Man United join intense seven-club PL battle for 19-year-old defensiv…

Manchester United are keeping tabs on the talented young Blackburn Rovers defender, Tom Atcheson.

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The 19-year-old is highly rated across England, and multiple clubs are monitoring his progress. However, Blackburn Rovers have no intention of losing one of their brightest young players, and they have moved quickly to tie him down to a new long-term deal. It will be interesting to see if Manchester United decide to test their resolve with an attractive offer in the summer.

Tom Atcheson has made rapid progress

The 19-year-old defender is currently a part of the Blackburn Rovers senior team, and he has impressed with his performances at the highest level. He also recently made his full international debut for Northern Ireland. It is clear that Atcheson is a player with tremendous potential, and he has a bright future in the game. It is no surprise that big clubs are monitoring his progress.

The opportunity to move to Manchester United will be quite exciting. The young defender could be tempted if there is a concrete proposal on the table. Manchester United need more quality and depth in the defensive unit, and signing a talented young defender like Atcheson could be a wise decision. He would be a superb long-term investment for them.

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Atcheson is a player in demand

As per TEAMtalk, Tottenham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Everton, Brentford and Brighton are all interested in the 19-year-old defender, and they have scouted him in recent weeks. There could be an intense war for his signature in the summer. It remains to be seen whether Manchester United can move quickly and steal a march on their rivals.

Clubs from Germany and Italy are also monitoring the 19-year-old defender. It could be difficult for Blackburn Rovers to hold onto him for the long-term.

ONTARIO, CA. -- The Ontario Reign win back-to-back games with a 6-3 hard fought victory over the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday night at Toyota Arena.

After shutting out Coachella Valley 7-0 on Wednesday, the Reign have scored 13 goals in their last two games.

After a long stretch of being away for the past 17 days, going 3-3 in that time, competing on home ice for the first time in over two weeks meant that Ontario would hopefully put on a good show, which they did.

When asked about the Reign’s offense the past two games, Kenny Connors said:

“I think we’re defending better, (it) starts in our own zone. We’re getting the puck out cleaner and it’s leading to better odd-man rushes or cleaner rushes and we’re really trying to get to the middle more in the (offensive) zone.”

The Reign fought - literally and figuratively - for this win, as it was a vicious battle with Ontario only having five games remaining in the regular season.

Since clinching a spot in the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs on March 27 after beating the Tucson Roadrunners 3-2, the Reign have gone 3-1.

The Reign are currently in first place in the AHL Pacific Division at 43-19-3-2 and 91 points. The Colorado Eagles stand only one point back in second place with a 40-17-5-5 record.

Roby Järventie opened the scoring early for Bakersfield (34-22-9-1) with a power-play goal 1:47 into the first period.

The players had been chirpy and played rough from start to finish, but a fight between Jacob Doty and Sam Poulin halfway through the opening period would soon increase the momentum of the game.

The gloves came off and Doty and Poulin threw punches back and forth as blood splattered onto the ice.

Poulin’s nose would soon be taped up and the game would end with 16 total penalties.

“(Doty’s been) doing that for us all year long,” Connors said. “And we didn’t really come out the way we wanted to or the way we should and (Doty) stepped up. That was an unbelievable fight, so there’s no way that we weren’t gonna be ready to go after that.”

Both Doty and Poulin received five-minute fighting penalties and just 21 seconds later, Glenn Gawdin tied the game with help from Joe Hicketts and Cole Guttman.

Poulin would score within the last minute of the first to hand Bakersfield the 2-1 lead going into the second period.

Andre Lee scored a power-play goal for his 26th goal of the season, with assists from Francesco Pinelli and Connors.

James Hamblin would score the Condors’ last goal of the night with 32 minutes remaining in the game.

Jack Highes’ shorthanded goal, two goals from Nikita Alexandrov and Aatu Jämsen’s game-ending score would give the Reign a 6-3 victory.

Ontario coach Andrew Lord said this game had a playoff feel with the animosity and rivalry between the teams.

Erik Portillo finished with 20 saves while Ontario ended the night with 30 shots on goal, going 1-for-7 on the power play.

“I think the goaltending (has) been so solid and consistent for most of the year,” Lord said. “It’s just the norm now, where a big save - maybe you don’t even realize it’s that big of a save. But (Portillo) was excellent, a couple of the breakaways in particular. Our goaltending - we couldn’t be more fortunate.”

Ontario will host Colorado at Toyota Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

A man in Albuquerque, N.M., appears to have experienced a road-rage incident with former UFC champion Jon Jones.

According to Bryan Beltran on Instagram, he was "almost hit 3 times" by a black truck being driven by Jones and said he "flipped him off" because of that. When Beltran pulled into a nearby parking lot, he said Jones followed him and confronted him.

Beltran's first-person video shows what happened next, with Jones getting out of his truck and walking toward Beltran, who expressed his dismay. In the video, Jones, with his left hand in his pocket, calmly walks up to Beltran and listens to him before simply telling him, "You gotta calm down, bro. You gotta relax yourself, bro." Jones then flips him off and walks away.

This guy got into a road-rage incident with Jon Jones 😳

🗣️ Jon Jones: “You gotta calm down bro. You gotta relax yourself bro.” 😬

(via IG / bryanbeltran06) pic.twitter.com/g8qOyUmwkK

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 5, 2026

Beltran detailed his account of the incident in the caption of his video, saying he didn't know at the time that it was Jones. He said he hopes to make peace with Jones.

Driving up Central close to Eubank when i was almost hit 3 times by the truck even after i revved my car at him the first time it almost happened he still almost hit me twice after that so I flipped him off then he proceeded to stop in the middle of the road back up and come into the same parking lot.

The night before another guy in a truck pulled out infront me so this was pretty annoying considering it was the second time a guy in a truck cant drive…i guess those are ABQ drivers for you stay safe.

Btw i know its John Jones i didn’t know who it was when i flipped him off but definitely realized who it was quick!🤣 no hate or hard feelings towards my guy John but i think he might need to take some driving classes cause he almost him multiple times😅. Hopefully soon i make another video where we can maybe shake hands and “squash the beef”😂😂 lol.

Jones, 38, has a years-long history of run-ins with the law and appears to have narrowly avoided another one.

Jones remains retired from the UFC, although he was hoping to be included on the UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House on June 14. Jones said he was in negotiations with the UFC, but UFC boss Dana White said Jones was never in consideration for the event, citing trust issues.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Jones road rage incident: UFC star shockingly caught on video

The end of Cloud9 Kia's Split 1 didn't go how they drew it up. The team finished 1-3 in its final four matches, and with each loss fixes were put in – but they were temporary.

The time away to reset and regroup allowed Cloud9 to start working on what really happened at the end of Split 1.

Cloud9 kicked off LCS Split 2 with a 2-1 victory against Split 1 champion LYON at Riot Games Arena on Saturday.

"No more band aids. Just real fixes," Cloud9 support Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme said.

In the closing moments of the team's Game 3 win, most of Cloud9's roster was treading backward to prepare for the next fight. But top laner Park "Thanatos" Seung-gyu had other ideas.

"He was like, 'I'm TPing base guys, fight, I'm TPing base,'" Laflamme said. "So yeah, I guess it took us by surprise a little bit that he didn't come to fight for us, but it was the right call."

As Park committed to the base, Laflamme's Bard pushed forward but was eliminated before reaching it.

It didn't matter, though, as Park and the team's minions ended the game moments later, securing the victory.

Park's split-second decision to attack the Nexus – the objective that teams are trying to destroy to secure victory in a League of Legends match – is the fine line that Cloud9 wants to walk.

"It's the kind of thing where, to be the best team possible, we need every player to see those things," Laflamme said. "He didn't hesitate or ask us, 'What if I TP base?' He's just, 'OK, I see this right now, I'm going to do it.'"

Much will be focused on Park's game-ending decision, but for Cloud9, the win wasn't necessarily the cleanest or even the best-played game.

Bigger Than One Play

Instead, Cloud9 was working toward solving a problem that plagued the team throughout the final four matches of Split 1.

"Our team played a lot of just making it as simple as possible, like objective simulator," Cloud9 coach Nicolas "Inero" Smith said. "Go from one to the other and not much planning in between really of what we can do to push advantages. So we felt like we were a little too AFK in some ways."

That's what made Park's choice so vital. It was a prime example of pushing an advantage to end a game – a decision that weighed risk and reward in real time.

Proof on the Board

This also wasn't the only moment that differed from how Cloud9 played in Split 1. In the clinching Game 3, the team did not force fights at 19:23 and 24:38 when LYON secured back-to-back Chemtech Drakes – an objective that provides a different type of power-up.

"We let the game come to us and were doing what's natural and weren't stressing out too much when we gave them three drakes," Laflamme said. "We just did what we felt was right."

The momentum shifted at 25:56 when LYON jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma secured Baron Nashor – another neutral objective – but Cloud9 responded with three kills to neutralize the advantage.

"It was a good sign that we were able to pivot a little bit from that because I think other teams are probably quite comfortable playing against us," Laflamme said. "I feel like it becomes easy for them to kind of read what we're going to do, and they're able to expect it and counteract it easier. … So we need to be a lot more versatile than we have been this year."

Nobody is going to crown Cloud9 as LCS champions after one game, and the same could be said for anyone counting out LYON. The longer split gives both teams time to assess and adjust.

But it's a good start for Cloud9, who can use the runway to address issues with real fixes instead of temporary ones.

"We still have a lot of work to do, and I think we're all aware of that," Laflamme said. "Especially with practice, we have to make it better because all these teams are going to improve as well."

Paul Delos Santos covers esports for The Sporting Tribune and publishes Inside Esports, a newsletter covering competitive gaming at insideesports.media.

Liverpool’s Collapse at the Etihad Highlights Deeper Fragility

Fundamentals Abandoned Under Pressure

Credit to The Times and Paul Joyce for a forensic breakdown of Liverpool’s 4-0 defeat to Manchester City, a performance he describes as a “complete and utter abdication of responsibility.”

That verdict feels difficult to dispute.

Joyce pinpoints a moment before half-time that encapsulates the chaos. Liverpool had “a numerical advantage: six versus four,” yet still allowed the situation to unravel. As he notes, “As Arne Slot looked on, he would have thought to just see the moment out.” Instead, City cut through them with alarming ease.

This was not tactical nuance, it was the absence of basic game management.

Witless Surrender and Repeated Failings

The second half brought no correction. Another throw-in, another lapse, another goal. Joyce captures the broader issue with brutal clarity: “both owed everything to a complete and utter abdication of responsibility.”

From there, the collapse accelerated. “Once Haaland had completed his hat-trick, Liverpool’s defenders again at sixes and sevens,” he writes, before delivering the most damning line: “For a team whose season is supposedly on the line, this was a witless surrender.”

It is language that reflects not just disappointment, but disbelief.

Mentality Questioned by Players and Evidence

The players themselves offered no resistance to that narrative. Dominik Szoboszlai admitted, “The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough, the mentality wasn’t there enough.”

Photo: IMAGO

Joyce connects this to a longer trend, referencing Curtis Jones’s earlier admission that “we have to run more, have to compete.” The troubling aspect is the timeline. As Joyce observes, “It is April now and the same brittleness and weaknesses are glaringly obvious.”

That word, brittleness, feels central. This is not a side lacking talent, but one lacking resilience.

Warning Signs Before Paris Test

For Arne Slot, the pressure is mounting. Joyce warns of “a soft underbelly to a squad that think they are better than they are,” a line that speaks to both mentality and application.

Even the analytical defence of the performance feels thin. Slot pointed to expected goals, yet Joyce subtly dismantles that comfort by highlighting the broader picture, moments where Liverpool were “on the retreat once again after giving away possession from their own throw-in.”

Now comes Paris Saint-Germain. Joyce poses the looming question with quiet menace: “If the display… is similarly impoverished, who knows what level of humiliation and embarrassment the holders could inflict?”

It is not framed as a possibility, but a continuation.

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

From a fan perspective, Joyce’s language lands because it mirrors what supporters are already feeling.

“Witless surrender” might sound harsh, but it reflects the emotional truth of watching this team right now. There is a growing sense that Liverpool are not losing games, they are drifting out of them. The fight Szoboszlai referenced is not just missing in moments, it feels absent as a collective identity.

The phrase “soft underbelly” is particularly striking. Supporters have seen teams come to Anfield or face Liverpool without fear. That was unthinkable a few years ago. Now it feels expected.

There is also concern around accountability. When the same issues appear in November and again in April, it raises questions about coaching, preparation, and leadership on the pitch. These are not new problems, they are unresolved ones.

PSG now becomes more than a fixture. It is a litmus test. If Liverpool respond with intensity, there is still belief that something can be salvaged. If not, the narrative Joyce outlines will only deepen.

Fans are not asking for perfection. They are asking for effort, structure, and pride. At present, those basics feel negotiable, and that is why this defeat cuts deeper than the scoreline itself.