Category Uncategorized

[ad_pod ]

Celtic are waiting on scan results to determine the extent of Callum McGregor’s calf injury.

The midfielder missed his first match of the season through injury as the Hoops beat Motherwell 4-1 on Sunday to restore their eight point advantage at the top of the SPFL table.

With Scott Brown suspended it meant a brand new midfield, with Nir Bitton returning to the side alongside Ewan Henderson who was starting his first ever top team match.

“He’s picked up an injury from the midweek,” Rodgers said, as quoted by The Daily Record, when explaining McGregor’s injury.

“We would’ve taken him off but we were down to 10 men and he didn’t feel it too bad. But then the last few days its stiffened up so we’ll see what the result of the X-ray is on that.”

Rodgers will be hoping to have McGregor available to face Hearts on Wednesday but surely won’t take any chances with a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hibs following three days later.

McGregor has been a crucial member of Rodgers’ plans this season – his appearance against Valencia was his 54th match for club and country this season.

With Ryan Christie picking up a hamstring knock in the win over Motherwell, Bitton or Henderson could retain their place in the side to face Hearts if McGregor fails to prove his fitness.

كشف مصدر خاص بالنادي الأهلي، عن القرار الذي أبلغ به المدير الفني للفريق رينيه فايلر، مسؤولي القلعة الحمراء بشأن البقاء مع الشياطين الحمر أو رحيله مطلع أكتوبر المقبل.

ويستعد الأهلي لمواجهة نظيره الوداد البيضاوي المغربي منتصف أكتوبر المقبل، في موقعة اقتناص بطاقة التأهل إلى نهائي الأمير السمراء.

وأكد المصدر – لـ “بطولات” – أن فايلر أبلغ الأهلي برحيله بنهاية عقده في أول أكتوبر مع النادي، وعدم استكمال مشواره مع الفريق.

الأهلي يطالب فايلر بتأجيل بند فسخ التعاقد شهرًا.. والسويسري يضع شرطًا

وكانت المفاوضات قد استمرت اليوم حول بقاء رينيه فايلر أو رحيله، سواء مع محمود الخطيب رئيس الأهلي أو لجنة التخطيط بالنادي.

يُذكر أن تعاقد المدرب السويسري رينيه فايلر مع النادي الأهلي يسمح له بالرحيل مجانًا خلال الفترة ما بين 1 اكتوبر والعاشر من الشهر ذاته.

Arsenal have a lot of work to do if they want to secure Champions League football this season, something that at the moment seems unlikely. 

Unlikely, mainly due to the incredible form of Manchester United, who have come surging up the table and hence damaged Arsenal’s top four chances.

Unai Emery, though, will hope for a strong end to the season and knows that anything can be possible with the strong group of players he has available to him.

Though seeing as a high-place finish in the Premier League has again been hard to come by, the former PSG boss will surely look to spend some money during the summer transfer window to improve their chances next season.

Ideally, Arsenal would want proven stars but if that isn’t possible, recruiting up-and-coming talents would also be a good strategy.

An example of the kind of calibre Arsenal may look into signing is Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon.

Sessegnon, (who is valued at £31.5 million on Transfermarkt) remains a raved about youngster, who has all the potential to succeed in the Premier League and football as a whole.

The left-sided player, like the rest of his team-mates, has found making the jump from Championship football to the Premier League is hard.

The 18-year-old missed just one Championship game the season they were promoted as he went on to score 16 goals.

This season, Sessegnon has two goals and five assists to his name so far, which may not seem a lot but his talent is obvious for all to see.

With Nacho Monreal not getting any younger and Sead Kolasinac failing to deliver consistency, Ryan Sessegnon could fit in very nicely deployed in a left wing-back position.

Do you agree… Let us know!

Kalvin Phillips’ suspension is finally over, and it’s fair to say that Leeds have been missing him a little bit.

Indeed, the Whites picked up three points from a possible nine without the 24-year-old available for selection, and they were lucky to even get that many as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Millwall.

The holding midfield role is one of the most important in Bielsa’s system due to how much cover he provides the backline, but it wasn’t just Phillips’ defensive contribution that United have been missing.

Phillips’ brilliance

Of course, it’d be foolish to say that his defending hasn’t been missed at all.

Phillips averages the seventh most tackles per game of any player in the Championship, and his defensive brilliance is there for all to see.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

It’s no coincidence that Leeds have conceded in each of the last three games they’ve played without their talisman, and hopefully, his return can steady the ship in that area.

However, what makes Phillips one of the best players in the division isn’t just his ability at the back, the midfielder also has a great eye for a pass and that’s something Leeds have been missing.

Playmaking abilities

The Whites haven’t just struggled at the back without Phillips, they’ve also faltered up top.

They’ve failed to score in each of their last two games, and against Nottingham Forest they were completely uninspired going forward, testing the goalkeeper with just one shot on target.

The fact of the matter is that Phillips isn’t known as the Yorkshire Pirlo for no reason, and he’s as much of a playmaker as he is a tough tackler.

The midfielder has been averaging two key passes per game from defensive midfield, and the men that have stepped in to replace him just haven’t hit those heights.

Ben White didn’t play a single key pass on Saturday, and Mateusz Klich also failed to play a single key pass the week before against Wigan when he was occupying the defensive midfield position.

His creativity is often overlooked due to his amazing defensive contributions, many have stated that he’s vital in Leeds playing out from the back, but he’s also brilliant when it comes to finding a killer ball, and that’s one thing that Leeds have been missing.

In other news, Leeds may have the perfect Kalvin Phillips successor already in their ranks.

Mesut Ozil is facing an uncertain future at Arsenal after falling out-of-favour under new boss Unai Emery.

The German playmaker has struggled for form and fitness in recent years – the German has looked a shadow of his former self at times. The playmaker has fallen out of favour with Emery as a result, having not started any of Arsenal’s last four games. Reports in the Daily Mail suggest that Arsenal are willing to offload their highest earner as soon as possible with AC Milan keen to lure him to Italy.

The 30-year-old pockets £350,000-per-week at the Emirates which would be better spent improving other areas of the squad. However, his departure would leave a creative void that would need to be filled.

An ideal replacement for the former Real Madrid man would be Sevilla maestro – Pablo Sarabia. Valued at £36m by Transfermarkt, the playmaker started his career at Madrid but ultimately failed to make the grade and was sold to Getafe. With his contract expiring, Sevilla secured his signature in 2016 for just £900k which has proved to be a bargain.

Sarabia has been ever-present for his side this season, netting 15 goals and registering eight assists for his team-mates in all competitions. The 26-year-old operates primarily as an attacking midfielder but is also comfortable on the wing making him a useful option for Emery to have at his disposal. Sarabia possesses excellent technical ability and the vision to carve open defences which will have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang licking his lips in the Arsenal attack.

The playmaker is improving with every game and working with a world-class coach like Emery could do wonders for his development. Sarabia has all the attributes to be a massive success in England and would help Arsenal fans forget all about Ozil.

Arsenal fans, thoughts?

[ad_pod ]

Loads of Tottenham fans have been running the rule over the latest transfer rumour, as reports claim they are still chasing Manchester United’s Eric Bailly.

Tottenham fans were surprised when recent reports suggested they were in for Bailly, and The Mirror have once again confirmed that the defender’s future at Old Trafford is in doubt.

The report claims Spurs are still one of a number of teams “monitoring” Bailly, but fans are split on moving for him.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”312947″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Fixture in Focus Southampton v Newcastle”]

The 24-year-old was extremely highly-rated when he joined Manchester United, and his shown his fair share of both strengths and weaknesses during his short stint in the Premier League.

He is excellent in the air and an incredible athlete, but his injury record does not make pretty reading and his lapses of concentration have cost the Red Devils on a couple of occasions.

[ad_pod ]

Tottenham are of course facing the prospect of losing Toby Alderweireld next summer, and Bailly could form a formidable long-term pairing with Davinson Sanchez if he can fulfil his potential.

Fans aren’t so sure though, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Leeds United midfielder Ronaldo Vieira looks to be on the verge of signing for Serie A side Sampdoria having been pictured landing in Italy, and Whites fans on Twitter know who they want to replace the 20-year-old.

The England U21 international is reported to have been the subject of a £7m bid from the Italian club, and considering he looked as though he was only going to play a bit-part role this season given his pre-season so far under Marcelo Bielsa, it appears as though the Yorkshire outfit have cashed in.

The search for his replacement will now have begun, and some of the Elland Road faithful appear to want technically-gifted Brentford defensive midfielder Ryan Woods, who has impressed and made 127 appearances for the Bees since joining them from Shrewsbury Town in 2015.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257599″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Leeds’ opening fixtures for the 201819 Championship season”]

Leeds supporters, some of whom are desperate for the club not to re-sign a former 23-year-old star, were quick to have their say on the 24-year-old Championship ace via social media, and while one described him as “better than Vieira”, another said “Woods is the obvious choice”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Newcastle United fans were beginning to worry about their English Premier League season after two defeats in the opening weeks provided a wake up call about the step up from Championship to top-flight football.

However, if they continue to play like they did on Saturday against West Ham United then they should have no problems at all remaining in the division.

The Magpies were in sparkling form, destroying the Hammers 3-0 at St James’ Park and piling the pressure on visiting manager Slaven Bilic. Joselu, Ciaran Clark and Aleksandar Mitrovic provided the goals on the afternoon in front of a buoyant home crowd.

However, it was the performance of Matt Ritchie that had fans most enthused, his tireless running and hard work setting the benchmark in the Newcastle team and driving them to victory. He was also the man who provided a wonderful cross for Clark to nod home and put the game beyond the Irons.

Supporters took to Twitter to rave about his performance…

Massimiliano Allegri has told friends he will leave Juventus this summer and move to Arsenal, according to Italian outlet CalcioMercato.

What’s the word?

With Arsene Wenger’s position as Arsenal manager under intense scrutiny, and his current deal expiring at the end of the season, it’s widely reported that the Frenchman will end his long-term association with the Gunners and walk away.

That would leave Arsenal needing to find a quality replacement for the most successful boss in their history and it would see the Gunners managed by a new face for the first time since 1996- but it seems they’ve got their man lined-up.

CalcioMercato report former AC Milan boss Allegri is aiming to win everything he can with Italian giants Juventus this season before switching to North London to succeed Wenger at the Emirates Stadium.

Why the move?

If the lure of managing in the Premier League with a club like Arsenal wasn’t enough, Massimiliano Allegri has become agitated in Turin following clashes with key-players and the fact he feels he hasn’t been sufficiently supported by the board.

Whilst incidents with Leonardo Bonucci, that led to the veteran centre-back being dropped for the Champions League clash with Porto, can be fixed, other clashes with the likes of Paulo Dybala will have a more long-lasting effect in Italy.

As such, moving to Arsenal may be best for all parties and Allegri is reported to have told close friends he is moving to North London- and Juventus have targeted Roma boss Luciano Spalletti as a replacement.

An evening packed full of Premier League action, as ever, didn’t fail to disappoint as Liverpool, Manchester United and West Ham continued their decent enough runs of form.

The Reds particularly impressed this evening by mauling their miserable Mersey rivals Everton 4-0 in preparation for their Europa League clash with Villarreal on the near horizon.

As awful a season it was been for Louis van Gaal over at Old Trafford, a fairly routine win over Crystal Palace put them to within a single point of the top four as they gear up for an FA Cup semi-final with the Toffees.

On tonight’s evidence, they have little to fear.

Elsewhere, West Ham stopped their run of four consecutive draws by recording a 3-1 win over Watford to continue what has been a remarkable season under Slaven Bilic.

The top four may be just out of reach for the Hammers, though the future is brighter than ever as the Upton Park era draws to a close.

So, what else did we learn from tonight’s action?

Well, here’s three things in particular.

Sturridge Up for the Fight

Much has been made of the fact Daniel Sturridge has lost his place in the starting lineup under Jurgen Klopp.

The England international started on the bench and was only introduced when teammate Divock Origi was forced off with an ankle injury.

However, for a man who has spent so much time on the sidelines, he certainly looked up for the fight.

He was excellent when he came on, scoring once after an exceptional first touch which he made look routine.

All evening after his introduction, the 26-year old looked sharp and dangerous.

He will not meekly surrender his mantle as England’s best centre-forward despite the emergence of Harry Kane it seems.

Man United can still finish in the top four

Amazing really that Manchester United have kept the pace in the race for the Champions League.

It’s been a nightmare season, though they are grinding out results without particularly playing well in the slightest.

Their win over Crystal Palace was barely much to shout about, but with Arsenal seemingly crumbling, Louis van Gaal can still somehow land entry to the continent’s top competition.

The return of Wayne Rooney is a welcome, giving the Red Devils once of the most varied attacks in the league when paired with Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

Carroll will push all the way

We’ve waxed lyrical about the majestic ability of Daniel Sturridge that appears to come to him with such ease.

However, Andy Carroll is another forward who will not give up on the Euro 2016 dream.

The towering striker now has five goals in his last three games and is truly emerging as a viable option for the Three Lions if they wish to draft something different into their squad.

A well taken finish to control dipping a ball proved the ex-Liverpool is not just a heading merchant and can ever differ his game up.