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After confidently beating Manchester United 5-0 in their previous Premier League match followed by progressing through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Preston North End, Liverpool are back in action on Saturday with a league showdown against Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.

Speaking ahead of the match against Graham Potter’s side, who are currently fifth in the table with 15 points from their opening nine league games of the season, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revealed in his latest press conference that midfield duo Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara will miss the match. However, Naby Keita will be available to play despite being on the receiving end of a robust red-card tackle from Paul Pogba six days ago.

Taking this into account, here’s how we feel Liverpool will line up against Brighton, with just one member of the starting XI from Deepdale keeping his place in the side.

Despite making three saves and keeping a clean sheet in midweek against Preston, we think Klopp will take Adrian out of the team and put Alisson Becker back in after the Brazilian shut out Cristiano Ronaldo and co at Old Trafford.

In defence, we expect Klopp to reinstate the back four which started against United, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson occupying the full-back positions and Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in the middle after all four were rested in midweek.

For the midfield, with Jordan Henderson impressing against the Red Devils with an overall match rating of 8/10 according to SofaScore and Fabinho  unable to play, it’s hard to see the captain not being picked to start against Brighton.

Next to the 31-year-old, now that it has been confirmed that Keita is fit enough to play after being stretchered off as a result of a hefty challenge from Pogba last weekend, we feel that the Guinean should slot back into the side following his recent run of good form.

For the final midfield berth, with James Milner picking up a hamstring injury against the Red Devils, we think Klopp will turn to Curtis Jones to play alongside Henderson and Keita after the 20-year-old completed 89 minutes in midweek.

In the front three, it’s almost a given that Mohamed Salah will start to see if he can add any more goals to the already impressive tally he’s built up so far this season. We feel that Klopp will bring Sadio Mane back into the team on the left wing, with Diogo Jota down the middle ahead of Roberto Firmino.

In other news: Klopp must unleash “important” Liverpool beast on Saturday, he’d terrify Brighton

While South Africa reeled from the 55-run loss to Sri Lanka, Daniel Vettori insisted the result would have no bearing on how they approached the game

Dileep Premachandran in Centurion23-Sep-2009In many ways, New Zealand are the polar opposite of South Africa. The South Africans appear assailed by self-doubt on the biggest stage, while New Zealand have an uncanny knack of raising their game for the marquee occasion. Both teams have identical records over the last two global events, having reached the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals in 2006 and the last four of the World Cup a few months later. The similarity ended with the results. For New Zealand, those were two more examples of them punching above their weight. For South Africa, they were miserable reminders of their tendency to lose the plot when it mattered most.On Thursday, the two teams clash in Centurion, with South Africa knowing that nothing less than victory will do. While the host nation reeled from the 55-run loss to Sri Lanka, Daniel Vettori, New Zealand’s captain, insisted that the result would have no bearing on how they approached the game. “It doesn’t make a lot of difference to us,” he said. “We know we still have to turn up and play pretty well to beat a strong South African side. Sri Lanka played exceptionally well last night to beat them. We’re under no illusions about how hard it’s going to be.”Some were surprised by how dry and relatively slow the pitch was for the tournament opener, with conditions not a world apart from those on the subcontinent. Having just finished a tour of Sri Lanka, Vettori reckoned that his side would have the wherewithal to cope.”The wicket was a lot better than we expected it to be,” he said. “I’m not sure we’re going to play on the same one or if we’ve got a new block, but it was a slow deck and suited the Sri Lankans more than the South Africans. It brings up the question whether we play two spinners and what the best tactics are on a wicket like that. It won’t hurt us coming out of Sri Lanka after six weeks. We’ve played on wickets like this and hopefully we’re ready. But it’ll be a tough ask.”And while the lack of a full house for the opening game raised further questions about the future of the 50-over game, Vettori remains a fan, especially of the short-and-sweet Champions Trophy format. “I think it’s great because it feels like every game is relevant,” he said. “In the past, there have probably been a few warm-up-like games. Now, you have to turn up here ready to play and ready to win, otherwise you can get knocked out quickly. For me personally, the easiest solution to keep the ODI game relevant is to play fewer games.”I don’t think we need to tinker around with the format. I think we’ve played so much people get a bit sick of seeing it. If you reduce the amount of games, that is a quick-fix solution. For me personally, the format has produced an array of good cricketers and different styles as well. With the ODIs, you can still get a number of different cricketers who can succeed. If we take that away and keep tinkering with it, we’ll lose those styles of cricketers. We’re lucky in cricket that we have three formats and people can enjoy all three. If we keep changing, we might lose some of the fan base. As long as we don’t overload the public, we can get a nice balance between the three.”New Zealand started their preparation with a loss to the Warriors, but then upset the form-book by thrashing India. “Hopefully, we can take the confidence of the India game into our first match,” said Vettori. “Particularly our batting, where we’ve struggled a lot. But a couple of guys stepped up and to make 300 against an Indian side is always something that makes me happy as captain, and it pleases the team as well. The challenge is to put a score on the board and defend it as a bowling unit.”If they can execute that plan effectively on Thursday , there will be more than a few South African finger-nails bitten to the quick.

West Bromwich Albion should not expect to receive more than £10m for the sale of Sam Johnstone.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by The Sun journalist Tom Barclay, who stated in a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT that the Baggies are not likely to get anywhere near the £20m asking price they were demanding for the goalkeeper this summer if they decide to cash in on him this January.

Southampton, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur are all reported to be monitoring the situation of the 28-year-old ahead of a potential swoop in the winter market.

Speaking about the potential fee Albion would receive for the England international, Barclay said: “You’re looking at probably less than £10m. I’m speculating there, but I imagine it’d be less than £10m.”

Fans would be devastated

Considering just how important a part of the West Brom side Johnstone has proven himself to be in recent years, should Albion receive a fee lower than £10m for the shot-stopper in the January transfer window, it would undoubtedly leave fans devastated.

Indeed, despite the club’s ultimate relegation last season, the £7.2m-rated man nevertheless impressed over his 37 Premier League appearances, keeping six clean sheets and making an average of 4.5 saves per game – the most of any goalkeeper in the league.

These returns saw the £28k-per-week ‘keeper earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as West Brom’s second-best performer in the top flight.

And, while Johnstone has not exactly been in the best form of his career over his 14 Championship appearances this season, he has still proven to be a fundamental part of Valerien Ismael’s side, keeping six clean sheets and making an average of 1.5 saves per fixture.

These returns have seen the 28-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 6.81, ranking him as the Baggies’ 10th-best player in the second tier.

As such, considering his overall level of performance for the club, keeping hold of Johnstone until the end of his contract – which is due to expire at the end of the current campaign – would undoubtedly be worth much more than receiving a fee of under £10m for the shot-stopper in January.

Indeed, without the former Manchester United man between the sticks, West Brom’s chances of going on to secure an immediate return to the Premier League would take a rather substantial hit, while keeping him at the risk of losing his services on a free next summer could well be enough to get Albion over the line in the promotion race – something that would bring a windfall of cash of a much higher value than his potential sale would generate in January. Consequently, this update is likely to crush fans.

In other news: “They’ll be looking”: Journo drops claim on £15k-p/w beast, WBA fans would be fuming

Cape Cobras captain Andrew Puttick confirmed that Herschelle Gibbs opted out due to the security scare that preceded that game against Victoria in Bangalore

Sriram Veera in Bangalore17-Oct-2009Cape Cobras captain Andrew Puttick confirmed that Herschelle Gibbs opted out due to the security scare which preceded their game against Victoria in Bangalore. The game was delayed after an Under-22 cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir, staying at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) complex in the Chinnaswamy Stadium, was detained in connection with the suspected presence of explosives at the venue. He was subsequently released after questioning, and the authorities gave the go-ahead for the match to take place. “It was his personal decision,” Puttick said of Gibbs’ decision to stay back. “He felt he was not mentally up for the game after what happened.”It was not a surprise that on a day when a security scare delayed the game, not one player was asked anything about cricket in the post-match press conference. The game was a relatively dull affair with Victoria unable to play at their optimum level, and all questions revolved around how the scare affected the teams’ preparation.Puttick said it was left to the individual players to make up their mind about whether to play. “There was lots of confusion initially,” he said. “It was a really a difficult situation as there were lots of reports flying around. As for Gibbs, we as a team respected the decision. If you are not comfortable, then there is no use playing.”Cape Cobras didn’t let Gibbs’ absence affect them, and were mentally switched on for the game from the first over where they picked two key wickets. “I am really proud about how the guys turned up today and were able to focus quickly,” Puttick said. “I didn’t have to say anything special to the team; maybe we all thought what more can happen, ‘let’s just go and play the game.'”Cape Cobras coach, Shukri Conrad, added that there were a few team meetings before it was agreed that a majority would play.Victoria’s captain Cameron White didn’t directly blame the episode for the below-par performance, but said it wasn’t the ideal preparation. “We don’t know whether it affected our performance or not. But it wasn’t ideal,” he said. “We didn’t even know whether we were going to ground at one point. We just got the news from the TV initially but were quickly given a briefing later.Obviously we were reluctant to come at one point of time but once our security company gave us the full details and assured us about the security we decided to come to ground. We will have sit down in the next couple of days and see whether we let the incident affect our focus.”

Indian cricket’s prodigal son Sreesanth returned in style with a five-for to leave Sri Lanka in tatters in the second Test in Kanpur

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera26-Nov-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSreesanth’s comeback to Tests was spectacular•AFPIndian cricket’s prodigal son Sreesanth returned to international cricket in style with a five-for, and six wickets overall, to leave Sri Lanka staring at defeat in the second Test in Kanpur. Sri Lanka, forced to follow on after tea, were tottering in the second innings still 356 runs adrift with six wickets standing.Though India’s spinners and Sri Lanka’s batsmen – the senior-most duo contrived a run-out while following on – contributed to the collapse, most of the work was done by Sreesanth, playing his first international game in 19 months. For nine successive overs in the first session, and for seven on the trot in the second, he ran in hard, hit the deck and found life in a slow pitch. He led the way in the second innings too, removing Tillakaratne Dilshan with a leg cutter, before Sri Lanka started to disintegrate against spin.Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene offered some resistance with a 60-run partnership in the first innings but Sri Lanka threatened to implode without much fight in the second. Tharanga Paranavitana was trapped by an arm-ball from Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara chopped a topspinner from Harbhajan on to the stumps.However, the decisive moment of the collapse, and something that exposed the visitors’ mindset, was the run-out of Mahela, the first-innings top scorer. Sangakkara pushed the ball to the right of a straightish midwicket and called for a suicidal run but Mahela had no chance to beat the throw from Yuvraj Singh. Perhaps the fact that they had lost nine wickets in just over two sessions and yielded their biggest-ever lead to India had knocked the fight out of them.Or perhaps it was just Sreesanth. Green Park was where he played his last Test 19 months ago before disappearing from the sports pages and becoming an occasional feature on Page 3. Today, he stormed back, lifting India with spells that read 9-2-28-3 in the first session and 7-2-18-2 in the second.His bowling was sublime through the day but the high point of his redemptive journey was the delivery that gave him his fifth wicket, a peach that cut away from the middle stump line to take out the off stump of the clueless Rangana Herath. The celebration was muted: a folding of palms in prayer and gratitude, the right hand raised to accept the high-fives from his team-mates and the face slowly creasing into a smile. It wasn’t dramatic, it wasn’t the usual Sreesanth theatrics that make him perhaps the most complex cricketer in this side. Today, those signature self-exhortations at the top of the run-up were rarely seen, as was any special celebration after a wicket.It was all about the bowling. If he troubled the batsmen with seam movement in the morning, he found some reverse swing post-lunch with the old ball and continued to harass the batsmen. He got the big breakthrough of the second session when he terminated the fighting partnership between the two Jayawardenes. Prasanna had taken an aggressive route, slog sweeping and driving the spinners and, though he faced Zaheer Khan, he didn’t have to play Sreesanth till he reached 35. Sreesanth probed Prasanna with 11 testing deliveries that included leg cutters, inswingers and a lovely inswinging yorker but Prasanna stood firm. However, Prasanna chased the 12th, a short and wide one, and got a thin nick through to the keeper.That was a recurring theme. Sreesanth would severely test the batsmen with a cluster of good deliveries and would invariably pick up a wicket with one slightly wide from the stumps. His pace wasn’t frightening (135 kmph was the average), there were no fiery bouncers and he didn’t swing it around corners, but what he did was land each ball on a probing line and length, and cut it either way just enough to test the batsmen. He had his share of luck too – two batsmen played on off the inside edge – and Sri Lanka’s batsmen didn’t tailor their techniques to the demands of the pitch.Instead of playing as close to the body as possible on a pitch with variable bounce, the batsmen erred by playing away. Tharanga Paranavitana was set up by a bouncer that crashed into his shoulder before he pushed at one cutting away from him. Sangakkara, who faced 24 deliveries from Zaheer Khan today, fell in the first over he faced off Sreesanth. Sangakkara played out three straight deliveries but was lured into a cover drive by a full and wide one, and ended up dragging it on to his stumps. Thilan Samaraweera was the next to go, pushing hard and early at a length delivery cutting away from him.Not everything went Sreesanth’s way though. He produced an edge from his best delivery but it didn’t get him a wicket. Jayawardene, on zero, pushed at one that cut away late and got an edge but neither MS Dhoni nor Sachin Tendulkar at first slip went for the catch. It was the wicketkeeper’s catch. Jayawardene got another reprieve on 25 when he edged a late cut off Harbhajan to first slip where Rahul Dravid couldn’t hold on to a sharp chance. The same thing happened in the second innings too but it didn’t matter on either occasion as Mahela couldn’t carry on for long.It was not a completely solo show by Sreesanth, though, as the debutant Pragyan Ojha kept things tight, allowing Dhoni the luxury to attack from the other end. Ojha also got the big wicket of the first innings when he beat the top scorer Mahela in the flight and produced a mishit to mid-on. Ojha also hastened the end of the Sri Lankan innings post-tea by trapping Muttiah Muralitharan in front but Sreesanth was undoubtedly the star today.

Newcastle United are keen to sign Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, according to Turkish outlet Milliyet. 

The lowdown

The 23-year-old shot-stopper has made 85 appearances for Fenerbahce, keeping 21 clean sheets; and after one victory back in February, team-mate Mesut Ozil gave him ‘special thanks’ on Twitter. He made his debut for the Turkish senior team earlier this year after featuring 10 times at under-21 level (via Transfermarkt).

Intriguingly, Bayindir may have been a target for Newcastle during the Mike Ashley era. It was reported back in April that the Magpies were scouting the goalkeeper.

The latest

According to Turkish outlet Milliyet, Newcastle are apparently willing to offer Fenerbache £14m for the services of Bayindir.

However, the Turkish Super Lig outfit would be expected to reject that offer as they look to tie him down to a new contract.

The verdict

Karl Darlow has struggled for Newcastle so far this season, heavily underperforming relative to post-shot xG. Only five goalkeepers rank lower by that metric (via FBRef). On the other hand, the stats show that Martin Dubravka ‘prevented’ 1.4 goals over the course of last season.

Therefore, the smart move could be to restore the Slovakian, who was on the bench last time out against Brighton, to the team on a regular basis rather than investing in a new goalkeeper, particularly when Eddie Howe also has Freddie Woodman at his disposal.

In other news, Eddie Howe is targeting three players with whom he worked at Bournemouth

Southampton are currently in their 10th consecutive Premier League season after winning promotion from the Championship in 2012 under Nigel Adkins.

During that time, one figure who has played a massive part for the Saints is captain James Ward-Prowse, who has made 333 appearances for the south coast club across all competitions. He has scored 35 goals and provided 42 assists since making his senior debut for Southampton back in October 2011.

Despite making 11 appearances for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side so far this season and putting pen to paper on a new five-year contract at St Mary’s over the summer, a recent report from The Athletic has suggested that the midfielder has now gone past what they describe as peak age for a central midfielder.

With this in mind, there’s every possibility that the club could be on the lookout for a new player who could be a future long-term replacement for their skipper.

Rather than spend millions on potential transfer fees when that time comes, the Saints could already have their ideal replacement for Ward-Prowse and potential club hero with 16-year-old attacking midfielder Kami Doyle.

As a product of Southampton’s youth system, Doyle has made 12 appearances for their under-18 side, in which he has scored 10 goals and provided one assist, showing that he has a knack for scoring and creating goals from midfield in a similar way to Ward-Prowse over the years.

Even at his young age, Doyle – who has been praised in the past by Saints coach David Horseman for his “quality” on the pitch  – has made 11 appearances for Southampton’s B team, which goes to show how much faith and belief they have in him to be able to line out alongside some of the older players in the youth ranks.

Moving forward, if Doyle can continue to progress with Southampton’s B team and develop his game even further, there’s nothing stopping him from eventually breaking into the first team and potentially becoming the club’s new Ward-Prowse.

In other news – Lost the ball 81 times: Ralph must brutally axe “unbelievable” Saints dud, he’s a liability

Andrew Strauss has been shortlisted for BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Cricinfo staff01-Dec-2009With the Ashes in his back pocket and a resurgent England leading 2-1 in the one-day series in South Africa, Andrew Strauss has plenty to feel satisfied about. Now he has been rewarded for his performances over the last 12 months with a place in the ten-person shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.The last cricketer to win the award, which is decided by public vote, was Andrew Flintoff in 2005 after England’s previous Ashes win. Four years on Strauss top-scored against Australia with 474 runs at 52.66, which included 161 on the first day of the Lord’s Test match. His cool leadership throughout the tense contest was also vital in England’s success.The year began in very different circumstances with Strauss being given the captaincy after Kevin Pietersen was sacked following his falling out with Peter Moores. Strauss lost his first Test in full charge when England were bundled out for 51 in the second innings against West Indies at Kingston but England have only lost one Test since as they beat the West Indies at home in May and then triumphed 2-1 in the Ashes. During that period his own form has been prolific with 1055 runs from 11 matches at 62.05.Strauss’s Ashes team-mates Andrew Flintoff and Stuart Broad also received a number of votes from the national and regional media outlets that produced the lists from which the final 10 were drawn. The other three cricketers before Flintoff to win the accolade, which was first awarded in 1954, were Ian Botham after his famous 1981 Ashes, David Steele in 1975 and Jim Laker in 1956.

Leeds United have joined the race for Blackburn Rovers forward Ben Brereton Diaz, according to Football League World.

The Lowdown: Leeds’ struggles in front of goal…

Marcelo Bielsa has been without star striker Patrick Bamford for the Whites’ last nine games due to an ankle injury and Leeds have struggled without the England international, who bagged 17 Premier League goals last season.

During that time, they have found the back of the net on just seven occasions, with winger Raphinha scoring three of those.

Meanwhile, Brereton Diaz has been scoring for fun in the Championship, netting 16 times in 19 appearances during the current campaign.

The Latest: Orta keeping an eye…

Football League World shared a story on Wednesday morning, claiming that Leeds are the latest club keeping an eye on the 22-year-old.

Brereton Diaz, who shares the same agency as Whites winger Crysencio Summerville, is out of contract at the end of the season, and discussions over a new deal are stalling.

As a result, Leeds have joined Premier League rivals Burnley, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United and Southampton in the race for his services.

The Verdict: January swap?

Youngster Joe Gelhardt has been impressing in recent weeks, while Rodrigo has been starring in a creative role, so bringing in Brereton Diaz to rival Bamford and Gelhardt as a number nine could be a shrewd move in the long run.

Tyler Roberts has struggled for goals in the Premier League, so perhaps he could be used as a makeweight in a deal for Brereton Diaz, who has been described as a ‘wonderful talent’ and a ‘beast’ by his manager Tony Mowbray and has 37 senior goals to his name during his career for club and country.

The pair are the same age, and who knows, Rovers could be interested in receiving a forward plus some cash during the winter window. Otherwise, they could lose the Chile international for nothing at the end of the season.

In other news: Beren Cross spots ‘important’ Leeds ace back in training after four-man boost. 

Victoria require another 366 runs for outright victory after two declarations kept their game against South Australia alive at the MCG

Cricinfo staff12-Dec-2009
ScorecardNick Jewell’s 70 was the best score for Victoria, who face a challenging chase on the final day•Getty ImagesVictoria require another 366 runs for outright victory after two declarations kept their match against South Australia alive at the MCG. Victoria closed their first innings 271 behind and the Redbacks reached 2 for 109 before they ended their reply, setting the hosts a target of 381.The Bushrangers, who were 0 for 15 after seven overs, will have to do much better on day four than they did today after being out-played. But the leaders still have a chance to add to their four-point buffer over their opponents during the 106 remaining overs.Cameron White decided to declare after his side stumbled to 6 for 246 at tea in the hope of gaining an outright result. A big reply had depended on significant scores from Brad Hodge and David Hussey, but the hosts lost some early wickets to end that aim.Nick Jewell was in charge of setting up the innings and he achieved that with 70, but Hodge was bowled by Jake Haberfield for 11 and Hussey went having got to 61. Jewell and Hussey had added 117 for the third wicket when the opener edged Peter George to first slip, and nine balls later Hussey fell to Dan Christian. Andrew McDonald and White went cheaply before Matthew Wade collected an unbeaten 42 and the declaration came.Michael Klinger followed his 207 not out in the first innings with 29 while Mark Cosgrove had 44 when they were called in. John Hastings removed the openers Daniel Harris and James Smith for the final wickets of a busy afternoon.