Max Verstappen put Red Bull’s off-track troubles to one side by setting the pace in the opening testing session in Bahrain.

Red Bull’s preparations for the new campaign have been overshadowed by allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” against team principal Christian Horner.

Horner, who is in Bahrain for this week’s three-day test ahead of the opening round, also in the Gulf kingdom, on March 2, emphatically denies the accusations made by a female colleague.

Verstappen won 19 of the 22 races last season as he wrapped up his third world championship, and the Dutch driver laid down an early marker by topping the time charts in his heavily revised Red Bull.

The 26-year-old ended the running nearly seven tenths quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in third, eight tenths back, and the only other driver within one second of Verstappen.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fourth, while George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, 1.68 secs off the pace.

Lewis Hamilton gets his first taste of the last Mercedes he will drive on Thursday ahead of his blockbuster switch to Ferrari next year.

Although headline times in testing have to be treated with a degree of caution – as the teams trial different fuel loads and tyre compounds – Verstappen appeared settled in the machine he hopes will carry him to a fourth consecutive title.

His lap count of 65 was more than a race distance in Bahrain. Alonso (77 laps) managed the most miles of the 10 drivers on track.

During a relatively trouble-free first session for the majority of the field, Alex Albon broke down in his Williams following a reliability failure with 20 minutes remaining.

The final four hours of the opening day begins at 1500 local time (1200GMT).

England vice-captain Ollie Pope has described the pitch for the fourth Test in Ranchi as “interesting” but believes this may favour the tourists after back-to-back defeats by India.

The playing surface in the Jharkhand capital 48 hours out from the first day of the penultimate match has cracks running down one side of the cut strip and was watered on Wednesday morning before being briefly left to bake under the sun.

A crusted top layer formed before the area was covered – all of which suggests some balls may explode off the ground and spinners from both sides are likely to be involved from the off.

India hold a 2-1 lead on pitches that have generally been slow turners, with the team that has won the toss coming out on top on all three occasions, but England are gearing up for lavish spin this week.

“It looks an interesting pitch,” Pope said. “It doesn’t necessarily look like a belting wicket at the moment. It kind of looks like one half is good and there’s a lot of cracks (on the other half).”

Pope, though, insisted this does not faze England, who are likely to go back to their policy of selecting one front-line seamer to bowl alongside three spinners that they had in the first two Tests.

That suggests either or both of James Anderson and Mark Wood dropping out, with Ollie Robinson in the frame for the first time in the series, and Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir as the spinners.

“If that does a fair bit like we expect it to having looked at it, it definitely brings us into the game,” Pope said. “If it does spin from ball one, I guess it’s an even playing field.

“We have got some young spinners but I think they’ve bowled well on some pretty good surfaces as well so it definitely brings some wicket-taking opportunities into the game.

“It takes the toss a little bit out of it as well. When the ball’s doing more, your best bet is trying to hit the bowler off his length and try and get him to not bowl where he wants to bowl every ball.”

The return of Ben Stokes as a fully fledged all-rounder is gathering more momentum, with the England captain having an extended bowling session at the batters in the nets without any apparent discomfort.

He was seen briefly speaking to team doctor Glen Rae after he had stopped, raising the prospect of Stokes bowling competitively this week for the first time since last year’s Lord’s Ashes Test.

Stokes had surgery on his left knee in November, with stitches in his meniscus and a big bone spur removed, but had made a “pinky promise” to England’s physiotherapist he would not bowl on this tour.

But Stokes revealed after England’s 434-run defeat in Rajkot he was further along in his progress than was initially suspected to be the case and bowling at optimum level.

“There’s definitely a chance,” Pope, England’s vice-captain, said. “He’s not confirmed it even in the changing room, so we will see. We’ll see how he pulls up, and if that’s good hopefully we will see him with the ball in hand in the game.

“If he’s got full confidence in his knee, I guess you’ve got to trust the medical advice and trust his opinions as well. If he needs a bit of guidance on the pitch then I can be someone to lean on.”

Clive Cox has the Qipco 2000 Guineas in mind as an early goal for his exciting unbeaten colt Ghostwriter.

The three-year-old is by Invincible Spirit and runs in the familiar purple and blue silks of Jeff Smith, whose most recent top-class performer was the multiple Group One winner Alcohol Free.

Ghostwriter made his debut at Newmarket in a July course maiden last August, prevailing by three and a half lengths over seven furlongs.

He then headed to Ascot for a novice event over the same trip, again winning comfortably when making the running and coming home a length and a quarter ahead of the runner-up.

His third and final outing of the season was on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, where he stepped up in grade to contest the Group Two Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes.

There he encountered some promising rivals, including the Ballydoyle contender Capulet – a Group Two runner-up ahead of the race having finished only half a length behind stablemate Diego Velazquez in the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes.

Cox’s runner was well able to step up to the mark, however, succeeding by a length and a quarter in a taking run under Richard Kingscote.

Naturally that performance has brought the Classics into focus for connections, particularly now the bay is proven over the Rowley Mile – home of the 2000 Guineas in May.

“He’s done really well, he had a super break and he’s been back cantering for three or four weeks,” Cox said.

“We’re thrilled with the way he’s developed over the winter, he’s looking even stronger.

“We were delighted with the campaign we enjoyed with him last year and we’re all looking forward to this season.

“I’m very much hoping to go to the Guineas, the first week in May is uppermost in our minds.

“Especially with him winning on the track at Newmarket, on the July course, of course, but crucially the Rowley Mile.

“We would be very excited about him with those Classic races in mind.”

Bayern Munich have announced that head coach Thomas Tuchel will leave the club at the end of the season.

Tuchel’s position has come under scrutiny following a woeful run of results that has left the Bundesliga champions facing the prospect of a first season without winning a trophy since 2011-12.

Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen told the club website: “In an open, good conversation we came to the decision to mutually end our collaboration in the summer. Our goal is to carry out a sporting realignment with a new coach for the 2024/25 season.

Former Chelsea boss Tuchel, who took over in March 2023, said: “We have agreed that we will end our collaboration after this season. Until then, I and my coaching team will of course continue to do everything we can to ensure maximum success.”

Luton captain Tom Lockyer has shown the scar of his implantable cardioverter defibrillator and called it his “new little superpower” following his cardiac arrest.

The 29-year-old midfielder collapsed on the pitch in the 59th minute of the Hatters’ Premier League game at Bournemouth on December 16, his heart stopping for two minutes and 40 seconds, and has since been fitted with an ICD.

He said on Sunday it was “out of his hands” whether he will ever play football again, but joked on Wednesday morning that his defibrillator was not “too intrusive” as it does not affect his golf swing.

“I call it my new little superpower really because after something like this happens and you make a recovery you have it in there just in case,” Lockyer told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

“It just in my side here. I’ll show you. It just sits there. The battery lasts for about eight years. To start with it was very sore and I still can’t sleep on my left side but I never slept on my left side.

“You get a little iPad almost and it plugs into a wall and every night you click a button on that and it syncs up to your defib an reports back to the hospital and shows your heartbeat throughout the whole day, if there was any sort of irregularities and if the device is still working.

“It doesn’t affect my golf swing, I’m still rubbish at that so isn’t too intrusive!”

The Welshman, whose partner is pregnant with their first child, has been keeping himself busy during his recovery by building Lego.

“I am doing the Disney castle at the minute so that’s another 5,000 piece,” he said. “I said I would like to do the Titanic, but with the baby on the way I don’t know if I can do it!”

Erling Haaland’s goal against Brentford means he has scored against every opponent he has faced in the Premier League.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the prolific Norway international’s Manchester City record.

Full house

Chelsea, Liverpool and Brentford were the only teams not to concede to Haaland in his astonishing debut season in England, when he won the Premier League Golden Boot with 36 goals in 33 games.

He ticked off Chelsea and Liverpool in successive league games either side of November’s international break and, having failed to score in this season’s first meeting with the Bees, has had to wait until Tuesday’s postponed return fixture to complete the set of 21 opponents he has faced.

He has yet to play against Luton, having missed December’s fixture while injured, so April’s game at the Etihad Stadium will bring the chance to add a 22nd name to his perfect record.

Tuesday night’s effort means Haaland now has 53 goals in 55 Premier League appearances.

Favourite opponents

Haaland’s best Premier League scoring record is against derby rivals Manchester United as well as Fulham, with five goals in three games against each.

He hit a hat-trick at home to United last season and a double at Old Trafford this term, while scoring in both of last season’s meetings with the Cottagers and adding a treble in September.

He has four goals against each of Crystal Palace, in two appearances, and Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Wolves in three apiece and Everton in four, with hat-tricks against all but the Hammers and Toffees.

He has three against both Brighton and Southampton while he has scored in every game against Fulham, Everton, West Ham (three games each), Palace, Saints (two), Leicester and Sheffield United (one).

Aston Villa, Brentford, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Tottenham, in three games each, Liverpool in two and the Blades in one have conceded only once to Haaland.

Record books

Harry Kane also scored against every Premier League opponent he faced, a total of 32 clubs, during his time with Tottenham – a brief loan at Norwich early in his career did not yield any of his eventual 213 goals in the competition.

Frank Lampard holds the record for scoring Premier League goals against the most clubs overall, with his 39 one more than Andy Cole, but neither player scored against every opponent they faced.

Third on that list with 37 opponents is the league’s record scorer Alan Shearer, whose 20 goals against Leeds is the most by one player against a single opponent.

What the papers say

Liverpool have identified Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi as a transfer target this summer, the Telegraph reports. Manchester United are also interested in the 23-year-old.

In an effort to replace Kylian Mbappe, the i says Paris St Germain are interested in Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and Barcelona midfielder Gavi.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Harry Kane: Football Transfers says Manchester United could once again try and lure the Bayern Munich striker and England captain to the club.

Gleison Bremer: Manchester United are also interested in the 26-year-old defender, currently at Juventus, who has been valued at £59.8million, Italian outlet Calciomercato says.

Igor Shesterkin made 17 of his 41 saves in a perfect third period and the New York Rangers beat the Dallas Stars 3-1 Tuesday to extend their winning streak to eight games.

Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck each scored for the Rangers, who improved to 9-1-1 over their last 11 games.

New York (36-16-3) expanded their lead in the Metropolitan by defeating a fellow division leader. The Rangers’ current streak includes wins over contenders Dallas, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche.

Miro Heiskanen had the lone goal for the Stars (34-15-8), a second-period power play tally, despite Dallas carrying a 42-26 advantage in shots on goal.

MacKinnon, Avs win West showdown over Canucks

Nathan MacKinnon extended his home point streak, Ryan Johansen scored two goals to end his scoring slump and the Colorado Avalanche beat the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks 3-1.

MacKinnon assisted on Artturi Lehkonen’s empty-net tally, giving him at least one point in each of Colorado’s 27 home games. MacKinnon pulled into a tie with Guy Lafleur (1979-80) for the seventh-longest home-point streak in league history.

J.T. Miller put the Canucks up 1-0 mid-way through the first period, but Colorado net-minder Alexandar Georgiev held up the rest of the way and finished with 24 saves.

Johansen lit the lamp for the first time since Dec. 29, tying the game early in the second period. He scored the game-winning goal 1:35 into the third period, putting the Avs up for good.

Colorado (35-18-4) picked up two points on the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars, while Vancouver (37-15-6) still leads the league despite a third straight regulation loss.

Panthers take over top spot in East

Anton Lundell scored at 1:36 of overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, their sixth consecutive victory.

The win catapulted the Panthers (37-15-4) ahead of the idle Boston Bruins for the top record in the Eastern Conference.

Florida led 2-0 at the second intermission with goals by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, but Thomas Chabot and Tim Stuetzle scored in the third for Ottawa to even the score, setting up Lundell’s thrilling game-winner.

“It must have been one of the coolest moments in this building (for me) for sure,” Lundell said. “Out there in overtime, I just waited for my opportunity, got the puck, saw the short side was open, so I tried to pick the corner.”

Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers, who improved to an NHL-leading 19-3-2 since Dec. 23.

Liverpool head to their second Carabao Cup final in three seasons this weekend looking to extend their own competition record of nine victories.

Here, the PA news agency details how they got there.

Fourth round: v Leicester (h) 3-1, September 27

Dominik Szoboszlai’s brilliant strike from the edge of the penalty area was the highlight of a second-half comeback after falling behind to Kasey McAteer’s third-minute goal. Cody Gakpo’s shot on the turn levelled things up just after the break, Szoboszlai smashed home and Diogo Jota’s cheeky backheel clinched victory.

Fifth round: v Bournemouth (a) 2-1, November 1

Darwin Nunez’s goal was worthy of winning any cup tie on a filthy night on the south coast. Gakpo opened the scoring with a scruffy close-range finish only for Justin Kluivert’s far-post header to level things up just past the hour. Nunez’s poor first touch was jeered by home fans but he made them pay by cutting in from the left touchline to whip a vicious shot over Andrei Radu.

Quarter-finals: v West Ham (h) 5-1, December 20

Gakpo made it three in as many cup ties but Curtis Jones was the real star with two goals. Szoboszlai opened the scoring with another long-range strike and Mohamed Salah scored a trademark breakaway before Jones’ driving run completed the scoring. Jarrod Bowen’s curling effort had briefly made it 3-1.

Semi-finals, first leg v Fulham (h) 2-1, January 10

Gakpo’s winner was his fourth successive goalscoring appearance in the competition and his tidy near-post effort gave Liverpool an advantage to take to Craven Cottage. Jones’ deflected shot from the edge of the area in the second half cancelled out Willian’s opener and Gakpo swept home in the 71st minute to turn things around.

Semi-finals, second leg v Fulham (a) 1-1, January 24

Luis Diaz’s early deflected shot beat Bernd Leno at his near post and set Jurgen Klopp’s side on their way to Wembley. Issa Diop’s quick improvisation diverted home a cross with his thigh but they could not make further inroads.

There will be no shortage of sub-plots when Chelsea take on Liverpool for the first silverware of the season in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

Each coming off tumultuous campaigns last season, fortunes this season have diverged with one challenging on all fronts whilst the other labours to rediscover former glories.

The PA news agency looks at the talking points.

Liverpool’s injury list

It was confirmed on Tuesday that Diogo Jota and Alisson would be out for significant periods while Curtis Jones also joins Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip on the absent list for Sunday.

There is no guarantee that Darwin Nunez, who like Jones and Jota was withdrawn in Saturday’s win over Brentford, or Dominik Szoboszlai will be fit as Jurgen Klopp’s squad risks being stretched thin on the run-in, beginning with Sunday’s final.

Chelsea’s young team coming of age

Mauricio Pochettino has talked about the importance of success in the Carabao Cup for the development of his players, who with an average age of just over 23 comprise the youngest squad in the Premier League.

After the semi-final win over Middlesbrough he stated Sunday’s final means more to Chelsea’s current crop than the club’s trophy-laden history would suggest, and that victory at Wembley could accelerate their development. Fresh from an encouraging performance in drawing with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, lifting the cup on Sunday could be a watershed moment.

Salah back and in form

Klopp was without Mohamed Salah for almost seven weeks prior to his return to the team as a first-half substitute against Brentford, but his performance at the Gtech Stadium saw him hit the ground running.

An excellent assist for Alexis Mac Allister’s goal that made it 2-0 was followed minutes later by a fine finish of his own to show his manager it is not all bad news on the selection front. It will be a tonic to Klopp’s injury concerns if the Egyptian can help his team and himself to an eighth trophy of his Liverpool career on Sunday.

Chelsea’s best hope of Europe

With a top-six league finish looking out of reach it seems increasingly likely that cup success is Pochettino’s best hope of marking his first season by leading the club back into Europe after a year away.

They still have the FA Cup to play for, with a fifth-round meeting at home to Championship high-fliers Leeds next week, but a win at Wembley on Sunday will ensure at least a place in the Europa Conference League. It may not be a return to the Champions League, a competition the team won was recently as 2021, but it would be progress after a turbulent 18 months on and off the pitch.

Familiarity, so the saying goes, breeds contempt, but for Liverpool and Chelsea it has resulted in a war of attrition.

The two teams have met 17 times since September 2018 and, on the three occasions those have been finals, each one has gone to penalties, with Liverpool victorious in all three.

And, while Sunday’s reunion at Wembley is a repeat of the 2022 Carabao Cup final, which had an epic shoot-out settled by Reds goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher scoring his side’s 11th attempt and Kepa Arrizabalaga missing his, there are few similarities with that afternoon.

Injuries and key departures mean Liverpool, the record nine-time winners, will be able to field just five of the starting XI from that day; Chelsea can put out just two after a huge churn of players during a billion-pound spending spree in the interim.

The final represents the first moment of significance in Jurgen Klopp’s long goodbye after his decision to step down at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have burned through three managers in Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard before giving Mauricio Pochettino the chance to arrest their gradual decline.

And it has been a decline.

When the pair met two years ago Liverpool were second in the Premier League table, chasing Manchester City in a brilliant title race which they lost by a point despite racking up 92 of them, while Chelsea were third, albeit 10 points behind.

But, despite their recent upturn in form, this time the Stamford Bridge side are 22 points adrift of the table-topping Reds in 10th.

Liverpool, competing on four fronts, are favourites, having lost just twice to domestic opponents, and, last month’s blip at Arsenal aside, Klopp has restored his squad’s competitiveness, even if they are not quite hitting the heights of that 2021/22 season.

However, injuries have hit at the wrong time, with influential players like full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, forward Diogo Jota, midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai and goalkeeper Alisson Becker already ruled out of the showpiece.

That may be just the opening Chelsea need after they were ripped apart 4-1 at Anfield barely a month ago.

There followed a 4-2 home defeat to Wolves four days later, after which they became one of the few teams to win at Villa Park while earning a creditable draw at Manchester City last weekend.

They appear to have played themselves into some form and Pochettino will look to build on that as he seeks to redress the balance against Klopp, against whom he has won just once in 12 meetings, and gain a small measure of revenge for the Champions League final defeat in Madrid in 2019 as Tottenham manager.

The Argentinian is desperate to end his trophy drought with English clubs in his seventh season in the country and silence some of the critics who are just starting to question his credentials again, having failed to spark a revival at Stamford Bridge, despite the massive investment in the playing squad.

That January Anfield defeat ended a run of seven successive draws between the two sides and, with all factors considered, that points to another close Wembley encounter – and possibly penalties yet again.

Chelsea have the chance to apply balm to a tumultuous spell in their recent history when they face Liverpool in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.

With there seeming little hope of achieving a European place via their Premier League form, the meeting with the Reds takes on added importance for Mauricio Pochettino’s young side.

Here the PA news agency looks at their route to Wembley.

Second round – Chelsea 2-1 AFC Wimbledon

Entering a round earlier than they are used to on account of having no European football, Pochettino’s side faced a shock when their League Two opponents took the lead via James Tilley’s first-half penalty, awarded after goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had flown from his goal with a reckless punch at a free-kick. Chelsea replied with a spot-kick of their own converted by Noni Madueke in stoppage time before the break. In the second half, Enzo Fernandez took advantage of an error from Alex Bass in the visitors’ goal to score for the first time since his £105million move from Benfica, sparing his side’s blushes.

Third round – Chelsea 1-0 Brighton

The Blues had lost at home to Brighton in the final weeks of the 2022/23 season, but with Roberto De Zerbi’s side juggling Premier League commitments with a first European campaign, Chelsea came out on top to progress to round four thanks to Nicolas Jackson’s goal early in the second half. The game was notable for a full debut for summer signing from Manchester City, Cole Palmer, the 21-year-old setting up the winning goal. He goes into Sunday’s final as the club’s top scorer with 12 in all competitions.

Fourth round – Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn

Benoit Badiashile marked his first appearance of the season after injury by scoring his second Chelsea goal, as Blackburn were dispatched at Stamford Bridge. The defender pounced on an error from Rovers goalkeeper Leopold Wahlstedt who failed to deal with Palmer’s corner, tapping home from close range. Raheem Sterling scored in the second half, set up again by the increasingly influential Palmer, to put his team into the last eight.

Quarter-final – Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties)

Chelsea looked to be heading out when Callum Wilson took advantage of chaos in their defence to put Newcastle a goal up in the first half, as indifferent Premier League form looked to have caught up with the team’s cup progress. That’s the way it stayed until stoppage time, when Kieran Trippier hesitated in dealing with a cross and Mykhailo Mudryk stole in to rescue his side. A penalty shoot-out followed, with Trippier the villain again for the visitors before goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic saved from Matt Ritchie to send Chelsea through.

Semi-final – Middlesbrough 1-0 Chelsea / Chelsea 6-1 Middlesbrough (6-2 on aggregate)

A calamitous first leg at the Riverside Stadium saw Pochettino’s team return south embarrassed after missing a host of chances against the Championship outfit, with Palmer the principal culprit. Hayden Hackney’s goal was the difference to leave boss Michael Carrick and his players dreaming of Wembley. Those aspirations were extinguished by half-time in the return leg in west London, with Chelsea 4-0 up by the break en route to a 6-1 win that ensured it would be they and not Boro that face Liverpool on Sunday.

Chelsea and Liverpool will meet once again in the Carabao Cup final on February 25.

The Wembley clash will be the third final between the clubs in the tournament’s history.

Liverpool are the competition’s most successful team with nine victories while Chelsea who have lifted the trophy five times.

Here, PA news agency takes a look at their previous two finals.

2005: Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool aet – Millennium Stadium

Chelsea lifted their first silverware under Jose Mourinho at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which hosted English cup finals between 2001 to 2006 while the new Wembley was being built. Liverpool opened the scoring inside the first minute of the game after John Arne Riise volleyed home a cross from Fernando Morientes.

The game stayed 1-0 until Steven Gerrard’s attempted headed clearance went into the back of his own net.

Goals from Didier Drogba and Mateja Kezman gave Chelsea a 3-1 lead in extra-time and they held on despite Antonio Nunez quickly pulling one back.

2022: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool (Liverpool win 11-10 on pens) – Wembley

Liverpool were chasing a quadruple and ticked off the first trophy after a marathon penalty shootout at Wembley. The game remained goalless for 120 minutes but Liverpool prevailed 11-10 on spot-kicks after Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missed his penalty.

The two sides would meet again later in the season in the FA Cup final. This was the first time that the same teams met in both the League Cup final and the FA Cup final of the same season since Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in 1993.

That game also remained 0-0 after extra-time and Liverpool won on penalties again when Kostas Tsimikas scored his penalty after Mason Mount had his saved by Allison Becker.

But Jurgen Klopp’s side fell short in their pursuit of both the Premier League and Champions League trophies as their quadruple hopes were dashed.