Kai Havertz injury upends Arsenal transfer plans; Jose Mourinho seeks Champions League league phase birth
Hello! Midweek action continues with some high-profile UEFA Champions League qualifiers but for some, the wait for the weekend will include stressing over an injury to an important player. I'm Pardeep Cattry with the latest.
📺 Footy fixAll times U.S./Eastern
Wednesday, Aug. 20🇪🇺 UCL qualifying: Fenerbahce vs. Benfica, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+🌎 CWCC: Gotham FC vs. Monterrey, 7 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Network🇺🇸🇲🇽 Leagues Cup: Inter Miami vs. Tigres, 8 p.m. ➡️ FS1
Thursday, Aug. 21🇺🇸 NWSL: Angel City vs. Orlando Pride, 10:30 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Network
⚽ The Forward Line🔴 Arsenal sweat Kai Havertz injuryThe new Premier League season is barely a week old but Arsenal may already have a serious injury to worry about. Forward Kai Havertz did not participate in an open training session at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday because of a knee injury, the severity of which is currently unclear. The Gunners are currently in the early stages of making a prognosis but that has not necessarily stopped the higher-ups from preparing for life without Havertz in the long-term.
Arsenal are reportedly actively looking for a replacement for Havertz in the transfer market, according to The Athletic, likely a recognition of the fact that they would be very thin in that department if the German international has to spend a chunk of the season on the sidelines. Viktor Gyokeres started over Havertz in Sunday's 1-0 win at Manchester United and was likely to get the nod as the Gunners' forward this season anyway, but there is no one else to provide cover, especially so as Gabriel Jesus continues to work his way back from an ACL injury.
It is unclear who Arsenal would target if they needed another forward on the roster, though the Havertz news provides flashbacks to last year even after splurging for Gyokeres in an effort to leave those issues in the past. Injuries to Jesus and Havertz meant Mikel Merino played the role in the later stages of the season, really highlighting the need for an out-and-out goalscorer.
If the injury is a serious one, it would mark a rough year for Havertz. He picked up a hamstring injury during a warm weather training session in Dubai in February and made only two substitute appearances for the rest of the season, playing a total of 33 minutes along the way. He played 30 minutes on Sunday at Old Trafford, coming on for Gyokeres as Arsenal hung onto their first half lead.
Mark Your CalendarThe final round of UEFA Champions League qualifiers got off to a thrilling start on Tuesday as Club Brugge, Qarabag and Pafos FC picked up first leg advantages, some results more surprising than others.
Azerbaijan-based Qarabag will carry a 3-1 lead into next week's second leg after a sizable victory in Budapest against Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros, while Brugge also picked up a 3-1 away victory in Glasgow after beating Rangers. The Scottish side came into the matchup as the underdogs against a team that reached the last 16 in last season's edition of the Champions League, but few expected a sluggish performance in which Rangers were down 3-0 after just 20 minutes. It was the type of performance that was met with boos from the Rangers faithful at the final whistle and prompted new manager Russell Martin to argue that "the precursor to change is pain."
Tuesday's big upset, though, came in Belgrade, where Champions League regulars Crvena zvezda lost 2-1 to Cyprus' Pafos FC. Joao Correia gave Pafos the lead in the first minute, while a pair of penalties at each end in the second half made up the rest of the score. It is a remarkable feat for Pafos, the first-time Cypriot champions who played in their first-ever European campaign last season and made a run to the UEFA Conference League semifinals. The margin of victory in Belgrade means they will have work to do in next week's home leg, but Pafos are on the right path to becoming the first Cypriot team to play in the Champions League since APOEL reached the group stage in the 2017-18 season.
The action continues on Wednesday with an eclectic mix of matches, headlined by Benfica's trip to Fenerbahce. Jose Mourinho, is targeting his first Champions League season in six years and Fenerbahce's first since the 2008-09 campaign but will need to go through his former club to do so. Benfica handed Mourinho his first managerial position almost exactly 25 years ago and the two-time Champions League winner has a strong record against his former club but considering Fenerbahce's status as the underdogs in this tie, the manager argued on Tuesday that the past is irrelevant.
- Mourinho: "I always beat Benfica because my teams were better than Benfica. My Porto were much better than Benfica. My Manchester United were better than Benfica. My Unido de Leiria at the time, maybe it was better than Benfica and that is why my teams have defeated Benfica many times. But I do not think that you can find any relationship in those results. Benfica, today, is a top team. It is a powerful team. It's a team with the status and a team with many players with great experience. … I think it is only the press that remembers those results because I do not think that anyone at Benfica is worried about me, personally, having good results against Benfica."
Rounding on Wednesday's schedule will be Celtic's clash against Kazakhstan's Kairat, UEFA Europa League semifinalists Bodo/Glimt taking on Sturm Graz and Basel facing Copenhagen. Like Pafos, Kalint and Bodo/Glimt target their first-ever Champions League season.
🔗 Top Stories⚫⚪ Alexander Isak drama: Alexander Isak and Newcastle United waged a battle of statements on Tuesday as the player pushes for a move elsewhere, Isak alleging Newcastle broke promises and the club insisting that the conditions to enable a transfer have yet to be met.
🟣 Ovalle to Orlando: CBS Sports reports that Mexico international Lizbeth Ovalle is in advanced talks to join the NWSL's Orlando Pride, who could pay up to $2 million to Tigres in what would be the new record transfer fee in the women's game.
👏 In praise of Semenyo: The Morning Footy crew praises Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo for his show of resilience after facing racist abuse in the Cherries' match at Liverpool on Friday.
🇮🇹 Serie A kit watch: With a new Serie A season just days away, here's a look at five underrated kits that will be on display in Italy's top flight over the course of the campaign.
🌡️ NWSL's extreme heat policy: Here's a look at how the NWSL's extreme heat policy works after the Kansas City Current's match against the Orlando Pride was delayed by three-plus hours.
🇲🇭 Marshall Islands' first game: The Marshall Islands are no longer the "last country on Earth" without a soccer team after officially playing their first-ever match last week, a 4-0 loss to the U.S. Virgin Islands in Arkansas.
💰 The Back Line💵 Best bets- Leagues Cup quarterfinals: Inter Miami vs. Tigres, Wednesday, 7 p.m.💰 THE PICK: Inter Miami to win 2-1 (+850) – Tigres will be a formidable opponent but it is hard to argue that the odds do not favor Inter Miami, who went unbeaten during the group stage and will have home field advantage for Wednesday's quarterfinal. They also have the most obvious advantage of all in Lionel Messi, who is back after a brief spell on the sidelines and scored in a substitute appearance against the LA Galaxy. Wednesday's match may still be closely contested but with Messi in the mix, as well as his teammate Luis Suarez, it is just too easy to pick Miami to make another deep run in the Leagues Cup, two years after winning the whole thing.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don't miss out on CBSSports.com's betting home page.
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