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Remarkable spectacle proved a winning tactic, though few at Lord’s will want to see it reenacted

Vithushan Ehantharajah01-Jul-2023Having been undone by a desire to hook anything and everything in their first innings, England had a bright idea. Why not try and tempt Australia to be just as foolish?On the face of it, the reasoning was deeply flawed. Australia arrived on day four with the match situation very much in their favour, resuming their second innings on 130 for 2, with an overnight lead of 221. They had no reason to play (short) ball, no obligation to do as England had in chaotically flailing with cross-batted shots to relinquish their strong position. They had already seen England jam their hands in the toaster – there was no need to burn themselves in similar fashion.And yet, they did. Not straight away, mind. This was more a reluctant, slow-burn set of brain fades. All of their final eight batters succumbed to a nonstop, at times nonsensical, barrage of short-pitch bowling, seemingly out of boredom.Related

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The results were broadly similar, and arguably more impactful from England’s perspective as a usually unflappable Steven Smith swung Josh Tongue to Zak Crawley at backward square leg. A dismissal all the more surprising given Travis Head had been dropped the ball before. Even with the wake-up call to switch back on still ringing in his ears, the most switched-on batter in world cricket was dozy.Australia’s decision of when they might let England bat was taken out of their hands with mistimed pulls, the odd hook and a few pop-ups to close catchers. All for the addition of just 149 runs across 56.1 overs.This was very different to Australia’s more calculated approach with the ball. Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Tongue dealt almost exclusively in deliveries pitching on their side of the pitch (James Anderson only bowled two overs after his regulation opening foray). Pretty much every ball after lunch was banged in – 98% according to Sky’s coverage – and it continued even when a lame Nathan Lyon hobbled out to the middle and was clearly going to struggle with anything aimed at his stumps.In total, England bowled 302 “short” balls, including those adjudged no balls and wides. An entire ODI innings (and change) trying to strike oil through the very middle of Lord’s. Absurd, frankly. By stumps, the gloss of that effort had been chipped by a fuller Australian approach which left England four down with 257 still to get.Nevertheless, it was remarkable to see an English attack shedding a lifetime of fuller lengths, nip, swing, wobble for this modern Bodyline remake. The effort put in, particularly by Anderson, Broad and Robinson, suggests three days will not be a long enough turnaround to replenish their energy levels ahead of the third Test at Headingley which begins on Thursday. They will have gone to bed very sore.None more than Ben Stokes. A 12-over spell after lunch was something of a throwback, albeit with the very new proposition of doing it on one knee. The discomfort ramped up with each over, and in turn the worry if such an approach was feasible considering he possesses the best bouncers of the group. But part of his captaincy has been about never asking his players to do something he wouldn’t. So here he was, tearing in and, as a result, tearing himself apart. The wicket he pocketed of Josh Hazlewood was momentary relief.It was sore on the eyes, too. There were large passages of impasse, particularly during a 20-over stand between Alex Carey and Cameron Green which produced just 42 runs. At times, as balls were either collected down the leg side by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow or missed as they arrived to him on the bounce, you wondered if this was doing the image of Test cricket more harm than good.”I don’t know,” answered an honest Marcus Trescothick, England’s batting coach, when asked if he thought it was good viewing.He observed both sides had taken different approaches to facing the barrage and it was hard to say at this juncture which way was best. Granted, England’s errors were more high profile, with Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Harry Brook careless as they contributed to a nosedive from 188 for 1 to 325 all out. Could Australia have committed a bit more and in turn given England a stiffer chase than 371?

“When the ball gets old and the pitch gets so flat, you might see a lot more of it in future times to come. And how that will adapt Test cricket, I have no idea at this point”Marcus Trescothick

“We lost wickets to the short ball, of course we did,” Trescothick said. “But I think over the course of today, let’s put that in context: when Australia were batting, they didn’t take on the short ball as much but they still lost wickets and didn’t score as many runs.”As Australia’s second innings wound down, the conflicting emotions about whether any of this was good, interesting, helpful or even legal – given at times there were more than two shoulder-height balls per over – raged on. But one thing Trescothick was certain on was this was a tactic he expects to see more and more. England were able to control the run rate and make inroads on a surface seemingly conducive to neither, certainly not at the same time.”It might change the way the game is played,” Trescothick said. “When the ball gets old and the pitch gets so flat, you might see a lot more of it in future times to come. And how that will adapt Test cricket, I have no idea at this point. But it was very, very different in comparison to what we see. We could be seeing something that might need to be understood or adapted in the future. Because it was different, and not Test cricket as we generally know it.”It’s worth pointing out that, well, bowling short on quiet decks has been a thing since forever. Neil Wagner has made an entire career out this, and it was only back in February that his pitch-pounding efforts inspired New Zealand to that famous one-run win in Wellington.For those keeping track, add “bouncers” to “outswingers” and “scoring boundaries” as the latest things this England side are taking credit for. In all seriousness, there was something admirable about such back-breaking pragmatism from a group of bowlers who are not getting much help from their batters.Trescothick anticipated Australia will move to the short ball at some point on day five, and he is not wrong about that. But they will do so with a bit more nuance, even if they know England are trigger-happy hookers. Their extra pace, as evidenced by a second bouncing out of Root – Cummins with successive rising bumpers that first shocked England’s best batter before sending him back with one he was powerless to avoid – gives them a far greater edge. And, frankly, it is eminently more watchable.Therein lies the main takeaway. England did what they had to do and did it well. But for all who were there watching the self-proclaimed entertainers hammer the middle of the pitch, the prevailing hope was for better pitches going forward so we never have to sit through this again.Until Sunday, of course, when England will have to face down the short ball again. They will need to exercise more caution and suspicion, and Ben Duckett may consider himself lucky to still be there after his wayward swish to Mitchell Starc at deep third for a controversial end to one of the more surreal days of Test cricket. Otherwise, they will find themselves nursing a 2-0 deficit in an Ashes that may be remembered as a series in which they gave so much and achieved so little.

The ACU general manager Alex Marshall on the extensive efforts being taken to clamp down on corruption in cricket

Peter Della Penna17-Mar-2021How do you distinguish between investigating activities such as illegal betting and pitchsiding [relaying info from inside the ground to beat the delay in live televised broadcast], and investigating specific approaches made to players for spot-fixing or match-fixing?All bookies in India are illegal and unregulated, because betting is illegal and the government has not legalised it. But betting in India is widespread and the volumes are absolutely enormous. You’ve been to matches where there’s 12 to 50 people in the ground and yet we know that the betting volumes on that match can be quite substantial.Related

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The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) has significant sums of money being bet on it. What you need to distinguish though is that while all the bookies are illegal and unregulated, most of them are just bookies. All they’re doing is taking bets on cricket and we’re not interested in them. Let’s say there are 1,000 bookies. Of all those bookies, a very small portion are corrupt and they are the ones we are interested in because what they then do is use their wealth to find intermediaries – people who know the players and might trust them – to make approaches in return for a sum of money to underperform in a phase of the match.Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar are really good examples. The [corruptors] wanted to control the opening batting, the opening bowling and the captain. So that is the absolute ideal for them. The opening batsmen both score slowly. Those small number of corrupt bookies take unlimited bets on how many runs will be scored in the opening phase of the match or the powerplay, and they’ll also take unlimited bets on the number of runs conceded by those bowlers because if they manage to corrupt the bowlers, they know they’re going to concede more than 12 or 15 runs in an over.They’ve got no connection to pitchsiders who are feeding information. In some countries it is illegal and therefore the police can take action, but it’s not in the anti-corruption code. It happens in every single sport. They are a nuisance and to the legitimate regulated betting industry, they create a loss problem for them because they’re getting an advantage over the normal punter who is sitting at home and is getting the broadcast. So it’s worth separating the pitchsiders, which is a thing in every sport including cricket.The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) has significant sums of money being bet on it•Afghanistan Cricket BoardThe sums mentioned in the Shaiman Anwar and Mohammad Naveed investigation would have been anywhere from seven to ten years of the annual salary in the UAE central contract structure at the time..What makes the top Associates so attractive to the corruptors is the relatively low cricket income of people from Nepal, UAE, Oman, some of the African cricket nations. They are being paid very little if anything at all. If you look at the bottom end of the Full Members, Zimbabwe would be a good example. They are among the poorest of the Full Member nations and we see players there being offered $30,000 to commit corrupt conduct. We see players in the Associates getting offered $10,000. We see players in European club matches getting offered 3,000 Euros. So that’s the sort of scale of the offers. An offer of $10,000 to someone in some of these places is an awful lot of money. An offer of $30,000 in Zimbabwe would probably buy you a house.So taking that into consideration, including the resources available to the ICC to police events such as the ICC regional ones that are now going to be broadcast, what kind of enhanced strategies do you plan to employ to curb some of these activities? The principle is that we all at the ICC, including the integrity unit, want to see the growth and development of cricket. The idea that the Associates are going to get better and more extensive coverage is absolutely brilliant and we celebrate it along with everyone else. We also recognise that the more popular any form of cricket becomes, the more likely it is that corruptors will target it. So we’re doing a whole load of different things. One of the things is we’re working with all the Associates, but particularly the ones who are higher risk, to provide them with material around education and what they should do in the event of anyone receiving an approach or things for them to look out for in the way they run their matches. We will also risk assess which of those matches are most likely to be targeted and then we put anti-corruption resources into that particular match.We’ve done that for example in matches involving UAE, Oman, Nepal and others recently, particularly where they’ve had three and four-team series events, and we then put an anti-corruption person at the event. But the best protection of all is that anyone in that squad who has any suspicious social media approach, comment, a new sponsor who suddenly comes in…. anything that seems too good to be true, as long as they alert us immediately, we can intervene against the corruptors.We generally know who the corruptors are and who is behind the approaches and then we can disrupt them. The playing group are getting better and better and more confident at sharing with us anything that seems a bit odd or dodgy. In the last couple of years, we’ve gone from 200 pieces of intelligence coming in each year to over 1,000 pieces of intelligence. Most of that comes from people within cricket saying, ‘This slightly odd thing happened’ or ‘My agent had an odd approach’ or the classic line, ‘We can probably get you into this tournament, but you’ll have to do some things for the owners.’ That would be the line you hear a lot. It’s absolutely spot on that for the corruptors, if they can corrupt someone in a small franchise tournament who might then go on and play international Associate member cricket, they’ve then got an investment in that player who is completely compromised and they’ll utilize that when it comes to the international matches.”Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar were late in their careers and about to retire. They were seen as worth approaching”•Peter Della PennaI know there were at least three USA players – according to a USA Cricket official who then forwarded the information on to the ICC ACU – that prior to the Global T20 Canada were approached and told, ‘We will draft you in if you help us fix games. If you don’t want to help us fix games, then we just won’t draft you.’ Those are the classic lines. ‘You come in. We’ll get you a place. Everyone else is doing it.’ They’ll probably throw in a few names that the player has heard of and say, ‘They’re already doing it. All you have to do is do what the owners say in a couple of matches. It won’t affect whether you win or lose and we’ll give you an extra whatever the figure is on top of your tournament fee if you work with us.’ So what you’re describing is absolutely the classic approach by the 10 or 12 corruptors that we know are operating around all these events.Most of the Associate players at the 2019 Global T20 Canada were setting reserve prices for the draft at the $3,000 minimum. A few elite Associate players had reserve prices set at $10,000 or $15,000. Sandeep Lamichhane set his price at $60,000. Shaiman Anwar and Mohammad Naveed had their reserve prices originally set at the minimum and then a few days before the draft, suddenly they were resubmitted into the draft with new reserve prices of $25,000 and $30,000 respectively, and both of them were drafted. When things like that happen, being sold for a much higher value than the market would indicate, does that raise a red flag?Yes. A couple of things raise red flags in those franchise tournaments. One is unusual pricing of the players. The other, which you also mentioned, is late changes just before the draft or someone is brought in who the coach or management weren’t asking about and then suddenly they appear as a player. We’ve covered recent franchise tournaments where you see exactly that type of behavior and in some cases it’s because the owners – who are shown as the official owners – actually are not. They’ve been put forward by corruptors who are behind the scenes. They put forward names of people who when checked won’t cause any problems. But once the activity starts and once the corrupt approaches start, we then normally can work out who these new owners are really connected to, who is behind it, and disrupt it.You also have to remember you get a lot of people prior to tournaments who pretend that they are involved in the tournament for the owners and still try and corrupt the players. So alongside corrupt owners, which does happen sometimes, are people who claim to be connected to the owners but they really are freelance corruptors who are claiming that connection just to get the player who has already been selected to do corrupt activity for them.Payments are offered, compromises are attempted. Even honey traps, which seems like something from the 1970s but very recently we dealt with cases with the use of a prostitute to compromise a player and then the corruptors move in the next day and try to get the person to work for them. I think perhaps reassuringly, the fact that we usually pretty quickly identify who the corruptors are, how they’re operating, which new phone they’ve got, which new name they’re using, means we tend to disrupt them and in recent franchise events we’ve snuffed it out just before the start of the event because we realised what was happening. In the Qualifiers in the UAE, we took that action just before the start of the event and we’re pretty certain we prevented corrupt activity from happening in that tournament.

“It goes back to the basic principle, which is to recognise that something about this doesn’t feel right. Reject it, if it’s a stranger bearing gifts, just start by rejecting it. Talk to your agent, talk to your manager, and then report it to us.”

You said before that when you identify higher risk players in teams, then you put extra resources in place. How do you define “high risk” or “higher risk”? It’s usually a combination of the interest in that team or those teams, the profile of the match or tournament, and then the susceptibility of the people taking part possibly because of low wages or they haven’t been paid recently. So when I talk about growth and development, which is what we all want, if you look at the women’s game for example, there was very little interest at one point in the women’s game. Clearly, interest has risen significantly recently. As you’ve seen its profile rise and more interest in the matches, that’s always then matched across in the betting market and therefore we finally saw the first proper corrupt approaches made to women’s players. Compared to trying to corrupt a top-level men’s game where the squad is really well-protected, they know everyone, they know what to look out for, you can’t just come in as a bat sponsor offering $10,000 because they’ve already got a bat sponsor offering $200,000.That’s just an example but Under-19 cricket, I’d say the same thing. As Under-19 cricket becomes more popular and the tournament gets more prominence, the corruptors will look for the most vulnerable teams taking part. Within the teams, anyone they might spot that they think will be susceptible to going out for a shopping trip and spending $2,000 on trainers and t-shirts, that might be enough with a 17-year-old who is very poor and its their first time away from home at an international event. It’s the same with Associate level cricket. If there is interest in the match, interest in the profiles of the teams, there will be a decent betting market. They then look for which of those players might be susceptible. In the UAE example, Naveed and Shaiman Anwar fit into that very well. They were late in their career. They’re about to retire. They were seen as worth approaching.Alex Marshall – “We currently have got 42 live investigations. In the last couple of years, we usually have between 40 and 50 live investigations”•Getty ImagesWhen you say ‘interest in a team’ or in a T20 franchise league, comparatively speaking the APL was happening at the same time as an Australia vs Pakistan Test match. Traditional metrics would indicate that interest would be more focused on a match between two highly ranked international sides. Yet, the betting volume for the APL was out of proportion dwarfing the Test match…But if you look at where the interest is in India which is the betting market that we’re talking, the APL was being broadcast in India. It was being done in the short form which is most popular and compared to a Test, with its evening short form matches the APL is a much more attractive option to the viewing audience. Therefore, they’re going to bet on it. Therefore, the bookies have got decent liquidity in the market. Therefore, it was worth approaching people in that tournament, and they did and we’ve still got investigations coming to an end from that event.They would seek broadcasts particularly in the subcontinent because of who they were getting to take part. So it already had a particular exposure on television in the subcontinent. But you then also have to look at…. corruptors like weak governance and they like chaos because it allows them in. They love franchise events where all the teams have not been sold with three weeks to go and the people running the event are desperate to secure the next owner or the next two owners at the last minute. So corruptors look for those opportunities and I’m afraid the APL is a very good example of poor governance, an appalling run event, dreadful accreditation and a whole host of other issues that just meant it was very attractive to corruptors.What kind of factor does that make in terms of it being easier to police or track movements at regional ICC T20 World Cup qualifier events?The qualifier events and regional events will all operate to ICC standards. They’re still much lower key events without the resources you would see in a global event. But nevertheless they will all have the Player and Match Official Area, which will be properly set out. There will be a form of security at the ground. There will be monitoring of those matches closely by us because we get alerts in the legitimate betting markets if anything strange is going on. There will be a proper match manager that we can talk to and understand where everyone is and that they’re all complying with the rules. Of course what you don’t have in these events are the franchise owners, which very often is the route in for the corruptors.What percentage of cases are linked to suspicious franchise owners?We currently have got 42 live investigations. In the last couple of years, we usually have between 40 and 50 live investigations. About half of those will be to do with franchise cricket and very often when it’s to do with franchise cricket, then it’s to do with owners – the real owners behind the front people who are put up as the owners – or people pretending to be a part of the ownership group who actually have nothing to do with the owners but they’re claiming an association to influence people. So quite a significant proportion of our live investigations is from that area.Associates are represented quite heavily across those 40 to 50 cases. But in a way we don’t spend too long saying, ‘This is franchise corruption’ or ‘This is Associate corruption’ because it’s the same corruptors. They just look for the opportunity and the ideal for them is to get a player compromised who is playing in franchise cricket and then two weeks later is playing in an international match. So they don’t make any distinction really. It’s about opportunity and risk for them.”As Under-19 cricket becomes more popular and the tournament gets more prominence, the corruptors will look for the most vulnerable teams taking part”•Afghanistan Cricket BoardFor Associate teams, a disproportionately significant number are made up of expatriates in their mid to late 30s with a prior professional career in their native country. Does that raise a red flag?What I would say is that the corruptors will look at what they believe to be the motivation of the people they are approaching. So if the corruptors think that someone’s sole motivation is money, whatever country they’re in is just to earn money and they have no particular allegiance, then certainly the corruptors think that person is more susceptible than someone who is not just playing. Among the Associates, there are plenty of countries where the players are amateurs, it’s costing them money to play for their country but they’re doing it because they’re very proud and they love the sport. If you look at it from the corruptors point of view, and I keep going back to the UAE players because there are some cases still coming through the system, it’s quite clear that the corruptors felt that they were motivated by money, some of them, and they felt it was worth approaching them.There was a recent article in , which mentioned that approaches have been made via Twitter or Instagram DMs. What kinds of things are key to reducing the risks to players at these ICC qualifying events?The way most players receive some form of approach is that it might start as someone pretends to be a fan, someone wants to be a new sponsor, someone wants to offer them a place in a franchise league. It’s very often via one of the social media channels. So part of the education we do is we play very up-to-date videos showing exactly how the corruptors are operating. An education for some of the top Associate members is not just about telling them what the anti-corruption code says.We show them a very professionally made video showing exactly how the corruptors are approaching people in the previous three to six months. We show them the pictures of those corruptors and we give them their names and aliases. Very often at the end of that session, one or two will come forward and say, ‘I had this strange message on Instagram from this guy who said he wanted to be my agent and you’ve just shown him in the slides.’ I can think of someone who says he’s an agent who has come up frequently, probably more than 20 times now, at those education sessions. By just sharing honestly with them the people who are likely to be approached by them – their pictures, names and aliases – very often someone will pick them out.”About half our investigations in franchise cricket have to do with suspicious owners – the real owners behind the front people who are put up as the owners”•Hindustan TimesSome of the players, particularly at the lower level, they haven’t really had much profile. The idea that they have people contacting them on social media is quite attractive. We build that into the education to help them try to protect themselves a bit more. It goes back to the basic principle, which is to recognise that something about this doesn’t feel right. Reject it, if it’s a stranger bearing gifts, just start by rejecting it. Talk to your agent, talk to your manager, and then report it to us.What else do you think is important for people to understand about these ICC events that comes from an anti-corruption perspective?We absolutely want to see a higher profile for Associate cricket. I think it’s coming and I think some of the pathway and qualifier events are going to be excellent cricket. I think new people will come through. Look at what has happened to some of these Afghan players who then got prominence and then are playing around the world. So I think it’s fantastically exciting that all that is happening. We just have to always remember that every bit of growth and development is also attractive to the corruptors. The integrity unit has to keep upping our game to make sure that we disrupt them from those forms of cricket in the way that I think we are actually pretty successful at disrupting and keeping them away from Full Member cricket.

The demand Sean Dyche made “clear” in talks to take over as Nottingham Forest manager has now been revealed, as the Englishman closes in on a City Ground move.

Dyche agrees to take over as Nottingham Forest boss

Evangelos Marinakis has moved swiftly to replace Ange Postecoglou, who lost his job after the 3-0 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday, with it recently emerging that Dyche is set to take over as manager after holding positive talks.

The former Everton manager has a big job on his hands, given that he will be tasked with bringing a ten-game winless run in all competitions to an end, but the 54-year-old is used to working under pressure, having spent nearly two years working under difficult conditions at Goodison Park.

The Toffees had to deal with point deductions and a relegation battle during the Kettering-born manager’s stint on Merseyside, but he ultimately achieved his main goal, which was keeping the club in the Premier League.

That said, Everton ended up deciding the ex-Burnley boss wasn’t the right long-term fit, replacing him with David Moyes earlier this year, at which point his side were the second-lowest scorers in the top flight.

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As such, there was uncertainty about whether Forest were targeting Dyche as part of a long-term project, or merely to guide them to safety, but Ben Jacobs has now revealed the Englishman requested it be the former before he agreed to join.

Dyche needs to make instant impact at the City Ground

It is a little early for Forest fans to be panicking, but there will certainly be a great deal of concern about the way in which they have started the season, having collected just five points from their opening eight Premier League games.

After securing a long-awaited return to Europe last term, the Tricky Trees spent heavily in the summer, so Marinakis would’ve been hoping to kick on, but it has been nothing short of a shambles so far, with Nuno’s departure proving to be a real blow.

The Forest owner’s decision to sack Ange after just 39 days has received criticism, with Jamie Redknapp and Steve Sidwell discussing the move on Sky Sports, but any manager who fails to win any of his first eight games is likely to find himself under pressure.

With Dyche well-known for a more pragmatic style of play, Nottingham Forest will be hoping to get back to basics and start grinding out more results, starting against FC Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.

أعلن طارق السكتيوي، المدير الفني لمنتخب المغرب الثاني، عن غياب النجم أشرف بن شرقي، لاعب الأهلي، عن الجولتين الافتتاحيتين لبطولة كأس العرب 2025، وذلك نتيجة تعرضه لإصابة تمنعه من المشاركة في بداية مشوار الفريق.

وتنطلق منافسات كأس العرب اليوم الإثنين وحتى الثامن عشر من الشهر نفسه في دولة قطر، بمشاركة 16 منتخبًا، حيث أوقعت القرعة المنتخب المغربي في المجموعة الأولى إلى جانب منتخبات السعودية وعُمان وجزر القمر.

وخلال المؤتمر الصحفي الذي يسبق مواجهة المغرب أمام جزر القمر في افتتاح دور المجموعات، أكد السكتيوي أن أشرف بن شرقي لن يكون حاضرًا في أوّل مباراتين، مشيرًا إلى أن الجهاز الفني سيعتمد على بدائل جاهزة لتعويض غيابه في بداية البطولة.

طالع أيضًا | قناة مجانية تُعلن نقل مباريات كأس العرب 2025 وفيما يلي جدول مباريات منتخب المغرب في كأس العرب 2025

المغرب × جزر القمر: الثلاثاء 2 ديسمبر، الساعة 3:00 مساءً بتوقيت الدوحة والسعودية، و2:00 بتوقيت مصر، على استاد خليفة الدولي.

المغرب × عُمان: الجمعة 5 ديسمبر، الساعة 5:30 مساءً بتوقيت الدوحة والسعودية، و4:30 بتوقيت مصر، على استاد المدينة التعليمية.

المغرب × السعودية: الاثنين 8 ديسمبر، الساعة 8:00 مساءً بتوقيت الدوحة والسعودية، و7:00 بتوقيت مصر، على استاد لوسيل.

Liverpool were unable to return to winning ways once again in the Premier League last night, that’s despite a late equaliser at Anfield against high-flying Sunderland.

Arne Slot’s men looked to be staring down the barrel of yet another home defeat, but Florian Wirtz’s deflected effort late on secured a needed point to help stop the rot.

It could have been a lot worse for the Reds last night had they not found a leveller, with Chemsdine Talbi putting Regis Le Bris’ side ahead with just under 20 minutes remaining.

However, the picture still looks incredibly bleak for the Dutchman and his side, as the Dutchman’s side currently occupy eighth place and sit 11 points off leaders Arsenal.

During the draw, it was yet another evening to forget for one player, with his selection by the manager once again coming under huge criticism after failing to deliver.

The stats behind Ibrahima Konate’s display against Sunderland

After a mistake against PSV in the Champions League last week, Slot has continued to operate with Ibrahima Konate at the heart of the backline for Liverpool.

The Frenchman has previously been one of the club’s leading talents in their recent success, but the 2025/26 campaign has been one to forget to date.

His showing against the Black Cats was yet another to forget for the 26-year-old, with his underlying figures showcasing his struggles on Merseyside once again.

Konate nearly misjudged a header, which led to the visitors going ahead before their eventual game, no doubt contributing to his measly tally of 57% aerials won.

He also won just 50% of the tackles he entered, whilst making just one interception – resulting in the club once again being unable to keep a clean sheet in England’s top-flight.

The defender desperately needs replacing over the coming months, with the same potentially being said about another player who failed to deliver on Wednesday night.

The Liverpool star who needs to be dropped after Sunderland

The draw against Sunderland last night now extends Liverpool’s run to just one win in their last five outings, highlighting the issues Slot currently has to deal with.

He definitely needs to find a solution to the recent issues, with the club facing a real possibility of missing out on all forms of European football if such a trend continues.

Whether that be a formation change or a personnel change in certain areas of the pitch, the Dutchman has a real task on his hands – potentially finding himself out of a job should he fail to do so.

Alongside Konate, numerous players have failed to deliver in the Premier League, with Cody Gakpo also massively underperforming against the newly-promoted outfit.

The winger has been a consistent starter for the Reds so far this season, as seen by his tally of 12 starts in the first 14 league outings of the ongoing campaign.

However, last night was one of his worst to date, so much so Slot decided to substitute the 26-year-old at the break and replace him with fan-favourite Mohamed Salah.

He was very predictable in the first half of the clash at Anfield, often cutting inside onto his favoured right foot, something which full-back Trai Hume read on the vast majority of occasions.

Gakpo’s underlying stats against the Black Cats further demonstrate his lack of quality, which led to hefty criticism being directed his way at the final whistle.

During his 45-minute showing, the attacker only managed to complete a total of seven passes, with none of which being into the final third – showcasing his lack of creativity at Anfield.

Minutes played

45

Touches

26

Passes completed

7

Passes into final third

0

Dribbles completed

0

Crosses completed

1

Shots taken

1

Duels won

1/5

He also failed to complete any of his attempted dribbles, whilst managing to register just one successful cross – reaffirming his struggles on Merseyside.

Gakpo’s lack of impact was topped off by his tally of just one shot, which was blocked, resulting in John O’Sullivan saying he was sick of the winger’s “1/10 performances”.

With players on the bench such as Federico Chiesa and Hugo Ekitiké, it’s vital that Slot drops the winger ahead of their next outing at the weekend in an attempt to end the recent barren run.

There’s no understating the struggles at Anfield at present, but the manager desperately needs to get a grip of the situation if any credibility is to come out of the ongoing campaign.

Fabinho 2.0: Liverpool in pole position to sign £35m midfield "machine"

Liverpool look set to be making a move for one star during the upcoming January transfer window.

ByEthan Lamb Dec 3, 2025

Arne Slot is determined to put things right at Liverpool. Because it’s all gone very wrong this season, the champions 12th in the Premier League standings after losing five of their past six matches.

There is more than enough time for the Dutch coach to turn things around, but improvements are needed quickly if Slot is to repel rising noises regarding the security of his position in the hot seat.

The curious case of Alexander Isak. Liverpool’s record-breaking striker has flattered to deceive since joining from Newcastle United for £125m this summer, and getting him up to speed is paramount if the Reds are to fire on all cylinders going forward.

And with Mohamed Salah struggling and the Anfield side altogether imbalanced up front, FSG appear to be turning toward the transfer market once again.

Liverpool lining up new forward

Salah, 33, is waning. Then again, Liverpool have malfunctioned this season and the Egyptian superstar will surely rekindle his form after a lifetime of genius on Merseyside.

But, regardless, Liverpool need to draw up a succession plan, and they appear to have done exactly that after earmarking a former Premier League sensation to take his berth on the right wing.

As per Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Liverpool view Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise as a “future dream target” to replace Salah, who extended his stay on Merseyside until the end of the 2026/27 season in April.

Olise would cost a pretty penny, though, having been priced by Die Roten at a staggering €140m (about £122m).

Still, FSG have shown they will do business for such a fee in recent times.

Why Michael Olise would be perfect for Alexander Isak

Olise was immense throughout his debut season in Germany last season, steering Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title and earning acclaim for his dynamic attacking displays.

The 23-year-old has gone up a gear this term, posting nine goals and ten assists from 18 matches in all competitions, and TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves said that he “could be as good as anyone” after one Champions League performance.

Whether Olise winds up at Liverpool remains to be seen, but his remarkable physical traits and natural playmaking qualities make him a tailor-made winger to accommodate Isak and Hugo Ekitike at number nine.

One thing’s for sure: he would provide a huge upgrade on this current version of Salah, whose wastefulness in front of goal is being matched by an inability to influence as he usually does across other areas.

Goals scored

0.63

0.34

Assists

0.63

0.17

Shots taken

4.62

2.43

Shot-creating actions

6.82

3.27

Touches (att pen)

7.55

6.21

Pass completion (%)

81.6

68.1

Progressive passes

6.40

4.19

Progressive carries

5.45

3.94

Successful take-ons

2.31

0.92

Ball recoveries

4.72

2.77

Tackles + interceptions

1.36

0.34

Isak is one of the best strikers in the world, but he needs service. The Sweden international darts upfield and finds space in between the lines. Olise could help activate this area of his skillset at Liverpool, averaging over six progressive passes per Bundesliga game this term.

Olise is also less focused on goalscoring side of the game. That’s not to say he’s not capable of show-stopping strikes, as has been seen numerous times in the Premier League, but serve as evidence that he could be the perfect counterweight in Liverpool’s attacking system to give rise to Isak’s striking ability.

Such an athletic and hungry wide forward with a proven pedigree in the Premier League could prove the key to success at Liverpool, whose forwards are toiling and surely need some fresh inspiration to lift them back into the ascendancy.

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Liverpool are getting ready to add new flavours to their flagging midfield.

ByAngus Sinclair Nov 25, 2025

Over the years, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side have not been short of superstars. Whether they are homegrown players, like Phil Foden, or brought in from other clubs, both in the Premier League and abroad, the Spaniard has certainly coached some big names.

Foden is certainly one of the players who could fit into that category, and fellow England international Raheem Sterling became one of the best players in the league under Guardiola. Of course, you have the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri who joined from clubs across Europe, and helped bring success to East Manchester.

One of the latest players who falls into this category is certainly Erling Haaland.

Erling Haaland's current market value

The start that Haaland has made to the 2025/26 campaign has been astronomical. There has only been one game in the top flight in which he has not scored. He has completely dominated the Premier League this season.

Let’s look at that from a numerical point of view. The Norwegian forward has played nine games for City across all competitions, and already has 12 goals.

He’s found the back of the net nine times in seven Premier League appearances, with the other three coming in two Champions League games.

The City number nine has carried his imperious form over to the international arena, too. He’s scored nine goals for Norway this season, including back-to-back hat-tricks and five goals in a World Cup qualifier against Moldova.

Guardiola says Haaland’s form is “better than ever” this season, and it is easy to see why. His unstoppable run is also reflected in his current market value, with CIES Football Observatory deeming him to be worth as much as £208m.

However, the 25-year-old is not the only player in the Citizens squad who looks like a £100m talent in the making, reinforcing the fact that Guardiola’s side is still filled with superstars.

Man City star is looking like a £100m player

Haaland is, without doubt, City’s most important player this season. He’s scored nine of their 15 Premier League goals so far, so they would certainly be a lot lower in the table without him leading the line.

At the other end of the pitch, summer signing Gianluigi Donnarumma has made some extremely important contributions.

The Italian goalkeeper joined from Paris Saint-Germain at the back end of the window and has been crucial for Guardiola.

The shot-stopper, who lifted the Champions League with the Parisian side last season, has slotted seamlessly into his new club. Having played six games across all competitions, he’s kept three clean sheets and conceded just four goals.

Saves such as this one from Bryan Mbeumo’s effort show why he will be so important for City. Making his debut in a Manchester derby, the Italian was able to tip wide the Manchester United winger’s strike, which seemed destined for the bottom left corner.

His singing has been a big coup for City. Donnarumma’s consistency for PSG was clear to see with some of his numbers.

He regularly had a save rate in the 70s, with his highest coming in 2023/24, where it stood at 79.1%. In a City shirt, it’s currently at 66.7%.

2021/22 (PSG)

2.9

75.3%

2022/23 (PSG)

3.3

75.2%

2023/24 (PSG)

3.5

79.1%

2024/25 (PSG)

2.3

70.2%

2025/26 (Man City)

1.3

66.7%

One City page over on X, City Chief, said the Citizens have “got a £100m goalkeeper for £25m,” and it certainly feels that way based on Donnarumma’s start to the season.

He has been imperious between the posts for his new side, with his size, reflexes and the way he commands his box making it hard to score past him.

Football scout Antonio Mango once said the former AC Milan star was a “generational” talent. Well, all the evidence this season certainly makes it clear why that is the case. Just like Haaland, Donnarumma has been key to Guardiola in the early parts of the season.

Man City have signed the "best in the world" & he's a new Rodri-type player

Manchester City have a new Rodri-type player in their glittering ranks who is one of the world’s best.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 16, 2025

Already thinking about further reinforcements in 2026, Newcastle United are now reportedly racing to sign a £55m star in an attempt to build a new midfield partnership.

Sandro Tonali extends Newcastle stay

It’s been a good week for Newcastle since they suffered defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. Not only have they bounced back in style on the pitch, defeating Jose Mourinho’s Benfica 3-0, they’ve also got to work off the pitch to ease any fears about Sandro Tonali’s future.

After holding secret talks with the Italian, the Magpies have extended his contract until 2029 in a deal that also includes the option to extend for an additional year. As reported by Sky Sports’ Keith Downie, Tonali agreed a deal in secret during his ban for illegal betting in an attempt to protect Newcastle financially during his absence.

Repaying the good faith that Newcastle showed in him during his ban, Tonali’s contract will now run until 2029. It comes as a huge relief for St James’ Park, with concerns beginning to grow that they could face an Alexander Isak repeat before the news of the Italian’s new deal emerged.

Now, all focus will be on putting that new contract to use on the pitch. The 25-year-old is one of the most important players under Eddie Howe and the Magpies will need him at the top of his game as they look to end their frustrating start in the Premier League.

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What’s more, now that his contract has been signed and sealed, those in Tyneside have reportedly turned their attention towards handing the former AC Milan man an impressive midfield partner.

Newcastle now racing to sign Elliot Anderson

As reported by iNews, Newcastle are now racing to re-sign Elliot Anderson in an attempt to build on their secret Tonali deal and build an impressive midfield partnership in discreet fashion.

Anderson’s return to the club won’t come cheap, however. After selling the England international to Nottingham Forest in 2024 for around £30m, the Tricky Trees have now reportedly set his price-tag at £55m.

The midfielder’s return is certainly something that Howe would get behind. The Newcastle boss still regrets having to sell Anderson amid PSR troubles and recently took the time to praise his rise to form at the City Ground.

At 22 years old, Anderson’s career could still feature plenty of twists and turns, including a return to Tyneside to from a fresh midfield partnership with Tonali.

عاد مستقبل نجم فريق ليفربول، محمد صلاح، إلى دائرة الضوء مرة أخرى رغم أنه وقع على عقد جديد مع بطل الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، في شهر أبريل الماضي.

ووقع محمد صلاح عقدًا مع ليفربول لمدة عامين، أي حتى يونيو 2027، ورغم ذلك، فإن التكهنات حول مستقبله عادت من جديد مؤخرًا.

وتحدث المستشار المالي السابق لنادي مانشستر سيتي، ستيفان بورسون، عن مستقبل النجم المصري محمد صلاح مع ليفربول، وإمكانية رحيله نهاية الموسم الحالي إلى الدوري السعودي.

وليس سرًا وجود اهتمام كبير من جانب الدوري السعودي لاستقطاب محمد صلاح، وذكرت تقارير صحفية مؤخرًا إمكانية تلقي صاحب الـ33 عامًا عرضًا ضخمًا من أحد الأندية، دون الكشف عن هويتها، مقابل 150 مليون جنيه إسترليني سنويًا.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ذا أثلتيك: حدث نادر.. محمد صلاح “المتوتر” فشل في إخضاع لاعب مانشستر سيتي أمامه

وقال ستيفان بورسون، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “فوتبول إنسايدر” الإنجليزية: “أشك في أن المبلغ يصل إلى 150 مليون جنيه إسترليني، لكنه قد يكون مبلغًا ضخمًا”.

وأضاف:”أعني، كلاعب ربما يُعد الأشهر في الشرق الأوسط، قد تعتقد أنه سيكون الصفقة الأهم للسعودية، لذا يمكنك توقع حدوث ذلك بالتأكيد، لا أفهم سبب حاجتهم لدفع 150 مليون جنيه إسترليني له، يبدو لي أنه يمكن إتمام الصفقة بقيمة أقل بكثير”.

وواصل: “يبدو لي أنه إذا لم يقدم محمد صلاح موسمًا جيدًا، فسيكون ليفربول على استعداد لتركه يرحل مقابل مبلغ أقل بكثير من أجل توفير راتبه إن لم يكن لأي سبب آخر، وهو يرغب في الرحيل لذلك يمكن إتمام الصفقة”.

واستكمل: “لأكون صريحًا، يمكن إتمام تلك الصفقة في الصيف حتى لو استعاد محمد صلاح مستواه، لأنني أعتقد أنه عندما ترى ما يبدو عليه الأمر عندما لا يقدم أداءً جيدًا، قد يكون ذلك هو الدافع الذي يجعل ليفربول يفكر في مسألة رحيله في الصيف وسيقوم بذلك، يمكنني رؤية ذلك يحدث”.

Upon his £30m transfer back in the summer of 2004, no Manchester United supporter could have imagined the huge impact Wayne Rooney would have on the club.

The Englishman spent 13 years at Old Trafford, subsequently appearing in 559 outings in the process – currently sitting on the list for the club’s all-time appearance makers.

Such a time frame allowed the forward to reach phenomenal levels with the Red Devils, racking up a total of 253 goals at an average of one strike every 2.2 matches.

Rooney’s subsequent tally has made him their record goalscorer, with such a record still standing to this day and putting him ahead of the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton.

His phenomenal tallies catapulted Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to five Premier League titles during his stint in the North West, helping make the club one of the most successful in English history.

Fast-forward to the present day, current boss Ruben Amorim has found his own version of the fan-favourite, but it’s not in the form of one player who many would expect.

Benjamin Sesko’s start to life at United

After scoring just 44 times in England’s top-flight last season, it was crucial United invested in landing a new talisman – with Benjamin Sesko the man chosen by the hierarchy to lead the line.

The Slovenian cost a reported £74m including add-ons from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, but it’s safe to say his start in England has been a slow burner and taken time to explode into life.

He failed to score in any of his first six outings for the Red Devils, but the 22-year-old has managed to produce the goods in each of the last couple of outings.

Sesko has scored in each of his last two Premier League outings for Amorim’s side, with his latest strike helping them claim a needed victory against newly-promoted Sunderland at the Theatre of Dreams.

It may be early days into his career in England, but he’s already shown glimpses of quality that could make him a fan-favourite for many years to come – potentially even catapulting them to new levels of success.

However, he’s not the player who could emulate Rooney at Old Trafford, with one other first-team member closer to being similar to the Englishman in the future.

Man United's new Rooney

In their attempts to land top-level talents, United have spent over £800m on new signings in the last four years to try and catapult themselves back up the Premier League table.

Most of such funds have been wasted on players that, unfortunately, aren’t at the level required for success, as seen by the club’s 15th-placed standing last campaign.

Amorim was unable to extract the most out of the squad, which undoubtedly led to Sesko’s addition during the summer to prevent such a scenario from happening once again in the future.

However, he has already featured alongside Bruno Fernandes, with the Portuguese international a player who massively starred despite the struggles on the pitch in 2024/25.

The 31-year-old scored 19 times and registered 18 assists across all competitions, with such a tally being by far and away the highest of any player in the first-team squad.

Such numbers make him similar to Rooney in terms of being the Red Devils’ main talisman, but it’s another aspect of his game which has seen him emulate the Englishman.

After the hierarchy’s £200m spending spree in the summer, it saw three attacking-minded players enter the club, which has seen Bruno have to shift roles as a result.

Fernandes, who’s been labelled “world-class” by United writer Liam Canning, has since been forced to operate in a deeper midfield role, something which Rooney did during the latter stages of his career at Old Trafford.

Whilst such a decision saw the Englishman net fewer goals in his final years, his passing ability made him a phenomenal option in that area – with Bruno emulating such levels, as seen by his tally of 82% of passes completed in 2025/26.

Games played

7

Goals & assists

2

Pass accuracy

82%

Shots taken

2.3

Chances created

2.7

Dribble success

57%

Tackles won

2.1

Recoveries made

6.2

The Portuguese international may have to suffer in terms of his goalscoring tallies, but his ability to dictate the play could be a huge asset for Amorim’s side in the years ahead.

His passing ability could be crucial for Sesko if the Slovenian is to be a success at Old Trafford, with huge pressure being placed on the youngster to provide the goods in the Premier League.

However, neither player will likely reach the cult hero status of Rooney at the Theatre of Dreams, with the manager undoubtedly wishing he could call upon such a player in the present day.

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