Ronaldo joins 2014 WC organising committee

Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata thinks a third straight Premier League victory at Anfield would prove his side mean business as they attempt to challenge for the title.

Despite losing out to Jurgen Klopp s side over two legs in the Europa League last 16 last season, United won Premier League meetings on Merseyside in March 2015 and January 2016.

Mata scored twice in the first of those meetings and is relishing what he believes will be an impressive spectacle, one which gives Jose Mourinho s team a chance to highlight their progress.

This has been a different week due to the international break, but it s now over and we are already focused on the Premier League, where we have one of the biggest games of the year: our visit to Anfield Road, he wrote in his p…

Didier Drogba scored his first goal for Chelsea since the 2012 UEFA Champions League final as they beat Maribor 6-0 on Tuesday.

The veteran striker, who netted with both a late equaliser and the deciding penalty versus Bayern Munich in Germany two-and-a-half years ago, obliged from the spot again in a welcome easy win.

Chelsea had begun their European campaign with a lacklustre draw against Schalke and a hard-fought victory at Sporting Lisbon, but they are now firmly on course to top their group for the ninth time in 12 seasons.

The one negative on a comfortable night for Jose Mourinho s side was a groin injury suffered by opening scorer Loic Remy.

With Diego Costa nursing a hamstring problem, the Premier League leaders could now be short of attacking opt…

Jamaica captain and match-winner Rodolph Austin was thrilled with how his team overcame a stubborn Canada and tough conditions to win on Saturday.

With the temperature in Houston having peaked at 34 degrees Celsius and humidity around 50 per cent, both sides were drenched in sweat at BBVA Compass Stadium within minutes of the opening whistle of the CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B encounter.

But Jamaica had to wait until almost the final minute of the match to secure a 1-0 win in Texas, with Austin heading Adrian Mariappa s cross home from six yards in stoppage time.

The 30-year-old midfielder applauded his team s effort immediately after the final whistle.

Well, it was very hot out there, he said in his official on-pitch interview.

It s very humid and…

Thomas Tuchel equalled his longest winless streak in the Bundesliga as Borussia Dortmund coach thanks to a 0-0 Revierderby draw against Schalke at Signal Iduna Park.

Dortmund went into the clash with their arch-rivals having failed to triumph in their past three top-flight outings, a run they have only twice experienced since Tuchel took over at the start of the 2015-16 season.

Despite the return of star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who missed the midweek penalty shoot-out victory over Union Berlin in the DFB-Pokal with a calf injury, they were unable to avoid a fourth match without maximum points.

Schalke applied early pressure on Dortmund and stifled their usually positive forward line, the first half ending without the hosts registering a shot on targe…

Simone Inzaghi acknowledged Inter must show greater maturity in their Serie A performances after they missed out on a chance to move into the top four with a 1-0 home loss to Monza.

Luca Caldirola s 78th-minute finish was enough to give the visitors an upset victory at San Siro and further extend the Nerazzurri s barren league run.

Inter have collected just one point from five Serie A games, damaging their hopes of Champions League qualification. The defeat saw them fail to capitalise on a draw for city rivals Milan against Bologna earlier on Saturday.

Speaking afterwards, Inzaghi reflected on another tough result for his side, noting he feels they are doing little wrong but must be smart to find answers.

We got nervous, he told DAZN. We want this victor…

Kepa Arrizabalaga does not see any problem in Todd Boehly coming into the dressing room after games, revealing Chelsea s co-owner often does so.

Reports emerged following Chelsea s home loss to Brighton and Hove Albion that Boehly had spent around an hour in the team s dressing room.

Boehly is said to have declared that Chelsea s results have been embarrassing . The Blues have lost all three games under interim boss Frank Lampard, who took over after Graham Potter was sacked earlier in April.

Kepa, however, sees no issue with Boehly having his say or visiting the dressing room.

Todd comes to the changing room in every game, the goalkeeper said at a press conference ahead of Chelsea s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

He had different chat…

Los Angeles Galaxy have ridiculed claims from AC Milan that they are close to securing the signature of David Beckham in an interview published in Friday s Gazzetta dello Sport.

Tim Leiweke, the chief executive of Galaxy s owners AEG, told the Italian sports newspaper that claims from Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani the previous day that the two sides were close to a deal were nonsense .

Two weeks ago Milan made a ridiculous offer that took me just a few seconds to reject, he said of the reported 3 million dollar bid.

With this figure Galaxy wouldn t even be able to cover the loss in revenue from shirt sales.

Since then I haven t heard a thing and no meeting has been set up.

His final point was in stark contrast to claims in the Italian…

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim used his side s victory over Arsenal two seasons ago to inspire them to their 2-1 success against Tottenham in the Champions League.

First-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar at Wembley inspired Monaco to victory on Wednesday.

Toby Alderweireld pulled a goal back for Spurs on the stroke of half-time, but they suffered defeat in the Group E clash.

Monaco also claimed a win in London in February 2015, beating Arsenal 3-1 on their way to a round-of-16 success.

Jardim revealed he used that to help his team to their latest victory as they moved top of their group.

We wanted to stop the transitions of our opponents, who are very strong in this area, he said, via UEFA.

Mentally, we prepared ourselves by …

Belgian international playmaker Nacer Chadli has made a bright start at West Brom

For much of Tony Pulis’ managerial career, the Welshman has put function before entertainment. His teams have been solid at the back and scored just enough goals to get them through.

Pulis has tried to dispute this, but last season the Baggies had the sixth best defensive record in the top-flight.

However, on the flip-side Pulis side only scored 34 goals. Only bottom of the table Aston Villa scored fewer goals in the top-flight.

It was obvious that the Baggies needed to add some sparkle to their sawdust this summer. They may just have done that with the signing of Belgian playmaker Nacer Chadli from Spurs for a fee of around £13million.

Why did it fail to work ou…

He was linked with Manchester United, but that was never realistic. Now, he is very close to moving to France. Monaco have agreed a €40m deal to sign Wissam Ben Yedder from Sevilla. According to L Equipe, the 29-year-old striker is close to swapping La Liga for Ligue 1, as Monaco are trying to drastically improve on their horrific 2018-19 season.

The French diary claims that the Israeli striker has agreed a five-year contract at Stade Louis II, which should keep him at the club until June 2024. However, the deal is not as simple as it seems, as Rony Lopes is expected to move the other way round, as part of the swap deal. Monaco are so keen to get their man, even to let 23-year-old attacking midfielder to leave the club.

Ben-Yedder has scored 70 goals in 138 appearanc…