You will be aware of Manchester City's record without Rodri by now. Their three Premier League defeats last season came in the three games for which he was unavailable. Finding a solution in his absence could now define the Premier League season.

Raphael Varane has announced his retirement from football aged 31 after suffering a serious knee injury.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is pleased to have two strikers scoring goals regularly as Christopher Nkunku gets a hat-trick against Barrow - but says he can't play them both.

Surrey have been crowned champions for a third straight year but there is still plenty at stake in the final week of the County Championship.

Former Manchester United, Real Madrid and France defender Raphael Varane retires from football at the age of 31.

The pair have not started a league game together since the opening weekend

The Gunners have faced criticism since Sunday’s 2-2 draw over the use of supposed ‘dark arts’

One of the most decorated defenders in the game

The centre-back suffered a knee injury on his debut for Italian club Como after leaving Manchester United in the summer

Guardiola’s Manchester City and Arteta’s Arsenal battled out a fiery 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Plus: teams who are hard to beat (and lose) to; more losers on open-top bus tours, and kings of consecutive 0-0 drawsMail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU“Apart from Denmark in 1992, have any teams won tournaments or competitions for which they didn’t originally qualify?” enquires John Palfreyman.It’s Europa League week, so let’s start …

Series continues in which writers have the impossible task of choosing a boiled down team from club’s entire historyBy Richard Hall for The Gentleman UltraPicking a five-a-side team of Juventus greats is something of a thankless task. Aside from the love-or-loathe nature of Turin’s Old Lady in both Italy and beyond, they’re a club with a very rich …

The tournament has increased to 36 teams and the format is significantly different. But who will win?By Ryan Benson for Opta AnalystThe Champions League was back with a bang last week; now it’s the turn of the Europa League, with Europe’s second-tier competition taking centre stage with a packed schedule of opening fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday. But …

Dauwalter does not have a coach, a strict training plan or a Strava account, but the 38-year-old is widely considered ultrarunning’s greatest of all timeIn 2023, Courtney Dauwalter became the first person, male or female, to win the Triple Crown, the three most iconic 100-mile races in the world, in a single season.Ultrarunning, with races ranging from …

Before clubs’ Carabao Cup meeting we recall former clashes with the help of two players who saw it from the inside“Big Sam liked to spoil the party,” Stelios Giannakopoulos says as his mind wanders back to Bolton taking on Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal in the Premier League. It was a clash of styles, the quick passing and attacking flair of Robert Pires, …

Defender hangs up boots after knee injury at Como‘I have loved fighting for myself, my clubs, my country’Raphaël Varane has announced his retirement from football at the age of 31. The former France centre-back made the decision after suffering a serious knee injury at Como in Serie A.The player joined the newly promoted side on a two-year deal after …

The former Wales fly-half on breaking the mould to survive in the No 10 jersey, disappointment over concessions from players’ strike threats and life by the beach in Toulon“I’m certainly not your stereotypical Welsh fly‑half and I don’t apologise for being different,” Dan Biggar says with a wry smile at a little restaurant on the beach front in …

The former France international has struggled to stay fit in recent years and suffered a serious knee injury just 20 minutes into his debut for Como last month.