Latest news with #Playmaker
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Close encounters of the Premier League kind
High quality chance creation is an ever-evolving science, but one of its key tenets is dead simple - shoot closer to goal to increase the odds of scoring! With this in mind, Playmaker's latest 'Stat Attack' focuses on the teams to target their opponents' six yard boxes most effectively in the 2024/25 season. Advertisement In terms of peppering their adversary's goal, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal were the stand-out performers in the Premier League last term: the Gunners averaging an even two shots-per-game inside the six yard box, more than any other team. Just behind the north Londoners, in this regard, were Bournemouth (1.8 shots-per-game), Newcastle (1.7), Liverpool and Brentford (both 1.6). Interestingly, the two Arsenal players to take most close range shots last season had very different profiles. Tied on 13 shots and three goals apiece inside the six-yard box, were forward Kai Havertz and defender Gabriel Magalhães - the former offering more of a threat from open-play situations, while the latter was a real menace from set-pieces, especially corner-kicks. However, while the Gunners may have taken the most shots from close quarters, the most clinical team in the Premier League last season were actually Eddie Howe's Newcastle United. Advertisement The Magpies scored 21 of their 68 top flight goals (31%) last season from inside the six-yard box and their prime source of close range threat was unsurprisingly the free-scoring Alexander Isak, who notched eight of his 23 Premier League goals (35%) last term from within six yards. Brentford's Yoane Wissa ranked second in terms of the top tier's best close range marksman, with seven goals, while a posse of players (Johnson, Gakpo, Evanilson, Salah and Schade) hit five goals apiece from the inner sanctum of their opponents' boxes. We'll finish off with a revealing look at the Premier League teams to take their shots closest to goal on average last season. Top of the pile are, in fact, Thomas Frank's Brentford - the Bees firing off their shots 14.9 yards away from goal, Arsenal (15.1 yards) next on the list of close-range shooters. Such numbers give a fascinating insight into modern shooting trends - and the fact that Arsenal (69 goals), Newcastle (68) and Brentford (66) all finished the season within the Premier League's 'Top 5' most prolific teams is surely no coincidence.
Irish Examiner
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Unlucky trio to miss out on selection for Ireland
Lee Barron The Leinster hooker has impressed on loan with Munster in his two appearances off the bench since joining alongside Michael Milne for the final weeks of the season ahead of their permanent moves to the southern province this summer and Wednesday's Ireland selection may confirm the reasons for his departure. Barron had already been passed out in the pecking order by academy hooker Gus McCarthy, who was first capped by Ireland in November but now he has been overlooked in favour of another Leinster academy player in Stephen Smyth. No wonder the 24-year-old has left Leinster in search of quality game time with Munster. John Hodnett With another impressive, 22-game, seven-try campaign for Munster now in the books, it would not have been a surprise to see the 26-year-old former Emerging Ireland flanker named in a touring party alongside fellow back-rowers from his province Tom Ahern, Gavin Coombes and Alex Kendellen. Yet Hodnett's niche as a genuine, out and out openside, and his comparative height at 6ft 0ins, may have counted against the West Cork man, which a real shame for talented forward with a huge appetite for the hard yards. Tom Farrell Perhaps the cruellest omission of all, Farrell's snub came a day after the uncapped Munster centre was named the URC's Playmaker of the Year, and on the same day he was voted the outstanding number 13 in the URC Elite XV of the year. The citation for the former award reads: 'Adaptability, creativity, and composure under pressure define a true playmaker. The Playmaker award is given to the player who creates chances and tries for his team, with three key metrics used to decide the winner – try assists for his team, successfully completed offloads, and defenders beaten on the pitch.' Throw in a joint league-leading nine tries, then consider the absences of Ireland's three frontline midfielders, Aki, Henshaw and Ringrose, and one wonders what more Farrell could have done to make this squad.
The 42
03-06-2025
- General
- The 42
Munster's Tom Farrell wins 'Playmaker' award in the URC Awards
MUNSTER'S TOM FARRELL has added his name to the history books as he has been awarded the Playmaker prize in the United Rugby Championship Awards. The Awards is a means of recognising individual achievement within a team sport, with others such as Ioan Lloyd of Scarlets winning the Gilbert Golden Boot and Harri Millard of Cardiff picking up the OFX Top Try Scorer award. With 158 points for the category, the Playmaker award is an innovation this season, but the citing awarded to Farrell reads; 'Adaptability, creativity and composure under pressure define a true playmaker. The Playmaker Award is given to the player who creates chances and tries for his team, with three key metrics used to decide the winner – try assists for his team, successfully completed offloads, and defenders beaten on the pitch. 'A player is awarded three points for each try assist, 2 points for each offload, and 1 point for each defender beaten. Advertisement 'Farrell's tally of 158 points comes from 5 try assists (15 points), 41 offloads (82 points) and 61 defenders beaten (61 points). 'He finishes ahead of DHL Stormers fullback, Warrick Gelant (118 points), and Emirates Lions star, Quan Horn (111 points).'
Globe and Mail
31-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Quant Signals Point to High-Probability Trades in UNH, CVX and SOUN This Week
In the film 'Enemy at the Gates,' an early scene set in the midst of the Battle of Stalingrad shows the classic Soviet meatgrinder attack: essentially, it's an attempt to overrun enemy positions with massive scale, irrespective of the cost. Because this brute Russian logic applies throughout the underlying society, it's a human rights catastrophe. But applied to data? The statistical implications are impregnable and that's the beauty of the Playmaker forecasting model I've been using over the past month-and-a-half period. Fundamentally, the discipline of trading — specifically options trading — focuses on probabilities. Because the framework is short term and defined, the emphasis is less on the 'why' of a particular asset or security and more on the 'how': how much, how fast and, most importantly, how likely. Generally, there are two ways of approaching the probabilistic dilemma. The standard American or western approach is to attempt to find signals and patterns in the continuous scalar signal that is the share price. Here, stochastic calculus and partial derivatives are deployed to estimate future price ranges. However, with the advent of artificial intelligence, analysts no longer need to estimate probabilities; they can directly count the datapoints in brute fashion at blistering scale and speed. But in order to make data comparisons across vast ranges of time, it's important to compress this demand profile into its most elemental, binary form. And that's what the Playmaker does, count tens of thousands of market breadth datapoints — or sequences of accumulation and distribution — to identify highly probabilistic trades. I'm not here to tell you why I think these stocks may move higher. Frankly, that's irrelevant. No, I'm letting the data guide the discourse. Below are three stocks to put on your watchlist for the coming week. UnitedHealth (UNH) Let's start with a controversial idea in the form of UnitedHealth (UNH). The healthcare giant has just about hit every branch of the ugly tree. You don't need me to rehash the same tired narratives. What you might not be aware of is that from a market breadth perspective, UNH stock may be signaling a reversal pattern. In the past two months, UNH stock has printed a '4-6-D' sequence: four up weeks, six down weeks, with a net negative trajectory across the 10-week period. In 66% of cases, the following week's price action results in upside, with a median return of 2.88%. Should the 4-6-D sequence pan out as projected, UNH stock could potentially reach over $310 within a week or two. What makes this setup so intriguing is that, as a baseline, the chance that a long position will be profitable over any given week is only 54.49%. Therefore, the 4-6-D shifts the odds firmly in favor of the bullish speculator. With the above market intelligence in mind, I'm looking at the 305/310 bull call spread expiring June 20. This transaction involves buying the $305 call and simultaneously selling the $310 call, for a net debit paid of $260. Should UNH stock rise through the short strike price at expiration, the maximum reward is $240, or a payout of over 92%. Chevron (CVX) Thanks to widescale societal changes combined with economic challenges, circumstances have not been favorable for the oil industry. Since the start of the year, supermajor Chevron (CVX) has struggled for traction, with CVX stock losing almost 6%. For context, the benchmark S&P 500 — which isn't exactly storming up the charts — is up half-a-percent. Still, market breadth data provides a different impression of the hydrocarbon juggernaut. In the past two months, CVX stock printed a 3-7-D sequence: three up weeks, seven down weeks, with a net negative trajectory across the 10-week period. Notably, this relatively rare pattern generates a 70.27% probability that the following week's price action will rise, with a median return of 2.6%. On Friday, CVX stock closed at $136.70. If the implications of the 3-7-D pan out predictably, it may soon reach over $140. Now, Chevron exemplifies why a Barchart Premier membership is worth its weight in gold. With Premier access, traders can drill down the available bull spreads for the June 20 expiration date. Specifically, the 138/140 bull spread is enticing because $140 is a legitimately rational target and the payout is robust at over 104%. In my opinion, the aforementioned spread is favorably mispriced. SoundHound AI (SOUN) I don't mean to rehash an idea that I already discussed just a few weeks ago. Still, SoundHound AI (SOUN) is awfully intriguing because of its relatively low share price and high popularity among retail traders. This presents on occasion a favorably combustible mix that, if timed correctly, could generate significant gains in a short period. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that SOUN stock had printed a 3-7-D sequence: three up weeks, seven down weeks, with a net negative trajectory across the 10-week period. At the time, I mentioned that the pattern generated a 58.33% probability that the following week's price action will result in upside, with a median return of 13.58%. This time around, we're back at a similar juncture with a 3-7 sequence. However, the twist is that the 10-week period has resulted in a positive trajectory. The 'U' iteration of the 3-7 has materialized only six times since SoundHound's public market debut. And in all six cases, the following week's price action swung higher, with a median return of 15.08%. Generally, I take 100% success ratios with a huge grain of salt. Still, the 3-7 sequence, whether of the up or down variety, ultimately favors the bulls. If you're willing to play the numbers game, the 10/11 bull call spread expiring June 20 is awfully tempting.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Mohammed Salah's daughters steal the show holding his Golden Boot and Playmaker Award
Image Source: Getty On the final day of the 2024–25 Premier League season, Liverpool's Mohamed Salah won the Golden Boot, Playmaker of the Season, and Player of the Season awards. But it was his daughters who became the toast of his fans across the world while walking side by side with him on the field, holding his trophies and bathing in sweet victory. Mohammed Salah's daughters steal the spotlight at Anfield Salah's daughters were by his side following the post-match celebrations, after Liverpool had drawn 1-1 with Crystal Palace at Anfield to conclude their title-winning campaign. Clutching their father's Golden Boot and Playmaker awards, the little girls played up to the crowd. It was a deja vu moment for the Maghawris after Salah's then four-year-old daughter Makka dribbled a ball outwitting defender Lucas Digne on the Anfield pitch in 2018 after Liverpool's first game of the season, much to the delight of the home supporters. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv) The tradition of celebrating such special moments with his children has become a tradition of Salah's post-season periods, emphasizing the close relationship he has with his kids and the happiness they provide to the footballing world. Supporters flooded social media with clips of the heartwarming scene while hailing Salah not just a phenomenon on the pitch, but a dedicated father. A season of unprecedented achievements for Mohammed Salah Mohamed Salah has been brilliant this season. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo That was enough to equate the record for most goal contributions in a Premier League season (29 goals, 18 assists), a record that was previously set by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. He was instrumental in Liverpool's victory in the club's 20th top-flight title, equalling Manchester United's record. As well as his on-field success, Salah was named Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for a third time, becoming only the second player after Thierry Henry to achieve that feat. His never-ending quality, leadership, and humility have made him one of the all-time best in the Premier League. Also Read: Mohamed Salah's net worth: How rich is Liverpool's Egyptian king in 2025? While Salah continually smashes records and establishes new benchmarks, moments like these with his children remind us of the personal happiness to be had from professional success and will no doubt only endear him more to fans around the world. Their appearance was a poignant ending to a special season — a true family success. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
