Sport

The BDO World Championships, aired on the BBC for over 30 years, was led by the greats from Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor to current talents such as Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. However, the original ‘world championships’ has had quite the fall from grace with sparse crowds and lack of sponsors hanging over the competition this year.

When Pep Guardiola swapped Munich for Manchester in the summer of 2016, it practically confirmed that Manchester City had a highly successful period on the horizon given that the Catalan boss guarantees silverware everywhere he goes.

From 500/1 shot to 25/1, Stockport darts sensation Nathan Aspinall gets his World Championship campaign underway this evening as he takes on Danny Baggish under the lights of Alexandra Palace.

As this year (and decade come to think of it) comes to a close, we are at that stage where one the year’s biggest events occurs that signifies everything good that has happened in British sport over the past twelve months.

The 179th Manchester derby this weekend could see the tale of two travesties. If the Sky Blues are victorious then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time at the wheel could end with the air bags going off.

The final day of this series was one where England will rue missed opportunities – none more glaring than the simple catch dropped by Joe Denly as New Zealand ended the test 241-2.

After Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis forced his players to go into a 7-day-a-week training camp and star player Lorenzo Insigne was fined 350,000 for allegedly organising a mutiny against the chairman’s reaction to a string of very poor results, we look at how influential the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) has been in England over the years on its 112th birthday.

England captain Joe Root led from the front to score a magnificent double century to give his team a chance to win the match and level the series tomorrow on day five in Hamilton.

Today’s play is one of the few in this series where England can say they held the advantage, though much more will be required to win this test match and square the series in Hamilton as the tourists reached 269-5, still 106 runs behind New Zealand.

New Zealand again found ways to graft their way to a competitive score by batting for a long period of time and were able to put England’s top order under pressure in response.

Speaking after their Europa League defeat to Astana, the United boss hinted at his possible return within the next week, defending any claims that the Frenchman has taken liberty of the situation.