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With Ruben Amorim reportedly set to show Alejandro Garnacho the Old Trafford door, Manchester United are reportedly seriously keen on signing a rising star to replace the winger this summer.

Amorim to show Garnacho the door

From one of Erik ten Hag’s most influential players, Garnacho has become someone who looks destined to head for the exit door under Amorim amid disappointing form and Manchester United’s PSR problems. In a campaign to forget, the 20-year-old has scored just four Premier League goals and one assist in what sums up the struggles of United’s frontline.

Amorim hasn’t shied away from criticising the young Argentine either, telling reporters earlier this week: “Garnacho needs to improve the way he runs, the way he defends, scores and assists. He is improving. He is doing the right things. Like any player in our team, he has to choose better in the last third. Bruno is the only one scoring goals easily.”

Imagine him & Bruno: Man Utd make "best ST on the market" their top target

Man Utd are on the search for a striker this summer

1 ByJoe Nuttall Apr 6, 2025

It’s a relationship that has been on the rocks ever since the former Sporting Club boss arrived and dropped Garnacho for the Manchester derby and now one that looks likely to come to a bitter end when the summer arrives.

INEOS could certainly do with the spending power potentially gained by selling the Argentine too, with Napoli reportedly submitting a bid worth over £60m to secure his signature in recent days and Amorim ready to show the winger the door.

Such a sale would allow the Red Devils to go in pursuit of some much-needed reinforcements of their own amid links to the likes of Mike Maignan in recent weeks. The shot-stopper is one of the best in his position and could bring an end to Andre Onana’s nightmare spell between the sticks at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, United could also land an instant replacement for Garnacho this summer who has looked destined for big things in South America.

Man Utd seriously keen on Ian Subiabre

According to journalist Sebastian Sur, Manchester United are now seriously keen on signing Ian Subiabre from River Plate this summer but are joined by Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the race to secure the teenager’s signature.

Still just 18 years old, Subiabre is not a talent that the Red Devils will want to miss out on – especially to a Premier League rival. The young Argentine is certainly full of confidence, having previously talked up his talents, saying: “I’m a powerful, high-scoring striker. And strong in one-on-one situations. I like to drop back to link up with my teammates and provide assists. I can also play on the right or left wing.”

The likes of analyst Ben Mattinson haven’t shied away from praising the teenager either, dubbing him a “technical winger” at the beginning of last year. After scoring seven goals and assisting another eight last season too, it’s fair to say that Subiabre is exactly that.

Led by novice coaches, both teams have made encouraging progress in recent months, and will be keen to bring back the glory days

Madushka Balasuriya12-Oct-2024West Indies and Sri Lanka have long had an affinity of sorts for each other – particularly the latter during its cricketing infancy, when the mighty West Indian juggernaut was for most fans their second team. It also helped that they were fellow island nations – or in the case of the West Indies, a nation of islands. And in the lead up to West Indies’ first white-ball tour of Sri Lanka since 2020, these parallels have only grown stronger.Underwhelming World Cups? Check. Novice head coaches? Check. A strong desire to rediscover the glories of old? You bet. They even both missed out on qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy and toured England over the summer.They both also enter this series on the back of some promising white-ball results. West Indies have clean swept both South Africa and India at home in T20Is in 2024, while Sri Lanka have a home ODI series win against India as well as white-ball series wins against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.But what makes this upcoming tour so enticing is that, these are two sides which are pretty evenly matched. The last time West Indies toured Sri Lanka for a white-ball series, they swept the T20Is and were swept in the ODIs, and in 15 T20Is between the two, West Indies have won seven and Sri Lanka eight. Here we look at some of the key talking points surrounding the upcoming series.Related

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Russell, Pooran opt out of SL T20Is; Andrew bolts into ODI squad

Daren Sammy: 'I have a dream that I'll be part of another World Cup title in the near future'

A tale of two coachesSticking to theme of parallels, there’s no better point to begin with than Daren Sammy and Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya’s had a fairly impressive start to his career as head coach, but if ever there were questions over how his man-management- centric approach to coaching could translate over a longer period, perhaps Sammy holds the answers.While Sammy’s franchise coaching background brought with it more experience when taking over the reins as West Indies head coach in March 2023, the similarities in his approach to Jayasuriya’s is hard to miss.Sammy has spoken about honesty and clarity being key pillars in his coaching style; for Jayasuriya, it’s instilling confidence and gaining the trust of the players. These could be seen as two sides of the same motivational coin, as both rely on solid foundations of rapport with players and administrators alike to push forward their plans.And a quick look at West Indies T20I record since Sammy took over speaks volumes towards his impact – six combined bilateral series against South Africa, India, England and Australia has yielded five series wins. The only blips were a 2-1 series defeat in Australia and an unsuccessful World Cup campaign, which still saw them come out with five wins and two defeats.This run of results has seen the West Indies surge up the ICC T20I rankings, up from seventh to third. With Sri Lanka languishing currently in eighth place in those same rankings, Jayasuriya will no doubt be eyeing similar upward momentum.Sri Lanka players tune up for the T20I series against West Indies•AFP/Getty ImagesWest Indies vs spin One area in which the West Indies have improved drastically during Sammy’s tenure has been in their approach to spin bowling. From once being a primarily six-hitting side that could be efficiently countered by simply cutting off boundaries, there is now a growing focus on running between the wickets while data analytics increasingly informs their strategies – such as maintaining right-left combinations to better deal with legspin, and drafting in strong batters against spin such as Shai Hope.”The improvement in our run rate against spin from five-point something to six and a half to eight runs an over between the seventh to 15th overs…we were the best team in the last five overs in the last year,” Sammy said in an interview with this past week.But in Sri Lanka, they will likely come across their stiffest spin challenge yet, with the likes of Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage offering a varied array of threats. Though in the limited sample size of T20Is in Dambulla, it has generally been the seamers that have proved more of a threat.Sammy has spoken about honesty and clarity being key pillars in his coaching style•ICC via Getty ImagesBattle of the quicksWhile T20 cricket is known for its relentless onslaught of power-hitting, where T20 games – and series – are generally won is in the bowling. Even on the most placid of surfaces, a potent and varied attack – particularly when it comes to pace – can make all the difference.The hosts boast two slingers – with differing trajectories, pace and skillsets – in Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara, while Binura Fernando and his 6’4″ frame offers less pace but makes up for it in guile and cunning, which makes him a threat both in the powerplay and at the death.West Indies meanwhile boast talents such as Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph – both clocking above 140kph regularly and capable of unsettling bounce – while Jayden Seales excelled for the Jaffna Kings in the 2021 Lanka Premier League.Visiting pacers have also had a fair bit of success when touring Sri Lanka – in venues other than the Khettarama in Colombo, where spin dominates. In Afghanistan’s three T20Is earlier this year in Dambulla, 13 of the 20 wickets they took in the series were by seamers, while even Zimbabwe’s modest seam contingent accounted for eight scalps across three T20Is to go with the 13 they picked up in three ODIs.How both sets of seamers profit from the conditions could go a fair way in deciding this series.Eye on DambullaThe Rangiri Dambulla Stadium has hosted just three men’s T20Is – all in the past year – when Sri Lanka took on Afghanistan. There a 200-plus total was chased down once, while scores of 187 and 160 were defended successfully. If you include data from women’s T20Is played there, Sri Lanka most recently chased down a target of 166 in the 2024 Asia Cup final, while the top four high scores from that tournament – all played in Dambulla – read: 201, 191, 184 and 178. Safe to say, the batters have found it quite enjoyable.This is also down to Sri Lanka Cricket making a concerted effort to curate more batter friendly tracks so as to nurture more aggressive cricket from their batters. The only outlier in this new initiative was the recent ODI series against India at the Khettarama in Colombo, where surfaces were geared towards spin – this though has the caveat of Khettarama traditionally being on the slower side, while the series also immediately followed the LPL which meant the pitches were already fairly worn down.Dambulla should not have any such issues, so the expectation is a surface tailor-made for some big-hitting T20 cricket.

And who played the most Tests without ever bowling?

Steven Lynch16-Aug-2022I was sorry to read that Trent Boult was winding down his international career. Has any other left-arm bowler taken more international wickets, apart, perhaps, from Wasim Akram? asked Bruce McKenzie from New Zealand
You’re right in thinking that Wasim Akram leads the way: he took no fewer than 916 wickets in international cricket – 414 in Tests and 502 in ODIs. Trent Boult currently sits in seventh place among left-armers with 549, but might yet move up, as he is still expected to appear in some formats. Boult currently has 317 wickets in Tests, 169 in ODIs and 63 in T20s. The other seamers ahead of him are Chaminda Vaas (761), Zaheer Khan (610) and Mitchell Johnson (590), while spinners Daniel Vettori (705) and Shakib Al Hasan (631) are also in front. Mitchell Starc is currently only four behind Boult, with 545.Who had the most innings in Tests, having been bowled in all his visits to the crease? How about the other modes of dismissal? asked Andrew Browning from England
Only one man has been out bowled in each of the five times he was out in Tests – the Nottinghamshire offspinner Sam Staples, who played three Tests in South Africa in 1927-28. Nine people have been out twice in Tests and lbw both times; no one managed three. But Reginald Hands played one Test for South Africa, against England in Port Elizabeth (now Gqerbha) in 1913-14, and was stumped in both innings. The unfortunate Hands was killed in the First World War; a tribute to him, instigated by his father, led indirectly to the tradition of two minutes’ silence to honour someone’s passing.The record-holder in this particular regard is the Sri Lankan spinner Milinda Siriwardana, who had nine innings in his five Tests, and was out caught in all of them.England Lions racked up 672 against South Africans last week. What’s the highest total against a touring team in England outside a Test match? asked Gerry Latimer from England
England Lions did indeed score 672 in their innings defeat of South Africans in Canterbury last week, but it won’t make it on to any records list as it was not a first-class match (both sides chose from more than 11 players). But for this irritation, it would have come in a close second: Harlequins (whose cap would soon be made famous by Douglas Jardine) amassed 676 for 8 declared against West Indians in Eastbourne in 1928. This was something of a recovery from 162 for 5: Kent amateur John Knott hit an unbeaten 261, while Nos. 7 and 8, Reginald Bettington and John Evans, both passed 120. The record by a county is Surrey’s 645 for 9 declared against the New Zealanders at The Oval in 1949, when Jack Parker made a career-best 255.In Tests, England piled up 903 for 7 declared against Australia at The Oval in 1938 (Len Hutton 364), and 710 for 7 declared against India in Birmingham in 2011 (Andrew Strauss called a halt when Alastair Cook was out for 294).Wasim Akram has 916 international wickets, over 150 more than the next left-arm bowler on the list, Chaminda Vaas•Getty ImagesI believe that Eoin Morgan’s 17 sixes against Afghanistan is the record for a one-day international. But is it also the most in any one-day game? asked James Rowley from England
Eoin Morgan thrashed 17 sixes in his 148 from 71 balls for England against Afghanistan at Old Trafford during the 2019 World Cup. That broke the existing record of 16 sixes in an ODI innings, shared by Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle.One other man has hit 17 sixes in an innings in List A (senior one-day) cricket: Gerrie Snyman, during his 196 for Namibia against the United Arab Emirates in Windhoek in 2007-08 (this was not an official one-day international). But one man is well clear of both of them: playing for Western Australia against Queensland in the Australian JLT One-Day Cup in Sydney in September 2018, Darcy Short launched no fewer than 23 sixes during his 257, the third-highest innings in any List A game, and the highest in Australia.Who played the most Tests without ever bowling? asked Abhishek Kunjal from India
It’s probably not a great surprise to find a wicketkeeper on top of this list: Ian Healy played 119 Tests for Australia and never got on to bowl. But the men in second and third spots were outfielders: New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming played 111 Tests without ever bowling, and Andrew Strauss 100 for England. Healy’s successor, Adam Gilchrist, comes next with 96 Tests, ahead of the England wicketkeepers Alan Knott (95) and Godfrey Evans (91). Then comes Jonny Bairstow, who has played 87 Tests so far (49 as the designated keeper) without being given a bowling spell.The record-holder in ODIs is Kumar Sangakkara (404 matches). The top non-keeper is a tie between Herschelle Gibbs and Eoin Morgan, who both played 248 matches without bowling. Morgan is also top in men’s T20Is with 115, although for the women Alyssa Healy has so far played 132 for Australia, and Tammy Beaumont 99 for England.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

It was a day on which India’s luck kept them interested, teased them all along, and then disappeared

Sidharth Monga15-Jan-20212:16

Aakash Chopra: T Natarajan has lifted his game to another level

T Natarajan first picked up the cricket ball less than ten years ago. His unbelievable rise in the IPL lifted his family out of poverty. Towards the end of the latest IPL, his daughter was born, but he picked a net bowler’s duty in Australia over going back home to see her. Then an injury to Varun Chakravarthy meant a late call-up into the squad. ODI and T20I debuts followed. Though a limited-overs specialist, he still chose to hang around as a net bowler for the Test matches. Now he is one of only 301 men to have played Test cricket for India.Natarajan has two wickets on his first day of Test cricket. This is no less than a fairy tale, scenarios of dreams for young boys and girls who don’t know the actual route to representing India. It is a great story, but Test cricket doesn’t care for great stories. Stories are incidental.T Natarajan sent back Matthew Wade and Marnus Labuschagne in quick succession•AFP via Getty ImagesThrough an unprecedented combination of the pandemic and a spate of injuries, some of which might be related, India were reduced to playing Natarajan and Washington Sundar in a Test match. They perhaps even had information through their sophisticated tracking devices that an in-game injury couldn’t be ruled out. Which is why they picked four quicks to cover both for the conditioning and the inexperience, and went ultra-defensive with their spinner ahead of Kuldeep Yadav to cover a batting base. With Navdeep Saini getting injured during the day’s play, the selection stood vindicated.Related

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Stats – Australia with 1033 wickets in the XI, India 13

Navdeep Saini taken for scans after suffering groin strain

This is what you do with severely limited units, and yet India are not what you might call “blown away” by an Australia side at home, a team that decided to bat first after winning the toss. In years from now, teams will have reasonably and justifiably bad days in the field even at full strength, but this Indian team seems have to have ruined it for them. You will be giving logical reasons for a 3 for 300 day, but at the same time thinking of the time when an attack with a joint experience of four Tests had Australia at 17 for 2, and were a simple catch away from making it 94 for 4. That on a tour in which they were, by this Test, missing seven first-choice players, one certain replacement, one possible replacement, and were still somehow alive coming into the decider.With this attack, which was soon reduced to a total experience of three caps, to come out with the scoreboard showing 274 for 5 after losing the toss is a reasonable return. With some luck with the new ball on the second morning, India could still be in the match, but this was a day on which India’s luck kept them interested, teased them all along, and then disappeared.Washington Sundar bowls with the leg trap lying in wait•Getty ImagesIndia tried to get the better of their limitations with their field sets. The leg trap was in, and it worked for Sundar, who had a wicket – that of a set Steven Smith – even before he had conceded a run. Shardul Thakur had one with a leg-stump half-volley the first time he bowled in a Test since his first ended with injury after ten balls. Matthew Wade and Marnus Labuschagne got out in ways that suggest no planning or build-up.The lack of control began to show in the Labuschagne-Wade partnership with regular leg-side half-volleys for Wade without a leg trap in place. Thakur kept trying to bowl full outside off, which is noble, but he did so without protection, suggesting non-adherence to a plan. Siraj, India’s first-choice replacement for the three quicks they brought to Australia, continued to show the control that has brought him this far. Saini showed improvement from his first outing before his groin strain took him off. Sundar stuck to his middle-and-leg line, but it was soon apparent it is no good if you can’t do the batsmen in the air.The scoreline was better than expected for such an inexperienced attack, but India could have probably done without the teasing thought of what if Ajinkya Rahane had not dropped Labuschagne with Australia still under 100. That’s how Test cricket is, though. You have to be good enough to be at it for hours.Even when Wade and Labuschagne gave India another look-in, it needed accurate and skilful spells to go through Australia’s lower order. That was too much to ask of a bowling unit in which three are not used to long days in the field because of their limited-overs specialisation. It will likely be down to batsmen hanging in for dear life, but it won’t be their fault either if they can’t: the Australia attack has much better experience, conditioning and skill.

MatériaMais Notícias

Exatamente daqui uma semana, o Palmeiras enfim retornará ao Allianz Parque após mandar cinco jogos na Arena Barueri, por conta da reforma no gramado sintético da belíssima arena alviverde localizada na Pompéia, bairro da zona oeste da cidade.

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➡️ Tudo sobre o Verdão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Palmeiras

Por conta da ausência do Verdão no bairro que cresceu em torno dele ao longo dos seus mais de 109 anos de história, muitos lojistas e comerciantes que dependem dos jogos pra sobreviver estão passando apuros neste início de temporada.

Segundo apuração do Lance!, em relação as lojas que vendem artigos oficiais do clube, a queda no faturamento em fevereiro e março chegou a quase 50%, e bares da região também sofrem com a queda de receita, inclusive um estabelecimento teve a água cortada pela Sabesp por falta de pagamento.

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– Os jogos movimentam muito a região, principalmente nessa época do ano, com lançamento de produtos, camisas de jogo e a linha de treino e viagem que foi lançada agora. O entorno vive em função do Palmeiras, e os jogos são essenciais para a sobrevivência das lojas, bares e restaurantes. Jogos por aqui despertam até a curiosidade em turistas que visitam São Paulo – disse um funcionário de uma loja que não quis se identificar.

Entre os cinco jogos que o Palmeiras teve que mandar em Barueri neste período, entre eles teve um clássico contra o Corinthians, um dos jogos em que o entorno do Allianz Parque mais fatura durante toda a temporada.

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– Tive uma queda de mais de 60% do meu faturamento. Os jogos do começo do ano são o nosso carro chefe, ficar sem esses jogos não foi fácil. A expectativa agora é a gente conseguir retomar, esperamos que o torcedor volte com muita sede e que o Palmeiras classifique pra final do Paulista – disse o dono de um bar na rua Caraíbas.

O retorno do Palmeiras para o Allianz Parque está marcado para a próxima quinta-feira (28), quando o Verdão encara o Novorizontino, pela semifinal do Paulistão 2024.

Manchester United are now on red alert in the race to sign a Real Madrid star ahead of Manchester City in a shock £69m deal next year.

Amorim "angry" at "frustrating" West Ham draw

Like the rest of Old Trafford, Ruben Amorim was left angered by Man United’s 1-1 draw against West Ham. The Red Devils were in control for the large part and deservedly got their opener through unlikely goalscorer Diogo Dalot in the second-half, but that’s when things started going wrong.

With seven minutes remaining, the visitors sent a timely reminder of United’s struggles courtesy of Soungoutou Magassa, who scored his first Premier League goal to snatch a point for West Ham.

Amorim, left frustrated at full-time, told reporters: “Yeah, it’s frustrating, it’s angry. That’s it.”

The former Sporting CP manager also pinpointed where things went wrong, saying: “Yeah, but there are second halves that we lose control of the game.

“Today, I think it was not that case. Maybe after the first goal, we lost some second balls and Matheus [Cunha] won one or two second balls there and made it a transition.

“We try to defend all the time far from the goal because we knew it. They tried to make a cross, win a corner. Like it happened, long ball, they win a second ball against three guys of us in the defence. So, we need to be better in the second half.”

Any assumption that United have turned a corner under Amorim is quickly evaporating and the Old Trafford boss desperately needs further reinforcements in 2026.

Midfield stars such as Conor Gallagher and Elliot Anderson have already been mooted, but United could still set their focus on welcoming Rodrygo from Real Madrid. The Brazilian is attracting plenty of interest and could yet swap the Bernabeu for the Premier League.

Man Utd on red alert in Rodrygo race

According to reports in Spain, Man United are now on red alert in the race to sign Rodrygo next year and could land the talented winger ahead of rivals Man City, as well as a number of other Premier League sides.

The Brazilian has struggled for game time under Xabi Alonso – starting just three La Liga games all season – and looks destined to leave Real Madrid next year.

Sparking a flurry of interest, Madrid reportedly value their winger at around €80m (£69m). Whether INEOS and others deem that fee reachable for a player who’s yet to impress Alonso remains to be seen, however.

Man Utd now rivalling Liverpool to sign £87m forward who Klopp loves

The Red Devils have joined the race for a new attacker, who has made an impressive start to the campaign.

ByDominic Lund Dec 5, 2025

At his best, Rodrygo played a key part in Madrid’s success in the Champions League and in La Liga. Now, he’s been cast aside to hand United the opportunity to land arguably their best signing yet under Amorim.

Dubbed “spectacular” by former Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti in 2023, Rodrygo is still just 24 years old and is full of potential – even if he’s forced to realise it with a move to Old Trafford in 2026.

Amorim's £150k-p/w star just had his worst game for Man Utd vs West Ham

Jhostynxon Garcia was promoted to the Boston Red Sox's Triple A Worcester club a little over a week ago. On Monday night he was a clue on .

Garcia was name-dropped in the "Culture, In the Popular Sense" category, with contestant Miles Tepper, a graduate student from California, telling Ken Jennings a nickname in the form of a question worth $400.

Tepper either knew that Garcia's nickname was "Password" or just recognized that people use passwords to unlock things online. Based on the fact that Tepper's response was what is password, he may have just used context clues and known nothing about the No. 5 prospect in the Sox's organization.

You can watch the clue and correct response on Reddit.

And here's video of Garcia hitting a home run in his Triple A debut with the announcer saying, "The password has arrived!"

Garcia's nickname showed up on Jeopardy! the day after his first hitless game in Triple A, but he still has 10 hits in 24 at bats start since joining Worcester.

With everything on the line, here's how Gotham FC can top the Spirit for the 2025 NWSL Championship.

For the second time in three years, Gotham have charged into the NWSL Championship after delivering upsets to higher-ranked teams. Jaedyn Shaw disagrees that they’re underdogs, per se (see: “underdog, my ass” comment after they downed Kansas City), but they’ve been the surprise story of the postseason. Saturday night, they could take their Cinderella run all the way to the title. Here’s a few reasons why they might:

Getty ImagesReason 1: Defensive strength

Simply put, Gotham is hard to score on. In part, that’s because they have one of the best goalkeepers in the league (more on that shortly). But notably, they also don’t allow their opposition many chances to score. With a team that defends from the front, a midfield that’s hard to cut through, and a solid defensive line waiting behind, Gotham finished the 2025 season having allowed just 76 shots on target. That’s an average of 3 per game and is tied with the first-place Shield winners, Kansas City, for fewest shots on goal allowed in NWSL. 

There’s a number of reasons they’re dynamic defensively, and it involves players across all of their lines. Emily Sonnett is in top form as a leader in their backline. Rookie of the Year Lilly Reale awaits her opportunity at left back to thwart Rose Kouassi creating from the right. Jaelin Howell, who just earned her first USWNT callup since 2022, could have a massive match as she jockeys for control of the midfield. 

As a team that likes to have possession, they’re also effective at limiting the opposition by reducing their opportunities to get on the ball. The Spirit are also hard to score on, but they allowed 107 shots on target throughout the season, averaging four per game. They also conceded 33 total throughout the year, compared to Gotham’s 25. In a game of margins, that could matter.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesReason 2: Ann-Katrin Berger

Gotham may have the Rookie of the Year (Lilly Reale), but they’re also stocked with veteran talent. One of Gotham’s most essential veterans is 35-year-old German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. 

Berger was named Goalkeeper of the Year in 2024 and was nominated in 2025 after another strong season cleaning up the few shots that Gotham does allow. Berger’s steady presence has been pivotal for club and country the past few years. The German keeper helped see her team to an Olympic bronze medal in 2024 and a semi-final finish at Euro ‘25 with clutch penalty heroics and massive saves. 

This postseason, Berger has come through for Gotham multiple times. She made seven essential saves in their upset of Kansas City, and was called on to make a few key ones against Orlando to see them to the final. Saturday in San Jose, she could be a difference maker.

Getty ImagesReason 3: Peaking at the right time

The Washington Spirit finished the season in a comfortable second-place position and have been the more consistently strong team throughout the year. But Gotham is glistening at the moment, with multiple players hitting their top form at just the right time. 

That includes USWNT midfielder Rose Lavelle, who was out with injury in the first half of the year but has five goals and two assists in 16 games since returning. That also includes 20-year-old Jaedyn Shaw, who joined Gotham in early September and has looked like a unique talent finally in the right spot with the move. 

Shaw has been electric for Gotham in the postseason, scoring in both of their playoff tests, including the stoppage-time match-winner against Orlando. The team’s top scorer, Spanish striker Esther Gonzalez, is just returning from injury and hasn’t scored in five games, isn’t in her top form of the season. But Esther has scored game-deciding goals for Gotham in two previous trophy matches. If she catches fire Saturday night, it’ll be hard to discount this ‘underdog’ team that’s hitting its collective stride at precisely the right moment.

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Gotham FC will face the Spirit on Saturday, November 22 at 5pm ET on CBS and Paramount+.

Jason Holder was bang in the middle of all good things St Kitts and Nevis Patriots did as they ended a three-match losing streak in CPL 2025 to beat Barbados Royals by 12 runs in Basseterre on Thursday night.Holder first hit a 21-ball 38 to lift an up-and-down Patriots innings that needed a bit of impetus, and then picked up four wickets, including three key strikes at the death when the match got a bit tense.Batting first after Royals opted to field, Patriots were three down quickly, losing Evin Lewis, Rilee Rossouw and Mohammad Rizwan inside the powerplay with just 45 runs on the board. Ramon Simmonds, the left-arm quick did most of the damage, removing Lewis and Rossouw, while Rizwan, in his first match for the franchise, fell to Jomel Warrican.Andre Fletcher had been holding one end up, but he didn’t last too long after the powerplay, falling to Daniel Sams for a 16-ball 25 in the ninth over.Kyle Mayers top-scored for Patriots•CPL T20 via Getty Images

It was then that Kyle Mayers and Holder got together and put up a 49-run stand to bring Patriots back in the game. The two contributed more or less equally to the 30-ball partnership, with Mayers contributing 26 in 16 and Holder 22 in 14. Mayers and Holder fell in the 14th and 16th overs respectively, but quick runs from the Pakistan duo of Abbas Afridi (16 in ten) and Naseem Shah (19 not out in 11) took Patriots to a strong total.It might not have proved enough on another night, though. But Royals, who have now lost both their games this season so far, just couldn’t get a chase going, even though they ended up getting close enough to the target.Unlike Patriots, they got runs from their top order, but the speed of progress wasn’t good enough. Brandon King scored 22 in 17. Quinton de Kock 15 in ten. Kadeem Alleyne, the highest scorer of the innings, hit 42 in 28. Sherfane Rutherford and Kofi James had poor outings, but Rovman Powell, batting at No. 6, chipped in with a 15-ball 21.But there just wasn’t the one big effort that would have made the match close. Wickets fell at regular intervals, Naseem and Navin Bidaisee, the legspinner, picking up two wickets apiece to complement Holder, whose four wickets in 3.2 overs cost him just 14 runs. All of that combined to finish the Royals innings off with ten balls left – enough time to score 12 runs, you’d think, except that they had lost too many wickets too quickly to get to that position.The win, their second in five games, took Patriots to second place on the table behind Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, while Royals are right at the bottom.

Arsenal have gone from strength to strength under Mikel Arteta’s management, and there’s a sense that this year is as good as any as they look to win their first top-flight title in two decades.

Seven matches into the Premier League campaign, the Gunners set the pace, 16 points claimed from 21 possible. Liverpool trail by a single point after successive defeats.

New technical director Andrea Berta has succeeded in bringing over some exciting summer signings, and in particular, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze have caught the eye.

But the £60m striker, Viktor Gyokeres, leaves something to be desired, having arrived to much fanfare after hitting incredible prolific heights in Portugal with two-in-a-row league champions Sporting Lisbon.

Viktor Gyokeres' Arsenal career so far

Gyokeres, at the very least, knows where the back of the net is. However, his performances across the opening weeks of the campaign haven’t been all that serviceable,

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has described him as a “battering ram” who could “beat up smaller teams”, but there’s a sense he might have work to do when pitted against those of an ostensibly higher technical level.

The 27-year-old’s frustrations aren’t limited to the domestic front, though, having blanked across his first two forays into the Champions League as an Arsenal player. During these fixtures against Athletic Bilbao and Olympiakos, he has missed three big chances (data courtesy of Sofascore).

It is also surely worth stressing that we are only two months into the campaign. There is plenty of time for this powerful goalscorer to continue to adapt to life as a high-profile Premier League marksman.

As Neville has alluded to, the contrast between “misfit” Gyokeres and the more technically smooth attacking teammates around him is not necessarily a bad thing, but he will need to sharpen his overall link-up play.

Gyokeres, after all, has the talent to become the Gunners’ finest centre-forward in many years, though whether he would take the cake when peering back at positional rivals over the past ten years or so is questionable.

Indeed, there’s a veteran striker who, having once led the line at the Emirates, has started the season even stronger than Arteta’s new focal frontman.

The former Arsenal ST outperforming Gyokeres

Gyokeres isn’t exactly a spring chicken, but then Arsenal have signed strikers of a more mature status in the past – and to an emphatic effect at that.

Just take a look at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund for £56m in January 2018 and scored 92 goals across just 163 matches for the Gunners, assisting 21 strikes too.

The Gabonese goalscorer might have left the club somewhat unceremoniously, but he left his mark on Arteta’s reign, having manufactured the Spaniard’s sole slice of silverware, notching four goals in the late stages of the 2019/20 FA Cup.

Indeed, with Arteta only months into his tenure at the Emirates helm, Aubameyang rose to the occasion in the semi-final at Wembley and scored a brace to down Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Despite arriving at the season’s midpoint in 2019/20, Aubameyang hit the ground running in the Premier League, lashing home ten goals from 13 matches before hitting consecutive 22-goal campaigns in the English top flight.

He was 28 when he first arrived at the north London outfit, and has led a storied career in the years since leaving. In fact, plying his trade for Marseille this term, the now 36-year-old Aubameyang has posted four goals and three assists from seven games in all competitions this year.

Quite remarkably, he’s outperforming a positional rival in Gyokeres, who is nearly nine years his junior and plundered 97 goals across two campaigns in Portugal, including a hat-trick over Man City in the Champions League last year.

When looking at Arsenal’s top goalscorers in the Premier League, year by year, since Aubameyang last played a successful season at the club, it’s clear to see that supporters and critics have been on the money when noting a lack of quality in the final third has been hamstringing an otherwise top-level attacking team.

25/26

Viktor Gyokeres

3

24/25

Kai Havertz

9

23/24

Bukayo Saka

16

22/23

Martin Odegaard

15

21/22

Bukayo Saka

11

20/21

Alexandre Lacazette

13

19/20

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

22

With three goals from his first seven Premier League appearances, it hasn’t been an abject start by any stretch. But Gyokeres has left something to be desired with his performances, for sure, having missed four big chances and averaged under six passes per game at a completion rate of 56%.

Three goals may be under the belt in the English top flight, but Gyokeres still needs to find another gear if he is to rival and surpass Aubameyang as the club’s finest centre-forward in so many years.

Whether he crosses that 22-goal threshold this term is open to question, but Arteta will no doubt expect more from his expensive summer signing, especially when looking at Aubameyang, and how he is still utilising his movement and positioning to score goals with a consistency and ferocity that belies his age.

Sky Sports journalist Dougie Critchley has marvelled at how “one the best finishers of the last 15 years” is still striking true on the big stage.

And given that Aubameyang is still outperforming the Swede for Marseille this season, the argument lingers concerning Gyokeres’ suitability for a side looking every bit the title-challenging force that they have been expected to perform as over the past few years.

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