Manchester United s Phil Jones is eager to take full part in pre-season, after being hampered by injury in recent off-seasons.

The versatile player is part of the England side that will face friendlies against Brazil and the Republic of Ireland next month.

After suffering an injury at the start of the 2012-13 season, Jones came back to play a key role as United claimed a 13th Premier League title and the 21-year-old wants to hit the ground running .
I think I ve only had one pre-season and that was in my first season here so it s important I get a full pre-season under my belt, Jones told Inside United.
I need to get fitter and stronger and mentally prepare myself for what will be another tough season again.
It was possible that Jones could have been selected for Engl…

Free-spending Monaco are wrapping up a deal to sign Real Madrid full-back Fabio Coentrao, .

The Principality Club have already recruited James Rodriguez, Joao Moutinho, Radamel Falcao and Ricardo Carvalho, but they do not plan to stop there.

According to Portuguese newspaper A Bola, Real Madrid s Fabio Coentrao is the next high-profile player expected to arrive at Stade Louis II.

The same source has suggested that Monaco have opened talks with the La Liga outfit and thus moved to the front of the queue for the defender s signature.

Fabio Coentrao joined Real Madrid in a €30 million deal from Benfica in the summer of 2011, but hasn t quite managed to prove his worth at Santiago Bernabeu.

He has made a total of 36 La Liga appearances for los Blan…

Germany coach Joachim Loew said Thursday he is set to recall goalkeeper Robert Enke and striker Mario Gomez for Saturday s World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein in Leipzig.

Germany top Group 4 with nearest rivals Russia four points behind, but Loew knows his side can ill-afford to drop points either on Saturday or on April 1 against Wales in Cardiff before they travel to Moscow in October.

Back-to-back home defeats at the hands of England and Norway recently mean Germany need a convincing win at Leipzig s Zentralstadion to stay on course for South Africa next year.

Having recovered from a broken hand, Hanover s Robert, 31, is back in goal while an ankle injury to Bayern Munich s Miroslav Klose means Stuttgart s Mario Gomez will partner Bayern s Lukas Podolsk…

AZ Alkmaar have won the 2008-09 Dutch Championship as their only remaining rivals, Ajax, crashed to a 6-2 defeat at previous champions PSV Eindhoven.

Ajax needed a win to postpone AZ s championship party but Marco van Basten s men never stood a chance in Eindhoven. Edison Mendez, Ibrahim Affelay and Nordin Amrabat gave the hosts a very comfortable lead in the first half, and Luis Suarez goal for 3-1 just before the break could not threaten PSV s advantage.

In the second half, PSV continued their full domination with goals from Jason Culina and Balazs Dzsudzsak. Miralem Sulejmani made it 5-2 on 76 minutes. PSV had the final say though as substitute Otman Bakkal netted for 6-2 in added time.

AZ could have decided the title race themselves on Saturday evening, but …

Liverpool have won the race to sign Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle, according to Matt Law of . The 17-year-old is due to undergo a medical with the Champions League winners on Wednesday, before completing a £1.79 million move to the Merseyside.

Van den Berg is a Dutch U-19 international defender who made 16 Eredivisie appearances for Zwolle during the 2018/19 season. The report claims he will spend his first year in the north-west of England settling in and learning, before being given a chance to impress manager Jurgen Klopp in the first team in 2020/21.

The youngster was an object of interest for Sampdoria back in January, but the Serie A outfit failed to acquire him with a £2.25 million bid. Now however, Liverpool are able to sign him for less than that as he …

Real Madrid intend to keep Luka Jovic, Isco Alarcon and Marcelo in their ranks for the rest of the season, despite the recent suggestions that these players were in line for January departures, according to .

Jovic has so far failed to justify the €60 million the club spent to bring him in from Eintracht Frankfurt, and with the form of Karim Benzema looking good still, he isn t likely to break into the starting XI any time soon. Wolverhampton Wanderers are said to be keen to sign the Serbian striker as a replacement for the injured Raul Jimenez, though he was not their only option.

Isco and Marcelo are also out of favour under Zinedine Zidane, who prefers Ferland Mendy on the left defensive flank and has plenty of options to choose from in midfield.

However, R…

Competition: Ligue 1

Market: Marseille to beat Guingamp and both teams to score

Odds: 

With their form of late putting Champions League football back on the cards, Marseille will travel to Guingamp on Friday night.

For Antoine Kombouaré s Guingamp side, The Red and Blacks saw their six-match unbeaten run come to an end last weekend when they lost 3-1 away to Dijon. While a top half finish is still very much on the cards for the hosts, Guingamp have previously struggled against Marseille. Failing to register a single goal in their last three meetings between the two sides, although Kombouaré s side have won their last three home matches in a row, their defensive issues will still show cause for concern. The Red and Blacks have now only recorded a sin…

Barcelona s attempt to finish LaLiga as undefeated champions in 2017-18 crashed to a stunning halt with a 5-4 loss at Levante on Sunday.

Ernesto Valverde s side were just two games away from a historic achievement but, with Lionel Messi rested, they fell to a remarkable defeat.

Philippe Coutinho s hat-trick only came after Emmanuel Boateng had done likewise for Levante and Enis Bardhi hit a brilliant brace for the hosts.

Here are some of the numbers behind a dream of invincibility perishing.

1 Barcelona have lost a La Liga game for the first time since April 2017 vs Malaga at La Rosaleda, 400 days ago. Surprise.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose)

400 – Barca s last loss in LaLiga came 400 days ago on April 8, 2017 when they went down to a 2-0…

Chelsea have signed Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan, handing him another chance at success in the Premier League following a dismal spell at Manchester United.

Just a few years ago, Falcao was seen as one of  if not the best striker in world football as he justified a €40million move from Porto to Atletico Madrid by firing the Spanish club to glory on the European stage.

Falcao netted 70 goals in two seasons at the Vicente Calderon and was the driving force for a team that lifted the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and Copa del Rey.

Recently, though, the Colombia international has cut a very different figure on the pitch, and heads to Chelsea not as a marquee signing in his prime, but as a gamble made by a club short of strikers outside of Diego Cost…

David de Gea retains the trust of Julen Lopetegui despite making an uncharacteristic error that cost Spain victory in a World Cup warm-up against Switzerland.

After Alvaro Odriozola scored his maiden international goal with a sensational volley, Spain looked on track to win their first friendly ahead of Russia 2018.

But a shot from Swiss captain Stephan Lichtsteiner was spilled by De Gea, allowing Ricardo Rodriguez to tap in from close-range.

Spain remain unbeaten in the 19 matches since Lopetegui was appointed following Euro 2016 and the coach will make no rash decisions in the wake of De Gea s error.

19 Julen Lopetegui has not lost any of his first 19 games for Spain  (W13 D6), the second best unbeaten start of any manager, after Luis Aragones in 2006 …