Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes wants to see a better defensive display when they travel to Columbus Crew in the MLS on Saturday.

Sporting KC sit second from bottom in the Western Conference, having won just three of their 19 games so far.

After back-to-back losses to LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake in which they conceded four goals in both, Vermes admitted they needed to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

I can t deny the fight of the guys, but defensively, it s too soft, he said. Unfortunately, it s similar to what happens in a lot of games.

We can be fighting back in a game and give away a nothing goal. There s a ton of chances that could put us way ahead, but we can t be giving up the goals that we give up. That s it; that s the ga…

Vinicius Junior came off the bench to score one and assist another as Real Madrid battled from behind for a 4-1 fightback victory over Espanyol in LaLiga.

Madrid dominated proceedings on Saturday but fell behind in the 54th minute after a rare blunder by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who inadvertently deflected a low cross from Jofre into his own net.

Carlo Ancelotti s side found an equaliser just four minutes later, however, with a close-range strike by Dani Carvajal on the follow-up from Jude Bellingham s cross.

Vinicius worked his magic soon after, lifting a brilliant cross to Rodrygo – who netted with a 75th-minute first-time effort – before scoring himself with a tidy finish from a counter-attack only three minutes later.

Kylian Mbappe finished of…

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min could be the subject of interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, according to journalist Ben Jacobs. The well-known and well-respected journalist has reported that he has been told that teams in the Saudi Pro League could try to sign South Korea international forward Son from Premier League side Spurs in the summer of 2024.

Speaking on , Son said: “Then there’s the usual names, we’ve spoken about them before, Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah, they will have to wait until the summer as well. 

“Son is a distant possibility, he dismissed the links, but when they were dismissed people were focused on last summer and I was told that Son would only be a concrete target in the summer of 2024, that might be one to watch, but it remains t…

The 2020-21 UEFA Nations League has been officially set up. Just like the previous edition, there will be four leagues with a promotion/relegation system between them. However, there are a few changes compared to the 2018-19 UEL.

The biggest one is the fact that UEFA has increased the size of the top three tiers to 16 countries; this means each group will have four teams, but it also means countries such as Germany won t be playing in League B, at least for now. This change also represents a decrease on the lower tier, as League D will only feature two groups and seven teams.

There will be six matchdays of action in this tournament, starting in September 2020 and ending in November 2020. There will be only two 2022 World Cup spots available in this competition.

W…

Manchester City fans booed the Premier League anthem ahead of kick-off in Sunday s game against Aston Villa.

City have been accused of over 100 breaches of financial regulations between a period of 2009 and 2018.

Their first match since those accusations came to light saw them host Villa at the Etihad Stadium, where the league s anthem – which is played before every match in the competition – was roundly booed by the home supporters.

Pep Guardiola, who gave an impassioned defence of the club this week, received a huge ovation as he made his way out of the tunnel for what was his 250th Premier League match in charge of City.

City fans have previous for jeering at anthems, with supporters routinely giving the same response to the Champions League s musi…

Bayern Munich dominate the nominations for the 2020 FIFA FIFPRO Men s World 11, with the Champions League winners having nine candidates out of 55.

Hansi Flick s team won a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble in 2019-20, seeing off Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the European football s premier competition in August.

Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich were the only Bayern players to make the long-list last year, and those two again feature this time around.

Lewandowski scored a remarkable 55 goals across all competitions for Bayern last term, and has hit the ground running this season, netting 15 times to take his tally for the year so far to 70.

Manuel Neuer enjoyed something of a resurgence last term and heads up a list of 10 goalke…

Giacomo Raspadori s 93rd-minute volley gave Napoli a dramatic 1-0 win against Juventus on Sunday, securing a rare Serie A double over the Bianconeri.

A remarkable conclusion to the match in Turin was entirely at odds with everything that had gone before, a dull first 70 minutes suggesting the two clubs were taking a collective breath at the end of a manic week.

Juve are back into the top four following their successful initial appeal of an earlier points deduction, while Napoli s full focus is on the Scudetto after crashing out of the Champions League.

If a point then perhaps suited both sides, neither showed it, with Juve twice having the ball in the net in the closing stages before Raspadori grabbed what might be considered a deserved winner.

VITTORIA! …

GARE DU HONNEUR

An astonishing 150,000 Belgians might have made there presence felt in Lille ahead of Friday s Euro 2016 quarter-final but it was the 11 Welshmen on the field who truly made the difference as goals from Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes secured a sensational 3-1 win.

Belgium s golden generation and their fans were left to reflect on a missed opportunity but there was not a shred of bitterness in evidence at the Gare de Lille Flandres when the victorious supporters arrived to catch their trains.

Devils and Dragons were as one, with the Belgium fans forming a guard honour for their Welsh counterparts, appreciating the joy and glory they so badly wanted for themselves. Wonderful scenes that were an example of football fans at their absol…

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has cut down his provisional squad for Euro 2012 to 27 players after removing nine footballers from the list.

Jasper Cillessen (Ajax), Alexander Buttner (Vitesse), Urby Emanuelson (AC Milan), Ola John (FC Twente), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Erwin Mulder (Feyenoord), Nick Viergever (AZ), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord) and Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV) have all been told they will not take part in the team s pre-Euro camp in the Swiss town of Lausanne.

Van Marwijk has until the May 29 deadline to trim an additional four players from his final 23-man squad for Poland and Ukraine.

There are still three uncapped players in the squad PSV 18-year-ol Jetro Willems, AZ Alkmaar midfielder Adam Maher and Heerenveen forward Luciano Narsingh.

…

Jose Mourinho will hope Manchester United can make a strong start to the new season following the release of the 2018-19 Premier League fixtures.

Tottenham s visit to Old Trafford will provide an early test of United s title credentials on August 25 after they finished 19 points behind champions Manchester City in the last campaign.

Mourinho will go back to Stamford Bridge to face former club Chelsea on October 20, with the first Manchester derby coming just under a month later at the Etihad Stadium. December sees clashes with Arsenal and Liverpool before they start 2019 at St James Park against Newcastle United.

A trip to Tottenham s new stadium is also scheduled for January, but United s most difficult run starts on February 23, as they will meet Liverpool,…