Author: Andrew Rogers

A sickness bug has disrupted Denmark’s preparations for Tuesday’s decisive World Cup qualifier against Scotland. Joachim Andersen and Rasmus Højlund missed the draw with Belarus due to illness, and a staff member is also unwell. Head coach Brian Riemer hopes the situation is contained but admitted concern ahead of the match. Scotland trail Denmark by one point in Group C and can qualify automatically with a win at Hampden Park. Manager Steve Clarke urged supporters to back the team positively as they aim for a first World Cup appearance since 1998.

Manchester City delivered a dominant derby performance at the Etihad, sweeping aside Manchester United 3-0 to strengthen their position at the top of the Women’s Super League. Goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp sealed a statement win that showcased City’s title credentials, while United suffered their second straight league defeat. United, coming off a historic midweek win over PSG, looked fatigued and disjointed throughout. Marc Skinner’s thin squad struggled to cope with the schedule, and despite several lineup changes aimed at injecting energy, United were overwhelmed by City’s intensity. City, with only one change to their XI,…

Celtic are accelerating negotiations to appoint Wilfried Nancy as their next manager, with the Columbus Crew boss emerging as the leading candidate to replace Brendan Rodgers. The Scottish champions informed the MLS side on Friday of their intention to open formal talks, and compensation is not expected to be an obstacle. Nancy is understood to be keen on the move, and Celtic hope to have him in place before next weekend’s trip to St Mirren, ending Martin O’Neill’s brief caretaker spell. Nancy, who previously managed Montreal, led Columbus to seventh in the MLS Eastern Conference this season before exiting in…

Patrick Bamford has joined Sheffield United, just months after leading derogatory chants about their manager Chris Wilder during Leeds United’s promotion celebrations. The 32-year-old striker, a free agent since leaving Leeds in August, has signed a short-term deal with the Championship club until January, as Wilder looks to bolster his struggling attack. Bamford, who has battled injuries in recent seasons, was at the centre of controversy in April when a video showed him leading an abusive song about Wilder. However, the pair have since reconciled after Bamford and then-Leeds boss Daniel Farke personally called Wilder to apologise. “I’ve no issue…

Barcelona have identified Harry Kane as their top target to replace Robert Lewandowski next summer. The club sees the 32-year-old England captain as the ideal successor to the 37-year-old Pole, whose contract expires in June. According to reports, Barça are willing to activate a £57m clause in Kane’s Bayern Munich deal that would allow him to leave at the end of the season. Since joining Bayern from Tottenham in 2023 for £100m, Kane has been a prolific success, scoring 108 goals in 113 games and helping the club reclaim the Bundesliga title. Although Kane has expressed openness to staying in…

The Premier League has confirmed that Arsenal and Crystal Palace have had their fixtures moved to allow extra recovery time before their Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday, 23 December. Arsenal’s match against Everton and Palace’s trip to Leeds United, originally set for Sunday, 21 December, will now both take place at 8pm on Saturday, 20 December. Palace face KuPS in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, 18 December, and opted to shorten the gap between those fixtures rather than face Arsenal just two days after visiting Leeds. The Premier League said player welfare was “a priority” and thanked Leeds and…

Manchester City reignited their Premier League title chase with a dominant 3-0 win over Liverpool, cutting Arsenal’s lead to four points. Despite Erling Haaland missing a controversial early penalty, the Norwegian opened the scoring soon after with his 19th goal of the season. Nico González doubled the lead before half-time via a deflection off Virgil van Dijk, and Jérémy Doku sealed the result with a stunning curling strike in the second half after a dazzling display on the wing. Liverpool had a goal disallowed when Van Dijk’s header was ruled offside due to Andy Robertson’s positioning, but City’s superiority was…

Harry Kane’s stoppage-time header earned Bayern Munich a 2-2 draw at Union Berlin, preserving their unbeaten run but ending a record 16-game winning streak. Danilho Doekhi had twice put Union ahead, including an 83rd-minute strike, but Kane’s 13th league goal salvaged a point after Luis Díaz had earlier equalised. Bayern stay six points clear at the top after RB Leipzig’s 3-1 defeat at Hoffenheim. Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund conceded a 97th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Hamburg, while in Italy, Milan let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Parma. Juventus drew 0-0 with Torino, and in Spain, Antoine…

Ruben Amorim criticised his Manchester United players for becoming “too comfortable” after they surrendered a lead twice in a 3-3 draw against Tottenham on Sunday. United appeared in control for much of the match after Bryan Mbeumo’s first-half goal put them ahead, but they were pegged back by strikes from Mathys Tel and Richarlison before Matthijs de Ligt rescued a point with a 96th-minute header. Despite extending their unbeaten run to five games, Amorim was unimpressed with the team’s mentality. “We were comfortable in the game but I think we should do better, be more aggressive,” he said. “We felt…

David Raya extended his remarkable unbeaten streak as Arsenal equalled a club clean sheet record dating back to 1903, following their 3-0 win over Slavia Prague. The Spanish goalkeeper, who has not conceded in over 12 hours and 56 minutes of play, has now kept eight straight clean sheets, helping Arsenal to 10 consecutive victories in all competitions. His 50th clean sheet in just 110 appearances for the club takes him past the record held by Jimmy Ashcroft from the early 20th century. Though Arsenal were comfortable on the night, Raya stayed sharp — even dashing to the touchline to…