipped four goals without reply in Florence.He got the reaction he was looking for at half-time as his side kept the score at 5-1.After hitting a post inside 30 seconds,...Full Story »

Scottish football’s European struggles continued as Hearts suffered a 5-1  defeat by Fiorentina in Italy.Hearts at least steadied the ship in the second half in the Europa Conference League in Florence after appearing to be on course for the sort of 7-1 thrashing handed out to Rangers 24 hours earlier by Liverpool.Stephen Humphrys made it 4-1 early in the second half to give about 4,0...Full Story »

Kyle Dempsey and Amadou Bakayoko are set to return to Bolton’s squad for the visit of Barnsley.Both players were absent from the squad beaten by Forest Green last weekend.Midfielder Dempsey could go straight back into the team after a hip problem but Bakayoko is likely to be a substitute again as he has not started a game for over a month.Defender Eoin Toal is unavailable after sustaining ...Full Story »