Manchester United star Paul Pogba has withdrawn from the France squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Finland after hobbling out of training on Monday.
The reigning world champions are preparing for their final two qualifiers as they seek to seal their place at Qatar 2022.
And while Les Bleus are one step away from qualification, they will be without a talismanic presence during the latest international break.
Leicester City could be without key midfielder Wilfred Ndidi for the next five weeks in a big blow for Brendan Rodgers’ struggling side.
The midfielder picked up a hamstring injury last month during the Foxes’ 2-2 draw against Burnley.
And Rodgers has revealed further extent of the damage to the 24-year-old, who also missed Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
‘Wilf did it in the Burnley game, which was unfortunate,’ Rodgers said. ‘He missed the Legia Warsaw game through suspension and also Crystal Palace.
‘It could be four to five weeks before he is back, we’ll see how it goes.’
It means Ndidi is certain to miss out on Leicester’s next match after the international break against Manchester United, while he could also miss the clash against Arsenal.
Rodgers will also likely be without his midfield enforcer in Europe too in a double header against Spartak Moscow in the Europa League group stage.
During his expected time out on the sidelines, Ndidi could miss away trips to Leeds United and Brentford as well as a Carabao Cup test against Brighton.
Ndidi’s injury also means he will be unable to line up for Nigeria this month in their World Cup qualifiers home and away to Central African Republic, while he could also be out until after November’s international break too.
The injury comes at a tough time for the Foxes who have stuttered out of the blocks at the beginning of the season.
After two seasons of narrowly missing out on the Champions League on the final day, the FA Cup winners have just eight points from their first seven games.
Rodgers side head into the international break just 13th in the Premier League table having won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions – a 2-0 League Cup victory at Millwall.
The Foxes endured a frustrating result at Selhurst Park on Sunday, going 2-0 up only to be pegged back for a 2-2 draw.
Manchester City injury problems are mounting ahead of a crucial week of big matches with the news that Ilkay Gundogan is the latest player needing treatment.
City boss, Pep Guardiola hinted the Germany midfielder was nursing a problem following Saturday’s goalless draw with Southampton.
Guardiola was already without John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri and Oleksandr Zinchenko against Saints.
City face a tough run of away games with Chelsea, Sept.25, Paris St Germain, Sept. 28 and Liverpool FC Oct. 3 all coming within a nine-day period.
Guardiola insists his injury list is so bad that he has no choice but to play several of his youngsters when the club begin the defence of their trophy against the third-tier side.
“I don’t have another alternative,” said the Spaniard. “We are going to play a few young players. Some first-team players but some players must rest for the three games we have ahead of us.
“A few players from the academy are going to play because we have John, Ayme (Laporte), Aleks (Zinchenko), Rodri, I think Gundogan, all of them injured.
“We will see because we don’t have four or five days to prepare and to make a good selection but it is an opportunity for the academy – that’s why they are there.
“Now we are going to play the Carabao Cup. We are going to see how many people recover for the next days because we are in difficult conditions right.
“But we will go there and to London and Paris and Liverpool to do good games.”
When news of injuries to Rodri and Zinchenko broke ahead of the Southampton game, Guardiola said he does not know how long either player will be out.
He said Stones and Laporte are already doubtful for the trip to Chelsea this weekend.
Guardiola also ruled out Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo, as they are the only players to have played every minute of every game so far this season.
Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Ferran Torres and Riyad Mahrez were all on the bench against Saints and could come into the team against Wycombe.
Academy youngsters, Luke Mbete, Joshua Wilson-Esbrand, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, James McAtee and Sam Edozie are also set to come into contention for starting places.
Meanwhile, Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara will miss at least the next two matches with a calf problem sustained against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
It is unlikely the Spain international would have featured in the League Cup tie at Norwich on Tuesday but he will also miss the Premier League trip to Brentford on Saturday.
“I can’t say now how long it will take but definitely not tomorrow and not at the weekend,” said assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders.
Romelu Lukaku has handed Chelsea an untimely injury scare by admitting that he will be undergoing a scan on a “minor issue” before returning to Stamford Bridge from international duty.
The 28-year-old striker, who returned to west London in a £98 million ($136m) deal during the summer transfer window, has been away with Belgium in World Cup qualifying action.
He collected his 100th cap for his country against the Czech Republic on Sunday, with a caution in that contest meaning that he will be suspended for the clash with Belarus on Wednesday.
With his international break over, Lukaku has revealed that he will be returning to England early – but only after undergoing further medical tests.
He told HLN after marking a century of appearances for his country with his 67th goal for Belgium: “I’ll have a scan of my thigh first. I have been struggling with a minor issue for a while. Then I will return to Chelsea.”
Virgil van Dijk has delivered an update on his fitness after coming through a first Premier League outing in 10 months, with the Liverpool looking to curb expectations by pointing out that he is not “a robot”.
Asked on how he feels after coming through 90 minutes against the Canaries, Van Dijk told reporters: “Being back is not the closing of a chapter.
“It is still getting there. I wanted to be out there. I wanted to be playing from the first match because I feel I need it and it will improve me. From my point of view, knowing my own body, there are plenty of things to improve but I am not a robot.
“I cannot be back to 100 per cent immediately. The thing is I have played and the first one was very emotional and very tough for many reasons. You visualise the game so many times in your head before you actually play.
“I was tired because of everything around the game. It was sort of like a hurdle. I had to get over that, I felt like then it will come again. So that is what happened in my point of view.
“I kept training well and felt confident in my knee. It’s been a tough road but I am just happy to be out there again.”
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford is upbeat after undergoing successful shoulder surgery.
Rashford’s last match was with England in the Euro 2020 final and, after further assessments on his injury were made and following his summer break, his surgery took place last week.
“Thank you for all the well wishes,” he posted to social media.
“I had my surgery on Friday morning and everything went very well. A little sore but other than that I’m feeling good.
“Hope you’re all having a great day!”
Serena Williams is out of Wimbledon in the first round after injury forced her to retire in the early stages of her match with Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
The American was tearful as she had to withdraw from the match.
She was seeking a historic 24th grand slam title at the return of an event she has won seven times.
Williams had broken Sasnovich and led 3-1, appearing to be in full control of Tuesday’s contest on Centre Court.
But she suffered an ankle injury in the fifth game after seeming to slip while playing a forehand.
With her movement clearly limited, Sasnovich broke back and Williams left the court for treatment as she took a medical timeout.
She re-emerged to huge applause and bravely tried to continue but was visibly in severe discomfort.
The 39-year-old soon had to call a halt to proceedings with the match level at 3-3, having let out a scream of pain as she tried in vain to reach the ball.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has confirmed N’Golo Kante has a hamstring problem, but is hopeful that his injury isn’t too serious with his star midfielder key to turning around a run of poor form.
Lampard is under increasing pressure following a bad run that has seen his side win just one of their last six Premier League matches.
Kante has been ever-present during the run, starting the last four games in a 10-day period.
“Reece James is out for the game, although he will be training with us tomorrow,” Lampard said.
“It’s the same as Andreas Christensen, and Kante is out also with a minor hamstring injury. So he misses this game and is suspended for Fulham anyway, so we’ll get him right. Those three are out.”
Wife of Ondo Governor, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, has latched out at those behind a viral video stating she was injured at the polling centre after thugs invaded the place.
She said the sponsors of the video were insane.
Mrs. Akeredolu, who spoke at their Owo residence, said the video was meant to damage the voting exercise, distort information and put it in a bad light.
She expressed optimism her husband would emerge victorious.
“People are exercising their franchise. The good thing is that people are voting in a peaceful manner. If we continue like that in all other polling unit we dont have anything to fear about violence
“We encourage people to vote and not fight. I urged people to vote in a peaceful manner so that our voices will be held.”
On viral video that she was injured, she said, “That is insane, that is absurd. That tells you how desperate people can be in politics or our political landscape.
“I am here in the ambience of my country home and somebody is there doctoring video that I was injured.
“Were you the one that injured me? Such desperation will not do any good to them.
“The detractors want to damage the exercise, to distort information and put one on a bad light. It is all false. We will emerge victorious.”
Neymar is out of the Paris St-Germain squad for their league match at Nantes on Tuesday with a rib injury.
The Brazilian, who needed treatment during PSG’s victory against Montpellier on Saturday, celebrated his 28th birthday at a Parisian nightclub 24 hours later.
Manager Thomas Tuchel said his team selection would not be influenced by the timing of the party.
“Is it the best way to prepare for a match? No, clearly not,” he said.
“Is it the worst thing in the world? No,” the German added in his news conference on Monday.
“I always protect my players, and I really love my team. With this party, I accept that it is a bit difficult to protect the players, but the context is not simply black or white,” he said.
“It is a shame, because we are giving people the chance to speak badly of us. We need to adapt to the situation, but I am not going to leave a player on the bench or at home because they went out and celebrated.”
The club confirmed on Monday that tests had shown Neymar suffered the cartilage injury during the first half of Saturday’s Ligue 1 match.
Neymar was not the only PSG player Tuchel was questioned about – after a touchline spat with Kylian Mbappe in the 5-0 weekend win.
“There is nothing personal between him and me. These things happen,” Tuchel said about his 21-year-old striker who reacted angrily to being substituted midway through the second half.
“It was between a player who does not want to come off, and a coach who had his reasons for doing something, and who wanted to give a game to players who deserved it.”