Erling Haaland has struggled to shake off a foot injury, but Pep Guardiola expects him to be able to play a starring role for Manchester City at Leeds United on Wednesday.

Haaland has been in sensational form this season, leading the Premier League scoring charts with 18 goals after quickly settling into English football following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund.

However, he suffered an injury against Dortmund in October and has since been dealing with the ramifications of that problem, even with the club season pausing for the World Cup.

"The injury is completely different to last season," Guardiola said. "It was a knock in his foot in Dortmund when we played in the Champions League, and the doctor said that he has damaged his ligament in his foot.

"It's painful, it's not easy to recover, that's why he struggled, but [it is a] muscular issue. Now it is much better, and now we know it is a question of time. Of course, we need him.

"I think he will be ready [for Leeds]. Day by day, he is getting better. As much as he can train, he will get his condition."

City trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by eight points ahead of their game in hand against Leeds, with the defending champions having lost two of their previous five Premier League matches and widely considered not to have yet hit their best form.

Yet Guardiola does not expect to venture into the January transfer market in search of additions to strengthen a title charge.

"I think we are going to finish in this way," he said.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but since I arrived in Abu Dhabi with the sporting director, with Txiki [Begiristain], with everyone, there wasn't any names on the table."

Reece James's latest injury scare is cause for concern for Chelsea, with the club and Graham Potter having their "fingers crossed" over his prognosis.

The right-back made his first appearance since an October knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Bournemouth.

But shortly after half-time, James was forced from the field with another knee worry.

"It's the same area, so we are concerned," Potter said, as quoted by BBC Sport. "It's really too soon. He felt something there.

"We will have to find out the extent of it and keep our fingers crossed. He's been really disappointed to miss the World Cup, of course. It was a huge blow to him."

The initial injury has limited Potter's work with James at Stamford Bridge so far, but he is a big fan of the England defender.

"You could see today his quality and what he brings to the team," Potter added. "He is a world-class player. You see it from the outside, but not until you work with him do you see how good he is.

"He could play in any team in the world, and any team would miss him. The plan was to play 60 minutes today, so now he's disappointed, of course. We hope it's not as bad as it was and he can have a speedy recovery."

Kai Havertz credited the "freedom" offered by Graham Potter as key to his positive performance after Chelsea snapped their winless streak against Bournemouth.

The Germany international scored one and assisted the other in Tuesday's 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge, opening the scoring before setting up Mason Mount for the second.

It was Chelsea's first Premier League victory in six attempts, but Havertz now has four goals under Potter in all competitions and is enjoying working with the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss.

"He gives me the freedom to do whatever I feel comfortable on the pitch," Havertz told Amazon Prime Sport. "I like to play free and to be in the box. He gives me a lot of confidence.

"The win and the goals hopefully will [help]. It's an important win and we have to keep on winning. We need the points and we'll give it our best in the coming games."

Potter, who succeeded Thomas Tuchel in September, was in turn effusive in his praise of his players, although he lost Reece James to another injury and was waiting for a diagnosis.

"Credit to the players," Potter told BBC Sport. "You're never sure how it'll go with the break we had. The attitude was fantastic and they tried their best.

"It was a deserved win. We had to hold on; Bournemouth made it competitive. It's a step forward for us as a team."

The Denver Broncos believe Russell Wilson is fixable as they head into an offseason looking to pick up the pieces from a debacle of a 2022 season.

Denver fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday after under a year at the helm of a team many expected to contend this campaign.

The Broncos' 51-14 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day sealed Hackett's fate, the loss dropping Denver to 4-11 on the season.

Wilson was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason, the Broncos parting with two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant to land his services.

But the nine-time Pro Bowler has endured the worst season of his career, completing 60.1 per cent of his passes for 3,019 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Wilson's well-thrown rate of 78.8 per cent is below the NFL average of 81.1 per cent and, heading into last weekend's games, he ranked 25th (for QBs with a minimum of 100 plays in expected passing situations) in yards over expected on downs where the defense would be anticipating a pass, according to Stats Perform data.

His level of performance after being handed a five-year, $245million extension by Denver arguably makes the Broncos job an unappealing one for potential Hackett successors, with the dead cap hits that would come with parting with Wilson meaning they are likely committed to keeping him until at least end of the 2024 season.

But general manager George Paton remains confident Wilson can be salvaged and return to the form that made him such a prized asset.

"We saw flashes of Russ this year. Russ even said he didn't play up to his standard," Paton said at a press conference. 

"He will be the first one to tell you he didn't play up to his standard, didn't play up to our standard. He needs to be better.

"I don't think we made a coaching move based on Russ. That wasn't what it's all about.

"That's not why we're getting a new coach, to turn around Russ; it's about the entire organisation. It's about the entire football team.

"It's just not one player. It's not whether Russ is fixable or not. We do believe he is. We do."

Broncos owner and CEO George Penner, who revealed the new head coach would report into him rather than Paton, echoed the general manager's apparent lack of panic surrounding Wilson.

"The decision to have Russell here was a long-term one," Penner said. "This season has not been up to his standards or expectations. We saw some glimpses of it in the last few weeks.

"He knows he can play better, we know he can play better, and we know he will do the right work in the offseason to be ready for next year.

"George and I have had a chance to get to know each other – we talk every day since we purchased the team a number of months ago – and he acknowledged right up front there were a couple of decisions that hadn't worked out as he had expected.

"But I understand his thought process. He understands the work that needs to be done in this offseason, and I'm going to rely on him heavily as we go through and make these changes."

Reece James was forced out of his comeback match for Chelsea as injury again got the better of the defender who missed England's World Cup campaign.

The right-back sat out the Qatar 2022 finals because of a knee blow sustained on Champions League duty against Milan on October 11.

Tuesday's Premier League game against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge was James' first game back, having returned to training at the start of December.

However, he lasted only 51 minutes before injury struck again, with Chelsea 2-0 ahead at the time.

James appeared to feel a twinge after beating Bournemouth's Jaidon Anthony to the ball, and he immediately signalled to the bench he needed to be replaced.

James went down to the ground, covering his face and looking to be in trouble.

He was treated by Chelsea medical staff before being able to stand up and walk off the pitch, passing head coach Graham Potter as he departed to have the pain checked out.

Before the game, Potter had described James as being "in a good place" again after the "brutal" experience of having to sit out the World Cup.

Milan coach Stefano Pioli still thinks his side can defend their Serie A crown despite their eight-point deficit to league leaders Napoli.

The Rossoneri beat rivals Inter in a title race that went down to the wire last season, taking a first Scudetto since the 2010-11 campaign.

But their hopes of a second successive triumph look to be under serious threat, with Napoli having romped away at the summit after 15 games.

Milan remain their nearest rivals, however, and Pioli argues his team can still turn it around, although he knows they must hit the ground running in 2023.

"It is clear that we arrived at this prestigious [title] victory ahead of time, because the club's desire was to invest in players, especially young players, so maybe we expected to win a little later," he told Italia Uno.

"But we managed almost immediately, so it is clear that for me and for us 2022 was a really important year and full of satisfaction.

"You have to think that you can still win the championship [this season], this in the most absolute way.

"Then it is clear that if Napoli continues like this they can make 100 points and then we must congratulate them, but we must think about making many points.

"Last year, 86 were needed; perhaps this year they could need even more. There are still 69 points available – that's a lot – but we have to start pedalling hard and we definitely have to believe in it."

Phil Foden can be "whatever he wants" because of the magic he has at his disposal, according to Manchester City team-mate Kevin De Bruyne.

The England winger is already a four-time Premier League winner, and has helped the national team enjoy deep runs in two major tournaments so far.

At just 22, however, Foden still appears a long way from realising his potential, an assessment with which De Bruyne agrees.

Ahead of a return to top-flight action against Leeds United, De Bruyne said of Foden: "He is still that young boy who just loves to play football. Every time you see a ball running around, he is running to it.

"He is probably one of the biggest talents that I have played with, and his ceiling can be so high. He has already won four Premier Leagues, and he is 22.

"He is doing well for himself. He is very smart as a player. Where there are a lot of tactics, you still have that guy who has that little bit of magic, and he is one of those guys.

"The ceiling is so high. He has already done so much at that age playing for a team like us who have to win all of the time.

"He has already done so much at [his] age. He can do that for the next 15 years if he wants to, and then he can be whatever he wants."

Arizona Cardinals star defensive end JJ Watt has announced his football career is ending.

Watt posted to Twitter on Monday that Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the first NFL game his son attended but also his final NFL home game.

"Koa's first ever NFL game," Watt wrote. "My last ever NFL home game."

Already eliminated from the playoffs, the Cardinals play their final two games on the road – at the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday and at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 18.

"My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude," Watt wrote. "It's been an absolute honour and a pleasure."

One of the NFL's most feared pass-rushers early in his career, the 33-year-old Watt battled through injuries in the past few seasons and revealed in October he was playing through a case of atrial fibrillation.

A first-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2011, Watt is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, a five-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection.

The future Hall of Famer led the league in sacks in 2012 and 2015, and his 111.5 career sacks rank fourth among active players. His 9.5 sacks this season are his most since recording 16 in 2018.

Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn feels his side's focus on court matters alone is key to their form, after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving set up a ninth win in a row.

The pair posted 32 points each in a remarkable double act to ensuring a 125-117 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, which gave the Nets their longest winning streak since 2006.

It marks a sharp contrast from the early season blues the Nets suffered from, with Irving banned for a post that supported anti-semitism and prior head coach Steve Nash dismissed amid poor form.

Vaughn credits the turnaround to keeping his players tightly trained on their performances rather than matters away from the court, indicating that discipline has been the secret of the success.

"I am a simple person," he said. "[I] really try to keep things simple. We stripped our playbook down a little bit, we are simple in what we do.

"[We] have our guys play extremely free of mind. I think there's something important in that if you're going to ask your guys to play hard."

Durant concurred with his coach's assessment, noting the Nets feel like they are in a better headspace under Vaughn's command, while suggesting outside forces were played up in the media.

"To be honest, I think we've always been about ball," he added. "Everybody has a platform, so there are many voices speaking [about] what we do inside our locker room

"I think that's the noise that you hear. But from us, we've always been about the game. We struggled early on, we were always focused on playing basketball."

David Warner can continue in Test cricket for "as long as he wants", believes Australia team-mate Steve Smith after the batsman's double century against South Africa.

Amid speculation over Warner's future in the red-ball team, the New South Wales veteran became the eighth man to cross the 8,000-run boundary for his country in the game's oldest format.

After a slew of lacklustre performances, the 36-year-old's first Test century since facing New Zealand in 2020 reaffirmed his credentials, and Warner was only halted when he was forced to retire on 200 with cramp.

Smith, the seventh man to reach the 8,000-run mark, was full of plaudits for his partner at the crease, after they piled on the runs against the Proteas in Melbourne, and feels he is still in his prime.

"I don't see any reason why he can't continue playing," Smith said. "He saw the ball well today. He can play as long as he wants.

"He played exceptionally well from ball one yesterday. He looks like he has a lot of energy, his feet moved really nicely.

"Today, he just played beautifully. I think the more he started to cramp, the more shots he started playing. Everything came from the middle."

Australia finished day two at the MCG on 386 for three, with Warner and Cameron Green both retiring hurt. Smith was the last batsman dismissed, having shared in a partnership of 239 for the third wicket with Warner, before the retirements made it an unusual end to the day's play.

The batting efforts gave Australia an overnight lead of 197 runs, with Warner chiefly responsible.

"It was a great blow [to lose him] but nice to be on the other side for much of it," Smith said. "He's doing fine, he's fit. It was quite energy consuming.

"Obviously, it was a strange end to the day. It was hard to believe I was the last wicket. It was an interesting finish but a good day."