World Cup at risk for Rolfes after new knee injury

According to Sky Italia, newly promoted Parma Calcio 1913, also known simply as Parma, are set to confirm the signing of Rangers defender Bruno Alves soon with the 36-year-old currently undergoing a medical at the club. Due to injuries, the Euro 2016 winner struggled to get an extended run in the first team with the Glasgow-based club last season, as they failed to mount a serious title challenge against bitter rivals Celtic.

Now, however, he has the chance to play out his final days in the top tier of Italian football with a Parma side that have experienced three consecutive promotions back into the big time. Alves was a part of Portugal s squad at the weekend for their World Cup exit against Uruguay, but given his age, that could well be his final run in international footbal…

Competition: World Cup Qualifiers
Market: Scotland to win against Lithuania
Odds:

Scotland welcome Lithuania to Hampden Park in this weekend’s World Cup European Qualifier, and are big favourites to pick up all three points to stay top of Group F, potentially pulling away at the summit depending on results.

Hosts Scotland are currently top of Group F with three points from their opening game, having beaten Malta comfortably. Gordon Strachan’s men will fancy their chances against Lithuania on home soil with Scotland boasting four wins from their last six in all competitions and having lost just once at home since 2014.

As for Lithuania, the visitors have been short of wins this year, but did draw their opener in Group F to Slovenia so they have so…

Leonardo Bonucci conceded the jeers from Juventus fans were deserved in the Champions League defeat to Benfica, leaving the Bianconeri captain worried by a situation that needs to be changed .

Juve needed just four minutes to take the lead in Turin as Arkadiusz Milik headed in, only for Joao Mario to restore parity with a first-half penalty.

David Neres secured a deserved three points for Roger Schmidt s side after the interval, with Dusan Vlahovic seeing a goal ruled out for offside and Bremer blasting over as Juve looked to snatch a late equaliser.

That left Juve with just one win in seven European outings against Benfica, who sit level on points with Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Group H after the Ligue 1 side overcame Maccabi Haifa 3-1 on Wednesday.

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Jose Mourinho is confident he will be retained by Chelsea even if their poor start to the season translates to a mid-table finish in the Premier League.

Chelsea head into the weekend s clash with Aston Villa sitting 16th in the Premier League, having won just two of their opening eight games.

The champions fell to a comprehensive 3-1 defeat to Southampton last time out before Mourinho lashed out at the Football Association and challenged owner Roman Abramovich to sack him for a second time.

Abramovich instead took the surprise move of publicly backing Mourinho who claimed to be Chelsea s greatest ever manager after the Saints loss and the Portuguese now appears confident in his long-term prospects.

When asked if he would expect to survive overseeing a m…

Eden Hazard scored twice as Chelsea moved to the top of the Premier League with a scintillating 5-0 victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Not since winning the 2014-15 title have Chelsea led the top flight, but they took advantage of Manchester City s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough earlier on Saturday to do so, though Arsenal or Liverpool could displace them by winning their respective matches on Sunday.

Antonio Conte s team, unchanged for the fourth straight league match, ran riot and punished visiting manager Ronald Koeman for his decision to switch to a three-man defence.

That surprise tactical change came despite Everton having ended a run of five games in all competitions without a win at home to West Ham last time out.

Hazard opened the scoring in t…

According to , Timo Werner may leave Chelsea at the end of the season. The Germany international forward joined the Blues from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2020 for £45 million and was expected to be a massive success in the Premier League. However, Werner has failed to set English football alight and may leave the London club in the summer of 2021 or in the next year or two.

According to , Werner has made 23 starts and four substitute appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea so far this season, scoring five goals and providing five assists in the process. The 25-year-old forward has also made five starts and two substitute appearances in the Champions League for the English club this campaign, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the process, according to .

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Germany made it three wins from three under Hansi Flick and tightened their grip on top spot in World Cup qualifying Group J with a routine 4-0 victory over Iceland.

After putting eight unanswered goals past Liechtenstein and Armenia in their opening two games under Flick, Die Mannschaft kept up their positive start in Reykjavik.

Serge Gnabry s tap-in and Antonio Rudiger s header had Germany two goals ahead inside 24 minutes and Leroy Sane killed off the contest early in the second half.

Germany passed up a number of further opportunities before Timo Werner added a late fourth to seal a win that moves his side four points clear of second-place Armenia, who were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Liechtenstein earlier on Wednesday.

Looking good 

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New Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has revealed Jose Mourinho played a huge role in persuading him to join the club.

The 40-year-old completed an unexpected move to Stamford Bridge from Premier League neighbours Fulham earlier in July.

And the Australia international concedes he had reservations about the amount of football he would play with Petr Cech firmly established as Chelsea s number one.

However, a conversation with new boss Mourinho rapidly allayed those fears.

Before I spoke to the manager I had some doubts, but once I spoke to the manager those doubts disappeared pretty quickly, Schwarzer commented.

The amount of games Chelsea play, there is going to be opportunities to play games and that s also important for me.

The former Middlesbro…

Andre-Pierre Gignac has reaffirmed his commitment to Marseille, quashing rumours of a move to Newcastle United.

The 27-year-old striker top-scored for Marseille last season with 18 goals in all competitions as the club finished runners-up behind PSG.

Gignac is preparing for his fourth campaign at Stade Velodrome after signing for the club in 2010 from Toulouse.

He struggled to find form in his first two seasons and only scored 14 goals, but his fortunes improved under Elie Baup last term to the extent that he has attracted interest from elsewhere.

However, Cignac is adamant that his future is with Marseille.

I have never wanted to leave, he told L Equipe. (The links with) Newcastle and the rest, it is all b******t.

My mind is always on OM and I let Je…

Barcelona have confirmed midfielder Sergi Samper will remain at the club this season and be part of the first-team squad.

The 23-year-old has agreed to stay at Camp Nou and will wear the number 16 shirt for the rest of the 2018-19 campaign.

Samper, a graduate of Barca s academy, was loaned to Las Palmas last term but missed the majority of the second half of the season due to a serious leg and ankle injury.

He had previously spent 2016-17 with Granada, making 22 appearances in LaLiga.

Samper inherits the number 16 jersey from Gerard Deulofeu, who is now at Watford, while Sergio Busquets and former club captain Xavi have both worn the number in the past.

  to be included first team squad with  on the back of his shirt

— FC Barcelona …