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Mikel Arteta relishes “special” north London derbies against Tottenham and has called for Arsenal to take advantage of the Emirates’ electric atmosphere on Sunday. Both Arsenal and Tottenham are unbeaten in the Premier League ahead of their derby-day clash. And Arteta talked up the fixture’s history and its importance to the club and supporters as Arsenal search for a third straight victory over their neighbours. “It’s a special rivalry. It’s a rivalry in the city and I really like the derby, there’s something between the two communities and it’s really intense,” Arteta said. “It builds something even bigger with your supporters. I think it’s a game always in fixtures where you look straight away to see when you play that game because it’s special and there’s something emotionally attached to it so it will be a big lift if we manage to win it. “No (better feeling than beating Tottenham) because you know what the game means to people and having the possibility in your job to make someone happy is a huge fulfilment and a responsibility we feel. “You walk down the street and there’s a feeling (among fans) because of the history, the rivalry and that’s the beautiful thing when it’s taken in the right way during sport and we are so privileged to be involved in this sort of game. “The atmosphere will be different. It will be more electric, there will be more energy in the ground and the pitch so we have to deal with that in the right way and take advantage of that.” Ange Postecoglou’s new-look Spurs find themselves in second having scored 13 goals in five matches. And Gunners boss Arteta highlighted their rivals’ dominant form and expects them to pose a new challenge to his side. “For sure they’ve had a really good start and they are in a good moment and we are too so it’s a big game and we’re going to have to battle the right way to win it,” he added. “They dominate the games, they win the games, they score a lot of goals and they’re an attacking flowing team and they go for it so they’ll bring a different approach to the game than what we’ve played in the league so far. “They have a new challenge, a new opportunity, they have a new manager who is doing really well and he’s managed to change the vibe around the club and with a different style too. They dominate the games, they win the games, they score a lot of goals and they're an attacking flowing team Arteta on Spurs “So we need to be ourselves and produce the performance to beat them.” Arsenal retuned to the Champions League after six years with a midweek 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in Group B. Arteta said: “For sure (the win) has to drive the energy and the belief and we have to keep doing what we’re doing and understand that Sunday will be a different game that will need that same performance or even better to beat them (Tottenham) and we need to keep going.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Wales’ destiny in their own hands – 5 talking points ahead of Australia showdown Sarina Wiegman happy with ‘three very important points’ against Scotland Matt Peet savours ‘fantastic honour’ as Wigan win League Leaders Shield

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England manager Sarina Wiegman hailed a “very important” three points after the Lionesses opened their Nations League account with a 2-1 win against Scotland. Just over a month since their World Cup final loss to Spain, the Lionesses picked up an inaugural win in the competition. Former Black Cat Lucy Bronze opened the scoring at the Stadium of Light before Lauren Hemp doubled the lead and Kirsty Hanson pulled one back – all in the six minutes before the break. The visitors had opportunities to level in the second half, with Hanson and Christy Grimshaw having the pick of the chances, but were unable to capitalise and Wiegman was pleased her side were able to take the win – which left them alongside Belgium at the top of Group A1 after the latter’s surprise win over the Netherlands. “First of all I’m very happy with the three points, three very important points,” she told a press conference. “You see how competitive the Nations League is with the other results we’ve seen. “I think the first half we’ve played a lot better than the second half and scored two good goals. “We also gave away a couple of counter-attacks where Scotland showed they were really dangerous in those moments – I think those were our own mistakes that gave them that opportunity – but I think overall we were a lot better the first half and second half we were struggling. “Overall we kept the win and that’s the most important thing off the back of the World Cup and a very short turnaround where players haven’t played any competitive games yet.” The Nations League is a new competition for this year and there is a chance for England to secure Paris 2024 Olympics qualification on behalf of Great Britain via the tournament. England next face the Netherlands in Utrecht and Wiegman is pleased to see “more competitive games” being played. “If you look at other groups there’ve been really tight too, some remarkable results, that’s what we want,” she added. “We wanted more competitive games, we want to develop the game and get top countries to improve, but countries just underneath the top to also get closer. “We’ve seen in the World Cup that everything comes closer and closer, which is very exciting for the game, but it’s really good to have these competitive games that you don’t know ahead who’s going to win the game and who’s going to top the group.” Scotland manager Pedro Martinez Losa was “disappointed” with the result. He said: “We are disappointed because we came here to win and that’s the ambition we have as a team. We wanted to come here to compete and play the football we wanted to play. “I think Scotland was brilliant in many other moments, this is the performances that this team can put together and we want to do it again in the next matches. “We are not still happy, we will never be happy losing games but we want the ambition to win games. “We had the feeling we could get something else in the game but now the only thing we can do is to take the positives, continue building to make sure we can recover and go again on Tuesday (against Belgium).”

Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle announced his retirement after 11 amazing seasons in the majors and he dropped a killer Immaculate Grid reference.

England got their Nations League campaign off to a winning start with a 2-1 win against Scotland at the Stadium of Light. Just over a month after their World Cup final defeat to Spain, the Lionesses earned an inaugural win in the competition after going ahead through former Black Cat Lucy Bronze. Lauren Hemp doubled the lead before Scotland pulled one back just before the break through Kirsty Hanson and the visitors had plenty of good opportunities to level in the second half but were unable to capitalise on their chances. Prior to kick-off both teams paid their respects to Sheffield United’s Maddy Cusack, who has died aged 27, and a period of silence was observed around the stadium. England were on the front foot straight from kick-off and Georgia Stanway had the first real attempt of the game 10 minutes in when her header went just wide. Lauren James then launched into an excellent mazy run across the Scottish half and threaded the ball to Rachel Daly, whose low effort was comfortably saved by Lee Gibson. The Lionesses kept possession well but struggled to find the breakthrough as Stanway tried one of her trademark long-distance efforts from outside the box with Gibson saving. However, the visitors took their chances where they could as Caroline Weir had a powerful effort from inside the box well saved by Mary Earps. England thought they had broken the deadlock in the 25th minute through Daly’s flicked header from a corner, but the celebrations were quickly cut short when the goal was ruled out for offside against Chloe Kelly in the build-up. Pouncing on a missed opportunity, Scotland were suddenly on the attack as Hanson made a great run down the left flank but Martha Thomas was unable to stab the ball home, before the Tottenham striker’s curling effort was held by Earps. Former Sunderland defender Bronze opened the scoring for the Lionesses after a great cross from Katie Zelem picked out the right-back, who made a perfectly timed run to head home. They doubled the lead in the 45th minute after Daly picked out Hemp on the left for the Manchester City winger to head into the top corner. Scotland pulled one back with the last kick of the half as England failed to clear their lines in the box and Hanson was able to poke a low cross into the bottom corner. A closely contested start to the second half saw James’ curling effort whistle over the top corner before Kelly hit a brilliant low cross into the box for Daly, who was unable to get her feet sorted in time. Scotland threatened again as Earps was equal to Thomas’ header and the visitors looked the brighter of the two teams, but England were able to shut down the threat quickly. Scotland had another great chance to level as Earps made a fantastic punch to clear Rachel McLauchlan’s attempted cross and Hanson smashed the rebound off the crossbar. The visitors threatened again with six minutes to go as Lisa Evans picked out Christy Grimshaw on the edge of the box but her low effort was held by Earps. James broke forward in added to head home after Gibson’s initial save, but the goal was ruled out for offside and Fiona Brown had the final effort of the game saved by Earps. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Sarina Wiegman happy with ‘three very important points’ against Scotland Matt Peet savours ‘fantastic honour’ as Wigan win League Leaders Shield Ange Postecoglou points out the differences between himself and Mikel Arteta

Aja Evans, an Olympic bobsled athlete who won bronze at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, has filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually abused by a chiropractor who was working with the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.