this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme... there's drama aplenty in the english premier league as city's sterling downs the saints with the last kick of the match to the man in charge of the russian world cup says fans should not fear rough treatment by the police next year. and police complete their investigation into the incident involving england all—rounder ben stokes, but there won't be a resolution for at least several weeks. hello and thanks forjoining us. it's been another busy day in the english premier league with six more matches on wednesday. and there was drama at the etihad as league leaders manchester city scored with seconds remaining to beat southampton 2—1. nicolas otamendi had put pep guardiola's side 1—0 up before oriel romeu equalised for the saints. but a stunning last minute strike from raheem sterling means city stay eight points clear of their rivals manchester united and have now won a club record 12 league games in a row. what happened in the locker room was

amazing. that that is what it is. we do this kind ofjob not to title will not lift a title. it is when you leave these situations, you need to enjoy it and celebrated because you never know what will happen in the future. you have to celebrate when you have these occasions. chelsea are still third after a 1—0 win over swansea. the defending champions had manager antonio conte sent to the stands in the first half but they took the lead after the break through antonio rudiger. the summer signing from roma with the only goal of the game. arsenal are still fourth they thrashed huddersfield 5—0 at the emirates. alexandre lacazette opened the scoring afterjust minutes and the gunners never looked back. two goals for giroud, with sanchez and ozil also on the scoresheet. we started well and then we lost our

urgency. when we scored the second goal, suddenly everybody played more freely and offer better technical quality. it shows what we are capable of doing. elsewhere, mohamed salah scored twice as liverpool won 3—0 at stoke to move up to fifth. burnley are up to sixth after winning 2—1 at bournemouth. and wayne rooney scored a hat—trick as everton thrashed west ham 4—0. an interested spectator was the former england manager sam allardyce who's set to be named as the new everton manager on thursday. in france, paris saint—germain have extended their lead at the top of ligue one. they beat troyes 2—0 with goals from neymar and edinson cavani. those two have combined to score 38 goals already this season. psg running away with the league

they're now ten points clear of marseille — who move up to second after a 3—0 win at metz. there were shock defeats for lyon who were beaten 2—1 at home by struggling lille, and for the champions monaco who lost 1—0 at nantes. in spain, the holders barcelona are through to the last 16 of the copa del rey after thrashing murcia 5—0 on the night, and 8—0 on aggregate. atletico madrid and sevilla are also safely through after big wins. but there were a couple of upsets — with the two big basque teams both beaten by sides from the third tier. bilbao were knocked out by formentera, and real sociedad are also out. leida came from 2—0 down on the night, and 3—0 on aggregate, to go through on away goals — after scoring three times in the last half an hour. in italy, hellas verona are through to the last 16 of the coppa italia. they beat local rivals chievo on penalties to set up a trip to milan in the next round.

wins, too, for sassuolo and torino. in south america, gremio look to be heading for victory in the final of the copa libertadores. they led 1—0 after the first leg against lanus, and they're 2—0 up at half—time in the second leg in argentina — fernandinho and luan with the goals. day —— they went on to win. gremio are bidding to become champions of south america for the third time. lanus have never won the trophy. omar khirbin and samantha kerr were the big winners at the afc player of the years awards in bangkok on wednesday. khirbin — who's the first syrian player to win the award — took his country to the brink of world cup qualification. the syrians only lost to australia in the play—offs. he also scored ten goals for his saudi arabian club al—hilal as they reached this year's asian champions league final — where they were beaten by urawa red diamonds. sam kerr — who plays her club football in the usa for sky blue was named the nwsl‘s

most valuable player. she also helped australia win this year's "tournament of nations". the man in charge of delivering a successful world cup in russia next year has told the bbc, that fans travelling to the country have nothing to be afraid of and don't need to take any special precautions. alexy sorokin says police will treat supporters as they are used to being treated when in any city in europe. he's been speaking to our sports editor dan roan ahead of the draw for russia 2018 that takes place in moscow on friday. it will show a new and democratic russia. it will show how serious we are taking football, how serious we are taking football, how serious we are about our place in world full all and how much effort we can invest into being disputable and welcoming. we think —— into being hospitable and welcoming. can you

guarantee that fans will be safe when they come here? we have proven that through organisation of other events that are now held in russia, there has not been a single incident during those, let alone during the cup itself. it is no longerjust how assurer and, it is tested by time. do english people, whether they are fa ns do english people, whether they are fans ought to gay people wanting to come and hold hands, do they need not to do that because of where they are? no. there is no difference from any european city. no special precautions should be taken by any fans. our police force will not interfere unless there is a public wrongdoing. everything that is within normal legal practices is

allowed. i am certain that the atmosphere during the world cup in russia will be no different from any other world cup. the route for the jeer at italia will start out of europe for the first time ever. the race will not pass through the west bank or eastjerusalem. it arrives in italy and will visit the home town of the winner in 2011 who was killed in a training crash in april. the reigning champion seems happy with the route. he is yet to decide if he will be there to defend his title. i think it does not have too much mountain, just to sue time

trials. it is difficult but last year was also difficult. so, you might. it is definitely challenging andi might. it is definitely challenging and i am looking forward to seeing it and we are yet to make a decision that it was a course like this it does not have one or two main favourites because it suits all sorts of different riders. if we all go there you will be a big fight, for sure. chris froome is on the hunt for more titles. the brit has confirmed he will race in the 2018 giro d'italia as he attempts to win what would be a third grand tour in a row. he won the vuelta a espana for the first time in his career this year which came after winning the tour de france for a fourth time. he's attempting to become only the third rider in history to hold all three grand tour titles at the same time.

a decision on whether england cricketer ben stokes will be charged after an incident outside a nightclub will not be made for several weeks at least. police announced on wednesday that they had completed their investigation and sent the findings to the crown prosecution service. stokes did not fly to australia with the england squad for the current ashes series but on wednesday landed in new zealand and is expected to play for canterbury in their domestic competition this weekend. from the dugout to the desert. . . . football coach andre villas—boas has confirmed that he'll take part in next year's dakar rally. villa—boas — who won league titles with porto in portugal and zenit saint petersburg in russia — also managed chelsea and tottenham in the english premier league. he recently left the chinese super league side shanghai sipg. ao—year—old villas—boas — whose uncle took part in the dakar rally in 1982 — will drive a toyota hilux in the car category. he had wanted to contest the race on a motorbike — but was advised not to, because of the additional preparation time needed. the dakar rally starts in peru on sixth january. best of luck that to him. that is

all the time we have left for now. you can get all the latest sports news on our website@bbc.com/ sport. hello. milder, well, less cold air will be with us for the weekend but with that, lots of cloud around. many of us in the day ahead will have sunshine and arctic air around high pressure to the west and low pressure to the east. arctic air, of course, it is very cold. widespread frost to start thursday. icy patches where we have had showers overnight and these are town and city temperatures. of course, it is colder in rural spots. the coldest parts of northern england and scotland will be down to about minus six or seven as the day begins. as many of us will start with some sunshine, we have sleet and snow showers affecting north—northeast scotland. down eastern coastal parts of england — as far south as norfolk.

rain showers mainly for northern ireland. a bit of sleet to the hills. a scattering of these sleet and snow showers north—north—east scotland, but along the east coast, some of the showers will have pushed a little bit further inland so some accumulations in places like the hills to start the day. mainly rain showers western parts of wales, cornwall, west devon, sleet and snow to the highest ground. cold, frosty, clear start to the day for most of us. sleet and snow showers along the coast and just inland across eastern parts of england. driven in by a strong — gale force wind here, showers continue for west wales, the far south—west of england. showers dotted about northern ireland and northern scotland. across much of southern england, the midlands, wales, north—west england, south—west scotland, will have sunshine, but another cold day. colder still when you factor in the wind. especially where it is strongest across the north sea coast. a subtle change of wind direction thursday evening and night, more of these sleet and snow showers pushed further inland, again, giving accumulations in place is especially on hills. 0ut west, we stay mainly dry.

a lot of clear, cold weather. quite a hard frost particularly across parts of scotland as we start off on friday morning. some sleet and snow showers, some accumulations to parts of eastern england on friday. a lot of the showers turning to rain or sleet as we go on through the day. a lot fade to allow some sunshine to come through. a change for scotland and northern ireland as it clouds over from the north—west and a bit of patchy rain and hill snow starting to move in here. that is a sign of the change coming in for the weekend as this weather front moves through. we change the wind direction back to more from the atlantic rather than the arctic. that will be a change in the feel of the weather. less cold, milder air, moves in for weekend. as i mentioned earlier, it will come with plenty of cloud. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories:

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