MANCHESTER UNITED legend Ruud van Nistelrooy remains the red hot favourite to replace Erik ten Hag as the club’s manager.

That’s according to bookmakers talkSPORT BET, who’ve updated their latest betting odds following the news that Thomas Tuchel has been appointed England manager.

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Tuchel, 51, was previously second-favourite at 9/4 for the United job but the club’s hierarchy will now have to look elsewhere.

And the odds suggest they’re looking in the direction of four bosses with Van Nistelrooy, Gareth Southgate, Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna at the top of the markets.

That said, another international break has come and gone with Ten Hag still in charge at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman was backed with around £200million this summer, but results and performances remain typically uninspired.

The 54-year-old has overseen a disastrous start to the 2024-25 campaign having won only three of his 11 competitive matches.

Manchester United have league wins over Southampton and Fulham, and sit 14th in the division with eight points from a possible 21 – four ahead of winless Ipswich Town.

Only promoted Southampton have scored fewer than United’s five league goals, while Ten Hag’s side have the seventh-highest xGC (expected goals conceded) in the Premier League.

Ten Hag is the odds-on favourite to be the first Premier League manager of the season to receive his marching orders, so let’s take a closer look at who could replace him.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

• Current role: Manchester United assistant manager
• Odds for Man Utd job: 2/1

Was brought in as assistant manager with an improvement in the forward areas expected.

While that’s proved a difficult task, he could yet take on an even bigger role in replacing his fellow countryman.

United legend, Van Nistelrooy was brought in over the summer as part of the backroom staff but has been strongly linked with the main hotseat after this poor start.

Management experience at PSV.

Gareth Southgate

• Current role: Unemployed
• Odds for Man Utd job: 4/1

Gareth Southgate’s name has been well-linked with this job pretty much all year.

The former England boss was reportedly the number one choice of Sir Jim Ratcliffe during his takeover process, with new technical director Jason Wilcox also a fan.

Stepped down following a dismal Euro 2024 campaign and yet to find a new management role since.

He’s also worked with sporting director Dan Ashworth at the FA, which also sways things in his favour.

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Michael Carrick

• Current role: Middlesbrough manager
• Odds for Man Utd job: 5/1

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick appears to be the main beneficiary from Thomas Tuchel leaving the managerial race.

Carrick, 43, won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during his 12 years as a player, making 464 appearances between 2006 and 2018.

His odds have HALVED from 10/1 to 5/1 over the last 24 hours.

No doubt his CV has improved during his spell at the Riverside after a fourth-placed finish and a Carabao Cup semi-final – but it doesn’t really compare with that of a Tuchel.

Kieran McKenna

• Current role: Ipswich Town boss
• Odds for Man Utd job: 10/1

The Ipswich boss was well in contention for both the Chelsea and Brighton roles over the summer but neither move materialised.

Instead, penned new deal at Portman Road and has steadied the ship after a difficult start to the season, when losing to Liverpool and Manchester City in opening two weeks.

His style of play at Ipswich was one thing but back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League has shown he’s a winner and puts him in the shop window for a host of top clubs.

Has worked at United in their academy previously so should have some idea of the job at hand.

Other Man Utd next manager contenders

GRAHAM POTTER (10/1) dominated this particular market for the majority of last season.

Potter, who also has previous of working with Dan Ashworth at Brighton, has remained out of work since his sacking from Chelsea at the beginning of last year though and recently broke silence on links with United.

Has met owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and no surprises should his odds shorten again if a job here becomes available.

THOMAS FRANK (14/1) saw considerable support in the summer and could be one United look at again if continued success in current role.

The Dane revealed he was really happy at Brentford as the season kicked off and they’ve started season reasonably well.

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LAS VEGAS – Dana White would rather UFC Hall of Famer Donald Cerrone didn’t come out of retirement.

Cerrone (36-17-2 MMA, 23-14-1 UFC) announced that he plans on competing two more times in the UFC to reach his 50-fight milestone under the Zuffa banner, including his time in WEC. White is a big fan of “Cowboy” but not a fan of his desire to fight again. If it’s about money, White is willing to work something out with Cerrone.

“I hate it,” White said after Dana White’s Contender Series 76 on Tuesday. “Love him, hate that. He retired. It’s just for what? What’s left to prove? If you want to make money, let’s figure something else out. I hate it. When guys retire, they retire for a reason. They retire because they know it’s over. I think that – not just this sport but any professional sport, it’s hard to walk away from. Not just the money, that’s obviously a very hard part of it, but the feeling of walking out of that tunnel, the feeling of getting in the cage, and the place is packed.

“Every time we’re at a show, when you show ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone on the screen, the place goes nuts. He’s beloved. He’s beloved because the guy goes to war, and he’s been in wars for years. It’s time to not go to war anymore, man. There’s nothing left to prove for him.”

Cerrone hung up his gloves in July 2022 after a submission loss to Jim Miller at UFC 276. The former title challenger was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023.

Match of the Day presenter and former national team captain Gary Lineker says England have an ‘elite manager’ in Thomas Tuchel.

The German has been appointed England manager from 1 January 2025.

READ MORE: Tuchel hopes to make England’s World Cup ‘dream come true’

A new fight has been added to the upcoming UFC Macau card as Nikolas Motta faces off with Maheshate as part of the promotion’s return to China on Nov. 23.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday with bout agreements issued in the lightweight matchup.

Motta, a five-fight veteran of the UFC, returns to action after scoring an impressive finish over highly-touted prospect Tom Nolan in just 63 seconds back in January. That victory brought Motta’s UFC record to 2-2 with one no-contest along the way.

He’ll attempt to score back-to-back wins for the first time since joining the UFC roster when he meets Maheshate, who gets the chance to fight in his home country when he returns in November.

A Contender Series veteran, Maheshate defeated known finisher Steve Garcia in his UFC debut back in 2022 but then suffered losses in his next two fights. He got back on track with his most recent fight where he defeated Gabriel Benitez in April.

Now Maheshate meets Motta in a lightweight showdown as part of the UFC Macau card headlined by former champions Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo meeting in a key matchup in the bantamweight division.

NEW YORK — Typically, when Aaron Judge connects on a high fastball, there is little doubt about how far it will go, and where it will land. But lately, the results of his at-bats haven’t been as much of a foregone conclusion. 

Not only was the Bronx crowd unsure whether Judge’s fly ball would go out as it traveled toward the deepest part of Yankee Stadium in the seventh inning Tuesday night, even his own teammate of seven years wasn’t convinced. Gleyber Torres, who was on base with a single, tagged up at first as the entire stadium held its breath. By the time the ball landed beyond the wall, Judge had already caught up to Torres at first base, barely a step or two behind him. He let Torres start jogging before beginning his home run trot.

“He did that this year earlier, too, so I was pretty pissed then,” Judge quipped of Torres tagging up. “I was pretty pissed again. … You never know, when it’s windy like this, what the ball is going to do in center field. He’s trying to get into scoring position. So I let this one slide.”

First baseman Anthony Rizzo joked that he expected better from Torres.

“I’m a little disappointed in Gleyber for not knowing Judge’s pop there,” Rizzo said while smirking. “We were ribbing him a lot about that. It’s a big swing for Judgey. He’s had really good at-bats and come up in big situations. To get the home run, it was a really easy swing, and he’s the best in the business at that.”

Judge’s two-run shot in the seventh inning of the Yankees‘ 6-3 win over the Guardians marked his first home run of this postseason. Before Tuesday night, his last playoff home run was in Game 5 of the 2022 ALDS — also against Cleveland. He had gone 35 postseason at-bats without a homer, and boy would the Yankees be thrilled if the worst is finally behind him. 

The Yankees captain entered Game 2 of the American League Championship Series batting .133 (2-for-15) with a .564 OPS and just one RBI across five playoff games this fall. This wasn’t the first time in his career he went from being a nuisance in the regular season to a lesser concern in the playoffs. After crushing 62 home runs in an MVP season in 2022, Judge went 5-for-36 with three RBIs and two walks over nine games that October. Until he got the monkey off his back Tuesday night, Judge’s playoff slide had reached the point where even the opposing team wasn’t so afraid of the mighty slugger.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt went so far as to pull the ultimate insult in the second inning when he opted to intentionally walk Juan Soto to load the bases for Judge. The decision seemed to bewilder Judge’s teammates in the Yankees dugout. Anthony Volpe waved his arms in front of him and declared, “No way! No way!” Jazz Chisholm stared into Cleveland’s dugout with wide eyes, in apparent disbelief. 

“That’s super disrespectful,” Chisholm told FOX Sports of intentionally walking Soto ahead of Judge. “It’s Soto, we understand he’s playing great and everything. I mean, I would walk Soto in any other situation. But it’s an insult there.”

Left-hander Nestor Cortes added: “That’s crazy. You’re intentionally walking Soto to pitch to the MVP.”

Judge, who responded by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field and padded New York’s lead to 3-0 in the process, downplayed Cleveland’s decision. He said he didn’t take it personally and joked that he “would probably walk Soto, too, at this point.” But Judge’s teammate Oswaldo Cabrera told FOX Sports he thought the intentional walk to Soto might have woken Judge up. Cabrera believes Judge wants those types of moments to remind himself he’s the captain of the Yankees and provide another edge to his at-bats.

Judge being woken up out of his postseason slumber should petrify opposing teams, particularly because the Yankees were managing just fine without him hitting the cover off of the ball. The Bronx Bombers comfortably dismissed the Royals in the ALDS, and they had a 4-2 lead against Cleveland on Tuesday before Judge raised the decibel level in the seventh inning. Though he has helped out and has had better swings and productive at-bats, New York has now cruised to a 2-0 lead in the ALCS against the Guardians without Judge’s heroics. 

That is to say, Judge is warming up at exactly the right time. If the Yankees take care of business the rest of this series — and all signs are flashing that they will — then they will need the monster, MVP version of Judge to win against more potent offenses in the World Series. The National League Championship Series features two more formidable lineups than Cleveland’s, and whichever team comes out of that alive knows it will need to mash against the Juan Soto and Judge-powered Yankees. 

“Always a matter of time with Aaron,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Definitely good to see him put one in the seats and really give us a cushion there.”

The Guardians — not to mention the Dodgers and the Mets — can only hope Judge is not just getting started.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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A BRITISH Olympic swimmer is facing jail after he raped two schoolgirls and forced them to have sex with “strange” men.

Former Team GB star Antony James groomed the girls, who were under 16, to satisfy his “perverse sexual needs”.

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The predator tried to claim the sex attacks were consensual and boasted in vile detail about tying one of his victims up.

James, 34, also bragged about “threesomes” and told jurors how he “strangled” the girl, claiming: “She made me do it”.

But the jury saw through his web of lies and today found him guilty of three rapes and three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child.

He was also convicted of two charges of causing or inciting a child into sexual activity.

The fiend, who was also a trainee police officer, was told he is facing a “substantial sentence of imprisonment”.

James targeted the victims between 2012 and 2022 and was training with Devon and Cornwall Police when he was arrested.

The force confirmed he no longer works for them.

James was cleared of three other charges and the jury failed to return verdicts on six other sex charges, which included five counts of rape.

The prosecution has been given a week to decide whether James will face a re-trial on those counts.

James was bailed ahead of his sentencing later this year.

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist competed in the 2012 London Olympics where he was in the individual 100m butterfly.

He was also British National Senior Champion for 100m butterfly for four years in a row.

James represented Team GB at the European Championships in 2011.

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