The Blaugrana and Los Blancos boast some of the game's greatest players – but also some of its most entitled moaners

As it stands, Sunday's Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid will go ahead as planned. But who knows what might happen between now and the scheduled kick-off at 16:15 local time?

Madrid could take issue with the identity of the match referee. After all, Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez has taken charge of 35 of their Liga games in the past and they've lost nine of them – the kind of scary statistic that suggests either incompetence or corruption (at least in the mind of Madridistas). After all, when Madrid lose, it's never their fault. The referee is always to blame, which is why they're presently leading a campaign to overhaul the entire system of officiating in Spain.

It's a thankless task – quite literally. Indeed, Madrid are copping quite a lot of flak for raging against a machine that many of their rivals would argue has benefited Los Blancos more than any other club in Spain.

As the Liga leaders, Barcelona have been particularly incensed by their great rivals' constant complaints, which are seen as a rather obvious attempt to discredit the Catalans' seemingly imminent championship success. Barca would also argue that they don't just have to deal with biased refereeing in Spain, as they feel that they're being shafted in Europe, too – as supposedly underlined by Tuesday's Champions League loss at San Siro.

There is still hope that Sunday's post-match discourse will be dominated by debates over the greatness of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Pedri, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe or Jude Bellingham, but while the game at Montjuic really could be one for the purists, it feels far more likely that it will prove yet another Clasico for the conspiracy theorists…

AFPAnother pathetic protest?

In the extremely unlikely event that anyone has already forgotten, there was very real doubt over whether Madrid would even turn up for the previous Clasico, on April 26. Madrid refused to fulfil their pre-match media duties and there were reports in the Spanish press that they were actually considering boycotting the Copa del Rey final itself.

It seemed perfectly plausible, of course. Madrid have plenty of previous when it comes to throwing hissy fits. They refused to turn up for last year's Ballon d'Or awards ceremony when they learned that Vinicius wasn't going to win – arguably the most pathetic, petty, unjustified and unsporting protest the football world has ever seen.

Madrid insisted that they never entertained the idea of pulling out of the final – but that was only "out of respect to all those fans who have travelled to Seville and those that are already in the Andalucian capital". Why were they so upset then? Because of the alleged "hostility and animosity" shown towards the club by the "referees assigned to the final".

Advertisement@rfef / X'Target on a colleague's head'

It has to be acknowledged that match referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea and VAR Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes should never have been allowed to speak to the media before a game. Such press conferences have been introduced by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in the interests of greater transparency, but the officials' comments were always going to cause controversy, given the pre-existing toxicity surrounding the Copa del Rey Clasico.

However, as both men were at pains to point out, Madrid – and, in particular, their poisonous in-house TV channel that pores over refereeing decisions on a daily basis – had played pivotal roles in the creation of said toxicity and they understandably welcomed the opportunity to speak out.

"The consequences of talking about robberies and using bad words, that frustration you create among fans, is something that the boys and girls who pick up a whistle to do a kids' game end up paying for," Gonzalez Fuertes told reporters. "That is the consequence of putting a target on a colleague’s head."

De Burgos Bengoetxea spoke even more passionately – and movingly – about the devastating effects of the constant criticism of referees.

"When a child goes to school and people tell him his father is a thief it's messed up," the official said, struggling to contain his emotions. "All I can do is educate my son so that he knows that his father is honourable, show him what refereeing is, and for everyone to reflect on where we want to go; I would like you all to know, it is very hard."

Depressingly, that plea for greater understanding has been ignored – and not just by Madrid.

Getty Images Sport'We can't lose respect for referees…'

Barca boss Hansi Flick came out strongly in support of referees while Madrid were going into meltdown ahead of the Copa final. "What's happening isn't right," he said. "We can't lose respect for referees. This is football, and it's our responsibility to protect everyone: players, coaches, and referees. On the pitch, there are emotions, but after the match, we must move on."

Flick struggled to follow his own advice at San Siro on Tuesday, though. "We think that the result is unfair because of some refereeing decisions, I have to say it," Flick said after a 4-3 loss to Inter that saw Barcelona eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals 7-6 on aggregate.

"I don't want to talk too much about the referee," Flick added, before continuing to talk about the referee. "But every decision that was 50-50 ended up being in their favour; that's what makes me sad."

What was truly sad, though, was that Flick felt compelled to confront Szymon Marciniak after the full-time whistle, as it only encouraged further whining from his players in their respective post-match interviews.

Getty Images Sport'UEFA should look into it'

Ronaldo Araujo said Marciniak "influenced" the game, Eric Garcia brought up past grievances from games involving the Pole, while Pedri even went so far as to call for an investigation into Marciniak's handling of the second leg.

"It's not the first time that this has happened to us with this referee, so UEFA should look into it, as there are things that I don't understand and they are complicated to explain: all of the 50-50s went for them," the midfielder said, echoing his coach.

It was all nonsense, of course. Marciniak had actually missed Pau Cubarsi's foul on Lautaro Martinez during the first half and the penalty was only awarded because of the VAR, Dennis Higler, who was also responsible for overruling Marciniak's decision to give Barca a second-half spot-kick as the replays proved that Henrikh Mkhitaryan's foul on Lamine Yamal had actually taken place outside the area.

Barca's claim that Denzel Dumfries had fouled Gerard Martin before Inter's injury-time equaliser was also laughable – as was Inigo Martinez's insistence that he hadn't intentionally spat at Francesco Acerbi after Hakan Calhanoglou's successful penalty attempt. Indeed, for all Barca's b*tching and moaning, the biggest let-off of the night was their centre-back avoiding a straight red card for a disgusting and cowardly reaction to taunting.

West Bromwich Albion supporters will head to Leeds United this coming weekend hopeful that their side can disrupt the flow of the table-topping Whites.

It will be easier said than done, however, with Daniel Farke’s men now ridiculously unbeaten in Championship action across a mammoth 16-game stretch, whilst Tony Mowbray’s Baggies continue to blow hot and cold with only two victories picked up themselves from their last five league outings.

To further add to the West Brom unease, the experienced figure of Jed Wallace is now sidelined through injury, but the playoff-chasers did manage fine without him in their last 2-0 win over Oxford United.

West Brom dealing with Wallace's injury

Indeed, although Wallace had found his minutes limited under the previous regime, he had picked up a goal and an assist under Mowbray in league action before this injury setback occurred.

Still, his absence wasn’t really felt in the 2-0 victory over the U’s, as other experienced heads such as Alex Mowatt took control by bagging the opener, before the equally seasoned John Swift made sure of the three points at the death.

Moreover, Tammer Bany exploded into life in a Baggies strip from off the bench, with the former Randers FC man a revelation late on down the left channel when teeing up Swift for his game-clinching strike.

But, it’s down the right – where Wallace primarily plays – where the promotion hopefuls didn’t look quite as devastating when Grady Diangana was given a late run-out, with the ex-West Ham United attacker managing just five lacklustre touches.

Therefore, with Wallace missing for several weeks, it could be an apt moment for Mowbray to gamble with this Tom Fellows understudy, who could well become the club’s next on-fire homegrown winger if given time.

West Brom's next Fellows

West Brom, of course, struck gold when gifting Fellows more regular senior opportunities just last season, with the constantly improving 21-year-old midfielder up to a breathtaking 11 assists this campaign in the second tier.

Therefore, the Baggies could hope history repeats itself with 19-year-old Akeel Higgins potentially being bumped up to the first team fold soon, having excited those at the Hawthorns already with his sublime U21 showings.

This season so far, Higgins has picked up one singular goal in Premier League 2 action – which was this stunning solo strike earlier in February – but he also has three assists next to his name to show off his unselfish approach when bursting forward, with an ambition to rival Fellows’ creativity if he is gifted a senior shot by Mowbray.

After all, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the 61-year-old to throw the starlet into games moving forward, considering he worked alongside some top young assets in the form of Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham when still at the reins of Sunderland.

Player

Games played

Goals scored

Assists

Higgins

72

11

7

Fellows

61

14

14

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Looking at the table above, it does feel as if Higgins is overdue his moment in the first-team spotlight, with Fellows only needing 61 games for both the U18s and U21s before being unleashed into the senior picture.

Lauded as a “bright” prospect for the future by youth coach Richard Beale back in 2022, time will only tell if he can pass any forthcoming first team assessments with flying colours, having been gifted his senior debut already by Corberan last season.

Player

Current club

Market value

Morgan Rogers

Aston Villa

£33m

Dara O’Shea

Ipswich Town

£12m

Tim Iroegbunam

Everton

£8m

Finn Azaz

Middlesbrough

£7m

Chris Wood

Nottingham Forest

£6m

Sam Field

QPR

£2.5m

Tom Fellows

West Brom

£2.3m

Marcus Forss

Middlesbrough

£2m

Now, it could be coming together for Higgins to become the club’s next Fellows, with Mowbray perhaps catching more teams off-guard near the top of the division with the fresh and raw attacker in his ranks.

West Brom struck gold on £0 signing who's up there with the EFL's best

West Bromwich Albion won this star for absolutely nothing.

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Veteran spinner answers England SOS to take on Australia after two years out

Matt Roller07-Jun-20231:38

Is Moeen Ali actually an upgrade on Jack Leach?

Moeen Ali has reversed his retirement from Test cricket and been added to England’s Ashes squad after answering an SOS call from the team’s management.Moeen confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Monday night that he had been asked to consider a potential call-up following an injury to Jack Leach, who went for scans after England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s which revealed a lower-back stress fracture.He held discussions with Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key – England’s captain, coach and managing director respectively – and the ECB announced on Wednesday morning that Moeen has agreed to return to Test cricket. He has been added to England’s squad for the first two Ashes Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s.”We reached out to Mo early this week about returning to Test cricket,” Key said. “Having had a couple of days to reflect, Mo is excited to join the squad and play Test cricket again.”His vast experience, along with his all-round ability, will benefit our Ashes campaign. We wish Mo and the rest of the squad well for the Ashes campaign.”The other main contenders to fill the vacancy created by Leach’s injury were Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks – who both took Test five-wicket hauls in Pakistan in December – and Liam Dawson, who represented a like-for-like replacement as a left-arm spinner.Moeen has not played a first-class match in nearly two years•AFP/Getty ImagesMoeen has not played a first-class match since his retirement from Test cricket, which he announced in September 2021 after England’s series against India. He told ESPNcricinfo at the time that he had struggled to “get in the zone” during that series, saying: “I just felt like I wasn’t in it.”He has won the T20 World Cup with England and two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings since his retirement, and has represented various franchises around the world in between his international commitments. He has also returned to Warwickshire, his home county, and spent the last week captaining their Vitality Blast side.But since McCullum and Stokes took over a year ago, Moeen has become increasingly open to the idea of returning to Test cricket. He said last summer that he would “love” to play under the new regime: “They are both very aggressive and I think I would suit their cricket a bit more.”He gave serious consideration to a return for England’s December tour to Pakistan after discussions with McCullum, but eventually opted against due to the prospect of spending more time away from his family during a busy winter of white-ball cricket.Related

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England’s squad will report to Birmingham on Tuesday and have three training days before the start of the series at Edgbaston on June 16. The venue is Moeen’s home ground, but he has not played a red-ball game there since the first Test of the 2019 Ashes, when he took 3 for 172 in the match and was then dropped.Moeen will likely bat at No. 8 if selected but is not a certain starter at this stage. Spinners often play a peripheral role at Edgbaston – only three wickets have fallen to spin in three County Championship games at the venue this season – and with Stokes’ fitness to bowl still unclear, England may be tempted to field an all-seam attack supplemented by Joe Root’s offbreaks.He has struggled against Australia in the past, with 20 wickets at an average of 64.65, though those figures include a gruelling 2017-18 tour in which England’s dearth of spin resources saw him play all five Tests despite ripping his spinning finger open on the seam of the ball early in the tour.

The India spinner, Tahir said, had predicted before the tournament that Amazon Warriors would win the title

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2023Imran Tahir, the captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors team that clinched its first CPL title on Sunday, has thanked R Ashwin for predicting that his team would win the tournament.Tahir mentioned the India spinner at the post-match presentation after Amazon Warriors’ nine-wicket win over Trinbago Knight Riders. Among all the others he thanked, Tahir made note of those who had joked about his being appointed captain.”It’s been a great experience playing for this beautiful franchise and playing for these beautiful people who always come and support us,” Tahir said. “I’m just grateful to the almighty first of all. Coming into the competition, everyone was sending jokes that I had become a captain, so I think actually those things motivated me, so I actually want to thank those people who said that, and I also want to thank my family, all the players’ families, they’ve been on the road with us. It’s been a great journey, very special journey.Related

• Sixth time lucky! Pretorius & Co set up Amazon Warriors' CPL win

“Also want to thank our analyst Prasanna [Agoram] – he’s been working every day, 20 hours a day, and giving me all the plans. I’m really, really grateful to him, and also want to thank Ashwin from India. He said before the competition that we will do it.”Amazon Warriors topped the league table but endured a setback in the first Qualifier where they lost to Knight Riders. They bounced back thereafter, though, bowling Jamaica Tallawahs out for 101 in the second Qualifier and skittling Knight Riders for 94 in the final.”I think this year we were more hungry than ever before,” Tahir said – Amazon Warriors had failed to get their hands on the trophy despite making the title round five times in the past. “That’s the thing, I think if you want something really badly, it will happen for you, even though we lost our first Qualifier. Everyone [was talking] about the toss, and we did it in both situations [batting and bowling first], and we won games. The team belief was there.”Result is never guaranteed, but the way we came back in the competition, and I said one thing before we came here [for the final] – ‘we’ve been the best team in the competition, no one can stop us if we play the brand of cricket we’ve been playing’.”Kieron Pollard was disappointed with how the final went, but felt Knight Riders had “played spectacularly well throughout the entire tournament”•Getty Images

Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard was disappointed that his team was bowled out so cheaply, but said he was proud of his team for their performance over the course of the season.”Obviously we didn’t bat properly. Making 94 in the first innings of a final is never going to be enough,” he said. “Am I disappointed with the result? Yes, I’m disappointed with the result, but am I disappointed with the fellows. No, I thought they played spectacularly well throughout the entire tournament, and you know, we were beaten by the better team today, Guyana, so well played to Guyana. I think they played well, they played consistent cricket throughout the tournament and they’re deserved winners tonight.”Pollard was particularly impressed that his team reached the final after finishing at the bottom of the table last season.”Just the belief and the fight [we showed],” he said. “Obviously, finishing sixth in the last tournament, if we’d finished second-to-last, we’d have done better than last year, but having said that, the way how the guys started in the campaign, Trinidad, we were on it, guys were injured, guys fought all the way till the end, and you can’t ask for a better effort from the support staff, from the team-mates, from everybody. So congratulations to them, tough luck on the result, but sometimes in life some people deserve things more than you, and I thought Guyana deserved it tonight.”

Celtic chiefs have now received a reply after making a late bid to sign an “excellent” attacker, according to Sky Sports.

Celtic transfer plans before deadline

The Hoops and Brendan Rodgers have re-signed Jota during the January window, with the winger returning to the club from Rennes. Celtic did lose Kyogo Furuhashi to the French side, with Alexandro Bernabei also being sold and Stephen Welsh and Odin Thiago Holm departing on loan.

It looks as if Celtic want to bring in a few more players before Monday’s deadline, though, with a left-back on the agenda. Rodgers recently confirmed that Celtic and Tierney have a pre-contract agreement for the summer, but “ideally”, the club would strike a loan deal with Arsenal for the second half of the season.

“Ideally it would [happen in January] but, at this moment, he’s still an Arsenal player. I think everyone is agreed that it will definitely take place in the summer. If we can do it beforehand, then great.

“I don’t know. I think that, like I said, we’d prepared that for the summer. And I don’t want to speak too much on it, with the greatest respect, because he’s not a Celtic player here now with us. But, if we were able to do it, of course we would like to do that. But that’s out of our control at this moment in time.”

It has been claimed since then that Tierney will remain at Arsenal until the summer, leaving the Hoops exploring other full-back options including Manchester United’s Tyrell Malacia.

A second attacking addition of the month after Jota is also wanted, with talks held for Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden, who is valued in excess of £10m.

Celtic eyeing loan for international left-back as Tierney alternative

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Another heavily linked forward has been Sondre Orjasaeter of Sarpsborg. Recent reports claimed that Celtic had made a bid for Orjasaeter, and more details of that offer have now been shared.

Celtic bid for Sondre Orjasaeter rejected – Sky Sports

Taking to X on Thursday, Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph revealed that Celtic’s bid for Orjasaeter was worth around £4.6m and has been rejected by Sarpsborg. Discussions are continuing over a transfer, with the Norwegian side looking to bring in around £7m.

Author Timothy Fellowes has recently praised Orjasaeter‘s dribbling as his “biggest asset” suggesting that “his stats & style of play are similar to Nicolas Kuhn”, believing he would have an “excellent impact” should he join Celtic.

The 21-year-old has contributed to 30 goals in 95 career appearances, and should Celtic get their way, he’ll be looking to add to that tally in green and white, starting next week.

Northern Superchargers have progressed to the final of the women’s Hundred after their Eliminator with Welsh Fire was abandoned during a torrential downpour at the Kia Oval.Superchargers, who will play Southern Brave at Lord’s on Sunday, progressed by virtue of finishing second in the group stage. It was a position they sealed by beating Fire on Tuesday in both teams’ last match of the group stages, taking Superchargers to 12 points, one ahead of their opponents.The Eliminator had already been reduced to a 95-ball affair after rain pushed back the start by 45 minutes. And the agony for Fire, who finished bottom in the first two editions, is that the strong progress they made to reach 104 for 2 after 75 deliveries, having won the toss and opted to bat first, was ultimately for nothing.An engaging 38 from Sophia Dunkley set up a platform of 59 for the first wicket, before fellow opener and Fire skipper Tammy Beaumont – 37 not out off 30 – prepared for a late assault with Laura Harris, who had 14 from 5 balls. At that point, standing umpires Sue Redfern and Mark Newell opted to take the players off the field due to the threat of lightning in the area.In accordance with the playing conditions, the players were only permitted to return to the field once officials were confident the storm had passed. However heavy rain set in, bringing the Fire innings to a close, before the match was called off at 4.41pm local time, 30 minutes before the latest time Fire’s 25-ball second innings was permitted to start.”You never want the result to go into a final to be how it is today,” Hollie Armitage, Superchargers captain, said. “But I think that shows why finishing second is so important, just like finishing first and going straight to the final. Obviously, it is a little bit bittersweet, but we’re happy to be on the side that’s going to Lord’s tomorrow.”We’ve won six out of eight games in the group stage and that’s why the group stages are so important. You’ve got to treat every game as a final so you can try and finish at the top of the table, which was obviously our ambition. But luckily today, by finishing second, it’s going to take us to the final.”Having finished bottom in both of the first two editions, Fire’s about-turn, in tandem with their men’s team, has been one of the stories of 2023. To have their tournament ended in such fashion was a tough pill to swallow.”Devastated, absolutely devastated for the girls,” Beaumont said. “The game was going nicely towards what would have been a decent total and I would have backed the girls to defend anything. It would have been easier to take had we been absolutely thrashed or beaten in a close one and actually lost the game.”To go on previous results and table finishes is tough. Everyone is absolutely devastated. But that is cricket. You can’t book the weather. It’s been a pretty poor summer on the weather front, hasn’t it? Sport is cruel, isn’t it?”Rules are rules, aren’t they? At the end of the day, if we’d have won at Headingley on Tuesday and finished second we wouldn’t have been complaining.”Asked if, like the final, the Eliminator should have a reserve day, Beaumont was phlegmatic. Though Fire ended up on the wrong side of the calculations here, she appreciates the nature of the Hundred, and indeed a point of difference with other franchise competitions around the world, is its compact schedule.”They want The Hundred to be condensed and I think that is what sets it apart from any other competition. Just eight games and an Eliminator and final – that is what makes it good.”You hear people saying the Big Bash is too long, the IPL being far too long, the games and the format. In terms of the women’s team, they’ve had the same overseas players throughout and that is what makes it good. [With reserve days] it would have to be another four days. That is pretty good – it has just stitched us up this time.”

Newcastle United have now turned their attentions to a new forward as they look to move on from Callum Wilson this summer, it has been reported, with Eddie Howe’s side now looking across the Premier League to find their next marksman.

Newcastle set for attacking changes

There is set to be plenty of change for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side in the summer, with their attack a key area that they are looking to strengthen.

Having sold Miguel Almiron to Atlanta United in January, they are expected to move to sign another winger in the summer amid links to Celtic standout Nicolas Kuhn, while they have also been strongly linked with a move for Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo, though they will not be the only side chasing the Cameroonian international.

Centrally, there is also going to be change. Callum Wilson is out of contract at the end of the season and, after another disappointing season with injuries, he is not expected to be offered a new deal on Tyneside, meaning that he will become a free agent amid interest from sides across England.

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Another player with significant interest is Alexander Isak, though Newcastle will be desperate to keep hold of their talisman, who has scored 17 times already this season. Arsenal and Liverpool have both been linked with the Swede, who is under contract at St James’ Park until 2028, and who Newcastle are hoping to tie to a new contract.

Whether they do or not, it is clear that Howe’s side will be on the hunt for at least one new striker this summer, and now a new target has emerged for the Magpies.

Newcastle eye move for striker

Now, a report in Spain [via Sport Witness] has revealed that Newcastle United have now made Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson their “priority” to strengthen their attack this summer.

It is claimed that “Newcastle in particular are keen on the Chelsea man as they fear losing Alexander Isak in the summer”, and that he is also wanted by Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa.

Currently out injured, Jackson had an excellent start to the 2024/25 campaign, but his form has struggled in recent months,

Appearances

23

Goals

9

Assists

5

Minutes per goal involvement

125

However, he was singled out for high praise by ex-Chelsea man Emmanuel Petit earlier in the campaign, who dubbed his goal against Leicester in November “remarkable”.

“The first touch to avoid the defender is brilliant, the way he won the ball, the first touch is beautiful, just remarkable”, he explained.

Chelsea are believed to be in the market for a new forward this summer and as a result Jackson could be moved on, but should he depart the report adds that the Blues will ask for a fee around €50m (£41.6m).

That could prove too much for Newcastle unless they cash in on Isak, something that few will want to do. However, Jackson would represent an upgrade on Wilson were the Magpies willing to splash the cash.

Arsenal are now “working hard” to convince a “world-class” player to join in the summer, with talks ongoing to gauge what it would take to get a deal over the line, according to ex-scout Mick Brown.

Gunners eyeing players with Champions League pedigree

The Gunners have almost certainly booked their place in the Champions League quarter-final after a 7-1 demolition of PSV Eindhoven away from home last night, and they are continuing to look at other players performing well in Europe’s elite competition this season.

After the arrival of new director of football Andrea Berta is confirmed, a bid could be made for Lille striker Jonathan David, who assisted Hakon Arnar Harldsson’s goal in the French side’s 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund yesterday.

Not only are the north Londoners keen on a striker, but they are also looking at strengthening in central midfield, and Atletico Madrid’s Pablo Barrios has now been identified as a potential alternative to Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, amid interest from Real Madrid.

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Another midfielder Arsenal have been linked with is Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, and Brown has now dropped an update on their pursuit of the German in an interview with Football Insider.

“Arsenal have been working hard behind the scenes to reach an agreement with him. They’ve been speaking to his representatives to gauge what it would take to agree a deal.

“Now, they’ll be trying to convince him to join them rather than going elsewhere or staying at Bayern. Kimmich would bring a lot of experience to this Arsenal team and I think that’s what Mikel Arteta will be looking at – he’s won all there is to win.”

"World class" Kimmich could be a fantastic signing

Kimmich could be a versatile option for Arteta, having regularly featured at right-back and central-midfield throughout his career, and his ability going forward has been on show in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League this season.

The Germany international has already reached 10 assists in all competitions, and he ranks highly across a number of key attacking metrics over the past year, when compared to other midfielders.

Statistic

Average per 90

Assists

0.28 (96th percentile)

Progressive passes

10.0 (99th percentile)

Shot-creating actions

5.07 (98th percentile)

Progressive carries

2.29 (89th percentile)

Combine the “world-class” midfielder’s talent on the front foot with his ability to fill in at right-back when required, as well as his proven track record of winning trophies, and Arsenal could have a fantastic signing this summer, should they win the race for his signature.

The only concern will be the fact Kimmich is now 30-years-old, and he is on very high wages with Bayern, raking in £310k-per-week, so the Gunners will need to be careful not to hand out a huge contract to a player who may not have re-sell value.

South Africa captain admitted they “dropped the ball” after Netherlands scored 245 after being 112 for 6 in the 27th over

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-20231:44

How do South Africa move on from this loss?

Temba Bavuma has said South Africa should “feel the emotion of today” and question themselves as to where they are mentally after they suffered a shock 38-run defeat at the hands of Netherlands, their first loss of the 2023 World Cup.”You got to let the emotion kind of seep in,” Bavuma said at the post-match presentation. “Don’t think there is any point in trying to forget what’s happened. It is going to hurt, it should hurt.””But then you come back tomorrow, you wake up and we get back onto the journey. Our campaign is not over by any stretch of the imagination, but you got to feel the emotion of today and come back tomorrow with the head held up.”Related

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Coming into the game running hot on a five-game ODI winning streak, South Africa seemed uncharacteristically lax. They gave away 32 extras – 21 wides, one no-ball and 10 leg byes – as Netherlands recovered from 112 for 6 in the 27th over to post 245 for 8 in the rain-shortened 43-overs-a-side clash.This is the second time in the last 12 months that Netherlands have got the better of South Africa at an ICC event. They had earlier eliminated the South Africans from the 2022 T20 World Cup with a 13-run win. Bavuma said that it was not just with the ball that South Africa were off the boil, but also in the field.”The extras that’s something you can control. Getting 30 (32) extras, that is an extra five overs is always going to hurt you. That is a conversation for us to have – whether it is skill or a complacency thing – but at the end it did count for quite a thing,” he said.”We were clinical against Australia, but the challenge was always to come back and replicate that performance. The fielding wasn’t up to standard. Again if you look at the way we fielded against Australia compared to today, definitely not the same standard.”Those are conversations we need to have. The guys need to answer the questions themselves where mentally they were. That’s definitely not the standard we’d like to show from a fielding point of view.”Bavuma was effusive in praise of the Netherlands unit, who first came back in the game with half-centuries from Scott Edwards and useful cameos from Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt before picking wickets at regular intervals in the chase.”I think we got them to 112 for 6. From that point, you are probably not looking at anything more than 200. We definitely dropped the ball there letting them get to 240-plus,” Bavuma said. “With the batting, we were still confident in chasing down that score but we didn’t get any partnerships. Them with their double-spin in the powerplay, was something we did not adapt to. Kudos to them, the way they were able to exploit certain weaknesses within our game.”

Bumrah took three wickets as India successfully defended 229 against England

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2023

Having to set a total for the first time in this World Cup, India found themselves in trouble with wickets falling regularly, and scraped to 229 for 9, largely thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 87 on a challenging pitch. But eventually, India pulled off a comfortable win over England, and Jasprit Bumrah feels it was a good challenge for the table-toppers.”It was really good for us because we’ve been fielding first and we’ve been doing that for a while now. Because [India chased] in the previous series as well, which I played,” Bumrah told after picking up 3 for 32 to help enginner India’s 100-run demolition of England.”It was good challenge for us that we were put under pressure,” Bumrah said. “We lost a little bit of early wickets. We had to squeeze in and in the field as well, we had to put in a lot of effort. So yeah, very happy with the result.”Related

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England, hunting their second win in the tournament, started well in their chase, with openers Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow taking them to 30 inside the first five overs. But Bumrah opened England up in the fifth over, getting Malan to chop on and trapping Joe Root lbw off consecutive deliveries.Mohammed Shami followed up with quick strikes of his own before Kuldeep Yadav’s corker to Jos Buttler put England in too deep a hole to climb out of.Bumrah said his plan was to try and find some swing with the new ball, but with nothing on offer moved to harder lengths to look for movement off the pitch.”Usually when you bowl with the new ball, you first search for swing if there is some swing. Otherwise you just try and hit a hard length and make it as difficult as possible,” Bumrah said. “So there was a little bit of swing, but not too much from my end.”Then I tried to seam the ball a lot more and which was helping a little bit. So then I changed to seam bowling.”While Bumrah took three wickets, Shami stole the show with a four-wicket haul that included the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took seven wickets between them•Associated Press

“He [Shami] is outstanding. He’s, you know, one of the legends of the game,” Bumrah said. “I feel he has always been quite calm. He doesn’t come out to be flamboyant, but he way he was bowling as if he was playing a Test match and [it] was really, really wonderful to see.”Usually we’ve had a lot of partnerships in Test-match cricket and I really enjoy bowling with him. So yeah, I’m really happy with the way he’s going on.”Bumrah made his return from injury in August after spending more than a year out with a stress reaction in his back. He admitted that he had heard questions asked whether fitness worries would cut his career short, but said he was unbothered by all the speculation.”My wife [the TV sports presenter Sanjana Ganesan] also works in the sports-media department. So yeah, I heard a lot of question marks on my career that I will never come back and all of that, but it doesn’t really matter,” Bumrah said. “I’m very happy. I came back and I realised how much I love playing the game. I was not chasing anything.”Great headspace was there when I came back from the injury. So yeah, eventually I’m looking at the positives and trying to enjoy as much as you can.”