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Sunderland have a 100% win record so far in the Championship in 2025, with the Black Cats acting as a distant but serious challenger to Leeds United sat at the very top of the unpredictable league.

If the Wearside outfit can keep up this stellar form across an extended period of time, and the Whites show considerable chinks in their armour when the nerves are ramped up, Regis Le Bris’ men might well find a spot in the top two positions becomes available.

Of course, anyone getting too carried away at the Stadium of Light will be aware how uncomfortable a transfer window can be for the Black Cats, knowing full well that some of their top assets are in danger of being poached.

Sunderland could now lose £20m star

According to a report by Football Transfers earlier this week, Arsenal are now setting their sights on snapping up Jobe Bellingham this January, with the Gunners set for a midfield overhaul.

The report further states that both Sunderland and Bellingham struck up a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ during a round of contract talks last summer that means the 19-year-old would be allowed to move on if an acceptable bid was put forward, with a rumoured £20m price tag enough for the Black Cats to consider parting ways.

Whilst losing Bellingham would be far from ideal for Le Bris’ side and their ongoing chances of promotion, it wouldn’t necessarily be the end of the world, especially after the promotion challengers landed the services of Enzo Le Fee this month to bolster centrally.

Moreover, there’s no guarantees that the teenager moves to North London and is instantly gifted first-team football, with the potential there for the deal to be reminiscent of Jack Clarke’s flat move to Ipswich Town, where the ex-Sunderland star is now struggling to make an impact after his own bumper £15m switch.

Why Bellingham could be Clarke 2.0

Much like Bellingham is now, Clarke was one of the first names on the Sunderland team sheet whenever he was available for selection, with his final season at the club full of goals of and assists sealing him a move to the Premier League.

Indeed, the ex-Leeds United attacker would fire home a mightily impressive 15 league goals in total during an eventful 2023/24, resulting in Kieran McKenna’s men wanting a slice of the entertaining attacker after Ipswich clinched promotion.

Clarke’s league numbers last season vs 24/25

Stat

23/24

24/25

Games played

40

16

Games started

39

4

Goals scored

15

0

Assists

4

2

Big chances missed

5

2

Big chances created

12

2

Stats by Sofascore

The same spark that was present in his game as Sunderland’s main man hasn’t followed him over to Suffolk, however, with only four Premier League starts coming his way as a reserve figure under McKenna.

Ipswich supporters will feel slightly let down by Clarke flopping since his arrival to Portman Road, with Arsenal fans no doubt equally disgruntled if Bellingham was to join for £20m only to fade into the background.

Whilst it is undeniable that Bellingham does have what it takes to be a success in the big time – having fired home sumputous strikes like this one above in recent weeks to take his league goal tally to four for 2024/25 – he is still only 19 years of age, with this campaign being only his third ever full season in the men’s game.

Obviously, the allure of the Emirates could prove to be very tempting, but Le Bris seems to be the perfect manager for the teenager at this point in his development.

If Sunderland’s “diamond” was to leave at some point this month – as he was once labelled by ex-boss Tony Mowbray – it would be an initially crushing blow.

But, as the second-tier promotion hopefuls showed with Clarke’s departure, nothing is ever too demoralising for too long.

Related Sunderland eyeing "exciting" signing who could make Bellingham even better

Regis Le Bris would improve his midfield options at Sunderland with this purchase.

Posts ByKelan Sarson Jan 7, 2025

Newcastle United booked their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup with a convincing 3-1 win over Brentford at St. James’ Park on Wednesday night.

The Magpies will now wait to find out who they will be playing over two legs in the January semi-finals, in the hopes of returning to Wembley for the first time since 2023.

Sandro Tonali’s first-half double had the hosts in front at the break before Fabian Schar made sure of the result with a second-half finish from close range, with Yoane Wissa netting a consolation in stoppage-time.

The headline of the night was, of course, the performance of Newcastle’s number eight in the middle of the park, as the Italian stole the show.

Sandro Tonali's match-winning performance

It was the Italy international who set the tone for the evening at St. James’ Park with his rasping effort from distance in the ninth minute to make it 1-0, beating Mark Flekken with a low drive.

The former AC Milan star added his and Newcastle’s second of the match just before half-time as Anthony Gordon’s corner was met on the volley by the midfielder to beat the Brentford ‘keeper at his near post.

Tonali’s two goals were far from the only impressive aspect of his performance, however, as the central midfielder also completed 93% (56/60) of his attempted passes, to help the Magpies control the game.

The Italian dynamo also won six of his 11 ground duels, completing four tackles to win possession back for Newcastle, which shows that he offered quality in and out of possession.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Thankfully, Tonali’s phenomenal performance in midfield for Eddie Howe saved Alexander Isak, who did not enjoy his finest night at St. James’ Park against the Bees.

Alexander Isak's performance in numbers

The Sweden international played, arguably, his worst game of the season on Wednesday night, but it did not matter in the end because of the Italy international’s magic display.

For the first time in any competitive game this season, Isak lost 100% of his duels (minimum five contested), failed to register a single shot on target, failed to generate any ‘big chances’, and had under 30 touches in more than 45 minutes.

He played the opening 77 minutes of the match and did not have any significant contribution to the match in or out of possession for the Magpies.

Minutes

77

Shots on target

0

Passes completed

12

Big chances created

0

Duels won

0/6

As you can see in the table above, Isak was dominated by the Brentford defenders, who outmuscled him out of the game, and did not register a shot on target or create a ‘big chance’ for his team.

The 25-year-old sensation, who has produced seven goals and four assists in 14 outings in the Premier League this season, simply had an off night and struggled to work his way into the match – in what was his worst performance of the campaign.

Howe, though, will be pleased that his team could still score three goals and secure a place in the semi-final of the League Cup without his star striker at the peak of his powers, as it shows the quality depth to his side.

Newcastle make offer for gem who's more dominant in the air than Dan Burn

He would be an interesting signing for Eddie Howe’s side, but they face competition.

ByBen Browning Dec 18, 2024

It shows the strength of the Newcastle team that a player like Tonali can step up from midfield to score two goals to save the day when Isak is not at his best.

One Test wicketkeeper Graham Manou has become the latest figure to depart Cricket Australia’s high-performance team leaving his role as head of national development to join state side Victoria as their new general manager of cricket performance.Manou, 43, was head of national development at CA for 10 months after a four-year stint as pathways manager overseeing the underage programs.But he has departed CA to join Victoria, taking over from long-time GM Shaun Graf who retired after several decades in the role earlier this year. Manou will work alongside Victoria head coach Chris Rogers after the pair worked together at CA when Rogers was a high-performance coach working at the National Cricket Centre with the Under-19s.CA has a number of holes in its high-performance team that need to be filled. Ben Oliver is holding the fort as general manager of national teams but there has not been a replacement in the high-performance role that was vacated by Drew Ginn last year, in part due to a health issue. Ginn was incidentally part of the four-person recruitment panel that was assembled by Cricket Victoria to hire Manou.Manou will begin his role with Cricket Victoria in June. He played one Test for Australia on the 2009 Ashes tour, filling in at short notice for Brad Haddin after he broke his finger on the morning of the third Test in Birmingham. He also played four ODIs on the 2009 tour of India.Manou played 103 first-class matches, predominantly for South Australia, during a 13-year career. He also played in the inaugural BBL season for the Melbourne Renegades.

As Arne Slot’s side continue to dominate in both the Champions League and Premier League, Liverpool have reportedly identified a shock target to potentially replace Trent Alexander-Arnold this summer.

Liverpool transfer news

The Reds were far from at their best in midweek but showed the rest of European football the sign of champions by finding a way past a stubborn Girona side nonetheless, courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s penalty. Maintaining their Champions League top spot and advancing into the knockout stage as a result – becoming the first team to do so in the new format – the Reds will now turn their attention towards Fulham in the Premier League this weekend.

Away from the pitch, meanwhile, things are also looking up. Recent reports have indicated that both Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are nearing breakthroughs in their respective contract negotiations, which could finally see them put pen to paper on fresh deals to avoid a summer departure.

Related Sold for 1823% more: Liverpool struck gold on Klopp's "outstanding talent"

Liverpool made a great profit selling him

Posts ByJoe Nuttall Dec 12, 2024

Whilst Alexander-Arnold has been offered a new deal, however – as per The Athletic’s David Ornstein – it remains to be seen whether he will be able to turn down the interest of European giants Real Madrid and the Reds are seemingly planning for the worst.

According to Chelsea journalist Simon Phillips, Liverpool have now identified Malo Gusto as a shock target to replace Alexander-Arnold should their academy graduate decide to leave at the end of the season.

Gusto has enjoyed quite the rise at Chelsea to end the Blues’ concerns over finding a replacement for the injury-prone Reece James. It speaks volumes that, even when the Chelsea captain is fit and starting these days, it is not Gusto who steps out of Enzo Maresca’s side.

Perhaps exacting revenge for Fernando Torres all those years ago though, Liverpool could decide to make their move for the impressive defender in 2025.

"Fantastic" Gusto would be the perfect candidate

Whilst it’s incredibly unlikely that Chelsea would even consider showing Gusto the door to complete a move to Anfield at the end of the season, it must be said that he would be a fairly seamless replacement for Alexander-Arnold – and that’s some doing. The right-back has already replaced James and has undoubtedly shown that he is more than talented enough to now replace the Premier League’s best if the offer came his way.

Premier League stats 2024/25 (via FBref)

Malo Gusto

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Progressive Passes

52

58

Assists

1

3

Interceptions

11

9

Ball Recoveries

42

47

Performing close to the level of one of Europe’s best, it’s no surprise that Gusto recently earned the praise of Chelsea boss Maresca, who told reporters as relayed by Fabrizio Romano: “Fantastic player. I’m very happy with Malo. He’s giving us many things. He’s helping the process in the way we want to play a lot. He’s doing very, very well. For the age he has, he is top.”

In what would be one of the most shocking moves in 2025, Liverpool could yet welcome the ultimate Alexander-Arnold replacement when the summer arrives.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras pode perder o lateral-esquerdo Joaquín Piquerez para os duelos decisivos das quartas de final e semifinal do Campeonato Paulista.

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O jogador integra a pré-lista de convocados da seleção uruguaia para as duas últimas partidas do país vizinho nas Eliminatórias Sul-Americanas para a Copa do Mundo de 2022, no Catar, divulgada nesta sexta-feira (4).

O time celeste enfrentará Peru, no próximo dia 24, em casa, e Bolívia, dia 29, fora.

As partidas definirão os últimos classificados do continente para a disputa da Copa. Atualmente, o Uruguai está em quarto lugar na classificação, com 22 pontos.

Os quatro primeiros se garantem automaticamente no Mundial, enquanto o quinto colocado vai para a repescagem.

Caso tenha a convocação confirmada, Piquerez não estará disponível para os duelos das quartas e semifinais do Paulistão, previstos respectivamente para os próximos dias 23 e 27. Vale lembrar que ambas as etapas serão em jogo único.

TABELA
> Veja classificação e simulador do Paulistão-2022 clicando aqui

> Conheça o aplicativo de resultados do LANCE!

With two overs left in the day, England needed 13 runs and Australia just one wicket

Alex Malcolm30-Jan-2022Australia 337 for 9 dec (Lanning 93, Haynes 86, Brunt 5-60) and 216 for 7 dec (Mooney 63, Brunt 3-24) drew with England 297 (Knight 168, Perry 3-57) and 244 for 9 (Sciver 58, Sutherland 3-69)If ever there was an advertisement for more women’s Test matches, this was it.Chasing 257 to win England made the highest fourth-innings score in women’s Test history. Australia took nine wickets in a session. All four results were possible in the final over. Both teams deserved to win. Neither deserved to lose.In the end, it finished as one of the most thrilling draws in the history of the game. It was just the third time in women’s Test history a team was nine down in the fourth innings in a draw, and the closest a chasing team had come in a drawn game.Credit must go to both sides. Australia could have easily batted England out of the game, banked two points for the draw and forced the visitors to win all three ODIs to win back the Ashes.Instead, Meg Lanning’s bold declaration opened the door for England and they nearly barged through with the finest chase in the history of women’s Tests, that was fearless almost to the very end. Heather Knight produced one of the finest individual performances in women’s Test history. Nat Sciver made a sensational half-century. Sophia Dunkley produced a staggering cameo. Annabel Sutherland swung the game with a back-breaking spell, Beth Mooney took two stunning outfield catches with a broken jaw, and Alana King nearly stole the game on debut with a dazzling display of legspin.England might feel like they let the game slip. They needed 13 runs off 15 balls with three wickets in hand. But Anya Shrubsole was run out as they tried to steal a leg bye. She was slow out of the blocks at the striker’s end, Charlie Dean called her through, Alyssa Healy raced out from behind the stumps to gather and throw to the bowler, King who was awkwardly placed in front of the stumps. King kept a cool head to gather cleanly and break the stumps to beat Shrubsole’s dive. King and Healy combined again next ball to remove Dean. She top-edged a sweep straight up and Healy took a simple catch. King’s heart skipped a beat though when the third umpire was called to check a back-foot no-ball. After what seemed like an age he deemed she had landed just inside the line by the barest of margins.Australia had gone from outsiders to favourites in two deliveries. Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone elected to shut shop rather than chase 13 from the final 13 balls. Sutherland and King were unable to prize out the last scalp. King delivered a rank full toss off the last ball of the match which Cross blocked with ease, leaving players on both sides both empty and amazed at the result.With 10 overs to go, England needed 45 with seven wickets in hand. Sciver was 52 off 50 having played flawlessly to help put England on the brink of victory. At the other end, Dunkley was on track to etch her name into history.Nat Sciver set up England’s chase nicely•Getty ImagesShe had entered after Heather Knight fell for 48, pinned lbw by a searing inswinger from Darcie Brown. Knight’s stunning Test match coming to end having made 216 runs for one dismissal, the fifth-highest tally by an individual batter in a women’s Test match. She richly deserved another half-century at the Manuka Oval. It would have been her seventh consecutive 50-plus score in international cricket at the ground, having toyed with Australia again in the fourth innings and kept England on pace for a record chase. She prayed for DRS to save her but it was firmly clipping leg stump.Dunkley entered and nearly followed her captain first ball. Brown thudded one into her back leg and she was given out. DRS did save Dunkley though, with the ball just going over.What followed was stunning. She smashed 45 from 32 balls with five fours and two sixes. She launched Sutherland twice in consecutive balls and slapped Brown down the ground with contempt. The game looked to be on her and Sciver’s bats.But Sutherland and King dragged it back conceding just two runs in two overs with a change of line and some savvy fields.It brought about a mistake from Sciver. She slapped a short ball straight to Lanning at a perfectly-placed square leg. Amy Jones then holed out to Mooney at deep midwicket off Sutherland. But Dunkley was still the threat until she lofted King to long-on and Mooney running in off the rope took a sparkling catch diving forward at full stretch with no fear for her fractured jaw.Her catch bettered Rachael Haynes’ sharp grab at cover earlier in the innings that cut off Tammy Beaumont after she had set the tone for the chase cruising to 36. She shared a 52-run opening stand in 14.1 overs with Lauren Winfield-Hill, who herself made 36, to help England believe the near-impossible was achievable and leave Australia rattled.None of it would have happened without Lanning’s declaration before tea; Australia’s captain called her team in with 48 overs left in the game and 256 runs to defend after 63 from Mooney and important contributions from Ellyse Perry (41), Ashleigh Gardner (38) and Tahlia McGrath (34) put the home side in a position to declare having been perilously placed at 12 for 2 overnight.Katherine Brunt had added Lanning to her collection of eight wickets for the match, taking 3 for 24 in the third innings, while Charlie Dean took her first two Test wickets to keep Australia in check. But England could have been chasing far fewer if not for three dropped catches and a missed stumping, with wicketkeeper Jones responsible for three of the errors.However, all of it added to the drama and the theatre of a spectacular final day in Canberra. It was a Test match for the ages.