Enzo Maresca will love working with Elliot Anderson at Manchester City, according to his former coach. The Blues have agreed a deal with Nottingham Forest for £116m and the midfielder is expected to complete his move after a medical in the coming days.

Ange Postecoglou spent a brief period working with Anderson at Forest last season and was seriously impressed by a player that he believes can still get significantly better. While the former Newcastle youngster has a fixed role for England, Postecoglou has seen Anderson show what he can offer across the midfield.

“He’s outstanding,” Postecoglou told ITV. “From the outside you know there’s a talented player but when you work with him on a daily basis you realise that he’s got two or three levels in him still. He’s very, very focused as a young player, he can probably play every midfield position in a three.

“I think England suits him with a fixed position. At Forest he was trying to do everything at times because he has that capability. From the moment he got into the England set-up, he’s been really disciplined. Thomas Tuchel really trusts him and when you gain the trust of a manager, especially at international level… and he’s made a big move now to City. He’s definitely an Enzo Maresca player, he will love having him in that group.”

Anderson has already impressed City royalty in Ilkay Gundogan, although the Galatasaray midfielder does not believe that the 23-year-old will arrive at the Etihad as a superstar despite the premium price. Gundogan picked out Anderson’s performances against City last season in what was a breakthrough year for the player.

“I think he has proven it, especially last season with Nottingham Forest,” he told ESPN. “He played an incredible season, he had some outstanding performances – also against City – and he had a quite impressive development over the years. I’m quite sure that he will make a great addition to the City squad.

“I wouldn’t say he’s the big name. He’s someone that everyone knows but I don’t think that they’re signing him as a superstar, they are signing him as a team player. He’s expensive but this is the Premier League, where the best play. It’s quite normal now. The sums are still huge or sound huge but it’s now the market.

“People pay it and they have to pay it for a certain quality. I’m quite sure that the people in Manchester will be very happy because when you watch him play you feel like it is someone that sacrifices everything for the team and that’s what you want to have as a teammate.”

Home-game victories are the foundation of a college football program’s success and often correlate with teams at the top of the standings.

The tables below show the wins, losses, and win percentages for the region’s top programs over the last 10 seasons.

Oregon leads the way, followed by Utah, BYU, Washington and Boise State.

Home Winning % and Records by Program from 2021-2025

Michael Kent Jnr is seeing enough positives to anticipate an improved showing from Biancelli at Caulfield this Saturday, despite the barrier draw not being in her favour.

The once promising filly will be seeking her first win in over a year in the $130,000 Tobin Brothers Celebrating Lives F&M BM84 Handicap, run over 1100 metres.

This four-year-old, a daughter of Cosmic Force, is second-up after finishing third with 57.5kg over 1050 metres in Adelaide on May 30. Her previous start was a fourth placing in the Listed Black Pearl Stakes (1200m) at Geelong on January 3.

The mare faces the second-widest gate in a field that has been reduced to 12 runners following the early scratching of Grassmere Diamond. However, Kent is pleased to see her step up slightly in trip and carry 1kg less weight.

The Flying Star Syndications mare was kept sharp with a 800m jumpout at Cranbourne on June 15, which she won while being held together.

“She gave way for race fitness first-up, she’s four weeks fitter now and had a tick-over trial between that went well,” Kent, who trains in partnership with Mick Price, stated.

“There are a few positives for Saturday. She’s going to present much fitter, I think 1100 is a nice journey for her and she’s going to drop in weight.

“We’re hopeful more than confident, but I think she’ll run a much better race than she did first up.”

The Black Pearl Stakes represented Biancelli’s first unplaced run, after she had strung together three consecutive wins to commence her career. Her last victory was the third of those wins, a benchmark 64 event for three-year-olds on the Caulfield Heath track on May 7 last year.

Since then, she has had only four starts, including two narrow second placings in Saturday grade races to begin her previous campaign. Kent remains optimistic that more wins are in store for the mare.

“She’s had a couple of little niggles and we’ve given her time, but I think she’s still a mare on the up,” he said.

Beau Mertens is booked to ride Biancelli, who is in a betting contest with Delicate Lady and Takeko for the second line of favouritism behind the clear market leader, Next Stop Iowa.

Betting markets for the race are now open with online bookmakers.

Belgium topped Group G with a 5-1 win over New Zealand at the World Cup on Friday, overtaking Egypt for a spot as they played to a 1-1 draw with Iran in a simultaneous kickoff.

Leandro Trossard scored a brace for Belgium while star Kevin de Bruyne added a third by the 66th minute, the European side set for a commanding win – and their first of the tournament after consecutive draws against Egypt and Iran. Elijah Just pulled one back for New Zealand in the 84th minute but subsequent goals from Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Saelemaekers ensured Rudi Garcia’s side would not be too troubled en route to the knockouts. The scoreline reflected a performance in which the Belgians outshot their opponents 35 to six and racked up 3.65 expected goals to New Zealand’s 0.25.

Belgium’s goal difference ultimately saw them overtake Egypt, who entered Friday’s games in first place with four points, while the European side had only two. Egypt picked up an additional point with a draw against Iran, though Iran played well – they may have been outshot 15 to 12 but Iran’s chances were of a higher quality, ultimately tallying 1.83 expected goals to Egypt’s 0.81. Mohamed Salah, Egypt’s top all-time World Cup goalscorer, only took one shot on a day Iran’s defense limited their attacking efforts.

Belgium and Egypt both advance as the group winners and runners-up, respectively, while Iran will have to wait until the conclusion of Saturday’s games to see if their three points from three draws will be enough to see them through the knockout stages. Belgium are likely to face South Korea, the third-place team from Group A on Wednesday at Seattle’s Lumen Field, while Egypt will take on Group D runners-up Australia on July 3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The results mean Belgium are now on a collision course to face the U.S. men’s national team in the round of 16, should both teams advance past their round of 32 fixtures. The USMNT are slated to face Bosnia and Herzegovina, a World Cup newcomer, on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco suburbs.

If Belgium do face the USMNT, the game would be a rematch of March’s friendly between the two sides. The USMNT scored first but went on to lose 5-2 after being tied at 1-1 at halftime, the game unraveling quickly as Belgium scored three goals in 15 minutes. Weston McKennie and Patrick Agyemang, the latter of whom picked up a long-term Achilles injury before the World Cup, scored that day for a U.S. team that saw some rotation. Only six players that have started a World Cup game so far started against Belgium in the friendly in March, the possibility likely that a very different version of the USMNT would play that day if both teams advanced.

It would also mark the first World Cup meeting between the teams since a round of 16 matchup in 2014, when Belgium beat the USMNT 2-1 at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil, in extra time. The teams were tied 0-0 after 90 minutes but the floodgates opened after the fact, De Bruyne and Lukaku scoring for the Belgians before the oft-forgotten Julian Green scored his only World Cup goal. In that game, Tim Howard set the World Cup single-game saves record with 16. The two nations also met at the 1930 World Cup, the first ever edition, with the U.S. winning 3-0.

Agit Kabayel has issued a statement after being made to wait until the 11th hour for confirmation on Oleksandr Usyk’s championship status.

The mandatory challenger has held his WBC ‘interim’ title since February 2025, back when he stopped Zhilei Zhang with a punishing sixth-round body onslaught.

Since then, Kabayel has been clamouring for his rightful shot at the full title, while keeping himself busy with a third-round finish over Damian Knyba last January.

The WBC then finally ordered Usyk to defend his belt against the unbeaten German, shortly after the Ukrainian’s 11th-round stoppage of Rico Verhoeven last month.

Both sides were given a deadline of June 30 to negotiate a deal, otherwise their mandated fight would go to purse bids.

It has now been confirmed by Usyk himself, however, that he has decided to relinquish his WBC, IBF and WBA heavyweight titles.

The 39-year-old announced this news via a social media post on Friday, but insisted that he will remain in the sport for at least one more fight.

In response, Kabayel took to Instagram to congratulate Usyk on a phenomenal career, despite having been made to wait all this time for an announcement.

“A true champion is defined by his actions both inside and outside the ring. Usyk has won everything there is to win, fighting the best and proving his greatness time and again.

“By putting down the belts, he once again shows his class. He isn’t holding the division back – he’s giving the next generation its chance.

“Of course, I wanted to share the ring with him one day, but I have nothing but respect for everything he has achieved. I wish him and his family nothing but the best.

“I hope I’ll be there for your last dance and have the chance to pay tribute to an outstanding career. From today on, I’ll stop pushing the horses … Because one thing is certain: I am ready to take over.”

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As the WBC ‘interim’ champion, Kabayel will secure a shot at the vacant world title in his next outing, which is likely to arrive against the next available contender later this year.

Jamie George has criticised his Saracen’s team-mate Totoa Auvaa’s “unacceptable” behaviour after the Samoan was involved in a nightclub incident with England cricket captain Ben Stokes and bowler Gus Atkinson.

Stand-in England rugby captain George, who has 110 caps, said the academy player is like “a rabbit in the headlights in London” and the 21-year-old “doesn’t know right from wrong” but insisted he was a “good kid”.

Earlier this week, Saracens said forward Auvaa would not face any formal sanctions following their own investigation into the incident on 8 June.

They said while the incident was “regrettable for all parties involved” the Prem Rugby club “remains supportive of the player”.

England cricket captain Stokes and bowler Atkinson breached their team’s midnight curfew when they were out celebrating victory in the first Test earlier this month.

They were present when a member of England’s security staff was left bloodied and in need of medical attention when he was struck by Auvaa.

“He’s a young kid who has only left Samoa once,” George, 35, was quoted as saying by The Times and The Telegraph.

“He is immature. He is a rabbit in the headlights in London. He’s a good kid, but he’s got it wrong. There’s no disputing that. But we need to make sure that we establish that sort of behaviour is unacceptable.

“There’s also a bit of me that thinks we’ve got to look after him because he doesn’t know right from wrong at the minute.

“We’ll look after him. We will make sure that he’s got role models around him.”

Stoke and Atkinson were made unavailable for England’s second Test defeat pending an inquiry into events.

A disciplinary hearing by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) found Stokes and Atkinson had breached “contractual obligations” but were blameless for “violent conduct” and the pair were given a written warning with no further action.

A separate inquiry by the Cricket Regulator found there was no case to answer because of insufficient evidence.

“No blame should be attached to the players for violent conduct at the nightclub,” said the ECB.

“Stokes was not involved in the altercation and did not witness either incident.

“The evidence the ECB has seen demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate on either occasion.”

Saracens criticised the ECB for not involving them in the process.

Croatia and Ghana will clash in Group L to decide who joins England into the 2026 World Cup knockout stage.

England missed out on the chance to top the group with a game to spare when they were held to a drab goalless draw by Ghana last time out, but will be expected to seal first place against already-eliminated Panama after having their progression confirmed by results elsewhere.

Everything is still all to play for between Croatia and Ghana, though, with it very much possible that both progress to the round of 32.

Their match will kick-off simultaneously with England’s at 10pm on Saturday 27 June, which could allow for some seismic shifts in the standings if Panama do manage to stun Thomas Tuchel’s men.

Here’s everything you need to know about Group L’s knockout round permutations:

What do Croatia need to qualify?

Croatia will feel they must avoid defeat to progress to ensure they don’t suffer an early elimination from this year’s tournament, which would act as a damning fall from grace following a semi-final finish in 2022 and a stunning run to the final in 2018.

A win will see them leapfrog Ghana into second while a draw will be enough for them to finish among the eight-best third-placed teams.

What do Ghana need to qualify?

Ghana are already into the round of 32 after racking up four points from their first two games, meaning they will at the very least go through in third. Any result other than defeat, however, will ensure they finish in the top two.

If they manage to record a heavy win over Croatia and England don’t do the same against Panama, then they may even top the group. That would be an attractive proposition given that Portugal may await Group L’s runner-up.

Head-to-head prominence over goal difference

If teams finish on the same number of points their standing in the group will be determined by the head-to-head record against the nation they are level with. If one team tied on points with another has beaten them in the group stage, the winners will finish higher up the table.

Where multiple teams are level on points, a mini-league is created, removing the results against the remaining teams. Those tied teams are ranked by points won in the games involving each other, then by goal difference, followed by goals scored. If that does not split them, the next criteria is goal difference followed by goals scored for the group overall.

Any other tiebreakers?

If teams are still level on points following head-to-head results, goal difference and goals scored then the Team Conduct Score (TCS) comes into play. It is basically a fair play score and is rated based on the amount of cards a team has collected. Each team, including managers and backroom staff, started on zero and were deducted points throughout the group stage as follows:

The closer to zero, the better the score. If the teams are still level, whoever had the higher Fifa ranking in June’s published update will go through.

How are the top eight third place finishers determined?

The top eight third place finishers will be decided on which teams have accumulated the most points.

Should eight or more nations finish third with the same number of points, the nations who progress will then be determined by goal difference.

In all likelihood, teams that finish third with four points or higher will go through, the teams on three points will need the best possible goal difference to progress.

Oleksandr Usyk has made a major decision regarding his unified heavyweight world titles.

Usyk is a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion, but he was left with the WBC, WBA and IBF belts after vacating his WBO title late last year.

The Ukrainian was last in action in May when he was involved in a surprisingly competitive affair with kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven, but with a queue of mandatory challengers now building, Usyk had to act quick to decide his next move.

He has now finally revealed what he plans to do, posting on social media to make the huge announcement that he will be vacating all of his titles.

“Today is Friday, the weather is beautiful and It’s a good day to say that I want to vacate all the belts I currently hold. I want to make them available to the guys next in line who can fight for them.”

Despite vacating his titles, Usyk confirmed he isn’t retiring and will still fight again.

“I’m leaving the belts but I’m not leaving the sport because I still have a last dance. I have great respect for the organisations and I want to thank them. There’s more to come.”

It should now lead to Agit Kabayel being elevated from WBC interim champion to full champion, while WBA Regular champion Murat Gassiev may receive the same treatment.

In the IBF rankings, Frank Sanchez is placed at number one, while Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic are ranked at 3 and 4 respectively ahead of their clash in August, so could also benefit from Usyk’s decision.

As for the Ukrainian, with no governing bodies to answer to, it could pave the way for a rematch with Verhoeven after their meeting last month.