Thomas Tuchel says it is "good news" that Cesar Azpilicueta's contract extension has been triggered at Chelsea, and hopes the Blues captain will stay at least another year at Stamford Bridge.

The Spain defender's deal was due to come to a close at the end of the current campaign, but has automatically renewed for a further season after he hit a number of games this term.

It comes amid what is effectively a transfer embargo on the club due to outgoing owner Roman Abramovich's sanctions in relation to the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

With Azpilicueta able to walk as a free agent at the end of the campaign, Tuchel admitted he was happy to tie his captain down, though he could still leave if restrictions are lifted before next season.

"I knew it was going to happen because I knew the amount of games before it was going to happen," he stated. "It was so close.

"It’s a good thing, we were aware of it. It's good news for us. We have a contract, he's our captain, it's a very high possibility he will stay."

The same concerns linger for other out-of-contract players however, with defender Antonio Rudiger one of the biggest names linked with an exit.

Amid reports the Germany international's brother and agent met with Barcelona - who have also reportedly pursued Azpilicueta in recent weeks - Tuchel acknowledged he too would chase the former if he was available.

"I would try to meet him [Rudiger] if I were any other club," he added. "Still, he's our player and I still think we have a good chance he stays our player once things are solved for us.

"The situation is the situation at the moment. Our hands are tied, we cannot speak to him and offer him or negotiate or renegotiate with his agents.

"So it is fair enough if he listens to other offers. That is the way things go, but I'm still confident."

Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani will miss a "couple of weeks" with the injury he suffered on Uruguay duty, Ralf Rangnick has confirmed.

Cavani was substituted during a 2-0 win over Chile during the international break, as Uruguay cemented third place in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers after a run of four successive wins.

In a pre-match media conference looking ahead to Saturday's Premier League clash with Leicester City, Rangnick confirmed the news while discussing the various positions in which Paul Pogba has been deployed in recent weeks.

"Since the game against West Ham on January 22, we have lost three strikers," the interim Red Devils boss said.

"Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and even Edinson Cavani, who is injured again, unfortunately, and will be out for the next couple of weeks."

Cavani has managed just two Premier League goals during a frustrating campaign, seeing 614 minutes of league action all season.

Manchester United have lost two of their last three games in all competitions (winning the other). They had lost just one of their previous 20 following Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's November dismissal, recording 10 wins and nine draws in that time.

Jurgen Klopp is confident Trent Alexander-Arnold will be fit for Liverpool's potentially pivotal trip to Manchester City next weekend.

Reds right-back Alexander-Arnold sustained a hamstring injury last month that ruled him out of the FA Cup win at Nottingham Forest and England's two international friendlies.

Reports earlier this week claimed Alexander-Arnold was back in full training on Wednesday, suggesting he was likely to feature against Watford on Saturday.

Klopp dismissed those claims when addressing the media on Friday, claiming the 23-year-old only fully re-joined the rest of the squad earlier that day, only committing to it being "possible" that he plays on Saturday.

But any worries about the influential full-back missing the trip to City next Sunday – in what is being billed as a potential Premier League title decider – have seemingly been put to bed.

He told reporters: "Trent trained yesterday [Thursday] in parts and is in full training today.

"We will see what we do with that. Trent wanted to play for England, just to make sure everyone knows that, but he couldn't.

"The scans showed he could not go anywhere but sometimes injuries are not that serious and you are not out for five or six weeks, it's two weeks for Trent. It's tight for tomorrow, but possible.

"It depends what he does in team training. He was with the rehab and fitness department before, it was really intense what he did before with us, he should be fine. I'll make the decision."

Asked if will be ready for the midweek trip to Benfica in the Champions League, Klopp added: "I think so."

As such, Liverpool should be able to count on his services away to City in what is surely the Reds' biggest game of the season.

That will be a major boost given Alexander-Arnold's significant influence as a creative hub for Liverpool, even from right-back.

Only Alisson and Virgil van Dijk (both 2,430) have played more Premier League minutes for Liverpool than Alexander-Arnold (2,313) this term, while he leads the way for total chances created (77) in the squad.

Only Mohamed Salah (51) can better his 42 chances created in open play, though Alexander-Arnold's 11 assists is a Liverpool high.

In fact, his 10.9 expected assists (xA) shows that his goal creation comes from incredible creative reliability, rather than him benefiting from especially exceptional finishing – no one else in the Liverpool group has more than 5.6 xA this season.

Pep Guardiola has indicated Manchester City will have to cope without Ruben Dias for crucial games against Atletico Madrid and Liverpool.

Centre-back Dias has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the FA Cup win at Peterborough United on March 1, and it was revealed he faced four to six weeks on the sidelines.

It appears the Portuguese defender will be available again closer to the six-week mark than Guardiola might have hoped, with City facing Atletico in the Champions League either side of a Premier League clash with title rivals Liverpool.

First comes a trip to Burnley on Saturday, with Dias a confirmed non-starter for that game.

"I don't know," Guardiola said, when asked how much longer Dias faced on the sidelines.

"The doctor said four to six weeks. I think we need 10 more days, two weeks more. Everything is going well."

The first leg of the Atletico quarter-final is coming up at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, with Liverpool visiting on Sunday, April 10, three days before Guardiola's men are back in European action in Madrid.

The timeframe suggests Dias may struggle to play any part in those three games, which are followed by an FA Cup semi-final, also against Liverpool, on April 16 at Wembley.

Although Dias has been an integral figure in Guardiola's first-team plans, his absence from four Premier League games this season has not had a majorly adverse impact to date.

Without him, City have won three times and drawn once in four games (average points: 2.5), while with Dias in the side they have won 19, drawn three and lost three (average points: 2.4) – though the sample sizes are significantly different.

City would have good cause to be cautiously optimistic of taking three points at Burnley without Dias involved, however.

After taking five points from their first 12 available against City in the Premier League (W1 D2 L1), Burnley have managed just one point from the subsequent 11 games between the teams (D1 L10).

Indeed, City have won their last nine meetings with Burnley in all competitions by a 32-1 aggregate score.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel praised the response of Jorginho to Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup.

The Blues playmaker saw his nation fail to reach Qatar 2022 following their UEFA play-off loss to North Macedonia last month, bringing the Azzurri back to earth after last year's Euro 2020 triumph.

For Jorginho, a standout performer for club and country over the past year-and-a-half, it has been a bitter blow, and he was released early from international duty to return to Stamford Bridge.

Speaking ahead of his side's Premier League clash with Brentford this weekend, Tuchel said he had not addressed the matter in-depth with the player, but took time to hail his resolve.

"To be very honest, I did not speak a lot with him about that," Tuchel told a media conference. "What could I say to make his pain go away? Nothing.

"If I am the 200th person to tell him to put his head up high... Like always, with the players, it is our job to create an environment and atmosphere where the players feel welcome, feel safe.

"Of course this happens in sport, and it feels horrible for him personally. But here is a safe place for him. He was very strong in training, with a good response.

"He came in one day earlier than he needed to be. That's why I had the feeling that he wanted to be back in this environment, because it is a positive environment."

Jorginho was instrumental in Chelsea's run to Champions League glory last term, and then Italy's Euro 2020 triumph over England in July.

But two missed penalties during the World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland proved pivotal in the Azzurri failing to win their group and having to contest the play-offs.

The Brazilian-born midfielder will now look to help Chelsea push on to finish on a high this term, with the club still in contention for FA Cup and Champions League success once more.

Ralf Rangnick is confident Harry Maguire will not face abuse from Manchester United after he was jeered while on international duty with England.

Maguire's name was booed ahead of England's 3-0 friendly win over Ivory Coast on Tuesday, a reaction that was widely criticised by Gareth Southgate and his Three Lions players.

Southgate described the response at Wembley as "an absolute joke", while Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Declan Rice all came out in defence of Maguire.

Given the centre-back has played a key role in England's runs to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and Euro 2020 final, the vocal criticism appeared to relate more to his club form.

Maguire, who is the United captain, has come under scrutiny in a tough season at Old Trafford.

However, interim United manager Rangnick does not expect he will experience a similar reaction from his home fans at club level.

Asked if he had yet spoken to Maguire about the incident, Rangnick replied: "Not yet, but I speak regularly since I'm here, so he knows my position towards him.

"He's been a very valuable player for the team and the club, the captain.

"I didn't understand what happened at Wembley, it won't happen in our stadium with the Red Army behind the team and our captain. He's been playing well for Manchester United and England in the last couple of years.

"Gareth Southgate said something after the game and Harry Kane. I didn't watch the game, but I heard what had happened after they announced the starting line-up. It's difficult to understand.

"I don't speak to them in person, but I'm pretty sure it won't happen in our stadium. For it to happen in an international game is pretty unusual."

Rangnick was then asked if he could explain why Maguire in particular received such criticism for his United displays.

"I don't think this is a personal thing," he responded. "It hasn't anything to do with Harry himself.

"We know there are one or two players who have been criticised in the last few months. For example, Fred, a very important player for this team, playing regularly for the team and Brazil. I watched his game and he did well.

"Maybe it's still got to do with the high expectations around this club and maybe people tend to compare with former players and legends.

"Fred, we can also speak about Scotty [McTominay] and Harry, they are important players and players with the right attitude."

While Rangnick reserved plenty of time ahead of Saturday's game against Leicester City to discuss how Maguire and Fred fared during the international break, he was less interested by a Paul Pogba interview during his time with France in which he described this as another "dead" season at United.

"I've got enough to do now to prepare the team for the next game," Rangnick said. "Tomorrow's game is another important one, and I don't think it makes sense to interpret or just judge what he has maybe said in an interview, it doesn't make sense.

"That's something you can do if you want. For me, it's only important to judge him."

Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will deal with their international rivalry "in the right way" after Senegal beat Egypt to World Cup qualification.

The Reds boss also condemned fans for targeting Salah with laser pens as he skied Egypt's first spot-kick in their penalty shoot-out loss, with Senegal qualifying for Qatar after a 1-1 aggregate draw in the African play-offs.

Tuesday's defeat represents the second time this season that Salah has been bested by his club team-mate on spot-kicks after Senegal accomplished the same feat to win the Africa Cup of Nations in February.

Salah and Mane have hit a combined 32 Premier League goals this season, with the Egyptian scoring 20 and the Senegalese forward netting 12.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Watford, Klopp, while condemning the laser pens, expressed his pride for Mane's achievement and backed the duo to move on in the correct manner.

"I'm obviously really happy for Sadio that he could make it, and I'm obviously very disappointed for Mo," Klopp said.

"I don't think that the situation around the penalty and the laser was particularly cool, so I feel for him [Salah]. But I'm happy for Sadio as well, that's football. 

"It's different when two mates are in such a big game, playing against each other, but they are both top professionals, very emotional people as well, but I'm pretty sure they will deal with it in the right way. 

"There's no doubt about it, at the moment, Senegal are the best team in Africa, and Egypt did really well to take them twice to the wire, twice to a penalty shoot-out.

"Senegal have an extremely talented squad and Egypt did really well. I'm not sure they can see it like this exactly, but from my point of view they should.

"They got unlucky with the draw, against pretty much all other [African] teams, Egypt would have qualified for the World Cup."

No player has scored the opening goal in more different Premier League games this season than Mane (six), while Salah has scored the joint-most winning goals in the competition this term (also six).

Salah has now faced penalty heartache twice this calendar year with Egypt, but Klopp claims the 29-year-old's international disappointment will simply spur him on at club level. 

"There's no doubt about it, Mo wants to win everything he can," Klopp added. "That's why he was very disappointed about the fact they couldn't win the [AFCON] tournament or qualify for the World Cup.  

"That's different competitions, his desire will be bigger now, and he's a very smart person who sees the difference between all these things. 

"We didn't speak about it in detail, to be honest, but he knows that Senegal are a tough team. Mo was unlucky in moments, especially with the penalty shoot-out, but nobody has to worry about him."

Salah has been directly involved in 11 goals in just seven Premier League games against Watford, scoring nine and assisting two.

He averages a goal or assist every 57 minutes against the Hornets, the fourth-best ratio any player has against a club in Premier League history having played a minimum of 600 minutes against that opponent.

Jurgen Klopp made an impassioned plea to Liverpool supporters to create the best atmosphere possible during Saturday's clash with Watford to build momentum ahead of next weekend's crucial trip to Manchester City.

The Reds are back in action for Saturday's early kick-off, hosting Watford at Anfield with all eyes on the Premier League table ahead of a massive few weeks.

Liverpool head into that game a point behind leaders City having played the same number of games, meaning victory over Roy Hodgson's Hornets will put the Reds top, even if only temporarily with Pep Guardiola's men facing Burnley soon after.

The two title challengers' results on Saturday take on greater importance given they will go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium the following Sunday in a contest that could have a decisive say in where the Premier League title goes.

As such, Klopp is not taking any chances against Watford and is calling on fans to create the kind of raucous atmosphere that he seemingly does not usually associate with early kick-offs.

"It's a good example of how important it is to be top of the league at 14:30 on a Saturday when everyone is playing after… It's not too important," Klopp told reporters.

"Most of the time City play before us, and I couldn't care less what is after that. It's just how well we prepare for the 12:30 kick-off situation, because we face a Watford who won the last game, smells the chance to stay in the league.

"Obviously [Watford have] a very experienced manager with the way they set up, very well organised, a lot of individual talent. When you watch in the Premier League to analyse, you see they are good here, there, here, but then they don't have many points.

"It's just because of the quality in the league, but individual talent in the group is really good, that's what we need to be aware of.

"But what we need for this game is a sensational, the best 12:30 atmosphere ever. Not nervous, not tense… if you can’t shout and sing or whatever then stay at home and give your ticket to someone else, please.

"Really, we need all you have.

"The boys have come back from all over the world, played completely different systems and we have one session to make sure they are reminded on what we do.

"Then we go against a well organised Watford team and we need each voice for that."

Mikel Arteta was named the Premier League's Manager of the Month for March, earning his second award of the season.

The Arsenal manager's win was announced on Friday, making him the first Gunners boss to be recognised twice in the same campaign since Arsene Wenger in 2007-08.

Arteta – the Manager of the Month in September after three wins from three games – was rewarded for his side taking nine points from four matches.

Four other teams matched Arsenal's March points haul, including Chelsea and Liverpool – both of whom had 100 per cent records.

But Arteta was chosen ahead of either Thomas Tuchel, who dragged Chelsea through a tumultuous month off the field, or Jurgen Klopp, whose Liverpool team handed Arsenal their only defeat.

Crucially, Arsenal climbed from sixth at the start of March to fourth entering April, leapfrogging West Ham and Manchester United.

Heading into this weekend, Tottenham are now Arsenal's closest top-four rivals in fifth, three points back having played a game more.

Arsenal's next match is at Crystal Palace on Monday, when they will be looking for a sixth consecutive away league win.

The Gunners' existing run of five is their longest since September 2013 (eight) and longest in a single season since May 2002 (also eight).

Julian Nagelsmann said Bayern Munich "won't take any chances" with Robert Lewandowski's fitness when they face Freiburg on Saturday, with the striker nursing a rib injury.

The Bayern boss offered a promising update on Leon Goretzka's fitness, saying he would "love" to let the midfielder play, but could be left without Joshua Kimmich due to the imminent birth of his child.

Lewandowski netted a second-half penalty to set Poland on their way to World Cup qualification on Tuesday, opening the scoring in a 2-0 play-off win over Sweden.

The 33-year-old's last club outing saw him net twice against Union Berlin to reach 30 Bundesliga goals for a fifth time, a feat only previously achieved by the legendary Gerd Muller.

Ahead of the trip to fifth-placed Freiburg, Nagelsmann said that while Lewandowski is in the squad and in contention to feature, the club would act with caution after he picked up a rib injury. 

"We'll have to see how his rib reacts," Nagelsmann said.

"I assume he's in the squad and playing, but we won't take any chances."

If Lewandowski is deemed fit enough to feature, he could set an outright record for the most away goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign. 

His current tally of 17 is a joint single-season record, shared with Jupp Heynckes (set in 1973-74 as a Borussia Monchengladbach player), and Timo Werner (2019-20 with RB Leipzig).

Meanwhile, Nagelsmann offered updates on the availability of two key midfielders, indicating that Goretzka is in line for his first appearance since December's 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund.

He also revealed he has set a deadline for Kimmich to join up with the team as he awaits his child's birth.

"Goretzka reacted a bit on the hip, [but] otherwise he trained exceptionally well, and I would love to let him play," Nagelsmann added.

"I discussed with him [Kimmich] that if everything stays calm, he can travel later. We have set a deadline. The most important thing is that everyone stays fit. 

"We have a good squad and we have to control the players' workloads. At the same time, we need to keep our foot on the gas."

Bayern's tally of 81 goals from their 27 Bundesliga games is the best return at this stage of a season in the competition's history. Meanwhile, the perennial champions have scored in 74 consecutive Bundesliga matches, also a German top-flight record.

Barcelona are setting records as they plough through the Women's Champions League draw, but Wolfsburg are not intimidated as they prepare for a semi-final against the mighty Catalans.

A crowd of 91,553 saw Barcelona crush Real Madrid 5-2 on Wednesday to seal a last-four place, and Jonatan Giraldez's team have won their last 37 games, scoring five or more goals in 18 of those victories.

They last failed to win in pre-season, when edged out 3-2 by Lyon at the Women's International Champions Cup in Portland, and remain on course to successfully defend the Champions League title they won by thrashing Chelsea 4-0 last May in Gothenburg.

Barcelona men's coach Xavi said the packed Camp Nou for the Real Madrid clash marked a "historic day for football and society" as it entered the record books as the best-attended women's game in history.

Wolfsburg, who won the Champions League in 2013 and 2014 and are nicknamed the 'She-Wolves', booked a clash with Barcelona in three weeks' time by beating Arsenal 2-0 on Thursday for a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

Head coach Tommy Stroot said on uefa.com: "The anticipation of meeting Barcelona is huge.

"A chance to go there and to welcome them to Wolfsburg. We know how big a team Barça are, but we want to measure ourselves against the best."

Harry Kane has been named March's Premier League Player of the Month, winning the award for a joint-record seventh time in his career.

The England captain's award takes him level with former Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, the only other man to have won it on seven occasions, and represents his first monthly prize since December 2017.

Tottenham's talisman scored four goals in March, netting a brace in a 5-0 home thrashing of Everton, as well as getting on the scoresheet in an away win over Brighton and Hove Albion and in Spurs' 3-2 defeat at Manchester United.

Kane ended the month's league action by recording two assists for Son Heung-min as Antonio Conte's side recorded a crucial London derby victory over West Ham, taking him to 17 league goal involvements this season (12 goals and five assists).

His fruitful month also saw him move level with Bobby Charlton's tally of 49 England goals, just four goals shy of Wayne Rooney's Three Lions record of 53 strikes, with a penalty against Switzerland during the international break. 

After teeing him up twice against the Hammers, Kane has provided 20 Premier League assists for Son in the Premier League, accounting for over half of the forward's 39 assists in the competition to date. 

Only Frank Lampard (who assisted Didier Drogba 24 times) and David Silva (21 assists for Aguero) have teed up one team-mate more often in Premier League history.

The Spurs duo have also linked up for a total of 39 Premier League goals, three clear of the previous record set by Lampard and Drogba, which they surpassed in February's 4-0 thrashing of Leeds United.

Spurs' push for Champions League qualification will resume on Sunday when they host Newcastle United, against whom Kane has seven goal involvements (five goals, two assists) in his last four league appearances.

Gareth Southgate insists England are among a select band of teams that can win the World Cup – but to land glory in Qatar they must be "close to perfect".

As he waited to learn his team's fate in Friday's draw, Southgate was taking confidence from the upturn in England's performance on big stages in recent years.

A semi-final run at the 2018 World Cup in Russia was followed by another appearance in the last-four stage of the Nations League, before England went close to landing a long-awaited trophy in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

Reaching the final of the European Championship means England should head to Qatar in November with plenty of belief as they attempt to land a second World Cup, some 56 years after Geoff Hurst's hat-trick against West Germany in the 1966 final.

"The World Cup is very special. It's the pinnacle. It's still the ultimate prize," said Southgate.

"What have we said to the team this week? That if we can get to a semi-final, we can get to a final – which we did. And if we can get to a final, we can win.

"To do that is incredibly difficult, and we'll have to be as close to perfect as can be. That's the challenge for us, not just when we get to Qatar, because we've got to be in the right condition, even before that. That's what we've got to work towards every day we're together."

Southgate, whose side have beaten Switzerland and Ivory Coast in the past week, added: "We know we've had consistent performances over a three, four-year period, and we are one of the teams – I think there are a few – that could win this tournament."

In charge since September 2016, Southgate has surpassed most initial expectations of his reign already, bringing through an exciting generation of young players who were only denied Euro 2020 glory by Italy in a penalty shoot-out.

England have qualified for the World Cup for the 16th time, and Qatar 2022 will mark their seventh appearance in a row, their longest streak in the competition.

The Three Lions have progressed past the quarter-finals only twice since their Wembley triumph in 1966, but they have not been to another final.

This time there are signs that England might be ready to take that step. They had the best goal difference in the group stage among European qualifiers, scoring 39 goals and conceding only three, and Southgate expects other national teams will be wary of his side.

He said, quoted widely in British media on Friday: "We've definitely got respectability and I think we will be a team other teams wouldn't look forward to playing. But that's a double-edged sword though because some teams are going to prepare differently for you.

"You're there to be shot at, and they are going to have a specific way of playing to try and stop you, but some will be a little bit fearful of you and might allow you more of the game, so from our point of view, what really matters is how it makes us feel about ourselves."