The Detroit Lions, coming off a 24-14 road win against the Green Bay Packers, made a big move ahead of the trade deadline. On Tuesday morning, Detroit reportedly acquired veteran defensive end Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick.

It hasn’t been much of a secret that the Lions, who sit atop the NFC at 7-1, have been looking to bolster their pass rush as they aim to make a Super Bowl run. Last week, head coach Dan Campbell even hinted that Detroit could be close to swinging a deal. 

Not only did the Lions lose star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the season, but Marcus Davenport, John Cominsky and Derrick Barnes are on injured reserve as well. Hutchinson, who hasn’t played since Week 6, still leads the team in sacks with 7.5. 

The 32-year-old Smith could change that. This season, he’s started every game for the Browns, who fell to 2-7 on Sunday, and recorded five sacks and six tackles for loss. 

In his 10 seasons in the NFL, Smith has totaled double-digit sacks three times, most recently in 2022 with the Minnesota Vikings. This will be his third stop in the NFC North, after he spent three seasons with the Packers and one with the Vikings. 

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MANCHESTER City’s title bid is being derailed by the absence of a key player from last season.

And we’re not talking about injured midfield lynchpin and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.

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Because although the Spain midfielder was undeniably crucial to the triumphs of his club and country, Julian Alvarez was front and centre (and sometimes wide) in Pep Guardiola’s side in 2023/4.

And selling Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for a massive profit in the summer is no longer looking like quite as good a deal for City.

It was not only the Argentinian World Cup winner’s 11 goals and nine assists in 36 PL appearances that was important to City.

Nor was Alvarez just a useful replacement for Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne when they were injured.

The versatile star also gave Guardiola the freedom to rotate his attacking options during or between games, keeping them out of the “red” zone and giving them the chance to perform at their peak more often.

But Alvarez wanted to be the main man, playing regularly in a No 10 or No 9 role. That was not going to happen any time soon, so when Atletico offered him the chance to swap Manchester, where he had never really settled, for Madrid, he wanted the move.

And City regarded as good business a fee of up to £81.5m for a wantaway player who cost an initial £14m in 2022.

Yet Guardiola knew at the time that the sale of Alvarez could come back to bite his team, admitting “if we have many, many injuries it will be a problem”.

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Guardiola added: “Maybe it is a mistake, I don’t know, but I don’t like leaving players without playing for a long time. 

“When everyone is involved with a chance to play, the performance of the teams is always better.”

Unfortunately for City, they have a lot of players without a chance to play at the moment.

On the flipside, title rivals Arsenal are also feeling the effects of losing key players.

And the Gunners are more dependent on their starting 11 than City and so less equipped to cope with injuries.

Last season, four of Mikel Arteta’s squad played more than 3,000 minutes in the Premier League – William Saliba, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Magalhaes.

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Not a single City player did the same, with Rodri’s 2,937 league minutes putting him top of their workload charts but also behind Ben White (2,995) and only just ahead of Bukayo Saka (2,933).

Phil Foden, second in the City rankings with 2,865, would have been eighth in the Arsenal list.

The Gunners are undoubtedly suffering from the loss of injured captain Odegaard, whose skillset would be difficult for anyone to replace.

But a slight drop-off in form from 2023/4 ever-present Saliba and partner Gabriel is also being felt, because of injuries and a lack of match sharpness among the defensive cover.

Last weekend both Arsenal and City learned once more what can happen even to them if their best players are not fit and/or firing.

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For most of the defeat against Bournemouth, Guardiola’s men looked pretty toothless, with Haaland struggling to make an impact and a lack of options on the bench to replace him.

Andoni Iraola’s men were good value for their win.

And Arsenal gave one of their flattest performances of the last two and a bit seasons at St James’ Park, as hosts Newcastle deservedly completed back-to-back home victories over the Gunners.

At one point on Saturday, all three favourites for the title were losing.

But although Liverpool came back to beat Brighton and return to the top of the league, no one at Anfield will be complacent.

So far the Reds are coping well with the absence of the injured Diogo Jota, such is the array of attacking options that Arne Slot has.

Yet how would they perform if player of the season so far Ryan Gravenberch or Alexis Mac Allister were to be unavailable for an extended period, despite the good form of Curtis Jones?

And what if captain Virgil Van Dijk was out? When the Dutchman, like Rodri, suffered a serious knee injury that kept him out for much of the 2020/1 season, Liverpool’s title defence collapsed.

While Van Dijk and fellow centre back Joel Matip spent months on the sidelines, then Kop boss Jurgen Klopp desperately tried to plug the gap by moving central midfielders Jordan Henderson and/or Fabinho into the back four.

The entire balance of the team was thrown off and the Reds only just scraped into the top four.

City’s overall strength in depth and potential spending power in the January transfer window mean they should still be well capable of maintaining a title challenge. 

But in a battle that could come down to a handful of points, the sale of Alvarez, as much as Rodri’s injury, may prove crucial.

Nate Diaz gave a fan a pair of autographed gloves and also threw in a few hands and a takedown for good measure.

A brief spar went down between Diaz and a fan after the UFC star was stopped in the street and asked to sign some gloves. Diaz agreed, but only if the fan agreed to meet him in honorable combat.

See video below, courtesy of Championship Rounds (originally posted to Diaz’s Instagram Stories).

The fan appeared to be inspired by Shara Magomedov’s recent double backfist knockout as he attempted the maneuver twice in the clip, much to Diaz’s amusement. Diaz is all smiles as he playfully swipes at the fan before later taking the fight to the ground.

Diaz is then seen mimicking some vicious ground-and-pound before helping the fan up and presumably accommodating his autograph request.

In other words: Just another day in the life of the Diaz brothers.

Prema Racing will field Robert Shwartzman alongside Callum Ilott for its maiden IndyCar campaign in 2025, bringing together two drivers the Italian squad had success with in junior formulas.

This is a new career path for Shwartzman, who won the FIA F3 championship in 2019 and was the F2 runner-up in F2 two years later – both times with Prema – but never made it to the Formula 1 grid.

Having been an F1 test then reserve driver for Ferrari in the last three years, Shwartzman raced for the prancing horse with affiliated outfit AF Corse in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in 2023.

The 25-year-old subsequently joined the WEC’s Hypercar class this year in a Ferrari 499P, winning at Circuit of the Americas with team-mates Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye while taking ninth place in the drivers’ standings.

Shwartzman now takes on a new challenge in IndyCar and is aware that mastering many new tracks as well as the team’s Chevrolet-powered Dallara will put him to the test.

“Everything will be new to us and there will be many challenges, but it will also be a lot of fun and a lot of work at the same time,” the Russian-Israeli said. “I think a very successful future lies ahead for us.

Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“IndyCar is a very competitive series, with so many strong drivers, and I’m looking forward to the racing, as it looks really cool.

“I have never driven on ovals and to master them, it will be a completely new challenge.

“However, with Prema we achieved a lot in the past, and I think that my F1 and endurance experience will be helpful to make us evolve fast and get up to speed quickly.”

Prema team owner Rene Rosin branded Shwartzman “an extremely talented driver”, adding: “I think that, by working together, we will be able to overcome the steep learning curve that lies ahead of us.”

Meanwhile, Prema’s IndyCar CEO Piers Phillips concurred: “Robert has a very impressive resume and has been competitive everywhere he went, from single-seaters to GT and prototypes.

“We think his skills and versatility will help him considerably, and will also help our team to learn faster and be more efficient.”

Ireland back Eimear Considine has announced her retirement from rugby aged 33.

Considine, who grew up playing camogie and gaelic football in her native Limerick, only took up rugby at the age of 23 when she moved to Dublin.

She was recruited into the Ireland Sevens programme and went on to make her 15s debut in 2017.

A regular at both full-back and wing for Ireland, she sustained an ACL injury in the 2022 Six Nations and welcomed her son, Caolan, in January 2023.

Considine faced a further spell away from rugby with an second ACL injury, but a strong return to action with Munster earned her a call up for September’s game with Australia.

She scored on her first appearance in more than two years as Ireland shocked the Wallaroos in Belfast, and was key as Scott Bemand’s side then stunned New Zealand in WXV1 later that month.

Considine’s final Ireland try came in her penultimate match against Canada, and she lined out in green for the 29th and final time against the USA in October.

“At the age of 23, I was given an opportunity to play rugby. I had no idea back then of the incredible journey that lay ahead,” Considine posted on social media.

“But now, after 10 years, I feel it’s time that the journey ends.

“To all my coaches throughout the years at Bohs, Munster, and Ireland, thank you for backing me. To all my team-mates, I have made friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

“To all the supporters, you’ve been there through thick and thin and I look forward to joining you from here on out.”

Shavkat Rakhmonov is willing to save UFC 310, preferably by fighting for the interim welterweight title.

Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was scheduled to challenge champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in the Dec. 7 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but Muhammad was forced out due to a bone infection in his foot.

Having not competed since submitting Stephen Thompson this past December at UFC 296, undefeated Rakhmonov is eager for his title opportunity. He suggested an interim welterweight title fight vs. former champ Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC).

“I believe there are worthy opponents available,” Rakhmonov said through an interpreter on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I’m ready to save the card too if it’s for the interim belt. I believe Usman is a worthy opponent who’s going to be ready to jump in to face me.”

Rakhmonov’s manager, Sayat Abdrakhmanov, revealed that the UFC is currently working on finding him an opponent for UFC 310.

“Right now, negotiations are going on,” Abdrakhmanov said. “Obviously there’s talking. I don’t know if they are talking to someone else, but I’m sure they offered it to Kamaru, too.”

Muhammad dismissed the idea of an interim title, claiming that he only needs six weeks to heal. Rakhmonov expects Muhammad to be out for longer than that and thinks winning the interim belt would only make their fight bigger.

“We don’t know when Belal is going to be back,” Rakhmonov said. “These kind of injuries, infections, they might say it’s six weeks, but look at JDM (Jack Della Maddalena). It took him a lot longer. It’s good for Belal, too, because it’s going to make the fight bigger. It’s going to be champ vs. champ, so whenever Belal is ready, after I secure the interim title, I’m going to fight him.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.