Category: 6. Sports

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The new league football season began in earnest this weekend, as the Premier League, LaLiga and Ligue 1 all kicked off their new seasons.

In the Premier League, there were opening weekend wins for champions Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal, while Chelsea slipped up at home, managing only a goalless draw against Crystal Palace.

Barcelona began the defence of their LaLiga title with a 3-0 win over Mallorca, but Atletico Madrid lost 2-1 to Espanyol, with Real Madrid only set to play in midweek in their delayed season opener.

French and European champions Paris Saint Germain began the defence of their Ligue 1 title with a 1-0 win away at Nantes, while Bayern Munich won the German Super Cup again, beating Stuttgart 2-1.

ESPN’s By The Numbers brings you the best of stats from weekend’s football matches:

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6

Manchester United have now gone six Premier League games without a win against Arsenal, their longest active winless run against any Premier League opponent.

7

Since the start of last season, Rodrigo Muniz has scored 7 goals as a substitute for Fulham across all competitions. All 7 have been after he has come off the bench to replace Raúl Jiménez.

Tijjani Reijnders is the seventh different Dutch player to score for Man City in the Premier League, joining Gerard Wiekens, Kiki Musampa, Michel Vonk, Nathan Aké, Nigel de Jong and Paul Bosvelt.

This was Man United’s 7th game without a goal at home in the Premier League since losing 3-0 to Bournemouth on December 22, 2024. Since then, only Leicester City, who were relegated last season, have more such games, with 9.

15

Hugo Ekitiké became the 15th player to score a goal on his Premier League debut for Liverpool — the last was Darwin Nunez, who did so against Fulham in the opening game of the 2022-23 season.

22

Aston Villa are now unbeaten in their last 22 home games in all competitions, with 15 wins and seven draws. It’s the longest active unbeaten home streak among teams in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues.

23

Riccardo Calafiori’s goal was the 23rd that Manchester United have conceded off corners in the last three Premier League seasons – the most by any team in that period.

88

All 3 of Federico Chiesa’s Liverpool goals, in all competitions, have come in the 88th minute or later. The goal against Bournemouth was Chiesa’s first Premier League goal of his career.

187

Mohamed Salah scored his 187th goal in the Premier League, he is now tied with Andy Cole as the fourth-highest goal scorer in the Premier League.

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1

Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Espanyol was the first time that they have lost an opening game of a league season under Diego Simeone.

2

Real Mallorca had two players sent off in their 3-0 loss to Barcelona. They became the first team in the last 3 LaLiga seasons with 2 red cards in the first half of a match.

3

Julian Alvarez’s goal was the third from a direct free-kick for Atletico Madrid since the start of last season, tying them with Las Palmas as the clubs with the most such goals in that period.

6

Since the start of last season, nobody has scored more LaLiga goals from outside the box than Lamine Yamal’s 6.

31

Barcelona have not lost when scoring first since December 2024, when they lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid, it is a run that now stretches to 31 games.

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7

Harry Kane has now scored 7 goals against Stuttgart, since moving to Bayern Munich. He has also scored 7 times against Augsburg, making them two of his favourite opponents in Germany.

11

Bayern Munich won the Super Cup for the 11th time, the most in the history of the competition. The next most successful team in the Super Cup are Borussia Dortmund, with six titles.

15

Bayern have now 15 of their last 16 games at Stuttgart.

26

Kane has scored the opening goal of games 26 times since his move to Bayern Munich.

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2

Olivier Giroud scored 11 minutes into his Lille debut. It is the second time he has scored on a club debut in his career (the first being for Montpellier in 2010).

20

PSG’s game against Nantes extended their run of Ligue 1 games with at least a goal to 20. The last time they didn’t score in Ligue 1 was in a 0-0 draw against Auxerre in December 2024.

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RONALDO-MESSI WATCH

4

Lionel Messi has scored in each of his last 4 appearances coming off the bench for Inter Miami in all competitions, which have included three consecutive league games. It is Messi’s best run of scoring after coming off the bench since a run of 4 in 2012-13 with Barcelona.

30

Messi now has 30 goal contributions in MLS this season, with 19 goals and 11 assists. He’s the only players with 30 goal contributions in MLS this season.

40

Messi has now scored 40 regular season MLS goals for Inter Miami, the second quickest to achieve that feat in MLS history, doing so in just 44 games. Josef Martinez did it in 42.

(Information from ESPN’s Global Sports Research contributed to this report.)

Miss Lowe had participated in various sports before she was introduced to cricket for the visually impaired in 2017.

It was a step up from the batting and bowling with her dad, Nick Lowe, in the back garden, but “she gave it a go and loved it”, he said.

Mr Lowe said due to his daughter’s various needs, cricket was the first sport that offered her a “level playing field”.

It also helped her and her parents realise the severity of her sight problems.

In the game, Miss Lowe is classed as a B2 player within the three-tier classification system which categorises the players’ level of sight.

“I have tunnel vision,” she said. “So if you think of looking through a Polo mint, that’s what I can see.”

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson has taken to social media platforms to explain the team selection amid the criticism for leaving out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
from the T20I squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. Pakistan start their Asia Cup campaign on 12 September in Dubai against Oman, before facing India and the UAE in the group stage.

Neither Babar and Rizwan has played T20Is recently, while Salman Agha has been named as the captain. However, with such a big tournament in the offing, it was felt that one among Babar or Rizwan can make a comeback as they are top run-getters in T20Is for Pakistan. But that did not happen.

Hesson asks Babar to improve strike rate

Defending the decision not to include Babar, Hesson at the press conference said that the right-handed batter needs to improve his strike rate, with the next BBL a possible tournament for him to show the improvements.

“There’s no doubt Babar has been asked to improve in some areas, particularly against spin and in terms of his strike rate. Those are aspects I know he’s working very hard on at the moment,” Hesson said at a press conference.

“A player like Babar also has the opportunity to play in the BBL and showcase improvements in those areas of T20 cricket. He’s simply too good a player for us not to consider,” Hesson added.

Pak coach explains Asia Cup squad rationale

Later, taking to X and Instagram, Hesson explained the rationale behind the Pakistan squad picked for the Asia Cup. The New Zealander said that they have picked a “highly competitive squad” that includes experienced cricketers and fresh faces.

“We’ve put together what we believe is a highly competitive squad following the recent T20I series. Excited to see some fresh faces stepping up alongside our experienced senior players. A great blend of energy & experience for the Tri-Nation series & Asia Cup,” Hesson wrote on Instagram.

Underlining the strategy to pick five pacers, Hesson said that Pakistan have a balanced squad for the tournament.

“Our squad features five front line seamers to adapt according to UAE conditions, along with two attacking mystery spinners. With depth in batting, much improved fielding side along with the bowlers mentioned above we overall have an excellent balanced squad.”

Pakistan’s squad for Asia Cup 2025: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors are set to have a tough time when they meet on Tuesday (19 August) to pick the India squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. A tough time because a lot has changed in Indian cricket since the last time they played T20Is against England in January-February this year.

Shubman Gill, who was not a part of the T20I side, recently led the Indian Test team to a memorable 2-2 draw in England and is being seen as a frontrunner to make a comeback to the shortest format. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal could also come back. Similarly, Shreyas Iyer is touted by some as a certainty after guiding India to the Champions Trophy 2025 title win and the Punjab Kings to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final.

Here’s a look at India’s last T20I squad: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Ramandeep Singh, Arshdeep Singh

This squad is expected to see some big changes.

Gill, Siraj to miss out on Asia Cup?

Kuldeep Yadav, who missed the England T20Is due to a back injury, is expected to replace Ravi Bishnoi, or both spinners could come in, and Washington Sundar may replace Ramandeep Singh. Shami will not be a part of the squad as he is not fully fit, but Jasprit Bumrah
is set to come back.

The openers – Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma – and Tilak Varma and Surykumar Yadav have sealed their spots in the top four. However, it will be interesting to see if Gill and Jaiswal are picked after an impressive Test series. Even if they are picked, will they straightaway get into the playing XI despite Samson and Sharma’s heroics?

A report in Cricibuzz says that while selectors may want to pick a third opener, Gill currently trails Jaiswal and none of them may get picked, or only Jaiswal might, unless Gambhir swings things in Gill’s favour.

It also states that the hero of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, pacer Mohammed Siraj, may not get a call back to the T20Is.

Gaps in India’s T20I squad

And while selectors face the pressure of picking Gill, the two major spots to consider for them are that of an extra batter or an all-rounder and the third seamer. There’s little clarity on these two spots.

The third seamer could be one among Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna, as per Cricbuzz, while Arshdeep Singh is also a certainty.

Also, there’s room to include one more batter in the middle-order. In their last T20I, India had three all-rounders in the team – Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel. While Hardik and Axar don’t face any pressure, Dube may be dropped.

The selectors have a chance here to add Iyer to the squad, but in such a case, Rinku Singh, who was also a part of the XI against England, may drop to the bench, at least, as management may want to include an all-rounder like Sundar to the playing XI.

This is a big decision that the selectors have to make. If they decide to add a batter, players like Riyan Parag are also an option.

India’s possible Asia Cup squad: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill/Yashasvi Jaiswal/Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh

Defending champions New Zealand have made the perfect start to their OFC U-16 Men’s Championship 2025 campaign in the Solomon Islands, sweeping aside Samoa 5-0 in their opening Group B encounter at the National Stadium in Honiara.

Martin Bullock’s side took control early, with Ben Perez Baldoni heading home in the 8th minute to set the tone. Samoa threatened briefly midway through the half, when Isaac Edward’s curling freekick was tipped over by New Zealand goalkeeper Will Martin.

Moments later, Willem Des Tombe doubled the advantage with a superb solo effort, outpacing the Samoan defence before rounding Damien Saienisi and slotting into an empty net.

Despite a late first-half surge from Samoa, it was New Zealand who struck again in stoppage time, Perez Baldoni firing a left-footed effort from the edge of the area to claim his second and give the Kiwis a commanding 3-0 lead at the break.

The striker completed his hat-trick just three minutes into the second half with a simple finish at the near post, putting the result beyond doubt. Ben Trenberth then added further gloss to the scoreline in the 68th minute, unleashing an impressive strike from distance that clipped the upright on its way in.

Substitute Bevan Jr Kapisi came agonisingly close to getting a consolation goal for Samoa late on, but his effort rolled across the face of the goal after beating Martin at the near post.

New Zealand now turns their attention to New Caledonia on Thursday, while Samoa will look to bounce back against hosts Solomon Islands.

New Zealand 5 (Ben PEREZ BALDONI 8’, 45+2’, 48’, Willem DES TOMBE 29’, Ben TRENBERTH 68’)

Samoa 0

HT: 3-0

Photo Credit: OFC Media via Phototek

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — A wardrobe malfunction didn’t deter the first-ever women’s team representing Pakistan at the 2025 Amerigol LATAM Cup on Sunday.

The Pakistani women defeated Chile 16-2 in a Division II game at the Florida Panthers IceDen while wearing white jerseys that were borrowed from Pakistan’s men’s Division III team because theirs were stuck somewhere in customs in Philadelphia.

“We were playing with jerseys with names on the back we had written with a Sharpie,” Pakistan coach Mariya Rauf said. “I think we all wanted it to go well, but no one was expecting what we did out there. It was incredible to watch and emotional for me as a Pakistani girl playing from such a young age. Just seeing all those girls come together and win together was just so amazing.”

The 2025 Amerigol LATAM Cup features 62 women’s, men’s and youth teams (with four more exhibition teams) and more than 1,450 players representing 17 countries and territories, including Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The tournament, which is being held at the IceDen and Palm Beach Skate Zone in Wellington, Florida, began on Sunday and ends on Aug. 24.