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Após uma queda de rendimento nas últimas duas partidas do Campeonato Brasileiro, o técnico Vagner Mancini avaliou positivamente o desempenho do Corinthians, mesmo com o empate em 0 a 0 contra o Internacional, nesta quinta-feira (25), no Beira Rio, em Porto Alegre, pela última rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro.

A igualdade no marcador foi prejudicial ao time gaúcho, que precisava de uma vitória para ultrapassar o Flamengo, que iniciou o dia líder, mas perdeu por 2 a 1 para o São Paulo, para voltar a conquistar o Brasileirão depois de 41 anos, o que não aconteceu.

>> Confira a classificação final do Campeonato Brasileiro

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De acordo com o treinador corintiano, a necessidade do Colorado em vencer o jogo fez do confronto algo tenso, mas que o Timão soube se portar taticamente para controlar as ações adversárias.

-Jogo tenso, de carga emocional muito alta. As duas equipes brigando em campo, um jogo extremamente disputado. Acho que na parte tática, o Corinthians foi extremamente aplicado, fez exatamente aquilo que estava determinado e por isso fez uma boa participação na partida – disse Mancini em entrevista coletiva virtual ao fim da partida.

De modo geral, Mancini considerou o embate equilibrando, mesmo com o seu adversário brigando pelo título, enquanto o Corinthians não tinha mais pretensões no Brasileiro.

-Foi um jogo dentro do que se esperava, equilibrado, nós com algumas oportunidades interessantes, alguns lances decididos pelo VAR, mas todas as decisões acertadas – salientou Mancini.

O Timão terminou o Campeonato Brasileiro na 12ª posição, com 13 vitórias, 13 derrotas e 12 empates, um aproveitamento de 44,7%.

Leicester City just keep winning. Another comfortable victory against Plymouth Argyle this weekend meant that the Foxes have now picked up back-to-back wins in the Championship.

Breaking Reading's record of accumulating 106 points in England's second tier looks like a real possibility, which has been helped by the fact that Leicester maintained several players after the club were relegated from the top flight.

Former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray admitted that "they are Premier League" after the Black Cats were devoured by the Foxes earlier in the campaign.

Nevertheless, head coach Enzo Maresca is still looking to add even more Premier League quality to his squad ahead of the second half of the campaign and could be set to bolster his defensive department.

Leicester transfer news – Joe Worrall

In the aftermath of four consecutive defeats in the league, leaving the side just five points from the relegation zone, The Daily Mail reported that Nottingham Forest's club captain Joe Worrall has been asked to train away from the first-team group, alongside centre-back counterpart Scott McKenna. Furthermore, the outlet claimed that there were no behavioural issues, yet the duo have been put up for sale this coming January.

Another article published by The Daily Mail after the initial report has now claimed that Leicester City are monitoring Worrall ahead of the winter window, with Maresca looking to add depth and quality to his backline. Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough are also in the running for the 26-year-old centre-half.

Worrall has been with Nottingham Forest for quite some time and has been an integral part of the team in recent seasons, helping to guide the club to promotion back in 2022 under Steve Cooper in the playoff final. The manager even called his central defender "incredible" earlier this season.

Since returning from a loan spell at Rangers in 2019, Worrall has proven to be an important player for the Tricky Trees.

Joe Worrall
Season	Appearances	Minutes
2019/20	48	4,313
2020/21	33	2,970
2021/22	46	4,170
2022/23	34	2,576
2023/24	6	439
Stats via Transfermarkt

However, there has been a massive dip in his involvement in the side this term, leaving the door open for a Leicester City swoop.

Joe Worrall's stats this season

Worrall could move to the King Power Stadium for relatively cheap. The CIES Football Observatory have placed the defender's market value at £4m, although Worrall still has a little under three years remaining on his contract, having signed a new deal back in September, so perhaps Leicester may need to cough up a little more than that.

The former Premier League champions currently have the best defence in the Championship, having conceded a mere 12 goals from 19 matches. Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard have been Maresca's preferred duo at the back and the pair have been very solid this season.

However, backup centre-back Harry Souttar has struggled for minutes this season and has played just 81 minutes of league action in total.

Speaking after his side's win at home to Plymouth on Saturday, Maresca explained that the Australian is being left out of the team due to the excellent form of Faes and Vestergaard. Having signed for £15m from Stoke City back in January, Souttar could leave the club in the near future, having already been up for sale during the summer.

Worrall could be the perfect replacement for the 25-year-old who, based on his last season in the Championship, outperformed both Souttar and Faes' stats this term.

Per 90 Metrics	Joe Worrall – 2021/22	Harry Souttar – 2023/24	Wout Faes – 2023/24
Goals	0.02	0	0.05
Expected Goals	0.04	0	0.03
Progressive Passes	4.56	7.78	5.7
Progressive Passes Received	0.38	0	0.18
Switches Of Play	1.21	0	1.21
Tackles	1.9	1.11	1.39
Tackles Won	1.12	0.58	0.86
Interceptions	1.86	0	1.35
Clearances	3.26	1.11	3.39
Blocks	1.41	0	1.39
Aerial Duels Won	2.38	2.22	1.15
Stats via FBref

Worrall would certainly get into the squad over Souttar and could allow the latter to finally leave for pastures new, but there is a good chance that the Englishman takes Faes' place in the team as well by the end of the campaign should he move to the King Power Stadium.

It's been a difficult week for Manchester United. A 3-3 draw away at Galatasaray all but mathematically sealed the club's exit from the Champions League in midweek while a harrowing 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United at St. James' Park compounded the side's misery.

The Red Devils had picked up the most wins from the last six matches in the Premier League and were the in-form team in England's top flight, but a loss to the Magpies brought the side back down to earth.

The result meant Newcastle leapt above them in the table and has piled further pressure on head coach Erik ten Hag, with games against Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Liverpool on the horizon.

There were several disappointing displays for United on Saturday night but Scott McTominay in particular looked well off the pace.

Manchester United's game in numbers

The 13-time winners of the competition had just 42% of the ball and clung on for dear life before Anthony Gordon fired the hosts into the lead ten minutes into the second half. United already looked like a beaten team once the ball bypassed Andre Onana and caressed the net.

The Athletic journalist Laurie Whitwell was quite damning in his post-match assessment, labelling the performance as "pitiful" and the "worst of the season" so far.

Statistically, the home team were the dominant side and could even be slightly disappointed that the game only ended 1-0 given the sheer volume of shots that were peppered towards the United goal.

Possession %

58

42

Expected Goals

2.5

0.48

Shots

22

8

Shots Off Target

11

2

Shots On Target

4

1

Shots Inside Box

13

4

Accurate Passes

453

277

Passes In Opposition's Half

276

140

Touches In Opposition's Box

41

12

Duels Won %

63

37

Stats via FotMob

One player in particular struggled on the pitch and could find himself out of the starting lineup this Wednesday when Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea come to town.

Sofyan Amrabat's stats this season

Having played the full match, McTominay earned a match rating of just 4/10, as per MEN's Samuel Luckhurst. The Scotland international struggled to have any impact on the game, winning just two of his 11 total duels against Newcastle, leaving the pitch with a 0% success rate in his aerial duels.

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Additionally, McTominay lost possession of the ball twice, committed three fouls and was dribbled past on two separate occasions, as per FotMob.

Alongside United's 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, McTominay looked like the inexperienced one. Mainoo won 50% of his ground duels and boasted a 92% passing accuracy with 45 touches of the ball.

Despite that, it was Mainoo who was whipped off in the second half for loan signing Sofyan Amrabat. The Moroccan had little time to impose himself on proceedings given there were just ten minutes of normal time remaining when he entered the fray.

However, since McTominay struggled at St. James' Park, perhaps Ten Hag could look to bring the Fiorentina star into the starting lineup on Tuesday in his place. Let's look at how the pair compare statistically this term.

Progressive Passes

9.47

2.56

Progressive Carries

1.05

0.77

Passes To Final 1/3

9.47

3.59

Passes To Penalty Area

1.05

0

Switches

1.05

0.26

Passing Accuracy

85.9

82

Tackles

3.68

2.18

Tackles Won

1.84

1.03

Interceptions

1.05

0.9

McTominay is Manchester United's joint-third top goalscorer this season and boasts a 22% conversion rate which is higher than club captain Bruno Fernandes. However, his goals in recent games have masked some incredibly questionable displays.

Amrabat arrived on transfer deadline day on a season-long loan and Ten Hag even described the Morocco international as "amazing" on his debut which came in a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.

However, the 27-year-old has made merely four Premier League starts since but is faring much better in terms of possession and defensive stats and could be the perfect partner for Mainoo in the middle of the park.

Harry Kane “secretly wants to come home”, says Stan Collymore, with the ex-Premier League star “warming” to the idea of seeing the striker at Chelsea.

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• Left Tottenham in 2023
• Yet to win silverware in Germany
• Talk of a return to England

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  England captain Kane only left his homeland in the summer of 2023, with the decision taken to go trophy hunting at Bayern Munich. He has plundered 39 goals for the Bundesliga giants, but is in danger of seeing major silverware fall agonisingly out of reach once more.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  There has been talk of Kane retracing steps to the Premier League, despite signing a contract in Germany through to 2027, with various landing spots being mooted. Collymore believes a return to London would appeal to the prolific 30-year-old frontman – with Chelsea crying out for a proven No.9.

• WHAT COLLYMORE SAID ABOUT KANE

  Former England international Collymore has told : “So the Kane jinx continues to strike in Munich as Bayer win the title, which leaves the question, will Bayern look to cash in on Harry’s super individual season, potentially after a good Euro’s, to several clubs who arguably need his services, or does he stay, Duke it out again next season and wrestle the Bundesliga back? I think secretly he wants to come home, and if you were Manchester United, potentially with a new manager and under new ownership, the signing of Kane would represent cache and intent.

  “Chelsea also could use not only his goals but his experience to help the young pups along. I thought earlier on this season that he should stay and fight Bayer next season to get the title back but I’m particularly warming to Kane to Chelsea. They have the cash, it’s his city and they desperately need some calm heads around the place, people you can rely on. They don’t come calmer than Kane and the fact he knows Poch so well may be the focus that the manager and owner need to get the Blues back firing towards that top four.”

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  WHAT NEXT FOR KANE?

  While Kane has previously worked with Mauricio Pochettino, his strong ties to Tottenham would make a deal difficult. Any switch to Old Trafford also appears unlikely, given the ongoing struggles for consistency being endured there, with there seemingly more chance of landing elusive honours if he remains in Munich.

Liverpool's midfield rebuild during the summer transfer window was extensive to say the least. Out went Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Fabinho, and in came Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch. Swapping the old for the new has since paid dividends, however, with the Reds sitting just one point adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester City, who they play next in their return from the international break.

The summer transfer window failed to see the arrival of one specific type of player though, and Liverpool have once again been left exposed at times as a result. The January transfer window should give them the opportunity to solve a glaring issue and that could see the arrival of a long-term target.

Liverpool transfer news

After such a summer overhaul, it was difficult to know what to expect from Jurgen Klopp's new-look side. Some may have expected them to take a while to get going, given that the Reds had an entirely new midfield to work with. But that's been anything but the case. Instead, Liverpool have been flying. The likes of Szoboszlai and Gravenberch have settled straight in. Now, if they can solve their defensive midfield problem, Klopp's side could become serious title challengers once more.

As good as Mac Allister is, he is not a defensive midfielder, which has been exposed for all to see at times. Alas, reports do suggest that those at Anfield are attempting to find a solution in that area. According to Goal in Brazil, Liverpool have made contact with Fluminense over a potential deal for Andre Trindade.

It's no secret that the midfielder has attracted a lot of admirers, with Fulham also reportedly enquiring about the Fluminense man. If either of the Premier League sides want to sign Andre, it will reportedly cost them at least €35m (£31m) in January. Andre's value is at a higher point than ever before, with the player at the absolute peak of his power currently.

"Perfect" Andre could be the final piece to Liverpool's rebuild

When looking at the current Liverpool side, only the defensive midfield role stands out as something they can strengthen. If they find a natural defensive midfielder, not only will they complete their rebuild in the middle of the park, but they'll also finally get the best out of Mac Allister in his preferred role. Andre's stats stand out compared to the Argentine's in a full season.

Player

Progressive Passes Per 90

Tackles Won Per 90

Blocks Per 90

Andre Trindade

6.43

1.40

0.97

Alexis Mac Allister

5.42

1.21

0.81

As a result of his performances, Andre has earned deserved praise, including from Maurício Alencar, who said via Liverpool Echo: "Andre plays more as a six; he is obviously very strong and agile, really good on the ball, plays two-touch football, great first touch. He is always appearing in those pockets of space between the defence and midfield, and the midfield and attack sometimes. He is a very versatile player.

“I think he is a cut above the rest of the Fluminense squad, and when I watch Brazilian matches, he is always a standout player, so I am surprised he has yet to move to Europe.”

He then went onto say: "He is the perfect player that Liverpool need, playing from the back and being able to intercept. He is very quick to react to the loss of the ball and reading the game.”

Chelsea have received a major shot in the arm regarding their hunt to strengthen a problem position under Mauricio Pochettino, according to reports.

Chelsea's striker woes continue…

Despite moving to bring in big-money signing Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal in the summer, Chelsea have struggled in front of goal so far this campaign, and their profligacy in the final third continues to hinder their chances of making marked progression under Pochettino.

In the Premier League, the Blues have taken just 12 points from their opening ten fixtures, scoring a tame 13 goals in the process, ranking them firmly in the middle of the pack regarding chances converted across the division.

England international Raheem Sterling has provided the main threat in attack for Chelsea, registering four goals and one assist across all competitions this term from 12 outings.

Nevertheless, new arrival Jackson and Cobham graduate Armando Broja are the only recognised strikers on the books at Stamford Bridge and have mustered just three strikes between them from a combined 16 appearances (Chelsea squad statistics – Transfermarkt).

Broja has been unavailable for Chelsea since the last international break due to an injury sustained on duty with Albania; however, Blues boss Pochettino has confirmed that the 22-year-old could now be in contention for his matchday squad on Monday, where Chelsea will face a stiff test in the form of an away trip to Premier League high-flyers Tottenham Hotspur.

Speaking to Chelsea's official website, Pochettino stated: "It’s good because today we were talking and maybe he will be available to be on the bench for Monday. He was training today and before in the last few days, and doing well. I hope that he can be involved in the game, but still, it’s not confirmed."

Now, it looks as if the Argentinian has been given a major boost in his bid to address the Blues' striking woes come the January transfer window.

Chelsea given major Ivan Toney boost

Ivan Toney's Brentford goal record – all competitions (Transfermarkt)

Appearances

124

Goals

68

Assists

21

According to a transfer update from TEAMtalk, Chelsea have been given a major boost in their pursuit of Brentford forward Ivan Toney, who is said to have told his current employers that he hopes to seek a new challenge in the January transfer window. Arsenal are also keen on the England international; however, any interested suitors would likely need to fork out a fee in the region of £80m to secure his services.

Manchester United were also believed to be in pursuit of the former Newcastle United striker, though they have since turned their focus toward alternative targets due to Financial Fair Play stringencies, scuppering the prospect of Toney moving to Old Trafford.

Described as "remarkable" by Brentford boss Thomas Frank, Toney is free to return to competitive action on January 16th 2024 following a lengthy ban for breaching FA betting rules.

Having already been back in a cycle of training for several months, it is imaginable that the 27-year-old wouldn't be too far away from being able to make his comeback in the Premier League, which has evidently piqued Chelsea's interest as they look to find a clinical edge in front of goal.

MatériaMais Notícias

Com desfalques de última hora, o Corinthians contou com uma estreia no ataque na derrota para o Atlético-MG, por 2 a 1, na Neo Química Arena. O atacante Jonathan Cafú estreou com a camisa do Timão mesmo não estando na sua melhor forma física, o jogador pediu ao técnico Vagner Mancini para ser relacionado, conforme contou o comandante em entrevista coletiva.

– Eu tive uma conversa com Cafú na quarta-feira e falei para ele e o Jemerson que iriamos esperar os dois, porque não ambos não jogam há bastante tempo. Quando tivemos essa perda, o próprio Cafú chegou para mim e disse: ‘estou vendo a sua dificuldade’. E acabamos aceleramos o processo dele, que não está no ponto de estrear. Mas é um atleta que fez questão de estar junto porque viu a necessidade- revelou o comandante.

VEJA A TABELA DO BRASILEIRÃOE SIMULE OS RESULTADOS

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Cafú entrou aos 31 minutos do segundo tempo na vaga de Matheus Davó e teve atuação apagada. Vale lembrar que Cafú foi contratado pelo Timão durante a última semana. O atacante não entrava em campo desde setembro e, por isso, esperava-se que ele passasse por um processo de readaptação física para estrear.

O Corinthians terá uma semana livre para recuperar os jogadores antes da partida contra o Grêmio,no próximo domingo, às 20h30, na Neo Química Arena, pelo Campeonato Brasileiro.

The Jets piled up 220 for 6, their second-highest Blast total, built upon an opening stand of 126 in 68 balls between Graham Clark and Tom Latham

ECB Reporters Network15-Jul-2018

Sam Hain carried the fight for Birmingham•Getty Images

ScorecardDurham Jets ended a run of seven successive T20 defeats to Birmingham Bears with an 18-run victory at sun-soaked, run-soaked Edgbaston.The Jets piled up 220 for 6, their second-highest Blast total, built upon an opening stand of 126 in 68 balls from Graham Clark and Tom Latham.Chasing 200-plus for the second time in 48 hours, the Bears then lost Ed Pollock first ball as Will Smith opened with a wicket-maiden. Sam Hain (95) and Colin de Grandhomme (62 not out) kept their hopes alive into the closing overs but finding 35 from the last two proved too much and the Bears close on 202 for 5.The Jets’ second win of the tournament keeps them right in the qualification race. Birmingham are still in there too but need to bounce back from back-to-back defeats which brought heavy punishment for their bowlers.Durham chose to take first use of a good batting track and Clark and Latham amassed the Jets’ record T20 opening stand. Clark was first to 50 (31 balls) when he hoisted Oliver Hannon-Dalby into the Hollies Stand. In the next over a Latham six off countryman Grant Elliott posted the 100 up from 9.3 overs.Birmingham hit back with four wickets for 12 runs in 14 balls. Latham was held by Dom Sibley at extra-cover, James Weighell and Liam Trevaskis holed out and Clark clipped Elliott to short fine-leg.The Jets’ dominance was reasserted by a ferocious stand of 75 in 33 balls by Paul Collingwood and Smith. Collingwood took the bulk of 27 from a de Grandhomme over which summed up the Bears’ bowling problems with several balls failing to pitch.Birmingham required 11 an over to win but were four for one after two overs, Pollock having lifted the first ball to long leg.Ian Bell flicked Nathan Rimmington to short fine leg then Smith, having rested with figures of 1-1-0-1, returned to have Adam Hose caught at deep cover.Hain kept his side afloat before a counter-attack was heralded by four successive sixes by de Grandhomme off Imran Tahir. Hain socked 29 from a Chris Rushworth over and the fourth-wicket pair added 100 in 50 balls to keep their side in the hunt with 52 needed from four overs.But Weighell returned to bowl the first of those and did so superbly, Hain and Elliott holing out from the first and last balls to leave 49 required from three which was too many.

A week after sustaining a finger injury that sidelined him from the IPL final, India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is still unclear about whether he will recover in time for Afghanistan’s inaugural Test, which starts on June 14 in Bengaluru.Saha is currently being monitored by the BCCI and is awaiting an X-ray report next week that will ascertain whether he will need surgery on his right thumb. He picked up the injury when he was struck by a Shivam Mavi bouncer during the IPL’s second qualifier.”The BCCI is keeping a track of my injury on a day-to-day basis. The decision lies with them,” Saha was reported as saying by . “To be honest, I might not be fit for that game. It’s not in my hands.”Saha had previously missed six games in the IPL with a shoulder niggle before the thumb injury. As things stand, he is the only specialist wicketkeeper in India’s 15-man squad for the Test; KL Rahul is the only plausible back-up option in the squad. If Saha is ruled out, he will likely be replaced by one of Parthiv Patel or Dinesh Karthik, who were both part of India’s last Test squad in South Africa when Saha had to be withdrawn from the tour with another injury.

Barring a glitch or two, both teams are extremely well balanced, and the quality of resources at their disposal should mean that Eden Gardens is in for a top-notch contest

The Preview by Akshay Gopalakrishnan13-Apr-20183:08

Dasgupta: Gill better than most Indian batsmen in KKR squad

Big PictureForty-eight hours. After barely surviving a rollercoaster against the defending champions Mumbai Indians, that is the time Sunrisers Hyderabad have to recuperate and be back in full swing. It’s another reminder of how punishing the IPL can be, and the challenges teams face in staying fresh through two whole months in the peak of the Indian summer. Moreover, Sunrisers will have to switch cities, as they step out of home into the bastion that is Eden Gardens.With 41 victories, Kolkata Knight Riders are the third-most successful home team in IPL history. That trend extended with a dominant win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening game. Knight Riders are among the most well-balanced teams. Their batting order is full of firepower, and they bat very deep. It came to the fore against Chennai Super Kings, when Andre Russell shellacked an unbeaten 88 off 36 balls to power them to 202, after they were 89 for 5 at the halfway stage.Knight Riders’ only concern at the moment is with the domestic fast bowler’s slot. Vinay Kumar, who is their senior-most player in that department, has fallen flat, having gone at 2.82 runs per ball in the two games so far. After their failure to defend 202 against Chennai, the bowling coach Heath Streak called for better execution from the players. And while Streak placed emphasis on a change in approach over wholesale changes to the XI, Knight Riders may consider testing the Under-19 duo of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti in place of Vinay.Like Knight Riders, Sunrisers have a wonderfully-balanced side. Shikhar Dhawan has done his best to make up for the absence of David Warner with a pair of belligerent knocks. Sunrisers’ middle order has never looked stronger, after the acquisitions of Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan. And Shakib Al Hasan has added teeth to an already potent bowling attack. However, Sunrisers lack a quick striker to complement Dhawan at the top. T20 cricket has often shown us that having one partner buckle down while the other tees off isn’t necessarily a winning strategy. And assuming that Kane Williamson will be largely responsible for holding his end up to build the innings, Sunrisers cannot afford to have two slow scorers in their top three.In the newsMitchell Johnson was rested from Knight Riders’ match against Chennai Super Kings due to a “slight niggle”, but Streak confirmed that the left-arm pacer had recovered, and was hopeful of his return. Streak also said that Lynn’s shoulder problem shouldn’t be a concern. On the eve of the match, captain Dinesh Karthik confirmed the same but also said that team decisions would be made on the morning of the game.Bhuvneshwar sat out the Mumbai game due to a sore back. While he is their spearhead, Sunrisers wouldn’t be sweating too much in case Bhuvneshwar doesn’t recover, seeing as Sandeep Sharma, his replacement, fared well with returns of 2 for 25 in four overs.The likely XIsKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (capt, wk), 6 Rinku Singh/Shubman Gill, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Shivam Mavi/Kamlesh NagarkotiSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Deepak Hooda, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Siddarth Kaul, 10 Sandeep Sharma/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Billy StanlakeESPNcricinfo Ltd

Stats that matter Of the 48 balls that Siddarth Kaul has bowled this season, batsmen haven’t been in control of their shots against 25 of them. The numbers are identical for Kaul’s teammate Rashid Khan. Kaul has taken a particular liking to the short delivery. He has bowled 11 of them so far – the second-most this season – and to great effect, giving away just nine runs, including a solitary boundary, and picking up a wicket. Sunrisers have never beaten Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Of the five matches these two sides have played here, the home team has won all of them. Among players with at least 600 career IPL runs, Andre Russell’s Smart Strike Rate of 220.40 is, by far, the best. No other player even touches the 200-mark. Glenn Maxwell is a distant second, with 1245 runs at a Smart Strike Rate of 194.79. Contrary to the norm this season, four of the last five meetings between these two sides have been won by the team batting first. Robin Uthappa has an excellent record against Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the IPL. Off the 53 balls he has faced from the bowler, Uthappa has scored 65 runs, and is yet to be dismissed.Strategy puntUse your fast bowlers against Narine. Royal Challengers did the mistake of bowling Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar at Narine upfront, and he sunk them with a 17-ball half-century. Chennai, too, turned to Harbhajan Singh for the second over with Narine at the crease. While the move paid off for them, the contrast is telling. Since the 2015 IPL, Narine has averaged 29.7 and struck at 240.5 while being dismissed thrice in nine innings against spin. Against pace, he averages 18.6, while the strike-rate drops to 156.9, and he has got out to them 11 times in 19 innings.Fantasy picksBatsmen at the top are most likely to score the big runs, which makes Chris Lynn an automatic lock. Even if he does end up being dismissed for a low score, Lynn is unlikely to scratch around, which will make the loss of points minimal. Likewise, Narine would make a safe pick, given his batting position and utility with the ball. Since the previous season, Narine has averaged 19.06 with the bat and struck at 186.92; with the ball, he has conceded just 6.85 runs an over: as fantasy as it gets.Quotes”Yes, we’ve got to be careful. He’s not the first bowler, and he won’t be the last bowler who won’t defend 17-20. We’ve seen (Dwayne) Bravo – what he can do. We’ve seen Andre (Russell) hit quite a few overs for those sort of numbers, like 20-plus. It’s tough when you’re defending the last one, but we did the same thing: hit their bowlers for 20-plus.”