Andy Farrell will name his Ireland team at around midday today for their final run-out of 2020 against Scotland on Saturday. After an Autumn Nations Cup which has provided Ireland with more questions than answers, the head coach is expected to name his strongest outfit, writes Gerry Thornley. Saturday's match will close out what has been a difficult year for Irish rugby both on and off the pitch but a win would at least put some sort of gloss on it. Yesterday Cian Healy said that he believes some patience is needed and that player-empowered culture will deliver. One talking point from this Autumn tournament has been the amount of time taken out of the game with scrums – Ireland's win over Georgia on Saturday a particularly standout example. In his rugby stats column this morning John O'Sullivan has a closer look and says that all scrum and no play is making rugby an unbalanced game. For all you need to know ahead of Saturday's match against Scotland you can read Patrick Madden's guide.
On to soccer and Manchester United have work to do if they are to progress to the last-16 after a 3-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford last night. The result means United need a point from their last game against RB Leipzig to go through after what was an entertaining encounter on Wednesday night. Afterwards, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he did consider taking Fred off before the midfielder was shown a red card in the second half after seemingly getting away very lightly for what appeared to be a headbutt before half-time. Elsewhere, Chelsea cruised past Sevilla thanks to a four-goal haul from Olivier Giroud which moves them up to first place in that group. On Tuesday Caoimhin Kelleher made his European debut for Liverpool and this morning Denis Hurley writes about a chance encounter which took the then teenager from Ringmahon Rangers to the Liverpool Academy. Kelleher was 15 when he made the move across but that well-trodden path for promising Irish teenager has been cast into some doubt by a lack of clarity on whether English clubs will still be able to sign Irish players under the age of 18 after Brexit, writes Emmet Malone.
In GAA, Eamon Donoghue writes in his stats column this morning that Mayo's best tacklers being positioned in the full-forward line tells you all you need to know about the 2020 edition of this team. "Mayo's game plan is now based upon a high press and counter pressing. While at times - like nearly every team in the modern game - they can end up with 13, 14 or even 15 men behind the ball it's how they achieve this set-up which sets them apart," he writes.
Meanwhile, the latest episode in the Second Captains and BBC Sounds podcast series Where is George Gibney? is released today with Johnny Watterson this morning writing that up to 18 alleged victims of the former Irish swimming coach have come forward since the podcast first aired. The series, made by host Mark Horgan and producer Ciaran Cassidy, will in episode nine, outline detailed claims from 18 new complainants who alleged that Gibney had sexually assaulted them as children over a period of time.
Finally, in our Women in Sport pages this morning, Dave Hannigan writes that the complaints made against David Villa and Neil McGuire in the US need attention while Joanne O'Riordan looks at how family plays a crucial role in the making of elite athletes.
