N'Golo Kante could leave Chelsea in 2023 after six years at the club. Kante has become one constant in an ever-changing Chelsea side in recent years but his injury history as of late has likely raised concerns for Graham Potter. He is yet to play under the new manager having picked up a hamstring injury in August, which has kept him sidelined since the issue was sustained. Whe...Full Story »

  Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt has given an honest assessment of his game time at the World Cup and addressed the links with Chelsea over the summer.  The centre-back started the Netherlands' first match of the campaign against Senegal in a 2-0 win but was left on the bench for the following three games. Louis van Gaal has opted for a back three of Jurrien Timber...Full Story »

  Inter Milan have opened talks with Chelsea about a new loan for Romelu Lukaku. La Gazzetta dello Sport says Graham Potter's side are not interested in Lukaku returning to Stamford Bridge - with Inter now attempting to extend his loan for a further campaign. The 29-year-old, for his part, is believed to be keen to stay at the San Siro and is not considering moving to any other clu...Full Story »

Lionel Messi described Argentina’s relationship with their fans as “something beautiful” after they beat Australia 2-1 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.Messi marked his 1,000th senior appearance with the opening goal and Julian Alvarez put them in control by making it 2-0 early in the second half.Craig Goodwin’s deflected shot gave Australia a lifeline, but Argentina...Full Story »

Lionel Messi marked his 1,000th senior appearance with the opening goal as Argentina booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals by beating Australia 2-1.Messi produced the first moment of quality to break the deadlock towards the end of the first half and Julian Alvarez pounced on a goalkeeping error to put two-time world champions Argentina in full control early in the second.Australia ...Full Story »

Louis van Gaal was critical of his Netherlands side despite their 3-1 victory over the USA sealing a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.The Dutch were on the back foot for much of the first half but went into half-time 2-0 up thanks to fine goals from Memphis Depay and Daley Blind.Haji Wright pulled one back for the USA late on but Denzel Dumfries struck a third for Van Gaal’s me...Full Story »

Tranmere boss Micky Mellon was disappointed to leave Sixfields with only a point after his side’s goalless draw against promotion-chasing Northampton.Rovers are now nine games without a win in all competitions but created the better chances on Saturday, particularly in the first half when both Kane Hemmings and Paul Lewis were denied by a spectacular double save from Lee Burge.Top-scorer S...Full Story »

Nigel Clough admitted Mansfield match-winner Lucas Akins was only on the pitch because injury forced his hand.Substitute Akins struck a last-gasp winner, his 100th senior goal, to earn the Stags a 2-1 win over Colchester.But manager Clough revealed he only brought him off the bench because Will Swan, who had earlier cancelled out Alex Newby’s free-kick for the visitors, had to come off wit...Full Story »

Morton slipped to fourth in the Scottish Championship table after being held to a 1-1 draw at Arbroath.Scott Allan saw an early shot saved for the hosts, but it was Morton who took the lead just before half-time, Lewis McGrattan picking up the ball on the halfway line and driving forward before sending his shot into the bottom corner.The hosts responded only two minutes after the restart with Da...Full Story »

Northampton lost ground on the top two in League Two as they were held to a goalless draw by Tranmere at Sixfields.Mitch Pinnock saw an early shot blocked for Northampton and Sam Hoskins fired just wide from long range, but the game’s first big chance came at the other end where Josh Hawkes was denied by Lee Burge after 15 minutes.Burge then had to be at his very best to produce an outstan...Full Story »

Queen’s Park kept the pressure on the cinch Championship pacesetters with a 4-0 home win over bottom club Hamilton.All the goals came in the first half, with Grant Savoury netting twice and Simon Murray and Josh McPake also on target.Savoury opened the scoring in the 26th minute, beating goalkeeper Ryan Fulton with a curling shot.It was 2-0 two minutes later when Murray finished off good w...Full Story »

Lucas Akins’ 100th senior goal earned Mansfield a 2-1 stoppage-time victory over Colchester.The 33-year-old forward headed in just moments after being summoned from the bench by Nigel Clough, a decision which was greeted with howls of derision by home supporters due to earlier goal-scorer Will Swan being the player to make way.Swan had cancelled out Alex Newby’s third goal in seven o...Full Story »

Jack Powell scored a stunner as new Crawley boss Matthew Etherington made a winning start with a hard-fought 2-0 home victory over play-off chasing Swindon.After Nick Tsaroulla had given Crawley the lead in the 79th minute, Powell produced a 40-yard effort four minutes later to seal a fourth home League Two win in five matches.Former Peterborough Under-21 coach Etherington went into his first ga...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson was brutally honest in his assessment after his side’s 1-1 draw with Sutton United.The visitors came from behind to clinch a point as Will Randall cancelled out Ryan Edmondson’s opener on the stroke of half-time at Brunton Park.Simpson felt a share of the spoils was fair but was less impressed with the performance overall.“Looking at the game it was d...Full Story »

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens was naturally delighted after his side beat Bradford 3-0 to restore their five-point lead at the top of League Two.The O’s have now won six of their last seven league matches and eight of their 10 games at Brisbane Road in the division this season.Two goals in eight first-half minutes by Charlie Kelman and Tom James paved the way for this latest success be...Full Story »

Steve Cotterill revealed he gave himself a 10-minute cooling off period after collecting a second-half yellow card for straying outside of his technical area in the 2-0 win against Lincoln.Cotterill briefly watched the Shrews’ first league victory in seven matches from behind the dugouts following his booking by referee Bobby Madden.And he engaged the former Scottish official, who earlier ...Full Story »

Head coach Paul Warne thought Derby kept Sheffield Wednesday in check in a goalless draw he described as a “game of chess”.Both teams had moments in the game but could not create enough in the final third to force a victory.David Stockdale was the busier goalkeeper in the first half, cutting out a dangerous James Collins cross before David McGoldrick could pounce and then parrying a ...Full Story »

Luke Leahy scored his fourth penalty of the season to set Shrewsbury on their way to a 2-0 win against Lincoln – their first Sky Bet League One victory in seven attempts.Skipper Leahy kept his cool to open the scoring from 12 yards after Jamie Robson had inexplicably handled in the box a minute before half-time.Lincoln had dominated up to that point, with Ben House, Charles Vernam and Matt...Full Story »

Sheffield Wednesday missed the chance to go top of Sky Bet League One after they were held to a goalless draw at Derby.In a game of few chances, Owls goalkeeper David Stockdale denied David McGoldrick and Derby stopper Joe Wildsmith saved from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru in the second half.Derby had the first opening in the 13th minute when James Collins’ low cross was cut out by Stockdale with Mc...Full Story »

Chesterfield’s nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end as Halifax secured a late 1-0 victory in the Vanarama National League.Robert Harker scored the decisive goal for the Shaymen in the 81st minute to dent Chesterfield’s promotion charge.The Spireites, who will play West Brom in the FA Cup third round next month, are fourth, eight points behind leaders Notts County...Full Story »