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Tottenham Hotspur may have been on the end of a wrong decision as an image has emerged showing they perhaps should have been playing against 10 men.

The Lowdown: Spurs fail to impress once again

Spurs can have no excuses last night about being dumped out of the FA Cup embarrassingly by Championship side Sheffield United as the Blades put up a good fight and even squandered a huge chance in the first half.

Christian Stellini decided to bench star striker Harry Kane last night and when he came on he did very little to impact the game apart from missing a free header late into the second half.

However, some Tottenham fans may well be fuming that John Brooks didn’t make the pretty obvious decision to send off George Baldock for his late and reckless challenge on Ivan Perisic.

The Latest: Refereeing decision may have changed the game

Brooks clearly thought that Baldock didn’t make sufficient contact with Perisic as he didn’t even award Baldock a yellow card which is quite crazy judging by the image below.

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The score was indeed all square at the time of this tackle and many will know that if Spurs were playing against a Championship side and held a numerical advantage then it would have been a major shock for them to not progress into the quarter-final.

The Verdict: A clear red card ignored

We believe that this challenge is deserved of a red card. The Sheffield United player clearly has his studs showing and foot raised high enough to make contact with the shin area, as well as flying into the tackle at force which endangers the Tottenham man.

While Tottenham can have no gripes about the result and performance with Stellini even claiming some of his players lacked the energy required to win, this decision could have changed their season.

If Tottenham had ended up playing against 10 men for the majority of the game then many would have fully expected them to progress into the next round and then they’re one win away from Wembley and just two away from a final in May.

However, Spurs have now been dumped out of the FA Cup, have no chance of winning the Premier League by sitting 15 points off top spot, face an uphill battle against AC Milan in the Champions League as they head into the second leg 1-0 down and look set for yet another trophyless season.

Christian Pulisic says he feels "nothing but love" to AC Milan after receiving death threats from Lazio fans following Friday's fiery Serie A victory.

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• Pulisic got two Lazio players sent off
• Milan snatched a 1-0 victory
• USMNT forward sends love to Rossoneri family

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Noah Okafor might have won the match for Milan but it was Pulisic who was responsible for getting two of the three players sent off on Friday evening that opened up spaces in defence. The American midfielder's clash with Luca Pellegrini resulted in the Roma star's dismissal, while a late altercation with Matteo Guendouzi saw the former Arsenal man receive his marching orders as well.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Following the game, Pulisic received death threats and vile messages from Lazio supporters, prompting concerns about the player's safety. However, the USMNT player has kept his composure and sent out a message of "love" for his teammates and the fans amid a difficult situation.

• WHAT PULISIC SAID

  In an Instagram post, Pulisic said: "Nothing but love for this squad and the entire Rossoneri family ❤️🖤"

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Pulisic has been in inspirational form in Serie A with seven goals and six assists in 25 appearances. He will now look to perform in the same vein in the Europa League when the Rossoneri welcome Czech club Slavia Pragu, to San Siro for the first leg of the last-16 tie on Thursday.

Australia’s new Test captain said that talk of changing the team’s on-field approach had started when Steven Smith was still in charge

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2018Australia will tone down their sledging under new Test captain Tim Paine as the team try to repair their damaged reputation following the ball-tampering controversy in South Africa which led to three players being handed significant bans.Paine was named the new Test captain when Steven Smith was suspended for the final Test in Johannesburg and Smith was subsequently handed a 12-month ban along with David Warner while Cameron Bancroft was given a nine-month penalty.Paine’s first proper chance to build a new-look side, both in terms of personnel and style, will come against Pakistan later this year but he is already thinking about the direction he wants to take the team. Cricket Australia have instigated a culture review following the recent events, but discussions about toning down on-field behaviour which had brought significant criticism before the Cape Town controversy had started when Smith was in charge.”I think there’s always a time and a place to talk to your opposition, but I think what’s said and how it’s said will be very different going forward,” Paine said. “A lot of this stuff we were actually starting to speak about under Steve already. A lot of the players had their head around the fact we needed to change the way we play. Some of those conversations were already being had.”I’m really looking forward to playing that role and winning back the trust and respect of our fans and the Australian public first and foremost. That’s a really exciting thing for our playing group.”Dean Elgar, who was part of the South Africa side throughout the series, admitted it was an odd atmosphere during the final Test of the series as a flat Australia were crushed by 492 runs and he hoped that Paine would be able to put his stamp on the captaincy.”Joburg was very strange, my first encounter against Australia that I wasn’t told my future,” Elgar said. “But saying that it’s part of the game, they’d been through so much leading up to the game, and it was sad to see what they were going through. No side needs to go through what they experienced, and knowing the characters in that changing room, I’m sure they can bounce back”I’d like to believe that’s the way they want to play their cricket, and if that’s their challenge that they have to deal with then we’ve got to respect what their new captain wants. I know Tim, I’ve played a lot of cricket against him, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to try to implement those kind of phases that they need to start off a new slate.”Another part of the fallout to the affair was Darren Lehmann stepping down as coach. Justin Langer has been tipped as favourite to take over but Cricket Australia have said the process will be started following a forthcoming board meeting. There will also be the need for new one-day and T20 captains in time for the tours of England and Zimbabwe which start in June with Paine only taking on the Test role.”We’ll have a new coach going forward, we’re going to have some time off where guys can take stock and think about the way they want to play,” Paine said. “Certainly, playing international cricket you’ve got to be as competitive as you can be. But we’ve got to look at different ways of doing that and more respectful ways of putting opposition teams under the pump.”Part of what we spoke about a lot is playing on skill, not emotion. I think in the last couple of years at times we’ve been a touch too emotional and got carried away on that side of the game. That’s a small thing we can improve on.”Paine also said he has kept in contact with Smith since he was banned and will continue to do so during his time out of the side.”I have a role to play of winning the back the trust and faith of our fans and the Australian public. I have spoken to him on the phone and via text. He’s someone who I certainly will be speaking quite closely to on how we go about it and keeping him in the loop. All three of them are going through a tough time and our thoughts are with those guys and we would love them back in the team.”However, in the longer term Paine believed the Australian game could recover from the controversy without lasting damage as he looked ahead to a home season that would include visits by India and Sri Lanka.”I don’t think it’s as disastrous as it’s been made out,” he said. “We’ve had this incident which has brought everything to a head. During the Ashes there wasn’t a lot said about our culture and looking back it’s just a few little things we can tweak and do a little bit better as a team.”If we do that then I think the Australian public will jump back on board pretty quickly. That’s one of our main aims for this coming summer.”

Bukayo Saka gifted his shirt to a young fan who bizarrely happened to shared his name after Arsenal's win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.

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Saka gifts shirt to young fan of same nameWinger's strike decisive in road winGunners gear up for Liverpool showdownWHAT HAPPENED?

The winger put Arsenal into a 2-0 lead in front of a jubilant away support at the City Ground but the Gunners were made to sweat late on, holding off a rally from the home side before they were finally able to celebrate three points in front of their fans.

Among those celebrating was a child with a sign saying 'My name is Saka', which proved eye-catching enough to persuade the England star to hand over his jersey.

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Both Sakas will be delighted that Arsenal managed to take three points from a ground that has proven to be a miserable place to visit in recent seasons. A then-Championship Forest bundled Mikel Arteta's side out of he FA Cup two years ago and then officially ended the Gunners' title dreams when the two sides met on Premier League terms in May 2023.

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WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

Arsenal fans and players will be watching on eagerly tonight, willing title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City to drop points. Then they'll have a chance to take matters in to their own hands on Sunday when Jurgen Klopp's farewell tour reaches the Emirates

Though he had calmed down somewhat after the match, Steven Smith was far from impressed when given out caught behind at a vital phase of Australia’s innings

Daniel Brettig21-Jan-2018Australia’s captain Steven Smith has called for an end to the practice of on-field umpires offering a “soft signal” to the third umpire on disputed catches, arguing that technology should be arbiter in such cases as the immediate reactions of players in the middle have often proven to be flawed.Smith was given out caught behind at a critical juncture of the third ODI in Sydney on Sunday, edging low to Jos Buttler who immediately celebrated the catch. The on-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Simon Fry then referred the catch to the TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena with the soft signal of “out”, and while replays shrouded the catch in far greater doubt, Dharmasena did not deem it to be enough to overrule the initial impression of his colleagues.In assessing the process, Smith said he felt that the umpires’ signal was often dictated by the reactions – either celebratory or ambivalent – of players in the middle, and carried too much weight relative to the evidence provided by television cameras. He said he would prefer a system where the third umpire made a ruling based purely on the pictures in front of him.”I’m not sure I’m a big fan of the ruling with the soft signal. That’s obviously the ruling at the moment and it’s hard to overturn anything,” Smith said. “We’ve seen a few this summer that have been pretty similar and if the fielder goes up and actually celebrates they usually get given out and if you’re a bit apprehensive of what’s happened they normally get given not out.”It’s hard for them to overturn the decision. I’d actually like for the third umpire to have to make the decision whether it’s out or not. Just them having to do it, if that makes sense.”The soft signal was introduced for disputed catches in part because it was felt that two dimensional camera images and foreshortening often added doubt to catches that all on the field had considered clean, meaning too many were ruled not out as a matter of course. Simon Taufel, the former ICC umpires training manager, has explained the reason for its existence by stating that umpires needed to retain the primary responsibility for decision-making.”It’s part of the decision-making process,” he told the in 2016. “If the third umpire cannot find conclusive evidence to prove that the original on-field decision is incorrect, then it stands. On-field umpires are there to make decisions and answer appeals, not simply to send them upstairs to the third umpire to take the call.”Decision making is an important skill and one that should be applied at the highest level of the game. So, the soft signal maintains the premise that the decision-making happens on field and not just left to technology to provide an outcome.”David Warner fell early in Australia’s chase•Associated PressButtler, for his part, remained adamant he had caught the ball cleanly when queried about it afterwards. “I was pretty sure it was out,” he said. “I think any wicketkeeper would tell you, you know if you get your fingers underneath it. It always looks a bit either way on TV but for me it was out.”Smith made it clear he was not questioning Buttler’s honesty: “He obviously thought it was out, he’s a pretty honest guy, so he thought it was out and it got given out so I had to walk off.”Other questions had been raised about Smith via footage that showed him rubbing the side of his lips before shining the ball during England’s innings – the use of saliva is permitted under the game’s laws but lip balm is not. “It was all spit,” Smith said. “People said something about lip balm. If you look at my lips, they’re pretty dry, I certainly didn’t have any of that on. It’s just the way I get some spit into the side of my mouth and get some spit onto the ball. So there was nothing in it.”As for Australia’s loss, surrendering the series to England in the minimum three matches, Smith said he needed to improve personally alongside a better collective effort from his men. “Five wins out of last 18 games and that’s just not good enough,” he said. “We’ve got to start finding ways to get over the line. Looking at this game I think the first 44 overs was really good and then Jos played particularly well at the end and Woakesy played well as well.”But I don’t think we executed well. We probably just needed to bowl some good balls at the top of the stumps and try to get them swinging across the line; we bowled too full or too short and got hurt. We probably should have been chasing somewhere around 270 or 280 and then if we do that things might have been a lot different.”I’ve got to play some better cricket. It was about me trying to control the middle with the spinners and keep getting off strike. Tonight I wasn’t good enough at that. I should have been up around a run a ball, it would have made things a bit easier at the back end. Not many balls were hitting the middle of my bat, which was disappointing. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I need to watch the ball a bit closer or something like that. It’s something to look at for Adelaide, hopefully I can do it a lot better and start helping this team win some games of cricket.”Fined 40% of his match fee for being deemed two overs behind the required over rate and now facing a ban for a repeat offence over the next 12 months, Smith said that he and the bowlers needed to be more disciplined in the field – no fewer than 13 wides and a no-ball effectively granted England more than two extra overs.”Yeah it’s not ideal, it’s two extra overs and 14 runs or thereabouts,” Smith said. “They’ve got to be a bit better with that as well. I think we were about 27 minutes over time as well so it’s going to cost me a bit, but I don’t mind that. It’s not ideal to have to bowl two extra overs and give away runs against a quality opposition.”

Jurgen Klopp joked that young full-back Conor Bradley would likely "fall asleep in the dressing room" after his team's 2-1 win against Fulham.

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• Bradley impressed in Liverpool win
• Full-back is only 20 years old
• Klopp delighted with his progress

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 20-year-old put in an impressive display as the Reds came from behind to win the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Anfield. The German manager was delighted with the right-back's performance and praised his character.

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  WHAT KLOPP SAID

  "He will probably fall asleep in the dressing room," Klopp told . "Wonderful, what a boy, what a character. Exceptional. What a boy. Wonderful character, a real talent, top potential. He is in the right team, everyone loves him and respects him and wants him to succeed."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bradley made his senior debut for the Merseyside club last season and was kept out of action for the beginning of the current campaign through injury. Since his return to the fold in November, though, he has featured five times, including in the recent FA Cup win against Arsenal.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR CONOR BRADLEY?

  Despite making nine first-team appearances for Liverpool, Bradley is still waiting on the first Premier League game of his career. He will have to wait a while before he can get a run out in the top flight, though, with Liverpool next in action on January 21 when they take on Bournemouth.

Newcastle United are still hoping to sign Southampton full-back Tino Livramento this summer after seeing an initial approach rejected as Eddie Howe now looks to improve his side's defensive options.

The Magpies boss has already completed deals for playmaker Sandro Tonali and winger Harvey Barnes for the first-team, taking the club's spending to just short of £100m, and looks determined to spread his attention evenly across the Toon squad to continue the club's rise.

Indeed, Newcastle finished fourth in the Premier League last year and now, with Champions League football awaiting, must ensure that the correct steps are taken to cement their stature among Europe's elite.

Is Tino Livramento joining Newcastle?

After being rebuffed the first time, Sky Sports' Mark McAdams has confirmed that the Magpies have seen a £30m offer rejected for Livramento, with Southampton holding out for £40m.

Read the latest Newcastle transfer news HERE…

The former Chelsea academy graduate spent the lion's share of the 22/23 campaign out injured and Saints, who were relegated from the Premier League, believe he has retained his value.

How good is Tino Livramento?

After signing from Chelsea for £5m in 2021, Livramento took to senior action like a duck to water and earned praise from England manager Gareth Southgate for his "excellent" start to the 21/22 campaign.

Across that season, the 20-year-old would forge 28 Premier League appearances, earning an average Sofascore rating of 6.85 and clinching a goal and assist apiece, also completing 79% of his passes, making 1.9 tackles, 1.7 clearances and 1.7 interceptions per match and succeeding with 62% of his ground duels.

It's clear that this varied approach would enhance Newcastle's right flank; Kieran Trippier is a remarkable player and a creative phenom but did not better Livramento across any of the aforementioned metrics last season, and given that he is approaching his 33rd birthday it is wise to identify an eventual heir.

It is also an astute move for Howe to move for a player plying his trade for a recently-relegated Premier League team, especially when considering his success previously delving into the market for a star to have faced the drop.

Namely, Nick Pope. The 31-year-old England international joined the St. James' Park project one year ago after arriving from Burnley for just £10m.

The £60k-per-week shot-stopper kept 14 clean sheets from 37 outings in the English top-flight last term and ranks among the top 8% of goalkeepers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for least goals conceded and save percentage, as per FBref.

It was a prudent purchase, and one that Howe has reaped the rewards of; what is to say the diligent recruitment team, headed by technical director Dan Ashworth, cannot repeat the feat?

Livramento saw his progress stifled last year but if his performances from the previous season are anything to go by, he was a sorely missed presence in the floundering Saints squad, and there is no question that he is a "future star" – as stated by former teammate Theo Walcott – who could grow into his role and coincide his burgeoning rise with Newcastle's over the next several years.

Rehan Ahmed is just 13. But such is his talent that, for the second year in succession, he was invited by MCC to bowl at the Test teams as they prepared for the Lord’s Test

George Dobell06-Sep-2017There had been talk going into this Lord’s Test that a young English legspinner might win his chance to impress.But it wasn’t Mason Crane who stuck out in the nets ahead of the third and final Test. It was an even younger legspinner named Rehan Ahmed.Rehan is just 13. But such is his talent that, for the second year in succession, he was invited by MCC to bowl at the Test teams as they prepared for the Lord’s Test.Last year he bowled so well that he dismissed Ben Stokes. But MCC felt that, in light of his age, any media coverage would be unhelpful and politely requested he be given time away from the spotlight. That will come soon enough.But this year he was back and bowled beautifully, troubling several batsmen in the nets.He can bat, too. He recently made an unbeaten 150 in a county game and, given the opportunity to face one ball from Jason Holder in the nets, charged down the pitch and drove him back over his head.”He is an exceptional, precocious talent,” Steve Kirby, the head coach of MCC told ESPNcricinfo. “And one we should nurture and not over-coach.”Nottinghamshire are doing a great job with him at present. We all just want to allow him to play and flourish. We don’t want to do anything to crush the wonderful enthusiasm he has at the moment.”Why is he here? Well, we thought he would enjoy bowling at the England and West Indies players. But more importantly, it’s all part of our attempts to build relationships with the south Asian communities. Hopefully seeing Rehan’s success will inspire other boys and girls to follow in his footsteps.”Rehan came to the attention of Nottinghamshire when his father, Naeem, brought him to open trials at the club as an eight-year-old. He was soon drafted into the Under-10 side and, this season, was deemed good enough to play for the U17s on occasions. He has two brothers, one older who is a decent seamer, and one younger, who is a spinner (he is 10 and bowls a lovely doosra).”Mushtaq Ahmed was just walking past the nets last summer and, when he saw Rehan bowl, he stopped in his tracks,” Naeem says. “He came back to watch and was obviously very impressed.”His advice? “He said ‘Just bowl and don’t take too much notice of what any coaches say.'””There is a perception that we over-coach in England,” Gemaal Hussain, the former Gloucestershire and Somerset seamer who is now working as an MCC scout, agreed. “These boys have learned the game in their garden. They have a natural talent that is born of playing the game they love with fun and freedom.”It took Hussain years to break into the first-class game. He spent nights sleeping in his car and months driving around the country in pursuit of opportunities until finally, aged 25, he got his break with Gloucestershire. Things should be considerably easier for those of Rehan’s generation.

When the transfer window opens, and football fanatics take up their summer internship as detectives, nothing gets past them. Flights are tracked, quotes followed, and social media activity is monitored like it's 24-hour CCTV. Where there is a transfer clue, there will be a supporter on the case.

The latest discovery has been about the future of Liverpool midfielder Fabinho. According to David Ornstein, the Brazilian is set to be the subject of a £40m bid from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad this summer.

Supporters were quick to get on the case to find any clues about his potential transfer decision, too, leading them to what could be a major indication as to where Fabinho will be plying his trade next season.

Liverpool fans spot potential Fabinho transfer clue

Amid the rumours linking him with a move away, Liverpool fans took to Fabinho's social media, and Rebeca Tavares' – the midfielder's wife – in an attempt to spot any clues.

On her personal Instagram account – as shared on Reddit – it was discovered that Tavares is following an Instagram account called 'welcomesaudi', amid reports linking her husband with a move to Saudi Arabia this summer.

It's safe to say this looks fairly suspicious to say the least…

Considering the recent Instagram activity of his partner, fans hoping for the 29-year-old to stay put in the current transfer window may just have to prepare themselves for the worst.

What's the latest on Liverpool and Fabinho?

Liverpool looked set to enter pre-season without any major recent departures just yet – although Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain left at the start of the summer – and with some much-needed midfield reinforcements too following the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

An unexpected twist means that they could be set to lose both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia this summer, however.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Henderson has accepted a contract proposal from Al-Ettifaq, who recently hired Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. It will now be down to the negotiations between the Reds and the Saudi Arabia club as to whether the move takes place for the 33-year-old.

Meanwhile, Al-Ittihad are reportedly set to bid for Fabinho, with a deal likely to progress quickly whether it is a swift rejection or completion of the transfer.

Suddenly, Klopp would find himself short on options in the middle of the park, perhaps forced to turn to the transfer market again. And that's where Romeo Lavia could come in.

As per Ornstein, the Southampton midfielder is among their list of targets if Fabinho departs this summer. Romano previously reported that the Saints value the teenager at £50m, but it remains to be seen what Liverpool would actually be willing to pay.

So, with that said, if the Brazilian did decide to leave in the coming weeks, it would start quite the domino effect of transfers.

A new-look midfield of Lavia, Mac Allister, and Szoboszlai may lack experience when compared with what Klopp had in midfield before, but what it lacks in that department, it makes up for in excitement.

With the new Premier League season approaching, how Liverpool line-up on the opening day of the season against Chelsea will certainly be an interesting one, to say the least.

Ben Duckett’s 72 helped champions Northamptonshire home by six wickets with four balls to spare in the repeat of last year’s NatWest T20 Blast final against Durham at Chester-le-Street

ECB Reporters Network09-Jul-2017
ScorecardBen Duckett had a major bearing on Northants’ victory•Getty Images

Ben Duckett’s 72 helped champions Northamptonshire home by six wickets with four balls to spare in the repeat of last year’s NatWest T20 Blast final against Durham at Chester-le-Street.There was also a vital contribution for Northants from South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. While Durham were unable to find a late substitute for the injured Tom Latham, Shamsi has been brought in for three games until Sri Lankan Seekkuge Prasanna becomes available.Shamsi’s chinamen proved something of a mystery as he took 2 for 20 in four overs, which included having Paul Collingwood, one of the mainstays of Durham’s innings caught low down at extra cover.Chasing Durham’s 161 for 7, Duckett initially stuggled to find his timing, despite scooping Chris Rushworth to fine leg for his only six in the third over.But the left-hander always seemed to have things under control and it was a surprise when he reverse-swept to point with 29 needed off 3.2 overs. He made his runs off 56 balls and hit nine fours.Durham’s superior athleticism restricted their visitors’ ability to run twos. Nor could Northants clear the rope with ease as it was pushed well back and Josh Cobb, the matchwinner in last year’s final, was caught on the midwicket boundary.Skipper Alex Wakely was also caught just inside the rope at backward square for 27 in the 18th over, leaving Rob Keogh and Steven Crook to score 18 off two.Keogh collected two boundaries off Usman Arshad then hit James Weighell over mid-off for the winning four.Jack Burnham lacked support in the closing overs of Durham’s innings as he completed his maiden T20 half-century in the final over by stepping across to scoop Ben Sanderson to fine leg. That brought his third four and he added two big sixes in his unbeaten 53 off 41 balls.Durham had hopes of reaching 180 while he was putting on 57 in six overs with Paul Collingwood, who also hit two sixes in his 38 off 28 balls. But once he was out to Shamsi – caught low down at extra cover – three more wickets fell to Rory Kleinveldt and only 35 runs came off the last five overs.