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Sunderland moved up to third in the League One table on Tuesday night as they thrashed Morecambe 5-0 at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats were at their clinical best as they swept their opponents aside with ease, scoring two of their goals in the opening 17 minutes of the match.

Lee Johnson’s men are now two points off first place, currently held by Wigan, and two points behind second-placed Wycombe, who have played a game more than Sunderland.

Forget Broadhead

Nathan Broadhead scored two of the five goals and may take the plaudits for his fine performance, but another Black Cats star stole the show with a sublime showing on the night – Lynden Gooch.

The American winger was exceptional throughout the match and was pivotal to setting the tone with his direct running and ability on the ball.

He set up the first goal in the 13th minute with a sublime mazy run down the left wing, as he jinked past a number of challenges before firing the ball into Ross Stewart’s path for him to find the back of the net. Four minutes later, he produced a couple of stepovers to beat the full-back and clipped up a brilliant cross for Broadhead to find the corner of the goal.

On the ball, he was a threat all night down the flanks. As per SofaScore, he completed a whopping five dribbles, out of six attempts, and created three chances for his teammates – two of those resulting in the aforementioned assists for Broadhead and Stewart. He also completed three of his six long pass attempts and two crosses, whilst having 85 touches of the ball overall.

Gooch also competed out of possession. As per SofaScore, he won 60% of his ground duels (6/10) and made one clearance and one tackle. Given that Sunderland had 62% of the ball and he had little defensive work to do, this was a strong showing from him against the ball and shows that he can compete in physical battles to get the better of his opponents.

Therefore, the £5k-per-week wizard stole the show as he was able to win the majority of his battles off the ball and was a constant menace to the Morecambe defence on it. He was able to consistently cause problems for the opposition with his dribbling and chance creation, ultimately leading – directly – to two of the five goals and setting the tone for the night.

Liverpool remain interested in West Ham United star Jarrod Bowen, with the club still following his development at the London Stadium this season.

What’s the story?

The Athletic have claimed that, following their summer interest, the Reds have continued to monitor the winger’s progress as they contemplate making a new signing out wide.

He was superb vs Liverpool

During his time at Hull City, Bowen was labelled an “unplayable” attacker by his then-manager Grant McCann, and he lived up to that billing and more with a superb individual display in the 3-2 victory over Liverpool back in November.

He set up two goals on the day as West Ham ended the Reds’ impressive unbeaten run, and his underlying stats were equally impressive.

As per Sofascore, he provided two key passes (the joint-most of any Hammer), while he created two official big chances too – the only player to do so in the game.

That’s not to mention he led the team in the number of crosses he put in, was tied second for successful dribbles, and was fouled the second most of any player too – the kind of exciting display which had Andy Robertson tied up in knots.

The Scotland international finished the game with no shots or crosses whatsoever (the mark of someone who had been pinned back for the entire match), made no tackles or interceptions, and won just the one duel over the course of the 90 minutes.

Writing in his post-match player ratings for The Liverpool Echo, Ian Doyle gave him a four, saying: “Plenty of overlapping down the left flank but delivery first half was inconsistent and had an absolute stinker second half.”

In fact, speaking before the game in his pre-match press conference, Klopp himself said: “I like Bowen a lot. He made his way up from Hull and took not too long to show exactly what kind of player he can be in the Premier League. He made big steps.”

He has scored six goals and provided nine assists in just 22 appearances in the Premier League, while he ranks as the Hammers’ best performing player with an average WhoScored match rating of 7.27.

The £31.5m-rated star could be a superb signing for Klopp’s side.

Meanwhile, James Pearce has dropped a Liverpool transfer update…

Frank McAvennie has urged Southampton man Mohamed Elyounoussi to move permanently to Celtic as he has no future at St. Mary’s.

Elyounoussi should leave Saints

Elyounoussi has spent this campaign and the last on loan at Parkhead from the Saints, managing 24 goals and 13 assists in 62 matches (Transfermarkt).

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie believes he must leave the south-coast outfit permanently. He said:

“He had an outstanding weekend and scored great goals. I had my doubts about him but he’s shown what he can do.

“He blows hot and cold but he brings Celtic a better balance when he’s out on the left. He comes in and scores goals but by and large he gives you width. 

“There’s no doubting he’s a good player, it just depends how much Southampton want for him or if they’d give us another loan because he obviously won’t get a game for Southampton. 

“He’s happy at Celtic and another loan deal won’t bust the bank. I’m not sure he has a future at Southampton. 

“He enjoys it up here and if the money was right I’d keep him, he proved that he’s worth it at the weekend. I’d take a chance on him.”

Worth a risk

Elyounoussi signed for Southampton in 2018, but failed to score or provide an assist in 18 matches before being loaned out to the Bhoys. With 102 career goals to his name, it is clear he has plenty of ability, but for whatever reason it didn’t work out for him initially with the Saints.

Ralph Hasenhuttl recently revealed Southampton will only be able to sign players for £10m or less this summer (via Sky Sports), indicating he will have to work with a small budget. As such, it may be worth the Austrian boss giving Elyounoussi another chance to show what he can do.

In other news, Southampton fans slam this man’s comments.

Alasdair Gold has dropped an update on the respective futures of Tottenham Hotspur midfielders Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso.

What’s the talk?

In a recent video posted on YouTube, the football.london journalist revealed that, with Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici planning an overhaul of the Tottenham squad this summer, the France and Argentina internationals are two players who look certain to be moved on at the end of the season.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-levy-conte-paratici-thfc” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]

Regarding Spurs’ potential outgoing transfers this summer, Gold said: “Ndombele and Lo Celso have to be moved on. Whether it’s selling them or whether it’s loaning them again, those are two players who – you’d think – are not going to be at Tottenham next season.”

Time’s up

While it is true that both Ndombele and Lo Celso have enjoyed something of a renascence since their loan moves to Olympique Lyon and Villarreal respectively, it is undeniable that, considering the sheer amount of money Tottenham spent on their signings, both players have been failures in north London.

Following Ndombele’s £63m signing back in 2019, the 25-year-old struggled to live up to his hefty price tag, something which was all too evident from his performances in the first half of Tottenham’s Premier League campaign this season.

Indeed, over his nine Premier League appearances this term, the £31.5m-rated France international scored one goal, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as made an average of a mere 0.1 interceptions, 1.1 tackles, 25.6 passes and won 3.6 duels per fixture.

These returns saw the £120k-per-week midfielder average a rather disastrous SofaScore match rating of a mere 6.58, ranking him as Tottenham’s third-worst player in the top flight.

Meanwhile, over Lo Celso’s own nine league outings this season, the £19.8m-rated Argentina international scored no goals, provided no assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as made an average of just 0.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 13.9 passes and won 2.7 duels per game.

These returns saw the £100k-per-week midfielder average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.72, ranking him as Conte’s sixth-worst performer in the Premier League.

And, while the 26-year-old has offered Tottenham slightly more than Ndombele in previous campaigns, it is nevertheless undeniable that Lo Celso has also failed to live up to his £55m transfer fee.

As such, while Tottenham are unlikely to recoup anywhere near their £118m outlay from the potential sales of the two players this summer, finally moving the duo on permanently would nevertheless appear an extremely wise move by Paratici – if for nothing else but to free up roughly £220k of Spurs’ weekly wage budget – as the pair’s time in north London is well and truly up.

AND in other news: Bid made: Paratici in talks for Spurs’ 1st summer signing, no one’s “identical to him”

Speaking to the press, via football.london, West Ham United manager David Moyes has reacted to Jesse Lingard’s absence for the Manchester United clash, with the Scotsman describing it as a ‘big loss’ as the January signing is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Lingard has starred for the Hammers since signing on loan at the London Stadium, scoring four goals and providing one assist in just six Premier League starts (WhoScored), but he will not feature against the Red Devils this evening as the 28-year-old is ineligible for the clash.

Moyes reacts to Lingard absence

Moyes has described it as a ‘big loss’ for West Ham as they aim to mount a late assault for a top four finish, coming as the Irons boss also explained there are some ‘slight doubts’ behind the scenes for a couple of players (West Ham United official website).

“A big loss because he has had a big impact on the team and how we have played,” said Moyes to reporters (via football.london).

“He has been a positive signing for us since coming in in January so it is a loss to us but we have got other people.

“What we wanted was competition for places, sort of around the number 11 and number ten roles, we wanted good competition and Jesse has given us that but we have other people who can do that so hopefully we can go there and who them what we can do.”

Transfer Tavern take

Lingard’s fine start to his Hammers stint has been emphasised recently by former Premier League striker Ian Wright, who told Premier League Productions (via HITC) how ‘devastating’ he can be.

Time will tell who Moyes will have at this disposal for the Old Trafford clash, but who he chooses to replace Lingard in the team will be interesting to see.

In other news: West Ham are eyeing this 19-goal ‘phenomenon’, find out more here.

A major update has emerged on West Brom goalkeeper Josh Griffith, regarding Sheffield Wednesday’s chances of potentially landing him this summer, and it’s not great news for the Yorkshire-based side.

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, Lincoln are the club trying the hardest to land West Brom goalkeeper Josh Griffiths on loan this summer. Nixon responded to a question regarding Portsmouth’s interest in Griffiths, with the transfer guru explaining that Lincoln are leading the race, as things stand.

Yorkshire Live have claimed that Sheffield Wednesday are chasing a deal for Griffiths. Darren Moore is looking for a replacement for Kieren Westwood and has identified Griffiths as a target.

Fans will be fuming

Sheffield Wednesday fans will be fuming that Dejphon Chansiri has allowed this to happen. With Westwood out of contract at the end of the month and poised to leave on a free transfer, Moore has a major gap in his starting XI; between the sticks. This means that Wednesday need to bring in a new number one and Griffiths could be a player with the quality to be a first-choice option in League One.

The 19-year-old proved his class at League Two level on loan at Cheltenham last season. He kept 21 clean sheets in 44 appearances for Cheltenham as they won the title and secured promotion to League One. This suggests that he could have the ability to play at a higher level and he has the potential for further development given he is still in his teenage years. Therefore, he could be an ideal signing to come in and replace Westwood next season for Wednesday, to add some hunger and youth to the squad.

However, Chansiri has been dealt a blow by Lincoln working harder for a deal, as it stands, and Wednesday fans will be furious if he does not do something to change that. Chansiri needs to work as hard as Lincoln to get Wednesday back in the race to sign Griffiths, so that they avoid missing out on a potentially key signing to one of their League One rivals.

Chansiri and Moore will need work together to lure Griffiths to the club and overcome this obstacle that Lincoln have provided. The Owls need a goalkeeper for next season, letting one join a rival club would be a huge mistake, one that would rightly upset plenty of Wednesday supporters.

AND in other news, Chansiri must avoid grave mistake with £10k-p/w SWFC “threat” after news emerges…

According to Asist Analiz (via Sussex Live), West Bromwich Albion are interested in signing Trabzonspor goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.

Baggies eye Cakir

Cakir is currently on international duty with Turkey and has played an important part in his nation’s early 2022 World Cup qualifying success – they have won their first two matches and the 24-year-old saved a Memphis Depay penalty to help Turkey defeat Netherlands 4-2 earlier this week.

The report from Asist Analiz claimed that The Hawthorns outfit are interested in the shot-stopper, as are Brighton and Liverpool.

Too ambitious

It is at least a positive from West Brom’s perspective that they are linked with an in-demand, up-and-coming talent. Cakir was called “one of the best goalkeepers I have seen” by Leicester City’s head of recruitment Lee Congerton last year (Karadeniz Gazete) and he has been in impressive form for Trabzonspor this term – only Fernando Muslera (81%) has a higher save percentage rate than Cakir’s 79.5% in the Super Lig (fbref.com).

With Sam Johnstone being heavily linked with a move to Tottenham (Football Insider), West Brom could well need a new goalkeeper next term. Unfortunately, £14.4m-valued Cakir is likely to be out of their reach – the Baggies are currently 10 points from safety in the Premier League and look like they will be playing in the Championship next season.

Given the Turkey international’s ability, it is hard to see him making a move to the English second tier, so the Midlands side’s move for him could well depend on their ability to stave off relegation.

In other news, many West Brom fans were delighted with this club update.

Rangers face Aberdeen at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon, with Steven Gerrard’s side safe in the knowledge that a draw will be enough to see them finish the season with 100 points and unbeaten in the Premiership.

The Gers have enjoyed a superb campaign thus far and look set to earn invincible status when they take on Stephen Glass’ side in their final fixture of the 2020/21 campaign.

Gerrard’s men produced an excellent display against Livingston in midweek, with goals from James Tavernier, Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi securing a comprehensive 3-0 win, whilst Aberdeen lost out 1-0 against Hibernian, which ensured that they would finish the season in fourth.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Gerrard to line up at Ibrox this weekend, with two changes from the side which started against Livingston on Wednesday night…

After Jon McLaughlin filled in between the posts on Wednesday, it seems likely that the “outstanding” Allan McGregor, as Gerrard has called him, will return to the starting lineup for the season finale.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-rangers-news-transfer-rumours-and-more-copy-copy” title=“Latest Rangers news, transfer rumours and more from Ibrox!”]

Rangers are low on defensive options, so the back four stays the same for this one, with Joe Aribo in particular impressing his manager with his performance as a left-back in midweek.

There is one change in midfield, as Scott Arfield adds some experience after Gerrard confirmed that the Canadian could make his return from injury in time for the fixture, and he starts alongside Steven Davis and Glen Kamara.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776″]

This allows Ianis Hagi to move back out to the right wing in place of Kemar Roofe, who wasn’t at his best on Wednesday, with Ryan Kent on the opposite flank supporting Alfredo Morelos.

In other news… Bye-bye Hagi: Wilson should seal Rangers swoop for 16 G/A dynamo

Crystal Palace host Arsenal this evening as Roy Hodgson takes charge of his final ever game at Selhurst Park as Palace boss.

The former England manager announced his imminent departure earlier in the week after four relatively successful years with the south London outfit.

Premier League finishes of 11th, 12th and 14th represent a healthy return for Hodgson during his reign with the capital club, and the 73-year-old will be keen to end the season strongly this time around.

Two wins in Palace’s final two games could see them match their best ever league position under their departing manager, and this London derby should make for entertaining viewing.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Eagles to line up on Wednesday evening, with two changes from the side which started against Aston Villa last time out…

The usually ever-present Vicente Guita found himself on the Palace bench for the first time this season last time out as Jack Butland earned his first Premier League start since May 2018, but the Spanish keeper should take up his usual spot between the sticks for the visit of the Gunners.

In defence, it’s likely to stay the same as the dependable centre-back partnership of Gary Cahill and converted midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate continue to put in good performances. Patrick van Aanholt is expected to follow Hodgson out the exit door, meaning Tyrick Mitchell will make his fifth consecutive start, with Joel Ward on the opposite flank.

Hodgson will be forced into making at least one change in the centre of the pitch after Eberechi Eze suffered a season-ending injury. The more defensive-minded Jairo Riedewald could replace the talented 22-year-old and give James McCarthy more support and protection.

Two of the forward positions are guaranteed to be occupied by Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke after the pair both got on the scoresheet over the weekend, but Jordan Ayew will be punching for a recall from the off after Andros Townsend’s mediocre display, meaning the £7.2m-rated winger (as per Transfermarkt) could drop to the bench.

And, in other news…Steve Parish headed for huge mistake over £55k-p/w Crystal Palace speed demon – opinion

Wolves have been trying desperately to sign a new player on transfer deadline day but sadly for Bruno Lage, it’s looked unlikely.

They’d made a late dart to sign Sven Botman and had also looked at Renato Sanches. However, neither are set to walk through the doors of Molineux.

What’s the word?

Wolves have discovered some alternatives to those two players in the last few hours with Hamza Choudhury believed to be of interest.

However, a fresh rumour has emerged from France where it looks as though they’ve submitted a bid for Marseille defender Boubacar Kamara.

That’s followed up by David Ornstein who reports that Wolves are working on a late deal to sign the midfielder/defender.

He claims that a permanent move could be done before the deadline with the 21-year-old out of contract next summer.

Lage must get him

After moves for Duje Caleta-Car and Botman fell through in the final days of the window, Wolves must ensure they get at least one centre-half in before the market closes.

They have been after Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo too but given the potential in Kamara’s locker, he looks like a sensible signing.

Touted as a player who should cost in the region of £50m by scout Jacek Kulig, the youngster is one of the most promising young players in France.

Called an “exciting” talent by Kulig, Kamara was incredibly impressive in the French top tier last season.

He completed 86.7% of his passes and also won 1.9 aerial duels per game. For context, only four regular starters at Molineux were more successful when it came to passing. As for headed battles, he’d have ranked fifth.

What is most impressive about Kamara is his tackling rate. The centre-back won a whopping 2.5 challenges per match last term which is bettered by no regular starter at Wolves in 2020/21.

On that evidence, he’d be a fantastic late addition for the Old Gold and one that would surely delight supporters after previous deadline day heartbreak.

AND in other news, Fresh twist emerges at Wolves on transfer deadline day, Lage will be delighted…