It's that time of the year, again. November is the month when the Premier League table starts to look a significant barometer. The silverware and wooden spoons are still seven months away. Things can change, of course, but we're past the point where the standings can be dismissed as an early season freak. The surprises are Leicester in third place, promoted Sheffield United in the top half, Spurs struggling and last season's FA Cup finalists Watford winless and bottom of the table.

Here's how I am reading the tea leaves at all 20 clubs starting from the top of the table and working down...

LIVERPOOL
This season: first place, 28 points

Six points clear and unbeaten, they continue to find a way to stack up points even when not at their best or when falling behind, as they did against Manchester United and Spurs. Manically motivated to win their first title in 30 years, it looks like only an injury to centre-back Virgil Van Dijk or one of the dangerous front three -- Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane -- can stop them.

MANCHESTER CITY
This season: second place, 22 points

Unscripted defeats by Norwich and Wolves underline that, for all their brilliance, they are capable of the odd slip, especially with so many injury problems in defence. The crunch game at Anfield on Nov. 10 is one they cannot afford to lose.

LEICESTER CITY
This season: third place, 20 points

The extraordinary 9-0 win at Southampton last Friday was a reminder of their talent and firepower. And surprisingly no team has conceded fewer goals. A Champions League place beckons for Brendan Rodgers' side.

CHELSEA
This season: fourth place, 20 points

Their young guns and articulate manager Frank Lampard have been a revelation, while "Captain America" Christian Pulisic is starting to do a fair imitation of Eden Hazard. The only question is whether these exciting youngsters can sustain this exciting form.

ARSENAL
This season: fifth place, 16 points

Restless fans are starting to wonder if this team is really so different in character to a latter day Arsene Wenger outfit. They can't seem to perform away from the Emirates and on Sunday, they couldn't even hold a 2-0 lead over Crystal Palace. At least club record signing Nicolas Pepe is starting to show his worth with some immaculate set-pieces.

CRYSTAL PALACE
This season: sixth place, 15 points

Punching above their weight for wily old fox Roy Hodgson despite scoring only 10 times in 10 matches. Sunday's comeback to draw 2-2 at Arsenal typifies their ability to achieve good results.

MANCHESTER UNITED
This season: seventh place, 13 points

There have been signs of a PR "reboot" and mini-revival over the past week, unlucky as they were not to beat Liverpool before getting two away wins at Partizan Belgrade and Norwich City. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are still a long shot to finish in the top four but the Anthony Martial/Marcus Rashford chemistry is promising. You'd also expect them Man United to have a busy January transfer window, which would help a squad in need of quality depth.

SHEFFIELD UNITED
This season: eighth place, 13 points

Almost everyone's tip to be relegated, Chris Wilder's tenacious, spirited and innovative team are yet to lose an away game and boast the joint-best defence in the Premier League with just eight goals conceded. It will probably get harder, but they look good enough to stay up with ease.

BOURNEMOUTH
This season: ninth place, 13 points

The goals have dried up lately, but they've lost only three of their 10 games. However, manager Eddie Howe will be wary of not repeating last year's midseason slump.

WEST HAM UNITED
This season: 10th place, 13 points

Erratic and infuriating for their fans. They have some artistic players (Andriy Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini), but can't seem to put a winning run together that would elevate them from being anything more than a midtable outfit.

TOTTENHAM
This season: 11th place, 12 points

Are we witnessing the start of the end game for the affable Mauricio Pochettino? Showed real fight at Anfield on Sunday, but the losses to Newcastle, Colchester, Bayern Munich and Brighton were worrying and there's a suspicion this very good team has gone a little stale.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
This season: 12th place, 12 points

They are putting a bad start behind them both at home and in Europe, where they are intent on a long and eye-catching run as part of their ambitious plans to compete for trophies. But they must walk before they can run.

BURNLEY
This season: 13th place, 12 points

It would be easy to take for granted the steel and unity Sean Dyche has knitted into this small-town club. Always hard to beat, they should give him a lifetime contract.

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
This season: 14th place, 12 points

In his debut season, Graham Potter is fulfilling his brief to produce a bolder and less pragmatic team. The trick will be sustaining the good football while keeping the club above the relegation zone.

ASTON VILLA
This season: 15th place, 11 points

Dean Smith has done a magnificent job in taking this club back into the big league. They look equipped to stay, prompted by Tyrone Mings and the elegant playmaker Jack Grealish, who is being closely watched by England manager Gareth Southgate.

EVERTON
This season: 16th place, 10 points

These are sticky times for the Toffees. They look suspect defensively and probably need to get away from the wrong end of the table in order to keep Marco Silva as manager. Their bright form in the recent win over West Ham needs to be repeated on a regular basis.

NEWCASTLE UNITED
This season: 17th place, nine points

The funereal atmosphere and empty seats at St. James' Park even when the team were leading against Wolves was another sign of how owner Mike Ashley's toxic reign has sucked the life from the Toon. Manager Steve Bruce has a massive job keeping them up.

SOUTHAMPTON
This season: 18th place, eight points

The nine-goal humiliation by Leicester leaves manager Ralph Hasenhuttl on the brink. But the players were a disgrace and it's Manchester City away next.

NORWICH CITY
This season: 19th place, seven points

They were always going to struggle if Teemu Pukki's goals dried up and that is what is happening now. The astonishing win over Manchester City looks like it might be as good as it gets.

WATFORD
This season: 20th place, five points

There are one or two signs the patient still has a pulse, but still looking for their first win. They urgently need talismanic striker Troy Deeney, out with a knee problem, back to join a group of players that should be good enough to avoid relegation.

When someone who's unfamiliar or only slightly familiar with the sport of soccer asks me who is the best player in the world, I tell them "well, it's Lionel Messi."

Then, when they say "why?" I say "he's the best goal scorer I've ever seen, and since goals are so scarce and so valuable, scoring goals is the most important thing a soccer player can do." That's usually enough, and I'll get some kind of "OK, got it. Thanks." But then, I'll keep talking: "And he's best at creating goals for his teammates. And he's the best passer. And he's the best dribbler. And he's the best free-kick taker, too."

While my viability as a pleasant conversational companion is obviously in question, Messi's greatness is not.

In fact, his omnipotent effect on games reminds me a bit of The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. His dominance over hockey can be summed up with one line: If Gretzky had never scored a goal, he'd still be the sport's all-time leader in points. He just happens to be the sport's all-time leading goal scorer, too. Meanwhile, in Europe's Big Five leagues since 2014, Messi has scored the most goals, bagged the most assists, played the most through-balls and completed the second-most dribbles.

It goes beyond those numbers. Last year, a group of researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands published a paper that aimed to put a value on every on-ball action that occurs in a match. For example, they write that "an action valued at +0.05 is expected to contribute 0.05 goals in favor of the team performing the action, whereas an action valued at -0.05 is expected to yield 0.05 goals for their opponent." Their research for the 2017-18 season found Messi to be the highest-rated player in Spain -- by far.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the research said that most attackers produced a limited number of actions but that those actions were of high value, while midfielders did the opposite: lots of low-value actions. There was, of course, one player who excelled at both. "Lionel Messi is an outlier in the sense that he rates high on action quality and quantity at the same time." Hell, there's even a well-respected paper that suggests Messi is better at walking than everyone else, too.

So, we have to ask: Is there anything Messi isn't good at?

It's evident that Messi is not a great defender, but you already knew that. Since 2010, he has never recorded more than 23 tackles or 22 interceptions ... in an entire La Liga season. He also rarely wins back possession for his team. But part of that can be attributed to the fact that Barcelona have heavily dominated possession in the majority of the matches he has played for the club. Plus, a number of Messi's teams have been among the most effective pressing sides of the past decade, and pressing doesn't work too well if everyone on the field isn't taking part. So, he has at least been a capable member of effective, aggressive defensive units in the past.

So, he has pressed in the past, but he has barely done anything in the defensive third. Since 2010, he has cleared five balls, blocked five shots and blocked one cross -- total. But any time Messi has to actually do any of those things, there has likely been a brief systematic failure to his team's play. You want him near the opposition goal, not your own. Sure, he's probably a terrible goalkeeper, too, and any coach who plays him there is a perverted sadist, but what about the things he is supposed to do? Creating goals, dribbling and passing: Is there anything within those facets where Messi's mortality starts to shine through?

Now we're getting somewhere.

For a start, he's not a great crosser of the ball. "In the 2018-2019 Primera Division, Messi tops the charts for shots and passes and ranks second behind Vinicius Jr. for dribbles and take-ons," said Jan Van Haaren, one of the authors of the value-based paper mentioned above. "In terms of total contribution per 90 minutes from crosses, Messi ranks in the middle of the pack."

Last season, Messi completed just 14 of his 78 crosses, which tied for 84th and 50th in La Liga, respectively. His completion percentage of 17.9 was below the league average of 23.9%. However, crossing tends to be one of the more inefficient ways to score and if you were picking one aspect of attacking play to be average at, this would probably be it.

Van Haaren is the chief product & technology officer at SciSports, an analytics company that, among other things, uses the framework from the paper he co-wrote to rate players. Even with the middle-of-the-pack crossing, Messi might as well have been playing a different sport last season, according to the model's rating of his overall contribution compared with other wingers and midfielders:

The graphs for the two seasons before '18-19 look almost identical, too.

Most semi-advanced soccer data begins around 2010, but earlier this year, another analytics company, StatsBomb, went back through the tape of every game Messi has played for Barcelona, charted all of the actions and then released the dataset to the public.

Another thing Messi is just average at? Scoring on headers. These are all of his attempted headers since his La Liga career began, per StatsBomb:

"He basically scores headers at an average rate: his goals roughly equal his expected goals, and he gets about one per season," said James Yorke, head of analysis at StatsBomb. Much like crossing, heading is another less-efficient thing Messi isn't great at -- a shot with a foot from the same location as a shot with a head is much more likely to be converted -- so he just rarely tries to do it. After all, he's not even 5-foot-7.

The majority of Messi's goals and shots come from his left foot, but even when he uncorks one with his off peg, the result remains deadly.

According to StatsBomb data, he has scored 58 goals with his right foot on chances worth just 41.47 expected goals. However, there is one hole. One of Messi's trademark finishes is getting deep into the box, cutting in from the right and letting rip with his left from the corner of the 6-yard box. The reverse rarely happens, as this map of all of his right-footed shots in La Liga shows:

"What this tells me is that he's never found himself deep on the right side, cut onto his right foot and shot," Yorke said. "If he had, we would see some shots in that zone. Evidently, and probably wisely, he has always engineered a shot with his left foot or a pass, but it's a funny little quirk nonetheless."

And so, as Messi ages deeper into his 30s and (presumably) starts to decline, a look at his minor inadequacies helps to explain just why he's so great in the first place: The things he isn't good at don't matter as much, and when he can't do something better than everyone else, he makes sure he barely has to do it at all.

Sachin Tendulkar believes the introduction of day-night Tests in India is a "good move", except if the dew becomes a factor as it will create "challenging" conditions for both seamers and spinners. Eden Gardens is gearing up to host the first day-night Test in India starting November 22 against Bangladesh, after the BCB agreed to the BCCI's request of playing the second match of the Test series under lights.

"As long as dew does not become a factor, it is a good move," Tendulkar told PTI. "But if dew is going to be a factor, then seamers as well as spinners are going to find it challenging because once the ball gets wet, neither seamers can do much nor the spinners. So, in that way, bowlers will be put under the test. But if there is no dew, then surely it is a good addition."

With the match taking place at the end of November, dew is expected to affect the outfield after sunset which could, as Tendulkar said, favour the batsmen. Paras Anand, marketing director at SG, which is going to supply the pink balls for the Test, had also said the dew factor remained the biggest challenge for them.

"I think the dew factor will play a big role over here," Tendulkar said. "We need to figure out how much dew is there. The dew will determine to what extent both teams are competing. The conditions shouldn't hinder anything (competitiveness)."

ALSO READ: SG pink ball to be used for maiden day-night Test in India

The timings of the match, which the BCCI is yet to announce, will help fans increase the attendance as they can now head to the stadium in the evening.

"It is a nice concept, as people would be able to watch a day-night Test after their working hours," Tendulkar said. "People can come in the evening and enjoy the game. From players' point of view, it won't be a bad idea to play with the pink ball and check how differently it behaves from the traditional red ball."

"The India boys should also depend on word-of-mouth feedback from all those who played Duleep Trophy and they would have few things to share." - Sachin Tendulkar

The pink ball has been criticised in the past for not having as pronounced a seam and also getting scuffed up or losing its colour sooner than the red ball. Tendulkar advised that to ensure appropriate preparedness against the pink ball, India's batsmen should face in the nets adequate number of deliveries that simulate the nature of the pink ball at various stages of the innings.

"The batsmen will need to practice with different balls at the nets," he said. "A new pink ball, a 20-over pink ball and a 50-over pink ball and an 80-over ball. See how differently a new, semi-new and old ball behaves. Accordingly, prepare your strategy."

In addition, Tendulkar emphasised that relying on the first-hand experience of players who have played the Duleep Trophy with the pink ball could go some way towards equipping the home team to tackle the pink ball efficiently.

"The India boys should also depend on word of mouth feedback from all those who played Duleep Trophy [with the pink ball] and they would have few things to share," Tendulkar said.

Although pitches for day-night Tests have usually had more grass on them compared to those used in day matches to help retain the condition of the pink ball, Tendulkar believes a deeper tinge of green on the surface at Eden Gardens will not entirely negate the efficacy of skilled spinners.

"Obviously, it (the presence of more grass) will help the seamers more, but if you bring in [a] quality spinner, he will find his way to bowl on that surface as well," Tendulkar said. "For a spinner, it will be important to assess how much bounce is there on the surface and how much the ball is skidding; if there is too much grass [or] whether the ball is gripping on the surface."

A better part of assessing the behaviour of the pink ball on the Eden surface will depend on local wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who had played the first pink-ball match in India on the same ground: the Super League final between club teams Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore in 2016. The only difference is that match was played with the pink Kookaburra.

"The wicketkeeper will play a massive role in providing feedback as to whether the ball is skidding or whether it is not coming onto the bat easily," Tendulkar said.

The traditional curtain-raiser to the English county season will take place in Galle, one day after the conclusion of England's first Test against Sri Lanka at the same venue, Marylebone Cricket Club has announced.

MCC will take on Essex, the Champion County, in a four-day fixture from March 24-27, in a fixture that has been a staple of the English season since 1970, and which has in recent years been held in Abu Dhabi, Barbados and Dubai.

The MCC side will be led by the former Sri Lanka captain, Kumar Sangakkara, who on October 1 began his one-year term as the club's first overseas president. The club will also stage its annual World Cricket Committee meeting during the stop-over, to coincide with the ongoing England tour.

The decision to choose Galle as the venue is likely to prove popular with England's touring fans, many of whom may be persuaded to stay on at the iconic coastal venue for an extra few days, before travelling north to Colombo for the second Test against Sri Lanka which begins on March 27, the final day of the MCC match.

"The Champion County match is an important part of MCC's commitment to maintaining a strong presence in the long-form game both domestically and globally," said John Stephenson, MCC's head of cricket.

"As always, MCC will put out a talented and exciting team in this fixture, providing strong opposition for this season's County Championship winners. MCC would like to thank Sri Lanka Cricket for their support, co-operation and enthusiasm in hosting this fixture and we are excited to be working closely with them."

During the visit, members of MCC's team will visit the MCC Centre of Excellence near Galle, which is funded by the club having been set up by the Foundation of Goodness in the wake of the 2004 tsunami to provide sustainable facilities to the surrounding communities.

"It is hugely important to support cricket in countries such as Sri Lanka and taking the Champion County match to Galle is a fantastic way for the Club to provide its backing for the game on a global level," said Sangakkara.

"With England touring the country during the same period, this will make for an exciting sequence of events in Sri Lanka and, as one of the best cricketing destinations in the world, it will be a wonderful occasion for all involved. I am looking forward to playing for and indeed captaining the MCC team, which will be full of exciting young talent ready to challenge the County Champions."

Mr. Shammi Silva, President of Sri Lanka Cricket, said: "Sri Lanka Cricket wish to thank MCC for choosing Sri Lanka as its venue to play the MCC Champion County Match in 2020, which we consider as an honour and a privilege bestowed upon the cricket loving public of our country. We are happy to be the host of this historic encounter, which marks the curtain-raiser to the new English domestic season. It is also very fitting that this team is led by none other than our own Kumar Sangakkara, who has recently become the first non-British MCC President."

The Kansas City Royals have named Mike Matheny as their new manager.

The Royals announced the decision Thursday, less than a year after hiring Matheny as a special adviser for player development.

"Our entire organization is delighted to announce and celebrate the hiring of Mike Matheny," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said in a statement. "Every department has had the pleasure to work and interact with him this past season. Through this interaction, it became very clear to our leadership team that Mike is the obvious person to lead our baseball team. Mike Matheny is a passionate leader with strong virtues, intelligence, and a relentless commitment to help players reach their full potential."

Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty reached the semi-finals of the WTA Finals with a straight-set win over Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova.

Barty, 23, won 6-4 6-2 to eliminate the two-time Wimbledon champion from the season-ending event in Shenzhen.

Swiss seventh seed Belinda Bencic also progressed after Kiki Bertens retired from their match through illness.

Bencic, who was leading 7-5 1-0, will face defending champion Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.

Dutch alternate Bertens, who replaced the injured Naomi Osaka earlier this week, is the third player to withdraw from the eight-player field, with US Open champion Bianca Andreescu pulling out with a knee injury earlier on Thursday.

French Open champion Barty, competing in the WTA Finals singles for the first time after a stunning year, recovered from Tuesday's defeat by Bertens with a dominant win over an out-of-sorts Kvitova.

Barty edged the key moments in the opening set, breaking for a 3-2 lead and saving break points in each of her next two service games, then ran away with the second as Kvitova began to tire.

"I felt I executed really well and knew I had to come out and play aggressively," said Barty, who has won her past three matches against Kvitova.

"I had a few early break points against me and I played them really well. It was important to keep my nose in front."

Ukraine's Svitolina was the first player to make the last four by beating Wimbledon champion Simona Halep in the Purple Group on Wednesday.

Romanian Halep plays Czech Karolina Pliskova in their final round-robin match on Friday, with Barty awaiting the winner in Saturday's semi-finals.

US Open champion Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn from the season-ending WTA Finals with a knee injury in China.

The Canadian teenager retired from her round-robin match against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday with the problem.

Already unable to reach the semi-finals, Andreescu decided to pull out of the tournament after having a scan.

American alternate Sofia Kenin will instead face defending champion Elina Svitolina, who has already qualified for the last four, on Friday.

Andreescu is the second player to withdraw from the event in Shenzhen following world number three Naomi Osaka, who is in the other group.

The 19-year-old said she heard her knee "crack" and will now look to recover before the start of the 2020 season.

Andreescu will end the year inside the world's top six following an unusual breakout season that saw her claim a maiden Grand Slam title as well as encounter plenty of injury problems.

Ranked 152nd at the start of the season, she has won 48 of her 55 matches after completing just seven WTA tournaments.

As well as her stunning US Open win last month, Andreescu also lifted titles in Indian Wells and Montreal.

"I'm very disappointed to not be able to finish the year on my terms, but I am hopeful I will have more chances to play here in the future," said Andreescu, who played just two matches between the end of March and start of August because of a shoulder injury.

GLENDORA, Calif. – The JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals will be back at National Trail Raceway on July 18-19.

After a three-year hiatus from National Trail Raceway, the race made a return to the track, located just outside of Columbus, Ohio, in 2019 following owner and management changes. The race was previously held at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. during the hiatus.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have the JEGS SPORTSnationals return to National Trail Raceway,” said Jay Livingston, owner of National Trail Raceway.

Following the success of the 2019 race, the annual event will feature tough competition from the most talented sportsman racers from around the country. The JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals regularly has a purse of over $100,000, along with bonuses and national event product contingency awards.

New for 2020, Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol funny car will be in action. The race will also feature action in multiple Sportsman classes, including Super Stock, Stock, Super Gas, Super Street, Super Comp, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman and Comp Eliminator, along with Sportsman Motorcycle, returning for the third time.

As an added bonus, all sportsman Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series categories will earn an event Grade Point towards national event entries, giving racers the opportunity to enter into national events.

“JEGS will be celebrating our 60th anniversary in 2020 and having this combo event weekend will be huge for sportsman racers and Central Ohio,” said Scott Woodruff, director of media and motorsports for JEGS Automotive Inc. “We are also adding Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car to the JEGS SPORTSnationals in 2020. Our goal has always been to improve events each year we are involved. This only strengthens our longstanding commitment to the NHRA sportsman racers. This will be an exciting weekend for racers and fans alike and we can’t wait.”

INDIANAPOLIS – Representatives of the Race Track Business Conference have announced the list of speakers for the upcoming event, scheduled for Dec. 11 in Indianapolis in conjunction with the PRI Trade Show.

Lyn St. James, best known as a seven-time starter of the Indianapolis 500, will headline the Race Track Business Conference as the Keynote Speaker.

Joining St. James will be four marketing agency representatives, including TSMGI President Jordan Bressler, Speedway Motorsports Senior Vice President Jessica Fickenscher, MotoAmerica CFO Richard Varner and Experiential Events Group Vice President of Business Development Ruthie Culbertson.

Also speaking during the Race Track Business Conference will be four track operations representatives. World Wide Technology Raceway General Manager Chris Blair, Iowa Speedway President David Hyatt, Total Venue Concepts President Kurt Johnson and Lake Erie Speedway Operations Manager A.J. Moore will all be on hand to speak during the event.

The cost to attend the Race Track Business Conference is $250. This cost includes lunch and entrance to the PRI Trade Show. Additional information can be found by visiting www.racetrackbusinessconference.com.

The W Series, the single-seater racing series for women, has announced its initial schedule of six races for the upcoming season.

The schedule includes new events in St. Petersburg, Russia and Anderstorp, Sweden. All six events will be run in conjunction with the DTM touring car series.

The W Series race in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be held on a new circuit called Igora Drive. The track measures 2.539 miles in length and was designed by Formula One circuit designer Hermann Tilke.

Sweden’s Anderstorp Raceway is nearly the same length as Igora Drive, measuring 2.501 miles. However, the Swedish track is a historic circuit, having been built in 1968 and previously hosted the Formula One Swedish Grand Prix from 1973 to 1978.

Other venues on the calendar include Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy, TT Circuit Assen in Assen, Netherlands, the Norisring street circuit in Nuremberg, Germany, and Brands Hatch in West Kingsdown, England.

“We at W Series are thrilled to announce two exciting and important new countries in which W Series will race in 2020: Russia and Sweden,” said Catherine Bond Muir, W Series Chief Executive Officer. “Our Swedish race, at Anderstorp, will take W Series to the Nordics for the first time, a region that’s home to our Finnish driver Emma Kimilainen, who was one of the stars of the 2019 W Series championship, winning at Assen [Netherlands] last year, as well as one of our new-for-2020 drivers, our recently announced Norwegian driver Ayla Agren.

“Our Russian race, at St Petersburg, will be the home fixture for the youngest driver in the 2020 W Series championship, 16-year-old Irina Sidorkova, from Petrozavodsk, which is also in Russia albeit 266 miles [428km] north-east of St Petersburg.

“Both Sweden and Russia represent important new territories for W Series, powerful economies both, appealing to fans, media and sponsors alike.

“We’ll announce the complete 2020 W Series championship calendar as and when we’ve finalized it.”

Provisional 2020 W Series Schedule

May 29-30 – Igora Drive – St. Petersburg, Russia

June 12-13 – Anderstorp Raceway – Anderstorp, Sweden

June 26-27 – Autodromo Nazionale di Monza – Monza, Italy

July 10-11 – Norisring – Nuremberg, Germany

Aug. 22-23 – Brands Hatch – West Kingsdown, England

Sept. 4-5 – TT Circuit Assen – Assen, Netherlands