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At one point it looked like the England seamer may never stop running

Vithushan Ehantharajah17-Jun-2023There was a moment when it looked like Stuart Broad may never stop running.His follow-through had taken him away to point and around the back of the slip cordon, which had dispersed to chase Broad like the tail of a fireball. And though you knew he wouldn’t, you couldn’t rule out him continuing into the Hollies and draining a celebratory pint with all of the Baywatch lifeguards, Fred Flintstones and cast of Mario Kart. Had he done so, he was only getting back onto the field by bringing all of them with him. He was theirs, they were his. In that moment – all Stuart Broad, aren’t we?The great Ashes conductor, Enemy of the Strayans, One Meme Army himself, had just turned Edgbaston and this Test match inside out with two wickets in two deliveries. The Australia first innings cracked open from 29 for none to 29 for 2. A day of huge importance – aren’t they all when you care too much? – skewed England’s way in an instant.To go by the reaction of Broad, his team-mates and everyone in the ground on Saturday – including crestfallen Australians – you’d think this was the first time anyone had taken two-in-two. Broad himself has done that 13 times, but what tipped this one-two into legendary status beyond the state of the match – and perhaps ahead of his two Test hat-tricks – was the status of the two victims.Related

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History weighed heavy on the first. Ben Stokes admitted ahead of the match Broad’s selection had a lot to do with David Warner’s presence at the top of the order. It is why even Australia saw day one’s late declaration coming. England’s mantra of giving the fans what they want had provided 393 runs. But Stokes was all too aware of the main attraction this summer and pulled the warm-up act after 78 overs.Warner played the evening out soundly. Two crisp shots to the cover boundary in both Broad’s Friday night overs punctured the mood. With a new crowd in situ this morning, the anticipation ramped up again.A couple of maidens between the two went by with little of note. Then, at the start of the 11th over, Warner decided to have a go. Out came another drive, squarer than he’d have liked, but the width was there for it. But with balance all off – front foot tentative, back leg buckling – all he could do was bottom edge onto his own stumps.He stumbled into the off side, gathering his feet as Broad set off with a celebration that spoke of expectation rather than excitement, like someone who had finally called “tails” correctly on a series of coin tosses.David Warner walks off after being dismissed by Stuart Broad again•Getty ImagesBroad’s success over the left-hander feels a lot like probability. This was dismissal number 15, a ninth in 11 innings, third at this ground in three, and certainly not the last to come.Things had not always been one-sided. Warner averaged 64.80 against Broad prior to a recalculation from the Englishman before 2019. “Ultimately, the biggest praise I can give Davey is the fact I had to completely study him and change my style of bowling because of the success he had against me,” said Broad a few weeks ago.A month earlier, the 36-year-old was in a similarly analytical mood. Perched on the member’s benches on the second tier of the Lord’s Pavilion, as day three of Nottinghamshire’s County Championship match with Middlesex was coming to an end, he revealed a couple of technical tweaks.With the help of Notts bowling coach Kevin Shine, his action was starting to smooth out, losing the jerkiness that had developed after years of subsisting on the wobble seam delivery. By holding his hands higher, he was creating greater fluidity from gather to delivery, which in turn allowed him to workshop this new delivery called an “outswinger”. Its purpose? To rattle Australia’s brightest and best, specifically Steve Smith and the No. 1-ranked Test batter in the world, Marnus Labuschagne.”I think dragging them across with away swing is important,” explained Broad, like a TikToker claiming getting to McDonald’s for 10:29am so you can order hashbrowns with your Big Mac is some kind of life hack.We laughed, and rightly so. Even in his sincerity, there was a whiff of proto-Warne in talking up a new variation even better than the last. But an outswinger? That thing people have been bowling since they started doing it overarm? Come on, now, Stuart. But hey – who are we to tell you? Broad is the best talker in the game. So talk on.You wonder how many in the stands remembered those words when Labuschagne walked out. So many have been spoken in the lead-up to this series that it felt like Ashes content was folding in on itself like a dying star. This, though – Warner gone, Broad at it, crowd wild, Labuschagne facing – is what really matters.Labuschagne went through his usual routines, adding the removal of a police officer from his eyeline before facing up.Did Labuschagne know what was coming? Almost certainly. The 28-year-old is a voracious consumer of the game, to the extent he has had lost the habit of sending articles and stats to team-mates who are not. If you didn’t know that before, you certainly did when he triggered across to off stump to get a better gauge on what to play and what to leave.Then there was the leg gully and leg slip for the delivery coming into him, which given who was bowling puts the odds in favour of a bluff. Cover was free, too, which for a 38-cap No. 4 who averages 56.73, means don’t drive the balls they want you to drive. Like, ummmm, an early outswinger.Yet, the compulsion to feel forward, the desire to get bat on ball, the subconscious pull to contribute to the narrative, the gravitational chicanery of Broad was too great to resist. Down came the outswinger, just as prophesied. Out went Labuschagne – via a stunning one-handed catch from Jonny Bairstow – just as prophesied, for a first golden duck in Test cricket.And off went Broad – away past point, around the back of the slip cordon, right through the Hollies beyond the Baywatch lifeguards, Fred Flintstones and cast of Mario Kart, and even deeper into Ashes folklore.

In the absence of allrounders Stokes and Curran, England find themselves with two different tactical visions to win T20s

Matt Roller22-Oct-20213:39

Talking tactics – Should Dawid Malan start for England?

When England have been at full strength in T20 internationals over the last five years, they have found it easy to balance their side. They have picked four frontline bowlers from No. 8-11, most of whom are capable with the bat, and then relied on Ben Stokes and one of Moeen Ali or Sam Curran to split four overs between them, sharing the workload of the ‘fifth’ bowler.In this T20 World Cup, they do not have that option available to them. Stokes has only recently resumed low-level training after a prolonged break from the game, focusing on his mental health and recovering from a broken finger, while Curran’s absence through injury is a significant blow: while his T20I career is still nascent, he is perhaps the closest thing England have to a genuine allrounder in the format as a six-hitter at the death and a versatile bowling option.Related

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The result is that England will have to shape their side differently, opting for either a batting-heavy or bowling-heavy approach. Their choice heading into their first match of the tournament against the West Indies on Saturday – a repeat of the 2016 final – is not so much between like-for-like players, but for two different tactical visions as to how best to win 20-over games.There is an idea in football that the majority of teams have to deal with a ‘short blanket’ when trying to find a balance between attacking and defending: “If you cover your head, you have your feet cold; but if you cover your feet, you have your head cold,” Rafa Benitez, the former Liverpool manager, once explained. The same is true in T20 cricket, with No. 7s in particular: picking a batting allrounder leaves your attack vulnerable; picking a bowling allrounder can leave you short on batting depth.For England, their balance rests on one question: can they trust the combination of Liam Livingstone and Moeen’s spin as their ‘fifth’ bowler, alongside Adil Rashid and three seamers? That option, the batting-heavy one, would place immense faith in two bowlers who have effectively been used as part-timers in the last year – Livingstone has bowled 10 overs in six games since his recall earlier this year, while Moeen has bowled 13.5 in his 10 T20Is since the start of last summer.ESPNcricinfo LtdJofra Archer’s absence through injury is relevant here too: a batting-heavy side would leave them relying on their seamers to bowl both in the powerplay and at the death, but most of their seamers in this squad have a focus on particular phases of the game rather than across an innings: Chris Woakes and David Willey are new-ball specialists, Mark Wood is best used as an enforcer through the middle, while Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and Tom Curran are strongest at the death. Ideally, they would bowl in their strongest phase rather than cover gaps elsewhere.The alternative – which seems the likely option at this stage – is to drop one of their batters and include a fourth frontline seamer, which would give England significantly more flexibility with the ball but slightly compromise their batting depth. There would be challenges if England lost early wickets and Eoin Morgan’s form means that it is a bold move to include him as one of six batters, but with dew likely to play a major role in floodlit games, the prospect of having to bowl eight overs of spin with a wet ball in a run chase is too risky – not least with Rashid’s legspin matching up poorly against a West Indies side featuring several left-handers.The question, then, is which batter makes way, with Dawid Malan’s place under pressure once again. Malan has a remarkable overall record across his T20I career, averaging 43.19 with a strike rate of 139.33, but his proclivity to play himself in – he tends to reach 10 off 10 balls – before looking to accelerate appears ill-suited to conditions in the UAE, while there are doubts about his ability to play top-quality spin after a relatively lean year in this format.Malan may well have dominated a World Cup held in Australia – as the 2020 edition was due to be before its postponement – due to his strengths against fast bowling and his ability to hit spin through the line on true pitches, but innings of 18 off 18 and 11 off 15 in England’s two warm-up games highlight the concern about his role here on slower surfaces. In the UAE leg of IPL 2021, 74% of games were won by the team scoring more runs in the first six overs, emphasising the importance of fast starts; in his T20I career, Malan strikes at just 111.97 in the powerplay.A batting-heavy side would leave England relying on their seamers to bowl both in the powerplay and at the death•Aijaz Rahi/Associated PressInstead, England may end up with a relatively flexible batting line-up of Jonny Bairstow, Moeen, Livingstone and Morgan coming in behind Jason Roy and Jos Buttler, with entry points more important than order. Bairstow, for example, might come in at No. 3 if they were to lose a wicket inside the first over given his experience against the new ball, while Moeen would shuffle above him towards the end of the powerplay to utilise his ability against spin. Morgan has left open the unlikely possibility of dropping himself at some stage while Moeen and Livingstone are not totally guaranteed of their places – but if it would be bold to drop Malan, it would be bolder still to leave out one of two men in career-best six-hitting form.Leaving out the man at No. 1 in the ICC’s T20I batting rankings is a luxury that few teams could afford but England’s batting is strong enough that it is starting to look like the logical remedy to their selection headache. When José Mourinho, Chelsea’s manager at the time, brought the blanket analogy to English football, he concluded: “But the blanket I have is made of cashmere, so it’s good.” England will feel much the same, even if it means their heads are sticking out.

This is not news, but the NFL runs sports, runs the country and runs most of our lives. Sundays are sacred and all the numbers prove this.

According to Sports Media Watch, NFL game windows averaged 20.5 million viewers through the first three weeks of the season, up 10% from last year.

The NFL also knows how to market itself better than any company in existence. On the flip side, Major League Baseball is absolutely horrific at marketing itself.

So, allow me to help MLB with a marketing issue. The final day of the regular season needs to be pushed to Monday in order to get away from going head-to-head with the NFL.

Baseball is smart in having every game on the final day of the season begin at 3 p.m, ET. The sport should keep that concept. Move the final day of the regular season to Monday, having every game begin at 4 p.m. ET, leading into , to create a mega sports day.

The shortsighted take against this change is that people have to work on Mondays.

First off, it’s much easier to compete with someone’s job than the NFL. Secondly, in this day and age of streaming, everybody can watch games on their phones, computer, tablets, etc. Being at work isn’t the hindrance it once was.

Get a bunch of games on that Monday on as many national outlets as possible.

Using this year as a guide, here’s how the final day of the season would look next season if I was in charge of baseball’s TV situation. 

Mets vs. Marlins would air on Fox.

Reds. Vs. Brewers would air on NBC.

Rays vs. Blue Jays would air on ESPN.

Orioles vs. Yankees would air on MLB Network.

Tigers vs. Red Sox would air on ESPN2.

Rangers vs. Guardians would air on Peacock.

Those were the games that had the most on the line this past Sunday. Think about the juice and buzz baseball would’ve had if those four games aired Monday at 4 p.m. with all them being available across the networks, leading into a  doubleheader.

Instead, baseball played these games at the worst possible time on Sunday—right in the middle of the NFL day. To make matters worse, the games began during the "Witching Hour," as Mike Francesa coined the 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. window, when the 1 p.m. games go haywire.

I can assure you that most people who were watching the ending of Chargers-Giants or Eagles-Bucs weren’t thinking about baseball’s final day of the season at 3 p.m. on Sunday. 

Move the finale to late Monday afternoon, leave Tuesday open in case you have to play some tie-breaker games and begin the playoffs on Wednesday. Play the best-of-3 wild card on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Give teams Saturday and Sunday off. Begin the Division Series on Monday. It’s a no-brainer.

Fast bowler hails decisions on and off the field as England emerge on top on rollercoaster first day

Andrew Miller21-Nov-2025

AFP/Getty Images

Brydon Carse heaped praise on England’s captain, Ben Stokes, for his leadership on and off the field, after a barnstorming fightback with the ball on the opening day of the 2025-26 Ashes.Carse claimed the key wickets of Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja, before Stokes ripped through the lower-middle order with figures of 5 for 45 in ten overs, as England fought back from being bowled out for 172 by reducing Australia to 123 for 9 at the close, a deficit of 49.It meant that 19 wickets had fallen, the most ever on the opening day of an Ashes series, as the action lived up to every ounce of the pre-series hype.Carse, however, praised his captain for confronting the emotions of the series head-on, both in encouraging the team to walk to the venue at the start of the day’s play, and in inspiring their fightback with his calm response to their batting display.”Stokesy came up with that idea last night,” Carse said of the team’s arrival, through a sea of fans with 51,531 spectators attending the opening day. “It was obviously what we decided to do. And luckily, we came in at about 8.30am, because I think if we were about a half an hour later, we might have got a bit more stick from some of the Aussie fans. It was electric … the energy throughout the day was awesome.”Once inside the Optus Stadium, England won the toss and choose to bat first, only to lose Zak Crawley for a duck to set the tone for Mitchell Starc’s magnificent seven-wicket display. But despite being rolled aside in just 32.5 overs – the second-shortest Ashes innings, behind Australia’s 60 all out at Trent Bridge in 2015 – Stokes gathered his team at the innings change-over and set in motion their change of fortune.”Stokesy kept it really simple,” Carse said. “We had 45-50 minutes before tea, and he said to the lads with the ball, just give everything. The way Gus Atkinson and Jofra [Archer] started was phenomenal. And then after tea, that messaging was pretty similar, just do it over a longer period of time.Related

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“While the ball was still new, there was a lot of pace and bounce in it. And, we said as a group of bowlers, it was just about hitting the wicket as hard as we could.”The close-of-play scoreline vindicated England’s decision to field a five-man pace attack, which allowed Archer and Mark Wood – their fastest bowlers – to be used in short, sharp bursts that denied Australia a chance to settle at any stage of their reply. With Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts still waiting in the wings, Carse was confident that England could keep their pace levels high throughout the campaign.”I haven’t played in a lot of attacks where we’ve had five seamers, but everyone does complement each other,” Carse said. “I’ve said before that the group is six, seven seamers, and we’ve all got different attributes. Hopefully that stands us in good stead throughout the series.”Stokes, however, remains utterly fundamental to England’s hopes of winning an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 2010-11. Having hinted at his readiness with six wickets in a low-key warm-up against England Lions last week, he showcased his golden arm with the vital wickets of Travis Head and Cameron Green, then picked off Alex Carey, too, on the way to his sixth five-wicket haul and second in Australia.”His character and enthusiasm around the group, and the way it goes about his business is phenomenal,” Carse said. “Everyone looks up to him. He’s a great leader to have in our team.”He’s been out here for the last two-and-a-half weeks, and as Ducky [Ben Duckett] said a couple of weeks ago, he’s in beast mode at the moment. Hopefully that pays off throughout the series for him.”Stokes is back in Australia for his third Ashes tour, having debuted on the 2013-14 tour, 12 years ago. Carse, however, was sampling the occasion for the very first time, and admitted the atmosphere had been a step up from his previous experience in England colours.”I felt nervous, excited … obviously almost going into a bit of the unknown, but just trying to soak it all up throughout the day. It’s been a phenomenal day. We’ll go back to the hotel and we’ll have a quiet night.”The stage is set for another high-octane day on Saturday, and Carse admitted that – despite the shortcomings of their batting first-time around – their run-rate of 5.23 had demonstrated that batting could get easier once the first-day nerves and some of the pitch’s early life have gone.”The first thing tomorrow is obviously to knock over this last wicket,” he said. “Then, we’ve seen some of the guys that have got starts and some runs today, the way that they went about it was obviously taking the positive option.”I even thought Alex Carey, towards the end, was quite proactive and positive, and it put us under a bit of pressure. So going into the second innings, I think our batters will know what sort of gameplan they are going to use.”

سجل منتخب الأردن الهدف الثاني في شباك مصر، في المباراة الجارية بينهما ضمن منافسات بطولة كأس العرب 2025، المقامة في قطر.

وجاء هدف الأردن الأول عن طريق اللاعب محمد أبو حشيش في الدقيقة 12، بعد تسديدة قوية ارتطمت بدفاع المنتخب المصري، لتصل إلى أبو حشيش الذي تابعها ووضعها في شباك محمد بسام.

طالع|فيديو | الأردن يسجل الهدف الأول أمام مصر في كأس العرب

أما الهدف الثاني، فقد جاء عن طريق محمد أبو زرايق في الدقيقة 41 بعد تسديدة من داخل منطقة الجزاء.

ويحتل الأردن قبل المباراة صدارة المجموعة الثالثة في كأس العرب برصيد ست نقاط، بينما يملك المنتخب المصري نقطتين فقط من تعادلين أمام الكويت والإمارات.

وتعادل منتخب مصر في الجولة السابقة أمام الإمارات بهدف لكل فريق، كما تعادل بنفس النتيجة أمام الكويت في الجولة الأولى. هدف الأردن الثاني أمام مصر في كأس العرب

 

It’s one step forward and two steps back for Newcastle United, who were defeated on the road in the Champions League against Marseille, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the double.

Eddie Howe’s side responded with vim and vigour after the international break to beat Manchester City at St. James’ Park, but this served as a sobering reminder that there is much work to be done away from Tyneside, with the Toon having won only one game away from home all season.

Harvey Barnes’ fine form continued as he swept home from close range only minutes into the affair, but United failed to channel their counter-attacking approach and were ultimately overwhelmed by the French hosts.

It was a frustrating performance, epitomised by the woes of Nick Pope between the sticks.

Why Howe must consider dropping Nick Pope

Pope joined Newcastle from Burnley for about £10m in 2022, and he has since. This season, he has started all 12 of the Magpies’ Premier League fixtures, though he has failed to keep a clean sheet across five successive matches.

There have been tenuous calls to drop the 33-year-old all year, but these are rising in volume and intensity, and the veteran’s mistake in France will only fan those flames, with United losing clarity and conviction in their performance after the gaffe.

Given that Aaron Ramsdale is patiently waiting in the wings, having been signed on loan this summer, there’s justification for dropping Pope going forward, it may be that Howe needs to drop his mainstay between the sticks and start to rewire his defence, as has already started through the likes of Malick Thiaw and full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento.

Newcastle still have three wins from five in the Champions League this season, and may yet find the form to seal a place in the automatically-qualifying top eight.

But Howe does need to continue to chop and change, and Pope isn’t the only one whose starting berth is at risk.

Newcastle star is now relegated to the bench

At the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Anthony Gordon was awarded Newcastle’s Player of the Year. But last year was a testing one for the England international, in contrast with United’s resurgence, and he has fallen further into the mire since the summer.

Against Marseille, Gordon’s woes continued as he proved utterly ineffectual in a makeshift centre-forward role.

Writer Firdie Idris remarked that the decision to field Gordon, a pacy left winger, as a central striker “never works”, and his display against Marseille only corroborated that claim.

In his central berth, Gordon only created one chance and hit the target with only one shot. He didn’t even attempt a dribble and won only one of five duels, as per Sofascore. He also completed just 14 passes as an isolated figure in Howe’s offensive line.

Penning their post-match thoughts, The Shields Gazette could only hand the Three Lions star a 4/10 match rating, criticising him for being on the back foot throughout the contest.

Anthony Gordon for Newcastle (25/26)

Match Stats (* per game)

PL

UCL

Matches (starts)

7 (7)

5 (5)

Goals

0

4

Assists

0

1

Touches*

35.4

39.2

Shots (on target)*

2.0 (0.7)

2.2 (1.0)

Accurate passes*

14.7 (80%)

16.4 (77%)

Chances created*

1.0

0.4

Dribbles*

1.4

1.4

Ball recoveries*

2.6

3.2

Tackles + interceptions*

0.7

1.4

Duels (won)*

4.7 (49%)

4.0 (41%)

Data via Sofascore

Truthfully, Gordon has been out of sorts all season. Prolific on the continent, he has yet to kindle any semblance of good form on the domestic front, and this was not a display to imbue within him a kind of confidence that will be needed ahead of Premier League clashes against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.

Given that Gordon is one of Newcastle’s most profitable players, there’s reasoning behind the call to cash in down the line. Certainly, given the need for further investment over the coming transfer windows, it’s something PIF might consider as Barnes continues to go from strength to strength.

In any case, Gordon needs to raise his level. He is one of the outfit’s most talented players and is horribly underperforming. Like Pope, Howe would be wise to drop him for the forthcoming fixtures and rekindle his will to win.

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Newcastle are proving themselves to be a team in transition this season.

Posts 1 ByAngus Sinclair Nov 25, 2025

Nathan Lyon has endorsed the value of always playing a spinner in Australian conditions amid a growing sense that England may opt to go without a frontline option at stages during the upcoming Ashes.While it falls into the category of unsurprising assessments from Lyon, as he himself remarked, it will nevertheless provide one of the interesting dynamics in the build-up to the first Test next month when England ponder the balance of their side having selected allrounder Will Jacks, who last played Test cricket in 2022, as the back-up to offspinner Shoaib Bashir.”You’re asking the spinner if they want to pick a spinner,” Lyon said with a smile. “For me, yeah, you’re picking a spinner in every side. Variation, it changes the whole tempo of the game. I think spinners can play a very effective role out here if their skill sets suit.”Related

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One of the factors England will be considering is how visiting spinners have so often struggled in Australia: since Lyon’s debut, those from overseas have averaged 62.09 compared to Lyon’s 31.08. However, the last time England were successful down under, in 2010-11, Graeme Swann played a vital role in a four-man attack”I grew up here. I understand and built my craft around playing on wickets that don’t spin,” Lyon said. “So, I’ve had to find a way to firstly survive but also create chances and build pressure along the way, and it’s something that I thoroughly enjoy doing, and I’ll keep doing that.”There is a little twist to Lyon’s current situation, though, in that he was left out of Australia’s most recent Test in Jamaica when they opted for an all-pace attack in the day-night encounter with a pink Dukes ball. They finished the game by skittling West Indies for 27 with Lyon’s replacement, Scott Boland, taking a hat-trick.It is a scenario highly unlikely to play out in Australia, as the selectors have already indicated, and while Lyon acknowledges the end result justified the move, he was adamant he could have played a role.”Disappointed that I wasn’t a part of that, but I understood the reasons behind it and at the end of the day, you look at it now, it’s a pretty good call and brave call,” Lyon said. “But if I’m going to miss a Test for anyone, it’s going to be Scott Boland, that’s for sure. I’m only disappointed because I believe my skill set can play a role in any conditions around the world and I kind of feel like I’ve proven that to be effective.”Nathan Lyon will start his season as New South Wales captain•Getty Images

Lyon, who sits on 562 Test wickets, one short of equaling Glenn McGrath’s haul as the second-most for Australia, will begin his Ashes preparations by captaining New South Wales for the first time against Western Australia in Perth having been named as Jack Edwards’ understudy while the allrounder is with Australia A in India. It is one of three Shield appearances Lyon expects to make before the first Test.It will be just the second first-class match Lyon has ever captained in, having previously done it once in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia in 2012, while he also captained a Prime Minister’s XI against England in 2018.”It’s a massive honour to captain the state that you were born in and obviously dreamt of playing cricket for,” he said. “So to get that call the other day was pretty humbling. I’ve never had any ambitions to captain any teams, especially professional teams. But Greg Mail [NSW chief performance officer] has come up to me and asked me whether I’d do it, and that he wanted me to do it… so it’s a short stint but I’m pretty happy with that.”Alongside Edwards, New South Wales are missing six other potential Shield players between Australia’s T20I side in New Zealand and the A team in India, but the side to face Western Australia will include Sam Konstas as he heads into a vital month in his bid to retain a place in the Test side.Konstas enters the season having scored 188 runs in the two four-day Australia A matches, including a century, but the selectors have long stated that it will be the first three Shield matches that prove key to their decisions.When Lyon was asked what he expected of Konstas over the next few weeks, he said “runs”, but also stressed that he was a player still developing his game.”Obviously he had a pretty successful tour over there [in India], but it’s great to have him back on the Shield side,” Lyon said. “He’s learning the craft, as we’re all learning. Some of us are a lot further on in our journey as professional cricketers, but they’re learning their craft. Not just him, but everyone around Australia. They’ve got to learn their style and be brave enough to back that and have faith in it.”

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+ A sua carreira no futebol pode começar hoje. Garanta a sua vaga no curso Gestor de Futebol e capacite-se!

Valencia não marca pelo Internacional há mais um mês. A última vez foi no dia 28 de agosto, quando balançou as redes duas vezes na vitória do time sobre o Bolívar, pelas quartas de final da Libertadores. No Brasileirão, são 10 partidas, nenhum gol e nenhuma vitória.

Já pelo Grêmio, Luis Suárez vai fazer seu último Gre-Nal da carreira. O artilheiro uruguaio tinha contrato até o fim de 2024, mas por problemas no joelho, conseguiu entrar em acordo para encerrar o vínculo ao final da temporada.

No Brasileirão, Suárez marcou oito vezes. Esse é o mesmo número de gols que os atacantes do Internacional somados têm na competição. No primeiro turno, o uruguaio deixou sua marca no Gre-Nal 439, com um golaço e uma assistência. Foi a segunda vitória sobre o rival em clássicos no Brasil. Pelo Gauchão, o Tricolor venceu o Colorado por 2 a 1.

Os dois artilheiros estrangeiros são a esperança dos dois times para o Gre-Nal. Suárez quer marcar para encerrar o ciclo no Grêmio com mais um clássico vencido. Já Valencia busca superar a má fase e dar alegria aos colorados.

+ Veja tabela do Campeonato Brasileiro e simule resultados

Grêmio e Internacional entram em campo às 16h deste domingo (8), pela 26ª rodada do Brasileirão. O Tricolor é o 3º colocado na tabela, enquanto o Colorado ocupa a 14ª posição.

Two early wickets give visitors hope of turning the tables after being second-best for most of contest

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay24-Jul-2025

Harry Finch clips the ball leg side•Getty Images

Glamorgan 327 (Kellaway 90, Ingram 87, Agar 4-58, Parkinson 4-103) and 25 for 2 need another 163 runs to beat Kent 155 (Bell-Drummond 55, van der Gugten 3-27, Harris 3-35) and 360 (Finch 68, Stewart 63, Evison 49, Compton 48, Benjamin 46) A series of starts took Kent to a respectable second innings to add pressure onto Glamorgan’s day-four chase.Harry Finch’s 68 and Grant Stewart’s counter-attacking 63 dragged Kent back into the contest after a first innings collapse hindered their chances against Glamorgan. Partnerships of 84 and 68 for the fifth and sixth wicket, respectively took the visitors to 360 – without full use of injured Joe Denly to enforce a nervous task of chasing 189 after first innings dominance from the hosts.Kent bowlers were in high spirits, taking two wickets in an aggressive spell of 14 overs continuing their day in the driving seat to leave the Welsh county 25 for 2, requiring 164 from the final day. Chris Cooke and Timm van der Gugten’s batting capabilities remain uncertain after both being off the field for the entire day.From 106 for 1 overnight and beginning a fightback to the Glamorgan first-innings dominance, Ben Compton and Chris Benjamin started conservatively in the knowledge that they’d need to bat all day to produce a competitive day four.Trying to be cute with a paddle-sweep by way of releasing the shackles from 10 off 43 inside the first hour, Compton fell, gifting a wicket to Glamorgan. Compton fell short of a half-century (and his 1000-run season milestone), a moment which foreshadowed the remainder of the top order.Daniel Bell-Drummond found a start, before being given out caught-behind attempting to hook a bouncer that ballooned to sub-keeper Alex Horton. The second dismissal of the morning allowed Joey Evison to dismiss a Ben Kellaway loosener to give Kent the lead at 175 for 3.The theme of Kent losing their wickets rather than Glamorgan taking the wickets by force continued. Benjamin dragged on a wide half-volley before Evison chipped a standard, probing Zain Ul Hassan delivery of medium-pace to short-cover – the third batter to fall in the forties. Glamorgan’s usual fifth seamer stepping up as the pick of the bowlers in van der Gugten’s absence while eighth bowler Kiran Carlson claimed 3 for 24 after his introduction in the 105th over.After a much-needed partnership from Evison and Finch, the former fell for 49. Finch, together with the newfound aggression of Stewart, kept the momentum going against the ungiving Kookaburra ball with stand-in captain Carlson having numerous exchanges about changing the ball throughout the day.The pair’s half-centuries, making the most of the life given to Stewart on one where he was dropped at slip by Carlson off Kellaway, gave the visitors a fighting chance until further soft dismissals brought a premature end to the innings; Matt’s Parkinson and Quinn both recording pairs succeeding Stewart bringing up a half-century with three consecutive sixes off Carlson who had been proving to be Glamorgan’s golden arm.The seemingly flat pitch showed some life in the gloomy evening conditions, both Carlson and nightwatcher James Harris took the brunt of Wes Agar giving his all after both openers were dismissed.

Chelsea could push to sign a “world-class” Robert Sanchez replacement in the January transfer window, after the goalkeeper’s disastrous performance against Manchester United.

Sanchez sent off in Man Utd defeat

The Blues suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon, succumbing to a 2-1 loss against Man United at Old Trafford, with Sanchez’s early dismissal making the task considerably more difficult.

The Spaniard saw red just five minutes into the game, after bringing down Bryan Mbeumo when the forward was through on goal, with Enzo Maresca criticising his goalkeeper for the tackle in his post-match interview.

Maresca looked at replacing Sanchez in the summer, with the west Londoners being linked with a number of goalkeepers, and the Italian may now be regretting his decision not to bring in an upgrade.

As such, according to a report from The Express, Chelsea could now push to sign AC Milan’s Mike Maignan in the January transfer window, with a view to bringing him in on a free at the end of the season.

Maignan was known to be a target for the Blues in the summer, with Maresca said to be a fan, viewing the goalkeeper as an ideal fit for his style of play, and there are signs that a deal could be possible.

The Frenchman was persuaded to remain at the San Siro during the summer, but the Italian club have since made no progress in talks over a new deal, potentially giving Maresca’s side the opportunity to sign him on a free transfer.

"World-class" Maignan could be upgrade on Sanchez

There are indications the Milan shot-stopper could be an upgrade on Sanchez, given that he has averaged fewer goals against per 90 over the past year, while he is also impressive with the ball at his feet.

Chelsea now set to open talks to sign "baller", Maresca thinks he's ideal

The Blues are planning to enter discussions to sign a new midfielder.

ByDominic Lund Sep 21, 2025

The 30-year-old has averaged 43.02 touches per 90 over the past year, compared to 40.04 from Chelsea’s current goalkeeper, which suggests the Milan captain is comfortable in possession of the ball.

Journalist Carlo Garganese has also been left impressed by the 34-time France international in the past, describing him as “world-class” after putting in a solid performance in the Milan derby.

Sanchez has made far too many mistakes over an extended time period, making three errors leading to goals in the Premier League last season, so it is no wonder Chelsea are looking at bringing in a replacement, and Maignan could be a fantastic option.