Revered Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once infamously claimed that his great challenge across his illustrious and lengthy tenure at Old Trafford was knocking Liverpool off their perch.

He succeeded, or at least, as the Red Devils prospered through the 90s and the noughties, Liverpool failed to glean silverware with any real regularity, a shadow of the domineering Anfield sides of the 70s and 80s.

Barring lone moments of success, Liverpool were yearning for a return to true prominence and found their catalyst in an eccentric German named Jurgen Klopp, who transformed the outfit upon his arrival in 2015.

What have Liverpool achieved under Jurgen Klopp?

After joining a Liverpool side lacking objective and drive following his dismissal from Borussia Dortmund, Klopp set to work in instilling a new mentality on Merseyside, and while his first few campaigns brought newfound promise, the end result remained the same.

Indeed, Liverpool fell at the final hurdle in the Europa League, Carabao Cup and Champions League under Klopp's wing before finally rising to the fore and triumphing in the 2018/19 Champions League final, opening the gates for a torrent of silverware.

Having now also won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, Klopp has crafted a dynasty, distinguished by astute work on the transfer front, identifying promising talents and turning them into first-class stars.

The likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson are evidence of the success of this method, but one of Klopp's greatest, most emblematic phenoms comes in the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose ascent from the academy ranks typifies the brilliance of the Anfield side over the past years.

How much was Trent Alexander-Arnold worth in 2017?

In August 2017, an 18-year-old Alexander-Arnold fired home a direct free-kick to hand Liverpool a 2-1 away lead in the Champions League play-off round against Hoffenheim.

It was the start of a sensational career as one of the creative centrepieces of a prosperous outfit; now aged 24, the England international will feel that his best days lie ahead.

According to Football Transfers, the right-back was believed to be worth around £7m at the time, and while the youngster was held in high regard, few could have predicted that seven years on he would stand as the most valuable of all positional peers worldwide.

Most valuable full-backs

Expected transfer value (xTV)

Trent Alexander-Arnold

£55m

Reece James

£49m

Andy Robertson

£47.5m

Jules Kounde

£47.2m

Theo Hernandez

£44.5m

Marc Cucurella

£43m

Alphonso Davies

£42.7m

Across the 2017/18 campaign, the Liverpool-born ace would make 34 appearances, scoring three goals and supplying two assists, earning 18 starts in the English top-flight and playing a pivotal role in the Champions League conquest, losing the final to Real Madrid 3-1 on that ill-fated day.

Hailed as "phenomenal" and "top-class" by Liverpool's former stalwart James Milner upon winning the Young Player of the Year award in 2018, Alexander-Arnold has now played a crucial role in winning the whole gamut of silverware under Klopp's wing, and is rightfully considered among the best, most destructively creative players in the world.

What is Trent Alexander-Arnold's market value now?

Alexander-Arnold's performances with Liverpool have seen his market value skyrocket, with Football Transfers now valuing the player at £55m, which is indeed the largest value of any full-back in the game.

Simply indispensable to Liverpool's system, the £180k-per-week phenom has now made 277 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 16 goals and supplying 73 assists.

The 20-cap England star is one of the most technically brilliant players around, with talkSPORT host Tony Cascarino even going as far as to say that he "has qualities that are not far off Lionel Messi".

A bold claim, but the innate ability at Alexander-Arnold's disposal is irrefutable, having cemented a starring spot in one of Europe's most devastating and delightful sides of the modern age.

Heralded for his "sensational" ball-striking ability by commentator Martin Tyler, there are few who can match the world-class talent and indeed very few teams across Europe to boast such a blistering creative force, let alone from the defence.

Why is Trent Alexander-Arnold worth that much?

Dubbed a "genius" by journalist Neil Jones, the 5 foot 8 full-back has dazzled with his defence-splitting passes and incredible rate of assisting on the domestic and continental scene.

In the Premier League, Alexander-Arnold has posted 55 assists despite being a defender and on the lower side of 25; in fact, teammate Robertson is the only defender to boast a higher tally, having placed 57 from 256 Premier League appearances – the Scotland captain's right-sided confrere has played 202 times in the English top-flight, 54 matches fewer.

A superlative option, his work from the right channel has allowed the likes of Salah and co to wreak havoc for years, with FBref ranking the homegrown gem among the top 6% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 4% for shot-creating actions, the top 2% for passes attempted and the top 5% for progressive passes per 90.

It's not always been plain sailing for the Englishman, who has received sustained criticism across the duration of his senior career for lackadaisical defending and carelessness in protecting Alisson's goal.

Once branded a "training dummy" by reporter Casey Evans after a particularly ignominious display against Real Madrid in the Champions League last season, dismantled by the fleet-footed phenom Vinicius Jr.

Bewildered by the rebuke, Klopp claimed his star is truly "world-class", and it's hard to dispute that he sits in the pantheon of modern ball-players of the highest quality, even named as Liverpool's vice-captain this season following the summer departures of Milner and Jordan Henderson.

Having hit double figures for assists in three of the past five campaigns (supplying nine and seven across the other two), Alexander-Arnold is the fulcrum of the supplementation of Klopp's outfit, and after sustaining such unbelievable numbers across his career thus far, deservedly takes his place as the most valuable of his position worldwide.

Klopp's Liverpool tenure is steeped in success, and while his fantastic, transformative effect on the club is often characterised by the shrewd transfer business, which is rightfully lauded, it is the emergence of Alexander-Arnold which might have had the most profound influence on the reshaping and resurgence of the proud Premier League outfit.

0:59

Mayank Agarwal’s incredible run of domestic form

Mayank Agarwal’s rollicking form continued in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Saurashtra, as his 79-ball 90 set up Karnataka’s 41-run victory at Feroz Shah Kotla under the watchful eyes of India selectors MSK Prasad and Sarandeep Singh. The title was Karnataka’s third Vijay Hazare title win in five years as they defended 253 by bowling out Saurashtra for 212 in the 47th over. Captain Cheteshwar Pujara was the only Saurashtra batsman to cross 30 but his 94 off 127 balls could not take them close to the target.Agarwal, who missed out on selection for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka, increased his domestic season’s tally to 2141 runs with two games yet to go in the Deodhar Trophy, and three if Karnataka reach the final.Pujara opted to bowl in the day game, citing early morning moisture and Jaydev Unadkat’s return to the XI as reasons behind his decision. That choice gave Saurashtra early rewards as opener Karun Nair and No. 3 KL Rahul, who recently returned from South Africa, fell for ducks inside the first three overs. Shaurya Sanandia set Nair’s wicket up by bowling three outswingers first up before sliding an inswinger off the fourth ball of his over to burst through the Karnataka captain’s defense. Rahul fell seven balls later, guilty of running lazily while looking for a single.With Karnataka at 5 for 2, Agarwal combined once again with R Samarth (48) to rescue their innings. They added 136 runs in 131 balls to set up a solid base for a big finish, but a second collapse – wrapped up by offspinner Kamlesh Makvana’s four wickets – ensured Karnataka could not post a huge total. Once Agarwal holed out to long-off in the 25th over, Samarth was bowled for 48 in the next over and Stuart Binny fell for 5 soon after. No. 5 Pavan Deshpande contributed 49 and Shreyas Gopal scored 31 off 28 as Makvana took the last four wickets for 30 runs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Karnataka also struck with early wickets with their pace bowlers. Opener Samarth Vyas crunched two fours in the first over of the chase, but edged one to the keeper off the over’s final ball. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was promoted from No. 11 to No. 3, but that experiment didn’t last long as he chopped one on and Saurashtra were 15 for 2 after 2.2 overs. Pujara came in at No. 4, one spot lower than usual to combine with opener Avi Barot (30).Barot’s solid 43-ball innings came to an end when he holed out to long-on off Binny, attempting to increase Saurashtra’s run rate. With Pujara consuming dots at the other end – being 7 off 34 balls at one point – the other Saurashtra batsmen, too, fell chasing the game as the run rate had dropped under four runs per over. First, Ravindra Jadeja – playing as a batsman due to a side strain – top-edged a slog sweep to mid-off, after which Prerak Mankad and Arpit Vasavada fell for ducks to offspinner K Gowtham, reducing them to 101 for 6.Pujara struck 10 fours and a six overall but his strike rate hovered in the 60s for the longest time. With Saurashtra needing 105 runs off the last 10 overs with only two wickets in hand, Pujara started freeing his arms. He and Makvana collected 30 runs off the 42nd and 43rd overs together, but it was too late.It didn’t help Saurashtra that Pujara was involved in two run-outs: first a mix-up causing Chirag Jani’s wicket before the captain fell to a rocket throw from Nair at mid-off. Pujara was the ninth man to go, and nine balls later, Prasidh Krishna knocked Sanandia’s leg stump as Karnataka began their celebrations.Karnataka were missing their frontline bowlers – Vinay Kumar out with an injury while Abhimanyu Mithun was unavailable – and yet their bowlers came through. Fielding a second-string bowling attack, their pacers Prasidh and T Pradeep kept things tight at the top, following which Gowtham strangled Saurashtra’s middle order. Both Prasidh and Gowtham took three wickets each. Left-arm quick S Aravind went wicketless but ended his Karnataka career on a high; the final was his last match for the state side because he wants to give more chances to younger players.Karnataka will play the Deodhar Trophy – that starts on March 4 in Dharamsala – along with India A and India B.

In scheduling the women’s final at MCG, organisers are hopeful of topping the record for a women’s cricket match

Daniel Brettig30-Jan-2018

Two more editions of the burgeoning Women’s Big Bash League will help build anticipation for a standalone Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in 2020, with a showpiece final expected to draw the largest crowd for a women’s cricket fixture.That’s the view of Australia’s captain Meg Lanning, who was visibly enthused by the concept of the World T20 standing apart from the men’s event as a forerunner to further growth for the women’s game. The dual women’s and men’s tournaments were launched in Melbourne on Tuesday with Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney announced as host cities: both finals, the women’s on March 8 – also International Women’s Day – and the men’s on November 15, will be held at the MCG.In scheduling the women’s final at Australia’s biggest venue, organisers are hopeful of topping the record for a women’s cricket match – the estimated 70,000 who turned up to Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the 1997 50-over World Cup final won by Australia. The biggest attendance for a women’s sporting fixture of any kind was set in 1999, when 90,185 witnessed the women’s football World Cup final between the USA and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The overall attendance for that event was 1,194,215 – an average of 37,319 per match.Among other venues, the SCG will host both women’s semi-finals and one of the men’s semis, with the other to be held at Adelaide Oval. Perth’s new stadium has also been awarded matches. “I think it shows how far it’s come,” Lanning said of the standalone event, which will follow this year’s event in the Caribbean. “The support for the women’s game’s been great throughout the Ashes and been building over time and that’s not just cricket, it’s sport in general. To show that we want to play a final here at the MCG and fill it out, I think, it just shows where it’s headed.”For it to be a home World Cup I think that’s a very special moment as a player and we saw how successful the one in 2015 was here with the men’s, so the fact it’s a standalone tournament for the women and the final’s going to be here at the MCG on International Women’s Day, that’s certainly something we want to be a part of.”Cricket Australia has worked assiduously on the WBBL over the past two years, gaining greater television traction than first expected, and there are longer-term plans to move the tournament into its own October slot in the calendar rather than running concurrently with the men’s BBL as is currently the case. Fixtures for the WBBL semi-finals, in which first and second-placed Sydney teams will have to travel to play in Adelaide and Perth against lower-ranked opponents due to the matches being held as double-headers with the men’s playoffs, has highlighted the difficulties of running the vents side by side.”At the start of the year everyone knew the finals would be held where the men’s were and it’s a difficult one, I don’t think everyone’s going to win out of it,” Lanning said. “The fact you’ve got two of the same teams playing in the same state I think it makes a lot of sense to have them as true double-headers and I think that’ll help really build excitement and hopefully the crowds are bigger as well. WBBL is about the fans’ experience and hoping to bring new fans to the game … it’s probably not ideal for the Sydney teams but we knew that at the start of the year.”I think it’s something we could look at. I think we saw through the Ashes with that standalone series that it created a lot of interest and the crowds were really good, so it’s definitely something we can look to, especially with this T20 tournament being standalone it makes a lot of sense.”Australia currently hold neither 50-over or T20 crowns in the women’s game, while the men’s team have long been one of the shortest formats strugglers. This was acknowledged by the captain Steven Smith, who also admitted he could not say for sure whether or not he would be leading Australia at the 2020 event.”Who knows? A couple of years away obviously. I’d like to be,” Smith said. “I think playing in a World Cup here in 2015 it was incredibly special to be a part of, so I’d love to be a part of the World T20 and captain that side, but it is a couple years away.”[We need] the right balance of players and the right way to play the game. A lot of strategy has come into T20 cricket now and the right match-ups with the right guys bowling to the right batters and things like that. There’ll be a lot of strategy around it and I think the right personnel to get the job done.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers have made some questionable signings over the years, with some talents proving to be big hits, and others being quickly forgettable.

This summer sparked change to the familiar squad at Molineux, with players needing to be offloaded and sold in order to balance the books with reference to the Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions in place.

Players such as club captain Ruben Neves and last summer’s blockbuster signing Matheus Nunes were sold to generate funds during the break, with the two sales accumulating £100m – £47m and £53m respectively.

While it was pivotal that business was efficient during the break due to tight financial pressures, transfers haven’t always been as smart for Wolves, as visible in the current members of the squad. Goncalo Guedes is one of the primary examples.

How much did Wolves sign Goncalo Guedes for?

Signed last summer from Valencia, winger Guedes made the £27.5m move to Molineux to join a host of Portuguese talent already in the Midlands.

At the time of his arrival, chairman Jeff Shi described the player as being “well suited to the Premier League”, insisting that the club had “been patient” to ensure they got the “right player."

Just over a year down the line and the 26-year-old has made only 18 appearances for the Old Gold, scoring on two occasions during his time associated with the club so far. It's safe to say that Fosun and Co picked the wrong player here.

What happened to Goncalo Guedes?

Earning £90k-per-week, Shi’s claims that the winger was ready to play in the Premier League proved to be false, with the former La Liga forward wasting his time at Wolves away.

Signed in August 2022, Guedes was shipped on loan to Benfica by January, and is yet to make another appearance for the side with his future looking to be far away from Molineux.

Former manager Julen Lopetegui explained that the £27.5m man was “not happy” at Wolves after his loan move to the Eagles, as he returned to the Lisbon-based club this summer on a season-long loan spell.

After just 18 appearances, it would be assumed that the attacker’s time is over in the Premier League, with him failing to adapt and wanting away from England as he continues to seek sanctuary in Portugal.

Journalist Nathan Judah didn’t hold back on his opinion of the winger, saying he has “zero interest in rotten apples” following his second loan move to Benfica last month.

While the disappointment of the transfer is understandable considering the price paid to obtain his services just a year ago, the 26-year-old was poor in Portugal, scoring just once in the league during his half-season loan with the Eagles.

Wolves have dodged a bullet by loaning the dud, however considering their recent financial problems, the money spent to sign the want-away has proven to be a complete waste of funds.

It’s likely that the Old Gold will permanently offload the forward in the near future as Gary O’Neil continues to build his favoured squad, although his dip in form will be damaging to the Midlands side, who are unlikely to make a profit in the instance of his sale.

As per CIES Football Observatory, the Portuguese international is valued at €20m (£17m), showing a dip of almost £10m in relation to the price the Premier League side paid for him just last year.

There remains hope that the 26-year-old can rediscover his form in Portugal to bolster his value, however, circumstances won't change the fact that the market move was a low for Wolves.

MatériaMais Notícias

No Arruda, Santa Cruz e Jacupiense disputaram um jogo agitado, que terminou empatado por 3 a 3. O resultado deixou o Tricolor na liderança da chave A, com 15 pontos. Já o time baiano é o sexto, com 10 pontos.

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Na próxima rodada, o Santinha visita o Ferroviário-CE. Enquanto isso, a Jacupiense encara o Vila Nova, em Pituaçu.

O jogo

A etapa inicial foi eletrizante. Se a Jacupiense abriu o placar no contra-ataque com Railan, a resposta do Santa Cruz foi na bola aérea, com Mayco Félix, que anotou os dois gols.

No segundo tempo, o Jacupiense voltou a igualar o marcador através de Dinei. A virada do time baiano veio outra vez com Dinei, que teve tranquilidade para sacramentar o contra-ataque.

Aos 44 minutos, quando tudo parecia decidido, Toty apareceu sozinho na grande área do rival para testar firme e dar números finais ao jogo, 3 a 3.

Netherlands needed to win this game to have any chance of staying in contention for a place in World Cup 2019. They did that.

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2018Peter Della PennaNetherlands needed to win this game, while also improving their net run rate as much as possible, to have any chance of staying in contention for a place in World Cup 2019. They did most of that. After making 216 for 8, they bowled Papua New Guinea out for 159 to win by 57 runs. Now, they will have to beat West Indies – once again, by as big a margin as possible – then hope other results go their way.For a while, it seemed that Netherlands would get exactly the result they wanted – that is, victory by a huge margin – as PNG slid from 45 for 1 to 93 for 7. Netherlands’ plans took a hit, though, as PNG’s lower order, in the company of Kiplin Doriga, kept chipping away at the runs required to give their total some respectability. Eventually, they finished on 159, with Roelof van der Merwe doing most damage with his left-arm spin. That might not have been the margin of victory Netherlands were after, but it was still two points in the bag.The result was hardly a given when Netherlands suffered a top-order collapse of their own, going from 57 for no loss to 98 for 5. It took a lower-order counterattack to drag them past 200. The leaders of this late charge were van der Merwe (38 off 41), Pieter Seelaar (23 off 18) and Sikander Zulfiqar, who with an unbeaten 53 off 65, registered his second List A half-century.While the PNG bowlers shared the wickets around, the legspin of Charles Amini and Mahuru Dai proved most restrictive; they went at under four an over in picking up two wickets apiece. It turned out that was not enough. PNG head home from the World Cup Qualifiers without a win in four games.

At the beginning of the transfer window, West Ham United’s task of replacing Declan Rice looked impossible.

How would any player replicate his consistency, reliability, loyalty, and relationship with the fans?

But, the Hammers' hierarchy have done a superb job of ushering in the new era of the club’s midfield.

Mohammed Kudus has been added to the offensive segment, James Ward-Prowse will adopt a box-to-box role, whilst Edson Alvarez will be tasked with the more conventional Rice duties, sitting rigidly in front of the defence.

However, the 2023 Europa Conference League winners are still looking to bolster his area…

What’s the latest West Ham transfer news?

Football Inside reported late last week that West Ham had joined Nottingham Forest in the race to sign PSV Eindhoven’s Ibrahim Sangare, who has a £32m release clause in his contract.

Forest had been the leading contender for the midfielder’s signature, but they chose to not activate the release clause and instead offered to take the player on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy set at £21.3m.

Read the latest West Ham transfer news HERE…

This has offered West Ham a chance to make a late move for Sangare, with PSV having reportedly lined up a replacement for him should he leave in this window.

However, the 25-year-old’s future is also dependent upon Champions League qualification, which will be settled on 30 August following the pulsating 2-2 draw with Rangers in the first leg at Ibrox.

What are Ibrahim Sangare's strengths?

The Ivorian has been at PSV since 2020 and has made 139 appearances in all competitions, scoring 15 and assisting ten.

Sangare’s strength will be of particular interest to David Moyes due to his accomplished profile. Last term in the Eredivisie, the 6 foot 3 titan netted five times, averaged 1.3 shots per game, 2.3 tackles per game, completed 77% of his dribbles, and won 63% of his aerials duels, as per Sofascore.

To place these numbers in a wider perspective, and to underline his well-rounded style, Sangare ranks within the highest 14% outside of Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for non-penalty xG per 90, progressive passes per 90, successful take-ons per 90, clearances per 90, and aerials won per 90.

The 31-cap international seems to embody Ward-Prowse’s offensive threat and Alvarez’s defensive solidity. A possible West Ham line up could see the Englishman deployed as an advanced eight, with Sangare operating in a similar role and Alvarez sitting as a lone pivot.

Ranked among his positional peers outside of Europe’s top five leagues, the Mexican sits within the highest 8% for interceptions per 90, clearances per 90, and aerials won per 90.

In last weekend’s hard-fought victory over Brighton, Alvarez played for 84 minutes, winning four duels, and registering seven clearances and two tackles.

However, he only managed 53% pass completion indicating that if he was paired with a more technical influence that could also dig into the defensive effort, such as Sangare, then West Ham’s midfield could perform at even more impressive levels.

Described as “extraordinary” by former PSV and Ajax manager Aad de Mos, Sangare would be an excellent transfer for the Irons, as he could well take his potential new colleague to the next level.

Australia will take the same team that lifted the Ashes urn into the first Test against South Africa, for a series the captain Steven Smith believes can be the making of many younger members of his side

Daniel Brettig in Durban28-Feb-20181:22

Wessels: South Africa will target Smith and Warner

Australia will take the same team that lifted the Ashes urn in Sydney seven weeks ago into the first Test against South Africa, for a series the captain Steven Smith believes can be the making of numerous younger members of his side.It was in the corresponding Test four years ago in Centurion that Smith and Shaun Marsh sculpted centuries that set an ultimately victorious tone for the team then led by Michael Clarke – both still regard those innings as the finest of their careers. Similarly, a host of Australian pace bowlers have saved their very best for South Africa, with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins eager to add to a tradition of success: Australia have not lost a series in this part of the world since the end of apartheid.Du Plessis finger could help not hinder

Australia’s captain Steven Smith reckons his opposite number Faf du Plessis’ damaged right index finger may not be as much of a hindrance as many think. South Africa’s captain injured his finger during the ODI series against India, and will enter the Tests without anything in the way of match practice.
Noting that both he and du Plessis tended to play with a strong bottom-hand grip, Smith observed that anything that served to lighten the batting grip and place more onus on the top left hand could actually aid a batsman to play more correctly. “He holds the bat pretty heavily with his bottom hand, probably much like I do … sometimes it’s actually a good thing if this hand is injured you start using this one a bit more and you keep your shape a bit better,” Smith said. “I actually don’t mind if something is injured in my right hand, if that makes sense.
“If he hasn’t picked the bat up and had that much time in the middle or in the nets, he might be a little bit underdone, but he’s obviously a class player, he’s played a lot of cricket and it usually doesn’t take too long to get things back in the groove for that sort of player. He’s a good player, there’s no doubt about that. He’s scored runs, some really good runs in Australia. Got hundred in the pink ball game [in Adelaide in 2016], so there’s no doubt he’s a really good player and hopefully we can keep him quiet throughout this series.”

While Smith admitted the prospect of a four-Test series, elongated from three at the behest of the former Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards after a thrilling Cape Town denouement in 2014, would be especially taxing at the end of a long summer, he was adamant that his team had refreshed sufficiently to take on Faf du Plessis’ side. At the same time he looked for breakout overseas performances from the likes of Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh alongside the senior men.”There’s no doubt it’s a tough tour. Conditions wise it’s as similar as you get to back home but you’re still away from home and they’re a good team,” Smith said in Durban. “So it’s a chance where guys can find some confidence that they can play well away from home and hopefully some guys have innings like Shaun at Centurion and make a name for themselves and give them that confidence they can do it against quality attacks like South Africa.”No doubt throughout the series guys are going to have some sort of fatigue set in. It has been a long summer and every Test back home went five days and things like that, but in the end you’re playing for your country and you find ways to get yourself up. You don’t need too much motivation when you’re playing for your country.”It’s just going to be about helping each other out and making sure that if guys are feeling fatigued someone else will take the load for a bit and just trying to share that as much as possible and make sure we can keep each other as fresh as we can be and just in the challenge really.”Most critical for Australia’s chances in the looming bout will be the physical and mental readiness of the “big three” fast bowlers, who alongside Smith and Nathan Lyon were the difference for Australia in the Ashes. Smith, who himself needed time away from the game after showing signs of fatigue in the ODI series defeat to England that preceded the trip to South Africa, said he had sensed a greatly refreshed mood amongst his spearheads.”They all had a little bit of time off at the end of the one-dayers, which I don’t think you actually need that long,” Smith said. “I think a week or two actually just does a world of good to anyone and I know that when we landed here, Starcy for instance was so happy the way the ball was coming out, he was swinging it and you could just see on their faces that they were a bit more refreshed and just ready to go. Everyone is excited about this series, it’s going to be a cracker.”Smith, of course, is as pivotal to his team’s chances as anyone, and as the world’s leading Test batsman by a distance, he has a record and reputation to maintain against Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and the soon-to-retire Morne Morkel. Having effectively steeled himself to put together outstanding series against India and England over the past 12 months, Smith was hopeful of having everything “just click” for him at the batting crease this time around.4:45

Wessels: SA can’t afford spicy pitches against Australia

“It’s too early to tell yet. I don’t know. It sort of just happens out in the middle sometimes,” he said. “I really enjoyed the couple of weeks I had off after the one-day series. I needed that, I was very drained. It got to the point where I actually didn’t want to pick my cricket bat up for a bit which is very rare for me. I just love batting.”It got to a point where I wanted to do it again, so I think that was the moment where I was sort of refreshed and ready to go. I feel like I’ve been batting well since we’ve been here. Hopefully, I can stand up again and lead the boys and get myself in that zone again to have the success against a good bowling attack.”The Kingsmead pitch looks to have even grass coverage but Smith expected it to be on the slower side, in keeping with South Africa’s stated intentions to deny the Australian pacemen the sort of spicy surfaces served up for the recent India series. To that end, Smith said patience and the ability to grind out difficult periods of play with bat and ball would be vital.”I thought that they’d go with quite slow wickets or maybe green wickets,” Smith said. “One of the two. I didn’t think they’d have a great deal of pace. But looking at the wicket now a couple of days out, it looks like it could be quite slow, maybe not a great deal of carry. But I’m terrible at judging wickets, so it’s just about summing it up when we’re out there and adapting to whatever we’re dealt and identifying it quickly and making sure we’re doing everything we need to do on our feet quickly.”First Test match is so important so you don’t want to be behind the eight ball early in this series. I think the average first innings score’s around 270-280, so it could be quite a hard grind and playing the long game as much as you can and toughing out difficult periods and just being on top of every run, every run could be crucial. Just being all over that and making sure we start well with the first Test.”Australia’s enviable record in South Africa has gone some way to erasing memories of the previous encounter between the sides in late 2016, when Rabada, Philander and company skated to a victory that caused great turmoil in Australian cricket but has since been cited by many as the making of Smith’s captaincy. Certainly the unchanged XI, in contrast to the five changes made between Hobart and Adelaide 18 months ago, is a marker of stability and improvement.”That wasn’t a great time, it was a bit of a low point for Australian cricket, but I think since then we’ve made some really good strides and the cricket we’ve been playing, particularly back home in the Ashes was magnificent,” Smith said. “Now it’s about doing all those things we did well, the basic things, but doing them at another level. If we do that then I’m confident we can have a lot of success.”I think our squad together now is a really good squad. Even the guys that aren’t playing have been training exceptionally well. Petey [Handscomb] got a hundred before we came away in Shield cricket and averages 47 in Test cricket so I think it is showing us that we’ve got a good side. Having said that, we’re going to have to be up for the challenge here.”

Leeds United clinched their first victory of the season in an enthralling encounter against high-flying Ipswich Town, with Daniel Farke's side defeating their newly promoted opposition 4-3 at Portman Road.

How did Leeds perform against Ipswich?

In what was one of the most frenetic openings to a match the 2023/24 campaign has seen, Leeds rebounded from Joe Rodon's early own goal to blast three past Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky inside 20 minutes, with Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto and new striker Joel Piroe the scorers.

Nathan Broadhead halved the deficit in the dying embers of the first half, but Luis Sinisterra's 72nd-minute strike all but confirmed Farke's first victory with the Elland Road side, before Conor Chaplin's goal gave the Tractor Boys a late consolation.

The defensive frailties that have plagued the Whites over the past few years were there to be seen, but the attacking intent was also on the front shelf, and Farke and his team will be delighted with the performance of Rutter, who could be set for a big season after struggling last year.

How did Georginio Rutter perform against Ipswich?

Before taking the job, Farke informed the Leeds hierarchy that the club would need to score 75+ goals in the league this season if they were to have a chance of securing an immediate return to the Premier League.

The fact that Piroe netted on his debut after his £10.5m move with Swansea City will have been galvanising for his manager and the endearing Whites support, who will now have renewed confidence regarding the outfit's seasonal prospects, with Piroe's record of 19 and 22-goal seasons across the past two years hinting that Leeds now have a thriving frontman.

The one-time PSV Eindhoven youngster impressed on the day, converting after Hladky failed to deal with Sinisterra's cross and earning an average Sofascore rating of 6.9, hitting the target three times, making one key pass and completing 79% of his total passes.

While Piroe did impress, Rutter's own maiden goal for the West Yorkshire team will have also left his manager delighted, and indeed optimistic when considering the Frenchman's future at the club.

Praised by The Athletic's Phil Hay for his “quality” effort, restoring parity after Town's opening goal, Rutter impressed with his blend of dribbling, incisiveness and creativity – truly a multi-functional offensive outlet.

The £70k-per-week gem recorded an average match rating of 7.7 – the highest of any Leeds player – complementing his driven strike with two key passes, success in three of his six dribble attempts and winning eight of his 15 duels, emphasising his tenacity and willingness to get stuck in to obtain three points.

The important thing is that Leeds got the win – against an in-form outfit that had won their opening three matches, no less – and while it was not a flawless performance, Farke now has a platform on which to build and a crop of players with a renewed passion to fight for a place back in the big time.

Liverpool are keen on a summer deal to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie, but a reliable journalist has revealed that it will be far from cheap to bring him to the Premier League.

How old is Piero Hincapie?

Hincapie is 21 years of age and still has another four years to run on his contract with Xabi Alonso’s side, but despite this, he’s been attracting significant interest from three clubs in particular ahead of the final week of the window, two of them being in the top-flight.

The Bundesliga centre-back earlier this month emerged as a possible target for the Reds, West Ham United and RB Leipzig, but reporter Dominik Schneider soon after confirmed that FSG and Jurgen Klopp had made the first official move and opened talks with the player’s camp regarding a move to Anfield.

The Ecuador international was previously claimed to have had a £35m price tag put on his head, but if the following update is to be believed, it’s now set to cost his admirers almost double should they want to prise him away from the BayArena.

Are Liverpool signing Piero Hincapie?

Writing in his column for CaughtOffside, Bild's Christian Falk name-checked Liverpool as one of the clubs to be possibly keeping tabs on Hincapie, but admitted that Jorg Schmadtke will find it difficult to get a deal over the line. He said:

“There are many Premier League clubs interested in Piero Hincapie. Liverpool could be one of them. I don’t think there’s enough time to make the deal, as Leverkusen don’t want to sell. If they were forced to think about it, it would have to be a high price – €70m (£60m) and more. I don’t think it’s the right moment for Liverpool to spend this money. I think Schamdtke will know that.

“Leverkusen are very interested in a loan deal for Luke Chambers – they really want him. This could happen, and so you see there talks between Leverkusen and Jorg Schmadtke, but I think he knows it will be too difficult to get Hincapie.”

How good is Piero Hincapie?

According to football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Hincapie is a defensive “wall” at centre-back which is true considering that last season he averaged 2.5 clearances and two aerial wins per game in the Bundesliga, via WhoScored, so should he put pen to paper, he could be an excellent recruit for Liverpool.

Read The Latest Liverpool Transfer News HERE…

The Esmeraldas native, who has the versatility to operate at left-back and slightly higher up on the left side of the midfield alongside his usual role, also ranked in the 98th percentile for progressive carries, displaying his desire to push his team up the pitch which resulted in him scoring one goal and providing the same number of assists.

The Merseyside outfit have reportedly seen an opening offer for Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch rejected. The Reds' offer was thought to be worth £41m, however, the Bundesliga champions see the player as key player despite starting the campaign on the bench.

Should they be more successful if they make an improved second bid for the Dutch midfielder, Hincapie could be the perfect candidate to follow in his footsteps in late transfer activity at Anfield, making this one to keep an eye on.