Chelsea and Spain striker Alvaro Morata could be out for more than a month after injuring his hamstring during Saturday's defeat by Manchester City

The 24-year-old has returned to London to begin treatment after being diagnosed for a grade two myofascial injury by Spain team doctors.

Muscle injuries of this type can take four to eight weeks to heal.

He said in an Instagram post he later deleted on Tuesday he was targeting the game with Crystal Palace on 14 October.


Morata joined Chelsea for a club record £60m last summer from Real Madrid and is their top scorer this season with seven goals.

Real Madrid are preparing a 200m euro (£177m) bid for Tottenham striker Harry Kane. The Spanish and European champions are not put off by the huge asking price for the 24-year-old. (Don Balon - in Spanish)

Manchester United are confident of signing Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil, 28, when his contact ends at the end of the summer. (Independent)

Manager Antonio Conte could leave Chelsea for AC Milan at the end of the season. The 48-year-old told an Italian radio station that he "misses" Italy. (Sun via Corriere dello Sport)

However, the Blues are ready to make a move for £60m Juventus left-back Alex Sandro, 26, in order to keep Conte at the club. (Mirror)

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero could miss a further two weeks with a broken rib. City were hopeful the 29-year-old would be fit for their first match after the international break. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal target Kepa Arrizabalaga is about to sign a new deal at Athletic Bilbao. The 23-year-old goalkeeper had been linked with both the Gunners and Real Madrid. (Talksport via Marca)

Manchester United and Chelsea are both interested in Middlesbrough defender Dael Fry, 20. (TeamTalk)

Championship side Leeds are chasing 25-year-old Liverpool striker Danny Ings. (ESPN)

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has been linked with a return to Bayern Munich, after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked last week.

2018 World Cup qualifiers: Georgia v Wales
Venue: Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tblisi Date: Friday, 6 October Kick-off: 17:00 BST
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary.
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has been ruled out of Wales' last two World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and the Republic of Ireland with a calf strain.

The 28-year-old could be out for a month and that would also rule Bale out of the play-offs on 9-14 November.

Wales are second in Group D and if they keep that spot it could be enough to earn them a place in the play-offs.

Bale joined the Wales squad on Monday and, despite sitting out training, it had been hoped he would be fit.

But a scan revealed the severity of the injury and means Bale will not travel to Georgia for Friday's game in Tblisi and will play no part in the Cardiff clash with Republic of Ireland three days later.

Elis James' Feast of Football - how do you solve a problem like an injured Bale?
Listen: 'Bale must manage his body better'
Real manager Zinedine Zidane had played down concerns about Bale's fitness, saying he rested him for Sunday's win over Espanyol as a precaution.

Barnsley striker Tom Bradshaw has been called up to the Wales the squad in Bale's place.

Bale's absence is a huge blow to Welsh hopes of qualifying for a first World Cup since 1958.

Wales are second in Group D, trailing leaders Serbia by four points with two matches remaining.

Second place could be enough to earn Chris Coleman's team a place in the play-offs, which will see eight of the nine runners-up in qualifying groups play for four remaining places in Russia 2018.

In order to secure a play-off place, Wales would realistically need at least four points from the games against Georgia and the Republic of Ireland.

Their chances of doing so will be harmed by the injury to Bale, who has scored four goals so far in this campaign. Wales have failed to win a match without the Real Madrid forward since 2013, drawing three and losing three matches in his absence.

The former Tottenham player has also been in fine form for Real, scoring a brilliant goal in last week's 3-1 Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund before being forced off with the muscular problem which has sidelined him for this month's qualifiers.

Bale was in Cardiff on Monday to receive his players' player of the year award at the Football Association of Wales' annual ceremony.

Analysis

BBC pundit and ex-Wales international Robbie Savage

For Wales to be without Gareth Bale for two massive games is devastating.

His passion and desire to play for Wales is there for all to see... it is a huge, huge blow.

It will all be on the last game with Ireland, I believe. A point in Georgia won't be a bad result for me now.

But even if Wales win their two games, that might not be enough. These are two of the biggest games in Welsh football history.

Fingers crossed the lads can go out there and perform, but it is going to be very, very difficult.

The Manchester City boss visited his old stomping grounds, and has reportedly helped the German champions pick a new manager.
Bayern Munich have reportedly settled on a new manager, and former boss Pep Guardiola has helped advise the club on their selection.
The German champions fired Carlo Ancelotti last week following a 3-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Assistant Willy Sagnol has taken over on an interim basis, and Bayern drew Hertha 2-2 on Sunday in the Frenchman's first game in charge.
Bayern president Uli Hoenes​s has stated that the club were looking for a permanent replacement, however, meaning Sagnol​'s time in charge of the club was always likely to be brief. 
Speculation over Ancelotti's successor has been rampant, with former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel and Hoffenheim manager Julian Nagelsmann among the favourites.
Guardiola, who won three Bundesliga titles in three seasons at Bayern between 2013 and 2016, was spotted with Hoeness at a restaurant in Munich.
"I told him who we would appoint in the next few days," Hoeness told Munich newspaper AZ of Guardiola. "He was satisfied."
The Manchester City boss was visiting Munich during the international break to take in Oktoberfest celebrations.

Argentina's World Cup hopes are on the line as they go into the final qualifiers - so why do so many of their world class players under-perform?
It is a conundrum that has puzzled and frustrated a succession of coaches, and ultimately in all but a few cases cost them their jobs. For the last decade Argentina have boasted a collection of forwards who are not just the envy of any national team, but arguably every football club on the planet.
Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Angel Di Maria and now Mauro Icardi are just some of the players accustomed to making the net bulge week in, week out for their clubs. In Messi, moreover, Argentina field a man who is unquestionably the greatest of his generation, and who has inspired Barcelona to unprecedented success.

But when it comes to the international arena that undeniable talent often seems to evaporate. The failure to resolve the conundrum of why the world's best strikers fall flat with Messi and the Albiceleste goes a long way to explaining why, with just two games left in World Cup qualifying — a home clash against Peru on Thursday followed by a visit to Ecuador next week — Argentina are in danger of missing out on the finals for the first time since 1970.
Statistics lay bare the nation's shortcomings up front. Argentina have played four qualifiers in 2017, two under the direction of Edgardo Bauza and two more with new trainer Jorge Sampaoli on the bench. In those crucial clashes, at home to Chile and Venezuela and away at Uruguay and Bolivia, they have scored just two goals — a Messi penalty to down Chile and Rodolfo Feltscher's own goal which scraped a 1-1 draw against the Vinotinto. No less than 366 minutes have passed since Di Maria rounded off a 3-0 win over Colombia, the last time anyone in an Argentina shirt scored from open play in competitive action.
Messi gfx
The situation is especially novel for Sampaoli, whose high-octane, high-pressing style tends to yield plenty of goals. After drawing against Venezuela, the former Sevilla coach appeared dumbstruck by his new charges' inability to win despite enjoying almost total domination.
"Having such superiority and not being able to win annoys you a little,” he told reporters back in September. "When you have 11 chances and do not convert a single one, things get somewhat confusing."
Confusing might just be the right term for that impotence in front of goal. In Messi and Dybala, Argentina have both La Liga and Serie A's top scorers in their ranks, while a car accident robbed Sergio Aguero of the chance this past weekend to stay at the top of the Premier League rankings alongside Romelu Lukaku. Icardi, with six, finds himself in Italy's top five marksmen.
Among them that quartet boasts 33 goals in 27 league outings so far this season, while Boca Juniors hitman Dario Benedetto adds another five in as many Superliga games. And while Higuain might be struggling for form right now, he is still the same bustling centre-forward that smashed 32 goals for Juve last season in yet another double for the Turin giants.
Argentina GFX
Those numbers might be otherworldly, but they are also misleading. All five of the forwards previously mentioned have the luxury of some of the greatest creative players around feeding them, something that is conspicuously lacking in the national team. Where is the Albiceleste's David Silva, Miralem Pjanic or Andres Iniesta, the man who can provide Messi and Aguero the service they need in the area?
The easy answer to that question is that such a figure does not exist. Only two players, Aguero himself and Atalanta's Alejandro Gomez, have managed more than two assists in league play so far in Europe's big five. Gomez also leads the way for key passes, averaging an impressive 2.9 per game, but he is the only member of the Albiceleste squad anywhere near the best in Europe.
Di Maria, for instance, the next most creative Argentina midfielder, has made just 1.4 key passes per match for PSG so far, less than half of the chances created by a Silva or Kevin de Bruyne at Manchester City, or United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The likes of Ever Banega, Lucas Biglia and Javier Pastore are so far down the list in assists and key passes as to barely merit a mention, were it not for the fact that the trio all floundered against a Venezuela side that is rock bottom of the South American qualifiers, out of the running for Russia and packed with talented yet inexperienced kids in preparation for a better run next time round.

A stunning strike from Kevin De Bruyne sealed a 1-0 victory for Manchester City over champions Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola's side dominated possession throughout the game at Stamford Bridge but it took a powerful effort from De Bruyne in the 67th minute to see the visitors take all three points.

Chelsea offered little in terms of a reply, with in-form striker Alvaro Morata substituted with an injury during the first half, and remain in fourth with 12 points.
Man City head back to the top of the Premier League table on goal difference after the win, just ahead of local rivals Manchester United, with both sides level on 19 points.

Chelsea could have taken an early lead when N'Golo Kante's right-wing delivery was just glanced over the crossbar by the rising Morata with less than three minutes on the clock.

Player ratings
Chelsea: Courtois (7), Cahill (6), Christensen (7), Rudiger (7), Azpilizueta (7), Alonso (6), Fabregas (6), Kante (6), Bakayoko (7), Hazard (6), Morata (n/a).

Subs used: Willian (6), Pedro (6), Batshuayi (5).

Man City: Ederson (7), Walker (7), Stones (7), Otamendi (7), Delph (7), Fernandinho (7), Sterling (8), De Bruyne (9), Sane (7), David Silva (8), Jesus (7).

Subs used: Silva (4), Gundogan (n/a), Danilo (n/a).

Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne.

Both sides could have scored just before the half an hour mark. Cesar Azpilicueta's low drive was collected well by Ederson before Man City went on the break. Raheem Sterling whipped an inviting cross into the box from the right flank, but David Silva could not poke it home at the back post.

Chelsea were forced into a substitution in the 35th minute as Morata appeared to be suffering from a tight hamstring, and was replaced by Willian. But it was City who could have snatched a late first-half goal as De Bruyne delivered a corner, which was powered towards goal by Fernandinho but his header was superbly pushed away by Thibaut Courtois.

Team news
Chelsea made three changes from last weekend, with Eden Hazard, Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas coming in for Willian, Pedro and Victor Moses. Man City replaced Benjamin Mendy and Sergio Aguero with Fabian Delph and Gabriel Jesus in two changes.
After the break, Chelsea could have broken the deadlock with an hour on the clock as Cesc Fabregas picked out Eden Hazard on the left with a short free-kick. The Belgian then strode towards goal but his cross-cum-shot was well saved by Ederson at the near post.

Five minutes later and Man City went ahead in some style as De Bruyne thundered home. He started the move himself, playing a fast-paced give-and-go with Jesus before powering home a volley from the top of the box, leaving national team-mate Courtois with no chance of keeping it out.

Jesus could have doubled City's lead with five minutes of the game to play, but was thwarted by some superb defending from Antonio Rudiger. Sterling's chipped pass picked out the striker on the left of the box, but his effort - which had flown past Courtois - was headed away from the goalmouth by the Chelsea defender to deny the visitors a larger winning scoreline.

Chelsea have dropped eight points in four Premier League home games so far in 2017-18; two more than in the whole of 2016-17 (6).
Manchester City have kept four consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League for the first time since September 2015 (six games in that run).

The managers

Antonio Conte: "For sure, there is disappointment for the result but I think at the same time I am pleased with the commitment of my players. Today we gave everything and after the game you can win or you can lose but the most important thing is to see your players give everything. Today that happened. We have to accept the result because today we gave everything.

"Damage or no damage we have to go game by game and to do our best. Then we will see at the end of season what happens and where we finish in the league."

Pep Guardiola: "We're in September. Of course it's so important, because winning at Stamford Bridge means they are not able to win three points. In terms of points it is so important," he said.

"Of course you have to adapt to your opponents but we showed in the first minute that we were coming here to win the game. That is what I want to give to the club and that is what we did in this game.

Man of the Match - Kevin De Bruyne



It wasn't just his superb strike that gives De Bruyne the man of the match accolade. He was constantly working for Man City whether it was powering through the midfield, nicking back possession or setting up his team-mates.

Kevin De Bruyne's stunning left-foot strike proved the difference in west London

He delivered some set-pieces of the highest quality too and could easily have added more goals and assists to his name at Stamford Bridge. Pep Guardiola and City will be hoping his late substitution was nothing too serious as they look to maintain their charge at the top of the table.

What next?

Following the international break, Chelsea will make the short trip to struggling Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday 14 October. City will also be in action on the same day when they welcome Stoke City to the Etihad.