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Commentating in the SuperSport studio, former Kaizer Chiefs player Stanton Fredericks says Amakhosi were unfortunate to concede a penalty against Golden Arrows.

Chiefs were held to a 2-2 draw by Abafana bes'Thende in a league encounter at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It was Arrows who scored the first goal of the game when Siboniso Conco held his nerve from the penalty spot to beat Itumeleng Khune in the 49th minute.

The spot-kick had been awarded by referee Olani Kwinda after Willard Katsande had challenged Zolani Nkombela in the Amakhosi box.

It was a tough call to make, with even television replays not really proving conclusive. There was a suggestion though that Katsande just managed to nick the ball first, which is how Fredericks saw it.

"My take on that is that Katsande was reacting. Initially, he missed the [earlier] tackle. Moving on to that, he was again second to the ball," the former Bafana Bafana midfielder said in the post-match discussion in the SuperSport studio.

Although the match official had done well to be placed close to the action, it was possible that he didn't quite have the best angle to view the moment of contact, as Fredericks pointed out:

"I think the ref was in a very good position, close to the play. But I think that his [Katsande's] body just obscured him seeing the contact. I think Katsande got the ball and then the defender [Nkombela] kicked him.

"I think it wasn't a penalty, but it was so close to call. It could have gone either way," he concluded.

Following Conco’s penalty goal, Chiefs scored twice through Leonardo Castro to take the lead by the 65th minute.

But they were only in front for five minutes as Nduduzo Sibiya scored a beauty of a goal to earn the KwaZulu-Natal side a share of the spoils.

The result means Chiefs have won only one of their opening four league matches. Their next game is against Swallows FC on Tuesday night at the Dobsonville Stadium.

Calum Chambers considers the recent clash between his Arsenal team-mates David Luiz and Dani Ceballos to have been nothing more than “competitive training”.

The Gunners have seen tempers start to boil over behind the scenes at London Colney.

It is claimed that Brazilian defender Luiz tangled with Spanish playmaker Ceballos when emotions got the better of two players that should be pulling in the same direction.

Mikel Arteta has been quick to brush the incident under a carpet at Emirates Stadium, although he is eager to discover who leaked the news of a fight breaking out.

Chambers is another who considers the matter to have blown over, with no tension to be found in the Gunners camp.

For him, Luiz squaring up to Ceballos is merely an example of the kind of passion that Arsenal need to be embracing.

He told Sky Sports: “It’s just competitive training, that’s all we want it to be. We want it to be match-like, you’ve got to train as if it’s a match.

“You want to fight and compete for the ball. If it goes over, [and] it can’t go over, it’s displaying something that’s not part of the game.

“Everything that happened was just competitive tackling and just a bit of competitiveness with the boys, which I think is not a problem at all.”

Arteta has claimed that he did not get a good look at the coming together between Luiz and Ceballos, which is helping him to turn a blind eye to it.

Martin Keown has, however, urged the Spaniard to make sure that he gets his Arsenal house in order and prevents a potential “problem” from emerging in north London.

The former Gunners defender told talkSPORT, with Arteta’s side still searching for consistency this season: “If it did happen, it wouldn't be unusual. These things happen.

“It's never nice to see it but Arsenal lost that game against Villa heavily and maybe there is a little bit of a problem within the camp and sometimes people get fraught with one another.

“There's a fighting spirit there. You won't want it to happen too often.

“You need to keep everyone together and Arteta needs to be on top of it.”

Arsenal will be back in Premier League action on Sunday when they take in a trip to Leeds.

Nigeria international Osinachi Ohale scored her first AS Roma goal as they defeated Tavagnacco 5-0 in Saturday's Italian Women's Cup match.

After an impressive spell at Spanish side Real Madrid – where she scored two goals in 15 outings, the ex-Vaxjo defender completed her move to Stadio Tre Fontane this summer.

Ohale, who made her debut for Elizabetta Bavagnoli's side in a 2-0 victory over Hellas Verona on October 3, finally notched her first goal in Italy on her third appearance in all competitions.

The 28-year-old opened the scoring for the Giallorosse in this year's competition 19 minutes into the match at Comunale di Tavagnacco.

Four minutes later, Andrine Hegerberg finished a fantastic attack to double the visitors lead before Manuela Giugliano made it three for the visitors in the 29th minute of the first half.

After the recess, Agnese Bonfantini netted a fourth of the match for AS Roma on her 50th outing in the 64th minute before Emma Severini also bagged her maiden goal for the club at the death.

The victory handed AS Roma a winning start in a round-robin group stage contest and go top of Group H on two superior goals.

They will need to be at their best to beat city rivals and Second Division side Roma to reach the quarter-final of the competition.

Having returned to winning ways, Bavagnoli's team will hope to build on their new momentum when they return from the international break against Florentia on December 12.

Sammy Omollo believes his team Posta Rangers is ready for the new season after defeating Gor Mahia by a solitary goal in a friendly match played at Jamhuri Grounds in Nairobi.

It was Posta the Mailmen who started strongly and their efforts paid dividends when former Ulinzi Stars forward Elijah Mwanzia connected a rebound. K'Ogalo looked lost and were uncharacteristically off colour.

The champions could have lost by a bigger margin, if not for the wastefulness in front of goal.

"I am satisfied with my players because we are developing with every match," Rangers coach Omollo told Goal after Saturday's game.

"We drew 0-0 with Tusker FC in our initial pre-season friendly, before registering a 1-0 loss to Gor Mahia. However, we have rectified our mistakes and you could see on the pitch.

"My defense was strong throughout and we managed to keep a clean sheet. Gor Mahia are a tough team and when you get a win plus a clean sheet against them, definitely it shows we are doing okay.

"I feel we are ready for the start of the season."

The first match was between the Mailmen and Simba wa Nairobi and the Omollo-led charges put up a good fight to win by a solitary goal scored by former Sofapaka FC player Ezekiel Okare.

In the second match against K'Ogalo, the newly promoted FKF Premier League side managed to show an improved game. They managed to win a penalty early on but Anthony Kimani, who is commonly referred to as Muki, failed to convert it.

However, it mattered less as former AFC Leopards defender Abdalla 'Shittu' Salim headed in an opener in favour of City Stars. 

The Kangemi-based side conceded a penalty in the second half to ensure the spoils were shared. 

The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League will kick-off next weekend.

Tusker will play Gor Mahia while Posta Rangers will be hosting Bidco United. Newly promoted Nairobi City Stars will have a task against Nzoia Sugar while AFC Leopards will host Western Stima. 

Mathare United will be home against Kakamega Homeboyz with Kariobangi Sharks tackling Wazito.

Ghana new boy Tariqe Fosu has set his sights on helping the Black Stars end their long quest for a major title in recent times.

The Brentford attacker made a promising debut to his international career with a decent performance in a friendly fixture against Mali in October, earning himself a second straight starting berth in a tie with Qatar three days later.

The Black Stars have gone without a major title since winning the 1982 Afcon tournament in Libya.

"I want to win trophies, bring trophies back home and try to help the team as much as possible to bring a trophy to people back home," Fosu told the Ghana Football Association (GFA) official website.

"I think I can help the team a lot and I’m ready whenever I get a call up to represent my country so it’s obviously up to the coach to decide on the tactics but I am always ready to help.

"I like to win and so I play in different positions and in terms of passing, I’m a good passer of the ball as well."

Fosu's October output apparently left a good impression on Ghana coach CK, who called him up for a 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying double-header in Sudan earlier this month.

He first made the Black Stars roster ahead of an Afcon qualifier in March but the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the match.

"I think it was great to get the chance to play for Ghana," said Fosu.

"My debut was delayed a bit because of Covid-19 but when the call came for me to travel to Turkey to play in the International friendly, I was very happy.

"It came in quite late but when the coach called me to come, I said I was very happy to come and I spoke to him before and I’m happy that he gave me the chance to perform and show my qualities."

Born in England to Ghanaian parents, Fosu made his first ever international appearance at any level for his country of birth at U18 level.

He is among a new breed of dual nationals drafted into the Ghana set-up.

"My grandparents are from Ghana and they live in Ghana now. They are from Kumasi so I love Ghana," the 25-year-old explained.

"I wasn’t born in Ghana but I moved here when I was three. I schooled here at Ridge school in Kumasi so I know the country well.

"Growing up in Ghana, I always supported the team and when I got the call up, I was more than delighted to come.

"I don’t think there’s a stereotype of European players because after my experience, there has been nothing but good vibes and good experience."

So far this season, Fosu has made five league appearances for Brentford. 

Real Madrid's LaLiga title defence suffered another early setback as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Villarreal despite leading for 74 minutes on Saturday.

The champions were without captain Sergio Ramos and star striker Karim Benzema due to injury but were in front after just 107 seconds through Mariano Diaz, back in the line-up for the first time in 18 months.

Mariano's previous start in May 2019 had seen him score twice in a victory over Villarreal, yet his goal - which angered Unai Emery and his players amid confusion over a potential offside - proved only enough for a point this time.

Thibaut Courtois felled Samuel Chukwueze and, after a number of close calls for a defence evidently missing Ramos, Gerard Moreno tucked away the resulting penalty to equalise, keeping Madrid fourth following their humbling at Valencia prior to the international break.

Mariano at least made the most of a rare opportunity, although his contentious opener came after the linesman briefly raised his flag in error, seemingly believing the offside Lucas Vazquez was set to collect Dani Carvajal's pass.

The right-back instead himself seized on the loose ball and crossed for Mariano to head in, prompting unsuccessful appeals from furious home defenders.

Villarreal held their line well thereafter to halt Madrid's subsequent first-half attacks, but Dani Parejo could not capitalise at the other end as he nodded over after finding space where Ramos might typically be stationed.

And that wastefulness continued into the second half. Moreno dragged a shot across the face of goal following a poor Toni Kroos pass, before Parejo blazed wide.

However, Courtois - underworked despite the hosts' openings - raced from his line and took down Chukwueze, allowing Moreno to pick out the bottom-left corner 14 minutes from time.

What does it mean? Madrid pressure persists

"This is Real Madrid," Zinedine Zidane said on Friday. "We know the situation, we know all about it; every time we play we can't fail." The coach did not shy away from a question about the pressure mounting in the capital due to a testing start to the season.

A breakthrough Champions League win at home to Inter was supposed to get Madrid back on track on November 3, but they subsequently went down 4-1 at Valencia. Now, Moreno's equaliser here ensured there is again no respite ahead of a vital return fixture against the Nerazzurri at San Siro.

Madrid break emergency glass

Mariano does not see much action at Madrid, where Benzema is the undoubted first choice. But with the number nine ruled out on the eve of Saturday's game and Luka Jovic missing due to COVID-19, Zidane recalled his fringe man and was immediately rewarded.

The striker scored in a Clasico win against Barcelona last season, yet that had been his only goal from eight shots in a mere 56 league minutes since his two-goal salvo on his previous start. Mariano played 85 minutes on Saturday and netted with his only shot while creating two chances for others, proving an effective emergency option.

He was caught offside four times but not when it mattered most.

Duo's goalkeeping gaffes

Sergio Asenjo faced only one shot on target. Unfortunately, he made no attempt to save that sole effort, instead already looking towards the linesman as Mariano stooped to nod into the net. It was an episode the overeager official might too hope to forget, but this was Asenjo's error.

Crucially, however, it was a similar story at the other end. Having watched Villarreal fail to trouble the target with any of their prior eight attempts, Courtois made the mistake of unnecessarily involving himself in play, costing his side two points.

What's next?

Madrid visit Inter on Wednesday in a huge game for both sides. Villarreal are at Maccabi Tel Aviv a day later in the Europa League.

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic insists that there is no issue with Jerome Boateng's contract as the defender's deal nears its expiration.

Boateng has been with Bayern since 2011, having won eight Bundesliga titles and two Champions League titles since making the move from Manchester City.

However, with his deal set to expire in the summer, he faces an uncertain future with the club he has called home for nearly a decade.

Recent reports linked Boateng with a Bayern departure, but the German defender said that he was "surprised" to see rumours that he could leave the club.

Boateng did add that a new challenge does appeal to him, potentially even one outside of Europe.

Salihamidzic, meanwhile, hopes to keep the 32-year-old defender in Munich, where the club hope he can add to his 333 appearances taken in across nine years.

"We all know that Jerome has a contract until June 30th, 2021 and we will talk to Jerome and his management at a reasonable time and make a fair decision for everyone," Salihamidzic told Sky Sport Germany. "This is not an issue for us at the moment."

The Bayern defender is one of several veteran stars excluded from the German national team, with head coach Joachim Low deciding in 2019 to move on and focus on several younger players.

Boateng, Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels have been excluded from the national team ever since, despite several calls to bring them back into the picture amid Bayern's Champions League triumph this summer.

Those calls only got louder recently after Germany were thumped 6-1 by Spain, leading to heavy criticism towards Low.

Salihamidzic says that he believes Germany will bounce back, though, as he is not concerned with the direction of the national team.

"Of course the lads haven't seen games like this often or not at all, but they're professional enough," he said. "I'm not worried that things won't go on for them like the way it ended in Dortmund."

Bayern Munich drew with Werder Bremen 1-1 on Saturday, with Kingsley Coman cancelling out Maximilian Eggestein's opener.

Up next for the German champions is a return to the Champions League, where they will face RB Salzburg on Wednesday. 

Jack Grealish being compared to Paul Gascoigne and Andres Iniesta is “ridiculous”, says Paul Parker, with the former England international baffled by those billing the Aston Villa playmaker as a potential great.

The talented 25-year-old has been making a positive impression for club and country of late.

Having shown himself to be capable of mixing it among the Premier League elite, Grealish has been given his big break with England.

He was an undoubted positive for Gareth Southgate during the November international break, with three eye-catching showings put in against the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Iceland.

Many are now expecting the Villa captain to nail down a role as the Three Lions’ go-to playmaker.

Others have likened his playing style to England icon Gascoigne, while his efforts are topping those of Spanish World Cup winner Iniesta, but Parker is not buying the hype.

The ex-Three Lions right-back told Eurosport:  “As a country, we have created this idea of ‘Jack Grealish is going to be the greatest ever English player'. Where has that come from? It’s absolutely ridiculous.

“I just don’t get the hype around him to be perfectly honest. Then you get the ones who come up and say ‘ah, he reminds us of Gazza’. Please don’t do that now when you see games against Republic of Ireland and Belgium... when we’re 2-0 down and he’s running around and wants to have around 35 touches to then pass the ball to somebody.

“Everyone says he gets fouled all the time, but what is a foul and what isn’t a foul? A foul now is only when someone touches you and it throws you to the floor. Nine times out of 10 they’re not fouls anymore. At the moment he doesn’t want to show strength - he falls over.

“All of a sudden it’s, ‘that makes him good because everyone wants to foul him’. He has too many touches.

“In today’s football you watch the great midfield players – a lot of them not English - and look how many touches they have. Grealish has five, six and he goes left, right then flicks it back to somebody. You’re left thinking ‘really?’

“Someone put a stat up about what he’s done and what he’s achieved already and captioned it ‘Andres Iniesta hadn’t done that at his age’. Please don’t go down that road. I don’t know why we keep doing it.

“Now we have him pinned as the one who is going to win England the Euros. He has not played against a decent team. As much as Belgium are meant to be the team ranked number one in the world they are poor. You just know in two years time they have got no one coming through.”

Young Africans (Yanga SC) have unveiled the weapons they will use to help the team win Mainland Premier league matches.

The Jangwani giants are currently the only unbeaten side in the top-flight after playing 10 matches and they are second on the 18-team league table with 24 points.

As they prepare to face Namungo FC at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Sunday, Kaze, who is yet to lose a match since replacing Zlatko Krmpotic, has now said his main weapon is to use his two wingers Farid Mussa and Carlos Carlinhos.

Mussa has two passes already to his name this season while Carlinho, who is returning to the team after an injury, has scored one goal and assisted two.

“It is our target to bag three points in every match that we play and it is the reason I want to use the two players to achieve our target,” Kaze is quoted by Sokaletu.

“I have now asked my wingers [Mussa and Carlinhos] to make sure that they use their passes well, and also change their style because many teams have known what they can.

“We want them to use all angles, not always the wings, they can also cut inside and deliver the passes, we have worked out the style and I know it is a good weapon to help us win our matches.”

In an earlier interview, Kaze revealed he was delighted to have Carlinhos back in the squad for the league matches.

“All my players in the squad are very important and when you miss one of them, it gives you a headache because you are missing a key player,” Kaze told Sokaletu.

“And when you have a fully fit squad to pick from during matchday it gives you the chance to pick the best squad that can give you a win and that is why I am delighted to have Carlinhos back, we missed him and we are happy to have him back.

“I will help him to come back into the squad and I am happy we have all players now available, it is the best way to compete and reach your target and we thank God we don’t have star players out anymore.”

Kaze also said they are taking it a game at a time hoping to achieve their targets including winning the league title.

“We still have a lot of work to do as a team, we are not there yet, we must stay focused and do our job, we want to win our matches, and let us see how far we can.”

Bayern Munich dropped points for just the second time this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Maximilian Eggestein's well-worked goal gave the visitors a deserved lead late in the first half before the champions struck back through Kingsley Coman after the hour.

But they were unable to build on their equaliser as a dogged performance from Florian Kohfeldt's men earned a deserved share of the spoils.

Werder travelled to the Allianz Arena having avoided defeat in their previous four outings, though each of those ended in draws.

And, with Bayern having earned 10 consecutive victories coming into this fixture, they would've expected to dominate from the off, rather than give up the best of the first-half chances.

However, only a brilliant Manuel Neuer save denied Josh Sargent from close range early on, before Leonardo Bittencourt volleyed into the side-netting when he might have done better.

The hosts' rhythm was no doubt damaged by the early loss of Theo Hernandez to injury, a blow that saw Leon Goretzka introduced and both Javi Martinez and David Alaba change position.

Werder capitalised on that uncertainty at the back as Sargent burst in behind down the flank being marshalled by Martinez and Alaba, before pulling back for Eggestein to sidefoot home just before half-time.

Milot Rashica should've made it two shortly after the restart, taking too long in a one-on-one situation, prompting Douglas Costa to respond by cracking the bar with a deflected effort. 

That marked the start of a spell of long overdue Bayern pressure that finally told when Coman headed in Goretzka's right-wing cross at the back post.

But, despite the introduction of Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry off the bench, Hansi Flick's men struggled to create much of note in the final half-hour.

In fact, only another fine one-handed stop from Neuer prevented the visitors from snatching the win through Sargent with five minutes of normal time remaining.

What does it mean?

Bayern's grip on top spot in the Bundesliga has been loosened by dropped points, with RB Leipzig now able to draw level if they beat Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday

Werder, meanwhile, remain in mid-table thanks to a fifth consecutive stalemate.

Friedl keeps Bayern at bay

Any team that stops Bayern Munich winning at home is going to need to defend well and Werder certainly did that, with Marco Friedl arguably the pick of the back three.

The Austrian led his team on tackles (four), clearances (nine) and interceptions (three) to help ensure Robert Lewandowski failed to score in a Bundesliga match for the first time this season.

Alaba struggles after switch

David Alaba's life was perhaps not made any easier by an early move from centre-back to left-back but the defender still fell short of his usual standards.

He won just 33 per cent of his duels, made no tackles or interceptions, and lost possession 20 times - more than any other Bayern player.

What's next?

Bayern return to Champions League action on Wednesday when they host Salzburg, while Bremen's next Bundesliga outing is away at Wolfsburg on Friday.

Antonio Conte insists Christian Eriksen has already had "many opportunities" to cement himself in the Inter side and will not consider a switch in position to accommodate the midfielder. 

The Denmark international has struggled to fit in at Inter since his arrival from Tottenham in the January transfer window on a four-and-a-half-year contract. 

Joining halfway through the previous campaign offered little time to settle in at San Siro, but he has remained a peripheral figure at the start of the 2020-21 season. 

Eriksen started just three of Inter's five Serie A games before the November international break - and was substituted on each occasion by Conte. 

His failure to manage a goal or assist, though he has created five chances during his time on the pitch, led to a question in the pre-match press conference before Sunday's home fixture with Torino over whether the 28-year-old should be used in a deeper role. 

Conte, however, dismissed the suggestion, insisting such a change would "totally distort" Eriksen, who has been encouraged by team-mate Romelu Lukaku to learn Italian .

"I don't know about the language. As I said before, I always make choices for the good of Inter and therefore I try to do everything in the right way," the former Chelsea boss told the media.

"Eriksen has had many opportunities since the beginning of the year and has played more than many team-mates.  

"When I deem it appropriate, he will play in the opening 11 or in a game in progress, otherwise I will make other decisions.  

"As for the role, in my opinion he cannot play in front of the defence. He has an important shot, right and left, so putting him in front of the defence would totally distort him. This is my technical evaluation." 

Inter have struggled so far in Serie A this term - managing 12 points from their opening seven games - and are also propping up the rest in their Champions League group.

Conte's squad face a hectic schedule before the mid-season break in late December, with the game against Torino quickly followed by a pivotal home European clash with Real Madrid. 

"The situation is difficult, but it is for all the teams that play in European competitions," Conte said. "You play every three days and challenging matches in that time, too. It will be complicated until Christmas - and even after. 

"I'm hoping that good luck also smiles on us from the point of view of injuries and positivity." 

Inter have won only three of their first 10 matches this season in all competitions. The last time they achieved only three wins in their first 11 outings was back in 1983-84, when Luigi Radice was in charge.

However, Conte feels his team have played better than results would indicate, adding: "In the end, even if you dominate matches but draw or lose them, you will always tend to see the glass half empty.  

"In addition to performances, we must try to achieve results, which will change opinions, moods and many situations." 

A second half penalty from Ghanian international Kwesi Appiah was enough for NorthEast United to beat Mumbai City on Saturday at the Tilak Maidan, Goa.

Mumba City's midfield general Ahmed Jahouh was given the marching orders just minutes before the half time break and the Islanders were reduced to 10-men for the rest of the game.

Sergio Lobera’s side dictated the game right from the off. The Spanish coach deployed a 4-2-2-2 formation with Hernan Santana and Sarthak Golui as central defenders. Ahmed Jahouh and Rowllin Borges took on the role of deep-lying midfielders. 

Hugo Boumous was given a free role and operated right behind the two forwards Bartholomew Ogbeche and Adam Le Fondre.

Mumbai were the team with more possession throughout the first half and Jahouh orchestrated the game from the centre of the pitch. Unfortunately, the Islanders could not convert their dominance into goals as NorthEast United defence did well to deny any space in the attacking third.

Disaster struck the away side just two minutes from half time when their key midfielder Jahouh was sent off after a clumsy and unnecessary challenge on Khassa Camara near the centre circle.

The Highlanders looked confident in their approach as the second half resumed and won a penalty two minutes from the restart. Dylan Fox tried to head the ball in from a dangerous cross from Luis Machado and the ball hit Borges’ hand inside the box. Kwesi Appiah converted the spot-kick to hand his team the lead.

The red card and goal completely changed the complexion of the match. To add more firepower in attack, Gerard Nus introduced Federico Gallego and Britto PM. The Uruguayan's inclusion enhanced NorthEast's intensity in the final third.

Jahouh's absence was felt in the midfield as Lobera's men failed to put pressure on Nus' men. Defenders Benjamin Lambot and Dylan Fox stood firm and did not allow their opponents to get back into the game. 

Mumbai next face FC Goa on November 25 while NorthEast take on Kerala Blasters the next day.

The race for the Premier League Golden Boot is typically competitive, with some of the best attackers in world football playing in the division.

A haul of over 20 goals is usually required to come out on top and there are plenty of candidates in the mix this season.

Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah, who have all won the accolade before, should be there or thereabouts, but there is always room for a surprise package.

Goal is compiling the individual goal tallies for the highest-scoring Premier League players this season and you can check it out below.

Premier League 2020-21 Top Scorers

Tottenham's Heung-min Son and Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and are the early pace-setters in the race for the Golden Boot, having surged out in front in the opening gameweeks.

They are joined by Mohamed Salah and Jamie Vardy, with Harry Kane also not far behind. Meanwhile, new Newcastle United signing Callum Wilson has hit the ground running at St James' Park.

Brighton striker Neal Maupay has picked up where he left off last term and Leeds United will be pleased with Patrick Bamford's contributions in front of goal.

You can see the top scorers in the Premier League this season below.

*Up to date as of games played on November 8.

Jamie Vardy won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2019-20 after scoring 23 goals in 35 league appearances for Leicester.

It was Vardy's first time winning the prize, having previously come close in the 2015-16 campaign with a tally of 24 goals - one fewer than that year's winner Harry Kane.

The former England international finished marginally ahead of Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Southampton's Danny Ings, who each struck 22 times for their club.

Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling followed with 20 goals, with Salah, Kane and Sadio Mane among the chasing pack.

Frank Lampard claims to have “so much faith” in N’Golo Kante after seeing the Chelsea midfielder face questions of his form, fitness and future.

The France international has two Premier League titles and a World Cup winners’ medal to his name, but has seen a move away from Stamford Bridge mooted.

Speculation was first sparked when Maurizio Sarri took to shifting the 29-year-old out of his favoured holding role.

Lampard has also used Kante in a more advanced position during his reign in west London, but has seen him shine of late in the berth that made him a household name.

Another eye-catching showing sweeping up in front of the Blues’ back four was put in against Newcastle on Saturday, in a 2-0 win for Chelsea, with confidence restored to all concerned.

Lampard told reporters on the influence Kante can have when performing at the peak of his powers: “I know what you mean by quietly influential but he's much more than that for us.

“Last year he missed 50 per cent of the games with injuries, he had a tough time for different reasons and we are working very hard on that to get him fit and fresh.

“Now we are managing his training and game time, but his levels of performances are really high.

“I keep saying every time I get asked about N'Golo that I have so much faith in him and the top midfield player that he is in world football.

“Not just breaking up and winning balls back, as we know that is a huge quality of his, but his passing and supporting in midfield and playing in that deeper role now has been a very comfortable transition for him. Really, really happy with him.”

Lampard added when asked if he considers Kante to be over the injury issues that have been holding him back: “I don't want to tempt fate as at the minute he is going well. It's a constant one for us where we are managing it.

“When I came in at the start of last season he had been injured from the Europa League final and that just rolled on through the year so we just chased it down from there. That was unfortunate and so unfortunate for us to lose him for 50 per cent of the games because of the level of player he is.

“We have had a better period of him to get him in a place where we are really happy with.

“We're aware and we keep check on his training and numbers and how much distance he travels because every time you train and allow him off the leash in training he makes ridiculous output because of the way he plays.

“We are very careful with that and at the minute we are in a good place and hopefully that continues.”

Another of those to have seen a move elsewhere mooted in recent windows is Germany international defender Antonio Rudiger, but the 27-year-old was another who caught the eye against Newcastle after returning to the starting XI.

“I was pleased with his performance,” said Lampard.

“I talked about it before the game that a lot of managers would love to have five centre-backs but it brings difficulties as you can only pick two if playing in a back four and then two or three are unhappy.

“It's not easy to come straight into a team if you're not playing so regularly and perform. That means you need a good attitude throughout the week and a good attitude in how they prepare.

“I've got confidence in Toni. I think he came in and I thought his performance alongside Ku [Zouma], they were very strong. Anything that came in the box they dealt with very well. They had a lot of the ball and they moved it well.

“I'm really happy as it's hugely important to have a strong squad this year with the schedule as it is. For Toni to come in and play and keep a clean sheet was brilliant for him and brilliant for me.”

Simba SC picked up their biggest victory of the season to date after thrashing Coastal Union 7-0 in a Mainland Premier League tie at the Abeid Karum Stadium on Saturday.

John Bocco’s hat-trick, Clatous Chama’s brace and goals from Hassan Dilunga and Bernard Morrison handed the champions the big away win.

Simba got the opener in the seventh minute when Dilunga, who has not been enjoying first-team opportunities in the recent past, scored to stun the home side in the seventh minute of the game.

The champions doubled their lead in the 25th minute when captain Bocco found the back of the net in a match Simba looked comfortable on all fronts.

It took the Tanzania international another two minutes to add the third for Simba and earn a brace as his side dictated the rhythm and pace while Coastal Union looked disjointed in their effort to stop the rivals.

Bocco scored again in the 37th minute to earn a hat-trick which came after a sleek forward move by the 2020 treble winners. Morrison, who started after fully serving a match ban, scored the fifth one in the second minute of added time of the first half.

Wekundu wa Msimbazi, who will face Plateau United of Nigeria in the Caf Champions League preliminary stage in late November, headed into the break with a huge lead that illustrated their dominance.

Zambian international Chama, after recently adding two more years to his expiring contract after he had been heavily linked with Yanga SC, scored the sixth goal for the Dar es Salaam side on the hour mark.

He added the seventh in the 85th minute as Simba ran riot at Sheik Abeid Karume Stadium.

The win took Simba to within one point of Yanga SC who will be in action on Sunday for their 11th game of the campaign.

Meanwhile, current league leaders, Azam FC fell to a 1-0 away loss to Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC FC).

The only goal that separated the sides was scored by Reliants Lusajo in the 57th minute to hand the Ice Cream Makers their season’s second defeat.

Yanga remain the only side yet to lose a game after 10 games and are second with 24 points, one behind the leaders.

Finally, debutants Gwambina FC picked up a 2-0 win over JKT Tanzania in the other game on the first day of league action after the international break.

Meshack Abraham scored Gwambina’s opener in the 72nd minute before Paul Nonga doubled the lead in the 84th minute.

The win is Gwambina’s third of the season.

Kaizer Chiefs and Golden Arrows played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After a goal-less opening stanza in Durban, the home side drew first blood through a Siboniso Conco penalty before the visitors scored twice through Leonardo Castro to take the lead, only for Nduduzo Sibiya to deny the Soweto giants their second league win of the season.

It was Arrows who made a bright to the game and they could have gone ahead after just two minutes when Conco surged clear down the right wing before locating Michael Gumede with an accurate cross, but from just 12-yards out he lifted his shot into the stands, not testing goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, back in the Amakhosi line-up.

Chiefs then began to slowly grow into the game although the next chance again fell to the KwaZulu-Natal side, on 23 minutes, when after a flowing move, Conco turned on the edge of the box, but his shot was also far too high.

From that point onwards in the first half it was the Glamour Boys who took charge of proceedings and they had the ball in the net on 27 minutes although Castro's effort was correctly ruled offside.

Chiefs were getting plenty of joy down their left flank through Philani Zulu and on 35 minutes he whipped in a telling cross for Castro, who did well to arch his body for the header, only to see the ball hitting the woodwork.

Eight minutes later there was another good opportunity for the visitors when Nkosingiphile Ngcobo flighted in a great cross for Ramahlwe Mphahlele, who took the ball down well with his chest but had his volley from a tight angle excellently saved by Arrows keeper Sifiso Mlungwana.

Mlungwana again came to his side's rescue in first-half added time with a fantastic save to deny Castro, who had been put clean through on goal by Lebogang Manyama.

Amakhosi's failure to take their chances was to come back to haunt them, shortly after the restart.

That was after Willard Katsande was ruled to have fouled Zolani Nkombelo in the box, in what replays showed was a debatable call.

That didn't matter to Conco, however, as he stepped up to the penalty spot in the 48th minute and finished clinically for what was just his second goal in the top flight.

The Soweto side looked to try and hit back quickly and after a sustained spell of pressure in the Arrows box the ball fell to Katsande, but from a good position, he lifted his shot over the crossbar.
 
Khama Billiat then also squandered a good chance after being set up by Manyama.

But moments later, from a Chiefs corner, Billiat picked out Castro who sent in a sumptuous header which gave Mlungwana no chance - 1-1 in the 58th minute.

Abafana bes'Thende could have restored their lead two minutes later when the ball deflected kindly to Gumede in the Chiefs box, but his shot was too close to Khune, who got down well to make the save.

Instead it was the Glamour Boys who were to score next, in the 65th minute, as Manyama threaded a defence-splitting pass for Billiat, who cleverly squared for Castro who was able to walk the ball into an empty net.

To their credit, the home side regrouped and hit back just four minutes later when two substitutes combined: at the end of a flowing move, Knox Mutizwa cleverly back-heeled the ball for Sibiya, who finished sublimely with a curling 25-yard shot with his left foot into the far corner.

The final 20 minutes belonged almost exclusively to Amakhosi, but there were no more than a couple of half-chances as the Arrows defence remained firm and focused to earn the point.