The Guardian

⚽ Premier League updates from the 5.30pm GMT kick-off ⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Barry Arsenal’s January transfer plans: “We are open to every option,” said Arteta upon being quizzed on the matter yesterday. “Obviously, if we can find a solution that is short, medium or long. It’s always much better because it gives you stability and you don’t have to constantly start a…

Paul removed from WBA top 15 after Joshua KO Fight drew 33m global viewers on Netflix Loss followed brief cruiserweight ranking run Jake Paul has fallen out of the World Boxing Association’s cruiserweight rankings after his sixth-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua last month. The YouTuber was stopped by the former two-time heavyweight champion in a scheduled eight-round bout in Miami , where J…

Finland avenge last year’s final with OT upset Valola scores winner as US title defense ends Canada, Sweden cruise into world junior semis Arttu Välilä scored at 2:11 of overtime and Finland stunned the two-time defending champion United States 4-3 on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals. Last year in the final in Ottawa, Ontario, the Americans beat the Finns 4-3 in overtime . C…

Aston Villa continue to surpass expectations as they bounced back from defeat by Arsenal to cement their place in the top three. Ollie Watkins celebrated his 250th appearance for the club with his fourth goal in three games and John McGinn added two more as Unai Emery’s side won their 11th straight home game. Villa’s ability to score out of next to nothing epitomises their season. They managed th…

Wilfried Nancy spent a memorable Friday press conference pleading for time, context and understanding as he visibly struggles with the role of Celtic manager. This outcome – and the nature of it – will do nothing for Nancy’s hopes of keeping his job. Celtic’s beleaguered directors now face a critical and imminent decision over whether to keep faith with the Frenchman or write his appointment off …

⚽ Get updates from England, Scotland and further afield ⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Billy Brighton (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Ayari, Gruda; Gomez, Rutter, Mitoma; Kostoulas. Subs: Steele, Hinshelwood, Watson, Welbeck, Milner, Boscagli, De Cuyper, Gross, Coppola. Continue reading...

Batter has been thrown in at the deep end at No 3 and if the selectors have faith in a young player they should be doing everything to help them succeed There used to be a saying in county cricket: a quick game’s a good game. You’d hear it from the old pros who sensed a poor wicket or a downpour, because it meant they would get more time off. Well, England and Australia have certainly adhered to …

As the millennial superstars near the end, an international generation reshapes the league. The question is whether an American can still carry the crown That the NBA is reckoned in seasons is apt. To measure a legacy this way is as much existential as it is symbolic. Martin Heidegger argued that time is not something we pass through, but the condition of our being – less a pathway than a pressur…

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s inexorable rise will continue in the Indian Premier League this year, but it is unlikely to stop there It’s that time of year again, a time of lists and countdowns, of soul-crushing AI brain-vomit ringed by adverts for miracle dental implants. In the spirit of the season the tech website Feedpost produced its own list on New Year’s Eve of the Top 100 Kid Influencers on Inst…

Spaniard resumes intense rivalry with Jannik Sinner, while Sabalenka and Swiatek remain at the top of women’s game Amid the endless flood of Instagram photo dumps and gushy captions from social media users around the world saluting another year gone by, Carlos Alcaraz’s efforts were particularly interesting. The candid photos chosen by Alcaraz from his camera roll included dozens of friends and f…

Palmer and Delap are among five academy players who learnt their trade at City, as links between the clubs grow Chelsea’s visit to Manchester City on Sunday will be a homecoming for members of the travelling party. Five Chelsea players were nurtured at the academy that sits a few hundred yards from the Etihad Stadium, on the other side of a bridge. The London club’s recent recruitment has been he…

It’s said that you should never meet your heroes, but 36 years after the Liverpool manager sat by my hospital bed, I got to thank our greatest ally Born to a son of Anfield in a Warwickshire village, I grew up geographically remote from my spiritual football home. Emotionally, though, the pull of the boys in red was ever-present: from my first game at Anfield in 1974 to FA Cup final defeat at Wem…

England yet to settle on XI to play at SCG amid uncertainty over pitch Captain concedes Australia bowlers ‘put us under heaps of pressure’ “I don’t think a groundsman has ever been under as much pressure as the guy here this week.” Ben Stokes had a smile on his face during his final pre-match press conference of this Ashes series at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as he responded to a question about t…

Steve Smith defends allrounder but refuses to confirm his place in side Beau Webster and Todd Murphy in the mix to face England at the SCG Steve Smith has launched an impassioned defence of Cameron Green but can’t guarantee the out-of-form allrounder’s place in the XI for the Ashes series finale. Australia’s stand-in captain insists all options are on the selection table for the fifth Test, inclu…

Coach stopped toeing the line at Stamford Bridge with one eye on the Manchester City job, frustrating his employers It was late on New Year’s Eve when Chelsea’s patience ran out. They knew that Enzo Maresca was attempting to engineer an exit from the club and now they were ready to call his bluff. Midnight was approaching and the fireworks at Stamford Bridge were about to erupt. A baffling story …