Alvaro Morata is ready to fight for a starting spot at Real Madrid despite the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

The Madrid trio are established as leading lights for Zinedine Zidane s side and dethroning any of them represents a sizeable task.

Such was the competition Morata left the Santiago Bernabeu in 2014 for regular first-team football with Juventus, but he returned to the Spanish capital in July, signing a five-year deal.

Morata has already opened his account with the opening goal in Madrid s 2-1 LaLiga win over Celta Vigo and he hopes to keep impressing to force Zidane to give him a chance.

It does not matter if Benzema plays on Saturday, he is quoted as saying by the Gazzetta dello Sport.

Patience and ambit…

Liverpool have made it back-to-back wins in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over West Ham United away from home at the London Stadium.

Jurgen Klopp’s side headed into the match against West Ham on Sunday evening on the back of a 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur away from home at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening.

The Reds were the better side over the course of the 90 minutes and deservedly picked up all three points from the encounter.

Egypt international forward Mohamed Salah scored two goals for Liverpool, while Netherlands international midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum added a third.

The win against West Ham means that Liverpool are now third in the Premier League table with 40 points from 21 matches, four points behind leaders Man…

Market: Shakhtar Donetsk win

Odds: 19/10 @

Looking to finish off the job in midweek, Shakhtar Donetsk will face off against Monaco in Kharkiv on Wednesday night hoping to extend on their European adventure.

Starting with the hosts, while Shakhtar Donetsk might be forced to play their home games away from the Donbass Arena, the Ukrainian giants should still be looking to capitalise on a home advantage. Shocking many across Europe as they clinched a 1-0 win against Monaco over in France last week, Head Coach Roberto De Zerbi finds his side sat in pole position to extend on their Champions League adventure. With the mood in their camp appearing to be at a real high, The Miners also managed to pick up some perfect momentum over the weekend. Cruising their way to wh…

Michael Owen insists he is happy to let his goals do the talking as he waits to find out whether his first Champions League hat-trick in six years caught the eye of England coach Fabio Capello.

The Italian has made it clear Owen will not be going to the World Cup finals next year unless he is playing and scoring regularly for United.

The chances of that happening have increased in the wake of Owen s three goals in the 3-1 win over German champions Wolfsburg on Tuesday, but the striker was reluctant to speculate publicly on his chances of forcing his way into Capello s plans.

I have never liked talking about myself too much, I always prefer to talk about the team, the 29-year-old said after following up a header and a far-post tap-in with one of his trademark di…

Frank Lampard lamented Chelsea s luck after the Blues losing streak hit five games in all competitions with a 2-0 defeat to Brentford.

An own goal from Cesar Azpilicueta in the first half was followed by Bryan Mbeumo s deflected effort on the counter late in the second, leaving Chelsea winless in their last eight.

Lampard has tasted defeat in each of his three Premier League matches since returning to take temporary charge at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea still languishing in the bottom half of the standings.

The manner of the latest loss to Brentford will be difficult to swallow, as Chelsea dominated proceedings for the majority of the game but were unable to convert.

Lampard believes a lack of confidence is the reason for that, with everything going aga…

Sunderland midfielder David Vaughan is set to leave the club on loan, .

A host of Championship clubs are considering a move for the Wales international, who has made just two Premier League starts for the Black Cats this season.

A move to newly promoted Crystal Palace almost materialised during the summer, though the Eagles failed to push through a move.

The 30 year old moved to the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2011, having been one of the stand out performers for Blackpool in their promotion winning campaign, and subsequent season in the top flight.

Vaughn started his career at Crewe Alexandra, making over two hundred appearances before moving to Real Sociedad under Chris Coleman in 2007, and then to Bloomfield Road.

Blackpool are u…

Barca want Marco Reus

Champions League holders Barcelona are weighing up summer move for Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus, .

The Catalans aim to sign another attacking midfielder in January in light of injuries to Leo Messi, Rafinha and Andres Iniesta, and chances are Nolito will be returning to Camp Nou.

But, they are also preparing another high-profile signing for next summer, with the club set to rekindle their interest in Marco Reus.

The Catalans are convinced the Germany hotshot would be an instant hit at Barcelona and they hope to sign him for a fee between €25m and €30m at the end of the season.

The club s good relations with Borussia Dortmund are well documented, whereas the player himself is reportedly keen on being reunited with Ma…

Harvey Barnes is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed the winger would likely require surgery on a knee injury.

The in-form 23-year-old, whose impressive displays had put him firmly in the conversation around England s Euro 2020 squad, was substituted six minutes into the second half of Sunday s 3-1 loss to Arsenal.

And Rodgers confirmed Barnes had significantly aggravated an issue that first came to light earlier this month.

It s not good news, it looks like he needs to go in for an operation, so it will be a minimum of six weeks, said Rodgers, whose squad has been hugely impacted by injury setbacks.

I believe it s around his cartilage. He had a clash of knees a few weeks ago, so it has just bee…

Fabio Vieira marked his first Premier League start with a fine goal in Arsenal s 3-0 win over Brentford on Sunday but boss Mikel Arteta was more impressed with how he did the ugly  things in the game.

William Saliba and Gabriel Jesus put the Gunners into a 2-0 half-time lead, before Vieira, who joined from Porto in June, rifled home from 25 yards to put the seal on a comprehensive victory that lifted the Gunners back to the top of the Premier League table.  

Arteta believes the attacking midfielder role that Vieira played is where he is best suited, yet hopes the 22-year-old will continue to undertake the dirty work that is often required to win games. 

I think he s having a good progression,  Arteta said. Obviously he missed the whole of pre-season due to …

A.S. Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic has revealed his compatriot Edin Dzeko is not delighted with his current situation at the club,  understands.

Dzeko, whose current contract at City expires in the summer of 2015, is behind Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero in the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina ace, 27, has tallied seven goals and two assists in 16 appearances, including 11 starts, in all competitions for the Sky Blues this season.

Dzeko, who joined City from VfL Wolfsburg for a fee of €32 million in January 2011, has been the subject of reported interest from Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund in recent weeks.

However, it seems rather unlikely Manuel Pellegrini would be willing to sell Dzeko to another Englis…