Pittsburgh will have to find a way to recover from its worst start since 2017 without left tackle Matt Goncalves

Cincinnati Reds newcomer Elly De la Cruz hit his first major league homer, a 458-foot, two-run drive off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Noah Syndergaard and then tripled

Louisville assistant coach Nolan Smith had strong words of criticism for Kentucky's John Calipari.The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry cuts a deep line through the state. There aren't many more heated rivalries in college sports, especially on the basketball front.For the last 14 years,...

Unai Emery believes Aston Villa can end a 27-year wait for silverware on their return to European football this season...

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle for the Bundesliga title on the final day of the season. Preview includes team news, predicted lineups, where to watch on television and live stream and more.

Miami football is looking forward, not backward, and there’s good reason for that

Aston Villa return to Europa Conference League action as they try to get their qualification hopes back on track against Bosnian champions Zrinjski Mostar. Playing European football for the first time in 13 years and having successfully negotiated Hibernian in the play-off round, Villa’s group stage started in disappointing fashion as they twice came from behind to equalise through Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne away to Legia Warsaw but eventually went down 3-2 in the Polish capital. That means victory over eight-time Bosnian title winners Zrinjski, who have climbed back to the top of the domestic game since Krunoslav Rendulic took over as manager last November, is a must and Unai Emery’s men are in good form since that defeat in Warsaw. They have beaten Chelsea and Brighton in the Premier League – the latter in a shock 6-1 thumping at the weekend – and will be heavy favourites to triumph on home turf, although Zrinjski are currently top of Group E after stunningly coming from 3-0 down at half-time to beat AZ Alkmaar 4-3 in their Europa Conference League opener. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the fixture; see all the latest Europa League odds and tips for tonight here. When is Aston Villa vs Zrinjski Mostar? The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Thursday 5 October at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham. How can I watch it? Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 2, with coverage on the channel from 7:45pm BST. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+, which is also available via Amazon Prime. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events then you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. What is the team news? Villa were hit by the news that Boubacar Kamara, Moussa Diaby and Jacob Ramsey would all miss the match earlier this week, while Alex Moreno is out until after the international break and both Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are long-term absentees. Leon Bailey should be back in contention after a thigh strain, however. Krunoslav Rendulic normally favours a 4-3-3 formation with Tomislav Kis and Nemanja Bilbija in contention to lead the line and Zvonimir Kozulj pushing for a start after scoring twice in Zrinjski’s remarkable comeback against AZ last month. Predicted line-ups Aston Villa: Olsen; Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Digne; Luiz, Tielemans; Traore, McGinn, Zaniolo; Duran Zrinjski Mostar: Maric; Corluka, Jakovljevic, Radic, Memija; Ivancic, Balic, Kozulj; Cuze, Kis, Ticinovic Odds Aston Villa win 1/10 Draw 10/1 Zrinjski Mostar win 30/1 Get the latest football odds here Prediction Villa to build on their impressive Premier League form and get their qualification hopes back on track. Aston Villa 4-1 Zrinjski Mostar Read More Unai Emery urges Aston Villa to adapt quickly to demands of European football Ollie Watkins scores hat-trick as rampant Aston Villa hit Brighton for six Unai Emery savours ‘special’ Villa Park atmosphere in rout of Brighton England boss Gareth Southgate hoping for positive news over Bukayo Saka fitness Arsenal renew Pedro Neto interest but face competition from two Premier League rivals Consistency the key for Vincent Kompany as he bids to lift Burnley

Sarina Wiegman was “very disappointed” England had not won but insisted the performance was not a concern after they were held to a goalless draw by Portugal in their Women’s World Cup warm-up match at Stadium MK. The European champions’ last home game before departing for this summer’s showpiece in Australia and New Zealand saw them unable to make a breakthrough despite creating a considerable number of chances. Georgia Stanway and Lucy Bronze both struck the woodwork and Alessia Russo was denied by a goalline block, while other notable moments included Rachel Daly having a header saved, Lauren Hemp heading over and Russo firing wide. Lionesses boss Wiegman said: “Of course my first thoughts are that I am, but also the team is, very disappointed that we didn’t win this game. “But we also take a lot of learnings from it and I think at moments we saw the things we really have been working on, that we wanted to show, a way of creating chances. “I think the first half we were a little bit too slow, the ball tempo was, and we had too many players behind the ball or very close to it, and then when we did break lines we didn’t have enough numbers higher up the pitch. I think we did that a lot better in the second half. “We had players higher on the pitch and created more chances, although I think in the first half we created a couple. But we just didn’t score. “I think we had moments that were really good and moments we could have done a little better.” Asked specifically about chances that fell to Daly, who started up front, and Russo, who replaced her at half-time, Wiegman said: “I think the first thing is you want to create lots of chances, and then see how we execute that. “And yes, it’s disappointing of course, they want to be ruthless and score those chances, and today they didn’t. It’s not a worry for me. “It’s just we want to get into those positions. When you got so much into those positions today – I think that’s pretty good. But of course we want to do the final touch too, and that’s to get the ball in the net. So we all know that.” The Dutchwoman added: “That was today a little problem, but if you see how many chances we created – I think we had 23 shots on goal – there won’t be many matches where we then don’t score.” England fly to Australia on Wednesday and face Canada behind closed doors in a final warm-up match on July 14 before opening their World Cup campaign against Haiti in Brisbane eight days later. When Wiegman, who made a treble change in personnel at the interval and six substitutions in total, was asked if she was closer to knowing her starting XI for the Haiti game than she had been before the Portugal contest, she said: “No. I’m not closer now. “I’m not sure if we get closer than this though. At the end you have to make decisions. I think in some positions it’s really tight. We have some time now. So, no, I’m not sure, and this is not the time to make the final decision because we still have a couple of weeks to go.” England were playing a Portugal outfit ranked 17 places below them at 21st and who will be making their first appearance at a World Cup finals this summer. Boss Francisco Neto said: “Playing in this kind of environment is not easy, and the emotional stability that we had during the game, I’m very happy with that, because it looks like the girls are ready for the environment that they will have in the World Cup.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Late reprieve for Ben Duckett keeps England’s hope of miracle chase alive Katie Boulter not feeling pressure of being British number one at Wimbledon Novak Djokovic still hungry as he bids for 24th Grand Slam singles title

There is no better demonstration of rugby's oft-cited mantra that it is a sport for all shapes, sizes and abilities than...

Trent Alexander-Arnold has returned to Liverpool training before the Carabao Cup clash with Leicester.

Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti is set to leave the club after guiding them to their first Serie A title in 33 years. President Aurelio De Laurentiis said that the 64-year-old, who took over the Partenopei in 2021, has asked to take a sabbatical and will leave the club with a year left on his contract. “He’s a free man, now it’s right that he continues to do what he wants. I thank him,” De Laurentiis told Italian broadcaster Rai as reported by Sky Italy. Napoli clinched their first title since 1990, when Diego Maradona led them to the Scudetto, with five games to spare. Spalletti’s final game in charge is set to be at home to Sampdoria next Sunday. Reports in Italy suggest Napoli will attempt to bring in former Barcelona and Spain head coach Luis Enrique to replace Spalletti. A number of their star players such as top scorer Victor Osimhen and centre-back Kim Min-jae have been linked with moves away from Naples this summer, with a host of Premier League clubs among those reportedly interested. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Five-time champion Australia has won the toss and decided to bowl against India in the Cricket World Cup final