Luciano Spalletti insisted Napoli will be ready and must not change anything ahead of their rescheduled Serie A clash – and potential Scudetto-clinching showdown – with Salernitana.

The Partenopei had been set to play on Saturday but will now take to the pitch at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday instead.

It means Napoli now play after second-placed Lazio, meaning the title will be theirs if they win after their nearest rivals fail to beat Inter at San Siro earlier the same day.

Nevertheless, Spalletti says his players remain focused on the task in hand, also urging them not to take anything for granted against in-form Salernitana, who are unbeaten in eight matches.

Eyes looking to the stars with feet planted firmly on the ground

…

Uzbekistan and England knocked each other out of the 2009 World Youth Championship, as the two held each other to a 1-1 draw on Friday.

To keep a chance of advancing, both teams needed a comfortable win in their final group game after losing their previous two matches.

After 77 minutes at Suez As-Suwais stadium, things didn t look good for either side although Uzbekistan gave themselves a ray of hope as Ivan Nagaev broke the deadlock.

But the Uzbeks wouldn t score another and instead conceded an equalizer from England s Alex Tchuimeni-Nimely in the 88th minute.

Both teams have collected just one point in the group phase and Uzbekistan, although placed third, are certain of elimination as they aren t one of four best numbers three.

…

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim criticised Radamel Falcao s decision to go out on loan to Manchester United and Chelsea as the Colombia striker attempts to rediscover his best form.

Falcao suffered a serious knee injury midway through his first season at Monaco and was sent out on loan to United for the 2014-15 Premier League campaign, only to move on to Chelsea the following term.

But he failed to impress in England, netting just five goals in all competitions for the two clubs.

Back in France and Ligue 1, Falcao already has two goals in four appearances and, while questioning his time in the Premier League, Jardim insisted the 30-year-old remains one of the world s best strikers.

The problem with Falcao is not only his knee injury, it is also the fac…

Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza believes no one wants to win a trophy with the national team more than Lionel Messi.

Messi briefly retired from international duty after his nation s loss to Chile in the Copa America Centenario final in June.

It marked a third final loss in as many years for Argentina, following on from their defeat to Germany at the 2014 World Cup and Chile at the 2015 Copa America.

Bauza knows how desperate Messi is to succeed internationally, to add to his glittering club career.

He is a player very committed to the national team. He had said something in a moment of frustration, he told Marca.

But we started talking about football and you realise that he lives for that.

No one else wants to win a title with the nationa…

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We re on the final stretch before the 2022 FIFA World Cup and this year, as a result of the tournament taking place in winter, preparation is going to look a little different for all 32 clubs involved. The next step forward in the midst of this chaotic schedule will be the final set of Nations League games, with a pretty frequent collision going down later this week between Belgium and Wales in Brussels.

Belgium

The golden generation of the Belgium national team has been, simply put, overstated a fair bit across the last decade or so. Nobody is denying that they re an impressive outfit that has the potential to win a tournament, but they have yet to even reach a major final. The Red Devils are probably …

Georginio Wijnaldum had just joined AS Roma on loan from Paris Saint-Germain and made a single competitive appearance for the Serie A side when he suffered a tibia fracture in training a month ago.

The 31-year-old is now set to miss not only a large part of the season for his new club, but also the upcoming World Cup in Qatar where he surely would ve gone to represent Netherlands had it not happened.

In such circumstances, the physical injury can sometimes be just a part of the problem as players struggle mentally to accept the unfortunate facts.

A quick update from me. The last weeks I was very emotional and sad, but I’ve learnt to accept the situation how it is and my recovery is going well. Thanks to everyone for all messages and support. It gives me power …

Juan Antonio Pizzi will hope to build on his successful debut in charge of Valencia when his side face Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

Pizzi was appointed at the Mestalla in December and saw his players run out 2-0 winners over Levante on Saturday in his first match, thanks to goals from Pablo Piatti and Sofiane Feghouli.

However, Valencia are likely to face a much tougher test when cup holders Atletico come to town in the last 16 on Tuesday, with Diego Simeone s men having won their last five league matches.

Atletico s impressive form so far this campaign has seen them match La Liga champions Barcelona point for point, with only goal difference separating the two at the top of the table. Atletico also beat Valencia 3-0 just last month.

The two will do bat…

Manchester City have a remarkable milestone in sight as Manuel Pellegrini s men eye their 100th goal of the season when Cardiff City visit.

The 5-0 hammering of Blackburn Rovers in Wednesday s FA Cup third-round replay took the 2011-12 Premier League champions to 99 goals in all competitions.

Cardiff face a huge task to stem the flow of goals at the Etihad, where the hosts have netted 38 times in 10 league matches, all of which have ended in victory for Pellegrini s charges.

And the visitors return of six points from 10 away matches will bring them little cause for optimism on Saturday.

However, the Welsh outfit do not have to think back too far to find inspiration ahead of what promises to be arguably their toughest top-flight challenge since earning promotion l…

Leicester City have signed centre-back Filip Benkovic from Dinamo Zagreb on a five-year contract, subject to international clearance.

The 21-year-old Croatia youth international has arrived at King Power Stadium for a reported fee of £13million after impressing in Dinamo s title-winning season in 2017-18.

The 6ft 4in defender scored four goals in 25 league appearances for Dinamo last season and brings Champions League and Europa League experience to Claude Puel s squad.

“I will give all my heart to this club, to all the fans, to everybody, Benkovic told the club s official website.

Hopefully we ll have a very good result this season. The ambitions of Leicester City are so big.

I like the club very much and I think it’s a very good step …

Mason Greenwood s emergence for Manchester United means the club made the correct decision not to replace Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Greenwood s first senior goal earned United a 1-0 home win against Astana in their first Group L game as the Europa League got underway on Thursday.

The forward was part of a young United team, also featuring Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes, as Marcus Rashford wasted a string of first-half chances.

With 17 minutes to go, Greenwood came up with a delightful winner, with Solskjaer backing the 17-year-old to develop further in the absence of Lukaku and Sanchez.

Greenwood became the youngest European goalscorer in United history and Solskjaer indicated a new contract could be on the cards for the …