Ronaldo set to feature again in Europa League

Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo during training before their Europa League match against Omonia Nicosia at Manchester United Training, Aon Training Complex, Manchester on Wednesday. (Reuters)
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Updated 12 October 2022
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Ronaldo set to feature again in Europa League

  • With Anthony Martial injured once again, Ronaldo should start for United at Old Trafford
  • The Portugal forward has been marginalized since the hiring of manager Erik ten Hag

DUBAI: Cristiano Ronaldo will look to push Manchester United closer to the knockout stage by helping the English team beat Omonia Nicosia for the second time in a week.
With Anthony Martial injured once again, Ronaldo should start for United at Old Trafford and is pressing a case to get more minutes in the Premier League after scoring the winner against Everton on Sunday for his first open-play goal of the season.
The Portugal forward has been marginalized since the hiring of manager Erik ten Hag, who looks to want more mobility and pressing from his strikers, meaning Ronaldo has mostly been used in Europe so far this season.
United had to come from behind to beat Omonia 2-1 last week to move to six points, three behind Real Sociedad. Sociedad, which host Sheriff Tiraspol, is one of four teams to have opened with three straight wins while Arsenal have won two from two, with their other match having been postponed.
Of those with 100 percent records, Real Betis host Roma, German team Freiburg visit Nantes and Belgian club Union St. Gilloise host Braga.
Arsenal, the Premier League leader, visit Bodø/Glimt in Norway.

EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
West Ham are eyeing another deep run in continental competition after reaching the Europa League semifinals last season, and can secure qualification from their group with two games to spare if they beat second-place Anderlecht.
West Ham winger Maxwel Cornet remains out with a calf strain and forward Michail Antonio has missed training with a cold. Elsewhere, Villarreal have won all three of their games so far and can extend that perfect start away at Austria Vienna, the last-place team in their group.
Fiorentina’s uneven start has left the Italian team three points behind group leader Istanbul Başakşehir. Next up for Fiorentina is a game at home to Scottish side Hearts. In Group D, Cologne face a potentially tricky away visit to Partizan Belgrade, while Nice plays Czech club Slovácko.


Brief Christmas pause in Cup of Nations action

Updated 9 sec ago
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Brief Christmas pause in Cup of Nations action

  • The tournament in Morocco kicked off on Sunday, and the first four days of matches have run to form
  • Morocco has invested heavily in footballing infrastructure for the tournament

RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations paused for Christmas on Thursday, but it is a brief 24-hour break with two more rounds of group competition to be crammed into the next week.
The tournament in Morocco kicked off on Sunday, and the first four days of matches have run to form, with many of the favorites serving notice of their potential in their respective opening fixtures.
Morocco has invested heavily in footballing infrastructure for the tournament, and with an eye on their ⁠co-hosting of the 2030 World Cup finals, there is an enormous burden of expectation on their team to deliver the Cup of Nations title in return.
Morocco are heavily fancied for home success, but they have a long history of flopping at the continental championship, having won the Cup of Nations once previously, some 50 years ago.
They ⁠will be back in action on Friday, facing a much tougher opponent, Mali, in Rabat in their second Group A match, with much of the focus on a .
The newly crowned African Footballer of the Year faced missing the tournament when he injured an ankle in Champions League action for Paris St. Germain last month but returned to training last week and could be given some game time on Boxing Day.
A spotlight also remains on Egypt’s Mohamed Salah after he was benched by Liverpool last month and then .
The ⁠tournament in Morocco is a break from his club travails for Salah, who netted a on Monday for Egypt as they came from behind to beat Zimbabwe.
Egypt will be hoping a return to form continues when they take on South Africa in Agadir on Friday.
There were impressive starts this week for and , who are two of the favorites, and wins also for defending champions Ivory Coast and former winners Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Tunisia.
The group stage of the tournament will be completed on December 31, with the last-16 kicking off on January 3. The final is on January 18.