CharlieH

Brentford are considering a move for Norwich's 24-year-old United States striker Josh Sargent as they prepare for the potential departure of England forward Ivan Toney, 27, who is interesting Chelsea and Arsenal. (Football.London) Liverpool are set to open talks with Andy Robertson over a new contract this summer and are not concerned by reports linking the 29-year-old Scotland left-back with Bayern Munich. (Football Insider) Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund are monitoring AC Milan's Italy Under-17 forward Francesco Camarda, who is set to turn down the offer of a professional contract at the Serie A club when he turns 16 next week. (Gazzetta dello Sport via Football Italia) Chelsea are willing to pay Brighton a six-figure compensation fee so scout Sam Jewell can join the club now rather than in the summer when he completes his period of gardening leave. (Sun) Arsenal have made Sporting Lisbon's 25-year-old Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres a transfer priority this summer. (TodoFichajes - in Spanish) Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's father says the 23-year-old Georgia winger will stay at Napoli this summer despite being linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona. (Radio Serie A via Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish) France midfielder Adrien Rabiot is to prioritise new contract talks with Juventus over a potential move away from the Serie A club, with Tottenham monitoring the 28-year-old as they look to sign a midfielder this summer. (CaughtOffside) Liverpool hope to make more than £10m from a fly-on-the-wall documentary covering Jurgen Klopp's farewell season. (Sun) Arsenal set to rival Manchester United in the race to sign 22-year-old Spanish defender Miguel Gutierrez from Girona. (Fichajes - in Spanish) Former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is not in contention for the Republic of Ireland job despite the Croatian, currently in charge of Saudi Arabian side Al-Fateh, being linked with the role. (Irish Independent) Sunday's gossip column READ MORE

Manager Brendan Rodgers lamented "really, really poor officiating" as Celtic fell to a controversial defeat at Hearts to complete a weekend of shocks in the Scottish title race. The 2-0 loss prevented champions Celtic reclaiming top spot from Rangers, who stay two points clear after being stunned by Motherwell on Saturday. The top two each have nine league games left. Rodgers claimed "the game was refereed outside the field today" after video assistant referee (VAR) intervention led to Yang Hyun-jun's yellow being upgraded to a red card and Tomoki Iwata conceding a penalty for Hearts' opener. John Beaton was the VAR in Edinburgh, with referee Don Robertson ultimately making the final decisions. Yang was penalised for a high foot on Alex Cochrane and Iwata was judged to have used his arm, with Jorge Grant netting from the spot. Celtic themselves were awarded a penalty at 0-0, with Adam Idah's effort saved by Zander Clark. Lawrence Shankland had a goal disallowed for offside, this time after a VAR check, but was not to be denied as he struck Hearts' second after the break.. "The first incident with the sending off - there's no force in that," Rodgers told BBC Scotland. "If you make a still [image], of course it gives you a different opinion but the reality was not that. The referee made a right decision of a yellow card. "That's a clear example of what people say VAR isn't. The game was refereed outside the field today. That means we get a sending off. "The second one is even worse. Tomoki gets a nudge, I don't know where his arm is supposed to go. The ball drops on to his arm. If that's the case, we should have had a penalty at Motherwell last week. "For John Beaton to say that is a penalty - wow. Really poor officiating in a big game for us." Hearts head coach Steven Naismith agreed with the red card but felt both penalties were "soft". And former Hearts player Allan Preston told BBC Sportsound: "VAR is not the problem, it's the people running it. Referees know the rules inside out, but they don't know the game." Everything you need to know about your Premiership club READ MORE

SUN 03 MAR 2024PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 3 Manchester United 1 Foden (56'minutes, 80'minutes), Haaland (90'+1minutes) FTHT 0-1 Rashford (8'minutes) Pep Guardiola hailed Phil Foden as the "best player in the Premier League right now" after his second-half double ensured Manchester City came from behind to beat Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. In a game packed with international stars, it was two local boys who provided the key moments. The visitors had led through Marcus Rashford's sensational eighth-minute strike from 30 yards. However, in a contest City dominated, Foden took centre stage. There was an element of controversy over his second-half equaliser. United boss Erik ten Hag was booked for arguing his side should have had a free-kick in the City half when Rashford went down under Kyle Walker's challenge. Contact was minimal and within seconds Foden had curled a superb shot past Andre Onana. Foden then burst away from a static Casemiro to score City's second from Julian Alvarez's return pass before Erling Haaland rounded off the scoring in stoppage time, after the Norwegian earlier missed an open goal from barely three yards. "It is the amount of games he is playing," Guardiola told Match of the Day about Foden. "He was always a talented player but now he is more mature and understands more the game, especially defensively. He can play middle, right, make moments and cut inside, play in the left, scoring from the left. "What can I say? He is the best player in the Premier League right now for the amount of things he does. Unbelievable." How Foden became Guardiola's 'go-to man' It was City's sixth win in seven meetings against United, who suffered their 11th Premier League defeat of the season. More importantly, the result means Pep Guardiola's side move to within a point of leaders Liverpool before next week's trip to Anfield. United remain in sixth in the table but are now 11 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa and six behind Tottenham, in what could turn out to be a fifth Champions League spot, having played a game more. READ MORE

No problem entering Thailand on a Thai passport BUT its possible he/you may be asked how you were allowed to board the plane ? obviously he has the UK passport, but it may lead down the same rabbit hole of questions etc. Technically nothing wrong in what you suggest.(AFAIK)

Moved to forum support. If you have an allegation of this nature, make it in the proper manner and contact Support. 13.You will not publicly comment on moderation in an open forum. You will not comment on actions taken by individual moderators or on specific or general policies and issues. You will not post a negative emoticon in response to a public notice made by a moderator. You may send a private message to a moderator to discuss individual actions or you can email support (at) aseannow.com to discuss moderation policy and account suspensions. Aggression or abuse against moderators is not tolerated and any such action will be sanctioned. There is no excuse for abuse. I will investigate this further. Edit. Your comment that Covid 19 the subject of the thread was "just flu" was misinformation and incorrect and that sentence was therefore removed by a Moderator. He chose to edit the problem out and leave the remainder of your post. This is quite normal practice if the edit in no way changes the meaning or context of the post, or the entire post would then be removed. Your allegation that your post was rewritten is totally false.The first sentence of your post which contained misinformation, was correctly removed by a Moderator. CLOSED

CLOSED

World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024 Dates: 1-3 March Venue: Emirates Arena, Glasgow Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and online; Listen to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra & BBC Sounds; Live text and video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app. Great Britain's Jemma Reekie continued her bid to win a first global medal by qualifying fastest for the women's 800m final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Scot Reekie, 25, judged her effort to perfection to win her semi-final in one minute 58.28 seconds and build further confidence before Sunday's medal race. "The final will be very tough but I want [the other athletes] to know that if they are coming to win on my track, they are going to have to work hard!" Reekie told BBC Sport. "We have taken each race as it comes. Tonight I will sit down with [my coaches] Jon [Bigg] and Sally [Gunnell] and we'll work it out together. "But I think it will be a fast one." In winning her semi-final, Reekie, who finished fifth at last summer's outdoor World Championships, got the better of two of her expected medal rivals to assert herself as one of the favourites for gold. The home favourite cruised past Ethiopia's world leader Habitam Alemu in the closing stages, with 2022 world indoor bronze medallist Halimah Nakaayi finishing third. Elsewhere during Saturday's morning session, Amy Hunt finished fifth in her women's 60m heat in 7.29 secs as she continued her comeback from a long-term injury, missing out on a place in the next round. In Saturday's eagerly anticipated evening session, Great Britain's Josh Kerr won 3,000m gold before team-mate Molly Caudery clinched the pole vault title. British captain Laviai Nielsen finished fourth in the women's 400m final, while Laura Muir placed fifth in the women's 3,000m. READ MORE

Red Bull's Max Verstappen sent out a chilling message to his Formula 1 rivals with a crushing victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. He brushed off controversy surrounding his team principal Christian Horner to dominate after a brief challenge at the start from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez home ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. Leclerc recovered from dropping to fifth early on to pass Mercedes' George Russell for fourth in the closing laps. The weekend in Bahrain had been dominated by Horner, who has been at the centre of a complaint of inappropriate behaviour from a female colleague for the last month. On Wednesday, the day before the on-track action started, Red Bull's head office announced that the grievance had been dismissed. An email containing a cache of messages purporting to involve Horner was sent to Formula 1 personnel and media less than 24 hours later. After qualifying, Verstappen was asked twice whether he had full confidence in Horner as Red Bull team principal, and both times declined to give a definitive reply. Horner's wife, the former Spice Girl Horner, flew into Bahrain for the race, as the pair made what appeared to be a studied and calculated appearance for the cameras. Red Bull's main shareholder, the Thai businessman Chalerm Yoovidhya, also flew in for the race to offer public support for Horner. Yoovidhya declined to answer BBC Sport's questions before the race. Horner was asked before the grand prix by BBC 5 live pit-lane reporter Rosanna Tennant whether the messages were genuine and replied that he "couldn't comment on messages from an anonymous sender". READ MORE

Goals from Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento helped Newcastle overcome Wolves and register their first home win in the Premier League since mid-December. Sweden international Isak nodded in at the end of a sweeping counter-attack involving Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes, whose left-footed shot deflected off Craig Dawson and into the striker's path. Eddie Howe's team doubled their advantage when Jose Sa and Max Kilman failed to deal with Jacob Murphy's low cross and Gordon pounced on the loose ball to fire home. Wolves had the lion's share of possession at St James' Park but failed to test Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka until midway through the second half, when half-time substitute Nathan Fraser's low shot from the edge of the box was palmed clear. Dubravka produced a superb stop to deny Pablo Sarabia moments later, but Livramento struck his first Newcastle goal in stoppage time to put the seal on the Magpies' first home victory since their 3-0 win over Fulham on 16 December. The win lifted Newcastle up to eighth in the table, while Wolves dropped to 10th. How did you rate Newcastle's performance? Have your say here What did you make of Wolves' display? Send us your views here READ MORE

Tomas Soucek struck a stylish half-volley as West Ham scored twice in injury time to clinch a dramatic win at Everton. The Blues had taken the lead when Beto - who had seen a first-half penalty saved - headed in at the back post shortly after half-time. Kurt Zouma equalised for the Hammers with a header from a corner. The game looked set to end in a draw but Soucek scored a stunning goal with his instep in added time before Edson Alvarez struck right at the end. It gave David Moyes, who managed Everton from 2002 to 2013, a hat-trick of Goodison Park victories over his old club as Hammers boss. Everton xG 'through the roof' but Dyche frustrated Moyes' side move up to seventh in the the Premier League table while Everton are 16th - five points above the relegation zone. The Toffees are also winless in 10 games, stretching back to a 2-0 victory over Burnley on 16 December. With five draws and two defeats in 2024, this is their joint-longest winless run from the start of a calendar year in their league history. Beto miss costly as Blues pay for lack of cutting edge This was Everton's first game since their 10-point deduction for breaching Premier League financial rules was reduced to six on appeal. However, there remains a degree of anxiety around a separate charge - along with Nottingham Forest - for alleged breaches in their accounts for 2022-23. That case must be heard by 8 April - but any appeal could take that process to 24 May, the week after the season has concluded. If Everton are to render the impact of another potential deduction irrelevant, in terms of maintaining their top-flight status, they simply need to become more clinical in front of goal as the business end of the season looms. READ MORE

Manager Pep Guardiola says Manchester City must not be distracted by emotions in Sunday's derby against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. City, who won 3-0 at Old Trafford in October, are second in the Premier League, four places above United. City are unbeaten in 18 games and United have lost only once this year. "What I learn from my experience in these types of games is to be more calm, relax, don't talk about many things," Guardiola said. "Just focus on tactics and what you have to do to beat them, not about emotions - because emotions will be there, without doubt." League leaders Liverpool's dramatic 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday moved them four points clear of City, who travel to Anfield on 10 March. Premier League run-in: Will Liverpool, Man City or Arsenal come out on top? This is the first Manchester derby since Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of United. He has said he wants to knock City "off their perch" within three years and described their 4-0 win over Real Madrid in last season's Champions League semi-final as "the best football I've seen". City manager Pep Guardiola said it is a "complete honour" to receive praise from Ratcliffe. "I just say 'thank you so much'," Guardiola said. "Sometimes they are more than the titles, the compliments of the personalities that make this country, like Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments. It is a complete honour for us. "One can produce emotions and feelings for the players and our rivals. That helps to do our job. Thank you so much on behalf of all of us." Ratcliffe wants Old Trafford to be 'national stadium for the north' City have won five of the past six Premier League titles, while United's most recent came in 2013. Last year City matched their rivals' feat from 1998-99 by winning the Treble. "The 80s was Liverpool, 90s United and now we have won seven Premier Leagues in the last 11 or 12 years," said Guardiola. READ MORE

Scores, Results & Fixtures SUNDAY 3RD MARCH 2024 Burnley13:00Bournemouth Man City15:30Man Utd View all Premier League scores As It Stood Team P GD Pts 1 Liverpool 27 39 63 2 Man City 26 33 59 3 Arsenal 26 39 58 4 Aston Villa 27 22 55 5 Tottenham 26 16 50 6 Man Utd 26 0 44 7 West Ham 27 -4 42 8 Newcastle 27 12 40 9 Brighton 27 5 39 10 Wolves 27 -3 38 11 Chelsea 26 1 36 12 Fulham 27 -3 35 13 Bournemouth 25 -14 28 14 Crystal Palace 27 -15 28 15 Brentford 27 -11 26 16 Everton 27 -8 25 17 Nottm Forest 27 -15 24 18 Luton 26 -17 20 19 Burnley 26 -33 13 20 Sheff Utd 26 -44 13 View full Premier League table

Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score a dramatic 99th-minute winner and send Liverpool four points clear at the top of the Premier League with victory at struggling Nottingham Forest. As the game drifted past the eight added minutes announced by the fourth official, Nunez, playing his first game since suffering a muscle injury at Brentford on 17 February, found the bottom corner with a glancing header from Alexis Mac Allister's cross, sparking bedlam on the Liverpool bench and in the stands. While flares were lit in the away end and Jurgen Klopp celebrated wildly with his team, Forest players surrounded referee Paul Tierney at the final whistle. Coach Steven Reid was shown a red card as they fumed at the decision to give Liverpool the ball after Ibrahima Konate went down with a head injury shortly before the goal. Forest had possession when the game was stopped but the game restarted with the ball at the feet of Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and the away side kept the ball, went down the other end and eventually found the winner. READ MORE

Reported post and subsequent replies removed.

Obviously not feline too good and just reacting to someone who called him a "pussy" too often 😁

MOVED to Banking

Arsenal and Italy midfielder Jorginho, 32, is attracting interest from Juventus, Lazio and Napoli as he enters the final few months of his contract. (Standard) Manchester United's incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth has met with ex-Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter as pressure grows on manager Erik ten Hag. (Sun) Liverpool will target Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi should they fail to appoint Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso as a replacement for the departing Jurgen Klopp. (Guardian) Burnley are expected to keep Vincent Kompany as manager even if the club are relegated from the Premier League this season. (Football Insider) Barcelona have approached Portugal boss Roberto Martinez about succeeding Xavi as manager of the Spanish club at the end of the season. (Football Transfers) Aston Villa may have to sell players this summer to avoid breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules, with Newcastle interested in 22-year-old English midfielder Jacob Ramsey and Arsenal keen on Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz, 25. (Mail) Chelsea, West Ham, Juventus, AC Milan, Nice and Lyon are interested in Gent's 21-year-old English left-back Archie Brown. (Standard) AC Milan are monitoring Arsenal and England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, 25, as a potential replacement for 28-year-old France goalkeeper Mike Maignan. (Ekrem Konur) Zinedine Zidane has no interest in managing in England so is highly unlikely to accept any offer from Manchester United should they opt to replace Ten Hag. (The i) Liverpool are confident Scotland left-back Andy Robertson, 29, will stay at the club beyond this summer despite interest from Bayern Munich. (Football Insider) Fulham, Everton and Southampton are keeping tabs on Coventry City's 25-year-old English attacking midfielder Callum O'Hare. (Sun) Scouts from Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund have been watching Cercle Brugge and Togo striker Kevin Denkey, 23. (Foot Mercato - in French) Aston Villa are considering making 28-year-old France defender Clement Lenglet's loan deal from Barcelona permanent. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish) Chelsea are set to recruit specialist set-piece coaches despite manager Mauricio Pochettino dismissing the idea only a month ago. (Telegraph - subscription required) Friday's gossip column READ MORE

Max Verstappen has given qualified support to Christian Horner as Red Bull team boss after setting pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Horner has again denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour after a series of alleged messages were leaked. Verstappen was asked whether he had full faith in Horner's leadership of Red Bull. He said: "From the performance side of things, you can't even question that. So that's what I'm also dealing with." Horner reiterates denial after alleged message leak 'More transparency' over Horner needed - Wolff How to follow the Bahrain Grand Prix on the BBC Verstappen was questioned on the matter on Friday in Bahrain, after beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to pole - a day after an anonymous email with a link to messages purporting to involve Horner was sent to Formula 1 personnel and media. A drive of messages was on a link in the email, which was sent to 149 people involved in the sport, mainly senior figures and permanently accredited media. After the messages emerged, Horner said in a statement: "I won't comment on anonymous speculation. But, to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations." F1 president Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem met on Friday in Bahrain to discuss the matter. Verstappen was first asked whether he was confident Horner remained the right person to lead Red Bull Racing. He said: "From my side, and I think what I can see also from the mechanics and the engineers, we are fully focused on the car and the performance here during the weekend. "And that's how it should be, I think, and that's what we continue to do, because it's not our business. We're not particularly involved in that. "And we are here, we are paid to do our job, and that's what we are doing and that's also what we love doing. So that's what we focus on." Asked to clarify whether he had full faith in Horner's leadership, the 26-year-old said: "Listen, when I look at how Christian operates within the team, he has been an incredible team boss. So absolutely, from the performance side of things, you can't even question that. So that's what I'm also dealing with. "I speak to Christian a lot, and also throughout the weekend here. He's fully committed to the team. He's also here for the performance. Of course probably a little bit distracted. But like I said before, we just focus on the performance side of things and that's how we all work together." READ MORE

World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024 Dates: 1-3 March Venue: Emirates Arena, Glasgow Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and online; Listen to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra & BBC Sounds; Live text and video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app. American Christian Coleman says he is "stepping into his prime" after beating Noah Lyles to 60m gold in their showdown at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Coleman, the world record holder in the event, clocked a world-leading 6.41 seconds to take an impressive victory. World 100m and 200m champion Lyles, unable to add to his expanding list of global sprint titles, ran 6.44. Jamaican Ackeem Blake beat Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala to bronze in 6.46. "These opportunities don't come around often when you are feeling good and healthy," said 2019 world 100m champion Coleman, who won his last world indoor title on British soil in Birmingham six years ago. "I am excited. It is 2024 and I am stepping into my prime mentally, physically and spiritually. I am going to have to be on my A-game and I feel confident I will be there [at the Olympics]." Elsewhere, Great Britain's Morgan Lake finished sixth in the women's high jump final. The 26-year-old came into the championships with medal ambitions but was unable to improve on her final-round clearance at 1.92 metres, as Australia's Nicola Olyslagers beat Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh to gold. British team captain Laviai Nielsen qualified for Saturday's 400m final and Jemma Reekie secured her place in Sunday's 800m medal race. GB will also have two representatives in the women's 1500m final - the final event of the weekend on Sunday - in Georgia Bell and Revee Walcott-Nolan, while Adam Fogg progressed in the men's event despite tripping. Also among the five gold medal winners on the opening day of competition at Emirates Arena, American Ryan Crouser and Canada's Sarah Mitton were crowned shot put champions, while the Netherlands' Sofie Doktor won the women's pentathlon. READ MORE

Sheffield United and Burnley are 11 points from Premier League safety and look doomed with just 12 matches of the season remaining. But who else is facing the threat of being relegated to the Championship? And which teams will stay up? It looks like one from six, with eight points separating 18th-placed Luton and the five teams immediately above them - Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Everton, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace. But it's complicated... Both Everton and Forest face anxious waits after being charged in January for alleged breaches in their accounts for 2022-23. Forest's case will be heard on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 March. If they are found to have breached rules they face a points deduction. A verdict is not expected until April and would be subject to appeal. Any appeal could take that process to 24 May, the week after the season concludes on 19 May. In November, Everton were immediately docked 10 points for breaking profit and sustainability rules (PSR) in the three-year period to 2021-22. However, that penalty was reduced to six points after an appeal. Everton points deduction appeal verdict: What happens next? Current table Premier League table as of 1 March Team Played Points GD Form (last 5 games) 13. Crystal Palace 26 28 -13 WLLDW 14. Bournemouth 25 28 -14 DDLDL 15. Everton 26 25 -6 DDLDD 16. Brentford 26 25 -11 LWLLL 17. Nottingham Forest 26 24 -14 LDLWL 18. Luton Town 25 20 -16 WDLLL 19. Burnley 26 13 -33 LDLLL 20. Sheffield United 26 13 -44 LLWLL The run-in Crystal Palace: 2 March v Tottenham (away); 9 March v Luton (home); 30 March v Nott'm Forest (away); 2 April v Bournemouth (away); 6 April v Man City (home); 14 April v Liverpool (away); 20 April v West Ham (home); 27 April v Fulham (away); 4 May v Man Utd (home); 11 May v Wolves (away); 19 May v Aston Villa (home); TBC v Newcastle (home). Bournemouth: 3 March v Burnley (away); 9 March v Sheff Utd (home); 13 March v Luton (home); 16 March v Wolves (away); 30 March v Everton (home); 2 April v Crystal Palace (home); 6 April v Luton (away); 14 April v Man Utd (home); 20 April v Aston Villa (away); 27 April v Brighton (home); 4 May v Arsenal (away); 11 May v Brentford (home); 19 May v Chelsea (away). Everton: 2 March v West Ham (home); 9 March v Man Utd away); 17 March v Liverpool (home); 30 March v Bournemouth (away); 2 April v Newcastle (away); 6 April v Burnley (home); 15 April v Chelsea (away); 20 April v Nott'm Forest (home); 27 April v Brentford (home); 4 May v Luton (away); 11 May v Sheff Utd (home); 19 May v Arsenal (away). Brentford: 2 March v Chelsea (home); 9 March v Arsenal (away); 16 March v Burnley (away); 30 March v Man Utd (home); 3 April v Brighton (home); 6 April v Aston Villa (away); 13 April v Sheff Utd (home); 20 April v Luton (away); 27 April v Everton (away); 4 May v Fulham (home); 11 May v Bournemouth (away); 19 May v Newcastle (home). READ MORE

It has already been a busy and eventful week in the Scottish Premiership and this weekend could see more twists and turns at both ends of the table as we approach the business end of the season. A big inter-city game in Edinburgh, leaders Rangers aiming to extend their winning run against Motherwell, while Aberdeen try to stop their descent into the relegation zone. Here are some thoughts to whet your appetite for the action on Saturday and Sunday: What will decide the Scottish title? Is Dons' Warnock gamble backfiring? Game of the weekend - Hearts v Celtic Eight days after failing dismally to live up to predictions they might trouble leaders Rangers at Ibrox, Hearts get a second chance to prove they have the potential to challenge Scotland's big two. You would normally expect a trip to face the side sitting third to be one full of trepidation, even for reigning champions. Especially after Hearts' shock 2-0 win at Celtic Park in December and the fact Brendan Rodgers has lost more league games to the Edinburgh side than any other, including two of his last four trips there. However, the tight confines of Tynecastle have not proved troublesome for Celtic in the recent past, having won on their latest five visits by an aggregate of 15-5 since their last defeat there in July 2021. Hearts are currently unbeaten in six on their own patch, and will be determined to show that last Saturday's 5-0 thrashing at Ibrox, followed by a perhaps fortunate 1-1 home draw in the Edinburgh derby, are mere blips after a run of 12 games unbeaten, 11 of them wins, all but ensured a third-place finish. However, Rodgers' Celtic will travel along the M8 full of renewed confidence after Wednesday's 7-1 thrashing of Dundee just about wiped away talk of a crisis following a couple of draws in an otherwise 12-match unbeaten run that allowed city rivals Rangers to take over at the top. With Rangers expected to gather another three points at home to Motherwell on Saturday, the pressure will be on Celtic to avoid falling further behind, but the odds and history remain in their favour. Hearts have not beaten Celtic twice in one season since 2011-12 - once in league and then in Scottish Cup - with the last time they achieved a league double being 2006-07. To do so, they will likely rely heavily on Lawrence Shankland, the Scotland striker's midweek equaliser bringing his total to 27 goals for the season and eight in his last seven games. READ MORE

Liverpool would be prepared to listen to offers for Colombia forward Luis Diaz, 27, in the summer - if Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, 31, agrees a new contract. (Sun) Liverpool would demand a fee of more than £100m to sell Salah to the Saudi Pro League this summer, so believe they would have suitable funds with which to replace him. (Football Insider) Tottenham Hotspur are continuing to monitor Conor Gallagher's situation at Chelsea and are ready to move for the 24-year-old in the summer. However, the England midfielder is determined to fight for his place atStamford Bridge despite discussions over a new contract being at an impasse. (Daily Mail) Arsenal are set to open talks with Italy midfielder Jorginho, 32, over a new contract. (Evening Standard) Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis says he can not stop players like Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 25, from leaving the club this summer but says the striker's release clause is for "a lot of money". (Sky Sports) Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi is a very strong contender to become the next manager of Manchester United. (Football Insider) Getafe are ready to open talks with Manchester United about extending Mason Greenwood's stay at the club, by agreeing another loan deal for the 22-year-old English forward or a permanent move. (Times - subscription required) Barcelona want to keep Portuguese loanees Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix next season, and are willing to offer Manchester City between 15m and 20m euros (£13-£17m) for full-back Cancelo, 29, and take forward Felix, 24, on another loan deal from Atletico Madrid. (Sport - in Spanish Chelsea could move for Arsenal's England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, 25, in the summer transfer window. (Football Insider) English defender Trevoh Chalobah, 24, wants to stay at Chelsea and is disappointed the club are considering selling him this summer. (Teamtalk) England defender Eric Dier, 30, has met the contractual obligations required to turn his Bayern Munich loan move from Tottenham into a permanent transfer at the end of the season. (Athletic) Manchester United and Aston Villa have sent scouts to watch Torino's Italian right-back Raoul Bellanova, 23, this season. (Tuttosport - in Italian) READ MORE

Halfway through this interview, Muhammad Mokaev stopped to ask his own question. "If the UFC don't put me in, who are they going to?" Britain's Mokaev is referring to the next challenger to take on UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja. At just 23 years old, Mokaev, who faces American Alex Perez in Las Vegas on Saturday, believes the stars are aligning in the flyweight division for him to face Brazilian Pantoja. "Even Pantoja posted on his Instagram story: 'I need to fight somebody new. I've beaten everyone,'" Mokaev told BBC Sport. "He's beaten some like twice, or three times - [Brandon] Moreno, [Brandon] Royval - he's beaten these guys and now what's the point of rematches? "It motivates me. It motivates me more to finish Alex Perez, to stay focussed and don't play games." Pantoja has beaten Moreno three times and Royval twice, while a fight between fellow top contenders Manel Kape and Matheus Nicolau was cancelled in January after Kape missed weight. Amir Albazi, who is third in the UFC flyweight rankings, is recovering from injury, while Royval, who beat Moreno on Saturday, has revealed he likely injured his medial collateral ligament (MCL) during that fight so could face time on the sidelines. All these factors have opened the door for a potential title opportunity for Mokaev, who is eighth in the flyweight rankings and unbeaten during his 12-fight career, should he beat 31-year-old Perez at the UFC Apex on Saturday. And according to Mokaev, the champion is open to the idea. "I messaged Pantoja yesterday. I said after this fight, I'm ready to fight," said Mokaev. "I messaged him because I used to train with him, I know him well. He said, 'We will talk after this fight'." READ MORE

First Test, Wellington (day two of five): Australia 383 (Green 174*; Southee 5-70) & 13-2: Southee 2-5 New Zealand 179: Phillips 71; Lyon 4-43 Australia lead by 217 runs Scorecard New Zealand's top-order batting collapsed as Australia took control of the first Test on a frantic second day in Wellington. A last-wicket stand of 116 from Cameron Green, who hit a Test best 174 not out, and Josh Hazlewood helped the tourists post 383 in their first innings. New Zealand slipped to 29-5 before Glenn Phillips (71) counter-attacked as the hosts reached 179 in reply. Australia closed on 13-2 with a 217-run lead after Tim Southee's late burst. Southee bowled Steve Smith for a duck with his third ball and then had Marnus Labuschagne (two) caught behind to lift the Kiwis on an otherwise chastening day. It began with an Australian record 10th-wicket stand against New Zealand as Green and Hazlewood (22) frustrated the home side's attack. Kent sign Australia fast bowler Bartlett Flintoff's side to have first pick in Hundred draft Australia's seamers then took the momentum into the field as they seized the upper hand in the afternoon session. Tom Latham (five) struggled against Mitchell Starc's pace and played on in the fourth over before Kane Williamson was run out by Labuschagne without scoring after a collision with Will Young. More misery followed for the Black Caps three balls later when Rachin Ravindra was caught for a duck off Hazlewood, who finished with 2-55. New Zealand's 12-3 then became 29-5 after Daryl Mitchell (11) edged Pat Cummins behind and Young (nine) nicked Mitchell Marsh into the gloves of Alex Carey. READ MORE

Manchester United: Marcus Rashford says commitment to club cannot be questioned Marcus Rashford says people questioning his commitment to Manchester United need to show "more humanity". Rashford, 26, has scored five goals for United this season and faced criticism about perceived attitude issues. He missed United's FA Cup win over Newport, days after he was reportedly seen in nightspots in Northern Ireland. "If you ever question my commitment to United, that's when I have to speak up," the England forward said in a piece for The Players' Tribune. "It's like somebody questioning my entire identity, and everything I stand for as a man. "I grew up here. I have played for this club since I was a boy. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid so I could wear this badge." Manchester-born Rashford came through the United youth ranks before making his first-team debut as an 18-year-old in 2016. He has gone on to make 391 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 128 goals. Rashford finished last season with a career-best tally of 30 goals, but he has been unable to make the same impact this time around as United have struggled to build on their first campaign under manager Erik ten Hag. They sit sixth in the Premier League after 26 games. "I can take any criticism. I can take any headline. From podcasts, social media and the papers. I can take it," Rashford added. "But if you start questioning my commitment to this club and my love for football and bringing my family into it, then I'd simply ask you to have a bit more humanity." READ MORE