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With pre-season preparations set to get underway, the start of the new Premier League campaign is now edging ever closer, ahead of the curtain raiser on 15 August.

For managers, the off-season is one of welcome respite, before the scrutiny ramps up when action gets underway again. For now, they are safe – but not for long.

Already, attention is turning to just which of those in the dugout will be facing the axe first, following in the footsteps of 2024/25’s first casualty, Erik ten Hag, at Manchester United.

On that front, the AI tool, ChatGPT, has provided the answers ahead of 2025/26…

AFC Bournemouth Andoni Iraola

Despite reportedly being in the running to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur, Andoni Iraola looks set to remain at Bournemouth – provided another suitor does not emerge over the next 12 months or so.

Two years into an exciting project on the south coast, the highly-rated Spaniard is seemingly more likely to jump than be pushed by the Cherries’ hierarchy.

ChatGPT says: Very low risk of the sack – extension more likely

Arsenal Mikel Arteta

In the words of former Arsenal man, Paul Merson, current Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has ‘until Christmas’ to improve his fortunes at the Emirates, having overseen a third successive second-place finish last time out.

That said, having only signed a new deal – ending in 2027 – back in September, the Spaniard appears to be in a strong position heading into 2025/26, not least following last season’s thrilling Champions League run.

ChatGPT says: Very low risk – secure through 2026

Aston Villa Unai Emery

A final-day defeat to Man United denied Unai Emery and Aston Villa a Champions League qualification spot, although the 53-year-old remains a beloved figure at Villa Park for having revived the club’s fortunes since replacing Steven Gerrard in October 2022.

Quarter-finalists in Europe and semi-finalists in the FA Cup in 2024/25, the Villans remain on the right track. It appears unlikely that things will soon derail.

ChatGPT says: Very low risk – secure through 2026

Brentford Keith Andrews

After a long period of stability, it’s all change for Brentford. Christian Norgaard looks to be on his way to Arsenal. Man United remain in hot pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo. Oh, and Thomas Frank has been replaced by Keith Andrews.

The former Republic of Ireland international turned set-piece coach has been boldly appointed as the Bees’ main man, with intrigue mounting over whether this bold gamble will pay off. In the view of ChatGPT, Andrews could find himself under pressure sooner rather than later.

ChatGPT says: Possible chance of the sack – late October/November 2025 if Brentford aren’t in mid-table or better

Brighton Fabian Hurzeler

The Premier League’s youngest manager, Fabian Hurzeler enjoyed a relatively smooth start to life at Brighton, albeit with the Seagulls narrowly missing out on European football – despite boasting the largest net spend on the continent.

While the German doesn’t appear to be under any immediate pressure, failure to make the most of the club’s exciting squad could see him come under scrutiny in the new year.

ChatGPT says: Low risk – could be sacked in January or February 2026 if Brighton have a shaky start

Burnley Scott Parker

So often the bridesmaid, but never the bride, Burnley boss Scott Parker has now overseen three promotions from the Championship, albeit while enduring a miserable time of things at Premier League level.

Sacked by Fulham amid their impending relegation in 2021, prior to enduring an acrimonious exit from Bournemouth a year later, the Englishman could again find himself at risk if the top-flight proves to be a step too far again for the newly-promoted Clarets.

ChatGPT says: Moderate risk – position likely to be reviewed in February-April 2026, if risk of relegation arises

Chelsea Enzo Maresca

A fine first season at Chelsea ended in Conference League glory and Champions League qualification for former Leicester City boss, Enzo Maresca, with the Italian having enhanced his reputation at Stamford Bridge thus far.

Knowing the typically ruthless nature of the Blues’ hierarchy, however, it won’t be too long before questions will begin to be asked if the team’s form falters.

ChatGPT says: Lower risk – likely to be safe until mid-2026 at least, barring a catastrophic run of form

Crystal Palace Oliver Glasner

The man to lead Crystal Palace to their first ever FA Cup triumph, Oliver Glasner is an undoubted hero at Selhurst Park, having overseen a remarkable transformation after replacing Roy Hodgson in the dugout.

While seemingly safe from the sack, barring a disastrous start the campaign, the greater issue could be whether Glasner himself opts to depart, with just a year left on his current deal.

ChatGPT says: Low risk – potential exit in June 2026, if contract extension isn’t agreed

Everton David Moyes

The man to lead Everton into a new era at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the returning David Moyes has more than enough credit in the bank, having built on a memorable first spell by steering the Toffees to safety in routine fashion last season.

For all that positivity, however, the mood could swiftly sour if the Merseysiders don’t get off to a good start in their new home.

ChatGPT says: Risk zone of October/November 2025, if Everton have a poor opening

Fulham Marco Silva

Speaking of Everton, one-time Toffees boss Marco Silva continues to quietly go about his business at Craven Cottage, with Fulham again comfortably finishing in mid-table in 2024/25.

Previously tipped to move to Saudi Arabia, the Portuguese coach appears content to stay put in west London, with owner Tony Khan suggesting back in April that the club want Silva to stay “forever”. A sacking seemingly feels unlikely any time soon.

ChatGPT says: Very low risk – secure through 2026

“We should appreciate the players for throwing themselves in the den without being exposed to these conditions,” Pakistan’s Test captain said

Danyal Rasool27-Jan-2025Pakistan captain Shan Masood said he expected the team to continue their recent experiment of heavily turning tracks at home, and that they would be replicated across domestic cricket as well. After falling to a 120-run defeat at home against West Indies that levelled the series 1-1 and confirmed Pakistan’s position at the bottom of the current World Test Championship cycle, Masood maintained there were “encouraging signs” that Pakistan would seek to build on.”Domestic cricket will be played like this,” he said. “We’ve already talked about this. The more we’ll play the better we’ll get at it. We’ve shown encouraging signs. After the four matches, we’ve won three in these conditions. We dominated the first hour of the first day which could have swung the match in our favour. It’s just about winning those key moments and ensuring we’re consistent with these conditions domestically and internationally.”Since Pakistan lost the first Test against England on a flat wicket in Multan, they have reverted to producing tracks that break up and spin from the first day, rendering fast bowling almost redundant. The last four home Tests have seen Pakistan take 80 wickets, with just one falling to a seam bowler. Fingerspinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali have dominated the bowling attack, taking 70 of the 80 wickets, and frequently opening the bowling attack in each innings. It has turned around Pakistan’s straggling home form, allowing them to beat England 2-1 at home and easing to a victory in the first Test against West Indies. This Test, however, the visiting spinners turned the script around on them, with left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican of West Indies walking away with both the Player-of-the-Match and Series awards.Related

• Shan Masood to continue as Pakistan Test captain for 2025-27 WTC cycle

• Warrican bags five as West Indies win in Pakistan after 34 years

• Warrican dominates a series made for spinners in Multan

• Brathwaite: West Indies had to be 'brave' on pitch where 'you are going to get out'

“It’s a game of all stakeholders. We should appreciate the players for throwing themselves in the den without being exposed to these conditions. We know we haven’t played domestic cricket in these conditions. In some ways, it’s a kind of bravery to expose ourselves to these conditions. We practiced, but this is new for us. But we need to replicate this in domestic cricket, give our batters exposure so we play in these conditions and get runs in them. In the fourth innings, anything over 150 is a competitive score, where spinners will always have the edge.”An unavoidable outcome of such surfaces is the outsized role the toss plays. All four times, the side winning the toss has batted first, walking away with victory three times. While Pakistan were able to flip that script against England in the series-decider, West Indies’ win once more demonstrated the way these pitches can slant a game in favour of the side bowling last.Mohammad Rizwan was bowled by Jomel Warrican, who took the match and series honours•AFP/Getty Images

However, it didn’t appear that way when Pakistan bowled in the first hour, having reduced West Indies to 54 for 8, and letting that situation slip through their fingers frustrated Masood most of all. “We didn’t get the result we wanted. The positive thing was when you field first and you know the fourth innings will be difficult. So you try to restrict the opposition in the first innings. We bowled brilliantly for the first eight wickets. But we’ve talked about the first innings batting and bowling combining to do well, so you have the advantage in the third and fourth innings. If you look at our batting and bowling, and the mistakes we made collectively, that was a crucial time because their last two wickets cost us dear.”Then, with the bat, we went from 119 for 4 to 154 all out. When these collapses happen and the other side puts on partnerships, they can set you back. If we’d got them out early and got a 100-run lead, the Test match would be completely different. With Test matches on these pitches, you can’t wait to make a move, because things are decided on day one, and that is where you can win or lose matches.”This is the end of a cycle, an unhappy one for Pakistan, and for its leader. Pakistan have lost nine of their last 12 matches, all five away from home and four of seven at home. Despite starting off with a crushing away win in Sri Lanka, they have finished bottom of the WTC table, and do not play another Test for nearly nine months.Masood acknowledged Pakistan had fallen short of expectations, but did not believe the side required a complete overhaul, pointing out fine margins made the difference in this Test, and could be worked on.”The tail not getting wickets is an area of concern, and we need to finish off sides quicker,” Masood said, echoing his frustrations in South Africa, where the last two wickets adding too many runs cost them dear in the first Test at Centurion. “Against Australia, who have the best tail in the world, we got them out cheaply, but not here, or against Bangladesh or South Africa.”Batters have been proactive, but we need more contributions. You may not get hundreds here but 30s and 40s contribute to the winning conditions. Kraigg Brathwaite was an ideal example. He took the game on. One batter will need to step up in these conditions especially when the ball is new.”It’s not about holding someone responsible. This isn’t an accountability bureau. This is a team effort. Our mistake as a team was the first two innings. That was what set us back, and gave the opposition a degree of freedom. If we had a 100-run lead, I do not think they’d have been able to play in the way they did. We need to understand the direction of matches will be decided very quickly, as early as day one.”

Northants secure return for Matthew Breetzke in Championship and Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2024Lancashire have signed Australia allrounder Chris Green as one of their overseas players in the Vitality T20 Blast for the next two seasons.Green, 31, was Lancashire’s leading wicket-taker in the Blast this summer with 14, helping the club to qualify for the knockouts – although, due to the lengthy gap after the group stage, he had moved on to the CPL and was unavailable for their quarter-final defeat against Sussex.His contract again includes the provision to play in the County Championship and One-Day Cup, subject to availability. Green, who also turned out for Trent Rockets in the Hundred, made six One-Day Cup games appearances – scoring his maiden hundred – and one in the Championship for Lancashire in 2024.”I absolutely loved my first year with the club and I am even more excited to be coming back for the next two seasons – I can’t wait to join up with the team again next summer,” Green said. “It is a really special group of players at Lancashire. I know that there are big things to come, and I am looking forward to playing my part in that during 2025 and 2026.”I really felt the support from all of the Red Rose Members and supporters this summer and I can’t wait to see you all again next season at Emirates Old Trafford.”Lancahisre’s director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, said: “One of our key priorities heading into the winter was to secure Chris’ services so we are really pleased to get this deal done early and to have his commitment to playing for Lancashire in the Vitality Blast for the next two years.”Chris made a huge impact for us on the field and had a number of options and offers to play around the world, but we are delighted that he has committed to being here at Emirates Old Trafford. Not only did Chris’ performances with bat and ball stand out this season but he also really impressed us with his leadership and his personality had a huge influence on the dressing room. We are all looking forward to welcoming him back to the club next summer.”Breetzke back at NorthantsNorthamptonshire, meanwhile, have re-signed South Africa top-order batter Matthew Breetzke for the first half of the 2025 summer. Breetzke will be available for Northants’ first eight games in the County Championship, as well as the whole of the Blast group stage.The 25-year-old finished as Northants’ leading run-scorer in the 2024 Blast, with 460 at a strike rate of 153.84, helping the club to reach the quarter-finals.”I’m delighted to sign with Northamptonshire for the 2025 season,” Breetzke said. “I really enjoyed my time at the club this year. I think the team has a lot of potential to push for promotion as well as go a few steps further in the Blast and win it. I’m looking forward to helping the team and hopefully achieving many more victories along the way.”

Four months after the board called off the visit to the country, a number of English players will now be part of the league

Matt Roller27-Jan-2022The Pakistan Super League is a finishing school for England’s best T20 cricketers. Since the league’s inception in 2016, England players have become increasingly popular to the extent that they now dominate the overseas player pool at the PSL, with nearly two-dozen due to appear in the 2022 edition which starts on Thursday.Ten of the playing XI for their first T20 international against West Indies on Saturday have PSL experience and the only exception, Adil Rashid, has expressed his desire to play in it in future. Eight members of the squad for that tour will fly from Barbados to Pakistan straight after this series to join up with their respective teams, and all six teams have English representation in their squads.A number of players have furthered their international cases through their involvement, including Phil Salt, Saqib Mahmood and Tymal Mills. “Playing for Peshawar Zalmi was a massive stepping stone for me to play for England,” Dawid Malan said back in 2019. “The pressure you get as an overseas player is like no other – it sets you up for when you get back to international cricket,” added Liam Livingstone.The involvement of leading overseas players in the PSL has been a contributing factor in bringing international cricket back to Pakistan on a regular basis. Chris Jordan and Malan both played in – and won – the 2017 final, the first PSL game staged in Pakistan rather than the UAE; five years later, 23 English players will travel to Karachi and Lahore with full confidence in security arrangements.Related

• The uncapped England players eyeing a PSL launch pad

• England withdraw from October tours to Pakistan

• Ian Watmore stands down as ECB chairman

The 2022 edition clashes with several international series and the Bangladesh Premier League, but falls during a rare break in England’s schedule. There is a wide range of players involved: leading internationals, T20 circuit regulars, young players cutting their teeth and senior county pros looking for franchise experience. There are even two English coaches leading franchises in Peter Moores (Karachi Kings) and James Foster (Peshawar Zalmi).But if the English influx is mutually beneficial, it also serves as a reminder that only four months ago, the ECB decided to call off men’s and women’s tours to Pakistan on the flimsiest grounds imaginable through a statement laced with hypocrisy and innuendo.”We know there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region and believe that going ahead will add further pressure to a playing group who have already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments,” the statement said.The Team England Player Partnership later clarified that the players had not been consulted over the decision; Ramiz Raja, the PCB’s chairman, said that Pakistan felt as though they had been “used and binned”.Phil Salt will turn out for Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2022•PA Images/GettyThe statement also made reference to the T20 World Cup, casting doubt on whether “touring under these conditions” would represent “ideal preparation”, as though there was no choice but to send a first-choice, full-strength squad. In doing so, it ignored that the fixtures’ very purpose.The men’s series – which would have comprised two T20Is and been England’s first tour since 2005 – was effectively an acknowledgement of the sacrifice made in Pakistan’s tour to England in 2020, during which their players quarantined in a three-star hotel and spent seven weeks in a country where Covid-19 was spreading fast. As a result, the ECB could fulfill its commitments to broadcasters and avoid an even heavier financial hit than the one it suffered.Pakistan toured again in 2021 for three ODIs and three T20Is, and fulfilled the series even after England’s first-choice squad was ruled out of the 50-over leg after a Covid outbreak. If England had been overseas in similar circumstances, would they really have seen the tour through?Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said at the time that England wanted to “play our part in ensuring the safe return of international cricket to this wonderful nation of passionate cricket fans” but by withdrawing in such vague circumstances, soon after New Zealand had pulled out of their own series, they immediately cast doubt on Australia’s upcoming tour – which, thankfully, looks set to go ahead.Perhaps this is water under the bridge. Ian Watmore resigned as the ECB’s chairman shortly after England’s withdrawal from the tours, and Harrison flew to Pakistan in November for discussions with Ramiz which concluded with an extension of England’s planned tour this winter from five T20Is to seven.But cricket’s insistence on postponing rather than cancelling fixtures means there is no guarantee that the reasons, which supposedly underpinned this winter’s withdrawal, will not apply in October. England’s leading white-ball players have almost no wiggle-room in their schedule, and next winter are also due to play bilateral series in Australia, South Africa and Bangladesh on top of a T20 World Cup: can the ECB guarantee they will all be available?The obvious solution would have been to go ahead with the men’s tour as scheduled and, in the event that players declared themselves unavailable due to their IPL commitments, a desire for family time ahead of a busy winter overseas or any other concerns, to find replacements accordingly.The contrast between English players’ clear desire to play in Pakistan and the ECB’s insistence that it could not fulfil a four-day, two-match tour should stick in the craw. The ill-judged, short-sighted decision to postpone is not one that will be forgotten quickly.

خيم التعادل السلبي على نتيجة مباراة الأهلي والمصري، في المواجهة التي جمعت بينهما مساء اليوم ضمن منافسات الدوري الممتاز.

وأقيمت المباراة بين الأهلي والمصري، على أرضية استاد برج العرب في الإسكندرية، في إطار لقاءات الجولة الـ13 من الدوري الممتاز.

وعقب مباراة اليوم، وصل رصيد الأهلي إلى 23 نقطة، من الفوز بـ6 مباريات والتعادل 5 مرات بجانب هزيمة وحيدة حتى الآن، خلال مشواره في الدوري المصري.

ويخوض الأهلي المواجهة القادمة أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا على استاد هزاع بن زايد بمدينة العين الإماراتية، ضمن منافسات السوبر المصري بنظامه الجديد بمشاركة 4 أندية.

طالع | ترتيب الدوري المصري بعد فوز الزمالك وبيراميدز وتعادل الأهلي

ويأمل الأهلي في التتويج ببطولة السوبر المصري، ساعيًا لكسب ود جمهوره بسبب تذبذب أداء ونتائج الفريق منذ بداية الموسم الحالي. موعد مباراة الأهلي وسيراميكا كليوباترا في السوبر المصري

من المقرر أن يلتقي الأهلي مع سيراميكا كليوباترا، يوم الخميس 6 نوفمبر 2025، في تمام الساعة الخامسة مساءً بتوقيت مصر، السادسة مساءً بتوقيت السعودية، والسابعة مساءً بتوقيت الإمارات.

وتُنقل المباراة عبر قناة أون سبورتس الناقل الحصري للبطولة.