Cole Palmer has been ruled out of action for six more weeks, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday.
The England midfielder has not played since Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on September 20 — when he came off midway through the first half.
Maresca initially said he hoped Palmer, 23, would be back after this month’s international break.
“I was wrong. Unfortunately, he needs to be out probably six more weeks. So, yes, this is the update,” he said.
The Italian said he was confident that the forward would not require surgery.
Chelsea’s Italian head coach Enzo Maresca shouts instructions to the players from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge in London on September 27, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
READ ALSO: Yamal Set To Return As Wounded Barca Start Clasico Countdown
“We try just to protect Cole as much as we can and the most important thing is that when he comes back he’s fully recovered,” he added.
Maresca, whose team face Nottingham Forest on Saturday, said replacing “one of the best players in the Premier League” was difficult.
“For sure, we need to find a different solution, we need to find different skills, because we don’t have another player like Cole,” he said. “Because Cole is unique.”
The Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has confirmed that the second phase of the 2025 Ardova Handball Premier League will take place in Lagos from November 26 to December 6, 2025.
According to a statement signed by the HFN General Secretary, Monica Otumala, on Friday, the top-tier league—proudly sponsored by Ardova PLC—will be staged at two venues: the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Institute of Sports, Surulere, and the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba.
Teams are expected to arrive in Lagos on Tuesday, November 25, with a crucial Technical Meeting scheduled for the same day. Matches will kick off on Wednesday, November 26, and run through to Saturday, December 6, when the season’s champions will be crowned. Teams will depart on Sunday, December 7, 2025.
Otumala urged all participating clubs to begin preparations early and ensure completion of all documentary registrations ahead of the competition.
READ ALSO: Yamal Set To Return As Wounded Barca Start Clasico Countdown
“The Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) is pleased to inform you that the 2nd phase of the 2025 Ardova Handball Premier League will take place from November 25 to December 7, 2025, in Lagos State,” she said.
“Participating teams must make all necessary arrangements to plan their arrival and departure within the stated period, and all documentary registrations of players must be completed on or before November 10, 2025,” Otumala added.
The Safety Shooters and Safety Babes, both owned by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), currently lead the men’s and women’s divisions respectively after the first phase of the league, which was held in Benin City, Edo State, in July.
In the men’s category, Safety Shooters sit atop the table with 28 points and a +97 goal difference, narrowly ahead of COAS Shooters, who also have 28 points but a lesser +50 goal difference. Rima Strikers of Sokoto occupy third place with 25 points, while defending champions Tojemarine Handball Club follow in fourth with 24 points.
Hansi Flick’s side were hammered 4-1 by Sevilla before the international break and must regroup before facing Real Madrid on October 26.
Midfielder Pedri Gonzalez said Barca’s performance in Seville was the team’s worst under Flick, and since then Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo have suffered injuries to deepen their plight.
However Yamal and Fermin Lopez returned to training this week and are expected to be fit to face Girona, while Raphinha is also nearing a return.
READ ALSO: Chelsea’s Maresca Banned For Forest Match After Wild Celebration
Barcelona’s Spanish forward #10 Lamine Yamal warms up prior the UEFA Champions League league phase day 2 football match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, on October 1, 2025. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)
Teenage star Yamal missed the thrashing by Sevilla and then Spain’s World Cup qualifiers with the recurrence of a groin problem, but should feature against Girona in a derby clash.
Yamal’s expected return is a welcome boost for Barca ahead of a busy period, with a Champions League match against Olympiacos following on Tuesday ahead of the Clasico.
Joan Garcia, Gavi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are longer-term absentees and Flick’s options remain thin, without much room for rotation.
The coach was careful not to further reduce the morale of his players after their collapse at Sevilla.
“It’s one match and we lost it, and we have to keep going on,” said the coach, praising his team’s second half display after an especially poor first period.
It was Barcelona’s first defeat of the season, leaving them two points behind leaders Real Madrid, but not their first bad performance.
Barca drew 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano in August, after which Flick blasted the team and suggested they had got too big for their boots after winning a domestic treble last season.
“Ego kills success,” warned the German coach, hoping to refocus his players’ minds.
Barcelona’s Polish forward #09 Robert Lewandowski celebrates with Barcelona’s Spanish forward #10 Lamine Yamal (L) scoring his team’s second goal during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona on September 28, 2025. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)
It seemed to work as even without teenage star Yamal, they secured several wins, but then after he got hurt again against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, came their heavy defeat at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
Barca started last season superbly but then collapsed in November and December, allowing Atletico Madrid to overtake them at the top of the table.
Flick will be keen for his team to avoid a similar backslide this season, and hosting Girona, 18th in a derby, is a good opportunity for his team to get back to winning ways.
The game will take place at the Olympic stadium on the city’s Montjuic hill, with Barca’s rebuilt Camp Nou home not yet ready to open amid a series of delays.
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Camp Nou, with all our fans,” said midfielder Frenkie de Jong, after renewing his contract until 2029 on Wednesday.
“I don’t know the date, but we can’t wait.”
Real Madrid face Getafe on Sunday, hoping in-form striker Kylian Mbappe has recovered from an ankle problem.
Villarreal, third, host Real Betis while Atletico Madrid welcome Osasuna.
Player to watch: Luis Milla
Getafe midfielder Milla has been his team’s key weapon this season, providing five assists — no player in the top flight has more. The Madrid minnows host rivals Los Blancos in a derby clash and if they are to take anything from the game Milla will likely have to play an important role.
Key stats
4 – Liga matches Barca have conceded first in
7 – matches unbeaten for Atletico Madrid
28 – yellow cards for Sevilla, the most in the top flight
Fixtures
Friday (all times GMT)
Oviedo v Espanyol (1900)
Saturday
Sevilla v Mallorca (1200), Barcelona v Girona (1415), Villarreal v Real Betis (1630), Atletico Madrid v Osasuna (1900)
Sunday
Elche v Athletic Bilbao (1200), Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad (1415), Levante v Rayo Vallecano (1630), Getafe v Real Madrid (1900)
Nepal have appealed to FIFA to overturn their 2-0 defeat to Malaysia in 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers in March this year, claiming that their opponents fielded an ineligible player.
Last month, the world governing body FIFA banned seven Malaysian foreign-born players for a year and fined the FA of Malaysia (FAM) $440,000, saying they had submitted forged ancestry documents.
One of the seven, Hector Hevel, scored Malaysia’s opening goal in the match played in Johor, Malaysia.
“We have reached out regarding an ineligible player in the match. Thus, the result has to be overturned,” Indra Man Tuladhar, CEO of All Nepal Football Association, told AFP.
READ ALSO: Chelsea Thrash Paris FC In Women’s Champions League
FIFA accused the FAM of submitting doctored or false documents that said the seven players had Malaysian ancestry, making them eligible to represent the country. FAM denied knowingly doing anything wrong.
FIFA said an investigation showed that none of the players actually had a parent or grandparent born in the Southeast Asian nation.
The seven banned players had all played in Malaysia’s 4-0 Asian Cup qualifying win against Vietnam in June.
Nepal are currently at the bottom of Asian Cup qualifying Group F with no points from four games.
English champions Chelsea thrashed Paris FC 4-0 in the second match day of the women’s Champions League on Wednesday.
Sandy Baltimore, from the penalty spot, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Alyssa Thompson and Erin Cuthbert were all on target for the London side.
Two-time women’s Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas hit a 71st-minute penalty to help Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Roma.
Esmee Brugts opened the scoring in the second minute, with Kika Nazareth extending the lead before Putellas got her name on the scoreboard before Caroline Graham Hansen’s coup de grace on the whistle.
Record eight-time champions Lyon notched up a 3-0 victory over St Polten of Austria.
READ ALSO: Chelsea’s Maresca Banned For Forest Match After Wild Celebration
Germany’s Jule Brand and Lily Yohannes both scored maiden goals for the French side.
Those goals came either side of one from Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, the all-time UEFA club competition top scorer who now has 67 goals in 77 appearances and in 12 different seasons in the UEFA women’s Champions League.
And two-time championship winners Wolfsburg claimed a 2-1 victory over Norwegian side Valerenga.
The Germans took the lead through Lineth Beerensteyn, quickly nullified by Sara Horte. Janina Minge kept her cool with a penalty in the eighth minute of extra-time to seal victory on the road.
The final game of the evening saw a Linde Veefkind penalty in the 83rd minute seemingly salvage Belgian team Leuven a 1-1 draw with Dutch outfit Twente, for whom Jaimy Ravensbergen scored.
But there was similar late drama as midfielder Sara Pusztai struck six minutes into injury time to hand Leuven a 2-1 win.
For the first time this season, the women’s Champions League has 18 participating teams, playing six games each against different opponents in a league phase.
Only the top four qualify directly for the quarter-finals, with sides ranked fifth to 12th involved in a play-off to join them in the last eight.
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca was given a one-match touchline ban on Wednesday for dissent and over-celebrating a last-gasp goal in a 2-1 Premier League win over Liverpool on October 4.
The Italian will now be banned from the touchline for Chelsea’s match away to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
He has also been fined £8,000 ($10,685) and the Football Association said Maresca openly admitted the misconduct charge.
READ ALSO: Estevao Scores Late As Chelsea Hand Liverpool Third Consecutive Loss
He was given a yellow card for railing against a penalty decision and picked up a second one in the sixth minute of stoppage time for wildly celebrating Estevao Willian’s angled winner during a desperate onslaught.
Chelsea had lost their previous two matches before tackling Liverpool at home, and the win lifted them to sixth place at that time as under-fire Maresca avoided a third successive league defeat.
