The duo will join RCB after the Sri Lanka vs South Africa series and leave in time for the T20 World Cup warm-up games

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2021

Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera have been cleared by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to turn out for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second chunk of IPL 2021, but as things stand, the permission is only till October 9, meaning they won’t be available for the franchise should they reach the playoffs unless an extension is arranged.The two will be able to link up with the team after September 15, which is a day after Sri Lanka’s series at home against South Africa gets over, but have been asked to join their national team on October 10 for their warm-up games in the lead-up to the men’s T20 World Cup qualifying round, starting October 17.”The ‘No Objection Certificate’ to the duo was issued for them to join the IPL teams starting from 15th September (following the completion of the South Africa Tour of Sri Lanka),” an SLC statement said. “The two players will join the Sri Lanka squad on 10th October 2021 to play in the two warm-up games prior to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers.”Related

Kohli: Skillsets of Hasaranga and Chameera will be of huge help in UAE

Washington Sundar ruled out of remainder of IPL 2021 due to finger injury

SA to tour SL for three ODIs and T20Is each in September

RCB rope in Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera for IPL 2021

South Africa are playing a series of three ODIs and three T20Is in Sri Lanka from September 2 to September 14. The IPL, which was postponed after 29 league matches in May following a spate of Covid-19 cases in multiple team bubbles, will resume on September 19 in the UAE, across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The league phase of the IPL gets over on October 8, with Royal Challengers featuring in the final fixture against Delhi Capitals in Dubai. The playoffs are slotted for October 10, 11, 13 and 15.But Sri Lanka play their first game in the first (qualifying) round of the T20 World Cup on October 18, against Namibia in Abu Dhabi and, prior to that, two warm-up games, which they want Hasaranga and Chameera for.Hasaranga and Chameera, as well as Australia’s Singapore-born batter Tim David and English left-arm seamer George Garton, were signed up by Royal Challengers earlier this month as replacements for New Zealand’s Finn Allen and Scott Kuggeleijn, and Australia’s Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams and Adam Zampa, who will all miss the tournament for different reasons.That aside, there has been a change among the coaching staff too, with Simon Katich stepping down as head coach, and Mike Hesson, at present the director of cricket operations, taking on the additional responsibility of filling in for Katich.

أعلنت رابطة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، عن هوية رجل مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي، التي أقيمت اليوم الأحد.

واستضاف ملعب “الاتحاد” مباراة الفريقين في منافسات الجولة 25 من الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، حيث فاز ليفربول بثنائية محمد صلاح ودومينيك سوبوسلاي.

طالع أيضًا.. تقييم محمد صلاح في مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي بـ الدوري الإنجليزي

وحسبما أعلنت رابطة الدوري الإنجليزي عبر موقعها الرسمي، حصل محمد صلاح على لقب رجل مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي، بعدما نال أعلى نسبة تصويت بـ 81.7%.

وجاء دومينيك سوبوسلاي في المركز الثاني بنسبة 8.2%، فيما حصل عمر مرموش على نسبة 1.4%.

وسجل محمد صلاح هدف ليفربول الأول في شباك مانشستر سيتي عند الدقيقة 14، قبل أن يصنع الهدف الثاني في الدقيقة 37 للنجم المجري. ملخص لمسات محمد صلاح في مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي بالدوري الانجليزي

Under Arsène Wenger, Arsenal were a team renowned for their dedication to playing football the ‘right way’, come rain or shine.

While this approach gave fans some incredible teams over the years, it also led to a lot of frustration and the more than the occasional demolition at the hands of other more physical and defensively astute sides in the latter years.

However, while the club’s DNA of wanting to play attractive attacking football is still present today, Mikel Arteta has worked tirelessly on making his team significantly harder to break down, more physically dominant, and maybe just that bit more fluent in the so-called ‘dark arts.’

The Spaniard’s team is full of solid stars who have helped make the North Londoners perhaps the most defensively impressive team in Europe, such as Jurrien Timber and Ben White. While those two could remain at the club for years to come, the academy might have already produced their long-term heir.

White and Timber's evolution at Arsenal

Arsenal’s £50m signing of White in the summer of 2021 was not a move met with universal praise at the time, as just a few months later a poll of football agents named it the worst signing of the window, as insane as that sounds today.

That first year in North London saw the former Brighton & Hove Albion ace primarily play as a centre-back, but the introduction of William Saliba for the following campaign saw him shift out to right-back, where he has been incredible ever since.

In all, the Poole-born star has now made 95 appearances for the Gunners on the right of the back four, where he has scored five goals and provided ten assists, and 39 appearances in his original position, where he unsurprisingly has not produced a goal or assist.

He might not have been seen as a smart transfer by some at the time, but in the three years since, he has more than proven his worth to the club and now has another teammate who shares his positional versatility in Timber.

The Dutch international moved to N5 last summer for around £38m, but an ACL injury kept him sidelined for practically the entire campaign. However, given the way he has started this year, you’d never have guessed he’d suffered such a severe injury.

So far this season, the former Ajax star has made six appearances, in which he has played at left-back, right-back and even defensive midfield, making it practically impossible to predict exactly where Arteta will start him in games.

Overall, both White and Timber have proven themselves to be exceptional players, and so long as they stay fit, they could help shore up Arsenal’s defence for years to come, although they could have some extra competition on their hands in a few years from an up-and-coming academy gem.

Why fans should be excited about Michal Rosiak

So, the Hale End gem in question is Poland U19 international Michal Rosiak.

The 18-year-old has been a star in the club’s academy for some time now and has shown signs that he could be a potential long-term heir to White or even Timber, but how?

Well, one of the main reasons is his versatility. For example, he is accomplished as both a defensive midfielder, where he has started 34 games in his junior career, and a right-back, where he has made 17 starts thus far.

Appearances

34

17

3

1

Goals

11

6

0

0

Assists

8

5

0

1

Goal Involvements per Match

0.55

0.64

0.00

1

That said, while he can already play both to an impressive level, those in the know expect his best route into the first team to be as an inverted full-back, with Hale End expert and podcaster Will Balsam describing him as “the future of that position for the club” thanks to his “innovative passing range.”

The second reason is related to the first.

Thanks in part to his experience playing in the middle of the park, the gifted youngster is incredibly comfortable on the ball and can influence proceedings at both ends of the pitch. In those 34 starts as a defensive midfielder, he’s racked up a seriously impressive haul of 11 goals and eight assists, equating to a goal involvement on average every 1.78 games.

Ultimately, while it will still be a good few years before we see Rosiak making regular first-team appearances, the signs are overwhelmingly positive.

Left for £0, now worth £84m: Arsenal must regret losing world-class star

The sensational international has haunted the Gunners for the best part of a decade.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Sep 27, 2024

Former India batting allrounder Gargi Banerjee has been appointed India’s team manager for the upcoming tour of Australia. Banerjee, 60, replaces Rajkuvardevi Gaekwad, the former chairperson of the Baroda women’s selection panel who had succeeded long-time manager Trupti Bhattacharya for the tour of England in June-July.One of the pioneering figures in Bengal women’s cricket, Banerjee played 12 Tests and 26 ODIs for India, between 1978 and 1991, and later served as a women’s national selector. She is currently part of the Cricket Association of Bengal Apex Council and will link up with the Indian contingent in Bengaluru on Sunday evening.

India’s support staff

Head coach: Ramesh Powar

Batting coach: Shiv Sunder Das

Fielding coach: Subhadeep Ghosh

Strength and conditioning coaches: Amogh Pandit and Tanuja Lele

Physiotherapists: Akanksha Satyavanshi and Tracy Fernandes

Logistics manager: Dhawal Shah

Among a raft of changes made to the support staff for the Australia tour, ESPNcricinfo understands fielding coach Abhay Sharma has been replaced despite having come in for praise from several India players during the England series, including T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Sharma, it is learnt, has assumed the fielding coach role at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and his position in the Indian team has been taken up by Subhadeep Ghosh.A former Railways and Assam player, Ghosh will travel to Australia and has already entered the ongoing pre-tour camp in Bengaluru, where a group of 30 probables assembled on August 10, with the last member of the Hundred quintet due to join by August 22 to round out the pool of 35.Related

• India call up Meghna Singh, Yastika Bhatia, Renuka Singh for Australia tour

• Schutt and injured Jonassen to miss India series

• The Hundred: Mandhana, injured Harmanpreet Kaur return to India

• India assemble for training camp ahead of Australia tour

Batting coach Shiv Sunder Das, meanwhile, retained his position in the support staff, having been roped in for the assignment against England on a tour-by-tour basis.While the BCCI has put out no official word on the camp or the support staff rejig, a whittled-down Indian squad from the 35 probables is likely to be announced by Wednesday. The extended squad, under the supervision of head coach Ramesh Powar, is understood to have undergone several match-simulation sessions since coming out of a six-day quarantine early last week.The Indian team is due to fly out on August 29 and will serve a 14-day quarantine upon landing in Australia. The tour comprises three ODIs, starting with one at the North Sydney Oval on September 19, followed by those at the Junction Oval on September 22 and 24, before the caravan moves to Perth for the standalone day-night Test, scheduled on September 30. The tour will conclude with the T20Is at the North Sydney Oval on October 7, 9 and 11, with Australia then set to break for the WBBL, which is also set to have Indian representation.

Mikel Arteta has hinted Arsenal could use their set piece prowess to hurt Manchester United again, with backup keeper Altay Bayindir set to start.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Arsenal host Man Utd in FA Cup
• Bayindir struggled in goal in last game
• Arteta hints at targeting keeper

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Arsenal used their set pieces to good effect in their 2-0 Premier League win over United in December and will look to punish the Red Devils again in their third-round FA Cup clash on Sunday in that facet of the game. And after Bayindir, who is expected to start in goal ahead of first-choice stopper Andre Onana against the Gunners, conceded from a corner in their 4-3 Carabao Cup loss to Tottenham, Arteta's men will likely try and test the the Turkey international as much as possible.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT ARTETA SAID

  He told reporters: "If there's a way that we believe we can hurt them [United], certainly we will focus on those areas."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  For Arsenal, they will want to bounce back from their disappointing 2-0 Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle last time out, and United will want to start the defence of their FA Cup crown with a bang. Plus, bragging rights are always on the table.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  After this heavyweight FA Cup clash at the Emirates, Arsenal take on north London rivals Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday whereas United host lowly Southampton a day later.

A week is a long time in football, and while things aren’t all rosy just yet, Manchester United are in a much better spot than they were this time last week.

Erik ten Hag’s side blew Southampton away 3-0 on Saturday and then utterly dominated Barnsley 7-0 in the League Cup last night in what could have easily been a banana skin fixture for the Premier League outfit.

Now, as the Tykes ply their trade in the third tier of English football, United fans can’t and won’t be getting too carried away with the result, but given how poorly the start of the season has gone, it’s still worth celebrating.

There were a number of good performers on the night who have otherwise been underwhelming so far this season, but with a far more challenging test against Crystal Palace to come on the weekend, Ten Hag must immediately drop one of his goalscorers back to the bench.

Antony's game in numbers

Yes, Brazilian winger Antony should be dropped from the starting lineup ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash, despite looking alright against Barnsley.

The former Ajax ace was brought into the team last night in place of the exciting Amad Diallo, and to his credit, he did make an impact.

In addition to winning and scoring his penalty, the 24-year-old took 90 touches, maintained a passing accuracy of 90%, played two key passes, took four shots on target, completed one dribble, and made one interception and tackle to boot.

However, there were still signs of the same frustrating player in his performance to go along with everything he did well, as he lost the ball 13 times, and despite taking so many shots on target, he couldn’t convert any of them in open play, which could help to explain his 6/10 match rating from the Manchester Evening News Samuel Luckhurst.

Moreover, playing well against a team from League One and a team that just gave Manchester City a run for their money in the top flight are two very different things, and the São Paulo-born wideman hasn’t shown enough quality since joining to warrant starting against the Bees.

For example, in his 84 games for the club following his £81m move two years ago, the 16-capped international has scored just 12 times and provided five assists. This means he’s averaged a goal involvement once every 4.94 games, which isn’t good enough, and as such, he should be dropped.

Who should replace Antony

So, for what is already a must-win game against Crystal Palace on the weekend, if United want to keep pace with their top four rivals, Ten Hag should look to bring Marcus Rashford back onto the left wing, move Alejandro Garnacho to the right and start Joshua Zirkzee as the recognised number nine.

Now, starting with the two wingers, and after they both scored last night, they’ve more than earned their place in the lineup and looked far and away United’s most dangerous players on the pitch.

Moreover, while the Argentine wonderkid has looked good from the first game of the season, the Englishman struggled at first, but with three goals in two games, he seems to have found some form. So, the manager should under no circumstances look to take him out of the team and risk derailing what could be the start of a comeback for Rashford.

Zirkzee, on the other hand, has endured a slightly mixed start to life in England.

He scored the winner against Fulham on the opening day but has since failed to add another in his subsequent four appearances.

However, he has had opportunities in each of those games, and the fact that he keeps getting himself into goalscoring positions is encouraging, and with more experience in the first team, the goals should hopefully start to come.

Ultimately, Antony did reasonably well against Barnsley, but he’s shown in the past that he struggles against tougher opposition, so Ten Hag should start Zirkzee up top, Rashford on the left and Garnacho on the right for the game against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Alongside Rashford: 109-touch "monster" may have revived his Man Utd career

The experienced veteran was superb for 90 minutes.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Sep 18, 2024

MatériaMais Notícias

Os Garotos do Ninho estão prontos para buscar o penta da Copa SP de Futebol Júnior. Nesta segunda-feira, o técnico Fábio Matias comandou o último treino do Sub-20 do Flamengo, no Ninho do Urubu, antes do embarque para São Paulo, onde, em Barueri, o Rubro-Negro fará parte do Grupo 29, ao lado deOeste (SP), Floresta (CE) e Forte (ES). A estreia será na próxima quarta-feira.

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O Flamengo vai com um time jovem para a competição, que, por conta da pandemia do coronavírus, terá jogadores inscritos até 21 anos. O Rubro-Negro, por sua vez, terá a base da equipe que conquistou o Campeonato Brasileiro, a Copa do Brasil e a Supercopa do Brasil pelo Sub-17 em 2021. Afinal, boa parte dos atletas da Sub-20 estarão à disposição para a disputa do Carioca, uma vez que os principais nomes do elenco profissional se reapresentam no dia 10.

Fábio Matias, que assumiu o comando do Sub-20 do Flamengo em junho de 2021, era o técnico do Internacional campeão da última edição da Copinha. Confira abaixo entrevista exclusiva do técnico ao LANCE! projetando 2022.

أدلى بيب جوارديولا، المدير الفني لفريق مانشستر سيتي، بتصريحات بعد هزيمتهم اليوم أمام خصمه ليفربول، في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

واستضاف ملعب “الاتحاد” مباراة الفريقين في قمة منافسات الجولة السادسة والعشرين من الدوري الإنجليزي، حيث خسر مانشستر سيتي بهدفين دون رد.

وقال جوارديولا، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “بي بي سي” العالمية: “لعبنا بشكل جيد للغاية، ربما افتقدنا المزيد من التسديدات، ولكننا لعبنا ضد فريق رائع، ربما كانت النسبة 50-50 في البداية، ولكن لم نتمكن من التسجيل”.

وأضاف: “في الشوط الثاني دافعوا بعمق شديد، فعلنا شيئًا لم نحاوله في العديد من المباريات وهو أننا دفعنا الخصم إلى منطقة جزائه، حاولنا التغلب عليهم هناك”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. دوكو رغم هزيمة مانشستر سيتي: ليفربول لم يتفوق علينا.. ولم نستفد مما فعلته أمام أرنولد

وواصل: “كانت الخطة تعتمد على الوصول إلى الثلث الأخير وكذلك من الجانب، حدث ذلك كثيرًا ولكننا لم نسجل، افتقدنا الخطوة التالية قليلًا”.

وعما إذا كان قد تعمد أن يلعب جيريمي دوكو على ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد، خاصة أن البلجيكي نجح في مراوغة الآخر كثيرًا، قال: “لقد فعل سافيو الأمر نفسه، لدينا أجنحة جيدة، يدافعون، كذلك محمد صلاح دافع اليوم أكثر من المباريات السابقة”.

وأفاد: “دوكو يمتلك القدرة على جذب لاعبين أو ثلاثة، وكذلك سافيو، ومن ثم يكون هناك لاعبون آخرين أحرار (يقصد دون رقابة)، يجب أن نكون سريعين في إلإنهاء، عندما تكون الكرة مع دوكو ويذهب أرنولد أو جرافنبرخ أو محمد صلاح إليه للتدخل ضده، يكون هناك لاعبين آخرين أحرار”.

وأفاد: “أعرف أن الناس لا يصدقون ذلك، ولكنني أعرف متى لعبنا بشكل جيد واليوم فعلنا ذلك، إذا خسرت، عليك أن تخسر بالطريقة التي خسرنا بها اليوم، رأيت العديد من الأشياء التي تجعل هذا النادي يتمتع بمستقبل مشرق مع اللاعبين الذين لدينا”.

وأوضح: “جميع اللاعبين لدينا صغار جدًا، باستثناء دي بروين وناثان آكي، ما يقرره النادي بعد ذلك للمستقبل، هناك مستقبل مشرق لهذا النادي في السنوات القادمة”.

وأكد: “الجميع يعلم أن جزءًا من الفريق سيكون هنا في الموسم المقبل للاعبين الأكبر سنًا ولكن يتعين علينا البناء للخطوة التالية، هناك مسألة وقت، لعبنا جيدًا حتى مع عدد الغيابات لدينا”.

واسترسل: “نحن بعيدون جدًا (عن ليفربول)، سنرى في المستقبل، ما فعلناه في المواسم السابقة كان جيدًا ولكننا الآن بعيدون عنهم، لعبنا بشخصية كانت جيدة حقًا”.

The question remains: will India rest one of their quick men in the fourth Test to manage workloads?

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Sep-2021

Are India looking at resting at least one of their fast bowlers who featured in the defeat at Headingley for the Oval Test starting on Thursday? The question came up after they added young fast bowler Prasidh Krishna to their squad. Prasidh, 25, who made his international debut in the home ODI series against England in March, is the seventh pacer in the squad.In a media release on Wednesday, the BCCI said Prasidh had been added to the squad for the penultimate Test of the five-match series at the request of the team management. It is understood that Prasidh, who was originally part of the reserves, was sought as cover to the main group of fast bowlers comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. The other two pace options in the squad include Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur.India’s updated squad for the fourth Test

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

At 6′ 2″, Prasidh, who plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket, could potentially be seen as a back-up for Ishant, who struggled for rhythm and consistency while finishing wicketless in the third Test. Ishant, who turns 33 on Thursday, had sat out the first Test due a niggle.”He’s been included in the team mainly considering all the workload management issues,” B Arun, India’s bowling coach, said on the eve of the Oval Test. “Nothing more to it than that. Ishant’s form in the last game that was a bit of concern but I think we have sorted things out. Prasidh Krishna is just a precautionary inclusion.”At the post-match media briefing at Headingley, India captain Virat Kohli said he had noticed “no issues whatsoever” with Ishant, but added that rotation of the fast bowlers could not be ruled out keeping in mind the heavy workloads in a five-match Test series.”That’s bound to happen,” Kohli said when asked whether some of the fast bowlers could be rested. “It’s a very logical and sensible thing to do – you obviously don’t want to push individuals to a place where they break. We will have that conversation with individuals and see who is placed where physically and who needs to have a game off. You obviously can’t expect with a short turnaround like this for guys to play four Test matches in a row so we’ll have to assess who are the guys that will be given that many number of days to recover and then be okay for the fifth one [Manchester].”Bumrah, who has been India’s best bowler with 14 wickets, has also logged the most number of overs for them: 108, followed closely by Siraj, who has delivered nearly 101 overs. In terms of biggest workloads in the series so far, they slot in behind the England duo of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who’ve sent down nearly 117 overs each. Shami has bowled nearly 97 overs in three Tests while Ishant has bowled 56 overs in the two Tests he has played in.All the Indian fast bowlers, including Prasidh, did not bowl at training on Tuesday, with the team management opting to rest the pace-bowling group two days ahead of the fourth Test.

Aston Villa just played their first home game in the Champions League, and fans were not left disappointed, managing to beat Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich side 1-0.

There were some top-level performances from many Villa players, with Emiliano Martínez making seven saves, Pau Torres getting an assist, and Jaden Philogene winning 8/13 ground duels on a rare start for the summer arrival.

But it was super-sub Jhon Duran yet again, who won the game for the Villans, scoring an unbelievable strike from outside the box, now making it six goals in nine games, whilst only playing 297 minutes of football.

Villa have now won both of their Champions League games played, with Unai Emery’s side set to face Bologna next. But has Duran earned a start in the UCL next time out?

Jhon Duran's performances this season

Duran entered the fray with 20 minutes to go against Bayern Munich, with the game 0-0. It only took the Colombian 13 touches to have his impact, winning 2/2 ground duels, 4/6 aerial duels, and scoring with his only shot.

This is a similar trend to the outings we have seen from Duran so far this campaign, coming from the bench to score against West Ham, Leicester, Everton and Wolves so far, outscoring fellow striker Ollie Watkins in fewer minutes.

When you look at the numbers the Colombian has put up from the bench this season, you can see the impact he has on proceedings. Against Wolves, he came on with 28 minutes to go, had 15 touches, won 3/7 ground duels, took two shots and scored a goal.

Against Everton he came on with 21 minutes remainingo, having 12 touches, winning his one and only aerial duel, taking three shots and scoring a goal. Then, against Leicester, he came on with 29 minutes left, had 16 touches, won 75% of his aerial duels, took two shots and scored a goal.

These numbers help to back up what we see when watching Duran, and analysing him as a player. He doesn’t need many touches to impact a game, will work hard and win his duels both ground and aerial, whether he has 90 minutes or 20 minutes, he will provide shot volume, and with his deadly ball striking, often convert those shots into goals.

The 20-year-old has an extremely fast shot release, very instinctive and natural movement in the box, and can generate power in his leap to win aerial duels. He is made for the Premier League both physically and mentally, and we are watching an elite striker in the making.

Interestingly, they ignored one of Europe#s best forwards to acquire him.

Jonathan David was wanted instead of Duran

Back in January 2023, the same window Duran was signed from Chicago Fire for around £14.75m, Villa were linked with a big move for Lille striker, Jonathan David, with the French side reportedly looking for around £44m for the Canadian forward.

Described by journalist Tony Marinaro as “one of the best strikers in the world,” David’s record speaks for itself, scoring 92 goals in 195 games for Lille, also providing 20 assists, and totalling 14,631 minutes played.

The 24-year-old has got off to a fast start this campaign too, making 12 appearances so far, scoring eight goals and providing two assists, even finding the net from the penalty spot against Real Madrid this week.

David is well known for his sharp shooting and instinctive finishing in front of goal, much like Duran has been praised for early in his career.

One that got away

The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast's One That Got Away series.

David has outscored his xG in every season he’s played so far, sometimes only by 0.01 per 90, but the point is that the Canadian is clinical in front of goal, and will often score the goals he’s expected to, meaning if the team are generating chances, he is most likely putting them away.

Goals

1.03

1.76

xG

0.71

0.92

Progressive Carries

1.38

0.42

Progressive Passes

2.24

1.67

Shots Total

2.41

5.88

Shots on Target

1.55

2.35

G-xG

+0.33

+1.17

Key Passes

0.69

0.42

Shot-Creating Actions

1.90

2.08

Touches (Att Pen)

6.38

7.08

Aerials Won

0.52

5.00

As you can see from the metrics to start this season, David is having a brilliant season, scoring above 1.00 per 90, generating 0.71 xG, and outscoring his xG by +0.33. This only amplifies the freakish levels shown by Duran so far.

Scoring 1.76 goals per 90, generating nearly 1.00 xG per 90 (0.92), and outscoring his xG by +1.17, all of this, whilst taking 5.88 shots and getting 2.35 shots on target per 90, really highlighting his shot volume and confidence.

The Lillle centre-forward offers slightly more in all round play currently though, having better progression numbers in both carrying and passing metrics. He also makes more key passes per 90 (0.69), and this is largely down to his new role over the past year.

In the last 12 months, we have seen the Canada international playing as more of a complete forward, running the channels, dropping into little pockets of space that a number ten would usually occupy, and linking play to combine with his team. This has seen an improvement in his progression and creation numbers.

If you were to compare David to any Villa striker, he would probably be closer to Watkins in style, as Duran offers more aerial presence with his 6 foot 1, powerful frame, and looks to bully defenders, stiff-arming the opposition to roll his man, and initiating contact to create separation.

Watkins and David being more slight in their build, look to create separation with their speed and clever movement, dropping into those pockets of space, but also making runs in behind the opposition defensive line.

Whilst signing the Ligue 1 star would have been good back in 2023, offering goals to the side alongside Watkins, Duran has turned out to be the perfect move, getting a cheaper deal, a different physical profile for the squad, and becoming their very own goal machine from the bench.

100% ground duels: 9/10 Aston Villa star was as key as Duran & Martinez

Aston Villa managed to pull off a fantastic Champions League win by toppling Bayern Munich 1-0.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 3, 2024