Australia got off to a winning start at the Women’s World Cup by beating Ireland 1-0 despite the absence of star striker Sam Kerr

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Chelsea secured a fourth successive Women’s Super League title by coasting to a 3-0 victory at Reading which consigned the Royals to relegation. Boasting a two-point lead over Manchester United, Chelsea only needed to win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium to become champions and Sam Kerr’s 18th-minute header from Guro Reiten’s cross put them ahead. The provider turned goal scorer before half-time with a fine finish and Kerr rubberstamped a win which confirmed a league and cup double in the 88th minute with a tap-in after her initial shot hit a post. The Blues have been dominant in recent weeks – this was their seventh win in a row – but even if Reading had ripped up the script and claimed an unlikely three points, their demotion to the Championship was guaranteed by Leicester edging out Brighton 1-0 courtesy of Ava Baker’s strike. United had to settle for second spot in the table – their highest-ever finish in the WSL five years after reforming – as substitute Lucia Garcia’s strike secured a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Prenton Park. Garcia came off the bench to score a late winner against Manchester City last weekend and ensure the title race went to the final day of the season, and she came up trumps up again in the 72nd minute. Three minutes after being introduced, Garcia beat the offside trap, chipped a Liverpool defender and while the Spaniard seemed to fluff an attempted volley, on the second attempt she drove beyond goalkeeper Rachael Laws at her near post. Arsenal held on for third and Champions League football next season despite a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, where Rachel Daly equalled the record for most goals in a WSL season. Daly struck in first-half stoppage time for her 22nd league goal of the campaign – securing the Golden Boot and emulating Vivianne Miedema’s haul for Arsenal in 2018-19. Alisha Lehmann then made sure of Villa’s first WSL win over Arsenal in the 49th minute, but the Gunners secured third place due to a superior goal difference over Manchester City, who finished fourth after holding on to beat Everton 3-2 in Izzy Christiansen’s final match before retirement. Khadija Shaw struck either side of Lauren Hemp’s fine effort to put City three goals to the good before Lucy Hope and substitute Leonie Maier scored consolations for the Toffees. Bethany England scored twice for Tottenham at West Ham, who claimed a 2-2 draw following Emma Snerle’s curling strike and Kit Graham’s own goal. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Approximately 1,000 former Northwestern University athletes have sent a letter condemning hazing while defending the school’s culture

The fall-out from Uefa’s plans to reinstate Russian underage teams to European competition is causing a huge split within the governing body, putting president Aleksander Ceferin under immense pressure to “revisit” the issue at this week’s Executive Committee meeting. The controversy has already caused the confederation vice-president Karl-Erik Nilsson to resign as boss of the Swedish Sports Confederation and led Denmark to become the latest association to say they will not play Russian sides to go with England, Ireland and Ukraine. The Independent has been told that there is tension within some national associations that didn’t immediately reject the idea out of hand. There is similarly huge dissatisfaction among other federations for the manner in which the issue was raised by Uefa at the last meeting, with Ceferin simply bringing it up under “any other business” – according to one source – with “no prior notice”. There was huge surprise at this, and it has been viewed with the context of Fifa’s decision to do the same. That has caused Uefa to bring it onto the agenda for Tuesday’s ExCo meeting, where it will also be confirmed that Euro 2028 is going to the United Kingdom and Ireland. Various sources have insisted the Russia decision could be amended, such is the strength of feeling around it. Senior national and club teams nevertheless remain banned regardless, as has been the case since February 2022. A statement on 26 September said: “Uefa was the first sports body to react to the war in Ukraine and took decisive action in February 2022 - suspending all Russian teams from its competitions, removing events scheduled in Russia like the Uefa Champions League final in Saint Petersburg and the Uefa Super Cup in Kazan, and cancelling its sponsorship contract with Gazprom. “However, Uefa is also aware that children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults and is firmly convinced that football should never give up sending messages of peace and hope. “It is particularly aggrieving that, due to the enduring conflict, a generation of minors is deprived of its right to compete in international football. For these reasons, the Uefa Executive Committee has decided that Russian teams of minor players will be readmitted to its competitions in the course of this season. In this respect, the Executive Committee has asked the Uefa administration to propose a technical solution that would enable the reinstatement of the Russian U17 teams (both girls and boys) even when draws have already been held. “All matches of the Russian teams shall be played without the country flag, anthem, national playing kit and not on the Russian territory. “At the same time, the Executive Committee reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s illegal war and confirmed that the suspension of all other teams of Russia (clubs and national teams) will remain in force until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.” Read More FIFA set to approve letting Russian youth soccer national teams return to competition UK and Ireland set to host Euro 2028 after Turkey withdraw bid European soccer body UEFA's handling of Russia and Rubiales invites scrutiny on values and process

Viktor Hovland took Europe one step closer towards victory at the Ryder Cup after claiming the first point of Sunday's singles matches at the Marco Simone...

Everton, Leeds United and Leicester City are the three clubs heading into the final day of the Premier League season uncertain about being there again next year. Only Southampton have already been confirmed as facing the drop to the Championship, but from only a couple of months ago where at least nine sides were in danger of going down, it’s now just two from three who will end the weekend in despair. Sean Dyche’s side are in the driving seat after earning a late, late point against Wolves last time out, but while survival remains in their own hands, one win in their last ten matches doesn’t exactly offer much of a guarantee that they’ll get the job done. Ahead of the final fixtures, it’s Everton in 17th and safety on 33 points, Leicester on 31 and Leeds also on 31 - but with an inferior goal difference to both of those above them. Perhaps importantly, all three sides are at home for their last outing; of the trio, it’s Leeds who have the best record on their own turf this term - but the Foxes have taken most points from the last three on home soil. Here’s what each of the three clubs need to survive, and what every permutation will mean on the final day of 2022/23. Final day fixtures (Sunday, 4:30pm BST) Everton vs Bournemouth (15th) - live on Sky Sports Leeds vs Tottenham (8th) - live on BT Sport Leicester vs West Ham (14th) - live on Sky Sports If Everton win We’ll start with the obvious and easy one: a victory for Sean Dyche’s side against the Cherries renders everything else irrelevant. Everton can’t finish any higher than 17th, but 36 points would make them uncatchable by either of the other two. So an Everton win means they survive, while Leicester and Leeds go down. If Everton lose Before turning our attention to the potential for finishing level on points, here’s the situation if the Toffees are beaten by Bournemouth. First and foremost, Leicester and Leeds have to win. If either club fail to take three points from their own matches, they are down and Everton stay up. If one of them does win and Everton lose, Everton will be relegated and whichever one of Leeds and Leicester claimed victory will stay up, the other goes down. If both Leeds and Leicester win, Everton are down in 19th and Leeds will be relegated in 18th on goal difference...unless they somehow win by nine goals more than Leicester do. So if the Foxes triumph 1-0, Leeds need to become the first-ever Premier League-era club to secure a 10-0 victory to survive on goals scored. It feels an unlikely combination of events. If Everton draw Here’s where it gets more tricky. One point for Dyche’s side leaves them on 34. Again, if either Leeds or Leicester fail to win, they are relegated regardless of anything else, so only victories there will potentially affect matters. Everton survive if neither of the others win. So, if Everton draw, Leicester win and Leeds do not win: Leeds will be down in 19th, Everton will join them in the Championship finishing 18th. Leicester surive on goal difference. If Everton draw, Leeds win and Leicester do not win: Leicester are 19th and relegated and the last spot will go to goal difference. Everton are on -24 ahead of the weekend and a draw keeps them on the same, so Leeds (currently -27) need to win by three goals to stay up on goals scored. They are well ahead of Everton in that regard (47-33) so if we exclude ridiculous scenarios such as an Everton 18-18 draw, any three-goal win in this permutation will keep Leeds up. If Everton draw and both Leeds and Leicester win: It’s Leicester who stay up here and survive from a three-way goal difference fight. Not that it’ll matter much to either of them since they’ll be down regardless, but the order of Leeds and Everton will depend on if Leeds win by three, as in the previous permutation. What Everton need: To win their own game, or for Leicester and Leeds to both not win. What Leicester need: To win, and for Everton to not win. What Leeds need: To win and Everton lose, or to win by three if Everton draw. Leicester must also not win in either scenario. Odds on avoiding relegation Everton 2/9 Leicester 4/1 Leeds 10/1 *Accurate as of 24 May Read More Relegation permutations: What do Leeds, Everton and Leicester need to survive? Michael van Gerwen creates Premier League history by winning seventh title Erling Haaland aims to cap stunning debut season with Man City by winning treble Manchester United vs Chelsea LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Coventry and Luton are proof the play-off final means more than just money The all-or-nothing transfer dilemma Tottenham face this summer

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It is the 36th game of their Premier League season and Liverpool, on a late charge towards the Champions League places, are away in the Midlands. Needing victory, they are drawing as the game enters the 95th minute. And then goalkeeper turns goalscorer. West Bromwich Albion suffered the indignity of conceding to Alisson in 2021. History is unlikely to repeat itself at Leicester on Monday, even if it falls on the eve of the second anniversary of the only goal ever scored by a Liverpool goalkeeper. But, once again, they are aiming for the improbable, encouraged by their memories. “A lot of times when I look on Twitter for news, that goal appears in my timeline,” Alisson said. “This week I watched it already. It’s good, it made me feel good. It makes me think how crazy it is that I scored a goal. It was kind of a sign for us that something special was coming. Because I can be 100 times in the box, I don’t know if I will score again. I know now I can head a ball in a good way, but hopefully we are not going to need it again. I think this season we are having special moments, [Diogo] Jota’s goal is a really special one against Tottenham; last minute as well.” Finish in the top four and Alisson may go down as the architect of another great escape, albeit in more conventional fashion. He has been overworked and outstanding. He entered the weekend with fifth most saves in the division and having prevented the most goals, according to goalkeeping statistics relating to the quality of opportunities. “Sometimes the goalie performances comes when the team is not playing so good and conceding more chances,” he reflected. That has been the case this season; he is the frontrunner to be named Liverpool’s player of the year. He already has one memento; he was presented with a shirt with ‘100’ on the back by Jurgen Klopp, marking his century of Liverpool clean sheets. “The goal is special but the clean sheets are better,” Alisson said. There are, he hopes, many more to come. “One hundred is a lot for me now but in comparison to the great goalies in Liverpool’s history it is not even 50 per cent of what they achieved. They got over 200 clean sheets.” He is the seventh goalkeeper to register 100 for Liverpool, but it may be a table even he cannot top. Not when Ray Clemence recorded 323 shutouts and Bruce Grobbelaar a further 267; it helped that Anfield greats made 665 and 628 appearances respectively. “I don’t know if I can play as many matches as them,” said Alisson, currently on 229. “I think Ray had over 600 matches for Liverpool, but I’m already looking forward to the next 50 or 100 clean sheets, and for the next one in the next match we have. It would be special to be alongside them or to beat them, I admire a lot what the great goalies did, but I’m writing my own story here at Liverpool.” That story is nowhere near its final chapter. Alisson is still only 30 and with a deal until 2027. His commitment stems from much more than a contract, however. Alisson’s father, Jose Agostinho Becker, drowned in 2021. Lockdown restrictions meant he was unable to return to Brazil. His Anfield family instead offered support. “I never imagined to go through a moment like that in my life,” he recalled, a tear in the eye. “Nobody thinks about losing their Dad or Mum suddenly but so many people at that moment were losing loved ones in Covid times and I think the world was in a place where everybody was ready to show love for people. Not only at Liverpool, though the boys here at the club were amazing: I think they felt my pain together. “I took three days at home after my dad passed away and I was looking forward to coming back here, to this place, because I felt already the love. Not only here but from the football world, I was really touched. I received so many letters from managers, from clubs that I never imagined I would receive.” A couple of months later, Alisson emerged in the West Brom box to score a goal that led Liverpool on a path that ended in the 2022 Champions League final, that almost brought a quadruple. Now, once again, there is the hope a difficult campaign can end on a high. “We are having similar challenges,” he said. And if there is unlikely to be a similar solution, another Alisson header, his shutouts offer the prospect of further success. “Keeping clean sheets keeps you closer to victories,” he said. So, too, does his bond with Liverpool. “When I signed a long-term deal at this club, I thought a lot at this moment that everybody was there for me and I have this feeling that I want to be here for the club as well,” he said. “To keep making history, keep this atmosphere that we have as a family.” Read More Jurgen Klopp backs Liverpool to revive title rivalry with Man City next season No identity, no intensity: How Southampton were relegated from the Premier League Erik ten Hag finally within sight of matching a past Manchester United great... no, not that one

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