Derby County are facing a 12-point deduction in the Championship after going into administration.

Amid ongoing financial issues, it was confirmed last week that Derby had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

Manager Wayne Rooney revealed he only found out after the news had broken in the media, while owner Mel Morris has claimed the club is losing between £1.3million and £1.5m per month.

The EFL said in a statement on Wednesday that in accordance with EFL Regulations, a 12-point deduction has been immediately applied to Derby County Football Club s 2021-22 season total .

It added: The League has already held initial constructive discussions with the administrators and will remain in regular dialogue with them as they seek to find the…

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he does not see the 100 per cent benefit of stopping the Premier League in amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Half of the 10 Premier League fixtures scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday have had to be postponed, and three Reds players Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones are suspected to have contracted the virus.

However, despite the disruption caused by the rise in cases, Klopp is not sure that suspending the league altogether is the solution as it would lead to fixture congestion later down the line.

First of all, I’m not against stopping the league, I just don t see the 100 per cent benefit of it, Klopp said ahead of Liverpool s game against Tottenham on Sunday. 

Between stopping the leag…

Llorente agrees Juventus deal

Spanish daily that Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente has agreed to join Juventus in the summer transfer window.

The Bianconeri have been negotiating a Bosman deal with the player’s representatives since the start of the January transfer window, and Marca suggests that the two parties have finally reached an agreement.

The Spain international has agreed to sign a four-year deal with the Bianconeri worth around €4.5 million per campaign.

Llorente will not be joining Juventus in the winter, but will arrive in Turin on a free transfer when his contract at San Mames expires in June.

This is a major breakthrough for the Serie A champions, who have been looking to sign a world-class striker for over a year now.…

Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez says John Terry will face his penalty shootout demons at the Luzhniki Stadium if needed on Thursday.

Benitez takes his team to Moscow for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie against Rubin Kazan with a 3-1 aggregate lead.

It marks Chelsea s first return to the stadium since losing the 2007/08 Champions League final to Manchester United.

Terry missed a penalty which would have seen Chelsea win the trophy in a shootout the club captain slipped over and saw his spot-kick hit the post.

But Benitez has backed the 32-year-old to step up again if required this week.

You cannot just say, You and you and you . The first thing, what matters, is that they have to be convinced they can score, Benitez tol…

Mahdi Ali resigned as United Arab Emirates coach after his team lost 2-0 to Australia in World Cup qualification on Tuesday.

The result left UAE four points behind the Socceroos in Group B of the third round of Asian qualifying, and the team faces an increasingly difficult task to secure a place at next year s finals in Russia.  

Ali, 51, had been in charge of UAE s senior side since 2012 and has previously coached four different age groups of the country s youth teams. 

Now is the time for me to leave, he told a post-match news conference in Sydney.

I resigned before the Iraq game, [but] the federation asked me to stay. After five years, I did my best.

Ali guided UAE to a surprise penalty-shootout victory over Japan in the quarter-finals of…

Alvaro Morata ended a 20-match wait for a goal by scoring twice as Juventus built a commanding 3-0 lead in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final clash with Inter.

Morata, who had not found the back of the net for The Old Lady since scoring in the 3-1 Serie A victory over Bologna on October 4, thrashed home a first-half penalty to end his four-month goal drought after Jeison Murillo had brought down Juan Cuadrado in the box to give the hosts control of the tie on Wednesday.

The Spaniard then celebrated ending his barren spell by adding a second after half-time, as the holders took a major step towards retaining the trophy.

Inter hobbled to the end of the game with 10 men, following Murillo s dismissal for two bookable offences, and the chances of a Milan …

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has denied using racist insults when he clashed with Romelu Lukaku during Milan s 2-1 derby defeat to Inter on Tuesday.

Ibrahimovic turned from hero to villain in the Coppa Italia quarter-final tie at San Siro, scoring the opening goal before he was sent off for a second bookable offence in the second half.

The Milan talisman had been shown a yellow card following a heated confrontation with his former Manchester United team-mate Lukaku late in the first half.

Ibrahimovic appeared to tell Belgium striker Lukaku to Go do your voodoo s***, you little donkey as the pair exchanged words and went head-to-head.

The strikers had to be separated as they continued to trade insults after the half-time whistle was blown, but Ibrahimovic on Wednesd…

As reported by Sport.es, Valencia and Barcelona have begun preliminary discussions over the transfer of . The 24-year-old, who spent one year on loan with and one year as a permanent member of the squad, made the switch to the Nou Camp back in 2016. However, in that time, he has been unable to replicate the form which initially grabbed the interest of the Spanish giants.

The Portuguese midfielder didn t make the final cut for Portugal s 2018 FIFA World Cup squad, which may have been the eye opener that he needed regarding what he needs to do with his future. Despite putting in a handful of world-class performances for Barcelona since signing, many fans haven t given him the credit he deserves. With a move back to Valencia, he may be able to get his head down and focus on playi…

Jean-Clair Todibo, currently with OGC Nice on loan from Barcelona, has admitted his time at Camp Nou was a torment.

The 21-year-old defender first arrived to the Catalan club from Toulouse in January 2019. The move had been agreed initially for the summer that year, but once it became known he was leaving, the supporters of the French club gave him much abuse and Barcelona moved the transfer forward.

Being 19 at the time, he didn t get much game-time there.

Going to Barcelona and not playing is sh*t. I didn t help the team, I won a La Liga title but it was a false triumph he told L Equipe. 

I played when we were already champions. I prefer the Sedan shirt in the fourth division than stay at Barcelona and not play. At least there is less criticism ther…

Gianluigi Buffon proved his worth to Juventus in their vital win at Napoli on Wednesday, but Andrea Pirlo will restore Wojciech Szczesny as his first-choice goalkeeper.

World Cup winner Buffon, now 43, is firmly behind Szczesny in the pecking order in Turin, yet he was given a rare opportunity for the huge midweek Serie A match.

The veteran, who returned to the club from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019, made three saves as strikes from team-mates Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala set the Bianconeri on their way to victory.

Only a 90th-minute Lorenzo Insigne penalty denied Buffon a clean sheet as Juve moved three points clear of their opponents, who sit in fifth just outside the Champions League places.

But Buffon should not expect to reprise this starting ro…