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• Premier League rejects Man City request to delay 2025-26 season start

  The Premier League has rejected a request from Manchester City to delay the start to their 2025-26 campaign to allow for more recovery time after the Club World Cup.

  As 2022-23 Champions League winners, City are one of two English clubs – alongside Chelsea – to have secured a spot at FIFA's first 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States next year.

  The tournament's expanded format has proven extremely controversial, provoking widespread criticism for denying players rest time during the off-season.

  Players' union Fifpro has started legal proceedings against FIFA over the scheduling of the tournament, claiming the fixture schedule has become "unworkable".

  The Club World Cup is set to run from June 15 to July 13, with players involved unlikely to receive substantial rest time before the domestic season begins in early August.

  Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham, boss Pep Guardiola revealed City had already seen a request to delay their opening game knocked back.

  "The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery," Guardiola said. "Thank you so much.

  "I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. 

  "Would the Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. They won't postpone these games so there will be a moment of, 'what do we do?

  "I don't have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense."

• Conte embracing Napoli improvements after Como triumph

  Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli's recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break. 

  Scott McTominay's early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break. 

  Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.

  The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run. 

  Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to be at the top of the table, but felt quietly optimistic about his players' progression during the early stages of his tenure.

  "I don't know if this is currently a Napoli that deserves to be in first place in the standings, but we are first and that is a fact," Conte said to DAZN.

  "If someone had told me this three months ago, it would have been difficult to believe.

  "We're growing in terms of temperament, and in our ability to adapt—playing good football, but also willing to get our hands dirty when we need to.

  "That's a great sign, and we have to embrace it fully."

  But the encounter against Como was far from comfortable for Conte's side, with the visitors registering 11 shots compared to Napoli's nine, while Cesc Fabregas' men also ended the contest with 59.3% possession. 

  Napoli, though, created the better chances, ending the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.02 from their six efforts on target, with Lukaku continuing to flourish under Conte's stewardship. 

  McTominay's opening goal after 26 seconds was the third-quickest for Napoli in the three-points-per-game era, while the former Manchester United midfielder also became the first Scottish player to score for Gli Azzurri in Serie A. 

  "We started well in the first half, scoring a great goal, the result of our hard work," Conte said.

  "Then we changed things tactically in the second half, and they were no longer in the game.

  "We lost too many duels, but that's part of the process of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem."

  Conte also showered praise on the home supporters inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. 

  "Playing in Naples, at the Maradona, with a full stadium means that the players can really feel the crowd's emotions," he said. 

  If you make mistakes, you can feel the disappointment, and that can chip away at your confidence.

  "Napoli has a deep passion for football. We try to feed that passion by giving our all, like we did today. In the second half, we improved from every point of view."

• Sunderland 2-2 Leeds: Meslier howler gifts Black Cats a point

  Illan Meslier's last-gasp error saw Sunderland snatch a point against Leeds at the Stadium of Light on Friday. 

  The home supporters were sent into raptures by one of their own in the ninth minute when Chris Rigg opened the scoring, tucking home from close range after Meslier had produced a miraculous save to deny Dennis Cirkin's previous effort.

  But Sunderland's joy was short-lived when Joel Piroe headed Wilfried Gnonto's inviting delivery beyond Anthony Patterson, though replays showed he may have wandered into an offside position. 

  Both sides continued to push for a half-time lead, with Brenden Aaronson seeing his shot cleared off the line and Patrick Roberts seeing his effort saved to end a pulsating half of action. 

  The hosts emerged from the tunnel in the ascendency but were met with a sucker punch in the 56th minute when Junior Firpo's driving run from deep ended with the left-back sweeping the ball into the far corner. 

  But with the clock ticking into the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, there was to be one final twist when Alan Browne's flicked pass into the box somehow evaded the grasp of Meslier to preserve Sunderland's unbeaten home record this season. 

  Data Debrief: Meslier blunder overshadows Leeds display

  Leeds were moments away from going level on points with Sunderland at the summit of the Championship, before a moment of madness sealed a gut-wrenching end to an enthralling encounter in the North East. 

  The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.16 from their 15 shots compared to Sunderland's 1.77, with Piroe contributing 0.72 xG to Leeds' tally. 

  But their display was overshadowed by Meslier's blunder, with the Frenchman enjoying a strong performance up until that point, making three saves against the Black Cats.