da bet vitoria： Uma situação, no mínimo, curiosa ocorreu nesta semana envolvendo o Ceará e a montagem de planejamento feita pelo clube pensando na temporada 2022 com relação ao sistema ofensivo da equipe treinada por Tiago Nunes.
RelacionadasCearáCeará pode ficar sem o atacante Cléber; saiba maisCeará18/12/2021São PauloSão Paulo faz sondagem por Fernando Sobral, meio-campista do CearáSão Paulo17/12/2021CearáRobinson de Castro é reeleito presidente do CearáCeará16/12/2021
da lvbet： >As últimas do mercado da bola; Confira!
Isso porque, segundo informação da jornalista Nadja Mauad, o Vozão tem interesse no atacante Iury Castilho, nome que defendeu a equipe do CSA na última temporada, mas que tem seus direitos ligados ao Portimonense-POR.
Apesar da ligação contratual, a tendência é que ele seja novamente negociado pelos portugueses com a intenção de valorizá-lo para uma futura venda. A tendência, no entanto, é que exista certa concorrência para o Alvinegro no negócio, pois equipes como Vasco e Coritiba também analisam a mesma oportunidade.
Porém, o que o Ceará poderia não imaginar é que uma situação envolvendo o Al-Qadisiyah-ARA, clube onde até recentemente o atacante Leandro Carvalho atuava por empréstimo após passagem pelo América-MG, decidiu pela rescisão antecipada do acordo que tinha validade até maio de 2022.
Desta forma, o plantel volta a contar com Leandro como uma opção ofensiva. Ao menos, até que fique claro por parte da atual comissão técnica não contar com o atleta de 26 anos de idade que fez 15 partidas e dois gols na equipe saudita.
The baseball postseason—and specifically the World Series—has a habit of creating heroes from the most unlikely sources. This time, unlikely hero Addison Barger navigated some extenuating circumstances to help power the Blue Jays to an 11–4 win over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
Addison Barger makes World Series history
Barger went from a pull-out couch, to the Blue Jays bench to the plate, where he belted the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, blowing the game open and extending Toronto's lead to 9-2 in its eventual win.
"His family is coming in, came in tonight," Blue Jays outfielder Davis Schneider said after the game. "He needed someone. He was staying with Myles [Straw] and then stayed with me last night. My girlfriend is here so like, he’s like, ‘Can I sleep in the bed with you guys.' "
According to , it is not uncommon for Blue Jays players to stay at teammates' houses during the season, and some have looked to stay closer to Rogers Centre to beat World Series-related traffic.
So Schneider offered to have Barger sleep on his pull-out couch, though it may not have been the best night's sleep for the 25-year-old Barger.
"So I was like ‘No,’ sleep on my couch. Sleep on the pullout.' It’s a pullout, yeah. But it was squeaking all night. Yeah, it was so funny. I looked over and I just see him sleeping there in the middle of the night. He’s a headcase, but he’s fun."
Barger slept on the couch again?
Barger, as Schneider's sister Madeline pointed out on X, slept on the couch once again following the World Series victory. At this point, it's either that Barger genuinely likes sleeping on the squeaky pull-out couch, or he and the Blue Jays aren't messing with what could be good superstition.
Game 2 of the World Series begins at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
ينتظر عشاق كرة القدم الإفريقية، معرفة موعد إجراء قرعة دور ربع النهائي (دور الـ 8) من بطولتي دوري أبطال إفريقيا وكأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية 2025.
ويشارك من مصر، في بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا، الأهلي وبيراميدز، وتأهل الثنائي لدور الـ 8 بعدما تواجدا في المركز الثاني للمجموعتين الثالثة والرابعة.
ومن المقرر أن يلتقي الأهلي مع أحد متصدر المجموعات الأخرى، وهم الهلال السوداني، الجيش الملكي المغربي والترجي التونسي.
وعلى الجانب الآخر، فريق بيراميدز، سيلاقي أورلاندو بايريتس الجنوب إفريقي أو الهلال السوداني أو الجيش الملكي المغربي.
طالع | “أسد”.. حساب كأس العالم للأندية يعلق على صفقة الأهلي الجديدة
وفي بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية، يتواجد فريقا الزمالك والمصري، حيث تأهل الثنائي من المجموعة الرابعة الذان كانا يتنافسان فيها.
وجاء الزمالك في المركز الأول، وسيواجه، إما شباب قسنطينة الجزائري أو نادي ستيلينبوش الجنوب إفريقي وأسيك الإيفواري.
بينما المصري الذي حل وصيفًا في المجموعة، سيلتقي مع اتحاد العاصمة الجزائري أو نهضة بركان المغربي أو سيمبا التنزاني. موعد قرعة دور ربع نهائي لـ دوري أبطال إفريقيا وكأس الكونفدرالية
وكشفت صحيفة الصباح التونسية، أن الاتحاد الافريقي لكرة القدم “كاف”، قرر إجراء قرعة ربع نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا وكأس الكونفدرالية، يوم 17 فبراير القادم في العاصمة القطرية الدوحة.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has shared what’s impressed him most about teenager Andre Harriman-Annous after the Hale End graduate’s senior debut against Brighton on Wednesday.
The Gunners extended their unbeaten run to 11 in all competitions whilst booking a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after their victory over Brighton.
Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-1 Man City
Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham
Fulham 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid
Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
Goals from fellow youngster Ethan Nwaneri and star winger Bukayo Saka handed Arsenal a routine win at the Emirates Stadium, despite summer signing Kepa Arrizabalaga being forced into a string of early saves to deny the Seagulls, who threatened to break through first.
The headlines initially belonged to Max Dowman, after the 15-year-old became Arsenal’s youngest ever starter.
Dowman showed flashes of brilliance on the right-hand side in place of Saka and the injured Noni Madueke, who’s believed to be making “faster-than-expected” progress in his recovery from a knee injury.
However, once the teenager was hauled off Saka, and Harriman-Annouss replaced Declan Rice, attention turned towards the latest in a long queue of star-studded talents from the Hale End production line.
Harriman-Annous, who bagged 18 goals in 37 games for the Under-21s last season, has been a regular in first-team training at London Colney with Arteta taking note.
The England Under-18 international can feel hard done by that he didn’t mark his first senior appearance for the club with a goal too, having watched Jason Steele save his one-v-one effort before Saka dispatched the rebound.
Arteta shares what's impressed him about Harriman-Annous after Arsenal debut
It was a night to remember for Harriman-Annous, with Arteta explaining in a post-match press conference why he finally gave the youngster a chance to shine at N5.
Arsenal’s boss explains that Harriman-Annous has impressed him with a fierce mentality and work ethic behind-the-scenes, with the versatile centre-forward desperate to make an impact.
Arsenal supporters have plenty of reasons to feel excited about Harriman-Annous after his debut against Brighton.
Stepping onto the pitch in a high-stakes cup match is no small feat, and the teen showed glimpses of the potential that has impressed coaches throughout his development.
His composure and confidence stood out. He demonstrated good technical skills and an understanding of the game that belies his age. For a young player making his first senior appearance, showing such calmness under pressure is a promising sign of future growth.
Harriman-Annous made the bench against Liverpool in August, and if he continues to seize his opportunities like he did against Brighton, it’s only a matter of time before he makes his first Premier League outing.
The seamer picked up 4 for 53 to help India bowl the visitors out for just 219 on the opening day
S Sudarshanan21-Dec-2023First women’s Test at the Wankhede Stadium in close to 40 years. Tenth ball. An early message from India.Ellyse Perry’s faded helmet gives away her longevity in the sport, and how much she loves scoring runs. She gets off the mark with a thick outside edge through the cordon. Surely it is her day? Sun shining, ball seaming – nothing she has not countered in her 11 Tests spanning a 16-year international career.Pooja Vastrakar has other plans, though. She runs in hard, gets a good-length ball at 109.1kph to nip back in to make a mess of Perry’s stumps. Gone for 4, the lowest Test score Perry has been dismissed for. Memories of what Vastrakar did to Nat Sciver-Brunt last week come rushing back.Related
Harmanpreet's double-strike late on day three puts India in the driver's seat
Notwithstanding a 56-ball 50 from Tahlia McGrath, Australia were bowled out for 219 on the first day after opting to bat. Was it a fast bowlers’ paradise? Were the conditions “extreme” like in Navi Mumbai?Just as tea was called, with Australia 180 for 8, Alyssa Healy – with her floppy hat on – wandered towards the pitch with Ashleigh Gardner. Healy was done in by a Deepti Sharma ball that kept low, while Gardner couldn’t resist poking at a wobble-seam length ball from Vastrakar and was caught behind. They looked at the pitch while the ground staff swept the loose soil away and re-marked the batting and bowling crease.McGrath and Beth Mooney had scored most of their 80 partnership runs at a fair clip before slowing down after spin was introduced. Healy and Annabel Sutherland, who added 40 for the fifth wicket, were countering spin easily before Healy’s fall allowed Vastrakar to dismiss Sutherland and Gardner in succession.”Early on, I found the wicket quite nice to play on but then as soon as spin came on, it became quite tricky,” McGrath said later. “I felt reasonably comfortable with pace but as soon as spin came on, it was a big challenge. Partly because we are not used to these conditions; it was shooting low, and the spinners were extremely disciplined.”Sneh Rana, in particular, bowled really well. I struggled a lot with her, but Moons [Mooney] looked slightly more comfortable against her. I constantly felt on edge against Sneh today. She got me in the end, which was a little bit of a poor dismissal on my part.”Pooja Vastrakar was the star of the Indian bowlers on the first day•BCCIWhile Australia may have been spooked by spin – Rana and Deepti picked up five wickets combined – the real damage was done by Vastrakar. She hurried the batters with her pace and always kept the stumps in play. Which is why India didn’t panic when McGrath and Healy were stitching together those partnerships. Vastrakar kept bowling at speeds north of 105kph and got enough lift from a surface that offered uneven bounce. Like when she got a 113.3kph short ball to spit at Mooney, who gloved it to first slip.”Vastrakar bowled extremely well,” McGrath conceded. “The ball she got Pez [Perry] with was an absolute peach. When I was walking out to bat, she was getting sideways movement of the seam both ways, and she just bowls a relentless length that keeps you on your toes and is perfect for Test match cricket.”She was someone we specifically spoke about as a batting unit. Like I said, the length she bowls is perfect for Test cricket. It’s just relentless. And she’s almost robotic. She just runs in and hits the spot time after time and puts so much pressure on the batters. So, for us, it was about capitalising whenever she gave us any width… we had to put it away.”During the domestic T20s, the Indian bowlers were given a task: to clock at least 24 overs in the nets in the first week and 32 in the next. They had to log it and send the data to the bowling coach and the trainers at the National Cricket Academy. It meant they were well-prepared by the time they got to the camp in Bengaluru ahead of the England series.”I bowl outswing naturally, but we saw the videos of both teams [England and Australia] and found that their batters face difficulty with the incoming ball,” Vastrakar, who finished with 4 for 53, said of India’s bowling plans. “Our aim during practice was to bring the ball in with the wobble seam, which makes the ball cut in and makes it tough for the batters.”We saw the pitch during practice and felt it won’t be as easy [for bowlers] as it was at the DY Patil Stadium. Here, we needed to work harder. We had to hit the hard lengths and bowl wicket-to-wicket, set the batters up and get the ball in. I did that and bowled a sharp inswinger to Perry and she got out.”Australia’s last two wickets kept India on the field for over 22 overs. It did not dampen the hosts’ spirit as the openers came out all guns blazing to drive home the advantage by the end of the first day.After stumps, head coach Amol Muzumdar sauntered down from the stairs and walked to the centre. He stood at the striker’s end from the press box end and had a look. No person in either camp knows the conditions at the Wankhede better than Muzumdar. What he thought of the 22 yards was anybody’s guess. But in the two Tests so far during his tenure, India’s message has been loud and clear: underestimate them at your own peril.
You know what you’re going to get from Trent Boult, but that doesn’t make it any easier to face
Karthik Krishnaswamy02-Apr-2023Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane. KL Rahul and K Gowtham. Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi .Three times now, Trent Boult has taken two wickets in the first over of an IPL innings. He’s done it once for Mumbai Indians, and twice for Rajasthan Royals, most recently on Sunday against Sunrisers Hyderabad. No other bowler has done more than twice.ESPNcricinfo LtdOutside the three times in the IPL, Boult has taken two wickets in the first over of an innings once in the Big Bash League, for Melbourne Stars against Sydney Thunder last December, dismissing Matthew Gilkes and Rilee Rossouw and making a defence of 122 look plausible.Only one other bowler has matched Boult and done it four times in all T20s – Sohail Tanvir.Tanvir might not be the first left-arm quick, or even the first Pakistani left-arm quick, you thought of when you thought of frequent wreakers of first-over havoc, but it’s notable first of all that Tanvir, like Boult, is a left-arm quick. A swinging new ball is a dangerous weapon in any fast bowler’s hands, but a quality left-arm quick is perhaps the hardest kind of bowler for a top order to face first up.And since Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc don’t play in the IPL, Boult is easily the biggest new-ball gamechanger in the league.Since the start of IPL 2020, Boult has taken 33 powerplay wickets, ten more than his nearest challenger Mohammed Shami. Of the eight bowlers with at least 15 powerplay wickets in this time, Boult has the best average (22.69), and is one of three with an economy rate below 7.His method is utterly straightforward and time-tested, swinging the ball at pace against the angle from left-arm over, but it takes immense skill to make a straightforward method work as often, and as devastatingly, as Boult does. There were three left-arm quicks playing this game in Hyderabad, and while it’s possible that there was more swing available to Boult in the evening than there had been for Fazalhaq Farooqi and T Natarajan in the afternoon, it was only Boult who made the new ball look anything like menacing.When Sunrisers began their chase of 204, in fact, they may have viewed the new ball as their likeliest source of quick runs. The Royals batters had taken the new ball to the cleaners, scoring 85 for 1 in their powerplay, but had found it a lot harder to find the boundary when the ball became older. They scored 122 in their first 10 overs, and just 81 in their last 10.During the innings break, viewers may have wondered if Royals had failed to make the most of their start.It took Boult just five balls to erase all those doubts. The left-handed Abhishek Sharma looked to go inside-out to his third ball, and lost his stumps to an outswinging near-yorker. The right-handed Rahul Tripathi charged at his fifth ball, possibly looking to hit over the covers, and ended up slicing a catch to slip, possibly yanked out of shape by the ball swinging less than he expected.Abhishek Sharma lost his off stump to Trent Boult•BCCINow this is T20 cricket and there’s a high degree of randomness to what balls get wickets and what balls fly towards un-aimed-for boundaries. Boult’s new-ball spell was as good as it was because its quality wasn’t confined to two wicket-taking balls. Unlike the Sunrisers quicks earlier in the day, he constantly swung the ball, and constantly kept the stumps in play, without feeding the batters slot balls.The last ball of Boult’s second over, to Harry Brook, summed up the effect he was having. Brook shaped for a booming, on-the-up drive, backlift high and front foot unweighted to move towards the line of the ball. He’d made those same movements in the previous over and launched KM Asif thrillingly over mid-off. But this Boult delivery forced him to curtail his ambitions – it wasn’t quite as full, and it swung back late, threatening lbw if Brook continued his front-foot thrust.That Brook stilled his front foot, adjusted to the swing, and brought down a vertical bat to defend this delivery spoke volumes about his gifts of eye and balance, gifts that portend a long and sparkling career. In the context of this steep T20 chase, though, it was just another dot ball Sunrisers couldn’t afford.There were 13 dot balls in Boult’s new-ball spell, which he ended with figures of 3-1-8-2, figures that had seemed unimaginable on this surface before he began bowling. It’s what only he and a handful of others in world cricket can do.Viewers in India are fortunate to watch Boult do his thing time and again in the IPL, but the IPL has contributed to restricting his ability to do it in international cricket. Between them, New Zealand Cricket and Boult have handled the situation as well as any board and player could have, but at least one difficult decision remains to be made.Would it be unfair for New Zealand to pick Boult in their squad for the ODI World Cup later this year, ahead of a fast bowler who’s been a consistent part of the build-up to the tournament? It probably would. But given Boult’s quality, his experience, and the fact that the tournament will be in India, it might be one of those decisions that are both unfair and correct.
Mohamed Salah recently said that his prime goal for the 2024/25 campaign is to lift the Premier League trophy for a second time with Liverpool, and that success in the top flight comes before the Champions League.
This speaks of the drive behind Liverpool’s talisman, who is surely angered by several years of whisker-thin misses against the Manchester City juggernaut.
To be sure, the Egypt sensation would take the prized continental title gladly, but given that Arne Slot’s Reds are six points clear of second-placed Arsenal and with a game in hand, there are no excuses. Liverpool have to get the job done.
Salah isn’t the first elite-class forward to dazzle Anfield’s crowd during the 21st century, with the likes of Robbie Fowler (toward the end of his distinguished Reds career) and Fernando Torres providing incredible success to the number nine spot.
However, Luis Suarez would have to be the pick of the bunch, albeit he’s been trumped by the almighty Salah now, as most Liverpool fans would surely agree.
When Liverpool sold Luis Suarez
The 2013/14 season was a thing of beauty for Liverpool. For the most part. It was like a staggering cinematic experience that failed to stick the landing, the denouement leaving a bitter taste as it fell awkwardly flat.
Preceding the days of Jurgen Klopp, the days of trophy-lifting, seat-raising, awe-inspiring successes, Liverpool tried to claim a maiden Premier League title. They failed, but Suarez produced a season-long performance for the ages, posting 31 goals and 13 assists across just 33 appearances.
Hailed as a “legend” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the Uruguay icon gave his all and established himself as one of the best players across the continent, but he didn’t want to give it another shot after Man City stole ahead and won the league. His energy was expended.
Barcelona sauntered in and paid £75m for Liverpool’s world-class number nine and he went on to cement himself as one of the best forwards of his generation, winning four La Liga titles and the Champions League with La Blaugrana before moving to Atletico Madrid and claiming the Spanish top-flight trophy once more.
1.
Philippe Coutinho
£142m
2.
Luis Suarez
£75m
3.
Fernando Torres
£50m
4.
Raheem Sterling
£49m
5.
Fabinho
£40m
Barcelona have been partial to Liverpool’s attacking talent, since taking Phil Coutinho into their brood for a record fee, albeit to a wholly different effect. Now, they seek a member of Slot’s frontline, and no, it’s not Salah.
Barcelona eyeing Liverpool forward
As per Spanish outlet Sport, Barcelona have retained their long-lasting interest in Luis Diaz and could seek to engineer a transfer this year.
Liverpool's Luis Diaz celebrates
Diaz reportedly earns £55k-per-week at Anfield and has been a topic of discussion for renewal in recent months after Barca’s interest in the summer. However, this has been overshadowed by the outfit’s rumbling contractual concerns.
The Colombia international’s father has previously revealed that it is his son’s dream to play at Camp Nou, so Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes will need to pull all the stops to stave off any mounting interest and keep him on Merseyside over the coming years.
Losing Luis Diaz would be a disaster
Described as a “livewire” by journalist Peter Hall, Diaz ebbed and flowed within Klopp’s system last year but has been in inspired showing this year, already tallying together 12 goals and three assists from 24 matches, 17 starts.
Luis Diaz for Liverpool
Barcelona cannot be allowed to sign a man who has hit his stride this term, with his role in Slot’s attacking line so important that it might even be a bigger loss than that of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who – like Salah – is out of contract this summer and is being courted by Real Madrid.
Alexander-Arnold is one of the best playmakers in the world, with pundit Jamie Carragher claiming that “it’s like having Kevin De Bruyne playing at right-back” – such is his quality.
But Diaz’s shock departure this year might strike a blow that Liverpool would be unable to recover from, especially with the forward market looking decidedly thin at the top end right now. It just wouldn’t make sense.
Diaz’s quality within Slot’s system has perhaps been understated this term. With Diogo Jota spending time in the infirmary and Darwin Nunez still unable to find his shooting boots, the Colombian’s dynamism and renewed clinical edge in front of goal have been invaluable to the success across multiple cylinders.
As per FBref, he actually ranks among the top 4% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Premier League this season for goals scored, the top 5% for pass completion and the top 9% for shot-creating actions per 90, emphasising his balanced – and deadly – threat.
Slot’s decision to shape him into a makeshift striker bears testament to the coach’s tactical expertise and Diaz’s remarkable ability to adapt and inflict damage through his many-faceted skill set.
Harking back to Trent, Liverpool would lose a significant chunk of their auxiliary creative firepower, but with Diaz out of the picture, big problems would arise, the frontline would be knocked out of kilter and Salah would be forced to carry a burden too heavy even for his deific shoulders.
Left winger
16
5
3
Centre-forward
5
6
0
Right winger
1
1
0
It’s a bold thing to suggest, but losing Diaz might actually be a bigger blow than losing Alexander-Arnold, whose influence is unmatched among Premier League full-backs but, in Conor Bradley, Liverpool have an able deputy already.
The protean and dynamic qualities that the 27-year-old puts on the table speak volumes; would Liverpool actually be able to sign a fitting replacement? An upgrade?
Barcelona aren’t exactly swimming in cash, but FSG will be wary of the growing interest in Diaz’s signature as he continues to go from strength to strength under new management.
One thing’s for certain: he can’t be allowed to leave and probably needs to tie down to a new deal as a matter of priority. After Alexander-Arnold and Salah’s deals are dealt with, naturally.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Barcelona seem to have a deep love for Liverpool’s attacking talents, but Diaz must be convinced that Merseyside is the place for him, and that he need not walk the same path as his South American peer, Suarez, and head to La Liga.
FSG must cash in on Liverpool flop who's earning more than Gakpo & Diaz
This Liverpool star’s days could well be numbered…
Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner’s opening partnerships had propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad all season long, but with a play-off spot on the line the pair failed when it mattered most in one of five takeaways from the IPL 2015 regular season finale
Amol Karhadkar in Hyderabad18-May-2015C-syndrome hits SunrisersSunrisers Hyderabad had just one South African in their ranks, but barring him, the others in the team choked. Even before the game began, both teams knew jolly well that the winner would not only make it to the play-offs but finish second in the group stage, thus getting an additional opportunity to make it to the final.While the Mumbai Indians came out all guns blazing, the Sunrisers just didn’t turn up. When your No. 11 batsman, Dale Steyn, ends up being the second-highest individual scorer, it speaks volumes about your batting effort. When you end up getting bowled out for 113 in 20 overs, that too after electing to bat, you cannot put the blame on the bowling unit for having failed to defend it. Steyn came out in the field all fired up, and had Parthiv Patel clueless against his trademark full-length bowling. Even if Parthiv had managed to nick one of those, the total was too hard to defend anyway.David-Dhawan flop showJust like the popular Hindi film director David Dhawan’s blockbuster hits in the 1990s, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan had fired for the entire tournament. In fact, till Moises Henriques and Eoin Morgan came to the party late into the tournament, Sunrisers’ was considered to be a two-man batting unit. But when it mattered the most, the duo faltered.All those fifty-plus opening partnerships, including 130 against Kolkata Knight Riders, came to nought as both the left-handers perished off successive balls, courtesy a trademark Lasith Malinga toecrusher and a Mitchell McClenaghan short ball. It was only the second time the Sunrisers’ opening partnership didn’t reach double-digits this year. Moreover, it was the first time in the tournament that both Warner and Dhawan, with a combined tally of 10 fifties in IPL 2015, were dismissed in single digits. Once the reliable pair flopped, the Sunrisers never recovered.Mumbai new-ball duo rises to the occasionJagadeesha Suchith may have took the zip off the Sunrisers’ middle order with wickets off successive deliveries, but it was the unusual two-in-two up front by Mumbai Indians’ reliable new-ball pair that set the tone for the match.Malinga and McClenaghan saw the backs of Dhawan and Warner off the sixth and seventh balls of the match, respectively. The pair continued their charge, cleaning up half of Sunrisers’ batsmen cheaply. While the Sunrisers’ star pair failed, it was the Mumbai Indians’ best bowlers, who came into the match with a combined series haul of 28 wickets, that raised the bar when it mattered the most. Once the two Ms rose to the occasion, Sunrisers’ sunset was imminent.Mumbai hits a sixEven when the home team was reeling at 93 for 9 to start the penultimate over, the emcee at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in an attempt to get the crowd involved, yelled “We want….” The obvious response of a sellout crowd was “sixer”. Well, the whole match saw just four sixes being hit, including a solitary hit by Ashish Reddy for the home team, but the Mumbai Indians completed a unique six.Once Parthiv and Lendl Simmons had ensured their bowling unit’s exceptional work was not going to waste by getting off to a quickfire start, it was clear that Mumbai Indians would enter the last four for the sixth consecutive time. The feat is bettered only by Chennai Super Kings, their opponents in Tuesday’s qualifier, who have made the cut in each of the eight IPL editions.Not much to cheer for the crowdFor the second time in three nights, the stadium was chock-a-block minutes into the first innings. This was a first in Hyderabad, which seldom sees full houses for IPL games. More than their home team’s stupendous form, it was their opponents who were the crowd pullers. While the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s famous triumvirate of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers meant Friday’s game was a sellout a fortnight before the game, Sunday’s match had the attraction of having a glimpse of Sachin Tendulkar. So what if he was going to be present only in the visitors’ dugout.While the crowd got plenty of sighters of Tendulkar, they couldn’t really get anything more that they had wished. Forget about a close finish, they didn’t even see enough fours and sixes. Once the game that was billed as the last and the best of the group stage turned out to be a lop-sided affair, the spectators started leaving as early as the fifth over into the Mumbai Indians chase.
Liverpool won the Premier League last season and then underwent major surgery throughout the summer transfer window.
Perhaps you could frame the Reds as a team in transition. This could be asserted for the 2024/25 campaign, when Liverpool pranced their way through the term and, yes, won the league title in Arne Slot’s first year at the helm.
Maybe it could also be argued that this is a transitional year for Liverpool. After all, many ins and outs occurred down Anfield Road this summer.
Regardless of which side of the fence you stand on, none can argue that Slot’s Liverpool are not title contenders once again, having won all five of their opening Premier League fixtures to establish a five-point lead at the summit. It took them until November to achieve that last year.
It is early days, of course, but the Merseysiders are shaping into quite the force, having signed Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz and many more.
However, they are hardly impregnable, with Liverpool’s defensive issues made worse by the ACL injury sustained by Giovanni Leoni against Southampton on Tuesday evening in the Carabao Cup.
How Leoni's injury affects Liverpool
Leoni must be gutted. Impressive on his Liverpool debut after leaving Parma in the summer, the 18-year-old will now recover across his first campaign in England, unlikely to be match fit until the business end.
Liverpool centre-back Giovanni Leoni
He had looked calm and assured and confident on the ball. Sadly, this is a significant setback for one so young. It’s about now that sporting director Richard Hughes might lament Crystal Palace’s failure to sign a Guehi replacement at the end of the transfer window, thus ending a move that looked all but complete and a summer in the making.
Such is football, but there’s no question the Premier League champions are now one Virgil van Dijk injury away from alarm bells to start ringing, with a four-front charge for silverware currently underway.
Guehi, too, may be frustrated at how things have panned out, with his chances of regular football at Liverpool almost certain had he indeed finalised that last-minute move.
Crystal Palace'sMarcGuehilooks dejected.
Hughes and Slot may also be tacitly frustrated that they sold Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen for £35m, with the hierarchy unable to promise the homegrown talent regularity of minutes for the club.
But then there will also be much confidence in Liverpool’s capacity to pull through. The backline has been refashioned over the past few months.
However, Quansah’s isn’t the only signature that may have left with an air of ruefulness. In fact, far more regret could be attributed to the mood when Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid in June.
Alexander-Arnold's value after leaving
Liverpool were hamstrung. Noise coming from the concerning contract situations of Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alexander-Arnold dominated the 2024/25 campaign, Slot’s first at the helm.
It’s small wonder that many felt the Reds would fall apart following Jurgen Klopp’s departure, with the ‘big three’ all slated to follow him out the gates.
That wasn’t the case. The skipper and the attacking talisman both renewed their Liverpool vows, but Alexander-Arnold, 26, left for pastures new and is now a member of Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid team.
Premier League
257
18 (67)
Champions League
60
2 (13)
FA Cup
13
1 (3)
Carabao Cup
10
0 (6)
Europa League
5
0 (2)
Club World Cup
2
0 (1)
CL Qualifying
2
0 (1)
Community Shield
2
1 (0)
UEFA Super Cup
1
0 (0)
Hailed as a “generational” talent by content creator Asim Mahmood, Trent’s range of passing and his vision and inventions on the ball have
He might not be the answer to Liverpool’s central defensive issues right now, but it’s an underpinning of the upheaval that has beset Slot’s backline in recent months.
Having refused FSG’s offers, the England international was set to sign for Real Madrid on a free transfer before Florentino Perez decided to bring him over for the Club World Cup, paying the English outfit an £8m fee to release him from his contract several weeks early.
This is some distance below the figure Liverpool recouped from Quansah’s sale, and does at least highlight the club’s expertise at the negotiating table, spending heavily this summer but banking a pretty penny too.
Alas, what’s done is done, but Alexander-Arnold is one of the world’s best, even if he is struggling to click from the off with Los Blancos, in and out of the starting line-up before a cruel injury that has ruled him out of action for the foreseeable.
For Liverpool to have got anything from a player imminently out of contract is a testament to Hughes’ prowess behind the desk, but, as Transfermarkt record it, his market value has already shot back up to £66m, which stands taller than the £35m figure the Reds were willing to pay for Guehi.
Moreover, when Alexander-Arnold brings it all together in Spain – and he will – this value will only skyrocket further.
In spite of the signing of Frimpong, the continued development of Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai’s interesting rebrand into a right-back, when called upon, none of them is Trent.
Dominik Szoboszlai in action for Liverpool
He was truly one-of-a-kind, and the most painful part of all is that all of a red persuasion across Merseyside and beyond felt that he was on the pathway to immortality at Liverpool, sure to replace Van Dijk as club captain and then take his seat, one day, on a plinth beside Steven Gerrard.
“He’s been a superstar,” Alan Shearer said, acknowledging the Three Lions man at the end of his Premier League career.
Alexander-Arnold must always be treasured for his contribution toward a sustained period of success, but he sadly joins a different category now, and it’s one the fans will look back at regretfully for many years.
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Women’s Blast will also see reduction from 14 games to 12 amid reshuffle of white-ball competitions
Vithushan Ehantharajah12-Aug-2025The men’s Vitality Blast will be reduced from 14 to 12 group-stage matches next season as part of a broad overhaul of English domestic white-ball cricket in the men’s and women’s game. However a mooted revamp of the men’s first-class cricket has yet to be agreed upon, with parties hopeful of a decision before the end of the month, ahead of the return of the County Championship in September.Following agreements from the required two-thirds majority of the 18 Professional County Cricket Clubs (PCCCs) and in collaboration with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), the men’s county T20 competition will shift from two groups of nine to three six-team regional groups, as it was during the Covid-affected summer of 2020.Each county will play the others in their group home and away (a total of 10 matches), with an additional home-and-away fixture against a side from the two other groups. The top two teams in each group plus the best two third-placed teams will progress to the quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals will progress to Finals Day. The competition will be played in a block and completed in July, before the start of the Hundred.Related
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The reduction in group matches follows recommendations from the county-led men’s Domestic Playing Programme (DPP) review. While the limited-overs portion of the review has been heeded, the PCCCs are yet to agree upon a preferred layout of the County Championship.It is understood that at present there are three red-ball options on the table, with no clear favourite. There is a strong desire out of necessity to establish a preferred option by the end of August to ensure counties know what they are playing for in the final rounds of this season.The most innovative would see a 12/6 split between Division One and Two, with the top-tier made up of two groups of six. Each Division One team would play home and away plus two further fixtures against teams in the other group. The top two will then go into a final for the County Championship title, mooted for the middle of September.The bottom team in each Division One group would subsequently be relegated, replaced by the team that finished top of Division Two, with the last promotion spot determined by a play-off between second and third. Despite only having six teams, Division Two sides will also play 12 fixtures; home and away against the other five teams, followed by home-and-away fixtures against two others.The other alternatives are a two-division split (10 in Division One, eight in Division Two) with 12 matches played; or a continuation of the existing 14-match set-up. At present, four counties – Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey and Yorkshire – have publicly stated their preference to retain a 14-match County Championship season.In a statement released by the ECB on Tuesday, Mark McCafferty, chair of the Professional Game Committee (PGC), which was set up in 2023, lauded the changes confirmed so far. He said: “These changes to the men’s Vitality Blast will be a springboard to further investment in a historic and much-loved domestic T20 competition which is recognised as one of the world’s best.”The new group format intensifies the importance of many of these local derbies, and brings the quarter-finals and the iconic Finals’ Day back into July, so improving the sporting and commercial narrative for sponsorship and TV partners, as well as meeting player wellbeing objectives by improving the group-stage schedules and travel demands to allow players to perform at their very best.”The revamp is part of the current work to further strengthen all our men’s and women’s domestic competitions and on behalf of the PGC, I’d like to express my thanks and appreciation to the counties and to the PCA for their ongoing collaboration on this work, as we progress in the next phase to the Rothesay County Championship and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.”The women’s Vitality Blast will also reduce to 12 matches next season in Tier 1, the result of a separate vote from the 18 PCCCs that was not linked to the men’s changes. With Yorkshire moving up from Tier 2 in 2026, making nine teams in the top tier, each county will play six home and six away matches, playing four counties twice and four counties once.Tier 1 Finals Day will expand to house two semi-finals and the final, meaning the top four teams progress to the showpiece event. Previously the team finishing first went through to the final automatically, to play the winner of second versus third earlier in the day. The Vitality Blast Women’s League 2 (Tier 2) will maintain eight group-stage matches, but move to a single group – changing from North and South Groups in 2025 – with a second-versus-third eliminator before the final.The Tier 1 Metro Bank One-Day Cup competition will increase to 16 matches from 14, with a shift to an eliminator instead of two semi-finals. League 2 will be reduced from nine to eight group-stage games with each county playing each other once. The top four at the end of the group stage will progress to the knockouts stages. The winners of the two semi-finals progress to the final.”The changes for 2026 were developed in consultation with the game and the players,” Beth Barrett-Wild, ECB director of the women’s professional game, said. “The player representatives did voice a desire to increase the volume of cricket, to allow an even home-and-away Vitality Blast in Tier 1, but also recognised the scheduling challenges that would cause.”There was always going to be a settling-in period across Tiers 1 and 2 during these first few seasons, and these changes are set to be for next summer only with a planned review again ahead of the 2027 season, when Glamorgan will move from Tier 2 into Tier 1. This will also follow another phase of learning as the new women’s competitions embed into the overall county structure.”Speaking on the overall changes to limited overs cricket, ECB chief executive Richard Gould said: “County cricket in England and Wales has long been the gold standard and it has been important that the counties have led the discussion in consultation with the game as we look to make all of our men’s and women’s county competitions the best they can be.”
Men’s Vitality Blast from 2026
Group A: Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Notts Outlaws, Yorkshire Group B: Bears, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Somerset, Worcestershire Rapids Group C: Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex Sharks