Man United dumped out of League Cup; Ireland’s Las Vegas trip to be cancelled

Manchester United are out of the League Cup, after they were beaten 1-0 by West Ham in the third round last night. Both sides rung the changes from Sunday’s Premier League fixture at the London Stadium, with Manuel Lanzini’s ninth-minute strike proving enough to send the Hammers through. Their reward for a rare win at Old Trafford is a fourth round meeting with Manchester City, with Chelsea and Tottenham also into the last-16 after they needed penalties to see off Aston Villa and Wolves respectively. Elsewhere Brighton are also through after they beat Swansea City 2-0 at home courtesy of a first-half brace from Ireland striker Aaron Connolly.

Ireland's trip to play the USA in Las Vegas next month is set to be cancelled due to ongoing travel restrictions between the two countries. Andy Farrell's side were scheduled to meet the Eagles at the 65,000 capacity Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders on October 30th. Gerry Thornley reports: "Travel restrictions between, America and Ireland are due to be lifted on November 1st, but that will not be in time to allow Irish supporters to travel in their customary numbers to the match, a key factor in arranging this fixture in order to swell the presence of expatriate supporters in the States." Meanwhile new guidelines from World Rugby on contact training are set to bring rugby out of the Stone Age, writes Johnny Watterson: "That's 15 minutes' full contact a week across a maximum of two days, with Mondays and Fridays comprising zero full-contact training. In addition, controlled contact should be only 40 minutes weekly, with at least one day of zero contact of any type. Live set-piece training is set at a weekly 30 minutes. All of it is aimed at reducing injury risk and improving performance."

The Ryder Cup gets underway tomorrow, and European captain Pádraig Harrington believes the pressure will be on the home side as the competition plays out in front of what is likely to be an exclusively American crowd. He said: "As I've said all along, Europe would rather play in front of 40,000 Americans than zero fans. But maybe when we got here it has changed a little bit. You can see that there's expectation and pressure from the fans going the other way. They have a new strategy." And the three-time Major winner has also made a promise to his team if they can upset the odds in Wisconsin: "So yes, I will be getting a tattoo. If my team produce a winning week, I will be getting a tattoo to mark the occasion, and I'm very comfortable that they only asked that much of me because I would have given more." Meanwhile could a good night's sleep prove key to Europe's chances of winning? Philip Reid reports from Whistling Straits.

The inaugural United Rugby Championship also kicks off tomorrow, and this morning Gerry Thornley has looked at the prospects of Connacht ahead of the new season. Andy Friend is entering his fourth season in charge in Galway, and a tough campaign looms: "They also start the season with a few injuries and are especially thin at scrumhalf. With nothing like the resources of their rivals, just as pertinently the reduced fixture list means there will be less matches during international windows to afford Connacht a more level playing field, and facilitate the kind of flying start they made when winning the 2015-16 title."

Connacht Rugby season preview: Good start essential if Friend’s men are to reach their goal

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Everton offload James Rodriguez to Al-Rayyan in Qatar

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Shane Lowry revelling in first Ryder Cup experience

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‘Tigers one and all’ - Ireland beat Australia in five goal thriller

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And in his column this morning, Ciaran Murphy has looked at the idea of loyalty in the GAA - something shown by Waterford manager Liam Cahill, but less so by recently departed Kildare boss Jack O’Connor. He writes: “Kildare weren’t lucky to have O’Connor; they were a union of equals. And Jack O’Connor did not treat that partnership with the respect it deserved. The next time he sets foot in a dressingroom and talks to a group of players, in Kerry or elsewhere, he’d do well to recognise that those players might remember these last few weeks too.”