Fernando Tatis Jr. thinks it’s obvious who the best player in Major League Baseball is, but that doesn’t mean he wants to admit it.

During his media availability at the MLB All-Star Game, Tatis was asked who he thought the league’s best player was. He had an answer but didn’t want to say the name.

“I feel like that’s a really obvious question,” the San Diego Padres right fielder said with a laugh. “But he’s my rival, I’m not gonna mention his name. You know it already, 17 for the blue team.”

Tatis is obviously referring to Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who has won three MVP awards. It’s pretty funny that the Padres-Dodgers rivalry has gotten so heated that one All-Star has to begrudgingly admit another is the best player in baseball.

So far this season, Ohtani is slashing .276/.382/.605, with a National League-best 32 home runs and 60 RBIs. It’s actually shocking to see his OPS below 1.000. He’s currently fifth in MLB with 4.7 fWAR, and his wRC+ (168) ranks fourth.

Obviously Tatis was joking around, but there are only two possible answers to that question. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has a legitimate claim to that title this season, but it’ll be tough for anyone to beat Ohtani in that contest. Especially now that he’s back pitching.

Arsenal are currently waiting to discover the extent of Gabriel Magalhaes’ injury after the star centre-back sustained a thigh injury during Brazil’s 2-0 win over Senegal, and he’s now a doubt for this weekend’s crunch North London derby clash against Tottenham as a result.

The league leaders head into Sunday’s derby aiming to rediscover their winning touch after Brian Brobbey’s last-gasp equaliser saw Sunderland snatch a 2-2 draw in their last Premier League game, a result that halted their imperious eight-game winning run without even conceding a single goal.

Arsenal’s unbeaten run in all competitions since defeat to Liverpool

Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 1-1 Man City

Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal

Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Fulham 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid

Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace

Arsenal 2-0 Brighton

Burnley 0-2 Arsenal

Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal

Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal

The Gunners’ head-to-head record against their arch rivals makes for pretty reading, and they haven’t lost a single league game against Tottenham at the Emirates for 14 years. However, that being said, Mikel Arteta faces a significant defensive concern with Gabriel’s likely absence.

No detailed prognosis has yet been made available, though it is expected that the centre-back could miss at least a short stretch of games, including Spurs, with Gabriel a major injury doubt.

The Brazilian has been instrumental for Arsenal this season, both defensively and as a set-piece threat going forward, so his absence is poised to be a considerable blow.

The injury concerns don’t end there. Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke (all knee) are out but pushing for a return to the side in time for Tottenham, while summer signing Viktor Gyokeres and winger Gabriel Martinelli also face potential late fitness tests.

Riccardo Calafiori was also nursing a hip problem on international duty with Italy, and it remains to be seen whether Arteta starts the left-back who’s been one of Arsenal’s players of the season so far, even keeping Hale End sensation Myles-Lewis-Skelly out of the side.

Now, as per The Independent, there’s been an update on Gyokeres’ condition.

Arsenal given Viktor Gyokeres injury update ahead of North London derby

According to the news outlet, the Sweden international could also miss this weekend’s vital clash.

Gyokeres is described as another Arsenal injury doubt to face Tottenham, with Gyokeres missing their last two matches against Slavia Prague and Sunderland after picking up a muscle injury in the 2-0 win away to Burnley at the very start of November.

After a barren goalless run, the 27-year-old was just beginning to find his feet with three goals in his last three appearances.

While Mikel Merino has performed impressively as a makeshift striker once again, having scored more league goals than any other Arsenal player this calendar year and bagging a brace against Slavia Prague, Arteta will be hoping that he can call upon Gyokeres once again to take on Thomas Frank’s side.

Gyokeres is their top scorer in the league with four thus far and six in all competitions, but his impact extends beyond goals.

According to WhoScored, only Eberechi Eze has averaged more shots per 90 than Gyokeres in Arsenal’s squad, with Arteta praising how he brings something unique to the side.

Tottenham are in the midst of an injury crisis of their own with a host of their players missing, and Arsenal know victory would tighten their grip on the title race.

However, derbies rarely follow the script, and Arteta will need his squad depth to compensate for any absences if they are to claim local bragging rights once again.

An ego-free, hard-working opening batter will be playing his 100th Test match this week. And he might be one of the very last of his kind

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Feb-2025Since the start of 2015, no Test opener has scored as many runs as Dimuth Karunaratne. He has 15 hundreds, which is the equal highest among openers. He has struck 34 fifties, easily the best – that tally in some senses making him the most consistent opener to be continuously active through the last ten years. Over the course of this, he has also made the ICC Test XI three times, which no other opener has managed.This week, as he plays his 100th Test, there is reason to give the man his flowers, because when else was cricket going to find the time? His is a career that has floated on the fringes of the sport’s consciousness. You can still make a serious name for yourself as a Test opener in this age, but you have to crash a lot of boundaries to get that kind of attention, and ideally your country belongs to one of cricket’s bigger economies. Grinding out half-centuries on dustbowls, hunkering down for the new-ball spells, manipulating spin so you’re tracking at roughly three runs an over without risks – these are all nice things to be good at. But as far as the modern cricket ecosystem goes, this is like saying you’re the world’s top air-conditioner repair mechanic. Other people are doing way more glamorous things.For much of Karunaratne’s career, opening has been especially difficult. Since the start of 2015, men’s openers around the world have averaged 33.71 – significantly lower than they did in the aughts (37.17), and less than in the nineties (35.50), and eighties (34.76). You were always at the greatest risk of falling to the swinging and seaming ball as an opening batter, but in the last 10 years of Test batting, fresh terrors have snuck into nightmares, with the wisdom that spinners gain more bite out of a hard new seam taking hold stronger than it ever has before. In the 2020s, a 140+kph quick and an experienced finger spinner sharing the new ball is a pretty standard challenge for an opener, especially in Sri Lanka, where new balls can swing through humid air almost as well as they can explode off dry surfaces. Take away Karunaratne’s runs, and openers have averaged 33.6 on the island since 2015.

Karunaratne was ever the jobbing opener, and rarely believed to be deserving of the care that batters marked out for stardom tend to receive from coaches and staff, though he has outlasted virtually all of them

There are also few who have lit so steady a fire for Sri Lanka’s place in the Test world. This is, after all, a country that has let its Test-match win-loss ratio slip from 1.31 between 2005 and end of 2014, to 0.81 since the start of 2015. Much of this has been about Sri Lanka’s failure to replace great players. There are no spinners to rival Muthiah Muralidaran and Rangana Herath, no seamers to match Chaminda Vaas or Lasith Malinga, no top-order batters that are on the level of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda de Silva. But when it comes to openers, there is a case to be heard. Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan did it with more verve, and Marvan Atapattu was more technically correct. But none of them did it as prolifically as Karunaratne, or scored anywhere near his 7079 runs at the top of the order.Related

Karunaratne: 'Series win in SA 2019 one of the most favourite chapters of my career'

Karunaratne to retire from Test cricket after making his 100th appearance

How Dimuth Karunaratne uses other players to get ahead

With most other positions in the XI, you can look back to the Lankan men’s team of the late aughts and early 2010s – the golden generation – and mostly conclude that Sri Lanka do not produce cricketers of the same quality. Karunaratne gives you reason to pause.And at no point, by the way, was he ever Sri Lanka’s golden boy. Where it had been suggested of others that they were the next great Sri Lanka batter, Karunaratne was ever the jobbing opener, and rarely believed to be deserving of the care that batters marked out for stardom tend to receive from coaches and staff, though he has outlasted virtually all of them. Karunaratne’s has been a short leash, and he’s got the struggling thirties, and the dirty half-centuries to prove it. No one will call it a pretty career. But fifties didn’t need to be pretty – they just needed to be fifties. And Karunaratne was adept at providing them. Those prods outside off stump, those strong lbw shouts, and inside edges into pad were all in strong supply. But so were Karunaratne’s runs.There is an obvious skew to his record. He is exceptionally good against spin, which explains why 81% of his hundreds have come in Asia, though he’s also got hundreds in South Africa and New Zealand.ESPNcricinfo LtdIf Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin presented the greatest spin-challenging of this last era, then few batters have denied them as effectively, with Karunaratne hitting hundreds at the SSC in 2017, and Bengaluru in 2022. These were classic Karunaratne innings, in that he obviously scratched his way through portions of them, rarely struck the kinds of authoritative boundaries that suggested he was dominating the bowling, and yet he found ways to avoid getting out, while pinching another 10 runs. He has added a few new shots, and refined his defence, but this, essentially, has been his mode of operation for 12 years. There is also a strikingly ego-free quality here. For bowlers, beating a batter’s edge is a small victory; for Karunaratne, it is an opportunity to face the next ball.It is a career worth celebrating all the more, for it being in its last days. Karunaratne has just said he will retire after his 100th, but the signs were there. He averaged 29.66 across 2024, and was terrorised by Kagiso Rabada in South Africa, just as he is again being hounded by Mitchell Starc – a bowler who has now dismissed him nine times in Tests. But his own performance is almost irrelevant. Even if Karunaratne throws off a career’s worth of precedent and clubs 100-ball double-centuries in his next Test encounters, Sri Lanka will only still be playing four Tests in 2025. Their next World Test Championship schedule will still feel sparse.If a little navel-gazing is permitted, you do have to wonder how many more Sri Lanka cricketers will get to 100 Tests. Another Sri Lanka opening batter? This could be a last chance to see.Karunaratne is the seventh Sri Lanka cricketer to this milestone, to follow Jayasuriya, Muralidaran, Vaas, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, and Angelo Mathews. He is probably the least-celebrated of that crowd. But no one could say he does not deserve his place among them. Others have had the benefit of hype, legend, and aura. Karunaratne’s only medium has always been hard, pragmatic runs.

Notts gain vital first-innings advantage before Matthew Fisher’s second five-for keeps Surrey in touch

Vithushan Ehantharajah16-Sep-2025Nottinghamshire 231 and 219 for 8 (Patterson-White 58, Fisher 5-57) lead Surrey 173 (Burns 47, James 3-35, Tongue 3-43) by 277 runsThe 2025 Division One season has been a scrappy affair. Sparse on real, top-tier quality, in part because of a wayward schedule. Even here at the Kia Oval, the home of the defending champions, it has been far from vintage. Nevertheless, 80,484 people have come through the gates this summer. Around 41,000 of them Surrey members wanting to vibe with a historic four-peat push.On Tuesday, however, for the first time this season, those of the brown cap persuasion had to confront the idea that, maybe, this might be a County Championship title too far. Worse still, the team that may take it from them were doing it on their patch.Nottinghamshire were trailing by a point coming into this penultimate round, and then four after being rolled for 231 in their first innings. But by stumps on day two, after 17 wickets had fallen, they were very much in front. They will start Wednesday on 219 for 8, 277 ahead, meaning Surrey will need the highest score of the match to win, on a pitch playing tricks off the straight. Nottinghamshire, having had the better of the first two days, are on the cusp of inflicting Surrey’s first home defeat since June 2023, and stealing a march on their title rivals into the final round.They have Lyndon James to thank for that. The allrounder, having the best season of his career, blew the match wide open in the morning session, taking 3 for 35 and then provided 47 vital runs. He was robbed of the honour of seeing out the day by Matthew Fisher, trimming him off for a for his second five-wicket haul in the match. Fisher’s 5 for 61 on day one – his first five-for for Surrey – gave his new county control. And when they relinquished it, dismissed for 173 in their own first innings, the 27-year-old dug deeper with five more and a maiden 10-wicket haul. He wrestled the game back Surrey’s way, at one point possessing figures of 4 for 11 from 3.3 overs, with Nottinghamshire reeling on 53 for 5, just 111 in front.But back came James to the fore, initially with a 36-run stand with Kyle Verreynne before finding an effective cruising speed with Liam Patterson-White for a collective 91 for the seventh wicket. Patterson-White, having brought up his third fifty-plus score of the season in 63 deliveries, looked on course to return on day three only to fall as Dan Worrall’s third victim shortly after 6pm with the close in sight.After a sedate start to day two, the match seemed to accelerate all of a sudden, almost as if it suddenly tipped over the peak of a roller coaster, which was when Surrey were cruising on a steady ascent. From 101 for 1, nine wickets were lost for 72 in 19.4 deliveries, a collapse triggered by a nine-over spell of unrelenting class from James.The 26-year-old’s 3 for 35 at the Vauxhall End began with the removal of nightwatcher Tom Lawes – chipping to cover to end a stand of 59 with skipper Rory Burns – before using a lacquer-less, 30-something-overs-old Dukes ball in tandem with Brett Hutton to send Nottinghamshire into lunch with the home top six accounted for.A lifter that left Ben Foakes was followed by something a little fuller, shaping away. Foakes, now sitting a little more on the back foot, reached and edged through to Verreyne. That ended up being the third dismissal for just 17 in 37 deliveries, sandwiching Hutton’s vital wicket of Burns on 47, moving one into his front shin.A leading edge gave Dan Lawrence a three-ball duck, and when Ollie Pope skewed a poorly judged drive to second slip, James had his third – the fifth dismissal in 48 deliveries. Emerging after lunch on 141 for 6, the heavies were brought on – Josh Tongue and Dillon Pennington – to feast on what remained.By now, batters were casting anxious glances at the pitch, particularly the off-stump channel that, as ever, was a productive area to plough. That ramped up when Worrall got one to scuttle into Ben Slater’s off stump. And it was in this area that Fisher got to work, angling a couple off the seam to dismiss visiting captain Haseeb Hameed and Joe Clarke leg before.Left-hander Freddie McCann was done similarly from around the wicket, and when Jack Haynes inside-edged onto his stumps, Fisher had seen off one of the top order in each of his first four overs.Perhaps Nottinghamshire were guilty of being a little too passive early on. But James and Patterson-White learned, and when the latter pulled Lawes to midwicket for six on the shorter side, there was a subtle shift in mood.Maybe even a template for Surrey to follow, who themselves were a little shy with the bat. Though they finished the day with renewed enthusiasm having seen off both James and Patterson-White in the space of 3.1 overs, the target that will eventually come there way will require the very best of them. Something that has not been seen thus far.

Manchester United may have an injury concern on their hands after Matheus Cunha didn't show up at a planned Christmas lights switch-on. The Brazil forward was supposed to flick the switch on in Altrincham but the event organisers said he was unable to attend due to an incident in training. It remains to be seen if he will feature against Everton on Monday.

Cunha settling in at Man Utd

Cunha swapped Wolves for United this summer in a fee worth up to £62.5 million ($85m) and while he hasn't provided many assists or goals, few would say he has not been a valuable recruit so far. A return of one goal in 11 matches is not much to write home about but his work rate and quality on the ball has added an extra dimension to Ruben Amorim's attack. But according to BBC Sport, the 26-year-old may have been hit by a setback.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportCunha a no show

Cunha was due to attend the Christmas lights event alongside Sam Aston, who plays Chesney on Coronation Street, on Saturday evening. But two days out from hosting Everton at Old Trafford, the former Atletico Madrid star was not there. Hours before the festive celebration, organisers Visit Altrincham said in a Facebook post that Cunha was absent due to "medical reasons" as he had an "accident in training".

The post reads: "Unfortunately, Matheus Cunha has had an accident in training today and will not be able to attend tonight’s Christmas Lights Switch on in Altrincham due to medical reasons. There’s lots of exciting performances to come including Luzahnn of Livin’ Joy and Sam Aston, winner of Dancing on Ice 2025, who is Chesney in Coronation Street will be switching on the lights!"

GOAL understands that Cunha sustained a knock in training but it is only seen as a minor issue and he remains in contention to play against Everton. 

Injuries mount up for Man Utd

On Friday, head coach Amorim said: "He [Sesko] is going to be a few weeks out. I don’t know how long but it is not that serious, we have to be careful with him. He is going to recover. He is doing the recovery and he is feeling better so we expect in a few weeks to have him back. I think it is going to be more or less he will be back at the same time as Amad [Diallo] and [Bryan] Mbeumo leave for AFCON. I don’t want to say for sure but when they are going to the camp I expect to have Ben back."

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Getty ImagesWhat comes next for Man Utd?

United have some important fixtures coming up, as they aim to rise from 10th in the Premier League. After hosting Everton, they travel to Crystal Palace next Sunday, before entertaining lowly West Ham and then heading to relegation-threatened Wolves in early December. If they win those, they will be right up there in the division.

Chelsea midfielder Roméo Lavia and his injury hell has continued into this season, with the Belgian hauled off after just six minutes against Qarabağ in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Lavia, who was spotted launching a water bottle in frustration moments after being substituted in Azerbaijan, was forced to sit out 226 days last term through injury, and managed just over half an hour throughout the entirety of 2023/2024 after his near-£60 million move from Southampton.

Qarabağ 2-2 Chelsea – best players	Match Rating
Estevao	8.2
Alejandro Garnacho	7.5
Leandro Andrade	7.4
Matheus Silva	7.0
Marko Jankovic	7.0
via WhoScored

The stats surrounding his absences make for very grim reading, and what’s more, Lavia has never even completed a full 90 minutes for the west Londoners.

The 21-year-old was once Southampton’s “shining star” and a player to get “very excited” about, according to journalist Sam Tighe in 2023, but injuries have plagued Lavia ever since he signed on the dotted line at Stamford Bridge.

On his day, and when available, Lavia is a phenomenal alternative to the likes of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández in Chelsea’s midfield, with Enzo Maresca effusive in his praise for the ex-Man City academy star.

However, his consistent lack of availability is a major cause for concern, and supporters are beginning to speculate whether the Blues could decide to pull the plug and sell him next year.

Now, journalist Graeme Bailey has provided an update.

Chelsea tipped to move for Adam Wharton amid Roméo Lavia injury

Speaking to the Chelsea Chronicle, Bailey tips them to potentially enter the race for Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton next year, albeit not in January, or other big-name midfielders like Real Madrid duo Aurelien Tchouameni or Eduardo Camavinga.

However, he emphasises that Chelsea were already planning to sign a new midfielder before Lavia’s latest injury, so it isn’t exactly a reactionary decision, and the club remain huge fans of their 2023 signing.

Wharton, in particular, would be an intriguing option for BlueCo.

The 21-year-old earned a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the last Euros after his stellar 2024 form, but he was forced to sit out most of last season after needing groin surgery.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham were among the clubs scouting Wharton at Blackburn Rovers before Palace ultimately took the plunge (The Guardian), with reports now suggesting that the Eagles value Wharton at an eye-watering £100 million.

Unless Wharton rediscovers his 23/24 prowess, Palace are very unlikely to get a fee of that magnitude, even if he is still considered by some as one of England’s brightest midfield prospects right now.

Allrounder Aaron Hardie has been ruled out of the Australia A tour of India due to a shoulder injury to add to the list of pace-bowling options to be sidelined.Hardie will be replaced by Victoria allrounder Will Sutherland, who was already part of the one-day squad for the tour and will fly out to India in time for the second four-day game in Lucknow. A replacement for Hardie in the one-day squad will be named at a later date.It is hoped that Hardie will be able to recover in time for the early rounds of Sheffield Shield matches – Western Australia’s opening game is against New South Wales at the WACA on October 4.Related

• Maxwell named for 50-over return for Victoria despite ODI retirement

• Morris ruled out for up to 12 months after opting for back surgery

• Vidler ruled out of Australia A tour of India with a partial stress fracture

• No regrets for Konstas as he prepares to fight for Ashes berth

Hardie featured in the recent T20I and ODI series against West Indies and South Africa but he struggled against the latter and had not been selected for the short New Zealand trip for three T20Is, instead being included in the A squad. Depending on how his recovery tracks, he may come into consideration for the white-ball series against India.Though an allrounder rather than a specialist bowler, Hardie’s injury adds to a growing list of players sidelined heading into the season. Pat Cummins is the most significant with question marks over whether he will recover from his back injury in time for the Ashes.Lance Morris, a team-mate of Hardie’s at WA, has been ruled out for 12 months having undergone back surgery, while promising quick Callum Vidler has been diagnosed with a stress fracture. Morris had been due to feature in the four-day leg of the A tour and Vidler the one-dayers. Brody Couch had initially been Morris’ replacement but he suffered a side injury during the Top End T20 final with South Australia’s Henry Thornton subsequently called up.The first four-day game against India A starts on September 16 followed by the second on September 23. The three one-dayers, which will all be in Kanpur, are on September 30, October 3 and 5.

Updated Australia A four-day squad

Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam Scott, Will Sutherland (second game only), Henry Thornton

Updated Australia A one-day squad

Cooper Connolly, Harry Dixon, Jack Edwards, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Todd Murphy, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland, Henry Thornton (one to be added)

The defeat, despite Mohammad Rizwan’s battling unbeaten 60 off 41 balls, left St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at No. 5 on the points table

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2025Tabraiz Shamsi was tough to score off, and earned himself two opportunities to show off his familiar shoe-phone celebration. Despite his 2 for 17, however, St Lucia Kings had a big chase on their hands in their CPL 2025 game against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots – 178. That Kings got there with 18 balls and seven wickets in hand was down to their openers Tim Seifert and Johnson Charles. 115 runs between them, in just 62 balls, made the chase a canter.Just five runs came off the first over of the chase, bowled by Kyle Mayers. Charles took off after that, against Naseem Shah, and kept going. Kings got 13 off the second over, then 18 off the third, and 21 off the fifth, and finished the powerplay with 72 on the board. Seifert, who was slow to start with – having scored only a run-a-ball 15 by the fourth over – was now batting as quickly as Charles. It was all looking rather ominous for Patriots.Waqar Salamkheil got them the breakthrough – the wicket of Charles for a 17-ball 47 – in the seventh over, but with Ackeem Auguste, the hero of Kings’ previous match, for company, Seifert didn’t let the advantage slip.Auguste and Seifert added 60 for the second wicket, with Auguste contributing 29 in 20 balls. Though Seifert fell in the 15th over for a 45-ball 68, his opening blast had left Kings with very few to get with a lot of time.Johnson Charles smashed 47 in just 17 balls•Randy Brooks – CPL T20 / GettyRoston Chase (15*) and Tim David (16*) finished things off by the end of the 17th over.Earlier, after Patriots had been asked to bat by David Wiese at Kings’ home ground, the momentum they would have wanted never quite come. Theirs wasn’t a bad powerplay however, with Andre Fletcher especially showing enterprise as Patriots got to 57 for 1 after six overs.The brakes were applied soon after that, as Shamsi got Fletcher to miscue and attempted heave out of the stadium only to sky the ball to Charles behind the stumps. For his efforts, Shamsi was later named the Player of the Match.The fightback came from Mohammad Rizwan, batting at No. 3, who scored 60 not out in 41 balls, and put together partnerships of 71 in 52 balls with Mayers (27 in 25) and an unbroken 37 in 20 balls with Jason Holder (21* in 14). Still, neither Rizwan nor Mayers could score at the sort of rate Patriots would have wanted on a pitch that, as the outcome suggests, was good for scoring.The win took Kings to the top of the table with eight points from six games, while Patriots are now in fifth position with four points from seven games.

Glasgow Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell made a bold move during the summer transfer window when he swooped to sign Youssef Chermiti from his former club Everton.

The Light Blues paid £8m to sign the Portugal U21 international from the Premier League side, which is the highest fee they have paid for a player since the £12m move for Tore Andre Flo in 2000.

Because of that transfer fee, Chermiti’s performances for Rangers his season have been under the spotlight, and he has failed to justify the huge outlay as of yet.

Pundit Michael Stewart described his finishing as “so poor” against Celtic in the League Cup semi-final earlier this month. Fellow pundit Ally McCoist also noted on TNT Sport that the striker is “showing nothing” to prove he was worth the fee paid for him.

Chermiti has scored one goal in 13 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues this season, per Sofascore, which may be why pundits like Stewart and McCoist have been harsh on him.

However, the former Premier League flop is not the only summer signing who has struggled at the top end of the pitch this season, as Bojan Miovski has failed to live up to expectations.

Why Danny Rohl should drop Bojan Miovski

Danny Rohl should ruthlessly ditch the summer signing from Girona from the starting line-up because he struggled once again in the 3-0 win over Dundee last weekend in the Scottish Premiership.

The Macedonia international was handed the chance to led the line at Dens Park, but was removed by the German head coach at half-time after a dismal first-half display, with zero shots and two out of nine duels won, per Sofascore.

Miovski was signed from Girona for a fee of up to £4.2m and arrived with a big reputation in Scotland, thanks to his form for Aberdeen in the past, as shown in the graphic below.

However, pundit Charlie Mulgrew recently noted that there is more pressure on him at Ibrox. The ex-Celtic defender said: “When you play for Aberdeen, you can get away with not scoring for three or four weeks. At Rangers, you don’t get six or seven games to find your feet. You’re in the spotlight and you need to hit the ground running, and that’s why there are question marks around him.”

Miovski, who was described as “non-existent” by one Rangers podcaster, has struggled to deal with the pressure of leading the line for the Gers, as shown by his form this season.

Appearances

8

4

Goals

1

0

Minutes per goal

506

N/A

Big chances missed

3

1

Big chances created

0

0

Assists

0

0

Ground duel success rate

32%

44%

Aerial duel success rate

29%

17%

As you can see in the table above, the left-footed marksman has not offered much in the way of quality in front of goal or reliability out of possession in the Scottish Premiership or the Europa League.

Miovski should be in the prime years of his career at the age of 26, but his performances for the Scottish giants suggest that the opposite is true, as he has struggled badly in comparison to his previous form in the division, with just one league goal.

This is why Rohl should ditch him from the starting XI, and possibly even from the club in the January transfer window unless he can turn his form around in the next few weeks.

However, as aforementioned, Chermiti has also failed to impress since his £8m move from Everton, which is why the manager may need to get creative with his team selection.

Chalkboard

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

With this in mind, Rohl should ruthlessly drop Miovski from the starting line-up by unleashing Mikey Moore in a brand-new role as a centre-forward at Ibrox.

Why Rangers should play Mikey Moore as a striker

Rangers signed the England youth international on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and he endured a difficult start to life at Ibrox.

The 18-year-old forward did not provide a goal or an assist in his first five outings in the Premiership, but he has registered a goal and an assist in his last four matches, per Sofascore, which shows that the youngster has been improving.

Moore started as a right-midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 against Dundee at Dens Park last weekend. However, it was by drifting into a central position that he created and scored his first goal of the season.

The teenage whiz looked far more comfortable playing quickly and directly in a central position through the build-up to this goal, which suggests that Rohl could get more out of him by playing the Spurs loanee in a new role.

In fact, his overall career statistics, for Spurs at first-team and academy level, indicate that he is more likely to deliver goals and assists when playing in a central position.

Left wing (19)

4

6

Attacking midfield (10)

6

4

Centre-forward (7)

11

4

Right wing (10)

1

0

Left midfield (1)

0

1

Right midfield (1)

1

0

As you can see in the table above, Moore has scored 17 goals and provided eight assists in 17 starts as a striker or as an attacking midfielder, whulst his numbers as a winger, on either flank, are not as impressive.

With this in mind, the English attacker could thrive if unleashed as the striker in the team ahead of Miovski and Chermiti, given his goal at Dens Park and his record for Spurs at youth level.

Danilo played as the number ten against Dundee, behind Miovski, and the Brazilian could interchange roles with Moore as a fluid front two in that 4-2-3-1 system, with both players capable of switching between striker and attacking midfield throughout matches.

That could cause problems for opposition defenders, who could get confused about who to step out to or who to mark, and create some interesting dynamics in the final third when Rangers are building attacks.

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Therefore, Rohl should ruthlessly drop Miovski from the starting line-up in order to unleash Moore in this new role, as it could be an exciting tactical change for the Light Blues.

AC Milan have now reportedly dropped their price for Rafael Leao, with Arsenal now preparing to accelerate their interest to sign the impressive Portuguese winger.

The Gunners couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the Premier League campaign, but their recent run of clean sheets finally came to an end against Sunderland.

After over 13 hours, David Raya finally picked the ball out the back of his own net courtesy of Sunderland’s Daniel Ballard. And like London buses, when one arrived, another soon followed with the Black Cats netting a last-gasp equaliser through Brian Brobbey.

Slipping up for the first time since drawing against Manchester City at the end of September, Arsenal’s recent run of form has been nothing short of excellent.

Speaking about the draw at full-time, Mikel Arteta told reporters: “The last feeling is disappointment and frustration because we wanted the three points. We had to navigate through a really tough game, we knew that. It was very disruptive; we have to deal with situations that are difficult to deal with.

“They did really well and we conceded a goal that is not in our standards, but after that I think the team reacted really well, showed a lot of personality and courage.

“They scored the first goal, they scored the second goal, we had totally dominated the game and then you have to rely on defending the box when they start to commit six or seven players there.”

Up next, Arsenal have the small matter of the North London derby in a game that represents the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways. It also represents the start of an all-important week, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich following the Tottenham Hotspur clash over a seven-day period after the international break.

It’s the type of period that Arsenal’s stars are made for and the type that Leao could soon get the chance to enjoy following the latest transfer reports.

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According to Caught Offside, Arsenal are now ready to accelerate their move to sign Leao after AC Milan dropped their price tag to around €85m (£75m) from the winger’s €150m release clause.

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Milan’s hierarchy is reportedly preparing for the possibility that negotiations between Leao and themselves over a new contract could yet stall and have adjusted their price tag as a result. As things stand, the Portugal international has until 2028 until his current contract runs out, but Milan’s updated stance suggests that he may not see out the final three years of that deal.

Minutes

453

681

Goals

4

3

Assists

1

0

Successful Take-ons

5

17

When compared to Bukayo Saka, Arsenal’s interest in Leao begins to make sense. On the opposite flank to the England international, the Milan star has already been involved in five league goals in just 453 minutes this season – the same as around five games.

Described as “crazy” by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in 2023, Leao is a star who’s ready to take the Premier League and The Emirates by storm.

5/10 Arsenal star had his worst game all season against Sunderland