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Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur side face a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night, with the Italian manager undoubtedly hoping his side can quickly bounce back from their 3-2 defeat at Manchester United last Saturday.

However, despite Spurs’ hosts this evening being in an extremely poor run of form at present, the Seagulls are nevertheless a much better side than their last five defeats on the spin would suggest – with a win against Tottenham potentially seeing Graham Potter’s side go level on points with Aston Villa in ninth place.

As such, Conte must ensure that his team selection is spot on at the Amex if he wishes to give his side the best possible chance of returning to north London with all three points – a result that could see Spurs close the gap to fourth-placed Arsenal to just three points, with the Gunners facing Liverpool tonight.

So, will the 52-year-old make any changes to the side that started the defeat at Old Trafford last weekend? Here’s how we think Tottenham could line up against Brighton, as well as the latest team and injury news…

With Conte recently revealing that all three of Oliver Skipp, Japhet Tanganga and Ryan Sessegnon remain sidelined due to injury, we predict the Italian will make just two changes to the team that lined up against United on Saturday.

The back four remains untouched, with Hugo Lloris starting between the sticks, and Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Cristian Romero making up Spurs’ three-man defence.

At wing-back, Matt Doherty once again gets the nod ahead of Emerson Royal on the right, while the disappointing display of the £34m-rated Sergio Reguilon – who Alasdair Gold claimed “everyone loves” – sees the 25-year-old drop to the bench, with Steven Bergwijn – who appears a perfect candidate at left wing-back – being given a chance to impress in a new role.

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In the middle of the park, both Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur retain their starting berths, while, in the front three, Dejan Kulusevski makes way for Lucas Moura – a player dubbed a “nightmare” by Dier – while Son Heung-min and Harry Kane remain unchanged.

AND in other news: Sold at £47m, now worth £100m: Levy will “cry every night” over his worst THFC mistake

Had Inzamam-ul-Haq remained in Pakistan rather than play county cricket, the tribunal would not have had the power to call him © Getty Images

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has been summoned as a witness by a London tribunal that will hear umpire Darrell Hair’s suit against the ICC. Hair is suing for alleged racial discrimination in the aftermath of the Oval controversy.Inzamam was the Pakistan captain in that Test, which saw his side charged with ball-tampering. The team refused to take the field in protest against that decision, following which the match was awarded to England.Hearing of the case begins on October 1 at the Central Office of London Tribunals and is expected to last two weeks.A report in the said the summons would compel Inzamam’s attendance for cross-examination. Had Inzamam been in Pakistan rather than in England – playing county cricket for Yorkshire – the tribunal would not have had the power to call him, the report said.Hair’s lawyers, Finers Stephens Innocent, wrote to Inzamam requesting his attendance, but did not receive a reply. The summons, the said, was served in the presence of Stewart Regan, the chief executive of Yorkshire CCC.Inzamam now has to decide whether to fly back to Pakistan and return to England before the hearing commences or stay in London.Hair is to be represented by Robert Griffiths QC, an MCC cricket and general committee member, and will be opposed by Michael Beloff QC.He is likely to call on fellow umpire Billy Doctrove, with whom he stood at The Oval. Also expected to appear on Hair’s behalf are John Jameson, a former assistant secretary of the MCC, and Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies captain.Hair, who remains on the ICC’s Elite panel, was restricted to officiating Associate matches in the aftermath of the Oval saga.

South Africa have won the Hong Kong Sixes title after beating Pakistan by 12 runs in the final at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Nicky Boje was the star and claimed the Man-of-the-Match award after hitting 32 off 14 balls.Boje’s innings enabled South Africa to set a target of 104 off their five eight-ball overs and despite Tahir Mughal’s 26 off 16 deliveries Pakistan could only reach 91.India, the defending champions, finished third after beating West Indies in the play-off having earlier been on the end of an amazing Pakistan batting performance in the semi-final. Pakistan smashed their way to 132 with Yasir Arafat taking five sixes off one over.The host nation, Hong Kong, produced the major upset when they beat England by 47 runs in the fifth/sixth place play-off. Despite having the likes of Dominic Cork and Darren Gough in their line-up, England struggled in the field as Hong Kong reached 92. Mal Loye then fell for a first-ball duck and they could only muster 45 in reply.

Tasmania 5 for 148 (Di Venuto 49) and 268 trail Queensland 459 (Maher 153, Hopes 77, Hartley 76, Bichel 56) by 43 runs
Scorecard

Mitchell Johnson enhanced his Test credentials © Getty Images

Queensland moved into a dominant position at the end of the third day of their Pura Cup match against Tasmania at Brisbane. Queensland compiled 459 and Tasmania finished the day trailing by 43 runs in their second innings with only five wickets remaining after Australia A quick Mitchell Johnson took 3 for 6 in 20 balls.Called up to the Australia A side that recently toured Pakistan on the back of just six first-class appearances for Queensland, Johnson was watched by Australia’s chief selector Trevor Hohns. A left-handed quick, Johnson, 23, seems to have recovered from the injuries that have blighted his career since Dennis Lillee described him as a “once-in-a-lifetime” quick at the age of 16 and is in frame for a call-up to the full Australian squad to face West Indies.Jamie Cox and Michael Di Venuto started Tasmania’s reply to Queensland’s total well, seeing off Andy Bichel, who picked up six wickets in the first innings, Joe Dawes and James Hopes with ease as they reached 80. An inswinger from Andrew Symonds accounted for Di Venuto and he and Johnson worked well in tandem.Johnson found some extra pace to bounce out David Dawson and then had Cox and Birt caught in the cordon. Symonds picked up the final wicket of the day, inducing an edge off Scott Kremerskothen’s bat that was brilliantly caught at slip by Martin Love. Tasmania had lost five wickets for 59.Asked if he had thought of his international prospects, Johnson said: “No not at all. I’m just worried about playing first-class cricket at the moment. That hasn’t even popped into my head. I got on a bit of a roll [today] but that happens in cricket and it was a good feeling.”Earlier, the morning session proved crucial. With Queensland holding a lead of just five runs overninght and five wickets remaining, Tasmania needed early breakthroughs, and one came when Lachlan Stevens was removed by Adam Griffith – via the hands of captain Di Venuto – without adding to his overnight score.Tasmania’s joy was short-lived however. Queensland captain Jimmy Maher, unbeaten on 108 overnight, put on 92 with Chris Hartley before he eventually fell for 153. Next man in Andy Bichel offered no respite, adding a further 70 with Hartley as both passed their fifties. Queensland were eventually dismissed for 459, a lead of 191.

Adam Gilchrist: No idea what the pitch will do, but thoughts aplenty on how to combat Tendulkar© Getty Images

Sourav GangulyOn the pitch
It’s definitely a very important Test match and it’s going to be a good cricketing wicket. It’s got a bit of grass covering on it and I think it’s going to be good for everybody: the fast bowlers, the spinners and the batsmen. It will turn as the match goes on, as the surface underneath the grass is pretty dry.On Tendulkar’s return
To get a player like Sachin back would be a boost for any team. The way he batted in the nets, it did not look as though he has not played cricket for two months. And his bowling will be very useful as well.On whether there was a chance Parthiv Patel would open
NoOn the opening combination
We’ve had two specialist openers in the last two Test matches: we’ve considered Yuvraj as an opener. We will go into the third Test in similar fashion. The selectors will decide between Yuvraj and Aakash.On whether he called the curator and asked him to take the grass off the pitch
I did that before the Test from Calcutta on the 20th. I don’t think he’s done much. Our strength is the spinners. But at the end of the day the pitch is up to the curator: I can only make a request. In the last two Tests we got pitches that helped the spinners, but obviously the curator here has his own ideas.Adam GilchristOn whether Australia have the edge
We’re leading 1-0 so we’re just in front. But, like Sourav has said and I have said, there’s still a lot of cricket to be played. We saw in Chennai how quickly things can change. There’s still ten days’ cricket left.On the pitch
It’s very difficult to judge what it’s going to do. It’s totally different to what we have come across so far. It looks like a good Australian wicket which is a bit of a surprise. We don’t know how it’s going to play: we have to wait and see and make our adjustments accordingly. If indeed it does play similar to Australian conditionswe’re going to have to make adjustments too, as we have been aligning our game plan to traditional subcontinental wickets.On Tendulkar’s return
We’ve got plans about how we will approach bowling to him: we just have to execute them well. We have prepared for every Test this series as though Sachin was going to play.On the team composition
We have the same 12 as the first two Tests, with one change: Brett Lee comes in for Nathan Hauritz.On whether Australia were under less pressure than India in this Test
I think pressure comes from yourself. There’s expectations from others, but pressure comes from yourself. I don’t feel like any of us are carrying anything extra or less in this Test. There’s a temptation to feel we’re so close to achieving the goal that we set out with but we’re still a long way from that and we know it. There’s no different mind set for this Test. If we try to go negative and play for a draw, that’s not in our nature and we’ll get ourselves into trouble.

Day 1 of 3Berkshire made full use of a very flat wicket at the delightful Alderley Edge ground, batting to the 100 over 1st innings closure for a total of 466 – 5 wickets.Richard Howitt carried his bat for 170 not out-a career best score. His innings was a model of concentration, and chanceless, with a powerful array of shots all around the wicket.There were three centuries in the Berkshire innings, something of a rarity in Minor Counties cricket.Lee Nurse and Howitt put on 181 for the first wicket off 43 overs, before Robin Fisher bowled Nurse for a stylish 108.Julian Wood joined Howitt and runs continued to come freely before Fisher too bowled Wood for 29.The innings continued to gain momentum as Paul Prichard joined Howitt, the two adding 176 for the 3rd wicket in 35 overs, before Prichard departed for 101 off just 109 balls.Fisher was Cheshire’s most successful bowler. He worked hard through 42 overs of slow left arm for his 3 wickets on a wicket that gave bowlers little encouragement and certainly no margin for error.A mixture of bad light and drizzle halted play briefly, before Cheshire batted through the remaining seven overs untroubled, finishing the day on 16 for no wicket.Day 2 of 3Cheshire lost early wickets. Danny Leecha little unluckilycaught at slip, one of three wickets for Carl Crowe; Simon Ogilby caught at mid-wicket and Andrew Hall bowled by seamer Steve Bloyce.There was no further encouragement for the bowlers as Richard Hignett and Nafees Din gradually got on top- though both were badly dropped when well setadding 181 for the 4th wicket from 37 overs.Hignett departed with the score at 247-4, caught miscuing to mid on for 81. Mike Bolger was needlessly run out for 3 and at 260-5, a follow on situation was looming. Simon Renshaw gave good support to Din, 92 was added for the 6th wicket before Din fell lbw to Wood for an attractive 160.The declaration came at 409-6 from 93 overs leaving Berkshire 14 overs in the day to get their 2nd innings under way.Nurse and Howitt took the score quickly to 54 before Nurse was lbw to David Pennett for 16 and Howitt edged a good one to keeper Simon Ogilvy off the same bowler. Night watchman James Ettridge was caught-a little unluckilyat short leg off Simon Fisher and the day ended with Berkshire on 71-3, a lead of 128 going into the final day.Day 3 of 3Batsmen again flourished on the final day. Crowe and Prichard batted attractively, adding 82 for the 4th wicket before Prichard sliced to Hignett on the cover boundary for 61, scored off 48 balls.Wood and Crowe added 61 for the 5th wicket before Crowe departed for 39. Wood, batting at his forceful best, took his score to 158 from 123 balls before charging Fisher to be stumped by yards and promptly declared at 365-8.Fisher’s return of 5-87 from 27.1 overs was just reward for his control of line and length on a batting paradise of a wicket.The target of 423 in 51 overs was indeed a stiff one, but on a wicket that provided ideal batting conditions throughout, this equation was always going to be a difficult one, with a draw always the likely outcome.Unexpectedly, Cheshire were soon on the back foot as wickets tumbled. Leech played loosely to be caught at slip and Din drove uppishly to be caught and bowled by Steve Bloyce. Bloyce sustained his pace and direction to trouble the batsmen. He had Hall caught behind, Hignett trapped lbw and at 108 for 6 with 14 overs remaining, a Berkshire win was on the cards.James Whittaker and Mike Bolger had other ideas, taking the score to 143-7 before Whittaker was taken at short leg off Crowe. There was no further drama as Dave Pennett and Bolger batted out the last five overs, taking the score to 180-7 at stumps.Bloyce finished with 5-58 off his 18 overs – a first 5 wicket haul for the young Finchampstead seam bowler.Both sides take 10 points from the match. Berkshire lead the table jointly at this stage with 33 points, with Cheshire just 1 point behind.

A fine opening stand of 221 between Graeme Smith and Andrew Puttick put Nashua WP in the driving seat at the end of the first days play in the Supersport Series match against luckless Boland at BOE Park in Paarl.WP skipper HD Ackerman won the toss on a placid pitch and elected to bat first. His decision was vindicated as WP reached 306/2 at the end of day one thanks mainly to centuries from Smith and Puttick. At the end Puttick was undefeated on 142 runs. Smith who dominted the latter stages of the parnership with Puttick was dismissed for 122. The other WP batter back in the hut was last weekends hero Jonathan Trott who fell to a brilliant catch at mid wicket.The Boland bowlers struggled the entire day without much success.

As per The Daily Mirror and reporter Darren Lewis, there has been a very interesting transfer update out of Newcastle United involving Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger.

The Lowdown: Chelsea in turmoil…

On Thursday, a huge development in the footballing world broke as it was announced that the UK government placed sanctions on Roman Abramovich amid his nation’s invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, the billionaire oligarch’s assets were frozen, throwing Chelsea’s future into turmoil as reports even suggest the likes of Man United could poach their Champions League-winning manager.

The Premier League have now also confirmed he has been disqualified as a director with Newcastle, and by extension main club owners Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, now looking to seize an early opportunity for Rudiger amid the chaos.

The Latest: Newcastle exploring early Rudiger option…

According to Lewis and The Mirror, Newcastle are one of the ‘cheeky’ rival clubs checking to see if these sanctions allow them to sign Rudiger on a pre-contract now rather than waiting until summer.

Usually, English clubs can only open talks with Premier League free agents once their deal actually expires.

Indeed, only European sides are able to begin negotiations with soon-to-be top flight free agents during the season but PIF and the Magpies are apparently seeing if this law has changed since Chelsea can no longer offer new deals to players or staff.

The Verdict: Very interesting…

Depending on developments, signing the Germany international ahead of time would certainly be a ‘cheeky’ move by Newcastle as they aim to back Eddie Howe.

Described as the ‘real deal’ and a ‘nightmare’ by pundit Ally McCoist, Newcastle’s own striker Callum Wilson has called Rudiger ‘annoying’ and ‘frustrating’ to play against.

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Seeing if they can nip in ahead of the European competition may well be a clever move by PIF.

In other news: Staveley now working on another free deal for starlet with same agent as Fraser! Find out more here.

Former India allrounder Manoj Prabhakar has been named Afghanistan’s bowling coach until the end of the World T20 in India next year. Prabhakar will join Inzamam-ul-Haq, Afghanistan’s head coach, in the support staff.”I am glad I can guide the Afghan team. They have immense talent and I am sure, in the years to come, the Afghanistan team would emerge as a force to reckon with in all forms of the game,” Prabhakar told . “They have shown a healthy keenness to learn the finer points of the game.”Prabhakar’s most recent coaching stint was with the Delhi state side, where he was sacked two days before the start of the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy season for making critical comments about the players and selectors.Prabhakar’s appointment comes in the wake of recent strong ties between the BCCI and the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The two boards recently signed an MoU with the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority to use the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex as their home ground.Afghanistan have shown a tremendous rise in their performances in the last six months. They won five of the seven completed matches they played in the World T20 Qualifier in Ireland in July to qualify for the main event, topped it by clinching a historic 3-2 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, whitewashed Zimbabwe 2-0 in the T20s, and recently won both T20Is against Oman in Abu Dhabi.Afghanistan are slotted with Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in Group B of the World T20 and only one of the four teams will make it to Group 1 to join England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies for the Super 10 stage.

Ryan Sidebottom’s injury has opened up a spot in the Twenty20 squad for Dimitri Mascarenhas © Getty Images

Dimitri Mascarenhas has been drafted into the England squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa after Ryan Sidebottom was ruled out because of injury. Sidebottom has not recovered fully from the side strain he suffered in the third Test against India at The Oval.Mascarenhas’ ability to finish an innings was on display during England 4-3 series win against India. He scored 52 off 39 balls at Bristol and clobbered Yuvraj Singh for five consecutive sixes during his 36 off 15 balls at The Oval. He also provided a reliable bowling option, taking six wickets in four ODIs at an average of just under 23 and an impressive economy-rate of 4.02 runs per over.”He’s [Mascarenhas] been putting in these great performances for Hampshire, and now obviously there’s a groundswell of opinion to get him into the England side,” Hampshire cricket manager Paul Terry told . “He’s shown what he can do, he’s got the opportunity and he’s taken it. Now he’s got another opportunity to go away with England and play abroad, and we’ll see how he does.”Mascarenhas’ inclusion in the Twenty20 squad was approved by the ICC late on Saturday.