All posts by z3u9t.icu

Leicester City will be aiming to make it back-to-back Premier League victories on Sunday afternoon as they take on bottom club Sheffield United at the King Power Stadium.

Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes managed to edge past Brighton & Hove Albion last time out, with Daniel Amartey scoring a late winning goal at the Amex Stadium.

With a few key returnees, how many changes could the Northern Ireland native be tempted to make to his starting XI?

There should only be slight tweaks and alterations to the team, with predominantly the same side which beat the Seagulls selected again, although there could be a couple of changes.

Rodgers has appeared to have found his preference with three at the back, so Kasper Schmeichel will once again be shielded by a familiar backline.

Caglar Soyuncu will take his place alongside last weekend’s matchwinner Amartey. However, with Jonny Evans returning to fitness, he could replace £24.3m-rated Wesley Fofana after his somewhat uncomfortable display against the Seagulls.

Just slightly further forwards should be Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, Ricardo Pereira and Timothy Castagne.

One alteration, however, could be the fit-again Dennis Praet coming into the midfield in place of youngster Sidnei Tavares. The Belgian has been missing since pulling up against Stoke City in early January.

Meanwhile, the attack should stay the same with Jamie Vardy supported by Kelechi Iheanacho. The Nigerian is gunning to score in three consecutive Premier League matches for the first time in his career after strikes against Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion.

In more news, take a look why it is crucial for Brendan Rodgers to make his move for a long-term target now…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who made 280 Premier League appearances during his career, admits he is not bothered who is the next Sheffield United manager after Chris Wilder’s exit.

As a player, Chris Wilder made 105 appearances for the Blades, before guiding them from League One to ninth in the Premier League as a manager in just three years.

The Blades’ top scorer this season, David McGoldrick, has revealed they only found out about Wilder’s departure via social media, such was the chaos at Sheffield United during those 48 hours of uncertainty.

Wilder had been manager at Bramall Lane since 2016 when he replaced Nigel Adkins, however he only managed to get one point from his first four games, but still ended up on 100 points and as League One champions.

Speaking on his displeasure towards Sheffield United after they parted ways with one of their best managers ever, Lee told FFC:

“If I’m being totally honest, I don’t care about Sheffield United, honestly I don’t. I think Chris Wilder was the best man for the job and they’ve sacked him.

“I think they absolutely got it wrong. I think he would have brought them straight back up, he understands the club and the players loved him.

“I half hope they get their next appointment wrong because I think it’s just a bad decision to get rid of him. What he’s done for that club as a player and a manager, he took that club from the bottom of League One to the Premier League in three years.”

Chris Wilder has been linked with the vacant Celtic job in recent days as they look to regain the Scottish Premiership title from rivals Rangers next season.

The 53-year old was a Sheffield United fan as well as manager and the club may find it difficult to replace him.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has been linked with a move to Aston Villa and, as to be expected, it has caused quite the stir on social media.

According to an exclusive report from Football Insider, Villa chief executive Christian Purslow holds a “strong interest” in hiring Gerrard ahead of the summer.

The pair know each other well from their time at Liverpool, with the report claiming that Dean Smith’s position as Villa manager is uncertain in the long-term despite a solid season.

Villa sit ninth in the table with nine games remaining, racking up 47 points so far.

Gerrard is under contract at Ibrox until 2024 and it remains to be seen what his views are on a possible move to Villa Park.

Villa fans react

Football Insider shared the story on their Twitter page on Thursday morning. It didn’t take long for numerous Villa fans to have their say on the story, with one describing it as ‘stupid’.

“That’s enough Twitter in the day for me”

Credit: @AnonymousAVFC

“More stupid click bait!”

Credit: @Deankerr04

“This has come out of nowhere!”

Credit: @MitchM77

“Utter dross Gerrard is Liverpool bound soon enough. Smith is doing a great job, summer & next season will tell if Smith can take us to the next step, if not then owners may want to change tact, and go for a top pedigree manager to take us there”

Credit: @kpvilla

“Surely no Villa fan wants this?”

Credit: @jpriesty4

“Another one to the block list. Silly season already”

Credit: @villa_b6

In other news: Many AVFC fans buzz at John Percy update on Villa star, find out more here. 

Carlo Ancelotti must recall Allan to the Everton starting line-up for Monday night’s Premier League clash with top four rivals Chelsea.

The Toffees travel to Stamford Bridge following back-to-back wins against Southampton and West Bromwich Albion this week, which saw the Goodison Park natives move fourth in the table before Thomas Tuchel’s Blues beat Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday.

Allan featured from the off in Everton’s narrow 1-0 win at home to Southampton on Monday night before being benched at The Hawthorns, where his energy and determination was profoundly missed throughout the first half.

Ancelotti had sought to afford the £21m summer signing from Serie A side Napoli a rest away to Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened Baggies, having been keen to manage his £70,000-per-week enforcer’s workload after the 30-year-old made his first start since December against the Saints.

Allan had been sidelined for two months after sustaining a hamstring injury away to Leicester City on December 16, but showed no signs of rustiness on his return to action at home to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s St Mary’s natives.

“I think he was in good condition, motivated, wanted to play,” Ancelotti said after the game, via quotes in the Liverpool Echo. “We have to take care a little bit after two months out, but his performance was really good, as usual. His consistency is really high and always at the top.”

Ancelotti sorely missed that presence in his engine room during the first half at West Brom on Thursday and wasted little time after the break before introducing Allan from the bench, to see the 10-cap Brazil midfielder do what he always does by keeping it simple and keeping Everton in control.

Only Lucas Digne (32) and Andre Gomes (25) took more touches for the Toffees than Allan (24) during his 32 minutes on the field at The Hawthorns, per WhoScored, as he set out to instigate Ancelotti’s plan to perfection.

“Allan coming on was probably about getting on the ball and getting us playing, sit in there and dictate us going forward – and then probably me to create or score a goal because it was 0-0,” Gylfi Sigurdsson, who assisted Richarlison’s winner, said after the game.

Ancelotti must now recall Allan to his starting line-up for a third appearance in eight days when Everton visit Chelsea on Monday night, as the Italian tactician can ill-afford to allow the Blues a single chance to set the tone in the game.

The Stamford Bridge outfit are resurgent under Tuchel, winning seven of their 10 games played under the former Paris Saint-Germain head coach and drawing the other three, while appearing solid as a rock just two months on from being a side brimming with insecurities under Frank Lampard.

Liverpool found that out the hard way as they became the latest scalp taken after results against Atletico Madrid and Manchester United last month, with the defending Premier League champions restricted to a single shot on target while playing at home.

Chelsea were not perfect at Anfield and did not take their chances to punish the Reds more, but made it count and saw that Tuchel stated: “This is a brave team and in big games, they show up.”

Monday’s clash at Stamford Bridge is a huge game for Everton’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, on a night when Ancelotti needs his biggest, bravest and best players – like Allan – front and centre of the stage pulling the strings in the Toffees’ favour.

AND in other news, Everton can sign a £13.5m-rated brute Carlo Ancelotti thinks is “excellent” for free…

Fans of Crystal Palace have been reacting to a post on Twitter, which relayed the cost of Connor Wickham’s time in south London.

Since joining Palace from Sunderland in what was a £9 million deal back in 2015, Wickham has gone on to feature just 50 times for the club, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists along the way.

And, with the £1.8 million-rated 27-year-old’s deal contract expiring at the end of the season, one Palace fan took to Twitter to highlight how much the striker has cost the Eagles over the course of his six-year stay at the club.

They said: “Wickham by the end of this contract has been here 6 years, been paid nearly £20 million by the club. He’s started 26 matches in that time and scored 11 goals. An average of fewer than 5 games & 2 goals a season. £800k per game, £1.8m per goal.”

Indeed, the former Ipswich Town striker’s annual reported salary of £3,120,000 totals £18,720,000 paid to the striker over his time at Palace, however, this does not factor in any wages paid by Sheffield Wednesday when Wickham was on loan at the Owls.

Having said that, considering the fact that he has featured just 50 times for Palace, it is understandable why Eagles fans are not best pleased with the return Wickham has given to their club, with many taking to Twitter to share this displeasure.

So, what exactly did these Crystal Palace fans have to say in reaction to the tweet regarding the cost of Connor Wickham?

“Another Steve Parish signing”

@Hape9999

“Not sure why we extended his contract. Clearly was never going to command a transfer fee with his wages & injury history”

@ldnstu

“Wickham is the player we should sell and not Benteke”

@NaikAmul

“Yikes”

@GeorgeBakerr97

“I think I have just thrown up in my mouth a little… £20m”

@metropolis2

“2 goals per season sounds prolific for one of our strikers. I suggest we give him a new contract!”

@DannyTheGit

“Let’s be fair to Wickham, before the injury he was our best option up top. The season of the cup run, he was instrumental for us. Unfortunately, he’s made of glass”

@LeoE_R9

In other Palace news, have a read of a bizarre statistic about the club which fans aren’t happy with here!

Leeds United are set to face off against Arsenal this evening in what promises to be a very tasty event. The two sides are pretty much neck-and-neck in the middle of the table, with the Whites just ahead with the one-point lead. A win for either team tonight will be a huge boost in their respective campaigns, but Leeds have the upper-hand in terms of form.

They are coming off the back of a convincing 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, whereas the Gunners have continued to struggle. Their last two fixtures ended in defeat and both Bernd Leno and David Luiz were given their marching orders against Wolves.

Despite their win last time out, Leeds do have some problems of their own. On top of the long-term injuries to Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, both Rodrigo and Kalvin Phillips are also out of action. The latter picked up a muscle problem against Palace and Marcelo Bielsa admitted that there is uncertainty over whether or not he will be fit enough to start against Arsenal.

Here’s a look at how the Whites might line up this evening with their star midfielder potentially out of action…

With a spot in midfield to occupy due to Phillips’ injury, Bielsa could try his hand at fielding a 4-4-1-1 formation. The Argentine has opted for this choice on a few occasions this season, with the last coming against Chelsea in December.

Mateusz Klich played just behind Patrick Bamford in an attacking midfield role, but this time round, Bielsa may take a risk and start Tyler Roberts, who is desperate for some game time. The 22-year-old has made just 11 Premier League appearances so far this term and was selected to start on only two occasions, as per Transfermarkt. Tonight could be a golden opportunity for him to work with Bamford and really punish Arsenal.

With Rodrigo out, Roberts could really plug a gap if he turns up to the Emirates with his creative boots on.

With Phillips out, Leeds will need more support for the backline. Therefore, Luke Ayling may once again slide into central defence with Stuart Dallas moving from midfield to right-back. This leaves space for young Jamie Shackleton to ply his trade in the engine room again and fight for a more regular spot moving forwards.

A win today will see Leeds pull further away from Arsenal and close the gap on Spurs and therefore, increase their chances of securing Europa League football for next season.

In other news, Gaetano Berardi injury news may not be the boost many believe it is…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle defender Steve Howey was shocked to see Steve Bruce’s defensive approach to the game against West Bromwich Albion.

Howey did try to look at the 0-0 draw in a positive way and acknowledged that the Magpies didn’t get beaten, which saw them keep their heads above the bottom three despite Fulham’s win at Anfield.

Despite being without his two top scorers in Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron, Bruce opted for going without a recognised striker. Instead, he opted to play Joe Willock as a false nine.

Newcastle had both Dwight Gayle and Andy Carroll on the bench, with the latter coming on for a cameo that lasted less than one minute when the team were locked at 0-0 with the 19th-placed Baggies.

Howey admits he was surprised by Bruce’s decision but was pleasantly proved wrong for the first 15 minutes when Newcastle had a number of chances via Ryan Fraser and Joelinton.

The former defender told FFC how he expected Bruce to set up differently against a bottom three side.

He said: “I was kind of surprised by the way the manager set up, but that’s his prerogative.

“In all fairness, it kind of semi worked for the first 15 minutes. I was covering the game for sky yesterday, and Newcastle had chances, they had chances.

“Obviously, you didn’t want to get beat but at the same time, I think they’ve only won three games and they’ve struggled to score goals.

“So, whilst on social media, I kind of put the positive spin that I can put on which was the fact that we didn’t get three points, but neither did they.”

It appeared to be a must-win game for Newcastle, however, Bruce’s pragmatic approach earned the Magpies a point which kept them out of the bottom three.

Newcastle now face Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break which could turn out to be a crucial period for both manager and club.

Jarrod Bowen betrayed David Moyes with a horror show performance in West Ham United’s 1-0 win at Everton on Friday night.

Moyes awarded the Leominster-born forward his 30th successive Premier League appearance at Goodison Park after recalling Bowen to the starting line-up, having only turned to the attacker as a late substitute in Tuesday’s draw with Southampton.

But the decision to start Bowen looked more and more questionable as the game progressed, with the £96,000-per-week winger failing to match his exuberant energy with any real quality when on the ball.

Bowen, who Hull City boss Grant McCann lauded for being “really humble” during his time at the KCOM Stadium, brought lots of energy to the Hammers’ right-wing to display glimpses of his threat but often let himself and the Irons down through his poor decision making.

The 24-year-old frequently opted to look for a shot when a pass was on or passed when a chance to test Jordan Pickford presented itself, and must improve his prioritisation to see a return of the player who scored three times in the opening four games of the Premier League season.

Bowen is now without a top-flight strike to his name since penning his fourth of the campaign on matchday 10, while only recording two assists in 17 games thanks to five-straight uninfluential outings in recent weeks.

Moyes would have expected to see far more from Bowen than what the £25m-rated forward brought to Merseyside, where he was lucky to stay on the pitch until the 73rd-minute when replaced by Andriy Yarmolenko.

Bowen won just three of his nine duels at Goodison Park with the West Ham winger losing five of eight ground battles and his sole aerial contest of the game, per SofaScore.

He further turned over possession 16 times thanks to a woeful 62% pass accuracy rating, having misplaced eight of his 21 passes, three of five attempted crosses and only finding a teammate with one of two attempted long balls.

The 5 ft 8 attacker was able to at least create a big chance for the Irons to score against Everton but not through his shooting, with Bowen’s sole recorded effort blocked on a night Said Benrahma struggled to find a groove before Michail Antonio replaced Sebastien Haller.

More space opened up for Benrahma to display his talents once playing behind Antonio, while leaving Moyes with food for thought through his relentless pressing whenever Everton were in possession.

AND in other news, West Ham are considering offering a 6 ft 1 brute with a “terrific range of passing” a mid-season move to the London Stadium.

After a debut season in English football saw him initially fall afoul of injuries before establishing himself as a key part of Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph, Kieran Tierney has endured a rather disappointing start to this new campaign.

The Scotland international has played 11 games across all competitions, and is yet to score or get an assist, and his latest performance against Aston Villa in the Premier League was arguably one of his worst since moving south of the border from Celtic.

Whilst he may feel unlucky not to have seen a stunning cross being scored by Alexandre Lacazette, his overall display was rather disappointing.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

As per Sofascore, he lost possession a staggering 23 times over the course of the 90 minutes, by far the worst of any Arsenal player on the pitch. He made no tackles or interceptions whatsoever, and lost seven of his ten total duels too.

It was a far cry from the kind of monumental displays he put in both the FA Cup semi-final and final, with the former even seeing him pick out a lovely assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second goal.

There was no composure to his game on Sunday, and he looked increasingly awkward on the ball. The five-at-the-back formation that Arteta has employed has in general given the Gunners more stability defensively, but it has taken away some of the more dynamic movements that Tierney possesses.

Playing as the left-sided centre-half, and with Bukayo Saka playing as the wing-back, has restricted to his usual energetic game, and his display against Villa was very poor by his standards.

His attempt at a reverse rabona inside his own half and seeing it spectacularly fail to come off just typified both him and Arsenal on the night. No substance whatsoever.

Steven Gerrard will have been fully aware of the ferocious demands of being Glasgow Rangers manager after he replaced Graeme Murty in charge at Ibrox.

Well, it’s a good job the Gers can’t seem to stop winning at the moment then, with 22 wins out of a possible 26 so far this season.

First and foremost, Rangers sit at the summit of the Scottish Premiership, with a 13-point lead over their arch-rivals Celtic after they romped to a 4-goal rout of Ross County at Victoria Park last weekend.

Secondly, Gerrard’s side secured a spot in Monday’s Europa League last 32 draw after they beat Lech Poznan in Poland to top Group D on Thursday night.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast editor James Beavis, former Newcastle midfielder Rob Lee insists that Gerrard will be subject to interest from Premier League clubs if he can stop Celtic from winning ten in a row.

The Ibrox boss continues to be linked with a return to Anfield and with Jurgen Klopp’s contract set to run out in 2024, he is increasingly seen as a genuine contender.

Lee’s view, however, is that the chance of the Liverpool job may come too early for Gerrard’s managerial career, but accepted that he may be tempted by the prospect of managing another Premier League club instead if he can help the Gers regain the title for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

He told FFC:

“Klopp will go on at Liverpool for as long as he wants to go on. He’s been that good, he is charismatic when he’s on the telly, fans love him, players love him, so he’ll carry on for as long as he wants.

“I think, you know, Steven Gerrard is a legend there and always will be, but I certainly wouldn’t replace Klopp with him at the moment.

“He’s doing a great job with Rangers, they’ve been steady the last few seasons, but he needs to get Rangers to win it [the league], which I think he will this year.

“And then there’ll be other clubs looking at him and it’ll be down to him then whether he wants to go to another club in the English Premier League and make them successful.

“But I certainly think he’ll be in demand once he wins the title with Rangers.”

The onus is very much on Gerrard to deliver the goods after a title challenge ultimately ended in failure last season. And it is already starting to look like the Gers have ironed out the wrinkles, as they have scored a staggering 45 goals in their past 16 games in the Premiership so far this season.

In fact, it’s fair to say that they have started to play like a unit this season. Whilst, yes, there have been moments of individual brilliance, including Kemar Roofe’s wonder goal against Standard Liege, the team’s overall performances have seen the power balance shift towards the Govan district of Glasgow.

Although some Rangers fans may not agree, there’s no denying the fact that Lee has hit the nail on the head here.

After all, success comes at a price, as it is almost inevitable that Gerrard will want to move on to pastures new at some point in the not too distant future if they can maintain their impressive run of form until the end of the season.

AND in other news, Ross Wilson must sanction Rangers swoop for Ludogorets Razgrad striker Jakub Swierczok…