Cole Palmer is set to withdraw from the England squad, with Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo also doubts to join up with Thomas Tuchel‘s camp.

Palmer, who was recalled by Tuchel last week after he was left out of England’s squad for the World Cup, is reportedly dealing with a small injury, though he completed Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Brentford on Friday night.

The 24-year-old has featured in all five of Chelsea’s Premier League matches this term but struggled with injuries in a disrupted campaign last season, recently saying during a Twitch stream that he “had one leg for 10 months”.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick confirmed Rashford picked up an “issue” when during the 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday, with the forward substituted while appearing to be struggling with his hip – which was a persistent issue over the summer.

Midfielder Mainoo, who travelled to this summer’s World Cup but did not play a single minute of the tournament under Tuchel, was also substituted during the closing stages of the draw at Craven Cottage.

England will play four matches over the newly expanded three-week international break, kicking off against World Cup winners Spain at Wembley on Saturday 26 September. That is followed by trips to Czech Republic and Croatia, before concluding the set of Nations League games against the Czech Republic at Wembley on Tuesday 6 October.

Fulham Manager, Alvaro Arbeloa has accused the officiating referees in his club’s match against Manchester United on Sunday, of not wanting Manchester United to lose against Fulham because of the injustice Michael Carrick’s side faced in the Manchester derby last weekend.

United rescued a 1-1 draw after Matheus Cunha scored a deflected 89th-minute equaliser – but Fulham head coach Arbeloa was furious that, 35 seconds before the goal, United were given a free-kick for a foul on Harry Maguire on the halfway line.

Arbeloa felt the free-kick for Cesar Palacios’ foul on Maguire was soft and felt that referee Michael Oliver and his team of officials gave “all fouls” to United – because of the “error in judgement” by the officials who incorrectly awarded Erling Haaland’s Manchester derby winner at Old Trafford last weekend.

“All fouls for them,” Arbeloa claimed in a post match interview.
“You can see before they scored, the foul against Maguire, he’s a guy who is 100 kilos. Every decision was for them.

“And I knew. I knew after the game against Man City that they [would not] let Manchester United lose here. We deserved a little bit more.

“We were so close. So, so close. We were a little bit unlucky again. We knew it would be difficult against this big team.

“Also we knew what happened last week. We have seen what the referees have been doing in all the matches so it was a difficult game. And we we were unlucky.”

Ruben Amorim insists he will not be pushed into making the same tactical mistakes he made during his stint with Manchester United, now he is in charge of AC Milan.

Amorim’s unbeaten start in Serie A continued on Sunday with a comfortable 3-0 win against Lecce at San Siro, with the result moving Milan up to fifth in the standings.

Christian Pulisic’s sensational touch and finish put Milan ahead early on, before Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira sealed the win for the Rossoneri during a dominant second half.

Milan’s victory saw them remain unbeaten in their opening five Serie A matches of a season for the first time since 2022-23

Amorim has become only the third foreign manager in Milan’s history to not taste defeat in each of his first five Serie A games in charge, after Luis Carniglia and Nils Liedholm both in 1963-64.

Speaking after the game, Amorim revealed he allowed his side to play with “freedom”, and when asked about the reasoning behind that decision, he highlighted his turbulent tenure at Old Trafford, where he was reluctant to adapt his style of play.

“It’s an observation of the games and the characteristics,” Amorim told DAZN, as quoted by Football Italia.

“Of course, I listen to the players, but a manager, especially in a big team, is always listening to the players, seeing and understanding them, but every player wants to push the game towards their characteristics, and if you want to have an identity, that is hard.

“It’s always my decision. What I felt in the last games is the same that I felt at Manchester United, and I cannot make the same mistake.

“Sometimes we don’t have the perfect characteristics to play in that way, and if we don’t have them, we have to adapt. I think today worked.

“In another game, we can return to the build-up with three [at the back]. The important thing is to have different ways of playing.

“That’s especially important in Italy, because the managers are really smart, they mark really well one against one, and when they lose the reference to what we want to do, it’s harder for them to understand their mobility, just as they make it harder for me to understand their teams.”

Milan have now won their first two home Serie A matches of a season while keeping a clean sheet in both for the first time since 2020-21, when they beat Bologna 2-0 and Spezia 3-0 under Stefano Pioli.