Pep Guardiola says people expect to see Manchester City wiped “off the face of the Earth” amid the ongoing hearing into the club’s 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.

Champions in six of the past seven seasons, City could, in theory, face a points deduction serious enough to condemn them to relegation – or even expulsion – from the Premier League, if found to have breached regulations.

City strongly deny all charges but Guardiola believes their Premier League rivals want to see them punished.

In pursuit of a fifth successive league triumph, they host title rivals Arsenal on Sunday (16:30 BST), one week into the expected 10-week hearing.

Guardiola addressed the hearing unprompted while answering a question about the tendency of people to overly criticise isolated bad performances.

“During a season, you can say, ‘Oh, it was a bad season’. But for performances some people say, ‘Oh, it’s a disgrace, it is a disaster, it’s unacceptable,” Guardiola said.

“No, during 90 minutes it’s one bad afternoon when they were better.

“But I would say – I’m sorry, I want to defend my club, especially in these modern days when everyone is expecting us not [only] to be relegated, to be disappeared off the face of the Earth, the world – that we have better afternoons than the opponents. That’s why we win a lot.”

It is alleged City breached the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club has won eight league titles, multiple cups and the Champions League since their 2008 takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

City were charged and referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.

The loaded UFC 307 lineup will see the return of UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo, who makes his second appearance since returning from retirement earlier this year when he takes on another up-and-coming name in the bantamweight division in Mario Bautista.

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista preview

After teasing a move to boxing after fighting out of his contract in May with a win over Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Aldo (32-8 MMA, 14-7 UFC) opted to ink a new deal to stay inside the octagon, and the former longtime UFC champ appears poised to try to make another title run at 135 pounds.

To do that he will have to get through the surging Bautista (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who is riding a six-fight winning streak that positioned him to get a step up in opponent name value to Aldo.

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista odds

DraftKings released the opening odds for the bout, in which Aldo is a +145 betting underdog against Bautista, who is a -175 favorite.

How to watch Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista at UFC 307

• When: October 5
• Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
• Broadcast/streaming: ESPN+ pay-per-view

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Alphonso Davies set to leave Bayern Munich on a free transfer, Napoli and Inter Milan target Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu and Manchester United interested in ‘new Jude Bellingham’.

Bayern Munich have given up hope of extending Alphonso Davies’ contract past the summer, with Real Madrid keen on the 23-year-old Canada defender. (Relevo – in Spanish), external

Arsenal and Japan defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, 25, has attracted interest from Napoli and Inter Milan. (Calciomercato – in Italian), external

AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca, whose side play rivals Inter Milan on Sunday, says he is not thinking about speculation over his future after his side’s poor start to the season. (Football Italia), external

Liverpool boss Arne Slot says the club have “moved on” from failing to sign 25-year-old Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad in the summer. (Mirror), external

Liverpool are progressing with contract talks for 27-year-old Colombia winger Luis Diaz despite frustrations with the player’s representatives over the summer. (Teamtalk), external

Espanyol keeper Joan Garcia says he was not distracted by interest from Arsenal in the summer, although the Gunners could make another move for the 23-year-old Spaniard in the January transfer window. (Mirror), external

With Ulster’s fortunes at the scrum not improving in the early moments of the second half, Murphy replaced both his starting props, bringing on Tom O’Toole and Andy Warwick to try and steady the ship.

Glasgow would see a Rory Darge score ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up and, despite being the better side, as the game neared the final quarter, still only led by two.

Tom Jordan’s yellow card for a dangerous ruck entry gave Ulster a way back into the game with the numerical advantage sparking their best passage of the game.

But while they forced Glasgow into yet more penalty concessions, eventually drawing a yellow for Richie Gray, they were held up over the line when attacking against 13.

Jordan returned but, after a full 15 minutes of pounding the Glasgow line, Ulster eventually found a way over with Dave McCann crashing over a mass of bodies to ground the ball.

But Glasgow struck back almost immediately, with Kyle Steyn finishing off a move in which Franco Smith’s side made light of their numerical disadvantage.

With Gray returning to the field just as replacement Adam Hastings added the extras, Ulster were left needing a try in the final moments.

After four full minutes of added time, they thought they had it when Shanahan found the whitewash but the drama was not yet finished.

A lengthy discussion between the officials to ascertain whether Shanahan had knocked on before grounding followed with the decision to award the score sparking huge celebration in the stands.

Ulster: McIlroy; Lowry, Moore, Postlethwaite, Stockdale; Morgan, Doak; O’Sullivan, Andrew, Barrett; Henderson (capt), Treadwell; McNabney, McCann, Timoney

Replacements: McCormick, Warwick, O’Toole, Sheridan, Izuchukwu, Shanahan, Humphreys, Kok

Glasgow: McKay; Cancelliere, McDowall, Tuipulotu, Steyn (capt); Jordan, Dobie; Bhatti, Matthews, Talakai; Williamson, Gray; M Fagerson, Darge, Venter.

Replacements: Hiddleston, McBeth, Z Fagerson, Samuel, Brown, Ferrie, Afshar, Hastings.

Yellow cards: Jordan, Gray

Referee: Adam Jones

Benetton: Rhyno Smith; Louis Lynagh, Malakai Fekitoa, Marco Zanon, Onisi Ratave; Jacob Umaga, Andy Uren; Mirco Spagnolo, Siua Maile, Nahuel Tetaz, Scott Scrafton, Eli Snyman (capt), Alessandro Izekor, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi.

Replacements: Marco Manfredi, Destiny Aminu, Riccardo Genovese, Riccardo Favretto, Sebastian Negri, Alessandro Garbisi, Leonardo Marin, Paolo Odogwu.

Scarlets: Tom Rogers; Ellis Mee, Macs Page, Johnny Williams, Blair Murray; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies (capt); Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Sam Wainwright, Alex Craig, Max Douglas, Taine Plumtree, Jarrod Taylor, Vaea Fifita.

Replacements: Ryan Elias. Sam O’Connor, Gabe Hawley, Jac Price, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Efan Jones, Charlie Titcombe, Jac Davies.

Referee: Ian Kenny (SRU)

Assistant referees: Fillipo Russo (FIR), Franco Rosella (FIR)

TMO: Dave Sutherland (SRU).

Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler might not be dead just yet.

The road to that matchup has seen numerous bumps over the course of the past two years, with the rivals serving as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 32 and then being scheduled for UFC 303 this past June, only to see their fight fall through when McGregor withdrew due to injury.

Chandler has since been booked for a rematch with Charles Oliveira, which takes place at UFC 309 on Nov. 16. As for McGregor, he and UFC CEO Dana White finally seem to be in agreement that “The Notorious” won’t be seen in the octagon again until next year.

“It will be 2025,” McGregor said in an interview with DAZN during the Joshua vs. Dubois broadcast. “We’ll see. My opponent that I had scheduled, Chandler, has gotten matched. It is what it is. I just take it on board and just rock on. My job is just to go to the gym, be in the gym, be in shape, and one thing is for sure, whenever it is and wherever it is, I’ll be 100 percent ready. That’s all I can focus on right now.”

With Chandler occupied for the moment, it appears that McGregor has to set his sights on a new opponent. While he’s keeping his options open, he wants it to be known that Chandler is not out of the picture.

“Who knows nowadays?” McGregor said. “It doesn’t matter, it does not matter. Just as long as I can get back, whoever. I’d like it to be Chandler. I’d like to get that squared away, so I wish him well against Oliveira, but let’s see how it goes.”

McGregor, 36, has spoken openly about having only two fights left on his UFC contract, and once those bouts are completed he’ll be free to pursue any other combat sports interests that he wants. In addition to being a member of the UFC roster, McGregor also currently serves as a part owner of BKFC, a bare-knuckle boxing promotion he has expressed interest in competing for as well.

All he can say for sure is that he would like to conclude his time with the UFC in 2025. After that, it’s anybody’s guess as to what MMA’s biggest draw will do next.

“I must,” McGregor said. “It’s the promised land, so we’ll see. I don’t even know. No one in the space knows. I’m the highest-generating fighter on planet Earth right now in today’s space and what happens afterwards, as I’m a free agent, I’m not so sure.”