Everything you need to know about this weekend's Premier League action, all in one place.

Jump to: Is the title race over if Man City don't win? | Is time running out for Emery? | False hope for Tottenham? | Fantasy tips | Stats of the weekend | Man to watch | Game you should watch | Team that needs luck | One thing that will definitely happen | Predictions

The weekend's big questions

Is the title race over if Man City don't win?

Hyperbole? Perhaps, but a Liverpool victory will mean they are nine points clear with less than a third of the season gone, the sort of intimidating lead that it's difficult to see anyone overhauling, even Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

For us neutrals who want a title race with peril, closeness, uncertainty and tension, are we in the unusual position of hoping City can pull off a victory? If they do, they will be within three points of the top, and if Leicester and Chelsea can beat Crystal Palace and Arsenal, respectively, then the top four will be separated by just five points. Now that would be spicy.

It promises to be a special game anyway -- and not just because it's the two best teams in the country facing each other. City need to win, so they can't be cautious even if they knew how to be, while Jurgen Klopp's previous successes against Guardiola have been based on aggressive, attacking play, and you suspect he will let slip his dogs of war to attack City from the start. Cancel all your plans.

Will Unai Emery do enough to keep his job?

Most Arsenal fans have reached the point where they can't see the back of Unai Emery quickly enough. But the club are playing it more cautiously, reluctant to sack a manager who has lost only two league games this season and has his team in fifth place.

How long will that remain a viable stance? In each of their past four games, Arsenal have taken the lead but failed to win. That's just one of the ways in which they are such a dispiriting side to watch, a team that is boring but also no good in defence, that have little character, spirit or style.

If a team isn't entertaining, then they need results. To this point results have been just good enough, but that's changing. If they get a thrashing from Leicester this weekend, as is entirely possible, then Arsenal might be forced to act.

Will this win over Red Star be another false dawn for Tottenham?

A few weeks ago, Tottenham ran in five goals against Red Star Belgrade, and though the opposition was moderate, it sparked a little hope that they would take that form into the Premier League. That didn't quite work out: They lost to and were dominated by Liverpool before playing truly one of the worst games of Premier League football in years in the 1-1 draw with Everton. All the momentum that the first Red Star win promised was gone.

Now they've given the same team another hiding, with more terrific individual performances and once again a hint that Mauricio Pochettino has found a system that suits his players well. Will this be the start of something more tangible or another false dawn for Spurs? They face Sheffield United this weekend, and if they pass that stiff test, we might be able to believe that the spark is returning to Tottenham.

Fantasy tips

Kieran Darcy has some tips for the weekend action. Read his full preview here, and set your team lineup!

Must-have player: Tammy Abraham, Tier 1 forward

Abraham has nine goals, one behind that of league leader Jamie Vardy, but he is also second in the league in xG (expected goals), while Vardy is 17th.

Worth considering: James Maddison, Tier 1 midfielder

Maddison is tied for second in shots among all midfielders, and he had eight chances created against Crystal Palace last week.

Avoid at all costs: Alisson, Goalkeeper

As good as Liverpool have been this season, they haven't kept a single clean sheet in eight home games across all competitions, and now they're hosting Manchester City.

Stats of the weekend

Information provided by ESPN Stats & Information

-- Chelsea seek their sixth consecutive Premier League win for the first time since May of their title-winning 2016-17 season. Their opponents, Crystal Palace (11 road wins), trail only Liverpool, Manchester City (18 each) and Chelsea (14) for most road league wins since the start of the previous season.

-- Tottenham enter the weekend 11th in Premier League with 13 points, their fewest points through 11 games since 2008-09. They host Sheffield United, who are winless in their past 17 league matches in London (0-11-6 W-L-D) since beating Chelsea in October 1992.

-- West Ham's Robert Snodgrass, facing Burnley, can become the first Scottish player to score in three consecutive Premier League appearances since Steven Naismith for Everton in August 2014.

Man to watch

Bravo ... should Ederson be out for City

It's not ideal for any team to lose their first-choice goalkeeper, but for Manchester City, it's a bigger deal than most, particularly for a game against the side six points clear of them at the top of the table. The word from City was that Ederson was substituted in their Champions League game against Atalanta as a precaution, and they'd better hope he'll be fit for the visit to Anfield on Sunday.

City's defensive issues this season have been extensive, but playing a midfielder or two as a centre-back wasn't quite so much of an issue with the security of Ederson behind them.

With Claudio Bravo in goal, though, that security disappears pretty quickly, firstly because he simply isn't very good at the basics of keeping, and secondly because he's liable to do something entirely ludicrous, as he did to get sent off against Atalanta. Guardiola isn't a religious man, but he might be asking a deity of some sort for a favour before Sunday.

The game you're not watching ... but should

Southampton vs. Everton

On any other weekend, this would be the most intriguing game around. In the red corner, we have Southampton, who are buoyed a little by a pair of creditable performances against Manchester City as they try to wash away the shame of that 9-0 but who need to turn those showings into something tangible.

In the blue corner, we have Everton -- or perhaps more specifically, Everton manager Marco Silva, who absolutely, positively needs at least four points from this game and the next versus Norwich, given that the following five see them face Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. If he gets nothing, the sack could be near.

The team that needs a bit of luck

Watford in their relegation fight

A generous interpretation of the work Quique Sanchez Flores has done since returning to Watford is that performances have become more solid and the defence more secure.

But in truth, they haven't really looked much more like winning a game than they did when Javi Gracia was in charge, with displays of little inspiration and only two goals scored in the past six games.

Perhaps luck isn't what they need to sustain something over the coming season, but a bit of fortune might help them beat Norwich on Friday in what is already a colossal relegation six-pointer.

One thing that will definitely happen

Vardy will score against Arsenal

The Leicester talisman will score pretty much no matter whom he plays against these days, but he has a particular liking for Arsenal.

He has eight in his past eight against the Gunners, and if he doesn't find the net, then nobody tends to: The last time another Leicester player scored against Arsenal in a game and Vardy didn't was in 2015.

You can let Vardy off for that one: He didn't play. Given that Vardy has seven in his past five and he'll be facing a fragile Arsenal defence ... there can hardly be a surer thing in football this weekend.

Predictions

Norwich 2-1 Watford
Chelsea 3-1 Crystal Palace
Burnley 1-0 West Ham
Southampton 0-0 Everton
Tottenham 1-1 Sheffield United
Newcastle United 1-2 Bournemouth
Leicester 4-1 Arsenal
Manchester United 1-2 Brighton
Wolves 2-2 Aston Villa
Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City

Nine centuries including a Test double, eight half-centuries, 201 fours and 66 sixes. Rohit Sharma is bossing international cricket in 2019, right on top of the run-scorers' list for the year at the moment after his 43-ball 85 against Bangladesh in the second T20I, which levelled the series 1-1 with one match to go.

India's stand-in captain was feeling so confident on Thursday evening that thoughts of hitting offspinner Mosaddek Hossain for six sixes in an over did cross his mind, when he was batting on 58 off 30 balls, but he could not go beyond three.

"That's what I tried, I wanted to go for six in a row but when I missed the fourth one I decided to go for singles," Sharma told Yuzvendra Chahal on bcci.tv after the game. "I knew that an offspinner was bowling, and the wet ball was not going to turn, so my plan was to stand still and hit the ball without stepping out."

Facing Hossain, who was bowling from around the wicket, Sharma dispatched the first ball over deep midwicket, the second over deep backward square-leg and the third over wide long-on, all off flat deliveries. But he couldn't quite connect with the fourth, a fuller delivery, and only got an edge, breaking the sequence. After 21 runs off the over, India got to their target of 154 with eight wickets in hand and 26 balls remaining.

"You don't need just big muscles or power to hit sixes," Rohit explained to Chahal. "You need timing and you need to hit it from the middle, your head should be still, your body needs to be in the right position. When you take care of these things on a good wicket, you will be able to hit sixes."

It's already November, and Sharma now wants to finish his outstanding year on a high note.

"It's been a very good so far, just want to finish it off on a great note," he told Star Sports at the post-match presentation. "We've got a few games coming up, one against Bangladesh and then there's a whole West Indies series coming up as well. So yes, I'm quite looking forward to that, not to forget the two Test matches [against Bangladesh]."

Sharma admitted that having started the second T20I behind in the series, India were under pressure to stay alive and they needed one batsman to play a long innings to chase down the total.

"I always knew that Rajkot is a good track [for batting], it was good to win the toss, to have the score in front, and later on with the dew coming in, we knew it will be slightly difficult for bowlers in the end. We took advantage of that, had a great powerplay," he said. "After that, it was just about carrying on and putting the pressure on the bowler.

"It was important to start like this for the team - one batsman had to play a long innings. We've seen so many times that if a batsman goes on, his team usually wins. A bit disappointed because I got out at the wrong time, nevertheless I'm happy with my performance and the team's performance as well because we were under pressure after losing the first game. It was important to win this game or we would have lost the series."

The win was set up by the bowlers, especially spinners Chahal and Washington Sundar, who returned a combined 8-0-53-3 to tie Bangladesh down to only 153 in batting-friendly conditions in Rajkot.

"Both Washington and Chahal are pretty smart and understand their bowling really well," Sharma said. "They've been playing a lot of domestic cricket and IPL as well. More importantly, they analyse, and they always have conversations with the bowling coach and the captain as to where they can improve.

"Chahal, we have seen over the years, has bowled in difficult conditions and situations and somehow he has managed to get the team on top. And that has given him a lot of confidence moving forward. And same with Washy as well. Washington has been our new-ball bowler all this while, but today I wanted to change it a little bit and bowl him one over in the powerplay and have three overs at the back considering how big the ground was."

Australia chose to bowl v Pakistan

Australia captain Aaron Finch asked Pakistan to bat on what looked like a lively surface at Perth Stadium. Finch said he wanted his bowlers to use the moisture he saw in the pitch.

The hosts included Sean Abbott for his first international in five years, and also recalled Billy Stanlake at the expense of Adam Zampa in expectation of a bouncy pitch. Pat Cummins also lost out.

Pakistan selected two debutants among the four changes they made, with middle-order batsman Khushdil Shah and 19-year-old quick Muhammad Musa coming into the team, alongside Mohammad Hasnain and Imam-ul-Haq. They left out the experienced players Fakhar Zaman, Asif Ali, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Irfan.

A victory for Australia will cut Pakistan's lead at the top of the ICC T20I rankings table to a single point. Australia currently lead the three-match series 1-0 after the rain-affected first T20I.

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Ben McDermott, 5 Ashton Turner, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Kane Richardson, 11 Billy Stanlake

Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Muhammad Musa

LOS ANGELES -- After scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter for the second time this season, Kawhi Leonard said he will continue to follow his load management in order to maintain his health.

One night after he was held out of a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks due to load management of a knee issue, Leonard overcame a slow start and helped the LA Clippers erase an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, totaling 27 points and 13 rebounds in a 107-101 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

After the win, Leonard found himself answering questions about load management and his knee. The NBA had fined the Clippers $50,000 before the game for statements made by the team and Doc Rivers that "were inconsistent" with Leonard's health. In that statement, the NBA also detailed Leonard's injury by explaining that the team was compliant in load management by "reasonably" determining that "Leonard is suffering from an ongoing injury to the patella tendon in his left knee and has been placed by the team at this time on an injury protocol for back-to-back games."

"I mean it was shocking, but it doesn't matter to me," Leonard said when asked what he thought about the NBA revealing his knee injury as a patella tendon in his left knee. "I'm not a guy that reads the media anyway. We're going to manage it the best way we can to keep me healthy and that's the most important thing, me being healthy moving forward."

After the NBA said the Clippers were compliant with league rules in holding Leonard out for Wednesday's nationally televised game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, Rivers said before that game that Leonard "feels great," that there is no reason to be concerned and that the team must make sure Leonard stays feeling great.

This is the second time that the Clippers have been fined this year for comments involving Leonard. In May, Rivers told ESPN that Leonard "is the most like Jordan that we've seen" when likening the All-Star physically to Jordan. Leonard at the time was with the Toronto Raptors before becoming a free agent, and the NBA fined the Clippers $50,000 for tampering.

"For me, I'm on his side, you know what I mean?" Leonard said when asked about the NBA fining the Clippers twice over Rivers' remarks about Leonard. "I'm a Clipper, he's my coach. That's just disappointing. It feels like they want players to play if they're not ready.

"It is what it is. Like I said, I don't read into it. I got to do what makes me healthy and is going to help the team be successful and that's me being able to play basketball games for us."

Twice this season, Leonard has sat out the first game of a back-to-back set, the previous coming in a Clippers loss at Utah in what was also a nationally-televised game on Oct. 30. The decision, though, clearly looked like it paid off on Thursday night.

Even though Leonard missed 10 of 13 shots and had only nine points after the first three quarters, he continued to shine in the fourth quarter. Leonard leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring early in the season, averaging 13.5 points per game in the quarter.

Not only did he score 15 points or more fourth-quarter points for the third straight game, he also outdueled Portland's formidable backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in this nationally televised game. The Clippers held the duo scoreless and to a combined 0-for-8 shooting in the fourth.

Meanwhile, Leonard made 6 of 10 shots and all six of his free throw attempts while grabbing six of his rebounds in the quarter.

"Well, he looked well-rested," Portland head coach Terry Stotts said of Leonard, who also scored 18 points in the fourth-quarter of a win over Utah on Nov. 3. "He was able to take it to another gear in the fourth quarter."

Before training camp, Leonard, 28, said he felt much better than he did at the same time a year earlier and that his load management would be different than how Toronto handled it when he played in a total of 60 games during the regular season. Leonard then played in 24 postseason games, averaging 30.5 points and 9.1 rebounds to lead Toronto to its first championship while earning Finals MVP honors as well.

Rivers echoed how good Leonard has felt before Wednesday's game but wouldn't go into any further detail on Thursday after the fine. The Clippers coach has had to straddle the line between Leonard's desire for privacy regarding his health and the league's stance on transparency about injuries and "load management." Asked if there is a middle ground between those two competing mandates, the veteran coach said, "I'm scared to answer. That's my answer. I just won't answer."

Leonard said he will continue to follow the lead of team doctors and his training staff when it comes to load management and sitting out a game during back-to-back sets.

"It just helps from just me pushing on something that's not ready," Leonard said of the long-term benefits of not playing in two front ends of back-to-back sets so far. "Like I said, we are going to keep managing it moving forward. I'm not a doctor and that's for what the doctors and my training staff is for, letting me know and just telling how I feel and just got to keep moving it forward."

CONCORD, N.C. – In the battle for the Super DIRTcar Series championship, Mat Williamson fired the first shot during Thursday’s Can-Am World Finals preliminaries at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Williamson, who trails point leader Matt Sheppard by six entering the two-race weekend, set the fastest time of the day during qualifying for Saturday’s program at 15.712 seconds (88.671 mph) before going on to win his Saturday heat race, placing him into the top-10 redraw for the final feature of the year.

It was Williamson’s first time topping qualifying all season long and couldn’t have come at a better time as he chases his first series championship.

“Man, I’m just excited to be able to do what we do here,” Williamson said. “To be in the position that we’re in is cool and I hope that we can take advantage of it through the rest of the weekend. Obviously to be in the redraw for Saturday is a good start to what we need to do to catch (Matt) Sheppard, and hopefully when we get to run Friday’s heats we can do the same thing there and take a shot at it.

“It may work out; it may not, but we’re going to give it all we’ve got and have fun trying.”

Saturday’s group qualifying session was followed by four eight-lap heat races, each of which was won from the pole and all of which ran caution-free, save for a crash on the initial start of the first heat where Phil Vigneri climbed the outside wall and nearly flipped in the first turn.

In heat one, Mike Maresca led all the way and beat Chris Hile, Anthony Perrego, Brian Swartzlander and Billy Dunn to the checkered flag, as the top five from each heat locked into the main event.

Heat two saw Williamson hold off a hard-charging Max McLaughlin for the victory, with Billy Pauch Jr., Mike Mahaney and Gary Tomkins also transferring on.

The third heat went to Demetrios Drellos, over Erick Rudolph, Brett Hearn, Tyler Siri and Ryan Godown, with heat four being won by Billy Decker over Matt Sheppard, Tim Fuller, Jimmy Phelps and Danny Johnson.

During the group qualifying round for Friday’s racing program, Billy Decker went out in group two and turned in a lap of 15.739 seconds (88.519 mph), good enough for his sixth fast time of the season.

Rain drenched the speedway before Friday’s heat races could be completed, leading series officials to cancel the Last Chance Showdowns for the opening-night program and replace them with the still-to-be run heat races – which will kick off Friday’s on-track activities.

To view complete results, advance to the next page.

CONCORD, N.C. – Mother Nature had her say in determining the results of Thursday’s two World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series qualifying sessions at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, but so did Josh Richards.

The four-time series champion was the PFC Brakes Fast Time Award winner for both Friday and Saturday’s Can-Am World Finals programs, determined off a single round of two-lap time trials after rain halted the proceedings mid-way through the second session of qualifying at the four-tenths-mile oval.

As such, the second qualifying round was thrown out and each driver’s first lap of the first round was used to determine the qualifying results for the Friday program, while their second lap determined the qualifying order for Saturday’s program.

Richards ripped off times of 14.805 seconds (94.103 mph) and 14.750 seconds (94.454 mph), respectively, to take down the 57th and 58th fast times of his illustrious World of Outlaws Late Model Series career.

After a year away from The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Richards is hoping to spoil the party for recently-crowned two-time series champion Brandon Sheppard, who is chasing his record-setting 19th win of the season this weekend.

“The car felt fantastic. It felt great in hot laps,” Richards said. “I felt like I did something a little goofy and felt like I knew what I needed to do for qualifying, but then the groove changed. Right before I went, I committed to another line than I thought I was going to, and the car responded phenomenally. It was great; I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

“I didn’t race here last year and I’ve always been pretty good here. With the year that we’ve had … we finished up pretty decent and we had a lot of things kind of falter,” Richards continued. “If we can come out and try to win here to finish the year out, it would be great for us as a team.”

Flight-B leader Jonathan Davenport was second-quick in Friday qualifying at 14.843 seconds, followed by Ross Bailes, Chris Madden and Scott Bloomquist on the overall speed charts.

In Saturday’s qualifying times, Flight-B leader Jimmy Owens followed Richards at 14.926 seconds, with Davenport, Bailes and Shane Clanton completing the top five.

To view complete qualifying results, advance to the next page.

Incumbent Australia Test opener Marcus Harris is starting to become a veteran when it comes to auditioning for his Test spot in tour matches, but he believes it's nothing compared to the pressure of an actual Test match.

Harris joins Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Will Pucovski, and Nic Maddinson in the Australia A team that takes on Pakistan on Monday at the Perth Stadium.

It appears those six players are vying for two spots in Australia's final XI for the first Test at the Gabba, with David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith and Matthew Wade all but assured of retaining their places following the Ashes.

Harris is the only incumbent from the Oval Test whose spot appears in jeopardy. But he said it is nothing new, having been through the same process prior to the Ashes series when playing for Australia A and in the pre-Ashes trial game in Southampton.

"It's probably my second or third audition I've had in the last six months," Harris said. "It's nothing too different. I just sort of know that going over to Perth against Pakistan I'm going to have to play well and put some runs on the board.

"It's sort of been the situation a little bit lately. You get used to it, it's the pressure you've got to play under. And it's nothing like the pressure of a Test match so you've just got to look at it as a situation where you've got to make runs and guys have got to try and take wickets to try and get picked in the Test squad. It is what it is. It's part of being a professional cricketer, you just deal with it. There can be nerves there but once you get out there and get on with it you forget about all that stuff."

Harris made a century for Australia A in the first tour match in England against Sussex, as did Burns. But both men missed out on the first Test, with Burns missing the squad entirely after Cameron Bancroft was selected following an outstanding performance in the last trial game. Harris has no qualms about that decision.

"I probably hadn't cemented my spot down 100%," Harris said. "I felt like I'd gone alright in the Australia A stuff, but that was a decision that selectors went with and it's fine by me. And the attitude I had at the time was the same, it will be what it will be.

"Like I said, and I'll keep saying it, it's pretty simple, if you make runs you'll probably get picked and if you take wickets you'll get picked and you don't leave yourself vulnerable. It would be nice to be cemented in the side but just with the way that my recent Test series went that didn't happen. I've left myself in this situation. It's just part of being a professional cricketer and I don't lose any sleep over it. I know what I need to do and it all sits well with me."

Harris did win his spot back after Bancroft was dropped for the third Test at Headingley. But Harris, like Warner, had a torrid time at the hands of Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad making just 58 runs in six innings.

"Obviously it was a difficult series to open the batting in," Harris said. "No one really got hold of them too much. Rory Burns obviously played well. There's just a few little things I've tweaked, nothing massively technically, just a few little things with my stance that I've changed since England but like I said it was a great learning experience and I think it's going to make me a better player going forward.

"I just try and stay level as much as I can. I never felt like I got out of form in England because I wasn't out there long enough to get out of form. I came back confident coming back to Australia and I felt my game was in good stead so I knew if I just applied myself for long enough I'd be fine. So that's the attitude I'm taking into the summer."

Those minor technical changes and that attitude have led to scores of 116, 69 and 60 in the first three Sheffield Shield games this summer. Harris has been the most dominant opener in Shield cricket over the past 18 months.

While he is frustrated with not taking his opportunities at Test level thus far, he has scored just two half-centuries in 17 innings, 14 of those have come against phenomenal fast bowling attacks featuring Archer, Broad, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

There is a case to be made that Harris should get an extended run in the Test side to see if he can achieve the kind of consistency that he has in Shield cricket, after needing a number of years to mature at that level.

Harris pointed to Smith's incredible consistency during the Ashes as an example of how experience gained over a long period had helped Smith become the player he has.

"The way that he occupies the crease and his hunger to make runs, he never really seems too satisfied no matter how well he's done," Harris said.

"So that was his great strength throughout the series and just how consistent he was. That was probably the best thing that he did. And I think that comes with experience and playing more at that level. I sort of feel like I've got to point in Shield cricket now where I consistently perform most weeks and I feel like the more I play at a higher level the more consistent I will get in that level I'm playing at."

Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw is likely to return to the squad as early as November 16, a day after serving his suspension for a doping violation. Shaw is expected to turn out for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the Indian domestic T20 tournament. On July 30, Shaw had been handed a back-dated eight-month suspension by the BCCI for "inadvertently" consuming a cough syrup that contained prohibited substance terbutaline.

Coincidentally, the violation happened during last season's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which was played between February and March this year. The BCCI had said that Shaw would need to serve at least half the ban period, which expires on November 15.

Shaw, who grabbed headlines with a century in his debut Test last October, has been mostly training at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru during his suspension. While accepting the BCCI ban, Shaw had said the he would return "faster and stronger" because he said cricket was "my life" and there was "no greater pride than playing for India and Mumbai."

Now, Mumbai are providing Shaw that opportunity. Former Mumbai captain Milind Rege, who is the chairman of state's ad-hoc selection panel, said that Shaw would "certainly" be considered for selection. Currently, Rege's panel has announced the squad only for Mumbai's first three matches because key players like Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube are currently part of the India squad for the T20 series against Bangladesh. Mumbai will have played six of their seven group games when Shaw becomes eligible.

"He will be free to play from [November] 16, so of course he will be considered for selection," Rege told ESPNcricinfo on Thursday. "I can't make any commitment to whether he will be back, but we will certainly discuss his selection."

Rege said he had spoken to Shaw already. "He is doing the right things. Physically he is fit."

Asked why Shaw, who last played in the IPL in May, was on the selectors' radar, Rege said Shaw had already proved he was a matchwinner in the little time he has played both for Mumbai and India.

"Shaw's class is there, you see. He is a dynamic young batsman. So that will weigh heavily in his favour because he has scored runs for Mumbai in the last one-and-a-half years and he also did well in Test cricket till he went to Australia. There has been a gap. So he will again have to start once again."

Rege said that despite his strengths, Shaw would understand he would need to compete for his place. Rege cited the example of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is 17 years old, and has taken the opportunity to establish himself in Shaw's absence with a successful Vijay Hazare Trophy.

"He will have to be fit again, There is nobody who can take his place for granted because there are others also," Rege said. "Everybody needs to work for their place in the squad. There are some senior players who have done well last year and even this year but the youngsters are now really knocking hard on the door.

"We have Yashasvi Jaiswal , who scored quite heavily in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored a double-hundred and two hundreds in the 50-over tournament. It is a happy position for Mumbai, but as a selector it is a tough decision to keep somebody out."

Rege has been part of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy winning teams multiple times. He has also served as a selector for three decades. Rege hopes Shaw has learnt his lesson.

"Now that he has learned a few lessons on what not to do, he will come back a stronger person. I am sure this has taught him a few things in life. He will have to be careful, he will have to concentrate on his cricket and he will have to probably look at it differently because mistakes, when they happen, have to be rectified. And I am sure Prithvi has learned from this."

New Zealand win toss, bowl against England

New Zealand captain Tim Southee has won the toss and chosen to bowl first in the fourth T20I of the series against England in Napier.

New Zealand have made two changes to the side that won the previous match in Nelson. Trent Boult has come into the side in place of Lockie Ferguson, a change that was planned ahead of the series, while Jimmy Neesham was ruled out due to illness and is replaced by Daryl Mitchell.

England have also made two changes. Knowing they have to win this match to stay in the series, they have recalled Jonny Bairstow - who has also been put on stand-by for the Test squad due to concerns over the fitness of Joe Denly - and Chris Jordan. Saqib Mahmood, who has conceded 95 runs from his eight overs in the series to date, and James Vince, who is the highest run-scorer in the series, are the men to make way.

Matt Parkinson, who bowled only two overs on his international debut in Nelson, retains his place ahead of Adil Rashid.

"I probably would have bowled," England captain Eoin Morgan admitted to Sky Sports at the toss. "It looks like a fantastic wicket." Morgan also reasoned that, "a year down the road," the inexperienced side that stumbled to defeat from a promising position in Nelson would have won that game "nine times out of 10."

He suggested that, with the experience of Jordan and Bairstow, England were a strengthened side.

New Zealand are 2-1 up in the five-match series. The final game takes place in Auckland on Sunday.

New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Tim Seifert (wk), 4 Colin de Grandhomme, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Daryl Mitchell, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee (capt), 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Blair Tickner

England: 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Tom Banton, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Sam Billings (wk), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Matt Parkinson, 11 Pat Brown