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Liverpool are making some shrewd moves in the market as they look to build on winning the Premier League title and could now strike for a world-renowned star with talks having already taken place, per a report.

Jeremie Frimpong set for Liverpool medical

Arne Slot and his squad are still basking in the glory of becoming top-flight champions, but there has already been significant movement on the transfer front at Anfield.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is joining Real Madrid on a free transfer, which has pivoted focus to who could potentially replace the academy graduate’s phenomenal attacking output at right-back.

Reports suggest Jeremie Frimpong is the answer and is set to undergo a Liverpool medical on Monday before he completes his £29.5 million move from Bayer Leverkusen.

Commenting on the Reds’ transfer plans this summer, Slot stated: “So, there’s always an ongoing process and we have to make sure that we are prepared if we can strengthen the squad.

“But it’s difficult to strengthen this squad. There’s a reason why we won the league – because we have so many great players.”

Liverpool now completing detailed work to sign "elite" Huijsen alternative

The Reds have officially missed out on Huijsen.

1 ByTom Cunningham May 18, 2025

The Dutchman may have a point. However, it would be naive not to expect Liverpool not to try and capitalise on their status as Premier League champions.

Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez has become a known target at Anfield, giving an inkling towards the type of smart recruitment that is expected to occur at Anfield this summer.

Typically, Liverpool have a distinctive style of adding to their squad that is more in line with squad synchronisation as opposed to star appeal.

However, there can be room for both if the Reds’ latest pursuit under is anything to go by.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot and Florian Wirtz hold discussions

According to The Mirror, Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz has held talks with Liverpool boss Slot to discuss his summer transfer plans as interest begins to mount in the Germany international.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has also touched base to find out more about where he envisages landing and the Citizens are said to be plotting a double swoop for the 22-year-old and Tijjani Reijnders before the Club World Cup.

Florian Wirtz’ Bayer Leverkusen campaign – Bundesliga

Chances created

57

Shots on target

39

Completed dribbles

82

Touches in opposition box

162

Successful crosses

14

Accurate long balls

34

Labelled “world-class” by Gerhard Struber, Wirtz has registered 16 goals and 15 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions this season, which may go some way to explaining why his valuation sits at a figure in excess of £100 million.

Becoming one of the most talked about stars in Europe, he has excelled as the foil for the main attacker and could now emerge as a source of creative inspiration for the likes of Mohamed Salah should he move to Anfield.

Having said that, Manchester City’s hunt to replace Kevin De Bruyne could be a roadblock as he deliberates before deciding on his next desitination.

Will Chelsea make a success of this season?

On Thursday, the Blues demolished Djurgårdens in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final, with Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke both on target in Stockholm, before Nicolas Jackson bagged a quick-fire brace.

Thus, supporters are now pretty certain that their team will be in Wrocław for the final later this month, facing either Real Betis or Fiorentina.

Meantime, in the Premier League, Enzo Maresca’s side are currently fourth, desperate to cling onto the final Champions League spot, ahead of Sunday’s heavyweight meeting with recently crowned champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Even with the Club World Cup on the horizon this summer, Chelsea are expected to be busy in the transfer market, as has very much been the case since Todd Boehly’s takeover, so could they sign a big-money new striker?

The latest on Chelsea's interest in Viktor Gyökeres

According to a report by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland, Arsenal are “pushing” to sign Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres, valued at around £60m by the Portuguese giants, with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Chelsea “all in the race”.

The 26-year-old Swede has scored 95 goals in 98 appearances for Sporting, pretty impressive statistics, with a report by David Ornstein and James McNicholas of The Athletic claiming that Gyökeres is expected to be on the move this summer.

Nevertheless, with a high amount of competition for his signature, should Chelsea focus on other targets?

Chelsea's potential new striker

According to a report from Steve Kay of Football Transfers earlier this week, Chelsea ‘have approached’ Aston Villa, enquiring about the possibility of signing Ollie Watkins this summer, adding that the Blues ‘are willing’ to match the Villans’ £60m valuation.

TEAMtalk notes that Watkins has emerged as Chelsea’s number one target, due to concerns about Victor Osimhen’s wage demands, as well as fears that Gyökeres would choose to go elsewhere.

If Villa miss out on Champions League qualification, they may be forced to sell key assets to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules, hence why Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider believes they’d be looking to cash in on 29-year-old Watkins.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

So, would Watkins be a good signing for Chelsea?

Chelsea's best recent attacking signings

Since Clearlake Capital’s takeover of Chelsea in 2022, they have signed over 40 first-team players, spending in excess of £1bn, many of whom made little impact at Stamford Bridge, some of whom have been swiftly moved on.

Pretty much indisputably, the Blues’ best signing of the Boehly era is Cole Palmer, who, since arriving from Manchester City for £42.5m, has scored 39 goals for the club, named Chelsea’s Player of the Season as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year for 2023/24.

However, let’s analyse the impact made by some of the other members of the forward line.

Pedro Neto

£54m

40

6

7

João Félix

£45m

20

7

2

Omari Kellyman

£19m

Zero

Zero

Zero

Marc Guiu

£5m

13

6

Zero

Jadon Sancho

£25m

36

4

10

Cole Palmer

£42.5m

86

39

25

Nicolas Jackson

£32m

75

29

11

Christopher Nkunku

£50m

56

17

5

Deivid Washington

£17m

3

Zero

Zero

Ângelo

£13m

Zero

Zero

Zero

Diego Moreira

Free

1

Zero

Zero

Mykhailo Mudryk

£89m

73

10

11

Raheem Sterling

£47.5m

81

19

15

Noni Madueke

£28.5

82

20

9

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

£10.3m

21

3

1

David Datro Fofana

£11m

4

Zero

Zero

It would be a major understatement to say that Chelsea have signed a lot of attacking players in the last three seasons, and the table above certainly underlines that Cole Palmer has unquestionably had the biggest impact.

So, why would Watkins be any different?

Well, let’s assess his season statistics to find out.

Goals

15

7th

Goals per 90

0.6

6th

Assists

7

13th

Shots

76

11th

Shots on target

32

8th

Expected goals

14.5

6th

Goal-creating actions

11

31st

Touches in oppo penalty area

153

11

As the table outlines, Watkins is a very well-rounded striker, described by Statman Dave as “clinical”, both a potent goalscorer but also a chance creator too.

The concern about signing him would be the fact he is 29 years old, but the Englishman is showing no signs of slowing down, so could be the striker Chelsea require to go to the next level.

Better than Jackson: Chelsea want £25m "beast" who's outscoring Osimhen

Chelsea have wasted no time in targeting new forwards to strengthen Enzo Maresca’s side this summer.

ByEthan Lamb May 3, 2025

Aston Villa will have to go for broke when they welcome PSG to Villa Park in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The Premier League side trails 3-1 after the first leg and, given how dominant the French side has been this season, it will be an extremely tall order for Unai Emery to mastermind a 3-0 win which will secure progress into the last four.

The club take on Southampton in the top flight this weekend. However, Emery will likely make a change or two, especially considering how important the second leg is.

Morgan Rogers shone against the Ligue 1 outfit, but the manager should rest him up ahead of the second leg.

How Morgan Rogers performed against PSG

Despite the 3-1 loss to the current French champions, Rogers was one of Villa’s shining lights. The Englishman opened the scoring after 35 minutes at the Parc des Princes with a nice little finish inside the box to give the away side a confidence boost.

Elsewhere, Rogers also created a big chance, made one key pass, attempted four dribbles – succeeding with one – and was fouled twice during his time on the pitch.

Southampton have already been relegated from the top flight after a dismal season. With this in mind, Emery must ruthlessly ditch Rogers from his starting XI in order to unleash a player who hasn’t had many chances to shine since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in January.

Donyell Malen, however, scored in their last two league outings, against Brighton and Nottingham Forest respectively, indicating that he deserves another chance this weekend.

Why Donyell Malen must start against Southampton

The Netherlands international wasn’t included in Villa’s Champions League squad for the knockout rounds, hence why it makes perfect sense to bring him back into the starting XI this weekend.

Across nine league matches, Malen has scored twice, while having a 22% goal conversion percentage and has even missed two big chances, suggesting he might have had another goal or two with more accurate finishing.

Metric

Bundesliga

Premier League

Goals

2

3

Assists

0

0

Big chances created

0

1

Shots on target per game

0.8

0.4

Goal conversion percentage

22%

16%

During his spell in the Bundesliga, Malen received high praise from his former teammate Mario Götze, who said: “Donyell is extremely fast and very dangerous. If he has a chance, it’s usually a goal, too.”

In the first half of the season for Dortmund, Malen scored five goals for the German side, including one against Real Madrid in the group stages of the Champions League.

Hardly the most prolific tally in the world, yet when compared to his positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues, Malen currently ranks in the top 1% for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.64) and in the top 9% for total shots per 90 (3.47) over the previous 365 days.

These statistics make him the perfect choice for Emery against the Saints. Not only will it give Rogers a rest ahead of the second leg, but unleashing Malen will give him the chance to score for the third Premier League game in a row.

Therefore, the Spanish must axe the England international from the starting XI for his own good, rather than for performance-related reasons, to bring the January addition in.

Emery struck gold on Aston Villa star worth more than Doue & Kvaratskhelia

Aston Villa made a brilliant investment with this player

ByJoe Nuttall Apr 11, 2025

Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith burst onto the scene as Bazball 2.0 began to take shape

Vithushan Ehantharajah10-Sep-2024″Coldplay can’t be number one every week.”So said Joe Root after England succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their final Test of the 2024 home season. His point being that their style is such that, while they have reeled off five wins in a row, results like this are “going to happen from time to time”.It’s not quite how recording artists operate, of course. Certainly not a band who, if they were so inclined, could industrialise the production of their cookie-cutter tear-jerkers. One thing Coldplay do, however, is sell out stadiums, which England have not this summer. The Kia Oval was only a third full for what is usually a showpiece event in the calendar.To be fair to England, that’s not so much on them. Inclement weather and broadly uneven Tests have contributed to an unspectacular home season. Prevalent themes include underfunded opposition and overpriced ticketing.Related

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And yet at the same time, few summers have been this transitional as new blood was sourced to build towards the 2025-26 Ashes. Such has been the rate of change, the average age of England’s XI at the Oval was 26, compared to 32 for the corresponding 2023 Ashes fixture. In pursuit of Bazball refinement, England gave us a Bratball summer.

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James Anderson knew something was up when all of Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key invited him to a Manchester hotel in April. Good news is rarely delivered by three messengers.The meeting itself lasted 90 minutes, not that Anderson was oblivious to what was to be discussed before he walked through the door. England’s greatest ever bowler, fresh from breaching the 700 Test wickets mark, was being put out to pasture.Lord’s would be the farewell, creating a peculiar atmosphere around the season opener against West Indies. On the one hand, Anderson hated the fuss of his 188th and final Test appearance, though did grow to enjoy it. On the other, it acted as a neat distraction for those taking the team forward in a post-Anderson world.Shoaib Bashir played his first home Test after an impressive tour of India was followed by a loan move from Worcestershire to Somerset for first-team action. The Surrey duo of Gus Atkinson, a quick with just 19 first-class appearances to his name, and Jamie Smith, picked as wicketkeeper despite not doing the job for his county, made their debuts. All three were ever-presents for the summer.

“The flipside of introducing new faces is saying goodbye to old ones. Broad, Anderson, Bairstow and Foakes, staples of the first two years of McCullum’s era, are already fading in the rearview mirror”

Bashir came off a “thanks for coming” appearance in that first Test to bowl England to victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge. Second-innings figures of 5 for 41 made him the youngest English spinner to take a five-wicket haul at home, which also happened to be his third outright.Atkinson started with a bang, taking 12 for 106 in his first outing – the best figures for an Englishman on Test debut since 1890 – turning Anderson’s grand closing into his grand opening. A return to Lord’s against Sri Lanka brought with it another five-wicket haul, as well as completing the honours board set with a maiden Test century. All in, 34 dismissals at 20.17 represents an exceptional home summer. Particularly given Atkinson’s front-on, into-the-pitch action, along with his scrambled stock ball, which sets him apart from traditional English seamers.It was perhaps Smith who was the real find. The 24-year-old made the earliest impression – ultimately, by doing nothing at all. With McCullum and Stokes maintaining their stance on leaving training attendance in the hands of the individuals, Smith, ahead of his first cap, decided on having the day off.It was a bold call for someone ahead of such a big moment in their career. But with the team announced 48 hours early, Smith informed Stokes that he felt he had done all his necessary preparation and could probably do with a more relaxed lead-in. The skipper was impressed by the clarity, and, though he would not judge, the bravery of the call. Smith went out and strummed 70 in his maiden Test knock.A century would come at Old Trafford against Sri Lanka after a near-miss in his previous knock against West Indies. And with 23 catches to go with his 487 runs, Smith has rectified a problem position. The keeping conundrum of Jonny Bairstow or Ben Foakes has been solved swiftly and with remarkable distinction.It’s worth noting that all three youngsters have encountered challenges. Smith, a three-format player, noted the grind of Test cricket is something he must manage, even if it had not caught up with him just yet.Jamie Smith has nailed down the wicketkeeper position•Getty Images”Looking back on these six matches has been a learning experience for me of just day-to-day how I need to go about things, in terms of preparation,” he said. “There’s quite a quick turnaround between games.”So [it’s] almost, ‘what do I need to do to be ready?’ It’s a slightly unique situation that I’ve been full at it since back in April, and played nine Championship games in the lead up to these six Test matches. So it’s 15 first-class games, plus the T20s and the Hundred. It’s been a lot.”By the last Test at the Kia Oval, Atkinson’s pace was noticeably down, in part because of a thigh injury that has subsequently seen him rested for the upcoming ODI series with Australia. From a technical point of view, Bashir’s lack of “go-to” ball is something he needs to work on.

****

With six Tests still to come this year, split evenly between Pakistan and New Zealand, such learnings will have to come on duty. McCullum and Stokes are keen to hot-house talent within the confines of the Test squad, as much because of the proximity of the next Ashes and the fact they believe their environment promotes accelerated progress.Josh Hull is the latest example of that. After being called up to replace Mark Wood – now out until the new year – Hull spent a week grooving in the Lord’s nets.Just seven weeks after walking out at the same venue, Anderson was back on the Nursery Ground. This time, as the team’s bowling consultant, fine-tuning a kid born 15 months after he made his Test debut.Josh Hull claimed three wickets on debut against Sri Lanka•Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesTall, left-arm, but with a Division Two bowling average of 182.50 this season, Hull needed work. Anderson set about shaving off a couple of rough edges. A slightly skittish run-up was tidied. An alignment at the crease that led a collapsed front leg was adjusted.There was nothing overly technical, but enough for Hull to shine in the lead-up to the final Test of the summer and sneak a spot in the XI. Impressing McCullum and Stokes with his movement and bounce helped, as well as a handy spell against stand-in captain Ollie Pope in the nets.Three wickets, all in the first innings, showcased promise, though the rawness was evident throughout with a lack of control. Nevertheless, a spot for Hull on the tour of Pakistan came through on Tuesday. England are keen on an extra month to polish, believing they are onto something special.

****

The flipside of introducing new faces is saying goodbye to old ones. Broad, Anderson, Bairstow and Foakes, staples of the first two years of McCullum’s era, are already fading in the rearview mirror.Dan Lawrence, a passenger for the last 18 months, has been dropped off after unsuccessfully moonlighting as an opener in the absence of Zak Crawley. Jordan Cox, four years Lawrence’s junior, is now riding spare.The other knock-on effect comes within. Established players like Pope and Harry Brook have been shifted up in responsibility. In turn, the acting skipper and vice for Sri Lanka’s tour have been shunted into intriguing junctures as far as their Test careers are concerned. Neither can rest on “figuring things out” around more inexperienced company.By the end, England called upon 16 players during the Test season. Of the 15 still active, only six have experience in Australian conditions. It speaks to the volume of change, but also the need to try different things ahead of the next Ashes to rectify consecutive 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 losses.As such, the value of this near-perfect home season against imperfect opposition is something of an unknown. It may not have been a memorable summer, but it could be remembered fondly depending on how things pan out in two winter’s time.

The New Zealand offspinner started out as a keeper-batter before turning to slow bowling. Now he’s front and centre in his team’s attack on the subcontinent

Deivarayan Muthu16-Jan-2023Michael Bracewell was nicknamed “Beast” by Sam Wells, his former team-mate at Otago, because of his intensity during gym workouts, and the name has stuck. His role, however, has kept changing over the years.Bracewell used to keep wicket and bat at the top for Otago back in the day, but after he stepped out of his comfort zone and moved to Wellington, he got an opportunity to roll his arm over more often. He isn’t a big turner of the ball and doesn’t have a bagful of variations, but his accurate offspin has seen him emerge as the third prong in New Zealand’s spin attack, behind Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi.On the recent ODI leg of the Pakistan tour, which New Zealand won 2-1, Bracewell gave up just 117 runs in 30 overs for four wickets, his economy rate of 3.90 the best among all bowlers in the series. Bracewell has also contributed with the ball on flat pitches at home, but it is his remarkable control in Pakistan that has encouraged New Zealand to play three spinners, plus part-timer Glenn Phillips, in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup in India later this year.Related

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“Yeah, it has been an interesting process,” Bracewell says ahead of the ODI series opener against India. “I got to bowl a lot more in Wellington when Jeetan Patel retired, and I put in a lot of work with him while he was there, and suddenly I was getting more opportunities to bowl because though we had some really good spinners, they were all turning the ball away from the right-hander and turning it into the left-hander.”So getting the opportunity to bowl in Wellington was cool, and obviously now for New Zealand my role is mainly as a bowler and batting down at No.7. So it has been an interesting transition, but I’m really enjoying it and learning a lot along the way. It’s one of those things that being around guys like Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi… I’m learning lots about spin bowling and trying to put it into practice as quickly as I can.”While Sodhi often gets the ball to rip and Santner relentlessly attacks the stumps with subtle variations, Bracewell brings something different to New Zealand’s spin attack: drift. He is used to working with the breeze for Wellington at the Basin Reserve and also had international success by using the breeze to his advantage. In the series decider in Karachi last Friday, Bracewell fooled Babar Azam with drift and dip, having him stumped for 4 off 13 balls.”The prevailing wind there is really nice to bowl into,” Bracewell says of bowling at Wellington’s home ground. “It’s probably a bit more challenging for me when there’s no breeze. Then I have to work harder to get the ball to drift. But it [drift] is something I’ve had to deal with pretty quickly in Wellington and it’s something I try and use to my advantage.”In Pakistan, Bracewell also fronted up to operate in the powerplay and handcuffed the batters by bowling into the pitch. Bowling in the powerplay is easier than doing the job in the middle overs, he thinks.Bracewell bowls in the first ODI in Pakistan. His economy rate of 3.90 was the best across both teams in the series•Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images”I like to think of batters trying to attack spinners in powerplay,” he says. “It makes things nice and simple. You sort of know that the batter is going to come and try to hit you, so you can bowl defensively there. Through the middle, it’s a little bit tougher, where you try to weigh up when they’re going to take a risk and try and read it as much as you can. In the powerplay certainly, international batters try and put pressure on spinners, so you sort of know how a batsman is going to try and attack you and try and you can defend from there.”Whereas through the middle you always have to weigh up that balance of attacking and defending. So I think it keeps things simple when you’re bowling in the powerplay and you have to try to bowl your best ball as much as you can and not give a batter too much width.”New Zealand have always had a large pool of fast bowlers. Despite the absence of Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Matt Henry and Adam Milne, they tested Pakistan in Pakistan. They are now building similar depth on the spin front too. Santner, Sodhi and Bracewell aside, left-arm wristspinner Michael Rippon and left-arm fingerspinner Rachin Ravindra have been part of the team’s white-ball mix in the recent past. Bracewell attributes the overseas success of New Zealand’s spinners to their accuracy on the easy-paced bash-through-the-line tracks at home.”In New Zealand, it’s pretty hard to bowl spin. I think you have to be really accurate on grounds that don’t offer a lot of assistance to a spin bowler, and also the size of the boundaries [is smaller],” Bracewell says. “You have to be super-accurate and really adaptable, and I think that puts you in good stead when you go around the world, because you can’t rely on the pitch to give you the assistance. You really have to try and beat batters in the air, and when you get to conditions that do turn a little bit, it’s probably a different style of bowling. You have to probably bowl a little bit quicker and into the surface to get something out of it.”Bracewell also showcased his ball-striking ability when he powered New Zealand’s successful chase of 301 from 120 for 5, with an unbeaten 127 off 82 balls against Ireland in Malahide last year. From standing tall in the crease, he has now lowered his stance to generate more power and access more areas in the field. He backs himself to be flexible and grow into his batting role with more opportunities.”Batting in the lower order, you sort of come out and face a variety of bowling – sometimes spin and sometimes pace,” he says. “You have to learn to be adaptable and come out of any situation and try and be effective. For me, I try to keep things as simple as possible and try and keep my head still and watch the ball. Then try and react. Hopefully, the situation will take care of itself. It’s certainly something that’s a challenge. I’m probably used to batting at the top of the order [for Wellington] and starting against pace, but [batting down the order] is something you have to learn pretty quickly and try and understand what’s required of your role at the time.Bracewell with Glenn Phillips during their partnership of 66 in the first ODI, in Karachi. Bracewell top-scored for New Zealand with 43 from No. 7 in that game•Associated Press”I think I’m slowly learning how to bat down the order a little more and I feel it’s something I can add a lot of value to the New Zealand side [with] once I get my head around it a little bit more and understand the role a bit better. But I’m really enjoying the role I’ve been given at the moment and I enjoy being out there in those pressure situations at the end of the game, trying to get us to a decent total or get us over the line while chasing.”Michael isn’t the only Bracewell who is pushing for a World Cup spot. His cousin Doug, the Central Districts quick, is also on tour in India, having replaced the injured Henry. With Tim Southee being rested for the series in India and Trent Boult in action in the ILT20 in the Emirates, Doug might get a look-in for New Zealand at some point. Bracewell is looking forward to the prospect of playing together with his cousin.”We didn’t spend a whole lot of time growing up together because I grew up in the bottom of the South Island and he grew up in the North Island, so we used to see each other a couple of times a year and we played both rugby and cricket,” he says. “But it’s more so in recent years that we’ve been playing domestic cricket together, and now we’ve spent more time together at international cricket. So it was certainly an honour to receive my first [ODI] cap from Doug and it’s always awesome to take the field with him.”This India tour is a dry run for the ODI World Cup in the country later this year. “With the World Cup being in the subcontinent, these tours [Pakistan and India] are hugely beneficial for us and for guys who haven’t played a lot in the subcontinent,” Bracewell says. “For the guys who have played more, it’s a chance to refine their games and going back to what really works in the subcontinent. It has been hugely beneficial to play against a really strong Pakistan side and it’s going to be no different against India.”They [India] are obviously a really strong side and are coming off a strong performance against Sri Lanka. But it’s just about keeping learning and try to improve as a side. We’re really looking forward to the challenge of playing against India in India and learning as a group, with that World Cup at the back of our mind. It’s something we want to keep striving to get better for.”Bracewell was relegated to the bench during last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, but he could have a bigger role to play, with ball and bat, in the World Cup in India – and also before that.

With 70 to win from five overs, should Pollard play it safe and target the other Sunrisers bowlers?

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2020In , we present our writers with a tricky cricketing situation and ask them to captain their way out of it.Scenario: The Mumbai Indians are playing the Sunrisers Hyderabad and need 70 from five overs. Six wickets have fallen, and Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar are in the middle, with Trent Boult, Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah to come. The Sunrisers bring on Rashid Khan for his last over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has two left, and Siddarth Kaul and Khaleel Ahmed have one each – all three bowlers have gone for nine runs per over so far. Pollard was faced with this same situation versus Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League recently. He chose to block Khan, taking just four off the over, and then got the remaining 66 in the next four. As captain of Mumbai, you can send a note out to Pollard, telling him how to approach the final five overs, what to do against Khan, and who else to target. What does the note say?Gaurav Sundararaman: Seventy from five overs has been achieved eight out of 15 times in the IPL. So it is not impossible, but Pollard needs to have at least two overs of 20-plus runs. Pollard’s stats against Khan at the death while chasing are: 18 runs from 15 balls with one four and one six. So, the note would be to play out Khan and target the seamers. Also, I would ask Pollard to try to keep strike for all 30 balls. Score only fours and sixes and refuse singles, barring off the last balls of overs. He just needs 15 or so boundary balls out of the 30 balls left, so some dots are fine.Sreshth Shah: You need to be there till the end. Minimise risk against Khan and shield your partner. A couple of twos and a single off the last ball is just fine. Kumar will likely bowl the 18th and 20th overs, so attack in the 17th and 19th. You can put pressure on Kaul and Ahmed by getting boundaries off their first balls. That could make them miss their yorkers, giving you some full tosses and length balls.Don’t commit to your shots too early. Feel free to say no to singles off Kaul and Ahmed. You need to face all 12 balls from them and get at least 36 of the remaining 70. That will leave you with 29 to get off Kumar. His yorkers are accurate, so stand outside your crease to mess with his length. Aim for 12 to 14 in the 18th and, if things go to plan, you’ll need 15 to 17 in the 20th. Once there are six balls to go, the pressure will be on the Sunrisers, and we back you to finish the game. You’ve done this before.Karthik Krishnaswamy: As Mumbai’s captain, I’d just leave it to Pollard to figure out how to attack which bowler – the man has played more than 500 T20 games and won so many of them from situations like this. I’d leave it to him to decide whether to play out Khan or go after him. There’s an opportunity from the other end, though, if the Sunrisers put extra fielders in the ring and look to keep Chahar on strike. If that’s the case, I’d tell Chahar to pick two areas he’s confident of hitting boundaries in and go after balls that give him a chance to hit into those areas. If the Sunrisers set regular fields to him, I’d tell him to take the singles on offer and give Pollard the strike as much as possible.Vishal Dikshit: Mumbai’s situation is similar to the one the Chennai Super Kings found themselves in against the Sunrisers in the 2018 Qualifier. The Super Kings were 92 for 7 and needed 48 from 30. Faf du Plessis was batting with the tail and had one over of Khan to face. He took just one run from that over, but the Super Kings still won with five balls to spare. So, my obvious message to Pollard would be to play out Khan’s entire over, even if it is for a maiden. Once Khan is done, back yourself to the hilt against Kaul and Ahmed because Kumar has a tricky knuckleball, which makes it tougher for batsmen to clear the boundary.Kaul tries a lot of yorkers in the death, so I’d advise Pollard to bat like his team-mate Hardik Pandya: go deep in the crease and across towards off stump, and target the long-on boundary. One last note: don’t give the strike to Bumrah and Malinga.Shashank Kishore: I’m going to assume this is happening in Sharjah, where the boundaries are small. For the last four overs, you have two bowlers short on international experience and a Kumar who may be a bit rusty after some injuries and niggles over the past year. So there’s reason to show Khan respect. You can still look for boundaries down the ground as the straight boundaries are probably as big as the ones in your backyard, but only if Khan misses his lengths. If you get four, you can safely take a single late in the over. It doesn’t matter if Chahar gets out on the last ball. Now, down to the last four. You need something in the range of 60 to 66. Dew will play its part, the ball will skid on. Trust your instincts, hit through the line. Even mis-hits will fly. Watch out for Kumar’s knuckleball – hold your shape for a split second against him. Watch, watch, don’t commit early. Even if you play 18 out of the 24 balls, we’ve got a good chance of winning.

David Moyes’ first spell in charge of Everton lasted 12 years, ending in 2013. He certainly left his mark on the football club, helping them to qualify for Europe numerous times during his first stint on Merseyside.

Some iconic players donned that famous Blue shirt in Moyes’ first spell in charge of the Toffees. Wayne Rooney is probably the most famous. Everton’s Scottish boss can take the credit for bringing the former England international into their first team in the first place.

One of the most notable Premier League full-back pairings of Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines, were also given their first chance under Moyes.

Another player who will live long in the memory of Toffees fans is Tim Cahill.

Cahill’s most iconic moments under Moyes

There is a strong case to be made that former Toffees attacking midfielder Cahill is the greatest Australian footballer of all time. He left a huge stamp on Everton during his 278-game career at Goodison Park.

Every single one of those appearances came under the tutelage of Moyes. The Scot first brought him to Merseyside in the 2004/05 season, and platformed him so well, to the point Cahill left the club with 68 goals and 29 assists, more often than not from the number 10 role.

The Blue Kangaroo, as he was lovingly dubbed during his time on Merseyside, had some iconic moments under Moyes. His first campaign saw him bag 11 Premier League goals, the most he managed during his time at the club.

Who can forget that iconic boxing celebration when he scored, where Cahill would punch the corner flag.

They tended to go hand in hand with his headed efforts, a real trademark of the Australian’s attacking play.

Moyes would surely love to have Cahill in his side today, a player who ‘conjured moments of brilliance when they were needed most’, as Russell Jackson once said in The Guardian.

Well, perhaps there is a player who can replicate his impact.

Moyes’ new Tim Cahill

In their current squad under Moyes, Everton have a few players who can make a real difference. Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye have been the two real standouts at the Hill Dickinson Stadium this season.

Yet, it could be the case that Carlos Alcaraz could be seen as Moyes’ new Cahill, a link that football analyst Ben Mattinson made. The attacking midfielder turned his January loan move permanent this summer and has made a good impact in his short time at the club so far.

The 22-year-old, who earns £20k per week on Merseyside, has featured 23 times for the club so far. In that time, he’s found the back of the net three times and assisted the same number of goals.

He averages a goal or assist every 178 minutes in Blue.

In his first start for Everton, away to Crystal Palace last season, the Argentine “sensation,” as football scout Antonio Mango described him, assisted the first and scored the winner in a 2-1 victory.

There was certainly a little bit of Cahill about that goal, too. Alcaraz followed up a loose ball in the penalty box and smashed home the winner from 12 yards out.

It was a clinical goal, and certainly a brilliant contribution when his side most needed him, just like Cahill used to produce.

The stats from last season further highlight how he can create big moments in the same vein as Cahill.

For example, he averaged 0.7 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, placing him in the top 7% of Premier League attacking midfielders.

Alcaraz – 2024/25 PL stats
Stat (per 90)	Number	Percentile vs. attackers
Goals and assists	0.58	82nd
Shots on target	1.4	98th
Passes into penalty area	2.21	88th
Goal-creating actions	0.7	7%
Carries into final third	2.56	88th
Stats from FBref

That goal-creating actions stat, and others, show how well the 22-year-old is always involved in the attacking play for Everton, even if he’s not directly scoring or assisting himself.

The determination with which he plays is certainly similar to Cahill.

Moyes would love a player of Cahill’s profile in his current side. In Alcaraz, he might have that player, who can produce magic moments from nowhere, during this exciting new era at Bramley Moore Dock.

Moyes has unearthed Everton's brand new Fellaini with "enormous potential"

This Everton star could recreate Fellaini’s role under Moyes

By
Joe Nuttall

Oct 9, 2025

Baseball is a game of feel.

While the analytics movement has injected the element of numbers into the game, at the end of the day, players and managers still need to trust what their eyes are telling them.

And there was a perfect example of player and manager doing just that during the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto had tossed six no-hit innings and, sitting at 90 pitches, came out to pitch the seventh inning. The Dodgers hurler immediately surrendered a leadoff single to the Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, then after a wild pitch and two outs via ground balls, walked Gabriel Moreno to put runners on first and third with one out.

Given the stakes of the moment and the fact that the Dodgers had lost four straight entering the game, it wouldn't have been surprising to see manager Dave Roberts turn to the bullpen to get out of the jam.

But Roberts, trusting his instincts, locked eyes with Yamamoto from the dugout. The righthander gave him a nod, which Roberts returned.

Here's the cool moment, courtesy of Jacob Brownson on X.

Seeing the exchange, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior, on the top step of the dugout ready to emerge for a mound visit, thought better of it.

The gut call from both Yamamoto and Roberts paid off. Yamamoto struck out the next batter, Diamondbacks designated hitter Pavin Smith, on six pitches to end the inning and preserve the Dodgers' lead.

While Los Angeles's bullpen went on to surrender the lead in the top of the ninth and 10th innings, the Dodgers mounted a rally in the bottom half of the 10th to earn the win.

Yamamoto ended up not factoring into the decision, but it was his ability to get out of the seventh inning jam that proved crucial in the game's outcome.

عزز فريق باير ليفركوزن الألماني تقدمه أمام مانشستر سيتي بهدف ثانٍ، خلال مباراة الفريقين بمنافسات بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا 2025-2026.

ويستضيف ملعب “الاتحاد” مباراة الفريقين، حيث يستقبل مانشستر سيتي الإنجليزي خصمه باير ليفركوزن الألماني، في الجولة الخامسة من مرحلة الدوري، لدوري أبطال أوروبا.

وتمكن باير ليفركوزن من تسجيل الهدف الثاني في شباك مانشستر سيتي، وذلك في الدقيقة 54 من عمر المباراة.

وأحرز باتريك شيك الهدف الثاني لصالح باير ليفركوزن من رأسية سكنت شباك جيمس ترافورد حارس مرمى مانشستر سيتي.

وكان باير ليفركوزن قد تقدم بهدف أول أمام أصحاب الأرض، في الدقيقة 24 عن طريق لاعبه أليكس جريمالدو.

Ex-Everton star Yannick Bolasie has hit out at Gary Neville's punditry, claiming the Manchester United legend "thinks he’s the second coming of Pep Guardiola". Neville was on Sky Sports commentary during the Premier League clash between the Toffees and the Red Devils as Ruben Amorim's side suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss against 10 men.

• Man Utd's unbeaten streak ends

  After a torrid start to their 2025-26 campaign, United began to pick up form in the Premier League as they registered three wins in a row against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton. At the start of November, they were held to back-to-back draws by Nottingham Forest and Tottenham. After a five-match unbeaten run, many believed that the days of agony were finally behind United as they were looking like a close-knit unit for the first time in the Amorim era. 

  However, United were brought crashing back down to earth on Monday evening as they went down 1-0 against a 10-man Everton side. Idrissa Gueye was sent off in the 13th minute after he fought with his own team-mate Michael Keane on the pitch. The hosts, though, could not capitalise on their man advantage and instead conceded around the half-hour mark as former Chelsea man Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the all-important winning goal.

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  Ex-Everton star slammed Gary Neville

  Former United star Neville, who was on broadcasting duty with Sky Sports for the game, failed to impress ex-Everton and Crystal Palace player Yannick Bolasie with his punditry skills. The 36-year-old Congolese winger took a shot at the Red Devils legend on social media.

  Bolasie wrote on X: "I’m watching this game on mute. I respect opinions but not when he’s giggling all over the mic thinking he’s the second coming of guardiola, allow it…great player but the tactics give it a rest laaaad."

• Amorim wished United played like Everton

  Amorim was understandably unhappy with the team's performance at home against a team reduced to 10 men as he went on to claim that United deserved to lose, while heaping praise on David Moyes' side for showing fighting spirit.

  After the game, the Portuguese coach told reporters: "I think they were a better team with 11. They then worked really well with 10 men for 70 minutes. So I think we deserved to lose. We didn't play well. We didn't play with the right intensity. I know which point we are in the moment. So we are not there, not even near the point that we should be to fight for the best positions in the league. We have a lot to do, and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect. I feel afraid of returning of this feeling of last season, that is my biggest concern. So we need to work together. We are going to work together. I'm not going. The players are trying, but we need to be better so we have training tomorrow, and we are going to prepare the next one."

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  Are United ready to challenge for a top five finish?

  United had the perfect opportunity to reclaim their place among the top five teams in the Premier League after Bournemouth dropped points against West Ham, Arsenal thrashed Tottenham in the north London derby and both Liverpool and Manchester City lost their respective fixtures. However, with the lost against Everton, United have dropped to 10th.

  Amorim admitted that United are still not ready to challenge the elite teams in the division. The Portuguese added: "It is my responsibility to explain the game, and today, it was not one mistake of one individual, it was the team. The way we saw the results of the weekend. We should get inside the pitch with a different level of excitement, that is, that is my feeling. It doesn't matter if you are playing well, making good passes, but the feeling and Old Trafford was there, saying we are all here to give a big step up, and I felt that we were not ready again."

  The Red Devils next face Crystal Palace in a difficult away fixture on Sunday in the Premier League.