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Tottenham’s attentions revert back to the cup this week as they get to put their Premier League title charge to one side.

They face Brentford in the League Cup on Tuesday and then face Marine in the FA Cup on Sunday.

On the chalkboard

This could be a huge week for some of Spurs’ fringe players.

Against Brentford, it’s likely a number of first-teamers will be given the chance still but when they travel to face Marine, it’s expected that a number of second-string players will be given their opportunity.

One such player could be Davinson Sanchez. The Colombian defender has been behind both Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld in the pecking order.

Consequently, he’s only played five times in the Premier League and has primarily been restricted to appearances in the cup competitions.

He played against Stoke from the off and also started against Wolves but was pretty poor in their 1-1 draw, making just one tackle and zero interceptions.

As a result, we don’t think Sanchez deserves another run out when Jose Mourinho’s men play Brentford.

Forget Toby

Considering the amount of football Spurs have played over the festive period it would be foolish not to rest a few players at least, and one of those should be Alderweireld.

Thus, we suggest that Mourinho looks to the fringes and plays Japhet Tanganga. Of course, Joe Rodon isn’t available to play in League Cup games so will have to watch on from the sidelines.

However, Tanganga should have no such issues.

Since signing his £23k-per-week contract in July, he hasn’t been granted too many chances and has played on just four occasions this season. Therefore, now seems like the perfect time to hand him another opportunity.

Described as a “very exciting” talent by former Spurs striker Darren Bent, he surely deserves to start ahead of someone like Sanchez. He’s become an inconsistent figure at Tottenham but Tanganga was anything but when he first broke onto the scene.

Supporters won’t need reminding that on just his third Premier League outing, he helped to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City.

Brentford will be lively with the threat of Ivan Toney and the titanic figure of Tanganga should be well suited to dealing with him sufficiently. He has already conquered Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne – he now needs to add the Championship’s top scorer to his list of pocketed items.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Son: Levy must seal Spurs swoop for “very rare” gem who made 7 dribbles…

One query that some Wolves fans could be asking right now is “why they we sufficiently replace Diogo Jota?”.

The now-Liverpool winger departed Molineux in the summer for a fee of £41m and as his successor, they brought in £35.6m striker Fabio Silva. Though, he has scored just once since arriving in the Midlands.

Clearly, up to this stage, he has simply not been good enough and there are no guarantees that he ever will be. Adama Traore has, at least, found form over the last few weeks, though. He scored a beautiful goal against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup but there are still fears that he could leave for Leeds United.

Fortunately, the Old Gold reportedly have a player in mind who could succeed him.

That happens to Middlesbrough winger Marcus Tavernier. Nuno Santo’s men have reportedly registered their interest in the 21-year-old this month, but getting any move over the line could be difficult.

That’s because Tavernier has no interest in even considering leaving Boro until a formal bid is made for his services.

Capable of playing out wide, through the middle or even at left-back he’d add a phenomenal layer of versatility to this Wolves side, but most importantly, he’d give them even more threat in the final third.

Tavernier has contributed to five goals in the Championship this term and you only need to assess his virtuoso display against Brentford in the FA Cup last weekend to understand what kind of a player he is.

Like Traore, Tavernier is a physical unit, exemplified by the eight duels he won in that game. Most impressively, though, he completed a mammoth six key passes.

That means that, in one game, he provided half a dozen goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates. For context, that’s more key passes either than Traore or Pedro Neto have managed in a single game this season.

The former has managed a game-high three key passes this term while Neto has registered a match-high of four. It’s clear, therefore, that Tavernier could add even more creativity to Nuno’s team than what Traore currently offers and with Wolves having lost Raul Jimenez through injury, they don’t have the clinical striker they once had. Thus, they need to create more clear cut chances in order to score.

Given the way they struggled to break Everton down in their 2-1 defeat on Monday without Traore and Daniel Podence, Tavernier would be a fantastic addition to the squad.

If he could being his creative spark to Wolves, that would be a huge boost to Nuno and the other forward players at Molineux.

For a further glimpse of how the Boro attacker did on Saturday, he also performed two dribbles. Evidently, he is well-versed when it comes to beating a man. It’s no surprise, based on how he played at the weekend, to hear that Tony Pulis previously described him as “brilliant.”

AND in other news, Fewer passes than Patricio: Wolves flop who lost 87.5% of his duels betrayed Nuno…

According to Sky Sports’ Mark McAdam, Glasgow Rangers have made contact with Bournemouth to bring Jack Simpson to Ibrox in the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

Rangers have entered the race to sign the Bournemouth ace, the Sky Sports journalist has claimed. Simpson has been heavily linked with a move to Ibrox, with Steven Gerrard apparently a big fan of the centre-back.

However, it seems the Scottish Premiership league leaders are set to face some stiff competition in a transfer battle to complete a deal for the defender.

Reports have emerged over the past week that Bournemouth have accepted a rival bid from Championship club Cardiff City. So, Ross Wilson will have to act quickly if Gerrard is to get his man.

Solid backup for Balogun

With the transfer market set to close in ten days time, Rangers may have left it a little bit late to conduct their business. But, if talks prove to be successful, it could be quite a major coup for the Gers if Wilson can snag the Cherries centre-back.

George Edmundson continues to be linked with the Ibrox exit and his potential departure would leave Gerrard with just three central defensive options in Leon Balogun, Connor Goldson and Filip Helander.

There’s no doubting the fact that Simpson would be able to provide solid backup for Balogun, who has established himself as a regular starter under Gerrard since the start of the season. After all, the Cherries star’s defensive stats outnumber the likes of Edmundson and Helander in several key areas.

Per WhoScored, Simpson currently averages more clearances (2.3) and blocks more shots (0.7) than either of his Rangers counterparts. Although Helander produces more tackles, Simpson evidently has a more well-rounded set of skills. In actual fact, the Swede has suffered from an inconsistent run of form – he was rated as one of the worst players on the pitch after he suffered a defensive meltdown against Motherwell last year.

Despite only conceding seven goals in their remarkable Premiership run so far, Rangers have now conceded two goals in their past three games across all competitions.

It’s clear Gerrard needs to sort out a couple of defensive issues and Simpson could be the perfect fit for the 54-time Scottish champions.

AND in other news, Rangers should sign soon-to-be free agent Daniel Johnson…

For what feels like the first time in an eternity, Wolves kept a clean sheet in midweek.

As the Old Gold drew 0-0 with Chelsea, it was their first shut out since late October in the league, a run stretching to 13 top-flight outings.

The trio of defenders at the heart of Wolves’ defence were close to impeccable with Max Kilman, Conor Coady and Willy Boly losing only one duel between them.

That being said, this is still a tricky time for the Old Gold. They’ve won just three times in their last 12 matches and desperately need to improve if they want to realise their European ambitions.

After all, they’re starting to be talked about in the same breath as a relegation. Clearly, that was not what Jeff Shi had on his mind at the start of the campaign.

Though, holding Chelsea should bring them confidence when they travel to play Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. Here’s the XI we’re predicting Nuno to go with.

We reckon that Nuno could make as many as three changes to the starting XI on Saturday. The Portuguese keeps his three-man defence but Romain Saiss comes into the side at the expense of Rayan Ait-Nouri.

The Frenchman was substituted with an injury against Chelsea and thus, Kilman shuffles along slightly to left-back.

Another change is in midfield where we think that Nuno should go with Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho in order to give Wolves a bit more creative potency. Palace conceded three times against West Ham last time out so Nuno can certainly afford to play a bit more expansively at Selhurst Park. That means Leander Dendoncker is absent on this occasion.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-wolves-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Wolves news”]

The final change falls in attack where the £43k-per-week Adama Traore misses out. Tim Spiers labelled him the only negative from the match with Chelsea and as a result, is replaced by new arrival Willian Jose.

The Brazilian signed from Real Sociedad on loan last weekend but only made a brief cameo on Wednesday evening. This time we believe he deserves an opportunity to start.

AND in other news, Shi must reignite Wolves swoop for 23 y/o “Rolls-Royce of a player” who bullied Traore…

Manchester United are ‘open’ to allowing Marcos Rojo to leave Old Trafford before the transfer window closes later today.

What’s the word?

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed on Friday that Rojo is set to return to his homeland of Argentina.

The 30-year-old has been told he has no future at Old Trafford as Solskjaer deems him surplus to requirements.

According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Argentinian centre-back is close to completing a deal to sign for Boca Juniors.

Rojo joined the Red Devils from Sporting Lisbon for £16m on an initial five-year contract in August 2014 but he has not featured at all for United this season and made just one start in the Premier League last season before leaving for Estudiantes on a short-term loan deal.

Get rid of him

To his immense credit, Solskjaer has been nothing short of ruthless in clearing out the deadwood with third-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero set for the Old Trafford exit as the club have decided not to renew his contract.

And now, it seems Rojo may be about to follow suit, although a move still has not been formally completed.

With time starting to run out, Solskjaer needs to pick up where he left off by getting rid of Rojo as well.

It might sound harsh, but the stats don’t lie, and he simply isn’t up to the standards of being a regular starter under Solskjaer. In actual fact, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t been for quite some time.

In his last season alone at Old Trafford, he played just three games in the Premier League, with two of those appearances coming off the bench as a substitute, averaging just one tackle per game, via WhoScored, earning a low match rating of 6.13 in the process.

For context, that would rank him the joint second-lowest in the current United squad below the likes of Axel Tuanzebe (6.19) and Eric Bailly (6.43).

Considering the fact he earns around £80,000-per-week at Old Trafford, with an annual salary of £4,160,000, that means each top-flight appearance cost roughly £1,360,000. Say no more.

It’s about time Solskjaer cut his losses once and for all.

AND in other news, Manchester United should sign Sergio Ramos after transfer update…

Carlo Ancelotti may rue his decision to introduce James Rodriguez from the bench during Everton’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City after the Colombian’s ineffectual cameo performance.

The ex-Real Madrid maestro started the night among the Blues’ substitutes, with Gylfi Sigurdsson initially preferred in the central attacking midfield role, before being called upon to replace Tom Davies with 21 minutes still to play.

Pep Guardiola’s title-chasing Citizens had just moved back into the lead when Rodriguez was introduced, with Riyad Mahrez restoring the visitors’ one-goal advantage after Richarlison fortuitously pulled the Toffees level in the first half.

However, Rodriguez never looked likely to add either his sixth goal in English football or an eighth assist of the season in all competitions, having struggled to get on the ball in dangerous positions.

Ancelotti going aggressive with the introduction of the £90k-per-week star and Deadline Day addition Joshua King also ensured Everton lost the energy and drive in the engine room that Davies delivered, or the width that Alex Iwobi brought to the side.

The Italian tactician’s decision further forced on-the-night captain Sigurdsson to drop back into a deeper role beside Abdoulaye Doucoure, where the Iceland playmaker would fail to track Bernardo Silva quickly enough and gift the Portuguese gem the space to score City’s decisive third.

His brief lapse of attention helped ensure Sigurdsson was criticised by the Liverpool Echo for a poor performance, having also struggled to get on the ball and influence the game in the manner the 31-year-old would have hoped to.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez was awarded the same matching rating of five out of 10 by the Liverpool Echo, for the £31.5m-rated ace did not have the time on the ball to offer a creative touch on Wednesday night.

Yet during Rodriguez’s 21 minutes on the field, no Everton player saw more of the ball than the 29-year-old, who – along with centre-half Michael Keane – registered 20 touches, per WhoScored.

But with the ball, Rodriguez proved immensely wasteful with a sloppy 67% pass competition rate, having only found a Toffees teammate with eight of his 12 passes. He, like all Blues players, also failed to create a single key ball or take a shot as the Citizens stayed in control.

The 80-cap international generally completes 82% of his passes per game in the Premier League this season, along with providing 1.8 key balls and taking 1.1 shots, per SofaScore.

It was part of the reason why the Colombian delivered a hugely ineffective performance, but also due to Rodriguez only recording two touches in the final third of the pitch, one more than he recorded on the edge of Jordan Pickford’s goal.

Meanwhile, Sigurdsson completed 11 of 14 passes in the final 21 minutes despite seeing less of the ball (15 touches, one in the final third), and contributed defensively with an interception – only Keane and Lucas Digne also broke up City’s play before passes were completed.

Rodriguez also struggled in his battles against the rampant league leaders, winning just 33% of his duels, as per SofaScore.

Ancelotti may look back on his decision to introduce Rodriguez from the bench and realise that he could have benefitted more after going behind by keeping Davies and his energy on the pitch.

With Rodriguez unable to help Everton gain ground in a game they were second best throughout.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti is willing Everton to pay £26.5m for a £176k-p/w gem…

Diego Llorente hasn’t had the easiest of starts to life at Leeds in the Premier League but Phil Hay has revealed that, behind the scenes, the Spaniard is enjoying life at the club and has impressed staff and team-mates.

Hay discusses Llorente

Writing in The Athletic, Hay said: “On a personal level, he [Llorente] is understood to have settled well in England, a strong and competitive presence in training who, according to sources at Thorp Arch, had the rest of the players sold on him after his first few sessions.” He went on to say that Llorente’s “only blemish on Saturday was an exaggerated reaction to Ollie Watkins fouling him in the first half.”

This should excite Leeds supporters

Llorente has had plenty of injury struggles since he signed for the club six months ago and this has seen the excitement around his signing drop off.

However, he has put in some very good performances in the four appearances he has made. Against Chelsea earlier in the season, the ‘fantastic’ summer signing made five tackles, four clearances and one interception (SofaScore). He also won five ground duels and four aerial duels. Most recently against Aston Villa on Saturday, he won seven ground duels and made four tackles as he picked up a 7.3 rating (SofaScore).

These games have proven to Leeds and their supporters that he has the quality to succeed in the division, and Hay’s comments show that the club are also excited to see him consistently play for the Whites.

With Leeds already battling for a top-half finish without the defender, it is exciting to see how they can perform with him in the side for the rest of the season.

In other news, Noel Whelan has discussed whether Leeds would sell these two players.

The mood is at an all-time high at Glasgow Rangers ahead of another pivotal week for Steven Gerrard’s side.

As soon as the fulltime whistle blew at Ibrox on Thursday night social media was flooded with messages from delighted Rangers fans.

Rangers emerged victorious from another seven-goal thriller with Royal Antwerp to reach the last 16 of the Europa League for the second successive season.

That they did so without the services of the club’s top-scorers James Tavernier and Kemar Roofe makes this result even more remarkable.

Gerrard recalled Nathan Patterson for a place on the bench against Antwerp and the teenage right-back almost immediately repaid the favour after he scored with only his second touch of the ball shortly after the break.

Assuming they win their next two games in the Scottish Premiership, Gerrard’s men would travel to Celtic Park knowing they only need a point against their arch-rivals to lift the famous trophy.

With both Livingston and St Mirren to face in the coming days, the Light Blues will need to be at their best defensively if they are to stand any chance of picking up all three points, and in order to do so Patterson’s return could prove crucial.

Rangers had previously shelved plans in the summer to sign a new right-back following the scintillating form of Tavernier, and now Patterson must step up to the plate and ensure they do not change their minds.

Patterson remains an impressive prospect for the club, but a recent Covid-19 breach appeared to have undone all of his hard work, as it cast doubts about his future at his boyhood club.

However, the 19-year-old full-back showed he was decent getting forward after scoring his maiden goal for the club against Antwerp, while his overall performance at Ibrox showcased his uncompromising defensive style, with a series of vital clearances, last-ditched tackles and ball recoveries.

Speaking after the game, Gerrard was effusive in his praise for his young charge, saying: “It’s been quite a week and it should be the biggest learning curve of that boy’s career.

“He’s a fantastic kid and he comes from a lovely family. He needs to understand what the people top to bottom at this football club think of Nathan and the opportunity that he’s got.

“He needs to learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again because you can see tonight he’s a wonderful footballer with a big future ahead of him.

“As someone who’s got four kids myself I want to be someone who gives people a second chance. As a human being I have made similar mistakes myself. I hope he takes on board what we have said to him this week and that he learns from it.”

With the skipper still injured and Leon Balogun also limping off the pitch against Antwerp, Gerrard must now hope his punishment from the SFA isn’t too severe, while he is in contention to start against Livingston later next week.

Either way, Tavernier’s injury has earned Patterson a shot at redemption as it allowed him to showcase his abilities in the Europa League.

AND in other news, Rangers can’t afford to lose Jermain Defoe despite exit rumours…

Many Sheffield Wednesday fans are reacting to a tweet from Dom Howson in which he discusses midfielder Sam Hutchinson.

The journalist tweeted: “Why I think Sam Hutchinson could solve Darren Moore’s key defensive problem”, with an accompanying link to a Yorkshire Live article explaining his stance, and this caused many to start debating the Hillsborough ace.

The Englishman left the Owls in September and moved to Cypriot side Pafos FC (The Star). However, he was soon released and this has opened the door to him coming back to Hillsborough. The 31-year-old had a successful career at Wednesday as he made 165 appearances over seven seasons for the Yorkshire outfit.

The Owls are suffering in the Championship and need a miracle to reduce the seven-point gap to 21st before the end of the season. Since re-signing for the club, Sam Hutchinson has featured 11 times and has contributed much defensively as he has averaged 1.9 tackles, 2.4 interceptions and three clearances per game (WhoScored).

Therefore, it is easy to see why Howson believes he could solve the defensive issues and hopefully he can help turn things around for the club. However, the 31-year-old seems to be a divisive figure, judging by these replies from Wednesday fans on Twitter:

Here is how Wednesday fans reacted to Howson’s tweet:

“Are you on his payroll mate”

Credit: @kanewhelan2

“I was so excited listening to the early interviews with the new Boss. He came across as being positive, dynamic and passionate. Sadly, that hasn’t yet seemed to have transferred over to the players. Sam is a player who usually embodies those things, so you could be right.”

Credit: @NelsPalmerur

“Do you ‘think’ this could do it as it already has? when he was first re-signed he was next to Lee’s and they were solid”

Credit: @chrisma50n

“Got to be better than he is in midfield, not as good as Joey, he’s either not fit, trying not to get hurt /sent off or his legs have gone. He’s been poor.”

Credit: @SteveAuntsVan

“If we’re going to play it out from the back Hutchinson and Dunkley should be our centre-backs”

Credit: @DeLudoScribo

“Agree; hutch is a centre half not a holding midfielder player anymore.”

Credit: @hirsty9

In other news, these SWFC fans discussed one player that got away!

According to reports, Tottenham are facing a battle to sign Milan midfielder Franck Kessie.

What’s the story?

MilanLive claim that the Serie A giants are intent on securing the £36m-rated star to a new contract at the San Siro, and that he is one of the players there who the club do not want to sell.

However, the report adds that the likes of Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham are all very much interested in luring him to the Premier League, and that they have “always shown interest” in him.

Mourinho’s new Essien

The 24-year-old has really come into his own this season in the Serie A, developing into a bona-fide star as a box-to-box midfielder – he’s already racked up ten goals and three assists in 36 games across all competitions, even earning some rave reviews from the likes of former Italy forward Antonio Casano.

He said: “I want Kessie in my team, he scores, he assists, he has personality, he has quality, he doesn’t lose the ball, he is intelligent. I’m watching him carefully, against Roma he was devastating. He reminds me of the Yaya Touré of the best times. He is a different player, but in terms of impact. He is holding Milan’s midfield alone.”

And, speaking after a 2-0 win over Torino, Milan manager Stefano Pioli, said: “Franck is a complete player. He gives us physicality, energy, quality, protects the defence and knits the moves going forward too. He has this eternally positive mentality during the matches, he’s the first to help out a teammate or reassure them. This is a young side that needs guidance and encouragement, so Kessie is invaluable in that sense.”

That unique combination of being a workhorse defensively, but also with the guile and craft to stitch things together in midfield, is eerily reminiscent of Michael Essien when he was in his pomp at Chelsea under Mourinho.

The former Ghana international would patrol the back-four, but also offer a presence going forward – you only have to look at that stunning swerving strike against Arsenal to see what he could bring to the table at both ends of the pitch.

Kessie is very much in that ilk, and it’s exactly why Daniel Levy must get a deal done for the Milan powerhouse. He could bring that power and drive to Spurs’ midfield, and give Mourinho the kind of player who would have fit in seamlessly in his early Chelsea days.

Meanwhile, Spurs played a blinder by selling this man for £17m…