Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Mateus Fernandes steels West Ham, Dominic Calvert-Lewin faces a homecoming and Manchester City need Marc Guéhi

• Top scorers: check out the latest standings

The absence of the wantaway Lucas Paquetá has given Mateus Fernandes a chance to take on more responsibility for West Ham. Paquetá, who is said to be nursing a minor back problem, was unavailable again for last week’s win against Spurs but Nuno Espírito Santo’s struggling side coped without the Flamengo target. They called on Fernandes to dictate the flow in midfield and the diligent Portuguese did not disappoint. Fernandes moved the ball cleverly, picked up an assist and looked like that rarest of things: a smart signing from West Ham. They will need the 21-year-old, who joined from Southampton for £38m last summer, to shine again with Paquetá looking unlikely to return against high-flying Sunderland at the London Stadium. Jacob Steinberg

West Ham v Sunderland, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Burnley v Tottenham, Saturday 3pm

Fulham v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Bournemouth v Liverpool, Saturday 5.30pm

Published: January 23, 2026, 12:00 am

Trinity Rodman stays in NWSL, signing record contract with Spirit

• US star will reportedly be world’s highest-paid women’s player

• Rodman turned down ‘compelling’ offers to leave

• Saga spurred debate around NWSL’s ability to keep talent

Trinity Rodman, the US national team forward, has signed a new three-year contract to stay with Washington Spirit and will reportedly be the world’s highest-paid women’s player.

The record deal, announced on Thursday, ends months of uncertainty around the 23-year-old’s future. Her previous contract – a $1.1m, four-year deal – expired in December and she was understood to have received lucrative offers from Europe, which the Spirit were unable to initially match under the NWSL’s salary cap rules.

Her new deal, which runs through the 2028 season, comes after the NWSL created a new “High Impact Player Rule” that permits clubs to spend up to $1m above the salary cap if the player in question meets any one of a specific list of criteria that demonstrates their star credentials, such as being named in the top 40 of the Guardian’s Top 100 women’s footballers for the past two years or finishing in the top 30 in the Ballon d’Or for the past two years.

There was a clear perception across the NWSL that Rodman staying with the league was crucial, following the high-profile departures of several of the league’s biggest names over the past 12 months, including Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson’s moves to Chelsea and – earlier this month – Sam Coffey’s headline-grabbing transfer to Manchester City.

“All of us are profoundly grateful that she has chosen to stay with us, despite some compelling alternatives,” Spirit owner Michele Kang said at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, before later adding: “I’m just very happy to tell you, I did deliver, didn’t I?”

Rodman, an Olympic gold medalist with the US in 2024, wore a jacket and tie as she signed her contract on stage along Kang. She has spent her entire professional career with the Spirit since the club selected her in the 2021 NWSL draft, winning a championship that season and reaching the final twice.

Published: January 23, 2026, 12:46 am

Players’ group’s $1bn breakaway tour plan pushes tennis to brink of civil war

• PTPA develops new Future Tennis blueprint for the sport

• Funding sought from investment banks for Pinnacle Tour

The players’ lobby group embroiled in a lawsuit with tennis authorities is seeking $1bn in investment to fund a radical restructure of the professional game based around a new Pinnacle Tour that would offer more prize money for the top men and women despite playing fewer tournaments.

In a direct challenge to the ATP and WTA tours, the Professional Tennis Players Association has developed a new blueprint for the sport, Future Tennis, that was sent to more than 20 investment banks and financial advisory firms on Tuesday.

Published: January 22, 2026, 5:27 pm

Why each playoff team can win the Super Bowl: Seattle’s defense to the good Drake Maye

One of the Broncos, Rams, Seahawks and Patriots will claim the championship in a few weeks. Here are the factors that will help decide the result

A month ago, the Rams looked like a near-complete team. Special teams aside, they had answers everywhere. Coaching. Quarterback. Playmakers. A defense that could steal a game if necessary. They’re still a formidable opponent, but cracks have started to emerge.

Published: January 22, 2026, 10:00 am

US chess star Daniel Naroditsky’s death was accidental, medical examiner says

• Report cites cardiac arrhythmia tied to sarcoidosis

• Drug use contributory but not fatal, examiner says

American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky died last year after suffering a sudden heart rhythm disturbance, with an underlying heart condition identified as the primary cause, according to a report released by North Carolina medical authorities.

The 29-year-old was found dead at his townhome in Charlotte in October 2025. At the time, police said his death was being investigated as a possible overdose or suicide, and no cause had been made public.

Published: January 22, 2026, 5:28 pm

Infantino jokes about British fans’ behaviour at World Cups and defends ticket prices

• Fifa chief says he has been ‘hammered’ for 2026 prices

• Fans’ group tells Infantino to focus on cheap tickets

Gianni Infantino made a joke about British football fans’ behaviour and defended ticket prices for this summer’s World Cup in North America during a speech to world leaders on Thursday.

Fifa’s president addressed concerns around the staging of this summer’s finals in the US amid rising domestic tensions there, telling the World Economic Forum in Switzerland how there had been “a lot of critics” before Qatar 2022.

Published: January 22, 2026, 7:49 pm

Naomi Osaka battles past Cirstea but emotions boil over in ‘fair play’ row

• Romanian player accuses opponent after defeat

• Osaka: ‘I don’t react well to being casually disrespected’

The courtside photographer pit was already full 10 minutes before call time on Thursday night inside Margaret Court Arena. As all cameras pointed directly at the players’ entrance, it was not difficult to understand why they were there.

A day earlier, Naomi Osaka had produced one of the enduring images of the 2026 Australian Open, marching on to Rod Laver Arena in an outfit inspired by a jellyfish. This time, before her gritty, contentious 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 second-round win over Sorana Cirstea, she left the hat and veil back in the locker room.

Published: January 22, 2026, 3:00 pm

Champions League review: Bodø/Glimt stun again as McKennie leads a Juve revival

Arsenal remained on top of the Champions League on the penultimate matchday of the group phase, which also featured a targeted Jude Bellingham celebration

• Jonas Gahr Støre, the prime minister of Norway and the recent recipient of a Nobel peace prize-related missive from Donald Trump, took in a Champions League match on Tuesday. Bodø/Glimt’s stadium is more than 700 miles from Oslo but the prime minister’s long journey proved well worth it. Bodø beating Manchester City 3-1, a first-ever win in the group stage, was Norway’s greatest club football triumph since Rosenborg beat – and knocked out – mighty Milan from the competition in December 1996.

Published: January 22, 2026, 4:43 pm

Europa League roundup: Tielemans and Emery clash as Sancho seals Villa progress

• Manager shoves his own midfielder in stoppage time

• Aston Villa into last 16 with victory at Fenerbahce

Aston Villa sealed a top-eight finish in the Europa League after Jadon Sancho’s first goal for the club gave them a 1-0 win over Fenerbahce in Turkey. But the Villa manager, Unai Emery, was involved in a touchline spat with Youri Tielemans after the midfielder was substituted in stoppage time.

Villa’s win was their sixth from seven European matches this season and ended Fenerbahce’s unbeaten home record. Sancho opened his account in Villa colours to put the visitors in the driving seat amid a loud Sukru Saracoglu Stadium atmosphere.

Published: January 22, 2026, 11:26 pm

Gibbs-White fails from the spot as Nottingham Forest pay for errors in Braga

Nottingham Forest’s first European adventure for almost 30 years was supposed to be a hoot but the mood music that accompanied a slender defeat in Braga felt rather alarming. The fact is Forest failed to perform and a stale display was typified by the chain of errors that culminated in the captain, Ryan Yates, scoring an own goal that proved sufficient to earn the hosts victory.

A swell of the 2,100 away fans who made the trip to northern Portugal relayed their feelings to Sean Dyche and his squad, jeering the players on several occasions. At full time the question on supporters’ lips was a slightly more direct version of: what on earth was that?

Published: January 22, 2026, 10:00 pm

Casemiro to leave Manchester United in summer, Chelsea want Douglas Luiz

• United midfielder, 34 next month, out of contract

• Juventus’s Douglas Luiz on loan at Nottingham Forest

Casemiro will leave Manchester United when his contract expires in the summer after the club decided not to trigger a one-year extension.

United have chosen to part ways at this point to allow time to shape their summer transfer strategy. There is an eagerness to refresh the midfield as part of a squad overhaul, the ambition being to recruit younger players for the long term.

Published: January 22, 2026, 4:57 pm

Leicester sign Switzerland forward Alisha Lehmann from FC Como

• Club continues January push for experienced players

• Kelly Gago wants to leave Everton, says Brian Sørensen

Leicester have signed the Switzerland forward Alisha Lehmann from FC Como. The WSL club have been targeting experienced players this month, having often had the youngest average age in the division in their starting XI this season.

Lehmann, who has played in England’s top flight for West Ham, Everton and Aston Villa, has 64 caps and was part of the Swiss squad at Euro 2025. She has signed a contract to 2028. “It feels like a homecoming, coming back to England, and I’m really happy,” she said.

Published: January 22, 2026, 3:00 pm

Laura Holden: ‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else’

The former Aberdeen midfielder, now with Swindon, opens up about the debilitating effect of suffering an ACL injury during her time in Scotland

“People need to know what happened,” Laura Holden says as she reflects on her difficult two years at Aberdeen when injury changed the course of her life. “It’s not all sunshine and roses. There are demons that just get brushed under the carpet without having the light shone on them.”

It has taken the Swindon Town midfielder time and a change of club to process everything that happened in Scotland. Holden joined the Dons in August 2023, determined to establish herself as a key player at one of the biggest clubs in the Scottish Women’s Premier League. But just six matches and 31 minutes into the first season, she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament away at Hibernian.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Published: January 22, 2026, 12:00 pm

Australia unveil Winter Olympics team with 15-year-old Indra Brown leading medal charge

• Group of 33 women and 20 men named for Milano Cortina Games

• Podium chances include veterans Jakara Anthony and Scotty James

Australia will send its strongest ever team to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics next month, with women making up almost two-thirds of the athletes including breakout star 15-year-old freeskier Indra Brown.

Team chef de mission, Alisa Camplin, will on Friday unveil a team of 53 athletes to compete in Italy – the second-largest Australian Winter selection, and 10 more than the team that brought home a record haul of four medals from Beijing.

Published: January 22, 2026, 10:56 pm

Braga 1-0 Nottingham Forest, Rangers 1-0 Ludogorets, and more: Europa League – as it happened

Rangers celebrated their first win of a troubled campaign while Forest missed a penalty and paid the price in Portugal

Fenerbahce have equalised against Aston Villa, with Kerem Aktürkoğlu getting it. It’s 1-1 in Turkey.

It’s now 2-2 in Bologna, the Englishman Jonathan Rowe has got the goal, cutting across the Celtic defence to score.

Published: January 22, 2026, 10:47 pm

‘We are cursed’: Thomas Frank fears Bergvall faces long injury layoff for Tottenham

• Midfielder suffered ankle knock against Dortmund

• Frank wants club to offer new deal to Mick van de Ven

Thomas Frank feels Tottenham are “cursed” with injuries after confirming Lucas Bergvall may face an extended period on the sidelines.

The 19-year-old midfielder will miss Saturday’s Premier League trip to Burnley after sustaining an ankle injury in Tuesday’s Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund, and there are fears at the club that he could be out for several months.

Published: January 22, 2026, 10:37 pm

Sri Lanka beat England by 19 runs in first men’s one-day international – as it happened

Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, England starting their innings well chasing a gettable target only for a middle-order collapse to stymie their hopes

1st over: Sri Lanka 7-0 (Nissanka 3, Mishara 4) This is the first time Overton has opened the bowling in an ODI. He starts with a short ball that is pulled smoothly for two by Nissanka. A single behind square brings the left-handed Mishara on strike; he’s beaten first ball, chasing a short delivery that snaps away off the seam.

Mishara gets off the mark with a cross-bat edge that lands short of Buttler and bounces through for four.

Published: January 22, 2026, 5:02 pm

England fall short as Harry Brook fails to fire in opening ODI defeat by Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka (271-6) beat England (252 all out) by 19 runs

• Kusal Mendis’s unbeaten knock of 93 proves vital

After a year in the job, it was on: a first one-day international victory away from home for Brendon McCullum as England’s head coach, a touch of joy in a troubling winter. With Ben Duckett and Joe Root hitting watchful half-centuries, the base was set on a turner, chasing a target of 272.

But the discontent continued as 129 for one turned into 165 for six, Sri Lanka’s spinners ripping everything apart under lights in the first of three ODIs. The left-armer Dunith Wellalage combined his 12-ball 25 with two wickets in the collapse as the hosts, chasing their ninth consecutive ODI series win at home, triumphed by 19 runs.

Published: January 22, 2026, 4:55 pm

Stan Wawrinka wins marathon against Gea to make grand slam history at 40

• First man in forties to reach slam third round for 48 years

• Swiss will face Fritz after beating Arthur Gea in five sets

Stan Wawrinka described his marathon second-round win at the Australian Open as a special moment in his career after becoming the first 40-year-old to reach the third round of a men’s grand slam in 48 years.

Wawrinka, who will retire at the end of the season, survived a five‑set epic against Arthur Gea of France, recovering from 2-1 down in sets to win 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) after 4hr 33min.

Published: January 22, 2026, 3:31 pm

Vonn, Shiffrin and Kim headline US ski and snowboard team for 2026 Olympics

• Lindsey Vonn set for fifth Games after comeback

• US Ski & Snowboard to send 97 athletes to Italy

• Nearly half of US roster are first-time Olympians

Lindsey Vonn will compete in her fifth Winter Olympics next month after being named to a 97-athlete US Ski & Snowboard roster for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, a team led by some of the most decorated figures in American winter sports history but also notable for its relative inexperience.

US Ski & Snowboard announced Thursday that it had nominated 97 athletes – 73 skiers and 24 snowboarders – to represent Team USA at the Games, which run from 6–22 February across northern Italy. The rest of the US team will be officially announced on Monday.

Published: January 22, 2026, 3:33 pm

Women’s transfer window January 2026: all deals from world’s top six leagues

Every deal in the WSL, NWSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

• Men’s transfer interactive – all the January deals

Published: January 22, 2026, 3:25 pm

Australian Open 2026: Sinner and Osaka advance, Bencic crashes out – as it happened

Jannik Sinner continued his title defence, Naomi Osaka won a tetchy contest and qualifier Nikola Bartunkova shocked Belinda Bencic

Cilic has punched his ticket into round three for the first time since 2022, with the 37-year-old and 2014 US Open champ taking out the 21st seed Shapovalov in straight sets. Decent win, that. He’ll face the winner of Casper Ruud v Jaume Munar.

Stan is still alive! He’s broken Gea in the final game of the fourth set to snatch it 7-5, finishing off with a vicious backhand winner down the line. It’s got to be one of the most devastating shots in tennis hasn’t it? I don’t think even Federer’s single-handed backhand quite had the equal beauty and brutality that Wawrinka’s does. They’re going to a fifth.

Published: January 22, 2026, 3:04 pm