Cruzeiro: Cruzeiro have moved one win away from a second successive league title after coming from behind to beat Gremio 2-1. Cruzeiro, who have three games in which to secure three points and an unassailable lead, beat Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side late Thursday having been behind at the break. The Belo Horizonte side, who have 73 points, seven clear of Sao Paulo, are also in the final of the Brazilian Cup and play city rivals Atletico Mineiro next week. Atletico take a 2-0 advantage into the second leg.

Di Santo: Werder Bremen’s Franco Di Santo will miss the northern German derby against Hamburg tomorrow after picking up a knee ligament injury in training. The Argentine forward has been Werder’s best player in a bad start to the season that sees the former Bundesliga champions languish in 16th spot, just a point above last-placed Stuttgart.

Hall of Fame: Ex-South Korean defender and coach Hong Myung-bo, Iran’s Ali Daei and ex-Australian international Harry Kewell were among the first 10 players to be inducted into the Asian Football Confederations’ Hall of Fame yesterday. Kewell, who was voted Australia’s greatest ever player, was inducted despite many of his best years coming before the Socceroos were permitted to join the AFC in 2006.

Senderos: Aston Villa defender Philippe Senderos is out for a month with a calf injury he suffered on international duty with Switzerland. His absence adds to the growing defensive problems ahead of the visit of Southampton on Monday with Ron Vlaar (calf) also unavailable and Nathan Baker (knee) sidelined for two months.

Upson: Matt Upson is nearing the end of his Leicester injury nightmare and could start playing again next week. The defender has been out with a foot injury since he signed from Brighton in the summer and is yet to play for the Foxes. Leicester’s U-21 take on Benfica on Monday in the Premier League International Cup and Upson could feature.

Watson: A member of the financial watchdog committee at FIFA has been charged with fraud, money-laundering and breach of trust by police in the Cayman Islands. Canover Watson, a vice-president of the Caribbean Union and member of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee, was charged with five offences by the Cayman Islands Anti-Corruption Commission.

Championship: Brentford vs Fulham 2-1; Cardiff vs Reading 2-1.

Lega Pro: (Group B) Forli vs Spal 1-0; (Group C) Catanzaro vs Barletta 1-0.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.