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On 29th November 2018, a certain Bukayo Saka was handed his Arsenal debut. The Europa League was the competition, Aaron Ramsey was the man he replaced. The rest, as they say, is history.

In September 2019 he was scoring his first goal for the senior team – again in the Europa League. It was the first of many as he swiftly became a focal point of what was to come.

Unai Emery went, Freddie Ljungberg had a short stint at the helm and then came Mikel Arteta. Together, Arteta and Saka have revived this great football club, putting them back on the map and making them perennial challengers for the Premier League.

Arteta's astute tactical brain, Saka's wily style of play and the will of this football club had spurred the Gunners on and they now stand on the precipice of something great.

Saka's numbers at Arsenal

Saka has seemingly been through it all during his embryonic career to date. From that penalty miss at Wembley in Euro 2020, to his redemption act at Euro 2024, whether it's with his national team or in Arsenal colours, he's never been afraid to step up in big moments.

The Englishman is now his club's number one penalty taker, on regular set-piece duties and is the poster boy for the north Londoners.

Saka may not have won Arsenal's Player of the Season award for the last two campaigns but let's be honest with ourselves, he is their most important player. He is their best player.

Last season he ended the campaign as the club's top goalscorer. The 23-year-old registered career-best figures, scoring on 20 occasions for the first time and supplying 14 assists in all competitions.

Only Belgian sensation Leandro Trossard came close to matching him in the goals department, finding the net 17 times.

The year before, Saka wasn't quite as prolific but his importance was equal. He scored 15 times and registered 11 assists in all competitions. This was a young man beginning to put himself in the wider consciousness as one of the best wingers around.

Arsenal journalist Charles Watts certainly shared that viewpoint, handing him the crown as 'the best right winger in the world.'

Saka's record @ Arsenal

Season

Games

Goals

Assists

2018/19

3

0

0

2019/20

38

4

12

2020/21

46

7

9

2021/22

43

12

7

2022/23

48

15

11

2023/24

47

20

14

Stats via Transfermarkt.

He might not hit the devastating heights of a Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland but very few full-backs know what to do with him when in a one-on-one situation on the right.

The club's spritely number 7 has even started the new term on fire. Saka scored against Wolves on the opening weekend and has an assist in all three league matches to date.

So, usurping him from a numbers point of view takes some doing if you're in the Arsenal team. It might well interest supporters to hear that a player who departed a couple of years ago is actually outscoring him since leaving. That man is Alexandre Lacazette.

Alexandre Lacazette's numbers since leaving Arsenal

Lacazette had a topsy-turvy time at the Emirates Stadium. Signed by Arsene Wenger in a £46.5m move, a club-record deal at the time, he was seen by many as the club's new saviour in front of goal.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

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The Frenchman started pretty well, scoring on debut against Leicester in 2017/18 but a mix of injuries, poor form and the challenge of best mate Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang proved challenging.

Lacazette's best season came in 2018/19, finding the net on 19 occasions in 49 matches. It's a similar record to Saka last term. Yet, the Lyon-born forward was a striker by trade. That sort of number at a club like Arsenal should have been the norm.

Well, he never hit the 20-goal-a-season haul the Gunners were hoping for and he left in 2022 on a free transfer after an admirable service to the football club.

Where did the 33-year-old head next? Back to Lyon, of course, the club he initially signed for Arsenal from.

His record since moving back to France has been rather remarkable. Part of Thierry Henry's Olympic squad in Paris over the summer, a team he captained to a silver medal, it was a fine reward for his impeccable form back in his homeland.

In 2022/23, Lacazette scored 31 goals in 39 matches while also setting up six goals for his teammates. Last term wasn't quite on the same level but it was still a seriously impressive run, beating the goalkeeper on 22 occasions in 35 outings with five assists.

In that time, he has outperformed every Arsenal player, including Saka for goals. Arteta and Co will not rue the day they let him walk away from London on a free transfer, but they may well be wondering why it never quite worked out in England. What might have been, eh?

Related Arteta must regret selling £37m Arsenal man who's now a Ballon d'Or nominee

The brilliant international has thrived away from North London.

Posts 3 ByJack Salveson Holmes Sep 6, 2024

The Friedkin Group have reportedly held internal talks over the appointment of an “unbelievable” manager to replace Sean Dyche at Everton if they complete their takeover in the coming days and weeks.

Everton manager latest

Last Saturday’s 1-1 draw away to Leicester City has done little to quieten the rumours surrounding Dyche’s future, following such a poor start to the season in the Premier League. The Blues have accumulated just one point from five matches, with a fourth relegation battle in a row increasingly looking on the cards.

Unsurprisingly, some names have been thrown into the hat when it comes to possible replacements for the Englishman, with a David Moyes reunion mooted in one report. The Scot spent 11 years at Goodison Park between 2002 and 2013 and could be a popular appointment among a chunk of the fanbase, given his history.

He was most recently in charge of West Ham, departing at the end of last season, and his knowledge of the Blues could make him a strong choice to come in and stave off the threat of relegation, taking the club into a new era at their Bramley Moore Dock stadium.

Moyes isn’t the only figure being linked with the potentially soon-to-be-vacant manager’s role at Everton, however, with ex-Borussia Dortmund boss also Edin Terzic backed to come in. He guided the Bundesliga giants into last season’s Champions League final against Real Madrid, losing 2-0 at Wembley.

Friedkin Group keen on "unbelievable" manager

Now, Give Me Sport report that Everton are interested in making Gareth Southgate their next manager, should they become the club’s new owners and decide to sack Dyche. On X, the reliable Paul Joyce has claimed that an agreement is in place to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in the Blues, and the update on Southgate says Dan Friedkin has spoken internally about hiring Southgate once a deal goes through.

Southgate left his role in charge of the England after Euro 2024, feeling he had taken the team as far as he could, following their 2-1 defeat to Spain in the final. He could be a divisive appointment at Everton, with the 54-year-old gaining plenty of admirers with England but also having a lot of detractors at the same time.

To some, he did a fantastic job in charge of the national team, guiding them to two major finals, but to others, he was a defence-minded manager who didn’t get the best out of the most talented group of English players in years. For that reason, Southgate would be a risk, especially as his only managerial experience at club level came at Middlesbrough between 2006 and 2009, during which time he suffered relegation from the Premier League to the Championship.

That being said, his record for England does speak for itself – only Sir Alf Ramsey had got them into a major final in the country’s history before him, but he did it twice – while Jude Bellingham has said of him: “It was a privilege being lead by someone who is so dedicated and passionate, not only is Gareth easily one of the best coaches in the history of the national team but also an unbelievable human being.”

Related Everton takeover "very close" and they're eyeing a "fantastic" new manager

He won at Goodison Park last season.

Posts ByHenry Jackson Sep 23, 2024

Southgate has arguably done enough at international level to show that he deserves another crack at the Premier League, so despite the risk element, Friedkin should be trusted to go with his gut if his takeover goes through.

MatériaMais Notícias

Além de buscar uma vaga na primeira fase da Libertadores, o São Paulo quer vencer o América-MG para conseguir uma premiação melhor no Campeonato Brasileiro, que pode fazer a diferença para o começo da próxima temporada.

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Atualmente na 13ª posição, o Tricolor arrecadariaR$ 13,7 milhões caso o torneio acabasse hoje. No entanto, caso derrote o Coelho e conte com uma combinação de resultados, o São Paulo pode terminar o Brasileirão na 8ª colocação, arrecadandoR$ 21,4 milhões.

Seria uma diferença de R$ 7,7 milhões que pode ajudar o caixa da equipe em um planejamento de contratações e pagamento de dívidas em 2022. No entanto para chegar ao 8º lugar, o São Paulo terá que torcer por uma combinação de resultados

> Veja e simule a tabela do Brasileirão

O Tricolor terá que vencer o América-MG, no Independência, além de torcer para o Santos não derrotar o Cuiabá na Vila Belmiro, o Ceará não vencer o Palmeiras no Allianz Parque e o Inter não vencer o Red Bull Bragantino, em Bragança Paulista.

يستعد فريق مانشستر سيتي، بقيادة المدرب بيب جوارديولا، لخوض مباراة مصيرية ضد نظيره فريق ريال مدريد مساء يوم الأربعاء، في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويستضيف ملعب “سانتياجو برنابيو” مباراة الفريقين في إياب ملحق دور الـ16 من دوري أبطال أوروبا، موسم 2024/25.

وخسر مانشستر سيتي بنتيجة 3/2 أمام ريال مدريد في ذهاب الملحق، على ملعب “الاتحاد” في الوقت القاتل، يوم الثلاثاء الماضي.

اقرأ أيضًا | فأل حسن ونذير شؤم.. حكم مباراة مانشستر سيتي وليفربول في الدوري الإنجليزي

ويدخل مانشستر سيتي تلك المباراة بعد فوزه الكبير على نيوكاسل يونايتد، يوم السبت الماضي، في الجولة الخامسة والعشرين من الدوري الإنجليزي بأربعة أهداف دون رد.

ويعود الفضل في ذلك الفوز إلى النجم المصري عمر مرموش، الذي سجل هاتريك في تلك المباراة.

ولم يشارك مرموش إلا بضع دقائق في مباراة ذهاب الملحق أمام ريال مدريد، ولكن جماهير مانشستر سيتي طالبت جوارديولا بالدفع به في التشكيل الأساسي غدًا.

وكتب أحد مشجعي مانشستر سيتي عبر موقع إكس: “لا ينبغي لـ بيب أن يبقي مرموش على مقاعد البدلاء ليلعب بـ برناردو سيلفا، نتوسل إليك”.

Pep shouldn’t bench him to play Bernardo.. we beg — Stephen Walker (@realzehor) February 18, 2025

وأضاف ثانِ: “جيد، عليه أن يبدأ بدلًا من برناردو سيلفا”.

Good start him over benardo silva — CITY The CHAMPIONS! (@KunAme10) February 18, 2025

وواصل ثالث: “هناك حاجة إلى أن يكون في التشكيل الأساسي”.

Needs to start — . (@D1Br7ne) February 18, 2025

وتابع رابع: “نأمل أن يبدأ مرموش أساسيًا غدًا أمام ريال مدريد”.

Hope he should start aginst real madrid… — ItsAsh (@AshleyFinney9) February 18, 2025

وطالب خامس: “من فضلكم لا تغيروا التشكيلة التي لعبنا بها ضد نيوكاسل، كانت مباراة مثالية، فقط ادفع بـ دي بروين بدلًا من جوندوجان، لا جريليش، نحن بحاجة إلى مرموش”.

Please don’t alter the line-up we played against Newcastle. It was perfect. Just KDB ahead of Gundogan. No Grealish, we need Marmoush. — sanesou (@sanesou) February 18, 2025

في حين قال مشجع لـ جوارديولا: “من فضلك، ابدء بـ مرموش غدًا”.

Marmoush 💀🇪🇬 to start tomorrow please — Fàctos👍👀 (@Boranaseed) February 18, 2025

وآكد آخر: “لا يهمني ما سيفعله بيب غدًا، يجب على نيكو جونزاليس ومرموش وسافيو البدء”.

I don’t care what permutations Pep does tomorrow, Nico Gonzalez, Marmoush and Savinho have to start. — Radu Cristian (@radhoo12) February 18, 2025

Captain makes 30 from 14 balls after taking four wickets to seal six-wicket victory

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2021

Bryony Smith made 30 from 14 balls after taking four wickets•Getty Images

South East Stars 108 for 4 (Smith 30) beat Lightning 107 (Smith 4-15) by six wicketsCaptain Bryony Smith shone with bat and ball as South East Stars began their Charlotte Edwards Cup season with a comfortable six-wicket win over Lightning at Trent Bridge.The 23-year-old, eager to add to her four England caps, took four for 15 with her off-breaks as Lightning were bowled out for 107 in 19.1 overs before launching the run chase with 30 off 14 balls as the Stars cruised home with 41 balls to spareLightning struggled against the Stars’ spinners, who claimed seven wickets between them, Smith’s fellow off-spinner Kalea Moore taking 2 for 20 and leg spinner Dani Gregory 1 for 22, with only Beth Harmer (34) and Abbey Freeborn (30) making any impression with the bat.Opting to bat first, Lightning lost Sarah Bryce second ball when she hit Alexa Stonehouse straight to backward point but Beth Harmer, fortunate to survive a fumbled run-out chance on three, gave the Powerplay momentum with back-to-back boundaries off Stonehouse’s left-arm medium pace before pulling right-armer Grace Gibbs for six and four, but Sonia Odedra chopped on to Emma Jones, leaving Lightning 34 for two after six.But Moore and Gregory reduced them from 43 for 2 to 54 for 5 with three wickets in as many overs, Harmer, Kathryn Bryce and Michaela Kirk all beaten by flight and turn.Freeborn injected some pace with successive fours off Moore and another off Smith but the Stars skipper had her revenge, switching to round the wicket to bowl the Lightning batter.Smith then held a return catch to remove Kirstie Gordon and had Teresa Graves caught at wide mid-on in the 18th over, Sophie Munro was run out by Aylish Cranstone’s throw from point in the next before Nancy Harman also hit Smith to wide mid-on as Lightning’s last four wickets fell for 11 in 12 balls.Smith raced to 30 off 13 balls to give the Stars’ chase a flying start, hitting four fours and two big leg-side sixes but was out attempting a third as Kirk leapt to hold a superb catch on the boundary at wide long-on. But the Stars had 64 of the 108 needed by the end of the Powerplay.Alice Capsey picked up three nice-looking boundaries but mistimed one from Sophie Munro (1-25) to be caught at mid-off, Cranstone skied one to mid-on and Gibbs miscued to point to give Kathryn Bryce a second wicket but Phoebe Franklin’s 24 off 29 balls finished the job.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Flamengo enfrentou o Santos, nesta segunda-feira, em partida que marcou a despedida da Nação do Maracanã em 2021. O Rubro-Negro ainda disputará uma rodada do Brasileirão, mas fora do Rio de Janeiro, contra o Atlético-GO. Assim, o time da Gávea encerra o campeonato com uma média de público de 23.865presentes (23.010 pagantes).. Foram nove jogos com público no Maraca.

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A liberação do público nos estádios do Rio de Janeiro, ainda de forma gradual, começou em setembro. Inicialmente, 50% da capacidade do Maracanã esteve autorizada, com a Prefeitura autorizando 100% do público em 27 de outubro.

Desses nove jogos, o público presente no Maracanã ficou abaixo dos 10 mil torcedores quatro vezes. Nos últimos três compromissos, contudo, a Nação “chegou junto” da equipe e praticamente lotou a arquibancada. Foram mais de 40 mil rubro-negros nas arquibancadas contra Corinthians, Ceará e Santos.

Confira a lista de jogos do Flamengo, no Brasileirão, no Maracanã:

6/12, pela 37ª rodada – Flamengo 0x1 Santos:
40.542 pagantes / 41.930 presentes / R$ 1.302.015,00

30/11, pela 35ª rodada – Flamengo 2×1 Ceará:
46.481 pagantes / 47.862 presentes / R$ 1.488.265,00

17/11, pela 33ª rodada – Flamengo 1×0 Corinthians:
47.032 pagantes / 48.981 presentes / R$ 2.033.427,50

11/11, pela 31ª rodada – Flamengo 3×0 Bahia:
8.793 pagantes / 9.488 presentes / R$ 376.517,50

5/11, pela 19ª rodada – Flamengo 2×0 Atlético-GO:
17.717 pagantes / 18.527 presentes / R$ 730.540,00

30/10, pela 29ª rodada – Flamengo 1×0 Atlético-MG:
23.594 pagantes / 24.696 presentes / R$ 1.323.560,00

17/10, pela 27ª rodada – Flamengo 0x0 Cuiabá:
7.711 pagantes / 8.299 presentes / R$ 439.607,50

17/10, pela 26ª rodada: Flamengo 3×1 Juventude:
6.812 pagantes / 7.282 presentes / R$ 366.177,50

3/10, pela 23ª rodada – Flamengo 3×0 Athletico:
8.408 pagantes / 7.715 presentes / R$ 450.620,00

Glasgow Rangers hit the jackpot when they brought Alfredo Morelos to Ibrox in the summer of 2017.

The Rangers striker went on to rack up an impressive 124 goals and 57 assists in 269 appearances in all competitions for the Gers before his exit in 2023.

They signed a host of other number nines over the years in an attempt to replace the Colombia international, who now plays for Nacional in his home country of Colombia, and they may have thought that they struck gold with the signing of Antonio Colak.

The Croatian marksman enjoyed a terrific start to life at Ibrox and was even described as a better centre-forward than Morelos, who was still at the club at the time.

Colak hailed as better than Morelos

In January 2023, Aberdeen captain Anthony Stewart claimed that Colak is a “better striker” than Morelos, based on his all-round game, having played against both of them in the Scottish Premiership.

The Light Blues had signed the Croatia international from PAOK for a reported fee of £1.8m the previous summer and he enjoyed a fantastic start to his career in Scotland.

By the time of Stewart’s comment, Colak had racked up 11 goals and three assists in 15 appearances in the Premiership and three goals in four Champions League qualifiers.

Whereas, Morelos did not score more than 12 goals in an entire Premiership campaign in any of his last four seasons with the club, which illustrates how impressive that first half of the season from the Croatian ace was.

Colak's decline at Rangers

Unfortunately, that early-season form did not continue and the former PAOK man endured a frustrating second half of the campaign under Michael Beale.

After Stewart’s comments, Colak only made ten more appearances in the Premiership for the Hoops and scored three goals, two of which came in the same game against Hibernian, whilst failing to provide an assist.

Beale then decided to cash in on the 31-year-old centre-forward ahead of the 2023/24 campaign and Parma swooped in to agree a £2.5m fee with the club.

23/24 Serie B

Antonio Colak

Appearances

22

Goals

3

Assists

0

Big chances created

0

Duel success rate

26%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Colak’s struggles in front of goal continued last season as he only managed three goals in 22 Serie B matches for Parma.

The Italian side then opted to cash in on him after one year, selling him to Spezia in the same league, and he has only played eight minutes so far this term.

These statistics suggest that Rangers were right to sell Colak after his second-half-of-the-season woes at Ibrox, as he is yet to recapture his goalscoring form over 12 months on from his departure.

Related The £300k Rangers signing who was sold for more than Bajrami is worth

The Light Blues played a blinder by developing and selling this midfield wizard.

Posts 1 ByDan Emery Sep 11, 2024

It is a shame, however, that a player the club may have thought was going to be better than Morelos, after his sensational start to life with the Gers, ended up being sold six months after Stewart’s comments about his quality.

تعاقد مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك برئاسة حسين لبيب، مع الإسباني كورو سيجورا، لتدريب الفريق الأول لكرة السلة بالقلعة البيضاء.

وكان بطولات قد كشف عن اقتراب الزمالك من التعاقد مع كورو سيجورا لتدريب فريق السلة.

طالع.. خاص | الزمالك يتفق مع مدرب إسباني لتدريب فريق السلة

ووقع المدرب الإسباني على عقود تدريب “سلة الزمالك”، في حضور هشام نصر نائب رئيس مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك، ورامي نصوحي عضو المجلس.

وسيقود الإسباني كورو سيجورا تدريب “سلة الزمالك” وسيتواجد في الجهاز المعاون مواطنه جونزالو هيرموسو في منصب المدرب.

ويمتلك كورو سيجورا سيرة ذاتية مميزة، حيث بدأ مسيرته عام 1994 وتولى تدريب العديد من الأندية في إسبانيا وخارجها.

وقاد فريق “Menorca Bàsquet” للصعود للدوري الإسباني الممتاز في 2005، كما حقق بطولة “LEB Oro” مع فريق ريال بيتيس موسم 2018-2019.

وخاض المدرب الإسباني عدة تجارب تدريبية دولية مع منتخبات وأندية في الكويت، والصين، وأوروجواي، وفنزويلا، واليونان.

Sussex seamer played more than 350 games in 17-year professional career

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2021

Mitch Claydon played for four different counties during his time in England•Getty Images

Mitchell Claydon, Sussex’s Australia-born seamer, has announced his retirement from professional cricket at the end of this season.Claydon, 38, was born in New South Wales but used his British passport to play county cricket, with spells at Yorkshire, Durham, Kent and Sussex, and also played domestic cricket in New Zealand. He was part of the Durham squad that won three County Championships and a Friends Provident Trophy, and won promotion with Kent in 2018.Claydon was an excellent death bowler with a good yorker in one-day and T20 cricket, and has taken 310 first-class wickets at 31.90 with the red ball. He is expected to stay in the game as a coach, and already has experience working with Sydney Sixers as an assistant coach.”After 17 years as a professional cricketer, I have decided that 2021 will be my last,” Claydon said in a statement. “I’m so proud that my shocking rig has got me through 371 games – over a hundred in each format – but all the overs are taking their toll, and everything is starting to hurt. I’m committed to finishing the 2021 season and ending on a high.”Big thanks to Canterbury, Central Districts, Durham, Yorkshire, Kent and Sussex for giving me the opportunity to play the game for a living all these years and all the coaches and support staff at those clubs for their help.”I’d like to give a special thanks to my family both in the UK and back home in Australia. I’ll miss life in the changing rooms more than anything. The fun I’ve had with so many people over the years will provide me with fantastic memories for the rest of my life.”Claydon has only played sporadically for Sussex since signing for them in 2019, appearing in four first-class matches and two T20s. He is yet to make a first-team appearance in 2021. He was banned for nine games following a ball-tampering controversy last year in which he applied hand sanitiser to the ball, which also saw the club docked points.

Both sides are dealing with off-field drama but it is now crunch time as far as their qualification prospects are concerned

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Sep-2021

Dhananjaya de Silva and Wanindu Hasaranga run between the wickets•Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

Big pictureOn the surface, these are two teams short of ODI Super League points. Sri Lanka are down at 11th on the table, with only two wins from 11 completed matches. South Africa are better placed, at 10th, with two wins from five completed games. More importantly, though, both are teams who have experienced substantial upheaval over the last year, and are desperately searching for a fresh identity.Related

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For South Africa, the fallout from the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings has been profound. Some of the most damning revelations have involved coach Mark Boucher – who is with the team in Colombo. He has said that he “deeply regrets” his actions during those years, but as he is now in charge of a side that is led by a black African – Temba Bavuma – it is likely that serious soul-searching and discussions will have had to have happened within the team, ahead of this series. How all this will affect South Africa’s on-field performances, we will have to wait to find out. They are, however, coming from a drawn series, in which they lost a match to Ireland.Sri Lanka’s dysfunction is more straightforward in a way. They’re playing under their third limited-overs captain this year, in Dasun Shanaka. They are at serious risk of having to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, given their woeful ODI performances in the first seven months of 2021. And although their bowling is in decent shape, with Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera having been excellent during India’s tour, their top order remains brittle.Shanaka, who himself comes into the series with excellent limited-overs form following his exploits in a domestic T20 competition, is yet to put his stamp on this team. Given the shelf-life of Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captains recently, a series win here will go some distance to shoring up his leadership.On the strategy front, it seems as if Sri Lanka will use their traditional weapon against South Africa: spin. There are no fewer than five frontline spinners in the squad, as well as two offspin-bowling allrounders.Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka WLLLLSouth Africa WLLWLIn the spotlightWhatever else you may feel about Akila Dananjaya, the man is tenacious. He’s had repeated suspensions over his action – including a year out of the game when he was found to be chucking a second time. But on each occasion, he has worked on his action and returned. There have also been bad games and dips in form. But he never seems to stay down for long. From the sounds of Shanaka’s pre-match press conference, Sri Lanka are banking on spin for this match, which means Dananjaya will have a significant role to play. Having leapfrogged Lakshan Sandakan in the previous series, against India, Dananjaya will be keen to impose himself as Sri Lanka’s second spinner (alongside Hasaranga), and make his place in the XI more secure.With David Miller nursing a hamstring injury for this series, Heinrich Klaasen has a golden opportunity to make a case for a permanent middle-order role. Klaasen played in only one of South Africa’s three ODIs in Ireland, after a poor home series against Pakistan in April, where he scored 16 runs in three innings after recovering from Covid-19. But, he has the tools to offer much more. Last year, Klaasen enjoyed a magnificent run against Australia, scoring his first ODI century and two fifties, and he also seems to be the preferred choice as the reserve wicket-keeper. If he wants to be involved in the building process for 2023, this is chance to make sure he will be.Pitch and conditionsExpect the Khettarama surface to take plenty of turn, as it often does when South Africa are in town. There is also the possibility of bad weather interrupting play – afternoon thunderstorms have not been uncommon over the past few weeks.Team newsAlthough Kusal Perera is in the squad, team doctors have suggested he will likely need to build up his fitness for a few days yet, which means Minod Bhanuka is likely to keep wicket and open the batting again (though Dinesh Chandimal is another keeping option). Sri Lanka seem likely to play three frontline spinners – left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama being the third.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Praveen JayawickramaSouth Africa are without the likes of Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Lungi Ngidi for this series.South Africa (possible): 1 Janneman Malan, 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Kyle Verreynne, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 George Linde, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiStats and triviaSince 2010, Sri Lanka have won seven home ODIs against South Africa and lost six. But South Africa have won the last two series there, securing a 3-2 result in 2018, and 2-1 in 2014.In Klaasen’s three ODI innings last year, he hit 242 runs at a strike rate of 106 (all against Australia), and was out only once. This year, he has made only 19 in four innings.With Kusal likely to be unavailable, Sri Lanka’s most-experienced player remains Dhananjaya de Silva, with 53 ODI appearances.Quotes”I don’t believe we are compromising ourselves in the fact that we are missing some guys. It’s a massive opportunity for those that are coming into the team. Ideally if we have a pool of 15 players that we can pick to go and compete at the World Cup, that’s what we want.”South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on the prospect of playing without key players