Category Uncategorized

Arsenal dropped further off the Women's Super League title-chasing pace after being held to a goalless draw by Tottenham in the north London derby. The Gunners, who are without a win through their last three games in all competitions, find themselves stuck in fourth place – nine points adrift of leaders Manchester City – after Alessia Russo and Co posted a blank against stubborn Spurs on Sunday.

The home side started brightly, in front of a lively atmosphere, with Tottenham aware of the need to burst out of the blocks in a bid to end their sorry recent record against their arch-rivals. Arsenal’s defence held firm, though, and Renee Slegers’ side slowly grew into the game.

United States star Emily Fox saw a tame effort saved on the 15-minute mark, before Kyra Cooney-Cross curled an ambitious strike inches past the post seven minutes later. England star Russo fired a difficult volley wide of the target with 10 minutes of the first-half remaining, while Stina Blackstenius saw a poor header and low drive from a tight angle easily kept out before the interval was reached.

The first chance of the second 45 also fell to the Swedish striker, but she fired high over the crossbar from eight yards out when leaning back and getting her effort all wrong. Substitute Olivia Smith will feel that she should have done better with a sight of goal on the hour as she drilled straight at Lize Kop before Mariona Caldentey lashed high over the top with her left foot 10 minutes from time as the contest began to fizzle out.

GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Brisbane Road..

• Getty
  

  Goalkeeper & Defence

  Daphne van Domselaar (6/10):

  Did what was required of her on a relatively quiet afternoon – making one early save – with the odd risk being taken in possession when closed quickly by Tottenham forwards.

  Emily Fox (6/10):

  Fired in Arsenal’s first effort of note, which set the tone from that point. Happy to sit and allow others to flood forward, with Spurs being forced deeper into their shell.

  Lotte Wubben-Moy (6/10):

  Never looked flustered and kept Spurs at arm’s length. Does not dive into challenges, forcing opponents to take an extra touch. Kept a clean sheet on her 100th WSL appearance.

  Steph Catley (6/10):

  Shaken up after taking a blow to the head during the first-half, which left her requiring treatment. Played through any pain and was rarely troubled by the Tottenham attack.

  Katie McCabe (5/10):

  Sloppy in possession, doing little to aid Arsenal’s cause when it came to building attacks. Was booked and it came as little surprise when she was hooked at the interval.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Midfield

  Kyra Cooney-Cross (6/10):

  Drove the Gunners forward with positive intent. Set-piece delivery from deep caused Spurs problems at times and came as close as anybody to a goal when curling narrowly wide.

  Mariona Caldentey (6/10):

  Surprisingly quiet in the opening exchanges, seeing few touches, but her influence grew as the game wore on. Tried to drive Arsenal through midfield, but lacked any end product.

  Caitlin Foord (5/10):

  Despite Arsenal seeing a lot of the ball, she was rarely involved in their most promising moves. Formed part of a second-half shuffling of the Arsenal pack.

• Getty
  

  Attack

  Alessia Russo (6/10):

  Arsenal’s record when fielding her and Blackstenius is impressive, but the Lionesses striker is better leading the line. Had a couple of half chances while being starved of service.

  Beth Mead (6/10):

  Replaced at half-time. Provided a couple of dangerous deliveries and was always looking to tee up team-mates. Took a terrible free-kick moments before the interval.

  Stina Blackstenius (5/10):

  Found space hard to come by early on. Saw a tame header and shot from a tight angle easily saved. Fired over when well placed early in the second half before being hauled off.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  Subs & Manager

  Olivia Smith (7/10):

  Strong in the tackle and willing to race forward. Made an immediate impression and posed a threat on the right throughout the second 45 – with one clear sight of goal being passed up.

  Taylor Hinds (5/10):

  Did not have much to do defensively, which may have impacted her concentration. Did not offer much of an improvement on McCabe.

  Frida Maanum (6/10):

  One bright burst into the penalty area troubled Tottenham, but her cross-shot was ultimately cut out before it could reach Russo.

  Chloe Kelly (N/A):

  Thrown on for the final three minutes.

  Renee Slegers (6/10):

  Did her best to mix things up with second-half changes, but was unable to find that attacking spark. Needs a win to raise morale in the Gunners camp.

حُددت هوية طرفي المباراة النهائية لتحديد بطل الدوري الأمريكي لكرة القدم، 2025، بعد انتهاء نهائي البلاي أوف، للقسمين الشرقي والغربي في الساعات الأولى من صباح الأحد.

كان إنتر ميامي، بقيادة النجم ليونيل ميسي، قد أصبح بطلًا للقسم الشرقي بعدما فاز على فريق نيويورك سيتي بخمسة أهداف مقابل هدف، فجر اليوم، ليتحدد الطرف الأول في نهائي الدوري الأمريكي (لمطالعة التفاصيل من هنا).

من جهة أخرى، حقق فريق فانكوفر وايت كابس، الذي يحترف في صفوفه توماس مولر، فوزًا على سان دييجو بثلاثة أهداف لهدف، في نهائي البلاي أوف للقسم الغربي، ليضرب موعدًا مع إنتر ميامي.

بذلك، سيتواجه توماس مولر من جديد ضد ليونيل ميسي في فصل مختلف من فصول مواجهتهما والتي استمرت طوال السنوات الماضية في قارة أوروبا، ولكن هذه المرة ستكون على الأراضي الأمريكية. موعد مباراة إنتر ميامي وفانكوفر اليوم في نهائي الدوري الأمريكي

وستُقام مباراة نهائي الدوري الأمريكي، بين إنتر ميامي وفانكوفر، يوم السبت المقبل 6 ديسمبر، في تمام الساعة 9:30 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 10:30 بتوقيت السعودية.

Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, said that his beaten players would double down on their team unity after a chastening loss in the first Test at Perth, and vowed to block out the outside noise after what he acknowledged was “a very bad day”.Speaking to TNT Sports after Travis Head’s 69-ball century had condemned England to a crushing eight-wicket defeat inside two days, McCullum revealed he had been confident of his team’s chances of defending a slender total of 205, on a pitch that had offered pace and movement throughout, and on which Australia had been rolled aside for 132 in their first innings.Instead, Head came out swinging as a stand-in opener for the injured Usman Khawaja, and succeeded in knocking England off the aggressive lengths that had worked so well for their five-pronged pace attack on the opening day.”I thought 200 was actually a pretty good score for us to try and defend in the last innings,” McCullum said. “But the way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding. It’s one of the best knocks I’ve seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket.”I spoke to Gilly [former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist] about five minutes before their last innings, and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many’. I said, ‘I hope so’, but we might have needed another 230 the way that Travis played.”Fair play. We’ve always said that if someone’s able to stand up to what we throw at them, and be able to put us under pressure and deliver a performance such as that, then you have to tip your cap.”Head had been trapped on the back foot throughout a tentative first innings, scoring 21 from 35 balls from No. 5, before falling to a loose pull to mid-on off Ben Stokes. This time, however, he took the offensive option with 16 fours and four sixes, and grew in aggression throughout a first-wicket stand of 75 with the debutant Jake Weatherald, before adding 117 more with Marnus Labuschagne.With doubts about Khawaja’s fitness after a back spasm, and with Australia’s top-order in a state of flux coming into the series, Head may have made the role his own for the rest of the series – just as he did in powering Australia to ODI World Cup glory two years ago.”We will look at how we can control things better if that confronts us again,” McCullum said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to just acknowledge how special that knock was, particularly out of batting position as well. I thought was a brave call from the Australian coaches and from Travis Head as well, to put himself up the order.”Ironically, despite the extent of England’s own batting failings at Perth, with all 20 of their wickets falling in just 67.3 overs across the two days, Head’s success has encouraged McCullum to double down on their own policy of going hard at Australia’s bowlers.”Clearly, they wanted to try and make that ball as soft as what they could, as quickly as they could,” he said. “You do that through two ways. Right? You either do it through absorbing pressure and letting them all go through to the keeper, or you try and do what Travis he did, and batter it to all parts and make teams go away from their lengths. And he was superb.”As everyone knows, that’s the style of play that we try and replicate as well, to try and put opposition teams under pressure and take them away from bowling the most dangerous length. It doesn’t always work. And there were times today, with bat in hand, where we tried to do that, and it didn’t work. But the way that Travis Head played, he took the game away from us.”Case in point was the performance of Scott Boland, who bounced back from his rough first-innings figures of 10-0-62-0 to deliver the decisive spell of the day, immediately after lunch, as England lost 4 for 11 in 19 balls. Both of their set batters, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope fell in consecutive overs after getting bogged down by Boland’s accuracy, and when Harry Brook and Joe Root tried to take the aggressive option before they had the measure of the conditions, they too both fell cheaply.Related

• England need to shut out the noise and look in the mirror

• Head: 'It's not going to get much bigger than this'

• Bareknuckle Baz-brawl produces Ashes all-nighter for the ages

• Live Report – Stunning Head century gives Australia 1-0 lead

• Travis Head's 69-ball ton secures remarkable two-day win for Australia

“Boland bowled exceptionally well,” McCullum said. “He hit the deck hard, his paces were up as well, particularly after I felt we were on top of him a little bit in the first innings. The way he came back was a really pivotal moment. We were 100 in front, one-down, there was a time for us to be able to try and manoeuvre the game more into our favour and start to build the lead.”But in the end, we got out. We nicked out a couple of wider balls, and some of our high-quality players, who are free-wheeling types of cricketers, weren’t quite able to put pressure back on the opposition. We found ourselves in a bit of a collapse, and that’s something we’ll have to look at.”But I never want us to go away from our style. That is our best opportunity to try and put opposition teams under pressure. Yes, there’s times where we have to throttle down, and times where we can power up, but the basic principle of how we try and operate as a team is to try and exert some pressure back on the opposition.”The magnitude and manner of the defeat means that the reaction in the local media, and from the fans – both English and Australian – is likely to be off the scale in the coming days, especially given some of the headlines that contributed to the pre-series phoney war.McCullum, however, backed the culture of the dressing-room to withstand the worst of the criticism, much as has been the case throughout the ups and downs of his three-and-a-half-year tenure.”We’ve been trying to insulate against reacting to things too much for a little while,” he said. “We know that this one’s going to hurt, and it’s going to hurt not just us, but all the English people that follow this cricket team as well.”There’ll be a lot of a lot of chatter. For us, it’s a matter of making sure that we don’t allow our confidence and our camaraderie to dip too low. We know that at our best, we’re a very good cricket team. We have now got an extended amount of time off over the next 10 to 12 days to make sure that when we get to Brisbane, we bounce back.”One of my big beliefs is you got to build that unity, that cohesion, the connectivity and that camaraderie within a team for when you are under the biggest pressure, and the brightest lights, and things haven’t worked out accordingly. To me, there is no other way other than to stay together, and keep backing one another, and keep heading towards the target.”This is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve had a very bad day today, but we’ve done it before. That’s our blueprint. We’re married to that, and we won’t back down from that over the next four Tests.”

علق دومينيك سوبوسلاي، نجم نادي ليفربول، على احتمالية رحيل محمد صلاح عن صفوف الريدز خلال الفترة المقبلة، موضحًا أنه يحب الدولي المصري كثيرًا لكن القرار ليس قراره.

واستطاع نادي ليفربول تحقيقق انتصارًا ثمينًا يوم أمس الثلاثاء على إنتر ميلان 1-0، لحساب بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا مرحلة الدوري، بينما سجل سوبوسلاي هدف الريدز الوحيد من ركلة جزاء.

وشهدت هذه المباراة غياب محمد صلاح عن صفوف ليفربول، وبقرار فني من المدرب آرني سلوت، حيث لعب سوبوسلاي بدلًا من الدولي المصري، وكصانع ألعاب بدلًا من مركزه كجناح أيمن.

وقدم سوبوسلاي مباراة جيدة وساعد ليفربول في تحقيق الفوز، حيث يظهر الدولي المجري بشكل مميز منذ بداية هذا الموسم.

ودخل محمد صلاح في خلاف مع سلوت وإدارة ليفربول، بسبب جلوسه المستمر كبديل في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، ما أثار الجدل حول إمكانية رحيل اللاعب عن النادي الإنجليزي خلال الفترة المقبلة.

وقال سوبوسلاي في تصريحات نقلتها شبكة ”ESPN” عن مستقبل محمد صلاح: “ليس هذا قرارنا كلاعبين، أنا أحب محمد صلاح كإنسان وكصديق. كلاعب قدم الكثير لهذا النادي، سيكون القرار قرار النادي وقراره هو”.

وأضاف سوبوسلاي في حديثه عن محمد صلاح: “أنا قريب منه جدًا، إنه قراره الشخصي فيما يتعلق بحياته ومسيرته المهنية، لا علاقة للاعبين بالأمر لذا لا أملك ما أقوله بشأنه”.

اقرأ أيضًا .. سكاي سبورتس توضح موقف محمد صلاح من الانتقال للدوري السعودي

وعن الفوز على إنتر ميلان أوضح الدولي المجري: ”شعور رائع، خاصةً في مثل هذه اللحظات، قاتلنا كفريق واحد حتى النهاية ولا نستسلم أبدًا، في النهاية، أثمر العمل الجاد وهذا ما فعلناه، سنعود بالنقاط الثلاث إلى ديارنا”.

وأردف عن قرار مراجعة تقنية الفيديو قبل تأكيد ركلة الجزاء التي جاء منها الهدف أردف سوبوسلاي: ”بصراحة، انتظرنا القرار، لم أكن مشاركًا فعليًا في اللعبة، ركزت فقط على نفسي لأنني كنت أعرف أنني سأسدد ركلة الجزاء إن كانت ستحتسب، هذا ما كان يدور في ذهني”.

وحول تغيير طريقة العب ومشاركته كصانع ألعاب واللعب بدون أجنحة تابع سوبوسلاي: ”يختلف عن أسلوب لعبنا المعتاد، لكن أمام ليدز كان جيدًا، للأسف استقبلنا هدفًا من ركلة ثابتة في النهاية لكنني لا أعتقد أن الأمر يتعلق بالتشكيلة أو أي شيء آخر، المدرب يضعنا في هذه التشكيلة وعلينا أن نؤدي بها، إذا غير شيئًا، فعلينا أن نغيره، تحدثنا عن الأمر والآن نجح”.

وعن ما إذا كانت خطة لعب ليفربول الجديدة تمنح الفريق المزيد من السيطرة أجاب سوبوسلاي: ”في الحقيقة، لا يهم كيف نلعب في خط الوسط، إذا سيطرنا على مجريات المباراة فسنتمكن من السيطرة في أي مركز وفي أي موقف لأننا نمتلك الجودة واللاعبين المناسبين لذلك، سنجري التغييرات اللازمة الآن ولنرى ما سنفعله يوم السبت”.

وعن الحفاظ على شباك ليفربول نظيفة أردف الدولي المجري: ”كان ذلك في غاية الأهمية، هذا ما تحدثنا عنه، نحتاج إلى الجميع وليس المدافعين فقط، يبدأ الأمر من المهاجم، ثم لاعبي خط الوسط، ثم المدافعين ولا يزال لدينا أليسون بيكر”.

وتابع: ”إذا بذل كل لاعب قصارى جهده فسيكون من الصعب جدًا التسجيل في مرمانا، لقد أظهرنا ذلك مرات عديدة، ولكن ليس في الأسابيع أو الأشهر القليلة الماضية”.

وعن رغبة ليفربول في إنهاء مرحلة الدوري في دوري أبطال أوروبا ضمن المراكز الثمانية الأولى اختتم سوبوسلاي في حديثه: ”بالتأكيد، هذا هو عملنا وخطتنا، نركز الآن على الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز لفترة أطول ثم ستليها بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا في العام المقبل”.

Bowling coach Botha is also looking forward to meeting Broad and picking up “one or two new ideas”

Firdose Moonda06-Jun-2025″As a small boy, you want to be involved in Test cricket, and then you want to play against Australia and then you want to play at Lord’s. And then suddenly it happens all at once.”For eight members of the South African squad, this hat-trick of bucket-list items, as described by their bowling coach Piet Botha, will all happen next week. None of Ryan Rickelton, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Dane Paterson and Senuran Muthusamy have ever played a Test at Lord’s or against Australia. None of the South Africans have ever played in a World Test Championship final before, though five of them, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada, were involved in last year’s T20 World Cup final. Everything that happens from here is uncharted territory, which is “big and awesome”, as Botha put it. And which required meticulous planning, which hasn’t happened quite in the way Botha may have envisaged.South Africa bowled only 11 overs at the Zimbabweans on the only day play was possible at Arundel and neither Mulder nor Paterson had the ball in hand. Rabada took the only wicket, Jansen looked particularly threatening, and Lungi Ngidi was sharp. But all of them, as well as Bosch, had lengthy one-on-one conversations with Botha while South Africa batted to fine-tune their ideas for the final.Related

Boucher: 'Winning WTC final could be the turnaround for Test cricket in South Africa'

Prince says 'all possibilities open' as SA deal with problem of plenty

Ben Curran faces time on the sidelines with fractured hand

Zimbabwe quietly help neighbours SA tune up for their biggest Test

“Obviously, we haven’t played a Test match for six months and because people are all over the world, getting together can get a little bit congested in terms of planning,” Botha said. “We did a lot of stuff actually before we came to England, so we’re just backing up on that and getting our plans around with every individual around a specific bat, specific situation, [what to do with the] old ball, new ball, all that type of stuff.”Talk is cheap (and the South African saying goes on to say that money buys the whiskey, which essentially means it’s easier to say things than the effort it takes to do them) and Botha would have wanted to see those plans in action. He got some opportunity when play was called off 20 minutes before noon on Friday and South Africa set up nets on the outfield. For three hours, South Africa’s batters faced their own bowlers and were occasionally humbled. Paterson beat Stubbs with a ball on a perfect length enough to create uncertainty, Jansen bounced Bavuma with no dramas, and Bosch bowled Tony de Zorzi, who shouldered arms to one he should have played. For what seemed like the meat of the session, Rabada, Jansen, Paterson and Mulder ran in to bowl to Stubbs, Bavuma and later Bedingham and Markram. Does that suggest that is how South Africa will line up at Lord’s? Botha wouldn’t say.Lungi Ngidi bowled just two overs but looked sharp•ICC via Getty Images”We’ve got variation,” Botha said. “Left-arm, people who use a different spot of the crease when they bowl, different pace options, so it’s all about analysing the opposition, seeing the conditions on the day, whether it’s overcast, clear skies, and then you make your calls on the day. It’s not like we pre-plan everything. It’s also about leaving room for in-the-moment stuff.”Given that Rabada and Jansen are certainties, and Mulder should be too (he is likely to bat at No. 3), the biggest question is who among Paterson, Ngidi and Bosch will be the additional seamer. Vernon Philander, who took a five-for when South Africa were crowned No. 1 in 2012, has backed Paterson, for offering the kind of pace that will force batters to attack him and moving the ball both ways, but South Africa might want all-out pace in Bosch or the accuracy and variation of Ngidi. They will also wait to get to London, where they will train on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and receive some additional input from Stuart Broad.The former England international will join South Africa on Monday for part of their training session and then meet with the coaching staff who are looking for “one or two new ideas, maybe”, Botha said. “He’s played against Australia a lot, and at Lords, so basically, maybe a fielding place here or there that he might have found effective and a bit of a mental approach to how to play against Australia.”Broad is not their only source of intel. Paterson has played five games for Middlesex this season, including three at Lord’s and has already spent extra time with Botha. “I’ve had my discussions with him and asked for information,” Botha said. “They played on different strips [to the Test strip], but it was just to get an idea of how the ball behaves in certain spaces, certain parts of the innings, when it’s older, or with the second new ball, that type of information. He’s given us a lot of feedback.”South Africa’s bowling coach Piet Botha speaks to Corbin Bosch•ICC/Getty ImagesRabada has both been to Lord’s and under Australia’s skin before. He is coming off a month-long ban for cocaine use, which could attract sledging, but Botha is unconcerned. “He’s a strong personality and he’s 100% fine,” he said. “He’s had a good support structure around him.”Botha had similar complimentary things to say about his other main strike bowler, Jansen, who Zimbabwe’s batters thought was the toughest to face. “He’s really looking forward to this big occasion,” Botha said. “He’s one of those unique bowlers. If he hits his straps, he’ll be a difficult customer and mentally, he’s ready to go.”Perhaps the better person to ask than Botha is the only opposition South Africa have faced since their last Test in January: Zimbabwe. Word from their camp is that they were particularly impressed with how organised and clear South Africa have been, both in the warm-up game and outside. The teams have been staying at the same hotel and Zimbabwe’s players have noticed a closer-than-usual unity in the South African camp. “What stands out for me is how together they’ve been,” Sean Williams said. “They look like they’re peaking.”Next week will tell.

George Hill steers hosts on shortened day with both dressing rooms eyeing Hampshire result

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay26-Sep-2025

Yorkshire 465 for 9 (Hill 88, Raine 4-79, Ghafari 4-114) lead Durham 346 (Raine 101, White 5-69) by 119 runsYorkshire are closing in on Division One survival in the Rothesay County Championship, but Durham are not quite sure of the size of their task heading into day four at Headingley.Should Hampshire – 148 for 9 chasing 181 to beat Surrey at the Utilita Bowl – lose, seventh-placed Yorkshire would be safe no matter the result here in this season finale. Second-bottom Durham would need a draw to be safe.Should Hampshire win – they are eighth in the table – Yorkshire would need to draw here, which they are very well placed to do. But Durham would need a miracle victory to get out of trouble.Yorkshire, replying to a first-innings 346 all out, started a weather-affected day on 314 for 5 and advanced to 465 for 9 in the 51 overs possible, with George Hill compiling a skilful season’s best 88.It’s difficult to see how Durham can win, so they desperately need Surrey to do so down on the south coast.Bad light interrupted play on three occasions at Headingley, with the bulk of the evening lost. No play was possible beyond 3.25pm.Hill impressively supplemented Indian batter Mayank Agarwal’s superb 175 on day two with his fourth fifty of a season which has seen him excel with the ball. His seamers have accounted for 47 Championship wickets.He shared in half-century stands with fellow allrounders Matthew Revis and Jordan Thompson, the latter contributing an unbeaten 44.The morning session was a relatively quiet affair, with Yorkshire advancing to 365 for 7. Ben Raine, who has been excellent with 4 for 71 from 33 overs added to his first-innings century, and Matthew Potts struck for Durham.Raine broke a sixth-wicket stand of 50 between Revis, 38, and Hill. Revis, crowned Yorkshire’s members’ player of the year at the end of day two here, was trapped lbw by an in-ducker before Dom Bess pulled Potts to deep backward square-leg.Hill was a calming presence for Yorkshire as they stretched their lead. In all, he hit 14 fours in 175 balls. Thompson was more expansive, whipping Will Rhodes over deep midwicket for six.Hill moved to a fifty off 105 balls shortly before the hosts reached 400 for 7 in the early stages of the afternoon. By this stage, Yorkshire led by 54 and Durham’s need for wickets was becoming more desperate.Hill did fall short of what would have been his season’s first century when bowled trying to attack the legspin of Afghanistan’s Shafiqullah Ghafari. But Yorkshire’s lead was 97 at 443 for 8.Hill and Thompson had shared an eighth-wicket 86, the latter allrounder playing his last match before a winter move to Warwickshire.Matt Milnes edged to slip to hand Ghafari a fourth wicket before the third bad light stoppage at 3.25pm was the last. With the players off the field at that stage, Durham’s dressing room would have been buoyed by news from Southampton.Yorkshire will head into day four in a much more relaxed state given their strong performance here. Durham, on the other hand, will be on tenterhooks not quite knowing the size or shape of their task in hand.

Tottenham Hotspur have now joined the race to sign a “special” £70m attacker, who has made a fantastic start to the season.

Spurs return to form with victory at Everton

Tottenham became the first visiting team to defeat Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday, emerging as 3-0 winners courtesy of a Micky van de Ven brace and a late Pape Matar Sarr effort, which saw them rise to third in the Premier League table.

Spurs returned to form on Merseyside, but they have struggled to create chances at times this season, and Thomas Frank is very fortunate his side managed to come away with a point from the trip to AS Monaco in the Champions League.

It would also be fair to say Xavi Simons hasn’t exactly hit the ground running in north London, chipping in with just one goal contribution in six Premier League games, and the Lilywhites have since set their sights on a new attacking midfielder.

That is according to a report from The Boot Room, which reveals Tottenham were one of the clubs to scout Eintracht Frankfurt’s Can Uzun in the German side’s recent 5-1 defeat against Liverpool in the Champions League.

Uzun is attracting interest from a whole host of clubs, with transfer expert Graeme Bailey revealing scouts from English sides have taken a liking to the youngster, saying: “This boy is ‘special’ was the comment I received from a scout attached to one of the Premier League’s top clubs.

“Uzun might be considered under the radar to some but he is a huge talent. He has become one of the most talked about players in the Bundesliga and he really is a huge talent.

“There is not a major club who doesn’t have him on their radar.”

Uzun has made flying start to the 2025-25 season

Signing the Frankfurt star could be a costly operation, with it widely being reported they value him at the €80m (£70m) mark earlier this month, but there are clear indications he could go on to be a top-level player.

Tottenham now leading race to sign £70m pass-master from Champions League club

Spurs have taken the lead in the race for an “intelligent” midfielder

By
Dominic Lund

Oct 26, 2025

The 19-year-old scored in each of his opening five Bundesliga games this season, and he has already amassed ten goal contributions in 12 matches across all competitions, catching the eye of scout Jacek Kulig in the process.

In fact, the Germany-born maestro places in the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers for non-penalty goals per 90 over the past year, having averaged 0.62.

Uzun has proven he has an incredibly exciting future ahead, so it is promising news that Tottenham are tracking his progress, although their interest appears to be tentative at this stage.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!