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The move away from home grounds means some teams will have to tweak squads and game plans significantly

Gaurav Sundararaman and Saurabh Somani04-Apr-2021The Covid-19 pandemic continues to throw up unexpected challenges for the IPL. If it was moving out of India and playing in bio-secure bubbles in 2020, now it’s a move away from home venues for every franchise. In a first for the tournament in India, IPL 2021 will not have a single team playing a match at their home grounds, not even in the playoffs. Most IPL teams have evolved specific squad compositions keeping in mind they play seven games at a venue that is familiar to them each season, but now all of those plans will have to be revised. Teams will also play several matches at a stretch at the same venue – another first. Here’s a breakdown of each team’s schedule, how not playing at home could affect them, and what they need to do to counter that.

Chennai Super Kings

Five matches in Mumbai – April 10-25
Four matches in Delhi – April 28 – May 7
Three matches in Bangalore – May 9-16
Two matches in Kolkata – May 21, 23Of all the teams in the IPL, the Super Kings have used home advantage to best effect. They have built a squad that will win, more often than not, at Chepauk, with spinners and canny fast bowlers who know how to exploit the surface. When they played at neutral venues in the UAE, it affected the Super Kings’ style of play. In 2019, their spinners took 62 wickets at an average of 19.66 and an economy of 6.76. In 2020, their spinners took just 20 wickets at an average of 40.15 and at an economy of 8.51. The Super Kings are playing ten matches at venues that are very batting-friendly and tough on spinners. The average economy rate for spinners in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata in T20s since 2018 is close to 8.0 per over, and the average first-innings score is 175. If MS Dhoni’s side have to improve on last season’s showing, they need to adapt and find alternative ways of winning. Playing more than half their games in Mumbai and Bangalore also means their batting strategy might need tweaking, with an emphasis on going hard earlier because a total in the region of 160 likely won’t be enough there.

Delhi Capitals

Three matches in Mumbai – April 10-18
Two matches in Chennai – April 20, 25

Four matches in Ahmedabad – April 27 – May 8

Five matches in Kolkata – May 11-23The Capitals have a core of players who are well suited to take advantage of a variety of conditions, but they might have liked a few more games in Chennai considering they have a strong spin attack, with R Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Axar Patel. With their remaining games being in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, the Chennai games are likely to be the only ones where they can consider going in with all three of those spinners, and they’ll have to rely on their quick bowlers for the rest of tournament. Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada started with a lot of fire in IPL 2020, but tailed off towards the end. Managing their workloads is something the Capitals will have to pay close attention to, given their five games in Kolkata at the end, the venue that has the best strike rate for fast bowlers, 18.5 (none of the others have strike rates below 20) in all T20s since 2018. The Capitals might need to keep their focus fluid: start with batting dynamism in Mumbai, bring the spinners into play in Chennai, get a mix of everything in Ahmedabad with a batting tilt, and finish with pace bowlers leading the way in Kolkata. An interesting challenge awaits new captain Rishabh Pant.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Kolkata Knight Riders

Three matches in Chennai – April 11-18
Two matches in Mumbai – April 21, 24

Four matches in Ahmedabad – April 26 – May 8

Five matches in Bangalore – May 10-21The Knight Riders will play a bulk of their games in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. With Eoin Morgan as the captain, they are likely to follow a strategy similar to that of England in white-ball cricket. The venues they are playing at tie in nicely with a philosophy of focusing on six-hitting too. The Chinnaswamy Stadium, with its short boundaries, has proved to be a happy hunting ground for KKR, who have won five of their last six games there. As for Ahmedabad, Morgan has just led England in five T20Is at the new stadium, which should augur well in terms of tactics and familiarity. What the Knight Riders will miss are the helpful conditions for pace bowlers that Eden Gardens offers. The likes of Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins and Prasidh Krishna may not get the same bounce and carry in Bangalore or Ahmedabad. So while their batting looks sorted for the conditions they’ll face, they may want to evolve alternative bowling plans and combinations.

Mumbai Indians

Five matches in Chennai – April 9-23

Four matches in Delhi – April 29 – May 8

Three matches in Bangalore – May 10-16

Two matches in Kolkata – May 20, 23The Mumbai Indians might have turned their home venue into a fortress, but they haven’t become the most successful side in the IPL by winning only at home. Mumbai have most bases covered for whichever venue they find themselves in. At first glance, five consecutive matches in Chennai to start with might seem to work against them, given Chepauk’s famously spin-friendly surface and Mumbai’s relative lack of spin-bowling firepower, compared to their batting and their pace line-up. But the record says different: Mumbai have greatly enjoyed playing at Chepauk, and their last loss at the venue came back in 2011. They’ve beaten the Chennai Super Kings in their own den five consecutive times now, stretching back to 2012 and including two wins in 2019. So while there is no denying that the team finds something extra when playing at home, the quality and depth in the side suggests that the changed schedules will affect them the least. They end their campaign with three matches in Bangalore, followed by two in Kolkata, which could be an ideal way to tune up their batting and pace bowling with an eye on the knockouts.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Punjab Kings

Three matches in Mumbai – April 12-18

Two matches in Chennai – April 21, 23

Four matches in Ahmedabad – April 26 – May 6

Five matches in Bangalore – May 9-22
The Punjab Kings have never consistently had a home ground – in previous seasons, they have played in Pune and Indore in addition to Mohali. Playing at neutral venues is not new to them. Crucially, though, this time eight of their games are going to be played at venues that suit boundary-hitting more than others. For a Kings batting line-up firing on all cylinders, that suits them just fine. They start their campaign in Mumbai and finish in Bangalore, which gives them the opportunity for both a strong start and a strong finish. In Mumbai and Bangalore, a boundary is hit every five balls, while the figure for Chennai and Ahmedabad is around seven balls. The likes of Nicholas Pooran, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Chris Gayle are well placed to make use of the smaller boundaries. From a bowling perspective, the Kings have invested in 140kph-plus quicks and swing bowlers who could use the conditions in Mumbai and Ahmedabad effectively, with fast bowlers striking once every 20 balls at these two venues. Overall, the Kings don’t need to tinker with their tactics or approach, because the new schedule might actually work out better for them than the traditional home-and-away games.

Rajasthan Royals

Five matches in Mumbai – April 12-24
Four matches in Delhi – April 29 – May 8

Three matches in Kolkata – May 11-16

Two matches in Bengaluru – May 18, 22In IPLs past, whenever the Royals played in Jaipur, they found something extra, which led to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium being labelled their fortress. From IPL 2008 to 2013, they won 29 out of 38 matches at the venue. They subsequently didn’t play there for four years for a variety of reasons, before returning in 2018, but it wasn’t the same: since then, they have won eight and lost six matches at the venue. They will start their campaign in the batting-friendly environs of Mumbai, where pace bowlers have also found some nip early on. But the Royals will be without their primary weapon, Jofra Archer, making it a tough start for them. Archer is expected to miss at least the first four games, and possibly more, which leaves only Chris Morris to carry the attack. The Royals start with five matches in Mumbai and move to Delhi for four matches, marking a shift in bowling strategy from pace to spin, since Delhi is the second most favourable venue for spinners after Chennai, with a spin economy rate of 7.15 and a spin strike rate of 21.6. The Royals might struggle with the bowling in Delhi too, since their spin contingent lacks the pedigree and depth of the other sides. The change in schedules from the home-and-away format, coupled with Archer’s injury, might hit the Royals harder than most others.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Three matches in Chennai – April 9-18

Two matches in Mumbai – April 22, 25

Four matches in Ahmedabad – April 27 – May 6
Five matches in Kolkata – May 9-23The batting friendly conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium have meant the Royal Challengers’ bowlers never really made the kind of impact their batsmen did in past seasons. However, last year the bowlers played an important role, revelling in the bigger grounds in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi. This time around, they will have to figure out a way to make best use of the venues and their resources. Their finishing stretch is in Kolkata, which their batsmen might enjoy. Ahmedabad and Chennai are relatively tough places to bat, with average first-innings scores of around 155, while in Mumbai and Kolkata it is closer to 170. Just like with Morgan and KKR, Virat Kohli’s familiarity with the Ahmedabad stadium after leading India in the T20I series there should offer the Royal Challengers some tactical nous. Overall, they don’t have to change too much in their tactics, apart from picking the right bowling combinations based on venues.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Five matches in Chennai – April 11-25

Four matches in Delhi – April 28 – May 7

Three matches in Kolkata – May 9-17
Two matches in Bengaluru – May 19, 21With one of the best attacks in the league, the Sunrisers rely on their bowlers to win them matches. They do have some batting firepower at the top, but bowling has always been their strongest suit. Their first nine matches are being played in Chennai and Delhi. Both these venues are favourable for spin. In the last three years, spin bowlers have gone at 6.3 and 7.1 runs per over there, while the average first-innings scores have been 156 and 160 respectively. This suits the Sunrisers’ style of play, as they have excellent players of spin in David Warner, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow, and three top-notch T20 spinners in Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. If the pitches do slow down, SRH could have a successful first half without altering too much of their strategy.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Santos superou a Portuguesa por 4 a 2 nos pênaltis, após empate em 0 a 0 no tempo regulamentar, pelas quartas de final do Paulistão, na Vila Belmiro. Destaque da partida foi o goleiro João Paulo, que fez ótimas defesas durante o jogo e pegou uma das cobranças da Lusa na disputa de penalidades.

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➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

O equilíbrio do confronto do início ao fim foi surpreendente, considerando os resultados das duas equipes até aqui no estadual. O Santos teve a segunda melhor campanha da fase de grupos, enquanto a Portuguesa foi a pior equipe dos oito classificados às quartas, com 15 pontos a menos do que o Peixe. Mesmo assim, o empate não saiu do placar e a decisão ficou para os pênaltis.

⚽ COMO FOI A PARTIDA?

O Santos iniciou o jogo tentando pressionar a saída de bola da Portuguesa, mas foi a Lusa quem criou as melhores chances no primeiro tempo. Os visitantes apostaram na bola aérea e levaram perigo, até que Quintana perdeu chance claríssima aos 21 minutos. Depois, o Peixe cresceu e conseguiu bons ataques, principalmente com Otero no lado direito.

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Na segunda etapa, o duelo seguiu equilibrado, com ótimas chances para os dois lados. Contudo, quem teve a oportunidade mais clara foi a Portuguesa, quando Henrique Dourado ficou cara a cara com João Paulo e parou em um milagre do goleiro santista. Pouco depois, Otero foi expulso após pisão em Giovanni Augusto e deixou o Peixe com um a menos por 20 minutos. Ao final, nada de gols e a vaga na semifinal foi decidida nos pênaltis, e o time da Vila Belmiro venceu por 4 a 2, com JP defendendo uma das cobranças.

✅ O QUE VEM POR AÍ?

Com a classificação, o Santos irá enfrentar o Red Bull Bragantino nas na semifinal do Paulistão, marcada o dia 27 de marços, quarta-feira, ainda sem horário definido. Palmeiras e Novorizontino fazem a outra partida das semis.

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Campeonato PaulistaPaulistãoPortuguesaSantos

Jamie Carragher took aim at one Liverpool star, who was “really poor” against Sunderland, as Arne Slot’s side endured another mixed evening at Anfield.

Liverpool struggle at Anfield yet again

After victory over West Ham United last weekend, Liverpool looked to their game against Sunderland as an ideal chance to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League and stop the rot. The Black Cats had different ideas, however, and soon reminded the Reds why they find themselves in the position they’re in.

In many ways, Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected effort summed up Liverpool’s recent fortunes. With the Premier League champions entering the game off the back of two Anfield losses, the last thing they needed was for Virgil van Dijk’s block to find the back of Alisson Becker’s net.

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One positive for Liverpool in recent weeks has been the form of Florian Wirtz, though, and at long last the German made his mark in the Premier League. His effort went down as a Nordi Mukiele own goal, but there’s no doubt that one of the summer’s most expensive signings stepped up to get his side level.

It was far from a vintage display from the champions, but they’ll at least be relieved to avoid another defeat. Following victory at West Ham, Slot’s side should see the Leeds United game this weekend as the opportunity to turn the narrative to two wins from three games in the same week.

That said, whether Alexander Isak plays a part this weekend remains to be seen. The Swede didn’t follow up from last weekend’s first Premier League goal for the club and had just 15 touches, much to Carragher’s frustration.

Jamie Carragher slams "really poor" Alexander Isak

Watching on from commentary, Carragher slammed Isak as “really poor” and said that the forward has no “excuses” for his disappointing form at this stage of the campaign.

After smashing their transfer record to welcome the £280,000-a-week star, Liverpool were in dreamland in the summer. Alas, that dream has quickly turned into a nightmare for all involved.

Isak has gone from strike to strike-less at times. Liverpool sit eighth and their attack has never seemed so toothless under Slot. With Hugo Ekitke also struggling to find the back of the net in recent weeks, there’s no doubt that the Reds have an attacking problem on their hands.

It doesn’t get any easier, either. On paper, a trip to a newly promoted side should be a routine affair, but Liverpool will be squaring off against a Leeds side who just defeated Chelsea.

Before then, Slot simply has to find a way to get Isak more involved. With just 15 touches, the Swede was always likely to struggle.

Liverpool open talks this week to sign "monster" Real Madrid target

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras estreia no Brasileirão 2024 neste domingo (14), quando encara o Vitória, no Barradão, dando início a caminhada rumo ao tricampeonato nacional.

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Tricampeão paulista após 90 anos, na semana passada, o Verdão busca agora o tricampeonato brasileiro, algo que jamais aconteceu em quase 110 anos de história do clube.

O Verdão só teve duas chances de faturar o Brasileirão por três anos consecutivos em sua história, e foram nas temporadas de 1974 e 1995.

Ao Canal 11 de Portugal, Abel Ferreira falou sobre a estreia no Brasileirão e afirmou ao veículo de seu país que vai fazer de tudo para defender o bicampeonato:

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➡️ Matador! Com R$50 no Lance! Betting, você leva R$151 se Flaco López balançar as redes do Vitória a qualquer momento

— Não somos os favoritos. Aqui há seis. Internacional, Flamengo, Botafogo, Palmeiras, Atlético-MG e há sempre um ou outro que aparece, como foi no ano passado com o Red Bull Bragantino, mas vamos defender o que é nosso com unhas e dentes, isso eu posso garantir – disse Abel.

At 34, Pierre could make his Test debut in India and he is willing to give 110% as always

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-20251:53

Khary Pierre: ‘Can’t put in words how I feel’

Khary Pierre is on the verge of turning his dream of playing a Test for West Indies into reality. He just needed to wait 34 years. Pierre was picked in West Indies’ squad as the second spinner for their tour to India, which starts this week, and he was over the moon when he found out.”I was actually playing CPL, with St Lucia Kings when I first got the news,” Pierre said. “It’s a great honour, privilege to represent the West Indies, something that I dreamt of when I was young; watching the West Indies play, the likes of Brian Lara and these guys, just watching Test cricket. I was really happy, I couldn’t put together words [to describe] the feeling at that moment.”A part of the youth-cricket system in Trinidad, Pierre had to wait till he was 25 to make his first-class debut. It’s taken him nine years to graduate from that level up to Test cricket but through it all he never lost hope. The left-arm spinner has played 35 red-ball matches and taken 111 wickets at an average of 22.81. He also has a first-class century to his name.Related

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“There’s the youth level,” Pierre said, “Going up from under-15, under-17, under-19, and I was in all these things. I made my debut for Trinidad. It was tough, but I never gave up, just putting in the extra work. I always tend to want to do more. Even after practice, [I want to] bowl more balls, hit more balls. As I always say, ‘hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.’ I always take that and put it towards my game.”Earlier this year, with 41 wickets in seven games at an average of 13.56, Pierre topped the bowling charts in the West Indies Championship, the regional first-class competition. He attributed this success to his “trademark” quality built around not sparing effort.”I was just trying to enjoy my cricket. I think that was the key to my success this season in the Championship. I was taking the outcome out of it and [focusing on] giving a 110%. I’m a cricketer that will always give 110% when I enter the cricket field, I leave everything in the cricket field – blood, sweat, tears – and that was my trademark this season and it paid off. So, I’m really happy.”When asked about his strengths, Pierre’s response echoed what CWI’s senior talent manager Jamal Smith said about him last week.”I would say control, consistency, just trying to stay full at the batsman as much as possible. Variations, using the crease, just trying to outfox the batsman – I think that is the aim of any spinner – use angles and stuff like that.”

India captain Shubman Gill has said his team was “pretty confident” of taking the remaining four wickets on the final morning at The Oval to square the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series.Late rain on day four dragged the game into the fifth day, leaving England needing 35 runs and India four wickets. Mohammed Siraj picked up three of the four to seal a stunning win.”Yeah, we were pretty confident,” Gill said at the post-match presentation. “Even yesterday, we knew that they [England] are a little bit under pressure. We just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout. Pressure makes everyone do things that they don’t want to, and we just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout.Related

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“I think the way both the teams played in the entire series, every day coming on day four, day five, and never really knowing which team is going to win… it shows that both the teams came up with their A game and very happy to get over the line in this one.”Joe Root had said that the use of a heavy roller would benefit England on the fifth morning, but Siraj and Prasidh Krishna worked in tandem to give no respite to Jamie Smith and the tail.”When bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh are bowling like that then 35 runs is also too much,” Gill said at the post-match press conference. “As a batsman, you are under pressure as you feel the ball is doing something and it takes just one ball. And that is what we were reminding them about frequently. If the conditions are like this and the momentum is with you, then 30-35 runs is enough, then you know it is a matter of one or two balls falling in the right place and the game will get over there and then.”Gill said that India never thought about taking the second new ball, considering the movement both his strike bowlers had been getting since day four. “Also, we had the wicket-taking option on this wicket,” Gill said. “If they had to make the runs, they would need to score boundaries. We knew they were under pressure because in such a position the batting team is under pressure because it is matter of one ball.”Having been left heartbroken after he was the last man dismissed in the Lord’s Test last month, Siraj finished the game this time with the ball, when his pinpoint yorker uprooted Gus Atkinson’s off stump. Siraj put in a big shift, with his 30.1 overs in the fourth innings bringing him five wickets.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Yes, definitely, he’s a captain’s dream”, Gill said of Siraj. “Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out, and every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in our team.”While Siraj won the Player-of-the-Match award, Gill was chosen as India’s Player of the Series by the opposition coach Brendon McCullum for his chart-topping 754 runs in ten innings at an average of 75.40. Gill’s series aggregate is the second-highest for a captain behind Don Bradman’s 810 against England in the 1936-37 Ashes. No other batter has scored more runs in a series between England and India, going past Graham Gooch’s 752 runs in 1990.”Feels very rewarding,” Gill said. “I worked pretty hard before the start of the series. There were certain things that I wanted to work on as a batsman, and it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series. And to be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and very rewarding.”I think once you are sorted mentally, you would be in a good space. But you’re only sorted mentally when you’re feeling technically correct. So, I think they’re both kind of correlated. If you feel like you’re getting in good positions, you’re always mentally more stable.”3:49

Bangar: Series result proves India is growing in stature

‘We want to be looked as a gun team’

Having started the new WTC cycle with a series-levelling win, India are currently third on the table with 28 points in five matches. “This series was very important for us because the kind of maturity every player would feel [at] the end of the series would really help us in the long run in this WTC cycle,” Gill said.Asked if he would have felt the same had England chased the target, Gill admitted that his “feelings would definitely be slightly different”.”I think the scorecard of the series could not have really depicted what kind of cricket we played,” he said. “But this scorecard of the series that we have right now really shows how both teams played. This win was important for us to be able to get that morale high, especially after the kind of cricket that we have played over the course of two months.”When Gill’s India had landed in the United Kingdom in June, there were several questions asked – whether his team had the experience and the personnel to challenge Ben Stokes’ men. Two months later, India depart with the series shared. Gill credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for building the confidence of the team.”At the start of the series Gauti [Gambhir] said: ‘yes, we are a young team, but we don’t want to be looked as a young team; we want to be looked as a gun team’. And the way we played it today showed us that why we are a gun team, and we have gun players like him [Siraj] in our team and that’s what makes this team so special.”

Pep Guardiola has described what an honour it is to have watched Phil Foden's rise up close as the midfielder prepares to play his 200th game for Manchester City. The 25-year-old will reach the milestone if selected to face Bournemouth on Sunday. The coach, however, is staying out of the debate over whether Foden should be recalled to the England squad by Thomas Tuchel.

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  Guardiola honoured to see Foden play 200th game

  Guardiola gave Foden his City debut in 2017 against Feyenoord and integrated him into the squad little by little. Foden made five Premier League appearances as City won the title in 2018 and a further 13 when they retained their crown in 2019. Guardiola described Foden as the most talented player he had ever worked with during the summer of 2019.
  Foden consolidated his place in Guardiola's starting XI from then on, playing a big role as City won four consecutive league titles between 2021 and 2024 and scooped numerous other titles including the 2023 Champions League and FA Cup to complete the treble. Guardiola revealed his pride at watching every step of Foden's City journey ahead of the game with Bournemouth.

  "It's an honour for me to see his impact, for the club of his heart, it's a good milestone at his age," Guardiola said. 

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  Guardiola stays out of England discussion

  Foden has not played for England since asking to be left out of the team's squad in June to focus on improving his physical and mental health after a difficult season on and off the pitch. He was injured for the September camp and although he returned to form soon after, England boss Tuchel left Foden and a number of other high-profile players including Jude Bellingham out of the squad for the October games against Wales and Latvia.

  Tuchel will name his final squad for 2025 next week for the games against Serbia and Albania but Guardiola refused to be drawn on whether Foden should be picked. "A question for Thomas," he said. "He has to play good every day, the competition is not easy, there are a lot of good English players in his position and then Thomas will decide."

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  Guardiola mulls playing Foden & Cherki together

  Foden came on as a substitute to help City beat Swansea City 3-1 on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup and reach the quarter-finals. Rayan Cherki was the standout performer for City, scoring and setting up a goal. The Frenchman and Foden are yet to start a game together this season but Guardiola said he can see it happening soon, even though they play in similar positions as aspiring No. 10s and are not the strongest players.

  He said: "It's a real option to play them together, like Erling and Marmoush. I will not be the one to say I don't like these kind of players, but you have to realise what it is like to play in the Premier League with the physicality. We need to get the balance. We saw it against Aston Villa, we were not solid enough to sustain it. They will learn."

  Cherki ended the Swansea match complaining of cramp but is fit to face Bournemouth. There was more positive injury news for City as Guardiola revealed that Rodri would be available for the first time in a month and top scorer Erling Haaland was also ready to play after his injury scare in the 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa last week.

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  Bournemouth rise demonstrates Premier League unpredictability

  Bournemouth are second in the Premier League heading into Sunday's game at the Etihad Stadium while promoted Sunderland are fourth, one point and one place above City. Guardiola acknowledged that the Premier League has fewer dominant teams than before and praised the English top-flight's competitiveness. 

  "I remember when I was in Barcelona and Bayern Munich, I heard the rumour from England that everyone can beat everyone," he said. "Maybe Liverpool and ourselves changed that dynamic by getting near 100 points but it's good that other teams can be up there. Sometimes there is not a dominant team. Everyone can beat everyone, it's good for the Premier League and the spectators."

Paul Pogba's return to action has been among the most anticipated events in European football this season, with the French midfielder signing a two-year deal with Monaco as a free agent after serving an 18-month doping ban. Monaco boss Sebastien Pocognoli has hinted that his return to the squad was close, with a new report now revealing when Pogba could realistically make his debut for the Ligue 1 giants.

Pogba close to a return after more than two years

Football offered Pogba a chance at redemption earlier this summer when he signed a two-year contract with Monaco as a free agent. The 32-year-old was overcome with emotion, breaking down in tears as he put pen to paper – a clear sign of what it meant to him to finally move past the torment of his doping suspension. Initially handed a four-year ban after testing positive in September 2023, Pogba later saw the sanction reduced to 18 months.

Since then, he has been working relentlessly to regain full fitness and form, openly expressing his dream of earning a place in France’s squad for the 2026 World Cup. "Of course, it's the wish of every French football player to play for the French national team," said Pogba in July.

AdvertisementAFPPogba could be in the Monaco squad against Paris

Per reports before this month's international break, it was understood that it was possible for Pogba to make his debut for Monaco against Angers on October 18. However, it's been four games since the end of the international game without any sight of the Frenchman. He was not named in the squad during Monaco's enthralling 5-3 win over Nantes on Wednesday. However, now suggest that Pogba could be in line for a return to action against newly-promoted Paris FC this weekend. 

"Yes, it’s possible he could be reintegrated into the squad [against Paris]," Monaco head coach Sebastien Pocognoli said on Wednesday. "There’s still one training session with a certain workload, and if he feels good, we’ll be on track with the plan we set out. It wouldn’t be illogical to see him on the team sheet."

'Not the Pogba of old'

It was always going to be an uphill task for the former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder to get up to speed with the rigours of top-flight football after not playing for almost two years. In July, Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro explained that the club had designed a meticulously planned rehabilitation program to recover Pogba's fitness levels. 

"I can guarantee you that Paul won't be able to play against Le Havre [in the opening game of Ligue 1]," said Scuro in July. "He must have been joking. We have to be realistic and honest. We expect a three-month process to be able to rehabilitate him. When you see it on TV, high-level sport can seem easy, but you have to realise the intensity required. And Monaco is one of the most intense teams in Ligue 1 and in Europe in terms of play. So our players have to be very fit to be on the pitch. But it's our job to give him the tools to do that."

On Tuesday, Pocognoli emphasised that Pogba will be judged based on the footballer he is today rather than taking his past laurels into account. 

"I think that we will have to undergo a process together by judging him on the player that he is today, quite simply. The Paul from Manchester United or from his first stint at Juventus, was a few years ago now," he said. "All players evolve over time and through their experiences. We have to judge him exactly on what he is now, with his baggage but also his age. From what I have seen, he still has the technique that we know, but I think that the rhythm of the matches will give us indications [about his level]. I hope to get the best out of what he can give us."

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Getty Images SportMonaco emerge early Ligue 1 contenders

Monaco have ushered into a new era following the sacking of previous head coach Adi Hutter. Under Pocognoli, the French side have played four games, winning twice and drawing as many times. Monaco have emerged as early contenders to challenge Paris Saint-Germain's throne in Ligue 1, as they currently sit in second position with 20 points after 10 games, one point behind Luis Enrique's side. 

Pogba's return will be a timely boost to Monaco's hopes of pushing for the league title, but it remains to be seen which version of the player we will get to see in action on the pitch. Should the 2018 World Cup-winning midfielder become an important part of the puzzle in the following months and shrug off his injury woes – given his well-documented fitness issues from the past – then he could become a decisive factor. 

A Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) side led by Jitesh Sharma asked Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to bat first on a fresh Lucknow track. Jitesh said they wanted to use the early moisture in the surface. Phil Salt was fit and named in the XI, while regular captain Rajat Paitdar was only fit to bat but not to field so he was named in the substitutes list.SRH welcomed back Travis Head, who missed their last match because of illness, Abhinav Manohar and Jaydev Unadkat. Mohammed Shami, who had also missed the last match, was named in the substitute list so he could come in when SRH bowl.This was an important match for RCB, who had already qualified for the playoffs, but were in contention for a top-two finish, which can give them cushion in the playoffs. RCB were second on the table with 17 points, but had a game in hand over Gujarat Titans (GT), who had 18 points. The third team in the race for a top-two finish was Punjab Kings (PBKS), tied with RCB on 17 points from 12 matches.Sunrisers Hyderabad 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins (capt.), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Eshan Malinga, 11 Jaydev Unadkat
Impact sub options: Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet SinghRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 1 Phil Salt, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Jitesh Sharma (capt. & wk), 5 Romario Shepherd, 6 Tim David, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Yash Dayal, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Suyash Sharma
Impact sub options: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh

Real Madrid centre-back Dean Huijsen has pulled out of the Spain squad for the October World Cup qualifiers after he suffered a muscular injury. Huijsen, who joined Los Blancos from Bournemouth this summer, has appeared in all of Madrid's matches, except for the Espanyol clash, where he was suspended. He also played the full match against Villarreal last weekend.

• Huijsen out of Spain squad for October qualifiers

  Huijsen was forced to pull out of the Spain squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifying games against Georgia and Bulgaria on October 11 and 14 after the Real Madrid medical team assessed his condition, and the centre-back was diagnosed with a muscular injury. 

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  Madrid confirms Huijsen's injury

  The official statement from Real Madrid read: "Following tests carried out on our player, Dean Huijsen, today and assessed by the Real Madrid medical services, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to the soleus muscle in his left leg. Further updates will follow."

• Huijsen a key figure in Xabi Alonso's squad

  Under new manager Xabi Alonso, the former Bournemouth defender has established himself as a key member in the Spanish coach's starting lineup, as he has featured in every game for Madrid across all competitions this season, except for the Espanyol clash, where he was suspended after picking up a red card against Real Sociedad. In the club's latest 3-1 win over Villarreal last weekend, Huijsen played the full 90 minutes, but might have picked up the injury at the end of the clash.

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  Madrid's injury crisis worsened

  Madrid are already missing their right-backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dani Carvajal, as both defenders have been sidelined with injuries at the start of the season. Now, Huijsen's injury further makes the situation worse for Alonso, whose side are currently leading the title race by just two points. Alonso will hope that the Spanish defender's injury isn't too serious and he recovers before Madrid face Getafe on October 19.