Villa's Gerrard primed for emotional Liverpool return

As much as Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard may protest that his mind is focused purely on his team beating Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, there can be no denying the emotions his return to Anfield will stir up.

A Liverpudlian who joined the team's youth set-up as a nine-year-old, Gerrard went on to make 504 appearances for the club, most famously captaining them to their astonishing comeback in the 2005 Champions League final win over AC Milan.

He played his final game for Liverpool at Anfield in 2015 and had a spell as a youth coach in the academy before taking on the manager's job at Scottish club Rangers.

Gerrard's success in winning the Scottish Premiership last season earned him the chance to take over at Villa following the dismissal of Dean Smith last month.

The 41-year-old has made a swift impact at the Midlands club, winning three of his opening four games in charge, with the only loss coming to league leaders Manchester City.

It would be no surprise if, when the Juergen Klopp era has ended, Gerrard returns to manage Liverpool but he is smart enough to know there is little to gain from such talk now.

"I just want to go there and try to win and take what we can. For us, we’re not competing with Liverpool, in terms of the level we’re both at, at the moment, but we’ll certainly go there and give it everything we’ve got," he said.

Gerrard says he is happy to sacrifice his popularity at Anfield for a positive result for his side when they face Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Liverpool great returns to Anfield for the first time as a coach with his Villa side looking for their fourth win in five league matches.

"I really respect and understand all the noise around the game for obvious reasons," Gerrard told a news conference on Friday.

"The noise is for other people to get excited about. For me, it's about preparing the team in the best way I can, to try and get a positive result for Aston Villa.

"For everyone else, it's a massive occasion. For me, it's three points, it's a big game of football and it's 90 minutes that we need to focus on.

"If I'm on the bus, heading back down the M6 towards Birmingham and I'm not the most popular at Anfield, so be it."

The 41-year-old has made quite the impression since arriving at Villa Park, leading the struggling side up to 10th in the league standings with 19 points from 15 games.

Villa will be buoyed by having striker Danny Ings available for this weekend after the former Southampton player recovered from injury along with left back Matt Targett.

"We've got Danny Ings back which is a real positive," Gerrard said.

"People who have been coming back from injuries a few weeks back are getting fit and stronger and are pushing for places, so there's a load of positivity going around at the moment."

There will no doubt be a warm welcome from the fans in the Kop and kind words from Klopp but the German has plenty else to focus his mind as the three-horse race for the title enters the crucial Christmas season.

Liverpool are second in the table, a point behind Pep Guardiola's City and one ahead of European champions Chelsea.

City host Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and need no reminding of the threat they face having lost to Wolves twice in 2019 -- including a 2-0 defeat at home when Adama Traore scored twice.

Chelsea, having lost top spot with defeat by West Ham last week, can ill-afford another slip-up at home to struggling Leeds United.

Ralf Rangnick has made a positive start as interim manager of Manchester United and his first away game takes him to bottom club Norwich City who have shown signs of life since Smith took over from German Daniel Farke.

Spurs Premier League match at Brighton postponed due to COVID-19

Tottenham Hotspur have had a second match postponed this week after the Premier League agreed on Thursday to call off Sunday's game at Brighton & Hove Albion due to a number of COVID-19 cases at the London club.

Spurs had their Europa Conference League game at home to Stade Rennais on Thursday called off by UEFA on Wednesday after the club said they had 13 positive coronavirus cases -- eight players and five members of staff.

"The Premier League Board has taken the decision to postpone the game following guidance from medical advisers, with the health of players and staff the priority," the league said in a statement.

"The postponed fixture will be rescheduled in due course and the Premier League wishes a quick recovery to those with COVID-19."

Rennes criticised the decision to postpone the Europa League game, saying it was taken unilaterally by Tottenham and that they reserved the right to appeal to UEFA.

"UEFA can confirm that the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage match, Tottenham Hotspur v Stade Rennais FC, which was due to be played on 9 December in London, will not be taking place as scheduled," the governing body said in a statement.

It is unclear whether other Spurs games will be affected. They are due to play at Leicester City in the league on Dec. 16 and at home to Liverpool on December 19.

Vitesse Arnhem, level with Tottenham in Europa Conference League Group G on seven points from five games, were due to host Mura on Thursday at the same time (2000GMT) as the Spurs-Rennes match.

The Dutch side said in a statement that they had asked UEFA to postpone their clash as well as they were concerned about the fairness of the matches taking place separately.

Vitesse and Spurs are vying to finish second and secure a spot in a playoff round before the last 16.

Rennes have reached the last 16 as Group G winners on 11 points after five matches. Spurs are above Vitesse on goal difference, with Slovenian side Mura out of contention on three.

"Vitesse has not (yet) received an official message from UEFA about the consequences of the cancellation in London for Vitesse vs NS Mura," Vitesse said in a statement.

"If Tottenham Hotspur vs Stade Rennais FC is moved to a later date that will be a significant disadvantage for Vitesse from a sporting point of view because both teams are highly dependent on each other's result."

UEFA said on Thursday the match would go ahead as scheduled.

Pele expects to leave hospital in 'a few days'

Brazilian soccer great Pele said he would be home from hospital in a few days after undergoing chemotherapy as part of his treatment following an operation to remove a colon tumor.

Three-time World Cup winner Pele, who was admitted to Sao Paulo's Hospital Albert Einstein on Wednesday, underwent an operation to remove the tumor in September and spent nearly a month under care.

"Since September 30, when I left the hospital, I have been having small chemotherapy sessions as part of my treatment. Today I'm at Albert Einstein doing the last session of 2021," the 81-year-old wrote in an Instagram post.

"I wanted to share this achievement with you. After all, every little victory is a reason to celebrate.

"I'm going to take this chance to do a new battery of exams, so I'm going to stay here for a few days. Don't worry, I'm just getting ready for the holiday season."

Widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time, Pele has suffered from a series of health issues in recent years. Hip surgery left him with recurring pain and he cannot now walk unaided.

He appeared upbeat in videos taken during his recovery period in September and October and he said on Twitter last month that he was feeling better "every day."

Mascherano to coach Argentina U-20 side

Former Barcelona and Liverpool player Javier Mascherano is to take over as coach of Argentina's Under-20 team next year, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) said on Thursday.

It will be a first coaching job for Mascherano, who won more than 100 caps for the national side playing in defence and midfield. The 37-year-old replaces Fernando Batista from January, the AFA said.

After a long career with stints at River Plate, Corinthians, West Ham and Estudiantes, Mascherano retired in November 2020.