Bosch, de Klerk, Shangase and Dercksen are also first-timers for an ODI World Cup

Firdose Moonda03-Sep-2025Karabo Meso, the 17-year-old wicket-keeper batter, will go to her first World Cup after being included in South Africa’s squad for the ODI tournament in India and Sri Lanka which starts later this month.She has just two ODI caps to her name and has played seven senior internationals in all, but has featured in two Under-19 World Cups and won the SA20 Schools title with Steyn City earlier this year. Meso is one of two players who will play at a World Cup for the first time. Offspin-bowling allrounder Nondumiso Shangase, who was recalled to South Africa’s squad in May, is the other.Top-order batter Anneke Bosch and allrounders Nadine de Klerk and Annerie Dercksen will also feature in an ODI World Cup squad for the first time; they have previously been in T20 World Cup squads.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The rest of South Africa’s 15-player group is as expected, led by Laura Wolvaardt with significant experience in different departments. Allrounders Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus and Chloe Tryon and seamer Ayabonga Khaka all played important roles in South Africa reaching the last ODI World Cup semi-finals and will be present again.As reported last week, there was no room for former captain Dane van Niekerk, who was included in a training camp but her international comeback remains a while away.Others present in that camp but not making the squad are batters Lara Goodall and Faye Tunnicliffe, seamer Ayanda Hlubi, legspinner Seshnie Naidu and allrounders Eliz-Mari Marx and Luyanda Ntuza. Miane Smit, an allrounder who bowls offspin, has been included as the lone travelling reserve.”The make-up of the squad is underpinned by the consistent selection process that was adhered to during the recent ICC Women’s Championship cycle, while taking into account the subcontinent conditions and the different characteristics of the group required for a successful tournament of this nature,” Clinton du Preez, South Africa’s convenor of selectors, said.Under head coach Mandla Mashimbyi, SA have lost four ODIs in 10 outings•Cricket South Africa

This will be the first major tournament South Africa will play under head coach Mandla Mashimbyi, who succeeded Hilton Moreeng in a permanent capacity last year. In Mashimbyi’s tenure, South Africa have been inconsistent, with four wins in ten ODIs, including a series win over West Indies in June. Mashimbyi was occasionally without some senior players – such as Kapp for the tri-series in Sri Lanka – but will have one more opportunity to fine-tune his combinations before the tournament starts.South Africa tour Pakistan for three ODIs to be played between September 16 and 22 before moving on to India for their World Cup opener against England. Their recent tournament run has included two ODI World Cup semi-finals and back-to-back T20 World Cup finals, and there is expectation for them to take the next step and claim a cup. Mashimbyi is confident this group of players can deliver.”From the moment I joined this team, and even before my time when the squad went through the qualification phase, it was all about working towards this moment,” Mashimbyi said. “We can look back at the amount of preparation we have put in and know that we have done our best. We are ready to send a squad to the World Cup that will make South Africa proud.”We believe we have the squad of players that can go out there and deliver on the world stage. Now it is all about carrying that belief with us every step of the way, along with the support of the entire nation.”

South Africa squad for Women’s ODI World Cup

Laura Wolvaardt, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Chloe Tryon

Travelling reserve: Miane Smit

West Indies gave a better account of themselves with the bat than in Ahmedabad, but India remained in control of the Delhi Test

Sidharth Monga11-Oct-20252:57

Chopra: Gill destined for greatness

West Indies gave a better account of themselves with the bat than in Ahmedabad, but India still remained in control of the Delhi Test after Shubman Gill scored his 10th Test hundred and declared midway through the day at 518 for 5. In response, West Indies put on their first half-century stand of the series – a contrast to at least 57 for every wicket for India in this Test, Alick Athanaze posted their highest individual score of 41 and they went 43 overs with the loss of four wickets. It was an improvement after they failed to bat 50 overs in either of their innings in Ahmedabad, but they still needed 179 to avoid the follow-on.The day began on a sour note for India when the voracious Yashasvi Jaiswal was run-out after he had added just two to his overnight 173. He was quite demonstrative in letting his partner, Gill, know it was his call and that he should be looking at him and not the ball. However, Jaiswal had hit the ball to mid-off a little too well, and Gill had been quick to turn his back. Jaiswal, though, kept going, and left himself no opportunity to recover.The ever-calm Gill took it in his stride, and – at least for the spectators – more than made up for the run-out with sumptuous strokeplay to bring up his fifth century in just seven Tests as captain. For company he had 40s from Nitish Kumar Reddy, promoted so he can play some role in home Tests, and Dhruv Jurel, whose dismissal brought about the declaration.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

For most part, Gill hardly played a shot in anger. When the seamers produced a mildly testing spell in the morning, Gill prospered with short-arm cuts and defensive pushes for boundaries into the leg side, often after stepping out of the crease. He brought up his half-century with slight abandon, a lovely flick through midwicket. When Justin Greaves tried to mix cutters, he picked one even as he stepped out and then lofted him for a six.Reddy, who bowled just four overs in the first match and didn’t get to bat, was sent in at No. 5 so that India can give him time in the middle and give him every opportunity to develop into an allrounder when he is next needed overseas. It wasn’t the smoothest of innings, with an early edge falling short, but featured two sixes against the turn before a third attempt ended it on 43 off 54.Jurel was a more reliable ally, once again showing good judgement of length against spin. He preferred to press forward in preparation to face the ball, but was quick to rock back every time the spinners dropped short.Gill strolled through to his hundred before flicking into a higher gear, scoring 27 off 19 after reaching the landmark. In trying to match Gill’s pace, Jurel tried to manufacture a pull and was bowled off Roston Chase, the first man other than Jomel Warrican to take a wicket.Gill pulled the plug on the innings with that dismissal. Unbeaten, he now averaged 43.47 in Tests and 84.81 as captain. No India captain has scored more hundreds in a year than Gill’s five after he took over practically in the second half of 2025.1:08

Warrican: Need to be ‘extremely disciplined’ bowling here on first two days

Averaging 20 over the last 40 innings, the West Indies opening wicket failed to change that number either way, although this time they were unlucky. John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul had looked comfortable against pace. Campbell welcomed Ravindra Jadeja’s spin with a paddle-swept boundary, but the next sweep, nailed off the middle of the bat, hit the short leg’s helmet and lodged itself in the fielder’s arms. B Sai Sudharsan, the fielder, stayed off the field for the rest of the day, but had brought about a breakthrough.Chanderpaul and Athanaze then put together West Indies’ most assured phase with the bat, using their feet, sweeping, lofting down the ground, and then Chanderpaul was beaten in the air by a quick Jadeja delivery, which he steered for a sharp catch at first slip.Athanaze then hit Kuldeep Yadav’s first ball of a new spell straight to midwicket, having got too close to the pitch of the ball on this slog-sweep. Captain Roston Chase tamely flicked one back to Jadeja. In the stands, Viv Richards and Brian Lara were seen gesturing he should have defended it with the turn and not flicked against it.Shai Hope and Tevin Imlach saw West Indies through to stumps without further damage but they still had a mountain to climb.

Joe Cole has played for some big clubs. In the Premier League, he’s made 126 appearances for West Ham United, and 182 for Chelsea. But if you were asked which club the former England man made his third-most appearances for, would you have guessed his current club, the Tampa Bay Rowdies?

Up until just a few months ago, though, Cole’s third club in terms of league appearances was Ligue 1 side Lille, for whom he played in loan in 2011/12.

Lille had won the league in 2011, and it remains their only Ligue 1 title since 1954, whilst in the intervening period they’d won the Ligue 2 title four times, giving an idea as to the trajectory of the club. But as league champions, it wasn’t just an inviting club for Cole to spend a season at, it also guaranteed Champions League football for a few months, too.

The problem was, Ligue 1 clubs who perform above their expectations – as Monaco found out in the summer – are often raided for their best and brightest stars. Top scorer Moussa Sow and Gervinho were swept away to Fenerbahce and Arsenal respectively, and while Eden Hazard stayed on for another season before joining Chelsea, Cole’s side could only finish third in defence of their title.

He wasn’t the only English player to make the trip to France on loan around that period of time. Joey Barton spent a season in Marseille, offending some and endearing himself to others for a year on the south coast: he made life interesting in Ligue 1 and seemed to take nicely to life in the country, though a move back to London and relegated QPR brought him back to England with a bump.

There’s an odd list of British players after the 1980s – when English clubs were banned from European competition and plenty of players went to ply their trade abroad – joining foreign clubs. That is, they’re never young and hungry players aiming to learn as much as they possibly can about the world and take in new footballing cultures which can help them for the rest of their careers. Instead, the likes of Cole and Barton may well have benefitted from joining clubs like Lille and Marseille a decade earlier.

But that’s might well be changing, or at least in the short term.

One of the more interesting transfer stories of the summer was Jadon Sancho, the very highly-rated young English winger, who joined Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City. Sancho left the club after becoming frustrated with the lack of assurances over his inclusion in the first team and his chances of getting minutes on the pitch in this Pep Guardiola team. And so he joined Dortmund, who have a reputation around the world for giving young talent a chance.

In fairness to Manchester City, Sancho is only 17 which means he shouldn’t necessarily be getting first team football by now anyway. But whilst the rest of England’s U17 World Champions were busy beating Brazil in the final, Sancho was dragged back to Germany early by his club because they wanted him to play a role in the first team: but you can’t imagine he was too disappointed by that, playing first team football is exactly what he wanted and what he probably needs, at least in the future.

The difference between Sancho and players like Cole and Barton and even, to a lesser degree, Oliver Burke who spent a season with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga last season, is that Sancho is gaining a footballing education in more than just one country, learning more than one culture, and pitting himself against the kinds of teams, tactics and strengths he’ll likely face in the Champions League and in international games in the future. But what he isn’t doing is joining a foreign club on loan for a year-long holiday. He’s there to work.

Certainly others should follow that lead. It may well be that they, like Burke, can’t settle, and it might be, like Barton, they’re asked to come back. But looking at Cole, who played 12 times for Aston Villa and 22 times for Coventry City upon returning to England before joining the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the lower leagues in the States, you get the feeling that his 32 league games in one season in France was the most productive time of his career post-Chelsea.

If others follow that route and are able to broaden their footballing horizons by spending time abroad that isn’t just a season in the sun, then English international football will benefit from a few more worldly players.

It feels like I’ve stepped into an episode of The Twilight Zone. There’s water on Mars, Sir Alex is going to manage David Beckham again, and Sergio Aguero hasn’t scored in open play for a month and a half. That’s usually as probable as Manchester going the same period without rain.It’s a normality that when the Argentine is playing he’s scoring. With him failing to find the net can someone steal his Golden Boot?Before last weekend Aguero had a little bit of breathing space in the race for top scorer. His expected rivals for the accolades had all been suffering droughts of their own. This ended when Sanchez bagged a hat-trick for Arsenal, Kane scored against Manchester City and Rooney put fifteen hours of goalless Premier League matches behind him.The belief Sergio just needed a goal – any goal – to get his confidence back was dismissed when he scored a spot-kick against Sunderland in the League Cup but still appeared far from his best. The trend continued this week in the Champions League. Again, the history books will record a penalty scored, but they won’t reflect an evening of frustration for City’s star striker.[ffc-gal cat=”manchester-united” no=”5″] Never before in his time for the Manchester club has he looked so painfully out of sorts. There has to be questions surrounding his fitness and with each passing week the wayward efforts are driving his mental wellbeing down. Normally if Aguero shoots you expect a goal, recently attempts are met with an inward breath as you wait to see how close the miss was.This is great news for rival strikers.The question then becomes: who is most likely to emerge as the leading scorer this year? The usual candidates have to be considered. First up we have Harry Kane. He was last year’s runner-up for the Golden Boot with an impressive 21 goals, including a hat-trick against Leicester. What makes his tally all the more eye-catching is he only played one more game than Aguero in a side less able to provide chances.In music terms, this season could be the difficult second album. What came so easy last year is arduous at present. But if he finds his form in the next five games he has to be considered a good bet.Wayne Rooney was another of the men to end his drought. Unlike the other’s that will be mentioned here, he can’t be seen as a threat. Last year he bagged 12 goals and there’s little to suggest he is going to suddenly become prolific. In his defence, he hasn’t been utilised as an out-and-out striker, and while there was hope this could be the season he features heavily leading the front line again, the performances of Anthony Martial have put the idea to bed. More on the Frenchman in a minute.Sanchez was the third player to end a goalless streak. He has a solid chance of being around the prize if we have a relatively low scoring season for strikers. He bagged 16 goals in the league last year, and while it could be argued now he’s fully acclimatised he can push on, asking for more than 20 could be fanciful. From within his team it seems Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott will split the goals between them.The elephant in the room so far is last year’s third place man for the Golden Boot. That player everyone loves, the type of character first on the list for any party, Diego Costa.He played 459 minutes less than Sergio Aguero last season and was only 6 goals behind the prize. So while he would have needed a goal every 76 minutes to catch the City player he was almost his equal, this in his first stab at the Premier League. He may only have a single goal to his name at the moment but Chelsea’s poor start to the season will end soon. When it does expect the goals to flow with Costa netting the majority.Droughts aside, we are left with outsiders and a rookie. Southampton’s Pelle has started the season with four but anyone that had him in their Fantasy Team last year will recall his ability to fire blanks when least expected. Everton’s Lukaku is also on a quartet and the only man in the current top ten to have scored from outside the area. If Everton sustain a push, and the bigger names continue to be indifferent, he will finish in the top five scorers with one eye on the prize, he’s not been that close since 2013.At the danger of sounding dismissive, I can’t see players such as Jamie Vardy or Callum Wilson continuing their chart leading ways for an entire season. This is no slight on them but their respective clubs will have difficult days ahead over the remainder of the season which will impact on chances. Three others, Gomis, Benteke and Sturridge, I expect to easily finish in the top ten but their sides will lack a run of form that enables a higher goals return.The unknown quantity is Anthony Martial. He has three from three. The stats aren’t as impressive as the visual demonstration. The comparisons to Theirry Henry were premature. Now they have more weight behind them. Against Liverpool he scored a goal that mirrors one Henry scored against the same club in Arsenal’s Invincibles season.If United do form a solid challenge this year, and excellent service is provided by players like Rooney and Mata, there’s no evidence to suggest Martial can’t steal Kun’s Golden Boot.

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Over a year in charge and almost a quarter of a billion pounds spent, but at least  Louis van Gaal and Manchester United are making some progress.

Despite a heavy defeat to a team they usually defeat heavily, United are going in the right direction – but after spending so much money, they’re getting there surprisingly slowly. Van Gaal’s team and his tactics at the weekend show it.

Van Gaal started with Schweinsteiger and Carrick, much to the dismay of those who felt that Morgan Schneiderlin would give the team a bit more bite. And those who felt this way were vindicated by the end of the game. Schweinsteiger were given instructions to press Arsenal high up the pitch – not something usually asked of a pair of central midfielders with a combined age of a man waiting on his free bus pass.

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Schneiderlin would have been better in the role, but van Gaal didn’t put him there. And this shows two things. One is the stubbornness of van Gaal, the man who has transformed Manchester United. The other is that despite spending so much money, United are still lacking in their squad and its depth.

Firstly, van Gaal has transformed the personnel, the style of play and the way the team operates. Whereas in the past, United would have been able to adapt their side and their tactics in order to target the weakness of other teams. Just a look at United’s record against Arsenal shows that they knew how to beat Wenger: before the weekend Wenger hadn’t beaten United since May 2011, a big game at the time but it hardly mattered – although that defeat cut Ferguson’s lead over Chelsea in the title race to three points, United eventually won the league by nine points.

But at the weekend, van Gaal’s team didn’t play like the Ferguson teams of old who could pinpoint Arsenal’s weaknesses and cause Wenger severe headaches. This time Arsenal picked them off.

Van Gaal is as attached to his principles as a limpet is to a rock, against the bigger teams, that might mean they get picked off like they did against Arsenal. Against the smaller teams, that might mean that United control the game, but if they don’t manage to break down a defence, they might succumb to a draw. Too many draws might cost them the title. Similarly, too many defeats against the big teams can cost you the title too – just ask Arsene Wenger.

But van Gaal won’t change. And that’s ok, he’s a successful manager for a reason. If he believes that he can win the league with this team, he probably deserves at least a season to try. But the next problem he runs into is his squad.

Having spent so much money, United should be challenging for the title again. In order to do that you need the squad to take the stresses and strains of the season. Partly that means squad depth, but it also means having the squad to make the tactical changes you want to make against different teams.

And against Arsenal, van Gaal set up in order to try and control the game himself. With Carrick and Schneiderlin, LvG had two players who are positionally excellent and who can pass exceptionally well. He thought he could have a solid defensive midfield to stand up to Arsenal’s patient build-up play and then launch patient attacks of their own when they got the ball back.

He should have played Schneiderlin, but didn’t. Either that means van Gaal made a glaring tactical error and refused to correct it, or he thought that Schneiderlin wasn’t the right player for the role. And if he feels like he doesn’t have the right man for the role, then just what is he spending £250m on? He’s spending that much money and still having to play Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia at full back?

Van Gaal has transformed Manchester United, their style of play is different and their personnel is different. But last weekend’s defeat showed problems with both of these areas. Manchester United were picked off by an Arsenal side wise to van Gaal’s tactics, and Untied didn’t have the players on the pitch to deal with it. It was a failing in both areas and United won’t win a title unless they improve both.

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Ecuador may have admittedly failed to capture much attention whilst operating at the 2014 World Cup finals last year – but via a certain plucky frontman named Enner Valencia – the Amarillos possessed at least one potential star to call their own.

The 25-year-old striker successfully scored every goal for his nation in Brazil two summers ago, subsequently landing himself a big money move to the Premier League in the process. West Ham United eventually won the race to land the Ecuadorian’s signature before the start of the 2014/15 campaign, and although £12 million was certainly a sizeable amount to splash out on a largely untested asset, the move was seemingly finalised relatively quickly.

However, although the former Club Sport Emelec and C.F. Pachuca man was by no means poor through the previous campaign, the newly discovered Hammers forward didn’t exactly set the English top-flight alight either. To make matters worse for the South American striker, Enner Valencia went on to suffer a frustrating injury in the run up to the current season, ruling himself out of the 2015/16 campaign thus far.

So then, now that the unpredictable 25-year-old is largely expected to return to first team action in the next couple of weeks or so, will West Ham’s goal-scorer impress upon reintroducing himself within Slaven Bilic’s starting XI?

Well, even though Valencia still represents one of the Hammers’ most significant investments in the modern era, breaking back into the first team fold at Upon Park will certainly prove a task much easier said than done. Now that Big Sam Allardyce’s old fashioned tactics have largely been washed away from the east end in favour of a more attack-minded, entertaining approach, Slaven Bilic’s new side have begun the 2015/16 season in great style.

Although West Ham’s home form does in-fact need seeing to at this early stage in the proceedings, Bilic has got his team playing incredibly effectively on their travels, picking up an impressive four away victories out of five so far this term. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are just some of the top-flight teams to fall victim of the Hammers under their newly appointed Croatian boss.

Breaking back into the West Ham’s starting XI will therefore prove tough for Valencia initially. The South American saw his pre-season schedule disrupted somewhat thanks to his ill-timed injury earlier on in the year – and because of the strong form of his teammates so far in 2015/16 – he must work hard to prove himself within West Ham’s current set up. The likes of Manuel Lanzini, Victor Moses, Diafra Sakho – and of course not forgetting a certain Dimitri Payet – have all worked wonders for their side in the attacking areas of the pitch.

With the likes of Andy Carroll, Mauro Zarate and the newly acquired Michail Antonio also pushing for a first team place under Slaven Bilic this term, Valencia clearly has his work cut out upon returning from injury.

Yet that doesn’t mean we won’t see the Ecuadorian hero feature in the claret & blue sooner rather than later. Thanks to his sheer unpredictability in front of goal, quick turn of pace in the final third and strong link-up play with fellow front-man Diafra Sakho – Valencia certainly still has something to offer Bilic throughout the rest of the season. Sakho’s own individual performances will likely improve tenfold with his strike-partner back in the frame, and as West Ham’s no. 11 failed when played out wide under Allardyce last season, Bilic will likely get the best out of Valencia by using him in his most suitable position.

The goal-scoring forward works best when played as an orthodox striker with support to work off of in the final third. His overall technical ability may need work if he’s ever going to make it as a standout Premier League regular, but as such issues can easily be dealt with out on the training field, there is absolutely no reason to suggest that the Ecuadorian international won’t succeed this term.

Hammers fans therefore have great reason to be excited now that Enner Valencia is soon to be back amongst the action at Upon Park. Seeing as Victor Moses cannot feature against his parent-club Chelsea next time out, perhaps next weekend will provide West Ham’s tricky no. 11 with the perfect opportunity to re-stake his claim in front of the Boleyn Ground faithful.

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Last weekend saw that most wonderful of Premier League cliches trotted out again: the stuff of Champions – they played badly and ground out that win.

In many ways, it’s very true. In many other ways it’s totally misleading. Just because Arsenal and Manchester City manage to win whilst playing badly, it doesn’t mean they’re going to win the league.

It might be a quality that champions often have, but this is a season like no other. Arsenal and City just seem to be coping with that better than most this season. They’re not quite as neck and neck as City and Chelsea were last season around this stage – they had identical records on New Year’s Day – but they’re still pretty close.

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It’s too early to discount Leicester and Spurs, of course. Being only two points behind Arsenal, Leicester have every chance of winning the league if they can keep up their form – all they have to do is match Arsenal’s results and beat them in that one game when they play each other. That’s if Arsenal are the ones setting the pace. Spurs, on the other hand, are the team on solid form, they just keep getting results and look hard to beat.

But the reasons neither of these teams look like challenging City and Arsenal are the strength in depth they have, and the lack of top-of-the-table experience these sides have. This season has made every football writer look like a complete idiot, but perhaps naively I’m sticking to my guns – I’d love to be wrong, how great would that feel? Watching Wes Morgan lift the crowned trophy would be a moment when everyone would remember where they were. A clip shown in every Premier League montage from that moment on until the end of time.

But surely it’s all about Arsenal and City, the two teams who ground out the victory this weekend.

Arsenal have the ability to beat any team in the division, looking at how they’ve played this season. Their rise has been coupled with some sort of newly-found spine in their team, capable of keeping the other team out, capable of limiting counter-attacks and staying solid at the back. In many ways, that’s why they’ve climbed up the table – even if all their stars seem to be in their attack.

City, on the other hand, are a similar paradox, but in reverse. It’s City’s attack that looks incredibly strong – surely the strongest in the league on paper – but losing their captain Vincent Kompany has made them hugely vulnerable in defence. For all of City’s powerhouse attackers, it’s a man they signed for £6m under Mark Hughes who keeps the team winning football matches.

WANT MORE? >> Arsenal transfer news | Man City transfer news

But he will come back. As will David Silva and Sergio Aguero – already back on the pitch, but still not back to full strength and sharpness. And when City have those players back, not only are they a formidable team, but they have something that only one Arsenal player has: experience of winning the Premier League.

And that’s the kind of know-how that might sway the title race. Even though Arsenal have the ability to be champions, and it’s clear that City have the inconsistency to make Arsenal champions, it could just be the fact that City know how to grind it out that matters.

And that’s where there’s truth to the cliche. Because it’s all well and good grinding out a win when you play badly, but what’s more important is grinding out title wins. The fact that the champions are usually able to grind out more of the unfashionable wins than other teams makes sure that they’re able to grind out entire title wins.

Just because Arsenal beat Newcastle doesn’t mean that they have what it takes to be champions – it’s the fact that their squad is so good that means they have what it takes. But with all their experience, it’s a quality that stands out in their team more.

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Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has hailed praise on star goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who made no less than 10 saves to keep Arsenal at bay in their 0-0 draw, according to reports from the Daily Mail.

For much of the game at the Emirates, the Gunners were on the front foot but were unable to break the deadlock, with Forster in fine form to keep the game goalless for 90 minutes.

The result has left Arsene Wenger’s men trailing league leaders Leicester City by five points, with the Foxes beating Liverpool 2-0 at the King Power Stadium while Manchester City also pushed ahead with their win over Sunderland.

And Koeman had nothing but praise for his goalkeeper, who was the one to thank for gaining them a point.

Koeman said: “Not in one-and-a-half years managing Southampton has a team created what Arsenal created in opportunities today. You need to be lucky, first, and you need to have a goalkeeper who is saving everything.

“Normally it is more difficult for opponents to create those kind of chances against us. We didn’t play well, but we fight unbelievable, we had an unbelievable spirit today.

“Arsenal are so good defensively with a lot of creativity and that’s difficult then, of course, you need a keeper that’s magic and he is magic tonight.

“He is with the [England] national team and he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and maybe in Europe.”

Wenger also congratulated the Englishman, but admitted his frustration at his side being unable to finish their opportunities.

He said: “He had a brilliant game, but you expect that. We produced quite a good performance, especially in the second-half, where we created 10 good chances and we came out with no goal.

“I believe it the performance we wanted to produce was there but we cannot be happy with the way we finished our chances. What is the most disappointing was that some players missed some chances that they usually take.

“Our finishing is very bad at the moment, we have now played three games without scoring a goal.

“It is maximum frustrating because when your team puts in the energy and when you come out and think there was much more in the game like that, when you have our ambitions, it is frustrating.”

Arsenal travel to Dean Court to face Bournemouth in their next fixture, while the Saints host West Ham United who are a point above them on Saturday.

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Perhaps the major criticism levelled at Leicester City amid their title challenge is the fact few, if any, of the players have been in a similar position before.

Even their manager, Claudio Ranieri, is widely regarded to be one of football’s perennial ‘nearly men’.

Still, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the vast majority of this season, you’ll be well aware that the Foxes are firmly in the mix to lift the Premier League title at the season’s end.

Sure, it’s easy to write them off and the pressure looked as if it had taken its toll last time out, losing to Arsenal.

But if you thought that their title challenge would derail following that result, you clearly don’t know a lot about Leicester. Or this season on a whole.

Good teams churn out results when perhaps they are not at their rampant best. Title winning teams do so.

A frustrating clash with Norwich City, fighting for their lives, looked to be heading for a goalless draw.

Until Leonardo Ulloa nodded a last gasp winner to keep the feel-good dream alive, opening up a five point gap at the summit.

Today, Leicester proved their title credentials. Much to the annoyance of North London, with both Arsenal and Tottenham fans left gutted.

It took Norwich City to concede in the last minute at Leicester to briefly unite North London into venting their frustration at the East Anglia outfit.

Football, eh?

Oh, we should also mention the buzz created by the Foxes. Twitter appears to behind them all the way now, for the most part anyway.

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“You mention Bryan Robson: that’s the player I’d like to think he could become” were the words used by England manager Roy Hodgson before his side’s emphatic 3-2 win over Germany last weekend.

Who was he talking about? Dele Alli of course, the youngster that has taken both the Premier League and world by storm in his debut season for Tottenham Hotspur.

He helped England to a famous 3-2 victory over Germany last weekend and his displays have been part of Spurs’ rise to second in the league, with the title still in sight.

His rapid development has been extraordinary. He has gone from playing in front of 12,000 at MK Dons to the bookmakers’ favourite for this year’s PFA Young Player of the Year award. He’s gone from a holding midfielder to being able to play wide, or in a more attacking berth, which has led some to dispute where his best position actually is. Versatility is fantastic at such a young age.

He could perhaps be that box-to-box midfielder England have missed for years, but it’s unquestionable that he has all-round ability. He’s got good vision and can score goals too, an extremely desirable asset for a midfielder in this day and age. He’s only 19, too.

For Spurs, Champions League qualification looks on the cards and that is a major plus point when the inevitable transfer rumours begin in the summer. Make no mistake about it, Europe’s big guns will be on the prowl.

Four Spurs players made the cut for the England game against Germany, and with the quartet performing so strongly, it seems like the ideal environment for Alli to continue nurturing his game. It’s nothing but an advantage for England if they can carry on playing so well in the league – the form will surely translate to the national team.

People must remember that Alli is only a teenager and that he’s only been in the ‘big-time’ for one season. He needs to continue his development in as calm a way as possible and in the future, England can turn him into the big player that many expect him to be.

He has another four of five years of growing physically and mentally as a player, but he needs to mature quickly. Being thrown onto football’s biggest stage at such an early stage in your career can be either extremely positive or very destructive. There are many players that get to Alli’s stage and end up throwing it away because they believe in their own hype.

Alli needs to be a footballer that realises his potential and genuine quality, but also understands that hard work and what happens on the pitch will be what takes him forward.

Both Spurs and England have a long way to go with the youngster. But it’s extremely clear that he can be an asset to both in years to come.

Keep your head down Dele, and good things will happen.

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