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Lots of Tottenham fans have taken to Twitter to react after A Bola reported that the north Londoners are continuing to keep an eye on Sporting midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes was a transfer target for Spurs back in the summer, and the Portuguese giants rejected a huge £58m offer from Tottenham for the 25-year-old’s services due to the “difficult” structure of the deal.

The 16-cap Portugal international has already scored seven goals and recorded five assists in all competitions for Sporting this season, having previously amassed a stunning haul of 32 goals and 18 assists in the 2018/19 campaign.

A Bola now reports that the midfielder is still on Spurs’ radar, news that has sparked a lot of response from the Tottenham fans on Twitter.

One fan said that the goal scoring midfielder could have made a difference at the start of this season, while another said that he should be signed to replace Christian Eriksen – his contract expires in the summer – instead of Paulo Dybala, another reported summer target.

Let’s take a look at some of the Twitter reaction…

West Ham face a tough challenge as Sheffield United visit on Saturday, but if Manuel Pellegrini the necessary changes to his team then they could return to winning ways.

The Blades have adjusted well to the Premier League and their 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Monday put them above the Hammers in the table.

Chris Wilder has organised his team very effectively and made them difficult to break down, as evidenced by their four clean sheets from nine games – the joint-most of any team in the league.

That could be a problem for the East London outfit, who have found the target just 11 times in nine games, and despite four goals in eight league games Haller’s lack of movement has been singled out by Pellegrini as a problem.

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Some fans feel that is harsh, blaming a lack of service and support for the German as the real reason behind their poor attack.

In particular, Lanzini has underwhelmed this term, with zero goals and just two assists, and therefore he should make way against the Blades, as he could be crowded out by the combination of their three centre-backs and the deep-lying centre-midfielders, such as Oli Norwood.

To counter that, here is how West Ham should line-up.

The inclusion of Jack Wilshere could surprise a few and please others in equal measure, as although he is yet to prove himself in West Ham colours on a regular basis, he could help breathe fresh life into the team.

Lanzini has disappointed some fans with his recent displays. Not only does he have just the one assist in the league, but he has failed to make a pass into the box in each of his last five league appearances, so it is little surprise that Pellegrini’s side haven’t been scoring.

By contrast, the England international should retain possession more efficiently, as well as providing that crucial support Haller relies upon, with an average of 4.2 passes to the final third from the four matches he has started this campaign.

The other decision which Pellegrini has to make is whether Aaron Cresswell comes back into the starting line-up, but if he is deemed fit enough to play – which he should be after training all week – then he should replace Arthur Masuaku.

The Congo international managed just a 5/10-rated performance against Everton as per Football London, with the opening goal coming down his side. By contrast, the former Ipswich man has scored two goals in four league games so far, though his manager will likely want more from him in regards to crosses and key passes, as he is yet to record any of either.

As weird and as unusual as it may seem, Real Madrid are currently bottom of their group in the Champions League after two games played in the competition.

This comes courtesy of the 3-0 thrashing from PSG  and the 2-2 draw with Club Brugge at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

And that second one was pretty close too. Los Blancos were actually two goals down at the halfway mark but goals from Sergio Ramos and Casemiro ensured a point was salvaged.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Alphonse Areola also had a good game coming off the bench and replacing Real Madrid’s number one, Thibaut Courtois, who supposedly couldn’t finish the match.

But one player, in particular, who didn’t really impress in that game and was largely expected to was Eden Hazard, the Galacticos’ big-money summer signing whose emergence everyone is still waiting for.

The Belgian was decent but couldn’t really make a difference on the night, tallying three shots, one of which was on target, one key pass and 88.7% passing accuracy.

There was, however, an image from the clash with Brugge that the 29-year-old should definitely take note of and use as motivation for the future.

Some Real fans brought a huge number seven banner to the match, either as a shout out to Hazard himself, who is wearing that number at the moment, or just as a reminder of the legend who used to carry it on his back for many years in the Spanish capital.

Of course, we’re talking about Cristiano Ronaldo, who made a switch to Juventus but is seemingly not yet forgotten among the Madridistas.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Hazard should definitely take a good look at that banner and ask himself whether he’s actually performing at the level his reputation and that number on his back are demanding.

Ronaldo’s importance to the team was huge, to say the least, and now that the Belgian is the owner of the “number seven”, that responsibility might fall onto his shoulders.

Every player needs an adaptation period when he arrives at his new club but Hazard will have to start performing soon because Real need a leader in attack and that number suggests he is the one to do it.

Only time will tell how successful he’ll be.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Crystal Palace prodigy Nikola Tavares has heaped praise on summer signing Stephen Henderson for his impact on the younger players at Selhurst Park.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper signed for the Eagles on a season-long deal this summer as the south Londoners’ new third-choice stopper, after club legend Julian Speroni departed at the end of the last campaign.

Naturally, Henderson is yet to play a competitive first-team game, instead spending time with Richard Shaw’s Under-23 side, and Tavares – who started on the bench in Palace’s 5-3 win over Bournemouth last term – has heaped praise on the former Charlton Athletic man.

What did he say?

Tavares told football.london: “Hendo [Stephen Henderson] for example is good at communicating and he’s not afraid to tell you when he thinks you’re not doing something right, which is exactly what most of us need.

“Once he says it to you or if he gives you some advice on the pitch then you feel like you can pass that to someone else.”

Figure of fun amongst some Palace fans

As with any third-choice goalkeeper coming through the door, their arrival can seem a bit pointless.
This summer however, some Palace fans mocked Henderson after he conceded six goals on his debut in a pre-season friendly, with some also poking fun at Dougie Freedman for signing him before finding a much-needed new striker or a replacement for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who left for Manchester United.
While Henderson hasn’t had much, if any, impact on the first-team – it’s not like he was signed to, anyway – it is clear that he is having a positive effect on the younger players at the club, which is probably the most you can ask for from him.
His arrival may have seemed pointless, but the younger players need leaders to guide them.
Henderson has already shown that he is up to that task.

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It is that point of the season when the international break takes centre stage, meaning the Premier League and Championship aren’t in action for over a week.

Many clubs in these two leagues temporarily lose their players to their respective national teams and West Brom are no different.

No more than five of their squad depart the club this week having enjoyed an unbeaten start to life in the current 2019/20 league campaign.

One of those players is West Ham loanee Grady Diangana, who has been called up to the England U21 squad for the very first time – though he has had a taste of international football before with the Young Lions’ U20 team.

The 21-year-old has shined since arriving on deadline day, scoring three goals in four league matches and some Baggies supporters have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on his call-up.

One fan hopes their star winger doesn’t get injured whilst on international duty whilst others said it was fully deserved with another even claiming he has been on fire this season.

Diangana will join Aidy Boothroyd’s side for two European U21 Championship qualifiers against Turkey and Kosovo as they look to put this summer’s disappointment behind them.

You can read more of the reaction below:

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England great breaks records en route to format best, as he throws weight behind Brook’s leadership

Vithushan Ehantharajah01-Jun-2025Joe Root says guilt at not being able to support Jos Buttler during his captaincy is driving the 34-year-old to continue in limited-overs cricket under Harry Brook. On Sunday, Root became England’s leading ODI runscorer, a feat capped with a career-best 166 not out to chase down a target of 309 in the second ODI against West Indies in Cardiff, sealing a series win in the process. It follows his ascension to the top of the English Test charts last October, when he moved beyond Sir Alastair Cook’s tally of 12,742 in the first Test of the Pakistan tour.Upon reaching 42, Root passed the previous highest of 6,957 achieved by Eoin Morgan. As impressive as Morgan’s runscoring exploits were, his captaincy was legacy-defining, overseeing a white-ball revolution that sent England to the top of rankings, capped off by winning the 50-over World Cup in 2019.Root, England’s top-scorer at that tournament with 556 runs, was a vital cog in Morgan’s machine. However, with priorities shifting, particularly in the final years of his own Test captaincy, he found himself playing less and less 50-over cricket. Even without the Test captaincy during Buttler’s tenure, Root ended up playing just 25 of a possible 47 ODIs.That included the dismal 2023 World Cup campaign, and an equally poor Champions Trophy earlier this year, which ended in Buttler’s resignation. Those tournaments sandwiched a 2024 in which Root played no white-ball cricket for his country.Now, with eight ODIs under his belt in 2025, and an 18th hundred in the bag, he is back to being at one with the format. And he admits his renewed drive comes from wanting to support Brook in the way he felt he had not with Buttler.Related

• Will Jacks embraces 'clarity' at No.7 as second England coming begins

• Adil Rashid: 'I've still got the hunger to be the best'

• Keacy Carty: 'I'm not just proud to be here, it's time to be impactful'

• Brook calls on England to forget the past after crushing opening victory

• Bethell: It was 'electrifying' to walk out with Virat Kohli at RCB

“I played a huge amount of cricket with Jos and almost felt guilty that I wasn’t there for him throughout a lot of his tenure,” Root said.”And now that there’s more chances and more opportunities to play ODI cricket, I want to be involved in that. I want play as much as I can for England and, if I’m going make the team better, then absolutely want to be there and involved in, in trying to do that.”Whether that’s helping in and around practice with the younger players as a senior bat, and sharing and expressing my experience with them to try and speed up their processes and their learnings. But also out on the field, I feel like I’ve still got a lot to give and there’s a lot more runs in there. Hopefully knocks like that show that.”Hopefully, this can be a team that is quite consistent and sticks together for a long period of time and we can start building something as a group together. It’s what we did really well leading up to that 2019 World Cup. I don’t think that counts for nothing.”Naturally, Brook was full of praise for Root, whose unbeaten 166 eclipsed the 146 for 7 that the rest of the team (plus extras) managed between them. It confirmed a first series victory as captain for the 26-year-old, achieved ahead of Tuesday’s third and final ODI at the Kia Oval. It also eases qualifying automatically for 2027’s ODI World Cup.Root was similarly full of praise for his new skipper, particularly his work in the field to restrict West Indies to 308 all out. However, he could not resist a familiar jibe at his Yorkshire teammate’s expense.”He’s still an idiot,” joked Root. “As much as he’s an idiot – and I can say that because I’ve known him forever – he’s very cricket intelligent. He might not always be the most intelligent away from cricket, but he understands the game exceptionally well and that’s why he’s so consistent as a batter. I think that’s what will make him a really good leader as well.”You saw today, he might see the game slightly differently and he might do things differently, but it asks different questions of a batter. There was a phase in the game today where we had quite unusual fields, but they found it hard to rotate. It built pressure, it led to wickets and we ended up bowling them out.”

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Leeds have started the season with the exact same line-up in every Championship fixture as Marcelo Bielsa has preferred a degree of familiarity.

Having a favoured starting XI gets everyone on the same page early on but against Brentford on Wednesday, he could be forced into making some changes.

Bielsa claimed in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that Liam Cooper, Barry Douglas and Ezgjan Alioski could all miss out, leading to the Argentine revealing who could feature in place of the first two names.

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On the chalkboard

The two players tasked with deputising could be Jamie Shackleton and Stuart Dallas. That’s according to the manager anyway who has suggested the latter will move over to left-back if required.

That means Shackleton will take up a role on the right-hand side of defence.

Dallas has played the majority of his football on the wing and in place of Luke Ayling, has started the campaign at right-back.

However, he could soon find himself in a role he started to become adept in towards the back end of 2018/19.

In shipping four goals against Derby in the playoff semi-finals, it was a poor defensive display but going forward, Dallas was exceptional.

With that in mind, there shouldn’t be any concerns or fears over his ability to slot in as a like-for-like replacement for Douglas.

Against Wigan, the Scot was impressive in the final third, having two shots, playing two key passes and making four crosses, per WhoScored.

Thogden ranks all 24 Championship away kits in the video below…

Yet, in that game against Derby last term, Dallas had a colossal six attempts on goal, two of which he scored from, emphasising his prowess in attacking phases.

The 28-year-old was the star player in an otherwise torrid evening for the Whites as he had 76 touches, the third-most of any Leeds player on the pitch.

But all things considered, he had some impressive defensive stats too.

According to WhoScored, he won four tackles, made two interceptions and was victorious in two aerial duels.

That, of course, was the last time he featured in that role and as a result, they should be confident he can deliver, especially going forward.

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T Natarajan makes his first appearance for DC, replacing Mukesh Kumar

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-20252:39

Martin: Starc’s bounce and angle ‘a challenge’ for Head

Pat Cummins, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, has chosen to bowl against Delhi Capitals on a grass-free Hyderabad pitch, in IPL 2025, that is expected to be full of runs.SRH rang in the chases from their XII against Gujarat Titans three days ago. Out went Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has endured a quiet season, and Mohammed Shami, who conceded 48 in three overs before being subbed out. Kerala top-order batter Sachin Baby came in for his first game of the season, while Abhinav Manohar returned to the middle order. There was one change among the overseas players too, with fast bowler Eshan Malinga replacing his Sri Lankan compatriot Kamindu Mendis. Travis Head, who starts on the bench, is likely to be SRH’s Impact player.SRH tweeted after the toss that Reddy missed out due to illness.DC, as has been the case of late, named a bowler-heavy line-up despite batting first, with Ashutosh Sharma ready to come off the bench should the need arise. Left-arm quick T Natarajan, formerly an SRH player, makes his first appearance for DC, replacing Mukesh Kumar.The two teams went into the game with contrasting bowling strategies. SRH picked only one spinner in Zeeshan Ansari, while DC went in with three, in Kuldeep Yadav, Vipraj Nigam and their captain Axar PatelSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Sachin Baby, 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 Aniket Verma, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Pat Cummins (capt), 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Zeeshan Ansari, 10 Eshan Malinga, 11 Jaydev UnadkatImpact Subs bench: Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Travis Head, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan MulderDelhi Capitals: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Abishek Porel (wk), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Axar Patel (capt), 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Vipraj Nigam, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 T Natarajan
Impact subs bench: Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Kumar.

The Australia batter lined up Mayank Yadav and helped set a strong platform for the PBKS middle order

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-20251:30

Is Prabhsimran finally living up to his promise?

Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting has revealed that it was captain Shreyas Iyer’s decision to promote Josh Inglis to No. 3 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Dharamsala, even though it is the slot where Iyer had wanted to “mark” himself at in IPL 2025. The move worked with Inglis hitting tearaway Mayank Yadav for three successive sixes in the second over.Inglis’ 30 off 14 balls set the tone for the powerplay in which PBKS hit 66 for 2. In their chase of 237, LSG could manage only 38 for 3 in those six overs and went on to lose by 37 runs.”It was actually a move that the captain came up with,” Ponting said at his post-match press conference. “He thought on that sort of pitch, against that bowling attack, that it would be the right thing to if a wicket fell early to send Inglis in. We felt that Mayank would bowl early on. If you look at the way he bowls, he generally bowls reasonably short. And that’s one of Inglis’ great strengths, as you saw tonight. Those pull shots were pretty amazing straight away.”Related

• Rayudu: 'Pretty stubborn' Pant must 'accept the fact that he is struggling'

• A spell from hell: Arshdeep finds a new high in Dharamsala

• The evolution of Prabhsimran Singh: From powerplay basher to all-phase disruptor

• Prabhsimran 91, Arshdeep's new-ball spell take PBKS towards playoffs

Iyer, who scored 45 off 25 balls, and the rest of the PBKS middle order then launched from the platform Inglis and opener Prabhsimran Singh had set as they posted 236 for 5, their highest total against LSG.”It then also allows us to have Iyer, [Nehal] Wadhera and Shashank [Singh] through the middle of the innings, which is what we thought would be crucial for us in tonight’s game as well,” Ponting said. “So, yeah, I mean, it was probably a surprise call for LSG to see him [Inglis] go out [at No. 3] and it paid off for us tonight. So once we got off to a [start], I think we were 70-odd at the end of the powerplay, all the momentum was going with us. You see with our batting, you know, we’ve got someone like Azmatullah [Omarza]i at No. 9. So we bat really, really deep and it allows our top order to play with a lot of freedom. And they did that tonight. And, you know, to bat first and get that sort of total was a great effort.”Ponting also heaped praise on Prabhsimran, who claimed the Player-of-the-Match award for his 91 off 48 balls, including seven sixes and six fours, on Sunday. He had come into IPL 2025 with only four fifty-plus scores in his career, and now in this season he has scored three fifties in a row, the latest one taking PBKS to No. 2 on the points table.1:48

Rayudu: ‘Maybe Mayank Yadav isn’t ready yet’

Prabhsimran is currently PBKS’ highest run-getter this season with 437 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 170.03, and the highest among uncapped batters. Another uncapped batter, Priyansh Arya, who is playing his first IPL season, has also made a strong impression with 347 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of nearly 193, forging a potent partnership with Prabhsimran at the top.”Yeah, look, he’s been brilliant, hasn’t he? You know, him and Priyansh have got us off to some great starts in the tournament,” Ponting said. “They both, you know, before today had both made 350 runs each for the tournament. I sort of challenged both of the openers in the team meeting today for one of them to go on and get a hundred in this match.”And unfortunately, Prabh felt just a little bit short of that. But look, all we’ve done with our batting group, we’ve just given some really clear direction of the way that we want them to play, to understand how important, you know, top-order partnerships are in this competition. And we know that if Priyansh and Prabh get going together, that they can be ultra-destructive.”You know, Priyansh mainly, probably more against the faster bowlers. And Prabh’s as good a hitter or spinner as anybody going around. So, they complement each other really well, being left hand, right hand, and one probably being slightly better against the quicks and another against spin. So look, it’s a really good, really good combination.”

“Somewhere along the way, I lost the fun of hitting boundaries and hitting sixes. But now I have realised I need to go back”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-20252:08

Jaffer: Rahul’s takedown of Noor was the key for DC

KL Rahul hasn’t waited long to make a splash at IPL 2025 after his belated entry – he was on paternity leave the first two games for Delhi Capitals (DC) – and puts it down to being “back to enjoying my cricket”. His 15 in his first game came off five balls, and the match-winning 77 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday off 51 balls. The new approach is because “the team that hits more boundaries and sixes ends up winning the game”.Since IPL 2019, Rahul hadn’t topped 138.8 as far as the strike rate for a season goes. This included dips of 129.34 (2020) and 113.22 (2023) even as he scored between 520 and 670 runs in every season bar 2023, when he played just nine games. Being relieved of the captaincy (at Lucknow Super Giants) and being with DC as just a player seem to have freed him up.”I’ve worked really hard on my white-ball game the last year or so. Big shoutout to Abhishek Nayar. I’ve worked a lot with him ever since he’s come into the Indian team,” Rahul said in a chat with DC team mentor Kevin Pietersen on iplt20.com after DC’s win over CSK. “We’ve spent hours and hours together talking about my white-ball game and how I can be better. We worked hours and hours together in Bombay and somewhere I have found the fun playing white-ball cricket.”Related

• KL Rahul speeds up in bid to 'get back in the T20 team' ahead of 2026 T20 World Cup

• RCB return to Chinnaswamy to take on unbeaten DC with renewed optimism

• Worried Fleming says CSK are still 'grappling' to find their best line-up

• Jaffer: CSK look 'rattled', their batters are not even 'trying'

• KL Rahul shines as DC outclass CSK in Chennai

This was on display at the recent Champions Trophy, which India won, too. Rahul was the designated wicketkeeper and finisher, and had three unbeaten innings out of the four times he went out, scoring 140 runs at a strike rate of 97.90. There were five fours and five sixes in the 140.He has already hit eight fours and four sixes this IPL, and if the trend doesn’t change, he should go well beyond the 45 fours and 19 sixes he his last season, which ended with a much-talked-about, very public discussion with LSG owner Sanjeev Goenka. Goenka said after the season that he wanted to retain players who “have a mindset to win”. Rahul wasn’t retained. He said later that he wanted to be “loved, cared for and respected” by his team, and that he “wanted to start fresh”.”I think somewhere along the way I lost that fun of hitting boundaries and hitting sixes. I wanted to take the game deep, deep, deep and that somehow stuck in my head,” Rahul, who had once come under fire for saying “strike rate is very, very overrated”, told Pietersen. “But now I have realised I need to go back… cricket’s changed, and T20 cricket, especially, is only about hitting boundaries. The team that hits more boundaries and sixes ends up winning the game.”So back to enjoying my cricket. I am not thinking too much about the game, not thinking about taking it deep or none of that stuff. Just see [the] ball and try and be aggressive and put the pressure on the bowler and the opposition and just enjoy hitting boundaries.”