Lamine Yamal may not be fit to feature for Barcelona against Real Sociedad in Sunday's LaLiga clash, says head coach Hansi Flick.

Yamal has been training alone in an attempt to recover after a hectic schedule for the Blaugrana.

Pau Cubarsi is in contention, however, after suffering a facial injury in Wednesday's 5-2 Champions League win at Red Star Belgrade.

Cubarsi participated in a full training session with the team, though 17-year-old Yamal was not present.

"Lamine was inside and he did specific strength training. He has had a lot of matches in the last few weeks so we took care of him and let him [train separately] indoors. We will see what his situation is tomorrow," Flick told reporters on Saturday.

Flick heaped praise on Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 19 goals in 16 appearances across all competitions.

"He is in very good shape. I am also impressed with how he helps the defence. For me, there are no thoughts about giving him a rest," he added.

"Dani [Olmo] felt a little bit unwell at night but this morning he is doing better, so with him just treatments and medicine, I think he is ready for tomorrow against Sociedad."

La Real have fared better on the road, collecting 11 of their 15 points away and losing four of their six home matches, with their only victory in front of their own fans coming against lowly Valencia.

Barcelona, on 33 points from 12 matches, are six points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who have 27 from 12 games.

Middlesbrough moved into the Championship play-off spots, brushing aside struggling Luton Town 5-1 to add to the pressure on Rob Edwards.

Delano Burgzorg netted his first two Championship goals for Boro, opening the scoring with a well-worked corner in the 30th minute before Emmanuel Latte Lath skilfully added a second before the break.

Finn Azaz set up the second and added a third just six minutes into the second half, before Burgzorg's second put the game beyond the visitors in the 54th minute.

Jordan Clark's strike was nothing more than a consolation as Luton's misery was further compounded by Azaz's stunning curling finish with three minutes left.

If results go Middlesbrough's way, they could keep their place in the top six going into the international break, but Luton are 20th after registering their eighth loss since returning to the second tier.

Elsewhere, Cardiff City missed their chance to move clear of the relegation zone after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, who ended a three-match losing streak on the road.

Andreas Wiemann scored early on in both halves, tapping in both from close range to give Blackburn the advantage.

David Turnbull gave Cardiff hope, turning in the rebound of his own saved penalty, but Lewis Baker's late effort wrapped up the result in the 86th minute, moving John Eustace’s side up to ninth.

Ben Gibson salvaged a point for Stoke City against Millwall, ending the visitors’ four-match winning run.

Josh Coburn had given Millwall the lead from very close range shortly before the break, netting with their first shot on target, but Stoke fought back thanks to Gibson's flicked header from a corner.

The Potters are up to 11th for now, while Millwall leapfrog West Brom into seventh. 

Diego Simeone expects Atletico Madrid to take confidence from their last-gasp 2-1 Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain when they travel to face Mallorca in LaLiga.

After a tough October in which Atletico managed only one victory in five matches across all competitions, including consecutive Champions League losses, they have won their last three games.

The most notable of those victories came in Paris on Wednesday when Angel Correa scored a 93rd-minute winner to inflict a rare home defeat on Luis Enrique's men.

Simeone hopes his side can use that result as an inspiration for when they visit Mallorca on their return to domestic action on Sunday.

"The hardest thing in football is to maintain consistency and we did it winning a Copa del Rey match at Vic, in LaLiga against Las Palmas and at PSG on Wednesday," Simeone told a press conference.

"We are working on that and I hope we can build up momentum.

"We're going to face an opponent who plays very well, who are brave, who have a lot of tools, who are very strong at home and we'll try to take the game where I think we have to take it."

Simeone said criticism of his side's defensive approach did not bother him.

"We can't always perform at the highest level like we want, we hope to do so, but sometimes we can't respond to what we demand of ourselves," he added.

"There is an overall idea that the team competes as a unit. Against PSG it was defending with a lower block and the most important thing is that the team feels identified with what we do.

"To represent Atletico, to wear this shirt is a great motivation, no matter who you play against. I don't move from that line.

"Mallorca are a brave team, they have good aerial play, they know how to counter-attack. They are doing well in LaLiga. They concede few goals, it will be a difficult match."

Atletico are third in the LaLiga standings on 23 points, one behind Real Madrid and 10 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.

Jos Buttler has said he was worried about losing the England white-ball captaincy during a disappointing period for his country.

England recently lost both of their world titles in both T20 and ODI, with head coach Matthew Mott sacked as a result.

Buttler, meanwhile, was spared by managing director Rob Key, with incoming manager Brendon McCullum, who is expanding his England role to include coaching the ODI and T20I teams until 2027, also expressing his confidence in Buttler's role as captain.

The 34-year-old will return for England on Saturday as they face West Indies in the first of their five-match T20 series. It will be the first time since the T20 World Cup semi-final exit in June that Buttler has played for his country.

"I thought it was a possibility, absolutely," he admitted when asked whether he thought he could have lost the captaincy.

"But Keysy believed I could lead the team forward and captain into the future. I had some good conversations with him and I said I didn't want to be doing it because I'm the only person to do it. I want to be doing it because I'm the right person to do it.

"I've really enjoyed the honour of doing it, it's something I believe I can do well, something I know I can always get better at, just as with batting or wicketkeeping, it's a skill that you can improve.

"It actually became very clear that you're determined to do it and keep going."

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is unhappy with Jack Grealish's inclusion in the England squad for the November international break.

Grealish has not played for his club side since a 17-minute substitute appearance in their 2-1 stoppage-time victory over Wolves, which came straight after the previous international window.

England interim manager Lee Carsley had justified the winger's inclusion in the squad by saying that he had been back in training for "a couple of days" and would be assessed by national team staff.

But, having already ruled him out of Saturday's match against Brighton, Guardiola found the decision difficult to accept and suggested that Carsley was mistaken about his training activity.

"National teams always play in this period, and I'm always pleased for players to go when they are fit, and they haven't struggled for the past one, two, three or four weeks," Guardiola told a press conference.

"In 17 days, he didn't train once. Today was the first training and he trained for 20 minutes. That is the reality.

"Yes, he was in the gym for a few minutes for the past two days, but it's a question for the manager from the UK [England] – I'm not involved."

Guardiola had not been in touch with Carsley about the situation, and he was unaware of any conversations between the medical departments at the FA and Manchester City.

But when talking to Grealish, who is yet to score in 10 appearances in all competitions for City this season, the player wanted to join up with England.

"They can select who they want," said Guardiola. "Jack has had two or three setbacks in terms of injuries and could not get his rhythm."

Jason Kidd has slammed the Dallas Mavericks bench for not showing enough energy after they fell to a narrow defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

The Mavericks mounted a comeback, fighting back from a 63-50 half-time deficit, but fell agonisingly short in the 114-113 defeat to the Suns.

Luka Doncic had 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Dallas, only to misfire on a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have won the game, while Kyrie Irving added 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Mavericks have now alternated between losses and wins over a five-game stretch since their 3-1 start, and Kidd has demanded more from his bench if they want to stop that run.

"It's got to be addressed. We have talked about it, there's got to be some action, there's got to be some energy. We're f****** flat, that's where it starts," Kidd said.

"We got to be tough; no matter how many injuries we have or how small we are, right now we are not doing that. We will look at the tape, we will get back to seeing what we can do better.

"It's a team. It's not Luka and Kyrie and Klay Thompson. Others have to participate. I played the whole f****** team tonight, and we couldn't find anybody, so we had to leave those two to carry the load, and it's not fair to them this early in the season."

Meanwhile, the Suns have matched their best-ever start to an NBA season as their seven-game winning streak improved their record to 8-1.

Jusuf Nurkic scored Phoenix’s final five points, scoring the vital point with one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left, snapping the 113-113 tie.

He finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds but says he is just happy to come away with a win, no matter the circumstances.

"A win is a win, man," said Nurkic. "I don't really care if it's [by] one point or 35.

"As long as you keep winning, that's great, because that's the best way to learn. Not through the losses. But also, it's good for fans, too. They're betting, all this stuff, so good luck with them figuring out how we're going to do it."

Kenny Atkinson says 10 is "kind of the magic number" after the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their perfect start to the NBA season against the Golden State Warriors.

The Cavs triumphed 136-117 on Friday, becoming the first team in NBA history to win their first 10 games and score at least 110 points in each of them.

It is already their best-ever start to a season in franchise history, and they are the first team to register a 10-0 record since the Warriors themselves in 2015-16.

Darius Garland went 6-of-11 from 3-point range while totalling 27 points, while Evan Mobley added 23. All-Star Donovan Mitchell managed just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

The new coach has so far impressed since replacing J.B. Bickerstaff, using his squad depth wisely during their winning streak, and he was delighted to continue it against tough opposition.

"10-0 is something. It's kind of a magic number, right?" Atkinson said.

"I was worried about tonight because the Warriors are champions. That surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were. 10-0 is really something for our team."

Atkison previously spent three years as an assistant coach to Steve Kerr at the Warriors before moving to Cleveland.

The Cavs ended Golden State's five-game winning streak on Friday, but Kerr was full of praise for the way his former colleague has transformed the Cavs so far.

"This was a great job to get, just like mine was 10 years ago," Kerr said.

"Now you're just tweaking things and seeing where you can get better on the margins rather than trying to grow something organically. It's a perfect spot and Kenny has taken advantage.

"[They're] clearly one of the best teams in the league."

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not think that the club need a "reset", despite having failed to win any of their last three Premier League matches.

The Gunners have taken just one point from matches against Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle, leaving them fifth and seven points behind Arne Slot's side at the summit. 

They were also beaten 1-0 by Inter in the Champions League in midweek, meaning it is back-to-back defeats in all competitions and just two wins in six.

But despite their ropey form, Arteta wasn't willing to press the panic button.

"I don't think about [needing a reset]," he told a press conference. "Nobody works harder than me, I guarantee you that.

"We don't need a reset. In one particular aspect we need to go from 95 [effort] to 100. I will not tell you what that is."

Arteta's side travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to face Chelsea, who come into the game on the back of an 8-0 thrashing of Noah in the Europa Conference League.

However, the Spaniard will be confident of returning to winning ways against a favoured opponent during his time as a Premier League boss. 

Of all managers to face Chelsea at least 10 times in the top-flight, only Kenny Dalglish (77%) has a higher win rate against the Blues than Arteta (60% - W6 D2 L2).

The absence of captain Martin Odegaard has been felt keenly in the Arsenal team, having picked up an injury playing for Norway in the September international break.

He made a stoppage-time cameo against Inter in midweek to return to first-team action and will be in the squad to face Chelsea on Sunday.

Declan Rice, meanwhile, missed the Champions League game through injury and is also a doubt for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

"I have to be very vague on [Rice] because there is no clarity on if he is going to be fit or not for the weekend," said Arteta.

"He hasn't trained yet and it is not clear yet whether he is going to be available."

Luciano Spalletti has made several changes to his Italy squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures against Belgium and France. 

Italy are currently top of Group A2 by a point after four games, and know a win against Belgium next week will secure their place in the quarter-finals of the competition. 

Spalletti was able to name Inter's Nicolo Barella back to his ranks after the midfielder missed the Azzurri's October encounters after undergoing nose surgery. 

Only Alessandro Bastoni, Matteo Darmian (both 38) and Marcus Thuram (57) have won more successful duels than Barella (35) for Inter in Serie A this season. 

However, the Italians will be without defensive duo Riccardo Calafiori and Matteo Gabbia, with the former picking up a knee issue in Arsenal's Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk. 

Spalletti also did not include Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, who was sent off in the 2-2 draw with Belgium last month, or Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli.

Fiorentina's Pietro Comuzzo, Juventus' Nicolo Savona and Lazio's Nicolo Rovella all come into the squad, receiving their first senior call-ups. 

Italy squad in full: 

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, (Paris Saint-Germain), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham), Alex Meret (Napoli); Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Pietro Comuzzo (Fiorentina), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Caleb Okoli (Leicester City), Nicolo Savona (Juventus), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham); Nicolo Barella (Inter), Davide Frattesi (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Nicolo Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle); Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta). 

Nuno Espirito Santo expressed his delight after Nottingham Forest swept the Premier League’s monthly awards for October after their fine start to the season.

Forest earned victories over Crystal Palace and rivals Leicester City last month along with claiming a point against Chelsea, starting November with a 3-0 win over West Ham.

Nuno, along with in-form striker Chris Wood, scooped the Manager and Player of the Month awards, with the Tricky Trees sitting in the top four ahead of their meeting with Newcastle on Sunday.

However, the Forest boss insisted that his side’s success went beyond two individuals, saying: "I'm very proud of the way we've been doing things. All of us - starting from the owner to the staff in the training ground.

“Everybody has been working very hard, and it's very nice to be recognised. I think it's an effort from the club.

"Very pleased also for Chris. It reflects the hard work, but it's more important you remain humble. He's much more than the goals. It's what he represents and what he means to us.

“He puts everybody together, his presence in the dressing room, his voice, his experience. We are delighted."

Eddie Howe, meanwhile, also showered praise on one of his Newcastle players after Lewis Hall earned a first senior England call-up for the Three Lions’ upcoming Nations League fixtures.

Hall has been in impressive form for the Magpies this season, with the left-back’s 11 successful crosses and 15 chances created are totals only bettered by Anthony Gordon (15 and 20) in the Premier League for Newcastle.

Howe expressed his delight for the 20-year-old, but believes there is still more to come from the Magpies' youngster this season.

"I am delighted for him. He has a had a really good start to the season. He's very consistent, [has produced] really mature displays,” Howe said.

“There is still a lot to come from him, we are seeing him evolve week in, week out. He is adding layers to his game all the time. It’s a great achievement for someone so young, and we are delighted for him.”

Howe did, however, expect a tough test against Forest, who are four points ahead of them in the table after 10 games this season.

"Yeah, they are [having a great season]. Nuno deserves credit for the job he has done. They have recruited very well in recent transfer windows,” he added.

"They are very tough to play against. What a test that's going to pose for us to score against them. They have a solid defensive base, really good pace in wide areas and threats in the forward positions."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

Having already scored against one of his employers in Leicester last month, Wood will be confident of striking against the Magpies, a side he scored five times for in 39 outings.

He has netted eight goals from just 21 shots for Forest in the Premier League this season – no player to have had at least 20 attempts has a better conversion rate than the New Zealander (38.1%) in the competition this term.

Newcastle United – Alexander Isak

Isak has scored three goals in his two Premier League games against Forest, only netting more against Tottenham and West Ham (five each).

He’s looking to score in three or more consecutive Premier League appearances for the fourth time since the start of last season, which would be the most different such runs of any player in that time.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Forest have won each of their last three Premier League games, last winning four in a row in the top-flight in April-May 1995, a season that saw them finishing third in the table.

Only Liverpool (six) have conceded fewer goals than Nottingham Forest (seven) in the top-flight so far this term, with only Brighton managing to score more than once against them in a league match. It’s the fewest goals they’ve conceded after 10 games of a top-flight campaign since their title winning season of 1977-78 (also seven).

With Nuno’s side sitting pretty in third, this is the first time Forest are facing Newcastle in a top-flight match while above them in the table since March 1989, when they drew 1-1 at the City Ground (Forest 5th, Newcastle 19th). 

However, Forest have won just one of their 12 Premier League games against Newcastle (D3 L8), picking up a 3-1 win at St James’ Park last season with Wood netting a hat-trick.

Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Arsenal last time out ended a five-game winless run for the Magpies in the Premier League (D2 L3). All four of their league wins this term have been by a single goal – 67% of their victories last term were by a margin of at least two goals (12/18).

But Howe’s men will arrive in the East Midlands with confidence. Against no side have they played more Premier League away games without ever losing than Forest (six – W3 D3). Their last top-flight defeat at the City Ground was in May 1987 (W4 D4 since).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nottingham Forest – 35.4%

Draw – 27.4%

Newcastle United – 37.2%

Carlos Alcaraz said he arrives at the ATP Finals with "a lot of motivation" and is looking to make his mark in Turin next week. 

Alcaraz, who claimed two grand slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this year, missed the event in 2022 after picking up an internal oblique muscle tear. 

The Spaniard was then beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, though the Olympic champion has since withdrawn from this year's tournament with an ongoing injury issue. 

Alcaraz, however, enters the year-end competition with a win-loss record of 52-11, with only Jannik Sinner (12) claiming more top 10 wins in 2024 than the 21-year-old (11). 

“Last year was a difficult end of the year for me,” Alcaraz said. “I could not play at my best.

"The last two matches here were pretty good matches for me, but the previous two, three tournaments I didn’t play at my best, so I realised I had to change a little bit at this time of the year, which I did this year.

“I come here a little bit different. I approach this tournament a little differently, knowing there are things I have to change if I am to have a good result here and go far.

"Last year I didn’t start well from the first matches. I will try to play at the same level and will try to play good tennis. I am coming here with a lot of motivation.”

Alcaraz was drawn in the John Newcombe Group at the ATP Finals alongside Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.

He will start against Ruud on Monday, but might face the strongest competition in the group from Zverev, who claimed his seventh Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters. 

Among the qualifiers for this year's event, Zverev (14) and Daniil Medvedev (11) are the only two to have recorded 10 or more match wins at the ATP Finals.

Alcaraz and Zverev have faced each other 10 times, winning five apiece, though Alcaraz has won the last two, including at Roland-Garros in the French Open showpiece.

“He is one of the toughest players in the world for sure,” Alcaraz said about Zverev.

“I think I return pretty well but he has a really big serve and plays unbelievable from the baseline, which makes him a really tough opponent to face.

“He has won more than 20 ATP Tour titles, lots of Masters titles. He wants a Grand Slam and I told him he is going to get it for sure.

"At the end of his career he will get at least one, let's see if more.

"He deserves it. He is a really hard worker. He has lifted the big trophies. I don’t like to face him because of his serves and shots, but I am trying to find the beauty of playing him.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy is keen to become Manchester United manager one day but says he wants to return to his role as assistant coach under new boss Ruben Amorim. 

Having returned to Old Trafford as one of Erik ten Hag’s assistants in the summer, he has stepped up as caretaker head coach since his compatriot was sacked last month.

Van Nistelrooy has overseen victories over Leicester City in the EFL Cup and PAOK in the Europa League, drawing his other game against Chelsea in the Premier League. 

The Foxes are the visitors once again to Old Trafford in the Dutchman's final game in charge on Sunday before Amorim takes the reins the following day. 

Asked if he would like to manage the team he scored 150 goals for during his playing days, Van Nistelrooy said: "Yeah, of course.

"I thought this through well when I made the decision to come to United as an assistant manager or assistant coach," Van Nistelrooy said.

"I knew that coming to Manchester United was for me a special occasion, where I felt I wanted to be part of this journey with the club in also an assistant role.

"I had clear ambitions to manage. I made the decision to sign a two-year deal as an assistant, and I'm still in that frame of mind to stay in that capacity."

The 48-year-old does have managerial experience, too. He was previously the manager of PSV Eindhoven, winning the Dutch Cup in his only season in charge. 

During his short tenure in the Netherlands, he won 34 of his 50 games in charge (D8 L8), scoring 126 goals and ending with a win percentage of 66.67%. 

Van Nistelrooy is under contract with United until 2026, but question marks have been raised over his future with Amorim set to bring in his own staff.

But he insisted that this weekend's sole focus is on ensuring that United are in the best possible shape for Amorim's impending arrival at Old Trafford. 

"I called it an important period because I think it was important to get through the four games as good as we could," said Van Nistelrooy.

"I think we've done very well so far. The players have reacted very well in the games.

"The focus now is to build on that and show that on Sunday, with a big game ahead and a massive three points that are there to win.

"I don't know if it will be very emotional. I take it very pragmatically as well, although I am proud to be able to fulfil this. We'll see how I feel on Sunday."

And while this may be Van Nistelrooy's second Old Trafford farewell, he has reason to be confident of ending his latest Red Devils stint on a high. 

United have lost just two of their last 17 Premier League games against Leicester (W10 D5), with those defeats coming consecutively in May and October 2021.