Darren Ferguson gets FA misconduct charge

Aston Villa strengthened their grip on a top-four position in the Premier League with a pulsating 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest.

Villa have their sights firmly set on Champions League qualification and a first home league win of 2024 saw them move five points clear of Tottenham in fifth.

Ollie Watkins and Douglas Luiz’s double saw them cruise into a 3-0 first-half lead only for Forest to scare them with goals either side of half-time through Moussa Niakhate and Morgan Gibbs-White.

But Leon Bailey struck on the hour to give Villa breathing space and they saw it out to give themselves a cushion over the chasing pack.

Forest were lucky still to be in the game at half-time after being overrun in the first 40 minutes but improved after the break and had eno…

England head coach Sarina Wiegman is satisfied Friday s 2-1 win over world champions the United States proves her Lionesses are at a very high level less than a year out from the Women s World Cup.

European champions England were playing at the scene of their momentous Euro 2022 triumph on July 31 for the first time, with the USA – the most successful team in women s football – visiting Wembley.

Although only a friendly, pre-game interest around the match was significant with it said to have been the fastest-selling England fixture – men or women – at the new Wembley.

The crowd was treated to an entertaining contest, with Lauren Hemp giving England an early lead as she pounced on a failed interception in the penalty area.

Sophia Smith levelled in …

A late Anthony Modeste header earned Bordeaux a 1-1 draw at home to Marseille on Sunday and ensured the 2009 French champions avoided defeat in their first game since the sale of Yoann Gourcuff.

Gourcuff joined Lyon in a 22 million-euro deal earlier this week and in his absence Bordeaux looked set to slip to their third defeat in four games after Lucho Gonzalez gave the visitors a 12th-minute lead.

Marseille had to play for over an hour with 10 men following the first-half dismissal of Edouard Cisse and they were within two minutes of their first league win at Bordeaux since 1977 when Modeste struck.

It was a good performance. We knew it was an important match for the fans, and for us, said Modeste, who signed from Nice earlier this month.

We persever…

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini expects captain Vincent Kompany to be fit for Sunday s League Cup final against Liverpool.

Kompany has battled persistent calf problems this season, but returned to action this month and turned in an authoritative display at centre-back in Wednesday s impressive 3-1 Champions League win at Dynamo Kiev.

But the Belgium international, along with right-back Bacary Sagna and forward Raheem Sterling, undertook a recovery training session away from their team-mates on Friday.

Sagna, Kompany and Sterling are recovering separately after the game but I hope the three of them will be fit, Pellegrini said.

Should they recover sufficiently, the trio will join a squad bolstered by the returns of winger Jesus Navas (hamstring) a…

Prediction: Over 2.5 goals and both teams to score

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Cristiano Ronaldo makes his return to Old Trafford on Tuesday evening as Juventus face off with Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League.

The Portuguese superstar returns to England nine years after his departure for Real Madrid in a match which could go a long way in deciding how the group will play out.

Manchester United

Jose Mourinho s Red Devils head into the game with the Italian giants having dropped two points at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. Despite going behind to Antonio Rudiger s first-half goal, a brace from Anthony Martial put them ahead only for Ross Barkley to score a last-minute equaliser. United now sit tenth in the Premier League table having o…

Ramon Calderon expects Barcelona to agree a reduced fee for the transfer of priceless captain Lionel Messi.

Messi has asked to leave Barca his only senior club after a difficult season at Camp Nou in which they failed to win a trophy amid tension between the board and the talismanic forward.

The 33-year-old has a clause in his contract that allows him to terminate his deal and leave the club for free at the end of each season.

It is claimed Messi intends to activate this clause, yet Barca reportedly believe the option has already expired for this year, despite the 2019-20 season having been prolonged by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rival clubs would otherwise have to pay €700million to release Messi from his contract, a fee that would appear beyond …

Freddie Ljungberg has not been given a timeframe for how long he should expect to serve as interim head coach of Arsenal.

Fans favourite Ljungberg steps into the breach left by Unai Emery s sacking for Sunday s Premier League trip to Norwich City, where the Gunners will look to arrest a run of seven winless games in all competitions.

The likes of Mikel Arteta and Massimiliano Allegri have already been linked with the vacancy, yet Ljungberg insists that bigger picture is not his concern.

There is no indication how long or how short, he told Sky Sports on Saturday, as Arsenal confirmed academy manager Per Mertesacker will assist the former Sweden midfielder in his role.

They just said concentrate on the next game, do as well as you can, and we ll see from…

Pep Guardiola was left confused by the decision to disallow Phil Foden s goal in Manchester City s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool

Foden appeared to have put the Premier League champions ahead early in the second half on Sunday, having lashed home on the rebound following Alisson s failure to keep hold of Kevin De Bruyne s pass.

Yet Liverpool were infuriated by what they claimed was a foul on Fabinho from Erling Haaland in the build-up and, despite initially waving play on, referee Anthony Taylor changed his decision after consulting the pitchside monitor.

To compound City s frustration, Mohamed Salah raced clear in the 76th minute and, having earlier seen a golden opportunity saved by Ederson, clipped a cute finish over City s goalkeeper to seal the spoils.

Gua…

Manchester City’s opening-day reunion with Vincent Kompany and Burnley forms part of a friendly-looking start to the Premier League season for the treble-winners.

The top-flight fixture schedule was released on Thursday morning, with Kompany’s side hosting City on August 11 in the opening match of the 2023-24 season.

While clubs will all play each other twice over the course of the campaign, the ordering of the matches can have a significant impact on their fortunes.

To help unravel next season’s fixtures, the PA news agency has analysed the entire schedule using an aggregation of leading bookmakers’ odds and identified the most notable runs.

Soft start for City?

Our 2023/24 fixtures have been announced!

All you need to know

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Spain will prepare for their UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a friendly against France in September.

Vicente del Bosque s side, who will attempt to lift the FIFA World Cup for a second successive tournament at the upcoming showpiece in Brazil, begin their European Championship qualification campaign against Macedonia on Monday, September 8.

And the European champions will take on Euro 2016 hosts France in Paris four days earlier, but before then they will face Didier Deschamps men in Group E at the World Cup.

Spain will also face Germany in a friendly after matchday four, with the two European rivals meeting in Vigo on November 18.

Germany host Gibraltar on November 14, while Spain welcome Belarus a day later ahead of what will be the sides first meetin…