Sergio Perez described his 2024 Formula 1 season as "terrible", but is hoping for a strong result at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend to turn his campaign around. 

Perez currently finds himself eighth in the drivers' championship and 204 points behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen. 

The Mexican started the season strongly with four podium finishes in the first five races, but has since failed to reach the top three. 

Back-to-back retirements in Monaco and Canada halted his early season momentum, with Perez not finishing higher than sixth in the last 13 races since.

His recent run of form has seen McLaren overtake Red Bull in the constructors' standings, with the British-based team now 40 points in front heading into the final five races.

"I know I've had a terrible season. It started really well, but it's been really, really difficult," Perez told BBC Sport.

"If I had a strong result, it can definitely change my season massively in terms of personal feeling. So I'm really up for it."

The Mexican's start to the season was rewarded with a new two-year deal, but Perez's subsequent slump has led to sustained speculation about his future.

After Red Bull chose to stick with him beyond the summer break, Perez impressed at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but finished without anything to show for it after a last-lap collision with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. 

He then finished 10th and seventh in the following two races in Singapore and the United States. 

But the return of highly-rated Liam Lawson, who finished ninth in Austin last weekend in his first race since replacing Daniel Ricciardo at RB, has further heightened focus on Perez's form. 

Yuki Tsunoda is also still aiming to make his claim for a promotion, while Franco Colapinto has also impressed since taking over from Logan Sargeant at Williams. 

"This is Formula 1. Sometimes the results are not coming, and you just have to make sure you keep your head down," Perez said. 

"You focus on the stuff that you can control and the rest is something that you cannot get bothered with."

Arne Slot knows Liverpool must improve against their direct competitors if they are to have any chance of lifting the Premier League trophy, ahead of Sunday's trip to Arsenal.

Liverpool lead the Premier League table after eight matches under new boss Slot, taking 21 points to sit one clear of champions Manchester City.

Third-placed Arsenal are four points behind the Reds after suffering a surprise defeat at Bournemouth last time out, giving Slot's team the chance to put real distance between themselves and a rival this week.

Last season, Liverpool did not manage a victory in four matches against City and Arsenal, recording three draws and one defeat – a 3-1 loss at the Emirates Stadium in February.

Indeed, Arsenal are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games against Liverpool (two wins, two draws), taking more points from these four games (eight) than in their previous 14 against the Reds (seven).

Speaking at Friday's pre-match press conference, Slot said: "We all know that taking points from your competitors is important. 

"Nobody knows in this early stage who is going to be your competitor or your biggest competitor, but I think we all know that Arsenal will be one of them and dropping points against them or winning points against them... that is always important. 

"So, you're right, I think it was three draws and one loss [against Arsenal and Manchester City] last season.

"So if you use simple mathematics, if Liverpool could have won all three of them I think the league table would have been a bit different. 

"It's difficult to win an away leg against Arsenal, City or all the other ones but it's something we are trying to do on Sunday, definitely."

If Liverpool win Sunday's game, it will be their second-best ever start to a Premier League season after nine games (24 points – currently on 21). 

The only other occasion on which they have won 24 or more points through nine games in a Premier League campaign was in 2019-20, when they last won the title (25 points).

Asked whether his start had surpassed expectations, Slot insisted he was simply focused on implementing his style of play and said results will take care of themselves.

He added: "There were no expectations from me. It wasn't that I was on my holiday thinking, 'after 10 games how many points do I want to have?' 

"No, the only thing I was thinking was, 'how am I going to try to bring the best out of this team, that has been done for so long by Jurgen [Klopp]?' 

"How can we continue that and how am I going to do the individual meetings with the players, the team meetings with the players? You don’t think about points. 

"For me, the way I think about it, it's about the process we are doing, what we do on a daily basis, and that – in my experience until now – leads in the end to points."

Saud Shakeel’s brilliant century saw Pakistan regain control in their deciding Test against England, with the help of some late wickets.

The tourists had started the day strongly, but their momentum slowly fizzled out through the day as they struggled to cope with Shakeel.

England took three late wickets on Thursday and picked up where they left off as Shoaib Bashir took Shan Masood before Rehad Ahmed's 4-66 put Pakistan in trouble at 187-7, the youngster scalping three in quick succession.

However, Shakeel was in control with the bat, plundering 134, and he was helped by lower-order partnerships with Noman Ali (45) and Sajid Khan (48 not out) as he pushed Pakistan towards their 344 total, and a 77-run lead.

Any hopes England had of quickly regaining their lead were quickly squashed, as they lost three wickets in the nine overs played before stumps, with Zak Crawley (2), Ben Duckett (12) and Ollie Pope (1) failing to put their stamp on things.

Joe Root (5 not out) and Harry Brook (3) are set to resume at the crease on Saturday on 24-3, with a lot of work to do as they trail by 53.

Data Debrief: The driving force

Shakeel got 16 of his runs at the very end of day one and stood firm through Friday's extended morning session in Rawalpindi as he used his smarts to stay in the game.

He faced 223 deliveries during his stand, but only hit five boundaries in his knock, all fours. 

Instead, it was his partnerships that proved fruitful, racking up 88 runs with Noman before adding another 72 with Khan before he was trapped lbw by Gus Atkinson.

Mitchell Santner's stellar bowling paired with Tom Latham's strong start with the bat put New Zealand in the driving seat on day two of their second Test against India.

The hosts resumed at the crease at 16-1 on Friday, and they started strong as Yashasvi Jaiswal (30) and Shubman Gill (30) got the ball rolling.

However, Santner (7-53) found his footing in the 22nd over, trapping the latter lbw and taking Virat Kohli for just one run shortly after.

Ravindra Jadeja threatened to get India back on track with his knock of 38, but the wickets continued to tumble as they were skittled for 156, already trailing by 103.

Latham then kept the tourists in control, plundering 86 before Washington Sundar picked up where he left off in the first innings.

The spinner took seven wickets on day one and got four more as he tried to limit the damage done by New Zealand in the second innings, but Will Young (23), Devon Conway (17) and Daryl Mitchell (18) kept them ticking over.

New Zealand had a healthy 301-run lead at stumps, ending the day 198-5, with Tom Blundell (30 not out) and Glenn Phillips (9 not out) hoping to keep their momentum going when play resumes on Saturday.

Data Debrief: On the cusp

Sundar's strong start on Thursday had given India hope, but they struggled to build on that when they stepped out for day two.

Instead, it was Santner who grabbed the headlines, with New Zealand pushing to get a maiden Test series win in India and end their hosts' 12-year unbeaten run at home.

Before this Test, he had never taken four wickets in an innings, but he managed an impressive seven-for as he made light work of India's batters.

Bayer Leverkusen's Victor Boniface has recovered well after suffering minor injuries in a car crash and could make Saturday's trip to Werder Bremen, Xabi Alonso has revealed.

Nigeria international Boniface was a passenger in a car that crashed one day after he scored the winner in the Bundesliga champions' 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last week.

The 23-year-old, who scored 14 league goals as Leverkusen won their first top-flight title last season, sustained minor injuries to his hand and foot in the collision.

But Alonso has confirmed he is in contention to be involved this weekend, saying on Friday: "We will decide after training today.

"He had a few days to put it behind him. I saw him yesterday and he said he felt better.

"We will wait. If he feels better then he will travel with us to Bremen. Today is training and the last test."

Boniface has scored five league goals so far this season, but he missed their 1-1 Champions League draw at Brest on Wednesday.

Leverkusen are currently fourth in the Bundesliga on 14 points, three off the top after only winning one of their last three matches.

They will be without midfielder Amine Adli for several months after he broke his fibula in the game against Brest, and Alonso recognises he will be a major loss.

"A big loss for us. We will miss him," Alonso said. "A very important player for the squad and always a big influence.

"It was the worst news. Now we have to wait a long time for him."

Sean McVay is happy to have Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp back out on the field and "expects it to stay that way".

The Rams caused an upset on Thursday, beating the Minnesota Vikings 30-20 as they were boosted by the returns of Kupp and Puka Nacua, playing together for the first time since their opener.

It is the first time the Rams have recorded back-to-back wins this season, and scored a season-high 30 points, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive games with fewer than 30.

Kupp recovered from a left ankle sprain he suffered in week two to play the Vikings, and had five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.

In the build-up to the game, there was trade speculation over the 31-year-old, with LA reportedly approaching teams about him before the November 5 deadline, but McVay was quick to shut down the idea.

"I'm really glad to have Cooper Kupp back with us and I expect it to stay that way," McVay said.

"Teams reached out," he added when asked about the trade speculation. "Some of the things that I've seen out there, they're just not true.

"We've addressed that with those individuals. Teams have called about him, and we let him know what the dialogue was there. And then there's a lot of stuff out there where there's not a lot of accountability to the reports. And that's unfortunate."

Nacua, meanwhile, was only activated to play on Thursday, having recovered sooner than expected from a posterior cruciate ligament in week one.

He led the team with seven catches for 106 yards on nine targets, making it his eighth career game (out of 19 played) with 100 receiving yards.

Overall, McVay was pleased with the spark that the pair's return provided to the team.

"There's a confidence, there's a comfort, there's a rapport that's been established with Matthew [Stafford] and Cooper over the years and then Puka and Matthew last year and then leading into this season," McVay added.

"And so, these guys are ballers. Matthew brought out the best in everybody. But I thought Puka and Cooper were ready to go. They made an impact."

Derrick White believes Neemias Queta is "more sure of himself" after helping the Boston Celtics cruise to a 122-102 win over the Washington Wizards.

The Celtics maintained their perfect record in the NBA this season with their first road win of the season, with Jayson Tatum leading the charge with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Jaylen Brown scored 27, while White added 19 as the reigning champions extended their winning streak over Washington to five games.

The Wizards struggled to gain any momentum in what was their season opener and trailed the Celtics throughout.

Boston were much changed from their opening win over the New York Knicks, as Joe Mazzulla went with a double-big line-up to make up for Sam Hauser's absence.

One of those brought in was Queta, who scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, including a game-high four on the offensive end.

And White was impressed with the influence Queta had despite his short time on the court.

"He's athletic, seems to get every offensive rebound, and is just a big body around the rim," White said.

"I just think he's a little more comfortable, a lot more sure of himself, of where to be in the offense. I think last year he was maybe thinking too much, but this year he's just playing and doing what he does.

"He was really good for us in training camp and again [against Washington]."

Xavier Tillman and Luke Kornet were the other backups brought in by the Celtics, and proved their most efficient scorers, shooting a combined 10-of-14 from the field.

"The standard is the standard and no matter who we put in there, we expect the same things," White added.

"Obviously, it's not Sam Hauser running around out there, but there's a lot of ways for us to create advantages and I thought all the bigs did a great job for us today."

Borussia Dortmund need to claim their first Bundesliga away win of the season this weekend, according to head coach Nuri Sahin.

The German side were beaten 5-2 by Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek, having initially gone 2-0 up at the Santiago Bernabeu, and travel to Augsburg in the Bundesliga this weekend.

An inconsistent start to the domestic season has them seventh in the table, while they are still waiting for their first victory away from the Westfalenstadion.

But the setbacks the team have faced, according to Sahin, have all contributed to the team's development, and a first win on the road would be a great confidence booster.

"It has to work now with an away game win," he told a press conference. "It is an important game. Especially with a look at the table where we need to stay in touch with the top spots.

"The demands we have set for ourselves mean we have to win away games. You cannot reach your goals without away wins."

Dortmund do have a 100% record in all competitions at home this season and come into the weekend having beaten St. Pauli 2-1 in their last Bundesliga outing.

But they have not won back-to-back matches in the league so far this season, while they have picked up just one point in three away games.

Their patchy form has already seen a gap of four points open to league leaders Bayern Munich.

"Our demand is to get the three points and finally to reward ourselves on the road," Sahin said.

Sahin found himself the subject of much criticism in midweek, with his team having conceded five goals in 30 second-half minutes following his tactical substitutions.

"We need to keep working, remain clear. Every day, every match, every training session is important to progress. We will keep going down that road," he said.

"When you hit this flow it will be easier. We are not in that flow yet. It is a bit bumpy but, I have to accept it. Hopefully, [on Saturday] it will work out."

Lando Norris accused Max Verstappen of "incorrect" driving following the incident at the United States Grand Prix that led to him receiving a time penalty.

The McLaren driver overtook Verstappen in the latter stages of the race but was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track to gain an advantage while making the pass.

The penalty meant that Norris dropped from third to fourth, and now sits 57 points behind the Drivers' Championship leader with only five races remaining.

McLaren have announced plans to launch a bid to overturn the penalty on Thursday, saying the Brit was left with no option but to go off the track as Verstappen broke late and ran wide and off the track on the turn.

"We'll ask questions. We've already asked certain questions. It's not something that needs to be done publicly or anything," Norris told Sky Sports F1 when asked about whether the rules need to be clarified when two cars go off track.

"But we can just have conversations on why I got the penalty because I don't believe it was correct. I think the majority of people don't agree it was correct, but that's life and sometimes it doesn't go your way.

"I think things just need to be clear for the future on what's allowed and what's not. I think the fact of getting off your brakes to achieve just the ruling of being ahead at apex, no matter how wide you run on the exit, is incorrect and I don't think that's how racing should be.

"Of course, that's the ruling at the minute and that's just what you've got to deal with. So I think there needs to be some tweaks."

Norris also admitted he did not think Verstappen's driving in the incident was "how racing should be".

"Max is the best in the world in this style of defence and attacking. So, I have to be at his level and at the moment I am not quite at the level I need to be at.

"It's a shame to say, but it's probably the truth. At the same time, it's a chance for me to learn and progress."

However, Verstappen did not understand the frustration, pointing out that he was following the rules during the incident in Austin.

"It's how the rules are written. I don't make the rules, first of all. I just follow the rules, as much as I can," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.

"Of course, sometimes you get caught out with it. We've had that in the past. I just implement the rules and play with them.

"At the end of the day, you cannot overtake outside of the white line. That's a very clear rule, and I've been done by it myself.

"So, I don't understand why then, suddenly now, we need to ask and scream for changes in the regulations when it's been like that forever.

"I mean, I grew up go-karting, F3, F1 - you know that you cannot pass outside of the white line, it's as simple as that."

Klay Thompson was delighted with his "great" debut, after setting a new franchise record in the Dallas Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs.

He got 22 points, seven rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes, with eighteen of those points coming from 3-pointers, a record for a Mavericks player.

Thompson, who left the Golden State Warriors after 13 years in the close season, helped push the Mavericks to a 120-109 victory on Thursday.

"Great debut," Thompson said.

"It's only one game in October, but it feels good just to get that first one out of the way.

"I had a ton of excitement, really just an awesome feeling. And you only get the first time of something so often."

Victor Wembanyama, meanwhile, finished with 17 points on 5-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds, one assist and a game-high-tying four turnovers to open his second season with the Spurs.

Due to his involvement in the Paris Olympics, Wembanyama was limited to fewer than 40 minutes in preseason, and he admitted he felt that in their season opener.

"Some moments felt great," Wembanyama said. "A little hard conditioning-wise at first, of course [as] I expected.

"But I think we had some good basketball moments and some really bad ones.

"None of us really have played four games since [the] middle of the summer for me. It's a struggle.

"Every player in the NBA goes through it. Conditioning is not an excuse [for missed shots]. I'll have different weapons we need to know when to use.

"So, for the missed shots, it's more getting used to taking shots, getting used to again taking shots in a game."

Andre Onana says Manchester United's draw with Fenerbahce in the Europa League "is a big disappointment" after the club failed to hold out for their first win in the competition.

Christian Eriksen had given the Red Devils the lead in the first half, but they were pegged back by Youssef En-Nesyri four minutes after the break in their 1-1 draw.

United have now won just one of their last eight games in Europe when scoring first (D5 L2), drawing each of their last four games when going 1-0 up.

It was a third consecutive stalemate in the Europa League for United, who were indebted to their goalkeeper as he made three saves, including an incredible double stop to keep his side in the lead at half-time, but he was left frustrated by the result.

"It is a big disappointment for me and the fans, for the club, as a Manchester United player you have an obligation to try to win," Onana told TNT Sports.

"We didn't win, but at least we didn't lose. Not happy, of course, but we move on, take responsibility and go again.

"We conceded an early goal in the second half, we had to show character, and I think that is what we did. We didn't win, but I thought we were better than them."

United were without a number of players through injury or suspension, with Bruno Fernandes one of those to miss out after being sent off against Porto.

In fact, United have failed to win any of their last five away games without their captain in all competitions (D2 L3), with the Red Devils scoring just two goals in total across those five matches.

Despite the result, Erik ten Hag was keen to take the positives from a game which also saw them lose Antony, who came on as a second-half substitute, to injury.

"We've shown we are a team which is hard to beat," said Ten Hag. "We can take confidence and take it into the game against West Ham.

"We have to win, and we came in the position to win. We created the chances, but we have to be killing more. We let the opponent get away with a point.

"[Antony's] training performances are that good that he deserved to come on. When you have to come off so quickly, that is really sad to see. Hopefully, it's not too bad, we have to wait 24 hours for what the assessment is."

Tomas Soucek says West Ham's mentality must improve after they were trounced by Tottenham last week, ahead of Sunday's headline clash with Manchester United.

West Ham have taken eight points from as many Premier League games under Julen Lopetegui, but the low point of the Spaniard's reign to date came at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last week.

The Hammers shipped three goals in the space of eight second-half minutes in a 4-1 defeat, and Soucek has revealed stern words were required in the dressing room after that match.

"It's very frustrating, and we're all angry," Soucek said. "We said in the dressing room that this cannot happen because it's a derby for us, for the fans, and it's a massive game. 

"We also said this is only one result, and we have the whole week to overcome this setback and make sure we're ready for the game against Manchester United.

"We went in with a draw at half-time, but in the second half we were not good enough for an eight-minute spell and conceded three goals in that space of time. That killed the game. 

"We spoke about mentality after the game and if we concede a goal, we can't concede again like we did."

Opponents United are only three points better off than Sunday's hosts, having fought back from 1-0 down to beat Brentford 2-1 in their last league match.

Erik ten Hag's under-fire side then squandered a 1-0 lead in a 1-1 Europa League draw with Fenerbahce on Thursday, however, leaving goalkeeper Andre Onana frustrated. 

"It was a big disappointment for me and the fans, for the club, as a Manchester United player you have an obligation to try to win," Onana told TNT Sports.

"We didn't win, but at least we didn't lose. We're not happy of course, but we move on, take responsibility and go again.

"We had more control than them in the second half and more chances. We conceded an early goal in the second half, we had to show character and I think that is what we did.

"We didn't win but I thought we were better."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

West Ham – Jarrod Bowen

West Ham will be without the suspended Mohammed Kudus after his red card at Spurs, but they have not lost any of their five games without the Ghanian since his Premier League debut last season (two wins, three draws).

Bowen is one of three other West Ham players to match Kudus' return of two league goals this term, also creating a team-high 20 chances in 2024-25.

Manchester United – Alejandro Garnacho 

Garnacho has scored 12 goals for Manchester United in the Premier League. 

Only eight non-British players have ever scored more in the competition before turning 21, with the only player to do so for the Red Devils being Cristiano Ronaldo (14).

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

West Ham have won their last two Premier League home games against United without conceding – they have never kept three consecutive home clean sheets against the Red Devils in their league history.

They last managed three straight home league wins against the Red Devils, meanwhile, between 1974 and 1977 (a run of four).

Indeed, United have suffered more Premier League defeats in eight trips to the London Stadium (four – three wins, one draw) than they did in 20 trips to the Boleyn Ground (eight wins, nine draws, three defeats).

Despite their struggles, United have kept three straight clean sheets on the road in the Premier League. They last recorded four successive shutouts on the road in July 2020.

Their last two road trips, however, have been goalless draws at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa. Given their attacking shortcomings, another draw would be no surprise.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

West Ham – 34.6%

Manchester United – 40.3%

Draw – 25.1%