Lionel Messi confirms retirement plans ahead of Copa America with Argentina

Nigeria boss Gernot Rohr is wary of being upstaged by an increasingly confident Madagascar as top spot in Group B goes on the line at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Super Eagles have recorded unspectacular 1-0 wins over Burundi and Guinea to date and need only a draw in Alexandria on Sunday to stay first.

Madagascar, though, are reconfiguring their expectations following their first ever victory at the tournament, a 1-0 defeat of Burundi last time out.

The newcomers are not mathematically assured of a place in the knockout rounds but, with four points in the bank and something of a free hit at distinguished opposition ahead, Rohr is on alert.

Madagascar is a strong team and they have a great manager, said the German, who has been in charge of Nigeria …

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for saying publicly that he had returned from the Qatar World Cup overweight.

Guardiola made the comment in a press conference in December 2022 having left the City and England midfielder out of a Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool.

Phillips, who joined West Ham on loan in January, earlier this month told the Observer that “after the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight”, adding: “I did not disagree with him but obviously I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City.”

Guardiola was asked at a press conference on Monday if he regretted going public about Phillips’ weight, and he said: “Yeah, I’m sorry.

“Once in eight…

Tottenham against Ajax is not a Champions League semi-final many will have predicted at the start of the season, but it is a welcome tie for those with allegiances to both teams.

There are four members of the Spurs squad who once donned the red and white of the Netherlands most famous outfit, while another four represented each in some fascinating careers.

It is fair to say the majority have been successes in London and Amsterdam – provided you accept that Mauricio Pochettino not winning a trophy does not automatically make him and his team a failure – but that cannot be said for all of them.

Below, we look at eight players to cross this particular divide, and how well they did it.

 Our ex- contingent.  

— Tottenha…

Liverpool will be looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League this weekend after producing a below-par display in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

The Reds 17-match winning run may have been ended at Old Trafford, but they have won 11 in a row at Anfield ahead of Sunday s visit of Tottenham.

Manchester City are now six points adrift of top spot and next face a home fixture with Aston Villa, who they have defeated in each of their last nine home top-flight meetings.

Ahead of another bumper weekend of Premier League action, test your knowledge with our Opta-powered Friday Premier League quiz!

Answers are at the bottom of the page.

1. Tottenham are without a win in their last 10 Premier League away games their longest …

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker:

Desperate to claim a welcomed Serie A boost on Sunday lunchtime, Juventus will welcome Frosinone to Turin this weekend.

Juventus

Starting with the hosts, while Juventus might have come flying out of the traps when opening up the 2023/24 campaign, the Italian icons are enduring a recent wobble. Missing out on what they had billed as a potential opportunity last weekend as they eventually had to settle for a 2-2 stalemate away at Verona, the Old Lady are without a win from any of their previous four Serie A appearances on the spin. Collecting just a pair of points on that four-match wobble, Massimiliano Allegri’s side will know the importance of claiming a crucial response here. Nevertheless, while Juventus might open this weekend’…

As the Europa League once again steals most of Thursday’s headlines, we have a stacked schedule from across the continent.

With European heavyweights such as Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen looking to book their respective quarter-final tickets, we could be set for a nervy night of Europa League action.

With eight Europa League showdowns on the cards in midweek, we have found a couple of eye-catching betting markets that are worth taking note of.

20:00 Liverpool vs Sparta Prague

With it announced back in January that Jurgen Klopp will be ending his nine-year stay at Anfield, Liverpool are desperate to make more history this season. While the Premier League giants might have eventually fallen short in their bid to punch a top-four finish among England�…

Frank Lampard will be the latest man to return to a club where he starred as a player if he agrees to replace Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.

Derby County on Tuesday gave the Blues permission to speak to their former midfielder about the vacancy created by Sarri s departure for Juventus and the 41-year-old is expected to make an emotional return to Stamford Bridge, where he spent 13 years as a player.

Lampard scored 211 goals in his Chelsea career, setting a club record, and if he re-signs will be tasked with reviving the enthusiasm of supporters who struggled to warm to Sarri during a season of mixed fortunes.

Chelsea reached the EFL Cup final and won the Europa League in 2018-19, but fans voiced their dismay after results like the 6-0 hammering at Manchester Cit…

Michael Owen, who left Liverpool in 2004 and consequently missed the glorious chapter of their history the following season, reveals how close he was to returning to Anfeld after only a year with Real Madrid.

He ended up joining Newcastle, before signing for Manchester United in 2009 something that the majority of Liverpool supporters still haven t been able to forgive.

https://twitter.com/LivEchoLFC/status/1172208251816951808

…

Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to have Reece James available for Chelsea s trip to Nottingham Forest following the club captain s return to training.

Chelsea confirmed on their official website on Friday that the England international is back in full team training after five months out.

James latest absence came as a result of undergoing surgery on a recurring hamstring injury, which forced him off in the 2-0 loss to Everton in December.

The 24-year-old has played just 452 minutes for Chelsea in all competitions this season down on the 1,936 he managed in 2022-23.

Back in full team training.

Our captain .

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)

However, James now has a chance of featuring in Saturday s match against relegation-threatened Fore…

Georginio Wijnaldum suggested the Netherlands must be more eager to score after a dominant display against Latvia only resulted in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win.

Frank de Boer s Oranje bounced back from the 4-2 defeat to Turkey in their Group G opener with an excellent all-round performance in Amsterdam on Saturday.

The Netherlands had 36 shots in total – 16 more than the impressive 20 they managed in losing against Turkey – though only 11 hit the target.

Steven Berghuis and Luuk de Jong were responsible for the two goals, the former curling into the top-left corner before the latter headed in from Memphis Depay s corner.

The Netherlands had 96 touches in Latvia s box, the most since detailed Opta records began in August 2013, far surpa…