Manchester United have just two weeks and two games left to prepare for the new season and if Michael Carrick had arrived in Gothenburg with a good idea of how his team were shaping up, he will head to Ireland for a training camp with a couple of unwanted concerns back on the agenda.

Carrick’s team selection against Paris Saint-Germain felt like it gave us a few clues ahead of the Premier League campaign. Ayden Heaven and Harry Maguire continued at centre-back, despite Leny Yoro no longer being needed on right-back duty, while Andrey Santos and Mason Mount continued their own partnership in midfield, with Youri Tielemans forced to wait for his first appearance.

The decision to continue with those partnerships looked like the strongest evidence yet of Carrick’s thinking for the trip to Hull City, but in pre-season, the best-laid plans can soon change, and midway through the first half in Gothenburg, they were, if not in tatters, then at least subject to a rethink.

Heaven, 19, had looked assured so far this summer, but he was caught out for Ibrahim Mbaye’s goal and then showed his inexperience with a poor pass to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and a rash attempt to make up for it. Worse was to follow when Mount took a knock to the foot and decided he couldn’t continue.

The former Chelsea midfielder has been the standout star of pre-season and he’s been so impressive that plans to sign a third midfielder this summer have been reconsidered. But Mount’s fitness record is always a concern and two weeks out from the start of the season, this was a worry Carrick could have done without.

Tielemans only made his first appearance for the club later in the second half, and one sharp pass to Bruno Fernandes caught the eye, while Kobbie Mainoo will return to training next week. Any absence for Mount would leave United short in midfield and contemplating entering the market again.

His early departure felt like a reminder of the need to strengthen further. United will be back in the Champions League this season and eyeing up a 60-game campaign. They arguably need five midfielders anyway, and Mount’s early withdrawal here should sharpen minds in the recruitment department at Old Trafford.

But on the pitch, United have made progress and they were the better side against PSG, although the obvious caveat is that they are further along in pre-season. One area of concern will be how they start games and for the second week in a row, they fell behind early in Sweden.

PSG only played their first friendly on Wednesday, losing 3-0 to Mallorca, and only arrived in Gothenburg on Saturday morning. It took just 101 seconds to shake off the rust.

Noussair Mazraoui was sucked up the pitch by Kvaratskhelia and left space in behind down the left, which Dro Fernandez darted into. His low cross caught Heaven out and gave Mbaye a tap-in. Kvaratskhelia then forced Tom Heaton into a low save straight from kick-off.

But United gradually settled and ended the half strongly. Bryan Mbeumo scored twice in Stockholm last week and continued to look the part as a No.9 here after a slow start.

He twice tested Matvey Safonov with free-kicks and then equalised after sharp work from Amad. The quality of the Ivorian’s pressing has been a feature of the last two weeks and he won possession high up the pitch again before finding Mbeumo, who drilled a low finish across Safonov.

More smart link-up play between Mbeumo and Amad ended with the latter testing Safonov as the attack began to click into gear. Mbeumo was suddenly at the centre of everything, bringing another save out of Safonov after a brilliant pass from Maguire.

United looked the likelier to win it. Tyler Fletcher had two close-range efforts blocked in the final moments and Fernandes fired an effort just wide.

The captain will be a certain starter at Hull, as will Maguire, who was a major positive here. At one point in the second half he strode through the PSG midfield before firing a shot at Safonov and he ended the game making runs into the centre-forward position to try and win it. His passing was excellent throughout.

Around him, there are debates still to settle, and some have been reopened by events in Gothenburg. United have two games and two weeks to go until the real business begins.

Bangladesh suffered a major setback ahead of their Test series against Australia after they were dismissed for just 54 in their second innings, handing the Cricket Australia XI an innings-and-38-run victory in a three-day warm-up game on Saturday. Left-arm pacer Campbell Thompson was the chief destroyer for the hosts, finishing with 8/25 as Bangladesh’s batting collapsed in just 17 overs on the third morning. Bangladesh had resumed their second innings with two wickets already down and needed to produce a strong response after conceding a 92-run first-innings lead. However, they failed to withstand the CA XI attack and were bowled out before lunch. Tanzid Hasan was the only Bangladesh batter to cross the 10-run mark, scoring 22.

Thompson, a 22-year-old South Australian who had played only one first-class match before this game, took the first five wickets to fall in the second innings after beginning the damage late on the previous day.

Off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli briefly interrupted Thompson’s run by taking a wicket, adding to the six wickets he had claimed in Bangladesh’s first innings.

Thompson then returned to finish the job. He dismissed Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto for a duck after trapping him lbw and ended the match by taking the final two wickets with successive deliveries.

“Sometimes you get lucky. It fell my way today, which was nice. It’s always a good experience and opportunity to come and play against a Test side a few days out from a series. Then to play alongside experienced Aussie guys as well, like Kurtis Patterson and Corey Rocchiccioli and stuff like that. So, just involving myself around these guys has been awesome,” Thompson said after the match.

The CA XI had earlier posted 355 in their first innings, with opener Sam Wyllie leading the way with 130. Kurtis Patterson contributed 53, while Doran scored 76. Hasan Mahmud was Bangladesh’s most successful bowler with 4/42.

Bangladesh managed 263 in their first innings, largely because of an unbeaten 109 from Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The visitors had struggled at the top of the order before Mehidy’s innings helped them reach a competitive total.

Rocchiccioli claimed 6/83 in that innings, while Thompson’s second-innings burst ensured Bangladesh could not force the CA XI to bat again.

For Bangladesh, the defeat comes at an important stage of their preparations. They now have four days to regroup before facing Australia in the first Test.

The series will be Bangladesh’s first Test tour of Australia in 23 years, with the visitors set to face a formidable pace attack featuring Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Bangladesh will need a significant improvement with the bat after their collapse in Darwin if they are to compete against Australia’s Test attack.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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One of the best offensive tackles in recent NFL history is likely to hang up his spikes after the 2026 season. Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson told reporters Saturday that the upcoming season will likely be his last in the NFL. Johnson missed a few practices in recent days for personal reasons and told reporters that he feels the pull of off-field responsibilities. Johnson also said he felt it was important to go public with his retirement plan, “to put [his] mind at ease,” per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Looking like this is probably, potentially going to be, probably my last year, just because I had gotten to that point of those priorities away from football are starting to merge,” Johnson said, according to The Athletic. “Not that I don’t enjoy (it) — I love everything about this game and preparing for it — but that’s where I’m at in my career. Looking forward to this year, playing the best I can, stay healthy, and that’s about it.”  

Johnson is a 13-year veteran who has made six Pro Bowls, two All-Pro First Teams and three All-Pro Second Teams. He’s also a two-time Super Bowl champion, having won with the Eagles in both 2017 and 2024. 

He’s still widely considered one of the small handful of best offensive linemen in the NFL, even at age 36. He checked in ninth in the recent CBS Sports poll, which ranked the top 10 players at every position, and he ranked even higher (third) in ESPN’s annual poll of league executives and coaches. 

His impact on Philadelphia’s offense is dramatic, as the Eagles have experienced a huge drop-off in efficiency with Johnson off the field both in recent seasons and throughout his decorated career. The Eagles have averaged 0.04 EPA per play with Johnson on the field since 2013, and -0.05 EPA per play with him on the sidelines, according to TruMedia. That’s equivalent to the difference between the third-best offense in the NFL during that time and the 27th-best. 

Given his resume, Johnson is a potential future Hall-of-Famer. Our Bryan DeArdo recently named him the most likely Eagle to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, for example. If Johnson can put together one last season at an extremely high level, as we should expect given his recent track record, it would only improve his chances.

The Eagles, meanwhile, were seemingly prepared for this to be Johnson’s last NFL season, having drafted a potential successor in the third round in former Miami Hurricanes tackle Markel Bell. The monster-sized Bell (6-foot-9, 345 pounds) would give Philadelphia one of the largest tackle duos in the NFL, though he obviously will have big shoes to fill in the event that Johnson decides to step away after the 2026 campaign.

The Hundred women’s competition, The Oval

MI London 121-5 (100 balls): Chathli 31 (27); Bates 3-13

Trent Rockets 125-1 (82 balls): Sciver-Brunt 67* (36); Norris 1-26

Trent Rockets won by nine wickets

Scorecard. Table

Nat Sciver-Brunt made a stylish unbeaten 67 as Trent Rockets booked their spot in the knockout stage of The Hundred with an emphatic nine-wicket win over MI London.

Sciver-Brunt hit nine fours and one six in her knock off 36 balls, which helped the Rockets chase down 122 for victory at The Oval.

It was the England captain’s first 50 in this year’s tournament and her 11th in The Hundred overall.

Sciver-Brunt shared a tournament record second-wicket stand of 118 with Australian Beth Mooney, who finished on 54 not out off 44 balls, as the Rockets breezed past the target with 18 balls to spare.

Victory for the Rockets puts them four points above second-placed Southern Brave, who face Manchester Super Giants later in the day.

The Rockets face Brave in their final group match in a game which could well decide who progresses directly to the final.

Earlier, Samantha Bates had taken 3-13 to help restrict MI to a modest 121-5.

Bates had the dangerous Hayley Matthews lbw for 10 early on then the left-arm spinner claimed two wickets in two balls to leave MI struggling at 49-4.

Bates trapped top scorer Kira Chathli lbw for 31 before Nicola Carey was stumped next ball following a smart piece of glovework by Beth Mooney.

The 30-year-old Aussie thought she had a hat-trick when Alice Monaghan was given out lbw, only for the decision to be overturned on review with the ball sliding down leg.

Monaghan and Chinelle Henry led the fightback – both players finishing unbeaten on 27 off 21 balls – as they helped MI recover to post a respectable if not especially challenging total as Rockets cruised to victory with plenty to spare.

This Sunday sees Premier League champions Arsenal involved in what has become a pre-season staple – the Emirates Cup – as they take on Borussia Dortmund.

This game is Arsenal’s fourth pre-season fixture, but it will be their first in front of their home fans, so they will no doubt want to win.

So can they do it, or will Bundesliga stalwarts Dortmund leave them stunned?

Arsenal vs Borussia Dortmund Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Arsenal have faced Borussia Dortmund on eight occasions previously, all in the UEFA Champions League. Interestingly, they’ve only ever lost at home to them once, in the 2013-14 season.
• Arsenal saw their unbeaten run in pre-season ended last week, as they were surprisingly beaten 1-3 by La Liga side Real Betis in Dublin. Given the Arsenal side contained players such as Viktor Gyokeres, Piero Hincapie and new signing Christos Tzolis, this was a very disappointing result for Mikel Arteta’s men.
• Borussia Dortmund have also seen mixed results in their pre-season campaign, beating Rot-Weiss Oberhausen and losing to Fortuna Dusseldorf at home in Germany before losing to Cerezo Osaka and beating FC Tokyo on a tour of Japan.
• Arsenal are slowly seeing their key players return from holiday now, and this game should see them be able to call upon Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes. It will, however, likely be too early for new signing Bruno Guimaraes.
• Borussia Dortmund may be able to hand a debut to new signing Konstantinos Karetsas in this match, while England u21 international Jobe Bellingham could also be involved in his home country.

Arsenal vs Borussia Dortmund Prediction

Arsenal undoubtedly looked undercooked in their recent loss to Real Betis, but given the amount of key players they still have missing – including Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Zubimendi – it was hardly surprising.

With a bit more time on the training pitch, though, we should expect them to be sharper here. And while Borussia Dortmund are a good side, finishing 2nd in the Bundesliga last season, they are not quite as strong as the Gunners, who will want to make a mark in their return to the Emirates.

Therefore, the prediction is a home win.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

Arsenal vs Borussia Dortmund Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result – Arsenal to win.

Tip 2: Arsenal to keep a clean sheet – Yes.

Tip 3: Game to feature fewer than 2.5 goals – Yes.