Scotland defender Jack Hendry is relishing the prospect of facing Erling Haaland after enjoying previous battles against some of the world’s best forwards.

Hendry has a good chance of starting in Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo despite missing Scotland’s opening wins with injury. Grant Hanley and Scott McKenna are absent with injuries ahead of this month’s double header.

Haaland also missed the March qualifiers through injury and will be determined to add to his 53 goals for club and country this season after helping Manchester City clinch the treble last weekend.

When asked how you stop the striker, Hendry said: “I think we will keep that amongst ourselves in the group, I don’t want to give too much away. But a lot of people have tried to stop…

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claimed it was easy to lure Cesc Fabregas to Stamford Bridge ahead of the Spaniard s former club Arsenal.

Mourinho, well known for playing mind games particularly with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, fired a shot at his arch-rival on Friday, claiming Fabregas had never been interested in leaving Barcelona for the Emirates.

Fabregas contract with Barcelona had a clause allowing Arsenal first refusal if he left the Camp Nou.

But after the Spain midfielder claimed on Tuesday that Wenger could not find a spot for him in his starting XI, Mourinho argued Fabregas had never been that interested in Arsenal anyway.

I spoke with him for 20 minutes, Mourinho said.

I think he really wanted to come to us.

As you know Ars…

Former Olympique Lyonnais forward Jimmy Briand wants to secure a move to the English Premier League this summer.

Briand, who has won five internationals caps for France, is on the free agent market after his contract at the Stade de Gerland expired at the end of last season.

According to reports, several clubs across Europe are interested in the versatile 29-year-old attacker, who can play behind the main striker, on either wing or as a true No. 9.

I should have come to England a long time ago as I got the opportunities to go there, but I never went and I regret my decision,  Briand, who tallied six goals in 25 Ligue 1 appearances for Lyon last season, told Sky Sports.

I have scored lots of goals at Rennes and Lyon and I could have score…

Paris Saint-Germain tied their record Ligue 1 winning margin with a 9-0 victory over Guingamp at the Parc des Princes, but Marco Verratti hobbled off with an apparently serious injury.

Despite losing to a late Guingamp penalty in a remarkable Coupe de la Ligue meeting last week, the result never looked in doubt for PSG in an altogether different affair on Saturday as Neymar scored a double while both Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani hit the simplest of hat-tricks.

Yet an already depleted midfield, featuring Dani Alves out of position, was further limited by Verratti s first-half withdrawal after taking a kick, nursing his left foot as he headed off the pitch.

With a crunch Champions League clash with a reinvigorated Manchester United to come in less than a mont…

AC Milan have allowed midfielder Juraj Kucka to leave the club, the Slovakia international joining Trabzonspor in a deal reportedly worth around €6million.

Kucka started 23 Serie A matches last season as Milan finished sixth in the table and missed out on European qualification, but was cleared to join the Turkish Super Lig side by coach Vincenzo Montella.

Milan have signed seven players since the end of last season, the arrivals of Andrea Conti, Andre Silva, Hakan Calhanoglu, Mateo Musacchio, Ricardo Rodriguez, Franck Kessie and Fabio Borini pushing Kucka towards the exit door.

Kucka joined Milan from Genoa in 2015 and scored four league goals for the club in his two seasons at San Siro.

Trabzonspor a hoş geldin Juraj Kucka!

— Trabzon…

Barcelona have condemned the actions of fans who mobbed under-fire head coach Ronald Koeman s car as he left Camp Nou following a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the season.

Goals from David Alaba and Lucas Vazquez put Madrid into the lead and Sergio Aguero s stoppage-time strike proved merely a consolation as Barca slipped to a fourth consecutive Clasico defeat – the last three coming under Koeman.

The Dutchman is only the second Barca manager in history to lose his first three LaLiga games against Real Madrid, with Patrick O Connell having suffered the same fate between 1935 and 1940.

With Barca ninth in LaLiga and third in their Champions League group, pressure is growing on Koeman as fans grow restless with the team s poor performances.…

Manchester City won the Premier League title with 100 points last season but Pep Guardiola believes they are even better this time around.

The Catalan s second campaign at the Etihad Stadium also delivered the EFL Cup as City finished a record 19 points clear of nearest challengers and neighbours Manchester United.

City lost just two league matches in 2017-18 to Liverpool and United but defeats to Chelsea and Crystal Palace this month mean they have already equalled that tally before the halfway stage of the season.

Nevertheless, Guardiola feels his side look stronger as they aim to achieve what no City team has done and win back-to-back Premier League crowns.

In little details we are better than last season, which is normal because we have more time to…

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 8/11 @

In what could prove to be an enjoyable affair from the Jinan Olympic Sports Center on Thursday lunchtime, Shandong Taishan will welcome Changchun Yatai to town.

Starting with the hosts, marking their return from the international break with another thumping display, Shandong Taishan are enjoying what has been a real purple patch. Extending on their FA Cup adventure last week and punching their Round of 16 ticket thanks to a 6-1 romp away at Dongguan Guanlian, Choi Kang-hee’s side are unbeaten in each of their last eight domestic appearances across all formats a run that stems all the way back to a 2-1 loss against Meizhou Hakka on May 6th. With their stellar run of form highlighted by a 3-0 victory against Shenzhen on M…

Nicolo Barella maintained his impressive goalscoring form as Inter eased to a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria on Saturday to make it four Serie A wins in a row.

Simone Inzaghi s side have put their early-season struggles behind them with this their seventh match without defeat in all competitions, six of those ending in victory.

Midfielder Barella rounded off a route-one move to double Inter s advantage at San Siro before half-time after Stefan de Vrij had opened the scoring with a header.

Inter, who brought on Romelu Lukaku for his first league appearance since August, added another goal through a superb Joaquin Correa solo effort to seal an emphatic victory.

A stunning hit

— Inter (@Inter_en)

De Vrij sent a bullet header past Emil Auder…

Irish Premier League outfit Shamrock Rovers have been handed a dream draw in the group stages of the Europa League.

The Rovers will make history as the first side from Ireland to ever reach the group stages of a European competition and they will be ecstatic with their draw, which will see them play home and away matches against English Premier League outfit Tottenham.

Joining the Rovers and Spurs in Group A are Greek outfit PAOK and Russian side Rubin Kazan.

The news will boost the mood of Rovers fans even further, after they qualified with a brilliant 2-1 win in extra time against Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday, which saw them progress 3-2 on aggregate.

Stoke City’s first appearance in European competition for 37 years was a successful one as they ne…