أقيمت مباراتان في دور ربع النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب 2025، حتى الآن، بين منتخبي المغرب وسوريا، وانتهت بفوز أسود الأطلس ومباراة السعودية وفلسطين حيث انتصر الأخضر السعودي. 

طالع|موعد مباراة المغرب في نصف نهائي كأس العرب 2025

وخطف منتخب المغرب، فوزًا صعبًا من سوريا، بهدف نظيف، في اللقاء الذي جمعهما اليوم الخميس، ضمن منافسات كأس العرب.

وضمن منتخب المغرب تأهله إلى الدور نصف النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب، فيما تتبقى ثلاثة مقاعد أخرى.

وتأهل منتخب السعودية بعد الفوز على فلسطين ليصبح ثاني المنتخبات التي وصلت إلى نصف النهائي. 

وحقق الأخضر السعودي الفوز على الفدائي الفلسطيني بثنائية مقابل هدف بعد مباراة ماراثونية امتدت إلى الأشواط الإضافية. مواجهات نصف نهائي كأس العرب 2025

وينتظر منتخب المغرب الفائز من مباراة الجزائر والإمارات في نصف النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب 2025.

وسيلعب منتخب السعودية أمام الفائز من الأردن والعراق.

The New York Yankees spent a thoroughly unsatisfying weekend north of the border and return home needing to win three consecutive games against the Toronto Blue Jays in in order to keep their season going. There is still some shred of hope for Aaron Boone's team. But pinstripe fans will not be getting any silver linings from David Ortiz, who shared his bleak take on the state of affairs during Fox's pregame show Sunday night.

"They can bring Jesus back and they're still going to Cancun," the former Red Sox great said after the Yankees lost Game 2 on Sunday, 13-7. "It's over. It's a wrap."

Ortiz's other suggestion for the Yankees? Simply bring back since-retired players from the franchise to come back and play, including his two deskmates in Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

Ortiz's commentary drew some elite television chuckles but in the end will improve to be entirely unhelpful. Major League Baseball rules prevent anyone who is not on the roster for the division round to be added in case of an 0-2 hole. So Andy Pettite can't pitch Game 3 with Babe Ruth lined up up for Game 4. Which means, you guessed it—no Jesus in the winner-take-all Game 5.

Surely Ortiz took no pleasure in providing this dose of reality.

The San Francisco Giants are hiring Tennessee Volunteers baseball coach Tony Vitello as the franchise's new manager, according to a report from ESPN's Jeff Passan and Pete Thamel.

The 47-year-old Vitello is making history, as he is becoming the first coach to ever jump from the college level to MLB as a manager without any professional coaching experience.

The Giants confirmed the hire on Wednesday afternoon.

"We're thrilled to welcome Tony to the Giants family," Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said. "Tony is one of the brightest, most innovative, and most respected coaches in college baseball today. Throughout our search, Tony's leadership, competitiveness, and commitment to developing players stood out. His ability to build strong, cohesive teams and his passion for the game align perfectly with the values of our organization. We look forward to the energy and direction he will bring, along with the memories to be made, as we focus on the future of Giants baseball."

It's an outside-the-box hire for Buster Posey and the Giants, who in hiring Vitello are getting an elite college baseball coach. Vitello's teams at Tennessee have made five NCAA regionals, four super regionals, and three College World Series appearances. The program finally broke through in 2024 when they captured the national championship over Texas A&M.

Vitello will finish his career at Tennessee with a 341-131 record in seven seasons.

He will replace veteran MLB manager Bob Melvin, who was fired last month after two seasons.

A turning point, or another false dawn at Liverpool?

The relief was palpable when Cody Gakpo swept home at the London Stadium on Sunday, confirming in the late stages Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over West Ham United, arresting a landslide in form that had seen nine defeats dished out across 12 matches in all competitions.

Arne Slot is still a man under pressure, and no mistake. But it’s important to remember the Dutchman has FSG’s backing at this stage. That could change, however, if the Reds sink back into negative habits over the coming weeks, and that win over the Hammers stands as a lonely winter outlier.

The latest on Arne Slot's future at Liverpool

Slot definitely has credit in the bank after his incredible Premier League triumph last season, taking Jurgen Klopp’s squad and fashioning them into champions once again.

However, the owners’ leniency will only stretch so far, and forthcoming Premier League fixtures against Sunderland (H) and Leeds United (A) feel significant. Liverpool won at West Ham, but they must prove that they have stopped the rot.

And if this doesn’t prove the case, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been earmarked as the perfect successor.

As per Spanish reports, the 43-year-old Spaniard is very much on FSG’s radar, and, moreover, he would consider an approach from the English champions.

Bournemouth would require compensation for Iraola’s departure, but if push does come to shove, he might be the perfect option for Richard Hughes, formerly sporting director at the Vitality Stadium, to lure to Anfield.

Why Liverpool are considering Andoni Iraola

Iraola’s Bournemouth system is built on high-energy, aggressive principles. These are key tenets of his philosophy.

This bespeaks his players’ elite physicality, and that is a product of his schooling.

This young manager is the real deal, and if Liverpool were to complete his signing, they would land themselves the next version of Mikel Arteta, who is working wonders with Arsenal in north London.

Praised as “the best coach in the Premier League” by journalist James Horncastle, Iraola might not have the same calibre of players as teams like Arsenal and Liverpool, but he’s whipped his Cherries into shape, alright, creating a front-footed and aggressive outfit that rival the Gunners for actions in the offensive third.

Man City

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Liverpool

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Arsenal

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Bournemouth

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Nott’m Forest

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Indeed, Iraola may hail from the same Basque region as Arteta, but there is also a likeness in regard to the managers’ respective tactical visions and the way they tackle obstacles in the Premier League.

There’s also Iraola’s ability to craft a special, close-knit feeling at his club, something Arteta has masterfully achieved at the Emirates, so miserable were Arsenal at the end of Unai Emery’s tenure.

Liverpool are already known admirers of Bournemouth talisman Antoine Semenyo, and Milos Kerkez was purchased from the south coast side this summer.

Whether the Redmen manage to string together a run of consistency under Slot’s wing remains to be seen. Fans will reserve judgement until the win over West Ham is followed by a series of wins that propel the Merseysiders back into something resembling the ascendancy.

But Iraola could be the perfect fallback, if things don’t improve. He is young and hungry, and the tactical similarities with his Basque peer Arteta suggest he could be the long-term solution at Liverpool, a club looking to cement their position at the very top.

Gakpo upgrade: Liverpool open surprise talks to sign "magic" £70m PL star

Liverpool are planning to strengthen their flanks after a tough start to the season.

1 ByAngus Sinclair Dec 1, 2025

His tendency to play most lengths from spinners off the back foot has brought him high control percentages but it can also get him into trouble

Karthik Krishnaswamy10-Oct-20251:35

Aakash Chopra: Sai Sudharsan would be ‘kicking himself’ for missing a hundred

It would come as no surprise to anyone that Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, who ended the recent tour of England with averages of 75.40 and 53.20, also had the best control percentages of all of India’s batters on the trip.Guess which India batter had the next-best control percentage? You’ve seen the headline of this piece, so no prizes for guessing, but would you, otherwise, have imagined it might have been B Sai Sudharsan, who scored all of 140 runs across six innings, at an average of 23.33? That too on a tour that brought so many other India batters so many runs?Depending on your philosophical leanings, you might conclude either that this fact shows us how unreliable averages are, or how unreliable control percentages are.If you followed that tour closely enough, you would have watched Sai Sudharsan play innings after innings of promising beginnings and puzzling endings. You would have watched him defend and leave good-length balls in the business area around the top of off stump with great assurance, playing close to his body at most times, and almost always having time for late adjustments. You would have watched him get out to the most unthreatening deliveries, with half-volleys angling down leg proving particularly hazardous.At the end of it all, you might have wondered what to make of it all.Selectors and coaches often place great emphasis on the eye test. Sai Sudharsan had clearly passed this when India called him up to their Test squad. He averaged less than 40 in first-class cricket, and the last frontline batter to make a Test debut for India without having passed that benchmark was another Tamil Nadu left-hander, WV Raman, all the way back in 1988. And Raman’s first-class average was partly a function of his having begun his career as a left-arm spinner who batted down the order.At the end of that England tour, the enigma of Sai Sudharsan confronted the world all over again: eye test passed, average of 23.33.He had, of course, only played three Tests, so you couldn’t read too much into that average. But then came Ahmedabad last week, and a score of 7 when the rest of India’s top six made 36, 100, 50, 125 and 104*. One of those scores came from a promising wicketkeeper-batter who was playing because India’s regular keeper-batter was injured; many viewers began having visions of both playing together, one of them as a specialist batter.And how would India possibly accommodate both in their XI? Well, there’s this guy at No. 3 with an average of 21.00 after four Test matches…It was against this backdrop that Sai Sudharsan batted against West Indies in Delhi. On the one hand: day one on a flat Indian pitch, a modest attack, and so much to gain. On the other: refer to last week’s scorecard for evidence of how little all those ingredients can still amount to.As Sai Sudharsan settled into his innings, he showed no sign of being in any way conscious of this backdrop. He had faced a certain degree of criticism in Ahmedabad for his tendency of playing most lengths from spinners off the back foot, and had been out doing so, lbw while looking to pull Roston Chase off a ball that didn’t seem short enough to merit that response. He continued, here in Delhi, to play most lengths off the back foot against West Indies’ spin trio, but showed he had ways of forcing them for runs without adopting the horizontal bat.By the time he had scored 26, he had hit four back-foot fours off the spinners with a straight or straight-ish bat, three of them down the ground. Two of them were contenders for shot of the day: both times, he rocked back to Jomel Warrican’s left-arm spin and punched him against the turn into the narrow gap between mid-off and short extra-cover.Both times, the ball was only marginally short of a good length, and turning into his stumps and theoretically cramping Sai Sudharsan for room. But he manufactured just enough room by using the full depth of his crease and opening up his hip, with his front leg skipping nimbly to the leg side, and manufactured a remarkable amount of power through his strong, whippy wrists.Sai Sudharsan showed complete faith in this back-foot-dominant game against spin right through a second-wicket stand of 193 with Yashasvi Jaiswal, whether while playing attacking shots or while defending good-length balls attacking his stumps.Every now and again, this technique contributed to moments that jolted viewers out of the reverie that big first-day partnerships on flat Indian pitches can induce. One ball would turn a little more, or skid through a little quicker, or keep ever so slightly low, and yank Sai Sudharsan out of his bubble of self-possession. On 52, he jammed his bat down just in time to save himself from what looked like a certain lbw against one such ball from Khary Pierre.B Sai Sudharsan is back-foot oriented against spin•AFP/Getty ImagesBut this was still a batter in full control. Almost literally. Until he was dropped on 58 – he closed his bat face too early against the medium-pace of Justin Greaves and popped a leading edge towards Warrican at short midwicket – off the 107th ball he faced, Sai Sudharsan hadn’t played a single false shot all innings.And his eventual dismissal on 87 came off the only false shot he played in 125 balls against spin.Inevitably, it was a good-length ball that Sai Sudharsan looked to defend off the back foot, except this ball from Warrican turned prodigiously and skidded onto his back pad before he could bring his bat down fully. Like the rest of his innings had done, like his dismissal in Ahmedabad had done, it fuelled debate over his method.Ball-by-ball data from Test matches in India since 2022 tells us that, on average, batters only negotiate around 14% of balls that spinners land in the 4-5m length band (the fuller side of the spinners’ good length) off the back foot. Sai Sudharsan, in this series, has gone back to just under 38% of balls pitching in that band.Is that… good or bad?Well, first of all, our reactions to technique tend to be informed by what we’re used to seeing. We’re used to watching batters defend balls off the front foot when spinners land on the fuller side of a good length. Any other response looks unusual, and to many viewers, suspect. And if you believe this, that belief is only strengthened when that unusual method contributes to a dismissal.Sai Sudharsan was out playing back to a ball most batters would have gone forward to. But he had employed the same technique until that point while achieving a 100% control rate over 124 balls against spin.B Sai Sudharsan seemingly misjudged the length and fell lbw to Roston Chase in Ahmedabad•Associated PressWhat do we conclude, then? We might want to listen to India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who provided a superbly nuanced take in his press conference at the end of the day’s play.”See, Sai, obviously, coming from Tamil Nadu, they play a lot on turning wickets. He’s pretty good against spin,” Kotak said. “I think his back-foot game, and some shots he plays on the back foot, not many players play, because a lot of balls which he negotiates on the back foot, most of the players would negotiate it on the front foot.”The only thing we talk about is, some of the very full balls also, sometimes he plays on the back foot, so we’re trying to cut [down] on that. He very much knows that, and he tries. And obviously the line [matters]; if the line is outside off stump, the same length he could easily go [onto the] front foot and play, then impact [on the pad] would be outside off stump.”So all that we discuss. But his overall game against spin is a lot more on the back foot than front foot. And with his bat-swing, the way he bats, the amount of power he generates on the back foot is also amazing. Some of the shots through mid-off, extra-cover, through midwicket and all, that is his strength.”To boil that down: Sai Sudharsan is unusually back-foot oriented against spin, and he plays shots off the back foot – like the two mentioned above against Warrican – that not too many others can play. This method can, however, get him in trouble against certain lines and lengths, and judicious use of front-foot play can help him round out his game.Kotak’s observation about going on the front foot when the ball pitches outside off stump, to take lbw out of the equation, illuminates one advantage of front-foot play: it can keep the percentages in batters’ favour even when they aren’t in control. Defending off the back foot, however, tends to be more binary: you are usually either able to adjust to vagaries of turn, pace and bounce and defend with the middle of your bat, or the ball behaves so unusually that you are left without any protection against dismissal.Kotak spoke about Sai’s mental strength too, and the self-belief that allowed him to bat the way he did on Friday, seemingly impervious to all the noise swirling around him.India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak rates B Sai Sudharsan highly•PTI “Sai, we all know how talented he is. [We don’t always just] look at the [batter’s] score; [we] look at the batsman, how he’s batting, how he’s pacing his innings, what kind of shots he plays,” Kotak said. “Sometimes, one or two innings, anybody can fail. But he batted brilliantly today.”He is someone who is mentally very tough, you’ll never see him change his style of playing. He always plays on the merit [of the ball]. So the same way he batted today. [You might have thought] he might be thinking, [what happens] if I get out early again? But if you see his innings, [did] you ever feel from ball one that he’s thinking that? Obviously not. So that’s why we know [what a] quality [player] he is.”Sai Sudharsan’s innings reflected all the strengths Kotak enumerated, but also the security he feels in a team that believes fully in his ability, ignoring his first-class record, his early Test numbers, and the knee-jerk reactions of the outside world to success and failure. It was the innings of a hugely talented player but also the innings of the system that produced him and nurtures him.It felt sobering that this innings came against the West Indies team of 2025. Is Sai Sudharsan, in raw-material terms, a better batter than Tagenarine Chanderpaul or Alick Athanaze? Who can say. Do they have the infrastructure, technical expertise and support system that gets the most out of Sai Sudharsan’s talent? Most definitely not, and for no fault of theirs. If you think cricket is at its healthiest if it offers its young talent the best possible opportunities to flourish, you can’t be happy with the way it currently works.

Opener produces vital half-century to help revive England from another wobbly start

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2025After their combined tally of eight runs in four innings at Perth, it proved to be a day of revived fortunes at the Gabba for two of the most scrutinised batters in England’s ranks. While Joe Root secured the plaudits for his magnificent maiden century on Australian soil, Zak Crawley’s bounce-back from a first-Test pair proved a similarly cathartic display.Though he fell when well set, gloving a pull off Michael Neser shortly after the first interval, his 76 from 93 balls was nonetheless a crucial contribution, coming as it did after his first-Test nemesis Mitchell Starc had again struck hard with the new ball, dismissing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks in his first two overs.Crawley, by then, had already driven Starc through the covers for four, to bring up his first runs of the series, and he carried on in a similar vein, picking off a total of 11 boundaries, the majority coming when Australia’s bowlers strayed into his arc.”I did feel good, to be honest,” Crawley told TNT Sports at the close of the first day’s play. “I felt much better than Perth. I was just trying to keep it simple, just trying to score straight on the leg side, and then if it was really full, maybe on the off side. Yeah, I was happy with my knock.”Crawley’s relative watchfulness outside off was the key feature of his innings, and a tribute to the hours in the nets that England have put in (in between some notable moments of downtime) since their two-day defeat in the series opener.”I think it’d have felt a long break if I’d have got two hundreds, to be honest,” he said. “It was big old gap after a two-day game. But yeah, it’s a good chance to get some practice in. And I felt comfortable. I felt calm today, and managed to settle the nerves. So I was pleased with how I played.”I had a clear plan and I stuck to it. There were still a couple of loose shots in there, as I tend to do, but got away with them, and I played nicely down the ground as well. By trying to score on the leg side, that made me leave a bit better outside off with the extra bounce today, and then when I got in, the ball started doing a bit less.”England’s close-of-play score of 325 for 9 looked significantly more healthy thanks to an unbeaten tenth-wicket stand of 61 between Root, who finished unbeaten on 135, and Jofra Archer, whose 32 not out was his highest Test score, in just his second innings at No.11.Until Australia have batted, it will be hard to tell how good that score actually is, but after the groundstaff had given the pitch a final trim to 3mm of grass before the match, Crawley knew it had been a good toss for England to win, notwithstanding their early collapse to 5 for 2.Related

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“The last few days, it’s been really green here. So we all thought it’s going to be a green nipper again. And they obviously shaved it this morning, so it looked like a great wicket to bat on, with the overheads as well.”I was gutted to get out when I did, the pitch was just getting a bit flatter there,” he added. “But obviously we finished the day well with Rooty and Jof at the end there. So it’s good day.”At 264 for 9 with approximately half an hour of the day remaining, there had been some speculation that England might declare to insert Australia under the lights, much as they had done in their previous pink-ball Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui two years ago. But with Root going strong, and with memories of England’s infamous declaration at Edgbaston in 2023, Crawley said a repeat scenario had not been on the cards.”No talk of declaring,” he said. “We were talking about boys going really hard, and if they got out, then it was kind of a win-win situation. So they went hard, and they came off, and there’s a valuable 50 runs there for us.”Root will be on strike when day two gets underway, and will have the chance to extend England’s innings into the morning session, with six overs to come until the new ball is due. For now, though, he will have a chance to savour a significant landmark in his career, and one that may just confirm his credentials as England’s greatest Test batter.”I’m chuffed for him,” Crawley said, after Root’s 40th Test hundred and his first in Australia. “He hasn’t been speaking about it at all to us, that’s just the outside noise. He’s just very focused on just getting whatever score is needed on the day, and proved to be a hundred today.”But he’s the best player I’ve ever played with, or probably against as well. And he’s a champion bloke. I’m chuffed to bits for him.”

India went back to losing the toss under a new captain in the first T20I against South Africa, after winning the toss in the series decider in the ODIs. As expected, Aiden Markram chose to chase with dew expected to play a role in the night. Suryakumar Yadav wasn’t too fussed, expecting having to bowl with the wet ball.India welcomed back Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya to the XI after injury-forced breaks. “The body feels perfectly fine physically, I spent some time at the COE [BCCI’s Centre of Excellence],” Gill said. “Perfectly fine physically and mentally feeling ready. I had a disc bulge in my neck which was hitting the nerves. When I went there [to bat in the Kolkata Test], I had a bit of a spasm before the start of play in the morning. And when I played the game, I got a bulge which hit the nerve and had to go the hospital for a couple of days but recovered well after that.”Japsrit Bumrah, who was rested for the ODIs, also returned to the XI for the first T20I, along with the format’s specialists – Suryakumar, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakravarthy, Jitesh Sharma. India decided they needed two quicks in the XI, which meant Kuldeep Yadav was left out. They went for Arshdeep Singh ahead of Harshit Rana as the second fast bowler, which meant India had batting depth till No. 8 and not No. 9. Axar Patel, left out for the ODIs, was listed at No. 8. Varun, Arshdeep and Bumrah were nine, ten and eleven.South Africa welcomed back Anrich Nortje, David Miller and Donovan Ferreira into the XI. Lutho Sipamla and Lungi Ngidi were the other two fast bowlers to go with Nortje and Marco Jansen, and Keshav Maharaj the lone frontline spinner.India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 8 Axar Patel, 9 Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Jasprit BumrahSouth Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Lutho Sipamla, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Out-of-favour Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has picked his favourite destination after as many as 12 clubs made transfer enquiries for the young English star. Mainoo is desperate for an escape route from Old Trafford after failing to accumulate enough game time under Ruben Amorim this season as the Portuguese coach prefers Bruno Fernandes in the central midfield role alongside Casemiro.

• Mainoo picks favourite destination

  According to the, a dozen top European clubs have shown interest in signing Mainoo on loan in the January transfer market, however, the midfielder has picked Serie A champions Napoli as his preferred next destination. The England international's move to Italy is now dependent on whether the Red Devils give the green light to the transfer in the upcoming winter window.

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• AFP
  

  Napoli a perfect destination for Mainoo to revive career

  Napoli, who are currently fighting to retain their Serie A crown, have seen their midfield dismantled by a cruel run of injuries. The latest blow was the high-grade lesion to Frank Anguissa's thigh, sustained on international duty, which will keep him out for the foreseeable future. This fresh setback comes on top of the long-term absence of Manchester City legend De Bruyne, who suffered a serious muscle tear in October. 

  With Stanislav Lobotka also working on his fitness issues, manager Antonio Conte is left with a skeleton crew in the middle of the park. The Italian coach is aware that relying solely on Scott McTominay and fringe players like Michael Folorunsho is not sustainable if the club are to compete on multiple fronts, making a January reinforcement an absolute necessity.

  With the scarcity of quality midfielders, Mainoo will surely enjoy a lot of game time in Italy and will also benefit from playing under a seasoned head coach like Conte, which could prove to be a huge learning opportunity for the youngster.

• Scholes feels Mainoo getting ruined at United

  With Mainoo growing 'deeply frustrated' with his lack of game time, Amorim recently addressed the media to speaking about the 20-year-old's situation at Old Trafford as he said: "I see him as a starter like the other players. I just have to make a choice and then in the end, it's not been Kobbie. In the future, I don't know. Again, I always think the same thing with Casemiro. (He) was not playing and then he plays. I just want to win games. I don't care who is playing.

  "I see it. I just want to win, I try to put the players, I don't look who it is, I don't care about that, I'm just trying to put the best players on the pitch. You have Manuel Ugarte that played two games. One of them, Casemiro, was out, Bruno Fernandes, he's always fit, he's the guy that is doing his position, so maybe it has to do with that."

  In response, though, club legend Paul Scholes slammed the Portuguese as he came to Mainoo's defence and said: "Bullsh*t. The kid is being ruined, not being played in a team that can't control a game of football. Hate seeing homegrown players leave but it's probably best for him now, enough is enough."

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  What next for Mainoo?

  The Africa Cup of Nations this winter will see several top African players leave to play for their respective national teams. This could be the perfect time for Mainoo to get as much game time as possible and win back Amorim's trust, but the coach has offered no guarantee of minutes.

  "I don't know, I don't know," he said. "It's the same question, I don't know what is going to happen. It depends. I've seen the training. If it's the best thing for the team, I will put (him in), that is the only way I know how to respond to that. Of course, I understand, and my job is to answer, but I'm trying to answer always the same thing, and you ask me always the same thing. I understand what you are saying. You love Kobbie, he starts for England. But that doesn't mean that I need to put Kobbie in when I feel that I shouldn't put Kobbie in, so it's my decision."

Despite spending over £200m on new additions during the summer transfer window, Manchester United have still found themselves short on quality in the midfield department.

Ruben Amorim has made it clear he wants added quality in such an area in the months, especially considering the current situation he’s presented with in the Premier League.

Casemiro has started 13 out of a possible 15 games in the league this campaign, but the Brazilian looks set to leave the Red Devils next summer when his current contract expires.

Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo are two other options in such an area, but they have both started two combined league matches in the 2025/26 campaign to date.

As a result, the hierarchy have been hunting for a player to operate at the heart of the side, which could see an excellent partnership being formed in the near future.

United’s potential midfield partnership after January

In an attempt to bolster United’s midfield, INEOS have been on the hunt for added reinforcements, which has led to Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson becoming their main target.

The 23-year-old has been in phenomenal form during the ongoing campaign, even topping numerous rankings in the Premier League compared to other players in his position.

He’s won possession on 126 occasions in England’s top-flight to date, with no other player managing to do so over 100 times – subsequently showing his ball-winning capabilities.

Anderson certainly would offer the perfect deep-lying option, something which Amorim has desired, but any deal would be a club record with Forest demanding a fee in the region of £100m.

Such a move would be a huge investment from the hierarchy, but it would also allow captain Bruno Fernandes to have the partner he’s craved in the middle of the park.

The Portuguese international has operated in a deep-lying position in 2025/26, but has still managed to star in possession, as seen by his tally of ten combined goals and assists in the Premier League.

He’s also constantly offered a creative source for the Red Devils, as seen by his tally of 3.1 chances created per 90 – the best tally of any player in the division at present.

A partnership of Anderson and Bruno would likely be one of the best in England’s top-flight, which could allow the club to finally challenge for a title once again.

The United star who’s a hybrid of Anderson & Bruno

United’s work in the transfer market over the last couple of years has certainly raised eyebrows across the division, with the hierarchy wasting huge funds on countless players.

Over £800m has been splashed in the last four years alone, which has seen numerous players fail to deliver and resulted in a measly 15th-place finish last campaign.

However, Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system requires a very specific type of midfield pairing, which has led to the rumours of a big-money move to land Anderson in the coming weeks.

It would be yet another huge addition made by the board, but one that could set the first-team up for many years, especially considering his tender age, which could see him explode into life in the years ahead.

A player of Bruno’s calibre is also extremely rare in the modern game and would likely cost a pretty penny, but it appears the Red Devils have already got ahead of the curve.

In recent weeks, they completed the €1m (£750k) addition of 17-year-old midfielder Cristian Orozco from Colombian side Fortaleza, with the teenager set to join the academy squad.

The move for the youngster has certainly taken a few supporters by surprise, but it’s one that could allow them to have a huge talent in the future at Old Trafford.

Despite his tender age, he’s already been a star for his boyhood club, which has led to him featuring at the U17 World Cup for his nation – even catching the eye of many people.

Orozco has been dubbed “a midfield destroyer” by one analyst, with his showing against El Salvador last month highlighting why he would be the perfect hybrid of Anderson and Bruno.

Minutes played

90

Touches

107

Pass accuracy

75%

Passes completed

63

Tackles made

2

Duels won

9

Recoveries made

9

Dribbles completed

2

The teenager produced a superb defensive performance on the international stage, subsequently making two tackles and coming out on top in nine of the duels that he entered.

Such figures showcase his remarkable ball-winning ability, something which has made Anderson such a desirable target for the Red Devils in the last couple of months.

Regaining possession is one thing, but the youngster has also thrived with the ball at his feet – subsequently producing numbers that Bruno would be proud of.

In the same game, he completed 67 passes at a completion rate of 75% – with such numbers reflecting his incredible ability to find his teammates when driving forward with the ball.

There’s no doubt that Orozco has a long way to go in his development before he nails down a starting role at Old Trafford, but there’s little denying that the club have secured a top young talent.

His numbers from his recent showings at international level showcase his incredible talents, with the teenager having all of the tools to be the perfect hybrid of Anderson and Bruno.

Cunha upgrade: Man Utd looking to sign "one of the best wingers in Europe"

Manchester United considering a move for a top-level forward ahead of the January window.

1 ByEthan Lamb 2 days ago

Rahane, Sarfaraz and Suryakumar’s efforts go in vain; Shami picks up 4 for 13 against Services

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2025

Samson, Sharafuddeen and Asif propel KeralaSanju Samson, Sharafuddeen and KM Asif were the stars as Kerala handed Mumbai their first loss of the season, beating them by 15 runs in Lucknow.Samson, who is back to opening the innings this season, laid the platform with 46 off 28 balls. Vishnu Vinod struggled in the middle and managed only 43 not out off 40 balls, but Sharafuddeen’s unbeaten 35 off 15 took the side to 178 for 5.Sharafuddeen then removed Ayush Mhatre in the first over of the chase but Ajinkya Rahane (32 off 18) and Sarfaraz Khan (52 off 40) kept Mumbai going. By the time Sarfaraz got out, Mumbai needed 80 from eight overs. Suryakumar Yadav brought it down to 31 required from three. But Asif’s three wickets – including Suryakumar’s for 32 off 25 – in the 18th over derailed Mumbai. They needed 18 from the final over with two wickets in hand. Asif took only four balls to wrap up the innings and complete his five-for.File photo: Ayush Badoni had a solid outing with both bat and ball•PTI

Badoni seals Delhi’s win over KarnatakaAyush Badoni’s 35-ball 53 and 4 for 12, backed up by Priyansh Arya and Tejasvi Dahiya’s fifties, helped Delhi get the better of Karnataka by 45 runs in a high-scoring Group D contest in Ahmedabad. Batting first, Delhi thumped 232 for 3 in their 20 overs. Devdutt Padikkal then hit a 38-ball 62 while R Smaran struck 72 off 38 balls, but with little support from the others, Karnataka were bowled out for 187 in 19.3 overs.Delhi lost opener Yash Dhull in the second over to Vidyadhar Patil but Arya and Badoni forged a 110-run stand in 9.2 overs for the second wicket. Arya struck six sixes and two fours in his 33-ball 62 while Badoni hit four fours and two sixes.When both batters fell within two overs of each other, Karnataka may have sniffed a chance of a comeback, but Dahiya and Nitish Rana gave them none. They added 105 runs for the fifth wicket in just 41 balls. Dahiya hit five sixes and three fours in an unbeaten 19-ball 53 while Rana remained 46 not out.Karnataka lost wickets regularly in the chase. BR Sharath fell in the opening over to Ishant Sharma, while Mayank Agarwal was removed by Digvesh Rathi inside the powerplay. Rathi also picked up Karun Nair as Karnataka slipped to 48 for 3 in seven overs. Smaran and Padikkal gave Karnataka hope with a 76-run stand for the fourth wicket, but once Padikkal fell to Ishant, the end was nigh.Badoni then wrecked the Karnataka middle order, picking up four wickets in two overs. Prince Yadav closed the innings with two wickets, giving Delhi crucial points after their loss against Tripura.File photo: Raj Limbani picked up 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs•ICC/Getty Images

Limbani, Sheth star as Baroda crush GujaratFast bowler Raj Limbani picked up 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs and allrounder Atit Sheth 2 for 14 in three as Baroda crushed Gujarat by eight wickets in Hyderabad. Hardik Pandya also had a decent outing a day after being named in India’s T20I squad to face South Africa, picking up 1 for 16 in four overs, which included a maiden, and scoring 10 off six from No. 3 in the small chase.The match, originally scheduled to take place at the Gymkhana Ground, was relocated to the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. “Fan turnout, enquiries, and crowd movement exceeded our projections by a huge margin, “a senior organising official told PTI. “To ensure safety and smooth match operations, we decided to shift the match to the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.”Sent in, Urvil Patel and Aarya Desai added 29 runs for the opening wicket, but it all went downhill thereafter for Gujarat. Hardik removed Urvil for 7 with Desai falling the very next ball to Limbani. Dhrushant Soni was run out, Rasikh Salam removed Saurav Chauhan, and Krunal Pandya too picked up a wicket. Sheth then picked up two lower-order wickets before Limbani had Hemang Patel caught and bowled as Gujarat were bowled out in 14.1 overs.Shashwat Rawat and Vishnu Solanki were quick in the chase, adding 55 runs in just five overs. Hardik struck two fours in his innings, while Rawat remained unbeaten on 30 off 19 to seal Baroda’s chase in 6.4 overs. Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi was the only Gujarat bowler to take a wicket, returning 2 for 26 in 1.4 overs.File photo: Mohammed Shami was named the Player of the Match•Garima Agarwal/CAB

Shami, Akash Deep headline Bengal’s winMohammed Shami picked up his second-best T20 haul of 4 for 13 in 3.2 overs, while Akash Deep returned 3 for 27 as Bengal defeated Services by seven wickets in Hyderabad. Sent in, Services were bowled out for 165 in 18.2 overs. Abishek Porel and Abhimanyu Easwaran then struck quick fifties as Bengal got over the line in 15.1 overs.Shami got Gaurav Kochar with the first ball of the game before dismissing Ravi Chauhan for a nine-ball 26 in the third. Akash Deep then got into the act, removing Nitin Tanwar inside the powerplay. Mohit Ahlawat and Vineet Dhankhar added 67 for the fourth wicket but both fell in back-to-back overs. Akash Deep then picked up Pulkit Narang and Sandeep Nishad before Shami ended the innings, adding two more wickets to his tally.Bengal lost opener Karan Lal in the second over, but Porel and Easwaran kept the chase going with a 93-run stand in 50 balls. Porel struck eight fours and two sixes in his 56 off 29 balls, while Easwaran scored 58 off 37. Yuvraj Keswani (36* off 19) and Akash Deep (14* off five) ensured Bengal got over the line with 29 balls to spare.R Sai Kishore steered TN’s innings with a half-century•TNPL/TNCA

Sai Kishore, Jagadeesan wipe Tripura outNarayan Jagadeesan and R Sai Kishore dug Tamil Nadu out of a deep hole to eventually help them beat Tripura comfortably by 61 runs in a Group D game in Ahmedabad.Sent in, TN slipped to 26 for 4 in the sixth over, which included B Sai Sudharsan falling for just 5. But Jagadeesan and Sai Kishore added a 119-run stand for the fifth wicket in 11.1 overs to take them to safety. Jagadeesan smashed six fours and four sixes in his 49-ball 83 while Sai Kishore hit an unbeaten 39-ball 87 with three fours and eight sixes. He also added 59 runs in 20 balls with R Rajkumar as TN zoomed to 204 for 5.In reply, Tripura were never really in the chase, losing wickets at regular intervals. Vijay Shankar, playing against his former side, top-scored with 39, while Manisankar Murasingh struck a 23-ball 33 as Tripura were bowled out for 143 in 18.5 overs.