da esoccer bet： O técnico Alberto Valentim reconheceu que o Furacão terá uma missão “muito difícil” para ser campeão da Copa do Brasil. Isso acontece porque, neste domingo, pelo confronto de ida da final, o Athletico-PR perdeu para o Atlético-MG por 4 a 0 no Mineirão. Dessa forma, o treinador procurou ser realista, mas ressaltou que o time irá buscar a vitória no confronto da volta.
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da bwin： >ATUAÇÕES: Athletico-PR não se encontra em campo na final da Copa do Brasil
-Lógico que temos que ser realistas, é muito difícil revertemos na Arena (da Baixada). Nós temos que tentar vencer, sim. Utilizar a força da nossa casa, para que a gente ganhe lá, para fazer uma outra grande partida dentro da Arena – disse Valentim.
Após a partida, em entrevista à TV Globo, o atacante Pedro Rocha ficou na bronca com a arbitragem e questionou o critério da arbitragem (clique aqui e saiba mais). Nesse sentido, Valentim também falou sobre o tema, mas voltou a destacar a partida aquém do Furacão e destacou que o time teve uma “tarde infeliz”.
– Claro que a gente teve a nossa parcela de culpa pela derrota. A gente não está aqui para tirar as nossas responsabilidades, a única coisa que eu comentei com o quarto árbitro é que nós tomamos dois cartões amarelos em seguida – declarou Valentim.
– Não tem problema usando o mesmo critério. O Cittadini também sofreu uma falta semelhante. Mas quem não esteve à altura hoje foi no nosso time, foi uma tarde infeliz do nosso time – completou.
Atlético-MG e Athletico-PR voltam a campo na próxima quarta-feira, às 21h30, na Arena da Baixada. O confronto é válido pelo jogo da volta da final da Copa do Brasil e terá transmissão em tempo real do LANCE!.
Ainda vale lembrar que, para levar a Copa do Brasil, o Furacão precisa derrotar o Galo por cinco ou mais gols de diferença. Uma vitória por quatro de diferença levará a decisão para os pênaltis – não existe o critério do gol marcado fora de casa na competição.
Smith’s new role as opener has created an unbalanced batting order with an uncertain top order and too much aggression in the middle
Ian Chappell24-Mar-2024Australia’s bowling, which features a settled and successful top four, is a major plus, but the batting is a concern for the current World Test champions.They are missing the ebullient David Warner’s ability to harass opponents with his aggression as an opener. There is no like-for-like opener to replace Warner and what Australia have now is an unbalanced batting line-up.By promoting Steven Smith to open so they could include two allrounders, they are now left with a query at the top and an overabundance of aggression in the middle order.The preference is to have a strong top six, but it’s ideal when that batting order is balanced.Smith is still Australia’s best batter but at No. 4, not opening. As former Australian captain Tim Paine wisely noted: “If I’m the opposition, I want him [Smith] opening.”Related
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Smith, like all players, is more vulnerable against the new ball. He’ll occasionally succeed because he’s a very good player, but he’s unlikely to produce the consistently high scores he did in his heyday in the middle. An Australian order with Smith at No. 4 has the solid look that provides confidence that things will still be okay even if they go astray at the top.The problem is if Smith bats at No. 4 where do you play Cameron Green, who is a must for Australia? Who would then open? Australia’s most perplexing selection headache is the opening situation – there are no obvious replacements for Warner.Test opener Usman Khawaja, who bats in the middle order for Queensland, is proof there is a paucity of top-order candidates at state level. However if you pick a new opener and play Green while batting Smith at four, then the likelihood is you have to omit Travis Head. Head has had success in the Test side but Green is a better proposition both for the present and the future.The pairing of Head and Mitchell Marsh means Australia’s middle order is heavily reliant on attacking batting. The fall-back position that Smith provided – an ability to rebuild methodically – is missing.
Australia’s most perplexing selection headache is the opening situation – there are no obvious replacements for Warner
The reason both Marsh and Head vigorously attack the opposition is because their aggression covers up their technical failings. Their aggression has worked against the lesser sides, but will it succeed against strong sides like India?If Marsh and Head have to try and dig Australia out of trouble against Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, that will be a concern. Rest assured a vulnerable Australian top order will find itself in trouble if that Indian trio is fit and firing.This is a situation with which the modern bowlers have to cope. They are going to face more aggressive batting from the opposition and that is a part of a modern Test bowler’s life. At the moment the best bowlers are most likely to cope, but teams need to focus on unearthing lesser performers who have found a method that deals with the aggressive approach.Relentlessly attacking the new ball and succeeding against good bowlers is an extremely rare skill and this was one of Warner’s strengths. That’s why Australia are desperately missing his undoubted talent.Another aspect of the Australian team that will encourage opponents was their batting failure against the West Indies pace attack, especially newcomer Shamar Joseph. Once that type of susceptibility is established, it’s very difficult to reverse the trend as it encourages opponents. This was a situation that rarely existed when Smith (at No. 4) and Warner were dominating Australia’s batting.The Test success of India, Australia and, more recently, England highlights the financial problems that torment the long form of the game. If the Big Three are able to continue rewarding their Test players handsomely but the remainder struggle financially, it does nothing for the competitiveness of an already ailing long form of the game.The World Test Championship is a grand idea. However it will quickly lose glamour status if the Big Three dominate the coveted battle for the winner’s mace.
Bryce Harper was none too pleased after he was rung up on a check swing Friday night against the Detroit Tigers.
The Philadelphia Phillies star thought he was walked when he saw a low payoff pitch from Tigers reliever Will Vest with two runners in scoring position and first base open with two outs. Harper checked his swing, though, and Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler challenged to third-base umpire Vic Carapazza, who ruled Harper went around and was subsequently out on strikes.
Upset at the call, he gestured toward Carapazza and repeated "there's no way," maybe with an added expletive. That ended his night a tad early, take a look:
After the pitch, Harper put his bat down and started to take off his shin guard, preparing to go to first base before he was called out. Whether he went around or not was certainly a close call.
On the night, he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk. Despite the late ejection, the Phillies were able to come out on top with a 5-4 win after a two-run eighth inning. They scored three runs in the seventh before Harper was tossed.
It would be an understatement to suggest that West Ham United have had a bad start to the season this year.
Sure, the Hammers managed to pull off an impressive 3-0 win away to Nottingham Forest before the international break, but they’ve lost every other game.
The East Londoners are currently sitting in the relegation zone with a goal difference of negative seven, and as things stand, it’s hard to see where the next win is going to come from.
However, Graham Potter can certainly make things easier for his side and give himself a better chance og keeping his job by axing a certain player from the starting lineup.
West Ham's underperformers
Unfortunately for Potter and Co, there are more than a handful of players who’ve looked entirely out of sorts so far this season.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
One of those is undoubtedly Mads Hermansen, as even though he wasn’t to blame for the loss away to Sunderland, and even pulled off a fine stop early on in that match, he’s since been a real hazard between the sticks.
For example, according to FBref, his save percentage has fallen from 64.5% for Leicester City last season to just 45% this year.
Another struggling member of the defensive unit has been Max Kilman, who has started all four league games this season, in which the team have conceded a whopping 11 goals.
Moreover, in the game against Spurs, he lost 100% of his ground duels, misplaced five of six long balls, failed in 100% of his attempted dribbles and didn’t make a single tackle or interception.
However, there is another regular starter in the side who simply has to be dropped for the next game, and for Potter’s own future.
The West Ham star Potter has to drop
While there are likely a few other names that could be mentioned here, we are talking about James Ward-Prowse.
The former Southampton captain joined the Hammers for £30m in the summer of 2023, and while there have certainly been some decent performances from the 30-year-old since, it would be hard to describe his move as anything other than a failure.
Indeed, in the words of former Hammers midfielder Martin Allen, when Ward-Prowse arrived, he could have done a job “similar to Mark Noble” in claret and blue but unfortunately it hasn’t panned out that way.
After all, he was sent out on loan to Forest last season, and then even at the City Ground, he was such an afterthought that he moved back to the London Stadium in early February.
Since then, the 11-capped Englishman has been a constant in the team and has started all five games this season, although once again, considering the results, that is not an indication of his quality.
In fact, many fans are now desperate for the manager to remove the former Saints star from the lineup, as while he was once considered “the best in the Premier League” for set-pieces, per Jamie Carragher, he now appears to offer very little.
Ward-Prowse’s PL stats
Appearances
4
Minutes
325
Expected Goals
0.11
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.69
Assists
0
Shots
0.3
Duels Won
57%
Successful Dribbles
0
Dribbled pas per Game
0.5
Accurate Crosses
50%
All Stats via Sofascore
For example, he has yet to register a goal or assist this season, averaging just 2.5 key passes, creating only two big chances, and being accurate in 50% of his crosses.
Moreover, he does not have the agility or speed to play in a deeper midfield role, so he cannot even really help out with the defensive side of the game either.
A perfect example of his lack of speed came last season when Arsenal’s David Raya beat him to the ball from a corner he had come up for, and if an outfield player is slower than a goalkeeper, that is more than a little worrying.
Finally, it shouldn’t even be a tough decision to remove the Portsmouth-born midfielder from the side, as the highly-rated Soungoutou Magassa just joined the club and would surely do so much more.
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Emilio Galantini
Sep 17, 2025
Ultimately, Ward-Prowse is a talented player and someone with a career most players would love to have, but the end of last season and the start of this one have proven that he must be dropped from the side.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted he's been left baffled by his team's disastrous run of results in the Premier League. The defending champions have lost six of their last seven matches in the competition and now sit in the bottom half of the table. However, Slot has defended his players, pointing out they have won three of their last four games in the Champions League.
Liverpool in crisis as form collapses
Liverpool's defeat to Nottingham Forest last time out in the Premier League has brought fresh scrutiny on Slot, with the club's hopes of retaining their Premier League title in absolute tatters after just 12 games of the season. The Dutchman has managed just six wins so far in the 2025-26 campaign despite a big summer that brought huge investment in players including Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportSlot baffled by Liverpool's dreadful run
Slot has admitted he's at a loss to explain his side's poor run but has defended his team by highlighting their form in the Champions League, which has brought wins over Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Liverpool boss told TNT Sports: "I'm also, like so many others, almost confused. Like, how is this possible with so much quality available that I cannot find a winning way with my team? Which is also not completely true, because people could also say we've won two out of the last four. We've won three out of four Champions League games. But it's clear that we've lost far too many games."
Slot hails Liverpool's great signings
One of Liverpool's problems this season has been that big-money signings such as Isak, Wirtz and Kerkez are yet to make much of an impact. However, Slot has backed his new men and says they are great signings by the club.
"Everybody is surprised, including me. If you win the league, of course we’ve made a few changes, but we’ve also made a few changes where I thought, we thought, but I was the first one who thought that we would benefit from. [We’ve] made some great signings. Players that stayed behind have been so important for us. Then you don’t expect to go into a run of games that we have been in. Even if we hadn’t made a signing or all the players had left, you don’t expect Liverpool to lose in the Premier League six out of seven times," he added.
"There are never enough excuses for me to explain what has happened. That is also what makes it difficult for me because I’m the type of person who likes to explain things. If you can explain things you can find a solution for things."
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Liverpool leaking goals
Slot also spoke about how his team can get their form back on track, explaining: "I don’t think this is a moment about learning from the past, it’s looking forward. I want to play with a team that is doing all the things we did last season. I’ve seen a lot of similar things but there are one or two details and these details have cost us a lot, that are different to last season. One of those details is that last season, until this moment of time, we didn’t concede one set-piece at all and now we’ve conceded nine [in the Premier League]. Generally speaking, it’s still a team that has the ball a lot, it’s still a team that generates enough chances, but it’s also a team that again – I’m responsible for that – concedes far too many goals. It feels as if we are close to going to different results but doing the simple things right is maybe harder than I thought it was."
Former Australia seamer will be available for Championship and Blast fixtures until end of July
ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2023Peter Siddle will return to Somerset for another county stint in 2023.Siddle, the 38-year-old Australian fast bowler, will be available from the start of the LV= Insurance County Championship season in early April through to the end of July. During that time he will also be available for Somerset’s Vitality Blast campaign.Last year, Siddle claimed 27 first-class wickets for Somerset at an average 23.92 with a best of 6 for 51 against Surrey. He also impressed with the white ball, taking 17 wickets in the Blast at an average of 17.88, including a best of 3 for 10.A vastly experienced former Australian international who claimed 221 wickets in 67 Tests, Siddle also played a mentoring role to Somerset’s young bowlers last season.”I loved my time at Somerset last summer and when the opportunity to go back came about there was never any doubt that I would take it,” Siddle said. “It’s a great club with great people and the members and supporters are outstanding.Related
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“I was made to feel like a part of the family as soon as I arrived and I’m looking forward to joining up with the boys again in a few months’ time. Hopefully, I can contribute to Somerset having a big summer in 2023.”Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, described Siddle as “phenomenal for us on and off the field last year”.”His contributions on the pitch and in the dressing room were of the very highest order,” Hurry added. “He is a proven winner who will contribute significantly on the field, and with his vast experience will also play a huge role in the development of our aspiring bowlers.”During his time with us previously, he established an excellent rapport with his team-mates, the coaches, our staff and our members. He will be a valuable addition to our squad this summer and we look forward to welcoming him back to do what he does best in a Somerset shirt in 2023.”Somerset became Siddle’s fourth county team when he joined them as an all-format overseas player last year following previous spells with Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Essex.
da bet esporte： Newcastle United have reportedly made contact with a former Chelsea star whose sale has been green-lighted by his current club, according to reports.
Howe "disappointed" with Newcastle form as January approaches
da lvbet： Newcastle’s need for defensive reinforcements was clear for all to see at the weekend as the Magpies were thumped 4-2 by Brentford in the Premier League. A frenetic start at the Gtech Community Stadium saw both teams find the net within the first 12 minutes, with Alexander Isak canceling out Bryan Mbeumo’s opener.
The home side regained the lead when Yoane Wissa capitalized on an error by Harvey Barnes for his ninth goal in eight games, but the English winger redeemed himself soon after with a superb turn and finish to level. After the break, however, it was all Brentford, with goals from Nathan Collins and Kevin Schade sealing victory for the Bees and extending their unbeaten run at home this season to eight games. Speaking after the game, Howe highlighted his team’s defensive woes.
Dan Burn and Eddie Howe for Newcastle
“Really frustrating,” he said. “We are really disappointed with the manner of the goals we conceded. It is not even individual mistakes. There’s two or three actions I’m not happy with for each goal. We have to do better in those situations.”
Magpies open talks for Barcelona defender
To help fix their issues at the back, Newcastle have now opened talks for Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen about a potential move to St. James’ Park in January, according to CaughtOffside. The publication claims that Barca are open to selling the former Chelsea star, who joined them on a free transfer in July 2022 and is now in the final year of his contract.
The Catalan club don’t want to lose him on a free next summer, so he could be made available for around £25 million after the New Year.
Andreas Christensen
Christensen had been a key player for Barcelona since his arrival at the Camp Nou, but he’s played just 26 minutes of football this season due to an achilles tendon injury, for which he underwent surgery in Sweden. He is expected to return at the end of January.
Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel once described Christensen as a clever defender after the Dane enjoyed a strong start to the 2021/22 season with the Blues.
“He’s a calm guy, very intelligent player, and sometimes you can get maybe a bit misled by judging him from his personality, because he is a hard defender and he is a guy who is not shy to have hard tackles and win challenges and step up in games,” said the German.
“He is very strong, very reliable and he has not reached his limits because at his age there is still room to improve. He can be a top defender for us in the next years and hopefully he will be because he comes from the academy.”
Should Newcastle want to land the Dane, however, they face competition from Manchester United, who are understood to have already put in an early £12.5 million offer for the 28-year-old.
Just when Rangers supporters thought this season couldn’t get any worse for the Ibrox outfit, well it can.
On Thursday night, Russell Martin’s Gers were beaten 2-1 in a Europa League clash at Liebenauer Stadium.
Austrian champions Sturm Graz scored twice in the first half, both times thanks to some absolutely horrendous defending that left Ally McCoist on commentary speechless, while Djeidi Gassama did lash one home immediately after half time, but an equaliser was not forthcoming.
Having lost 1-0 at home to Genk last Thursday, the Light Blues have now started a UEFA Cup or Europa League group stage with back-to-back defeats for the very first time, while Martin’s team have in fact lost five successive European fixtures, conceding 14 goals and scoring only three.
Considering he has won only five matches in charge across all competitions, losing six, supporters wanted the manager gone weeks ago, but was starting Rangers’ summer flop a sackable offence in of itself?
Rangers' continued defensive issues
Credit where credit’s due, this fact comes from Rory Hamilton during his commentary on TNT Sports.
Rangers’ last clean sheet away from home came against Ross County in Dingwall on 8 December, 299 days ago and counting, a streak of 22 matches across all competitions, which equals a club record set in 1897 when Queen Victoria was still on the throne.
Failure to keep a shutout against Falkirk on Sunday would break that 128-year-old record.
Goalkeeper Jack Butland was unceremoniously dropped by interim manager Barry Ferguson last season, but has been Martin’s undisputed number one since his appointment, albeit the England international may feel he should have kept out Tomi Horvat’s opener, a shot that was pretty much straight at him, but squirmed under his body and in.
In fairness, he does have a completely chaotic defence in front of him, with deadline day signing Derek Cornelius wondering what he did to deserve landing on this sinking ship, while 19-year-old Jayden Meghoma, who was hooked at half time in Austria, is not enjoying his time in Glasgow so far much either.
With games against Brann, Roma, Braga, Ferencváros, Ludogorets Razgrad and Porto to come in this Europa League campaign, if Rangers continue to defend the way that they are, they will be crashing out in the league phase, having finished up in eighth place as recently as last season.
However, Martin has issues at the other end of the park too, making it bewildering as to why he chose the centre-forward he did.
Rangers striker yet to impress
When 49ers Enterprises completed their takeover of Rangers in the summer, they pledged to invest around £20m into the club, but how much of that has been wasted on Youssef Chermiti?
The Portuguese under-21 international joined the club from Everton on deadline day for a reported fee of £8m, potentially rising to £10m with add-ons.
The Gers’ previous transfer record in the post-liquidation era is the £7.5m paid to Liverpool to secure Ryan Kent’s signature, following an impressive loan spell, with Chermiti’s fee thereby second only to the £12m splurged on Tore André Flo in 2000.
Most expensive SPFL signings before the 2025 summer window
The 21-year-old led the line in Graz, as he did for the visit of Genk a week earlier, but did not impress, as the table below documents.
Shots on target
3
2nd
Hit woodwork
1
1st
xG
0.49
3rd
Duels contested
11
5th
Duels won
5
10th
Touches
24
22nd
Sofascore rating
6
32nd
As the table notes, despite attempting four shots, of which three were on target, Chermiti was not taking these from particularly good positions, hence why his expected goals figure was as low as 0.49, an average of only 0.12 per shot.
He also lost possession eight times, as well as winning less than 50% of his duels, registering a miserly 24 touches, which is fewer than goalkeeper Jack Butland (31), as well as six less than Oliver Antman, who was hooked at half-time.
During commentary for TNT Sport, McCoist outlined his reservations about the signing, saying that he hopes that Chermiti will score 200 or even 300 goals for Rangers, and he would probably have to if he’s to justify the sky-high price-tag.
Well, first and foremost, just one goal would be a start!
He did not score a single goal in two seasons at Everton, albeit he made just 24 appearances, totalling 295 for the Toffees, meaning his last senior goal came for Sporting against Paços de Ferreira on 7 May 2023.
That same day, Todd Cantwell scored the only goal as Michael Beale’s Rangers beat Barry Robson’s Aberdeen 1-0 at Ibrox, while Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic rubber-stamped the title at Tynecastle simultaneously; a lot has changed all round!
When you’ve got a proven reliable goalscorer sat on the bench in Bojan Miovski, who was introduced at half time when it was already too late, Martin’s decision to start Chermiti, when his job is on the line, is frankly baffling.
Not Antman: Martin has found the new Cerny in "electric" Rangers star
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Leeds United won the Championship title with a staggering haul of 100 points in the 2024/25 campaign, but they knew that the jump up to the Premier League was still a huge one.
The last six teams to have been promoted to the top-flight have all gone straight back down in the last two seasons, which illustrates the size of the task ahead for Daniel Farke’s Whites, Sunderland, and Burnley.
Leeds United managerDanielFarkeapplauds their fans after the match
Unfortunately, though, Leeds ended the summer transfer window without doing all the business that they wanted to do in the forward areas, as they missed out on a deadline day deal for Harry Wilson.
The only attacker the Whites paid a transfer fee for in the window was Switzerland forward Noah Okafor, who joined from AC Milan for a reported £18m.
The 25-year-old winger only scored seven goals in 57 matches for Milan and Napoli in the last two seasons combined, per Sofascore, and was an unused substitute against Newcastle United last time out.
Another one of the club’s attacking signings over the summer who still has a big question mark hanging over him is centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who joined on a free transfer from Everton.
Why Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a risk signing for Leeds
Speaking earlier this month, Leeds United’s managing director Robbie Evans explained the reasoning behind the signing: “When you acquire a new player, you’re making a sacrifice somewhere as far as their age, their experiences, their ceiling, their character or their injury history.
“Something is not going to be perfect, unless they are the highly expensive player. We’d rather take somebody that’s got the experience, the physicality, the profile, the goal record and the character, and bet on ourselves to keep them healthy, than take somebody who doesn’t have that ceiling.”
These are interesting comments from Evans and understandable to a point. Calvert-Lewin is a vastly experienced Premier League performer who has been there and done it in the past, but the main issue is that his best performances are well and truly in the past.
The former England international has failed to hit double digits for goals in the Premier League in any of the last four seasons, and has underperformed his xG in all nine of his seasons in the division.
24/25
8.85
3
23/24
13.63
7
22/23
6.50
2
21/22
6.22
5
20/21
18.21
16
19/20
16.11
13
18/19
6.17
6
17/18
5.44
4
16/17
1.25
1
As you can see in the table above, Calvert-Lewin is a wasteful finisher who has not provided much in the way of quality since the last season without crowds at games.
Evans also mentioned the injury risk, which is a big one with the striker, because the forward has missed 112 matches through injury in his career, per Transfermarkt.
The 28-year-old attacker is, therefore, an incredibly risky signing for Leeds because his goal record and his injury record both suggest that the Whites may struggle to get much of an impact out of him this season.
Time will tell whether or not that risk will end up being worth it or not, as it is now up to Calvert-Lewin to get his career back on track, but Leeds may regret letting go of a number nine who has outperformed the Englishman in recent years.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Spanish striker Rafa Mujica left Elland Road to sign for Las Palmas on a free transfer, per Transfermarkt, in the summer of 2021, and has since gone on to shine in multiple countries.
Why Leeds must regret releasing Rafa Mujica
The young centre-forward went out on loan to various teams across Spain during his spell with Leeds before they ultimately decided that he was not going to make the grade in West Yorkshire and let him join Las Palmas for nothing.
Rafa Mujica
He had failed to score more than four goals in any of his loan spells, per Transfermarkt, which may be why the club were willing to let him go in 2021, but they may look back on that decision with regret considering what the star has gone on to achieve.
Mujica really hit his stride at first-team level after his move that saw him sign for Arouca from Las Palmas in 2022. The Spanish marksman scored 14 goals in 32 matches in his first season in Portgual, per Transfermarkt.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin in action for Everton.
Since the end of that season, from the summer of 2023 onwards, the former Leeds academy starlet has significantly outperformed Calvert-Lewin as a goalscorer in the past two seasons.
Mujica, who signed for Qatar-based side Al-Sadd last year, has scored 44 goals in all competitions for Arouca and Al-Sadd since the summer of 2023.
Appearances
65
26
Minutes played
5,297
4,243
Goals
44
11
Minutes per goal
120
385
Assists
9
5
As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old striker has scored 33 more goals and provided four more assists than Calvert-Lewin in the last two years, with a far more impressive minutes per goal ratio.
Mujica, who was hailed as “magnificent” by former boss Pepe Mel, also outperformed his xG of 16.27 to score 20 goals in the Portuguese top-flight in the 2023/24 campaign, per Sofascore.
These statistics suggest that the Spanish attacker is far more clinical and lethal in front of goal than Calvert-Lewin, having delivered at a decent level in Portugal and, now, in Qatar.
Whilst he is an unproven quantity in England and the Premier League, Mujica appears to be a far better player and far more valuable asset than he was when Leeds decided to let him join Las Palmas on a free transfer four years ago.
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This is why supporters may look back on the decision to release Mujica as a poor one, particularly given the risks that the club have had to take with the signing of Calvert-Lewin in the hope that he can fire them to survival in the Premier League.
Heinrich Klaasen was the only batter to resist as Orcas were bowled out for 82, which took Freedom just 9.2 overs to overhaul
ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2025
Glenn Maxwell had three wickets inside the powerplay•Sportzpics for MLC
Shimron Hetmyer had done it three games in a row for Seattle Orcas, but couldn’t on this occasion, against Washington Freedom. That Orcas batting line-up, which had stuttered and stumbled to five losses in a row before Hetmyer took charge, went back to being incompetent as Hetmyer had an off-day, putting up a paltry 82. It took Freedom just 9.2 overs to complete the chase and climb back to No. 2 on the MLC 2025 points table.Freedom won the toss, bowled, and Saurabh Netravalkar struck first ball, sending back Shayan Jahangir. Next over, Glenn Maxwell had Aaron Jones’ number. Netravalkar got rid of Sikandar Raza in the third over. First ball of the fourth, Maxwell sent back Steven Taylor. And Maxwell then finished the powerplay with Kyle Mayers’ wicket, leaving Orcas at 21 for 5 after six overs.Those three wickets gave Maxwell, who finished up by bowling the tenth, figures of 3 for 12 from four, while Netravalkar, who came back to bowl the 16th and got the wicket of Jasdeep Singh, the ninth of the innings, returned 3-13. Jack Edwards was the other major wicket-taker for Freedom, finishing with 3 for 19, including the wicket of Heinrich Klaasen, the only Orcas batter to put up a fight before becoming last man out for a 39-ball 48.The chase was a straightforward one even though Raza saw the back of Mitchell Owen in the third over. By the end of the powerplay, Rachin Ravindra and Mukhtar Ahmed had taken Freedom to 50 for 1, leaving just 37 runs to get from 14 overs. They needed just 3.2 more, as Ravindra scored 32 from 23 before becoming the next batter out, and Mukhtar remained unbeaten on a 21-ball 36.For Orcas, despite the big defeat, the three-match winning run has kept them in the fray for the playoffs. They are still at No. 4, though after nine games, as opposed to fifth-placed MI New York, who are one win behind but with a game in hand.