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It's going to be an interesting week!

Now that Jurgen Klopp has stated that Liverpool need a midfielder before the transfer window closes, his scouting department will have provided a list of targets who fit the profile of age, suitability to the playing style, and potential availability.

GOAL have cast our eye across some midfielders, and their numbers, who Liverpool could sign before next Thursday.

Getty ImagesFrenkie de Jong – Barcelona

Now that Manchester United have bought Casemiro and continue to pursue Antony, and Chelsea seem set to go deep for Anthony Gordon, a move for de Jong suddenly doesn't as far fetched as it did last week. An expert passer, who is brilliant at driving the ball forward and excellent at winning it back – Xavi has even deployed him as a centre-back in recent weeks because of this ability.

It is believed a fee of around £72 million could secure a player Barcelona are happy to let go to find their curious rebuild. Liverpool have a good relationship with the club and can offer the Champions League football he craves.

League appearances 2021/22: 32

Pass accuracy: 91%

Dribble success rate: 85%

Total duels won: 63%

Goals: 3

Assists: 3

AdvertisementGetty ImagesJude Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund

Now this is probably a transfer saga for next summer, but there is always a chance that Liverpool could pull the trigger this season. He was recently named in 10-man shortlist for the 2022 Kopa Trophy, the best player under the age of 21 and in March was named NXGN's player of the year.

Bellingham has regularly performed in the big games. When Manchester City visited the Signal Indua Park in 2021, he showed what he was made of with a wonderfully taken goal to put Dortmund in the lead, and he showed his ability to be a leader during his post-match interview after Dortmund lost 4-2 to Rangers. He spoke like a player far beyond his years, and showed he is not scared of letting people know how he feels.

League appearances 2021/22: 32

Pass accuracy: 84%

Dribble success rate: 57%

Total duels won: 51%

Goals: 3

Assists: 8

Getty ImagesMarcelo Brozovic – Inter Milan

The Croatian international is the type of midfielder that would fit the profile on Merseyside, known for his passing, tackling, intelligent running and stamina. He can play at the base of midfield as well as box-to-box and his versatility could be key.

Last term he was named as Serie A midfielder of the season. Brozovic was close to leaving Inter in 2018 before manager at the time Luciano Spalletti chose to play him deeper in a match vs Napoli, a role in which he excelled. Since then he has been a mainstay in the Inter squad, and has performed consistently at an extremely high level.

League appearances 2021/22: 35

Pass accuracy: 93%

Dribble success rate: 76%

Total duels won: 54%

Goals: 2

Assists: 1

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GettyLuka Sucic – Red Bull Salzburg

A relative unknown in terms of name in world football, but a player who no doubt fits the mould of a Liverpool signing. The Croatian international likes to play further forward in the midfield, scoring eight goals in the Austrian Bundesliga last season.

He also impressed in a pre-season friendly between the two sides, testing Adrian with a strike from 20-yards out and showcasing his attacking threat.

League appearances 2021/22: 28

Pass accuracy: 79%

Dribble success rate: 61%

Total duels won: 47%

Goals: 8

Assists: 3

Qatari Sports Investment have solid a minority stake of Paris Saint-Germain to a US ownership group, who will help with "operations and real estate."

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Have sold 12.5 per cent to US group ArctosPrivate investment fund also own parts of Aston Martin, LA DodgersDeal values PSG at €4.25billion (£3.64bn/ $4.58bn)Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

QSI have sold a 12.5 percent share in PSG to an American investment firm, dubbing the deal a "landmark strategic partnership" in a club statement. Arctos Partners, the investor group, have agreed to grow club operations, and will play a part in stadium and training ground renovations.

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Their deal, the exact of the price yet to be announced, values the club at over €4bn, according to . QSI bought the club for €70m (£60m/$75m) in 2011. That same report notes that the investment group will not have any influence on any on-field matters, and are not planning on buying a majority stake.

GettyWHAT NASSER AL-KHELAIFI SAID

QSI chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi lauded the deal in an official release: "Arctos is a fantastic partner to help us achieve our goals, bringing strategic expertise, ideas and innovation to our business, while providing investment and new relationships to support our footballing and sporting goals. From day one, they have passionately believed in our project, our plan and vision for the Club – and we are proud to have them as part of our family. Today is an important milestone in Paris Saint Germain’s history, which will contribute greatly to the continued success and growth of our great Club."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Arctos have invested extensively in sporting brands in recent years. They own parts of over 30 organisations, including a stake in Liverpool ownership Fenway Sports Group, and MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers. They also hold a minority stake in luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin.

Manchester United youngster Kobbie Mainoo scored his first goal for the club in a 4-2 win over Newport County.

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Mainoo scores first goal for Man UtdRed Devils win 4-2 over Newport CountyTeammates congratulate youngsterWHAT HAPPENED?

Mainoo has been one of the key revelations for Erik Ten Hag this season, and the 18-year-old has gotten his goal-scoring account for the club opened. The goal was an important one for the Red Devils as they struggled against the third-tier side despite a 4-2 win. Mainoo received messages from his teammates post-match as they congratulated him for his goal on Instagram.

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Despite the rather underwhelming performance on the night, second-half goals from Antony and Rasmus Hojlund helped the Red Devils break pull away after Newport made it 2-2 early in the second half. They will play either Bristol City or Nottingham Forest after the sides drew 0-0 and will play in the fourth-round replay on Wednesday, January 31.

Getty ImagesDID YOU KNOW?

Mainoo's goal in the 13th minute of the game was the second goal of the game and as per OptaJoe, it was the first time Manchester United went two up in an FA Cup match since their 6-0 win over Tranmere Rovers in 2020.

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WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?

Mainoo is unlikely to start in Ten Hag's side's next match which will be on February 1 against Wolves at Molineaux Stadium. The youngster could, however, feature for the side at some point in the game.

Adil Rashid produced the best figures of his career in limited overs matches as Yorkshire made sure of a home tie in the quarter finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup with a six-wicket win over Hampshire

Press Association21-Aug-2014
ScorecardAdil Rashid ensured Yorkshire were at home in the quarter-finals•Getty ImagesAdil Rashid produced the best figures of his career in limited overs matches as Yorkshire made sure of a home tie in the quarter finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup with a six-wicket win over an under-strength Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.Legspinner Rashid finished with 5 for 33, the last four coming in 15 balls, as Hampshire were bowled out for 172 in 39 overs.Yorkshire made no mistake in their run-chase, reaching their target in the 29th over and with a mammoth 127 balls to spare to finish top of Group A and set up a quarter-final clash with Durham at Headingley.Yorkshire were fortunate that Hampshire rested James Vince, Chris Wood, Adam Wheater and Sean Ervine with the NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday clearly a priority. Michael Carberry was made captain for the first time but after losing the toss, the left-hander edged Tim Bresnan’s second ball of the match to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.Carberry’s opening partner Sean Terry went in the same manner in the next over from Jack Brooks and from that moment, Yorkshire never relaxed their grip. Only Jimmy Adams, coming in at the fall of Carberry’s wicket, offered any prolonged resistance, batting through the innings for his 91 not out, the one knock of substance and one of just four batsmen to reach double figures.Adams shared in stands of 45 for the fourth with Joe Gatting and 46 for the fifth with Matt Coles, but Hampshire never looked like posting a total to test their opponents.Rashid first intervened to send back Gatting leg before but with Michael Bates offering some support, Hampshire reached 161 for 5 until Rashid returned to the attack and, making use of a little turn, ran through the Hampshire tail. He had Danny Briggs, Tom Barber and James Tomlinson all leg before and bowled Basil Akram.Brooks took 3 for 30 only to be upstaged by Rashid, who never before in 178 limited overs appearances had been able to claim five wickets in an innings.Yorkshire needed a bright start to their innings and got it as Adam Lyth and Alex Lees put on 31 inside six overs for the first wicket, Lyth the first to go when he lofted Tomlinson to Carberry, but it was only a temporary setback.At tea, Yorkshire were 79 for 1, requiring only another 94 only for them to suffer an unexpected double setback in the first over after the resumption.Barber, making his first Hampshire senior appearance, marked his first over at this level by having Kane Williamson caught behind for 33 and then Andrew Gale went the same way next ball. At 81 for 3 there might have been a glimmer of hope for the home side but this was soon extinguished by a stand of 78 for the fourth wicket between the patient Lees and Bairstow, taking the score to within 14 of victory before being parted. Lees hit six fours in his 76-ball innings of 61 but provided Tomlinson with his second wicket of the innings before Bairstow and Jack Leaning knocked off the runs to complete the formality.Bairstow, unbeaten with 45 at the close, said: “To win six out of eight group matches is a great achievement and it will be a huge game against Durham in the quarter-final. We want to keep the momentum going in the Championship as well.”Throughout the group stages we played good, consistent cricket and we lost only once. We feel we can beat anyone now that we have reached the sudden death part of the competition.”Adil bowled a terrific spell when it mattered and left us with the sort of target where we just needed to pace ourselves.”Adams said: “We left out one or two for the Twenty20 finals day. Having won only one match in this competition, we knew where our priorities lay. We got off to a bad start and we were always struggling after both openers fell in the first two overs, so we cannot complain about the outcome.”We were able to give some of more inexperienced players a chance so this would have been part of their learning process.”

Punjab’s bowlers executed their plans to perfection, as they snatched the advantage from hosts Maharashtra on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B game

The Report by Amol Karhadkar21-Dec-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Siddarth Kaul claimed 3 for 46 to wreck Maharashtra’s top order•ESPNcricinfo LtdDisappointed not to get a hundred – Tripathi

When Yuvraj Singh fooled Rahul Tripathi with an armer to end an innings that had started appearing dominant, the Maharashtra youngster stood his ground for a long time. Not in protest of the decision but due to sheer disappointment of having failed to convert his maiden fifty in first-class cricket into a big hundred.
“The first four balls of the over were slow and Yuvraj bowled an armer, which I was late on. It was disappointing. I wish I could have continued and helped team put on a big total. But I am glad that I could avoid a collapse in the company of Ankit,” Tripathi said.
Tripathi may have been playing only his fourth first-class match but he has a reputation of scoring big hundreds in junior cricket. He was adjudged the Best Under-25 Cricketer of the Year at the BCCI Awards for his four centuries, including a 282 in the final against a Gujarat attack which included Akshar Patel.
Though he was in Maharashtra’s squad for five games last season and featured twice in the 2012-13 season, Tripathi couldn’t get a look-in since the batting line-up was settled. He was, however, included in the eleven in place of the injured Vijay Zol on a seamer-friendly Lahli track in Haryana last week and his impressive 39 in the second innings meant the team management gave him another opportunity against Punjab.

Punjab’s bowlers executed their plans to perfection, as they snatched the advantage from hosts Maharashtra on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B game. The visitors would have had a perfect day at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune had they not lost opener Uday Kaul towards the end of the day.With the wicket wearing a tinge of grass, Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh had no hesitation to put Maharashtra in to bat once the coin landed in his favour. And the in-form duo of Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul bowled in the right areas to justify their captain’s decision. While Sandeep consistently pitched the ball up, Kaul was the cleverer of the two, mixing his lengths.The ploy worked as Chirag Khurana, having hit Sharma for a couple of sweetly timed fours, was found in no man’s land off a ball that was pitched just short of good length by Kaul, and wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera collected a regulation catch. For the next four overs, Kaul troubled the other opener Harshad Khadiwale by bowling full and eventually forced the batsman to play one on to the stumps.At 26 for 2, Maharashtra desperately needed Vijay Zol and Kedar Jadhav to repeat their heroics against Mumbai in last year’s quarter-final and bail the team out, and the pair began well enough, as Jadhav got after debutant Maninder Singh, driving him for two boundaries in the medium pacer’s first over. Maninder, though, had the last laugh as Jadhav went for another drive in his next over to only nick it to Khera.Zol, by then, was solid at the other end. He had missed the last match due to a shoulder injury but had proven his fitness with a century in Maharashtra Under-23’s game against Baroda. However, his shoulder seemed to be bothering him, which resulted in a lapse of concentration. Sandeep, who bowled a long 11-over spell up front, was rewarded in his 10th over when he induced an edge off Zol’s willow.Soon after, Maharashtra’s captain Rohit Motwani flicked Maninder straight to Mandeep Singh at short midwicket to leave the team reeling at 75 for five and the hosts were in danger of being bowled out for a paltry total. However, Ankit Bawne found an ally in rookie Rahul Tripathi, as the pair aided a mini-recovery. While Tripathi played freely, Bawne preferred to be patient. When Harbhajan introduced himself into the attack in the 30th over, Tripathi danced down the wicket and lofted him over mid-on for a boundary just before lunch.The wicket eased considerably in the second session, which helped Bawne and Tripathi. The right-handed duo ensured that no loose ball was spared. Tripathi was the more agressive of the two as he drove the ball with panache. Four of his nine fours were scored off Harbhajan. But the shot of the day was a perfect cover drive off Kaul in the 46th over.When Tripathi flicked Maninder to deep square-leg in the 52nd over and ran a brace, his maiden fifty in first-class cricket was applauded by a sizeable Sunday crowd and Sandeep Patil, the chief national selector, who watching the proceedings.With the seamers starting to tire and the Maharashtra duo scoring freely, Harbhajan threw the ball to Yuvraj Singh, who immediately struck by trapping Tripathi lbw with an arm ball off his fifth delivery, just minutes before tea.The tide then turned in favour of Punjab again. Once Bawne played his first false stroke and offered Khera his fourth catch of the day, allrounder Shrikant Mundhe was in danger of running out of partners. Soon after Maharashtra crossed the 200-mark, Harbhajan wrapped the tail,dismissing the last two men off successive balls and leaving Punjab in a promising position heading into day two.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said the major gain from the 2016 World T20 was the belief within the team that they can win in this format

Mohammad Isam27-Mar-2016Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said the major gain from the 2016 World T20 was the belief within the team that they can win in this format. The Bangladesh squad arrived in Dhaka on Sunday following their 75-run defeat to New Zealand in Kolkata the previous evening, their last game of the tournament.Having made it to the Super 10s stage, Bangladesh did not win any of their Group 2 games. It was a disappointing result after having reached the final of the preceding Asia Cup with wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan for the first time in Twenty20 cricket.”I don’t think anyone would be interested to take positives but there were some in this tournament,” Mashrafe said. “I think we were able to create a base for the T20 team. It was important for the players to develop a mindset for this format. It will be hard to beat us in this format from now on. I think it is crucial to have the belief whether you can win or not. Previously in T20s, we didn’t believe we could beat any team.”Bangladesh’s results were not different from the 2014 World T20, where they also made it through the first round but then lost all their games in the main draw. The difference lay in the margins – this time Bangladesh ran Australia close, and then lost a chase to India by one run after losing three wickets off the last three balls of the match.Their campaign was also hit by the bowling bans slapped on fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and spinner Arafat Sunny.Mashrafe revealed the team management had asked the BCB to see if Taskin could bowl if he didn’t bowl bouncers during the World T20.”If I speak specifically, then I can say that we accepted Sunny’s report. He has also accepted that he has to correct his action,” Mashrafe said. “Taskin’s was quite shocking. Everyone has said it, not just us. A lot of experts have agreed that there’s nothing wrong with Taskin’s bowling action. But there’s always a doubt since he has been pulled up.”Different questions come to mind when you see that his normal deliveries were fine but had problems with three bouncers. We even told the BCB that perhaps we can have him if he doesn’t bowl the bouncer. But at the end of the day that didn’t happen.”The issue of Nasir Hossain’s continued exclusion from the final XI despite being in the original squad became contentious towards the end of Bangladesh’s tournament. Shuvagata Hom was preferred after he replaced Taskin ahead of the Australia game, but it was hard to understand why Nasir was chosen in the first place when the management ultimately went for the replacement player.”These decisions are not taken by one person. We do it together,” Mashrafe said. “The combination prevented us from playing Nasir but he could have played. But the collective decision went against him. I backed Nasir in the 2015 World Cup. He is a useful cricketer. I want him to improve in his game and serve Bangladesh for a long time.”

Barcelona have confirmed that Gavi has suffered an ACL injury, with the teenage midfielder preparing to undergo surgery.

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Teenager forced off in tearsWill require an operationSeason likely to be overWHAT HAPPENED?

The 19-year-old was forced from the field in tears on Sunday when representing Spain in their Euro 2024 qualifier with Georgia. It quickly became apparent that serious damage had been done, with the Barca starlet now facing a long road to recovery.

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There is every chance that Gavi’s 2023-24 campaign has been brought to a close after being forced onto the sidelines and under the knife. Barca have not put a timescale on his recovery as yet, but he will be missing for several months.

WHAT THEY SAID

Barcelona have said in a statement on the club’s : “Tests carried out on Monday morning on the first team player Gavi have shown that he has a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and an associated injury to the lateral meniscus. The player will have surgery in the coming days after which a new medical update will be released. Gavi was injured on international duty for Spain in the final game of the team's European Championship qualifying group against Georgia. The Barca midfielder was forced off after just 26 minutes of the encounter.”

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Gavi has taken in 111 appearances for Barcelona since stepping out of their famed La Masia academy system. He has seven senior goals to his name at club level, along with 27 international caps, and is tied to a contract through to 2026 that includes a €1 billion (£876m/$1.bn) release clause.

Gabriel Martinelli refused to take credit for Arsenal's 1-0 win against Manchester City on Sunday, despite scoring the decisive goal.

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Martinelli came on at half-timeScored decisive goal as Arsenal wonReluctant to accept praise for strikeWHAT HAPPENED?

Martinelli came off the bench at half-time to mark his return after weeks out of action through injury and netted the game's only goal after 86 minutes. The Brazilian winger had an immediate impact for the Gunners, getting their first shot on target just five minutes into the second half, before smashing in the goal late on.

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The game looked set to fizzle out to a goalless draw before Martinelli's moment of magic, which secured Arsenal's first Premier League win against City in eight years and moved them up to second in the table – second to Tottenham only on goals scored.

WHAT THEY SAID

Martinelli was reluctant to accept the praise for netting the important strike, as he told : "I am not the man. I think everyone has a part in this victory. I scored the goal but it was the whole team and the staff and everyone. I am happy and the team is too."

He added: "It gives more confidence [to us]. We know our potential and how tough it is to play against them. Today we beat them and it gives us more confidence to kick on."

Manager Mikel Arteta also hailed the winger's willingness to play despite him being injured, saying: "Another player with big ones too. The physios weren't having it and he said 'I am ready to go'. Leo (Leandro Trossard) got injured and I looked to him and he was already ready to go."

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GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

After the international fixtures over the next two weeks, Arsenal will face Chelsea in the Premier League on October 22.

Josh Hazlewood has admitted Australia’s bowlers did not respond well to the unexpected sight of Brad Haddin dropping Joe Root on the first day of the Investec Ashes series

Daniel Brettig08-Jul-2015Josh Hazlewood has admitted Australia’s bowlers did not respond well to the unexpected sight of Brad Haddin dropping Joe Root on the first day of the Investec Ashes series, granting England’s No. 5 an opportunity to wrest control of the day after an unpromising start.Had Root been dismissed for a second-ball duck by Mitchell Starc, England would have been 43 for 4 in the hour before lunch, but Haddin’s drop of a half-volleyed edge allowed him and Gary Ballance to establish a bridgehead with a series of counterpunches that threw the Australians off balance.After a Test series in the West Indies where the tourists held just about every chance that came their way, Hazlewood said they needed to be more focused in the aftermath of a miss. “I don’t think we’re used to dropping catches at the moment, and hopefully we don’t,” he said. “But in that situation I think we’ve got to deal with it better and keep bowling those balls in the right areas and creating those opportunities.”Those ones are always tough. More than often it actually is a catch, I think you can see by the way it flies off the bat. They’re really tough those full ones, and Hadds usually takes more than he drops, so hopefully he can improve and catch the next one.”While Hazlewood bowled decently in his first Ashes match, the more experienced Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc leaked runs as Root and Ballance change the course of the day. “I think they bowled well in patches, they’re both attacking bowlers so they can go for runs on different occasions,” Hazlewood said of the two left-armers. But they certainly created quite a lot of opportunities and hopefully we can take them next time.”The conditions suited us in that first hour and we probably made the most of it there, but we didn’t stick to our guns I guess for the next couple of sessions. We built pressure and then leaked the runs and the pressure went away. But I think we got better throughout the day.”Starc left the field late in the day and was unable to take the second new ball, and it later emerged that he had complained of ankle soreness. He will be treated overnight.For his part, Root said he had responded to the circumstances with calculated aggression, taking that gamble that by putting pressure back onto Australia’s bowlers, life would be made easier for England’s batsmen. So it was to prove.”I think whenever you get the opportunity to put a side back under pressure or try and shift that momentum, you’ve got to try and take it,” Root said after making 134. “There will be times when it doesn’t work, when it doesn’t quite come off and you look slightly stupid or you play what looks like a horrendous shot and get out. But they’re the sorts of risks we’re taking by playing this positive, attacking cricket.”At the minute it’s working really nicely, I’m sure it won’t always be like that, but we want to continue to do that and really put sides under pressure whenever we can.”

The Sweden international has become a slightly-forgotten figure in recent weeks, but she was the hero against the Cityzens on Sunday

Alessia Russo might've been Arsenal's star signing this summer but it was Stina Blackstenius, the centre forward whose place the England star has taken, who was the Gunners' timely match-winner in a huge clash with title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. Introduced at the expense of Russo with 75 minutes on the clock, there were just three minutes of normal time remaining when Blackstenius capitalised on a costly defensive error to roll the ball into an empty net, securing a 2-1 win that will be a massive confidence boost for a team whose start to the new season has bordered on disaster.

Elimination in the first round of Women's Champions League qualifying was followed up by a shock opening weekend defeat to Liverpool, with Arsenal six points off table-topping Chelsea coming into this fixture. It proved to be a topsy-turvy afternoon. The Gunners started poorly but City didn't punish them, with Steph Catley instead giving the hosts an early lead through a wonderful strike. That could've been doubled with only 20 minutes on the clock but Khiara Keating stepped up to save Kim Little's penalty brilliantly instead.

City continued to look the side more in control of affairs and it meant that the only surprising thing about their equaliser in the second half, through in-form England winger Chloe Kelly, was that it didn't come sooner. They looked to have the bit between their teeth from then on, until Keating made a devastating mistake. The teenager misjudged Katie McCabe's long ball forward and her headed clearance had plenty of height but no distance, allowing Blackstenius to pick it up with ease and put it into the back of the net.

It was a crushing blow for Keating and City, with the young goalkeeper in tears at full-time as she replayed the incident over and over in her mind. There will be plenty of chances for her and her team to make up the ground lost in the title race by this defeat, there's no doubt about that, but it's a result that offers Arsenal a way back into the battle at the top, one that was certainly not expected to open up for them based on the opening stages in Borehamwood.

GOAL runs through the winners and losers from a chaotic afternoon at Meadow Park…

Getty ImagesWINNER: Stina Blackstenius

When will Blackstenius get the credit she deserves? Arsenal's Swedish striker has come up with so many big goals for the club since her arrival last January but it often feels like praise is hard to come by.

So far this season, head coach Jonas Eidevall has opted for Russo ahead of Blackstenius in a system with a lone striker in every WSL game except the draw at Manchester United in which the pair started together.

It could be argued that the latter game brought with it the Gunners' best performance of the season, with the qualities of each complementing the other and making the attack look more dynamic.

The strength of the case to start Russo and Blackstenius together only increased on Sunday. Russo was isolated throughout the game, with team-mate Victoria Pelova the only starter on either team to have fewer touches, and Blackstenius hardly got a look in either until Keating's error.

But, after scoring the opener against Man Utd last month, she was there in the right place at the right time again to give Arsenal a huge win. There is a lot that Blackstenius can bring to the Gunners and that shouldn't be forgotten.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Khiara Keating

Keating has been outstanding in the first few weeks of this new season. She's asserted herself as City's first-choice goalkeeper ahead of two senior internationals, she has come up big to help her team make a fantastic start to the campaign and she earned her first senior England call-up as a result of all of that last month, too. But Sunday was a day for her to forget.

The teenager didn't make a great clearance in the build-up to Arsenal's first goal and then, after a poor back pass from Esme Morgan, she brought down Cloe Lacasse to give the Gunners a penalty. There, though, Keating came up big – huge, even – making a remarkable save to deny Little, the hosts' usually clinical captain.

Confident and commanding in collecting crosses and strong in her distribution from then on, it appeared the young shot-stopper had made a decisively-positive contribution in what was looking more and more likely to be a City win.

But it all changed in an instant. McCabe's long ball was misread by Keating, her ineffective attempt at a clearance allowed Blackstenius in and the Gunners were 2-1 up. The City 'keeper was devastated as she pondered what might've been. It was a tough day for her but she is young and she will absolutely learn from it. There is still so much to be excited about when it comes to her potential and her future.

GettyWINNER: Lotte Wubben-Moy

If there is one area of Arsenal's that has looked particularly weak this season it has been in central defence. Eidevall's side have constantly looked suspect to mistakes, failed to deal with crosses effectively and made costly errors, regardless of the personnel chosen or whether they are playing as a back four or a back three.

On Sunday, though, after surviving some difficult early moments, the Gunners looked much better and that was largely thanks to the performance of Lotte Wubben-Moy. The England international dealt brilliantly with the imposing threat of City striker Bunny Shaw, she was reliable in her passing and she constantly got in the way to block and clear any danger.

Despite being a regular in squads and an ever-present for Arsenal, it's not been easy for Wubben-Moy to force herself into Sarina Wiegman's thinking when it comes to the Lionesses' starting XI. This performance won't have done her chances of changing that any harm, though.

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Getty ImagesLOSER: Man City's defence

Alex Greenwood's head injury on England duty was a massive blow to the Lionesses in a game that they would go on to lose to Belgium, taking their UEFA Women's Nations League and Olympic fates out of their own hands. But Sunday highlighted, bright and bold, just how big a loss she was for her club, too.

Usually so composed with the ball at the back, Man City looked all at sea at times without the player that excels at that the most. They were far from convincing in playing out, with mistakes in doing so leading to Arsenal's opening goal and to the penalty incident, and they missed Greenwood's ability to start attacks with her excellent passing range, too.

If anyone needed a perfect example of how important the England star is to her club team, then this performance was exactly that.