#squad-rotation

#squad-rotation

Both managers made changes to their strongest teams, which was expected from a Sparta perspective ahead of Sunday's Prague derby but a little surprising from the Irish point of view considering Kerry are their FAI Cup opponents - Bradley said afterwards that the meeting with the First Division underdogs did influence his selection. Graham Burke is used to dropping out for away days in Europe to make room for Darragh Nugent, but Dylan Watts and Danny Mandroiu also joined him on the bench,

Manchester City welcome John Stones back into the side as captain as Pep Guardiola rotates his team in the Carabao Cup. Erling Haaland is given the night off against League One side Huddersfield with Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb and Savinho making up a mobile front three. James Trafford is handed a recall in goal in a strong-looking team. City have won the League Cup on eight occasions, most recently in 2021.

"Hattrick Harry is what they used to call me in school when I was younger."

A record-breaking nine English sides will play European football in 2025-26 - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham in the Champions League; Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the Europa League; and Crystal Palace in the Conference League. But will those clubs who are not in Europe be able to capitalise on having a less hectic fixture schedule and more rest between matches? When Leicester City shocked the footballing world to win the Premier League in 2015-16, they only played 43 games in all competitions, with no European distractions.

He missed a lot of pre-season. He is ready for one game a week, maybe 70-90 [minutes]. He played 90 for Argentina and was really tired after 70 so doesn't have the right build-up to play three games a week, 90 minutes. I was always sure I would take him off after 60 minutes for him to be ready to be back on the pitch on Wednesday and Saturday and I already made one substitution in the first half.

Ireland hope to back up last week's opening World Cup win over Japan with another victory at Franklin's Gardens in Northampton this afternoon. Scott Bemand has made seven changes for today's game against Spain, as the side keep one eye on their final Pool C clash with New Zealand next Sunday. Rian Noctor takes you through all the action below on our liveblog.

"Then we will make the choice to try to get the best starting XI to win the game."

Image source, SNS Celtic are about to set off to Kazakhstan on the most important trip of their season. They do so on the back of three goals, three points and a decent-enough display, from a much-changed team against Livingston, which keeps up the Scottish champions' perfect domestic start. Amid all that at Celtic Park on Saturday, there was some of the stodginess that characterised the drab goalless first leg against the Kazakhs and more grumbling from the fans.

The build-up to this game has been completely dominated by a disastrous day for Drogheda United, especially painful as Shamrock Rovers are in town.