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Chelsea are on the hunt for their ninth FA Cup title as they prepare to take on Arsenal in this evening’s final.

The Blues are at the final hurdle of the competition as they gear up for a thrilling London derby to fight for this season’s silverware. Frank Lampard’s side have done well to fend off the rest of the opposition and it all boils down to this evening under the Wembley lights.

Arsenal will be hungry for this win and will no doubt field their strongest lineup, so Chelsea must be ready to counteract their attacking threat.

Transfer Tavern has predicted how the Blues might set up against their London rivals tonight, including two changes from their final league outing against Wolves.

Willian missed out on the action against Wolves so a return to the starting lineup could see him really pose a threat to the Gunners’ struggling defence. Arsenal conceded 48 goals in the Premier League this season and a usual Chelsea front three of the Brazilian, Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud could cause some serious damage to Mikel Arteta’s side.

Mason Mount occupied the right-wing in absence of Willian last time out, so shifting into his more natural midfield role could see him deliver the goods. The Englishman has contributed eight goals and six assists this season and a huge competition clash could be motivation to net another goal. He will be joined by regulars Jorginho and solid performing Mateo Kovacic.

Chelsea’s last three fixtures saw Lampard opt for a 3-4-3 formation, with Marcos Alonso and Reece James operating in more forward midfield/wing-back roles. However, young James could be left on the bench today to allow the Blues a standard four-man defence instead. Although they will want to pose a threat in attack, Chelsea must not underestimate Arsenal and will need to stay solid across the back.

In addition to a strong defence, Lampard needs to put faith in one of his goalkeepers. After a disappointing season from Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero will likely be given the nod between the sticks tonight. As a veteran of the game, the Argentinian will be more confident with the pressure and would be Chelsea’s smartest choice in the the net.

How do you think Chelsea will lineup against Arsenal, Blues? Have your say in the comments below!

Having secured Premier League football for another season, all attentions at Aston Villa will firmly be on how the club can strengthen their squad for the start of the new campaign next month.

Dean Smith’s side spent heavily last summer in a bid to beat the drop, and The Athletic claim that “as much as £80m could be invested”, with “two or three signings expected to go straight into Dean Smith’s strongest starting XI and a couple of others targeted to freshen up the squad”.

One man who has been linked with a move to Villa Park, is Brentford defender Rico Henry. Reports have suggested that Villa are searching for players with pace, and are keen on bringing in some wing-backs this summer, with the Bees ace fitting that description to a tee.

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The 23-year-old played 51 games last season as Brentford fell short at the last hurdle in the Championship play-off final against Fulham, playing the majority of his games at left-back, and at left-midfield too.

Henry has actually previously worked with Villa boss Dean Smith, when the pair were at Walsall together.

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And speaking after the youngster was voted Football League Young Player of the Month back in October 2015, Smith said: “If I were to liken him to anyone it would be a young Ashley Cole. And it’s up to him how far he can now go in the game. I’ve recommended him a couple of times to the England Under-19s because, if there’s a better left-sided player in the country at 18 years of age, I’d like to see them.

“He’s a pleasure to coach and to have around the place, not just as a footballer but as a person. He’s got a great personality, which will hold him in good stead. He’s got a good engine and pace, he can get up and down the pitch and he’s got two goals already this season which is very good for a left-back.”

With Smith himself knowing all about Henry’s qualities, Villa can strike gold by bringing the Brentford speedster to the club this summer. It would give them a left-back who could potentially be a part of the back-line for at least the next five years or so.

Tottenham Hotspur have already completed three deals this summer and they could soon make it four if latest reports are to be believed…

What’s the word?

According to Italian jounalist Nicolo Schira, Spurs are in negotiations to sign Beijing Guoan centre-back Kim Min-Jae with the Chinese Super League side wanting around €15m (£13.5m).

The South Korean international has been long-mooted with a move to north London with 90min claiming back in July that the club were ‘confident’ in securing his services.

Spurs could well need a new central defender after seeing Jan Vertonghen depart for Benfica on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Levy dream

This deal seems perfect for chairman Daniel Levy and very much echoes the sort of business they have already complete.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty have both cost exactly £15m as per reports, and the 23-year-old would very much be in the same region.

But also as a superstar over in his native country, the north London outfit could receive even more supporters which would be a major financial win for the club.

Having both Heung-min Son and Min-Jae in the same team would surely be a huge hit over in Asia and would be a much-needed boost to the coffers through shirt sales and other revenue streams.

The 6 foot 3 colossus, capped 30 times internationally, has been nicknamed the “monster” but is just as adept with the ball at his feet.

He’s even been dubbed the South Korean Virgil van Dijk, so Mourinho would certainly be getting a decent player in a position of need.

AND in other news,ÂSpurs make contact with Eredivisie outfit for United target…

Tottenham Hotspur are not interested in signing Jesse Lingard or Wout Weghorst in the current transfer window, that is according to reliable football.london journalist Alasdair Gold.

It has been a busy few weeks for Spurs who have moved to bolster their squad for the 2020/21 campaign. Joe Hart, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty were all brought in prior to the season kicking off, whilst Sergio Reguilon and Gareth Bale have now also arrived.

However, it seems that the spending won’t stop there as Jose Mourinho has admitted that he still wants another two additions before the window closes in early October.

Two names who have been linked with moves to north London are Lingard and Weghorst. The Times suggested that Mourinho was keen to reunite with the £15.75m-valued Manchester United midfielder, with The Mirror then claiming that any move hinged on Dele Alli’s future.

Meanwhile Weghorst, who is valued at £27m, has been touted to join Spurs by De Telegraaf, who suggest that he is seen as an ideal back-up option to star striker Harry Kane.

But links to both players have now been downplayed by Gold, who has suggested that “links with Spurs looking to sign Jesse Lingard and/or Wout Weghorst are wide of the mark.”

Lingard has struggled for game time at Old Trafford recently under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, making just five Premier League appearances for the Red Devils during 2020, just one of which was a start (Transfermarkt).

Weghorst on the other hand has been a regular for Wolfsburg and was prolific in the Bundesliga last season, netting 16 goals in 32 appearances whilst also chipping in with three assists.

However, whilst it seems that Mourinho is keen on a couple more additions in the next few weeks, including a back-up striker, it looks as though these two players will not be following Bale and co through the door at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs fans, do you think that the club should sign Weghorst and Lingard? Let us know below…

Everton are through to the Carabao Cup Quarter-Finals after thrashing West Ham United on Wednesday night, but the performance of one player in particular meant Carlo Ancelotti was right to hail them as the best in their position.

The Toffees stormed out of the blocks as Dominic Calvert-Lewin broke the deadlock in the 11th-minute after an excellent chipped pass from Michael Keane, and dealt further misery to David Moyes’ men with two goals in six minutes late in the second-half to rubbish any hopes of a comeback.

It is by far the best start to a season Calvert-Lewin has ever had with Everton, with the striker now boasting eight goals across all competitions – a tally only bettered by his 15 scored through the entire 2019/20 season.

Calvert-Lewin’s development as the Toffees’ leading striker has taken leaps and bounds since the arrival of Ancelotti last year, but his performance against West Ham highlighted how the 23-year-old is becoming the Italian’s perfect number nine.

Speaking after the Hammers affair, Ancelotti could not speak any higher of Calvert-Lewin as the Toffees boss lauded his forward as the best striker in England following a performance befitting of a player who has since earned a maiden international call-up.

“He is doing a fantastic job in the moment, he is really on fire and scoring a lot of goals,” said Ancelotti, via quotes by the Daily Mail. “He’s in a very good moment. Whether he’s the best [striker in England] I don’t know, but I don’t care. For me, for us, he is.”

What made Calvert-Lewin deserve such praise was a performance that perfectly emphasised his evolution from the out-and-out target man favoured by Marco Silva to a goalscoring machine thriving under Ancelotti.

Often during Silva’s tenure, Calvert-Lewin would squander a myriad of chances before scoring as he took up central positions to flick play on to Richarlison or bring Gylfi Sigurdsson into the action. Now, his driving runs through the middle are returning the results with style and grace that would previously have gone to waste.

Calvert-Lewin’s first goal against West Ham is a prime example of the player he is becoming, having lingered over the shoulder of Declan Rice as the England international focused on Keane preparing to pass. From there, he burst away whilst watching the flight of the ball to control the weighted pass perfectly with one touch before opening his body and calmly poking home.

The 23-year-old later displayed his ever-increasing poacher’s instincts to secure his second of the night when Alex Iwobi’s shot ricocheted off the post and back into the danger zone, beating Darren Randolph to react and securing Everton’s place in the next round.

Gone are the days under Silva where Calvert-Lewin appeared shy in front of the goal and here lies the striker ‘perfect’ for Ancelotti.

AND in other news, a long-time Everton star has emerged as a transfer option for a Premier League competitor.

Everton will be looking to continue their rich vein of form in the Premier League later this afternoon as they head to South London to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men are unbeaten in all competitions since the 2020/21 campaign got underway – in the past week alone, the Toffees have scored ten goals across two matches. They could well be a team to fear this season.

Last time out in the Premier League, they defeated West Brom 5-2 with Dominic Calvert-Lewin netting a hat-trick and then on Wednesday night they thrashed Fleetwood Town by the same scoreline, so will the Italian boss make any changes?

Here’s the lineup we are predicting today…

Ancelotti will surely revert back to his usual lineup, meaning there could be as many as six changes.

Jordan Pickford is the number one between the sticks until further notice, so he keeps his place whilst Lucas Digne, who played at centre-back in midweek, reverts back to his attacking left-back spot with Yerry Mina replacing Niels Nkounkou. The 19-year-old has impressed but his fellow Frenchman is the first choice.

Michael Keane also keeps his place with skipper Seamus Coleman coming in for Jonjo Kenny at right-back.

A midfield trio of Allan as anchorman, supported by Abdoulaye Doucoure and £22m maestro Andre Gomes return in the engine room with the third summer arrival James Rodriguez taking his place slightly wide right.

Whilst leading the attack, the in-form goalscoring duo of Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin will, of course, remain in the starting XI.

Despite scoring in midweek both £34m flop Alex Iwobi and Bernard drop to the bench as does Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fabian Delph.

AND in other news, Everton can end centre-back nightmare by signing £13.5m monster… 

Andrea Radrizzani has been linked with a big-money move this week.

No, Leeds aren’t signing a new midfielder, the Italian is reportedly after buying a new club, and the side he has his eyes on is La Liga outfit Valencia.

Valencia have fallen upon hard times lately, being forced to sell a number of their prized assets over the summer, and Radrizzani is looking to capitalise on that by purchasing the club and helping them out.

This could be seen as a worrying prospect for Leeds fans, after all, this could take some of their chairman’s focus and financial backing away from Elland Road, but his plan seems to be a lot grander than that.

The Times’ report on his potential purchase describes the businessman’s plan for a European empire, in which a whole host of clubs act as a feeder club to the Whites, much like how Manchester City operate in tandem with NYCFC, Girona and Melbourne, and Leeds already have all the evidence they need to show just how well that can work out.

Indeed, there is living proof in United’s squad as to what Radrizzani’s investment can do for Leeds, and his name is Jack Harrison.

Harrison started his career at NYCFC having grown up in America, but it quickly became clear that the youngster was too talented to be plying his trade in MLS, so Man City easily brokered a deal with their sister club to bring him to the Etihad.

Three consecutive loan spells to Leeds followed, and United now look likely to sign him for £10m at the end of the season, leaving Man City with a healthy profit on a player they didn’t have to do much work on, and these are the types of deals that Leeds could do, but on a much bigger scale with a club that have a much stronger academy system.

Valencia have a ridiculous track record of developing future stars, and the Elland Road outfit could benefit massively from this partnership if Radrizzani does treat the La Liga outfit as a feeder club.

Just look at the list of former Valencia academy graduates, you have the likes of Isco, David Silva, Paco Alcacer and Ferran Torres, all Spanish internationals, who either play or have played for some of the best teams in the world, and these are the types of players United could attract if Radrizzani is able to strike a deal with Peter Lim.

Glasgow Rangers ran riot over Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday to move four points clear of their Old Firm rivals at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

Steven Gerrard’s side dominated the derby from start to finish to record a 2-0 win at Celtic Park, and they are currently enjoying a 14-game unbeaten streak as a result – dating back to the 1-0 win away at Aberdeen – meaning they are early favourites to reclaim the title.

The Light Blues took an early lead when Connor Goldson headed them in front and the centre-back doubled the lead after the restart. But one player stood out from the rest.

James Tavernier put in a performance to remember as Rangers romped to victory over their arch-rivals. It was announced last month that the club captain had been named Premiership Player of the Month after scoring three goals in September.

And Tavernier certainly lived up to pre-match expectations as he ran up and down the flank with abandon, combining with Brandon Barker and Ryan Kent on multiple occasions.

Per SofaScore, the 28-year-old showed exactly what he has to offer, as he won 66% of his aerials duels whilst he supplied the assist for the opening goal and provided one key pass, as well as made two clearances, two tackles and one interception. A look at his heatmap shows the workhorse put in a shift with acres of space down the right wing.

As is often the case, a workmanlike performance can often go unnoticed, especially when a player like Goldson steals the limelight. But his contributions cannot be ignored, especially when you consider the fact that his sublime free kick enabled his teammate to open the scoring after just eight minutes on the clock.

Moreover, Celtic failed to muster a single shot on target, which speaks volumes. Whilst Neil Lennon’s side may argue that they were without Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie, it’s hard to deny the fact that they were outclassed in almost every area of the pitch.

It’s perhaps hardly surprising that Tavernier attracted interest from West Ham in the summer. One thing is for sure, the Gers must keep the £4.5m-rated ace at all costs, as it is highly unlikely that he will be short of suitors in the winter transfer window.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must keep Glen Kamara at all costs after Pukki comments…

After initially making his breakthrough back when Arsene Wenger was in charge, things haven’t quite progressed as fast as Reiss Nelson may have hoped.

The 20-year-old has played just 42 times for the first-team at the Emirates, with most of them (17) coming under Mikel Arteta’s guidance. The England U21 international has featured predominantly in the cup competitions this season, and has yet to play a single minute of Premier League football.

And speaking before watching him deliver a sparkling Europa League performance against Dundalk, Arteta made it clear that Nelson had shown him a desire to really fight for his place this season.

He said: “Reiss was really convinced that he wanted to fight to stay here. And when you see that willingness and that passion and that security in a player, you feel tempted to keep him even though you know that opportunities are going to be restricted and he is not going to have a lot of continuity in his play.”

With Nicolas Pepe and Willian still struggling to find consistency in their game – they have scored just two goals in 18 games between them – surely Nelson can be afforded more regular opportunities to impress.

Speaking earlier in the year after the Gunners had triumphed over Portsmouth in the FA Cup, Arteta said: “We have pace in a few players up front. Reiss (Nelson) is a special player and can eliminate players one on one. He’s been out for a while but he’s back now and he showed what he’s capable of doing.”

That pace and directness could be a game-changer for Arteta, and really disrupt opposition teams as they look to stifle other attacking players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Nelson could open the game up with his speed and penetration and would be a very forward-thinking move to play him.

With the games coming thick and fast both in the Premier League and Europa League, now is the best time for Arteta to unleash one of the Gunners’ brightest young talents.

Glasgow Rangers striker Jermain Defoe scored his 300th goal in his club career as Steven Gerrard’s side cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Livingston in the Scottish Premiership last month.

However, the end is surely nigh for the former 57-cap England international, as his current contract will run out in 2021. Rangers chief Ross Wilson will be secretly relieved to see the back of him as he reportedly earns wages which are worth £65,000-per-week, which makes him the highest-paid player at the club, despite his age.

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time as Rangers signed back-up striker options in Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe on four-year-deals for an undisclosed fee in the summer. Whilst Alfredo Morelos is the main man, it’s money that could instead be used to convince the Colombian and Ryan Kent to sign new and improved deals.

The 38-year-old has struggled for game time so far this season as he has been limited to just 193 minutes played in all competitions. Defoe has made 56 appearances for the Gers, scoring 27 goals and supplying 10 assists in 56 games, which is an impressive return when you consider the fact that this goalscoring monster isn’t getting any younger.

He has bagged two goals and two assists in four games in all competitions so far this season, having missed the first six top flight fixtures with a recurring hamstring injury.

However, he has arguably entered the twilight of his career, as he was axed from the Europa League squad to make room for new summer recruit Bongani Zungu.

Gerrard believes Defoe was trying “too hard” to get on the scoresheet as Rangers ran riot over Hamilton Academical at Ibrox before the international break (via The Glasgow Times).

It’s not so long ago since John Hartson insisted Gerrard doesn’t know his best team after the arrivals of Defoe and Davis in 2019. Not that we want to admit it but it looks like he may have had a point. The Ibrox boss is hardly short of striker options as he already has four alternatives to choose from – and that’s without even mentioning Greg Stewart.

Removing Defoe from the equation would make his life a little easier as it would give Itten more guaranteed game time in order to continue to grow and develop as a player.

With less than 12 months left on his current deal, the Gers should start to think about cashing in on a player Gerrard once called “world class.”

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