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Mateusz Klich, Illan Meslier and Liam Cooper all suffered poor days at the office in Leeds United’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.

The Whites made the trip to north London looking to continue their improved recent form but they ended up with nothing to show for their efforts.

Dan James fired Leeds in front just before half-time but goals from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Sergio Reguilon turned the game on its head after the interval.

According to Sofascore, Klich, Meslier and Cooper were the Whites’ three worst players on the day among those who featured for at least 45 minutes.

Mateusz Kilch – 6.3

Klich was given an attacking midfield role by Marcelo Bielsa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but he failed to have a positive impact overall.

He lost all five of his duels and didn’t manage a single shot in the match, suggesting that his attacking output was rather limited.

No tackles and interceptions from Klich also highlighted a lack of defensive work in what was an ineffective all-round showing from the Poland international.

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Illan Meslier – 6.5

Although Meslier was hoping to impress on the opposite side to French goalkeeping compatriot Hugo Lloris, he ended up failing to produce his best form.

The 21-year-old only completed 63% of his passes against Spurs, a disappointing return given his quality on the ball (his seasonal average is 76%).

Only three of Meslier’s 16 long balls were accurate and it played a part in Leeds running out of attacking threat in the latter stages of the match when they were seeking an equaliser. At least he had a 100% duels record, winning both battles that he contested.

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Liam Cooper – 6.6

Cooper was deployed at the heart of Leeds’ defence as usual, but he was given a tough examination by Harry Kane.

The Scot only managed to win half of his six aerial duels and lost five of 12 battles altogether, despite his 6 foot 2 frame, and he played no key passes from his deep-lying position.

Cooper was also dribbled past once and only played one out of five accurate long balls on an off-day for the centre-back.

In other news, one Leeds player has suffered a potentially serious injury. Find out who it is here.

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West Ham will reject a loan bid from FC Schalke for striker Lucas Perez before the transfer deadline, Football FanCast can confirm.

The Irons have thus far adopted a stance that they will not loan out any first-team players in this transfer window.

A BBC report claimed on Wednesday that the German club had lodged a loan offer for Perez, who has struggled for minutes thus far this season in east London.

However, the Irons would prefer to receive a transfer fee for Perez and value him at around £4million.

Perez has played 10 times in the Premier League, per Transfermarkt, but has yet to complete 90 minutes under Manuel Pellegrini in the top flight.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Nevertheless, Football FanCast understands the club intends to retain Perez as cover for Marko Arnautovic, who recently signed a new contract at the London Stadium, and Javier Hernandez.

Andy Carroll is injury-prone and as we exclusively revealed earlier this month, would likely be allowed to leave if a deadline day bid is tabled. However that appears unlikely, given his patchy fitness record and poor form when he has played.

Football FanCast also understand that Reece Oxford has been told that he can leave on loan, having failed to play a single minute for the first-team thus far this season.

It remains to be seen if an offer will be forthcoming that suits his needs, however.

Tottenham are interested in a deal to bring Matthijs de Ligt to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness), who claimed that both Spurs and Chelsea have launched an offensive for the 22-year-old centre-back, with whom Juventus are reportedly willing to part next month due to their dire financial situation.

The report added that Barcelona are also interested in the Netherlands international, although it is believed that the LaLiga club’s own financial difficulties look to have given the English duo the advantage in the race to sign the defender.

Finally, Sport went as far as to suggest that the bidding for De Ligt has started, while Sport Witness added that both Spurs and Chelsea have made contact with the centre-back’s agent Mino Raiola ahead of a potential move in the winter window.

Conte’s next Skriniar

Considering the sheer amount of talent and potential De Ligt quite clearly possesses, should Fabio Paratici be successful in his bid to land the 22-year-old this January, he could well have unearthed Antonio Conte’s next Milan Skriniar.

Indeed, Maurizio Sarri signed the £76m-rated defender with the intention of including him as part of a three-man defensive “wall” at Juventus alongside legendary centre-back duo Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.

With this formation being the setup that Conte has implemented at every club he has managed, De Ligt could well go on to become the Spurs manager’s next Skriniar, who highly impressed on the right of the 52-year-old’s back three in the Nerazzurri’s Scudetto-winning campaign last term.

It would certainly appear as if the £200k-per-week Dutchman has the ability to do so, as he has been in colossal form over his 15 Serie A appearances so far this season. He has helped Juve to keep seven clean sheets and scored one goal, as well as averaging 0.9 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 53.4 passes per game and winning 60% of his duels.

These returns have seen the player who Raiola dubbed an “oil tanker” average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Massimiliano Allegri’s joint-fourth best performer in the Italian top flight.

As such, it is no surprise to learn that Conte is interested in a move for the Dutchman this winter, as De Ligt easily possesses the ability to become the platform on which the Italian and Spurs can mount a serious charge for a top-four spot this season.

In other news – Bye-bye Dele: Spurs must seal deal for “fantastic” 29 y/o who’s an “incredible talent”

Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen is confident the Kensington Oval pitch will favour the team’s fast bowlers when they take on Bangladesh on Wednesday

Cricinfo staff05-May-2010Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen is confident the Kensington Oval pitch will favour the team’s fast bowlers when they take on Bangladesh on Wednesday. However, the chances of Australia taking an extra fast man in to the game have diminished with Mitchell Johnson in doubt due to an infection in his right elbow.There had been a possibility that Australia would name Ryan Harris to join Johnson, Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait in a powerful pace attack, at the expense of the spinner Steven Smith. However, Harris appears more likely to replace Johnson with the Australians hesitant to risk their most experienced bowler with their path to the Super Eights almost assured.”[Johnson] could probably play if it was the World Cup final tomorrow, but there’s a lot of the tournament to go,” Alex Kountouris, the team physio, told AAP. “We just want to make sure we knock it on the head and get it right. It’s not affecting his muscles or his joint itself.”The surfaces in St Lucia and Guyana have proven sluggish over the past week but the Australians always felt Barbados would provide more pace and bounce. “The conditions in Barbados will suit our quicks,” Nielsen said, “so I hope they’ve been practising against fast bowling.”Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, conceded that an all pace attack was not a bad idea against his team, who prefer facing up to slower men. However, Siddons was not convinced that Barbados would provide as much zip and carry as the Australian squad anticipated.”It’ll be quicker than most other wickets, definitely quicker than St Lucia,” Siddons said. “But it’s also spinning and that will suit us. Firing away with four quicks is probably a good plan against Bangladesh but it can also backfire if the wicket’s not as fast or bouncy as they think it might be. We’ve played practice matches here. There’s nothing lightning quick about it.”Bangladesh must beat Australia to have any chance of progressing to the Super Eights. They would need to win by enough to pass Pakistan on net run-rate, while a much bigger victory would be required for Australia to drop below Pakistan and out of the tournament.

U.S. Soccer has announced format changes to the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the sake of stakeholders and congestion with MLS teams.

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U.S. Soccer announces Open Cup changesOnly eight MLS teams to appearSweeping changes arrivingWHAT HAPPENED?

For the first time since 2008 – after 16 years of progress an advancement in the tournament – U.S. Soccer has opted to revert to a format where the First Round of 32 matches will consist exclusively of amateur and professional teams.

In addition, sweeping changes arrived in the form of Major League Soccer's participation. Only eight MLS sides will compete in the 2024 edition of the tournament, with 11 developmental MLS NEXT Pro sides as well.

Sides competing in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup – and their MLS NEXT Pro sides – were excluded from participation, based on results from the 2023 MLS season. D.C. United is the lone MLS side without CCC or USOC participation.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

32 amateur teams will meet 32 division-three teams in Round One, with the winners facing off against each other in the second round of the tournament. Round three will see 16 USL Championship sides enter the tournament and they will be paired with the 16 victorious sides from Round two.

Then, the eight MLS teams – Houston Dynamo, Atlanta United FC, FC Dallas, Sporting Kansas City, LAFC, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders – will enter the fray. For an amateur side to be paired up against an MLS club, they will have to qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The changes arrive much to the dismay of players and managers around the league. New York Red Bulls defender John Tolkin blasted MLS over the rule changes prior to the announcement, while D.C. United is the lone club across MLS with ZERO representation in the tournament. Their developmental side does not play in MLS NEXT Pro, therefore they will have no participation at any level.

Houston won the 2023 final against Inter Miami.

WHAT U.S. SOCCER SAID

"First and foremost, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to all our members for their invaluable input over the past couple of months— sharing with us of the reasons the U.S. Open Cup is so great, and what we can do to make it even better,” said U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson. “After extensive discussions, we have put together a competitive format specific to the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, promising exciting matchups from the First Round and through the entire tournament. U.S. Soccer values the tradition and importance of the U.S. Open Cup, and we will continue to have conversations with all our members to explore avenues for enhancing future editions of the tournament and how we all work together to grow soccer in every community in the country”.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR THE U.S. OPEN CUP

Round One will begin on Tuesday, March 19 with the final of the 2024 tournament wrapping up on Wednesday, September 25. MLS sides will not enter the tournament until Tuesday, July 9.

An unbeaten century by Luke Wright and 78 not out from Matt Prior propelled Sussex into the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals at the expense of Kent

27-Aug-2012
ScorecardLuke Wright and Matt Prior made a mockery of Kent’s struggles with the bat•Getty ImagesAn unbeaten century by Luke Wright and 78 not out from Matt Prior propelled Sussex into the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals at the expense of Kent, who they drubbed by nine wickets in Canterbury. The second-wicket pair added 152 in 21.4 overs to brush the hosts aside with ten overs remaining and overhaul them in the table to secure a home tie against Hampshire in the last four.All was not lost for Kent at the conclusion but once Warwickshire’s win at Yorkshire was confirmed their chances of being the best group-stage losers disappeared. They only had themsevles to blame as, despite a tricky St Lawrence pitch, they allowed Sussex to quickly get their teeth into the pursuit of their modest total of 210 for 5.One-day openers Wright and Chris Nash plundered 23 from the opening two overs from the Pavilion End – 13 off Matt Coles then 10 off Darren Stevens – and Sussex continued to score freely, posting 50 in 6.2 overs. The opening stand ended in the ninth over when Nash, driving on the up at Stevens, had his off stump plucked out by one that nipped down the slope and through the right-hander’s gate.England wicketkeeper Prior escaped a huge fourth-ball appeal from Stevens for leg-before, then another with his score on 16 when sweeping at James Tredwell, but he survived both courtesy of excellent decisions from umpires Richard Kettleborough and Jeremy Lloyds. The decisions proved crucial and seemingly crushed Kent’s morale as Prior dug in with Wright to win the match with their sensible and unflustered second-wicket stand.Taking the two-paced pitch fully into account, Wright coasted to a 53-ball half-century then, having played himself in, Prior accelerated with a swept six off seamer Mark Davies and a straight drive over the ropes against Tredwell to post the century stand and reach his personal 50 from 55 balls.The duo claimed 18 off the penultimate over of the match by Coles and then Wright reached his second one-day ton of the summer with a dabbed single to backward point as Sussex made a mockery of the Spitfires total.Kent, who started the day on top of the Group C table, batted first after winning the toss and made a sticky start on a dry, yet green-tinged pitch. They lost young opening batsman Sam Billings with only 10 on the board when he edged to Prior, fielding at slip, against CB40 debutant Steve Magoffin.Prior’s understudy behind the stumps, Ben Brown, then stood up to the wicket to claim a magnificent catch that accounted for Kent captain Rob Key, who gloved a lifter from Kirk Wernars to be caught behind with 63 on the board. Sam Northeast flicked across the line of a Will Beer top-spinner to go lbw then Kent suffered another soft dismissal when Brendan Nash called for a second run on a misfield to fine leg by Magoffin, who picked up to run out Stevens with a throw to the non-striker’s end.Alex Blake’s penchant for the reverse sweep finally led to his downfall, caught at short third man, bringing Nash and Geraint Jones together for a face-saving unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 57 in 33 balls. Jones bludgeoned three fours as well as two consecutive sixes off Michael Yardy in his cameo 37 from 18 balls, while Nash anchored the other end with an unbeaten 51 from 59 balls and with only one boundary.

To achieve the same undefeated run with a young, developing squad this season has meant a lot to Ponting, who is now 35 and moulding a group he hopes can take back the Ashes and defend the World Cup within the next year

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG19-Feb-2010The only other time Australia went through a home summer unbeaten in Tests and ODIs, Ricky Ponting was 26, Steve Waugh was captain, the team was full of stars and they beat up West Indies and Zimbabwe. To achieve the same undefeated run with a young, developing squad this season has meant a lot to Ponting, who is now 35 and moulding a group he hopes can take back the Ashes and defend the World Cup within the next year.Two Twenty20s still remain but in the two longer formats, his men have been unstoppable. There was a drawn Test in Adelaide and an ODI washout in Sydney, but no games were lost. After the 125-run victory over West Indies at the MCG, Ponting said he was thrilled with the size of Australia’s wins, which included four ODI wins with victory margins of over 100 runs against West Indies and Pakistan.”I’m really proud of what we’ve done this summer,” Ponting said. “There can be a lot said about the opposition but one-day cricket tends to bring a lot of teams closer together and we haven’t allowed that to happen this summer in the nine completed games that we’ve played, so I’m proud of the boys for that.”I thought this was a bit of a dangerous game for us, the West Indies almost having a nothing-to-lose sort of attitude and probably a little bit of extra pressure on us to get out there and finish the summer on a good note. To the guys’ credit, once again we found something a little bit even better than we’ve shown right through the summer.”One of the most pleasing aspects of the one-day portion has been the way the rank-and-file members of the side have stood up. This time it was James Hopes, who began the summer as a fringe ODI player and was named Man of the Match for his brutal half-century, while Adam Voges, who has been an even more peripheral player, helped him with an unbeaten 45.Doug Bollinger continued his stranglehold over Chris Gayle, Ryan Harris took his wicket tally to 21 in eight ODIs, and Clint McKay pushed his case to remain a first-choice fast man. The win took Australia’s tally to 24 successes from 27 completed ODIs since the end of the Ashes and it has put them in a strong position a year away from the World Cup, where they will defend their title with a new-look squad.”I thought [Hopes] was terrific in Brisbane and showed some really good signs over there,” Ponting said. “He was terrific tonight. That sort of hitting at the end of the innings is what you’re always looking for. It hasn’t just been him. I was really happy for Vogesy tonight, to get that opportunity and capitalise the way he did was great.”You look at Harris and Bollinger and McKay and those guys … they’ve not let any one game get away from them and that’s a terrific attitude to have around our group. There’s a little bit of competition for spots and guys are working exceptionally hard. We’ve unearthed some players this summer and that’s going to be good in 12 months time with a World Cup.”There have been few positives for West Indies during the limited-overs games. Their disappointing trip culminated in their worst all-round effort in the final game as they dropped five catches, allowed Australia to post the third-highest ODI total ever scored at the MCG, and then lost three wickets in the first four overs.”We played terrible in all three departments,” the coach David Williams said. “I think we fielded decent up until this game but to drop five catches in 50 overs, that tells a lot. It was really disappointing.”We didn’t get good starts and that’s important in one-day cricket. All four games we struggled at the top of the order. We exposed the middle order a little bit too early. It was always difficult coming from behind playing against a top-class side.”

Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid on Sunday but controversy soon followed, as they complained about the assistant referee spying on them after the match.

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Barca celebrate narrow win over AtleticoNumber of controversial decisions Assistant caught eavesdropping outside dressing roomWHAT HAPPENED?

Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez was in charge of the match and the Montjuic home crowd felt that Barcelona had been given the short end of the stick on several occasions, particularly about Joao Felix's penalty appeal, Memphis Depay's two fouls, and his block of Ilkay Gundogan during the German's forward play. Linesman Raul Cabanero was allegedly discovered outside the Barcelona locker room following the game, according to [via ]. They claim he was listening in on the players throughout both half-time and full-time. Press officer Edu Polo instructed Cabanero to leave the premises of the locker room at full-time; however, the linesman summoned Sanchez over his radio, who subsequently inquired about Polo's identity. When Xavi Hernandez showed up, he verified Polo's identification.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

According to Diario AS [Football Espana], Sanchez urged composure, and a discussion was able to fix the matter. They do, however, support Sport's accusations, asserting that Cabanero entered the locker room at half-time to perform the routine player kit check, which is typically done outside the locker room.

DID YOU KNOW?

This season, the Catalans and referees have had a tense relationship that president Joan Laporta brought up last weekend when he insisted his club should have received a penalty for a foul on Raphinha in the LaLiga match against Rayo Vallecano.

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WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

Although there isn't likely to be any official process for this type of action, Barcelona will undoubtedly be tempted to vent their displeasure even more in a period when the big two have been eager to fuel the embers of refereeing controversy. All things considered, in recent seasons, officiating in Spain has far too frequently been a topic of discussion.

Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 at Camp Nou on Sunday, likely sealing a first league title under Xavi.

Barcelona probably only needed one point here. Instead, they got three. Sergi Roberto grabbed the first goal, and Franck Kessie slotted home a late winner to see off Real Madrid and establish a 12-point lead atop La Liga.

Real Madrid went ahead much against the run of play, with Vinicius Jr's speculative cross deflecting into the net off Ronald Araujo's head.

Barcelona grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, with Sergi Roberto capitalising on a series of deflections before curling the ball home from ten yards out.

And they found a late winner, with Alejandro Balde feeding Kessie at the far post for an easy finish in second-half stoppage time.

GOAL rates Barcelona's players from Camp Nou…

GettyGoalkeeper & Defence

Marc-Andre ter Stegen (6/10):

Entirely wrong-footed by Madrid's opener after a nasty deflection.

Ronald Araujo (6/10):

Unfortunate to concede an own goal. Was otherwise reliable against Vinicius.

Jules Kounde (7/10):

Defended Benzema well and offered valuable cover for Araujo.

Andreas Christensen (7/10):

Put a free header off target. Help dig in to prevent a late winner from Los Blancos.

Alejandro Balde (7/10):

Loads of running and ever-improving in his defensive positioning. Nice assist late on.

AdvertisementGettyMidfield

Sergi Roberto (7/10):

A surprise inclusion in the XI. Rewarded his manager's faith with the equaliser.

Sergio Busquets (7/10):

Made the standard range of tackles. Was worryingly slow to recover on a couple of occasions.

Frenkie de Jong (8/10):

Created five chances, completed most of his passes, relieved pressure with some wonderful dribbles. A lovely showing.

GettyAttack

Gavi (7/10):

Scrappy, energetic, reliable on the ball. Lucky not to get a red card for barging Dani Ceballos over off the ball. Seems to lose his head a bit in the big games.

Robert Lewandowski (7/10):

Forced some good saves out of Courtois, blasted a scissor kick over the bar. Unlucky not to find the net.

Raphinha (7/10):

Dangerous in his running, regularly cutting onto his left foot. Fired in four shots on goal.

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Getty ImagesSubs & Manager

Franck Kessie (8/10):

A bit of a surprise that he didn't start. Grabbed the winner in stoppage time.

Ferran Torres (6/10):

Stretched the game with some neat runs.

Ansu Fati (N/A):

Almost started a fight after tripping Ceballos off the ball. Booked

Xavi (9/10):

Went for his usual 4-2-3-1 formation, and it all worked out for him rather well. Selecting Roberto over Kessie seemed a big call, but the surprise inclusion grabbed a goal. Title sewn up?

Goal looks at the kits of the teams participating in Euro 2020 this summer, from Germany's classic, updated strip to Spain's unconventional home kit

Euro 2020  (now taking place in 2021) will feature the top international sides from across Europe and they will all be wearing unique attire at the tournament.

Football kits are generally updated every season and, when it comes to international football, almost inevitably before each major competition.

Goal takes a look at what the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane and more will be wearing at this summer's European Championship.

GettyAustria – Home kit

Puma is the manufacturer of Austria's kit for Euro 2020 and it has received a number of outings already. Red on the torso with white sleeves and a round collar, the jersey is imbued with a classic Alpine design graphic, which is inspired by the Vienna Secession art nouveau style.

AdvertisementAustriaAustria – Away kit

The Austria away kit was unveiled by Puma in November 2019, featuring a sleek black and teal design with a feather pattern. The OFB crest appears on the left side, with the graphic and colours inspired, like the home kit, by Austria's art nouveau style from the 19th and 20th century.

Adidas/Goal compositeBelgium – Home kit

Belgium's home kit, made by Adidas, features a bold brushstroke graphic that forms the letter "B" on the front. The Belgian flag makes up the red, yellow and black colourway, with yellow hints also across the cuffs and collar.

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AdidasBelgium – Away kit

Belgium's away kit is a grey-white number but with red and black embellishments. Adidas' trademark three stripes (in red) adorn the shoulders.