Richarlison and Martín Zubimendi are changing things up at Spurs and Arsenal while Graham Potter needs to get ugly
Ruben Amorim has been a highly successful Manchester United manager against continental opposition and promoted Premier League clubs. He’s been respectable against the top teams in England, with a win at the Etihad, a draw at Anfield and a win on penalties against Arsenal. But he’s been hopeless when faced with opponents from mid-table. Last season, after taking over in November, Amorim supervised 14 league games against clubs that ended up between seventh and 17th. United won two, drew two and lost 10, scraping eight points out of a possible 42. One of those two wins was at Craven Cottage, a streaky 1-0. Here, again, they needed luck to take the lead as Leny Yoro got away with a two-hands push on Calvin Bassey; this time they blew it, and they couldn’t complain. United had been the better team for 20 minutes, Fulham for about 75. Tim de Lisle
South Sydney star issued with summons by Queensland Police
29-year-old hooker set to appear in court on 18 September
NRL star Brandon Smith has been charged with drug supply and using inside knowledge for betting.
The South Sydney hooker was questioned by police when he arrived in Queensland ahead of their 10 August clash with Gold Coast, but released without charge.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a few spots open in their forward lineup for this season, which will make training camp a lot of fun to follow when it starts in a few weeks.
Kevin Hayes is one of the forwards who will be jockeying for one of the spots after finishing the 2024-25 season with 13 goals and 23 points in 64 games. He was a healthy scratch at some points last season and was also banged up at times, but still put up decent numbers in a bottom-six role. It was his first season with the Penguins after they acquired him, along with a second-round pick, from the St. Louis Blues on June 29 of last year. He was excited about the move to Pittsburgh because he felt he didn’t play his best hockey with St. Louis during the 2023-24 season.
Although Hayes didn't win with the Penguins last year, as they missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season, he still demonstrated his ability to play in the NHL. It was his 11th season in the league, and he has now played for the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Winnipeg Jets, the Blues, and the Penguins. In 777 career NHL games, Hayes has compiled 181 goals and 438 points.
Hayes even got to spend some time on the top power play unit with the big guns last season, including team captain Sidney Crosby. Four of his 13 goals came on the man-advantage, along with three of his ten assists, and he finished the year with 118 minutes on the PP. It was the sixth straight year that Hayes finished with 100+ minutes on the man-advantage. Former head coach Mike Sullivan, who is now the head coach of the Rangers, liked using Hayes on the PP due to his vision and how big he is around the net.
At 5v5 last year, Hayes’s most common linemates were Philip Tomasino and Drew O’Connor (before O’Connor got dealt to the Vancouver Canucks with defenseman Marcus Pettersson). Tomasino will also be back for the Penguins next year after re-signing with them on July 1, so he and Hayes could get some minutes together again if Muse likes what he sees during training camp and the preseason. He could also potentially get some minutes with fellow veteran forward Justin Brazeau, whom the Penguins just signed as a free agent in July. They appreciate the skill Brazeau demonstrated and think he will be a good fit after finishing last year with 11 goals and 22 points in 76 games.
When it comes to a role for Hayes, he will be seen as someone who can chip in at times for the Penguins, but he will still have to earn his minutes. He will be competing against veterans and younger players who want to make the jump and be full-time NHLers. He’s best served for a bottom-six role but can also play further up in the lineup for a few games if injuries occur. Hayes also has the flexibility to play center and wing after spending time at both positions last year. If he’s not playing, his impact will definitely be felt in the locker room. He’ll be someone that some of the other players can rely on as a leader.
Hayes is one of several Penguins players who will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2025-26 season. Considering where the Penguins are in their rebuild, they could flip him to a contender at the trade deadline if he produces well enough. Stanley Cup contenders are always looking for more scoring at the deadline since you need four scoring lines if you want to win it all. There will be nights when the stars don’t have it, and the depth pieces have to carry the load.
Not many fans expected much from Hayes last season, but he went out and had himself a fine season. It would benefit the Penguins if he can repeat that success this year when their 2025-26 season starts on October 7 against the Sullivan's Rangers.
(Data via Dobber's Frozen Tools and Natural Stat Trick).
CJ Carr grew up in a football family. His father, Jason, was a quarterback at Michigan and his grandfather, Lloyd, led the Wolverines to a perfect season and the 1997 national championship as their head coach.
SAN DIEGO — A heckler next to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dugout spent his entire Sunday giving an earful to the visitors, including a nonstop barrage of digs and chirps at Shohei Ohtani for his hitless performance in a portentous weekend series against the San Diego Padres.
When Ohtani crushed his 45th homer and delivered the knockout blow in the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 8-2 victory, the normally decorous three-time MVP detoured on his way back to the dugout to slap hands — and get the last word — with the chagrined Padres fan.
The Dodgers loved to see it, along with just about everything else that transpired in the final four innings of a win that evened the NL West race yet again with 31 games left.
“It was very out of character from Shohei, (but the heckler) was wearing him out the whole game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So it was good to see Shohei initiate a high-five from him. That was great. That was fun. It was good to see Shohei show his personality.”
Ohtani didn’t speak to reporters afterward, but he didn’t need a loudmouth fan to tell him that he was 0 for 10 with two walks in the series before his 409-foot homer off Yuki Matsui.
His fellow Dodgers had already delivered by then, with rookie Dalton Rushing’s tiebreaking three-run shot in the seventh inning sandwiched between clutch homers in back-to-back innings by Freddie Freeman.
“I think he was just kind of talking to Shohei the whole game, so I’m glad Shohei was able to give him a little something else to cheer about,” Freeman said with a grin.
Freeman and the rest of the Dodgers heard plenty of yapping from the stands during the weekend in the latest chapter of what might currently be the liveliest rivalry in the sport. The noise intensified as Los Angeles lost the first two games while managing just five combined hits — but the defending champs still managed to head home smiling and even with the Padres at 74-57.
When asked if the rivalry is the best in baseball, Rushing replied: “I think so. I think it’s pretty safe to say. You see the atmosphere we play in, whether it’s here or in LA. I think it’s pretty special. There’s something to it. There’s a lot of superstars on the field, and it’s fun to play in these games.”
Both teams could find reasons to be optimistic after wrapping up the regular season matchups between two World Series contenders that have also met in three of the past five postseasons, with the Dodgers winning two of those matchups.
The Dodgers have already won the season series with San Diego 9-4, giving them the tiebreaker if the clubs are still even 31 games from now.
San Diego still took two of three on the weekend with phenomenal starting pitching from a club that already has a bullpen that could be the best in the majors — its poor performance Sunday notwithstanding, of course.
Jeremiah Estrada gave up a homer in his second consecutive game when Rushing connected, while Wandy Peralta and Matsui also surrendered late homers.
But Yu Darvish, Nestor Cortes and Nick Pivetta combined to allow just four hits and three runs by the Dodgers over 18 innings. In a short October series, the Padres are confident they’ve got the arms to match Ohtani, Freeman and the Dodgers’ powerful lineup.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled,” San Diego manager Mike Shildt said. “We’re playing outstanding baseball, so I don’t tend to get too caught up in today. Today we were disappointed. Didn’t happen for us. We couldn’t be more thrilled. We’re tied for our division lead and expect to go win it.”
The division race means something to both teams — and not just because they’d both prefer not to play a perilous wild card playoff series in early October.
The Dodgers have won 11 of the last 12 NL West titles, while the Padres haven’t won the division since 2006. San Diego is closing in on its fourth playoff berth in six seasons during the longest run of sustained success in team history.
While the rivals won’t meet again in the regular season, both teams acknowledge they’ll be watching what the other does down the stretch.
“We’re going to treat the next however many games until the regular season is over like we’re neck-and-neck with them,” Rushing said. “Whether we’re tied in the division or we’re eight games out, we’re going to treat it like it’s the same, and I think it’s a good thing. You hold a competitive edge finishing out the regular season, and that’s what you kind of carry into the postseason.”
Serb manages physical issues to beat Learner Tien 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2
Djokovic is aiming for a record 25th grand slam title
In his first competitive outing after a six-week hiatus, there were times when an increasingly frustrated Novak Djokovic looked dead on his feet. However, in the most important moments of his turbulent first round match against American teenager Learner Tien, Djokovic worked through his physical discomfort and then held his nerve in the decisive moments to win 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2 and reach the second round of the US Open.
Even at 38 years old, Djokovic has been the third best player at the grand slam tournaments this year, reaching the semi-final of all three prior events. However, his ageing body has struggled to handle the physicality required to succeed in the best of five sets format. After his straight sets loss to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, Djokovic cast doubt on his ability to remain fresh and healthy deep in the grand slam tournaments at his age.
The Yankees salvaged the final game of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night by winning 7-2.
Here are the takeaways...
-Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each had themselves a day, finishing a combined 4-for-6 with four home runs and six RBI. Chisholm got New York started with a two-run shot in the second inning before Grisham joined in with a solo bomb in the third.
Grisham added another homer to lead off the sixth inning to put the Yanks up 5-0 after Jose Caballero had a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Chisholm hit his second of the night in the bottom of the eighth to make it 7-2.
The home runs gave Grisham and Chisholm 25 and 24 home runs, respectively, on the season -- good for second and tied for third on the team, behind Aaron Judge (40).
-Carlos Rodon earned the victory, improving to 14-7 on the season with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing just one hit and two earned runs while striking out three and walking five. It was a crucial bounce-back performance for the Yankees' rotation.
Still, Rodon's 24 walks since the All-Star break are the most by any MLB pitcher during that span.
-Sunday's win marked the Yankees first against Boston this season, as the team had previously lost eight consecutive games to the Red Sox to begin the season, being outscored 48-22 over that stretch. The Yankees entered this series with a disappointing 1-8 record against Boston in 2025.
-In a notable lineup decision, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe was removed from the starting lineup, with manager Aaron Boone citing his 1-for-28 slump and league-leading 17 errors as factors in the decision. Caballero started at shortstop in Volpe's place.
-Boston managed only five hits in the loss, with their lone offensive highlight coming in the sixth inning when Nathaniel Lowe delivered a two-run single to center field, scoring Alex Bregman and Romy González. Dustin May took the loss for Boston, falling to 7-10 after allowing five earned runs on five hits over 4.1 innings.
Game MVP: Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr.
They both get the honor after hitting two home runs each.
The Yankees continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals starting on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
RHP Cam Schlittler (1-2, 3.22 ERA) goes up against RHP Brad Lord (4-6, 3.46 ERA).
When Steve Yzerman returned to the Detroit Red Wings in April 2019 to take over the role of general manager, he didn’t have much to work with in terms of enticing prospects, but since then he has built one of the most highly regarded prospect pools in the NHL.
One of the prospects that has already begun making a considerable impact for the Red Wings is forward Marco Kasper, whom Yzerman made Detroit's Round 1 selection in 2022.
While Kasper began the 2024-25 NHL season in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins, he would eventually be called up to the team in late October 2025. Naturally, there was a learning curve for him stepping into the most talented League on the planet.
Soon, Kasper was showing that he belonged in the NHL, and his production began to especially take off once the Red Wings hired Todd McLellan in place of Derek Lalonde, who was relieved in late December.
Starting on January 10 through the end of the season, Kasper's 17 goals led all first-year NHL players. What's more, he finished fifth overall in total rookie scoring during that time.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 10, 2025
Kasper spent the majority of the season's second half centering Detroit's second line alongside future Hall of Fame forward Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.
“I personally feel like I had a pretty good year, but it’s going to be really hard to come back and do just like that and even improve what I want,” Kasper said of his rookie season. “I always talk about how I’m trying to get better every day. It’s something I’m going to focus on this summer.”
Kasper also skated for his native Austria in the 2025 World Championship, ultimately tying for the team lead in goals with four during the tournament.
The 20-year-old sophomore forward will likely begin the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season once again flanked by Kane and DeBrincat on his wings.
“It’s a skill to be able to play with top players and go to the net and score around the net and he’s scored a lot of his goals in the blue paint, a huge way to create offense in this league,” Kane said in April of Kasper's play. “He pushes the pace up the middle. Great skater, good both ways. And when you get to the net like that, you’re going to get rewarded.”
The Red Wings are less than a month from gathering in Traverse City, Mich. for Training Camp, which will be followed by their annual Red & White Game. This time, the game will be played at Van Andel Arena, the home venue of the Griffins, on Sunday, Sept. 21.
From that point on, Kasper and the Red Wings will begin the exhibition portion of their schedule against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sept. 23 at Little Caesars Arena.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years - and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft - top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News - Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization.
For No. 12, we put the spotlight on Mikhail Ilyin, a prospect who - if they're not already doing so - fans should certainly be keeping an eye on.
#12: F Mikhail Ilyin
It's easy to get mesmerized from time to time when watching Ilyin play hockey.
He can dance. He can dangle. He can outsmart and outthink his largely older competition in the KHL, and he uses those playmaking smarts to his advantage.
Selected in the fifth round (142nd overall) by the Penguins in 2023, Ilyin, 20, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins this summer. But he will return to the Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL next season, where he has shown some flashes of brilliance in his three seasons.
Last season, Ilyin registered seven goals and 30 points in 64 games, and he saw a lot of time on Severstal's top line with Daniil Aimurzin and Kirill Pilipenko. This followed a 12-goal, 29-point campaign in 2023-24. Even if that production doesn't jump out, the fact that Ilyin was a teenager playing on the top line - and on one of the KHL's best lines - says a lot about the kind of potential and maturity that's present in his game.
Ilyin has been working on his skating, and it's something that is still going to require notable improvement before he can hope to become a regular at the NHL level. But his ability to think the game at a high level makes up for a bit of that deficit.
Mikhail Ilyin with the sneaky goal off the goalie’s back. A play that represents his ability on the ice. 1 goal and 1 assist for him in his 2nd preseason game! pic.twitter.com/kWs5Ti6Xt5
His passing is calculated and precise, and even if his footspeed isn't the greatest, he is able to use his frame to work his way around opponents and his poise to skate smoothly. There is not much panic in Ilyin's game, and hopefully - at another year older - his production begins to catch up to the level of his playmaking.
There is a lot of potential and intrigue to Ilyin's game, which makes him an exciting prospect. He already has a lot of the details in his game down to a tee, so if he can put it all together, he could very well make an impact in the Penguins' future middle-six.
The Mets were slow to promote Nolan McLean -- too slow it appears, judging by his two outstanding starts in the big leagues. They need to change that conservative approach as it applies to their two other top pitching prospects, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong, in their pursuit of a postseason spot.
And it appears they may be ready to do just that -- perhaps quickly, as the week ahead figures to be pivotal.
At least there are indications the Mets are thinking more aggressively, perhaps realizing their trio of electric young pitchers, Sproat, Tong, and McLean, could help provide a much-needed re-set for the major league staff.
On Sunday they had an opener start for Triple-A Syracuse rather than Sproat so the 24-year old right-hander would get a taste of coming out of the bullpen. It’s a way of preparing him for the possibility of the role as a bulk reliever for the Mets in the weeks ahead, something they will need if their starters continue to have problems going deep into games.
That it didn’t go well for Sproat on Sunday, as he gave up seven runs -- five earned -- in 3 2/3 innings, shouldn’t deter the Mets from continuing to let him get a feel for the new role. He’s pitched with enough dominance at Triple-A over the last two months to make the case he’s as ready as McLean for the big leagues.
Whether he has McLean’s poise and presence remains to be seen. But there is no doubt Sproat has the high-ceiling stuff to succeed anywhere.
“He’s not as naturally confident as McLean,” one Mets’ person said of Sproat Sunday. “It took him longer to make the transition to Triple-A because he lost his confidence and started shying away from contact. But he’s come a long way this season in the way he attacks hitters and commands all of his pitches. When he’s on, he’s very impressive.”
And then there’s Tong, whose eye-popping success since his recent promotion to Triple-A is apparently forcing the Mets’ brass to re-think the possibility of using him in the big leagues this season, as reported Saturday by the New York Post.
And why not? Tong on Saturday not only pitched six scoreless innings, while racking up eight strikeouts, but got a whopping 21 swings-and-misses while throwing 88 pitches, as his fastball topped out at 97.6 mph.
In two Triple-A starts he’s pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts and 39 swings-and-misses. The K’s are impressive enough but the crazy-high total of whiffs is what had baseball people I spoke to believing that Tong could have immediate success if promoted.
“If I see 21 swings-and-misses, and I have a need, I’m absolutely giving him a shot,” a former GM told me Sunday. “Otherwise you’re not doing right by your ballclub.
“He has a unique delivery, the way he comes over the top, and that may be creating deception to go with his plus stuff. It gives him a better chance of having immediate success in the big leagues against guys who haven’t seen him. He could be the type of lightning-in-a-bottle guy who can have a big impact for a team chasing a postseason spot.”
A scout who saw Tong multiple times in Double-A added: “I’ve seen him dominate hitters at the top of the strike zone with his fastball and at the bottom with his offspeed stuff. He has weapons and he has deception. I wouldn’t be afraid to throw him in there against big-league hitters.”
Suddenly, then, the Mets have a slew of possibilities to improve their pitching staff, including Tylor Megill, who has pitched nine scoreless innings in rehab outings and could be back soon as well.
So how would the Mets find places for the new faces?
They DFA’d Paul Blackburn to make room for McLean, and Frankie Montas’ season-ending elbow injury opened another spot, filled for now by the call-up of reliever Huascar Brazoban.
Because they’re six games into a stretch of 16 straight without an off-day, they’ve indicated they will add a sixth starter at some point soon to give their five-man rotation an extra day of rest. Senga, in particular, rarely starts on four days rest, but is scheduled to do so Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
It seems highly unlikely the Mets would have him make a second start on regular rest, which would be Saturday at home against the Miami Marlins. So that could well be the day they use the extra starter, either Megill, Sproat, or Tong.
Beyond that, however, much could depend on how both Senga and Sean Manaea pitch over the next two days. They have been the primary short-start culprits lately, which has created a sense the Mets would be better off with a couple of bulk relievers than all of the one-inning guys they have now.
In addition, if Manaea continues to lose velocity after a few innings, which could be the result of the loose bodies in his elbow, the Mets could also be served well to designate someone to piggyback and limit Manaea to 3-4 innings.
Clay Holmes seems to have gotten a second wind in that regard in his last two starts, but his innings-total remains enough of a concern that the Mets could need a similar set-up for him in the weeks ahead.
It’s why David Stearns is likely mulling multiple pitching scenarios for the days and weeks ahead.
If he wants to go bold and utilize both Sproat and Tong at some point, it could mean optioning Reed Garrett to the minors and DFA’ing Ryne Stanek.
That shouldn’t be a deterrent at this point. If anything, Stearns should be emboldened enough by McLean’s success to get creative and give his pitching staff a makeover. The sooner the better.
The NHL’s 2025-26 season is nearly upon us, and at THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’re examining each Buffalo player and the expectations on them next year. Each Sabres player has the pressure to get this Buffalo team into the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, but every player’s outlook is at least a little bit different.
2025-26 Expectations: Levi has been the Sabres’ goalie-of-the-future for a while now, and like many young goalies, he’s struggled to be consistent at the NHL level. The truth is, between veterans Luukkonen and former Sabres journeyman James Reimer, the Sabres’ starting job has been there for the taking for Levi.
But he’s put up a sub-.900-level SP in both of his two relatively-brief NHL seasons, and one of the reasons the Sabres went out and signed veteran Lyon this summer was to get goalie insurance in case Luukkonen struggled yet again and Levi wasn’t ready for the physical and mental toll of the NHL.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Levi isn’t going to get a look at the NHL level this year. To the contrary – if one of Luukkonen and Lyon are injured, Levi can be the American League recall and get into a handful of games. Same goes for underwhelming performances. If Lyon doesn’t get the job done, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams may waive and demote him in favor of Levi.
Levi’s strong AHL numbers last year suggest he hasn’t lost the ability to tend goal just because he hasn’t thrived at the NHL level. He’s going to need time to develop, and the Sabres don’t need to put the weight of the world on his shoulders as Buffalo makes a desperate push for the playoffs next season. That means more patience with him and more understanding of him.
If they play their cards right with Levi, the Sabres could have a No. 1 netminder for the next decade or more. But this is a delicate balance, weighing Levi’s interests on one side, and the Sabres’ immediate needs on the other side. And Buffalo can't afford to make a developmental mistake with a talent that could prove extremely valuable to them for a long time to come.
Levi showed at the AHL level he’s a beast. The challenge now for him is to make those dominant skills translate at the NHL level. He’s not anywhere close to losing ground in the Sabres’ goalie ranks, but Levi needs to show he’s ready, willing and able to stick with Buffalo at the next chance he gets.
EDMONTON – Goalies haven’t had the best time playing for the Edmonton Oilers lately.
Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have had their moments of struggle (with Skinner struggling more than Pickard). Goaltending and defensive play are the backbone of a Stanley Cup Champion team.
Of those options, Daws has the most NHL experience. However, this hasn’t stopped other hockey pundits from suggesting otherwise.
Allan Mitchell of The Athletic has identified DiPietro as a trade target for the Oilers. In a piece penned earlier in August, Mitchell makes the statement that DiPietro is “the best inexpensive goaltender available.”
With only three games of experience, it takes gusto to make that claim. Daws has better results in a much bigger sample size, while Cossa’s draft pedigree has earned him a longer leash than DiPietro.
The lack of NHL experience gives this writer pause. Given the other options available in Cossa and Daws, DiPietro should only be considered an option for the Oilers if they strike out elsewhere.
Add us to your Google News favourites, and never miss a story.
