Premier League news live: Latest on Xabi Alonso, injury updates and more

Crystal Palace will still be without Michael Olise for their trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday despite the winger having trained this week after almost two months out with a hamstring injury.

The 22-year-old is making encouraging progress in his recovery from the injury sustained 11 minutes after being introduced as a half-time substitute in a 4-1 defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion on February 3, but will be unavailable to face Forest.

“He did many parts of training this week – not all the parts – and he’s on the way back,” said Palace manager Oliver Glasner. “But the Nottingham Forest game is too early, the Bournemouth game (on Tuesday) is too early, then we will see in the next days.”

Marc Guehi is yet to recover from his knee injury picked up in that same defeat by Brighton, with Glasner saying “I don’t know how long it will take” for the defender to return. Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone will also miss out after being ruled out for the remainder of the season following an elbow injury sustained during training with the England team this week.

Meanwhile Matheus Franca has endured frustration in his attempt to return from a groin injury. “Matheus is a little more difficult because when we increase the intensity of his training he gets pain again. I can’t say exactly when he will be back.”

Odsonne Edouard, however, could return for the home game with Manchester City next Saturday. The striker sustained a knee injury during a training session with the team in Spain recently. But Daniel Munoz is available despite the defender being a concern on international duty with Colombia. Midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp is fit again after a six-week absence.

Glasner cautioned that expectations should be tempered when he had a fuller complement of players to choose from. “When you are out for 8-10 weeks I don’t expect miracles,” he said. “None of them had a full training session, just parts of it. You have to take care because for several players it’s not their first injury so we have to avoid the risk of re-injury.”

Erik ten Hag says Kobbie Mainoo is a doubt for Manchester United's Premier League match against Brentford on Saturday evening.

The midfielder missed training on Friday after returning from England duty with an unspecified illness.

Mainoo, 18, made his first senior start for his country in Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Belgium — three days after making his debut as a substitute in the defeat to Brazil.

"He skipped training because he was ill," said Ten Hag at his press conference on Friday.

Asked whether the midfielder would recover in time for Saturday's 8pm kick-off in west London, the United manager added: " I don't know, we hope. Today he is there, not fully recovered but we still have many hours before kick-off."

The central midfielder has become an integral part of Ten Hag's plans in a breakthrough season for the club — starting in each of his side's past 12 league games.

Having come through the ranks at United's' academy, Ten Hag planned on utilising Mainoo from the outset of the campaign before an ankle injury caused him to miss the opening nine games of the season.

"We thought he was capable of it and we thought he was capable of adjusting very quickly to high levels so we had to delay that moment but for him and for us that is good," said Ten Hag.

"Later in the season he proved it that he can contribute highly to our team. We are happy we saw this right and we are happy we have a player like him in our squad.

"He can really contribute and be the player who can make us play the way we want to play."

Following their match against Brentford, United face Chelsea, Liverpool and Bournemouth in the space of 10 days before their FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City on April 21.

Many were surprised when Arsenal decided to buy Kai Havertz from Chelsea in June — particularly given the £65million ($82m) price tag.

The Germany international's form has contributed to Arsenal winning eight on the trot in the league, a run that has them top of the table going into Sunday’s trip to the Etihad Stadium, where they will face reigning champions Manchester City, who are only one point behind with 10 games to play.

Aaron Catterson-Reid explains why the Arsenal frontman could be key at the Etihad on Sunday

The acting head of the Spanish football federation, Pedro Rocha, will travel to FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, next week to reassure the world governing body of changes his organisation is making after a number of recent scandals.

Rocha and FIFA president Gianni Infantino already met recently in London to speak about the federation’s situation, but more discussions are set to be held. According to federation (RFEF) sources — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to comment — Rocha’s managing committee will formally call elections to choose the next permanent president of the federation next week.

FIFA sent a letter to the federation asking for explanations over how it is dealing with the recent scandals. RFEF sources said this consisted of five questions that centred on this month’s raid of its headquarters as part of an investigation into alleged corruption among other potential crimes. The search took place hours before Rocha and his committee were due to meet to formally announce a date for the presidential vote.

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Gary O'Neil is hopeful Pedro Neto will return before the end of the season after suffering a hamstring injury earlier this month.

Neto, 24, was forced off at half time against Fulham due to the problem, one week after also needing to be replaced against Newcastle United due to a hamstring issue.

“I think Pedro will be back fit around the end of the season, maybe a couple of weeks before, maybe the last game, it will be around then," O'Neil said. "And then it will be a decision to make. He has a big summer as well with the Euros, that I know he’s keen to get back for, so we’re just keen to get him back as soon as possible.

“We won’t let the fixture list or schedule dictate when he’s back, he’ll be back when he’s back."

O'Neil also confirmed Hwang Hee-chan was back in individual training after missing his side's last three with a hamstring injury.

“Channy’s on the grass and he’s working hard on his own," the Wolves head coach added. "His hamstring is feeling good, he’s feeling good, so we’re just trying to get him through all the tests and all the hurdles that he needs to pass to allow him to be safe to come back in. He’s not too far away and hopeful he can shave a bit off three weeks from now."

Mikel Arteta has labelled Pep Guardiola as “the best coach in the world” ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

Arteta, 42, spent almost three seasons as Guardiola’s assistant at City before becoming Arsenal manager in 2019.

Arteta said: “In my opinion, he is the best coach in the world, by a mile.

"The passion that he has for the game, the intelligence that he handles the team and the club, and how demanding he is.

“He has an incredible work ethic which is something that people do not see behind the scenes. He has managed to do it for three different clubs at the top, elite level every single season and that is a huge quality.”

Jordan Campbell has more on Arteta's time at City below

Ethan Pinnock will miss Brentford’s game against Manchester United on Saturday with an ankle injury.

The 30-year-old defender suffered the issue during Brentford’s 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 10.

Thomas Frank initially said Pinnock would return after the international break but confirmed on Friday he is still unavailable.

There is good news though as Kevin Schade, who has not played since September due to a thigh injury, is close to making his return.

“Kevin Schade has now trained with the squad for the last two weeks, it looks better but it’s still too early for him to be involved tomorrow,” Frank said.

“Ethan Pinnock is progressing well but also still too early. It’s going in the right direction with the two of them."

Brentford host Brighton & Hove Albion next Wednesday before a trip to face Aston Villa three days later.

Frank said the chances of Pinnock and Schade featuring in those games “will be tight.”

Captain Christian Norgaard is “progressing” in his recovery from a back problem he picked up in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal earlier this month but Aaron Hickey is “further down the line.”

Hickey’s last appearance was in the 2-0 victory over Chelsea in October. The Scotland international then picked up a hamstring injury in training and suffered a setback.

Frank also confirmed the club are in discussions with Josh Dasilva and Ben Mee about extending their contracts.

Mee joined the club in July 2022 on a free transfer after his contract with Burnley expired. The 34-year-old is ruled out for the rest of the season after fracturing his ankle and his deal expires in June.

Dasilva’s contract expires this summer too but the club have the option to extend it by an extra year. The 25-year-old suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training in February.

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery says Matty Cash will be sidelined for the next "two or three weeks" after picking up a hamstring injury while on international duty.

Cash was withdrawn 11 minutes into the second half of Poland's 5-1 Euro 20204 play-off win over Estonia after coming on as a half-time substitute.

Speaking at his press conference on Friday, Emery confirmed the right-back will miss Saturday evening's Premier League match at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“Bad news with Matty Cash," he said. "After playing with his national team, he came back with a small injury."

Asked for a timeframe on the 26-year-old's recovery, Emery added: "For Saturday he is not available – maybe two or three weeks more.”

The prognosis puts Cash's availability for Aston Villa's Europa Conference League quarter-final in jeopardy. The Midlands club welcome Ligue 1 Lille to Villa Park for the first leg on April 11.

Cash has made 26 appearances for Villa in the Premier League this season, contributing two goals and one assist.

There was more positive news on the fitness of midfielder Jacob Ramsey, who has missed the past two games with an ankle issue.

Emery said a decision on Ramsey's availability for Saturday would be made after Friday afternoon's training session.

He said: "Jacob Ramsey is progressing well. We are going to train this afternoon and we will decide if he can help us or not tomorrow.”

Darwin Nunez and Ibrahima Konate have both been passed fit for Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Brighton at Anfield on Sunday.

Nunez dropped out of the Uruguay squad due to a minor hamstring problem sustained against Manchester United before the international break, while Konate came through his comeback for France unscathed after recovering from a similar issue.

Midfielder Curtis Jones is close to a return after a month out with an ankle injury.

“Curtis, I am not sure if he is available (for Sunday), but he’s in training,” said Jurgen Klopp. “Ibou had an extra rest day (on Thursday), nothing else.

“Darwin is fine. He did his rehab during the week, trained the first day partially since we are back in and since then he is in full training.”

Klopp confirmed that Andy Robertson avoided serious injury after being hurt in Scotland’s defeat to Northern Ireland but said the left-back is unlikely to feature against Brighton.

“Robbo, we take it a little bit day by day so we will see,” he added.

“He will not train today but it’s not bad.”

Asked about timeframes for the injured trio of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota, Klopp said: “The other boys, from next week on I think they will join parts of team training so we will see what we do with that.

“They are not too far away but none of them even close to team training yet. They all make their steps so it’s positive.”

Stefan Bajcetic will return to full training with the Under-21s next week as he continues to build up his fitness after a long absence.

Liverpool host Sheffield United next Thursday following Sunday's visit of Brighton.

Jurgen Klopp says he "understands" why Xabi Alonso has decided to remain at Bayer Leverkusen.

Despite speculation of a return to Anfield —where the Spaniard played during his career — following the announcement that Klopp would be leaving at the end of the season, Alonso has chosen to stay in Germany.

Klopp said: “Being a young manager at a club doing really well, I had a similar situation. I did pretty much the same if you want and never regretted it.

That’s pretty much everything I can say about it.

“He’s doing an incredible job there. Leverkusen have a good team and they will probably keep their team together. That’s possible this year. Not every year is like that.

“I understand why he wants to do that (stay).”

The Athletic reported on Thursday that Liverpool have long been aware that the Spaniard was unlikely to leave the Bundesliga club and are pursuing other managerial targets as they continue their search for Klopp’s successor.

Micky van de Ven is set to return from injury for Tottenham's Premier League match against Luton Town on Saturday, Ange Postecoglou has said.

The Netherlands international was substituted off in the 49th minute of Tottenham’s four-goal victory at Aston Villa earlier this month with what appeared to be a hamstring problem. He subsequently sat out the three-goal loss at Fulham on March 16.

Van de Ven was included in his nation’s provisional squad for their matches against Scotland and Germany, but he did not feature in either game.

"Micky has trained for the last couple of days," Postecoglou said of Van de Ven. "He feels good, so he is available."

Postecoglou added that Spurs had not picked up any new injuries during the international break.

Xabi Alonso has confirmed he will remain as Bayer Leverkusen head coach beyond the end of this season.

In his press conference on Friday, Alonso explained that Leverkusen was the “right place for me”.

The Athletic reported on Thursday that Liverpool have long been aware that the Spaniard was unlikely to leave the Bundesliga club and are pursuing other managerial targets as they continue their search for Jurgen Klopp’s successor.

Read more from Alonso below

Barcelona head coach Xavi says he has no intention of reversing his decision to leave the club at the end of the season.

Xavi, 44, announced in January that he would step down this summer after three years at the helm.

The Athletic reported on March 22 that club president Joan Laporta wanted Xavi to stay on as manager and would not look to appoint his replacement until he had made "a final decision".

Asked whether Laporta's desire to retain his services had made him reassess his decision, Xavi said: "There is a lot of trust with Deco and Laporta but I don't think it changes anything."

He added: "I think it's the best thing for the club, but I'm always grateful for their words."

Barcelona are unbeaten in their past 10 matches in all competitions, including a two-legged victory over Napoli in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Xavi's side resume their La Liga campaign at home to Las Palmas on Saturday evening eight points adrift of leaders Real Madrid.

Harry Kane is fit for Bayern Munich’s crunch game against Borussia Dortmund — but captain Manuel Neuer will not be available.

Kane, 30, missed England’s friendlies against Brazil and Belgium during the international break due to an ankle problem, while Neuer, 37, withdrew from the Germany squad after sustaining a left adductor injury in training.

“Harry Kane trained fully with the team yesterday,” Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel confirmed on Friday. “He’s feeling good and will play."

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