Neymar absent, Dani Alves to lead Brazil´s Tokyo Olympics squad

Brendan Rodgers has slammed the nonsense Premier League fixture schedule that will force him to rest star striker Jamie Vardy during the festive period.

Leicester beat Everton in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday and continue a gruelling run of games with Saturday s trip to Manchester City.

The Foxes then face Premier League leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day and have just one day of rest before an away match against West Ham.

Vardy has started all 17 of Leicester s league fixtures this season, scoring 16 goals, but Rodgers said the 32-year-old could not play every game.

There is no chance, the Leicester manager told reporters. You cannot risk the fitness of a player. You play on the 26th, you re going to play a high-intensity game here against Liverp…

Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza remains open to selecting Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez in his squad.

Higuain made a €90million move from Napoli to Juventus in July after scoring a record-breaking 36 goals in Serie A last term.

However, the striker was not called up by Bauza for Argentina s 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela this month, previously uncapped Atletico Mineiro striker Lucas Pratto instead getting the nod.

Tevez has not featured for the national team since October 2015, but Bauza has not ruled either player out of contention for future squads.

I spoke with him [Higuain]. He knows that he could be selected at any time. He s a national team player, the coach said.

[Tevez] is getting back to his best form, but we…

Luca Pellegrini has completed his switch from Roma to Serie A rivals Juventus in a deal that sends Leonardo Spinazzola the opposite direction.

The 20-year-old left-back passed a medical on Sunday having agreed terms on a four-year deal.

Juve announced a fee of €22million will be paid to Roma over the course of three years for Pellegrini, with the transfer of Spinazzola to cost Roma €29.5m across the same period.

Pellegrini made 12 appearances on loan at Cagliari during the second half of 2018-19 and will now compete against Alex Sandro for a starting spot at Allianz Stadium.

OFFICIAL | Luca is a Bianconero! 

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)

Italy international Spinazzola was loaned out seven times by the Bianconeri and lea…

Substitute Chuba Akpom netted a late match-winner as Arsenal saw off the MLS All-Stars 2-1 in San Jose on Thursday.

Akpom came off the bench past the hour-mark and he proved to be the difference, scoring from close range with three minutes remaining after big-money recruit Granit Xhaka made his debut for the Premier League giants at Avaya Stadium.

Scores were level at half-time following Didier Drogba s equaliser at the third time of asking for Kaka and Co., cancelling out Joel Campbell s 11th-minute penalty.

The result ended the All-Stars run of consecutive wins against European opposition, having upstaged Tottenham last year and Bayern Munich in 2014.

Sorry All-Stars, this is one north London team you couldn t beat

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal)

Everton midfielder Muhamed Besic has announced he will be out of action for six months due to a knee injury.

The Bosnia-Herzegovina international suffered the injury in Wednesday s friendly between Everton and Manchester United, limping off just 11 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute in Wayne Rooney s testimonial at Old Trafford.

He underwent a series of tests on Thursday to determine the extent of the knock and it has now been revealed he will be sidelined until February.

A brief message on his official Twitter account read: 6 months out! #devastated.

6 months out!

— MoBesic (@Mo_Besic)

Besic joined Everton from Hamburg in July 2014, but injuries have prevented him from making much of an impact at Goodison Park.

…

Santos F.C. starlet Victor Andrade is reportedly attracting interest from a host of top Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, understands.

Andrade, whose current contract at the Estádio Vila Belmiro expires next summer, wants to move to Europe as soon as possible in order to boost his chances of playing for Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.

The Brazil youth international, 17, has made it clear he will not sign a new deal with Peixe, making him available for a cut-price fee of less than £2.5 million.

Andrade, the ‘New Neymar,’ made his final decision after consulting his godfather, AC Milan forward Robinho. Smart move.

The 29-year-old, formerly of Santos (2002/05), eventually convinced Andrade to seek pastu…

Following a week of criticism aimed at Raheem Sterling, his Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne has hit back at those singling him out from behind a keyboard .

Sterling has been at the centre of controversy after a picture of his gun tattoo surfaced on social media, which sparked outrage from a British tabloid.

He was in the headlines once again a few days later; this time because it was revealed he arrived late to the England training camp due to a delayed flight coming back from a holiday in Jamaica.

But De Bruyne believes the media focus should be shifted to Sterling s talent on the pitch instead.

He is an unbelievable player, the Belgium international told reporters. I don t know why people in England always want to criticise him. He is a good g…

Germany limbered up for their World Cup defence with a patchy 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in Leverkusen on Friday.

Timo Werner gave Joachim Low s men an early lead and Omar Othman s unfortunate own goal undermined Saudi Arabia as they briefly threatened to find a way into the contest.

Marco Reus made his first international start since March 2016 and dazzled during the first half, laying on Werner s opener and linking pleasingly with the RB Leipzig striker and Thomas Muller.

A former Dortmund team-mate of Reus will enter Russia 2018 under a cloud – Ilkay Gundogan again receiving boos following his meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Saudi Arabia were humiliated 8-0 in the 2002 World Cup by Germany but their current vintage, led by former …

Market: Viktoria Koln win

Odds: 21/20 @

Looking to make an immediate return to winning ways on Monday evening, Viktoria Koln will host a struggling Duisburg at Sportpark Hohenberg.

Starting with the hosts, eventually slumping to an action-packed 3-2 loss away at leading promotion contenders Elversberg on April 10th, Viktoria Koln should be smelling the chance to find an immediate boost here. Although Olaf Janben’s side might find themselves sat in third-tier limbo, the Whites have continued on an eye-catching run over the past couple of months. Opening April with a 2-1 win at home against Verl, the one-time Dynamo Dresden boss has seen his side lose just one of their last seven appearances a run that stems all the way back to February 27th. Likewise, collectin…

Erik ten Hag has not ruled out using the transfer market to strengthen his squad as injuries and illness continue to hit Manchester United hard.

The number of absentees reached double figures for Monday’s 2-0 FA Cup win away to League Two Wigan, with Christian Eriksen out due to illness and Antony injured.

Although Ten Hag is optimistic a number of players could return in time for Sunday’s Premier League match at home to Tottenham, a United bench made up almost entirely of youngsters at the DW Stadium pointed to the stretched resources.

“We consider everything,” Ten Hag said when asked about the January window. “So what is in the best interests of the players and also the best interests for us, the team, for Manchester United. So we’ll see how we prog…