Messi hat-trick a good way to celebrate Ballon d´Or – Barca boss Valverde

Former Newcastle United head coach John Carver confirmed he has applied for the vacant Aston Villa job.

Eric Black is in charge at Villa in a caretaker capacity after Remi Garde left the struggling Premier League club in late March.

Villa are 12 points from safety with seven games left in their season and the Championship looming.

Carver, who led Newcastle to three wins from 20 games before being sacked at the end of the 2014-15 season, said he had applied.

Yes I have, via my agent. I haven t heard anything back yet, he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

I think whatever they do, they have to do it reasonably quickly to get a steal on everybody else.

I think they almost know they re certainly down and relegated.

I think the sooner they can…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out for a month after not featuring for Manchester United in their goalless draw with Southampton on Saturday.

Ibrahimovic was not included in Jose Mourinho s squad for the Premier League clash, although it now appears the former Sweden international is set for a lengthy injury lay-off.

United lost Romelu Lukaku to a head injury eight minutes into the match and Mourinho was quizzed afterwards as to whether Ibrahimovic was a viable replacement should the Belgian face his own spell on the sidelines.

But Mourinho, who said there was no update on Lukaku s condition in the immediate aftermath, revealed Ibrahimovic would be missing for a month, restricting his options at the forefront of his attack to just Marcus Rashford and Anthony M…

QPR in-form striker Charlie Austin has emerged as a fresh target for Liverpool, according to the Daily Mail.

The Reds aim to sign a new centre forward in January with Mario Balotelli having failed to impress and the QPR star is one of the players they are looking at.

With Austin s contract due to expire in June 2016 and Rangers yet to persuade the striker into signing a new deal, Liverpool look to take advantage of the situation and try to lure the forward to Anfield this winter.

Charlie Austin, 25, joined QPR from Burnley in the summer of 2013, and he scored 19 goals in 34 league appearances to help the club return to the elite division.

The striker has so far impressed in his first ever Premier League season, netting 7 times in 12 outings, and it appea…

Competition: FA Cup

Market: Bournemouth to beat Wigan

Odds:

The Third Round of the FA Cup sees a number of replays taking place this week with a glut of teams still looking to book their place in the next round of the competition. A number of Premier League sides face awkward tests against lower-league opposition, and with this in mind, Bournemouth travel to face Wigan on Wednesday.

Wigan have been in fantastic form in League One this season and they will be targetting promotion to the Championship this campaign. After 26 games they have won 17 times, drawn six and lost three, while they have scored 50 goals and conceded 12 times. In their last five games they have won twice and drawn three times which has helped them onto 57 points, five clear…

Denmark star Christian Eriksen offered a dim outlook on his team s Euro 2012 hopes following a 3-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday.

A brace from Porto forward Hulk and Niki Zimling s own-goal saw Brazil cruise to a comfortable victory at Volksparkstadion, Hamburg.

Denmark begin their European Championship campaign with a match against 2010 FIFA World Cup finalists the Netherlands on June 9, before equally daunting fixtures against Germany and Portugal.

And Ajax man Eriksen, speaking after the Brazil loss, acknowledged Denmark s chances of progressing from the group are slim.

If we play like this, then no, he said when asked if Denmark would survive their tough Euro 2012 draw.

The teams all have the same skills as Brazil so tonight was a good test fo…

Former England manager Steve McClaren s new Dutch side FC Twente will play Arsenal in the Champions League third qualifying round later this month.

McClaren, who was sacked from the England job after England s failure to qualify for Euro 2008, took over at FC Twente in June on a two year deal.

The 47-year-old s club are making their Champions League debuts after defeating Ajax in a play-off last season.

Past winners Liverpool face Belgian outfit Standard Liege while Rangers will come up against either Denmark s Aalborg or Bosnian outfit Modrica providing they first see off FBK Kaunas.

Irish champions Drogheda take on Spartak Moscow as long as they can reverse a 2-1 first leg deficit against Dynamo Kiev.

Atletico Madrid were drawn with German…

Frank Lampard believes Tuesday s Champions League clash with Lille will be a defining moment for Chelsea s youngsters.

Chelsea can book a place in the last 16 of the competition with victory at Stamford Bridge, while a draw will be enough if Valencia lose to Ajax in the other Group H fixture.

The Blues only two European wins this term have come on their travels, but Lampard hopes the make-or-break nature of the Lille match can bring the best out of his players.

Asked if games like Tuesday s can shape the younger members of his squad, Lampard told reporters: Yeah, they are crucial for the players. I was fortunate to have big moments like this for the club.

I like that this is a knockout, we are going to be at our best. It is a big game, almost like a knoc…

Bursaspor have completed the signing of Mali international midfielder Bakaye Traore from Serie A side Milan on a three-year deal.

The 29-year-old signed for Milan from Nancy in 2012 but struggled to establish himself at San Siro spending last season on loan at Kayseri Erciyesspor.

Having made 27 appearances in all competitions for the Super Lig outfit, Traore will again ply his trade in the Turkish top fight next term.

Traore helped Kayseri Erciyesspor avoid relegation with a 14th-place finish last time out but will likely be involved in European football with his new club.

Bursaspor will feature in the UEFA Europa League next season and Traore is hopeful of enjoying a successful time with his new club.

I m so glad I came to Bursaspor, he tol…

Liverpool are closing in on the signing of Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, .

The 23 year old, who scored all three goals as Switzerland beat Honduras in Manaus yesterday to secure their progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup finals, has long been linked with a move to England, and the Merseyside club are winning the race to secure his services.

Since signing from Swiss side FC Basel in the summer of 2012, Shaqiri has scored fifteen goals in sixty-five appearances in all competitions for Bayern, winning two Bundesliga titles, two German cups, the Champions League and the FIFA World Club Cup.

His treble yesterday took his international goal tally to twelve in thirty-two appearances, and he will be keen to add to that total when Omar Hitzfeld…

Frenkie de Jong described Barcelona as the team of my dreams and reiterated his intention is to remain with the Blaugrana for the foreseeable future.

Netherlands star De Jong was the subject of one of the biggest sagas of European football s summer transfer window.

Manchester United were reportedly keen on bringing De Jong to Old Trafford for a reunion with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, while it was said Barca were keen to cash in and help alleviate some of their financial issues.

A move failed to materialise, but rumours persist that United will launch a fresh bid for the 25-year-old at the end of the season.

However, speaking to TV3, De Jong seemingly remains unmoved in his desire to stay at Camp Nou, a stadium where renovation work will take place…