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The 2025 World Series between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays is about to get underway. What type of show will fans be treated to this year? Will it be a quick domination from one team over the other? Or will the series be drawn out to seven games?

We saw the polar opposites happen in the two league championship series leading up to the World Series. On one hand, the Dodgers swept the Brewers 4-0 to advance, while the Blue Jays played Game 7 against the Mariners in order to earn their World Series bid.

In some of the games themselves there's been clear domination of one team over another. For instance, in Game 3 of the ALCS, the Blue Jays won 13-4 over the Mariners.

Keeping these possibilities in mind, let's take a look at the biggest blowouts in World Series history, whether from singular games or the series in general.

Biggest single game blowouts in World Series history

Year

Matchup

Game

Score

1936

Yankees vs. Giants

2

18-4

2001

Diamondbacks vs. Yankees

6

15-2

1960

Yankees vs. Pirates

2

16-3

2007

Red Sox vs. Rockies

1

13-1

2002

Giants vs. Angels

5

16-4

1982

Cardinals vs. Brewers

6

13-1

1968

Tigers vs. Cardinals

6

13-1

1960

Yankees vs. Pirates

6

12-0

The biggest single game blowout in World Series history happened nearly 100 years ago in the 1936 series between the Yankees and the Giants. Led by legends such as Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, the Yankees put up a dominant 18-4 win over the Giants, who were located in New York as well at the time. The Yankees did their greatest damage in the third inning, when they scored seven runs thanks to a grand slam by Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri. The Yankees went on to win the series in six games.

The most recent sizeable blowout in a World Series game occurred in Game 1 of the 2007 World Series between the Red Sox and the Rockies. Boston won 13-1, and dominated the entire series to win 4-0.

Biggest series blowouts in World Series history

The biggest blowouts in World Series history series-wise, of course, must be 4-0 sweeps. There's been 19 sweeps in World Series history, take a look at all of those occurrences.

Year

Winner

Opponent

1914

Boston Braves

Philadelphia Athletics

1927

Yankees

Pirates

1928

Yankees

Cardinals

1932

Yankees

Cubs

1938

Yankees

Cubs

1939

Yankees

Reds

1950

Yankees

Phillies

1954

New York Giants

Cleveland

1963

Dodgers

Yankees

1966

Orioles

Dodgers

1976

Reds

Yankees

1989

Oakland Athletics

San Francisco Giants

1990

Reds

Athletics

1998

Yankees

Padres

1999

Yankees

Atlanta Braves

2004

Red Sox

Cardinals

2005

White Sox

Astros

2007

Red Sox

Rockies

2012

Giants

Tigers

Nine different MLB franchises have completed sweeps in the World Series, with the Yankees leading the charge there, having done so eight times. The Yankees hold the MLB record with 27 World Series titles, and nearly a third of them were sweeps.

The Yankees have gotten a taste of their own medicine twice, first in 1963 when the Dodgers swept them and then in '76 when the Reds did the same.

There's only been four sweeps in the World Series this century, with the most recent occurrence happening in 2012 when the Giants swept the Tigers. The longest streak without a sweep in MLB history is 13 years, so does that mean this year could signal another one?

New South Wales batter Kurtis Patterson started his Ashes audition with a sterling century, but the Blues slipped to a two-wicket one-day loss to Tasmania after a record ninth-wicket stand between Bradley Hope and Matt Kuhnemann.Patterson, watched by Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey, struck 110 from 125 balls in the NSW’s 224 all out. Tasmania, with another Ashes hopeful Jake Weatherald making 28, were reeling at 124 for 8 in the opening game of the Dean Jones Trophy at Cricket Central in Sydney.Related

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But Kuhnemann (56 not out from 71 balls) and Hope (49 not out from 91) produced a stunning unbroken 101-run stand for the ninth wicket to win with four balls to spare.Patterson played two Tests for Australia in 2019 and boasts an average of 144 – he made 30 and 114 not out in his two knocks against Sri Lanka. The left hander was discarded when Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had served their ball-tampering suspensions.But Patterson returned to Test discussions with prolific run-scoring in the Sheffield Shield last season, compiling 743 runs at 57.15, although is still an outside chance at this stage. On Tuesday, the 32-year-old dominated NSW’s innings – after his century the next-best was former captain Moises Henriques whose 41 from 51 balls featured two sixes. Patterson reached his second career one-day century from 113 deliveries. Tanveer Sangha was the only other NSW batter to reach double-figures.Kurtis Patterson started his season with a century•Getty Images

Test allrounder Beau Webster took 3 for 41 and white-ball specialist Nathan Ellis 3 for 37.Tasmania’s run chase faltered early with Mitch Owen out for 9 and Webster chopping on for a golden duck – both dismissed by debutant paceman Ryan Hadley in the second over.Sean Abbott, who was captaining NSW, then snared two quick wickets, including a wonderful delivery to take Mac Wright’s off stump, to leave the Tasmanians 42 for 4 after seven overs.Weatherald, who was recently put on the Test radar by selection chair Bailey, put on 54 with veteran Matthew Wade. But Weatherald’s 51-ball innings ended when he smacked a short ball from spinner Ollie Davies straight to Hadley on the deep midwicket boundary.Tasmania’s hopes appeared over when Wade was caught and bowled by Sangha, with Ellis was soon dismissed to leave the visitors 124 for 8 in the 26th over.But Kuhnemann and Hope produced their defining partnership, with the former edging through a vacant slips area for the winning boundary.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has got much to sit on over the November international break, having been thrashed 3-0 at Manchester City last weekend.

That one stung. It condemned Liverpool to their fifth defeat in six Premier League matches, and it undid the positivity built across two recent wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, clean sheets kept on both evenings.

It was not just the scoreline but the manner of the loss that is so concerning for the Reds, whose title defence is as flaky as could be possible.

In a similar way, it is not Arsenal’s eight-point advantage at the top of the table that is so worrying, but the fact that Slot’s side are so shorn of tactical understanding and confidence within the system.

Changes are needed, even after a summer of record-breaking change in the transfer market.

The changes Slot needs to make at Liverpool

It’s telling that after significant summer spending, Liverpool are still alarmingly thin at the back. Giovanni Leoni’s season-ending injury after joining from Parma for £27m in August has hardly helped, but the failure to land Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi has been underlined in its bungled nature.

Even if Leoni had avoided such a setback, it likely wouldn’t have been enough to make up for the dismal form of Ibrahima Konate, who is out of contract next summer and playing so erratically that many fans have lost the desire to fight online for the defender as Real Madrid continue to circle.

While it’s true that those in central midfield have failed to produce levels of physicality and verve that are needed to balance and combine with a central defence, Konate has done anything but help himself with such shoddy displays, with Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley labelling the Frenchman “a serious, serious problem”.

Liverpool’s issues run deeper, though. There’s a case to be made that Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are all ‘better’ players than Luis Diaz, who was sold to Bayern Munich for about £66m in the summer.

However, Lucho has been a cut above all three, and Slot needs to recraft his team and establish a new offensive sharpness and get the best from these big-money recruits who all arrived with such a weight of expectation.

It will come as no surprise that Liverpool are believed to be gearing up for a winter of bustle in the January transfer market, and Spanish sources even claim the Anfield side could part with upward of £200m to fix the faults in the Slot machine.

The dream XI Slot could build at Liverpool

Sporting director Richard Hughes was heralded after the summer transfer window, having overseen a spending spree that journalist Henry Winter described as “probably be the greatest transfer window by a club ever”, albeit a point made before the market’s closure and with the assumption that Guehi would sign too.

However, if Liverpool mean to sign the Three Lions star, they will do so on a free contract next summer, perhaps in a one-in, one-out situation that will see Konate leave.

With that in mind, FSG may look to complete a marquee move for Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni. Earlier this month, reports from Spain suggest the Reds are looking to complete a deal for the Italian, who is valued at €100m (£87m).

Regarded for his “world-class” technical ability by commentator Matteo Bonetti, Bastoni’s ball-playing tendencies would ostensibly pave over the error-strewn struggles of Konate.

But Liverpool’s problems are wider, and there’s a sense that the midfield needs an addition, especially with Alexis Mac Allister so badly out of sorts.

Though this latest rumour might be viewed as something of a pipe dream, there have been murmurs nonetheless of Merseyside interest in Paris Saint-Germain superstar Vitinha, who pipped Mohamed Salah to third place in the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

Vitinha, 25, would certainly not come cheap after orchestrating PSG’s glittering 2024/25 campaign, and it’s reported that a £114m offer might be needed to bring him over to the Premier League.

We cannot deny the Argentina star has been well below his best this season, and Liverpool could do with more press resistance and control in the middle of the park.

Vitinha would solve these issues, hailed by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez as “the best midfielder in the world” for his performances in Paris.

Matches (starts)

11 (9)

10 (9)

Goals

1

0

Assists

6

2

Touches*

117.5

45.1

Accurate passes

102.3 (94%)

30.3 (86%)

Chances created*

1.5

0.9

Dribbles*

0.5

0.0

Recoveries*

4.9

2.9

Tackles + interceptions*

1.2

1.6

Duels (won)*

2.3 (60%)

2.5 (45%)

The vast difference in form between the respective midfielders is staggering, and while Vitinha isn’t a midfielder who gets all that stuck in defensively, his accuracy in the duel and energy in closing down and recovering balls emphasise the quality he would add to Liverpool’s engine room.

Perhaps such an acquisition would rekindle Liverpool’s attacking fire. After all, with the likes of Isak and Ekitike competing for a berth at number nine, Wirtz and Salah and the rest surrounding them, there is every reason for Slot to find a solution and bring this club back to the fore.

Whether Liverpool would actually succeed in pulling off two audacious winter deals is another question, but there’s no question that Hughes is prowling across the market and looking to find ways to revive this struggling side.

With Vitinha and Bastoni restoring balance to the defence and midfield, we might still see another spectacular season.

Liverpool’s dream XI in full: (GK) Alisson; (RB) Conor Bradley, (CB) Alessandro Bastoni, (CB) Virgil van Dijk, (LB) Andy Robertson; (DM) Vitinha, (CM) Ryan Gravenberch, (CM) Dominik Szoboszlai; (RW) Mohamed Salah, (LW) Florian Wirtz, (CF) Alexander Isak

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It may not have seemed that way when Pakistan were 146 for one, but by stumps, South Africa had clawed back enough into the Test for Keshav Maharaj to call it an even day. The left-arm spinner – who did not play the first Test owing to a groin injury – began South Africa’s comeback when he dismissed crowd favourite Babar Azam early on in his innings. In the final session, Maharaj struck once more when he drew Shan Masood into a sweep, which he could only drag to Marco Jansen at square leg. By the end, there was time for Kagiso Rabada to snag a fifth wicket, forcing Pakistan to see off the final half hour cautiously. They finished on 259 for five.”I think it was an even day,” he said. “We managed to control their run rate. When the ball gets softer – which happens quite quickly because the wicket’s quite hard, we managed to just go to old-fashioned Test cricket… I felt if we got one more wicket at night, we’d probably have had a little bit of an upper hand.”Related

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The first two sessions were shaping up to tell a different story, using the same, frustrating script for the visitors. Having lost the toss and being inserted to field once more, they were sloppy, putting down five catches – just as they had on the first day in Lahore. Abdullah Shafique was the primary beneficiary, with South Africa spurning three opportunities to dismiss him. Earlier, Marco Jansen had nipped one in that Shafique left. The ball had kissed the off stump, only for the bails to be left undisturbed.”As a collective we know how important catches are, not just in the subcontinent. No one means to drop catches; it was nice to see the guys bounce back and take the catches that they did. Bit frustrating but no one means to drop chances.”Simon Harmer bowled 23 overs of spin to complement Maharaj•AFP/Getty Images

The fielding tide for South Africa began to turn when Tony de Zorzi took an excellent catch, which sent Babar on his way. South Africa have placed a lot of faith in their leading offspinner; he bowled 31 overs – the most for any bowler on a day this series. Harmer bowled 23 further overs of spin, but Senuran Muthuswamy, the leading wicket-taker in Lahore, sent down just four.Maharaj, who said he regretted being unable to play in Lahore, called the decision to use Muthuswamy more sparingly “tactical”. “We saw that the wicket didn’t play like Lahore and we felt like we just wanted to try and restrict the Pakistani batters. I don’t think there was an issue. Sen came back nicely with the second spell that he bowled.”In the end, Pakistan scored 54 fewer runs than they did on day one in Lahore, with South Africa drying up the runs, giving the final session a slightly different tinge to the first day they had during the first Test. They will be further encouraged by the knowledge that Pakistan have a collapse in them, something Masood highlighted following the first Test. In the first Test, Pakistan lost their last five for 16 in the first innings, and their last six for 17 in the two innings. One more wicket, and South Africa will know there are opportunities to run through the lower order.”Tomorrow’s an important day,” Maharaj said. The first sessions in the series so far have been quite action-packed. “Hopefully, we can make inroads tomorrow morning. The main thing is to try bowling as many dot balls as we can. We saw for a period of time when we did do it, that it brought us a little bit of reward, and we created opportunities. I think it’s important we start really well tomorrow. Hopefully we can get Saud and Agha early in the morning and open up an end with the lower-order batters. But it’s about just trying to bowl our best balls for long periods of time.”

First win at Sophia Gardens since 1981 can’t make up for disappointment of missing out on promotion

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay26-Sep-2025Lancashire 374 (Wells 78, Jones 62, Balderson 51, van der Gugten 5-85) and 134 for 3 (Jennings 47) beat Glamorgan 265 (van der Gugten 53, Bailey 5-51) and 241 (Cooke 52, Balderson 4-75) by seven wicketsLancashire wrapped up their 2025 Rothesay County Championship campaign with a three-day win over Glamorgan thanks to a one-day style evening session.Stand-in captain Josh Bohannon oversaw his side’s first County Championship win at Sophia Gardens since 1981 against Glamorgan, whose promotion was confirmed last week. It was also Glamorgan’s first red-ball defeat since April, in departing captain Sam Northeast’s last appearance.After controlling the game from day one, Lancashire took eight wickets, including 4 for 75 for George Balderson before Keaton Jennings’ top-order blaze of 47 from 33 balls set the visitors on their way to chasing 133 inside 26 overs remaining in the day.The north-west county provisionally rise to third in an unsuccessful attempt to gain promotion from their first season back in Division Two while Glamorgan will play in Division One for the first time since 2005 next year.Resuming with the intention and requirement to bat all day, Northeast and Zain-ul-Hassan kept Lancashire’s bowlers at bay for a 58-run partnership before the former’s dubious lbw for 21 in his last Glamorgan innings, and Zain’s reckless reverse sweep on 45 chalked the hard work off.Balderson’s impressive stint of 25 overs all told gave a feel of him nagging at Glamorgan batters for the whole innings. On a varying pitch, his skiddy medium-pace with Matty Hurst stood up to the stumps for the majority saw Billy Root and later Mason Crane pinned, the latter putting up a good fight with half-centurion Chris Cooke before being undone by the new ball straight after tea.Despite single-figure scores prominent, every other wicket seemingly kept day four in contention for Glamorgan – Colin Ingram and Cooke held things together before the wicketkeeper’s hard-fought 50 came up with a counter-attacking six while in the company of No. 11 Ned Leonard.Lancashire made no changes to batting order, seemingly happy to see through day three on a pitch that provided plenty of turn for Tom Hartley – promising signs for Crane – as well as bounce variety for seamers. The assumption was wrong. Luke Wells together with Jennings in white-ball mode belted the new-ball around to take all the pressure off.Twenty from James Harris’ fourth over left wickets of no concern before Bohannon, George Bell and Hurst continued the momentum despite two consolation wickets for Crane.With five to win, Northeast stepped up to bowl as the final act of his four-year captaincy stint.

Opener hits 158 off 167 balls as hosts edge closer to mathematical safety

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay25-Sep-2025Essex 295 for 2 (Walter 158, Elgar 111*) trail Somerset 433 (Goldsworthy 100, Overton 60, Porter 3-66, Bennett 3-73) by 138 runsPaul Walter exerted total mastery over Somerset’s flagging bowlers as his highest first-class score of 158 eased Essex closer to safety in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.The left-hander was barely troubled as he combined perfect timing with seeing everything clearly and early while spraying the ball around Chelmsford with an air of supreme confidence. For much of his 167-ball innings he outscored his opening partner, the former South Africa captain Dean Elgar, two to one as the first-wicket pair compiled a stand of 277 in 61 overs. At the close Essex were 295 for 2.Elgar, too, reached a second century of the season but was content to play second fiddle while Walter pulled, drove and flicked with nonchalant ease 21 fours and three sixes. Elgar contributed 16 fours and a six in his unbeaten 212-ball 111.Somerset’s first-innings 433 had looked formidable until Essex made mincemeat of it in an emphatic response. That Somerset had achieved as many as they did was latterly down to Lewis Goldsworthy’s four-hour and 21-minute century that took 193 balls. He was last man out, a third wicket on debut for seamer Charlie Bennett, who finished with 3 for 73.When it was their turn, Somerset struggled to get any response out of a docile pitch and had tried seven bowlers to no avail by the 29th over. They spent two sessions literally chasing shadows on a sunny autumn day.Essex survived two overs before lunch and immediately afterwards Elgar punched back-to-back drives past mid-off for fours off Craig Overton. It set the tone for the rest of the day as they rattled along at above four-and-a-half runs an over.Walter was the most aggressive from the start, at one point lofting Archie Vaughan straight down the ground for four and cutting Lewis Gregory for another to reach a 54-ball fifty. An off-drive for his 13th boundary took Essex to three-figures in only 21 overs.Walter motored along at more than double the rate of his fellow left-hander. His dominance was summed up when he launched Jack Leach for six over long-off and next ball rocked on to his back foot to drive the spinner through the covers for four.When Walter reached his century from exactly 100 balls just before tea, having plundered 16 fours, Elgar was stuck on 49 from 10 balls more. It took Elgar a further dozen balls after tea to reach his fifty, courtesy of an angled shot backward of square off Kasey Aldridge and celebrated by lofting Vaughan straight back over the bowler’s head for six. Walter could not resist following suit and bounced down the wicket in the same over for another maximum.Walter’s third six, pulling Leach over square leg, took him past his previous highest score. His 150 took 154 balls, while Elgar’s 54th first-class century was reached in 184 balls.Walter eventually departed seven overs from stumps to a stupendous tumbling catch at midwicket by Goldsworthy off Overton, who also accounted for nightwatchman Simon Harmer before the close.To emphasis the unresponsiveness of the hybrid wicket, it took Essex an hour and three-quarters to winkle out the last four Somerset wickets while conceding a further 94 runs. Overton recorded a second successive fifty, and a third of the season, from the 54th ball he faced. But he fell to a ball in Harmer’s first over of the day that spun past his outstretched leg and bowled him between bat and pad after a partnership with Goldsworthy worth 98 in 20 overs.Another bowling change prefaced another wicket when Leach nibbled at one from Bennett to provide substitute wicketkeeper Simon Fernandes with a fourth catch. Gregory swept Harmer for six during a brief appearance but attempted a repeat next ball and top-edged to short fine leg.Goldsworthy made it to three-figures just in time, pushing a quick single off Harmer, but departed two balls later when he swung Bennett to deep square leg.

Sam Fanning and debutant Teague Wyllie both made half-centuries but the home side chases the target with room to spare

AAP20-Oct-2025Tasmania’s perfect start to the One-Day Cup continued with stalwart Jordan Silk top-scored in a four-wicket win against Western Australia.In a Bellerive Oval fixture restricted by rain to a maximum of 44 overs each, WA posted 248 for 9 with Sam Fanning top-scoring with 66 from 91 balls.Tasmania, set 252 runs to win under the DLS system, lost six wickets and reached their target from 38 overs to win with 36 balls to spare.Silk dominated with 81 from 75 deliveries, scoring his 2000th domestic one-day run in the process of Tasmania banking a fourth win from as many outings.Silk, who struck nine fours and a six, and a batch of experienced team-mates were untroubled in the run chase. He combined with fellow veteran Matthew Wade (46 not out from 43 balls) in a defining 104-run partnership for the fifth wicket.Opener Caleb Jewell set the Tasmanian tone with an aggressive 48 from 37 balls featuring seven fours, and evergreen Ben McDermott made 42 from 49 deliveries.The quartet overpowered WA’s bowling attack with paceman Mahli Beardman the sole multiple wicket-taker.Earlier, WA opener Fanning’s composed knock and an aggressive 56 from 51 balls from one-day debutant Teague Wyllie underpinned the visitor’s total.Fanning and fellow opener Joel Curtis put on 50 runs in eight overs amid early rain interruptions. Curtis, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Whiteman all failed to capitalise on promising starts and when Fanning fell in the 29th over, the visitors were 147 for 4.Allrounders Hilton Cartwright and Ashton Agar were both dismissed in the following 10 overs as Wylie launched at Tasmania’s bowlers.The 21-year-old struck four fours and a six before edging to wicketkeeper McDermott from the bowling of Brad Hope, who impressed with 3 for 40 from seven overs.

Leeds United are now racing to sign FC Midtjylland striker Franculino Dju, but it could take a huge offer to get a deal over the line.

Leeds strengthened their forward line considerably during the summer transfer window, but Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have so far flattered to deceive, having scored just three Premier League goals between them after 11 matches.

Some of Calvert-Lewin’s performances have been particularly concerning, with the former Everton man now on a six-game goal drought, losing his place in the starting line-up after registering an xG of just 0.03 in the 3-0 drubbing at Brighton & Hove Albion.

There is a case to be made that Daniel Farke’s side are not playing to the Englishman’s strengths, with Ross McCormack saying:

“The team has got to be built around him. Your full-backs and your wingers have got to put crosses into the box, and I don’t feel Leeds United do that enough.”

However, a return of just one goal in ten matches across all competitions is still way below par, and the Whites have now set their sights on a new striker ahead of the January transfer window.

Leeds join race to sign Franculino Dju

According to transfer expert Graeme Bailey, in a report for Leeds United News, Leeds have now joined the race for Midtjylland striker Franculino, but they will have to pay a club-record fee to get a deal over the line.

Bailey said: “He’s got a lot of teams looking at him. West Ham like him a lot, they looked at him in the summer. Midtjylland have put a £40m price tag on him.

“Teams will possibly try to soften that by putting in lesser offers. He’s got an awful lot of interest; I’m told over 20 clubs across Europe like him. Leeds have looked at him, he’s on their radar, they’ve watched him.”

With Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin underperforming, it is no surprise the Whites want to bring in some additional attacking firepower, and the 21-year-old is off to a flying start to the campaign, amassing 19 goals in 26 matches in all competitions.

Franculino’s goalscoring record this season	Appearances	Goals
Superliga	14	14
Europa League qualifying	6	1
Europa League	4	3
Oddset Pokalen	2	1

The Guinea-Bissau international has now earned the chance to prove himself at a higher level, having been a consistent goalscorer for the Danish side for quite some time, picking up a total of 52 goals and 13 assists in 99 outings.

Having been prolific in front of goal, the centre-forward was also lauded as “unstoppable” by scout Jacek Kulig earlier this season.

With some tricky fixtures on the horizon, Leeds may need someone to come in and save their season in January, and it would certainly be worth taking a gamble on Franculino, although the huge asking price could be a stumbling block.

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Arne Slot says with the players Liverpool have, their wretched run "cannot continue like this" after a 4-1 thrashing by PSV Eindhoven. The Reds are picking up unwanted record after unwanted record, with this latest defeat their ninth in 12 matches. This is their worst succession of results in 71 years and now manager Slot has challenged his players to get over this slump.

Liverpool nightmare continues

After six losses in their last seven Premier League games, few expected Liverpool to also be turned over by the Dutch side at Anfield on Wednesday night. But just a few days on from conceding three at home to Nottingham Forest, the Reds let in another four to heap more misery on Slot's side. The disaster began when captain Virgil van Dijk handled in the box and Ivan Perisic converted from the spot. Dominic Szoboszlai equalised with a tap-in shortly after but the second half was where the horror show truly unfolded. Guus Till restored the visitors' lead and then a late double from substitute Couhaib Driouech led to a mass fan exodus as boos greeted the final whistle. The Merseyside outfit have suffered consecutive losses in all competitions by a margin of three goals for the first time since December 1953, as pressure on Slot continues to mount. 

Advertisement'Really hard to watch'

The former Feyenoord manager cut a resigned figure following this latest setback. Despite his players putting in another awful display, Slot said he is not questioning them and he still believes they can turn their fortunes around.

He told beIN Sports: "The end result is, of course, what people remember. Mainly, people also remember the last 5-10 minutes of the game. That was really hard to watch for all of us. Not only were we already 3-1 behind, but we also even conceded the 4-1, and that is a scoreline which I think no-one would have expected at half-time. 

"No, I'm not questioning the players, because I know that we have very good players. Their mentality after us going 1-0 down was also what I was hoping for, but also what you have to expect if you are a Liverpool player. So it's something normal for me that you're questioning your line-ups, you're questioning your tactics, you're questioning the substitutions you make, but that's also what you do if you don't lose every single time. But it's normal for me to question the choices I make, because I've said many times that I'm responsible for this situation. But the players have so much quality that this cannot continue like this. And I think again today, especially the first half, we showed how many chances we can create, but it's not for the first time this season that we don't score them." 

Slot's resolve being tested

After the Forest defeat, Slot said he felt his side were not far away from getting back to winning ways. That view may have been tested on Wednesday as he saw his side capitulate again. Naturally, he said his emotions were "very negative and disappointing" after the game.

When asked how does he get Liverpool back to how they were playing at the start of this season and all of last term, he replied: "No, I think what has happened mainly with all the losses we had is that so many times if we have a good spell, we concede. And that moment changes the momentum. I think the thing we have to start doing is making sure that if we are in a better phase and we do create a chance, that we then also score the goals. That the scoreline is also positive. I think the mentality is great from these players as well. Apart from the quality, the mentality is also great. Otherwise, you can't go after three minutes, after losing on Saturday, three minutes down, 1-0 down, and then have a performance as we had the first half. That can only be possible. But their mentality, as they also reacted well after 2-1 down, because I think then we had our chances as well. So yeah, I don't think we are that far off, which sounds weird because the results tell us something different. But the games, the performances give me a different opinion about how we play than the scoreline does."

He added to TNT Sports: "The emotions are very negative and disappointing. The way we conceded the 1-0. I want to be positive about the reaction of the players when we went 1-0 down. We came back into the game and had chances to go 2-1 up. I don't think anyone thought we would lose 4-1."

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Getty Images SportLight at the end of the tunnel for Liverpool?

After the match, Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones could not hold back his fury. 

He told RTE: "I don't have the answers, honestly, I don't. It's just unacceptable. I'm past being angry inside. I'm at the point now where I just don't have the words."

But Liverpool don't have long to find the answer as they are away to lowly West Ham on Sunday in the Premier League. Previously, that would have seemed like a banker three points but now, anything could happen.

Kelly Castle and Sophie Luff, the old guard of domestic women’s cricket, are now at the vanguard of a new era

Andrew Miller22-Apr-2025Unless you were deeply invested in the rise of English women’s cricket, you could be forgiven for not having previously heard of Kelly Castle and Sophie Luff. At the ages of 27 and 31 respectively, each has been a county cricketer for more than a decade already – providing solid, dependable presences in the previously amateur ranks of Essex and Somerset, including six years each as captain. However, throughout that time, neither player has come especially close to international recognition nor, in Castle’s case, attracted the attentions of the Women’s Hundred.Now, however, Castle, Luff and their ilk are at the vanguard of a brand-new era for their sport. Last April, Essex and Somerset were chosen as two of the eight initial Tier 1 women’s professional set-ups, and this week each player will be helping to launch her county’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign: Castle, up at Chester-le-Street, where Essex take on Durham, and Luff down at Beckenham for Somerset versus Surrey.How each player fares individually will be of less relevance than what they represent. At a time when the depth of English women’s cricket is under scrutiny like never before, amid the failings of the national team at the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, the rebooted county game is intended to create the sort of pyramid structure that has never previously existed within the sport.And what that may entail – more urgently even than the identification of a new golden generation to challenge the current stars of the international set-up – is the expansion of this middle tier of “solid pros”: the likes of which have shored up the men’s game for generations but which, due to the fast-tracked nature of the women’s elite game, have not yet had a chance to take proper root among their female counterparts.”I’ve been here for a long time, so it’s cool to see a full-circle moment,” Castle tells ESPNcricinfo ahead of a transformative season. “For a lot of us girls, no matter where we played, we didn’t know if we could play professional cricket, unless we got to international level. So now, it’s great to see that it can be a career and, for that to happen at the club that I’ve grown up playing at, is pretty cool.”The professional experience isn’t brand-new to either player: in 2020, both were among the initial tranche of 41 regional players to be handed groundbreaking full-time contracts. And yet, seeing as Castle had been one of just five initial pros within the now-disbanded Sunrisers squad, and Luff one of six at Western Storm, even that seminal step-up was limited compared to the opportunity that awaits the women’s game this summer.”I never envisaged I’d be a professional cricketer first and foremost, particularly not at domestic level,” Luff, who has been named as Somerset’s first professional captain, tells ESPNcricinfo. “It just wasn’t an option when I was growing up. I chased the England dream for a long time and that ship’s probably sailed. But the fact that I can be a domestic professional cricketer, playing in front of a lot of people and getting paid pretty well, it’s come an awful long way, and I think it’s only going to grow.”When I first started at Western Storm there were three professional players on a retainer, then it went to six in the first winter. Now we’ve got a full squad of players, some of whom are rookies obviously. But the fact that we’ve got a full squad of girls in training week in, week out, makes a huge difference. I’m really excited to see what difference that makes moving into the season.”Those rookie contracts, worth £20,000 for this first year, will have a crucial part to play in the expansion of that pyramid. Notwithstanding the growth of the women’s game in recent years, there’s still a significant element of chance that dictates the ability of young players to rise through the sport’s existing ranks, as Castle’s own story relates.Sophie Luff will be Somerset’s first professional women’s captain•Getty ImagesHad it not been for the fact that her primary-school teacher in Southend was Australian, Castle says she would never have got a taste for the sport in the first place. And thereafter, having followed the familiar path of being a token girl in the local boys’ cricket team, she made her first appearance for Essex as a 13-year-old in 2011, and so was in position to ride the wave as the first stirrings of professionalism began.”I remember thinking, if I’m not playing for England by the time I’m 15, then I’ll need to give up, which is crazy,” Castle recalls. “And then, there was always something else that just kept me going, until I’m 17 … until I’m 19 … I was in my third year of university when there were murmurs around professional cricket happening, and because I’d always worked in cricket, I managed to transition in when I’d finished. I still do a lot of coaching on the side, just to keep myself busy. It feels as though the sport is getting there, but there’s still a lot of stuff to do.”To judge by the new narrative that surrounds the county game, however, the changes this season have already been stark. The ethos of one club, two teams has been a feature of the formative years of the Hundred, but already that seems to have been adopted across the board.Wherever you look, there’s a new recognition of the importance of the women’s set-up, whether it’s Surrey factoring a bespoke women’s changing room into their plans for a multi-million pound redevelopment of the Kia Oval pavilion, or Essex talking excitedly about their plans for expansion at Chelmsford, a project that simply could not have been possible when the club only catered for its men’s team.”We get to come to the same place every day for work,” Luff says of the experience down at Taunton. “The girls have a familiarity around where they’re coming to train and the infrastructure here has been brilliant, the way that we’ve been welcomed into the club.”The one thing that I really took away from our first week here was we met every department,” she adds. “It felt like Western Storm in the previous era was just a cricket team that existed as cricket players and cricket staff – whereas coming here, there’s a lot more that goes into a county cricket club than just the cricket on the pitch.Related

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“We’ve had great access to the facilities. Our changing rooms have been upgraded. We’ve got lockers in, the gym’s been extended to accommodate more people basically. And I think the men have probably seen some benefits from us coming in as well, which is nice.”However, it’s not simply the Tier 1 teams that have got the memo. As Beth Barrett-Wild, the ECB’s Director of Women’s Professional Game, noted earlier this month, some of the most interesting dynamics are set to occur within the new Tier 2 set-up, where a lot of ambitious amateur players will be seeking to make a name – and maybe ultimately a career – for themselves this summer.At Middlesex, for instance, where there was initial “shock” and “frustration”, according to their head of women’s cricket, Marc Broom, at the club’s failure to secure Tier 1 status, there has been a determination to prove the ECB’s decision-making wrong.”We’re going to treat you like professional cricketers, and we want you to act, train and play and think like professional cricketers,” says Broom, whose players stormed out of the blocks in their opening fixture earlier this week, bowling Kent out for 66 at Radlett en route to an eight-wicket victory.”Everything we’re going to be able to provide you is what we would try and provide a professional cricketer. The difference is your contact time with coaches is going to be less than a pro. The money you receive back is going to be less than a pro, and the time you’ve got available to commit to this is going to be less than a pro.”That would sound like an unpalatable prospect to most amateur players, were it not for the new incentives that the tiered structure has put in place.”My job is to create the best environment for these players and set them on the right journeys,” Broom says. “If, at the end of this year, every single player in this squad got signed by a Tier 1 county, I would be holding my hands up saying, ‘I’ve done my job’.”Additional reporting by Valkerie Baynes