Diego Laxalt has been called up as a replacement for Cristian Rodriguez in Uruguay s Copa America Centenario squad. 

Experienced winger Rodriguez, who plays his club football for Independiente, is suffering from a problem with scar tissue.

According to Uruguay s medical staff, there is no certainty the 30-year-old will recover in time to participate in the competition. 

As a consequence, Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez has selected the uncapped Laxalt, who joined Inter in 2013 but is yet to make a Serie A appearance for the Nerazzurri, going on loan to Bologna, Empoli and most recently Genoa.

Uruguay, who won the competition for the fourth time in 2011, begin their Copa America campaign by taking on Group C opponents Mexico on June 5, followed by matches a…

Croatia s clash with Denmark in Nizhny Novgorod kicked off in front of a sizeable number of empty seats.

Like every other World Cup host city, a large amount of tickets have been sold to local fans. And, just like every other World Cup host city, most of those supporters were still out on the streets, celebrating Russia s penalty shoot-out win over Spain, when Sunday s late game got underway.

Given the spectacle on offer, they will have plenty of reason to keep the party going.

This was the scene of Croatia s dismantling of Argentina in the group stage, a match that shook the South Americans to such an extent that a minute s silence was held on one national sports TV channel. That was the game that turned Zlatko Dalic s side into bankable dark horses for the tro…

Verdict: Harry Kane to Score Anytime

Best Odds:

Bookmakers:

Tottenham welcome Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to Wembley on Sunday for a game that will have a big impact upon the race for the top four spots in the Premier League. Both teams head into this game off the back of positive results in the Champions League and Liverpool will be keen to find the back of the net after a frustrating 0-0 draw against Manchester United last weekend. Spurs return from Spain having recorded an impressive draw in the Bernabeu and will look to neutralise Liverpool’s attackers as effectively as they did Real Madrid’s.

Tottenham

Spurs’ draw with Spanish super club Real Madrid in midweek proved that the North London club can go toe-to-toe with Europe’s elite. However…

Arsenal dropped points for a third Premier League game in a row as they were held to a 0-0 draw at West Ham in a wasteful showing on Wednesday.

Arsene Wenger s men were the better side for most of the match and pushed West Ham s defence to their limits at times, but in the end they were not clinical enough to take all three points, leaving them in seventh behind Burnley.

The Gunners did not fall into the trap which snared Chelsea at London Stadium on Saturday, avoiding an early concession and swiftly establishing themselves as the superior force.

Chances were by no means a regular occurrence, though, with Alex Iwobi s 27th-minute effort which hit the post the only clear-cut opportunity of the first half.

Arsenal became even more dominant after the break …

FIFA s Ethics Committee has opened formal adjudicatory proceedings against three disgraced former African football officials.

Kirsten Nematandani, former president of the South African Football Association (SAFA), Jonathan Musavengana, former Zimbabwe Football Association official, and ex-Togo coach Banna Tchanile could all face sanctions following an investigation by world football s governing body.

All three were investigated over allegations that they breached FIFA s ethics code with their involvement in friendly matches in South Africa in 2010.

The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee, under its chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert, has opened formal adjudicatory proceedings against Kirsten Nematandani, former President of the South African Footb…

Kieran Trippier has no doubts about Joao Felix s quality after his unbelievable header for Atletico Madrid against Manchester United, but he suggested the forward still has work to do to meet Diego Simeone s exacting standards.

Joao Felix s superb diving header gave the Spanish champions the lead in their Champions League clash with the Red Devils, before substitute Anthony Elanga netted to leave the tie finely poised at 1-1 at the halfway point.

The opener represented Joao Felix s 24th goal for Atletico in all competitions but just his second headed goal for the club, with his only previous such effort coming against Cadiz back in November 2020.

Tripper, who left the Wanda Metropolitano for Newcastle United in January, was not surprised by his former team-mat…

Best Odds: 2/3

Bookmaker:

Knowing they re within touching distance of securing their spot at next year s delayed European Championships, Northern Ireland will welcome Slovakia to Belfast on Thursday night.

Northern Ireland

Starting with the hosts, while Northern Ireland might have managed to secure that dramatic penalties victory away at Bosnia-Herzegovina in what was a tense encounter last month, the Greens have struggled to find much momentum heading into Thursday s showdown. Enduring what has been a difficult run in this year s Nations League tournament, they were last seen getting hit with back-to-back 1-0 defeats at the hands of Norway and Austria. Struggling to fully find their feet since bringing in new boss Ian Baraclough who replaced Micheal O Neill ba…

Metro understands that Ander Herrera is set to consider his options after talks of a new deal at Manchester United stalled.

The Spain international is out of contract at the end of this season and whilst he is keen to remain at Old Trafford but may need to look elsewhere as there has been no progress in his contract negotiations.

The twenty-nine-year-old is in his fifth season with the Red Devils having signed from Athletic Bilbao in the summer of 2014.

During his time with the club he has so far racked up one hundred and sixty-three appearances in all competitions, scoring seventeen goals.

He was part of the squad that won the FA Cup in 2016, and the EFL Cup and Europa League a year later.

He has been capped twice by his country with bo…

Eliesse Ben Seghir followed in the footsteps of Thierry Henry and Kylian Mbappe as he made an impactful league debut for Monaco on Wednesday.

The youngster was introduced halfway through Monaco s trip to Auxerre in their first Ligue 1 game following the World Cup and scored twice as the visitors ran out 3-2 victors at Stade de l Abbe-Deschamps.

An M Baye Niang penalty for the hosts was cancelled out by Wissam Ben Yedder just before half-time, with Ben Seghir then scoring with a tidy finish from a tight angle 12 minutes after the break to put Monaco in front.

A Youssouf Fofana own goal levelled things again, before Ben Seghir struck with five minutes of normal time remaining to seal the points, coming in off the left flank and picking out the far side of the net w…

Jordan Pickford has become the first goalkeeper to keep five clean sheets across the first five games of a European Championships, after England s 4-0 rout of Ukraine.

Harry Kane scored either side of Harry Maguire s brilliant header before Jordan Henderson s first England goal – on his 62nd cap – sealed an emphatic quarter-final triumph in Rome.

England now head back to Wembley for a semi-final clash with Denmark, who defeated the Czech Republic, on Wednesday, with a first appearance in a final since 1966 in the offing.

While England s attack clicked, it is the Three Lions defensive resilience which has seen them through, with Saturday s win bringing up their seventh clean sheet in a row.

It is the first time England have gone as many games without c…