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Trent Alexander-Arnold's return to fitness could not have come at a more important time for Real Madrid, following the loss of Dani Carvajal to injury. It comes just a week before Los Blancos are due to face Liverpool in the Champions League at Anfield, only five months after Alexander-Arnold decided to end a 20-year association with his boyhood team.

• Carvajal medical report revealed

  On Tuesday, Real Madrid gave an official statement confirming that Carvajal has had knee surgery – he had earlier been "diagnosed with a loose joint in his right knee" following tests that had taken place on Monday. He didn't start El Clasico against Barcelona and felt discomfort after coming on.

  "Our captain, Dani Carvajal, underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today," it read. "The operation was performed by Dr. Manuel Leyes under the supervision of Real Madrid's Medical Services. Carvajal will begin recovery work in the coming days."

  While there is no timeframe from the club on his return, early estimates suggest the right-back could be sidelined for most of the rest of the calendar while he recovers. It suggests he could be back in action at some point in December, or perhaps even after Real Madrid are back from Spain's winter break in early January.

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  Boost for Alexander-Arnold ahead of Anfield return

  Alexander-Arnold was struck down by a hamstring injury just five minutes into last month's Champions League win over Marseille, but was back in the matchday squad for Sunday's Barcelona clash for the first time since then. He didn't get on the pitch, with Carvajal going on to grab headlines for the way he angrily confronted Lamine Yamal at the final whistle, accusing the teenager of running his mouth in the build-up. But it points to a return to fitness, at least, for someone who hasn't naturally flourished since joining the club in June.

  The former Liverpool defender was forced to share game time with Carvajal prior to getting injured, getting the nod against Osasuna and Mallorca but having to make do with late substitute appearances when Madrid faced Real Oviedo and Real Sociedad. Marseille was the next match after Real Sociedad, so it made sense for Trent to return to Xabi Alonso's XI, only for him to get injured straightaway.

  But with Carvajal competition for the place now not a factor for the foreseeable future, Alexander-Arnold suddenly has a great chance of starting against Liverpool. There is no other senior recognised right-back in the first-team squad, although midfielder Federico Valverde has often filled in when needed – as was the case against Barcelona – and would be an option if Alexander-Arnold is viewed to be short on match fitness.

• Liverpool's poor form without homegrown right-back

  For Real Madrid, this feels like a good time to play what was, on paper at the time the league phase draw was conducted, their hardest fixture. While Alonso's side have won five straight games across all competitions since a surprisingly heavy defeat to city rivals Atletico a month ago, Liverpool have five of their last six outings – including four in a row in the Premier League to slide down the table.

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  Hostile reception for Alexander-Arnold

  Whether he starts at Anfield or not, Alexander-Arnold could find himself in for a hostile reception from the fans who used to consider him one of their own. Trent's decision to run down his Liverpool contract, ensuring the Reds could only command a negligible transfer fee due to the uniqueness of the mini-transfer window before the summer's Club World Cup, did not sit well with supporters. Alexander-Arnold was audibly booed by some Liverpool fans in the final weeks of last season and openly accused of betraying the club with homemade signs displayed in the area around Anfield. When he did eventually reach his last game for Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold was more warmly received inside the stadium, but that feeling may not last if he is lining up for an opponent he seemingly considered to be a bigger club.

The Orioles and Mariners begin a measuring stick matchup between two teams jockeying for American League postseason positioning.

The Mariners have jumped out to the lead in the AL West, but aren't viewed on the level as the likes of the Orioles just yet, can George Kirby change the view of this Seattle team with a strong outing at home in the opening matchup of this July series?

Here's the odds and our best bet for Tuesday's matchup with odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Orioles vs. Mariners Odds, Run Line and Total 

Run Line

• Orioles: -1.5 (+146)
• Mariners: +1.5 (-178)

Moneyline

• Orioles: -112
• Mariners: -104

Total: 7 (Over -110/Under -110)

Orioles vs. Mariners Probable Pitchers

• Orioles: Grayson Rodriguez (9-3, 3.72 ERA)
• Mariners: George Kirby (7-5, 3.35 ERA)

Orioles vs. Mariners How to Watch

• Date: Monday, July 1
• Time: 9:40 p.m. EST
• Venue: T-Mobile Park
• How to watch (TV): MASN2
• Orioles Record: 53-31
• Mariners Record: 47-39

Orioles vs. Mariners Key Players to Watch

Baltimore Orioles

Gunnar Henderson: Firmly in the mix for the AL MVP, Henderson actually leads the big leagues in FanGraphs WAR metric this season, playing a premium position at shortstop while crushing the ball. The shortstop is hitting .288 with 26 home runs with 58 RBI’s for the elite Orioles offense. He has been timely, dangerous and incredibly efficient. 

Seattle Mariners

Julio Rodriguez: The Mariners offense has floundered this season, and J-Rod hasn’t played to his MVP standard that he is held to. He is a plus defender, but is hitting only .247 this season with seven home runs and 29 runs batted in. For Seattle to be taken as a serious contender in the crowded American League, Rodriguez needs to find his swing. 

Orioles vs. Mariners Prediction and Pick

With two first place teams meeting, its fair to note the gap in overall team quality between the Orioles, who bolster an elite offense with a deep pitching rotation, and the Mariners, who have been able to lean on simply its pitching staff to offset a poor offense this season. 

With that in mind, the Mariners will have the better pitcher on the mound in George Kirby, who has elite command and has done a fantastic job of limiting hard contact. The right hander is in the 99th percentile in walk rate with a 72nd percentile hard-hit percentage. 

Kirby has pitched his best at home as well, posting a 2.34 ERA in seven home starts relative to a much more pedestrian 4.11 ERA on the road. 

In a game that is lined like a coin flip, I believe that the pitching edge with Kirby at home is enough to side with the home team.

Everton will not be winning the League Cup this season after they were knocked out of the competition by fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night.

David Moyes made a host of changes to his starting XI to provide some of the fringe players within the squad with an opportunity to shine against a top-flight side.

Unfortunately, for the Scottish head coach, those players did not step up to show that they deserve more minutes in actual Premier League matches moving forward.

Summer signing Thierno Barry started up front and was substituted at half-time after the team failed to create a single ‘big chance’ for him to find the back of the net, per Sofascore.

The French centre-forward, who is yet to score his first goal for the Toffees, was far from the only player who failed to take his chance to shine against Wolves.

As well as Barry, Tyler Dibling was another one of the summer signings who came into the starting line-up and did not do enough to keep his place in the team.

Why Tyler Dibling should be dropped

The Toffees splashed out a significant fee of £40m to sign the 19-year-old attacking midfielder from relegated Southampton during the summer transfer window, but it was unlikely that he was going to make an instant impact at the Hill Dickinson.

Dibling scored two goals and did not register a single assist in 30 appearances in the Premier League with the Saints during the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore, which shows that Everton were signing him for his potential, rather than any proven quality.

The teenage whiz also scored two goals in two matches in the FA Cup for Southampton last season, but he was unable to step up in the League Cup for the Blues on Tuesday.

Dibling was selected to start on the right flank, coming in for Iliman Ndiaye, and did not offer enough at the top end of the pitch to suggest that he should keep his place for the clash with West Ham United on Monday.

The left-footed forward ended his time on the pitch without a shot on target or a chance created to show for his efforts, as his team lost without scoring a goal, per Sofascore, which shows that he did not have any meaningful impact in the final third.

As you can see in the table above, Dibling did work hard to put himself about defensively, competing in 14 duels, and tried to make things happen by taking on opposition defenders with the ball.

Unfortunately, he was ineffective with the ball at his feet, as evidenced by the opposition winning the ball off him in four of his six attempted dribbles. That led to him being subbed off for Ndiaye just before the hour mark, and is why he should be dropped from the XI for the game against the Hammers.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Dibling, however, was not the least impressive performer on the pitch for the Toffees on the night, as Tim Iroegbunam showed why he should never start against top-flight opposition.

Why Tim Iroegbunam should never start for Everton

Since signing from Aston Villa in the summer of 2024, the English central midfielder has started in just one win against a Premier League side for Everton.

That includes one appearance in the cup and eight starts in the Premier League for the Toffees in that time, which shows that he has had plenty of chances to help his side to more wins.

Whilst Iroegbunam was not the sole reason why Everton failed to win most of those nine matches, it is a worrying pattern that is underpinned by some dismal performances from the former Villans academy graduate.

As you can see in the table above, the Toffees have won one and lost six of his nine starts against top-flight opponents since his move to the club last year, conceding a whopping 19 goals in those matches.

It is a dismal run of results for the 22-year-old midfielder and does not suggest that he is ready to control the engine room for Moyes, which was backed up by his performance against Wolves on Tuesday night.

The Athletic’s Paddy Boyland criticised Iroegbunam’s “sloppy” play in possession that gifted the ball back to Wolves on multiple occasions, leading to attacks for the home side.

He gave the ball away ten times, per Sofascore, throughout the 90 minutes, more than Dibling’s eight, despite not attempting a single cross or long pass, which meant that his short passing was far too sloppy for a central midfielder.

The Liverpool Echo handed him a player rating of 5/10 for his performance, noting that he failed to impose himself on the game, and even that may have been a tad generous as the midfielder failed to impress on or off the ball in the middle of the park.

Despite playing as a holding midfielder, Iroegbunam made fewer defensive contributions than Dibling. The winger made two clearances, one block, two tackles, and one interception, whilst the midfielder matched that bar the block. This shows that he was slightly less effective out of possession than a forward player.

On the ball, as aforementioned, he was sloppy and did not help to control the middle of the park for the Toffees, which contributed to the home side’s comfortable win on the night.

Worse than Tarkowski: 5/10 Everton man "was a difficult watch" vs Wolves

Everton were dumped out of the Carabao Cup after a 2-0 defeat by Wolves at Molineux.

By
Angus Sinclair

Sep 24, 2025

Therefore, Iroegbunam showed why he should never start for the Toffees unless injuries force Moyes into selecting him, because the club’s results when he started have been abysmal and his performance on Tuesday night was not far from abysmal.

Jamie Carragher has ignored England as he named his favorites for the 2026 World Cup. Thomas Tuchel's side were the first European team to qualify for the tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and head into their final two qualifiers already assured of their place; Carragher, though, has picked Argentina, Spain, and France as his favorites.

• Tuchel's men overlooked

  England have enjoyed a flawless qualification campaign, winning all six of their six qualifiers thus far. As a result, their November qualifiers against Serbia and Albania offer Tuchel the opportunity to experiment with his starting XI, as well as his squad composition, ahead of the tournament next summer. 

  Nevertheless, Tuchel has insisted that England will arrive at the showpiece as "underdogs", despite their sterling progress in tournaments since 2018. Under Gareth Southgate, they reached two finals – Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 – and also reached the World Cup semi-finals and quarter-finals. 

  He said: "We will arrive as underdogs in the World Cup because we haven't won it for decades, and we will play against teams who have repeatedly won it during that time, so we need to arrive as a team otherwise we have no chance.”

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  Carragher overlooks Three Lions

  Carragher was asked to pick his favourites for the tournament and backed champions Argentina to harness the support of the US, following Lionel Messi's impact in MLS, while favouring Spain and France from Europe, instead of Tuchel's side. 

  He told CBS Sports, via the Independent: “You have to look at Argentina, the holders, will it be the last time we see Messi play football? They’ll probably have great support, especially if they play in Miami, with his impact on MLS and playing for Inter Miami. 

  “From the European side of things, the European champions, Spain with Lamine Yamal and then France with Kylian Mbappe, arguably the two best players in the world right now, alongside obviously Ousmane Dembele with France as well.

  “I find it very difficult to ever look at a tournament and not have France at the back of my mind. [England are in] the next level of teams, alongside Portugal, those teams I’ve mentioned are probably the favourites and then they’ve got an outside chance.”

• Tuchel's praise

  After England's most recent outing, a crushing 5-0 win over Latvia, Tuchel was fulsome in his praise of his players, as they continue to develop an understanding under the German manager's system. 

  “Brilliant, such a good mood in the dressing room," he said. "It feels very different because it's our dream to go to [North] America and now we've made it, another good performance and a top result. We now have six wins and six clean sheets so we're very happy.

  “We're dominant in games, we're hungry, we invest against the ball, we have a lot of ball wins in the opponent's half.You look at our last goal, Harry Kane controlled the way back in his own half after a mistake from a teammate, helps defend the ball and wins the ball for the goal for Ebs (Eberechi Eze).

  “It's good and we're on our way.”

  He added: “It's a club feel because we play very aggressive, we play a high press. It's a very physical game that we play. It's very demanding but it gets everyone going. Everyone needs to go and buy into the idea because otherwise we can't press so high so we have a lot of ball wins.

  “The guys train on a high level and the group is a very good group. It's a pleasure to coach them. That's the result, it's step by step and we're getting there.”

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  What comes next?

  England have two more qualifiers before they head to the United States and are also likely to schedule warm-up friendlies beforehand. England will head to the States with the hopes of finally finding a way to end 60 years of hurt, and if qualification is anything to go by, they will be right up there. Tuchel has actually only overseen one defeat thus far, a 3-2 friendly loss to Senegal. 

Nottingham Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis is set for crunch talks with under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou over the tactician’s long-term future, coming after a dismal start to life for Nuno Espirito Santo’s replacement at the City Ground.

Ange Postecoglou's job under threat after 2-0 Newcastle defeat

Reports in the build up to their 2-0 loss to Newcastle United at St. James’ Park claimed that Postecoglou’s job could be under threat if Forest tasted defeat up north, and this could now be realised.

Second-half goals from Bruno Guimaraes and Nick Woltemade slapped Postecoglou with his fifth loss from seven games in charge, and the Australian remains winless after making the worst start of any Forest manager for 100 years.

The pressure is well and truly on Forest’s new manager after stepping into the shoes of fan favourite Nuno, who guided the Tricky Trees back to Europe for the first time since 1995 last season.

Since Nuno’s departure, Forest have been on a downward trajectory, with Postecoglou confirming that he’s set for crunch Marinakis talks over the international break.

It is believed that Marinakis already has potential replacements in mind for Postecoglou, who could become the shortest-reigning manager in Premier League history if Forest decide to take action immediately after Newcastle.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is emerging as a “prime candidate” to succeed the 60-year-old, according to TEAMtalk, but it is very debatable whether the Austrian would leave Selhurst Park midway through 2025/2026 for what appears to be a volatile project.

Glasner is out of contract at the end of this season, as is Fulham’s Marco Silva, and The Mail’s Tom Collomosse also reports that the latter is a long-term target for Forest.

However, any approach for Silva is apparently unlikely to happen before the conclusion of 2025/2026.

Marinakis pictured close to Benitez amid Nottingham Forest manager search

That being said, another coach who’s readily available now and wants a return to England is former Liverpool, Newcastle and Everton boss Rafael Benitez.

As reported by Collomosse, Marinakis was spotted in “close proximity” to Benitez during Arsenal’s 2-0 win over OIympiacos last week, and while the Spaniard was there in his role as a technical observer for UEFA, he’s apparently keen on coming back to Britain for work.

Benitez also has good relations with the Marinakis family, so this could be one to watch, even if the Champions League-winning boss hasn’t worked in management since leaving Celta Vigo in 2024.

His last job in the Premier League was also his disastrous spell at Everton, though you can make a case that it was always doomed to fail given Benitez’s ties to Liverpool.

Benitez, after a glittering career at some of Europe’s top clubs, is regarded as a “world-class manager” by his peers, but he’d be taking on an almighty task to steer Forest back up the table amid the toxicity right now.

Barcelona full-back Alejandro Balde has defended teammate Lamine Yamal over the scrutiny he has faced in recent weeks. The 18-year-old has not been at his best since September, when he succumbed to an injury in his pubic area while playing for Spain. Ever since his return, he has struggled to match his previously dizzying heights, with the glare of the spotlight shining on the youngster.

• Yamal and Balde shine as Barca outwit Elche

  After going down to Real Madrid on October 26, where Yamal was off colour and the centre of controversy at the end of the game for his pre-match comments about Los Blancos, Barca returned to winning ways against Elche this Sunday. 

  Before the clash with Los Blancos, he said, while streaming: “Yes, of course, they steal, they complain…”, prompting laughter and disbelief from those on the stream. Llanos, a well-known Madrid supporter, immediately pushed back, asking, “Real Madrid steals?” To which Yamal doubled down, laughing nervously before reaffirming, “Well, let’s see, let’s see.”

  Notably, it was Balde who helped Yamal open Barca's scoring for the evening in the ninth minute, as the 18-year-old enjoyed a topsy-turvy 88 minutes on the pitch. The Spaniard enjoyed a fine first half but was eventually substituted, and replaced by Roony Bardghji. 

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  Balde stands by Yamal

  After the match, Balde defended his Barca teammate for the criticism he has faced in the past weeks. He said, "It’s true that he’s always in the spotlight, but I think Lamine is a great professional despite his young age. What he is doing at only 18 years old is incredible. Sometimes people don’t appreciate what he does, as they should. At his age, what he’s doing can’t be described in words."

  Balde's words can be justified as Yamal won the Euros last season when he was just 16. This year, before he turned 18, he played a crucial role in taking Spain to the UEFA Nations League final, where they ended runners-up to Portugal. 

• What happened after the Clasico?

  Barca lost 2-1 to Madrid in their last fixture in October, and Yamal played the entire game. However, after the clash was over, he got involved in a heated exchange with Madrid players. He had a verbal argument with Dani Carvajal and offered him a challenge for the second leg. Moreover, he was also seen in chaos with Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr.

  Off the pitch, Yamal took the limelight too. Although this time, he refrained from making comments on the Clasico rivals, like he did days before the match, he was trending on social media for his separation from his partner.

  Yamal's injury is yet to be cured, and he is still recovering from it, despite featuring in the matches. Flick pointed out the same after the Elche game, stating that he needs to manage his injury while rediscovering his best form. He said, "He has to manage his injury; he's disciplined. He has to train, undergo treatment… he's doing it. I can't say the injury is over; it comes and goes. And he has to manage it."

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  Barca's upcoming ventures

  Yamal and co. will be travelling to Belgium to face Club Brugge in their upcoming Champions League clash. Positioned ninth in the continental table, Flick, would want his side to register a strong result against 20th-ranked Brugge. A third win for Barca will not only elevate their status in the table, but also provide a boost ahead of their upcoming fixtures. Barca's last outing before the international break is against Celta Vigo, which is yet again an away match. They currently have a five-point gap with La Liga toppers Madrid and would want to minimise the same in the coming games by not dropping points, despite a hectic schedule post the break, which sees them play games in quick succession.

The beauty of sports—especially sports played in big cities with multiple professional teams—is that fanbases of teams across different leagues come together to embrace big moments when one team is on a special run. Such an instance occurred during Game 1 of the World Series, the ending of which coincided with the Phoenix Suns' game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Dodger Stadium and the city of Los Angeles were positively buzzing Friday night after star first baseman Freddie Freeman belted a walk-off grand slam to power the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory. And the energy and enthusiasm spread into the Crypto.com Arena, where replays on the video scoreboard showed Freeman's dramatic walk-off.

The arena erupted into cheers.

But it wasn't just the fans who were tuned into the incredible moment. Television cameras caught Suns guard Bradley Beal's amusing reaction to Freeman's grand slam.

That face expression is priceless. Beal was one of several players who found themselves lost in the World Series moment, despite the fact that they were in the middle of a game themselves.

"That s–t was crazy," Lakers star forward Anthony Davis told reporters when asked about Freeman's walk-off. "I was actually like checked-out for a second and looked up. (Forward) LeBron (James) was just listening, the way the ball sounded when he hit it, it was… yeah."

Davis added a "Go Dodgers" for good measure.

Meanwhile, it didn't take long for Lakers' first-year coach JJ Redick, whose team started slow out of the gate Friday night, to figure out why the fans at Crypto.com Arena were cheering.

"With my deductive reasoning, I figured it was only one thing," Redick deadpanned. "That the Dodgers won."

Friday night was a good night overall for Los Angeles sports. The Dodgers took Game 1 and the Lakers stormed back from a 22-point deficit to defeat the Suns.

Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways on Tuesday night when they secured an impressive 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League, after their defeat to Chelsea at the weekend.

Thomas Frank’s side put in, arguably, their best performance of the 2025/26 campaign as they created a whopping eight ‘big chances’ to find the back of the net.

That is the most ‘big chances’ the Lilywhites have created in a single game under the former Brentford head coach, per Sofascore, and they did so despite going down to ten men when Brennan Johnson was sent off.

Spurs are yet to find consistency in their creative play in the Premier League, though, as they rank 12th for ‘big chances’ created (17) and 15th for xG (10.1), per Sofascore and FBref.

Frank needs to find a way for his team to create chances in the way that they did against Copenhagen on a regular basis in the Premier League to improve those rankings.

The North London outfit rarely used to have a problem with creating chances when they had Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen in their side.

Why Spurs need their next Christian Eriksen

The Lilywhites need their next version of the Denmark international, who is currently at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, because he provided a consistent creative presence in the middle of the park.

Signed from Ajax in 2013, Eriksen hit double figures for assists in four of his seven Premier League campaigns with Spurs, per Transfermarkt, which speaks to his consistency in the final third.

The right-footed playmaker produced 69 goals and 88 assists in 305 matches for the club in total before his departure in the summer of 2020. He offered a goalscoring threat to go along with his impressive creativity.

The former Manchester United central midfielder is, undoubtedly, one of the most creative players to have worn a Spurs shirt in the Premier League era.

Only Heung-min Son (71) has assisted more Premier League goals for Tottenham than Eriksen (63), but he played 107 more matches to assist eight more goals, per Transfermarkt.

Eriksen’s eye for a pass and ability to execute all kinds of passes made him a constant threat with the ball at his feet and a joy to play with for any forward with intelligent movement, because they knew that he would be able to find them.

The Danish maestro had the quality to create high-quality chances on a regular basis, as evidenced by his impressive assist haul for the club, and that is what Spurs need in the Premier League in the present day.

Frank, though, does have a player within his Tottenham squad who has the potential to be Eriksen 2.0 for the Lilywhites this season, and beyond.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Dutch attacking midfielder Xavi Simons put in an impressive performance against Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday night, and showed that he does have the quality to be the club’s next Eriksen if he can add consistency to his performances.

Why Xavi Simons can be Tottenham's new Christian Eriksen

The Netherlands international created three ‘big chances’ in the first half of the 4-0 win, the most by any Spurs player in a Champions League match for the best part of a decade.

Per Sofascore, the former RB Leipzig star ended the night with four key passes, three ‘big chances’ created, and one assist in 61 minutes of action, before he was withdrawn after Brennan Johnson’s red card.

The Dutchman registered his assist by playing a brilliant through ball for Johnson to race onto and slot into an empty net after dribbling past the goalkeeper.

After the win over Copenhagen, Spurs writer and content creator Mitch Fretton claimed that Xavi is “going to be an elite player for Tottenham”, and it is hard to disagree with that assessment, despite his rocky start in the Premier League.

The £52m signing from RB Leipzig has yet to set the world alight since his move from Germany, as he has produced no goals and one assist in the top-flight so far.

As you can see in the table above, Xavi has yet to provide consistent quality in the final third in the Premier League, but his performance against Copenhagen was a glimpse at what he can produce at his best.

The 22-year-old star assisted 11 goals in 48 matches for PSV and racked up 24 assists in 78 appearances for RB Leipzig, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he has provided consistent quality as a creator for his previous clubs.

Xavi also scored 22 goals each for PSV and RB Leipzig in that time, before his move to Spurs, and can offer a threat as a scorer as well as being a creator when he is on form.

Frank will now be hoping that his brilliant creative display against Copenhagen will allow him to kick on and make an impact in the final third on a consistent basis.

As good as Simons: 8/10 star had his "best performance in a Spurs shirt"

Spurs put in their best display under Thomas Frank yet against Copenhagen in the Champions League.

By
Dan Emery

Nov 5, 2025

If the Dutch playmaker can replicate the level of consistency he showed at PSV and Leipzig, Spurs could unlock their next version of Eriksen in the middle of the park.

Jose Mourinho has reportedly left Fenerbahce with an eye-watering bill after spending 15 months of his tenure with the Turkish giants living in a luxury hotel. The self-anointed ‘Special One’ took up residence in the Istanbul Four Seasons, rather than find himself a property in the city. He was unceremoniously sacked after failing to qualify for the 2025-26 Champions League.

• Tough time in Turkey: Mourinho lasted 62 games

  Ex-Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester United and Roma boss Mourinho joined Fenerbahce in June 2024. He took in 62 games at the helm, with his last being a European play-off clash with Benfica. The 62-year-old is now calling the shots with the Lisbon-based giants having returned to his roots.

  He endured a tough time in Turkey, with the performance of match officials getting under his skin on a regular basis, and admits to not particularly enjoying his time with Fener. He said after being given his marching orders and heading back to Portugal: “My career so far has been rich; I've coached the biggest clubs in the world, in different countries. I made the wrong choice; sometimes I don't have the right word in Portuguese… no regrets, because regrets don't help us at all in life, but the awareness of what we did well and what we did wrong exists. I made a mistake going to Fenerbahce; it wasn't my cultural level, it wasn't my football level, it wasn't my level. Obviously, I gave everything until the last day.”

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  Mourinho's hotel bill: How much 15-month stay cost

  While Mourinho believes that he always gave his all, Fenerbahce have been left with plenty of questions to answer. One of those relates to how they are going to clear the huge bill that their former manager ran up at the Four Seasons.

  According to Turkish media outlet , the experienced tactician has cost Fener 36.5m liras – which equates to €747,000 or £656,000. The plush base that he set up camp in boasts five restaurants, two swimming pools, a fitness suite and spa. The cheapest room on site comes in at a jaw-dropping £1,000-a-night.

  Mourinho spent 15 months there, on the banks of the Bosphorus, in one of the most luxurious suites. His contract was terminated just under a year before it was due to expire in the summer of 2026.

• Why Fenerbahce sacked Mourinho

  Former Fener president Ali Koc said after ushering a proven winner through the exits: “Why did we let go of Mourinho? I'm explaining it here for the first time. It was a bitter parting. Our chemistry was perfect, and his accomplishments are evident. Just being able to bring him here was a great achievement.

  “Above all, it was difficult to part with someone I was friends with. We knew our coach was a defensive player when we brought him in. But we talked about the need to play more dominantly at the end of the season. Earning 99 goals and 99 points is our genetic code.

  “Being eliminated by Benfica wasn't a problem, but the way we were eliminated was unacceptable. This made me feel like last year's football would continue. We parted ways because we believed this squad would play better football at this point. This kind of football works in Europe, but in Turkey, we have to crush them in most matches. We're struggling to get ahead after falling behind in every match.”

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  What next for Mourinho? Unconvincing start at Benfica

  Mourinho responded by claiming that his recruitment demands were not met, saying: “At my previous club, things weren’t easy. I wanted to play with four players, but the club signed five players the day after I left. While I was there, it was impossible to play with four defenders when the team had seven central defenders. And only one winger. I adapt very well to what's available.”

  Mourinho is now 12 games into his tenure at Benfica. He has only won half of those fixtures, suffering three defeats, and has faced more questions of his methods. It remains to be seen how long he will remain at Estadio da Luz and, having been awarded a €15m (£13m/$17m) severance package, whether he will agree to foot the bill that he left behind in Istanbul.

Two-time All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman remains unsigned halfway through the month of January as he seeks what is likely to be the last big payday of his career on a long-term contract.

The 30-year-old Bregman hit .260 last season with 26 home runs and 75 RBI and has spent his entire nine-year career with the Houston Astros, where he has been one of the franchise cornerstones for two World Series titles.

But Bregman now appears likely to depart, as it's unclear whether or not the Astros want to meet his free agency asking price. Bregman is reportedly seeking between $25-30 million on his next contract, and previously turned down a six-year, $156 million offer from the Astros.

The Red Sox have been frequently linked to Bregman, but a deal has not gotten done. The Chicago Cubs could enter the mix though if Bregman is open to a shorter deal, according to a report from Bruce Levine of in Chicago. Reported framework around a deal that the Cubs would be interested in doing would be a three-year pact with opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. That contract framework is similar to the one put together for former Cub Cody Bellinger, who has since departed for the New York Yankees in a trade.

Bregman is a solid player, but he will turn 31 before opening day. If teams don't want to commit big money long-term for Bregman, perhaps a shorter deal would open more avenues for him in the 2025 season and beyond.