Rafael Benitez s Newcastle United will kick off the 2016-17 Football League season at Fulham on Friday August 5 after the fixtures were released on Wednesday.

Relegated to the Championship last season, Newcastle will attempt an instant return to the top flight under the guidance of a man who started the previous term in charge of Real Madrid.

The club s first home game will be against Huddersfield Town the following weekend.

Fellow relegated sides Aston Villa and Norwich City begin their campaigns at Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers respectively, while Burton Albion – in their maiden second-tier season – make the short trip to Nottingham Forest.

Former Premier League clubs Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United meet in the pick of League On…

Wayne Rooney has been named the best Premier League player ever by his boyhood hero Duncan Ferguson whom he played with at Everton.

Rooney would later sign for Manchester United in 2004, where he plays and captains to this day, and ahead of his testimonial on Wednesday, Ferguson has named him the Premier League s best.

The former Everton forward has won five Premier League titles at United and scored 193 league goals placing him behind only Alan Shearer in the all-time list one of which was voted the best goal of the era when he scored a bicycle kick against Manchester City in 2011.

Rooney is also second in United s all-time goalscoring list, just four goals behind Bobby Charlton, ahead of the new season and Ferguson believes his consistency makes him the best th…

Monaco, Lille and Bordeaux all survived scares on the road to progress against lower-league opposition in the Coupe de France on Sunday.

Monaco, second in Ligue 1, were behind after a minute against third-tier Vannes before Radamel Falcao equalised two minutes later.

Yannick Aguemon restored the hosts lead, only for James Rodriguez to again level the scores before the break, with Yannick Ferreira Carrasco ending any chances of an upset four minutes from time to book Claudio Ranieri s side a place in the last 32.

Lille also found themselves behind early on when they travelled to fifth division Amiens AC, but fought back as a Salomon Kalou brace helped them to a 3-1 win at the Stade Jean Bouin.

David Bellion was the hero for Francis Gillot s Bordeaux at fourth-ti…

Manchester United have warned Paul Pogba not to expect a big pay rise when they offer him a new contract, according to .

The midfielder joined United in 2016 as a star signing, but he hasn t been able to inspire the team sufficiently to raise them to the level of genuine Premier League contenders, either under Jose Mourinho or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer so far. Further more, he has often been linked with departure with the media in Spain occasionally resorting to frequent rumours about Real Madrid s interest, and the player himself sparked further speculation by stating that playing for Los Blancos would be a dream . Lately he s been linked with Barcelona too, as well as former club Juventus.

As for United, they are keen to keep the services of the 27-year-old 2018 World Cup …

David Ospina has officially made the switch to Napoli on loan from Arsenal. The Colombian goalkeeper was expected to leave given the current goalkeeping situation at the Emirates, with both Petr Cech and Bernd Leno battling for the number one spot. Alas, the fact that he s still been able to secure a move to a club like Napoli should showcase just how competitive things are at Arsenal.

The 29-year-old has been at the club since 2014 but hasn t quite been able to lock down a consistent place in the first team, only making a few dozen appearances across his four years there. Ospina is a Colombia international with almost 100 caps to his name, but now, he ll be starting from scratch so to speak as he attempts to rebuild his reputation in Italy.

Arsenal, on the other hand, …

Werder Bremen captain Clemens Fritz admits he has discussed with Per Mertesacker the possibility of the Arsenal defender returning to the club.

The 32-year-old left Werder for the Premier League in 2011, and has made over 200 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions and won the FA Cup twice.

However, the injured Mertesacker has fallen down the pecking order since the August arrival of countryman Shkodran Mustafi, and Fritz is keen to see his former team-mate back at the Weserstadion.

We have talked about [a potential return], he told Bild. Per would be a great addition to Werder as a footballer and as a person.

It would be a good thing for the club when Per would opt for Bremen.

Werder are currently languishing in 15th place in the Bundeslig…

When Luke Shaw lifted a delightful ball over the top of the Czech Republic defence during the early stages of England s 1-0 Euro 2020 win on Friday, Raheem Sterling was away.

Of course he was. The Manchester City s forwards intelligent, incisive movement has been a vital asset for club and country over the past five years – a period in which he has become one of his country s most decorated footballers in terms of major honours.

But what would happen next?

Could it be as bad as that time he blazed over two clear chances in the Manchester derby on a day City were 2-0 up and set to win the league against their bitter rivals and lost 3-2?

Maybe it would end up as wince-inducing as the open goal he missed when his club crashed out of the Champions League …

Real Madrid got back to winning ways in LaLiga and moved top of the table with a tight 1-0 home win against Espanyol secured thanks to Marco Asensio s first-half goal.

Madrid dropped their first points under Julen Lopetegui last time out at Athletic Bilbao but despite resting Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Toni Kroos they collected a vital victory on Saturday.

Former Espanyol star Asensio struck from Luka Modric s pass shortly before half-time, the goal surviving a review for offside, and Lopetegui opted to rest Karim Benzema for the final 30 minutes.

Mariano Diaz was sent on to make his second league debut for the club, the striker having rejoined from Lyon, but Espanyol almost levelled when a cute Borja Iglesias chip rebounded off the crossbar.

Pablo Piatti s…

Rubin Kazan have been banned from participating in the next UEFA club competition they qualify for over the course of the coming two seasons.

UEFA confirmed the punishment in a statement on Thursday, ruling Russian club Rubin will not be allowed to compete in either the Europa League or Champions League for a single season should they qualify this term or next.

Europe s governing body has taken action for Rubin breaking a settlement agreement .

The statement read: The adjudicatory chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) has taken a decision in the case of the club Rubin Kazan that had been referred to it by the CFCB chief investigator, due to breach of the Settlement Agreement.

The club is excluded from participating in the next UEFA club …

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 3/4 @

Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Western Conference table, Las Vegas will welcome the Colorado Springs to Cashman Field in the early hours of Tuesday.

Starting with the hosts, while Las Vegas might have claimed what was a much-welcomed 3-1 victory against Miami FC earlier in the month, Dennis Sanchez’s men have continued to struggle with their consistency since opening up the 2024 campaign. Once again battling it out at the foot of the Western Conference table, the Lights are pencilled in as a real underdog contender in this season’s play-off chase. Suffering a second-half collapse away at Loudon over the weekend as they eventually had to settle for a 1-1 stalemate, the Reds have co…