Hampshire 298 and 88 for 2 (Middleton 58, Gubbins 24*, Mousley 1-0) lead Warwickshire 254 (Bethell 69, Mousley 57, Barker 6-74) by 132 runs Keith Barker reminded Warwickshire’s fans of the skills they lost in 2018 as he bowled Hampshire into control on the second day of their Vitality County Championship match at Edgbaston.Barker’s left-arm swing earned him 14 hauls of five wickets or more as a Warwickshire player. He bagged his ninth for Hampshire with 6 for 74 to give them the upper hand in a gripping contest in the Birmingham sunshineIn reply to 298, Warwickshire were dismissed for 254 by Barker and Kyle Abbott (3 for 64) despite impressive resistance from young batters Jake Bethell and Dan Mousley.A lead of 44 is handy in conditions which have given the seamers some encouragement and Hampshire built on it in the final session to reach 88 for 2 as Fletcha Middleton struck his second half-century of the match.After Warwickshire resumed on 51 for 2, the ground echoed to perhaps the earliest ever cry of ‘get on with it’ when, at 11.01am, a long delay ensued while the ball was inspected and then changed. Barker wielded the replacement to spectacular effect with a burst of 3 for 17 in 25 balls. He trapped Danny Briggs lbw, had Sam Hain superbly caught by Ben Brown, standing up, and hit Ed Barnard’s off-stump.From 83 for 5, Mousley and Bethell applied themselves diligently. Destructive batters in the Blast (Bethell smashed 50 from 15 balls last week – this time he scored just two from his first 15), they showed they also have the technique to dig in against good bowling. They added 74 in 22 overs before Mousley was lured into driving away from his body at Barker and edged behind.Michael Burgess joined Bethell to add 64 in 21 overs before Barker returned to strike twice more. Bethell edged a big drive to first slip where James Vince accepted that catch and another two overs later when Chris Woakes edged a footwork-free waft.Craig Miles smote three quick fours but then played down the wrong line to Abbott. Mohammad Abbas finally collected a deserved wicket when Burgess chopped on.With the evening session to enlarge their lead, Hampshire began badly when Toby Albert edged Olly Hannon-Dalby’s second ball to slip, but then advanced meticulously. Middleton continued his good form from the first innings to reach a 60-ball half-century and Nick Gubbins (24 not out in over two hours) unfurled an innings of low entertainment for the spectators but high value to his team as the advantage ticked upwards.Middleton edged Mousley behind 14 balls before the close and though Hampshire are well on top, Warwickshire are very much still in the game. This intriguing match may have a fascinating second half in wait for those spectators, particularly those who are connoisseurs of threes. With a very long boundary on the Pershore Road side of the ground, this has been a veritable festival of threes – there have been 15 already.

GOAL looks at the best players from the Gold Cup, which culminated in Mexico's 10th trophy after beating USMNT in final

The 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup was one for the books. Mexico were crowned champions for the second straight edition, defeating the U.S. men's national team 2-1 in the final and capping the final competitive tournament for the region ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Edson Alvarez, Raul Jimenez, and Luis Malagon were all terrific for s their trio of reliable veterans helped Mexico lift the trophy for the 10th time. They weren't the only top performers, though. For the U.S., defender Chris Richards had a fantastic tournament and was arguably the best center-back throughout the Gold Cup.

Panama's Ismael Diaz was named the top scorer of the competition, earning the Golden Boot and making a name for himself among CONCACAF's attackers. Who else stood out in this year's tournament?

GOAL US looks at the top 10 performers, including a few new breakout stars.

Stream Gold Cup games live on fuboFind the best deals

• Getty Images Sport
  

  10Olger Escobar: Guatemala

  Named Young Player of the competition, Escobar, who plays his club soccer with CF Montreal in Canada, had a breakout tournament for Guatemala. The midfielder scored twice, including the lone goal for against the USMNT in the semifinals.

  In his first real taste of competitive CONCACAF soccer, the 18-year-old performed brilliantly. Upon his return to CF MTL, it will be of no surprise if he pushes for a regular spot in the XI – and potentially be looked at by some of the heavy-hitters within the league for a transfer.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  9Malik Tillman: USMNT

  Tillman had a real breakout tournament, his best performance to date for the national team. The PSV midfielder, who is reportedly on the verge of signing for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, scored three goals for the USMNT, adding two assists. His performance was among the most promising takeaways for coach Mauricio Pochettino.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  8Ismael Diaz: Panama

  The top scorer of the competition, Diaz put on a thrilling performance for Panama, even though they were eliminated in the quarterfinals. The 28-year-old striker, who plays his club soccer for C.D. Universidad Católica del Ecuador, had six goals in four matches to secure the Golden Boot award.

  Diaz scored a hat-trick against Jamaica in a 4-1 victory in the group stage, and scored again in their 1-1 quarterfinal draw against Honduras – they were eliminated in a penalty shootout.

  In the shootout, Diaz found the back of the net on his attempt. A true breakout performance for the forward.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  7Keylor Navas: Costa Rica

  Navas, 38, likely played in his final Gold Cup, but the Real Madrid legend put on a show. The goalkeeper was heroic throughout the group stage, coming up big in a scoreless draw against Mexico, making four saves. In the knockout round, Navas and Costa Rica took on the USMNT, and he had the best goalkeeping performance of the competition in an eventual 2-2 draw that went to a penalty shootout.

  Navas made two saves in regulation and thwarted a regulation PK attempt from Tillman, sending the match to spot kicks. In the shootout, he came up with a clutch save against a John Tolkin attempt.

  Costa Rica and Navas can hold their heads high knowing they were the only team in the Gold Cup to not lose to either finalist, the USMNT and Mexico.

MatériaMais Notícias

da wazamba： Tendo marcado um dos três gols do Palmeiras na vitória diante do Fortaleza por 3 a 1 no último sábado (22), Breno Lopes vive uma verdadeira montanha-russa no Verdão. Apesar de ser atualmente reserva da equipe de Abel Ferreira, o atacante é o segundo jogador do time que precisa de menos minutos para ter uma participação em gol, estando atrás apenas de Raphael Veiga.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasPalmeirasPalmeiras pode lucrar com negociação de zagueiro para o futebol da TurquiaPalmeiras24/07/2023PalmeirasTorcida do Palmeiras vibra com estreia brilhante de Ary e Bia Zaneratto na Copa do MundoPalmeiras24/07/2023PalmeirasRichard Ríos dedica gol a ex-companheiro de Palmeiras que se contundiu gravemente em estreia no novo clubePalmeiras24/07/2023

da fezbet： + Palmeiras pode lucrar com negociação de zagueiro para o futebol da Turquia

Breno Lopes precisa de 129 minutos para ter participação em gol, estando à frente de jogadores titulares e que recebem mais oportunidades como Rony (151), Artur (172), Dudu (324) e Endrick (181). Veiga lidera a estatística, precisando apenas de 114.

Contra o Leão do Pici, pelo Campeonato Brasileiro, o camisa 19 voltou a aparecer após um tempo sem muito destaque, o que rendeu elogios de Abel na entrevista coletiva após o duelo. O treinador português disse que Breno Lopes é um dos jogadores que ele mais ‘prejudica’, visto que é um dos que menos joga e mais produz.

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Ainda, Abel afirmou gostar muito do atacante e revelou que pediu a Anderson Barros, diretor de futebol do Palmeiras, para que não o vendesse nesta janela de transferências, já que vários clubes queriam a contratação do camisa 19.

– O Breno talvez seja um dos jogadores que eu mais prejudico e que mais rendimento tem. Acredito que seja um dos jogadores que temos aqui que menos joga e que mais produz. Ele entrou, teve três ou quatro oportunidades para marcar, isso é o normal dele. Eu particularmente gosto muito dele, é outro jogador que também todo mundo queria, e eu disse ao Barros “não, eu quero esse jogador, eu gosto dele”. Parabéns para ele que fez o gol – disse Abel Ferreira.

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+ Torcida do Palmeiras vibra com estreia brilhante de Ary e Bia Zaneratto na Copa do Mundo

Mesmo sendo o ‘herói’ da Libertadores de 2020, tendo marcado o gol do título diante do Santos nos acréscimos da decisão, Breno Lopes divide opiniões entre os palmeirenses. Apesar das constantes críticas, o atacante vem se mostrando que pode ser uma peça importante, especialmente nos minutos finais.

Praticamente metade dos gols marcados pelo camisa 19 desde que ele chegou ao Palmeiras, em outubro de 2020, foram justamente nos acréscimos. Nove das 20 bolas na rede de Breno Lopes entraram depois dos 45 minutos do segundo tempo. Neste ano, já foram dois gols anotados no tempo adicional – contra Fortaleza (Brasileirão) e Bragantino (Paulistão).

Nesta temporada, Breno Lopes participou de 37 jogos e totalizou 1034 minutos em campo, entrando na maioria das partidas vindo do banco de reservas. Além disso, já balançou a rede quatro vezes e distribuiu quatro assistências. Logo, não tendo nenhum pênalti sofrido, o camisa 19 já teve participação direta em oito gols em 2023.

Tudo sobre

Palmeiras

South East Stars seamer involved with senior team for first time as injury cover

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2024England have handed a first senior call-up to South East Stars seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay for their ODI series with New Zealand, ahead of the first match at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.MacDonald-Gay, 20, has represented England Under-19s and England A and is currently the second-leading wicket-taker in this season’s Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, with 12 at 11.75 and a best of 5 for 31 from four matches.She has been added as cover due to what head coach Jon Lewis described as “a couple of niggles” in the 14-player group, and will join up with the team in Durham on Tuesday.”Ryana has been a standout bowler in domestic 50-over cricket and had a good 50-over tour of New Zealand with our England A team,” Lewis said. “We have brought her in at this point as we have a couple of niggles in the squad. We have been really impressed with her skill level and accuracy.”She is an exciting young talent and we look forward to having her in the squad.”MacDonald-Gay made her Kent debut as a 15-year-old in 2019 and has also represented Oval Invincibles in the Women’s Hundred. She took six wickets in two 50-over appearances and five in two T20s on the England A tour of New Zealand in March.

Fast bowler to miss tours to Pakistan, New Zealand after problem picked up on routine scan

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2024

Mark Wood has been ruled out for the rest of 2024•AFP/Getty Images

Mark Wood, England’s fastest bowler, will miss the forthcoming Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, after being ruled out for the rest of the year due to a bone-stress injury to his right elbow.Wood was withdrawn from the ongoing Sri Lanka series as a precaution, after suffering a right thigh strain while bowling during the first Test at Old Trafford. However, he subsequently underwent what he had hoped was a routine elbow scan, after feeling discomfort in the joint, and admitted in an Instagram post that he had received some “pretty rubbish news”.”During what I thought was routine check on a previously troublesome elbow, I was shocked to learn I’ve got some bone stress in my right elbow,” Wood wrote.As a result, he will miss England’s final six Tests of the year, three each against Pakistan in October and New Zealand in December.He will continue to work closely with the ECB medical team in the meantime, with the aim of returning to full fitness by early 2025, in time for England’s white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, which is scheduled to begin in February 2025.Wood’s surprise at his diagnosis comes in the wake of some of the fastest bowling of his international career. During the Trent Bridge Test against West Indies in July, he hit a top speed of 97.1mph in an electrifying performance that culminated in a broken forearm for Kevin Sinclair, and had his captain, Ben Stokes, predicting he would break the 100mph before his career is done.Though he went relatively under-rewarded in that performance, he closed out the series with 5 for 40 at Edgbaston, his first five-wicket haul in a home Test. However, he bowled just 18.2 overs across two innings against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, before he was withdrawn from the action.”After the minor groin injury at Emirates Old Trafford, me and the medical team felt it was a good time to get my elbow looked at as it was a bit irritated,” Wood added in his Instagram post. “I’d put that down to the normal niggles every fast bowler gets and which I was playing through.”I’m especially surprised because I’ve been playing Test cricket and kept my speeds up.”I work incredibly hard on my fitness, putting in extra work with coaches and physios making this even more disappointing. However, I guess this is, ‘part of being a fast bowler’, like Stokesy says.”I will miss the rest of the year needing time to rest and build up, fully expecting to be back and firing in early 2025. I have been down this path before and will put in all the hard yards behind the scenes. I am very proud to represent my country and there is no better feeling. See you for some rockets in 2025!”In Wood’s absence, Olly Stone was recalled for last week’s Lord’s Test, his first Test since undergoing back surgery three years ago, with Josh Hull, the 20-year-old left-arm seamer, making his debut in the ongoing third Test at The Oval.

Darwin Nunez scored a first-half hat-trick as Liverpool put Stoke to the sword in a 5-0 pre-season victory at Kirkby as Florian Wirtz made his debut.

Nunez hits hat-trick against StokeWirtz makes highly anticipated debutChiesa and 16-year-old Ngumoha also scoreFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

As reported by The Athletic, the Uruguayan struck a quick-fire treble against the Championship side, playing in a front three which included Mohamed Salah and 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha. British record £116m signing Wirtz started behind them wearing the Red of Liverpool for the first time. A goal from teenage sensation Ngumoha saw Arne Slot's side race into a 4-0 half-time lead, before 10 changes were made at the break and substitute Federico Chiesa added a fifth goal.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Nunez has been the subject of much transfer talk throughout the summer, but he has now scored four goals in just two halves of football in pre-season so far. He paid tribute to the late Diogo Jota with his celebration after a goal against Preston North End last week. Liverpool are reportedly set to bring in Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt, so the Uruguayan's future at Anfield remains up in the air.

DID YOU KNOW?

Liverpool will soon head off for their pre-season tour of Asia, which begins with a fixture against AC Milan at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Stadium. A clash against J1 League side Yokohama F Marinos then follows in Tokyo, in the Reds' first trip to Japan in 20 years since they lost to Sao Paolo in the Club World Championship final.

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR NUNEZ AND LIVERPOOL?

Whether or not Nunez remains at Anfield come their opening Premier League fixture against Bournemouth on August 15 remains to be seen. The Reds have a tough challenge on their hands in defending their league title, but their transfer business this summer has shown the club's ambition to create a new dynasty.

The wheels came off West Bromwich Albion’s 2024/25 campaign alarmingly quickly.

It all started when Carlos Corberan left the building at the end of December, leaving the Baggies with the extremely tough task of replacing the Spaniard mid-way through what they hoped would be a promotion-winning season in the Championship.

Unfortunately, Tony Mowbray came in and depressingly faltered instead, with the 61-year-old subsequently relieved of his duties as his side fell out of the playoff picture.

It can’t all be blamed on the seasoned EFL manager, however.

The likes of Adam Armstrong also struggled in a league he usually shines in, as seen in the Southampton loanee only firing home a limp three strikes from 16 games after a late January swoop.

Games played

16

Games started

12

Goals scored

3

Assists

0

Big chances missed

4

Goal conversion %

12%

Therefore, this might make the Baggies think twice about going after Armstrong permanently now his loan deal has expired, with these three strikers perhaps on the West Brom shopping list instead to try and bolster their firepower.

1 Marc Guiu

West Brom could boldly go down the route of exploring the loan market once more with Chelsea hotshot Marc Guiu, irrespective of Armstrong’s poor stint at the Hawthorns.

After all, the Baggies have succeeded in the past when gifting an up-and-coming starlet chances away from Stamford Bridge, with Romelu Lukaku once just a wide-eyed attacker like Guiu before exploding into life in the West Midlands.

Guiu would hope to follow in the deadly Belgian’s footsteps if he is picked up by the promotion-aspiring Baggies this summer, having previously reportedly been on their radar around the time of Armstrong’s move.

The promising 19-year-old managed to bag six goals for Enzo Maresca’s men last season despite limited first-team action, meaning more game-time to come down a division could get even more out of the raw Spaniard.

2 Willem Geubbels

West Brom could be up against it in attempting to land the services of St. Gallen star Willem Geubbels, considering he is being linked with a £4.6m move to Premier League-bound Leeds United.

But, never say never over the Swiss attacker wanting more game-time by relocating to the Hawthorns instead, having been a long-term target on the Baggies’ agenda.

His goalscoring expertise in the Swiss Super League has even resulted in football talent scout Jacek Kulig heralding Geubbels as an “absolute top talent” and for many a valid reason too, considering the 23-year-old has hammered home an impressive 17 strikes this season from 41 overall clashes.

Therefore, the in-demand Frenchman could push a returning Josh Maja for a starting spot next campaign if he were to move to England, away from also allowing West Brom to immediately forget about Armstrong’s frustrating spell.

3 Ali Al-Hamadi

Lastly, away from thinking outside the box by shopping in Europe or snapping up a rising top-flight star, West Brom could go after a centre-forward talent full to the brim with EFL experience in Ali Al-Hamadi.

The Iraq international didn’t set the world alight out on loan with Stoke City this season just gone when registering only two weak goals from 15 games, but he has proven in the past for parent side Ipswich Town in the Championship that he’s a reliable option to call upon when the deadlock needs to be broken.

Games played

14

Games started

1

Minutes averaged*

22

Goals scored

4

Assists

0

Scoring frequency*

72 mins

Staggeringly, despite only starting one league game for Kieran McKenna’s men during their promotion-winning campaign, the former AFC Wimbledon man would still fire home a blistering four strikes, leaving him with a devastatingly effective scoring frequency of every 72 minutes.

It would all just depend on whether the Tractor Boys would want to keep the dangerous 23-year-old around now they’ve slumped back down to the EFL, but if he is available again, West Brom could seriously boost their promotion efforts by landing their failed January target.

West Brom could finally replace Palmer in swoop for "exceptional" EFL star

West Brom could finally replace Alex Palmer by swooping for this free agent EFL star.

ByDan Emery May 23, 2025

da pinup bet： Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will currently be plotting moves to bolster his squad after the summer transfer window officially opened for business on Sunday.

da esoccer bet： The Northern Irish head coach has already landed one signing in the form of Kieran Tierney, who is set to re-join the club from Arsenal after six years in England.

Greg Taylor’s contract expires this summer and Jeffrey Schlupp’s loan deal has ended, which means that the Scotland international is currently the only left-back contracted to the Hoops heading into the 2025/26 campaign.

However, whilst Rodgers must think about potential transfer targets to improve the squad, the Celtic manager also has to be ruthless when deciding who will be a part of his team next season.

How Celtic's midfield could look next season

Football FanCast recently published an article outlining what a dream starting XI could look like for the Hoops next term, and it included a midfield trio of Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, and Lennon Miller, who could be signed from Motherwell as a potential replacement for Reo Hatate if he moves on.

That would leave Paulo Bernardo, Luke McCowan, and Hyeok-kyu Kwon as the senior central midfield back-ups heading into pre-season, after McCowan and Bernardo played back-up for much of this season.

The former Dundee star and the Portuguese whiz combined for ten goals and 13 assists across all competitions, with seven goals and nine assists for McCowan and three goals and four assists for Bernardo.

This suggests that they both provide enough attacking quality to be solid rotation options behind a first-choice midfield of McGregor, Engels, and Miller, which is why Rodgers must ruthlessly axe Kwon.

Why Celtic should axe Kwon

Kwon was signed from Busan IPark in the summer of 2023 and arrived as the ‘K League Rodri’, having averaged 3.3 tackles and interceptions and 5.0 ball recoveries per game in the K League 2 during the 2023 campaign.

Squawka noted that the midfielder was ‘likened to Rodri due to his similar stature and playing style’, as another towering number six who likes to make tackles and interceptions whilst also getting on the ball to complete passes and dictate matches.

Upon signing for the club, Kwon said: “I will become the best player in Celtic and go to higher places such as the German Bundesliga or the English Premier League.”

The 24-year-old star came to Glasgow with incredibly high ambitions, as shown by these comments, and was clearly plotting to be Rodgers’ own version of Rodri, who won the 2024 Ballon d’Or, as the star anchor of the midfield.

Hyeok-kyu Kwon (Scottish Premiership)

23/24 (St Mirren)

24/25 (Hibernian)

Appearances

8

21

Starts

8

12

Goals

0

0

Assists

0

0

Tackles + interceptions per game

2.5

2.0

Ball recoveries per game

5.0

2.1

Duel success rate

51%

53%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, though, Kwon has yet to play a league match for Celtic in two seasons, playing for St Mirren and Hibernian on loan.

Kwon, who was hailed as “excellent” by Saints boss Stephen Robinson, enjoyed a fairly decent start at St Mirren, starting regular matches, but his form tailed off at Hibs before his season was ended due to injury in March.

The defensive midfielder failed to start games on a consistent basis, and his defensive numbers reflect that with a decline in tackles, interceptions, and recoveries per game.

His lacklustre statistics and his lack of starts for Hibs do not suggest that he is likely to break into Celtic’s midfield next season, or earn a move to the Premier League or the Bundesliga, which is why Rodgers must ruthlessly axe him from the squad this summer.

Related Celtic could sign their new Dembele with swoop for "outstanding" £10m star

Celtic could repeat their Moussa Dembele masterclass with a swoop for this star.

Posts ByDan Emery Jun 1, 2025

If an opportunity to cash in on the 24-year-old flop arises, the Hoops should move on from him, as they already have options in midfield, because his performances do not suggest that Rodgers will be getting his own version of Rodri any time soon.

Their position at the top of the points table hasn’t hidden their batting problems, and without a turnaround, things could get tougher as the league progresses

Sruthi Ravindranath in Bengaluru22-Apr-20193:13

I will never question what Dhoni does in the back end – CSK coach Fleming

On the eve of the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, MS Dhoni walked to the nets an hour after his team had begun training. He was seen practising his big hits – mostly against spinners – and smashing the ball all around the park. The 50-odd fans, who had come to catch a glimpse of the teams before the big day, cheered almost every time the ball was dispatched. Back spasms had kept Dhoni out of Super Kings’ previous match – against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday – in which they had been consigned to a heavy defeat, and his availability against Royal Challengers was not confirmed.On Sunday, in front of a full house, those rehearsals paid off. Dhoni turned up, brought out the fireworks and single-handedly almost took Super Kings to a win. He had barely any support from the rest of the batsmen in Super Kings’ chase of 162. Having walked in to bat in the sixth over, with the score at 28 for 4, Dhoni shared a 55-run stand with Ambati Rayudu for the fifth wicket, the highest for the side. Where the rest of the line-up struggled to score at a run-a-ball, Dhoni slammed 12 boundaries in total – four of them coming in 20th over.Super Kings’ form and consistency over the years can intimidate any T20 side. However, the team that has previously had several in-form batsmen and a number of finishers, this season have only one consistent performer – their captain Dhoni. Their dependence on him has exposed a gaping hole in batting the line-up, evident in the three losses this season.Super Kings’ approach to a chase has rather become a convention. One batsman assumes the role of an anchor, whose chief role is strike-rotation, especially in the event of an early collapse. The other batsmen play around this anchor. Often this season, Dhoni has been pushed to play that role. Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Suresh Raina – who all have the reputation of being match-winners – have one-odd good score each. While Super Kings have somehow gotten over the line in the first few games this season, the inconsistent form of the other batsmen could land them in a rather dicey situation towards the end of the league stage.Dhoni is the team’s highest run-getter (314 runs at an average of 104.66) this season and has five 30-plus scores batting at No. 4 or lower. He’s 11th on the list of highest run-getters this season and the next best Super Kings batsman is Raina, at No. 27, with 207 runs in 10 innings. These numbers should give some indication about the side’s batting struggles.Super Kings’ two matches against Rajasthan Royals again illustrate Dhoni’s impact. Batting first on a dewy night in Chennai, Dhoni produced a vintage innings to save the team from an embarrassing collapse. His unbeaten 75 took Super Kings from 88 for 4 in the 14th over to 175 for 5, and the innings included hard-run, risky ones and twos, and a big flourish at the end with four sixes in the last over, including three off the final three balls of the innings.In the away fixture, Super Kings were chasing but their innings followed a similar script. They were 24 for 4 after the Powerplay, with another 128 needed off 14 overs. Dhoni scored no boundaries off the first nine balls he faced before launching into a counter-attack. Rayudu imbibed some of that aggression in the pair’s 95-run partnership and Dhoni’s 43-ball 58 was crucial to a dramatic last-ball win.Do these trends and numbers indicate that the Super Kings’ line-up is overdependent on Dhoni?”We’ve got a really talented batting order, which has been consistent throughout the years,” coach Stephen Fleming said after the one-run defeat to Royal Challengers. “On paper, you can see the strength but we’ve not been able to string partnerships or individual scores this year. What we’re bordering on is being a little reckless, trying to find that form. We were being a little bit reckless, and that just comes from guys trying to find form and do the job. But what’s happening is we’re relying too heavily on Dhoni and Rayudu to patch things up and we won’t win the competition if that continues.”We’re happy to be crossing the line, but we’d like to see some form creeping back into the top order.”Super Kings did not have these struggles last year, when they found different match-winners with the bat. Rayudu and Watson enjoyed top form, making 602 and 555 runs respectively, while Raina had four half-centuries, and struck a crucial 24-ball 32 in the final. This year, the side’s bowling unit, especially spinners, seem to have found top gear, but the top order is yet to find its feet ten games into the tournament. Could the sluggish home pitches, which have been forcing them to play more cautiously, be one of the reasons affecting them?”It can, and we’ve been very conscious of that,” Fleming said. “We played on Chennai tracks which were difficult to find form on. It was tough to keep the momentum. So, we train well on the grounds that we’ve gone to, to see if they’re faster or more friendly batting conditions. But it’s just getting a little bit of form back. You can’t try too hard, so it’s very hard to try and deliver messages when on the one hand the game, we’ve got to be positive and aggressive and take calculated risks.”Maybe we’re just missing the 1% in between, so we’re looking to hit our way into form rather than just work our way into form, and we’re getting great examples from Dhoni and those partnerships in the middle, but it’s taking a little bit of time to sink in. So we’ll go back to Chennai and it’s going to be a grind, but if that’s what it’s going to take, then we have to grit our teeth and do it.”

Chelsea chiefs hold a private belief that one “sensational” player will make the move to Stamford Bridge this summer, following the club’s decision to offer him a tempting contract.

Chelsea suffer damaging 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United

The race for Champions League qualification is the tightest and most enthralling we’ve seen in years, with six teams involved in a narrow top-five battle which could see any one of them drop out in the final two Premier League games of the season.

Chelsea favourites to sign £148m forward ahead of Al-Nassr with talks held

The Blues are ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s side.

ByEmilio Galantini May 11, 2025

Chelsea acquired some breathing room between themselves and sixth place after their excellent win over champions Liverpool, but immediately followed up that result with a damaging 2-0 loss to Newcastle at St. James’ Park over the weekend.

Sandro Tonali opened the scoring inside two minutes, kickstarting the uphill contest awaiting Enzo Maresca’s men, with striker Nicolas Jackson then compounding Chelsea’s misery by receiving a red card on 36 minutes.

Man United (home)

May 16th

Nottingham Forest (away)

May 25th

They remained in the game until the dying seconds, with midfielder Bruno Guimaraes sealing a precious three points for Newcastle. Chelsea remain in the top five on goal difference alone, making their final matches against Man United and Nottingham Forest absolute must-wins.

The race for Europe is absolutely vital in more ways than one, with their success set to have an influence over their transfer plans for the summer as well.

Beyond this season, Chelsea are competing in the Club World Cup and reportedly want to bolster their squad before the tournament kicks off.

According to widespread reports from reliable media sources, Bournemouth starlet Dean Huijsen is a very serious target for Maresca’s side as they seek to reinforce their central defensive options.

Chelsea have already held talks with Huijsen’s representatives, and some reports claim they’re moving in with an attractive proposal for the 20-year-old, one which he personally likes (Simon Phillips).

Huijsen’s £50 million release clause has piqued interest from a host of English rivals and beyond, but it appears BlueCo are making real moves for the ex-Serie A defender, and want a deal done “by the end of May” (Fabrizio Romano).

Chelsea convinced Huijsen will join with "lucrative" contract offer

Now, TEAMtalk have backed up previous reports that Chelsea are ready to tempt Huijsen with an offer, providing further background on this evolving story.

The outlet reports that Chelsea’s offer to Huijsen will be a “lucrative” seven-year contract, and he’s responding “positively” to their eagerness. Those within Stamford Bridge are also convinced that he’ll choose to join them over rival clubs.

While they haven’t won the race for his signature just yet, with Real Madrid described as a threat in particular, Chelsea view themselves as serious frontrunners to sign the Bournemouth sensation after his impressive debut campaign in England.

Dubbed a “sensational” centre-back prospect by members of the media (Ben Mattinson), the intense race for his services is a clear indicator that elite club insiders see Huijsen as a potentially world-class addition, both for now and the long-term.