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Whilst many opt for either the Saudi Pro League or the MLS these days, there remains a select few players who have decided to drop down divisions to complete some of the most unexpected moves away from the Premier League.

Premier League Player Power Rankings 2025/26

The best players in the Premier League right now.

2 ByBen Goodwin Dec 4, 2025

We’ve seen players go from Liverpool to the Isthmian League and even watched on as Paul Konchesky joined Billericay Town as a player before becoming the assistant manager there alongside Jamie O’Hara. So, it’s not always the sunny beaches of Miami that come calling. Ocassionally, it’s a cloudy away day at Southend.

Andy Carroll has also made some interesting moves over the years. The 36-year-old has reiterated time and time again that he simply wants to play football rather than chase a higher paycheck. He revealed that “it’s never been a question of money” when asked about his move to fourth-tier French side Girondins Bordeaux.

Now playing at Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League South, the former Newcastle United striker has stayed true to that verdict and has since watched on as others have followed in his path.

Perhaps in the most unexpected move yet, however, one former Liverpool player has now been spotted playing for a United Arab Emirates third division side, having only been a Premier League midfielder two years ago.

Shelvey opens up about shock third-division move

Jonjo Shelvey didn’t quite get the memo of moving to the likes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the chance to earn a life-defining amount, did he? In fact, he’s done the complete opposite. The former Liverpool midfielder has made the move – playing for Arabian Falcons in the third division – but revealed that his “brother earns more” working in a London hotel.

To put into context the difference in his earnings from 2023 to now, Shelvey reportedly brought in around £75,000-a-week at Nottingham Forest. Based on his verdict about the current pay in the UAE third division, it would take him around four years to earn that amount these days.

That said, like Carroll, it’s not about the money from Shelvey. He’s enjoyed the highs of his career, from Anfield to St James’ Park, and is now enjoying the quiet life whilst still playing the game he loves.

It was San Francisco Unicorns’ fourth win in four games, and Texas Super Kings’ first defeat in MLC 2025

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2025Faf du Plessis slammed a 51-ball 100, but he had to do it alone, pretty much, for Texas Super Kings. That was the difference between Super Kings and San Francisco Unicorns on the day, since Unicorns had two men doing it, doing it at well over a-run-a-ball, and doing it for long enough. The quick half-centuries Matthew Short and Finn Allen hit were not only enough to take Unicorns over the line in a chase of 199, but get there with 23 balls in hand. The win kept them at the top of the MLC 2025 table with four wins in four, with Super Kings one spot below after their first loss.Super Kings were asked to bat, and du Plessis had two big partnerships for the first two wickets, but he had to contribute exactly 100 runs to those, which added up to 166. In the first stand, of 97, Devon Conway was unusually slow, scoring 23 in 23. In the second, worth 69, Saiteja Mukkamalla did better than Conway had, contributing 38 to du Plessis’ 30, though they went at roughly the same strike rate.To make matters worse for Super Kings, Mukkamalla, du Plessis and Marcus Stoinis fell in an eight-ball spell to Xavier Bartlett and Haris Rauf, and that derailed them at a point when they looked good to top 200.Faf du Plessis did most of the scoring for Texas Super Kings while he was around•Sportzpics for MLCDu Plessis, though, was supreme in getting his first fifty-plus score since April 29, when he hit 62 in 45 balls for Delhi Capitals against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025. There were six fours and seven sixes in his innings as he scored at a strike rate of exactly 200 before being dismissed.But even if Super Kings had crossed 200, it’s unlikely Allen and Short would have cared.Allen barely got any of the strike in the first three overs as Short sped off the blocks, getting to 33 in 16 balls even as Allen was 1 off 2. After that, though, it was a different story. Over four, five and six went for 10, 23 and 15, and Unicorns were 83 for no loss after the powerplay and Allen was 34 off 16 to Short’s 46 off 21.The runs kept coming, and the half-centuries too, as the two took the total to 117 before being separated when Short holed out off Daryl Mitchell for a 29-ball 61. Allen was on 52 at that point in the ninth over, and batted on to score 78 in 35. When he was dismissed, by the impressive Adam Milne, Unicorns were just 30 runs away with 7.4 overs to go. Jake Fraser-McGurk took care of most of those with a 25-ball 37.

No-one quite knew what workout Jude Bellingham was doing. He was sort of maybe jumping. There was a kettlebell in his hands. But he was also wearing football boots, and had resistance bands worked into the mix. It looked like three drills at once, a strange combination of activities. Still, whatever it was, it's working.

Bellingham has been in a tricky spot of late. There is growing noise in England that Morgan Rogers – not him – should be Thomas Tuchel's go-to attacking midfielder going forward. Madrid also didn't seem to particularly miss him as he recovered from shoulder surgery. Xabi Alonso, for the most part, has Los Blancos humming early on. 

But this is Jude Bellingham, a truly excellent footballer who can, quite clearly, be a difference-maker for any side at any level. It has been an odd few months for him. His form dropped drastically at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, and Madrid went trophyless. A much-delayed shoulder surgery stopped any sort of early season revival before it could even start. And now, he finds himself in between. 

There have been some promising signs. He scored in his first Champions League start of the season, and has found a rhythm in Alonso's midfield. But El Clasico, on Sunday, seems to be something of an inflection point; is this the game where we will see the Bellingham of old? Or is this where worries begin to mount as the season wears on?

Getty Images SportA tricky end to 2025

It is no secret that madrid were struggling in the final days of Carlo Ancelotti's reign. The great Italian tactician had, basically, run out of ideas as to how to get his side to tick. It was looking increasingly like Kylian Mbappe was a high-wages mistake, and with Vinicius Jr also misfiring, Ancelotti basically resorted to a 4-4-2, asking two speedy forwards to play up front with Bellingham just tucked in behind.

And whether it be due to individual effort or poor setups, Bellingham could never quite make it work. He still scored and assisted here and there, but his general play was lacking. He missed tackles, was loose in his passing, and sometimes simply gave up on plays. One particularly poor moment in the Clasico – in which Bellingham was dispossessed, complained to the referee, and watched his man saunter to the other end of the field and smack the ball home – summed things up. Bellingham was frustrated, emotional and far from his best.

To be clear, he is not to blame for Madrid's woes. It was a combination of factors, but Bellingham felt them the hardest. The criticism was perhaps a tad unfair. But Bellingham had been a Ballon d'Or candidate in his first season in Madrid. Make no mistake, this was a significant drop-off.

AdvertisementIMAGO / NurPhotoClub World Cup and surgery

Part of the problem was that Bellingham was playing hurt – and had been for over a year. He dislocated his shoulder twice during his first season at the Santiago Bernabeu, and played with heavy strapping for months. He couldn't get surgery in the summer of 2024 because he had a Euros to lose. After that, it seemed, Madrid had a perfect window. But they were, once again, reluctant to let their main man in midfield go under the knife.

So, he continued to play through it. May 2025 would have seemed an optimal window, too. But in an effort to try to win the Club World Cup, Madrid further delayed it, asking the midfielder to play through a hot American summer with a shoulder that was still giving him discomfort. 

To put it simply, Bellingham looked exhausted at the Club World Cup. He never really found any form, and as Alonso tinkered with his XI, Bellingham never quite settled. There was a lethargy to his play – and Madrid's in general. They were ultimately battered by Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final, and there was perhaps an unspoken relief to it all: one less game to play, and a chance for Bellingham to reset.

Getty Images SportGuler and coping without Jude

And that should have set things up rather nicely. It became clear that the Englishman would miss pre-season and a couple months of the new campaign. But even that might only have highlighted just how important he was to Alonso's project. Presumably, Madrid would soon learn how much they needed him.

Except they didn't.

Alonso made Arda Guler the centrepiece of his side at the Club World Cup, and hailed the young Turk as a potential cornerstone going forward. He suggested that Guler could play pretty much anywhere – right wing, No.10, even as a deep-lying playmaker. And he was rewarded with a string of fine performances from the 'Turkish Messi', who has undisputedly been one of the best players in La Liga this season.

"He gives great meaning to the game. When he's involved, we have a better team dynamic…I'm very happy with his progress, but we want more. He really enjoys playing football. He wants to find the pass, take the free-kick…[Florian] Wirtz was like that at Leverkusen. He's young, but he's a great player," Alonso said earlier this week.

Guler has backed it up with production, too, tallying 11 goal contributions to date. 

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Getty ImagesRecent returns

There were some fair questions to be asked, then, as to whether Guler and Bellingham could play together. Alonso has been tactically flexible in his early days, but neither Bellingham nor Guler is a true No.8. One of them had to suffer, in some way. However, Alonso rubbished that notion, and insisted that he would be able fit both of them into the side. 

"We have to see how we position the other pieces. We need a balance, where we need to connect in those areas as best as possible. For me, how to get to Bellingham is always very important, how to get to the No.10 position. Arda Guler has been able to play No.10 and a little deeper, maybe not so much in the league now, but he can do it. They have to find their feet; they have to flow and feel comfortable. They can do it. I've seen them do it together, and I'm sure they'll do it again," he said in early October.

And so it has proved. Bellingham and Guler aren't exactly humming, but they have worked in some ways. They started together against Juventus, and were effective in an attacking sense. Bellingham scored the only goal, and Guler created seven chances. The flip side, of course, was that Madrid were vulnerable defensively, with neither player filling the necessary holes in the middle – and leaving Los Blancos exposed on the break. Better sides would have punished them.

Despite picking up an injury a few weeks ago, new Manchester United number ten Matheus Cunha has made a positive start to life at Old Trafford.

The 26-year-old has only played seven games for the club so far, missing the Manchester derby defeat away at the Etihad with the hamstring issue he had earlier in the season.

He’s yet to score or assist, but his impact in the final third has been felt. He’s created seven chances so far, and averaged 1.4 per 90 minutes. He certainly shone on debut against Arsenal.

The Brazil international has performed well for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the international break this month.

Cunha’s form for Brazil

With the form he showed for Wolverhampton Wanderers throughout his time at Molineux, it was always going to be a matter of time before Cunha became a regular in the national team.

After making his debut back in 2021, he broke into the side as a key player earlier in 2025.

The 26-year-old is currently away with Brazil on international duty. In their recent game against continued his excellent form for Selecao, where he managed to score and assist in four games this calendar year.

Well, he added to that tally, which is now three goal involvements in five games, after he assisted Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior against South Korea in a 5-0 win.

Playing as a centre-forward for Ancelotti’s team, he managed 44 touches, created three chances and won four from seven ground duels.

Touches

44

Pass accuracy

83%

Passes in oppostion half

16/21

Ground duels won

4/7

Ball recoveries

3

Chances created

3

Assists

1

The 26-year-old has a good relationship with Los Blancos star Vinicius. The pair have played together 11 times for the national team, combining for two goals in that time.

Both of those came in the last two games they played alongside each other in that famous Yellow shirt.

With Cunha’s form threatening to explode for United, too, it will be encouraging for Ruben Amorim that he has a howgrown version of the Brazilian brewing.

United’s homegrown Cunha

United have some incredibly exciting academy players. They’ve produced some sensational talents over the years, and currently on the books, some rising stars can eventually fit that mould.

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It is no secret just how talented 15-year-old forward JJ Gabriel is, with the Red Devils academy diamond tipped for a huge career ahead of him.

Yet, he is not the academy star who could be the homegrown Cunha. Instead, that is Samuel Lusale, an 18-year-old winger who moved to Old Trafford last summer from Crystal Palace. He’s already impressed for the academy sides.

In 22 games for the Red Devils under-18s side for far, Lusale has scored once and assisted seven times. This season in particular, the Slovakia under-19 international has been on fire, with four assists and one goal in five U18 Premier League games.

His run of form has been largely unstoppable. The 18-year-old, who was born in Guilford, has only failed to score or assist once, coming against Burnley. He gave Wolves a nightmare, grabbing two goal involvements in a 4-0 win.

Already, you can see how the 18-year-old is similar to Cunha, with the threat he offers in the final third. Described as a “dynamic” attacker by Academy Scoop over on X, he is a threatening ball-carrier, just like Cunha has shown for United this season.

The other similarity comes in the versatility Lusale offers. According to Transfermarkt, he is a winger by trade and has featured on both flanks for the Red Devils. He can also operate as a number ten, which really draws comparisons to Cunha.

The Brazilian is surely going to be an instant hit for United, and has shown glimpses of his best form before getting derailed by injury.

To be brewing a homemade version of Cunha in Lusale is exciting for United fans, especially if he can turn out to be as deadly as their number 10.

Worth way more than Hojlund: Man Utd have struck gold on "incredible" star

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Scott Currie and Chris Wood impress with ball as hosts struggle to 141 for 7 from 20 overs

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay05-Jun-2025Hampshire secured a rare win against Surrey in the Vitality Blast when rain brought an early close to their game at the Kia Oval with the visitors 15 runs ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.Miserly bowling from Scott Currie and Chris Wood restricted a subdued home side to an underwhelming 141 for 7, Jason Roy top-scoring for the third time this season with 37, while Sam Curran and Laurie Evans made 34 and 33 not out respectively.Hampshire were cruising at 63 for 0 in reply when the rain came with skipper James Vince 33 not out and Toby Albert unbeaten on 28. It was only Hampshire’s second win in their last 11 meetings with Surrey in the Blast.As with their first two batting efforts in the Blast this season, Surrey struggled for fluency after being put in by Vince. Dom Sibley smote an early six, but the former England Test opener fell in the next over, a wicket for debutant South African slow left-arm bowler Bjorn Fortuin.Ollie Pope, unsure if he’ll retain the England No. 3 shirt for next week’s first Test against India, was starved of strike and made only 11 before an attempted ramp off Currie found the gloves of wicketkeeper Albert.Even Roy with scores of 92 and 69 behind him in the Blast struggled to break the shackles, two successive fours off John Turner from the last over of the powerplay the best of his contribution.Eyes were now on captain Curran, who laboured until unleashing successive sixes off Turner, the first of which disappeared down the exit steps beyond the midwicket boundary onto the concourse. He too though fell attempting a third big hit on the spin and only some late blows from Evans carried Surrey to a third successive score in the 140s.The first over of the chase brought drama, Dan Worrall finding the edge of Albert’s bat, only for Roy to grass the chance at second slip.Vince’s dismissive cover drive to end the over though suggested he was in the groove and he soon caressed another from Nathan Smith to the fence at point.Rain was now falling but three boundaries, one from a misfield on the fence helped raise the 50 partnership and put Hampshire well ahead of the DLS par score. Albert, growing in confidence, cut one from Surrey debutant, Kiwi international Mitchell Santner, to the fence just before the increasing rain brought a halt to proceedings.

Barcelona's incredibly dominant women's team suffered their earliest Liga F defeat in 11 years on Sunday as they were shockingly beaten 1-0 at Real Sociedad. The hosts have made a flying start to the new campaign, sitting third in the table after this win, but this was a hugely surprising result – representing just a fifth league loss for the Catalans since the beginning of the 2019-20 season.

A very rare sight: Barcelona lose and fail to score

The game was decided by a somewhat harsh penalty, given against Barca defender Laia Aleixandri in the first half for a handball. There was no intent from the Spain international and she had little time to react, as she jumped to head away a ball into the box only for it to deflect off a team-mate less than a yard away and strike her arm. After consulting VAR, it was awarded as a spot-kick and Edna Imade made the most of the opportunity when she wrong-footed Cata Coll from 12 yards and gave La Real the lead.

What will frustrate Barca more than that decision is that they were unable to render it meaningless by scoring one of the many chances created at the other end. The Catalans had 16 shots to their hosts' six, but only forced opposing goalkeeper Julia Arrula into one save all afternoon as they failed to net in a league game for the first time since January 2020.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWhy some expected Barca to suffer more upsets this season

While this result is undoubtedly a surprise, it is not in the sense that some expected more results like this to go against Barca this season, because of the depleted squad the Spanish champions have at their disposal this time around. The financial situation at the club made headlines again this summer, with the men’s side facing frustratingly familiar issues when it came to meeting financial fair play rules and being able to register all their first-team players on time. In years gone by, these problems have spread to other sections of Barca, a multi-sports club, but never to the women’s team.

That is until now. In the summer, the three-time European champions had a difficult transfer window, watching the likes of Fridolina Rolfo, Ingrid Engen and Jana Fernandez leave while Laia Aleixandri was their only senior recruit. It left head coach Pere Romeu with a squad of just 18 senior players ahead of the 2025-26 season, a difficult number to fight on four fronts with.

Small squad made even smaller by key injuries

Those issues have been exacerbated in recent weeks as Barca have lost a flurry of key players to injury. It is the last thing they needed given how small the squad is already.

Ewa Pajor, who scored more than 50 goals for club and country last season, is out for at least another few weeks with a knee injury; Patri Guijarro, arguably the best holding midfielder in the world, won’t play again until the New Year; and Salma Paralluelo may well be on the sidelines with her until 2026, after suffering an injury on international duty with Spain last week. That Kika Nazareth also picked up a knock while away with Portugal added salt to Barca's wounds.

It left the Spanish champions with just seven players on the bench for Sunday's clash with Real Sociedad, just four of whom were senior outfield players. The likes of Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas, with five Ballons d'Or between them, were still able to start and play 90 minutes, but they unfortunately could not inspire their side to a better result as La Real enjoyed a memorable outing.

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Getty ImagesBig fixtures looming: Real Madrid and Chelsea soon on Barca's schedule

Despite this setback, Barca are still four points clear at the top of the Liga F table with nine games played. They will hope this is just a blip and not the start of a worrying inability to rotate and still get results with this smaller squad, as there are some big matches on the horizon for Romeu's charges.

Home games against Deportivo La Coruna and OH Leuven follow and will be seen as games the Catalans should absolutely win to bounce back, with victories in those feeling particularly important given the games that follow. Barca host Real Madrid, second in Liga F, on November 15 and then visit Chelsea, the dominant English champions, in the Champions League on November 20. The hope will be that Pajor and Kika are back fit for those fixtures, able to at least boost the bench if not the starting XI.

Former Celtic centre-forward Chris Sutton was particularly scathing of the club’s recruitment after they lost 2-0 to Dundee in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the match, the pundit said: “Celtic have massive problems. They have to get to January and still stay in touch. This is a bang average Celtic team and I think Brendan recognises that.

“The signing of Kelechi Iheanacho summed everything up. That was desperation. I’m not saying he’s a bad player but you think back to when Celtic were rotating Giorgos Giakoumakis and Kyogo Furuhashi, that quality, that’s the difference.”

It is hard not to point to the recruitment department when looking for the reason why Celtic have failed to score in six competitive matches already this season.

Celtic needed a striker in the summer, before they sold Adam Idah, and they failed to bring in Kasper Dolberg from Anderlecht, before selling Idah without getting a replacement in. Kelechi Iheanacho then arrived on a free transfer, but they were still down another forward.

Meanwhile, Hearts signed Claudio Braga from Aalesund on top of keeping Lawrence Shankland, and have fired their way to the top of the Premiership table.

What Celtic can learn from the recruitment at Hearts

Tony Bloom invested in Hearts and brought his data expertise with him to bolster their recruitment, and it already looks to have paid off big time for the Jam Tarts.

Braga scored 11 goals and provided six assists in 37 appearances in the second tier of football in Norway in the 2025 and 2024 campaigns for Aalesund, per Sofascore, before his move to Scotland in the summer.

The versatile forward, who can play as a number ten, a second striker, or as a centre-forward, scored two goals against Kilmarnock on Saturday to take his tally to eight goals in all competitions, per Transfermarkt.

Braga’s highlights from their win over Kilmarnock in the clips above show that he can operate in positions all over the pitch, with almost a free role because of Shankland’s presence as the focal point for the team.

The Portuguese star is free to roam around the pitch and drop deep when needed to get touches of the ball to make things happen for Hearts, as evidenced by his statistics.

Appearances

8

Touches per game

42.8

Goals

5

Big chances missed

4

Key passes per game

1.1

Assists

1

Successful dribbles per game

0.9

As you can see in the table above, Braga takes around 43 touches per game on average and has been directly involved in six goals in eight matches to show that he is making the most of those touches.

Celtic can learn from the recruitment that Hearts have done for multiple reasons. One, that they do not need to splash £10m on a player from a major European league, as Braga was picked up from the second tier in Norway and has outscored every Celtic player in the Premiership.

Two, that the recruitment needs to be well thought through. Hearts knew they had Shankland leading the line, so they signed the Portuguese ace to be the perfect partner for him.

Celtic, meanwhile, signed two left-wingers, despite Daizen Maeda scoring 33 goals as a left-winger last season, and did not sign a right-winger to replace Nicolas Kuhn, whilst they also sold Adam Idah, a target man and physical presence, and signed Iheanacho, who does not have a similar profile to Idah.

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Despite being signed to be the main number nine, Iheanacho has the attributes and the quality to be Brendan Rodgers’ own version of Braga, but the Hoops do not have their own Shankland.

Why Kelechi Iheanacho can be Celtic's own Claudio Braga

For all of the former Manchester City man’s strengths, the Nigeria international is not a target man. He is not going to cause too many problems for opposition defenders with his physicality.

Per Sofascore, Iheanacho has won 1.5 duels per game and won just 38% of his duels in total, whilst Shankland has won 4.4 duels per game and 44% of his total battles on the pitch.

He does not look suited to being the sole number nine for Celtic as a target man, because of his lack of physicality, and that is not his fault, because it is something that the recruitment team should have factored in when they made the signing.

Last season, Michael Carrick utilised Iheanacho as a second striker behind another number nine, which meant that he had the license to drift around the pitch and get involved in the game, instead of being isolated up front.

This means that he has the potential to be Celtic’s own Braga because of his ability to play off another striker. Meanwhile, Maeda is more suited to playing out wide, and has been utilised on the left and right flanks this season, after scoring 33 goals as a left winger last term, per Transfermarkt.

Chances created

1.77

Top 1%

xA

0.17

Top 24%

Pass accuracy

79.5%

Top 12%

Long pass accuracy

100%

Top 1%

Dribble success rate

100%

Top 1%

Touches in the opposition’s box

8.15

Top 12%

As you can see in the table above, Iheanacho has shown great technical ability and link-up play in the Premiership this season, but he has yet to score a goal from open play.

Shankland’s presence and physicality occupy opposition defenders and create space for Braga to ghost into and score, but Celtic do not have a number nine like that who can take the pressure off Iheanacho.

Instead, it currently looks like he has to play the role of Shankland and Braga on his own, which may be why the Hoops have struggled so much in front of goal.

Iheanacho’s position for Middlesbrough and the qualities that he has shown in the Premiership so far suggest that he is more suited to playing like Braga, off another striker, but Rodgers does not have that outlet in the centre-forward position that Hearts do.

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Maeda is a winger, not a target man, so he is not the answer. Therefore, the Hoops need to dip into the market in January to sign a striker who can complement Iheanacho and get the best out of him in the second half of the season, so that he can be as effective as Braga.

Gill has dropped three places to No. 9, Bumrah continues to top the bowling chart

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2025Joe Root is back on top of the ICC men’s Test batting rankings after being briefly displaced by his team-mate Harry Brook.In the Lord’s Test, Root made 104 in the first innings and 40 in the second as England beat India by 22 runs. Brook, who made scores of 11 and 23, is now third, with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson going second.India captain Shubman Gill had a disappointing outing at Lord’s and dropped from No. 6 to No. 9, while Rishabh Pant also dropped a place to No. 8 despite his first-innings 74.Full rankings tables

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KL Rahul, the other centurion in the match, moved up five spots, as did Ravindra Jadeja, who notched fifties in both innings, including a stubborn 61 not out that went in vain in their chase of 193. Jadeja and Rahul went up to Nos. 34 and 35, respectively.Australia’s Steven Smith jumped above Yashasvi Jaiswal to go fourth on the charts after making 48 in the first innings of the low-scoring day-night Test in Jamaica. Jaiswal had scores of 13 and 0 at Lord’s – the first time he failed to go past fifty in a Test against England.While Jasprit Bumrah kept his place at the top of the bowling charts after a five-for against England, Scott Boland went up six places to sixth thanks to his six wickets, including a second-innings hat-trick, against West Indies.Mitchell Starc, who claimed figures of 6 for 9 as Australia bundled West Indies out for 27 in the fourth innings, stayed at No. 10 on the bowling charts, although he gained two spots in the allrounder rankings, which is still topped by Jadeja.

Tottenham Hotspur are back in action in the Premier League this evening as they prepare to welcome rivals Chelsea to North London.

The Lilywhites are looking to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the League Cup at St. James’ Park on Wednesday night.

Thomas Frank may look to make several changes to the starting line-up from that loss to the Mapgies, which should include dropping Brennan Johnson.

Why Brennan Johnson should be dropped

The Wales international kept his place in the starting line-up after the 3-0 win over Everton in the Premier League, but he failed to justify his inclusion in the side.

Per Sofascore, Johnson produced no shots on target and no key passes in 65 minutes on the pitch against Newcastle, whilst he also failed to complete any of his four attempted crosses.

This shows that he had no impact at the top end of the pitch for the Lilywhites from a right wing position, as he failed to cause any problems for the Magpies in the final third.

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That dismal showing came after he also played 89 minutes without registering a single shot or key pass against Everton in the previous game, per Sofascore, which means that the forward has failed to deliver much in the way of quality in his last two starts.

This is why Frank should ruthlessly drop him from the XI, after two ineffective showings, and unleash Mohammed Kudus in his place this evening.

Why Mohammed Kudus should replace Brennan Johnson

Unlike Johnson, the summer signing from West Ham United has provided plenty of quality and proven himself to be a consistent threat in the Premier League this season.

The £150k-per-week star, who Erik ten Hag claimed has “incredible potential”, came off the bench to replace the Welshman for the last 25 minutes against Newcastle, and should now come back into the XI to face Chelsea tonight.

Kudus scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 win over Leeds United at the start of last month, but it has been his creativity on the ball that has made him a standout star for the Lilywhites in the Premier League.

The left-footed star has provided four assists in nine appearances in the top-flight, per Sofascore, and ranks highly at the club in a host of metrics as a creative force at the top end of the pitch.

xG

1.39

3rd

xA

1.26

1st

Assists

4

1st

Big chances created

2

1st

Key passes per game

1.9

1st

Dribbles completed per game

3.6

1st

As you can see in the table above, the former Hammers star has been the most influential attacking player in the Tottenham squad in the Premier League this season, leading the way for xG and in every key creative statistic.

Kudus, who was dubbed a “dribbling demon” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has averaged at least 2.3 more completed dribbles per game than any other player in the squad, which speaks to how integral he is to how Spurs bring the ball up the pitch.

Meanwhile, Johnson, who struggled against Newcastle and Everton, has no assists and no ‘big chances’ created in 14 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham this season, per Sofascore.

Kudus provides a level of creativity that means that Frank can rely on him to create something out of nothing with a moment of pure quality, which he cannot rely on Johnson to do, based on his form this season.

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Therefore, the manager should ruthlessly ditch the former Nottingham Forest star from the starting line-up in order to bring the left-footed winger back into the XI.

Raza scored 151 runs and took a wicket in two ODIs against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2025Zimbabwe allrounder Sikandar Raza is the new No. 1 allrounder in the ICC’s ODI rankings, achieving the feat for the first time. He had scored 92 and an unbeaten 59 in the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Harare, and also picked up a wicket. He went past Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi, who are now second and third, respectively.There’s a new No. 1 among ODI bowlers too. South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj has broken the deadlock at the top with Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana, claiming the No. 1 position outright. Maharaj moved up after taking 4 for 22 in a big win in the first ODI against England in Leeds.Full rankings tables

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Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka, named Player of the Series against Zimbabwe after topping the charts with 198 runs, has climbed seven places to 13th among ODI batters. Janith Liyanage is up 13 places to 29th, while Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams has risen three places to 47th.In the T20I rankings, Afghanistan batters Ibrahim Zadran (up 12 spots to 20th) and Sediqullah Atal (up a remarkable 346 places to 127th) have risen following back-to-back wins against UAE and Pakistan in the ongoing tri-series.Others to improve in the T20I rankings are Pakistan’s Hasan Nawaz (joint-31st) among batters, while Sufiyan Muqeem (22nd), Shaheen Shah Afridi (26th) and Mohammad Nawaz (43rd) made strides among bowlers.