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Much of the talk at Manchester United is currently centred on the goalkeeping ranks – amid reports that Andre Onana could be on his way this summer – although Sunday’s defeat to Newcastle United also showcased the Red Devils’ woes in an attacking sense too.

As that 4-1 thrashing highlighted, Ruben Amorim’s side are simply starved of quality at the top end of the pitch, with the visitors looking particularly lifeless following the loss of Joshua Zirkzee to injury, alongside the withdrawal of goalscorer, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitute Rasmus Hojlund, for instance, has still scored just three Premier League goals this season, while the returning Mason Mount has just one goal and one assist to his name in 36 games for United in total.

Having relied on the talents of Amad Diallo during Amorim’s early tenure – with the Ivorian registering 12 goal involvements in 20 games under the Portuguese coach – the Old Trafford side having looked particularly short of ideas since the 22-year-old’s cruel injury blow.

In all, United have scored just 38 goals in 32 league games this season, while the recent Manchester derby marked the 12th time that they have failed to score in a top-flight fixture in 2024/25.

At least one new forward is then the priority this summer – will Wolverhampton Wanderers talisman, Matheus Cunha, be among those to arrive?

Latest on Man Utd's pursuit of Cunha

Tensions are brewing at Molineux regarding the future of their standout Brazilian, with Cunha – who only recently returned from a four-game suspension – having irked the Wolves fanbase following a subsequently deleted Instagram post, in which the 25-year-old stated that he “will follow my dreams, not yours”.

That hint regarding a potential exit has come after the former Atletico Madrid man previously outlined his desire to “take the next step” in his career, with the 14-goal hero signing a new contract back in January which includes a £62.5m release clause.

As reported last week, United could be among the clubs to trigger that clause this summer, with The Athletic outlining that Cunha is among those being considered to play in one of the two number ten berths under Amorim.

The in-demand talent – who is also courting attention from the likes of Newcastle United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest – notably scored and assisted against United on Boxing Day, having now racked up 39 goal involvements in just 76 Premier League outings to date.

It is clear then why Cunha would represent an attractive addition, even amid his recent disciplinary issues, albeit with there likely to be question marks over how the Red Devils would fund a move, with Amorim outlining that the club will have to sell before they can buy this summer.

The Man Utd flop who could help fund Cunha move

Reports have claimed that there could be more than ten first-team departures at the Theatre of Dreams ahead of next season, with the likes of Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof approaching the end of their contracts, while both Tom Heaton and Jonny Evans could be in line for retirement.

There will also be a desire to cash in on those who aren’t currently making an impact under Amorim, with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony all in need of a permanent new home amid their respective loan moves.

In the case of the latter man, the Brazilian is one of those that INEOS certainly need to send packing after three dismal years in Manchester, with the former Ajax starlet having registered just 12 goals and only five assists in 96 games following his £86m arrival.

Antony’s Man Utd record vs selected wingers (past and present)

Player

Games

Goals

Assists

Total G/A

Antony

96

12

5

17

Amad

57

12

10

22

Jadon Sancho

83

12

6

18

Alejandro Garnacho

135

25

20

45

Dan James

74

9

9

18

Angel Di Maria

34

4

12

16

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

63

13

11

24

Memphis Depay

53

7

6

13

Stats via Transfermarkt

That grim record represents just what a costly mistake the 24-year-old has proven to be, with club legend Gary Neville describing him as “frustrating at times”, having only shown flashes of what he can do.

In truth, you can almost count on one hand the real high points that Antony has enjoyed in a United shirt, be it his crucial late equaliser in the eventual 4-3 win over Liverpool last season, or his long range stunners against both Barcelona and Real Betis in the Europa League in 2022/23.

That record against LaLiga sides perhaps illustrates why he has now found his feet while turning out for Betis in recent months, with the polarising left-footer looking like a man reborn with eight goals and assists in just 15 games for the Seville outfit.

Such performances are a positive in the sense that it should generate a market for Antony this summer, with the club desperately needing to shift their expensive flop off the wage bill, amid his reported salary of £105k-per-week.

That wage appears even more unjustified when considering that he earns more than what his compatriot, Cunha, is collecting at Molineux, with the Old Gold star taking home £90k-per-week, despite his stellar impact at Premier League level.

As Antony has shown in Spain, there does appear to be a player in there somewhere – albeit, just not a Manchester United one.

Related He could be their next Rooney: Man Utd submit bid to sign big-money star

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Posts ByMatt Dawson Apr 14, 2025

His last act as captain was lifting the IPL trophy. His most lasting act, subverting expectation

Alagappan Muthu21-Mar-20244:43

Moody: Dhoni was able to get a lot out of average squads

It happened quietly. A whisper into the ether. Just like it did in 2014. And then in 2020. The end of an era. MS Dhoni’s last act as captain was lifting the IPL trophy. His most lasting act, subverting expectation.He’s made it seem like it’s been a straight line from being an Indian Railways employee to breakout cricket star to multiple World Cup winner to multiple IPL winner to finally the stuff of pure myth, who was spending his Thursday evening calmly playing volleyball with his feet.Related

• Fleming on CSK captaincy change: 'We weren't ready for Dhoni to move aside in 2022, but the timing is right now'

• MS Dhoni hands over CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad

About two hours before this training session, it became clear that he’d made a life-altering decision (if not his, then at least Ruturaj Gaikwad’s). But here he was, whacking a ball to the other end of the outfield, that long hair from back in the day flowing in the wind.Two-hundred and thirty-five games as CSK captain. That’s just two matches less than Virat Kohli’s entire IPL career. And even over all those matches, he always found a way to surprise. Going all the way back to that wild night in Dharamsala in 2010. Back then there was a glitch in the system and the emotion came pouring out. There has rarely been a more visceral celebration in the 16 years of this tournament than the guy who gets called Captain Cool losing it and pretty much punching himself in the face. Although, ten months ago, when he grabbed a grown man around his middle and hoisted him up high on a knee that was completely shot, he probably topped himself.The long hair is back, but for how long will we continue to watch MS Dhoni in the IPL?•PTI Ravindra Jadeja was the one that was holding Dhoni up from taking the crease at practice on Thursday. Clean hits down the ground and over cover and once again they brought zero applause. There was only a smattering of people at the ground – maybe about a hundred – and they were here for only one person. He tends to wear funny pads, start sentences with “Well, of course” and drop bombshells with no warning.The time for him to bat finally came and once again he subverted expectations. Dhoni’s practice sessions in the IPL end up as a sort of structural integrity test for cricket balls. He absolutely belts them. Here he started with a (Chennai street lingo for block). It was a reminder that he can still be kept quiet by that in-between length on and around off stump. The person operating the sidearm quickly read the room and shifted his line closer to Dhoni’s body and very soon those vintage shots were peppering the leg-side boundary. There was a glimpse of the helicopter. One that soared out of the ground. And another that was a warning to anyone planning to bowl wide yorkers. Make sure they’re proper wide or you’ll be in the path of a missile coming straight at you.”It’s annoying, isn’t it?” CSK coach Stephen Fleming said with a smile as he spoke about Dhoni’s power. “That it comes that easy. But no, I have been absolutely amazed with the way that he has prepared and played the pre-season. And I’m very hopeful that he’s going to have a big contribution again to us in that role down the order.”But it is one of the things that we really admire about MS, his durability. Last year, he functioned on one leg and had that cleaned up and the desire to rehab and come back again is very strong. And it’s contagious and motivational for the players when they see the work that he does and then the skills that he still has. He’s a sharp mind. He’s hitting the ball beautifully in the nets and is still as determined as ever to make a contribution to the franchise. And that’s all that I can ask and that his fellow team-mates do as well.”‘He’s hitting the ball beautifully in the nets and is still as determined as ever to make a contribution to the franchise’ – Stephen Fleming on Dhoni•PTI The switch in captaincy was Dhoni’s idea and while he does have a long history of making calls based on gut instinct, the most famous of which happened at 114 for 3 on April 2, 2011, both he and the franchise would not have taken this one lightly. Especially because they last time they tried it, it backfired. The problem with succeeding Dhoni is that you aren’t just succeeding a man, you’re succeeding a feeling, a phenomenon. When Dhoni had faith in you, it meant a cult hero, a World-Cup-winning legend, one of the greatest to have ever played the game, had faith in you. That made you play differently.So this transition, like most others of its kind, will be painful and CSK will have to brace for a tough little period. They will want to insulate their new captain; ensure that even though the outside world would judge him against an impossible standard, they themselves are behind him and his vision. They seem better prepared for it. Fleming’s already cracking jokes.”There were tears everywhere. Everyone was crying,” he said, taking the opportunity to show off his dry sense of humour. “Yeah, no, it was typically low-key. Very low-key. And as expected, quickly led to a bit of a celebration of Ruturaj and the opportunity [he has]. So the players embraced it well. There’s always a little bit of shock around it, but going back to two years ago, we’re much more conditioned to this time. And the players handled it very well, just as the captain… ex-captain, handled it well in announcing it to the team.”That little slip of the tongue right there, where Fleming couldn’t help but call Dhoni captain, and then corrected himself, it’s going to keep happening. It’s going to take some time for this to feel real. For Fleming, for CSK, and the rest of us.

On a tough pitch, and having been given a few lives, Mumbai batter sets aside his natural instinct to play the long innings his team needed

Srinidhi Ramanujam14-Jun-2022″Don’t play any shot after getting dropped.”Sometimes, all you need is for someone to tell you what you already know, to refocus on the bigger picture. This is what happened with Yashasvi Jaiswal on Tuesday. A simple message from Mumbai coach Amol Muzumdar helped the opener make the most of the lives he was given on the first day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final when he scored his second straight first-class hundred and propelled his team from 24 for 2 to 260 for 5.”Initially, it was difficult, the ball was moving, and they [Uttar Pradesh] were bowling well,” Jaiswal told ESPNcricinfo after the day’s play. “I needed to respect them, and I just needed to get them tired and play that session when they are bowling well. The whole day, the ball was moving. I had to focus well to leave the balls. I was just trying to build partnerships. It was good. I enjoyed it.”Related

• Yashasvi Jaiswal's twin hundreds the highlight in dull draw against Uttar Pradesh

• 'These guys are good enough' – Mumbai coach Muzumdar revels in impact of next generation

• Jaiswal: 'I'm so tough mentally because I have to be on my toes all time'

• Mantri, Raghuwanshi's contrasting methods turn MP's fortunes around

Playing his third first-class match ever, and second of the season, Jaiswal took Mumbai out of the woods and fell immediately after scoring 100 off 226 balls. But by the time he departed, the score had gone past 200. A late push from Hardik Tamore (unbeaten 51) and Sarfaraz Khan’s quickfire 40 also lifted the team to a respectable total after early jitters.Tight bowling from Uttar Pradesh saw Mumbai post just 58 for 2 in the first session. They lost Prithvi Shaw to the third ball of the innings from Yash Dayal, when he went for an ambitious drive and was caught at point. Soon, No. 3 Armaan Jaffer perished while playing across the line with minimal movement. He was trapped lbw.Uttar Pradesh, despite starting well on a green Just Cricket Academy pitch, couldn’t apply pressure when the sun came out. This was evident with Mumbai adding 92 runs in the next 27 overs after lunch.Apart from the rare rush of blood and a few slices of luck, Jaiswal’s calm head and whirring bat were the highlights of the day which kept Mumbai on course for a competitive total. In a team of Prithvi Shaws and Sarfaraz Khans, he showcased the other side of batting, the art of hanging on and surviving difficult periods. The youngest in the Mumbai camp, he batted for a total of 353 minutes.”I needed to respect them, and I just needed to get them tired”•Special ArrangementThe innings wasn’t without its flaws. Just after lunch, Jaiswal got a reprieve at 33 in Ankit Rajpoot’s second over of the session, when he nicked a ball that was pitched on a fourth-stump line and was caught by the wicketkeeper, or that’s how it looked, initially. The UP players kept belting their appeals but the umpire was unmoved. Replays eventually suggested that Jurel hadn’t gathered the ball cleanly. By then, Suved Parkar (32) and Jaiswal had begun the rebuilding act.He was dropped again, at 37, when he went for an uppish shot and Rinku Singh at gully couldn’t hold on.”I got a really nice message from Amol sir at that moment,” Jaiswal said. “‘For the next 15 mins, I want you to play no shots and if you want, you can take a single and get off strike.’ He said there are two options. ‘Don’t play any shot after getting dropped. Just keep playing. The second is, be at the non-striker’s end for 10-15 mins. Just see through this period’. Because he [Rajpoot] was bowling really well at that moment. I did that and got out of that situation. It was really nice of him to send me that message, and then I applied it and we were in the game.”After the battle with Rajpoot, Jaiswal changed his approach a bit. He took fewer risks. He began playing down the ground more. He hit just two fours in the next hour. He was biding his time. Then, after getting to his fifty, which took 150 balls, he signalled a shift in Mumbai’s intent by rattling off three quick boundaries.Jaiswal continued to target the gaps with eye-catching drives and back foot punches. Overall, he hit 15 boundaries. He also shared three crucial fifty-plus partnerships with Parkar, Sarfaraz and Tamore during the course of his stay.”Focus on what you can control” can be a cliched line coming from a player, but, on Muzumdar’s advice, that’s just what Jaiswal did, and as a result Mumbai came out on top.

With reviews infrequently used in bilaterals, poor use of the system in high-stakes events like the Women’s T20 World Cup have cost teams dearly

Raf Nicholson04-Mar-2020It’s the eighth over of Sri Lanka’s group-stage match against Australia at the T20 World Cup, and the visitors have the reigning champions well on the back foot at 30 for 3. Suddenly, Meg Lanning swipes at a wide one outside off stump and edges the ball to the keeper. As one, the Sri Lankans go up: they know they have their woman.Sadly, the umpire doesn’t agree. Even worse, Sri Lanka have already burned through their one DRS review, having made the baffling decision to try and overturn a not-out call for caught behind four overs earlier, also against Lanning, with replays showing that her bat had hit the gloves of the wicketkeeper, not the ball.Lanning goes on to score an unbeaten 41 not out; Australia win the game by five wickets, with just three balls remaining. Not for the first time, poor use of the DRS has quite possibly cost a team a memorable win.

World Cup group-stage DRS stats

Successful reviews: 14
India 1, New Zealand 1, England 1, Pakistan 1, Sri Lanka 1, Thailand 1; Australia 2, Bangladesh 2, West Indies 2, South Africa 2
Unsuccessful reviews: 18
Bangladesh 4; India 3, New Zealand 3, England 3, Sri Lanka 3; Thailand 1; South Africa 1; Australia 0, Pakistan 0, West Indies 0

Within men’s cricket, DRS has been a fixture for over a decade, since it was officially introduced in Tests in November 2009. Its adoption has been much slower in the women’s game. The ICC requires both ball-tracking and a sound-based edge detection system (like UltraEdge) to be in place if DRS is to be used. That isn’t cheap, coming in at a price tag of more than US$13,000 per match. When the system was first used in women’s cricket during the 2017 World Cup in England, it was only put in place for the ten games that were broadcast: the teams contesting the 21 remaining matches went without.Only recently has the ICC been prepared to spend its cash on adopting it wholesale at standalone women’s tournaments: it was in use for every match of the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, reflecting the fact that all 23 games were broadcast live; and it is once again available in every match of this current World Cup.That should be a good thing, right? DRS is, at its heart, about overturning bad umpiring decisions and thus making match results fairer. It also (in theory) levels the playing field with the men’s game: if review technology is available in men’s cricket, basic equality says it should also be available for the women’s game.

The majority of teams only ever get the chance to use the system every two years, during World Cups; Thailand, playing in their first world tournament, have never had access to it before

The stats suggest that women’s teams have overall used DRS reasonably well during this tournament. Across 20 group-stage matches, the DRS success rate stands at 44%: of 32 reviews, 14 have been successful, while 18 have seen the original on-field decision upheld. That doesn’t compare too badly with the men’s game: in the men’s World Cup last year there were 34 successful reviews out of 93 called for – a 36.5% success rate.Unfortunately, as ever, it is the reviews that go wrong that are remembered, over and above the times when sides have correctly chosen to use the system. With the eyes of the world on the women’s game, the use of DRS so far this tournament has generated a lot of comment, much of it negative. During India’s opening match against Australia, one fan on Twitter described India’s decision to review an lbw call against Beth Mooney that had pitched well outside leg stump as the worst use of DRS he had ever seen.Noticeably, teams have often appeared to have poor decision-making processes in place. For example, South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk, given out lbw to Pakistan’s Diana Baig, chose to review instantly but then began walking off the pitch, seemingly convinced she was actually out (in fact, ball-tracking eventually granted her a reprieve). Failing to review where they should have has also cost teams big: the most infamous example came in West Indies’ group-stage match against Pakistan, when Hayley Matthews was given out lbw first ball, once again to Baig. By the time Matthews decided to query the decision, it was too late: the available 15 seconds had expired. Had she made up her mind a bit quicker, the on-field decision would have been overturned, and West Indies might have avoided an embarrassing defeat.When West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor was asked if there had been processes put in place back home for her side to practice use of DRS in world tournaments, she said: “No, none.”West Indies are not alone. England lays claim to one of the best-resourced set-ups in the women’s game, yet an ECB spokesperson confirmed that they have no facilities in place to allow them to practise the use of the DRS. Their preparation for the tournament has relied on the team watching videos of previous dismissals.Hayley Matthews’ 15 seconds of hesitation bought her a golden duck in the very first ball of the match•Getty ImagesThe pertinent fact here is that the DRS is not currently in regular use in women’s bilateral cricket. Though New Zealand have utilised it on occasion – notably in their ODI series against India in January 2019 – the majority of teams only ever get the chance to do so every two years, during World Cups. Thailand, playing in their first world tournament, have never had access to it before. And outside of real-time match situations, it is extremely difficult to “rehearse” use of DRS in the same way you can practise other aspects of your game.Within the men’s game, DRS was not introduced at a World Cup until 2015, at a point when it had already been tried and tested by the majority of participating nations in bilateral series, with (generally) much less at stake. To thrust sides into using it only when the eyes of the world are upon them, at just the point when a spot in a global semi-final or final might be at stake, seems rather topsy-turvy. (There is a similar issue for qualifying men’s Associate sides, who often enter World Cups having never used the DRS before.)The ECB says that it is hopeful that future women’s bilateral series held in England will feature the DRS, a decision made after intense criticism surrounding some of the umpiring decisions during the 2019 Women’s Ashes series – notably a horrendous lbw call that went against Fran Wilson in the first ODI. However, its use in other countries is likely to remain uneven. The ICC states that it has no plans to make the DRS compulsory in future bilateral series: “Until it’s used a little bit more widely, it will remain optional, like it is for men’s bilateral ODIs or T20Is,” says Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager of cricket. “It’s up to each board. They can use it – it just comes down to the level of coverage that they mount for the women’s matches.” Host boards, meanwhile, are likely to argue that the associated costs would be prohibitive.The issues we have seen in this tournament with the use of the DRS, then, are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Can anything be done? One possible solution might be to have two DRS reviews per side per innings available in women’s tournaments, instead of one. This would give teams that have little practice at using the system outside of World Cups another chance, should things go awry early in the match.It might be argued that this would only serve to create another point of difference with men’s cricket, but in the case of DRS – with so many more opportunities to practice its use available for men than women – levelling the playing field isn’t always as straightforward as simply making the playing regulations the same. Until the DRS is available more widely to women’s teams outside of world tournaments, an extra review could provide a temporary solution to the eternal cricketing dilemma of how to ensure that as many correct umpiring decisions are made as possible.

Well, the Blue Jays got off to a fiery start with back-to-back home runs on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the World Series vs. the Dodgers.

The pregame music had barely stopped before Blake Snell threw his first pitch of the game to Davis Schneider, who was in the leadoff spot for the first time this series with George Springer out for the second consecutive game. Schneider hit Snell's 96-mph fastball for a 373-foot home run to start off the game. There were still plenty of empty seats in Dodger Stadium as fans had just started trickling in for the matchup.

Then, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked up to the plate. It took him just two pitches to then hit a home run off of another 96-mph fastball thrown by Snell, this time a 394-foot homer to the outfield to hand Toronto a quick 2–0 lead.

This is the first time in World Series history that a game has begun with back-to-back home runs, per Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith. What an incredible way to start off Game 5. We'll see if the Blue Jays can keep this momentum going before they head back to Toronto on Friday.

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Khadija Shaw's brace secured Manchester City an unconvincing 3-0 victory at a resolute Leicester City to extend their lead at the top of the Women's Super League. The City talisman was so wasteful in front of goal before bagging two late efforts in the last 15 minutes on Sunday. And substitute Kerolin capped off a fine cameo with a smart finish in second-half stoppage time to ensure City's best-ever start to a WSL season.

Right from the off, City dominated possession and had the lion's share of the chances, while Leicester were content to get players behind the ball and soak up pressure. Shaw missed the first of many chances early on when her scuffed shot hit the side netting, before Vivianne Miedema stung the hands of inspired Foxes goalkeeper Janina Leitzig. The Jamaica international spurned multiple gilt-edged opportunities from close range, with Miedema also denied on numerous occasions.

The home side improved in an attacking sense in the second half, but once again it was Shaw who went close for the visitors when her header looped onto the roof of the net. But the 28-year-old finally broke Leicester's hearts when she pounced upon a mistake by Celeste Boureille and fired home 16 minutes from time. The contest was well and truly over when Shaw headed in her second in the 84th minute to take her tally to eight for the season. City, who added a third through the lively Kerolin in the 94th minute, are now six points clear of Chelsea in second but the Blues can cut that gap to three if they beat Everton on Sunday afternoon.

GOAL rates Manchester City's players from King Power Stadium…

Getty Images SportGoalkeeper & Defence

Ayaka Yamashita (6/10):

Had virtually nothing to do, other than passing the ball to her team-mates and firing long balls forward. This was a training run for the keeper.

Kerstin Casparij (6/10):

Was never troubled in a defensive capacity and got forward with wanton abandon but didn't do much to move the needle in the game.

Jade Rose (6/10):

The statistics of 29 shots to Leicester's two tell it all. The centre-back had precious little to do, in truth.

Rebecca Knaak (7/10):

Continues to be a right handful in the air, both in attack and defence. Is a commanding figure at the back.

Leila Ouhabi (7/10):

Looked comfortable in possession and whenever the ball came her way, she dealt with it.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportMidfield

Yui Hasegawa (6/10):

Needed to have more style to her substance but did some nice touches to free up her team-mates.

Laura Blindkilde Brown (6/10):

Some of her passing in the centre of the park could have been a bit quicker but she stopped some of Leicester's rare attacks with some combative play.

Vivianne Miedema (7/10)

In the first half, her trickery came closest to unlocking Leicester's dogged defence. Her effectiveness waned in the second half, though.

Getty Images SportAttack

Aoba Fujino (6/10):

Ran at Leicester's defence with wilful glee but found it hard to bypass their low block in the box. 

Khadija Shaw (7/10):

The division's top striker popped up with a timely goal in the 74th minute and then again 10 minutes later. But before then, she missed a hatful of chances in a frustrating display. However, you only need a second or two to have a successful game in attack.

Lauren Hemp (6/10):

She was well shackled as Leicester's defence repeatedly doubled up on her. But got an assist late on for Shaw's second.

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Subs & Manager

Grace Clinton (4/10):

Did precious little off the bench.

Kerolin (8/10):

Added some extra quality and dynamism off the bench and got the crucial assist for City's opener. Scored a sublime late goal to cap off a brilliant cameo.

Iman Beney (N/A):

Had too little time to make an impact.

Andree Jeglertz (6/10):

His side didn't show enough creativity or imagination to unlock Leicester's defence for long periods but her substitutions, particularly Kerolin, helped City get the job done. They won but they weren't entirely convincing.

Centuries to Henry Hunt and Jake Lehmann have defending champions South Australia early control of their Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at Adelaide Oval.Victoria captain Peter Handscomb’s decision to bowl looked the right call when Mitchell Perry took his third wicket in the morning session, leaving the home side in trouble at 58 for 3.That brought together Hunt and Lehmann, who steadily took the game away from Victoria and at stumps SA were 270 for 3. Hunt carried his bat through the day and scored a grinding 121 from 300 balls, with 10 fours and one six. Lehmann’s 107 from 180 balls, featuring only seven fours on a slow outfield, was his fourth century in as many Shield games going back to last season.Victoria could have had South Australia in even bigger early trouble. Hunt had reached 33 and the score was 114 when he drove at a wide delivery from pacer David Moody and edged straight to Blake Macdonald at first slip. But the chance was grassed and it proved costly for Victoria.It was the slowest of Hunt’s 11 Shield centuries and he said Lehmann’s innings had been pivotal.”The momentum shifted when he came out – his presence at the crease, to put some pressure back on [Victoria],” Hunt said. “To be 270 for 3, that’s almost a perfect day for us.”Perry finished with 3 for 61 from 20 overs while Test quick Scott Boland went wicketless from 18 overs and Fergus O’Neill also failed to a scalp from his 21 overs.

Well, it appears that Liverpool are back in their biannual rut. Just as the Anfield side have shown themselves to be capable of hitting staggering heights over the past decade or so, they have also battled through several challenging campaigns in recent years.

This is, sadly, a crisis for Arne Slot, whose tactics aren’t working after a summer transfer window of sweeping change.

The likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak have been disappointing, and no mistake. However, Liverpool’s wider systematic issues have made it difficult for such players to bed in.

Could it be that, against the cascade of arrivals on Merseyside, sporting director Richard Hughes oversaw one too many sales too?

How Luis Diaz has sparkled at Bayern Munich

After 11 Premier League fixtures this season, Liverpool are eighth in the standings. It is not so much Arsenal’s eight-point advantage over last year’s champions as the difference in fluency and solidity that has made the gulf insurmountable.

The upheaval could have been eased, to be sure, had certain measures not been taken this summer. For example, it was probably a mistake to have sold Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich. He has been rampant since moving to Germany, scoring 11 goals in his first 17 matches.

The 28-year-old had stepped toward the penultimate year of his contract at Anfield, and despite efforts to spark a renewal, it became clear from all parties that a deal could be struck if Liverpool’s valuation was met.

And it was. The Bundesliga champions paid £65.5m for the versatile forward; the money was good, but Liverpool lost a winger who scored 17 goals and provided eight assists last season, and offered so much pressing impact and tenacity, both on and off the ball.

However, Diaz’s departure was an understandable one, given the circumstances, and there’s another Redman whose efforts overseas this season have shown that Slot and co made a big error in letting him leave.

Hughes made a bigger mistake than selling Diaz

Liverpool are bound to smooth out the creases in Slot’s side at some stage, but there’s no escaping the fact that it hasn’t been good enough this season.

Out of the Carabao Cup and facing a fight for Champions League qualification, let alone the Premier League title, Liverpool have a whole host of problems, but there’s unquestionably been something missing in central midfield, and Tyler Morton might have been able to do something about it, had he not been sold to Lyon in France for around £15m in August.

Hailed for his “incredible IQ” by journalist Bence Bocsak, the 23-year-old Morton is a creative and enterprising midfielder, industrious in his work ethic and more than happy to cover ground across the engine room, working hard to protect the defence and win back the ball before driving it forward and into the danger area.

He is early into his career with Lyon in Ligue 1, but the Wallasey-born midfielder has demonstrated remarkable confidence and maturity to make headway after a difficult, peripheral year under Slot’s wing, commenting since leaving that he didn’t “feel the trust” from the Dutch coach, not handed a single minute in the Premier League.

Matches (starts)

11 (11)

Goals

1

Assists

1

Touches*

63.1

Accurate passes*

40.0 (86%)

Chances created*

1.3

Dribble (success)*

0.6 (70%)

Recoveries

4.2

Tackles + interceptions*

2.4

Ground duels won*

3.2 (61%)

His league form so far this season would suggest that a mistake has been made, especially when considering Slot’s reluctance to play veteran Wataru Endo.

With Morton so early into his career and without the top experience of many ahead of him, there’s so much reason for Lyon to be excited about this talent and where he might take them.

Not Liverpool, though. Morton has been released from the books, and this might just come back to bite Slot, with the homegrown star’s sale more puzzling than that of the 28-year-old Diaz, who wanted to leave.

Liverpool star is quickly becoming their biggest "disaster" since Keita

Arne Slot has a Naby Keita-style situation on his hands with this expensive Liverpool flop.

2 ByKelan Sarson Nov 13, 2025

Devdutt Padikkal scored his seventh first-class hundred to lead India’s response as the first four-day game in Lucknow ended in a high-scoring draw.India A resumed the day on 403 for 4 with Padikkal on 86 and Dhruv Jurel on 113. Jurel could add only 27 to his overnight score but Padikkal carried on. Along with Tanush Kotian, he added 41 for the sixth wicket. Padikkal hit 14 fours and a six in his 150 before falling to Corey Rocchiccioli’s offspin.Soon after that, India declared their innings, on 531 for 7, one run behind Australia’s first-innings total. The Australian openers, Sam Konstas and Campbell Kellaway, came out to bat for 16 overs, in which they added an unbroken 56.Just like the previous three days, rain once again interrupted play on Friday.”Unfortunately, the rain probably didn’t help us over the four days,” Rocchiccioli said. “I think if there were no rain, it probably would have allowed for a result somewhere along the line. But it was an invaluable experience with the group that we have picked. The players who have played here… first hit out for some of them in a while. So to be able to play in some foreign conditions, learn your game a little bit better, have some really good conversations in the change rooms, I think has helped everyone be better for these conditions and move forward to the next game.”Rocchiccioli was the most successful Australian bowler, picking up 3 for 159 in 36.1 overs. Apart from dismissing Padikkal, he got rid of Shreyas Iyer and Kotian.”Look, there’s actually probably no direct plan,” he said when asked about the Iyer lbw. “I was just hoping to land the ball on the stumps. I probably didn’t bowl my best leading into that moment. Luckily enough, one sort of spun and took his pad. He is obviously a really big player that we looked at a lot during the pre-game, but there was nothing there that I thought was a weakness or anything. I just knew that I had to bowl good balls and ask good questions and I was lucky enough to have the wicket at that moment.”The second four-dayer will also be played in Lucknow, from September 23.