Newcastle fans will be encouraged by their side’s performance despite losing to Tottenham at the weekend.

Spurs pinched a narrow 1-0 victory at Wembley after a Martin Dubravka error in the 83rd minute allowed Son Heung-Min to score the only goal of the game. Despite being unable to build on the win against Manchester City, there was plenty of reason to be optimistic after a decent display against Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

Benitez has his January signings to welcome into the starting eleven with Antonio Barreca making his debut from the bench. The £20m addition of Miguel Almiron will prove to be the difference maker for the Magpies. If the Paraguay international can display his magic, staying in the Premier League shouldn’t be a problem.

Turning his attention to the summer transfer window, Benitez should be keeping tabs on Huddersfield star – Philip Billing. Valued at £6.3m by Transfermarkt, the Dane joined the club in 2013 and progressed through the youth ranks to become an important member of the first-team. Huddersfield’s time in England’s top division looks to be coming to an end after registering just 11 points so far this season and Biling is likely to be snapped up.

The 22-year-old is a giant on the pitch and his presence in the engine room would give the Magpies some much-needed grit. Despite his size, Biling is also quality in possession and would thrive alongside Jonjo Shelvey. Still improving and developing, the Denmark international has massive potential and with his contract set to expire in 2020, he could be available for a great price.

Biling has already proven himself in the Premier League and could be the man to unlock Almiron in the Magpies attack.

Newcastle fans, thoughts?

There’s no way around it – Chelsea collapsed against Bournemouth. The Blues really struggled in the second half against the Cherries, and in the end, Eddie Howe’s men were good value for their win.

It’s the latest in a number of poor results for Chelsea, and it’s one that the club won’t want to suffer through again this season.

One area in which Chelsea struggled, again, was the midfield. Jorginho continues to struggle, whilst Mateo Kovacic hasn’t been able to do much of anything so far this term. Not to mention, N’Golo Kante is being played out of position, and that can’t be helping the cause.

Maurizio Sarri’s issue is that he’s got great players, but they just haven’t been able to click, and so perhaps another midfielder could be a help. It’s important, too, to note that Cesc Fabregas has also already left the club, and so it’s clear that they’re short on depth and quality.

That’s something the club want to fix, according to the Mirror, with Chelsea potentially looking at making a move for Watford man Abdoulaye Doucoure. It’s an audacious move, and though he’s rated at £22.5 million by Transfer Markt, you’d imagine that Watford would want far beyond his market to sell him this last in the window. However, he could still be worth it.

Doucoure offers so much strength in the middle of the park, and he’d offer a lot of what Chelsea lack at present. First and foremost, he’s able to make an impact going forward, with 3 goals and 5 assists so far this term, but that’s only a part of his game.

He’s also brilliant at breaking up play. Offering strength and agility in the middle of the park, he’d help to prevent Chelsea getting caught on the counter so often – especially with Maurizio Sarri unwilling to play N’Golo Kante further back in the midfield. He’s got a little bit more in the way of technical ability than Kante, and so perhaps he’d be a better fit in place for Jorginho on occasion – allowing Kante to sit further back.

With a solid range of passing and dribbling, he’s been one of the best breakout players in the Premier League over the last few years, and Chelsea would be lucky to have him – if they can get their hands on him.

Thoughts?

Rangers are now stumbling eight points behind bitter rivals Celtic after a couple of poor performances and results, and the wheels might well be falling off from within.

Steven Gerrard has never been afraid to voice his concern if he believes something isn’t right.

A relentless worker, leader and role model during his playing career and a tough manager now, Gerrard has been true to form when addressing some of the major concerns he has over the attitude of his squad.

Fans aren’t exactly disagreeing with him either with most echoing his concerns that players have done little to deserve being so complacent at such an important stage of the season.

Gerrard may be right, but by publicly outingÂmembers of his squad he’s playing a very dangerous game.

Indeed, in an age where internal revolts can dictate the future of a manager’s career at a club, we’ve already seen the likes of media shaming pro-Jose Mourinho ousted from both Chelsea and Manchester United after his players took a disliking to his practises.

And that’s someone who’s experienced major success throughout his long and illustrious career.

Gerrard, for all his quality as a player, is unproven as a manager.

There’s a very fine line the current Gers boss would do well not to cross if he wants to make a success of his first big job in coaching.

Celtic fans must be reeving following Brendan Rodgers business end bail, but the news that rumoured replacement David Moyes could be heading to the Chinese Super League instead of Glasgow will surely improve their mood slightly.

According to The Sun, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and West Ham flop David Moyes has announced his interest in returning to management and has set his sights on former club Celtic, alongside the CSL.

The man he wants to replace, Neil Lennon, is currently on his second managerial stint with the Hoops having been drafted on an interim basis but has made a decent enough case for succeeding as the permanent coach with two wins out of two – the most recent guiding Celtic into the final four of the domestic cup.

A win against Aberdeen at the week would surely leave Lennon in good stead.

Moyes, on the other hand, has been out of a job since being sacked by West Ham and has scantly achieved any kind of success since his Everton days.

Conveniently, we have a warning from history which reminds us that David Moyes is a poorly qualified candidate for handling the pressures of succeeding a very successful manager at a club.

As far as we are concerned, and likely anyone else who have endured his management style, he is regressive in his tactics and exists as a prominent reminder of how far the game has come in recent years.

Fortunately, there is every chance the Chinese Super League could be the next home for David Moyes as they continue their mission to boost the profile of football in the country.

Regardless, the Celtic faithful will surely be hoping that the board are looking at forward-thinking coaches who could drive the club on a similar trajectory as their former man Rodgers.

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Loads of Liverpool fans have been giving their verdict on the win over Bournemouth, and they’re absolutely stunned by the performance of Naby Keita.

Keita has been somewhat scapegoated by Liverpool fans in recent weeks, as the number eight’s performances have simply not been up the standard he set during his time in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig.

After showing glimpses of his quality against West Ham though, the Guinean international produced his most well-rounded display of the season so far on Saturday.

Roberto Firmino has thrown a party themed around the colour of his teeth! Watch the video below to find out what we’re talking about…

The arrival of an injury-plagued Bournemouth at Anfield offered the perfect chance to get the confidence flowing again, and that’s exactly what happened as Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed Salah all found the net.

While he didn’t get on the scoresheet, Keita was perhaps the best of the lot, as he touched the ball 120 times, completed 91 per cent of his passes and made a whopping seven tackles.

The 23 year-old may finally be coming into his own at Anfield, and fans are performing a complete 180 after bashing their big summer signing just last week…

كشفت صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية مدة غياب مهاجم الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي برشلونة، مارتن برايثوايت، بعد الإصابة التي تعرض لها في تدريبات الأمس، السبت.

وتعرض برايثوايت لإصابة في العضلة الأمامية من الفخذ الأيسر خلال تدريبات ما بعد مباراة كأس خوان جامبر أمام إلتشي على ملعب “كامب نو”. (طالع التفاصيل)

وأفادت الصحيفة الشهيرة بأن برايثوايت من المتوقع أن يغيب عن برشلونة لمدة 3 أسابيع ستبعده عن المشاركة في المباريات الثلاث المقبلة في بطولة الدوري الإسباني.

وسيواجه برشلونة يوم، الأحد المقبل، فياريال في مستهل مشواره في بطولة الدوري الإسباني ثم سيلتا فيجو وإشبيلية.

لينضم برايثوايت إلى قائمة المصابين في برشلونة مع الحارس، مارك أندريه تير شتيجن والمدافع، صامويل أومتيتي.

تأهل فريق مانشستر يونايتد إلى دور الـ16 من بطولة كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية، عقب فوزه على لوتون تاون مساء اليوم الثلاثاء.

وفاز الشياطين الحمر بثلاثة أهداف دون رد، في مباراة دور الـ 32 في ملعب كينل وورث رود، معقل لوتون تاون.

جاء هدف مانشستر يونايتد الأول عن طريق خوان ماتا من ركلة جزاء في الدقيقة 44.

واستمر تفوق مانشستر يونايتد بهدف ساريًا حتى الدقيقة 88، حيث سجل ماركوس راشفورد الهدف الثاني للضيوف.

وفي الدقيقة 92 تمكن ماسون جرينوود من تسجيل ثالث أهداف كتيبة أولي جونار سولشاير. أهداف مانشستر يونايتد ولوتون تاون

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Crystal Palace host West Ham this weekend at Selhurst Park and will be hoping they can burst the Hammers’ post-Liverpool bubble – the east London side were excellent on Monday as they held the Reds to a draw.

Defensive injuries, though, have meant Roy Hodgson will be forced into making some adjustments to the side that were 2-0 victors over Fulham last week. Although one key stat concerning their opponents on Saturday should make the former England boss’ selection decision far easier.

On the chalkboard

James Tomkins, who has formed a stoic partnership with Mamadou Sakho at the heart of defence, has been ruled unlikely to play this weekend by Hodgson.

Fortunately, the Eagles boss has sufficient defensive cover to provide a natural replacement for Tomkins in Martin Kelly – the former Liverpool man was called upon for the Leicester clash in December and excelled, despite cutting an uncertain figure in previous seasons.

However, his 71-year-old manager should take a gamble by going with his fourth-choice centre-back if it means he can exploit a little-known Irons weakness.

Dangerous Dann

West Ham splashed the cash in the summer as Manuel Pellegrini took the helm in a bit to rebrand the team; the signings of Felipe Anderson and Issa Diop have been impressive but the latter, a £22m signing from Toulouse, has been unable to plug all the deficiencies in defence.

Surprisingly, the London Stadium outfit are level with Everton, who have conceded the most goals from set-pieces this season, on expected goals (xGA) from set-pieces, with 4.6%.

Palace should look to trouble their opponents in that aspect by flooding the box with big men. Christian Benteke’s availability will be crucial, but starting Scott Dann will significantly boost their chances of capitalising on a dead-ball situation.

The 31-year-old is an excellent header of the ball and has scored some vital goals for Palace over the years, although he hasn’t made a start in the Premier League this season. Hodgson should take a gamble by starting the former Blackburn man, even if he may be more vulnerable when West Ham look to use their pace on the counter.

Watch the best fails from the world of indoor football in the video below…

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Oliver Burke has largely been known as a winger or a central attacking midfielder throughout his career, and while he has played as a striker on occasion he has never really done it – and succeeded – on a consistent basis.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has clearly seen something in the 21-year-old to suggest that he can do a job there, seeing as that is where he has largely been deployed since arriving from West Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the season during the January transfer window.

Injury issues for Odsonne Edouard have left the Scottish Premiership holders short up top recently, and the Northern Irish manager has chosen to use the Nottingham Forest youth graduate to fill the void – as he did for the visit of Valencia to Parkhead in the last 32 of the Europa League on Thursday night.

Burke was showing some good signs that his boss had made a genius move after scoring three goals and providing a further two assists in seven outings, and that was enough for him to get the nod ahead of Edouard and fellow new arrival Timothy Weah against the La Liga outfit.

It wasn’t a great night for him personally or the club though as they were easily beaten 2-0 by the Spanish side, and the Scotland U21 international’s stats didn’t make for great reading.

The forward failed to produce a single shot or key pass in his 90 minutes on the pitch, while he only had an accuracy of just over 74% when he attempted to move the ball on to a teammate.

As well as failing to win a single aerial duel, he also suffered from bad control on three occasions, and his night was rounded off when he was booked for catching a Valencia player with an alleged high boot.

While Burke has done more than a good job in the centre-forward role in recent fixtures, now looks to be the time for Rodgers to abandon his experiment and put the 21-year-old back out wide in the role he knows best, and restore Edouard to the starting line-up through the centre.

[ad_pod ]Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United tenure has sprung from high-point to high-point, the latest of which being the sensational comeback against PSG on Wednesday to see the Red Devils through to the last eight of the Champions League.It would seem that Solskjaer and his team have surpassed every obstacle that presents itself to them and the former striker looks almost certain to land the job on a permanent basis considering the remarkable work he has done at Old Trafford.There are three distinct unsustainable trends, though, that simply won’t continue if Solskjaer is to remain at the wheel next season and while we’ve seen the interim boss at his best, we’re yet to witness the worst.These three factors give an insight into what life could be like when everything isn’t going Solskjaer’s way…

Constant positivity

Having adopted a group of players whose souls had seemingly been sucked out by his predecessor, the ‘baby-faced assassin’ has instilled a huge amount of belief and positivity into the camp since his arrival and that has been evident on and off the pitch.

United have gone from one absolute extreme in Mourinho to another in Solskjaer, who has grinned his way through every interview, while the Portuguese was rarely found anywhere other than the centre of controversy and negativity.

The impact on the mood at Old Trafford is as much a reason for Solskjaer to remain in the job as the improvement in results is, but how long can the Norwegian keep it up when the Red Devils inevitably go through a rough patch?

If the smiley demeanour remains when the team isn’t performing, people may very quickly turn on Solskjaer. Equally, the constant positivity will eventually lose effect if it continues – it will lose all meaning.

Solskjaer’s approach is a breath of fresh air but could eventually become toxic.

Soaring through injury crisis

Regardless of the aforementioned fortunate moments that, in the end, proved decisive, United should be commended for finding a way past their Parisian opposition earlier in the week considering their hefty injured list.

Alexis Sanchez, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Matteo Darmian, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, Phil Jones and Anthony Martial were all sidelined, while Paul Pogba was also absent through suspension.

Watch the video below to find out what Jesse Lingard is like off the pitch in the latest Match Of The Bae with Emma Conybeare…

Incredibly, the Red Devils finished the game with four teenagers on the pitch against the Ligue 1 champions and nothing should be taken away from that achievement. But youth alone can’t be relied upon for integral knockout ties if United expect to consistently challenge for top honours under Solskjaer.

And while it may seem like a paradox considering its scale and depth, not every injury crisis will prove to be this easy for Solskjaer.

Expected goals for and against

Solskjaer completely threw out the defensive style imposed by Mourinho and has got the Red Devils playing attractive, attacking football, while also shoring up at the back.

The Old Trafford outfit look able to put five or six past most opponents on a good day and they have shown that they can do that – however their incredible form cannot be sustained if their expected goals for and against are anything to go by.

Opta’s head of analytics offered some interesting statistics on Wednesday night that perhaps show that United have been even more lucky than perceived. Perhaps had their opposition been more clinical or United less so on a particular day, then Solskjaer might not be within touching distance of the job on a permanent basis.

In any case, it’s pretty clear United won’t stay so far ahead their expected goals on both fronts indefinitely, and eventually it will catch up with Solskjaer.