Sport

MARTIN SAMUEL: Ostensibly, Pep Guardiola has little influence on this England team or the tie against Spain. He does not coach either country and is responsible for no more than two England players.

JEFF POWELL: Despite enjoying a record breaking night as Conor McGregor KO'd Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, viewing figures show that mixed martial arts does not come close to boxing's major fights.

DOMINIC KING: Aidy Boothroyd's Young Lions fell to their first defeat of 2016 in a match with three free-kicks scored in the second-half.

SAMI MOKBEL: Gareth Southgate will show his faith in John Stones by giving him a fifth successive England start against Spain on Tuesday night. He believes Stones will only get better the more he plays.

Fiji's players are set to earn just £400 each for Saturday's sold-out Test against England after the RFU turned down their request for £150,000 of the bumper revenue.

Wayne Rooney has returned to Manchester United after receiving permission to leave the England squad after picking up a knee injury. The Three Lions are set to face Spain at Wembley.

MIKE DICKSON AT THE O2: Andy Murray came through a frustratingly slow start in his opening ATP World Tour Finals match against Marin Cilic to win in straight sets, sealing a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

Samir Nasri has revealed how one of Pep Guardiola's first acts as Manchester City manager was to ban every player from having sex after midnight — even if they were off the next day.

Coming off Friday's 2-1 home loss to Mexico in the opening match of the final qualifying round for the 2018 tournament, the Americans are convinced they will end their hoodoo on Tuesday night.

MATT BARLOW: Initial talks with Kane's representatives broke down almost as soon as they began with the two parties so far apart and Spurs reluctant to make him their best-paid player.

Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic will not be moving to Manchester United, at least not yet, after his agent Arturo Canales confirmed the Croatian was 'very happy' to continue at Camp Nou.

Some people get sick of moving, but not Sebastian Abreu. His latest deal to join lowly Brazilian side Bangu has seen him break a world record by securing what is the 28th transfer of his long career.

A stubborn defence and a steady strike rate has seen Haseeb Hameed draw comparisons with Geoffrey Boycott, but Michael Vaughan insists the youngster is very much his own player.

Nathan Hughes is ready for his test of identity on Saturday. He is poised to make his first start for his adopted country against the land of his birth. He feels English - and will prove it against Fiji.

RICHARD GIBSON: Haseeb Hameed lived up to the Baby Boycott nickname by batting beyond his years on his England debut - but to those who saw him develop, he will always be the Little Master.

Haseeb Hameed’s father Ismail hails from Umraj, a village in the state of Gujarat, six hours’ drive from Rajkot, scene of his England debut last week. His mother Najma is also Gujarati.

San Marino have issued a fierce rebuttal to Thomas Muller, after the Bayern Munich star publicly questioned the point of having to play the European minnows.

Sportsmail takes a look at the current talented crop of Spanish stars looking to end Gareth Southgate's unbeaten record in his fourth and final game before a decision is made on his future.

Respect is the order of the day at Spurs, courtesy of Mauricio Pochettino, and is one of many reasons why the club has gone from perennial underachievers to a seat at the top table.

Hamilton has crushed his Mercedes team-mate at the last three races - including a in the wet in Brazil - to move to within 12 points of his title rival ahead of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

Travelling at a speed close to 180mph, the teenager lost control as he clipped the curb on the entrance to the long home straight, spinning his car sideways and sliding dangerously down the track.

Lewis Hamilton has rued Red Bull's strategical mistake to pit Max Verstappen and gift-wrap second place, and potentially the Formula One championship, to Nico Rosberg in Brazil.

With Scotland’s World Cup dreams on the verge of falling apart once more, Mailonline examines some key areas of concern for the SFA and its under-pressure chief executive Stewart Regan.

Anxious eyes are being cast eastwards from Belfast. In the wake of Scotland’s defeat at Wembley, Michael O’Neill is prominent on pretty much every post-Gordon Strachan wish-list.

BRIAN MARJORIBANKS: He ticks all the boxes as a potential messiah and he already lives in Scotland. But Paul Dickov doesn't believe Michael O'Neill should be Scotland's next manager.

The 24-year-old was involved in a clash of heads with South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth in the 31st minute of the national team's victory over the Springboks on Saturday but appeared unscathed.

Conor McGregor swept past Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, and in doing so reached heights previously unseen in the world of mixed martial arts.

It was the biggest night of Conor McGregor's life... a chance to make history by becoming UFC's first two-weight world champion. Any nerves, then? It seems not if these pictures are anything to go by.

Charismatic Irishman Conor McGregor picked apart Eddie Alvarez at will at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to become the first dual-weight champion in UFC history.

Russell Slade is set to be sacked by Charlton after just six months in charge. He is expected to depart with the team 15th in League One, 16 games into the season, following a 3-0 defeat at Swindon.

Greek football bosses have apologized to Bosnia-Herzegovina after a fans' banner referring to the Srebrenica massacre was displayed at their World Cup qualifying match.

Eden Hazard will be fit for Chelsea's trip to Middlesbrough despite limping out of Belgium's 8-1 hammering of Estonia. Hazard was forced off in the second half of the World Cup qualifier.

Inter Milan have close ties with Jose Mourinho after the latter spent a successful period at San Siro from 2008-2010 and the Italian side will be hoping to land the four United players.

Linfield stopper Carroll has not been a part of Michael O'Neill's groups since Euro 2016, with McGovern, Alan Mannus and Trevor Carson the three keepers of choice - but he's back.

With Borussia Dortmund taking on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this weekend, Germany boss Joachim Low has vowed not to exhaust his players when they face Italy in a friendly.

Witnessing a whole generation of Scottish kids being written off as damaged goods, Alex Smith has been moved to consider ideas guaranteed to provoke fury.

Dafabet, whose logo is shown on the front of Sunderland’s home and away shirts, have installed the North East side as odds-on for Premier League relegation this season.

Daniel Sturridge insists he is not a selfish player and attempts to create space for his teammates by working in between the lines. He came in for criticism after last month's draw against Slovenia.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN VISAKHAPATNAM: England's attack leader made sporadic appearances as a substitute fielder during the drawn first Test in Rajkot.

The 18-year-old winger Keelan Giles could make his Wales debut against Japan on Saturday. Leigh Halpenny rates the youngster and called him a 'top talent'.

The Spaniard was the British team's dedicated leader on the roads of Italy back in May and has told Marca that his schedule is the set to be the same next season, suggesting at another Giro tilt.

From February Warren is scheduled to stage 30 promotions, 20 of which will be broadcast by BT Sport while all 30 will be shown on Warren's subscription network BoxNation.