LOS ANGELES -- LAFC manager Bob Bradley said winger Carlos Vela suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday night's match against the LA Galaxy and that the club wasn't taking any chances with its captain.

Less than 10 minutes after Vela scored the second-half equalizer that clinched a 3-3 draw at home against their rivals, a furious Vela was brought off the field after showing signs of strain.

Caught off-guard by an unexpected substitution, Vela threw his captain's armband to the ground during the 61st minute. Vela then briefly chatted with Bradley on the sidelines before returning to the bench and punching one of the seats.

"Carlos, [his] hamstring tweaked," said Bradley in the post-game press conference. "We don't know for sure. I don't think it's a real bad one, knock wood, but we weren't taking any chances. Obviously, he is a huge competitor so he's not too happy when he comes off."

"The conversation with Carlos is what you would expect.

"I made the decision because I think it's the best one for us."

Vela remains a heavy favorite in the MVP race and leads the league with 27 goals in 26 games.

The LAFC coach reiterated that there are no details yet on the severity of the injury. An MRI on Monday will further help clarify whether Vela will be ready to return to the field at some point in the near future.

"Every now and then he'll feel a little something that hasn't ended up being anything bad, so hopefully that's the case," Bradley said.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two first-half goals for the Galaxy and newcomer Cristian Pavon netted his first since joining on loan from Boca Juniors. LAFC rallied on Latif Blessing's brace and then scratched out the draw with Vela's score.

LAFC have yet to beat the Galaxy in five matches since joining MLS as an expansion team last season, with two losses and three draws.

"Obviously,there's just what's hanging over our heads which is beating the Galaxy. When you don't do it, there's a part to it that still stings and it will continue to hang over our heads," Bradley said.

"But what goes with that is the part of continuing to grow as a team and I still think that the package of things it takes to be a great team, most are going in the right direction."

LAFC's next match against Minnesota United on Sept. 1 at Banc of California Stadium.

Vishwa Fernando's 6, Monty Panesar's 7, Clive Eksteen's 4… and now Jack Leach's 1.

The list of the greatest unbeaten single-figure innings in Test history is not a prestigious one, but its members all share cult-hero status. In no other sport are players so prominently exposed for their inability in one facet of the game - Neymar wouldn't make much of a centre-back, but he doesn't ever have to spend 30 minutes trying to rescue a point there - and while those who fail are mocked, success as a tailender can turn an unremarkable player into a legend.

ALSO READ: From Vishwa to Panesar - six great single-figure innings

Leach's 60-minute, 17-ball epic in a remarkable last-wicket stand of 76 with Ben Stokes to haul England across the line at Headingley could so easily have been forgotten. Stokes offered a difficult catch to Marcus Harris at third man, repeatedly cleared fielders on the rope by the finest of margins, and would have been lbw but for the absence of DRS; if any of those had turned out differently, Leach's efforts would have been an irrelevance.

Instead, he found himself exalted.

"I don't know what it is," he said. "It's probably because I look like a village cricketer out there in my glasses, the bald head - maybe people think 'that could be me!' All the others look pretty professional.

"The support's been amazing, the support today for all of us was incredible. The noise was insane, and I'm just enjoying playing for England."

While wiping his glasses before facing each ball made him a subject of amusement, Somerset's former strength and conditioning coach Daz Veness paid tribute to his "outstanding mental strength".

"Bat down, gloves off, helmet off, glasses off, glasses cleaned, everything back on in reverse order," he tweeted. "You'll bowl when I'm ready and my mate has caught his breath. And not before."

Bat down
Gloves off
Helmet off
Glasses off
Glasses cleaned
Everything back on in reverse order

You'll bowl when I'm ready and my mate has caught his breath. And not before.

Outstanding mental strength from The Nut

— Darren Veness (@DazVeness) August 25, 2019

In the manner that county team-mate Marcus Trescothick has done in the final years of his career, Leach - who cannot wear contact lenses because he suffers from astigmatism - managed to dictate the pace of the game throughout his stay at the crease.

"I just have to make sure they are clean every time they were facing up because I would really regret it if it had been smudged," he said, "and then they zoom in on the glasses and say 'he didn't clean his glasses'.

"I just had to stay calm and do the job at hand. I felt good out there, I was really focused on what I needed to do."

Generally left to face a ball or two at the end of an over, Leach left, ducked, weaved and defended his way out of trouble. "I got on with it," he said, "and it [the target] quite quickly seemed to go down. Suddenly it's eight to win, and you're like 'oh my God'.

"It is all a bit of a blur to be honest. I didn't want to get in Stokesy's bubble when he was doing really well, hitting those sixes. I didn't want to say too much but I also wanted him to just focus on the next ball, especially when we got close.

"He said in the changing room that he got nervous when it was down to eight. It seemed so close but the way we were playing it was still quite far away. I just wanted him to focus on every ball, and if it was there he would hit it for six."

There was, of course, the run-out-that-wasn't. If Nathan Lyon had managed to gather the ball as Leach found himself stranded halfway down the pitch, the narrative around his innings would be starkly different.

"That was not a nice moment," Leach said. "There were two balls left so I thought [Stokes] might squeeze a single so that I could face one and he'd have the next over. But it's all good. I don't want to focus on that moment - I want to focus on running down to Stokes when he hit the winning runs."

And so he might. If his team-mates' hardships rarely seem to extend beyond a bad run of form, it is worth reflecting on the multiple setbacks that Leach has overcome on his ascent to the Test side.

He suffers from Crohn's disease, a bowel condition that is often triggered by stress. In 2015, he fractured his skull after fainting on his way to the toilet in the middle of the night. The next summer, his hopes of an international call-up were twice set back; first by comments from his county captain Chris Rogers that he was not "emotionally" ready, then by the news that routine tests at Loughborough had revealed an illegal kink in his bowling action.

Last summer, he found out he had broken his thumb the day before he was set to be announced in the Test squad to play Pakistan. A concussion suffered after being hit by a Morne Morkel bouncer then cost him the chance to prove his form ahead of the India series, and he was again left out.

Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that Leach revealed he thought he would "be watching at home" during this series.

"I wanted to be ready to play and not presume anything," he said. "It's been a tough lead-in because obviously the county cricket has been all T20 stuff, my last long bowl was the Australia A game [for the England Lions in July] which was quite a while ago. That's been a challenge but I've tried to stay ready through training, and my opportunity has come about so I'm trying to make the most of it."

If those comments are damning on the suitability of the county fixture list, they also serve to add to Leach's status as a normal bloke. To stay match-fit between the Ireland Test and his Ashes debut at Lord's, he went home to play for his club side, Taunton Deane. Once part of the Cardiff MCCU production line under Mark O'Leary, he is an example to every club, university, and county cricketer as to what can be achieved with sheer dedication.

It is important, too, to remember that Leach has bowled well in his two opportunities this series. Since Graeme Swann's retirement, England have longed for a spinner who can tie down an end at home; for all Moeen Ali's mercurial talents, he has generally been a wicket-taker rather than a defensive option.

So Leach's economy rate of 2.64 in this series has been just as important as his five wickets. Moving into the final two Tests, at the traditionally more spin-friendly venues in the country, he will be expected to play a role of increasing importance.

"I think I have more to offer with the ball," he said, "and hopefully I'm able to show that over the next couple of games. Obviously the last couple of times I've been doing media stuff at the end of games it's been for my batting, which is mad! I want to be helping the team out with the ball primarily, and I'm looking to bring my best to Old Trafford."

Sussex 176 for 3 (Carey 61, Salter 3-37) beat Glamorgan 174 for 4 (Marsh 52, Ingram 50) by seven wickets

A blistering half-century from Australia's Alex Carey at the top of the innings, with useful support from the middle order, enabled Sussex to easily overcome Glamorgan's challenge and remain at the top of the South Group. Glamorgan, meanwhile, have yet to win a game this season, and have just the final game, at home against Hampshire on Friday, to redeem themselves.

Sussex, needing to score at more than 8.5 an over, were without their captain and opening batsman Luke Wright who had damaged his wrist whilst fielding but Carey proved a capable deputy by destroying the Glamorgan attack in the opening overs.

Marchant De Lange was struck for 33 in his two overs as Carey raced to 50 from 23 balls, and after six overs Sussex were 72 without loss - 27 runs ahead of Glamorgan after the Powerplay. Andrew Salter then dismissed both openers, Phil Salt bowled heaving across the line, then Carey feathering a catch to the wicketkeeper

Salter took his third wicket in the 12th over when Delroy Rawlins swung across the line, but Sussex remained in control, needing 55 from the remaining eight overs. With David Wiese hitting arguably the biggest six seen at the ground - the ball striking the wall of the media centre - and Laurie Evans also punishing some loose bowling, Sussex strode home with 19 balls to spare.

Glamorgan, who opted to bat first, made a steady start with Nick Selman, playing only his third game in the competition this season, and Shaun Marsh scoring 45 from the Powerplay overs with Selman punishing Jason Behrendorff for 17 in his third over.

The opening pair had put on 72, with Selman scoring 40 from 23 balls, which included five fours and two sixes. They were separated in the 10th over, when Selman was caught on the long-off boundary in Will Beer's second over.

Following Selman's dismissal, Marsh began to accelerate, reaching his fifty from 44 balls, with Glamorgan reaching 100 in the 13th over. He added a further two runs before was caught on the square-leg boundary for 52, with four fours and two sixes.

Glamorgan were 164 for 2 with two overs remaining, but Ingram, after a lean season by his standards, scoring only one fifty in the opening game, reached a half-century from 39 balls, before departing to the first ball of the 18th over where Ollie Robinson held on to a well-judged catch on the extra cover boundary. A couple of lusty blows from David Lloyd and Chris Cooke enabled the home team to post a competitive total.

Derbyshire 162 for 3 (Madsen 69, Godleman 57) beat Lancashire 151 for 9 (Livingstone 58, Rampaul 3-19) by 11 runs

Derbyshire secured a Vitality Blast quarter-final berth with an impressive and pulsating 11-run win over North Group leaders Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.

The Lightning lost for only the second time in 13 games and will have to wait until later in the week to secure top spot in the group as they failed to chase 163 and 16 off the last over from ex-West Indies quick Ravi Rampaul. Derbyshire won their seventh game in 14 to jump to second place, but they can't secure a home tie in the last eight.

Liam Livingstone's 58 off 36 balls was the feature of Lancashire's 151 for 9 in front of 14,752 crowd - a non-Roses Blast record at Old Trafford.

Wayne Madsen top-scored with a superb 69 off 39 balls, while captain Billy Godleman ably supported him with 57 off 50 as Derbyshire posted 162 for 3. The second-wicket pair shared 112 inside 13 overs to advance from 17 for 1 in the fourth having elected to bat.

Derbyshire's total could have been even higher. Godleman and Madsen were excellent, the latter in particular as he mixed power with invention and hit six fours and three leg-side sixes.

Godleman, meanwhile, moved to the 940-run mark in both forms of limited-overs cricket this season. No one else in county cricket has been as prolific.

Madsen reached 50 off 27 balls before Godleman followed him to the same milestone off 45 balls. With those two together, Derbyshire were ideally placed at 96 for 1 after 12 overs. But they only scored a further 66 runs from the last eight. Three of the last eight overs were, however, bowled by the miserly Australian left-arm seamer James Faulkner.

Glenn Maxwell and fellow offie Steven Croft both claimed cheap wickets. Croft took the new ball and returned 1 for 13, while expensive legspinner Matthew Parkinson also struck.

Derbyshire's defence then got off to the ideal start when Alex Davies pulled new-ball quick Logan van Beek to square for a two-ball duck, the first of three wickets in the Powerplay.

Rampaul had Croft caught at deep midwicket and bowled Josh Bohannon with successive deliveries in the fourth over, leaving the score at 33 for 3. But Livingstone was proving a danger. He hit two leg-side sixes off Fynn Hudson-Prentice on the way to a six-over score of 52 for 3.

With Keaton Jennings also at the crease, the Lightning then reached halfway at 77 for 3, needing 86 more.

When Livingstone reached 50 off 33 balls in the 13th over, Lancashire had moved to 90 for 3. But he fell caught behind off medium-pacer Alex Hughes later in the over with nine more added to the total, ending a partnership of 66 with Jennings.

Two balls later, legspinner Matt Critchley had Jennings caught at short third-man reverse sweeping before, in the 15th over, big-hitting Aussie Maxwell was bowled by ex-Red Rose seamer Luis Reece as the score fell to 108 for 6 - a key scalp.

Dane Vilas and Faulkner took the target down to 29 off the last three overs, but Vilas was run out at the start of the 18th over.

Seamer Hudson-Prentice, with 29 off two needed, then conceded a six to Faulkner before getting him caught at long-on next ball to leave Rampaul defending 16 off the last with debutant Liam Hurt on strike. Rampaul bowled him with the game's last ball.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to contract terms with veteran quarterback Matt Moore, according to a source, after learning that backup Chad Henne will need surgery for a broken right ankle.

Moore, who hasn't played in an NFL game since 2017 with the Miami Dolphins, will serve as the top backup to Patrick Mahomes.

The 35-year-old played 10 seasons with the Dolphins and Carolina Panthers, starting 30 games and throwing 45 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions. He sat out last season.

The Chiefs have two developmental quarterbacks on their roster, Chase Litton and Kyle Shurmur, but didn't feel either player was one snap away from being an NFL starter.

Litton joined the Chiefs last season as an undrafted free agent from Marshall and spent the season on the practice squad. Shurmur signed this year as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt.

"You see some good, you see some bad,'' offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said of the preseason play of Litton and Shurmur.

Henne is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The Chiefs also lost backup defensive end Breeland Speaks for an extended period. He will have surgery for an MCL sprain and meniscus damage in his right knee.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Original Tampa Bay Rays owner Vince Naimoli has died at 81.

The team said Monday he died Sunday nearly five years after being diagnosed with an uncommon brain disorder.

The Tampa businessman had been part of unsuccessful bids to purchase and relocate the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. But he landed an American League expansion franchise in 1995 that began play as the Devil Rays in 1998.

Naimoli ended the Tampa Bay region's two-decade long pursuit to join Major League Baseball. He sold the club to a group led by current Rays principal Stuart Sternberg in 2004 and relinquished control after the 2005 season.

Naimoli was often at odds with local business and civic leaders and fueled a perception he was more interested in making money than winning. The club never won more than 70 games during his time there. It made an improbable run to the 2008 World Series.

SEATTLE — They compute their fuel — an unholy compound of propane and nitric acid — in gallons per mile rather than miles per gallon.

From a standing start, they blast the length of two football fields in less than four seconds at a tick under 340 mph. Racing the fastest-accelerating vehicles on the planet, they celebrate a winner every five minutes during race-day rounds. And some victory margins are phyllo-dough thin, mere thousandths or ten-thousandths of a second.

So why do drag racers have trouble gaining traction with corporate America and with mainstream media outlets? The instant-gratification aspect of the sport, the one-tiny-glitch-and-you’re-out tension, the textures of gauzy smaze, header flames, burnt rubber, colorful blurs, and ground-shaking all play into Americans’ craving for Now!-Pow!-Wow! entertainment.

Drag racers are accessible in a way no other athletes are. Fans are permitted to wander through the pits, stop and stand 10 feet away from a team thrashing to make the next call to the starting line, and get a driver’s autograph or snap his or her picture.

And yes, the driver might be a female, as drag racing is the lone sport where women and men routinely compete at the elite level against one another — and it’s no novelty when women (or even African-Americans and Hispanics) earn series championships.

So why isn’t this sport the craze it was before urban sprawl, before paradise already was paved but the parking lots went in on top of it anyway? Why aren’t drama-thirsty sports fans gravitating to this in-your-face, insanely sensory-shocking spectacle?

That’s the mystery Tami Powers, director of business development for Alan Johnson Racing, wants the NHRA to help her solve. She wants to know why mainstream brands aren’t investing in what she calls “the greatest value in motorsports in the entire world, period” and “the most diverse, competitive motorsport in the world.”

Powers said, with no apology to Ringling Brothers, “There’s nothing wrong with drag racing. It’s the greatest show on Earth.” The disconnect, as she sees it, is between the NHRA and its teams. And she wants to convene NHRA executives, marketing associates, team owners and their sponsorship-procurement specialists to “have that uncomfortable conversation.”

Likening herself to a wind-up toy, she said, “Something needs to be done sooner rather than later. It’s like you wind up that little doll and she starts walking against the wall and she just keeps walking against the wall and walking against the wall. You work really hard on your end to bring in some new eyes, some new bodies, some new excitement and one mainstream brand and” — like in her most recent experience, the deal falls apart, despite teams having the deliverables the potential sponsor seeks.

“That’s the elephant in the room, and if we don’t talk about it, things are never going to change,” Powers said. “To have an honest and authentic conversation about that with the NHRA is a challenge.”

Although she recognizes an ideal session would have its share of disagreements, she believes that would be healthy. More importantly, she doesn’t want to carve out an adversarial relationship with the sanction body. Instead, she said, “I want to be able to gather people from other teams to sit down with the NHRA and say, ‘Let’s create some great content. Let’s create some great ideas.’ Not by blaming, not by finger-pointing, but collectively ask the question ‘What are we missing?’ We need to be able to put it on the table, dissect it and put it back together.”

Several teams and drivers have expressed an interest in such a brainstorming session. Powers says the purpose would be to figure out how to give team owners, sponsors and fans “the biggest bang for their buck and the best time of their lives.”

She said, “The drivers are out there doing it. There’s so much great talent that’s being wasted right now. You’ve got these great, great next-generation drivers who deserve a chance to be professional race car drivers and only get in the car and race the car and focus on the race, focus on the appearances, focus on the brands, and focus on the partners. They need people supporting them  . . .  on the NHRA side — and not lip service. Enough lip service. I believe the intent is good, but there’s no result.”

And that reflects her contention that the “NHRA is not run like a business.”

She wants to nudge the organization into mutual cooperation with teams to make racing more affordable, bring fresh marketing partners to the mix and put more teams on the race track. To her it’s a joint venture — but both sides have to want to cooperate.

“You can have all these great assets, but if you don’t know how to activate them, and you don’t know how to connect with people and you don’t know how to build relationships in the corporate world, it’s all moot,” Powers said. “And that’s what I’m trying to change.

“I don’t want to form a hate relationship with (NHRA officials). I want to form a collective discussion and an honest conversation — as tough as it might be, as contentious as it might be – an authentic connection to solve solvable problems. That’s all. That’s it.”

WEEDSPORT, N.Y. – The final leg of Weedsport Speedway’s Champion Oil Modified Series presented by Stirling Lubricants will pit the best Modified drivers in the region against one another on Sept. 2 in the Lane’s Yamaha Labor Day Double Play, led by Matt Sheppard.

Sheppard has scored more than 30 wins this season, including two at Weedsport, leading Erick Rudolph by a slim two-point margin heading into the $7,500-to-win Labor Day 100 for the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds.

In the series last stop to Weedsport, Sheppard dominated the Hall of Fame 100, covering a stout field of Super DIRTcar Series combatants.

Sheppard’s fantastic season to date sees the driver of the No. 9s continue to lead the Super DIRTcar Series standings, having notched six tour wins, while also recently securing his ninth track championship at Land of Legends Raceway.

Rudolph, who has one win at Weedsport this year, will look to overcome Sheppard in the Champion Oil standings during the Labor Day 100, as they each eye the overall championship prize of $2,000.

Jimmy Phelps currently sits third in the Champion Oil Modified Series points, only 10-markers behind, with Chris Hile and Larry Wight in the top five.

Billy Decker, Mat Williamson, Peter Britten, Danny Johnson and Tim Sears Jr. are the top ten.

Three games into the 2019-20 Premier League season and the top of the table already looks ominously familiar, with Liverpool and Manchester City having claimed the top two spots. Meanwhile, the chasing pack have all stumbled during the opening three weeks and done little to suggest that they can challenge European champions Liverpool or back-to-back Premier League winners City for the title.

So are the best of the rest simply fighting to finish third and fourth? Or is the battle now more about seeing off the challenge of ambitious clubs such as Wolves and Leicester to keep hold of a place in the top six?

- Weekend Review: Are Tottenham getting stale?
- O'Hanlon: Should we be worried about "superteam" Man City?
- Jones: Sheffield United prove heart can beat talent

ESPN FC has assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the teams most likely to challenge for the top six, and it is not just about Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United.

ARSENAL

Strengths: With two wins out of three so far, Unai Emery's team have made a sound start to the season but Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Liverpool proved to be something of a reality check. However, Arsenal have a wealth of attacking options, increased by the summer purchase of Nicolas Pepe, and they have the ability to outscore less well-resourced teams. Emery is also showing signs of good progress in the second year of his reign in charge.

Weaknesses: The defeat at Anfield exposed some familiar Arsenal frailties in defence, ones that have seemingly not been helped by the acquisition of David Luiz from Chelsea. Emery's tactical plan was also picked apart by Jurgen Klopp, so the biggest question mark over Emery and Arsenal is whether they can find a way to beat the top teams away from home. Or at least find a way not to lose.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Strengths: Man United have bolstered their defence with the summer signings of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and the addition of winger Daniel James has added blistering pace and given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team greater threat on the counter-attack. The much-maligned Paul Pogba -- penalty miss aside -- has started the campaign well.

Weaknesses: There is a worrying over-reliance on Pogba, Maguire and Marcus Rashford. How will United cope if any of them are injured or suspended for a period of time? Solskjaer's squad lacks quality and experience and, in terms of creativity, there is no potential game-changer in the final third. David de Gea's ongoing battle for form in goal is another concern that has now been an issue for over six months.

TOTTENHAM

Strengths: Stability and consistency under Mauricio Pochettino is Tottenham's biggest asset. They also have the goal threat of Harry Kane, with Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura also capable of weighing in with double figures. Summer signing Tanguy Ndombele has added quality in midfield and, although they can blow hot and cold, Spurs have proven over the years under Pochettino that they can quickly bounce back from setbacks.

Weaknesses: The uncertainty surrounding Christian Eriksen's future is already becoming a distraction, with the Dane being omitted from the starting line-up twice already this term. The player looks out of sorts and Spurs miss his creativity. Defensively, there are also concerns in both full-back positions and Hugo Lloris has been unconvincing in goal for the majority of 2019. Spurs still need more depth in their squad, despite the summer spending spree.

CHELSEA

Strengths: The appointment of Frank Lampard as manager has brought a feelgood factor to Stamford Bridge, which has enabled the former Chelsea midfielder to be bold enough in handing chances to young stars like Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham. There is a freedom to Chelsea's play this season, but they also have the experience and quality of N'Golo Kante in midfield to hold it all together. Chelsea are in transition, but the mood is upbeat.

Weaknesses: Every strength is a potential weakness at Chelsea. Can the youngsters be relied upon to perform all season? How long will Lampard's honeymoon period last? And when Kante doesn't play, Chelsea have a hole in midfield that they simply cannot fill. The summer exits of Gary Cahill and David Luiz have left Chelsea light on experience at centre-back and the two window transfer embargo means they will be unable to sign a proven goalscorer until next summer.

LEICESTER CITY

Strengths: Brendan Rodgers inherited a vibrant young team when he succeeded Claude Puel as manager late last season and the likes of James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Hamza Choudhury and Ben Chilwell are all developing into top-class players at the King Power Stadium. Jamie Vardy continues to score goals at the highest level and Wilfred Ndidi has become an outstanding defensive midfielder. No European commitments will also play in Leicester's favour.

Weaknesses: Leicester have yet to replace Harry Maguire at centre-back following his world record £80m transfer to Manchester United this summer and Rodgers' commitment to attacking football may yet expose the frailties in Leicester's defence without their most commanding defender. If Vardy is injured, Leicester could also struggle for goals.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Strengths: Wolves have yet to win this season but they are also undefeated and Nuno Espirito Santo's team have twice come from behind to draw at home, against United and Burnley, which points to the belief and quality within the Molineux squad. Raul Jimenez has emerged as one of the Premier League's most reliable strikers, while goalkeeper Rui Patricio and midfielders Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho are all proven performers at the top level.

Weaknesses: They find a way to juggle their domestic commitments with a Europa League campaign and that has been a challenge that even the biggest clubs have struggled to master in recent years. Depth of squad may be the biggest problem once the games mount up and, as last season's FA Cup semifinal defeat against Watford highlighted, questions still remain over Wolves' ability to deliver when the pressure is on.

OVERALL VERDICT:

While Wolves and Leicester remain outsiders to break into the top six, the shortcomings of Arsenal, Spurs, United and Chelsea have made it a genuine possibility this season.

United's meeting with Leicester at Old Trafford on Sept. 14 is a game between the team most likely to drop out of the top six against the one with the best prospect of breaking into it. And when the season reaches its climax, it could boil down to United and Leicester slugging it out for sixth while City and Liverpool pull even further away from the rest at the top.