Liverpool Look to End Dismal Start, Arsenal on the Up

Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP
Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP
TT

Liverpool Look to End Dismal Start, Arsenal on the Up

Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP
Liverpool have been a shadow of the side that were in with a chance of a historic quadruple last season and are looking for their first Premier League win of the season at home over newboys Bournemouth Paul ELLIS AFP

Troubled Liverpool will be desperate to get their first win of the Premier League season when they face Bournemouth on Saturday.

As the Reds splutter, leaders Arsenal, who host Fulham this weekend, have emerged as the Premier League's only team with a 100 percent winning record after three games, AFP said.

Liverpool must stop the rotJust months after coming within two games of an unprecedented quadruple, Liverpool suddenly look vulnerable after making their worst start for 10 years.

Jurgen Klopp's side were denied the Premier League title by Manchester City on the last day, then lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid, leaving them with the FA and League Cups as consolation prizes for their tilt at football immortality.

At present, Liverpool, beset by injuries, are suffering a heavy hangover from their nearly-historic season.

Unusually error-strewn draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace were followed by Monday's shock 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, who ended their own spluttering start with a dynamic display that exposed the fault-lines in Klopp's team.

The sight of James Milner giving Virgil van Dijk a tongue-lashing after Jadon Sancho scored United's opener was a jarring insight into the stresses of Liverpool's current predicament.

Toothless in attack without Sadio Mane, now at Bayern Munich, and the suspended Darwin Nunez, Liverpool were out-fought in midfield and creaky at the back.

Facing promoted Bournemouth at Anfield offers an opportunity for Liverpool to get back on track, one they must take to avoid falling even further behind in the nascent title race.

Arsenal urged to keep calmAs optimism grows in north London, Oleksandr Zinchenko has warned Arsenal not to get carried away by their surprising surge into pole position.

Ukraine left-back Zinchenko knows exactly what it takes to thrive in the Premier League after his successful spell with champions Manchester City.

Having made the switch to Arsenal in the close-season, Zinchenko and fellow former City star Gabriel Jesus have made an immediate impact on Mikel Arteta's side with their wealth of title-winning experience.

Arsenal have won their opening three matches for the first time in 18 years.

But after last weekend's eye-catching 3-0 win at Bournemouth extended Arsenal's perfect opening, Zinchenko was at pains to urge his team-mates to keep their feet on the ground.

"It's just the beginning of the season. There's a lot of games ahead of us, there's a lot of things to improve," Zinchenko said ahead of Fulham's visit to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

"We need to analyze what we have done well, what we should improve, what we should change and we know the manager is going to tell us. We need to show our best performance every single week."

Tuchel's Chelsea feeling the strainFrom touchline rows with rival managers to blaming buses for defeats, Thomas Tuchel has cut an agitated figure during Chelsea's chaotic start to the season.

Frustrated by Chelsea's failure to kill off Tottenham in a stormy draw, Tuchel earned a one-game ban after twice clashing with Antonio Conte.

A week later, Tuchel was hot under the collar again as the German made the bizarre claim that a travel snafu which forced his coaching staff to travel to Leeds by bus was partially to blame for a dismal 3-0 defeat.

With only one win from their first three games -- and that a narrow 1-0 success at struggling Everton -- Tuchel is showing signs of cracking under the strain.

He risked dressing room discontent with a critical assessment of his team's defending and keeper Edouard Mendy's costly blunder against Leeds.

In the circumstances, Leicester's visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday could be perfectly timed as the Foxes have endured an even worse start.

Brendan Rodgers' winless team are second bottom, with Wesley Fofana left out amid Chelsea's attempts to buy the center-back and James Maddison linked with a move to Newcastle.

Fixtures

Saturday (1400 unless stated)

Southampton v Manchester United (1130), Brentford v Everton, Brighton v Leeds, Chelsea v Leicester, Liverpool v Bournemouth, Manchester City v Crystal Palace, Arsenal v Fulham (1630)

Sunday (1300 unless stated)

Aston Villa v West Ham, Wolves v Newcastle, Nottingham Forest v Tottenham (1530)



Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
TT

Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

The owner of ‌Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk has donated more than $200,000 to skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after the athlete was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games before competing over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the club said on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Heraskevych was disqualified last week when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet — depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 — breached rules on athletes' expression at ‌the Games.

He ‌then lost an appeal at the Court ‌of ⁠Arbitration for Sport hours ⁠before the final two runs of his competition, having missed the first two runs due to his disqualification.

Heraskevych had been allowed to train with the helmet that displayed the faces of 24 dead Ukrainian athletes for several days in Cortina d'Ampezzo where the sliding center is, but the International Olympic Committee then ⁠warned him a day before his competition ‌started that he could not wear ‌it there.

“Vlad Heraskevych was denied the opportunity to compete for victory ‌at the Olympic Games, yet he returns to Ukraine a ‌true winner," Shakhtar President Rinat Akhmetov said in a club statement.

"The respect and pride he has earned among Ukrainians through his actions are the highest reward. At the same time, I want him to ‌have enough energy and resources to continue his sporting career, as well as to fight ⁠for truth, freedom ⁠and the remembrance of those who gave their lives for Ukraine," he said.

The amount is equal to the prize money Ukraine pays athletes who win a gold medal at the Games.

The case dominated headlines early on at the Olympics, with IOC President Kirsty Coventry meeting Heraskevych on Thursday morning at the sliding venue in a failed last-minute attempt to broker a compromise.

The IOC suggested he wear a black armband and display the helmet before and after the race, but said using it in competition breached rules on keeping politics off fields of play. Heraskevych also earned praise from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.


Speed Skating-Italy Clinch Shock Men’s Team Pursuit Gold, Canada Successfully Defend Women’s Title

 Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)
Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)
TT

Speed Skating-Italy Clinch Shock Men’s Team Pursuit Gold, Canada Successfully Defend Women’s Title

 Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)
Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)

An inspired Italy delighted the home crowd with a stunning victory in the Olympic men's team pursuit final as

Canada's Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann delivered another seamless performance to beat the Netherlands in the women's event and retain their title ‌on Tuesday.

Italy's ‌men upset the US who ‌arrived ⁠at the Games ⁠as world champions and gold medal favorites.

Spurred on by double Olympic champion Francesca Lollobrigida, the Italian team of Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti electrified a frenzied arena as they stormed ⁠to a time of three ‌minutes 39.20 seconds - ‌a commanding 4.51 seconds clear of the ‌Americans with China taking bronze.

The roar inside ‌the venue as Italy powered home was thunderous as the crowd rose to their feet, cheering the host nation to one ‌of their most special golds of a highly successful Games.

Canada's women ⁠crossed ⁠the line 0.96 seconds ahead of the Netherlands, stopping the clock at two minutes 55.81 seconds, and

Japan rounded out the women's podium by beating the US in the Final B.

It was only Canada's third gold medal of the Games, following Mikael Kingsbury's win in men's dual moguls and Megan Oldham's victory in women's freeski big air.


Lindsey Vonn Back in US Following Crash in Olympic Downhill 

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)
TT

Lindsey Vonn Back in US Following Crash in Olympic Downhill 

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)

Lindsey Vonn is back home in the US following a week of treatment at a hospital in Italy after breaking her left leg in the Olympic downhill at the Milan Cortina Games.

“Haven’t stood on my feet in over a week... been in a hospital bed immobile since my race. And although I’m not yet able to stand, being back on home soil feels amazing,” Vonn posted on X with an American flag emoji. “Huge thank you to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me.”

The 41-year-old Vonn suffered a complex tibia fracture that has already been operated on multiple times following her Feb. 8 crash. She has said she'll need more surgery in the US.

Nine days before her fall in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Vonn ruptured the ACL in her left knee in another crash in Switzerland.

Even before then, all eyes had been on her as the feel-good story heading into the Olympics for her comeback after nearly six years of retirement.