All posts by h716a5.icu

Glasgow Rangers limped past Lech Poznan in a 1-0 victory in the Europa League, thanks to a headed effort from Alfredo Morelos.

Steven Gerrard’s side are now preparing to travel to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock, who are currently sixth in the Scottish Premiership table, level with Motherwell on 14 points apiece.

Rangers are enjoying a 17-game unbeaten run, stretching all the way back to the 1-0 win away at Aberdeen at the start of the season, which includes The Gers currently hold a six-point lead over Celtic so it won’t be lost on them that they could open a nine-point gap over their arch rivals.

Whilst the Light Blues will be buoyed by the fact that the Gers manager doesn’t have any major injury concerns ahead of the weekend trip, as Nikola Katic remains ruled out due to injury, Gerrard is still expected to ring several changes after the disjointed display last time out.

Here, Football FanCast has had a go at predicting the starting line-up, which sees he make four changes to the team that beat Lech Poznan last Thursday.

Veteran goalkeeper Allan McGregor put in an impressive performance between the posts with another clean sheet in the mid-week win and should start behind a back four.

Connor Goldson and James Tavernier should also start again alongside each other, the former once again as captain, although it’s unlikely Leon Balogun will take part, so he will probably be replaced by Filip Helander, who has started the past two games in the Scottish Premiership in a row.

Rumoured Leeds summer target Borna Barisic is another notable absentee, as he could be rewarded with a well-deserved rest for the trip to Killie after his heroics in the Europa League, which could see Calvin Bassey take his place in the starting line-up.

Much of the spotlight for the team news for this match will focus on the centre-forward, as Kemar Roofe struggled to make much of an impression against Lech Poznan.

So, Morelos is expected to resume his rightful place at the top of the pitch, whilst the ever-reliable Ryan Kent keeps his place on the left wing, having played in every single minute of the Scottish top flight so far, via Transfermarkt. As we’ve previously discussed, Joe Aribo should replace Ianis Hagi on the right flank after the Romania international let Gerrard down massively with his performance in the Europa League.

There is also the possibility of a debut for Bongani Zungu, who was an unused substitute at Ibrox, but he will most likely make a brief cameo from the bench.

AND in other news, Bargain signing: Glasgow Rangers have discovered a gem in Leon Balogun…

What a week it’s been for Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford.

Rashford, 22, came off the bench to score a hat-trick as the Red Devils ran riot over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

Earlier this week the 39-cap England international pledged to continue the fight against the UK government’s refusal to extend the free school meals scheme to ensure the poorest children in the country do not go hungry during the school holidays and received backing from by both celebrities and politicians.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side took the lead after Paul Pogba slipped a sublime pass for Mason Greenwood to open the scoring with a clinical finish into the far corner, before Rashford’s first goal was initially ruled out for offside by the assistant referee.

But the best was yet to come, as he followed it up with a surging run into the box as he burst past Dayot Upamecano to finish in the bottom corner once again. He then added the fifth goal of the game after Anthony Martial dribbled into the box and played it to the England international, who finished with a bang.

Solskjaer heaped praise on Rashford for showing he can stay focused “on what’s important” on and off the pitch in an interview with the BBC.

SofaScore gave him a high grade of 9.3 – he took three shots on target, completed two out of four successful dribbles (50%), made seven out of eight passes at a pass accuracy rating of 88% and won three out of six ground duels (50%), whilst he took 19 touches of the ball and was fouled once. A look at his heatmap reveals a hub of activity in the opposing half, particularly inside the box, which shows that he caused Leipzig several problems by cutting in from the right wing.

Rashford, who’s market value is estimated at £180m via the Football Observatory, received a higher rating than his fellow substitute Bruno Fernandes from Sky Sports, as the outlet rated his performance at 9/10, whilst the Manchester Evening News gave him the same score, claiming he “kept his composure to make it 2-0 when others expected the offside to be upheld. Then scored again. And again.”

It’s not very often that the Portuguese magnifico gets upstaged but Rashford arguably stole the show on this occasion as Fernandes could only muster one assist from the bench, receiving a rating of 7.6 as per SofaScore in the process. In fact, it’s fair to say that his passing was pretty poor overall as he made just 11 out of 16 passes (69%) in total.

United seem to have bounced back from the humiliating 6-1 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur with a four-game unbeaten run, dating back to the 4-1 away win at Newcastle United earlier this month. One thing’s for sure, Solskjaer will need his side to continue their newfound momentum when they welcome Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

AND in other news, Manchester United must hire ideal Solskjaer replacement in Julian Nagelsmann…

Glasgow Rangers were reportedly ready to raid two Scottish Premiership rivals in the summer as Steven Gerrard bids to stop Celtic from winning an unprecedented 10th league title in a row.

According to a report from The Sun at the time, Gerrard had identified then-Livingston striker Lyndon Dykes and Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson as his top priorities in the transfer market. However, a move for either player failed to materialise, with the Ibrox boss focusing instead on signing Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe on four-year-deals.

The in-demand striker wasn’t short of suitors in the summer, as the 25-year-old had scored 9 goals and supplied 8 assists in 25 games in the Scottish Premiership last season, amid interest from English Championship clubs Barnsley, Middlesbrough and Stoke City, with Barnsley having two bids rejected by Livi.

In the end, Dykes signed for Queens Park Rangers instead, after the Scottish Premiership side accepted a bid for the Australian-born forward in August, which is believed to be somewhere in the region of £1.98m.

Indeed, Ross Wilson decided to look elsewhere instead, with Daily Record columnist Fraser Wilson saying they weren’t willing to pay as much as QPR.

The Rs paid just shy of a £2m fee for the striker, which isn’t a crazy amount, especially when you consider the fact that Wilson paid more than that for Itten and Roofe.

Since then, the 6-cap Scotland international hasn’t stopped scoring for his new club and his country, as he has already scored three goals in nine appearances in the Championship so far this season. Even Jermain Defoe has only managed to score twice so far.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if the Light Blues had bit the bullet, he could’ve been their starting striker for years to come if they had brought him to Ibrox and he was able to hit the ground running. His stats show that he would’ve been able to do this, given his impressive goal return for Livi, as he has shown that he can score goals on a regular basis at a decent level in a similar vein to Dado Prso.

Standing at 1,88m tall, Dykes is exactly the same height as the legendary Gers striker and surely would have been the perfect foil for Alfredo Morelos. The comparisons with Prso don’t stop there either, as the Croatian scored 26 times in 96 appearances for the Gers. By comparison, the Scotsman bagged 14 goals in 36 games in all competitions for Livi.

Anyone who watched Scotland’s historic shootout victory over Serbia will know he put in a tremendous shift, but he offers so much more than just that, as QPR manager Mark Warburton hailed him as a “fantastic” beast, whilst Gerrard once described him as a “dangerous” threat. These aren’t just your Average Joes, these are genuinely some of the best managers in the game who admire the former Livingston forward.

The Gers weren’t willing to part ways with a meagre fee for him in the summer, which now looks like a rather stupid decision several months later, as he has already been tipped as a Scotland legend in the making.

AND in other news, Gerrard could unearth the next Ryan Jack in Glasgow Rangers loanee Stephen Kelly…

Leeds United are preparing to face their next Premier League hurdle as they travel to Goodison Park to take on Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton this evening. There’s just five points between the two sides in the table and a win for the Whites will be a huge statement after they recently suffered back-to-back 4-1 defeats.

Their last result against Arsenal saw them grab a point after a hard-fought draw and Marcelo Bielsa will be carrying that energy into today’s clash.

However, if Leeds want to bag the win, they must silence Ancelotti’s attack. But it’s not Dominic Calvert-Lewin they need to be worrying about.

Leeds must contain Richarlison

Key Everton man Richarlison returned to action against Fulham last time out after missing three games due to picking up a red card. But despite starting the match, he couldn’t find his groove and was left out of the goalscoring action. He will want to make amends for this tonight.

Richarlison is a very dangerous player who links up extremely well with Calvert-Lewin up front. Last season, the former Watford man finished with 13 goals and three assists in the Premier League alone (via Transfermarkt). His speed always proves difficult for defences to handle and Leeds will need to be prepared to stop him from making those dangerous runs forwards.

The added threat of James Rodriguez will make the Toffees even more tough to handle. Playing opposite Richarlison will cause a lot of problems for Bielsa’s full-backs, so they must be prepared to stay back and guard their goal. Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce believes that the Brazilian is “one of the best” forward players in the league right now, which paints a big worry for the Whites.

The two centre-backs will have DCL covered, but it’s down to Luke Ayling to ensure Richarlison doesn’t have chance to flex his muscles and do what he does best.

In other news, Predicted Leeds XI vs Everton – preview, team and injury news…

According to the Sunday Mirror (via HITC), Southampton and West Ham United are both taking an interest in Marseille winger Nemanja Radonjic ahead of the January transfer window, and he could potentially turn out to be the Saints’ next Sadio Mane.

According to the report, the 24-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at the Ligue 1 club and they have allegedly begun to make teams aware that he will be available in the upcoming transfer window.

Since joining Les Olympiens from Red Star Belgrade in 2018, he has struggled to live up to expectations with the French side, having made 55 appearances, contributing just six goals and three assists (per Transfermarkt).

However, his time with Red Star showed that Radonjic can be a threat in front of goal, considering he managed 11 goals and eight assists in just 47 appearances for the Serbian club.

He also has four goals in 20 appearances for his country and could prove to be a strong addition to the Southampton squad, if Ralph Hasenhuttl can unlock his potential.

During his time with Marseille, Villas-Boas dubbed the winger “explosive”, suggesting that he could potentially be a similar sort of player to former Saints man Sadio Mane, with his electric pace a big reason why he’s been so successful in the Premier League.

The Senegalese international joined Southampton from RB Salzburg in 2014 and went on to make 75 appearances for the South Coast club in which he contributed 25 goals and 14 assists before joining Liverpool, where he has established himself as one of the best wingers in world football.

If Southampton were to sign Radonjic in January then perhaps he could have a similar effect to Mane if he were able to establish himself as a key part of Hasenhuttl’s squad in the next few seasons.

Certainly, the form of both Moussa Djenepo and Nathan Redmond so far this season suggests that there is an opening for a winger in the Austrian manager’s first-team and Radonjic could be the man to take up that mantle, should the Saints be able to make the most of his attacking ability if he moves to the South Coast club.

Considering he is valued at just £4.95 million and is seemingly surplus to requirements at Marseille, this could prove to be a bargain deal for the Saints, and therefore, it is a transfer risk that is worth taking.

And, in other news… 0% duels won, fewer touches than McCarthy: Theo Walcott badly let Hasenhuttl down vs Brighton

Tottenham Hotspur advanced into the Carabao Cup semi-finals as they managed to escape an upset on Wednesday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s men made the trip to Staffordshire to face Championship outfit Stoke City and returned to north London with the prospect of being just two more victories from clinching their first piece of silverware since 2008.

Spurs superstar and fan-favourite Gareth Bale headed home an opener before Ben Davies and Harry Kane goals were needed to put them back on course following the Potters’ early second-half equaliser.

With the encounter broadcast live on Sky Sports, the commentary team handed the ‘Man of the Match’ award to Harry Winks in what was a rare start for the England international.

And whilst he quite rightly deserves some plaudits, we believe that Matt Doherty shone the most with an underrated display at right-back. He just like Winks made the most of his return to the starting XI.

Per SofaScore, the 28-year-old was heavily involved, recording a whopping 109 touches, which was only bettered by central midfielder and engine room orchestrator Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

He also accurately made 73 of 87 passing attempts, recorded two interceptions and provided one clearance.

In addition to that, the Irishman, who is valued at €50m (£45m), was strong in his battles, winning a total of eight duels, which included a win rate of 77% on aerials, and Doherty even successfully pulled off 75% of his longballs, so he was much safer than his full-back counterpart, Davies, in that sense.

The £15m addition from Wolves has been usurped by Serge Aurier in the pecking order under Mourinho in the Premier League so far this season, but with a performance like that, he is surely back on Mourinho’s radar.

He has now given the Portuguese boss an interesting conundrum ahead of Doherty’s return to Molineux on Sunday night.

Aurier has started each of their last six top-flight outings but was hooked for his horror-show against Leicester at the weekend, which is further reason to why Doherty may have raised his game tonight.

If you’re Mourinho, you’re surely not going to ignore the 6 foot 1 monster after that display, regardless of how big a headache he’s been dealt.

AND in other news, Levy can land Spurs their next Eriksen in £45m swoop for massive “goal threat”…

David Moyes must urge West Ham United to sign Matias Vecino in the January transfer window amid rumoured interest in the Inter Milan midfielder.

What’s the word?

According to Calciomercato, the Hammers have offered Vecino a move away from the San Siro as the east London outfit look to improve Moyes’ midfield unit in the winter market.

Aston Villa are also keen to sign the Uruguayan, who has been deemed unsuited to Antonio Conte’s tactics at the Serie A heavyweights as the Italian strives to end the Nerazzurri’s 11-year wait for a 19th top-flight title.

Vecino is yet to feature for a single minute across all competitions this season after knee surgery in the summer, and is likely to fall further down Conte’s pecking order with the former Chelsea head coach now eying replacements.

The 29-year-old is believed to be nearing a return to full fitness, after which he intends to force his way back into Conte’s plans despite being offered to SSC Napoli in the off-season after a potential move to Everton fell through last winter.

Chelsea were also linked with a £23m deal to sign Vecino earlier this year, while Manchester United saw a loan approach rejected in January after targeting the 41-cap international as a short-term stop-gap following injuries to Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba.

Farwell Noble, hello Vecino

Vecino still seeing his future at the San Siro could prove problematic in the upcoming January window should Moyes urge David Sullivan to open his chequebook, but West Ham would acquire a deep-lying playmaker blessed with a “terrific range of passing” should a deal go through.

The Uruguayan has all the capabilities of replacing Mark Noble in the Hammers’ first-team fold with the 33-year-old’s £50,000-per-week contract due to expire in the summer, and showing no signs of deserving renewed terms with his recent performances at the London Stadium.

Vecino made 20 appearances in the Serie A last season before seeing his campaign called short through injury, in which the 6 ft 1 brute offered a box-to-box threat with two goals and two assists from 1.1 shots and 0.8 key balls a game, per SofaScore.

He also missed four big chances to find the back of the net, made 0.3 successful dribbles with a 71% success rate, and helped defensively with 1.6 successful tackles, 1.3 clearances and 0.8 interceptions while never committing an error that led to a shot or goal.

Moyes could benefit well from a player with Vecino’s ability and experience with Noble struggling to influence proceedings, leaving 21-year-old Declan Rice and 25-year-old Tomas Soucek to play all 1,350 minutes of West Ham’s Premier League campaign thus far.

AND in other news, a West Ham gem who’s “not been at the races” betrayed David Moyes vs Brighton.

David Moyes has confirmed he is loath to risk Michail Antonio against Everton when West Ham United visit Goodison Park on Friday night.

The Irons travel to Merseyside on New Year’s Day looking to claim a first win in five games after failing to secure all three points at Southampton in a goalless draw on Tuesday.

Everton are set to be boosted by the return of Richarlison to Carlo Ancelotti’s starting line-up as the Toffees look to move second in the Premier League table, while Moyes is facing a string of selection dilemmas after rotating his XI at St. Mary’s.

So, with changes on the cards for the visiting Hammers, here’s a potential line-up Moyes could favour on his latest return to Goodison Park…

Lukasz Fabianski kept his fifth clean sheet of the league campaign during Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw with the Saints, and will be expected to join Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek in retaining their starting roles against Everton.

Craig Dawson impressed during his Hammers debut in place of Fabian Balbuena, but may miss out on successive appearances after the Paraguayan was purely rested alongside right-back Vladimir Coufal for the south coast trip with the Irons playing twice in 48 hours.

Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini also featured against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints though are likely to be benched for the return of Jarrod Bowen and just a third Premier League start for Said Benrahma, who reportedly earns £23,000-a-week.

Moyes will find it hard to omit Benrahma after the Brentford loanee brought an immediate spark to West Ham’s efforts at St. Mary’s, where Antonio made his long-awaited return to action following niggling hamstring injuries as a late substitute.

Antonio will be assessed ahead of West Ham’s trip to Merseyside to assess his fitness in the chance the 30-year-old can start, but Moyes is keen to manage the centre-forward’s return to avoid aggravating the issue knowing the importance he brings to the side.

“I thought, even with the little bits when Michail came on [against Southampton], he made a bit of a difference. He gave us something, but I’m probably having to take him bit-by-bit,” Moyes said.

“We’re not sure how much we can get out of him and I’m loath to lose him to another injury. At the moment we’ve sort of muddled through, and we’ve just not been quite as fluent without him in the team.”

Sebastien Haller, who has been linked with a move away from the London Stadium, will likely start at Everton despite struggling against Southampton, having failed to score a fourth league goal in 15 appearances before being replaced by Antonio.

AND in other news, West Ham are considering offering a 6 ft 1 brute with a “terrific range of passing” a mid-season move to the London Stadium.

According to Okay Yokuslu’s agent Batur Altiparmak, West Bromwich Albion have entered talks to sign the Turkey international on loan this month.

Baggies eye Yokuslu

The Baggies have been linked with a move for the 26-year-old midfielder (The Daily Mail), and it now seems they have stepped up their pursuit of the former Trabzonspor man.

Altiparmak has told AS that the Hawthorns outfit are in talks to sign Yokuslu on loan until the end of the season.

Matic-like midfielder

Yokuslu has been somewhat of a bit-part player for Celta Vigo, his current club, so far this campaign – he has played just 410 minutes in La Liga (Transfermarkt). However, with 28 caps for Turkey, he clearly has plenty of experience, and could therefore be an interesting option for Sam Allardyce.

Upon his transfer from Trabzonspor to Vigo in 2018, £3.6m-valued Yokuslu (Transfermarkt) compared himself to Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic (Fotomac via Stretty News). Indeed, when comparing the two on WhoScored, their stats are rather similar. Throughout his career, Yokuslu has averaged 2.2 tackles and 1.9 interceptions, while Matic’s numbers stand at 2.4 and 1.7 respectively.

The latter has won four league titles – three Premier Leagues with Chelsea and one title with Benfica in Portugal. Were Yokuslu to have anything like the impact Matic has had in the English top flight, West Brom would be signing a top player.

In other news, Baggies enter talks to sign this striker.

Celtic have been linked to several new names this transfer window as the deadline looms closer. The Hoops are yet to recruit any new personnel but Nick Hammond will undoubtedly be scouring the market for the club’s next big talent.

But along with any potential new signings, the Hoops are also looking at shifting some of the players already on their books. According to the Daily Mail, via the Daily Record, forgotten defender Jack Hendry is set to leave Parkhead as loan side KV Oostende prepare to make his stay in Belgium permanent.

This is somewhat of a questionable move given the fact that Neil Lennon is currently struggling with his defence. The Bhoys continue to have issues plugging their leaky backline as they continue to let goals in. Their short-lived Europa League run saw them concede the joint highest amount of goals with a mammoth 19, as per UEFA.

Only Ludogorets and Dundalk shipped this many goals, which is very out of character for the usually dominant Glaswegians.

However, Hendry has fallen down the pecking order and is no longer considered a viable option for Lennon. With just over a year left on his current Celtic contract, Hammond has wasted no time in striking a deal to ensure he leaves the club in exchange for a bit of pocket money for the transfer window.

Despite not featuring for the reigning Premiership champions since 2019, Hammond has managed to bank an expected £1.75million for the sale of Hendry. This will see the Hoops collect a tidy profit of £250,000, improving on the fee they paid for the centre-back in 2018 after signing him from Dundee.

Given the fact that Hendry has been out on loan since 2019 and has just 27 total appearances under his belt for Celtic, this deal is very impressive. Lining Peter Lawwell’s pockets with a slight profit will seriously impress the Scotsman. This puts them in good stead to tackle the transfer window head on and hopefully bring in some new faces to make 2021/22 a better season.

In other news, Celtic must avoid making any further moves to sign Tom Ince…