Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Cole Palmer is set to make his return after two months out against Leeds in midweek. The Blues star has been absent since the club's defeat to Manchester United on September 20, and while he returned to the bench against Arsenal at the weekend, he did not come on, with the England international being eased back into action.

Palmer's return

Palmer has been absent for Chelsea since their defeat to United but was back on the bench against Arsenal at the weekend. While Moises Caicedo's red card may have scotched any chance of the England international coming on, he is now poised to play against Leeds on Wednesday. The playmaker's return from a groin issue was pencilled in for last week, but he broke his toe in a freak accident at home, and his comeback was subsequently delayed. Now, he is set to play at Elland Road, his manager, Enzo Maresca, has confirmed.

AdvertisementAFPMaresca's confirmation

Maresca told reporters:"He is available. The last game he was on the bench. For sure with the players was more complicated for Cole because now he needs to come back in terms of fitness condition. He is available, he can start the game.

"The idea of the game is to start giving minutes until he can play 90 minutes."

Maresca has also confirmed that he is facing a "complicated" decision over Reece James' selection, adding: "It's complicated. I would like to start him, but we need to do the right thing."

Asked if he can play in midfield, he said: "I think he can play in both positions. He has been full-back all his life. He also has played as a midfielder. But I think he can be good in both positions. When we decide for him as a midfielder, most of the time it's also when we want physicality in terms of midfielders, when we face some teams that are strong in the middle. So it depends a little bit on the game plan. But as you said, he's doing very well in both positions."

Chelsea challenging at the top end

Chelsea and Manchester City are currently running Arsenal the closest in the Premier League and held the leaders to a 1-1 draw at the weekend, despite Caicedo's red card.

And midfielder Enzo Fernandez insists they should be seen as proper title contenders, telling GiveMeSport: “Of course we are [title contenders]. This season, there are many contenders: Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United. All the teams are battling towards the top.

“There are some very strong Premier League sides. Arsenal have also been doing really well for many years. And Liverpool are a great side. I’m not going to choose one because they’re all good.

“And we know the Champions League is very tough. We’ll try to reach the final, which is what we deserve as a club. We’ve been doing well, so we’re capable of being right up there.”

On the lure of moving to west London, he added: "When Chelsea came in for me, I had no doubts. I wanted to make the move up, in sporting terms, to the Premier League.

“I wanted to come to Chelsea at all costs and didn’t want to let the opportunity pass me by. Everyone knows that and thank God it worked out. I’m here now and I’m very happy."

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Getty Images SportWhat next for Maresca's men?

Chelsea face Leeds this week and sit six points behind Arsenal ahead of the week's fixtures. The Blues also face Bournemouth this weekend, as they attempt to close the gap on the Gunners at the top-end of the table. 

Meanwhile, Arsenal face Brentford in midweek in a potential banana skin of a London derby, before then taking on Aston Villa this weekend. The Gunners, of course, also face European obligations, and will play Club Brugge three days after their clash with Villa; Chelsea play Atalanta on Tuesday.

Newcastle, Liverpool and England legend Kevin Keegan has named the player he would sign if he were managing in football today, while praising Eddie Howe for his "profound" impact at St James' Park. The 74-year-old, who was speaking as he helped launch 10,000 free pints of Guinness for non-league fans on Boxing Day, won the Ballon d'Or twice as a player and had two spells in charge of the Magpies, famously leading one of their best ever teams in Premier League title races during the 1990s before returning for a brief stint in 2008.

• Guinness
  

  Keegan surprises fans for non-league initiative

  Keegan is one of England's greatest ever players, having made his name during a trophy-laden spell with Liverpool before moving to the Bundesliga with Hamburg. He later returned to the United Kingdom for two seasons with Southampton before spending two campaigns with Newcastle. He briefly came out of retirement to play for Blacktown City in Australia, but that spell only lasted two games.

  Now, he has returned to the spotlight by helping Guinness launch a new campaign which will see 10,000 free pints be poured around non-league grounds on Boxing Day. He surprised fans at Scunthorpe United, where he played three seasons in the Fourth Division, scoring 22 goals in 141 appearances before moving to Anfield.

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  Keegan names the star he'd sign as a manager

  Keegan managed in the Premier League, taking charge of just over 250 games in all competitions during his first spell at Newcastle, which lasted just under five years. He would go on to lead Fulham for little over a year before an ill-fated time as England manager, with his next role coming at Manchester City. He won 77 of his 176 matches between 2001 and 2005 and then made a brief return to Newcastle in 2008, though that stint only lasted 22 games.

  Clearly an expert who knows a good player when he sees one, the 74-year-old picked out a current Newcastle star as the player he would look to sign if he were managing a team in today's game.

  He said: "Bruno Guimaraes: a midfielder who plays with imagination and bravery, traits increasingly rare in possession-heavy modern football and perfect for an attacking, expressive side."

• Keegan reacts after Newcastle end long wait for major silverware

  Keegan was also delighted to see Newcastle end a 56-year trophy drought when they lifted the Carabao Cup last season.

  He added: "I was absolutely delighted for Eddie [Howe] because he’s not just a good coach – he understands the identity and emotional heartbeat of Newcastle, something many managers before him struggled with. He’s rebuilt the club’s connection with supporters through honesty, hard work and a clear style of play, and delivering the first trophy in my lifetime since I was a child shows how profoundly he’s changed the mood around the place. 

  "For Newcastle to challenge again, they need to keep building on that clarity – smart signings, patience, stability and maintaining their strong culture. With Europe now part of the journey, they finally look like a club moving upwards with real purpose."

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  What comes next for Newcastle?

  Non-league fans up and down the country will be able to get their hands on a free pint on Boxing Day. Many supporters could find themselves watching such fixtures, with the Premier League only featuring one game that day, which coincidentally is Newcastle's trip to Manchester United.

  Before then, Newcastle have an intriguing trip to Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night. Howe's side have won three of their five games in the Champions League so far, most recently losing at Marseille after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's double despite taking an early lead through Harvey Barnes. 

  Following that trip to Germany, Newcastle face local rivals Sunderland, Fulham in the Carabao Cup, Chelsea, United and Burnley in their remaining December fixtures.

كشف وليد الركراكي مدرب منتخب المغرب، عن موقف أشرف حكيمي من اللحاق بالمشاركة مع منتخب بلاده في كأس أمم إفريقيا 2025.

وكان أشرف حكيمي قد تعرض لالتواء خطير خلال لقاء باريس سان جيرمان وبايرن ميونخ، ويسابق الزمن منذ ذلك الوقت لتقصير مدة غيابه المتوقعة.

ويأمل مدرب منتخب المغرب وليد الركراكي في عودة أشرف حكيمي ظهير باريس سان جيرمان، في المباراة الافتتاحية ضد جزر القمر يوم 21 ديسمبر.

وقال الركراكي في تصريحات لإذاعة “مونتي كارلو” الفرنسية عن حكيمي: “إنه يسير بشكل جيد ويؤدي واجبه على أكمل وجه”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. مجموعة المغرب في كأس العالم 2026

وأضاف: “إنه مجتهد ومتحمس للتواجد في المباراة الأولى، لقد عمل بقوة منذ إصابته، لا يتوقف أبدًا ويحافظ على ثقته بنفسه بروح رياضية عالية”.

واختتم مدرب منتخب المغرب عن الفائز بجائزة أفضل لاعب في أفريقيا: “إنه قائدنا وصاحب جائزة الكرة الذهبية الأفريقية ونأمل أن يكون حاضرًا في المباراة الأولى”.

The Dodgers took both games in Milwaukee to start the National League Championship Series, getting out to a 2-0 lead on the Brewers.

As Milwaukee faces an uphill battle, their manager Pat Murphy still believes his group can beat the odds and advance to the franchise's first World Series since 1982. After the franchise's 5-1 loss in Game 2 Tuesday, he said his team "has been counted out a lot this year" and thinks they still have some fight left in them.

Murphy's 10-year-old son Austin shares that sentiment, as he perfectly explained why he thinks the Brewers can claw back into the series when asked as he sat with his dad during a press conference Wednesday in a sweet moment.

"Well, the guys respond back really good," Austin said into the microphone via the 's Curt Hogg. "They started the season 0-4, those games were not good, but they responded with the best record in baseball so I believe they can do it."

The Brewers manager smiled wide with a proud head nod, then thanking the reporter for asking the question. Murphy's interviews are always fun, often sitting next to his kids and even breaking out snacks from his pocket to munch on during the discussion.

Dodger Stadium hosts Game 3 of the NLCS Thursday as the Brewers, who owned Major League Baseball's best record over the regular season at 97-65, try to get on the board in the series. Nobody expected the Brewers to put up baseball's best record this season, just like no one expects them to get back from a 2-0 hole. Those who know the team best have seen them bounce back before, though.

A quality four-pronged spin attack propelled Melbourne Renegades to a thumping eight-wicket win over Sydney Thunder at Drummoyne Oval.Chasing a miserly 65 for victory, the defending WBBL champions hit the winning runs on the first ball of the 12th over, but the win was set up earlier when their quartet of tweakers demolished a meek Thunder batting line-up.Charis Bekker, Georgia Wareham, skipper Sophie Molineux and England’s Alice Capsey bowled stump to stump and took wickets at regular intervals, assisted by some poor shot choices by Thunder’s batters.Molineux opened in the chase and finished unbeaten on 29, finishing alongside player of the match Capsey.The win sees Renegades jump into outright second on the WBBL ladder with four wins from their opening six matches, now just two points behind competition leaders, Hobart Hurricanes. With four regular season games to play, Renegades are in a great position to go deep into the finals again.In the first innings Renegades were on top right from the opening ball, restricting Thunder to 19 for 2 in the powerplay, and when in-form opener Tahlia Wilson became crafty left-arm orthodox spinner Bekker’s second wicket, the home side were struggling at 21 for 3.By the end of the 10th over they were in even more trouble at 48 for 5. Former England captain Heather Knight appeared their only hope of getting anywhere near triple figures, but when she fell lbw to Wareham topping 100 was never on the cards.Their 64-run total was the third-lowest in the competition’s 11-season history.Thunder star Georgia Voll, who struck consecutive boundaries before being dismissed by Milly Illingworth, wasn’t making excuses.”That’s obviously not what we rocked up here thinking that was going to happen,” Voll said on the player mic during the broadcast. “Obviously it’s pretty disappointing, to be honest.”[The wicket] was a little bit tacky early on, but I don’t think it was enough to be rolled for 65 probably, just some poor shots all around and not adapting to the conditions quick enough.”Thunder went into the game off the back of two wins that had followed losses in their first three matches. They now sit in sixth with the job ahead of them to turn their season around and qualify for the finals.

Wrexham's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have sold a minority Wrexham stake to new Atletico Madrid owners Apollo Sports Capital. The fresh round of investment will provide added funding for the club's stadium redevelopment. The iconic Racecourse Ground is undergoing a serious facelift as the Red Dragons remain focused on fulfilling their dream of competing in the Premier League.

• Atletico's new owners buy stake in Wrexham

  After buying the majority stake in La Liga side Atletico Madrid last month, Apollo Sports Capital (ASC) have now bought minority stakes at Championship side Wrexham. The Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac-owned club confirmed the news on Monday as their official statement read: "Wrexham AFC and co-chairmen, Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, are excited to welcome Apollo Sports Capital, an affiliate of Apollo (NYSE: APO), a global alternative asset manager, as new minority investors in the Club. The investment aligns with Wrexham AFC’s long-term growth strategy and Premier League aspirations, with majority shareholders Mac and Reynolds continuing to oversee the Club as controlling owners. 

  "As part of the investment, Apollo Sports Capital will also provide financing for the STōK Cae Ras, helping advance the ongoing redevelopment of the stadium, including the new Kop Stand. The redevelopment is a key component of the larger Wrexham Gateway Project, a large-scale regeneration plan to support the city’s connectivity and economic future. The project celebrates Wrexham’s heritage while creating an iconic destination for fans, visitors and the local community."

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  Hollywood owners excited after new round of investment

  Following the sale of the club's stake, Reynolds and Mac issued a joint statement which read: "From day one, we wanted to build a sustainable future for Wrexham Association Football Club. And to do it with a little heart and humour. The dream has always been to take this club to the Premier League while staying true to the town. Growth like that takes world-class partners who share our vision and ambition, and Apollo absolutely does. We have known Al Tylis, the CEO of Apollo Sports Capital, for many years and are thrilled to now have ASC join the Wrexham family as we take the next step forward together."

• ASC excited after new association with Wrexham

  ASC officials showed excitement after their association with the Championship side, as Apollo Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager of ASC Lee Solomon said: "Wrexham is on an incredible journey, and we are thrilled to be a part of it and to support the Club, the Wrexham community and Rob and Ryan. This is a multi-faceted investment where Apollo Sports Capital can provide long-term, patient capital to help Wrexham reach its goals and to contribute to the ongoing revitalisation of the facilities and local economy." 

  Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson then added: "We’re delighted to welcome Apollo Sports Capital as a new partner in Wrexham’s journey. Their investment represents both confidence in the Club’s direction and commitment to our long-term vision. Together, we will continue to strengthen Wrexham AFC on and off the pitch, building a sustainable future for the Club for our supporters, our community, and the generations to come."

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  Wrexham stadium upgradation continues

  ASC's investment comes just a year after Allyn Family Office made a minority investment in the Welsh club. The additional money will come in handy as it will add up to the fund for the upgrading of the club's iconic home venue, Racecourse Ground.

  Last week, reported that the Welsh side received around £18 million ($24m) in funding for their stadium redevelopment project from the state fund. The Red Dragons were first awarded £3.8m ($5m) by Wrexham county borough council a year after Reynolds and Mac completed their stunning takeover of the club in 2021. A second payment of £14m ($18m) was made in September 2025.

  Wrexham are working on the construction of a Kop Stand – with the original structure having been flattened some time ago – alongside new floodlights and a convertible ground that will allow the stadium to host international football and rugby matches. As it stands now, the actor duo might not have to pay a single penny for the stadium upgrade. 

Sometimes, small gaps and weaknesses in personnel and strategy can add up to disproportionately bad results

Karthik Krishnaswamy26-Nov-20254:53

Gautam Gambhir: This side is ‘learning on the job’

Things surely can’t get any worse. The only way from here, surely, is up.These are thoughts India’s fans must have consoled themselves with at various points over the last year and a bit of home Tests. Each time, they’ve only discovered that things can certainly get worse, and that directions other than up are always in play.From Bengaluru to Pune to Mumbai. And from there, after the brief lull of Ahmedabad and Delhi, to Kolkata and Guwahati. A journey that took India all over the map while mostly going south.Zero-three against New Zealand. Zero-two against South Africa.You have to go back as far as 0-3 against West Indies in 1983-84 followed by 1-2 against England in 1984-85 for the last time India suffered two Test-series defeats at home within such a short span of time. And before that, all the way back to the late 50s.This, for India and their fans, is not normal. It feels especially abnormal because these results have come so close on the heels of an era of unimaginable dominance.It’s hard to process. The air around Indian cricket crackles with anger. It must have felt this way when Kapil Dev launched Pat Pocock high over the Feroz Shah Kotla and into long-off’s hands, having hit the previous ball for six, during a final-day collapse that gave England a route to a series-turning victory in a match that seemed to have been heading towards a draw. India dropped Kapil for the next Test.Related

• Five ways India can regain Test stronghold, especially at home

• Gambhir: 'This is exactly what transition is'

• India's WTC final prospects take a hit after 2-0 loss to South Africa

• Stats – Harmer breaks records as South Africa hand India a record-breaking thrashing

• 'Can't take anything for granted' – Pant rues missed chances after 2-0 clean sweep

A move like that seems unthinkable today, but history, in other ways, always seems to repeat itself. For Kapil, substitute Rishabh Pant and his day-three charge at Marco Jansen in Guwahati, in the middle of a similarly match-turning collapse.Great players do daft things sometimes. But what lapse of reason led India, in home conditions, from near-invincibility to abject fallibility at such dizzying speed? Do their results paint an accurate picture of their quality? Are they really this bad? Is this a blip, or does it point to a deeper malaise in the country’s red-ball ecosystem?Quality in sport, first of all, is a relative thing. Apart from everything else 0-3 and 0-2 tell us, they tell us that New Zealand and South Africa were exceptional touring teams, purpose-built for Indian conditions with wisdom derived from, among other things, India’s many years of home success. These were teams built to compete, and to pounce on any bits of luck that went their way.And luck kept going their way, not least the luck of the toss. And if New Zealand caught India at one point of a transition, with ageing players beginning to show signs of decline, South Africa caught them at another, with inexperienced players still finding their feet.With those caveats out of the way, it still feels surreal that India didn’t win or draw even one of these five Tests. Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal played all five of them. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj played four each, and KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav (and Gill, sort of) three each. These are experienced, established Test cricketers.Sometimes, though, small gaps and weaknesses in personnel and strategy can add up and coalesce into disproportionately bad results.5:55

Saba Karim: India have fallen behind in Test cricket

Consider India’s selection of multiple allrounders through this South Africa series. As individual players, all of them merited selection. Washington Sundar returned to Test cricket last year as a vastly improved bowler, and performed excellently with ball and bat in England. Axar Patel hadn’t played Test cricket for a year, but his bowling has always seemed tailormade for Indian pitches, and he is capable of batting in a wide range of lower-order situations.Dhruv Jurel had been in such a rich vein of form, for India A and during the Tests against West Indies, that he gave India no option but to pick him even after regular keeper Pant’s return from injury. Even Nitish Kumar Reddy, the most debatable of these selections in home Tests, had shown enough evidence of belonging at Test level, particularly with the bat, even if he wasn’t anything like the finished article yet.And given that India were in transition, none of them was coming in ahead of established specialists. It wasn’t even clear which specialist batters and bowlers they were keeping out.But because of this, India came into this series with areas of vulnerability that they probably should have foreseen. One was exposed in their very first turn with the bat, when Shubman Gill went out of the series having faced just three balls.It hurt India badly that they played with ten men for all of that Test, and it continued to hurt them in the second Test, when they ended up without a plausible replacement who was both a specialist batter and batted right-handed. In selecting Reddy in their squad, India had left themselves open to this circumstance.Two, in picking Washington and Axar as their fingerspinners behind Jadeja, they had wilfully picked a trio of players with roughly similar strengths. All allrounders, all quick, accurate fingerspinners best suited to pitches offering sharp, early turn.India were outbowled and outbatted in Guwahati•Associated PressThere was every chance they could have won India the Kolkata Test on a pitch that suited their strengths. Guwahati, however, exposed their limitations severely.And in Gill’s absence, India’s middle order in Guwahati ended up looking unsuited to the conditions. We often speak of bowlers’ suitability to conditions, but sometimes it’s true of batters too. A line-up like India’s in Guwahati, with plenty of depth and notional flexibility, could be extremely handy in low-scoring conditions like Kolkata’s. The circumstances of India’s first innings in Guwahati, however, called for batters with the experience of scoring big hundreds, frequently, over multiple first-class seasons.India couldn’t call up the Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli of 2016-17 to bat at Nos. 3 and 4, but their squad didn’t contain anyone in that mould, forget with that level of quality or experience. Jurel could become that player in the future, but he’s definitely better served batting at No. 5 or 6 at present, while Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal, for all their potential, have first-class averages in the high 30s and early 40s respectively.And so, for all the proven quality of India’s senior players, the potential of their younger players, and the individual merits of their allrounders, the parts added up to a jumbled whole. That whole could have still beaten a weaker opposition even with all their ill-luck with the toss and injuries. Against a quality South Africa side that had just won a WTC final and drawn a series in Pakistan, however, the whole was just too full of holes.