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Mikel Arteta defended his decision to play Bukayo Saka as the Arsenal winger limped out of their Champions League defeat to Lens. The Gunners had taken the lead through Gabriel Jesus but Adrien Thomasson levelled following a David Raya error before Saka hobbled out of the game. Lens would go on to win 2-1 courtesy of a second-half strike from Elye Wahi but it was the injury to Saka that will have concerned Arteta more. Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City visit the Emirates Stadium in five days and Saka’s involvement is now in doubt with the England forward having been forced off in the last three games. Asked if he regretted picking Saka following his issues against both Tottenham and Bournemouth, Arteta replied: “No. It was a knock that he had the other day and he was perfectly fine. It was a back-heel, an action that can produce that kind of injury. “Let’s see what the extent of it is and afterwards it’s too late. The last few were more knocks than anything else. “He hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford (in the Carabao Cup) last week and that was all. “He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and felt something muscular. He felt uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off. “We don’t know anything more. It was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that’s a worry for us. “He was really looking forward to playing like every player. It was a big Champions League night. I painted a picture and the type of scenario we were going to face today and they all knew about it. “But this Champions League is so difficult to win away from home. Today we take a big lesson.” The defeat ended a forgettable 24 hours for Arsenal after bad weather grounded Arteta and his players at Luton airport for five hours on Monday as their journey to France was delayed. Now their hopes of avoiding a bumpy ride in qualifying for the knockout stages have also suffered a setback after a turbulent night at a rocking Stade Bollaert-Delelis. “No, let’s not put excuses,” Arteta said when asked if the preparations for the game had impacted on a poor team performance. “First of all, congratulations to Lens. They are a really good side. Really well coached. We knew it was going to be a really tough match. “In the boxes we had four or five chances we didn’t put away and we didn’t defend the boxes well enough. “It’s true there were moments in the second half we struggled to be more threatening in the final third and find spaces. “They defended with those numbers really good. That’s something to take for the next game.” Lens had started the season slowly but won their two Ligue 1 games leading into a first Champions League home game in 21 years and defender Kevin Danso was delighted with the outcome. “We gave it our all today in front of our own fans,” he said. “It was a difficult game, Arsenal had a lot of quality and made us sit back really deep, but we kept defending and kept our concentration. Luckily we won the game. “At home we know how strong we are, in front of our fans. That’s what we always try to do: win at home. I’m a bit gutted about the clean sheet, but we’ll take the three points definitely.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants Spurs clash replayed over VAR blunder George Turner knows Scotland must find their ‘best performance’ against Ireland Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw is an injury doubt for crucial Scotland clash

Mikel Arteta defended his decision to play Bukayo Saka as the Arsenal winger limped out of their Champions League defeat to Lens. The Gunners had taken the lead through Gabriel Jesus but Adrien Thomasson levelled following a David Raya error before Saka hobbled out of the game. Lens would go on to win 2-1 courtesy of a second-half strike from Elye Wahi but it was the injury to Saka that will have concerned Arteta more. Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City visit the Emirates Stadium in five days and Saka’s involvement is now in doubt with the England forward having been forced off in the last three games. Asked if he regretted picking Saka following his issues against both Tottenham and Bournemouth, Arteta replied: “No. It was a knock that he had the other day and he was perfectly fine. It was a back-heel, an action that can produce that kind of injury. “Let’s see what the extent of it is and afterwards it’s too late. The last few were more knocks than anything else. “He hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford (in the Carabao Cup) last week and that was all. “He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and felt something muscular. He felt uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off. “We don’t know anything more. It was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that’s a worry for us. “He was really looking forward to playing like every player. It was a big Champions League night. I painted a picture and the type of scenario we were going to face today and they all knew about it. “But this Champions League is so difficult to win away from home. Today we take a big lesson.” The defeat ended a forgettable 24 hours for Arsenal after bad weather grounded Arteta and his players at Luton airport for five hours on Monday as their journey to France was delayed. Now their hopes of avoiding a bumpy ride in qualifying for the knockout stages have also suffered a setback after a turbulent night at a rocking Stade Bollaert-Delelis. “No, let’s not put excuses,” Arteta said when asked if the preparations for the game had impacted on a poor team performance. “First of all, congratulations to Lens. They are a really good side. Really well coached. We knew it was going to be a really tough match. “In the boxes we had four or five chances we didn’t put away and we didn’t defend the boxes well enough. “It’s true there were moments in the second half we struggled to be more threatening in the final third and find spaces. “They defended with those numbers really good. That’s something to take for the next game.” Lens had started the season slowly but won their two Ligue 1 games leading into a first Champions League home game in 21 years and defender Kevin Danso was delighted with the outcome. “We gave it our all today in front of our own fans,” he said. “It was a difficult game, Arsenal had a lot of quality and made us sit back really deep, but we kept defending and kept our concentration. Luckily we won the game. “At home we know how strong we are, in front of our fans. That’s what we always try to do: win at home. I’m a bit gutted about the clean sheet, but we’ll take the three points definitely.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants Spurs clash replayed over VAR blunder George Turner knows Scotland must find their ‘best performance’ against Ireland Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw is an injury doubt for crucial Scotland clash

Chelsea, Man City and Real Madrid are being kept informed of Alphonso Davies' situation, with Bayern Munich keen to tie him down to a new contract. The Canadian's current deal is up in 2025.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has called for their match against Tottenham to be replayed due to the glaring VAR error which cost them the opening goal. The fall-out from the VAR failure in Saturday’s defeat – in which officials wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal due to a misunderstanding of the on-field decision – is still being felt. The Premier Game Match Officials Ltd released the audio conversation between officials and the VAR after a request from Liverpool, but Klopp said that had made little difference to their thinking. “The audio didn’t change it at all. It is an obvious mistake,” he said. “I think there should be solutions for that. I think the outcome should be a replay. “The argument against that would be it opens the gates. It is unprecedented, it has not happened before. “I’m used to wrong and difficult decisions, but something like this never happened and so that is why I think a replay is the right thing to do.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

After a so-so start to the Thursday night schedule, this week's matchup could either be really good or another snoozer.

By Alun John and Naomi Rovnick LONDON (Reuters) -An unrelenting selloff in world government bonds drove U.S. 30-year Treasury yields

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has recalled Jamal Lewis and Callum Marshall to his squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against San Marino and Slovenia. O’Neill’s side play San Marino and Slovenia in a Group H double-header on October 14 and 17 respectively, with both games at Windsor Park. Newcastle defender Lewis, on loan at Watford, missed last month’s defeats in Slovenia and Kazakhstan through injury. Striker Marshall has forced his way back into O’Neill’s plans after scoring nine goals in 12 appearances for West Ham Under-21s. Midfielders Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock) and Paddy Lane (Portsmouth), defenders Eoin Toal (Bolton) and Brodie Spencer (Motherwell) and QPR winger Paul Smyth have all retained their places in the squad. Oxford defender Ciaron Brown has not been included after sustaining injury against Slovenia last month, while Blackpool striker Shayne Lavery and Portsmouth winger Gavin Whyte have also been left out despite recently returning from injury for their clubs. O’Neill will be without defender Craig Cathcart, who announced his retirement last month, while experienced midfielders Steven Davis (Rangers), Corry Evans (Sunderland), Stuart Dallas (Leeds) and Shane Ferguson (Rotherham) are still recovering from long-term injuries. Liverpool wing-back Conor Bradley and Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly are also unavailable through injury. Northern Ireland’s qualification hopes are over after O’Neill’s injury-hit squad slipped to five straight group defeats and the former Stoke boss is now building for the future. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Joao Felix has cited style of play as the key differences between Barcelona and his former club Atletico Madrid. The forward has joined Barca on loan for the 2023/24 season.

Grimes sues Elon Musk over parental rights, Kevin McCarthy ousted as Speaker of the House, Royce Lewis led the Twins to a playoff win and more in the Roundup.

A review of how VAR is used in the English game is under way after miscommunication between officials led to a Liverpool goal being wrongly disallowed on Saturday. Here, the PA news agency provides an update on where we are. What happened? On-field referee Simon Hooper and his assistants flagged Luis Diaz offside after he fired in what would have been the opening goal in the Reds’ Premier League match at Tottenham on Saturday. Crucially, VAR Darren England thought the on-field decision had been onside. So although he followed the correct procedure in drawing lines and identifying that Diaz was onside, by telling the on-field officials “check complete” they thought their decision to give offside had been upheld by the check. Only in the seconds which followed did the VAR operators realise their error, by which time play had restarted. Current protocols do not permit a decision to be revisited once that has happened. How did Liverpool react? The club issued a statement on Sunday night saying that sporting integrity had been undermined by the error and that they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. The club requested – and were sent – the audio of the incident before it was released publicly on Tuesday evening. What happens next? The first thing to say is that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted on Saturday evening that a “significant error” had occurred. As well as standing down England and the assistant VAR Daniel Cook for duties on Sunday and Monday, plus the weekend to come, it has identified some “key learnings” from the incident. These include the development of a new communications protocol to enhance clarity between referees and VARs. Phil Bentham has been brought into PGMOL from rugby league to improve communication between officials and will no doubt be key to this work. VARs will now also confirm the outcome of their check with their assistants in the booth, before relaying the final decision to on-field officials. PGMOL and the Football Association will also review the policy allowing officials to be involved in domestic league matches overseas, after England and Cook were part of a team which oversaw a game in the United Arab Emirates last Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning. What has the Premier League said? The league issued a statement saying that the Diaz incident highlighted “systemic weaknesses” in the VAR process and said a wider review to seek consistently-higher standards would now take place. Besides improving communication between officials, what else could change? The incident has led to renewed calls from fans and pundits to allow the conversations between VARs and referees to be broadcast live. Eighty per cent of fans supported this being introduced in a Football Supporters’ Association survey published in the summer and the boss of TNT Sports – one of the league’s key broadcast partners – said in July it was a “huge missed opportunity” not to have such a system in place. While the Premier League has never publicly given its view on live audio, it was part of a World Leagues Forum poll published in June which found 25 out of the 41 leagues surveyed supported its introduction. Crucially though, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which sets the game’s laws, is understood not to have received any requests so far in the current cycle to trial a live audio system. What about in-stadium announcements like we had at the Women’s World Cup? To date this has been a FIFA-only trial, but IFAB is prepared to open it up to allow other competitions to take part. However, the announcements are limited to decisions where an on-field review is conducted by a referee at a pitchside monitor. Offside decisions such as the Diaz incident are not checked in this way. What about semi-automated offside? This is in operation in a number of major competitions, having first been trialled at the men’s World Cup in Qatar. However, the Premier League has so far opted not to introduce it. It can also be argued that it would not have helped in a situation like Diaz – the existing technology was used to identify that Diaz was onside, the mistake was human error, pure and simple.

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan The eye-watering surge in long-term U.S.

TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan's money market data showed on Wednesday that Japan likely did not intervene in the