Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea’s owners must look past their disappointment and back him to implement the plan he was hired to draw up in order to lift the club out of their slump. Defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday means the team have taken an average of 0.85 points per game over the last 35 matches, three short of a full league season. Over a single campaign they would have won 32 points, a tally that would have seen them relegated in every Premier League season since the league became 38 games in 1995, and would have left them bottom of the table in five of them. That run goes back to October 19 last year when the team, then managed by Graham Potter, drew 0-0 away at Brentford. Pochettino is the fourth manager to have led the side in that period, with Potter having been removed on April 2 and Frank Lampard taking over until the end of the campaign, with a single game in charge for caretaker boss Bruno Saltor. Despite the turnover of coaches, the Blues have won only six times in the league in the 11 months since, drawing 12, giving them a return of 30 points from 35 games. The squad assembled by co-owner Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium at a cost of more than £1billion over the last 16 months are currently 14th in the table after six games and have not scored in 285 minutes of play. Pochettino encouraged supporters to keep faith and focus on the quality of recent performances rather than the club’s relegation form over the last year. “It’s about learning, it’s about the process,” he said after Ollie Watkins’ second-half goal for Villa condemned his side to their third loss of the season. “We are a young team (in) a process that they need to learn all together. It’s difficult to talk about positives because when you lose it’s difficult, but we need to talk about positive things. “No doubt that with time the team is going to perform, but of course now we cannot hide the situation. It’s a situation that disappoints all the fans, the club, us and the players. “They (the owners) are disappointed, they arrive to the club and (were) so excited to build some project. Of course they feel disappointed, but at the same time they need to support the plan.” If there was a bright spot for Chelsea it was the return of striker Armando Broja after nine months out with an ACL injury. The Albania international came off the bench in the second half and headed wide in the closing minutes as the team sought an equaliser. “It was good to see Broja after nine, 10 months,” said Pochettino. “Again I think to have the possibility to have different options is good for the team. But he needs to build his confidence also.” Watkins’ goal was his first in the league this season and the striker admitted it was a weight off his shoulders. “The first one is always hard to get,” Watkins told VillaTV. “I’m delighted to get off the mark now. “It’s a bit of a relief, really, because the more the games go by, there’s a lot of talk and pressure. “But I just try and block that out and I back myself in front of goal no matter what anyone says. “I’m looking forward to the games coming up now and plenty more goals for the season.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Hooker Johnny Matthews is a perfectly able deputy for Scotland – John Dalziel Axed Jason Roy urged to remain positive with World Cup role still a possibility ECB unable to commit to equal pay targets for England men and women

Offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga plans to retire from the NFL with the Green Bay Packers after spending the first 10 seasons of his career with them

VIDEO: Wemby's insane follow dunk off his own miss.

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne faces up to four months out and could require surgery on a hamstring injury. The 32-year-old was forced off in the first half of June’s Champions League final triumph against Inter Milan and did not play a single minute of pre-season. De Bruyne returned from that hamstring issue as a second-half substitute in the Community Shield shoot-out loss to Arsenal and captained the side against Burnley in Friday’s Premier League opener. But the Belgium playmaker only lasted 23 minutes at Turf Moor, where seemingly out of nothing he signalled to the bench that he had felt something. Guardiola said after the game at Burnley that the issue related to the same hamstring and would see him miss a few weeks, but it appears worse than first feared. “It’s serious, the injury,” the City boss said. “We have to decide if it’s surgery or not surgery, but it will be a few months out.” Guardiola said that decision will be taken in the “next days” and De Bruyne faces “three or four months out” if he goes under the knife. “Ramon (Cugat) saw the images,” Guardiola said of his go-to doctor in Barcelona. “He didn’t personally (do anything) and they have two or three doctors have the same opinion, more or less, what they have to do.” Guardiola was speaking on the eve of City’s first ever UEFA Super Cup appearance, with De Bruyne’s injury leaving him clearly downbeat in Greece. “I have to say the injury for Kevin is a sore blow for us, so he’s a big loss,” Guardiola said at the press conference previewing the clash with Sevilla. “Kevin has specific qualities that you can lose for one game, two games, but for a long time is really, really tough for us. “But at the same time you have to look forward and of course you have alternatives there with different skills because the skills for Kevin are irreplaceable. “But you have different talent players so it’s an opportunity. Life gives you that. “When there’s an injury, there’s an opportunity for the other ones and I’m pretty sure they will take it.” Asked if the injury was down to bad luck or De Bruyne returning too soon, Guardiola shot back: “Give me 25 days of preparation and he will not be injured. “Before I take the decision I spoke to the doctors, the physios with him and he told me ‘I feel good, I feel good’. “So, I said ‘ok, it’ s better start then half-time (take him off) but unfortunately it happened.” Phil Foden looks primed to step up in that role but the severity of De Bruyne’s injury could see City look at a signing before the window closes. “We will see,” he said. “After what happened, we haven’t talked with Txiki (Begiristain, City sporting director). “We will see the chances and possibilities. We will see.” De Bruyne looks set to miss City’s entire Champions League group stage and potentially December’s Club World Cup on top of domestic matters. The severity of the Belgium playmaker’s injury is a big setback and came as a surprise to team-mate Rodri. “Well, I didn’t know it was that much, honestly,” he said. “What can I say? I mean, he is one of the most important players of the club. “For sure we are going to miss him a lot. We are going to try to support him in this bad moment. No one wants injuries. “I saw him the other day and he was positive, he wants to come back (quickly). “He’s an experienced player, he knows he doesn’t have to run fast to come back. He has to recover – that’s the most important part. “We are going to miss him but at the same time I can tell you we have a very complete squad to play these two months without him. “And hopefully we can have him back because he has been so important these years.”

José Ramírez homered on his 31st birthday to touch off Cleveland’s nine-run outburst in the fourth inning, leading the Guardians to a 9-2 win and three-game sweep of the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers

US Women’s National Team (USWNT) striker Alex Morgan, 34, is one of the biggest stars in women’s football, already an Olympic gold medallist and a two-time World Cup winner. The American is heading into her fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup and ranks in the top 10 in USWNT history in goals, assists and multi-goal games. Morgan first caught the eye a decade ago at the 2011 World Cup in Germany when she was the youngest player in the American squad but, undaunted by the international spotlight, scored in both the semi-final and final as the US finished runners-up to Japan. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, shrugging off her old nickname of “Baby Horse” to be described as a “full-on stallion” by her international teammate Megan Rapinoe. Morgan has become an icon and an inspiration to young girls around the world and is also a New York Times Best-Selling author and film star, playing herself in Alex and Me (2018), even serving with the US State Department on a diplomatic mission to Tanzania in 2017. She has not entirely avoided controversy, however, having been kicked out of the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World resort in Bay Lake, Florida, in October 2017 along with a group of friends said to be “highly impaired” and “verbally aggressive”, an incident for which she swiftly apologised. Morgan also raised eyebrows at the 2019 World Cup in France when she scored against England in the semi-final and celebrated with a tea-sipping celebration, appearing to mock her opposition, although she has since claimed the gesture was misunderstood. Born in the California suburb of Diamond Bar near San Dimas on 2 July 1989, Morgan was a multi-sport athlete known for her speed at high school and did not begin playing football exclusively until she was 14 and joined local club side Cypress Elite. She was soon playing for the Olympic Development Program’s regional and state teams as well, which she credits as integral to her development, and was called up to the US under-20 women’s team at 17, only for an anterior cruciate ligament injury to set back her progress. Morgan subsequently attended UC Berkeley, taking a degree in Political Economy while playing for the California Golden Bears from 2007 to 2010, finishing her college career with an impressive haul of 46 goals. Turning professional in 2011, the same year she announced her arrival at the World Cup, Morgan played for Western New York Flash, before moving to Seattle Sounders for a season, where she played with international teammates Hope Solo and Rapinoe, before being transferred again and spending two years with Portland Thorns FC. In 2015, she joined Orlando Pride in Florida, where she has been even since, barring short spells with Lyon in France in 2017 and Tottenham in England in 2020, where she made just four appearances but scored twice as she continued her return to match fitness after taking time away from the game to give birth to her first child, a daughter, Charlie Elena Carrasco, on 7 May 2020. She subsequently returned to Orlando Pride before signing for San Diego Wave in 2022, scoring an impressive 20 in 28 games so far. Her husband, Servando Carrasco, whom she met at university and married in 2014, is also a footballer, currently playing as a defensive midfielder for Fort Lauderdale FC. Morgan helped Team USA capture gold at the 2012 London Olympics highlighted by her goal in the semi-final win against Canada and subsequently picked up a bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Games, winning the 2015 and 2019 World Cups with the USWNT either side of those honours. Read More FIFA Women’s World Cup fixtures and full schedule Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup? Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today Who is USWNT striker Alex Morgan? World Cup updates and final score from USWNT and Vietnam Rice makes Arsenal debut and Crawley hits Ashes ton – Thursday’s sporting social

Bayern Munich's meeting with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy over the potential transfer Harry Kane has been postponed at short notice. The 30-year-old remains the Bundesliga giants' primary target and has 12 months left on his current contract.

The Vegas Golden Knights return home for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals after stealing a game in Florida. Vegas are now just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers. The Golden Knights have a 3-1 lead over the Florida Panthers, who will have their work cut out fo...

Coming of a 10-game suspension after being caught using a copious amount of "sticky stuff", Domingo Germán has promised to use less rosin.On May 16 against the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees starter Domingo Germán was ejected for using too much rosin (#stickystuff)...

Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays broke up Marcus Stroman’s no-hit bid for the Chicago Cubs with a single leading off the seventh inning

Naomi Osaka has returned to the U.S. Open for the first time in about a year to participate in a panel about mental health in sports, a topic she helped focus a spotlight on two years ago

Xavi agrees new contract to extend his stay as Barcelona head coach.