Ivory Coast star Drogba confirmed in friendly squad

Andrew Robertson is the best left-back in England and will be missed when Liverpool host Porto in the Champions League quarter-finals, according to Virgil van Dijk.

Scotland captain Robertson will sit out Tuesday s first-leg encounter at Anfield after picking up his third yellow card of the competition in the 3-1 away win over Bayern Munich in the last 16.

The ever-present 25-year-old tripped Leon Goretzka in second-half stoppage time at Allianz Arena and must serve a mandatory one-match ban.

Robertson has been among Liverpool s best performers this season, starting 39 matches in all competitions, and his absence will likely force Jurgen Klopp to move versatile midfielder James Milner back to the left side of defence.

Van Dijk joked: We won t miss him at …

Luciano Spalletti says Inter must end the season without any regrets as they attempt to secure Champions League qualification.

The Nerazzurri enjoyed a strong first two months of 2018-19 before a run of just two wins in nine games in all competitions saw them knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and fall well behind Juventus in the Serie A title race.

Having exited the Coppa Italia to Lazio on penalties and crashed out of the Europa League at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt, this season will be Inter s eighth in a row without silverware.

They remain on course for a top-four finish, though, with a five-point gap to AC Milan in fourth and Atalanta in fifth with only seven matches to go.

And Spalletti is determined to clinch a Champions Le…

Verdict: Both teams to score – yes

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Cup action continues in France with Ligue 1 heavyweights OGC Nice and AS Monaco locking horns in the Coupe de la Ligue just days following their contrasting fortunes in the Coupe de France.

OGC Nice

Les Aiglons have seen their stock go through a significant rise over the past couple of seasons. With the general increase in popularity of the French football – mostly due to high-profile investments being conducted at PSG – several other clubs such as this week’s Coupe de la Ligue quarter-final rivals OGC Nice and AS Monaco have also got their share of the limelight.

OGC Nice raised their profile by bringing in bad boy of the Italian football Mario Balotelli who helped one of the fou…

Verdict: Under 3.5 goals scored yes

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Real Madrid can t win league title anymore, so their best bet will be to clinch a UEFA Champions League spot as soon as possible. With that in mind, Los Merengues will visit a Getafe side that have been the biggest surprise in the Liga this season. This tilt between potential Champions League sides for the 2019-20 season will meet this Thursday. Kick-off is slated at 21:30 hrs BST.

Getafe

There s no question this season has been an absolute success for Getafe. The Spanish side has been impressive all over the campaign and with only five games left in the schedule, they remain very much alive on the race for a Champions League berth. This is extremely surprising since Getafe were expected to f…

Arsene Wenger does not fear a repeat of last season s Premier League mauling when Arsenal visit Liverpool on Sunday.

Arsenal s previous trip to Anfield ended in a 5-1 defeat in the corresponding fixture from 2013-14 in February a match that saw Brendan Rodgers side leading 4-0 after 20 minutes.

Wenger admits that the drubbing still hurts, but he believes Liverpool do not pose the same attacking threat as they did last season.

Every defeat leaves a scar in your heart,  said the Arsenal boss.

Last year Liverpool scored over 100 goals. Now they re not on the same trend. They came off the blocks very strong last time.

The trip to Merseyside also sees forward Alexis Sanchez come face-to-face with Liverpool, who he reportedly turned down in favour…

Michael Carrick expects Manchester United s burgeoning Premier League title push to be put to the test at his former club Tottenham.

Following a comprehensive 3-1 win over Newcastle United on Boxing Day, United have now taken 22 points from their last eight top-flight outings and sit third in the table.

The form being shown by Louis van Gaal s team is fast making a nightmare 2013-14 campaign under the stewardship of David Moyes a distant memory, and has even led to suggestions that they could challenge Chelsea and Manchester City for the title.

Indeed, despite the fact they remain some 10 points adrift of Premier League leaders Chelsea, Carrick feels United are capable of upsetting the odds.

However, the in-form playmaker knows Sunday s trip to Tottenham…

West Ham United are ready to sell Tomas Soucek in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Hammers are willing to listen to offers for the 28-year-old Czech Republic international defensive midfielder.

Soucek is not having the best of seasons with the Hammers, who have decided that they would be better off selling the defensive midfielder. The 28-year-old is under contract at the London club until the summer of 2024, and talks over a new deal have not progressed.

The midfielder has made 29 starts and four substitute appearances in the Premier League for West Ham this season, scoring two goals and providing three assists in the process. West Ham are 15th in the Premier League table at the moment with 34 points from 33 matches, four point…

Manchester United are set to have two new attacking weapons at their disposal, with deals to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan likely to be completed by the end of the week.

Free agent striker Ibrahimovic, 34, has long been linked with United after opting to leave Paris Saint-Germain following a prolific four-year spell in France.

Attacking midfielder Mkhitaryan, meanwhile, has been swiftly targeted by new manager Jose Mourinho as United pounce for the attacking midfielder who only has one year left on his Borussia Dortmund contract in a reported £33million deal.

Here, with the help of Opta data, we analyse the performances of Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan during 2015-16 compared to United s current crop of attacking talent.

GOALS: I…

that Manchester City have had a £38m bid for Italy’s Leonardo Bonucci rejected by Juventus.

The twenty-nine year old was one of the stand out players for Antonio Conte’s side at this summer’s European Championships, before they were knocked out in the quarter finals on penalties by Germany.

Bonucci has been with Juve for the past six seasons, racking up a total of two hundred and seventy-four appearances in all competitions and scoring sixteen goals.

He has been a key member of the squad that has won five consecutive Serie A titles, while he also has winners medals in the Coppa Itallia and the Supercoppa Italia and was a runner-up in the 2015 Champions League.

His appearance at the weekend was the sixty-fourth cap he has won four his countr…

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has dismissed criticism of his decision to fly to Qatar to work as a television pundit.

The 34-year-old withdrew from Roy Hodgson s squad for the World Cup qualifying double header against San Marino and Montenegro, citing his need to follow an intricate pre-planned programme to stay fit.

The Peckham-born centre-back was widely criticised when it emerged that he would travel to the Middle East during the international break to comment on Friday s clash against San Marino on television.

But Ferdinand has defended his actions on Twitter, writing: I ve flown out for some pre-planned downtime with a bit of punditry thrown in for a game I would have watched anyway.

Haters are gonna hate also assume everything although …