Arne Slot is bringing an "elegant" style of play to Liverpool, and Harvey Elliott is relishing a "fresh start" under the Dutchman.

Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp at the start of July, with the latter having called time on his near nine-year stint at Anfield.

Klopp led Liverpool to great success during his time at the club, and Slot acknowledged he has big shoes to fill.

But Elliott, who was a regular under Klopp last season, playing 34 times in the Premier League and scoring three goals, says former Feyenoord boss Slot has hit the ground running.

"It's [a] very elegant, Dutch style, it's very nice," Elliott said, as reported by BBC Sport.

"The style of play is a lot different. It's more about in possession now.

"The players are excited, we play certain patterns, it is a good buzz around the team and the lads are excited to apply it in games.

"It's a fresh start for everyone. I don't think it is nerves but excitement. I think we will learn very quickly.

"We have seen in the last game there were certain moments where the amazing football was free-flowing.

"It's pre-season and it is only the first couple of games and we need to keep trusting what they are teaching us. We need to keep going if things don't work out [immediately] because it is all new."

Liverpool beat Real Betis 1-0 in their opening pre-season friendly under Slot in the United States, and next up is a test against Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Despite his strong performances for the Reds, Elliott was not included in England's squad for Euro 2024, and the 21-year-old's next aim is to cement himself in Slot's line-up to earn a Three Lions call-up.

He said: "It's just down to me to put in the work, put in the performances.

"You can say it all you want but it is down to me to work as hard as I can, perform in training and games, so it is on myself. There's no one I could blame apart from me.

"I just wanted to come back early to get to grips with the new style of play and meet the coaching staff and gaffer for the first time.

"It gives me a chance to get up and running in pre-season. I feel like I've done that. I just need to keep going and building."

Lewis Hamilton was "gutted" for George Russell after the latter's disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix handed victory to the seven-time Formula One champion.

Russell finished just ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton in Sunday's race to seal a one-two for the team at Spa.

Mercedes had taken a risky strategy with Russell, who went 34 laps on just one set of tyres.

However, an investigation after the race found Russell's car to be 1.5kg underweight, and so Hamilton was handed the race win.

In a post on Instagram, Hamilton said: "Mixed feelings for today's result. Obviously, happy to get the win but I feel for George and it's disappointing for the team not to get the one-two.

"A lot of positives to take from today, though. At the start of the weekend, we didn't expect to be at the front or the pace we had, so it's great to see just how much progress has been made and that we are in the fight.

"We take all these positives with us into the break and will come back a stronger team ready to keep the momentum going."

In a subsequent post on his Instagram story, Hamilton wrote: "Great drive today @georgerussell63, really am gutted for you and the team losing the win and also our 1-2 which the team deserved. Let's keep pushing, work towards another 1-2 in the second half."

Russell, meanwhile, was left heartbroken by the decision, which denied him his second win of the season.

"Heartbreaking… We came in 1.5kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race," Russell wrote in a post on social media.

"We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first. There will be more to come."

Hamilton is now sixth in the drivers' standings, with 150 points, 34 ahead of Russell in eighth.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen picked up another two points courtesy of Russell's disqualification, taking him onto 277 at the top of the standings, though the Dutchman has not won in four races, his worst such streak since 2020.

The Baltimore Orioles scored six runs in the third inning en route to an 8-6 victory over San Diego on Sunday to snap the Padres' season-high seven-game winning streak.

The AL East-leading Orioles (62-43) only had six hits but took advantage of some shaky Padres pitching to win for just the second time in seven games.

Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run single in the third inning that made the score 4-0, and added another two-run hit in the eighth to give Baltimore a bit of a cushion after San Diego scored five straight runs to pull within one.

Cedric Mullins came up big with the bat and the glove, hitting a two-run double in the third inning and later in the eighth inning he raced down a Manny Machado drive to deep centre field and leapt at the warning track to make the catch.

 

The Padres (57-51) were looking to win eight straight games for the first time since last September but were undone by the wildness of starter Randy Vasquez and lost for the first time since July 19.

After posting a 1.71 ERA in his last five starts, Vasquez allowed the first six batters of the third inning to reach base before he was pulled. He walked four and was ultimately charged with six earned runs.

Xander Bogaerts helped the Padres rally with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, just his fifth home run of the season and first since May 13, but that would be as close as San Diego would get.

 

Guardians beat Phillies to take series between league leaders

The Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies to take two of three in this series between the two best teams in the majors.

After Jhonkensy Noel tied the score with a three-run homer in the fourth inning, Steven Kwan put the AL-best Guardians (63-42) ahead with a solo shot in the seventh.

It was the 11th home run of the season for Kwan, who leads the majors with a .342 batting average.

 

Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a home run and added a two-run shot two innings later for his 22nd of the season. It was his 29th career multi-homer game and fourth of the season.

Schwarber, though, grounded out in the ninth inning and Trea Turner followed with a ground-out of his own, as Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase pitched a scoreless inning to nail down his AL-best 33rd save.

The Phillies (65-40) have the majors' best record, but they've lost seven of 10.

 

Edwards becomes second Marlin to hit for cycle in loss to Brewers

Xavier Edwards hit for the cycle for the Miami Marlins, but it came in a losing effort as the Milwaukee Brewers pulled out a 6-2 victory.

Edwards opened the game with a home run, added a double in the fifth, a triple in the seventh and legged out an infield single with two outs in the ninth to record just the second cycle in Marlins franchise history.

 

Luis Arráez is the only other Miami player to hit for the cycle, notching his on April 11, 2023, against the Phillies.

Edwards' lead-off homer was the first home run of his career, but the lead was short-lived, as the Brewers responded with two runs in the bottom of the first via a Jake Bauers home run.

Bauers also tripled to help the NL Central-leading Brewers (60-45) avoid getting swept by the last-place Marlins (39-67).

Devin Williams pitched a scoreless ninth inning for Milwaukee in his first appearance of the season after being sidelined since spring training with stress fractures in his back.

The two-time NL reliever of the year faced five batters, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out one.

The New England Patriots issued a statement on Sunday that defensive tackle Christian Barmore has been diagnosed with blood clots.

The team said he is being treated at Mass General Brigham and there is no timetable for a return.

Barmore, who turned 25 years old on Sunday, is coming off a career year, emerging as an anchor on New England's defensive front with a team-high 8 1/2 sacks while also recording 13 tackles for loss in 2023.

A second-round pick by New England in 2021, he totalled four sacks in his first two NFL seasons.

After his breakout 2023 season, the Patriots rewarded Barmore with a four-year contract extension worth up to $92 million on April 29.

"While there is no current timetable for his return, we know Christian is getting tremendous care and we look forward to his full recovery," the Patriots said in a statement.

 

An emotional Adam Peaty says "in his heart, he's already won" despite narrowly missing out on a historic third consecutive 100m breaststroke gold medal.

Peaty was bidding to become just the second man after Michael Phelps to win the same swimming event at three consecutive Olympics.

However, he had to settle for a tie for silver with America's Nic Fink, after Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi snatched a shock win by beating them to the wall by 0.02 seconds.

Peaty recently took a break from the sport to cope with mental health struggles, which came to a head when he broke his foot in 2022, ending his eight-year dominance over 100m.

Having made his comeback with a bronze at this year's World Championships, a tearful Peaty explained why he was not disappointed about falling short of the top prize.

"It's been a very long way back. I look at the score there, you never think in your wildest dreams it would be 59 [seconds] to win it," he told the BBC.

"I gave my absolute all and executed it as well as I could. It's not about the end goal, it's all about the process. It doesn't matter what the end time says on the board, in my heart, I've already won.

"I'm not crying because I came second, I'm crying because it took so much to get here. It's incredibly hard to win it once, and to win it again, and again and trying to find new ways to do it.

"Everything I have done to this point has happened for a reason. I'm so happy I can race the best in the world and get joint second.

"In my heart, I've won. These are happy tears. I said to myself to give my absolute best every single day and I have. You cannot be upset about that."

Peaty will have another chance to go for gold in Paris when he competes in the 4x100m relay.

Andy Murray says he is proud of his double's comeback with Dan Evans after admitting it was a new career experience having to save five match points.

Team GB looked set to crash out of the Olympics in the first round, but a thrilling match instead saw them prevail 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 11-9 against Japan's Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniels.

Having already forced a tie-break in the second set, Murray and Evans had to dig deep once again in the decider after going 9-4 down, and remarkably saved five match points before booking their place in the next round.

Murray, who is set to retire at the end of the Olympics, lauded Evans for the part he played in the dramatic fightback that has prolonged his career by at least one more match.

"I don't think I've saved five match points in a row – in singles it's almost impossible to do that, so I don't think I've ever done that before," Murray said after their win.

"It's probably up there in terms of comebacks – probably the way we were playing to that stage would have not suggested we were able to come back.

"In my career, I've turned around a lot of matches I've looked unlikely to win or people thought I shouldn't have won - at times I've had that mental toughness, strength that was at times early on in my career was questioned.

"I'm really proud of that - I always try my best to fight and figure out ways to come through. I certainly couldn't have done that on my own today – as a team, Evo played his part in that.

"Evo has shown that before and helped me big time today. We both served well, came up with some great returns, and it was a brilliant turnaround."

Murray and Evans will face either Belgium's Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen or France's Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert in the next round.  

Vanessa Gilles scored a 112th-minute winner as Canada put their off-field issues aside to beat hosts France 2-1 at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

After being found guilty of using a drone to film opponents' training at this and past tournaments, the Tokyo champions had six points deducted, while head coach Bev Priestman has been banned from all football-related activity for one year.

The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) are considering an appeal against the decision, but those controversies were put to one side when the team took to the field.

Starting the day bottom on -3 points, Canada, led by Andy Spence, had to come from behind to beat France after Marie-Antoinette Katoto put Les Bleues ahead just before half-time.

Jessie Fleming equalised from close range in the 58th minute, but Canada fought back, with Gilles getting some help from the woodwork to secure the win.

Meanwhile, Colombia's comfortable 2-0 victory over New Zealand means they now lead Group A after two games thanks to their goal difference.

Elsewhere, in Group C, Spain booked their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare after a 1-0 win over Nigeria.

Alexia Putellas' long-range strike maintained La Roja's perfect start to the tournament as they bid to become the first team to win Olympic gold after lifting the Women's World Cup.

In the other group game, Japan ruined the party for Marta, who made her 200th appearance for Brazil in a shock 2-1 defeat.

Despite Mina Tanaka's penalty miss in the first half, Japan launched a comeback after Jheniffer's opener, with Saki Kumagai and Momoko Tanikawa both scoring in stoppage time to move second.

The game of the day came in Group B though, as Australia edged out Zambia in an 11-goal thriller.

Barbra Banda's hat-trick gave the minnows a 5-2 lead, but they could not hold onto it as Michelle Heyman made it 6-5 in the 90th minute to snatch a win.

The United States booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympic Games with a match to spare after a commanding 4-1 victory over Germany.

Sophia Smith netted a first-half double on either side of Mallory Swanson's goal before Lynn Williams wrapped up the points late on.

Giulia Gwinn had given Germany hope by equalising, but the USA were too strong as they ruthlessly booked a place in the knockout rounds.

The USA made a quick start, with Smith darting in front of her marker to slot a close-range tap-in past Ann-Katrin Berger, only for Gwinn to cancel it out 11 minutes later with a pinpoint shot into the bottom-left corner.

Emma Hayes' side soon asserted their dominance though – Swanson reacted quickest to latch onto Smith's saved shot, firing in from an acute angle on the left.

Smith then got her second just before the break, helped by a huge deflection, as her effort looped over Berger before bouncing over the line off the inside of the far post.

Jule Brand struck the woodwork just after the hour mark before further misery was piled on the Germans as captain Alexandra Popp was forced off late in the second half with a knee injury that they will be hoping is not too serious. 

Williams rounded things off by making a quick impact off the bench, finishing off a lightning-quick counter-attack just under four minutes after coming on. 

Data Debrief: Smith and Swanson on song

The USA got the job done in the first half, ensuring Hayes became just the second coach to win each of their first two major tournament matches in charge, after Anson Dorrance in the 1991 World Cup.

Swanson added to her double against Zambia with another goal in Marseille and is just the second player in USA's history to net three times in the group stage of a single Olympics, after Abby Wambach in 2012.

Before today, the winner of each of the five previous major tournament meetings between the USA and Germany has gone on to win the entire tournament, and Hayes will be hoping that is a good sign of what is to come.

Anthony Davis says Team USA "expect nothing less" after Kevin Durant starred on his return from injury in a 110-84 win against Serbia at the Olympic Games.

Durant did not play any of the pre-Olympic warm-up games due to a calf injury and was only cleared to play for the USA an hour before their opener started.

However, he made a huge impact in just 17 minutes, nailing his first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, as he scored 23 points.

After being touch-and-go for the tournament, with coach Steve Kerr reluctant to rush him back too early, Davis says the team knew he would be ready when called upon.

"We expect nothing less," he said. "We know what he can do when the ball is in his hand, and he got hot. It was fun to watch his first time, second time, 12th.

"To see and be a fan and actually get a chance to cheer for him instead of rooting against [him] with his scoring ability – man, it was fun to watch."

Durant was not the only one in fine form, as LeBron James marked his Olympic comeback with a standout performance, getting 21 points, eight rebounds and nine assists as he provided a spark.

James and Durant also became the first USA team-mates to both score over 20 points in an Olympic opener.

The 39-year-old, playing his first contest at the Games since 2012, when he won his second consecutive gold medal, was full of praise for Durant and the team as the USA chase a sixth title in a row.

"I mean [Durant] is just an out-of-this-world talent," he said after the game. "That's the best game we played so far.

"[I'll do] Whatever it takes [to win]. It's going to be somebody different every day. And we have that type of firepower."

Next up for Team USA in Group C is South Sudan, who made history in their Olympic debut earlier on Sunday.

Their basketball federation was only formed in 2011, and they beat Puerto Rico 90-79 for their first win at the Games.

Andy Murray delayed his retirement with an epic Olympics first-round comeback as he and Dan Evans fought back to beat Japan's Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniels.

The two-time gold medallist looked set to be playing his final game, but Team GB prevailed 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 11-9 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Nishikori and Daniels, who were both eliminated from the men's singles competition earlier in the day, were keen to make amends and broke the British pair twice in the last four games of the opening set to draw first blood.

Murray and Evans responded well and replied to two breaks in the second set to force a tie-break, in which they held their nerve to level.

In the final set decider, the curtain looked sure to come down on Murray's glittering career, but the Brits survived five match points to level the tie-break at 9-9 before remarkably booking their place in the next round.

Data Debrief: From the jaws of defeat

Nishikori and Daniels could not have asked for a better first set as they brushed their opponents aside, making just four unforced errors to Team GB's 10.

However, Murray and Evans' resilience kicked in, and they saved two break points in the second set. In the decider, they won the last seven points to storm through, leaving their opponents shocked.

In an already memorable tournament for Murray, he has just played a match that will live long in the memory.

Coco Gauff won her Olympic singles debut with a dominant straight-sets victory over Ajla Tomljanovic on Sunday.

The American cruised through in just 57 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier, winning 6-3 6-0 in the evening session.

Gauff raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set and did well to hold off the Australian's fightback after trading breaks for the next four games. She soon regained her advantage at 5-3 though, before winning the final game to love to take the lead.

Gauff eased through the second set with little fuss and Tomljanovic had no answers as she finished the game on the wrong end of a bagel.

Next up for Gauff is Argentina's Maria Lourdes Carle, who routed Tatjana Maria 6-0 6-0 on Sunday.

Data Debrief: Gauff gets off to perfect start

Gauff missed the Tokyo 2021 Olympics through illness, and she could not have asked for a better start in Paris after winning both her doubles and singles matches.

The 20-year-old won the final eight games in a row en route to her dominant win, breaking Tomljanovic's serve six times throughout the match.

India sealed a T20I series win over Sri Lanka with a game to spare, following another late collapse by the hosts on Sunday.

In a rain-hit match, India dominated with the ball before quickly hitting their chase target on DLS with nine balls remaining to win by seven wickets.

Sri Lanka's openers had a strong game on Saturday, but they could not carry that form into the second game as Kusal Mendis was caught for 10, before Pathum Nissanka was dismissed with just 32.

However, it looked like they had found their footing with Kusal Perera's knock of 58, only for India's bowlers to step up the pressure.

Hardik Pandya took Perera and Kamindu Mendis (26) at the start of the Sri Lanka collapse, while Ravi Bishnoi finished with 3-26, including getting out Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga for ducks as the hosts finished with 161-9.

India only played three balls at the start of their innings before rain interrupted proceedings once again, meaning they were set a target of 78 in eight overs on DLS.

Yashasvi Jaiswal got them almost halfway on his own, hitting 30, but it was Pandya who eventually carried them over the line, finishing with back-to-back fours as India moved into an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

Data Debrief: Sri Lanka woes continue

Sri Lanka left the T20 World Cup disappointed after an underwhelming campaign, and things have not got much better for them since then.

Their openers have been strong, but in the last two games, Sri Lanka have lost 16 for 68 in the last six overs.

Take nothing away from India's bowlers though, as Patel, Bishnoi and Singh all have four wickets each for the series after dominant displays. 

Rafael Nadal acknowledged Novak Djokovic will be the "clear favourite" in their blockbuster men's singles clash at the Paris Olympics.

Two of the game's greats will lock horns for the 60th time - and what is expected to be the final time - in round two at Roland-Garros, following Nadal's victory over Marton Fucsovics.

The Spaniard battled past his Hungarian opponent in three sets to keep his final campaign alive on the French clay, where he won a record-breaking 14 French Open titles.

He secured the most recent of those in 2022 following a victory over Djokovic in the quarter-finals - and what was the pair's most recent encounter.

But Nadal knows he will be the underdog this time around.

"Of course, it's beautiful to play against one of the two biggest rivals that I had in my career, especially on this court," he said.

"But our situations are completely different. He's been very competitive. I have not been very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favourite.

"I'm going to try to bring my best to the court and then let's see how far I can go, and how many problems I can create [for] him.

"It's always beautiful to play on this court, without a doubt. Representing your country is always super special."

George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix after his car was found to be underweight, with Lewis Hamilton inheriting his win.

Russell had pulled off a remarkable victory from sixth on the grid with a one-stop strategy, beating Lewis Hamilton, who had led for most of the race, by half a second.

However, the 26-year-old's car failed a post-race weight check, with a report later confirming that while the car had initially been compliant with the minimum weight, 2.8 litres of fuel were then removed.

That, coupled with Russell's one-stop strategy that saw his hard tyres worn down, took him 1.5 kilograms below the weight limit.

Mercedes told stewards that "there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team" after the findings were revealed.

As a result, Hamilton has his second win of the season, three weeks on from his British Grand Prix triumph at the start of the month, and the 105th in his career.

Oscar Piastri moved up to P2, while Charles Leclerc took P3.

An official statement from team principal Toto Wolff following the verdict read: "We have to take our disqualification on the chin.

"We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it. We will go away, evaluate what happened and understand what went wrong. To lose a 1-2 is frustrating, and we can only apologise to George, who drove such a strong race.

"Lewis is, of course, promoted to P1; he was the fastest guy on the two-stop and is a deserving winner.

"Despite the disqualification, there are many positives we can take from this weekend. We had a car that was the benchmark in today's race across two different strategies. Only a few months ago, that would have been inconceivable.

"We head into the summer break having won three of the past four races. We will look to come back after shutdown rejuvenated and with the aim of maintaining our positive trajectory."

Revised Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Lando Norris (McLaren)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Esteban Ocon (Alphine)
10. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.