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The Hindu festival of Diwali is one of the most important festivals in India.

Manchester United host Luton Town at Old Trafford in what could be seen as a must-win match for the Red Devils to stop their slide into full-blown crisis. Almost everything that can gone wrong has gone wrong for United this season and manager Erik ten Hag is finding his job under increasing scrutiny as the bad results pile up – the latest of which saw them lose 4-3 to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League in midweek. Luton have battled hard in their maiden Premier League season, and currently sit outside the relegation zone on goal difference, but United will expect to beat the Hatters at home and any other result will only increase the heat heading into the international break. Follow the latest action from Old Trafford below:

Joseph Strickland is "relieved" from governance following a Vatican investigation.

ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, is in talks with several banks for a €300 million ($321 million)

It all comes down to this: Malmo v Elfsborg, separated by three points, meeting in the last game of the season with the Allsvenskan title on the line. It has been dubbed “the final” by Swedish media. Malmo will deploy more security guards than at any game in the club’s history. Elfsborg’s fans will be “caged” in one corner of the Stadion Malmo, in an effort to stop celebrations or fury spilling on to the pitch. Malmo shouldn’t even be alive in this race. Henrik Rydstrom’s free-flowing team lost 4-2 at third-place Hacken last weekend and thought they were done. But somehow Elfsborg only mustered a draw at home to relegation-threatened Degerfors, scoring a 95th-minute equaliser but failing to add their Aguero moment at the death. The pressure got to both teams, and so it goes to the wire. Malmo and Elfsborg are wildly contrasting clubs. While Elfsborg hail from a small town, Malmo is Sweden’s third city, the literal and metaphorical birthplace of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and its football team is the most successful in the country’s history with 22 league titles. Their style of play is unique in Swedish football, and eight or nine players can often be found filling the same side of the pitch to progress the ball upfield, or to quickly win it back in hunting packs. They play with a positional freedom that looks off the cuff, but contains patterns of passing and movement drilled on the training pitch by the innovative Rydstrom. Rydstrom is an unusual character in football, with a masters degree in literary studies and a past writing music reviews in magazines. He is known for his strong socialist principles and his outspoken comments have drawn criticism from right-wing politicians. The manager has been described in the Swedish media as “methodical, process-driven and sophisticated” in his approach, and his methods extend to giving players tactical homework. The coach demands utter dominance of the ball – Malmo’s average possession this season is 64.8 per cent, a long way clear of the rest and higher even than Manchester City in the Premier League (63.2). But he is no disciple of Pep Guardiola. Rydstrom’s style has been likened to the fluid Brazilian football of Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz, who recently led his team to the Copa Libertadores and whose “anti-positional” tactics – dubbed Dinizismo – are in stark contrast to Guardiola’s more rigid structure so popular in Europe. Elfsborg are a more typical Swedish team, defensively stable, with the most clean sheets this season. They don’t sit deep, but possession is not of high importance to head coach Jimmy Thelin, whose team are dogged and difficult to play against. Elfsborg have committed more fouls than any other side in the league. But there are no prizes for aesthetics, as the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen stressed this week. “Style plays a role only if it culminates in glory,” writes Noah Bachner. “Defeats can be erased from memory if ultimately they don’t affect the final table. But only one thing counts. You can drag up statistics on short passes, shots taken, how many Swedish Krona per point and every expected goal. You can moan about Elfsborg’s way of playing … But only the trophy matters.” Elfsborg are based in a town called Boras, not far from Gothenburg (the name Elfsborg refers to the region). They have won six Swedish titles in their 120-year history, the most recent in 2012, and their home ground is nicknamed ‘Elfsborg Fortress’ – a riff on an actual fortification off the coast of Gothenburg – in appreciation of what a notoriously hard place Boras is to go and win. What plays in Elfsborg’s favour is that Malmo have consistently been found wanting in the biggest moments under Rydstrom. “If you want to take charge of the title race, which Malmo had and lost several times, you have to take points from the teams you’re fighting against,” writes Bachner. He has a point: Malmo have not won any of their five games this season against key rivals Djurgarden, Hacken or Elfsborg, who thrashed Malmo at the Fortress in May. Malmo had 73 per cent possession, took 19 shots and scored no goals. Elfsborg committed 26 fouls and scored three. Rydstrom’s reputation as more than just a coach who paints pretty pictures depends on this result. “My conviction is that Rydstrom is right for Malmo, regardless of how it goes on Sunday,” adds Bachner. “But I am equally convinced that nothing is going to stop him from being branded as something other than a winner [should Malmo lose]. Another missed opportunity, after slipping again like last Sunday, will take time to scrub away.” But this time it is Malmo with home advantage. Elfsborg do not have a Fortress to defend. They are the visitors, and they must travel 150 miles south into the lion’s den to claim the prize that narrowly eluded them last weekend. For Elfsborg, a point will do. Malmo must win. It all comes down to this. Read More Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola

Emma Hayes said the “time is right” for her to step down as Chelsea manager after it was confirmed last week she will leave the Women’s Super League champions at the end of the season. However, she would not be drawn on reports linking her with the vacant United States national team job, and said the decision to depart is motivated by a desire to spend more time with her five-year-old son, Harry. “I’ve been in post for 12 years and I’ve dedicated my life to this place,” she told reporters. “So the time is right and I will work with the club in the succession plan and do everything I can to make sure there is a good transition.”

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Google is cracking down on bogus Android apps with stricter requirements for developers who want

Manchester City face an anxious wait to see if John Stones will be fit to face Liverpool later this month. The England defender, who has only made six appearances in an injury-hit season, came off at half-time in Tuesday’s win over Young Boys of Bern and manager Pep Guardiola has ruled him out of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea. Guardiola said Stones’ muscular problem is not as serious as he initially feared but is unsure when the 29-year-old will be fit again and he has a race against time to be available for the clash with Liverpool on 25 November. The City manager explained: “He’s not ready for tomorrow [game against Chelsea on Sunday] and we will see when we come back from the international break. I don’t know. “The doctor said to me it’s not as bad [as feared] but I still don’t know. I want to create tempo. When he’s going to be fit again, he’s going to come back.” Stones was reinvented last season to operate partly as a midfielder in addition to his duties at the back and Guardiola believes summer signing Josko Gvardiol is not yet ready to take up a similar role, coming forward in possession. “Still he didn’t prove it in training sessions and drills that we do to see how you move in more central positions,” he said. “Still I didn’t see it. Maybe in future, because he is still young and at the beginning we didn’t expect John could do that but he can do that because he has been here eight years.” Rico Lewis is able to play both as a full-back and in midfield and Guardiola believes that, were he bigger, the teenager would be one of the outstanding footballers in the division. He added: “If he was a little bit taller, we would consider him one of the best players in the Premier League. He is so small but he is an exceptional player.” Kevin de Bruyne, who has been out since August and has undergone an operation on his injured hamstring, has had a further scan this week. The Belgian is expected to be out for the rest of the calendar year but Guardiola has not put a timeframe on his comeback. He added: “I spoke with him two days ago and he said he feels really good but it’s not necessary to take bad decisions or wrong decisions in coming back early and getting injured again. Kevin was a tough injury, a surgery.” Read More Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Rumours: Man United could sell duo in January and Newcastle target midfield pair How can Man United qualify in Champions League?

In one of Europe’s biggest three-horse races, an unexpected fourth leads the way. Where usually Barcelona, Real Madrid and, on sporadic occasions, Atletico Madrid reside, there’s an altogether less-expected club sitting top of LaLiga after a third of the campaign – a free-scoring, attack-minded team who spent a net of barely £4m in the summer, have a stadium capacity of under 15,000 and whose best-ever season in LaLiga to date saw them finish 10th. Welcome to Girona FC. The story of their rise is a tale in itself, but their opening 12 games of this campaign might yet make for the stuff of local legend. As recently as 1999 the club was playing in the Catalan regional leagues, the fifth tier of Spanish football, but after achieving their first-ever top-flight campaign in 2017-18 and surviving for a second, they returned to LaLiga for 2022-23 and ended 10th last year – just as they did five years earlier, in fact. There appears to be no danger of season four emulating season two, though. Where then they were relegated, this term they top the table, two points ahead of Real Madrid, four clear of champions Barcelona and a full six ahead of Atletico. Between Girona and fifth is a massive 10 points, after just a dozen matches. Masterminding this unexpected rise is head coach Michel Sanchez Munoz, better known just as Michel, a former Rayo Vallecano and Real Murcia player who has been in the dugout at Estadi Montilivi since 2021. Michel has the team playing offensive football – they’ve not only won more games than anyone this term, they’ve also outscored everyone in LaLiga– and the manner of it is even more impressive given the turnover of the squad: 10 in, three out, another half a dozen loaned away. That new group has been quickly moulded into a cohesive unit with a very identifiable approach to matches, as one of those new arrivals, former Manchester United and Ajax defender Daley Blind, told The Independent. “It’s always difficult to compare managers, each one has his own ID and way of playing. But what stands out is the manager is really clear in how he wants to play football, he has a really clear idea about every game we play and having a real tactical plan,” Blind says on a call. “He tries to give that to the team and make sure we understand the gameplan. “The story he told me before I came to Girona was really intriguing and I can’t say anything other than he did not lie – I got excited and wanted to play here after speaking to him. “You can’t know it for sure beforehand but we’re really happy with how it’s going and it’s always important for a coach to be clear about that.” Blind is happily effusive about Michel’s man management as well as his tactical acumen. Having spent most of his career under the likes of Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, father Danny Blind and others, he’s well placed to talk about who is impressive or otherwise on the coaching ground. And while he won’t directly look at matching up Michel’s attributes to anyone else’s, he makes the point that there’s a real connection between coach and squad. “I don’t want to compare [to others] but, for me, he’s a manager who is human, who connects on a personal level as well. He joins in the rondo [training game of keep-ball] and is part of the guys; at the moment training really starts he’s then really on top of it and not holding back,” the centre-back explains. “He expects every training [session] to be the best but there’s always time for a joke here and there. He has a good connection with every player – that’s very special.” Blind freely admits that his spell in Spain came at the second time of asking. He got the call from Girona last year after leaving Ajax; while considering his next move, Bayern Munich swooped in and he felt he needed to go. This summer, though, he was confident Girona was the right move. While the Dutchman has been a mainstay at the back this term, central midfielder Aleix Garcia has caught the eye, while in attack young winger Savio has been impressive and new centre-forward Artem Dovbyk has not so much hit the ground running as thundering through defences, scoring six in eight starts or one every 109 minutes. Among LaLiga’s best goal-getters, only Gerard Moreno (105), Alvaro Morata (105) and top scorer Jude Bellingham (95) can beat the Ukrainian’s strike rate. So has the fast start by Girona altered their season aims, made them aim higher than might have been the objective at the start of the campaign? Not for Blind, who maintains the “one game at a time” mantra. “For me, it hasn’t changed, you want to finish as high as possible in the league and that’s what we aim for. We’ll see where that is at the end of the season,” he says. “You always be ambitious and have an aim but in the end, you look game by game because the next one is most important and you want the three points. But you see which games are in the next couple of weeks and be ambitious about it. It’s not for me to reveal what we say about [those runs] but it always comes back to the next game.” For Girona, the next game is away on Saturday to Rayo Vallecano, Michel’s oldest and most closely linked club. Beat them and the Catalan club will remain top across the international break, the envy of not just smaller clubs around Europe hoping to improve their own fortunes and challenge higher in the league but of every club in Spain – including the very biggest and the supposed best. Perhaps, just perhaps, they won’t be this year. Watch LaLiga on Viaplay, available in the UK on Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime Video and via streaming Read More Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Ange Postecoglu gives injury update for Tottenham star James Maddison Football stadium plunged into darkness after rivals turn off lights during title win Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Ange Postecoglu gives injury update for Tottenham star James Maddison Football stadium plunged into darkness after rivals turn off lights during title win

A football club plunged its stadium into darkness after the team’s rivals celebrated their league title win. Alianza Lima pulled the plug and plunged the stadium into a blackout as Universitario Deportes celebrated their title glory. Universitario Deportes have now called for sanctions to be imposed on Alianza Lima after their actions prevented the award ceremony from going ahead. Universitario claimed a record-extending 27th league title after a 2-0 win at city rivals Alianza on Wednesday had wrapped up a 3-1 aggregate victory. But before the celebrations could get underway the lights went out at the Alejandro Villanueva stadium, an incident Universitario labelled both disgraceful and dangerous. Read More Jurgen Klopp reacts to release of Luis Diaz’s kidnapped father: ‘Really happy’ Sarina Wiegman reveals tough childhood decision she made to play football with boys ‘He’s still my captain’: Rob Burrow reflects on unique friendship with Kevin Sinfield

Labor is having a moment, and Wall Street has taken note. S&P 500 executives and analysts talked about