Delhi are in the playoffs after a six-year gap, but they are on a roll, while Sunrisers go into the match having won just one of their last five games

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy07-May-20196:53

Vettori: Nabi a good foil for Williamson

Big pictureRemember Sunny Gupta? You know, from the second Qualifier of the 2012 season? When Delhi (then Daredevils, now Capitals) left out Morne Morkel, the Purple Cap holder at the time, and played the little-known aforementioned offspinner, who had never featured in the IPL before?Still don’t remember? Here, have a look at the scorecard.We’re in May 2019 now, seven years on from that landmark day, and Delhi, a rebranded Delhi, are finally back in the IPL playoffs. The name change seems to have done them no harm as far as getting to the playoffs is concerned, but will it change their luck at the pointy end of the tournament? Their record so far in semifinal and playoff matches reads: P4, L4.Thanks to the fine margins of an exceptionally competitive season, Capitals find themselves in the Eliminator even though they ended the league stage with the same points as the two teams in Qualifier 1. There they face a team that ended up on the right side of another net run-rate logjam, Sunrisers Hyderabad.Form guide (most recent first)

Delhi Capitals: beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets, lost to Chennai Super Kings by 80 runs, beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 16 runs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets, lost to Mumbai Indians on the one-over eliminator, beat kings XI Punjab by 45 runs

The venue is Visakhapatnam, ostensibly a neutral one, but one that has previously served as a secondary home ground for Sunrisers, who have won three and lost two of their matches here. It’s often a low-scoring ground – the average first-innings total here is 146, in T20I and IPL games since 2013 – and both seamers (economy rate of 7.0, strike rate of 21.2) and spinners (7.2, 19.8) have good numbers here in the same period.Three of the last five IPL games in Vizag have produced first-innings totals of less than 140 – though there was also one of 206, by Mumbai Indians in 2016 – and in February this year, India very nearly defended 126 against Australia thanks to some Jasprit Bumrah magic.If the pitch plays true to type, it should favour Sunrisers rather than Capitals, who through this season have preferred tracks that allow their batsmen to go out and hit without second-guessing themselves. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi – who’s already had one terrific game against Capitals’ many left-hand batsmen – on a slow turner isn’t their ideal kind of match-up.Then again, Capitals have a fairly robust attack themselves – no Kagiso Rabada anymore, though – and Sunrisers come into this game having won only one of their last five matches. They are without David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, their two biggest run-getters this season, and bar Manish Pandey, most of their other batsmen aren’t in any kind of form.Capitals, on the other hand, have won seven of their last nine games, losing only to the two teams that finished above them on the table. They have form and momentum on their side, but can they overcome tricky conditions – if such is the case – and overturn their own playoffs history?Likely XIsDelhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Keemo Paul/Chris Morris, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Ishant SharmaSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson (capt), 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Sandeep Sharma/Siddarth Kaul/Basil ThampiKhaleel Ahmed congratulates Rashid Khan•BCCIPrevious meetingIt was back on April 14, in Hyderabad, and forties from Colin Munro and Shreyas Iyer took Capitals to 155 for 7. But David Warner and Jonny Bairstow put together another big stand at the top for Sunrisers, this one of 72 runs. Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris and Keemo Paul, however, shared the ten wickets around to five Capitals a 39-run win.Strategy punt Sunrisers have a fairly settled bowling combination, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Rashid and Nabi more or less certain to play. The third seamer’s slot, however, remains up for grabs, with Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi and Siddarth Kaul the likely contenders. Whom should they pick?
The choice could come down to who’s done best in the death (16-20) overs. Thampi is the incumbent, having featured in Sunrisers’ last two league games, but those are the only two games he’s played all season. He didn’t bowl in the death against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and his one over in that phase against Mumbai Indians went for 17.
Both Sandeep (9.2) and Kaul (10.5) have been expensive in the Powerplay overs this season, while Kaul (7.5) has been marginally better than Sandeep (8.1) in the middle overs. At the death, though, there’s been one clear winner between the two, with Sandeep (7.4) returning the best economy rate of all the Sunrisers bowlers (Khaleel and Rashid have also conceded less than eight an over), and Kaul leaking 11.4 runs per over. Axar Patel has been terrific against right-hand batsmen this season (economy rate of 5.84) but nowhere near as good against left-handers, who’ve hit him for 118 runs in 69 balls (10.26 per over) while only being dismissed once. Sunrisers have an almost exclusively right-handed line-up, so they could look to play Abhishek Sharma ahead of Yusuf Pathan in order to unsettle Axar. And it isn’t just Axar; Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma and Keemo Paul have all done significantly better against right-hand batsmen than against left-handers this season. Stats that matter Overall, Sunrisers have a 9-5 head-to-head record against Capitals. Rishabh Pant has a monster record against Bhuvneshwar and Rashid, scoring a combined 111 runs against them off only 57 balls, while being dismissed once. He’s been less successful against Sandeep Sharma, though, only scoring 22 off 22 balls against him without being dismissed. Sunrisers (7.3) and Delhi Capitals (7.8) ended the league stage with the best Powerplay economy rates of all the teams this season. Sunrisers and Capitals were second- and third-best respectively in both the middle and death overs, with only Super Kings ahead of them in those phases.

Right-back Joel Ward has been an excellent servant to Crystal Palace, amassing 351 appearances for the club since his arrival from Portsmouth in 2012. Only Wilfried Zaha (458) and Julian Speroni (405) have played more matches for the Eagles, and Ward remains a key part of Roy Hodgson's side, starting 16 out of 17 Premier League matches this year before he suffered an injury.

However, the 34-year-old veteran is out of contract at the end of the current season, and the same can be said for his fellow full-back Nathaniel Clyne, who's now in his second spell at Selhurst Park after rejoining from Liverpool in 2020. Clyne has played 12 games this season and started the last five in the league in the absence of Ward, but Palace have a decision to make.

Will they offer contract renewals to one or both of the players, or will they let them go? If they go down the latter route, they will of course have to find a replacement, and those efforts may already be underway.

Crystal Palace make contact over Munoz

According to The Daily Mail, Crystal Palace have opened talks to sign Daniel Munoz at Genk. Chairman Steve Parish and Sporting Director Dougie Freedman have "asked" the question regarding the defender's availability as Hodgson looks to strengthen at the back this month.

Palace are "unlikely to be deterred" by a valuation of £10m, and Genk aren't in an especially strong negotiating position because Munoz's contract expires this summer, albeit with an option to extend for a further 12 months.

Prolific Munoz looks like a bargain

Munoz, 27, joined Genk from Colombian side Atletico Nacional in 2020 and has played 147 games for the Belgian club, scoring 19 times and setting up 20 more. This season, he's found the net on seven occasions and added a couple of assists in his 28 outings.

Those numbers are impressive in isolation but they look even better when compared to his peers. No other defender in the Pro League has scored more than three this season (Munoz has five), and better still, only two defenders based in Europe's top 10 leagues – Bayer Leverkusen's Alejandro Grimaldo (nine) and Lokomotiv Moscow's Nair Tiknizyan (eight) – have scored more goals in all competitions in 2023/24. Encouragingly, Munoz also got eight last term, which suggests this is no flash in the pan.

Rank

Player

Club

Goals

1

Alejandro Grimaldo

Bayer Leverkusen

9

2

Nair Tiknizyan

Lokomotiv Moscow

8

3

Daniel Munoz

Genk

7

3

Jeremie Frimpong

Bayer Leverkusen

7

3

Maksim Osipenko

Rostov

7

There's more to his threat than popping up with goals too. He ranked sixth in the league last season for both passes into the final third (189) and progressive passes (238), which highlights his ability to supply the team's danger men. Even with an extremely high attacking output, Munoz doesn't neglect his defensive duties – he ranked 10th in the league for tackles won in 22/23 (46) and also finished runner-up in the blocks leaderboard with 60.

£10m looks like great value for a player with that kind of skillset, and as Munoz nears the end of his deal, it's a sale that could make sense for all parties.

Fast bowler Ali Khan produced his maiden List A five-wicket haul for USA just when they needed it most as his two wickets in the Powerplay were bookended by three more at the death to rally USA to a two-run win over Namibia at Wanderers. The tournaments hosts needed 14 off 12 balls with four wickets in hand when Khan took the ball for his final over in the 49th but he struck three times to turn the match on its head.Namibia’s last-recognized batsman in Christi Viljoen was the first to go in the sequence, pinned in front by a yorker missing a flick across the line for 30. Jan Frylinck put Namibia back in front carving a full toss through cover for four to bring the equation down to seven off eight balls. But Khan struck back bowling him with a full length delivery next ball before Bernard Scholtz ended the 49th skying a drive to Steven Taylor at wide mid-off leaving seven to get by the last pair off the final over bowled by captain Saurabh Netravalkar.After two singles to start the over, Zhivago Groenewald pushed to Taylor at extra cover for a non-existent single but Taylor’s throw from eight yards not only missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end but went for an overthrow to make it three from three needed. However, Groenewald lost his composure on the next ball, setting off when pushing straight back to Netravalkar in his follow-through who underhanded from five yards into the stumps with Groenewald nowhere close.The drama followed a pair of outstanding knocks on a flat batting wicket as Aaron Jones paced USA’s first innings with a chanceless unbeaten 103, his first century for USA. JJ Smit helped pin back USA at the other end claiming 5 for 63.After Khan began the chase dismissing both openers inside five overs, Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus put Namibia into a dominant position with 92 as part of a 149-run third-wicket stand with Jean Bredenkamp, who made 55. But Netravalkar dismissed both in consecutive overs in the 36th and 38th, setting the stage for the wild finish.
Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood scored the second century of the day on the adjacent ground at Affies Park, propelling Oman to a 2-0 start as his side comfortably beat Canada by 99 runs, leaving them the only winless side in the competition after the first two days. Maqsood added 126 with Aqib Ilyas after coming together at 62 for 2 after 15 overs to put their side into a commanding position.Ilyas scored at better than a run a ball for the majority of his innings but slowed down considerably as he neared a century and eventually offered a return catch to the part-time medium pace of Navneet Dhaliwal in the 39th over. Maqsood kicked on though to three figures, reaching the landmark off 98 balls. He finally fell slogging to long-off in the final over but by that stage he’d given Oman more than enough to defend.Bilal Khan had Ruvindu Gunasekera caught behind off the second ball of the chase but Canada fought back behind a half-century from Nitish Kumar at No. 3. At 104 for 3 in the 22nd, Canada were still in a reasonable position but medium pace allrounder Sandeep Goud removed Kumar and then Bhavindu Adhihetty before fellow allrounder Mohammad Nadeem took the prized scalp of captain Davy Jacobs and at 139 for 5, Canada’s tail could not muster up a fight to get them back into the match.Zeeshan Maqsood walks off after notching another century for Oman•Peter Della Penna

In a scoring battle waged by opening batsmen, Tony Ura outdueled Hong Kong captain Anshy Rath as Papua New Guinea notched their first win of the event in tense fashion to beat Hong Kong by three wickets at United CC.Rath gave Hong Kong an outstanding platform after his side were sent in, scoring 85 off 98 balls including a pair of half-century stands with Kinchit Shah and Ahsan Abbasi. But from 155 for 2 in the 34th over, Rath’s wicket at the hands of Nosaina Pokana sparked a dramatic slide for Hong Kong. Ex-captain Babar Hayat fell for 11 to the legspin of Charles Amini and Hong Kong added just 48 off the last 10 overs to settle for a below par 222.Ura bolted out of the gates in the chase for PNG, swatting Tanvir Afzal’s medium pace for a pair of sixes in the first over and needed just 40 balls to reach a half-century. Ura added 71 for the first wicket with Sese Bau across the first 15 overs to put PNG on course for victory before falling at the end of the 31st over to Ehsan Khan, who triggered a middle-order slide to bring Hong Kong back in it with four wickets.But at 163 for 6, Hong Kong couldn’t finish off the tail. Chad Soper and Jason Kila held their nerve to add 58 for the seventh wicket before Soper fell with two needed to win. No. 8 batsman Kila saw PNG across the line, ending unbeaten on 36 off 42 balls.

Chelsea are reportedly interested in signing Fulham's Tosin Adarabioyo as a free agent this summer.

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Adarabioyo set to depart FulhamNewcastle, Chelsea show interestMan Utd also interested in free agentGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Adarabioyo announced his decision not to renew with Fulham earlier this year, and as such, a lot of clubs have shown interest in the defender. One such club has been Eddie Howe's Newcastle United, who are looking to make the 26-year-old their first signing this season alongside Lloyd Kelly.

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As per reports from iNews, Chelsea are now pondering upon a move for Adarabioyo as they look to plug the gap left by the departure of veteran centre-back Thiago Silva. Chelsea are still managerless after parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the Premier League season and may not be able to strike before Newcastle sign the defender. However, Adarabioyo will know that the prospect of playing for Chelsea could provide a better platform to get international recognition and could wait for the Blues.

DID YOU KNOW?

Manchester United are another club that is showing interest in the centre-back this summer with the departure of Raphael Varane confirmed and Jonny Evans' future at the club uncertain. Adarabioyo is a native of Manchester and could potentially be enticed into a move back home but to his boyhood club, Manchester City's rival.

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WHAT NEXT FOR ADARABIOYO?

It is possible that Adarabioyo's situation could be on hold for Chelsea until the end of their hunt for a new manager, and the same could be the situation for Man Utd, with Erik ten Hag's future at the club still uncertain. In the meantime, Newcastle will look to draw first blood and gain the upper hand in negotiations.

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo tem a segunda semana seguida livre para treinamentos na temporada. Depois da derrota para o Novorizontino, por 2 a 1, fora de casa, a primeira no estadual, os jogadores tiveram folga no último domingo e nesta segunda-feira, algo já programado pela comissão técnica de Hernán Crespo.

Espaço ficou vazio: lembre todos os patrocinadores máster do São Paulo

A princípio, o clube seguirá com a rotina normal de treinamentos nesta semana. O Tricolor espera as definições da reunião da Federação Paulista com o Ministério Público, para saber se irá modificar a programação dependendo dos rumos que o Campeonato Paulista tomar.

CONFIRA A TABELA ATUALIZADA DO CAMPEONATO PAULISTA DE 2021!

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Vale ressaltar que o São Paulo é a única equipe dos quatro grandes paulistas que não joga no meio da semana, o que pode ajudar na recuperação física dos atletas e também em um maior entrosamento com o estilo de jogo do técnico Hernán Crespo, que vem mostrando bons resultados no começo da temporada.

O Santos enfrenta o Deportivo Lara, na Venezuela, terça-feira, pela Libertadores, o Corinthians joga diante do Salgueiro, na quarta, na Copa do Brasil, e o Palmeiras, próximo adversário do Tricolor, duela diante do São Bento, em Minas Gerais, pelo jogo atrasado do Campeonato Paulista, também na quarta-feira.

Cabe destacar que não é por falta de competições que o Tricolor não está atuando. Por já ter classificado para a fase de grupos da Libertadores, o São Paulo só estreia na competição no próximo mês. Já na Copa do Brasil, o Tricolor entrará somente na terceira fase da competição.

Crystal Palace have until Thursday night to add to their first-team squad as Steve Parish looks to bolster Roy Hodgson's side before the January transfer window slams shut.

Crystal Palace transfer news

A new right-back appears to be on the cards as Genk defender Daniel Munoz is reportedly on the verge of an £8.5m switch to Selhurst Park this week. The Eagles have also made an enquiry over a possible deal to sign Birmingham central midfielder Jordan James, who is valued at £10m by his current club.

They look set to battle it out with fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have also enquired about the Wales international, whilst Atalanta have already seen an offer of £3m turned down by the Championship outfit this month.

A central midfielder is on the agenda for Palace as they are also reportedly keen to strike an agreement with Blackburn Rovers for young ace Adam Wharton.

Adam Wharton transfer update

According to Football Insider, the Eagles are currently in pole position to secure his services before the transfer window slams shut on Thursday. The report claims that the club have not been put off by their opening offer of £18.5m being turned down by the Championship side earlier this month.

Parish is now plotting a new bid for the England U20 international and is 'very keen' to wrap up a deal before this week's deadline passes, rather than waiting until the end of the season to bring him to London.

Blackburn do not want to lose their star midfielder, though, and are holding out for a fee of £25m, which is £6.5m more than the club's first bid. Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves, and Newcastle United are also said to be keen on the 19-year-old dynamo, and that may be why Parish is eager to do a deal as quickly as possible to avoid losing out to their Premier League rivals.

Palace want Wharton in ahead of the second half of the season due to Cheick Doucoure's Achilles injury that ruled him out of action for around six months in November of 2023.

Tackles per game

1.2

1.6

Interceptions per game

2.3

2.3

Duel success rate

50%

54%

Assists

Three

Three

Key passes per game

1.3

0.8

As you can see in the table above, the Blackburn star's current performances in the Championship are similar to the displays that the Eagles ace produced in the top-flight last term. Like Doucoure, Wharton is a midfielder who can put his foot in to cut out opposition attacks on a regular basis, whilst he also has the quality to make things happen for his teammates in the final third with assists and key passes.

The teenage dynamo, who currently ranks within the top 10% of Championship midfielders for tackles (2.76) per 90 this season, was once hailed as "complete" by talent scout Jacek Kulig and his statistics back that up, as he can produce quality at both ends of the pitch.

Wharton could, therefore, be excellent cover for Doucoure in the short-term if he can make the step up to Premier League football, whilst also being a long-term asset with the potential to grow and develop at the age of just 19.

Glasgow Rangers signed off for the winter break with a convincing 3-1 win over Kilmarnock on Tuesday thanks to goals from Ross McCausland, Abdallah Sima, and Todd Cantwell.

The Light Blues remain eight points adrift of rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table but still have two games in hand over them.

Philippe Clement has already secured one trophy in charge of the club – the League Cup – and will be eyeing up more pieces of silverware before the end of the season.

He could look to use the January transfer window, which has already brought the arrival of Fabio Silva on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, to add to his options.

The Belgian head coach has confirmed that the Gers will be "very active" as they look at plenty of potential signings to bolster their squad.

Rangers transfer news – Owen Beck

It was recently reported by DaveOCKOP that the Gers are one of the clubs eyeing up a possible swoop to sign Liverpool left-back Owen Beck.

The impressive youngster spent the first half of the 2023/24 campaign on loan with Dundee in Scotland and the Reds decided to activate a break clause in that deal to bring him back to Anfield this month.

This has opened up the door for other teams to pursue a temporary move for the young defender and Celtic and Rangers are both said to be keen on a loan for his services during the second half of the season.

It is said that Jurgen Klopp will give Beck an opportunity to impress him this month whilst Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas both remain out injured.

However, if Robertson is able to return to first-team action before the end of January then they could decide to loan the talented gem out and Celtic and Rangers would then 'battle' it out to secure his signature to bolster their respective squads.

Left-back is an area of the squad that could need surgery this year as experienced Croatia international Borna Barisic is out of contract at the end of the season.

His current deal at Ibrox is due to expire at the end of May and this means that he is currently free to speak to foreign clubs to put pen to paper on a pre-contract ahead of the summer.

Unless Rangers agree a new deal with the Croatian battler, this window is their last opportunity to recoup some money on him if they decide to cash in over the coming weeks.

Clement could finally ditch Barisic with Rangers swoop for £5.2m whiz

The Croatian full-back is out of contract at the end of the current season.

By
Dan Emery

Jan 3, 2024

Meanwhile, Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has reported that Hellas Verona are interested in a deal to sign Ridvan Yilmaz from the Scottish giants.

They are in the market for a left-back and have identified the Turkey international as a target, although there is no suggestion that the Gers are willing, or looking, to sell him.

Whether the club decide to move Yilmaz on or not, Clement and recruitment chief Nils Koppen could land a big upgrade on Yilmaz by winning the race for Beck's signature.

Ridvan Yilmaz's season in numbers

The 22-year-old dynamo has finally had a decent run of appearances in the first-team for Rangers this season after a difficult first year at the club.

He only played nine Premiership matches, and started eight, in the 2022/23 campaign after his permanent move from Besiktas in the summer of 2022.

The Turkish full-back has already beaten that tally this term with 13 league appearances and nine starts after 20 matchdays for the Gers.

Yilmaz has showcased his attacking quality from left-back with one assist and 1.8 key passes per match to go along with four 'big chances' created in total.

He has also had to do his fair share of defending with 1.9 tackles and interceptions combined and 3.7 ball recoveries per match across his 13 outings.

Opposition players have been able to dribble past him 0.8 times per game and the former Besiktas man has won 55% of his duels in total, which shows that he has been able to handle the physical nature of Scottish football this term.

Rangers could now land a big upgrade on Yilmaz by swooping to sign Beck from Liverpool, as the youngster has outperformed the former Besiktas man in the Premiership so far this season.

Owen Beck's season in numbers

The 21-year-old whiz caught the eye during the first half of the campaign whilst on loan at Dundee before the Reds decided to recall him at the start of the month.

Beck established himself as a regular starter down the left flank with 17 starts in what was just his second first-team loan, after five appearances in League One with Bolton last term.

22/23 League One	Beck at Bolton (via Sofascore)
Appearances	Five
Starts	Two
Goals	Zero
Assists	Zero
Duel success rate	28%

The Welsh dynamo produced more quality as an attacking force than Yilmaz with two goals, two assists, and 2.0 key passes per match for Dundee.

This shows that he has the ability to provide a greater threat at the top end of the pitch as the Liverpool youngster could offer more as a goal threat and create chances for his teammates more frequently.

Beck, who was once described as a "spectacular" left-back by talent scout Jacek Kulig, also showcased his terrific defensive qualities for the Scottish side.

The Gers target made an outstanding 4.2 tackles and interceptions combined and 4.9 ball recoveries per match in his 17 starts for Dundee, whilst he also came out on top in 55% of his duels.

These statistics indicate that Beck could cut out far more opposition attacks per game than Yilmaz with his ability to make defensive interventions at left-back to win possession back for his team.

Therefore, the £2.8k-per-week ace could be a big upgrade on the current Gers defender due to his superior output as both an offensive and defensive contributor, which has been proven in the Scottish top-flight already this season.

However, this does not mean that Rangers should cash in on Yilmaz amid interest from Hellas Verona as he could compete with Beck for a starting spot, whilst Barisic could be moved on as the Croatian veteran heads towards the end of his contract with the club.

A quiet January transfer window could be about to spring into life for Leicester City with Luke Thomas' loan move to Middlesborough potentially followed up by what could be an impressive new incoming. Reports suggest that a deal is set to be finalised to welcome a fresh face for Enzo Maresca.

Leicester transfer news

Amid speculation that Rangers made contact in an attempt to sign Thomas, Middlesborough swooped in to land the full-back. Thomas spent the first half of the season in the Premier League with Sheffield United. Failing to make the desired impact, he returned to The King Power before getting his second loan move of the campaign.

Following the left-back's departure, Leicester can return their attention towards potential incomings. The Foxes have just under a week remaining until the January window slams shut and are yet to complete a single move. That could be about to change, however, with reports suggesting that they're finalising their first deal of the month.

According to FC Inter News, Leicester are finalising a move to sign Stefano Sensi, with club chiefs on the phone today to get the deal over the line. A medical is reportedly being organised for the Inter Milan midfielder, who looks more and more likely to arrive in a deal worth just €2m (£1.7m), possibly paid in two stages. The deal is supposedly on course to reach completion as early as tonight following weeks of rumours.

Seven points clear at the top of the Championship, Leicester could be about to land a player ready to seal the title, before making a further impact in the Premier League, given the experience that he has playing at the top level for Inter over the years.

"Crazy" Sensi has Premier League quality

Whilst it's easy to forget about Sensi's talent due to his struggle for game time at Inter Milan this season, this is a player who possesses the quality to secure the Championship title for Leicester before helping them to survive and more in the Premier League. When handed a consistent opportunity on loan at AC Monza last season, Sensi's stats highlighted just what he's capable of. Here's how his numbers in that season compare to Harry Winks' in the current campaign:

Stefano Sensi 2022/23

Harry Winks 2023/24

Progressive Carries Per 90

1.50

1.64

Progressive Passes Per 90

7.94

6.21

Tackles Won Per 90

1.44

1.04

Interceptions Per 90

1.11

0.82

The forthcoming arrival has certainly impressed Football Talent Scout's Jacek Kulig too, who previously posted on X:

With that said, Maresca could form the perfect midfield partnership between Sensi and Winks, which may help the Foxes forget any relegation fears as early as possible if they're in the Premier League next season.

Frustration for West Indies after day of disputed decisions in closely-fought defeat at Trent Bridge

Melinda Farrell in Nottingham06-Jun-2019Michael Holding has slammed the umpiring during West Indies’ loss to Australia as “atrocious”, while Carlos Brathwaite described some decisions as “frustrating” and “dodgy” and suggested that West Indies players are on the wrong end of decisions more often than their opponents. He denied, however, that the decisions had cost them the match in a hard-fought 15-run defeat to Australia at Trent Bridge.The umpires, Chris Gaffaney and Ruchira Palliyaguruge, had four decisions overturned between them and Gaffaney also missed a blatant front foot no-ball from Mitchell Starc that preceded the delivery that claimed the wicket of Chris Gayle. If the no-ball had been called, Gayle would have had a free hit on what was ultimately the wicket-ball.”I don’t know if I’ll be fined for saying it but I just think that the umpiring was a bit frustrating,” said Brathwaite. “Even when we were bowling we thought a few balls close to head height were called wides. And obviously three decisions in one over as far as I can remember being dodgy, it was frustrating and sent ripples through the dressing room.”To lose Chris in a chase of 280, who can probably get 180 of them himself obviously, broke the start that we wanted to have. But the umpires do their job, they try to do it to the best of their ability, we as players go out there to do our job as well, so there was no confrontation between the players and the umpires.”Holding, commentating on the ICC’s world television feed, was even more scathing, extending his criticism to the umpires’ handling of the Australian bowlers’ appeals for wickets.”The umpiring in this game has been atrocious,” Holding said. “For one, even when I was playing and you were not as strict as they are now, you were allowed one appeal. You don’t appeal two, three, four times to the umpire.””They are being intimidated which means they are weak.””This has been an atrocious bit of umpiring by both [Gaffaney and Palliyaguruge].”In all, Gayle reviewed three decisions – two in one over and all off the bowling of Starc – and had the first two overturned. On the first occasion, Gaffaney gave him out caught behind only for the replay to show the audible sound of ball on wood had come from the ball shaving the stumps but somehow not dislodging the bails. Gayle reviewed twice more, both for lbw decisions by Gaffaney, before being given out. But it wasn’t until the ball preceding the wicket was replayed on television that the West Indies players realised that Starc had overstepped by a considerable margin.Watch on Hotstar: Highlights from Australia’s 15-run win”I saw it on the screen in the dressing room, and I just laughed, man,” said captain Jason Holder. “I couldn’t believe it. But again, I guess things didn’t go our way today.”Palliyaguruge had two on-field decisions overturned later in the innings. The first was reviewed by Holder when he was given out lbw sweeping to Glenn Maxwell, the ball just pitching outside leg. Holder successfully reviewed once more, attempting to sweep Adam Zampa, with ball-tracker showing the ball would have comfortably missed leg stump.”I think I’ll just say I just found ourselves a bit unlucky to be on the other end of all the decisions,” said Holder. “I guess honest mistakes from the umpires, I don’t want to get into the officiating part, but it’s just ironic. I don’t even know what to say about it, but it is a funny situation where all of them went against us, and then we had to review them, but I guess that’s part of the game again.”Brathwaite suggested it was not unusual for umpiring decisions to go against West Indies players and this match was just the latest example.”I just think I’d like that for West Indies, we don’t have to use all our reviews and that some of the other teams get a chance to use theirs because every time we get hit on our pad the finger goes up. When we hit the opposition on their pad, the finger stays down.”So we have to use our reviews and it’s always missing and then we have to use our reviews when we’re batting as well and it’s always clipping. I’m not a technology person, I don’t know why that happens, I can just say what I have seen happen over the past few years.”While Gayle’s wicket may have been a huge blow early on in the West Indies’ chase, Braithwaite didn’t blame the missed no-ball for the eventual 15-run loss to Australia.”No, I wouldn’t say that, we had eight other wickets after that and it was incumbent on us to go out there and deliver a performance which we didn’t, for whatever reasons we will discuss and try to rectify for the next game,” said Brathwaite. “Did it hamper the start? It definitely did but it didn’t cost us the game.””Whatever is to be done will be done, whatever is to be seen will be seen. But as players we just need to get on with it. Obviously we were frustrated but the message in the dressing room was ‘let the frustration end here and concentrate on the next ball’, which we tried to do and evidently Australia came out on top.”

نجح فريق شتوتجارت في تسجيل هدف التعادل في شباك فريق ريال مدريد، في مباراتهما الجارية حاليًا، في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويستضيف ملعب “سانتياجو برنابيو” مباراة الفريقين في إطار منافسات الجولة الأولى من دوري أبطال أوروبا، موسم 2024/25 (لمتابعة اللقاء من هنا).

وتمكن شتوتجارت من تسجيل هدف التعادل، في شباك ريال مدريد، في الدقيقة 68 من عمر المباراة.

جاء الهدف عن طريق اللاعب دينيز أونديف، بعد عرضية من لويلينج وصلت إلى زميله ليلعب كرة رأسية تدخل في شباك كورتوا وتسفر عن التعادل لشتوتجارت. هدف تعادل شتوتجارت أمام ريال مدريد في دوري أبطال أوروبا

كان كيليان مبابي قد سجل هدف تقدم ريال مدريد، في الشوط الثاني، في الدقيقة 46.