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Legendary Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson joked he is glad to have retired so he does not have to go up against Jurgen Klopp's "phenomenal" Liverpool side.

Ferguson guided United to 13 Premier League titles during his illustrious 27-year tenure at Old Trafford, succeeding in his aim of 'knocking Liverpool off their perch' as English football's most successful club.

United have yet to win the title since the Scot retired in 2013, while Liverpool ended a three-decade wait to be crowned champions of England last season by finishing top of the pile - 33 points better off than the Red Devils.

Liverpool also went all the way in the Champions League two seasons ago and, ahead of Sunday's top-of-the-table showdown between the bitter rivals, Ferguson revealed he is a big admirer of Klopp's work over the past few years.

"I've always considered the Manchester United and Liverpool derby the game of the season," said Ferguson, speaking in aid of Sports United Against Dementia and the League Managers' Association's charity In The Game.

"Quite simply, they are the two most successful teams in Britain when you add up all the trophies they’ve won together.

"It's obvious that you have to beat Liverpool to win anything. It's similar to when I was at Aberdeen - you had to beat Rangers and Celtic to win anything and you can add a mental attitude to that.

"In reality, it is the game. Liverpool's success over the 70s and 80s was phenomenal.

"To do that, I had to take a road that was always going to be difficult, it meant I had to wait in terms of building the club. Eventually, it turned out fantastically for us.

"Now I've retired, and thank goodness I've retired actually when I see Liverpool's performance over the last two seasons - they've been phenomenal. I've got great respect for Liverpool, I always have."

Jordan Henderson wrote his name in Liverpool folklore by captaining the club to their first ever Premier League triumph, a year on from lifting the Champions League trophy.

Ferguson previously criticised Henderson for his running style, but the 79-year-old has now clarified his past comments and revealed United were close to signing the midfielder before he arrived at Anfield in 2011. 

"We were ready to make a bid for him," he said. "There was criticism from Brendan Rodgers about my assessment of Jordan. 

"The actual story was we were ready to make a bid for him at Sunderland. I spoke to Steve Bruce. Our scouting and medical department said they weren't happy with his running style.

"They said he could be the type to get injuries. I had to make sure players would always be available. But we loved Jordan as a player.

"He has proved that now. All the stories I hear about him tell me that I missed out on a really good person."

Jose Mourinho has hinted that Dele Alli is unhappy with his current Tottenham role as transfer rumours continue to swirl around the English midfielder.

Alli has been in and out of the picture since Mourinho took over at Spurs last season, with the midfielder all but excluded from the Portuguese manager's plans this campaign.

The England star has made only four league appearances this season, playing a total of 74 minutes in the Premier League.

While he has featured more prominently in cup competitions, Alli's lack of league action has led to several transfer rumours, with former manager Mauricio Pochettino and Paris Saint-Germain reported to be among his potential suitors.

And, when asked whether Alli is unhappy with his current role at Spurs, Mourinho quipped that no team is full of happy players, although he would not commit to a potential move for the midfielder.

"In every dressing room are unhappy players,” Mourinho said.. “For sure. If any one of us, of my tribe, tells you that in his dressing room are only happy players, I don’t think it’s true. Or somebody is so so lucky to have a miracle in his hands.

“Then you can have [an] unhappy professional and the unhappy professional is the one that is unhappy but feels that his duty is to work, work, work and work. And there is the unhappy that believes that it’s not his job to fight and to work every minute for the squad and for the club.”

Mouriho continued: “The question is if I let Dele go without getting a player in exchange and I’m not going to answer that.

“It’s not a question that I am comfortable to answer. Of course, I would know how to answer. But I am not ready to answer. I am not ready to make public my vision of the situation.”

Alli has been with Tottenham since 2015, having joined from MK Dons. He's made 234 total appearances for Spurs, being named to the PFA Team of the Year twice.

Spurs currently sit sixth in the Premier League, six points behind league-leaders Manchester United, who face second-place Liverpool this weekend.

Mourinho's Tottenham, meanwhile, are set to face Sheffield United on Sunday before turning their focus towards an FA Cup visit to Wycombe. 

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has said he wants to play every minute of every game, despite his team's condensed fixture list in 2020-21.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the current campaign to start a month late, meaning teams are aiming to complete a full schedule in less time than usual. 

Speaking ahead of his side's massive showdown against first-place Manchester United on Sunday, though, Salah said he still wants to play as much as he possibly can. 

"I want to play every minute and every game," Salah told beIN Sports. "I want to play 95 minutes, not just 90! But I do respect the manager’s decisions."

Salah has started Liverpool's last three Premier League matches but the Reds have failed to win any of those games, slipping to second place and falling three points behind United. 

After Liverpool won the league going away last season, Salah believes the condensed schedule and lack of fans this season means the English top flight is wide open.

"The situation is completely different now due to the coronavirus, as every team has an equal chance of winning because of the fans' absence," Salah said.

“It's still early to predict a Premier League winner this season. Everyone is close, but I hope we win it again."

The crowded fixture list has hit Liverpool hard this season, with the club suffering a number of injuries to key players including defenders Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez.

The club's defensive injury crisis has forced untested youngsters like Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams into prominent roles, as well as midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to serve as makeshift defenders at times.

Salah has complimented the performances of some of Liverpool's young players as well as Fabinho, but has stayed mum on calls for the team to enter the January transfer market for defensive reinforcements.

"Injuries have hit us badly this season," the Egypt international said. "You can see how Fabinho is playing as a centre-back, but we can’t stop here, we need to keep going.

"We have many young players who are playing well. I can’t say much about [the transfer market], it’s management's call."

Frank Lampard has revealed that he considers Fulham loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek part of his long-term plans at Chelsea ahead of the west London derby this weekend.

Loftus-Cheek has earned plaudits for his recent displays at Chelsea's local rivals but he will be unable to line up for Scott Parker's team on Saturday due to the terms of his loan agreement.

Still, Lampard has been closely monitoring the development of the 24-year-old through reports from the loan department at Cobham Training Centre. Lampard has said that he is hoping to see Loftus-Cheek back at Chelsea next season.

"He played well [against Tottenham] and I was really pleased to see that because when Ruben was getting fit and was with us, I felt like we missed him last year. And when Ruben was getting fit, I was excited because I know the attributes he has and I wanted those attributes at the club," Lampard told reporters through Zoom.

"The conversations I had with Ruben earlier in the season were that he wasn’t feeling as sharp as he wanted to be on the back of a really bad injury which he had (a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in May 2019).

"Could he go and play games because he felt he needed games and maybe he could get regular games elsewhere.

"Seeing him play recently, I see him looking fit, fresh and strong. We know he’s an obvious talent so it’s great. If he can keep that up hopefully through the season and if he can get back to where he was and more then I’ll be very happy and he’ll come back as our player, for sure."

Lampard may not be set for a reunion with Loftus-Cheek but he will face off against his former England and Chelsea team-mate Parker in the managerial dugout.

Chelsea go into the match looking to improve on a run that has seen them win only one of their last six league games. Meanwhile, Fulham are aiming to escape the relegation zone after a draw away at Tottenham.

Lampard is relishing the chance to face off against his friend Parker on Saturday evening.

“We spent some time on holiday a few years ago," Lampard told reporters. “At the time he was working at Tottenham. It was pre-Fulham. But we were talking about our passion for our jobs and what we want to do.

"We were work friends for a while and we would have kept in touch a little bit outside of that but I think once our paths both started to go towards management, we have holidayed in the same destination a couple of times and had lunches together and a few drinks here and there so we are certainly close – as much as that goes.

“Scott shouldn’t be asking me for advice. We should have open talks. It would be a two-way street because we both have our different experiences.

“We message now and again. They’re a rival but at the same time when you have a friendship, it should override that off the pitch. I look forward to the challenge of going up against him because he is a gentleman of the game no doubt about it.

"The other thing with friends is when you’re driven in this game, you want to beat your friends maybe even more than sometimes you want to beat your enemies - I don’t know - but it doesn’t change anything in terms of how you approach the game.

"I’m sure Scott won’t mind me saying that and he’ll feel the same. At the end of the day it’s points for our teams that we both need at this moment. He is doing a great job, it is a pressure job because it’s going to be tough for them.

"We all have various expectations and at the moment the way he has his team playing he is doing fantastically well. I’m not surprised. I was delighted when he got them promoted last season."

Chelsea will enter the match at Craven Cottage in ninth place, sitting 10 points behind table-topping Manchester United.

Bruno Fernandes has said he does not care about people calling him a penalty merchant as the Manchester United star continues to score plenty of goals from the spot.

The Portuguese has had a transformative impact at Old Trafford since signing from Sporting CP a year ago. In that time he has established himself as the standout player in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad and continues to break records with his goals and assists.

Fernandes already has 15 goals and nine assists in all competitions this season, but critics have pointed to the fact that seven of his goals have been penalties, and that he has scored 15 penalties in 48 appearances. But the playmaker does not bother himself with the criticism that has come his and United’s way when it comes to getting spot-kicks.  

“I don’t hear them! I don’t care, honestly. You always see what people say but I really don’t care. I’m not focused on what they are saying,” Fernandes said. “I played in Portugal and when you play for Sporting, Benfica and Porto are always talking about that kind of stuff - sometimes to put pressure on the referee, sometimes just to make some noise in the press.

"But, for me, the main point is when we have a penalty, if I go to take the ball to the penalty spot, I have to do my job.

"One thing I saw in the news the other day was that Raheem Sterling has missed his last three penalties. So, yes, it shows it’s not as easy to take a penalty as people say. You have to work on that, you have to be focused, you have to do your job. 

"It does not mean Raheem Sterling is not a good penalty taker because he missed three in a row. It can happen. It could maybe happen to me but the important thing is to score and not to listen to what people say because penalties are part of the game for everyone.”

Fernandes has certainly made an impact in the 11 months since he made his debut having picked up four Premier League player of the month awards in that time, but the Portugal international believes he has more to give, which may be bad news for United’s rivals.

“You can be better every day. If not, I will not come to training every day. I will just come on Sunday and play the game. I come, I enjoy my time, I try to learn, I try to give my best in every training session to be better, to improve, and I will keep doing that,” Fernandes explained.

“I will never stop improving until I stop my career because I think every day you can improve, every day you can do something new, and every day you can do something better.”

Fernandes and his team-mates will be looking to improve on United’s recent record at Anfield in Sunday's showdown against Liverpool. They have not won there in the league since 2016 and although they go into Sunday’s game three points ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s side at the top of the table, the hosts will still be the favourites having not lost a league game at Anfield since April 2017.

“I’ll go there to try to beat them, of course. I want to win the game," Fernandes said. "We know Liverpool are a really good team and haven’t lost a home league game in so many years but we’ll go there to do our best and try to win the game as we always do."

And while some believe more pressure will be on Liverpool due their status as champions, Fernandes has insisted that his side will go into the match with plenty of pressure on as well.

“I feel the pressure every day I come to train at United,” the 26-year-old said. “You have to put pressure on yourself. I think Liverpool being champions, they know what they have to do, they know what it is to have pressure on them. But we have to focus on what we have to do because we have a lot of pressure [on us].

"Everyone knows, playing for Manchester United means playing with the pressure on but this is what you want as a player. If you don’t have pressure on you, it’s because you’re not doing the right things.

"For us, for growing up, we have to go into these games to try to win.”

Jurgen Klopp has dismissed suggestions Manchester United will head into Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool as underdogs.

The Reds welcome their fierce rivals to Anfield this weekend knowing a win for either side would provide a huge confidence boost in what appears to be a wide-open Premier League title race.

United will arrive on Merseyside as league leaders, and would open up a six-point lead on Klopp’s side if they could secure a first win at Anfield since 2016. Victory for Liverpool, though, would send them back to the summit after a three-game winless run.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed on Friday that it would be “an upset and a shock” if his side were to win. “We are the challengers, they are the champions,” the United boss told his pre-match press conference.

Klopp, though, rejected such claims.

“I have been five years in England and United was never an underdog,” he told reporters. “They cannot be. It is just like it is.

“[They are] always a good team, always great players, always really good managers and coaches. It was always there and now they are top of the table. That is how it is.

“They cannot be underdogs, but we play at home and we don’t see ourselves as an outsider or whatever just because they are ahead of us. We have to be dominant in the games.

“Usually they change system against us. They played 10 times with four at the back and against RB Leipzig they played with five at the back, so maybe they will change that.

“Those are things we have to think about - not who is the outsider. It is Liverpool vs United and that in itself is a massive game.

“Wherever I would be in the world I would watch it definitely. This is the game!”

Liverpool head into the game searching for form. They may have won their last game, a bizarre FA Cup tie against an Aston Villa youth team, but they were beaten by Southampton in their previous league outing, and failed to beat both Newcastle and West Brom before that – results which saw them surrender their advantage at the top of the standings.

“We are now in a place where we want to be,” Klopp said. “We know what we have to do. We know what went wrong. We want to change. Now, we have to put in place on the pitch. That is the situation.

“I’m really looking forward to this game, to be honest. I know Ole said that this is the best moment to play against Liverpool … yeah? Let’s see!”

He added: “These boys did not go for an excuse in one second that I was here. Not for one second. But that does not mean things cannot go wrong.

“Obviously we did not do outstandingly well since mid-November. But who cares? We still have 33 points. Yes, we are not exactly where we want to be, but we have learned a lot from this season. The circumstances, dealing with the situation, that kind of thing. It is not because of the boys’ attitude. It’s just because it didn’t work out.

“Still, we have scored the most goals in the league, which is absolutely crazy. It’s not that it disappeared somewhere. It’s just not that it has been exactly as it should be.

“Why should one team click all the time and the other team not? That’s exactly how it is. We just had to step a little bit back, work on the basics and get strong – as strong as we can be again. That’s what we did. That is what we will do. I think that can work.”

Klopp will make late checks on the fitness of defender Joel Matip ahead of Sunday’s game. The Cameroon international has not featured since limping off in the draw against West Brom on December 27, but was due to resume training at Kirkby on Friday.

Naby Keita, though, will miss out, joining Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas, Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk on the sidelines.

Mumbai City are on a nine-game unbeaten run with eight wins from 10 games when they face Hyderabad in a 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) encounter at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim, on Saturday evening. The Nizams have meanwhile scored eight goals in their last two games.

TV CHANNELS & LIVE STREAM

The Star Sports Network have the exclusive broadcasting rights of the ISL in India.

Commentary will also be available in vernacular languages across India.

TEAM NEWS

Mumbai City Possible XI:

Injured - None
Doubtful - None
Suspended - None

Key Players - Hugo Boumous, Adam le Fondre

Hyderabad Possible XI:

Injured - Nikhil Poojari, Fran Sandaza, Subrata Paul
Absent - Souvik Chakrabarti
Suspended - None

Key Players - Aridane Santana, Liston Colaco

Alvaro Morata rates the "incredible" Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the best players of all time and intends to tell his children he played alongside the Juventus forward.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo has scored 19 goals in 18 games in his third season with Serie A champions Juve.

Morata returned to the Allianz Stadium from Atletico Madrid on an initial loan deal last September and has chipped in with four goals and five assists in 12 league outings.

The pair also spent time together at Real Madrid and Morata says it is a pleasure linking up with the Portugal captain once again.

"It's easy to play with him," he told Sky Sport Italia. "I've known him for some time. On some occasions when a normal person wouldn't score, he scores. 

"In Parma I gave him an assist that only he could see and understand. I understand his movements and what he likes to do. 

"I often take his men away by moving, and I think it helps him not to always have two or three players around him. It's a pleasure to play with him.

"He is still one of the best in football history. He's great, has incredible quality and he can play wherever he wants, whether it is as a number nine, 10 or 11. 

"I can only enjoy it every day, and I hope to support him for a long time to come.

"It's a pride for me. I grew up watching him and when I got here thinking about playing with him and [Paulo] Dybala thrilled me. 

"They are players of a higher level. We have an excellent relationship even off the pitch. I will tell my children that I played with them."

Juventus travel to second-placed Inter on Sunday aiming to bridge a four-point gap to their opponents, whom they have a game in hand over.

As well as pitting together two Italian giants, it will also be a clash between Serie A's two highest scorers this season - Ronaldo (15) and Romelu Lukaku (12).

The 27 goals the pair have netted between them is more than 12 Serie A clubs have netted in total this season.

Morata is looking forward to coming up against Lukaku and hopes to swap shirts with the prolific striker after the match at San Siro.

"Romelu is one of the best strikers in the world, he is complete," the Spaniard said. "He is also a great person, someone I like to see play. 

"At the end of the match I will ask him for the shirt as a souvenir. We will try to stop him on the field, even if it will be difficult. 

"Lautaro [Martinez] is a more versatile player, but Lukaku does things where you can't stop him."

Sunday's Derby d'Italia clash will be the 175th in Serie A history, with Juve's 84 victories in this fixture the most for a team against a single opponent in the Italian top flight.

Jurgen Klopp believes it will be tough to programme Premier League stars to change goal celebration habits overnight as football tightens up its social distancing rules.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters this week wrote to clubs to advise that players should cut out unnecessary contact including hugs, handshakes and high fives.

Those can take place at any time but are particularly likely when a goal is scored, when there is typically a rush to congratulate any player who finds the net.

Out goes the norm this weekend, however, as clubs have been reminded in follow-up calls to captains and managers that such behaviour must be avoided.

Football authorities are determined to stick to coronavirus era protocols as keenly as possible, to avoid further rises in cases among players and to ensure the leagues can continue during lockdown.

Liverpool boss Klopp believes so many new measures have been introduced and respected that risks on the field are already low, saying his players have done "an incredible job to be disciplined".

"We stick to the rules, and if now somebody says if you do this again we have to stop the game I wouldn't understand to be honest, but I'm not the decision maker," he said ahead of his side's match against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.

"I understand rules have to be strict … but we have to learn from the things that have worked in the past few months and football worked."

When goals go in across the country this weekend, the instinct of many players will be to embrace team-mates, and there seems likely to be cases where the new advice is forgotten.

"If there's something to celebrate it will be in an appropriate way, but it's difficult," Klopp said.

"Football is an emotional game and what we should not forget in the discussion about this is these players are tested two or three times a week. During the week we reduce contract to a minimum."

He added: "If we would think and feel we would threaten one or two of our team-mates [with a goal celebration] we would never do it, it would just not happen."

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho, whose side take on Sheffield United on Sunday, said the north London club were "very, very strict with what the Premier League asks us to do".

But his stars, including the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, are not being coached on how to avoid celebrations.

"We're not training not to celebrate goals," Mourinho said.

His suggestion is that a scorer should celebrate as exuberantly as before, unleashing the emotion that a goal can stir, and that others should stand off.

"For players on the pitch, it's a very individual thing," Mourinho said. "My advice is maybe the guy who scores express the emotion of the team by himself, alone.

"Maybe he can express all the emotions of the team and then of course share a walk with mates and happiness. And we try to make things the best we can."

Pep Guardiola has backed Raheem Sterling after the Manchester City winger continued his poor run of penalties on Wednesday.

Sterling missed from the spot during Wednesday's 1-0 win over Brighton, with Manchester City fortunate to hold on to the three points after the England winger blazed his spot-kick over the bar in the game's dying moments.

In the process, Sterling became the first player to miss three consecutive Premier League penalties since Saido Berahino did so between April 2016 and September 2017.

Having scored at least 17 Premier League goals in each of his last three seasons, Sterling has scored just four times in 15 league matches this season and seven times in 24 matches in all competitions.

Despite his difficulties in front of goal this campaign, Sterling still has the backing of his manager, who stressed just how vital the England star remains to this City team.

"He's an incredibly important player for us," said Guardiola. "Everything we have done in the past without him would not have been possible.

"He will score goals, he will make assists and he will help in all departments like wingers normally aren't able to do.

"I am more than happy and delighted to have him here with us."

Manchester City currently sit third in the Premier League, trailing only Manchester United and Liverpool, who face off on Sunday.

Guardiola, Sterling and co., meanwhile, are set to play host to Crystal Palace, who frustrated Arsenal in a scoreless draw midweek.

With the Premier League title race still very much open, Guardiola understands that each of the top teams will struggle to reach the lofty standards of recent seasons as they battle atop the league this season

"If you look at the results for the top teams, every game is complicated and difficult," he said. "When you win away against two incredible teams like Chelsea and Man Utd the headlines are nice but the reality was Brighton and we knew it.

"We played really good against Brighton. We created chances to score three or four goals but we suffered in the last minutes not because we were bad but because they were good.

"Every game is difficult and Sunday will be no exception."

U.S. women's national team midfielder Lindsey Horan has opened up on her "miserable" battle with Covid-19, saying she struggled with the virus for a week and a half.

Horan was removed from the roster for November's friendly against Netherlands after testing positive for coronavirus, missing out on the USWNT's first game since March. 

The Portland Thorns star is back with the U.S. for this month's training camp and two friendlies against Colombia, but has revealed she had a rough time with Covid-19.

"Covid time was not a fun time, I’ll say that much," Horan said on Friday. "There was probably a week and a half there that was pretty miserable. And obviously I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through that.

"I'm very lucky that I'm healthy and I'm young and I came out of it okay and that all the testing afterwards was okay.

"It is a scary time for all of us and thinking of individuals that are a lot older or more at risk with their health. That's more of a scary thought for me."

Asked what symptoms she experienced, Horan said: "I would say about everything except losing my sense of smell and taste."

Horan added that she is happy to be back in camp with her teammates and fully recovered from the virus.

"Now I'm doing well and in camp and I feel 100 per cent," Horan said. "But yeah, just not an experience that I enjoyed whatsoever. And I missed out on getting to play with the team. So that was a bummer.

"But it's scary knowing what other people might have to go through that could be a lot worse than me."

The USWNT is still not at full strength due to coronavirus, with forward Alex Morgan testing positive ahead of January camp.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski said last week that U.S. Soccer will investigate an incident that led to Morgan and her family contracting Covid-19.

"I’m sure our chief medical officer George [Chiampas] and the medical staff are looking into this incident with Alex, and we’ll try to correct it if there’s anything that needs to be corrected going forward," Andonovski said.

Manchester United have been so reliant on "fantastic" Bruno Fernandes that it can lead to inconsistent results and performances, according to John Barnes.

Fernandes has made an incredible impact for United since signing from Sporting CP a year ago and was on Friday named Premier League Player of the Month for a fourth time.

That was the first occasion any player has won the award four times in a calendar year.

Fernandes will again be central to United's chances as they travel to Anfield to face champions Liverpool on Sunday holding a surprise three-point lead at the top of the table.

Liverpool great Barnes believes similarities can be drawn to the Reds side which ran through Philippe Coutinho and believes having one star dominating the ball does not always lead to the best results.

Barnes also feels there are signs United are adapting in their ongoing 11-game unbeaten run in the Premier League but believes the presence of Fernandes can still detract from other stars like Paul Pogba.

His views came after being asked whether Fernandes' signing was similar to that of Liverpool landing defender Virgil van Dijk.

"They have done it in a different way," Barnes said to Stats Perform News .

"Fernandes has come and he has dominated the game – Virgil doesn't dominate the game, doesn't dominate the midfield players or the front three, he doesn't want the ball all the time.

"He's not the focal point of the way we play, he calms them down psychologically but he isn't: 'Give me the ball, I'm going to do everything'.

"That's not what Virgil does, he gives enough sense of security, whereas that is what Fernandes does. 

"I suppose that probably adds to the inconsistency [for United]. It's a bit like when Coutinho was at Liverpool, when you have a player who's going to be a number 10, or a ball player who dominates.

"All the attacking impetus of the team - the ball has to go through him all the time. It takes away from the other players - maybe other players feel: 'Every time we get the ball, we have to look for Fernandes'.

"Then what's going to happen to Pogba, [Anthony] Martial, [Marcus] Rashford and all these other players who also want to be the main player.

"So he does it in a different way and in many respects, I think that has probably added to the inconsistency of Man United because when he doesn't do it, or when he's not playing, United do miss him. 

"They miss him physically in terms of what he actually gives them. Whereas Liverpool miss Van Dijk psychologically. 

"The way Manchester United physically play is really dictated to by Fernandes. 

"Sometimes it really detracts from Pogba because Pogba wants to do that, and then you have got Martial and all the players who also want to get involved in that."

Barnes believes if Barcelona's Coutinho was to return to Liverpool it would not necessarily improve the team, despite his quality.

He added: "I'd liken it to Coutinho coming back which people talk about.

"Coutinho would be fantastic - the team wouldn't, because it will all be about him being the main player, getting man of the match and people saying he's the reason why we're winning because of the way he plays. 

"Fernandes is a fantastic player. And I think of late, if you look at him, I think he's become much more of a team player than he was early on. 

"That's probably helped him at Manchester United because you can see Pogba, you can see Rashford and Martial.

"In his first 13, 14 games, it was all about him [Fernandes], which meant that he was playing well, but Man United were inconsistent. So maybe they have addressed that."

Fenerbahce have announced the signing of Bright Osayi-Samuel from Championship club Queens Park Rangers.

The forward penned a four-year deal with the Yellow Canaries that will keep him with the Turkish Super Lig club until 2025 after successful medicals.

Osayi-Samuel completed the deal on Friday and will link up with Tanzania international Mbwana Samatta, who is on a season-long loan from Aston Villa at the club.

The Nigerian forward will also team up with Senegal duo of Papiss Cisse and Mame Baba Thiam as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo international Marcel Tisserand and Morocco’s Nabil Dirar at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

“Our club has reached an agreement with Bright Osayi-Samuel, a 23-year-old winger from Queens Park Rangers, for four seasons, starting from the 2021-2022 season. Details about the transfer will be announced in the coming days,” read a statement from the club.

Osayi-Samuel joined QPR in the summer of 2017 from Blackpool and was a consistent member of the team during his four-year stay.

The forward featured in 102 league games for the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium outfit and scored 11 goals, amid other dazzling displays.

In the 2020-21 season, Osayi-Samuel found the back of the net three times and provided three assists in 23 appearances across all competitions.

The winger formed a productive partnership with his compatriot Eberechi Eze, who now plays for Crystal Palace, to help QPR finish in mid-table last campaign.

The Nigerian forward will hope to help Fenerbahce compete for the league title this season after finishing seventh on the table last term.

The Yellow Canaries are currently second in the division after gathering 35 points from 17 games behind leaders Besiktas.

Osayi-Samuel could make his debut for his new club when they take on Ankaragucu in a Super Lig outing on Monday.

The forward will hope to hit the ground running for Fenerbahce for a chance to earn a call-up to the Nigeria national team.

Sofapaka are set to play Nzoia Sugar in the FKF Premier League without the services of their influential captain Elli Asieche.

The skipper is confirmed out with a groin injury and will miss the game alongside David Simiyu, and Stephen Okola. However, the team will welcome back defender Isaac Mitima for the top-tier game.

"We have some injury concerns; we will miss the services of club Captain Elli Asieche who is out due to a groin injury," head coach Ken Odhiambo confirmed ahead of the game.

"Equally we shall do without the duo of David Simiyu and Stephen Okola but we are pleased to have Isaac Mitima back with us."

The 2009 champions have enjoyed good preparations for the game, as the tactician says, but they are not expecting an easy game.

"Our preparations have been up to par in the last couple of days there is an immense improvement on the players' confidence and desire to keep winning," Odhiambo added.

"That is a huge plus for us in terms of our preparations thus I feel we are well prepared and ready for Saturday’s tie away in Sudi.  

"We are facing a strong side who have given us hard times in the recent past. They have been impressive while at home thus this will be a tough match for us."

Batoto ba Mungu defeated Mathare United 4-2 last weekend in a league outing and the Harambee Stars assistant coach wants to ensure there is a level of consistency for his club.

"Yes, we want to build on a progressive consistency especially after the last two good result," he added.

"Nzoia is a solid side and playing at home gives them some added advantage but we go into the match with a sole aim to pick maximum points."  

Sofapaka are currently placed in the 10th position on the table with seven points. They have won two games, drawn one, and lost three, scoring nine goals in the process and conceding 10.

They are making a trip to Sudi Stadium to play the hosts who are placed in the 13th position. The Sugar Millers have not won any games this season, from the seven they have played.

The best they have done is five draws and two losses.

As a result, they are on five points.

Odion Ighalo’s representative has revealed a number of clubs in the Premier League, Europe, and Middle East have shown their interest in signing the Manchester United forward.

Ighalo teamed up with the Red Devils on transfer Deadline Day in January 2020 on an initial six-month loan deal from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua.

The former Super Eagles attacker hit the ground running on his arrival, scoring five goals during his first spell with the side to earn an extension at United.

The forward has, however, struggled for game time this season, having only featured in four games across all competitions for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

The 31-year-old will come to the end of his stay at the Old Trafford this month following the expiration of his loan deal with the club.

Ighalo recently explained he is open to moving to Major League Soccer in the United States and his representative has now revealed the forward is also being courted outside the US.

"I can confirm that some Premier League clubs, two teams outside of England and some clubs in the Middle East have made formal enquiries," one of his representatives told BBC Sport Africa.

"Of course, he said [in an interview] that the MLS could be interesting, but that is just an option outside of the strong interest received so far.

"For now he's still a Man United player on loan from China where he still has a contract. He could stay in England where his family is based or try something new because he has many options to mull over.

"Any potential move after Manchester United definitely involves Shanghai Shenhua. There's a slight sense of disappointment about the current season, but Ighalo remains grateful for the opportunity to have played for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"He wanted to end his time at United on a high by playing more for his boyhood club but he is grateful to the manager and proud of himself."

Ighalo started his European career with Lyn and also played for Udinese before moving to the Premier League to join Watford, where he enjoyed great success before he left for China.

The forward made 35 appearances for the Nigeria national team, scoring 16 goals before he ended his international career in 2019 after helping the Super Eagles to finish third at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. 

The centre-forward will hope to sort out his career before the end of the January transfer window. 

The Supercopa de Espana or Spanish Super Cup is a competition in which the winners and runners-up of La Liga face off against the winners and runners-up of the Copa del Rey.

Launched in its current guise in 1982, the competition previously only featured two teams - the winners of La Liga and the Copa champions.

Typically, it was a two-legged affair, with the aggregate winner taking home the trophy.

Since 2019 the Spanish Super Cup has involved four teams, with two semi-finals and a final, all of which are single-leg matches.

Given their stature as giants of world football, it is no surprise to see Clasico rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate the competition, but who is more successful?

Barcelona are the most successful team in the history of the Spanish Super Cup with 13 titles in their trophy cabinet in total.

That is two more Super Cups than Real Madrid, who have won the competition 11 times over the course of their history.

The Catalan side have featured in the Spanish Super Cup a total of 25 times, as opposed to Real Madrid's 16.

They have been paired together in the Super Cup on seven occasions, with Madrid enjoying the upper hand on Barca in direct meetings in the competition, coming out on top five times.

If Supercopa de Espana predecessors are taken into account, Barcelona remain the most successful team, having won the Copa de Oro Argentina once and the Copa Eva Duarte three times.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, only have a single Copa Eva Duarte title to their name.

The dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup has left very little opportunity for other clubs to write their names into the record books.

After the Clasico teams, the most successful team in the competition is Deportivo La Coruna, who won three titles in the 1990s into the early 2000s.

Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club follow Deportivo with two titles apiece, with their successes occurring around the same time in the 1980s and 2010s.

Five teams have won the Spanish Super Cup on one occasion. They are: Sevilla, Valencia, Real Zaragoza, Real Mallorca and Real Sociedad.

Former South Africa captain Steven Pienaar has advised Brighton & Hove Albion forward Percy Tau to focus on his football and help his team avoid Premier League relegation.

Tau made his English top-flight bow against Manchester City on Wednesday as Graham Potter’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

The loss left Brighton 17th on the league table, just two points adrift of the relegation zone, and they are now winless in their last nine league outings.

Pienaar, who played for Everton and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League during his active days, expressed his excitement with Tau’s latest feat in England, and he hoped the Bafana Bafana star will inspire the Seagulls to retain their top-flight status this campaign.

“I’m proud that we’ve got another South African in the Premier League in Percy Tau, making his debut against Manchester City,” Pienaar told Soccer Laduma.

“I think he had quite a good game for his first appearance, he stood his ground and I hope he continues in that way.

“He is the first South African to play in the league after me and I am personally quite excited to see him. I think he’s got the talent, the passion, the work ethic to do well in the Premier League, but I think he must be given more time to adapt, of course, the unwanted pressure might get to him.

“Brighton are playing some good football, but they aren’t getting the wins, and the pressure mounts when you are at the wrong end of the table. I hope he can help the team stay up, that will only build on his confidence and his legacy at the club, and people will take notice of him.”

Tau was recalled from his loan spell at Anderlecht last week having previously spent the last two-and-a-half years on loan in Belgium due to work permit issues in England.

Prior to his return, the ex-Mamelodi Sundowns star scored four goals in the First Division A for Vincent Kompany's team this season but Pienaar believes that he will need time to settle well in England.

He added: “But it is also a long season and Percy did not have a lot of rest during his first two years in Europe, and the Premier League is a much tougher league, so people need to be patient with him. I know they are all excited to see another South African in one of the biggest leagues in the world, so it's understandable why people will enjoy this moment.

“But my advice to Percy is to focus on his football and try and stay away from things like social media. If he can help the team stay up, he will build his name, but other than that, I am really proud of him.”

Next up for Tau and Brighton & Hove Albion is a Premier League trip to Leeds United on Saturday.