Manchester City kept pace at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa as Jack Grealish managed only a late cameo against his former club.

Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva put the visitors into the ascendancy with first-half strikes as City claimed their 11th win in 12 meetings with Villa.

Ollie Watkins halved the deficit after the interval prior to the introduction of Grealish, who returned to Villa Park for the first time since joining Pep Guardiola s side for a British record £100million fee.

City remain a point behind leaders Chelsea, who triumphed 2-1 in their away fixture at Watford on Wednesday.

Rodri stung Emiliano Martinez s hands as City dominated the opening stages before Leon Bailey saw a seemingly goal-bound effort blocked …

NBA star LeBron James believes Liverpool will struggle again next season after another summer of upheaval.

The Anfield outfit struggled in 2011-12 despite massive investment in new players and finished eighth, 37 points behind eventual title winners Manchester City.

The Reds have since appointed Brendan Rodgers to replace Kenny Dalglish as manager but, despite the change at the helm, the Miami Heat forward, who signed a deal with Fenway Sports Group in April 2011 to become a minority shareholder, fears that the club will still fail to close the gap.

James told the Daily Mail: It s a difficult time for the club right now.

Liverpool are a team in a period of transition at the moment, so I don t know what they can achieve.

The 2008 Olympic gold wi…

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell hopes to introduce on-loan Arsenal striker Mika Biereth for a potential debut in Sunday’s cinch Premiership encounter with Hibernian.

With Jon Obika still doubtful with a hamstring issue, Theo Bair produced a goalscoring debut in last weekend’s draw with Dundee and Denmark Under-21 international Biereth could come into contention for Motherwell’s first home game of the league season.

Kettlewell said: “He has trained the tail end of last week, he got two sessions in, and he has trained this week as well.

“He missed a couple of weeks at Arsenal so it’s just a case of us trying to get as much content into him as we can, work away with him over the next couple of days.

“But I am fairly certain that he pushes …

Skenderbeu Korce edged past Debrecen in their UEFA Champions League second qualifying round clash, while HJK Helsinki crushed KR Reykjavik.

Sebino Plaku was the hero for Skenderbeu Korce, with his strike shortly after the hour mark steering the Albanian side to a 1-0 first leg victory.

Debrecen, who reached the group stages of the competition in 2009/2010, made a flying start to the match with Peter Szakaly s header flying over the bar.

But Skenderbeu Korce started to impose themselves on the contest as the match progressed and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal on 65 minutes.

Gjergj Muzaka put a delightful cross into the box and Plaku was on hand to find the back of the net.

That strike proved to be enough for Skenderbeu Korce to regist…

Premier League side Norwich City have announced on their official website that they have signed midfielder Alexander Tettey from Rennes.

The Norwegian international has signed a two-year deal with an option for another year and his transfer is subject to international clearance.

The 26-year-old is set to become club’s seventh signing of the transfer window as the Canaries look to build a squad capable of surviving the Premiership campaign.

Norwich boss Chris Hughton believes Tettey would prove to be a big asset to the squad at Carrow Road.

I m delighted to have Alexander on board and I firmly believe he will be a valuable asset for us, the talented manager said to club’s official website.

He s a very good player with international experienc…

AFC Asian Player of the Year and Al Ain star Omar Abdulrahman will represent Al Ahli in Tuesday s friendly against Spanish champions Barcelona.

A star of Asian football following his exploits for United Arab Emirates and Al Ain, 25-year-old attacking midfielder Abdulrahman has been given special dispensation to play for the reigning Saudi champions in Doha, Qatar.

Abdulrahman – who was crowned MVP in this season s AFC Champions League after Al Ain lost the final to Jeonbuk Motors last month – will come up against Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and company in front of a sell-out crowd as his club Al Ain do battle with Dubba in the Arabian Gulf Cup on the same day.

Personally, I m extremely happy to see Amoory play this historic friendly, which I believe …

that Everton midfielder Tom Cleverley is set to join Watford in the January transfer window.

The two clubs have agreed on a loan deal, with the 27-year-old expected to undergo a medical during the day.

It was at Vicarage Road that Cleverley played the best football of his career, scoring 13 goals in 48 Championship appearances back when he was making a name for himself at Manchester United.

The experienced footballer has since represented Aston Villa and Everton, but after starting just four league matches for the Toffees this term, he was allowed to leave in search of regular playing time.

Tom Cleverley made a total of 32 Premier League appearances for Everton, scoring 2 goals.

The midfielder has 13 England caps to his name, but he last represe…

Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti is hoping to avoid facing up against Real Madrid s lethal BBC front line in Wednesday s Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Bayern welcome Madrid to the Allianz Arena amid suggestions Zinedine Zidane may not field his usual attack of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, who is without a goal in his last 613 minutes of continental action.

And at his pre-match news conference on Tuesday, Ancelotti said he would be happy to see none of the three forwards in the team for the blockbuster clash in Munich.

I ve seen a lot of Madrid matches and I think I know a lot about the BBC, Ancelotti told reporters.

I think Madrid are on course to win the league and they do very well with BBC. Without them in the te…

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants to keep Sergio Aguero but the Argentina striker and club captain Vincent Kompany face futures where they must adjust to no longer being the main men at the Etihad Stadium.

Kompany and Aguero will forever be symbols of the first flushes of City success under Sheikh Mansour s ownership, with the centre-back lifting every major honour in English football – most memorably the club s first top-flight title for 44 years on the back of Aguero s thrilling final-day winner against QPR in 2012.

Muscular injuries have hindered both men frequently thereafter, with Kompany suffering a particularly debilitating run over the past two years, although their positions as guaranteed starters if fit have rarely been up for debate.

Howe…

West Brom had a men sent off and were dramatically held to a 2-2 draw at Charlton Athletic after Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday missed the chance to apply pressure to the Championship leaders.

Slaven Bilic s side remain two points clear at the top after the Yorkshire rivals played out a 0-0 draw at Hillsborough.

Preston North End are up to second, above Leeds on goal difference, after coming from 2-0 down to claim a stunning 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers in the all-Lancashire clash at Deepdale.

Huddersfield Town extended their unbeaten run to six matches and climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Barnsley that left their opponents bottom of the pile.

Cullen holds his nerve after Ferguson sees red

West Brom had to s…