All posts by z3u9t.icu

Patrick Bamford was seemingly absent from Leeds United’s pre-Fulham training session on Thursday, suggesting he could miss out against the Cottagers. 

The 27-year-old has been a revelation so far this season, arguably proving to be the Whites’ star man in their first year back in the Premier League.

Bamford has scored 13 goals in 28 league appearances in 2020/21, while five assists are also proof that he is more than just a goalscorer.

Unfortunately, the striker limped out of last weekend’s 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea, immediately throwing his involvement against Fulham on Friday night in doubt.

Bamford absent from training footage

Although the injury has been played down, with a potential dead leg cited, MOT Leeds News report that Bamford was missing from a training video released by the club on the eve of the game.

It is worth stressing that there is no confirmation that the Englishman will miss the Fulham match through injury, but not seeing him alongside his teammates does raise suspicions.

Transfer Tavern take

Bamford has been such an integral player for Leeds this season, so having him unavailable for the trip to Craven Cottage would be a massive blow.

Not only would his potency in front of goal be a big loss, but his link-up play and work ethic, too, bringing the best out of his teammates.

In other news, Leeds have been linked with an exciting move for a French midfielder. Read about who it is here.

After it was announced that Sergio Aguero will leave Manchester City in the summer earlier this week, there have been plenty of reports linking Pep Guardiola’s side with possible replacements.

However, City could be set to lose 18-year-old Liam Delap, who has been touted as a potential long-term replacement for the Argentine this summer, after it was reported that Real Madrid are considering a move for the teenager.

According to the Daily Star, the Spanish giants are weighing up a move for the former Derby County youngster, who has excelled in Manchester City’s academy sides since joining.

Despite only turning 18 in February, Delap has been a regular in City’s under-23 side this season and has been scoring for fun in the Premier League 2, with 20 goals in just 15 appearances so far this term.

His superb form in the academy has seen him make three senior appearances in Guardiola’s side this season, which included a debut goal in the 2-1 win against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season.

After scoring a brace for the under-18s earlier in the season, manager Carlos Vicens was full of praise for Delap, saying:

“We know Liam very well, I worked with him all last season and he’s a winner.

“He’s a guy who loves being around this group of players, enjoys being on the pitch and obviously with his passion, his energy, his power, he’s almost a guy that creates fear when he’s on the pitch.”

With only Gabriel Jesus currently available as a senior option up front for Guardiola ahead of next season, the Spanish manager will be desperate to keep hold of Delap, who is clearly destined for a big future with the Citizens, but he may well be tempted away by the glamour of Real Madrid.

Therefore, City should do everything they can to keep hold of the teenage striker, as Guardiola would surely not be happy if he were allowed to leave.

In other news… Man City suffer potentially huge transfer blow with £80m-rated beast Pep dubbed “world-class”

Swansea City are reportedly one of the sides taking an interest in Sheffield United centre-back Kean Bryan ahead of the summer, and if he were to make the move to the Liberty Stadium ahead of next season, he could be the ideal replacement for Marc Guehi in Steve Cooper’s side.

According to Football Insider, Fulham, Burnley and Swansea are all plotting moves for the 24-year-old defender, who is currently set to leave The Blades at the end of the season when his contract expires.

Although the former Manchester City youngster has previously stated his desire to stay at Bramall Lane, all three sides interested in him could potentially offer him Premier League football next season, whereas the Yorkshire side look destined for a return to the Championship.

Even if Swansea were to fail in their bid for promotion this season, if they could convince Bryan to join, then it could prove to be an excellent signing, as he has earned some valuable Premier League experience with the Blades.

The season-long injury suffered by Jack O’Connell provided an opportunity for the young defender to step in as the Blades’ left-sided centre-back and he has gone on to make 10 appearances for Sheffield United in the Premier League this season, including a game where he struck the winning goal in their shock 2-1 win at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

It seems extremely unlikely that Swansea will be able to keep hold of Guehi next season as a result of his impressive performances on loan from Chelsea over the past two seasons, and therefore, Cooper may well be in the market for a left-sided centre-back for his side next season.

[freshpress-quiz id=“532484″]

Considering that Bryan has plenty of experience, is just 24-years-old and would be available on a free transfer, he could be an excellent heir to the England U21 international, so Swansea should definitely try to bring him in.

And, in other news… Forget Lowe: Swansea beast who played four key passes was Cooper’s star vs Millwall 

Details have been shared on a key Premier League decision in the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

As per the British and Irish Legal Information Institute website (via The Chronicle), the English top flight were ‘provisionally minded’ to conclude that the Gulf country would become a director at the St. James’ Park faithful as part of a proposed takeover in 2020.

This is despite insistence from the prospective buyers that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be in charge instead of them, insisting the two parties are separate entities.

The league wrote a letter to the Magpies on June 12th after the division’s governing body concluded that the KSA ‘would become a director’ at the North East club. The latter disputed this conclusion which is why an arbitration hearing is needed.

There were a list of reasons why the PL were ‘provisionally minded’ to come to the conclusion, in which Judge Mark Pelling says is ‘the sole issue’ that needs to be settled in the upcoming arbitration case, to see ‘whether this conclusion is correct’.

Arbitration should make things clearer

There is clearly a stand-off between the Tyneside club and the Premier League over whether the KSA government and PIF can be considered as separate entities or not.

The pending arbitration case should settle this dispute, and thus make things a little bit clearer as to what direction the potential takeover is heading.

Nonetheless, members of the Toon Army will be hoping that NUFC win the case, which could prove to be a step further in potentially reviving the original deal between Mike Ashley and the consortium.

In other news, find out what PIF claim has been dropped by a finance guru on the potential takeover here!

Andre Gomes was Carlo Ancelotti’s true hero in Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City, as the Everton midfielder stepped up to fill the void left by Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Ancelotti was without his £20m summer signing from Watford with Doucoure suspended after being issued his fifth yellow card of the Premier League campaign at Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in the month.

The Frenchman’s continually evolving relationship with Allan had helped to see Gomes forced out of the starting line-up, with his midweek appearance at Goodison Park marking the 29-cap Portugal international’s first top-flight start since November 1.

Gomes was given a run for his money at home to Leicester with the Foxes often dictating the pace of the game as Everton sat in deep to protect their initial one-goal lead, but stood up to the test only to be let down by Jordan Pickford.

Gomes’ efforts in the engine room beside Tom Davies played a key role in the Toffees’ staying ahead following James Rodriguez’s curling first-half opener, struck on his weaker right foot after Wesley Fofana’s unconvincing clearance fell into the Colombian’s path.

Yet another horror moment from Pickford would gift Leicester a draw, having only managed to push Youri Tielemans’ shot on to the post and into his net, despite getting both hands on the ball.

Everton were set to move up to fourth in the table with a win and with two games in hand on the Leicester in third, but ended the night seventh and will host Newcastle United on Saturday looking to claim what will only be a third home victory in eight league games.

Gomes had his work cut out stepping in to the fill the void of Doucoure in Ancelotti’s midfield, with the Frenchman an instrumental aspect of the Italian’s plans with only centre-half duo Michael Keane (64.2) and Yerry Mina (62.2) averaging a higher number of total passes (50.7) per game, per WhoScored, as they set the Blues up to play out from the back.

Doucoure also offers the third-most successful tackles (1.9) among those to have featured more than once for Ancelotti this term, and has the ability to give an outlet in attack after setting Everton up to break with the fifth-most shots (0.8) and sixth-most key balls (0.7).

Gomes may have been unable to match Doucoure’s offensive output against Leicester with the 27-year-old failing to create a single direct goal-scoring opportunity for himself or a teammate, yet he helped to stamp the Toffees’ style on the game with more successful dribbles (5) than any player for either side as he progressed the ball up the field.

His drive to bring play forward, rather than palm off possession, additionally saw Gomes cover the second-furthest distance with the ball at their feet by an Everton player at 174-yards, and with the most progressive carries (4) beyond the defensive 40% zone of the field to push Leicester back into their own territory, per FBref.

But it was defensively were Gomes flourished, with the £18m-rated ace recovering 14 loose balls – more than any player who featured – and with a game-high four tackles attempted and three won. He was also the only Everton player to win possession in the middle third of the pitch (2) and with three-times the number of pressures (9) as any of his teammates in the region, to thwart Brendan Rodgers’ side in many of their countless attacks.

It remains to be seen if his efforts are enough to earn a start in Saturday’s showdown with Newcastle, who won the reverse fixture 2-1, but Gomes’ performance will undoubtedly have given the former FC Barcelona midfielder confidence of a reprieve after months as nothing more than a back-up.

AND in other news, Everton are in talks over the future of a £6.5m-rated flop courted by several sides…

Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp have been desperately unlucky with injury problems this season which have seen them slip down the Premier League table after a promising start to all but hand their title over to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have both been long-term absentees at centre-back, which has left the Reds defence vulnerable throughout the season and forced Klopp to experiment with a large number of defensive partnerships.

Recent weeks have seen the German manager deploy club captain Jordan Henderson at the back, with fellow centre-back options Fabinho and Joel Matip also sidelined.

However, the Reds’ latest injury setback is a big one, as the England international has now been ruled out with an injury of his own, which is expected to keep him out until April at least, as he requires surgery.

Henderson was one of very few senior options available to Klopp at centre-back, with other options Ozan Kabak, Ben Davies, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams all extremely low on Premier League experience.

Therefore, unless something big changes at Liverpool in the next few weeks, it could well be season over for Klopp’s side, who have already fallen to sixth in the Premier League after four straight losses in the top-flight.

Granted, they are still going strong in the Champions League and hold a 2-0 advantage over RB Leipzig ahead of the second leg, but it is difficult to see them making it much further in the competition if their current form and injury problems persist.

Klopp will need some leaders in his side to step up in the absence of Henderson and help to maintain the quality that the 30-year-old demands both on and off the pitch, otherwise the prospect of no European football next season could quite easily become a reality for the Merseyside outfit.

With Fabinho having only just recovered from injury himself, it seems likely that Klopp will be forced into a new centre-back partnership against Sheffield United on Sunday, which could be an indicator of how the rest of this season will pan out for Liverpool.

AND, in other news… Klopp can finally sign his Coutinho heir at LFC in £63.5m-rated whizz loved by Del Piero

Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham side travel to North London rivals Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, where a win will boost Spurs’ chances of securing a top four spot this season, whilst it would all but end the Gunners’ hopes of achieving the same goal.

After some impressive performances of late, including in the 2-0 win against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek, the Portuguese manager should consider unleashing Erik Lamela against the Gunners.

The Argentinian has produced some superb cameo appearances from the bench in recent domestic fixtures and has been excellent in both of his last two starts in the Europa League, earning an 8.28 WhoScored rating for his performance against Wolfsberger and a 7.19 rating in the win against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday.

The former Roma man, who reportedly earns £80,000 per week at Tottenham, played a huge part in Spurs’ opening goal against the Croatian side as he produced an excellent piece of skill on the edge of the box before seeing his outside-of-the-foot shot come back off the post, leaving Harry Kane with a tap-in.

Mourinho is a big fan of Lamela, having praised his willingness to play against Chelsea last season despite carrying a knock, saying: “That’s Lamela. Amazing guy, fantastic player and trying to help the team.”

These are the sorts of attributes which can be vital, particularly in derby games, and Lamela has shown that he loves to get stuck in and win the ball back under Mourinho. He has averaged 1.8 tackles per game in the Europa League for Spurs so far this season, so he could be a game-changer in the Emirates Stadium if he can win the ball back high up the pitch and kickstart a counterattack.

Considering he has just five starts in the Premier League this season, most recently against West Ham last month, it would be something of a risk to start the 29-year-old for such an important game. However, considering Arsenal’s tendency to give the ball away in dangerous positions, having a workhorse such as Lamela in an attacking midfield role could turn the game in Spurs’ favour.

Mourinho also described Lamela as “chaotic” recently and that is perhaps the exact sort of player who could make the difference for Spurs in what is likely going to be a tough match for the Lilywhites at the home of their arch-rivals.

Therefore, the Portuguese manager should take a risk and hand the 29-year-old just his sixth start of the Premier League season in the hope that he can be the game-changer in the derby.

In other news… Bye-bye Sissoko: Levy should seal swoop for £16.2m-rated beast who Klopp loves

West Brom could be heading for an absolutely unforgivable disaster amid reports that star man Matheus Pereira is unhappy over his current contract.

According to The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, the Brazilian playmaker has cut a frustrated figure on the training pitch since earning promotion to the top-flight with the Baggies last season.

He claims that this is down to the terms over a potential new deal.

“From his point of view, his eight goals and 16 assists in last season’s Championship made him worthy of a hefty salary increase and a contract befitting a star player,” wrote Madeley.

“From the club’s standpoint, they had taken on a player who was out of favour at Sporting, given him a chance in English football, enabled him to get to the Premier League and honoured a deal he had agreed to a year earlier.”

Indeed, this is rather a perplexing stance for Albion’s hierarchy, namely sporting and technical director Luke Dowling, to take.

Pereira is undeniably the best player at the Hawthorns in recent times and despite the step-up in quality and poor form of the Baggies, he has still proven to be more influential than anyone else.

Building on that tally of eight goals and 16 assists, the attacking midfielder, who is valued at a whopping €30m (£27m) by CIES, has already contributed towards another five goals in all competitions this term.

In the Premier League, no other West Brom regular has managed more assists and he is also managing over double the number of average key passes per game than any other player too, via WhoScored.

If you took out his two key passes per game, Sam Allardyce’s side would be completely void of ideas in attack as Matty Phillips ranks next best having averaged a mediocre 0.9 key passes per game himself.

Pereira was lauded as an “absolute steal” upon his arrival by Portuguese football journalist Tom Kundert, whilst ex-Nurnburg coach Nate Weiss dubbed him a “genius” who “who has a technical ability that I have never even seen before.”

That is exactly why Pereira’s stance over a lucrative extension is the right one, and why Dowling is completely in the wrong to hold back.

It’s only going to risk his long-term future at the club, and given they are sat second-from-bottom in the Premier League, they need their star man firing happily on all cylinders

The Telegraph believe the £9m signing is currently on around £30k-per-week, which would put him behind both Charlie Austin (£55k-per-week) and Kenneth Zohore (£50k-per-week via The Sun, 13th September, page 61), neither of which are even at the club right now.

Therefore, not giving him what he quite rightly earns is playing with fire. That could come back to bite later down the line.

AND in other news, £10.8m-rated “nightmare” at risk of becoming another Nacer Chadli…

Everton are set for an “absolutely brilliant” boost with the return of star forward Richarlison as Carlo Ancelotti strives to avoid losing four-in-a-row.

What’s the word?

Speaking with Football Insider, former England striker Darren Bent has decreed that Richarlison’s return from a three-match suspension will be the perfect tonic for Ancelotti after seeing Everton’s form capitulate without the Brazilian.

The Toffees begun the campaign as the best in the Premier League with four wins and a draw, but have failed to take any points in the fixtures to have passed since Richarlison was shown a straight red card for a foul on Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara during the Merseyside Derby.

Ancelotti has confirmed that he is likely to call on the £50million attacker when Everton travel to Fulham on Sunday, with the forward returning from international duty fit and raring to go after scoring in Brazil’s 2-0 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying win over Uruguay.

Bent is adamant that the 23-year-old’s return will have a game-changing effect on Everton’s form, and could be the deciding factor in the Merseyside outfit’s pursuit of a first win in 50 days.

“Richarlison, obviously we’re fans of his and obviously he’s been missing and they’ve kind of fallen off a cliff a little bit, it’s not been good for them,” Bent said.

“The fact that he’s back now will give him and his team massive, massive confidence and it’s absolutely brilliant to be fair.

“Fair play to him getting himself back fit, they’re gonna need him. They’re still not that far away to get themselves back up there, but it’s obviously not been good for them recently.”

Ancelotti’s saviour?

Ancelotti will be hoping that Richarlison can deliver the needed impact for Everton against Fulham that Bent suspects the former Watford star to be capable of, having lost three top-flight fixtures in a row for the first time since November 2006 during the Brazilian’s absence.

Defeat at Craven Cottage this weekend will be an outcome the Italian coach is desperate to avoid, as Ancelotti has thus far never lost four league games in a row during his managerial career – a run that began with AC Parma all the way back in September 1996.

Richarlison had been enjoying a strong start to the 2020/21 Premier League campaign on a personal level before his red card at home to Liverpool last month, with the 23-cap winger penning two assists in a 5-2 win over West Brom and striking home the winning effort away to Crystal Palace.

The Brazilian’s efforts over his five outings thus far this term have even been enough for Richarlison to remain 10th among all top-flight players for ground duels won (43) and 12th for successful dribbles (16), while ranking second only to Dominic Calvert-Lewin (22) for shots taken (11) by an Everton player, per SofaScore.

Ancelotti will need to see Richarlison hit the ground running and offer the same level of output at Fulham on Sunday that he was producing prior to his suspension, as Everton can ill-afford to be carrying the 23-year-old in their search for a fifth win of the season.

AND in other news, Everton are on course to repeat a Steve Walsh horror with swoop for a gem with “incredible speed”.

Crystal Palace take on defending champions Liverpool at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon as they aim to improve their standings in the table after a 1-1 draw with West Ham United on Wednesday.

Christian Benteke gave the Eagles the lead, before he was sent off for a second yellow card after Sebastien Haller scored an overhead kick, which saw Roy Hodgson’s side slip to 12th in the table, a point adrift of Aston Villa, who have two games in-hand.

The Eagles have only won one of their past five games, though they are unbeaten in their last three in the league, but Hodgson will be well aware his side will have to be at their very best if they are to beat the league leaders, who are three points ahead of second-placed Spurs.

Palace will be without Benteke, while Martin Kelly, Mamadou Sakho, Connor Wickham, Wayne Hennessy and Nathan Ferguson remain sidelined due to injury.

Here is Football FanCast’s best guess for the predicted starting line-up, which sees Hodgson make four changes to the team that drew with West Ham.

The Palace boss rang several changes for the trip to West Ham, which means some key players should be fresh for today.

Vicente Guaita is expected to start, whilst Gary Cahill could come back in for Scott Dann, whilst the same goes for Nathaniel Clyne, who will most likely replace Joel Ward at right-back. Patrick van Aanholt and Cheikou Kouyate have started the past seven consecutive domestic games, and we’re backing the duo to start again on Saturday afternoon.

Jairo Riedewald came off the bench against Spurs, and is yet to feature since, but we reckon he will be back today, forming a partnership with club captain Luka Milivojevic in the engine room.

Upfront, things could get a little more interesting, as Hodgson may decide to hand Michy Batshuayi a rare start, despite the Chelsea loanee failing to find the back of the net in the past eight games in the Premier League in a row.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson must recall Jairo Riedewald to face Liverpool…