NEWCASTLE cult hero Nikos Dabizas has named a surprise Championship star as the best man to keep England superstar Jude Bellingham quiet when Greece visit Wembley.

The Three Lions return to international duty on Thursday to welcome their Nations League group leaders after both sides kicked their campaign off with victories over Republic of Ireland and Finland.

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Bellingham, 21, is set to play under interim manager Lee Carsley for the first time since Gareth Southgate’s dismissal as he missed last month’s international break due to a foot injury.

The versatile midfielder is expected to start under Carsley, which means Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic will have his hands full in his first big match in charge since taking over in August.

However, Dabizas, 51, believes Cardiff ace Manolis Siopis could be the one to stop the Real Madrid star for the Greeks, who have never beaten England in all of their nine matches – of which they lost seven.

The Euro 2004 legend claims Siopis, 30, who famously helped Trabzonspor win their first title in 28 years two seasons ago, could thrive in this unenviable task thanks to his speed, power and stamina.

However, the former defender insists Jovanovic shouldn’t rely only on the defensive midfielder to neutralise Bellingham, who registered a staggering 23 goals and 13 assists in 42 games last season with Real.

Dabizas exclusively told SunSport: “In terms of direct marking, Manolis Siopis is a footballer who has the necessary combo of speed and power as well as stamina so that for a long period of time in the game to be pressing in his marking [against Bellingham].

“But under no circumstance should we opt for a game of individual marking. That [marking] should be based on teamwork that could create a situation of “delivery-receipt” when a player arrives in your area so that you can face him in your individual marking.

“From then on when the opponent moves in a different area then the player who is responsible for that area can take him on.

“I believe the three central midfielders will be able to give us that necessary cohesion and with the characteristics that they will have be able to create that concrete midfield both inside and outside our area where most of the game will be played.

“But I believe Manolis Siopis can serve very well that part of direct marking in midfield. And it depends of course on what kind of formation Bellingham will be placed on by Carsley because, as we said, he didn’t have him in the previous games.

“Maybe he will use him in a role on the wings. There’s also Cole Palmer who is doing great things with Chelsea and I believe he will start. He’s taken [Phil] Foden’s place. I believe he will start with Palmer.

“The only thing left is to see how he handles [Kobbie] Mainoo’s absence. It’s a puzzle you need to turn around and fill up with the characteristics of the players he has at his disposal. And what kind of strategy he will choose. But I believe it is very important to have a concrete midfield in the game with England.”

Dabizas insists this is going to be a very tough game for Greece, who haven’t qualified for a major tournament in 10 years.

However, the ex-Leicester ace suggested his country could upset England with the right level of ball possession and adequate transition.

Dabizas added: “I believe, first of all, the level of our ball possession will be a very basic criterion in regards to how the game will develop. The higher level of possession we have the better we will be able to absorb pressure from England.

“That is the key point. To be able to have high possession percentages so that we can create the necessary conditions in transition as well, because I think it will be difficult to go to game management in a possession-based match with high percentages from our side, and certainly a lot will depend on transition.

“That is why I say again, the players’ characteristics are very important so that they can maximise the specific conditions we will have to face in that match. Ball possession and adequate transition so that we can create conditions to threaten England’s national team.”

Nate Diaz appears to like the idea of a “BMF” title tournament, but he doesn’t like all of the names.

In a recent interview with Sirius XM, Dustin Poirier expressed interest in a one-night tournament for the belt, which would also feature past opponents Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, and current titleholder Max Holloway.

Diaz agrees that Holloway and Hooker belong in the mix, but he doesn’t feel Poirier or Gaethje do, which he stated in an Instagram story.

“Dana White, Dan and Max are eligible for my belt but get the other two nerds out of there, they don’t fit the description,” Diaz wrote.

White was asked about the concept following Tuesday’s Dana White Contender Series Season 8, Week 9 event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and the UFC CEO thought it was intriguing.

“Sounds fun,” White said. “Never thought about it but yeah, I love it.”

Since fighting out his UFC contract, Diaz has competed twice in the boxing ring — losing a decision to Jake Paul in August 2023, and defeating Jorge Masvidal via majority decision in July. Diaz and Masvidal battled for the inaugural BMF title in November 2019 in the main event of UFC 244, where Masvidal earned the win via doctor’s stoppage TKO.

Doak was selected for the initial Euro 2024 squad and many felt his pace and creativity offered a point of difference in a group that ultimately proved to have a dearth of both at the finals in Germany.

Injury struck again at the worst possible moment and Doak was left to watch the action unfold back home.

“It was gutting, of course,” he said. “The injury wasn’t too serious, but I just came back a little bit too early.

“Watching the games just kind of drove me on more to try and get in the squad. I’d like to think I would have made a bit of a difference.”

Scotland captain Andy Robertson – a club-mate at Liverpool – warned before of the Euros of heaping too much pressure on Doak’s shoulders at such a young age.

The player himself says he tries to block out any hype that exists around him.

“It’s all well and good when everyone’s bigging you up, but it can be the same people smacking you down when you don’t play well,” said Doak, who could make his first start against Croatia on Saturday.

“I don’t take notice of the negatives or the positives. Early on, I fell into that and started putting pressure on myself because of what other people were saying.

“But that doesn’t help you, or your team. So it’s easier to just close your mind off to it and not look. Just relax, take it easy, and go and enjoy your football.”

Scotland’s long-standing problems in attack were laid bare in the Euros, with just one goal in three group matches.

Injuries to Tommy Conway and Lawrence Shankland have further dented Clarke’s attacking options for the games with Croatia in Zagreb and Portugal at Hampden.

And while Doak has been deployed mostly wide in recent times, he believes he provides a different option through the middle.

“I’d be comfortable doing it,” he said. “I played number nine in the youth teams so I think I’d be able to do a job that gives us something different to what we’ve got.”

Head coach Scott Bemand has made three changes to his team for Ireland’s final WXV1 match with the USA.

After a stunning win over New Zealand on their WXV1 debut, the Irish were defeated by hosts Canada on Sunday.

That leaves Ireland third in the table heading into the final match against the USA, who have lost both of their matches to England and France.

Bemand has made two changes to his backline. Centre Eve Higgins drops to the bench and is replaced by Aoife Dalton, while fly-half Nicole Fowley comes in for Dannah O’Brien.

There is one change to the Irish pack as Neve Jones starts in place of Cliodhna Moloney at hooker.

Ruth Campbell is named on the bench, while Grace Moore drops out of the match day squad.

Centre Enya Breen will captain Ireland in the absence of injured back row Edel McMahon.

The match kicks off at 20:30 BST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.

Conor McGregor believes Alex Pereira is currently the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.

Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third light heavyweight title defense in the span of seven months when he stopped Khalil Rountree by fourth-round TKO in Saturday’s UFC 307 main event in Salt Lake City.

McGregor had high praise for Pereira and the banner year he’s had in 2024.

“2024 has been Alex Pereira’s year, no one can deny that,” McGregor told The Schmo.”If we go by that, forget belts, forget anything of that, it’s in competition. He’s (three) fights this year, (three) KOs, and his most impressive one was most recently. I’d put Alex Pereira as No. 1.”

McGregor was hoping Pereira would announce a move up to heavyweight after finishing Rountree, but “Poatan” said he plans on staying put at 205 pounds for the time being. McGregor thinks Pereira would be an interesting stylistic matchup for heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who defends his belt against Stipe Miocic in the UFC 309 headliner Nov. 16 in New York.

“I think he poses a lot of problems for Jon also,” McGregor continued. “That’s a dangerous style for Jon. But it’s a decent one for him because he’s not so big. Jon is new to the heavyweight division. Jon, he had a nice one against Ciryl Gane, but he’s still untested at heavyweight.

“And I’m sure in the back of his mind, he has that thought that some of these guys are really big. Alex is a nice one and still a dangerous one, though. At the core of it, it’s probably even more dangerous. I’d be excited to see that bout take place for sure.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

AXEL TUANZEBE has become the latest football star to suffer a freak injury.

The former Manchester United ace, 26, missed Ipswich’s defeat at West Ham over the weekend for an unusual reason.

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Boss Kieran McKenna confirmed that Tuanzebe had suffered a “hand injury” ahead of the game.

It later emerged that the defender had been left with a deep laceration in his thumb after a glass shattered as he washed the dishes.

Tuanzebe required urgent medical attention, with initial fears that he could lose his thumb.

Thankfully, successful surgery saved him from such an ordeal – although McKenna has admitted that he will be without his defender for a while.

Tuanzebe is not the first footballer to be sidelined in bizarre circumstances.

Here, SunSport runs through 11 other crazy injuries suffered by some of the biggest stars in the sport.

RIO FERDINAND

Our list begins with former Manchester United and England captain Ferdinand… who managed to injure himself while sitting with his feet up.

During his younger days at Leeds, Ferdinand decided to lock in for a gaming session on Pro Evolution Soccer in January 2001.

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Unfortunately for him, he seemed to get almost too relaxed, with his then-boss David O’Leary later explaining: “He had his foot up on the coffee table. It was in a certain position for a number of hours and strained a tendon behind his knee.”

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LEE BEEVERS

Former defender Beevers, now 40, joined Colchester in 2009 following a five-year stint with Lincoln that was largely injury-free.

Unfortunately his spell with the U’s was plagued, as he was limited to just four league appearances in the 2009-10 campaign.

In September of the following season, disaster struck for Beevers as he carried his daughter’s pram up the stairs – tripping as he did so and being left in a cast with a dislocated metacarpal following a trip to A&E. Ouch.

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FRANK LAMPARD

Chelsea legend Lampard suffered a freak injury on the sidelines while managing Everton.

During wild celebrations following Alex Iwobi‘s winner over Newcastle he took a whack to his left hand, which was later seen shaking as he checked his watch towards the end of the game.

After the game, sporting a nasty bruise and lump on his hand, he told Prime Video: “I’ve broken my hand in the celebrations. My bones must be going soft, I don’t remember the moment.”

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KIRK BROADFOOT

Former Rangers defender Broadfoot was already suffering with a foot issue when he was hospitalised after trying to poach an egg.

The Scot, now 40, was left with egg – and burns – on his face when he decided to use his microwave to poach two eggs.

As he leaned in to have a look, one of the eggs exploded, scalding Broadfoot and leaving him requiring medical treatment.

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MARCO ASENSIO

Many footballers these days are well groomed and clean cut.

In 2017, then-Real Madrid star Asensio missed a Champions League clash with Apoel Nicosia, after suffering with an infected spot picked up while shaving his legs.

Boss Carlo Ancelotti said of Asensio’s spot of bother: “He has a pimple on his leg which means he cannot lift his sock.”

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SHINJI KAGAWA

In December 2013, Man Utd were without the Japanese star for a clash with Newcastle after he had to have his stomach pumped.

Following his side’s defeat by the Toon, Moyes revealed that Kagawa had required treatment after eating too much.

The Scot gave fans food for though by revealing: “It was a bad sickness. He thinks he ate too much, and he had to get his stomach pumped, but I think he is OK.”

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RAMI KAIB

Healthy eating can be a dangerous game, as found out by Kaib in 2021.

The full-back, then of Dutch side Heerenveen, was ruled out for weeks after breaking his jaw while eating a carrot.

Kaib, now 27, had suffered a knock in his previous match, with his raw carrot proving to be the final straw.

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CHRIS SMALLING

While on holiday in Bali, ex-Man Utd defender Smalling got himself into a spot of bother.

The centre-back, now 34, was spotted in hospital with bandages around his head – with speculation at the time that he’d been stung by a jellyfish.

As it turned out, Smalling had fainted in the heat and banged his head. Stay hydrated, folks!

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DAVE BEASANT

Wimbledon FA Cup hero Beasant suffered a bizarrely self-inflicted injury during his stint with Chelsea.

After dropping a bottle of salad cream, goalkeeper Beasant attempted to control it with his bare foot.

In the process he broke and tore a tendon in his toe, ruling him out for two months – should have used his hands!

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VICTOR ADEBOYEJO

Bolton forward Adeboyejo is a handful for opposition defenders, but in one instance his strength backfired.

Last month, Adeboyejo was forced to pull out from a matchday squad after a powerful sneeze left him with discomfort in his ribs.

Wanderers boss Ian Evatt explained: “He was okay at the time, but then he had a pretty hefty sneeze.

“Victor is a powerful boy, and even his sneezes are powerful. I’ll have to start having a long look at myself when players start getting injured sneezing.”

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PHILIPPE MEXES

In November 2013, then-AC Milan defender Mexes missed out on a 1-1 draw with Genoa after complaining of eye soreness in the warm-up.

Following further tests, the centre-back was diagnosed with central serous retinopathy.

According to Italian outlet Tuttosport, Mexes may have suffered the issue due to using a sunbed. Tan-talising.

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DAVID JAMES

Former England goalkeeper James was twice injured in strange circumstances.

Once, while trying to reach for a remote control, he pulled a muscle in his back.

On another occasion, the luckless stopper hurt his shoulder while fishing for carp.

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