All posts by n8rngtd.top

Liverpool laboured to a 1-1 draw against FC Midtjylland in their final game of the Champions League group stages on Wednesday night, with young midfielder Leighton Clarkson in particular disappointing for the Reds.

The 19-year-old was handed his first start of the season by Jurgen Klopp but struggled throughout the game in Denmark, giving the ball away with slack passing on a number of occasions throughout the game, when presented with the ball.

The academy graduate has been training with Liverpool’s first team for much of this season and considering Wednesday’s game was something of a dead rubber for the Reds, it was no surprise to see him involved.

However, his performance will be a cause for concern for Klopp, as it seems that he won’t be able to trust the Englishman to appear in any of Liverpool’s upcoming Premier League fixtures, as unfortunately, the Midtjylland midfield got the better of him on the evening.

As per SofaScore, Clarkson picked up a match rating of 6.1 for his performance, which comfortably saw him ranked as the worst player on the pitch from both sides.

During his time on the pitch, the young midfielder completed just 41/52 of his passes, resulting in a less than impressive pass accuracy rate of 72%.

He also gave the ball away on 17 occasions during the game, which is a worrying statistic for someone who, as a midfielder, is expected to keep the ball well and be accurate with his passing.

It could be argued that Clarkson tried too hard to impress, as of the nine long balls he attempted during the game, only one found a Liverpool shirt.

The young midfielder was also fortunate late on when his failed roulette attempt led to a Midtjylland counter-attack they looked nailed on to score, only for the Reds to be saved by a superb late block from Jordan Henderson.

He also won just one of his five duels in the game, whilst he was dribbled past on three occasions, suggesting that it might have been a step too far for the 19-year-old to start on Wednesday.

Therefore, it would be a surprise to see him feature for Liverpool again any time soon, as his performance this evening suggests he is some way off the first-team level for the time being.

Writing on Twitter, reliable West Ham United inside source ExWHUemployee has dropped an enticing three-word hint over a potential move for free agent Diego Costa in January – coming as the club could look to commence their search for a ‘perfect’ striker who can provide strength in depth. 

Indeed, due to consistent fitness issues for Michail Antonio, and the topsy-turvy form of club-record signing Sebastien Haller, numerous reports have claimed that the Hammers are targeting a forward in January.

ExWHUemployee drops Costa hint

Of all the names being linked, West Ham reportedly have their eyes on Olivier Giroud, Abdallah Sima, Moussa Dembele and Joshua King – but now a fresh name could enter the mix.

Costa, who has recently agreed to terminate his contract with Atletico Madrid by mutual consent, could potentially move to the Irons in January as he emerges as a realistic signing for GSB and the club.

ExWHUemployee, writing on social media, has dropped an enticing three-word hint as he believes the move is possible – going on to say ‘Wouldn’t surprise me’.

Transfer Tavern take

The Spaniard, proven at Premier League level with Chelsea, could potentially make a move to the London Stadium and is free to negotiate with any club following his new status as a free agent.

He also wouldn’t command a fee, however, it remains to be seen whether the target man would be willing to take a huge cut on his most recent £270,000-per-week wages with Atletico.

Described as a ‘beast’, given he is free to negotiate a potential Premier League return, West Ham could very well land him in January – and reliable insider ExWHUemployee believes the move is a realistic one.

In other news: West Ham fans buzzed over this inside claim, find out more here.

Glasgow Rangers extended their lead over Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership after inflicting Neil Lennon’s second Old Firm defeat of the season.

Granted, it wasn’t the prettiest of affairs but the result was all that mattered in the end.

The home side struggled to get a foothold in the game at an empty Ibrox Stadium but a deflected effort from Joe Aribo proved to be enough to defeat the defending Scottish champions.

Steven Gerrard’s side looked a little off the pace to start with, but they gradually grew into the game, especially in the second half after their Premiership rivals were reduced to ten men.

Rangers were indebted to a fine performance from Allan McGregor as the veteran goalkeeper put in a hard graft to deny the likes of Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard and keep them in the game.

However, that doesn’t mean that Aribo’s latest showing should go unnoticed, as the Nigeria international showed grit and determination to dominate his individual battles in the midfield.

Aribo proved to be a commanding figure in the midfield, winning two out of his four aerial duels and won countless ground duels (5) as well, as per SofaScore.

He hustled and harried Celtic across the pitch, and produced a moment of good fortune after he flicked a corner at the front post that took a deflection off Celtic skipper Callum McGregor and spiralled into the back of the net.

SofaScore graded the 24-year-old with a high rating of 7.4 out of ten for his efforts – higher than any Rangers player on the pitch other than James Tavernier – despite the fact his passing accuracy was only 61%. However, he made four tackles, three interceptions, blocked one shot and was fouled twice, as he proved to be a real thorn in Neil Lennon’s side.

Although Celtic had their moments, this potential banana peel did little to disrupt Rangers’ momentum, as Aribo’s intensity levels never dipped. It was arguably the Gers’ best performance of the season, as they dug deep and grit their teeth to shut out Celtic and they thoroughly deserved the victory.

Gerrard will have been delighted to see Aribo contributed at the back and in attack, even if he was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers should reward Kai Kennedy with a new contract…

Celtic have been handed a major boost in the race to sign QPR winger Bright Osayi-Samuel, as reports claim the Championship side are ready to sell him in this January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Reports back in December suggested that Neil Lennon had made the 23-year-old his priority target, and that whilst the winger’s contract is coming to an end when the season finishes, he is keen on bringing him in before then.

Now, TEAMtalk claim that QPR are ready to sell Osayi-Samuel after failing to tie him down to a new contract, and that they are willing to move him on in January in order to at least receive some kind of transfer fee for him.

Lawwell masterclass

Make no mistake about it, Peter Lawwell has got the perfect chance to deliver an absolute bargain for Celtic by signing Osayi-Samuel this month.

The 23-year-old has got tonnes of ability, and whilst his record of just three goals and three assists in the Championship this season doesn’t exactly reflect that, his manager at QPR knows exactly what he brings to the table.

Speaking after a 6-1 win over Cardiff, Mark Warburton said: “I’m not sure many teams have that blistering pace. As long as he knows how to use it and that’s the key for him learning the game. He’s working so hard. He’s got that sheer pace which terrifies defenders and when he uses it wisely like he did today he looks a real handful. I’m delighted for him and it’s good for the crowd to see a player who gets them off their seats which is what you want.”

With the fact his contract is running down, Lawwell should be confident of clinching a cut-price deal for Osayi-Samuel, and it’s one Lennon will be absolutely buzzing with given that he identified him as a major target for the club.

Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano has recently suggested that Liverpool are working to extend the contract of Virgil van Dijk and will open negotiations with the Dutch international this year.

The 29-year-old defender has well and truly established himself as one of the world’s best in his position since joining from Southampton in January 2018, as he came second in the Ballon d’Or awards in 2019, with Lionel Messi beating him to the award.

The centre-back was instrumental in Liverpool’s title win last season, as he appeared in every single Premier League match, scoring five goals and averaging an incredible 7.32 rating.

Unfortunately, a shocking tackle from Jordan Pickford resulted in the defender damaging his cruciate ligament in October 2020, ruling him out for much of Liverpool’s 2020/21 season but he is making strong progress in the gym and could well make a return before the end of the current campaign.

Despite this injury, which may result in the former Celtic man no longer being the same type of player, the Reds must prioritise tying him down to a new deal this year, as his current deal is set to expire in 2023, and this new contract would surely see him stay with the Reds for the rest of his peak playing days.

Whilst Liverpool are said to be in negotiations with Georginio Wijnaldum over a new deal, as his contract expires in the summer, the former Newcastle man is far more replaceable than Van Dijk is.

The 30-year-old has disappointed with his performances this season, averaging a 6.66 rating for his performances in the top-flight, with fellow midfielders Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Thiago all rated higher, whilst young Curtis Jones is narrowly behind, suggesting that he would not be missed if he left this summer.

Meanwhile, both Real Madrid and Barcelona have been linked with Van Dijk in the past and if he is able to rediscover his form from last season when he returns from injury, it would not be a surprise to see those transfer links resurface.

Therefore, extending the £72 million-rated centre-back’s contract must be a priority for Liverpool, as he is clearly a huge part of the way Liverpool play, evidenced by him winning the Premier League player of the year last season following the title win.

And, in other news, 10 duels won: LFC target’s monstrous weekend display proves that Edwards must swoop…

He’s in the best form of his Tottenham Hotspur career right now, which is good news for Jose Mourinho heading into tonight’s competitive Premier League encounter with Liverpool.

Tanguy Ndombele has fully turned around his Spurs career in north London, and he can cap it all off with a performance against the defending champions at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The 24-year-old monster was benched for their FA Cup fourth-round win over Championship minnows Wycombe on Monday night, but it was his influence from the bench that swung a turgid game in their favour.

He must come straight back into the starting XI this evening as he could be the man to exploit the Reds’ biggest weakness right now…

On the Chalkboard

Jurgen Klopp’s men aren’t putting up the best title defence as they find themselves in fifth place, some six points behind league leaders Man City, who’ll have a game in hand after this evening.

Spurs can leapfrog them into fourth place with a victory and Ndombele could prove vital towards their chances of picking up those three points.

Indeed, the club-record signing is finally showing signs of why Daniel Levy sanctioned a whopping £55m on his signature – in his last two outings, he’s scored three goals, taking his total to six for the season on top of three assists, per Transfermarkt.

He has usurped his two goals and four assists from last campaign and surpassed the 1,446 minutes he played throughout the entire duration of his tumultuous maiden season in N17.

He’s fit, firing and in red-hot form right now.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-spurs-news-and-transfer-rumours” title= Read this week’s latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more…”]

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has missed their last two Premier League fixtures. While he returned to training on Tuesday, he will be assessed before a decision is made on whether or not he can start in north London tonight.

If absent, it means there’s no real defensive midfield presence as Fabinho is a shoo-in to continue at centre-back given their mounting injury list.

Ndombele can exploit that void by being deployed as a no.10 and even if the Reds skipper is back, given the form the Frenchman is in, he could still punish Henderson on his first start back.

The €40m-rated (£36m) maestro tops the charts for dribbles per 90 minutes at Spurs, managing 2.9, which is almost double the next best for players that have played at least ten times with Harry Kane (1.5), Heung-min Son (1) and Lucas Moura (1), per WhoScored.

It means he’s capable of breaching the opposition’s block and press with relative ease. He has a 100% take-on success rate from the defensive midfield spot and an 85% success rate in the advanced role too.

His work-rate off-the-ball has also increased tenfold – he’s now able to play longer than an hour. Indeed, he’s surpassed 70 minutes in their last four league outings, while he’s almost quadrupled the number of high-intensity sprints from 32 in 2019/20 to 124 in 2020/21.

It’s this energy that makes him such a crucial part of Mourinho’s counter-attacking game, something that will need to be achieved to a tee to defeat Liverpool tonight.

During Monday’s win, Joe Hart turned to the BT Sport crew and delivered his verdict mid-game on Ndombele, dubbing him a “world-beater” and “unplayable,” as revealed by Rio Ferdinand in their post-game analysis.

Now ranking fourth in the Spurs squad for average WhoScored rating, Ndombele has fully transformed his career in north London and has become their game-changer in recent weeks.

He should be the first name on the team sheet tonight.

Mourinho must unleash the box-to-box dynamo on Liverpool for their best chance of picking up a result.

AND in other news, Spurs can find their next Alli in £25m “god-given” talent…

After slipping to one of their most disappointing results of the season against Burnley last time out, Aston Villa will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they travel to the south coast to take on Southampton.

Dean Smith’s side were in front twice against the Clarets in the Premier League clash at Turf Moor, but a late rally from the home side saw them come from behind to win 3-2.

Villa did receive a major boost earlier in the week with the confirmation of Morgan Sanson’s arrival from Ligue 1 giants Marseille, and Smith will surely be tempted to hand him his debut at St Mary’s.

With no other injury concerns either, Smith is likely to go as full strength as possible, and with that in mind, below is a look at how Villa might line up for the game against Southampton on Saturday night.

The back-five is likely to remain unchanged as it pretty much has been all season, with the only real dilemma for the Villa boss coming in central midfield, with new signing Sanson waiting in the wings.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Smith revealed: “Morgan Sanson came in on the Wednesday when we were at Burnley and did a little bit of training with our performance team. He was then training with the lads yesterday.

“He looks in a good place and he’s available for the squad, so he’ll certainly travel down with us.”

With Douglas Luiz having played an incredible amount of football already this season both with Villa and Brazil – he’s started every Premier League game bar one – Smith may feel he could offer the former Manchester City man a rest, and hand Sanson his debut.

Further forward, Trezeguet is pushing for a recall to the starting line-up after making another cameo appearance off the bench against Burnley following a few weeks out with an injury.

That could see the 55-cap Bertrand Traore drop out, with Trezeguet joined alongside by Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish. Ollie Watkins meanwhile will be hoping to make it a third Premier League game in a row in which he has scored.

Predicted XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Sanson, McGinn; Trezeguet, Barkley, Grealish; Watkins.

Meanwhile, this Aston Villa star was Dean Smith’s only silver lining vs Burnley…

According to reports, Leeds United are interested in signing Milan starlet, Tommas Pobega.

What’s the story?

Italian publication TuttoSport claim that both Leeds and fellow Premier League side Leicester are keen on landing the 21-year-old, who is currently on loan at Spezia.

The midfielder has been in impressive form for the Serie A outfit, scoring three goals and providing a further two assists in just 14 league games, including a match-winning goal and assist in a 2-1 victory over Napoli last month.

Bielsa’s next Klich

Ever since Bielsa took over at Elland Road, Mateusz Klich has been one of the Argentine’s ever-presents, starting week-in and week-out come rain or shine – he’s already played 119 games for the Leeds boss.

This season has just seen his star drop a little however, so much so that in the last ten Premier League games, he’s completed the full 90 minutes just three times.

The Polish ace has struggled for form this campaign, and with him turning 31 this summer, Leeds would do well to try and find someone to replace him for the longer-term.

And in Pobega, they could find exactly that.

His manager at Spezia, Vincenzo Italiano, said: “Pobega is a young lad, who has shown he can have an important future. I am convinced if he improves on the ball and doesn’t give it away so often, he can do great things, as he has the physicality and times his forward runs really well.”

The 21-year-old is a box-to-box style of midfielder, with World Football Index describing him as someone who “can be influential both offensively and defensively”, and that he’s “sound with the ball at his feet, with decent passing ability”.

And when you compare both Pobega and Klich this season, the duo are remarkably similar. The former averages 1.1 tackles and 2.6 duels won per game, whilst the Leeds man manages 1.2 tackles and three duels won per match.

But it isn’t just defensively that they are almost alike, with Pobega averaging just slightly less shots per match than Klich (0.7 to 1.1), and is a real indication of just how much of a threat he can be at the other end of the pitch – not only did he bag against Napoli this season, but he also scored against Juventus too.

If Bielsa is looking for the man to come in and take over the reins from Klich, then the £4.5m-rated Pobega seems like the ideal fit.

Meanwhile, this Leeds United target is perfect for Bielsa…

Speaking to Football Insider, pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor has told GSB to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney as competition for Michail Antonio – coming after a recent ExWHUemployee claim that he is on the Hammers’ agenda. 

Toney, who is the current Championship top scorer with an impressive 24 goals this season and has also managed to assist his teammates nine times (Football Insider), has West Ham interested according to numerous reliable claims.

Indeed, transfer insider Dean Jones also revealed last week that the Irons hold an interest in signing him, with ExWHUemployee explaining two days later on his podcast that Toney is indeed on the Hammers agenda.

Agbonlahor tells GSB to sign Toney for West Ham

In response to these recent reports, Agbonlahor has claimed he would be a ‘great signing’ for West Ham and has told GSB to do a deal.

“He’d be a great signing 100%,” he explained to Football Insider.

“West Ham have got to start looking at younger players. They’ve got to start looking at players that they could get a good six or seven years out of, rather than older players.

“We’ve seen what Watkins has done in the Premier League after coming from the Championship and there’s no reason that Toney can’t do the same.

“I think he’d be a great signing and he can give Antonio competition next season and push him for a starting place, maybe even take his place off him.

“It will add to Antonio’s game knowing that he’s not guaranteed to start every week.”

Transfer Tavern take

Whether or not West Ham do sign Toney in the summer remains to be seen, but it could be an astute bit of business by GSB given his impressive goal record this season.

Reliable external sources indicate the interest is there, and after the club’s failure to sign a striker last month, supporters could be hoping something is done to replicate that next window.

In other news: West Ham could sell this ace as Irons react, find out more here.

Whilst Liverpool picked up all three points with a 2-0 win against Sheffield United on Sunday evening, it should have been a lot more comfortable for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Unfortunately, the main culprit in terms of not putting the game to bed much earlier was, once again, Roberto Firmino, as the Brazilian spurned two glorious chances before the Reds were eventually able to take the lead through Curtis Jones.

First, the former Hoffenheim man found himself through on goal under no pressure but he could only shoot straight at Aaron Ramsdale, despite the ‘keeper being on the floor.

Then, after Georginio Wijnaldum’s shot was parried by Ramsdale, the striker was inside the box with the goal gaping and should have shot with his left foot, but instead, he cut the ball back to a Sheffield United defender, which summed up his lack of confidence in front of goal at the moment.

Although his excellent dribbling did lead to Liverpool’s second goal, his actual shot looked to be heading well wide until it was deflected in by Kean Bryan for an own goal, which is worrying for Klopp as it was definitely a situation where he should at least have been hitting a shot on target.

With Diogo Jota set to return to action in upcoming games, Firmino may fear that, unless his performances in front of goal drastically improve, he could see himself ousted by his Portuguese teammate.

Whilst Firmino offers a unique, often underappreciated, role in this Liverpool team, there is no denying that his finishing at times this season, particularly against Sheffield United, has been woeful.

The 29-year-old has six goals and five assists in 26 Premier League appearances this season but has underperformed when it comes to his expected goals, with Understat suggesting that he should have at least 10 goals in the top-flight.

Worryingly, this is the third consecutive season where the Brazilian has underperformed in this aspect, and whilst it didn’t have too much impact last season when the Reds won the league, you feel that they would be in a much better position this season if they had a more clinical striker.

Back in 2018, Klopp suggested that Firmino is “unbelievably valuable” because of his ability to open up chances for other players, but with the Reds having struggled to find the back of the net in recent fixtures, you need a striker who can be relied upon to take his chances.

Therefore, perhaps we will see Firmino or Jota drop into an attacking-midfield role now that they are both fit, to allow the more clinical Mohamed Salah to move up front, as Sunday’s game against Bramall Lane really emphasised Firmino’s lack of composure in front of goal.

And, in other news… LFC signing gem with “extraordinary quality” would surely be the end for £50k-p/w dud