Rodrigo Bentancur was forced off following a poorly timed tackle from Aston Villa’s Matty Cash, in a fresh blow to Tottenham’s mounting injury concerns. The Uruguayan sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage in February and was making his first start for Tottenham for nine months when he had to leave the field after just half an hour. Cash caught Bentancur on the ankle with a miss-judged sliding challenge, creating a new problem for Tottenham to contend with amid an ongoing injury crisis. It was an unnecessary challenge, but there was nothing in the impact to suggest it would be worth more than a yellow card or any immediate evidence of the damage caused to Bentancur. Ahead of the match against Aston Villa, Spurs were without at least nine first-team players ruled out, not including Bentancur’s issue. Bentancur had made his first competitive start in nine months for Uruguay against Bolivia on Tuesday, but two matches within a week might have been too much for the midfielder. Last season, Bentancur was one of the best players before the injury, but when he left the field hobbling he was replaced by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Yves Bissouma was also suspended for the Villa clash after sustaining his fifth yellow card of the campaign at Wolves, and manager Ange Postecoglou had been hopeful of Bentancur filling the gap. Tottenham will already be without James Maddison and Micky van de Ven until the new year, with Christian Romero serving a suspension. Pape Matar Sarr was not fit enough to be included in the matchday squad, while Ashley Phillips is also out for a month with an issue. Read More Rodrigo Bentancur return eases Tottenham’s injury crisis Everton vs Manchester United LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Tottenham vs Aston Villa LIVE: Latest Premier League updates

Now that Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam champion, she’s ready for stardom

Everything you need to know about the Champions League semi-final first leg clash between Real Madrid & Man City on 9 May 2023.

Victor Wembanyama’s debut at NBA Summer League is Friday night

Losing by 30 points never felt so good to Marcelo Torrealba

The Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games on Tuesday citing major cost blow-outs, leaving organisers fuming as they scrambled...

The Nebraska Cornhuskers made costly mistakes in the final minutes against Minnesota with three players in particular drawing the blame for another blown lead and close loss.

Shea Langeleirs hit a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth inning to break a tie and the Oakland Athletics held on to beat the reeling Texas Rangers 6-3 on Friday night

France centre Jonathan Danty is a doubt to face New Zealand in next month's Rugby World Cup opener due to a hamstring injury, a source close to...

The International Tennis Federation has appointed Feliciano Lopez as tournament director for the Davis Cup Finals

Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has warned that his England team-mate Marcus Rashford remains an opponent to be feared. The Manchester United striker has been in poor form this season and has scored just one goal for the club heading into Sunday’s derby against City at Old Trafford. It is a far cry from last term when the 25-year-old netted 30 goals in all competitions, including the winner in the corresponding Premier League fixture against City. Walker said: “I think Marcus has shown over the years that he’s the sort of player who can create problems for any side if they don’t match him. “He’s been important for both United and England since he was a teenager because of the threat he offers to any team he’s in. He’s got a lot of different qualities and we know he can be dangerous at the weekend.” Rashford’s decisive 82nd-minute strike on City’s last trip across town in January capped a controversial fightback by the home side. United had cancelled out Jack Grealish’s opener just four minutes earlier through Bruno Fernandes despite Rashford having been in an offside position during the build-up. After bouncing back spectacularly by winning the treble – and beating United in the FA Cup final – Walker insists City are not motivated by revenge. “I don’t think we think like that,” said the right-back. “Last season is done, we lost at Old Trafford and went on to win the treble. Ultimately that’s what matters. “Of course this game means a lot but it’s part of a bigger picture and, OK we lost last season and the luck didn’t go in our favour, but we bounced back from that and did what we did. “We want to win the game because of what it means and because ultimately it will help us in trying to win the Premier League again. We don’t need to think beyond that. “We’ve had some great games against them in recent years and our focus is on giving the fans something to enjoy again on Sunday.” City are in a strong position despite a blip before the recent international break, when they lost to Wolves and Arsenal, and lacking the intensity they showed at the end of last season. If it was hard to get motivated then we wouldn’t have won three Premier League in a row Kyle Walker Walker said: “People keep saying how hard it must be to get motivated because of what we achieved last season but we’re all competitors who want to win. We’ve shown that year after year. “If it was hard to get motivated then we wouldn’t have won three Premier Leagues in a row. “We go into every game wanting to win, for ourselves, for this club and it’s the reason we’ve been so successful. That doesn’t go away just because we did something special last season.” Read More Wolves v Chelsea on Christmas Eve means ‘unhappy wife’ for Mauricio Pochettino Tottenham extend lead at top of Premier League with victory at Crystal Palace Lauren Hemp effort enough as England edge Nations League victory over Belgium Tyson Fury: Ngannou fight like Djokovic facing table tennis player at Wimbledon Matthew Mott wary of ‘raging favourites’ as England look to avoid further shame Pep Guardiola condemns Man City fans who sang offensive Sir Bobby Charlton chant

Wales warmed up for their crucial Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia with a goalless stalemate against South Korea in Cardiff. Substitute Kieffer Moore went the closest to breaking the deadlock by heading Chris Mepham’s second-half cross against a post. But Wales failed to secure a morale-boosting victory that under-pressure manager Rob Page craved, and it is now only one win in 13 games either side of a disappointing World Cup for the Dragons. Page had admitted a first-ever meeting with South Korea was a fixture he could have done without as it came four days before the vital Euros qualifier in Riga. That comment upset many Wales supporters who had paid for tickets, but many chose to stay away as the Cardiff City Stadium was less than half full with the attendance given as 13,668. The outcome in Riga will shape the rest of Wales’ Euro campaign – and possibly even Page’s future – with Wales running out of time to make up for June defeats by Armenia and Turkey in the race for automatic qualification. With Euro group rivals playing on Friday, Uefa regulations stipulated that Wales had to fulfil this date on the international calendar with a friendly. Page suggested he was not going to risks with his team selection ahead of Latvia and captain Aaron Ramsey sat on the bench for the opening hour. But Page fielded a stronger line-up than many expected with Brennan Johnson starting just days after his £47.5million move from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham. Ipswich’s Nathan Broadhead made his first Wales start alongside Johnson in attack. Birmingham midfielder Jordan James also made his maiden start in a three-man midfield. Tottenham captain Son Heung-min was the star turn for South Korea with Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae also sprinkling stardust on the visitors. South Korea reached the last 16 at the 2022 World Cup but new boss Jurgen Klinsmann is still waiting for a victory since his February appointment, with three draws and two defeats now on his report card. Wales began brightly and were unfortunate not to take a 13th-minute lead. Ethan Ampadu and Broadhead combined to find Wilson who, under pressure from Seol Young-woo, forced a smart save from Kim Seung-gyu. There was a scare for Wales when Ben Davies, skipper for the night in Ramsey’s absence, was unceremoniously chopped down by Lee Jae-sung. Kim Min-jae, the 6ft 3in centre-half known as ‘The Monster’ also sent Johnson sprawling to the ground with a blow to the ribs and was grateful that Scottish referee Willie Collum was in a lenient mood. South Korea enjoyed nearly 60 per cent possession on a night when the sultry conditions saw cooling breaks taken midway through each half. But that did not translate into danger around the home goal until the closing moments of the first period. Lee Ki-je’s brilliant cross just evaded Hong Hyun-seok at the far before Son forced Danny Ward to hold his 25-yard attempt under the crossbar. Wilson had another effort saved before Wales introduced Joe Morrell and Moore – both suspended for the Latvia qualifier – for Ampadu and Johnson at half-time. The worry for Wales was that Son was starting to roam and dictate matters, the Spurs striker driving over from 20 yards before Hwang In-beom was similarly off target. But Wales came within inches of taking the lead after 66 minutes. Mepham crossed to Moore who headed against the post with Ramsey, who had only recently joined the action, unable to turn the ball home. Broadhead saw his 20-yard attempt deflected wide and Joe Rodon rose well at the resulting a corner but his hopes of a first Wales goal were ended by a full-length Kim save. Moore headed over with the game’s final touch, but there were more players going down with cramp than chances created in the closing minutes as a rather predictable draw was played out. Read More Warren Gatland says Wales ‘looking sharp’ ahead of World Cup opener against Fiji Fit-again Taulupe Faletau named in Wales’ team for World Cup opener with Fiji NFL-style lawsuit and brain-injury concerns hang over Rugby World Cup Son Heung-min looking forward to seeing what Brennan Johnson can do at Tottenham Rob Page: Wales would rather not play South Korea friendly with Latvia to come Matt Fagerson says being at World Cup with brother Zander ‘pretty special’