By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor

On the day that the dates for next year’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions were announced, squash fans have the chance to connect online with some of the game’s greatest stars of the past three decades.

The event, widely regarded as one of the jewels of the PSA World Tour, will return to the Vanderbilt Waiting Hall inside New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal between January 13-21, 2022.

Today, the tournament organisers are holding a virtual ToC: Unstrung event at 5pm UK time. Guests will include three decades of ToC winners, including Jonathon Power, Raneem El Welily, and the incomparable Ramy Ashour.

This year’s Tournament of Champions was cancelled because of Covid. But squash fans can immerse themselves in the Big Apple buzz by watching today’s event on the PSA World Tour and ToC Facebook channels or the PSA SQUASHTV YouTube channel.

The announcement of next year’s ToC dates follows the news that top-class tournament action will return in Egypt in March and Manchester in April.

The PSA World Tour will return in just under a month when the world’s best male and female squash players line up at the Black Ball Sporting Club in Cairo to compete for the 2021 CIB PSA Black Ball Open between March 12 – 25, 2020.

This PSA Platinum event will feature 48 men and 48 women competing for $350,000 in equal prize money split across both divisions.

It will be the opening PSA World Tour event of 2021 and the first since December’s edition of the CIB Black Ball PSA Open, which was a PSA Gold tournament. The women’s tournament will be held between Friday March 12 to Thursday March 18, with the men’s following from Friday March 19 to Thursday March 25.

England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and Egypt’s Fares Dessouky are the defending champions after they both achieved incredible comebacks from 2-0 down against World No.5 Hania El Hammamy and World No.1 Ali Farag, respectively, in December’s finals.

PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough said: “We are delighted to kick off our PSA World Tour calendar for 2021 in Egypt and I look forward to watching all of our athletes during what promises to be two exciting and unpredictable weeks in Cairo. I’d like to thank Mohamed Raef, Ahmed El Abd and their team at the Black Ball Sporting Club for their hard work in making this tournament possible.

“Thanks to CIB’s incredible support of squash – which has been integral to our relaunch of the tour against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic – we are pleased to see that this instalment of the CIB PSA Black Ball Squash Open will be a Platinum event, which means an increase in prize money, while the increased draw size will result in more playing opportunities for our players.

“Given the inability to stage events in the United States at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, we are starting 2021 differently than in previous years. However, we are glad to report that the CIB PSA Black Ball Squash Open will be the precursor to a regular schedule of PSA World Tour events and I look forward to sharing our full calendar in the coming weeks.”

CEO of Black Ball Sporting Club and Tournament Director, Mohamed Raef, said: “It’s our pleasure at the Black Ball Sporting Club to continue our success story with our valued partners, CIB and PSA. I’m so happy to bring the tournament up to Platinum level.

“Thank you to CIB for the incredible support as usual, especially within the pandemic situation. We are looking forward to have another amazing event.”

Commercial International Bank (CIB) Chief Executive and Board Member, Hussein Abaza, said: “CIB is proud to sponsor such an esteemed sporting event that includes the best squash players in the world.

“We remain committed to continuing our support of sports in Egypt given its positive effect on the Egyptian youth. This includes our encouragement and support of Egypt’s young squash champions who have become a source of national pride for their achievements and their international rankings.

“We recognise the importance of this tournament in reinforcing Egypt’s position as an international squash hub.”

The second PSA World Tour event of 2021 will see the world’s best male and female squash players head to Manchester’s National Squash Centre between April 19-25 to compete for the Manchester Open.

These PSA Silver events will see 32 men and 32 women compete in the first PSA World Tour event in Europe since the 2020 edition of the Manchester Open last September.

Men’s World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy and women’s World No.4 Nour El Tayeb – who announced her pregnancy in December – took the titles on that occasion.

Delivered in partnership with Manchester City Council, the Manchester Open will feature a prize purse of $170,000 which will be split equally across the men’s and women’s draws.

The Manchester Open will be held in accordance with strict COVID-19 protocols. All players and staff will operate in a bubble environment and are required to provide a negative PCR-RT COVID-19 test prior to travelling to the tournament and a subsequent negative test upon arrival.

After the coronavirus pandemic struck New York in particularly devastating fashion, ToC promoter John Nimick is both relieved and excited to have agreed the renewal of a new three-year title sponsorship with J.P. Morgan, which will commence at the 2022 edition of the PSA World Tour Platinum tournament.

He said: “I’d like to thank J.P. Morgan for their unwavering support and commitment to the Tournament of Champions during these unprecedented times, and I look forward to welcoming these world-class athletes back to Grand Central Terminal for what promises to be an enthralling week of action.

“The decision not to hold the 2021 edition of our tournament was a difficult one, but rendered necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made holding a top tier event in a commuter station untenable.

“However, I’m sure the 2022 instalment of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions will be the most captivating yet, and I hope the 24th edition of the ToC at Grand Central plays a part in the return of New York City as the greatest city in the world.”

Pictures courtesy of  PSA

SALZBURG, Austria – Scuderia AlphaTauri served up a stylish preview of the new Formula One season with a presentation of its new livery on Friday.

The launch – held at AlphaTauri’s new showroom in Salzburg, Austria, and presented digitally – marked the first time that drivers Pierre Gasly of France and Yuki Tsunoda of Japan have appeared together as teammates.

After a successful first season racing in AlphaTauri colours, the Italian outfit is looking to challenge the top of the ultra-competitive midfield in 2021, and the two young drivers have been assigned clear-cut roles.

Gasly is the team leader for the upcoming season. The 25-year-old, who made his Formula One debut with the team in 2017 under its former name, Scuderia Toro Rosso, has earned two F-1 podiums.

During the 2020 campaign, Gasly’s maiden win at Monza was a defining moment for him and the team under its new name.

Tsunoda, 20, is the first Japanese driver to race in F1 since 2014, his promotion coming off the back of a fast, four-season trajectory from winning the 2018 F4 Japanese championship and finishing third in last year’s FIA F2 Championship to entering the top level this year.

Expectations are high for his rapid style of learning to complement the experience of Gasly.

“The decision to go for Pierre and Yuki in 2021 was taken because Scuderia AlphaTauri’s philosophy is still to give talented young drivers from the Red Bull Junior Program the opportunity to step up to F1 and to educate them – this is why Yuki now gets his chance,” explained Scuderia AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost. “With Pierre on Yuki’s side we have an experienced driver, who can help our Japanese rookie to develop faster, but at the same time we can aim for good results.

“I think this pair is the best possible scenario to achieve both our targets, and I’m also confident this will be a successful one.”

Last season, Scuderia AlphaTauri won best livery by a landslide, and the team’s all-new, matte blue and white race car livery took center stage with the drivers at the fashion event, anticipating the 2021 model that will debut at pre-season testing in Bahrain on March 12.

The test is the precursor to an unprecedented 23-race schedule, and in preparation for the demanding calendar both drivers have spent time at Red Bull’s Athlete Performance Center for intense fitness testing.

“I’m ready to take on the role of team leader. Yuki is a very quick driver, and he will help us move the team forward – we will work together to achieve that,” said Gasly, the team’s all-time top points scorer. “I really believe last year was the team’s best in terms of the way it worked, the development, the performance and the way it managed the race weekends. I’m always hungry for more, and I’m sure we can achieve great things in 2021.”

Tsunoda was honored with the Anthoine Hubert Award for best F-2 rookie last season and looks forward to working with Gasly this year.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with Scuderia AlphaTauri ahead of the season, so I’m already developing strong relationships and learning a lot from them – including Pierre, who is an incredible talent,” said Tsunoda. “My main goal is to learn quickly and deliver results as soon as possible, and I’m really excited to get started.”

The launch at the AlphaTauri Showroom not only gave Gasly and Tsunoda a preview of the new AlphaTauri autumn/winter fashion collection, but allowed them the chance to select their new off-grid looks ahead of the start of the new season.

“This is a triple reveal at a unique point of time: a new AlphaTauri Showroom where fashion meets F1, a first look at the AW21 AlphaTauri collection and the unveiling of the new Scuderia AlphaTauri F1 livery and driver pairing,” said AlphaTauri CEO Ahmet Mercan.

The FIA Formula One season kicks off at the Bahrain Test March 12-14, in preparation for the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.

INDIANAPOLIS – The USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series schedule is highlighted by not one, but two trips to the East Coast this season.

The tour’s first eastbound sojourn comes in April, followed by the 14th edition of Eastern Storm in June.

A foray to Pennsylvania from April 22-25 is new to the calendar, and will have a new name for the four-race weekend within the confines of the Keystone State.

The Keystone Invasion will see the series visit Bechtelsville’s Grandview Speedway on April 22, Pottsville’s Big Diamond Speedway on April 23, York Haven’s BAPS Motor Speedway on April 24, and Spring Run’s Path Valley Speedway Park on April 25.

The third-mile Grandview Speedway has long been a staple of USAC’s National Sprint Car Series trips to the east, regularly appearing on the schedule since 2007.

This year, however, will mark the first year for the series to make multiple trips to Grandview, which will also host the series on June 15 as the opener for Eastern Storm.

Big Diamond’s three-eighths-mile surface most recently appeared on the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series slate nearly a decade ago in 2012.

The four-tenths-mile BAPS Motor Speedway has previously been the venue for five USAC National Sprint Car Series events between the years of 2013 and ’18.

Path Valley has welcomed the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series three times, and was on the USAC National Sprint Car Series docket in 2013 before being rained out.

This year’s event will mark the series’ debut at the high banked, quarter-mile.

Lionel Messi needs little introduction: he'll go down in history as one of the best to ever play soccer, with six Ballons d'Ors to his name, countless individual awards and team trophies in his cabinet and all of them earned while playing for Barcelona. And yet, this summer he has a very real choice. After trying to leave Barca last summer -- remember we all learned the word "burofax"? -- he'll be able to walk out the door for free this summer once his contract expires on June 30.

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What will he do? He's got three realistic options in front of him: join former boss Pep Guardiola at all-conquering Manchester City, reunite with former teammate Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain or succumb to the sentimental and sign a new deal at Barcelona. More importantly, what about the clubs themselves? ESPN's Mark Ogden (Man City), Julien Laurens (PSG) and Graham Hunter (Barcelona) unpack the pros and cons for the three teams vying for Messi's signature this summer.

How smoothly would he fit? What would have to change around him? How will the financial aspect work given the cost-cutting needs of the coronavirus pandemic?

Jump to: Manchester City | PSG | Barcelona

MANCHESTER CITY

The case for: Manchester City are still on course for a domestic treble and could also win the Champions League this season, so adding (arguably) the best player in the world to one of the strongest squads on the planet, under one of the best managers, Pep Guardiola, would be an emphatic statement of the club's determination to remain at the top of the game.

Messi would bring goals, creativity and star quality, and his presence in and around the team would surely only help accelerate the progress of City's Phil Foden, the 20-year-old midfielder who is regarded as the best English player of his generation.

- Sources: Man City have not yet opened Messi talks

The football logic of signing Messi is clear. Despite his age (he will be 34 in June), he will only make City more formidable. But it is off the pitch that Messi could do most for City. Ever since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, City have wanted a megastar signing, but moves for Kaka, Wayne Rooney, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe all failed to come off. From a commercial and branding perspective, City need Messi to help close the gap on traditional superteams such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, whose respective histories and illustrious former players give them an edge on a club that still falls short in terms of global appeal.

Signing Messi would further increase City's profile and make them more attractive to sponsors, who would happily pump money into the club to be associated with the Messi brand. Even if Messi failed to deliver on the pitch, City know he would transform their brand off it and that's why they are so keen to sign him.

The case against: From a football perspective, there's a point to be made that City don't need Messi. Indeed, signing him could actually disrupt the team Guardiola has built. City have done pretty well without Messi in recent seasons, and the suggestion that signing him would unlock the door to winning the Champions League doesn't stack up when you consider that Barcelona haven't won it since 2015, despite having Messi in his prime in their lineup for each of the past six years.

If Messi moves to the Etihad, so many players would have to sacrifice themselves to accommodate him in the team. Is it really worth the risk of disrupting Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, and diminishing their status in the team, simply to put a 34-year-old vanity signing in the side?

Messi is still an exceptional player, but his performances and goals/assists over the past 12 to 18 months point to a decline in his output, and one thing that has defined City's recruitment over the past decade is their refusal to lavish big money on players who are past their peak. Instead, City have identified young, emerging talent and invested in their future. Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne and Ederson all fit that profile, and they have been hugely successful.

Rather than commit as much as £100m a year on Messi's salary, surely City would be better served by following their own blueprint by signing Erling Haaland or trying again for Mbappe. They would give more long-term value than Messi, though Messi might be the statement signing that City just cannot let go.

What should Man City do? If City sign Messi, it will be because the commercial benefits are irresistible to the club's owners. Yes, he can still have an impact on the pitch, but City don't need Messi to win trophies. They want to be seen as the No. 1 destination for the world's top players and having Messi on board would encourage others to follow in the future.

Despite the costs involved, City would get a short-term kick on the pitch and a long-term boost off it. On that basis, it would be a win-win for City to sign Messi. -- Mark Ogden

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

The case for: Since the Qataris bought PSG in the summer of 2011, they had one dream -- bring either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to the Parc des Princes. They tried many times, especially with the Portuguese superstar, and they always failed. Now that there's a chance to get the GOAT from Argentina, they won't give up.

PSG say it would obviously give them an even bigger chance to finally win the Champions League, the one prize they've craved for almost a decade. Even if Messi is turning 34 in June and has not won the biggest club competition since 2015, he would make PSG a better team and a bigger contender. Messi can win games on his own, whatever the opposition or the level. And if you have Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Marquinhos or Marco Verratti around him, you could build something long lasting.

More than on-field performance, signing Messi would give PSG and their owners a credibility they've craved every bit as much as that elusive trophy. For critics who don't really take the Parisians seriously, Messi would offer some validation to their project.

Regarding the PSG brand, it's growing day by day and the Messi factor would propel it so much further, and so much faster. Marketing-wise, it would be the coup of the century -- far bigger than attracting Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham or Neymar in the past.

Finally, in the constant rivalry between Doha and Abu Dhabi, having Messi choosing Paris over Manchester City would be a sweet feeling. They have at times fought for the same players in the past, but winning the battle for Messi would be something else, even at their level.

The case against: Messi will be 34 in June and you can argue that, even if Mbappe ends up leaving, the Argentine genius is not really what PSG need. They could use the summer (with or without the revenue generated by Mbappe leaving) to make their squad more balanced around Neymar.

At his age, Messi would cost a lot of money in wages, signing-on fees and other bonuses. In the current context, the club would have to make a really significant effort to put this money on the table, money that they don't really have considering they're projecting losses of around 200m euros this year. PSG have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, maybe even more than other big European clubs, given that the 2019-20 Ligue 1 season was halted during the pandemic and didn't resume.

If Messi arrives, how can PSG possibly retain Mbappe? Replacing the French star with Messi, essentially using the money from selling the Paris-born prodigy to fund the biggest transfer of the club's history, is risky. Furthermore, any deal with Messi would be strictly short term. At his age, and the things he'd hope to achieve before retiring -- perhaps a stint in MLS or back at his first club, Newell's Old Boys -- there would not be much time for him in Paris. Maybe two years at most? Just one? Would it really be worth it?

What should PSG do? PSG are waiting for Messi to make a decision. Right now, the priority is to keep Neymar and Mbappe, extending their current deals -- which expire in June 2022 -- while preparing a plan to be able to welcome Messi. Financially, it would be a nightmare, but they say it is possible. They will try everything they can to court the Barca No. 10, and Neymar is already lobbying Messi with the aim of recruiting him. Neymar's pitch is easy: Come and play with me again and let's win the Champions League together. PSG are all for it. -- Julien Laurens

BARCELONA

The case for keeping him: There was a point, beginning last August, that the prospect of Messi staying at Barcelona -- and it being a sound decision for any of the parties involved -- would have seemed ludicrous.

Not so in 2021. The vast majority of Messi's anger was directed at a now-departed club president who he says repeatedly misled and betrayed him. Josep Maria Bartomeu is history and, with something close to certainty, the Big Boss going forward from the March 7 presidential elections will be Joan Laporta, someone with whom Messi, and the family members who represent him, have always had friendly relations.

The other part of Messi's (understandable) fury was that the twilight years of his sublime career were being besmirched by FC Barcelona's moribund -- you'd almost say self-destructive -- approach to squad renewal and the building of an ultra-competitive XI. Again, things have rebooted on that front too. This season, Barca are distinct from the desperate months under Quique Setien & Co. that threatened to tear the club apart. They're incomplete and occasionally vulnerable, true, but hugely improved in playing style, flair and competitive ability, and they boast the threat of much more to come.

But to continue this line of argument any further without mentioning Pedri -- born Pedro Gonzalez Lopez -- would be a huge error.

The 18-year-old is utterly exceptional -- he's the best Under-20 footballer anywhere in the world (including Ansu Fati) by miles. If you've not had the benefit of watching Pedri and Messi frolicking around Spanish pitches together, then don't simply take my word for it. Seek them out.

Messi adores the kid from the Canary Islands. It should be the other way round, but Barcelona's No. 10 acts as if he's suddenly got another son. Instinctively, they think identically about football -- about seven or eight beats ahead of almost everyone else in their team or in the opposition. It's a little bit like what we were all deprived of when the Ronaldinho-Messi symbiosis of 2005-06 was cruelly curtailed -- first by the Brazilian's fondness for nightlife and then by Guardiola's "clear the decks" arrival.

Suddenly, Pedri -- and to some extent Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Ronald Araujo, Francisco Trincao and Frenkie de Jong -- have all changed Messi's understanding of what might be achieved with this squad if there are one or two well-judged additions, even amid the club's horrible financial crisis. No informed opinion on Messi's future can ignore the fact that to some teammates, he's an intimidating and sometimes off-putting figure around the training ground. But if he's renewed in his commitment to the club, if he's energised and if he's desperate to win important trophies, there's no question that, even if less regularly than in his peerless era, Messi can still put in performances that not only make him look like the best, most exciting player in the world -- he can also make Barcelona irresistible again.

The case for letting him go: It's the economy, stupid. You can concoct arguments about how another two or three years of Messi in blaugrana might negatively affect change, renovation and development at Camp Nou in pure football terms, but that would be irresponsible. There's only one elephant in this room, and it's the colour of money.

FC Barcelona's financial figures are complex, and some parts are open to a variety of interpretation, but nobody can evade three key facts: Their €1.1bn global debt is a horrific figure to deal with, the revenue stream is and will continue to be brutally affected by the pandemic and, finally, the outlay needed to retain Messi via anything even vaguely similar to his current deal is unfeasibly huge. The club still owes him a vast sum -- perhaps as much as €60m -- and the couple of hundred million it would take to reengage him when he's out of contract in June, hypothetically for another two seasons, is money that FC Barcelona neither have nor can faithfully promise to have.

But, for the sake of argument, let's say that President Laporta (hypothetically) promises to name Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium "El Estadio Messi" in perpetuity, guarantees Messi that he'll be head of the club's La Masia Academy the instant he finishes his playing career at Inter Miami or with Newell's Old Boys, and agrees to a reduced, reasonable salary that Barcelona can actually afford from 2021 until 2023 -- and the wee man agrees to stay on those terms -- there would still be negatives.

Barcelona's squad is improved, but that's because coach Ronald Koeman has been daring in how much he has used, trusted and, crucially, developed previously unused academy kids; he has also benefitted from breakthrough seasons by Dembele, Trincao and Pedri. This isn't to say that this squad, if it wishes to win La Liga and be a Champions League contender, doesn't need astute refurbishing. But that requires money the club will struggle to raise and money that, in this scenario, will be paid to Messi.

It's an invidious situation and one in which -- it's perfectly feasible -- Messi's family love of this city, his loyalty to the club (rather than the previous board), his unwillingness to uproot in the middle of a pandemic, his lack of appetite for a change of climate, culture and language might leave Messi willing to stay, to commit, to renew, to apply his greatness ... but leave Barcelona unable to fund that wish.

What should Barcelona do? With both sides of the case made, here's the endgame: If I were Laporta, I'd mix elegance with street smarts. Messi was understandably sick of being fed nonsense by the previous board, who patently thought of him as someone to be patted on the head, misled and then discarded. Be straight with him and his people. Show them the books. Explain that you want him, passionately, to stay and retire at FC Barcelona. Engage in finding mutually interesting ways of constructing a two- or three-year deal that attacks the financial problem laterally -- meanwhile, accepting, openly, that it's Messi's duty to investigate the PSG and Man City options. Encourage him, even.

In 2003, Barcelona were working hard on the Ronaldinho deal with PSG. They were in the race but losing, all the while insisting to the Brazilian that after some grey-wintered "Northern" seasons in the French capital, he'd hate the rain, cold, damp and grey skies of Manchester. Ultimately, when Manchester United and PSG fell out over Ronaldinho's price, the player factored the weather and culture into his decision and chose the Mediterranean life.

Laporta would be wise to revisit that tactic. Perhaps Messi is ready for a change. Perhaps he can be tempted to put aside worries about whether his wife and kids (a factor that's absolutely fundamental to him) can adapt and settle, whether he can work, thrive and excel in a French or English training ground. Perhaps. But, were I Laporta, I'd play on this element, while admitting that it's Messi's right to play the field before deciding.

Among the many things I've learned about this phenomenal footballer, who will go down in the all-time pantheon of sporting (not just footballing) greats, is the truth that he requires to be happy, focussed, engaged and energised by his daily work, the likelihood of winning important trophies, and having people around him who aren't subservient, but are leaders, winners and on his wavelength. If Laporta can convince Messi that this is the atmosphere he'd be staying to enjoy, and that he's far less likely to encounter these things under the grey, freezing skies "up north," then perhaps the Camp Nou faithful can continue to enjoy the greatest footballer they've ever seen.

What's crucial to understand, however, is that, for any of these three clubs, it's not about winning the battle to obtain Messi's services -- it's about the longer war to make him inspired, engaged, ambitious, hungry and supreme again, even at the age of 34. It can be done.

Manchester City, PSG, Barcelona: start your engines. -- Graham Hunter

Thomas Tuchel has said he wants Christian Pulisic to stay at Chelsea but admitted "no decisions" have yet been taken over the club's summer plans.

The USMNT international has started only in the FA Cup fifth-round win at Barnsley on Feb. 11 during Tuchel's six-game tenure.

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Pulisic is a doubt for Saturday's Premier League trip to Southampton, and although the 22-year-old has also recently missed Chelsea's victory at Sheffield United due to personal reasons, a lack of game time has fuelled speculation he could leave the club this summer.

However, when asked at a news conference whether the forward still had a future at Stamford Bridge, Tuchel replied: "Yes, today, clearly yes, but it is not only my point of view. We have to see. For me, clearly yes because Chelsea bought Christian for a reason, for his quality, for his potential, and it is our job to bring out the best in him.

"He proved in many weeks that he has the level to be a Chelsea regular player, to have a big impact in this club. It's a challenge now to hold this level, to improve and to maintain the level and keep improving."

Pulisic, who has a contract until 2024, has struggled with persistent injury problems since arriving at Chelsea in the summer of 2019 but particularly after a hamstring injury suffered in last August's FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.

Former Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard revealed the club were exploring specific training programmes amid fears Pulisic was struggling to cope with the rigours of regular first-team football.

Although Tuchel did not necessarily share that view, he said Pulisic is unlikely to be risked to avoid another "cycle" of fitness problems.

"We are not concerned, we are not worried, but the physical, medical department is on that," he added. "Now we have little issues in the calf. He stopped training yesterday before it becomes an injury.

"So I would not say it is an injury; at the moment it is risk management to not be injured. That relies on his history of having injuries, so we do not want to enter the same cycle.

"It is sometimes like this, and the main thing for Christian is to stay positive, keep the head up and, like I said before, be ready because he can have a big impact when he starts and he can have a big, big impact when he comes off the bench with his intensity.

"There are absolutely no decisions made for the summer. There is simply no time for that at the moment, and this is not the moment now. There is today no need to think about it."

Thiago Silva has not recovered from a thigh problem and will miss the game against Southampton, but Tammy Abraham was expected to train on Friday afternoon despite limping off in Monday's 2-0 win over Newcastle with an ankle problem. Kai Havertz is also fit after shaking off a knock.

JUPITER, Fla. -- - Right-hander Edward Cabrera, one of the Miami Marlins' top prospects, will be sidelined indefinitely with an inflamed nerve in his right biceps.

The team became aware of the injury earlier this winter, manager Don Mattingly said Friday. Cabrera is with the Marlins at their spring training complex but isn't throwing.

"This is something we have followed," Mattingly said. "You're always disappointed when anything sets a guy back a little bit, but he is already showing improvement and still able to do a lot of things. We feel like we'll see him at some point this year."

Cabrera, 22, was expected to contend for a spot in the rotation. He went 9-4 with a 2.23 ERA at Class A and Double-A in 2019.

Last week, I ranked the top 100 prospects and all 30 farm systems heading into the 2021 season. Now it's time to go deeper with my team-by-team rankings, wrapping up with the National League following Thursday's American League lists.

A quick refresher on a key term you'll see throughout the team lists: Future Value, shortened to FV hereafter, as a term that sums up the value of a player into one number. It's graded on the 20-80 scouting scale. A low-end every-day player is a 50, which correlates to 2.0 WAR; a well above average position player, No. 3 starter or high-end closer is a 60, or somewhere around 3.0 WAR. I refrain from tossing out an 80 on minor leaguers because that would imply one is expected to be one of the top players in baseball.

While the top 100 is exactly that long, I rank every prospect who gets a 45+ or better FV grade that is 167 in total, so that rank is included here in the team lists. For every team, there are reports on the top 10 prospects and then varying numbers of others depending on the strength of the system. Broadly, it'll be everyone better than a 40 FV, then hand-picked interesting prospects who are 40 FVs.

And now on to my rankings.

Jump to a franchise:

ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL
LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | PHI
PIT | SD | SF | STL | WSH

LAS VEGAS — The March 5-7 NASCAR weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be conducted with a limited number of fans in the grandstands.

“We’re excited that we’ll have race fans in attendance for all three days of our March 5-7 NASCAR Weekend,” said LVMS president Chris Powell. “Given what our state and community have been through in the face of this terrible pandemic, we can only hope that this announcement represents some semblance of a return to normalcy.”

Race fans in attendance will be required to maintain proper social distancing, wear face coverings and be subject to temperature checks at the gate. There also will be no fan access to the pit or garage areas throughout the weekend.

“There are no higher priorities than the health and safety of every race fan who is fortunate enough to attend our events,” Powell said. “The same goes for every competitor, official, sponsor and staff member. Everyone has my personal assurance that we will follow every protocol in our zealous effort to keep everyone safe.”

The weekend will kick off on Friday, March 5 with the Bucked Up 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event followed by the Alsco 300 NASCAR Xfinity race on Saturday, March 6. The weekend will conclude with the 24th annual Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube NASCAR Cup Series event on Sunday, March 7.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When Corey LaJoie made the decision to join Spire Motorsports for the full NASCAR Cup Series season, he saw potential in the small team trying to become a contender.

With newer Chip Ganassi Racing chassis and updated Chevrolet engines from Hendrick Motorsports, LaJoie felt the team could show improvement. Sunday night at Daytona Int’l Speedway, some of that improvement was visible.

LaJoie earned a ninth-place finish in the 63rd Daytona 500, part of a pair of top-10 results from the Spire Motorsports stable in The Great American Race. His teammate, Jamie McMurray, finished eighth.

It was one of the feel-good stories of the weekend, alongside journeyman Michael McDowell, who won the Daytona 500 for his first NASCAR Cup Series triumph in 358 starts.

Much like McDowell’s victory, LaJoie feels his Daytona 500 effort is more important than simply being a strong finish for an underdog team.

He believes it is a sign of the possibilities in front of Spire Motorsports as an organization as it seeks to contend with the Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racings and Joe Gibbs Racings of the Cup Series garage.

“It’s a good start for us,” LaJoie said Thursday during a media conference call. “It was a busy week with a bunch of stuff going on down there at Daytona. Add to that a new team, new procedures with (crew chief) Ryan Sparks still leading our unit; and to have two cars down there in the top 10 after it was all said and done with Spire Motorsports means a lot. I think it means a lot to (co-owners) T.J. Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson, too.

“Financially, obviously, the Daytona 500 is a big one. It certainly started us off on the right foot. And I think it builds some momentum,” LaJoie continued. “We have a great starting position this weekend. We’re starting seventh. So, I’ll have at least six people in front of me to slow me down before I get to turn one. I’m certainly not a road course ringer. I have a little work to do on that. But it would be good to learn from the guys in front of me and to see what we can do this weekend.”

Sunday’s double top-10 effort prompted Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson to post a statement on social media that the finish was “like a win” for their organization.

LaJoie didn’t quite go that far in his praise of the team, but admitted he was surprised at the reaction he received from those congratulating him on his Daytona finish.

“I had more people reach out to me about that than I expected, just because people were realizing Jeff’s character and the people and relationships that got his group to where it is as a race team,” LaJoie explained. “Somebody texted me about that this morning and I was like, ‘Man, that’s why Jeff is one of my favorite people.’ I had to re-phrase the text back and say that Jeff was one of my favorite people before I started driving for him.

“The fact that I get to drive for one of the guys I’ve looked up to in the garage for the past couple of years is really neat.”

Can Spire Motorsports be taken seriously as a Cup Series contender? After Sunday, LaJoie admitted that’s more of a possibility than he might have thought going into the year.

“Originally I said, ‘Check back in here in six months and we’ll see if they’re taking us seriously,’ but we’re one weekend into the year and I would say that people should start taking us seriously,” noted LaJoie. “I get that Daytona is Daytona. With certain circumstances you can pop off a fast lap like we did there. But you don’t luck into two top-10 finishes in the (Daytona) 500 just because you’re out there riding around. I’m ready to get to Phoenix and Vegas and some intermediates, just to see where we stack up speed-wise and figure out those groups of four or five cars that we can race consistently and learn how to beat them.

“I’m looking at cars like RCR or JTG; I feel like we can compete with those guys each and every week,” he continued. “Wherever that stacks up in points … we should be somewhere between 19th and 22nd. I feel like that’s where we should be running if we’re getting better each and every week.”

With more 750-horsepower, low-downforce races on the Cup Series schedule, alongside more potent race cars, LaJoie believes he’s in a stronger position than he’s ever been in before to showcase what he can do at the top level of NASCAR racing.

“I think every week is going to be a better opportunity for me to show what I’m capable of behind the wheel, just because we have some up-to-date, current cars; and our motor package is on the same platform as some of the other guys,” he explained. “I want to get through the road course unscathed. A goal of mine is a top-20 (finish) on all the road courses, because I think I only have four or five road courses under my belt in my whole life. I’m trying to mitigate the losses there, but I’m excited to get to Vegas, Homestead, Phoenix and Martinsville; and some other places that I’m familiar with and really see how we stack up … because I think that will be for telling for us.

“With all that we learned last year working with Ryan Sparks, he knows what to look for in these race cars, and we can add it to a lighter car and make some more downforce with some better motors. I think we’re going to be a force to reckon with as we go along here.”

LaJoie’s next outing in the Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet will be Sunday at the Daytona Int’l Speedway road course. Live coverage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 begins at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Manchester City they haven't won anything yet despite opening up a 10-point lead in the Premier League title race.

Buoyed by an impressive 4-0 win over Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday, Solskjaer said Manchester United are ready to push Pep Guardiola's team right to the wire.

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"I don't think anyone would say they're not going to go for it," Solskjaer told a news conference. "We're going to go for a win every single game we play, of course we are.

"We're second and of course your ambition then is to not end any lower than that. We're going to have to get a good run together if we're going to put pressure on City and that should start on Sunday [against Newcastle]."

Only twice has a team with a 10-point lead failed to win the title in the Premier League era -- Manchester United in 1997-98 and Newcastle in 1995-96.

United host Newcastle on Sunday having won just one of their last five league games.

The dip in form has allowed City to move clear at the top but also put pressure on United's place in the top four, with fifth-placed West Ham just four points behind. Liverpool, in sixth, are a further two points back.

"We can't hide the fact we've dropped off our form a bit," Solskjaer said. "We dropped points against Everton, Sheffield United, West Brom; points that we feel we deserved more and we should have got more."

"[Real Sociedad] was about finding ourselves and getting the X factor back in, the brightness and the focus so Newcastle will be a very important game for us definitely."

After thrashing Southampton 9-0 at the beginning of February, United followed up with a narrow 1-0 win over West Ham in the FA Cup and back-to-back league draws against Everton and West Brom.

The comfortable victory over Sociedad was a welcome return to form and Solskjaer has demanded a repeat against Newcastle on Sunday.

"We demand we turn up every game and earn the right to win," Solskjaer added.

"You've got to run more than the opposition, you've got to want to win more than the opposition, you've got to suffer more than the opposition, you've got to put your body on the line.

"Every game in the Premier League is high demand and that's why the players are paid the money they are to perform every time they're asked to."