David James believes Arsenal's blossoming rivalry with Manchester City can only intensify should they win the Premier League title this season. 

The latest instalment of Pep Guardiola squaring off against his apprentice, Mikel Arteta, delivered an enthralling encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Erling Haaland's 100th City strike was followed by Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes goals, with Leandro Trossard then seeing red after delaying the restart in a pulsating first 45 minutes. 

The hosts struggled to make their man advantage count, though, registering eight shots on target from the 27 they attempted before substitute John Stones' late intervention snatched a point eight minutes into stoppage time.

But the aftermath of the contest saw tensions that had been brimming during the game boil over, with players from both sides exchanging in a war of words after a battle for the ages at the Etihad. 

It is not the first time Arsenal have engaged in a rivalry with a side from Manchester, having gone toe-to-toe at the Premier League summit with United in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Former City goalkeeper David James is adamant Guardiola's side hold the competitive edge over their title rivals, though, likening Arsenal to an "annoying fly" buzzing around to try and halt the Citizens' dominance. 

"I like the way this is developing. As you said, I think the rivalries in the past, probably the easiest one to go back to, is Arsenal and Manchester United," James told Stats Perform. 

"That was because Arsenal won the league, Manchester United won the league, and you’ve got champions against champions.

"I think with Arteta’s team at the moment, if they win the league, then this rivalry will intensify.

"At the moment, it’s kind of like Man City keeps swatting off an annoying fly because they keep winning the title."

However, it was another blot on Arteta's record against his mentor, with the Gunners head coach having won just one of his eight league meetings against Guardiola since his arrival at the club in 2019. 

Arsenal have finished runners-up to the Citizens in the past two Premier League seasons, missing out on a first title since 2003-04 by two points last term.

The Gunners managed to take four points off Guardiola's side last campaign, with Arteta earning his first league victory over City last September courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli's deflected effort. 

Arsenal showed more signs of their maturation before going down to 10 men on Sunday, recovering well after Haaland's ninth-minute opener - the earliest goal they had conceded home or away in the league in 2024.

Gabriel's header marked his 14th goal from a corner routine, while Calafiori became the 20th Arsenal player to net on his first Premier League start, and only the second to do so from outside the box after Fabio Vieira in September 2022. 

The encounter gave a brief insight into what the next eight months have in store, with James unsure whether the result would give either side the mental edge at this early stage of the campaign. 

"I think there will be an impact. Whether it’s positive or negative is the issue here," James continued. 

"For City, the issue will be how do we set up the corners to not allow these opportunities? If fouls are not going to get picked up by referees or VAR, then you need to rethink the way you set up because the first one for Gabriel, I think it was [Jeremy] Doku who was marking Gabriel.

"Mismatch to start with. The second one, Kyle Walker was there and effectively a mismatch again. So other teams will look at it and go, 'well, how can we set up?'

"Other teams, if they’re cute enough, will work out a way of defeating City on corners. Of course, get a corner first, then worry about getting it.

"But also, on a positive side, they can improve on this. When Jack Grealish came on, there was a different dynamic. Jack actually did stuff that I wasn’t expecting him to do. I thought he was going to get crosses on his right foot.

"Instead, he was running at players. He got the corner for the equaliser, and he also put the ball across to [Mateo] Kovacic. So there’s a lot for City to look at to improve on, which would make them better.

"From the Arsenal point of view, disappointment of losing three points in the end, I think 45 minutes of defending, there’s a lot that you’d be happy with.

"The fact that they got the goal from the corner, and unless VAR and the officials actually clamp down on what they’re doing, they’ll get more success from it."

Brock Purdy insisted the San Francisco 49ers' stellar 2023 season "means nothing" after they went down 27-24 to their NFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, on Sunday. 

The Rams trailed 21-7 late in the third quarter and 24-14 in the fourth before scoring 13 points to deal a depleted 49ers team a second defeat of the campaign. 

San Francisco were without three of their offensive stars, with Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve and both wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle also missing out. 

But the Rams were also missing some of their key men, with their top two receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, sidelined due to injury.

After starting last season 5-0 on their way to the NFC Championship, San Francisco have failed to build on their Week 1 triumph against the New York Jets this year.

At 1-2, the Niners are well aware that there is plenty of the season left, but they also know missing opportunities like Sunday's may come back to haunt them.

"That's just part of the NFL and being a professional in a professional sport, everybody's really good," Purdy said. "Last year means absolutely nothing.

"And every time you show up on Sunday, you're going to get everybody's best shot. It's the NFL, and we all have to be real with that.

"We have to have the mindset of going and taking it every Sunday and nothing's ever going to be given to us."

The Niners still had the chance to win the encounter, with wide receiver Jauan Jennings delivering a career-best 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. 

In doing so, Jennings became the fourth player in franchise history to have 175 receiving yards and three scores in the same game.

Purdy, meanwhile, didn't miss a beat without his usual weapons, finishing 22-of-30 for 292 passing yards and three touchdowns with a 137.1 passer rating. 

However, Purdy didn't get much help from his targets, most notably Ronnie Bell, who dropped a catch in the final quarter to spurn a golden game-winning opportunity.

The loss made Purdy the third 49ers signal caller (alongside Joe Montana and Steve Young) to lose a game in which he completed at least 70% of his passes and threw for three or more touchdowns.

It also dropped the Niners below the .500 mark for the first time with Purdy as their starter, with head coach Kyle Shanahan left furious at the conclusion of proceedings. 

"You've got to take their hope away," Shanahan said.

"You give [Rams quarterback Matthew] Stafford too much hope [and] you put a ball in his hands at the end, it's not a situation you want to be in."

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh described Lamar Jackson's performance as "phenomenal" after his team held off the Dallas Cowboys for their first win of the season.

Having achieved the NFL's best regular-season record in 2023 before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game, Baltimore made a slow start to the new campaign.

A marginal out-of-bounds call against Isiah Likely denied them a potential game-winning touchdown as they lost to the Chiefs in Week 1, before the Las Vegas Raiders produced a stunning upset to beat them 26-23 in Week 2.

On Sunday, the Ravens put up a much-improved display in Dallas, racing into a 22-point fourth-quarter lead, though they almost let that advantage slip.

The Cowboys outscored their visitors 19-0 in the fourth but were ultimately unable to level things, with Jackson taking charge late on.

The reigning NFL MVP completed a 9-yard pass to Zay Flowers on 3rd-and-6 to prevent Dallas regaining possession at the death, ensuring the Ravens avoided the second 0-3 start in their history.

Jackson threw for 182 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 87 yards and a score on the ground, but it was his leadership that most impressed Harbaugh. 

"I thought Lamar was just phenomenal throughout the game and then he took over the last drive," Harbaugh told reporters.

"The big throw at the end... the big catches at the end; Zay made that huge catch, and Rashod Bateman had a big catch. We had some big runs at the end, too. 

"We ran the ball well at the end, and to finish out that way was really important, to win the game on offense, that's how they got it done. I didn't really want it to get to that situation, but it did, and they came through."

Jackson was not the only Raven to have a big game on the ground, with Derrick Henry rushing for 151 yards and two touchdowns as they moved to 1-2 ahead of their Week 4 clash with the Buffalo Bills.

Harbaugh added: "We consider every game a must-win, but if you don't win a game, your season is not over. There’s a lot of football to be played.

"Last week doesn't matter, next week doesn't matter, it's this week that we're focused on. Lamar preaches it to the guys all the time; I'm proud of those guys."

Dallas are also 1-2 and have struggled to defend the run all season, with their average of 5.4 yards allowed per carry being the worst figure on record through three games of an NFL campaign since 1979. 

Their eight rushing touchdowns conceded, meanwhile, is the most in their history through three games, leading edge rusher Micah Parsons to slam their defensive efforts.

"Now we've got people trying to be Superman," he said. "People have just got to do their jobs, bro. 

"We don't need everyone to be Superman. We don't know Superman at all. We just need 11 guys playing together, and right now it's just not in unison."

Emma Raducanu has confirmed she will not play at this week's China Open after sustaining a foot injury. 

Raducanu was forced to withdraw from her Korea Open quarter-final match against Daria Kasatkina after needing a medical timeout in the opening set. 

The Briton was initially included in the draw for the Beijing event, but confirmation of her withdrawal was revealed soon afterwards.

The world number 54 was due to face a qualifier in the first round, with Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen potentially waiting in the next round.

"I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal," Raducanu wrote on X.

"It means I can't play in Beijing but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can."

Raducanu has again struggled with injuries during the 2024 season but has managed to rise up the rankings, playing 33 matches on the WTA Tour this term.

She suffered a lower back injury during the Miami Open in March and was also hampered by a stomach bug at the Australian Open in the first major of the year. 

The Briton also sat out the French Open but managed to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon, though an untimely slip against Lulu Sun saw her bow out in three sets. 

The Korea Open was her first tournament since losing in the first round of the US Open, and she is next scheduled to play in Wuhan, China next month.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has no plans to end his glittering career anytime soon as he prepares to take charge of Los Blancos for the 300th time, versus Alaves in LaLiga on Tuesday.

Ancelotti has taken charge of Madrid 299 times across two spells, overseeing 119 games between 2013 and 2015, winning the Copa del Rey in 2013-14 and also leading the Spanish giants to their long-awaited 10th European Cup/Champions League crown.

Since returning to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2021, Ancelotti has overseen a further 180 matches, leading the side to two more Champions League successes, two domestic title triumphs and a further Copa del Rey win.

Ancelotti – who last season became the first coach to win the European Cup/Champions League on five occasions – turned 65 in June, but he intends to coach at the top level for some time yet.

"I'm not thinking about my future whatsoever, I love this job," Ancelotti told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

"I have been lucky enough to coach great clubs, tomorrow it will be my 300th game at the best club in the world, it is something special to be in this dugout, to do it 300 times is not quite a miracle, but it is almost a miracle.

"Sure, you can't compare my tiredness to that of the players. There is pressure, responsibility, but I love it. At the moment I don't see myself as having an expiry date, I'd love to stay here for many years to come."

Madrid's only two losses across all competitions last season were both to local rivals Atletico Madrid, a 3-1 defeat in LaLiga on September 24, 2023, and a 4-2 extra-time loss in the Copa del Rey in January.

Should they avoid defeat versus Alaves on Tuesday, they will have completed a full calendar year unbeaten in LaLiga.

They have gone 38 league matches without defeat, closing in on the record held by Barcelona, who went 43 games without losing between April 2017 and May 2018.

The coach praised the resilience of his players, who have repeatedly found ways to salvage results despite injuries biting hard in recent weeks.

"Some records are about winning and others are about not losing. We are coming from a very long run and that means a lot of success, because draws often help you a lot," Ancelotti said.

"I think that in football, if you can't win, at least don't lose. Sometimes a draw gives a better feeling than a defeat. 

"Defeat gives options to improve, that's true. But our success in the Champions League in the past lies in our solidity, in the way we compete.

"It has taken us a while to find this solidity at the start of the season, but we are going to find it, because the mental attitude of the players is very good."

Madrid are second in the LaLiga standings on 14 points, four behind leaders Barcelona, who host Getafe on Wednesday.

The Premier League delivered another weekend of thrills and spills as the 2024-25 season really clicks into gear.

Manchester City fought back late on to draw 2-2 with Arsenal in the headline fixture of the weekend on Sunday.

Chelsea and Liverpool each claimed 3-0 wins, while Manchester United were frustrated by Crystal Palace.

Meanwhile, the bottom six teams in the league remain without a win, which is a Premier League first five games into a season.

But, what did the underlying metrics suggest about the weekend's action?

Unlucky loser: Man Utd

The data has thrown up an interesting storyline this week - there was not really a particularly unlucky loser or lucky winner.

Instead, the results that were most skewed were draws, with United one of the teams that can consider themselves unfortunate not to have picked up all three points.

They mustered 1.7 expected goals (xG) against Palace at Selhurst Park, having 15 shots and missing all five of their big chances. Only Tottenham (seven) created more big chances in total this weekend.

United had six shots on target, but found their former goalkeeper Dean Henderson in fine form, with Palace's expected goals on target (xGoT) conceded coming in at 1.9, showing just how well their shot-stopper performed.

Lucky winner: Arsenal

Drawing right at the death may have felt like a defeat for Arsenal, but it is fair to say the pressure had been building for Man City before John Stones steered home in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Mikel Arteta's team, reduced to 10 men following Leandro Trossard's second booking on the stroke of half-time, set out their stall to defend for the second half, and they very nearly got over the line.

Yet City, who had 77.2% of the ball, were dominant. They had 28 shots in the second half alone, the joint-highest ever by a team on record (from 2003-04) in a single half of Premier League football.

City finished with 2.18 xG, while the Gunners recorded just 0.67 - that was the third-lowest figure across the league this weekend.

Unlucky loser: Southampton

Two of those six teams at the bottom still waiting for a first league win are Southampton and Ipswich Town, who faced off at St Mary's on Saturday.

Southampton looked all set to wrap up their maiden victory of 2024-25 until, late on, Sam Morsy's deflected effort left the hosts stunned.

Only Spurs (3.52) registered a higher xG in the league this round than Southampton (2.49), who missed three of their four big chances.

That being said, Ipswich did have more shots (13 to 11) and recorded 1.69 xG, which suggests the Tractor Boys were at least worthy of one goal.

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery after suffering a complete rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee.

The Germany international sustained the injury during Barcelona's 5-1 win at Villarreal in LaLiga on Sunday.

Ter Stegen fell badly after jumping for a ball just before half-time and was visibly in pain as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

All of his weight fell on his right leg as he injured the same knee on which he had already undergone two surgeries in recent years.

He is reportedly set to be out for around seven months, meaning his season could well be over. 

"Tests carried out on the first team player Marc ter Stegen confirm that he has a complete rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee," Barcelona said in a statement.

"On Monday afternoon he will undergo a surgical process and once complete a new update will be released." 

Iga Swiatek has passed Ashleigh Barty to go seventh in the all-time charts for most weeks spent as the WTA's world number one.

Swiatek won her fifth career grand slam title at the French Open in June, though she did suffer third-round exits from the Australian Open and Wimbledon before going out in the last eight at the US Open earlier this month.

However, Swiatek still sits over 2,000 points clear of her closest rival, Flushing Meadows champion Aryna Sabalenka, at the top of the women's world rankings.

She has now spent a total of 122 weeks at the top of the rankings, moving clear of Barty, who spent 121 weeks as the world's top-ranked female player.

Only Steffi Graf (377 weeks), Martina Navratilova (332), Serena Williams (319), Chris Evert (260), Martina Hingis (209) and Monica Seles (178) have now spent more time as world number one than Swiatek since the rankings were introduced in 1975.

Patrick Mahomes feels he has not played his best football in the early stages of the season, despite the Kansas City Chiefs being 3-0 after Sunday's victory over the Atlanta Falcons. 

The Chiefs – who are targeting a historic Super Bowl three-peat this term – opened their campaign with dramatic victories over the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.

They were handed another stern test by the Falcons in Sunday's late game, relying on their defense to produce two big fourth-down stops in the closing minutes of a 22-17 win.

The Falcons, who impressively dispatched the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, had multiple chances to score a go-ahead touchdown, only for Kirk Cousins to throw a pair of incompletions in the end zone with just over four minutes to play.

Mahomes threw for 217 yards including touchdown passes to Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster, though he also threw a pick to Justin Simmons, who now has six career interceptions against the three-time Super Bowl champion.

"I feel like I haven't played very well and that's not a stats thing," Mahomes said after the game. 

"I just feel like I'm missing opportunities whenever they're out there and not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at. 

"I'm not playing my best football and we're still getting wins, so I've got to get better to make the offense better."

Mahomes' 659 passing yards for the season ranks 10th among all quarterbacks, while his passer rating of 89.9 is just the 17th-best in the league.

Ahead of a challenging Week 4 visit to the Los Angeles Chargers, Mahomes is determined to step things up.

"It's about me getting back to my fundamentals, putting our guys in the right positions, and then we've got to execute at a higher level offensively," he said.

"If teams are going to make us drive the field, we have to prove that we're able to do that, and I'm sure we'll get a lot of the same this next week with the Chargers."

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone took the positives from his side's performance in a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

It marked Atleti's third draw in LaLiga this season, with Simeone's side six points back from leaders Barcelona.

Atleti earned a point at Vallecas Stadium thanks to Conor Gallagher's strike after the break following a sloppy first half in which Isi Palazon had put the hosts ahead.

Next up for Atleti is a derby clash with second-place Real Madrid, and Simeone remained optimistic despite his team's indifferent form.

"In the first half we had more scoring situations than gameplay. Then we saw intensity, involvement, a lot of people in the opposition's half, attacking in different ways," Simeone told reporters.

"I always focus on the positive, on the second half. We conceded a goal but we also had chances to score. We could have won the game.

"[I have] the same enthusiasm to go game by game, to face each one as if it were the last one. We are on that path."

Julian Alvarez went close to finding the net after 20 minutes but hit the woodwork, with the Argentine striker having only netted one goal in six games this season.

However, Simeone is confident that Alvarez and the rest of his forwards will find the sharpness they have been lacking.

"We are convinced that the goals will come. The problem is when the strikers don't have goal situations," the Argentine manager said.

"I liked Julian playing on the left, with a lot of effort. [Angel] Correa came on very well, [Antoine] Griezmann put the team in the opposition half. I was happy with the second half."

The match stats paint a bleaker picture for Atleti, who had fewer shots (10 to 16) than Vallecano, while mustering just 0.53 xG compared to their hosts' 1.85.

Gallagher's form is at least a major bonus for Atleti. The former Chelsea midfielder has scored in successive league games for the third time in his career, while he was involved in 18 duels (winning nine), which is the most by any player for the club this season in LaLiga.

Stuttgart's Deniz Undav said thrashing Borussia Dortmund 5-1 was as good as it gets after scoring twice in a stunning Bundesliga victory for Sebastian Hoeness' side.

Stuttgart, surprise runners-up to Bayer Leverkusen last season, produced a brilliant display to hand Dortmund their first league defeat under Nuri Sahin.

Moving up to seventh in the table after back-to-back wins, Stuttgart have also scored at least three goals in each of their last six home Bundesliga matches.

That is a new club record, while they are also unbeaten in their last 14 league games at MHPArena, leaving Undav to hail their performance. 

"When you beat Dortmund 5-1 at home after a performance like that, there’s nothing better really," said Undav, who has scored five goals in all competitions this season.

"I'm very happy and proud of the team. We just need to keep going now and play with the same sharpness against Wolfsburg."

Stuttgart head coach Hoeness, meanwhile, said his side had been completely focused.

"We wanted to be sharp and alert going into the game," he added. "We managed to do that and it laid the foundation for an outstanding performance.

"The win was thoroughly deserved, great credit to the whole team."

Simone Inzaghi questioned the attitude of his Inter players after Milan snatched a 2-1 derby victory on Sunday.

Matteo Gabbia popped up with an 89th-minute header to snap Milan's six-game losing streak against their city rivals.

Christian Pulisic opened the scoring at San Siro, before Federico Dimarco equalised for Inter.

Inzaghi felt Inter were the better team, despite Milan having more shots (16 to 13) and accumulating a higher xG (1.7 to 0.7).

However, the Inter coach was left far from impressed with the attitude his players displayed.

"Of course Milan are a very good team. They did better than us this evening and deserved the victory," Inzaghi told DAZN.

"We had the wrong approach and weren't enough of a team, which is rare for us. We didn't start either half with the right attitude.

"It's unexpected, we had worked well over the last couple of days in training, but the approach was wrong in both halves.

"Now we've already dropped a few too many points in Serie A and this is particularly sore."

Milan boss Paulo Fonseca, meanwhile, claimed a much-needed victory early in his tenure, with the Portuguese coach having already come under scrutiny following an indifferent start to the campaign.

"It was an important match. First of all, because it’s a derby that Milan hadn't won in a long time. It was important given the moment we were going through," Fonseca told DAZN.

"I think the players showed a lot of courage and we deserved the win. I don't remember seeing a team that caused this many problems for Inter in a long time.

"It will be a week with a little more confidence, but the important thing for me is to continue seeing the players believe in our ideas, the way they have done so far.

"We know that we must improve, but this was a victory for the players today."

Sri Lanka needed just 15 minutes to wrap up a 63-run win over New Zealand on Monday, Prabath Jayasuriya taking the Black Caps' remaining two wickets to bring up his five-for.

The hosts entered the final day of the first Test in Galle just two wickets from victory after a productive Sunday, when Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis took three wickets apiece.

Requiring 68 runs to win, New Zealand were hoping for more heroics from Rachin Ravindra as he resumed at 92 not out, but he lasted just eight balls on Monday morning.

Rachin faced seven dot balls before being trapped lbw by Jayasuriya, with New Zealand reviewing in vain as it was left to the rearguard of Ajaz Patel and Will O'Rourke.

O'Rourke had taken eight wickets throughout the match to keep New Zealand in contention, but he was unable to join Patel in a famous stand as Jayasuriya clinched the victory.

Jayasuriya sent the stumps flying from just the fifth ball O'Rourke faced, putting Sri Lanka 1-0 up in the series ahead of the second Test beginning on Thursday.

Data Debrief: Quick work for Jayasuriya

While Sri Lanka began Monday as favourites for a first Test victory over New Zealand since 2019, Rachin's resilience on day four had just done enough to introduce some anxiety. 

However, Jayasuriya picked up where he left off on Sunday to make it a serene morning for the hosts, conceding two runs and scalping two wickets from the 10 balls he bowled. 

He finished with second-innings figures of 5-68, his eighth red-ball five-for and his seventh in Galle, taking nine wickets for 204 runs across the match as a whole.