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GOAL breaks down the line-up Mexico's Gerardo "Tata" Martino should pick against Saudi Arabia with his job at risk.

Tex-Mex. Americans trying to pronounce their city names. And now, Gerardo "Tata" Martino's managerial regime that has brought shame to El Tri at the World Cup.

These are among the core hatreds of many people in Mexico, with the latter gripe potentially vaulting to the top of the list by the end of the week. That's how bad things have gotten under Martino.

Mexico enter their third Group C match, against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, needing to win and get help elsewhere to advance to the knockout stage. Specifically, they must win and either see Poland defeat Argentina or have Argentina defeat or draw Poland while El Tri secure a superior goal differential.

If Mexico don't advance, it would be a failure not witnessed since 1978. If they also fail to score against Saudi Arabia (they've not scored in four consecutive World Cup outings, dating back to 2018), it would be the first time in the nation's history that they've failed to find the net at the tournament.

All bleak, but maybe there's a miracle in store? In some respects, Martino is limited by the squad he's chosen and the tactics he's drilled into the team since being appointed in 2019. But there are also choices he can make to best position himself to still be employed when the weekend arrives.

Let's take a look at the line-up that could best suit Mexico against Saudi Arabia:

Getty ImagesGK: Guillermo Ochoa

Not even Mexico miracle-maker Ochoa could thwart a determined Lionel Messi in Argentina's 2-0 win last Saturday, but let's take nothing away from the goalkeeper, who is El Tri royalty.

A clean sheet will be crucial against Saudi Arabia. Mexico can hardly be expected to score one goal, so conceding anything would put near-impossible pressure on the attack.

Ochoa will be the man between the posts, trying to prevent catastrophe. Mexico couldn't ask for anyone better to take on that job.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesLB: Jesus Gallardo

Gallardo started at wing-back last match as Martino went to a back-five against in hopes of slowing a world-class attack. While Argentina scored twice, Gallardo wasn't at fault.

We expect him to play a more traditional left-back role against Saudi Arabia as Mexico revert to a back-four in order to fit another attack-minded player on the pitch in search of goals.

No problem there, as Gallardo is perfectly comfortable in that system.

Getty ImagesCB: Hector Moreno

Much better from Moreno against Argentina compared to his nightmares in previous matches. Way to rise to the occasion!

He'll need to be mistake-free again when he starts Wednesday.

Just as important, though, is the 34-year-old's leadership during a tense game that could have his younger team-mates extremely nervous. This is where experience is crucial, and even more so if neither Hector Herrera nor Andres Guardado suit up.

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Getty ImagesCB: Cesar Montes

Montes is having a really good World Cup and is one of the few Mexico players to have shined in both games.

Part of the reason Mexico fans are so frustrated right now is that some of the nice efforts from the back-line are being completely wasted by an unproductive attack.

One more strong effort, and maybe there will be a reward at the end of it this time.

The midfielder scored the only goal of the game at the Vitality Stadium as the Norway international once again spurned multiple chances

Manchester City moved back to within a point of Premier League leaders Liverpool as they secured their second successive 1-0 win of the week, this time on the road at Bournemouth thanks to yet another goal from in-form midfielder Phil Foden.

City scored the only goal of the game just after the 20 minute mark, as Foden finished coolly after Erling Haaland saw his shot saved. The Norway international had a game to forget, in truth, as he again missed a number of chances to give City some breathing space on the south coast.

Bournemouth were bold and brave in the second half as they attempted to snatch a point, but the defending champions held firm and subsequently avoided a potential banana skin.

GOAL rates City's players from the Vitality Stadium…

Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence

Ederson (7/10):

Made a superb early save to deny Kerkez and saved well from Solanke's close-range header in the second half. Never wilted under the home side's aggressive positioning in attack, and kept his sheet clean.

Manuel Akanji (5/10)

Beaten a couple of times down the right and could be more adventurous when he has the ball, to give City another option in attack.

John Stones (6/10):

Pushed forward repeatedly, even winning a free-kick on the edge of the box in the first half. Bournemouth did seem to wise up to those runs in the second half, but a strong showing.

Ruben Dias (6/10):

Made a vital clearance to deny Tavernier and kept his defence well-organised against Bournemouth's second-half pressure.

Nathan Ake (7/10):

So composed on the ball. Slipped before Tavernier saw his effort cleared, but some really strong one-on-one defending otherwise. City's best defender on the day.

AdvertisementGettyMidfield

Rodri (6/10):

Constantly scanning and keeps City ticking. Had to do more defensive work than he would have expected in the second half, but did so with a minimum of fuss.

Mateo Kovacic (6/10):

Very good at relieving pressure by shielding and winning free-kicks, but his positioning often left something to be desired, as he consistently pushed up, leaving Rodri as the sole anchor in midfield. Subbed late.

Matheus Nunes (5/10):

Deployed, unusually, on the left flank. Mostly peripheral prior to his substitution after the hour, as he was replaced by Doku.

Getty ImagesAttack

Bernardo Silva (6/10):

Some beautiful touches and a curling effort that flew just wide, while he repeatedly tried to free Haaland of Bournemouth's marking, to varying degrees of success.

Erling Haaland (4/10):

Sent clean through by Foden early on but blazed wide, before his next shot was saved and converted by his England team-mate. Guardiola will surely be concerned that he had more than one opportunity when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but simply couldn't find the back of the net. A poor showing by his standards and his substitution only confirms as much.

Phil Foden (8/10):

Opened the scoring as he followed in and finished after Haaland saw a shot saved. A poacher's effort. Constantly linked with Bernardo and Haaland, and looked City's most dangerous player every time they attacked.

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GettySubs & Manager

Jeremy Doku (6/10):

On for the ineffective Nunes. Mucked in defensively, even if he didn't really affect the game in the final third.

Julian Alvarez (6/10):

On for Haaland. Barely touched the ball.

Kevin De Bruyne (5/10):

On for Kovacic to help see the game out. Did not have enough time to weave his usual magic, but was booked for kicking the ball away.

Pep Guardiola (6/10):

A bizarre choice to play Nunes on the left didn't work, but City got over the line despite inviting plenty of pressure in the second half. He will know they are capable of so much more.

Days after revealing their romantic reunion, Alisha Lehmann and Douglas Luiz gave gaming enthusiasts an amusing glimpse of their life at home.

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Douglas Luiz plays marathon Call of Duty sessionGirlfriend Lehmann tells him to finish playingPair reunited after year-long splitGetty & Twitch.tv/DGoficial6WHAT HAPPENED?

The Brazilian took advantage of a free midweek to engage with fans on Twitch over a game of . But as any gamer knows, times can slip away quickly when you are engrossed in the game and after two-and-a-half hours of action, Lehmann appeared to tell boyfriend and fellow Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz it was time to wrap it up.

AdvertisementTwitch.tv/DGoficial6WHAT DOUGLAS LUIZ SAID

Douglas Luiz was lamenting a defeat when Lehmann reminded him how late it was. Suddenly switching from Portuguese to English the Brazilian insisted: "I'm going now. I'm finished now." He then asked Lehmann to say goodnight to his viewers.

The pair shared a brief kiss before Lehmann won the day and Douglas Luiz finally logged off.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The clip serves as further confirmation that Douglas Luiz and Lehmann are back together. The Swiss international's glamourous New Years Day social media posts hinted heavily that pair were back together after their split in November 2022.

Lehmann had also popped up earlier in the evening while Douglas Luiz was gaming away, saying a quick hello to those following his adventures.

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WHAT NEXT FOR DOUGLAS LUIZ AND ALISHA LEHMANN?

Both of Villa's glamour couple are gearing up to face Everton this weekend. Douglas Luiz will be looking to keep Villa's surprise Premier League title charge going at Goodison Park on Sunday. Lehmann, meanwhile will face the Toffees in the FA Women's Cup fourth round on Saturday.

A round-up of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver League matches on November 21, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2014Group IHyderabad Hawks held on to secure a draw with two wickets remaining on the final day of their match against Lahore Eagles. Having been set a target of 387 with less than a day to go, Hyderabad were comfortably placed to save the game at 104 for 1. However, they collapsed to 158 for 7, with Asif Raza taking 4 for 68 for Lahore. The ninth-wicket pair of Mohammad Yasir and Mir Ali eventually remained unbeaten as Hyderabad ended on 213.Lahore’s dominance in the game had been set up on day one, when Fadah-ul-Haq scored a century. He finished on 138 as Lahore were dismissed for 334 on the second day, with Hyderabad’s Babar Khan taking 5 for 114. Hyderabad struggled in their response, though, and were dismissed for 238, conceding a 96-run first innings lead. All of theirtop-seven batsmen had got starts but only the captain Azeem Ghumman converted it into a half-century. Ahmed Bashir and Shahid Nawaz took three wicket each for Lahore.Lahore scored at 3.93 runs per over to set up a target, with Mohammad Waheed contributing 110. Mohammad Hamza made 77 off 110 balls to drive his team to 290 for 6, when the declaration came. Hyderabad were able to hang on to avoid outright defeat in the end.Quetta Bears hung on for a draw against Karachi Zebras, after both teams had held the advantage at different points during the match. Bears struck first, bowling Zebras out for 187 in the first innings thanks to a five-wicket haul from Gohar Faiz. Bears then compiled 268 in reply, collecting a vital lead of 81. Their innings was built around half-centuries from Arun Lal (78) and Rameez Raja (67). Zebras, however, counterattacked in their second essay, as Arsalan Bashir (114) and Owais Rehmani (114) both raised hundreds to power the team to 342 for 8 before they decided to declare, setting Bears 262 for victory. A four-wicket burst from Mansoor Ahmed reduced Bears to 142 for 8, but Zebras ran out of time to pick up the last two wickets that would’ve given them an outright win.Group IILeft-arm spinner Zafar Gohar took five wickets in each innings to bowl State Bank of Pakistan to victory by an innings and 21 runs against Sui Southern Gas Corporation in Sargodha.SBP had reduced SSGC to 107 for 5 in the first innings, after winning the toss, but half-centuries fromMohammad Waqas, Safiullah Bangash and Mohammad Irfan lifted the total to 312 by the time they were all out early on the second day. Gohar bowled 30.2 overs to finish with 5 for 80.SBP’s batsmen put in a far stronger performance. Usman Salahuddin and Rizwan Haider made 129 and 107, and Babar Azam missed a century by eight runs as they amassed 488. Irfan took 5 for 144 but was unable to prevent SBP’s Nos. 10 and 11 from contributing. Kashif Bhatti and Mohammad Naved made 24 each to give their side a 176-run lead in the first innings.Gohar and Bhatti then took five wickets apiece to shoot out SSGC for 155 in 55.1 overs. SSGC had progressed to 91 for 1 before the crash came and they lost nine wickets for 64 runs to lose by an innings.

West Indies come into the World Cup looking to redeem a reputation tarnished by the events of 2014 but the absence of key players, and a new leadership, still pose a challenge

Garth Wattley02-Feb-2015West Indies come to the World Cup looking to redeem a reputation tarnished by the events of 2014. The aborted tour of India due to a contracts dispute between the squad led by Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies Players Association and the West Indies Cricket Board fractured opinion in the West Indian community, and largely caused dismay among the cricket-loving public.More critically, there were casualties. Amid claims of victimisation in many quarters and equally strong denials by chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd and president of the WICB Dave Cameron, Bravo and senior allrounder Kieron Pollard found themselves surplus to requirements for the World Cup.Taking Bravo’s place at the helm is 23-year-old budding allrounder Jason Holder, the youngest man ever to captain West Indies, and a player who had just 21 ODIs behind him before the appointment. His will be the weighty task of galvanising a team still carrying the baggage of India with them to Australia and New Zealand, and having to deal with an assignment that was already going to be difficult.Stuck in the lower half of the ODI rankings, the two-time former World Cup winners cannot, on statistics, be considered tournament favourites, especially since they have struggled to win with any regularity against the sides ranked above them. However, with power-hitting batsmen like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Darren Sammy, the classy Marlon Samuels, West Indies have the batting personnel to have a decent tournament. Their bowling, however, has suffered after offspinner Sunil Narine withdrew from the squad to give himself more time to work on his action, which was reported as suspect during the 2014 Champions League T20 in India. Left-arm spinner Nikita Miller has been picked to fill Narine’s shoes.World Cup pedigreeAs winners of the first two World Cups and three-time finalists, West Indies had set the benchmark for excellence in the limited-overs format. They have long since fallen away from their own lofty standards. West Indies have not been to a final since they famously failed to complete the hat-trick in 1983 against India at Lord’s. Only once since – in 1996 – have they reached the semi-final stage. Yet, they retain sufficient players who on their day can turn any game. The elusive trick for them is to string enough of those days together as a team.X-factorAll 11 players can fit the description because of the mercurial nature of the squad. However, should Andre Russell pick his moments to attack a little better, his awesome hitting ability can take a match away from any side; his seam bowling can deliver important wickets, while his often stupendous work in the outfield can do similarly. Known primarily as a Twenty20 specialist, Russell is nevertheless the type of player to pull an important game out of the fire, even in 50-over cricket. He recently showed a glimpse of that against South Africa where his 64 off 40 deliveries lifted West Indies to a one-wicket win.Players in focusFact box

Previous World Cups
1975: Winners
1979: Winners
1983: Finalists
1987: Group stage
1992: Group stage
1996: Semi-final
1999: Group stage
2003: Group stage
2007: Super Eights
2011: Quarter-final
Squad
Jason Holder (capt), Marlon Samuels (v-c), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor
Fixtures
February 16 – v Ireland, Nelson
February 21 – v Pakistan, Christchurch
February 24 – v Zimbabwe, Canberra
February 27 – v South Africa, Sydney
March 6 – v India, Perth
March 15 – v UAE, Napier

Chris Gayle
A veteran of three World Cups, Gayle is still the side’s premier batsman at the age of 35. A superstar of the T20 game, Gayle is equally important to West Indies in the 50-over format. No West Indies batsman has scored more ODI centuries than his 21. He has not, however, done his heaviest scoring at World Cups and has just one century – against Kenya – to show for his three campaigns. Injuries have also become an area of concern for Gayle in recent years and in 2014, he underwent surgery on his back. Once he is fit enough to get to the crease however, Gayle’s runs will be crucial to any progress West Indies make in the tournament.Marlon Samuels
Marlon Samuels was one of the key factors behind West Indies’ World T20 triumph in 2012. At his best, he is the most accomplished batsman in the side but his best has not been on show come as consistently as either he or West Indies would like. On his return to the team in the series against India, after having been dropped earlier in the year, Samuels reeled off two centuries in three matches, including one in the fourth ODI of the series when matters off the field were in turmoil. It is that kind of focus and single-mindedness that his team will require in the World Cup, along with his economical off spin which can also take an important wicket or two. Being named vice-captain to Holder may also give the Jamaican a sense of purpose he hasn’t always seemed to have in his career.Jason Holder
At six foot seven, and nearly as tall as legendary fast bowler Joel Garner, Jason Holder has some big shoes to fill. He was unexpectedly entrusted with the captaincy in difficult circumstances and at a stage when his career has not quite taken off as a bowling all-rounder. The ODI series against South Africa was Holder’s only preparation for the World Cup and cricket’s biggest tournament will prove a fiery baptism. Credited with a shrewd cricket brain, Holder will have to rely on his thinking ability, developing skills as a seamer and useful lower-order hitting to convince his team-mates that he can lead.Game styleUnpredictability is both West Indies¹ strength and their weakness. They possess a number of explosive batsmen who can either set the pace of an innings or provide late momentum, and bowlers who on their day as a combination can keep strong lineups in check. West Indies are a momentum team and should they get their confidence up, they can give stiff competition to the more fancied teams.PredictionIn 2011, West Indies got to the quarter-final stage and a last-eight finish remains a realistic goal. To get to the semi-finals, however, would require consistency of play currently missing. The troubles of 2014 can, however, act as a galvanising force if the players see it as a means to redeem their reputation as team.World Cup stats West Indies have won just ten of their last 21 World Cup matches, starting from the 2003 World Cup. Two of those wins – against South Africa (2003) and Pakistan (2007) – have come against countries ranked above them in the ODI rankings. Only twice since reaching the final in 1983 have West Indies entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup – in 1996 and 2011. If they were an actorCharlie Chaplin: A comedy of off-the-field errors has dogged and could continue to hamper West Indies¹ progress on the field. They could feel those effects again in this campaign.Theme Song”Rally Round the West Indies” – David Rudder

This is the season of bounteous abundance yet Worcestershire’s players may feel they have been altogether too generous of late

Paul Edwards at New Road09-Sep-2014
ScorecardMatt Dunn was one of the Surrey bowlers to chip away at Worcestershire’s resistance•PA PhotosThis is the season of bounteous abundance yet Worcestershire’s players may feel they have been altogether too generous of late.It is for the Ladies’ Pavilion at New Road to be laden with delicious cakes and only expected that the boughs of the chestnut tree shadowing the corporate marquee should bend with leaf and conker. It is quite another matter when Daryl Mitchell’s players take such charity across the boundary, as they have done when losing to Gloucestershire and Derbyshire in their last two Championship games.Those results, combined with Hampshire’s resurgence, have narrowed the gap between the top two from 45 points to a mere seven. Even more significantly, both Surrey and Essex treasure hopes that they will be playing Division One cricket next summer. So while the county’s fields are packed with crops and their orchard-trees groan with fruit, Worcestershire’s cricketers have yet to harvest their year’s labours. Promotion, which once seemed so probable, cannot yet be toasted.The initial skirmishes of the vital game against Surrey did nothing to calm home supporters. Mitchell probably knew that he was taking a slight risk in choosing to bat first in a game beginning at 10.30; yet his players could be comforted that it was their captain, the season’s leading scorer in Championship cricket yesterday morning, who would be facing Surrey’s seamers on a wicket offering early help.Four balls into the game Mitchell was trooping off after edging a ball from Jade Dernbach which hardly required a stroke to the safe hands of Rory Burns at second slip. He was one of four Worcestershire batsmen not to bother the scorers on a day which raised plenty of questions about their techniques against the moving ball. By lunchtime, which always seems to be a major occasion in these parts, the home side were 132 for 5 in a mere 27 overs. Albeit that Dernbach and Matt Dunn had bowled well, Worcestershire’s top order had hardly looked of Division One calibre.Richard Oliver fell into a trap about as subtle as a kick up the bum when he pulled Dernbach straight to the studiously positioned Gareth Batty as deep square-leg; Tom Fell was lbw on the crease to Dunn playing a barely recognisable shot; and Alex Kervezee drove limply at the same bowler only to nick to wicketkeeper Gary WilsonYet the curious thing was that the day also offered the fine crowd three half-centurions in Moeen Ali, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Joe Leach, who hit a total of 27 fours in reaching their fifties. However, while both Moeen and Kohler-Cadmore were dismissed a few balls after reaching modest landmarks pitted with fine strokes, only Leach went on play a more major innings. Indeed, the No. 8 was ninth out, caught by Vikram Solanki in the gully bat and pad off Batty, for a carefully-constructed 70.Leach, who was dropped on nought when a chance off Meaker eluded Zafar Anasri at third slip, was responsible for more than doubling the Worcestershire score from 133 for 6, when Ben Cox edged Meaker just after lunch, to 272 for 8, when the cheerfully obdurate Jack Shantry could only fend a vicious bouncer from Meaker to Jason Roy at silly point. By then, though, Shantry had added 44 runs in 24 overs with Leach and he had also been received a meaty whack on the helmet from the bowler who dismissed him.Shantry’s good work followed a seventh-wicket stand of 95 in just over 22 overs between Leach and Kohler-Cadmore which offered Worcestershire’s loyal supporters their pleasantest viewing of the day. As the pair competed with each other to play the most sweetly-timed drive, the public address announcer contributed to the mood: “Tea is served in the Ladies’ Pavilion,” he informed the crowd, thus prompting the rapid growth of the most civilised queue since the 2012 Vermeer show at the Fitzwilliam.From the steps of the tea-room the panama’d ravenous applauded Kohler-Cadmore and Leach’s fifties, which were brought up within six balls of each other. However, Kohler-Cadmore, who was playing schools cricket for Malvern only last summer, turned left-arm spinner Ansari into Burns’ hands at short leg only three overs later and it was left to Leach to help secure a second batting bonus point.Worcestershire lost their last three wickets for no runs in five balls and their modest effort seems 50 or more runs short of par on this wicket. Indeed, a total of 272 was put into context by the eventless first-wicket partnership of 59 in 17 overs between Burns and Ansari, eventless, that is, unless one includes some stock in trade nudges and deflections that ensured the scoreboard was kept ticking over without risk.The pair will be there on the second day, too, when Surrey’s slim hopes of promotion may be advanced. Either way, there is likely to be a few more fraught days before Worcestershire discover what rewards their season’s work will garner.The day featured one other noteworthy event, well, three of them, actually. When Moeen went out to bat, when he returned to the pavilion, bowled by Dunn after making a 73-ball 54 and when he came on to bowl, the England allrounder was very warmly applauded by a crowd who, while it hardly knew how to respond to Saeed Ajmal’s ban, had no doubt how it would welcome home one of its favourite players. The ovation was prolonged and heartfelt. It was truly something this fine cricketer could take as a compliment.

Liverpool have confirmed their place in the round of 16 Europa League and Jurgen Klopp has emphasised the importance of the competition.

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Liverpool win 4-0 vs LASKQualify for the knockout stagesKlopp does not deprioritize Europa LeagueGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Liverpool defeated Austrian team LASK 4-0 at Anfield to guarantee their place in the UEFA Europa League round of 16. With this victory, they qualified for the knockout stages and sealed the title of Group E victors. The game was a display of Liverpool's offensive capabilities, with goals from Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz within the first fifteen minutes followed by a second-half strike by Mohamed Salah. After the match, Klopp revealed his relief after having qualified for the knockouts with one game in hand as they now face a packed fixture list till the start of the year. Klopp also maintained that the club would not be treating the Europa League as a secondary objective this season.

AdvertisementWHAT KLOPP SAID

Speaking in the press conference, Klopp said: "What do you mean how much of a priority? In comparison to other competitions or whatever? Unfortunately, my career is not like this where I can choose, to be honest. I have to take what I get. When we play the competition it's the most important competition on the planet. Easy as that. But now we play the Premier League on Sunday and so that is then the most important competition, definitely. We want to go as far as somehow possible [in the Europa League]."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Liverpool are favourites for the Europa League but having put themselves firmly in the Premier League title race, the demands on Klopp’s side are likely to be significant when the competition resumes. They are involved in a multi-club title fight with Manchester CIty, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Arsenal as Klopp's men sit third, two points behind leaders Arsenal but also only four points ahead of Manchester United in sixth.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

Liverpool's last Europa League group-stage game will be played on December 14 against Union Saint-Gilloise and are expected to field a lighter squad for the clash as it is one of their eight matches in the next three days. They next play against Fulham at Anfield on Sunday, December 3.

Jurgen Klopp was left stunned when he learned of Manchester United's 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.

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United lost 3-0 at Old TraffordLiverpool beat Bournemouth 2-1Reds boss shocked by resultWHAT HAPPENED?

Jurgen Klopp guided Liverpool to a 2-1 win over Bournemouth and was left stunned by the news of Manchester United's thumping at the hands of Newcastle at Old Trafford.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The Reds boss headed into his post-match press conference and was informed of the score. He appeared to say "ooh okay" and then clenched his teeth.

DID YOU KNOW

United have now lost both of their last two games 3-0, to Manchester City in the league and Newcastle in the cup, while they sit eighth in the Premier League table, ratcheting up the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag.

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GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

United return to league action against Fulham this weekend; Liverpool play Luton Town.

A round-up of the Bangladesh Cricket League matches that were played from March 1-4, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2016Central Zone consolidated their top spot after gaining ten points from the drawn encounter against East Zone at Cox’s Bazar.Central rode on Raqibul Hasan’s double-century to post 588 before the declaration came in the first innings. This was Raqibul’s first 200-plus score in first-class cricket since his 313 in the National Cricket League nine years ago.Coming in at No. 4, Raqibul made 228 in 338 balls, including 19 fours and two sixes. He added 154 runs for the third wicket with Marshall Ayub, who made 81, and then 240 for the fifth wicket with Tanveer Haider, who made his sixth century.In reply, East Zone were bowled out for 442, thanks to half-centuries from Mominul Haque (89), Alok Kapali (73), Yasir Ali (59) and Mohammad Saifuddin (77*).Central Zone slipped to 98 for 3 in second innings, after gaining a 146-run first-innings lead. Opener Shamsur Rahman, however, held the innings together with an unbeaten 125 that included 11 fours and two sixes, before the match ended in a draw.Nazmul Hossain Shanto’s patient century helped North Zone to a draw against South Zone. Nazmul made 126 off 208 balls, including 15 fours, after North Zone conceded a first-innings lead of 45.Batting first, North Zone were bowled out for 296 with No.9 Muktar Ali making an 84-ball 64, after they had slumped to 219 for 8. South Zone’s strong reply of 341 was built on the back of fifties from Anamul Haque (70), Shahriar Nafees (52) and Tushar Imran (96).Left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam claimed 6 for 116, before Nazmul turned it around with the bat in the second innings. He found support from Jahurul Islam, Naeem Islam, and Ariful Haque, all of whom made fifties.Facing a target of 346, South Zone were driven to 182 for 2 by Shahriar Nafees’ unbeaten 101. The match eventually ended in a draw.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed midway during the campaign to turn things around, but couldn't stop the rot during a historically poor campaign

GettyMourinho records club's worst Premier League start

Manchester United have picked up 26 points after their first 17 league games this season under Jose Mourinho; their worst points haul in the top-flight at this stage since 1990-91 (also 26 points).

United also only won 176 Premier League points under the Portuguese; fewer than Manchester City (222), Tottenham Hotspur (202), Chelsea (200) and Liverpool (196) since August 2016.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesHumiliated by old rivals Liverpool

Opta only began recording shot data for the 2003-04 season, but in those 15 years, United have never faced as many shots (36) as they did against Liverpool in the 3-1 drubbing at Anfield in December.

The win for their long-term rivals put Liverpool 19 points clear of United, a record advantage for the Reds after the first 17 games of an English top-flight season.

Worst non-clean sheet run in over 45 years

David de Gea has been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League in recent seasons, but his surprisingly poor form, as well as inconsistent defending in front of him, saw United go 13 consecutive games without a clean sheet in all competitions, their worst run since August 1971.

Furthermore, during this period from February to April 2019, they were kept scoreless on five occasions.

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Five consecutive away defeats

United's away form in spring 2019 was their worst since March 1981, when Dave Sexton's Red Devils also lost five away games in a row in all competitions.

Solskjaer's away run included a 2-0 loss to Arsenal, two 2-1 defeats to Wolves in both league and FA Cup, as well as a 3-0 loss to Barcelona and then a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Everton.