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LIVE, League Cup: Man United, Man City in action

By Joe Prince-WrightSep 25, 2018, 2:08 PM EDT

Ten League Cup games take place on Tuesday, with the third round of the competition kicking off.

[ LIVE: Follow League Cup scores ]

There is one all-Premier League clash as Wolves host Leicester City, while Manchester City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Burnley and Fulham all face lower league opposition.

Jose Mourinho’s United side host Frank Lampard‘s Derby Country at Old Trafford, while reigning League Cup champions Man City head to Oxford United in a real David vs. Goliath battle.

Below is the schedule in full for Tuesday’s games, while we will keep you up to date with the action here at Pro Soccer Talk.

Tuesday’s EFL Cup schedule (all games 2:45 p.m. ET, unless noted)

Manchester United vs. Derby County — 3 p.m. ET
Oxford United vs. Manchester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Leicester City
West Bromwich Albion vs. Crystal Palace — 3 p.m. ET
Bournemouth vs. Blackburn Rovers
Burton vs. Burnley
Millwall vs. Fulham
Blackpool vs. Queens Park Rangers
Wycombe vs. Norwich City
Preston North End vs. Middlesbrough

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Report: Mourinho tells Pogba he will not captain Man United again

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 25, 2018, 1:26 PM EDT

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Reports are circulating that Jose Mourinho has told Paul Pogba he will not captain Manchester United again.

After United’s 1-1 draw against Wolves on Saturday, Pogba approached reporters in the mixed zone at Old Trafford and told them United must “attack, attack, attack” when playing at home.

He set up United’s goal against Wolves but was at fault for the equalizer.

Pogba has worn the captains armband for several games this season (mostly due to Antonio Valencia’s ongoing injury problems) despite his outspoken nature in the media and reports of a rift between himself and Mourinho over the past 12 months.

The BBC claim that Mourinho has told Pogba he will not wear the captains armband again, as the French superstar appeared to undermine his authority when it came to tactics. A separate report from The Times states that Mourinho told his entire squad that Pogba would no longer captain the team on Tuesday ahead of their League Cup clash with Derby County at Old Trafford, as he addressed the team at the training ground and dropped Pogba from the matchdsy squad.

Mourinho is said to have reminded his players that nobody is bigger than the club and was furious with Pogba’s attitude in recent games.

Speaking in his programme notes ahead of their clash with Derby on Tuesday, Mourinho said the following about his players.

“[The game against Wolves was] an important lesson; a lesson that I repeat week after week after week, a lesson that some boys are not learning,” Mourinho said. “Every team that play Manchester United are playing the game of their lives, and we need to match that level of aggression, motivation and desire – 95% isn’t enough when others give 101%.”

Rumors persisted all summer long about Pogba leaving United to move to Barcelona or going back to Juventus.

Those reports will now intensify ahead of the January transfer window as Mourinho seems to have finally lost his patience with the enigmatic midfielder. Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, has had plenty to say about his client and will no doubt be talking in the coming days.

Since his then world-record transfer of $120 million from Juve in the summer of 2016, Pogba has struggled to find cosistency at United under Mourinho and was dropped last season and his attitude was questioned.

Even though his form for France in their 2018 World Cup win was much improved and he won many plaudits, Mourinho was hardly complimentary of Pogba’s displays, further fuelling the fire of a significant rift between the duo.

It seems that the relationship between Mourinho and Pogba has now hit rock bottom. Where do they go from here? What a mess.

Premier League player Power Rankings

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 25, 2018, 12:21 PM EDT

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Premier League player Power Rankings are back after Week 6 of the 2018-19 season.

[ MORE: Full Power Rankings archive ]

The cream usually rises to the top but this week we have quite a few surprise inclusions into the upper echelons of our rankings.

Remember: this is a list of the top 20 performing players right now in the Premier League and based on them actually playing in the previous Matchweek. If they didn’t play due to injury or suspension, they aren’t going to make this list. Simple.

Let us know in the comments section below if you agree with the selections.

Ilkay Gundogan (Man City) – New entry
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – New entry
Aaron Lennon (Burnley) – New entry
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) – New entry
Ruben Neves (Wolves) – Up 7
Bernardo Silva (Man City) – New entry
David De Gea (Man United ) – Up 11
Jorginho (Chelsea) – Even
Sadio Mane (Liverpool) – Down 3
Harry Kane (Tottenham) – New entry
N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) – New entry
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) – Down 12
Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) – New entry
Joao Moutinho (Wolves) – New entry
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) – New entry
James Madisson (Leicester City) – New entry
Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham) – New entry
Raul Jimenez (Wolves) – Down 2
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) – New entry
Joe Hart (Burnley) – New entry

Who voted for who at the FIFA awards?

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 25, 2018, 11:31 AM EDT

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This is always one of the best parts about the morning after the night before when it comes to the annual FIFA awards.

Who voted for who?

With the national team coach, captain and one media member from all of FIFA’s member associations getting to vote for the three best players on the planet, Luka Modric came out on top with Cristiano Ronaldo second and Mohamed Salah third.

In terms of voting, a player received five points every time he was selected in top spot, while they received three points for a second place on the ballot and one point for being selected third.

The U.S. men’s national team interim head coach Dave Sarachan went for a Messi, Ronaldo, Modric top three, while current captain Wil Trapp went for Modric, Ronaldo then Messi.

And while Messi voted for Ronaldo as his third choice, Ronaldo didn’t include a single Barcelona player in his top three and instead selected two of his former Real Madrid teammates.

Below we take a look at some of the big name voters and who they selected to win the top individual prize on the planet.

While you can find the full list of voting for the FIFA male player of the year award right here.

Dave Sarachan – USMNT coach: Lionel Messi (1st), Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd), Luka Modric (3rd)

Wil Trapp – USMNT captain: Luka Modric (1st), Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd), Lionel Messi (3rd)

Lionel Messi – Argentina captain: Luka Modric (1st) Kylian Mbappe (2nd) Cristiano Ronaldo (3rd)

Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal captain: Raphael Varane (1st) Luka Modric (2nd) Antoine Griezmann (3rd)

Luka Modric – Croatia captain: Raphael Varane (1st) Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd) Antoine Griezmann

Harry Kane – England captain: Cristiano Ronaldo (1st) Lionel Messi (2nd) Kevin De Bruyne (3rd)

Hugo Loris – France captain: Raphael Varane (1st) Antoine Griezmann (2nd) Kylian Mbappe (3rd)

Manuel Neuer – Germany captain: Eden Hazard (1st) Luka Modric (2nd) Raphael Varane (3rd)

Virgil Van Dijk – Netherlands captain: Mohamed Salah (1st) Kevin De Bruyne (2nd) Kylian Mbappe (3rd)

Sergio Ramos – Spain captain: Luka Modric (1st) Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd) Lionel Messi (3rd)

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Explaining Ronaldo, Messi no show for FIFA awards

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 25, 2018, 10:37 AM EDT

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For the last decade either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have been crowned the best player on the planet, winning the coveted award five times each and finish second on the other five occasions.

On Monday in London, FIFA’s TheBest award went to Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric at the glitzy award evening in London, with Ronaldo finishing second and Mohamed Salah third. Messi wasn’t even nominated among the top three despite an incredible last 12 months, and that was one of several bizarre decisions as votes were counted by national team coaches, captains and selected journalists and officials from around the world.

Neither Messi nor Ronaldo were present to applaud Modric, as they both decided not to attend the event with Messi citing “personal reasons” on the morning of the event and he remained in Spain ahead of Barcelona’s trip to Leganes on Wednesday. While Ronaldo pulled out due to Juventus’ busy schedule as they have a Serie A game on Wednesday.

Ronaldo knew it was unlikely he would win the award after Modric was handed the best player award by UEFA and won the Golden Ball as the best player at the World Cup this summer, while Messi’s goal was in the running for the Puskas award but lost out to Mo Salah’s striker against Everton.

At many of the previous events it has been too close to call between Messi and Ronaldo as to who will win the best player on the planet. But this was the first time in a decade the award was destined to go elsewhere.

But should they have shown up on Monday?

Both Messi and Ronaldo were included in the FIFPro World 11 and the other nine players included in that team turned up. Granted, it was easier for the three Premier League players (Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante and David De Gea) to make it, but four Real Madrid players still showed up, plus Kylian Mbappe and Dani Alves from elsewhere in Europe. Real Madrid play on Wednesday, so too do PSG and Chelsea and Man United, but their players turned up.

Can we really criticize Messi and Ronaldo for not showing up in London?

Both players have given us so much joy over the years and this is only one awards ceremony (and a slightly confusing and long-winded one at that), but what does their inability to show up when they haven’t won the main award suggest?

Are they simply so trophy orientated that they can’t bear the thought of being in a room full of the greatest players and coaches on the planet and not winning the top prize? Or did scheduling issues really stop them from turning up?

It could be as simple as the latter but it leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth to think that Messi and/or Ronaldo believe they don’t have time to waste to attend an awards ceremony celebrating not only their greatness but that of others, when they don’t have a chance of winning the main award.

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