Mohamed Salah has said he wants to "win it all" with Liverpool this season and has dismissed suggestions that Arne Slot's side are underdogs in the Premier League title race.

Salah is out of contract at Anfield next summer, with both parties having so far remained tight-lipped about negotiations over a new deal.

The Egypt international has been in impressive form this term, notching 10 goals and 10 assists in all competitions to help give Liverpool a five-point cushion at the top of the Premier League and propel them to the summit of the Champions League table.

The uncertainty around Salah's future has seen him draw interest from clubs in Europe and Saudi Arabia but the 32-year-old remains focused on winning silverware this season.

When asked about what he hopes to achieve this term on the club's YouTube show "Reds Roundtable," Salah said: "Win it all. In my opinion, I work so hard every day, I hate the idea that we are underdogs.

"No, we have an incredible group ... In each position, you're gonna find players that are really one of the top three in the world.

"So, why we don't win it? This city and this club has to always fight for everything."

Salah spoke of how the departure of striker Roberto Firmino to Al Ahli in 2023 was a reminder of the transitory nature of a football career.

"The thing I appreciate the most is the time when I go every morning and I see the guys and share unbelievable moments, especially us three plus Virgil [van Dijk] and Trent [Alexander-Arnold], the senior group," he said.

"When Bobby [Firmino] left, for example, you realise everybody will leave one day so I don't take that for granted. When I go [to the training ground], I always try to have a laugh with them and spend good time together. In my head, I always remember the good things we had together."

Salah is Liverpool's highest earner, having signed a bumper new deal in 2022. Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold are also out of contract at the end of the season, with the latter drawing strong interest from Real Madrid.

Real Madrid have stepped up their tracking of Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz, a source has told ESPN, with concerns over Madrid's creativity following the retirement of Toni Kroos.

ESPN reported last week that Madrid were considering strengthening their defence in the January window, and are monitoring Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

However, several voices within the club have also pointed to the need to sign a ball-playing midfielder, after Madrid decided not to look for a Kroos replacement in the summer.

A source told ESPN that making a signing like Wirtz in January would be difficult, given the kind of transfer fee Leverkusen would expect to receive.

However, Madrid want to keep a close eye on Wirtz with a view to signing him next summer, believing him to be an interesting prospect given his age, profile and potential.

At 21, Wirtz has already been a key part of a Bayer Leverkusen team -- coached by Xabi Alonso -- which won a Bundesliga and cup double last season, and was called up by the German national team to play in last summer's European Championship.

Sources close to Madrid's coaching staff have told ESPN that they are unhappy with the make-up of the midfield, and believe that a player with Wirtz's skillset would offer a different profile to those of Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde.

Nonetheless, they believe the squad -- including veteran Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos and Arda Güler -- can still contibute to improved performance in the coming months.

Madrid have been monitoring Wirtz since last season, and a source has told ESPN that their tracking has intensified in recent months.

The LaLiga giants have received good reports on the German international, and now want to see how he develops in an elite competition like the Champions League, given that last season he only featured in the Europa League.

Madrid value the balance Wirtz offers Leverkusen in midfield, as well as his ability to get into the opposition penalty box.

In 10 Bundesliga games this season he has scored four goals and provided two assists, while in the Champions League he has scored three goals in four games.

Rúben Amorim has arrived in England as the latest coach charged with bringing back Manchester United's glory days. He's the sixth permanent boss to take the top job at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013 following on from David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag. The other five have overseen mixed results, but no one has yet been able to take United back to the top in the Premier League or the Champions League.

Still only 39, Amorim has forged a reputation as one of the best young coaches in Europe after winning two league titles in charge of Sporting CP. He's admitted his task at United will be "difficult," but insists he's ready for the challenge of flipping the fortunes of one of the biggest clubs in the world.

With his reign set to start with his first game, against Ipswich Town on Nov. 24, here are some of the big issues facing United's new head coach.

1. Pick his wing-backs

Speaking after his final Sporting game on Sunday, Amorim gave his strongest hint yet that he intends to play his preferred 3-4-3 system from the off at United, saying: "You have to start with a structure that you know." There's no reason why he shouldn't because it's the way he's been successful at Sporting. The issue, however, is that he's inheriting a squad built for variations of 4-3-3 which means, for now, he'll have to use square pegs for round holes.

United have six senior centre-backs -- plenty of depth for the three positions in the centre of defence -- but finding wing-backs might be slightly more complicated, opening the door for some players to undergo a positional makeover. Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw are the most obvious candidates for the wide roles, but what about Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo?

Amorim plays with two inside forwards (a pair of creative No. 10s) rather than high-and-wide wingers, which could see Garnacho and Amad accommodated as hybrid full-backs. It would mean taking on more defensive responsibility than they're used to, something that could be learned under the right coach.

2. Find a place for Marcus Rashford

Amorim's preference for three centre-backs rather than two means that, because of simple maths as much as anything else, United will set up with one fewer attacking player in the team. There will be a central striker (likely Rasmus Højlund or Joshua Zirkzee) with two No.10s behind him. One of those positions will go to Bruno Fernandes, but the other is up for grabs. It's the most likely role for Marcus Rashford, but it will require compromise from a player who has made no secret of his preference to play on the left side of a front three.

Rashford can certainly do the job from an attacking point of view. Toward the end of his reign, Ten Hag used Rashford as an inside forward on the right with Garnacho pushed out on the left wing. It was from there that Rashford hit a glorious pass to Garnacho to score against Brentford. The question, though, is whether Rashford can be relied upon to do the defensive side of the job.

Amorim's two No.10s -- Francisco Trincão and Pedro Gonçalves were superb against Manchester City -- are expected to press and retreat behind the ball quickly when possession turns over. One of the criticisms of Rashford from United fans is that he doesn't always work hard enough out of possession, whether it's tracking back or putting pressure on the ball. That won't be tolerated by Amorim.

3. Develop Rasmus Højlund

Scoring goals was a big problem for Ten Hag throughout his time in charge and in the end, it contributed to his downfall. In his two full seasons, United scored 115 Premier League goals; to put that into context, Manchester City scored 190 over the same time period. Newcastle United scored 153. Sporting scored 96 goals on their way to the Portuguese title last season and Amorim needs someone to put the ball in the net for him at United.

Zirkzee has looked way off the pace since his summer move from Bologna, scoring once in 16 appearances. Højlund looks a better fit for Amorim's system, but he needs to develop into a prolific goal-scorer. He's got 18 goals in 55 games since arriving from Atalanta in 2023 and even though it's a lot to ask for a player who is still only 21, those numbers need to improve quickly.

Amorim got the best out of Viktor Gyökeres at Sporting -- he's got 66 goals in 68 games since arriving from Coventry in 2023 -- and turned the Sweden international into one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe. If he can do the same with Højlund, it will pave the way for success at United.

4. Make Old Trafford a fortress again

Amorim is picking up United from a low ebb. Sitting 13th in the table, expectations for the rest of this season are modest and he can use that to his advantage. No one is expecting the new boss to immediately start sweeping aside Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, but making it hard for opposing teams to get results at Old Trafford is something small, but it would be a step in the right direction.

Overall, Amorim needs to change the momentum. United lost six of their 19 league games at home last season, and have already suffered heavy home defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur during this campaign.

A new coach coming in and trying to implement a new style mid-season is always going to have teething problems. But if Amorim can start churning out results at Old Trafford, it will immediately put him on the right track. Home games against Bodo/Glimt, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Newcastle before the turn of the year are all winnable.

5. Play with a pattern

One of the key criticisms against Ten Hag during his two-and-a-half-year tenure was that fans struggled to see what his plan was for this team. He struggled to implement the quick, high-intensity football that made him so successful at Ajax, which left his United team without a clear identity. There's a general acceptance among United supporters that Amorim faces an uphill task in the early months of his reign, but if he can display his tactical principles -- aggressive pressing and a high defensive line -- on a regular basis, it will earn him a lot of credit even if results don't immediately follow.

It's likely that Amorim will have to adapt his style to the Premier League and to the players he has available, but a clear way of playing will help win over the fans quickly.

A severe weather alert in southern Spain has led to the opening tie of the Billie Jean King Cup between Spain and Poland being postponed.

The two nations were set to play in Malaga on Wednesday.

Two weeks after flash floods caused devastation in eastern Spain, several areas of the nation are on alert again.

A new weather front brought heavy rain in Malaga on Wednesday.

"This decision has been made based on guidance from the relevant authorities to ensure the health and safety of all participants and attendees," said the International Tennis Federation, which organises the event.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and cooperation."

Senior coach Richard Wigglesworth says the pressure for England to get results is all part of the privilege of representing the national side.

England have lost their past four games, including narrow defeats by New Zealand and Australia in their first two Autumn Nations Series matches.

They face reigning double world champions South Africa at Allianz Stadium on Saturday and Wigglesworth says it is the coaches job to "step back" from the outside noise.

"This job of being part of the England team is such a privilege, because so many people care, which makes your feeling on the matter really big," he told BBC Sport.

"Our job is to step back from that and see what was right, what was wrong, and what can we fix.

"We need to see the game for what it is, make the decisions for what they are, and get better every week.

"It is our job to make sure the players understand as much as they can that they cant get affected by that as well.

"We know the attention the team gets is result-dependent, and rightly so."

England last met South Africa in the Rugby World Cup semi-final, with the Springboks coming back from 15-6 down to edge a fierce contest 16-15.

Wigglesworth says the Boks are a different side compared to that day and have "evolved a little bit" in terms of their gameplan.

However, he says the visitors will still rely on their traditional areas of strength, not least a forward-heavy bench which will be unleashed in the second half.

"They have a squad and a plan they have done for a while, and when you are successful you tend to stick to things," he added.

"I have really enjoyed watching what they do, and how they do it, it is our job to meet that and rise to it."

But Wigglesworth says the England coaches are not in contact with former defence coach Felix Jones.

Jones, who was part of the South Africa set-up for the past two World Cups, quit the England set-up in August, but is serving his notice period by providing remote analysis, according to the RFU.

"I believe he is working with us behind the scenes, but we have not been in touch with him personally," Wigglesworth said.

Argentina, who reached the semi-finals at last year's World Cup, also secured some big results in this season's Rugby Championship, beating New Zealand in Wellington and world champions South Africa at home. They also scored 67 points in a home win over Australia.

Ireland have won 13 of the 19 Test encounters between the countries - including all 10 at home - but the Pumas have won three of their four World Cup encounters including the most recent 2015 quarter-final when they earned a 43-20 win over an injury-hit Irish side in Cardiff.

Robbie Henshaw, Conor Murray, Cian Healy and Iain Henderson, all of whom featured that day, are still in the Ireland squad while Matias Alemanno and Connacht's Santiago Cordero remain part of Argentina's plans although they have not been named in the squad for Friday's match.

Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi is back in Dublin where he spent six years as a player with Leinster between 2003 and 2009 in addition to a later four-season coaching stint with the Irish province.

Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Matias Moroni, Bautista Delguy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Bertranou; Thomas Gallo, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi; Guido Petti, Pedro Rubiolo; Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo

Replacements: Ignacio Ruiz, Ignacio Calles, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Franco Molina, Santiago Grondona, Gonzalo Garcia, Santiago Carreras, Justo Piccardo.

Crouch, bind, set.

No nation personifies that process more than the world champions.

Over the past five years, the golden generation of South Africa forwards have developed arguably the most formidable and feared scrum in rugby.

The development of the now famous 'Bomb Squad' before the 2019 World Cup played a huge role, but their scrum runs deeper and has been part of their culture for decades.

"What South Africa do and we have always believed is that the scrum is an area where you can enforce yourself," 2007 World Cup winner BJ Botha told BBC Sport.

"That is where we are legally allowed to be physical and manhandle players, which will hopefully overflow into other moments on the field. When we scrum, we scrum to dominate."

Paarl Boys' High School are one the powerhouses of schoolboy rugby in South Africa, drawing in a crowd of 25,000 last year for a match against rivals Paarl Gimnasium, and helped develop current Springboks props Thomas du Toit and Frans Malherbe.

Gurthro Steenkamp, another member of South Africa's 2007 World Cup-winning squad, also played his schoolboy rugby there and has seen a shift towards the set-piece at an early age.

"South Africa are putting a massive emphasis on the development of props and especially the scrum," La Rochelle scrum coach Steenkamp added.

"At my former school they start to give attention at the age of 14 and 15 to the finer techniques, so they are prepared for the ages of 15 and 16 when they have a proper contest in the scrum."

Scrumming is one of few things that is restricted until adult rugby, with teams only allowed to push a maximum of 1.5 metres in school.

Botha worked as a forwards coach at Paarl Boys' High School from 2021-2023 and now works with schools and teams on a consultancy basis to supply specialist coaching and analysis.

Rather than wait until they are old enough to go full bore at scrum time, props in the schoolboy system are trained beyond their years.

"It is a very fine balance that is regulated by the unions and referees who are doing it in a controlled manner, so we have these specialist positions coming through the system," Botha added.

"South Africa are just doing that better as they want specialists coming through."

The edge is not just at schoolboy level but also now the highest level.

Barcelona sporting director Deco has said the club want an explanation of the process which led to Robert Lewandowski's goal being disallowed in Sunday's defeat at Real Sociedad.

Lewandowski's 14th-minute strike at Anoeta was ruled out after the semi-automatic VAR offside technology (SAOT) ruled his toe was fractionally offside, with La Real going on to win 1-0.

Barça coach Hansi Flick said the decision was "wrong" and a "huge mistake," with some images appearing to show defender Nayef Aguerd's foot ahead of Lewandowski's at the moment Frenkie de Jong played the pass.

"I don't think VAR, and not just because of this game, has fixed what in theory it was going to fix," Deco said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday.

"Some things have improved, but in other areas we still have one person's interpretation. We still have controversial decisions, like the one at Anoeta on Sunday, which was probably incorrect.

"I don't understand if it's semi-automatic, not automatic, if someone has to press the button ... It's like having a car and not knowing if it's automatic, if it's hybrid ... someone will have to explain it to us.

"Why is it semi-automatic? I am lost. I still don't know if the boots were yellow [Lewandowski's] or black [Aguerd's] ... We don't want to go there because we don't want excuses, but there's a question: what happened?

"Where's the error occurred, if there's an error? If not, no problem, but we need an explanation because we're lost with what semi-automatic means, if there's an involvement from VAR, if the referee really can't do anything.

"If the semi-automatic system doesn't work, then we need to return to another system. This isn't a Barça issue, it's about improvements for all teams. Tomorrow it could be a bad decision for Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano, whoever."

SAOT was introduced to LaLiga at the start of the season. It is increasingly used in the biggest competitions in the game, but not universally. The Premier League, for example, has delayed its roll out while it waits for more testing to be completed.

It is effectively a support tool for the VAR and on-field officials to help make faster, more reproducible and more accurate offside decisions.

The technology uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted underneath the roof of the stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch. The 29 collected data points include all limbs and extremities that are relevant for making offside calls.

Barça believe the system failed when it suggested Lewandowski was offside, but the Refereeing Committee in Spain (CTA) stand by the decision and insist it was correct.

Barça's defeat to Real Sociedad also came without Lamine Yamal. It was the second league game the 17-year-old has not started this season and the second that Barça have lost.

It illustrates the growing importance of Yamal to Flick's side, with Deco saying comparisons with Lionel Messi are to be expected even if there are differences.

"The comparisons [with Messi] aren't a problem for Lamine, it's an honour," he added. "I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, it depends on Lamine, but he's growing, developing and I don't see any problem.

"Comparisons are going to happen. Football is emotion, passion, it's normal that people speak, compare, remember.

"Lamine is unique, he has his own story. It just so happens he's at the same club as Leo, with both breaking through young, although in different situations. Leo entered a more established side, whereas Lamine is being part of the revolution, the reconstruction of the club. But it's nice, if the comparison is there then it means he has something good about him."