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اتخذ نادي مانشستر سيتي قرارًا حاسمًا بشأن النجم المصري عمر مرموش، فيما يتعلق ببطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا المرتقبة، التي ستنطلق في المغرب في شهر ديسمبر المقبل.

وتستضيف المغرب بطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا في الفترة بين 21 ديسمبر و18 يناير المقبل.

ويشارك منتخب مصر في بطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا حيث يتواجد في مجموعة تضم كلًا من أنجولا، جنوب إفريقيا وزيمبابوي.

وذكرت صحيفة “ديلي ميل” الإنجليزية أن مانشستر سيتي لن يسمح لمهاجمه عمر مرموش بالتواجد في معسكر تدريبي رفقة منتخب بلاده قبل كأس أمم إفريقيا.

وعاد مرموش إلى الملاعب مؤخرًا بعد غياب دام أكثر من شهر، بسبب إصابة في الركبة تعرض لها خلال فترة التوقف الدولي في سبتمبر.

اقرأ أيضًا | مواعيد مباريات مانشستر سيتي في شهر نوفمبر 2025.. مواجهة ليفربول

وجاءت عودة مرموش تدريجيًا قبل خوضه مباراة سوانزي سيتي في كأس كاراباو يوم الأربعاء الماضي، حيث سجل هدفًا رائعًا وساهم في تأهل مانشستر سيتي إلى دور ربع النهائي.

وقد يفتقد مانشستر سيتي خدمات عمر مرموش لمدة تصل إلى 10 مباريات حال وصول منتخب مصر إلى الأدوار الإقصائية في كأس أمم إفريقيا.

وسيخوض منتخب مصر مباراة ودية ضد نيجيريا في 14 ديسمبر القادم، لكن مانشستر سيتي سيسافر إلى كريستال بالاس في الدوري الإنجليزي في نفس اليوم، ويرغب في أن يكون مرموش متاحًا.

وأوضحت الصحيفة أنه من المتوقع أن ينضم مرموش إلى منتخب بلاده بعد تلك المباراة أمام كريستال بالاس، بينما يواجه ليفربول قرارًا مشابهًا مع محمد صلاح، حيث قرر المدرب حسام حسن الاستعانة به.

ومن المقرر أن يواجه ليفربول برايتون في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز في اليوم السابق، ومن المرجح أن يُتخذ قرار بشأن مشاركة صلاح إذا ما تم اختياره، كما هو متوقع، من قبل مصر لمواجهة نيجيريا.

ويبدأ منتخب مصر مشواره في كأس أمم إفريقيا بمباراته ضد زيمبابوي يوم 22 ديسمبر، ثم جنوب إفريقيا 26 وأنجولا 29.

Efforts from Matt Short, D’Arcy Short and Jamie Overton were not enough for Strikers in the 215 chase

Tristan Lavalette27-Dec-2024

Ben McDermott helped Hobart Hurricanes build a strong total•Getty Images

Ben McDermott powered Hobart Hurricanes to the highest total of the BBL season with a belligerent half-century to overwhelm a slumping Adelaide Strikers.Hurricanes had contributions through their batting order after being sent in on a typically flat Adelaide Oval surface. McDermott’s 68 off 34 balls, including five sixes, provided the finishing touches in the death overs to lift Hurricanes to a massive total.Strikers were on track in their chase of 215 after skipper Matthew Short and D’Arcy Short smashed 76 runs within seven overs, but regular wickets proved costly as Hurricanes claimed an 11-run victory.Related

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The result leaves Strikers at a shaky 1-3 record, while Hurricanes have won consecutive games after being routed for 74 by Melbourne Renegades in their season-opener.McDermott and David fire after Owen’s early dismissalAfter his rapid century against Perth Scorchers, all eyes were on Mitch Owen who promptly smashed the spin of Matt Short for a boundary through cover on the second ball of the innings.Owen went for broke on every delivery but it proved his downfall as he holed out to long-on in an anti-climactic finish.While Caleb Jewell struggled with his rhythm, Shai Hope followed Owen’s blueprint and swung hard. He gave himself plenty of room by moving around the crease and trusted the surface’s true bounce.Hope made a breezy 37 off 22 but couldn’t kick on as Hurricanes struggled to ignite in the middle overs until Tim David arrived at the crease in the 14th over.David came in at an opportune time amid the power surge as he eyed finding top form having tailed off in recent times, including a second-ball duck against Renegades.David can sometimes overhit early in his innings, but he gave himself time to settle in. It wasn’t long before David was in full flight as he rattled quick Henry Thornton with a full-blooded pull shot that sailed into the terraces.David couldn’t make it through to the end after his whirlwind 33 off 14 balls ended when quick Liam Scott cleaned him up with a full delivery.McDermott had been starved of the strike but made up for lost time with a succession of mighty blows. He was inventive against spinners Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce with reverse sweeps and he also used his feet effectively.McDermott, standing still at the crease and watching the ball closely, was in the zone as he lifted Hurricanes well past 200.Overton executes superblyAllrounder Jamie Overton has been Strikers’ standout performer so far this season with healthy bat and ball contributions. Once again he starred with the ball after finishing with a very respectable 2 for 27 from his four overs.On an unforgiving surface for bowlers, Overton bent his back and extracted bite. He claimed the wickets of Hope and Nikhil Chaudhary with short deliveries that beat them for pace.Strikers’ attack had no answer for Hurricanes in the backend except for Overton, who in the penultimate over bowled a succession of canny slower fuller deliveries to concede just eight runs.Overton’s execution under pressure was a feature in a superb performance.Matt Short hit a quick half-century•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Ellis steps up in key momentsHurricanes were nervous with Matt Short rediscovering his best form. But skipper Nathan Ellis stepped up with a terrific catch to dismiss Short after sprinting from extra cover to hang on after an initial fumble.Ellis made another important contribution when he bowled brilliantly in the 14th over amid the power surge. He bowled accurate full deliveries in trademark style to tie up Alex Ross and Ollie Pope and ensure Strikers fell well behind on the required run rate.David also made a significant impact with a brilliant diving catch at mid-on to dismiss Ross and he celebrated with gusto.Skipper finds form but it’s not enoughStrikers were faced with a daunting chase, but they have mowed down similar scores before at home.They needed Matt Short to fire having only scored 31 runs from three innings this season on the back of struggles in the white-ball series against Pakistan.He looked nervous early and was hit on the pads by speedster Riley Meredith, but survived. Short made his move with consecutive sixes off quick Billy Stanlake in the second over, but he was soon overtaken by his opening partner D’Arcy Short as they smashed 49 runs in the powerplay.They kept going for it and clearing boundaries until D’Arcy Short top-edged Stanlake to deep square leg after a brisk 41 off 22 balls. Following a cameo from Chris Lynn, the pressure fell on Short who notched the second fastest BBL half-century of his career off 27 balls.But Short fell shortly afterwards and Strikers’ chase ran out of puff despite late hitting from Overton. Strikers’ season hangs in the balance ahead of a pivotal clash against Scorchers in their traditional New Year’s Eve home fixture.

According to Smart Stats Sam Curran’s efforts with the ball came at a time when the opposition had a higher chance to win.

ESPNcricinfo stats team19-Apr-20212:58

Stephen Fleming: Moeen Ali has been ‘instrumental’ in us getting big scores

One allrounder takes 3 for 7 and hits 26 off 20, while other takes 2 for 24 and tonks a 6-ball 13. Who would be your Player of the Match? The former? Well, that indeed was the official choice for the award in the game between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. That performance had come from Moeen Ali, and the latter, were Sam Curran’s stats in the match.However, ESPNcricinfo’s Smarts Stats rates that Curran’s impact on the match was higher than Ali’s. Smarts Stats not only takes into account the quality of the batters dismissed, but also the situation in which a bowler bowls, among other things, to arrive at an impact value for the bowling performance. The match situation is quantified and fed into the calculations through ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster tool, according to which, Rajasthan Royals’ chances of winning the match were at their highest during the Powerplay. Curran sent down three overs during that period and took out Royals’ captain Sanju Samson, in addition to dismissing Manan Vohra. Curran’s two wickets were worth 3.04 Smart Wickets, including Samson’s wicket which was valued at 1.71.ESPNcricinfo LtdBut surely the wickets taken by Ali – of David Miller, Chris Morris and Riyan Parag – were bigger than those taken by Curran? That’s where the Smart Stats looks at the ‘context’. When Jos Buttler got out to Ravindra Jadeja in the 12th over, Royals were already facing an uphill task: they needed 102 runs off 54 deliveries. Historical data in major leagues and internationals between top teams pegs the win probability of the chasing team at 30%. Smart Stats further adjusts this win probability for the batting quality left and the bowling quality it is up against in the current match. It pegged Royals’ chances at only 19% at the start of the 12th over. By the time Ali took Miller’s wicket in the next over Royals’ chances of winning had dropped to single digits. Ali twin strike in his next over – that of Morris and Parag – came at a time when the match was lost, statistically at least, according to the Forecaster. That’s why Ali’s three wickets were worth only 1.85 Smart Wickets.Curran seemingly was less economical than Ali, but he bowled three over upfront, conceding only 12 runs from this first three overs. By the time he bowled his last over – an expensive one, off which he conceded 12 runs – Super Kings had already won the match. Overall, Curran’s impact with the ball earned him 66.7 impact points, while Ali’s earned 34.7 points.
Ali managed to bridge some gap through his efforts with the bat – his 26 runs were worth 31.7 impact points, while Curran’s cameo was worth 21.5 – but Curran’s exploits with the ball meant that he was the Smart Stats player of the match.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Covid-19 has affected the build-up, but coach Naveed Nawaz feels the players have responded well to the challenges

Mohammad Isam15-Jan-2022It was a homecoming worthy of national heroes. Thousands lined the 15-kilometre stretch from the Dhaka airport to the Shere Bangla National Stadium as the bus with the Under-19 World Cup winners passed. There was then a rousing reception at the ground, in front of a few thousands more. The players cut a cake, they collected their rewards. “The memories are unbelievable,” Naveed Nawaz, the coach of the team then and now, says.This was still a month off from the first reported case of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. There was no restrictions. It was, after all, Bangladesh’s first World Cup win, at any level. They beat Under-19 giants India in the final, and everyone who watched them loved the way the boys held their composure in tense moments.Related

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Two years on, as Bangladesh attempt to defend the title in the West Indies, Nawaz remembers the tears of joy most of all.”When we won the final, we understood that it was a big achievement for Bangladesh,” Nawaz tells ESPNcricinfo from St Kitts, where the team is based this time. “We were all happy and celebrating [in South Africa]. But it didn’t really hit us until the day we arrived in Dhaka.”When we saw the crowd celebrating on the streets, and then in the Mirpur stadium, we were actually in tears. All of us were crying. We didn’t realise the enormity of it until then, the impact that we had on the whole country.”The celebrations have, in a way, continued.Just over a year later – Covid-19 stopped cricket, and much else, for some time – after three international series for Bangladesh following the World Cup triumph, Shoriful Islam, the left-arm quick from the triumphant squad, made his T20I debut against New Zealand in March 2021. He would go on to play in the two other formats within the next two months.Shamim Hossain made an impressive T20I debut in New Zealand as well, before his fortunes took a nosedive, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy got his break more recently. Playing only his second Test, Mahmudul, as well as Shoriful, played a stellar role in Bangladesh’s unexpected Test win in Mount Maunganui earlier this month.Mahmudul Hasan Joy played a big part in Bangladesh’s recent Test win in New Zealand•Getty Images”It’s incredible, Joy, Patu (Shamim) and Shoriful going into the national team, and coping with the demands at the highest level,” Nawaz says. “It shows their improvement, from the Under-19 programme to doing well in the senior circuit.”I think I was the happiest person on the planet to see these Shoriful and Joy performing in New Zealand. They are both very close to me. How Joy tackled their highly skilled bowling attack, in their backyard, tells you a big story about him. We have discovered a star for Bangladesh, who can occupy the opening or No. 3 position for a very long time if guided properly.”Shoriful’s attitude and aggression on the field is an unbelievable change. When you look at him bowling, it seems like he has been playing international cricket for five-six years.”

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The 2022 team hasn’t been able to prepare as well as the 2020 team had because of the Covid situation. Multiple cases affected the training schedules and camps, and travel restrictions meant they couldn’t replicate the build-up of the previous group. While Bangladesh played 30 youth one-dayers, and won 18, in the lead-up to the 2020 World Cup, they managed to play only 12 such games this time, winning just three.”Preparation-wise, we are far behind this time. Most of our [preparatory] camps were affected, so our preparation hasn’t been ideal,” Nawaz says. “We managed to get in a couple of series. Since there was no time, the main target was to get the players match-ready.”We had to make sure we had the right players to form a strong team. We did our best within the time frame that we had. I think we got the best out of everything possible. In the West Indies, we will rely mainly on our strong bowling attack.”Shamim Hossain made a bright start to his T20I career before hitting a bit of a low•AFP/Getty ImagesAfter reaching the Caribbean, Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 155 runs [DLS method] in a warm-up game. From their “strong” bowling pack, left-arm spinner Naimur Rohman (3-18), offspinner Ariful Islam (2-6) and right-arm medium-pacer Abdullah Al Mamun (2-15) stood out in that win.

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It was a bit iffy prior to the team coming together as it has.Following a 5-0 drubbing from the hands of Sri Lanka Under-19 in October last year, the BCB brought in 2020 team stalwarts Rakibul Hasan, a left-arm spinner and useful batter, and quick bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib, appointing the former as captain.”Rakibul and Sakib give us a bit of strength in our bowling department,” Nawaz says. “It is good to have them back. They have been working with me for the last couple of years. They also played a couple of series with the high-performance squad, so they are more experienced and ready.”Rakibul is very much a hands-on captain. He has built a very good rapport in a short time. He shares a lot of experience and knowledge with others. He is very much a dedicated team person. He puts the country before himself. It is a good example. He is very respected within the team.”Since Rakibul and Sakib joined the team, they won a triangular one-day series against two India Under-19 sides in Kolkata, and then made the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners India in the eight-team Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE.Rakibul Hasan, a part of the 2020 team, has been brought in to lead the 2022 side•Getty Images

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Bangladesh have had a decent development programme in place for a while now, but the 2020 World Cup win gave it the fillip it needed.Nawaz was part of the leadership group led by Khaled Mahmud, chairman of the BCB’s game development committee, with AEM Kawser, the game development manager, and selector Hasibul Hossain Shanto in the mix. “The trophy inspired the younger generation in Bangladesh,” Nawaz says. “They have the belief that they can beat any team in the world. This is the difference winning a World Cup makes to a country. The whole culture and system will change.”Nawaz is himself a product of Sri Lanka’s famed school-cricket system, although he only played a single Test and three ODIs at the senior level for Sri Lanka. When he joined the Under-19 team as coach in 2018, there were murmurs in local cricket circles that Nawaz didn’t have the right credentials. But he has the results to show.”I wanted to create a method based on which the players can succeed,” Nawaz says. “I was successful in doing that in the first two years because of the unbelievable talent in Bangladesh. But talent alone is not enough. They had to play the mental game right. It was also important to create the right methods for batting, bowling and fielding. I am trying to do the same with the second group. They have responded quite well, though we see some inconsistency in their performances.”My idea was to show people that if you can instil discipline and good work ethic, if you get them to believe in the concept of a team, complement and help each other, and work really hard as a team, you can achieve anything.”It worked once. Repeating the feat will, perhaps, be an even bigger achievement than the one two years ago.

MatériaMais Notícias

da bet vitoria： Pablo Maia não viajou com o restante da delegação do São Paulo para Quito, no Equador. Assim, a Cria de Cotia não estará presente contra a LDU, pelas quartas de final da Copa Sul-Americana, nesta quinta-feira (24).

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da bet esporte： O volante deixou o confronto contra o Botafogo ainda nos minutos iniciais da partida. Mas o jogador não sofreu nenhuma lesão física. Na verdade, o que tem acometido o atleta é um quadro de indisposição estomacal e enjoos.

Assistido pelo departamento médico, será poupado para o confronto desta semana. Inclusive, Pablo Maia não participou dos treinamentos desta segunda-feira (21) e desta terça-feira (22).

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Sem Pablo Maia, Luan surge como uma opção. Inclusive, foi Luan quem entrou no lugar do volante neste sábado (19). Entretanto, a Cria de Cotia é o único novo desfalque. Embora ele não tenha viajado com o restante da equipe, Dorival Júnior poderá contar com duas grandes novidades na competição: Lucas Moura e James Rodríguez, que foram inscritos nesta semana.

da cassino： It was obvious that Celtic were going to need to sign a new left-back to bolster their squad in the summer transfer window as the 2024/25 campaign came to an end.

da dobrowin： Greg Taylor’s contract at Parkhead expires this summer and there is still no update on whether he will be renewing or if the defender has found a new club to join.

Jeffrey Schlupp spent the second half of the season on loan from Premier League side Crystal Palace and has since returned to his parent club, where his contract is due to expire at the end of this month.

This is why it was important for the Hoops to add to their squad in that position, and that is exactly what they have done with the signing of Kieran Tierney on a free transfer from Arsenal.

Brendan Rodgers will be looking at the squad and how it could look in the years to come, hence signing Tierney on a five-year deal, and he will also be looking at other positions in the squad.

One current star who does not have a clear successor in place is club captain Callum McGregor, who remains the first-choice holding midfielder for the Hoops.

Why Callum McGregor is so important for Celtic

The former Scotland international is not a classic holding midfielder, in the sense that he is not a midfield destroyer who is dominant defensively, but the Celtic maestro is exceptional when it comes to setting the tempo and controlling a game.

McGregor sits at the base of the midfield for the Scottish giants and uses his ability on the ball to dominate matches in possession, by passing teams into the ground.

24/25 Premiership

Callum McGregor (per 90)

Percentile rank vs midfielders

Passes made

79.78

Top 1%

Pass accuracy

94.3%

Top 1%

Long pass accuracy

64.1%

Top 5%

Cross accuracy

44.4%

Top 4%

Touches

96.30

Top 1%

Stats via FotMob

As you can see in the table above, the left-footed star ranked incredibly highly among his positional peers in a host of possession and passing statistics, which shows that he was one of the best passers, if not the best, in the division.

McGregor also added a big goal threat to his game in the 2024/25 campaign, with a return of eight goals in 35 matches in the Scottish Premiership, after he had only scored two goals in the league in the previous season.

The Scottish star is important to Celtic and Rodgers, though, because of his metronomic passing qualities, and the Hoops are interested in a midfielder who could be their next version of McGregor.

Celtic have long-standing interest in Premier League midfielder

According to The Celtic Star, the Premiership champions have a long-standing interest in West Ham United’s central midfielder Andy Irving.

The report claims that the Hoops were interested in a deal to sign the left-footed star last summer but a change in management at the London Stadium, with Julen Lopetegui replacing David Moyes, put an end to any chance they had of signing him.

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It states that a managerial change once again put a stop to Celtic’s interest in the recent January transfer window, as their attempt to sign the midfielder was turned down because Graham Potter wanted to run the rule over him during the second half of the season.

The Celtic Star does not reveal whether or not the Hoops are expected to go back in with a third attempt to sign the 25-year-old star, but it is clear that the club have an interest in him.

Rodgers must now push for the Hoops to go back in with another offer for the Premier League midfielder, because he could be McGregor 2.0 for the Bhoys.

Why Andy Irving could be the next Callum McGregor

The 25-year-old star could be the perfect signing to be a back-up option and potential successor to the captain due to his age and style of play.

Irving, who described his Scotland debut against Liechtenstein as “perfect”, is six years younger than McGregor and could be the long-term option for Rodgers at the base of the midfield.

The Hammers midfielder came on for the last 31 minutes against Liechtenstein and completed 23 of his 25 attempted passes (92%), whilst also creating two chances for his teammates, in what was an impressive cameo off the bench.

Irving, however, did not get too many opportunities to showcase his ability in the Premier League during the 2024/25 campaign, as he played just 178 minutes across ten appearances in the division for West Ham.

In that limited game time, though, the Celtic target showed why he could be a really good fit for Rodgers at Parkhead next season if the club were to snap him up.

24/25 Premier League

Andy Irving (per 90)

Percentile rank vs midfielders

Passes made

60.00

Top 8%

Pass accuracy

90.0%

Top 16%

Long passes made

3.89

Top 5%

Long pass accuracy

87.5%

Top 4%

Cross accuracy

50%

Top 11%

Touches

87.78

Top 6%

Stats via FotMob

As you can see in the table above, Irving excelled in possession when coming off the bench for West Ham, ranking highly among Premier League midfielders in a host of passing and possession-based metrics.

The Scottish whiz also showcased his ability to score goals, as McGregor did in the 2024/25 campaign, with nine goals in 28 matches in the Austrian Bundesliga during the 2023/24 season, whilst playing for Klagenfurt.

These statistics suggest that the potential is there for Irving to be a midfielder who can control and dictate games for Celtic from a number six position, due to his promising cameos in the Premier League as a dominant and reliable passer.

In a Hoops team that dominates possession week-in-week-out and competes for the title every year, the 25-year-old star could thrive as a tempo-setter who can enjoy plenty of touches of the ball.

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Therefore, Celtic should make it third time lucky with another move for Irving before the end of the summer transfer window to add brilliant depth to their midfield, whilst also securing their long-term successor to McGregor.

There’s a lot going on down Anfield Road this summer, and there’s more yet to come for Liverpool’s Arne Slot as the Premier League-winning manager pieces together a squad capable of sustaining title charges across so many years.

Few predicted Liverpool would be crowned champions after Jurgen Klopp stepped down from his post, but the Merseysiders proved a cut above their rivals to win the title at a canter. However, now is the time for investment, having spent nominally in last summer’s market.

Whether the Reds manage to offload Darwin Nunez and bring in a flashy new striker remains to be seen, but there’s little question that Jeremie Frimpong, who has already signed, and Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz, who are on the verge, will improve the Merseysiders and then some.

It’s all going swimmingly, but Liverpool will be frustrated by their failure to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth, the centre-back instead signing for Real Madrid last month in a £50m deal.

Why Liverpool wanted Dean Huijsen

Analyst Ben Mattinson remarked last season that Huijsen was “the most in-demand centre-back in the world”, and after such an impressive breakout campaign with Bournemouth, it’s clear to see why.

The archetypal modern centre-half, Huijsen, only 20 years old, can do it all, defending with steely tenacity and spraying balls forward with the artful elegance of a midfield maestro.

As per FBref, he ranked among the top 7% of Premier League positional peers last term for shot-creating actions, the top 15% for progressive passes, the top 9% for progressive carries and the top 4% for interceptions and blocks per 90.

With Virgil van Dijk approaching the autumn of his illustrious Liverpool career, the left-sided Huijsen would have been the perfect fit, but instead Liverpool will have to turn their attention elsewhere.

The Spain international is off the cards, then, but FSG may yet authorise a move for an up-and-coming defensive star.

Liverpool enter race for new CB

According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Liverpool have joined Chelsea in the race for Benfica centre-back Tomas Araujo, who has an €80m (£68m) release clause in his contract.

The 23-year-old might be higher on Chelsea’s list at the moment, but that’s not to say Liverpool won’t accelerate their plans in the coming weeks, once other areas of the field have been dealt with.

It’s worth noting that Benfica do not want to sell their prized defender, but if Liverpool are serious, they may be able to tempt the player to push for an exit before the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

What Tomas Araujo would bring to Liverpool

Liverpool wouldn’t have just made themselves known as suitors for Huijsen because many of their divisional rivals had registered interest; the Reds’ data-driven approach would have seen the Dutch-born talent profiled extensively.

He is indeed off the cards, but Liverpool could sign a similar player in Araujo, who has been hailed for his “magnificent” rise to prominence in Portugal by talent scout Jacek Kulig.

Having graduated from Benfica’s academy and having completed a season-long loan with Gil Vicente in 2022/23, Araujo has now completed 68 senior matches with the Eagles, winning the Taça da Liga last season (effectively the Portuguese version of the League Cup).

Limited to just 20 appearances across all competitions in 2023/24, having returned from his promising loan spell, Araujo has now become a mainstay in Benfica’s first team, going from strength to strength to attract the attention of Liverpool.

And when collating his data from the 2024/25 campaign with Huijsen’s, you begin to see that Liverpool could actually strike gold in signing this second choice, for he matches up with the Spaniard nicely indeed.

Matches (starts)

32 (26)

28 (28)

Goals

3

1

Assists

2

2

Touches*

63.9

66.9

Pass completion

84%

86%

Key passes*

0.5

0.4

Dribbles*

0.1

0.6

Ball recoveries*

3.3

5.4

Tackles + interceptions*

2.7

3.4

Clearances*

6.1

1.5

Duels (won)*

3.6 (56%)

5.1 (60%)

Matching Huijsen across ball-playing metrics, Araujo has also proved himself to be more accurate in the duel and more active across tackling and intercepting areas, albeit making far fewer clearances than his fellow Iberian.

Curiously, Araujo also recovered more balls, which speaks highly of his athleticism and energy, covering ground. This would be especially important in the Premier League, which is played at a higher pace than the Liga Portugal.

And furthermore, Araujo is also a capable right-back, playing out wide when the situation demands it. The fruits of this can be found in his 0.6 dribbles per game, also maintaining a crispness in his passing while creating openings for his teammates in a similar vein as Huijsen.

He might not have the goalscoring advantage on Real Madrid’s new recruit, who already is an expert at using his rangy frame in the box, but then he has shown on occasion an ability to find the back of the net with a leaping effort.

A balanced defender who has proven his ability to shake things up on the biggest stage, Araujo is the real deal. Across the 2024/25 Champions League season, he ranked among the top 17% of central defenders for shot-creating actions and the top 1% for tackles per 90 (FBref).

Given Liverpool’s pressing need for more depth and quality in the rearguard, especially with Ibrahima Konate’s future uncertain and Jarell Quansah linked with a transfer to Bayer Leverkusen, Araujo could be the perfect fit.

The Benfica star’s ball-playing and -carrying strengths indicate a style which Huijsen has performed so well in the Premier League, so now it’s up to FSG to steal ahead of Chelsea in the transfer tussle.

Perfect for Isak: Liverpool told £75m bid for PL star will be accepted

Liverpool may need to sign a new left-sided forward this summer.

ByAngus Sinclair Jun 14, 2025

Tourists have avoided defeat at Lord’s for 33 years and counting. Can they rise to the occasion again?

Andrew Miller28-Aug-2024Big picture: Sunny weather, sunny times?Is there a danger that a competitive Test series might break out in London over the coming fortnight? This is a city where Sri Lanka, remarkably, have not lost a single Test in six visits since August 1991. Admittedly, five of those have been draws at Lord’s, although next week’s return to The Oval for the first time since Murali’s match in 1998 will be a reminder that one of the more disparaged of touring teams have long had the ability to confound expectations on their infrequent England visits.Related

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Switch Hit: UnBazballian

Which is, to a greater or lesser extent, what Sri Lanka managed to do over the course of four improbably competitive days at Emirates Old Trafford. England eventually landed their fourth Test win out of four this summer, but not before they’d been made to struggle for the upper hand with ball and, latterly, bat, as Joe Root dropped anchor in a distinctly unBazballian 62 not out from 128 balls to oversee a taxing 205-run chase.The subplots along the way were many and varied. What might have happened on the first evening, for instance, if England hadn’t bowed to the umpires’ assertion that it was too dark to bowl their quicks, and simply gone off for bad light instead of offering Milan Rathnayake 12 overs of spin in which to move towards the highest score by a No.9 on Test debut?England assemble for their team photo at Lord’s•Getty Images

Conversely, what might have happened had England not managed to wrangle a ball-change after 41 overs of Sri Lanka’s second innings, by which stage Angelo Mathews was channelling his 2014 glory days while Kamindu Mendis was on course for his third Test hundred in the space of four calmly authoritative Test appearances?As had been the case in the Oval Ashes Test 12 months earlier, England had made their bed and deserved to have to sleep in it with their treatment of their original ball. They had sacrificed new-ball swing in the quest for a scuffed-up surface and some of the prodigious reverse that Asitha Fernando in particular had harvested. And even if their replacement ball was the same age as the original, it was like comparing a 41-year-old Hollywood actress with a vagrant who’s lived his adult life in a ditch. Dhananjaya de Silva, Sri Lanka’s captain, confirmed he had spoken to the match referee about the ball-change after the Test, and with such issues an increasingly frequent aspect of the English Test summer, this is clearly a loophole that deserves to be tightened up for future engagements.All things being equal, however, it was hard to argue that Sri Lanka were robbed in the course of the first Test. Few sides that struggle to 6 for 3 in the first innings, then 1 for 2 in the second, can expect to get away unpunished, although seeing as one of the reasons for those scorelines was a notably fallow display from the otherwise sturdy Dimuth Karunaratne, who averages a tick below 41 in his 92 Tests, and who made 87 runs for once out on his last trip to Lord’s in 2016, there is reason to believe that history won’t repeat itself this week.For starters, the team as a whole are now better acquainted with English conditions. Their preparation prior to the Old Trafford Test had been a low-key warm-up against England Lions in Worcester, which unsurprisingly proved insufficient to get them fully up to speed. And, after an intermittently damp experience in Manchester, the weather for London over the coming few days should be distinctly sunnier. There is no proven correlation between warm weather and heightened Sri Lankan performances, but anecdotal evidence from the past 40 years would tend to back up the suspicion that they tend to like it hot.Either way, Sri Lanka have been granted the window in the calendar that they have been crying out for since their first forays to England in the 1980s. Here we are, in the thick of a full Test series at the sharp end of the English summer, as opposed to a one-off afterthought, as was the case from 1984 to 1998, or an early-season trial by seam and swing, as per 2002 onwards. The onus is on the class of 2024 to live up to the billing they’ve been afforded. And in spite of most expectations, that’s more or less what they managed in the first match of three.Dan Lawrence, Brendon McCullum and Harry Brook arrive at practice•Getty Images

Form guideEngland WWWWL (last five Tests, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWLIn the spotlight: Ollie Pope and Asitha FernandoOllie Pope has made a winning start to his Test captaincy career, which is not to be sniffed at – many great leaders, including his England predecessor, didn’t manage that feat. But when it comes to his day job as England’s No.3, Pope’s main challenge is compartmentalisation, and two glaringly sub-par performances reinforced the sense that his game isn’t quite where he wants or needs it to be. In the first innings he was bowled neck-and-crop by an admittedly excellent ball from Asitha; but in the second, his tendency towards skittishness in the early stages of an innings resulted in an ill-conceived reverse-sweep to slip – the very same shot that underpinned his GOAT-contender innings at Hyderabad in the winter. On the face of it, he’s still in credit this summer, with 251 runs at 41.83 after four Tests. However, there’s been something intangibly unsettled about his batting post-Hyderabad. Whether it’s a mindset or technical issue, only he can truly say, but he won’t get a chance to focus fully on a remedy in his current stand-in role.Asitha Fernando was phenomenally good at Old Trafford. He led the line for Sri Lanka in each innings, easing past 50 Test wickets in the space of 15 Tests as he mixed conventional seam and swing with prodigious amounts of reverse – which in itself was quite the feat given how lush the outfield had been all match long. His challenge now is to back that performance up at Lord’s (and The Oval) in the coming days. England will no doubt be better prepared for his unassuming threat, having had a good sighting of his probing methods, but Aaqib Javed, Sri Lanka’s bowling coach, likened his effortless each-way movement to that of Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif, and for Test cricket’s connoisseurs, there really is no higher praise. Just ask Kevin Pietersen. If he can keep England guessing with new ball and old, so much the better for Sri Lanka’s hopes of keeping the series alive.Team news: Stone in for Wood, SL consider KumaraAs ever, England were proactive in their team announcement, confirming on Tuesday that they would be making one enforced change to their XI from Old Trafford. Mark Wood is out of the series with a thigh strain, so Nottinghamshire’s Olly Stone slots back in as the like-for-like option, ahead of the uncapped 20-year-old left-armer, Josh Hull, who will be using this week to soak up the international atmosphere. Stone hasn’t played a Test since 2021, having since had two screws inserted in his back, but he’s been fit and firing across formats all summer long, and has tended to look the part in his limited England appearances to date. In three Tests since 2019, he’s picked up ten wickets at 19.40.England: 1 Dan Lawrence, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (capt), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Olly Stone, 11 Shoaib BashirSri Lanka have also confirmed their playing XI ahead of the game. They had put up a good fight in the end, of the first Test with Kamindu and Asitha their stand-out performers, but their main issue came right at right at the top of the order. Nishan Madushka has retained his role as opener but could muster only four runs across both innings in the first Test. Pathum Nissanka will slot in at No. 3 as Kusal Mendis lost his place despite deputising well in England’s second innings. Dinesh Chandimal has recovered from a gruesome blow to the thumb at Old Trafford to retain his spot. On the bowling front, Lahiru Kumara has been recalled to provide some extra muscle, at the expense of the left-armer, Vishwa Fernando.Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Nishan Madushka, 3 Pathum Nissanka, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Milan Rathnayake, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru KumaraSanath Jayasuriya talks to his Sri Lanka team before the second Test•Getty Images

Pitch and conditions: Sun set to shineThe weather is set fair, and Lord’s in the sunshine can be tough place for a bowler. There have been some formidable snore-draws in the County Championship this summer, with Middlesex passing 600 twice and 550 once and Glamorgan’s Sam Northeast surpassing Graham Gooch’s 333 as the highest individual scorer at the venue. That said, West Indies didn’t detain England’s bowlers for long in their visit in July, thanks to Gus Atkinson’s 12 wickets on debut. Pope noted that the pitch had a grassy tinge to it on the eve of the match, but expected to play pretty slow while the sun was out.Stats and trivia This will be Sri Lanka’s ninth Test at Lord’s since 1984, which will draw the ground level with Harare as their most frequent overseas venue. They have played at least that many Tests in six home venues, with the SSC in Colombo top of the pile on 45. Sri Lanka have never won a Test at Lord’s … but they very rarely lose at the venue either. They famously drew on their initial visit in 1984, while the most recent of their two defeats came in 1991, at the hands of Graham Gooch, Phil DeFreitas and Phil Tufnell. Since then, Sri Lanka have secured draws in all five of their visits to Lord’s, with their defiance in 2006 and 2014 proving critical in landing a series draw in the first instance, and a series win in the second. Despite his second-innings century at Old Trafford, Kamindu’s average has slipped from its previous heights … though not by much. His mark at the start of the series was 107.00 from three Tests; it is now 92.16 from four, with three hundreds and two further fifties in his seven innings to date. Dimuth Karunaratne needs 72 more runs to reach 7000 in Tests.Quotes”It’s good we’re getting pushed. Sri Lanka were impressive last week, especially the way they batted. When you come to England, you expect different conditions and the conditions weren’t your classic English-style pitches but at the same time, for the guys to go and put together some good scores and set us a chase from a hundred deficit is a credit to them.”
Ollie Pope expects England to come out on top but respects the challenge that Sri Lanka have posed “Overall, Pathum is the best batter in the country at the moment. He has a good mindset and he has a good technique. If we can get him into the team, that’s great. I have been talking about it for a while now. I think he will adjust to any format.”
Dhananjaya de Silva is all confident about Pathum Nissanka’s skills

Match abandoned without a ball bowled Sri Lanka vs NepalSri Lanka and Nepal came to Lauderhill searching for their first wins, hoping to put their T20 World Cup 2024 on track. However, incessant rain, heavy enough to trigger flash-flood alerts for local residents, left both teams splitting one point apiece. That means Sri Lanka are almost certainly out of Super Eight contention while Nepal’s chances of qualification also take a hit. South Africa, currently Group D toppers, were confirmed a place in the Super Eight.For Sri Lanka to now qualify, they first need the Bangladesh vs Netherlands fixture on June 13 in Kingstown to be a washout, then they need to defeat Netherlands in their last group game on June 16. They also need South Africa to beat Nepal by a big margin on June 14, and then for Nepal to beat Bangladesh by a small margin on June 16.