Villa captain Laursen retires

England v Slovakia

In their last outing, England were shown by Spain just how far away from being the best they are. Despite that, the World Cup qualifying campaign is going as well as it possibly could for Fabio Capello and his over-hyped, over-paid men. This warm-up game sees them take on Slovakia at Wembley.

England will not be playing Ledley King after the embarrassing club v country argument earlier in the week and several other players, including Shaun Wright-Phillips and Peter Crouch, are carrying knocks. On the positive side, Rio Ferdinand, Steve Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are all likely to be back after missing the Spain game. Manchester United keeper Ben Foster may win his second cap.

The Slovakia side was formed in 1993 after the break up of Czechoslovakia and …

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres cost the Blues £50million when he moved to Stamford Bridge from Liverpool in the winter transfer window of 2011. Since then he has struggled to hit the back of the net on a regular basis for Chelsea.

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has failed to meet expectations at Stamford Bridge since his big-money arrival from Liverpool in 2011

Obvious

Torres has recently stated that he needs to score more goals this season. That is stating the obvious really.

It did not take Sherlock Holmes to work that out. Larry Holmes could have worked that out Fernando.

Here is what the Spaniard told Chelsea TV: The people are looking at me thinking I should do much better and it s true,

The reason you pay that money for someone…

Alex Ferguson was overwhelmed after receiving the League Managers Association Manager of the Year award on Monday.

The Scot, who has now landed the award a record-breaking four times, announced his retirement from Manchester United after 26 years and 1500 games at the club, winning his 13th league title this season with victory over Aston Villa in April.

After another successful season at the club Ferguson was given the honour by the LMA members, including all managers from the top four leagues in English football.

Ferguson s previous awards came after league triumphs in 1998-99, 2007-08 and 2010-11, and this fourth honour moves him ahead of David Moyes, his replacement at United, who has won it three times.

It has been overwhelming, Ferguson said. The c…

France boss Didier Deschamps has rubbished the suggestion it will be easier to defend against Luka Modric than Lionel Messi or Eden Hazard as the Croatia star is less mobile .

Modric s form at the World Cup has seen him tipped to win the Golden Ball as the tournament s best player and challenge for the Ballon d Or later this year.

Deschamps sees no reason why France would have an easier time against the Real Madrid star in Sunday s final, simply because they have already coped with Hazard s Belgium and Messi s Argentina in the knockout phase.

I m sorry, but you probably didn t see the same Modric as me if you think he is not mobile, he told a news conference.

He can play in the centre, not especially, but of course he has technical qualities that are ma…

As for the visitors, while new Barca boss Quique Setién may have seen his side snatch a 2-1 win off of Levante at the Nou Camp last week, Blaugrana sit three points adrift of Real Madrid and top spot in the La Liga table. Including being hit with a 2-0 defeat away at Valencia last month, the former European champions have won just three of their last seven La Liga appearances and have continued to show some worrying struggles on the road. Failing to win any of their last three matches on their travels, including dropping points away at relegation scrappers Espanyol, the former Real Betis manager has seen his squad land just a pair of top-flight victories outside of Catalonia since the 19th of October. While the reigning La Liga champions might be showing some continued issues at the ba…

Nothing without him?

Could it actually be that we are going to have a tight Premier League season at the top and at the bottom?

Nervy

Manchester United returned to the top with a really nervy win over Bolton. After taking a two goal lead they switched off and Bolton laid siege on their goal and very nearly took a point. However, the champions picked up three points.

Meanwhile, Chelsea took the lead at top four wannabees Aston Villa through the enigma that is Didier Drogba but then threw it away and lost 2-1.

Two man

Liverpool lost at Sunderland when Darren Bent’s shot was deflected in off a beach ball thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan. That really is some sort of own goal. Are Liverpool a two man team and not able to…

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has revealed that the club are in talks with Liverpool over a move for Jonjo Shelvey.

The 21-year-old made 26 appearances for the Merseyside club in the first half of the 2012-13 campaign, but was handed just six outings following a poor performance in his side s narrow 2-1 win over Mansfield in the FA Cup.

However, the former Charlton Athletic midfielder now looks set to be handed a lifeline by Michael Laudrup.

There is an interest there and we are talking to Liverpool, Jenkins told the South Wales Evening Post.

We are still talking on a number of fronts to try to get the right players on the right deals for Swansea City.

The Welshman went on to reveal that the Liberty Stadium outfit are also still working on a deal for Lyon f…

Brazil national team returns to Estadio Governador Magalhaes Pinto for the first time since the embarrassing 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-final, and the Selecao now have a good opportunity to banish memory of said loss as they face arch rivals Argentina in Superclasico.

With Brazil leading the chase with 21 points and los Albicelestes currently outside of qualifying positions, the Selecao can inflict their bitter rivals a costly defeat and they .

Brazil not only won their last five home games against Argentina, but have largely impressed under new coach Tite, recording four comfortable triumphs during his reign.

It has to be noted though that los Albicelestes will have Barcelona superstar Leo Messi back to the side, but odds of 29/10 offered …

Wayne Rooney deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Manchester United legends Bobby Robson and Denis Law after his recording-breaking achievements.

The 31-year-old recently became United s all-time top goalscorer as he dethroned Charlton with his 250th goal for the club in the 1-1 draw with Stoke.

As well as being United s record goalscorer Rooney is also England s leading marksman, a feat he achieved in 2015 with a penalty against Switzerland.

Despite his success at United the 31-year-old has regularly been criticised this campaign, but Yorke is adamant there is no doubt Rooney is among the greatest ever.

The record he just broke has been there for over 40 odd years and he has to be one of the all-time greats. He is right up there, Yorke said.

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan continued his scoring streak with another two goals as Manchester City edged closer to a fifth Premier League title in six seasons following a 3-0 win over Everton.

Pep Guardiola’s side now only need a maximum of six points from their final three matches to extend their stranglehold on the championship trophy after a straightforward afternoon at Goodison Park

Gundogan took his tally to four in two matches with a brilliant double, one a superbly-executed over-the-shoulder volley and the other an exquisite curling free-kick up and over the wall.

of the league!

0-3

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

In between Erling Haaland scored his almost mandatory goal to make it 52 for the season, with former Everton centre…