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• Stones relishing 'special' England moment after being handed Three Lions armband

  Lee Carsley revealed that John Stones will lead out England in their Nations League clash against Greece on Thursday, with Harry Kane set to start the encounter on the bench.

  Stones, who has made 81 caps for the Three Lions since his debut in 2014, will captain his nation for the first time at the start of a match. 

  During Gareth Southgate's tenure, only Kane (81) and Kyle Walker (70) made more appearances than Stones (68 - level with Jordan Pickford). 

  The Manchester City defender has become a mainstay in the England side in recent years, helping his nation to their two major tournament final appearances in consecutive European Championships.

  "It's everything I could have dreamed of as a kid. More for my family, to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment," Stones said. 

  "One I can't thank Lee enough for. An incredible moment for me.

  "To be walking out with the armband on is an absolute honour and a moment I'll cherish forever."

  "It was a great conversation I was able to have with John to ask him to captain the team," Carsley added. 

  "It's a brilliant achievement, something he deserves with the amount of caps he's got, the level of professionalism he's shown, the example he is to young players."

  Carsley later confirmed Kane could still play a part against Greece and would be in the running to face Finland on Sunday.

  Kane, who marked his 100th England appearance with two goals in the Three Lions' 2-0 win over Finland last month, suffered an ankle injury in Bayern Munich's draw with Bayer Leverkusen in his final match before the international break.

  The 31-year-old has since trained away from the main group of players. 

  "Harry is nursing an injury, a small knock, something we won't take a chance with," said Carsley.

  The interim Three Lions boss was also asked about the role of Cole Palmer, with the Chelsea forward enjoying a fine start to the Premier League campaign. 

  Palmer has scored six goals in seven games in the league this term, four of which came in a stunning display against Brighton, becoming the first player in Premier League history to net four times before half-time in a single match. 

  The 22-year-old leads the Premier League for the most goal involvements this campaign (11), with only Bukayo Saka (27) creating more chances in the top flight this season than Palmer (23 - level with Andreas Pereira and Dwight McNeil). 

  Palmer was also recently named England's Men's Player of the Year for 2023-24, and Carsley expects him to carry on his impressive form in England's next two fixtures.

  "Cole is in fantastic form. He's carried that into this week," said Carsley. "Such an exciting player, a player I've worked with for four, five years now.

  "Cole, along with a lot of other attacking players who have put themselves into a great position to start the game."

• Shaw, Layzell on target as Man City stun holders Barcelona in Women's Champions League

  Naomi Layzell enjoyed a dream Women's Champions League debut as her goal and assist helped Manchester City stun holders Barcelona 2-0 on Wednesday. 

  Layzell was playing her football in the Women's Super League last season with relegated Bristol City, but was the star of the show at the Joie Stadium. 

  City were making their first appearance in the competition since falling to a 4-2 quarter-final loss to the Catalan side in March 2021, and exacted their revenge with a plucky display.

  The hosts, however, almost found themselves a goal behind with just three minutes on the clock when Caroline Hansen took aim and saw her effort cannon off the post, shortly before Lauren Hemp struck the woodwork with a strike of her own. 

  City grew into the contest and almost got the goal their performance merited in the 35th minute when Vivianne Miedema teed up Khadija Shaw, only to see her effort saved by Cata Coll.

  But from the resulting corner, Gareth Taylor's side got their noses in front as Miedema brilliantly headed the ball from the back post and back into the danger area, with Layzell sliding in to mark her Champions League debut with a goal. 

  Barcelona had only failed to score once in their past 79 games heading into the encounter, and improved after the interval in their search for an equaliser. 

  Aitana Bonmati forced Ayaka Yamashita into making a smart save down to her right, with substitute Claudia Pina going close from distance as City were forced to withstand a relentless wave of pressure from the defending champions. 

  But the hosts landed a sucker punch in the 77th minute on the counter, with Layzell turning provider for Shaw, with the striker riding the challenge of Patri Guijarro before rounding Coll to seal a memorable triumph for City. 

  The Citizens ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.68 compared to Barca's 1.5, despite having four fewer shots than their opponents. 

  Gareth Taylor's side sit level on points with Hammarby in Group D, after the Swedish side beat Austria's St. Polten 2-0 earlier on Wednesday.

  Meanwhile, in Group C, Juventus edged out Norwegian side Valerenga to kickstart their campaign with a victory at the Intility Arena. 

  Sofia Cantore's 29th minute strike proved to be the difference, with the Italian curling a fine right-footed effort beyond the grasp of Tove Enblom against the run of play. 

  Juventus continued to struggle throughout the contest, with Valerenga registering 25 shots, with six of those on target, ending with an xG total of 2.2. 

• Harder hat-trick downs Arsenal in Women's Champions League opener

  Pernille Harder's hat-trick handed Bayern Munich a winning start to their Women's Champions League campaign, beating Arsenal 5-2 in Group C. 

  Harder, who scored 24 times in 48 appearances for Arsenal's London rivals Chelsea, once again haunted the Gunners, striking her first goals in the competition in almost two years.

  After three games in the Women’s Super League, Arsenal sit sixth, having won once and drawn twice, with the latest defeat piling more pressure on head coach Jonas Eidevall. 

  The Gunners started brightly and took the lead in the 30th minute when Katie McCabe's delivery was swept home by Mariona Caldentey. 

  However, the hosts drew level two minutes before the break when Georgia Stanway's searching ball picked out the head of captain Glodis Viggosdottir, who towered over her marker to loop the ball beyond Manuela Zinsberger. 

  Bayern then took the lead in the 56th minute as a fast break saw Sydney Lohmann finish at the near post, only for Eidevall's side to respond nine minutes later when McCabe's corner was headed home by Laia Codina. 

  But the German champions found themselves back in front soon after with a corner routine of their own, with Harder netting her first of the encounter with a header from Carolin Simon's cross. 

  The Dane then notched her second with another well-taken header, before sealing her treble with an effort from close range, despite the best efforts of Zinsberger. 

  Harder recorded a staggering 1.59 expected goals (xG) tally of 1.59 to Bayern's 1.89 total, with Arsenal wasteful with their chances, with six of their nine shots on target but unable to trouble Maria Grohs for the most part. 

  Elsewhere in the other early kick-off, Hammarby recorded a historic 2-0 victory over Austrian side St. Polten at the Tele2 Arena for their first triumph in the group stage of the competition. 

  Vilde Hasund handed the hosts an early lead in the 18th minute with a brilliantly taken finish, striking the ball low into the bottom corner following Ellen Wangerheim's lay-off. 

  The victory was sealed two minutes from time by substitute Cathinka Tandberg, who took a touch and placed the ball beyond Carina Schluter to put them top of Group D ahead of Manchester City's star-studded clash with Barcelona.