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Manchester United’s crucial Champions League clash against Galatasaray will be subject to a pitch inspection after hours of torrential rain in Istanbul left the match in danger of being postponed. Uefa officials were forced to examine the surface RAMS Park after thunderous downpours on Wednesday afternoon, with the Group A clash set to kick off at 8:45pm local time (5:45pm GMT) this evening. The Uefa Youth League match between Galatasaray and United, held earlier in the day and at a different stadium, was played during the torrential rain, which left the pitch sodden and the ball holding up on the surface. There is still time for conditions to improve ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash but there is also the prospect of further rain and the pitch becoming completely waterlogged. For now, Uefa are insistent that the match will go ahead and preparations are continuing as usual, but the conditions could still play a part on what is an important night in United’s season. United cannot afford to lose in Turkey and will be out of the Champions League if they are beaten by Galatasaray, who won 3-2 at Old Trafford earlier this season. Erik ten Hag’s side come into the match having shown some improved form, however. United have won their last three games in the Premier League and last suffered defeat when they were beaten 4-3 by Copenhagen following Marcus Rashford’s red card. United conclude their Champions League group stage campaign against Bayern Munich on matchday six, with the German side currently top of Group A with four wins from four. Read More Champions League: What do Man United, Arsenal and Newcastle need to reach last 16? Man United’s teen sensation who could offer salvation - and it’s not Garnacho Why Bruno Fernandes is the only choice as Man Utd captain

The biggest drama in the chess world has taken another turn, after it was revealed that Hikaru Nakamura previously accused a young prodigy of cheating. Grandmaster Nakamura dismissed “garbage” claims that he had cheated recently after being accused following an impressive winning streak. Vladimir Kramnik was one of the prominent voices in the game to stir the pot – although he deleted his initial post, leading Nakamura to hit out at him for spreading the accusations. Now, it’s emerged that Nakamura himself once accused a young player of cheating. In a Twitter/X post by Chess Rumours, an anonymous social media user claimed that Nakamura once threatened to track down Andrew Tang, a future grandmaster who was 14 at the time, after he took him on in a match and scored 20 per cent. It was also claimed that he had done this to GM Arjun Erigaisi – and now grandmaster Srinath Narayanan has posted to confirm those allegations. “Can confirm that – true story about Arjun,” Erigaisi tweeted. “Young Arjun was obviously rattled by the baseless accusation and felt bad about it, but thankfully it did not break his confidence or deter his progress.” It’s just another development in one of the most eye-catching sports stories of the year to date. It comes after Nakamara recently posted a YouTube video hitting out at Kramnik, saying: “Someone doesn’t get to say these things without actual proof. They don’t get to falsely accuse people over and over again without having to pay a price. “It’s very disrespectful and to me, it shows that Kramnik simply has no respect for anybody at the end of the day. You don’t get to make false accusations when you are not an expert. You don’t get to make false accusations when you do not have data to back yourself up.” He went on to say: “I’m very proud of my record playing online, very proud of it, and I have nothing to hide.” indy100 has reached out to Hikaru Nakamura for comment Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

Injury has ruled out Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker for more than a fortnight but manager Jurgen Klopp admits it could have been worse and the Brazilian should be fit to face Manchester United next month. The keeper appeared to sustain a hamstring problem late in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester City and although he managed to complete the match he is set to miss the next five matches – two of which he would not have played in as Caoimhin Kelleher deputises in the Europa League. Alisson will miss European ties against LASK and Union Saint-Gilloise as well as Premier League games against Fulham, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace but should make a timely return for the visit of their arch-rivals on December 17. Forward Diogo Jota was also injured in City game but his prognosis is not as good. “Both are out. Ali is a bit lesser, so we have to see. Not day by day – he cannot play tomorrow or Sunday. Probably not the week after should be kind of OK,” Klopp said ahead of the Europa League visit of LASK. “Alisson is not as bad (as we thought) but still bad enough. Diogo will take a little bit longer, don’t know exactly. Have to see.” Kelleher has made only five appearances this season but last played back-to-back matches in January 2022 and has never played more than three matches in a row in his Liverpool career. In the summer there was speculation about the 25-year-old wanting to seek first-team football elsewhere but Klopp said the current situation was exactly why the Republic of Ireland international was persuaded to stay. “Yes, that’s pretty much exactly it. That’s why we knew we wanted to have Caoimh here for these moments,” added the Liverpool boss. “Nobody, Caoimh as well, wanted Ali to get injured, but if these things happen then you need the strongest possible option and that’s Caoimh for us. “That’s the only positive about that, to be honest, that we can put in Caoimh. That’s fine. “Now he gets an opportunity that he deserves, he would have played tomorrow night anyway, that’s clear, but now he will have a few more games and hopefully he can show his full potential.” Defeat in Toulouse earlier this month made Liverpool’s task of guaranteeing top spot in the group – and thereby avoiding a play-off round in the knockout stages – slightly more difficult but it could be secured on Thursday at home to LASK if Union Saint-Gilloise beat the second-placed Ligue 1 side. But Klopp rejected the suggestion that result was a reminder that his much-changed European sides have standards to maintain. “It was not needed but it wasn’t helpful. It was three weeks ago and a lot of things happened since then. It just made the situation more difficult, that’s how it is,” he said. “Toulouse was maybe a one-off performance-wise – it was around Luton (a 1-1 draw) which was not too great either – but this was in a very short period of time. “Besides that the boys usually perform and that’s what we should concentrate on. “We want to win tomorrow night and we want to win in Belgium as well but if we don’t win tomorrow night the game in Belgium, in a super intense period, will be tough so it’s all about performing tomorrow night and really going for it, that’s the idea.” Read More Exeter’s Rob Baxter urges football law-makers to be careful over sin-bins trial Defender Manuel Akanji admits Man City made ‘a lot of mistakes’ against Leipzig Will Zalatoris back in the swing after enduring ‘golfer’s worst nightmare’ John Turner aiming to push T20 World Cup hopes on England’s tour of Caribbean On this day in 2015: Great Britain end long wait for Davis Cup win First half was the worst I’ve seen us – Phil Foden savours thrilling fightback

Arsenal will be looking to get the better of Lens in the Champions League, having lost in the reverse fixture in France. The Gunners only need a point on Wednesday to qualify for the knockout stages of this season’s top-tier European competition. After beating Sevilla both home and away, Arsenal have nine points from a possible 12 already in the campaign. After a less-than-perfect performance against Brentford at the weekend, Mikel Arteta will want his side to find their feet and perform well on Wednesday. Here’s everything you need to know about the fixture and get the latest odds and tips here. When is Arsenal vs Lens? The Champions League match is at the Emirates Stadium in London with a kick off time of 8pm GMT. How can I watch it? Arsenal vs Lens will be shown live on TNT Sports 2 with coverage starting from 7pm GMT. Subscribers can stream the actions via the Discovery+ app. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider. Team news David Raya will be available again after he missed the game against Brentford on Saturday due to being ineligible to face his parent club. Martin Odegaard was also fit enough to play, but Ben White could return for the Champions League clash. Jurrien Timber, Emile Smith Rowe and Thomas Partey remain on the long-term injury list. Predicted line-up Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli Odds Arsenal 1/4 Draw 10/3 Lens 15/2 Full Arsenal vs Lens odds here. Prediction Arsenal will secure the victory in front of the home fans, despite losing against Lens earlier in the campaign. Arsenal 2-0 Lens. Read More Champions League: What do Man United, Arsenal and Newcastle need to reach last 16? Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta believes he still has something to prove in Europe Football rumours: Juventus eyeing swoop for Thomas Partey On this day in 2015: Jamie Vardy scores in 11th game in a row Beth Mead scores first goal in over a year as WSL top three maintain momentum Kai Havertz gives Arsenal the perfect ‘example’ to follow in title race

The Europa League and Europa Conference League has reached the next-to-last round of group games

The US team of international sailing competition SailGP has been acquired by investors in the sport’s biggest team

Luke Donald is staying on as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for its title defense in 2025 at Bethpage Black

Keep an eye on Lois Openda

Scientists have cooked up the "alien haze" of distant planets, in an effort to help with the search for alien life. The haze is a simulation of the hazy skies that appear on water-rich exoplanets, or worlds outside of our solar system. That haziness can get in the way of observations of those planets, making it difficult to understand what is happening there. Haze can also affect conditions on the planet themselves. If the atmosphere has hazes or other particles then it can drastically change the temperature, amount of light an other factors – some of which might be make or break for alien life there. Scientists hope the homemade haze will let them better understand the atmospheres of other planets, and model how the planets themselves form and grow. They could allow us to better understand how the have distorts our picture of those planets – distortions that could give us the wrong understanding of the makeup of their atmospheres. Getting that wrong could mean potentially missing habitable worlds, for instance. The observations are used to come up with the estimates about the temperature and atmospheric conditions that are then used to determine whether a planet might be able to host alien life. “The big picture is whether there is life outside the solar system, but trying to answer that kind of question requires really detailed modeling of all different types, specifically in planets with lots of water,” said co-author Sarah Hörst, from Johns Hopkins University. “This has been a huge challenge because we just don't have the lab work to do that, so we are trying to use these new lab techniques to get more out of the data that we’re taking in with all these big fancy telescopes.” The team cooked up the haze using a custom-designed chamber in Hörst’s lab. The haze they made is formed out solid particles, suspended in gas, which changes how light interacts with the gas itself. To test the hazes they made, scientists shot ultraviolet light through them, measuring how much they absorbed and reflected. They found that hate haze matched the chemical signatures of a well-studied exoplanet. Scientists hope to develop yet more hazes, with different gas mixtures, that will let them better understand different atmospheres. The work is described in a new paper, 'Optical properties of organic haze analogues in water-rich exoplanet atmospheres observable with JWST', published in the journal Nature Astronomy. Read More SpaceX rockets are punching holes in atmosphere, causing blood-red ‘auroras’ Chinese rocket that slammed onto Moon may have carried mysterious undisclosed payload Nasa’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ will send your name into space

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee BENGALURU NASA will train an Indian astronaut for a voyage to the International Space Station

India’s cricket governing body has filed a case against the parent of cash-starved education provider Byju’s, a setback

Manuel Akanji admits Manchester City need to cut our the errors after being exposed in their comeback victory over RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium. The holders trailed 2-0 after a lacklustre first-half display in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter before a Phil Foden-inspired recovery saw them fight back to win 3-2. With their place in the last 16 already secure, there was little cause for alarm on the night but, after recent Premier League draws against Chelsea and Liverpool, the champions are not fully firing. Switzerland defender Akanji said: “We didn’t play well in the first half. We did a lot of mistakes, (in) a lot of duels. “We had it change it in the second half. We spoke in half-time that we needed to do better. It still wasn’t great but we improved a lot, we didn’t do many of the mistakes. “It happens sometimes. We didn’t plan to go into the game like this. The first goal was me losing a duel off the long ball, the second one was Ruben (Dias) after the pass and it happens sometimes. “Normally we don’t do these mistakes but the good thing is we’ve got a good team. “Now we have important games before the Club World Cup against Spurs and Villa and we need to really focus on these games. We need points because we drew twice so it’s really important to get winning again.” Akanji was indeed at fault for the first of Lois Openda’s two first-half goals, with Dias caught out for the second. Foden sparked the comeback when he teed up Erling Haaland to become fastest player to reach 40 Champions League goals in just his 35th appearance. The England midfielder then scored a sublime equaliser before showing further nimble footwork to set up the late winner for substitute Julian Alvarez. The victory ensures City, who travel to Red Star Belgrade next month, will finish top of Group G. With John Stones again not fit enough to feature, Akanji played in the defence-midfield hybrid role his colleague has excelled in. “I like it,” Akanji said. “I play wherever the manager puts me but also in the Chelsea game and the weekend against Liverpool I felt more comfortable in there because I got used to the position. “When you come from defence into midfield it’s a big difference because normally you have all the game in front of you and suddenly there are players coming from all angles. “But I got a better orientation with the game set-up so I felt more confident. I can adapt pretty good. I play in different positions. I try to listen and do what the manager wants from me.” Read More Will Zalatoris back in the swing after enduring ‘golfer’s worst nightmare’ John Turner aiming to push T20 World Cup hopes on England’s tour of Caribbean On this day in 2015: Great Britain end long wait for Davis Cup win First half was the worst I’ve seen us – Phil Foden savours thrilling fightback Rodrigo Bentancur set to be out until February after tearing an ankle ligament Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink wants aspiring black managers to get ‘a fair chance’