Injured Liverpool pair Steven Gerrard and David Ngog are fit to return for Saturday’s crunch clash with Manchester City. Skipper Gerrard has been hampered for several weeks with a groin injury and in the absence of their talisman Liverpool have suffered damaging defeats to Fulham in the Premier League and Lyon in the Champions League.

Ngog, meanwhile, suffered a broken nose on France Under 21 duty this week. His absence would have been another blow with star striker Fernando Torres already sidelined with a groin problem. (more…)

Carlos Tevez has said he is considering retirement after the World Cup if Argentina pick up the trophy, because he is disappointed at losing his first choice place for his country and exhausted by the amount of football he is playing. Tevez is only 25, usually a peak age in a footballer’s career but, ahead of Argentina’s friendly with Spain on Saturday, said retirement had crossed his mind.

“My chance passed. I had my possibility and I couldn’t take advantage of it. When the team needed goals I couldn’t provide them,” Tevez said. “So it’s logical that other lads should be in front of me,” he added of players like Gonzalo Higuain, now coach Diego Maradona’s first choice as central striker. (more…)

Mark Hughes is pretty adamant that there is no way that Robinho should play any role in Brazil’s back to back International Friendlies after the 25 year old has missed Manchester City’s last 11 matches through an ankle injury.

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Barcelona have such limited cash funds that the Spanish giants can only afford to take Robinho on loan and have been forced to ditch their interest in Javier Mascherano, according to a source close to the club.

ESPN Soccernet have been told the facts behind why Robinho’s potential move from Manchester City has stalled, and will now not happen, and why Liverpool and Argentina star Mascherano will definitely not be heading the Camp Nou. Barca spent € 66 million and lost the services of Samuel Eto’o in signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the summer. (more…)

Kevin McDonald had the last word in an amazing 3-3 draw which brought Burnley their first away point of the season and condemned Manchester City to a fifth successive draw. Graham Alexander’s penalty and a Steven Fletcher effort seemed to have Burnley well placed for their first top-flight away win since April 1976.

But Shaun Wright-Phillips breathed fresh life into the home side two minutes before half-time and Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy seemed to have set the stage for a City win in 15 raucous minutes either side of the break.
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Goalkeeper Shay Given produced a superb display to earn Manchester City a point their below-par performance barely deserved against Birmingham at St Andrew’s on Sunday. The former Newcastle player made a string of fine saves, the highlight a second-half penalty stop to deny James McFadden.

It was a fourth successive draw in the Premier League for Mark Hughes’ side, who nonetheless moved into the top four on goal difference. (more…)

In a wide ranging interview C Ron sits chats it up with Steven Howard of the Sun and talks about a lot, Castrol’s new player rankings, Man U and Man City, the difference between England and Spain, and a few other things…

From the Sun:

SO it finally came round to the famous wink in Gelsenkirchen.

The one that followed a chat with the referee and ended in a red card for Wayne Rooney in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final.

And Cristiano Ronaldo was still unrepentant. Sitting just a couple of feet away from me in a studio a mile or so from the Bernabeu Stadium, the £80million man stopped playing with the ring on his finger and said: “Winking?

“I do it all the time - not just in World Cup quarter-finals. And I had done it many times before.” (more…)

Manchester City’s Robinho is reportedly continuing with his public admiration of La Liga Champions Barcelona while recovering from a foot stress fracture in his native Brazil.

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