Mauricio Pochettino wants his next coaching job to be with a club capable of winning the Champions League after his experience of working with Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain.

Pochettino departed PSG in July, having won the Ligue 1 title last season having failed to recover their title bid the previous year.

The former Tottenham boss paid the price for another lacklustre campaign in Europe, however, with his star-studded squad eliminated by Real Madrid across a dramatic last-16 encounter.

Pochettino has been out of work since despite offers, and he has now outlined exactly what he is looking for in a new project.

"Talking about projects in football is very difficult," he reflected. "There are [a] few lucky ones who can be involved in a project in the medium or long term.

"[But] there is more and more demand and less patience in the clubs. The main objective is to win and at the same time create a structure that gives you a livelihood to maintain it.

"After being at a club with Mbappe, Messi, Neymar, it is normal that I would seek to maintain that level. A club that gives the chance to aim for the biggest, like winning the Champions League [would be ideal]."

On countryman Messi, who is likely to have his final shot at winning a World Cup with Argentina at Qatar 2022 later this month, Pochettino feels his narrative helps La Albiceleste sit among the favourites.

"You always have to count on Argentina," he added."[But there is also] Brazil, [and] I would include England, France, Spain and Germany.

"Argentina is more favoured than four years ago, especially having won the Copa America. When you have Messi, and everyone understands they have to play for him, dreams can come true."

Success for Messi would see him follow Diego Maradona – another of the sport's all-time greats – in leading Argentina to glory.

Pochettino would not be drawn into any discussion around how the two compare as players, as he added: "For me, that debate never existed.

"They are the best in their respective contexts. How do we measure it?

"According to results? If he won the World Cup? Ballon d'Or? Both are in the same place, and it is in the first position."

Pep Guardiola believes he would struggle to find a better club than Manchester City, but he still will not discuss his long-term future at the Etihad Stadium.

The Spaniard's contract with the Premier League champions expires at the end of this campaign, by which point he will have had seven years at the helm.

In that period, he has four league titles, four EFL Cups and one FA Cup, although the Champions League crown he was brought in to help secure continues to elude him.

Guardiola's stay at City now matches the time he spent at former clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich combined, and he acknowledges his working conditions could hardly be better.

"[Would I] stay in another place for seven years? No, I don't think so," he told The Athletic. "It is difficult to find what I have here as a manager.

"To be a manager for a long time, you need to be so supported. The results help a lot, that is undeniable. In this world, they sack you, they fire you, we know that.

"But at big clubs, part of the success of the manager is the chairman, the sporting director especially, the CEOs and all the people here.

"It goes to the media, fans and players. There is stability. This is why I think only in few clubs this can happen."

With the club season set to take a hiatus for the World Cup imminently, City could move to tie Guardiola down to a new long-term deal.

The manager dodged the question on imminent talks, however, only adding: "I've said many times, I don't talk about that.

"Everything is under control. The decision will be made together with the club the moment it has to be made. When we have time, when the moment we feel it both sides, we take a decision."

Israel Adesanya lost to Alex Pereira for a third time on Saturday, costing the UFC champion his middleweight belt, but he is already looking forward to a rematch.

Pereira is the only fighter ever to have stopped Adesanya, knocking him out in one of a pair of kickboxing wins.

And at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden, the Brazilian repeated the trick, winning by TKO in the final round of a bout Adesanya had enjoyed the better of to that point.

Adesanya was not impressed by the stoppage, saying: "I'm grateful. What a life, what a moment.

"It's f***ing crazy, isn't it? It's similar to the last time – same story. It's crazy. I was fine, I was still lucid, but s*** happens.

"I talked to my coaches, and I trust them, but I was fine. I could see everything. My eyes might have rolled back a little bit, but I was lucid."

It was only a second UFC defeat for Adesanya and his first at middleweight, where he had been champion since 2019. Pereira only entered the UFC for the first time last November.

But Adesanya accepts the risk of defeat as part of the role as champion, replying when asked if he would be pursuing a rematch: "Of course, of course. Come on, man.

"This was my third fight in 10 months. Every time I fight, I risk losing what you guys deem as the prestigious belt.

"I put it on the line because I'm not trying to just fight once and then chill, do my lap around and parade as a champion and not risk so much.

"I put it on the line, and this is what happens. Dare to be great – and I am."

Adesanya referred to Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of Jordan Belford in The Wolf of Wall Street as he added: "'I'm not f***ing leaving'. Yeah, I'm still right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell broke his leg in a freak accident on Saturday and underwent surgery, ruling him out of the upcoming ODI series against England.

Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday that the 34-year-old had fractured his left fibula, with a timeline on his recovery to be known later in the week.

It has been reported that Maxwell sustained the injury at a 50th birthday party on Saturday night, although he was not intoxicated.

The big-hitter has been replaced by Sean Abbott for the upcoming three-game ODI series against England due to commence in Adelaide on Thursday, having been named in Australia's squad on Tuesday.

"Glenn is in good spirits. It was an unfortunate accident and we feel for Glenn in the circumstances given he was in great touch in his last few games," Australia's national selection chair George Bailey said.

"Glenn is a critical part of our white ball structure and we will continue to support him through his recovery and rehabilitation."

Maxwell was part of Australia's squad which missed the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup, scoring 118 runs with a strike rate of 161.64, while taking three wickets with an economy rate of 6.00.

Given the injury, Maxwell, who is the Melbourne Stars captain, appears unlikely to be available for the 2022-23 Big Bash League season.

Kevin Durant insists suspended Brooklyn Nets teammate Kyrie Irving's spirit is high despite there being no timetable on his return to the side.

Irving was handed an indefinite team-imposed suspension by the Nets, for at least five games, after the seven-time All-Star shared an allegedly antisemitic film and book on social media a fortnight ago.

The Nets point guard's minimum five-game ban elapsed after Brooklyn won 110-95 over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

Brooklyn owner Joe Tsai put out a statement on Friday stating that "the Nets and Kyrie, together with the NBA and NBPA, are working constructively toward a process of forgiveness, healing and education". Irving met with Tsai this week along with NBA commissioner Adam Silver as they move toward a resolution on the saga.

Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn confirmed that Irving would not play in Sunday's game with the Los Angeles Lakers and added there was no timetable for his return.

"The good thing is Joe put out that statement that shows where the collaboration or alignment is right now," Vaughn told reporters. "I have no idea or timetable at all.

"I do know not available [for Sunday], I have been told that. So I can give you that."

Durant, who top scored with 27 points against the Clippers, said he was eager for Irving to return to the court and move on from the episode.

"His spirit is high," Durant told reporters about Irving. "[He's] looking forward to playing again. He's a gamer. He loves to play. Hopefully all this stuff is over with, we can move past it and get him back on the floor soon.

"That's been out of our control. And as players we try to lock in on the game, practices. We just try to lock in and whenever that figures itself out, it will. That's over a lot of our heads right now so we just got to control what we can."

The Nets showed they can win without Irving, claiming victories in four of the five games he has missed during this ban, with Seth Curry popping up with 22 points off the bench against the Clippers following off-season ankle surgery.

Durant added: "We're going to have to be one of those teams that any given night, somebody will have to step up and make huge plays for us.

"Obviously we're missing [Irving], so we're going to have to look for where those points are going to come from. I think the guys are doing it as a group."

The Brooklyn Nets secured their third win from their past four games led by Kevin Durant and Seth Curry as they pulled away late to secure a 110-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

Durant top scored with 27 points along with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, while Curry drained four three-pointers in his 22 points off the bench. Nic Claxton also had 13 points with 14 rebounds.

Curry scored 14 points with two assists in the fourth quarter as the Nets extended their four-point lead with a 35-24 final period.

The Nets, who confirmed the permanent appointment of Jacque Vaughn as head coach on Wednesday, were excellent defensively again, keeping their opposition below 100 points for the fifth straight game.

For the Clippers, who were still without Kawhi Leonard due to knee stiffness, Paul George scored 17 points with four rebounds and four assists, while Ivica Zubac added 16 points with 15 rebounds.

Nets guard Edmond Sumner (11 points, four assists and three steals) reached double-figure scoring for the third time in five games since stepping into the starting lineup in place of Kyrie Irving for a team-imposed suspension.

Irving's five-game minimum suspension has now ended but Vaughn confirmed he would not play in Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The victory starts the Nets' four-game road trip in style, improving Brooklyn to 6-7 on the season, while the Clippers are 7-6.

Doncic responds after form dip

Luka Doncic responded to his drop-off in form with 42 points as part of a triple-double as the Dallas Mavericks won 117-112 over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Doncic had started the season with an historic run of nine 30-point games, but that was halted in the past two games, both where he scored less than 30.

The Slovenian guard turned that around on 13-of-22 field shooting, also making 15-of-18 from the stripe, along with 13 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals.

Tatum and Embiid both score 40-plus

Jayson Tatum reached 40 points for the 13th time in his career, the third most in Boston Celtics history, as he scored 43 points in their 117-108 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Tatum finished with 43 points, including seven three-pointers, along with 10 rebounds and three assists. The Celtics small forward scored 28 of his points in a dominant first half.

Joel Embiid produced a season-best scoring return of 42 points as the Philadelphia 76ers triumphed 121-109 over the Atlanta Hawks after a brilliant first-half shooting display.

Last year's top overall NBA Draft pick Cade Cunningham will miss at least the next four games for the Detroit Pistons due to left shin soreness.

The Pistons made that announcement prior to Saturday's 117-108 loss to the Boston Celtics, with the 21-year-old point guard to be re-evaluated in a week.

Cunningham is averaging 19.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game this season for the Pistons who are 3-11.

The former Oklahoma State guard failed to score double digits for the first time this season in his last outing, Wednesday's 128-112 loss to the Boston Celtics.

The second-year guard only played a season-low 24 minutes in Wednesday's game and finished with four points on one-of-11 shooting.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp labelled the decision to leave Roberto Firmino out of the Brazil World Cup as "madness" before netting in Saturday's 3-1 win over Southampton.

Firmino missed the cut for Tite's 26-man Brazilian squad in midweek despite being in their squad for friendlies against Ghana and Tunisia in September.

The Brazilian put aside that disappointment to open the scoring against the Saints with a crafty header - his 18th headed goal in the Premier League.

But Klopp revealed prior to the game that the decision had impacted Firmino and taken the German by surprise too.

"A blow, definitely," Klopp said. "You couldn't see it in training, but definitely.

"It was [a blow] for me to be honest. I'm happy we have Bobby, but he deserves it. I think he deserves everything, to be honest.

"It just shows how incredibly good and talented this Brazilian squad is if you can leave a player like Bobby Firmino out. Madness.

"Of course, we will talk; we did already, and will maybe do again. He's fine but, as everyone can imagine, very disappointed."

Firmino has netted nine goals and provided four assists for the Reds this season including seven strikes in the Premier League.

Klopp also confirmed the club and 31-year-old Firmino are in talks to discuss a new deal, with the Brazilian's current contract expiring in June 2023.

"Normal conversations are happening as well so we will see what happens there," Klopp said.

The Buffalo Bills are giving quarterback Josh Allen every chance to prove his fitness to play in Sunday's clash against fellow division leaders Minnesota Vikings despite an elbow concern.

Allen was listed as questionable for the game on the injury report, while the Bills opted not to elevate third-string QB Matt Barkley to the active roster.

The MVP candidate, who has led Buffalo's offense with 2,403 passing yards for 19 touchdowns along with 392 rushing yards and four other scores on the ground this season, was limited at Friday practice having picked up the elbow injury late in Sunday's loss to the New York Jets.

Allen has only participated in one day of practice this week, having sat out on Wednesday and Thursday but Bills head coach Sean McDermott remained bullish.

"We are literally in an hour-to-hour situation here just looking at how he's going to progress through the day," McDermott told reporters on Friday.

"As he goes through these different tests, medically, making sure that he's able to check the boxes in a progression to where we can see if we can proceed through the course of the day here."

ESPN has reported that Allen's specific concern is an ulnar collateral ligament, related to nerves, in his right elbow. Allen missed four games in the 2018 season with a similar injury to the same arm.

Case Keenum is Allen's back-up QB and he has spoken about being prepared to play if required this week.

"At the end of the day, Josh needs to be Josh, if he's able to play," McDermott added. "And if Case plays, then Case needs to be Case and run the offense."

The Bills are 6-2 and atop the AFC East division, while the Vikings are 7-1 and clear on top of the NFC North on the back of a six-game winning run.

Buffalo lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 42-36 in overtime in the divisional playoffs last season.

Tony Finau was solid without being spectacular as he carded a two-under round on the third day at the Houston Open to maintain his four-stroke lead on Saturday.

Finau led by four shots at the halfway point after 10 birdies in Friday's eight-under 62, but the American kept it steady with a bogey-free round that included only two birdies at Memorial Park Golf Course on Saturday.

The main contenders, Patrick Rodgers and Alex Noren, both carded three-over 73s to drop well off the pace at six-under overall but Englishman Ben Taylor emerged into second on moving day.

Taylor looms as the only potential challenger for Finau (15-under overall) ahead of the final day, shooting six birdies in his five-under round-of-the-day 65 to move up the leaderboard into 11-under overall.

The Englishman buried a 21-foot closing birdie putt to finish the day on a high and keep the pressure on Finau.

Taylor is three strokes clear of the next best, with three players tied at eight under; Justin Rose, Wyndham Clark and Tyson Alexander. Gary Woodland and Joel Dahmen are seven under.

World number two Scottie Scheffler could not mount any kind of challenge, with a double bogey on the 16th hole followed by a bogey on the 18th leaving him with one-over 71 to be three-under overall.

Last year's Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama withdrew after nine holes on Saturday due to a neck injury but was not in contention.

Lewis Hamilton is planning to work alongside teammate George Russell to secure victory in Sunday's race in Sao Paulo, following a stellar showing in Saturday's Sprint.

Russell was a surprise victor after overtaking champion Max Verstappen to secure pole position for the race, while Hamilton rose from eighth to join his teammate on the second row.

It hands Mercedes their best chance of victory in 2022, after what has been a frustrating season for last year's winning side, as they look to end the season on a high in the final few races.

While Hamilton is still seeking to avoid this being the first season where he has failed to secure a single win, his priority is in getting the best result for the team and he is looking to unite with Russell.

"This just goes to everyone back to the factory, everyone here working on the ground working so hard this year," he said after the Sprint.

"This is an amazing result, for us to be on the front row tomorrow is incredible so from there we should be able to work as a team and hold off the guys behind.

"We are going to try as hard as we can. If we can have some good degradation tomorrow, hopefully some good weather we can have a good fight on our hands. A win here for Brazil would be incredible."

Russell was left surprised by his performance on Saturday and is wary of the threat that Verstappen poses, with the Red Bull ace sitting on the second row alongside teammate Sergio Perez.

"It's crazy to think we are both starting on the front row and Lewis did a great job starting coming from P8," he said.

"I'm sure Max is going to be flying tomorrow coming through the pack but we are in a luxury position and we can maybe split the strategy and go for the win."

James Maddison eased fears of him missing England's World Cup campaign after limping off in his final club game before joining up with the squad.

Despite only picking up one previous cap three years ago, Maddison's impressive form was enough to earn him a place in Gareth Southgate's squad for Qatar.

But that spot looked to be in serious peril when, in his final game for Leicester City ahead of the World Cup, Maddison limped off in the 25th minute having put the Foxes 1-0 up.

Clutching at his hamstring, there was immediate concern for the 25-year-old, but he alleviated those fears after the game.

"It should be fine," Maddison said as he left the London Stadium after the match with West Ham, which his side went on to win 2-0.

"Injury isn't too bad! A small problem that was causing a bit of soreness. Can't wait to meet up with the lads Monday," Maddison tweeted after the game.

Maddison's Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed that there should not be any problem with the midfielder's fitness for Qatar, telling reporters: "I’ve just spoken to the doctor, he said he’s fine.

"He just felt a little knock on the knee. We didn’t want to risk it for him or the team."

The news will come as a big relief to Maddison and Southgate with England's World Cup campaign scheduled to get underway against Iran on November 21.

Mikel Arteta would rather Arsenal's momentum not have been checked by the upcoming break for the World Cup after seeing his side go five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Captain Martin Odegaard scored twice as the Gunners secured a 2-0 victory against Wolves at Molineux in their final game before the mid-season break, meaning they will sit top of the pile at Christmas for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

With Manchester City having lost to Brentford earlier the day, Arsenal now have a buffer heading into the hiatus while they stand as the only side in the Premier League to have scored in every match this season.

Arteta will hope his side can pick up where they left off after the World Cup, though he concedes it is not the ideal situation for his in-form team.

"It's great to be where we are and we are enjoying that moment. Now we have a big break and we have to reflect on what we're doing and be prepared for after the World Cup," he said in his post-match press conference.

"Our aim is to play better as a team every day, to have better tools to do what we want to do. I can say it's been phenomenal to work with these players and staff.

"When a team is in that moment you want to carry on playing of course, but that's not possible. We have to use that time as best as possible.

"For those not participating in the World Cup they will have some time off which they fully deserve, and the rest can just fulfil a dream that every kid has to have the chance to represent their team in a national cup. It doesn't get better than that."

While many of the Arsenal squad will be competing at the World Cup, Odegaard will not and Arteta outlined the importance of keeping those staying at home fresh and competitive before the return to action on Boxing Day.

"He's got two internationals before that so he’s going to be more committed to the national team. After that, we will try to prepare him in the best possible way, but we don't know," he added.

"Sometimes when you are in a rhythm and competing it's much better. The players who are here are going to need to compete and have enough fitness to play in the right way against West Ham. We'll try to prepare them in the right way."

Odegaard's brace against Wolves took his tally in the Premier League this season to six, just two shy of his career total in England's top flight prior to the start of the season and Arteta praised his improvement in the final third.

"That's what you want - for your attacking midfielders to win games not only by assisting but by scoring goals," he stated.

"He's changed that mentality and he's practising a lot and he wants to get to his best and we don't know where his limit is like many of the other kids that we have.

"That's what we want – embrace the good moments and support them when they're not that good."