England vs Albania build-up, Lampard to Norwich boss LATEST, Gerrard to Aston Villa CONFIRMED, Chelsea transfer news
ENGLAND are back in action tonight as they take on Albania in their 2022 World Cup qualifier.
Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe has a chance of starting for Gareth Southgate's side after a late call-up to the squad.
Frank Lampard is a candidate to become Norwich manager nearly a year after leaving Stamford Bridge, according to reports.
The Chelsea hero will replace Daniel Farke, who was dismissed last weekend.
Elsewhere, Steven Gerrard has been confirmed as Aston Villa's new manager after the departure of Dean Smith.
The ex-Rangers boss has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Villans.
We've also got all the latest on a potential transfer for Declan Rice as well as updates from Chelsea, who are eyeing a swoop for Attila Szalai in January.
Newcastle are looking to get rid of the Sports Direct branding from their stadium as the Magpies get set for Eddie Howe's first game in charge next weekend.
Get all the latest football news, updates and transfer gossip below…
- Justin Lawrence
NO CHARGE
Paris St-Germain women's midfielder Aminata Diallo has been released without charge by French police investigating an attack on her team-mate Kheira Hamraoui.
Diallo was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the attack, but was subsequently let go after being questioned.
It's not clear what will happen next in the investigation as a 34-year-old man was also released after his arrest for the alleged crime.
And the French authorities are also keeping tight-lipped on the proceedings.
- Justin Lawrence
SILKY SHANE
Republic of Ireland defender Shane Duffy left Cristiano Ronaldo blushing with a superb Cruyff turn during his side's draw with Portugal.
Stephen Kenny's side earned an impressive goalless draw with the Euro 2016 winners at the Aviva Stadium as their form continues to improve.
And Brighton defender Duffy provided one of the highlights of the evening with a silky piece of skill which left Ronaldo bamboozled.
The Cruyff turn displayed by the Seagulls centre-back was a demonstration of the confidence the Ireland players are beginning to feel under Kenny.
- Dylan Terry
GOOD MORNING FOOTBALL FANS
Steven Gerrard was officially named Aston Villa's new manager – with the former Rangers chief to be backed in the January transfer window.
The Liverpool legend, 41, has enjoyed success north of the border with Rangers since taking over in June 2018.
In his first managerial role, Gerrard led the Glasgow side to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade in 2020-21.
And with his stock continuing to rise, the 114-cap former England midfielder has replaced Dean Smith as manager after his sacking following a FIFTH consecutive Prem defeat at Southampton.
The Kop icon has signed a two-and-a-half year deal at Villa Park and will be in charge for the first time next Saturday at home to Brighton.
Meanwhile, Gerrard's ex-England team-mate Frank Lampard is set to be appointed Norwich City's new manager, according to reports.
The Canaries sacked Daniel Farke on Saturday – just hours after he guided them to their first win of the season.
Lamps held conversations with the Carrow Road board on Monday and, according to talkSPORT's Jim White, has now agreed to take over the Premier League's bottom club.
However, SunSport understands that Lampard has NOT yet been offered the job.
- Jack Figg
FIREMAN SAM
Sam Allardyce has not ruled out taking another job in the game.
Sacking season is now in full swing – and Allardyce may yet be asked to fulfil his role as Fireman Sam saving clubs from relegation.
He said: “I keep making a fool of myself by saying I’m retiring and then going back.
“So I’d still be up for it if another offer comes in and I’ll know I’m really finished only when I stop getting offers.”
Big Sam didn’t get the call from dive-bombing Aston Villa after the sacking of Dean Smith – with Steven Gerrard now his successor.
- Jack Figg
MARS DELIGHT
Matteo Guendouzi has seemingly ruled out a return to Arsenal next summer, with the Marseille loanee insisting he wants a ‘long-term’ transfer.
Guendouzi, 22, is currently on loan at Stade Velodrome after finding himself frozen out by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
He told RMC Sport: “I am on loan. I am focused on what I have to do with Marseille.
“I want to be a part of Marseille for the long-term.
“I am very comfortable here and I want to continue have fun in Marseille.”
- Jack Figg
WRIGHT TIME TO GO?
Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ‘reached his level’ as Manchester United boss.
He said on Wrighty’s House: “Every pundit is seeing and saying the same thing, no direction, no coordination, no structure with great players.
“If they get it right in situations, they are going to beat teams. But anyone who is organised against Man United, like we saw at Leicester, like we saw Liverpool do at a canter, you’ll cause them a massive problem.
“And that is happening simply because the manager has got to his level.
“I’m looking at ex-Man United players, Rio [Ferdinand], Roy Keane, now we are starting to hear stuff, they cannot wait to say this player is not good enough, that player is not good enough.
“We say it flippantly. But this manager has reached his level.”
- Jack Figg
CAN IT BE DON?
Jadon Sancho could be used as a WING-BACK when Manchester United take on Watford.
The Red Devils return from the international break with a trip to Vicarage Road on November 20.
And with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer desperate to get the best out of his stuttering squad, that could see a major shake-up for the £73million winger.
Sancho, 21, has featured for just 342 minutes in the Premier League this season, starting three times.
Here’s how United could line-up against the Hornets.
- Jack Figg
BARNES STORMER
John Barnes claims Steven Gerrard is using Aston Villa as a ‘stepping stone’ to become the next Liverpool boss.
Gerrard’s stunning Villa Park move was confirmed on Thursday morning, with Rangers receiving £3million in compensation for their title-winning gaffer.
Barnes told BonusCodeBets: ““The Premier League is where managers want to be, and everyone is aware that Steven Gerrard is focusing on the Liverpool job.
“But if that won’t be around for two or three years, clubs like Aston Villa are one of the more attractive jobs, and they can eventually push into the top six, given the size of the club.
“Will a bigger club come along? No one can know for sure. If Celtic beat Rangers this year, would Steven still have had the same hype?
“If he aspires to manage in the Premier League, it’s a decent club for him.”
- Jack Figg
MIC DROP
Micah Richards has joked that Jamie Carragher may choose to defend new Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard in the same way Gary Neville has with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Gerrard, 41, was confirmed as Dean Smith's successor at Villa Park on Thursday morning.
And Richards was quick to question what Gerrard's ex-teammate Carragher's approach will be when critiquing him on Sky Sports.
Speaking on Twitter, Richards said: "I wonder if Carragher is gonna protect Gerrard like Neville protects Solskjaer. But that’s not my business."
Jabbing back at Richards, one social media user said: "We can wait for the Man City legend to become manager for you to criticise. Oh wait there aren’t any."
Another added: "I’m not sure Gerrard will need the same amount of protection that Ole does."
- Jack Figg
IRON BRU
Kevin De Bruyne revealed Manchester City trained for just TEN MINUTES the day before facing rivals United.
Pep Guardiola’s side cruised to a 2-0 win over their neighbours last Saturday thanks to an Eric Bailly own goal and Bernardo Silva effort after a defensive mix-up.
And after that red-hot performance you wouldn’t have known that City had hardly trained the day before.
De Bruyne told Dutch podcast Mid Mid: “The day before a game we usually train tactically, based on how the opponent plays.
“Before United, Pep said: ‘We don’t know how they are going to play. We shall see’. And we stopped training after 10 minutes or so.
“Often Pep knows how the opponent is going to play. This time he didn’t know, so he didn’t know what to do.
“We have done what we always do, but he didn’t know beforehand if they would play with five at the back, with four, a diamond in the middle, or with three up front.”
- Jack Figg
TOON IN FOR RABIOT
Newcastle are reportedly lining up an ambitious £13million move for Juventus star Adrien Rabiot.
But they face a fight to convince the Frenchman to join them over fellow suitors Real Madrid.
Calciomercato claims Rabiot has emerged as a top target for new Toon boss Eddie Howe in January.
- Jack Figg
REDS RETURN
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard's return to Anfield next month will NOT be shown on TV.
The Liverpool legend was announced as Dean Smith's successor on Thursday as he departed Rangers after three years in charge.
And his arrival at Villa Park means he will now have to coach his side against the club he made more than 700 appearances for between 1998 and 2015.
Aston Villa travel to Anfield to take on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side on December 11.
However, BT Sport and Sky Sports have already selected their Premier League games for December – and Liverpool vs Aston Villa is not one of them.
Instead, the game will take place at 3pm on the Saturday when the UK television blackout is in force.
The matches aired on Sky that weekend will be Brentford vs Watford, Norwich vs Manchester United, Leicester vs Newcastle and Crystal Palace vs Everton.
Meanwhile, BT Sport are showing the early kick off on Saturday between Manchester City and Wolves.
- Jack Figg
JUVE KEEN ON MARTIAL AND LACAZETTE
Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette are both reportedly being targeted by Juventus if they fail to land Dusan Vlahovic.
The Old Lady are battling both Arsenal and Tottenham to sign the Serbian striker from Fiorentina.
The 21-year-old is out of contract in 2023 and has so far resisted penning an extension, leading to speculation he could soon be departing for £68million.
Juventus are desperate to snatch him from their Serie A rivals – however they have also allegedly drawn-up a list of five potential alternatives.
Calciomercato claims boss Max Allegri has identified both Manchester United outcast Martial and Arsenal’s Lacazette as other options.
- Jack Figg
HE DID MY ED IN
Trent Alexander-Arnold rates Eden Hazard as his toughest-ever Premier League opponent and has explained why.
Hazard's form and fitness have nose-dived since quitting the Blues for Real Madrid two years ago.
But asked to name his best top-flight rival, Alexander-Arnold had no doubts.
The England star, 23, told Amazon Prime: "Eden Hazard, yeah. The best by probably a little bit of a distance.
"Maybe De Bruyne, but directly against an opponent would have to be Hazard.
"Yeah – speed, agility, his awareness, his intelligence on and off the ball is unreal."
- Jack Figg
PREMIER LEAGUE NEXT SEASON
Things get underway on August 6 – the weekend before the start of the campaign this year.
Club bosses agreed that the season will start early because of the winter World Cup getting underway on November 21.
The season will include 34 weekend Match Days, three mid-weeks and one Bank Holiday round.
And there will still be a standalone weekend for the FA Cup final.
Prem chiefs have tried to keep the season as close as possible to the usual format – while incorporating the break needed for the World Cup to take place.
- Jack Figg
BON APPETIT
West Ham will reportedly trigger a one-year extension clause in Angelo Ogbonna’s contract if the ace is injured for the rest of the season.
The Athletic claims Ogbonna, 33, faces a nervy wait after sustaining a cruciate ligament injury during Sunday’s 3-2 win over Liverpool.
The veteran Italian will be sidelined for at least a few months.
But there are fears he could miss the rest of the campaign when further scans and test results come back.
However, if David Moyes’ worst fears are realised, West Ham will not abandon Ogbonna in his hour of need.
Instead. the Hammers will apparently trigger a year-long extension clause in his contract – which is due to expire next summer.
That will give Ogbonna the necessary time and treatment to fight his way back to full fitness under the eyes of West Ham medics.
And Ogbonna will therefore get another shot to impress once he’s back after becoming a key man this season.
- Jack Figg
MORE FROM THE PREM
In a statement, a Premier League spokesperson said: "The Premier League 2022/23 season dates have been confirmed.
"The season has been adjusted to accommodate the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 which will take place in the middle of the domestic calendar.
"The Premier League season will start on 6 August 2022. Match Round 16 will be the last set of matches played over the weekend of 12-13 November ahead of the call-up period for the tournament beginning on Monday 14 November.
"The League will resume on Boxing Day following the FIFA World Cup Final, which takes place on Sunday 18 December 2022.
"The final match round of the campaign will be played on 28 May 2023, when all games will kick off simultaneously as usual."
- Jack Figg
PREM PLAN
The controversial 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to wreak havoc to the Premier League schedule.
England's top-flight will break for SEVEN weeks while the tournament goes on – with the final pencilled in for December 18.
It comes 16 Match Days into the season – three before the halfway stage.
The Prem will then resume just a week later on Boxing Day 2022.
With the World Cup lasting 28 days, the last 16 round of the Carabao Cup will take place in the midweek before Christmas, before the December 26 fixtures will see the resumption of Prem activity.
That's after breaking following the conclusion of games on the weekend of November 12-13.
The season will then finish on May 28, 2023.
The season will, as revealed by SunSport in September, finish on Sunday May 28, with the FA Cup Final the following Saturday, a week before the Champions League Final.
- Jack Figg
'MAIN CONCERN'
Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn has urged the club's board to back Mikel Arteta in the transfer market.
He told SunSport: "I think that the fans will always have a voice, particularly if they’re not happy with how things are being run behind the scenes.
"Arsenal are starting to invest a bit more money in the transfer market, they’ve certainly invested heavily this season.
"We have the owners there, we just need to make sure that we are starting to travel back in the right direction.
“We’ve fallen away from that top four, but now we need to go back in that direction.
"As long as Arteta has finances to keep improving the squad, then that would be my main concern."
- Jack Figg
FEELING FRANK
Frank Lampard is set to be appointed Norwich City's new manager.
The Canaries sacked Daniel Farke on Saturday – just hours after he guided them to their first win of the season.
Lamps held conversations with the Carrow Road board on Monday and has now agreed to take over the Premier League's bottom club.
It is his first job back in the dug-out since he was axed by Chelsea in January following his 18-month stint in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The ex-Derby boss was linked with the Newcastle job before Eddie Howe's appointment.
- Justin Lawrence
MAUR DIFFICULT
Mauricio Pochettino has raised some eyebrows by labelling Ligue 1 as the 'most physical league in the world'.
The ex-Southampton and Spurs boss believes the football on the other side of the channel is tougher than the action in the Premier League.
Pochettino told getfootballnewsfrance: "My impression is that it is a very complicated league.
"The quality is there. I think it's the most physical league in the world. I think the talent is amazing, and there are great coaches too.
"Every single game you can see all the teams have quality, have the capacity to win the games, never give up.
"I think it's a very, very good league, and we are so happy to be here.
"I'm not saying that it's a better league than the Premier League, but I think that in the way that the games are here – I think they are more physical than in the Premier League."
- Justin Lawrence
RON BOD
Manchester City ace Ferran Torres has revealed he looks to Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo as his physical and nutritional inspiration.
Torres reckons Ronaldo changed how footballers treat their bodies which has led him to get a personal trainer and nutritionist.
Speaking to El Desmarque, Torres said: “He [Ronaldo] is my point of reference.
He has changed football in terms of nutrition, taking care of yourself, investing in your body.
“This is a long-term process in which what you do today has repercussions for tomorrow. Football is more physical, and you have to be prepared."
- Justin Lawrence
SPURS SLUR
Former Arsenal chief David Dein has revealed that Patrick Vieira’s first words in English was a Tottenham slur.
Dein brought Vieira to Arsenal in 1996 along with ex-boss Arsene Wenger.
And to get Vieira accustomed to life in London, Dein got the retired midfielder an English teacher to help the Frenchman master the language.
But Dein got a shock when he checked in on Vieira a few weeks later to see how he was getting on.
Dein recalled: “After a couple of weeks I went down to the dressing room and I said: ‘Patrick, can you speak something in English?’
“He said ‘yes Mr. Dein’. I said: ‘What can you say?’ He looked at me and he said: ‘Tottenham are [explicit].’
- Justin Lawrence
FEELING FRANK
Frank Lampard s set to be appointed Norwich City's new manager.
The Canaries sacked Daniel Farke on Saturday – just hours after he guided them to their first win of the season.
Lamps held conversations with the Carrow Road board on Monday and has now agreed to take over the Premier League's bottom club.
It is his first job back in the dug-out since he was axed by Chelsea in January following his 18-month stint in charge at Stamford Bridge.
- Justin Lawrence
TEAR GERRKER
Steven Gerrard has bid farewell to Rangers with a heartfelt post to Instagram.
The Liverpool legend was confirmed as Aston Villa boss today after a successful three years north of the border.
n an emotional post to Instagram, Gerrard said: "I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone associated with Glasgow Rangers, especially the fans, for the love and support you've all shown me during my time in Scotland.
"Winning "55" will always hold a special place in my heart – each and every one of you played a part in that and, believe me, there will be many more to come.
"I hope in time you can understand and accept my decision to move on but I honestly fell in love with the club and will always follow the team.
"Once a Ranger, always a Ranger #55"
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