All posts by n8rngtd.top

Velocity v Supernovas – more than just a match of cricketing acumen

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The focus, invariably, will be as much on the captains – Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur – as it will be on the youngsters and international stars

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2019First, the cricket
Velocity are led by Mithali Raj, arguably India’s best ever cricketer and captain of the ODI side; Supernovas are led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the most exciting batsman of her generation, Raj’s deputy in the ODI side and captain of the T20 team.These sides met here, at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium, two days ago. In that match, Raj’s Velocity lost pace, intent and eventually the match. But they still qualified for the final by pipping Trailblazers, whom they’d already beaten, on NRR.

Match info

Start time: 1930 IST
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

What’s the feud?

The long-suspected acrimony between the two players became public during the World T20 in the West Indies in November. Raj was dropped for the semi-final, which India lost, and after the match Harmanpreet said she had wanted to retain a winning side from the previous match. Raj’s manager, however, then launched an unprecedented Twitter attack on Harmanpreet’s captaincy. She called Harmanpreet a “manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain” and also said the women’s team believed in “politics not sport”.What was the fallout?
The first casualty was the interim head coach Ramesh Powar – his contract expired days after that semi-final defeat and was not extended. Powar, who received the backing of Harmanpreet and her T20 deputy Smriti Mandhana, was critical of Raj in his report on India’s performance at the World T20. He said she had threatened to pull out of the tournament if not allowed to open the batting.Annesha Ghosh/ESPNcricinfoDid it end there?

There were a lot of emails sent by Raj and Harmanpreet to the Committee of Administrators, all leaked to the media. Raj said the episode had left her, “for the first time in a 20-year long career… deflated, depressed and let down. I am forced to think if my services to my country are of any value to a few people in power who are out to destroy me and break my confidence.” She did not directly blame Harmanpreet, saying “I am of the opinion that Harman and I are senior players and our issues, if any, should be sorted out by the two of us by sitting across the table.”What happened next?

Well, they sat down across the table – along with senior BCCI officials – within a week of Raj’s email. Raj is understood to have told Harmanpreet that Annisha Gupta, whose tweets had set off the storm, was not her manager. On her part, Harmanpreet told Raj that the decision to exclude her from the World T20 semis was not a personal choice but a collective call.About a month later, on the eve of the team’s tour of New Zealand, both Raj and Harmanpreet claimed to have “moved on” from the acrimony that, by Raj’s admission, did “hamper” the profile of the Indian women’s team.BCCISo that was that?
Or so we thought. Earlier this week, though, Raj told , “I do keep to myself [in the dressing room] and people can’t judge me for that right now…I believe what has happened has definitely made me more wiser to people around me in the dressing room… I wouldn’t say I felt lonely but I definitely feel that I was betrayed.”So has Raj settled in the side?
Since the start of the 2017 World Cup, Raj, now 36, has been largely inconsistent on whether she herself envisions herself playing the 2020 T20 World Cup or the 2021 ODI World Cup. While still a formidable force in the 50-over format, on the subject of whether retirement from the shortest format figures in her plans, Raj’s go-to refrain when fielding questions at press conferences of late has been, “You’ll see when that happens.”In March, WV Raman, the new coach of the women’s side, in a post-match review alongside stand-in captain Mandhana and Raj said that “we [him, Raj and Mandhana, the stand-in captain for the series against England women] had a chat about what she [Raj] is comfortable doing and what suits the side as well.”With that, a semblance of clarity around her batting slot in the middle order, and not as an opener, appeared to have been offered. That topic had become a full-blown controversy after India’s 2018 World T20 exit.Yet in that same interview, when asked whether the new team management had informed her of her role in the team, Raj’s answer was succinct: “Honestly, not yet.”Back to Jaipur
What Raman, Mandhana and the management make of the denial may not be brought up for discussion until the national camp in Bengaluru gets underway next month. For now, the focus remains on the action in Jaipur and the battle for supremacy between Raman-Harmanpreet’s Supernovas and Raj’s Velocity.Can 15-year-old uncapped Indian batsman Shafali Verma get Velocity off to a brisk start, like she did in her first game of the tournament? Or will Supernovas batsman Jemimah Rodrigues trump Shafali in the battle of the teenagers? Also, the in-form Danielle Wyatt could alone demolish the Supernovas attack, unless the Yadavs – Radha and Poonam – orchestrate yet another middle-overs choke with their spin.With less than ten months out from the T20 World Cup in Australia, uncapped Indians would do well to treat the Women’s T20 Challenge final as an audition for a likely call-up, and for internationals on the fringe, such as Veda Krishnamurthy and Sushma Verma, a chance for a recall into the national side.

What the resolution reached by Zimbabwe Cricket and SRC entails

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

This is the first step in getting the suspension lifted, but it’s not quite a straightforward road yet

Liam Brickhill09-Aug-2019The spat between Zimbabwe’s Sports and Recreation Commission and Zimbabwe Cricket appears to have reached a resolution. On Thursday the SRC announced that the dispute had been settled, with all parties agreeing to an “Order by Consent”, with the matter now pending before an administrative court. Zimbabwe Cricket’s directors will be reinstated once the registrar of that court issues an order to that effect, and the interim committee will be dissolved.There’s a lot of legal jargon there. What does this all actually mean?Basically, it means that the SRC blinked first.They made it known in their presentation at the ICC Board meeting in July that they felt that they had grounds to suspend the ZC board, alleging electoral irregularities in the board election, as well as various other allegations. Their suspension of the board was within their powers under the act of Parliament that created the SRC, but the ICC’s perception was that it constituted unacceptable interference in cricket affairs, violating the laws to which ICC member nations have to adhere. In the meantime, the ZC board took the matter to court, appealing against the SRC’s original suspension.Still, the SRC stood their ground for a while, but as the collateral damage started to mount, with both the men’s and women’s sides stripped of their chance to compete at the T20 World Cup Qualifiers and the threat of expulsion looming, a resolution to the conflict became the only option.Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry engineered a series of meetings between the ZC board and the SRC last week. A settlement was found, and the court order – once it is issued – will make that settlement official.So will Zimbabwe’s suspension be lifted?This is certainly the first step in getting the suspension lifted, but it’s not quite as simple as that. The ICC issued a directive last month that the board be “unconditionally” reinstated as a prerequisite for the situation in Zimbabwe to be discussed at the next ICC board meeting in October. But while the SRC’s latest statement essentially brought the dispute to an end, it was somewhat light on detail. Will the board be reinstated in its entirety? What was agreed at the meetings between ZC and the SRC? These details could well be important when the ICC meet and discuss Zimbabwe’s suspension. The move does at least seem to suggest that the threat of Zimbabwe’s expulsion from the ICC and total loss of membership rights appears to be receding now. But their suspension may still stand until October.So will Zimbabwe now play in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers?Unfortunately not. The ICC has already announced their replacements – Namibia and Nigeria – as well as the fixture list for the women’s qualifier at the end of the month. So, unless the ICC backtrack and reverse their decision to replace the Zimbabwean teams, which is highly unlikely, the reinstatement of the board has come too late.Where does this leave Zimbabwe’s cricketers?For the moment, they’re still in the wilderness, but their future is a little less uncertain than it was at the start of the week. ZC still want to send a team to the tri-series in Bangladesh, and if the suspension is lifted after the October meeting, ICC funding will return and salaries can be paid.

Do right-left pairs at the crease work? It's complicated

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

In theory it’s good strategy, especially when spinners are on, but a look at the recent Australia-New Zealand game says there’s more to it than meets the eye

Jarrod Kimber02-Jul-2019Steven Smith bowled offspin because he had a short boundary and two left-handers on strike. This is what ODI cricket is now.The Australia-New Zealand clash resembled a simulated cricket game. Both teams seemed so determined to follow modern cricket thinking that their decisions could have been chosen by an algorithm.This World Cup has been the most analytically driven in history, as players, coaches and analysts from T20, or even inspired by it, are with the national teams.Take Australia. Their head coach is Justin Langer, who used advanced analytics in his time with Perth Scorchers. His assistant is Ricky Ponting, who has talked about match-ups many times as a commentator in the Big Bash League, and also as a coach in the IPL. Aaron Finch is their captain, who led Melbourne Renegades’ data-driven game to a title win in the BBL this year.This game between two of the probable World Cup semi-finalists showed just how much influence these T20 methods and Moneyball-inspired ways now have, and also some of their flaws.One of the most popular trends in T20 is the left-right combination.In this tournament Australia have been pushing right-hand-left-hand partnerships at first drop, although they didn’t do it in the easy win over Afghanistan, nor against Bangladesh. When early wickets fall, Usman Khawaja comes in, as part of his role is to be back-up opener. But in the middle overs when a wicket falls, Smith comes in when Finch goes, and Khawaja comes in for David Warner. That has happened two times each.There are two reasons batting teams like this kind of partnership. The first is about the spinners in the middle overs. A left-right combo means that at least one batsman has the ball spinning in to him, which is seen as favourable.The problem here is, the effect of right-left is nowhere near as strong as teams believe it is.Let us start with accuracy. We’re constantly told that a left-right pair plays with bowlers’ radars. Compared with two right-handers at the crease, it does. But bowlers are at their least accurate with two left-handers facing, and it’s not even close.

One left-hander means you get a wide every 6.4 balls more often. Add another and wides happen 5.2 balls more often again.This is rather incredible, because left-hand batsmen are not rare. They face 34% of all balls in ODIs. Yet they are still the great disrupters.The real advantage, theoretically, in splitting up a same-handed partnership is when spin is on. But even there, other than a slight boost of strike rate (about three points), there isn’t much difference at all. When two right-handers are at the wicket, they bat at a slightly better average than when it is left-right. The only time a partnership deviates from the norm is when two right-handers face seam; the average dips to under 30. For spin, it doesn’t have that kind of effect.

With all that in mind, is it worth upsetting your batting order, unless the other team possesses two spinners who turn it the same way, and all your batsmen are better against the ball spinning in than away?The interesting thing in this particular game is that because Australia lost so many wickets, they ended up with a left-left partnership of Khawaja and Alex Carey. New Zealand had two specialist spinners, who turn the ball in to left-handers, and that caused them match-up concerns.When Kane Williamson bowled his last, and seventh, over, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi had bowled the same number between them. Sodhi came back on to bowl some unlucky death overs, but Santner bowled just the three overs in the match, which for the front-line spinner is bad. And this was on a pitch that helped spin and for which New Zealand brought in the extra spinner.Santner’s three overs went for 23 runs, which seems poor. But five runs came from a wide down the leg side, and only 17 runs came off the 16 legal balls he delivered to left-handers. Santner would not have a career in professional cricket if he couldn’t bowl to left-handers.
And in fact, perhaps he is better against left-handers than right-handers. But let’s look at the other two spinners first.Sodhi’s first five overs went for 26, and he was hibernated while Carey and Khawaja batted together. This although his run rate in the game was identical when he was bowling to right- or left-handers. And Khawaja did not pick his wrong’un.You could argue that Williamson bowled the best of the three spinners. At the press conference he was clear on why he bowled himself: “The match-ups kind of didn’t really fall our way, with both our spinners turning the ball in to two left-hand batters. Hence, why I bowled a few more overs again.”So let’s look at all three bowlers against left- and right-handers.

The worst bowler against left-hand batsmen here is Williamson. And not even by a little – though he is nearly half a run an over more economical than Sodhi, he averages about 15 runs more. Santner averages eight fewer against left-handers than right-handers, so even allowing for the fact that he is about half a run an over more expensive, he is far better against lefties than righties. Sodhi is the only one who is better against the kind of batsmen you would expect him to be.This is the problem with very basic match-up information. Everyone who has ever played the game knows that the ball spinning away is generally harder to play than the ball spinning in. But that doesn’t hold true for every batsman, nor for every bowler.Carey does struggle when the ball spins away. But Khawaja doesn’t; he is pretty much as good when it spins in as when it spins away.

The other interesting wrinkle is that in this tournament Khawaja has struggled against pace bowling. New Zealand dropped him twice against seam. And Carey shows a marked preference for spin over seam.

So the correct match-up was probably seam from both ends. New Zealand tried that for five overs, and when it didn’t work, Williamson brought himself on. Which worked, but over 20 overs after the partnership worked and Australia already had a decent total on the board. And the two front-line spinners just disappeared.No one in world cricket seems to keep data on how far players hit their sixes. And while there is much that cricket should have metrics for – where are the fielders standing? – how far batsmen hit the ball is not next on the list. When it does come in, it could make an interesting coaching tool.Players have always attacked short boundaries, and T20 has exaggerated this. Even before grounds began to be measured, this was a big deal. Now players seem to be trained to try the shot based on the boundary, not their strengths. Commentators are wise to this and feed fans information on the dimensions of the ground, which it is impossible to see on TV without a graphic.There is a lot to gain from this information for players. But there is also a psychological effect, where teams play for that short boundary and change their game.Ross Taylor is probably one of the best slog-sweepers to ever play. Facing Glenn Maxwell, an offspinner who turns the ball in, you would expect Taylor to play the shot, or even his normal sweep. Maxwell was delivering the seventh over by Australia’s multi-headed fifth bowler. Williamson had just been dismissed, Tom Latham was scratching around, and the asking rate was creeping towards 6.8 an over. On this pitch they couldn’t let it rise above 7.Left-right batting combinations can disrupt a spinner’s rhythm, but you can’t afford to be dogmatic about it•AFP/Getty ImagesMaxwell was around the wicket, trying to bowl fairly straight at off stump, and Taylor had four balls. Not once did he try the shot he hits the most sixes with. Instead he tried to dab the ball, work it, and even played a reverse sweep. In the last five years, of the 2086 balls ESPNcricinfo has logged of Taylor playing spin, he had played three reverse sweeps before this one. But we have him down as playing well over 100 sweeps or slog sweeps. When playing the sweep, he scores at 10 runs an over, averaging 87.But he didn’t play this shot on any of those four balls from Maxwell. There may have been more than one reason. One of them had to be that longer-looking leg-side boundary – 68 metres away. On at least two occasions that over, he looked towards the shorter boundary to the off, although Maxwell was bowling for him to hit to leg.The next over Taylor was facing Pat Cummins. Now the far shorter 58-metre boundary was on his leg side. Cummins went short and Taylor pulled one – not entirely middling it, but still finding the gap between the two fielders. That highlighted how important the short side is. Then he tried his stand-up slog-sweep across the line, skied the ball as high as any building in North London, and was caught.From a psychological standpoint, those ten metres of difference are huge. Knowing you just need to mishit a ball to get it over is a delicious prospect. But it’s also quite clear that even with an extra ten metres on the boundary, the chances of hitting Maxwell for six with the spin were far higher than those of hitting Cummins across the line on a pitch that by that point had a touch of variable bounce.We don’t measure sixes, so we can’t tell you what length an average Ross Taylor leg-side six travels. So maybe he knows his range better than us. And while he may be in career-best form, he’s not the hockey-swatting god of a few years ago. But here he is in 2011, hitting sixes well over 70 and 80 metres, and here he is in the IPL in 2015, effortless carrying 72 metres with a sweep .For whatever reason, Taylor didn’t target the handy part-time offspin of Maxwell, but he did the searing pace of Cummins.Part-time spinner Steven Smith averages 29.6 against left-handers and 34.4 against right-handers in ODIs•Getty ImagesReplacing Taylor was Colin de Grandhomme. With him at the crease, Smith came on to bowl his legspin. It would usually have been a bizarre choice, but de Grandhomme’s reputation against legspin is known. In ODIs he averages 18 against it, while hitting at less than a run a ball; overall he averages 30 at a strike rate of 110.It is hard to tell how much of that mattered when Smith delivered a half-volley first ball that de Grandhomme hit straight to long-off. Either Australia’s plan had worked, or New Zealand had sent in de Grandhomme to dent the run rate straight away and it backfired.What followed was more interesting. Smith bowled offspin (he has been trying it in the nets) to finish the over. There would seem to be a few reasons for this. One is that Latham (who was struggling) and Jimmy Neesham are both left-handed. Then there is the short boundary again – it was now on the left handers’ leg side.The first ball was to Latham, who has a slightly better record against offspin than legspin. Neesham does not.From the Champions Trophy until the start of this World Cup, left-handers have been 0.7 runs an over slower when facing offspin than when facing legspin.

But they get dismissed far more often, averaging 7.25 less against legspin than against offspin. Meaning legspin has been better against left-handers than offspin in that time. And none of this is factoring in the bowler. Smith is far better against left-handers in ODI cricket than he has been against right-handers.

Smith is a very part-time bowler (he delivered three full tosses in his first over against New Zealand) and he is now trying an even more part-time skill, offspin; he looked horrendous trying to get to the crease.This is modern cricket: a part-timer with a casual skill exploiting a match-up that doesn’t quite work, while everyone has one eye on the short boundary. Welcome to the 2019 World Cup, T20 data edition.

Recall Umar Akmal? Drop Mohammad Abbas? What was Misbah-ul-Haq thinking!

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Four eyebrow-raising selection calls from Pakistan cricket’s supremo

Danyal Rasool13-Dec-2019Misbah-ul-Haq is many things to many people. He was much too old to be captain, and yet led the Test side for longer than any Pakistan captain in history. He was too dour in person, and yet oversaw Pakistan through a period that culminated in them rising to the top of the Test rankings, and never lost a home series during his reign. He was much too defensive as a batsman, but then smashed Pakistan’s fastest century in Test cricket. He was a Test specialist, but would captain Islamabad United to two of the first three Pakistan Super League titles.He was predictable – in that he was often conservative with selection – but also visionary; he was the first captain since Javed Miandad to really attack with spin at home rather than pace. So when he was appointed head coach and chief selector post-haste following the departure of Mickey Arthur and his backroom staff, the decision was generally popular. The assumption was he’d continue to provide the type of leadership that brought such success in his seven years as captain, and with clear-headed decision making his strongest suit, giving Misbah both roles appeared to make theoretical sense.And while he’s experienced a difficult start to his stint results-wise, it is the decisions he’s made in his role as chief selector that have set tongues wagging. We look at the most eyebrow-raising ones.Recalling Umar Akmal and Ahmed ShehzadIf the Misbah project doesn’t work out, many will look to this moment and conclude he was doomed to fail from the moment he made this bizarre call. In the first series as chief selector, at home against Sri Lanka, he called up Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad, a pair of batsmen frozen out under Mickey Arthur, for the T20I leg. It appeared an utterly needless risk; a radically different approach to Arthur was perhaps least necessary in the T20 format, where Pakistan had won 30 of 37 T20Is under him.The pair, whose exile had followed several disciplinary infractions over the years, failed miserably. Akmal was dismissed for golden ducks in both matches he played, while Shehzad scored 17 runs in his two. They were both dropped for the third T20I, and Pakistan were whitewashed 3-0.Calling up Mohammad Irfan and Usman QadirFascinating and left-field for wildly different reasons. Irfan’s recall was in the mould of Akmal and Shehzad’s, in the sense that he had been frozen out by Arthur for three years. He was 37, offered next to nothing in the field, and was injury-prone. The first game against Australia, in which he conceded 31 in two overs, showed precisely why he’d been in the abyss for that long. He was better in the second, with 1 for 27 in his allotted four, but what had inspired Misbah to bring him back wasn’t remotely obvious.The days surrounding Qadir’s selection were just – weird. Ten days before he was chosen, Misbah had bemoaned the lack of legspinners in domestic cricket, and laughed at the idea that Qadir was a viable option. It was made all the more astonishing for the fact that Qadir had made public his disillusionment with Pakistan cricket and his desire to qualify for Australia instead. All that was swept under the carpet as Qadir became the central focus ahead of the side’s departure to Australia. But then, in a double-bluff, he would go on to play no part in the T20I series, in which Australia hammered Pakistan.Yasir Shah and Mohammad Abbas discuss in the field•Getty ImagesThe Mohammad Abbas omissionFor the Test series against Australia, Misbah named a pace attack that comprised three teenagers (two of them uncapped), Imran Khan (returning after three years out) and Mohammad Abbas. There was no telling how they’d line up in the first Test in Brisbane, and who would take the new ball alongside Abbas.And then, Pakistan decided they could do without their highest-ranked, tightest, most experienced, and most prolific bowler in the first Test. Pakistan would go with Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Imran instead. Australia got off to a flier, and won by an innings. Abbas would be recalled for the second Test, but Pakistan would lose by an even heavier margin, and he would go wicketless. It’s the thought that counts, though.Dropping Yasir ShahPerhaps the most surprising of all, given who it was making the decision. So often reliant on Yasir in his time as captain, Misbah decided Pakistan would go into their first home Test in over a decade with an all-pace attack, something they haven’t done at home since September 1995. It seemed like a disastrous call in a first session, when there was only modest assistance for the pacers, and Sri Lanka took lunch at 80 without loss. But the quicks came roaring back in the second with four wickets for 30 runs, and inclement weather and bad light means the game is almost certain to meander to a draw. It would have been fascinating to see if this was a Misbah masterstroke or mistake, but we’ll never know now.

24-time league champions set to contact £230k-p/w Man City star over exit

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A European club now wants to make contact with a £230,000-a-week Manchester City player over a possible move this summer, according to a new report.

Kovacic confident Man City can achieve Champions League spot

The Blues had to settle for a point on Sunday afternoon against arch-rivals Manchester United, as neither side did enough to claim all three points. The Red Devils may believe they had the better of the chances as Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to gain control in the second half, but a draw was a just result.

Not just KDB: Man City must drop 4/10 star with fewer touches than Ederson

Manchester City played out a laboured 0-0 draw with arch rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.

By
Kelan Sarson

Apr 6, 2025

The point for City leaves them in fifth spot on 52 points, a point behind Chelsea and five behind Nottingham Forest. But a Newcastle United win against Leicester City would see the Blues slip out of the top five.

Despite this, midfielder Mateo Kovacic is still confident that they can secure Champions League football for next season: “We always go for the win, but we also had to be careful not to lose it because we are in a battle for the Champions League, and we need points. We could have done more going forward and creating more, but it was tough with the small spaces. We move on to the next games.

“We have to have the same mindset for the Champions League [as going for the title] because it is important that Man City are in the competition next season.

“It will be tough until the end, because there are many teams that fight for the top four, and no game in the Premier League is easy. But we are confident that we can achieve it.”

Galatasaray want to sign Man City's İlkay Gündoğan

It is expected to be a busy summer at the Etihad after Kevin De Bruyne confirmed his departure, and according to Fanatik, relayed by Sport Witness, Galatasaray want to sign Man City’s Ilkay Gundogan this summer.

The German international rejoined the Blues last summer from Barcelona, signing a one-year deal with the option of a further 12 months. However, Gundogan is expected to leave the Etihad this summer, and the Turkish giants are keen on securing a deal.

It claims that Galatasaray’s president Dursun Özbek, as well as other leaders, are looking to use the help of their sponsors and bring Gundogan as well as his teammate Kevin De Bruyne to Turkey at the end of the season.

Galatasaray, 24 time league champions in Turkey, are now expected to make contact with the agent of Gundogan in the ‘coming days’ as they look to beat any other interested teams and sign the midfielder on a free transfer.

Ilkay Gundogan’s Man City stats

Apps

346

Goals

62

Assists

39

The 34-year-old, who earns £230,000 a week at the Etihad, has played 27 games in the Premier League this season, 19 of which he has started, but he has failed to have the same impact he had in front of goal in the season before he left. In fact, Gundogan’s age looks to have caught up to him, and therefore, it makes sense for Pep to consider letting the midfielder leave for a second time round.

Club have accepted "brilliant" star's exit as Liverpool line up Mane 2.0

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Already turning their attention towards the summer transfer window, Liverpool are now reportedly lining up a deal to sign their next Sadio Mane after his club accepted that his exit is now inevitable.

Liverpool's attacking overhaul

Whilst they’re on course to become Premier League champions, but Liverpool still have problems to solve – particularly within their frontline. The news of Mohamed Salah’s new contract would have signalled major relief around Anfield not just because of his own clear quality, but also the lack of quality around him within the Reds’ attack at times.

Of course, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo have both enjoyed bursts of form at different stages of the campaign, but both have struggled for consistency at times – especially when the former has been forced out of position to lead the line.

Some may be quick to point out that Diogo Jota could be the answer to that problem, but he has also struggled for consistency and has always had his injury struggles in a Liverpool shirt. The reality is that neither the Portugal international or Darwin Nunez have been good enough to take hold of the starting striker role.

Premier League stats 24/25 (via FBref)

Goals

Assists

Mohamed Salah

27

18

Luis Diaz

11

5

Cody Gakpo

8

3

Darwin Nunez

5

2

Diogo Jota

6

3

Between Diaz, Gakpo, Nunez and Jota, they’ve managed a total of 30 Premier League goals. Salah alone, meanwhile, has scored 27. To put it plainly, the Egyptian needs better quality around him if Liverpool are to defend their pending title next season. And that’s where Alexander Isak could come in.

Liverpool star is in danger of becoming their next Solanke & it's not Nunez

He’s struggled to make a sustained impression under Arne Slot’s management at Liverpool this season.

1

By
Angus Sinclair

Apr 15, 2025

The Reds are reportedly among the sides interested in the Newcastle United star and could yet break their transfer record to secure his signature. That said, however, he’s not the only attacking reinforcement who’s been linked with a move to Anfield this summer.

Liverpool line up Mbeumo move

According to Graeme Bailey for The Boot Room, Liverpool are now lining up a summer swoop to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford, who have quietly accepted the winger’s inevitable departure in the coming months. Valued at a reported £50m, the Reds could land an instant attacking upgrade by signing a player who has managed 16 goals in all competitions this season.

As per Bailey, clubs around the Premier League believe that Mbeumo could become the next Sadio Mane or Jota by breaking out of a mid-table side and becoming a top star at a place like Anfield. If that is to be the case, then Liverpool’s move would certainly make perfect sense.

Bryan Mbeumo celebrates for Brentford

Bailey told The Boot Room: “He’s a brilliant Premier League player and I think the clubs looking at him could see him as a Sadio Mane/Diogo Jota-type player where he gets the move and becomes a breakout star. I think the clubs looking at him seem him in that regard.”

The comparison is certainly an understandable one too. In Mane’s final season at Southampton, he scored 15 goals and assisted another seven in all competitions. Meanwhile, at Brentford this season, Mbeumo has scored 16 and set up a further six – highlighting how similar he is to the former Liverpool star at this stage of his career.

Nottingham Forest move to sign £17m star with 2 goals in Champions League

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Nottingham Forest are making a strong move to sign an international forward with Champions League experience.

Nottingham Forest back in Champions League spots after 2-1 win at Tottenham

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side showed their top four credentials by winning 2-1 at Spurs on Monday evening. Forest went into the meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium outside the top five Champions League spots after wins for Manchester City and Chelsea over the weekend.

However, early goals from Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood settled the nerves and ensured the Reds would go back up into the Premier League top four.

Talking after the win at Tottenham, Espirito Santo said: “We have a clear way to play and when we found ourselves in our identity. We had goals [against Tottenham] but also they created chances in the second half and we had to hold on to what we had. We’ve been able this season to compete well and fight for every ball.”

Attention now turns to the weekend and an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against Pep Guardiola’s Man City side as Forest look to add silverware to what has been an outstanding season.

Nottingham Forest star who "defied physics" was even better than Elanga

The Nottingham Forest star who was even better than Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White.

By
Dan Emery

Apr 22, 2025

Away from the pitch, owner Evangelos Marinakis looks to be making preparations ahead of the summer transfer window where Forest could be readying themselves for Champions League football.

Now, Forest are moving behind the scenes to sign a player who has Champions League experience.

Nottingham Forest making strong moves to sign Alexis Saelemaekers

According to reports in Italy, relayed by Sport Witness, Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Alexis Saelemaekers from AC Milan.

The 25-year-old is currently on loan at AS Roma, however Forest are making a strong move to sign Saelemaekers, with Milan wanting €20m (£17m) to sell for good. Should Forest qualify for the Champions League, the report states that it could be crucial in a move for Saelemaekers.

A Belgium international, Saelemaekers can play as a right or left winger and is valued at €20m by Transfermarkt. Interestingly, the attacker also shares the same agency as Forest right-back Neco Williams and has actually scored twice in the Champions League in his career.

Similar players to Alexis Saelemaekers

Club

Alex Grimaldo

Bayer Leverkusen

Dejan Kulusevski

Tottenham

Kenan Yildiz

Juventus

Jacob Ramsey

Aston Villa

Roma boss Claudio Ranieri hailed the Forest target earlier in the season, saying: “Saelemaekers is an international player, a good player who can play different roles. I needed him on this wing to execute certain plays, and he is doing well in interpreting what I want from him.

“So, this is my comment: he is fine like this. But this does not mean that it will always be like this, because, from game to game, coaches make choices, maybe change their minds and evaluate other solutions.”

Now, it looks as if a move to the City Ground could be one to keep an eye on over the coming months, providing things go to plan for Forest in the final stages of the season.

Arsenal stepping up pursuit of £58m striker who's now keen on Emirates move

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Arsenal are stepping up their pursuit of an “amazing” £58m striker, who’s now keen on a move to the Emirates Stadium in the summer, according to a report.

Gunners' striker pursuit heating up

A new striker has been of interest to the Gunners for quite some time, and there is no shortage of options on the shortlist, with Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres seemingly one of the main targets, and talks over a deal have been held in recent days.

The north Londoners are confident about getting a deal for Gyokeres over the line, despite interest from Chelsea and Manchester United, but if they miss out on the Swedish striker, there are plenty of alternative targets in the frame.

Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins are the main options from within the Premier League, while RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko has been liked for quite some time, and there has now been a development in the pursuit of the striker.

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2

By
Tom Cunningham

May 4, 2025

According to a report from The Boot Room, Arsenal are stepping up their pursuit of Sesko, having conducted extensive background work to assess the forward, while also sending scouts to watch him in action against Bayern Munich.

The Slovenian’s entourage remain in active talks with the Gunners, but rivals Chelsea and Liverpool are also in discussions, so there could be fierce competition for his signature, with a £58m move to England now looking like the most likely outcome.

RB Leipzig's BenjaminSeskoin action with Borussia Dortmund's Marcel Sabitzer and Pascal Gross

The 21-year-old is yet to make a final decision about where his future lies, but there is a feeling he is now leaning towards a move to the Emirates Stadium, which will be welcome news for Mikel Arteta’s side.

"Amazing" Sesko enjoying impressive Bundesliga campaign

It has been far from a perfect season for RB Leipzig, with the German side sacking Marco Rose at the end of March, while currently occupying sixth place in the Bundesliga, but the Slovenia international has managed to catch the eye with his performances.

The youngster has picked up 13 goals and five assists in 31 Bundesliga outings, while also regularly getting on the scoresheet in both the DFB Pokal and the Champions League.

Competition

Appearances

Goals

Assists

Bundesliga

31

13

5

Champions League

8

4

0

DFB Pokal

4

4

1

Not only that, but NK Domzale sporting director Matej Orazem clearly believes the 6 foot 5 powerhouse is capable of playing at the highest level, having claimed he is “destined for greatness”, while also lauding him as “amazing”.

Of course, Isak would be a dream signing for Arsenal, given that he is proven in the Premier League, with the Swedish striker adding to his goal tally in his side’s 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion yesterday afternoon.

However, it may be difficult to prise the 25-year-old away from Newcastle, and there are plenty of signs that Sesko could be a solid alternative option.

Talks held: Liverpool in "contact" over move for "unbelievable" £126m star

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Liverpool have now made contact over a move for an “unbelievable” £126m star, who they are interested in bringing to Anfield this summer, according to reliable reporter Ben Jacobs.

Reds stepping up summer transfer plans

The summer transfer window isn’t officially open until June, but the Reds have already made progress towards securing an early signing, with a deal for Bayer Leverkusen defender Jeremie Frimpong now believed to be close.

Frimpong has been identified as a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the right-back set to join Real Madrid this summer, and while Virgil van Dijk has committed his future to the Reds, Arne Slot is also keen on strengthening in the centre of defence.

AFC Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen is among the more ambitious targets, but amid interest from Real Madrid, talks have now been opened over a deal for Benfica centre-back Tomas Araujo.

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By
Dominic Lund

May 14, 2025

There is also a sense that Slot is keen on improving his squad in more attacking areas this summer, having opened talks to sign Lyon playmaker Rayan Cherki, who could be available for just £19m.

Cherki’s low asking price could make signing the Frenchman an attractive proposition, but Liverpool also have their eye on a much more expensive target, namely Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, with a deal for the German likely to amount to around £126m.

Bayer Leverkusen's FlorianWirtzreacts after the match

Taking to X, Jacobs has now provided a new update on the Reds’ Wirtz pursuit, stating “contact” has been made over a deal for the attacking midfielder, who they are “interested” in bringing to Anfield.

However, the reporter also clarifies that an in-person meeting hasn’t taken place, contrary to other reports, with Slot’s side of the belief the 22-year-old will either join Bayern Munich or stay at Leverkusen, rather than moving to the Premier League.

Wirtz could be "unbelievable" signing for Liverpool

Leverkusen have been on a real journey under Xabi Alonso, winning the Bundesliga title without losing a game in the 2023-24 campaign, while once again qualifying for the Champions League this season.

The 22-year-old has played an integral role in their success, picking up 57 goals and 65 assists in 196 first-team appearances for the German side, bagging six goals in nine Champions League outings this season.

As such, the Germany international places extremely highly on some key attacking metrics over the past year, when compared to other attacking midfielders and wingers.

Statistic

Average per 90

Successful take-ons

2.88 (96th percentile)

Assists

0.37 (92nd percentile)

Progressive passes

6.91 (94th percentile)

Wirtz is exhibiting world-class potential, but it appears as though a move to Bayern is the more likely scenario, and Liverpool would have to break the bank to get a deal done, given his £126m price tag.

Talks held: Berta has now spoken to £145m winger about signing for Arsenal

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta has now personally spoken to a £145m star about a summer move to the Emirates Stadium, according to a report.

Gunners eyeing new winger amid Martinelli criticism

There have recently been suggestions that Gabriel Martinelli may not be at the level required to take the Gunners to the next level, with journalist Kyle Bonn implying that Mikel Arteta should look to bring in a new winger in the summer transfer window.

Those thoughts may also be echoed by club legend Thierry Henry, with the Frenchman suggesting the winger still has plenty of areas in which he needs to improve after the 2-0 victory against Manchester United earlier this season.

As we approach the summer transfer window, the north Londoners have been stepping up their pursuit of a new winger, with the likes of Nico Williams and Rodrygo believed to be of interest, while they have now made contact over a deal for a different forward.

Indeed, according to a report from Foot Mercato, Arsenal have now shortlisted AC Milan’s Rafael Leao as a summer target, with Berta speaking to the Portugal international on the phone around ten days ago.

AC Milan's RafaelLeao

The Gunners hold a real interest in Leao, who is considering an exit this summer after a mixed campaign at the San Siro, but he is not their priority target, and they are yet to make a final decision about whether to make a move.

£359k-per-week striker would join Arsenal "immediately", Berta wants him

He’s apparently very keen.

By
Emilio Galantini

May 24, 2025

"Incredible" Leao could be expensive signing for Arsenal

According to reports from Italy, Milan could hold out for as much as £145m for the Portuguese winger, so a deal is likely to be on the expensive side, but there are clear signs he could be an upgrade on Martinelli.

The 25-year-old has averaged more non-penalty goals, assists and successful take-ons than the Arsenal winger over the past year, during which time he has also been lauded as “incredible” by CBS’ Matteo Bonetti.

Statistic

Gabriel Martinelli

Rafael Leao

Non-penalty goals

0.29

0.34

Assists

0.14

0.26

Successful take-ons

1.48

2.84

While Milan have underperformed throughout the 2024-25 campaign, currently sitting in seventh place, the Almada-born winger has remained consistent in front of goal, picking up 12 goals and 13 assists in all competitions.

As such, should Arsenal decide to bring in a new winger this summer, Leao should be right near the top of the list of targets, but signing a new centre-forward is arguably more important, with Arteta being left very short on options at striker throughout the campaign.

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