Kepa Arrizabalaga will make his first Chelsea appearance since October when Krasnodar visit Stamford Bridge in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Hakim Ziyech will miss out.

The world s most expensive goalkeeper made an error resulting in a goal in each of his three Premier League appearances this season and has been usurped by new signing Edouard Mendy.

Mendy has proved a stellar signing for Chelsea, having kept nine clean sheets in his first 13 appearances for the club. He also has the best Champions League save percentage (93.8) among keepers to have featured at least three times this season.

With Chelsea guaranteed to advance from Group E in first place, Lampard will take the opportunity to give Kepa another chance in the first team.

Kepa starts.…

Wahbi Khazri conceded it was a bittersweet evening after his winning goal against France proved insufficient for Tunisia to qualify for the World Cup knockout stages.

Khazri was named man of the match after a wonderful display capped by a 58th-minute goal that handed Tunisia a 1-0 win at Education City Stadium.

Unfortunately for Jalel Kadri’s men it was not enough to secure a place in the round of 16 as Australia beat Denmark 1-0 to finish second in Group D behind Les Bleus.

Khazri, who plays his club football in France for Montpellier, said: It s a mixed feeling. We are happy to beat a team like France, we gave a very good performance and we leave with our heads held high but it s bittersweet as it would ve been perfect to win and go through.

Ultimate…

Luis Enrique reckons he would have had a heart-attack if he knew Spain were briefly heading out of the World Cup during Thursday s dramatic conclusion to Group E.

Spain were beaten 2-1 by Samurai Blue at the Khalifa International Stadium, with Japan coming from behind in the second half after Alvaro Morata s early opener.

La Roja went into the game top of the table but needed a point to absolutely make sure of progression.

They did not even manage that, but Germany s 4-2 win over Costa Rica elsewhere ensured Luis Enrique s men lived to fight another day at the expense of Die Nationalelf, finishing second behind Japan.

There were a few minutes, however, where Spain dropped out of the top two completely as Costa Rica led Germany.

Luis Enrique claime…

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is not surprised by Jose Mourinho s difficult situation at Chelsea this season but hopes his compatriot can turn things around at Stamford Bridge.

Ronaldo worked with Mourinho during the latter s time in charge of Madrid between 2010 and 2013 the duo allegedly enduring a frosty relationship at the Santiago Bernabeu.

However, Ronaldo hopes Mourinho will get Chelsea back on track, with the Premier League champions languishing 15th in the top flight.

Mourinho s situation? I m not surprised because in football anything can happen the Portugal captain told BBC Sport.

Of course, he s a manager that I was working with for two years and I know his potential. I know that not just him but Chelsea are in this tough situation.…

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will field a domestic-based squad for Saturday s international friendly with Bolivia.

The five-time world champions and Bolivia are set to come together in memory of 14-year-old fan Kelvin Beltran, who was struck by a flare and died at a Copa Libertadores match in February.

All proceeds from the game in Santa Cruz de la Sierra will be donated to Beltran s family, with the Brazilian team donating their share of the gate money.

With the game being played outside of a FIFA international date, Scolari will turn to players plying their trade in the Brazilian leagues.

One player likely to feature in Scolari s plans is Sao Paulo striker Osvaldo.

Osvaldo was selected for Brazil s two international friendlies against Italy …

Ivan Rakitic lauded Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta ahead of his impending departure, saying anyone who does not like him as a player has made a mistake .

Iniesta signed what was described as a lifetime contract with Barcelona in October, but the deal reportedly included a get-out clause, allowing him to leave at the end of the season.

He announced his intention to depart in April and for several weeks there were strong reports suggesting he was set to join Chongqing Lifan, only for the Chinese Super League side to release a statement distancing themselves from such claims on Monday.

Japanese club Vissel Kobe then emerged as a potential destination, but they too dismissed the speculation, insisting Iniesta was not realistic for them.

But wherever he en…

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic paid tribute to Sam Allardyce ahead of the Sunderland manager s return to his former club in the Premier League on Saturday.

The match at Upton Park sees Allardyce, who managed the Hammers for four seasons between 2011 and 2015, face his successor for the first time.

Bilic, who at 38 per cent has the best win rate of any Hammers boss in the Premier League era, congratulated his counterpart on his accomplishments ahead of the clash and talked up Sunderland s chances of avoiding relegation.

Sam did great for West Ham, said the former Croatia boss.

He has managed for 20 years very successfully and he took over West Ham at a moment when we were in the Championship. He got us up straight away and stabilised us in the Premier L…

Trent Alexander-Arnold intends to stay at Liverpool for the rest of his career in the hope of becoming a club legend.

The England international has become an integral part of the Reds first team over the past two seasons and finished 19th in this month s Ballon d Or voting.

He further highlighted his importance with a goal and two assists in the 4-0 win over Leicester City, a result that leaves Liverpool well on course for a maiden Premier League trophy.

And the Liverpool-native, who came through the club s academy ranks, has his sights set on writing his name in Anfield folklore.

I ve always wanted to be a club legend, he told Swedish newspaper Sportbladet. Winning titles, playing as many matches as possible, winning matches, becoming captain.

…

According to Sky Sports, West Ham United and Sampdoria have begun talks over the signing of Pedro Obiang. The Italian club are looking to bolster their squad ahead of the new Serie A season, with the 26-year-old being one of the biggest names on their radar.

The fee would be around €10 million and would see Obiang return to the same club that he left for the Hammers back in 2015. Pedro initially started his football journey with Atletico Madrid in his homeland of Spain, before making the jump to Sampdoria where he spent the next seven years of his career.

Obiang s current contract is scheduled to run until 2022 but they re reportedly willing to leave the final decision with him regarding whether or not he feels it s the best move for his development. As he prepares to…

Cristiano Ronaldo is currently mulling over the idea of leaving Juventus this summer, and according to , one of the possibilities is a deal with Paris Saint-Germain which would see Mauro Icardi and Moise Kean move the other way.

The Portuguese superstar would rather return to Real Madrid, where he enjoyed the best part of his long career, but both he and Juventus are aware that Real have other priorities (Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland), as well as that their financial situation is far from ideal at the moment. Therefore, they would be open to a swap deal with PSG.

Having played with great success at Inter Milan, Icardi would hardly have any issues readapting to life and football in Italy. The situation is slightly different with Kean, who is currently at the Parc des Pr…