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And who was the fastest player to a hundred Test caps?

Steven Lynch20-Feb-2024Was Ben Duckett’s century in Rajkot the fastest for England in a Test against India? asked Glenn Daniels from England

Ben Duckett reached three figures in Rajkot in just 88 balls. There are only seven hundreds for England known to have been faster than that, and none of them came against India.Of England’s faster hundreds overall, two of them – both in 86 balls – were by Ian Botham against Australia in 1981. England’s quickest of all remains 76 balls, by Gilbert Jessop in a famous innings at The Oval in 1902.Duckett reached his century in Rajkot from the fifth ball of the 26th over, the earliest in any England innings, beating Crawley in Rawalpindi, where he reached three figures from the last ball of the 29th over. The earliest any batter has reached 100 in a Test innings is 19.4 overs, by David Warner for Australia against India in Perth in 2011-12. (There are several Tests for which we lack ball-by-ball details, but it seems unlikely this one will have been bettered.)The others are all by Duckett’s fellow exponents of Bazball: Jonny Bairstow (77 balls against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022), Harry Brook (80 vs Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022-23), Ben Stokes (85 vs New Zealand at Lord’s in 2015) and Zak Crawley (86 in the same innings as Brook, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022-23).England’s previous-fastest hundred against India was by Graham Gooch, in 95 balls at Lord’s in 1990 (this was in the second innings, after his monumental 333 in the first). Mohammad Azharuddin also made an 88-ball century in that Lord’s game, but the fastest-known for either side in England-India Tests to date came in 86, by Kapil Dev in Kanpur in 1981-82 . For a list of the fastest Test centuries by balls, click here. There are many Test matches for which we do not have full balls-faced details.With Ben Stokes playing his 100th Test match, I wondered who was the fastest (and slowest) to reach a century of caps? asked Mark Illingworth from England

Ben Stokes became the 16th England player to appear in 100 Tests when he took the field for last week’s match against India in Rajkot. It took him just over ten years, from his debut against Australia in Adelaide in December 2013.The fastest to 100 Test caps in terms of time is Alastair Cook, in around seven years and nine months from his debut in Nagpur in March 2006 . It’s a measure of how often England play these days that they provide the five fastest to 100 caps: Cook, Joe Root (December 2012 to February 2021), Andrew Strauss (May 2004 to August 2012), Kevin Pietersen (July 2005 to November 2013) and Stuart Broad (December 2007 to November 2016). The fastest non-Englishman is Australia’s Mark Waugh, in just under nine years (January 25, 1991, to January 2, 2000).Cook’s Essex guru Graham Gooch took the longest to get to 100 – about 17.5 years from July 1975 to January 1993. Clive Lloyd and Geoff Boycott also took more than 17 years. Boycott was the oldest to reach 100 caps – he was around three months short of his 41st birthday in the Ashes Test at Lord’s in 1981. And Cook was the youngest – he was a fortnight shy of his 29th birthday when he played his 100th Test in December 2013, breaking a record previously held by Sachin Tendulkar (29 in 2002).In the second Test at Seddon Park, the very first ball of the match was bowled by one captain to the other. How often has this happened? asked Keith Martin from New Zealand

You’re right that the opening delivery of the second Test in Hamilton last week was bowled by New Zealand’s Tim Southee to his rival captain, South Africa’s Neil Brand. This was the first such instance since 2002-03, when Shaun Pollock, of South Africa sent down the first ball in Centurion to Sri Lanka’s skipper Marvan Atapattu.There had been only nine cases before that, five of them involving Imran Khan for Pakistan against India: on three occasions (all in 1982-83) he bowled the first ball to Sunil Gavaskar, and twice in 1989-90 to one of Gavaskar’s successors, Kris Srikkanth.It seems to be something of a Pakistan specialty, as Wasim Akram did it twice (to Mark Taylor of Australia in Brisbane in 1995-96, and Mike Atherton of England at The Oval in 1996), while back in 1958-59 Fazal Mahmood bowled the first ball of a Test in Lahore to West Indies’ Gerry Alexander.The first such instance was almost 100 years ago, at Lord’s in June 1924, when Arthur Gilligan of England bowled the first ball of the match to South Africa’s Herbie Taylor.Will O’Rourke’s haul of 9 for 93 in the second Test again South Africa is the best match return for any New Zealand debutant•Hannah Peters / GettyAlex Carey took eight catches in a Marsh Cup tie the other day. Was this a record for a one-day game? asked Kelvin Nickson from Australia

Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey took eight catches in South Australia’s match against Queensland in Adelaide last week. This equalled the List A record, set by Somerset’s Derek Taylor against Combined Universities in Taunton in 1982, and matched by Jamie Pipe for Worcestershire vs Hertfordshire in Hertford in 2001.There are two other instances of a wicketkeeper making eight dismissals in a List A match, with some stumpings involved. The former South African keeper Steve Palframan collected five catches and three stumpings for Boland against Easterns in Paarl in 1997-98, and Peter Nevill had six and two for New South Wales against a Cricket Australia XI at Hurstville Oval in Sydney in 2017-18.The men’s ODI record is six dismissals in an innings, which has happened on 16 occasions – six of them by Adam Gilchrist. There are also four cases of six in women’s ODIs.Has anyone taken more wickets on debut for New Zealand than Will O’Rourke? asked Nick Templeton from Scotland

The Surrey-born seamer Will O’Rourke finished with 9 for 93 in his first Test, against South Africa in Hamilton last week. This turns out to be the best match return for a New Zealand debutant, beating the 8 for 188 of offspinner Mark Craig, against West Indies in Kingston in 2014.Paul Wiseman (1997-98), Colin de Grandhomme (2016-17), Ajaz Patel (2018-19) and Will Somerville (in the next Test in 2018-19) all took seven wickets in their first Test.With 5 for 34 in Hamilton, O’Rourke is one of only ten men to take five wickets in an innings on Test debut for New Zealand. Only four of them achieved the feat before 2007: those that have done it since include O’Rourke’s current captain Tim Southee, with 5 for 55 against England in Napier in 2007-08, and de Grandhomme, whose 6 for 41 against Pakistan in Christchurch in 2016-17 remain New Zealand’s best innings figures on debut.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The inside track on England’s new white-ball captain from those who have played under and worked with him

Matt Roller30-Jun-2022″Crikey, this bloke is a leader.” That was what Paul Farbrace, then England’s assistant coach, thought in October 2016 when Jos Buttler stood in for Eoin Morgan during an ODI series in Bangladesh, his first captaincy experience in senior cricket.England, missing Morgan and Alex Hales due to their shared concerns about security, won the series 2-1 under Buttler’s stewardship, overcoming a partisan home crowd and the heat and humidity to clinch the series in Chattogram after a win and a loss in Mirpur. But perhaps the most revealing moment came in defeat, when Buttler took exception to Bangladesh’s exuberant celebrations after his dismissal.”I think he showed the world that there is more to Jos Buttler than meets the eye,” Farbrace tells ESPNcricinfo. “There’s the quiet, nice image that the outside world sees but there’s also a steely, driven, passionate bloke that people don’t see. In that series, we saw that Jos Buttler has got teeth – and they’re not just for smiling.”Related

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• Jos Buttler named England men's new white-ball captain

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• Morgan takes his leave as England captain with one final act of self-awareness

“I remember the press asking me about it,” Buttler recalled on the High Performance Podcast this week. “I said, ‘maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.’ That side to me doesn’t get talked about as much [but] it’s incredibly important. I really like that I have it.”It’s that determined, competitive side. The best thing you could do is come and watch me play warm-up football: I run around like Roy Keane, shouting at people and trying to hack people’s legs. I do have a different side to me.”The Bangladesh tour represented the first three times Buttler captained his country, out of 14 in total: nine in ODIs, five in T20Is. Aside from that, he has only led two times at domestic level – both for Manchester Originals in the Hundred last summer – and has not been a regular captain since his days in Somerset’s age-group teams.But despite that inexperience, he has been groomed as Morgan’s successor for more than seven years. Morgan personally picked him out as his vice-captain for the 2015 World Cup; he has briefly served in the same role under Joe Root in the Test set-up and is the incumbent at Rajasthan Royals.For a number of years, younger players coming into the team have held Buttler in high esteem, seeing him as an example of what is expected at the highest level of the sport. “He leads by example in everything he does,” Matt Parkinson says. “He’s the best player in the world, isn’t he? He’s a freak in the gym, he’s an unbelievable runner, he always trains so hard and hits loads of balls.

“Jos spoke up [after defeat in Dunedin] and said ‘no, this is the way we need to keep playing’, and Trevor [Bayliss] was very comfortable with that. Next game, we went to Christchurch for the decider and wonPaul Farbrace

“He just keeps it really simple. The main thing is that he makes you feel good about yourself and your game, even if you’re not feeling it or you’ve not had a good over. If you’re one of his main bowlers, you’ll always feel backed by him, even if you’ve had a bad day. He’s very calm and doesn’t let anything faze him.”During England’s journey from no-hopers to world champions, Buttler made two telling off-field interventions which underlined his leadership role. The first came in a training session at Trent Bridge in 2016, the day before an ODI against Pakistan: boundary-riders were steadying themselves to throw the ball while balanced, but Buttler interrupted the session encouraging them to be more aggressive, picking up and throwing in one movement if they felt comfortable doing so.The second came in Dunedin in 2018, the fourth ODI in England’s five-match series against New Zealand. England had been 267 for 1 after 37.3 overs but collapsed to 335 for 9 and were beaten with three balls to spare thanks to Ross Taylor’s 181 not out. Trevor Bayliss, England’s coach, led the debrief, questioning whether the middle order had been reckless in their shot selection.”Jos spoke up and said ‘no, this is the way we need to keep playing’,” Farbrace recalls, “and Trevor was very comfortable with that. The next game, we went to Christchurch for the decider, won the game, and it was immediately clear that the conversation in Dunedin had been a really important one.”In the Hundred, Buttler’s challenge as captain was markedly different to the one he will face with England: bringing a squad of players together for the first time and helping them adjust to a new format with new regulations. He only played two games before linking up with England on Test duty, but he made a lasting impact.Buttler has led England on a handful of previous occasions•Getty Images”I’d come into the Hundred as a wildcard player and was really nervous,” Fred Klaassen, a team-mate at Manchester Originals, recalls, “but he made me feel completely relaxed and backed me all the way. In the first game, he had a suggestion at the back end of the innings and rather than saying ‘do this’, it was more like ‘what do you think of this?'”That made it so much easier than having someone telling you exactly what to do. He empowered me and backed me 100%: he gave me that responsibility so that if I did fail, I failed on my own terms. Even in that short time, he demonstrated how calm he was as a captain.”After the third Netherlands-England ODI in Amstelveen last week, Klaassen felt comfortable approaching Buttler for some advice on a personal issue, despite having spent barely a week with him in the Hundred. “To me, Jos is an absolute gun and has that aura,” Klaassen says, “but he also brings humility as well which was really refreshing.”Perhaps Buttler’s greatest challenge will be managing his workload: he keeps wicket in both white-ball formats and looks set for a more regular role at No. 4 in ODI cricket in addition to opening the batting in England’s T20I team. There is nothing in his career to date that suggests his form will drop off due to the additional burden: his ODI record is marginally better as captain, his T20I record marginally worse.Buttler said after deputising for Morgan in the third ODI in the Netherlands – in which he made 86 not out off 64 balls – that it was important for him to “try and be myself” as captain. “I’m not Eoin,” he said. “I can’t try to be him, so I’ll just have to – when I get to do it – try to be myself and be open to learning about it.”Matthew Mott, England’s new white-ball coach, said that Buttler had “seamlessly transitioned” in that game after Morgan was ruled out by a groin injury; he will hope that the same is true about the full-time job.

Shohei Ohtani isn't human. His otherworldly superpowers were known heading into Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, but he entered another stratosphere Friday. Even for him.

On the mound, he pitched six scoreless innings and recorded 10 strikeouts along the way. At the dish, he went 3-for-3 with three home runs and a walk. Yes, you read that right. His second solo shot of the night traveled 469 feet over the right-field wall up and out of Dodger Stadium, too.

The two-way superstar started his night by striking out three batters in the first inning, then quickly headed to his second job at the plate and smacked a leadoff home run.

In the second, he needed just 10 pitches to retire the Brewers' batters who went three up, three down. He recorded three strikeouts before his next homer in the fourth, which went so far even his teammates couldn't believe it.

Ohtani's second homer of the night made him the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit two home runs in a postseason game as a pitcher, according to ESPN Insights. He had one more in him, though, hitting his third deep ball of the night in the seventh. This one went to center field and made the Dodgers superstar the first player with three homers and 10 strikeouts in a game counting both the regular season and playoffs, according to MLB's Sarah Langs.

Here's an awesome look at his wildly historic night, with each strikeout and home run in order:

The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 5-1 to complete the sweep and make their second World Series appearance in a row. But, this one will be remembered forever as the Shohei Ohtani game.

The MLB world was rocked earlier this week when Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte broke down in tears during Tuesday's game against the Chicago White Sox due to a fan's vicious taunt about his deceased mother.

Marte received immediate support from manager Torey Lovullo and his teammates after the classless incident, and the fan has since been banned indefinitely at all MLB ballparks.

Marte opened up about the emotional moment on Friday and explained why the fan "crossed a line."

"I want to thank all of the fans who have been concerned about me," Marte said in an interview with Yancen Pujols. "What happened was, seventh inning I came to bat. I'm ready at the plate, I hear this fan shouting. He was on top of the dugout. He yelled at me, saying stuff about my mom.

"He was like, 'I sent your mom a text last night.' When everything happened with my mom, I was here in Chicago, I was in this city."

The D-Backs second baseman then sent a message to the taunting fan that was all class.

"People always yell stuff at me, but never about my mom. People know that my mom passed away in an accident," continued Marte. "But anyways, we're praying for [the fan] and his family too. May God protect them and help him heal his heart."

Marte's mom, Elpidia Valdez, died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2017.

Marte's experience has empowered others in the MLB to share their ugly accounts of fan abuse, a longstanding issue in sports that unfortunately doesn't have an easy fix. All we can do is hope people learn how to show a little more empathy.

The Blue Jays are headed back to Toronto with a 3-2 lead over the Dodgers in what has been an excellent World Series thus far. Game 5's hero was unexpected, too.

Rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage got the starting nod for the pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday night and was spectacular. The 22-year-old righty struck out 12 batters in seven innings to set a new World Series record and gave up only one run. The legendary outing led to a critical Blue Jays win and will go down in the history books no matter what happens next. On top of it all, the young pitcher had a funny and relatable admission after the game that gave fans everywhere a good laugh.

About an hour before his start, Yesavage was captured staring intently at his phone with headphones on during the Fox Sports pregame broadcast. The clip apparently made the rounds on social media as an example of how "locked in" Yesavage was before he dominated the Dodgers.

It turns out he saw that and admitted he was not actually locked in on anything. Instead, he was just scrolling TikTok and Instagram.

"I saw something on Instagram that someone took a video of me on my phone saying I was locked in," Yesavage said, via ESPN. "But I was just doomscrolling on TikTok and Instagram reels. I just keep it as chill as possible. I don't change anything I say to myself, but I'm also just here to go to work. I try not to think about anything."

In today's modern society, the blank stare Yesavage had on his face means he's either completely focused on something or he's just swiping through videos. In this instance, it was the latter.

Boy, did it work out. Yesavage came up huge for his team, an unlikely hero amidst the sea of extremely well-paid stars who dot both rosters in this Fall Classic. His work is probably done this season but he can scroll easy knowing he delivered.

Captain says he needs at least four weeks of bowling in the nets to prepare for a Test match and he has only just started running again following his back injury

Alex Malcolm12-Oct-20257:05

Advantage England if Cummins misses first Ashes Test?

Australia captain Pat Cummins says he is “less likely than likely” to play in the first Test against England as he begins running for the first time following his back injury with less than six weeks to go before the series starts in Perth.Cummins’ back has been almost a daily talking point in Australia since it was revealed he has a lumbar bone stress issue in early September. He has not bowled a ball since Australia’s last Test series in the Caribbean in July.Speaking at Kayo Sports’ Summer of Cricket Launch in Sydney on Monday, Cummins was sober about his chances of playing in the first Test in Perth against England on November 21.Related

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“I’d say probably less likely than likely,” Cummins said. “But we’ve still got a bit of time.”I’m running today and running kind of every second day, and each runs a little bit longer, and then we get into bowling prep next week. So I’m probably a couple of weeks away before actually putting on the spikes and bowling out on the turf. But it’s been a good couple of weeks. Each session feels better and better.”Cummins was asked how long he would actually need to prepare his body to play in a Test match.”You’d want probably at least a month in the nets,” he said. “If you are to play in a Test match, you want to make sure you are right to bowl 20 overs in a day and you don’t have to think about it. Four weeks is pretty tight, but I think somewhere around that mark.”Cummins added his back was feeling better having taken a long time to settle after the lumbar bone stress was initially diagnosed.But he outlined that even going from low level running to bowling is going to be a slow process as he needs to do specific gym work to reactivate his bowling muscles and see how his back responds before heading to the nets.”It’s kind of a little bit stiff, just probably a little bit from the injury but then also because it hasn’t been used for a while,” Cummins said. “Each session you do a little bit of run and make sure you pull up alright. So I’m actually feeling really good at the moment. A few of the symptoms hung around for a little bit longer than I would have liked but they’re all gone now. I’m just trying to kind of increase the workload and make sure body’s responding.”Some of the gym work becomes a bit more bowling prep work. So you do a lot more kind of getting your muscles ready, side holds to try to simulate that. Maybe some med ball work, but trying to kind of transition before you actually go into the nets and start bowling.”Pat Cummins says ‘he’s less likely than likely’•Associated Press

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said last week that a decision on Cummins’ availability for the first Test would likely be made on Friday following a week of increased running and gym work. But the coach was confident his skipper would play a part in the Ashes even if he wasn’t ready for the first Test. Cummins was cautious about specifying how many Tests he could play in the series.”I think it’s a bit early to know,” Cummins said. “With these things it’s pretty hard to go from not bowling or anything at all to suddenly playing five Tests. First steps are trying to kind of give us a shot at being right, and then we’ll work it out a bit closer to time.”Cummins admitted he had some level of frustration surrounding the timing of the injury and the prospect of missing part of the Ashes series.”Some days I’m kind of annoyed because it’s the Ashes, and it’s a big summer and then other days I’m kind of realistic,” Cummins said. “I’ve had the last seven or eight years of almost uninterrupted home summers, so I felt like I’ve had a really good run as a fast bowler.”Someone like Josh [Hazlewood], he’s been a little bit more unlucky, so maybe it’s my turn. But it’s such a big summer ahead. Obviously, you want to be in a mix, even with the India One-Day series and T20 series, I wish I was part of that. But it’s not to be. It’s part of cricket. You’re going to get injuries.”Cummins was confident that the injury would not affect him long term given Australia has huge period of cricket looming in 2026 and 2027 beyond this summer’s Ashes and T20 World Cup.”It’s a back injury that I haven’t had for about seven or eight years, and I’ve played a lot of cricket between that,” he said. “So if anything looking back when I was, say, 20 years old and I had this injury, I was a bit worried about what my body could actually handle. But I know in myself that if I get it right, do it properly, when I come back I shouldn’t have to worry about it all. And hopefully I can play as much, even more cricket than I had previously in the last few years.”

علق وائل جمعة لاعب الأهلي السابق، على تقدم فريق الكرة الأول بالنادي الأهلي، بهدفين في مرمى فريق شبيبة القبائل الجزائري، ضمن منافسات دور المجموعات من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

ويلتقي الأهلي مع شبيبة القبائل، في الجولة الأولى من دور المجموعات من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا، على ملعب استاد القاهرة الدولي، وانتهى الشوط 2-0 للأهلي.

طالع| فيديو | في 3 دقائق.. تريزيجيه وشريف يسجلان هدفين لـ الأهلي أمام شبيبة القبائل

وقال وائل جمعة لقناة بي إن سبورتس: “شوط جيد من الأهلي حتى بغض النظر عن الهدفين، كنت سعيداً بالأداء، سيطرة واستحواذ وخطورة، ولكن العيب الوحيد قبل الهدفين هو الرعونة”.

وتابع: “الفريق يصل لمرمى المنافس ويضغط بقوة ويخلق فرصًا، والتحركات على الأطراف ممتازة، تريزيجيه وبن شرقي ممتازان في الاختراقات، وأكثر من يعجبني هو زيزو، توقيت الركض والتحرك واستغلال التحرك بحرية”.

واختتم: “العيب الوحيد فقط هي الرعونة التي من الممكن أن تؤذيك فيما بعد، وما زال الرباعي الدفاعي يقف بشكل خاطئ، تجد واحدًا دائمًا يغطي التسلل، هنا لا بد أن يكون هناك قائد للخط الخلفي، وتنظيم وتفاهم بين ياسر إبراهيم وياسين مرعي وتوجيه التعليمات للاعبين”.

For the third time this season, Eddie Howe has the job of picking up his Newcastle United players after suffering defeat in the Premier League against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Danny Welbeck’s double secured a 2-1 victory for Fabian Hurzeler’s men, which has left the Magpies currently sitting in the bottom half of the table after the first eight outings.

The result leaves Howe with a huge task on his hands to try and turn the situation around, after winning just 25% of the league outings in 2025/26 to date.

Both of their victories have come on home soil, with their tally of just three points out of a potential 12 away from home certainly becoming a real concern for the 47-year-old.

However, at one stage, it appeared that the Magpies may have been able to get something out of the contest after the brilliance of one first team member.

Nick Woltemade’s brilliance against Brighton

After Alexander Isak joined Liverpool from Newcastle this summer, his replacement was already going to have huge boots to fill given the Swede’s success at St James’ Park.

The hierarchy chose Nick Woltemade as the man to take the responsibility on his shoulders, something which the German has done brilliantly in recent weeks.

He’s made five appearances in the Premier League since his big-money transfer to Tyneside, but has had an immediate impact – netting four goals with his latest coming against the Seagulls.

Such an effort was arguably his best to date, incredibly flicking Lewis Miley’s cross into the bottom left-hand corner past the despairing Bart Verbruggen.

Woltemade also completed a dribble, made five passes into the final third and won two aerial battles – subsequently showcasing his incredible all-round display.

However, despite such a showing, numerous other Magpies players struggled to impress at the AMEX, which could put their places in the starting eleven at huge risk.

The Newcastle player who could be on borrowed time

Losing in the Premier League is to be expected given the competitive nature of the division, but the fashion in which Newcastle did so on Saturday is nothing short of unacceptable.

Howe has instilled huge expectations into the fanbase, given the recent success, but such a showing against Hurzeler’s side fell way below the high stands his men have set.

Anthony Elanga was one player who once again struggled on the South Coast, subsequently being replaced at the break as a result of his first-half showing.

However, he wasn’t alone in that regard, with Brazilian international Joelinton another starter who was withdrawn from the contest after just 45 minutes.

He’s been a player who’s been called into question by the supporters for his lack of impact, with his outing against the Seagulls certainly doing himself no favours.

The 29-year-old only registered a total of 39 touches of the ball, whilst only making three passes into the final third and was unable to create any clear-cut chances.

Joelinton also failed to complete any of the long balls he attempted, even losing possession six times and often being wasteful when having the ball at his feet, having been described as “tough to watch” by Magpie Media.

Minutes played

45

Touches

39

Passes completed

21

Long balls completed

0

Possession lost

6x

Dribbled past

2

Dribbles

0

Shots

0

Key passes

0

Crosses

0

Aerials lost

100%

Match rating

4/10

Out of possession, the Brazilian was dribbled past twice, whilst also losing 100% of the aerial battles he entered in what was an afternoon to forget for the midfielder.

As a result of his dismal showing, he was handed a measly 4/10 match rating by Newcastle World journalist Jordan Cronin – further showcasing how disappointing he was in the defeat.

After such a showing, there’s no denying he needs to be dropped from Howe’s starting eleven, especially after Miley registered an assist after replacing him.

Joelinton has been an excellent addition for the club, but it appears as though he could be on borrowed time given his recent slump in form over the last few weeks.

Fewer touches than Pope: Howe must drop 4/10 Newcastle man after Brighton

Newcastle United suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion this afternoon.

ByEthan Lamb Oct 18, 2025

Benjamin Sesko’s form in a Manchester United shirt has taken a real upturn in the last couple of weeks. The Slovenian forward has scored twice in his last two games, scoring against Brentford in the 3-1 loss away from home, and the second in a 2-0 win at home to Sunderland.

United content creator Dev Bajwa has certainly been left impressed by the young centre-forward. He called his all-around play “impressive” and said that his “technical qualities are clearly there” in his game.

The United number 30 has certainly started life at Old Trafford well.

Interestingly, he has not had a faster start to the season than Rasmus Hojlund, the man he replaced.

Hojlund’s start to the season compared to Sesko

After struggling to nail down his spot in the starting lineup under Ruben Amorim, Danish striker Hojlund went out on loan to Napoli for the 2025/26 campaign. Like Sesko has at United, Hojlund has hit the ground running in Italy.

The 22-year-old, who was born in Copenhagen, has already found the back of the net four times for Napoli this season, in just six appearances, double Sesko’s tally. Half have come in the Italian top flight, and the other in the Champions League.

So, not only has Hojlund outscored Sesko this season, but the Dane is also bettering him when it comes to minutes per goal.

The on-loan Napoli star averages one goal every 117 minutes, with Sesko’s goals coming every 237.5 minutes.

Napoli’s Scudetto-winning boss, Antonio Conte, was full of praise for the striker. The Italian said that the 22-year-old “has great potential, he can grow and improve,” suggesting the best is yet to come.

So, a loan move away from United clearly worked for Hojlund, allowing him to get minutes under his belt and thrive. Another young Red Devils striker is currently on a similar path.

The United striker on the same path as Hojlund

It is a shame things did not work out for Hojlund at Old Trafford. Just looking at how well he’s playing this season is enough to be able to tell just how much of a talent he is.

He certainly could have been excellent at United if platformed well.

Well, United may have a striker headed down a similar path under Ruben Amorim. It has not been an easy season for 17-year-old Chido Obi. There are simply no opportunities for youth under Amoirm, which goes against the DNA of the club, and Obi has fallen foul of that.

In fact, the former Arsenal youth striker, who was described as a “monster” of a centre-forward by football analyst Ben Mattinson, has not even been on the bench for the first team this season.

That might be a surprise to many, given how much trust Amorim placed in Obi last term. The 17-year-old played eight games for the Red Devils, but did not manage to find the back of the net.

He also became the youngest ever player to start a Premier League match for United.

Let’s not forget how clinical Obi has been at youth level. The Dane, born in Glostrup, has an exemplary record for both United and Arsenal in academy football.

He’s currently sat on 49 goals across under-18 and under-21 level.

Arsenal u18s

21

32

Man United u18s

10

12

Man United u21s

11

5

Denmark u17s

19

12

Denmark u18s

4

2

Denmark u20s

4

2

It is easy to see how this situation is similar to Hojlund’s last season. The Napoli star fell out of favour under Amorim, and needed a loan move to revitalise his career.

Whilst Obi is only 17 and not at that sort of stage yet, he would surely have been hoping for more first-team minutes given his involvement last term.

Perhaps, like his compatriot, a loan move is the way forward for Obi. It will guarantee him regular first-team minutes, and if he is able to score a few goals like Hojlund has managed, it would do his confidence the world of good.

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The atmosphere around Arsenal at the moment is incredibly positive.

Mikel Arteta’s side are sitting atop the Premier League table, three points clear of Manchester City and four points clear of Liverpool.

Moreover, while their title rivals look porous at the back, the Gunners are as solid as they’ve ever been and haven’t allowed a single shot on target across the last two games.

In other words, they are going into the Champions League game against Atlético Madrid in brilliant form, apart from up top, that is. Therefore, the manager should drop Viktor Gyokeres from the side.

Why Gyokeres should be dropped

Okay, so before the pitchforks and torches come out, there are a few reasons why dropping Gyokeres for this game makes sense, and the first one is sadly his form.

Yes, it’s certainly the case that the Swedish international’s presence on the pitch has at times helped to create space for others, but what he is ultimately in the team to do is score goals, and he hasn’t done that anywhere near enough this season.

For example, in 11 games across all competitions, the 27-year-old has scored just three goals, all three of which have come in the league, two against Leeds United and one against Nottingham Forest.

Simply put, with him not doing his primary job to the standard expected of him, it makes sense to see him dropped for the game against Atlético.

However, a possible reason why he is struggling in front of goal could be the fact he’s been thrown into the deep end by Kai Havertz’s injury and is currently in need of a proper rest.

Appearances

11

Starts

10

Minutes

842′

Goals

3

Assists

0

Goal Involvements per Match

0.27

Minutes per Goal Involvement

280.66′

Doing this would not only take some of the heat off him, but it might also allow him to come back into the side firing for the home game against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Finally, the unfortunate reality is that Arteta does not have many options to play up top at the moment, so it might make sense to rest the former Sporting CP star to protect the makeup of the squad.

Fortunately, while the options to replace Gyokeres in the team are limited, they aren’t nonexistent.

The Arsenal star who should replace Gyokeres

While there isn’t an out-and-out striker to start ahead of Gyokeres, there are a few Arsenal players who could do a job up-top, like Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

However, after the last year of football, there is, of course, only one player Arteta should be considering to replace the Swede: Mikel Merino.

The Spanish international may be a central midfielder by trade, but he has been incredibly prolific for club and country in 2025, and as things stand, remains the Gunners’ top scorer for the calander year.

For example, he ended last season with a tally of nine goals and five assists in 44 games, but eight of those goals and all five assists came in the new-year.

So far this season he only has one goal to his name, but it was a hugely important one away to Newcastle United.

As if that wasn’t enough, the 29-year-old monster, who Arsenal writer Adam Keys has dubbed “a magnet in the box,” has also found the back of the net eight times on international duty this year and provided one assist for good measure.

Moreover, he actually scored a hat-trick against Turkey in September, so there really cannot be any doubt over his outrageous goalscoring abilities anymore.

Ultimately, Merino is not going to become Arsenal’s starting striker, but with Gyokeres out of form, and likely in need of a rest, he could be the perfect solution for the game against Atlético.

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