Tunisia cleared by FIFA to pick Rani Khedira, brother of former Germa… — and more

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia has been cleared by FIFA to select Rani Khedira, a former Germany youth international and brother of Sami Khedira, for the World Cup in North America.

The 32-year-old Union Berlin midfielder is the younger brother of Sami Khedira, who played on Germany’s 2014 World Cup-winning team. They are eligible for Germany and Tunisia through their parents.

The Tunisian soccer federation and FIFA announced late Wednesday that Khedira’s application to switch national eligibility was approved.

The federation posted a “Welcome Home” message on its Instagram account for Khedira to begin playing for the team known as the Eagles of Carthage.

Tunisia is in a World Cup group with the Netherlands, Japan and the winner of a European playoffs bracket this month that could be Ukraine. Tunisia's first two games are in Monterrey, Mexico, before playing the Dutch in Kansas City.

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Arne Slot has insisted that he’s ‘happy’ with the transfer business that Liverpool completed last summer and that it was impossible to predict the extent of the injury problems which have affected his squad this season.

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Despite an outlay of almost £450m on new players in 2025, the Reds find themselves sixth in the Premier League table with only nine matches remaining to salvage Champions League qualification, falling woefully short of expectations at the outset of the campaign.

Between a spate of long-term injuries and some simultaneous absences in certain positions, the LFC head coach has felt compelled to deploy players in unfamiliar roles to try and plug the gaps, and it’s evident that a few core names have been badly missed in recent weeks and months.

Slot ‘happy’ with Liverpool’s summer transfer business

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup clash against Wolves, Slot was asked if he has any regrets over not ensuring that he’d had a deeper squad by the end of last summer’s transfer window.

The 47-year-old insisted (via Liverpool Echo): “I’m happy with what we did last summer. We signed so many great players but you can’t predict that so many would be injured. Adaptation you can predict.

“It’s the model we are having that we don’t have 25 players over here. It hurts even more if you have three or four long-term injuries. I knew when I came in this was the model and I’m happy with that.”

Bad luck has played a part, but lessons to be learned for Liverpool

Nobody could accuse Liverpool of not being ambitious in the transfer market last summer, and as Slot says, no-one could’ve legislated for the extent to which the Reds have been hampered by injuries this season.

Don Hutchison made the point that the Dutchman had vastly superior strength in depth last term compared to now, highlighting how the exits of several big-name players have contributed to the shortage of options in reserve during the current campaign.

Injury issues are an inevitability in football, especially in an era where such intense demands are placed on those at the highest level, but LFC have been unlucky to lose Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo and Alexander Isak to long-term setbacks.

That’s not to mention the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Florian Wirtz being sidelined at times throughout the season, although Slot hinted that the German could make a brief substitute outing at Molineux tomorrow night.

Liverpool would undoubtedly be a different beast if they had a fully-fit squad, although the travails of this campaign must be taken into account in the composition of transfer policy for the upcoming summer so that we don’t find ourselves in the same unwelcome scenario in 2026/27.

Das Viertelfinale ist mit zwei ausstehenden Gruppenspielen schon gesichert, gegen den FC Barcelona geht es für den SC Magdeburg allerdings um die Tabellenspitze und das Prestige.[mehr]

The Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler, accused Arsenal of playing by their own rules in a void left by weak Premier League refereeing after the Gunners' 1-0 win at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday.

Bukayo Saka’s early goal moved Arsenal seven points clear at the top of the table, with Manchester City drawing 2-2 at home against Nottingham Forest.

'I think there was only one team who tried to play football today,' said Hürzeler. 'If they win the Premier League, no one will ask how ... [But] I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way.

'Of course, every team will manage and waste time but there has to be a limit, and the limit has to be set by the Premier League.'

• ‘Only one team tried to play’: Hürzeler hits out at Arsenal after win at Brighton