Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are heading into the most important part of the season ahead of their Premier League clash with Burnley.

The title-chasing Gunners currently sit third, two points behind leaders Liverpool, after extending their impressive run to four straight league wins following a dominant 6-0 victory at West Ham.

Arteta highlighted the importance of claiming three points at Turf Moor and to keep up their consistent form during the final 14 league matches.

“It’s the most important part of the season and every fixture will play a significant role in what we want to achieve,” Arteta said.

“Burnley at the moment are a team which are extremely difficult to beat if you look at the results and how teams have drawn or beaten them by small margins.

“They are extremely well coached and are a team that are very competitive, so we know that we have a very tough match on Saturday and we need to play with the same energy and enthusiasm.

“We want to be there (title race) and it means we have done a lot right during the season.

“We have shown a big level of consistency in the team, we want to take a step forward and maintain the consistency.”

Burnley, who sit seven points from safety, have struggled in their first season back in the Premier League.

Arteta showed his admiration for Clarets manager Vincent Kompany, lauding his “special aura” ahead of Saturday’s clash.

The Arsenal manager coached the former Manchester City captain when he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the Etihad Stadium between 2016 and 2019.

“We know each other really well and I have huge respect for him, we had a really good relationship when we worked together,” Arteta added.

“I have a huge admiration for him when he was a player and he has a special aura around him. He has great ideas and a vision of how to play the game.

“What they did in the Championship last season (winning the league by 10 points) was phenomenal in a record season. To do that you need to be exceptional (as a coach).

“He has courage and his work ethic is phenomenal.”

Kai Havertz struggled in the early parts of the season after his £65million move from Chelsea but the Germany international has since adapted to life in north London.

Arteta said he “loves” the 24-year-old and it is a joy to have him in the squad.

“I love him,” he said. “We all love him as a player, as a person and what he brings to the team.

“He tracks people, defends the box and gets in the position where he constantly threatens the opponents’ box and that is something I really like.

“He is a joy to work with.”

Jamie Snowden is considering adding Ga Law to the Ryanair Chase field after his taking Cheltenham success on Trials day.

The eight-year-old finished fifth in the Festival Grade One last season, his second run at the track following victory in the Paddy Power Gold Cup earlier that term.

He returned to Prestbury Park to run over the same trip in a valuable handicap on January 27, the last meeting there before the Festival, and prevailed by a length and three quarters in a pleasing performance under Gavin Sheehan.

That run has inspired connections to think about putting Ga Law forward for another run in the Ryanair Chase at the Festival, for which he will require supplementing as the entries have closed.

“I think we’ll end up supplementing him for the Ryanair,” said Snowden.

“He won the Paddy Power Gold Cup the previous year and he would have won the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster but he had a nasty fall at the last and that kind of derailed us a bit last season.

“He still finished fifth in the Ryanair last year but he probably wasn’t in the sort of form he’s been in this time around.

“It was nice to see him back on track winning the feature handicap on Trials day and off the back of that the Ryanair looks the right race for him.

“He won the Paddy Power on the Old course but I think he ran an even better race the other day on the New course.

“The New course, which is more of a test of stamina, perhaps suits him more than the Old course, which is more of a test of speed.

“He ran well in the Ryanair last year when not in the form that he’s in now so hopefully he can go there and run a decent race.”

Snowden also provided an update on Reach For The Moon, who was bred by the late Queen and is owned by Queen Camilla and Sir Chips Keswick.

Twice placed at Royal Ascot in his days on the Flat with John and Thady Gosden, he made his hurdling debut at Sedgefield earlier this month and finished fourth when coming home lame.

Snowden said of the gelding: “He was a bit sore off the back of that first run over hurdles, we’re going to give him a moment to get over that and take him out of the Supreme Novices’.

“We’ll give him time to get over it and then come back in the spring.”

Gary Neville believes Dan Ashworth could be an influential figure as Manchester United’s sporting director, should he make the switch from Newcastle.

United are looking to fill the vacancy with an experienced head and are understood to have picked out Ashworth, who has performed similar roles at the Football Association, Brighton and now at St James’ Park.

Neville worked with Ashworth when he was England’s assistant manager between 2012-2016 and rates the 52-year-old as the kind of leader who could change the culture at Old Trafford, alongside incoming chief executive Omar Berrada.

“If Dan does come in, I do think there’s a chance that the performance mentality will improve, the mentality that they do have, (it) could run through the club quite quickly,” he told Sky Bet’s Stick to Football podcast.

“I’m not saying Dan is going to be a success at Manchester United, but if you’ve got the guy in from Manchester City (Berrada) and now Dan Ashworth, at least you’ve got people in roles that belong, as they’ve not had that in the last 10 years.

“(With England) he started with the Under-21s, the Under-18s and with the women’s team. You think of the success of all those teams in recent years, but that has been in the making for eight years, and it all started when Dan came in.

“I’m not saying he’s responsible for what happened, but he had a big influence with FA. They were a terrible organisation from a professionalism point of view, and I felt what he did, he put processes in place where they’re now structured and organised.”

Neville also stressed that Ashworth would expect significant power in a new backroom structure led by Ineos chair Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose deal to acquire a 25 per cent stake in the club could be completed next week.

“I’ve no doubt that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trusting in Sir Dave Brailsford in finding the best CEO, the best sporting director, the best head of recruitment and the best coach,” said Neville.

“It looks like they’ve got the first two, and the two yet to be sorted is the head of recruitment and the best coach, but they’re doing it one by one. I suspect that if Dan Ashworth comes in, he’ll want authority at the club to be able to make decisions.”

Paul O’Connell believes the legacy of influential former captain Johnny Sexton lives on among Ireland’s 2024 Guinness Six Nations squad.

The reigning Grand Slam champions have made a strong start to the post-Sexton era by bouncing back from Rugby World Cup disappointment with successive championship wins over France and Italy.

Forwards coach O’Connell admits there was a degree of trepidation about how the team would respond to the agonising quarter-final defeat to New Zealand and losing their long-serving leader.

Sexton, 38, retired immediately after the 28-24 Paris loss in October but has been credited with having a lasting impact on senior members of Andy Farrell’s squad, including new skipper Peter O’Mahony.

“I suppose you’re very hopeful that the work we’ve done with all of the players kind of comes through, but you’re a bit nervous that it might not happen as well,” O’Connell said of the new era.

“We’re only two games in so we’ve plenty of battles ahead of us.

“I think one thing that maybe Johnny has given a lot of the guys is he’s shown how much you have to care about the team and how much you have to care about how you prepare.

“He’s been a great example to some of the guys that are going to end up as leaders in the team.

“While he’s gone, his legacy from how he used to go about his business still lives on with us.

“A lot of the guys – Peter O’Mahony, Caelan Doris, James Ryan, Iain Henderson, Garry Ringrose – they’ve a few of his qualities in them that helps us arrive to a good place every Saturday when we play.”

Ireland resume their title defence at home to Wales on February 24, ahead of March appointments with England and Scotland.

Many pundits already feel it is a formality that Farrell’s men will become the first side to claim back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.

Former Ireland captained O’Connell, who won the competition three times as a player, thinks players are adept at “ignoring the bigger picture”.

“We talk about winning, for sure, we always want to win the tournaments we’re playing in and we talk about winning them but once we’ve cleared that up, we don’t really talk about it much more,” said the 44-year-old.

“We just focus on the next game. We focus on what needs to be better for the next game and get excited about doing the things we feel might lead to a performance.

“It’s something that the players do really well. It’s a practised skill being next-game focused.

“Andy’s big into it; Joe Schmidt (former Ireland head coach) was big into it back in the day and a lot of the players are big into it because it helps them prepare properly by ignoring the bigger picture.”

England were sloppy in the field as India racked up an imposing 445 on the second day of the third Test in Rajkot.

Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes reprieved Dhruv Jurel when the debutant was on 32 and, while the drops were not too ruinous, England created 15 wicket-taking opportunities in total just to bundle out India.

They were kept in the field for 130.5 overs in baking hot temperatures before reaching 31 without loss at tea, their total partly swelled by Ravichandran Ashwin running on the pitch when he was batting.

Ravindra Jadeja had received India’s first and final warning the day before for encroaching on the protected area, so when Ashwin did the same after setting off for an aborted single, umpire Joel Wilson signalled that England would be awarded five penalty runs at the start of their innings.

Jadeja would have been expected to marshal the lower order but he was dismissed for 112, leaving India on 331 for seven but Jurel (46) and Ashwin (37) helped India add 114 for the last three wickets.

England sought quick wickets as India resumed on 326 for five and the hosts added just five runs before both overnight batters were back in the pavilion. James Anderson winkled out nightwatcher Kuldeep Yadav, who edged behind, while Joe Root gratefully accepted a return catch to see off Jadeja.

It was partial redemption for Root following his drop of Rohit Sharma the previous day, which ended up costing England 104 runs, but India were far from finished with both Jurel and Ashwin capable batters.

A reshuffle in India’s order brought out Ashwin at nine, despite possessing five Test tons, and he and Jurel batted in a measured fashion, with England appearing to lack their usual vigour in the field. Jurel showed his class by uppercutting a neck-high Mark Wood bouncer for six.

A moment of drama arrived before lunch when Ashwin was sanctioned for running along the middle of the pitch, giving England five penalty runs at the start of their innings. Clearly unhappy at the decision, Ashwin nevertheless refused to succumb to a rush of blood.

Jurel had two reprieves after the resumption as Pope put down a simple chance at midwicket, while the usually reliable Stokes was unable to cling on to a sharper chance at short fine-leg.

Jurel compounded England’s lackadaisical efforts by slamming Rehan Ahmed for two sixes, although the leg-spinner took out both set batters after India had passed 400. Ashwin advanced and slammed a googly to mid-on, where James Anderson held on at the second attempt, while Jurel edged a cut shot behind.

Again, England’s work was not done as Bumrah teed off with abandon, slamming Tom Hartley high over deep midwicket, in a lively 26 off 28 balls before being trapped plumb in front by Wood.

England started their innings on five for none without facing a single delivery after Ashwin’s earlier transgression and they got a further run after Bumrah got under way with a front-foot no-ball.

Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who was fine to bowl despite a blow to his knee while batting, delivered a probing new-ball spell but Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were given few alarms in the half-hour before tea.

Doc Rivers suggested the Milwaukee Bucks had "some guys in Cabo" as he reflected on their shock loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Despite missing several key players, including Scotty Pippen Jr – who was out with a back injury – the Grizzlies won 113-110 on Thursday.

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 35 points and 12 assists, but his 43rd double-double of the season was not enough.

And Rivers, whose team are third in the Eastern Conference, believes some of his players were already thinking about potential trips away during the All-Star break, rather than focusing fully on the task at hand.

"We had some guys here, and some guys in Cabo," Rivers said.

"First play of the game, we gamble for the 50th time in the corner. Guy drives, we have to help, leads to a 3.

"On our set, two guys forget what we're running. Then we missed a shot and nobody gets back. That's how we start out the third quarter. That tells you all you need to know about where our heads were.

"These are tough games. Yeah, it's a panic game for coaches."

Ziaire Williams and GG Jackson scored 27 points each for the Grizzlies.

"It feels good," Williams said.

"Proud of this team. We've been fighting our tails off every game. It's good to see. One man falls down, and another one steps up. We're just having fun."

The Grizzlies, whose star player Ja Morant is out for the rest of the campaign, sit 13th in the Western Conference, with a 20-36 record.

Steve Kerr is considering how best to use Klay Thompson after the 34-year-old responded to being benched with an emphatic showing for the Golden State Warriors.

Thompson was benched for the first time since 2012 on Thursday, but responded with his best performance of the season as the Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 140-137.

The small forward finished with 35 points and six rebounds. Thompson had started 727 straight games.

Golden State's win marked Kerr's 500th victory as Warriors coach, and he believes Thompson, who is averaging 17.3 points per game this season.

"It's been a tricky season for him and for us," said Kerr.

"It's not as easy to do what Klay did five or six years ago for him.

"I think this could be a good balance to get the best out of Klay and to get the best out of our team.

"He's just such a competitor. I've watched him win championships. I've seen him hit a million big shots. I've seen him guard the toughest guys in the league.

"Klay's a champion. He's an incredible player, a great person."

Thompson has now surpassed 15,000 points, becoming the sixth Golden State player, and the 153rd player in total, to do so.

"You can do two things: You can pout or you can go out there and respond," said Thompson. "I thought I did the latter very well tonight.

"Throughout the game, when I'm running with the second unit, I realised I might be more of a focal point to the offense.

"That's a fun role to play. I just wanted to take it upon myself to prove to coach that I was going to respond like the champ I am.

"I thought about [former Spurs great] Manu Ginobli, that guy has four rings and a gold medal, and he came off the bench his whole career, and I don't think anyone looks down on his Hall of Fame candidacy.

"He's one of the greats. And I thought, I mean, I embraced it before tip, and I deserved it really."

Liverpool return to the Premier League’s Saturday lunchtime kick-off time when they take on Brentford this weekend.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has been a long-time critic of the slot and here, the PA news agency looks at Liverpool’s record in early kick-offs under Klopp.

Early birds

The clash at the Gtech Community Stadium will be Liverpool’s 44th Saturday lunchtime kick-off since the German arrived on Merseyside in October 2015, which is the most of any Premier League club in that time.

Manchester City and Tottenham have each played 39, ahead of Manchester United (34) and Chelsea (33).

Klopp has overseen a total of 21 wins, 14 draws and eight defeats in the early Saturday slot, which equates to 1.79 points per game.

That represents the second-best record among ‘big six’ clubs, behind City (2.26), but is well below his average return across all other kick-off times (2.17).

Liverpool’s performances in Saturday lunchtime games have been indicative of their title prospects in recent years, with the Reds having won all 12 of such matches in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 – seasons in which they won the title or finished within a point of Pep Guardiola’s City.

By contrast, Klopp’s team won just one of five 12:30 kick-offs in 2020-21 – when they barely made it into the top four – and none of six on the way to finishing fifth last season.

It is their fifth early Saturday kick-off this season – also the most in the Premier League, breaking a tie with Spurs and Everton – with an encouraging return of three wins so far alongside a draw with City.

Bees’ lunchtime buzz

Among all Premier League clubs, Liverpool rank fifth by points per game in early kick-offs since Klopp’s arrival.

Only City of the teams ahead of them have played even five games but of note is the fact Brentford have won all four of their 12:30 kick-offs since their promotion to the Premier League in 2021, with some notable scalps along the way.

Thomas Frank’s side won 2-0 at Wolves in their first such game in September 2021, 2-1 in a rare lunchtime setback for City and 3-1 at Tottenham last season, and 2-0 at Chelsea earlier this term. This will be their first Premier League home game in that time slot.

They are without the injured Bryan Mbeumo, who has scored in three of those wins including a brace against Spurs, but the recently returned Ivan Toney scored the penalty opener against Wolves and both goals – including a dramatic stoppage-time winner – against City.

Nottingham Forest and Cardiff each average two points per early kick-off, in just three and two games respectively.

What the papers say

Bayern Munich are looking likely to join Liverpool in the hunt for Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso as pressure mounts on coach Thomas Tuchel, the Times reports. Alonso is the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp at Anfield after he decided he will step down at the end of the season.

The Daily Mail reports that Barcelona have put three Premier League players on their summer transfer wishlist, including Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli, Everton’s Amadou Onana and Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma.

Brighton could face a battle to keep hold of manager Roberto de Zerbi at the end of the season’s, with the Daily Mail saying Manchester United and Liverpool are considering a move for the Italian.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Victor Osimhen: The Napoli striker is the main target for Paris St Germain after Kylian Mbappe told the club he plans to leave at the end of the year, the Athletic reports.

Bukayo Saka: Football Insider says Arsenal have valued their star 22-year-old winger between £150million and £200million.

Joe Root made partial amends for his costly drop of Rohit Sharma by taking care of Ravindra Jadeja but England were still made to toil against India in Rajkot.

Root put down a difficult chance when Rohit was on 27 on the opening day of the third Test, with the India captain amassing a further 104 runs, but the Yorkshireman held on when offered a return catch by Jadeja on the second morning.

Jadeja’s dismissal for 112 left India on 331 for seven but hopes of a swift conclusion to the innings were thwarted by the obduracy of debutant Dhruv Jurel (31 not out) and Ravichandran Ashwin (25no).

The pair put on an unbroken 57 to carry India to 388 for seven at lunch, although England had an unexpected helping hand from Ashwin, whose unnecessary encroachment on the middle of the pitch led to five penalty runs being awarded to the tourists.

Jadeja was officially warned about running on the so-called ‘danger zone’ the previous evening and any further indiscretion leads to the opposing team starting their innings on five without loss.

Ashwin pushed for a run before being sent back but because he had not moved to the side, increasing the risk of scuffing up the surface, he was disciplined, much to his chagrin, by umpire Joel Wilson.

England began the day needing quick wickets as India resumed on 326 for five and they saw off the overnight batters within the first five overs, Anderson collecting Test dismissal 696 after winkling out nightwatcher Kuldeep Yadav.

Anderson found a hint of away movement with a relatively new ball to take the outside edge and Ben Foakes took a simple catch.

Root came within a whisker of off-stump on a couple of occasions before gratefully accepting a tame chip from Jadeja, who would have been expected to marshal the lower order when the day began.

But Jurel averages 46 in first-class cricket while India’s number nine Ashwin has five Test centuries so England’s work was far from complete. Jurel showed his class by upper-cutting Mark Wood, the pick of England’s bowlers the day before, for six.

Tom Hartley beat the bat on a couple of occasions and rare edges dropped short of fielders as India crept towards a score upwards of 400, even if Ashwin’s transgression gives England a leg up at the start of their innings.

Mark Clattenburg quit his role as a Premier League referee to take a senior position in Saudi Arabia on this day in 2017.

The Durham official had previously refereed high-profile events including the Euro 2016 final, as well as Champions League and FA Cup finals.

The 41-year-old’s move to the Middle East saw him take over from fellow Englishman and former Premier League referee Howard Webb as head of refereeing in Saudi Arabia.

Clattenburg told the Saudi Arabia Football Federation: “This is an important move forward. We have professional referees in the country that I am leaving, which has been a big positive.

“One thing I’d like to do is work with the refereeing team and the president to make this happen so that it will be successful for many, many years to come.”

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), who provide and train officials for the Premier League, English Football League and Football Association, paid tribute to Clattenburg.

The PGMOL said: “Mark is a talented referee, he has been a great asset to the English game and hopefully an inspiration to those who want to get into refereeing at the grass roots of the game.

“We understand this is an exciting opportunity for Mark as well as further underlining what high esteem English match officials are held throughout the world game.”

Clattenburg held the role for 18 months before returning to refereeing with a move to China in the Chinese Super League.

He was later appointed president of the Egyptian Referees Committee, but resigned in January 2023 after just five months in the role.

Klay Thompson scored a season-high 35 points with seven 3-pointers in his first appearance off the bench since his rookie season in the Golden State Warriors’ 140-137 win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday.

A reserve for the first time since March 11, 2012, Thompson scored 17 points in the Warriors’ 84-point first half. He was 13 of 22 from the field and 7 of 13 from 3-point range with six rebounds in 28 minutes.

Brandon Podziemski replaced him in the starting lineup and had 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Draymond Green scored a season-best 23 points, Andrew Wiggins added 19 and Stephen Curry contributed 16 points and 10 assists as Golden State won its seventh in eight games.

Collin Sexton led the Jazz with 35 points and nine assists, while Keyonte George set career highs with 33 points and nine 3s.

Wolves start fast in rout of Blazers

Anthony Edwards scored 13 of his 34 points in a dominant first quarter and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 128-91 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and Jaden McDaniels scored 17 as Minnesota opened a 44-14 lead after one quarter in its fourth straight victory.

The Wolves’ 30-point lead was the most lopsided first quarter in the NBA this season.

Jerami Grant scored 20 points for Portland, which has lost six straight.

Grizzlies hold off Bucks

Ziaire Williams and GG Jackson each scored 27 points and the Memphis Grizzlies held on for a 113-110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Vince Williams had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Lamar Stevens added 13 points off the bench to help Memphis win its second straight following a season-high nine-game losing streak.

Giannis Antetokoumpo had his 43rd double-double of the season with 35 points and 12 assists, and Damian Lillard had 24 points and seven assists.

Milwaukee has lost its last two and five of its past seven games.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 45 shots for his first shutout of the season and the Florida Panthers extended their franchise record road winning streak to 10 games with a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice for the Panthers, who became the 11th NHL team to win 10 consecutive road games.  Their run is two short of matching the record held by Detroit (2005-06) and Minnesota (2014-15).

Florida improved to 19-7-2 on the road, where it hasn’t lost since a 3-1 defeat at Calgary on Dec. 18. The Panthers are 17-3-2 in their past 22 games overall and moved into a tie with Boston atop the Eastern Conference.

The Sabres failed to build off a 7-0 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday after announcing prior to the game that goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would be out with a lower-body injury.

Eric Comrie stopped 27 shots in his place and dropped his sixth straight start.

Kreider leads Rangers to sixth win in row

Chris Kreider notched his first hat trick of the season and Adam Fox had four assists to propel the New York Rangers to their sixth consecutive victory, 7-4 over the Montreal Canadiens.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists and Artemi Panarin added three assists as the Rangers pulled within one point of Boston and Florida for the Eastern Conference lead.

Jonathan Quick, 38, stopped 31 shots for his fourth straight win. He is the oldest goaltender in Rangers history with a four-game winning streak and is three victories away from tying Ryan Miller for most among American-born goalies at 391.

Cole Caufield scored twice for Montreal, which has lost three of four.

Matthews scores 3 more in Leafs’ OT win

Auston Matthews increased his league-leading goal total to 45 with his fifth hat trick of the season and William Nylander scored in overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Matthews completed his 12th career hat trick in a 7:49 span in the second period. He’s on a 71-goal pace through 51 games, seeking to become the first player to hit 70 since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny each had 76 in 1992-93.

Matthews tied the franchise record for hat tricks in a season, matching Reg Noble (1917-18), Babe Dye (1924-25) and Darryl Sittler (1980-81).

Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist as the Flyers battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to move to 4-0-1 in their past five games.