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Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Dean Jones of Eurosport has made a rather promising claim involving Tottenham Hotspur and Lautaro Martinez.

The Lowdown: Spurs dealt Martinez summer blow…

As reliably reported, Spurs were well in the mix to sign the Inter Milan striker even before new manager Antonio Conte’s highly-anticipated arrival in north London.

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Indeed, managing director Fabio Paratici had his sights set on the Argentine at one point in the summer window and The Times even revealed that a £60m fee had been agreed with Inter.

However, in a twist to the tale, London rivals Chelsea played a heavy hand in Tottenham’s failed swoop for Martinez thanks to their capture of Belgium superstar Romelu Lukaku.

Fabrizio Romano explained that the 28-year-old’s move to Stamford Bridge prompted Inter’s reluctance to agree a deal with Spurs over Martinez, especially considering that they would have been left without a marquee centre-forward (Twitter).

The Argentina striker duly ended up putting pen to paper on a new deal at the San Siro instead, which reportedly earning him around £179,000 per week.

The Latest: Spurs could now return…

You’d think that would be the end of Tottenham’s interest, but Jones has now come out with another twist to the tale.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he believes that Spurs under Conte will return for another attempt in the winter window, explaining:

“”I’m told Lautaro Martinez is someone they’re going to look back towards again in January.”

The Verdict: Exciting…

Given their links to Fiorentina hotshot Dusan Vlahovic, with there even being talk of a meeting held in London already, this claim on an alternative star striker target is certainly exciting.

Going by Martinez’s pedigree, he is a player who would significantly bolster Conte’s options at Spurs and could partner star striker Harry Kane to devastating effect – or maybe even replace him.

According to WhoScored, the 24-year-old has scored more goals in Serie A this season than anyone for Tottenham in the Premier League, racking up a higher average of attempts per 90 in that time also.

The South American has also attracted praise from some the very best strikers in world football, including former Inter teammate Lukaku, who called Martinez a ‘beast’ on Instagram Live (via Daily Mail).

However, one major hiccup to this Spurs transfer plan may be costs, especially considering that the Argentina international is valued at around £72m by Transfermarkt.

Paratici and co will need to smash the club’s transfer record to get a deal done, but going by his age, calibre and quality, Martinez may well be worth the investment.

In other news: Tottenham tell rising star he is free to leave as they green light surprise exit from N17, find out more here.

Sri Lanka’s 38-run loss today to New Zealand to end their group phase now means their fate is in the hands of others

Osman Samiuddin in Johannesburg27-Sep-2009

After such an ebullient start, Sri Lanka have somehow pushed themselves to the very brink of this tournament, with a little help from England and New Zealand. Their 38-run loss today to New Zealand to end their group phase now means their fate is in the hands of others; having kick-started the Champions Trophy with a wonderful opening-day win against the hosts South Africa, it is a fate not many expected to befall them. Little about this tournament has been easy to predict.Sri Lanka gave the game away in many areas today. Having dropped Muttiah Muralitharan and brought in Thilan Thushara, their new-ball pair began poorly. After getting back into it at 161 for 5, again the bowlers threw it away, though Kumar Sangakkara directed his gaze elsewhere.Though widely considered the best fielding side in Asia, Sangakkara thought his men were “appalling” in the field and have not been much better over the last few months. “A real minus is our fielding. It has been sometimes appalling and not up to international standard. So we’ve got a lot of work to do to compete. That will be a real bugbear in the next tournaments. Individuals must take responsibility. The real difference between the sides will be fielding,” said Sangakkara.In hindsight there will be other concerns. Sri Lanka’s pace bowling – which was to be their trump card – was unable to adjust to conditions in South Africa and their start and finish to New Zealand’s innings was poor. Nuwan Kulasekera and Thushara, so lethal in home conditions, have failed to translate that form here.”It probably has to do with the lengths we have to bowl here,” Sangakkara said. “We have played a lot of cricket at home where lengths are different. Here we have to go back to basics and see, especially with our fast bowling, where the right lengths are and also how to hit them with aggression. Unfortunately most of our bowlers aren’t the tallest but at the same time they are quality bowlers. We have to adapt.”Chief among the strugglers was Lasith Malinga, who went for 85 runs in his ten overs and whose poor mid-innings spell allowed New Zealand to bring themselves back in the game, from 161 for 5. “The skiddy length he bowls in the subcontinent, the ball doesn’t skid here, it holds up. This was not a quick track, it’s got carry but it has tennis ball bounce. We need to hit the deck rather than just run in and drop it on the spot.”Sri Lanka’s batsmen also gave away starts, none more so than the opening pair, who kept them up with the rate initially. By that time the wicket wasn’t so difficult to bat on, as Mahela Jayawardene and Kulasekara’s first fifty proved, and certainly lacked the assistance that had prompted Sangakkara to bowl first. But ultimately there weren’t enough partnerships all of which requires Sri Lanka to wait on other results and hope to improve all three aspects of their game.”Mathematics can be peculiar,” said Sangakkara. “If England win all games with healthy margins we’ve probably got an outside chance to come in. But it’s not nice to wait to see which side loses and depend on run-rates. We should’ve put it away today and we didn’t. We got outplayed. All three departments we have a lot of brushing up to do. We had lots of individual performances but as a team we need to brush up.”

Liverpool managed to make no issue in keeping their winning run in the Champions League group stage going this season with a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Anfield.

Goals from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane secured the three points against Diego Simeone’s side who saw defender Felipe sent off after just 36 minutes.

One Liverpool player that we think was a massive shining light for the Reds in midweek was right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

In the 89 minutes he was on the pitch for, Alexander-Arnold managed to assist both goals, make two interceptions, three tackles, attempt 112 passes with an accuracy rate of 92%, four of them being key passes, complete two accurate crosses and 11 accurate long balls, ultimately earning himself an impressive overall match rating of 8.4, making him Liverpool’s highest-rated player on the day according to SofaScore.

This shows just how vital Alexander-Arnold was for his side on this occasion and that he stole the show over any of his teammates, even the likes of Mane and Jota who were on the scoresheet, thanks to Alexander-Arnold’s assists.

So far this season, the 23-year-old dynamo, who is currently valued at £67.5m according to Transfermarkt, has made 11 appearances for the Reds across all the competitions in which he has managed to provide six assists in the process.

Since making his senior debut for the Reds, Alexander-Arnold, who has been dubbed as “outstanding” by Klopp in the past, has managed to score 10 goals and provide 50 assists in the 190 appearances he’s made across all competitions, highlighting just how much of an attacking threat he is for the team from the right-back position.

Additionally, with Alexander-Arnold being currently listed as Liverpool’s second-highest rated player with an overall season rating of 7.69, according to WhoScored based on his performances in the Premier League. This shows how important he has been for the team in their latest league campaign.

Moving forward, if Alexander-Arnold can keep producing the same sort of performances as he did in midweek throughout the remainder of the season, we feel he will be a massive part of any success Liverpool have this year, whether it be domestically or in the Champions League if he can keep providing assists and maybe even add some goals to his tally this season, as he’s shown in the past that he is capable of.

In other news: Klopp could already own £54m-rated machine’s heir with “excellent” 18 y/o LFC prodigy – opinion

امتدح بيب جوارديولا مدرب مانشستر سيتي قدرات لاعبه إيرلينج هالاند متحدثًا بعد الفوز العريض أمام نوتينجهام فورست في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وسجل هالاند هاتريك مساهمًا في فوز مانشستر سيتي بستة أهداف دون مقابل، وذلك في مباراة بالجولة الخامسة للبريميرليج مساء الأربعاء.  هاتريك هالاند في مباراة مانشستر سيتي ونوتينجهام فورست

وقال بيب جوارديولا  لـ”بي تي سبورت”: “هذه الليلة جيدة حقًا، الموهبة التي نمتلكها في مهاجمينا، كانت مباراة جيدة حقًا”.

وأضاف: “أعلم أن إيرلينج سعيد بتسجيل الأهداف، لكن ما يريده هو الفوز، إذا حطم الأرقام القياسية لكن لم نفز، فلن يكون سعيدًا”.

وتابع جوارديولا: “هالاند قوي في جميع الأنحاء، ولكن بشكل خاص حول منطقة الجزاء يشم رائحة الأهداف، وإنهائه للهجمة، وأخلاقياته في العمل رائعة جدًا، إنه جائع للأهداف والنجاح”.

اقرأ أيضًا | أول تعليق من هالاند بعد الهاتريك في مباراة مانشستر سيتي ونوتينجهام

وواصل مدرب مانشستر سيتي: “ما فعله هالاند في ألمانيا، فعله هنا، أول اتصال بالكرة، الهدف الأول، لدينا مهاجمون رائعون، وشعور رائع برائحة الأهداف”.

وأكد جوارديولا: “هالاند بالطبع يمكن إيقافه إذا لم نلعب بشكل جيد، السبب الذي يجعلنا نحاول دائمًا اللعب بشكل جيد هو منح لاعبينا المهاجمين فرصة لتسجيل الأهداف”.

وعن كون هالاند أول من يسجل هاتريك في مباراتين متتاليتين، بعد أجويرو، أردف: “سيرجيو [أجويرو] أسطورة، لا أحد يستطيع أن يكسر مركزه في قلوب جماهير مانشستر سيتي، لكن إيرلينج لديه جودة ليحظى بمكانة كبيرة، لا يتعلق الأمر به أو سيرجيو، ما فعله أجويرو من أجل هذا النادي لا يصدق”.

وأكمل بيب: “الأرقام تتحدث عن نفسها، نحن غزيري الإنتاج تهديفيًا [19 هدفًا في 5 مباريات]، أمام نيوكاسل لم نتمكن من التحكم في الانتقالات، ضد كريستال بالاس لم نتمكن من التحكم في الكرات الثابتة، لقد سيطرنا عليها اليوم”.

وأتم: “عندما خسرنا درع المجتمع أمام ليفربول، قال الناس”إيرلينج لن يتأقلم مع الدوري الإنجليزي، هذا غير ممكن”، نعم ، حسنًا … الشيء المهم بالنسبة لنا هو يمكن أن يظهروا كم هم مخطئون، على أرض الملعب”.

Monty Panesar has blamed moves to expand his spin bowling repertoire for his poor first-class returns this season, and has vowed to revert to his natural game if pitched into Ashes combat this summer

Alex Brown29-Jun-2009

Monty Panesar has blamed moves to expand his spin bowling repertoire for his poor first-class returns this season, and has vowed to revert to his natural game if pitched into Ashes combat this summer. Panesar, who this year surrendered the mantle of England’s premier Test spinner to Graeme Swann, has taken just six wickets at 86.66 apiece in six first-class matches for Northamptonshire in 2009 but has retained the faith of the national selectors, who have named him in the England Lions squad for the tour match against Australia on Wednesday.Shane Warne is among those to have criticised Panesar for a one-dimensional approach to spin bowling, and the left-armer has used the first half of the county season to experiment with new deliveries. Those changes, he concedes, have been difficult to implement, and Panesar will instead rely on instinct in his bid to partner Swann against the Australians this summer.”I would love to right now have loads of wickets under my belt but I know things haven’t gone as planned,” Panesar said. “Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back for the longer and the medium term.”My strength is that I have a natural ability to bowl a certain pace, bowl lots of overs and get a lot of maidens. I think I’ve got to trust myself, go back to that and reproduce that natural bowling style that I have. During the Northants phase I’ve just tried to go into the development side of things … but this current situation gives me the opportunity to rise to the situations and reconnect with what I do naturally.”After losing his place in the starting XI in the wake of England’s humbling Test defeat in Jamaica, Panesar worked with England’s spin coach, Mushtaq Ahmed, on broadening his game. He hopes the moves will serve him well in the years to come, but admitted they have not helped his form for Northants this season.Panesar also delivered a thinly-veiled swipe at Peter Moores, suggesting the analytical approach of the former England coach over-complicated matters and bred confusion within the team.”I obviously struggled at the start of the season and I was in a way trying to experiment with my variation of pace and length,” he said. “I understand that in an ideal world I would have loved to have taken stacks of wickets prior to the Ashes series and that would be a good preparation for me. But I understand that for my development, and to go further, I have to maybe take a backwards step to go forward for the medium- and the long-term.”I have got the opportunity to work closely with Andy Flower, who I think is a thoughtful and intelligent man. He’s able to give you the space to actually work things out for yourself. I had similar success with Duncan Fletcher. I think sometimes if there’s too much information being put to you it can actually overload you and you can be confused with what you’re doing. The space that tends to gives you helps you to work things out for yourself.”Panesar’s cult status since joining the Test side has at times been overwhelming, and the spinner admitted the time away from international cricket has afforded him the rare opportunity to decompress.”I enjoyed the time out because it gave me the space to do my own thing and my own training,” he said. “It let the dust settle down and let me review my game and where it needs to go. One of the challenges I’ve had at Northants, I’ve had four-day games, one-day games and Twenty20 games. In ideal world I would like to play back-to-back four-day games and get myself into a good rhythm. That has been quite testing, trying to adapt from one form to another form.”

Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney is reportedly set to miss his side’s Carabao Cup fourth round clash with Leeds United on Tuesday night.

The Lowdown: Leeds head to Arsenal

The Whites trade Premier League duties for domestic cup action on Tuesday, making the trip to the Emirates as they look to reach the quarter-finals.

While the league clearly takes precedence for Leeds, particularly given their struggles at the moment, a good cup run could turn their fortunes around after a worrying start to this campaign.

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The Latest: Tierney set to miss out

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post‘s Joe Urquhart on Monday, Tierney is expected to be an injury absentee for the game.

The Scot missed Arsenal 3-1 win over Aston Villa last Friday with a bruised ankle and he is unlikely to be fit in time to take to the field.

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The Verdict: Boost for Bielsa and co

Tierney has been an impressive signing for Arsenal, providing quality and tenacity at left-back – he has averaged 1.3 key passes per game in the league this season – so he could be a miss for the Gunners from a creativity sense.

Should Raphinha be deemed fit to start in north London, he could be buoyed by Tierney’s absence, although it remains to be seen how strong Marcelo Bielsa’s starting lineup will be, as he potentially rotates his squad.

In other news, Phil Hay has provided another worrying Leeds injury update. Read more here.

Everton travel to Old Trafford today to face Manchester United as they go in search of their fourth win in five Premier League matches.

The Toffees have won three of their last four league games, beating Brighton, Burnley and Norwich, with a defeat to Aston Villa sandwiched in between.

Their last outing was a 2-0 win over the Canaries at Goodison Park last weekend. Andros Townsend ( from the penalty spot) and Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the goals for Rafa Benitez’s side.

How many changes will the Spaniard make to his team? Here is our predicted XI for the match…

We are predicting that he will make three changes from last week, with Anthony Gordon, Tom Davies and Mason Holgate coming in to start.

The first change Benitez could make is in the back four. Ben Godfrey endured a difficult afternoon against his former club last weekend and looked out of his depth at right-back. A centre-back by trade, the England international struggled to get to grips with the match as he failed to make his mark.

As per SofaScore, he made zero tackles, interceptions and blocks, whilst also being dribbled past once. He won only one duel in the entire game and missed a big chance in front of goal. This suggests that he did not have his best game in an Everton shirt and that could convince Benitez to axe him against United, with Mason Holgate – who was on the bench against Norwich – coming in to show what he can do at right-back.

Alex Iwobi is an injury doubt after suffering a knock during the week, which means that his place on the left flank could be available. Anthony Gordon came on against the Canaries last week as a substitute and has made three Premier League cameo appearances this season, but now could be his time to be thrown in from the start.

With Iwobi, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison all potentially out, Gordon may be the only viable option for Benitez to start out wide. This is why we are predicting that he will line up on the left in place of the former Arsenal man, should the latter fail his fitness test.

Finally, we are predicting that Tom Davies will come in for Salomon Rondon. Benitez could look to pack the midfield with three bodies to be solid defensively against the likes of Jadon Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes, which means dropping one of the two strikers to play another holding midfielder in Davies.

Demarai Gray has three goals and one assist in six Premier League games this term, whilst Rondon struggled badly against Norwich. The Venezuela forward won just five of 22 duels and gave the ball away eight times from 28 touches, which is why he should be axed from the XI for Davies to come in, with Gray using his pace through the middle to cause problems in behind for United.

AND in other news, “Let the fans down numerous times” – Exclusive: Michael Ball drops major Everton verdict…

The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has dropped a worrying update from behind-the-scenes at Newcastle United amid continued speculation over Steve Bruce’s future.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent days had suggested that Bruce was set to be axed ahead of this weekend’s Premier League game against Spurs, but with just a couple of days to go now before Sunday’s clash, no action has yet been taken.

And now, Edwards has revealed that those behind-the-scenes at the club are beginning to worry about the situation and what is likely to happen.

Initially on Twitter, he said: “Mood darkens around St James’ Park with lack of clarity over Steve Bruce’s future.”

Then, in a follow-up article for The Telegraph, he added: “Worryingly, training ground sources have said the mood has darkened in the last couple of days, with coaches fearing they are about to lose their jobs and players lacking focus because of the lack of clarity.

“Both players and staff are taking a day off on Thursday and that surely represents the moment to reveal whether Bruce is going to stay on or not.”

Fans will be worried

When the takeover was confirmed, Newcastle fans would surely have been hoping, if not expecting, Bruce to be gone and a new man (if temporary) in charge for the game against Spurs.

The clash against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side seemed like the perfect stage for a fresh new era, especially with it being at home to St James’ Park – having Bruce in the dugout for a game of such significance in the club’s history was almost unthinkable.

But according to Edwards, the lack of action over Bruce has those inside the training ground feeling like they have been left in the dark, unsure of where they stand with the new regime.

That is hardly the kind of preparation and feel-good momentum anyone would have wanted heading into the first game of the PIF era.

The longer the new owners leave it to relieve Bruce of his duties and make it clear what their plans are – either appointing a new manager straight away or confirming Graeme Jones as some sort of caretaker boss – fans will be worried.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are keen on making this landmark appointment…

Rafa Benitez’s Everton tenure has been close to perfect so far with the Spaniard dropping just two points since returning to Merseyside.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been among the goals, his new signings have hit the ground running but there does remain one problem.

On the chalkboard

That issue happens to be in defence where the Toffees have struggled this season.

They have kept just one clean sheet – a 2-0 win over Brighton – and even conceded a sloppy goal to Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup.

The man at fault in that clash happened to be Michael Keane. He lost his marker and continued a horrid trend this term of making mistakes.

Keane was also at fault during the draw with Leeds when he turned too slowly and let Patrick Bamford take up possession before he supplied a goal.

The English centre-half did return to form against the Seagulls but he has proven to be too much of a liability to trust in recent months.

The solution

Fortunately, Benitez will be able to call upon Ben Godfrey for the first time as Everton manager when they face Burnley on Monday evening.

The former Norwich gem hasn’t played a single minute this term but has returned to the fray this week according to the manager.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the 61-year-old said: “The majority of the players are fine. We have two or three issues, but Yerry (Mina) and Ben (Godfrey) are training already.”

With Godfrey’s return to fitness and Keane’s lack of form in mind, Everton simply have to turn to him Monday.

That’s especially when you consider how his qualities could match up against a strong and physical Burnley side.

Speaking about him last season, Carlo Ancelotti outlined what sets him apart from other defenders. He commented: “I found a really fantastic defender. He has all the quality a defender needs. He is powerful, has a lot of energy, tactically intelligent, really aggressive, can play in different positions.”

Aggression and power is exactly what Everton will need against Sean Dyche’s men so it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw the 23-year-old start for the first time this term.

The £68k-per-week centre-back’s pace is electric which is the polar opposite to Keane, someone who even struggled with Bamford’s movement against Leeds.

If Everton want to continue their promising start to the campaign then Godfrey has to play this week. With his attributes in mind, he could be absolutely game-changing for the rest of the Toffees team.

AND in other news, Bye-bye James: Rafa must unleash Everton’s “sensational” rarely-seen 17 y/o this term…

Nepal beat Malaysia by ten wickets in front of 8000 spectators to win the ACC Under-17 Elite Cup

Cricinfo staff14-Feb-2009
Nepal celebrate after their victory in the final © Asian Cricket Council
Nepal beat Malaysia by ten wickets in front of 8000 spectators to win the ACC Under-17 Elite Cup.Malaysia were always second best in front of a passionate home crowd and were bowled out for 124 in 37.1 overs. Nepal cruised to victory in 23.3 overs, Sagar Pun scoring 65 and Aakash Pariyar 53.”We just couldn’t cope with the pressure,” said Malaysia’s captain Keithan Goonasageran. “Playing in front of a crowd like this for the first time shook a few of our players but really it was the spot-spot-spot bowling of Nepal’s spinners that hurt us.”Organisers have been delighted with excellent crowds throughout the competition, and strict checking of all teams ensured there were none of the embarrassing rows over the age of players which have marred recent events.That spared Nepal, who, it is reported, had 16 of their original 30-man squad outside the stipulated age qualifications.