Pep Guardiola is recovering well from his recent back operation, Manchester City assistant boss Juanma Lillo has said.

The City manager is currently out of action after undergoing surgery last week but is expected to return after the upcoming international break.

Lillo took charge of the side for the treble winners’ Premier League trip to Sheffield United last week and remains at the helm for Saturday’s visit of Fulham.

“I speak very regularly with him, not just in footballing terms but professional terms,” Lillo said at a press conference on Friday.

“He’s much better and things are taking place in the way that they should do. All of us are delighted and are really looking forward to him getting back.”

Lillo was in contact with Guardiola throughout City’s victory at Bramall Lane last Sunday and during preparations for this weekend’s encounter.

“It’s the same as the previous game,” said Lillo. “With Pep there would be more energy but we’re in contact with him all the time.

“We share our responsibilities well, we have our roles very well defined by him and we will continue on the right path but he obviously continues to have input.

“We’re not quite finished in our preparation for the game.”

Defender John Stones is nearing a return to action after a thigh injury.

The England international was expected to be sidelined until after the international break but Lillo has delivered a positive update on his condition.

Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji have recovered from illness but Kevin De Bruyne is a long-term absentee.

Lillo said: “Phil is completely recovered from his illness, Manu’s problem was more for prevention rather than anything serious. He’s more or less there and John is more or less there as well.”

Tis Marvellous will bid to go out in a blaze of glory by securing a record third victory in the William Hill Beverley Bullet on Saturday.

A Group Two-winning juvenile some seven years ago, the Clive Cox-trained sprinter is set to be retired after his latest trip to the Westwood this weekend.

The winner of nine races in all, Tis Marvellous became the third horse to notch back-to-back Beverley Bullet wins 12 months ago after Chookie Heiton (2004 and 2005) and Take Cover (2017 and 2018).

The nine-year-old has been well held in three starts so far this season – finishing last in the Palace House at Newmarket and the Wokingham at Royal Ascot before coming home seventh of 10 at the Shergar Cup – but Cox believes the fire still burns bright.

“I think it’s fair to say his form has waned a small bit this year, but his work at home is better than ever,” said the Lambourn handler.

“I’m really proud and pleased that he’s been such a wonderful servant over the years and we’ve targeted this race, being a race he’s won the last two years, and I think it’s fair to say and let everyone know that this will be his swansong and we’ll be retiring him afterwards.

“He’s giving us every confidence in his well being at home and he’s getting to the time of life now where we’re keen to give him a last roll of the dice on a course that he loves so much.

“Hopefully he can put his best foot forwards. From what we’re seeing at home there’s no doubt he’s in good form with himself and it will be really nice to give him another opportunity to have another run on a track he’s been so productive on.”

Among those looking to deny Tis Marvellous the perfect send-off is his stablemate Kerdos, who was beaten just a neck in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes at Royal Ascot and was last seen finishing fifth behind star sprinter Highfield Princess at Goodwood.

Cox added: “Kerdos has been a work in progress, but he’s a horse we hold in high regard.

“He had an amazing run at Royal Ascot and hopefully this is a perfect step for him to take at this time of year really.

“Both horses deserve to be there, so we’ll see what happens.”

Other contenders include Julie Camacho’s 2019 Beverley Bullet hero Judicial, Karl Burke’s course and distance winner Silky Wilkie and the consistent Apollo One from the Newmarket yard of Peter Charalambous and James Clutterbuck.

Rasmus Hojlund is fit to make his debut this weekend and Erik ten Hag says Sergio Reguilon could feature at Arsenal having trained with Manchester United ahead of his loan move.

Denmark international Hojlund joined United at the start of August for a fee rising up to £74million from Atalanta, but the 20-year-old has yet to feature, due to a back complaint.

But Ten Hag says the striker is fit to feature at Arsenal, when new goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and left-back Reguilon will also be available for selection.

United have agreed a loan deal with Tottenham for the left-back, and the Dutchman revealed he had trained with his new team-mates ahead of the announcement of the move.

“Yes (Hojlund will be available),” Ten Hag said.

“He had a good training week so tomorrow we have the final training. But he is doing well, responding well, so, yeah, he will be available for Sunday’s game.

“(Bayindir) will be in the squad as well, Altay, so happy. Now we have the keeper group fully there. We covered every position so I think we have a very good keeper group with the arrival of Altay.”

Asked if Reguilon could be involved at the Emirates Stadium, the United boss said: “He is here, he trained. Yes (he will also be available for Sunday).”

Reguilon comes in after United went from too many options at left-back to too few when Luke Shaw’s muscle injury compounded the absence of Tyrell Malacia and recent exits. The Spain international was linked with a move to Old Trafford three years ago and spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid.

“He’s a very experienced player, played for big clubs, played already a lot of games in LaLiga, Premier League, so, yes, I think very good background,” Ten Hag said.

“We have seen he can play very intense football, so we are happy while we had a problem with Luke Shaw injured, Tyrell Malacia injured, therefore long-term out. So I think we responded very well on that emergency situation.”

On top of deadline-day moves for Bayindir and Reguilon, progress has been made in United’s move for Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat.

The 27-year-old midfielder starred at the World Cup for Morocco and previously played under Ten Hag at Utrecht.

“There are so many rumours, but it’s nice, eh?,” the United boss said when asked about Amrabat.

“I think we have done good business, we constructed a strong squad and we are ready to go in to the fight.”

Pushed again on Amrabat, he said: “I can’t tell (you much) because I don’t know if he can sign, so if we have news, we will report it immediately.”

There could be outgoings as well as incomings before the day is out, with multiple clubs looking at Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly and Donny Van De Beek.

However, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay look set to stay, having been subject of interest this summer.

“If you see the schedule, it’s tough, it’s really condensed,” United boss Ten Hag said.

“When you see last season the World Cup, crazy season, the season takes longer, two weeks longer. We played (the) FA Cup final one week longer.

“We had a short break, we had a really condensed pre-season again, so we need numbers. But also we need not only numbers, the numbers have to be quality.

“I think, yeah, with this squad we have depth and we have quality players and we can be in a variety of systems and we are happy with it.

“We are ready to go into the fight.”

Max Verstappen put down an early marker in his bid to win 10 consecutive races by setting the fastest time in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

The double world champion edged out Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.046 seconds in Monza with Sergio Perez third in the other Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari at the Italian team’s home event, one place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton ended the opening running of the weekend in eighth.

Verstappen has dominated Formula One this season – winning 11 of the 13 rounds so far – and will make history on Sunday if he racks up another victory.

The Red Bull driver – already 138 points clear in his pursuit of a third world championship – is level with Sebastian Vettel on nine wins and, on the evidence of practice, is poised to land yet another win and set a new record.

Hamilton ended his long-running contract saga in the build-up to this weekend’s race by putting pen to paper on a new £50million-a-year deal.

But the seven-time world champion ended first practice six tenths back from Verstappen and a tenth adrift of team-mate Russell.

Ferrari have endured a poor season, but showed early promise in front of their fanatical supporters at the Temple of Speed with Sainz and Leclerc second and fourth respectively.

Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso, who finished runner-up to Verstappen at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, took sixth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Second practice gets under way at 5pm local time (4pm BST).

Soul Sister’s three-year-old campaign has come to an end, with connections looking forward to the Oaks heroine returning to the track next season.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Frankel left a disappointing reappearance in the Fred Darling behind her when storming to Musidora Stakes glory at York, putting herself firmly in the picture for Classic success at Epsom the following month.

She thrived for the step up to 12 furlongs as she enjoyed her finest hour in the hands of Frankie Dettori on the famous Surrey Downs, handing her owner Lady Bamford a second victory in the fillies’ Classic, 14 years after the triumph of Sariska in 2009.

Soul Sister was last seen finishing a gallant third when taking on the colts in the Grand Prix de Paris but having suffered a small setback, she will now head to her owner-breeder’s Daylesford Stud before returning as a four-year-old.

“It’s only a temporary thing and precautionary and as we wanted to have her for next year it was the prudent thing to do,” said Charlie Gordon-Watson, racing manager to Lady Bamford.

“It’s the sensible thing to do and she will be better next year, she’s going to be stronger. She’s not the strongest but she’ll strengthen up for next year and it is the right thing to do.”

Although stealing all the headlines at Epsom when a stylish winner of the Oaks under an inspired Dettori, it was perhaps her one-and-a-quarter-length defeat at ParisLongchamp when mixing it with Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe candidate Feed The Flame and Irish Derby runner-up Adelaide River that advertises Soul Sister’s star potential the most.

And with a winter of strengthening and developing ahead of her, there is plenty for connections to look forward to in 2024.

“I think the Longchamp run was a very good run looking back on it,” continued Gordon-Watson.

“The winner came wide of her and from behind her and Kieran Shoemark rode her very well. In hindsight it was probably a really good race.

“Looking back on it, the ground in Ireland in the Irish Oaks wouldn’t have suited her and as it turned out she ran in the right race.”

Highfield Princess is firmly on course to defend her crown the Flying Five Stakes in Ireland next weekend, having come close in her bid for back-to-back wins in the Nunthorpe at York.

John Quinn’s superstar sprinting mare completed a hat-trick of Group One wins last season, with her Nunthorpe and Flying Five victories following success in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.

Having opened her account for the current campaign in dominant style at Goodwood, the six-year-old was a hot favourite to win her second Nunthorpe on the Knavesmire, but had to settle for the runner-up spot behind the front-running Live In The Dream.

Highfield Princess produced arguably her most impressive performance to date in the Flying Five 12 months ago, and Quinn is looking forward to seeing her return to the Curragh on September 10 for day two of the Irish Champions Festival.

“She’s come out of York well, touch wood she seems fine,” said the Malton-based trainer.

“We’re just ticking her over and all being well we’ll head to Ireland a week on Sunday. There’s no reason to change the plan just because she got beaten.”

Following her Flying Five triumph last season Highfield Princess was saved for a trip to the Breeders’ Cup, where she performed admirably in defeat in finishing fourth.

But whether she returns to America this year is open to question, with Quinn eyeing an appearance on Arc weekend in Paris on October 1.

He added: “All being well, if she comes out of the Curragh well, we’d like to run her in the Abbaye and we’ll see from there.”

Europa League debutants Brighton were drawn to take on former Champions League winners Ajax and Marseille in Friday’s group stage draw.

Roberto De Zerbi’s men secured a first season in continental football with a sixth-place finish in last season’s Premier League table, and their reward is matches against four-time European champions Ajax and the 1993 European Cup winners Marseille.

The Seagulls’ other group opponents are reigning Greek champions AEK Athens, with the first round of group stage games to be played on Thursday, September 21.

Inspiral will skip a trip to the Irish Champions Festival in favour of seeking further Group One riches in Newmarket’s Sun Chariot Stakes later this autumn.

John and Thady Gosden’s daughter of Frankel bounced back to her very best at Deauville last month, providing her owners Cheveley Park Stud with a thrilling afternoon on the Normandy coast as Inspiral secured back-to-back victories in the Prix Jacques le Marois.

That victory secured her a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile later in the season, but before any Stateside ambitions enter the equation, the four-year-old has duties closer to home to attend to and she will head to the Rowley Mile on October 7 in search of a fifth top-level victory.

“We all enjoyed a real high that day (at Deauville) and Mrs Thompson was thrilled. Richard (Thompson) obviously represented her and what a fantastic day he had and they all enjoyed it, as did I,” said Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud.

“She’s in good form and we are probably favouring Newmarket and the Sun Chariot is a possible race for her. I think that is favoured.”

The Sun Chariot would provide a four-week lead into the Breeders’ Cup if connections did elect to travel to Santa Anita in early November and it appears a season-ending swansong in California could well be on the cards.

“I think so and I suppose it really depends on what she is going to do next year,” continued Richardson when asked about the chances of Inspiral cashing in her ‘win and you’re in’ ticket to America.

“If she is going to retire, I can see her going to America and retiring, but if she was to stay in training then I don’t know, and maybe she will make the Breeders’ Cup, but it would depend on what Mrs Thompson would like to do.”

Cheveley Park’s Sacred could also have the Breeders’ Cup on her radar, but will have to prove her well being before that is seriously considered having failed to sparkle in the City Of York Stakes most recently.

Trained by William Haggas, the Royal Ascot runner-up has now failed to find the scoresheet in three visits to the Knavesmire and could head to the more favourable territory of Newbury for her next outing, where she could bid to get back on track in the Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes the five-year-old claimed last season.

“We now know she just does not want to perform at York. She was in great form going in there but she was never happy,” added Richardson.

“Tom (Marquand) came back and said she went down unhappy, was unsettled in the stalls and just took a hold and was never prepared to put her best foot forward.

“We’ve got various options and the Breeders’ Cup is a thought. At the moment it is at the back of our minds when we were hoping it would be at the forefront.

“We might go back for the Listed race at Newbury which she won last year. That could be another opportunity for her.”

Eddie Howe has told his Newcastle players they have to believe they can top their Champions League group after being pitched into battle with three of Europe’s giants.

The Magpies, who will play in the competition for the first time in 20 years this season, will face French champions Paris St Germain, seven-times winners AC Milan and 1997 champions Borussia Dortmund as they attempt to reach the last 16.

Nevertheless, TV pundit Owen Hargreaves, a Champions League winner with both Bayern Munich and Manchester United, insisted after the draw the Magpies could emerge from Group F as winners “if they get it right”.

Howe said: “You have to believe that, yes. I’m not necessarily sure that should be the expectation, but I think we can.

“I’ll let other people talk about what can and can’t happen. All I’m really focused on is what we can do internally, and that’s be our best.

“Going back to the Liverpool game, for a long part of that game, I thought we were really, really good and you can still lose the game against high-quality opposition if you switch off for a couple of moments like we did, so we’re going to be feeling those effects again against elite teams.

“We’re going to have to be concentrated and at our best right through the game to win.”

Howe watched Thursday evening’s draw, which handed summer signing Sandro Tonali a return to former club Milan, with his staff and while there was a realism in their reaction, there was excitement too.

Asked what their response had been, the 45-year-old said with a smile: “There was a bit of silence… for about an hour. No, there was silence for about 10 seconds.”

He added: “When the dust settles down, you look at it with pure excitement, really. There’s no negativity from any of us internally towards the draw.

“When you add it all together, I think it’s been a great thing.”

For all the understandable excitement on Tyneside, Howe will push the Champions League to the back of his mind in the short term at least with important Premier League fixtures to come at Brighton on Saturday and then against Brentford at St James’ Park after the international break before the Magpies launch their European adventure.

He said: “I don’t want to dampen it down, but the Premier League is huge for us and we still have games before the Champions League starts, so the Champions League will only really come into my focus when it’s our next game.”

Defender Sven Botman is a doubt for the trip to the Amex Stadium having undergone a scan on the ankle he damaged during last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Liverpool, as is midfielder Joelinton with a knee problem.

Meanwhile, Howe has admitted his players may need to stay away from Newcastle city centre late at night after club captain Jamaal Lascelles was caught up in a violent incident in which he appeared to be acting as peacemaker.

He said: “It would be nice in theory for us to be in the city centre with our people, but the reality is it’s probably not the best place for us to exist late at night.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp loves his reinvented midfield and believes the club have done good business this summer.

The £35million signing of Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch, with the deal expected to be finalised before the deadline after the 21-year-old flew to Merseyside for his medical on Thursday, will complete a total rejuvenation of the Reds’ engine room.

Klopp was always planning to revamp his midfield this summer but even he did not expect to change the whole unit, only for the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia to force him into a radical overhaul.

Argentina’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai were early arrivals as part of the planned revamp, but the addition of Wataru Endo and Gravenberch, who was a long-term target but was considered unavailable, came much later than expected after Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia both turned them down for a move to Chelsea.

“We pretty much had to reinvent the team. The midfield is all ready and will be completely new,” he said.

“We had to do that in a season where we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, which has a massive impact.

“I know people expect it to be different but it is how it is. I really think we did good business, the players we brought in are really good, will help the team.

“We are less experienced but that is normal, but we are full of desire and I love this team.”

Mac Allister, who was initially asked to play an unfamiliar holding role, and Szoboszlai have both settled in quickly, which was to be expected as they had a full pre-season to adapt to Klopp’s methods.

The manager expects them to make bigger strikes, although he conceded Endo will take longer after only arriving from Stuttgart mid-August, but believes they have the capability to match the successes of the players they have replaced.

“The natural skill-set is obvious but we had to replace the most successful midfield in the young (recent) history of this club,” added Klopp ahead of Sunday’s visit of Aston Villa.

“Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Gini Wijnaldum a few years ago. All had big parts in the team. Naby (Keita), (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain, they all played big parts in that midfield.

“In our best periods I remember you asked me the question if we had enough of a goal threat from this midfield when we scored all the goals from the front line.

“I think we have much more goal threat in midfield now but the work-rate these guys put in, the stability they gave us was second-to-none and that is what we have to create as well.

“We will see how we do that because we can play different systems, we have to think about that during the season definitely.

“But I think it is clear the players we brought in have real quality, are young and in a super way really excited about the opportunity of being here, so that’s a cool mix.”

Just seven of England’s European Under-21 Championship winners are in Lee Carsley’s latest squad as a new cycle begins.

The likes of Anthony Gordon, Morgan Gibbs-White, Emile Smith-Rowe and Jacob Ramsey are no longer eligible as the Young Lions kick off their qualifying process for the 2025 tournament against Luxembourg on September 11.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis, James Trafford, Jarrad Branthwaite, Charlie Cresswell, Harvey Elliott, new Chelsea signing Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke are those who remain from this summer’s successful tournament in Romania and Georgia.

Manchester City duo Rico Lewis and James McAtee are back in the squad following their absence in the summer while Carsley has included a host of players from the England Under-20s group in his 23-man squad.

Among those is Tottenham striker Dane Scarlett, while Borussia Dortmund striker Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Juventus forward Sam Iling-Junior are also included.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell hopes to make one more signing with no movement in the pipeline the other way ahead of the midnight transfer deadline in Scotland.

Kettlewell signed Oli Shaw on loan from Barnsley on Thursday following an injury crisis up front but has room for another addition.

“I am hoping to bring in one more player,” he said. “With the couple of outgoings that maybe gave us the opportunity to bring in one more so I am relatively far along the way of making that happen. I would anticipate that will probably be confirmed at some point today.”

On potential outgoings, Kettlewell said: “As it stands, there is no interest in anybody, whether you are looking to move players out or get them some more game time. There is nothing else we can anticipate.”

He added: “It’s always been my intention that today is a relatively stress-free day for the bits that I can control. There’s bits you don’t control, more so in relation to outgoings.”

Celtic got more business done ahead of transfer deadline day, but the Scottish champions could still be busy with Benfica midfielder Paulo Bernardo tipped to arrive on a loan deal.

Defender Nat Phillips joined Brendan Rodgers’ squad on loan from Liverpool on Thursday after Honduran winger Luis Palma signed 24 hours earlier.

Rodgers had stressed after last weekend’s cinch Premiership draw with St Johnstone that the club needed to improve the team after strengthening the squad earlier in the window.

Sead Haksabanovic has been linked with potential moves to PAOK and Stoke after appearing to express frustration over a lack of game time on social media.

Another player keen for more action, 18-year-old midfielder Rocco Vata, is understood to be wanted by Verona and Club Brugge.

Rangers got most of their business done ahead of the season, but the departure of Glen Kamara to Leeds on Thursday could prompt more activity.

The Ibrox men have been linked with a loan move for Leicester centre-back Harry Souttar.

Aberdeen remain active while Hibernian caretaker manager David Gray would not rule out any late moves from his club and Hearts could also strengthen.

Ross County could be in line for a seven-figure sell-on windfall amid reports Sunderland have accepted a bid worth up to £10million from Southampton for former Staggies striker Ross Stewart.

Kilmarnock and St Mirren remain in the hunt for forwards while St Johnstone could potentially add again and Dundee manager Tony Docherty has not ruled out another signing despite being happy with his squad.

Livingston are not anticipating any late business ahead of the midnight deadline.

There is a neat statistical symmetry that suggests the 2023 Rugby World Cup might be won by Ireland or France.

Since the sport’s world rankings were launched 20 years ago, all five subsequent world champions were either ranked first or fourth close to the tournament kicking off.

Ireland and France occupied those positions during recent weeks, and neither nation has previously been crowned world champions, with no new name being engraved on the trophy since England in 2003.

It is, of course, way more complicated than that to confidently suggest a winner but such a scenario underlines what many believe is a wide-open tournament.

In the World Cup’s 36-year history, only four countries – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England – have triumphed.

Six Nations champions Ireland and France can be added to the mix this time around, though, as genuine contenders, although a World Cup draw carried out in December 2020 has generated a serious imbalance with tournament heavyweights South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland and France all in its top half.

While those teams are on a quarter-final collision course in Paris, the best of the rest would point to Australia, Argentina, England and Wales.

There is real potential for the World Cup final to be a one-sided affair, which is not being critical of any participant, but more questioning why such an important draw is conducted so long before the competition.

France and New Zealand are in the same pool, while Ireland, South Africa and a dangerous Scotland team have been grouped together. Elsewhere, Pool C sees Australia, Wales and Fiji in direct competition, with England, Argentina and Japan the main Pool D protagonists.

France meet the All Blacks, who are reeling from their all-time record defeat of 35-7 in a warm-up fixture against South Africa, in a mouthwatering tournament opener.

The 40-match pool phase will be played out across nine host cities – Paris, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon, Lille, Saint-Etienne and Nantes – with £2.5million tickets sold.

It can only be hoped that France 2023 will be remembered for the rugby on show, with inevitable disciplinary matters not overshadowing it.

High tackles, foul play, red cards, yellow cards and disciplinary hearings will be part of it all. Coaches will want consistency, too, on punishments handed out by disciplinary chiefs – England captain Owen Farrell’s recent case highlighting that need – and all matters being efficiently and promptly dealt with.

If rugby is to be the winner, then it will require a host of superstar names to lead the way.

And that prospect is one to savour, given the presence of players such as France captain Antoine Dupont, South African backs Cheslin Kolbe and Canan Moodie, New Zealand full-back Beauden Barrett, Ireland’s current world player of the year Josh van der Flier, genial Fiji centre Semi Radradra and exciting Italian star Ange Capuozo.

The ingredients are all there for a genuine showcase of rugby at its finest, with some thunderous games in store and potentially memories to last a lifetime.

If France can cope with the enormous host nation pressure that will accompany them, then a magnificent first World Cup triumph for Dupont’s team would be one to savour.

There is a small queue forming behind them, though, potentially led by a South African squad that appears primed to successfully defend the world crown.