England
successfully chased down a target of 192 to edge past New Zealand by
three wickets and win the five-game Royal London One-Day International
series.
The tourists managed a respectable total of 283-9 with both Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill posting half-centuries.
Play was briefly suspended due to rain, which restricted the hosts' innings, and they struggled towards an uninspiring 45-5.
However, Jonny Bairstow's impressive unbeaten total of 85 helped claim victory for his side with an over to spare.
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Meanwhile, the two teams will face eachother on Tuesday in a
Twenty20 international, which will be England's final game prior to the
first Ashes Test against Australia in early July.
Lewis Hamilton headed a Mercedes one-two in qualifying at the
Austrian Grand Prix despite both cars going off on their final laps of
the session.
Hamilton did enough on his first lap in the top 10 shoot-out, lapping 0.2secs quicker than team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton then spun at Turn One on his final lap,
leaving Rosberg the chance to beat him, only for the German to spin at
the final corner on his lap.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third from Williams's Felipe Massa.
It was nip-and-tuck whether Rosberg would have beaten
Hamilton - he was slower than the world champion in sector one, but
quicker in sector two.
But then Rosberg ran wide on the exit of Turn Eight,
got the car partly onto the kerb and then lost control as he went into
the final corner.
"It was quite a difficult qualifying with the track
conditions," said Hamilton. "I was grateful I got my third lap in on the
first run in Q3. I was pushing that bit extra on the next run and just
locked the rears.
"I wasn't too concerned about losing pole at that time
because I was trying to get the car going, but obviously afterwards I
was thinking: 'I probably lost it there.'"
Rosberg said: "Definitely gutted, but Lewis was 0.2secs
up on the previous lap and I was 0.2secs exactly up at that point so I
knew I had to go for it."
The mistakes from both Mercedes drivers gave Vettel the chance to beat them, but
he could only close to within 0.355secs of Hamilton
with his final lap.
Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen messed up his runs in
the first part of qualifying, which was held on a damp track, and
failed to progress.
The Finn qualified 18th, although he will be promoted
four places on the grid because of penalties for the Red Bull and
McLaren drivers, and uttered an expletive when asking over the radio:
"How is that possible?"
Kimi Raikkonen was knocked out in the first session of qualifying
Hamilton's pole was his seventh in eight races this year.
Nico Hulkenberg,
fresh from winning Le Mans
with Porsche last weekend, was an excellent fifth for Force India ahead of the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
And there was another highly impressive performance
from 17-year-old Max Verstappen, who put the Toro Rosso seventh after
also starring in the damp first part of qualifying.
His team-mate Carlos Sainz was also strong in the wet, but as the circuit dried out he could manage only 13th.
The top 10 was completed by Red Bull's Daniill Kvyat,
who has a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change, the Sauber of
Felipe Nasr and Lotus's Romain Grosjean.
Austria was treated to a hare tackling the Spielberg kerbs
The second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, who has the
same penalty as Kvyat, was only 14th on the grid on a dark day for the
team on their own track. The Australian will have to take a five-second
penalty at a pit stop in the race because he cannot serve his full
penalty.
It was even worse for McLaren, whose drivers collectively have 50 places of grid penalties.
Fernando Alonso got the McLaren-Honda and its major
aerodynamic upgrade into second qualifying but could go no further and
took 15th.
The double world champion has a 25-place penalty
for changing parts of his engine and his gearbox and will have to
take a drive-through penalty early in the race as part of the
complicated rules for penalty positions unserved.
It was even worse for Alonso's team-mate Jenson Button.
The 2009 world champion excelled in the damp conditions in first
qualifying, considerably faster than Alonso, but he lost ground as the
circuit dried out and ended up 17th.
As
he has a 25-place grid penalty
, that means Button will have to serve a 10-second stop-and-go
penalty early in the race to make up for the part of the penalty he has
not been able to serve.
Austrian GP qualifying results Austrian GP coverage details
Nico Rosberg walks away dejected after losing control on his flying lap
Nico Hulkenberg followed up his win at Le Mans with fifth place on tomorrow's grid for Force India
Max Verstappen put his Toro Rosso seventh on the grid in a positive performance for the team
Former England captain Rio Ferdinand has questioned the value of English players in the transfer market.
Ferdinand, 36,
retired from football in May
and was the world's most expensive defender
when he joined Manchester United
for £29.1m in 2002.
"English players are so overpriced right now it's a joke," he said.
However, England internationals such as
James Milner
and
Tom Cleverley
have agreed deals with Liverpool and Everton on free transfers this summer.
Defender
Micah Richards
also moved to Aston Villa for free, Tottenham signed full-back
Kieran Trippier
for £3.5m, while Burnley will be due compensation when striker
Danny Ings
joins Liverpool.
Most expensive English players
Andy Carroll: Newcastle United to Liverpool, £35m
Rio Ferdinand: Leeds United to Manchester United, £29.1m
Wayne Rooney: Everton to Manchester United, £27m
Luke Shaw: Southampton to Manchester United, £27m
James Milner: Aston Villa to Manchester City, £26m
Meanwhile, Manchester United have been
linked with a £50m move
for 21-year-old Tottenham striker Harry Kane this summer, and
Manchester City have had a £40m bid rejected
for Liverpool's 20-year-old Raheem Sterling. The Reds value the forward at £50m.
Kane has scored 36 goals in 77 appearances for Spurs -
including 31 last season - while Sterling has played 124 games for
Liverpool.
Ferdinand feels foreign players such as Manchester City
striker Sergio Aguero and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez represent
better value
by saying on Twitter:
"Aguero £38m and Sanchez £32m."
Andy Carroll remains the most expensive British player
signed by a British club, after Liverpool paid Newcastle £35m for the
striker in January 2011. He played just 46 Premier League games for the
Reds, scoring six goals.
Great Britain's Mo Farah says he has never taken performance
enhancing drugs, after doping allegations were made against his coach
Alberto Salazar.
A
BBC investigation
alleged that Salazar had practised doping techniques with US athlete Galen Rupp.
Olympic champion Farah said Salazar had reassured him the claims were false and "he will soon be providing evidence".
"I've never taken performance-enhancing drugs in my life and I never will," added Farah on Friday.
According to the
Daily Mail,
Farah missed two drugs tests before he went on to become a gold
medallist in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2012 Olympics.
"Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative," said Farah in a
statement on his Facebook page.
"I've fully explained the only two tests in my career
that I have ever missed, which the authorities understood, and there was
never any suggestion that these were anything more than simple
mistakes.
Liverpool will finalise a deal for Charlton teenager Joe Gomez later this week with the starlet scheduled to undergo a medical on Friday.
talkSPORT understands the 18-year-old has turned down the chance to
join Arsenal, the club he supports, and Manchester United, along with
newly promoted Bournemouth. JOE GOMEZ SCOUT REPORT
The Reds have triggered a £3.5million release clause in the England
Under-19 international's contract, which has paved the way for the move
to be completed and he will meet with club officials on Merseyside on
Friday.
Liverpool are currently in discussions with the Championship club
over minor details regarding a sell-on fee, should the defender
subsequently leave Anfield in the future, but those talks will not
affect the deal going through.
Coverage: Live commentary on the final two
rounds on BBC Radio 5 live Saturday and Sunday 22:00-03:00. Live text
updates from 19:00 BST of every round on the BBC Sport website. Read full details here
Three-time winner Tiger Woods says he is lacking consistency and is
still rusty following back surgery after making a "tough" start to the
US Open.
Woods, 39, shot a
10-over-par 80
in the first round at Chambers Bay, and is already
15 shots behind
the leaders.
"It's one of those things, I've just got to work through it," the former world number one said.
"I'm trying as hard as I can to do it, I just can't get the consistency that I'd like to have out there."
Analysis: Iain Carter, BBC Sport golf correspondent
"Woods looked utterly lost from the moment he struck a
horrible second shot into the rough at the first.
He dropped four shots in his first six holes, his club flew from his
hands as he hacked from the rough on the eighth and he racked up a
triple bogey at the 14th.
At the last he embarrassingly topped his second shot on route to the 80 -
his second worst round in a major.
It's being suggested he should take yet another break from the game and
Woods ability to compete again at the highest level is increasingly open
to question."
Fourteen-time major winner Woods registered a triple
bogey on the 14th and is well behind leaders Dustin Johnson of America
and Sweden's Henrik Stenson who are on five under.
Only Rich Berberian Jr, a club professional playing in his first US Open, and Rickie Fowler had worse rounds.
A birdie at the 16th was the lone bright spot before
Woods finished with a bogey to leave him tied 152nd, one shot clear of
Fowler and three in front of Berberian.
Woods has been hampered by a back problem for some time.
The American
missed the 2014 Masters,
a competition he has won four times, after having surgery on a pinched nerve in his back before withdrawing from the
2014 US Open.
Woods also
withdrew
from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in February because of it.
It was the par-four holes that proved most problematic for Woods with eight bogeys and a triple-bogey seven
"I haven't played enough. I haven't had a rhythm to my play," added the 2000, 2002 and 2008 US Open winner.
"I didn't play much last year and I haven't played much
this year. Knee surgeries are pretty easy compared to a back surgery
and, for some reason, it's just a lot harder dealing with a nerve than a
joint."
Asked if he was on the right track, Woods added: "Yeah, I am, I am. I know when I do it right, it's so easy.
"I just need to do it more often and build from there.
Woods by numbers
15 - shots off the lead.
195 - current world ranking.
9 - bogeys or worse, including a triple-bogey seven on the 14th.
27 - majors played since Woods won the last of his 14 in 2008.
152 - round leaves him in a tie for 152nd place, with only two players having fared worse on day one.
81 - Woods' worst round at a major, at the Open Championship in 2002.
105 - width of the 13th fairway at Chambers Bay in yards, the widest in US Open history; Woods missed it.
302 - worst four-round total of his career,
which also included a career-worst 85, recorded on his last outing at
the Memorial Tournament earlier this month.
"I've gone through tough phases before and I've come out OK on the other side."
Woods, without a major title since his
US Open victory seven years ago
at Torrey Pines, added: "I fought, I fought hard.
"I couldn't grind out any harder than that. So that's just the way I played and unfortunately it was a high number."
Despite his round, Woods was still able to find a bit of humour in his performance.
"The bright side is at least I kicked Rickie's [Fowler] butt," he joked.
One hack out of the rough led Woods to lose grip on his club and he watched as it disappeared over his shoulder
Woods finished his round with
a bogey after topping a three-wood on the last which scuttled into the
deepest bunker on the course.
Argentina striker Sergio Aguero is happy to
stay at Manchester City amid interest from Real Madrid. The 27-year-old
wants to win the Champions League with the Citizens.
(Daily Mirror)
The Daily Mirror leads on England-U21s' defeat by Portugal at the European Championship
Paris St-Germain will rival City for the signing of
22-year-old Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba. The French club will meet
the Serie A side's £70m valuation of the France international.
(Daily Star) Manchester United's 28-year-old winger
Nani, who spent last season on loan at Sporting Lisbon, will move to
Turkey to join Fenerbahce for £6m on a four-year contract.
(Sun - subscription required)
Petr Cech, 33, has reached an agreement to join Arsenal
from Chelsea, having been assured he will be the club's first-choice
goalkeeper.
(Daily Mirror) Cech's arrival at Arsenal will result in Gunners keeper David Ospina, 26, joining Fenerbahce for £4m.
(Times - subscription required)
Crystal Palace have been told they will have to pay at least £15m for Chelsea's 28-year-old forward Loic Remy.
(Daily Telegraph) Chelsea's 21-year-old striker Patrick
Bamford, who spent last season on loan at Middlesbrough, will report for
pre-season training with the Premier League champions after turning
down the chance to join Newcastle United.
(Times - subscription required)
Tottenham are considering a move for 22-year-old Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin.
(Sun - subscription required) Southampton will not sell 24-year-old
right-back Nathaniel Clyne to Liverpool for less than £15m. The Saints
have already rejected a £10m offer from the Reds.
(Daily Telegraph)
Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel, 30, has agreed a new three-year contract, ending speculation he would leave the club.
(Times - subscription required)
The back page of Friday's Daily Star focuses on Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba
The Reds have finalised a deal to sign
Charlton's 18-year-old centre-back Joe Gomez, who is set to have a
medical on Friday.
(Daily Mail)
Former Tottenham and Fulham striker Clint Dempsey could
be banned for four matches after ripping up a referee's notebook. The
32-year-old is playing in the MLS for Seattle Sounders.
(NBC Sports) Chelsea want 26-year-old Zenit St
Petersburg midfielder Axel Witsel as a replacement for John Mikel Obi,
28, who is close to leaving the club.
(Daily Express)
Swansea and Newcastle want Watford's 26-year-old striker Troy Deeney, who is valued at £15m.
(Daily Mail) Southampton, who have signed two players in
the space of 48 hours, are expected to strengthen further as they
prepare for their Europa League campaign.
(Daily Echo)
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is set to send a host of
players on loan to Bulgarian club Ludogorets, who have just appointed
his friend Bruno Ribeiro as coach.
(Guardian)
Best of social media
Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, 27,
spent Thursday supporting wife Nicolle at a dressage event. "Watching
@nicollebegovic at the Bolesworth International show this evening!
#wifeydoingherthing #proud #dressage," he wrote on
Instagram.
Arsenal and Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil has been unwinding with some football tennis
How do you relax after the stress of a long Premier
League campaign? Football tennis is the answer for 26-year-old Mesut
Ozil. "Game, set and match for team Ozil!" the Arsenal midfielder
tweeted.
"Enjoying the holiday sun and preparing for an exciting new season."
Meanwhile, new Stoke City signing Joselu is
showing no signs of winding down. "Ready to go! Thank you for your warm
welcome Stoke City!" said the 25-year-old Spanish striker on
Twitter.
And finally
Is Nicklas Bendtner running for office in
Denmark? The 27-year-old former Arsenal striker, now at Wolfsburg, put a
mock-up campaign poster of himself on his
Instagram page.
Chelsea have the least passionate fans of all the
Premier League clubs on Twitter despite having 5.72 million followers on
the social network, according to new research.
(London Evening Standard)
Brazil's Neymar was shown a red card after the final whistle at the
Copa America as his side were beaten by Colombia for the first time
since 1991.
The Barcelona forward kicked a ball at Pablo Armero in
frustration, before Colombia's Carlos Bacca was also sent off for a
retaliatory shove.
Defender Jeison Murillo had got the only goal with a close-range finish in a packed goalmouth after 36 minutes.
Brazil toiled hard, but struggled to carve out clear chances.
Neymar kicked the ball at Colombia's Pablo Armero after the final whistle
Colombia play Peru in their final Group C game, with
Brazil taking on Venezuela. Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela are level at
the top of the table with three points each.
It was the teams' first competitive meeting since
Brazil's 2-1 victory in the World Cup quarter-finals last summer
and the match began with the same pace and physicality that marked that encounter.
After Colombia's Teofile Gutierrez had been booked for a
heavy challenge on Dani Alves, he was himself on the receiving end of a
body-check that saw Fernandinho yellow-carded.
Colombia's defeat in their opening game of the
tournament against Venezuela meant their need for points was greater and
they created more opportunities in the first half.
Aston Villa's Carlos Sanchez saw a shot deflected wide,
before Murillo pounced as the ball pinballed around the box to score
his first international goal.
Striker Radamel Falcao - who had a disappointing spell
on loan at Manchester United last season - looked no closer to
rediscovering his best form and remained a peripheral figure for
Colombia.
But his side did not look in need of another goal as they stubbornly held Brazil at bay for the most part.
The win is Colombia's first over Brazil in 24 years
Indeed they could have extended their lead with
Chelsea's Juan Cuadrado sending a swerving shot just wide after cutting
in off the right and James Rodriguez shaving the post in the final few
minutes.
Their one major scare came early in the second half
when Murillo's under-cooked backpass put goalkeeper David Ospina in
trouble but Roberto Firmino lofted his shot over the bar as the ball
broke to him 12 yards out.
Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho - introduced at the
interval - occasionally sparked into life but failed to wrestle the
match Brazil's way.
Aston Villa have signed Manchester City right-back Micah Richards on a free transfer.
The 26-year-old, who has 13 England caps, has agreed a
four-year deal and will move to Villa Park on 1 July after his contract
with City expires.
Richards was a key member of City's Premier
League-winning side of 2011-12 but found his chances limited under
manager Manuel Pellegrini.
He spent last season on loan with
Serie A side Fiorentina.
Richards is Villa's first signing of the summer,
delighting manager Tim Sherwood, who said: "I'm sure he will prove to be
an excellent signing for the football club."
Richards joined City as a 14-year-old from Oldham and made his Premier League debut in October 2005.
A year later aged 18, he became the youngest defender ever to be called up to the England squad.
Richards made almost 250 appearances for City also won
the FA Cup with the Blues in 2011 and a second Premier League title in
2013-14, although he only made two league appearances in that season.
England booked their place in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup with a deserved 2-1 victory over Colombia in Montreal.
First-half goals from Karen Carney and Fara Williams gave
the Lionesses what proved to be an unassailable lead, despite a late
consolation from Lady Andrade in stoppage time.
As a result, Mark Sampson’s side qualified from Group F and set up a showdown with Norway in Ottawa on Monday.
England settled the quicker and took just 15 minutes to take
a richly-deserved lead, as Carney reacted the fastest to prod home her
second strike of the tournament from Steph Houghton’s parried free-kick.
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The Lionesses had one penalty shout turned down before
Carolina Arias’s blatant handball led to Williams dispatching England’s
second unerringly from the spot.
Colombia came back stronger after the break but took until
injury time to reduce the arrears, as Andrade cleverly flicked in off
the far post.
England held on and, because of France’s thumping 5-0 win
over Mexico in the other group fixture, will play the Norwegians
courtesy of qualifying as runners-up in their group.
Africa's richest businessman says he is planning a bid to buy Arsenal.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote believes the
building of an oil refinery in his homeland
will give him the finance to secure a takeover.
The 58-year-old, who has an estimated wealth of £11.5bn, says he has supported the Gunners since the 1980s.
"When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough time and enough resources to pay what they are asking for," he told
BBC Hausa.
American Stan Kroenke is Arsenal's majority shareholder, owning 66.64% of the club's parent company Arsenal Holdings plc.
Russian-Uzbek Alisher Usmanov owns 29.11% with the
remainder of the 62,217 shares held by minority shareholders including
former players and the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, who own three.
Dangote is
ranked 67th on the Forbes rich list.
He had previously been interested in purchasing the 15.9% stake
sold to Kroenke for £123m by Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith
in April 2011 only to pull out.
"There were a couple of us who were rushing to buy, and
we thought with the prices then, the people who were interested in
selling were trying to go for a kill," Dangote added.
"We backtracked, because we were very busy doing other things, especially our industrialisation."
Dangote believes Arsenal require a different ownership in order to be more successful on the pitch.
He added: "They are doing well, but they need another
strategic direction. They need more direction than the current
situation, where they just develop players and sell them."
Manchester City have made an increased offer of more than £35.5m for
Raheem Sterling, which is likely to be rejected by Liverpool.
The Reds value the 20-year-old England forward, who has also been linked with Arsenal and Real Madrid, at £50m.
Last week Liverpool
turned down a bid of £25m,
plus add-ons, from City.
It is understood the new offer is a basic £35.5m, which could rise to nearer £40m when various extras are added.
Sterling joined Liverpool from QPR in 2010 and is under
contract until 2017, but has rejected the offer of a new
£100,000-a-week deal.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said last month he
expected Sterling to stay at Anfield
for the remainder of his current deal.
Barnet are back in the Football league after an absence of two seasons
Notts County are away at Stevenage after being relegated, with Crawley at Oxford and Yeovil visiting Exeter.
Click here for the League Two fixtures in full
Fixtures are subject to change in line with television scheduling.
The Scottish Premiership, Scottish Championship,
Scottish League One and Scottish League Two will publish their fixtures
on Friday.
Here's how the Premier League fixtures break down:
Opening shots
An early indicator in the title race could come on the second weekend of matches, when Chelsea travel to Manchester City.
After opening at home to Swansea, Chelsea are scheduled
to play at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 15 August, though the match may
well take place a day later for television purposes.
The defending Premier League champions have never lost
their opening fixture. In 23 seasons, the record is won 20 and drawn
three.
Phil McNulty analysis
"Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will be under
pressure from the kick-off this season after escaping the sack following
a desperately disappointing campaign - but he faces a fierce test right
away as they go back to Stoke City, where they lost 6-1 on the final
day of last season.
"A trip to Arsenal after a home game against newly
promoted Bournemouth means it is not an easy start for someone who
cannot afford any stalling as Liverpool begin the post-Steven Gerrard
era.
Brendan Rodgers faces a tough return to Stoke on the opening day of next season
"The Cherries' arrival in the Premier League is greeted
with a home game against Aston Villa as manager Eddie Howe aims to pick
up where he left off off in the Championship.
"Manchester United's home game to Spurs is another
first-day standout - but the big one is kept back for the second weekend
of the season, when champions Chelsea travel to Manchester City.
"If the two superpowers are aiming to put down an early
marker, then that meeting at the Etihad - with big new signings likely
to be on show - will be the perfect platform."
Festive fun
Teams will play three times in eight days, although
there are no Premier League matches scheduled for New Year's Day. Games
will instead take place on Saturday, 2 January 2016.
Which team's fans will be having a very merry Christmas this year?
Manchester United against Chelsea on 28 December stands out among the festive fixtures.
The big five
Arsenal will get two big early chances to show their
credentials - at home to Liverpool on 22 August and away at Chelsea four
weeks later.
Manchester City's season includes tasty encounters both
near the start and end - they host Chelsea in their second game and
welcome the Gunners for the penultimate match, provisionally on 7 May.
Manchester United host newcomers Bournemouth on the final day of the season.
How big five fared against each other in 2014-15
Team
Won
Drawn
Lost
Pts
Chelsea
3
5
0
14
Man City
2
3
3
9
Arsenal
2
4
2
10
Man Utd
4
2
2
14
Liverpool
1
2
5
5
The new boys
Bournemouth, who won the Championship title, host Aston
Villa in their first ever Premier League game, before away trips to
Liverpool and West Ham.
Watford, who finished runners-up to the Cherries in the
second tier, have arguably the toughest of the opening games with a
trip to Everton and then back-to-back home matches against West Brom and
Southampton.
Play-off winners Norwich kick off with a home game
against Crystal Palace before an away trip to Sunderland and a home
fixture against Stoke.
Norwich owner Delia Smith watched her team win promotion via the play-offs
There have been two occasions since the Premier
League's inaugural season in 1992-93 when all three promoted clubs have
stayed up.
Blackburn (10th), Fulham (13th) and Bolton (16th)
managed it in 2001-02. Then Swansea (11th), Norwich (12th) and QPR
(17th) repeated the feat in 2011-12.
And there's only one occasion when all three promoted
teams went straight back down. That was in 1997-98, when Bolton (18th),
Barnsley (19th) and Crystal Palace (20th) were all relegated.
Hardest start
Everton and Stoke face possibly the toughest starts to the campaign with a testing run of games.
The Toffees start with a home game against Watford but
then face Southampton (away), Manchester City (home), Tottenham (away)
and Chelsea (home) in their next four matches.
The big derbies
Merseyside - 3 Oct: Everton v Liverpool
27 Feb: Liverpool v Everton
Manchester - 24 Oct: Manchester United v Manchester City
19 Mar: Manchester City v Manchester United
North London - 7 Nov: Arsenal v Tottenham
5 Mar: Tottenham v Arsenal
Tyne-Wear - 24 Oct: Sunderland v Newcastle
19 Mar: Newcastle v Sunderland
Stoke host Liverpool - albeit a team they thrashed 6-1
on the final day of last season - then travel to Tottenham. The Potters
then have an away game to Norwich before they face West Brom, managed by
former boss Tony Pulis, followed by a clash with Arsenal at Emirates
Stadium.
Four clubs have managed just one point from their opening eight games:
Man City in 1995-96,
Southampton in 1998-99
Sheffield Wednesday in 1999-2000
Sunderland in 2013-14
More surprisingly, two of them - Southampton and Sunderland - survived.
Hardest run-in
Bournemouth will hope to have banked enough points to
stay in the top flight given they have a particularly testing end to the
season.
The Cherries face Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United in four of their last five matches.
Leicester City came into brilliant form at the of last
season to secure survival, and Nigel Pearson will hope his side are in a
good position by the time they face Manchester United, Everton and
Chelsea in their final three games.
Juventus and Chile forward Arturo Vidal is being held by police who
say the footballer was driving under the influence of alcohol when he
crashed a Ferrari in the outskirts of Santiago.
Vidal, 28, who suffered minor injuries in the crash late on Tuesday, will face a local judge on Wednesday.
"The driver of the red vehicle was under the influence of alcohol," said police colonel Ricardo Gonzalez.
Vidal is on international duty with host nation Chile at the Copa America.
Vidal was seen leaving Chile training in his Ferrari on Tuesday
He is currently the tournament's leading scorer with three goals in two games.
He was treated in the emergency room at the San Luis de
Buin hospital in the Chilean capital. Television pictures later showed
him leaving the hospital in the back seat of a police car.
"Unfortunately I was involved in a traffic accident,''
Vidal wrote on his Twitter account, in Spanish. "Luckily we are all well
and calm. Thanks for worrying."
Vidal scored twice in
Chile's 3-3 draw against Mexico
on Monday, and also found the net scored in his side's opening win
against Ecuador last week. Chile's next game is against Bolivia on
Friday.
Sergio Aguero scored a brilliant near-post header as tournament
favourites Argentina defeated defending champions Uruguay at the Copa
America.
The Manchester City striker converted Pablo Zabaleta's cross after the break.
Argentina were held by Paraguay
in their opening game but now lead Group B after a deserved victory in a tense and, at times, bad-tempered game.
However, Diego Rolan should have equalised for Uruguay but blazed over from eight yards.
It also took a good block late on to keep out a header
from Uruguay skipper Diego Godin, while Hull City's Adel Hernandez had a
side-foot effort brilliantly clawed out by Sergio Romero.
It was a reminder to Argentina of the fragility of
their lead but they managed to see the game out to claim the 82nd
victory over their South American neighbours.
Argentina now face the pointless
Jamaica
in their final group game after the Caribbean side - invited guests
playing for the first time at the tournament - lost 1-0 to
Paraguay
in their second group game.
The only goal of that game came through Edgar Benitez
after a terrible error from Jamaica goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr, who charged
25 yards from his goal but only succeeded in heading the ball into his
opponent's path.
Hot on Uruguay's heels?
Uruguay have won the Copa America 15 times - the most of any
nation. This year's favourites Argentina are one behind with 14 titles.
In La Serena, Argentina and Uruguay contested a tight
and uncompromising contest, as might be expected between two fierce
rivals meeting for the 178th time.
Argentina - with Aguero, Lionel Messi and Angel Di
Maria in their starting XI - dominated possession and territory while
Uruguay, looking to build on their opening win over Jamaica, were
compact, stubborn and wily in defence.
There were precious few openings during the first half,
although Uruguay's Rolan should have done better with a header that
skimmed wide after his team showed the threat they posed on the counter
attack.
There was a frustrated look to Argentina as they
trooped off at the break, while coach Gerardo Martino had already been
sent to the stands for arguing with the officials.
But that changed 10 minutes after the restart with
Aguero's brilliant and brave near-post header under huge pressure from
Jose Maria Gimenez
The game opened up after that and became increasingly
fractious, with an unnecessary lunge at the opposition goalkeeper from
Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo sparking a penalty-box melee,
while Egidio Arevalo Rios and Messi later briefly squared up.
And although Uruguay did create chances to equalise,
Argentina almost doubled their advantage when a low strike from Messi
drew a good save from Fernando Muslera.
It leaves Argentina with four points from two games,
while Paraguay have four and Uruguay three ahead of their meeting on
Saturday.
Muslera denied Messi late on - but Uruguay also threatened
The match had several flash points after Argentina scored the only goal
Uruguay have three points after two games and face Paraguay in their final group match
Manchester City are in a four-way battle to sign Juventus's 22-year-old midfielder Paul Pogba, who is valued at £60m.
(Mirror)
Barcelona have already opened talks with Juve over
Pogba, according to a presidential candidate who says he will sign the
Frenchman if elected at the Spanish club.
(Sun - subscription required)
The Sun's back page leads on Chelsea's bid for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
If City miss out on Pogba, manager Manuel
Pellegrini will turn to Aston Villa's 25-year-old midfielder Fabian
Delph instead.
(Telegraph)
Meanwhile, City have agreed a deal to sign Fulham's 18-year-old forward Patrick Roberts.
(ESPN) Chelsea have targeted Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, 27, as a replacement for Petr Cech.
(Telegraph)
Arsenal have rejected a swap deal for Cech that would
see midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain join Chelsea. The Gunners would
prefer a cash-only deal worth £10m to sign the Blues' back-up
goalkeeper.
(Mirror) Manchester United's 24-year-old goalkeeper
David De Gea appears certain to join Real Madrid, but Iker Casillas, 34,
has hinted he is not ready to relinquish his role as the Spanish club's
number one.
(Manchester Evening News)
Tottenham's resolve to keep Hugo Lloris could be tested if United make a £25m bid for the 28-year-old goalkeeper.
(London Evening Standard) QPR have warned Chelsea, Liverpool and
Newcastle that they will need to pay £15m to sign 25-year-old striker
Charlie Austin.
(Daily Express)
Inter Milan have turned down an offer from Liverpool
for 21-year-old midfielder Mateo Kovacic which included striker Mario
Balotelli, 24, as a makeweight.
(Talksport) Southampton are targeting Arsenal defender
Carl Jenkinson, 23, as a potential replacement for 24-year-old
right-back Nathaniel Clyne, who has been linked with a move to
Liverpool.
(Guardian)
Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood is keen on signing Hull City's midfielder Tom Huddlestone, 28, and winger Robbie Brady, 23.
(Mirror) Everton still want to sign Tottenham's
28-year-old winger Aaron Lennon, despite closing in on a deal with
Barcelona for wide player Gerard Deulofeu, 21.
(Times - subscription required)
Swansea want to sign former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel
in a £2m deal with Turkish club Kasimpasa. The 28-year-old spent four
years at Anfield between 2007 and 2011.
(Sun - subscription required) West Brom have agreed a £1.5m fee with Wigan Athletic for 26-year-old winger James McClean.
(Daily Mail)
Best of social media
England's first game of the Euro U-21 Championships is against Portugal on Thursday
The European Under-21 Championships get under way on
Wednesday and England and Arsenal defender Calum Chambers is ready to
get going. The 20-year-old
tweeted:
"Warm-up shot of us in the Czech Republic. Looking forward to our first game."
Charlie Austin has put to one side all the transfer speculation surrounding him to head to Ascot. The QPR striker
has been tweeting his tips as well as pictures of him rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of the horse racing world.
And finally
Rafael van der Vaart enjoyed a rapturous
welcome from Real Betis fans after signing a three-year deal with the
Spanish club. But perhaps nobody as as pleased as the 32-year-old
midfielder's grandma, who only lives about 80 miles away and was
reunited with the Dutchman.
(ITV)
