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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly planning something of a raid on relegated outfit, Leeds United, having been linked with moves for a string of the Whites' key men.

What are the latest Tottenham transfer rumours?

Following reports that the north Londoners are keen on snapping up the likes of Robin Koch and Jack Harrison from Elland Road, 90min has now claimed that the Lilywhites are among the clubs who are also showing an interest in midfield maestro, Tyler Adams.

The report outlines that the former RB Leipzig man – who made the move to Yorkshire on a £20m deal last summer – is likely to seal a swift exit from his current side, with a stay in England looking like his best bet at present.

The piece also notes that Leeds have seemingly 'accepted' that they are set to lose the 24-year-old following their recent drop into the Championship, with Football Insider recently reporting that the United States international could command a fee of around £35m.

Who could Adams replace at Tottenham?

The signing of the one-time Red Bull Salzburg sensation could well spell bad news for current Spurs starlet, Pape Matar Sarr, with the Senegalese youngster set to be nudged even further down the midfield pecking order.

The promising 19-year-old was originally snapped up from FC Metz back in 2021 before securing an immediate loan return to his former employers, having since gone on to play a bit-part role in his first full season at N17.

Amid a turbulent campaign that saw both Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini dismissed, the 20-year-old was restricted to just 17 appearances across all fronts, despite the respective injury woes of Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.

That lack of action has led to suggestion that the 6 foot 1 gem could be on his way to Marseille this summer amid his desire for further game time, with the arrival of Adams potentially set to push him out the door.

The difference in quality between the pair is showcased by the fact that Adams is something of a "tackling machine" – according to pundit Kevin Campbell – having averaged 3.7 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game from his 24 league appearances, while Sarr averaged just 0.6 and 0.5 for those same two metrics, respectively, from his 11 league outings.

Equally, the Leeds man also appears to offer a great creative quality from his deep-lying berth having averaged one key pass per game in 2022/23, while the current Tottenham man averaged just 0.2 in that regard.

With Sarr – who made just two league starts all season – having been rather on the periphery in north London, Adams, by contrast, was truly "instrumental" prior to his late-season injury woes, according to Campbell, with Leeds winning just two of the final 12 games of the campaign for which he was absent for.

On the evidence of his displays prior to that blow, the New York native could well thrive in the top-flight once again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next season, thus allowing Levy and co to move on young Sarr as a result.

Centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay led India’s response to England’s 537 on an engrossing third day in Rajkot

The Report by Sidharth Monga11-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:13

Ganguly: Pujara is a must for India at No.3

Cheered on by his passionate but impassive father and his much more demonstrative wife, Cheteshwar Pujara scored an emotional century in the debut Test for his home ground of Rajkot. M Vijay complemented him with a more temperate defensive display of 126 off 301 balls to take India closer to safety after they had conceded 537 in five sessions on a pitch expected to become difficult as the game progressed. The 209-run partnership between Vijay and Pujara made them the most prolific duo for India since the start of 2010.The pitch didn’t deteriorate as much as expected, but to look at scores of 537 and 319 for 4 and conclude that it was a featherbed that produced boring cricket will be a disservice to the batsmen and bowlers who showed a lot of discipline and persistence. There was turn on offer but not variable, and there was a bare patch on a good length for seamers to work with. While for most periods of the day the England’s bowlers kept the batsmen honest without necessarily threatening them, they will be disappointed the quicks failed to generate reverse and the spinners got cut and pulled regularly.There was always something to work with, but whenever the bowlers got it right, Vijay and Pujara, who came together when Gautam Gambhir’s feet got him into a messy tangle to the seventh ball of the day, worked hard to thwart them. Especially while having to go through almost scoreless periods against the seam of Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad. In the first session Woakes tested them with a five-over spell of six runs and three body blows for Pujara. In the second session Broad went 5-4-1-0, targeting that bare patch just short of a driving length. In the final session Broad and Ben Stokes asked questions with the new ball.During the Woakes spell in the morning, 14 runs came in 10 overs. While Broad charged in mid-afternoon, 10 overs yielded 18 runs and a chance shelled by debutant by Haseeb Hameed at short cover. Unlike Pujara, Vijay had driven on the up to a ball that landed in that dry patch, and was reprieved on 66. India then welcomed DRS when Pujara successfully reviewed an lbw call when on 86, with extra bounce helping overturn the on-field decision.While England didn’t give the batsmen much to work with, the batsmen were good enough to recognise spells of play they could exploit. Scoring happened in spurts. Pujara came out and attacked Moeen Ali – out twice to the offspinner in 53 balls before this Test, he used his feet to disrupt his length. India had added 41 in nine overs to their overnight 63 in this period as Pujara raced away to 25 off 29.Then came Woakes. He didn’t just bowl short at Pujara, he bowled an excellent line, straight at his lid. Pujara, committing to the front foot almost every delivery, kept taking his eye off the ball while trying to sway. To his credit, Pujara never threw his hands up in self-defence, which would have brought the glove or the edge into play. Arvind Pujara, his father who was a wicketkeeper for Saurashtra, watched on without emotion. Puja, his wife, looked concerned.Ben Stokes gave England a much-needed wicket•Associated Press

Pujara scored 6 off 32 in these 10 overs. Once Woakes was done, England went to the man who makes things happen for them. This follow-up after that stranglehold was crucial with half an hour to go to lunch. Stokes, though, began with a half-volley second ball. Pujara’s intent meant he was on to it to drive it to the cover point boundary. Then a straight ball was glanced away, and Pujara had found his flow again. From 118 for 1, India added 44 in this period of eight overs to own the session. In the space of 25 balls, Pujara hit six boundaries to double his score of 31.Vijay at the other end had his own flow. For long periods of time you only noticed him when a possible two was kept to one because Pujara is not the quickest runner. Otherwise he would be leaving balls outside off, defending those at the stumps, and taking ones or twos only when they were too short or too straight. Vijay was there for his partner, though. After Pujara had been hit for the third time, he got right behind a ball in defence. At the non-striker’s end, Vijay’s bat went in the air, and the glove knocked it in applause, reassuring his partner that he just needed to get through that period of play.This amount of concentration can be exhausting especially when you are going at a little better than a run every three balls like Vijay was. Vijay, though, had one tool at his disposal: the lofted shot against the spinners. Every now and then, without any rhyme or reason, never ostensibly looking for a release, he would step out to spinners and languidly chip them back over their head. He attempted it six times, hitting two sixes each off Moeen And Zafar Ansari, and a four each off Ansari and Adil Rashid. Those 32 runs were the lubricant for his innings, the final session of which he spent hobbling after being hit in the knee.There was no spurt in the middle session in which 66 runs came. The drama in the middle session belonged to the Pujara family. Ansari’s reintroduction brought the first bit of natural variation. Pujara was caught right in front, but given the bounce in the pitch – earlier a Rashid googly had failed to draw an lbw verdict because of that reason – and also with the reviews to be reset in 10 overs, he challenged the decision. Finally Arvind showed emotion, that of visible relief as his son, whose cricket has been his preoccupation for more than a decade, was allowed to go for the 14 runs needed to bring up his century.Pujara gave everybody a nervous few minutes, spending eight balls on 99 before coming back after tea to score the 100th run. Then, against the run of play, Pujara steered the first ball of a new Stokes spell straight to first slip to be dismissed for 124. England still had an hour and a half to make further inroads. The plans and their execution was spot-on. The seamers bowled consistently around the sixth stump to Kohli, but the India captain seemed determined to not go after them even if it meant scoring just 1 run off the first 16 balls he faced.If there was one criticism of Vijay’s batting and Cook’s captaincy, it revolved around Rashid. Cook underused his most threatening spinner of the day, and Vijay – for some strange reason, despite being such a good player of spin – played the wrong ‘uns off the pitch. In what turned out to be the penultimate over of the day, Rashid got Vijay caught at short leg with a googly followed by Ansari snaring the nightwatchman Amit Mishra.Not that it mattered now, but India ended the day 19 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.

Worcestershire Rapids kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the NatWest T20 quarter-finals with a five wicket victory over local rivals Birmingham Bears after some explosive hitting from Ross Whiteley

ECB Reporters Network15-Jul-2016
ScorecardRoss Whiteley’s blitz won it for Worcestershire [file picture]•Getty ImagesWorcestershire Rapids kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the NatWest T20 quarter-finals with a five wicket victory over local rivals Birmingham Bears after some explosive hitting from Ross Whiteley.The Rapids ended a run of five successive defeats in completed matches and completed a double over their neighbours to retain the Norman Gifford Trophy.Some explosive hitting by Ross Whiteley enabled the Rapids to reach their 165 target with four balls to spare.He showed the form which brought him 29 sixes in last season’s competition in smoting an unbeaten 42 off 20 balls with four sixes and three fours.Now the Rapids must now defeat Derbyshire Falcons in their final North Group match and hope other results go their way if they are to reach a fourth quarter-final in five years.In contrast, Birmingham’s colossal collapse when baqtting meant they have now lost three matches in a row in the competition to undermine their own hopes of a last eight spot.Dougie Brown, Birmingham’s director of cricket, said: “It wasn’t a case of the game drifting away. We were masters of our own demise again. We were last week as well. We lost eight wickets for 19 runs from a real position of authority.”Worcestershire were immediately on the back foot as they lost three wickets inside the first four overs.Tom Kohler-Cadmore clipped Rikki Clarke into the hands of deep mid wicket, Joe Clarke played on to Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Joe Leach sliced Recordo Gordon to backward point.Brett D’Oliveira, who this week earned his first England Lions call-up, and skipper Daryl Mitchell tried to repair the damage as their half century stand came up in seven overs.The Rapids needed 95 off the final 10 overs and Mitchell targeted the first over from Aaron Thomason to increase the tempo, striking two sixes as the all-rounder conceded 19 overs.The return to the attack of Clarke ended a stand worth 76 in nine overs as D’Oliveira skied a comfortable catch to Josh Poysden at backward square leg.Mitchell reached his half-century off 29 balls with two sixes and four fours but Clarke also brought about his downfall on 61 as he drilled a catch to Sam Hain at mid off. But then Whiteley moved into overdrive with support from Ben Cox to turn ther game in ther Rapids favour.Birmingham appeared to be heading for a score in excess of 200 after reaching 120 for 1 in the 12th over.But a dramatic collapse saw nine wickets fall for just 35 runs and the Bears were bowled out for 164 in 19.3 overs.Australian wicket-keeper Matthew Wade led the initial onslaught for the visitors in his second T20 appearance for the Bears.He raced to a half century off just 23 balls with the aid of three successive sixes over long on off spinner D’Oliveira in an over costing 25 runs.Wade and Sam Hain plundered 103 in just nine overs for the second wicket. But the Rapids struck back once Wade, having made 74 off 32 deliveries, was caught by Rhodes at long-on off Ed Barnard.Rhodes then came into the attack and in his second over picked up three wickets as Laurie Evans, Hain (46) and Clarke all perished to the off spinner.Ateeq Javid was run out attempting a second run in the next over from Rhodes before Mitchell pulled off a fine one-handed catch at mid wicket to account for Jeetan Patel.Rhodes finished 4 for 13 from three overs in only his second T20 appearance before Henry polished off the innings with two wickets in his final over of his current spell at New Road.

Crystal Palace are one of several teams closely monitoring the availability of Flamengo midfielder Matheus Franca.

What’s the latest on Matheus França to Crystal Palace?

According to AS, the South London outfit, as well as Real Madrid, Lyon, Newcastle, and Bayer Leverkusen are all keenly tracking the 19-year-old.

The outlet revealed that the Brazilian's current contract runs until 2028, and he has a termination clause of a whopping €200m (£176m) but Palace are still “determined” to find an agreement for the player.

The Eagles hierarchy had reportedly sent a representative across the globe to scout Franca in Flamengo's 2-0 Copa Libertadores victory over Nublense at the Maracana.

However, this talent has a range of admirers and Los Blancos have supposedly followed this saga since 2021, whilst Newcastle and Leverkusen have had offers of around €20m (£18m) rejected.

To the delight of Palace fans, it has been suggested that the Flamengo board “does not look badly” on opening negotiations with the English side.

What would Matheus Franca bring to Crystal Palace?

The playmaker made his senior debut for Flamengo in December 2021 in a Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A match against Santos.

In his homeland, he established a hugely popular and esteemed reputation and is considered one of Mais querido do Brasil’s finest young products after Real Madrid phenom Vinicius Junior.

The £4m-rated prodigy has also represented Brazil at various youth levels, including the U16, U17, and U20 levels.

To showcase his ridiculous gift, 30 games into last season, Franca had registered 29 goal contributions, which led football scout Jacek Kulig to describe the player as “one of the most exciting teenagers in Brazil”, who can “play almost everywhere.”

His pace, unteachable skill, close control, and agility would perfectly complement fellow playmaker Eberechi Eze, who is another maestro brimming with irresistible mastery.

The Englishman has recorded the second-highest rating (6.94) of any Palace player this season and is the club’s top league scorer with eight goals, as per WhoScored.

The 24-year-old has also created 42 chances in all competitions this season at a rate of 1.27 per 90 to underline his formidable creativity.

The Eagles have only netted 31 top-flight goals this term, which is the 14th lowest in the division, so an injection of the Brazilian's dynamism, alongside the graceful and unparalleled natural ability of Eze, could be an unrelenting partnership.

However, this saga remains a hotly contested race and Palace would do tremendously to beat off the interest from other European giants who are also eyeing a summer move.

Tottenham Hotspur's managerial vacancy is a gaping one, with many curious to see who chairman Daniel Levy selects to succeed departed Italian Antonio Conte.

His last three appointments have drawn scrutiny for varying reasons, but in the end, all were deemed failures and subsequently dismissed. The pressure has ramped up significantly on this next appointment to be the right one, which is likely why he seemingly plans to wait until the season's conclusion.

This will likely make it far easier to tempt those already in jobs to leave, especially ones as high-flying as Marco Silva.

His Fulham team have been punching way above their weight all season, and sit just ten points off fourth place with a game in hand. To prise the Portuguese tactician from Craven Cottage now could prove tricky.

However, perhaps the Lilywhites should be looking elsewhere within the Premier League to find their new man.

Scrolling further down the table, there is a struggling Leicester City side with a manager who has proven his quality both on the big stage and with a stringent budget. Having also been linked with the move too, Brendan Rodgers could be their man.

Would Brendan Rodgers be a good fit for Spurs?

Although his Foxes team might be struggling this season, it must be noted the considerable lack of investment that his ageing squad has received.

The Northern Irishman boasts a fine transfer policy, easy-on-the-eye football and a demeanour that would likely resonate well with fans of the club. His calmness will be a welcome divergence from the manic and defensive-heavy tenures of Jose Mourinho and Conte.

His work at the King Power was nothing short of miraculous at first, as he earned back-to-back fifth-place finishes. As such, the 50-year-old has been touted with plenty of jobs bigger than his current one.

Although he is yet to actually be offered one, he does boast the pedigree to suggest he could take that step up. His fine work at Celtic only serves to further exacerbate that, where he managed expectations well to win successive domestic trebles.

He did all this with a philosophy that journalist Henry Winter ha since lauded as "attractive, attack-minded football".

Whilst Silva also has earned praise this season, his only experience at one of the bigger clubs saw him fail spectacularly with Everton despite the riches handed to him.

Rodgers has success at a top outfit, as well as within a long-term project too.

Spurs boast a fine blend of the two. Such is his experience, he even branded himself as a "leader" who would step up when needed to offer some harsh truths to his players.

Whilst his potential predecessor aimed to do this, his methods were fundamentally flawed and it cost him his job. Before that, however, the stern Italian tactician had drawn scorn for his turgid football that many were getting sick of.

This is exactly what this struggling Spurs side needs: someone who will come in with a fresh and exciting philosophy to cut out any and all stragglers they have with more finesse than Conte had.

Unforgiving Arsenal supporters online have been left furious after spotting former player Cesc Fabregas back at the club possibly helping out with some coaching.

What’s the latest on Fabregas and Arsenal?

Another former player Jack Wilshere now coaches in north London having been handed the Gunners’ Under-18s head coach position during the summer.

And in a recent Instagram story, he shared an image of himself and Fabregas both kitted out in full Arsenal gear at the London Colney training ground.

While it remains unclear what exactly the Spaniard was doing, Wilshere had a whistle in one hand and a ball in the other and so it looked as though the duo were about run a session together.

Of course, Fabregas was once a much-loved figure at the Emirates and even became club captain back in 2008 at the tender age of 21. However, by 2011, he left north London to join Barcelona.

This would have been hard enough to take for many fans – who likely would have been upset by images of him wearing a Barca shirt before the transfer was even complete – but things took a turn for the worse in 2014 when he joined Premier League rivals Chelsea.

While an awful lot has changed since then, with Mikel Arteta and co now possibly set to win the league (something Fabregas never managed with the Gunners), it seems as though some fans still hold a grudge.

Indeed, when the image emerges on Twitter, a number of supporters took to the website to express their anger – which seems a little harsh to be honest, but each to their own.

The strongest reactions can be found below…

تقدم فريق ريال مدريد بهدف في مباراته الجارية حاليًا أمام إشبيلية، في إطار منافسات بطولة الدوري الأسباني، موسم 2024/25.

ويستضيف ملعب “سانتياجو برنابيو” مباراة الفريقين في الجولة الثامنة عشر من الليجا (لمتابعة اللقاء من هنا).

ونجح ريال مدريد في تسجيل هدف التقدم في الدقيقة العاشرة من عمر الشوط الأول، وذلك عن طريق النجم كيليان مبابي.

جاء الهدف بعدما سدد كيليان مبابي الكرة بطريقة صاروخية مبهرة، من خارج منطقة الـ18، لتهز شباك الضيوف. هدف مبابي العالمي في مباراة ريال مدريد وإشبيلية

Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United have a long history that stretches back to their first encounter in October 1903 – a game the south coast club won 3-2.

Football FanCast has everything you need to know about the Premier League fixture before the two sides clash at the Amex on Saturday.

While it's hard to extrapolate too much in terms of form from just two league games, both sides should be going into the contest feeling confident.

The Hammers come into the game fresh from a brilliant 3-1 home win over Chelsea, while the Seagulls bagged a 4-1 away victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Brighton vs West Ham: What's their head-to-head record?

Despite first meeting in 1903, the two sides have only played one another 32 times in all competitions in the intervening 120 years.

This lack of games is partly due to the massive 45-year gap between their clashes in 1933 and 1978 and a 13-year break between 1991 and 2004 without a match-up.

Indeed, made their way up and down the English football pyramid before breaking back into the top two tiers in the late 1970s.

By the late 80s, they were back in Division Three, and after another relegation to the third tier in 1992, the sides didn't meet again until they were both Championship sides.

The Seagulls took the long way back to the big time via League One, and are now a fixture of the top flight alongside West Ham after over three decades out.

When they have played each other, it has generally been a closely fought affair, with Brighton just edging it in terms of overall wins at 11, while their east London competition have won ten, leaving 11 encounters as draws.

Brighton wins: 11 Draws: 11 West Ham wins: 10 Brighton vs West Ham: What's their record on the south coast?

15 of the 32 fixtures have come at Brighton's various home grounds, and have unsurprisingly been where the Seagulls have had the most amount of luck. They've won eight games when playing as hosts – more than double what they've managed in the capital.

There have been five draws along the way, and perhaps most impressively, just two defeats.

Brighton wins: 8 Draws: 5 West Ham wins: 2 Brighton vs West Ham: What's their record at Upton Park/London Stadium?

This fixture has been played at Upton Park or the London Stadium 17 times since 1903, and the results are pretty much just a reverse of the ones on the south coast.

The Hammers have come out on top in eight of their matches against Brighton in east London, drawing six and losing just three – although that is still one more loss than Brighton have suffered at home.

West Ham wins: 8 Draws: 6 Brighton wins: 3 Brighton vs West Ham: What's their Premier League record?

While the overall picture between these two sides is one of balance in terms of results, that certainly hasn't been the case in the Premier League, as since Brighton won promotion to the top flight in 2017, it has very much been one-way traffic.

In their 12 league meetings since that promotion, Brighton have found themselves on the winning side six times, drawing the other six games – meaning their claret and blue opponents have yet to beat them in the league since their return six years ago.

Interestingly, the six draws all came consecutively between August 2019 and December 2021, suggesting that there has still been some competition, there. However, the last three games have all been convincing wins for Brighton.

Brighton wins: 6 Draws: 6 West Ham wins: 0 Brighton vs West Ham: Which team has the most goals?

With the two sides being pretty even over the last century, with periods of dominance for both teams, it's not all that surprising to see that their goalscoring records are also incredibly similar.

When Brighton play host, they have scored 27 goals across all competitions, conceding just 13. West Ham have scored one more when hosting at 28, but have also conceded more, letting in 18 as being the home team.

Brighton vs West Ham: What happened in last season's fixtures?

Brighton came away with six out of six points last season, edging out West Ham early on in the season at the London Stadium and completely blowing them away at the Amex seven months later.

In the first encounter, Alexis Mac Allister gave the visitors the lead from the spot in the 22nd minute following a foul on Danny Welbeck from Thilo Kehrer. They doubled their lead in the 66th minute thanks to a brilliant strike from Leandro Trossard.

The reverse fixture was a demolition job by the Seagulls, becoming their biggest-ever win against the Hammers.

Brighton vs West Ham: What is Danny Welbeck's record?

Welbeck tends to excel against West Ham, regardless of who he is playing for. In total, the former Arsenal man has come up against the east London outfit on 21 occasions – the most he has faced any team other than Tottenham Hotspur – and has been on the victorious side 13 times.

The Hammers are also the team that Welbeck has scored the most goals against in his career, finding the back of the net seven times and providing four assists for his teammates.

The Irons might be hoping Roberto De Zerbi opts for Evan Ferguson or Joao Pedro up top for this one.

Brighton vs West Ham: What is Michail Antonio's record?

Michail Antonio has played Brighton more than any other side in his career, but probably doesn't look forward to the fixture too much considering he has been on the victorious side just three times out of a possible 19.

The other 16 fixtures have resulted in eight defeats and eight ties, with the Jamaica international scoring just two goals and providing another two assists over that period.

Brighton vs West Ham: What is Brighton's biggest win?

As alluded to above, the Seagulls' biggest win over their east London opponents came earlier this year when they won 4-0 at home in early March.

Mac Allister opened the scoring in the 18th minute, converting from the penalty spot for a second time against the Hammers last term after Jarrod Bowen bundled over Kaoru Mitoma.

Fans had to wait until the 51st minute for another goal, but once Joel Veltman doubled his side's lead, it was plain sailing, with Mitoma and Welbeck also getting involved in the action to complete a comprehensive win.

David Moyes' team will have to forget about that performance if they want to get anything out of the game this weekend.

Brighton vs West Ham: What is West Ham's biggest win?

While Brighton's 4-0 win is undoubtedly impressive, the Hammers have been able to go two better in the past, smashing six past Peter Brezovan in April 2012 to win 6-0 in the Championship.

The scoring was opened by Ricardo Vaz Te in the third minute, with the tricky winger going on to add another in the eighth minute and a third in the 62nd minute, with the rout rounded off with a Gary Dicker own goal in the 78th minute.

Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole were the other goalscorers on the day, with the Hammers boosting their promotion bid, which was eventually successfully achieved through the play-offs.

Brighton vs West Ham: What are the recent results?

It's pretty clear that between these two teams, Brighton have pretty much dominated the Premier League era, and that is clearly reflected in the recent results between the sides.

The most recent game – in March – ended 4-0. The two preceding results finished 2-0, and 3-1, both in Brighton's favour – with West Ham only able to score a single goal in reply to the Seagulls' nine across those three games.

The six matches before that run of Brighton victories were all score draws; however, the three before which preceded that were also all Brighton wins – leaving the Hammers winless in the last 12.

Brighton vs West Ham: When is it?

Brighton & Hove Albion host West Ham United on Saturday 26th August at 5.30pm (UK time), and will be broadcast on Sky Sports.

It may not be one of the marquee matchups in the Premier League, but it's a tie that has served up plenty of goals and action in the past, and both teams have a lot to play for this season.

Brighton are still under the guidance of the charismatic and intriguing De Zerbi, who is tasked with taking them on a European journey this year without their midfield stalwart from last season, Moises Caicedo.

However, the arrival of Joao Pedro promises to add even more attacking threat to one of the league's most entertaining sides to watch.

On the other hand, West Ham will also have a European journey of their own to contend without last season's midfield general, this time Declan Rice.

That said, when it comes to their league campaign, Moyes' men will likely be aiming to simply avoid another relegation battle this season and to bed in their new talent.

The arrivals of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez have given many fans reason to be excited, and after the side's excellent performance against the free-spending Chelsea last weekend, there is no reason not to be.

As many as nine India Under-19 players currently at the World Cup in New Zealand are among 578 cricketers who will go under the hammer

Shashank Kishore in Queenstown25-Jan-2018It’s the week leading up to the IPL auction and as many as nine India Under-19 players currently at the World Cup in New Zealand are among 578 cricketers who will go under the hammer. That they have filtered through to the final list from an initial pool off 1122 players signifies interest from the franchises. But with the Under-19 World Cup in the knockout stage, India coach Rahul Dravid doesn’t want his boys to look beyond their immediate challenge: Bangladesh in the quarter-final.Among those in the auction pool from the current batch are captain Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Himanshu Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Arshdeep Singh and Harvik Desai.”There’s no point hiding from the fact that it is there. It is around the corner,” Dravid said of the auction that will be held in Bengaluru this weekend. “There’s no point living in the bubble and pretending it doesn’t exist. We do discuss it. We’ve spoken about what their focus should be and what their long-term goals are as compared to their short-term goals.”Following the conclusion of the Under-19 Challenger Trophy in November in Mumbai, a number of players were invited by Mumbai Indians for selection trials, only to be called back by the team management, keeping in mind their immediate priorities of playing in a World Cup. The team management was mindful of “players being distracted” by a number of other aspects like signing bat sponsorships and being acquired by talent management companies, in the build up to the tournament.With the auction dynamics being as they are, there is a possibility that a number of players could be auctioned for the kind of money they are yet to see. There is also a flipside, having to deal with a group of young players who might go unsold. Dravid, though, has prior experience of this, during the 2016 World Cup in Bangladesh, and has passed on a clear message: ‘One or two auctions won’t make or break players.'”The auction is not something the boys can control,” Dravid said. “One or two auctions won’t really have a long-term impact on their careers. There is an auction every year, but not every year will they have an opportunity to play for India in possibly a World Cup semi-final. That doesn’t come very often.”Dravid, who has been part of six auctions as a player and four as part of the management group, was aware of the challenges of handling a bunch of aspiring professionals who are still dealing with being in the limelight. For many, playing in the ongoing World Cup is their first experience of being on global television. Dravid, though, insisted the team was focused and had their priorities sorted.”I don’t feel worried about it. I think this group of guys are really focused on playing good cricket here,” he said. “I like the energy and the spirit in this team. We’ve been here for three weeks and we couldn’t have asked for better preparation from the boys. They’ve been superb. We talked about the auction once and we said let’s keep that out of our minds.”We’re not thinking past the next game against Bangladesh. We lost to them in the Asia Cup. We are aware of the fact that Bangladesh is a good team. We haven’t even looked at the rest of the draw. The focus is right now on doing well against Bangladesh. We had a week off, that was actually part of the challenge, managing at this age, boys are keen to play, at this age a week off can be a long time. So we had a day off and they got out a bit and relaxed. Today had a light session. Sometimes it’s just a question of hoping they don’t get too overexcited.”

Moeen Ali has admitted England “let themselves down” with the bat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane

George Dobell at the Gabba26-Nov-20171:03

Moeen refuses to blame glued finger for poor bowling

Moeen Ali has admitted England let themselves down with the bat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.On a blameless batting track, England failed to make 200 in their second innings with none of their batsmen scoring more than 51. But while Moeen accepted England weren’t going to win on the final day, with Australia requiring just 56 more runs with all 10 of their second-innings wickets in hand, he took some encouragement from his side’s performance and suggested Australia are “not as good as we sometimes make out”.”We’re very disappointed,” Moeen said. “For the first three days, we played well and were in the game. Today we let ourselves down with the bat.”A few players got in, but nobody made the big score that we needed. We couldn’t get that big hundred. It was a good pitch to bat on but we haven’t made a hundred in the game. When you come to the Gabba, you have to have guys who get hundreds if you’re going to have any chance of winning. We’ll have to score hundreds in the next four games.”Moeen did not spare himself from such criticism. Despite a slightly controversial dismissal in the second innings, Moeen insisted he had nobody to blame but himself after making scores of 38 and 40.In that second innings, he was adjudged out stumped when the TV umpire, Chris Gaffaney, concluded (after multiple replays) that he had dragged his back foot out of a crease that appeared to be slightly unevenly painted. It was a desperately tight decision, certainly, but Moeen had no criticism for the umpire or any of the groundstaff.”If I was bowling I’d want it to be given out,” he said. “I thought I was all right at the time, but the replay looked very tight. It depends at what angle you look at it. You have to respect the umpire’s call.”I’m just disappointed with myself for getting out like that. I was most disappointed in the time I was out. Jonny Bairstow and I were building a good partnership.”They were under a little bit of pressure then. If we could have carried on, we could have set them 220 or even more than that. So to get out then was very disappointing.”Moeen also refused to make excuses for a disappointing personal display with the ball in the second innings. While he said he had struggled with a cut spinning finger in the first innings, he admitted he just bowled poorly in the second when he was removed from the attack after four expensive overs.Moeen Ali was stumped off a ripper from Nathan Lyon•Getty Images

“I ripped my spinning finger after about 15 overs of the first innings” he said. “It’s not been easy since then. I’ve had to have it glued and filed and tried to keep it hard.”But today it felt much better and I just didn’t bowl very well.”Most of all, though, he was frustrated that England had failed to take opportunities against an Australia side that are good, certainly, but not unbeatable.”We feel Australia are a good side,” he said. “But they’re not as good as we sometimes make out. We know we have to compete very well in the next four games.”Steve Smith has probably been the difference. Without him they would have struggled to get anywhere near 300. He played very well.”We scored 300 in our first innings without Alastair Cook or Joe Root scoring many runs. That’s a positive. And the new guys played quite well. We had big partnerships and the run-out of James Vince, in the first innings, was a big moment. Then we had them at 70 for four but we couldn’t take the next wicket.”Inevitably, Moeen was asked about the absence of Ben Stokes and he admitted he had been missed.”In the last couple of years, we’ve been very good at getting a big score despite losing wickets at the top of the order,” Moeen said. “The lower order have contributed a lot.”Here it us cost us in both innings. But it’s more an issue for the top six or seven: we have to be the ones to score big hundreds and put the opposition under pressure.”Obviously Ben is a very good player. He gives us great balance coming in at No. 6, with Bairstow No. 7 and me at No. 8. It means we can get lower-order runs. So he’s always going to be a miss. But we know he’s not here and we have to get on with it.”