Northamptonshire have also signed New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Robinson for two Championship matches and four Blast fixtures
ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2025Corey Rocchiccioli, the Western Australia offspinner, has signed a short-term deal to play for Warwickshire in the County Championship. Rocchiccioli will be available for four Championship games over the next six weeks and said he “jumped at the chance” to play overseas during the Australian winter.Rocchiccioli, 27, has thrived in red-ball cricket over the last two years: since the start of the 2023-24 season, he has taken 84 wickets at 27.65 in the Sheffield Shield, second only to South Australia’s Nathan McAndrew. He joins Warwickshire for the Championship rounds this year that will feature the Kookaburra ball, rather than the Dukes.”We are very excited about welcoming Corey into our squad through June and July,” Ian Westwood, Warwickshire’s head coach, said. “He is a proven performer in Sheffield Shield cricket, and with his experience of the Kookaburra ball, we know he will make an impact for us.”Rocchiccioli said: “I’m really excited to play at a prestigious club like Warwickshire. I jumped at the chance to play when Westy and Davo [captain Alex Davies] rang me. I’m really excited to learn and grow in English conditions and hopefully contribute to some strong wins along the way.”Australia’s selectors have signalled their interest in Rocchiccioli, picking him for Australia A teams to face India A and the England Lions last summer. He is one of several potential successors to Nathan Lyon, along with Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy, who has agreed a deal with Gloucestershire for the same block of Championship fixtures.Elsewhere, Northamptonshire signed Tim Robinson, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter, on a short-term deal. Robinson, 23, will be available for two Championship matches and four Blast fixtures and replaces Matthew Breetzke after his selection for South Africa’s Test squad to face Zimbabwe.
Liverpool are not believed to be considering sacking head coach Arne Slot, despite the club's dreadful run of form which has seen the Reds lose six games in seven and crash out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. Slot's side have not performed anywhere close to expectations in recent weeks but the Premier League winner is believed to have a lot of credit in the bank, with his job not at threat.
Slot not believed to be close to sack despite worrying results
Liverpool’s form has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent weeks with six defeats in seven matches, four in a row in the Premier League, following a summer of heavy investment. Such circumstances are expected to be part of the club’s thinking in giving him more time, believes BBC Sport’s Chief Football Writer Phil McNulty, who says there is “not a chance” Slot’s job comes under threat in the near future.
This is despite mounting criticism from fans and the media, including for his team selection as the Reds lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.
Fabrizio Romano also revealed on his YouTube channel that Liverpool’s hierarchy have “full trust” in Slot and believe that he will turn things around quickly.
Such patience should come as no surprise for a man who won the Premier League title in his first season in England, but no manager is exempt from speculation – something Slot is experiencing for the first time in his Liverpool career.
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Liverpool retain faith in Slot's ability to turn things around
Romano said: “Liverpool absolutely internally… and when I say internally, it’s the hierarchy, the ownership, all the people at the club, really, really trust Arne Slot. They are 100 percent convinced that Arne Slot is the best manager to handle this situation.
“Obviously, it’s been a poor start to the season, but Liverpool are convinced everything will be okay, that it’s going to take some time to assess the squad with the new signings, to change something, to be back to the attitude from last season.
“But Liverpool have full trust in Slot. There is very good communication on a daily basis between the directors, all the people at the club in the management, and Arne Slot.”
'Liverpool not the sort of club to panic' – McNulty
“Slot is under the same pressure as every Liverpool manager – and that is the pressure to win games. Pressure for his job? Not a chance," said McNulty on his BBC Sport Q&A.
“Slot won the title in his first season after succeeding Jurgen Klopp, and while he needs wins as quickly as possible, Liverpool is not the sort of club to panic, even if the next sequence of results go badly.
“I would agree, however, that they need to show signs of becoming more resilient and balanced, because I think they are a dysfunctional, soft touch at the moment. And, Hugo Ekitike apart, their big signings have not yet delivered.
“Slot however still has plenty of credit in the bank and Liverpool is a calm club internally, not given to hasty, panicky decisions, certainly not when it involves a manager who won the Premier League last season.
“Of course, Slot would be under heavy scrutiny if the current dreadful run continues until Christmas, as any manager of a club of Liverpool's stature would be. He would be under pressure – but not, in my opinion, for his job.
“Liverpool's owners are measured. They saw Slot win the title in his first season and I am sure there will be an acceptance and understanding that there has also been a lot of change in the summer.
“What he needs now is for established stars and new acquisitions to simply play better. He also needs to find his best team as I am not sure he actually knows.”
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Tough challenges lie on the horizon for Slot and Liverpool
The prospect of Slot being sacked this season still appears a rather far-fetched reality, as does the idea of the Reds losing every game between now and Christmas – though it is likely that one cannot exist without the other.
After three Premier League away games in four – most recently a 3-2 defeat to Brentford which Slot described as his side's "worst performance" of the season – home matches against Aston Villa and Real Madrid lie in wait before a trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City.
Slot will know that positive results in matches of that magnitude could see things turn back around just as quickly as they went downhill. But there remain several issues he must resolve within this squad, which will likely prove the biggest challenge of his managerial career thus far.
تحدث النجم البرتغالي كريستيانو رونالدو، قائد منتخب البرتغال والنصر السعودي عن ديوجو جوتا وسبب عدم حضوره الجنازة.
وتلقى الوسط الرياضي نبأً مفزعًا منذ أشهر قليلة بوفاة ديوجو جوتا، لاعب ليفربول إثر حادث سير رفقة شقيقه.
وظهر كريستيانو في الجزء الثاني من حواره مع الإعلامي البريطاني بيرس مورجان، ونقلت صحيفة ريكورد البرتغالية الحوار كاملًا.
وعن ديوجو جوتا، قال رونالدو: “كنت مع جيو خلال فترة التوقف الدولي، كنا في صالة الألعاب الرياضية، لم أصدق ما حدث، لقد بكيت كثيرًا، كان الأمر صعبًا للغاية على عائلته وأصدقائه، كان الأمر مدمرًا بالنسبة لنا”.
اقرأ أيضًا | كريستيانو رونالدو يكشف عن النادي الأقرب إلى قلبه طوال مسيرته
وأكمل: “علينا الاستمتاع باللحظات الحالية وألا نبالغ في التخطيط للمستقبل، لا أضع خططًا طويلة المدى لأن كل شيء قابل للتغيير بين لحظة وأخرى، علينا أن نكون سعداء بوجودنا هنا في الحياة، لكن كانت لحظة صادمة، ديوجو كان واحدًا منا”.
وأضاف: “ديوجو كان رجلًا هادئًا ولاعبًا رائعًا، استمتعتُ بمشاركة لحظات رائعة معه، كان الأمر محزنًا، أتيحت لي الفرصة للتحدث مع عائلته وتقديم الدعم لهم، علينا أن نستمتع بالحياة مرة أخرى”.
وعن سبب عدم حضور الجنازة: “الناس ينتقدونني كثيرًا ولقد اعتدت على ذلك، لم أحضر أي جنازة بعد وفاة والدي، إذا حضرت الجنازة ستتجه كل الكاميرات نحوي وسيكون التركيز عليّ وأنا لا أحب هذا”.
واصل: “لا أرغب في إجراء المقابلات في مثل تلك اللحظة الحساسة، لذلك أشعر أن الحياة أحيانًا تشبه السيرك وأنا لم أكن أريد جزءً من هذا، لذلك اتخذت قراري بعدم الحضور”.
وأتم: “يمكن للناس أن تستمر في انتقاداتها لكنني أشعر بالرضا طوال حياتي خلال أي قرار أنفذه”.
Head coach Mahela Jayawardene pointed to the “blunders” on the field and lack of “execution” with the ball as the primary reasons for Mumbai Indians’ (MI) exit from what had been a “good campaign” in IPL 2025. On Sunday night, which spilled into Monday, MI lost in Qualifier 2 to Punjab Kings (PBKS) by five wickets to miss a shot at their record sixth IPL title.”It was a good campaign for us, the way we started and how we regrouped as a team and played some really, really good cricket,” Jayawardene said in the press conference after the game. “We had our opportunities getting to the playoffs, and we had a really good game first half and even today, I thought we played some good cricket except for Kings playing better cricket than us. Especially with the bat, they were solid, especially chasing 200. It’s not that easy, they executed that pretty well.”We made a few blunders obviously with those two catches but I think that’s how the game goes, we had those luck going our way in the previous games. It was a good game of cricket and we came short, I think that’s as simple as that.”Related
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After being asked to bat first, MI posted a competitive 203 for 6, but it wasn’t enough to contain a clinical chase led by PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 87. Jayawardene said that MI’s bowling approach was to take the pace off the ball and rely on yorkers – something they had done well throughout the season – but execution let them down at critical points.At the end of ten overs, PBKS needed 106 needed off 60 and MI were 61% on ESPNcricinfo’s win predictor. However, Iyer and Nehal Wadhera’s 84-run stand off just 47 balls took the game away from MI.”In phases, they batted well,” Jayawardene said. “We also came back and took the wickets and were in it, which is that middle phase, [but] we just couldn’t control that after the tenth over. Those four-five overs, we just couldn’t keep the pressure going, and that’s where especially Nehal and Shreyas, their partnership probably took the game away from us.2:30
Why didn’t Hardik and Santner complete their quota of overs?
“We also took some pace off, but like I said earlier, our execution wasn’t up to the mark, we have to take that [blame]. Even we bowled pretty good yorkers throughout the campaign and we just couldn’t get those yorkers going as well [today].”So it’s just execution and that can happen and they put us under pressure as well, so when they hit those vital blows in that middle phase, especially those sixes, that’s something that we need to stop in this kind of situation, but we just couldn’t do that.”What could MI have done differently? According to Varun Aaron, smarter use of the pitch and the ground dimensions might have helped MI regain control in the middle overs.”Definitely not bowl the length they bowled tonight,” he said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show. “They bowled too full. I definitely think they could have gone short and slow on this wicket, which [could have] got him [Iyer] out, especially with the boundaries being longer on one side. They just bowled too full.”
O Palmeiras saiu da Bombonera com 0 a 0 no placar diante do Boca Juniors e com plenas condições de definir a vaga para a final da Libertadores jogando no Allianz Parque. No entanto, Abel Ferreira vai deixar o estádio com uma preocupação, já que Zé Rafael saiu de campo sentindo um problema, que não foi revelado pelo treinador.
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+ Veja tabela da Libertadores-2023 clicando aqui
Enquanto respondia sobre a utilização de muitos jovens no jogo desta quinta-feira (28), Abel indicou que Fabinho deve ser o escolhido para enfrentar o Bragantino, no domingo (1), pelo Brasileirão. Isso porque Zé não teria condições para atuar.
+ Garanta a sua vaga no curso que formou craques como Pet, Dante e Léo Moura! Cupom: LANCE1000
– São os jogadores que nós temos (os jovens), eles têm muito potencial, mas alguns tem 17 anos, como Endrick e Luis Guilherme. E o Fabinho, que vai jogar contra o Bragantino, já que o Zé (Rafael) saiu com um problema. É na base que apostamos.
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Zé Rafael foi substituído aos 41 minutos do segundo tempo, já no final da partida. Pelas imagens da transmissão, não foi possível perceber qual seria o incômodo do volante.
+ Abel Ferreira se irrita com perguntas sobre opções ofensivas no Palmeiras e ironiza: ‘Quem sabe Dudu jogue’
A delegação do Verdão retorna para São Paulo ainda nesta madrugada, deve dormir no CT e trabalhar pela manhã, quando o meio-campista deve ser avaliado de forma mais profunda pelo departamento médico.
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O Palmeiras enfrenta o Bragantino, neste domingo (1). às 18h30, fora de casa, pela 25ª rodada do Brasileirão. Já a volta contra o Boca Juniors será nesta quinta-feira (5), no Allianz Parque, às 21h30 (de Brasília).
Already thinking about 2026 targets after a chaotic summer window, Newcastle United and PIF are now reportedly eyeing a move to sign a midfield star for Eddie Howe.
Newcastle's early 2026 targets
Now that they’ve solved their striker problem with the addition of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, Newcastle have the chance to focus on other areas of their side in 2026.
The Magpies have already felt the full effect of balancing Champions League football with domestic action, having drawn at Bournemouth just days after defeat against Barcelona, and Howe has already reiterated that the depth of his squad will play a key part throughout the campaign.
The Newcastle boss also believes that he has a “strong squad” at his disposal this time around compared to the last time that Newcastle played Champions League football. But, on paper, it’s clear that the Magpies could still do with strengthening when 2026 arrives.
On that front, adding to their midfield seems to be one of a number of targets. Whilst Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton provide an impressive foundation, there is a drop in quality beyond them that the likes of Conor Gallagher would solve.
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This Eddie Howe signing has been one of the best buys in many years at Newcastle.
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The Magpies are reportedly keeping tabs on the Atletico Madrid midfielder ahead of a potential move. But he’s not the only former Premier League star on their radar. Reports are now suggesting that PIF could swoop in for a player that they already know well.
Newcastle eyeing Ruben Neves swoop
According to The Boot Room’s Graeme Bailey, Newcastle are now eyeing a move to sign Ruben Neves, who is keen to leave Al-Hilal amid “unfinished” business in the Premier League.
Of course, PIF already know all about the former Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder, having welcomed him to the Saudi Pro League in 2023. Now, almost three years on, they could swoop in and welcome him back to English football. It almost goes without saying that Newcastle won’t be the only side interested, however.
Bailey told TBR: “I am told that Neves thinks there is ‘unfinished’ business in England – he had a wonderful time at Molineux and he is still highly respected.
“But it is not a given that he moves back to England. A return to Portugal would be considered whilst there is strong interest in Spain and Italy too – he is not going to be short of options.”
Dubbed “incredible” by former Wolves teammate Conor Coady, Neves is still a player capable of making an impressive impact at a Champions League club in the prime of his career. For the right price, Newcastle should go all in on the Portugal international.
Curtis Jones says Liverpool have to keep calm and carry on as Arne Slot’s side look to recover from back-to-back defeats in Saturday’s “huge game” at Chelsea.
The Premier League champions had made a storming start to the season, having won seven straight matches following their penalty shoot-out loss to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.
But things have gone awry in recent days for the Reds, whose 100 per cent start to their title defence ended with Saturday’s last-gasp 2-1 loss away to Oliver Glasner’s Eagles.
That Selhurst Park setback was compounded on an ear-splitting evening in Istanbul as Liverpool’s first Champions League trip of the season ended in a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray.
Skipper Virgil van Dijk said “there shouldn’t be panic” after their second straight loss but stressed the need for improvement – sentiments echoed by midfielder Jones.
“It’s just part of the game,” the homegrown star said. “I say it all the time, you must be mad if you think you can win every game.
“You’d obviously like to, but the reality is these teams you play are world-class teams and it’s normal if you lose. It’s just how you bounce back.
“We’ve got a huge game again in three days, the lads have to stay calm.
“It’s part of it, it’s not fine that we lose but we just have to stay calm and it will all change. It will all change, of course it will.”
Victor Osimhen’s first-half spot-kick proved the difference against the sloppy Reds, who looked overawed at times on a hostile evening at rocking Rams Park.
The VAR’s intervention ended up with a late penalty won by Ibrahima Konate being overturned but even if Liverpool had converted it would not have papered over a poor performance.
Jones taking "positives" ahead of Chelsea clash
“If you look left and right, there’s world-class lads all around,” Jones told LFCTV. “But it’s not all about that, it’s about lads who want to go and win.
“It’s OK if you’re nice on the ball and stuff like that but you have to go and win, work hard and run more and that is what the lads know, of course they do.
“But as I have said already, there are games like this, and it won’t be the last as well.
“We would be mad to think we can turn up and just win these games. It’s about how much we want to win.
“Of course we’re upset, but there are positives to take and there is a game again in three days and we have to go again.”
Carragher reveals £200k-a-week Liverpool star must be dropped "right now"
He had another evening to forget.
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Tom Cunningham
Oct 1, 2025
Slot’s side stayed in Istanbul following Tuesday’s game, with Liverpool’s starters doing recovery work and the rest of the group training before flying back to Merseyside on Wednesday afternoon.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker is being assessed after being forced off with an injury that Slot says will rule the Brazil international out of Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge.
Lively forward Hugo Ekitike is also being assessed after limping off later in the second half.
Leeds United bolstered their options in the centre-forward position in the summer transfer window by swooping to sign Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer.
The former England international was available after his Everton contract ran out at the end of June, and the Whites moved to add some Premier League experience to their squad.
Calvert-Lewin scored three goals and missed 16 ‘big chances’ in the top-flight for the Toffees in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore, which means that he was a risky signing for Leeds after such a dismal year in front of goal.
So far, the English striker has scored one goal and missed four ‘big chances’ in five appearances in the Premier League for the Whites this term, which suggests that he is on course for similar struggles in the final third.
Daniel Farke will be hoping that the experienced number nine can turn his form around and start to finish the high-quality chances that will come his way.
Leeds may need a reliable and consistent Premier League striker to fire them to safety this season, which is why it remains a source of regret that the club were unable to sign Erling Haaland many years ago.
The story of how Leeds United almost signed Erling Haaland
When the Norway international, who is now a superstar at Manchester City, was 17 years old and playing for Moldes, Leeds came incredibly close to bringing him to Elland Road.
Agent Hayden Evans once revealed that he offered Haaland to Victor Orta, the sporting director of the Whites at the time, and brought the young striker and his family over to Thorp Arch.
He added: “They were in the middle of a first-team session and [Thomas] Christiansen at the time stopped the session and came over to Erling, hugged him and talked about football – that went really well – and Christiansen was impressive, frankly.”
Evans also revealed that Orta had a Leeds shirt with Haaland’s name on the back, and that the teenage forward was keen to make the move because he was a Leeds supporter at the time, having been born in the city.
However, the agent claimed that the deal broke down because Molde wanted £4m for the Norwegian talent and the Whites were unable to commit to that amount of money in the Championship, whilst Orta’s idea for Juventus to sign and then loan him to West Yorkshire did not go through either.
Since then, Haaland has scored 94 goals in 104 Premier League matches and 52 goals in 50 appearances in the Champions League in his career, per Transfermarkt, to become one of the best attackers in world football.
What Leeds would give to have a player of his quality in their bid to avoid relegation from the top-flight this season. Although, if they had signed him at the age of 17 and he progressed as he did with Molde, RB Salzburg, and Borussia Dortmund, the Whites may not have had him on their books for long.
The West Yorkshire outfit, however, produced an incredibly valuable young talent who was then compared to the brutish centre-forward from their academy in Archie Gray.
Leeds hit the jackpot with Archie Gray
Leeds hit the jackpot with the English youngster after he rose through the ranks at Thorp Arch before emerging as a key player under Farke in the 2023/24 campaign.
The Whites did not have to deal with a selling club wanting millions of pounds for Gray, as Molde did with Haaland, because he spent his entire academy career with the club, which meant that the versatile star did not cost them a penny.
He made 11 appearances for the U18s and 26 appearances for the U21s before Farke decided to make him a permanent member of the first-team squad at the age of 17, the same age that Haaland was when he came close to a move to West Yorkshire.
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Along with making a breakthrough in first-team football at a similar age, the English starlet was also compared to the Manchester City star by journalist Phil Hay.
Ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, the reporter said: “Archie Gray, he just seems to come from the genetically modified school of Erling Haaland. Every time you see him he gets taller and bigger. He looks like he’s about 25 when he’s actually 17. He’s just physically amazing and also technically very good.”
Farke clearly saw the same things that Hay saw from the teenage prospect, because the 2023/24 campaign was Gray’s breakthrough season in the first-team.
The 17-year-old wonderkid started 40 of his 44 appearances in the Championship that term, whilst he has also started all three of the club’s play-off games, including the final against Southampton at Wembley.
23/24 Championship
Archie Gray
Appearances
44
Starts
40
Assists
2
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.8
Ball recoveries per game
4.5
Duel success rate
55%
Dribble success rate
57%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Gray held his own from a physical perspective, winning 55% of his duels, which backs up Hay’s comments about his physique.
The Whites hit the jackpot with the England U21 international, who came through their academy system, because Farke was willing to put his faith in the youngster to start week-in-week-out at right-back as a 17 and 18-year-old.
As a result of the platform that the manager provided him with, Gray’s performances in the Championship at such a young age led to him sealing a big-money move away from Elland Road in the summer of 2024.
Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur swooped in to sign the English youngster for a fee of £30m, which meant that Leeds made a £30m profit on a player they did not have to pay a fee to sign at academy level.
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This Leeds United star has made an effortless transition to the Premier League in the same way that Kalvin Phillips did.
ByDan Emery Oct 7, 2025
Therefore, the Whites struck gold with Gray because they developed a £30m talent from their academy system in an era where homegrown players can sometimes have their pathways blocked by expensive signings from other clubs.
Harvey Elliott moved to Aston Villa from Liverpool on loan with an obligation to buy on deadline day. Elliott, who excelled for the England at the U21 Euros, was forced down the Reds pecking order following their high profile signing of Florian Wirtz. However, things haven't quite gone according to plan for the 22-year-old at Villa Park following his move to the Midlands.
Getty Images SportElliott can't play parent club this weekend
Elliott is unable to face his parent club this weekend when Villa make the trip to Liverpool owing to stipulations in the deal that saw the midfielder move to the Villans over the summer. Even so, the 22-year-old was unlikely to have played a part for Unai Emery's side having struggled for game time since his deadline day move.
Elliott has started just one league match for Villa this season, that coming in a 3-1 home win over Fulham last month, while he has registered just 97 minutes of game time for Emery's team. Even then, the youngster was hauled off at the break against the Whites, with his only other start coming in the EFL Cup penalty shootout defeat to Brentford.
Villa have an obligation to make Elliott's loan move permanent for £35m over the summer but even then that only becomes active once the midfielder plays a certain number of games. It means that Elliott can, in theory, return to Liverpool should he fail to make the requisite number of appearances.
AdvertisementMidfielder didn't even make City squad
Emery made the decision to leave Elliott out of the Villa matchday squad for their recent 1-0 win over Manchester City to add weight to the suggestion that the Spaniard isn't quite sold on the on-loan Englishman. Matty Cash scored the winning goal in the narrow victory over Pep Guardiola's side, a result that means Villa have won six of their last seven matches in all competitions.
It would take an almighty turnaround for Elliott to work his way into Emery's plans, which is a blow for the Liverpool man. Indeed, Elliott had hoped for regular minutes at Villa Park as he looks to force his way into Thomas Tuchel's England plans with the 2026 World Cup looming.
Should Villa make the move permanent, Liverpool also retain a buyback clause and a sell-on clause.
Getty Images Sport'I am being very, very demanding myself'
Emery has previously addressed Elliott's lack of game time, suggesting he has been far from impressed with the loan star when called upon. "I am being very, very demanding myself to choose in each match the player to start and the players on the bench and the subs players, and firstly is always trying to get the best performance collectively, through individual players," Emery said.
"Harvey is a 10 number in our structure, in our shape, and he plays some matches and there is still adaptation to add himself individually in our structure, the task we have. Of course, he is training well, and his commitment is being very well as well, but his performance was not enough (up to this point). At the same time, we have other players who can play as a 10 and they are performing well, and I have different players.
"This is the main reason he is not playing the last matches minutes, but he has to continue working like he is doing in the training session and of course getting his confidence in the performance we need through him."
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Villa seeking first Anfield win in over 10 years
The only blip on Villa's recent record book came in a 2-1 loss at Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League last week. In that time, the Villans have claimed impressive wins over Tottenham and Manchester City, and have beaten both Bologna and Feyenoord in European competition.
Villa follow up their trip to Liverpool with a home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League, and then welcome Bournemouth in the Premier League before the international break.
Emery will hope to mastermind a first Villa win at Liverpool since Gabby Agbonlahor bagged the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory back in 2014.
Monday brings a shorter slate in Major League Baseball with just nine games, but that’s not going to stop yours truly from finding some player props to consider.
One of the props I’m looking at is something that I’ve bet and written about often in this column – San Francisco Giants starter Jordan Hicks’ outs recorded prop.
Usually, I focus strictly on pitcher props, but there is a hitter that I believe has a favorable matchup as well on Monday.
Let’s kick the week off with some winners!
Best MLB Prop Bets for Monday, June 17Jordan Hicks UNDER 15.5 Outs Recorded (-155)Sonny Gray UNDER 4.5 Hits Allowed (-105)Marcus Semien OVER 1.5 Total Bases (+110)
Jordan Hicks UNDER 15.5 Outs Recorded (-155)
Jordan Hicks has not pitched poorly in the 2024 season – his first as a true starter – postinga 4-3 record and 3.01 ERA in 14 outings.
However, since the start of May, Hicks has pitched five innings or less in seven of eight starts, only throwing 5.1 innings in the one start where he cleared this prop.
The righty has only thrown over 100 pitches one time all season (the game he pitched 5.1 against the New York Yankees), and the Giants have seen him fail to get through five innings in each of his last two starts.
Overall, the UNDER has hit on this number in 10 of Hicks’ 14 starts, and I’m not going to shy away from betting that again on the road against the Chicago Cubs.
Hicks has also struggled a bit over his last three starts, giving up 18 hits and 10 runs in 13.2 innings (5.93 ERA) in those games.
Sonny Gray UNDER 4.5 Hits Allowed (-105)
St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray has a 3.01 ERA and 2.55 Fielding Independent Pitching coming into Monday’s start against the Miami Marlins and their struggling offense.
The Marlins rank dead last on Major League Baseball in OPS this season, and they’re just 25th in batting average and 22nd in hits recorded.
That sets up Gray in a good spot, as he’s allowed four or fewer hits in four of his last five starts, posting a .153 opponent batting average against across that stretch.
Overall, Gray has a 1.03 WHIP, and he’s not exactly going to throw deep into this game, as the Cardinals have kept him under 90 pitches in seven consecutive starts. I think that bodes well for his chances against a weak offense tonight.
Marcus Semien OVER 1.5 Total Bases (+110)
Texas Rangers infielder Marcus Semien has dominated left-handed pitching this season, slashing .341/.398/.577 with four homers in 85 at bats.
Now, he gets a shot at New York Mets lefty David Peterson, who comes into Monday’s start with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in three starts.
Peterson has allowed at least five hits in each of his outings, which is a great sign for Semien and the Rangers’ offense.
While the former All-Star hasn’t been automatic when it comes to clearing this prop, he did have a three-hit game on Saturday. In a favorable matchup, I don’t mind taking him at plus money to pick up two more total bases.