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Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Fabinho is set to miss some time after hobbling off in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Midtjylland.

The Brazilian was forced out with an apparent hamstring injury after just under half an hour and was replaced by Rhys Williams.

Second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah would give the Reds a 2-0 win on the night but it could prove to be a costly victory for Klopp's men. 

With Virgil van Dijk out long term, Fabinho has been filling in at centre-back but Liverpool's depth in defence will now be severely tested with the former Monaco man also set to miss time. 

Klopp told beIN SPORTS: "We have to wait for the scan obviously but you know these times when somebody is going off with a muscle problem, then it's really rare that the doctor calls me the next morning and says: 'False alarm, all fine, he can go again.'

"So it's now only about how long. That's all. And nowadays a week means three games, 10 days means four games, 14 days means seven games and all these kinds of things.

"So that's how it is. Yeah, absolutely not cool but that's the situation."

Speaking to BT Sport, Klopp admitted that his side would now be forced to navigate a difficult period due to their injury crisis at the back.

"It was a tough night," Klopp said. "It's a bit like in a marriage, there are good and bad times. It's not a bad time but it's a tricky time.

"100 per cent we have to stick together and fight harder and that's what the boys did tonight. Losing Fabinho in the first half, Rhys Williams he's only 19 years old and I think he's played more Champions League games than Premier League games - that's rare.

"We're doing really well but it's a shock for a team because now we have to sort that injury."

On Fabinho's injury, Klopp added: "Exactly the last thing we needed. I don't know, he felt his hamstring so that's not good. He didn't feel it that much. He said he could've played on but not sprinting so that doesn't help. We will see, we will have to do a scan and see but clearly it's not good."

Eden Hazard believes Real Madrid can recover from their poor start to the Champions League as he made his long-awaited return from injury in the 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach.

The La Liga champions needed a stunning comeback to recover from Marcus Thuram's brace with the Bundesliga side racing to a 2-0 lead with half-an-hour play.

Hazard helped spark the fightback with his entrance as a substitute coming prior to Karim Benzema keeping the match alive with a goal in the 87th minute before Casemiro struck the equaliser deep into stoppage time.

The Belgium international only managed one goal in 22 appearances during his debut season with Los Blancos after being troubled by injuries and had been yet to make an appearance this campaign.

Hazard was delighted to finally get back on the pitch and explained the result against Gladbach felt like a win despite the team only salvaging a point.

"I'm here to play football, so after two or three months off of the pitch, I'm so happy," Hazard told CBS. "I just want to play football. That's why I'm here.

"It's like three points, but it's not three points. We showed great character because to be 2-0 down, with just five minutes to play, I think we could score one more.

"I could score one more, but I missed, but it felt like three points, like a victory."

Following the Gladbach result and the 3-2 defeat to Shakhtar, Real Madrid are bottom of their Champions League group with one point - however leaders Shakhtar are only three further ahead at the top.

Hazard pointed to Los Blancos' eventual qualification after group stage struggles last season as reason why the team should still be confident of progression but warned the upcoming match against Inter will be a battle.

"[The start is] not that good, to be fair, but last year we showed after two games and one point we can go through," Hazard said. 

"We now have four games to lay, next one against Inter which is not so easy, but we are Real Madrid and we must show we can go through."

Despite their continental struggles, Real Madrid are sitting second in La Liga after a comprehensive 3-1 in the Clasico against Barcelona at Camp Nou last weekend.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said his side would have to accept criticism after an indifferent start to the 2020-21 season.

City are in 13th place in the Premier League after beginning the campaign with two wins, two draws and a 5-2 defeat to Leicester City. 

The team's Champions League campaign is off to a better start, with last week's 3-1 win over Porto followed by Tuesday's 3-0 victory at Marseille. 

Ferran Torres, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling scored at the Stade Velodrome as Guardiola's men went top of Group C. 

It was an important result for City, who have faced plenty of criticism after Guardiola made his worst ever start to a league season as a head coach.

The Spaniard said he understands why his side have been under fire – even if circumstances this season have made things extra challenging.

"We have to accept the criticism," Guardiola told BT Sport. "We play every three days, when you win it's good but if you don't people want to destroy everything.

"But it's about the chairman and everyone else understanding. Part of the criticism was right, but you've got to accept it. It's part of our job.

"It's about where we've come from in the last month, with lack of preparation, injuries and Covid-19 but the Champions League is in a good place now. I'm sure we're going to find that consistency."

Guardiola also expressed his satisfaction at City's performance on a night when they comprehensively defeated last season's Ligue 1 runners-up.

"We played really well, we didn't concede much and we were in control, patient and aggressive without the ball," Guardiola added. "I'm so satisfied with the performance and result, it's always difficult to win away.

"We can play on both sides, we tried to play high and wide to stretch the pitch. Raheem Sterling was exceptional, Phil [Foden] as well. We didn't expect them to play five at the back until we saw the team. Porto was the same. As much as we play against five at the back we started to take the control and rhythm.

"We were so stable defensively. Aymeric [Laporte] was good, Kyle [Walker] is in the best form since we've been together, Oleksandr [Zinchenko] helped us, John [Stones] played good minutes. I'm so satisfied with the way we played."

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has dismissed Kaizer Chiefs’ appeal against a two-window transfer ban on Tuesday.

As a result, the Soweto giants will not be able to register players for two consecutive transfer windows due to the illegal signing of Andriamirado “Dax” Andrianarimanana in 2018.

Dax's former Malagasy club, Fosa Juniors lodged a complaint to Fifa stating Chiefs didn’t justifiably compensate them for the transfer of the player.

Fifa then ruled in favour of Fosa and the box-to-box midfielder was handed a four-month ban.

The Madagascar international has since served his suspension and he is now on the books of Black Leopards. 

Chiefs lodged an appeal to Cas last month and the court has since released the following statement:

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has issued its decision in the appeal filed by the Malagasy player Andriamirado Aro Hasina Andrianamimanana (the Player) and the South African club Kaizer Chiefs FC (collectively, the Appellants), against the decision rendered by the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) on 5 December 2019 (the Challenged Decision)," a statement read.

"In such a decision, the Fifa DRC noted that the Player and Kaizer Chiefs entered into a new contract when the player was still under contract with Fosa Juniors FC/Madagascar. Given these circumstances, the Fifa DRC concluded that the Player unilaterally terminated the Employment Contract with Fosa Juniors FC without just cause."

"As a consequence, the Player was ordered, together with Kaizer Chiefs FC, to jointly and severally pay a compensation of MGA 157’572’000 (approx. USD 40’000) to Fosa Juniors FC."

"In addition, a four-month period of ineligibility was imposed on the player, and Kaizer Chiefs FC was banned from registering any new players either nationally or internationally for two entire and consecutive registration periods."

"The Cas Panel in charge of this matter has dismissed the appeal and confirmed the Challenged Decision in its entirety."

This means Chiefs will not be able to register former Bidvest Wits duo of Sifiso Hlanti and Phathutshedzo Nange since the club are banned until July 2021.

Amakhosi have also been linked with former Wits goalkeeper Brandon Peterson. 

Jadon Sancho's slow start to the season could be down to constant speculation over his future, according to Borussia Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre. 

Sancho was consistently linked with a move to Manchester United over the summer as the Red Devils made a strong push to land the England international. 

Dortmund, however, managed to rebuff every attempt United made to land Sancho, who is now set to spend another season with the Bundesliga outfit. 

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke hinted recently that United's move for Sancho was "misjudged", but also did not rule out a future sale.

In the meantime, Sancho has not yet hit the heights he enjoyed in recent seasons, notching one goal and three assists in his first six outings for Dortmund in 2020-21. 

At a press conference ahead of Wednesday's Champions League encounter with Zenit, Dortmund boss Favre said that it would be only natural if one of his star forwards was distracted by all the headlines.

"Every player has slow periods," Favre explained. "There was a lot of talk about Jadon in the summer, something like that can also have an influence.

"But no player is consistently in top form for a year, that's impossible. You have to accept that."

After losing their opening Champions League match at Lazio last week, Dortmund go into Wednesday's match looking for all three points against the Russian outfit. 

Zenit also lost their first group-stage game, falling 2-1 at home to Club Brugge.

Favre, though, felt the result was harsh on Zenit, saying the St. Petersburg club will present a stern challenge for Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.

"In my opinion, Zenit lost unnecessarily against Brugge. They missed a few great chances which shows how dangerous a team they are," Favre said.

Roman Burki made his return to Dortmund's starting line-up at the weekend in a 3-0 Bundesliga win over rivals Schalke.

The Swiss goalkeeper had missed a game due to illness before he was on the bench for two games behind Marwin Hitz. When asked, Favre would not be drawn on which goalkeeper he would select for the match against Zenit. 

"I’m not going to say anything about the team tomorrow. I don’t want to give any information to our opponents, you have to understand me," Favre said.

Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kurt Okraku has backed new Black Stars coach CK Akonnor to ultimately come good despite the mixed results in his first set of assignments.

Appointed head coach of the West Africans in January, Akonnor has had to wait until earlier this month to lead the team into action due to the disruption of the international match calendar by the coronavirus pandemic disruptions.

It was definitely not a good start for the former Wolfsburg captain as Ghana succumbed to a 3-0 defeat to Mali in a friendly fixture in Turkey. Three days later, the Black Stars bounced back with a resounding 5-1 triumph over Asian champions and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar in a second friendly tie.

“We are here to fix the fundamentals and to get it right. When we get it right we will be very competitive," Okraku said, as reported by Citisports.

“Once that happens soon the big trophies will start to land via the Kotoka International Airport once again.

“We are very positive and given the support that the entire country has offered us we will be able to bring that target of envy [Afcon title] one more time.

“The Black Stars are on the hearts of everybody and you see clearly from his first two call-ups that he is a deep thinker.

“He is bringing in quality and it's just a matter of time this team will start to gel and we will be competitive and interesting again.

“It's been a long time the Black Stars played interesting and entertaining football."

The October friendlies are part of Ghana's preparations for the upcoming 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying double-header against Sudan in November.

The Black Stars are looking to consolidate their spot on top of their qualifying group, having beaten South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe for a flying start to the series in November last year.

Akonnor has been tasked to not only qualify Ghana for the 2022 World Cup but also to guide the team to win the Afcon tournament in Cameroon.

Ghana have been searching for an elusive fifth title since ruling the continent in Libya in 1982.

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA FC) have announced the signing of striker Steven Mukwala from Vipers.

The player has signed a two-year contract with an option to extend the same and leave the Venoms.

The Tax Collectors have confirmed the signing on their official club website by stating: “URA is delighted to announce the signing of striker, Steven Mukwala Dese from Vipers on a two-year contract, with an option to extend for a further year.

“Steven [Mukwala] won the Golden Boot in the just concluded Uganda Premier League 2019/20 season scoring 13 goals in 22 appearances for Maroons FC where he was on loan from Vipers.”

On penning the deal, Mukwala said: “URA is a big club and I feel so delighted and proud to be part of it. They’re an organized team with a playing style that matches mine.”

“I definitely hope to score more goals here than I scored at Maroons. URA has very good creative attacking midfielders who I think are working together. I will be able to convert the goals.

“It’s only fair to note that URA has very good strikers and it won’t be easy to break through the team but when given chance, I will give my best to see that I help the team get the goals and maybe win the trophy afterward.”

“The coach, board, and everyone affiliated with URA should expect to see 100% efforts from me and I want to try and win the trophy with URA FC this coming season, why not?”

His arrival comes just three days after the club confirmed they had signed midfielder Brian Nkuubi also from Vipers on a three-year deal.

Nkuubi was also delighted to have joined the Tax Collectors as he revealed: “I’ve seen a lot of good players at URA and I expect competition for positions. I have enough experience and I feel I can add a lot to the club in the coming season.

“I want to continue playing at a high level and compete with the best on the title and the club seems on the right path to providing that.”

"This will give me more exposure as a player. The fans should expect hard work from me.”

Other new signings by URA include Jackson Nunda, Galiwango Arafat, Hannington Ssebwalunyo, and Davis Ssali who joined earlier in this window.

Joshua Kimmich scored a late 20-yard stunner to secure Champions League holders Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over a Lokomotiv Moscow side that threatened to cause an upset.

Leon Goretzka scored his second goal in as many European matches to give Bayern the lead, the midfielder finishing a sumptuous passing move after 13 minutes as Hansi Flick's men rose to the challenge of playing lively opposition in front of a raucous crowd at RZD Arena.

Lokomotiv struggled to deal with the threat of Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller on either flank, just as Atletico Madrid did in the 4-0 defeat against the German and European Champions six days earlier.

Bayern, who thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 between their two opening Group A matches, looked set to drop points when Anton Miranchuk equalised 20 minutes from time.

But Kimmich kept a cool head to restore the visitors' lead, controlling Javi Martinez's pass before lashing home from outside the box.

Liverpool have left Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino out of the starting line-up for their Champions League clash with FC Midtjylland tonight.

The star attacking trio will be on the bench for Jurgen Klopp’s side, which shows four changes from Saturday’s Premier League win over Sheffield United.

Gini Wijnaldum also misses out for the Reds, with Klopp opting to bring in James Milner, Xherdan Shaqiri, Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi for the visit of the Danish champions.

It means Liverpool look set to persist with the 4-2-3-1 system which edged them past the Blades at the weekend, with Shaqiri starting on the right, Jota on the left and Minamino operating behind Origi.

For Shaqiri, it is a first Champions League start since that epic semi-final against Barcelona in May 2019, while Origi makes his first since the 2-1 win over Genk last November. 

Minamino, meanwhile, will make his first European start for the club, having impressed as a substitute in last week’s 1-0 win over Ajax in Amsterdam.

Klopp has kept faith with his defence, with Fabinho once again partnering Joe Gomez at centre-back and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson operating as full-backs. Alisson Becker, who returned from injury against Sheffield United, starts in goal.

Jota, the match-winner at the weekend, retains his place along with captain Jordan Henderson.  

With five substitutes permitted in European competition this season, Klopp knows he will have plenty of options should he need to change the game, even despite the absences of Naby Keita, Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip due to injury.

Salah, Mane, Firmino and Wijnaldum are joined on the bench by youngsters in the shape of Curtis Jones, who started against Ajax, as well as Neco Williams, who could be in line to make his European debut. 

Victory for Liverpool would put them in a commanding position, with Ajax travelling to Serie A fliers Atalanta in the night’s other Group D clash. 

LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Gomez, Robertson, Henderson (c), Milner, Shaqiri, Minamino, Jota, Origi 

Subs: Adrian, N. Williams, Jones, Wijnaldum, Salah, Mane, Firmino, Kelleher, R. Williams, Cain

Julian Nagelsmann has joked that he wants to "tackle down" Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of RB Leipzig's Champions League meeting with Manchester United on Wednesday. 

Nagelsmann, now in charge of RB Leipzig, grew up a Bayern Munich fan and was hoping to see his side clinch a treble against United in the 1999 Champions League final. 

Bayern were up 1-0 heading into stoppage time before Teddy Sheringham equalised and Solskjaer netted a dramatic winner in one of the most famous nights in United's storied history. 

The result saw Man Utd clinch a treble of their own, and Nagelsmann has said he still hasn't completely recovered from that heartbreaking defeat. 

"The first thing is, I'll tackle him down tomorrow," Nagelsmann joked about the current Man Utd head coach. 

"I wasn't the happiest person. My dad was a Gladbach fan at the time, and he annoyed me a bit. He was happy that Bayern didn't win. I wasn't that happy."

"I will still greet Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a normal way of course and no longer be angry.

"Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – there have been a few very, very great players who have been there and are currently there still.

"It's a club with a lot of tradition."

United got off to a slow start this season, which reached a low point in a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Tottenham before the international break. 

Solskjaer's side have shown improvement after the international break though, defeating Newcastle and PSG while drawing with Chelsea at the weekend. 

Nagelsmann is wary of his opponents on Wednesday, noting their improved recent form.

"The last few games have gone in the right direction. They are difficult to defend and have a lot of quality in the final third," he said. 

Still, Nagelsmann is confident his side have enough to win the game and maintain a perfect start in the Champions League after last week's 2-0 win over Istanbul Basaksehir.

"We are confident enough to say that we want to win the game," Nagelsmann said. "Six points at the start would be excellent and a step on the way to the next round."

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has resigned, with the entire board also stepping down from their posts.

Bartomeu's decision comes after several months of criticism in the wake of Barcelona's 8-2 Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich, as well as Lionel Messi's shock request to leave the club shortly after.

Although the club was able to keep hold of Messi, with the longtime Barca star staying to avoid having to take the club to court, Bartomeu's position has been under scrutiny for months.

The president had been due to officially end his tenure next year, with elections called for March, but the club's members called for a vote of no confidence in an effort to get Bartomeu out immediately.

A total of 20,687 votes were gathered for the motion against Bartomeu, passing the threshold of 16,250 signatures required for the vote to go ahead.

The Barca board repeatedly tried to postpone the vote but, on Monday, local authorities rejected the club's push to delay the proceedings.

As a result, the vote was set to go ahead in the coming weeks, but will no longer be necessary as Bartomeu and the board have stepped down.

Bartomeu originally joined Barca during Joan Laporta's presidency and ascended to that role himself in January 2014.

He replaced Sandro Rosell, becoming the 40th President of Barcelona as he signed on to complete the rest of Rosell's tenure following his resignation.

During his time in charge, Barca won La Liga four times as well as the 2014-15 Champions League, but his time in charge will largely be defined by the club's failings in his final seasons.

Having struggled to find value in the transfer market since Neymar's departure to join Paris Saint-Germain, Barca finished the 2019-20 season trophyless.

Their 8-2 loss to Bayern only furthered unrest, with Messi's request to leave proving the final straw for the president.

Messi told Goal in September that Bartomeu "did not keep his word", with former Barca star Luis Suarez saying that he believes Messi will stay at Barca if a new board arrives.

Bartomeu said on Monday that he believed that Messi could lead Barca to titles this season, admitting that he could not let the Argentine leave for the good of the club.

And now, it is Bartomeu that is leaving, as he ends his time in charge of Barca after nearly seven years.

Barcelona are set to face Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Kaizer Chiefs secured a 1-0 win over Chippa United in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) which they dominated from start to finish at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday night.

Gregory Damons' late own-goal handed Amakhosi the victory in a match which saw the Chilli Boys goalkeeper Veli Mothwa produce a Man of the Match performance.

Coach Gavin Hunt decided to drop Itumeleng Khune to the bench after the veteran goalkeeper conceded three goals in the 3-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns over the weekend.

Khune was replaced by Daniel Akpeyi in goal and he was among the five changes which were made by Hunt with Njabulo Blom, Kearyn Baccus, Siyabonga Ngezana and Philani Zulu making their return to the starting line-up.

Hunt's counterpart, Lehlohonolo Seema named an unchanged team as the Chilli Boys coach kept his faith in the players, who started as they drew 1-1 with Cape Town City over the weekend.

Bienvenu Eva Ega, who netted the winning goal for the now-defunct Bidvest Wits against Chiefs early last month, was named among the Chippa substitutes. 

The match got off to a lively start with Chiefs looking the team likeliest to break the deadlock with Khama Billiat keeping the Chippa defence busy with his dangerous runs into the box. 

Billiat beat two defenders with some blistering pace before unleashing a shot which missed the target and his goal-bound effort was deflected inches wide of the target by Chippa's Frederic Nsabiyumva.

Chilli Boys were struggling to contain Chiefs' front three of Billiat, Lebogang Manyama and Leonardo Castro, whose header rebounded off the woodwork and back into play, but he hosts managed to clear their lines. 

Chiefs were just unlucky as Manyama's attempt from a free-kick hit the crossbar with Chippa goalkeeper Veli Mothwa well-beaten and Billiat watched on in disbelief as his low effort hit the upright.

Chippa then contained Chiefs until newly crowned PSL Referee of the Season Jelly Chavani blew the half-time whistle and the score was 0-0 at the interval following a first-half which was dominated by Amakhosi.

Chiefs picked up where they left off in the first-half as they controlled the match and created many goalscoring opportunities, but they were let down by some poor finishing at times. 

Mothwa, who was one of the most outstanding keepers in the PSL last season with 11 clean sheets, gathered Castro's acrobatic effort with ease, before denying Manyama from close range.

The towering shot-stopper continued to keep the Soweto giants at bay with some impressive goalkeeping as he pushed away Castro's thunderous shot, before denying both Ngezana and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo.

The 29-year-old shot-stopper was finally beaten with 13 minutes left on the clock when Chippa defender Gregory Damons deflected Manyama's cross into his own net to make it 1-0 to Chiefs.

Former Orlando Pirates captain Seema then introduced Cameroonian marksman Eva Nga as the hosts looked to snatch a late goal and ensure that the match ended in a draw.

However, Chiefs were solid and compact at the back in the dying minutes of the match and ultimately, they emerged 1-0 winners over Chippa on the night.

The victory took Amakhosi to the fourth spot on the league standings with two matches played, while the Chilli Boys are placed 14th on the log. 

Chiefs will now take on their arch-rivals Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 semi-final first-leg encounter at Orlando Stadium on Saturday. 

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo will not play against Barcelona in their Champions League clash on Wednesday as his Covid-19 test has again returned a positive result.

The 35-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month while on international duty with Portugal and has missed three total matches thus far: one with Portugal and two with Juventus.

He will now miss out on Wednesday's Group G clash at the Allianz Stadium, which was set to see him renew his rivalry with Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo and Messi established themselves as two of the greatest players of all time during their time in La Liga, with Ronaldo winning the Ballon d'Or five times and Messi clinching the prize on six occasions.

In order to play in Wednesday's clash with former La Liga rivals Lionel Messi and Barcelona, Ronaldo needed to test negative on Tuesday as protocol states a player must have a negative test 24 hours before kick-off.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was tested again ahead of the European encounter and coach Andrea Pirlo revealed on Tuesday that the club were still waiting on the results. 

With a positive result now confirmed, Juventus will have to deal without their top goalscorer for the past two seasons when they take on Ronald Koeman's side in Turin.

Both Juve and Barcelona will enter Wednesday's game after starting their Champions League campaigns with wins last week. Barcelona defeated Ferencvaros 5-1 while Juve took care of Dynamo Kiev 2-0.

Meanwhile, Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has said Ronaldo is under investigation for a possible breaching of protocol after he flew back to Italy following his positive test result. 

Spadafora has claimed that Ronaldo was not able to enter the country without the proper authorisation from Italian health officials.

Spadafora told Rai Tre: "Cristiano did not respect the protocol. There is an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office to prove it.

"The virus has taught us that no one is exempt, obviously they are all people who have tried to respect the protocols as much as possible, but the only solution, in the end, is to stay at home."

Zambia will feature in the 2020 Cosafa Women's Cup in South Africa and the Copper Queens will have to make do without several key players, much to the dismay of head coach Bruce Nwape.

Nwape had guided the Zambians to a first-ever final appearance at last year's event in South Africa but will miss some of their top stars, including Rachel Nachula who helped him achieve the feat.

Major absences are Nachula, who finished as the top scorer with 10 goals and Hellen Mubanga, who was named the 2019 Player of the Tournament, are now both with Zaragoza in Spain.

Others are Rachel Kundananji and Mary Mwakapila who will be missed for club engagements in Kazakhstan and Israel respectively.

Despite his disappointment, the gaffer, who led the team to a maiden Olympic Games qualification earlier in March is upbeat about their chances, especially with the availability of Barbra Banda.

“Barbra Banda is here with us and she was part of the team that played a friendly against Buffaloes and she actually did well,” Mwape told Cosafa.com. 

“All I can say is that it [absence of players] will affect us but we will try by all means to do better than we did last year.

“The young ones like Natasha Nanyangwe and Maylan Mulenga are both doing fine.

"Although we are lacking the much-needed striking force, with the presence of Barbara I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Zambia are zoned in a tough Group B, alongside Malawi and Lesotho in Nelson Mandela Bay and will launch their campaign against Lesotho on November before Malawi five days later.

Joshua Kimmich scored a late 20-yard stunner to secure Champions League holders Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over a Lokomotiv Moscow side that threatened to cause an upset.

Leon Goretzka scored his second goal in as many European matches to give Bayern the lead, the midfielder finishing a sumptuous passing move after 13 minutes as Hansi Flick's men rose to the challenge of playing lively opposition in front of a raucous crowd at RZD Arena.

Lokomotiv struggled to deal with the threat of Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller on either flank, just as Atletico Madrid did in the 4-0 defeat against the German and European Champions six days earlier.

Bayern, who thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 between their two opening Group A matches, looked set to drop points when Anton Miranchuk equalised 20 minutes from time.

But Kimmich kept a cool head to restore the visitors' lead, controlling Javi Martinez's pass before lashing home from outside the box.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will not start for Liverpool when they take on Midtjylland in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter.

The duo as well as Roberto Firmino who have been inspirational for the reigning Premier League champions will be hoping to make their impact as substitutes against the Danish Superliga outfit.

In place of the trio, manger Jurgen Klopp has Xherdan Shaqiri, Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi rare starts.

Other change sees James Milner replace Georginio Wijnaldum as Diogo Jota retains his place in the starting XI thanks to his winner against Sheffield United on Saturday.

Missing out of the English side’s squad against Brian Priske’s men are Guinea international Naby Keita and ex-Cameroon star Joel Matip owing to contrasting fitness issues.

For Midtjylland, Frank Onyeka is among the starters with goalscoring responsibility resting on the shoulders of Guinean star Sory Kaba.

Liverpool got their 2020-21 campaign to a winning start after defeating Ajax 1-0 at the Amsterdam Arena, while Midtjylland suffered a 4-0 obliteration to Serie A outfit Atalanta.