Carabao Cup holders Liverpool will begin the defence of their crown at home to West Ham in the third round of the competition.

The game at Anfield is one of three all-Premier League encounters, with Everton facing Southampton at Goodison Park and Brighton hosting Wolves at Amex Stadium.

League Two side Barrow's reward for reaching the third round for the first time since 1967-68 is a trip to beaten 2024 finalists Chelsea, while AFC Wimbledon - who defeated Premier League Ipswich on penalties in the second round - will host Newcastle.

Arsenal face Bolton Wanderers at Emirates Stadium, with Manchester United welcoming Barnsley to Old Trafford.

Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City will take on Championship Watford at Etihad Stadium, while Aston Villa and Tottenham have been handed trips to Wycombe and Coventry respectively.

Ties will take place in the weeks commencing 16 and 23 September, with Champions League and Europa League fixtures also scheduled during this period.

Northern Ireland captain Jonny Evans has retired from international football with immediate effect.

Only three men and two women - Steven Davis, Julie Nelson, Pat Jennings, Ashley Hutton and Aaron Hughes - have played more times for the country than the Manchester United defender.

The 36-year-old, who in 2023 was awarded an MBE for services to football in Northern Ireland, won the last of 107 caps against Spain in June.

In a statement, Evans said he feels now is the right time to bring the curtain down on his international career after "much thought and consideration", adding that playing for Northern Ireland has been a "privilege".

"Putting on the green shirt 107 times and representing the people of Northern Ireland has been my biggest honour," he said.

Evans made his first appearance for his country against the same opposition, starting the famous 3-2 victory against La Roja in 2006 during Lawrie Sanchez's time in charge of the side.

The former Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion man would go on to become a key figure under Sanchez's successor Nigel Worthington, as well as for Ian Baraclough and through both spells of current boss Michael O'Neill.

It was under the latter that Northern Ireland reached Euro 2016, their first major tournament in 30 years, where Evans played all four games as the side advanced to the last 16.

"Without doubt the highlight of my international career has been the Euros in France 2016, reaching a major tournament and representing our wee country was a dream come true," added Evans.

O'Neill had told BBC Sport NI this month that he felt Evans still had "a huge amount to give Northern Ireland" but the centre-back will instead focus on his club career.

"Managing Jonny has been an absolute privilege. He is one of our greatest players as his 107 international caps clearly shows," O'Neill said on Wednesday.

"Jonny always showed great leadership but also great humility and always looked out for the rest of the squad. He always loved playing for his country and we will miss his quality and presence in the games ahead.

"He has achieved so much in the game and our fans, like I do, will have many fond memories of him wearing the green and white shirt."

Evans is in his second season back at Old Trafford, playing again at his boyhood club for whom he made his debut in 2007.

Having departed in 2015, he returned on a one-year deal last season which was extended for a further 12 months this summer.

Evans had intimated that he would likely have retired from all football had he not signed another contract with Erik ten Hag's side for the 2024-25 campaign.

Evans added: "To my team-mates - and there's been many - to play alongside you all has been an honour and the nights we've shared at Windsor Park and afar have been moments that we will all cherish.

"Some of the best moments of our footballing careers."

Evans also paid tribute to Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill, while also thanking Sanchez, Worthington and Baraclough.

"The majority of my caps have been under Michael who has been a constant through my career," said the defender.

"His advice on and off the pitch has been invaluable to me both as a player and as a person.

"The future of the team with Michael in charge is full of excitement and potential for many more successful days ahead for Northern Ireland and I will be cheering on like every single member of the Green and White Army."

Evans' decision comes seven months after the retirement of Steven Davis, his predecessor as Northern Ireland captain, with Stuart Dallas - another of NI's Euro 2016 squad - forced to call time on his career in April following a serious knee injury.

O'Neill names his Northern Ireland squad for next month's Uefa Nations League games against Luxembourg and Bulgaria on Thursday.

Comment deleted by Article Creator

'Evans retires as one of NI's all-time greats'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c984pxz9nwlo

Jonny Evans

England defender Kieran Trippier has announced his retirement from international football.

The 33-year-old was capped 54 times with his only goal coming against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final defeat in Moscow.

The Newcastle right-back, who made his debut in 2017 under former manager Gareth Southgate, captained England three times.

"I never thought as a young lad from Bury that I would play for my country let alone achieve 54 caps," Trippier posted on social media.

"It's been one of the biggest honours of my life to represent my country at four major tournaments.

"I want to say a big thank you to Gareth and all the staff that have worked with the England squad for the trust they have placed in me throughout the years."

Trippier was a mainstay under Southgate and started England's first six matches at Euro 2024 but was dropped for the final in favour of Luke Shaw.

He also started the Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy, and featured as a regular starter at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

England interim coach Lee Carsley names his first squad at 14:00 BST for Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland in September.

"Thank you to all my team-mates - we have had some very special moments reaching two Euro finals, and a World Cup semi final and I am sure in the future this group of players will win a major tournament," he added.

"I want to wish Lee, the coaching staff and the team all the best for the future.

"And finally a big thank you to all the England fans for your incredible support travelling all over the world to support us and keeping us going in the difficult moments."

Chelsea moved into the league phase of the Europa Conference League despite losing in Switzerland against Servette in the second leg of their qualifying play-off.

Enzo Maresca’s side led 2-0 after the first leg at Stamford Bridge a week ago and extended that advantage after 14 minutes through Christopher Nkunku’s penalty after Mykhailo Mudryk had been fouled by Keigo Tsunemoto.

Jeremy Guillemenot pulled one back for Servette, running on to Dereck Kutesa’s pass and shooting first time across Filip Jorgensen.

Two Servette substitutes combined with Enzo Crivelli heading in from Miroslav Stevanovic’s left-wing cross to put the Swiss side ahead on the night.

But the hosts could not find another goal that would have taken the tie to extra time as Chelsea held on for a 3-2 aggregate win.

Larne have made history by becoming the first Irish League club ever to make the group stages of a European club competition as an Andy Ryan hat-trick saw them defeat Lincoln Red Imps 4-3 on aggregate in the Uefa Conference League play-off.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Bernando Lopes' goal extended the Gibraltarian champions' advantage but Ryan responded with two penalties before half-time and a late winner after Chris Gallagher had been sent-off for two bookable offences.

The Irish Premiership champions will now join the likes of Chelsea and Panathinaikos in Friday's draw for the group phase in Monaco.

Qualification will see Larne receive approximately £2.6m in participation money, plus £336,000 for a win and £112,000 for a draw, a financial windfall in Irish League terms.

They can boost their coffers further based on media rights.

The east Antrim club's progression is the latest stage in a remarkable transformation of their fortunes which has seen them advance from languishing at the bottom of the second tier of Northern Ireland football in 2018 to becoming successive Premiership champions in 2023 and 2024 and now making the group stages in Europe.

Their league title successes were the first in their 135-year existence.

The club's history-making exploits have been achieved with the help of significant investment from owner Kenny Bruce, plus the introduction of a full-time model in recent years with the help of the vision of manager Tiernan Lynch.

The New Saints created Welsh football history as they secured their place in the Europa Conference League group stages.

Saints were held to a goalless draw at Park Hall by FK Panevezys of Lithuania in the second leg of the play-offs to complete a 3-0 aggregate win

The win sees them become the first domestic Welsh club to reach the group stages of a major European competition.

The Cymru Premier champions will discover their opponents in Friday’s draw in Monaco.

Manager Craig Harrison and chairman Mike Harris’ had previously spoken of the ambition to become the first Cymru Premier club to reach the group stages.

Saints went into the second leg in Oswestry 3-0 up from the away leg a week earlier, although Harrison insisted his side would take nothing for granted.

They showed a willingness to extend their aggregate lead rather than sit back and early on Rory Holden’s free-kick was headed over by Danny Davies before Adrian Cieslewicz’s shot was saved by keeper Emil Timbur.

Cieslewicz saw his volley go over the crossbar, but Panevezys themselves came close when Emestas Veliulis’ looping header went narrowly wide.

The visitors had a good spell towards the end of the first half and confusion in the Saints defence presented an opportunity for Cheikhou Deng.

Saints, whose European campaign began in the Champions League qualifiers in July, made a positive start to the second half and Adam Wilson, back on loan from Bradford City, had an effort deflected for a corner.

Danny Redmond missed the target after being set up by Wilson, who also had a shot from a tight angle smothered by Timbur.

Panevezys were reduced to 10 men for the final half hour when Rokas Rasimavicius received his second yellow card of the game to leave them with a mountain to climb.

Holden tried his luck from distance with a shot that was comfortably gathered by Timbur while Cieslewicz came agonisingly close late on to breaking the deadlock.

But Saints had done enough in the first leg in Lithuania to win the tie and create history for Welsh football in Europe.

Brentford have accepted a bid in the region of £40m for Ivan Toney from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.

Sources close to the England forward say they believe the deal will go through, and Toney will complete the transfer.

Toney, 28, has not played for Brentford so far this season and manager Thomas Frank has already ruled him out of Saturday's game against Southampton.

The Bees turned down a £35m bid from Al-Ahli before the start of the season and Toney has also been linked with Chelsea in recent weeks.

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has also been linked with a big money move to Al-Ahli.

The Saudi transfer window does not close until 2 September, so Toney's transfer does not have to be completed by the Premier League deadline of 23:00 BST on Friday.

Toney would be one of the most high profile players to move to Saudi Arabia and would joins the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar in the country.

Fellow England international Jordan Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in July 2023 but left for Dutch club Ajax after six months.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters.

Psalm 23:1-2

My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.

Psalm 71:8

Badger culling will end in England within five years as part of a shift in the fight against bovine tuberculosis, the government said on Friday.

As part of the new TB eradication strategy, badgers will be vaccinated instead of killed and work to develop a separate vaccine for livestock will also be stepped up.

The government hopes the strategy will deliver its target to eradicate the disease in England by 2038.

While campaigners Badger Trust criticised the government for allowing culling already licensed this year to go ahead, the National Farmers Union said culling had worked against TB and shouldn't be ruled out.

The government said its new strategy will deliver its manifesto pledge to end the “ineffective” culling of badgers.

It has set a target to end all culling by the end of this Parliament, which could be in 2029.

Daniel Zeichner, minister for food security and rural affairs, said the disease had “devastated British farmers and wildlife for far too long”.

“Our comprehensive TB eradication package will allow us to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament and stop the spread of this horrific disease,” he added.

League One club Birmingham City completed arguably the most stunning signing of the summer 2024 transfer window as they signed Fulham striker Jay Stansfield for a fee of more than £10m on a seven-year deal.

At the same time they were completing a second signing of the night and 16th of the summer to bring in Celtic's Tomoki Iwata, the American-owned club - relegated from the Championship last season - then made it 17 with the biggest of the lot.

They are understood to have agreed to pay Fulham £10m plus bonuses if Blues are promoted, after the Premier League side had turned down an initial bid earlier on Friday.

Fulham also stand to benefit from any future move after having a sell-on clause inserted into the deal.

And, although the price officially remains "undisclosed", it has certainly smashed the League One transfer record.

That was understood to be the £4m paid by Sunderland to Wigan Athletic for Will Grigg five years ago.

Bryan Mbeumo scored twice in a 3-1 win for Brentford against Southampton at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Former Bees striker Ivan Toney, who signed for Saudi side Al-Ahli on Friday's transfer deadline day, watched on as Mbeumo hit a double to put the hosts in command, while Yoane Wissa added a third.

Mbeumo's first came in the 43rd minute after Taylor Harwood-Bellis lost the ball deep in his own half, allowing Brentford to surge forward.

Kevin Schade's strike hit the post before finding Mbeumo who made no mistake when coolly slotting beyond debutant Aaron Ramsdale.

Cameroon international Mbeumo added his second with a superb finish in the 65th minute after another defensive error from Russell Martin's visitors.

Just four minutes later, the game was put out of reach for Saints as Wissa finished from close range.

Southampton's Yukinari Sugawara brilliantly powered home a consolation five minutes into stoppage time - his team's first goal of their Premier League campaign.

Adam Armstrong had earlier missed a golden opportunity for Saints when his attempt at a volley bounced off his standing leg and fell into the grateful arms of Mark Flekken.

Joe Aribo also went close to scoring for Southampton when the ball deflected off his back and against the Brentford crossbar.

Southampton, without a point after three games, sit 19th in the Premier League while the Bees move up to fifth with this result.

Russia has made sweeping advances in recent days that threaten to outweigh the gains made by Ukraine in its cross-border attack into the Kursk region.

Russian forces are just a few kilometres from the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a crucial logistics hub used by the Ukrainian military.

Home to a key railway station and major roads, Pokrovsk is an essential supply and reinforcement point for Ukraine’s troops on the eastern front line.

Critics in Kyiv fear that the country's military has made a serious miscalculation.

By sending troops into Kursk instead of reinforcing the eastern frontline, the military has left Pokrovsk and other important Ukrainian towns exposed, these critics say.

On a visit to the front line, armed forces chief Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russia was throwing “everything that can move” into its assault.

“The situation is extremely difficult,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded on Wednesday.

“If we lose Pokrovsk,” military expert Mykhaylo Zhyrokhov warned, “the entire front line will crumble."

GOAL - Sheffield United 1-0 Watford

Callum O'Hare

Celtic reinforced the recent Old Firm derby pattern with a routine Scottish Premiership win against Rangers.

Coming in as strong favourites and on their own patch, the champions withstood Rangers' spiky start before reasserting their familiar dominance.

Daizen Maeda guided in a close-range finish from Alistair Johnston's cross, as Rangers were manipulated all too easily from a throw-in.

By that point Kyogo Furuhashi had already had a goal ruled out for offside against Nicolas Kuhn, but the Japanese striker would soon add to his bulging derby tally with a precise finish from the edge of the box.

Rangers were fortunate not to be further behind by half-time and started the second period with more urgency, but Cyriel Dessers tamely shot at Kasper Schmeichel when a clinical finish was needed to reignite the contest.

There were chances for both sides in a more low key second period, with Kyogo surprisingly finding the side-netting when played through, and Ross McCausland and John Souttar missing for Rangers.

But Callum McGregor ended the contest with a belting finish from the edge of the box to move his side five points clear of their great rivals with only four league games played.

Sheffield United ended Watford’s winning start to the Championship season with a 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane.

Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann scored an own goal inside two minutes as the Blades kept up their own unbeaten streak in the league.

Bachmann was villain-turned-hero as he saved a Kieffer Moore penalty on 15 minutes after Ollie Arblaster was felled.

Ryan Andrews’ second-half strike off the post was the closest Watford came to scoring, as they suffered their first defeat of the campaign.

Sheffield United started strong with Callum O’Hare dribbling into the box and his cut-back deflected off Bachmann to trickle over the line.

The home side had the chance to double their lead 10 minutes later when Arblaster was fouled in the box by Yasser Larouci, but Moore’s penalty was saved by Bachmann low down to his left.

Chris Wilder’s Blades felt they should have had a second penalty on the stroke of half-time when Moussa Sissoko tugged the ankle of O'Hare after he fell and tried to get back to his feet, but his pleas were ignored by referee Andrew Kitchen.

Ryan Andrews hit the post from distance in the second half and former Blade Daniel Jebbison came on for his Watford debut as the visitors searched for an equaliser.

But it was Kieffer Moore who missed the best chance of the second-half to seal the win 10 minutes from time, with his one-on-one effort kept out by Bachmann.

It was a nervy finish around Bramall Lane and it threatened to boil over at the end after some physical challenges, but Sheffield United held on for their first home league win since December 2023.

Hibernian were denied a first Scottish Premiership win of the season after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser at Kilmarnock.

Bruce Anderson converted from the spot after being fouled by Jordan Obita to earn Kilmarnock's first point of the season and cancel out Joe Newell’s sublime opener.

Whether Newell’s intention was to shoot or to cross is up for debate, but his whipped effort was enough to beat Kieran O’Hara five minutes into the second half.

The Hibs captain was the hero for a while but his Kilmarnock counterpart might have been the villain had his side not levelled late on.

Kyle Vassell added himself to an already-competitive ‘miss of the season’ nominee list by inexplicably failing to convert an open goal from less than two yards out.

For those interested in statistics, Newell’s opener yielded an xG rating of 0.01. Vassell’s first half miss was 0.73.

Both sides hit the frame of the goal at 1-0 before Anderson won and scored the penalty in stoppage time.

David Gray is still yet to win a league match as Hibs manager but Kilmarnock, at the fourth time of asking, finally have a point on the board.

Beslan Remembers Victims of Russia’s Deadliest Terror Attack 20 Years On

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/01/beslan-remembers-victims-of-russias-deadliest-terror-attack-20-years-on-a86218