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Arsenal are ready to make a “bold” attempt to sign a “dominant” Real Madrid player following approval from Mikel Arteta, which interestingly comes amid the Gunners’ exceptional 3-0 win over Carlo Ancelotti’s men in the Champions League.

Arsenal hammer Real Madrid in statement Champions League win

Tuesday evening was one of Arsenal’s proudest ever nights in Europe, with Declan Rice in particular taking centre stage.

The seven words Saka said to Rice before Arsenal's first goal vs Madrid

Declan Rice defied instructions to score Arsenal’s first goal against Real Madrid.

By
Matt Dawson

Apr 9, 2025

The England international scored two sensational free-kicks from long-range, curling it beyond the Los Blancos wall on both occasions and past a helpless Thibaut Courtois, who could feel hard done by considering the former Chelsea goalkeeper made save after save in what was a commendable display from him.

Arsenal could’ve won by even more if it wasn’t for the Real shot-stopper’s heroics, but Courtois couldn’t do anything about Rice’s exceptional strikes into the top corner, or Mikel Merino’s finish to round off a superb 3-0 win for the home side.

“I was very convinced because I could sense in the preparation that we were really at it, that we had that belief and that trust that we could create Madrid a lot of problems,” said Arteta after Arsenal’s historic Champions League victory over Real.

“But then it was the theme of the game, make it happen, then you have to make it happen. But you have that mindset and that belief that things can happen and we delivered today. It was a hard time, but we are very happy.

“My feeling was that the team was super convinced, and we had the trust that we could do it because we’ve done it for big periods against the best opposition that you can face in football for two years. And if you can do that, you can do it on the day, and especially with our crowds. At that level, I think it elevates the level of the team, and we have managed to beat them.”

Off the field, it is believed new sporting director Andrea Berta could rival Real for Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz, and a new report has now claimed that Arteta’s side may even look to raid the Bernabeu this summer.

Arsenal preparing offer for Real Madrid forward Arda Güler

According to a Spanish media source, Berta and co apparently have their eyes on Turkey international starlet Arda Güler.

The attacking midfielder, who can also slot in on the right wing, has been used sparingly by Ancelotti this season. Guler’s chipped in with three goals and seven assists over 33 appearances in all competitions, but he’s predominantly utilised as an impact player off the bench.

Now, it is believed that Arsenal are preparing a “bold” move to sign Guler, and plan to offer around £26 million to tempt Real into selling him. Arteta personally “doesn’t want to pass up” any opportunity to sign the 20-year-old, as Arsenal’s manager believes that Guler is an ideal fit.

Arteta also thinks that Guler could play a similar role to club captain Martin Odegaard, so this could be an intriguing story to keep tabs on amid the Turk’s struggle for game time in La Liga.

“His IQ is at a high level,” said Montenegro manager Robert Prosinecki.

“He is a very dominant player with the ball. He always thinks about attacking.”

He was coming back from injury, but Hazlewood simply blew Punjab Kings away by taking out two of their key players in the space of seven balls

Karthik Krishnaswamy29-May-20250:43

Moody: Hazlewood would have ‘welcomed the New Chandigarh surface’

They call him Hazlegod. Fans of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) call him that, but so do Indian cricket fans of other stripes, for few can elude the grip of awe and terror that this 6’5″ metronome can induce when he does his thing. Seldom does a social-media nickname feel as apt as this one does when a ball delivered by Josh Hazlewood rears at an unsuspecting batter like an instrument of god’s wrath.This is a man who can turn any pitch into a trampoline. Give him one with a bit of bounce in it, and he turns into, well, Hazlegod. Think back to April 24, when he conceded just one run in a double-wicket 19th over that began with RCB’s opponents needing 18 off 12 balls. The Hazlegodliest ball of that over wasn’t even a wicket ball; it was too good to edge, leaping at Wanindu Hasaranga like a ball bowled by the Under-19s’ spearhead to the Under-12s’ wicketkeeper.When Thursday dawned, however, a bit of uncertainty surrounded Hazlewood’s powers. He hadn’t played in more than a month, had come back to India later than most overseas players when IPL 2025 resumed after its mid-tournament suspension, and had only just recovered from a shoulder injury. And there would be no easing in; he was about to be thrust straight into Qualifier 1.Related

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But Hazlewood is used to coming back from injury layoffs, and the world is used to seeing him come back, approach the bowling crease with that deceptively effortless run-up, and land his first ball on that exacting length like he has never been away.And so it was on Thursday against Punjab Kings (PBKS). The first ball Hazlewood bowled to Shreyas Iyer was his second ball, so he was sufficiently warmed up, and this ball was a reminder of every other ball he had bowled to the PBKS captain up to that point. Before this game, Hazlewood had bowled 19 balls to Iyer in all T20s, and dismissed him three times while conceding nine runs. It could have been four times in 20 balls; this one straightened from that trademark Hazlewood length and beat the outside edge as Iyer felt for it with an open-faced bat.Soon enough, it was four dismissals in 22 balls, with a stereotypically Hazlewood kind of strike. This is putting it a little crudely, because Hazlewood probably makes dozens of micro-adjustments in every spell, but on the whole, no matter what the format, conditions and opposition may be, all he probably tells himself at the top of his mark is: “I’ll hit a hard length, and we’ll see how it goes.”This was hard length, in the corridor, with a scrambled seam, and it nipped away ever so slightly from the batter. Iyer may have pushed at it with a vertical bat in a longer-format game; here he attempted a cross-bat swipe. Neither response was guaranteed to avoid an edge, and Jitesh Sharma’s gloves, as keepers’ gloves usually do when Hazlewood is bowling, pointed up when he caught this top edge above his left shoulder.2:10

Moody: Iyer totally misread the game situation

It was an ugly-looking dismissal, but you can’t divorce the batter’s shot from the context of the match as it stood. This was the fourth over, and PBKS were two down, but it wasn’t yet clear what a par total on this New Chandigarh pitch would look like. PBKS had come into this game with a line-up of extreme depth, but it had left them light on bowling – it seemed imperative, then, that they continued to back the aggressive style that had brought them this far in the tournament.And instinct, especially when it’s fine-tuned over two months of rigorous, T20-specific training, is hard to fight.The first ball of Hazlewood’s second over needed no putting in context. It was simply a brute. It was short and angled into Josh Inglis’ body, and it sprang off the surface with minimal loss of pace. It grabbed at Inglis’ throat, constricting him severely for room, and the miscued pull ballooned to long leg with the fielder barely needing to move. PBKS were 38 for 4.It was becoming increasingly clear that PBKS weren’t just facing the normal Hazlewood – a hard enough task – but Hazlewood bowling on a pitch with seam movement and inconsistent bounce. They were facing, in short, Hazlegod. There were balls climbing to the throat, and the odd one was going the other way too. Two balls after the Inglis dismissal, Marcus Stoinis bottom-edged an attempted pull off one that kept low, and was lucky not to play on.According to ball-tracking data, there were 0.6 degrees of seam movement during the two powerplays on Thursday, compared to 0.5 degrees on average in IPL 2025. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but couple that with the bounce, and the degree of difficulty becomes apparent: the average bounce during the PBKS innings was 3cm higher than the average bounce on previous New Chandigarh pitches this season. There was even more bounce (5cm more than the venue average) in the second innings, but RCB knew their target, and PBKS had been bowled out well short of setting them a challenging one.And PBKS didn’t know how the surface would play before they went out to bat. They were still finding out by the time Hazlewood came on. Where other bowlers may have given the batters a little more space and time to come to grips with the threat they were dealing with, Hazlewood simply blew them away, taking out two of their key players in the space of seven balls.3:05

Moody: The occasion muddled PBKS’ thinking

“The bowling unit was obviously back to the unit that bowled for most of the tournament, and again, we knew our roles really well,” Hazlewood said in his post-match press conference. “But a little bit in the wicket to be honest, there was a little bit of seam movement, the bounce was probably a little bit inconsistent, so we sort of utilised that as best as we could.”It became clear when the chase began that PBKS could have made a match of it had they successfully revisited their total they were aiming for – Hazlewood felt 150-160 may have challenged RCB.”Yeah, I think the conditions were… it was great to bowl first, I think, although we saw swing and seam throughout the whole game. Whenever a new ball was bowled there was a bit happening, so you’ve just got to utilise that.”Probably from a Kings point [of view], they probably just had to pull back a little bit and try and get a score on the board, you know, 150-160 would have been a difficult chase potentially. But I think we only let them bat as well as they could have, through our bowling.”Hazlewood exemplified that with his lengths, and it was instructive – of the conditions as well as the self-effacing nature of the man – that he went back to talking about the pitch when he was asked how he handled his return from injury.”On the injury layoff, worked really hard the last few weeks on the shoulder to get back, and got some good overs into it in the last sort of 10 days, and yeah, it’s feeling not too bad. I was happy with tonight, the wicket helped obviously, didn’t have to bowl any fast yorkers or anything like that, so yeah, it’s feeling not too bad.”If this is how Hazlewood bowls when he is feeling not too bad, RCB’s opponents in Tuesday’s final will hope he isn’t feeling any better by then.

England allrounder has time and again stood up in adverse situations and it is a role she won’t relinquish in a hurry

Vithushan Ehantharajah17-Jul-2023Five were needed off the last ball for an England win to take this hell-raising Women’s Ashes series to a Tuesday night decider in Taunton. Four for a Super Over to prolong the anxiety of those who want peace but can’t get enough of all this. Anything less and Australia keep the Ashes they have held for the last eight years. And as the rest of the world thought through those scenarios, Nat Sciver-Brunt took herself to one side for some alone time.She went down on her haunches, her bat briefly moonlighting as a screen to obscure her face for a moment of privacy in front of the live cameras and the 12,380 at the Ageas Bowl. It had served its primary purpose for the previous 98 deliveries, with 110 runs and counting. Runs which had brought England to the precipice in a fifth successive nerve-shredding climax of the series. Now she had to catch her breath and her thoughts. She’d been here before. Perhaps too many times.Related

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Certainly too many times with this eventuality. She arose to face up to Jess Jonassen, heaving one last heave to the leg side as the left-arm spinner landed one just outside off stump. The ball started high but finished low far too soon, bouncing a couple of feet in front of Annabel Sutherland running in from wide long-on. Sutherland gathered and threw into Jonassen, who broke the bails for the sake of it to confirm Australian victory by three runs.By then, Sciver-Brunt was bent over, her bat now a crutch to keep her upright. The weight of England’s hopes were manageable. Not being able to get them over the line a familiar punch in the gut.Nat Sciver-Brunt played another valiant knock but was unable to get her side over the line•Getty ImagesSciver-Brunt now has the most centuries by a woman in lost ODIs (three), all of them unbeaten, all of them against Australia. The previous one came in the 2022 50-over World Cup final; the allrounder finishing 148 not out in pursuit of an unlikely 357 that only she thought was gettable. Australia won that by a comfortable 71 runs, which makes this one so much worse. “She’s pretty good at getting hundreds in a losing chase, unfortunately,” said Heather Knight out of weary sympathy.Knight had seen England home in the first ODI last Wednesday and admitted being an observer on this occasion was “horrific”. The captain was one of the three dismissed by incoming legspinner Alana King, and thought the worst when Amy Jones was dismissed to leave England six down with 82 needed 71 deliveries. But what control Knight hated ceding as the game tilted Australia’s way with every delivery not struck to the fence was made easier by the fact that, as she put it, “the best person to be out there was Nat Sciver-Brunt.”No doubt about that. Facing their record ODI chase of 283 – kept down by Sciver-Brunt’s 10 overs for 44 – just a few days after topping their previous best in Bristol, her entry at No. 4 would always define England’s fortunes. It came in the 18th over, passing Knight who was on her way back.The allrounder was as she ever is; hovering around a run-a-ball throughout; fifty brought up in 53 deliveries, three figures coming 40 later. Calculated devastation with cold blood and the hot hand.Did she need to be there all on her own by the end? A familiar question with a familiar answer. No.Sophia Dunkley was out of sorts up top, and both Alice Capsey and Danni Wyatt fell cheaply. Jones offered support for 57 runs for the sixth wicket only to reverse tamely to short third. Sarah Glenn remained defiant through to the end but 22 off 35 spoke of an inability to pitch in beyond trying to get Sciver-Brunt on strike.With 13 needed from the final four deliveries, Sciver-Brunt swept Jonassen around the corner for the last of her 10 boundaries. A brace of twos followed, leading to that one final delivery. And as she was down on her haunches, catching her breath, taking a moment to herself, some of the thoughts of those around her veered from the Ashes and to what might be a potential moment of glorious catharsis.On this very ground over a year ago, Sciver-Brunt came close to another hail mary effort. Playing for Trent Rockets against Southern Brave, she struck three consecutive sixes in the final over before only managing a single to lose by two runs. Just as it was then, Glenn was the non-striker. Tahlia McGrath was the bowler on the end of those blows, now merely observing in the field.What followed was a raw, revealing insight into exhausting and emotional vulnerability of Sciver-Brunt. The toll of 2022’s cricket up to that point (September), had begun to consume her. The pressure she put on herself was more than she could handle. All this came out in what began as a cheery “hard luck” post-match interview on the BBC. A week later, she would pull out of the limited-overs series against India to focus on her mental health, eventually returning to international duty at the end of the year. She would reprise her role as vice-captain at the start of 2023.”I was actually part of the BBC crew that interviewed her afterwards,” said Knight. “I could tell she wasn’t quite herself and wasn’t quite right. To do that on the day she did and the way she was feeling was quite remarkable. It was a great move by her to take a break and probably made it a lot easier for a lot of people to be quite open in our dressing room.”It was kind of written in the stars that she was going to do it today. Just unfortunately a bit too much to do. But great character by her to get us anywhere near close and to rally the tail in another unbelievably entertaining game of cricket.”Sarah Glenn and Nat Sciver-Brunt added 76 runs for the eighth wicket, but it wasn’t enough•Getty ImagesBy all accounts, she is back to herself and better at voicing how she is feeling and what she needs and wants. As such, the focus, for now, can be on worries from the outside about how one of English cricket’s genuine world-class exponents might not finish with the wins and accolades her talents deserve. That a player capable of winning matches on the biggest stage is consistently reduced to covering the gap between her team and a generationally transcendent Australian side. Michelangelo did not paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel just to cover the cracks, but Sciver-Brunt’s done it three times now.The past few weeks do offer encouragement. Though the Ashes are gone, victory in Taunton will mean England have won both white-ball series against a team that, up until two weeks ago, had forgotten what it was like to lose. With all the talk of talent gaps being closed, perhaps the most important progression has been in belief. A team 6-0 down brought it back to 6-6, and this could have been so different for a boundary saved or scored in the deliveries not involving Sciver-Brunt. The hosts have shown incredible strength of character and resilience – both pages out of Sciver-Brunt’s book.Yet, we all know that no matter how many others choose to stand up going forward, Sciver-Brunt will always see it as her responsibility to be the one to do the unthinkable. That she has those three hundreds in vain against England’s biggest rivals is not simply misfortune. She is not staggering into these improbable situations after a few wrong turns. She is seeking them out. Even if someone else emerges capable of carrying that burden, it is not something she will relinquish in a hurry. It is in every fibre of her being.It is why she is the most box-office cricketer around. It is why Mumbai Indians forked out £320,000 (INR 3.2 crore) for her in the inaugural WPL, and won. And it is why, even after another bitter disappointment, we know the next time England need someone to pull them from the brink, Nat Sciver-Brunt will be the first on the scene. Whether she can win it or not, however, will still depend on those around her.

Why England quick could be key in an away Ashes series

George Dobell03-Jun-2021There was a moment, an hour or so into the second day of this match, when Chris Silverwood could have been forgiven for wondering what he had done.For Silverwood, the England coach, has been instrumental in calling for his side to play on flatter wickets this summer. That way, he reasons, his batters will be able to put the traumas of India behind them and his bowlers will learn to perform in conditions where they cannot rely on the assistance that has become familiar in England in recent years.Sounds logical, doesn’t it?But England coaches have talked this way before. Usually, when push has come to shove and series have needed to be won, they have reverted to the sort of surfaces on which their fast-medium seamers are so devastating with the Dukes ball. At 288 for 3 – with New Zealand apparently heading for a total well over 400 – it really did appear that England’s limitations were being exposed.England hadn’t, by any means, bowled poorly. They controlled the run-rate so never allowed New Zealand to establish a match-defining position. It’s just that New Zealand, and Devon Conway in particular, had batted with admirable composure and this pitch had offered none of the devil that has assisted England so often at home in recent years. England really didn’t bowl badly during the last Ashes series in Australia, either. It’s just they didn’t have the attack to find much life from flat surfaces.But in Mark Wood they do have a point-of-difference bowler. On a slow wicket, against stubborn batters, he has the skills to unlock batting line-ups. Combined with the skills of James Anderson and Co., which we know are valuable in many circumstances, he can play a vital part in the England attack. He proved that here in a spell that may well have changed the direction of the match.It’s true that Wood’s record in England is modest. Ahead of this game he took his wickets at a cost of 44.91 in home Tests. At Lord’s the record – eight wickets in four Tests at a cost of 52.50 apiece – was even more modest. There remains a suspicion that his skills – or at least his pace – may well be neutered by the sort of slow pitches which suit the majority of English seamers.But in Australia? You’d think he would very much enjoy the harder, faster tracks. In six overseas Tests – not all of them played on quick tracks by any means – he has taken his 29 wickets at a cost of 23.93.He’s also a different bowler to the one who played his first 12 Tests. For those Tests, he operated off a short run and seemed to have an ankle made of crystal. His wickets in those games came at a cost of 41.73. Since the Caribbean tour of early 2019, though, he has bowled off a longer run, retained his fitness pretty well (for a fast bowler) and taken his wickets at a cost of 22.46.Related

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He actually bowled well on day one here. And fast. Above 93mph/150kph for much of the time. Twice he hit Conway on the body with short balls; a couple of other times he might have had him caught off the edge. Given how serenely Conway has batted, that is no mean achievement. Sure, the wickets didn’t come, but Wood’s performance was rather better than the results.It was noticeable, though, that his wicket-taking spell on day two was slower. About 10 percent slower, really. But it was still sharp. And it’s unfair to think of Wood as a fast bowler: he’s better than that. At the start of his career, he was used by Durham as something of a reverse-swing specialist and he can still gain movement in the air and off the seam. The ball that dismissed BJ Watling, for example, drew a false stroke by leaving the batter up the slope.His bouncer remains a valuable weapon, though. His relative lack of height means it doesn’t bounce as high as might be expected and renders it hard to duck. The pull that cost Henry Nicholls his wicket was a good example of a batter not knowing how else to play the ball.It was a huge moment in the game. It precipitated a decline which saw New Zealand lose four wickets – all of them decent batters – for six runs. From a position where 500 had looked possible, it suddenly took a merry final-wicket stand to take New Zealand to 350. At one stage, Wood’s figures for the spell were 6-2-7-3.Understandably, Joe Root gave him an extra over. But that was probably a mistake. Not just because it cost eight runs, but because Wood, with his fitness record and express pace, is probably not the man for long spells. He has to be used, like Mitchell Johnson at his best, in short, sharp spells of four or five overs. England have lots of good fast-medium bowlers. Very rarely have they had a bowler this fast with the skills and control to match.Short spells can be tough to accommodate in a four-man attack. But with the return of an all-rounder or two, complemented by the likes of Anderson, Stuart Broad or Ollie Robinson and rotated alongside other quick bowlers such as Jofra Archer or Olly Stone, that can work.Broad, it might be noted, has now gone five successive innings (amounting to 70 overs) without taking a wicket. While it’s a slightly misleading statistic – he only bowled six overs in one innings in Ahmedabad, nine in another in Chennai and really did bowl better than the figures suggest here – it is the first time that has happened in his career. You wonder if Ed Smith, wherever is his right now, is pointing at his TV and shouting ‘See! See!’ to anyone who will listen.Perhaps of more relevance, Broad also missed perhaps the easiest opportunity of his career in the field when Tim Southee sliced one to him at mid-on. In the grand scheme of the match it probably made little difference, but it did cost Robinson, on debut, a five-wicket haul. Broad will be mortified by that.Robinson is clearly experiencing a memorable debut. But whatever you think about him – and, more pertinently, the emergence of those Tweets on the first day of this match – he showed impressive strength of character on the second day.All eyes were on Ollie Robinson on the second morning•Getty ImagesAlone in his hotel room overnight, he will know he had let himself down. And he will have known that it will take time and effort to repair the damage he has done to his reputation. He faces awkward conversations with family and team-mates and may face sanctions and a suspension, too. He really will have had an awful night.But the manner in which he fronted up and apologised after the first day’s play was revealing. And the manner in which he turned up on day two, was able to compartmentalise those thoughts and produce another good spell of bowling was also impressive.Nobody is claiming a good performance with the ball makes everything OK – and it probably isn’t the place of a middle-aged white man to decide these things, anyway – but in terms of skill and resilience, Robinson has shown he has what it takes to make it at this level.But back to Wood. Is he the right man for all circumstances? Probably not. Even at Durham, it’s noticeable that Chris Rushworth remains at least as potent a threat in Championship cricket. On some surfaces, particularly some surfaces at home, England may have more suitable options.But on quick, flat tracks where England might otherwise look a bit toothless? Yes, he’s a role to play there. He really is the sort of bowler who could make the difference in an away Ashes series.There’s method in Silverwood’s approach. It may render England’s home cricket a little less entertaining – in the sense that wickets may fall less often – and there may be sessions when they struggle for incision. But in the long term, it could make them a better balanced, more versatile side.

Throughout much of the Yankees' 2025 campaign, one overarching question seemed to follow the club: What's wrong with Anthony Volpe? Volpe, one of the club's former top prospects and its starting shortstop in '25, regressed at the plate and in the field, frustrating fans and sparking plenty of questions from the media about his status as the starter. His struggles even prompted general manager Brian Cashman to acquire shortstop José Caballero at the trade deadline.

But after Volpe aggravated a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Sept. 7, it was revealed that he had been playing through discomfort since initially suffering the injury back in May, offering a potential answer to the above question.

However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Cashman, speaking to reporters at the Yankees' end of season news conference on Thursday, seemed to disagree on the impact Volpe's injury had on his play.

Boone, after citing the initial reluctance to undergo the shoulder surgery, as well as multiple instances where Volpe aggravated the injury, said he believed it did not affect Volpe's play.

"…I think for the overwhelming majority of the year [the injury] was not affecting his play," Boone said. "There were things like, he would dive on it a certain way, tick it off, aggravate it—I think in some ways, the injury probably got a little bit worse towards the end of the year based on a couple of episodes that happened. But I don't think it was impacting performance.

"And this is something that you can play with, play through. But the finality of getting it fixed now hopefully frees him up to really go dive on it the way he's going to dive on it and make those next level of plays that Anthony makes. And then hopefully because you're fixing something that is hurt on the body, that hopefully it does help performance to go to another level."

Cashman, on the other hand, seemed to once share Boone's sentiment on the Volpe injury, but no longer.

"I personally think now I'm starting to lean more into that yes, it was affecting him," Cashman said. "Because ultimately, he had to have the surgery. None of that was really on the table in-season…"

Cashman went on to explain that, because the injury kept popping up throughout the season amid Volpe's peaks and valleys in performance, and due to the "severe" clean-up needed in Volpe's shoulder that was noted by the doctor who performed the surgery, that he ultimately believed it was "probably" more of an impact than originally thought.

One thing both Cashman and Boone seemed steadfast on: Volpe will continue to be the club's starting shortstop in 2026.

The Yankees will need Volpe to more closely resemble the 2023 and '24 versions of himself than the '25 version to continue to justify their faith in the 24-year-old. After taking home a Gold Glove in '23 and rating as one of the bets defensive shortstops in '24, Volpe was among the worst shortstops in the Statcast metric, Outs Above Average, in '25. At the plate, he posted a wRC+ (an all-encompassing offensive metric) of 83, tied for the sixth-worst in MLB.

Volpe cannot begin hitting for four months, at which point, Boone said the club will reevaluate the shortstop's timeline. In the meantime, Caballero, and any potential infield additions the Yankees make this winter, will hold down the fort at short.

The DY Patil Stadium and the Kotambi Stadium will be the two venues

ESPNcricinfo staffUpdated on 27-Nov-2025WPL 2026 will run from January 9 to February 5 and will be played across two cities, Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. The dates for the fourth season was made by the league chairman Jayesh George at the start of the WPL auction in Delhi on Thursday.The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai – where India recently won the Women’s ODI World Cup final – will start the tournament and host the first leg of the WPL. The league will then move to the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara where the final will also be played on February 5. This is the first time the WPL will be played in the January-February window; the first three seasons were played in February-March just before the IPL. This will also be the first time the WPL will not clash with major international fixtures.Thursday marked the first mega auction for the WPL since the inception of the league in 2023, and the first time right-to-match (RTM) cards were available to teams.Mumbai Indians (MI) are the defending champions of the WPL and have won two out of three editions so far. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the title in 2024 and Delhi Capitals (DC) had finished as runners-up in all three seasons. Ten days after the WPL ends, the India women’s team will start an all-format tour in Australia, for three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15 to March 9.’Would love to see home and away format’ – DC’s JindalEarlier this year was the first time the WPL was held in more than two cities, when the matches were played in Lucknow, Vadodara, Mumbai and Bengaluru and came closest to a home-and-away format, with UP Warriorz, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Giants and RCB getting home games. But with the format returning to just two cities for 2026 – as was the case in 2024 – the DC co-owner Parth Jindal hoped the tournament would get a longer window to accommodate a home-and-away format.”Yes, we would love to see the WPL home and away as well. I think this caravan format is okay, but it’s not ideal,” Jindal said during the auction. “And I’m sure that the BCCI is working on it. I think the amount of time that they get is very short and that’s why in order to fit the WPL within this window, this is the best and most ideal format, but I hope we get a bigger, longer window for the WPL as well going forward. And I think it is imminent that either one or two new teams will come in at some point. And that’s why I think the cycle is such a short cycle with only two WPLs over 14 months. So I’m pretty sure that the BCCI is planning on adding a team, and maybe with that addition, we move home and away. That would be ideal for the fans, for the game, and for the growth of the WPL.”The WPL has been expanding to more than one city since the first edition in 2023, when it was co-hosted by the Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium in and around Mumbai.

تحدث محمود عبد الرازق شيكابالا، لاعب منتخب مصر ونادي الزمالك السابق، عن تعادل المنتخب أمام الكويت في مباراة الجولة الأولى التي أقيمت بينهما اليوم الثلاثاء، في كأس العرب 2025.

والتقى منتخبا مصر والكويت، في المباراة الأولى من افتتاح مشوارهما بدور المجموعات من بطولة كأس العرب المقامة في قطر.

وانتهى اللقاء بالتعادل الإيجابي بين المنتخبين، بهدف لمثله، حيث تقدم منتخب الكويت عن طريق فهد الهاجري وتعادل لـ مصر محمد مجدي أفشة.

طالع | ترتيب مجموعة مصر في كأس العرب 2025 بعد التعادل مع الكويت

وقال شيكابالا خلال تصريحات عبر قناة “إم بي سي مصر 2”: “أهدرنا فوزًا سهلًا، محمد شريف لديه مشكلة في إنهاء الهجمات”.

وأضاف: “أنا لا أحب أن لاعب يمسك الكرة لكي يسدد ضربة الجزاء ولاعب آخر يأخذها منه، محمد النني كان سيسدد الكرة ولكن عمرو السولية أخذها منه ولا أحب ذلك، قلت أفشة سيسجل الكرة في وسط المرمى، صعبنا المباراة على أنفسنا جدًا”.

وأتم: “نحمد الله فرصة الكويت التي تصدى لها محمد بسام ولولا تعامله معها بشكل جيد المباراة كانت ستخرج بشكل غير جيد بالنسبة لنا”.

Liverpool’s Premier League win last season may have come as a surprise to many, especially after Arne Slot took the reins from the legendary Jürgen Klopp.

There’s little denying the Dutchman massively exceeded expectations at Anfield during his debut year, which may have heaped added pressure on his shoulders for 2025/26.

The Reds turned into the hunted rather than the hunters before a ball was kicked, but the £466m spending spree during the off-season only increased the size of the target on their backs.

However, it appears as though the 47-year-old could well be on borrowed time in the managerial role, after losing a remarkable six of the last seven league outings.

It remains to be seen how much time Slot will be given to transform the club’s fortunes, but the upcoming transfer window could present an opportunity to address some glaring issues.

Liverpool’s pursuit of new additions ahead of January

Over the last couple of days, Liverpool have been one of the clubs named in the pursuit of Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson in the January window.

Slot will have had the opportunity to view the Englishman first-hand over the weekend, as the 23-year-old featured for 90 minutes in the 3-0 defeat at Anfield.

However, any deal would be yet another huge investment, as Sean Dyche’s side are currently demanding £100m for his services – with Manchester United also interested in the Englishman.

He’s not the only youngster currently in their sights, with Juventus star Kenan Yildiz another player being considered by the board ahead of the upcoming window.

According to Football Insider, the Reds are closely monitoring the progress of the 20-year-old, who has already racked up five combined goals and assists in his 11 Serie A appearances.

Their report also states that Arsenal are another side tracking the Turkish international, even though the Italian side are reluctant to offload one of their key players.

Why Liverpool’s latest target would be a better signing than Semenyo

Despite spending heavily in the summer window, Liverpool’s attempts to bolster their squad in January could come to fruition, which could see Antoine Semenyo move to Anfield.

The Ghanaian has been in tremendous form during the early stages of 2025/26, with the 25-year-old already netting six times in his first 11 outings for Bournemouth.

He’s also registered three assists, taking his total goal contributions this season to nine – with the Reds supporters able to witness his talents first-hand on Merseyside.

The winger netted twice in the Reds’ 4-2 victory at Anfield on the opening day, a performance that will no doubt have caught the eye of Slot and the hierarchy.

He currently has a £65m release clause in his deal at the Vitality, with other sides such as Arsenal and Manchester United also targeting a deal for his signature this winter.

However, Liverpool should look past a deal for Semenyo and place all their attention on Yildiz, with the Juve star undoubtedly a bigger star for the immediate and long-term future.

When comparing the pair’s respective figures from the ongoing campaign, the Turkish star has dominated in numerous key areas, many of which could help correct the recent slump.

Yildiz, who’s been dubbed “the best youngster in the world” by one analyst, has registered more progressive carries and passes per 90 – showcasing his ability to get the ball into dangerous areas.

He’s also been able to complete more of the passes he’s attempted, whilst notching more key passes per 90 – arguably being the solution to the Reds’ creative woes.

The Juve sensation’s dominance over Semenyo is further reflected in his higher take-on success rate and carries into the final third per 90 – potentially being able to star in a number ten or left-wing role.

Other numbers, such as higher shot-creating actions and more crosses completed per 90, offer yet another reason why the 20-year-old is a bigger talent – but it’s unclear how much a move would set the hierarchy back.

His talents and versatility could make him a phenomenal option for Slot and Liverpool, with such a deal adding needed quality into the club’s frontline, which could help save Slot’s job.

Semenyo would also be a superb signing, but based on the aforementioned numbers, it’s evident that Yildiz would be the perfect player to try and resurrect the club’s recent dismal form in the Premier League.

Worse than Konate: Slot must drop 2/10 Liverpool flop who lost 100% duels

Ibrahima Konate was not the only culprit during Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.

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By
Matt Dawson

Nov 23, 2025

Halfway through his press conference ahead of Pakistan’s Asia Cup opener against Oman on Friday, coach Mike Hesson was asked where he got the “courage” to openly comment about Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam’s shortcomings.Slightly taken aback by the question, Hesson asked for it to be repeated. This time, the question was toned down and Hesson’s response was measured.”Being honest about your assessment of players is pretty important,” Hesson said. “Coming from a place where you have no agenda is also very important. Looking at things objectively is important. I haven’t talked about anyone’s frailties.Related

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“What I have alluded to is the way the modern game is played and the strike rates required, particularly in good conditions. All players ask for from coaches is to be honest with them. That is the responsibility you’ve got. Just because you like a player or have a relationship with a player, it doesn’t mean you can’t be honest.”Having tackled that topic, Hesson was asked whether he is confident about Pakistan’s batting. Was Mohammad Haris their best bet in the lower order? Why were Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan inconsistent, and Hasan Nawaz not doing well? Do Pakistan’s batters struggle to pick spinners from the hand? The context was the challenge of Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, when Pakistan play India in Dubai on Sunday.”I don’t know where that has come from,” Hesson said about the perceived struggle against spin. “We have played against Rashid [Khan] and Noor [Ahmed]. We have played against possibly the best wrist-spin attack in the world [in the tri-series final on Sunday] on a [Sharjah] surface that has spun square and managed to score 75 more runs than the opposition. I’m not sure where that has come from.”Hesson then addressed the question about Pakistan’s young batting line-up.”It is very much a developing batting line-up,” he said. “There are a number of batters who can win you the game on their day, but they don’t have as many good days as you’d like at the moment. That is very fair. The thing for us is the sum of the parts as a batting group.”Every game bar one in Sharjah, we were probably 20 runs above par. Even though there are a number of players who didn’t do well on particular occasions, I’m more interested in what we end up with and how we get there. In the tri-series final, we got 140 when 120 was plenty on the pitch.”Then he was inevitably asked about being part of the great spectacle – India v Pakistan – as a coach for the first time. “Look I’ve certainly watched many games from afar with other teams or while commentating,” Hesson said. “Being part of a highly-charged event is going to be exciting. From my perspective, just like anytime you enter the final of a world event or whatever, it is about keeping everybody focused on the job at hand. That will be no different.”We know India are obviously hugely confident and rightfully so. But we are very much focused on improving as a team day-by-day and not getting ahead of ourselves. We are well aware of the challenge of the task ahead and we are certainly looking forward to it.”Mike Hesson has thrown his weight behind Pakistan’s ‘developing’ batting order•Getty Images

Pakistan have had a solid lead-in to the Asia Cup, having played five games over 12 days during the tri-series against Afghanistan and UAE in Sharjah. While the players had a day off on Thursday, Hesson had a close look at the pitch at the Dubai International Stadium.”This is very different to Sharjah in terms of the abrasiveness of the grass,” Hesson said. “We are playing on the same surface as the India vs UAE game. We have got the balance in the squad to deal with it. We have got plenty of multi-skilled players which gives us a bit of flexibility.”I don’t think this pitch is going to spin as much as Sharjah. And even yesterday [India v UAE match], when Kuldeep bowled, it didn’t spin a huge amount. But when you have wristspinners, the surface doesn’t matter as much.”The beauty of our side is we have got fine spinners. We have got Mohammad Nawaz, who has been ranked No. 1 since coming back into the side six months ago. And obviously we’ve got Abrar [Ahmed] and Sufiyan [Muqeem] do as well as they have. Saim Ayub is in the top 10 allrounders in the world and Salman Agha has hardly bowled.”We have got five seamers as well, which allow us to go for either air speed, change of pace or reverse swing depending on what the surface will provide.”

Aroldis Chapman is now a member of the Boston Red Sox but apparently, he almost joined the franchise nearly a decade ago.

The Red Sox and Chapman have agreed to a one-year deal worth $10.75 million. After that announcement, Zack Scott let loose with a little history about Chapman and the team. Scott was a member of Boston's front office from 2004 through 2020 and rose to the level of assistant general manager before leaving for the New York Mets.

On Tuesday, Scott took to social media and posted, "After 2015, we agreed to send Margot and Marco Hernandez to the Reds for Chapman, but it fell apart when we discovered disturbing details about his domestic dispute. We actually informed the Reds about it. We pivoted to Kimbrel, and Chapman went to the Yankees. I guess enough time has passed without incident for the Sox to be ok with it now."

It seems as if Chapman's domestic violence issues were a problem for the Red Sox in 2015 but aren't a big deal now.

In November of 2015, the Red Sox wound up sending Manuel Margot, Javy Guerra, Carlos Asuaje, and Logan Allen to the San Diego Padres for Kimbrel and he helped them win a World Series in 2018.

In 2024 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chapman was 5-5 with a 3.79 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, 14 saves in 19 opportunities and struck out 98 hitters while walking 39 in 61 2/3 innings.