The past two summers have been frustrating for Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Old Gold have lost several important players, and whilst they have gained a significant sum of money for each of those departed stars, it has certainly had a negative impact on the Midlands club.

In the summer of 2023, Wolves lost Ruben Neves to Saudi Arabia and Matheus Nunes who joined Manchester City. More recently, in the 2024 summer window, Pedro Neto joined Chelsea and, significantly, Max Kiliman left for West Ham United.

It was the latter departure, for £40m, which has had a big impact on Gary O’Neil’s side this term. Without Kilman at the heart of their defence, the Molineux outfit have been defensively shambolic.

Wolves’ defensive stats 2024/25

It has been a very disappointing campaign so far for the Old Gold, but they have been especially underwhelming at the back. Of course, that is partly due to Kilman’s departure. Not only was he club captain, but an ever-present last term as they kept five Premier League clean sheets.

This term, however, the Old Gold find themselves sitting at rock bottom of the table, conceding the most goals in the English top flight, with 21. In fact, Carlisle United, who are bottom of League Two, are the only side in the 92 who have conceded more goals, letting 23 in so far.

Concerningly for O’Neil, his side are not actually bottom when it comes to expected goals against in the Premier League this term, as per Understat. There are actually three sides ahead of them in that respect; based on the metric, Wolves have just 15.18xGA this term.

They have been equally poor when it comes to their defensive record both at Molineux, and away from home too. They have already conceded ten goals at home this term, and are a third of the way to last season’s tally of 30 already. That included a 6-2 home defeat to Chelsea. It has been a disastrous start.

It has been a desperately disappointing campaign for O’Neil’s team, affected by the loss of Kilman. Whilst they may go searching for a solution to their defensive woes this January, their answer could already lie at the club, in the form of a currently on-loan academy defender.

The Wolves star who could replace Kilman

The man in question here is exciting young defender Nigel Lonwijk. The 21-year-old hails from the Netherlands and has had first-team experience in his native country and in the football league.

Specifically, the youngster has had spells at Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle and is currently on loan at Huddersfield Town.

This term, the young Dutch defender has started six out of seven League 1 games for the Terriers, playing 90 minutes in all but one of those, on his debut against Rotherham United. He has also featured in both EFL trophy games, starting and playing 90 minutes. He has been a crucial player for the Yorkshire outfit so far.

A tall defender who stands at 6 foot 3, he was given a glowing review by former Plymouth manager Steven Schumacher. He called the youngster a “real quality player”, claiming that he has a “bright future” in the game.

In the 2024/25 season so far, the centre-back has been impressive for Huddersfield, with the Terriers currently sitting in ninth in the table.

His Sofascore stats show just how well he has performed, averaging 4.3 ball recoveries per game and winning 71% of his duels.

Stat (per game)

Number

Touches

73.8

Pass accuracy

80%

Tackles + interceptions

4

Ball recoveries

4.3

Clearances

2.3

Duels won

6.5

Duel win rate

71%

It would certainly be a bold call for O’Neil to recall the youngster this winter. However, given his obvious talent and the fact he has experienced the rough and tumble of the football league, it could be a risk worth taking at the Old Gold look to have an uphill battle for Premier League survival.

Perhaps the Midlands side could have the perfect Kilman replacement already on their books.

Wolves could have their new Pedro Neto in "fantastic" Molineux star

O’Neil must replace Neto by unleashing Wolves’ “fantastic” ace.

ByConnor Holden Oct 4, 2024

New Zealand head to Derby with confidence after 30 wickets in series

Valkerie Baynes22-Sep-2021England are searching for a quick turn-around in batting performance when they aim to seal their ODI series with New Zealand in the penultimate match on Thursday.For the third game in a row, England were bowled out inside their 50 overs as New Zealand chased down a modest target of 179 to win the third game in Leicester by three wickets, and keep the series alive at 2-1 to England with fixtures in Derby and Canterbury remaining.In the first ODI in Bristol, only four England batters reached double figures, including Player of the Match Heather Knight with 89 and Katherine Brunt’s crucial 43 from No. 7.At Worcester, it was Danni Wyatt, moving down the order to replace the resting Brunt, who rescued the match with an unbeaten 63 and a 51-run partnership with No. 11 Tash Farrant, who scored 22.The hosts’ ability to push their innings to a 49th over in Leicester relied heavily on Brunt again, who ended up stranded on 49 not out after a key partnership worth 53 with No. 10 Kate Cross, who scored a career-best 29 off 40.”It wasn’t a game we deserved to win, to be honest,” Knight said. “Just short with the bat again. We showed real fight again, which is a great quality to have, fight with the bat to get us up to something that we could try and defend and then fight with the ball to take it that deep.”As a top-order we were pretty disappointed in that dressing room not being able to put together a total. But we know the talent we’ve got in that batting line-up. We’re going to have to find a way to turn it around quickly.”Knight’s innings in Bristol aside, the top order have struggled to convert starts in this ODI series while middle-order batters Nat Sciver, who was rested in Leicester, Amy Jones and Sophia Dunkley haven’t fired.That the likes of Cross and Farrant have made valuable contributions is encouraging for England but it is concerning that they’ve had to.Related

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“They’ve been desperate to work really hard on their batting,” Knight said, “always bugging [head coach] Lisa [Keightley] to get more time batting in the nets.”I’m really pleased for them. Obviously as a batting group we don’t want to put them in that position too often, we want to score the majority of the runs.”But they’ve handled the last two games, the situations they’ve been in, really well and shown they can contribute to the batting totals and show a bit of fight and a bit of ticker as well, which is really pleasing.”Brunt’s efforts with the bat have supplemented her efforts leading the England attack. In Bristol, she was pivotal in stamping out the White Ferns’ run-chase before it got going by opening with four maidens on the trot, and in Leicester her 4 for 22 off 10 overs put the nerves into New Zealand and made them work hard for victory.That they got there, came down to Maddy Green’s patient 70 not out, her second-highest score in 40 ODIs. Lea Tahuhu – who had taken a career-best 5 for 37 to keep a lid on the target – hit the winning runs with a six in a bright cameo of 19 off 15 balls.”Our bowlers have been going exceptionally well and bowling a side out three times in a row is no mean feat so we’ve talked about, as a batting unit, someone taking the initiative in the top order and putting partnerships together,” Green said.”We’ve made some really good strides over this winter, we’ve been working really hard and it’s nice to see it come off with a win. But in saying that, it’s still 2-1 down, all to play for on Thursday and in the final game hopefully.”The match went ahead after a security scare involving a threat relating to New Zealand Cricket the previous day.”Everyone was pretty calm,” Green said. “We were just waiting around for the experts to make their assessments and that’s what they’re there to do.”We’re really confident in the security team that the ECB have around us and New Zealand Cricket, and we’re all happy and comfortable to keep moving forward and we’re grateful for everyone running around us and supporting us.”Knight said her side delayed their departure for Leicester following the Worcester game while the threat was investigated but said the disruption was minimal. “It was just a case of an email had been sent that had to be looked into properly and I think it’s reassuring that was the case,” Knight said.

أعلن نادي برشلونة الإسباني تشكيل الفريق لمباراته أمام بنفيكا البرتغالي في منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا 2024-2025.

ويحل برشلونة ضيفًا على بنفيكا بملعب “النور” ضمن مباريات ذهاب دور الـ 16 لدوري أبطال أوروبا.

وتأهل برشلونة مباشرة إلى دور الـ16 من دوري أبطال أوروبا، من مرحلة الدوري، بعدما احتل المركز الثاني.

اقرأ أيضًا | قبل مواجهة بنفيكا.. برشلونة يسعى لفك عقدة دامت 9 سنوات في دوري أبطال أوروبا

أما بنفيكا خاض مرحلة الملحق المؤهل لدور الـ16، حيث تأهل على حساب موناكو الفرنسي. تشكيل برشلونة اليوم أمام بنفيكا

حراسة المرمى: تشيزني.

خط الدفاع: كوندي، كوبارسي، إينيجو مارتينيز، بالدي.

خط الوسط: بيدري، فرينكي دي يونج، داني أولمو.

خط الهجوم: لامين يامال، روبرت ليفاندوفسكي، رافينها.

البدلاء: بينيا، كوشيين، أروخو، فيران توريس، أنسو فاتي، توري، فيرمين لوبيز، كاسادو، باو فيكتور، إريك جارسيا، فورت، جيرارد مارتن.

How much does every Eagles player earn annually and who receives the most into their account?

Life at Selhurst Park had been challenging for Crystal Palace and their supporters at the start of the season, with disappointing form and the departure of their standout player from the previous campaign, Michael Olise, to Bayern Munich.

However, a resurgence saw the Eagles gradually climb back up the Premier League table. While the club appears to be relatively safe from relegation, poor management and suboptimal transfer strategies have left them stuck in the bottom half of the table, despite being a consistent fixture in the Premier League.

On the other hand, they have players like Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze, and Marc Guehi, who are prominent Premier League players in their respective positions. They could yet finish in the top half of the table come the end of May.

So, who is the highest earner at Crystal Palace this season? And who is on the opposite end of the spectrum?

GOAL delved into the numbers from Capology and found out!

*

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Goalkeepers

  Former Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson is currently Crystal Palace's highest-paid player and one of the top earners at the club overall, and rightfully so, given his outstanding performances since joining in 2023.

  30-year-old Matt Turner, who arrived on loan from Nottingham Forest for the 2024/25 season, is the second-highest earning goalkeeper at the club. However, he has yet to make an appearance for the Eagles this season.

  Remi Matthews is the lowest-paid goalkeeper at Palace.

  Name	Salary
  Dean Henderson	£5,200,000
  Matt Turner	£2,080,000
  Remi Matthews	£390,000

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Defenders

  United States international Chris Richards is currently the highest-earning defender at Crystal Palace, despite being just 24 years old. This might come as a surprise to many Palace fans given that Marc Guehi has been their biggest name in defence.

  The England international is the joint-second highest-paid defender at Selhurst Park along with new signing Maxence Lacroix and Nathaniel Clyne.

  Rob Holding and Daniel Munoz jointly share the fifth spot, with Tyrick Mitchell coming in at the seventh position.

  Joel Ward and Chadi Raid are the lowest-paid defenders, although they are not too far behind from the rest of the pack in terms of wages.

  Name	Salary
  Chris Richards	£2,860,000
  Marc Guehi	£2,600,000
  Maxence Lacroix	£2,600,000
  Nathaniel Clyne	£2,600,000
  Rob Holding	£2,340,000
  Daniel Munoz	£2,340,000
  Tyrick Mitchell	£2,080,000
  Joel Ward	£1,820,000
  Chadi Raid	£1,560,000

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Midfielders

  Japanese attacking midfielder Daichi Kamada is the highest-earning midfielder at Crystal Palace. If you look at his CV, one can argue that he deserves to be on such high wages, but his performances for the club this season may not warrant such high figures.

  Jefferson Lerma and Cheick Doucoure are the joint-second highest-paid midfielders, earning over £3m annually.

  Interestingly, young sensation Adam Wharton is the lowest-paid midfielder at Palace, which might not go down well with the majority of the club's supporters.

  Name	Salary
  Daichi Kamada	£5,460,000
  Jefferson Lerma	£3,640,000
  Cheick Doucoure	£3,640,000
  Jeffrey Schlupp	£3,120,000
  Will Hughes	£2,600,000
  Matheus Franca	£2,080,000
  Adam Wharton	£1,820,000

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Attackers

  No surprise in attack as Eberechi Eze is the outright top-earning forward at Crystal Palace and overall among the leading earners at the club with an annual package worth £5.2m.

  Following Eze in the list is former Arsenal winger Eddie Nketiah, who hasn't been impactful this season.

  Speaking of impact, it's a bit perplexing to see top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta on the fourth spot in this list, with the third spot being taken by Senegal international Ismalia Sarr.

  Luke Plange, who joined Palace in 2022, is yet to make an official appearance for the club and is rightfully the lowest-paid forward.

  Name	Salary
  Eberechi Eze	£5,200,000
  Eddie Nketiah	£4,680,000
  Ismalia Sarr	£3,640,000
  Jean-Philippe Mateta	£2,600,000
  Luke Plange	£364,000

Arne Slot’s Liverpool put on a show against West Ham, scoring five goals and beating the Hammers 5-1 at Anfield. Slot’s side created six big chances, kept 61% possession, and took a total of 21 shots in the game.

Liverpool went 1-0 down in the first half, with Jarrel Quansah putting one in his own net, before Diogo Jota levelled it up in the 25th minute, to go in 1-1 at the break.

But the Reds came bundling out the gates in the second half, scoring four goals, Jota grabbing one more, and Mohamed Salah scoring the third, before Cody Gakpo grabbed a late brace to make it 5-1.

Cody Gakpo's performance in numbers

Gakpo put in a man of the match display in Liverpool’s 5-1 win over the Hammers, scoring two goals, providing three key passes, and completing two out of two successful dribbles.

The Dutch forward started in his favoured left-wing position, having been used in a multitude of positions since joining the Reds, including upfront.

The 25-year-old was electric throughout the clash, earning an 8/10 match rating from GOAL’s Mark Doyle who described it as a ‘menacing’ display. Jamie Carragher was another to hail his performance, commentating on Sky Sports the former defender stated: “He’s done really well. This is Liverpool’s back-up left winger, it just shows you the quality they have in reserve.”

In the process, he managed six shots in the game, four on target, one off target, and one being blocked, whilst he also completed three out of three long balls, one out of three crosses, and made 94% of his passes during the game (30/32).

Playing from the left, it allows Gakpo to drift inside from wide areas, receiving the ball, combining with midfielders/the striker, and getting shots off on his deadly right foot, something he showed time and time again at Euro 2024, cutting in from the left for the Netherlands, when he scored three goals in his six games at the competition.

These two goals were the attacker’s first of the season for Slot’s side, having only played 100 minutes of Premier League football so far in five games, and this is largely down to the form of Luis Diaz.

However, Gakpo has made his case to start the next game, after his stellar performance against the Hammers.

Should Gakpo or Diaz start?

Diaz has had a great start to the new campaign, scoring five goals and providing one assist in his five Premier League appearances so far (361 minutes played).

Slot tends to start with Salah on the right wing, and has opted for Diogo Jota upfront over Darwin Nunez in recent weeks, leaving the left-wing spot for one of Diaz or Gakpo, and the Colombian has come out on top so far, becoming one of Slot’s main men early in the season.

Goals

0.28

1.19

Assists

0.28

0.24

xG

0.26

0.60

Progressive Carries

2.63

4.05

Progressive Passes

1.58

2.38

Total Shots

3.89

3.10

Key Passes

2.63

1.90

Shot-Creating Actions

4.74

5.71

The two players offer different traits from the left wing, with Diaz being more of a touchline winger, who works hard for the team on both ends of the ball, whilst creating for himself and his teammates. He has also added huge goal threat this season, scoring 1.19 goals per 90 minutes, making himself virtually undroppable at this stage.

However, Gakpo being a high-volume shooter, and a specialist cutting inside on his lethal right boot, can also add a huge attacking threat to this Liverpool side, and whilst he doesn’t add the same work rate out of possession as the South American, he does add a slightly more creative passing range, shown by his 0.28 assists and 2.63 key passes per 90.

Gakpo has made his case for the next Premier League game, and whilst it is likely Diaz will start, Slot definitely has a selection headache brewing, with both his left-wingers showing some fine form in recent games.

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ByAngus Sinclair Sep 25, 2024

Journalist Charles Watts has shared that an esteemed member of the Arsenal squad, who manager Mikel Arteta is “going to need”, could be sold by the Emirates Stadium hierarchy.

Players who could leave Arsenal in January or next summer

There are a few potential departees who face uncertain futures at N5 right now, perhaps most notably left-back Kieran Tierney, who hasn’t made a single appearance in all competitions since suffering a hamstring injury at Euro 2024.

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Tierney is out of Arteta’s plans at Arsenal, and sporting director Edu Gaspar could even green-light a January exit deal for the Scotsman. The writing appears on the wall for him, and this is something Tierney has come to terms with behind the scenes.

“Had that injury not happened, I’m sure Tierney would have been playing for another club right now,” said Watts via his Dailybriefing recently.

Arsenal’s next five Premier League games

Date

Bournemouth (away)

October 19

Liverpool (home)

October 27

Newcastle United (away)

November 2

Chelsea (away)

November 10

Nottingham Forest (home)

November 23

“That was certainly the plan anyway, following his loan spell with Real Sociedad last season. But the injury put an end to any chances of a move and the focus now is on the left-back getting himself back fully fit ahead of the January window. He’s not in Mikel Arteta’s plans anymore. That’s been clear for a long time and Tierney accepts that. There is no animosity there.”

The arrival of Riccardo Calafiori in the summer has cast doubt on the future of another left-back option in Arteta’s squad – Poland international Jakub Kiwior. The former Spezia starlet can play at both left centre-back and further wide, but so can Calafiori, and the latter has started this new Premier League campaign in impressive fashion.

Kiwior is expected to leave Arsenal in January after falling down the pecking order, with uncertainty also surrounding midfield duo Jorginho and Thomas Partey as their contracts expire next summer.

There has been talk of a potential contract extension for Partey, though, following his stellar form this season. The Ghanaian, who was forced to sit out the latest round of international matches through illness, has started all seven of their opening league matches and impressed as an anchor in Arteta’s midfield.

Arsenal could decide to sell Gabriel Jesus next summer

Kai Havertz’s excellent performances have resulted in £265,000-per-week striker Gabriel Jesus falling down Arteta’s priority choice list as well.

The Brazilian, despite possessing “world-class” ability, has been criticised for some of his performances this season, and is yet to get off the mark for Arsenal in all competitions, leading to reports claiming Jesus could be on the way out of Arsenal as Palmeiras eye up a move for the ex-Man City star.

Now, Watts has shared his own update, stating this could be Jesus’ final season at Arsenal and Edu could decide to sell next summer.

“Gabriel Jesus is clearly struggling for confidence right now,” said the reporter.

“You can see that by the way he’s playing. He’s thinking about things too much and taking too many touches when he’s in possession. When Jesus is at his best he does things off the cuff. He creates chaos with his movement and his work rate. But right now he’s bringing more confusion than chaos with his play. I think there’s certainly a chance this could be his final season at the club, but obviously that is a decision that will be taken in the summer should any suitable offers arrive.

“I do expect Arsenal to bring in a forward and that would limit Jesus’ chances further. He’s way behind Kai Havertz now in the pecking order and it’s tough to see him turning that round at present given the form of both players.

“But whatever happens he still has a big part to play this season.

“Arsenal are going to need Jesus, so it’s crucial they help him improve and find his confidence again because if they can do that then they have a player who has the quality to still have a major say on this campaign.”

Newcastle United suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season over the weekend as Fulham prevailed 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

The Cottagers were well worth their victory as Eddie Howe’s men delivered arguably their worst performance of the season, although it had been coming.

Several of the starting XI were disappointing during the defeat, most notably Anthony Gordon, who has been excellent in recent weeks.

Anthony Gordon’s game in numbers vs Fulham

The Englishman was deployed on the right wing with Harvey Barnes given a chance to shine on the opposite flank.

While the former Leicester City shone, scoring the club’s only goal, Gordon largely struggled to create any meaningful opportunities during the clash.

While he made two key passes and succeeded with two of his three dribble attempts, the winger struggled to make inroads into the Fulham defence, looking like a shadow of the player he has been in recent weeks. So poor was the England international that journalist Luke Edwards suggested it was “his worst performance for Newcastle.”

Four crosses were delivered into the opposition penalty area, yet only two were successful. Gordon even managed to lose possession a staggering 16 times while on the pitch, along with winning five of his 11 ground duels, showing that he was beaten more often than not in his one-on-one battles.

He was even given a match rating of just 5/10 by Newcastle World for his display, showcasing how poor he really was.

While the League Cup clash against AFC Wimbledon is postponed, Howe could certainly make a change to his starting XI for the league match against Manchester City, especially to freshen things up.

Might this see a summer signing given his first start for the club?

The best replacement for Gordon

William Osula is clearly ready to make an impression. The Dane was signed for a fee of £15m during the summer transfer window, joining from Sheffield United with hopes of becoming a first-team regular at St James’ Park.

Primarily a centre-forward, the youngster has operated on the wing numerous times throughout the embryonic stages of his career and this could see Howe make a few tactical tweaks to his team.

Last term, he made 24 appearances for the Blades, scoring three goals and his performances clearly caught the eye of Howe, who wasted no time in bringing him to the north-east.

Previously hailed as a “serious player”, Osula has all the required attributes to be a success at the Magpies, about that there is no doubt.

What he needs now is some minutes in the first team to demonstrate his abilities to the manager.

What better occasion than a match against the four-time reigning Premier League champions this weekend? It might be a big gamble, but considering how poorly they have played recently, it could be one which reinvigorates the team.

It would be a surprise to see the Toon claim anything against City, but stranger things have happened.

Newcastle wanted to sign future Ballon d'Or winner, they got Geremi instead

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1

By
Ross Kilvington

Sep 22, 2024

England’s scheduled tour of Pakistan for two T20Is in mid-October has been cancelled, the ECB have announced.England’s men and women were due to play T20I double-headers in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14, with the women’s team staying on for a subsequent three-match ODI series.But following New Zealand’s last-minute withdrawal from their tour of the country due to a security threat, the fixtures have been scrapped. The ECB use the same security consultants, ESI Security, as NZC and despite Wasim Khan, the PCB’s chief executive, insisting on Sunday that he expected the fixtures to go ahead as scheduled, they were immediately in doubt after New Zealand flew home.Related

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The ECB released a statement on Monday afternoon confirming that its board had “reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip”, citing “increasing concerns about travelling to the region” and the prospect of adding “further pressure to a playing group who have already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments”. Notably, the statement did not specifically mention security concerns.”The ECB has a longstanding commitment to tour Pakistan as part of the Men’s Future Tours Programme in 2022,” the statement said. “Earlier this year, we agreed to play two additional T20 World Cup warm-up games in Pakistan in October, adding a short women’s tour with double headers alongside the men’s games.”The ECB Board convened this weekend to discuss these extra England Women’s and Men’s games in Pakistan and we can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip.”The mental and physical well-being of our players and support staff remains our highest priority and this is even more critical given the times we are currently living in. We know there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region and believe that going ahead will add further pressure to a playing group who have already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments.”There is the added complexity for our Men’s T20 squad. We believe that touring under these conditions will not be ideal preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, where performing well remains a top priority for 2021.”We understand that this decision will be a significant disappointment to the PCB, who have worked tirelessly to host the return of international cricket in their country. Their support of English and Welsh cricket over the last two summers has been a huge demonstration of friendship. We are sincerely sorry for the impact this will have on cricket in Pakistan and emphasise an ongoing commitment to our main touring plans there for 2022.”Ramiz Raja, the newly-appointed PCB chair, accused the ECB of “failing a member of their cricket fraternity when it needed it most”.