IN ENGLAND
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Newcastle United star, Harvey Barnes has scored twice as the team survived a scare against Championship side West Brom to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup
The home support was left stunned when West Brom forward Isaac Price opened the scoring against the 2025 cup winners with a clever free-kick.
Newcastle had expected Price to swing a delivery into the box from 25 yards out, but the in-form forward caught goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen out at his near post by instead curling the ball around the wall and into the bottom corner.
The hosts responded just a few minutes before half-time, though, when Amar Dedic’s teasing cross was knocked in by Bazoumana Toure.
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New signing Savio had marked his Tottenham debut with a goal off the substitutes’ bench as Spurs hammered Charlton Athletic five-one to book a Carabao Cup third-round tie at Liverpool.
The Brazil winger, signed from Manchester City for an initial seventy-five million pounds, was given a standing ovation when he came on in the 71st minute with Spurs leading three-nil.
He made it four-nil eleven minutes after coming on after dancing past a couple of players before finding the net from the edge of the box.
Two goals in four minutes towards the end of the first half put Roberto de Zerbi’s side in control against their Championship opponents at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Liverpool will take on Tottenham as the teams who compete in Europe enter in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Leeds could potentially face Chelsea, should the London club beat Luton on Thursday.
Manchester United face Premier League opposition in Brighton, while holders Manchester City host Norwich.
Fleetwood, the only fourth-tier side left in the competition, host Sheffield United.
The nine Premier League teams that are playing in Europe, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Sunderland all enter the Carabao Cup in the third round.
To avoid clashes with the opening rounds of the Champions League and Europa League, matches will be played across the weeks commencing Monday, 7th and Monday, 14th September.
The final two places will be decided on Thursday when Chelsea host Luton and Fulham take on AFC Wimbledon
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Newcastle United has signed Manchester City midfielder Nico Gonzalez for a fee which could rise to fifty-two million pounds.
The Spaniard joined the club on a long-term contract after completing his medical on Tyneside.
Newcastle signed players exclusively from the continent up to this point in the window, but the club have recognised the need to add some Premier League experience after losing Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier in recent months.
Gonzalez has only spent a season-and-a-half in the Premier League after signing from Porto, but the 24-year-old fits the age profile Newcastle have been targeting as someone who could still develop further under head coach Matthias Jaissle.
He will become the fourth senior midfielder to leave City this summer after Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Tijjani Reijnders.
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Manchester City have signed midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille in a eighty-five point six million pounds deal to make the Morocco international the Premier League’s most expensive teenager.
The 18-year-old joins on a five-year contract, subject to international clearance, with City paying eighty-one point four million pounds upfront plus four point two million pounds in add-ons.
Enzo Maresca’s side moved to sign Bouaddi after selling central midfielders Rodri to Barcelona in a sixty-five million pounds deal and Tijjani Reinders to Al-Qadsiah for fifty-two million pounds.
Bouaddi’s signing comes after Brazilian winger Savinho, now known as Savio, joined Tottenham in a seventy-five million pounds deal earlier this week.
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Coventry City has signed Jamaica centre-back Ethan Pinnock from Brentford for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around six million pounds.
The 33-year-old, who joined from Barnsley in 2019, made a total of 216 appearances for the Bees, scoring twelve times.
Pinnock had been in the final year of his contract with the West London club.
Pinnock played a vital role in Brentford’s promotion to the Premier League but has since lost his place in their starting eleven, featuring just eight times in all competitions last term.
He joins former team-mate Frank Onyeka in making the switch from Brentford to Coventry this summer.
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Chelsea is considering a move for Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after making contact with the Argentina international’s representatives.
The 33-year-old is considered available for a potential transfer from Villa after the club signed Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from Parma for about thirty million pounds earlier this month.
The move could provide another opportunity for Chelsea and Villa to do business.
Also Chelsea is in advanced talks over a forty million euros deal for Atalanta’s Italian-born Nigerian defender Honest Ahanor.
This was revealed by European transfer expert and Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.
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Manchester City is set to make an opening offer for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
The Argentina international has been identified by manager Enzo Maresca as a priority target to bolster City’s midfield after a series of high-profile exits.
Chelsea are aware of City’s interest and set an unofficial deadline for the deal to be completed earlier this summer at a minimum fee of one hundred and twenty million pounds only for that date to pass.
Despite the situation, Fernandez remains available for selection for Chelsea’s game against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, amid an injury to midfielder Moises Caicedo.
Fernandez could become one of the most expensive signings in Premier League history, behind only Liverpool’s one hundred and twenty-five million pounds move for Alexander Isak last summer.
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Aston Villa is close to an agreement to sign striker Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea in a deal worth up to sixty-five million pounds.
There is a broad agreement between the clubs over the terms of a move for the 25-year-old, with Chelsea set to achieve their asking price with an initial sum of forty-seven point five million pounds with seventeen point five million pounds in add-ons.
The deal remains subject to personal terms being agreed, but negotiations are at an advanced stage, with Jackson expected to reunite with Unai Emery having played under the Villa boss at Spanish club Villarreal.
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Tottenham have agreed a loan deal to sign Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush, with an obligation to make the deal permanent for sixty million pounds next summer.
The 27-year-old Egypt international, who will have a medical in the coming days, follows Savio from City to Spurs after the north London club signed the Brazilian for an initial fee of seventy-five million pounds.
Marmoush joined City from Eintracht Frankfurt for fifty-nine million pounds last January but had to play second fiddle to Erling Haaland for much of his time at Etihad Stadium.
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Crystal Palace is attempting to hijack Aston Villa’s move for Club Brugge defender Joel Ordonez.
Villa launched a move for the Ecuador international after failing to agree a fee with Southampton for Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Palace have now opened talks with the Belgian side over a move for Ordonez, who is viewed as a long-term target by the Selhurst Park club.
Palace have accelerated their efforts to sign a new centre-back after Chadi Riad was stretchered off against Everton.
They completed a deal to sign Axel Disasi on loan on Wednesday but want to add another centre-back to the squad.
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Liverpool is exploring a move for Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr after Brighton rejected their two bids for Yankuba Minteh.
The Anfield club had offers of fifty million pounds and sixty million pounds for Minteh, turned down by Brighton and have now switched their attention to Sarr, who scored 21 goals last season for Palace.
Like Minteh, Sarr is a right-sided winger and has Premier League experience but the understanding is that Palace are not open to selling the Senegal attacker this summer.
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Cardiff City has completed the signing of centre-half Krystian Bielik from Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion on a permanent deal.
Bielik signed a three-year contract with the Bluebirds and joined for an undisclosed fee.
The 28-year-old made 17 Championship appearances for the Baggies last season as they finished 21st, narrowly avoiding relegation to League One.
The experienced defender – who can also operate as a defensive midfielder joined Arsenal from Legia Warsaw in 2015 and had spells with Birmingham City, Walsall, Charlton Athletic and Derby County prior to joining West Brom last summer.
Bielik is Cardiff’s fourth senior summer recruit following the arrivals of goalkeeper Nathan Trott, midfielder Jack Moylan and left-back Calum Scanlon, who has returned to the Welsh capital on loan from Liverpool.
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Brentford has reached a verbal agreement with West Ham to sign defender El Hadji Malick Diouf in a deal worth up to forty million pounds.
The 21-year-old Senegal left-back would cost an initial thirty-five million pounds, with a further five million pounds in add-ons.
West Ham have accepted Brentford’s bid and Diouf has been cleared to have a medical.
He could become Brentford’s fifth summer signing of the summer after the arrivals of striker Callum Wilson, midfielder Mamadou Sangare, centre-back Jannik Schuster and winger Jaidon Anthony.
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Chelsea women star, Melvine Malard has scored twice on her Chelsea debut as the Blues closed in on a place in the Champions League tournament proper with a five-two win against Real Sociedad in the first leg of the third qualifying round.
France forward Malard, who was signed from Manchester United for about eight hundred and fifty thousand pound this summer, came on as a substitute in the 55th minute with the score at two-all and pulled her new side head after 12 minutes on the field.
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Former England winger, Raheem Sterling will appear in court next month to face charges of dangerous driving and possessing nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation after crashing his car into motorway barriers in May.
Sterling, who most recently played for Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie, crashed his Lamborghini into barriers on the M3 in Hampshire on Thursday, 28th May.
The 31-year-old was arrested and then released on bail pending further enquiries.
Police suspected Sterling of driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs, but that has not been included in the charges.
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IN NIGERIA
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Nigeria’s Falconets, have settled into their training camp in Trzebnica, Poland and wasted no time in stepping up preparations for the 2026 FIFA Under-twenty Women’s World Cup.
The two-time FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup silver-medallists commenced training on Wednesday at the Stadion Miejski, Fair Play Arena, with the technical crew and players displaying zeal, intensity and dedication from the outset.
Following their arrival in Poland on Tuesday, the Falconets immediately resumed their training programme, focusing on tactical organisation, technical execution, physical conditioning and team cohesion as they continue to build towards the championship.
As part of their final preparations, the Falconets will play two international friendly matches against Poland on 28th August and South Korea on 1st September.
The friendly game against the host nation on Friday will take place at the Municipal Stadium in Brzeg, and commence at 12noon.
Nigeria will compete in Group F alongside Spain, China PR and New Caledonia, with the Falconets set to face Spain on 7th September, China PR on 10th September and New Caledonia on 13th September.
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The Nigeria Football Federation Referees Commission has intensified training for referees and football clubs on eleven changes to the Laws of the Game ahead of the 2026/27 football season.
Head of Technical Instructors and member of the NFF Referees Commission, Chukwudi Chukwujekwu, said the changes affected eleven of the seventeen Laws of the Game.
He said the major amendments are issues relating to players, substitutions, denial of obvious goal-scoring opportunities and time-wasting.
“Out of seventeen Laws of the Game, eleven were touched.
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Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Development Committee says no fewer than two hundred referees have so far survived the ongoing pre-season fitness test ahead of the 2026/27 football season.
Chairman of the committee, Faith Irabor, disclosed this in Abuja while assessing the progress of the exercise, saying the test had exposed referees who were not sufficiently prepared for elite level officiating.
She said about two hundred and fifty-four referees were initially expected to participate in the exercise, but the number had dropped to below two hundred.
Irabor said the committee had also strengthened its medical screening process to ensure that referees were medically fit before participating in the demanding fitness exercise.
She explained that referees were required to undergo medical examinations, including ECG and echocardiogram tests, at recognised government hospitals before coming for the exercise.
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No fewer than one hundred and sixty-six players from twenty-seven countries would participate in the 9th Lagos International Badminton Classics, scheduled to take place from 26th to 29th August.
The President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Francis Orbih, who stated this, said Nigeria was fully ready to host the competition.
Orbih disclosed that the tournament offered a total prize money of 20,000 dollars, underscoring the significance of the competition on the international badminton calendar.
Orbih said the federation was committed to delivering a well-organised championship that would further enhance Nigeria’s reputation as a destination for major international badminton events.
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Euromatch, a European sports entertainment brand, has committed seven point five million dollars to sponsor the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, over the next three years.
The sponsorship deal, which will see the company provide two point five million dollars annually, was announced at the unveiling of Euromatch as the title sponsor of the NPFL in Abuja.
Group Chairman of Euromatch, Sacli Semih, said the company’s decision to invest in the league was driven by Nigeria’s economic potential and the abundance of football talent in the country.
Chairman of the NPFL, Gbenga Elegbeleye, described the sponsorship as a major milestone in the efforts to reposition the domestic league.
Elegbeleye said the partnership would help improve the league’s visibility, attract more spectators and create opportunities for Nigerian players.
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Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan says it is ready for the 2026/2027 Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, season and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Chairman of the club, Taiwo Lekan-Salami, stated this at a news briefing in Ibadan to herald the new NPFL season and the team’s upcoming CAF Confederation Cup fixture.
Lekan-Salami said the three-month off-season break afforded the management ample time to plan and prepare for the challenges ahead.
The chairman disclosed that the club had secured major sponsorship deals to boost its operations this season.
Speaking on the season opener against Inter-Lagos FC on Friday at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan, Lekan-Salami described the encounter as the star match of the opening weekend.
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Super Eagles defender, Semi Ajayi has welcomed the strong competition for starting spots in the senior national team ahead of next month’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
Ajayi faces tough competition for central defensive positions alongside players like Calvin Bassey and other squad members.
The Hull City defender has stated his commitment to giving his best and competing for a spot in the starting lineup whenever he is called up to the Nigerian national team.
The Nigerian international, who scored a goal in Hull City’s two-nil win against Manchester United in the Premier League, stated that his target has always been to play in the highest level of football.
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Coventry City manager, Frank Lampard has praised Super Eagles star Taiwo Awoniyi for his impressive performance in Coventry City’s win against lower division side Plymouth in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Awoniyi marked his first start for Coventry with a goal and assist as Coventry saw off Plymouth four-two to reach the third round.
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Nigerian winger, Ridwan Sanusi has completed a season-long loan move to Slovakian club AS Trenčín.
The agreement, according to information on Trenčín’s official website, includes an option to make the transfer permanent.
Sanusi joins the club from fellow Slovakian side MŠK Žilina.
He will now be hoping to establish himself at Trenčín and make a strong impression during his loan spell.
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International Chess Federation operations manager, Sergey Indeykin has died at age 36 after reportedly developing a severe form of malaria following a work trip to Nigeria.
Indeykin traveled to Abuja, Nigeria, in early August to help organize the FIDE World Amateur Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships.
After leaving Nigeria for Uzbekistan, he began to feel unwell.
His condition worsened rapidly after he returned to Russia, where he was hospitalided in Perm.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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Real Madrid star, Kylian Mbappe has scored a hat-trick to ensure Jose Mourinho enjoyed a winning return to the Bernabeu as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad in La Liga.
Mourinho made the ideal start to his second stint in charge of Madrid at the weekend as he oversaw a two-one win at Espanyol, following it up with this victory.
Mourinho’s side had to be patient against a stubborn Real Sociedad but their quality ultimately told, with Mbappe producing three brilliant finishes while Jude Bellingham got two assists, also setting up Vinicius Junior for the third.
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Hearts goalkeeper Beau Reus’ brilliant penalty shootout saves secured 10-man Hearts Conference League progress as they fought back to defeat Rapid Vienna after an enthralling play-off second leg.
Calvin Miller’s spectacular extra-time volley put the visitors into the lead, before Nenad Cvetkovic met Moulaye Haidara’s cross at the back post to nod in a late sucker punch, sending the game to spot-kicks.
Pierre Landry Kabore had forced the additional 30 minutes for Wouter Vrancken’s side when he chested in an equaliser to cancel out Rapid’s opener from Ercan Kara.
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Atletico Madrid says there is no chance of selling the team’s forward, Julian Alvarez to Barcelona after club president Joan Laporta said they remain interested in signing the forward.
Alvarez has been the subject of intense transfer speculation this summer, and after being booed by Atletico supporters during their draw with Villarreal, the 26-year-old missed training on Wednesday.
Reports say Alvarez was unwell, and Atletico have now condemned Laporta’s latest video, which said Barcelona’s eighty-five point seven million pounds offer remained on the table.
Laporta said the club had great respect for Atletico but the bid they lodged earlier this summer was still on offer.
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Italy’s football federation has formally withdrawn its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s upcoming re-election bid.
The move aligns fully with UEFA and its president, Aleksander Čeferin, regarding concerns over FIFA’s recent governance choices.
England, Wales, Ireland, Serbia, and Nordic nations have also pulled their support or stated a total loss of confidence in Infantino’s leadership ahead of the nomination deadline.
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Uefa is set to drop its threat of boycotting Fifa competitions, having received assurances there will be no repeat of Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
Fifa has welcomed the development, saying it was pleased that all qualified teams would be participating in the upcoming Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
The matter will be formally discussed at a meeting of Uefa’s executive committee in Monaco on Thursday.
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Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off at half-time with his ten-man Al-Nassr side two-nil down before they fought back to seal a dramatic win over Al-Ettifaq.
Defending Saudi Pro League champions Al-Nassr got off to a dreadful start when goalkeeper Bento was sent off after just 12 minutes and they were two goals behind at the break.
Ronaldo making his first start since the World Cup, left the pitch in frustration at half-time and was then substituted by manager Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou’s decisions proved to be vindicated with Al-Nassr launching a second-half comeback.
Sadio Mane and Abdulelah Al Amri scored inside three minutes to draw Al-Nassr level with thirteen minutes to go, before former Liverpool forward Mane got the winner in added time.
The win helped Al-Nassr go top of the table after three straight victories this season.
Postegoclou said Ronaldo was taken off as part of a different tactical approach.
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OTHER SPORTS
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In Tennis, Stan Wawrinka will make a farewell appearance at the US Open despite initially not being given a wildcard for the final Grand Slam of his career.
The Swiss 41-year-old will retire at the end of year but appeared to have been denied a final opportunity to play in New York, where he triumphed in 2016.
The United States Tennis Association had received some criticism for not awarding a wildcard to Wawrinka, who did not enter qualifying.
However, after American wildcard recipient Patrick Kypson withdrew with injury on Wednesday, Wawrinka was offered a place in the main draw.
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In Cricket, the Blaze became the first side to secure a top-three finish in this Women’s One-Day Cup and a guarantee of a place in the knockout stage.
The Nottingham-based side beat Warwickshire by 70 runs at Edgbaston to stretch their lead over second-placed Hampshire to five points on a day when Somerset, Surrey and holders Lancashire also triumphed.
Orla Prendergast (69), Georgia Elwiss (57) and Kathryn Bryce (45) were the mainstays as The Blaze piled up another sizable score of 282-7, England fast-bowler Issy Wong taking 5-58.
Warwickshire looked well-placed at 148-2 in the 30th over, largely thanks to skipper Katie George (89) and Brooke Halliday (52), but they slumped to 212 all out in 43.3 overs.
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In Formula one, Red Bull have again been found to have the most powerful engine in Formula 1 in the latest rankings by governing body the FIA.
The decision, which mirrors the first set of findings three months ago, will come as a disappointment to the team, who had been hoping to be allowed the possibility to upgrade their engine.
The process has been introduced this year as part of the regulations governing the new hybrid engine regulations, with the aim of allowing manufacturers who have a deficit a chance to catch up.
The FIA’s mechanism has been agreed with all the power-unit manufacturers but is nonetheless controversial because Mercedes are widely believed to have the best overall engine performance.
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In Rugby, Premiership Women’s Rugby says average attendances rose by twenty-three points four percent during the 2025-26 season, which concluded in June with Saracens winning a record fourth title.
The numbers have been aided by the boost the sport received by England winning a home World Cup at Twickenham in September 2025 and come despite the departure of United States star Ilona Maher from Bristol Bears.
Maher, who is the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media, generated unprecedented attention for the league during her stint in Bristol during the 2024-25 campaign.
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In Golf, Three-time major champion Anna Nordqvist will retire from professional golf after this week’s FM Championship near Boston.
Nordqvist, will captain Europe at Bernardus Golf in Netherlands, when they take on the United States on 11th to 13th September in the Solheim Cup.
The Swede has featured in each of the previous nine editions of the biennial contest, helping Europe lift the trophy on five occasions since making her debut in 2009.
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In Cycling, Britain’s Matthew Brennan has claimed his second win at the Vuelta a Espana in a sprint finish on stage five.
The 21-year-old Visma–Lease a Bike rider comfortably held off Belgium’s Jordi Meeus and Italy’s Vincenzo Albanese on the run in to the line at the end of the one hundred and seventy-three point three kilometres route into Roquetes Terres de l’Ebre.
Tadej Pogacar, who is aiming to complete the full set of Grand Tour victories, finished inside the main bunch to retain a healthy overall race lead.
The Slovenian, who won a record-equalling fifth Tour de France earlier this year and triumphed in the Giro d’Italia in 2024, now sits three minutes and 21 seconds ahead of his compatriot Primoz Roglic.
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In Athletics, European eight hundred metres champion Audrey Werro has backed herself to overhaul one of athletics’ oldest and most controversial world records.
Jarmila Kratochvilova, representing the then Czechoslovakia, clocked one minute 53.28 seconds in 1983 and the mark has remained untouched in the 43 years since.
While a systematic doping programme of athletes was in place in the country during her career, Kratochvilova never failed a doping test and has denied cheating., external
Werro, still only 22, ran 1:53.80 in Paris in June, moving up to third in the event’s all-time list and to within half a second of Kratochvilova’s time.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
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IN ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP – SECOND ROUND
Chelsea vs Luton Town
Fulham vs AFC Wimbledon
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes…words from Benjamin Disraeli.
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