Mikel Arteta would have liked the chance to take advice from his former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, but has praised the legacy left behind by the Frenchman in north London.

Wenger, who joined the Gunners from Nagoya Grampus Eight in 1996, led the club over a two-decade-plus period that saw them emerge as one of the leading sides in European football.

Since his exit in 2018, however, he has seldom held a presence around the club, unlike former rival Alex Ferguson who has remained closely involved with Manchester United.

Speaking ahead of his side's Premier League clash with Brentford, Arteta - a two-time FA Cup winner under Wenger during five seasons as a player at Arsenal - acknowledged he wished he could have taken his expertise.

"I would have loved to have had him closer to have the opportunity to open up and in certain periods just listen and learn from him and everything he has been through," he told the Mirror.

"But he did it in a way to make sure that whoever comes after him had the respect and space he believed was important, and he honoured that."

With five wins and just one loss from their first six top-flight games this term, victory against Brentford could catapult Arsenal back to the summit, ahead of Manchester City and Tottenham.

Much of their success has come from the imposing presence of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who is anticipated to be in line to start England's Nations League games with Italy and Germany later this month.

With usual Three Lions keeper Jordan Pickford out injured, there is a chance for Ramsdale to stake a claim for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, and Arteta says it would be a fitting prize for his performances.

"I hope [Ramsdale] is the [England] number one, it will be great for us and it will be great for Aaron," he added. "He has shown in the last year or so what he is capable of doing.

"We will be watching and waiting for that decision. Aaron is pretty confident. It would be a good reward for him and what he has done."

Canelo Alvarez confirmed he has his sights set on a rematch with Dmitry Bivol after convincingly handling the third fight of his trilogy against Gennadiy Golovkin on Saturday.

Alvarez took a unanimous decision on the scorecards, although two judges had things much closer than it looked to the naked eye, scoring it seven rounds to five for the Mexican, while the third judge had it eight-to-four.

In one of the most highly anticipated trilogies of this generation, the 40-year-old Golovkin had noticeably lost a step compared to the version of himself that arguably won both of the first two fights, although the first was scored as a draw and he lost a controversial majority decision in the second.

Alvarez is still very much in his prime at 32 years old, and he was physically dominant, boasting a clear speed advantage with his hands and his footwork as he seemingly took each of the first eight rounds without much trouble.

From that point on Alvarez took his foot off the pedal, coasting through the championship rounds while avoiding any dangerous exchanges as he was convinced he had already done enough to bank the decision.

Speaking after his win, Alvarez thanked Golovkin for his part in what will go down as some of the richest fights since the end of the Floyd Mayweather era, with the two competitors splitting a guaranteed $65million for Saturday's outing, and that is before adding in their pay-per-view cuts.

"Thank you so much my friend, thank you Golovkin," he said. "We gave the fans three good fights – thank you for everything.

"Thank you all so much for your support. I've gone through some very difficult things in my life, and the only thing you can do is try to continue moving forward.

"I've gone through difficult times recently with my defeat, and I've actually shown that defeats are great, because it enables you to come back and show humility.

"[Golovkin] is a really good fighter – he's a great fighter, and that's why we're here. I'm glad to share the ring with him, and I'm going to keep moving forward to keep my legacy going strong."

His recent defeat against Bivol was the only loss of Alvarez's career other than his defeat against Floyd Mayweather when he was just 23 years old back in 2013.

After starting his championship-level career at super welterweight (154lbs), Alvarez has continued to rise through the weight classes in search of more world titles.

He jumped up to middleweight (160lbs) in 2015 to defeat Miguel Cotto, before going up again to super middleweight (168lbs) – where he remains now – to dethrone Rocky Fielding in 2018.

In 2019 he made the decision to push things even further, challenging Sergey Kovalev for the light heavyweight title (175lbs), where he struggled with the significant size disadvantage, but came from behind to score a knockout win in the 11th round.

Bivol was his second crack at light heavyweight, and it went very similar to his first try, except this time he could not find a fight-changing blow through 12 rounds of impressive action from the bigger, longer, stronger Bivol.

Despite what was a surprisingly convincing loss, Alvarez made it clear he is determined to avenge the defeat, putting emphasis on the legacy he hopes to leave.

"It's very important for my legacy, for me," he said. "For my pride, for my country, for my family, for everything.

"It's very important... I will beat him."

Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies will miss at least the rest of the regular season after the two-time All-Star broke his right pinky finger sliding head-first into second base in the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. 

The two-time Silver Slugger Award winner just returned from the 60-day injured list on Friday after missing 81 games due to a fractured left foot, which he suffered on June 13 against the Washington Nationals. 

"I hate it for him because my heart breaks for him," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "After everything he went through to get back here and then have that happen, God it's horrible for him. He was having so much fun, being the old Oz, playing ball. What he loves to do."

Albies is batting .247 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 64 games this season for the defending World Series champion Braves, who beat Philadelphia 4-3 to remain one game behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East. 

Atlanta is a lock to make the playoffs as they own a 10-and-a-half-game lead over the Phillies for the top wild card spot in the NL.  

Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies will miss at least the rest of the regular season after the two-time All-Star broke his right pinky finger sliding head-first into second base in the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. 

The two-time Silver Slugger Award winner just returned from the 60-day injured list on Friday after missing 81 games due to a fractured left foot, which he suffered on June 13 against the Washington Nationals. 

"I hate it for him because my heart breaks for him," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "After everything he went through to get back here and then have that happen, God it's horrible for him. He was having so much fun, being the old Oz, playing ball. What he loves to do."

Albies is batting .247 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 64 games this season for the defending World Series champion Braves, who beat Philadelphia 4-3 to remain one game behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East. 

Atlanta is a lock to make the playoffs as they own a 10-and-a-half-game lead over the Phillies for the top wild card spot in the NL.  

Three home runs in the first inning ended up being not enough for the Houston Astros as they went down 8-5 at home against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

After Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez hit three home runs on Friday, he followed it up with another one less than 24 hours later, giving him six from his past six games.

But Alvarez was not one of the Astros to go deep in the first inning, with Aledmys Diaz, Kyle Tucker and Trey Mancini all taking turns hitting balls over the fence to jump out to a 4-1 lead before registering their third out.

From that point on, Athletics starting pitcher Cole Irvin tightened the screws, holding the Astros scoreless through the next six innings to allow his side a chance to fight back.

Oakland showed some power of their own in the middle frames, with Chad Pinder hitting a 348-foot wall-scraper to right field, before Seth Brown was much more convincing with his three-run, 432-foot launch in the fifth inning.

A double in the seventh inning gave Brown his fourth RBI, making it 7-5, with Alvarez's eighth-inning shot proving to be just a consolation.

It was Alvarez's 37th home run of the season, leaving him alone in third place league-wide, although he is still 20 home runs off leader Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

Woodruff dominates the Yankees

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff put on a show at home against the New York Yankees, striking out 10 batters in eight innings on the way to a 4-1 win.

Woodruff allowed just one run – a solo home run to Josh Donaldson in the fourth inning – as only six Yankees reached base in the contest, with five hits and one walk.

With the bat, the majority of the damage was done by rising star Willy Adames, who became the second shortstop in the majors to hit 30 home runs this season with his three-run shot in the third inning. The other shortstop to hit 30 homers is Corey Seager, who was recently rewarded with a massive 10-year, $325million contract extension by the Texas Rangers.

Acuna carries the Braves

Ronald Acuna Jr drove in all four of the Atlanta Braves' runs in their 4-3 home win against the Philadelphia Phillies.

After two scoreless innings to begin the contest, Acuna broke the deadlock with a two-run, 427-foot bomb over the right-field wall, and then drove in another two runs with his next at-bat in the fourth inning when he doubled with two runners on base.

Both sides received solid starting pitching performances, with Philly opting to ride their ace Aaron Nola deep into the game, letting him pitch seven full innings, while the Braves pulled Jake Odorizzi after allowing just one run in four-and-two-thirds innings, although he threw only seven fewer pitches than Nola's 99.

Justin Lower shot a three-under 69 in his third round at the Fortinet Championship to earn a one-stroke lead heading into Sunday's final trip around Silverado Resort.

Lower led by two strokes after the opening round, before a Friday 71 allowed both Max Homa and Danny Willett to overtake him. With Homa and Willett both shooting even-par 72s on Saturday, Lower capitalised and re-established his position at the head of the field at 13 under.

Kicking off his second PGA Tour season after collecting two top-10 finishes in his first campaign, Lower's 69 was the best score from the leading quartet, with five birdies and two bogeys.

Homa and Willett will enter Sunday's play trailing by one at 12 under, with South Korea's An Byeong-hun alone in fourth at 11 under.

The tie for fifth at 10 under includes Matt Kuchar, Paul Haley II, Adam Svensson, and one of the two players to shoot the round of the day, Davis Thompson, who posted eight birdies and one bogey for his seven-under 65.

Australian Harrison Endycott was the only other player to shoot 65, and with it he climbed 50 places up to a tie for ninth at nine under.

Joining Endycott in rounding out the top-10 is rising talent Sahith Theegala, while Rickie Fowler is one shot further back at eight under.

It was a day to forget for major champion Hideki Matsuyama, with only one player shooting worse than his three-over 75.

Antonio Conte has warned his Tottenham forwards they will have to get used to being rotated if the club is to force its way into the elite of world football. 

The Italian opted to replace Son Heung-min with Richarlison from the start in Saturday's Premier League clash with Leicester City after the South Korean had failed to score in his first eight appearances of the season.

That decision paid off handsomely as Son came off the bench to score a sensational hat-trick as Spurs thrashed Brendan Rodgers' rock-bottom side 6-2.

Son became the first Tottenham player to score a Premier League hat-trick as a substitute, while he was just the seventh player to do so overall in the competition.

Conte said he will continue to shuffle his pack as the season progresses, and wants his forwards to be ready to make an impact when they are called upon.

"People do not understand that for the coach to manage this type of situation it is not easy," Conte said. "It's not easy because sometimes you prefer to play with 13 players, but in some moments I have to take important decisions.

"The players know very well that I want to win and every decision is for the best of the team, and also for the best of the player, to protect the players.

"We have just started this path with the club. To have Richarlison up front, with Harry [Kane], Sonny, Deki [Dejan Kulusevski] and also Lucas [Moura], then there is [Bryan] Gil, who is a good prospect and young, it means the situation gives me the possibility to rotate.

"When we start to play after the international break, 12 games in a row, for sure, I will rotate. The only thing I ask my players is that they don't drop the level when we rotate. We always want a strong team because we want to fight for every competition.

"We have just started, but if the players want to play for something important, to lift a trophy, they have to understand this. Otherwise, they continue to play every game, but they don't go to win anything. This is clear. Clear.

"It happened in the past here and I want to try and change it. I want to bring this team to another level. I will try to do my best. But I'm not worried about this. For sure, it's not easy. It's not simple. But I have to get the best decision in every moment.

"If you want to stay in a team with ambition, you have to accept this type of situation. Otherwise, you have to go to a medium team, and then you are sure you will play every game. And then it will be very difficult to lift a trophy in this way."

Tottenham are away to north London rivals Arsenal in the Premier League immediately after the international break, before visiting Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.

Cameron Smith is three strokes clear of the field heading into the final round at LIV Golf Chicago, following up his opening 66 with a strong four-under 68 to sit at 10 under.

Smith, the reigning Open and Players champion, finished one stroke off the winner at his debut LIV event in Boston, and now has put himself in the box seat for his first win on the controversial tour.

He posted five birdies and one bogey during his second trip around Rich Harvest Farms, with only one player shooting better than his 68 on Saturday.

That player was Peter Uihlein, who climbed up to a tie for second at seven under with his 66, with seven birdies and one bogey.

Uihlein is tied with round-one leader Dustin Johnson, who followed up his blistering 63 with a disappointing two-over 74, and one shot further back in a tie for fourth is Laurie Canter and Charl Schwartzel and six under.

Rounding out the top-10, Crushers GC teammates Bryson DeChambeau and Charles Howell III are tied for sixth at five under along with Lee Westwood, and Smith's Punch GC teammate Matt Jones is part of the group tied for ninth at four under.

Smith and Jones have Punch GC one stroke off the lead in the team standings, trailing only Johnson's 4 Aces GC, who have won the last three events in a row. Johnson is doing most of the heavy lifting as captain, with his teammates Patrick Reed at one under, Talor Gooch at two over and Pat Perez at three over.

After a two-under opening round, Phil Mickelson went two over on Saturday to head into the final round at even par.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed Kalvin Phillips is to undergo shoulder surgery but remains hopeful the midfielder could return to action ahead of England's World Cup campaign.

Phillips, a key member of Gareth Southgate's side that reached the Euro 2020 final on home turf last year, made a £42million move to City from Leeds United during the close season.

But fitness issues have restricted the 26-year-old to only three cameos off the bench for the reigning Premier League champions, with Phillips entirely absent for Saturday's 3-0 win over Wolves.

Now the defensive midfielder, named by England for this month's final pre-World Cup games in the Nations League against Italy and Germany, looks likely to require an operation to deal with a persistent shoulder issue.

"It's a problem with his shoulder again," Guardiola said when asked about Phillips' absence for the Wolves match. "Maybe he will need surgery in the next days. 

"It will be, not long, but a little bit longer because he needs [surgery]. Every time, it is out and it is out, and the doctors say that when you are out three or four times with the shoulder, the only solution is to have surgery."

It marks a major blow for both Phillips and Southgate, with the former's chances of making the plane to Qatar likely to be in jeopardy, and the latter left with a selection headache for his starting XI.

Despite limited minutes, Phillips would likely have resumed the double-pivot pairing with West Ham's Declan Rice in front of an England defensive line.

But his potential absence could force Southgate into a change in formation, with Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson among the options pushing for a starting berth.

England kick off their World Cup campaign against Iran in a little over nine weeks' time, with the upcoming games against Italy and Germany providing Southgate with a final chance to see his side in action before the tournament begins.

The Three Lions have yet to confirm Phillips' absence from their squad for those games, but Guardiola said there is "no way" he will feature in either contest.

Asked if he can provide a timeline for the former Leeds player's return should he indeed go under the knife, Guardiola responded: "I don't know, I am not a doctor.

"But in a good way he could arrive at the World Cup. I think so. But I am not a doctor. The doctor says the only solution right now is to do what we have to do."

South Africa moved level on points with New Zealand at the top of the Rugby Championship standings with a 36-20 bonus-point win over Argentina on Saturday.

An ill-disciplined Argentina recovered from 16 points down at half-time to move within two of their opponents and set up a tense conclusion at Estadio Libertadores de America.

But Damian de Allende and Malcolm Marx crossed over late on to add to South Africa's three first-half tries as they made it 29 wins in their 33 Tests with Argentina.

The Springboks welcome Argentina to Durban next weekend, while New Zealand – who boast a better points difference – host Australia with their fate in their own hands.

South Africa fell behind early on to a Emiliano Boffelli penalty, but they hit back through Damian Willemse's successful kick and the opening try followed 10 minutes later.

An offside Santiago Carreras attempted to stop Jaden Hendrikse from grounding the ball and a penalty try was awarded, with the fly-half also being issued a yellow card.

Boffelli moved Argentina back within four points from the boot, but the ball was popped up to Hendrikse and he burst through under the sticks to give the Boks breathing space.

After Willemse added the extras, the visitors pushed on and had a third try through Marx, who crashed over following a sustained spell of pressure.

Argentina's hopes of recovering were further dented when referee James Doleman sin-binned Gonzalo Bertranou after losing patience for a series of infringements.

South Africa could not entirely put the game out of reach and were themselves down to 14 after Willie Le Roux, having already been warned, strayed offside.

Tomas Cubelli appeared to spill the ball when charging through and attempting to touch down, but it was deemed Kwagga Smith illegally intervened and a penalty try was given.

Smith was also yellow carded for that offence, yet it was the Boks who finished strongest as De Allende and Marx added two more tries to seal what seemed an unlikely bonus point.

Matt Ryan will have to make do without one of the top pass-catchers in the NFL in Week 2 after the Indianapolis Colts ruled Michael Pittman Jr. out for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Pittman, who had previously been listed as questionable, is out with a quadriceps injury.

The Colts will also be without rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce, who is recovering from a concussion.  

Pittman emerged as the Colts' clear top receiver last season with 1,082 yards on 88 catches and six touchdowns.  

In last weekend's season opener, he totalled nine catches for 121 yards and a score. No other Colt had over 50 receiving yards.  

With Pittman out, Indianapolis my lean even more heavily on last year's rushing champion, Jonathan Taylor. Parris Campbell and Nyheim Hines could see extra targets in the passing game.  

The Colts racked up 517 yards of total offense in Week 1 but left Houston with a tie against the Texans.  

Son Heung-min felt he had "disappointed" his Tottenham team-mates before opening this season's account with a dazzling hat-trick against Leicester City.

The South Korea international came off the bench in the second half of Saturday's Premier League game to deliver a freewheeling performance in what became a 6-2 rout of the Foxes.

Having been replaced in the starting line-up by Dejan Kulusevski, Son's performance as substitute was a timely reminder of his talent.

In eight previous games this season, including two in the Champions League, Son had failed to score and managed only one assist.

Speaking after a treble that included two stunning long-range finishes, last season's Golden Boot joint-winner said the feat left him emotional, after several weeks of feeling he had let the club down.

"It was a top performance," Son told Sky Sports. "The way I play, I can do much better than I have. I have been disappointed. I wanted to do my best for the team. I will always try to do that when I play.

"I'm getting emotional [about the support] to be honest. There has been amazing support, and I've always felt like I've disappointed my team-mates and fans with my performances. They have always been supporting me."

Son's feat made him the seventh player in the competition's history to score a hat-trick after coming on as a substitute, and helped push Tottenham joint-top of the table with Manchester City, albeit trailing on goal difference.

With 17 points from seven games and an unbeaten domestic record to boot, Antonio Conte's side have matched their best start to a Premier League season, set in 2016-17 when they finished behind their current boss during his time at Chelsea.

The Italian head coach certainly was happy to see Son turn the page, with Conte saying: "I am really happy for Sonny today, you know what I think of the player.

"I said to him, 'If you're going to score three goals in 30 minutes, maybe we can repeat this experiment', but I was joking.

"I'm lucky, I have a really good group of players, that are really good people. We have to start thinking in a different way if we are going to make the next step."