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Hazard could head back to Chelsea as Juve eye Prem duo

Chelsea are exploring the possibility of re-signing Eden Hazard from Real Madrid.

Hazard, 30, cost Real more than £100million when he swapped Stamford Bridge for the Bernabeu in 2019.

But he has failed to live up to expectations and would be allowed to leave if a suitable offer came in.

Reports in Spain say Blues owner Roman Abramovich is convinced Hazard would become a world beater again back in the familiar surroundings of West London.

He made 310 appearances during seven seasons at the Bridge, scoring 110 goals as he lifted the Premier League and Europa League twice, as well as the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

The problem is Real would want to recoup as much of the fee they paid as possible — but Chelsea are unlikely to offer more than £40m for a player who has been beset by injury and fitness problems.

Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of Blues full-back Reece James and the suggestion is the Spanish giants may try to factor him into any deal.

James, 21, has not nailed down a regular starting spot since Thomas Tuchel took charge last season but it is unlikely Chelsea would want to sell the England international.

Juventus are ready to raid Manchester as they look to win back the Serie A title.

Max Allegri’s side have made a poor start to the domestic campaign after failing to win the league for the first time in 10 years in 2020-21.

Now reports in Italy suggest they want to sign both Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek in January.

Silva, 27, has been one of City’s best players this season but wanted to leave the Etihad before the summer transfer window slammed shut.

Whether or not his starring role in the past two months has changed matters remains to be seen — and Pep Guardiola will not want to lose the Portuguese maestro.

For Van de Beek, 24, it has been a miserable 15 months since swapping Ajax for Old Trafford.

Only four of his 17 starts for United have come in the Premier League and he was linked with an exit throughout the window.

Both deals would be loans, though the suggestion is they may come with obligations to buy at the end of the season.
In other news

Manchester United are interested in Leicester midfielder Wilfried Ndidi, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes.

The Sun say United will make Jesse Lingard available for £15m in January if he fails to extend his stay at Old Trafford, with his contract expiring next year.

Alexandre Lacazette has no intention of signing a new deal at Arsenal, according to Football.London, with his current contract running out at the end of the season.

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Depay double ensures easy win for Netherlands over Gibraltar

Memphis Depay scored twice and had a penalty saved as the Netherlands maintained their hold on World Cup qualifying Group G with a comfortable 6-0 win over Gibraltar.

Virgil van Dijk’s early header got the ball rolling, with Depay responding to Bradley Banda saving his spot-kick by finishing off a neat team move and scoring a second penalty as the Oranje went in at half-time with a commanding lead.

Denzel Dumfries wasted no time in adding to the scoreline in the second half, before substitutes Arnaut Danjuma and Donny Malen completed the scoring to condemn Gibraltar to an eighth defeat from eight.

The Netherlands can ill afford to slip up, with Norway two points behind them, but that was never likely here as Van Dijk opened the scoring inside nine minutes, losing his marker with ease and nodding Depay’s corner in at the near post.

Stefan de Vrij’s header was blocked in the box by the arm of Graeme Torrilla, with a penalty awarded following a VAR review, yet Depay’s spot-kick was at a nice height for Banda to make a convincing save.

The Gibraltar goalkeeper could do little two minutes later, however, as Noa Lang’s superb pass carved the visiting defence open and Davy Klaassen squared for Depay to tap in.

Banda made fine saves from Georginio Wijnaldum and De Vrij, but another handball – this time Julian Valarino blocking Steven Berghuis’ right-wing cross – gave Depay a second opportunity from the spot he would not pass up.

Dumfries made it 4-0 shortly after the restart, finding himself in the centre of the box to head in Lang’s left-wing cross, and a lull in the scoring was brought to an end 15 minutes from time when Wout Weghorst flicked on to Danjuma, who steered the ball into the bottom-left corner on the stretch.

Weghorst thought he had got his name on the scoresheet when he nodded over Banda but Roy Chipolina hacked off the line, with the sixth instead belonging to Malen after slick interplay involving Depay.

What does it mean? Netherlands in control of their own fate

The Netherlands maintained their gap at the top of Group G and are firmly in control of their World Cup qualification fate.

With two games left to play against Montenegro and second-placed Norway, Louis van Gaal’s side can cement their place at the tournament with just four more points.

Depay breaks Oranje scoring record

Depay has now scored more goals for the Netherlands in 2021 (14) than any other player has previously in a single calendar year, surpassing Patrick Kluivert’s previous record of 12 in 2000.

The Barcelona forward was not deterred by his 19th-minute penalty being saved, scoring the goal that broke the record two minutes later and making amends with his second spot-kick at the end of the first half. Depay finished an extremely lively outing with seven shots, eight chances created and two assists.

Goals flowing for Van Gaal’s Netherlands

The Netherlands have scored four or more goals in three consecutive home games for the first time in 20 years, with the last instance coming in 2001, also under Van Gaal.

With 29 goals in just eight games, the Oranje are the leading scorers in European qualifying so far.

What’s next?

The Netherlands travel to face Montenegro on November 13, while Gibraltar play Turkey away from home on the same day.

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Werner brace helps secure World Cup spot

Timo Werner scored a double as Germany became the first team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup thanks to a 4-0 win over North Macedonia in Monday’s Group J clash.

Hansi Flick’s side – who have now won all five games under their new head coach – seized the early initiative at the Tose Proeski Arena, with Timo Werner denied by the woodwork as the visitors registered 15 first-half shots.

However, Kai Havertz broke the deadlock after 50 minutes before Werner added a quickfire double to put the game out of the hosts’ reach.

Jamal Musiala then added a late fourth and, with Armenia dropping points against Romania, Germany claimed an unassailable eight-point lead at the summit to qualify for Qatar 2022.

Havertz teed up both Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Muller in the opening stages but neither could beat Stole Dimitrievski with headers, before Darko Velkovski nodded wide at the other end.

Serge Gnabry then poked narrowly wide and Werner, who was earlier denied from point-blank range by Dimitrievski, struck the left-hand post as Germany failed to make their 76.5 per cent first-half possession pay.

Flick’s team, however, opened the scoring after the interval as Muller raced onto Gnabry’s throughball before squaring for Havertz to tap into an empty net.

Werner was unfortunate to not double the lead after a ricochet off the North Macedonia goalkeeper 10 minutes later, but the Chelsea forward made amends.

Muller collected his second assist as he slotted through for Werner, who rifled an unstoppable right-footed volley into the bottom-right corner before curling into the same corner three minutes later following Florian Wirtz’s offload.

Gnabry should have added a fourth but he could only volley over from Muller’s chipped pass, though Musiala latched onto fellow substitute Karim Adeyemi’s ball to roll into the bottom-right corner and seal the victory.

What does it mean? Flick maintains perfect start as Germany secure World Cup berth

Flick won all there was to win with Bayern Munich and has carried on in a similar fashion with the national team, triumphing in his opening five games as Germany have scored 18 and conceded just once.

His perfect start has culminated in Die Mannschaft becoming the first team – barring host nation Qatar – to confirm their place at next year’s World Cup, while North Macedonia sit a point behind second-placed Romania with two games to go in the group stage.

Magical Muller

Germany outshot their opponents 24-7 and could have scored more but most of their creativity should be credited to Muller.

The Bayern Munich star made a game-high six key passes – three more than any team-mate and as many as the North Macedonia team combined – and registered five shots of his own in a dominant display.

Awful Alioski

Ezgjan Alioski endured a torrid outing against Germany’s wealth of attackers as he occupied the left-back spot.

The former Leeds United man won just over a third of his eight duels, gave away possession a game-leading 22 times and completed less than half of his 17 attempted passes.

What’s next?

Germany return to World Cup qualifying action on November 11 as they host Liechtenstein, while North Macedonia travel to Armenia on the same day.

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Martinez given backing by Belgian FA but told lessons must be learned

6646776 08.09.2021 Belgium s head coach Roberto Martinez reacts during the World Cup qualifying soccer match between Belarus and Belgium, in Kazan, Russia s Republic of Tatarstan. Maksim Bogodvid / Sputnik Russia Soccer World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Belarus - Belgium PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY 61e43d7dbfb05b51

Roberto Martinez retains the full support of the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) but has been told lessons must be learned from Belgium’s disappointing Nations League Finals campaign.

Belgium let a two-goal half-time lead slip in last week’s 3-2 defeat to France in the semi-finals and followed that up with a 2-1 loss at the hands of European champions Italy in the third-place play-off on Sunday.

The Red Devils are on course to finish the year as FIFA’s top-ranked national side for the fourth time running, but their ‘golden generation’ of players have still yet to win any silverware.

Martinez could only guide Belgium to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, having previously finished third at the 2018 World Cup (they were also beaten by Italy and France respectively in those tournaments), but the Spaniard – who has been strongly linked with replacing Ronald Koeman at Barcelona – is not at risk of being sacked.

However, RBFA chief executive Peter Bossaert accepts that the second-half display against France cannot be repeated if Belgium are to have any chance of ending their wait for a trophy.

“Roberto is still the right man for the job,” Bossaert told La Derniere Heure. “We still support him 100 per cent. But we have to learn from the game against France, in which we played our best half of football and worst half in a long time.

“I’m going to ask some people for advice, but I’m not going to create a commission or a committee. I also don’t want too many people giving their opinions because then there will be too many differing opinions.”

Belgium are top of their World Cup 2022 qualifying group with 16 points from six matches and return to action on November 13 with a home game against Estonia.

Martinez agrees with Bossaert that Belgium were not good enough during the Nations League Finals, even if there were some positives to take away from the mini-tournament.

“We cannot concede five goals in two games and we cannot concede two penalties, even if the decisions were not correct,” he said.

“But the way we reacted to going behind against Italy, after what had happened in the France game, I thought the team had a real strong personality to keep playing.”

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DERBY COUNTY APPEAL POINTS DEDUCTION

Derby County’s administrators have made an appeal against their 12-points deduction to an independent panel, the EFL has said. The governing body handed Derby County the automatic punishment after Mel Morris placed the club into administration.

The statement read: “The Administrators at Derby County have lodged an appeal against the 12-point deduction imposed on the Club’s 2021/22 season total on 22 September 2021.

“As a consequence, this matter has been referred to an independent Arbitration panel who will consider representations from both parties before making a determination.

“At this current time the Club’s points total in the Championship table will remain unchanged.”

The BBC reports that the administrators will argue the club has received an unfair punishment as their severe financial troubles is a result of the COVID pandemic.

Wigan Athletic argued on the same grounds when they were put into administration last year. However, their appeal failed because Au Yueng, their former owner, bought the club during the pandemic and it was ruled he understood the financial situation of that time.

Mel Morris’ ownership ended in a devastating fashion after he announced the club was losing somewhere between £1.3 million and £1.5 million per month. They are believed to have an estimated debt of at least £50 million, with £20 million being owed to HMRC.

Given the circumstance, Derby feels the appeal is worthwhile due to their chances of survival rising. One financial disparity between the Championship and League One is that the second division receives £4 million extra in solidarity payments.

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BENJAMIN MENDY DENIED BAIL AGAIN OVER RAPE ACCUSATIONS

Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has again been refused bail ahead of his trial accused of raping two women and sexually assaulting a third.

Mendy, 27, who has been in custody for the last seven weeks since his arrest in late August, is on remand at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, and was not present in person for the bail hearing at Chester Crown Court.

The press were excluded from the 50-minute hearing before Judge Patrick Thompson, but the result of the bail application was passed on after the hearing by a court official.

Mendy had made two previous bail applications, which had been refused. The defendant was charged on August 26 with three counts of rape relating to an alleged incident in October 2020 and with the sexual assault of a woman in early January this year. He is also charged with raping a woman in August.

The alleged attacks, on three different women including one under 18, are said to have happened at his home address on Withinlee Road in Prestbury, Cheshire.

The left-back has played for Manchester City since 2017, when he joined from Monaco for a reported £52m. He was suspended by the club after being charged by police, pending an investigation.

Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, of Eccles, Greater Manchester, is charged with four counts of rape.

The charges relate to three complainants over the age of 16 and are alleged to have taken place between April 2021 and August 2021. Matturie is also in custody. Both men are scheduled to go on trial on January 24, 2022.

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PLAYERS AREN’T ROBOTS, WE NEED REST – COURTOIS BLAST FIFA, UEFA

Belgium and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has launched a scathing criticism of UEFA and FIFA for scheduling more and more matches at the expense of player welfare.

Courtois hit out at the growing football calendar after his side’s 2-1 defeat by Italy in the UEFA Nations’ League third-place play-off on Sunday, labelling the match, in which both teams rotated their squads, a “money game”.

“We are not robots. It’s just more and more games and less rest for us and nobody cares about us. When will we get a rest? Never,” Courtois said.

The football calendar has been squeezed in the last 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Champions League and many of the continent’s top leagues taking place in shorter spaces of time but with the same amount of matches.

The European Championship and Copa America were both held at the end of the gruelling season and there is to be no let up in the near future.

Next year’s World Cup takes place between November and December — in the middle of the club season — while the Nations League finals will be held in June 2023.

FIFA, meanwhile, wishes to hold an expanded Club World Cup and its head of Global Football Development, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, has outlined proposals for a biennial World Cup.

“Next year we have a World Cup in November, we have to play maybe until the latter stages of June again. We will get injured,” added Courtois.

“So in the end top players will get injured and injured and injured. It’s something that should be much better and much more taken care of.”

UEFA has opposed the plan for more frequent World Cups and the proposed European Super League, but Courtois said the European organising body was not interested in player welfare either as they too keep adding to the fixture calendar.

“They are against Super League but they just do the same, they put extra games. They made an extra trophy, (Europa Conference League). It is always the same,” added the Belgian.

“They can be angry about other teams wanting a Super League but they don’t care about the players, they just care about their pockets.”

UEFA did not immediately respond to comments from Courtois.

The Nations League was launched in 2018 with the aim of offering more competitive matches for the continent’s teams instead of international friendlies.

The Europa Conference League, which began this season, was created to increase the number of teams of UEFA member nations playing into the later stages of European competition.

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ITALY EDGE BELGIUM 2-1 TO FINISH THIRD IN NATIONS LEAGUE

Nicolo Barella’s thunderous strike and a penalty converted by Domenico Berardi proved enough to earn hosts Italy a 2-1 victory over Belgium on Sunday and third place in this year’s Nations League.

It offered some consolation for the European champions, whose semifinal loss to Spain in Milan on Wednesday ended their world-record 37-match unbeaten run.

They returned to winning ways as Barella volleyed a poor corner clearance into the net one minute into the second half and Berardi added the second from the spot in the 65th minute, after Timothy Castagne had brought down the tricky Federico Chiesa.

Belgium claimed a consolation in the 86th minute when substitute Charles De Ketelaere finished off a quick counterattack.

Belgium, who were without Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku and only brought on Kevin De Bruyne in the second half, hit the woodwork three times but were outplayed for large portions of the contest by the hosts at the Juventus Stadium.

“Today we played very well, we were excellent. We have different solutions and quality in midfield, today they did well,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini told RAI television.

Early chances for Berardi and Giacomo Raspadori were dealt with by the Belgium defence before Alexis Saelemaekers, who plays in Serie A with AC Milan, slammed a shot against Italy’s crossbar in the 28th minute.

But immediately after the break, Belgium fell behind to Barella’s snap effort, cleanly hit after a clearing header from a corner fell perfectly into his path.

Michy Batshuayi then had an effort come back off the woodwork as Belgium came close to a 60th minute equaliser but fell 2-0 behind when Castagne mistimed a tackle on Chiesa to offer Italy a chance to extend their lead from the penalty spot. Berardi’s kick squeezed past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Toby Alderweireld then proved an unlikely attacking threat with two efforts that brought out fine stops from Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma before Yannick Carrasco smashed a curling shot against the Italian post in the final 10 minutes.

Courtois’ quick clearance set up Belgium’s goal with De Bruyne passing to the youthful De Ketelaere to squeeze it past Donnarumma from close range, but it came too late to offer a dramatic finish to the game.

“We had a lot of younger players today and they did decently,” De Bruyne said. “It was good for them to play against a team of Italy’s quality.”

France and Spain meet in the Nations League final in Milan later on Sunday.

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NIGERIA AVENGE LAGOS DEFEAT AT CENTRAL AFRICA REPUBLIC TO STAY TOP OF WCQ GROUP

Nigeria gained revenge over the Central African Republic on Sunday with a 2-0 win while Tunisia moved closer to winning their group and advancing to the last phase of Africa’s World Cup qualification.

Tanzania upset Benin 1-0 away to take a slim lead in Group J while Mali and Uganda both won to keep up their tussle in Group E.

Nigeria had lost at home on Thursday to the Central African Republic in a shock defeat that was their first in 39 World Cup qualifiers stretching back to 2004.

But they won the reverse fixture in Douala, Cameroon with Leon Balogun and Victor Osimhen scoring in the first half.

Balogun made up for the slip that allowed the Central African Republic to score in the last minute in Lagos on Thursday. He met a Moses Simon cross to finish unmarked at the back post in the 29th minute.

Nigeria have a two-point advantage in Group C over the Cape Verde Islands, who were 1-0 home winners over Liberia in Mindelo on Sunday. For the second time in three days, they beat the Liberians with a last-gasp winner, this time from captain Ryan Mendes.

Tanzania top Group J after beating Benin 1-0 away just three days after losing to the same team at home. Simon Msuva cracked home a long-range shot after six minutes to advance his country to seven points, ahead of Benin on goals scored.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, who are the group favourites, are two points back after losing 1-0 away in Madagascar on Sunday.

Ibrahima Kone took his goal tally in World Cup qualification to four as he scored for Mali in their 1-0 win away against Kenya in Nairobi to stay two points clear of Uganda in the Group E standings. Uganda won 1-0 at home to Rwanda with Fahad Aziz Bayo scoring.

Tunisia lost their 100% record in Group B after being held to a goalless draw in Mauritania but they are three points clear of second-placed Equatorial Guinea, who drew 1-1 away in Zambia.

Five more African qualifiers will be played on Monday. The winner of each of the 10 groups advances to March’s playoff where the five ties will be played over two legs with the aggregate winner qualifying for the World Cup finals.

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2022 WORLD CUP COULD BE MY LAST – NEYMAR

Brazil star Neymar has said next year’s World Cup in Qatar could be the last of his career.

The comments by the 29-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward were made in the documentary “Neymar & The Line Of Kings,” produced by DAZN. An excerpt was published on the channel’s Twitter feed on Sunday.

“Man, I think it will be my last World Cup,” Neymar said. “I am facing it like the last World Cup because I don’t know whether I will be able to, mentally, to endure more soccer.”

“I will do everything possible to get there very well,” he added. “I will do all I can to win it with my country and realize my dream, the biggest since my boyhood.”

Neymar played in Brazil’s 0-0 draw at Colombia later Sunday in a World Cup qualifying match. The Selecao lead the 10-team round robin competition with 28 points after 10 games. Neymar missed last week’s 3-1 win at Venezuela because of suspension.

Brazil coach Tite was asked about Neymar’s below-par performance, which included 17 missed passes and 30 losses of possession.

“He is an exceptional player because he makes exceptional plays, he does it exceptionally and not ordinarily,” Brazil’s coach said. “He is a special player, we know it. And he was also well marked, sometimes by two players.”

The match in Barranquilla marked Neymar’s first international match since the 2-0 win against Peru on Sept. 10, in which he turned in a key Brazil performance with an assist and a goal. Despite his efforts, Neymar made clear after the match that he is upset with the treatment he gets at home.

“I don’t know what else I need to do with this shirt for people to respect Neymar,” he said. Local media accused the striker of being out of shape in the 1-0 win at Chile earlier in September, which prompted the striker to walk around shirtless during training in a bid to demonstrate his fitness.

Against Peru, Neymar overtook Romário as Brazil’s top goal scorer in World Cup qualifiers, with 12 goals. He is also approaching Pele’s record of 77 official goals for Brazil. Neymar has scored 69 times for Brazil.

He has so far played at two World Cups. In 2014, he picked up a back injury in the quarterfinals against Colombia, which stopped him from playing in the shocking 7-1 semifinal loss to Germany.

In the most recent edition of the tournament, Neymar had just returned from a serious foot injury and turned in an unimpressive performance in Brazil’s 2-1 quarterfinal defeat to Belgium. He left Russia 2018 amid heavy criticism for his apparently exaggerated reaction to being fouled.

Neymar won the 2013 Confederations Cup title with Brazil, and also won the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. He was injured before the 2019 Copa America, which Brazil won at home.