Jose Mourinho

Spain’s capital club have banged in 16 goals in La Liga either side of the recent international break – going back to the 6-1 drubbing of strugglers Deportivo La Coruna – and head to Alicante determined to stay ahead of the chasing pack at the top of the table (10/11 Real Madrid – La Liga Outright).

However, Mourinho has called for a reality check from Real followers and has warned his players they must not expect a cakewalk against the La Liga newcomers.

He said in his Friday press conference: “We are in good shape. We are playing well and working hard. We are not children. There will be close calls because we cannot always win 6-1.

“We must stay on track and score goals, but this is a difficult championship and every match is different.”

Hercules caused a seismic shock when they beat champions Barcelona 2-0 at the Nou Camp on September 11 and the Portuguese coach know there can be no excuses, adding: “There is a long way to go. We have only played eight games.”

Xabi Alonso, Mesut Ozil, Marcelo and Ricardo Carvalho – who all missed the surprise goalless draw against Real Murcia in the Copa del Rey in midweek – will all return for Saturday’s trip.

Mourinho knows there can be no mistakes against Hercules, who also held Villarreal to a 2-2 draw at home recently, and has demanded his players pick up where they left off in La Liga (5/6 Real Madrid-Real Madrid – Half-time/Full-time).

He added: “I will make some changes against Hercules. It is an important match; even more so than a Champions League game because we cannot lose points. We want to win and remain on top of the table.

“The players I called up are those who are in the best form, and those who start will either be the same or very close to previous line-ups.

“I hope my players help bring home the three points so that we are still first come Sunday.”

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Fernando Torres

The 26-year-old has been linked with a move away from Anfield this summer following Rafael Benitez’s exit.

Benitez’s move to Inter Milan has seemingly unsettled some of the Reds’ top stars, with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano both being linked with moves abroad.

Liverpool have already lost one of their stalwarts this summer with Yossi Benayoun opting to join Chelsea.

Given the Reds’ current financial peril its seems almost certain that a number of other players will be leaving Merseyside, with the likes of Ryan Babel, Lucas Leiva and Martin Skrtel all possible transfer targets for other clubs.

New Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson looks as though he will have a tough task on his hands to persuade some players to stay.

The club will be desperate to keep their top stars, especially Torres who has been prolific since he completed his £26.5m move from Atletico Madrid in 2007.

The striker is currently with the Spanish national side preparing for their World Cup semi-final against Germany (2/1 outright World Cup winners) and has put off talk over his club future until he returns from South Africa.

However, his agent David Martin has today hinted that Torres may ask to leave Anfield once he returns, suggesting his future lies with another Premier League side.

“Barcelona have signed David Villa and now they want to invest the money they have in other players,” he told the Daily Mail.

“It is very likely that Fernando Torres will stay in the Premier League, but I cannot say that it will be with Liverpool.

“We are working on his future but right now you cannot guarantee that he will stay with the English club.”

Martin’s comments have sparked rumours that Chelsea (1/7 to beat West Brom on the opening weekend of the new season) or Manchester City could make a bid for Torres.

However, any offer made would have to be huge with the striker still having three years left to run on his current deal.

City have already pushed the boat out in bringing in David Silva, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng and are looking to add further talent to their squad.

While Chelsea  could well be persuaded to break the bank to sign Torres should he become available.

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The 33-year-old has not played for the Azzurri since the 2006 World Cup and announced his international retirement in 2007. Then coach Roberto Donadoni tried to persuade the Rome legend to come out of retirement for the Euro 2008 qualifiers but Totti refused, preferring to concentrate on his club career in the Italian capital.

Marcello Lippi is now in charge of the Italian side and will announce his 30-man preliminary squad on Tuesday with rumours that Totti could be set to make himself available for selection.

However reports in the Italian media suggest that Lippi will not go back to the past and give Totti a chance to add to the 58 caps he has won during his illustrious career and will overlook the Roma legend.

Ranieri made his feeling clear on the issue, saying: “Selfishly I am happy,” as the former Chelsea boss wants his man fit and ready for the domestic season in August, without the possibility of picking up an injury while on World Cup duty this summer.

Italy are the defending World Cup champions but Spain are the favourites at 4-1 to lift the trophy for the first time with Brazil second favourites at 5-1.

England are priced at 11-2, with Argentina on offer at 13-2 to win the World Cup for the first time since 1986 and the Dutch a 12-1 chance to take the trophy.

Italy are in Group F in South Africa along with Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand and are 1-14 favourites to come out of the group and make it through to the knock-out phase of the world’s greatest football tournament.

Paraguay are priced at 8-15 to qualify with Slovakia on offer at 11-8 and the Kiwis priced at 8-1 to make it to the last 16.

Another market to watch out for is the ’stage of elimination’ with Italy 9-4 to exit the competition at the last-16 stage and 5-2 to make a quarter-final departure.

The Azzurri are priced at 7-2 to be a losing semi-finalist and 7-1 to suffer the heartbreak of losing in the final.

The Italians are strong favourites to make it out of their group but a 13-2 price has been quoted for Italy to be eliminated from the event at the group stage.

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The game’s longest-serving manager appeared resigned to missing out on an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title when he described Sunday’s last-day scenario as “bleak”.

The defending champions must beat Stoke at Old Trafford and hope Wigan defy the odds to shatter Chelsea’s hopes of a first domestic crown since 2006 (1/9 Man United 7/1 draw 16/1 Stoke in the match betting market).

United have already lost seven Premier League games so far this season, were knocked out of the FA Cup by old rivals Leeds and were denied a fourth straight semi-finals appearance in the Champions League by Bayern Munich, meaning they are likely to end the season with just the Carling Cup added to the trophy cabinet.

Ferguson said he would not be pointing fingers or getting himself in knots about what went wrong but did suggest there could be a change in personnel.

“You have to take a decision about where we can improve the team,” he told MUTV.

“When you are challenging for four trophies it can have a draining effect. You have to be aware of that and spot the moment when it is time to freshen up one or two players.

“It is not a desire to do it but you need to do it because the demands and pressures on players can, over time, be quite exacting.”

Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville continue to roll back the years but cannot be relied upon week in-week out on four fronts.

Ferguson’s pointed remark that “we were just careless in our finishing” in the 1-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday has led to suggestions £30m signing Dimitar Berbatov has blown his chance to prove he is the perfect foil for Wayne Rooney, while England midfielder Michael Carrick could be another high-profile casualty off the back of a disappointing campaign.

Dutch veteran Edwin van der Saar is fast approaching 40, Rio Ferdinand has struggled for fitness and Nemanja Vidic has repeatedly denied he is seeking a transfer.

Ferguson has made a career out of coming off the ropes in the face of adversity and he may need to pull one last rabbit out of the hat to take United back to the top of English football in what could be a telling close-season of transfer activity.

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