Chelsea ‘ready’ to offload Sterling in ‘swap deal’ with Man Utd under threat of missing out

Argentina continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 draw against Paraguay at La Bombonera on Thursday.

Angel Romero s penalty gave Paraguay a first-half lead, but his opener was cancelled out by Nicolas Gonzalez s header.

After falling behind, Argentina were dominant, and Lionel Messi had a second-half goal ruled out following a VAR check.

Lionel Scaloni s men were forced to settle for a point and are unbeaten through three qualifiers to top the CONMEBOL standings with seven points, while Paraguay are also yet to taste defeat and have five points.

After a bright start, Paraguay took a deserved 21st-minute lead through Romero s penalty.

Miguel Almiron s strong run at the Argentina defence saw the attacker brought down by Luc…

Jurgen Klopp feels Carlo Ancelotti s arrival at Everton makes them more dangerous opponents for Liverpool despite the latter s strong record in the Merseyside derby.

Sunday s game at Anfield is the tie of the third round, with Ancelotti who missed out on the Liverpool job to Klopp in 2015 set for his first experience of the famous fixture.

Klopp and Ancelotti have faced off a number of times during their managerial careers, including in the Champions League group stage in each of the past two seasons.

Liverpool only won one of their four meetings with Ancelotti s Napoli in the competition, losing twice, while Real Madrid knocked out Klopp s Borussia Dortmund under the Italian s leadership en route to Champions League glory in 2013-14.

Ancelotti has led E…

Lionel Messi scored his 650th goal for Barcelona with a sumptuous free-kick against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

The Argentina international whipped a shot into goalkeeper Unai Simon s top-left corner from 25 yards midway through the first half to put Barca 1-0 up in their LaLiga clash at Camp Nou.

Messi was in the headlines earlier in the day when leaked details of his eye-watering contract emerged.

A report by El Mundo claimed the deal Messi signed in 2017, which expires at the end of this season, is worth more than €555million.

The six-time Ballon d Or winner scored his first goal for Barca in May 2005 at the age of 17, beautifully lobbing Albacete goalkeeper Raul Valbuena.

He has gone on to become far and away the club s record scorer, over…

A tie is a rare result in the NFL, but for Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris the 16-16 stalemate against the Detroit Lions came as a complete shock.

The first tie since Week 3 of the 2020 season took place on Sunday, with the Lions avoiding defeat but unable to earn a first win of 2021 after missing a field goal to win in overtime.

There was also disappointment for the Steelers, who were in prime position to win on multiple occasions in a chaotic extra 10 minutes.even with starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger absent due to coronavirus.

First-round draft pick Harris, who ran for 105 yards and caught all four of his targets for a further 28, had no idea game was over. 

FINAL/OT: We have the first tie of the 2021 season.

— NFL …

According to , Arsenal could send Calum Chambers out on loan in the January transfer window. The report has claimed that William Saliba and Reiss Nelson could also leave the Gunners on a temporary deal for the rest of the season.

Chambers has been on the books of Arsenal since 2014 and can operate as a central defender or as a right-back. Although the 25-year-old has a lot of potential and has done well when he has been called into action, there have been injury problems in recent times, and there is also competition for places.

It would make sense for the England international to find a club where he can play regular first-team football in the coming weeks and months. With the likes of Gabriel and David Luiz in the squad, it is going to be extremely hard for Chambers t…

Arsenal are preparing to move for Crystal Palace s Patrick van Aanholt, according to the .

Manager Mikel Arteta has been forced to use right-back Cedric Soares on the left defensive flank in the last couple of matches due to Kieran Tierney picking up an injury and Sead Kolasinac leaving to rejoin Schalke 04 on loan. His usual go-to man in these situations, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, is reportedly close to leaving on loan for the rest of the season as well. Quite apart from all these issues, Tierney has no competition in the squad and the need for the Gunners to sign a left-back is quite obvious.

Van Aanholt went through the youth ranks at Den Bosch and PSV Eindhoven, before joining Chelsea s Under-18 side in 2007. He was promoted to the first team two years later but was n…

Late goals from Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Gianluca Gaetano guided Serie A champions Napoli to a 3-1 win over 10-man Inter, denting the Nerazzurri s bid for a top-four finish.

Simone Inzaghi named a much-changed team with one eye on Wednesday s Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina, and Inter s task was made more difficult when Roberto Gagliardini was dismissed after picking up two first-half bookings.

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa broke Inter s resistance when he fired home on the turn, but Romelu Lukaku looked to have stolen a point with a close-range finish eight minutes from time.

Napoli were determined to continue their Scudetto celebrations with another win, however, Di Lorenzo firing into the top-left corner before Gaetano struck on the break to leave Inter vuln…

Thibaut Courtois says Belgium s current crop of players should not be considered the country s golden generation after their dire World Cup campaign in Qatar.

Belgium finished third at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 despite a series of underwhelming displays, leading to hopes of a renewed World Cup bid this year.

However, the world s number-two ranked side suffered a humiliating group-stage exit after following up a 1-0 win over Canada with a defeat to Morocco and a goalless draw with Croatia.

The Red Devils current squad – which includes a series of household names including Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard – has often been described as Belgium s golden generation , but Courtois says that depiction is inaccurate.

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Cesar Azpilicueta says Spain must keep Lorenzo Insigne and Jorginho quiet if they are to overcome Italy in Tuesday s Euro 2020 semi-final.

Italy head into the showdown at Wembley as the most in-form side in Europe after going 32 matches without defeat and winning the last 13 of those.

The Azzurri saw off Turkey, Switzerland and Wales to top Group A, before beating Austria in extra time and Belgium inside 90 minutes, in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively.

Forward Insigne started four of those five games, the exception being the final group match against Wales, while Jorginho has been an ever-present for Roberto Mancini s side.

Jorginho has completed the most passes (364) of any midfielder at Euro 2020 so far and is fourth in the list in terms of …

Last Sunday had the potential to change everything in the Premier League title race. Instead, it changed nothing.

Arsenal ended the weekend as they started it: five points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand.

Mikel Arteta s men took seven points from consecutive matches against third-placed Newcastle United, fifth-placed Tottenham and fourth-placed Manchester United.

They have passed the various tests left before them and maintained a healthy lead over City.

But they still have not played City themselves this season. That will change on Friday – just not in the Premier League.

The FA Cup fourth-round draw paired England s best two teams, providing a warm-up at the Etihad Stadium for their Emirates Stadium league clash in February.

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