4 h. ago Regis Le Bris: Fighting Sunderland players mustn’t have worked hard enough

Players and staff from both sides squared up to each other on the pitch at Craven Cottage after Sunderland’s third defeat of the campaign.

Sport

53 h. ago Regis Le Bris keeping quiet about transfers amid links to Matteo Guendouzi

Guendouzi made 82 appearances for Arsenal.

Politics

7 d. ago Fantastic Ford steers battling England past All Blacks in Twickenham thriller

England 33-19 New ZealandBorthwick’s side clinch a perfect 10 of successive winsA perfect 10 wins in a row is a reliable indicator of a team on the rise. What England really craved, though, was a statement victory to underline just how far they have come in the past 18 months or so. And on a dull grey November afternoon they finally secured it, beating a disappointed New Zealand for the first time in south-west London for 13 long years.They deserved it, too, storming back from 12-0 down to claim the kind of result that rewards all the painstaking hard work of both the players and the management. There were four English tries in all, including two in the final half hour from Fraser Dingwall and Tom Roebuck, as Steve Borthwick’s team become only the ninth England side to cut the All Blacks down to size. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago After hundreds of millions spent on players, what was Liverpool’s plan?

The defending Premier League champions spent big over the summer, but it’s hard to see how the new players fitSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereWhat was it supposed to look like? Amid all the talk around Liverpool and their disappointing form at the start of this season, that is perhaps the hardest question of all to answer. What were they trying to do? If it had worked, how would this team have played?The champions spent £424m (about $550m) on new signings in the summer, but if all had gone well, they would have spent an additional £40m ($53m) to land Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guéhi. The England international would, at the very least, have given an extra option at the back (the injury to Giovanni Leoni has diminished their defensive options further), allowing Arne Slot to rest Ibrahima Konaté, whose poor form continued in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. An early City penalty was a direct result of Konaté getting in Conor Bradley’s way as Jérémy Doku cut...

Economics

1 week ago After hundreds of millions spent on players, what was Liverpool’s plan? | Jonathan Wilson

The defending Premier League champions spent big over the summer, but it’s hard to see how the new players fitSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereWhat was it supposed to look like? Amid all the talk around Liverpool and their disappointing form at the start of this season, that is perhaps the hardest question of all to answer. What were they trying to do? If it had worked, how would this team have played?The champions spent £424m (about $550m) on new signings in the summer, but if all had gone well, they would have spent an additional £40m ($53m) to land the Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guéhi. The England international would, at the very least, have given an extra option at the back (the injury to Giovanni Leoni has diminished their defensive options further), allowing Arne Slot to rest Ibrahima Konaté, whose poor form continued in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. An early City penalty was a direct result of Konaté getting in Conor Bradley’s way as Jérémy Doku...

Economics

1 week ago Premier League table for most points won in injury time revealed after Arsenal are dealt late blow at Sunderland

SUNDERLAND have earned a new title this season, kings of scoring late. Brian Brobbey’s spectacular overhead equaliser against Arsenal was the fifth time the Black Cats have struck in added time, underlining their knack for last-gasp drama. Regis Le Bris’ promoted surprise package have already gained five points in added time from their first 11 matches, thanks to late...

Politics

1 week ago Sunderland boss reveals sneaky Arsenal tactic that helped end Gunners' winning streak

Sunderland ended Arsenal's sensational run of 10 successive wins by clinching a dramatic 2-2 draw, as they also became the first team to score against the Gunners since September

Politics

2 w. ago Regis Le Bris enjoys ‘good lesson’ for Sunderland as his Black Cats hold Arsenal

An entertaining tussle saw the high-flying club snatch a point against the league-leading Gunners.

Politics

2 w. ago Sunderland fight back with late Brobbey equaliser to hold leaders Arsenal

Maybe it should not have come as such a surprise that the team that was able to slow Arsenal’s title charge would be led by Granit Xhaka, their former captain. The substitute Brian Brobby scored an injury-time equaliser after second-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard had put the visitors in the lead following a first-half goal from the Sunderland captain, Dan Ballard.It was a rocky night for the Premier League leaders, but Arsenal have a seven-point advantage over Manchester City, who are at home to Liverpool on Sunday, and Sunderland, though Chelsea could cut the lead to six in Saturday’s later game. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Is Granit Xhaka fit to face Arsenal? Sunderland team news after Regis Le Bris confirms injury latest

Sunderland captain has discussed an emotional reunion with his former club

Events

2 w. ago Regis Le Bris hails Granit Xhaka influence as midfielder earns Sunderland point

Xhaka’s equaliser cancelled out Iliman Ndiaye’s opener for Everton.

Politics

2 w. ago Granit Xhaka pegs back Everton to deny Moyes winning return to Sunderland

David Moyes, the manager who oversaw a disastrous relegation for Sunderland eight years ago, found a very different club on his first return to the Stadium of Light. Back then, Sunderland were on a downward slope. Now, things are on the up.Régis Le Bris’ impressive Sunderland moved up to fourth place ahead of Saturday’s home game against Arsenal after a 1-1 draw against Moyes’ Everton side. A deflected strike from the impressive Granit Xhaka cancelled out Iliman Ndiaye’s brilliant opening goal. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Democrats should be taking the fight to Trump – the problem is, he’s got them battling each other | Jonathan Freedland

Elections across the US next week should be easy pickings for the opposition. But they’re finding it hard to beat a player who breaks all the rulesEvery year is election year in the US, but the contests of 2025, which reach their climax on Tuesday, will be especially revealing. These “off-year” battles – a smattering of governors’ races, statewide referendums and the election of a new mayor in the country’s biggest city – will tell us much about the national mood 12 months after Americans returned Donald Trump to the White House and one year before midterm contests that could reshape the US political landscape. Above all, though, they will reveal the division, the confusion and sheer discombobulation Trump has induced in the US’s party of opposition.The verdict on Trump’s first 10 months in office will be delivered most clearly in the two states set to choose a new governor: New Jersey and Virginia. By rights, these should be relatively easy wins for the Democrats. Both states voted...

Politics

3 w. ago Regis Le Bris, Sunderland and the new standard for teams promoted to the Premier League

Regis Le Bris' newly-promoted Sunderland are proving to be the standard-bearers for a trio of teams who are defying the patterns of previous Premier League seasons when promoted sides have struggled badly

Politics

3 w. ago Why Sunderland’s success matters for the Premier League at large

Recent history has seen all three sides promoted from the Championship be relegated the same season – Régis Le Bris’s side could break the spellSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereLast season, all three promoted sides in the Premier League were relegated. The season before that, all three promoted sides were relegated. The fear was that the gulf between the Premier League and Championship had become too big, with the increasing stratification of the English game essentially making it impossible for the promoted sides to survive, much less to thrive. It’s a self-perpetuating issue; the longer the other 17 remain in the Premier League, fattened on television rights, the harder it will be for teams coming up to make an impression.There was a need for the promoted sides to put up a better fight than they managed last season when, between them, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton collected just 59 points. Nine games into this season, not quite a quarter of the way through, Sunderl...

Politics

4 w. ago Chelsea: Regis Le Bris plays down Marc Guiu loan links as striker tipped for Sunderland return

The 18-year-old Spaniard was recalled from his loan to Wearside after less than a month

Events

4 w. ago World Series 2025 predictions: will the Dodgers repeat or the Blue Jays strike a blow for Canada?

It’s the Toronto Blue Jays and the LA Dodgers in the 121st Fall Classic. Our writers assess how it will be decided, who will shine brightest and the eventual championHe is and it’s hard to imagine that another player will even approach his accomplishments in this lifetime. In Game 4 of this season’s NLCS, he struck out 10 hitters over six shutout innings and hit over a quarter-mile’s worth of home runs. Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux may have summarized it best when said: “He kind of reminds you of Nolan Ryan, and then he reminds you of freaking Barry Bonds.” Gabriel Baumgaertner Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago The NBA jumped into bed with gambling. Now the league is getting its due

The arrests of a prominent coach and player on Thursday were depressing but it is hard to have sympathy with a league that has embraced gamblingThe NBA scoreboard has turned into a stock ticker. Crowd chants, but half of them are watching their parlays instead of the play. Somewhere a coach calls timeout; somewhere else a bookmaker grins. This was always coming. The NBA invited gambling to the game when it signed lucrative sponsorship deals and paved the way for odds and offers to be splashed over our TV screens during games. So when the FBI finally showed up on Thursday, they were simply collecting the rent.Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, whose playing career ended with his induction in the hall of fame, and Miami guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday in connection with an FBI investigation into allegations of illegal gambling and rigged poker games. Former player and assistant coach Damon Jones, who allegedly provided “inside information” about NBA games to bettors, was ...

Politics