List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has called for their match against Tottenham to be replayed due to the glaring VAR error which cost them the opening goal. The fall-out from the VAR failure in Saturday’s defeat – in which officials wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal due to a misunderstanding of the on-field decision – is still being felt. The Premier Game Match Officials Ltd released the audio conversation between officials and the VAR after a request from Liverpool, but Klopp said that had made little difference to their thinking. “The audio didn’t change it at all. It is an obvious mistake,” he said. “I think there should be solutions for that. I think the outcome should be a replay. “The argument against that would be it opens the gates. It is unprecedented, it has not happened before. “I’m used to wrong and difficult decisions, but something like this never happened and so that is why I think a replay is the right thing to do.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Mikel Arteta defended his decision to play Bukayo Saka as the Arsenal winger limped out of their Champions League defeat to Lens. The Gunners had taken the lead through Gabriel Jesus but Adrien Thomasson levelled following a David Raya error before Saka hobbled out of the game. Lens would go on to win 2-1 courtesy of a second-half strike from Elye Wahi but it was the injury to Saka that will have concerned Arteta more. The Arsenal boss described Saka’s injury as a “knock” at full-time, adding the club are now waiting to see the extent of the issue.

Formula One statistics for the Qatar Grand Prix, round 17 of the 22-race calendar: Lap distance: 5.419km. Total

Mikel Arteta defended his decision to play Bukayo Saka as the Arsenal winger limped out of their Champions League defeat to Lens. The Gunners had taken the lead through Gabriel Jesus but Adrien Thomasson levelled following a David Raya error before Saka hobbled out of the game. Lens would go on to win 2-1 courtesy of a second-half strike from Elye Wahi but it was the injury to Saka that will have concerned Arteta more. Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City visit the Emirates Stadium in five days and Saka’s involvement is now in doubt with the England forward having been forced off in the last three games. Asked if he regretted picking Saka following his issues against both Tottenham and Bournemouth, Arteta replied: “No. It was a knock that he had the other day and he was perfectly fine. It was a back-heel, an action that can produce that kind of injury. “Let’s see what the extent of it is and afterwards it’s too late. The last few were more knocks than anything else. “He hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford (in the Carabao Cup) last week and that was all. “He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and felt something muscular. He felt uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off. “We don’t know anything more. It was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that’s a worry for us. “He was really looking forward to playing like every player. It was a big Champions League night. I painted a picture and the type of scenario we were going to face today and they all knew about it. “But this Champions League is so difficult to win away from home. Today we take a big lesson.” The defeat ended a forgettable 24 hours for Arsenal after bad weather grounded Arteta and his players at Luton airport for five hours on Monday as their journey to France was delayed. Now their hopes of avoiding a bumpy ride in qualifying for the knockout stages have also suffered a setback after a turbulent night at a rocking Stade Bollaert-Delelis. “No, let’s not put excuses,” Arteta said when asked if the preparations for the game had impacted on a poor team performance. “First of all, congratulations to Lens. They are a really good side. Really well coached. We knew it was going to be a really tough match. “In the boxes we had four or five chances we didn’t put away and we didn’t defend the boxes well enough. “It’s true there were moments in the second half we struggled to be more threatening in the final third and find spaces. “They defended with those numbers really good. That’s something to take for the next game.” Lens had started the season slowly but won their two Ligue 1 games leading into a first Champions League home game in 21 years and defender Kevin Danso was delighted with the outcome. “We gave it our all today in front of our own fans,” he said. “It was a difficult game, Arsenal had a lot of quality and made us sit back really deep, but we kept defending and kept our concentration. Luckily we won the game. “At home we know how strong we are, in front of our fans. That’s what we always try to do: win at home. I’m a bit gutted about the clean sheet, but we’ll take the three points definitely.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ben Stokes doubtful for England World Cup opener with hip injury Pierre Schoeman eager to extend ‘miracle’ World Cup beyond Ireland clash Martin Odegaard believes any team would miss injured Arsenal star Bukayo Saka

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has recalled Jamal Lewis and Callum Marshall to his squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against San Marino and Slovenia. O’Neill’s side play San Marino and Slovenia in a Group H double-header on October 14 and 17 respectively, with both games at Windsor Park. Newcastle defender Lewis, on loan at Watford, missed last month’s defeats in Slovenia and Kazakhstan through injury. Striker Marshall has forced his way back into O’Neill’s plans after scoring nine goals in 12 appearances for West Ham Under-21s. Midfielders Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock) and Paddy Lane (Portsmouth), defenders Eoin Toal (Bolton) and Brodie Spencer (Motherwell) and QPR winger Paul Smyth have all retained their places in the squad. Oxford defender Ciaron Brown has not been included after sustaining injury against Slovenia last month, while Blackpool striker Shayne Lavery and Portsmouth winger Gavin Whyte have also been left out despite recently returning from injury for their clubs. O’Neill will be without defender Craig Cathcart, who announced his retirement last month, while experienced midfielders Steven Davis (Rangers), Corry Evans (Sunderland), Stuart Dallas (Leeds) and Shane Ferguson (Rotherham) are still recovering from long-term injuries. Liverpool wing-back Conor Bradley and Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly are also unavailable through injury. Northern Ireland’s qualification hopes are over after O’Neill’s injury-hit squad slipped to five straight group defeats and the former Stoke boss is now building for the future. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard believes Bukayo Saka would be a miss for any team in the world as the England winger faces an anxious wait to see if he will be fit to face Manchester City. Saka limped out of Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat in Lens, with manager Mikel Arteta admitting afterwards that it “didn’t look good” for the 22-year-old. It was the third game in a row that Saka had started and failed to finish having also been forced off against Tottenham and in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Bournemouth. He recovered from those two knocks to start at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where he teed up Gabriel Jesus to put the visitors ahead early on. However, an error from David Raya led to Adrien Thomasson equalising before Saka’s night came to a premature end when he hobbled off with just 34 minutes on the clock. Elye Wahi went on to hit the winner for the home side, who were hosting their first Champions League game in over two decades. Meanwhile, Saka – who has featured in Arsenal’s last 87 Premier League games – now faces a race against time to be fit for the visit of reigning champions City on Sunday. “We still have some great players, but I think every team in the world would miss Bukayo,” Odegaard said in the aftermath of the surprise loss. “But we have to see what happens in the next few days. Hopefully it’s not too bad and he’s going to be ready. “It’s a big game coming up and everyone is excited for the game. It will be a good game to play in. We have to look forward, make sure we’re ready and show up on the Sunday.” This is Arsenal’s first season back in the Champions League in six years and – after thrashing PSV Eindhoven 4-0 in the opening Group B clash – their largely-inexperienced squad was given a reminder of how tough Europe’s top-tier club competition can be. Asked if having to juggle Premier League and Champions League football could become a challenge, Odegaard replied: “I don’t think it’s an issue. “Of course it’s tough to play in Europe. We played a good team, they were strong. They made it very difficult for us. “We have to look at ourselves, learn, move on. I’m sure we’re going to get better and better so we take the lessons and move on. “We want to win every game we play. Of course we’re disappointed now, but I think we got some good lessons today so we have to look at it in that way and make sure we learn.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Wales’ Gareth Thomas has first-hand experience of Georgia threat Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill recalls Jamal Lewis and Callum Marshall Key questions answered surrounding the review of how VAR is used in English game

FIFA is set to approve the reintegration of Russian youth teams into under-17 competitions and ease a total international ban on the country amid the war in Ukraine

A review of how VAR is used in the English game is under way after miscommunication between officials led to a Liverpool goal being wrongly disallowed on Saturday. Here, the PA news agency provides an update on where we are. What happened? On-field referee Simon Hooper and his assistants flagged Luis Diaz offside after he fired in what would have been the opening goal in the Reds’ Premier League match at Tottenham on Saturday. Crucially, VAR Darren England thought the on-field decision had been onside. So although he followed the correct procedure in drawing lines and identifying that Diaz was onside, by telling the on-field officials “check complete” they thought their decision to give offside had been upheld by the check. Only in the seconds which followed did the VAR operators realise their error, by which time play had restarted. Current protocols do not permit a decision to be revisited once that has happened. How did Liverpool react? The club issued a statement on Sunday night saying that sporting integrity had been undermined by the error and that they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. The club requested – and were sent – the audio of the incident before it was released publicly on Tuesday evening. What happens next? The first thing to say is that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted on Saturday evening that a “significant error” had occurred. As well as standing down England and the assistant VAR Daniel Cook for duties on Sunday and Monday, plus the weekend to come, it has identified some “key learnings” from the incident. These include the development of a new communications protocol to enhance clarity between referees and VARs. Phil Bentham has been brought into PGMOL from rugby league to improve communication between officials and will no doubt be key to this work. VARs will now also confirm the outcome of their check with their assistants in the booth, before relaying the final decision to on-field officials. PGMOL and the Football Association will also review the policy allowing officials to be involved in domestic league matches overseas, after England and Cook were part of a team which oversaw a game in the United Arab Emirates last Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning. What has the Premier League said? The league issued a statement saying that the Diaz incident highlighted “systemic weaknesses” in the VAR process and said a wider review to seek consistently-higher standards would now take place. Besides improving communication between officials, what else could change? The incident has led to renewed calls from fans and pundits to allow the conversations between VARs and referees to be broadcast live. Eighty per cent of fans supported this being introduced in a Football Supporters’ Association survey published in the summer and the boss of TNT Sports – one of the league’s key broadcast partners – said in July it was a “huge missed opportunity” not to have such a system in place. While the Premier League has never publicly given its view on live audio, it was part of a World Leagues Forum poll published in June which found 25 out of the 41 leagues surveyed supported its introduction. Crucially though, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which sets the game’s laws, is understood not to have received any requests so far in the current cycle to trial a live audio system. What about in-stadium announcements like we had at the Women’s World Cup? To date this has been a FIFA-only trial, but IFAB is prepared to open it up to allow other competitions to take part. However, the announcements are limited to decisions where an on-field review is conducted by a referee at a pitchside monitor. Offside decisions such as the Diaz incident are not checked in this way. What about semi-automated offside? This is in operation in a number of major competitions, having first been trialled at the men’s World Cup in Qatar. However, the Premier League has so far opted not to introduce it. It can also be argued that it would not have helped in a situation like Diaz – the existing technology was used to identify that Diaz was onside, the mistake was human error, pure and simple.

There's not much of a debate about who's the best goaltender in world

Boss Gareth Southgate will be sweating on Bukayo Saka’s fitness ahead of naming his England squad to face Australia and Italy on Thursday. The Arsenal forward came off in the first half of the Gunners’ 2-1 Champions League defeat at Lens on Tuesday night. Saka suffered a hamstring injury and boss Mikel Arteta admitted it was a concern ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday. Doubts over Saka’s fitness could open the door for Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon after his impressive start to the season. Winger Gordon helped England Under-21s win Euro 2023 in the summer and has two goals and two assists in the league. Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins is pushing for a recall with seven goals in all competitions this season, including two hat-tricks after his treble in the 6-1 thumping of Brighton on Saturday. Watkins, who has two goals for England in seven caps, was left out of last month’s squad to face Ukraine and Scotland but is a strong contender for a return, especially with Callum Wilson managing a hamstring issue. With Saka a doubt and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze sidelined for six weeks there are gaps in England’s forward line for the friendly against Australia on October 13 and Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy on October 17. Eze suffered a hamstring injury in Palace’s 1-0 win at Manchester United on Saturday. Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling could be one to profit having been left out of the last three squads. Ben Chilwell also has a hamstring injury, leaving Southgate short of options at left-back with Luke Shaw already out with a muscle problem. Brentford’s uncapped Rico Henry is also sidelined for the season with a serious knee injury so Southgate could opt for Chelsea’s Levi Colwill to fill in. The squad is also likely to come too soon for fellow Blues defender Reece James, who has been nursing his own hamstring injury. Harry Maguire has managed just three minutes of Premier League action since last month’s wins over Ukraine and Scotland – although he played the full game when Manchester United beat Palace 3-0 in the Carabao Cup last week. There are no suggestions Southgate is about to drop the centre-back, although Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa should be under consideration. John Stones is back in training with Manchester City, having been out since the Community Shield in August, but is lacking minutes. Kalvin Phillips continues to struggle for game time at City but is expected to be included. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Aaron Ramsey and Brennan Johnson out of Wales’ crunch qualifier with Croatia Kyle Sinckler: Rugby’s updated eligibility rule an improvement to the game Rasmus Hojlund says Manchester United must ‘stick together’ in ‘tough period’

Ace sprinter Mark Cavendish wants another go at becoming the outright record-holder for most career stage wins at the Tour de France

Oklahoma-Texas is the main attraction in Week 6 of the college football season and one of three games matching Top 25 teams