Arsenal will play five Women’s Super League games at the Emirates Stadium next season and are committed to hosting all Champions League fixtures there should they qualify for the group stage. Jonas Eidevall’s side have played three WSL fixtures at the stadium this season, setting a new league attendance record when they beat neighbours Tottenham 4-0 before selling over 86,000 tickets across matches against Manchester United and Chelsea. Five of their Women’s Champions League games were also staged at the Emirates, including the semi-final second-leg sell-out against Wolfsburg, which saw the German side win in extra-time. Arsenal are in a tussle to qualify for next season’s Champions League but, if they do progress, every fixture from the group stage onwards will be hosted in N5 rather than at Meadow Park. The successes of this season have built on a groundswell of support for women’s football following on from England’s Women’s Euro victory last summer. Now, Arsenal are keen to continue the trend of hosting more games at the Emirates, with Eidevall saying recently he believes it would be possible to host all women’s fixtures there at some point in the future. This latest announcement ensures that as many supporters as possible can enjoy the matchday experience with us Vinai Venkatesham “We’re delighted to confirm that our women’s first team will play five WSL games at Emirates Stadium next season,” Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham said when the announcement was made on Wednesday morning. “We’ve received fantastic support at Emirates Stadium this year, setting a new record attendance in the WSL and achieving a memorable sell-out for our recent UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final against Wolfsburg earlier this month. “This latest announcement ensures that as many supporters as possible can enjoy the matchday experience with us, as we continue to support the sustainable growth of women’s football.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

The Chicago Cubs were pushed to the brink of playoff elimination by the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers, who won 4-3 on Carlos Santana’s run-scoring double in the 10th inning

It's time for Overreaction Monday: Which NFL teams were contenders and which were pretenders after Week 1?

Max Verstappen is looking to bounce back at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend after his incredible 10-race win streak ended in Singapore following Carlos Sainz’s thrilling victory. The Ferrari driver held off Lando Norris, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages to claim his 2nd Formula 1 victory - and the first non-Red Bull win since Russell’s triumph for Mercedes in Brazil last November. PREVIEW: A sudden drop off or just a blip? Max Verstappen provides the answer Norris earned the ninth podium of his career after coming home second while Russell will be eager to get back in the cockpit after a last-lap crash saw him lose a spot on the podium, taken by Hamilton. Verstappen finished fifth, with Charles Leclerc fourth. Last year at Suzuka - a dramatic race that took place in heavy rain and saw a close call with Pierre Gasly and a recovery vehicle - saw Verstappen’s win clinch his second world title. However, the Dutchman cannot win the 2023 world championship this weekend. Follow live updates from the Japanese Grand Prix with The Independent Read More A sudden drop off or just a blip? Max Verstappen provides the answer Lewis Hamilton says ‘something’s up’ at Red Bull – if Max Verstappen struggles in Japan George Russell insists 2023 has been his ‘best season ever’ despite Singapore crash

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The Premier League may have to scrap its mid-season break due to the overcrowding of the football calendar. The change could come into effect next season with FIFA’s revamped 32-team Club World Cup set to take place in the summer of 2025, as well as a larger-scale World Cup the following year. The Premier League introduced the break – which this season will take the form of a structured two-week period in January – in 2018 in a bid to ease the workload on players, but chief executive Richard Masters admits it is under discussion as it could become unworkable. “It is one of the things we are discussing with the FA and EFL. We want the Premier League, the big cup competitions and the EFL to flourish and that requires an adjustment,” he said. “It is the last season where it’s recognisable under the current international match calendar, where the Premier League starts on a particular weekend and the FA Cup final has its own weekend and you have the Champions League after that and a mid-season player break in the middle. “A lot will have to change because of the additional European dates. We are also very much aware of the changes to FIFA’s competitions. The World Cup is getting bigger, an additional group stage game is going to be added. Inevitably that’s going to take up more calendar space. “You obviously have the views of the players’ union and the players being expressed very strongly now. “From a leagues perspective, the European Leagues and World Leagues Forum are very clear on this, there has to be a forum for domestic competitions to be able to discuss the impact of regional and global decisions on the calendar. “There’s lots of dialogue with UEFA, very little dialogue with FIFA.” There were almost double the usual amount of yellow cards shown over the first weekend of the EFL season as the crackdown on time-wasting and player behaviour came into force. Masters expects the same in the top flight until players and managers get used to the law changes. “I think these things will level out,” he added. “It’s not the first crackdown that the governing bodies have had, in relation to surrounding referees for example. “Players and managers need time to adjust and actually the officials need time to adjust. “But over a period of time, rather than it to sort of dissipate and not have impact, everyone’s behaviour adjusts and things settle down. “There will be more yellow cards. I don’t know whether a doubling of yellow cards is a good thing or a bad thing. It certainly sends a message that the officials are true to their word.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Premier League looking into ‘historic’ financial issues at Chelsea I’ve struggled with the pressure – Katie Archibald misses out on omnium medal Gael Monfils rolls back the years to shock Stefanos Tsitsipas in Canada

The last perfect records vanished in the NFL as the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles both fell to surprise defeats. Brock Purdy suffered his first defeat as a starter as rookie Jake Moody’s 41-yard field goal miss saw the 49ers go down 19-17 at the Cleveland Browns. The end of a 15-game regular season winning streak also saw star running back Christian McCaffrey – who earlier made it 15-straight games with a touchdown – injure his oblique and rib, wide receiver Deebo Samuel leave with a shoulder injury and tackle Trent Williams suffer an ankle injury. PJ Walker, who came off Cleveland’s practice squad to replace the injured Deshaun Watson at quarterback, outplayed Purdy as Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals for the Browns, capped off with the winner one minute and 40 seconds from full-time. The Eagles fell to their first defeat in 13 meetings against the New York Jets as Breece Hall ran for an eight-yard touchdown with one minute and 46 seconds left on the clock – topped off with Zach Wilson finding Randall Cobb on a two-point conversion to make it 20-14. Hall’s score came a play after Tony Adams had intercepted Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and returned it 45 yards. Josh Allen engineered two lengthy scoring drives as the Buffalo Bills battled to a 14-9 victory over the New York Giants. Quinton Morris caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to put the Bills ahead with just under four minutes remaining, the Giants failing from first and goal with the final drive of the game. The Miami Dolphins are 5-1 and top of the AFC East after they came from 14 points down to beat the winless Carolina Panthers 42-21, Tua Tagovailoa throwing for 262 yards with touchdown passes to three different receivers. Trevor Lawrence threw for two touchdown passes and Travis Etienne ran for two more as the Jacksonville Jaguars beat AFC South rival the Indianapolis Colts 37-20 while the Houston Texans beat the Orleans Saints 20-13. The Detroit Lions have made their best start to a season since 2011 after Jared Goff threw for 353 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 20-6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, improving their NFC North-leading record to 5-1. Kyren Williams ran for 158 yards and a touchdown while Cooper Kupp grabbed his first touchdown of the season as the Los Angeles Rams scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Arizona Cardinals 26-9. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder was intercepted three times as they went down 24-16 to the Washington Commanders, while the Las Vegas Raiders overcame the loss of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to beat the faltering New England Patriots 21-17. The Cincinnati defence intercepted Geno Smith twice as the Bengals edged past the Seattle Seahawks 17-13, and the Chicago Bears lost quarterback Justin Fields as they went down 19-13 to the Minnesota Vikings. Read More Quarterback Brock Purdy stars as San Francisco 49ers thrash the Dallas Cowboys Jordan Henderson: ‘If people want to boo me for playing in Saudi Arabia, that’s fine’ Antoine Dupont slams referee after France crash out of Rugby World Cup Jordan Henderson: ‘If people want to boo me for playing in Saudi Arabia, that’s fine’ Antoine Dupont slams referee after France crash out of Rugby World Cup France suffer painful symmetry with Ireland as Springboks continue southern dominance

With Marcus Stroman in the midst of a Cy Young caliber season, the Cubs could explore trade partners for their ace, including Stroman's former team.Through 14 starts, there aren't many pitchers in the MLB having more success than the Chicago Cubs ace, Marcus Stroman. Stroman ranks firs...

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Colorado seems to be jumping to the Pac-12

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Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk admits that she has to block out the heartbreaking images of the war raging at home as she plots her way through the draw at Wimbledon because...