MLS owners have reportedly taken their first concrete step toward identifying a successor to Commissioner Don Garber, convening a small, closed-door “succession committee” ahead of last week’s Board of Governors meeting, according to the Sports Business Journal. The group held its initial session with Garber in attendance as it began outlining early plans for the league’s future leadership.
Manchester United and USWNT goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce has suffered a fractured eye socket, with medical assessments confirming she is facing a spell on the sidelines. The 28-year-old missed United’s historic Women's Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain and was seen wearing sunglasses alongside teammates, with the club insisting player safety remains the priority as she recovers.
Wicketkeeper-batter had returned to action with match-winning 90 for India A against South Africa A last week
ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2025Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has returned to India’s Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa beginning on November 14 in Kolkata.Pant replaced N Jagadeesan while Akash Deep took Prasidh Krishna’s spot in the squad that beat West Indies 2-0 in October. Pant had missed that series as he was recovering from the foot fracture he suffered during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July. Akash Deep was recovering from a back injury that had kept him out of the Duleep Trophy after his return from England; he has since played two rounds of the Ranji Trophy for Bengal. Mohammed Shami, who has played the first three rounds of the Ranji Trophy for Bengal and taken 15 wickets, was not picked.Pant proved his match fitness by captaining India A to victory in the first four-day game against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru last week. Pant made 90 in the second innings as India A chased down a target of 275.India’s Test captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are currently playing the T20I series in Australia, and will join the Test squad after the five-match series ends on November 8. Kuldeep Yadav was released from the T20I squad after the third match in Hobart so that he could prepare for the Test series by playing India A’s second four-day game against South Africa A starting on November 6.India play two Tests against South Africa from November 14 in Kolkata, and then from November 22 in Guwahati, a city that will be hosting Test cricket for the first time. India are currently third in the World Test Championship table with 61.90% points; South Africa, meanwhile, are fifth with 50% points, having most recently drawn a series 1-1 in Pakistan.
Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash DeepIndia’s selectors also picked the A squad, led by Tilak Varma with Ruturaj Gaikwad his deputy, for the one-day series against South Africa A. The three matches are on November 13, 16 and 19 in Rajkot.
Tilak Varma (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
On a pitch better suited, on a day with more luck, he could have bowled exactly as he did on day two and finished with several wickets
Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jun-2025Nahid Rana took 0 for 97 in the only innings he bowled in Galle, has 0 for 54 at the end of day two at the SSC, but if you’re thinking of jumping off the Rana hype train over his Sri Lanka performances, hold up, stay close, this isn’t your stop. Those figures don’t necessarily correlate with his potential. There are things to consider here.Up first on the list of things to consider is the raw pace. Rana is almost certainly the fastest bowler Bangladesh has ever produced. He is not just fast in brief, fresh bursts; he can be fast late on difficult days too. Deep into session three on day two at the SSC, he was still breaching 145kph, still bowling bouncers, still rushing batters, even the supremely well-set. He has also been known to bowl faster than 150kph. Forget Bangladesh, for most of Test cricket’s history, it would not have had a bowler who could consistently bowl that quickly. Even now, around the world, there may only be a handful that fast.There are other virtues. Those bouncers, partly because of the pace, but also because it is one of his more accurate deliveries, can often be truly vicious. Pathum Nissanka, very arguably the batter of this series so far, found this out on 94 when he tried to hook Rana, and discovered the ball was on him already at 149kph – fast for a bouncer. It smacked his helmet hard by the badge, looped so high in the air that Rana could race forward in his follow-through and spring forward to intercept it centimetres above the grass. He appealed for that catch, but on replay, it was clear there was no way the bat could have touched it. The ball was too fast – already in Nissanka’s face by the time he pulled his bat through.Related
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Bowling short was a big part of Rana’s day. When he bowled bouncers, he generally forced the batters to duck, or he hit them. There was a short leg in place, plus a catching fine leg, and catchers out to the off side, so balls that skewed off the shoulder or handle of the bat could be gobbled up. In first-class cricket, he had frequently blasted batting orders out this way, averaging 19.81 across 19 innings for Rajshahi Division.The easy critique to make here is that Test batters are not first-class batters, and that you need more than raw pace to get Test batters out, but this is not necessarily the case. Test batters frequently get out to sheer pace and bounce, but this SSC pitch – slow off the deck and with modest bounce and carry – is almost exactly wrong for Rana, so he can only make so much of his height and pace.Pathum Nissanka was pinged in the helmet by a Nahid Rana bouncer•AFP/Getty ImagesOne theory about Rana’s present state is that he is most effective as a third seamer, not as a new-ball bowler. There is evidence to back this up. In his first outstanding Test performance, Rana was the second-change bowler, and took 4 for 44 to seal a historic series win in Pakistan. Three months later – in Kingston – his only five-for came when he was first change. Four of those wickets were with the old ball.On day two at the SSC, he was frequently bowling cross-seam short balls, which is a deeply third-seamer move. Swing bowlers tend to like preserving that shiny side of the ball, for conventional swing first, and reverse swing later. Even spinners like one side of the ball to be in smooth condition, because they can get more drift that way. It is the fast bowlers who revel in the shorter lengths and exploit the chaos, the uneven bounce created by cross-seam deliveries.Nahid beat plenty of cross-batted shots with cross-seam deliveries on day two, but they never took an edge. Both Nissanka and Dinesh Chandimal looked most uncomfortable against Rana’s bowling late in the day, but he had been wayward in his two new-ball overs, conceding 20. “Rana didn’t bowl well with the new ball initially, but found his rhythm again and looked good towards the end” is what coach Phil Simmons said.He is 22, and still developing skills, having had no serious cricket coaching till being discovered late in his teens. But pace is pace and height is height, and as long as you stay fit, those things can get you pretty far in a fast-bowling life. On a pitch better suited, on a day with more luck, Rana could have bowled exactly as he did on day two and finished with several wickets.
Tottenham Hotspur have been something of a mixed bag this season, but at least the Londoners are well set for a prolonged period of success, having recruited a range of exciting young talents over the past few years.
While there are many teenage talents waiting in the wings, Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou before him have succeeded in integrating youth, with the average age of Tottenham’s starting 11 in the Premier League this season 25.2, as opposed to a 27-year-old average during the 2022/23 campaign.
Who could be a better purveyor of this new focus than Micky van de Ven? The 24-year-old has increasingly become a talismanic force for the Lilywhites.
How Van de Ven is becoming the main man at Spurs
Van de Ven isn’t quite a spring chicken, having racked up 51 Premier League appearances, but he’s still well before his prime as a centre-back, and he’s still emerging as a superstar for Tottenham.
The Dutch defender has been described as “world-class” by journalist Sonny Snelling, with his remarkable blend of athletic power and position-bending pace making him a force to be reckoned with.
It is crucial that Tottenham keep him in their ranks over the coming years, with few players more influential than him in the Premier League. It would be difficult for Spurs to sign an even better star to strengthen their backline, after all. Certainly, it would be difficult to find someone capable of mimicking the former Wolfsburg player’s dynamic skills.
Of course, Tottenham’s prudence and promotion of their academy talent has seen them land such a player already.
Spurs have signed a bigger talent than Van de Ven
Van de Ven is a unique profile, but then Tottenham have also signed a singular talent in Luka Vuskovic, with the 18-year-old bearing the skillset to become one of the Premier League’s finest.
Hailed as a “freak talent” and a “freak athlete” for his physical profile by analyst Ben Mattinson, Vuskovic is currently plying his trade out on loan in Germany with Hamburger SV, with Spurs having wrapped up a deal for the youngster in 2023, yet to integrate him into the senior set-up.
While there is much work still to be done, the Croatian prospect has only increased the hype across his first few months in the Bundesliga, having established himself as a core part of Hamburg’s defence, who are 13th after ten matches.
Looking at how the teenager compares with Van de Ven this season, it’s easy to see why there is so much chatter around his name. You might even say Van de Ven is being outperformed by the younger man.
Translation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League can prove a hard task, but Vuskovic certainly has what it takes, and his physical attributes are only going to develop further over the coming years.
Matches (starts)
11 (11)
8 (8)
Goals
3
1
Assists
0
0
Clean sheets
3
2
Touches*
69.9
82.5
Accurate passes*
54.6 (92%)
53.0 (86%)
Chances created*
0.2
0.8
Dribbles*
0.3
0.3
Recoveries*
3.7
4.4
Tackles + interceptions*
2.3
1.6
Clearances*
3.4
9.8
Duels (won)*
3.1 (53%)
8.9 (72%)
With this in mind, we might consider the 6 foot 4 teenager to have what it takes to become Tottenham’s leader at the rear, ahead of Van de Ven, ahead of Cristian Romero.
In fact, WhoScored believe that Vuskovic’s performances have been so impressive that he gets into the European Team of the Season so far, higher-rated, in fact, than Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes beside him.
Not just a warrior at the back, in the words of U23 scout Antonio Mango, much like Van de Ven, he is “turning into a goal machine” having netted seven goals on loan at Belgian side KVC Westerlo in 2024/25.
Though Vuskovic still has some developing to do, there’s no question that he’s a potential superstar, and if he does come to partner the Dutchman down the line, he might even outstrip him.
Spurs have their new Parrott in academy star who's been "compared to Kane"
This Tottenham Hotspur youngster could be a future star in North London despite his struggles this season.
ByDan Emery Nov 20, 2025
An update on Daniel Farke’s future as Leeds United manager has now emerged following the 3-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Following the loss at the City Ground at the weekend, Leeds find themselves just one point above the Premier League relegation zone, having averaged a point per game across their opening 11 matches.
The defeat could have major ramifications at the end of the season, with Forest picking up what could be a vital three points, given that they are now just two points behind the Whites, with Sean Dyche making a major impact since his arrival.
The Tricky Trees are already on their third manager this season, while the Whites are yet to make a change, having chosen to keep the faith in Farke, but there is growing discontent among supporters, off the back of four defeats in the last five Premier League games.
Graeme Bailey shares update on Farke's future as Leeds manager
According to journalist Graeme Bailey, who recently spoke to Leeds United News, the 49ers plan to keep the faith in Farke, despite the recent poor results, the German is still set to be given until January to oversee a turnaround.
The owners are aware the squad he’s working with isn’t the strongest, but the 49-year-old is expected to be given the next seven games in what may come as a surprise given Leeds’ recent form.
Bailey adds: “Pressure is mounting on Daniel Farke – but he knew this was coming and the club did too. This is going to be a long season. Everyone was aware. They didn’t spend the tens of millions that Sunderland did.
“They know Farke can only do so much with the squad at his disposal. But the quality of performance and how they compete is going to be vital in the coming weeks.”
In truth, it would be a major gamble for the 49ers to persist with their manner for that length of time, given his previous record in the Premier League, playing a part in Norwich City being relegated in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
Leeds’ upcoming fixtures before January also make for grim reading, with Farke’s side set to come up against a number of in-form teams, as well as the reigning champions.
Leeds’ upcoming fixtures
Date
Aston Villa (h)
November 23rd
Manchester City (a)
November 29th
Chelsea (h)
December 3rd
Liverpool (h)
December 6th
Brentford (a)
December 14th
Crystal Palace (h)
December 21st
Sunderland (a)
December 28th
The recent trip to Nottingham Forest may have been Leeds’ best opportunity to pick up points for quite some time, and it is difficult to see when the next win is going to come, so it would not be surprising if the 49ers are forced into action sooner rather than later…
Brendan Rodgers now contender to replace Farke as Leeds manager Brendan Rodgers a contender to take over at Leeds as pressure mounts on Farke
The Whites could look to a figure with extensive Premier League experience to take over from Daniel Farke.
BySean Markus Clifford Nov 10, 2025