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Jadon Sancho will bounce back from his current dip in form, says Borussia Dortmund player director Sebastian Kehl, with the England international experiencing a mere "temporary phenomenon" in regards to his game that is unrelated to Manchester United's transfer pursuit.

Following a high-flying 2019-20 campaign that saw him round out the top three scorers in the Bundesliga with 17 goals to his name, the winger has failed to find the net in six league appearances so far this term.

The winger was on the scoresheet against the Republic of Ireland for the Three Lions last week, but his third international goal has still been unable to hide a subpar start in line with expectations for the 20-year-old in certain quarters.

Former Germany star Kehl, who has helped oversee Sancho's development at the club, believes that the player is simply enduring a brief blip, while playing down suggestions that his performances have been affected by a protracted saga involving a failed move to United over the off-season.

"Jadon is perhaps lacking a little fluency right now," Kehl expanded upon to Kicker. "His natural game is only partially recognizable at the moment.

"But this is only a temporary phenomenon, one that will soon vanish into thin air. It is not a distraction brought on by United's interest.

"We will have to go through this together. Jadon doesn't care [about speculation]. We know that he is working on it."

Sancho spent the final part of his youth career at United's rivals Manchester City following a switch from Watford, but made the move to Dortmund in 2017 after he was unable to receive assurances of regular playing time under Pep Guardiola.

He has since flourished in Germany, fast emerging as one of the most exciting young talents at a club that prides itself on their youthful starlets, striking up an impressive partnership with fellow attacker Erling Haaland following the latter's arrival in January.

Having previously started both of England's UEFA Nations League ties in September, Sancho's subsequent form has seen him kept out of the first-choice XI across the rest of the Three Lions' Group A3 fixtures, notching merely 52 minutes off the bench in four games.

Swansea City manager Steve Cooper has calmed worries over the fitness of Ghana attacker Andre Ayew ahead of Saturday’s Championship meeting with Rotherham United.

The 30-year-old sustained an injury while on international duty with Ghana last week, cutting short his stay with the Black Stars and forcing him out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying matchday four away clash with Sudan.  The captain’s absence was sorely missed as CK Akonnor’s outfit slumped to a 1-0 loss in Omdurman, their first defeat of the qualifying group.

He was reported to be facing four weeks on the sidelines after his impromptu departure from the Ghana camp, just a few days after scoring a double to ensure a 2-0 home triumph in the first encounter with the Sudanese.

Swansea are set to face Rotterdam United in gameweek 12 at Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

“Andre and Marc came back early from international duty, that was precautionary more than anything else,” Cooper told pressmen ahead of Sunday's league fixture, his club's official website has reported.

“Obviously we have had a busy schedule and they have played every minute of every league game up until now.

“They then went into a full-on international camp, so they are naturally going to be tired and, like everybody, going to be at risk of fatigue.

“From fatigue you can start feeling some strain and muscle soreness, so they came back early as a precaution.

“They are doubts for the weekend, but we haven’t made a final call on it as yet.”

Ayew has been key for Swansea's quest for Premier League promotion.

This season, the former Olympique Marseille man has made 11 Championship appearances so far, scoring on five occasions. His goal haul puts him up as the club's top scorer so far this term.

The situation is not any different from last season when he hit 16 goals in 46 league outings for the Jack Army, propelling the side to the promotion play-off semi-final.

His exploits earned him the top scorer and most valuable player prizes at the club's end of season awards gala. 

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has revealed Eberechi Eze has adapted to the Premier League effortlessly.

The midfielder teamed up with the Eagles in the summer from Queens Park Rangers, where he shone during his four-year stay with the Championship club.

The 22-year-old has quickly established himself in Palace’s squad, featuring in seven of their eight Premier League games this season so far.

The Anglo-Nigerian opened his goal account against Leeds United before the international break and also has one assist to his credit.

Hodgson has praised the young midfielder for his quick adaptation at the Selhurst Park outfit since his arrival.

“He's been very good, right from the start. The adaptation was seamless,” Hodgson said in a pre-match press conference.

“The moment he stepped onto the field with these players he looked at home and won their respect. That's always been a success.

“In the games, he's started or come on, he's shown the talent that he has. That was particularly evident against Leeds, he had a top-class game.”

Eze suffered an injury during England’s U21 game against Andorra U21 but Hodgson is confident the injury will not rule him out of contention when they face Burnley in Monday’s Premier League match.

“He was delighted with that. He went away with the Under-21s and picked up a slight injury. We'll assess that but hopefully, it's not going to keep him out,” he added.

Eze is eligible to represent Nigeria and England and has previously revealed he is yet to make a decision on his international future.

The midfielder has been a long target for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and should he decide to pitch his tent with the Super Eagles, he would join the likes of Ola Aina, Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses who previously featured for the Three Lions before committing to the West Africans.

Nairobi City Stars striker Ezekiel Odera has reminisced on his goal against Sony Sugar on November 19, 2016.

The Simba wa Nairobi had been already relegated when they tackled the Sugar Millers at Ruaraka ground and Odera was among the scorers in the match although his effort didn't help his side.

The 2-1 loss to Sony Sugar was Nairobi City Stars' last Premier League game and Odera scored the last goal for them in the top-tier.

“As a player scoring a goal is always special but also scoring a meaningless goal doesn’t add any flavour,” the former AFC Leopards striker told the club’s website.

“We were already relegated to the second-tier and we were just playing for pride.

“It was a formality game. We had already been sent packing from the league and there was nothing much in it other than just completing our fixture for the season.” 

The former KCB striker also explained how the relegation affected him and what it took him to consider playing for long thereafter.

“After already being relegated the morale in the team was already low,” he added. “I had already started entertaining the idea of hanging my boots and concentrating on my job.

“I couldn’t take it playing in the lower league. So, losing the last game against Sony was not the best way to do it. But I took everything positively.

“It took the persuasion of my former coach Robert Matano to bring me back to playing again.”

Arthur Museve and John Amboko, who have retired and are now part of the technical bench, also recalled the last events of the Premier League which they were involved in.

“Museve and I certainly played our last Premier League game against Sony Sugar four years back but I am keenly looking forward to a return to that same platform from a different capacity as a coach,” said Amboko.

“We are glad to be back and will want to avoid how it ended in 2016 with a good start,” Museve said on his part.

Nairobi City Stars are expected to play Nzoia Sugar, Zoo FC, Vihiga United, Kakamega Homeboyz and Western Stima in their first five 2020/21 Premier League matches.

Juventus are in no rush to trigger their €35 million (£31m/$41m) purchase option on Alvaro Morata, Goal can confirm.

Morata, who took in a successful two-year spell at Juve between 2014 and 2016, returned to Turin on a season-long loan from Atletico Madrid in September.

The Bianconeri forked out an initial €10m  (£9m/$11.9m) fee for the striker, and they have the option to extend his loan by an extra year at the end of the season for the same lump sum.

Juve can also sign Morata outright for €45m (£40m/$53m) next summer if they wish, but Goal has learned that the Italian giants are planning to wait until the following year before making his move to the Allianz Stadium permanent, meaning they won't have to pay as much upfront.

The reigning Serie A champions are more than happy with the Atletico loanee's contribution at the start of the 2020-21 season, but are reluctant to meet his asking price at the moment due to the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Morata has hit six goals in his first eight appearances since making his way back to Juve, and has been able to carry his prolific form over to the international stage over the past week.

The 28-year-old scored the opener in Spain's 6-0 Nations' League victory over Germany on Tuesday, which ensured that Luis Enrique's side made it through to next year's finals.

Juve supporters will hope Morata's hot streak in the final third continues when Cagliari arrive at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Andrea Pirlo's men haven't kicked off their title defence in the most impressive fashion, with three wins and four draws recorded from their opening seven fixtures.

However, the Old Lady will be expected to get back to winning ways against Cagliari after being held to a 1-1 draw by Lazio before the international break, with Morata likely to retain his place in the team up front alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Juve are currently sitting fifth in the Serie A standings, four points behind leaders Milan, who are due to take in a tough trip to Napoli on Sunday.

After their latest domestic outing, the Bianconeri will turn their attention to a Champions League meeting with Ferencvaros on November 24, which they must win to stay within touch of Group G leaders Barcelona.

Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) is set to summon Super League sides Nkana FC and Green Buffaloes FC over fan trouble that occurred on Wednesday.

A fan, who is yet to be identified, stormed onto the pitch and attacked Nkana’s head coach Manfred Chabinga when the team was trailing 3-0 against the Green Buffaloes at the Nkoloma Stadium.

“The Football Association of Zambia has noted with concern the events surrounding the FAZ/MTN week five fixture between Green Buffaloes and Nkana at Nkoloma Stadium,” the federation statement said.

“An unidentified soccer fan breached all security protocols to attack Nkana coach Manfred Chabinga triggering a fightback from the Nkana bench.”

The violent conduct happened on the first day when fans were allowed to attend games since a ban imposed on their attendance was lifted by the government.

“We are very disappointed with the scenes we witnessed at Nkoloma Stadium. We are going to deal sternly with the parties involved,” FAZ General-Secretary Adrian Kashala said on Thursday.

“We fought so hard to get fans back into the stadia and will not allow hooliganism to ruin our desire to have spectators at stadia.”

Kashala further stated the fan who was involved in the violent conduct will be handed to the police once he is identified.

The official stated it is early to find fault on either Nkana or Green Buffaloes until when the investigations are complete.

“Buffaloes and Nkana will be summoned for possible sanctions over inadequate security and violent conduct, respectively,” he added.

“It may be too early to pre-empt disciplinary steps that will be taken but we expect both parties to furnish us with answers on the situation at Nkoloma Stadium.

“We urge clubs to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines so that the authorities do not suspend the waiver again. Fans should also be mindful that any indiscretions could attract a ban.”

Green Buffaloes ended up defeating Nkana 5-0 in the matchday five fixture.

It is not yet clear whether the Red Devils top hierarchy will take any action on their technical bench especially after the unrest of fans became palpable.

Nkana fans are known to have a lot of influence on the decisions of management, especially on matters regarding poor results.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni believes coach Gernot Rohr and a significant proportion of Nigeria's national team players are not fit to wear the famous green and white shirt in the wake of their outing against Sierra Leone.

In the recent Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Leone Stars, the Super Eagles surrendered a four-goal lead in the first leg to settle for a 4-4 draw, while the return leg in Freetown ended 0-0, with Rohr’s team looking off the pace in both games.

Even with the draws, the three-time African champions lead Group L with eight points from four games – although their qualification hopes for Cameroon 2020 is on ice.

Questions have been asked of those calling the shots in the Super Eagles squad and important decisions made on and off the field.

And Aiyegbeni, who is Nigeria’s third highest scoring player of all time believes the German tactician must take the brunt of the blame for the poor form.

“The coach is not good enough, let him go,” the former Maccabi Haifa, Everton and Portsmouth striker said on Lagos Talks.

“Some of the boys are not good enough, I don’t know where they are bringing them from. Who is inviting these players?

“Our football is getting worse every day. When I was there, people criticise us, but we’re way better than these ones.

“The coach is not good enough, no clue. Gernot Rohr is one of the worst coaches in our history. He is not good enough.”

Former Gabon and Etoile du Sahel manager Rohr replaced Sunday Oliseh as the country’s permanent handler in 2016. He led the Super Eagles to the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, where they crashed out of a group that had Argentina, Iceland and Croatia.

He was also in charge when Nigeria placed third at the Egypt 2019 Afcon  - where they pipped Tunisia 1-0 for the bronze medal.

Nigeria travel to Porto-Novo’s Stade Charles de Gaulle for their next fixture against Benin Republic in March 2021.

Harry Kane has credited Jose Mourinho as integral to Tottenham Hotspur's resurgence, with the England captain stating his belief that the Portuguese has brought out the best in him and his teammates.

The north London outfit have enjoyed one of their best starts to a season in recent memory this term, cementing themselves as early frontrunners in the Premier League.

Despite contention with a major fixture crush thanks to their Europa League commitments, Mourinho's team have defied their hectic schedule with a string of eye-catching performances.

The influence of the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager, who has racked up near-two-dozen major honours during his two-decade-long career in the coaching hotseat, has been pronounced since he succeded Mauricio Pochettino last year.

Tottenham have not tasted success since a League Cup triumph in 2008, though they have come close with a Champions League final in 2019 - but Kane believes that with the 57-year-old at the helm, the future is looking rosy.

“We’ve got a long, long way to go,” the Three Lions skipper addressed the Press Association. “A long old season. I think, as proven in my career so far, it takes a lot to get over the line. We haven’t quite done that yet.

“We’ve been close a few times so we know there’s going to be a lot of hard work from now until then to do that. It’s been a good start. Obviously, we lost the first game against Everton which was disappointing, but since then we've been unbeaten in the league.

“Even the dropped points we had against West Ham and Newcastle with last-minute goals should have been wins from our point of view. We’re playing well.

"I still think that we can improve and get better but obviously we’re second in the league. We’re in November, there’s still a lot of games to play, but we’re in a good spot.”

On Mourinho's personal influence, which has helped Kane further blossom with a fine individual haul, the 27-year-old remained effusive, adding: “It’s been great to have him just at the training ground, on the training field.

"Just learning and seeing how he goes about his business, seeing how he deals with different situations and problems, so that’s all been great to learn.

I think he saw in my game that I like to drop deep so he made it clear [the rest of the squad] that if I do drop deep then they need to be the ones running in behind.

"I think that’s been the real difference. It’s allowed me to create space and get the ball but have an option going forward as well. He’s been great and I look forward to obviously the months ahead and getting on really well.”

Ghana midfielder Afriyie Acquah opines Tuesday's defeat to Sudan in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers was not a result of complacency on the part of the Black Stars.

The West Africans suffered their first loss of the group in the matchweek four fixture at Al Hilal Stadium, Omdurman, as Mohamed Abdelrahman netted in second-half injury-time goal to win it all for the hosts.

Five days earlier, the two teams met on matchday four in Cape Coast where an Andre Ayew double ensured a 2-0 triumph for Ghana.

"As we all know, in the first leg we managed a 2-0 victory. So we were determined to go into the reverse fixture and win but unfortunately, it couldn’t materialise," Yeni Malatyaspor midfielder Acquah said, as reported by Citisportsonline.

"We lost in the last minute but we still have a chance to qualify, we have two other games to play which I think we can win.

“Anyone who watched the first game can testify that the Sudanese have a good team, now football has changed, everyone knows how to play so you cannot underrate any team.

“We never underrated them, it was a game and in every game, anything can happen. The defeat does not mean we underestimated them, it just happened. We will correct our mistakes and move on."

Despite the defeat, Ghana still stand in pole position to qualify for the final tournament in Cameroon as they top the table in Group C, with two more rounds of matches to go.

A win or draw in Sudan would have secured the Black Stars a qualification ticket with two games to spare.

“Overall, I think we did well. We lost to a team that showed more hunger than us," Ghana coach CK Akonnor said after the game.

“If I look at the way we played in Ghana and the way we played here, I feel there is a bit of improvement in terms of containing pressure and all that.

“The players fought under uncomfortable conditions like the weather and the Sudanese tried to frustrate us before the game and I appreciate the players’ effort.

"The Sudanese players were hungrier than us. We will learn from the mistakes we made today and we’ll do well against South Africa and Sao Tome and qualify.

"I strongly believe and I can assure Ghanaians that we’ll do our best to qualify."

Ghana are chasing their 23rd appearance at Afcon and the qualifiers commence in March. 

Diogo Jota was billed as “the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo” long before he burst onto the scene in English football, with the Liverpool forward’s former coach revelling that he tipped the 23-year-old for the top back in 2016.

At that stage, the hard-working forward was still making a name for himself in his native Portugal.

He had caught the eye at Pacos de Ferreira, tempting La Liga giants Atletico Madrid to make a move for his services.

They were prepared to let Jota remain in his homeland after doing that deal, with a loan agreement put in place with Porto.

At that stage, Jorge Simao made it clear to anyone prepared to listen that he saw a player of considerable promise following in the footsteps of a legendary countryman.

Simao, who worked with Jota at Pacos de Ferriera, told The Athletic: “Nobody does what Jota is doing now without having real ambition.

“When he signed for Porto [in 2016], I told a Portuguese website that, for me, Jota would be the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Obviously, that was quite a big claim to make at that time, because Jota had only played for Pacos and had not had a good time at Atletico Madrid.

“When Jota signed for Liverpool, I sent him a message to congratulate him. He replied, five seconds later, with a link to that old article about him and Ronaldo.

“It was the very first thing he sent! He must have had it bookmarked. Incredible! He hadn’t forgotten.”

Liverpool snapped Jota up from Wolves in the summer transfer window.

He had recorded 44 goals through 131 appearances at Molineux and quickly set about making his mark on Merseyside.

Jurgen Klopp invested £45 million ($58m) worth of his faith in his ability, with the reigning Premier League champions eager to add greater depth to their attacking options.

Jota has delivered an immediate return for the Reds, with the target found on seven occasions through 11 outings.

He is pushing hard for a regular role at Anfield and has also taken his tally of international caps to 10, as he looks to prove worthy of his billing as Ronaldo’s heir while competing alongside the Juventus superstar.

Frank Lampard has warned that the Premier League is undermining its own product by asking Chelsea to travel to Newcastle for an early Saturday kick-off straight after the international break.

The Chelsea boss is amazed league chiefs expect his players to return from duty with their countries, some flying in from different continents, and then face another sapping journey before their feet have barely touched the ground.

The Blues have a curiously poor recent record at Newcastle, having lost on five of their past seven visits to St James' Park (W1 D1), and their hopes of improving on that have not been helped by the timing of this weekend's game.

A 12:30 GMT start on Saturday is distinctly unhelpful, Lampard believes, at a time when he feels the Premier League should be doing all it possibly can to guide clubs through the difficult pandemic period.

He said Chelsea have been training with just four first-team players while their leading lights have been away with their countries over the past fortnight. They also have a Champions League trip to Rennes next week on their busy agenda.

"The majority of our squad have been travelling. Some are travelling just now, just landed now, they will travel again to fly up to Newcastle, they'll travel back from Newcastle, they'll fly to Rennes on Monday and they'll fly back from Rennes," Lampard said.

He struggles to see the sense in having the 12:30 match slot at all.

"When you look at the scheduling, for me it's just a common sense factor of the broadcasters have never had as many slots as they have now. That 12:30 slot, how much does it need to be there?" Lampard asked.

"It's absolutely not the optimum way to have players preparing for a Premier League game, which is an incredible brand all around the world.

"You want the best of the brand and it's very difficult for us to prepare for this game anywhere near where we are preparing to our best. I want us to play to our best but it's very difficult circumstances."

He sees injury tolls mounting as clubs and players struggle with an increased workload after the later than usual start to the season, adding to his argument.

"I'm concerned because it's across the Premier League. The injuries are going up - muscle injuries are going up and the numbers are there if the Premier League want to look at them closely," Lampard said.

"So it's clear. It's game after game after game, zero pre-season, the schedule is tighter, throughout the season there'll be these really busy patches, and if we want to handle them the best we can, if we want to look after the players and get the product as well as we can, change the time from 12:30.

"That's not a difficult conversation for me to have. The amount of things we changed due to Covid and Project Restart, and now in this season we had to change because these are incredible times, then we have to look for the best way to change it. So the answer is stop talking and act upon it."

Lampard also said Premier League clubs should band together to insist on being allowed to make five substitutions, as was permitted in the closing weeks of the coronavirus-disrupted 2019-20 season.

That has been denied them this term, with only three substitutes allowed to be used in each game, but Lampard says for the sake of player welfare that should go back up to five.

"I don't want anyone to cry their eyes out for players because we know how lucky we are to do this job," he said.

"But everywhere else in Europe, and the world it seems, have five subs and we at the moment don't and we have to revisit that in my opinion."

Erling Haaland wants to win trophies with Borussia Dortmund and is not thinking about a move abroad, according to his father Alf-Inge Haaland.

Dortmund won the race to sign Erling Haaland from Salzburg last January and he has made a stellar start to his career at Signal Iduna Park, scoring 27 goals in 29 games in all competitions for the club.

The Norway international has a better big chance conversion rate (62.5 per cent) than Robert Lewandowski (53.9 per cent) in the Bundesliga this season, though the Poland international has scored five more goals in the same amount of games (six).

A move to one of Europe's elite clubs continues to be touted for the 20-year-old, but Haaland Sr. insists that has not been discussed.

"When you play well, it's only logical that big clubs knock on your door, but we're talking about speculation here," he told SPORT1.

"At the moment it's not in Erling's or my head that another club will be vying for him. We signed a long contract with Dortmund and they have a fantastic team for Erling right now. We don't want to look any further ahead."

Asked if the close season could bring about a move, he added: "You never know what will happen. We haven't talked about such a step yet. I think he would like to win some trophies with Dortmund. That is his goal.

"Erling can still achieve a lot in Germany and make great progress. Moving abroad is not a priority for us.

"I sometimes think he wants to and can assert himself in any league. At the moment, he is happy in the Bundesliga and focused on Dortmund. He just wants to be a better player and doesn't look too far ahead."

Erling Haaland was born in Leeds and played under Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for two seasons at Molde - and the pair have been linked with a reunion at Old Trafford.

"It's hard to compare the different clubs," said Alf-Inge Haaland when asked what his son feels is Dortmund's advantage over top clubs in England.

"Manchester United have achieved great success in recent years. The club is also trying to build something new there. But to draw this comparison now is not so easy because he is already playing in Dortmund. These are two very traditional clubs with a large fan base and a glorious history.

"Man Utd is a very proud club, just like Dortmund in Germany. And Dortmund want to beat FC Bayern [Munich] soon, that's the clear goal. We have to catch up to them. Erling wants to cling to this goal."

Dortmund suffered a 3-2 defeat to Bayern in the Bundesliga before the international break and face a trip to Hertha Berlin when they return to action on Saturday.

Paris Saint-Germain are dealing well with their injury crisis and criticism of their form is "insane", according to Lille coach Christophe Galtier.

PSG are top of Ligue 1, leading Lille by five points, but Thomas Tuchel and his side have been scrutinised due to some difficult results.

The champions lost their opening two league games and have been beaten in two of their three Champions League matches.

But Tuchel has been battling numerous selection issues, robbed of key men by a combination of injuries, suspensions and positive coronavirus tests.

PSG have only been able to simultaneously name Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in their starting XI for two of their 10 Ligue 1 games this term, winning on both occasions while scoring a combined eight goals.

Neymar has made just four league appearances but has created 15 chances, trailing only Pablo Sarabia and Angel Di Maria (both 16) among PSG team-mates. Di Maria has himself played a mere five times.

Meanwhile, Mbappe is the team's top scorer with seven goals from six matches (five starts), well clear of second-placed Moise Kean's three.

Given the regular absence of such key men, rival Galtier is stunned by the discussion of PSG's performances.

"There are criticisms today of PSG that seem insane to me," Galtier told L'Equipe. "We are hard on them.

"They have been playing for a few weeks with a second team, which would be a good Ligue 1 team but would not be champions. They are performing despite an incredible injury list.

"It's more difficult in the Champions League, but when you have players like Mbappe and Neymar who are absent, it is normal that the team is less efficient.

"Against Rennes, a team that plays in the Champions League, a very, very diminished Paris managed to win 3-0 without trembling too much.

"I'm not here to defend Thomas, but it's tough. They have 10 or 11 out with this sequence of matches.

"If we had 10 out, come back in two months and tell me what has happened in the meantime.

"Besides, we are going to be faced with [an injury crisis]. We have Renato [Sanches] injured, Zeki [Celik] injured, two players who keep playing.

"It happens with this incredible schedule."

Mamelodi Sundowns are sweating over the fitness of Andile Jali and Kermit Erasmus ahead of Premer Soccer League (PSL) resumption.

The Tshwane giants are set to take on AmaZulu FC on Sunday as the 2020/21 league campaign resumes following the international Fifa break. 

Jali, who withdrew from the Bafana Bafana squad which took on Sao Tome and Principe, is nursing a mild hamstring injury which he picked up during the league match against Cape Town City on November 4. 

While Erasmus sustained a knock to his ankle while on national duty which saw him miss Bafana's first 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Sao Tome in Durban on November 13. 

However, the speedy striker was introduced as a second-half substitute in the second encounter against Sao Tome which took place in Port Elizabeth on Monday.

Sundowns co-coach Rhulani Mokwena has provided an update on the two experienced players as Masandawana look to extend their lead at the top of the PSL standings with a with over Usuthu.

"We are sweating a little bit. We're sweating and a little bit concerned about AJ. He has not trained with us," Mokwena told the media.

"But we are getting good feedback from the doctors, so we have to see on AJ and assess leading up to the game."

"When Kermit comes back from Bafana Bafana we have to assess him because it's a muscular injury and all these studies show that niggles are always related to injury, 75 percent of the time," he added. 

"So, it's important to treat that as precautionary and get our medical team to assess and have a look because Kermit is important for us."

Erasmus has walked straight into the Sundowns starting line-up after joining the reigning PSL champions from Cape Town City prior to the start of the current season.

The former Orlando Pirates marksman has played three matches for Masandawana and netted once which was against Kaizer Chiefs in the opening league game of the campaign.

His former Pirates teammate Jali has been influential for the Brazilians having picked up the Man of the Match accolade after the 2-0 win over Cape Town City two weeks ago.

Sundowns are scheduled to host AmaZulu at the 2010 Fifa World Cup quarter-final venue, Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane. 

Romelu Lukaku “took a lot of blame” at Manchester United, says Roberto Martinez, with the Belgium boss of the opinion that a striker now starring with Inter was treated “very unfairly” at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils invested £75 million ($99m) in the powerful frontman when luring him away from Everton in 2017.

They saw Lukaku register 42 goals through 96 appearances, but he never truly convinced during his time working under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

That led to another move being sanctioned in 2019, as Inter dug deep to take him to Serie A, and the 27-year-old has thrived in Italy – finding the target 41 times through 58 games.

Lukaku’s performances are expected to have those in Manchester asking questions of why they struggled to find a similar kind of spark, with Martinez of the opinion that a proven performer was never given the respect he deserved while with the Red Devils.

The Belgium manager told talkSPORT of a player he has worked with at domestic and international level: “My relationship with Romelu was from a young player when he came to Everton on loan.

“Then we made a massive effort to get him on a permanent basis and he was the transfer record at that time.

“You can see the player going through phases, good moments, bad moments, but what we’ve seen with Romelu is he’s never lost his outstanding quality which is scoring goals.

“Now we’ve seen a real maturity in his play.

“The time he had at Manchester United, he was so desperate to win trophies and he took a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and probably took a lot of blame, in my eyes, very unfairly.

“But going to Italy, he’s in the middle of a new project, he’s taken that responsibility and those difficulties he had in England in a good way.

“The player we have now is a player in the best maturity moment of his career.”

While starring again domestically, Lukaku is also proving to be a talismanic presence for his country.

He bagged a brace in Belgium’s 4-2 win over Denmark on Wednesday, which took Martinez’s men into the UEFA Nations League Finals, and now has 57 goals for the Red Devils through 89 outings.

Mesut Ozil decided against including any of his Arsenal team-mates as he picked his dream five-a-side team from five specific countries.

England, France, Croatia, Italy and Brazil were the five nations that the 32-year-old used as his criteria for selection, with three of the five players having been former team-mates during his time at Real Madrid.

That included France striker Karim Benzema and veteran midfielder Luka Modric, while Brazil international left-back Marcelo also got the nod.

There was also a place for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, who has scored seven goals in 12 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils thus far this season.

As for the goalkeeper of the team, Ozil opted to go with Juventus and Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon.

There was, however, no place for any of the playmaker's Gunners team-mates, past or present, albeit with the limited number of countries Ozil decided to choose from narrowing down his options.

Indeed, from the current squad only William Saliba and Alexandre Lacazette qualify from France, with Willian, David Luiz, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes the club's Brazilian representatives.

There are no Croatian or Italian players in Arsenal's Premier League squad for the 2020-21 season, although there are fair few English players, including the likes of Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding.

It's been a hugely frustrating year for the former Germany international, with Ozil having been left out of Arsenal's squad for both the Premier League and Europa League.

Indeed, the midfielder hasn't played for the Gunners since March, with his last goal for the club coming against Newcastle back in February.

Ozil has fallen way down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta despite having appeared in a number of games for the Spaniard at the start of the year.

The former Real Madrid star made headlines for his decision not to take a pay-cut amid the coronavirus pandemic, while he also offered to pay the wages of the club's mascot Gunnersaurus after he was reportedly made redundant back in October.

Orlando Pirates midfielder Collins Makgaka says he is still “still getting used to the new system” as he discusses his limited playing time at the club.

After signing for Pirates in September, Makgaka has featured in two games, a cameo appearance in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) match against Stellenbosch late October as well as during the MTN8 semi-final, second leg 2-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs recently.

But the attacking midfielder is unperturbed by the lack of game time, saying he will attain his goal of helping the Buccaneers to trophies.

“I’m getting used to everything. I am adapting and now I feel like I am home,” Makgaka told Pirates TV.

“I am getting used to everything, the new system. I think I am coming up well. Firstly it is about the team, Individually I was to see myself helping the team by creating scoring opportunities and scoring goals if I find myself on the pitch and also helping the team win trophies. That is my cause.

“Fans believe in us as players so we have to do our best. We have to do justice in the trust that they show in us by doing our best. We have to win for them.”

Makgaka was signed the same day when Pirates also secured the signature of Zimbabwean midfielder Terrence Dzvukamanja, shortly after the Soweto giants had acquired South Africa captain Thulani Hlatshwayo and Deon Hotto.

Prior to joining Pirates, Makgaka’s only taste of PSL football was with Baroka and the player admits that he was starstruck when he walked into the Pirates dressing room.

“It was not easy knowing that I am going to meet new players,” said Makgaka.

“I knew some players from a distance and I started imagining myself interacting with them. When I got here, I met with the coaches first and they welcomed me and that was when I started feeling a bit relieved.

“I met with Tyson [Hlatshwayo] and Deon. I spoke to Tyson and he asked me how I was feeling and I told him that I was nervous but after that I felt much better. I then met the whole team and they welcomed me. I was not alone.

“Right now I am interacting with other players. They are close to me. They kind of play here is not that difficult so far. The coaches show us what they expect from us so we know what we have to do. That is how everything becomes more easier."

 It is yet to be seen if Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer will field Makgaka in their next league match against SuperSport United on Saturday.