Sport

Even having avoided defeat in Portugal, Ten Hag remains under intense scrutiny before Sunday’s return to league action at Aston Villa. He stayed on in the summer, after the disappointment of an eighth-place finish was offset somewhat by winning the FA Cup. But while a poor start to this campaign has seen the pressure on the 54-year-old ramped up again, …

Paris St-Germain lead the race to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool, who see Karim Adeyemi as a replacement, while Manchester United prepare a bid for Benfica’s Kerem Akturkoglu. Paris St-Germain are leading the race to sign Egypt forward Mohamed Salah and will look to tempt the 32-year-old, whose Liverpool contract expires at the end of the season, with a three-year …

However, he is set to miss his club’s next two Premiership matches at least, which will give Harlequins’ Marcus Smith and Northampton’s Fin Smith a head start when it comes to competing for the England number 10 shirt. Ford was ever-present throughout the Six Nations earlier this year as England won three and lost two of their five matches, before …

South African Darren Fichardt hit a superb 11-under-par 61 at Kingsbarns to lead by one stroke on day one of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The 49-year-old world number 462 finished one off the course record of 60 which was struck by his countryman Branden Grace in 2012. Fichardt last struck a round of 61 at the 2001 Sao Paulo …

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United) Defenders: Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), John Stones (Manchester City), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City) Midfielders: Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes …

Exeter Chiefs have signed Argentina second row Franco Molina. The forward, who has won nine Test caps, joins after helping Argentina finish third in the Rugby Championship having registered wins over New Zealand, South Africa and Australia over the past two months. The 27-year-old will help Exeter’s depth in the pack with injuries to players including Dafydd Jenkins and Lewis …

Sri Lanka spinner Praveen Jayawickrama has been handed a one-year ban from all forms of cricket for breaching the anti-corruption code. Jayawickrama was charged with three breaches of the code by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in August after failing to report an approach to fix matches and obstructing an investigation. The 26-year-old subsequently admitted to breaching the anti-corruption code. …

On Thursday, Larne’s dream of European football becomes a reality. But as Lynch says, “why shouldn’t we be here?”. Thursday’s game in mountainous western Norway is the first of six extremely difficult fixtures. Larne will also face Shamrock Rovers, St Gallen, Olimpija, Dinamo Minsk and Gent in their first European campaign. Now a leading side in Northern Ireland, they will …

Emery’s shrewd strategy also unsettled Bayern, with a more direct approach targeting defender Dayot Upamecano with Ollie Watkins running in behind. He was also aware of Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer’s habit of playing as a sweeper keeper, which led directly to Duran’s goal. The ploy worked to perfection. Mention what Emery brings and one Villa insider told BBC Sport: “Attention …

While the goals of Diaz and Salah have grabbed the headlines as the Reds have gone top of the Premier League, reached the last 16 of the Carabao Cup and made a perfect start to their Champions League campaign, Gravenberch has been a key part of the team and made a case for being the most improved player. “You’d be …