Connacht will look to build on their brilliant Champions Cup win over Saracens when they return to United Rugby Championship action against Zebre Parma at Dexcom Stadium on Friday night.

Stuart Lancaster’s side produced one of the standout performances of the opening European weekend, scoring seven tries in a 45–36 victory over the former champions.

It was a result that few expected, particularly with Connacht having rested internationals Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham. But the challenge now is to back it up against a Zebre side still searching for their first URC win of the season.

Connacht have won one and lost two of their opening three league games, so Friday offers an opportunity to improve that record before the URC table begins to take shape.

Connacht looking to build on Saracens win

The Saracens game showed just how dangerous Connacht can be when they get their attack moving. They recovered from an early 12–0 deficit and went on to score seven tries, with Ciarán Frawley crossing twice on his home debut.

There were still six tries conceded at the other end, however, and backs coach Gerard Mullen believes there is plenty of room for improvement.

Mullen said Connacht had left scores behind them against Saracens and conceded tries they were unhappy with. That will be a focus against Zebre, who are capable of playing an unstructured game and punishing sides that switch off.

Zebre struggling for wins

Zebre travel to Galway after a difficult start to their campaign. They have lost their opening three URC games and were beaten 40–21 by Ulster in the Challenge Cup last weekend.

The Italians have also lost their last six URC matches stretching back into last season. Their most recent URC win outside Italy came against Edinburgh in February 2025.

Those results, and Connacht’s performance against Saracens, make the home side clear favourites. But Mullen warned that games against teams struggling for results can be difficult.

The Connacht coach said his side needed to stick to their systems and improve again on the Saracens performance. He also expects Zebre to stay in the contest.

Connacht team news

Connacht have been boosted by the return to full training of Will Connors, Dave Heffernan and Harry West, with all three available for selection.

Shane Jennings and Thomas Connolly are ruled out as they go through graduated return-to-play protocols. There were no further updates on Dylan Tierney-Martin, Ben Murphy, Hugh Gavin or Byron Ralston.

Lancaster rested Hansen and Bealham against Saracens after they had played in each of Connacht’s opening three games. Whether either returns against Zebre will become clear when the matchday squad is named.

Connacht v Zebre head-to-head record

Connacht have an excellent recent record against Zebre, winning the last eight URC meetings between the sides.

Zebre’s last league victory over Connacht was a 19–11 win in Galway in February 2018. Overall, Connacht have won 17 of their league meetings with Zebre, with the Italian side winning three.

Connacht have also won their last six matches against Italian opposition since losing to Benetton in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals in April 2024.

Connacht v Zebre: What the stats say

Connacht have scored 101 points and 16 tries in four matches, while Zebre have scored 92 points and 12 tries in five. With the teams having played a different number of games, the per-game figures give a clearer comparison.

Connacht’s attacking figures are encouraging: they are averaging more carries, metres and tries per game, while the lineout figures also suggest an area where they could put Zebre under pressure.

Zebre have lost 14 of 82 lineouts, compared with three lost from 44 for Connacht. Zebre’s scrum success rate is slightly higher, however, and both sides are listed with a 97% ruck success rate.

The figures also show Connacht have kicked one penalty from eight attempts, compared with four from seven for Zebre. Connacht have scored nine conversions and Zebre 10.

In the URC specifically, Josh Ioane leads Connacht with three tries and 15 points. For Zebre, Giacomo Ferrari and Alessandro Fusco have scored two tries each, while Tommaso Allan leads their points tally with 13.

Connacht v Zebre betting odds and handicap

Connacht were giving Zebre a 17-point start on the handicap before the line moved to 21 points.

In this three-way handicap market, Connacht must win by at least 22 points for the -21 selection to win. A Connacht victory by exactly 21 points is the handicap draw. Odds may change before kick-off.

The movement to -21 shows just how strongly Connacht are fancied, but it is a big margin to cover. Their attack has shown it can score heavily, while Mullen’s comments suggest the coaching staff expect Zebre to make them work for the result.

Connacht v Zebre prediction

Connacht should win this game. They have the stronger recent form, an excellent record against Zebre and should take plenty of confidence from the Saracens performance.

The bigger question is whether they can produce the same energy and accuracy a week later, with the expectation now firmly on them. If Connacht get their attack going and cut out some of the scores they conceded last weekend, there should be opportunities to put points on the board.

Zebre’s results make it difficult to argue against a home win, but the move from -17 to -21 leaves a sizeable handicap, particularly if the visitors can stay in touch for as long as Mullen expects.

Match officials

Referee: Hanru van Rooyen

Assistant referee: Jack MacNeice

Assistant referee: Sam Holt

TMO: Egon Seconds

Paris Saint-Germain defeated Barcelona 4-2 in an exciting UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday night, while Manchester City, Liverpool, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Roma and PSV also recorded victories.

PSG took the lead in the 38th minute through Désiré Doué, who finished well after creating space for himself.

Barcelona responded after the break, with 19-year-old Xavi Espart scoring the equaliser. Lucas Hernández restored PSG’s lead in the 72nd minute, but Lamine Yamal levelled again seven minutes later.

Vitinha then put PSG ahead with a fine finish before Fabián Ruiz scored the fourth goal from Achraf Hakimi’s cross to seal the victory.

The result gave PSG their third consecutive win in the league phase, moving them to the top alongside Liverpool. Doué was named Player of the Match.

In England, Liverpool came from two goals down to beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield. Georges Mikautadze and Sergi Cardona gave the visitors a 2-0 lead before Alexis Mac Allister and an own goal by Ronald Araújo brought Liverpool level.

Mac Allister scored again, while Florian Wirtz added another goal to put Liverpool in control. Tani Oluwaseyi scored late for Villarreal, but Liverpool held on to maintain their perfect start.

Manchester City also enjoyed a big win, beating AEK Athens 5-1. Phil Foden scored a hat-trick, while Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki also found the net for the English side.

Napoli defeated Bodø/Glimt 4-3 in another high-scoring encounter. Scott McTominay scored twice, while Matteo Politano and an own goal by Odin Bjørtuft helped the Italian club secure their first Champions League win of the season. Sondre Brunstad Fet scored for the visitors late in the match.

Borussia Dortmund beat Sabah 2-1 in Baku, with Serhou Guirassy scoring both goals to earn his team all three points.

Roma recorded a comfortable 4-0 victory over Slovan Bratislava. Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina, Niccolò Pisilli and Donyell Malen scored as Roma claimed their first win of the league phase.

PSV Eindhoven also secured their first victory, beating Porto 1-0 away from home. Guus Til scored the only goal of the match, leaving Porto without a point after three games.

Meanwhile, Stuttgart and Atlético Madrid played out a 1-1 draw. Jamie Leweling gave Stuttgart the lead before Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman provided an assist for Julián Álvarez to equalise shortly after the restart.

Fenerbahçe and Slavia Praha also shared the points in a 2-2 draw. Oğuz Aydın and Mason Greenwood scored early for Fenerbahçe, but Slavia fought back, with Pavel Kačor scoring a late equaliser.

The Champions League action continues on Wednesday, with Manchester United facing Como, while Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich. Real Madrid will host Leipzig, and Aston Villa will take on Viking.

Ohio State defeated Indiana in Bloomington last Saturday, getting revenge for the 2025 Big Ten championship game. But the Buckeyes might have bigger problems after starting quarterback Julian Sayin was injured. 

Sayin — who entered Week 7 tied for fourth with 17 passing touchdowns this season and ranked sixth among FBS quarterbacks with 1,772 passing yards — left the field and went to the locker room with about eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. 

On Tuesday, three days removed from the game, head coach Ryan Day provided an update that Sayin is “out indefinitely,” and Ohio State’s reportedly planning for the scenario where he misses the rest of the season and postseason. 

How Did Ohio State Starting QB Julian Sayin Get Hurt?

In the fourth quarter against Indiana in Bloomington, the Hoosiers sacked Sayin on first-and-10 from Indiana’s 38-yard line. He fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by the Buckeyes. But it appears Sayin was injured on this play.

When Sayin left the game, he had completed 15-of-29 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions against the Hoosiers.

Did Julian Sayin Return To The Game Against Indiana?

Sayin left the game in the middle of the fourth quarter, and while he didn’t return to action, he was back on the field for the end of the game. When he came back out of the locker room, he had his throwing arm (right) in a sling. 

What Did Ohio State Coach Ryan Day Say About Julian Sayin’s Injury?

Following the Buckeyes’ 19-15 road win over Indiana, FOX Sports’ Jenny Taft asked Ohio State coach Ryan Day if he had an update about Sayin’s injury. 

“I don’t have [an update] right now,” Day told Taft. “Obviously, that was a big blow to us, but the rest of the team picked it up for us.”

At Day’s post-game press conference, the head coach offered an additional update on Sayin. As our Ben Portnoy reported, Day expects Sayin to be out for a couple weeks. 

Three days later, Day addressed the media with a further update:

“We’re not going to put any timeline on his recovery, but he is out indefinitely,” Day said. “Based on the nature of the injury, we are putting a plan for him not being available for the regular season, and then also, him not being available for the postseason.”

Who Is Ohio State’s Backup Quarterback?

When Sayin left the Indiana game during the fourth quarter, true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey replaced him as the top-5 matchup was on the line. Fahey was a three-star recruit, per 24/7 Sports’ composite ratings, from Mission Viejo, California. 

Saturday’s Week 7 game was the third game Fahey has played in so far this season, along with Ohio State’s wins against Ball State and Kent State in September. On the year, he completed 9-of-11 passes for 203 total yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

What Is Ohio State’s Remaining Schedule?

After beating Indiana on Saturday, the Buckeyes are now 6-1 with their only loss being against Texas. Ohio State is on a bye for Week 8, and then it will travel to Southern California to take on USC. 

Here’s a look at Ohio State’s remaining regular-season schedule:

• Saturday, October 31: at USC
• Saturday, November 7: vs. Oregon
• Saturday, November 14: vs. Northwestern
• Saturday, November 21: at Nebraska
• Saturday, November 28: vs. Michigan

Defiance was the word that stood out as Manchester City returned home for the first time since they were found guilty of 114 financial charges by the Premier League in a case that’s made headlines around the world.

City showed a measure of it on the pitch, even as they lost 4-2 to holders, Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League group stages on Wednesday.

Among the home fanbase at the Etihad Stadium, DW found universal support for City’s Abu Dhabi owners — headed by Sheikh Mansour, who is also UAE’s vice president and deputy prime minister.

“I’m all in with the ownership now,” said local fan Matt. “If we end up back in League Two [fourth tier], so be it. We’ve got 15 years of memories we wouldn’t have otherwise and to me it’s just an accounting line on a spreadsheet really.”

Tarnished trophies?

The stadium name itself is a reminder of the takeover that changed this club, and its part of Manchester, in 2008. The national airline of the UAE, Etihad’s inflated sponsorship of City is among the key planks of the case against them, while many buildings and businesses around the stadium bear the brand. It’s a stadium that’s also seen plenty of success of late.

“We’ve seen things other fans will never see,” added fellow City fan Josh. “I think people have got to consider how many people this club has given great memories to, how many people’s lives have been changed by it, myself included….you’ve got to be grateful for that.”

Though many in sky blue shared those sentiments, most outside the club now view the trophies won in the relevant period as tarnished. On top of that, critics point to City’s reticence in providing evidence in their case, the long-documented human rights abuses in UAE and the often dismissive tone with which the owners have dealt with being found guilty of charges they have now appealed.

UAE links have Burnham on back foot

But those City fans appear to have one powerful ally in British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Though he has since sought to tone down his position on Mansour and co. somewhat, the former mayor of Greater Manchester said he “would be really concerned to lose them,” after the verdict was announced in late September. “They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester,” he added.

While Burnham has since denied being close to City’s ownership, even as City were playing on Wednesday, The Guardian reported a club representative was invited on a government-backed trade delegation to India this week by Burnham’s successor as Manchester mayor, Bev Craig.

Earlier the same day, Burnham was forced to confirm he had two additional dinners with the club chair, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, at the Etihad Stadium, having previously declared those only as matchday hospitality. It has become a serious domestic issue for the man who replaced Keir Starmer in July.

What is clear is that Burnham welcomed Abu Dhabi investment during his time in charge of the northwestern city. This came mainly in the form of residential and commercial buildings as well as libraries and sports centers, all popping up in previously run-down areas in and around the stadium.

UAE build where others can’t

Georgina Blakeley, a Professor at the University of Huddersfield who wrote a book called “The regeneration of east Manchester,” told DW that UAE investment has transformed swathes of the city.

“One of the prime drivers for building this partnership with the Abu Dhabi United Group [a private equity arm of the state mostly concerned with the football club] was that at that point in time, 2014, there was no other private investor willing to invest at the scale that the council wanted. And to do so in a way that created a build-to-rent market,” she said.

The UAE investment in Manchester, accelerated by the Manchester Life Partnership with the city’s council signed in 2014, has been a key defense for the City owners and fans when faced with sportswashing allegations in the past. And while Blakeley believes councils in the UK are often forced to seek foreign investment, there has been some pushback on how east Manchester has changed.

“A lot of people would be critical of some of the developments in [the districts of] Ancoats and New Islington and say that it’s gentrified the area and there are some tensions between newer populations coming in and living in the more expensive flats and those already there. I think there’s some truth to it. But I also think there’s some truth to the fact that people forget really, really quickly that if you go back to just the 1990s, Ancoats was a no-go area,” she said.

While profit for both council and state have certainly been a driver of the partnership, Blakeley thinks that forging greater links to the community could be something City’s owners see “as a beneficial side effect.”

State-owned clubs starting to think smart despite concerns

After 18 years in the club and city, the UAE are deeply embedded in this part of Manchester. With political ties between the UK and UAE now reportedly strained as a result of the charges, there are suggestions that City’s owners will try to sell the club. They may also be forced to do so, with sanctions still to be decided pending City’s appeal.

There is no such trouble at PSG, who look capable of winning a third straight Champions League powered by their own Gulf-State coffers.

What is clear is that state-owned football clubs can become successful fast in a free market, as the Premier League was when the UAE owners arrived. Deep pockets, strong contacts at the top tables of the sport and canny strategies to integrate with the local area can be a heady mix.

It’s certainly one that’s proved intoxicating to City’s fans, who brush off secret second contracts, sham sponsorship and unreliable witnesses with a loyalty built on success, community and investment. Judging by the mood in Manchester on Wednesday, no sanctions are going to change that.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding

Weight-loss medications, data and AI offer significant opportunities for fitness operators, but also raise challenges around education, commercial partnerships, security and member relationships, according to speakers at W3Fit in Malta, which is currently taking place in Malta.

The panel, The Fork in the Road, was moderated by operator turned consultant, Justin Musgrove, and featured Anders Carlbark, CEO of Swedish operator STC; Nicole Nason, director of international franchise development at Gold’s Gym; and Myzone founder, Dave Wright. 

Musgrove highlighted the commercial opportunities surrounding GLP-1 medicines, with operators such as Life Time already incorporating weight-loss medication into clinical services alongside personalised fitness programmes.

For Carlbark, the growth of treatment creates an opportunity for gyms to deliver exercise support alongside healthcare providers. STC is exploring partnerships, but he argued that operators must secure a fair return for their contribution to patients’ success.

“We’re getting approached by a lot of different partnerships, but they’re not really here to give us a fair share. It’s more a referral code, or maybe we’ll convert some members for them. That’s what we’re not going to accept,” he said. “We need to be sure that we’re getting paid for that type of partnership.”

Preparing staff to support members appropriately and establishing where responsibility sits between the operator, trainer and prescriber are key challenges. Carlbark said those responsibilities must be agreed before a partnership begins.

Nason highlighted the difficulty of establishing a consistent approach across countries with different legal frameworks. She also drew parallels with her experience of members following bariatric surgery, recalling people arriving for exercise having been unable to eat enough and passing out. She cautioned that reduced food intake and tiredness could also mean some GLP-1 users exercise less, rather than increasing their activity as operators might anticipate.

“In order for us to be safe, successful, and make sure that our members have access to resources, we need to rely on our education partners,” she said.

Musgrove’s takeaway was “education, education, education”, arguing that the sector needs to catch up with changing member needs.

Technology

Carlbark expects AI to enable expansion with a lower head-office cost base, freeing resources for clubs and member experience. He described how STC has structured its business data, developed its own dashboards and cancelled software services it no longer needs.

“We can invest more, not in the head office, but really back to the gyms, back to our staff, back to the training experience,” he said.

However, operators need to organise their data, teach systems to understand the business and ask relevant questions. Carlbark warned that without that preparation, AI can deliver confident, rapid answers that are wrong.

“You need to understand your business, otherwise you can get lost in this,” he said.

Nason described a demonstration in which an OpenAI contact created a branded platform intended to connect with franchisees’ CRM systems across territories in around 30 minutes. While impressed by the potential, she remained concerned about security and the pace of change.

“I’m optimistic. I think it’s an opportunity. We are absolutely missing the boat if you don’t utilise it, but it hasn’t won my heart yet, and no, I don’t trust it,” she said.

Wright argued that AI’s value lies in freeing staff from tasks and providing useful information to build relationships.

“What it doesn’t do is talk to your members face to face,” he said. “It’s all about the people and making sure that that frees those tasks up, so you can have better engagement with the actual customers.”

Carlbark sees hyper-personalisation as an opportunity to make fitness more relevant and influence behaviour, while Wright highlighted the role of social connections in encouraging activity.

According to Myzone’s analysis, users with four or more connections exercise 41 per cent more than those without, while those receiving likes or comments from four or more people in a month exercise 138 per cent more.

“If someone nudges four or more other people in the month, they exercise 157 per cent more,” Wright said, arguing that greater activity could support retention.

Wright also revealed that Myzone is developing functionality to log strength workouts.

Responding to a question from Cameron Saunders, CEO of UK Active, about how far membership penetration could grow, Musgrove predicted that one in three Americans could become gym members within the audience’s lifetime. He also identified emerging markets as a substantial growth opportunity and and predicted that the next five years would be a golden period for investment and transactions in the sector.

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