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Gareth Southgate says “performance is the priority” in North Macedonia as already-qualified England look to make up for winning with a whimper against minnows Malta. The Euro 2020 runners-up sealed their place at next summer’s edition with two matches to spare and were below par in Friday’s qualifier. England disappointed a packed Wembley crowd by limping to a 2-0 victory over Malta, leading the manager to suggest his players had subconsciously taken their foot off the gas. Southgate did not castigate those that have done so well for him over the years, but he is demanding a vastly-improved display in North Macedonia as they bring the curtain down on 2023. “Performance is the priority,” Southgate said. “We’ve set a standard. We didn’t reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we’re good at. There’s always a chance within that to have a look at a couple of things that we’d like to see as well. “But the biggest thing is making sure we hit the level of performance that we’ve set ourselves.” England’s final match of the year is also set to be their last on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in Germany. A sold-out Tose Proeski Arena awaits despite the Macedonians’ qualification hopes already having gone up in smoke, with revenge the main focus on Monday. Few saw June’s 7-0 Old Trafford annihilation at Old Trafford coming and Blagoja Milevski’s men are looking to get a famous result having drawn at home to reigning European champions Italy since then. “We weren’t at the level of performance that we want on Friday, so all focus on tomorrow’s game,” said Southgate, whose side have so far gone unbeaten this year. “We play a team who, although they can’t qualify, have tremendous pride and they’ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester. “We have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium. We’ve had a calendar year where we’ve been very good, so we want to finish well.” England’s final camp of the year has been disrupted by absentees. Five players withdrew from the original squad through injury and two more departed the squad before they flew out to the Balkans. The Football Association announced Kieran Trippier had gone home due to a personal issue, while injury meant Jarrod Bowen left the camp on Sunday. “Unfortunately, Jarrod picked up an injury,” Southgate said. “I think he felt it a little bit yesterday and then again at the end of training today. “We didn’t really have enough time to assess it fully and make a really accurate decision before the game, so we felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed. “I don’t think it’s got to be anything serious, but we just didn’t have enough time and we wouldn’t take a risk in that situation.” Bowen was in line for a substantial role for rotated England on Monday, so too Trippier. Performance is the priority. We've set a standard. We didn't reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we're good at Gareth Southgate The versatile Newcastle full-back’s withdrawal underlines the dearth of options at left-back in the absence of injured Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell. “We need to adapt,” Southgate said. “We’ve got a couple of different options and we’re comfortable with it. We can find a good solution to the issue. “We haven’t got somebody that is playing there regularly, but we’ve adapted to lots of situations over the last few years and we’re comfortable with doing that again tomorrow.” Asked about the options and formation switch, he added: “We probably have done it a little bit on personnel going back a few years. “So, yeah, that is an option. We’ve obviously got players that have played as wing-backs. We can adjust. We’ve got Fik (Fikayo Tomori), of course, who did it the other day, Rico Lewis, Marc Guehi can play across there. “He’s done that for us in a game before so it’s just making sure that everybody’s aware of their job. It changes the way maybe you build up patterns and those sorts of things, but we’re comfortable with the situation we’ve got.” Read More Declan Rice urges England to finish 2023 with a ‘bang’ in North Macedonia Jarrod Bowen adds to England withdrawals after injury in training Manchester City storm back to deny Manchester United in Old Trafford WSL derby Arsenal continue winning streak with convincing victory at Brighton Australia ‘top of the mountain’ after record sixth World Cup win ‘It’s the sweetest one’ – Nicolai Hojgaard hails DP World Tour Championship win

Declan Rice has called on England to end an unbeaten 2023 with a “bang” by winning their final Euro 2024 qualifier away to North Macedonia. England have not suffered defeat since their World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of France last December and sealed their spot at next summer’s finals with two games to spare. Rice’s Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka hit a hat-trick in a 7-0 thrashing of North Macedonia in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in June. After a drab 2-0 win over Malta on Friday, Rice is keen for England to put in a better showing to bring the curtain down on a strong calendar year. “I think especially the other night after Malta there is just a bit of pride in ourselves that we need to raise our level,” the Arsenal midfielder said. “We need to put out a statement and it would be a good way to end the year. We are currently unbeaten since the World Cup so it is down to us to go out tomorrow night, put on a performance. “You need to be mentally prepared, have the right mentality and be ready for a hostile environment and make sure we go out of this year with a bang. We will be ready for whatever they throw at us.” We need to put out a statement and it would be a good way to end the year Declan Rice Rice will collect his 48th cap in Monday’s game and the former West Ham captain admits he was “gutted” that a controversial VAR call cost him a fourth England goal in the Malta win. Just moments after Harry Kane had doubled the lead, Rice charged forward and drove home a fine finish that was ultimately ruled out for offside against Kane. “To be honest with you, going back to the other night I was gutted,” he said. “When I picked the ball up and drove through and bent one into the far corner, I was buzzing because I don’t really score goals like that often. “When it was chalked off I was gutted, but it was one of those where I didn’t want to get into something with the ref, get a silly yellow card. The game was won at 2-0 so it is one of those you have to take on the chin. “Hopefully I can score one of those again, maybe tomorrow night, so we will have to wait and see.” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has landed a Football Association charge for his stinging criticism of VAR following the recent Premier League defeat at Newcastle – labelling the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winning goal to stand as both “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”. “It is one of those things, you are going to get decisions that go your way and those that don’t go your way,” Rice said on VAR. “At the minute it is a bit up in the air because some decisions being made are the wrong decisions, some are right, but we are just there to play football and it is down to the authorities to decide – the people at Stockley Park and the referees.” Read More Jarrod Bowen adds to England withdrawals after injury in training Manchester City storm back to deny Manchester United in Old Trafford WSL derby Arsenal continue winning streak with convincing victory at Brighton Australia ‘top of the mountain’ after record sixth World Cup win ‘It’s the sweetest one’ – Nicolai Hojgaard hails DP World Tour Championship win Northern Ireland keen to go out on high note against Denmark – 5 talking points

Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa and Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones were each carted to their respective locker rooms after getting hurt on separate first-half plays Sunday at Lambeau Field

West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen has joined Kieran Trippier in withdrawing from the England squad ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifier in North Macedonia. Bowen suffered a knee injury in training and remained in England when the rest of the squad flew to Macedonia on Sunday. England boss Gareth Southgate told a press conference: “Unfortunately Jarrod picked up an injury, I think he felt it a little bit yesterday and again at the end of training today. “We didn’t really have enough time to assess it fully and make a really accurate decision before the game so we felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed. “I don’t think it’s going to be anything serious but we just didn’t have enough time and we wouldn’t take a risk in that situation.” Bowen’s departure follows that of defender Trippier, who left the England camp earlier on Sunday due to a personal matter. England end their Euro 2024 qualification campaign and 2023 fixture calendar in Skopje on Monday night, when they will be unable to call upon Newcastle full-back Trippier. The England account on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: “@trippier2 has departed the #ThreeLions camp, owing to a personal matter and will not travel to North Macedonia.” Southgate’s side secured progress to next summer’s finals with two games to spare and Friday’s forgettable 2-0 win against Malta all but assured their spot among the top seeds in the December 2 draw. Read More Ugo Monye ‘so fed up’ after hearing ‘blatant racism’ as he left Exeter match Manchester City storm back to deny Manchester United in Old Trafford WSL derby Arsenal continue winning streak with convincing victory at Brighton

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic has won a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title with a straight-set victory over home favorite Jannik Sinner

Ohio State passed Michigan and moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll a week before the Big Ten rivals play another top-five matchup

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that former head coach Jimmy Johnson will be inducted into the franchise’s ring of honor on Dec. 30 when they host the Detroit Lions

Manchester City came from a goal behind to beat Women’s Super League rivals Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford. The Red Devils were awarded a penalty in the 20th minute as Alex Greenwood handled inside the area, with Katie Zelem slotting home to put them a goal up. City were not behind for long and turned the game on its head with two goals inside a minute as Jill Roord slotted home the equaliser before Lauren Hemp curled in superb fashion from outside the area to make it 2-1. The visitors ensured the three points as Khadija Shaw closed down a back-pass to Mary Earps, with the goalkeeper’s clearance bouncing off Shaw and going into the net to rubber-stamp the triumph. Despite Laia Aleixandri’s second bookable offence for a foul on Lucia Garcia, City held on to move above United in the WSL. Elsewhere, Arsenal secured their sixth win in all competitions with a convincing 3-0 victory over Brighton thanks to goals from Stina Blackstenius, Caitlin Foord and Frida Maanum. Bristol City twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with fellow strugglers Everton at Walton Hall Park while Tottenham’s unbeaten run continued with a 1-1 draw against Leicester. Rachel Daly scored in stoppage time to help secure Aston Villa their second win of the season with a 3-2 victory over West Ham. Read More Arsenal continue winning streak with convincing victory at Brighton Top of the mountain – Pat Cummins hails Australia’s record sixth World Cup win ‘It’s the sweetest one’ – Nicolai Hojgaard hails DP World Tour Championship win

Arsenal made it five consecutive wins in the Women’s Premier League and six in all competitions with a convincing 3-0 victory over Brighton. Stina Blackstenius opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a shot into the top left-hand corner of the net before Caitlin Foord doubled their advantage with 10 minutes to go in front of a record crowd of 4,921 at a sold-out Broadfield Stadium. Frida Maanum sealed the three points in stoppage time with her first goal of the season after being teed up by Cloe Lacasse, leaving the second-placed Gunners three points behind leaders Chelsea in the table.

You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing or seeing something that has to do with Eagles center Travis Kelce and his younger brother and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce

Aaron Nola is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies on a seven-year deal, according to a person familiar with the agreement

Arsenal made it five consecutive wins in the Women’s Premier League and six in all competitions with a convincing 3-0 victory over Brighton. Stina Blackstenius opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a shot into the top left-hand corner of the net before Caitlin Foord doubled their advantage with 10 minutes to go in front of a record crowd of 4,921 at a sold-out Broadfield Stadium. Frida Maanum sealed the three points in stoppage time with her first goal of the season after being teed up by Cloe Lacasse, leaving the second-placed Gunners three points behind leaders Chelsea in the table. Bristol City twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with fellow strugglers Everton at Walton Hall Park. Martina Piemonte put the hosts in front just five minutes into the contest but Amy Rodgers slammed home from inside the area just before the interval to bring the scores level. Everton retook the lead in the 57th minute courtesy of Megan Finnigan and looked on course for only their second win of the WSL season when Amalie Thestrup dinked home from close range with eight minutes remaining to earn rock-bottom City a share of the spoils. Tottenham extended their unbeaten run to six matches with a 1-1 draw against Leicester at the King Power Stadium. Leicester went ahead in the 18th minute when Janice Cayman received a pass from Hannah Cain before firing home but were pegged back when Celin Bizet latched onto a through ball and finished coolly. Rachel Daly scored a brilliant stoppage-time winner as Aston Villa came out on top in a five-goal thriller to beat West Ham 3-2 and double their points tally for the campaign. Viviane Asseyi’s penalty put West Ham a goal to the good but Villa turned the game on its head through Anna Patten and Adriana Leon. West Ham thought they had snatched a point when Lisa Evans drilled home from outside the area with 10 minutes to go. But, the decisive moment came two minutes into added time when England star Daly smashed into the top corner to snatch all three points for Villa. Read More Top of the mountain – Pat Cummins hails Australia’s record sixth World Cup win ‘It’s the sweetest one’ – Nicolai Hojgaard hails DP World Tour Championship win Northern Ireland keen to go out on high note against Denmark – 5 talking points Luke Humphries sets up Grand Slam of Darts final showdown with Rob Cross Talking points ahead of England’s clash with North Macedonia Kieran Trippier knows he needs to perform to retain England place at Euro 2024