Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial have been ruled out of Manchester United's Premier League clash against Leicester City on Saturday, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saying he could be without seven senior players for the game.
Pogba (ankle) and Anthony Martial (muscle injury) are also expected to miss Thursday's Europa League encounter with Astana, while Diogo Dalot (hip), Luke Shaw (hamstring) and Eric Bailly (knee) are also due to miss the Leicester clash.
And Solskjaer, whose United team have made the club's worst start to a season in 27 years, said he could also be without Aaron Wan-Bissaka (back) and Jesse Lingard (illness) following their withdrawals from Gareth Southgate's England squad last week.
"The treatment room been busy and still is," Solskjaer said. "I don't really know who will be available.
"Maybe Aaron, maybe Jesse. But that's it, from the ones who have pulled out. I can't promise they'll be available either.
"Pogba won't be fit unless he has had a miraculous recovery overnight or before the game. He has not been ready to do 100% training.
"We hope more can be ready for West Ham next week and Paul and Anthony are in that category. I think they'll be ready for then, I can't say more really.
"But you have players who can come in with loads of experience -- Juan [Mata], Nemanja [Matic], Ash [Young]. They are the ones who have to step up now."
Leicester have started the season unbeaten and face United sitting third in the table.
And Solskjaer admits that Brendan Rodgers's team will a stern challenge to his injury-hit team.
"Leicester want to push into the top four," Solskjaer said. "They have got good players and a very good manager.
"Brendan's teams always play good football and we need to play good football to get three points."
Andrew Strauss, England's former director of cricket, is set for a new role with the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] following his appointment as the chair of the board's cricket committee.
His new role will involve "monitoring and developing the delivery" of men's and women's professional cricket, as well as disability cricket, national counties, clubs and universities cricket and the talent pathway, the ECB said in a release.
Strauss, who recently received a knighthood, had been England's director of cricket between 2015 and 2018, his appointment to that role coming soon after England's exit from the 2015 World Cup. Under his watch, England made significant strides in white-ball cricket, reaching the final of the 2016 World T20 and winning their first ODI World Cup earlier this year. The team's Test fortunes, however, did not see as sharp an upturn as the limited-overs results.
In October 2018, Strauss stepped down from the role in order to spend more time with his family as his wife, Ruth, underwent treatment for cancer. After her death in December, Strauss launched a foundation to help raise funds to research rare forms of lung cancer and to provide emotional and psychological support to patients and their families.
"It is a real pleasure to return to ECB in this new capacity. ECB and the whole cricket family have been a vital source of support over an extremely difficult year and it's really great to be back at Lord's, a place that has become a second home to me," Strauss said in a statement. "I'm extremely passionate about developing and growing cricket in England and Wales and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Cricket Committee to continually drive all aspects of the professional game, including women's, men's and disability cricket.
"I've seen first-hand how this summer of cricket has inspired more people to fall in love with the sport and I can't wait to help build on its success and support the roll-out of ECB's strategy to grow the game, Inspiring Generations."
Peta Bee on what’s in and what’s out when it comes to some current theories on nutrition for athletes
Three or four decades ago, an athlete’s nutritional preparation most likely amounted to little more than eating copious amount of carbs in the form of pasta, bread and potatoes, swigging flat cola and recovering with a glass of milk. Dozens of athletes I’ve interviewed from the 1970s and 1980s admit their diets lacked any scientific input with pre-competition meals consisting of anything from toast and jam to digestive biscuits.
Fast forward to today and sports nutrition is a science in itself, athletes armed as they are with cutting-edge pea protein products and nitrate shots, practicing bizarre sounding rituals such as carb-rinsing and tactical dehydration.
So what’s in and what’s out in terms of nutrition – and which products, if any, do you really need to invest in to fuel your training?
OUT
Carb loading
In the 1960s, researchers began to show how muscle glycogen levels could be influenced and, as a result, endurance could be enhanced work time improved.
Cue a craze in the early 1970s for ‘carbohydrate loading’ among marathon runners who trained to exhaustion to deplete glycogen stores, then ingested a low-carb diet for two to five days before a race.
This carb depletion phase was followed by a loading of pasta, bread, rice – any carbs they could, 70–85% carbohydrate, up to 600g or more of carbohydrate for one or two days before they raced. It soon became apparent that any gains were matched with downsides – athletes typically gained 2-3kg (mostly fluid as glycogen is stored in the body with water), felt poorly, and were anxious about their performance.
By the 1980s, a modified approach, dubbed “loaf-loading” by some, saw athletes ease down completely on training and just eat more carbs before a race.
IN
Carb manipulation
For a while it seemed that carbs were in danger of drifting completely out of fashion in favour of high fat and high protein diets – something that triggered warning lights among sports nutritionists. According to the IAAF consensus statement: “The usefulness of high fat, low carb diets is limited to selected individuals, events or scenarios in distance events.”
A 2017 study on elite race walkers conducted by Louise Burke, nutritionist for the Australian Institute of Sport, concluded that a low carb, high fat diet significantly “impairs performance in elite endurance athletes despite a significant improvement in peak aerobic capacity”.
Strategic carb manipulation is key for today’s athletes – that means consuming more carbs on training days that require them for fuel and fewer when the energy and training demands are lower.
OUT
Excessive use of sports drinks
Hydration for athletes in the 1970s and early 1980s typically meant water or homemade concoctions such as flat cola, a popular beverage among top marathon runners of the era. Ron Hill drank nothing when he won the 1970 Commonwealth Games marathon. Neither did Mike Gratton when he won the 1983 London Marathon.
But when isotonic sports drinks became popular in the late 1980s and 1990s, the claims that their unique concentration of easily digestible carbohydrate particles could enhance endurance performance resulted in an obsession with over-hydration. Athletes were encouraged to drink before thirsty to avoid dehydration and it was recommended that at least 500ml per hour of fluid was consumed during endurance training and events.
IN
Tactical dehydration and carb ‘rinsing’
In the most recent consensus statement published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, Dr Mitchell Rosner, a kidney specialist from the University of Virginia school of medicine and a group of 16 independent experts from four countries, stressed a reliance on listening to your body.
“We recommend using your thirst as a guide,” he says. “If you drink when thirsty, you will not become hyponatremic and you will not suffer from significant dehydration.”
Tactical dehydration is a growing trend. “Think about it,” says John Brewer, professor of applied sports science at Bucks New University. “Each litre of fluid lost equates to approximately 1kg of body weight. Carrying around less weight has a positive impact on endurance performance, so people train their bodies to cope with dehydration, rather than fighting to prevent it.”
And, while sports drinks remain an essential endurance aid, the practice of mouth rinsing – when you swill and gargle (but don’t swallow) a sports drink – is now common. According to the recent IAAF consensus statement, the ‘mouth sensing’ of carbs that occurs when you do this can hold benefits for the brain and energy systems.
OUT
Milk and meat protein
As early as the 1940s, scientists had shown how protein could enhance muscle mass if taken by power or strength athletes, but thought it was of little use to endurance athletes. During the 1950s and 1960s athletes increased their protein intakes through diet and “training tables” and focused their intakes on high quality sources such as milk and beef.
IN
Whey, soy, pea and hemp protein
The rise in protein products has been phenomenal. Intensive marketing campaigns by supplement companies have suggested that protein and amino acid products should be consumed within a two-hour window for optimal recovery.
However, in 2018, a panel of scientists assembled by the American College of Sports Medicine published a position statement on sports nutrition which suggested that while eating protein an hour or two after intense sessions may help to reboot glycogen stores more quickly, there’s no evidence that it has a direct impact on recovery.
And there are signs that things are turning full circle. A study cited by the IAAF and conducted at the University of Stirling and McMaster University in Canada, concluded that athletes’ diets do not “require an overemphasis on protein-containing foods and, beyond convenience, there is not a suggestion for a need to use protein or amino acid-based supplements.”
Instead, sports nutritionists are once again recommending athletes drink milk, which contains whey naturally, as studies have shown that it’s just as effective in promoting muscle synthesis after resistance training and suggesting that protein demands for even elite level training can be met with ordinary food like tuna, milk and eggs.
OUT
Mug of tea or coffee
Caffeine is one ergogenic nutritional aid that has never gone out of fashion. Although it was banned in high concentrations by WADA between 1984 and 2004, athletes in the 1960s and 1970s swore by the stimulatory effects of a pre-race cuppa for a competitive lift.
IN
Strategic caffeine dosing
Caffeine has proven advantages on focus and energy levels, but it’s how you take it that now matters. James Collins, an elite sports nutritionist who has worked with Olympic medallists and the 2018 World Cup-winning French football team, says that timing your java intake is crucial. “For optimal performance in an event or exercise session, caffeine should be taken around 45 to 60 minutes beforehand.”
Caffeine remains in your blood for three to five hours so “a 4pm pick-me-up coffee at work might be enough to deliver the requisite boost to performance in your evening training session at 6pm,” he adds.
Research presented at the 2018 International Sport and Exercise Nutrition Conference confirmed that berry anthocyanins — the potent antioxidant pigments that give the fruits their deep purplish colour — help to improve blood flow to muscles and prevent muscle stiffness after exercise.
They are also good for your ticker according to Glyn Howatson, a professor in sports science at Northumbria University, who in his latest study found that people with the highest anthocyanin intake were 9% less likely to suffer from coronary heart disease.
Professor Glyn Howatson’s work at Northumbria has also investigated the natural anti- and anti-oxidative power of U.S. Montmorency tart cherries, (see choosecherries.com) popular as juice and shots. His work is cited in the International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement, which highlights the use of tart cherry nutritional supplements as an evidenced based recovery strategy.
Not all scientists agree – a Cochrane review published in 2018 by experts at Sheffield Hallam University showed that antioxidant rich products such as cherry juice did not result in any meaningful reduction in muscle soreness after exercise. But there are other reasons to try them – they contain melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that is critical in the regulation of sleep in humans and have a natural inflammatory effect.
Nitrates, compounds found in the vegetable that are converted by the body to nitrite, not only relaxes and widens blood vessels but influences how efficiently our cells use oxygen. A growing body of evidence suggests nitrates play a role in improving blood flow, maintaining immune function and cardiovascular health and also potentially enhancing performance.
Consume nitrates and the mitochondria, the energy-producing powerhouses of our cells, are able to utilise oxygen more sparingly, thereby conserving energy.
Some studies have suggested that a good dietary intake of nitrates lowers the oxygen cost of exercise to such an extent that endurance rises by up to 15%. On a weight for weight basis, rocket supplies the most, almost four times the amount in fresh beetroot.
Swiss chard, oak leaf lettuce and rhubarb also contain high levels. Beetroot is popular because of its convenience – it can be juiced to provide the concentrated measured doses essential in laboratory settings – but there’s plenty of evidence that shots of it can be useful.
As athletes move away from excessive use of sugary sports drinks, manufacturers are responding with a range of more natural hydration products. SOS Hydration, developed by athletes to WHO recommendations, come as a powder that you mix into water.
It provides easily absorbed concentrations of electrolytes, which will help you to stay hydrated and replace the electrolytes lost
in your sweat, and glucose, which will top up your energy stores.
And Veloforte’s range of sports recovery drinks providing energy, sodium and potassium as well as micronutrients, contain purely plant-based ingredients.
It is the nutrient of the moment and getting enough of the sunshine vitamin – so-called because the most efficient source is the sun as it is synthesised when chemicals in the skin react to ultraviolet rays – can speed up your recovery from sessions and enhance your overall exercise performance.
Adults need at least 400 international units – or 10 micrograms – of the vitamin every day (children under the age of four need 7 to 8.5mcg).
Dr Graeme Close, a researcher in sports nutrition and exercise metabolism at Liverpool John Moores University, found that “even using conservative guidelines” up to 70% of the recreational and serious athletes he tested had worryingly low vitamin D levels.
In tests on a group of footballers who were given either a vitamin D supplement or a placebo Close found that, after eight weeks of training, the nutrient group showed significant improvements in 10m sprint times and vertical jumps – compared to no change among their placebo counterparts.
It is found in fortified cereals and dairy products, oily fish, cod liver oil, milk and eggs, but the best source is sunlight.
Iron
Try: Blueiron (£14.99; blueiron.co.uk) which contains vitamin C-rich blueberries that help iron absorption and Healthspan Elite Iron Complex (£10.99; healthspan.co.uk), a non-constipating formula which also contains immune-boosting copper.
Men of all ages and aged 50 to 64 years need 8.7mg iron a day; for women aged 19 to 50 years it is 14.8mg a day. To find out if you are low, you need a blood test from your GP which will determine if your haemoglobin levels are below the normal range of 130-170g per litre (g/l) for men and 120-150g/l for women.
Low levels can have a huge impact on performance and some marathon runners are prone to “foot-strike haemolysis” where red blood cells are damaged by the feet repeatedly hitting the ground over many miles of training which reduces haemoglobin levels.
Of the two types of dietary iron, the haem iron in meat, fish and poultry is better absorbed, but pulses, tofu, sardines, prunes, leafy green veg and salmon all contain iron.
Add beetroot leaves to salads as they contain more iron per serving than spinach. Gut-friendly probiotics can also help. In a 2015 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, a team of Swedish scientists reported that the “intake of probiotics can increase iron absorption by approximately 50%.
So called ‘soda-doping’ – drinking a bicarb solution before training as a means to enhancing performance – is popular among athletes. Why? Because of its alkalinity, bicarbonate of soda is thought to act as a buffer against performance-limiting by-products that lead to soreness and fatigue. And there’s reams of evidence it might work.
One study conducted at the University of Hull and published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning showed that swimmers who took a drink containing bicarb recorded a 4% improvement in performance compared to those who took a placebo of salted water.
“It’s a useful ergogenic aid for some people,” says Damien Gleadall-Siddall, a researcher in sport and exercise nutrition and biochemistry who carried out the trial. Paul Andsell, a researcher at the University of Northumbria’s school of sport, exercise and rehabilitation, says it helps to prevent a build-up of negative metabolites, such as hydrogen ions, which cause the pH of a muscle
to drop and become more acidic, during intense training.
“If these negative metabolites build up, it means the muscle cells can’t contract as forcefully,” he says. A dose of 0.2-0.4 grammes per kg of body weight should be consumed 60-90 minutes before a training. For an 80kg male, that means 16-32 grammes of sodium bicarbonate as a supplement or added to water.
New Zealand back-row forward Luke Jacobson has been ruled out of the World Cup because of concussion.
Jacobson played against Tonga last week and travelled with the squad for the tournament in Japan, but the All Blacks said the 22-year-old had suffered a "delayed onset of concussion".
New Zealand Coach Steve Hansen said the player showed symptoms after their first training session this week.
Jacobson, who has two caps, will be replaced by Shannon Frizell.
"After discussing this latest episode with Luke, as well as our medical team, the decision has been made to, sadly, withdraw him from the tournament," Hansen told the All Blacks website.
"We all felt that the best thing for him to do is to take a break from rugby until he is symptom-free and ready to return."
Like it or not, Video Assistant Referees are here to stay. The International Football Association Board, football's lawmaker, has set out the protocol and this is how it will be applied in the Premier League.
What will the VAR review?
- Goal/no goal
- Penalty/no penalty
- Direct red card (not second yellow card/caution)
- Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player)
What will it not review?
- Any yellow card (including second yellow card leading to red)
- Any free kick offence outside the box (other than red card offence)
Can a player or manager request a review?
No, all incidents are automatically checked by the VAR.
Questions & Answers: VAR
⚽ Only the referee on the field of play can take decisions; the VAR cannot! So can the referee stop the game, consult the VAR first, and only then decide?
Does the VAR make the final decision?
No, this will always be taken by the match referee. The VAR may advise the referee to change his decision, but the final call must always be the referee's.
Who is in the VAR room?
In the Premier League there will be a lead official, who will make judgements on all reviews. There will also be an assistant official, who continues to watch the live game while the lead handles a review. The third person is the Hawk-eye operative, who controls the technology and is independent of the decision-making process.
When does the VAR check an incident?
Every moment is watched for an infringement or missed incident and all goals are checked.
Some people expected that VAR would disrupt flow of the game too much. The facts are:
What does "clear and obvious" mean?
If the referee's description of an reviewed incident does not accurately match replays, it may be considered he has made a "clear and obvious" error. This is grounds for a decision to be reversed.
Which replays does the VAR watch in slow motion?
Slow-mo is only used to judge the point of contact on a foul or handball, or where the place an offence took place. Over-riding judgements will always be made from real-time replay.
Can a goal be disallowed for an offence in the build-up?
Offside and fouls by an attacking player will be checked and any offence will see the goal ruled out and a free kick awarded to the defending team. The VAR can also check for ball out of play.
Does the same apply after a penalty has been awarded?
Yes, any offence prior to the award of a spot kick is checked, including whether it took place inside or outside the penalty area.
Can a goal be disallowed if it comes following a wrongly-awarded corner?
Restart decisions, such as corner kicks and throw-ins, cannot be changed once play has restarted, so the goal would stand.
Can a match be called off if VAR stops working?
A match is not invalidated by malfunctioning VAR or if an incorrect decision is made.
Should fans in stadiums be better informed?
This is a work in progress. Messages are displayed on big screens or electronic advertising boards and, in some instances, replays are used to explain decisions. But these are controlled by the home club's staff, so could be subject to delay or incomplete information.
Does a VAR review take too much time out of the game?
The ball is only in play for an average of 60 minutes per game, so most reviews will be completed when it is naturally out of play.
Is VAR aiming for 100% accuracy?
In 2018-19, the Premier League calculated that 82% of key match-changing incidents were correct and it hopes, with the help of VAR, to raise that number to around 96%. The fact that some decisions are subjective, though, means that 100% accuracy is impossible.
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1:42
Premier League takeaways - Pochettino now a fan of VAR?
Craig Burley picks the winners and losers from the Premier League's second weekend and delves into Mauricio Pochettino's love-hate relationship with VAR.
HANDBALL
What is going on with handball?
The IFAB changed the law for this season to try and eliminate uncertainty when a goal is scored. This means that any contact with the hand/arm of an attacking player that leads to or creates a goal -- even if accidental -- is against the laws of the game.
Surely a referee missing a slight offence is not a "clear and obvious" error?
Like offside, it has been decided that handball leading to a goal is a binary decision. If it happens, the goal will be disallowed.
We have seen this twice in the Premier League already: Leander Dendoncker of Wolves was denied at Leicester after a Willy Boly handball and Man City had an injury-time winner against Tottenham chalked off after the ball brushed Aymeric Laporte's arm.
What is different if the ball comes off a defender's arm?
A defending player can still be adjudged to have accidentally handled the ball, so it is not automatically an offence, creating a two-tier handball law.
Will VAR be strict on defensive handballs?
The Premier League says nothing will change with its interpretation of handballs by defenders, so do not expect a glut of penalties as seen in FIFA and UEFA competitions.
For instance, the penalty given to Liverpool after the ball struck the arm of Tottenham's Moussa Sissoko in the Champions League final would not have been awarded in the Premier League.
So this is not VAR's fault?
VAR is purely enforcing this new law.
OFFSIDE
Is offside judged as a "clear and obvious" error?
Offside, like the ball crossing the line, is considered a binary and objective decision. For example, a player will be adjudged offside even if only his toes are in front of the last defender.
On the season's opening weekend, Manchester City had a goal disallowed at West Ham after Raheem Sterling's shoulder was shown to be just ahead of the last defender.
Does someone draw lines on a TV screen?
The Premier League (and FIFA) uses Hawk-eye 3D imaging technology, which judges offside by the part of a player's body furthest forward (excluding arms). Several cameras are used to judge the offside line.
How does the VAR decide which frame to use?
The first point of contact of the passing act is key, not the point of release. The Hawk-eye operative will select three frames for the VAR, who will choose the one that best represents that first point. From this frame, the 3D imaging is activated.
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1:43
Darke: Offside rule needs to be tweaked to 'clear daylight'
After VAR's debut in the Premier League, Ian Darke says the offside rule is what needs to be changed going forward.
Is VAR 100% accurate for offside?
Present technology means it cannot be 100%, but it does allow officials to make a more informed decision than by using the naked eye in real time.
Why not use a margin for error on tight calls?
MLS and the A-League have chosen not to use calibrated lines or Hawk-eye technology, instead preferring the naked eye to analyse the freeze frame while looking for anything they categorise as "clearly and obviously wrong."
The IFAB is set to discuss this and could change protocol even if technology is in place.
Why not look for "daylight" between defender and attacker?
This would give a huge advantage to the attacking team. Moreover, the "marginal point" would just go further back and players would still be offside by millimetres.
Is the assistant referee instructed to keep his flag down?
If the call is exceptionally tight, the assistant can raise the flag when the attacking move ends. This could, for instance, mean a corner is cancelled and offside given. Similarly, referees have the right to let play continue if it is felt there could be an attacking advantage.
This differs to UEFA and FIFA competitions, in which flags are kept down unless a player is clearly offside. This means play can run on unnecessarily.
Questions & Answers: VAR
Is there a limited period after an incident for the referee to undertake a VAR 'review'? What if play after an incident has stopped and been restarted?
What is the difference between a check and a review?
Check: The VAR watches the replay of an incident before allowing play to continue. Most checks are completed so quickly that players and fans are not aware they have happened.
Review: The referee might delay the restart of play -- signalled by placing his finger to his ear -- while the VAR investigates a possible offence. The referee might also watch the incident on a pitch-side monitor.
How does the referee signal a decision has been changed?
A rectangular TV signal is made with both hands before the official points to where the infringement took place.
What is the difference between use of VAR 'check' and 'review' signal? CHECK: referee stops play by pointing finger to ear and extending other hand/arm to communicate with the VAR REVIEW: referee makes the 'TV signal' and changes or confirms his decisionhttps://t.co/iPIDbKrz78pic.twitter.com/4lMxxX7iFT
Is there a time limit for a review?
No, accuracy is deemed more important.
When should the referee stop play for a full review?
If a clear incident has been spotted, such as an obvious red card or penalty, play will be stopped when the ball is in a neutral area. Otherwise, it will continue until the ball is dead.
So could Team A score a goal, only for it to be disallowed and Team B awarded a penalty?
Play would revert back to the point at which the offence occurred, so it is possible for there to be a two-goal swing.
In a February 2019 Serie A game, the VAR ruled out a goal that would have given SPAL a 2-1 lead in the 79th minute. Instead, Fiorentina got a penalty and went on to win 4-1.
How far back in play can a review go after a goal is scored?
This decision is based on the Attacking Phase of Play, which begins when the scoring team starts the attacking move toward goal and ends when it is completed. However, an attacking move can be considered to have reset to create a new phase if the defence has regrouped.
Last season, Liverpool scored against Southampton when Mohamed Salah was offside from the first pass forward. However, play carried on for some time after this point and the Saints defend would have reset. Therefore, this goal would not have been ruled out even though there was an earlier offence.
"VAR is like a parachute - it's better to have it when you need it"
Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of @FIFAcom Referees Committee, about benefits of using VAR: constant support for a referee, fewer protests from players and off-the-ball incidents.
What is the process for a subjective review?
- The VAR advises the referee that a check is taking place for a possible infringement
- The on-pitch official is asked to describe the incident why he came to his decision
- The VAR watches the incident in real-time speed to judge the referee's view
- If the VAR considers a true and accurate description of the incident has been given, the check ends and play continues
- If the VAR thinks a "clear and obvious" error has been made, he can advise that the decision is changed. However, he referee does not have to accept and can stay with his own decision
What is the "high bar" for decisions in the Premier League?
The Premier League does not want the pace of play to be affected, so will not micro-analyse subjective reviews; if a mistake is not immediately apparent, a decision is unlikely to be reversed.
In Manchester City vs. Tottenham, a penalty was not awarded for an alleged foul on City's Rodri by Erik Lamela of Spurs. On-pitch referee Michael Oliver told the VAR that Rodri had gone to ground, rather than forced down, and the review concluded no clear and obvious error had been made.
When will a referee use the pitch-side review monitor?
The Premier League believes referees work as a team and wants to limit occasions when the lead official watches an incident alone, so protocol states that the pitch-side review is not mandatory.
Monitors will only be used in exceptional cases, such as when an incident has not been seen, although the referee can insist on a pitch-side review for any incident, rather just take advice from the VAR.
Questions & Answers: VAR
Must the referee view the replay footage before making a final decision ('on-field review') or can he/she take a decision based on information from the video assistant referee?
Outside England, UEFA, FIFA and many domestic leagues use pitch-side review for the majority of subjective decisions. However, factual decisions on offside and ball out of play are made by the VAR. Feedback from officials will determine the future of the policy.
How long should a review take?
The Premier League says that the average time for a full VAR review with an overturned decision is approximately 84 seconds. With regard to checks, there is an average delay of 22 seconds across an entire game.
Is lost time added on?
The referee will add any time used for a review to the end of the half.
When is it too late to review an incident?
Once play has restarted. The referee should pause the game if a review is being conducted, except for a potential sending-off offence relating to violent conduct, spitting, biting or extremely offensive, insulting and/or abusive gestures.
What is a referee blows his whistle before the ball goes into net?
This is a basic rule of football -- you play to the whistle. Once the whistle has gone, play is dead. There is nothing VAR could do to award a goal.
Questions & Answers: SIMULATION
The referee awards a penalty kick. The VAR review shows that an attacking player was guilty of simulation (pretended to be fouled). What is the referee's decision❓
Can VAR ever lead to a yellow card?
VAR cannot review a yellow card, but it can award one. For instance, if a player has deceived the referee to win a penalty. Also, any player who excessively appeals for the use of VAR -- including substitutes -- can be cautioned.
Can a player get a yellow card following a red card review?
A review for a direct red card can lead to a player's punishment being downgraded to a booking. For example, if there is a review for a high tackle that the VAR believes could be a red card, the referee could decide it is only worth yellow.
Questions & Answers: VAR
A referee initiates a video review in relation to a red card offence. Is the referee allowed to change decision after using VAR and show a yellow card?
Can a red card be rescinded as well as shown?
If the VAR advises that a player should not have been sent off, the sanction can be downgraded to a yellow or rescinded entirely.
If a decision is overturned, are yellow and red cards quashed?
Only for denying a goalscoring opportunity or the stopping of a promising attack. Any other cards shown between the infringement and the stoppage of play would stand (dissent, for instance).
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1:20
Steve Nicol praises VAR decision in Man City vs. Tottenham
Steve Nicol dismisses any naysayers that VAR is not a positive after he feels it correctly ruled off Man City's goal late on versus Tottenham.
PENALTIES
When will VAR get involved in a penalty kick?
It will only check for an encroaching player who gets directly involved in the outcome -- after a save, or rebound off the post, for example -- and to check that a player has not stuttered his run directly before taking the kick.
Sergio Aguero missed a penalty for Man City against West Ham, but a retake was ordered because Declan Rice encroached and was first to the rebound. Had a non-encroaching player been first to the ball, the kick would not have been retaken.
Questions & Answers: VIDEO ASSISTANT REFEREES
May VAR be used to check/review offences committed during a penalty kick?
What about a goalkeeper staying on his line?
The revised law states that a goalkeeper must have one foot on the line when the penalty is struck and was stringently enforced at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
UEFA, the Premier League and the Bundesliga subsequently decided that the law will only be enforced if it is blatantly flouted, which means we are unlikely to see VAR ordering a retake in major competitions. However, on Aug. 21, the IFAB insisted that leagues with VAR must enforce the Laws of the Game, making specific reference to penalty kicks.
This rule will not be enforced if a player misses the target or hits the woodwork. It will only apply to a goalkeeper save.
A penalty is awarded but a review overturns the decision. How does play restart?
In the case of no foul, with an uncontested dropped ball to the goalkeeper. If there was an attacking infringement in the build-up, like offside or a foul, play restarts with a free kick to the defending team.
Club football is back! Nick Miller gets you ready for all the Premier League action with a new-look weekend preview.
THE WEEKEND'S BIG QUESTIONS
Will Newcastle pull another performance out of the bag against Liverpool?
Newcastle United have a case for being the strangest team in the Premier League. They're a pretty uninspiring bunch, for the most part, but have nonetheless pulled off two of the most impressive results of 2019, being the last team to beat Manchester City and, of course, claiming an unlikely victory against Tottenham a few weeks ago .
Both of those wins were thanks to solid, stubborn and maybe even boring defensive displays that nevertheless worked, frustrating their superior opponents and nicking the crucial goal. So will they be able to pull off something similar against Liverpool this weekend? You wouldn't think so facing Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah (assuming they pass to each other) but then again, you wouldn't have expected them to do it in the other two games either.
Liverpool could be faced with a tough old task on Saturday but should prevail.
Can Tottenham get themselves out of their funk?
Instinctively looking at the fixture list, you might assume Spurs vs. Crystal Palace at home is just the game to help them get over whatever funk they appear to be in. But then you remember that remarkably, only Liverpool and City have gathered more points than Roy Hodgson's side since the start of February. Not quite so straightforward, then.
"Now, for sure, it was so important to be refocused," Mauricio Pochettino said on Thursday, revealing that he had an hour-long meeting with his squad after they returned from the international break. "It was very good to talk today for nearly one hour and refocus again on our objective."
There was always a gnawing sensation that Pochettino was using the uncertainty of the transfer window as a smokescreen to deflect attention from deeper problems at Tottenham, but we'll soon find out whether that's true or not. If they lose to Palace, he can no longer use the excuse that his players are distracted by events elsewhere.
Will Quique Sanchez Flores make a difference vs. Arsenal?
The dismissal of Javi Gracia by Watford wasn't that surprising: what was more of a shock was the reappointment of Quique Sanchez Flores. Yet there is some logic to it: Flores' strength in his previous spell in charge was keeping their defence tight and the Hornets haven't kept a clean sheet since February.
It's unreasonable to expect too much this weekend: he's been back for only a week and many of his squad will have been on international duty. But if he wants an immediate test of his ability to fix things at the back, it will come in the shape of Arsenal with a potential front three of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe. Those three could well be rubbing their hands in glee.
THE GAME YOU'RE NOT PLANNING TO WATCH ... BUT SHOULD
If you've got room on your DVR or in your busy schedule for one match this weekend away from the title race, we've got you covered.
Sheffield United vs. Southampton
You could make a decent argument that this weekend's tussle at Bramall Lane sees the two most interesting managers in the Premier League face each other.
Chris Wilder and Ralph Hassenhuttl have had massive impacts on their respective clubs: Wilder has taken Sheffield United from perpetual League One frustration to the Premier League, while Southampton resemble a viable top-flight team after the husk of nothingness they'd become with Mark Hughes in charge. The two men have different styles, but this could make for a fascinating clash. We reckon the hosts will edge it.
A TEAM THAT NEEDS A BIT OF LUCK
Luck is everything in sports. Get acquainted with ESPN's Luck Index as we pick out the team most desperate for good fortune amid a difficult run. Here are the big takeaways from the 2019 edition as explained by Gab Marcotti.
Manchester United: Perhaps we've been fooled a little by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's assertion that Manchester United are doing all the right things and it will all click soon, but they have arguably been slightly unlucky not to have more than five points to show for their efforts. They are underperforming their xG rate, and only four teams have taken more shots so far.
Do they need luck or just to improve their finishing? Definitely the latter, but a dash of the former would help out, too.
ONE THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN THIS WEEKEND
Goals, goals, goals at Carrow Road: If you're hungry for goals this season, Norwich are the team to watch. Their four fixtures have seen 16 go in, second-most in the Premier League so far, and happily enough the only team above them are in town on Saturday as Manchester City come to town. Hopefully we haven't jinxed this into a 0-0, but expect to see them fly in at Carrow Road this weekend.
MAN TO WATCH
Christian Eriksen: Pochettino insisted this week that Eriksen has always been happy at Tottenham, despite spending most of the summer trying to get out of the club and in all likelihood spending the season running down his contract so he can leave for free next summer. However, with the injury to Giovani Lo Celso meaning the creator most likely to displace him is no longer a factor, the onus will be back on the Dane and the Dane alone to provide Tottenham's creative spark against Crystal Palace.
STATS OF THE WEEKEND
Information provided by ESPN Stats & Information Group
- Liverpool could set a club record for winning streaks if they beat Newcastle this weekend. Their 12-game run is tied with a similar effort from April to October in 1990. Meanwhile, their ongoing 42-game unbeaten run (32 wins, 10 draws) is second only to Chelsea's 86-game streak (2004-08) in the Premier League era.
- Manchester United are 1-4-4 in their past nine Premier League games. If they lose or draw vs. Leicester this weekend, it would give the storied club their fewest points in a 10-game league span (seven or eight) of the past 12 seasons. Yet a good sign might be their form vs. the Foxes: United have a 17-game home unbeaten run (13 wins, four draws) in all competitions dating back to Jan. 21, 1998.
- Don't bet against Palace this weekend. They're averaging 2.08 points per away game in the league dating back to Dec. 22, 2018. Only Man City (2.54) and Liverpool (2.18) have more over the same span. Equally, Harry Kane has averaged 0.25 goals per game against Palace over the past five seasons. It's his second-worst return against any club over that span: he averages 0.17 goals per game against Newcastle, who beat Spurs 1-0 back in August.
- Will CONCACAF's big rivals thrive at Molyneux on Saturday? Raul Jimenez (Wolves) and Christian Pulisic (U.S.) could become just the second Mexico-U.S. tandem to score in a single match in the Premier League since El Tri international Guillermo Franco and American great Clint Dempsey did it in Fulham's 3-2 win over West Ham on May 2, 2010.
- Everton love playing on Sundays: they're unbeaten in the league in 2019 with five wins and two draws when playing on the second day of the weekend.
OUR BOLD/RECKLESS PREDICTIONS
Liverpool 4-1 Newcastle: Another easy home win for Jurgen Klopp
Manchester United 2-2 Leicester: More trouble for the hosts
Brighton 2-1 Burnley: Big home win for relegation battlers
Sheffield United 1-0 Southampton: Wilder prevails in must-see skirmish
Tottenham 2-1 Crystal Palace: Pochettino and co back on track
Wolves 2-3 Chelsea: Defining victory for Frank Lampard?
Norwich 1-5 Manchester City: Look away, Canary fans
Bournemouth 1-2 Everton: Liverpool's second team keeps winning
Watford 0-2 Arsenal: The Gunners are different this year
Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham: Jack Grealish to make the difference?
The Luck Index will judge how fortune has affected the Premier League each month through this season.
The table shows how many points teams would have gained, or lost, if luck were not a factor -- and how that then plugs into the Premier League table. The bigger the positive number, the more unlucky you are. A negative figure, and you've been very lucky so far.
Manchester City were one of the unluckiest teams last season, and should have finished on more than 100 points. It's started off in the same vain for Pep Guardiola's side this term.
City are two points worse off than they should be, with the Luck Index calculating they would have won the home game against Tottenham had referee Michael Oliver given the champions a penalty after Rodri was bundled over in the box by Erik Lamela.
It means the first Luck Index table of 2019-20 has City on top on goal difference ahead of Liverpool, with both teams boasting a 100% record.
Any other unlucky teams? Man United, for one. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace, but Gary Cahill was lucky not to be sent off for a professional foul with the score at 1-0 to the south Londoners. The Luck Index concludes that United would have come back to gain a point against 10 men.
Aston Villa and Watford should all be a point better off.
On the flipside, Palace fans are laughing right now as they are the luckiest team, sitting four points better off than they should be. When you consider the luckiest team last season, Brighton, only gained eight additional points through good fortune across the whole campaign, Palace have been given a significant lift.
Palace are fourth, but once you strip out the huge slices of luck, they slump down to 15th. They should also have conceded a late equaliser at home to Aston Villa.
Two other clubs have seen their results changed by luck. Newcastle should be on one point, rather than three, with their victory at Tottenham turned into a draw after Harry Kane was denied a penalty.
Then we have Brighton, whose luck was well and truly in as they avoided conceding a penalty at Watford when 1-0 up. That means the win becomes a draw -- and leaves the Seagulls rock bottom.
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VAR is ruining my life
The Exploding Heads are back with this hilarious rendition of why VAR is not only ruining the game of football, but life outside of the pitch too.
Anti-VAR Index
VAR, VAR, VAR, VAR, VAR ... That's all we seem to talk about these days. Despite the endless column inches that have been taken up by the subject, so far only six goals have been overturned. So how much has everybody's favourite new toy (OK, that might not be completely serious) really influenced the league table? Very little.
The table is still in its formative stages, but yet again we see that Man City should sit top of the table with Gabriel Jesus' late disallowed goal against Tottenham worth an extra two points.
The most affected team so far is Brighton, with VAR costing them two points after they had Leandro Trossard's goal against West Ham disallowed for offside. That would have resulted in a victory, lifting them from 16th to seventh.
Wolves would also climb six places to 11th, with an extra two points from Leander Dendoncker's disallowed goal in a 0-0 draw at Leicester.
Leicester, West Ham and Tottenham are the only teams that have a net gain of points thanks to VAR so far this season.
Here, we run through all the overturned decisions. The bigger the positive number, the more points VAR has cost you. The biggest the negative number, then VAR has come to a team's aid.
What will the VAR review?
- Goal/no goal
- Penalty/no penalty
- Direct red card (not second yellow card/caution)
- Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player)
What will it not review?
- Any yellow card (including second yellow card leading to red)
- Any free kick offence outside the box (other than red card offence)
Leicester City +1 goal
Game: Wolves (H; Aug. 11) Incident: Wolves goal for Leander Dendoncker disallowed for handball in build-up by Willy Boly, 51st minute
Norwich City +1
Game: Chelsea (H; Aug. 24) Incident: Chelsea goal for Kurt Zouma disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper by Olivier Giroud, 77th minute
Tottenham Hotspur +1
Game: Man City (A; Aug. 17) Incident: City goal for Gabriel Jesus ruled out for handball in build-up by Aymeric Laporte, 90th minute
West Ham +1
Three decisions Game: Man City (H; Aug. 11) Incident: City goal for Gabriel Jesus ruled out for an offside against Raheem Sterling earlier in the move, 53rd minute Incident: Missed City penalty retaken due to encroachment by Declan Rice. Retake scored by Sergio Aguero, 86th minute
Game: Brighton (A; Aug. 17) Incident: Brighton goal for Leandro Trossard ruled out for offside by Dan Burn, who created the goal, 27th minute
Brighton & Hove Albion -1
Game: West Ham (H; Aug. 17) Incident: Brighton goal for Leandro Trossard ruled out for offside by Dan Burn, who created the goal, 27th minute
Chelsea -1
Game: Norwich (A; Aug. 24) Incident: Chelsea goal for Kurt Zouma disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper by Olivier Giroud, 77th minute
Manchester City -1
Three decisions Game: West Ham (A; Aug. 11) Incident: City goal for Gabriel Jesus ruled out for an offside against Raheem Sterling earlier in the move, 53rd minute Incident: Missed City penalty retaken due to encroachment by Declan Rice. Retake scored by Sergio Aguero, 86th minute
Game: Tottenham (A; Aug. 17) Incident: City goal for Gabriel Jesus ruled out for handball in build-up by Aymeric Laporte, 90th minute
Wolves -1
Game: Leicester (A; Aug. 11) Incident: Wolves goal for Leander Dendoncker disallowed for handball in build-up by Willy Boly, 51st minute
In the midst of a gruelling Ashes series and the wake of a World Cup semi-final exit, Australia have already begun preliminary planning for next year's T20 World Cup in Australia.
Aaron Finch, Australia's T20 and ODI captain who is back in Australia preparing for the start of Victoria's domestic season, revealed he has had recent discussions with coach Justin Langer and the team hierarchy, about which group of players will likely be needed in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup next October.
Australia have never won the men's T20 World Cup, or even hosted it. They finished runners-up to England in 2010. They are scheduled to played six T20 internationals at home in October and November against Sri Lanka and Pakistan followed by three more on a tour of South Africa in February and three in New Zealand in late March.
There will be no domestic T20 between now and the matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan although a number of players not involved in the Ashes have been playing in the T20 Blast in England, and Australia's revamped 50-over domestic competition starts on September 21. Finch said that the team hierarchy, now coordinated under Australia's new general manager of national teams Ben Oliver, has a rough idea of which players will be set for the T20 World Cup, based on informal chats he's had with the selectors recently. But form in the Marsh One-Day Cup, he added, could play a part.
"[I've had] some pretty brief chats over the last couple of weeks, pretty much just trying to nut out a squad that we think can take us through to the World T20 in October and November," Finch said.
"Whether there are 24 or 25 players that we think can play a role in different scenarios, it's just about making sure that we're on the same page in our thinking in terms of selection and stuff like that. Of course, there's always curve balls, guys who turn up and play well and start the season will really push.
"There's a lot of T20s coming up over the next 8-10 months, so the fact that guys have got more, and I suppose, longer exposure to limited-overs cricket, whether it be one-day or T20 I think it's a really good thing. No doubt there'll some guys who jump out of box and really put their hand up for those sides."
ESPNcricinfo understands some players have already been told they are in calculations for the T20 internationals in October and the T20 World Cup next year.
Australia began long-term plans for the 2020 T20 World Cup in early 2017 when Ricky Ponting took over as assistant coach to Darren Lehmann in a bid to build towards the tournament. Ponting helped the squad, captained by David Warner, to a T20 tri-series win over New Zealand and England in March 2018, just prior to the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Ponting then stepped back from the T20 role in the wake of the scandal citing that new coach Langer should take charge of the team in all three formats for continuity, as Australia tried to rebuild its culture within the men's team. Ponting returned to the coaching group for the 2019 World Cup.
Finch took over as captain and had a tough initiation losing four straight series before leading the side to a share of the series against India at home and an impressive 2-0 success in India in January. Intriguingly though, that side did not feature Australia's vice-captain Alex Carey, who subsequently had an outstanding 50-over World Cup, as Peter Handscomb kept wicket and Glenn Maxwell starred with the bat.
The revamped domestic 50-over competition is another key plank of Australia's planning. The tournament is no longer played in a single month-long block on suburban club grounds in September-October prior to the Sheffield Shield season starting. It will now run deep into November with some games played in between Shield fixtures.
"I think it is a really good thing," Finch said. "In the past having it as a full block, for a lot of players, with there not being any one-day cricket from the end of the one-day comp through to mid-January, it can be tough to really select guys and guys to put their name forward who did have a good one-day comp because it's so far apart. So this year I think the balance is as good as it's been for a long time now.
Cricket Australia also made a concerted effort to schedule domestic 50-over games back on international venues to give players more exposure to those venues. Finch said this was crucial to prepare players for international cricket.
"I think it's huge," he said. "To turn up for Australia and having guys not having played a game at international venues it's surprising at times but it's also part of the scheduling. So I think that is a great addition, that there will be more one-day games.
"Guys will have more access to playing one-day cricket on the main venues, which at the end of the day when you're pushing for selection for Australia and you finally get the call up to come to a ground where you've played before and you feel comfortable is really important. There's a lot of nerves that go around when you're lining up for Australia for the first time so as comfortable as you can make it around the environment is really important."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said his surgically repaired shoulder and recently injured foot were not to blame for his poor performance Thursday night, but he did take the blame for his team's 20-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Through my lens, it's hard to look defensive guys in the eyes after a game like this," said Newton, who completed 25 of 51 pass attempts for 333 yards and no touchdowns as the Panthers fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2013. "Offensively, we didn't hold up our end of the bargain.
"All fingers are just pointing back to me specifically on offense.''
Newton had 15 off-target throws -- 10 that were overthrown, five underthrown -- the most since Chicago's Mitchell Trubisky in Week 7 last season and the second most in a game for the 2015 NFL MVP's career, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
In two games, Newton has completed only 61% of his passes to receivers with 3-plus yards of separation, the second-worst percentage in the NFL and down from his 86% last season.
Newton in particular against the Bucs was bad with pressure. He was 0-for-10 when under duress, with three sacks. That was the most such passes he has had in his career without a completion.
"I have to be better," Newton said. "No matter what physical condition I'm in. No matter what foot, shoulder ... I didn't get the job done, and it's frustrating. I wish I could say something other than that, but that's the fact. I'm a brutally honest person with people, and I'm a brutally honest person with myself. And it's time for me to look myself in the mirror and do some real soul-searching, because I had opportunities tonight, and I didn't get it done."
Newton in January underwent shoulder surgery for the second time in three offseasons. He didn't throw most of this offseason, but he wasn't limited in training camp other than planned time off.
Still, Newton's arm strength came under scrutiny after the opener, a 30-27 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams, because Newton had only one pass attempt longer than 20 yards and didn't have a completion longer than 17.
He vowed earlier in the week that the deep ball remained a part of his arsenal, and he seemingly proved it early Thursday night, completing a 44-yard pass to Curtis Samuel that traveled 38 yards in the air.
That was Newton's longest completion by yards in the air since the last game of the 2017 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
But on throws of 15 yards down field this season, Newton is 4-for-15 (27%) with no touchdowns. He has five interceptions on those balls in his past eight starts, all of which were losses -- six straight losses before being shut down the final two games last season and two consecutive defeats to open this season.
"We're making something that seems to be simple harder than it is,'' Newton said. "I don't know what it is. I haven't tasted a win in so long, and I'm not going to make it personal about me.
"It's time for us to accept responsibility, which I am, and move forward.''
It's not just his throwing that has been an issue. Newton, who has more rushing yards than any quarterback in the league since he was drafted No. 1 in 2011, hasn't been a threat out of the read-option that he has run most of his career.
In two games, he has five carries for minus-2 yards. He had two carries for no yards against Tampa Bay.
On two fourth-and-1 plays on which Newton used to be close to automatic with the quarterback sneak, he threw an incompletion and was a decoy for running back Christian McCaffrey in the Wildcat formation with the game on the line at the Tampa Bay 2-yard line with 1:21 left.
With Newton not a threat to run, the Bucs stacked the front to stop McCaffrey, who was limited to 53 total yards after having 209 in the opener.
"I don't know," Newton said when asked why his number is not being called in those situations. "I can't answer that question."
Newton didn't blame offensive coordinator Norv Turner for the playcalling, insisting it's up to him to execute whatever is called.
"I say it all the time," Newton said. "Sometimes, you find yourself in a blender, and the only person that can get yourself out is yourself."
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