Category Uncategorized

Hales leads English contingent at MSL, with Wahab Riaz, Chris Gayle and Tom Curran among other marquee overseas players

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2019

Alex Hales’ attempts to ensure he is England’s T20 World Cup plans will continue this winter, after he was announced as a marquee player for the Mzansi Super League in South Africa.Hales will play for Durban Heat, and is one of four marquee overseas signings appearing in the league for the first time along with compatriots Tom Curran (Tshwane Spartans) and David Willey (Paarl Rocks), and Pakistan seamer Wahab Riaz (Cape Town Blitz).The other international marquee players are the retained pair of Jason Roy (Nelson Mandela Bay Giants) and Chris Gayle (Jozi Stars).There is one change among the domestic marquee players, with Andile Phehlukwayo replacing Hashim Amla at Durban Heat.Hales was deselected from England’s 50-over World Cup squad after a 21-day ban for using recreational drugs, and in May said that he was targeting the T20 World Cup in Australia next year for a potential comeback. He opted out of first-class cricket last year and his attempts to focus on cricket have been limited to seven appearances in the Vitality Blast.”I hope the door is not closed. That’s one of my aims, that T20 World Cup,” Hales said at the Caribbean Premier League draft in May. “I’m going to go through the process, hopefully score some runs in these tournaments and see how we go. I want to enjoy my cricket.”I think it’s a good opportunity,” he said of his attempts to use franchise leagues as a springboard. “These tournaments now are well respected all around the world, particularly by the selectors and ECB. I’d love to use these tournaments to hopefully get back into the frame for next year.”Hales will play in the CPL for Barbados Tridents, and has another year on his deal with Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League. He has scored 207 runs for Nottinghamshire in the ongoing Vitality Blast, with two fifties and a strike rate of 140.54.The MSL is scheduled for November and December – though the exact dates are yet to be finalised – and England’s players will likely arrive straight after their five-match T20I series in New Zealand at the start of November. If Roy keeps his spot in the Test team, he may miss the first handful of games playing in England’s two-Test series there.The list of other retained players was released last week. The exact date of the player draft is yet to be confirmed, though it is likely to be in early September.South African marquee players: Quinton de Kock (Cape Town Blitz), Andile Phehlukwayo (Durban Heat), Kagiso Radaba (Jozi Stars), Imran Tahir (Nelson Mandela Bay Giants), Faf du Plessis (Paarl Rocks), AB de Villiers (Tshwane Spartans)International marquee players: Wahab Riaz (Cape Town Blitz), Alex Hales (Durban Heat), Chris Gayle (Jozi Stars), Jason Roy (Nelson Mandela Bay Giants), David Willey (Paarl Rocks), Tom Curran (Tshwane Spartans)

Despite enduring a campaign that has not gone to plan – to put it mildly – Chelsea were able to pull off one of the best results of the Premier League season when they drew away to Manchester City.

Mauricio Pochettino's side went into the game as massive underdogs, and yet, after a spectacular defensive showing, they were able to come away with a point.

They didn't just spend 90 minutes camped in their own penalty area, though, and had Nicolas Jackson or Christopher Nkunku had their shooting boots on, they could have won it.

It was the exact situation in which it would've helped to have a player on the team they sold almost ten years ago, a player who has since beaten Didier Drogba's Premier League goals record.

Mohamed Salah's time at Chelsea and in Italy

The player in question is the inevitable Mohamed Salah, who, like so many other stars of today, spent a few years on the books at Stamford Bridge.

Salah joined the Blues in a £11m move from Swiss side FC Basel in January 2014, ironically beating Liverpool to his signature.

The Egyptian international made his debut for the Pensioners in a Premier League game against Newcastle United on February 8th 2014. Still, he would make just 19 appearances in total for the west Londoners, scoring two goals and providing four assists.

After a year of not playing much football, he was sent on a six-month loan to Serie A side Fiorentina, with Juan Cuadrado going the other way. He would score nine goals and provide four assists in 26 games for the Viola before moving to Roma on loan for the 2015/16 season, where he scored 15 goals and provided seven assists in 42 games.

Mohamed Salah's pre-Liverpool Record

Club

Chelsea

Fiorentina

AS Roma

Appearances

19

26

83

Goals

2

9

34

Assists

4

4

22

All Stats via Transfermarkt

It was now evident that he had no future at Stamford Bridge, so upon the conclusion of his loan deal the Giallorossi paid just £12m for his services, which in retrospect is outrageous.

He would only spend one more season in the Italian capital, in which he scored 19 goals and provided 15 assists in 41 games before Liverpool signed him for £34m.

How Mohamed Salah has fared at Liverpool

Well, as the footballing world is well aware by now, the Nagrig-born superstar has been a sensation since pulling on that red shirt and making his first appearances in front of the Anfield crowd.

In his first season in England, the "special" forward, as described by Jürgen Klopp, scored a frankly ludicrous 44 goals and provided 16 assists to boot in just 52 games, a level of sheer brilliance that led pundit Ian Wright to describe him as possessing "a Messi vibe."

In all, the Champions League-winning winger has scored 205 goals, provided 89 assists for the Reds, and made it up to tenth in the all-time Premier League top-scorers list, with 154 to his name.

Comparatively, Drogba, who is without question one of the greatest strikers ever to grace English football, scored 104 Premier League goals and sits 32nd on the list.

Now, the pair are obviously different kinds of players, and there was always something about the Ivorian great that would make you pick him in a crunch game, but it just goes to show how relentless Salah has been since returning to English football.

Related Chelsea sold homegrown whiz for £180k and now he's worth £128m

The “ice-cold” gem has an incredibly bright future ahead, having left the Blues academy in the past.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Feb 20, 2024

Ultimately, there's no point crying over spilt milk, or so they say, but in an alternative reality somewhere, the Egyptian icon likely lifted the Champions League trophy in blue and had a few more league titles to his name.

Wolverhampton Wanderers failed to make any new signings on deadline day as it appears Gary O’Neil is comfortable with the squad at his disposal.

While there were several outgoings, most notably Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva, it looked as though the Old Gold were going to sign another striker.

It was not to be for the club, and they missed out on a player who they had been linked with throughout the window, enduring a deadline day blunder in the process.

Wolves failed to make a signing on deadline day

The Molineux outfit saw Noha Lemina as their only signing during the whole window, but it could have been so much better.

They were linked with a move for Armando Broja during the previous few weeks, and as the deadline approached on Thursday evening, David Ornstein stated that the striker was available for a loan deal but had to choose between Fulham or Wolves.

A short while later, Ben Jacobs provided an update on the 22-year-old, saying that he was set to join the Cottagers and had a medical booked, therefore scuppering any chance of a move to the Midlands.

While he has not been the most prolific of strikers this season, O’Neil would have given him more regular game time and this may have boosted his confidence in front of goal.

If he hits the ground running at Fulham, the Old Gold could regret not perhaps moving for him sooner in the window.

Armando Broja would have been a dream for Pedro Neto

Pedro Neto has been on fire for Wolves this season, shining under the management of O’Neil, and is proving himself to be a real game-changer on the wing.

Indeed, the Portuguese winger has registered 11 assists in all competitions, including nine in the Premier League, as he has bounced back from the injury that ruled him out for stretches of last term, missing the 2022 World Cup in the process.

Neto has also created five big chances and averages 2.3 key passes per game in the top-flight, and the signing of Broja would have been perfect for the 23-year-old wizard, knowing there would be someone of his quality in the box to convert any chances.

The £40k-per-week gem has only started eight times this term, scoring twice, as he has had to play second fiddle behind Nicolas Jackson at Chelsea.

Lauded as an “animal” by writer Jacob Tanswell during his stint at Southampton during the 2021/22 campaign, and this was where he was most effective in front of goal.

The Albanian netted nine times in all competitions, with six coming in the top flight, and he demonstrated wonderful potential on the south coast.

If he can remain healthy and replicate those performances from a couple of seasons ago, he will prove to be an astute signing for Fulham.

With Wolves lacking in forward options, they could certainly rue not making a more concrete move for Broja, or any of the other strikers they were linked with, in the coming weeks.

The 4-3 defeat to Manchester United on Thursday evening showed that they can battle against the best, but time will tell if the qualities on show will be enough to earn them a top-half finish in the long-term.

At this moment in time, their failure to either raise the funds to sign Broja, or to negotiate a workable deal with Chelsea, looks like a big blunder as he could have been an exciting addition to play alongside the electric Neto in the final third for the Old Gold.

تمكن لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ليفربول، لويس دياز، من تسجيل هدفين لـ ليفربول أمام بورنموث.

ويواجه ليفربول نظيره بورنموث ضمن منافسات الجولة الخامسة من الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز على ملعب “أنفيلد”.

اقرأ ايضاً.. سلوت يكشف عن خطته لزوبيميندي بعد فشل انتقاله إلى ليفربول

ونجح لويس دياز في تسجيل هدف ليفربول الأول عند الدقيقة 26 من عمر الشوط الأول.

وجاء الهدف بعدما تلقى لويس دياز تمريرة حاسمة من كوناتي، ليستغل المهاجم الكولومبي الخروج الخاطئ من حارس بورنموث كيبا، لينجح في مراوغته ومن ثم التسديد في المرمى.

وتمكن دياز من التوقيع على ثاني أهداف ليفربول بحلول الدقيقة 28، مستغلاً تمريرة حاسمة من أرنولد

ويقدم بطولات تغطية مباشرة لأحداث مباراة ليفربول وبورنموث في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز من خلال الرابط. هدف لويس دياز الاول في مرمي بورنموث بالدوري الانجليزي

هدف لويس دياز الثاني في مرمي بورنموث بالدوري الانجليزي

Arsenal sit top of the Premier League table at Christmas for a second time in succession. Of course, it's who finishes top come May that really matters but it's a morale-booster for those at the Emirates Stadium.

All they needed to do on Saturday evening was avoid defeat against Liverpool and they did that, drawing 1-1 in a thrilling clash with their closest title rivals so far this campaign.

That said, there were a few issues for Mikel Arteta's men during the encounter, problems he'll hopefully be able to address in the January transfer market.

One of those was having a striker in the right place at the right time. Gabriel Jesus is brilliant for this Arsenal team but on a number of occasions at Anfield he was nowhere to be seen as a cross was flashed across the box. There's also the problem of Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Zinchenko's biggest flaws

The Ukrainian is a huge part of why Arsenal have been able to revamp the way they play over the last 18 months. Since signing from Manchester City, Arteta has fielded him in an inverted left-back role, a position that he has since made his own.

Kieran Tierney's inability to play in such a manner has seen him shipped out to Real Sociedad on loan, while Nuno Tavares was also dealt with similarly, now playing at Nottingham Forest for the campaign.

The likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber have played there when fit but it's largely been Zinchenko. The trouble is, for all of the technical elegance he brings, the left-back is suspect defensively.

There weren't many weak links at Anfield on Saturday but the £32m signing was one. Not many full-backs will have the beating of Mo Salah but the way the Ukraine international let the Egyptian slide past him for the equalising goal was all too easy. Zinchenko just dangled a leg out in a lazy fashion and Salah breezed past him.

There was a moment in the second half too where he ceded possession all too easily, but fortunately, he got away with it on the occasion.

Arsenal’s £74m star was even worse than Zinchenko v Liverpool

One Arsenal star needs to rediscover his form if the Gunners want to win the league.

By
Matt Dawson

Dec 24, 2023

Mistakes like that appear to have become commonplace for Zinchenko, a man who looks as composed as anything in central areas but when pressed inside his own half struggles to cope. The mistake against Wolves proved this. He carried it inside but far too close to his own penalty box and gave possession away. The result? A Matheus Cunha goal.

As such, it would not be a surprise if long-term, Arteta looks to find an upgrade.

The signing Arsenal could make to replace Zinchenko

Timber and Tomiyasu could well step in if needs be but signing an out-and-out left-back should well be on the agenda for Edu and Co at some point next year.

It perhaps explains links to one of the most impressive full-backs in LaLiga; Miguel Gutierrez. Fabrizio Romano revealed in November that Arsenal's scouts had been tracking the exciting 22-year-old.

The club's recruitment team has likely been left impressed with what they've seen. So far this term, Gutierrez, who is playing for high-flying Girona, has scored once and supplied three assists in 19 outings.

That assist count happens to be as many as Zinchenko has in his entire Arsenal career, all 54 games to date.

Described as a "weapon from left-back" by scout Antonio Mango, the former Real Madrid youth product has only been going from strength to strength in recent months. The 5 foot 11 defender is a serious prospect and would be a hugely eye-catching signing for the Gunners. You only need to assess how he differs to Arsenal's number 35 to understand why.

The statistics above paint that these full-backs are two very different players. While Zinchenko makes more tackles and is evidently a better and more complete passer of the ball, drifting inside, Gutierrez is more likely to give you something different. The number of take-ons and crosses dictates this is a flying full-back.

So, while Arteta prefers his full-backs to invert, the Girona sensation could offer Arsenal a very different threat.

MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli expressed dissatisfaction with the MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch on which defending champions and hosts Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 2019 opener in a low-scoring contest. Despite the seven-wicket win, Dhoni said the pitch was “too slow” while Kohli said he did not enjoy what was a “scrappy start” to the IPL on a surface which was a weary, bald turner. Incidentally, the pitch will also host the tournament final, which is likely to be played on May 12 in Chennai.

‘No one complains when people score 170-180’ – Harbhajan

“See, it was a difficult pitch to bat on but it wasn’t like it was unplayable. We’re so used to watching matches on good wickets where no one complains when people score 170-180. But if it spins or seams a little, everyone has a problem, saying why is this happening? No one has a problem with why so many runs are being made. So people actually forget that the bowler also has a job in cricket. Batsmen should struggle once in a while so that they understand that it should be a battle of bat and ball. In some places, yes, they played some rash shots as well. It was not that this was a 70 runs wicket. You’ll get at least 120 if you apply yourself.”

“I never expected the wicket to play how it actually played,” Dhoni told Sanjay Manjrekar during the post-match presentation. “It was too slow.” When asked by Manjrekar if he was unhappy with the surface, Dhoni said it needed to be better. “Definitely it needs to be a lot better than where it is right now. Even with the dew, it was still turning a bit. It needs to be (more) high scoring. Something like 140-150 is something you are looking at; 80, 90, 100 or 120 is very low scoring. If you saw how the wicket played and if you have genuine spinners in your (bowling) attack it will be very difficult to score runs. So the wicket needs to get much better than where how it is now.”Of the 13 wickets to fall in the match, ten were bagged by the spinners. Virtually every batsman was beaten by the gripping and slow surface, which also had good bounce.While Kohli didn’t offer excuses for the defeat, he didn’t hide his disappointment with the track, saying it wasn’t the right sort for T20 cricket. “The good thing is a game like this out of the way rather than having it at a very important stage in the tournament,” Kohli told Ian Bishop after the match. “No one thought the wicket’s going to play the way it played. We thought somewhere 140-150 would be an ideal score because of the dew factor later on. But I don’t think either of the team would have enjoyed that kind of a pitch, especially in T20 cricket where guys want to get runs and put the runs on the board or chase scores down.”If that was 100-110 run game would’ve been very close. It was a scrappy sort of a start to the league. That is what you get when you have a wicket like that. I don’t think either team had control over it. The pitch was under the covers for four days.”Even Ambati Rayudu, whose watchful 28 (the second-highest score on the day) guided the Super Kings to victory, was surprised by the nature of the pitch, which he described to Bishop as more suited to a first-class match. “Definitely a tough wicket. It was pretty easy in the end, but if they had another 40-50 runs it would have been really tough. It was more like playing in a four-day game because the wicket was such.”Dhoni said the uncertainty over how the surface would behave – even though Super Kings had played a practice match on it leading into the IPL opener – was the main reason he chose to bowl after winning the toss. The Super Kings captain said the pitch reminded him of the re-laid surfaces at the venue during the 2011 Champions League T20, where the average score hovered below the 150-run mark. Super Kings had won the IPL that year but failed to make the knockouts in the CLT20. “It just reminded me of the 2011 Champions League,” Dhoni said. “We had won IPL. We had a very good season. We came back. The wicket got re-laid and all of a sudden we found it very difficult. If the wicket stays like this, it will be difficult for us also.”We were not really sure about the wicket. We played a practice game on the same wicket and it wasn’t turning so much. It was a slightly high-scoring game. Yes, practice game, there is a tendency normally you will score 30 runs more than what you will in a proper game.”

Rangers dropped two vital points in their Europa League clash against Aris Limassol on Thursday evening and it leaves them with an uphill task to secure qualification to the knockout rounds.

The Gers will now need to get a result against Real Betis in Spain and hope the Cypriot side can take something off of Sparta Prague, otherwise the club will be playing in the Europa Conference League after Christmas.

Philippe Clement enjoyed a solid start to life at the Light Blues prior to the international break, yet back-to-back draws haven’t been the best results.

There were far too many passengers on Thursday evening and Todd Cantwell was one of the main protagonists.

Todd Cantwell’s game in numbers vs Aris Limassol

The Englishman was yet again deployed wide right, and it's fair to say he hasn’t sparkled in that position so far this season.

His strengths are far more suited to a central role, yet that was given to Sam Lammers and this disrupted the Gers during the opening 30 minutes as Cantwell failed to follow Clement’s instructions, constantly drifting inside rather than offering some width.

He lost possession leading up to the Aris goal while completing only 15 passes and taking 31 touches during his time on the pitch.

Indeed, he lost possession nine times and not long after the away side scored, he was substituted off after just 36 minutes. This led to the Scottish Sun giving him a match rating of just 3/10, summing up his performance.

Despite his early withdrawal, it was Lammers who was arguably the worst player in the starting XI and his opportunities should be limited from now on.

Sam Lammers statistics vs Aris Limassol

The Dutchman was on the field for slightly longer than Cantwell, playing for 58 minutes, yet he completed fewer passes (nine) and took just two more touches (33), proving how ineffective he was in the number ten role.

The 26-year-old also contested 11 ground duels, yet won only two while losing possession 13 times in just under an hour.

Clement could replace Sima with Rangers academy star who Danilo would love

Clement could unearth some more young talent following the success of Ross McCausland recently

By
Ross Kilvington

Nov 29, 2023

The forward was even dribbled past on four occasions, indicating how lackadaisical he was in the midfield, and perhaps he should have been the player substituted rather than Cantwell.

His performance led the Sun to give him a rating of just 4/10 for his display, while the playmaker's Sofascore match rating of 6.1 was the lowest of any starting player for either side, including Cantwell.

This should give Clement clarity on just what he needs to do going forward and that is deploying Cantwell in a central role, while utilising Ross McCausland on the right wing, as he will give natural width.

If he continues to persist with the formation that was used last night, then it won't take long for the Ibrox faithful to start turning on the Belgian.

Following a good start, the honeymoon period is now over and with a League Cup final to come in a few weeks, along with crucial Premiership ties, the 49-year-old will need to adapt accordingly.

Sunderland experienced a nightmare weekend in the Championship, losing 2-0 away at Plymouth Argyle after a lengthy journey down from Durham to Devon on Saturday was already a kick in the teeth.

West Brom then picked up a statement 2-0 win over Ipswich Town later in the day at the expense of Tony Mowbray's downbeat Black Cats, pilling on the misery even more, leapfrogging Sunderland to fifth spot in the league standings consequently.

A lack of clinical finishing cost Sunderland dear on their travels to Home Park, sliding down the Championship table to a disappointing ninth spot with Hull City and Cardiff City now above the Black Cats after the loss.

It could well lead to a number of changes being made by Mowbray for Sunderland's upcoming home match this Wednesday against Huddersfield Town, the 60-year-old wanting to see an immediate response at the Stadium of Light from his players to reclaim some authority back in the playoff race.

One player that could be sacrificed from the line-up mid-week is Nazariy Rusyn, the lone Ukrainian striker still goalless in a red and white strip this season and was anonymous for large spells of the game at Argyle.

Nazariy Rusyn's game vs Plymouth in numbers

When Rusyn signed this summer from FC Zorya Luhansk to join the Sunderland ranks, hype amongst the Black Cats masses suggested he could be the perfect replacement for the out-going Ross Stewart – the agile 5 foot 10 attacker scoring 13 times for Luhansk last season in the league, before relocating to English football.

It's been a bumpy transition to the demands of competitive EFL football for the Ukrainian however, who was poor again versus Plymouth to the dismay of the irritated Sunderland away supporters who had made the colossal journey down to Devon.

Sunderland's misfiring number 15 didn't even register a single shot on target in this contest as per Sofascore, dragging one effort wide whilst his only other half-hearted attempt to score was blocked before being substituted off at the break.

With Rusyn only amassing 12 touches on the ball and three passes in total, the game passed the 25-year-old by whilst Sunderland's star-man Jack Clarke worked doubly hard to work openings for any attacker to hopefully convert from – accurate with four crosses into the area in the full 90 minutes, Rusyn's replacement in Eliezer Mayenda equally as wasteful when a chance came his way.

It's been the tale of Rusyn's time in a Sunderland shirt to date, an underperforming striker continually wilting on the big occasion.

Nazariy Rusyn's season in numbers

Rusyn is still goalless in his new red and white strip from nine total appearances to date, with fellow attacking teammates in Luis Semedo, Mason Burstow and Mayenda all still firing blanks up top for Mowbray's men too.

The Ukrainian did show flashes of his quality versus Birmingham City – assisting the opening Jobe Bellingham strike in that match – but he will want to break his goalscoring duck soon for Sunderland or he will risk becoming a similar flop akin to ex-Black Cats striker Leon Dajaku who exited the Stadium of Light as quickly as he joined after failing to settle into his new surroundings.

Mowbray's patience must now be wearing thin with his Ukrainian summer signing, scrambling around his squad to find anyone who could lead the line more effectively than Rusyn in crunch matches to come.

Nathan Lyon followed up his five-wicket haul in the first innings with the key wicket of Virat Kohli to set Australia up for a series-leveling victory at the new Perth Stadium. Ajinkya Rahane swung for the hills but history, the challenging pitch and India’s dinosaur tail were all stacked up against them. Since the start of 2014, only six teams have chased 200 or more in 124 attempts, and overall, India have gone past 287 – the target Australia set them on the fourth day – only twice in a successful chase. They were five down and sinking at stumps.India would have been facing a taller chase had Mohammed Shami not flicked on his second-innings switch after lunch. After India had gone wicketless in the morning, Shami exploited the wild variations in bounce to collect four wickets in five overs and ended with career-best returns of 6 for 56. While prancing deliveries had both the overnight batsmen Tim Paine and Usman Khawaja fending behind, Aaron Finch, who was cleared to bat after injuring his right index finger, was strangled down the leg side. But, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood swung their bats and ran up 36 together in 39 balls for the last wicket to stretch Australia’s lead close to 300.Starc and Hazlewood then swung the new ball to leave India two down within four overs. After spearing his first three balls across KL Rahul’s off stump, Starc brought one back in, forcing him to drag one onto his stumps for a duck as he attempted to leave. Hazlewood then caused one to kick up from back of a length and removed Adelaide hero Cheteshwar Pujara for 4.ALSO READ: Kohli, Paine collide and exchange wordsM Vijay, who is more or less in the same boat as Rahul on form, then combined with Kohli to briefly steady the shaky innings with a 35-run partnership for the third wicket. Pat Cummins resumed his mouth-watering battle with Kohli and kept threatening the India captain’s outside edge and Vijay’s body, but the the duo survived that spell. It was Lyon who dismissed both Kohli and Vijay off successive overs. After attacking Kohli’s stumps with his first seven balls to him, he shifted his line wider and found drift to draw the outside edge, which was pouched at slip.The celebration from Paine behind the stumps was rather subdued, given they had fired verbal volleys at each other in the morning. When Paine had been dismissed, Kohli chattered away, making his counterpart turn around for a reply.Paine even had a go at Vijay after Lyon got one to break out of the footmarks and through the gate. Rahane came in swinging, and got out swinging, finding point after a brisk 30 off 47 balls. Vihari and Risbah Pant then resisted Australia’s push for victory, forcing the match into the final day. But considering India’s feeble lower order and recent fourth-innings trends, Australia are well poised to wrap up things on the fifth morning.While Lyon continued to be the difference between the two sides, India spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were wearing bibs and supplying drinks in the first session of the day. There was no joy for the India seamers until the post-lunch session. Paine and Khawaja countered everything India threw at them in an attritional first session, which yielded only 58 runs in 30 overs. Paine struck the only three boundaries in that session, including a cracking square-cut off Shami.Several balls whizzed past the outside edge – and occasionally their throats – but Paine and Khawaja were largely unperturbed. Once India turned to the part-time offspin of Vihari, they tapped the ball into the gaps with more comfort. Umesh Yadav, too, leaked runs, conceding 61 runs in his 14 overs.After struggling in his first three innings this series, Khawaja brought up his fifty and took Australia’s lead past 200 with one shot: a neat back-foot clip through midwicket.Shami then produced a lethal four-over burst, but Lyon and Australia would have the final say again.

In a bid to intensify the Premier League title race, the penultimate matches for Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City have been rescheduled.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• PL fixtures have been amended
• Broadcast selections lead to fixture overhaul
• FA Cup clashes also rescheduled

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Arsenal will kick off the series of crucial encounters as they travel to face Manchester United on Sunday, May 12. The following day, Liverpool will visit Aston Villa on Monday, May 13, while City will be away at Tottenham on Tuesday, May 14. These matches set the stage for what promises to be a thrilling matchday 37 of the Premier League campaign with the final round slated for Sunday, May 19, marking the culmination of an enthralling season filled with twists and turns.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Originally scheduled for Saturday, May 11, the matches between United and Arsenal, as well as Aston Villa and Liverpool, have been moved to favour broadcast selections. Both fixtures will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, ensuring widespread coverage for fans across the country.

  City's clash with Tottenham was initially set for Sunday, April 21. However, the fixture was postponed due to Erling Haaland & Co. reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, which are scheduled for the weekend of April 20-21. This shift in date has also enabled the match to be televised live on Sky Sports.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  In addition to their domestic commitments, Arsenal, Liverpool, and City could also be involved in European competition. If they progress to the semi-finals, they will be in action the week before their penultimate league fixtures. The Champions League second-leg ties are scheduled for May 7 and 8, followed by the Europa League matches on May 9.

  In further fixture amendments, Brighton vs Chelsea and United vs Newcastle have also seen a date change. These matches, originally planned for different dates, will now both take place on Wednesday, May 15, due to Chelsea and United's participation in the FA Cup.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  With seven league matches still to play, every point will be crucial in determining the eventual champions of England.

  The opponents for Arsenal, Liverpool, and City in their penultimate fixtures could all have European football aspirations of their own. Fourth-placed Tottenham and fifth-placed Villa are separated by goal difference, highlighting the competitive nature of the race for European spots. Meanwhile, United, currently in sixth place, will be eager to secure a vital victory against Arsenal to ensure a top-five finish. As the Premier League season reaches its climax, fans can expect an exhilarating conclusion with the title race going down to the wire.

  Date	Time (BST)	Fixture
  Saturday, May 11	12:30pm	Fulham vs Manchester City
  Sunday, May 12	4:30pm	Manchester United vs Arsenal
  Monday, May 13	8pm	Aston Villa vs Liverpool
  Tuesday, May 14	8pm	Tottenham vs Manchester City
  Sunday, May 19	4pm	Arsenal vs Everton, Liverpool vs Wolves, West Ham vs Manchester City