A “terrific” Newcastle United target “would love” to move to St. James’ Park, and a deal for a fee of around £15m is possible, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

Newcastle returning to form

After an inconsistent start to the Premier League season, Newcastle have shown signs of a return to form over the past few weeks, sealing three wins on the bounce with a 4-0 victory against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday.

The Magpies have been particularly impressive from an attacking point of view, scoring 18 goals in their last five matches in all competitions, and the ever-reliable Alexander Isak was in fine form in front of goal on Saturday, bagging his first hat-trick for the club.

As such, a new striker may not be at the top of Eddie Howe’s shortlist heading into the January transfer window, but he has been looking at strengthening at the opposite end of the pitch for quite some time.

Newcastle’s upcoming Premier League fixtures

Date

Aston Villa (h)

December 26th

Manchester United (a)

December 30th

Tottenham Hotspur (a)

January 4th

Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)

January 15th

AFC Bournemouth (h)

January 18th

Back in the summer, Newcastle were in negotiations with Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford, but they failed to get a deal over the line and Nick Pope has remained the first-choice option this season.

However, the Magpies have now renewed their interest in the 22-year-old, and they are expected to make a move in 2025, with a summer move more likely as the Clarets are unlikely to want to sell one of their key players during a promotion race. Jacobs has now dropped a positive new claim on Trafford’s potential move to St. James’ Park, saying on NUFC Matters as relayed by TBR Football:

“James Trafford we know has a bit more of a concrete history. Newcastle had negotiated and had pushed and made an offer,”

“The player would love Newcastle to make another formal approach. The feeling is that Trafford might be available for £12-15m all in and Newcastle may be able to make that one work. So Trafford could be one to watch.”

Trafford could be one for the future for Newcastle

Considering his age, the Englishman is not yet in the prime of his career, but he is showing signs that he could be a solid long-term replacement for Pope, who is now 32 years old.

Former Burnley manager Vincent Kompany lauded the shot-stopper as “terrific” last season, although his efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Clarets from being relegated from the top flight.

A clean sheet percentage of 57.1% over the past year places the former Bolton Wanderers man in the 98th percentile compared to his positional peers, highlighting just how well he has been performing in recent times.

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As such, Newcastle should continue to pursue Trafford, particularly considering he would be keen on a move to St. James’ Park, and the deal is relatively affordable at just £15m or slightly less.

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da 888casino： Com Gatito Fernandez na seleção paraguaia, Lucas Perri deve ser escalado por Luís Castro para estrear pelo Botafogo na próxima quarta-feira. O goleiro de 24 anos chega como opção para qualificar as balizas alvinegras nessa reta final de temporada.

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Lucas chegou ao clube em agosto. O goleiro começou nas categorias de base do São Paulo, atuou por seis meses no Crystal Palace e se destacou pelo Náutico, sendo um dos protagonistas no título do Campeonato Pernambucano neste ano.

+Eduardo dá detalhes sobre parceria com Tiquinho no Botafogo: ‘Eu jogo em função dele’

Com uma boa estreia quarta-feira, Lucas Perri pode se tornar uma alternativa segura no setor e ainda sonhar com uma vaga de titular futuramente. Dono da posição, Gatitopossui contrato até o fim do ano e vem sofrendo com lesões nos últimos meses. Apesar da identificação com o clube, é possível que o paraguaio não renove seu vínculo.

Douglas Borges e Diego Loureiro também são opções no gol alvinegro, mas não possuem o mesmo histórico do recém contratado.Pelas atuações no Náutico e por todo conhecimento que adquiriu na Europa, Lucas chega para ser “sombra” de Gatito e brigar por espaço na equipe principal.

Goiás e Botafogo se enfrentam às 21h45, na Serrinha, em partida válida pelo Campeonato Brasileiro.

Looking ahead to the future, Fulham have now reportedly submitted their first bid to sign a teenage sensation and sit in pole position to secure his signature for Marco Silva.

Fulham transfer news

The Cottagers have gone under the radar at times this season, but deserve great credit for how they remain within a point of the top half and can even rise to as high as seventh if results go their way. With Brighton & Hove Albion up next, the London club have the chance to return to winning ways after earning a point against Tottenham Hotspur last time out.

Fulham should not rest on their laurels just yet, however. All it takes is one look at Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers to see how quickly things can change in the Premier League. Both clubs failed to recruit well enough in the summer and have suffered as a result. Fulham must avoid suffering a similar fate.

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1

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Dec 3, 2024

Unlike their London rivals and those in the Midlands, however, the Cottagers seem to be well aware of the need to keep one eye on the future. According to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, Fulham have submitted an opening bid to sign Gabriel Schluter and remain in pole position to sign the Blackpool teenager amid competition from Stockport County.

The 16-year-old has become quite the sensation so far this season, beginning to emerge into Steve Bruce’s senior side and instantly earning the interest of Premier League Fulham as a result.

Those at Craven Cottage will hope to beat Stockport to his signature given their top-flight status, but should be aware of how much game time they can offer the midfielder compared to the League One side in the coming years.

Schluter is one for the future

Fulham find themselves in a luxury position in the Premier League. Relegation, at this stage, should be an afterthought and the starting side that Silva has at his disposal is strong enough to maintain their top-flight status. Instead, the Cottagers are in position to set their ambitions higher and focus on building a side ready to take that crucial next step into the European places. And that would make Schluter an ideal arrival.

The 16-year-old wouldn’t come straight into the senior side of course, but he could take a similar path to the likes of Ryan Sessegnon by eventually playing his part week in week out at Craven Cottage, as the full-back did before a move away and injuries disrupted his progress.

As for Schluter, he has quite the decision to make it seems. He could yet decide to stay put at Blackpool, where he is on the cusp of the first-team or he could take the same path at Stockport. If he’s good enough then the Premier League will come call again. Away from those two options, however, is a move to Fulham and the chance to realise a top-flight dream before he’s even become a regular senior player.

Much of the talk around the series has focused on pitches, but it is Sri Lanka’s resilient middle order that has consistently thwarted Australia’s plans. It was no different in Colombo

Daniel Brettig13-Aug-2016On the eve of this match, Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews had a pointed message for those who sought to attribute his side’s series win purely to spinning pitches and Australian unfamiliarity with same. “I’m hearing that the Aussies have not played good cricket, and the wickets were poor – I mean, come on, you’ve got to grow up. We play on the same wicket.”Within minutes of Mathews saying these words, the touring press corps were invited by the Australian team to pay a visit to the centre of the SSC ground in Colombo for a close look at the latest tinder-dry pitch prepared for them. The clear implication was that the surface would once again do plenty for spin, and that it would struggle to last the distance. Another spoiler for the pacemen.But events on day one of the third Test served to underline Mathews’ point rather better than it did that of the touring team. Yes the SSC pitch was extremely dry, and yes it took spin from the very first ball delivered by Nathan Lyon. Yet the conditions were not exactly treacherous, offering little by way of variable bounce, and catered to batsmen prepared to play with application, skill and occasional moments of flair. In Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka had those batsmen.By way of quantifying how well these two played, Australia had arguably their best bowling day of the series. Runs were scored at a far less rapid rate, fields were clever but not over-attacking, and the pre-lunch spell when Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon combined artfully was as threatening as two Australian bowlers have looked together since Josh Hazlewood and Steve O’Keefe on day one at Pallekele. Lyon found a disconcerting pace with useful turn early on, though for the balance of the day his line was perhaps fractionally too straight, allowing plenty of balls to be worked around the corner.”Personally I’ve learned a lot in this series and I’m adapting,” Lyon said. “You can still see my stock off break creating chances but they just weren’t carrying to bat pad. The best way I’d describe it is I’m adapting to learning how to bowl on the subcontinent.”Jon Holland too delivered a performance much improved on his nervous showing in Galle, dropping the ball onto the right length and varying his degree of turn nicely. On the evidence he offered here, Holland deserves a more consistent commission for Victoria over the home summer, and serious consideration for India next year. If a wicket or two was missing from his analysis, it was not through a lack of chances created. Peter Nevill could not accept an edge from Dhananjaya’s groping blade in mid-afternoon, not long after a skier fell tantalisingly short of mid-on running back with the flight. A facile appeal for a return catch via the boot of silly point was laughed off.What will frustrate the Australians is the fact that Sri Lanka have been by far the more resilient of the two batting orders. A morning scoreline of 26 for 5 followed earlier starts of 67 for 5, 86 for 4, 9 for 2 and 98 for 5. Australia’s bowlers have not, all told, done a bad job, but their efforts to snuff out the Sri Lankan batting have been met by stiffening resistance with every innings since the first. Of course it was Kusal Mendis who showed the way with a series-defining hundred in Pallekele, but he has been followed by Mathews, Dhananjaya and Dilruwan Perera. It is a philosophy of Darren Lehmann that a batting line-up need only make enough runs to allow the bowlers room to take 20 wickets. Sri Lanka’s middle-order batsmen have followed it grandly.”I daresay if you look at the whole series that’s a big key in Sri Lanka being 2-0 up in the series,” Lyon said. “The ability for their batsmen to bat in partnerships and for a long period of time. We’ve all spoken about it and our batters have got their own plans to come out in this Test match and hopefully put them into play and bat for long periods. That’s Test match cricket.”Intriguingly, Australia’s selection for the Colombo Test reflected mounting discontent with the touring top order, even though Sri Lanka’s first three batsmen have been, if anything, even less productive. Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja paid a heavy price for their failures in Tests one and two, replaced by a pair of older cricketers in Moises Henriques and Shaun Marsh. These two were ostensibly the spare batsmen on tour, though Henriques is more an allrounder with precious few recent Sheffield Shield runs behind him. The methods he and Marsh offer will fascinate, given the team’s commitment to a more aggressive game has now been faced with a counterpoint from Dhananjaya and Chandimal.Lyon offered a somewhat testy response when asked about the changes. “That’s a selector’s question,” he said. “I’ve got no say in it, all I’ve got to do is support each and every one of those guys in the change room, and I’ll do that until the day I die. SOS and Mo have definitely got my support, but so do Burnsy and Uz. It’s a tough call, but that’s why the selectors get paid the big dollars.”Dropping two seemingly settled members of the Australian top six just two Test matches into a new season was a momentous decision given the need for all antipodean batsmen to learn as much as possible in these conditions. Both Burns and Khawaja may now doubt their chances of going to India in the new year, no matter how many runs they make in Australia during the summer.But the move away from the current top six had as much to do with Sri Lanka’s greater resilience as with Australian troubles with spinning surfaces. Make no mistake, this series has been won by the home team, not by their pitches.

Lancashire allrounder gets nod above Will Jacks, Ben Duckett confirmed as opener for first Test

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Nov-20221:56

Why Livingstone could play ahead of Jacks vs Pakistan

Liam Livingstone will make his England Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday.Livingstone, 29, will be one of two new faces named by skipper Ben Stokes for the first Test from the team that ended the English summer. Ben Duckett will partner Zak Crawley at the top of the order, replacing Alex Lees who was dropped for this tour, adding to his four Test appearances from 2016-17, against Bangladesh and India. Yorkshire batter Harry Brook keeps his spot at No. 5, having replaced the injured Jonny Bairstow at the Kia Oval in the final match of the South Africa series.Livingstone, picked on this tour for his capabilities as a spinner along with his ball-striking which has made him a go-to signing on the Twenty20 circuit, last played a competitive red-ball match at the end of the 2021 summer for Lancashire. Both of his first-class averages are in the high 30s: 38.36 with the bat and 36.13 with the ball.Related

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His selection in the XI is ultimately for his potential, bombastic upside. As head coach Brendon McCullum put it on Monday: “He bowls offspin, legspin, fields well and smacks the ball out of the park – it’s hard not to get around a player who plays like that.” Ultimately, the call was between him and Surrey’s batting allrounder Will Jacks, who bowls offspin. Livingstone got the nod on account of offering both wrist and finger spin.”The only real discussion we thought was worth having was whether we go with Jacksy or Livi,” Stokes said. “I think given the place where Livi’s going to play and as that third spinner role, it’s quite nice to have someone who turns it both ways. And quite nice the way he applies himself with the bat – very similar to Jacksy, but having that legspin and offspin possibility with Livi was a big plus for us.”Stokes referring to Livingstone as a “third spinner” is down to wanting to utilise Joe Root’s offspin alongside the left-arm orthodox of Jack Leach, who is regarded as the frontline spinner. Livingstone will supplement both.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”With Livi he’s one of those cricketers who can come on from anywhere and take a wicket when the ball’s flowing a bit the opposition’s way. I’ve already spoken to Rooty as well. I’m going to try to use him quite a lot. I think he underuses himself. He’s actually got some very good assets as an offspin bowler. He’s been working very hard on his bowling.”The presentation of a maiden Test cap this week will round off a special month or so for Livingstone, who was part of England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. As a verified specialist in the shortest format, notably from an English perspective when he carried the first edition of the Hundred in 2021, it perhaps bodes well that someone like him would relish the chance to play the longest format.Stokes revealed he spoke to Livingstone about the prospect of playing a part in these Test matches a couple of months ago. The response he got back was encouraging. His lack of first-class action has featured less as a worry and more as a punchline over the last fortnight. Stokes joked that Livingstone “will probably try to hit a few over this media centre, no doubt”.”It was a pretty simple conversation I had with him, actually before we went out to Australia for the World Cup. I obviously told him where we stood in terms of him playing some red-ball cricket out in the subcontinent.”With the skill he has with the ball and the way he plays with the bat, [he] is very aligned with how me and Baz want to see the team play. He jumped at the opportunity. I don’t necessarily think that not playing a red-ball game is going to be too much of a thing for him. He’s a very natural cricketer, he’s going to go out there and really express himself. So yeah looking forward to seeing him in the whites. He did say when he got his white pads out of the bag ‘what are these?'”Duckett, while also selected on style of play, has earned a recall on an impressive showing last season with Nottinghamshire. He struck 1012 runs at an average of 72.28, at a rate of 76.09 – that last figure as much a pro for this management group as the three centuries. He underlined his expansive play in the T20 series in Pakistan a few months ago with 233 runs at 46.60 (strike rate 159.58), which gave Stokes in particular a nudge he was the man for the job ahead of the other opener in the squad, Keaton Jennings.Liam Livingstone has been picked in England’s Test XI for Rawalpindi•Getty Images”Ducky showed out here in the T20s just how good he is against spin bowling,” Stokes said. “To have someone at the top like him who can mess around with the fields and make it a captain’s nightmare because he sweeps both ways, and we know how much of a part spin plays out in this area. Excited to have him at the top.”Brook’s selection, meanwhile, is a continuation from the summer in which he carried drinks before making his bow in the format in the final South Africa Test. He scored 12 in his only innings of that match but comes off the back of a stellar season with Yorkshire: a monster average of 107.44, with three hundreds – including a career best 194 against Kent – and a final tally of 967 from just eight matches.”The way in which Harry’s gone about his first-class cricket over the last year, we won’t see much difference out here in the subcontinent,” Stokes said. “Another one who’s a perfect like for like in the way they play for Jonny. He [Bairstow] is a big miss in this Test team out here, but very blessed to have someone like Brooky to replace him.”Stokes also discussed the importance of approaching this tour of Pakistan with an understanding life is more important than cricket. On Monday, the England captained revealed he would be dominating his match fees, understood to be approximately £50,000 (US$60,000) for this tour to the Pakistan flood appeal.”Coming here is a monumental time for English cricket and for Pakistan as a nation. There are bigger things to life than cricket. The floods were devastating to the country, and me coming out here and representing my country, bringing the sport back to the nation. There are things that go on in life that are bigger than sport and I felt compelled just to give something that is bigger than cricket.”Donations to the appeal can be made via the Disasters Emergency Committee.

The result took Mumbai up two spots to No. 6 on the points table, while Sunrisers Hyderabad are still one place off the bottom

Vishal Dikshit18-Apr-20232:14

Moody: Green’s all-round performance a big tick for Mumbai

Two days after their top order made short work of a 186-run target against Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians’ middle order muscled an above-par total of 192 on a sluggish pitch against Sunrisers Hyderabad to set up their third straight win and take them two places up to the sixth spot on the points table. It was also the second day in a row in the IPL where a team defended a total successfully.Mumbai will also gain confidence from the fact that their bowlers reduced Sunrisers to 127 for 5 in the 14th over without the help of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer, their main quick bowlers, and were largely ahead in the game. Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen and Washington Sundar pulled out some big hits but couldn’t finish the job. The last over started with 20 required, and Arjun Tendulkar had the ball. It was a sequence of wide yorkers, which resulted in two wickets and just five runs scored.The prime architects of Mumbai’s win were Cameron Green and Tilak Varma, who put on a stand of 56 in 28 balls and helped them score 83 off the last six overs before Green sent down some tight overs to finish with 1 for 29, including the big wicket of Aiden Markram.

Rohit lights up the powerplay

After opting to bowl, Sunrisers brought on Washington in the third over for the match-up against Rohit Sharma: 25 runs off 26 balls with three dismissals before this game. But Rohit turned it around by taking on the bigger leg-side boundary, which had the two fielders out. He hit two fours behind square, and then one through cover-point to hit the pedal.Rohit continued to attack with his array of shots; he smoked T Natarajan over mid-on and ramped him for four more. It didn’t last long. Natarajan sent a slow cutter on the pads and Rohit got a leading edge to mid-off to leave for 28 off 18.But Ishan Kishan then took over and took Mumbai to 53 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.

Caught Markram bowled Jansen

Jansen had already bowled two good overs in the powerplay – making him one of the best in this IPL with an economy rate of 5.57 – and he returned for the 12th over to strike twice. He first banged the ball short – not to forget the height he delivers from – to make Kishan miscue the ball to mid-off, where Markram completed an excellent catch.Four balls later, Markram was at it again when Suryakumar Yadav chipped a slow cutter down the ground; Markram ran across, put in the dive, and got up with the ball in his hand. It was a case of leading by example after Markram had said at the toss that his team had to field better, having dropped 11 catches earlier in the tournament, according to ESPNcricinfo’s data.2:35

Moody: Tilak Varma has big career ahead of him

Tilak and Green take off

Mumbai could have easily slipped or slowed down after that, but their search for boundaries every over paid off when Tilak Varma and Green took on their best bowler of the day to start the onslaught.Green used his tall frame to unleash big swings combined with brute force, while Tilak Varma displayed more of his clean hitting and supple wrists against the spinners. The two batters collected 21 and 14 runs off the 15th and 16th overs respectively, with three fours and as many sixes to lift the run rate from 7.78 to nine an over.It took Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s experience in the 17th and 19th overs to keep Mumbai under 200. He took the pace off with his cutters and knuckle balls to concede just 14 runs in those two overs.Natarajan, meanwhile, missed his yorkers and Green dispatched him for three consecutive fours followed by a six over long-off that also took him past his first IPL fifty, off 33 balls. In the last over, Tim David manipulated the field to put away two more Natarajan full tosses to collect 14 more useful runs.Highest win% contribution for Mumbai Indians’ players against Sunrisers Hyderabad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Behrendorff makes early inroads

After missing the previous game because of an illness, Jason Behrendroff returned to deliver two big and early bowls to Sunrisers. His short ball drew a top edge from Harry Brook before a delivery outside off took Rahul Tripathi’s outside edge to Kishan.The onus was largely on Markram now to chaperone them to the end overs as Mayank Agarwal wasn’t scoring as quickly and the asking rate was creeping up.Markram started attacking with his strong suit – hitting a six off a spinner – but holed out to deep midwicket off Green while attempting a big hit. Three balls later, Abhishek Sharma found long-off off Piyush Chawla and Sunrisers were four down with the asking rate nearly touching 12.

Shades of a fightback

With runs not coming easily and the lack of dew helping the bowlers, Sunrisers were already behind the curve. They got a big boost when Heinrich Klaasen blasted Chawla with two mighty pulls and two reverse sweeps for 4, 6, 6 and 4, but he then handed a catch to long-on in the same over, but after reducing the equation to 66 from 36.It was within reach at that point, but Meredith soon accounted for Agarwal in a frugal over and Jansen, after a couple of boundaries, handed David his fourth catch of the match. David wasn’t quite done – after Washington raised Sunrisers’ hopes again, his lazy running gave David an opportunity, and the direct hit from mid-off ended Washington’s stay.

We are halfway through the season, and it already feels like Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League campaign is over.

Ange Postecoglou’s side slipped down to 12th place following their defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday and are currently 12 points off Chelsea in the final guaranteed Champions League spot.

However, the North Londoners have a League Cup semi-final to come tomorrow night, an FA Cup game on the weekend and remain in the Europa League, so there is still plenty to play for.

With that said, to stand any chance in those competitions, the club need to sort out their biggest weakness, which is their defence, and based on recent reports, that could be happening as they’ve been linked to someone who could finally replace Radu Dragusin.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Tottenham are one of several teams interested in Udinese centre-back Thomas Kristensen.

In fact, the report claims that it’s currently felt that the most substantial interest is coming from the North Londoners, although the likes of Leicester City and Bayer Leverkusen are also noted as keen parties.

While the potential competition isn’t ideal, the good news is that, according to the story, the promising defender will likely be available for around £16.5m, which could leave some funds for more deals this month.

Overall, this seems like it could be a rather straightforward and relatively inexpensive transfer to get done and, considering Kristensen’s ability, one Spurs should be getting done, especially because he’d be a dream Dragusin upgrade.

How Kristensen compares to Dragusin

So, the first thing to say is that, given the importance of both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven to Postecoglou’s system, the former for his leadership and experience and the latter for his lightning speed and decision-making, Kristensen would not be signed as genuine competition for them.

Instead, the Danish international would almost certainly be viewed as a rival for Dragusin to be the team’s first-choice backup, and based on their respective campaigns this season, it would be a competition the Udinese ace would win hands down.

Now, given where they play, we can’t show this through goals and assists like we would an attacking player, but instead, we can see the Dane’s superiority by comparing their underlying numbers.

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.03

0.01

Progressive Passes

3.93

3.07

Progressive Carries

1.15

0.5

Passing Accuracy

84.6%

85.2%

Key Passes

0.33

0.09

Shot-Creating Actions

0.82

0.44

Tackles

1.15

0.79

Tackles Won

0.66

0.44

Interceptions

0.49

1.23

Clearances

3.61

3.33

Errors Leading to Shot

0.00

0.35

Ball Recoveries

2.95

3.95

Aerial Duels Won

3.77

2.28

For example, according to FBref, the Aarhus-born titan comes out ahead in the vast majority of relevant metrics, including but not limited to progressive passes and carries, key passes, tackles, tackles won, clearances, aerial duels, and he makes fewer errors leading to a shot, all per 90.

Moreover, on top of being far more impressive from a statistical perspective, the 22-year-old should be able to add more physical stature to the Lilywhites’ backline.

For example, he stands at a massive 6 foot 6 to the Romanian’s 6 foot 3, and according to respected analyst Ben Mattinson, is “a unit at the back.”

Ultimately, while Dragusin can sometimes be a scapegoat for Spurs, he is clearly not of the level required to cover for Romero and Van de Ven, whereas Kristensen looks like he could be.

Therefore, Daniel Levy and Co should act fast to bring him in this month before someone beats them to it.

An upgrade on Son: Tottenham chasing £29m phenom with "an eye for goal"

The incredible winger would be a brilliant signing for Spurs.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Jan 6, 2025

da marjack bet： Celtic suffered their first defeat of the Scottish Premiership season and their first defeat of 2025 with a 3-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox on Thursday.

da cassino： The team’s only other loss in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign came at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, a 7-1 defeat, in the Champions League in Germany.

It was a game that the Hoops never really got going in and they never seemed to recover from the early setback they faced when Ianis Hagi planted a shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards in the seventh minute.

There was never a sustained spell of pressure from the away side to get an equaliser, with Celtic having one shot on target in the 90 minutes, before they allowed Robin Propper to score, unmarked, in the 66th minute after a scramble from a corner.

The match was all but over at that point and Danilo wrapped up the win for the hosts by sliding the ball past Kasper Schmeichel for the third in the 81st minute.

It was a disastrous performance from the Hoops and one that included a number of players not living up to their usual high standards for the Hoops.

Celtic's worst performers against Rangers

Firstly, there is no getting away from the error that Liam Scales made in the build-up to the opening goal from Hagi, with a stray pass into midfield that was jumped on by the Gers – directly leading to the opening goal.

The Ireland international was selected on the left side of the defence, next to Cameron Carter-Vickers, ahead of Auston Trusty and let his manager down with that mistake.

Scales was far from the only Celtic player to make an error on the pitch at Ibrox, though, as central midfielder Reo Hatate also endured a frustrating afternoon on the other side of Glasgow.

The Japan international ended the match with zero chances created, zero ground duels won, zero tackles, zero interceptions, and two errors that directly led to shots for the opposition.

Right-back Alistair Johnston had similar issues to Hatate in the game, winning two of his nine duels and failing to make a single tackle or interception, whilst also giving the ball away a whopping 20 times.

Another player who struggled at Ibrox was centre-forward Kyogo Furuhashi, as the Japan international failed to get involved in the match for most of his performance.

Vs Rangers

Kyogo Furuhashi

Minutes

64

Shots

0

Big chances created

0

Passes made

5/8

Duels won

0/1

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Celtic forward carried little threat, with his only shot in the match ultimately ruled out for offside, and did not compete with Dujon Sterling or Robin Propper in physical battles to hold the ball up.

Another player the Scottish giants must ditch from the starting XI for the clash with St Mirren at Parkhead on Sunday is left winger Daizen Maeda.

Daizen Maeda's performance against Rangers

The Japan international started on the left flank for the Hoops and failed to make the desired impact in or out of possession, despite playing against a player out of position.

With James Tavernier injured and Sterling required at centre-back for Rangers, left-back Ridvan Yilmaz, who started for just the fourth time this season in the Premiership, started on the right side of the backline for Philippe Clement.

This meant that Maeda was directly up against a left-footed right-back who was not fully match sharp, yet failed to get the better of him physically or technically.

The Japanese lightweight lost 83% (5/6) of his duels and 100% (5/5) of his ground duels in the match, which shows that Yilmaz dominated him from a physical perspective.

He also lost possession of the ball 12 times in total, without scoring or assisting a goal, as the forward was wasteful with his use of the ball on the flank.

Vs Rangers

Daizen Maeda

Minutes

90

Shots on target

0

Key passes

0

Duels won

1/6

Possession lost

12x

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Maeda offered virtually nothing at the top end of the pitch for Celtic, with zero shots on target and zero chances created.

His performance was summed up by him missing a good chance to get a headed shot on goal at the back post, heading the ball down onto his own foot and out of play. During Sky Sports’ live coverage of the match, pundit Chris Sutton described his display as “very clumsy” after that incident.

Why Daizen Maeda should be dropped

Brendan Rodgers must, now, ruthlessly ditch the Japanese winger from the starting XI after his disappointing performance against Rangers, that lacked physicality and technical quality.

A lack of quality in the final third has been a consistent issue for Maeda throughout the Premiership season, although he had scored in successive matches in the two games before the trip to Ibrox.

The 27-year-old has only produced four goals and three assists in 18 appearances in the Scottish top-flight, less than one goal contribution every other game on average.

Maeda has failed to provide regular contributions as a scorer or a creator of goals down the left flank, despite starting 15 of those games, and has struggled in other areas of the game.

24/25 Premiership

Daizen Maeda

Appearances

18

Goals

4

Big chances missed

9

Assists

3

Dribble success rate

28%

Duel success rate

33%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Celtic attacker has been incredibly poor at taking on opposition full-backs this season, completing just 28% of his attempted dribbles.

His lack of quality in that respect was on show at Ibrox on Thursday as the rarely-seen Yilmaz, playing out of position, had an easy afternoon against the Hoops wide man, who offered very little at the top end of the pitch.

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Therefore, Rodgers, particularly with the game coming just a few days later, should drop Maeda from the starting XI and hand an opportunity to another player to shine, whether that is James Forrest, Luis Palma, or Hyun-jun Yang.

“I just want to back myself, I’ve never tried to be someone else,” the Super Kings batter said after his 27-ball 61 vs Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Apr-20233:48

Moody: ‘It was vintage Rahane on show tonight’

Ajinkya Rahane only found out that he was about to make his Chennai Super Kings debut “just before the toss” during their seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Saturday night. But he took advantage of the opportunity presented by Ben Stokes’ injury and Moeen Ali’s illness, hitting 61 off 27 balls to set up a cruise to victory with 11 balls to spare.Coming in at No. 3 after Devon Conway fell to Jason Behrendorff in the first over of Super Kings’ run chase, Rahane was the aggressor in his partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad and struck 23 runs off a single over from Arshad Khan, the fourth of the innings, to get his new franchise ahead of the required rate.”When we were bowling, we got the idea of how the wicket was playing and how the ball was behaving,” Rahane said. “When you’re chasing 150 or 160, it’s important to bat with intent in the first six overs. If you get a good start, it becomes really easy. When I went in, it was all about playing my normal game, backing my strengths.”Related

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Rahane had been a peripheral figure across the last two IPL seasons, playing twice for Delhi Capitals in 2021 and seven times for Kolkata Knight Riders last year, and had not made a half-century in the tournament since November 2020. Super Kings signed him for INR 50 lakh at December’s auction, and Rahane said that he had been encouraged by captain MS Dhoni to be himself.”Every player is different,” Rahane said. “I don’t want to be someone else; I just want to be Ajinkya Rahane. The way I know how I play, my strengths, my timing. I just want to back myself. I’ve never tried to be someone else. It’s all about trying to remind myself that if I can just be Ajinkya Rahane and play like Ajinkya Rahane, I think I’ll be fine.”The preparation we had as a team before IPL started… we came to Chennai on March 2. [Dhoni] was there and the instructions from him were pretty simple: back your game, play to your strengths rather than trying to do something else. It’s all about knowing your game and, when you get an opportunity, just back that game.”‘s instruction was completely clear, just play with intent, back yourself, don’t change anything else. If your intent is good, I have the shots that I can play at any ground so it was all about keeping it simple for me. I’m happy to bat anywhere. It’s all about your mindset and what you want to do for your team.”Ajinkya Rahane: “Whatever format I play, it’s all about giving my best every time rather than thinking ‘what if?’ or thinking about the future which is not in my hands”•Associated Press

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time:Out, Tom Moody suggested that Rahane’s innings owed in part to the fact he had prepared for the IPL with a strong Ranji Trophy season, hitting two hundreds for Mumbai. “It’s a great story,” Moody said. “I think everyone enjoys when Jinks scores runs because he’s just one of those likeable characters.”He’s always got a smile on his face and he’s been a great servant to Indian cricket. In recent years, he’s had his ups and downs in IPL for whatever reasons. The thing that first came to mind was that I believe he’s had a very good first-class season leading into this, so he’s clearly got some good form behind him.”He was gifted a few balls early on which just lit the fire and he then just took it on from there. He wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. He was just playing proper cricketing shots, cuts and drives and flicks off his pads. But it was vintage Rahane on show tonight.”Rahane has not represented India since the Test tour to South Africa in 2021-22, but his innings on Saturday night prompted suggestions that he could be in contention to play in the World Test Championship final in June, in the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.”Anything can happen… as I always say, I will never give up,” Rahane said. “For me, it’s all about playing with enjoyment, and playing with passion. Whatever format I play, it’s all about giving my best every time rather than thinking ‘what if?’ or thinking about the future which is not in my hands, not in my control.”For me, it’s all about, as a player, giving my best every time and trying to be as positive as possible and, whenever I get an opportunity, I should be ready for that.”