Sport

Daniel Dubois v Fabio Wardley II: WBO heavyweight title fight – live
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

Updates from rematch at the O2 Arena in London
Preview: Wardley predicts ‘crazy night’ | Email Alex

It was surreal watching the referee refuse to accept the white towel flung into the ring to save Dan Garber from shipping further punishment against Adam Olaniyan, the promising young Irish heavyweight. Garber is 41 and it was bizarre to watch Amy Pu shake her head and kick the towel away. The next time the old heavyweight went down his corner pleaded with him not to get back up and Pu finally waved it off. It seems pretty obvious that a referee should always listen to a trainer who wants to protect a clearly beaten fighter.

Luke Littler, meanwhile, has just turned up and lingered awhile next to our row of press seats close to the ring. I’ve interviewed Luke before and he is not the easiest interviewee in the world and so, like all my other respectful colleagues, we left him in peace and didn’t ask for his Dubois-Wardley prediction.

Manzambi maintains Aston Villa progress with win to seal dismal week for Newcastle
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

There is a reason why Aston Villa were so desperate to hijack Johan Manzambi’s proposed summer move from Freiburg to Newcastle. The tall, quick, tricky, clever and perfectly balanced 21-year-old Switzerland attacking midfielder looked worth every penny of the record £50m plus fee Villa ended up paying and he duly delighted in showing Tynesiders what they missed.

For Newcastle and their disconsolate manager, Matthias Jaissle, there was a cruel irony that Manzambi ended up heading the winner on a day when the Premier League’s CEO, Richard Masters, was in the directors’ box to watch arguably the two teams most affected by the spending rules imposed during his tenure.

Haaland helps Maresca achieve record start as Manchester City defeat Ipswich
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

There have been few winners in Manchester City’s guilty verdict, except highly paid lawyers and the inflatable fruit industry. The fans have suffered, being forced to question everything they have been told, while being labelled “cheats”, but they were able to forget the cacophony of noise around the club as Enzo Maresca became the first Premier League manager to win his first seven games.

Ipswich were the latest victims, but they put up a fight in City’s first home Premier League game since being found to have breached financial rules. Defiance has fortified most of the City fanbase, who were able to see local boy Phil Foden instigate the triumph with a kiss of the badge, before an emblem of their wealth, Erling Haaland, secured the points to move six clear, albeit with a few scares between, courtesy of Daizen Maeda and Zian Flemming.

Champions Cup roundup: La Rochelle beat Lions after emotional tribute to Andrews
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

Lions lock Hyron Andrews, 31, found dead on Friday
Connacht 45-36 Saracens; Sale 27-47 Glasgow

The Johannesburg-based Lions put up a gritty fight on an emotional Champions Cup debut but came up short 31-14 at La Rochelle as both sides paid tribute to the South African lock Hyron Andrews, who died suddenly at the team’s hotel in western France.

The whole stadium observed a minute’s silence while Andrews’s No 5 shirt was laid on the pitch before kick-off. La Rochelle’s three South African players presented a jersey to their visitors in memory of the player, who died on Friday at Lions’ hotel on the nearby Ile de Ré. A source close to the investigation said that Andrews, who was 31, was found in cardiac arrest in a shower cubicle that was locked from the inside.

Isak completes Liverpool’s comeback win as Brentford finish with nine
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

If Liverpool’s spluttering forwards end up remembering this as the day when their luck turned then they will owe a big debt of gratitude to Yehor Yarmolyuk. This was a game with a very clear before and after.

Andoni Iraola will hope surviving one of the toughest tests the Premier League has to offer is a sign his methods are starting to work, but Liverpool’s manager will not forget it was a very different contest after Yarmolyuk’s red card for a butt on Jérémy Jacquet left Brentford trying to defend a 1-0 lead with 10 men for the entire second half.

Boos for Arsenal as draw with Birmingham extends winless WSL run
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

An equaliser from Olivia Smith averted defeat for Arsenal, but a home draw with Birmingham did little to calm fears for Renée Slegers’s future as Gunners coach. Boos accompanied the final whistle at the Emirates Stadium, as the result left Arsenal on six points from six matches and without a win in five Women’s Super League matches, the club’s longest winless run in WSL history. They are eighth in the table, nine points behind the leaders, Manchester City, who have played one game fewer.

Birmingham opened the scoring at the start of the second half when Océane Hurtré coolly tapped in after her run from the halfway line went unchecked. Alessia Russo had hit the woodwork in the first half with a diving header, among a slew of Arsenal chances as Sophie Baggaley was kept the busier of the goalkeepers.

Championship roundup: West Ham go second; Norwich beaten again
Posted on Saturday October 17, 2026

Mukasa’s first-half goal enough to beat leaders Swansea
Canaries suffer sixth straight loss; Watford beat Charlton

Nuno Espírito Santo was delighted West Ham finished a “demanding week” by toppling Championship leaders Swansea.

Divine Mukasa’s first-half strike in front of a record Swansea.com Stadium crowd of 20,973 gave the Hammers a 1-0 win and took them into second place and within a point of the league leaders. It was their second success in four days after a 6-0 romp at Lincoln, and ended a week that began with a 1-1 home draw against QPR following Jarrod Bowen’s last-gasp penalty miss.