An experimental Liverpool team suffered their first defeat of the season, after Chelsea dumped them out of the League Cup last night in Anfield. Daniel Sturridge had put Liverpool in front, but the visitors hit back with a contentious equaliser before a moment of magic from Eden Hazard sealed a 2-1 victory. Meanwhile in La Liga Barcelona and Real Madrid suffered their first defeats of the season - a subdued Barca crashed to a 2-1 loss at Leganes, but the Catalans remain top after Real were humbled 3-0 at Sevilla. It was the first time the two clubs lost on the same day since January 2015.
The Ryder Cup gets underway on Friday and Philip Reid has looked back at how the competition has become "a monster". From a little horse-shoe stand which first manifested at The K Club for the 2006 match to the temporary structure at Le Golf National which will house some 6,500 fans. While Dave Hannigan's America at Large column explains the mystery of former Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim; "He was a player of preternatural ability who looked for a fleeting moment like he might become one of the greats."
In her column this morning Sonia O'Sullivan asks why is Ireland's best marathon runner representing Australia? Sinead Diver is on course to be the first Irish woman in over 13 years to break two hours and 30 minutes for the marathon when she takes on the Melbourne event in two weeks' time, but cannot represent Ireland due to a technical change of qualifying standards in 2015. "There's no doubt Sinead is an Irish athlete, and just because she lives on the other side of the world doesn't mean she should be any less celebrated as our current best marathon runner when she takes to the streets of Melbourne and chases the two -hour 30 minute mark."
John O'Sullivan has this morning been comparing the playing minutes of the Connacht and Leinster players so far this season. Nine of Connacht's players have accumulated 200 or more minutes in one position while only one Leinster player has (number eight Jack Conan): "When it comes to the player-management programme – Leinster have the biggest representation in the Ireland squad, Connacht the smallest – that is already evident after just four matches in the Pro14."
Meanwhile Limerick's man of the match in last month's hurling All-Ireland final, Kyle Hayes, has laughed off rumours that the players were individually rewarded by JP McManus; "I wish that was the case, apparently we were getting 20 grand into our bank accounts. Yeah, there were rumours going around and it never happened and it never will but it's funny to see the different stories coming back."
