Tottenham Hotspur will be desperate to return to the Champions League next season but truthfully the appointment of Ange Postecoglou is enough to spark optimism in north London for years to come.

Will Spurs secure top four? It's a big question at this stage. Are they in a better place than last season? Most certainly. Fourth in the Premier League after 24 matches, ahead of Aston Villa by just a point, Tottenham have put the malaise of the 2022/23 campaign behind them.

Postecoglou's ideology on the pitch captured the awe throughout the opening months of the term, and while a tough period throughout November and December snuffed out credible title aspirations, there are certainly some promising signs looking forward.

Fast-flowing, dominant football forms the nucleus of the Australian's tactical preference and it is something that has been "non-negotiable" – by his own admission – when setting his squad up.

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His work on the transfer front has been the buttressing to fuel the exciting new era, the likes of James Maddison and Micky van de Ven arriving and charging an outfit that had flopped to an eighth-placed finish last season.

The 58-year-old has shipped out much deadwood but he will be thankful he never had to deal with Serge Aurier, who departed one year earlier after a terrible time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs' signing of Serge Aurier

Over the years, there have been a range of missteps in the transfer market down the N17, and while the £63m purchase of Tanguy Ndombele and the previous club-record deal of Davinson Sanchez, for around £42m, these heavy-outlay blunders are not the only regretful buys to litter the club's path.

Joining from Paris Saint-Germain for £23m back in August 2017, Ivorian full-back Aurier, then aged 24, was lined up as the direct replacement to the outgoing Kyle Walker, who had been targetted by Pep Guardiola's Manchester City ahead of a £50m acquisition.

Trailed by a spate of issues and controversies, Aurier was at least a talented player on the pitch and had racked up 81 appearances for the French giants, scoring five goals and supplying 15 assists and winning a wealth of major honours – including two Ligue 1 titles.

At his best, when breaking through to the forefront of the European game, Aurier was blessed with eye-catching athleticism and an all-round skill set that underpin his suitability to a prominent role in the Premier League, and while he had his moments in Spurs white, they were few and far between, interspersed with too many moments of lost face.

Worse than Reguilon

Across his time at Tottenham, Aurier chalked up 110 outings, posting eight goals and 17 assists in all competitions, and while this return certainly isn't a poor output, he was chastised by the likes of pundit Jamie Carragher for his woeful performances.

The former Liverpool star said: "Aurier is maybe one of the biggest liabilities in Premier League football and is a player who would possibly put you off management with the amount of crazy decisions he makes.

"We know what happened with the goal, he ends up running off the pitch allowing Sterling – the worst thing you can do – on that right foot almost get the goal."

Definitely one of Tottenham's worst full-back signings in recent memory, Aurier was even worse than Sergio Reguilon, who completed a move that could rise to £32m from Real Madrid back in 2020.

The Spaniard, still on Tottenham's books (on loan at Brentford), has been called "average" and the "worst of the bunch" by pundit Jon Wenham but he still has age on his side – 27 years old – and has endured a tough time on the injury front to stifle his progress.

He's also been believed to be on a £53k-per-week salary during his time at Tottenham; Aurier, by comparison, was on a healthy wage of £78k-per-week when departing French football for England's capital.

Serge Aurier's post-Spurs career

Aurier's contract was never renewed and at the end of the 2020/21 season – one year before his deal concluded – a mutual termination allowed him to spend a year in Spain with Villarreal.

That didn't work out either and in 2022 Nottingham Forest offered the 31-year-old a Premier League lifeline, snapping him up on a free transfer after a landslide few years.

Date

Market Value

07/2017

£23m

07/2018

£15m

07/2019

£8m

07/2020

£11m

07/2021

£12m

07/2022

£4m

07/2023

£2m

01/2024

£4m

Source: Football Transfers

As the table shows, the 5 foot 9 flop never lived up to the potential when Spurs chairman Daniel Levy unloaded a relatively large sum on his services, since depreciating further and further to mirror an ineffectiveness on the pitch.

In the video above, Nottingham Forest rebounded from an opening-day defeat this season against Arsenal to sink newly-promoted Sheffield United.

It was Aurier's brilliant creativity that ensured the hosts picked up all three points, two delightful looping crosses for forward Taiwo Awoniyi and Chris Wood the decisive moments.

Such balls stem from the quality that Tottenham know has always been within Aurier's grasp, but his impetuous nature and startling lack of consistency stopped him from ever reaching his potential on English shores.

Once heckled for his "criminal" defensive awareness by former Spurs man Michael Dawson, Aurier's is one of many acquisitions that fell wide of the mark and the hope now is that a new era brings a new sheen of diligence and prosperity.

There's a long way to go, but it does appear that Levy has found the formula in Postecoglou to ensure that such wayward transfer ventures are avoided for good, Aurier used as the touchstone for dreadful deals worth veering clear of going forward.

Hungary have confirmed that Baranbas Varga is to undergo surgery on a facial fracture and will not figure again at Euro 2024.

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Striker required urgent medical attentionTaken to hospital for further treatmentIn stable condition & starting recoveryGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

The 29-year-old required urgent medical attention after competing for a high ball during the Group A clash with Scotland. He was caught as Angus Gunn attempted to punch the ball clear, with team-mates immediately alarmed by Varga’s condition as he lay prone on the pitch.

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A protective screen was erected using blankets, in order to give the player and physios some privacy, with Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai in tears before Varga was stretchered from the field and taken to hospital. It was later announced that Varga was conscious and “stable” in a Stuttgart medical facility.

GettyWHAT HUNGARY SAID

A further statement from the Hungarian football federation read: “Several bones in Barnabas Varga’s face were broken during the collision during the match, and he also suffered a concussion. The Ferencvaros striker is most likely to undergo surgery. He spends the night in the hospital in Stuttgart. The whole team is rooting for him!”

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Hungary boss Marco Rossi said of the scary incident: “I do not know if he suffered a clash with the goalkeeper or another opponent because it was a confusing situation. That is also why the VAR checked if there was a penalty or not. What I heard from the players was that Barnay in that moment looked not conscious. Everybody was really worried about his condition and also worried about the fact the doctors arrived a little bit late, shall we say. They probably didn’t realise it was a dangerous situation. Fortunately now we can say Barnay is not under any kind of risk. Probably he will be operated on in the following hours because he suffered a fracture. The most important thing is he is healthy. For sure, if we go through in this competition he will not be part of the team any more.”

Tottenham Hotspur are only five points better off in the Premier League this season than they were last year, but Ange Postecoglou is clearly shifting the cogs to chart a course to success unseen in many years.

A painful reminder, but unless Tottenham pull off a sensational and implausible title triumph, a barren trophy drought will stretch to 16 successive seasons without silverware.

This interminable wait for the unbridled joy that one of the game's major honours would bring rages on, but Postecoglou arrived in the summer to steer the ship back on course and has navigated through several obstacles to instil his vision and give the squad an identity.

Harry Kane ended his career-long affiliation with the London club in August and headed for the footballing riches Bayern Munich can offer, but Heung-min Son was handed the primary talismanic role and Spurs spent shrewdly to counter the blow.

Micky van de Ven and shot-stopper Guglielmo Vicario proved excellent pieces of business to shore up a defence that leaked goals like a ruptured container, but it is the capture of James Maddison from relegated Leicester City that has been the centremost success of Postecoglou's reign so far.

Why Tottenham signed James Maddison

Signed for £40m in June, Tottenham saw an opportunity following the Foxes' demise in 2022/23 and snatched it, bypassing lasting interest from wealthy Newcastle United to steal away with one of the Premier League's standout playmakers.

Last season, Leicester fell into the second tier on the final day but Maddison emerged with his head held high, posting ten goals and nine assists from just 28 starting appearances.

He also ranks among the top 5% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists and progressive passes and the top 1% for shot-creating actions per 90, as per FBref, making good on praise from pundit Jermaine Jenas that he is "on the verge" of being world-class.

The £170k-per-week star started life in London with a bang, crowned the Premier League's Player of the Month for August and having now plundered three goals and six assists from 13 matches, also completing 86% of his passes and averaging 2.8 key passes per game.

With Heung-min Son and Richarlison raking in goals for Postecoglou's side this season, Maddison's efficiency in his creative endeavours has proved invaluable for the club's progress this term, and he's undoubtedly one of Tottenham's most important and influential members.

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He's not, however, the Spurs star with the highest market value right now, that tag lies with Dejan Kulusevski, who has been phenomenal this season and is arguably Postecoglou's most underrated ace.

Tottenham's signing of Dejan Kulusevski

Spurs captured Kulusevski and centre-midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus back in 2022, with the former joining on an initial 18-month loan.

An electric start to life on English shores saw the Sweden international clinch five goals and eight assists across the latter half of the 2021/22 Premier League season, but he was very much at the core of Spurs' issues last term and scored twice from 37 outings in all competitions, said to be "blowing hot and cold" by pundit Glenn Murray.

The 23-year-old has always been regarded as a high-class talent and there was clearly a tacit belief that he would return to the forefront under Postecoglou's wing, with a £25m permanent transfer agreed upon last summer.

Dejan Kulusevski's market value now

Typically found on the right wing but capable of doing fine work centrally, Kulusevski is actually considered to be Tottenham's most valuable player by Football Transfers and this is an illustration of his prowess and unrelenting energy – the very quintessence of his manager's fluid, guns-blazing approach.

Tottenham: Most Valuable Players
#	Player	Market Value
1.	Dejan Kulusevski	£46m
2.	Brennan Johnson	£40m
3.	James Maddison	£34m
4.	Heung-min Son	£33m
5.	Richarlison	£32m
Source: Football Transfers

More valuable than Maddison (who, admittedly, is sure to see a sharp rise in the near future), Kulusevski is versatile and dynamic and is finally flourishing with the kind of constancy that portends an illustrious future at the top of the game.

As per Sofascore, the 6 foot 1 phenom has scored five goals and supplied two assists from 21 matches in the top flight this year, though his brilliance stretches far beyond the constraints of direct goal contributions.

Indeed, he has also completed 83% of his passes, averaged 1.7 tackles, 4.3 ball recoveries and 4.2 successful duels per fixture, leading Sky Sports journalist Jamie Weir to state: "Dejan Kulusevski really is a special special player. Works so hard, covers every blade of grass. Hell of an engine on him, and just so much heart."

The former Juve starlet also ranks among the top 18% of positional peers for tackles made per 90 to emphasise the application that has made him such an indispensable figure for his side.

Tottenham: Big Chances Created PL 23/24
#	Player	Stat
1.	Heung-min Son	11
2.	Pedro Porro	10
3.	Dejan Kulusevski	8
4.	James Maddison	6
5.	Brennan Johnson	4
Source: Premier League

With tools to inflict damage on opposition from many, many angles, Kulusevski is sure to feature at the centre of Tottenham's projected rise under their Australian manager, and while he doesn't have the finishing ability of Son, or the raw creative excellence of Maddison, he is undoubtedly one of the most important ingredients in the Spurs side – the flour in the cake, if you like, vital and unseen.

The acquisitions of both players are just an illustration of the upward curve that Spurs are seeking to continue, embarking on a new journey under new leadership with a fresh vision and rekindled optimism.

Next summer, Levy will bolster Tottenham's ranks further, with centre-forward and central midfield signings likely, and given the judiciousness that is at the centre of the recent business, the future looks bright and the likes of Kulusevski will be at the heart of it.

Arsenal are a team that prides itself on the promotion of youth.

Be it Bukayo Saka, Tony Adams, Liam Brady or David Rocastle, every generation has had at least a few homegrown gems that help build a stronger connection between the fans and the team.

However, while football can provide players and supporters with moments of unbridled joy, it can also be crushingly cruel, and where a few players go on to fulfil their promise and make it to the very top, there are hundreds who just don’t.

There have been plenty of such players at Arsenal in recent years, but there is one who was compared to Patrick Vieira and expected to do great things – both at the club and when he left – but it just hasn’t worked out that way.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide's record at Arsenal

The player in question is former Arsenal youngster Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who joined the Gunners in the summer of 2015 from French outfit RC Lens as part of a £3m deal that also saw Yassin Fortune join the youth side.

It didn’t take long for the young Frenchman to impress his new fans either, as he took part in that summer’s Emirates Cup and put in a barnstorming performance against a Wolfsburg side that had a certain Kevin De Bruyne at the heart of it.

GK – Petr Cech

RB – Hector Bellerin

CB – Calum Chambers

CB – Gabriel Paulista

LB – Nacho Monreal

CM- Mikel Arteta

CM – Santi Cazorla

LM – Jeff Reine-Adelaide

CAM – Mesut Ozil

RM – Jack Wilshere

ST – Theo Walcott

The then-17-year-old provided the assist for Theo Walcott’s opening goal of the game and was described as “something special” by manager Arsène Wenger in the aftermath.

Over the next two years, the promising youngster would make eight competitive appearances for the first team but fail to score a single goal or provide any assists, and while Mikel Arteta described him as possessing “really big potential” and as having “all the attributes to become a really good player”, the north Londoners opted to sell him to Ligue 1 side Angers in July 2018 following a successful sixth-month loan spell at the club from January.

In his full season with Les Scoïstes, the Champigny-sur-Marne-born midfielder made 36 first-team appearances, scored three goals, provided three assists, and, after scoring a goal and providing an assist in his first league game of the 2019/20 season, he made a £23m move to French giants Lyon.

The Gunners made around £5m themselves thanks to a clause in the deal that saw him leave in 2018, but while the move was ideal for them, it would be quite the opposite for the player himself.

What Jeff Reine-Adelaide is doing now

Despite being compared to the immensely talented Vieira during his short time in England thanks to ‘his assurance on the ball and insistence of driving forward in possession’, combined with his ‘unnatural running style’ and most likely his nationality, Reine-Adelaide couldn’t make the step-up to playing regularly for Lyon.

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In his first season with the side, he made just 22 appearances, scored two goals, provided three assists and had to deal with a cruciate ligament tear that caused him to miss 19 games and 198 days of action.

With questions lingering about whether he was of the level to play for Lyon following his underwhelming first season, he was sent out on loan to OGC Nice for the 2020/21 campaign.

While things started well enough with five goal involvements in 18 games, the youngster was once again blighted with injury as he suffered a second cruciate ligament tear, only this time it led him to miss a whopping 47 games and 341 days over the latter half of the campaign and the first half of 2021/22.

It was during this period that Reine-Adelaide revealed he had thoughts of simply retiring from professional football, telling L’Equipe (via Get French Football News): “Yes, I have to say that it crossed my mind, I had it at the back of my mind. But my mentality is that of a winner, not a loser, that’s why it only crossed my mind.

“It’s the most difficult time I’ve experienced. I was alone at the hospital for a month, without being able to have visitors.”

The following two years saw him make a grand total of 33 appearances between Lyon and Troyes, who he joined on loan in 2022/23, but he still managed just two assists in that time.

Angers SCO

47

4

4

0.17

Lyon

48

2

4

0.12

OGC Nice

18

1

4

0.27

Troyes

6

0

1

0.16

RWD Molenbeek

19

1

2

0.15

The 6 foot midfielder finally parted ways with Les Gones permanently in September 2023, when recently promoted Belgian Pro League side RWD Molenbeek signed him on a one-year deal in what looked like a move that could save the talented player’s future.

Six months into his spell, Reine-Adelaide has made 19 appearances for the team – 17 of which have been starts – and while he has only registered three goal involvements, and picked up a red card in his 16th game, he appears to be a relatively important player to the team.

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The only problem is that Les Coalisés are currently three points from safety, so there is a distinct possibility that the player once described as “special” by Wenger and compared to Vieira by the press could be playing in the second tier of Belgian football next season. If they renew his deal, that is.

Ultimately, while he certainly had some trouble recreating his form from Angers at Lyon, it’s impossible not to look at his injuries and wonder what could have been had he had better luck.

Derby County have quite the reputation for giving their young starlets an opportunity to impress on the first-team stage, with a number of their star performers this season once just emerging academy prospects.

Both Max Bird and Eiran Cashin came through the youth ranks in Derbyshire, with the duo now some of the first names on Paul Warne's teamsheet at Pride Park this season and for good reason.

Bird in particular has impressed this campaign in League One – picking up five goals and seven assists in the third tier – which has seen the promising central midfielder win a move up to the Championship in the summer with Bristol City.

Derby will be planning for the long-term now knowing Bird will pack his bag for pastures new in Bristol soon, with one exciting Rams prospect nearing more senior minutes potentially when the 23-year-old star does inevitably up and leave.

Adebayo Fapetu's statistics at youth level

Adebayo Fapetu – who was previously on the books at Arsenal as a youngster – has excelled in the youth set-up at Derby ever since leaving north London behind in 2021.

For the Derby U18s before being bumped up to the U21 fold, the teenage starlet managed to amass six goals and six assists from 43 appearances.

Nine of those goal contributions would come in one single season for the youthful Rams, Fapetu taking the U18 Premier League by storm during the 2022/23 campaign with five goals and four assists notched up.

Able to play in an attacking midfield spot and further back in a holding role on top of gliding around the pitch in a conventional middle-of-the-park role, Fapetu has gone on to make three senior Rams appearances.

Highly thought of in Pride Park quarters, it could be argued that the exciting 19-year-old has shades of Will Hughes' game in his locker who has gone on to have an established career in the Premier League after making a name for himself in Derbyshire as a homegrown talent.

Derby could have their next Will Hughes

Current Crystal Palace midfielder Hughes would fill in wherever necessary for Derby in midfield during his celebrated time with the club, even playing down the right and left channels on occasion to plug gaps.

Fapetu has given the Derby U21s this season a similarly adaptable presence to rely upon, even featuring as a second striker in one Premier League 2 encounter against Nottingham Forest U21s.

Fapetu's appearances by position this season

Position played

Games played

Central midfield

6

Attacking midfield

2

Defensive midfield

2

Second striker

1

Sourced by Transfermarkt

The teenager has also worn the captain's armband at U21 level this campaign twice, with Hughes going on to be a leader in the middle of the park for Derby without ever having that honour at 187 first-team appearances.

With Bird off in the summer, Warne could do a lot worse than to try and start bedding Fapetu into more games to see what he's made of in the hustle and bustle of League One.

The Rams boss would hope that Fapetu could spark a formidable partnership with new fan's favourite Ebou Adams in midfield, with the Pride Park faithful already wanting the Cardiff City loanee to stick around permanently after impressing early into his Derby loan spell.

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Winning an impressive 12 duels in Derby's 1-0 win against Stevenage last time out, the battling presence of Adams could see the promotion-seeking Rams grind out more wins.

If that was the case and Fapetu did begin to blossom alongside Adams, the decision to offload Bird could be stomached more easily by Warne and Co.

With Derby's conveyer belt for producing top young talents showing no signs of slowing down, and as fears begin to grow that Cashin could follow Bird out of the building, there will at least still be some positivity that emerging starlets such as Fapetu are being produced who could go on to become Hughes 2.0.

The fast-bowling allrounder had missed the first Test, which West Indies lost by 318 runs, due to an ankle injury

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2019

Keemo Paul missed the Antigua Test because of an ankle injury•AFP / Getty Images

Keemo Paul has recovered from his ankle injury and has been drafted back into the West Indies squad straightaway for the second and final Test against India in Kingston, replacing Miguel Cummins, the man who had filled in for him in Antigua.WI squad for second Test

Squad: Jason Holder (capt), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Jahmar Hamilton (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach.

That was the only change to the squad for the first Test, which India won by 318 runs. Shai Hope kept wickets then, and might continue to do so with first-choice Test wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich back in Barbados continuing his rehabilitation from an ankle injury, even though back-up keeper Jahmar Hamilton is among the 13 in Jamaica.Cummins didn’t have a particularly good time of it in Antigua, conceding 69 runs in 20 wicketless overs across two innings, as India piled up 297 and 343 for 7 declared while bowling West Indies out for 222 and 100 to earn 60 World Test Championship points.While batting was West Indies’ weak link in the first Test, the bowling unit did let India off the hook somewhat after having the visitors down on the mat at 25 for 3 – Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli among the batsmen out – on the first morning. “We got the early wickets we were looking for but I thought that we tried a bit too hard, we didn’t stick to coming down the channel, we tried a bit too hard with the short-ball plan and stuff like that,” Roston Chase, the only spinner in the XI for the first Test, had said of that performance.West Indies will hope that changes in the second Test. With Cummins out and Paul in, that might be a straight swap in the XI at Sabina Park, unless the conditions call for an international debut for Rahkeem Cornwall, the 26-year-old offspinning allrounder from Antigua.

Liverpool fell to defeat in the capital last Sunday, comprehensively beaten at the Emirates Stadium against title rivals Arsenal, and while Jurgen Klopp still has a hold on top spot in the Premier League, Manchester City will return to first-place should they win their game in hand.

On Saturday, Liverpool return to Anfield and will host Burnley in a match that will be viewed as a must-win, the Clarets languishing in 19th place and seven points adrift from the dotted line.

Of course, Reds supporters know only too well the damage Burnley can inflict on Merseyside, winning 1-0 in 2021 to end the Reds' 68-match unbeaten run on home turf in the top flight.

Klopp will be confident that his team will prevail tomorrow, though he could make four alterations from the side that was dismantled against the Gunners.

1 GK – Alisson

Alisson endured a nightmare performance against Arsenal, leagues away from his usual imperious standard and at fault for two of the opposition's goals.

Still, the Brazilian is one of the best – if not the best – goalkeepers in the world, with the second-best save percentage in the Premier League this season at 75%.

2 RB – Trent Alexander-Arnold

Another one to have been far from their best last time out, Trent Alexander-Arnold was perhaps rushed in his return from a knee injury after Conor Bradley took personal leave.

#

Player

Stat

1.

Mohamed Salah

19

2.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

12

2.

Kieran Trippier

12

3.

Bruno Fernandes

11

3.

Bukayo Saka

11

3.

Heung-min Son

11

Source: Premier League

Lauded for having a "playmaking masterclass" in his locker with world-class constancy by The Times' Henry Winter, the England international has posted two goals and nine assists in all competitions this season and will be crucial to Liverpool's fluidity against Burnley.

3 CB – Jarell Quansah

Ibrahima Konate has been in stunning form this season but picked up two yellow cards last week and thus is suspended for the visit of Vincent Kompany's squad. But fear not Liverpool fans.

Jarell Quansah, aged 21, will seamlessly slot into the line-up, having emerged as one of the club's standout prospects this season.

Commanding and composed, the 6 foot 5 titan looks right at home under Klopp's wing.

4 CB – Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk did not enjoy his finest hour last time out but this should not detract from the phenomenal performances he has put in since donning the captain's armband last summer.

As per Sofascore, the 32-year-old has completed 90% of his passes across 21 Premier League fixtures this term, averaging 1.3 tackles, 5.0 ball recoveries and 4.3 clearances per game, also succeeding with 77% of his duels.

5 LB – Andy Robertson

Andy Robertson picked up a shoulder injury on international duty with Scotland back in October and while he returned to fitness last month, he has been kept out of the starting fold by the brilliant Joe Gomez.

The forthcoming contest presents the perfect opportunity to reintegrate the ace and he should be named among the starters, hoping to pick up his fine form in the early days of the 2023/24 campaign.

6 DM – Alexis Mac Allister

Alexis Mac Allister signed for Liverpool from Brighton & Hove Albion for £35m last July as Klopp made sweeping changes to his midfield, and he has come into his own as the deep-lying string-puller.

Technically immense and boasting a salivating range of passing, Mac Allister also averages 2.9 tackles per game in the Premier League this season.

7 CM – Harvey Elliott

With only three league starts to his name this term, Harvey Elliott will be eager to take his chance to impress in the place of Dominik Szoboszlai, who is sidelined with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

The dynamic midfielder is among the most creative and graceful in English football and will be crucial in weaving the thirds together as the hosts look to go on a rampage.

8 CM – Curtis Jones

Alexander-Arnold remains Liverpool's homegrown golden boy while the emergences of Quansah and Bradley have got fans chattering with fervour, but Curtis Jones, aged 22, has been excellent this year and might just be Anfield's unsung hero.

Jones has scored five goals and supplied three assists this year but it is his press-resistance and technical quality that makes him so valuable in the engine room, industriously metronomic, keeping Liverpool purring with a kind of clockwork cohesion.

9 RW – Diogo Jota

The laterality of Diogo Jota is something to behold. Simply, he doesn't seem to have a positional preference. Right, left, central – who cares? Certainly not him.

The man lives for goals, and ranking among the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals scored per 90, as per FBref, Jota will be the talisman needed as Mohamed Salah recuperates from a muscular injury.

Cody Gakpo will have to relinquish his position on the right but the "special" forward – as he has been called by assistant coach Pep Lijnders – has been out of sorts recently and Jota is the man for the job.

10 LW – Luis Diaz

Luis Diaz had struggled to click into gear for much of the season before the turn of the year fuelled him with a new wave of energy and optimism.

The 27-year-old has three goals and two assists since the start of January and will stretch Burnley like a piece of taffy, his fleet-footed style sure to wreak torment as Liverpool strive to return to winning ways.

MatériaMais Notícias

Domènec Torrent viveu uma curta e intensa passagem pelo Flamengo, que durou99 dias, com um aproveitamento de 64,1%. E, nesta quinta-feira, o treinador catalão falou da trajetória no Brasil e lamentou não ter utilizado o seu esquema tático predileto, em participação numa conferência virtual organizada pela “The Coaches’ Voice”.

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-A formação que mais gosto é o 3-4-3. No Flamengo conversei muito sobre o assunto com o Filipe Luís. Mas não tive tempo, porque tenho a certeza de que deve treinar ele. É muito diferente do 5-3-2. E no Brasil eles trocam de técnico muito rápido.

-No Flamengo, nos custou caro pois, devido à pandemia, jogávamos dia sim, dia não. Fomos líderes por alguns dias no torneio local, também na Libertadores. A maior dificuldade era a falta de tempo e treinamento – finalizou.

Em novembro de 2020, Torrent deixou o Flamengo com 14 vitórias, quatro empates e seis derrotas, com o time classificado para as quartas de final da Copa do Brasil, para as oitavas da Copa Libertadores e em terceiro lugar do Brasileirão. Atualmente, Dome está sem clube.

Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy will not continue with the team past this summer despite being popular among the players.

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Article continues below

Article continues below

• Man Utd coach Benni McCarthy to leave
• Was a popular figure among the players
• Man Utd may sign Ruud van Nistelrooy

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  McCarthy joined Manchester United in the summer of 2022 to work alongside new manager Erik ten Hag. During his first season with the Red Devils, the former South African striker was praised for his role in Marcus Rashford's return to form after two below-average seasons under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  As per The Athletic, McCarthy will not sign a new deal with Manchester United and will end his primary two-year contract. As per the report, the South African wants to become a manager again having been Cape Town City and AmaZulu's manager previously.

• Getty Images
  

  DID YOU KNOW?

  The 20-time Premier League winners also parted ways with coach Eric Ramsay earlier this year as he joined Major League Soccer's Minnesota United. The Red Devils are now linked with former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy as they look to replace the departing McCarthy. They will also look to make one more signing to their coaching team before the start of the pre-season.

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• WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?

  The Red Devils will be hoping to get their coaching team sorted out as soon as possible as they will want to have a seamless start to their pre-season preparations. They will begin with a clash against Rangers in Edinburgh on July 20 before their tour to the United States.

Leicestershire 276 for 8 (Azad 86, Cosgrove 65) v Northamptonshire
Opener Hassan Azad passed 1,000 championship runs for the season as Leicestershire built a solid first-innings score after being put in by promotion-chasing Northamptonshire at the Fischer County Ground.Azad made 86, sharing a partnership of 122 for the third wicket with Mark Cosgrove as the Foxes reached an imposing 150 for 2. But Ben Sanderson produced the ball of the day to bowl the in-form Cosgrove for a fine 65 before Luke Procter picked up two wickets in two balls to ensure the visitors remained very much in the game.The Foxes lost captain Paul Horton early, Brett Hutton finding the right-hander’s edge with just his second ball of the day, and Alex Wakely taking a low catch at first slip.The pitch was playing well, however, and Colin Ackermann was understandably disappointed when, having reached 16 and beginning to play fluently, he hit Gareth Berg’s first delivery in Northamptonshire colours straight to Rob Newton at point to leave Leicestershire on 28 for 2.Azad and Mark Cosgrove raised a 50 partnership off 77 balls, but Azad did have one fortunate escape when on 34 he clipped a Hutton in-swinger to leg gully, only for New Zealand international Doug Bracewell, signed by Northants for the final three championship games of the season, to drop the chance.Azad and Cosgrove extended their third-wicket partnership well into three figures before Cosgrove, who had hit eleven boundaries and looked in wonderful touch, had his off-bail removed by a fine delivery from Sanderson which straightened off the seam.Procter then bowled Azad off the inside edge before swinging the next ball back in to win a leg before decision against Neil Dexter. George Rhodes, making his Leicestershire debut after joining the county from Worcestershire, dug in, compiling useful partnerships with Harry Swindells, Callum Parkinson and Chris Wright, before reaching an unbeaten half-century shortly before the close.”I didn’t set out with a target at the start of the season, but it means a lot to have achieved the 1,000 run milestone,” said Azad. “There was a little bit of seam movement early and it was hard work, but as the ball got older it came on a bit better, and in the afternoon session, especially with ‘Cozzie’ in his stride, scoring got a little bit easier. Well, for him, anyway!”They bowled really well to bring it back, Procter in particular, but George Rhodes played a really good and hard-working innings to lift us to a pretty good score. Hopefully we can get a few more and really give our bowlers something to bowl at.”Northants bowler Gareth Berg said: “It was fun to get a wicket with my first ball, even if it wasn’t quite the way I’d have liked to. We bowled a bit of a mixed bag overall, but we brought it back.”It wasn’t an obvious decision to bowl first, but we felt if there was anything to come out of the wicket it would be on the first day. We’ll come back tomorrow and hopefully end it quickly.”