The Guardian

On fifth anniversary of their takeover, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac showed off their ‘happy clapper’ credentials The daily ritual of the modern football fan is well established: check the fixtures and TV listings, then decide which match to half-follow while gawping at social media as a second screen. On most nights in March this year there has been either a Premier League or Champions League game …

Bukayo Saka could switch to No 10, Brentford’s Igor Thiago sets sights on 20-goal mark and a key selection dilemma looms for Chelsea Premier League top scorers: latest top-flight standings In the summer, Burnley signed two new goalkeepers. Martin Dubravka agreed a one-year deal after leaving Newcastle, and has been one of the successes from a questionable round of recruitment. At 37, however, and…

Manager speaks at length after defeat at Real Madrid Players must use ‘guts and nose’ to score, he adds Pep Guardiola launched a four-and-a-half-minute defence of his team selection in the 3-0 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid . Guardiola chose to play an attacking 4-2-2-2 formation at the Bernabéu stadium on Wednesday and the visitors were ultimately humbled by a Federico Valverde hat-trick…

Carrick says Harry Maguire is ready for England return, while Rosenior is happy with Chelsea’s keeper dilemma Continue reading...

Former Tottenham manager says ‘I would give it a go’ after seeing his horse weaken up the Cheltenham hill Harry Redknapp is the living embodiment of Spurs’ motto, Audere est Facere: To Dare Is To Do. And on the day one improbable dream ended, with his horse The Jukebox Man fading to finish eighth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the 79-year-old switched his sights towards another bold adventure: savin…

It is a decade since England beat France across the Channel in the Six Nations and with results spiralling downwards the pressure is on to avoid their worst-ever finish Plenty of water has flowed down the Seine since England were last at the Stade de France for the business end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Back then they came within a point of beating South Africa – the eventual champions – in th…

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli took a one-two win in Australia and team’s ability to master dark art of energy management is paying off As Formula One grapples with its new, controversial regulations, there is consensus at least that Mercedes are expected to be on top once more in the second race of the season on Sunday in Shanghai. The team have a fearsome car but most importantly in a formul…

With nine games to go, we assess the Premier League teams behind Arsenal and Manchester City who are most likely to fill the remaining berths Reasons for optimism: Michael Carrick recently professed himself as “definitely a glass half-full” manager so the interim surely looks at the final nine games and sees a huge opportunity. Particularly positive here are the fixtures with Aston Villa (Sunday)…

He shoots 66 to make cut at Players Championship Rory McIlroy squeaks into third round with strong finish Keegan Bradley has admitted to still being “heartbroken” by his American Ryder Cup team’s loss at Bethpage last year. Bradley is also keen on retaining the US captaincy at Adare Manor next September, should Tiger Woods knock back the opportunity. Luke Donald and Europe were set for a Bethpage…

We take a look at the best images from the Games, including skiing, snowboarding and ice hockey Continue reading...

After 11 straight defeats against Ireland, victory in Dublin would vindicate Gregor Townsend’s faith in his players Trusting the process. It sounds like a fine idea in principle: although it really depends if your process was any good in the first place. Gregor Townsend faced down a familiar cacophony of criticism after Scotland’s opening defeat by Italy last month. The same old shortcomings had …

Our photographer Tom Jenkins captures the winners, the losers, the punters and all the thrills and spills at this year’s Cheltenham festival Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Someone needed to save face, to halt the crisis (likely to be partially forgotten next week) engulfing Our League™. After six winless games for the English representatives in Bigger Cup, Thursday night did not bring a drastic improvement. Nottingham Forest fell to Midtjylland at home and Crystal Palace settled for a goalless draw against AEK Lar…

Leaders Arsenal host Everton on Saturday while struggling Tottenham head to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday Saturday 3pm Venue Turf Moor Continue reading...

He dismisses talk of club being cursed by ‘black magic’ Interim manager admits some players are not coping Igor Tudor has told his Tottenham players to stand up and fight rather than wallow in the role of victims and hide behind “bullshit” excuses such as the club being cursed by “black magic”. The interim manager is under intense pressure as he prepares for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverp…