Iceland’s Heimir Hallgrimsson is expected to be announced as the new head coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz later this week, according to reports.
The 55-year-old Hallgrimsson, who is also a dentist, was most recently head coach at Qatari League Club Al Arabi from 2018 to 2021.
Before then, he was then man at the helm for his native Iceland from 2013-2018. His biggest achievement was leading Iceland to the quarterfinals at Euro 2016 in France, including a 2-1 win over England in the Round of 16.
Hallgrimsson also led Iceland to their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2018 in Russia.
He will take over from former interim head coach Paul Hall who had a record of two wins, three draws and five losses in 10 games since his appointment in December 2021.
Jude Bellingham has conceded he did not expect to become as influential for Borussia Dortmund as quickly as he has, crediting the club's coaches for helping his development.
The 19-year-old England international has become an integral part of Edin Terzic's side, starting 52 matches since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Moving to the Bundesliga two years ago from Championship outfit Birmingham City, Bellingham's rise has been meteoric – boasting 15 caps for England alongside his vast experience at club level.
While Bellingham has long been touted to become a star, he himself has admitted that things have moved far quicker than he ever anticipated.
"All of it has been a bit of a surprise - I didn't think I'd come here and have the impact that I've had as quickly," he said ahead of Wednesday's away Champions League clash against Manchester City.
"I thought I'd maybe have to wait a bit longer to get in the team and play a lot of minutes.
"But I've got to give credit to the staff, the coaches that I've had, Lucien Favre and Marco Rose, because they've thrown me into the deep end, given me the exposure, given me the chance to learn.
"I've got qualities that maybe I didn't know I had before I came, it's all down to them, giving me the trust and managing to get it out of me."
Bellingham and his Dortmund team-mates face a tough task against a familiar face in Erling Haaland, who left the club in the transfer window to join City.
Since moving to England, Haaland has been in blistering form with 12 goals in eight appearances across all competitions and Bellingham is not sure how the striker can be stopped.
"I'm not really sure to be honest, we'll have to find out [in the game]," Bellingham added. "He's a player with a lot of quality and a lot of physical attributes that make him so dangerous.
"It's not a thing that's an individual task, it's something the team has to deal with collectively. We stick together, try to do the right things without the ball, then it can be possible."
The return of Premier League football could be jeopardised by a shortage of TV trucks caused by the 24/7 coverage being given to Her Majesty the Queen's funeral.
According to British media outlet Sportsmail, the Premier League's main rights holder Sky Sports are running out of the outside broadcast trucks required to deliver live coverage as many are being used by their sister channel, Sky News.
Sky Sports are due to televise eight live matches across football next weekend, beginning with Aston Villa v Southampton in the Premier League on Friday evening followed by Tottenham v Leicester the next day, and Brentford v Arsenal and Chelsea v Liverpool on Sunday.
In addition, Sky have two live Championship matches on Saturday, plus Scottish Premier League and Women's Super League fixtures the following day.
Sky News are providing unprecedented coverage of events across the country building up to the Queen's funeral next Monday, which has put a strain on their resources.
The lack of TV trucks is understood to have emerged as an additional complicating factor during talks over football's resumption following last weekend's shutdown, which will continue this morning with a briefing from government.
The strain on police resources is the biggest obstacle to Premier League games taking place as planned next weekend, as up to 10,000 police officers will be deployed in London to manage what has been described as an unprecedented security operation in the capital ahead of the funeral.
Officers from across the country will be redeployed to the capital so it is not just London fixtures that are at risk of being postponed.
There are major doubts over whether Leeds' trip to Manchester United will take place next Sunday as a large police presence will be required at Old Trafford, while Chelsea v Liverpool on the same day is also deemed a high-risk fixture.
There are doubts over Arsenal's Europa League clash with PSV Eindhoven taking place on Thursday night after Rangers' Champions League fixture with Napoli was put back 24 hours until Wednesday, with away fans banned.
UEFA have also forbidden Rangers fans to attend the return match in Italy next month, for 'sporting fairness' reasons.
Stefano Pioli has no worries about continuing to select Olivier Giroud to lead the Milan attack in the continued absence of Divock Origi.
Giroud has played in all seven of Milan's matches so far this season, starting five of those, due to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ante Rebic and new signing Origi being injured.
Origi has managed just 80 minutes of action since arriving as a free agent in the transfer window and has yet to open his goalscoring account for the club.
Pioli had hoped to call on the ex-Liverpool striker before next week's international break, but he has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League tie with Dinamo Zagreb.
France international Giroud, who turns 36 later this month, is now expected to start at San Siro as he looks to add to his tally of three goals and an assist so far this term.
Milan head coach Pioli is not overly concerned by Origi's injury-plagued start to life at the club and is happy for Giroud to continue in the role.
"Olivier can play every game, and I have many other players who can also play in that position," Pioli said at Tuesday's press conference.
"I'm not worried about Origi's injury, but sorry. He is a player we strongly wanted and I'm now hoping to have him back after the [international] break."
Giroud has scored only one goal in his past 11 Champions League appearances, managing just eight shots in total across that period – only five of which were on target.
Milan could do with the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker stepping up on Wednesday as they aim to improve on last week's 1-1 draw away at Salzburg in their Group E opener.
However, Zagreb enter the contest in good form having won six games on the spin, including a 1-0 victory over Chelsea that leaves them top of the early standings.
"We have to put our full potential into every game," Pioli said. "Tomorrow's match is very important, but not yet decisive because there are many other matches remaining.
"We could be on top of the group with a win. We have a chance, but it will be difficult because Dinamo deservedly won the first game [against Chelsea].
"If we play at a high level, we have a good chance to win both in Italy and in Europe. We have to play at our best."
Atletico Madrid are not negotiating with Barcelona over a permanent move for Antoine Griezmann, according to the club's chief executive Enrique Cerezo.
Speculation mounted on Tuesday that Atleti were in talks with Barca to sign the forward permanently.
Griezmann re-joined Atleti on loan from Barca last year, after spending two largely forgettable seasons at Camp Nou following a €120million move in 2019.
The France international featured 26 times in LaLiga last season, making 21 starts and scoring three goals.
He has not started any of Atleti's six games across all competitions this term, playing just 165 minutes, with Diego Simeone suggesting finances are a factor.
Atleti will reportedly owe Barca €40m if Griezmann plays over 50 per cent of the minutes in matches and, as such, the 31-year-old has consistently been subbed on after the hour.
It has not impacted his form, however, with Griezmann taking up a super-sub mantle, scoring three goals, including a 101st-minute winner against Porto in the Champions League last week.
Amid speculation of Barca taking legal action, talks between the clubs were said to be under way over a permanent move, but these rumours were shot down by Cerezo.
As reported by Marca, Cerezo said: "We haven't met with Barcelona nor do we have news that we are going to meet.
"The Griezmann issue is very clear, you already know it or you can imagine it. So until everything is resolved, if there is something to solve, we are at the same point.
"At the moment we are at the same point, nothing has changed with Barca on Griezmann. Right now there is nothing, it is the same as when we started the season."
Atleti face Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday in their second Champions League outing of the campaign.
Griezmann has been involved in 28 goals in 35 group stage appearances for Atleti, scoring 20 times and providing eight assists.
He has scored in their second match of the tournament in his last three seasons with the club, against Chelsea in 2017-18, Club Brugge in 2018-19 and Milan last term.
Spain striker Raul de Tomas has agreed to return to Rayo Vallecano after a deal was confirmed with Espanyol.
The 27-year-old spent two seasons on loan at Estadio de Vallecas from Real Madrid between 2017 and 2019, before making a permanent move to Benfica, and then Espanyol.
However, as his move back to Vallecano has been completed outside the transfer and registration window, the player cannot feature for his new team until January. A lack of match action in the coming months means it is unlikely De Tomas will be named in the Spain squad for the World Cup later this year.
De Tomas – who has four caps for La Roja –scored 17 goals in 34 LaLiga appearances for Espanyol last season, but was keen to move to Vallecano before the transfer window closed.
That was not possible as negotiations stuttered, though they continued after the window closed, even leading to the player's agent Ivan Garcia being accused of headbutting Vallecano's president Raul Martin Presa, with the club releasing a statement on Saturday saying: "Ivan Garcia assaulted Raul Martin Presa, hitting him in the face with his head on Thursday night.
"Precisely because he was attacked, Raul Martin Presa called the police, went to the emergency room of a hospital centre to receive medical assistance and immediately filed a complaint against Ivan Garcia at the police station."
Nevertheless, Vallecano announced on Tuesday that a deal had been agreed to sign De Tomas, with reports suggesting the fee to be around €8million, with a further €3m in add-ons, and the club confirmed he had signed until 2027.
That falls some way short of Espanyol's supposed initial valuation of €30m, but the writing seemed to be on the wall when the player fell out with head coach Diego Martinez, and he has not featured for the Periquitos this season.
De Tomas made his Spain debut last November in the 1-0 win away to Greece in World Cup qualifying, and has since played for the national team against Sweden, Portugal and Czech Republic.
RB Leipzig midfielder Konrad Laimer faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a ligament injury in Saturday's 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund.
The 25-year-old Austrian came off late in the game, and it has been revealed by his club he suffered a blow to his left syndesmosis ligament, an injury often known as a high ankle sprain.
Laimer, who was linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich before the transfer window closed, faces "several weeks" out of action, Leipzig said.
The news comes as a blow to new Leipzig head coach Marco Rose, who was appointed last Thursday in the wake of Domenico Tedesco losing his job after a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.
The injury setback was confirmed on the eve of Leipzig's away game against Real Madrid in the Champions League, with Rose looking to keep the Bundesliga side in with a realistic shot of a top-two finish in Group F, which also contains Celtic.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) have announced that national team manager Rob Page has signed a new four-year contract.
Page took over as Wales boss on a caretaker basis in November 2020 following Ryan Giggs' arrest on assault charges and led the side to World Cup qualification for the first time in 64 years.
The 48-year-old also helped Wales reach the last 16 at Euro 2020 and secure Nations League A qualification for the first time.
Giggs resigned in June, with Page taking over permanently, and the FAW have moved to secure him to a long-term deal with a view to their qualifying campaigns for Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup.
"There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team and I can’t wait for the challenge the next four years will bring, starting with our first FIFA World Cup in 64 years," Page said.
"This is an exciting time for Welsh football and I hope we can make the country proud in November and continue our success by qualifying for more major tournaments in the future."
Wales are grouped with England, United States and Iran at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and West Ham United’s Michail Antonio headline a 23-member Reggae Boyz squad to face two-time World Cup winners Argentina in an International Friendly in the United States on September 27.
The squad, unveiled by the Jamaica Football Federation on Monday, also includes six reserves.
This will be the third meeting between the two teams.
They first met in the group Stages of the 1998 FIFA World Cup when Argentina secured a 5-0 victory while their second time opposing each other came 17 years later in the Group Stage of the 2015 Copa America with Argentina once again coming out on top 1-0.
The full squad reads as follows:
RESERVES
The Premier League will resume on Friday after the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II led to last weekend's fixtures being postponed, although Manchester United's match against Leeds United and Chelsea's clash with Liverpool will not take place.
The league postponed all fixtures at the weekend and on Monday as a mark of respect after the UK's longest-reigning sovereign passed away at the age of 96.
The situation has also had an impact on continental competitions this week, with Rangers' Champions League clash against Napoli being pushed back a day and Arsenal's Europa League contest with PSV postponed.
Earlier on Monday, the English Football League (EFL) confirmed fixtures will resume on Tuesday, while The Football Association encouraged clubs to observe a minute's silence ahead of matches and said no games would take place on the day of the Queen's funeral – set for Monday, September 19.
A Premier League statement read: "Seven of the 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend will be played, with three matches postponed due to events surrounding the Queen's funeral.
"Matches postponed on Sunday, September 18 are Chelsea's match against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, and Manchester United's home match v Leeds United.
"Brighton and Hove Albion's fixture against Crystal Palace, that was due to be played at 15:00 BST on Saturday, September 17, will also remain postponed.
"Following extensive consultation with clubs, police, local Safety Advisory Groups and other relevant authorities, there was no other option but to postpone the three fixtures.
"The Premier League would like to thank the UK Football Policing Unit and other police forces across the country, as well as our broadcast partners, for their support during this process, and will continue to liaise with them ahead of the weekend.
"For the matches being played during the period of national mourning, tributes will be paid to the Queen at Premier League stadiums.
"New dates for the postponed matches will be announced in due course."
Brighton's match against Palace was originally called off due to concerns over transport strikes, while the fixtures scheduled to take place at United and Chelsea have been postponed due to policing concerns.
Friday will see two Premier League fixtures take place as Aston Villa host Southampton and Fulham head to Nottingham Forest.
English Football League matches will resume on Tuesday and the FA has announced fixtures will go ahead this weekend – though fans are still awaiting an outcome on the Premier League.
Football across the United Kingdom was postponed at the weekend as a mark of respect following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday at the age of 96.
The situation is still impacting the football schedule, with Rangers' Champions League clash against Napoli moved from Tuesday to Wednesday and Arsenal's Europa League clash against PSV postponed.
EFL matches will go ahead throughout the week and over the course of next weekend, including fixtures being played at clubs in and around London in the days before the state funeral on Monday September 19.
Queens Park Rangers and Watford have both confirmed their matches against Stoke City and Sunderland will go ahead, while Millwall and Luton Town are also scheduled to be at home on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the FA has confirmed that fixtures in their competitions will go ahead, including those in the Women's Super League, the National League and in the FA Cup qualifying rounds.
The FA encouraged clubs to conduct a minute's silence ahead of kick-off and black armbands should be worn, while confirming no games would be played on the day of the funeral.
Football in Scotland's professional leagues is also scheduled to return this week.
But final decisions on the Premier League matches in England are yet to be announced. Those matches require more policing, with forces set to be stretched amid ongoing events during a period of national mourning.
Fixtures in London are widely considered to be most at risk, with Tottenham hosting Leicester City on Saturday, while Sunday is scheduled to see Chelsea clash with Liverpool and Arsenal travel to Brentford.
Victory at Flushing Meadows on Sunday night saw Carlos Alcaraz anointed both the US Open champion and the new world number one.
The victor of the New York final between Alcaraz and Casper Ruud would climb to the top of the ATP rankings, and a four-set success for the 19-year-old made him the youngest ever men's number one.
That record had previously belonged to a 20-year-old Lleyton Hewitt in November 2000.
Although Alcaraz's huge potential has long been public knowledge, the chances of him beating Hewitt's mark still seemed remote when he started 2022 ranked 32nd.
Even Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Spaniard's coach, did not anticipate a major breakthrough this soon, telling reporters after Sunday's win: "Of course, it comes very fast.
"It's a surprise for everybody except maybe to me, because I trained with him every day and I know [how] he's able to play on the court, [but] I was pretty sure that maybe it wasn't this year; it could be the next one."
By the time he took to Arthur Ashe Stadium against Ruud, however, Alcaraz's ascent to the top of the sport was a surprise to nobody.
Moving from number four to first place might have tied the biggest leap to number one in rankings history, but Alcaraz leads the ATP Tour in both match wins (51) and titles (five) in 2022.
There is little prospect of him slowing now, having become the first man in the Open Era to win the US Open title as early as in his second entry; the last to do so in any era was Pancho Gonzales back in 1948.
"Of course, I'm hungry for more," Alcaraz said afterwards. "I want to be in the top for many, many weeks. Hopefully many years.
"I'm going to work hard again after this week, this amazing two weeks. I'm going to fight to have more of this."
And Alcaraz will have to fight – Ferrero knows as much as that.
"The players now are going to play very motivated against him," the teenager's coach added. "Now he's number one. Before he was two or three.
"Even like this, it's like Real Madrid-Barcelona, there's a rivalry that gets you [to] increase your level. It's what is going to happen to him against his opponents. He has to be ready."
Since Roger Federer became the 23rd different men's number one in February 2004, the rankings have been dominated by the 'Big Three', with only Andy Murray and then, this year, Daniil Medvedev also leading the Tour in that time.
Now, as the 28th number one, Alcaraz – compared by Ruud to each of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – can set about securing his own long stay at the summit.
Champions League football resumes on Tuesday, with Robert Lewandowski's return to Bayern Munich with Barcelona being an obvious highlight.
Barcelona travel to Bavaria in a match few would be disappointed to see replicated in next year's final, with Atletico Madrid also travelling to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen.
After Premier League football was suspended at the weekend as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen, Liverpool are back in action against Ajax and are seeking to respond to a defeat to Napoli last week, while Tottenham travel to face Sporting CP.
Elsewhere, Inter face Viktoria Plzen after both sides lost their opening fixture and Eintracht Frankfurt, following defeat to Sporting, travel to Marseille – and the only remaining match of the day is Porto against Brugge.
For a closer look at all the action you can look forward to, Stats Perform has dived into the Opta data to highlight the most interesting facts for each match.
Bayern vs Barcelona
Scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut for Barcelona against Viktoria Plzen, Lewandowski returns to Bavaria with a devastating record this season and his goals in the 5-1 triumph saw Barcelona scoring more in one game than they had in their previous nine matches in the competition (4).
While that will give the visitors confidence, Barcelona have a poor record against the Bundesliga champions having suffered eight defeats in the competition to Bayern – twice as many as they have lost against any other opponent (4 vs Milan, Chelsea and PSG).
Four of those losses have come in the group stages, with Bayern winning both matches in 1998-99 and 2021-22 to boast a 100 per cent record against Barcelona in that regard, who have not lost more than twice against any other opponent in the group stage.
On top of that, Bayern have won 35 of their last 37 home matches in the group stages of the Champions League – the only exceptions being a 3-2 defeat to Manchester City in December 2013 and a 1-1 draw with Ajax in October 2018.
Liverpool vs Ajax
Liverpool won both meetings with Ajax in the 2020-21 Champions League group stages, the only campaign in the competition when they have met, with the Dutch side not beating Liverpool in any competition since a 5-1 win in December 1966.
Ajax's defeat to Liverpool in December 2020 is one of only two defeats that the Eredivisie champions have experienced in their last 25 matches (W13, D10) away from home in UEFA competition, the other being a 2-0 defeat to Getafe in February 2020 in the Europa League.
Having suffered defeat to Napoli last week, Liverpool are looking to avoid back-to-back defeats to start a Champions League campaign for the first time, while they have only lost their first home match in two of their previous 46 major European campaigns (W35, D9).
With seven Champions League wins in a row, Ajax travel to Anfield with a stellar run in the competition as only Bayern (8) boast a better winning streak currently.
Sporting vs Tottenham
While the two sides have never met competitively, Sporting are winless in all six of their Champions League matches against English opposition (D1, L5) and have lost all three of those games in Lisbon without scoring a single goal.
Tottenham's record against Portuguese opponents is scarce, winning against Pacos de Ferreira in the qualifying phases for the 2021-22 Europa League but not facing an opponent from the country in the Europe's premier competition since a 4-3 aggregate defeat to Benfica in the 1962-63 semi-final.
Sporting have never won their opening two matches in the Champions League, while Antonio Conte is looking to follow in the footsteps of Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs seek back-to-back wins to open a Champions League campaign for the first time since 2017-18 season under the Argentine.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Atletico
Neither side has a particularly good record to encourage them heading into Tuesday's tie, with Leverkusen having won just four of their last 20 Champions League matches (D8, L8), while Atletico have only kept one clean sheet in 21 away matches against German opposition in major UEFA competitions.
Atletico have only won one of four away matches against Leverkusen, a 4-2 victory in February 2017 in the Champions League, and have won only one of their last seven matches in Germany – though that was the match in 2017.
Late drama is to be expected whenever Atletico compete in the Champions League, with five of their last 10 goals in the competition coming in the 90th minute of matches.
Other fixtures:
Viktoria Plzen vs Inter
8 - Viktoria Plzen have won their last eight home European matches (including qualifiers), scoring at least twice in every win (21 in total). They have only lost one of their last 19 on home soil in European football (W16 D2), a 5-0 reverse against Real Madrid during their last UEFA Champions League campaign in November 2018.
2 - Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Inter striker Lautaro Martínez has scored just two goals from 48 shots (inc. blocks) in the UEFA Champions League. The Argentine’s shot conversion rate of 4.2 per cent (including blocks) is the lowest of any player to have attempted 30+ shots during this period.
Porto vs Brugge
3 - Porto have lost their last three UEFA Champions League matches, with two of those coming against Atletico; they have never lost four in a row in the competition before.
1 - In major European competition, Club Brugge have lost five of their six away matches in Portugal (W1), their one win coming against Sporting Braga in September 2011 in the UEFA Europa League.
Marseille vs Eintracht Frankfurt
15 - Marseille have lost 15 of their last 16 UEFA Champions League matches (W1), with the exception coming in their last home game in the competition in December 2020 against Olympiacos.
2 - Marseille and Eintracht Frankfurt will face in European competition for only the second time, also meeting in the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League group stages. Frankfurt won both matches (2-1 away, 4-0 home).
Leonardo Bonucci has insisted Arkadiusz Milik's header against Salernitana should have stood as he was "not involved in active play".
Sunday's Serie A clash at the Allianz Stadium saw the hosts fight back from two goals behind and almost take all three points, with Milik scoring in added time.
Further drama would follow as Milik would be shown a second yellow card for taking his top off in celebration, while the goal was controversially ruled out by a VAR check.
Antonio Candreva's position looked to have played Milik onside but Bonucci believes that is irrelevant as he did not interfere with play.
"The explanation was that I was involved in active play, but Sepe would have never caught that, my position didn't interfere with his potential save," he told DAZN.
"That's what the rule says. And then, there is the doubt that Antonio Candreva keeps everyone onside.
"I am less than a metre behind the goal area, Candreva seems to be above. If you see the colour of the turf, Candreva could keep me onside.
"I hope they [referees] considered his position, but I guess we'll never know it. Regardless of that, I was not involved in active play and the Salernitana defender even took my shirt off."
Juventus now turn their attention towards the Champions League fixture against Benfica, then travelling to Monza in the final Serie A match before the international break.
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri lamented his team's fortune with VAR after they saw a late winner chalked off in a 2-2 home draw with Salernitana.
Arkadiusz Milik looked to have won the game with a 94th minute header from a corner, but VAR disallowed the goal after the ball took a slight nick off Leonardo Bonucci, who was stood in an offside position.
Bonucci had levelled the match just a minute previously with a rebound from his own missed penalty, as Juventus came back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to earn a point.
In addition to Milik's goal being ruled out, the striker was given a second yellow card for his overzealous celebration. A scuffle ensued which saw Juve's Juan Cuadrado and Salernitana's Federico Fazio given straight reds, while Allegri also received his marching orders for his part in the altercation.
Allegri spoke on his VAR frustrations after the game, telling reporters: "I can't give interpretations because I'm not a referee, you have to accept the decisions. I think the referee was good.
"On the goal I would like to see the image where you can see [Antonio] Candreva who is in front of the ball where the corner is taken. I would like to know if there is an image where Candreva is seen.
"Since the beginning of the season we are a bit unlucky with this VAR, we can say this."
Allegri, in his second spell as Juve head coach, was disappointed with his team's first-half reaction to going a goal behind through former Bianconeri wide-man Antonio Candreva, before Krzysztof Piatek doubled the visitors' lead just before the break.
"Let's analyse the game. We played 20 minutes very well, then after the goal we stopped," Allegri added.
"Sooner or later it had to happen to go behind, I wanted to see the reaction. It was the first time we were at a disadvantage and my curiosity was to see how we would react. We didn't react well.
"Then in the second half we played a good match. Salernitana played a good game and I have to congratulate [Davide] Nicola."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
