Leicester City will be without one of its top forwards during the first leg of its Round of 16 encounter against Sevilla.

Manager Claudio Ranieri revealed that Islam Slimani will not be available for selection Wednesday after picking up an undisclosed injury.

Slimani – who’s level with Jamie Vardy for the team scoring lead in the Premier League with five goals – was also forced to miss Leicester’s FA Cup loss to Millwall on Feb. 18 after being ruled out with a groin problem.

He was, however, able to participate in Leicester’s final training session ahead of Wednesday’s first-leg tie in Spain.

Slimani – as well as defender Robert Huth – faces suspension if he picks up another yellow card in the Champions League.

The NFL combine is less than two weeks away and days after that, the free-agency period will begin with the start of the new league year. So it’s time for the Detroit Lions – and every other team in the NFL – to begin to take stock of what they have and where they can upgrade.

With that in mind, we’ll do that as well with every position on the Lions’ roster leading into next week’s combine. And just a reminder that things can change incredibly quickly over the next few weeks as Detroit decides which players to re-sign and let go.

Today we’ll look at a position of some question with Detroit, running back.

The position group under contract: Ameer Abdullah (starter), Theo Riddick, Zach Zenner, Dwayne Washington, Mike James, Michael Burton (fullback)

Round 1: April 27, 8 p.m. ET
Rds. 2-3: April 28, 7 p.m. ET
Rds. 4-7: April 29, noon ET
Where: Philadelphia

Christian McCaffrey, Stanford: If the Lions choose to go with an early-round running back, McCaffrey could be intriguing at No. 21 (or in a trade-back scenario). He is a dynamic runner with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (including 21 career rushing touchdowns) and two seasons of at least 35 receptions. He’s a smart runner who should be available as Dalvin Cook and Leonard Fournette are likely to be gone before Detroit selects.

Agence France-Presse

30m ago

SHAMIL ZHUMATOV / Reuters

Madrid – Centre-back Lucas Hernandez was dashing to Germany on Tuesday in a desperate bid to make kick-off for Atletico Madrid’s Champions League clash at Bayer Leverkusen after being released by a court.

Hernandez and his girlfriend pleaded not guilty to domestic violence in a Madrid court earlier on Tuesday before the case was adjourned.

That allowed Frenchman Hernandez, 21, to board a plane in Madrid bound for Germany in a bid to make the 19:45 GMT kick-off at the BayArena for the last 16 first leg tie.

Atletico desperately needs Hernandez, who has been deputising in the centre of defence for the injured Diego Godin.

The Frenchman was arrested earlier this month after his girlfriend was taken to hospital following an altercation between the pair.

Neither party made a complaint against the other but both were charged with domestic violence and Spain’s public prosecutor asked for a seven-month prison sentence for Hernandez – although even then he would unlikely spend any time behind bars as sentences under two years are normally suspended for first-time offenders in Spain.

Quarterback Tony Romo expects to be released by the Dallas Cowboys — and not traded — this offseason, sources close to the popular veteran told ESPN’s Ed Werder.

“Obviously the Cowboys would like to recoup something for their enormous investment in Romo and his obvious value,” Werder said Thursday on SportsCenter. “But, age 37, recent injury history — he’s only played in five of the last 32 games — I think it makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to trade him, especially considering his contract.”

Romo’s contract makes him difficult to trade. He signed a six-year, $119.5 million deal in 2013 that at the time was just the 15th deal worth $100 million or more in NFL history; he is scheduled to make $14 million in 2017, and $40 million more over 2018 and 2019. Designating Romo as a post-June 1 release would cost the Cowboys only $10.7 million of their 2017 cap by allowing them to roll $8.9 million of Romo’s dead money over into 2018. If the Cowboys release him before June 1, though, it would cost them $19.6 million in cap space in 2017 alone.

A number of NFL teams, such as the Chicago Bears, who are expected to move on from Jay Cutler after eight seasons, or the Buffalo Bills, who don’t appear committed to picking up Tyrod Taylor’s $27 million option due next month, could be in the market for a new quarterback. Given his age — he turns 37 in April — it is believed that Romo would prefer to join a playoff contender.

“The teams I think he has an eye on are a team like the Chiefs, a team like the Broncos and maybe more so than the others, the Houston Texans,” Werder said.

Injuries have plagued Romo in recent seasons, including this past season, when he suffered a back injury in the preseason and never won the starting job back from rookie Dak Prescott as the Cowboys went 13-3 and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

If released, Romo would be leaving Dallas as the Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing yards (34,183), better than Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach. Unlike those two, who combined to win all five of Dallas’ Super Bowl titles, Romo would be leaving Dallas with just two playoff wins to his name.

— Brendan C. Hall