Looking for Soccer News?

France star N’Golo Kante has spoken of his pleasure at having the opportunity to play alongside Paul Pogba once again.

Chelsea’s Kante got the only goal of the game on Saturday as France sealed their place in the Nations League Finals with a 1-0 win over Portugal.

The strike preserved his remarkable record with Pogba of having not lost a match when they have played together. They have featured 26 times in conjunction for Les Bleus and have chalked up 20 wins and six draws.

While Pogba continues to come under scrutiny for his performances at Manchester United, he has a firm fan in his international colleague.

“He’s been injured for a while and it had been a while since we had played together,” Kante told TF1 show ‘Telefoot’. “We remember the World Cup that we played together. It’s a pleasure to play with Paul.

“On the pitch, we felt great. I’m satisfied with the performance and the performance of the team. We were at the level we needed to be at.

“There’s a lot expected of us. We’re the world champion and the European Championship will be another challenge, but it’s certain that we’re a great team.”

Looking away from international football back to club side Chelsea, Kante has targeted a place in the top four of the Premier League for his team this season.

“The Chelsea team has changed in recent years,” he said. “We’ve recruited not a bad number of players and we are going to try and win some titles. We want to qualify as quickly as we possibly can for the next Champions League.”

Frank Lampard’s side currently find themselves fifth in the standings on 15 points, three behind early pace-setters Leicester.

Their next domestic challenge is a home match with Newcastle next Saturday.

Before then, Kante will return to the international stage as France have a Nations League match with Sweden. Having already secured top spot in the group, however, head coach Didier Deschamps may elect to rotate his squad to allow some players a break before they return to action with their club sides.

Nigeria coach Gernor Rohr has revealed Napoli striker Victor Osimhen will miss their 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Sierra Leone on Tuesday.

Rohr also stated how Leon Balogun and Samuel Chukwueze are recovering well and should make the trip to Freetown.

Osimhen suffered a dislocated shoulder at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium on Friday and was immediately replaced by Paul Onuachu while Club Brugge forward Emmanuel Dennis did not feature in the 4-4 draw because of a swollen ankle.

Balogun and Chuekwueze were substituted in the game due to varying injuries, but they are working with their teammates to be in good shape.

“[Osimhen] is out of the match after he dislocated his shoulder,” Rohr disclosed, as reported in the Guardian.

After Saturday’s training session in Benin, Rohr gave an update on the team before they departed for Freetown.

“The two players I took out (Leon Balogun and Samuel Chukwueze) were injured,” Rohr said, as per the Punch.

“Balogun had a little knock but he is okay. He did a little training with the team, it’s not painless but he will be okay.

“Dennis had a little injury in the last training session, his ankle is swollen and he cannot play, he can only run, and Chukwueze has a pain in the groin and could only work in practice today but we hope to get him back for the next game.”

Nigeria still remain on top of Group L after the eight-goal thriller in Benin. They have seven points after three games - a point above second-placed Benin while Sierra Leone are placed third with two points.

Andy Robertson has not been included in the Scotland squad for their Nations League encounter with Slovakia.

The Liverpool defender picked up a hamstring injury during Scotland’s dramatic penalty shootout win over Serbia on Thursday to secure their place at next summer’s European Championship.

In his post-match interview, Robertson said his hamstring seized late in the game but that he was next in line to take a penalty, only for David Marshall to repel Aleksandar Mitrovic from 12 yards to book Scotland’s place at a major tournament for the first time since the 1998 World Cup in France.

Scotland coach Steve Clarke revealed ahead of the game with Slovakia on Sunday that Robertson was a doubt on account of his hamstring injury.

“Andy Robertson is the most doubtful out of the ones who have a wee question mark over them,” Clarke said.

The team to face Slovakia in Trnava that was confirmed on Sunday afternoon failed to include Scotland’s captain, who did not feature among the list of substitutes either.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will be monitoring the situation, as left-back Robertson is a key member of his side.

Klopp is already without long-term injury victim Virgil van Dijk, who was joined in the treatment room by fellow central defender Joe Gomez who damaged a knee on international duty with England.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho also side-lined, Klopp is facing the prospect of taking on Leicester City after the international break without any of his first choice back line.

Klopp will be hopeful that Robertson has been left out as a precaution but will know more in the coming days.

After the Nations League game with Slovakia, Scotland travel to Israel in the same competition. Klopp will hope that Robertson does not make the long trip to Israel for Wednesday's game, which comes four days ahead of the Foxes’ visit to Anfield in the Premier League.

Scotland currently sit at the top of Nations League Group B2 on 10 points, which is four more than second-placed side Czech Republic. One win from their remaining two games would be enough to secure top spot in the pool.

The United States women's national team will face the Netherlands in a friendly on November 27 in a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final.

The game, which will take place at Rat Verlegh Stadium in Breda, Netherlands, will be the USWNT's first match since March in a year that has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

The USWNT had been apart since winning the SheBelieves Cup in March before they gathered for an 11-day training camp in Denver, Colorado last month.

Now they are set to hold another camp, this time in the Netherlands, which will begin six days prior to the match in Breda.

“First, everyone is just really excited to have an international match,” head coach Vlatko Andonovski said of what will be his side's first game in 261 days. “That it’s against the Netherlands makes it even better and more challenging. We had to get back on the field for a real game at some point, so it might as well be against one of the best teams in the world.

"We have a lot of work to do before the Olympics and facing a really talented Dutch team will give us a good look at where we are at the end of this very unusual year.”

The U.S. are preparing to take part in the rescheduled Olympics in Tokyo, which are set to begin in July 2021 after originally being scheduled for the summer just gone.

The game in Breda will be the first for the USWNT outside of the United States since the 2019 World Cup final in Lyon, France. 

Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle scored against the Netherlands in that match, giving the U.S. a 2-0 win for their second straight World Cup title and fourth overall. 

Lavelle, who is currently at Manchester City, did not participate in October's camp along with all her teammates who are also playing in England. 

Sam Mewis (Manchester City), Christen Press (Manchester United), Tobin Heath (Man Utd) and Alex Morgan (Tottenham) are also currently in the Women's Super League and could all be called up for the match against the Netherlands.

Posta Rangers head coach Sammy Omollo believes the likes of David Owino, Kenneth Muguna, and Anthony Akumu should be considered to start for Kenya against Comoros away in Moroni.

Harambee Stars will be targeting a win in Group G of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying match on Sunday. They have so far collected three points from identical 1-1 draws against Egypt, Togo, and Comoros respectively, and will have a tricky game away to the islanders on Sunday night.

"It will be a different game away because the hosts will be targeting a win and will attack more as compared to the first leg," Omollo told Goal on Sunday.

"In a game like this, the midfield should be stable, unlike the first leg. It is where I expect a player like Akumu to be involved because he is strong in defending as well as Muguna to create chances for the team.

"David Owino came as a second-half substitute in the first leg and was solid. He is a very strong player who I believe will be in the starting team.

"Erick Ouma was unusually struggling in the first leg, and I expect a different game from him on Sunday."

Harambee Stars will go top of Group G with a win. Currently, Comoros and Egypt are tied on five points each while the East African nation is third with as many points.

Some believe that Kenya have to get a win to stand a chance of making it to Cameroon. 

"This is not a knock-out phase where you get eliminated with a loss," Omollo opined.

"A draw for me will be a fair result because we will still have a good chance of qualifying. We have a game against Togo and Egypt coming up; so, yes we want a win, but a draw will not be bad."

The Jacob 'Ghost' Mulee-led charges wasted chances in Nairobi, and the former defender has advised on the same.

"I am not expecting many chances like the first leg, but I am confident we will get some. The forwards should ensure they capitalize on them; a scoring chance is like gold and strikers should be aware of it."

Former Barcelona director Javier Bordas has revealed that Barcelona allowed Erling Haaland and Thibaut Courtois to slip through their grasp.

Bordas gave a wide-ranging interview to Mundo Deportivo, where he claimed Barcelona elected to sign Ousmane Dembele instead of Kylian Mbappe and the Catalans passed up the chance to secure the services of Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland and Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois.

Haaland is making waves in the Bundesliga - where has has six goals in as many appearances this term - but Bordas has revealed that Barca felt he was not the right fit for the club.

“They told me he was not the right type of player for Barca,” Bordas said. “I understand that [former president, Josep Maria] Bartomeu pays attention to the technical side. The truth is that players like these could have come, but then you don't know what performance they are going to give."

After a rocky period, Belgium international Courtois is showing the kind of form that persuaded Real to sign him from Chelsea in 2018.

Barcelona have one of the world’s best goalkeepers at their disposal in Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but there was the possibility for the club to have the German in tandem with Courtois.

"When I considered a move for Courtois I talked about it before with [former president, Sandro] Rosell,” Bordas said of a deal that was discussed in 2014. "He told me that if we could do something, we would do it. 

“I made it possible to bring in Courtois and Zubi [Andoni Zubizarreta, former Barca director of football], with good judgment, said he wanted to sign ter Stegen and we were right because he is the best in the world. 

“We decided to bring in someone else, [Claudio] Bravo, a great goalkeeper, but maybe we could have had Courtois and ter Stegen together."

Spain international Alvaro Morata was another player on Barca’s radar, and Bordas claims he had a deal in place only for Atletico Madrid to swoop with a move for the forward.

"The Morata deal was closed,” Bordas said. “We met with his agent. It was a loan with a purchase option, but we did not get to formalise anything because Atletico found out and given the relationship Juanma Lopez and Morata had with Atletico, they took him away.“

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick has tasked the Super Eagles to beat Sierra Leone 4-0 in Freetown when they battle in their next Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture on Tuesday.

Gernot Rohr’s men travel to Sierra Leone for the reverse fixture of Friday’s game after they surrendered a four-goal lead and settled for a 4-4 draw in Benin.

The result left Nigerians distraught , however, Pinnick has charged them not to just defeat the Leone Stars but they should regain the lead they had before half-time at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.

“It is for us to go to Sierra Leone and beat them that 4-0. It is not winning, winning is an understatement,” Pinnick told NFF media.

“It is to give them that 4-0 and make sure they don’t score one. That is the only thing we will do from the blast of the whistle till the end of that game.

“The beauty about falling down is the resurgence in us to bounce back, bounce back in a grand style because what you’ve done to them is that you’ve given them the confidence that Nigeria is beatable.

“We must re-engineer this team, we must go to Freetown and we must beat them in Freetown by those four goals so that we would know truly that the Eagles have landed.”

The NFF met with the Super Eagles technical crew on Saturday, but the outcome of the meeting is yet to be made public.

Pinnick, immediately after the match, described the 4-4 draw with John Keister’s men as the ‘worst result he has seen in his life’.

“I will say it the way it is in my heart and the hearts of so many Nigerians; the truth is that we can’t be leading 4-0 to Sierra Leone and concede four goals for no reason, there is no reason,” he told the team in their dressing room.

“Since I became the president of NFF, this is the worst result I have seen in my life and in the next few days, I wonder how I’m going to sleep.

“It’s not because of losing, it’s not because we won’t qualify for the Nations Cup, it’s certainly because this is towards the end of the year, you know the passion, the love Nigerians have for this game.

“It’s football, definitely, it’s football; it can go either way, but what happened to us? Were we complacent? Were we just so comfortable that we were leading 4-0 and all of a sudden, the goals started coming in?”

Declan Rice has said that working with Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson on international duty has given him an insight into what it takes to become England captain.

The West Ham midfielder, who was subject to a long-time international tug of war between Ireland and the Three Lions, now holds aspirations of captaining Gareth Southgate’s side.

He has been capped 11 times by England, having featured in three Ireland friendlies previously.

At club level, his inspiration has been Mark Noble, and having taken a step up at international level, he has seen what it takes to lead his country through Kane.

"It's just something that, as a kid, has always been one of my dreams - to be a captain,” he told a press conference ahead of England's Nations League clash with Belgium. “Coming up with Nobes as our captain and, me, being the rising player in the team, the manager has given me the armband when Nobes isn't playing.

"I'm taking it in my stride and I'm really lucky I've someone like Noble to help along the way.

"I'm only 21 and captaining the team in big games like Liverpool and Manchester City - long may that continue.

"If you look at Jordan and what he's done for his whole career but, especially the last couple of years, it's so important for me to learn and get better. We know his qualities on the ball but you don't realise until you play next to him, his leadership qualities. He is non-stop, always on at you in a good, positive way.

"That gives you the confidence to go and fight for the badge.

"With Harry, you feel his presence all the time. He wasn't involved against Ireland but beforehand, he's in the changing room, getting everyone ready. He's talking to the lads, individually. For a youngster like me, aspiring to be a future captain, that's great."

Rice is aiming to feature against Belgium on Sunday, with England still chasing top spot in a group that also contains Iceland and Croatia. The Three Lions then complete their pool stage campaign at home to Iceland on Wednesday.

Former Tusker captain James Situma has opined on where Kenya coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee should play Victor Wanyama against Comoros on Sunday.

Kenya will face off with Comoros in a second straight African Cup of Nations qualifier in Moroni and Situma says he would want to see the Harambee Stars captain fill his usual deep-midfield position.

“He is an experienced player who has played for competitive sides in the world like Southampton and Tottenham,” Situma told Goal.

“In front of the back four, he does not only offer stability but also gives room to [Johanna] Omollo to make the box-to-box runs effectively. At that position, Wanyama always looks comfortable and offers his best.

“But again it would depend on how the coach wants to deploy the whole team. The good thing is that we have him in the squad and we are fine by that alone.”

Under Sebastien Migne, Wanyama was deployed further upfield as Dennis Odhiambo was preferred at the centre of the midfield.

The retired Kenyan Premier League winner also delved in on the debate about who between Omollo and Kenneth Muguna should start in Moroni.

“I have been a player and I know when the coach is drafting his starting XI, he does so bearing in mind what he would want to achieve,” explained the former Mathare United skipper.

“The good thing is that both Muguna and Omollo are in camp.

“Both are good and a good coach would always enjoy having a strong bench because it gives you an edge over the opponent.

“Having Muguna on the bench, I do not have issues over that. It is okay because Omollo is also a quality player who has value on the pitch and is always trying to give his best.

“Whenever Muguna also plays he gives his best and so Mulee is spoilt for choice and for a good reason.

“But as a coach, you have to make a choice and come up with a player who is good for that particular game. They are good and I am sure the coach knows what he wants from both.”

The Gor Mahia skipper was not involved when Kenya picked up a 1-1 draw at home on Wednesday.

Dog is a man's best friend, as the old saying goes, and Barcelona legend Lionel Messi certainly has a favourite four-legged companion.

Messi is not the only high profile footballer with a famous furry friend, withNeymar, Alexis Sanchez, Mario Balotelli and more all sharing snaps of their pets on social media.

However, the Argentine's dog might be the most famous of them all.

So, what type of dog does Messi have and what is its name? Goal brings you all you need to know about the Argentine's hound.

Contents

What breed is Lionel Messi's dog?

Lionel Messi's dog is a Dogue de Bordeaux. Also known as a Bordeaux Mastiff or French Mastiff, the breed is known for its size and strength.

Dogues de Bordeaux are short-haired dog breeds, with large heads and their coats are usually a distinctive red fawn colour.

Historically, Dogues de Bordeaux have been used as guard dogs, protecting homes and livestock, as well as being working dogs, pulling cargo.

The breed was notably used in the 1989 'buddy cop' movie Turner and Hooch, starring Tom Hanks alongside Dogue de Bordeaux 'Beasley'.

What is Lionel Messi's dog's name?

Lionel Messi's dog is called Hulk (sometimes Senor Hulk) and it is definitely a fitting name considering the sheer size of the animal.

A video shared on Instagram by Messi's wife Antonela Roccuzzo in 2018 gave fans an idea of how big Hulk was - and he was only around two years old at that point.

Messi himself provides the scale in the video as he playfully knocks a ball over the dog's head, confirming, in the process, that the Argentine's skills can embarrass more than just humans.

Before Hulk joined the equation at Casa Messi, the Barca star and Antonela's main pet dog was Toby, who looks to be a Bichon Frise or miniature Poodle.

Pictures of Lionel Messi's dog

Senor Hulk first arrived on the scene in January 2016 as Messi announced that a "new member of the family" had joined the Messi clan.

Hulk quickly grew big and it wasn't long before the hound started to make Messi look even smaller!

Check out more photos of Messi's dog Hulk below:

Kylian Mbappe could have been Neymar’s replacement at Barcelona, according to Javier Bordas, the former director of the Camp Nou club.

Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain in a blockbuster €222 million (£198m/$263m) deal in the summer of 2017, leaving a void at Camp Nou.

Bordas has explained that Barca investigated the potential of signing Mbappe but instead elected to go for Ousmane Dembele because technical secretary Robert Fernandez wanted to bring more width to their side.

“When we were to sign Dembele, agent Josep Maria Minguella called me to tell us Mbappe was within reach,” Bordas told Mundo Deportivo. “I spoke with Josep Maria Bartomeu and he told me to look at him.

“I called Mbappe’s father and he told me that we was not going to go to Real Madrid because Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale were there and that instead he could go to Barca because Neymar had left.

“The president of Monaco preferred that he signed for Barcelona so as not to reinforced PSG, a direct rival. And it could have been done for €100m (£90m/$118m).

“Robert preferred Dembele and Pep Segura supported him. The explanation was that Mbappe plays for himself and Dembele plays for the team, and since a winger like Ney had left, Robert preferred a winger more than a finisher.”

It is a move that Barcelona have lived to regret. While Dembele has shown flashes of the quality he displayed with Rennes and Dortmund, he has spent much of his time in Spain on the injury list and has featured only 82 times in three years, returning 22 goals and 17 assists.

The Catalans spent €105m (£94m/$125m) on the France international, who is now 23, while there are bonus payments of up to €40m (£35m/$47m) included in the deal.

Mbappe, meanwhile, has seen his star ascend since moving to PSG, and a year after his big move he netted in the World Cup final. The forward, though, could soon be on the market once again as his contract is up in 2022 and he has yet to agree a new deal with the Ligue 1 side.

Crystal Palace midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp, Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Majeed Ashimeru and China-based Mubarak Wakaso have been named in Ghana's travelling squad for Tuesday's 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matchday four fixture against Sudan.

The trio was unavailable as the Black Stars beat the North Africans 2-0 in a matchday three tie in Cape Coast on Thursday.

The list of the travelling team was announced on the Ghana Football Association's official website on Sunday.

While Wakaso and Schlupp were named in coach CK Akonnor's original 23-man squad announced in October for the double-header, Ashimeru was among seven players handed late call-ups ahead of Thursday's fixture after the Ghana team was faced with player withdrawals and late arrivals.

Schlupp did not join Crystal Palace team-mate Jordan Ayew for a prompt trip to Accra after the club's 4-1 Premier League triumph over Leeds United last week, and only linked up for his first training session on Friday, a day after Ghana's 2-0 win.

Wakaso also missed Thursday's Afcon qualifier due to a club game in the Chinese Super League on the same day. He had still not touched down at the time the Black Stars trained on Saturday, but was expected to join camp before the team leaves Accra for Sudan on Sunday.

Ashimeru, having received a late call-up due to the withdrawal of Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey, joined training for the first time on Saturday.

A win for Ghana against Sudan at the Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman will secure the Black Stars qualification for the tournament in Cameroon with two games to spare.

Travelling Team List

Goalkeepers: Richard Ofori (Orlando Pirates, South Africa), Lawrence Ati-Zigi (St. Gallen, Switzerland), Razak Abalora (Asante Kotoko)

Defenders: John Boye (FC Metz, France), Baba Abdul Rahman (Chelsea, England), Kwadwo Amoako (Ashanti Gold), Christopher Nettey (Asante Kotoko), Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg, France), Joseph Aidoo (Celta Vigo, Spain), Joseph Attamah (Kayserispor, Turkey), Nicholas Opoku (Amiens, France)

Midfielders: Emmanuel Lomotey (Amiens, France), Afriyie Acquah (Yeni Malatyaspor, Turkey), Clifford Aboagye (Tijuana, Mexico), Majeed Ashimeru (Red Bull Salzburg, Austria), Mubarak Wakaso (Jiangsu Suning, China)

Strikers/Forwards: Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace, England), Andre Ayew (Swansea City, England), Tariqe Fosu (Brentford, England), Samuel Owusu (Al Ahli, Saudi Arabia), Caleb Ekuban (Trabzonspor, Turkey), John Antwi (Pyramids, Egypt), Jeffrey Schlupp (Crystal Palace, England)

South Africa forward Kermit Erasmus is available for selection for Monday’s 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sao Tome e Principe at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium after recovering from a “minor injury”.

The 30-year-old was a last-minute withdrawal from the playing squad which beat Sao Tome 2-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday.

After he was injured in training on Thursday, Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki was left with limited options upfront, where he started Percy Tau and Lebogang Manyama.

South Africa Football Association (Safa) spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi confirmed that Erasmus trained on Saturday and is in contention to start on Monday.

“Kermit Erasmus trained with the rest of the team upon arrival in Port Elizabeth on Saturday and seems to have shrugged off the minor injury he sustained,” Chimhavi told Goal.

“Every other player took part in Saturday’s regeneration exercise. All 24 players should be available for selection barring last-minute injuries.”

Erasmus’ return comes as good news for Ntseki, who endured a difficult time in training which saw five players pull out due to injuries, while two tested positive for coronavirus.

The withdrawals included SuperSport United forward Bradley Grobler, a development which further depleted Ntseki’s attacking options.

This saw South Africa struggle to break Sao Tome down, especially in the first half and needed a 55th-minute Tau penalty for their opening goal, while a last-minute headed effort by substitute Bongani Zungu doubled their advantage.

Ntseki is hoping to put behind the unconvincing display in Durban for a better showing on Monday.

The availability of Erasmus could see Manyama being sacrificed for the Port Elizabeth contest.

South Africa remain second in Group C with six points, behind leaders Ghana, who continued with their 100 percent record after dismissing third-placed Sudan at home on Thursday.

Ghana travel to Sudan for the reverse fixture on Tuesday as they seek to maintain top spot.

Sao Tome anchor the standings with zero points following three defeats and Ntseki’s men would not want the grim record of their opponents claiming their first points of the campaign from his side.

Uganda captain Denis Onyango believes natural grass at Nyayo Stadium will help them when they take on South Sudan in an African Cup of Nations qualifier on Monday.

Uganda picked up a 1-0 win over South Sudan on the artificial turf at St Mary’s Stadium on Thursday and the Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper believes they would not struggle in Nairobi as they did at home given the nature of the pitch.

“Hopefully, things become easier for us when we play them on normal grass and we also hope the game will be a bit more open because they also want to win,” Onyango said as was quoted by Football256.

“It was a difficult game played on an artificial turf which most of the players are not used to but those who are familiar with it came on and helped us,” the skipper had said in a separate interview.

South Sudan will host the Cecafa record champions away from home given the security concerns in Juba and the 35-year-old believes they stand a better chance of getting a win since no team will enjoy direct home advantage.

“Definitely both teams will be playing like they are away. There will not be any supporters for them as well, so for us, it’s all about executing our game plan well,” he added.

Uganda struggled against the Bright Stars and got an opener four minutes before the game ended and Onyango remains cautious ahead of the reverse fixture.

“We need to be very conscious and try to wrap up qualification in Kenya on Monday,” he concluded. “Because we have ever done it before and I hope we can do the same because we know the challenge that is lying ahead of us.

“As you saw South Sudan are an improved side, all we need to do is to care about ourselves, put up a much better performance on Monday and highlight our chances of sealing qualification.”

Head coach Johnathan McKinstry had to make some changes in the squad that travelled to Nairobi for the Monday showdown.

He had to pick SC Villa’s David Owori in order to fill the place of TP Mazembe’s Joseph Ochaya, who remains suspended.

Vipers SC’s Halid Lwaliwa could also start ahead of Khalid Aucho, who sustained a knock in the reverse fixture as Ronald Mukiibi remains a doubt.

Retired Harambee Stars defender James Situma has explained how the Comoros red card disadvantaged Kenya during the African Cup Cup of Nations qualifier on Wednesday in Nairobi.

Youssouf M’changama was sent off in the first half as the two nations eventually fought to draw 1-1 at Kasarani, and Situma believes the red card affected Kenya more than it may have done the visiting Comoros side.

“We had a chance to win given we really played well but the red card changed the course of the game completely and playing against 10 men is never easy,” Situma told Goal.

“It is always much easier playing against 11 players than playing against 10 people. I have been a player and once you are a man down, every player tends to put in more effort.

“Every individual doubles up their effort and play like two people and that becomes quite difficult for the opponent.”

The two-time Premier League winner also stated why he thinks Kenya have a chance of winning the game in Moroni on Sunday.

“They [Comoros] got a point away and I know it is going to be an open game since they would want to win the three points and that will be our case too,” Situma added.

“I believe we are not going to sit behind and in that case, I know we have a chance of getting the points away given how open the game is going to be.”

On the goal that Arnold Origi conceded upon his return to the national fold, the former Mathare United, Sofapaka and Tusker defender said the goalkeeper should not be blamed at all.

“People have had so much talk on that goal but for me, I would say Origi had no chance at all. If you watched the game, it was some kind of a deflection,” he concluded.

“When the ball was travelling, Origi had his eyes firmly on it but in between, it was deflected off our player and surely no one should blame the goalkeeper.

“Even for a defender, when someone deflects the ball, it becomes very hard for you to make a clearance. You cannot blame the goalkeeper in such an instance too and that goal was meant to happen.”

Kenya will face the islanders at 19:00 Kenyan time in search of a maiden Group G win, where they are third after picking up identical 1-1 draws in each of their three games to date.