Manchester City players attend a training session on Friday, ahead of their English Premier League match against Chelsea. Jose Mourinho will inevitably be the centre of attention as he takes charge of Tottenham for the first time this weekend while Manchester City look to get their Premier League title challenge back on track against Chelsea.

The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager has been charged with rescuing Spurs’ season after this week’s sacking of Mauricio Pochettino, with the club desperate to claw their way back into the top four.

At the top of the table, runaway leaders Liverpool have a winnable-looking fixture away to Crystal Palace but the chasing pack cannot afford to allow the gap to widen further.

City, licking their wounds after their 3-1 defeat by Liverpool earlier this month, host Frank Lampard’s Chelsea, who are one point above them in the table, eight points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Leicester, in second place, ahead of Chelsea on goal difference, travel to England’s south coast to take on Brighton.

Mourinho’s first match in charge of Tottenham will be away to West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday but he will not have the luxury of a honeymoon period.

The Portuguese boss has a number of issues to sort out, including addressing the woeful away form — Spurs have not won on the road in the Premier League since January.

Last season’s Champions League finalists have had a shocking start to the season, languishing in 14th place in the Premier League after just three wins in their opening 12 games.

With their new stadium to pay for, Tottenham are reliant on Champions League revenue but the outlook is not bright. No team with as low a tally as Spurs have after 12 games — 14 points — has ever gone on to record a top-four finish.

Mourinho, often labelled a cheque-book manager, has made the right noises so far, saying at his first press conference he will not demand millions to spend in the transfer market.

“I don’t need players, I am so happy with the players I have, I just need time to understand them better, to know everything about them,” he said.

“My gift is this squad, the squad is very, very good.”

Over their past 38 league games, Liverpool have tallied 101 points and lost just once, overcoming champions Manchester City in their most recent outing.

Manager Klopp last season labelled his players “mentality monsters” and captain Jordan Henderson says that is a crucial factor in their success.

“Our mentality is just as important as the technical ability of the team,” Henderson told the club’s website.

“I think everybody sees how talented the squad is, how many good players we’ve got in the team, but mentality is huge in football.”

Lampard, who spent a season playing for Manchester City after leaving Chelsea, takes his young side to the Etihad for his first visit as a manager.

Pep Guardiola’s side host Chelsea in the unusual position of being fourth in the table, a point and place below the visitors, who have had six successive league wins. Chelsea will also be eager to gain revenge for their 6-0 mauling by City last season — their biggest-ever Premier League defeat.

Former Leicester and Tottenham forward Gary Lineker believes Brendan Rodgers’ side are better than the team that lifted the Premier League title in 2016.

The club have already played all the members of the “Big Six” apart from Manchester City and sit in second spot in the Premier League with a winnable set of matches to come.

Academy graduate Harvey Barnes, who has played in 11 of Leicester’s 12 Premier League fixtures, said confidence was key.

“It’s a great place to be at the minute,” he told the club’s website. “You can see the buzz around the club and as a player, being involved in it is great. We’re going into most games at the minute thinking we’re going to win. It’s a great feeling to be as confident as we are as a team and as individuals as well.”

English Premier League Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated)

On Saturday: West Ham vs Tottenham (1230), Bournemouth vs Wolves, Arsenal vs Southampton, Brighton vs Leicester, Crystal Palace vs Liverpool, Everton vs Norwich, Watford vs Burnley, Manchester City vs Chelsea (1730)

Real Madrid to sell Gareth Bale to Manchester United in swap deal for Paul Pogba

The transfer of Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba between Real Madrid and Paul Pogba could take shape in as early as the New Year transfer window.

Gareth Bale file image.

Out of favour Real Madrid striker Gareth Bale could leave the club for Manchester United, who on their part could let go Paul Pogba for the Bernabeu side in a swap deal.

According to a report on English daily The Sun, the deal could take shape in as early as the New Year transfer window. And if it doesn’t, the Madrid officials are convinced it will before the next season.

The Wales striker was on the verge of going to China’s Jiangsu Suning, in the last transfer window, for a year-long contract worth £1 million a week.

However, the deal was blocked in the dying minutes after Real demanded a transfer fee as the footballer had agreed to join the Chinese outfit for free.

But according to The Sun, United are now keen to land the former Tottenham Hotspur man at Old Trafford during the winter in a bid to rescue their dismal season.

It is also believed that Real are in no mood to let Bale leave without extracting their share of profit and could use him as leverage to bring Pogba into the Zinedine Zidane-managed side.

Bale has not featured for the Los Blancos in over a month now and has not even trained with the players since the international break in October.

Madrid’s contract with their 30-year-old forward runs until January 2022 on around £650,000 a week. If United would be keen to pay such a hefty amount remains to be seen.

But given his prominence, the United officials would know the he could be a marquee signing who will bring huge commercial boost to the club.

Australian cricketer James Pattinson at a press conference during a practice session at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Feb. 14.

Cricket Australia (CA) suspended country’s fast bowler James Pattinson on Sunday. The 29-year-old will therefore miss the first Test of the two-match series against Pakistan at the Gabba in Brisbane.

“Pattinson was found guilty of a Level Two breach of CA’s Code of Conduct during Victoria’s Marsh Sheffield Shield match against Queensland last week and, as it was his third breach of the Code in the past 18 months, it triggered a one-match ban,” said Australia’s apex cricket body in a statement.

“Pattinson apologised immediately and unreservedly to the opponent and the umpires and did not contest the charge,” the statement added.

“I made a mistake in the heat of the moment,” Pattinson was as quoted as saying by Cricket Australia.

“Straight away I realised I was in the wrong, and I apologised immediately, both to the opponent and to the umpires.

“I have done the wrong thing and accept the penalty. I’m gutted to miss a Test match, but the standards are there for a reason and the fault is mine,” he added.

In March this year, the speedster was found guilty of two different breaches, the initial one came for abuse of equipment in a match against NSW and the second for showing dissent during a Shield game in Adelaide a week later. However, these offences were considered minor and classified as Level One breaches.

The first Test between Australia and England starts from Thu

Aaron Cameron secures maiden victory in penultimate race at The Bend

Aaron Cameron romped to victory by the second largest margin of the year in the penultimate race of the TCR Australia season as the battle for second in the championship standings hotted up at The Bend.

Following his win in Saturday’s opening race, Will Brown had started from pole at the wheel of his Hyundai i30 N TCR and the new champion made the ideal getaway to lead Cameron into turn one, with a fast-starting Jordan Cox jumping ahead of Tony D’Alberto’s Honda into third.

James Moffat was also making up places in the first of the GRM Renault Meganes to sit fifth having started back in eighth.

Brown was unable to try and break away at the front despite Cameron and Cox battling for position behind, with the fight for the lead quickly becoming a three way affair.

Cameron was finally able to make the pressure pay on lap four when an error from Brown saw the Hyundai get out of shape, allowing the Volkswagen man through into the lead.

That put the Melbourne Performance Centre driver two places ahead of rival Tony D’Alberto in the fight for second in the standings, with things swinging towards Cameron even more when D’Alberto then lost fourth place to Moffat.

At the same time, Dylan O’Keeffe – working his way forwards from the back of the grid in the Ashley Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo – pulled off with a mechanical issue that ended his chances of finishing second to Brown in the standings.

Once ahead, Cameron quickly set about building an advantage out front and was soon more than a second clear of Brown as the leading cars started to spread out.

It meant the main battles for position were towards the lower reaches of the top ten, with John Martin under huge pressure from Nathan Morcom over seventh and Chris Pither pushing Andre Heimgartner for ninth.

Having swarmed all over the rear of Martin’s Honda going into the seventh lap, Morcom made a move stick down the inside into turn three to secure the place and then set about chasing after Jason Bright’s Volkswagen.

Pither meanwhile then cleared Heimgartner’s Holden as he continued to fight back from being dropped to the rear of the grid for an engine change.

Heading into the second half of the 14 lap encounter, Cameron’s lead continued to grow, with Brown appearing to struggle for grip with his Hyundai.

That briefly allowed Cox to draw onto the rear of the i30 N TCR, but the champion then started to ease back away from the Alfa Romeo by positing his fastest lap on lap nine – albeit some seven-tenths of a second down on Cameron’s best.

As Cameron romped to his maiden victory in the series, Brown was forced to hold on for second as Cox came back at him again through the final laps but the champion held on to beat the Alfa Romeo to second.

Moffat took fourth place ahead of D’Alberto, with the Wall Racing driver now taking a lead of just one point over Cameron into the season finale in the race for second place in the standings – and the $50,000 that goes with it.

D’Alberto, who was left questioning the pace of some of his rivals after taking the chequered flag, was lucky to even make the finish – with his Honda then suffering a puncture on the cool-down lap after chequered flag had flown.

Morcom was sixth in the second of the Hyundais after he managed to quickly clear Bright’s Volkswagen, with Pither showing fine pace in his Renault to end up with eighth place.

Russell Ingall took ninth after a late move on Heimgartner’s Holden, with the former Supercars champion having earlier made the most of contact between Martin and Alexandra Whitley to sneak ahead of the pair at turn one.

With his electrical gremlins finally resolved, Aurélien Comte was able to start the race from the back of the grid in DG Sport’s Peugeot 308TCR and would finish the race in 14th spot.

Alongside O’Keeffe, fuel pressure issues forced Barton Mawer’s Subaru to pull off into retirement.

Hamilton pole drought hits Mercedes record

Lewis Hamilton has wrapped up title number six in 2019, but the Mercedes star’s season hit a rare low as he brought up an unwanted statistic at the Brazilian GP. Make it even more exciting!

Hamilton qualified third-fastest at Interlagos, representing his ninth successive race without a pole position. Article continues under video

It is now Hamilton’s longest wait for Saturday success since joining Mercedes in 2013!

Even in his first season at the Silver Arrows, which only yielded a single grand prix win, the Briton was on pole five times, including four in a row between Silverstone and Spa.

Hockenheim was Hamilton’s last pole in 2019, although in his eight-race run of qualifying defeats, he has been on the top step of the podium three times come Sunday, so he’s unlikely to be too perturbed by the new entry in the record books!

tennis

Federer beats Djokovic to reach semis at ATP Finals

Roger Federer finally found a way to put Novak Djokovic away, beating his rival 6-4, 6-3 Thursday to reach the semifinals of the ATP Finals.

It was Federer’s first win over Djokovic since 2015, having lost their last five meetings — including that epic five-set Wimbledon final in July when the Serb saved two match points.

This was their first match since then, but had little of the same drama as Djokovic gave up three cheap service breaks and Federer gave him no chance to get back in the match.

The whole thing lasted just 1 hour, 13 minutes and ended with Djokovic being broken at love.

The result means Djokovic was eliminated with a 1-2 record in the group stage, and ensures that Rafael Nadal will keep hold of the year-end No. 1 ranking. Djokovic had a chance to overtake Nadal and equal Pete Sampras’ record of finishing the year as No. 1 for a sixth time by winning the tournament.

In a match between two players with a combined 36 Grand Slam titles and 11 ATP Finals championships, Djokovic was also broken at love in his second service game after double-faulting twice and hitting two shots into the net.

Federer faced his only break point at 2-1 in the second set but held and then broke for a 3-2 lead. He finished the match with just five unforced errors, and that included two double-faults.

Earlier, Matteo Berrettini made sure to leave the tournament with a victory by beating Dominic Thiem 7-6 (3), 6-3.

That match was essentially meaningless as Thiem had already qualified for the semifinals after winning his first two round-robin matches, while Berrettini had no chance of advancing after two losses.

Thiem didn’t play anywhere near as well as in his wins over Federer and Djokovic but came from a break down to force a tiebreaker in the first set. However, Berrettini raced out to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker and converted his third set point with an ace.

In the second set, the Italian broke for a 4-2 lead and served out the match at love, sealing the win with a forehand drop shot.

Berrettini surprised many just by qualifying for the year-end event for the world’s top eight players, and said he enjoyed the experience despite the early exit.

“It was a great week,” Berrettini said. “For sure being here wasn’t a goal at the beginning of the year. … It’s just crazy that it happened.”

After hitting 50 winners in his three-set victory over Djokovic on Tuesday, Thiem finished with just 13 in this match.

“Of course I felt a little bit the two first matches, and then also it’s a bit of a tricky situation to know that I’m already through,” the Austrian said. “Of course I was still trying to win that match 100%, but also, in the same time, I knew in my head that I have to take care for Saturday, because obviously it’s the way more important match there.”

Great Britain have just lost a third straight international, and it’s bringing Wayne Bennett’s position into question.

Bennett, the Australian super coach, has come in for plenty of criticism this tour, with frustrations spreading from squad selection to style of play and more.

His contract with the RFL expires at the end of the year and as of yet, there has been no confirmation over his future.

He has said he would like to continue, with the next World Cup just two years away.

Bennett guided England to the final in the 2017 World Cup, with the general consensus at the time being it was in everyone’s best interest that he continues.

However, that support seems to have soured during this tour.

So who should take control of England in next year’s Ashes series, and subsequent World Cup?

A number of names have been suggested, including the likes of Shaun Wane. The former Wigan head coach is without a rugby league gig at the minute and would surely be keen to take the job.

Elsewhere, Castleford head coach Daryl Powell was asked about a role in the coaching set up years ago but apparently turned it down. Would now be the time to take the role?

A man currently in the setup is Ian Watson, the Salford head coach who is acting as Bennett’s assistant.

Then there is former England coach Steve McNamara, whose last involvement at international level was guiding England to a Test series victory over New Zealand.
Is it time for a change, or should England keep faith in Bennett? Have your say in the poll below. Who should coach England & Great Britain in 2020 and beyond?

• Wayne Bennett
• Steve McNamara
• Daryl Powell
• Shaun Wane
• Ian Watson

Last week at Crown Jewel, Bray Wyatt did the unthinkable and captured the Universal Championship from Seth Rollins.

Being a SmackDown superstar challenging for a Raw title, fans gave Wyatt little chance of flying out of Saudi Arabia victorious, but WWE pulled the old bait-and-switch and booked ‘The Fiend’ to win.

It was certainly a shock, but that left SmackDown with two world champions, and considering he sported a bright red belt, the expectation was that Wyatt would be heading to Monday nights.

However it was Brock Lesnar that made the jump with his WWE Championship instead, leaving Bray to stay on Friday’s on FOX.

Due to the travel delays that saw superstars stuck in Saudi Arabia, Wyatt’s appearance on Miz TV last week had to be scrapped, but fans in Manchester, England were excited to see Wyatt or The Fiend as champion for the first time.

To the disappointment of many though, he was absent during the actual television taping, and he only showed up at the end of the night in an after-show segment, where he destroyed The O.C.

We wouldn’t get a Wyatt-less SmackDown though, as an added-in segment showed us what plans WWE seemingly have for The Fiend going forward.

After not being convinced to join Sami Zayn’s stable, Daniel Bryan and Zayn’s locker room conversation was interrupted with a light flicker, then a total black-out, with The Fiend then appearing behind Bryan.

Wyatt locked in a Mandible Claw, incapacitating Bryan and making it very clear who his next target was.

The two men have a lot of history, with Bryan joining the Wyatt Family in late 2013 before turning his back on Bray very quickly, with the feud culminating in a win for the Eater of Worlds at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

He’s a much different entity nowadays though, and considering there’s a WWE Title match at Survivor Series, the feeling is that Wyatt v Bryan may also be added to the card.

This won’t be a one-and-done though – this could have the makings of a feud which may end up lasting months.

Evander Holyfield has advised Anthony Joshua to choose the appropriate sparring partners in an attempt to replicate what he will face from Andy Ruiz Jr in their rematch next month.

Joshua is aiming to win back his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles when he faces Ruiz in Saudi Arabia on December 7, having suffered one of the biggest shocks in boxing history in June.

The Brit has warned Ruiz that he will only remain champion until they meet in the Middle East, while he’s also been backed by former opponent Wladimir Klitschko to succeed.

Holyfield, who once reigned as the undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight king, has told AJ he must be better prepared second time around.

“Of course he knows he has got to make some adjustments,” Holyfield told iFL TV. “Me personally, I kind of thought that Ruiz kept cornering him off, so what has he got to do?

“He has got to get somebody who is going to put the pressure on him like that.

“When you are the champ you have got to get a sparring partner that will put pressure on you.

“There is no point in getting a sparring partner who looks at you and knows they haven’t got a chance of being you.”

Holyfield had many rematches in his 27-year career against the likes of Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.

“You got to have a guy that for three rounds is going to try to whoop ya, and then you gotta have another guy who is trying to do the same,” Holyfield added.

“I had a lot of different sparring partners and I paid them good to try and beat me, and this is the only way you are going to be prepared for the fight.”

Sitting ringside, The Real Deal watched his son, Evan Holyfield, win his first professional fight with a 16-second first-round knockout on Saturday.

On the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs Sergey Kovalev in Las Vegas, the 22-year-old, looking understandably nervous, put Nick Winstead away with a series of unorthodox shots.

Tyson Fury popped up in WWE again on Friday night to headline their SmackDown show.

The Gypsy King has made no secret about Deontay Wilder and the WBC heavyweight title being top of his agenda moving forward.

However, he still had time to make a pitstop in his home town of Manchester for another WWE event and he said he had unfinished business with his Crown Jewel opponent, Braun Strowman.

After Fury called out Strowman, he ended up telling the Monster Among Men that he respected him and they would actually make a great tag team.

Strowman actually loved it, and he said nobody would be stupid enough to challenge them.

Look at the video below to see who that brought out:

After that, though, Fury threw a terrible, terrible punch at Bo Dallas much to the crowd’s delight. Mind you, good job he did – you don’t want him actually knocking Dallas out!

Not the Gypsy King’s best work, but now he will concentrate on actually hitting Wilder for their date on February 22.

It must be said, Fury was extremely entertaining on the mic, though.