The Vikings’ offense doesn’t lack for star power. Truthfully, though, these guys aren’t of huge interest for what’s to come later today.

Indeed, the focus in Minnesota is likely going to be about who plays the best from among the depth guys. Kevin O’Connell needs his side of the ball to bounce back from a very modest effort in 2025. Getting a solid performance out of the Vikings later today in New York will be a small step toward the needed improvement.

3 Players to Watch on The Vikings’ Offense

Player No. 1 — Tai Felton

Kevin O’Connell has been among the lead cheerleaders for Tai Felton. And why not?

Felton boasts great length and offers elite speed, clocking a faster 40 time than both of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Envision a scenario where Felton starts threatening teams deep. Win a few of those reps and the teams will think twice about crashing down too aggressively on those intermediate crossing routes for Jefferson.

The goal is to put the other side in a tricky spot. Failing to keep a free safety over Felton means risking a kill shot for a long score. Failing to bring that free safety crashing down on Jefferson means getting walloped on those crossing routes 20 yards down the field.

Can the 2025 3rd-Round selection become that guy? If so, then the decision to pickup the feisty Maryland player was great work.

Player No. 2 — TE Gavin Bartholomew

Lots of chatter online about the sophomore’s effort.

Gavin Bartholomew missed his entire debut season due to a back injury. The 6th-Round pass catcher should seek to emulate Johnny Mundt, somebody who could get asked to do a bit of everything. Be a menace on specials and block like a maniac on offense. Occasionally, catch the ball.

Mirror Mundt and Bartholomew will end up having a long NFL career.

He’s still just 23 and offers good size at 6’5″ and roughly 250 pounds. Has a slick mullet, too.

Player No. 3 — QB J.J. McCarthy

Hard to exclude the kid.

Mr. McCarthy had a tough week. Kyler Murray has been named the starter, a reality that’s going to be a disappointment to the Michigan man. He can begin chipping away at the deficit — if that’s at all a possibility — by torching preseason opponents.

Look for him to do the little things well. Make good adjustments at the line of scrimmage while getting his guys in and out of the huddle cleanly. Crisp hand offs, good check downs, and know when to run out of bounds. Within all of that work toward making some “wow” plays with aggression when it’s open for the taking.

Even if the Vikings move on soon, the NFL is watching. McCarthy is going to be fine in the end.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Ruben Amorim was reunited with his former players when Man Utd played AC Milan in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.

Several Manchester United players spoke to Ruben Amorim after the final pre-season friendly of the summer against AC Milan on Saturday afternoon.

Seven months after being sacked by United, Amorim was reunited with his former club for a friendly at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw.

Milan won 4-2 against United, who lost their second game of the summer, and captain Bruno Fernandes was the first player to make his way over to speak to Amorim following the final whistle.

Fernandes greeted Amorim’s coaching staff, who were all with him during his time in charge of United, before exchanging a few words with the former United boss. Noussair Mazraoui was the second player to walk over, and the defender shared a warm embrace with Amorim.

Luke Shaw, Joshua Zirkzee, Ayden Heaven and Lisandro Martinez also greeted Amorim. Matheus Cunha was the last to catch up with the 41-year-old, and the pair were spotted laughing and joking.

Amorim was sacked in January amid rising tensions with United’s board in January. He called out the club’s decision-makers when he spoke to the media after facing Leeds at Elland Road, saying others within the club should focus on their jobs and let him focus on his.

However, Amorim recently admitted he made mistakes during his time at United. When asked what went wrong at the club, he said: “The first thing is that it doesn’t matter anymore. That is the feeling. There’s a history, then something happens, the context changes, and you focus on the next challenge.

“I learned a lot. It would be hard to point to one thing, but the important thing that I clearly know is that I made a lot of mistakes. When you do this kind of reflection, and you understand that it was not just their fault, but also my fault, I think you can be a better coach and a better man.”

In the Premier League, Amorim had the worst win ratio (32 per cent), the worst goals conceded per game ratio (1.53) and the lowest clean sheet ratio (15 per cent) of any United manager in history.

CommBank Stadium will play host to Sunday’s
Round 24 NRL game between Wests Tigers and
St. George Illawarra Dragons. The game kicks off at 4:05 pm with St. George Illawarra Dragons heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Wests Tigers vs.
St. George Illawarra Dragons
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday August 16, 2026 at 4:05 pm

Where: CommBank Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Wests Tigers vs St. George Illawarra Dragons Odds

Wests Tigers vs St. George Illawarra Dragons Preview

The Tigers and Dragons meet without finals implications, but St George Illawarra brings welcome belief after stunning Cronulla 24-16 for only its third win of the season. Wests has lost seven straight and entered its bye following a 16-13 defeat to Parramatta, with its attack held to 13 points or fewer in six consecutive games. Debutant Solomone Saukuru replaces Heamasi Makasini in the Tigers’ centres after strong NSW Cup form. The Dragons regain Toby Couchman from concussion, while Setu Tu is named to start and Damien Cook remains at hooker. St George Illawarra has won six of the past eight meetings, including a 24-10 result in Round 18. With both sides struggling for points, territory, discipline and patience are likely to decide a contest in which the Dragons’ recent defensive resolve provides the stronger foundation.

FILE–Philippines’ Alexandra Eala celebrates a point against United States’ Alycia Parks during a National Bank Open tennis match in Toronto on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala hardly broke a sweat in advancing to the third round of the Cincinnati Open early Sunday (Manila time) in Mason, Ohio.

Eala reached the round of 32 of the WTA 1000 hardcourt tournament after Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse retired from the match due to a right foot injury during the rain suspension midway through the second set.

The World No. 20 Eala was dominating Ruse, 6-1, 3-0, when play was halted due to lightning as ominous clouds loomed over the packed Toney Trabert Stadium 3 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

READ: Alex Eala on Pacquiao comparisons: ‘I’m still very, very far’

Eala will next face American World No. 10 and ninth seed Amanda Anisimova, who sent home Turkish rising star Zeynep Sonmez, 6-2, 6-3.

“I haven’t played her (Eala) before. She’s been having such an incredible season, an incredible year. [A] very great player with a lot of fans, so I’m really looking forward to that,” said Anisimova during the post-match interview.

“I know that it’s probably going to be a very packed stadium, so I’m sure it will be really fun.”

Looking rejuvenated after a brief but much-needed rest following stints in Washington and Toronto, Eala posted her 11th win in 13 matches dating back to winning her first WTA Tour title at the DC Open two weeks ago.

Aside from a first-set blip, the 21-year-old Eala could do nothing wrong, frustrating Ruse with her tricky serves and big returns.

The Filipino baseliner broke Ruse thrice in the opening set and zoomed to a 3-0 double-break lead in the second before the Romanian received a medical timeout and had her right foot strapped up.

Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.

The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.

Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbiev, who extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.

Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.

With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.

In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.

Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.

“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”

Meanwhile, Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.

As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.

Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.

NEW YORK — Despite a slow start to their return home on Friday night, the Mets offense found a rhythm late.

The Mets used home runs from Francisco Lindor and Jared Young, along with a productive finish from their bullpen to grab a 4-1 win over the Nationals.

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Now, the Mets will go for the series victory at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.

NY Mets, Nationals probable starting pitchers for Saturday

Sean Manaea will be looking to record a fifth straight quality start on Saturday.

The veteran left-hander struck out a season-high 11 batters across seven innings while allowing one earned run on three hits in his last start against the Pirates.

Manaea is 4-5 with a 4.13 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 25 appearances, including 11 starts.

The Nationals will go with Brad Lord, who has worked predominantly in a bulk bullpen role this season. He threw 51 pitches and allowed one earned run in 2⅔ innings in his last outing against the Reds.

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Lord is 5-2 with a 3.80 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 29 appearances.

NY Mets announce Saturday lineup vs Nationals

A.J. Ewing CF

Francisco Lindor SS

Bo Bichette 3B

Carson Benge RF

Jared Young 1B

Marcus Semien 2B

Brett Baty LF

Jorge Polanco DH

Francisco Alvarez C

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets announce lineup vs Washington Nationals for Saturday game

Connections are eyeing the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup week as a prime objective for a talented three-year-old.

Trainer Danny O’Brien and the ownership group of Closer To Free are no different. If the colt’s form progression warrants it, the Group 1 event for three-year-olds over 1200 metres on the opening day of the Melbourne Cup carnival is their desired destination.

Closer To Free showcased exceptional ability in three starts during a brief autumn campaign as a two-year-old and is set to commence his three-year-old season in the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

“It looks the right kick-off for him,” O’Brien stated.

“He won over the course and distance in the autumn in the Blue Diamond Prelude and he’s had a good build-up over the winter. He’s had a quiet trial and then they ran a pretty quick time down the straight in his second one and he should be forward enough to run well first-up.”

Closer To Free achieved a commanding debut victory on February 7, subsequently finishing second in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield two weeks later.

The colt concluded his juvenile campaign by finishing second last in the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill the following month.

“Like all these horses, you want to see where they are at with their first run or two,” O’Brien commented.

“If everything fell into place, you would love to think that he would get to the Coolmore, but he has to put his hand up to show us that he’s made that progression. The main thing is have they got the improvement in them from two to three to still be at the top level. All the signs are good. He’s a beautiful colt and done everything right and I’m looking forward to running him again.”

Closer To Free’s second trial leading into his Saturday first-up run was held over 800 metres down the straight at Flemington on August 3.

O’Brien suggested that, provided all goes smoothly, Closer To Free would participate in the Group 3 Poseidon Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on September 12, offering him vital race experience on the straight track ahead of the Coolmore Stud Stakes.

“He’s had a trial down the straight so if we decide to go down that straight track path, he’s had some experience,” O’Brien explained. “There’s a race there on Makybe Diva Stakes Day that may suit, and then he’ll have race experience before the Coolmore if we head there.”

Interested in the racing betting markets for Closer To Free’s potential upcoming races? Check out the latest offerings at online bookmakers.