Something feels different about Arsenal this season, doesn’t it? The Gunners sit pretty at the top of the Premier League table and they have a 100% record from their three Champions League matches.

A year ago, it was a struggle. Multiple red cards and injuries plagued a heavily talented squad and, until the latter stages of European competition, they struggled to hit top gear.

Yet for all of the reliance on set-pieces, for all of the ridiculous comments on long throws in recent days, Arsenal looks like the best team in the land.

Steady on. We know. Let’s not count our chickens just yet, but everything is looking rather rosy. Mikel Arteta’s men have shipped just one open-play goal all season and are yet to concede in the Champions League.

Their forward line, as demonstrated in that stunning 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid, is improving all the time too.

That’s hardly a surprise. Andrea Berta – once of Atleti’s parish – invested KSE’s money heavily over the summer on the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze.

Gyokeres went nine goals without finding the net before his brace on Tuesday night. The relief and delight were clear to see on the Swede’s face.

The number 14 has some way to go before he can be considered an all-time great but amidst Arteta’s setup, there are a few faces beginning to make themselves modern icons. Gabriel Magalhaes is the prime example.

Why Gabriel is now the best centre-back on the planet

Swing in a corner or set-piece and there is usually one result. Gabriel will be on hand to head home.

His record in recent years and indeed this season has been extraordinary. No central defender across the top five leagues in European football has scored more goals than his tally of 22 since 2020.

The big Brazilian is inevitable and his remarkable record in 2025/26 has only strengthened his argument as the best goalscoring defender around.

In his last five games, he has scored twice and also picked up two assists. There was that crashing header in the dying embers to win the game at Newcastle United and he followed that up by flicking on Bukayo Saka’s corner for Leandro Trossard’s winner at Craven Cottage a few days ago.

His performance against Atleti, however, was colossal. It was the 27-year-old who headed the Gunners in front from Declan Rice’s teasing free-kick and it was Gabriel who got on the end of Rice’s corner minutes later in the second half. He didn’t find the net this time but he did put it on a plate for Gyokeres to score from a matter of yards out.

But, can he defend too? You bet he can. Gabriel is one of the sternest central defenders in the land.

He has been dribbled past just 0.4 times per game in the league this season and is winning 77% of his ground duels. For context, of Premier League defenders to win more than ten ground duels in 2025/26, he ranks joint-fifth for percentage of ground duels won. He sits level with Virgil van Dijk in that regard.

Best ground duellers in the PL

Player

Ground duel % won

1. Joel Veltman

89%

2. Noussair Mazraoui

82%

3. Daniel Ballard

78.57%

3= Trevoh Chalobah

78.57%

4. Kenny Tete

77%

5. Virgil van Dijk

76.92%

5= Gabriel

76.92%

Defenders who have won 10 + duels only

Stats via Sofascore.

So, he’s a set-piece menace. He’s a warrior, he’s a leader of men and he’s a pretty damn good defender too.

Is there anything Gabriel cannot do? Perhaps not. He is undoubtedly one of the best players we’ve seen in the Emirates Stadium era. But, is he the best?

Arsenal's best player since Arsene Wenger retired

While Arsene Wenger’s final few years at Arsenal were not as victorious and triumphant as the early days, he is still remembered fondly. Besides the great Herbert Chapman, he is the finest manager the club have ever had and he had some remarkable players in his armoury.

Whether it was Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira or Robert Pires, the greats of Arsenal were around when Wenger was.

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Yet, since he retired, the Gunners have struggled and it’s not until recent years that Arteta has transformed them into title challengers again.

The aforementioned Gabriel has been a big part of that. As has Saka. Without him, there’s a very realistic chance that Arteta wouldn’t even still be in the job.

During the infancy of the Spaniard’s coaching career in north London, it was the Hale End marvel who got the Gunners out of plenty of sticky situations.

Yet, in recent years, they’ve found a transformational player, a generational talent who looks like he could eclipse some of the best players we’ve seen at Arsenal since Wenger walked away. Mesut Ozil? He’s making a bigger impact than him. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? He’s certainly earned more respect than their former no.14.

Even better than Gabriel and Saka? Arguably so. Rice is your man and he’s becoming one of the finest specimens in world football.

Back in 2023, Edu and Co moved heaven and earth to bring the England international to the Emirates, paying a club-record £105m to sign him from West Ham. They fended off serial winners Manchester City to do so. It was a landmark move.

Well, since heading to Arsenal, Rice has made that fee look like a bargain. Since when has that sort of money ever looked cheap? Well, West Ham must be cursing their luck that they did not get more bang for their buck.

The midfielder was a mighty fine player at West Ham but he has gone on another level after his big-money move.

At the Irons, he was seen as a defensive midfielder but Arteta has transformed him into one of the best, if not the best box-to-box midfielder in the land. Rice’s work rate is simply incredible and his ability to win the ball back is second to very few.

But, at Arsenal, he’s now become a threat in the final third. He scored nine goals and registered ten assists last term, his best tally in a single season.

While the 26-year-old has only scored once in 2025/26, he has registered four assists, all from set-pieces. Indeed, that’s one area where Rice has been exceptional, particularly in the last year.

You won’t need a reminder but we’ll bring it up again anyway. His free-kicks against Real Madrid last season were a thing of beauty. However, it’s his delivery into the box that stands out most.

He was involved in two of the four goals against Atleti this week, swinging in a delicious ball for Gabriel to head home and then firing in the corner that led to Gyokeres’ second.

In the words of Sky Sports reporter Sam Blitz, the Three Lions star is now “the best set-piece taker in world football.”

If you didn’t think Rice could get any better, think again. He is the perfect all-rounder. Gabriel is a menacing centre-back and Saka’s creativity skills are sublime. Yet, the £240k-per-week earner has it all. He can score, he assist, he can defend and he’s arguably got the best set-piece delivery in Europe.

Few will argue against just how good Rice has been since he moved across London. The best signing we’ve seen since Wenger left? It’s hard to suggest he hasn’t been.

Hitting for the cycle is one of the rarest things a baseball player can do. The odds of doing so are roughly in line with throwing a no-hitter. Hitting a single, double, triple and home run in the same game is a truly incredible feat and only 348 players have done it.

With the MLB postseason upon us, let's examine the number of players who have hit for the cycle in the playoffs.

How many players have hit for the cycle in the MLB playoffs?

Despite MLB being formed 123 years ago, only one player has ever hit for the cycle in a postseason game. And it wasn't a household name.

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds all failed to do it. The man who accomplished the feat was Brock Holt. He did it as a member of the Boston Red Sox during Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 16–1 in that game at Yankee Stadium en route to a 3–1 series win.

In that game, Holt singled to center in the fourth inning, then tripled to right later in the same inning as the Red Sox batted around. Holt hit a ground-rule double in the top of the eighth and got another at-bat in the ninth inning, where he hit a home run to complete the cycle. He finished the game 4-for-6 with five RBIs and three runs scored. It was the second cycle of his major league career.

Holt and the Red Sox went on to win the World Series, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

Who is Brock Holt?

Holt is a former MLB player who played all over the diamond defensively. He started his big league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, debuting in 2012. In December of that year, Holt was part of a six-player trade between the Pirates and Red Sox. He made his debut with Boston on July 6, 2013. The Sox went on to win the World Series that season but Holt didn't play in the postseason.

Holt was called up again in May 2014 and spent the rest of the season with the team. In 2015, he made the American League All-Star team. For the season, he slashed .280/.349/.379 with two home runs and 45 RBIs. He struggled to stay healthy in 2016 and 2017, but was a regular for the Red Sox again in 2018 as they won another World Series.

Holt never played a full season again and bounced around to the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals in 2020 and the Texas Rangers in 2021. He signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves in March of 2022, but requested his release a few weeks later. He announced his retirement on October 27, 2022.

​Folding your grandmother’s chaise lounge on a breezy day at the beach. Closing an umbrella in the teeth of a windstorm. Madly checking all your pockets when you’ve misplaced your keys. The swing of Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman has no comparison among major league hitters, so you are left to find endeavors in everyday life with such mechanical quirks.

The Freeman swing is no oil painting, unless you had a Jackson Pollock in mind. Freeman starts with his bat off the shoulder and parallel to the ground. His back elbow is raised. As the pitcher winds up, Freeman snaps the bat to attention, upright, as if a predator put on alert by the sudden scent of prey. Then he pulls his hands close to his body and throws the barrel at the ball with what looks like a flick of the wrists. He finishes with two hands high, the wrists having completely turned over, in the manner of someone who has striped a 300-yard drive down the center of the fairway.

This is the swing that has launched 2,329 hits, postseason included, including the one that salted away World Series Game 3 on Monday, a spoiler alert though it came just three batters into the game. Freeman ripped a two-run homer off a shaky Clarke Schmidt to send the Los Angeles Dodgers on their way to a 4–2 victory over the New York Yankees in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated. The Dodgers and Freeman, the presumptive MVP, are one win away from ending the World Series in a rout.

Freeman is on one of the greatest hitting heaters the World Series has ever seen. So hobbled by a sprained ankle a week ago that he did not play in the Dodgers’ NLCS clincher, Freeman joined Hank Bauer (1958) and Barry Bonds (2002) as the only players to homer in the first three games of a World Series. Amazingly, Freeman hit his three World Series homers in a span of just 10 swings.

BACCELLIERI: World Series Game 3 Takeaways: Buehler, Dodgers Bullpen Keep Yankees’ Bats Quiet

Including the 2021 World Series playing for the Braves, Freeman has homered in five straight series games, tying George Springer for the World Series record.

“There are points throughout the course of the season when the swing is actually good,” Freeman said, “but it felt like it was a constant battle all season long with my swing. It kind of happens like that. It seems hard: hit a round ball with a round bat. There’s a lot of different ways to do it. I’m thankful that it’s in a good spot right now when we need it the most. I’m just seeing the ball very well. You know, I'm swinging at the strikes, taking the balls … what you're trying to do every game. And thankfully I've been able to do it.”

​Freeman has had a Hall of Fame career. He is one of only 33 players who have played 2,000 games with an OPS+ of at least 142. Thirty of those players have been on a Hall of Fame ballot and all of them have been voted in except for PED-tainted sluggers Manny Ramirez and Bonds. This World Series is burnishing Freeman’s reputation as one of his generation’s greatest pure hitters. This is his magnum opus. His career postseason OPS is .890, 17th all-time (min. 200 plate appearances) and just ahead of Reggie Jackson.

​Those are the numbers. How Freeman gets it done, line drive after line drive, year after year, is worthy not just of admiration but peer review.

APSTEIN: Walker Buehler Burnishes Big-Game Reputation in Dodgers’ Game 3 Win

​About eight miles south of Yankee Stadium, on the fourth floor of the Museum of Modern Art, hangs an Abstract Impressionism painting by Jackson Pollock titled . Pollock created it by flinging and pouring ropes of paint across a huge canvas stretched over the floor. You can stand back from it and, though there is no discernible pattern or point of focus, see what you will. Order, chance, chaos, rhythm, nature … all of it or some of it. It’s what great art does: It stimulates the mind.

​With Pollock’s work in mind, I asked the Dodgers to stand back and look at , otherwise known as the Freeman Swing, and tell me what they see.

Former England star Stuart Pearce has pinpointed Tottenham Hotspur’s “weakness” after spotting what Cristian Romero did against Manchester United in a “horrific” display.

The Argentina international could only watch on with the rest of Spurs’ backline when Amad Diallo’s floated cross found the head of Bryan Mbeumo, who made no mistake. It summed up a frustrating first-half for Thomas Frank’s side, who were once again blunt going forward. Any progress made in 4-0 mauling of Copenhagen seemed to disappear on the Premier League stage.

Frank must never start £130k-per-week Spurs duo together ever again

Tottenham ended up drawing a frenetic Premier League clash against Manchester United this weekend.

ByAngus Sinclair Nov 9, 2025

Unlike against Chelsea last weekend, however, Spurs fought back against Man United and substitute Mathys Tel soon had them level. Setting up a grandstand finish in the 84th minute, the young forward wheeled away in celebration before Richarlison thought he had stolen all three points seven minutes later.

In a familiar sight, the Brazilian ripped his shirt off in belief that he had headed home a dramatic winner, only for Man United’s Matthijs de Ligt to have the final say by scoring a last-gasp equaliser. From a dull first-half, North London was treated to a frantic, entertaining affair.

Whilst complaints have been made about Spurs’ attack in recent weeks, it was their defence that was found wanting this time around as they continued a run of just one win in their last four games.

Frank spoke about the dramatic draw, telling reporters: Thomas: “I saw this game as one game ahead of us, to try to do everything we could to try to win it. That was the aim. I spoke before the game about it’s clear they have improved this season.

“They look, how can you say, more in sync together, especially going forward they look like a big threat. That’s why I actually think, I know we conceded two goals, but if you said to me before the game you concede five shots, I would take that. So we’re all happy.”

The Dane chose to take the positives, but ex-England star Pearce wasn’t so kind and shared exactly where he thinks Spurs’ “weakness” is coming from after the draw.

Pearce pinpoints Tottenham "weakness" in "horrific" Romero display

Speaking on talkSPORT, Pearce told Tottenham that Romero is their biggest “weakness” after a performance against Man United that he described as “horrific”. The former England man was particularly unhappy that the Spurs defender lost possession in midfield before failing to make a recovery run on Saturday afternoon.

With Arsenal up next in the North London derby, Romero must get back to his best and help Spurs end a recent run which has featured just one win in their last four games in all competitions.

Frank things two Tottenham stars are "expendable" with January exit on the cards

An “exemplary” Manchester United player is expected to leave the club at the end of this season alongside full-back Tyrell Malacia, according to journalist Rudy Galetti.

Malacia on course to depart Man Utd

The international break is getting in the way of Premier League action currently, but soon, all eyes will be on United’s trip to Liverpool next Sunday afternoon.

In terms of the futures of certain players, Malacia looks set to depart Old Trafford next summer, with journalist Fabrizio Romano saying as much in recent days.

“Tyrell Malacia, despite returning to training with the first team of Manchester United after a crazy window where he had several opportunities, Tyrell Malacia is not going to sign any new contract at Man United, and in any case, will leave the club for sure, 100% in 2026.”

It feels like the right time for Malacia to move on, considering the Dutchman is well down the left-back pecking order, and now another United exit rumour has emerged.

"Exemplary" Man Utd ace also expected to leave

Taking to X, Galetti claimed that Casemiro will leave Manchester United when the current season reaches its conclusion, with his £18m-a-year contract expiring at that point.

This comes after previous reports which went as far as to claim the midfielder actually has regrets over joining Man Utd from Real Madrid in 2022.

Like Malacia, it makes sense for Casemiro to leave the Red Devils in 2026, considering he will be 34 years of age then, and clearly not quite the world-class force he used to be.

That’s despite the midfielder being made Brazil captain by current manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has heaped praise on him in recent times.

“Casemiro is an exemplary player, respected by all. He has the experience and the character to guide this team. For me, he can be the captain, but I don’t know if he agrees with that. He knows the demands of the top level, he knows how to manage difficult moments and motivate his teammates. Being captain is not just about wearing an armband. It’s about setting an example every day, on and off the pitch. Casemiro does it naturally.”

Casemiro is on huge wages, but arguably doesn’t justify them, given his age, and his exit will help pave the way for a younger defensive midfielder to come in, whether it be Carlos Baleba or someone else.

Romano: "Tremendous" £75k-p/w Man Utd ace to "leave" Old Trafford in 2026

Is it the right time for him to depart?

ByHenry Jackson Oct 12, 2025

He has always given his all for United, but it makes sense for all parties for him to enjoy a fresh challenge, with a new deal surely unthinkable for the Red Devils at this point in his career.

Mikel Arteta has admitted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping to power Arsenal’s Premier League title bid. The Gunners are looking to land a first top-flight crown since the fabled ‘Invincibles’ of 2003-04, with their Spanish head coach prepared to use all of the tools available to him. He has, however, urged caution when leaning on technology for assistance.

• Unique methods: Arteta seeking marginal gains

  Arteta has become renowned for his somewhat unique take on coaching, with an Amazon Prime documentary series lifting the lid on his occasionally bizarre methods of motivation – which once included playing crowd noise in training sessions. He is always seeking marginal gains.

  In the modern era, that means taking advantage of the many sources of advice that are available. AI services are on hand to answer questions and simplify masses of data, with Arteta conceding that he is among those to have explored potential benefits there.

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• Getty
  

  Former Arsenal Women's boss uses ChatGPT

  Former Arsenal women’s team coach Laura Harvey, who now works with the Seattle Reign in NWSL, recently told the of ChatGPT influencing her tactical decisions: “One day in the offseason, I was writing things into ChatGPT like, ‘What is Seattle Reign’s identity?’ And it would spurt it out. And I was like, ‘I don’t know if that’s true or not’. “And then like, ‘what do you need to do to be successful in the NWSL?’ Like really broad questions.

  “And then I put in, ‘What formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?’ And it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams — I’m not going to say who they are because they’ll know — it went, ‘You should play a back five.’ So I did. No joke, that’s why I did it.

  “It was early in the season and I said to the coaching staff, I’m not joking this is what I did. And they were like, ‘huh, interesting’. We researched it, we did a deep dive on it, we thought about how we could play it. And we went for it, and we liked it. It worked. We won the game. It didn’t tell you how to play it or what to do in it or any of that stuff. It was just like ‘this is what we would say to do’. And I was like, ‘alright’. And that was what spurred me to look into it. So then I really looked into it.”

• How Arteta is using AI at Arsenal

  Quizzed on whether he is treading a similar path, Arteta said of using AI to evaluate performances and identify areas of improvement: “It’s a tool that is super powerful if you use it in the right way and you ask the right questions. It’s in use already for many things and many processes that can help not just a team but an organisation as well. It will improve and it will give us good insight, or things at least to think about. I’m not an expert but it’s a valuable tool.

  “We have developed certain things that in our opinion can help us to understand ourselves better and evaluate what we do and what we can improve. And then we will explore using it in many other areas of the club.”

  He added on tech tools being unable to replicate the skills required to deal with players on a personal level: “If it’s reliable, it can help us [for injuries], for sure but always without losing the sensitivity and feeling and following your gut. We are dealing with human beings and that’s an aspect that, so far, it is not able to replace.

  “With the stats, it is about how do I interpret those stats and how reliable they are? You can get very confused, very annoyed, immediately. But this data means nothing, because you have to analyse. What is the methodology of that? And if you don’t understand that, and you just look at the data, then you can have a big problem.”

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  North London derby & Kane: Arsenal fixtures

  Arsenal have opened up a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, but dropped two in the latest outing after being held to a dramatic 2-2 draw at Sunderland.

  With another international break being reached, the Gunners will be back in action on November 23 when playing host to arch-rivals Tottenham in the north London derby – before then tackling Harry Kane and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

David Coltart, the former sports minister, called it a “misplaced budgetary priority” as ZC look to market it as a destination venue for touring teams and the fans

Firdose Moonda25-Aug-2025Zimbabwe Cricket’s (ZC) construction of a flagship 10,000-seater stadium at Victoria Falls has come under severe criticism from the country’s former sports minister and mayor of Bulawayo, David Coltart.The stadium, named the Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium, is scheduled to be ready by August 2026 and is expected to host matches in the 2027 ODI World Cup. It has been called a “misplaced budgetary priority” by Coltart, even as ZC looks to market it as a destination venue for touring teams and the fans, especially from the countries that make up cricket’s Big Three.Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium has already had the main pitch planted, irrigation installed, and grass embankments completed. Work is now being done on the players’ pavilion and media centre, as well as with the water and power supply infrastructure.The development is fully funded by ZC and will cost the organisation US$12 million, money they believe they will recoup through the hosting of 2027 ODI World Cup matches and high-profile international visits. The confirmed fixtures and venues for the World Cup are yet to be decided, but Zimbabwe, who will co-host the tournament with South Africa and Namibia, will have at least two stadia allocated to them.Related

Australia set to face Zimbabwe in three ODIs in 2026

Zimbabwe cricket hit rock bottom last year, but they are picking themselves up

Post-tournament, Zimbabwe’s first target for a Victoria Falls series could be England and their large contingent of travelling fans. If a tour can be agreed, it will end more than 20 years of England cricket’s absence from Zimbabwe. England last played in the country in 2004 but relations thawed when they hosted Zimbabwe for a Test in May, after 22 years.Even with England as a drawcard, Coltart’s concern is that ZC are putting all their eggs in one basket, and not a very big one when it comes to cricket development. “Victoria Falls is a small tourist town with a tiny cricket supporting population. The development of this boutique stadium is unprecedented worldwide,” he posted on Facebook. “In every other Test-playing nation, the primary investment by their Boards has been to invest in existing stadia in large population centers right across their countries.”It must be clear that this stadium is not primarily part of an objective to take the game to smaller centers to promote the game. It appears to be mainly to have a stadium in a tourist center to attract foreign teams who will come for reasons beyond the sole purpose of playing cricket.”Whilst this may be admirable if the financial health of ZC was good, it is a terribly misplaced budgetary priority given the fact that cricket venues in cities across the country outside of Harare are collapsing and there is, as stated above, a near total collapse of cricketing facilities at most Government schools countrywide.ZC’s flagship Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium is expected to be ready by August 2026•Zimbabwe Cricket”Unless we focus on the development of grassroots cricket and the game right across the country, our ability to play the game well at international level will continue to erode and ultimately the Victoria Falls stadium will become a white elephant.”ZC has not disguised that they are hoping to cash in on the tourist appeal of Victoria Falls, whose 108-metre-high and 1,708-metre-wide waterfalls attract around half a million people a year. However, they denied that it is their sole financial focus as they are spending a further US$6 million on other projects around the country.”Victoria Falls is our flagship project, but Zimbabwe Cricket is also investing heavily in other venues,” Tavengwa Mukhulani, ZC’s chairman, said. “At Harare Sports Club (HSC), we have almost completed construction of a new indoor facility, while we will also be reconstructing the famous Castle Corner grandstand and other areas.”Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo is getting new floodlights this year, while Takashinga is being expanded with new pitches and practice nets. We have also modernised facilities in Masvingo while setting up our new academy facility at Ncema. We are also preparing new sites in Mutare, Gweru and Mhondoro-Ngezi. These investments are about building capacity across the country so that cricket truly becomes a national game.”It is the last of those points that Coltart also contested in his post, where he wrote, “it appears that there is a conscious decision by Zimbabwe Cricket to promote cricket in Harare but little elsewhere,” and referenced both fixtures and team selection.HSC, which is Zimbabwe’s only venue with floodlights, currently hosts all of Zimbabwe’s white-ball internationals, while Queens in Bulawayo has hosted their last nine home Tests. Zimbabwe have not won a Test at Queens since 2001, and have not won a home Test since beating Pakistan in Harare in 2013.Their latest string of defeats, which culminated with their heaviest Test loss by an innings and 301 runs to New Zealand earlier this month, has also prompted criticism of team selection. Coltart alleged this is regionally biased and speaks to the lack of development elsewhere in the country.Zimbabwe were handed a comprehensive defeat by New Zealand•Zimbabwe Cricket”It is also increasingly reflected in the composition of National teams, with almost all the players selected coming from Harare. All but one player in the current senior men’s team comes from Harare,” he wrote. “All but two players in the current men’s Under-19 team come from Harare and its environs.”Is it really the case that the rest of the country isn’t producing players of international quality? Cricket is a national game and we can only compete well internationally if we promote the game fairly right across Zimbabwe.”In a press conference, Mukhulani admitted that there is “an issue with the talent pool,” but said Zimbabwe’s wretched run is the result of them playing much more cricket (11 Tests this year alone) against much stronger opposition. “Given where we were coming from, it was important that we challenge ourselves,” he said. “We give the boys the best opportunity to progress. And you can only do that when you play those who are better than you.”The media engagement took place on August 15, the same day as Coltart’s post went public and three days after ZC issued a press release condemning what they called a “smear campaign,” run by Coltart.Among the issues between the parties are historical disputes dating as far back as 2003 over Coltart’s role when Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands to protest what they called the death of democracy in Zimbabwe, both ZC’s and Coltart and relationship with the UK, and differences over team selection and environment and board composition.

Just a few weeks ago, the mood around West Ham United was as dour as it had been in years, and yet now there is a genuine sense of optimism surrounding the club.

This quite dramatic change in sentiment is, of course, down to Nuno Espírito Santo’s side finally putting in performances worthy of the badge, beating Newcastle United and Burnley 3-1 and 3-2, respectively.

On top of the wins, the fans have also seen Freddie Potts given a genuine chance in the first team, and so far, he’s looking every bit the future star so many thought he’d be.

So, supporters should be seriously excited about another player in the academy who could be the next Potts.

Why West Ham fans should be excited about Potts

Now, the headline from the last couple of gameweeks is, and should be, the fact that West Ham have picked up six points from six.

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However, it’s impossible to ignore the side story of Potts finally getting his full first-team debut and then earning a second start in as many games.

The Englishman was utterly impeccable against the Toon. He delivered quintessential all-action central midfield performances and was more than deserving of his Man of the Match award.

He was once again bossing the midfield against the Clarets on Saturday afternoon before going off with what looked like a leg injury, although thankfully it has since been revealed to have only been a dead leg.

Despite being on the pitch for just 62 minutes, the 22-year-old played three key passes, took 56 touches, won 66% of his tackles, made six clearances, won six of nine ground duels and made four recoveries.

It was another showing that demonstrated just why fans are right to be excited about the academy gem.

The Barking-born monster, who, according to one analyst, is blessed with a “supreme confidence and ability to create time and space on the ball”, looks like he could develop into the perfect central midfielder for a Premier League side looking to climb the table.

So it’s good news that the academy may have already produced another prospect who could be Nuno’s next Potts.

West Ham's next Potts

While the first team has been largely disappointing over the last couple of years, the academy has continued to produce exciting prospects for West Ham. One of those talents, and someone who could be the next Potts, is George Earthy.

Now, while the youngster can and has played in several positions across the pitch, he is primarily an attacking midfielder. However, where he plays on the pitch has very little to do with the comparisons to and why he could be another Potts.

Instead, one of the main points of comparison is that, while he hasn’t had many first-team chances, the 21-year-old is viewed as one of the most exciting prospects at the club and has a youth record to prove it.

Earthy’s Junior Record

Team

U18s

U21s

Appearances

60

53

Minutes

4804′

3573 ‘

Goals

25

17

Assists

18

13

Goal Involvements per Match

0.71

0.56

Minutes per Goal Involvement

111.72′

119.1′

All Stats via Transfermarkt

For example, in 60 appearances for the u18s, totalling 4804 minutes, he scored 25 goals and provided 18 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.39 games, or every 111.72 minutes.

Then, in 53 appearances for the u21s, totalling 3573 minutes, he scored 17 goals and provided 13 assists, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.76 games, or every 119.1 minutes, and was enough for him to be named Young Hammer of the Year at the end of the 2023/24 season.

With it clear that the “priceless” gem, as dubbed by coach Steve Potts, was too good for academy football, the club sent him on loan to Bristol City last season, where he once again won another young player of the year award.

Now, in addition to being very highly rated from a young age, something else the Havering-born gem shares with the Hammers’ current man of the moment is a love for the club.

Yes, on top of being one of their own, having graduated from the academy, the 21-year-old is a West Ham supporter and even travelled to Prague to watch the side lift the Conference League as a fan.

Ultimately, while they play different roles, Earthy shares a lot in common with Potts, and his impressive record in the academy and with Bristol should see him earn his first competitive start for West Ham sooner rather than later.

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Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Nawaz punished an error-strewn display in the field from the UAE, helping Pakistan recover from a jittery 80 for 5 and seal a 31-run win. Having set UAE 172 to win, Abrar Ahmed, playing his first game this series, helped run through the top and middle order, removing each of Muhammad Waseem, Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra and Harshit Kaushik. UAE would end up folding with limited resistance, and the result guarantees Pakistan and Afghanistan passage through to the final on Sunday, with the hosts eliminated.Pakistan soon ran into trouble after winning the toss and opting to bat. Sahibzada Farhan made a brisk start once more but couldn’t find staying power, holing out to the short onside boundary. It is the fourth game in a row he has been unable to convert a start, and Saim Ayub fell soon after.Related

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UAE dragged Pakistan back post-powerplay, but sloppiness in the field was a harbinger of what was to follow. After Zaman and Nawaz were each put down off an excellent Haider Ali over, Pakistan found their opportunity to cut loose, flaying the UAE for 69 in the final four overs to post 171.The hosts’ response never truly got going, as if they were unsure how to pace the chase. Waseem was circumspect for once, and Alishan Sharafu wasn’t as belligerent at the top as he would be later on during his half-century, and the asking rate only climbed. Abrar was superb through his spell, and ran through the top order, getting rid of each of Waseem, Asif Khan and Rahul Chopra. Sharafu attempted to reignite a flagging chase with a sublime display of power-hitting at the backend, and while it did plenty to burnish his reputation, UAE’s fate in this tournament had already been sealed.Drops lose matchesDespite a vastly improved bowling showing, the first innings was littered with errors in the field for the UAE, who made their bowlers’ jobs much harder than they already were. It all came to a head in the 16th over.Left-arm spinner Haider Ali had conceded just six runs in his first three overs, getting rid of Mohammad Haris and Hasan Nawaz in the process. His final over represented a chance to break the burgeoning sixth-wicket stand between Fakhar and Nawaz, with the possibility of running through the tail afterwards. Having nearly yorked Fakhar first ball, he drew Nawaz into a miscue off the penultimate delivery, only for midwicket to grass it. So he made sure the catch Fakhar offered up the next ball was as easy as it could be, arrowing straight down to long-on. That, too, would somehow be dropped by Sharafu, to howls of anguish from the bowler. That frustration would become even more acute by what followed. The wheels come offBy the end of the 16th over, Pakistan were stuttering at 108 for 5, with the UAE dragging them below seven per over. They had had multiple chances to get rid of the Fakhar-Nawaz pairing, but so far, the damage was manageable. But it was now, the first delivery after those two dropped chances, that the momentum swung on a dime.Fakhar clipped Junaid Siddique for six over long-off, and though he got out of that over, the boundaries soon began to rain down. Fakhar smashed Muhammad Jawadullah for a pair of boundaries to bring up his half-century, but the real carnage came in the final two overs. Nawaz, who had found his innings a struggle until then, lashed Siddique for two fours and two sixes off the final four balls of the 19th, before Fakhar plundered five boundaries on the trot to finish the innings off. The final two overs had gone for 42, and the final five for 74. UAE were never to recover.UAE had no answer to Abrar Ahmed’s wiles•Emirates Cricket Board

Abrar’s career-bestAbrar had lost his place to Sufiyan Muqeem in the starting eleven, but spent that time honing more than just a flashy new haircut. Given his first opportunity, the 26-year-old wasted no time making a statement. In a dazzling display of modern legspin bowling, all of his variations were on display in the shop window, and on a spinning surface, the UAE could not muster a response. A brave over in the powerplay, where he packed the offside and challenged Waseem to beat it, yielded just two, and he snared his man off the first ball of the second sliced wildly towards point.Taken out of the attack, he returned for the 13th over, and his impact was instant once more. He had the courage once again to float one to big hitting Asif Khan, whose eyes lit up as he succumbed to temptation, leathering it high into the Sharjah sky. Shaheen Afridi and Nawaz orbited around it before narrowly avoiding a collision as Afridi held on, and while Rahul Chopra was unfortunate to be adjudged lbw off a googly two balls later, Abrar had earned his luck. He would sign off his spell with the scalp of Kaushik, and ensuring he finished with his best-ever T20 figures, 4-0-9-4 a true reflection of his artistry.

Manchester United’s recent showing against Nottingham Forest may have ended their three-game winning run, but their 2-2 draw did extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Ruben Amorim’s side are now over a month unbeaten and finally starting to show glimpses of a side who are capable of battling at the top end of the table once again.

The 40-year-old’s 3-4-2-1 system is finally starting to come good, with the Red Devils fanbase finally having a reason to be excited after numerous months of disappointment on the pitch.

The £200m investment during the summer transfer window shows the hierarchy’s backing of the manager, with the additions making an immediate impact at Old Trafford.

One of whom managed to impress once again at the City Ground, subsequently matching the levels produced by one of his compatriots, who also caught the eye against Sean Dyche’s men.

Casemiro & Cunha’s impressive displays against Forest

Matheus Cunha was just one of United’s big-money additions during the summer window, arriving in a £62.5m deal from fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He’s since made himself a regular starter, once again impressing for the Red Devils, as seen by his underlying stats in the draw against Forest yesterday afternoon.

The Brazilian completed three dribbles, won five fouls and came out on top in 11 duels – with all three of the aforementioned tallies the highest of any player on the pitch.

Cunha was unable to get on the scoresheet, but the same can’t be said for compatriot Casemiro, who once again managed to impress during his revival at Old Trafford.

The 33-year-old scored his third league goal of the campaign, leaping highest from Bruno Fernandes’ corner to give the Red Devils a 1-0 lead against Dyche’s men.

Despite his defensive midfield role, he created three chances for his teammates, also making 11 passes into the final third whilst completing 100% of his dribbles – in what was an all-round phenomenal showing.

Out of possession, the experienced star was just as impressive, winning three tackles and making eight recoveries – tallies which have made him a key man under Amorim once again.

Despite the showing from the aforementioned duo, one other first-team member once again managed to catch the eye, with such a display cementing himself as one of the world’s best.

The United star who’s becoming one of the best in the world

As previously mentioned, central midfielder Fernandes once again managed to pop up with a key assist – taking his tally to four goal contributions across all competitions in 2025/26.

The Portuguese international still posed a huge threat going forward despite operating in a deeper role – creating four chances in the first half, the most of any player on the pitch.

However, as a result of dropping deeper, he’s now able to dictate the play more, as seen by his tally of 65 passes completed yesterday – also the highest tally of any player in Nottingham yesterday.

Over recent weeks, Amorim has been able to build an established starting eleven – even being unchanged in the last two outings – which has no doubt aided the recent upturn in form.

His formation has allowed for numerous players to become first-team regulars and take their careers to the next level in recent months – as seen by Amad Diallo’s upturn in form in Manchester over the last 12 months.

The Ivorian often struggled to nail down a consistent starting role under Erik ten Hag, but he’s now arguably one of the first names on Amorim’s teamsheet.

He’s had to feature in a somewhat unfamiliar right-wing-back role in the last 12 months, but the 23-year-old has since taken to the position like a duck to water.

Amad has notched 22 combined goals and assists in the last year under Amorim, with his latest strike coming late on in Saturday’s 2-2 draw in the East Midlands.

He found himself unmarked on the edge of the 18-yard box after a clearance from a corner, before nailing a powerful effort past Matz Sels into the bottom left-hand corner.

The attacker also completed 100% of the crosses he attempted, whilst maintaining five passes into the final third – backing up one analyst’s claim that he’s now one of the “best in the world”.

Other figures, such as 100% tackles won, six recoveries and four shots registered, further showcase his incredible all-round showing against the Reds.

Minutes played

90

Goals scored

1

Crosses completed

100%

Tackles won

100%

Recoveries made

6

Shots taken

4

Shots on target

3

Passes completed

39

As a result, there’s no denying that Amad is rapidly cementing his place at RWB in Amorim’s system, with his ability at both ends of the pitch making him a phenomenal talent.

Should he continue on his current trajectory, there’s no reason why he can’t help the side achieve new heights in the years ahead under Amorim’s guidance.

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