cup and the women's champions league in a moment. but first to the man who very recently was the golden boy at old trafford and very much one of the most in—demand forwards in the world. marcus rashford has been at manchester united since he was a child. he could now be on the verge of leaving the club — but his coach wants him to stay. joe lynskey reports. the next train to arrive on platform one... as manchester united caught the train to london, one player wasn't there. they had to face spurs on thursday with marcus rashford, for now, missing. absent from the platform with a career now at a junction. he still has four years left on his contract but he's told his club it's time to leave. marcus rashford said this in an interview with henry winter.

this is a player whose whole career has been with manchester united. rashford broke into the first team eight years ago. ruben amorim's been coach for less than eight weeks. this was his reaction. i don't talk about the future — i just talk about the present. i just want to win and to help the team to be better, so we are better with marcus rashford, and that's simple and we try different things to push marcus to the best level that he's shown in the past, so this kind of club needs big talent, and he is a big talent. rashford signed that huge contract 18 months ago. that came after a season where he had scored 30 goals. but since then, he's lost form and been caught out off the pitch. he missed a match last season after a night out in belfast. on sunday, he was dropped for the manchester derby. amorim said that has downed his performance in training and it's notjust a coach who's notice the change. his body language as a player, to me, seems very disinterested.

he doesn't strike me as somebody who is acting like he really wants to be there. even when he scores, you don't even see that much ofa smile. he looks like he's not enjoying it and for him, it's probably time to go. it would have been absolutely unthinkable a couple of years| ago for marcus rashford to be i dropped from this team and yet he was dropped from the squad and manchester united - still managed to get a win. so, i understand it but it'si still leaves me a little bit — deflated because he's a player that i've loved ever— since he came through the academy. rashford said in his interview that he felt misunderstood and football is still his whole life. commentator: rashford! he could stilljoin his teammates to face spurs in london and rashford can make the difference when he's on the right track. joe lynskey, bbc news. three sides have sealed their places in the semi finals of the english league cup. liverpool were without their head coach arne slot, who was suspended for their game with southampton — but they still won 2—1 at st marys. the home side were 2—0

down by half time. darwin nunez and harvey elliott with the goals. cameron archer pulled one back but it wasn't enough, and the holders progress to the last four. arsenal and newcastle united willjoin them in the semis. the gunners came from behind to beat crystal palace 3—2 at the emirates, thanks to a hat—trick from gabriel jesus. and newcastle got past brentford with no problems, 3—1 the score at st james park. sandro tonali with two of their goals. a superb result for arsenal in the women's champions league, they were 2—1 down to bayern munich in the second half, in theirfinal group game — knowing a win would see them through to the knockouts as group winners. alessia russo, then a late mariona caldentey penalty saw them come back to win 3—2, and take top spot over their opponents in the group. and in group d, barcelona go through as group winners, after beating manchester city, comfortably 3—0, at the olympic stadium. city come 2nd in the group. wins also forjuventus and hammarby, but neither side progress.

a crisis is developing at england rugby with calls for the chief executive and the chairman to go after it was revealed they recieved large bonuses, despite losses at the rfu of nearly £40 million. it's understood a historic no confidence vote in bill sweeney and tom ilube could be held before the end of the six nations. the rfu have now issued a statement saying there'll be an independent review of the bonus system, and that it's committed to rebuilding trust with member clubs. our sports correspondent joe wilson has been following the story. a lot of the disharmony, as you say, will be aimed at chief executive bill sweeney and the financial package that was awarded to him whereby he earns over £1 million a year, that include substantial bonuses at a time in context when rfu are recording losses as you say. he may well point out that he's guided rfu's through the difficult pandemic times, he may argue that his financial settlement, although big, his wages might be operable with others in the corporate world.

he mayjust point out that the meeting has taken place in the allianz stadium officially, that naming rights deal is one that he got over the line, controversial in its own way but reasonably lucrative, so there are ways that he can defend himself. of course, for any chief executive who might feel the position becomes untenable, resignation is a possibility, you mentioned further down the line, there is the potential certainly of a vote of no—confidence coming his way. so, there are ways bill sweeney can and i'm sure will defend himself but right now, it seems an awful lot of people in english rugby union that he urgently needs to placate. sergio perez has confirmed he is leaving red bull after four years with the f1 team. the 34—year—old mexican could only finish eighth in the driver's championship this season. it's expected that liam lawson will move up from the junior team to take his seat. perez said he would always cherish the success he and red bull achieved together.

there is huge anticipation ahead of the second meeting between heavyweights oleksander usyk and tyson fury on saturday. six months ago, the ukrainian became the modern era's first four—belt undisputed heavyweight world champion. ade adedoyin is in riyadh. it's a busy schedule of media activity this week. we had the grand arrival ceremony yesterday, usyk turned up looking very dapper in his purple suit with a white sash. today, it's a public workout. of the two men, usyk has looked more relaxed. that's probably because of the way he performed in their first fight in may. he had tyson fury hurt, nearly knocked him out in the ninth round, a really good boxer as you say, accomplished an awful lot in his career. olympic champion — undisputed champion, undisputed heavyweight champion as well, only other male boxer in history one the cruiserweight title and the heavyweight titles and that is evander holyfield. the legend of the sport. but having achieved so much in boxing, what is usyk�*s motivation to continue? for me, i don't think about legacy. for me, it's important, it's my chance, again, say, "listen, if you will

work, it's possible." i think it was a great fight. it's my work, rest, anything. but i don't like training, but i like boxing. i cannot box if i do not do training. this is altogether, yes? when my phone... alarm, "hey, alex, alex, wake up, time for training," you know, 5:00 in the morning, ok... 0k... i wake up, i dress, and i go to training. it'sjust my discipline. do you respect him as a fighter?

of course. much respect to my opponents. because i know it's not easy, it's hard, boxing is a hard sport. well, usyk will go down as an all—time great but great fighters need great rivals and his rivals will often help define the fighters' career. you look at muhammad ali who had joe fraser, roberto duran had sugar ray leonard and thomas hearns. in the uk, chris eubank had nigel benn. so, how important does usyk think his rivalry with tyson fury is? in terms of the legacy he wants to leave in the sport. tyson fury is very important for my boxing career. he is a very strong opponent, big, he is important for me. it's not only for me, it's important for future history, for all of boxing.

a few fighters have been at all this media events this week but they actually haven't come face—to—face though they will do so at thursday's press conference. it will be interesting to see how they both handle it. these were the scenes as tyson fury did his public workout on wednesday evening, in front of the expectant media. he put on his gloves, walked straight past his trainer sugar hill steward, and waived to the crowd — before immediately taking his gloves off again. the gypsy king clearly keen to give nothing away. just enough time to recap our top story — marcus rashford could be on the verge of leaving manchester united — but his coach ruben amorim wants him to stay. you can get all the latest sports news at from the bbc sport app, orfrom our website — that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye. see you again next time.

hello. after the overnight rain across england and wales, thursday promises to bring lengthy spells of sunshine. it'll be a little on the chilly side, particularly across the north of the uk with a noticeable breeze, but overall, not a bad day. now, here's the satellite picture of that weather system earlier on, spreading across the uk. the rain has been mostly across the southern half of the country — in the north, we've had showers and clear spells. by the middle of thursday, that weather front is way towards the east of us — and in its wake, we're in that north westerly airstream. so, this is what it looks like early in the morning — still the remnants of the rain there across east anglia, but 1—2 showers also further towards the west. frost—free for england and wales, typically five celsius, closer to freezing in northern ireland and scotland. so here's that weather, then, on thursday — sunshine, particularly across eastern and central england, but notice a few showers in scotland, and 1—2 elsewhere. but on the whole, a fine day.

the temperatures — around eight for cardiff and for london, about that for liverpool. in edinburgh and belfast, it'll be a shade cooler than that. and then, friday, we're expecting more rain to sweep in. this next weather front crosses the country — middle of the day, it'll be in central areas of england. gusty winds for a time, too, before it clears away and the skies turn clear, as well. now, let's have a look at the forecast for the weekend, because it will be very blustery. a nasty area of low pressure is expected to sweep just to the north of us — it'll introduce really strong winds to northern and western scotland, and really blustery elsewhere. 60—70mph gusts there in the north of scotland, 50mph across many central parts of the uk. the temperatures may reach 12—13 in some spots — but, because it'll be windy and there'll be showers, some of them wintry over the hills, it won't feel particularly warm. and it's notjust saturday that'll be windy, another very blustery day on sunday to come — look at that, gusts approaching 50mph further south, too.

but it will be colder on sunday, you really will feel that wind chill. those temperatures will dip to six celsius — add on those 40—50mph gusts, and you'll need your thick coats. now, here's christmas week — it turns out that christmas day will be about the mildest day, but it is going to be generally settled. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. customers are braced for water bills that could go up by as much as 20% in england and wales to fix problems with pollution and shortages. we talk you through what is at stake. judges in france are expected to hand down verdicts in the high—profile mass rape case today. the de facto leader of syria tells the bbc his country is not a threat to the world — in one of his first tv interviews with western media. we look back at some of the best movies released

in the last 12 months. hello and a very warm welcome to the programme. i'm sally bundock. we begin here in the uk where households in england and wales could see their water bills rise by around 20% over the next five years to fix pollution and shortages. the regulator, ofwat, has been deciding how much water companies can increase bills by in april, to improve leaky pipes, reduce sewage spills and build new reservoirs. any increases will vary depending on where you live. our business editor, simonjack has the details. what water everywhere. as an island nation it is all around ups but for many, our seaside and rivers give off left —— less a sense of security than a sense of risk. twice a week

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