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Leeds United’s latest Premier League outing against Brentford was filled with positives and negatives, the positives being the return of Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford, who scored their late equalising goal to rescue a 2-2 draw, after the duo had been out with injuries.

The negatives, however, were that Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips had to go off with injuries. With this in mind, this could be a perfect time for Marcelo Bielsa to put his faith in one of Leeds’ young talents.

Opportunity knocks

Even though 22-year-old Jamie Shackleton has made nine appearances in the Premier League this season, predominantly playing in the right-back position while Ayling was out injured, he has spent their previous two fixtures on the substitutes bench.

Now that Phillips and Cooper have picked up these unfortunate blows against Brentford, this could pave the way for Shackleton to get back into the team either in a midfield or defensive capacity depending on how serious the injuries are, giving Bielsa the opportunity to tinker with his team again and give the youngster a chance to prove his worth and quality again.

As one of the Yorkshire club’s youth academy prodigies, during his time on the pitch for Leeds in the Premier League this season, Shackleton, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £17k-per-week according to Salary Sport, has shown his quality on the ball with an average passing accuracy percentage of 88% as well as proving his defensive capabilities by racking up an average of 2.4 tackles per game.

Labelled as a “superb” player by Darren Bent, Shackleton’s overall performances have earned the Englishman a season rating of 6.71/10, making him Leeds’ joint-fourth highest rated outfield player according to WhoScored.

Should Phillips’ injury keep him out of the team for a significant period of time, Bielsa should definitely consider playing Shackleton in midfield and allow him to unleash his defensive qualities once again, especially since Leeds only have Mateusz Klich and Adam Forshaw to rely on as other options in central midfield.

With Leeds having games against Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool next up in the league, it seems as though Bielsa’s side could do with all the defensive reinforcements that they can muster with three of those teams scoring more than double the number of league goals Leeds have scored so far this term.

In other news: Orta may condemn LUFC to relegation with disastrous call on “powerful” £36m-rated star – opinion

Scotland are planning to introduce a ‘first-class structure’ to their domestic competitions in a bid to improve their cricketing infrastructure and boost their chances of gaining Test status

Cricinfo staff07-Dec-2009Scotland are planning a ‘first-class structure’ to their domestic competitions in a bid to improve their cricketing infrastructure and boost their chances of gaining Test status. Last week, Cricket Scotland officials announced their plans to organize a new regional tournament, featuring the country’s elite players, with three teams from the three main geographical centres playing regular three-day matches.”In effect what we are planning is a first class tier of competition although it would not have that status,” Andy Tennant, Cricket Scotland’s head of performance, was quoted as saying in the . “The ICC are keen to ensure that their associate members have a solid infrastructure in place on and off the park and we are always trying to improve.”Tennant admitted Scotland were competing with Ireland, regarded as the leading associate nation at this point. Ireland have already voiced their interest in gaining Test status amid calls to incorporate more teams into the circuit, or reform the format by creating a tier system. “We are constantly jockeying for position with the other associate countries and Ireland probably are in pole position having been successful for the last year or two,” Tennant said. “However, there are other ways you can set yourself up for sustained success and we believe a three-day competition will greatly enhance our infrastructure.”Scotland failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, though they still retain their ODI status. Tennant also believed the establishment of an equivalent for first-class cricket at the associate level could help secure the futures of many of the country’s cricketers by filling a “black hole” at the senior level.”This competition will provide a necessary stepping-stone from club cricket to senior representative level. It will also provide a safety net for players who previously might have slipped off our radar,” he said. “There has always been a bit of a black hole where players who played for our U19s have disappeared from the scene because they weren’t ready to step up to senior level. Now they will be kept involved and given the necessary back-up to ensure they reach their full potential.”

George Caulkin doesn’t expect Steve Bruce to be sacked as Newcastle United manager today.

The lowdown

Amanda Staveley is to meet with the 60-year-old and the Newcastle squad face-to-face for the first time on Monday following the completion of the club’s takeover last week.

According to Sky Sports’ Keith Downie, Bruce is set to be ‘relieved of his duties’ before next weekend’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

Newcastle are currently 19th in the Premier League after picking up just three points from a possible  21.In a recent survey carried out by the Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, just under 95% of fans called for Bruce to resign.

The latest

Caulkin, a senior writer at The Athletic, confirmed that the new owners ‘will be back on Tyneside’ today. The players who aren’t on international duty are scheduled to train in the afternoon and ‘the plan is to meet them’.

On Monday morning, he tweeted: “Newcastle’s new owners – a phrase which still takes some getting used to – will be back on Tyneside today. The team are training in the afternoon & the plan is to meet them. As of last night, line was “no decision” on Steve Bruce. I’m sure he’ll go but doubt it will be today.”

The verdict

This is becoming a very poorly-kept secret. It seems pretty clear that Bruce’s time is up, so Newcastle should perhaps have made the change already.

The immediate replacement should be given as much as time as possible to take charge of training and make whatever alterations he can prior to the Spurs game on Sunday.

After all, let’s not forget that Newcastle need to start picking up points soon, for despite their new-found wealth, they currently occupy a place in the Premier League relegation zone and cannot flaunt their riches until the January transfer window.

In other news, this Premier League manager is in the frame to replace Bruce.

So far this season, Liverpool have managed to win six and draw four of their opening 10 Premier League games of their campaign as well as remaining unbeaten in the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

With the upcoming January transfer window on the horizon, it seems as though the club have plans to get rid of one of their players that has played no part in their current season so far.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by The Mirror that Liverpool will let goalkeeper Loris Karius will leave the club on a free transfer in January.

Karius, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £65k-per-week according to Salary Sport, has not made an appearance for the Reds since the 2018 Champions League final where he made two costly errors that led to Liverpool losing the match by a scoreline of 3-1 to Real Madrid.

That says to us that he has been a sizeable flop in Merseyside and has arguably been stealing a living at the club by picking up wages without playing since.

Following his howler in a major European final, the shot-stopper has had loan spells with Turkish club Besiktas and German club Union Berlin.

Liverpool signed the 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £1.8m according to Transfermarkt, back in the 2016 summer transfer window from FSV Mainz for a reported fee of £4.7m.

Karius, who has been described as “stagnant” by former Besiktas manager Senol Gunes, then went on to make 49 appearances for Klopp’s side including his calamitous appearance against Real Madrid in arguably the biggest game of his Liverpool career, keeping 22 clean sheets in the process.

We feel that if Liverpool and Klopp have an opportunity to get Karius out of the club on a permanent basis in the upcoming transfer window, they should definitely look to do so they can get his salary off their wage bill and so he can get on with his own career.

Although, with his current contract at the Merseyside club set to expire in the summer anyway, we feel that even if they don’t manage to get rid of him in January, they won’t have to wait too long for Karius to leave beyond that.

In other news: FSG could secure Jota 2.0 at LFC with “outstanding” £67.7m star, fans would be buzzing – opinion

West Ham United are back in Premier League action this afternoon with a home clash against Liverpool, who have beaten the Hammers five times in their last six league meetings.

Ahead of the match against the Reds, after drawing 2-2 against KRC Genk in the Europa League on Thursday, Irons manager David Moyes revealed that Andriy Yarmolenko and Nikola Vlasic will potentially be unavailable to play against Jurgen Klopp’s side through injury.

With that in mind, here’s how we think West Ham could line up today, with seven changes anticipated from the clash against Genk.

In goal, considering that he’s played in all of West Ham’s Premier League so far this season, it would be a surprise to not see Lukasz Fabianski start for the Hammers. He replaces Alphonse Areola, who started in Belgium and made four saves on the night.

In defence, we can only see Aaron Cresswell keeping his place from the back four which started in midweek. Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Vladimir Coufal make way for Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma – who is currently earning a weekly wage of £120k-per-week according to Spotrac – and Ben Johnson respectively, restoring the same back four which started in their 4-1 win over Aston Villa last weekend.

In the centre of midfield, we think Moyes will put Tomas Soucek back in from the start alongside Declan Rice, even though the 26-year-old scored a late own goal against Genk in midweek.

Ahead of those two, with Said Benrahma scoring both of West Ham’s goals in Belgium, we reckon he will keep his place in the team in between Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen out wide, with Manuel Lanzini and Arthur Masuaku dropping down to the substitutes’ bench. The Argentine could pay the price for failing to record a shot of any description against Genk.

Up top, with six goals scored in nine Premier League games so far this season, it would be madness for Moyes to consider dropping Michail Antonio from the team. The 31-year-old could make himself a real danger to Liverpool’s defence and give his side a good chance of ending the Reds’ unbeaten status in the league.

In other news: Moyes must start “unplayable” West Ham beast today, he could scare Liverpool

With Lee Johnson’s Sunderland side heading into Tuesday night’s League One clash on a run of seven games without defeat in all competitions, the 40-year-old Black Cats boss would have undoubtedly been hoping for yet another dominant display against a mid-table Cheltenham Town side.

And, with goals from Bailey Wright, Luke O’Nien, Leon Dajaku and a brace from Ross Stewart sealing a 5-0 win at the Stadium of Light, it would be difficult to argue that a dominant performance is not exactly what the Sunderland side provided their manager.

Indeed, as is to be expected after such a result, a number of Johnson’s players turned in extremely impressive displays against the Robins, with Aiden McGeady, Carl Winchester and Bailey Wright all receiving SofaScore match ratings of 8.0 or higher, however, it was undeniably centre-forward Stewart who ran the show against the Robins.

Won 100% duels

Having already been one of Sunderland’s best performers in the league prior to Tuesday evening’s fixture, scoring five goals over his eight League One appearances, Stewart once again demonstrated exactly why Johnson put so much faith in the 25-year-old’s ability to replace the Mackems’ top goalscorer of last season, Charlie Wyke.

Indeed, over his 74 minutes on the pitch against Cheltenham, the £450k-rated man scored two goals, took a total of six shots, made two key passes and created one big chance for his teammates.

The player Chris Strain dubbed an “athletic” striker also won all eight of his duels – a 100% success rate – drew three fouls for his side and completed both his one attempted long ball and his one attempted dribble.

These returns saw the Scot receive a SofaScore match rating of 8.6 on the night, with no player from either side earning a higher rating for their efforts.

As such, should Stewart be able to keep up this goalscoring form, as well as his overall level of performance, for Sunderland going forwards, he will undoubtedly play an influential role in the club’s promotion push – something which, at present, appears to be in extremely good shape, with the Black Cats topping the League One table.

In other news: Alan Nixon drops Sunderland claim on “exciting” 21 y/o, Lee Johnson would be buzzing

A big claim has been made on Newcastle United transfer target Tyrone Mings, regarding his future at Aston Villa…

What’s the talk?

Journalist Luke Hatfield has suggested that the Midlands club could be tempted to cash in on the centre-back if an offer comes in from the Magpies, who have recently been linked with the England international.

Hatfield told GIVEMESPORT:

“You never say never with football. If an offer comes in from Newcastle or any other club that Villa see as acceptable, maybe it’s one they’ll consider.”

Delight

Newcastle fans will surely be delighted with this claim from Hatfield as he has left the door ajar for a potential move to St. James’ Park for Mings in the January transfer window. He does not think a deal is impossible for the club to complete, with Villa potentially willing to do business at the right price.

The 3-3 draw with Brentford at the weekend highlighted the need for defensive reinforcements ahead of the second half of the campaign, as the Magpies are conceding goals at an alarming rate. Eddie Howe’s team are 20th in the table and the only team in the division yet to win a game, whilst they are also without their first clean sheet of the league season.

They are currently conceding 2.3 goals per game in the Premier League, whilst scoring 1.3, and it does not take a genius to work out that they are on course to lose the majority of their games if these statistics persist. This is why signing an experienced, proven, defender in the form of Mings could be a terrific signing and one that leaves fans buzzing.

Mings, 28, has been capped 16 times by England and has made 97 Premier League appearances in his career for Bournemouth and Villa, with 102 matches for the latter in all competitions. Last season, he helped his side to keep 14 clean sheets in 36 league matches, showing that he has the quality to be a crucial part of a solid defence at this level.

This is why Newcastle fans will be delighted with the prospect of the defender arriving on Tyneside in January, with Hatfield’s comments suggesting that a deal is certainly a possibility. The Three Lions centre-back could help to improve Howe’s defence and increase their chances of keeping clean sheets and, in turn, picking up points that keeps them in the division.

AND in other news, Shearer 2.0: Howe could get St. James’ rocking with NUFC deal for “incredible” beast…

Matthew Hayden is set to join the board of Cricket Australia barely six months after retiring from international cricket

Cricinfo staff11-Aug-2009Matthew Hayden will draw upon his IPL experiences to help navigate Cricket Australia through the uncharted waters of Twenty20 cricket as part of his newly-acquired role as board director. Hayden, who will replace the departing Allan Border on CA’s board, insists he will bring a contemporary voice to the decision-making process as cricket’s administrators attempt to strike a balance between the Twenty20 phenomenon and the more traditional forms of the game.Hayden was a foundation member of the Chennai Super Kings, and has been a staunch advocate of both the IPL and the 20-over game in general. He will become the only member of the board with first-hand experience of the Twenty20 game as a player.”The game is definitely at the coalface of anticipated change,” Hayden told Cricinfo. “What I can bring to the table is a real currency and a slightly more contemporary style of looking at the way cricket and the business of cricket is managed and maintained. Strategically it’s really important to recognise that iconic series such as the Ashes can never be removed, and in fact need to be protected and maintained, throughout the cricketing landscape. At a time when the market is looking to find new ways to engage our sport I think it’s also really important to go on a journey and go on a debate and recognise that we have got something very special in the creation of franchise cricket and the globalisation of those brands.”Jack Clarke, CA’s chairman, was hopeful Hayden would make a significant contribution to the board. “He brings a combination of contemporary, elite playing experience in all major cricketing nations; additional understanding of player issues through his work on the board of the Australian Cricketer’s Association, experience in the new Twenty20 phenomena as an IPL player, and a passion for development of Indigenous cricket,” Clarke said.”I congratulate Queensland Cricket on having the foresight and vision to appoint Matthew Hayden to the Cricket Australia Board so soon after his retirement from wearing the Baggy Green.”The move could improve relations between Cricket Australia and the players due to Hayden’s recent involvement in the game and his role as an executive member of the Australian Cricketers’ Association.Besides the retiring Border, Mark Taylor and Wally Edwards are the other two former Test cricketers who are now Cricket Australia directors.

As West Ham United breezed past Genk at the London Stadium this evening, taking yet more control of Group H, many Irons supporters were blown away by the performance and contribution of defender Craig Dawson.

David Moyes’ men took a giant leap towards finishing top by beating the Belgian giants this evening.

Indeed, they have gone six points clear with their victory and, as per the new Europa League format, potentially finishing as group victors will guarantee West Ham a spot straight into the last 16.

Moyes rested a fair few first teamers tonight with the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko, Nikola Vlasic, Alphonse Areola and Dawson all coming in after the weekend victory at Everton.

Among all of these fresh faces, it was the latter man who garnered real praise on Twitter for his display – especially considering he opened the floodgates with his towering first half header.

He was also among the highest-rated West Ham players on SofaScore and it’s safe to say his ‘massive’ display didn’t go unnoticed.

Find all the reaction to his outing down below.

West Ham fans blown away by Dawson…

“Dawson you beast”

Credit: @RyanG33A

“Dawson!!!!! What a player”

Credit: @WestHamNews24hr

“Craig Dawson is the hero we never knew we needed”

Credit: @_Sam_Chaplin

“We are absolutely massive and Craig Dawson is absolutely massive”

Credit: @Lew_Fountain

“DAWSON YOU MAGNIFICENT SET PIECE ROBOT”

Credit: @chojinzoku

“can we just bring dawson on in games to attack corners because he’s disgustingly good at it”

Credit: @whuemma

“Craig Dawson!!! Fisted hand Guys so dangerous at set pieces so good in the air”

Credit: @JJ_Hannaway

In other news: ‘Yes yes yes’, ‘No brainer’…West Ham fans buzz as contact made to sign ‘big’ striker, find out more here.

Everton reportedly remain keen to sign Porto forward Luis Diaz over the coming months after missing out on him over the summer.

What’s the story?

The Toffees were heavily linked with a move for the 24-year-old in the previous window after identifying him as a top transfer target prior to Deadline Day.

It was claimed that Everton wanted to sign Diaz as part of a deal that would have seen James Rodriguez move in the opposite direction and return to the Portuguese club.

However, no deal ever came to fruition, and Rodriguez ended up joining Qatari side Al-Rayyan after being deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Rafael Benitez.

But now, according to Correio da Manha (as relayed by the Liverpool ECHO), the Goodison Park outfit could land the winger for £43m in January.

Marcel Brands must sanction Everton move

The Colombia international arrived at the Estadio do Dragao from his homeland back in 2019 and quickly established himself as a key player for the Dragons.

In 107 appearances for Sergio Conceicao’s charges, he has bagged 31 goals and provided a further 14 assists for his teammates, playing a pivotal part in their domestic double in 2019/20.

His impressive performances at club level have earned Diaz 26 caps for his country, and the youngster featured heavily for his nation last summer in the Copa America, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with four strikes.

After netting the winning goal for Colombia as they won 3-2 in their third-place play-off with Peru, former Chelsea ace Juan Cuadrado showered his teammate in praise, insisting that Los Cafeteros wouldn’t have won without the skilful forward.

“We won because of Lucho, he has an excellent level, and he will achieve great things,” Cuadrado said after the game.

With summer signing Demarai Gray currently excelling in a central role with four goal involvements and Richarlison out injured, 20-year-old Anthony Gordon was deployed on the left-wing last time out against Manchester United.

And although the youngster performed admirably at Old Trafford, helping his side claim a much-deserved draw, Diaz would undoubtedly present an upgrade on the academy graduate.

Therefore, Everton’s director of football, Marcel Brands, must sanction a move for the highly-rated South American in the winter window, adding some extra quality to Benitez’s charges as they go in search of European football.

And, in other news…Benitez plots swoop for “scary” £27m-rated magician, Everton fans will be buzzing