Beckham not in Capello plans

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots has risked a showdown with Manchester City by stating his desire to select Vincent Kompany for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Israel.

Kompany, captain with his club and national team, has been sidelined since sustaining a calf injury during City s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Juventus last month.

The 29-year-old will sit out his Saturday s Premier League match against Newcastle United and was therefore a surprise inclusion in Belgium s squad for the final two matches of their qualification campaign.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, City manager Manuel Pellegrini said Kompany cannot  play for Belgium but that he was happy for him to join up with his team-mates under a watching brief for the games against Andorra next Saturda…

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola denied suggestions his team s 4-0 loss to Barcelona was the worst of his career.

A Lionel Messi hat-trick and Neymar strike saw Barca to a resounding win in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Claudio Bravo s red card early in the second half, with City trailing 1-0, proved particularly costly, while Jeremy Mathieu was sent off late for Barca.

Guardiola, however, denied it was his worst loss, pointing to a 4-0 defeat suffered against Real Madrid while he was at Bayern Munich in 2014.

The worst defeat of my career was with Bayern against Madrid, he said, via AS.

It was the whole situation and the mistakes I made with the starting line-up.

Guardiola felt his team created enough opportunities to get on …

Arsenal are interested in signing Jamie Bynoe-Gittens from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that although German club Dortmund do not want to sell Bynoe-Gittens, Premier League outfit Arsenal could make an offer €30 million and that could sway the Bundesliga outfit.

Bynoe-Gittens has made four starts and 11 substitute appearances in the Bundesliga this season, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the process. The 18-year-old English forward has also made two substitute appearances in the UEFA Champions League and has made one start and one substitute appearance in the DFB-Pokal this campaign.

Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League table at the moment with 78 points from 34 matches, two points ahead…

Market: Seattle Sounders win

Odds: 7/11 @

Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Western Conference table, Seattle will welcome Sporting Kansas to Lumen Field on Sunday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Seattle might have been disappointed after only grabbing a single point away at Real Salt Lake last weekend, the Sounders are enjoying what has been a largely impressive start to the new campaign. Currently sat at the top of the Western Conference table and already putting 20 points on the board from their opening 10 appearances, Brian Schmetzer’s side have lost just one of their previous eight domestic appearances across all competitions. Glad to make a return to Lumen Field on Sunday night, the Greens have continued on a rea…

that Tottenham Hotspur are readying a move for Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata, according to the Metro.

The Spain international, who was linked with a move to White Hart during his time with Valencia in La Liga, has had a mixed time since moving to Old Trafford in January 2014.

He has scored fourteen goals in forty-two appearances in all competitions for United though he is not guaranteed a starting spot under Louis van Gaal, and could be set to move to pastures new in the summer.

Before moving to Manchester, the 26 year old spent two-and-a-half years with Chelsea, where he was part of the squads that won the FA Cup and Champions League in 2012 and the Europa League in 2013 and was named the clubs player of the season both years.

Atletico Mad…

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel is excited about the physical battle with Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Benteke s form has helped Villa climb six points clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League, with the Belgium international recapturing his goalscoring touch.

The 24-year-old has scored in six of his past eight matches, netting nine times.

But Skrtel is welcoming the challenge of taking on Benteke, saying he preferred to face physical strikers more than speedsters.

To be honest, I prefer to play against the type of striker like him, like [Diego] Costa, the Slovakian, who is returning from suspension, said.

That is better because for me I don’t want to chase the little guys.

Obviou…

Despite strong interest from the likes of Sevilla, AS Roma, AS Monaco and Schalke 04, Mariano Diaz was adamant about his wish to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu, according to .

The striker doesn t seem to fit in with the plans of Zinedine Zidane for this season, with the likes of Karim Benzema and newcomer Luka Jovic both ahead of him in the pecking order at the moment. Nonetheless, his wage demands, apparently set at €4 million per year, apparently put off all suitors except Schalke. The Bundesliga side were the only club willing to pay that kind of money, but Mariano wasn t interested in moving to Gelsenkirchen simply because Schalke won t be competing in Europe this season at all.

Zidane made his stance on the 26-year-old public, but the player also made it very cl…

Gary Neville has suggested the Premier League should consider playing games in European hotspots  without coronavirus concerns, if the plan remains to finish the season.

The 2019-20 top-flight campaign has been halted since March 13 due to the global health pandemic, though the Premier League has continued to make clear its determination to complete the backlog of fixtures.

Friday will see further talks held between stakeholders over how to proceed, with reports suggesting there is hope for action to resume on the weekend commencing June 13.

Neville, however, is concerned over games going ahead in Britain safely even behind closed doors considering the logistical issues involved.

Instead, the former Manchester United and England defender has raised…

Top manager

Aston Villa go into the Christmas games in fourth place knowing that games against Arsenal and Liverpool could see them announce themselves as genuine title contenders.

Everyone at Villa Park is well aware that last February Villa found themselves in a similar position but faded away badly and eventually finished sixth.

Martin O’Neill is desperate for his players to remain focussed and to not get carried away with their success,

The same thing might happen again. We are on a decent run but the Premier League is very unforgiving. You are going along nicely, you win a couple of games but then you pick up a couple of injuries, lose a game and want to know where the next win is coming from. I think it s very much the case of same again. We …

American midfielder Ricardo Clark has agreed to a deal with German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt. The 26 year old Clark has put pen to paper a deal that will see him stay at Frankfurt till the end of the 2009-10 season. The contract also contains an extension option.

Clark was a free agent after his contract with MLS club Houston Dynamo ended in 2009.

This is Clark s first stint outside the United States.  He started his senior career with the New York Red Bulls ( then known as the MetroStars) in 2003 before being traded to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2005.  Clark was part of several Earthquakes players who moved base to Texas  for the 2006 season, thereby forming Houston Dynamo.

Clark is expected to make his first appearance for the club only in Februa…