Leeds United fans will know all too well about players leaving the club on loan during a turbulent summer at Elland Road; however, it now looks as if one man will be returning to the club next year, according to a report.

Leeds United continue to thrive under Daniel Farke…

Despite the likes of Marc Roca, Jack Harrison, Luis Sinisterra, Max Wober, Robin Koch, Rasmus Kristensen, Cody Drameh and Sam Greenwood leaving on loan for various reasons during the summer, Leeds United have found a way to thrive in their absence under Daniel Farke.

With 21 games gone in the Championship, the Whites sit third in the table with 41 points from their completed fixtures and look to be a genuine contender for promotion this term; however, they may need to settle for the play-offs, as Leicester City occupy second place with an eight-point buffer and a game and hand over their divisional rivals.

Farke must seal Leeds swoop for 5 ft 11 EFL titan who dominated Summerville

The Whites have been linked with a possible move for the Championship full-back.

By
Dan Emery

Dec 13, 2023

Bumps in the road will always crop up for more or less any side in the English second tier and Leeds United are no exception to the rule. On Tuesday evening, the Whites were beaten by a single goal to nil at the Stadium of Light against managerless Sunderland, in a match where a solitary strike from Jobe Bellingham was enough to separate the sides.

Farke refused to criticise his side's performance despite coming up short on Wearside, as he stated post-match, cited by the Yorkshire Evening Post: "I think in general I'm struggling a bit to criticise my lads too much. It was clear we had a difficult away game. I think we dominated it in many periods, we had nearly 60 per cent of possession first half, more than 70 per cent in the second. We didn't find the cutting edge."

The wheels will continue to turn under the German coach as he continues to unearth a new era at Elland Road; nevertheless, he could now be set to welcome back a familiar face next year, as per a recent report.

USMNT star Aaronson set to return to Leeds

According to reports from Germany via Sport Witness, Leeds United loanee Brenden Aaronson is set to return to Elland Road next year following a disappointing spell at Union Berlin.

Brenden Aaronson's frustrating spell at Union Berlin (Transfermarkt)
Appearances	17
Goals	0
Assists	0
Brenden Aaronsen's key Bundesiga statistics (Sofascore)
Average match rating	6.21
Shots per game	0.2
Total expected assists	0.40
Total big chances created	1
Average touches per game	16.7

The outlet claim that the notion of a permanent deal is as good as dead in the water following the United States international's "unthinkable" lack of contribution on the field for the Bundesliga outfit, while his prospective departure is also linked to a wider squad cull at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, given that 11 of their players are set to be out of contract or, alternatively, on loan and unlikely to be signed permanently.

Hitting relatively low percentiles in key metrics, it is important to remember that Aaronson is playing in a Union Berlin side that sit just above the relegation play-off zone on goal difference in the German top-flight, making it harder for the 23-year-old to have an impact due to his current environment.

Nevertheless, it doesn't look like Leeds will be claiming a healthy cash windfall for the New Jersey-born man any time soon and he could now return to the fold before too long.

علق وائل جمعة أسطورة كرة القدم المصرية على أداء فريق برشلونة أمام نظيره بلد الوليد، والفوز بسبعة أهداف نظيفة بالدوري الإسباني.

وفاز برشلونة بسباعية على بلد الوليد، ليعزز صدارته لترتيب الدوري الإسباني بـ 12 نقطة، بالعلامة الكاملة.

وقال وائل جمعة خلال تواجده بالاستوديو التحليلي للمباراة: “برشلونة استعاد المتعة والشخصية التي افتقدها في المواسم الثلاث الأخيرة”.

وأضاف: “كانت هناك صعوبات كبيرة مع تشافي، لكن في وجود فليك الأداء أصبح أفضل وأمتع، رغم أننا لا نزال في البداية لكن هناك علامات تشير إلى أن قوة ومتعة برشلونة ستعود”.

طالع أيضًا.. رجل مباراة برشلونة وبلد الوليد في الدوري الإسباني

وأشار: “تشعر وأن برشلونة استعاد سنوات ميسي وتشافي وإنييستا والجيل الذهبي، استعراض فني كبير من اللاعبين، وامكانيات ومواهب كانت (مدفونة) وظهرت مع فليك، لقد تغيّر كل شيء على مستوى الحضور الذهني والقوة البدنية”.

وواصل: “ما يحدث يؤكد أن هناك بصمة مدرب، لأن الفريق كما هو الذي كان مع تشافي بالإضافة لـ داني أولمو فقط، لكن الأمر اختلف بالنسبة للشراسة على المرمى والتطور في الوصول لشباك الخصوم”.

واختتم: “برشلونة محظوظ بتواجد هانز فليك. المدرب الألماني ينصب السيرك خلال تناقل الكرات بين اللاعبين، وهذه الأمور بالتأكيد تجعل جمهور الفريق سعيدا”. تصريحات وائل جمعة عن برشلونة

South Africa lost 6 for 31 this afternoon, but the hosts’ bowling attack then reversed the treatment to dismantle Sri Lanka’s chase under lights at Centurion. Kagiso Rabada led the attack with 3 for 43 and Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Imran Tahir all struck twice as the visitors collapsed from 92 for 3 to 138 all out in pursuit of 252. On a pitch that encouraged both seam and spin, South Africa had also been bowled out short of their full complement of overs, and were thankful for Quinton de Kock’s 94 and Faf du Plessis’ 57 as Sri Lanka’s bowlers, lead by Thisara Perera’s 3 for 26 in his 150th ODI, also shared the wickets around.Had Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando been able to set aside quick runs and simply survive Rabada and Ngidi’s opening bursts, the job would only have become easier for Sri Lanka on a pitch that remained generally good for batting – cracks aside – throughout. But the visiting openers instead sought to go after the new ball, without much success.Dickwella backed away into a wild, top-edged pull that was safely pouched by de Kock in the third over – Rabada’s 100th ODI wicket – and Avishka swiped a four and a top-edged six before he was bowled swinging across the line at Ngidi not long after. Rabada bowled what could be his fastest spell of the summer with the new ball, reaching speeds of as much as 151.8kph.Nortje didn’t find the dry track at the Wanderers on Sunday much to his liking, but there was a little more pace in this pitch and he was off to the perfect start when he found the leading edge of Kusal Perera’s bat with his first ball of the evening. While not quite as quick as Rabada, Nortje topped out at 148kph in his first spell, and also played his part in the field.His direct-hit from short third man found Kusal Mendis short of his ground and run-out for 24, with the batsman furious at the miscommunication with Oshada Fernando that brought his downfall. Oshada soon joined him in the dressing room, trapped lbw by Nortje with Sri Lanka in the mire at 92 for 5.When de Silva chipped Rabada tamely to du Plessis at midwicket Sri Lanka were six down, and South Africa forced the issue by bringing in a slip and a short leg in and coming around the stumps at Akila Dananjaya. Imran Tahir then got to work on the lower order, a double-strike in his eighth over further denting Sri Lanka’s chase.Thisara Perera holed out to deep cover the ball after he had slogged Tahir onto the grass banks over midwicket, and Kasun Rajitha was pinned in front by a quick googly first ball. Rabada and Ngidi returned to deliver the last rites, with South Africa field-testing David Miller as a back-up wicketkeeper as the match reached a swift conclusion.South Africa’s innings had collapsed in similar fashion this afternoon, but the hosts had been given a strong start by de Kock, who missed out on another possible hundred but put together a 91-run opening stand with Reeza Hendricks. He looked set to reach his first limited-overs hundred of the summer when an expansive swipe into the leg side brought only a top edge that was easily snaffled by Dickwella behind the stumps. Du Plessis kept the score ticking over with his half-century, but his dismissal sparked a collapse as South Africa slipped from 220 for 4 to be bowled out with almost five overs of their innings unused.De Kock burst out of the blocks with four boundaries in the arc between backward point and wide long-off in Vishwa Fernando’s first over. He thrashed 11 boundaries inside the first Powerplay, raising a 36-ball fifty – his 20th in ODIs and sixth against Sri Lanka.Hendricks’ departure in the 15th over barely slowed de Kock, and with back-t0-back boundaries off Akila he motored through the 70s. Then he took Dhananjaya on, plundering 15 from his second over of the innings. But with a 14th ODI ton in sight, he fell against the run of play to give Sri Lanka the opening they were searching for.Rassie van der Dussen came and went for just 2, while Wiaan Mulder batted in fast-forward, hitting the first four balls he faced to the boundary, but was then bowled around his legs by Vishwa to leave South Africa wobbling at 176 for 4.Du Plessis and David Miller shored up the innings with a 44-run stand, du Plessis raising his fifty and going past 5,000 runs in ODI cricket in the process. But his dismissal, bowled by a delivery from Thisara that kept low in the 37th over, started the slide in earnest.In the space of just under nine overs, South Africa’s lower order collapsed in a heap. It had been expected that conditions here would suit the side batting second, and all the indications were that South Africa were 30 or 40 runs short of where they could have been. But the all-round brilliance of their bowlers meant that their 251 was plenty, and they will go to Durban 2-0 up.

Markram and Nortje have been picked for all three matches while Qeshile has been selected for the last two games

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2019South Africa have named top-order batsman Aiden Markram, fast bowler Anrich Nortje and wicketkeeper-batsman Sinethemba Qeshile in the T20I squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka, starting March 19. Markram and Nortje have been picked for all three matches while the uncapped Qeshile has been selected only for the last two.JP Duminy, meanwhile, has been named captain for the second and the third T20Is as designated captain Faf du Plessis will be rested for those games along with Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.SA v SL T20I series fixtures

March 19, Cape Town (D/N)

March 22, Centurion (D/N)

March 24, Johannesburg (Day)

Markram has played 17 Tests and 18 ODIs for South Africa since his international debut in October 2017, and Nortje got his national cap in the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka. Qeshile, 20, meanwhile, only has 13 first-class and 12 List A appearances – for Warriors – against his name.”The first match forms part of our Vision 2019 to continue exploring our options for the ICC Men’s World Cup,” Cricket South Africa’s national selection panel convener Linda Zondi said, “and the squad for that match consists largely of the squads that have been doing duty in the Momentum ODI Series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We would have liked to include Hashim Amla but unfortunately he remains unavailable because of his family situation.””Sinethemba Qeshile has had an outstanding rookie season of franchise cricket and is certainly one of the form batsmen in franchise cricket at the moment. He looks a really exciting prospect. JP Duminy will take over the captaincy for the last two matches while we give a short break to Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi who are involved across all three formats for the Proteas.”We have used our T20 International matches in the past as the first port of call to widen the pool of talent. This has resulted in Rassie van der Dussen, Gihahn Cloete, Janneman Malan and Lutho Sipamla being brought through the pipeline with considerable success during the course of the current season.”South Africa squad for 1st T20I: Faf du Plessis (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der DussenSouth Africa squad for 2nd and 3rd T20Is: JP Duminy (capt), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Sinethemba Qeshile (wk), Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen

The January transfer window is officially open for business and Manchester United could use this month to bolster their squad after a worrying start to the campaign.

They have already lost nine of their opening 20 Premier League matches and have been knocked out of Europe after they finished bottom of their Champions League group.

It was recently reported by AS that United and Liverpool are both interested in a possible swoop to sign Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich.

His contract with the German giants is due to expire at the end of next season and the uncertainty around his future in Bavaria has led to interest from a host of European clubs.

Erik ten Hag must now push to complete a deal for Kimmich, whether that is this month or in the summer, as he would be a big upgrade on current number six Sofyan Amrabat.

Amrabat's season in numbers

United signed the Morocco international on loan from Serie A side Fiorentina during the summer transfer window and he has failed to hit the ground running in England.

The 27-year-old enforcer has made ten Premier League appearances for the Red Devils so far this term and averaged 2.5 tackles and interceptions combined and four ball recoveries per match.

He has not contributed with a single goal or assist and is currently averaging 0.4 key passes per match for his side, which shows that the midfielder does not produce much quality in possession to help United's attack.

However, Amrabat does rank within the top 13% of top-flight midfielders for progressive passes (7.34) per 90 and this means that he is not completely ineffective on the ball as the summer signing is able to break lines to find teammates further up the pitch.

The statistics that show why Kimmich would be an upgrade on Amrabat

Kimmich, however, is an exceptional progressive passer who can also provide more quality in the final third whilst also being a reliable defensive presence in front of the back four.

The £322k-per-week ace, who was once hailed as "phenomenal" by Jose Mourinho, has started 11 Bundesliga matches for Bayern so far this season.

Appearances

Six

Sofascore rating

7.63

Big chances created

Five

Tackles per game

2.2

Interceptions per game

1.3

In that time, the 28-year-old star has made 2.8 tackles and interceptions combined and 6.3 ball recoveries per game to win possession back for his team.

He has also scored one goal, provided one assist, and made an eye-catching 2.7 key passes per game. These statistics show that Kimmich has the quality to make a greater impact than Amrabat with his quality in and out of possession – by winning the ball back more often and creating 2.3 more chances per game for his teammates.

The Bayern magician currently ranks within the top 3% of Bundesliga midfielders for progressive passes (10.51) per 90 this season, whilst he also ranks within the top 3% for shot-creating actions (5.78) per 90.

This shows that Kimmich can offer more than Amrabat defensively, offensively, and as a progressive passer from a number six position, which is why he would be a big upgrade on the Morocco international.

Tottenham Hotspur could be handed a fresh chance to sign Samuel lling-Junior after their reported talks with a January transfer update coming out of Juventus this week.

Spurs chasing early January deals

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has already made clear his desire to bring in fresh faces early this month, as he wants potential new recruits to slot in quickly and bolster their options.

The north Londoners are thought to be making progress in their attempts to sign Genoa star Radu Dragusin, as they seek to give Postecoglou more centre-back options. However, it is believed that Spurs also want a new midfielder and winger as well.

"Close too" – Tottenham ace set for injury return with van de Ven soon

Postecoglou could be set for a big double boost.

ByEmilio Galantini Jan 4, 2024

"If you can bring them in early, even if they don't play you can bed them into training and our style of football because it's not like we're going to sign somebody and they'll hit the ground running. Maybe they could," said Postecoglou on January transfers at Spurs.

"Whereas if you leave it towards the end of January, it's potentially not until mid to end of February when they get up to speed, depending where they're coming from, the league they're coming from. So there's a whole lot of moving parts. So yes, I'd love to do something early in the window but even me saying that puts a challenge on us – because other clubs know we want to do something early.

"You've got to play the game, we'll see what happens but I'm hopeful it will be much earlier than the end of the window before we bring someone in."

In terms of the wide area, two names which stand out as Spurs' main targets appear to be both Al-Ittihad forward Jota and Juventus ace Iling-Junior. The latter has scarcely featured under Massimiliano Allegri this season, and reports last month claimed Tottenham were in contact and holding discussions with Juventus over a move for the 21-year-old (Daniele Longo).

Reliable journalist Nizaar Kinsella of The Evening Standard are also said that Spurs were favourites to sign Iling-Junior at that point, and while there have been few updates since then, a claim this week suggests that the Lilywhites could be handed a fresh chance to go for him.

Juventus "working" to sell Iling-Junior

Indeed, according to transfer reporter Rudy Galetti, Juventus are "working" to sell Iling-Junior in January following Tottenham's firm interest in the player.

This is due to Allegri and co's own interest in Shakhtar Donetsk starlet Georgiy Sudakov, who they want to sign but must first ship out their out-of-favour winger.

Iling-Junior has been called an "exciting" young attacker by reporter Dean Jones, and comes as a fairly astute option to give Postecoglou more wide attacking choices. Juventus and Spurs seemingly have a good business relationship after the transfers of both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, so Iling-Junior's potential move to north London could be fairly easy to facilitate.

‘Opportunity must outweigh the threat’, warns chief executive, as Matt Walker bids for Hundred coaching role

Valkerie Baynes at Canterbury18-Mar-2019

Kent chief executive Simon Storey•Getty Images

Kent want to be at heart of discussions about a joint-venture team with Surrey in The Hundred to ensure their fans can identify with a club based at The Oval.Kent chief executive officer Simon Storey, who joined the club in January after a six-year stint as chief executive at Derbyshire, saw it as imperative that the benefits of The Hundred competition, starting in 2020, outweighed any risks to Kent, particularly if the men’s team is to be based so far from its heartland in Canterbury.His comments follow speculation that The Oval could be scrapped as a venue after the ECB last month won support from 17 of the 18 first-class counties for playing conditions for The Hundred, with only Surrey understood to have voted against.”With the new tournament, which is happening and will be launched next year, we need to make sure that the opportunity outweighs the threat,” Storey said. “I think being at the heart of the debate and not just allowing it to happen is actually how we’ll do that.”It’s really important that our members, our spectators, our fans, our sponsors and our partners can feel and identify with their team, which will be based out of The Oval – at least the men’s team – so it’s important that we’re in that debate.”We have a very strong relationship with Surrey and I speak and work regularly with Richard Gould, the chief executive. We’re within 18 months of that new tournament starting. There’s a lot to do but we see it as an extremely important tournament for Kent to be part of, albeit within the confines of that joint board that will be running, and we’re going to make sure that we’re part of that board.”The new format involving eight city-based teams will feature 100-ball innnings for each side, with a change of ends every 10 balls and bowlers allowed to deliver five or 10 consecutively out of a maximum of 20. Strategic time-outs for the bowling side and a 25-ball Powerplay will also be included at the start of each innings. A player draft is expected to be held in the autumn.Storey suggested Kent would push to host games for the equivalent women’s competition at its Beckenham ground.It remains to be seen how The Hundred will affect the domestic 50-over competition, which will be played concurrently.”There will be a 50-over competition, so there will be more cricket on offer,” Storey said. “One of the things we’re going to need to do is make sure that we bring some new consumers and some new cricket fans for the new tournament.”But I also think that the new tournament needs to attract existing fans as well, and I think that was something that perhaps was lost along the way, that we are in danger of losing our current cricket fans in creating a new tournament entirely separately.”Personally I think that we have to ensure that the two co-exist and I think we need to look at other sports to see how they do that, and we need to make sure that for those players and those spectators that aren’t taking part or watching The Hundred, that there’s a credible and strong competition alongside it.”Kent head coach Matt Walker expressed his desire to coach the men’s team in The Hundred, but admitted that the logistics could be a juggling act.”Like all players, you like to be involved in something that’s new, for sure,” Walker said at the launch of Kent’s County Championship season at The Spitfire Ground in Canterbury. “It’s not something we’ve really sat down and discussed, how we’re going to go about that, but my initial understanding was that the ECB want to employ English coaches into that format, which I think makes sense and I like the sound of that.”We want to develop as coaches as much as the players want to develop as players. It’s going to create a little bit of confusion and it’s going to create a little bit of complications along the way as to that 50-over competition, and if you lose a number of players and a number of coaches, then it’s going to take some sorting out.”I’m sure every coach in the country would like to be involved in that, as every player would like to be involved as well.”Kent-born Walker, who played for the county for many years before becoming head coach in 2017, believed being involved in The Hundred could benefit players, coaches and their counties in other formats.”If you’re involved in a new team with different players and a different format, it’s only going to improve you,” Walker said. “It’s always going to be great for you financially as a player, as it would be as a coach, but the upside that the players can bring back, and coaches can bring back – great knowledge, new experience, ways of doing things slightly differently – I think, is always a real benefit to the club.”

Super Kings and Royal Challengers missed their talisman players in their last game and their returns could make their rematch in Bengaluru all the more spicy

The Preview by Sruthi Ravindranath20-Apr-20198:24

Dasgupta: It’s too late for RCB, they should look at next season

Big pictureHad Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers met before their respective previous matches this season, this contest would have had just one familiar favourite. Take these stats into consideration: The last time Royal Challengers won against Super Kings was in 2014, and right now, they are a full 10 points behind the table toppers. CSK fans have enough to put any debate to rest against the supporters of the team in red.Yet they were left bruised by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday and Royal Challengers overcame an Andre Russell-special on Friday. All that sets this clash up beautifully.Form guide

Royal Challengers: Beat Knight Riders by 10 runs, lost to Mumbai by five wickets, beat Kings XI by eight wickets
Super Kings: Lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets, beat Knight Riders by five wickets, beat Royals by four wickets

Super Kings’ batting has been largely dependent on MS Dhoni this year, and his absence from the side on Tuesday showed that. He’s bailed them out of danger in at least three instances this season and is also the side’s highest run-getter so far. And without him, the middle order (No. 4 to 7) could add only 37 runs to the total against Sunrisers.Royal Challengers were also missing a key player in their last game – AB de Villiers – but their captain ensured his absence was never really felt. Kohli’s century made sure RCB posted a par-plus total at Eden Gardens while Super Kings – without their talisman – fell below this year’s average first-innings score at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium. Should the weather at home co-operate, RCB might just have a good chance to break their losing streak against CSK.MS Dhoni flexes his muscles•BCCITeam newsSuper Kings’ coach Stephen Fleming said on the eve of the match that Dhoni (back spasm) and Bravo’s (hamstring) availability will depend on “how they scrub up” at the end of the training on Saturday. The CSK captain was, however, seen practising his big hits for nearly an hour.De Villiers is understood to still be recovering from taking a bouncer to the head from Jasprit Bumrah and his availability will be subject to a return to full fitness.Previous meetingThe highly-anticipated season opener where these two teams met ended up being one-sided with Super Kings routing the Royal Challengers for 70 on a slow surface at the MA Chidambaram. The hosts had chased it down with 14 balls to spare.Likely XIsRoyal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers/Heinrich Klaasen, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Akshdeep Nath/Shivam Dube, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Mohammed SirajChennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Scott Kuggeleijn/Mitchell Santner, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Imran TahirVirat Kohli paced his fifth IPL century to perfection•BCCIStrategy PuntDe Villiers scored a cracking 30-ball 68 last year against Super Kings in Bengaluru. He had also scored a crucial 14-ball 28 in Royal Challengers’ last win against Super Kings, in 2014. There’s no doubt he’ll slot right back in if he’s fit. So, how can Super Kings stop him? Since IPL 2015, he’s lost his wicket 12 times in 31 games to legspinners. He’s also been having trouble picking the wrong’un, as he was exposed by Rajasthan Royals’ Shreyas Gopal earlier this month. Super Kings could use Tahir, who’s been their highest wicket-taker this season, against him. De Villiers has lost his wicket twice in three IPL games to his South African team-mate, and averages just 19.5 against him. Dhoni boasts an average of 75.8 in IPLs at the M Chinnaswamy. His unbeaten 34-ball 70 had helped Super Kings chase 205 here last year. Royal Challengers could use Dale Steyn to weaken the Dhoni threat, considering the fast bowler has dismissed him twice in seven IPL innings. Stats that matterSuper Kings need one more win to claim the joint-highest consecutive wins against a team. They have seven against Royal Challengers. Kohli has the most runs (738) by any player against Super Kings, but he has not made a 30-plus score against them since their return last year and has averaged just 10.66. In the last three games, Deepak Chahar has leaked 78 runs during Powerplay, bowling a total of eight overs. In the first six matches, he had conceded at an economy rate of just 5.6 in this phase.

Offspinner Anisa Mohammed and wicketkeeper-batsman Merissa Aguilleira, meanwhile, have been dropped

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2019

Hayley Matthews gets down on a knee to send one into the stands•ICC

West Indies women have named a fit-again Hayley Matthews and left-arm pace-bowling allrounder Stacy-Ann King in the 14-member squad that will tour Ireland and England in May-June.Offspinner Anisa Mohammed, who was part of the squads that toured Pakistan and the UAE for the limited-overs series against the former, has been dropped alongside wicketkeeper-batsman Merissa Aguilleira, who had led the T20I side in Karachi in designated captain Stafanie Taylor’s absence.Matthews returns to the national fold after missing both series against Pakistan with an injured medial collateral ligament that she had sustained while playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League last December. She has been named deputy to captain Taylor. King, meanwhile, last played for West Indies in 2016 at the World T20 final against Australia in Kolkata.Interim chairman of selectors Robert Haynes said: “Stacy Ann King’s return to the West Indies Women’s team to tour Ireland and England is no real surprise after her performance during the recently concluded Colonial Medical Insurance Women’s Super50 Cup and CWI’s T20 Blaze tournaments. Her experience is very vital in this very crucial series against England, a series that we must win, so her ability to bowl good left arm swing will be an added dimension to our bowling attack.”Anisa Mohammed and Merissa Aguilleira’s performances in the recent women’s championships weren’t what we expected or how we wanted them to perform, so unfortunately they were not picked on this touring squad. There are other ladies who are vying for these coveted spots, we have three other wicketkeepers who have all been scoring consistently thereby outperforming Merissa.”The fourteen-member squad along with six reserve players will assemble in Antigua from May 6 to 20 for a training camp, before the touring party’s departure to Ireland on May 21. They will play in three T20Is, on May 26, 28 and 29 there before taking on England in three ODIs as part of the ICC Women’s Championships, on June 6, 9 and 13. West Indies will round out the tour with three T20Is against England, to be played on June 18, 21 and 25.West Indies are currently ranked sixth and fourth on the ICC ODI and T20I team rankings, and occupy the seventh spot on the eight-team ICC Women’s Championship table. In their most recent international outings, they had won the T20I series 2-1 against Pakistan, in Karachi, but lost the subsequent ODIs 1-2.Squad: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Hayley Matthews (vice-capt), Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Shakera Selman, Shamilia Connell, Shemaine Campbell, Natasha McLean, Stacy Ann KingReserves: Shabika Gajnabi, Sheneta Grimmond, Reniece Boyce, Britney Cooper, Shanika Bruce, Shawnisha Hector

It has been a real Jekyll and Hyde kind of season for Arsenal so far this year. Just a few weeks ago, they were leaving Anfield with a point and spending Christmas Day atop the Premier League table, and yet after back-to-back league losses, they now find themselves fourth and five points off the top spot.

Worse yet, Mikel Arteta's men then crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool to leave their campaign in limbo.

The biggest problem for the team has been scoring goals, and so, with the transfer window now open, they have been linked to a plethora of forwards and the latest, Bologna's Joshua Zirkzee, has been compared to one of the best players of the Emirates era, Alexis Sanchez.

Arsenal transfer news – Joshua Zirkzee

According to a report from the Daily Telegraph's Sam Dean, Arsenal are looking for a new striker in 2024 and are "keeping a close eye" on Bologna's exciting 22-year-old talisman.

However, the bad news for the Gunners is that it will be a pricey move to complete, as the Serie A side are holding out for offers in the region of £50m, and after the summer of spending that Arsenal had, that could prove difficult.

That said, with the north Londoners still just about in the title race, they might push the boat out and get their man, as his nine goal involvements in 18 starts suggest that he could be a real difference maker.

Moreover, the comparison to former Arsenal star Sanchez might be enough to convince Arteta, as he was still playing for the club when the dynamic forward was blowing teams away.

Zirkzee could be Arsenal's next Sanchez and solve their goalscoring woes

Now, while Sanchez's time with the Gunners ended poorly – to put it mildly – when he was on song, he was magnificent, often winning games single-handedly, having scored 80 goals and provided 45 assists in just 166 games for the club.

So, if an Arsenal-linked forward is to be compared to any player, the Chilean star is pretty good going.

The comparison stems from FBref, which lists the ten most similar players for most footballers in their database. These comparisons are made and ranked based on characteristics that stars share with one another.

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So, the most significant similarities between Sanchez and Zirkzee lie in their passing, dribbling, and positional characteristics. For example, the Dutch forward is among the top 15% of strikers in Europe's top five leagues for attempted passes, while the Inter Milan man is among the top 11%.

Likewise, the "elite" Serie A striker, as described by data analyst Ben Mattinson, is among the top 17% of forwards for successful take-ons, while the former Manchester United winger is among the top 15%, and these are just some of the ways they mirror one another.

That said, while it is always good to measure up with one of the club's most impressive players of the last decade, how do his underlying numbers compare to Gabriel Jesus? As after all, the Brazilian would be his main competition in N5.

Well, in most of the relevant attacking metrics, it's the "out of the world" Zikzee, as described by Mattinson, that comes out on top.

Stats per 90

Zirkzee

Jesus

Expected Goals + Assists

0.44

0.60

Goals

0.40

0.29

Assists

0.11

0.10

Progressive Passes

2.71

2.69

Progressive Carries

1.30

2.02

Goals per Shot on Target

0.33

0.09

Aerial Duels Won

1.02

0.96

All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 Domestic Season

He produces more progressive passes, wins more aerial duels, scores more goals, and produces more assists from a smaller expected goal and assists figure than Jesus.

Ultimately, with the Gunners in real need of a reliable number nine at the moment, Arteta should be pushing hard to get Zirkzee through the door.