It could be a big day for Nicky Henderson at Newcastle on Saturday, with his two most high-profile horses, Constitution Hill and Shishkin, entered on the card.

Constitution Hill will face a maximum of five rivals when he makes his seasonal return to action in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle while Shishkin, who blotted his copybook by refusing to race at Ascot on Saturday, has been given an entry in the BetMGM Rehearsal Chase.

Not surprisingly, there are not many connections with a smart two-mile hurdler on their hands keen to take on Constitution Hill.

Since his racecourse debut in December 2021, the closest any horse has managed to get to Constitution Hill is three lengths, on his most recent outing at Aintree, where he beat multiple Grade One winner Sharjah.

That followed a nine-lengths stroll in the Champion Hurdle over State Man, another Willie Mullins inmate with a list of successes at the highest level to his name.

There had earlier been wide-margin wins over his stablemate Epatante in both the Christmas Hurdle and this corresponding race last year – and she herself was a previous winner of the Champion Hurdle.

So far, he has not looked like being beaten and he will be a very short price at the weekend to maintain his unblemished record.

There is a previous winner of the Fighting Fifth among his likely opponents in the shape of Hughie Morrison’s veteran Not So Sleepy.

He dead-heated with Epatante in 2021 and was last seen running a good race to be seventh in the Cesarewitch.

There are two classy mares among his potential opponents, both having won the Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Harry Fry’s Love Envoi took the spoils in 2022 and was narrowly beaten by Honeysuckle back at Cheltenham in March, while Jamie Snowden’s You Wear It Well followed in her hoofprints last season.

You Wear It Well reappeared with a good win at Wetherby and is clearly on the up.

Sandy Thomson’s Benson and Iain Jardine’s Voix Du Reve are the only other possibles.

Shishkin is one of 17 entries in the Rehearsal Chase over almost three miles, a contest won 12 months ago by Venetia Williams’ L’Homme Presse.

When asked on Sunday if the race was an option for Shishkin, Henderson replied: “That is under consideration, as you can imagine. We’re going there anyway (with Constitution Hill).”

The trainer deems the Peterborough Chase on December 10 too close to his King George target on Boxing Day.

Shishkin is rated 173 so would be giving lumps of weight away to his rivals should he run, with the next highest rated being Jamie Snowden’s Datsalrightgino on 148.

Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted the Milwaukee Bucks made life tough for themselves as he helped to seal a stirring 108-102 comeback victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Bucks rallied from a 26-point deficit to win the first meeting between the teams since the Blazers traded franchise icon Damian Lillard to Milwaukee in September. 

It was largest comeback in the NBA so far this season.

Lillard, who spent his first 11 seasons with Portland and is the Trail Blazers' all-time scoring leader, had 17 of his 31 points in the second half to aid the comeback, while Giannis came through with a tie-breaking basket with time winding down.

Antetokounmpo finished with 33 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in the Bucks' seventh win in eight games, which improved them to 12-5 on the season.

The rebuilding Blazers led 81-55 three minutes into the third quarter, but Milwaukee responded with a 17-2 run and continued to cut into the deficit until Lillard's 3-pointer with 2:53 remaining created a 97-97 tie.

Sunday's game remained deadlocked until Antetokounmpo tipped in teammate Bobby Portis' putback attempt to put the Bucks up by a 104-102 score. Lillard then sealed the win by making four free throws in the closing seconds.

"Sometimes we just make it tough on ourselves," Antetokounmpo said after the game, per ESPN.

"Don't get me wrong, I think Portland is a very good team – young team, play hard, but we just make it tough.

"We can't start the game like that. We should not be down 26 and then try to come and win the game. That takes a toll on your body. 

"But at the end of the day, I'm happy we were able to win."

Lillard and Antetokounmpo have scored 30 points each in the last two Bucks games.

"As the season moves forward, we're going to figure out ways to play with one another," added Giannis. 

"Be more effective, be more efficient with one another, know one another's spots. We are getting to that point. We are really getting to that point.

"At the end of the day, Dame has to be Dame. I have to be me. 

"As the games go on, we're going to keep on figuring ourselves out. The moment we are clicking on a higher level, it's going to become even more scary as we move forward."

Facing former team Portland (4-12) was an unusual experience for Lillard.

"Once I walked in, I saw a lot of familiar faces, I thought about going in the visitors' locker room for a second, but I was like, man, this a little bit different," he said to Bally Sports Wisconsin.

"When we got on the court, I saw everybody and it's a weird feeling. But once we started playing, I got over it quick."

Bucks coach Adrian Griffin was thrilled with Antetokounmpo, with a big Tuesday night In-Season Tournament game at the Miami Heat up next.

"He is one of the greatest players to play this game, and he showed it," said Griffin.

"We were kind of dead in the water, searching, trying to find some momentum, and it was a gritty win."

Jerami Grant had 22 points in Portland's ninth loss in 10 games, while Malcolm Brogdon recorded 18 points and 12 assists. 

Harry Fry is keen to bolster Gidleigh Park’s experience following his impressive hurdling debut at Exeter.

The five-year-old was an emphatic winner of a Chepstow bumper on his rules introduction back in March, pulling six-lengths clear of Ben Pauling’s The Jukebox Man, who has since franked the form in good style on two separate occasions.

Making his first start over hurdles, Gidleigh Park confirmed the promise of that Chepstow romp with an equally taking display, jumping well and only needing to be pushed out by jockey Johnny Burke for a commanding seven-and-a-half-length triumph.

Although immediately cut by the bookmakers for Graded novice events at the Cheltenham Festival, his handler is in no rush to move into deeper waters and for now plans to seek out another novice event under a penalty.

“We were very happy and he seemed to confirm the promise of his racecourse debut last spring,” said Fry.

“It’s onwards and upwards as they say and we will look forward to getting him out in a month or so under a penalty and if that goes according to plan then we can start thinking about raising his sights.

“I think it’s about experience at the moment more than anything and I think we need to get another run in, in an ordinary novice, before we start thinking about going up in grade.”

Max Verstappen completed the most dominant season in Formula One history with victory in Abu Dhabi.

After a 19th win in 22 races, the PA news agency looks at how the triple world champion compares to the sport’s all-time stars.

Among the greats

Verstappen’s third world championship win put him in elite company as only the 11th driver with a hat-trick of titles to his name.

Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton share the record of seven crowns apiece, with Juan Manuel Fangio their nearest challenger on five.

Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel won four apiece, with Verstappen alongside Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet Sr and Ayrton Senna on three.

Only five drivers – Schumacher, Hamilton, Fangio, Vettel and now Verstappen – have won three in consecutive years. He has the chance next season to match all but Schumacher with a fourth straight title, the German having won five in succession from 2000 to 2004.

Verstappen has also moved third all-time in terms of race wins. His 53rd, at the season’s penultimate race in Las Vegas, drew him alongside Vettel for that position and in only 184 races compared to the German’s 299.

Abu Dhabi made it 54 out of 185 and means only Hamilton and Schumacher have won more races – Hamilton has 103 from 331 starts, despite now having gone two seasons without a win, while Schumacher finished with 91 in 306.

Record breaker

Verstappen set a notable record during the season with 10 consecutive race wins up to and including September’s Italian Grand Prix.

That beat Vettel’s run of nine in a row in 2013, also with Red Bull, while Verstappen’s Abu Dhabi win in 2022’s final race and Sergio Perez’s early-season contributions ensured the team won a record 15 in succession.

The Dutchman’s 19 wins broke his own single-season record of 15, set last year. Only 14 F1 seasons have even had 19 or more races in total.

While the length of the season and the modern scoring system are both significant factors, his points tally of 575 is a huge record – again, his own 454 last season was the previous best. Unsurprisingly that brought with it a record winning margin, both outright (290 points) and by percentage with more than double the points of second-placed team-mate Perez (285).

Verstappen also clinched the title with six grands prix remaining, equalling Schumacher’s record from 2002.

His 86.4 per cent win rate was another record, shattering the 75 per cent mark set back in 1952 – F1’s third ever season – when Alberto Ascari won six of the eight races contested.

He is the first driver to lead 1,000 or more laps in a season – smashing Vettel’s record of 739 in 2011 and equalling the combined total of McLaren’s dominant 1988 pairing of Senna and Prost.

Verstappen was the only driver to complete every lap of this season, adding two second places and fifth in Singapore to his 19 wins.

Bruno Fernandes believes Manchester United teenager Alejandro Garnacho has the potential to become “something special in the world of football”.

Acquired from Atletico Madrid in 2020, the 19-year-old forward starred in last year’s FA Youth Cup triumph and has gone on to establish himself as a first-team regular at Old Trafford.

Garnacho enjoyed the finest moment of his nascent career at Everton on Sunday, showing outstanding ingenuity and technique to thunder home an outrageous overhead kick just 133 seconds into a 3-0 win.

The Argentina international followed his jaw-dropping goal-of-the-season contender by replicating former United great Cristiano Ronaldo’s celebration after an effort his idol would have been more than proud of.

“It’s amazing – something out of this world, I think,” United captain Fernandes told the PA news agency.

“Probably he’s watching too much Cristiano clips! We all know that he’s a big fan. Still a long way for him to be like Cristiano but he’s getting his steps.

“He wants to be something special in the world of football and I think he has the capability to do that, but he has to do more than that goal!”

Garnacho was not the only impressive teenager at Goodison Park on Sunday, with fellow FA Youth Cup winner Kobbie Mainoo flourishing on his first Premier League start.

The 18-year-old midfielder recently recovered from the injury he sustained during United’s pre-season tour and produced a performance that belied his tender years.

“I talk always about Kobbie,” Fernandes said. “I think he’s a special player too.

“Obviously, people will not talk as much as they will about Garnacho because Garnacho scores goals, does assists and everything. But what he puts on the game, what he gives to the team, it’s known to anyone (in the squad).

“I think he has great players in front of him to learn (from) because he plays with one of the best in the world like Casemiro. Also Sofyan (Amrabat) who plays in that position that is really good and he’s getting everything from them.

“He wants to learn, is eager to learn and I think that’s probably the best capability he has because he wants to learn every time. He’s eager to listen to everyone to get better and better.”

United’s young stars stepped up in the absence of a swathe of injured players, with the likes of Garnacho and Mainoo helping to invigorate the experienced core.

Asked what he thought of the young players coming through as one of the older players, 29-year-old Fernandes said with a laugh: “I’m not that old, eh?

“Obviously, we are really happy for them. We know that all the young players are eager to play and to get your position, so me as an older one I have to step up and do my job! If not, they’re going to take my space.”

Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial goals complemented Garnacho’s stunner in an eye-catching win that Erik ten Hag’s team need to build on against Galatasaray in the Champions League.

As for Everton, they travel to Nottingham Forest next weekend looking to bounce back from a heavy home loss after the shock of being deducted 10 points.

Toffees boss Sean Dyche said: “We have created a lot of chances this season but not always scored goals. We have to maintain our belief in what we are doing. We are doing that, I think we did through this game.”

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min admits recent defeats hurt but has urged the squad to keep playing the Ange Postecoglou way.

Aston Villa produced a comeback win in north London on Sunday to make it a November to forget for Spurs.

Premier League leaders at the start of the month, Tottenham have since suffered three consecutive losses and seen their list of absentees move into double figures.

Spurs went ahead against Villa, like they had in recent defeats to Chelsea and Wolves, but were wasteful in front of goal and also unable to keep up the relentless attacking style Postecoglou wants for the whole match.

“I think especially in this game, when you are 1-0 up, we have to control even more,” Son told SpursPlay.

“We have to respect the (opposition) and we made a couple of mistakes this season where we are going up 1-0 and started playing a little bit slowly.

“Then conceding goals, offsides, delays in the game, this is losing our game tempo a little bit and we are giving chances to Villa to come into the game.

“Before half-time when you concede a goal from a set-piece, I think we have to be more stronger.

“The players gave everything, especially in difficult circumstances. It is just tough to take.

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“It doesn’t matter how well you are playing, obviously in the end you are taking the results and we are talking about the results.

“Yeah, we created chances, good, very good. The way we are playing, I am very pleased and happy but it hurts when you lose a game, especially at home.

“We had such amazing support again and losing this game hurts.”

All the focus at Tottenham now turns to Sunday’s daunting trip to champions Manchester City and Rodrigo Bentancur is an early doubt after he sustained an ankle injury against Villa.

Bentancur made his first start since he suffered a serious knee injury in February and impressed before he was caught by a poor challenge from Matty Cash.

Spurs will have Yves Bissouma back from suspension and will check on Pape Sarr after he returned from Senegal national team duty with a knock, but Postecoglou knows he will be down to the bare bones for a while.

Tottenham boss Postecoglou said: “The reality of it is that we’re not going to get too many back.

“We’ll get Biss back but we might have lost Bentancur. We only had six or seven on the bench so everyone who is here at the moment is going to have to play a part.”

While Tottenham contemplate another defeat, Villa produced a clinical display to move up to fourth in the Premier League after goals by Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins, but Unai Emery played down the current table.

“Enjoy the position and of course the players are aware about where we are, but we will continue being demanding,” Emery said.

“In 38 matches, there are still a lot of things to happen.

“Now we have to rest and think about Thursday (against Legia Warsaw) and then Sunday against Bournemouth.”

What the papers say

Chelsea are set to make Victor Osimhen their prime target in the January transfer window. The 24-year-old Nigerian striker is keen to make the move from Napoli to Stamford Bridge, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq are chasing goalkeeper David De Gea, reports The Sun. The 33-year-old is a free agent since leaving Manchester United at the end of last season.

Saudi Arabia is also a potential destination for West Ham winger Said Benrahma. The Sun reports various clubs in the Saudi Pro League are eager to snap up the 28-year-old Algerian.

Boca Juniors full-back Valentin Barco is a target for Manchester City. The Sun reports the Premier League champions would loan the 19-year-old to Leicester.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Samuel Lino: Newcastle are monitoring the progress of the 23-year-old Brazilian winger from Atletico Madrid as the transfer window period approaches, reports Spanish sports publication Todo Fichajes.

Thomas Partey, Kalvin Phillips and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: Juventus are keen to sign a midfielder in January and have three Premier League names on their shortlist, claims French site Foot Mercato.

Roman Josi had a goal and two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in a clash of two of the Western Conference's hottest teams.

Josi helped set up goals from Yakov Trenin and Gustav Nyquist, while Juuse Saros made 32 saves as the Predators extended their season-high winning streak to five games.

Winnipeg had its season-high five-game winning streak halted after falling behind by a 3-0 score after two periods.

Trenin opened the scoring with 20 seconds left in the first period, and Josi made it 2-0 just 1:26 into the second before Nyquist scored on a power play nearly five minutes later.

Goals from Josh Morrissey and Cole Perfetti 42 seconds apart got the Jets within one with less than nine minutes left, but Winnipeg failed to get the equaliser after pulling goaltender Laurent Brossoit with under two minutes to go. 

Brossoit finished with 23 saves.

McDavid's five points lead Oilers' drubbing of Ducks

Connor McDavid continued his hot streak with a goal and four assists as the Edmonton Oilers returned home to record an 8-2 rout of the Anaheim Ducks.

McDavid followed up a four-assist performance in Edmonton's 5-0 victory at Washington on Friday that capped off a four-game road trip. Zach Hyman added two goals and an assist and Darnell Nurse had three assists in the Oilers' highest-scoring game of the season.

Max Jones scored twice in the first 6:10 of the game to stake Anaheim to an early 2-1 lead, but the Oilers responded with goals from McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman to go into the first intermission with a 4-2 advantage.

Hyman and James Hamblin scored in the second to extend the margin to 6-2, and Edmonton struck twice more in the third on power-play tallies from Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm.

The Ducks have now lost six straight. Starting goaltender Lukas Dostal was pulled 7:20 into the second period after allowing six goals on 16 shots, while John Gibson stopped eight of 10 chances in relief.

Perron reaches milestone as Red Wings extend Wild's skid

David Perron scored the 299th and 300th goals of his career as the Detroit Red Wings extended the Minnesota Wild's losing streak to seven games with a 4-1 victory.

Perron's two power-play goals and a four-point effort from Shayne Gostisbehere helped back 37 saves from Alex Lyon as the Red Wings won their third consecutive game despite being outshot by a 38-23 margin.

Gostisbehere had a goal and three assists, while Dylan Larkin added a goal along with an assist on Perron's milestone tally.

Larkin's eighth goal of the season snapped a 1-1 tie with 3:07 remaining in the second period. Perron extended the margin 1:29 into the second before Gostisbehere scored into an empty net in the final minute to seal the victory.

Lyon prevented any comeback hopes for Minnesota by stopping all 18 shots he faced in the third period.

Perron's first of the day put Detroit in front just 4:06 in, but the Wild answered later on when Joel Eriksson Ek scored on a power play with 12 seconds left in the first period.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 19 of 22 shots for the Wild, who fell to 0-5-2 since Nov. 9.

Christine Ohuruogu won an appeal against her lifetime Olympic ban for missing three out-of-competition drugs tests on this day in 2007.

The then 23-year-old Londoner took her case to a Sports Dispute Resolutions Panel and successfully overturned a British Olympic Association by-law precluding athletes found guilty of drug-test offences from competing in future Games.

Ohuruogu, who in August had sensationally won the 400 metres world championship title just three weeks after finishing a one-year suspension, was now clear to compete in Beijing the following year.

A statement from the BOA said: “The appeals panel unanimously agreed that the written evidence supplemented by the answers given by both parties at the oral hearing provided the necessary information to take an early decision in Christine Ohuruogu’s appeal.

“It was agreed that any delay in making the decision would not be in the interests of any of the involved parties.

“The panel decided that Christine Ohuruogu’s appeal had been successful due to significant mitigating circumstances.”

Ohuruogu went on to win 400m gold at the Beijing Olympics.

A near perfect race saw Ohuruogu run a season’s best time of 50.80sec to claim Britain’s only gold medal on the track.

Five-time gold medal winner Laura Kenny is targeting her fourth Olympics next year after the birth of her second child this summer.

Kenny, who has topped the podium in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, has her eyes set on Paris as she is keen to prove motherhood is no reason to end her career after the arrival of their second son Monty in July.

“I obviously want to compete at the next Olympics. I know everyone thinks I’m absolutely mad in saying that, but if I don’t try, I’ll never know,” she told The Journey, the Team GB and Toyota docuseries.

“I would hate to be sat here thinking, ‘Well, I never even gave it a go to see if I could make it.’

“I hope both children see their mum as someone who was determined to make both things work.

“They will never have the burden of thinking, ‘Oh, mum had me and then ended her career.’ Because I didn’t. I carried on; I made it work.

“I hope they look back and they can see that, and see that from the day they were born, they were part of the journey.

“The two different comebacks between Albie and Monty have been so different.

“With Albie I came back feeling like I had a point to prove, that you could be a mum and be an Olympic champion all at the same time.

“I think this time, I’ve come back for me. I’ve come back because I love riding my bike and I cannot imagine it not being part of my life.”

Kenny gave birth to Albie in 2017 and after a miscarriage in 2021 and ectopic pregnancy early in 2022 she and husband Jason – a fellow Olympic champion cyclist – had a second son, Monty, in July this year.

“Having the ectopic was way worse than the miscarriage,” she added.

“It all happened so fast. I went to hospital thinking I had severe Covid and left just like ‘What the hell?’ having had a major operation when I didn’t know I was pregnant.

“It was all terrifying really. I struggled massively mentally after everything that we went through, and I’d say I probably wasn’t truly happy until I fell pregnant with Monty.”

Virgil Van Dijk has weighed into the debate over Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best position by proclaiming his Liverpool team-mate as the complete package.

Alexander-Arnold delivered another reminder of his attacking talents as he got forward to strike a fine equaliser for the Reds in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at champions Manchester City.

The 25-year-old right-back had spent a lot of a tight Premier League encounter in defensive mode, trying to contain City’s tricky Belgium winger Jeremy Doku.

It was a sweet moment for Alexander-Arnold after plenty of debate over the past fortnight over whether or how he can fit into the England team.

Van Dijk, the Liverpool captain, said: “I think everyone this season, as a defender, one v one against Doku will have a tough afternoon. He’s a very good dribbler.

“But I don’t think he had a tough afternoon on the whole. It’s how you defend them together and try to get two v one in situations and, in the end, I’m pleased for him that he got the equaliser.

“He offers a lot defensively and, obviously in possession, he has qualities that are very special and he shows that as well, so he has the complete package.

“He has to keep doing what he’s doing, keep improving, keep that high standard he has for himself and we all have for him as well.”

Alexander-Arnold has expanded his game over the past year, not only playing as a conventional attacking full-back but also in a hybrid defence-central midfield role.

His recent England outings against Malta and North Macedonia were also in midfield and Van Dijk admits he does not know where he will ultimately end up.

“I don’t know, that’s for the coaches that work with him,” said the centre-back. “I think for the moment he’s playing just fine where he is right now.

“He has that freedom to mix it up and he has to do that because you see teams are working it out at times, so he has to be able to switch from staying on the outside and going on the inside as well.

“I think it’s a good learning curve for him as well and (on Saturday) he did that well because obviously he was playing against one of the most in-form wingers at the moment.”

Saturday’s result kept Liverpool within a point of title favourites City and, after the frustration of failing to challenge last season, Van Dijk hopes the 2020 champions can push them much closer this time.

The Dutchman said: “It’s no secret we want to challenge for everything we are competing in and this year we are looking consistent, something we were missing last year.

“But we are in November with a difficult period coming up, difficult games ahead of us. Anything can happen but hopefully, if we don’t get many injuries or no injuries, we have to confident and give it everything.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is taking a safety-first approach with John Stones despite the defender being a crucial part of his tactical plans.

The England international has played just 393 minutes of football for his club – and 91 for his country – due to a hip injury and while he was named in the squad for the 1-1 draw with Liverpool after a muscle injury Guardiola had no intention of using him.

Stones has played a vital role in the continuing evolution of the side as the centre-back who steps forward in possession to allow midfielders to play higher up the pitch.

Other players have been tasked with doing the same – the latest Manuel Akanji – but Stones remains the premier exponent of Guardiola’s game-plan but his manager wants to avoid more false starts after two failed comebacks already.

“He feels good but we are going to give him one, two weeks to do proper strength training sessions,” said the City boss.

“John is so important for us I let him play when maybe his muscles weren’t completely ready. He will train with us, either partial or completely, and the rest he is going to have strength training sessions in his legs to be sure when he comes back he feels stronger.

“We need him because there are a lot of games. I know the man of the match (against Liverpool) was Jeremy (Doku) but at Stamford Bridge and yesterday Manu (Akanji) was believable.

“What a signing the club has made with that guy; he can play full-back, central defender, now holding midfielder and when arriving in the final third he has the ability to make passes.”

The game against Liverpool was the first of a scheduled 10 – but likely to be 11 – in 36 days until the end of December as it includes a trip to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup where they are expected to progress from their semi-final.

That means Guardiola has to manage all his players, not just Stones, and he claims their training sessions will not last much longer than half-an-hour.

“Maximum 30-35 minutes. Until Tuesday (the Champions League game with RB Leipzig) it will be 10 minutes on the pitch moving the ball and that’s all.

“We cannot train. If we train we won’t have players for the next game.

“We have learned from the past and you just understand what you have to do, the places you have to move, the press.

“We have TV images and we talk individually in specific ways and after they make mistakes it is just about understanding what you have to to do.”

Winger Doku put in the stand-out performance against Liverpool and Bernardo Silva hopes the 21-year-old, a £55million summer arrival from Rennes, can continue the form which saw him score and provide four assists against Bournemouth earlier this month.

“He’s a very good signing and he’s been playing very well for us. Hopefully he can keep going, keep learning and improving and help us win titles,” said the Portugal international.

“You cannot give him limitations, otherwise he loses his magic. We have to let him be himself and do his thing, whilst knowing he has a responsibility to help us when he doesn’t have the ball – but I think he’s been doing really well.”