• Chelsea injuries up 44% on previous year, Howden finds

• It calculates injury cost in top leagues over past five years

Chelsea experienced a 44% increase in injuries between June and October compared with the previous season, a report released on Tuesday has found. This year’s period covers their participation in the Club World Cup and its aftermath.

The figure, which goes some way towards vindicating Enzo Maresca’s rotation and his complaints about injuries, is contained in a report published by the insurance company Howden, which puts the cost of injuries to clubs in Europe’s top five leagues over the past five years at almost £3bn.

• Approval expected next year; US investors interested

• 27% of Prem’s commercial rights were sold to CVC in 2019

Prem Rugby is planning to launch a tender process to secure external investment in the competition after it has received formal approval from the Rugby Football Union to become a closed franchise league. That is expected to happen next year.

The English top division engaged the investment bank Raine Group and the accountancy firm Deloitte to conduct a review of the sport’s finances and potential funding options this year and is preparing to go to market in the second quarter of 2026.

• Average 59,000 Sky viewers for last Saturday’s noon game

• Review planned with main rights holders, Sky and BBC

The Women’s Super League will review its broadcast slots at the end of the season amid disappointment at some viewing figures during the first half of the campaign.

An average audience of 59,000 watched live Sky Sports coverage of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Liverpool last Saturday lunchtime, even fewer than the 71,000 people who watched Arsenal v Chelsea on Sky in the same noon kick-off slot last month, leading to criticism from fans about the scheduling of such flagship games.

• Initial Kansas plan for US training base thrown into doubt

• FA exploring alternative options on the east coast

The Football Association has sent operational staff to the US this week to scout for World Cup training camps amid concerns that England may lose their preferred site to the Netherlands.

Thomas Tuchel had cleared an FA plan for England to be based in Kansas after a pre-tournament training camp in Fort Lauderdale, but after last week’s draw there are concerns that the Netherlands will be allocated their chosen facility at Sporting Kansas City, a high-performance centre used by US Soccer.