SPORTS

  Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester City may trail Liverpool by two points in the early season running for the Premier League title, but opportunity knocks for the champions in a two-month stretch beginning with Saturday’s visit of Brighton to the Etihad. The visit of the Seagulls is the …

New York, United States | AFP |  US teen sensation Coco Gauff and top-ranked defending champion Naomi Osaka will meet in a third-round showdown Saturday at the US Open, each curious to test her game against the other. Japanese 21-year-old Osaka dispatched Poland’s Magda Linette 6-2, 6-4 while 15-year-old American Gauff …

Group A Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Real Madrid (ESP), Club Brugge (BEL), Galatasaray (TUR) Group B Bayern Munich (GER), Tottenham (ENG), Olympiakos (GRE), Red Star Belgrade (SRB) Group C Manchester City (ENG), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Atalanta (ITA) Group D Juventus (ITA), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Bayer Leverkusen (GER), Lokomotiv …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | Polish striker Robert Lewandowski will once again take centre-stage as Bayern Munich look to catch up with their Bundesliga title challengers with a home win over strugglers Mainz on Saturday. Two days after signing a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2023, …

Monaco, Principality of Monaco | AFP | Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk won the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award on Thursday, edging out Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while Lucy Bronze took the women’s prize. Dutchman Van Dijk starred as Liverpool won their sixth European Cup last season with a 2-0 Champions League …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester United cut their losses on Alexis Sanchez on Thursday as the Chilean joined Inter Milan on a 10-month loan deal with the English giants still on the hook for much of his reported £400,000 a week salary. The Red Devils believed they were closing …

Zurich, Switzerland | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandan long distance ace Joshua Cheptegei stepped up his preparations for next month’s World Athletics Championships with a great win in the final 5,000m race of the Diamond League in Zurich Thursday. Cheptegei made it look easy, speeding off from the start to beat …

New York, United States | AFP | Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic fought through shoulder pain to reach the third round of the rain-hit US Open on Wednesday while Roger Federer shook off another slow start to advance. Djokovic, winner of four of the past five Slam titles and 16 in …

Auckland, New Zealand | AFP |  All Blacks selectors backed star centre Sonny Bill Williams to help achieve an unprecedented World Cup treble in Japan but dumped veteran prop Owen Franks from their 31-man squad on Wednesday. The axing of 108-Test stalwart Franks was the major surprise, although the defending champions …

New York, United States | AFP |  Rafael Nadal launched his tilt at a fourth US Open title Tuesday with a swift defeat of John Millman as other leading seeds in his half of the draw tumbled out in the first round. Four players in the world’s top 10 — Dominic …