REUTERS SPORTS SCHEDULE AT 1930 GMT/1430 ET

Here are the top sports stories and upcoming coverage plans for Reuters text service as of 7:30 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET. For a full schedule of news and events, go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning or on Media Express http://mediaexpress.reuters.com/planning-tools/calendar. TOP STORIES

TENNIS-DUBAI Federer overcomes Verdasco in Dubai, Nishikori falls to qualifier

Roger Federer was made to work hard by Fernando Verdasco before beating the Spanish veteran 6-3 3-6 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. FOOTBALL-NFL-PHI-FOLES

Field Level Media-Eagles to set QB Foles free Nick Foles will be an unrestricted free agent next month. The Philadelphia Eagles announced Wednesday that Foles would not be given the franchise tag.

SOCCER-ENGLAND-CHE Chelsea make Twitter gaffe after transfer ban

Chelsea have asked their fans in a tweet who the club should sign in the close season less than a week after FIFA imposed a transfer ban on the Premier League outfit. UPCOMING

SOCCER SOCCER-ENGLAND-MCI-WHU/ (PIX)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Manchester City v West Ham United Manchester City play West Ham United in the Premier League 27 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT

SOCCER-ENGLAND-SOU-FUL/ (PIX) Soccer - England - Premier League - Southampton v Fulham

27 Feb 14:45 ET / 19:45 GMT SOCCER-ENGLAND-ARS-BOU/ (PIX)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth Arsenal play Bournemouth in the Premier League.

27 Feb 14:45 ET / 19:45 GMT SOCCER-ENGLAND-CRY-MUN/ (PIX)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Manchester United Crystal Palace host Manchester United in the Premier League.

27 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-ENGLAND-LIV-WAT/ (PIX)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Liverpool v Watford Liverpool host Watford in the Premier League.

27 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-SPAIN-MAD-FCB/REPORT

Soccer - Spain - Copa del Rey - Real Madrid v Barcelona Real Madrid host Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

27 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-ENGLAND/PREVIEW

Premier League preview Preview of the upcoming Premier League weekend.

27 Feb 15:30 ET / 20:30 GMT SOCCER-ITALY-FIO-ATT/REPORT

Soccer - Italy - Coppa Italia - Fiorentina v Atalanta After knocking out titleholders Juventus in the previous round, Atalanta visit Fiorentina in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final.

27 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-ENGLAND-CHE-TOT/ (PIX)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur Chelsea face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

27 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-ITALY/PREVIEW

Soccer - Italy - Serie A preview Preview of the weekend's Serie A games

28 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT TENNIS

TENNIS-ACAPULCO/ (TV) Tennis - ATP 500 - Acapulco International

Rafael Nadal plays Nick Kyrgios in the Acapulco International while Alexander Zverev takes on David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka faces Steve Johnson. 27 Feb 17:00 ET / 22:00 GMT

TENNIS-DUBAI/ (TV) Tennis - ATP 500 - Dubai Tennis Championships

Action from the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships - an ATP World Tour 500 event. 28 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

MOTOR RACING MOTOR-F1-TESTING/ (PIX) (TV)

Motor racing - Formula One - Pre Season Testing The second round of pre-season testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya ahead of the first race in Melbourne on March 17.

28 Feb ATHLETICS

ATHLETICS-SCHIPPERS/ (PIX) Athletics - Schippers backs to basics as she looks for turn of fortune

Dutch sprint queen Dafne Schippers looks to turn back the page in this World Championship year after gong back to basics 28 Feb 23:00 ET / 04:00 GMT

CYCLING CYCLING-WORLD/ (PIX)

Cycling - 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships We will wrap day two of the championships

28 Feb GOLF

GOLF-HONDA/ Golf - PGA Tour - The Honda Classic

The PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida hosts the Honda Classic. Justin Thomas is the defending champion. 28 Feb

NBA BASKETBALL-NBA/COLLINS

NBA-Barrier-breaking Collins still awaits next openly gay athlete Jason Collins made history in 2013 when he became the first openly gay athlete in one of the four major North American professional sports leagues and the former NBA player wishes more men would follow the trail he helped blaze.

28 Feb 10:00 ET / 15:00 GMT BASKETBALL-NBA-ROUNDUP

Field Level Media-NBA roundup Capsule recaps of all games on the schedule Wednesday

NFL FOOTBALL-NFL-ATL-JONES

Field Level Media-Falcons expecting deal with WR Jones Julio Jones has two years remaining on his existing contract – worth $21 million total – but he’s expected to have a new contract by the start of the 2019 season.

4 p.m. ET/9 p.m. GMT FOOTBALL-NFL-MURRAY

Field Level Media-Arians on QB Murray: Why wouldn’t he throw? Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is all about stocking his team with competitors. Any quarterback who comes to Indianapolis and opts not to throw in workouts causes Arians and his staff to dig for the reasons behind that decision.

5 p.m. ET/10 a.m. GMT FOOTBALL-NFL-NOTEBOOK

Field Level Media-NFL notebook News and notes from around the National Football League

8 p.m. ET/1 a.m. GMT MLB

BASEBALL-MLB-ROUNDUP Field Level Media-MLB Spring notebook

Capsule roundups of spring training action Wednesday.