Arsenal go to Leicester in Saturday’s early kick-off aiming to close the gap on Liverpool who host Wolves on Sunday
Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue King Power Stadium
Continue reading...Patrick Reed hits hole-in-one on famed party hole at LIV Golf Adelaide
- American golfer showered by crowd after ace on Watering Hole
- Cameron Smith makes steady start on day one at Grange Golf Club
American Patrick Reed has sparked wild scenes and been showered in drinks after sinking a hole-in-one during the first round of the LIV Golf event in Adelaide.
The former US Masters champion aced the famous watering hole on just his second hole of the day as the tournament got off to a raucous start at Grange Golf Club on Friday.
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Welington can beef up Saints, Ola Aina returns to SW6 and Raheem Sterling has the chance to roll back the years
It may have taken Brighton’s record signing a few months to settle in but the performance of Georginio Rutter in their thrilling FA Cup victory over Chelsea showed that the Frenchman was worth the £40m they paid Leeds in the summer. A brilliant header to equalise before setting up Kaoru Mitoma’s winner gave Fabian Hürzeler’s side the confidence boost they needed after their 7-0 mauling against Nottingham Forest, with Rutter justifying his manager’s decision to leave João Pedro on the bench. Rutter – who has seven goals in all competitions – did not start a Premier League game in January after struggling with a hamstring problem and Hürzeler has been mindful of protecting the 22-year-old, although he will be itching to face Enzo Maresca’s side for the second time in six days. “There were a lot of personal duels and he proved that he can win the majority of them, and that’s why I’m happy with him,” said Hürzeler. Ed Aarons
Southampton v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...FA Cup fourth round: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
George Hirst finds inspiration from his father, Plymouth exploit Arne Slot’s choices and Marcus Rashford shows promise at his new club
Against Tottenham, the Aston Villa substitute Marcus Rashford looked, well, like the old Marcus Rashford. On the left, the Manchester United loanee embarrassed Pedro Porro with a nutmeg. Through the middle, a deft touch helped release Jacob Ramsey through on goal. Rashford flew down the right at searing pace (before a brilliant Archie Gray tackle limited further damage to Spurs). In half an hour, Rashford only had one fewer touches than Son Heung-min managed in 90 minutes. He looked fit and mentally eager (winning both the tackles he attempted), had a 93% pass accuracy, won four of six aerial duels and generally looked in synergy with his new teammates. Maybe he has a point to prove, or has had a boost of confidence from Villa’s fans and manager, or maybe Rashford is just playing in a quality, well-oiled side again, but Villa’s new No 9 looked – for 30 minutes at least – back to his best. Michael Butler
Continue reading...FA Cup fourth round: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Marcus Rashford could make his Aston Villa debut as Birmingham aim to bring Newcastle back to earth
For spice, consider how this tie is the sides’ third meeting this term. Manchester United won the first two with an aggregate of 8-2, Ruud van Nistelrooy was interim manager for each, then Ruben Amorim made the Dutchman unemployed when taking over as the head coach in mid-autumn. Now returning to Old Trafford as Leicester’s No 1, Van Nistelrooy can expect a warm welcome due to his former status as a star United striker. But if he engineers a knockout of the holders, Van Nistelrooy will be recast, temporarily, as the villain of the faithful. Jamie Jackson
Manchester United v Leicester, Friday 8pm (all times GMT)
Leyton Orient v Manchester City, Saturday 12.15pm
Coventry v Ipswich, Saturday 3pm
Everton v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...Transfer window verdict: how every Premier League club fared
Only one of the top six made a notable signing – and they spent £172m – in a frustrating window for several managers
Mikel Arteta’s hopes of strengthening his squad never materialised, no doubt to his frustration and that of every Arsenal supporter, despite the surprise bid for Ollie Watkins and interest in Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel. The feelgood factor generated by the famous thrashing of Manchester City will not last long if a lack of attacking options means they cannot sustain their challenge in the Premier League. Arteta, who would not allow Kieran Tierney or Jorginho to leave with their contracts expiring in the summer, will be hoping that some winter sunshine in Dubai next week can give his players extra spark when they return. Ed Aarons
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Arsenal relish City demolition as Sels shines while Liverpool carry on regardless at the top
Any successful title challenge needs a statement victory to install belief and reset previous concerns. Beating Manchester City must now be Arsenal’s foundation and not the zenith. Arsenal have played much of this season as if distracted by situations beyond their control – referees, their rivals’ dispositions and their relative luck with injuries. The second-half performance was a reminder of how Mikel Arteta previously took Arsenal to the verge of title wins, playing high-grade attacking football, pressing their opponents into mistakes. Has the high-quality football returned at the right time? Arteta’s team maintained discipline, not rising to provocations before taking advantage of City’s malfunctions to run in five goals. All without Bukayo Saka, whose loss was supposed to be the end of the affair. In Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, both on the scoresheet, the next generation made its contribution on a perfect Sunday for club and manager. One to celebrate and build on, not bask in. John Brewin
Match report: Arsenal 5-1 Manchester City
Match report: Brentford 0-2 Tottenham
Match report: Manchester United 0-2 Crystal Palace
Match report: Wolves 2-0 Aston Villa
Match report: Bournemouth 0-2 Liverpool
Match report: Ipswich 1-2 Southampton
Match report: Everton 4-0 Leicester
Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Fulham
Match report: Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton
Continue reading...Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action
Arsenal host an improving Manchester City on Sunday after Liverpool travel to in-form Bournemouth on Saturday
Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue City Ground
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
There’s a huge game at Bournemouth, a huge game at Arsenal and … er, a huge game at Portman Road
Nuno Espírito Santo said that at Bournemouth last weekend, where they were humbled 5-0, his Nottingham Forest side had been “not accurate and missed a lot of passes”. It is interesting that four of Forest’s last five – and five of their last eight – Premier League games rank in their bottom eight of the season on pass completion. “We have to perform much better,” he said. “We have to be more solid and play better football. We have so many things to improve.” Though results in that period, at least until last week, continued to be good they have relied on statistically unlikely displays of finishing prowess. Before their trip to Bournemouth, Forest had scored with nine of their previous 12 shots on target in all competitions and the last time a Chris Wood shot on target failed to go in was before Christmas. Both Nuno and Fabian Hürzeler were sent off for misconduct during a rancorous conclusion to the fixture between these sides at the Amex Stadium last September. Simon Burnton
Nottingham Forest v Brighton, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)
Bournemouth v Liverpool, Saturday 3pm
Everton v Leicester, Saturday 3pm
Ipswich v Southampton, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...Sydney to host 2027 Rugby World Cup final as Melbourne settles for last-16 games
- Semi-finals and third-place playoff also to be played in Sydney
- Melbourne to host nine matches in total; opener to be played in Perth
The eyes of the rugby world will again fall on Sydney after it was chosen to host the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup final, 24 years after the Wallabies’ heartbreaking defeat to England at the city’s Olympic Stadium.
Accor Stadium at Homebush, with a capacity of 82,000, will again host the decider as well as the semi-finals, the third-place playoff and two quarter-finals at the 11th edition of the global showpiece, which will take place in Australia for the first time since 2003.
Continue reading...Six Nations team news: Penaud blow for France as Ntamack and Dupont return
- Bordeaux wing to miss Friday’s opener against Wales
- Former England prop Henry Thomas makes first start
France’s Romain Ntamack is set to line up at fly-half for the first time in almost 18 months but the Six Nations favourites will be without the wing Damian Penaud for Friday night’s opener against Wales, adding to a list of key players unavailable for the curtain-raiser at the Stade de France.
Ntamack missed the 2023 World Cup with a knee injury and his planned comeback last November was curtailed by a calf injury, but he will reprise his highly regarded combination with the returning captain, Antoine Dupont. Penaud had been expected to return to the team but suffered a toe injury in training and Théo Attissogbé will line up on the wing instead.
Continue reading...Johnny Herbert axed as steward by FIA over ‘incompatible’ role as F1 pundit
- Ex-British driver helped rule on grand prix race incidents
- Hamilton “absolutely OK” after crash for new team Ferrari
Johnny Herbert has left his role as a Formula One driver steward after the FIA said his grand prix work was “incompatible” with his job as a media pundit.
Herbert attracted criticism from Max Verstappen’s camp last season for his comments about the Red Bull driver’s performance at the Mexican Grand Prix. The three-times race winner from 160 starts, who competed for an array of F1 teams in the 80s and 90s and won the Le Mans 24 Hours, had been scheduled to officiate at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 16 March.
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Sandro Tonali sets the tone, Manchester City debutants have mixed fortunes and Brighton must find their edge
As a cure for the Sunday fear, the self-identifying worst Manchester United team in history’s trip to Craven Cottage was pot-boiling viewing. It will be some time until Ruben Amorim can stage high-end entertainment of a Wolf Hall standard but at least relegation is now unlikely to be the series conclusion. United fans were singing the manager’s name once Lisandro Martínez’s fortuitous winner span in. A fragile belief is growing. Such are the lenses on United any result is seen as a signifier, but beating Fulham is not a return of the glory days. The last United manager to lose at Craven Cottage was Sir Alex Ferguson himself. Amorim should take heart from a more solid defensive performance, Harry Maguire the organising heart of the trio, Martínez aggressive and provocative alongside him, looking closer to be the player he promised to be two seasons ago. Toby Collyer’s late clearance off the line completed a much more positive week than last. John Brewin
Continue reading...Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action
Chelsea travel to the Etihad to take on Manchester City while Fulham host Manchester United at Craven Cottage
Saturday 3pm Venue Vitality Stadium
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Harvey Elliott deserves a Liverpool start, Chelsea should go for the jugular at City and Mikey Moore would help Spurs
In a surprise to pre-season predictors, this match is as important as a fixture in January can be in the battle for Champions League football. Nottingham Forest head into the weekend level with second-placed Arsenal, while Bournemouth are three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and seven back from Forest. The scrutiny on both teams is growing but they keep answering the questions thrown at them. Despite having no out-and-out striker last weekend, Bournemouth put four past Newcastle, giving Nuno Espírito Santo a warning. Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick, his second of the season, at St James’ Park as Andoni Iraola’s flexible front four excelled. Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo might feel more confident against a natural No 9 but Forest’s centre-back pairing will relish the challenge. Will Unwin
Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)
Brighton v Everton, Saturday 3pm
Liverpool v Ipswich, Saturday 3pm
Southampton v Newcastle, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...