Mulumbu: West Brom midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu is suspended for tomorrow’s Carling Cup quarter-final with Ipswich at Portman Road. Mulumbu will start a two-game ban after being sent-off for two bookable offences during Saturday’s 4-1 win at Everton. He has to serve an extra one match suspension, against Newcastle on Sunday, as it was his second red card of the campaign.
Barrios: Borussia Dortmund’s top scorer, Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios, is expected to miss at least his side’’s next two games with a knee injury. A scan on Monday showed the 26-year-old damaged his right knee after scoring in the German league leaders’ 4-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach last weekend.
Polster: Linz announced yesterday that they have removed Toni Polster, formerly the star striker of the Austrian national team, from his role as reserves coach. Linz, who are currently bottom of the table, said it was due to a “re-organisation of the sporting sector”. Polster will, however, continue in his role as a consultant on marketing matters.
Agbonlahor: Gabriel Agbonlahor is set to return for his side’s English League Cup quarter-final away to city rivals Birmingham City at St Andrew’s today. The striker missed the 4-2 Premier League loss to Arsenal on Saturday because of illness but is now in contention for the last-eight clash. Attacking midfielder Stephen Ireland is set to miss out with illness but centre-back James Collins is fit.
Ski masks: Bundesliga side Leverkusen are set to wear ski masks for Wednesday’s Europa League game in Group B against Norway’s Rosenborg Trondheim with sub-zero temperatures expected. The players trained with the masks yesterday in their final session at Lerkendal Stadium and have faced freezing temperatures since they arrived in Norway.
In Italy: Serie B – Frosinone vs Pescara 1-1. Coppa Italia fourth round – Chievo vs Novara 3-0; Fiorentina vs Reggiana 3-0. Today – 15.00 Bari vs Livorno.
French Ligue 1: Brest vs Racing Lens 4-1.
Golf: Italian teenager Matteo Manassero has been named the European Tour’s Rookie of the Year after a record-breaking start to his career during which he became the youngest player to win in the tour’s history. Manassero launched his professional career in the Italian Open at the beginning of May and in October, at the age of 17 years and 188 days, he won the Castello Masters in Valencia. The former British Amateur champion went on to finish in 31st place in The 2010 Race to Dubai, playing 54 rounds for which he was 73 under par with only seven scores over 72.
Fed Cup: Russian Fed Cup skipper Shamil Tarpishchev yesterday named his squad to play France in the opening round of next year’s Fed Cup in Moscow on February 5-6. Maria Sharapova, the world number 18, will spearhead the Russian side along with Svetlana Kuznetsova, 27th in the WTA rankings, and Dinara Safina, ranked 63rd. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who finished the season in 21st place in the rankings, was also named in the line-up.
Cycling: Swiss cyclist Fabien Cancellara has joined the Luxembourgian team set up around the brothers Franck and Andy Schleck, the new outfit announced yesterday. Cancellara, Olympic champion in 2008 and four-time world time-trial champion, has signed a three-year contract, having left Danish team Saxo Bank in September. “In adding the name of Cancellara to the team, the management have managed to assemble one of the best groups in modern cycling,” said Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project in a press release.
Rugby Union: Former England hooker Brian Moore has won the 2010 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award for his autobiography, ‘Beware of the Dog: Rugby’s Hardman Reveals All’. As well as charting the highs and lows of a 64-cap career, the book also reveals details of the sexual abuse Moore suffered as a child. The 48-year-old Moore, who received a cheque for £22,000, has forged a career as a television rugby commentator and newspaper columnist since retiring as a player.