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Kansas plays at Nevada on Saturday night

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New Zealand has changed nine of the starting side which crushed Italy for its last pool match with Uruguay on Thursday at the Rugby World Cup

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery played down his side’s Champions League credentials despite thrashing West Ham. Villa are just two points off Premier League pacesetters Manchester City and Arsenal following Sunday’s 4-1 win. Douglas Luiz’s double and clinical finishes from Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey ended Villa’s Hammers hoodoo, for their first victory over West Ham since 2015. They returned to fifth spot, just a point adrift of the top four, with games against Luton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham coming up next. “There are seven teams contending. We are after seven teams; Man City, Man United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle,” said Emery, with fifth potentially offering a Champions League place this term. “Dream, always. My dream is to win the Champions League but now we are fifth and we are going to face each match trying to get a good performance. “It’s 38 matches and we lost at Newcastle, we lost at Liverpool. They are matches we are not going to play again. “I prefer to speak about the matches we won but I have to speak about the matches we lost. This is the balance. We have to be very demanding. “In the table West Ham were two points behind us and the level we have now, they have as well. It was very important. “The process is going in the right way, it’s going to be difficult. In the end we won 4-1.” Luiz had already tested Alphonse Areola from distance before opening the scoring after half an hour, firing in from the edge of the box after good work by Nicolo Zaniolo and Watkins. Six minutes after the break Villa were gifted a second when Lucas Paqueta sold Edson Alvarez short and he brought down Ezri Konsa for Luiz to convert from the spot. But Jarrod Bowen grabbed a lifeline for the Hammers soon after when his shot hit Pau Torres to creep into the corner. The visitors sensed a recovery, Matty Cash heading over Nayef Aguerd’s shot, but with 16 minutes left Watkins ended any ideas of a comeback. He latched onto John McGinn’s long ball, skipped past Kurt Zouma and lashed into the roof of the net. There was still time for Bailey to get in on the act in the final minute, beating Areola from six yards after giving Aguerd the slip. It was just West Ham’s third league defeat of the season, leaving manager David Moyes frustrated. “I’m not having my teams losing four goals as soft as we did today. There were things which I can say we did quite well but I didn’t think we were hard enough to play against,” said Moyes, whose side are now ninth. “Today wasn’t so good. More importantly nearly every ball we played around the box was the wrong decision and it led to us hardly creating enough opportunity to score. “The lads kept on fighting and it looked like we were the team in ascendancy at 2-1 but they punished us really quickly and that took the game beyond our reach. “Villa are probably just behind the top three or four in the Premier League and today was a challenge to see what level we were at and I thought we fell below that. “It was a very close first half, we missed opportunities to score. We had opportunities to make chances to score and that was the bit bugging me at half-time.” Read More Anthony Joshua teases ‘mega-card’ of Wilder bout sharing bill with Fury v Usyk 5 things we learned from the Storm Babet hit Premiership this weekend Really good but not perfect – Shaun Wane wants more from England after Tonga win Such a good man – David Moyes hails Sir Bobby Charlton help as fans pay tribute Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool finally had some luck go our way against Everton Tom Johnstone second-half brace helps England edge out Tonga in series opener

Real Madrid have announced their starting lineup to face Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with Antonio Rudiger dropping to the bench.

Former Steelers lineman Kendrick Green got the last laugh when Pittsburgh lost to Houston and you can bet he wasn't quiet about it.

Fernando Alonso insists he would keep Lewis Hamilton “until he’s 80 years old” over picking a young F2 driver after the seven-time world champion signed a new contract with Mercedes. Hamilton, 38, penned an extension until the end of the 2025 season – alongside team-mate George Russell – which will keep him racing in F1 into his 40s. Alonso, himself 42, has shown with his seven podiums for Aston Martin this season that age is no factor when it comes to performance – a point he reiterated when speaking to the press in Monza about Hamilton’s new deal. Asked whether age should count for something in a team principal’s decision for keeping a driver, Alonso replied: “No, I think they choose time, as has always been [the case] in motorsport. “I have never seen any rally, Moto GP or F1 team choose the slowest between two drivers. If I were a team boss now and I had to choose Hamilton or the youngest on the grid or a promising F2 driver, I’d stay with Hamilton until he’s 80 years old, until someone shows me that he’s faster than Hamilton. “In the case of Hamilton, who continues to perform at 100% and his only life concern is F1, as can be the case for me too, ‘when someone faster comes, we’ll talk’ but at the moment Hamilton is faster than anyone.” Alonso endured a tumultuous one-year partnership in Hamilton’s rookie season at McLaren in 2007, with the pair falling out as both fought for the world championship, eventually won by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The pair have been rivals ever since but are now on cordial terms as the two elder statesman of the paddock. The duo are fighting for championship position again this season: Alonso, who joined Aston Martin from Alpine prior to this season, is in third place and is 12 points ahead of Hamilton in fourth. Hamilton emphasised after signing his new deal – reported to be worth £50m-a-year – that he has “unfinished business” in the sport as he continues to hunt for a record-breaking eighth world championship. Both Alonso and Hamilton have won at Monza before – Alonso twice and Hamilton five times – ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. Read More Lewis Hamilton reveals reason for signing new Mercedes deal: ‘Unfinished business’ Lewis Hamilton signs new Mercedes contract Charles Leclerc speaks out about Ferrari future ahead of Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton gives update on F1 movie starring Brad Pitt amid Hollywood strikes Charles Leclerc speaks out about Ferrari future How does Verstappen’s win-streak compare to fellow record-holder Vettel’s?

Slow starts and big finishes

Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr booked their place in the Asian Champions League knockout stages on Monday with a 0-0 draw...

The Jacksonville Jaguars are building double-digit leads and closing out games regularly this season

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.