Ashes 2019: England chasing 359 v Australia, third Test day three – live!

England v Ireland: Rugby World Cup warm-up – live!

Norwich City v Chelsea: Premier League – live!

Manchester United v Crystal Palace, Watford v West Ham and more – live!

US Open form guide: Djokovic favourite but Daniil Medvedev could threaten | Jacob Steinberg

The Russian looks best placed to challenge the big three at Flushing Meadows after beating the world No 1 in Cincinnati

EFL gives Bury Tuesday deadline for Campbell takeover to go through

• Club will be expelled from League One if 5pm deadline is missed
• Directors of purchasers include Rory Campbell, son of Alastair

The English Football League has given Bury until Tuesday for their owner, Steve Dale, to conclude a sale, or the club will be expelled from the league after 125 years of membership.

Dale received a takeover offer in principle on Friday night from the directors of a sporting data and analytics company, C&N Sporting Risk, including Rory Campbell, the son of the former Labour party communications director Alastair. In a statement released after the EFL board took time to consider the news, the league said it was not prepared to extend the deadline any further than Tuesday because of the impact on the competition.

McIlroy and Thomas in close pursuit of Koepka at Tour Championship

• Koepka (13 under par) leading field at halfway juncture
• McIlroy and Justin Thomas sit one back after two rounds

Depending on your outlook, it is either perfectly fair that this feels like a typical golf tournament at its halfway juncture or the dumbing down of what should be a marquee environment. Sunday’s winner of the Tour Championship will stroll off with $15m after the PGA Tour simplified the conclusion to both its season and the FedEx Cup; handicapped starts, as afforded to players before a ball was struck at East Lake, haven’t altered the dynamic or impacted on the atmosphere. This cuts both ways, of course.

In the perfect defence of the amended format, stellar names lead the pack. Rory McIlroy trailed by three when taking to the 17th tee in round two. The Northern Irishman’s birdie-birdie finish and trouble as encountered by Justin Thomas means McIlroy is now just one back, with Brooks Koepka currently the man to catch at 13 under par. Thomas has tied McIlroy at minus 12. “It’s anybody’s golf tournament,” said Thomas. Not altogether true; but this is wonderfully poised.

Talking Horses: Mustajeer stands out in £1m Ebor full of quality

The field is packed with fine horses at York but for win purposes, Ger Lyons’s Mustajeer makes most appeal

The SkyBet Ebor, the first £1m handicap to be run on the Flat in Britain, is everything its sponsor could have hoped for in terms of depth and quality, with a rating of 105 required just to get into the 22-strong field and every runner going to post with some hope of claiming the £600,000 first prize.

Many punters will keep an eye on Withhold in the betting as Tony Bloom, his owner, has landed several big gambles in recent seasons but he is nearly two stone higher in the weights since winning the 2017 Cesarewitch and possibly better over further.

'Eni Aluko: ‘We all have moments in life when our morals are called into question’

When the striker called out racism in football, it ended her international career. She explains why the fight was worth it

Eniola Aluko is one of only 11 female footballers to have played more than 100 times for England. She has scored some of the Lionesses’ most memorable goals, was the first female pundit on Match Of The Day, and is a qualified lawyer, having graduated from Brunel University London with a first in 2008. But it is as a whistleblower that she is destined to be best remembered. And, like many whistleblowers, she has spent the subsequent years being rubbished by those she exposed.

Now she has written a memoir. They Don’t Teach This is a fascinating examination of her multiple identities – British and Nigerian, a girl in a boy’s world, footballer and academic, a kid from an estate with upper-middle-class parents, a God-fearing rebel. But the book is at its best when she reveals exactly what happened after she accused the England management team of racism, and the Football Association of turning a blind eye to it. Aluko does not hold back – and few people from the football establishment emerge with their reputation intact.

Inside the VAR bunker: a test for my irrational suspicion of referees | Max Rushden

A trip to Stockley Park gives a valuable insight into the VAR process, and also showed me that referees are actually quite pleasant, normal people

“What we have to do is find a way to help referees out.” This is Tony Pulis – then manager of West Brom – speaking in 2015. “I would definitely call now for managers to have two calls each and every game, where there are 30 seconds and they can have a video link-up with people upstairs who can watch it on video. It will eradicate the major decisions referees are getting wrong that actually affect games of football. The sooner that comes in the better.”

It was after a defeat at Manchester City. Gareth McAuley had been sent off for a professional foul early on. Wilfried Bony was clean through. It was the right decision in every aspect except one. It wasn’t Gareth McAuley. It was Craig Dawson. The referee who made the mistake was Neil Swarbrick.

Dina Asher-Smith eager to keep streak going with 100m record at UK trials

• Sprinter is out to beat her own record of 10.97sec
• World championships begin in Doha next month

At some point in the next few weeks the bulldozers and wrecking balls will move into the Alexander Stadium before its renovation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Before then Dina Asher-Smith is determined to apply a demolition job of her own by smashing her British championship 100m record.

The 23-year-old has been a model of consistency this season, easily running under 11sec in all four of her 100m races, and she is determined to keep her streak going at the UK trials for the world championships in Doha next month.

Australia beats USA for the first time ever in basketball

• Australia 98-94 United States
• First win for Australia in 26 games between the teams

Boomers fans can dare to dream about a basketball World Cup medal after Australia scored a massive upset win over the United States in Melbourne. Australia had never beaten Team USA in 55 years, but shocked the world champions at Marvel Stadium on Saturday with a 98-94 victory.

It raises hopes of finally bringing home their first medal at either a World Cup or Olympics, with their first match against Canada in China on September 1.

Primoz Roglic leads Jumbo-Visma’s challenge to Ineos at Vuelta a España

• Dutch team buoyed by summer signing of Tom Dumoulin
• Nairo Quintana also among favourites on mountainous route

As the Vuelta a España celebrates its 25th edition since its move from April to September there is no debate about the success of a shift that seemed radical at the time. The third Grand Tour now has a settled place in the season’s narrative, offering a chance for revenge or redemption after the Tour de France, and this year is no exception, given an added twist by a particularly active summer transfer market.

The biggest move of the summer was the former Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin’s transfer to the Jumbo‑Visma squad, who have made no bones about their ambition to shake the dominance of Ineos (formerly Team Sky) in the Tour de France. With a budget second only to the British squad, they clearly aim to match Dave Brailsford’s team for strength in depth.

Roger Federer says he is mentally and physically ready for US Open

• Swiss needed holiday to recover from Wimbledon final defeat
• ‘I’ve been playing well recently. I’m happy with my game’

England’s psychological scars will take time to heal, says Josh Hazlewood

• Bowler took five for 30 during England’s 67 all out horror show
• ‘If we start well again, they might think here we go again’

Scotland’s Gregor Townsend faces selection headaches as France visit

• Coach needs big improvement on 32-3 drubbing in Nice
• Cummings, Skinner and Thomson can press World Cup claims

Four weeks before Scotland’s opening game of the World Cup against Ireland, the visit of France on Saturday is a final audition for some players hoping to make the plane to Japan. There is still a trip to Georgia next week before the head coach, Gregor Townsend, finalises his 31-man party, but time is running out for certain individuals and for the team as a whole.

After the nightmare in Nice last weekend, thorny questions have resurfaced about Scotland’s fallibility in the face of raw power, and their inability to solve problems on the hoof. While the heat and humidity may have been factors, the Scots were so far off the pace it made a mockery of Townsend’s pre-match claim his players were in “the best physical shape they have ever been”.

Zharnel Hughes targets UK record: ‘I believe I can run 9.8, possibly a 9.7’

Sprinter has Linford Christie’s 26-year-old mark in his sights as he prepares to compete in the 100m and 200m at the UK trials

Zharnel Hughes is one of the most laidback members of the British team. But in those quiet moments away from training he loves playing Mortal Kombat on PlayStation and applying death blow “fatalities” to his opponents. This weekend at the UK trials in Birmingham he will be hoping to do much the same to Linford Christie’s 100m British record of 9.87sec which has stood for 26 years – and the indications are that he is in the form to do it.

“I’d love to get it,” says the 24‑year‑old. “I ran 9.96sec in London last month in the heats which was quite easy and I shut down from far out. I believe I can run 9.8, possibly a 9.7 but we’ll see. Sometimes the wind can fluctuate at the Alexander Stadium, it all depends how I execute my race but I’m in good shape and looking forward to it.”

Challenge Cup final: Warrington, St Helens and a clash of childhood friends | Aaron Bower

After many near-misses Steve Price and Justin Holbrook meet at Wembley and put their friendship to one side

Since the day they first met in the Sydney suburb of Revesby more than 35 years ago, Justin Holbrook and Steve Price always knew their paths would cross in the world of rugby league – though perhaps not with the stakes quite this high.

The Challenge Cup final at Wembley on Saturday between Holbrook’s St Helens and Price’s Warrington is a day of firsts – the first time in rugby league history two sides separated by just nine miles along the A57 will contest a major final and also the first time these childhood friends clash with a trophy at stake.

Dave Alred: ‘We’re breeding physical robots who want to smash the wall down’ | Robert Kitson

England’s former kicking guru is now helping Johnny Sexton and believes a lack of attention to detail to the kicking game will cost teams dear in the World Cup

Naomi Osaka happy to deal with great expectations at US Open | Bryan Armen Graham

Reigning champion has endured a difficult season but is ready for the spotlight on her return to Flushing Meadows

Naomi Osaka arrived at last year’s US Open a dangerous floater buoyed by a season of promise and left it as one of the world’s most visible sportspeople after winning her maiden grand slam title in one of the most controversial finals in the tournament’s centuries-spanning history.

One year on the world No 1 returns to the scene of her signature triumph beset by injury and weighed down by an entirely new set of expectations but no less empowered by the quiet confidence that has lifted her to the summit of women’s tennis.

England batsmen spoil Jofra Archer’s plans for Ashes day of leisure | Ali Martin

England’s lack of specialist red-ball batsmen and collapse to 67 all out against Australia meant the six-wicket hero of the first day of the third Test did not get his hoped-for rest

Day two in Leeds was meant to be one spent at leisure for Jofra Archer. You know, feet up, chatting to colleagues, perusing the match-day programme, enjoying the buzz of the England dressing room while the guys paid to bat are knocking the shine off the ball.

Twitter and racist abuse in football: how can it be tackled? | Paul MacInnes

Abuse of Pogba, Méïté and Abraham has again put social media in the spotlight. Action is needed but solutions are complicated

Transfer window 2019 – every summer deal from Europe's top five leagues

All the latest deals and club-by-club guides for the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A

Manchester United and Inter to resume Alexis Sánchez loan talks

• Chilean player ready to make switch to San Siro
• Inter currently want to pay half of United demands

Manchester United and Internazionale will resume talks on Monday in an effort to finalise Alexis Sánchez’s loan move to the Serie A club.

The clubs will stay in contact this weekend, and the key matter to be resolved relates to the proportion of the forward’s £390,000-a-week salary to be paid by Inter.

Wesley and El Ghazi sink Everton to get Aston Villa up and running

Unai Emery eyes chance for Arsenal to shine at their theatre of screams | Nick Ames

Arsenal have had a torrid time at Anfield in recent seasons but Saturday’s match gives Emery and his side the chance to gauge their progress against a team they aim to emulate

Anyone seeking to judge Arsenal on the basis of a performance at Anfield tends, these days, to come away with brow furrowed and head shaking sadly. The scene of their most famous hour has become a theatre of modern nightmares; one where they are eviscerated at will and where, of 22 goals conceded there in the past six years, 15 have come before the change of ends. If Saturday’s return is to be the start of something, it would be a good idea for Unai Emery’s team to actually get started.

It is a fixture Arsenal fans have become accustomed to watching through their fingers. But it is the one their manager may scour for clues more closely than any other. Emery’s opacity can be frustrating but he has never hidden the thought that Liverpool, and specifically their progression from meandering nearly-men to European champions, are an obvious benchmark for Arsenal to follow.

'Pogba can't be Veron, Scholes, Keane and Cantona in one,' says Solskjær

• United manager looks to temper expectations
• ‘We expect a lot from him, he expects a lot from himself

Paul Pogba cannot be expected to perform like a combination of Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes, Juan Sebastián Verón and Roy Keane, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

The Manchester United manager has high expectations of the Frenchman but believes it is unrealistic to think the midfielder can be a composite of the best attributes of that quartet, with whom the Norwegian played for the club.

WSL to use Premier League match evaluation scheme to improve referees

• Match footage will be used to analyse a referee’s decisions
• WSL managers have been critical of the officiating

The Premier League’s referee match evaluation scheme will be used in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League as part of an attempt to improve officiating standards.

Hodgson and Zaha ready for Wan-Bissaka reunion at Old Trafford

• Manchester United full-back faces former club on Saturday
• Palace manager: ‘It’s not an easy task that he’s accomplished’

Roy Hodgson digressed at one point, turning to opera to conjure an analogy that referenced the celebrated tenors Jussi Björling and Enrico Caruso, but the tone of his message remained clear. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a player of immense potential, a full international in waiting, and is missed at Crystal Palace. Manchester United, who will field the right-back against his former club on Saturday, have prised away a gem from south London.

All the staggering statistics that marked out the best tackling defender in the top flight while Wan-Bissaka was at Palace have been maintained through his early days at Old Trafford. No one summoned more than his 15 tackles from the opening two games, and, in a team who will enjoy more possession, there have been hints that his attacking game is developing at pace. What had first marked out the defender when he was summoned across Copers Cope Road from the academy to make up the numbers had been an ability to choke Wilfried Zaha in one-on-one duels. The revisiting of that training tête-à-tête will provide an intriguing subplot.

Steve Bruce hits back after widespread criticism of Newcastle tactics

• Bruce ‘insulted’ after negative analysis of warm-up at Norwich
• ‘We have to be better at Spurs – and we will be,’ manager says

Steve Bruce feels “insulted” by a seemingly widespread perception that he lacks tactical intelligence and he suspects “no one in the country” is under similarly intense, and hostile, scrutiny.

'Real speed up front – wow!': Klopp on Liverpool's clash with Arsenal – video

Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool must be brave if they are to clinch three points against Arsenal. The European champions host the London side – the only other team in the Premier League to have won each of their opening two matches – at Anfield in an intriguing early-season game on Saturday.

In their last meeting at Anfield in December, Klopp's side recovered from an early goal to register a 5-1 win.

Goal start: Sporting under-17s score opener without touching the ball – video

A bizarre moment from a Portuguese under-17s match saw hosts Sporting go 1-0 up after just 13 seconds – without even touching the ball. Opponents União Almeirim played the ball back from kick-off and it eventually found their goalkeeper, who failed to make contact with his clearance, letting the ball roll embarrassingly into an empty net. There was no way back from there for União, who lost the game 4-0.

World Cup winner Carli Lloyd nails 55-yard field goal at NFL practice – video

USA footballer Carli Lloyd has showed she could kick it in the NFL as well after drilling 55-yard field goals at a training camp. Lloyd, a Philadelphia Eagles fan, connected on several 40-yard attempts with room to spare, before hitting from 55 yards at a joint practice session between the Eagles and Baltimore Ravens.

The footage caught the attention of retired Dallas Cowboys talent evaluator Gil Brandt, who said an NFL team in need of a kicker, like the Chicago Bears, should give Lloyd a look

England's Joe Root on Jofra Archer, Steve Smith and the third Ashes Test – video

England focused despite Smith's withdrawal from third Ashes Test – video

England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted that 'it's not going to get down to necessarily one player on either side' as Steve Smith withdrew from the third Test of the Ashes. The Australian batsman has been in outstanding form throughout the series but has now been sidelined with concussion after being struck by a ball from Jofra Archer in the second Test. England drew the second test at Lord's and will be hoping to claim their first win of the series at Headingley 

Ashes: Steve Smith ruled out as Australia try to fill 'unfillable shoes' – video

Australia's Steve Smith has been ruled out of Thursday's third Ashes Test following a delayed concussion inflicted by a Jofra Archer bouncer. Speaking on Tuesday, coach Justin Langer said that ‘when you take your best players out, it always has an impact’. After being struck on the neck on day four at Lord's Smith continued playing after some testing. However, the next morning Smith failed the test with reports of headaches and dizziness. 

Football transfer rumours: Fernando Llorente to Manchester United?

Today’s tell-all is in a dusty black coat with a red right hand

Are Manchester United interested in signing Fernando Llorente? Well, nobody seems quite sure. A report in pink Italian paper the Gazzetta dello Sport claims the 34-year-old Spanish striker has been offered a two-year deal at United, but closer to home the Daily Mail insists no such move is ahoy. Llorente, a free agent since being released by Tottenham in June, has also been linked with moves to Serie A clubs Napoli and Lazio.

Liverpool v Arsenal, Puskás Award outsiders and Japan's strangest sports | Classic YouTube

This week’s roundup also features Challenge Cup finals, tennis meltdowns and a team scoring without touching the ball

The Fiver | A mere 427 matches away from reaching next summer’s final in Gdansk

Which team had the first away following in football? | The Knowledge

Plus: scoring in all four divisions, recent British and Irish XIs and where did Jack Taylor’s 1974 World Cup final coin come from?

David Squires on … handball and the Premier League

Our cartoonist looks back at the latest action in the English top flight as handball and VAR again took centre stage

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Ljungberg and Trossard make instant impact, Wilson has Liverpool quality and Rodgers leaves ‘young Frank’ on back foot

The inclusion of Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson against Burnley a week after they became the first pair of teenagers to start a Premier League game for Arsenal since Paolo Vernazza and Matthew Upson in 1998, was more evidence of Unai Emery beginning to trust his young players. That may have something to do with the promotion of the former under-23s coach Freddie Ljungberg to become the Spaniard’s assistant, with Willock particularly impressive alongside Matteo Guendouzi in midfield. The 19-year-old played in a more advanced role in the opening day win over Newcastle and shows how Emery is tapping into the former Sweden midfielder’s knowledge bank since he stepped up in the summer. “[Ljungberg] worked last year with the under-23s and we were very close, speaking about the young players,” he said. “It’s perfect and he helps me a lot. He has an advantage with the young players because he knows them very well.” Ed Aarons

The Spin | Pavel Florin: ‘I came to England to speak with people. This is espionage’

The Romanian bowler received VIP treatment at Lord’s, but the drive to grow cricket in Romania and Europe needs attention

County cricket talking points: it's all to play for in the T20 Blast

Both groups of the T20 Blast are finely poised as teams turn their attention back to the County Championship

How the Brisbane Broncos rose out of the political mess that was 1980s Queensland | Joe Gorman

To a remarkable degree, the decline of old style politics coincided with the demise of traditional rugby league

By the end of July 1987, cracks were beginning to show in the premiership of Joh Bjelke-Petersen. For six months he had embarked on the infamous “Joh for PM” campaign, succeeding only in splitting the Liberal–National Party coalition vote at the federal election. The bluster and hubris that had once made him a folk hero of the political right had finally caught up with him, and for the conservative movement he was now a kind of King Midas in reverse: everything he touched turned to shit. As Labor was elected to a third successive term in office, the federal leader of the Liberal Party, John Howard, declared that Bjelke-Petersen “must carry an enormous share of the blame”.

Within weeks of the humiliating result, in which Labor actually gained four seats in Queensland, a probe into police misconduct began. Prompted by an investigation by the ABC’s 4 Corners program, as well as months of reporting by the Courier-Mail, the Fitzgerald Inquiry raked through a vast web of official corruption – an open secret known in Queensland as “the Joke”. According to Matthew Condon, author of a true-crime trilogy of books about corruption during the Bjelke-Petersen era, “the Joke” was an “elaborate, multi- million dollar scheme of kickbacks from illegal gambling, SP bookmakers, brothels and escort services”.

Kearnan Myall: ‘Several England players I know dread training camp’

The former Wasps lock sounds the alarm over the mental wellbeing of top players after intolerable pressure and scrutiny took him to the brink of suicide

No one is paying much attention to the tall man sitting quietly on a sunny hotel terrace in Richmond. Such is life for the majority of professional rugby players, even those with 13 years of sterling club service. Kearnan Myall played more than 200 games for Wasps, Sale and Leeds and toured with England to Argentina in 2013 without many people contemplating the human being beneath the headguard.

Fast bowlers have not hit a new peak – they’ve just reached a plateau | Andy Bull

There is a school of thought that bowlers such as England’s Jofra Archer are bound to be faster now, simply because of the advances in sport science – reality suggests something different

At 96mph the ball travels from the bowler to the batsman in the bat of an eyelid. Really. At that speed a batsman has around 0.4sec to play with which, most studies seem to agree, also happens to be how long it takes to blink. But that 0.4sec is only a fag-packet calculation. The true number would allow for the ball’s deceleration and its journey down into the pitch and up away from it, but still, we are dealing with the tiny margins, tenths and hundredths, that a batsman has to spot the length, the line, make up his mind, and then play a shot. So near the top of the accelerometer, cricket begins to seem almost physically impossible.

Tiger Woods needs alchemy to keep rust-inducing schedule at bay | Ewan Murray

The 15-times major winner is missing at East Lake, raising questions over his ability to compete next season

It was the best of times to precede the best of times. That Tiger Woods had lived through the worst of times merely added to the cacophony of emotion.