Leeds boss Sam Allardyce believes his side can take a giant leap towards Premier League safety with victory against Newcastle in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. Allardyce, appointed by Leeds eight days ago in a last-ditch bid to retain top-flight status, takes charge of his first match at Elland Road for the club, who sit second bottom and two points from safety with three games to go. The former England manager said: “The biggest thing that can happen is not lose. If we got three points I’d be 40 or 50 per cent thinking we could stay safe. “We still have to win some games. We won’t stay up on 30 points. If we get nine points we’ll stay up, if we get six we might stay up. I want to be still in it when we play Tottenham (on the final day).” Allardyce was sacked by Newcastle in early 2008 after just eight months in charge, but insisted that would not give him extra motivation to deal their top-four hopes a blow. “It’s a long time ago,” the 68-year-old said. “Was I disappointed? Yes. What did it do to my career? Massive knock-back. “But I always recover and move on. It was an opportunity, but in the end I couldn’t avoid a change of ownership that was unexpected.” Mike Ashley had taken control of Newcastle from Freddy Shepherd six months earlier and Allardyce added: “It was a blow to my career at that time because I wanted to take Newcastle as far as I could, like they’re doing now.” Newcastle lost 2-0 to Arsenal last week, but have won eight of their last 10 league games to stay on course for Champions League football next season. Allardyce said the Magpies’ transformation this term under manager Eddie Howe was not just down to the mega-riches provided by current Saudi owners, the Public Investment Fund. “If it doesn’t all come together, your relationship with the owners and the recruitment and the whole building of a football club is imperative to your success,” Allardyce said. “If you get the right players, as they have done…I think what they have done is they’ve not got sucked into the usual hell-for-leather spend, spend, spend like Chelsea. “The way they have spent, slowly but surely, position by position, not over-extending the price that they pay and refusing to pay the inflated price that everybody thinks they’re going to get because they’ve got a mega-rich owner, they’ve resisted all that and now they’ve had the benefit.” Allardyce, who has three games left to keep Leeds in the top flight for a fourth season, was pleased with their “fight and determination” in his first match in charge, which ended in a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City. After Newcastle’s visit they play West Ham away and then host Tottenham in their last match. Allardyce added: “It won’t be over if we lose (on Saturday), but to give ourselves the best chance we have to try and at least get a point on the board.” Allardyce, still without injured skipper Liam Cooper, does not expect USA captain Tyler Adams to feature again this season after he had hamstring surgery in March. Read More Sam Allardyce as good as Pep Guardiola? Man City show they are separated by a gulf Man City vs Leeds LIVE: Premier League latest updates Sam Allardyce labelled ‘deluded’ after Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp comparison Sam Allardyce returns and Liverpool on a charge – Premier League talking points Sam Allardyce asks Leeds for season’s best at the back to keep out Man City Former boss Javi Gracia has no bitterness towards Leeds despite sacking

Tottenham have entered talks with Wolfsburg over the signing of centre-back Micky van de Ven. Spurs are in the market for new central defenders and Netherlands Under-21 international Van de Ven has been high on their list of potential targets. Talks have now started between Tottenham and Wolfsburg over a deal that could eventually be worth in the region of £30million but no agreement is currently in place, the PA news agency understands. Despite being without a director of football, chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini and chairman Daniel Levy have taken a lead role on transfers, which has seen Spurs be extremely active since Ange Postecoglou was appointed on June 6. Dejan Kulusevski’s loan was made into a permanent deal while moves for goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison have been completed. Attacker Manor Solomon is set to be Tottenham’s fourth addition of the summer with the ex-Fulham loanee undergoing a medical ahead of a free transfer, having exercised his right to cancel his terms with Shakhtar Donetsk, as per FIFA rules, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. If a deal can be agreed with Wolfsburg, Van de Ven would become the club’s fifth signing of the Postecoglou era. The 22-year-old started his career with Volendam in his homeland before he moved to Wolfsburg two summers ago. An encouraging 2022-23 season, where Van de Ven featured 36 times for the Bundesliga club, brought him to the attention of several teams across Europe. Last month, the Dutch defender told De Telegraaf: “I have always dreamed of the Premier League because the biggest clubs play there and I also see that competition as the best in the world.” Spurs still hold an interest in Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Edmond Tapsoba and Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo, who only has one year left to run on his deal. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have dominated opposing teams by burying 3-pointers when left wide open or getting clean looks

Eddie Hearn claimed Tyson Fury’s performance against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou showed that Anthony Joshua would “knock Fury out inside six rounds” if the British heavyweight rivals were to ever meet in the ring. Fury survived a knockdown and avoided the first loss of his professional career when he was named a split-decision winner against Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. Ngannou, was making his boxing debut yet outfought Fury for much of the bout, as a stunned audience looked on. The 37-year-old former UFC champion was a massive underdog but produced a superb performance with immense discipline and aggression, and many figures in the world of boxing declared that the “Predator” had been denied a rightful win. After the fight, Oleksandr Usyk entered the ring to face off with Fury, whom he is contracted to fight next. Ukrainian Usyk, unbeaten like Fury, holds the unified heavyweight boxing titles. The pair have been rumoured to clash in Riyadh on 23 December, though Fury and his promoter Frank Warren played coy after the fight with Ngannou. But Hearn, who promotes Joshua, believes that is not the fight the boxing world wants to see after Fury’s performance against Ngannou. “I’m absolutely lost for words,” the Matchroom boss said. “I mean Francis Ngannou has never boxed before. Fair play to him, he didn’t look overly impressive, but Tyson Fury looked like he’s never laced up a pair of gloves before. “Got dropped in the third round, never threw a punch. Ngannou never threw a punch after. I thought Ngannou won by two rounds. The boxing world has gone mad. “Forget Fury vs Usyk - no one is interested. Just give us Fury vs AH. AJ will knock Tyson Fury out inside six rounds. Make the fight or we will never get it. “Or, rematch Ngannou, because the guy deserves it. I still don’t know what Tyson Fury was doing.” Fury said afterwards that he was rusty on what was his first fight in 10 months but declared it to be a “perfect” night ahead of his heavyweight showdown with Usyk. “That definitely wasn’t in the script,” said Fury. “[Ngannou] is a lot better of a boxer than we thought he’d be. He’s a very awkward man, and he’s a good puncher, and I respect him a lot. He was very awkward, he wasn’t coming forward; he was waiting for me to throw my punches then looking to counter. “[The knockdown] is a part of boxing. I got caught behind the head. I got up and it was alright; I got back to my boxing. “I don’t know how close [the fight] was, but I got the win and that’s what it is. I’ve been out of the ring a long time again. You can see it in here – ring rust, everything. No excuses, though. He’s cut me across the eye there. It was a good, rough fight. Perfect.” Read More Jack Catterall likely to face Josh Taylor rematch in Glasgow or Manchester Hearn predicts Fury vs Joshua prize money Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Boxing fight result and reaction Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Boxing fight result and reaction Tyson Fury embarrassed by Francis Ngannou and the punch that changed boxing Tyson Fury hints at next steps after Francis Ngannou victory

Joe Jonas has filed for divorce from wife of four years, Sophie Turner, and as the internet mourns, they're remembering the duos best moments together. During lockdown, the pair, who share two children, would often find themselves being silly on Instagram livestreams, playing around with filters. Most notably, they were propelled into the spotlight thanks to their lavish Vegas wedding that was suppose to be secret, but ended up being live-streamed by Diplo. Jonas has reportedly requested joint custody of their young children. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

By Joe Cash and Kripa Jayaram U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visits China from Sunday to shore up

ChatGPT failed to correctly identify Japanese Digital Transformation Minister Kono Taro, even as he advocates for more use

The fast-moving fires erupted overnight on Tuesday, August 8, and burned multiple neighborhoods to the ground

Shares of Black Knight Inc. drew closer to Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s takeover offer as Wall Street bolstered bets

The Cardinals will look for a better season in 2024 and will do so without these five players.

Malaysia’s central bank is expected to keep borrowing costs steady even up to 2025 as price pressures diminish

Respawn have revealed the permanent crafting rotations for Replicators in Apex Legends Season 13.