Erik ten Hag thinks Alejandro Garnacho has the X factor to become a world-class player at Manchester United, but claims the winger "has a long way to go."

The 20-year-old has quickly become a favourite of Manchester United fans, having enjoyed an impressive 2023-24 campaign.

Garnacho scored 10 goals in all competitions, including seven in the Premier League and also supplied four assists in 30 starts.

He has continued that form into this season, scoring against Manchester City in the Community Shield and coming off the bench to assist Joshua Zirkzee’s winner against Fulham in United's Premier League opener.

Despite this, Garnacho was again named on the bench for Manchester United’s trip to Brighton on Saturday and his manager insists there is plenty to do to elevate his game.

Adam Scott is aiming to replicate his second-round form as he looks to hold onto his lead at the BMW Championship.

Scott carded a stunning 63 at Castle Pines on Friday to take an unlikely lead in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The Australian is on 13 under par heading into the weekend, three shots ahead of first-round leader Keegan Bradley and four strokes clear of Ludvig Aberg, who matched Scott's 63.

Alex Noren, Aberg's Swedish compatriot, is a shot back in third.

"It's been a long time. I can't remember the last time I shot a 63 out here," Scott, who won The Masters in 2013 but has not claimed a Tour-level victory since 2020, told pgatour.com.

"But it feels good to go low, that I've still got that in me. Hopefully, there's one more this week."

Rory McIlroy is tied at 15th on three-under-par, while Xander Schauffele is a shot further back.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is tied at 29, however, after carding a par 72.

There was disappointment for Hideki Matsuyama, meanwhile, with the St. Jude Championship winner forced to withdraw due to a back problem.

"I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the BMW Championship after experiencing lower back discomfort while warming up this morning, which made it impossible to play," he said on Friday.

"Thank you to BMW and the Western Golf Association for a great experience here at Castle Pines."

Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham has spoken of his frustration at a muscle injury he sustained in training via his account on social media website X.

According to reports, it is expected to keep the 21-year-old out of action until at least the end of September.

That means he will miss his club's next three matches along with Lee Carsley’s opening two fixtures as England’s interim manager.

In an official statement, Real Madrid said, “Following tests carried out today [Friday] on Jude Bellingham by Real Madrid’s medical team, the player has been diagnosed with an injury to the plantaris muscle in his right leg. His progress will be monitored.”

On his enforced time off, Bellingham tried to find the positives despite admitting his frustration, as he suggested last season's exploits have perhaps taken a toll on his fitness.

“Nothing I hate more than missing games but trying to see the positive side and maybe my body is telling me it needs a bit more rest,” he wrote on X.

“I’m very frustrated but I’ll be supporting the lads like a fan until I can rejoin them again in my best and strongest form.”

Xabi Alonso asked for more character and aggression from his Bayer Leverkusen side after their last-gasp 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga opener.

Leverkusen were awarded a penalty deep into added time on Friday, with Florian Wirtz converting on the rebound to earn the visitors the three points.

Granit Xhaka lashed Leverkusen into the lead with a stunning strike in the 12th minute.

Wirtz extended Leverkusen's lead but Gladbach hit back through Nico Elvedi and Tim Kleindienst before the late drama.

"It was an intense first Bundesliga game for us. A lot of things happened in the second half, it was full of emotion right to the end. We did well in many phases," Alonso said.

"But we weren't always so compact today, we were also a bit passive in some phases. We have to do that better. We have to be more aggressive.

"It's difficult to explain why we always score late goals. We can't train that and I can't influence it. It's the mentality of the team."

Champions Leverkusen, who set a European record of 51 consecutive games without loss across all competitions last season, kept their unbeaten streak intact with a number of late equalisers.

"We said at half-time that we must not let up and not think that the game is over," said Xhaka.

"At the end of the first half, we started not being consistent enough in our passing game and losing easy balls. Here at home, Gladbach never die, you could see that in the goals at 1-2 and 2-2."

Wirtz became the fifth Leverkusen player to score in successive opening games of a Bundesliga season.

He added: "I had the feeling that we made it unnecessarily difficult for ourselves.

"We were asleep when it came to conceding goals. We let it slip away ourselves, even though we were actually in control, although we didn't have the ball the whole time.

"I just wanted to decide the game. I know that in the end it will be a lucky win. (But) we are happy that we won and that I was able to score the follow-up shot."

When Novak Djokovic triumphed at Flushing Meadows last year, he surely thought the outright record for grand slam titles was all but his.

Yet just shy of a year later, Djokovic is still waiting for his 25th major win - and the one that would take him clear of Margaret Court, making him the undisputed greatest of all time.

He came close at Wimbledon, but Carlos Alcaraz ultimately had too much, with the Spaniard winning the final in straight sets.

Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion, will be one of the most likely candidates scrapping it out for Djokovic's crown over the next two weeks, along with world number one Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic avenged that Wimbledon defeat with a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) win over Alcaraz in the final of the Paris Olympics, with the 37-year-old ending his wait for a gold medal.

But while that gold is now hanging around his neck (or, in his trophy cabinet, which must be pretty big), it did not settle Djokovic's desire for that record-breaking major triumph. His next tournament win would also bring up his 100th career title.

Should Djokovic fail to defend his crown, though, it will be just the fourth year since he won his first major in 2008 that he has not won a grand slam in a season, after 2009, 2010 and 2017.

But what do the Opta statistics tell us about the key storylines ahead of the US Open?

Can Djokovic dominate?

Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have won the US Open a joint-record five times each. Should Djokovic win, he will join that illustrious trio on five Flushing Meadows titles.

Connors has appeared in (115) and won (98) the most singles matches of any player in the Open Era at the tournament, but Djokovic (88) has won the most among active players and could equal Federer (89) for the second-most by defeating Radu Albot in round one on Monday.

Should Djokovic reach the second round, he will also match Federer's tally of matches played in the competition (103).

At 87.1%, Djokovic holds the second-best win percentage at the US Open in the Open Era of players to have featured in at least 30 matches at the event, after Sampras (88.8%).

The Serbian great, who became the oldest player to win the men's singles at the US Open when he succeeded at the age of 36 years and 111 days in 2023, has featured in the most men's singles finals in the tournament's history (10). He is the only player in the Open Era to have reached 10+ finals at multiple grand slams, having also done so at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Should he reach the quarter-finals, barring walkovers, Djokovic will surpass Federer (429) for the most matches played at grand slams in the Open Era. If he were to then reach the last four, he would be the first male to appear in 50 major semi-finals, and the second player overall after Chris Evert (52). 

Connors (109) and Federer (103) are the only players to win 100 Tour-level titles, while Djokovic is chasing his 72nd hard-court title, which would take him clear of Federer (71).

Could the kids have too much?

Djokovic may have outfought Alcaraz at the Olympics, but that was only after he had been dispatched by the world number three at the All-England Club.

Alcaraz, who said he had played his worst-ever tennis during a shock defeat to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month, could become only the third player in the Open Era to win the men's singles title at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year after Rod Laver (1968) and Rafael Nadal (2010).

Aged 21 years and 126 days, he would also be the youngest man to win a singles title at three grand slams in a calendar year. He won his first major title at Flushing Meadows two years ago, and reached the semi-finals last season, losing to eventual runner-up Daniil Medvedev.

Then there is the world number one, and top seed, Sinner. The Italian was forced to miss the Olympics due to illness, but after going out in the last eight at the Canadian Open, he returned to form with a sensational run to triumph in Cincinnati.

That was his fourth title of the season. Excluding team events, Sinner (23 years, 23 days) could become the youngest player to win five ATP trophies on hard court in a calendar year since Andy Murray in 2009.

Since the Australian Open switched to hard court in 1988, Sinner could become only the fourth male to win that competition and US Open in the same year, after Mats Wilander (1988), Roger Federer (2004, 2006 and 2007) and Djokovic (2011, 2015 and 2023).

Sinner has now won three ATP 1000 hard-court titles in total. Across the past decade, only three players have won more Masters titles on the surface: Djokovic (17), Federer (seven) and Medvedev (five).

The last top seed to lose in their opening match at the US Open was Stefan Edberg, who lost to Alexander Volkov in 1990.

Indeed, the US Open is certainly not a tournament in which you can confidently say "expect the unexpected" when it comes to major shocks.

Only two top seeds in the Open Era have been eliminated in the first round of the men's singles – John Newcombe (1971) and Stefan Edberg (1990). Andre Agassi is the last first seed to not reach the second week at the event, losing to Arnaud Clement in straight sets back in 2000. 

Shohei Ohtani hit a two-out, walk-off grand slam to become the fastest player in major league history to join the 40-40 club as the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-3 on Friday night.

Ohtani is the first Dodger to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season and the sixth ever. He broke the record held by Alfonso Soriano, who reached the mark in Game 148 for the Washington Nationals in 2006.

Ohtani, who stole his 40th base in the fourth inning, did it in the Dodgers' 129th game.

The other 40-40 members are Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023).

Will Smith was hit by Manuel Rodriguez leading off the ninth and Tommy Edman followed with a single. Smith and Edman moved up on Miguel Rojas’ sacrifice. Colin Poche came in and walked Max Muncy to set up Ohtani’s 389-foot slam to center.

Kike Hernandez accounted for all the Dodgers’ offence before Ohtani’s blast with a tying three-run homer in the fifth off starter Tyler Alexander.

Los Angeles has won five straight and 11 of 14 to remain four games ahead of Arizona in the NL West.

Junior Caminero and Christopher Morel went deep for the Rays, who dropped their second in a row.

Mariners rally to win Wilson’s debut

Leo Rivas singled home Dylan More in the 10th inning and the Seattle Mariners erased a four-run deficit for a 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants in Dan Wilson’s managerial debut.

Seattle scored four times in the eighth inning to pull even at 5-5, then saw Rivas come through in the 10th.

Pinch-runner Moore stole third base with one out and Rivas lined a 2-2 pitch from Erik Miller into center field to set off a celebration as Seattle won for just the second time in the 10 games.

Wilson was named manager of the Mariners on Thursday after Scott Servais was fired.

Luke Raley homered for Seattle, but it was a big eighth-inning rally that gave the Mariners a chance. They sent nine batters to the plate and scored four times with six consecutive singles off reliever Tyler Rogers. Justin Turner, Josh Rojas, Rivas and Raley all had RBI singles that helped make it 5-5.

LaMonte Wade Jr., Heliot Ramos and Michael Conforto homered for the Giants, who lost their second straight after winning three in a row.

Judge homers again as Yankees win

Aaron Judge homered for the fourth straight game with his major league-leading 49th and Carlos Rodon pitched six innings in the New York Yankees’ 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Judge homered for the fourth straight game, sending a 388-foot shot to left-center off Kyle Freeland in the sixth inning.

Judge has eight homers in his last 11 games and 17 homers in his last 34. He is one home run shy of becoming just the fifth player in history to record three 50-homer seasons. Judge is on pace to match the 62 homers he hit in 2022, when he broke the American League record set in 1961 by late Yankees slugger Roger Maris.

Judge is hitting .381 with 43 homers and 101 RBIs in 94 games since his average dipped to .197 on May 2.

Rodon (14-8) moved into a tie for the major league lead in wins, allowing four hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Rodón, Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes have combined to toss 19 straight scoreless innings in the Yankees’ last three games.

 New York won its third straight to remain 1 ½ games ahead of Baltimore in the AL East.

Bradley Barcola is confident he can make a difference for Paris Saint-Germain this season in the absence of Kylian Mbappe after his brace against Montpellier. 

Barcola, who has three goals in two appearances already this season, starred for Luis Enrique's side during their 6-0 win in first home game of the new campaign. 

The 21-year-old opened the scoring at the Parc des Princes with a brilliantly taken finish from the left-hand side before completing his maiden brace of his career with a simple finish in the second half. 

Barcola registered the most shots (four) and touches in the opposition box (seven), while also contributing 1.17 expected goals (xG) to PSG's 3.9 total. 

He has now been involved in eight goals (five goals and three assists) in his last seven top-flight appearances for the club, and he is sure that this is his year to take centre stage. 

"I had a lot of fun, I felt free. The coach asked everyone to press together. You have to make a lot of effort, but you get used to it as you go along," Barcola said.

"I've realised that I can make a difference. Pushing the ball like that on the first goal is something I've been doing since I was very young."

PSG have now scored 10 goals in their opening two games of the league season, equalling their highest tally after two games played (10 also in 2022-23), all without last year's leading marksman Mbappe. 

Enrique's side managed 27 shots in their encounter with Montpellier, 11 of which were on target, something the Spaniard felt was coming after witnessing their ruthless streak in training. 

"I'm very happy because it's our first home game. We wanted to give the fans some joy. It was a perfect evening," Enrique said. 

"I felt it in training, the intensity of the pressing increased. We scored six goals but we could have scored 10. Today was our night... the players were incredible. It's a great feeling."

PSG continue their league campaign at the Stade Pierre Mauroy next week when they face Lille, who face Angers in their second game of the season on Saturday.

Bradley Barcola's first brace of his career helped Paris Saint-Germain maintain their winning start to the season as they thrashed Montpellier 6-0 on Friday.

Barcola opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the contest, with Marco Asensio doubling their advantage before the break. 

The 21-year-old continued the scoring eight minutes after the break, as Achraf Hakimi, Warren Zaire-Emery and Lee Kang-in completed a dominant display. 

It took four minutes for the first goal of the encounter as Barcola produced a fine finish, with Asensio adding their second after being picked out by Joao Neves. 

Despite momentarily halting the onslaught, Barcola increased PSG's advantage shortly after the break with a simple finish from Ousmane Demebele's pass. 

Hakimi netted the hosts' fourth with another fine finish, as Zaire-Emery got himself in on the act to strike beyond Benjamin Lecomte after a brilliant piece of skill.

Substitute Kang-in sealed the scoring eight minutes from time, sneaking a left-footed effort from the edge of the area in at Lecomte's near post. 

Data Debrief: Barcola starts for Parisians

PSG have now scored 10 goals in their last two league games, as life without Kylian Mbappe has got off to a flying start under Luis Enrique. 

Barcola showcased his undeniable talent during the contest, contributing 1.17 expected goals (xG) to PSG's 3.93 total - the highest of any player for the hosts. 

The winger has eight goal involvements (five goals, three assists) in his last seven top-flight appearances for PSG, two more than in his first 20 for the club. 

Florian Wirtz produced another late show for Bayer Leverkusen as the Bundesliga champions kickstarted their title defence with a dramatic 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

Leverkusen looked set to start their campaign with a point, having seen Nico Elvedi and Tim Kleindienst cancel out Granit Xhaka and Wirtz’s first-half strikes.

However, as they showed last season on their way to a maiden Bundesliga crown, Wirtz struck in the 11th minute of injury time to extend their unbeaten league run.

Xabi Alonso's side were cruising at the break as Xhaka's stunning strike from distance was followed by Wirtz's first of the game seven minutes before the break. 

The hosts would draw level just before the hour-mark as Elvedi nodded the ball home after seeing his initial effort brilliantly kept out by Lukas Hradecky. 

And with the pressure mounting, Kleindienst marked his Monchengladbach debut with a goal five minutes from time. However, yet more drama would unfold. 

Leverkusen were awarded a late penalty for Ko Itakura's foul on substitute Amine Adli, with Wirtz seeing his spot-kick saved, only to follow up on the rebound. 

Data Debrief: New season, same old Leverkusen

Leverkusen continue to keep fans across the globe on the edge of their seats, with Alonso's side now unbeaten in their last 35 Bundesliga matches. 

After scoring 18 goals last season, Wirtz started the campaign with a brace, with his two goals taking his total for Die Werkself to 43 in 154 appearances. 

He also became the fifth Leverkusen player, after Christian Schreier, Ulf Kirsten, Bernd Schneider and Stefan Kießling, to score in two consecutive opening matches of a Bundesliga campaign.

Brenden Aaronson and Daniel James struck either side of half-time to secure Leeds United's first win of the new season, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 on Friday. 

Aaronson notched his second league goal of the season early on, before James sealed the victory with a fine finish for his 30th goal involvement for the club. 

The visitors started brightly at Hillsborough as Mateo Joseph was the first to test James Beadle inside the opening five minutes of the contest. 

And their attacking persistence was rewarded in the 24th minute when Aaronson swept a left-footed effort home after Joseph had been fouled inside the penalty area. 

Despite registering seven shots in the first 45 minutes, the visitors were unable to increase their advantage, but it didn't take long to claim that two-goal cushion. 

Joseph, once again the architect, saw his cutting pass pick out James, who sprinted clear of the Owls' defence before delicately lobbing the ball over Beadle. 

The Welshman's strike was the second goal Leeds have scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half in the Championship this season, with only Watford (three) bettering that total thus far. 

Leeds' triumph moved them up into fourth in the early season standings ahead of tomorrow's Championship action.

Data Debrief: Joseph inspires Leeds victory

Going into the encounter, Leeds had failed to win their last four Championship games, but their star quality at the top end of the pitch shone through. 

Despite not getting on the scoresheet, Joseph was the standout performer for Farke's side and looked a fitting replacement for the gap left by Georginio Rutter. 

The Spaniard registered the most shots (four) and touches in the opposition box (seven), producing an expected goals (xG) of 0.3, a total only bettered by James (0.46). 

Sri Lanka batting coach Ian Bell believes Jamie Smith will be a "world class player" for years to come with England after striking his maiden century against Sri Lanka on day three of the first Test. 

Smith, who started on 72 after rain halted play on the second day, scored 111 from 148 deliveries at Old Trafford, claiming his ton in the 77th over of proceedings. 

He had a strike rate of 75.00 and showed 90% control through the balls he faced, the most controlled Test century by an Englishman since Joe Root versus India at Edgbaston in 2022 (92%).

Smith also became the fifth wicketkeeper to score a ton for England at Old Trafford, after Alec Stewart (three times), Godfrey Evans, Jack Russell and Ben Foakes.

And Bell, whose 7,727 runs put him ninth on England's all-time list in Tests, has seen first-hand the 24-year-old's talents, having worked with him for England Lions and Hundred side Birmingham Phoenix. 

"He's going to be a world-class player for England over a long period of time," said Bell. "He's confident, and he's taken to international cricket with ease," he said. 

Surrey's Smith was given the gloves by England ahead of county team-mate Foakes and Jonny Bairstow for the series against West Indies.

He missed out on a maiden century in the third Test against the Windies, scoring 95 at Edgbaston, but made no mistake with 111 in Manchester on Friday.

But Bell believes there is still more to come from Smith on the international stage after his showing in Manchester. 

"The small part that I played in his development, I've watched a guy who's worked extremely hard," said Bell.

"I'm sure he's going to be a massive part of this England team in all formats over a long time."