Football

Villa have lost six successive league matches and with 12 games remaining sit in the drop zone with only Leicester City below.

Soccer clubs will not be offered compensation for losing players to a 2022 winter World Cup in Qatar, FIFA's secretary general Valcke told reporters on Wednesday.

The FIFA task force looking into dates for the Qatar World Cup has recommended a shorter tournament to be staged in November and December.

Roma remain seven points behind Juventus and need to get back to winning ways soon, starting at Hellas Verona.

Chelsea have suspended three fans caught on video during the incident and said they were working with British and French police to identify others.

Lukaku hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Everton at Young Boys and a thrilling 3-3 draw between Celtic and Inter Milan delivered a glut of goals in the return of the Europa League.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted one goal and set up another in his team's 2-0 win against German side Schalke 04.

United had to come from behind to avoid an upset at Preston, rallying with three second-half goals to beat the third-tier club 3-1 and reach the quarter-finals.

The former Real Madrid player had been training with West Ham and the 29-year-old was keen to revive his career back in England.

Chelsea looked set to see their advantage at the top of EPL table shrink, but the Willian's late goal sealed all three points for them.

City haven't won any of its last five matches in all competitions and Toure cannot return quickly enough from the African Nations Cup to lift the stumbling champion.

"It's difficult to talk about this but I have finished my career as a professional," Voronin said in an interview.

Blind smashed home an injury-time equaliser to rescue a point for United against West Ham in a pulsating Premier League game at Upton Park on Sunday.

Redknapp's resignation as Queens Park Rangers manager was a big surprise to everyone at the club, caretaker coach Chris Ramsey said.

UEFA has limited the English champion to selecting from 21 senior players instead of 25 for overspending and breaking Financial Fair Play rules.

EPL clubs spent a record 950 million pounds on the August and January transfers this season even though spending in the winter window matched last year's figure of 130 million.