Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke doesn't expect Arsenal to win the Premier League this season. The Gunners hold a four-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table following their 2-2 draw with Sunderland prior to the international break, while Mikel Arteta's men currently sit eight points clear of defending champions Liverpool after the opening 11 games of the season.

Getty Images SportArsenal emerge as early season favourites

The Gunners missed a great chance to open up a sizeable lead at the top of the table as they conceded a late Brian Brobbey equaliser at the Stadium of Light last time out. Manchester City then eased past defending champions Liverpool in the final game before the international break as goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku wrapped up a 3-0 win over Arne Slot's side.

Even so, Arsenal are the favourites to go the distance for the first time in over 20 years, having finished runners-up in each of the last three seasons. Having invested heavily in the squad over the summer to bring in the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze, the pressure is on head coach Mikel Arteta to deliver a first major piece of silverware since their 2020 FA Cup triumph.

Arsenal's impressive backline has provided the foundation for their title charge, the Gunners having conceded just five goals in the opening 11 games. However, former Manchester United striker Yorke doesn't think the north London side have what it takes to get over the line.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Arsenal will do what Arsenal do again'

Speaking to , Yorke, who won the Premier League title three times with United, said: "I just think Arsenal will do what Arsenal do again. I have a funny feeling that somehow they won’t get it over the line.

"It depends on the competitions they are in too. I’m sure Mikel Arteta is going to prioritise everything. He’s trying to win it all but you’ve got to win your domestic league."

And with defending champions Liverpool struggling, Yorke believes City will pip Arsenal to the title once more this season, adding: "It could get pretty chaotic. I think Man City just have that know-how."

Liverpool's title triumph last season ended City's domestic dominance. The Cityzens had won four Premier League titles on the spin before the Reds' success in Slot's first season at the Anfield helm.

Getty Images SportCity boss has talked up Arsenal's title chances

City head coach Pep Guardiola had previously talked up Arsenal's title chances, saying prior to the Gunners' 2-2 draw with Sunderland: "If they continue this way – they play games, they don’t concede goals, not even clear chances, and they win and win – oh my God, it will be almost impossible [to catch Arsenal], but always you expect you will be better and they can drop points. All we can do is win our games and be there close.

"They have to come here, and there are many things in the season that we will experience. It’s exceptional what they have been doing for two or three seasons. It looks like every time it’s closer. But we are in early November, and early November nobody wins the title. You can lose it, but nobody wins the title."

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Arsenal's make-or-break run of fixtures

Arsenal have a tough run of games following the international break as they look to return to winning ways this weekend. The Gunners host rivals Tottenham on Sunday afternoon and follow up the north London Derby with a home game against German giants Bayern Munich as both sides look to maintain perfect starts to their respective Champions League campaigns.

Arteta's side then make the short trip across the capital to take on Chelsea before the end of the month in what could prove a make-or-break week for Arsenal in their bid to secure domestic and continental silverware.

City, meanwhile, travel to Newcastle on Saturday evening as they look to close the gap at the top of the table to a single point. The Manchester giants then face German side Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad Stadium and round off November with the welcome of relegation-threatened Leeds.

“Leave the football before the football leaves you.” That was the sentence Jamie Carragher reserved for a certain Manchester United player by the name of Casemiro back in May 2024.

It’s safe to say that the Brazilian, once a football legend, a serial winner at Real Madrid, had seen his powers wane.

He was making countless mistakes, looked like he was running through treacle and was the shadow of a player who had featured on 336 occasions for Madrid.

18 months on and Casemiro looks like a legandary player again. He may not be capable of featuring for a period of 90 minutes but the 2025/26 campaign has arguably been his best since moving to Old Trafford.

The 33-year-old is making a huge impact, notably scoring on three occasions and registering an assist. He’s finally come good in United colours.

However, the fact that he can’t last 90 minutes is the problem. His backup in the shape of Manuel Ugarte continues to struggle.

Why it's time for Ugarte to leave Man Utd

In the summer of 2024, INEOS spent a great deal on bringing the bullish Uruguayan to Old Trafford, as much as £42m.

He was seen as the heir to Casemiro, someone who could fix their lack of energy and tenacity in the middle of the park.

The big Brazilian was floundering and the more minute Ugarte was here to fix the problem. Yet, he has been more of a hindrance, particularly as Casemiro has returned to form.

So far this term, the midfield veteran has only completed one 90 minutes in the Premier League and in a bid to see out the game, Ruben Amorim has usually tried to rely on Ugarte. However, the South American has been anything but reliable.

Arsenal

65

Fulham

53

Burnley

72

Man City

Did not start

Chelsea

45

Brentford

Suspended

Sunderland

85

Liverpool

58

Brighton

70

Nott’m Forest

Was not subbed

Spurs

72

With the 24-year-old out of the team, the Red Devils have scored 15 goals at a rate of twice per 90 and have conceded eight times, once per 90 minutes.

However, with Ugarte in the team, Amorim’s side have scored just four times, 1.3 per 90 minutes and have shipped ten goals, a whopping 3.2 per 90.

The data is clear; United are a poorer side when the big-money midfielder is in the team. While he has come on and helped his teammates to victories over Chelsea, Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, he has also come on and been a hindrance.

When he entered the action at the weekend in the 2-2 draw with Spurs, it was 1-0 to United at the time. In the 3-1 defeat to Brentford, he came on at 2-1. During the 1-1 draw with Fulham, Amorim’s charges were leading 1-0 when Ugarte was brought off the bench. To make matters worse, he also started the 3-0 loss to rivals Manchester City.

So, why do things go so wrong when he’s on the field? Well, his inability to break up the play and anticipate what happens on the field is a huge issue. That was seen during the draw with Spurs on Saturday when Ugarte simply let Wilson Odobert breeze past him in the build-up to Mathys Tel’s equaliser.

With Kobbie Mainoo on the bench, it does beg the question, why Ugarte? While the Uruguay international is the more traditional holding midfielder, they need more energy and legs when Casemiro heads to the bench. Mainoo would bring that in abundance.

Saying that, the academy graduate isn’t the only Ugarte solution up Amorim’s sleeve. Another future superstar at Carrington is getting ready to make an impact.

Man United's surprise Ugarte replacement

Cutting their losses on the former PSG player would be disastrous from a business point of view but it really does feel as though United need a refresh in midfield.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Casemiro has made great improvements this term but he is not getting any younger and if INEOS are planning to spend big in the future then it must be in a central area.

Players like Brighton superstar Carlos Baleba and Nottingham Forest’s Geordie midfielder, Elliot Anderson, have both been linked with a move. They would be fabulous signings too.

Yet, a ready-made solution could present itself at Carrington. In the form of 19-year-old Sekou Kone, United may well have already signed their dream replacement for Ugarte.

Kone arrived at Man United in the summer of 2024. He was not a marquee arrival, far from it. There was very little fanfare for a teenager who had signed in a £1m deal from Malian side Guidars FC.

An exciting midfield player, the youngster had attracted the attention of United scouts during Mali’s run to the semi-finals of the U17 World Cup in 2023. Since then, he has failed to earn any senior game time under Amorim but he looks like a mighty fine prospect.

Kone featured on 14 occasions for the U21s last season but his prospects of football in 2025/26 have so far been dampened by a fractured eye socket. He has played just one match in the opening exchanges of the ongoing campaign but he is now back in training and first-team training at that. Amorim has already shelved plans of a loan spell, such is the potential in this young midfield player.

So, what’s he all about? Well, a defensive midfielder by trade, he is “uber composed on the ball and so press resistant” in the words of Como scout, Ben Mattinson.

Mattinson continued: “He’s got a tight turn radius and rides challenges well when carrying the ball.” On that evidence, he certainly sounds more promising than Ugarte.

He possesses an exciting ball-winning prowess and has an enormous physical ceiling that Mattinson suggests “is something Manchester United need more of in order for Amorim’s man-to-man press to work effectively.”

On that evidence, it’s hardly a surprise that fellow scout, Antonio Mango, has explained that Kone has “the skillset to be a beast under Amorim.”

This is a player who doesn’t just look capable of ending Ugarte’s career at Old Trafford, but potentially also Casemiro’s.

Shan Masood was gushing in his praise of South Africa’s quicks, but extreme pace is currently off the cards for his side

Danyal Rasool06-Jan-2025If someone told you Pakistan had lost 20 successive Test matches in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were talking about rugby. But after Pakistan slipped to another Test defeat in the watery evening sunshine of Cape Town, they ensured that ignominious statistic had reached a nice round number.There isn’t a single explanation for a run that stretches back to 2013, but it is possible to be more specific when it comes to this particular Test at Newlands, and Shan Masood certainly was. He paid rich tribute to South Africa’s pace bowlers, acknowledging he was impressed they kept their speeds up, despite bowling 176.3 consecutive overs to dismiss Pakistan twice. Pakistan, meanwhile, had no bowler that truly came close to the pace of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Kwena Maphaka.”SA bowled really well in both innings,” Masood said. “Their pace was up. That has been a key difference in this series. If you look at our first innings, 132-135 [kph] not carrying to the slips compared to 138-144 when Maphaka was bowling. Those are the balls that beat the batter or hit you on the pads. That is a difference and it is something we want to do in Test cricket as well.”Related

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Six years ago in Cape Town, another Pakistan captain sat in the Newlands press box, and was coruscating about his bowlers’ lack of pace. South Africa had just knocked off a routine fourth innings run chase, and Sarfaraz Ahmed compared his own bowlers unfavourably to South Africa’s.”If you talk about our bowling and their bowling, I think there’s a big difference in the two,” Sarfaraz had said. “The way our bowlers are bowling is not up to the mark in this Test match. If you see our bowlers, they’re bowling 128-129, and the average speed is 130, while their bowlers are bowling at 145. If you are going to bowl with that lack of pace here you won’t get wickets.”I don’t know what’s going on there. Previously it happened, too, when I came here in 2013, the same problem occurred. At the time we had [Mohammad] Irfan, Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed. Their pace was down too. I don’t know what’s happening here in Cape Town.”But while those comments may have been intended as a public rebuke to Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Afridi, the variance in pace didn’t come as a surprise to Masood. Pakistan opted against playing their only express seamer – Naseem Shah – in Cape Town under circumstances that are, at best, murky, vaguely citing a back issue and chest congestion. It left Pakistan with a bowling attack of four men who could only really be described as medium fast: Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mir Hamza and Aamer Jamal’s average pace was between 125kph and 132kph, with not a single ball bowled over 140kph.On the second day during the tea break, however, Naseem was on a practice pitch a few strips across from the playing surface, bowling at full pelt – significantly quicker than any of the starting squad, unencumbered by the sorts of fitness issues that ostensibly kept him out. Similarly, Afridi, the other bowler with Test pedigree who could have brought higher pace, was given leave to play the Bangladesh Premier League, despite the PCB insisting national duty took first priority.It remains unclear whether he was dropped or made himself unavailable, but the result remains the same: South Africa had bowlers who ensured their pace remained high, while Pakistan fielded a quartet who physically could not.”The clear difference was the fast bowling where they bowled a lot of overs at decent pace,” Masood said. “We have to look at a lot of other things in our set-up. How to keep the quicks fresh, how to get an extra batter in the squad. Like Aamer Jamal, if we can find another bowler who’s a good bowler and batter. Like South Africa have Marco Jansen. He’s good with the bat and very good with the ball. If we can find a few cricketers like that, it’d be good for our Test make-up as well where we can play that extra spinner.”They were pretty decent with reverse swing, too. Even today, when Maphaka came on before the second new ball, his pace was up. Jansen’s a superb cricketer, Rabada’s one of the greatest bowlers to play the game. On the fast bowling front, in the first Test, they had [Dane] Paterson: a wily customer, clever, skilled and experienced. I thought their fast-bowling department was really good.”It is an unusual position for Pakistan to find themselves in. Having waxed lyrical about the strength and depth of its their pace attack over the years, Pakistan must now contend with the suddenly denuded nature of their Test pace cabinet. While just two months ago, they fielded an electric high pace attack comprising Afridi, Naseem, Mohammad Hasnain and Haris Rauf, they find themselves in a situation where their desire to play Test cricket hovers between varying degrees of reluctance. Rauf pushed that recalcitrance to the extreme when he refused to tour Australia for a three-Test series last year, and briefly lost his central contract, while Hasnain has not played first-class cricket since a county stint in 2022.It makes it tricky to work out what a lost series in South Africa means. Pakistan appear to have shifted away from using pace at home, famously defeating England 2-1 in October with a spin-heavy strategy. When West Indies visit later this month for two Tests, a similar strategy will be followed, with high-pace likely non-existent. It may mean Pakistan have reconciled themselves to opting out of matching countries like South Africa for pace when they show up here, or in Australia.This tour of South Africa could end up being a harbinger of that. It remains to be seen whether such a deal – which with their history and culture may be viewed as almost Faustian – is one their supporters will simply have to resign themselves to.

A week is a very long time in football, and West Ham United are the perfect example of that.

Heading into gameweek ten of the Premier League, there was little hope that the Hammers would be able to avoid relegation this year.

However, a thumping 3-1 win over Newcastle United, followed by a 3-2 win over Burnley seven days later, has rejuvenated Nuno Espírito Santo’s side and given the supporters a belief that something positive could still come out of this season.

With that said, it’ll still be a tough fight for the East Londoners, but fortunately, Nuno might have already found his new Morgan Gibbs-White, and no, it’s not Lucas Paqueta.

The West Ham players vital to Nuno's fight for survival

While it won’t be plain sailing to keep West Ham in the Premier League this season, Nuno does have a handful of players in his squad who should be good enough to help him to it.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

For example, while he made just his second start for the side on Saturday, Freddie Potts has already proven that he has what it takes to be a leader in the middle of the park.

Blessed with “supreme confidence and ability to create time and space on the ball,” per one analyst, the academy graduate is also just as happy and capable of getting stuck in with the less glamorous side of the game.

Moreover, with him playing deeper and mopping up opposition attacks, Paqueta should be able to focus more on happenings at the sharp end of the pitch.

The Brazilian international has been inconsistent for some time now, but his quality is undeniable, and with a goal to go with two stellar performances in the last week, it looks like the manager knows how to get the best out of him.

Someone who’ll be hugely important to the manager’s fight for survival and a player the fans never have to worry about putting in a shift is Jarrod Bowen.

The England international is Mr West Ham, and with a sensational tally of 24 goal involvements last season and five already this year, the 28-year-old is arguably the most important player of all.

Finally, the pairing of Crysencio Summerville and El Hadji Malick Diouf gives the Hammers some real pace, power, and quality on the left, while ensuring that opposition teams cannot focus their attention solely on Bowen.

With all that said, there is another player, a summer signing, who could prove vital for West Ham this season, someone who could be Nuno’s new Gibbs-White.

Nuno's new Gibbs-White

When examining the West Ham squad, the player who appears most likely to become Nuno’s new Gibbs-White is Mateus Fernandes.

The former Southampton gem joined the club in the summer for around £40m, and while he’s had a slow start to life in the capital, he is now starting to show his immense quality.

For example, against the Clarets on Saturday, he was utterly sensational, plying three key passes, maintaining a passing accuracy of 98%, taking 74 touches, winning 100% of his tackles, making two interceptions and blocking a shot.

Minutes

97′

Expected Assists

0.28

Key Passes

3

Accurate Passes

52/53 (98%)

Long Balls

1/1

Touches

74

Tackles

3/3

Interceptions

2

Clearances

2

Blocked Shots

1

Recoveries

3

It was the sort of performance that shows, like Gibbs-White, the Portuguese star is not only capable of doing the dirty work in the middle of the park, but is also more than able to play a quick one-two with his teammates or play a defence-splitting pass at a moment’s notice.

However, his ability with the ball at his feet shouldn’t be a surprise, as during his time in Portugal, respected analyst Ben Mattinson highlighted the fact that he could play “those KDB-type passes” with relative ease.

Moreover, it was only in the summer, after his first season in England, that former Southampton captain Jo Tessem described the 21-year-old as someone who “is becoming an ultimate Premier League midfielder,” and, on a weekly basis “plays his heart out.”

It’s this combination of undeniable technical ability and tenacity that could help him become the manager’s new Gibbs-White.

After all, the Forest star is someone who leads his side through his raw skill and force of personality.

Ultimately, it’s going to be a long season for West Ham this year, but with the players at his disposal and a new Gibbs-White figure in Fernandes, Nuno should be able to avoid relegation.

AC Milan join Fullkrug race as agent makes damning West Ham admission

The forward has struggled at the London Stadium.

ByTom Cunningham Nov 10, 2025

Wolverhampton Wanderers and new manager Rob Edwards have their eyes on signing a Premier League flop in January, it has been claimed.

Edwards “ready” for Wolves challenge

The Old Gold sealed their move for Edwards in the week, paying Middlesbrough £3m in compensation to bring the 42-year-old back to Molineux.

Speaking to Wolves’ official club website, Edwards said he is “ready” for the challenge as he looks to keep the club up.

Wolves begin their new era under Edwards at home to Crystal Palace, and he’ll have to navigate at least eight games before he can think about new signings in January.

Wolves vs Crystal Palace

November 22nd

Aston Villa vs Wolves

November 30th

Wolves vs Nottingham Forest

December 3rd

Wolves vs Man Utd

December 8th

Arsenal vs Wolves

December 13th

Wolves vs Brentford

December 20th

Liverpool vs Wolves

December 27th

Man Utd vs Wolves

December 30th

However, it looks as if the club are already working behind the scenes to identify potential targets, with one surprise name emerging in the media.

Wolves eyeing up move for West Ham’s Niclas Fullkrug

According to Football Insider, Wolves are interested in a potential move for West Ham striker Niclas Fullkrug.

Linked with a return back to Germany, Fullkrug appears to have admirers from both Wolves and Fulham, who could look to keep the forward in the Premier League.

Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness, said: “I heard a whisper the other day that either Wolves or Fulham might be interested in taking Fullkrug.

“I’m hearing Wolves might be one club who are interested in taking him on and giving him a chance to do something and stay in the Premier League.

“Look, I know there’ll be interest for him back in Germany. He did very well there, and players often don’t settle in the Premier League for whatever reason. He hasn’t and there’s been injuries as well. I think he will be gone in January, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays in the Premier League.

“Now whether he goes on loan or not I think that might be one way forward. I think West Ham do need to fill that gap and probably want to get his wages off the books, so I’d be waiting for a move around that sort of area.”

Fullkrug, on £90,000-a-week at the London Stadium, has had a torrid time with the Hammers, scoring just three goals in 27 games following a £27m move from Borussia Dortmund last year.

Costing the Irons £1m for every appearance so far, Fullkrug was called “aggressive” by Ally McCoist but has struggled to adapt to life in England.

Therefore, it would be a surprise if Wolves were to take a gamble on the German striker in the New Year, but it looks as if it is one to watch.

£55m spent & Hackney signs: Dream Wolves XI Edwards can build in January

Liverpool meet Manchester City in the Premier League this weekend, two teams clinging to the old way of things.

The age of corners and long throws is upon us, and here are two sides championing the slick and stylish passing play that was shaped and defined by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp across so many exciting years at the top of the English game.

This is just a bit of humour, but the truth remains that the Premier League’s tactical culture has shifted in recent months, with table-topping Arsenal masterfully secure in defence and with an incredible knack at scoring from set-pieces.

Arne Slot has tried to adapt by changing things this season, but there the Dutchman’s progress has unravelled after a summer of sweeping change.

Recent wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid have sparked a red revival, but this could be the toughest test of the lot, with the Etihad anything but a happy hunting ground for Liverpool in recent years.

Having reverted to type, Slot may fancy dropping Florian Wirtz for this one, even after the German’s show-stopping performance in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

Why Slot could bench Florian Wirtz

There’s no denying that it’s been a tough ride for Wirtz since he completed a record-breaking £116m transfer from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool this summer.

The 22-year-old is regarded as one of the most exciting creative talents in the world, and having achieved staggering things in his German homeland, had been expected to hit the ground running.

Instead, Wirtz has struggled to settle into Slot’s Liverpool squad, and after ten matches and 610 minutes of action in the Premier League, he still searches for his first goal contribution.

However, there have been undeniable improvements in recent weeks, and against Real Madrid, he came alive.

The attacking midfielder’s time will come, but Slot may opt against recalling him to the starting line-up in the top flight here, instead entrusting a proven formula to get the job done against Guardiola’s title-challenging outfit.

Of course, Wirtz could always make his presence known from the bench, boasting an array of technical qualities simply out of reach for the lion’s share of positional peers across Europe.

Should Wirtz be dropped, there is another Redman who could take his place.

Slot must unleash the new Mo Salah

While it might seem like Cody Gakpo would be the perfect candidate to return to the left wing, Slot has intimated on several occasions that Hugo Ekitike has the athleticism and awareness to play off the wing.

Ultimately, that decision lies with Slot. But, without question, Liverpool must unleash Alexander Isak at number nine if the 26-year-old is given the green light.

The precondition to this indeed being an assessment of the Sweden international’s fitness, of course. Isak has missed Liverpool’s past four matches in all competitions as he recovers from a groin injury picked up against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League last month.

There’s nothing quite like Liverpool vs Manchester City in the Premier League. Some of the greatest games in the division’s history have been contested between these two heavyweights over the past decade.

Isak has struggled since completing his British-record £125m move to Anfield from Newcastle on transfer deadline day, only playing eight times and scoring just once.

FFC’s Predicted Liverpool XI vs Man City

Position

Player

GK

Giorgi Mamardashvili

RB

Conor Bradley

CB

Ibrahima Konate

CB

Virgil van Dijk

LB

Andy Robertson

DM

Ryan Gravenberch

CM

Dominik Szoboszlai

CM

Alexis Mac Allister

RW

Mohamed Salah

LW

Hugo Ekitike

CF

Alexander Isak

However, injuries and Liverpool’s wider imbalances have inhibited him, and this could be the perfect opponent for him to announce himself as the club’s new talisman, taking the baton from the great Mohamed Salah as he begins to wind down.

Isak hasn’t hit his stride on Merseyside yet, but we all know what he is capable of. Last season, he scored 27 goals for the Magpies, including a strike against Liverpool at Wembley to clinch the Carabao Cup. Jamie Carragher was in awe, hailing him as “the best striker in the Premier League” back in January.

Isak typically operates higher than his counterpart, Ekitike. He is fast and intelligent, and his skill at playing off a defender and peeling away down the lane and into the danger area is almost matchless across Europe.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 8% of strikers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for progressive passes, the top 7% for progressive carries and the top 6% for successful take-ons per 90.

Such data signifies not only his ball-carrying ability but his ability to drop deep and funnel play forward before blistering ahead himself and join the attack that he sparked off in the first place.

Wirtz and Isak have a partnership in the making, but fielding both here might not be the best course of action. City will look to dominate on the ball and overwhelm a Liverpool backline that has shown itself to be shaky across multiple matches this season.

It had been nine years since Liverpool last beat Man City away from home in the Premier League. That was before Slot came along.

Things are different for both clubs since that springtime showdown last year, but with Isak up front for the Reds, they will have their answer to the wrecking ball that is Erling Haaland, and maybe it will be enough to steer the champions over the line.

Related Better than Guehi: Liverpool now chasing for 'one of the 'world's best CBs'

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair Nov 7, 2025

He rescues visitors from 87 for 4 in their second innings before rain ensures a draw at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay11-Sep-2025Brooke Guest’s unbeaten half-century steered Derbyshire to safety against Middlesex and kept their promotion hopes alive ahead of next week’s vital Rothesay County Championship meeting with Glamorgan.Guest finished on 65 at Lord’s, having added 66 with Martin Andersson (31 not out) after third-placed Derbyshire had slumped to 87 for 4 in their second innings, an advantage of just 72 over their hosts.An afternoon downpour brought the contest to a premature close and left Derbyshire 27 points adrift of second-placed Glamorgan, who they host in the penultimate round of Division Two fixtures.Middlesex, a further three points behind Derbyshire, still retain a slim chance of promotion following the draw, which was also enough to confirm Leicestershire’s elevation to the top flight after 22 years.The home side’s hopes of forcing a victory were boosted after the opening four overs of the day, in which they captured two wickets to leave Derbyshire three down with a slender lead of 31.Luis Reece added just five to his overnight 17 before he was given out lbw to a Ryan Higgins delivery that zoomed some way back down the slope and Wayne Madsen soon followed in similar fashion to Toby Roland-Jones.Guest rode his luck at the start of his innings, with two inside edges off Higgins (2 for 49) that zipped just past the stumps and rolled to the rope, as well as surviving a persuasive lbw appeal by Olly Stone to a ball that kept low.The England pace bowler, in the first of a two-match loan from Nottinghamshire, was unlucky not to gain greater reward for an impressive pre-lunch spell, although he did remove Harry Came with a beauty that cannoned in to send middle stump flying.Having given away just six runs in his first eight overs, Stone conceded the same from one short-pitched delivery after the interval as Andersson pulled him into the Mound Stand to stretch Derbyshire’s lead to three figures.A brief rain stoppage with Guest on 47 could not derail the Derbyshire wicketkeeper, who punched Stone through the covers for four to complete a fifth half-century of the campaign soon after play resumed.Although Guest got away with a mistimed pull off Higgins that looped up and fell to safety, his work was already done and the dark clouds menacing the ground duly unloaded an hour into the afternoon session to confirm a stalemate.

Toss The toss in Dubai turned out to be a formality with Pakistan surprisingly choosing to bat first after Salman Agha called it right. Dubai has usually been a venue for chasing under lights. The chasing team has won the last three T20I meetings between these two sides at this venue – Pakistan twice and India once. Yet Pakistan have decided to bat first and trust their spinners to defend the total.India were looking to bowl anyway. And they have retained the XI that they used in their first game against UAE, which meant Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy were both part of their attack again. Pakistan also stuck with their XI from their game against Oman, meaning Haris Rauf remained on the bench.Pakistan: 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Hasan Nawaz, 6 Mohammad Haris (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Sufiyan Muqeem, 11 Abrar Ahmed.India 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sanju Samson (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.

Time and again at the business end of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, this 21-year-old rode the pressure, read the bowler, and executed with flair to take Mumbai across the line

Himanshu Agrawal16-Dec-2024Twenty-one-year-old Suryansh Shedge seems to have as much clarity when he speaks as he does when he bats.For instance, let’s look at the quarter-final of the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). Shedge, batting at No. 6 for Mumbai against Vidarbha, is under pressure. His team needs another 60 runs to win off just 24 balls, and he has started with just three runs off as many deliveries. Five of his six innings before this have yielded 1*, 0, 9, 12 and 1* (the other yielded 30* off eight, but more on that later).Here, with Mumbai’s tournament on the line, Shedge despatches offspinner Mandar Mahale for a four and three sixes in a 24-run over. Each time, he is deep in the crease and across the stumps. He finishes with 36* from 12 balls. He had been told coming into the competition that he would be batting at Nos. 5 or 6, and so he had trained for just this situation: teeing off to turn the game around quickly – in one over, specifically.Related

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“Coming into this tournament, I tweaked my practice sessions a bit. I was playing six-ball sets, [and] trying to score a certain amount of runs in those six balls,” Shedge told reporters. “That kind of helps you. And I was taking breaks after every six balls because when you go into bat, you will only get 10-15 balls to face. I was trying to simulate that in the practice sessions, and that helps. When you practise going from ball one, it kind of becomes a muscle memory, and when you are in the middle, you find it easier.”Shedge often arrives to bat in tricky situations, and has made it a habit to boss the game from there. He wrapped up the match against Vidarbha by sending the ball out on to the road in Alur. Six days earlier, in the first of his string of good performances at the business end the SMAT, he had crashed that 30* off eight balls, this knock aiding a tournament record chase of 230 against Andhra. In the semi-final, against Baroda, Shedge faced only one ball in the chase of 159, but even that landed in the stands.”I’ve always batted like this. Even in my Under-16 days, [when] I was playing [multi-]days games, I’ve scored 196 in 115 balls,” he said. “So if I see the ball, I hit it. And you might make errors when you play in that fashion, so you have to be level-headed to come back from the errors you make. It requires a lot of strength.”Suryansh Shedge got the job done for Mumbai in the SMAT final•Himanshu Agrawal/ESPNcricinfoLevel-headedness. As a finisher, that is one quality which separates the good from the best. Shedge has looked good already. Six of his nine innings at the SMAT were at No. 6. One came at No. 7, in the most important match of the tournament: the final, against Madhya Pradesh.The game could have gone either way when he walked out, with Mumbai 46 runs away, with 32 balls and five wickets in hand. Suryakumar Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Shivam Dube were out. But third ball he faced, Shedge stood tall facing up to a dipping full toss and swiped it for four to deep square-leg. Three balls later, Shedge shifted his weight on to the back foot and guided a length ball for four past the wicketkeeper. His partner Atharva Ankolekar cracked a six last ball of that over and, just like that, Mumbai were favourites to seal the title, which they did, Shedge remaining unbeaten – again – on 36 off 15.

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It took Shedge “a lot of hours” with coaches Abhishek Nayar, Monty Desai and Manish Bangera to build up his awareness and power-hitting.”You gain a lot of perspective when you spend time with them. Rather than practicing, you talk to them a lot. At the end of the day, when you go out and you need a certain amount of runs in certain balls, it all comes down to your mental game,” Shedge said. “So how positive you are, it signifies a lot. And hard work over anything. I have put in a lot of hard yards; so have my parents and people who are my well-wishers. Practicing, I wouldn’t say it makes you perfect. But trying to practice perfectly makes you perfect.”As Mumbai edged closer to the title, Shedge brought out the cherries to top the cake, swatting a short-of-a-length ball outside off from Venkatesh Iyer over deep midwicket and then – in SKY mode – exposing all his stumps and sweeping a full ball around seventh stump into the top tier over fine leg. He said he took inputs from Suryakumar , and that certainly showed.

“Before the bowler is in the run-up, I don’t think of any shots. When he starts running, then my brain starts working. And then I just commit. There are no second thoughts in my head.”Suryansh Shedge

“I saw two fielders [inside the circle] behind [square], and he bowled a wide ball [outside off]. I knew he was going to back that ball. So all I needed to do was get into position, and time it,” Shedge said of that sweep for six. “If you react a bit early, he might see you and go further away from you. So as soon as he was going to release the ball, I came into the position and that happened.”Before the bowler is in the run-up, I don’t think of any shots. When he starts running, then my brain starts working. And then I just commit. There are no second thoughts in my head.”All this points to a lot of maturity, a quality that would have been especially useful when, last year, Shedge had to deal with a stress fracture in the L4 region of his spine. The injury was a double blow: it ruled him out of SMAT 2023-24, and because of it, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), his IPL franchise, released him.It got to him, but then his competitive streak kicked in. “First two months [after the injury], I was just going through the motions. I wasn’t in the zone, but I kind of got out… But me as a person, personally, I like competition. And I like pressure because it tests me. At the end of the day, when my head hits the pillow, I want to feel that satisfaction of doing something for the team in whatever department it may be.”Now he can tick impressing at the SMAT off his list, with 131 runs at a strike rate of 251.92 – the highest strike rate for anyone who faced 20 or more balls this season. And soon enough, he’ll have another go at the IPL, this time with Punjab Kings, where he will also have his Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer for company. For now, though, celebrating his team’s SMAT triumph will take centre stage.

The allrounder will be available for selection for their first Super Four match against Bangladesh on Saturday

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Sep-2025Sri Lanka allrounder Dunith Wellalage rejoined* the squad at the Asia Cup on Saturday morning after having returned home following the death of his father Suranga Wellalage on Thursday. Sri Lanka Cricket said he will be available for selection for Sri Lanka’s first match in the Super Four round on Saturday evening, against Bangladesh in Dubai.He was accompanied on his journey from the UAE to Sri Lanka and back by team manager Mahinda Halangode.Suranga Wellalage died on September 18, the same day that his son Dunith played in the Group B match against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. Wellalage, 22, only learned of his father’s death after the match, which Sri Lanka won by six wickets and eight balls remaining to qualify for the Super Four round. Soon after the match ended, he left for home.The match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan was only Wellalage’s fifth T20I and his first in this tournament. He took figures of 1 for 49 and did not bat. Wellalage has played 31 ODIs, with his career best of 5 for 27 coming in the third ODI against India in Colombo in August 2024. He also took 5 for 40 against India in a 2023 Asia Cup match, when the tournament was played in the ODI format. He was the joint second-highest wicket-taker in that tournament, claiming 10 dismissals at an average of 17.90.After Saturday’s fixture against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka’s next two Super Four games are against Pakistan on September 23 and India on September 26.