Caitlin Clark lived up to the lofty expectations as one of the most highly touted rookies in WNBA history, and has been rewarded.

The WNBA announced Thursday that the Indiana Fever star was chosen as the league's Rookie of the Year.

Clark received 66 of 67 votes, with the other vote going to Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.

After a phenomenal collegiate career, Clark was the first pick of this year's draft and made an immediate impact on the court and also by helping the WNBA gain popularity worldwide.

She broke the league's single-season assist mark with 337 - including a WNBA-record 19 in one game - and averaged 8.4 per game to become the first rookie to lead the league in that stat.

Her 122 3-pointers also led all players and she scored the most points ever by a rookie with an average of 19.2 per game to rank seventh in the WNBA.

With averages of 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, she started all 40 games for the Fever to help the franchise reach the play-offs for the first time since 2016.

Joining Clark on the 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team is Reese and Kamilla Cardoso of the Sky, New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich and Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.

Jason Gillespie insists Shan Masood has a "clear plan" as Pakistan's Test captain.

Pakistan's red-ball skipper has faced scrutiny after overseeing five straight defeats as captain, starting by being whitewashed 3-0 by Australia last December.

That was followed by a shock 2-0 series defeat to Bangladesh last month, which marked Gillespie's first as Pakistan Test coach.

Next up is a three-match series with England, where Joe Root (12,402) is 71 away from surpassing Alastair Cook (12,472) as the all-time leading run scorer for England in men’s Tests, beginning in Multan on Monday.

Speaking on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast, Gillespie said of Masood: "Shan has got a very clear plan on how the Test side should play and we are completely aligned on that," the 49-year-old said.

"There are things people don't see and I've been really impressed by his communication with the players and how he's gone about doing his job."

Gillespie added that he believes part of the issue is improving the fitness of the team.

He added: "We can't afford to have players in international cricket who are not fit or strong enough to negotiate the rigours of the game.

"What I've learned from the Bangladesh series is that we've got some wonderful players, but we need to be more consistent. We've got the skills but we need to keep fine-tuning them.

"There's also been plenty of talks around fitness and we're making sure that it's a key component for us going forward."

Julen Lopetegui says he expects to be under pressure after West Ham's recent struggles at home but hopes to put that right against Ipswich Town.

West Ham have won just one of their six Premier League matches so far, away to Crystal Palace, but have lost all three of their home fixtures, conceding eight goals and scoring twice.

Having failed to win any of their last four in the league, along with a heavy 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup before last week's draw at Brentford, Lopetegui is coming under a little pressure already.

However, the Spaniard is not fazed by that, explaining his team are working hard to change their fortunes at the London Stadium.

"Always it's very important to win, and that's why we work hard every day. We want to win for sure," Lopetegui said.

"Ipswich are a good team, and all our thoughts are on Saturday.

"Our job is to live under pressure, and it is normal because we haven't won at home yet. That's why we are working, to try and win on Saturday against Ipswich."

Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys are still searching for their first win since being promoted back to the top-flight.

There is reason to be optimistic though, as Ipswich have drawn each of their last four outings, including 2-2 against Aston Villa last weekend.

Kieran McKenna is expecting another tough test but knows his players will show their competitiveness once again.

"I know it is another big game, another big challenge and one to look forward to," McKenna said.

"Let's hope we can make it really competitive. I don't think there [will be] many weeks this year where we are going to blow teams out of the water, so we need to work really, really hard to be competitive.

"We hope we can be really clinical in our execution when we have our moments and defend their moments well to give ourselves a chance to get a result."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

West Ham – Tomas Soucek

Tomas Soucek netted his 29th Premier League goal for West Ham United in their 1-1 draw with Brentford, overtaking Milan Baros (28) into second place for the top Czechia scorers in Premier League history.

He is now only behind Patrik Berger (38 goals), a record he will be keen to start chasing down.

Ipswich Town – Sam Morsy

No player has more Premier League yellow cards this season than Ipswich midfielder Sam Morsy (four) and was perhaps lucky not to receive a second against Aston Villa last weekend.

Since his Ipswich league debut in September 2021, only one player has more yellow cards in the league in England's top four tiers than Morsy's total of 40, but given his importance to McKenna's side, the manager will be hoping he can avoid another.

MATCH PREDICTION: WEST HAM WIN

West Ham have lost just one of their eight Premier League meetings with Ipswich (W3 D4), a 1-0 home loss in March 2001. Their last such meeting was a 3-1 victory for the Hammers in March 2002.

However, Ipswich won their last two league meetings with West Ham, beating them 1-0 away and 5-1 at home in the 2011-12 Championship campaign.

West Ham have lost their three home Premier League games this season, the first time they have started a season with three home defeats. The Hammers have not suffered four defeats in a row in the top-flight at the London Stadium since the final four home matches of Manuel Pellegrini's reign in November-December 2019.

Indeed, West Ham have won just five points in their opening six Premier League matches this season (W1 D2 L3), the fifth time in the last nine seasons they have had five or fewer points at this stage of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Ipswich are winless in all six Premier League games this season (D2 L4), only once starting a top-flight season with a longer winless start, in 1969-70 (seven games).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

West Ham – 51.3%

Draw – 23.8%

Ipswich Town – 24.9%

Stan Wawrinka reflected on a "really tough year" after racking up a new ATP 1000 milestone with his first-round victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Shanghai Masters.

The three-time grand slam champion secured a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) victory in China in what was the first ATP meeting between the two.

According to Opta Ace, it represented Wawrinka's landmark 100th hard-court victory in ATP 1000 events, becoming the 12th player to do so.

Speaking on court after the victory, the veteran 39-year-old said: "It's been a really tough year so far, but I'm not getting younger so I'm trying to keep pushing myself.

"I'm happy with the match. I think it was a really good level. I was playing really good, one of the best matches of the year for me.

"He's such an aggressive player. It was great to be here, so much support here, so I'm enjoying my time in China."

Wawrinka, who only had five ATP wins this year before featuring in Shanghai, next faces  Flavio Cobolli in round two.

Juventus centre-back Bremer will undergo surgery after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury against RB Leipzig.

The Brazil international was forced off six minutes into Juve's 3-2 win over Leipzig on Wednesday, with the club confirming the extent of his injury on Thursday.

Bremer has been key to Thiago Motta's side so far this season, playing every minute in Serie A with the team yet to concede a single goal in six matches.

Among his team-mates, he has played the most minutes (540), making the most interceptions (six) and blocks (11).

Juventus were also dealt another blow, with midfielder Nico Gonzalez suffering a thigh muscle injury.

"Bremer and Nico Gonzalez underwent diagnostic tests which revealed an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the left knee for the former and a low-grade injury to the rectus femoris of the right thigh for the latter," the club said in a statement.

"Bremer will undergo surgery in the coming days."

Steve Cooper insists the mood at Leicester City is not downbeat as the Foxes' wait for a first Premier League win rolls into matchday seven.

Leicester fought back from 2-0 down away at Arsenal last time out, only for two goals in second-half stoppage time from the Gunners to break their resolve.

Attention now turns to a home game against Bournemouth, who beat Leicester's fellow promoted side Southampton 3-1 on Monday.

And though Leicester sit in 17th without a win to their name, Cooper is not down in the doldrums.

As reported by Leicestershire Live, he said: "We're not heads down and we're not of the mindset that we'll be okay either.

"Both of those mindsets are dangerous. We're in the middle of that, where we're frustrated that we haven’t been able to get more out of the games, but there's a constant determination to put things right.

"We have to make sure the mindset is right with the players. I really believe that will happen, convinced of it, that we will get what we want from this season."

One bright spark this season for Leicester came off the pitch, as they won an appeal that means they cannot be penalised by the Premier League for an alleged breach of the competition's financial rules in the 2022-23 season.

This means Leicester are extremely unlikely to be hit with a points deduction for that supposed breach.

"The landscape has definitely changed on that front," said Cooper.

"Even when that was looming over us, it wasn't interfering with our daily work either.

"What we want to achieve, as we decided on, it's still very much achievable. When we achieve it, we will look back and say it was a rocky road."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leicester City - Wilfred Ndidi

Bukayo Saka (five) is the only Premier League player with more assists than Ndidi (four) this season.

Ndidi's four assists is just one fewer than he managed in 32 Championship appearances last term, while it is already his joint-best in a single Premier League campaign (also four in 2020-21).

Bournemouth - Antoine Semenyo

Only Erling Haaland (31) has had more shots than Semenyo (28) in the Premier League this season, with Semenyo the only Bournemouth player to score more than once so far (three).

The Ghana international has also completed the most dribbles (eight) and had the most touches in the opposition box (34) of any Cherries player in the competition this term.

MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN

Cooper has never beaten Bournemouth in five attempts in all competitions (D2 L3). It is the joint-most he has ever faced an opponent as a manager without ever winning (also five vs Manchester United).

Leicester have faced more shots than any other side in the Premier League this season (114), with their 34 faced against Arsenal last time out their most on record (since 2003-04) in a single match in the competition.

However, since winning four consecutive away league games in November/December last season, Bournemouth have won just three of their last 13 on the road (D3 L7), with two of those wins coming against sides in the relegation zone.

That being said, Bournemouth have won each of their last three Premier League games against Leicester, their joint-longest winning run against the Foxes in their league history (also three between 1987 and 1989).

Leicester have won just two of their 12 Premier League games against Bournemouth (D5 L5), with both of those victories coming at the King Power Stadium in 2019 (2-0 in March, 3-1 in August).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Leicester City - 31.5%

Bournemouth - 43.3%

Draw - 25.1%

The Atlanta Dream announced on Wednesday they have fired coach Tanisha Wright after three seasons in charge.

The Dream made the WNBA playoffs for the second consecutive year under Wright but were again knocked out in the first round, losing 91-82 to the New York Liberty on September 25.

Wright, who spent 14 years in the WNBA as a player, did not finish a season with a winning record during her time in charge of the Dream, guiding Atlanta to a 48-68 record overall in her time as coach.

Atlanta finished eighth this season with a 15-25 record, with the Dream's last winning record coming back in 2018 under Nicki Collen.

"Tanisha was an important contributor in our efforts to rebuild the Dream," executive vice president and general manager Dan Padover said in a statement.

"And we want to thank her for her hard work and dedication to the Dream over the last three seasons and wish her the best in the future.

"At this time, we believe a change is needed to lead our players and organization to the next chapter in our efforts to be a top team in the WNBA."

Lee Carsley has recalled Dominic Solanke to the England squad for their upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland.

Solanke's only previous call-up came when he was at Liverpool back in 2017, earning his sole cap as a substitute against Brazil.

Despite missing the start of the season through injury, he has made a fine start to life at Tottenham and has scored in each of his last three matches in all competitions.

"Dom's a player I'm fully aware of having worked with him in the past," said Carsley.

"He was really close to being in the last squad but got injured just before selection. He did so well at Bournemouth, and now he's taken that form into Spurs. He's extremely talented, and it's good that we've got him."

Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham are also back in the squad after missing the September fixtures through illness and injury respectively.

Should Bellingham feature for the Three Lions this international break, he would move outright second for most England appearances before turning 22 (currently 36, level with Marcus Rashford), after Wayne Rooney (40).

Kyle Walker is also back in the fold having been left out of the last squad due to a lack of playing time, and could move into the top five for most England appearances made at Wembley Stadium (37) if he plays against Greece.

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze all drop out.

England squad in full:

Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

Kylian Mbappe has been left out of France's squad for their Nations League games against Israel and Belgium.

Mbappe, who sustained a muscular injury while in action for Real Madrid last month, returned to action for Los Blancos on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old was a substitute but could not help Madrid avoid falling to a 1-0 defeat at Lille in the Champions League.

However, Didier Deschamps has made the call to rest Mbappe for this month's fixtures.

"He has a problem that is not serious. I'm not here to take risks, which is why Kylian isn't on the list," Deschamps told reporters.

Bayern Munich's Michael Olise, meanwhile, was called up, while Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku has also been selected for the first time since June 2023.

Lucas Digne, who was called up as an injury replacement for the last squad, has kept his place after some impressive displays for Aston Villa.

Mbappe's Madrid team-mate Eduardo Camavinga has also been called up after recovering from a knee injury.

France lost to Italy in their Nations League opener, but bounced back by beating Belgium 2-0.

France squad in full:

Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Mike Maignan (Milan), Brice Samba (Lens); Jonathan Clauss (Nice), Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea), Theo Hernandez (Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich); Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Milan), Matteo Guendouzi (Lazio), Manu Kone (Roma), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG); Bradley Barcola (PSG), Ousmane Dembele (PSG), Randal Kolo Muani (PSG), Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Marcus Thuram (Inter).

Coco Gauff came from behind to defeat Yuliia Starodubtseva and reach the semi-finals of the China Open.

Gauff was no match for the qualifier in the first set of Thursday's tie, but the American rallied back to win 2-6 6-2 6-2.

The world number six will face Paula Badosa, the 15th seed, on Saturday.

She is vying for a place in her first final since she triumphed in Auckland in January, and her first at a WTA 1000 event since she won the Cincinnati Open in 2023.

Data Debrief: Comeback queen

Including retirements, Gauff (two) has achieved multiple match wins from a set down at a single WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career, and for the first time at a single WTA event overall since last year's US Open.

Since the format's inception in 2009, meanwhile, only Caroline Wozniacki (eight) has reached more WTA 1000 semi-finals than Coco Gauff (seven) before turning 21. World number one Iga Swiatek (five) is the only other player to reach 5+ semi-finals over that span.

Badosa stands between Gauff and the final. She beat home hope Zhang Shuai in the quarters, and became the second Spaniard to reach the semi-finals of the China Open since the inception of the tournament in 2004 after Garbine Muguruza in 2015.

She is the second oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the China Open in their maiden appearance after Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai "loves" playing alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch in Arne Slot's new-look midfield.

Szoboszlai had an up and down first season at Liverpool following a big-money switch from RB Leipzig.

The Hungary international has started eight of Liverpool's nine matches this season, including Wednesday's 2-0 win over Bologna in the Champions League.

Szoboszlai has formed a strong midfield trio alongside Mac Allister and Gravenberch, and he is revelling excelling in the unit.

He told Liverpool's official website: "I love to play with them. I said it before, a lot of qualities what these two have – but the whole team [as well].

"The midfield is not enough. Of course it's an important role but we need everybody, we need the bench as well, we need the whole squad because there's going to be times where it's going to be hard and I think there are still 60 games to come!"

Slot has been shortlisted for the Premier League's Manager of the Month award in September.

Liverpool sit top of the standings with 15 points, having won all but one of their league matches under Slot, losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in September.

"If you take the Nottingham Forest game away then it's a perfect start," added Szoboszlai.

"We are top of the league and we have to continue like this."

The Reds take on Crystal Palace in Saturday's early kick-off in the Premier League.

Slot is looking to become just the fourth manager in Premier League history to win each of his first four away games in the competition after Felipe Scolari (first eight), John Gregory (five) and Bobby Gould (four).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Crystal Palace - Jean-Philippe Mateta

Mateta has scored 15 goals in his last 11 home games for Palace in all competitions, netting multiple goals in five of these 11 appearances (four braces, one hat-trick).

Liverpool - Mohamed Salah

Salah has scored in all three of Liverpool’s Premier League away games so far this season.

There have been nine previous occasions of a player scoring in his side's first four on the road in a single campaign – Salah could be the first player to do so twice (also in 2021-22).

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

Liverpool have won all three of their Premier League away games this season – only in 1990-91 and 2019-20 have they ever won their opening four away games in a league campaign.

Palace, on the other hand, remain winless in their six Premier League games so far this season (D3 L3). Only in 1992-93 (eight), 1994-95 (seven), 2004-05 (seven) and 2017-18 (seven) have they gone longer without a win from the start of a top-flight campaign, being relegated at the end of the first three of those.

In 30 previous Premier League meetings between Palace and Liverpool, 14 have been won by the away side (47%). This is the highest away win ratio of any of the 109 fixtures to be played 30+ times in the competition's history.

Palace have conceded more Premier League goals against Liverpool than they have against any other opponent both overall (69) and at home (38). Indeed, the Reds are responsible for the Eagles' two biggest home defeats in the competition’s history (6-1 in August 1994, 7-0 in December 2020).

Each of Liverpool's last four Premier League defeats against Crystal Palace have come at Anfield – they are unbeaten in their last nine at Selhurst Park (W8 D1) since a 3-1 loss in November 2014.

Palace have lost 11 of their last 14 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (W1 D2), though that sole victory was in their last such meeting at Anfield in April.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Crystal Palace - 18.5%

Liverpool - 60%

Draw - 21.6%

Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann has handed a first call-up to forward Tim Kleindienst in his latest squad.

Kleindienst scored 12 Bundesliga goals for Heidenheim last season.

Those goals propelled Heidenheim to an eighth-place finish, and secured Kleindienst a move to Borussia Monchengladbach.

Since the start of last season, Kleindienst has contested the most duels (622) and made the most sprints (1216) of any player in the Bundesliga.

The 29-year-old has already netted twice for his new club, and with West Ham's Niclas Fullkrug out injured, Nagelsmann has given Kleindienst the nod for October's Nations League clashes with Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Netherlands. 

"Kleindienst at Heidenheim performed well over an entire year and he has integrated himself well at his new club Borussia Moenchengladbach," said Nagelsmann.

"He has earned this. The injury to Fullkrug is a good opportunity to test Tim. He now has to prove himself."

Marc-Andre ter Stegen's long-term injury, meanwhile, means Oliver Baumann is a likely candidate to start in goal.

The Hoffenheim goalkeeper will be aged 34 years and 131 days on October 11, when Germany take on Bosnia.

Should Baumann play, he will become the third-oldest player to make his first appearances for Germany.

Germany squad in full:

Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Janis Blaswich (Salzburg), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart); Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen); Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (VfB Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Borussia Dortmund), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Alexander Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (VfB Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen); Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Monchengladbach).