List of All Articles with Tag 'ba'

Xavi explains who is to blame for the serious knee injury suffered by Barcelona midfielder Gavi.

After two of the band’s greatest hits records reached the top spot, Madness are celebrating landing their third UK No 1 album.

iRobot Corp., the vacuum-cleaner maker that Amazon.com Inc. is proposing to buy in a billion-dollar deal, soared by

The European Central Bank is now at a point where it can pause and assess the impact of

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s international unit Boots is transferring its $6 billion (£4.8 billion) pension plan to a

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Christopher Nkunku will not be fit to be involved in Chelsea’s visit to Newcastle on Saturday. There had been hopes that the £52million summer signing from RB Leipzig would have sufficiently recovered from the knee injury he sustained on the pre-season tout of the United States to play a part at St James’ Park. But, despite being fit enough to have taken part in training with the first team, the 26-year-old has not worked tactically with the squad and will not travel. Chelsea struggled without the France international in Pochettino’s first Premier League games in charge, with the goalscoring problems that he had been acquired to help solve carrying over from a tumultuous campaign last season during which the team scored fewer league goals than they had in almost a century. Those issues have become less urgent in recent weeks, with four goals scored on three separate occasions against Burnley, Tottenham and Manchester City. By contrast, the team had not previously scored four times in a game since April 2022. “(Nkunku) was doing things with the group last week,” said Pochettino. “But he’s not fully recovered to be part of the squad. “He’s a fantastic player, top scorer in the Bundesliga last season. He can play different positions, his quality is amazing. It’s really bad luck to lose him from the beginning of the season. “We’re going to find the best way for him to fit in the team. He’s going to find massive competition. His team-mates are ahead of him, they’ve had four months of competition. He needs to build his form and be at his best level. “We need to understand he’s coming back from injury, he will need time. We will be patient with him. “It’s not a competition (the Premier League) that he’s normally used to. He came from Europe, he needs to recover from injury but also to know the league. It’ll take time to perform at his best.” Pochettino confirmed that Romeo Lavia, signed in the last week of the transfer window from Southampton for £53m, is also nearing fitness but is slightly behind the progress made by Nkunku. Wesley Fofana has trained on grass at Cobham as he continues his rehabilitation from an ACL injury, though is unlikely to be available before the new year. Chelsea had come into form prior to the international break with five wins from eight in all competitions, a run which saw them score 19 times having previously netted only seven in their first seven under Pochettino. The manager is hopeful that the pause will not have disrupted his side’s rhythm ahead of their visit to face Eddie Howe’s side. “The break came at a bad time,” he said. “It came in a moment we were building a way to play, results were on our side. But I believe we can keep momentum even after two weeks with no competition.” I believe we can keep momentum even after two weeks with no competition Mauricio Pochettino Pochettino added that the squad has held group discussions about why performances and results have been better this season against the stronger teams – draws with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City and victory over Spurs – while there have been home losses to Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa. “It’s part of the process,” he said. “We’re a young team, we started to work four months ago. We need to be more mature, more patient. We cannot get frustrated so soon when things don’t work. “Expectation creates nervousness when you play a team with less quality than you. You take rushed decisions, get frustrated. You want to do the job of your team-mate.”

Hamas released a group of hostages held in Gaza as part of a truce agreement with Israel. Israel’s

Pep Guardiola is hopeful Erling Haaland will return for Manchester City against Liverpool after withdrawing from the Norway squad during the international break. The striker missed Norway’s final Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland on Sunday after picking up a knock to his ankle in Thursday’s 2-0 friendly win over the Faroe Islands. Although Norway insisted the injury was “not serious”, Haaland withdrew from the squad and returned to Manchester City for treatment ahead of this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash. Premier League leaders City host rivals Liverpool in Saturday’s early kick-off, as Jurgen Klopp’s resurgent side look to spark another title race between the clubs this season. Haaland’s two goals in the 4-4 draw at Chelsea before the international break took his Premier League tally to 13 goals in 12 games this season, and the striker will be key to City’s hopes with Kevin De Bruyne sidelined until after Christmas. “He’s trained with niggles yesterday, hopefully he can train today and we will see,” Guardiola said. “We have a few problems, The same as many clubs. We will see in the training session and we will see tomorrow. At 6pm I will know for sure which players I will have tomorrow. Always it’s plan A.” Saturday’s clash between Manchester City and Liverpool is the latest installment of the growing rivalry between the sides and could be the start of their latest title battle after Klopp’s changes over the summer. “I think we are all friends,” Guardiola added. "We know each other quite well. Of course, the time goes forward Jurgen has been eight years at Liverpool and of course it’s not the same players since the start. He has rebuilt the team. "Trent Alexander-Arnold can play inside and outside. But the idea is quite similar and always been our best rivals some seasons done well with injuries they have. Top club and team. Looking forward to it." Read More Mohamed Salah ‘a completely different animal’ for Liverpool before Man City clash Jamie Carragher explains Trent Alexander-Arnold role can leave Liverpool vulnerable Premier League news LIVE: Updates from today’s press conferences

Ange Postecoglou is excited to see Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur close to his best again amid a growing injury crisis at the club. Spurs host Aston Villa on Sunday with at least nine first-team players ruled out and Pape Sarr a doubt after he returned with a knock from international duty with Senegal. A much-needed positive for the Australian is the return to fitness of Bentancur, who made his first competitive start in nine months in Uruguay’s 3-0 win over Bolivia on Tuesday after a serious knee injury. With first-choice midfielders James Maddison (ankle) and Yves Bissouma (suspended) definitely absent for the visit of Villa, Bentancur could be thrust into action. “The back four is probably the major issue for us at the moment. We’re really low on depth there, but midfield as well. That’s just the period we’re going through,” Postecoglou reflected. “The fact Rodrigo got an opportunity to start (for Uruguay) is good for us. It gives him that confidence that he’s able to get through a game. “The beauty of him is he can play a couple of different areas. I think he can play as a six, he can play further forward as an eight and he’s even creative. I think he can score goals as well. “We were kind of hoping with him, Madders, Pape, Biss and people like Pierre(-Emile Hojbjerg) we were well stocked in that midfield area for different kinds of combinations, but obviously that has been disrupted a bit. “The key for Rodrigo is to get him back to that level physically and mentally where he feels really comfortable about playing at this level. “I don’t think he is far off it from what I’ve seen and again certainly over the next few weeks he will get that opportunity.” Bentancur was one of Tottenham’s best players last season and impressed in a box-to-box role before he sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage in February. Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa used him at the base of a midfield three on Tuesday, which is where Bissouma has played for Spurs so far this season. With Bissouma suspended for the Villa match after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign at Wolves, Postecoglou hinted Bentancur could fill that void. He said: “Yeah, potentially. Watching the (Bolivia) game and how he played, he did it really well so you know he can play there. “I don’t think he is that far off from a physical perspective of being able to play his normal game, whether that is box-to-box, and part of it is getting belief in himself and his own body that he is capable of doing it.” Spurs’ hopes of returning to winning ways have been hit by their lengthy injury list, but Postecoglou insisted: “Aston Villa will be a great test for us, but we’re at home. “Apart from the Chelsea game, our home form has been really strong and we need to make sure we get back to that.” Read More LTA urges British tennis fans to show ‘respect’ after Novak Djokovic row at Davis Cup Erik ten Hag prepared for Everton to be ‘mad’ and urges Man Utd to match them Alexis Mac Allister’s performance could be key against Man City – Jan Molby PA selective guide to sport on TV for w/c November 27 Nathan Heaney eyeing middleweight world title fight against Janibek Alimkhanuly Eddie Howe sees no benefit to Newcastle over loans between associated clubs

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is taking the first steps toward revamping its cloud business by overhauling its leadership,

By Paul Carsten and Natalie Grover LONDON (Reuters) -Brent crude futures hovered above $81 a barrel on Friday as traders

Former Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby believes the performance of Alexis Mac Allister could be crucial in the top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City. While the two teams are generally well-matched in most positions, the hosts boast Rodri, who is regarded as the world’s best in the holding role, while Jurgen Klopp has had to field Mac Allister as a makeshift number six. It is an unfamiliar position for the Argentina World Cup winner, who is more effective in a slightly more advanced role, but he has been asked to do a job as Liverpool’s all-new midfield still takes shape after a summer overhaul. Japan international Wataru Endo was one of four midfield arrivals in the summer and while he is accustomed to the defensive job, the 30-year-old has been entrusted with only two Premier League starts and is unlikely to be in consideration against the defending champions. “When you look at the midfield three, I still think we need to find the right balance and combination,” Molby told the PA news agency at the launch of the club’s Ultimate LFC Experience, a package which includes giving fans the opportunity to train at Melwood – the former home of the men’s team and current training base of the women’s side. “We’ve managed to get away with that midfield from game to game, but there is every chance Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez will be playing in there and he (Mac Allister) will have to look after those and that’s a big job in itself. When you look at the teams who are doing well they all have a world-class number six Former Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby “You only have to look at City and what happened when Rodri was out through suspension and they lost games (against Wolves and Arsenal) – that’s how important a world-class number six is. “When you look at the teams who are doing well, they all have a world-class number six so that’s an area where we might need to look at. “The majority of games we will get away with it because of the general quality we have, but there might be one or two games where we go ‘we need someone better in that position’. “That is not a criticism of Alexis as he is not a number six, he is more of a number eight, so the quicker we can get in there the quicker we will improve.” :: For more information about the Ultimate LFC Experience go to www.liverpoolfc.com/stadium-tours Read More PA selective guide to sport on TV for w/c November 27 Nathan Heaney eyeing middleweight world title fight against Janibek Alimkhanuly Eddie Howe sees no benefit to Newcastle over loans between associated clubs