Manchester United defender Phil Jones views the Europa League as an opportunity to work his way into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s first-team plans.

The centre-back has not managed a single minute this season, with manager Solskjaer preferring Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof in front of David de Gea.

Jones made it to the bench for the narrow Premier League victory over Leicester City and could come into selection contention when United begin their European campaign against Astana at Old Trafford on Thursday.

It is the first of three matches in the space of a week for the Red Devils.

There are players like myself who ve not been involved as much, but it s a chance for everyone to get games, Jones told United s official match programme.

It s a busy pe…

Verdict: Under 2.5 goals

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In a real battle between two sides looking over their shoulder at the drop zone, Mainz will welcome Augsburg to an empty Opel Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Mainz

Starting with the hosts, putting in what was a shock performance last weekend and grabbing a 2-0 win away at Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz are a side simply desperate to build off of that result. Opening the weekend sat just three points clear of the relegation play-off spot after picking up their first win since returning from the break, Head Coach Achim Beierlorzer will now be calling on his side to make some much-needed alterations on home soil. Including being blown away by Champions League outfit RB Leipzig in what was a 5-0 drumming last month,…

Defending Swedish champions AIK failed to impress in their first match of the 2010 season, being held to a goalless draw by Mjällby.

The Stockholm outfit, who won the 2009 season with a four-points advantage over runners-up IFK Göteborg, hosted Superettan champions Mjällby in their season opener and were highly favored to start the campaign with a win.

But Mjällby, one of the two new teams in the Allsvenskan surprised their opponents and kept the ball out of their goal for a surprise 0-0 draw.

The first leaders of the season are Göteborg, who beat Kalmar 0-3 in Saturday s only game. Tobias Hysen scored twice for the visitors and Icelandic defender Hjalmar Jonsson finished it off with a third in the 65th minute.

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Wayne Rooney was told on Friday his World Cup would escape disruption from a potentially costly court verdict after a judge said he would defer a ruling while the England striker was in South Africa.

Rooney and his wife Coleen are being sued by sports management firm Proactive, which insists it is owed 20 percent of the couple s earnings since they left the company in 2008.

Their departure came following an acrimonious row between the company and former Proactive director Paul Stretford which led Stretford to quit the firm but retain the Rooneys as clients.

Manchester United forward Rooney is widely regarded as vital to England s chances of winning the World Cup, which started in South Africa on Friday, with English fans desperate for him to stay fit and keep hi…

Stoke City have completed the signing of West Brom striker Saido Berahino for a fee of £12million.

West Brom released a statement on Friday confirming that a deal had been agreed with their Premier League rivals and Stoke have now finalised the transfer.

Berahino has long-since been a transfer target for Mark Hughes and the Stoke boss finally has his man, with the 23-year-old signing a five-and-a-half-year deal at the bet365 Stadium.

Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes told the club s official website: It s no secret that we have been looking to bring Saido to the club for a long time and to suggest that we are pleased to have finally concluded the deal is an understatement.

We ve signed a young English striker who has already proven his ability in the P…

Like a mid-table clash on Saturday lunchtime in February, transfer deadline day got off to a decidedly slow start.

Arguably the biggest move early on Tuesday was Hull City s capture of Andrea Ranocchia on loan from Inter, the defender arriving to reinforce the stricken Tigers. 

Jese Rodriguez, who had been a target for Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka after their time together at Real Madrid, joined Las Palmas on a temporary basis from PSG. 

The Ajax production line completed another export with Anwar El Ghazi leaving the Eredivisie side for Lille.

And Demba Ba, having been overlooked by West Ham, returned to Besiktas on loan from Shanghai Shenhua, as he continues his recovery from a broken leg.

Adebayor s Grand Tour con…

Inter Milan have enjoyed a solid start to the 2019-20 Serie A season, and they sit near the top of the standings. However, their UEFA Champions League campaign hasn’t gone as planned and they are winless after their first two matches. That’s not what the manager was envisioning when he assembled a team with stars such as Diego Godin, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez all arriving in the summer.

One of the main problems for Inter this season has been their creativity in midfield. Even though Stefano Sensi has been playing at a stellar level, the rest of the midfielders have performed below the required expectations. Marcelo Brozovic and Matias Vecino in particular have been singled out because of their play in recent weeks. Therefore, Inter would be wise to search for an upgr…

Borussia Dortmund s Youssoufa Moukoko made history on Wednesday by scoring in the UEFA Youth League at just 14 years of age.

The Germany Under-16 international netted after eight minutes of Dortmund s meeting against Inter to become the competition s youngest goalscorer.

Moukoko does not turn 15 until next month, meaning he smashed the previous record – 16 years and 30 days, held jointly by Ajax s Youri Regeer and Christos Liatsos of Olympiacos.

After scoring 50 goals during the 2018-19 campaign, Moukoko earned promotion to Dortmund s under-19 setup for this season and has caught the eye of Germany boss Joachim Low.

I ve been speaking to [Dortmund U19 coach] Michael Skibbe for a while,  Low told the Bundesliga s official website. Everyone involved i…

He may be overweight and seemingly past his best but new AS Roma striker Adriano believes he still has a lot to offer on his comeback to Italian football.

A year and a half ago, Adriano walked out on Inter Milan and returned to Brazil claiming he was unhappy in Italy and needed his friends and family in Rio de Janeiro.

At the time he was much criticised for his expanding waistline while there were frequent rumours of drink and depression problems.

But after a largely successful season with his original club Flamengo, Adriano is back in Italy just bigger than ever.

When the 28-year-old was presented to the Italian media earlier this month, he allegedly weighed 108 kilos, around 25 kilos above his ideal weight.

And when speaking to the press from R…

Market: Over 1.5 goals

Odds: 2/5 @

Two sides who are seeking a much-needed Premiership boost on Wednesday night, Aberdeen will welcome St. Johnstone to Pittodrie.

Starting with the hosts, while Aberdeen might have opened up the New Year in the midst of an eye-catching run, interim boss Neil Warnock has seen his squad come crashing back down to earth. Last seen over the weekend putting in another worrying display as they slumped to a routine 2-0 loss at the hands of Kilmarnock, the Dons have failed to win any of their previous eight straight Premiership appearances. With that extended crisis stemming all the way back to a 3-0 romp against Ross County on January 2nd, the former QPR boss appears to have a real job on his hands at Pittodrie. Battling it out in the b…