All posts by h716a5.icu

Crystal Palace’s inconsistent start to the season continued with a 2-0 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League, a result which will no doubt remind Roy Hodgson that he still has his work cut out at Selhurst Park.

It was the second time in as many matches that Palace failed to keep a clean sheet, only this time, the Eagles failed to find the back of the net.

You could pick several holes in Hodgson’s side, namely their inability to turn a slight advantage in possession into goals, as Michy Batshuayi had an early effort ruled out for offside. Without wanting to rub salt in the wound, Wolves debutant Rayan Ait-Nouri opened the scoring shortly afterwards, before Daniel Podence doubled the lead a few minutes later.

However, this doesn’t excuse the shocking display by some of the senior players like Luka Milivojevic, who was red-carded in the closing stages of the game, although arguably none more so than Palace left-back Patrick van Aanholt, who turned out to be a total liability. In fairness, the 9-cap Netherlands international has only recently returned from injury, but that doesn’t hide the fact that it was far from his best performance.

SofaScore graded the 30-year-old as the worst player on the pitch with a lowly 6.2 rating – he lost possession 11 times, won just one ground duel out of six attempts, was dribbled past once and failed to make a single tackle all game.

Van Aanholt, who earns £55,000-a-week according to Spotrac, received a similar score from football.london, who insisted he was “thrust into the starting line up, perhaps a week or two earlier than Hodgson would have hoped”, whilst 90Min were far more scathing in their assessment as they gave him a grade of 3/10, claiming “like Clyne, was completely overwhelmed by the overload”, although the outlet admitted he “had no help but didn’t do himself any favours with some sloppy positioning.”

Despite the disappointing display, the Dutchman, who is currently valued at £7.2m via Transfermarkt, still played the full 90 minutes to mark his first start for the club this season.

However, he hardly did himself any favours whatsoever as Palace academy product Tyrick Mitchell has impressed in recent weeks, so his place is by no means safe and secure, although the Eagles are still waiting to receive the results from a scan after the 21-year-old picked up a knock in training which ruled him out of the trip to Wolves.

Hodgson will be hoping the veteran will be able to quickly find his feet before they welcome Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United to Selhurst Park next weekend.

AND in other news, Steve Parish must convince Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell to sign new contract…

Leeds United’s strong start to their returning Premier League campaign has hit a slump after suffering two back-to-back 4-1 defeats in their most recent fixtures. Both Leicester and Crystal Palace made easy work of beating the Whites, who have been struggling to create goalscoring opportunities.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side look completely different to the team that held Manchester City to a draw and hit three past Liverpool. As recently highlighted by former Leeds man Carlton Palmer, conceding goals doesn’t technically become an issue until a team starts losing their matches.

Indeed, their current form sees the Whites slip all the way down into the bottom half of the table. They have banked just ten points so far and have conceded the most amount of goals out of any other Premier League side.

Whilst they’ve impressed with performances such as their 3-0 over Aston Villa, one win in five isn’t the way Leeds will want to be going. Their other two wins of the season came over Sheffield United and Fulham, who are both relegation contenders as it stands. Bielsa must start to consider that his flat formation of 4-1-4-1 isn’t always the best way to go.

This formation has proved successful on just two occasions this season, once during their win over Fulham and against Man City in their shock 1-1 draw. The Argentinian’s stubbornness not to switch up personnel or change his formation could be detrimental to Leeds’ season and it could mean the opposition will suss them out easily.

Bielsa has international break to take to the drawing board and consider his options before the Whites prepare to face Arsenal. They cannot afford to face another drubbing, or they risk morale completely plummeting and their Premier League status being at risk already.

In other news, Mateusz Klich was one of Leeds’ only positives against Crystal Palace…

It is no secret that Leeds United were very keen on signing Serie A midfielder Rodrigo De Paul in the summer. The move never came to fruition but the club still maintains an interest in the player. The latest update regarding his future, however, suggests that a move might never happen.

The latest update on Rodrigo De Paul

Speaking to Tutti Convocati on Radio24 via Football Italia, the Technical Director of Udinese, Pierpaolo Marino, said: “We are not selling De Paul in January. You don’t sell important players like him in January.

“We have a great relationship with him and have no problems keeping him here with us. I said for two years, he would have stayed but nobody believed me.”

This is a big blow for Leeds

The 26-year-old looked to have shown that he wanted to move to Leeds in the summer following some of his social media activity.

De Paul, who is valued at £27 million, scored seven goals and picked up six assists in 33 appearances (WhoScored) last season. He was a great attacking threat as he managed, on average, 2.5 shots, 2.3 key passes and 1.8 successful dribbles a game. De Paul also showed that he could help the team out defensively as he managed 1.8 tackles a game.

Argentina football legend Riquelme praised the player massively as he said: “I like a lot but first is the personality of De Paul and Lautaro (Martinez). Argentina needs those types of players that can play under any conditions or circumstances when they haven’t played 50 games for the national team… playing with the Argentina national team just like your club, it’s complicated. They’ve done that.”

It could be a big blow for Leeds to hear that Udinese are saying they will not sell him in January. He could have brought a lot of quality to the Leeds midfield and added a bit of class that could be needed to make sure the club push for a mid-table finish.

In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has discussed why Premier League survival is more important than ever. Have a read why here!

Player injuries are always a worry for any team in football, it’s a fact. However as of late, it has been a frequent occurrence that has only got managers and fans worrying. We are seeing players pretty much every week, limping off the pitch, including top players being injured in training too! It has been said that this matter will only get worse as the next few months will see teams cramming all their energy in 3/4 games a week! You can watch these Premier League matches here by streaming them.

Top players like Virgil van Djjk have been off the pitch, due to his pitch collision with Jordan Pickford which needed surgery and urgent attention and medical care. Severity such as this, will of course mean immediate removal from training is a necessity, as some issues will only be irritated further without the proper care and rest. This will also only cause further issues to the standard of play that Virgil can provide in the future. It is always better to be safe than sorry in the football business after all.

Why so many injuries then?

However, there is a bigger reason as to why players are becoming injured much more frequently recently and that is due to the pandemic. It has caused players’ schedules to work in overdrive; as we all know that, too much physical activity and training, makes injuries that much more susceptible.

The fixture schedules have been crammed together due to delays to the usual traditional calendars. This means that players will be making up for lost time and doing three months’ worth of physical activity and training in a short span of time. This overexertion has made cramps and strains a huge problem; usually this is an indicator to stop of course. Yet with so many players on a team, at once suffering the same problem you cannot put a majority of top performing players on the bench, can you?

The Champions League and Europa League ahead, alongside their own domestic cup games mean everything really is occurring at once, which not only is pushing the human body to a physical extreme, mental health will most likely be in effect too. Especially if we consider how fans are no longer in the stadiums, giving players the boost of morale they actually need. It is all quite a bit of a mess, really.

The worst thing about this all is, managers just receive these updates of change to schedules in little time, with not much notice. Meaning they are just as overworked as players and have no choice but to press forward as aggressive as needed, to attain the results needed. It has become like a horror movie to managers, to see their best performers be taken out by injuries that could have been prevented, with the right rests and gaps between seasons, as they would usually get in the football calendar.

Liverpool is a team that has been really affected by the changes, with Gomez being hit with an injury from his training bursts with England, meaning he will be out of play and training for a total of up to seven months. Also, Alexander-Arnold being put on the side-lines too, due to his calf injury attained in a match against Manchester City, will not fare well as a team dynamic. However, what is there to do, other than hope for the best and hope that next year, may bring a more relaxed and less stressed football schedule? Here is us praying and hoping.

Liverpool travel to Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon hoping to keep pressure at the top of the Premier League table with a win against lowly Fulham.

Jurgen Klopp’s side finished their Champions League group stages with a 1-1 draw against FC Midtjylland on Wednesday, where some of Liverpool’s youngsters came unstuck against the Danish side.

One man who didn’t travel to Denmark was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, although the English midfielder is now back in training after recovering from the knee injury that has kept him out for all of this season.

Klopp can hand the former Arsenal man some much-needed fitness by handing him a start on Sunday afternoon, with his pace and direct running from midfield also likely to cause Scott Parker’s side problems.

Whilst it is imperative that the Reds pick up all three points against the Cottagers, one eye will surely be on next Wednesday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur, which looks set to be a top-of-the-table clash.

Therefore, Klopp should consider rotating his squad in preparation for what will undoubtedly be a tough game against Jose Mourinho’s side, and that includes starting Oxlade-Chamberlain, who earns £120k per week at Liverpool, ahead of Diogo Jota in midfield.

The Portuguese international, who has been superb since joining from Wolves in the summer, produced a lacklustre performance in midweek and is perhaps in need of a rest if Klopp wants to see the best of him when they face Spurs at Anfield next Wednesday.

BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand is a big fan of the 27-year-old, as he was full of praise for the midfielder after his impressive performance in the Reds’ 4-1 win against Genk last year, saying:

“You get the feeling his teammates love him. You can tell Klopp loves him and he’s desperate to get him in the team somehow.

“He offers something totally different to the likes of Milner, Wijnaldum, Fabinho and Henderson. ‘He can dribble past people which is hard for a midfielder.”

Therefore, if the Englishman is fit to make an appearance against Fulham, we feel he should get the nod from Klopp, as his pace could cause Fulham’s midfield and defence a lot of problems, whilst also ensuring that whoever he replaces gets a rest ahead of the game against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs.

And, in other news… Klopp can sign his next Marco Reus in “complete” £72m-rated outcast offered to LFC

Glasgow Rangers dodged a massive bullet by not signing Sheffield United striker Rhian Brewster this summer after Rangers emerged as one of several clubs who were said to be battling to secure the services of the former Liverpool academy graduate.

What was the story?

According to The Sun, Ross Wilson sought to bolster Steven Gerrard’s firepower in the summer with a raid on Anfield for Brewster after he scored 11 goals in 22 games across all competitions whilst on loan at Swansea City last season.

Jurgen Klopp admitted it wasn’t an easy decision to sell the highly-coveted 20-year-old after he left the club due to doubts about the amount of game time he would get at Anfield.

His heroics at the Liberty Stadium saw him courted by some plenty of clubs in the summer, including Premier League sides like Aston Villa, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.

It’s fair to say that Rangers would have faced a tough task trying to acquire his services as he had made it clear that he wanted to play Premier League football, but they appear to have dodged a bullet given his obvious struggles so far this season.

Dodged a bullet

The England U21 international was previously described as a “nightmare” in training by Liverpool first-team assistant goalkeeping coach Jack Robinson, with John Achterberg’s assistant saying: “You sort of get an idea for how good they are, but then you put them into the environment that they’ve had with Vitor and the first team, and with the finishing sessions that Pep and Pete put on as well, they are a nightmare.”

However, Brewster has found goals hard to come by in the current campaign, as he has failed to find the back of the net in 11 appearances across all competitions, having started just four games in the Premier League so far.

It’s believed that Sheff United signed him from Liverpool for £23.5m on a five-year contract, according to the BBC.

United boss Chris Wilder has even been open to benching the club’s record signing on a regular basis as well, with the youngster absent from the first four matchday squads in a row and coming off the bench as the Blades pushed for an equaliser against Manchester United at Bramall Lane last time out.

In fact, his start at Brighton was his first since the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge back in November, while he is averaging just 0.7 shots per game in the league, via WhoScored, all of which will give the Gers plenty of reasons to see why they should count their lucky stars that they decided against pursuing a deal for the misfiring centre-forward.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must cash in on Greg Stewart in January…

Isaac Hayden was Steve Bruce’s only positive against Brentford in Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup loss on Tuesday night as the midfielder shone in defence, despite the 1-0 scoreline.

The 25-year-old earned his 12th appearance of the campaign across all competitions against Thomas Frank’s Bees while partnering Ciaran Clark in the heart of Bruce’s back four, with the Toon short on numbers at centre-half.

Hayden was unable to help the Magpies avoid defeat on a night where they chased their first EFL Cup semi-final since 1976, but he was the only starting member to leave Greater London with any credit in the bank.

Hayden, who Bruce believes has “his best years ahead of him”, should have left the Brentford Community Stadium with his head held high having shone in an unfamiliar role with the second-most touches (67) and total passes (54) by a Newcastle player and with the best pass completion rate (91%) among those who started for the visitors, per WhoScored.

He additionally won possession with two successful tackles, he made four clearances, three interceptions and was never dribbled past, while boasting a team-high 75% aerial duel success after winning three of four contests spread evenly between both ends of the field.

According to SofaScore data, the £9m-rated gem also won all three of his ground duels, never committed a foul, found teammates with six of nine long balls and saw his sole shot of the game blocked, having rarely ventured beyond the half-way line.

Bruce would have preferred to have named Hayden in his natural midfield role at the Brentford Community Stadium, rather than at centre-half, but he was left with no alternative as the Newcastle first-team continue to recover form and fitness following injuries and an outbreak of coronavirus.

“It is what is,” Bruce said, via quotes by The Northern Echo. “I’m never going to flannel it up, but we hope we can get a few back, that would certainly help. It would have helped if I’d had another centre-half, then maybe I could have put Isaac into midfield.”

Among those absent against Brentford was Jamaal Lascelles, after it was confirmed the centre-back and Allan Saint-Maximin are struggling with the long-term effects of the virus.

Neither are expected to be passed fit to face Manchester City on Boxing Day, though Lascelles may return to training this week, making it likely that Hayden will again start in the back-four at the Etihad Stadium.

Bruce will be able to take comfort with naming Hayden at centre-half against Pep Guardiola’s Citizens, having lauded the impact the Arsenal product recently brought to the role against West Bromwich Albion on his return after he too had tested positive.

“I didn’t think I would have him until last Monday, so for him to get out of bed and produce a performance like that was great to see,” Bruce told BBC Radio 5 Live following the 2-1 win.

AND in other news: “No point him going to…” – Exclusive: Rob Lee drops huge claim on Newcastle star’s future.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former footballer and current pundit Carlton Palmer has discussed a potential Southampton move for Leicester City winger Demarai Gray.

It has been reported recently that the Saints are interested in signing the 24-year-old at the end of this season when his contract with Brendan Rodgers’ side expires.

The winger has struggled for game time with the Foxes in recent seasons and has never really fulfilled his potential, with big things expected of the youngster when he joined from Birmingham City in January 2016.

In five years with the club, he has managed 169 appearances for the Foxes, contributing just 13 goals and 17 assists in that time.

Here’s what Palmer had to say about Southampton potentially signing Gray when speaking exclusively with FFC:

“Some players can kickstart their careers again by going to play for somebody else. You go and play, you know that the manager wants you, you feel loved again. It can restart again for you. It’s happened loads and loads of times.”

Palmer suggests that Gray moving to Southampton could allow him to restart his career as it is clear that with Leicester, he is not currently feeling loved, having made just one substitute appearance in the Premier League so far this season, whilst he has missed out on the match day squad on a number of occasions.

The £10.8 million-rated winger could well rediscover his confidence with Southampton and challenge the likes of Moussa Djenepo and Nathan Redmond for a starting spot in Hasenhuttl’s side next season, should the South Coast club snap him up on a free transfer in the summer.

Therefore, it seems as if signing him on a free would be a relatively risk-free transfer for Southampton and, as Palmer suggests, it could allow the winger to really kickstart his career after a disappointing spell with Leicester.

And, in other news… Worse than Tella: Southampton must axe “exciting prospect” after manager admission

Rhys Williams looks as if he will be regularly called upon by Jurgen Klopp for the rest of the season at Liverpool as a result of their injury concerns but his performance against Aston Villa emphasises that he is a long way off being first-team quality for the Reds.

After a loan spell with Kidderminster Harriers last season, the 19-year-old has earned a promotion to Liverpool’s first-team this season after injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and more lately, Joel Matip.

The academy graduate has impressed at times, particularly in the 5-0 win against Atalanta and the 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur but his performance against Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Friday emphasised that he isn’t ready to be a first-team regular for the rest of the season.

The young defender was outpaced by 17-year-old Louie Barry for Villa’s equaliser and he never looked likely to catch the young striker as he raced through on goal, before finishing past Caoimhin Kelleher.

He also picked up a 6.7 rating from SofaScore, which was the joint-worst of any Liverpool player who started the game on the night.

Whilst a partnership of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho at centre-back didn’t produce ideal results in the Reds’ last Premier League fixture when they were beaten by Southampton, Williams’ lack of pace will likely be exploited by Manchester United in their next fixture, so Klopp must axe the 19-year-old.

Earlier in the season, Trent Alexander-Arnold was full of praise for the centre-back after he replaced Fabinho in the 2-0 win against FC Midtjylland, saying:

“That position’s probably a bit bare, to say the least. But we’ve got an amazing squad, you’ve seen Rhys Williams stepping in and doing a world-class job, at a young age with such little experience. He’s got a bright future ahead.”

Despite this, Williams must be axed by Klopp for the Reds’ next fixture, as his disappointing performance against Villa exposed his lack of concentration and pace, something which United’s dangerous front three will surely punish at Anfield later this month.

And, in other news… Exclusive: Pundit claims he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Virgil van Dijk was back soon

Manchester United have been boosted by the return of Victor Lindelof for their crunch FA Cup clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford.

The centre-back was absent for the narrow 2-1 win at Fulham, a game that saw the Red Devils surrender the lead, and he has missed five of their last seven games, which has left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with his options tested as Eric Bailly has been used in the backline despite suffering injury setbacks himself.

Lindelof reunited with his teammates during first-team training at Carrington ahead of the game at the Theatre of Dreams and Solskjaer is optimistic about his chances.

“Victor will be fine for the weekend, it was just too quick a turnaround we felt with the travel and with his back,” said Solskjaer.

“I wanted to play Eric today (against Fulham) when Victor’s not ready anyway.”

The Norwegian boss could be without several players for the FA Cup fourth-round tie with Liverpool as Anthony Martial remains a doubt, whilst Brandon Williams is still sidelined due to injury.

Whilst last week’s Premier League fixture with Fulham was too soon for Lindelof, Solskjaer has suggested that he hopes to have him back for the game against Liverpool, so perhaps we could see him start this afternoon.

Solskjaer quite clearly rates Lindelof very highly as he’s recently claimed that “Victor and Harry, they have been excellent as a pairing,” but his return leaves the Norwegian with a big decision to make at the back.

There’s no denying the fact that this will be one of the toughest decisions that the club legend has had to deal with since taking charge at Old Trafford.

Whilst Harry Maguire is one of the first names on the teamsheet, Bailly and Lindelof are the two battling to bag a spot, but there are still questions over both centre-backs.

The England international has started 19 games in the Premier League this season so far so it’s fair to say that his position is fairly secure.

Indeed, Lindelof will probably come back in to replace Bailly, but that seems incredibly harsh on the Ivorian defender, who has been producing the goods with his performances in recent weeks, earning a high 7.2 rating by SofaScore for his defensive shift against Fulham as a result.

But the 26-year-old has shown that he is prepared to put in the graft to deny opponents, as evidenced by the fact he currently averages 3.9 clearances per game, that the best of all defenders and the highest overall, via WhoScored.

Able to play at both centre-back and right-back, Lindelof’s versatility is an added bonus for the United boss if a player suffers an injury.

We certainly don’t envy Solskjaer the decision, that’s for sure, whilst he will now hope his side can record back-to-back clean sheets against the Reds, this time as they seek to advance to the next stage of the competition.

AND in other news, Manchester United should consider January loan exit for Donny van de Beek…