Carlos Sainz is adding a new role to his resume come the Las Vegas Grand Prix: party host. The Ferrari driver is set to throw his own glitzy bash for fans during the race weekend next month, affectionately named after him, called ‘Smooth Operator’. 

Fans will have the opportunity to celebrate Formula 1’s return to Sin City with the ‘Smooth Operator’ himself (he’s slated for a special appearance) at the 12-hour dance party November 22-23 at ALIBI Ultra Lounge in the ARIA Resort & Casino. Though, if you want to be “welcomed” by the Ferrari driver,  Sainz recommends keeping your phone and cameras in your pocket, after he shared with reporters Thursday that his post-Mexico celebrations at a club were a “bit annoying” with “15 cameras on you while just having a fun time.” 

Andrew Lanzino, who runs MGM Resorts’ citywide event strategy, said the entertainment giant partnered with Sainz in an effort to offer fans an experience “unlike any other race of the year.” He added, “We’re creating a variety of ways for [fans] to have the time of their lives.” 

Carlos Sainz will throw a party at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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Aside from Sainz’s dance party — a first for drivers to actually host these types of affairs with the series — MGM Resorts’ 2024 programming includes the Shoey Bar at the Bellagio, inspired by Daniel Ricciardo. In its debut year, the bar was visited by the likes of Eva Longoria, Jeremy Renner and Mark Wahlberg, all of whom took part in the celebration popularized by the Australian. 

And although Ricciardo won’t be racing in Vegas, he will be well-represented in spirit as his Enchanté clothing brand is set to host a pop-up shop at The Cosmopolitan following the success of his event in Austin, Texas earlier this month. 

F1’s new global sponsor, LVMH, has also partnered with the casino giant to host a Dom Perignon Champagne Lounge in front of the Bellagio Fountains at Terrazza di Sogno. Elsewhere in the Bellagio, Ferrari will welcome fans into a pop-up boutique featuring luxury leather accessories, one-of-a-kind items and signed collectible pieces. 

As Manchester United supporters prepare to welcome a highly-rated and talented coach from outside of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues who has analysts swooning, they may be worried that it all sounds a bit familiar.

But in Ruben Amorim, they can be certain that in one crucial aspect he won’t be anything like Erik ten Hag.

The defining complaint about the sacked Dutchman was that after two-and-a-bit seasons the football was still formless and the tactical direction indecipherable.

Amorim, who will leave Portuguese champions Sporting to move to Old Trafford next month, is nothing if not a diligent – and decisive – tactical thinker.

From a ruthless press to proactive possession football, from a daring high line to a complexly shape-shifting 3-4-3 formation, the hallmarks of Amorim’s football will be etched into muscle memory in detailed training sessions.

And there will be valid concerns. Most prominent will be how a Manchester United squad built in Ten Hag’s image will cope with the change to a back three and a tactical system entirely at odds with what came before. It won’t suit everyone.

With United posting a £113m net loss for 2023-24, a £15m compensation bill for sacking Ten Hag and paying at least £8m to trigger Amorim’s release clause, added to the £200m spent on summer transfers, the Portuguese is not likely to have much budget for January signings.

Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from Amorim’s appointment.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom goes in-depth to break down the biggest fights in the UFC. Today, he takes a closer look at the UFC Fight Night 246 main event between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi.

Brandon Moreno UFC Fight Night 246 preview

Staple info:

• Record: 21-8-2 MMA, 17-5 UFC
• Height: 5’7″ Age: 30 Weight: 125 lbs. Reach: 70″
• Last fight: Decision loss to Brandon Royval(Feb. 24, 2024)
• Camp: Team Moreno (Las Vegas/Mexico)
• Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
• Risk management: Good

Supplemental info:
+ Former UFC flyweight champion
+ Regional MMA titles
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
+ Multiple grappling accolades
+ 5 KO victories
+ 11 submission wins
+ 8 first-round finishes
+ Consistent pace and pressure
+ Accurate left hook
^ Coming forward or off the counter
+ Hard leg and head kicks
^ Works well off of the lead side
+ Improved wrestling ability
+ Good transitional grappler
^ Solid scrambles and submissions

Amir Albazi UFC Fight Night 246 preview

Amir Albazi

Staple info:

• Record: 17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC
• Height: 5’5″ Age: 31 Weight: 125 lbs. Reach: 68″
• Last fight: Decision win over Kai Kara-France (June 3, 2024)
• Camp: Fight Ready MMA (Arizona)
• Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
• Risk management: Good

Supplemental info:
+ Regional MMA titles
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt
+ Multiple grappling accolades
^ In and out of the gi
+ 5 KO victories
+ 9 submission wins
+ 9 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Solid sense of range
^ Good eyes in exchanges
+ Dangerous right hand
+ Hard leg kicks
+ Solid wrestling ability
+ Excellent transitional grappler
^ Superb back control

Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi point of interest: Flyweight fisticuffs

Jul 8, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Brandon Moreno (red gloves) fights Alexandre Pantoja (blue gloves) during UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The main event in Edmonton features a showdown between top-ranked flyweights, [autota]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] and Amir Albazi.

Although Albazi was a prospect who was initially hailed for his grappling accolades, the Iraq-born fighter has shown a natural aptitude for striking since stepping onto the UFC scene.

Albazi does well when it comes to keeping an active and educated lead hand, displaying a consistent feinting or prodding presence.

Offensively, this allows Albazi to connect punches and play off of prior work by hooking off of his jabs and so forth. Defensively, Albazi’s feinting presence helps draw out his opponent’s reactions which, in turn, can lead to some crucial counter opportunities.

Always dangerous to get too predictable with your head movement and counters. pic.twitter.com/iO7S5UaJWn

— Miguel Class (@MigClass) May 31, 2023

Albazi also appears to have excellent eyes in exchanges, which is something that surely contributes to his solid sense of range. I’ll be curious to see if Albazi looks to control leg kick traffic, but he, too, will need to be careful about the potential counters coming from Moreno’s way.

Moreno, who initially stepped onto the UFC scene as more of a grapple-first fighter, has since developed into a more complete and technical striking threat as he’s matured.

Still only 30 years of age, Moreno continues to display almost unshakable composure, win or lose, almost as if he’s determined to finish the fight stronger than his foe. But when you look beyond the brief, brash moments that allow his character to shine, you can see a more mature countering game at play.

Always a fan of the left hook (both coming forward and off the counter), Moreno does a much better job of variating both his timing and targets, often working them off of a jab. The theme of lead-side savvy travels fluently for the Mexican fighter in the way that Moreno attaches lead-leg kicks to his combinations when feeling in stride.

Moreno also has a knack for navigating extended exchanges, but I’m not sure how much he’ll want to do that given the potential level-changing counters that lay in wait.

Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi breakdown: Potential grappling threats

Aug 20, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Amir Albazi (red gloves) fights Francisco Figueiredo (blue gloves) during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

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Considering that grappling is a large part of Albazi’s game, do not be shocked if he is the first to engage in the grappling department.

As mentioned in the previous section, Albazi is a fighter who initially excelled in the grappling arts. A tenacious competitor, Albazi’s aggression shines through in transition – something he seems to be applying to his wrestling repertoire.

Even though Albazi has the athletic ability to shoot in the open, his more effective setups and takedowns seem to come against the fence or in the clinch. And since Albazi appears to have spent this last training camp at Fight Ready MMA, I suspect those takedown tools will only be sharper this Saturday.

Luckily for Moreno, the Mexican is far from a slouch in the grappling department.

Starting off his career as more of a jiu-jitsu fighter, Moreno smartly swam toward the wrestling side of things (from an offensive standpoint) after being afforded the chance to train stateside through the UFC’s former developmental program.

Although Moreno was still not beyond being taken down or scoring submissions off his back, he offered plenty of glimpses of improvement during his first run with the promotion.

Moreno has been much more aggressive on the feet during this second stint, but doesn’t seem to be ignoring the other parts of his game. As far as grappling and wrestling scrambles go, Moreno was able to come out on top of stanzas against some of the division’s best grapplers in Jussier Formiga and Askar Askarov (who he clearly beat, in my opinion).

But for as good as Moreno’s grappling is concerned, he may want to pick his spots wisely with a fighter like Albazi.

Albazi is an avid back-taker with fantastic controls from the rear mount. Whether Albazi’s opting to lock down opponents from safer rear-riding positions or utilizing crab rides to transition, the Iraqi-born fighter does a great job at staying behind his opponent’s knees and elbows whenever possible (a quiet key to look for in good grapplers).

Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi odds

The oddsmakers and the public favor the former champion, listing Moreno -172 and Albazi +134 via FanDuel.

Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi prediction, pick

Considering that Moreno is the more proven product (in general and over five rounds), it’s not a big shock to see the Mexican fighter favored in this spot. However, it’s hard to know exactly where either fighter is at this point in their career.

Outside of an insane slew of title fights since the pandemic, Moreno has also experienced multiple camp changes in said time. Whereas Albazi, who has had to overcome some recent health scares, has also shifted his training camp ahead of his contest.

The larger octagon and 25-minute time frame should favor Moreno on paper, but I worry that the Mexican fighter’s cage positioning puts him in prime operating space for Albazi.

Although Moreno is not beyond stepping on the gas and taking initiatives of his own, he traditionally likes to counter and can be pushed into playing between the fence and inner-black octagon lines.

Should Moreno allow Albazi to take the initiative early, then I suspect that Albazi can draw out the former champ’s hooks and get off takedown entries along the cage en route to banking some early rounds. And if Albazi shows the pacing improvements that typically come with the second swings at five-round affairs, then I believe we’ll be in for a competitive fight from start to finish.

Despite usually siding with the more proven products, I find myself fading my usual trends given how god-awful my picks have been this year. I wouldn’t mind being wrong as a fan of Moreno, but I’ll be semi-reluctantly siding with Albazi to edge out another decision by having the more effective grappling and landing the more eye-catching shots.

Prediction: Albazi by decision

Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi start time, where to watch

As the main event, Moreno and Albazi are expected to make their walks to the octagon at approximately 10:45 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 246.

WITH Saturday’s 11am deadline drawing near, Dream Team managers need to choose a captain (and vice captain) for Gameweek 10.

There are many, many gaffers who prefer to keep the armband on Erling Haaland (£8.9m) regardless of the fixtures and it’s difficult to argue with that approach given he averages 12 points-per-game this season.

However, could it be that Mohamed Salah (£7.4m) is actually the better option for the coming Gameweek?

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Manchester City are due to travel to Bournemouth and Sporting CP amid an injury crisis; Pep Guardiola claimed he had just 13 players available after his side’s midweek defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup.

The champions have a flawless record against the Cherries but Andoni Iraola’s side knocked off Arsenal in their last home game and held Aston Villa to a draw last weekend.

And it’s a bad time to visit the Portuguese champions as Ruben Amorim’s side have won all nine of their league games this season and remain undefeated in the Champions League.

Haaland is a prolific goalscorer who could easily make a mockery of this double header but with many of his providers sidelined it might be an opportune moment to captain somebody else.

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This is not to say Salah has exceedingly favourable fixtures.

Liverpool are due to face Brighton again after their 3-2 win in the Carabao Cup on the south coast, only this time on home soil.

The Seagulls are currently sixth in the table and are not to be underestimated but they tend to concede their fair share of goals and an injury to Lewis Dunk might render them more vulnerable than usual.

Arne Slot’s troops will then host Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.

The defending Bundesliga champions represent tough opposition but they’re not the all-conquering underdogs they were last season – they’ve failed to win half their league games this term and are already five points behind Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.

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What Salah has over Haaland is the luxury of back-to-back home games.

Liverpool boast such a strong record at Anfield and their Egyptian No11 remains the most potent threat – he’s racked up 133 points via eight goals and seven assists across the first nine Gameweeks of the season.

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Elsewhere, Bukayo Saka (£6.8m) is the most transferred-in player ahead of Gameweek 10 following his return to fitness and some Dream Team bosses may be tempted to strap the armband to Dream Team’s top midfielder.

However, like Haaland, Arsenal’s No7 faces back-to-back away games in the form of Newcastle and Inter.

The Magpies aren’t at their best right now but still those match-ups aren’t overly appealing.

Last week, we suggested Bryan Mbeumo as a strong captaincy choice for those who wanted to go against the grain.

Gaffers who took the risk were rewarded with a whopping 25-point return (doubled to 50!) from Brentford’s talisman.

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This week, how about Alejandro Garnacho (£3.9m) as a left-field skipper?

Manchester United’s 20-year-old winger banked 20 points in Gameweek 9 and registered the most shots on target among midfield assets this season.

The Red Devils will host Chelsea and PAOK in Gameweek 10 and if Garnacho starts both fixtures he could thrive again.

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Formula 1’s controversy over racing guidelines could be quickly put to bed if tracks had a rethink about gravel traps, claim a number of leading drivers.

The debate over F1’s Driving Standards Guidelines has erupted since the United States Grand Prix when a battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris exposed flaws in the system.

In particular, a clear onus on handing the advantage in a corner to the driver that reaches the apex first has opened the door for behaviour where some are now easing off the brakes early to ensure their nose is ahead – even if it risks them going in too fast and running wide on the exit.

Following discussions between drivers and the FIA in Mexico last weekend, a meeting has been scheduled for the Qatar Grand Prix weekend to try to revise the guidelines and get rid of any clear grey areas.

However, there is an alternative school of thought that has emerged – which is that if tracks had more natural deterrents against anyone running wide, such as grass or gravel traps, then the problems of drivers squeezing each other out and risking going wide removes itself.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton suggested in Brazil that one of the biggest differences in dictating the aggression of racing these days, compared to when he started, was that tracks allowed drivers greater freedom to get things wrong.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battles with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

“I think when I joined, we didn’t have these big run-off areas, so when you first get in, you really had to build up to the limit,” he said. “You couldn’t go beyond it, go off track and come back on.

“That’s the thing I noticed the most when, around maybe Max’s time or maybe just before, they started having these big run-off areas, where the younger drivers were able to come in and really abuse those areas and not put the car on the grass, for example.

“I think that gave them a real good cushion of bedding themselves into the sport and finding the limit as where, let’s say, like from Fernando’s time and before that, it was, you couldn’t go beyond the limit. You’re in the gravel.

“Pouhon, for example, Turn 10 in Spa, for example, there used to be grass right beyond the kerb and gravel, which was definitely worrying when you used to go into a corner like that.

“I would say that’s been the biggest shift. It would be great to see the old school sort of way come back if possible. Gravel traps or something like that. Maybe not safe, but we’ll see.”

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon said that, as someone who was not supportive of imposing too many rules on drivers, track limits were a critical factor in dictating how everyone behaved.

“I’m not a big fan of rules when it comes to the race itself,” he said. “It needs to stay safe, obviously that’s the main thing, but I think the first issues are the track.

“If you put grass or gravel, things would be very different. We’ve seen a lot less overtakes around the outside in Turn 3 at the Red Bull Ring for example, compared with places with easy places to go off like Austin Turn 12. That is where the thought process is going to go now.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, runs through the gravel

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

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Haas driver Kevin Magnussen felt that the current situation with the driver guidelines was ‘pretty messy’.

“I think the FIA is aware of that and looking to make changes,” he said. “They can see that it isn’t. It’s not great at the moment. There’s so much room to exploit these guidelines. They need to rethink it a little bit, go back to basics.”

And he concurred with his competitors that track design was a critical element to making improvements.

“The tracks make it incredibly hard because there’s all this run-off and you don’t even feel you go outside,” he said.

“Racing each other is too easy to just hang on to the outside. Then you try and have your front wing ahead at the apex, and again at the exit, and then try to make it look like you got pushed out.

“It’s all like it’s not real. You’re trying to make it look certain ways rather than just trying to get past.

“I just think that’s a shame, so gravel or something to deter on the outside of the track is going to help. And on those tracks I think they should just leave it to the drivers.

“Have a few rules like moving under braking and reacting to movement from the car behind. I think that’s going to need to be there. But the big problem is the tracks.”