• Egyptian’s exile ends following talks with Arne Slot

• Unknown if he apologised to Liverpool’s head coach

Mohamed Salah will be back in Liverpool’s squad for Saturday’s Premier League home game against Brighton following talks with Arne Slot.

Slot revealed on Friday morning that Salah’s involvement against Brighton rested on the outcome of a conversation he would have with the forward at the club’s training ground later in the day. Details of their conversation remain private, so it is unknown whether Salah apologised to Liverpool’s head coach for the highly-critical interview he gave at Leeds last Saturday, but the 33-year-old has been included in the squad for the match at Anfield.

Fifa’s demand that the most fervent supporters cough up a minimum of £5,000 in advance just for tickets is scandalous

It was not mathematically confirmed until the Latvia game a month later, but as I watched Ezri Konsa turn in the third goal away to Serbia in early September I smiled to myself in the Stadion Rajko Mitic, knowing England were going to the World Cup. But immediately, a key question surfaced: was I? The answer came on Thursday, with the announcement of the ticket prices that the most loyal supporters of international football would have to pay. And that answer, emphatically, was no, as it will be for countless supporters worldwide. If you had asked me as a hypothetical what seeing England in a World Cup final was worth, I might have said: “Priceless.� But $4,185 – £3,130 – just for the match ticket? No, no, no.

As a fan, I have been to 14 tournaments – nine European Championships and five World Cups – dating back to Euro 92. I have the money, or at least could get it by dipping into my pension pot, which I was braced to do for hotels and flights. But, in a sentiment being echoed across England, Scotland and all the other qualifying nations, I’m not spending a minimum of about £5,000 simply on match tickets, the price Fifa has put on watching your team from group stage through to the final (the exact total will vary, depending on where a country’s group matches are).

• Howman: ‘We are not effective enough at catching cheats’

• Former Wada director general urges more ambition

One of the most senior figures in global anti-doping has warned that too many drug cheats in sport are evading detection – and criticised the current system as “ineffective�.

David Howman, the former director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the chair of the Athletics Integrity Unit, urged anti-doping bodies to be more ambitious in catching elite athletes again rather than focusing on compliance issues.

• Prize fund boosted to £2m for racing’s premier Classic

• Aim to revive glory days and attract six-figure crowd

Epsom racecourse has announced a £6m five-year plan to revive the flagging fortunes of the Derby, the world’s most famous Flat race, which includes a boost to the Classic’s prize fund to £2m, free admission to the main enclosure for under-18s, free parking and the installation of a bank of “bleacher� seats along the inside rail to give racegoers a “bird’s eye� view of the final three furlongs.

The Coronation Cup, for older horses over the Derby course and distance, will also be moved from the first day of the meeting to join the Derby on Saturday’s card.

• Skier breaks record after destroying field at San Moritz

• Vonn is among favourites for Winter Olympics downhill

Lindsey Vonn’s extraordinary ­comeback from retirement and ­serious knee surgery gathered pace on Friday when she became the oldest skier to win a World Cup race at the age of 41.

The American, who had not raced for five years until she returned to the ­circuit last year, destroyed the ­women’s downhill field in San Moritz to win by nearly a second.

The 21-year-old came to rugby via an unusual route, but it is one that may soon see him in the England squad

To announce Afo Fasogbon as English rugby’s next big thing is not entirely accurate. He may be big – 6ft 4in tall and about 130kg (20st 6lb) – but as far as the internet is concerned he arrived some time ago. Video footage of the young Gloucester prop waving off the more experienced Ellis Genge after edging a scrummaging duel at Kingsholm last year went viral almost before Genge had reached the touchline.

Should the 21-year-old make a strong impact off the bench against Munster in Cork on Saturday evening, however, he could soon be vying for even greater recognition. England are suddenly lighter in the tighthead department after Will Stuart’s unfortunate achilles injury, with Asher Opoku-Fordjour also out of action. If Leicester’s Joe Heyes so much as breaks a fingernail, alarm bells will start ringing at Twickenham.

The world No 4’s entrance to the song Titanium has become an iconic moment in darts, but while he loves the attention what he really wants is the world title

‘There’s a lot of people playing darts who haven’t got no character,� Stephen Bunting says in a matter-of-fact tone, his voice still a little croaky from the cold that has been laying waste to him for the last week. “They’re boring to watch. And that’s probably why they’ll never be in the Premier League. You need to have a personality as well as being at the top of your game. You need to balance both.�

And frankly, has anyone in the sport made a better fist of it than Bunting himself? A few years ago, the man they call The Bullet was little more than a capable journeyman on the fringes of the elite, as well-known for his resemblance to Peter Griffin from Family Guy as for his darts. Now he is the world No 4 and a multiple tournament winner, with a loyal and passionate following that – in its most spine-tingling moments – seems to transcend sport itself.

Norway’s world No 1, 35, lost 0.5-1.5 to the US veteran Levon Aronian, 43, in Cape Town but was already sure of overall victory and a prize of around $500k

Norway’s world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, was shocked by a 0.5-1.5 loss to the US veteran Levon Aronian in Thursday’s final of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour in Cape Town, but still finished the overall winner of the five-event Tour.

Freestyle chess is also known as Fischer Random and Chess 960. Pieces start randomly placed on the two back rows, thus drastically limiting opening preparation. Its 2025 season, with a Tour financed mainly by a $12m investment from the venture firm Left Lane Capital, has featured tournaments in Weissenhaus, Karlsruhe, Paris and Las Vegas before the final in South Africa.

Have you been following the big stories in cricket, football, motor racing, darts, climbing, athletics and the NFL?

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports

We ask supporters for their take on the Egyptian’s uneasy stance with the club before Saturday’s game with Brighton

Mohamed Salah is one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history. That isn’t open for debate. But everyone makes mistakes, and after the draw at Leeds, Salah made a huge one. By seeking the media to air his personal grievances, he essentially justified Arne Slot’s decision to bench him for three consecutive games. Salah’s recent behaviour suggests he’s an individual playing in a team sport. An individual who Liverpool can’t quite afford to carry right now.

Our editors’ favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in

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Every Tuesday, Guardian rugby writer Robert Kitson gives his thoughts on the headlines, scrutinises the latest matches and provides gossip from behind the scenes in his unique and indomitable style. See the latest edition here.

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If anyone knows how to weather a whitewash, it’s the merry band of England fans marking their 30th anniversary at their spiritual home

Courage, soldier. Ben Stokes’s England team may be heading into the third Ashes Test already 2-0 down, but not everyone in English cricket is fazed. There is one group tailor-made for this scenario, a crack(pot) unit who can lay claim to be the ultimate doomsday preppers. Have your dreams been shattered? Are you crushed beneath the weight of unmet expectation? Then it’s time to join the Barmy Army, son.

Already their advance guard are moving in on Adelaide, the city where they officially formed 30 years ago. England’s most famous – and per capita noisiest – travelling fans will be hoping for an anniversary win-against-the-odds, like the one they witnessed on that 1994-95 tour. And whatever happens on the pitch, off it the parties will be long and loud.

A new book explores how an all-time great and a world famous franchise handle the waning of a monumental career

In a book about LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s only fitting that one memorable scene involves a Hollywood star: Will Smith.

Yaron Weitzman’s latest book is titled A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers. Suffice to say the plot thickens when Smith goes to the Lakers’ film room to speak to the team in 2022.

The PDC world darts championship is back, but could the new £1m winners’ cheque make this show too big?

A team of assistant referees walks into the Twelve Pins in Finsbury Park carrying linesmen’s flags and whistles. It’s 3pm on a Thursday, you think, they’ve probably just been reffing a local game. Then, you think, there isn’t a football pitch around here. And why haven’t they changed and showered? Then more referees walk in, more linesmen, one of them in a comedy wig. And eventually the penny drops.

Yes, “the Darts� is back: an indispensable festive trimming that – much like Christmas itself – always seems to roll around a little sooner every year. Fire up all the old cliches: “the beauty of set play�, “bent the wire�, “pressure the shot�. Wheel John Part out of the attic. Fingers poised on the 180 zoom. You know it’s serious, because it’s two hours before his match and Luke Littler is already on the practice board.

• Cousins, Pitts Sr combine for three TDs

• Falcons erase 14-point fourth-quarter deficit

• Gonzalez wins it with 43-yard field goal

Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes to Kyle Pitts Sr, and Zane Gonzalez kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to complete the Atlanta Falcons’ rally for a 29-28 victory victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.

Facing a third-and-28 on the Falcons’ final drive, Cousins completed passes of 14 yards to Pitts and 20 yards on fourth-and-14 to David Sills V to set up Gonzalez.

• Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton make BBC shortlist

• McIlroy, Littler, Norris and Kildunne also up for award

Three world champions, two European champions and the holder of a grand slam will face off next Thursday for the title of BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in a shortlist that provides a high-powered boost to the venerable prize show.

Following a triumphant summer for England’s women in both football and rugby, Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton of the Lionesses are nominated, as is the Red Roses’ Ellie Kildunne. They are joined in the six-person shortlist by Formula One champion Lando Norris, darts world champion Luke Littler and Masters champion Rory McIlroy, the bookies’ favourite.

The AFC East rivals face off in a game that could decide their conference’s top seed, while a familiar face may return for the Colts

There is some serious debate that could run over this week’s top-shelf matchup. The Rams, the NFC’s current No 1 seeds, are welcoming the Lions, who claimed top seed in the conference last season. The Denver Broncos, the AFC leaders, host the Green Bay Packers who still have a shot at a first-round bye in the NFC. Either way you go you won’t be disappointed. Only there is a third way: Buffalo v New England. The emphasis is on the bounty that winning brings rather than the perils of defeat on Sunday. The Patriots can wrestle back the AFC’s No 1 seed while Buffalo can give themselves a shot at snatching the AFC East title from New England. Oh, and two MVP candidates in Drake Maye and Josh Allen are running the show. It could be a classic.

Gabriel Jesus is looking to impress, Daniel Muñoz is tough to replace and is this it for Mohamed Salah at Liverpool?

• Premier League top scorers: the Golden Boot race

This season Chelsea have held Arsenal after going down to 10 men and have beaten Barcelona, Liverpool and Tottenham. They have also dropped points against Atalanta, Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Leeds, Qarabag and Sunderland. It is clear that winning against smaller sides remains a problem for Enzo Maresca. Chelsea rise to the big occasion but inconsistency flares when they are expected to win. They do not like playing against deep defences – Maresca has often reacted with dismay when opponents switch to a back five to counter his carefully formulated plans – and can be forgiven if they are edgy about hosting Everton on Saturday. David Moyes’s side have just recorded clean sheets at Bournemouth and Manchester United. They will back themselves to neutralise Chelsea’s attacking talents. Jacob Steinberg

Chelsea v Everton, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Liverpool v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Burnley v Fulham, Saturday 5.30pm

Arsenal v Wolves, Saturday 8pm

Receiving her first centre pass at London’s Copper Box Arena will be an unforgettable moment for the skipper

A gurgle turns into a squawk, and the early throes of a weary cry – sure-fire signs that an afternoon nap is required. For much of her life, since her dramatic arrival in the pre-dawn hours of a May morning, the seven-month-old Miller has been a regular presence at England netball camps.

Sometimes she sleeps courtside, other times watches from a balcony, or is passed between arms of players and staff members eagerly seeking a cuddle during team meetings. Whatever it takes for her mother, the England netball captain, Nat Metcalf, to get back on court.

Crowds at women’s football in England are the envy of the world but there is a curious gap between number of tickets sold and attendances

When the stadium announcer reads out the attendance during England home games, the immediate question that follows relates to the drop-off between the number of tickets sold and the number of fans through the doors.

In 2025, on either side of a phenomenal European title defence in Switzerland, the Lionesses played eight home games, including three at Wembley. Across those fixtures, almost 48,000 bought tickets but stayed away.

Leinster head coach admits his stint at Welford Road helped ‘shape’ him and could be key in Champions Cup clash

Leicester v Leinster fixtures have become common recently – the fifth since 2022 takes place on Friday night – but the history between the sides runs far deeper. Leo Cullen, head coach of the Dublin-based province, spent a couple of seasons at Welford Road in the mid-2000s, winning the Premiership in 2006-07 and losing a Heineken Cup final against Wasps in the same season.

Since 2022 the former second‑row has overseen four Champions Cup victories against his former club, including two in 2023-24. Three and a half years ago, there was a masterful quarter-final dismantling of what was then Steve Borthwick’s side. Leinster will now shoot for a hat-trick of Welford Road victories this decade, and the presence of the New Zealand international Rieko Ioane, on full debut, is sure to help.

Word from the top-tier press conferences, including updates on Gabriel Jesus, Dominic Solanke and Ola Aina

Pressure, and no shortage of it, sits on Celtic’s shoulders and St Mirren are unfavourable opponents at Hampden Park

It is very easy to root for Wilfried Nancy. A likable, passionate individual whose career has taken him from unheralded player to the forefront of a club the size of Celtic should be worthy of high praise. It also feels only two games into the Frenchman’s tenure in Glasgow that he requires all the support he can get.

Nancy will receive that backing from the stands. Whatever legitimate grievances Celtic’s fanbase has about the direction of their club and circumstance by which Nancy was coaxed from Columbus Crew, they are generally wise enough to give the man a chance. Which is not to say there were no howls of outcry when Nancy’s name was initially floated as a potential successor to Brendan Rodgers.

• Average 59,000 Sky viewers for last Saturday’s noon game

• Review planned with main rights holders, Sky and BBC

The Women’s Super League will review its broadcast slots at the end of the season amid disappointment at some viewing figures during the first half of the campaign.

An average audience of 59,000 watched live Sky Sports coverage of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Liverpool last Saturday lunchtime, even fewer than the 71,000 people who watched Arsenal v Chelsea on Sky in the same noon kick-off slot last month, leading to criticism from fans about the scheduling of such flagship games.

• Final tickets more than £3,000; five-fold rise on Qatar

• Cheapest England tickets are £165 for two Group L games

Fifa has been accused of a ­“monumental betrayal� by fan ­representatives after it emerged that the cheapest tickets for next summer’s World Cup final will cost more than £3,000.

Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents fans across the ­continent, described the prices as “extortionate� and called for an immediate halt to ticket sales after a day when England fans ­discovered that tickets to follow their team through the tournament could cost up to $16,590 (£12,375) in the top categories.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Lars Sivertsen as a Salah-less Liverpool win in Inter, Chelsea lose to Atalanta and Spurs beat Slavia Prague. On the podcast today: Liverpool win in Milan against Inter. They needed a result, any result – and they got it thanks to Alessandro Bastoni pulling Florian Wirtz’s shirt. Elsewhere, Chelsea lose in Bergamo – since we asked if anyone should start taking them seriously they’ve given us a categoric response. A second comfortable home win for Spurs in a few days – sounds odd to say that. It was only Slavia Prague, but again Xavi Simmons ran the show. Plus, Manchester United win 4-1 against Wolves, there’s some EFL and your questions answered.

Sport’s famous rivalry began in 1877 and since then 853 men have featured in Australia v England Tests. But who are the very best of the best?

• Barney Ronay on the No 1 | Video: review the top 10

• Check how all the judges voted | Our methodology

• Every ball of the Ashes, no spin. Support us today

He coaxed greatness from teammates, bent occasions to his will and mastered the most complex of arts, but best of all he connected like few others in sport

• The 100 greatest men’s Ashes cricketers of all time

Raise the Playboy pants like a pirate flag. Twirl the big brimmer in celebration. It was always going to be Shane, really, wasn’t it.

We did of course have a countdown first, because people love countdowns, because cricket is basically one unceasing countdown, an endless pencil stub ticking off names and numbers. There were 99 members of the supporting cast to be ushered to their spots, the non-Shanes of history, meat in the Ashes room.

Australians dominate at the very top of our list but the overall numbers are split evenly and England lead the way for all-rounders

• The 100 greatest men’s Ashes cricketers of all time

• Barney Ronay on the No 1 | Video: review the top 10

More than 800 men have played in an Ashes Test. England picked most of them in the summer of 1989. But the process of selecting the Guardian’s Ashes Top 100 required something more scientific than that infamous shemozzle.

Let’s start with the small print. We asked 51 judges to select their top 50 men’s Ashes cricketers, from which we calculated a top 100: 50 points for No 1, 49 for No 2 and so on. The voting rules were simple. Players were assessed solely on their performances in Ashes cricket, though judges could interpret that any way they liked. (Yep, someone did vote for Gary Pratt.) The judges had to pick at least 15 players from each country and a minimum of five from each of five different eras: players who made their debut before the first world war; in the interwar years; from the second world war to 1974; from 1975 till 1999; and from 2000 onwards.

Our 51 judges have picked Shane Warne, Don Bradman and Ian Botham as their top three. Who gets your vote?

It had to be one or the other: the man who has scored the most runs in Ashes history or the man who has taken the most wickets. In the end, Shane Warne’s 195 wickets beat Don Bradman’s 5,028 runs. But, Warne is about more than numbers. His style, humour and charisma made him the kind of player you rooted for even when he lined up against your team. He was a joy to watch.

In the spirit of joy, then, who is your favourite cricketer in the history of the men’s Ashes? Who gave you the best memories and biggest smiles? Botham for his sixes and wickets? Ricky Ponting for his centuries? Andrew Flintoff for his sledging and sportsmanship? This week our 51 judges have chosen their top 100. Who is your personal favourite?

Australia’s superior basics have shattered expectations and pushed the broader philosophy into the spotlight

Brendon McCullum hated the term Bazball from the moment it entered the lexicon, deeming it to be reductive and perhaps knowing how it might be weaponised down the line. Now, 2-0 down in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has become the butt of Australian jokes.

But McCullum has not helped himself, either. After the gutting at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England trained “too hard� before the day‑night match was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not take an upturn.

The young Australian is a gifted driver racing in an exceptional car, but was prone to error this season and in 2026 will face new adversity

Tumbling from the Formula One precipice, ultimately Oscar Piastri was not the first Australian in 40 years to be crowned world champion. The man from Melbourne finished a narrow third in the driver standings this year behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris and four-time champion Max Verstappen. Now, he is back to square one.

Midway through the season Piastri lead Norris by a comfortable 34 points and Verstappen by a chasm. But a run of six rounds without a podium left him on the outside looking in, and by the end at Abu Dhabi he finished 13 points behind his teammate.

Handing the Egyptian a contract extension while also bringing about a new identity has backfired terribly

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There is perhaps nothing in a career as hard as the leaving of it. Unless something utterly remarkable happens, Mohamed Salah has played his last game for Liverpool. Left out of the starting lineup for each of the last three matches, he trained on Monday after his extraordinary post-match tirade following the 3-3 draw with Leeds but he has not been selected for the Champions League against Inter on Tuesday. He may or may not be with the team for Saturday’s game at Anfield against Brighton (“I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it,� he said). After that, he will be in Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations with the Egypt national team and the transfer window will have opened by the time the tournament is over.

How has it come to this? Salah is one of Liverpool’s all-time greats. He lies behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in their all-time goalscoring charts. Across all clubs, only Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney have scored more Premier League goals. He played a key role in two Premier League titles and a Champions League. He’s won the Premier League Golden Boot four times and been named player of the year three times by both his fellow players and soccer writers – including last year. He’s only 33 and there has been no obvious sign yet of him fading with age. This is not the end anybody would have wanted.

John Ridgeon believes I was downbeat about state of his sport. He may have a point … so we thrashed out our differences

It really is quite the scene. Midnight in Tokyo, Usain Bolt is DJing and the launch party for the World Athletics Ultimate Championships is in full swing. And then the World Athletics chief executive, Jon Ridgeon, walks up to me and says: “I read your recent Guardian column, and I thought it was very unfair.�

Imagine Gary Lineker going in two-footed, having never picked up a yellow card in his career. This is the track and field equivalent. Ridgeon, a former world silver medallist over the 110m hurdles, is one of the smartest and most reasonable people in sport. He is saying, in a polite way, that he is really rather annoyed.

Our cartoonist on the trouble at Anfield after Egyptian’s stinging response to being dropped by Arne Slot

• David’s favourite cartoons of 2025 | Buy one here

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

The former world No 1 shares how a traumatic year has shaped him as a darts player and a father and insists he can recapture his glory days at the world championship

“I can be a miserable bastard sometimes,� Michael van Gerwen says with a grin and a shrug as he tries to explain his new burst of optimism after a horribly testing year. “But I can also be quite positive. If you asked me this question a month ago, and we did this interview then, you would find me a bit different to today. But I feel good now even if, 100%, this has been a very tough year for me both on and off the oche.�

Rather than being miserable, the 36-year-old is amiable company – which seems remarkable as in 2025 he has been through a divorce after 17 years with his wife, Daphne, witnessed the devastating effect of cancer on his father, endured intense scrutiny in the Dutch media, and struggled to regain his once imperious form with the arrows.

Kildunne is known for her startling speed and audacious tries, but there’s more to the talented full-back than rugby, from a passion for photography to a sideline in DIY tattooing

Ellie Kildunne says it’s not quite sunk in yet. A couple of months on from winning the Rugby Union World Cup with her England teammates, she’s still on a high. I ask if she slept with her winner’s medal by her bed the night they won. “That night?� She gives me a look. “It’s still by my bed. Every day. I wake up and the medal’s next to my bed. And it’s, like, as if!�

But Kildunne is not resting on her laurels. She says the medal is also a reminder of what’s left to achieve – for her, and for women’s rugby in general. “Your heart’s telling you that you’ve done it, but I need to refocus. So it’s about how can we win the prem, how can we win another Six Nations, more World Cups? How can we keep fans coming to games? We’ve sold out Twickenham, so how do we do it again?�

Brendon McCullum’s regime may be unravelling but there is rarely any suggestion of what to do next and how the team can be improved

Overprepared. Overconfident. Overblown. Over there. And now just over. We know how this goes from here, don’t we? We know this cycle.

The days since England’s defeat in Brisbane have boiled down to a real-time competition to become the hate-click boss, to describe in the most sensual, eviscerating detail the depth of England’s badness – not just at cricket, but at the molecular, existential level.

British No 1 on home comforts of Bromley, joys of commuting and being ‘creeped out’ by paparazzi

Emma Raducanu has garnered many endorsement deals in her nascent career, but there is perhaps one elusive sponsorship that would be most pleasing to the British No 1 women’s tennis player: ambassador of the London borough of Bromley.

During a roundtable discussion with tennis journalists at the end of a gruelling yet satisfying season, Raducanu is merely attempting to describe a quiet off-season spent in her family home when she finds herself delivering a sales pitch about the benefits of living in Bromley. “I’m just so settled,� she says. “I’ve barely been in the UK this year because I’ve been competing so much, but I think just spending really good quality time with my parents has been so nice. I have loved just being in Bromley. It just reminds me of when I was a younger kid and it’s the same bedroom, same everything.

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One week on, and the unedifying spectacle of the Geopolitics World Cup tombola has faded, overtaken by the club game’s relentless news cycle. Mohamed Salah has taken a blowtorch to his immediate hopes of returning to the Liverpool starting XI; Real Madrid are apparently in crisis; and Celtic are bad again, their fans perhaps the first in history to dread an approaching cup final. There might be more of that next summer though, with the full scale of ticket prices for Gianni’s jamboree offering a sobering “slap in the face� for fans still celebrating qualification. Not our words, but those of the Football Supporters’ Association and its England Fans’ Embassy, which might sound like a Soccer AM bit, but is part of a European network offering “reliable and independent information to fans�.

Going along with the recent theme on awkward match seating (Football Daily letters passim), I attended a Marseille v Liverpool Big Cup match in 2008. The only snag was the tickets that myself and my Liverpool-supporting mate had were in the Marseille section. We agreed on the way in to say nothing and be subtle. The Marseille fan beside us started to make conversation with me before kick-off. Having lived for a while in Paris, my French was pretty good and he assumed I was from somewhere up the north of France. This assumption was blown up when Steven Gerrard scored and my mate jumped up, exclaiming wildly in his broad scouse accent. I got a decidedly unfriendly side-eye from the Marseille fan for the rest of the game. Needless to say, we didn’t hang about for a beer after the match� – Eoin Balfe.

My son and I go to most Brentford games together, so it was a big deal when as a young teenager he was deemed old enough to go to an away match at Villa on his own. His mother, cheerfully un-streetwise, turfed him out of the car as near as she could get to the Holte End. Stood self-consciously in his Brentford shirt, he hastened to pull a hoodie on as a mountainous, bald, heavily tattooed man rumbled in his direction. ‘No need for that mate,’ he said cheerfully with a pat on the back. ‘D’you know where the away turnstiles are? I’ll show ya. So who should we look out for today,’ etc. I’ve always had a soft spot for Villa since then, though admittedly Ollie Watkins has tested it a couple of times� – Simon Skinner.

In yesterday’s Football Daily, you claimed that attending an evening seminar on economic history can be excruciatingly boring for a bunch of young millionaire footballers. As someone with a PhD in history who specialises in the political economy of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 19th century, I can say that this definitely applies to undergrads, the general public, and, maybe, some fellow historians and economists. It might also explain the current state of the world economy� – Dimitris Stergiopoulos (“and probably nobody else – I would be genuinely surprised if other fellow economic historians read the newsletter regularly�).

As an American, I have many, many, many things I am inclined to apologise to the world at large for. So many and of such severity that a comedic list of three such things would not actually be funny. But parsing through the merciless cavalcade of apologetic impulses, I would like to say that I am sorry to your readers, my global and invariably good-looking comrades, for having to consider the opinion of Landon Donovan (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). There’s really no excuse. As a people, we should have long ago endeavoured to make sure he never actually speaks into a live microphone� – Tyler T.

The act of bowling is simple, the vocabulary used to describe it reflects the difficulty in pinning down its artistry and craft

Every act in cricket’s history has begun with a bowler delivering a ball to a batter 22 yards away. Delivering. Like a postman delivers a council tax bill. Like a waiter delivers a round of drinks. Of all the verbs used to describe the bowling of a ball, this one speaks to the deep-seated cultural inequity that has plagued this sport since its inception.

“If there was ever a word that proves we live in a batter’s world, this is it,� says Steve Harmison, the fearsome fast bowler turned commentator who delivered 16,313 balls for England across eight years. “But not every delivery is the same. Some come gift-wrapped like a present at Christmas. Some can jump up and smack you in the face.�

Champ club have a plan to reach the top flight and hope investors will recognise their untapped potential

It is too early to declare it the feelgood British sports story of the decade. There remains much work to do and a lot more money to raise. But to be in the tented clubhouse at the Mennaye Field in Penzance is to feel a flicker of something genuinely interesting. While the flame may be faint, the dream of a top-level Cornwall-based professional rugby team is still alive.

Regular readers may recall embarking down this coastal path before. The Cornish Pirates’ longtime owner Dicky Evans, now Sir Richard, had hoped to move the club to a brand new Stadium for Cornwall near Truro, only for withdrawn government funding and local council politics to intervene. In March 2022 Evans, who turned 80 last month and is battling Parkinson’s, announced a three-year “sunset plan�, at the end of which his majority financial backing would cease.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Mark Langdon, Philippe Auclair and Sid Lowe as Manchester City’s win at Real Madrid piles the pressure on Xabi Alonso

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On the podcast today: is time up for Xabi Alonso in Madrid? Defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League isn’t a disaster, but the writing is on the wall apparently for the head coach.

Plus: players popping up randomly on TV, triple-doubles in names and which match featured the most Ballon d’Or winners?

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“While scanning the Champions League fixtures, I noticed that Pafos FC of Cyprus have a person’s face on their badge (Cypriot freedom fighter Evagoras Pallikarides),� writes Paul Savage. “Other than faces of legendary characters (Ajax), do any other badges have people on them?�

This was one of the more popular Knowledge questions of 2025. We received dozens of answers – thanks one and all – that referenced clubs all around the world. In no particular order, here they are.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Marva Kreel and Rich Laverty to discuss all the weekend’s WSL action and the 100 best female footballers in the world 2025

On today’s pod: after 585 days and 34 games, Chelsea’s unbeaten WSL run is finally over. Everton stunned the champions at Kingsmeadow with a heroic defensive display and a Honoka Hayashi winner. Marva Kreel joins on a rare occasion where Everton have actually won a game as the panel analyse where it went wrong for Sonia Bompastor’s side and what this result means in the title race.

Elsewhere, Arsenal left it late to beat Liverpool at the Emirates, Spurs scored deep into stoppage time to turn around their game against Villa, and both Manchester clubs secured important victories. The panel review all the games, Bunny Shaw’s impact off the bench, Olivia Smith’s star turn, and whether Liverpool’s defensive improvements are the most encouraging development of their season.

The minimum bet rule model is there in Australia for all to see and the Gambling Commission should act now

Racing enjoyed its biggest win for many years in last month’s budget. The threatened harmonisation of duty rates for betting and gaming was not simply seen off, but routed, with the differential between the two rates significantly increased. As an added bonus, meanwhile, racing was excluded from the small rise in the duty rate for bets on football and other sporting events.

Having celebrated the win, though, the next step is to ensure that the benefits are maximised. And since, in relative terms, racing has just become a more attractive product for bookmakers, what better moment could there be to address one of the major obstacles that many punters face when they want to bet on the horses?