Football captures the imagination, Formula One and tennis hopes rise – our writers pick the Australian sport moments to watch this year
Whether you want sun or snow, football or tennis, home-soil heroes or intrepid contenders – there is something for every Australian on the 2026 sporting calendar. Guardian Australia’s sport team have selected the events they are most looking forward to in 2026, at home and abroad.
Continue reading...Aston Villa have a decision to make about Harvey Elliott, Brentford have money to spend and Burnley and Everton need goalscorers
A busy summer with the arrival of more than £250m in reinforcements has proved to be invaluable given the number of injuries that have hit Arsenal, particularly in defence. But that also makes any more expensive incomings unlikely in January, especially after the timely return of the influential Gabriel Magalhães this week. A loan signing or two could be on the cards, however, with Arsenal not having filled either slot so far after bringing in Neto from Bournemouth and Raheem Sterling from Chelsea last season. Mikel Arteta could do with more cover at right-back and must also decide whether to allow Ethan Nwaneri to go on loan with the 18-year-old having made only three starts in all competitions. Ed Aarons
Continue reading...The 54-year-old was admitted to hospital on Boxing Day
Martyn played total of 67 Tests between 1992 and 2006
The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis.
The sporting community is rallying around the 54-year-old, who “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday.
Continue reading...An Ashes-defining intervention, an NRL showstopper, and new hope forced on the AFL are among our writers’ great moments in Australian sports this year
The highly anticipated Ashes was quickly torn apart by Travis Head’s cameo at the top of the order that has since turned into a much longer stay. The NRL grand final was another scene for an all-time breathtaking display, as the Broncos joined the AFL’s Lions in making Brisbane the epicentre of Australian sport. Here are our writers’ sporting highlights of 2025.
Continue reading...‘Monster’ dominates Picasso to defend undisputed title
Unanimous decision in Riyadh keeps Inoue unbeaten
Nakatani victory fuels chatter of Tokyo super-fight
Naoya Inoue moved a step closer to the biggest bout in Japanese boxing history after outclassing Alan Picasso by unanimous decision in Riyadh on Saturday, retaining his undisputed super-bantamweight titles and clearing the runway for a long-anticipated showdown with countryman Junto Nakatani.
Inoue, widely regarded as one of the finest pound-for-pound fighters in the world alongside Oleksandr Usyk and the recently retired Terence Crawford, was in control from the opening bell at the Mohammed Abdo Arena, neutralizing the previously unbeaten Mexican challenger with precision, speed and sustained pressure over 12 rounds. The judges scored the contest 120-108, 119-109 and 117-111 in favor of the 32-year-old champion.
Continue reading...Several teams got their hands on silverware at last in 2025. Here supporters talk about the pain and pleasure of finally winning
16 March 2025: Won Carabao Cup, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley, their first trophy in 56 years
Continue reading...Wedding follows five-day celebration in Florida
Preti is a Danish-born Italian actor and model
Williams plans to return for 33rd WTA season
Venus Williams married actor and model Andrea Preti over the weekend, the tennis great announced Tuesday on social media.
Williams, 45, and Preti were married in Palm Beach, Florida, following a five-day celebration that included family and close friends. The couple also held a non-official ceremony in Italy earlier this year.
Continue reading...Highs and lows for Alexander Isak, Wolves’ sobering survival chances and were Chelsea lucky at Newcastle?
Can results be misleading? That is the question. Aston Villa’s winning streak continued against Manchester United, but so did the nagging doubts. They were the lesser team by several measures – fewer shots (12-15), less possession (43-57), fewer big chances (2-3). As usual, the victory was a slender one. As usual, our friend xG was unimpressed: according to Opta, United edged it 1.31-1.02. But, as every fan knows, games are not won by xG. They are won by solid teamwork, shrewd management and individual talent – and Villa have all three. Morgan Rogers may be their only star, but he’s delivering like Father Christmas. Unai Emery is wily, battle-hardened, five years ahead of Ruben Amorim. If Rogers profited from Leny Yoro’s naivety, that was probably because Emery had spotted that Yoro is not a right-back, and told Rogers to start wide, cut in and torment him. Talent and management, working together. Tim de Lisle
Match report: Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United
Match report: Everton 0-1 Arsenal
Match report: Manchester City 3-0 West Ham
Match report: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool
Match report: Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea
Match report: Wolves 0-2 Brentford
Match report: Leeds 4-1 Crystal Palace
Continue reading...It is a case of north London against Merseyside as Tottenham host Liverpool and Everton face leaders Arsenal
Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue St James’ Park
Continue reading...Ngumoha could step up for Liverpool, injury-hit Newcastle need to bounce back and Parker feels the heat
Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League and Newcastle 12th but the gap between them is only six points. It dictates that, given Eddie Howe’s ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League via the league, this is a pivotal fixture. How Newcastle’s manager must hope Enzo Maresca’s recent cryptic hints about potential discord behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge somehow help to undo the visitors on Tyneside, cutting the aforementioned gap in half. If off-pitch harmony endures at St James’ Park, Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian ownership will, nonetheless, be keen to see Howe and his players make further amends for last Sunday’s ignominious defeat at Sunderland. Falling nine points behind Chelsea may not be well received in Riyadh. Howe might have been tempted to start with a back five but with Tino Livramento the latest victim of a defensive injury crisis, he only possesses sufficient fit personnel to staff a four-man rearguard. Assuming Howe sticks with his preferred 4-3-3 it will be intriguing to see whether he drops a winger and fields Yoane Wissa to Nick Woltemade’s left in attack. Or does he opt for a potentially more fluid 4-2-3-1 with Woltemade as the No 10 and Wissa at No 9? Louise Taylor
Newcastle v Chelsea, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)
Bournemouth v Burnley, Saturday 3pm
Brighton v Sunderland, Saturday 3pm
Manchester City v West Ham, Saturday 3pm
Wolves v Brentford, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...From Hannah Hampton to Lando Norris, our experts give their view on why each nominee is a worthy winner
No sporting event in 2025 gripped England quite like the Lionesses’ Euros success and that euphoria would not have happened without Hannah Hampton’s saves. Long before Hampton dived the correct way to stop two Spain penalties in the final, including one from the world’s best player Aitana Bonmatí, she had produced heroics, without which the team would have flown home disappointingly early.
Continue reading...Arsenal and City march on, Sunderland enjoy bragging rights, and Ekitiké gives Liverpool fans a much-needed lift
Mikel Arteta had the option to frame things differently. The Arsenal manager was even teed up to do so with a generous question in the press conference that followed his side’s 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday. Had his team shown the toughness of champions by recovering from a 90th-minute concession to steal all three points? “That’s something very positive but I don’t put it down to resilience,” Arteta replied. It was of a piece with him essentially reading the riot act to his players. They had not turned up at the start, he suggested, and the less said about the closing stages, the better – apart from the last-gasp winner. It is rare to hear Arteta be so critical but he knew his team had got away with one and he wanted them to know, too. Arsenal have a rare blank midweek before they go to Everton for another 8pm kick-off next Saturday. The standards must be higher. David Hytner
Match report: Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
Match report: Crystal Palace 0-3 Manchester City
Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle
Match report: Liverpool 2-0 Brighton
Match report: West Ham 2-3 Aston Villa
Match report: Chelsea 2-0 Everton
Continue reading...Leaders Arsenal host rock-bottom Wolves on Saturday night while Sunderland and Newcastle do battle on Sunday
Saturday 3pm Venue Stamford Bridge
Continue reading...Gabriel Jesus is looking to impress, Daniel Muñoz is tough to replace and is this it for Mohamed Salah at Liverpool?
This season Chelsea have held Arsenal after going down to 10 men and have beaten Barcelona, Liverpool and Tottenham. They have also dropped points against Atalanta, Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Leeds, Qarabag and Sunderland. It is clear that winning against smaller sides remains a problem for Enzo Maresca. Chelsea rise to the big occasion but inconsistency flares when they are expected to win. They do not like playing against deep defences – Maresca has often reacted with dismay when opponents switch to a back five to counter his carefully formulated plans – and can be forgiven if they are edgy about hosting Everton on Saturday. David Moyes’s side have just recorded clean sheets at Bournemouth and Manchester United. They will back themselves to neutralise Chelsea’s attacking talents. Jacob Steinberg
Chelsea v Everton, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)
Liverpool v Brighton, Saturday 3pm
Burnley v Fulham, Saturday 5.30pm
Arsenal v Wolves, Saturday 8pm
Continue reading...Shields to launch $8m multi-fight deal in Detroit
Double Olympic champion back at Little Caesars Arena
Crews-Dezurn moving up to heavyweight for bout
Claressa Shields will defend her undisputed heavyweight championship in Detroit on 22 February, returning home for a rematch with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in her first fight since signing a landmark $8m promotional deal. The bout will headline a Dazn card at Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NBA’s Pistons and NHL’s Red Wings where Shields attracted a near-sellout crowd for her most recent fight last July.
Shields (17-0, 3 KO) and Crews-Dezurn (10-2, 2 KO) first met nearly a decade ago when they made their professional debuts against each other on the undercard of Andre Ward’s victory over Sergey Kovalev in 2016. Shields won a four-round unanimous decision that night in Las Vegas, a moment she still sees as formative. “I had just come off winning two Olympic gold medals, fresh out of the amateurs, and finding an opponent was tough,” she said in a press release announcing the fight. “Franchon stepped in. I’ve grown a lot since that first victory, but me and Franchon have unfinished business that needs to be settled.”
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