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In the absence of Broad and Anderson, the challenge for Stokes and McCullum is to manage their bowling strategy

Sidharth Monga30-Jun-20251:53

Did we see a refined version of Bazball at Headingley?

Since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as captain and coach, England have won 16 out of 21 home Tests, winning series against New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka, and drawing the Ashes 2-2. The essence of the way they play lies in scoring quickly rather than batting longer. In the Ashes, England’s batters scored 2920 runs in 3938 balls; their bowlers conceded a similar number of runs – 2851 – in 5389 balls. They lost 85 wickets and took 93.England have looked to upset the way Test cricket has viewed risk. It seems they have felt good balls are over-rated and have looked to score off them. Not all boundaries, but boundaries and, as a result of that approach, singles and twos into the spread-out field.In that Ashes, for example, Australia’s fast bowlers bowled 40.1% of their deliveries on a good length of 6-8m; England 41.7%. However, England batters averaged 39.35 and scored at 3.69 an over against this good length as against Australia’s average of 14.97 and scoring rate of just 1.82 per over. England took 37 wickets from a good length; Australia 20.Related

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Forget the frivolous narrative, Bazball is a hard-nosed, winning strategy

Let’s restrict this to good-length balls on and just outside off stump to qualify good balls better. England lost no wicket to such deliveries, scoring at 4.05 an over, but took seven wickets and conceded at 2.13 per over.The trend continued in every series, though averaging 40 against good balls in the Ashes was truly a one-off. The New Zealand series is more representative of Bazball because both sides bowled a similar number of good-length balls – 1140 and 1097 – but England scored 517 runs for 18 wickets to New Zealand’s 288 runs for 16 wickets. More shots played but similar number of wickets lost.Against South Africa, England’s batters averaged 14.23 and scored at 2.79 per over to the visitors’ 7.17 and 1.55. Against West Indies, these numbers were 30.66 and 3.33 as against the visitors’ 9.3 and 2.1.2:38

Is Stokes’ bowling workload a worry?

A prerequisite to score against what the world regards as good balls is flatter pitches. Not pancake flat, but surfaces on which you can hit through the line of the ball and ones that don’t deteriorate much. That’s why Bazball didn’t work in India. The surfaces in England, though, have complied. The Dukes balls getting softer sooner hasn’t hurt them either. In fact, the conditions have tended to improve for batting as the match has progressed to the extent that bowling first is now the preferred choice in England. The batting averages for each innings in England since 2022 have been 32.28, 34.98, 26.91 and 44.7. Stokes knew what he was doing when he chose to bowl against India in Leeds.Batting, though, is the easier part. To win Tests on these flat pitches, you need to take 20 wickets. The real heroes of England’s home run are the bowlers, who have found ways to take wickets by consistently swinging the ball more than their opponents and also bowling a higher number of high-seam deliveries.Take the Ashes. When bowling on a good length, England’s bowlers extracted 1.008 degrees of swing on average as against Australia’s 0.637. Their average seam movement was only negligibly higher, but this is where we need to look at high-seam deliveries. Ones that nip more than 0.5 degrees, which could point to the use of wobble-seam deliveries. England bowled 489 deliveries that seamed big left to right as against Australia’s 238. They nipped 414 deliveries big from right to left as against Australia’s 272.England will need to bowl better lengths against India•PA Photos/Getty ImagesHigher average swing and more big-seam deliveries for England’s bowlers, to go with their batters playing more scoring shots to good lengths, has been the trend during the Bazball years. They seem to understand better than the visitors that you try and swing the ball more between overs 11 and 30, and wobble the seam at other times.England have had three constants to facilitate that: flatter pitches, skilful and experienced bowlers in these conditions, and attacking batters. In Jimmy Anderson, Broad and Ollie Robinson, England had a lot of class in the bowling department.Now, against India, they have an attack comprising Chris Woakes and Stokes as the only two experienced fast bowlers. Brydon Carse was playing his first first-class match at Headingley. They struggled to, in the words of Broad, hold length, although they did swing it more than India. They bowled only 37.95% of their deliveries in the good-length zone as against India’s 47.33%. Their average swing of 1.119 was higher than India’s 0.917. India outbowled England on high-seam deliveries on a good length by 133 to 69.The flat pitches and attacking batters are there, but the third ingredient is missing for England. They don’t have the class in the bowling, and this is where India’s chance of countering Bazball lies. Bear in mind England still managed to average 45 and score at 3.46 an over against the good length, but India were 33.75 and 2.23.If the pitches remain flat, we could see England using short-pitched bowling and creative fields more often. How they manage their strategy in the absence of world-class bowling will be interesting to see. As will India’s plans to counter them.

The Neetu David-led selection committee will soon pick India’s 15-member squad for the World Cup starting September 30

Shashank Kishore18-Aug-2025India enter their final stretch of World Cup preparations with a settled squad. They are buoyed by a tri-series win in Sri Lanka (also involving South Africa), and a series win in England. According to India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, their settled outfit is the biggest point of difference from the lead-up to previous campaigns.On Tuesday, when the Neetu David-led selection committee meets to pick India’s 15-member squad for the World Cup starting September 30, one of their toughest decisions could be around Shafali Verma’s selection. Whether she is selected or not might be decisive to how India plan to balance consistency and explosive potential in the squad.There are also tough selection calls to be made on key players coming back from injury. Here is a quick look at the questions the selection committee will need to take a call on:The Shafali factorFour of the top six (Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh) are certainties. As things stand, Pratika Rawal has made a compelling case to open with Mandhana, having notched up 703 runs in 14 innings at 54.07, while striking at 88.Similarly, Harleen Deol has added a touch of consistency to her game since her comeback from injury late last year. She struck a maiden ODI century against West Indies in December, and has been a regular in the ODI setup since. Occasionally, though, there have been question marks about her tendency to start slowly, even though there’s no threat to her place in the squad.Pratika Rawal has numbers on her side as India opener•BCCIWith Yastika Bhatia likely to be the second wicketkeeper, the team management also has a reserve batter in the mix. This makes the call to select Shafali – or not – tricky, even though there are no doubts about her experience and track record at the international level.What she currently lacks, however, is form, which is evident from her recent returns for India A in Australia: scores of 52, 4, and 36 in three one-dayers, and 41, 3, and 3 in the T20s that preceded them.Amanjot the allrounder balances the team, but is she fully fit?During Pooja Vastrakar’s absence from the side due to a long-standing stress injury, the team management found an able back-up in Amanjot Kaur.The allrounder was used as the second seamer during the T20I leg of the England tour, which India won 3-2. In that series, apart from bowling her seam-ups and picking three wickets across 13 overs, she also struck an incredible, match-winning 63 not out to shore up a floundering innings.Amanjot Kaur has been a valuable addition to the side•ECB/Getty ImagesHowever, the flaring up of a back injury during the ODI leg of the tour has raised some concerns. At the time, Harmanpreet termed her exclusion as rest, but it is understood that the team management has been concerned over her injury status and treated her with utmost caution.While her scans are believed to have cleared her of a major issue, the selectors will need to assess if she can handle dual responsibilities of being a second seamer, which gives the team management the luxury of being spin-heavy, like they’ve tended to in recent times.If Amanjot makes the cut, it is likely India may not need a third specialist seamer. In this case, someone like Arundhati Reddy could miss out. The selector then might have to make a case for selecting either Shafali, or a genuine wrist spinner – which they’ve lacked lately – like Prema Rawat, who had a breakout India A tour in Australia.There is no question over their other two allrounders, who are near certainties in the squad as well: Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav, who impressed in England as well with her captaincy stint on the A tour of Australia. While Deepti offers bowling utility and finishing prowess, Radha is an outstanding fielder and has rediscovered herself as a left-arm spinner.Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav are in line to be guaranteed selections•BCCIWill selectors punt on undercooked Renuka?Much will depend on whether Renuka Singh, pace spearhead until recently, is fully fit after recovering from a stress fracture. If she isn’t, Arundhati will be a straight shoo-in. But for now, indications are that Renuka is on the right track to make the cut, even though there is the risk of her being undercooked. She has not played any form of cricket since the WPL, and the Australia ODIs in the lead-up to the World Cup could be her final chance at getting into her groove.Kranti Goud, the Madhya Pradesh pacer, has climbed through the selection ladder with her bristling energy and ability to hustle batters, as was seen during her match-winning 6 for 52 to seal the ODI series in England. Goud’s excellent early initiation may put her ahead of Arundhati in the queue, especially if Amanjot is fit.Sneh Rana, who made an excellent comeback during the Sri Lanka tri-series, and N Shree Charani are the two other specialist spinners in the mix, along with Deepti and Radha. Shreyanka Patil and Minnu Mani are also off-spinning allrounders who could be discussed.India (likely squad): Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani, Renuka Singh/Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud, Shafali Verma/Prema Rawat

The tale of a Goliath-slaying by two dozen Davids of Castlemaine, Victoria, in 1862

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins16-Nov-2025We tell a lot of Ashes stories. But Australia and England faced each other on five Test tours before the Ashes legend was created, and earlier still, before the Test era, three other teams from England visited the colonies. Let’s go back to the first of these, and one of the biggest upsets of them all.Cricket in the 1800s was mostly public entertainment offered by private operators. The modern spectator might not part with their cash to watch a few gents batting with twigs scoring one run per over on a rural shitheap, but in that era there was rarely much to do except catch the plague and talk to sheep. So teams travelled all over, partly made up of working-class professional players, partly of upper-class supposed amateurs, who were usually discreetly paid “expenses” that greatly exceeded their team-mates’ wages. If crowds turned up and paid entry, tours were lucrative. If not, they lost money heavily.Nor was touring specific to cricket. Musicians, actors, sideshows, demonstrations of strength or skill – all sorts of performers traipsed from town to town looking for their next payday. And with international maritime transport having become commonplace, big attractions from England could make big money elsewhere.This earning potential drew the interest of two Melbourne restaurant owners, Mr Spiers and Mr Pond. It was 1862, the gold rush was ending and a depression was on the way. These two wanted to diversify. Originally they invited novelist Charles Dickens for a speaking and reading tour. He was interested but the plan fell through. As they cast around for alternatives, they heard a story from 1859, when cricket touring had first gone international. An All-England team went to North America, including a chap whose name offered classic English floridity: Heathfield Harman Stephenson. The tour had made bank. Spiers and Pond were down. They offered Stevo a gig.Our bloke had a long all-round career bowling what was recorded as “round-arm fast”. Make of that what you will: we guess that his pace was pedestrian at best, but the ratty pitches of the day made it do all sorts. He played for nearly 20 years, a lot for Surrey with a bunch of other sides thrown in, including England representative teams against county opponents. With international cricket not yet born, that was the highest you could go: an England player without a Test cap. He did allegedly get bought a fancy hat once, by crowd donation, after taking three wickets in three balls, which is one of the unproven theories about why we call it a “hat-trick”. And he definitely umpired the first Test ever played in England.Spiers and Pond made a good bet. When Stevo’s team of Englishmen arrived, it was huge news. Melbourne’s population was 125,000, and an estimated 10,000 of them came to the docks to greet the team’s ship. For the opening match against a Victorian side, 15,000 showed up, and the estimate over four days was 55,000. That included the governor, the premier, and cabinet ministers. It was a carnival, with one lunch break including the country’s first ascent of a hot-air balloon.Related

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Described by English player William Caffyn, the scene on morning one sounded no different to Boxing Day morning now: “The National Anthem was played as we entered the field, amidst the silence of the vast concourse of spectators. When the band stopped playing a tremendous burst of cheering rent the air. The weather was so hot as to fetch the skin off some of our faces.”The Vics got pumped, their second innings including ten ducks and a nought not out. Does that mean they didn’t make any runs? No, they made 91, because they had 18 players. This was the other factor. The touring team was made of hardened county players, and a money-making trip needed the promise of competitiveness. So teams like these would travel to any town, field their best 11 and let the hosts play 15 or 18 or 22. A sporting handicap let the pros show off their skills without a mismatch ending the game too quickly.The team went all over: Ovens District, Geelong, Bathurst, Hobart, Ballarat, Bendigo, and several bigger games in Melbourne and Sydney. As the far more powerful side, they kept playing against teams with more players and kept beating them, often by an innings. They lost twice all tour. The first took a combined team from the best of Victoria and New South Wales, fielding 22 players to the English 11, that still barely scraped over the line. Ending at 35 for 9 in the chase, with nobody having passed single figures, the colonial team probably would have lost if chasing 30 more.The other loss, though, was right at the other end of the scale for supposed advantage. Yes, it was still to 22 players, but they were 22 farmers and knockabouts, residents of the small Victorian town of Castlemaine, who made their fortress at the local ground named Wattle Flat.Everyone was there. “On the occasion of the grand match yesterday, business was almost entirely suspended in the town, and most of the surrounding districts were similarly affected,” reported the . England got bowled out for 80, but that wasn’t a bad score in that era. A feller from down the road at Fryers Creek named John Webster Amos took 7 for 13.But as soon as England took the ball, Stevo nabbed the first wicket, and boy did it roll on. For a sequence on a scorecard, try reading this aloud. 0, 5, 0, 17, 3, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 10, 1, 0, 1, 0, 2, 3 not out, 1, 0, 1, 0.So that’s ten ducks and five ones, out of 22 batters, in a score of 54. George Griffith for the tourists took 13 wickets for 18 runs, and while the scorer might just have got lazy noting down catches, the card suggests that 12 of them were bowled. It must have been a brutal effort to be subjected to, and on that showing, a deficit of 26 for Castlemaine might as well have been a thousand.

Our research might be faulty, but apparently teams of 22 players didn’t just have a longer batting order; they were allowed to have them all fielding at the same time. These English pros would have been trying to work the ball into the smallest gaps or hit over thickets of fielders

But the local lads were not discouraged. Our friend Amos only added one wicket in the third innings, but his team-mate John Brooker cleaned up with 6 for 6. That kept the English to a manageable 68, and Stevo was pissed. The skipper, reported the local paper, spouted off at the lunch break: “in explanation of the bad fortune that had attended the Englishmen in that day’s play, [Stephenson] said that he attributed it entirely to the bad ground”. Sure, classic – blame the facilities.Picture the chaos of this match. Our research might be faulty, but apparently teams of 22 players didn’t just have a longer batting order; they were allowed to have them all fielding at the same time. These English pros would have been trying to work the ball into the smallest gaps or hit over thickets of fielders. In the meantime, the whole third innings happened on the Saturday, so the entire town and district would have been down there cheering every wicket. The home team would have merged into the home supporters near the boundary line, an indistinguishable and claustrophobic mass of humanity surrounding them.Even so, when normal service resumed in the fourth innings with the regulation 13 players on the pitch, the scores in the match and Castlemaine’s first showing with the bat suggested that 95 was too many to chase. But by stumps on Saturday, they were still in the game at 40 for 4. In the circumstances, first drop Robert Manning making 11 was a significant score. More importantly, Charles Makinson – who would later play twice for Victoria – was 19 not out. The town sat through church on Sunday daring to hope.On Monday, Makinson went on to 36, including the only boundary of the innings, before being bowled. The card proceeded much like the first innings: 4, 0, 3, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 0, 0, 1, 3. But, crucially, there were fewer ducks. Each tiny score brought the target closer. Between times they kept hustling, taking byes and leg-byes, the extras total mounting past 10, past 15, up towards 20. But the wicket column was doing the same. Castlemaine had already been hurt up top by Griffith again, then saw a run of wickets through the middle for Charles Lawrence, who went on to emigrate to Australia and would later captain the Aboriginal XI tour to England of 1868.Lawrence bagged the 14th wicket, the 15th, the 16th. Nerves jangled. A tiny partnership of 6 or 7 saw the score creep within a few runs of the target. Then another wicket for Lawrence, dismissing the player for 3, and another for Griffith, a duck.Castlemaine had their No. 20 at the crease, with two left in the sheds. Being carded at 21 or 22 would not do wonders for the confidence. Those three players collectively had scored one run in the first innings. But out there with them was the fabulously named Joseph Dolphin, ready to launch a Flipper rescue. Sure, his innings totalled 6 not out, but it was a 6 not out that would reverberate through the life of the town. With the winning strike, Dolphin carried Castlemaine past their target, not to 95 runs but to 96. Like Forrest Gump, he just kept on running.Affirm PressSo the boys from Castlemaine won the match at Wattle Flat, defeating England’s finest by making 150 runs across two innings. Griffith added 9 for 28 in the second dig, another seven of them bowled, so had match figures of 22 wickets for 46, but the locals were still the ones who got to celebrate.”It has been reserved for the Castlemaine district to achieve a victory which other much more pretentious districts failed to win,” crowed the . They were less happy about the English blaming the deck. “It strikes us that this mode of accounting for the victory of the Castlemaine men sounds very like twaddle,” the paper continued. “No doubt it is annoying to be defeated by a number of amateur cricketers, but… whatever might have been the demerits of the ground, it was played on by both sides.”Ding ding ding, cricket cliché jar. A hundred years later, the people of Castlemaine were still sufficiently pleased with themselves to put up a plaque commemorating the win, which England’s then-captain Colin Cowdrey agreed to unveil. He was the fifth touring skipper to visit Castlemaine, because such was the respect given to Wattle Flat following Stevo’s trip that three later touring sides also played matches there, the little ground hosting some of the greatest to play the game.WG Grace took his team there in 1874, and his key bowler was England’s first Test captain, James Lillywhite, who took ten wickets in each innings. Ivo Bligh’s team played Castlemaine during the first Ashes tour in 1882, and in 1887, cricket’s great party boy AE Stoddart walked away with 8 for 27, and we can only hope that Castlemaine then gave him a good night on the tiles.The team continued to hold its own, with Grace’s team winning narrowly and the other two matches drawn. Eventually, Wattle Flat cricket ground became a pony club and a recreation area, and there is no longer an oval where those games were played. But they say that some ghosts may be heard when you pass by the cricket ground: mostly Heathfield Harman Stephenson complaining about the pitch.

After a mixed start to life as Rangers manager this week, Danny Röhl and his team may now be going into a crucial fortnight with a sense of positivity.

Last Thursday, the Gers were demolished 3-0 by Brann in the Europa League, leaving them bottom of the gigantic league table, but then did manage to beat Kilmarnock 3-1 at Ibrox on Sunday, thanks to second-half goals from Danilo and Youssef Chermiti.

This lifts the Light Blues up to fifth in the Premiership table, with some crucial fixtures ahead.

On Wednesday night, they’ll travel to Edinburgh to take on Hibs, before a League Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden next Sunday, followed by a visit from Roma in the Europa League four days later.

So, ahead of three massive tests, which Rangers star made themselves undroppable with their performance against Killie?

Nicolas Raskin's importance to Rangers

Russell Martin made many mistakes as Rangers manager, but his public falling out with last season’s player of the year Nicolas Raskin proved to be one of the most costly.

The Belgian was unceremoniously left on the bench for Champions League qualifiers against Viktoria Plzeň and Club Brugge, before not being included in the matchday squad at all for home matches against Celtic and Hearts.

The latter, a miserable 2-0 defeat, was when the support really started to turn against Martin, with Darrell Currie perplexed as to why any coach would choose to leave their “best player in the stand”.

However, recognising the error of his ways, Raskin was back in the team a week later as Rangers beat Hibs 2-0 in the League Cup quarter-finals, the Belgian heading home the opening goal, albeit this did little to help Martin remain in a job.

Raskin has started both matches since Röhl’s appointment, a trend you can guarantee will continue at Easter Road on Wednesday, but who else has put themselves forward as one of the first names on the team sheet?

Rangers summer signing who starred vs Kilmarnock

Fair to say, plenty of Rangers’ 13 summer signings have not impressed so far; Joe Rothwell, Nasser Djiga, Thelo Aasgaard, Jayden Meghoma and Youssef Chermiti, to name but a few.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

However, the last of those signings, namely Derek Cornelius, who arrived on deadline day, could prove to be the best.

The 27-year-old Canadian international is something of a globetrotter, having played in Germany, Serbia, his native Canada, Greece, Sweden and France before moving to Scotland, arriving on a season-long loan from Olympique de Marseille, opening his Rangers account with this header on Sunday.

Overall, the late addition was ultra-impressive, as the numbers outline.

Goals

1

1st

Shots on target

2

1st

Dribble success %

100%

1st

Defensive actions

10

2nd

Clearances

9

2nd

Duels contested

15

1st

Duels won

8

1st

Accurate passes

75

2nd

Passing accuracy %

91%

5th*

Touches

107

2nd

Average rating

8.1

1st

*minimum 15 passes completed.

As the table documents, Cornelius was immense against Kilmarnock.

The defender had the most shots on target of any player on the pitch, while registering the most duels contested and duels won, ranked second only to centre-back partner John Souttar when it came to defensive actions, clearances, accurate passes and touches.

Upon his arrival in Govan, then-manager Martin highlighted Cornelius’ “experience”, while Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell heralded his “defensive and leadership abilities”.

Meantime, after games against the Netherlands and France, the latter a memorable goalless draw in Bordeaux​​​​​​​, Canada head coach Jesse Marsch praised his “incredibly strong performances”, adding that the defender is “smart, he understands a lot of the tactical responsibilities, and he’s played with a lot of confidence and belief in himself”.

Well, very early into his Rangers career, the centre-back is starting to show some of that potential, crucially forming an encouraging partnership alongside Souttar.

Thus, with games against Hibs, Celtic and then Roma next on the agenda, Cornelius has catapulted himself into the undroppable tier of Rangers players, alongside Raskin and Djeidi Gassama, but few others.

​​​​​​​

Holding back Raskin: Röhl must drop the "cooked" Rangers flop vs Kilmarnock

Following a 3-0 defeat to Brann in Danny Röhl’s first match as Rangers manager, he must move on from his flop holding back Nicolas Raskin.

ByBen Gray Oct 26, 2025

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has urged patience with Alexander Isak as the striker returns to full training ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with Manchester City. The £125 million record signing has missed four games with a groin injury, but Slot insists the Swedish forward needs "time" to regain match sharpness after a frustrating stop-start beginning to life at Anfield.

Isak could be available for Man City clash

Isak is set to return to Liverpool training after three weeks on the sidelines as Slot’s side prepare for a crucial trip to Manchester City this weekend. The Swedish forward, who sustained an adductor injury during last month’s 5-1 Champions League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, has not featured since and has spent the past fortnight undergoing a personalised rehabilitation programme. Liverpool’s medical team confirmed that Isak is now back in full training, though his availability for the City game will depend on how he responds over the next 48 hours.

The 26-year-old’s return is a timely boost for Slot during a demanding stretch of fixtures. Isak’s absence has coincided with a dip in Liverpool’s attacking efficiency, forcing the Reds to rely on wide Hugo Ekitike, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo to shoulder the goalscoring burden.

However, Isak’s fitness woes have become a recurring theme since his blockbuster summer move from Newcastle United. After missing most of pre-season due to transfer complications, he has struggled to find rhythm or consistency in Slot’s system. The Liverpool manager has therefore stressed the importance of easing his record signing back carefully, with no desire to risk a relapse ahead of a congested winter schedule.

AdvertisementAFPSlot not putting pressure on record signing

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Slot confirmed Isak’s return to team training and cautioned against expecting an immediate impact. "He will train for the first time today with the team again, after being three weeks out," Slot said. "I know that I said three weeks ago that his pre-season has ended, so now it’s time for us to see where he is. But I have to come back to those words, because if you are only three weeks with the rehab, that doesn’t bring you back to the levels he was three weeks ago."

Praising Liverpool’s medical staff for their work behind the scenes, Slot continued: "Although our rehab team is doing an incredible job, you cannot compare rehab with games of football or training sessions with the team. As much as we try to replicate it, that’s simply not possible. So, again I have to say, give him some time."

(C)Getty ImagesMassive fee on Isak's mind?

Isak’s return comes amid mounting scrutiny over his early struggles since completing a £125 million ($164m) switch from Newcastle in the summer, a move that made him the most expensive player in British football history. The transfer saga dominated headlines throughout pre-season, with reports claiming the forward pushed to force through the deal, leading to tension with his former club. As a result, Isak began his Liverpool career behind schedule, lacking match fitness and sharpness during his first few weeks under Slot.

That slow start has been compounded by injuries. The striker has missed multiple fixtures due to persistent muscle problems, preventing him from developing chemistry with key teammates like Salah, Gakpo, and Ekitike. His current record – one goal and one assist in eight appearances – stands in stark contrast to his prolific spell at Newcastle, where he scored 54 goals in 86 league games.

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Reds face fellow title outsiders at Etihad Stadium

Liverpool’s upcoming clash with Manchester City will provide the first major test of Slot’s injury management approach. While Isak is expected to be included in the travelling squad, the likelihood is that he will begin on the bench with Ekitike starting instead. Slot and his medical staff will make a late decision after assessing Isak’s reaction to full training, but the emphasis remains on caution rather than risk.

Which of these heists surprised you the most? Vote now

Harigovind S23-Oct-2024