List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

Chelsea travel to Spain to start their Women’s Champions League (WCL) campaign in what will be manager Emma Hayes’ last opportunity to win the European competition before she leaves the club at the end of the season. The WCL is the only piece of silverware that has eluded Hayes in her 11-year tenure at Chelsea but winning the tournament in her final year with the club will not be an easy feat. An opening clash against Real Madrid, runners-up in Liga F, will test the Women’s Super League (WSL) champions and the rise of Paris FC, who defeated Arsenal and Wolfsburg in qualifying, make a difficult tournament that much trickier at the group stage. Chelsea reached the semi-final stage last season before losing 2-1 on aggregate to Barcelona who went on to lift the trophy. Barca were also the team to stop the Blues on their only trip to the final, running out 4-0 winners in the 2021 showpiece to deny them the title. Adding the talented Ashley Lawrence and Catarina Macario this summer brings extra depth to Chelsea’s squad and they will need the experience of multiple WSL winners if they are to go far this time around. Follow all the action from the Women’s Champions League plus get the latest odds and tips right here:

Granit Xhaka has set a Switzerland record by playing in a 119th game for the men’s national team

Deshaun Watson out for the season due to shoulder injury

Anthony Joshua will fight Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia on 23 December, on the same card as a bout between Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker. The fights are just two of several heavyweight clashes that will take place in the same ring in Riyadh, with Daniel Dubois and Filip Hrgovic among the other boxers in action that night, while light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is also set to compete. The event was officially announced at a press conference in London on Wednesday (15 November). Joshua, 34, and Wilder, 38, have long been linked to one another, and there will inevitably be frustration among fans that the Briton and American will share a ring on 23 December but without boxing each other. Joshua will instead box Wallin, whose sole professional loss came against Tyson Fury in 2019. The Swede, 32, almost secured a victory that night after inflicting a severe cut over Fury’s right eye. Wallin has since won six fights in a row, and his professional record stands at 26-1 (14 knockouts). Meanwhile, Wilder will fight Joseph Parker (33-3, 23 KOs), a teammate of Fury. The New Zealander is on a three-fight win streak, having bounced back well from a stoppage loss to Joe Joyce last year. Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) and Wilder (43-2-1, 32 KOs) both beat Robert Helenius last time out, with “AJ” stopping the Finn in Round 7 in August, after Wilder secured a first-round knockout in October 2022. Joshua’s victory over Helenius was his second straight win after his back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, who took the unified heavyweight titles from AJ in 2021 and retained the gold in their 2022 rematch. Meanwhile, Wilder’s win against Helenius saw him respond positively to back-to-back defeats by Tyson Fury, who won the WBC belt from Wilder in 2020 and retained it against the American in 2021. The pair previously fought to a controversial draw in 2018. "People are talking like I've peaked when they've never even seen a peak in their career, so I don't know what they're talking about,” Joshua said, referring to comments made by Wallin, whom he beat twice in the amateurs and with whom he later sparred. "I'm looking forward to relaying my message to Otto Wallin on 23 December. I can't predict the future, but I know where I wanna go, I know what I wanna do, and I'm sticking to my plan. “I'm a man of my word, and I believe in being a three-time champion of the world. This is what I like about the division: There's a roadmap with checkpoints, and I can't wait to get to the final destination. I'm fully focused on this fight, I'm determined to win, and I'm determined to get back to my 'peak'." Meanwhile, Wilder said: “Parker’s good at the end of the day, I think highly of him. He’s an amazing human being as a man, he’s a great fighter as well. It’s gonna be a remarkable feeling to finally share the ring with him. “The blessing is I have the ability to knock a single man out with one punch. This is something that’s been with me all my life, it’s not something I’ve developed. The curse is that it’s allowed people to shy away from me, to be fearful. Sometimes that can be harmful to the business of boxing.“ When asked whether any other fighter on the stage had ever ‘shied away’ from fighting him, Wilder said: “I don’t really have to say much, y’all have heard me many times throughout the years. I don’t feel the need to call out any names. At this time, my mind is focused solely on Joseph Parker. “It’s good to be in the same room [as Joshua], to see him face to face, it’s been a long time coming. I wish you nothing but the best, bro, and hopefully we can get in the ring some time soon.” Elsewhere on the 23 December card, Dubois will box Jarrell Miller, while Hrgovic fights Mark De Mori. Bivol will defend his WBA light-heavyweight title against Lyndon Arthur, and also in that division, Jai Opetaia fights Ellis Zorro. Meanwhile, Frank Sanchez will go up against Junior Fa at heavyweight, where Arslanbek Makhmudov boxes Agit Kabayel. Read More Boxing’s heavyweight saga sees biggest plot twist yet Joshua and Wilder in line to fight on same Saudi card – but not against each other Eddie Hearn makes surprising revelation about Anthony Joshua coach Anthony Joshua and Louis Theroux break into freestyle rap battle: ‘Fire in the booth’ Anthony Joshua relives fight with ‘six guys’ who attacked him in the street Anthony Joshua teases Tyson Fury fight during interview with Louis Theroux

James Madison must be making fellow Sun Belt Conference programs wonder "who invited these guys?'

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss a game for the first time this season Wednesday because of a strained right calf

Justin Fields will be back at quarterback for the Chicago Bears Sunday when they play at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions after missing four starts with a dislocated right thumb

There are big games and plenty of heavy lifting to be done in Week 12 of the college football season

Boston College will try to bolster its bowl prospects when the Eagles visit Pittsburgh

Aaron Rodgers will have the final call on whether he plays again this season for the New York Jets if and when he gets medical clearance

Terry R

Scotland take on Georgia in their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier in Tbilisi on Thursday night. Steve Clarke’s side have already qualified for Germany after winning five of their first six Group A games. Here are some of the key talking points ahead of the game at the Boris Paichadze Stadium. Pots not prizes Scotland are highly unlikely to top the group given they sit on 15 points with Spain, who are seven goals better off and finish with games against Cyprus and Georgia. An unfortunate slip from Aaron Hickey late on in Seville last month led to a second Spanish goal and wiped out Scotland’s head-to-head advantage. However, good results against Georgia and Norway will boost Scotland’s hopes of landing in the second pot of seeds for next month’s Euro 2024 draw as well as regaining momentum after three consecutive defeats. Breaking the spell Scotland have twice come unstuck in Tbilisi before – their Euro 2008 and Euro 2016 campaigns suffered fatal blows against Georgia. Having beaten France home and away, Alex McLeish’s side lost 2-0 against a side featuring three teenagers, including 17-year-old goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze and 17-year-old goalscorer Levan Mchedlidze. Gordon Strachan was also on the end of a defeat in Tbilisi as the hosts frustrated Scotland in a 1-0 win. Despite being unbeaten against qualification rivals Poland and Republic of Ireland, Scotland missed out on a play-off. A chance to shine Scotland are without about half a team of likely starters – Angus Gunn, Kieran Tierney, Grant Hanley, Hickey, Andy Robertson and Che Adams are all absent. The game could give the likes of Nathan Patterson, Greg Taylor, Anthony Ralston, the uncapped Josh Doig and late call-up Lawrence Shankland the chance to impress. Who is in goal? Clarke gave nothing away on who would replace Gunn, who has only conceded three goals in six qualifiers. Motherwell captain Liam Kelly and Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark are looking for their competitive debuts after both won their first caps in last month’s 4-1 friendly defeat by France. Rangers number two Robby McCrorie replaced Gunn in the squad. Motivated opponents Georgia cannot finish in the top two but they can still go to Euro 2024 through the Nations League play-offs. Willy Sagnol’s side were the top ranked team in Group C after winning emphatically away to Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and will take their place in the play-off tournament in March. Read More Rohit Sharma glad India ‘could get the job done’ against New Zealand A look at the data behind Virat Kohli’s record 50 ODI centuries Virat Kohli hits record ton as India beat New Zealand to reach World Cup final Carlos Alcaraz beats Andrey Rublev at ATP Finals in Turin Francis Ngannou ranked as top-10 heavyweight by WBC after impressive debut Niall Huggins excited to make Wales bow following ‘horrendous’ period