Jurgen Klopp conceded Liverpool must be happy with a point after "a really bad game" against Fulham.

The Reds, who looked sharp in defeating Manchester City 3-1 in last week's Community Shield, were unable to hit their best form on Saturday as they opened their Premier League campaign with a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage.

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored Fulham's opener in the first half, but Liverpool hit back through substitute Darwin Nunez's first Premier League goal.

Mitrovic then became the first player to score twice for a promoted team on the opening day of a Premier League season since Steve Mounie for Huddersfield Town in 2017 when he netted from the penalty spot after drawing a foul from Virgil van Dijk.

Yet Liverpool had the resolve to restore parity for a second time, Nunez involved again when he perhaps inadvertently nudged down to Mohamed Salah, who swept home his eighth goal on the opening day of a Premier League campaign, the joint-highest total along with Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.

Liverpool have now gained 115 points from losing positions under Klopp in the Premier League, the most of any side since the German took over in October 2015, but he was far from pleased with what he saw in west London.

Klopp told BT Sport: "The best thing about the game is the result, that we got a point from a really bad game for my side. Now the question is how can that happen.

"The energy was not right in the beginning, then we wanted to fight back but it is not easy. The pitch was dry, we played really into their hands most of the time. When we found a bit of direction and ended up in front of their goal, we had the bigger chances.

"The result is fine, I don't think we deserved more than that, the performance… massively improvable.

"We cannot always hug the boys. We do that usually when they deserve it. When you start a game in a specific way that was opposite to how we wanted to start, really completely opposite, we didn't find direction. Everyone was under pressure, we couldn't break the lines, which was a clear message. We never had momentum.

"We could have won the game, we had the bigger chances, but that would probably have been a bit too much today."

Liverpool had some complaints about Fulham's opener, with Jordan Henderson claiming he had been fouled by Joao Palhinha in the build-up, though VAR did not intervene.

"It doesn't have to be deliberate, I think it's that they don't go back that far, that's the thing," said Klopp when asked about the incident.

"This result was not about the referee, but we discussed the situation in a Premier League meeting that the refs don't want to go that far back. I'm not sure how far back it was. If it was a foul, it would have been nice, but he saw it differently."

While Nunez became just the third player in Premier League history to both score and assist off the bench on his debut in the competition, Mitrovic has now scored 45 goals in English league football since the start of last season, 16 more than any other player.

Mitrovic managed only three top-flight goals in the 2020-21 season, but Fulham boss Marco Silva was thrilled with the striker's performance.

"Mitro is not just goals, if someone thinks that, forget [it]," Silva said on BT Sport. "The job he did this afternoon, for the team, his pressure, helping the midfielders, the back line… after that, if you deliver for him, he'll score.

"I have to congratulate him, the work he did without the ball he did was fantastic. He knows that, I demand that from him."

The Green Bay Packers will be hoping that a hamstring injury sustained by Darnell Savage in practice on Friday does not prove too serious.

Savage, the Packers' starting safety heading into the 2022 season, suffered the injury to his right hamstring during one-on-one matchups between receivers and defensive backs at the team's traditional "family night" at Lambeau Field.

The 25-year-old was covering Amari Rodgers, but had to watch the rest of the session from the sideline.

A first-round draft pick three years ago, Savage also had ice wrapped around his leg.

However, he was confident it was only a minor issue.

"I don't think it's a concern," Savage said, as reported by ESPN.

"It's a fast-people injury. Some of those things you can't avoid. I'll just handle it the right way and listen to those guys back there and I'll be all right."

Darwin Nunez scored one goal and set up an equaliser for Mohamed Salah as Liverpool twice came from behind draw 2-2 at Fulham in their first Premier League game of the season.

Aleksandar Mitrovic headed top-flight new boys Fulham into a deserved first-half lead, but Nunez came off the bench to equalise at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Mitrovic restored the Cottagers' lead with a penalty after he was upended by Virgil van Dijk with 18 minutes remaining, but Salah poked in from close range after Nunez laid the ball into his path to salvage a point before Jordan Henderson hit the woodwork in stoppage time.

It is a record six consecutive seasons Salah has scored in Liverpool's opening match of a Premier League season, but they did not do enough to win it and also lost Thiago Alcantara to a hamstring injury.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. is targeting further European glory beyond the UEFA Super Cup, as he looks to win "five or six" Champions League trophies.

The 22-year-old scored the only goal of the game in the Champions League final against Liverpool last season, the club's fourth in nine seasons but his first since joining the club from Flamengo in 2018.

Madrid have the opportunity for further honours in the Super Cup clash with Eintracht Frankfurt, taking place on Wednesday, and Vinicius is keen for a win in Helsinki but has aspirations that stretch far in the future with the Spanish giants.

"It is very important to try to win as many games as possible, especially if you want to win competitions as important as the UEFA Super Cup," he told UEFA's official website.

"We will do all we can to win the first piece of silverware on offer in the season.

"I look up to the players who have achieved so much at this club, who achieved those things at the biggest club in the world.

"Of course, I want to keep winning here and play for a long time to win as much as them – to win five or six [Champions Leagues] – and to try to be as influential as some of the greatest players to have worn the Real Madrid shirt."

Madrid's run to the final last season was far from an easy ride, with late goals in the ties against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City preventing an exit and Vinicius admitted it was an "emotional rollercoaster".

"That's just in the DNA of this club and this shirt, always turning up in important games, players who know how to approach games in this competition, so I believe that it was a bit of everything," he said.

"Some of the games were emotional rollercoasters and everything seemed to go our way.

"My favourite moment? The game against [Manchester] City here at the Bernabeu. In two minutes, Rodrygo came on and scored two goals which took us to the final.

"The most important moment of the competition, I believe, was the City game."

Kyle Shanahan praised the aggression of his San Francisco 49ers, but warned they must channel it appropriately after stopping practice earlier in the week due to fighting.

Tuesday's practice was reportedly halted by a scuffle between linebacker Fred Warner and receiver Brandon Aiyuk, with punches thrown.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Shanahan said he wanted to see his players push one another, metaphorically, but that it goes too far when they could potentially cause each other injuries.

"I want everyone challenging each other," Shanahan said. "I don't care how much crap each other talks; I don't care how close they get to fighting.

"They can do whatever they want to get themselves to be as intense as they want and bring the best out of each other, which happens a lot that way. And it's the same on the field.

"But once you throw a punch, you get ejected or you get a penalty... I want people to be irritants, I want people to get as close as they can to all that stuff. I want people to get right on the line where they're about to black out, but you can't black out on the football field or you cost your team."

The disagreement between Warner and Aiyuk reportedly erupted after the former hit receiver Marcus Johnson late, which put Johnson in concussion protocol.

"I love the intensity of it," Shanahan added. "I don't think you have to fight to be intense, though. Scuffles are scuffles but then they lead to other stuff.

"I think that's why we've got a guy in protocol, because he took an unnecessary shot on someone, which led to the big fight and then we had a bunch of haymakers and stuff thrown in there, which only break hands.

"I think our team is pretty tough. I think we're pretty physical. Most probably [we would be] voted the most physical team on tape last year, I think we'd win most of that, and we didn't get in one fight last year. So, I don't think that totally pertains to toughness."

A pre-season friendly between Juventus and Atletico Madrid scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv on Sunday has been postponed due to security concerns.

Juve and Atleti were due to meet at Bloomfield Stadium, but the game was called off on Saturday.

Increasing conflict in the Gaza Strip had raised doubts over whether the match will go ahead.

LaLiga club Atleti said in a statement: "Due to the current security situation, Comtec Group (match promoter), Juventus and Atletico de Madrid announce that the friendly game between the two teams that was to take place in Israel this Sunday 7 August at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, has been cancelled."

It was due to be the final match for both clubs before they start their seasons.

Juve begin their Serie A campaign at home to Sassuolo on August 15, with Diego Simeone's Atletico side travelling to Getafe on the same day to get their LaLiga season under way.

Simon Kjaer has challenged Milan winger Rafael Leao to "grow enormously" and realise his potential to be one of the top five players in the world.

Leao played a big part in the Rossoneri's first Serie A title triumph in 11 years last season and has been linked with Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old Portugal international, who has just under two years remaining on his contract, scored 14 goals and provided 10 assists across all competitions in the 2021-22 campaign.

Milan defender Kjaer wants to see Leao scale new heights, while he is also expecting big things of 22-year-old midfielder Sandro Tonali and new signing Divock Origi.

"This year I want to see Leao and Tonali: they are no longer kids, they have to grow enormously," the Denmark captain told Sportweek.

"What they did last year is no longer enough. Leao has quality. extraordinary and therefore he can no longer afford games in which one sees little: he must always be decisive.

"If he can make this leap, he can be one of the top five in the world.

"Then I want to see Origi: I was with him in Lille, he was a kid, now I expect a champion who makes the difference because he has everything to be, speed, strength and feet."

Kjaer has returned to action in pre-season after a long lay-off due to a knee injury.

Miguel Cabrera has clarified previous comments that began rumours of his retirement, saying: "No way am I going to quit."

Cabrera has had a difficult year with the Detroit Tigers, playing through knee pain in recent weeks and seeing his stats suffer as a result, with just three extra-base hits in his past 21 games.

The 39-year-old set tongues wagging on Thursday when he seemed to indicate his future was uncertain, telling reporters: "I don't think about next year. I'm thinking about trying to finish healthy this year."

However, speaking to The Detroit News, Cabrera made it clear he did not mean he was about to call it a day, insisting he intends to play through to the end of the 2023 season. 

"I'm not going to retire," he said. "Not until after next year when my contract is done. They didn't understand what I said. No way am I going to quit."

Cabrera in April became only the seventh player in the history of the major leagues with at least 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, and will be owed $32million in 2023, the final fully guaranteed year of his contract.

"Next year is going to go way better," he added. "Next year I'm going to be right there."

Erling Haaland has said he will not dwell on missed chances as he prepares for his Premier League debut with Manchester City.

The Premier League champions begin their title defence at West Ham on Sunday, and spread further fear throughout the league when they sealed the signing of Haaland in June.

However, his debut in a City shirt did not go according to plan as he drew a blank in the 3-1 Community Shield defeat to Liverpool, including hitting the crossbar from point-blank range late on.

Speaking to former Newcastle United and England striker Alan Shearer for BBC Sport and The Athletic, the 22-year-old outlined his process as a goalscorer, and why he will not allow those misses to be carried into future games.

"As a striker, I think it's really important that when you're in the game to not think too much," Haaland said. "If I'm going to go into my next game thinking about the chance I missed last game, it's not good.

"You have to go into the game hungry. It doesn't matter what happened before, if you scored three goals, if you scored zero goals, if you haven't scored in a while. You have to go into the game with the same mentality. And so I think about not thinking too much about it."

Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 games in two-and-a-half years at Borussia Dortmund, but admitted there is extra pressure that comes with playing for City, who have won four of the last five Premier League titles, including pipping Liverpool by one point last season.

"Yes, of course it's pressure," he said. "I'm playing for the champions... so there's pressure, but in my head, it's about trying to go out on the pitch smiling as much as I can and to try to enjoy the game. Because life goes fast and suddenly my career is over.

"You saw that with my father (who retired aged 30 due to injury), suddenly it's over. So it's about trying to enjoy every single minute of it because I'm really lucky to have this job and to be here.

"In the end, we just want to enjoy playing football, enjoy what our childhood dream was. There will be people talking about you, especially as a striker if you don't score, then the talk comes, but in the end you cannot choose what people say, what people read, what people think about you.

"This is something you just have to live with. And yeah, I kind of enjoy it."

Haaland also outlined his early impressions of working with Pep Guardiola, who has won four Premier League titles, four EFL Cups and an FA Cup since arriving as manager in 2016.

"He's demanding in his messages about what to do and about doing everything at 100 per cent," he added. "It doesn't matter if it's a normal kind of running exercise, do it at 100 per cent, like you do it on the pitch. Train as you play. Easy as that."

The imposing striker is hoping to bring something extra to City, who were eliminated from the Champions League in agonising fashion by eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals last season. 

"We come as champions from last year, so we have to do the same kind of things they did and hopefully even better," Haaland said.

"In the important games be even better, the Champions League and the cups, and also to maintain all the time in the Premier League.

"It's not easy as we know. It's a difficult league, so many good teams, but it's about building on what they have been having here for so many years.

"I want to come in here and bring my own kind of things to the game and hopefully be better."

Dave Rennie says captain Michael Hooper has shown "true courage" by withdrawing from Australia's Rugby Championship opener against Argentina.

The flanker opted against facing the Pumas at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas on Saturday, as he is not in the right frame of mind to play.

James Slipper will step in to lead the Wallabies in Mendonza, with Hooper heading home and Fraser McReight getting a late call to take the number seven shirt.

Australia head coach Rennie praised Hooper for making such a brave decision.

"Michael's one of the most professional and impressive men I've coached I know this has been a difficult decision for him," he said.

"He's shown true courage by acknowledging where he is at and acting on it.

"We will support him in any way we can and I know the team will be focused on getting the job done tomorrow."

Hooper said: "While this decision did not come easily I know it is the right one for me and the team at this point in time.

"My whole career I’ve looked to put the team first and I don't feel I am able to fulfil my responsibilities at the moment in my current mindset."

Rugby Australia CEO Andy Marinos says Hooper will be given all the support he needs.

He said: "Michael is an incredible leader, it takes a brave man to identify where he’s at and come forward whilst having the best interests of the team at heart.

"His wellbeing is and remains the highest priority right now where Rugby Australia and the Australian Rugby community will do everything to support him and his family."

From a false nine to a true nine, Manchester City will roll out Erling Haaland as last season's Premier League champions show off their marquee addition.

City won the 2021-22 Premier League with 93 points despite lacking a target man, pipping Liverpool on the final day of the campaign.

Liverpool, unlucky to come home second on 92 points, have made a big investment in buying Darwin Nunez from Benfica, a penalty-box predator like Haaland.

The 90-point mark is widely seen as a benchmark for a team's greatness, but managers always see room for improvement.

Here, Stats Perform looks at how 90-point-plus teams from seasons past have bolstered their ranks, and how they got on afterwards.

100 POINTS

Manchester City are the only team in Premier League history to hit the 100-point mark, doing so in 2017-18, and they offloaded former kingpins Joe Hart and Yaya Toure at the end of that campaign, making just one big investment by signing Riyad Mahrez (£60million) from Leicester City.

Already a Premier League title winner with the Foxes, the Algerian winger has added three more league medals in Manchester, including one in his first season.

99 POINTS

Liverpool denied City a hat-trick of consecutive titles by triumphing in the coronavirus-interrupted 2019-20 championship, finishing 18 points clear of Pep Guardiola's team. The Reds then spent the thick end of £75million to acquire Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich, Diogo Jota from Wolves and Kostas Tsimikas from Olympiacos.

They recouped around half of that by selling Dejan Lovren, Ki-Jana Hoever and Rhian Brewster, before finishing with 30 fewer points in the following campaign.

98 POINTS

City's encore to their ton-up season was made remarkable by the fact Liverpool were hot on their heels, finishing just one point back. This 2018-19 title-winning effort by City was followed by captain Vincent Kompany taking flight for Anderlecht, while Danilo, Eliaquim Mangala, Fabian Delph and Douglas Luiz also said goodbye.

Guardiola invested wisely as Rodri (£62.8m from Atletico Madrid) and Joao Cancelo (£60million from Juventus) arrived. Both became staple members of the City side, but their first season on Premier League duty, as Liverpool romped to glory in front of empty stadiums, was probably best forgotten.

97 POINTS

Liverpool must have wondered what it would take to topple City after the seismic 2018-19 campaign, although the Reds' Champions League win showed they were firmly on the right track. This 97-point haul is the highest total any Premier League runner-up has secured.

Jurgen Klopp decided no big adjustments were required, investing in Takumi Minamino from Salzburg (£7.25m) and Harvey Elliott from Fulham (£1.5m, rising to £4.3m). He had done his serious spending the previous year, securing Naby Keita, Fabinho and Alisson.

95 POINTS

When big-spending Chelsea landed a then-record 95 points in the 2004-05 campaign, the response from the Blues, in the headiest phase of the Roman Abramovich era, was to splash more cash.

Shaun Wright-Phillips (£21m) and Michael Essien (£24.4m) were newcomers as Jose Mourinho evicted Mikael Forssell, Scott Parker, Mateja Kezman and Tiago. The result of that trading? A second consecutive title as the Premier League points mercury rose up into the 90s again.

93 POINTS

Two teams have had 93-point seasons: Chelsea in 2016-17 and Manchester City in 2021-22. Chelsea's post-season dealings were especially notable for captain John Terry moving on to Aston Villa. The club cashed in as Juan Cuadrado went to Juventus, Nathan Ake and Asmir Begovic left for Bournemouth and Nemanja Matic joined Manchester United. They acquired Antonio Rudiger (£31m), Tiemoue Bakayoko (£40m), Alvaro Morata (£60m), Davide Zappacosta (£23m) and Danny Drinkwater (£35m). The spree didn't help much, though. Chelsea trailed in fifth in 2017-18, Antonio Conte sacked despite an FA Cup win.

City made Haaland their priority this year but also added England midfielder Kalvin Phillips (£42m) and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega (free), while Julian Alvarez (£14m) arrived after being signed in January. Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling left.

92 POINTS

Manchester United were the first Premier League side to top 90 points, in 1993-94, albeit in a 42-game competition. After that title, United's second in succession, Bryan Robson left to become player-boss at Middlesbrough and David May (£1.4m) was bought from Blackburn Rovers. United went chasing a hat-trick of titles in the subsequent season but found big-spending Blackburn too strong. The record £7million arrival of Andy Cole midway through the campaign could not rescue Alex Ferguson's side, who tallied 88 points, one fewer than the champions.

Liverpool's 92-point season came last time out. It remains to be seen how Nunez (£64m) copes with the Premier League spotlight. Among a string of departures was Sadio Mane, who left for Bayern Munich. Mane scored 90 goals in 196 Premier League games with Liverpool.

91 POINTS

Manchester United followed their treble campaign with a 91-point haul in 1999-2000, before signing up France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez (£7.8m). They tallied 80 points in 2000-01, enough to finish 10 clear of second-placed Arsenal.

With Wright-Phillips and Essien on board, Chelsea notched 91 points in 2005-06. At the end of that season, the Blues swooped for Michael Ballack (free), Andriy Shevchenko (£30m), Arsenal's Ashley Cole (£5m, plus William Gallas) and John Obi Mikel (£16m). They were second best to Manchester United in the following season's Premier League, but enjoyed FA Cup and EFL Cup wins.

90 POINTS

Two teams have scraped the 90-point mark, Arsenal doing so in their 'Invincibles' season of 2003-04, with 26 wins and 12 draws. They signed young Dutchman Robin van Persie (£2.75m) towards the end of that campaign and he arrived in the summer. Newcomer Mourinho led Chelsea to the following year's title, with Arsenal runners-up.

Manchester United got to 90 in 2008-09 – Cristiano Ronaldo's last season before his £80million Real Madrid switch. Manager Ferguson then brought in Antonio Valencia (£16m), Michael Owen (free), Gabriel Obertan (£3m) and Mame Biram Diouf (£4million), with Valencia the only one to become a regular. With Ronaldo gone, Chelsea edged out United by a point for the following year's title.

Nick Kyrgios started his Friday by finishing off his third-round win against Reilly Opelka, and his business was not finished until after 1am local time when he defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (14-12) 6-2 in the quarter-final.

Due to length rain delays on Thursday, Kyrgios was one of five players forced to abandon their matches and return to finish them first thing on Friday, with Kyrgios and Russia's Andrey Rublev the only two to successfully navigate both.

Tiafoe defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the morning, but Kyrgios' ability to keep his service games short was a decisive factor, winning the ace count 35-14 and not conceding a single break all match.

Rublev had to deal with Maxime Cressy in the morning, winning 6-4 7-6 (10-8), setting up a quarter-final later at night against J.J. Wolf after the American defeated Holger Rune 7-5 4-6 6-3.

Rublev made his second match look far easier, cruising through 6-2 6-3 to earn a semi-final against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka after he needed over three-and-a-half hours to beat Daniel Evans 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-5.

In an all-unseeded semi-final, Kyrgios will play Sweden's Mikael Ymer, who fought his way past Sebastian Korda 6-2 5-7 6-3 after the American beat Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 4-6 6-1 6-2 earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, down in Mexico at the Los Cabos Open, Daniil Medvedev earned his spot in the final by defeating Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (7-0) 6-1.

Medvedev will play England's Cameron Norrie for the title after he prevailed in arguably the match of the tournament against top-10 talent Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 3-6 6-3.