Any Premier League players who reach next year's World Cup final will have just eight days to recover from the tournament before English domestic action resumes.

With Qatar 2022 set to take place in the middle of the European football calendar, the biggest competitions are being forced to take a hiatus in order to accommodate the tournament.

The World Cup is due to begin on November 21, 2022 and run until December 18, which is the scheduled date of the final.

As such, the Premier League's 2022-23 season will begin a week earlier than usual on August 6 and matches will continue until November 13, giving some international teams as few as eight days with their squads prior to the tournament starting.

The Premier League will then resume on Boxing Day, eight days after the World Cup final in Lusail, meaning any England-based players involved will have a quick turnaround before being thrust back into domestic duties.

Ordinarily, the World Cup would begin in early June and allow for the competing teams to have roughly two weeks to prepare with their players, including the staging of international friendlies.

Similarly, players would usually be afforded holiday after featuring in the tournament, yet that will not be the case this time – however, the caveat is footballers will enjoy a lengthy break before pre-season due to the lack of any major international tournaments.

The 2022-23 Premier League campaign will conclude slightly later than usual as well, with the final round of matches to be played on May 28, 2023.

Juventus have confirmed captain Giorgio Chiellini has been diagnosed with inflammation of his left Achilles tendon.

Chiellini had to pull out of Italy's crunch World Cup qualifier against Switzerland on Friday and returned to Turin for tests.

Juve are waiting to discover how long the Italy skipper will be out of action.

A club statement said: "The diagnostic tests that Giorgio Chiellini underwent this morning at J-Medical showed inflammation of the muscle tendon junction of the left Achilles tendon. His condition will be monitored daily."

Striker Moise Kean completed the entire session with his Juve team-mates on Thursday after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Defender Mattia De Sciglio continues his rehabilitation from a hamstring problem.

The Bianconeri will be eyeing a third consecutive win in all competitions when they face Lazio a week on Saturday,

Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Mason Mount and Luke Shaw remain doubts for England's World Cup qualifier against Albania, but Jack Grealish is back in training and is set to be available for the clash at Wembley Stadium on Friday.

It will be the Three Lions' final home game of the year and a win will see them move within one point of qualifying for Qatar 2022 from Group I, assuming second-placed Poland do not fail to win in Andorra.

The England manager has already lost Marcus Rashford, James Ward-Prowse and Declan Rice to injury from his initial squad, with Emile Smith Rowe the only replacement called up.

Speaking at a media conference on Thursday, when asked about the availability of Mount (dental) and Shaw (concussion), Southgate said "I've got to check in with our medical staff for our update. The longer it goes, the more unlikely it is.

"Mason has to recover from his dental surgery. Luke didn't pass his [head injury assessment] after the first day and rightly, we have to follow the guidelines with that.

"Jack Grealish has trained and is ready if required."

Southgate was asked how Arsenal youngster Smith Rowe has settled into the squad after his first senior call-up.

"He has settled really well," he added. "He obviously knows a couple of his club teammates and Phil [Foden] from the U17s. This is a group that makes new players very welcome so it's not a difficult environment to settle in and his quality has been apparent from the way he has trained.

"We have always worked on the basis that we need a strong squad because you will get injuries. We have depth and we have players who have been waiting for opportunities to play."

England captain Harry Kane was also present at the media conference and emphasised the need for he and his team-mates to brush off the disappointment of their 1-1 draw at Wembley in their previous qualifier against Hungary.

Kane said "Whenever you have a disappointing game, or you don't reach the standards you normally reach, it kind of wakes you up a little bit and makes you realise there's still work to do, still more to improve on.

"Three points from that game would have really helped towards securing qualification, so now it's about turning it round and responding to that game. We've had a great week of preparation but it's all about performing when the pressure's on and the team have done that before."

Kane was also asked about his own start to the season, having scored only once in his first 10 Premier League games for Tottenham. He was heavily linked with a move to Manchester City in the last transfer window, but denied that it has had an influence on his performances.

"Losing a European final for your country at Wembley will probably stay with me the rest of my career. You never really get over those things, unless we go and win a major tournament. That always stings but I'm pretty used to getting back into things," Kane said.

"There was a lot of speculation over the summer, that's the first real time that's happened to me. But that's part and parcel of being a big player, having to deal with those situations, and I think I dealt with it well. Now it's about focusing. There's still a long way to go at club level and we've got these two games to finish off what's been a great calendar year [for England]."

Scott McTominay has left the Scotland camp after contracting a "throat virus", Steve Clarke confirmed.

The Manchester United midfielder will miss Friday's World Cup qualifier at Moldova because of the illness.

Scotland have been training in Spain this week ahead of the trip but McTominay was sent home.

Clarke retains hope, however, that McTominay will be able to overcome the virus over the weekend and be available for selection on Monday when Scotland face Denmark – who have already booked their spot for the World Cup – in their last match in their qualifying group stage.

"Unfortunately, Scott McTominay has picked up a bit of a throat virus, so we have sent Scott home to rest and recuperate and hopefully join us again at the weekend," Clarke told reporters.

Scotland, who are four points ahead of third-placed Israel, need just one win from their final two matches to make sure of second spot in Group F, subsequently confirming their participation in the play-offs next March.

Clarke should be confident of getting the job done without McTominay on Friday given hosts Moldova have taken just one point from their eight matches.

But how the virus develops could impact McTominay's employers, Man Utd.

Should it take McTominay longer than initially expected to get over the illness, he could potentially be a doubt for United's trip to Watford on November 20, which could be problematic given boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is likely going to be without the injured Paul Pogba.

France star Pogba suffered a thigh injury during training for Les Bleus and was sent back to United. While no timeframe has been put on his recovery, reports suggest he could be out until January.

Jamie Carragher does not believe former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard will use Aston Villa merely as a "stepping stone" to the top job at Anfield.

But Carragher also knows Gerrard would love to become Liverpool manager one day if he first made a success of his new role with Villa.

Gerrard was confirmed as Villa's latest head coach on Thursday, replacing Dean Smith at the helm at Villa Park after a five-game losing streak.

Smith led his boyhood club back into the Premier League and reached an EFL Cup final, winning 39.6 per cent of his 139 games in charge in all competitions.

Gerrard has had a rather different task at Rangers in the meantime, finally cutting short Celtic's run of consecutive Scottish Premiership titles at nine by triumphing in 2020-21.

Rangers were unbeaten in the league in that campaign, which included a career-best nine-game winning streak in all competitions for Gerrard between September and November 2020.

At one of Scotland's two premier clubs, the former Liverpool captain had an outstanding 64.8 per cent win rate across 193 games going back to 2018.

This success has prompted talk of a return to Merseyside, where Jurgen Klopp is under contract until 2024 but Gerrard is seen as a viable long-term successor.

Yet Carragher, a prominent Liverpool star alongside Gerrard, does not believe his old friend is simply waiting for that job to open up.

"I think it's disrespectful to Stevie and I think it's disrespectful to Aston Villa that this comes up," Carragher told Sky Sports.

"I know this is the question for everyone, but I can assure you that Aston Villa as a football club are no stepping stone for anyone. They've won a European Cup, the biggest club in the midlands, one of the biggest clubs in the UK.

"I'm sure everyone is well aware that one day, if it worked perfectly, Stevie would like to manage Liverpool, but I can guarantee you Stevie would only want to manage Liverpool if he merited it, and also the club's supporters would think that and the football club themselves. 

"Liverpool are not in a position to give a job in the future to someone just because they had a great playing career.

"If Stevie does amazingly well at Aston Villa and is qualifying for Europe, maybe could add a Carabao Cup, maybe that would put him in the equation then for Liverpool.

"But Liverpool, along with Manchester United, along with Man City, Chelsea, they will be attracting the best managers in the world. That's obviously a challenge for Stevie to make himself one of the best managers in European or world football and then, I'm sure, he'll have a great shout.

"But if he doesn't get there, I don't think Stevie would be wanting to take a job if he felt that maybe someone else could be better at Liverpool, and I don't think the club would either.

"For Stevie, I think it's just focusing on Aston Villa and don't worry about anything else."

Whether Gerrard should use his Villa opportunity to put himself in position for a Liverpool move or not, Carragher does not believe the 41-year-old would have been considered had the Reds been looking for a new boss now.

Gerrard won 26 of 53 European games at Rangers, including 12 of 30 in the Europa League proper, but the lack of domestic competition makes Villa a step up, let alone title-chasing Liverpool.

"It's his first job in the Premier League, and when you go into the Premier League for the first time, to get a job as big as Villa is fantastic for Stevie, it really is," Carragher said.

"It gives him a fantastic opportunity to push for European places.

"No manager is ever going to get one of the real plum jobs just on the back of what Stevie's done at Rangers. In the Premier League now, it's a league where every manager in the world wants to manage."

Australia's chief selector George Bailey has confirmed Marcus Harris will open in the first Ashes Test against England at the Gabba.

Harris only averages 23.77 from 19 Test innings, with the second of his two half-centuries coming against India in January 2019 after scoring his first in the same series.

The 29-year-old staked a strong claim by making a 19th first-class hundred for Victoria against New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield last month.

Bailey says Harris deserves his chance to open along with David Warner in the opening Test against England in Brisbane, which starts on December 8.

"It gives you great confidence as a selector when you know your opening batters are locked away as far as a Test series go," Bailey told RSN radio.

"It's a hard spot to bat and to get those places settle, it's really important. Harry's only had a limited opportunity in the past, and he's been in and out a bit, so we'd love nothing more than for him to hopefully to get an opportunity to get an extended run at it.

"What we have liked is his consistency. He's obviously been a prolific run-scorer at domestic level here, but also love the fact he went overseas and had a great year for Leicester as well."

Will Pucovski would have been a rival for Harris at the top of the order, but suffered another concussion setback.

Marcus Smith starts at fly-half and Owen Farrell returns at inside centre, while Manu Tuilagi moves to the wing when England face Australia on Saturday.

Smith came off the bench in the 69-3 thrashing of Tonga last weekend but will make his third Test start in place of George Furbank against the Wallabies at Twickenham.

Captain Farrell comes back into the team after missing the drubbing of the Pacific island nation due to his positive coronavirus test.

Tuilagi shifts from midfield to the right wing, with Jonny May on the other flank, and Maro Itoje will make his 50th appearance for his country in an unchanged pack.

Bevan Rodd and Raffi Quirke could make their debuts off the bench, but Joe Marler will not feature after the prop tested positive for COVID-19.

England head coach Eddie Jones said: "We know this will be a tough test for us, we're playing against a team who have been together a while and who have beat the world champions twice. As an Australian, I know how much this game means.

"We've had a really good week of preparation, we're looking to improve our performance this week and I think this side is building well."

England: Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell (captain), Jonny May, Marcus Smith, Ben Youngs; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Courtney Lawes, Sam Underhill, Tom Curry.

Replacements: Jamie Blamire, Bevan Rodd, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Alex Dombrandt, Sam Simmonds, Raffi Quirke, Max Malins.

Eddie Howe acknowledges the thought of spending Newcastle United's riches in January is "exciting" but his immediate focus is on getting the best out of the club's existing playing squad.

Newcastle were taken over last month by a consortium backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which became the richest football club owner in the world.

New director Amanda Staveley has spoken of targeting a Premier League title win in the next five to 10 years, with heavy investment expected to transform the team.

A host of high-profile players have been linked, including Barcelona trio Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

But Newcastle have nine Premier League fixtures to negotiate before the transfer window opens at the start of 2022 and sit five points adrift of safety in 19th place.

Howe was appointed as head coach this week but takes charge of a team winless in 11 this term, Newcastle's worst start to a league season in their history.

The four most recent examples of teams going 11 or more without a win in the Premier League ended in relegation, meaning Howe cannot afford to wait for new signings.

"That is exciting, but it's potentially far away for us," Howe told Sky Sports.

"January windows? I'm not sure, they're very unpredictable. Even to plan now is sometimes foolish, because things change at other clubs very, very quickly; players that may be available suddenly aren't available.

"We can't put our eggs in that basket, for me. If we don't get the players who are currently at this football club performing as well as they can do, it's not going to work.

"At the moment, I'm not looking at the January transfer window. All the speculation regarding players, which I've seen, is not relevant to us at this time.

"I can assure everybody my focus has been on the players we do have and will remain on the players we do have, because they're the ones that will ultimately be trying to get results for us between then and now."

One of the current Newcastle players of immediate interest to Howe is Allan Saint-Maximin, the team's talismanic winger who enjoyed a close relationship with previous coach Steve Bruce.

After two goals and three assists in his first six league games this season, Saint-Maximin is without a goal involvement in five matches – including four since the takeover was completed and three since Bruce was sacked.

Howe knows all about the player's ability, though. As Bournemouth manager, he provided the opposition for the only game in Saint-Maximin's career in which he has supplied three assists, back in July 2020 in a 4-1 Newcastle win.

"I'm really, really pleased to be working with Maxi," Howe said. "I think he's a very, very unique talent. He's a game-winner, a real difference-maker for us.

"First of all, we have to find a way to function as a team to get the best out of him. But he has to also contribute to the team – the two things go hand in hand.

"I'm really excited to try to figure out ways to play to his best levels, and his response in the two days [of training] has been excellent."

Luka Doncic cannot always be "superhuman", Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd insists, after the preseason MVP favourite continued a mixed start to the campaign with an "average" night against the Chicago Bulls.

Mavericks superstar Doncic, now in his fourth year in the NBA, was expecting to be among the league's leading players in 2021-22.

Dallas are a competitive 7-4 through 11 games and their point forward has 24.5 points per game, but that is a considerable drop on last year's 27.7 or his 2019-20 peak of 28.8.

And Doncic, despite a sensational game-winning buzzer-beater against the Boston Celtics last week, is not helping the Mavs in the way his team would hope.

Only eight qualifying players – seven of them on teams with .250 records or worse – have a lower plus/minus per game than Doncic's -8.7.

That was -20 in Wednesday's 117-107 defeat to the Bulls despite the 22-year-old averaging close to his first triple-double of the season with 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Doncic had four steals for only the sixth time in his career but also gave up four turnovers and is averaging 4.4 for the year, a new high.

"Luka was just average tonight," Kidd said. "We always expect him to be superhuman, but there's going to be nights in this season where he's going to be average.

"His average is really good, but he again had some great looks that didn't go down for him."

Indeed, Doncic made just six of 18 shots from the field and one of six from three-point range.

Although he is attempting more field goals than ever before (21.2 per game), his shooting is down to 43.3 per cent, including a career-low 28.6 per cent from three.

Kidd praised much-maligned team-mate Kristaps Porzingis, who "stepped up" with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the Mavs clearly cannot afford a player, in Doncic, with a team-high 35.9 per cent usage rate to be missing both shots and passes.

"I think that's a question for him," Kidd said of Doncic's shooting woes. "When you look at the shots that he's taking, he's getting a lot of great looks.

"I think in the game of basketball, some go in, some don't. He still has to continue to be aggressive and take those looks. The ones that he's missing right now will fall for him – he just has to stay with it."

One tweak could be to get Doncic closer to the basket, with his shooting at the rim way up to 75.6 per cent. He has scored 40.1 per cent of his points in the paint this year (only marginally up on 40.0 per cent).

"His strength is being able to create on the perimeter for others and for himself, so that's something that we can definitely do, put him in the post to try to take some of the stress away from him having to work so hard," Kidd said. "That will come in due time as the season goes on."

Saudi Arabia remain top of World Cup qualifying Group B after they held second-placed Australia to a goalless draw in a feisty contest at the Western Sydney Stadium.

Playing their first home game since October 2019 and backed by an expectant crowd in driving rain on Thursday, the Socceroos were devoid of quality in the final third as they had to settle for a point.

Herve Renard's men lost their 100 per cent record, but remain three points clear of Australia and on course to secure their place in the World Cup in Qatar next year.

The Socceroos - missing Tom Rogic, Aaron Mooy and Adam Taggart - made a strong start but lacked a cutting edge as Ajdin Hrustic was off target before Awer Mabil fired wide.

Graham Arnold's side continued to dictate the play after the break, with Mathew Leckie forcing a save from Mohammed Al Yami and Jackson Irvine side-footing wastefully wide from close range.

Al Yami denied Martin Boyle with his feet after making a hard work of keeping out a tame Mabil free-kick, while Mat Ryan thwarted Salman Al-Faraj and Salem Al Dawsari at the other end.

Australia defender Harry Souttar was carried off with a serious looking injury before Saleh Al-Shehri nodded just wide and Salem Al-Dawsari had a long-range drive saved by Ryan as Saudi Arabia finished strongly 

Al-Dawsari called Ryan into action again with a long-range drive, but neither side could conjure up a winner on a miserable evening in Parramatta.

Liverpool great Steven Gerrard has left Rangers to take over as Aston Villa head coach.

Villa parted ways with Dean Smith on Sunday after a run of five straight Premier League defeats.

Determined to make a swift appointment, it quickly became apparent that Gerrard was Villa's leading candidate, and that move has now been confirmed.

Villa did not announce the length of their new coach's contract, although it is reported to be a two-and-a-half-year deal.

"Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new head coach," Gerrard said.

"In my conversations with Nassef [Sawiris], Wes [Edens] and the rest of the board, it was apparent how ambitious their plans are for the club and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their aims.

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everybody associated with Glasgow Rangers for giving me the opportunity to manage such an iconic football club.

"Helping them secure a record-breaking 55th league title will always hold a special place in my heart. I would like to wish the players, staff and supporters the very best for the future."

The former Liverpool and England midfielder, who also played for LA Galaxy, was handed his first senior job in management when he took over at Ibrox in 2018.

Gerrard guided Rangers to second in each of his first two seasons, before they cruised to the Scottish Premiership title last term.

Rangers' success was their first in a decade and ended Celtic's hopes of a 10th consecutive crown.

The Gers are four points clear at the top of the Premiership and still in contention to make the Europa League knockout stage, but Gerrard has decided to swap Glasgow for Birmingham.

Villa have won just three league games this season and sit 16th, having sold talisman Jack Grealish to Manchester City for £100million.

Leon Bailey, Danny Ings and Emiliano Buendia were brought in to help replace Grealish, but fitness issues have meant the attacking trio have rarely featured together so far.

Villa nevertheless have a strong squad, and Gerrard will be hoping to push for Europe in his first venture into Premier League management.

"It has been very clear in our discussions with him that Steven's coaching ambitions, philosophy and values entirely match those of Aston Villa," Villa CEO Christian Purslow said.

Gerrard's first reunion with Liverpool will come on December 11, when Villa visit Anfield, while his first game in charge will be against Brighton and Hove Albion after the international break.

Rory McIlroy has opted to work solely with long-time coach Michael Bannon once again after splitting with Pete Cowen.

McIlroy turned to swing guru and straight-talking Englishman Cowen eight months ago as he strived to return to the peak of his powers.

The four-time major champion ended an 18-month trophy drought when he won the Wells Fargo Championship in May and claimed his 20th PGA Tour title with a CJ Cup triumph last month.

McIlroy has now decided to only work with Bannon, who first coached his fellow Northern Irishman at the age of eight.

"Michael and I are back working together," McIlroy told Golfweek.

"I've always had a relationship with Pete and I'll ask for his input if I need it. But now it's Michael and me."

McIlroy had stated after his CJ Cup triumph: "There was a lot of reflection the last couple weeks and this is what I need to do.

"I just need to play golf, I need to simplify it, I need to just be me. For the last few months I was maybe trying to be someone else to try to get better and I sort of realised that being me is enough and being me, I can do things like this."