#injuries

#injuries

Starting with the hosts, marking their return from October's international break with a gritty 1-0 victory away at historic rivals Roma, Inter Milan watched their title dreams take a real dent over the weekend. Eventually falling to a 3-1 loss at the hands of defending Serie A champions Napoli, it has been suggested that new boss Cristian Chivu already has some mounting pressure on his shoulders at the San Siro. However, despite opening Wednesday's return to Milan sat down in fourth-place, the former Parma manager has seen his squad win each of their other seven appearances across all competitions.

The Rangers gifted San Jose their first win of the season, more wins than the Rangers have at MSG this year, with poor and sloppy play. Now with Matt Rempe joining Vincent Trocheck on the injured list, Brennan Othmann has been recalled to hopefully inject some life into this listless offense. Othmann will join Will Cuylle in flanking Noah Laba for a line that should be fun to watch.

But with guard Luka Doncic (left finger sprain, lower left leg contusion) and LeBron James (right sciatica) out, it was going to be tough for the Lakers. Then with guards Marcus Smart (right quad contusion) and Gabe Vincent (left ankle sprain) down, it meant the Lakers were in deeper trouble without much of their backcourt. Add Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle strain), Jaxson Hayes (right patellar tendinopathy) and Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) sitting the bench

As the heavens opened over Anfield, the TV cameras panned to the Liverpool dugout. Behind head coach Arne Slot and his bench of substitutes, Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak, and Florian Wirtz were sat side-by-side in the stands, bundled up against the cold. The trio have more than 500 career goals between them, but on Wednesday night, they were powerless to do anything but watch as Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.

Dyche acknowledged that the absence of Wood, who scored 20 goals in 36 league appearances last season, presents a "different challenge". "Myself and my staff are very experienced in the Premier League, but we haven't got magic dust and you can't just suddenly make players score lots of goals," Dyche told Forest TV. "What you are doing is forming a style of play that creates more chances, which will then come down to someone putting the ball in the net.

Following their 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid, FC Barcelona will be itching to bounce back strongly when they take on Elche tomorrow at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. Already five points behind Xabi Alonso's men, the Blaugrana could find themselves trailing by eight, given that the current league leaders play relegation-battling Valencia later tonight. So, it goes without saying that after a forgetful month of October, Hansi Flick & co. cannot afford any more slip-ups and must get things back on track immediately.

With the midweek DFB-Pokal match out of the way, Bayern Munich returns its focus to the Bundesliga.

Any 49ers-Giants matchup should ooze excitement. Maybe that's because each franchise has four wins in their playoff matchups, two of which the Giants pulled out at Candlestick Park en route to Super Bowl wins in the 1990 and 2011 seasons. Maybe it's a West Coast vs. East Coast thing. Regardless, it will be a world away from Houston's dreary den in which the 49ers sleepwalked their way to a 26-15 defeat last Sunday and fell to 5-3.

At a certain point, I asked myself, 'Why are you doing this?'. It didn't make sense anymore. It was time to listen to myself. Over the last two years, I've played in conditions that weren't normal for a professional footballer. And if I could do it again today, I'd make the same choice. I was at the stadium for Milan-Fiorentina, and I didn't get that feeling of... um... 'Wow, I wish I were on the pitch.'

Nottingham Forest's Ola Aina (hamstring) and Dilane Bakwa (unspecified) remain sidelined with injuries, while Chris Wood (knee) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin) will both be assessed ahead of kickoff. Ruben Amorim hopes to have Harry Maguire available after the defender missed the Brighton win with a minor issue, though Lisandro Martínez remains sidelined with a knee injury. If Maguire returns, Leny Yoro could drop out, joining Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw in a back three.

"Concussion protocol,"

We never lost faith, said head coach Danny Jones. If we look at the scores of games, we're battling our (butts) off. We knew the football team that we were and what we were capable of, and it's wonderful to be able to put it together and to see it for four quarters on both sides of the ball. We have one game left in the season. If we win, we're in the playoffs.

Burnley are waiting on the availability of midfielder Lesley Ugochuukwu after he came off in the Wolves game but he is expected to be fit. Jordan Beyer, Zeki Amdouni and Connor Roberts all remain sidelined for the Clarets. Arsenal, as ever, have some issues. William Saliba came off against Crystal Palace last weekend and the key defender is uunlikely to be fit, while Gabriel Martinelli is also out with a muuscle injury. Declan Rice is a slight doubt with a knock but should be available.

"We never lost faith," said head coach Danny Jones. "If we look at the scores of games, we're battling our (butts) off. We knew the football team that we were and what we were capable of, and it's wonderful to be able to put it together and to see it for four quarters on both sides of the ball. "We have one game left in the season. If we win, we're in the playoffs. I feel so good about whatever bracket they want to put us in, whether that's the D2 or the D3 bracket. I feel like the schedule we've played all year long, we're hardened and we're battle-tested and we're a physical football team."

A banged-up San Jose Sharks defense corps got some positive news this week as Nick Leddy and Shakir Mukhamadullin, while both on injured reserve with upper-body ailments, are not expected to miss much more time. Leddy was placed on IR on Tuesday after he was injured during the Sharks' game against the New York Rangers on Oct. 23. But he and Mukhamadullin were on the ice with the Sharks during their morning skate prior to the team's game Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center.