Jordan Henderson insists he has “no regrets” about moving to Saudi Arabia despite the public backlash.
The England midfielder was heavily criticised after his summer transfer from Liverpool to Al-Ettifaq and then was booed off the Wembley pitch by England fans during the friendly win over Australia on Friday night.
The midfielder had been a high-profile supporter of LGBTQ+ rights during his time at Anfield and last month apologised for any hurt he caused by moving to a country where homosexuality is illegal.
He says his beliefs have not changed and he can do good while playing there.
Asked in an interview with Channel 4 whether he had regrets about moving to Saudi Arabia, he said: “No regrets.
“I think having someone like myself, with the values that I have, in Saudi Arabia is only a good thing. Before I went to Saudi people knew the groups I supported and helped in the past.
“My values haven’t changed as a person just because I’m going to a different country to play football.”
Henderson says the booing may have been in part due to an interview he conducted shortly after his move where he claimed the eye-watering wages were not a factor.
“After the game I got told there was a little bit going on,” the 33-year-old added.
“Of course it hurts because every time you pull on that shirt it’s a proud moment and I’m playing for my team-mates, for my country and for the fans.
“So of course it hurts but at the end of the day that’s part and parcel – I’ve had enough criticism over my career so far to be able to deal with stuff like that I’m not the first player to get booed and probably not the last.
“I asked that question (why he was booed after the Australia game) and a journalist said it was because I play in Saudi Arabia. It was a decision I made months ago now that doesn’t change who I am as a person.
“I did an interview a couple of months ago and maybe some of the stuff that came out didn’t come out in the way that I thought I said it.
“An example of that would be when I said I didn’t go out there solely for the money. I think that’s a big difference – it’s not a sole reason going out there for the money.”
Asked whether his international chances are harmed by playing in the Saudi Pro League, he added: “There’s no getting away from that. The fitness coaches, sport science coaches are on that and if they see a drop-off I’m sure the manager will tell me.
“It hasn’t been an issue so far, I just have to keep an eye on it.”
Malacia closing on Man Utd return, Maguire and Shaw progressing
Tyrell Malacia is closing in on a return from injury while fellow Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are making progress in their recoveries, Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed.
Malacia has not featured for United since the final day of the 2022-23 season, missing the entirety of last campaign after undergoing knee surgery.
The Netherlands international has recently returned to training, however, and interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy says he is almost ready to receive competitive minutes.
"[All the injured players are] different cases, all of them," Van Nistelrooy said ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash with Greek giants PAOK.
"Tyrell is the furthest along the road to recovery at the moment – he's been part of team training for a couple of weeks now, full in team training, no restrictions.
"So it's good for him to plan game minutes, maybe in the Under-21s. We have to see."
United have been forced to field Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot as makeshift left-backs this season, with Luke Shaw also yet to feature in 2024-25 due to a calf issue.
Fellow England international Maguire, meanwhile, has been absent since limping out of a goalless draw at Aston Villa last month.
Van Nistelrooy said of the duo: "Harry is still inside, working on his rehab."
"Luke also does pitch work like he did today, and he's progressing there to also do partial team training, hopefully soon."
After welcoming PAOK to Old Trafford on Thursday, United host Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday, their last match before Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim takes the reins.
Romero injury 'nothing too serious' but Richarlison 'out for a while'
Tottenham believe Cristian Romero has avoided serious injury, but Richarlison is set for a period on the sidelines after the pair limped out of Sunday's win against Aston Villa.
Both Romero and Richarlison were substituted in the second half of a 4-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Argentina World Cup winner Romero appeared to hurt his foot in a blow to a Spurs team already missing Micky van de Ven, while Richarlison was injured in creating the third goal for Dominic Solanke.
Neither will feature for Tottenham at Galatasaray in the Europa League on Thursday, but the outlook beyond that is rather more positive for Romero.
"From the weekend, obviously Richy unfortunately injured his hamstring," Ange Postecoglou said. "I'm still getting the final information, but I think he'll be out for a while.
"Romero, I think, is nothing too serious, hopefully. Hopefully, he still has a chance for the weekend [against Ipswich Town]."
Providing a further update on his squad for the Galatasaray match, Postecoglou said: "Timo Werner has been carrying a bit of a groin complaint, which is still there, so he didn't travel, and Mikey Moore picked up a bit of a virus yesterday, so we've left him at home as well.
"I think everyone else who's fit and eligible is here."
Given their injuries, a trip to a talented Galatasaray side might be considered daunting, but Postecoglou is relishing it.
"We're looking forward to it," he said. "It's a fantastic stadium, the supporters create an unbelievable atmosphere here, they love the big European nights.
"They're a very, very good team. It's exactly the kind of games you want to be involved in in Europe. Whether you're young, you're old, irrespective of the role you have, you look forward to it."
Women's Super League predictions: Man City and Arsenal backed for victory
Brighton have been one of the stories of the season so far, and head into matchday seven of the Women's Super League season in third place.
Yet the Seagulls will face a huge test when they travel to face Arsenal on Friday, in one of two matches taking place that day to kick off the WSL weekend.
League leaders Manchester City are also in action on Friday, taking on Tottenham.
On Sunday, reigning champions Chelsea - fresh from a 5-0 win at Goodison Park - are back on Merseyside to play Liverpool.
Four of the bottom five play each other, with Crystal Palace taking on Everton and West Ham going up against Leicester City, with Manchester United, who drew 1-1 with Arsenal last week, rounding out the weekend against Aston Villa.
Here, we delve into the pre-match facts, and take a look at the Opta supercomputer's predictions, for each of the fixtures.
ARSENAL V BRIGHTON
Arsenal are unbeaten under interim boss Renee Slegers, and despite Brighton's fantastic start to the season, the Gunners are predicted to claim the points.
They have a whopping 82.1% chance of victory on Friday, with Brighton's win probability at just 6.8%. The threat of a draw is 11.2%.
Arsenal have a perfect record against Brighton in the WSL, winning all 12 of their meetings with them in the competition by an aggregate score of 44-2. Only Manchester City have a better 100% record against an opponent in the competition (16/16 v Everton).
Brighton, though, have won four of their six league games this season (D1 L1), just one fewer victory than they managed across the whole of last season (W5 D4 L13). This is the Seagulls' best start after six matches of a WSL campaign.
Arsenal are winless in their last three home games in the league (D2 L1) – only once have they had a longer run without a win on home soil in the competition (six between May-October 2014). Brighton, though, have never won back-to-back away matches in the competition (they beat Crystal Palace in their last away game).
Nikita Parris has been in fine form for Brighton, and she will go up against her former club. No player has scored more goals in the WSL against their old teams than Parris (nine, level with Ellen White).
Beth Mead could be the player to really stand out for Arsenal. Against no side does she have more combined WSL goals and assists than Brighton (12 – seven goals, five assists).
MANCHESTER CITY V TOTTENHAM
Arsenal are the most likely side to win, according to Opta's model, this weekend, but league leaders Man City are just behind them.
City came out on top in 81.8% of the supercomputer's 10,000 pre-match simulations ahead of their game against Tottenham, whose win probability is 6.9%.
Spurs' only win on their four previous trips to face City in the WSL came in September 2021, coming from behind to win 2-1 (L3).
City have won eight of their nine WSL meetings with Tottenham (L1), winning the last five in a row by an aggregate score of 16-1.
Only Chelsea (20) have scored more goals in the 2024-25 WSL than Tottenham (12 – level with Man City), however only Palace (16) have conceded more goals than Spurs (14) this term.
City have gone unbeaten through their opening six games of a WSL season for the fourth time after 2016, 2017-18 and 2018-19, while they have never lost in the competition when playing on a Friday (W3 D1), beating reigning champions Chelsea in their only such game last season (1-0 away).
LIVERPOOL V CHELSEA
Sonia Bampastor has had a brilliant start to life at Chelsea, and the Blues are expected to keep up that excellent form when they face Liverpool.
Chelsea's win likelihood is 73.1%, while there is a 15.1% probability of a draw, while Liverpool's chances are rated at 11.8%.
Bompastor could become the first manager to win each of their first four away games in the WSL. Chelsea have already scored 14 goals on the road this season, with the previous most scored under a manager after four away games being 11 by Jonas Eidevall's Arsenal.
Matt Beard, meanwhile, has won four of his 10 WSL meetings with Chelsea as Liverpool manager (D1 L5) – including his most recent in May 2024 (4-3) – with Nick Cushing (five) and David Parker (five) the only managers to win more games in the competition against the Blues.
Chelsea have won their opening five games of a WSL season for the very first time and could be the sixth team to win their first six matches of a campaign after Arsenal (2018-19, 2021-22, 2022-23) and Man City (2016, 2017-18).
This will be the 23rd WSL meeting between Liverpool and Chelsea with only Arsenal and Chelsea meeting more often in the competition (28 times).
Despite the Blues being favourites for this one, it is worth noting Chelsea won four consecutive WSL away games against Liverpool between September 2015 and March 2019 but are since winless in their last three such trips (D1 L2).
CRYSTAL PALACE V EVERTON
Things are not going well for Everton this season. They are bottom of the pile and without a win to their name.
They visit Palace on Sunday, and the supercomputer is anticipating a tight contest. The hosts' chances are rated at 37.3%, with Everton's at 36.3%. The draw is at 26.4%.
Everton's two points is their joint-worst tally at this stage of a WSL campaign along with 2014, when they were relegated, and 2018-19 (finished 10th).
Everton are, however, unbeaten in their last eight WSL games against newly-promoted opposition (W6 D2), winning each of their last four such away games by an aggregate score of 14-0.
Palace have lost all three of their home games in the WSL without scoring, conceding 11 goals in the process; only three teams have lost each of their first four matches on home soil in the competition: Yeovil Town in 2017 (-9 GD), Aston Villa in 2020 (-11 GD) and Leicester City in 2021 (-8 GD).
WEST HAM V LEICESTER CITY
West Ham are unbeaten in three previous home games against Leicester in the WSL (W2 D1), drawing this fixture 1-1 last season, and the Hammers are expected to end their wait for a win this season when they face the Foxes on Sunday.
Leicester won just 25.6% of the model's simulations, while West Ham won 48.6%.
West Ham are, however, the team that is most likely to finish bottom of the WSL this term, according to the supercomputer.
The Hammers are winless in their last 15 WSL games (D6 L9) while their two points from six games this term is their worst return at this stage of a top-flight campaign (D2 L4).
Indeed, West Ham have won fewer points (12 – W2 D6 L10) than any other ever-present team in the WSL in 2024, while they have lost each of their last five league games in the month of November, since beating Leicester 1-0 in 2022.
Leicester, though, have won just one of their last 13 away games in the WSL (D6 L6), a 1-0 victory at Everton in January.
MANCHESTER UNITED V ASTON VILLA
Rounding off this round of matches is Man Utd's home game against Villa.
Marc Skinner's team, who are still unbeaten, are backed to get the win at 73.4%, with Villa having a slender 11.2% chance.
With just two points from six games, Villa have had their worst start to a WSL campaign (D2 L4) and this is the first time they have gone winless across their opening six matches.
Villa have lost all four of their away meetings with United in the WSL, conceding 15 goals and netting just once in the process, with that sole goal coming in this fixture last season when losing 1-2.
United may be unbeaten, though they have drawn their last two WSL games. The Red Devils could draw three successive league matches for the first time since November 2021.
Their success has been built on solid foundations this season. United have conceded just two goals after five league games, facing fewer than 10 shots in three of those matches.
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