While the results this season might suggest otherwise, West Ham United do have a fair amount of talent in their squad.

For example, when he’s not getting himself sent off, Lucas Paqueta can be a magician on the ball, and while he’s still raw, summer signing El Hadji Malick Diouf has an unreal cross on him.

Furthermore, Nuno Espírito Santo seems to be getting more out of Mateus Fernandes and has finally given Freddie Potts a proper run in the team, as fans have been calling for.

Finally, there is the club captain, Jarrod Bowen, who remains one of the best attackers in the Premier League, and therefore, fans should be excited about a young Potts-esque academy prospect who could well be the next Bowen.

Bowen's start to the season

Considering they finished down in 14th place, it would be fair to say that last season wasn’t exactly a great one for West Ham.

Yet, even though those around him were letting him down, Bowen once again proved he was one of the best attackers in the country by racking up a sensational tally of 14 goals and ten assists in 36 appearances, totalling 3148 minutes.

That comes out to a world-class average of a goal involvement every 1.5 games, or every 131.16 minutes.

So, with numbers like those, fans and pundits alike were expecting the former Hull City star to have another stellar personal campaign this season.

However, so far anyway, it hasn’t quite worked out that way.

In his 14 appearances, totalling 1260 minutes, the Hammers’ captain has scored three goals and provided two assists, which is an average of a goal involvement every 2.8 games, or every 252 minutes.

With that said, it’s still early, and the start of the season was such a car crash that it feels almost unfair to judge him.

Moreover, Bowen has proved himself time and time again in claret and blue, so it’s likely just a matter of when and not if he rediscovers his best form and therefore, fans should be very excited about an academy product who could be West Ham’s next version of the Englishman.

West Ham's next Bowen

The good news for West Ham is that they have more than a few seriously exciting young prospects coming up through the academy at the moment.

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Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

The likes of Preston Fearon, Josh Landers and Emeka Adiele, for example, could all get their chance with the first team in the coming years.

However, when it comes to a Potts-esque youngster who could go on to be the club’s next Bowen, it’s impossible to ignore Andre Dike.

The 17-year-old gem signed scholarship terms with the club in July 2024, and while he had a good 24/25, he has reached another level entirely this year.

For example, in 12 appearances, totalling 987 minutes, he has already scored six goals and provided one assist, which comes out to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.71 games, or every 141 minutes.

This ability to reliably produce goal involvements for his team is one of the reasons he could become the club’s next Bowen, and another is that he does so primarily from the right wing.

Moreover, like the first-team captain, he is more than just an output machine, as he’s got brilliant close control and an ability to create something from nothing, stemming from what Academy Manager Kenny Brown described as his “great technical ability.”

Finally, what makes him a Potts-esque prospect, you may ask.

Well, that is partly due to his impressive output, partly down to him being highly rated within the academy from people like Brown, and then partly due to him already making an appearance with the u21s despite being just 17.

Ultimately, there is still a long way to go for Dike, but West Ham look like they have a real talent in him and someone who could one day replace Bowen.

Nuno could solve big Lucas Paqueta blow by unleashing West Ham academy star

The incredible talent could be the perfect answer to Nuno and West Ham’s Paqueta problem.

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Jack Salveson Holmes

Dec 3, 2025

Kohli gave a peek into his preparation for ODIs by talking about his visualisation process and how he arrived early in Ranchi to prepare

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-20254:46

Takeaways – Kohli in comfort zone; Jansen, Kuldeep and Rana sparkle

Despite having played over 300 ODIs in a career of over 17 years, and 226 international matches across formats all over India, Virat Kohli arrived early in Ranchi ahead of the first ODI of the series against South Africa. Despite the wealth of experience he has and being an ODI great, he wanted to suss out the conditions and get a few batting sessions out of the way as he plays just the one format for India these days. And his mantra remains the same: giving 120%.It translated into a fine ODI hundred, his 52nd in the format, and helped India to a 17-run win in the opening ODI.”I’ve said it before if I’m arriving somewhere I’ll arrive at 120%,” Kohli said after receiving his 44th Player-of-the-Match award in ODIs. “[I came early] because I wanted to get hold of the conditions a little bit, bat a couple of sessions in the day and one in the evening, so my prep work was done. I took a day off before the game because I’m 37, I also need to look after the recovery. I visualise the game a lot in my mind, and as long as when I think about the game, if I see myself being as intense, as sharp, taking the fielders and bowlers on, then I know I’m in a good space and I kind of relax and play out there.Related

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“Today was really nice to get into the game like that. The pitch played quite decently in the first 20-25 overs before it started to slow down. I just felt like let me just go out there and just hit the ball, not think too much about any of the other stuff, it’s just me and the ball coming at me and just enjoy the game of cricket which was the very reason I started playing this game. It was just about staying in the space of enjoyment, and of course, when you get a start and you get a situation then you know what you’ve done over so many years, the experience kicks in, and you understand the situation and you’re able to build an innings.”Being asked to bat, Kohli went out to bat in the fourth over to join Rohit Sharma after Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught behind for 18. Kohli got to his fifty off 48 balls and then his century off 102 balls in good batting conditions with captain KL Rahul at the other end. He finished on 135 off 120 balls that was studded with seven sixes – only the fifth time in his ODI career of 294 outings that he struck more than five in an innings and led India to a strong total of 349 in front of a packed house in Ranchi. It was his second ODI century of the year, the other being the unbeaten 100 against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy earlier this year in Dubai.”If you play 300-odd ODI games and so much cricket over the last 15-16 years, as I said if you’re in touch with the game and you know that when you’re hitting balls at practice, your reflexes are there, your physical ability is there to bat long, if you can bat an hour and half to two hours in the nets without taking a break, you’re kind of meeting all those markers. I understand if there’s a dip in form, you look for games and you try to get that form back. But as long as you’re hitting the ball well and you’re playing good cricket, I think at this stage with the experience that I have for me, it’s about being physically fit, mentally ready and excited to play the games that I’m playing, and more or less everything else should take care of itself.”I’ve never been a big believer of a lot of preparation. All my cricket has been mental. As long as I feel mentally I can play the game, I work physically very hard every day of my life it’s got nothing to do with cricket anymore, it’s just the way I live. So as long as my fitness levels are up and my enjoyment and mental sharpness is there, then you can visualise the game and you see yourself running as hard, reacting fast on the ball, then you know it’s fine. [I know] one of the days when the game opens up and you get a start, you’ll be able to score some runs.”

Brendon McCullum still believes in Zak Crawley despite his pair in the first Test against Australia, and has called on England bat with more conviction following their two-day defeat in Perth. The visiting head coach even cited Travis Head’s match-winning 123 as an example to follow.Head made light work of what looked a more-than-competitive target of 205, driving Australia most of the way home to an eight-wicket win in just 28.2 overs. With Usman Khawaja yet again suffering from a back injury, Head replaced Marnus Labuschagne (who opened in the first innings) and proceeded to slap 20 boundaries, including four sixes that belied the size of the Optus Stadium boundaries.As well as flaying an England attack that 24 hours earlier had put the frighteners up the home batters, Head was responsible for the first runs for an opening partnership in the Test. The first overs of the previous three innings had brought ducks. Crawley was responsible for two at the hands of Mitchell Starc. Jake Weatherald – knocked off his feet by Jofra Archer on day one – maintained his footing with 23, his first runs in Test cricket.A careless waft outside off stump six balls into the match was followed by a checked-push five balls into his second innings, brilliantly caught by Starc. With that, Crawley became the first English opener dismissed without scoring in both innings of an Ashes Test since Michael Atherton at Melbourne in 1998.Pegged as a batter to thrive on Australian pitches, England have groomed Crawley as an X-factor player ahead of this tour. He has been backed to the hilt by captain Ben Stokes since the start of his tenure.Though Crawley was the leading run-scorer in 2023’s Ashes, and England’s standout run-scorer on the following tour of India, he has averaged just 32.26 since the start of 2022. His career average – 30.96 – is close to dipping under the thirty mark.McCullum has previously insisted Crawley is not picked to be “a consistent player”. Essentially, he is a scorer of great runs rather than a great run-scorer. That point of view remains undimmed, as is his importance in an opening partnership with Ben Duckett that remains the fastest since 1998. Travis Head starred as an opener with an extraordinary 69-ball century•Getty Images

“We believe he is a quality player,” McCullum said, when asked if Crawley was undroppable. “Particularly in these conditions against this sort of opposition. How many balls did he face? 10 or 11? He got out cheaply, but we believe in Zak.”He’s been around this group for a long time, he’s done really well. The combination with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley has allowed us to enter games as best as we think we can. And I’d expect to see a strong bounce-back from Zak in the next little while. Sometimes you get out early, right? It would have been nice if he hadn’t. But that’s life. If he can get going, he can do some damage.””If” being the operative word. Crawley is now joint-fourth on England’s duck list from 96 innings – the only member of that top five to have batted fewer than 142 times in Test cricket. And the suggestion he cracks on when he gets a start is not backed up by the statistics. The 27-year-old has 24 fifty-plus scores, but of openers with at least 20, his average of 85.80 is the third lowest.Of course, Crawley is not the sole batter to blame for the fact England are 1-0 down. It was a top-order collapse of 5 for 23 – including Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root across six deliveries for no run – that relinquished what had been a lead of 105 with nine second-innings wickets in hand.It was Scott Boland who thrived during this passage, eventually finishing with 4 for 33, making amends for a difficult 0 for 62 in the first innings.Related

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Having bested the 36-year-old on Friday, England were unable to get a hold of him on Saturday. A mistake, in McCullum’s eyes, which he puts down to batters not wholly committed to their respective methods. Unlike Head.”Maybe just back away and slay it over point, or slog it to cow?!” McCullum said, tongue in cheek, when asked how England might have batted better. “I’m not saying they didn’t go hard enough, but there was a player [Head] who had total conviction in his method and has done it across different formats and on different stages over the last few years.”‘Have conviction’ – that’s been what we’ve said. Choose a method and have conviction in it. If it works then great. But if it doesn’t at least you’ve done it your way.”Despite the early finish, England are set to remain in Perth for the time being before heading straight to Queensland ahead of the second Test, a day-night affair in Brisbane, which begins on December 4.A decision is yet to be made on whether any of the main squad will drop into the England XI – originally the Lions – for the Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra (November 29), which will offers them pink-ball practice. Most importantly for McCullum is shedding the pain of this whirlwind defeat as quickly as possible.”We will let the dust settle, but we are bitterly disappointed for us, but also all the fans who have turned up here to support us so well here and we know we will be throughout the series.”We can’t carry this one onto the next. We’ve been trying to insulate against things going wrong for a while. For us that connectivity and camaraderie is something we pride ourselves on. We will need it over the next few days.”

His century, after 83 innings and 807 days, shows why Pakistan cricket refuses to move on from him

Danyal Rasool15-Nov-2025Above all, it was the authenticity. At a moment when all around him struggled to capture the moment, Babar Azam simply wanted to live it. Waqar Younis, on commentary, tried to come up with something lyrical to say. Ultimately, he only managed “here we go” as Pramod Madushan ran in, and then “there we go”, when Babar pulled him in front of square to bring up his 20th hundred. ESPNcricinfo’s own ball-by-ball strained for effect as it tried to sum up the magnitude of the event. Fans at the ground, and at home on TV, and on social media, had their phones out, looking for the shot that would surely go viral.The man himself cantered to the other end, his beaming smile shining through his helmet. When he removed it, there was no exaggerated celebration for the cameras, no feigned nonchalance. It was a relieved smile when the helmet came off. He glanced to the skies, he looked down at the floor, and then, he fell to his knees, his face out of the shot. At that moment, he was falling in love with cricket once more.Tellingly he had not, until now, raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd. The sport that has bestowed him with a level of individual fame and popularity perhaps not seen for a cricketer in this country since the days of Imran Khan has, of late, also felt like the chain that shackled him. For now, however, the moment was about him, as well as the uncomplicated joy of batting – a joy that first got him into this position of sport as a vocation, long before everything else about it became so very complicated.Related

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It was also just a reminder of how genuine Babar can be, in an age where sportspeople have even the semblance of a personality media-trained out of them. Babar had no contrived soundbites at the post-match presentations, and then the press conference, which stars tend to reserve for their comebacks. In fact, there really wasn’t anything beyond the banal at all.He was at the business end of criticism for similar banality during his stint as captain so often. On Pakistan’s bad days, he didn’t have much to say, and on the good ones, there wasn’t much to say at all. He hasn’t done much press in the years since, but as he stood in front of the mic after his century, the years appeared to melt away: he thanked God, he was happy to be back among the runs, and he was grateful to his supporters. He ignored his critics, and he wanted to win matches for his team. What more was there to say?The relief is palpable on his face after Babar Azam completes his century after a long wait•AFP/Getty ImagesPerhaps nothing to say for Babar, but his fans and detractors alike haven’t exactly kept silent. We are all now beholden to a social media algorithm, and there is no name in Pakistan cricket that whirs it into gear as much as Babar’s. Whether he is captain or not. Whether he scores runs or not. Whether he’s even playing or not. After all, this is a man who – in a surreal period around late summer 2024 – saw the positioning of the big toe on his left foot become a focus of almost comical scrutiny as a potential explanation for his loss of form.Over the best part of the last three years, when all Babar may have wanted was just a little bit of space – to go away and be forgotten about for a little while – the asphyxiating attention only squeezed tighter. Fans and media alike kept him on display like an exotic animal at a tawdry petting zoo. Those who once prematurely anointed him as “King Babar” had, by now, turned it into something of a meme.But for all the toxicity in Pakistan cricket and the ferocity of its critics, legitimate and otherwise, they never stood a chance against his tsunami of supporters. At the depths of his nadir, stadiums across Pakistan – and indeed wherever its diaspora exists – would pack themselves to watch him bat, however fleeting his innings might be. In the Cape Town Test earlier this year, after he scored 81 and came to do press, the Pakistan team bus’s departure was delayed because Babar’s supporters tried to mob him, hoping for an autograph, a selfie, or indeed just a couple of words. Similar scenes have played out in Melbourne, London, and even New York.

Perhaps disconcertingly for the rest of the team, the fall of Pakistan’s first wicket has begun to be cheered loudly, simply because it brings Babar to the crease. The streaming out of supporters from stadiums whenever he gets out is a throwback to the days of Shahid Afridi, when one man’s performance was often the spectacle within the spectacle.

Perhaps disconcertingly for the rest of the team, the fall of Pakistan’s first wicket has begun to be cheered loudly, simply because it brings Babar to the crease. The streaming out of supporters from stadiums whenever he gets out is a throwback to the days of Shahid Afridi, when one man’s performance was often the spectacle within the spectacle.It was no different on Friday, with Rawalpindi Stadium never fuller than in the chilly evening when Saim Ayub fell in the tenth over. Babar’s knock began like any other innings – with a few solid shots, a brief scare here and there. It may have ended with a whimper very early on, as plenty of his 83 century-less knocks have over the past couple of years. Like when, after scratching five runs off his first 14 balls, he mistimed the 15th one almost straight back to Madushan. Or when he played a pull off a long hop and found short midwicket, who couldn’t quite cling on.It would also be a superb feat of narrative chicanery to suggest anything was written in the stars. The last two years have been littered by “predictions” from fans who are certain the next innings is the one Babar finally breaks his drought in, when every cover drive and every time he ticks up beyond 20 is a harbinger of something special. But things began to get serious when, instead of those prophecies, a tense silence emerged. On this site’s ball-by-ball commentaries, any references what he was approaching were angrily hushed by his supporters, afraid the mere mention of it would render it a mirage.Babar Azam was with Mohammad Rizwan when he broke his drought•AFP/Getty ImagesBut as the temperatures dipped into single digits and the spectators huddled together, for comfort as much as for warmth, Babar showed no signs of the mental or technical fragilities that have tripped him up so often in the recent past.If he needed further reassurance of the good old times, of course it was his mate Mohammad Rizwan at the other end: soon, the two were guiding Pakistan in a chase together, just as they used to do. It was Rizwan who took care of the asking rate, knocking off the runs and taking the pressure off his long-time T20 opening partner.In the press conference, when asked what he thought when the critics had piled on, he simply said, “I ignored them.” The arc of the rest of his innings itself might have demanded a scare here, a chance there; in truth, Babar similarly gave it nothing. His knock was becoming a routine march to three figures, and as he began to approach it, the tension seemed to ease instead of mount. He had, after all, been here before. More often, in fact than any Pakistan batter in the history of ODI cricket.The 90s were when he looked at his most comfortable, reserving the shot of the innings to take him to 97: a glorious drive past mid-off, in all its vintage Babar splendour. Often criticised for slowing down ahead of a personal milestone, he took just nine balls to get from 90 to his hundred – a milestone he seemed to greet like an old friend, rather than one he has been a stranger to for the better part of three years.As he brought up his century, his old friend Rizwan raised his arms aloft in delight, as if he’d been the one to just get to a milestone. In the years in between, these men have been appointed captain and then dumped at different times, somewhat unceremoniously in both cases. Bonds are never more brittle than they are with Pakistan’s cricketing stars locked in a power struggle, but Babar and Rizwan are too experienced to let those trivialities get in the way of a moment like that.Once he’d picked himself up off his knees, Babar raised his bat and gloves to the shivering huddle still within the cosy little ground as midnight approached. And then, he embraced Rizwan, the man he’d have wanted by his side for such a moment when, or in the darker moments as he might have wondered, if, it arrived. A journalist later on found himself in tears when he asked Babar about his return to form, with nearly the entire press pack – his fiercest critics among them – mobbing him for a group photograph after it was all done.No matter how hard the critics, or at times even those within the PCB, might try and move on, Pindi last night proved that there is still, in Pakistan cricket, nothing quite like Babar Azam. And when, in times when there is little uncomplicated joy to be found in Pakistan, he can deliver it like he did last night, you can begin to see why his supporters – and the man himself – refuse to move on and go away.

It’s remarkable just how quickly the pendulum can swing at Manchester United.

From the optimism of a five-game unbeaten run, including three successive wins in October, the Red Devils can now be viewed through the lens of three games without a win, following Monday’s dismal defeat to Everton.

Results like that are perhaps to be expected for a side still enduring a hangover from last season’s 15th-place Premier League finish, although with AFCON looming, Ruben Amorim and co can’t afford to keep slipping up.

Sunday’s clash with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park thus provides a perfect opportunity for the Old Trafford side to bounce back, albeit with Amorim’s options again set to be somewhat limited.

Latest Man Utd team news

To borrow the old cliché, Selhurst Park has not been a happy hunting ground for United in recent times, having last tasted victory in south London back in July 2020.

Home or way, in truth, the Eagles have provided a stern test for the Manchester side, with United failing to win any of the last four meetings between the two teams, a run that includes the infamous 4-0 thrashing in May 2024, and the subsequent criticism of Casemiro from Jamie Carragher.

Hopes of ending that recent run will have been dented by the news that Matheus Cunha will once again be absent, with the Brazilian having missed the loss to the Toffees after sustaining a head knock in training.

That is a particular blow considering that fellow summer signing Benjamin Sesko is also still set to be missing until mid-December, with the £74m Slovenian having been sidelined since hobbling off in the 2-2 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Amorim doesn’t even have his makeshift marksman, Harry Maguire, to call upon either, with the 32-year-old also not set to be involved on Sunday due to injury.

Thankfully, the sight of Lisandro Martinez back on the bench last time out will spark hope that the Argentine cult hero can be involved again sooner rather than later, although it is likely that the 27-year-old will be eased back into the action gradually.

There is an intrigue at potentially seeing the ex-Ajax man deployed at left centre-back, with Luke Shaw at left wing-back, although in the meantime, Amorim might have a wildcard solution down that left flank.

Man Utd's new Evra could start at Palace

That Shaw-Martinez combination could be the answer later down the line, with Amorim certainly in need of genuine competition or an upgrade on Patrick Dorgu at wing-back, with the Dane again struggling against the Toffees.

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The former Lecce starlet notably flashed an effort wide at the backpost, prior to being hooked on the hour mark, having failed to provide a single successful cross, while losing possession 11 times from just 40 touches, as per Sofascore.

Whether the 21-year-old has been parachuted in too soon or not, he doesn’t look like the answer right now, with Amorim himself admitting that “you can feel the anxiety every time Patrick touches the ball”.

Equally, the decision to deploy a right-footed Diogo Dalot on that flank continues to leave supporters scratching their heads.

With that in mind, Amorim could surely do worse than hand a chance to the previously exiled Tyrell Malacia, with the forgotten Dutchman having been brought in from the cold in recent months.

Previously – and perhaps unfairly – included in United’s summer ‘bomb squad’, the injury-hit full-back might be a wildcard option, representing one of few genuine options on the left wing.

Games (starts)

22 (14)

Goals

0

Assists

0

Big chances created

1

Pass accuracy

87%

Tackles

2.1

Interceptions

1.1

Dribbled past

0.5

Total duels won

50%

Part of the matchday squad in two of the last four games, including against Everton, albeit while yet to make an appearance this season, Malacia hasn’t featured for United since January, having made only eight appearances in the first half of 2024/25 following his belated return from injury.

A 17-month horror stint on the sidelines had come after an initially positive start to life at United back in his debut 2022/23 campaign, with the ex-Feyenoord man having usurped Shaw at left-back following the debacle at Brentford.

The diminutive talent was even likened to a legendary figure of United’s past in the form of Patrice Evra, with Rio Ferdinand making that comparison in August 2022:

So cruelly ravaged by injury since then, the 26-year-old – to his credit – has fought his way back into contention, even after looking off the pace following his eventual return last November, with Amorim stating that it is hard for him as he is “not so offensive”.

After six months at PSV Eindhoven, and a summer exile, Malacia is now back in favour, with Amorim seemingly offering a route back into the side late last month:

Of course, those concerns over his attacking quality might still ring true, having yet to score or assist for the club, yet at a time when Dorgu is struggling, Malacia might well be able to provide a sense of balance off the left.

It would be a bold call to thrust the nine-cap Netherlands international into the mix against Palace’s Daniel Munoz, but Amorim needs to find a solution – the diminutive full-back might just be it.

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Speculation about surprise comeback had been rife, but ultimately Australia opted for discretion

Andrew McGlashan04-Dec-2025

Pat Cummins became a genuine option for a recall in Brisbane over the past week as he surprised everyone with the speed of his recovery. However, Australia’s selectors ultimately decided there was too much risk attached in playing a bowler whose overs would still need to be managed, but are very confident in him being ready for Adelaide.Chair of selectors George Bailey said his panel had not been “playing silly buggers” in leaving Cummins out of the squad but refusing to officially rule him out of contention in the lead-up to the second Test. However, he did admit a hug between Cummins and Andrew McDonald during a pitch inspection on Wednesday had been “for laughs”.Bailey said that there had been no expectation of Cummins being available when the group was selected but it became a realistic prospect as he ramped up his training in Brisbane, which included two spells on Monday and his first bowls on back-to-back days.”We weren’t playing silly buggers with him not being in the squad and in the mix. But I think once we got up here, saw his training, got as much of the background medical information as well, it became a live possibility,” he said. “Then it was just working through the permutations of what would that look like in terms of the amount of overs, what would it look like going forward from that as well.Related

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“I don’t think we thought he was going to be as close, it really changed through the week. Then risk tolerance became the conversation around what could he take on. Yes, he could have played. There would have been some restrictions around the overs and then obviously just the permutations [around that].”There was also consideration into what bringing Cummins back for this Test could mean going forward, and the added pressure it could leave on the rest of the attack. “Being in a really controlled environment [in] the nets where you can be really structured around the breaks and how you want it, then it’s just that risk of maybe going into a game,” Bailey said. “There’s some things you can control and probably some things that do get taken out of your control.”Meanwhile, Bailey said that the selectors had not got to the stage of debating whether Usman Khawaja would retain his place for the Gabba because he had never been passed fit to play. Khawaja batted on Tuesday before being ruled out of the Test the following day, having not recovered from the back spasms he suffered in Perth. He returned to the nets on Thursday. Travis Head, who made 123 in Australia’s chase in the opening match, will continue in the opening role during the second Test.”He hadn’t got his back back to baseline,” Bailey said. “And if you’re not back to the starting point then it’s obviously a heightened risk. There’s obviously your own performance, but when you’re injured and you feel like you’ve let the team down, I think that was something he was just conscious of; if it happened again, it would be an awful feeling. So sitting this one out buys time.”For now, Head is not being locked in at the top beyond this Test, and there has even been discussion of having in-match flexibility to batting orders.”We’ve gone into this series so far very much with a Test-by-Test focus,” Bailey said. “I imagine we’ll get another look at it here and see what that looks like and see that combination. We can cross that bridge [and] make that decision as and when we need to make that decision, but it’s an interesting one. What’s the threshold now for it to be a specialist opener, what’s that look like?”

Bo Bichette may not be back for a while.

The Blue Jays' star shortstop had arguably the best season of his career in 2025, but is currently on the shelf due to a knee injury. Toronto was hoping to have him back for the American League Championship Series if it gets there, but 's Ken Rosenthal doesn't think the 27-year-old is close to returning.

During an appearance on , Rosenthal gave a pessimistic view of Bichette's status when asked if the Blue Jays were concerned.

"In my opinion, they have to be concerned," Rosenthal said. "It's not so much what I'm hearing but what I'm seeing being by their dugout. He is not walking like a guy who is fully healthy. He's got a bit of a limp. And to my knowledge, he has not begun running yet, so it doesn't seem to me that he's all that close."

Rosenthal noted that there's still time for Bichette to get healthy, but that he doesn't look like a guy who is close to returning.

Toronto left Bichette off its roster for the American League Division Series after he missed the team's final 20 games of the season. He last played on September 6.

Bichette was injured during a collision at home plate with Yankees catcher Austin Wells. He remained in the game, but hasn't entered a game since.

Despite Bichette's absence, the Blue Jays have dominated the Yankees in the ALDS, taking a 2-0 lead by outscoring New York 23-8 in the first two games. If they reach the ALCS and, potentially, the World Series, they'll need all their stars back and playing at their best.

Bo Bichette's Career Year Before Free Agency in 2025

Bichette finished the 2025 campaign with full-season career-highs in batting average (.311), on-base percentage (.357), wRC+ (134), and xwOBA (.364). Despite missing the final 20 games of the season, he finished tied for second in hits leaguewide with 181, three shy of the lead. It was an outstanding campaign.

While his future may not be at shortstop, Bichette will be one of the top hitters available in free agency this offseason. If it is his final year with the Blue Jays, the team has to be hoping he's back to help them make a serious run at a championship.

MatériaMais Notícias

Botafogo-SP e Novorizontino se enfrentam nesta segunda-feira (27), às 21h, no Santa Cruz/Arena Nicnet, em jogo válido pela sétima rodada da Série B do Campeonato Brasileiro. Para esta partida, as odds do Lance! Betting são as seguintes: a vitória do time de Ribeirão Preto tem odds a 3.07, o empate marca 2.93 e a vitória do time de Novorizonte marca 2.42.

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*As odds podem mudar

+ Confira os mercados da Lance! Betting para resenhar, se divertir e apostar!

+ Dicas de apostas em nosso canal de WhatsApp para apostar com sabedoria!

Dica de aposta recomendada

São várias as possibilidades de apostar nesta partida da Série B no Lance! Betting. Nossa sugestão aqui é que Londrina e Volta Redonda não vão marcar gols, já que ambos os times não balançaram as redes em dois de seus últimos três jogos. As odds para ambos não marcarem estão em 1.53.

+ A boa do Lance! Betting: vamos dobrar seu primeiro depósito, até R$200! Basta abrir sua conta e tá na mão!

Estatísticas de Botafogo-SP e Novorizontino

O Botafogo chega para essa partida com três derrotas e cinco empates. Do outro lado, o Novorizontino vem de uma série de duas vitórias e três derrotas.

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⚽ PROVÁVEIS ESCALAÇÕES

BOTAFOGO-SP (Técnico: Paulo Gomes)
Michael; Matheus Costa, Lucas Dias e Bernardo Schappo; Wallison, Emerson Negueba, Matheus Barbosa, Gustavo Bochecha e Patrick Brey; Alex Sandro e Toró.

NOVORIZONTINO (Técnico: Eduardo Baptista)
Jordi; Rodrigo Alves, Luisão, Danilo e Renato; Paulo Vitor, Geovane, Marlon e Patrick; Waguininho e Rodolfo

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✅FICHA TÉCNICA
Londrina x Volta Redonda
Série C – Sexta rodada

Data e horário: segunda-feira, 27 de maio de 2024, às 21h (de Brasília)
Local: Santa Cruz/Arena Nicnet, em Ribeirão Preto (SP)
Onde assistir: Canal GOAT, Premiere, TV Brasil
Árbitro: Savio Pereira Sampaio (DF)
Assistentes: Lucas Costa Modesto (DF) e Jordana Pereira Batista (GO)

Tudo sobre

Botafogo-SPNovorizontinoSérie B