All posts by n8rngtd.top

Manchester City return to FA Cup action on Wednesday night as they take on Championship side Swansea City away from home.

Pep Guardiola’s side have now won 14 games on the bounce following their 4-1 win against Liverpool at Anfield at the weekend, and will be full of confidence ahead of the trip to the Liberty Stadium.

However, the Swans are also in strong form, as they sit third in the Championship table and also thrashed Nottingham Forest 5-1 to seal their place in the fifth round.

Guardiola rotated heavily for the game against League Two Cheltenham Town in the last round and was nearly caught out, so may go with a stronger side for the game against Steve Cooper’s side.

The Citizens do face Spurs in their next Premier League fixture, however, so changes seem likely with that in mind.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Guardiola to set his side up for the game against Swansea, with six changes from the team that started at Anfield…

Zack Steffen reclaims his place in goal after impressing in Ederson’s absence earlier in the season.

There are two changes in defence, as Benjamin Mendy and Aymeric Laporte come in for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ruben Dias, who are both rested.

Fernandinho will provide an experienced head in midfield, as he replaces Rodri, with Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan keeping their place after impressive displays against Liverpool.

Riyad Mahrez starts on the right but can interchange with Ferran Torres throughout the game, whilst Gabriel Jesus starts up front, leaving Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva on the bench.

And, in other news… Man City can sign “exciting talent” who only scores screamers

If one of Neil Lennon’s New Year resolutions was to revive Celtic, then he is currently doing a bad job.

The Hoops are without a win in 2021, and are 23 points behind their fierce rivals.

It has been a season to forget and judging by their record of seven victories in the last 22 matches, it’s time for Lennon to go.

He’s claimed that he won’t leave of his own accord, and thus, the only way he’ll walk through the exit door is if Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell give the Northern Irishman his marching orders.

For the good of the club, it needs to happen as soon as possible. Eddie Howe has been linked with the hotseat but now another name has entered the conversation.

The Mirror reported this weekend that after leaving Chinese club Dalian Professional, Rafael Benitez is in the frame to succeed Lennon at Parkhead.

This would be an eye-catching appointment, one that could completely revitalise the Hoops in a whole host of ways.

Now 60 years of age, the Spaniard is well travelled and has a glistening CV – one that looks a lot more eye-catching than Lennon’s.

He has won the Champions League, UEFA Cup and the Europa League, while he’s also proven victorious in the Club World Cup. This is a coach with a stellar reputation, someone who has become recognised as a fabulous motivator.

Speaking about his spell under Benitez, Harry Kewell noted his ability to get players to agree with him no matter what: “He was the master of you walking into his office thinking…I know this is what I am going to say…and you’d walk out agreeing to everything he said,” the Australian began.

“Rafa Benitez was fantastic, but he’d say do this and I’d say but what about this way, and he’d respond – ‘fantastic but this is what I want you to do,” Kewell concluded.

For a Celtic side who look as though they’re being given an easy ride by Lennon right now, this would be game-changing. It feels like nothing the current Hoops boss says works and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest he’s lost parts of the dressing room.

Yet, Benitez is someone that looks for solutions and can adapt well to his surroundings. The very fact he went from Real Madrid to Newcastle shows he offers a vast array of different qualities.

Though, it’s his meticulous use of analytics that could be the most beneficial for Celtic. It was revealed last year by Simon Ferry that Lennon was remarkably still using Brendan Rodgers’ training sessions. That detrimental method, however, could all change if Benitez walks through the door.

At Newcastle, Benitez installed a very particular brand of training, a highly organised intense affair.

His sessions would usually last 60-90 minutes, with a firm emphasis on exercises related to game preparation and tactics. 80% of the session would be work with the ball, while the other 20% would purely be on fitness. This type of organisation would be perfect for the Bhoys. After all, Lennon is hardly a mastermind when it comes to the training pitch.

The former Liverpool boss has also used analytics to his advantage. At Anfield, he used a Spanish tool called Amisco. It has since merged with Prozone and Opta but Benitez would collect as much analysis and statistics as possible to then feed down to his players.

Newcastle players and staff were fed intricate levels of detail when he was in the northeast of England. Assessing how their opponents lined-up for corners in previous seasons is a prime example.

Although he’d be exceptional at Lennoxtown, it is surely his reputation that would command the most respect.

There is a certain aura about the 60-year-old, one that could add fresh energy to Celtic. If Desmond can lure him to Glasgow, it would be one of his finest hours yet.

AND in other news, Hammond could revive Celtic by swooping for terrifying gem with 15 goals in 9 games…

According to CBS Sports, Arsenal will look to sell Sokratis Papastathopoulous in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Greece international hasn’t been seen in an Arsenal shirt this season, at least on a competitive level, after failing to be named in either of the Premier League or Europa League squads.

With his contract coming to an end in the summer, there has been major speculation over his long-term future at the Emirates. And now, CBS Sports claim that along with fellow outcast Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta’s side will look to sell Sokratis when the window opens, with the duo “both out of the project”.

Forget Ozil

With Arteta looking to build his own style of play and football at the Emirates, it’s been no surprise that Sokratis, a more old-school rugged defender, has been out of the picture.

The £108k-a-week earning ace isn’t as comfortable on the ball as some of his teammates in that position, and his hefty wages are a massive detriment to the club as a whole.

And speaking after a particularly disappointing display against Norwich last season, Andy Townsend slammed the Greek ace, saying: “Arsenal need someone to come in and teach them about defending. Sokratis is nowhere near good enough. I don’t think he would get into any Premier League side.”

The fact Arteta didn’t even include him in the Premier League squad is a major statement on just how low down he figures in the grand scheme of things at Arsenal.

Whilst Ozil may be the marquee name being linked with an exit, the Gunners also have to get Sokratis’ wage bill off the books too in January.

Manchester United play host to Everton in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Saturday night, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side set to play their first league game since they humiliated Southampton at home.

The Red Devils ran riot over Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, putting nine goals past the nine-man Saints, with Anthony Martial ending his eight-game goal drought after the Frenchman bagged a brace in the second half.

Unfortunately for Solskjaer, it wasn’t all rosy, as both Edinson Cavani and Luke Shaw were substituted at half-time having struggled with injuries, with Eric Bailly a doubt ahead of the game against the Toffees.

With that in mind, Football FanCast has predicted how United may line up for tonight’s action, which sees Solskjaer make three changes to the team that thrashed the Saints.

Solskjaer’s side are currently second in the table, just three points behind Manchester City, who have built up a tremendous head of steam.

In defence, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka should start as usual, with Victor Lindelof and Alex Telles making up the rest of the numbers.

This game may come too soon for Shaw after he appeared to suffer a knock against his former club, so it’s likely Telles will slot into place alongside the club captain instead.

Paul Pogba is likely going to return to the midfield, which means Scott McTominay will be forced to settle for a spot on the bench.

After a goal drought stretching to 12-and-a-half hours, Anthony Martial ended it with a double against the Saints, and his return to form was warmly welcomed by manager Solskjaer.

As such, Solskjaer will have to decide whether to opt for experience and go with the £49.5m-rated Martial and Marcus Rashford out wide or the fresher, younger option in Mason Greenwood on the right wing.

With Cavani expected to be fit to face the Toffees given Solskjaer’s pre-match press conference, the United boss could start the Uruguayan, drop Martial and have Greenwood to his right and Rashford on the left.

It would certainly be a bold call to move Martial to the bench given his double against the Saints, but that was against a side who ended up going down to 9-men.

Solskjaer will recognise that an Everton side who beat Leeds away from home last time out will surely prove a sterner test of their title credentials, and will need his most reliable and consistent players on the pitch, and Cavani has delivered him for whenever he’s played – the Uruguayan has bagged five goals and provided two assists in just 663 minutes of Premier League football.

Predicted XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Telles; Pogba, Fred; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani.

AND in other news, Man Utd can find perfect Harry Maguire partner in Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane…

Leeds are prepared to face an old rival this evening as they make the long-awaited journey to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United. Both teams head into the fixture off the back of a win and neither will be willing to let their guard down even for a second tonight.

The questionable defence of Leeds will need to defend hard against the threat of the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, but Marcelo Bielsa will undoubtedly have a plan to thwart the Reds on their turf.

Here’s how Football FanCast has predicted the Whites to set up against United this evening…

With both summer signings Robin Koch and Diego Llorente out with injuries, Bielsa is low on centre-back options. He has recently been starting Luke Ayling in a more central role, but he must make sure his defence is the best it can be against an attack like Man United’s.

The boss has Pascal Struijk at his disposal and he should consider giving him just his fourth Premier League start of the season. The £25,000 per week defender has slipped down the pecking order recently, but a natural centre-back is a much safer option than Ayling, no matter how well he has been playing in the makeshift position.

This will allow the Englishman to return to his natural right-back role, with Stuart Dallas on the opposite flank. Kalvin Phillips will, as usual, help defend the backline by lying deep in the midfield.

Although Rodrigo had a great game last time out against Newcastle, Pablo Hernandez made a dream substitute appearance by bagging himself two assists off the bench. Because of this, he may have earned himself a spot in the starting lineup to help Patrick Bamford threaten Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s backline.

A win on the road will be a huge result for the Whites who are looking to climb the table, against an old nemesis no less.

In other news, Raphinha could cause Alex Telles a lot of problems on Sunday…

Vladimir Coufal, Angelo Ogbonna and Arthur Masuaku risk the wrath of David Moyes after their roles in West Ham’s defensive collapse at home to Manchester United on Saturday.

The Irons welcomed supporters back to the London Stadium for the first time since March and delighted the 2,000 in attendance when Tomas Soucek nestled the ball home past Dean Henderson nearing half-time.

Moyes’ men made by far the better start of the two sides and were well rewarded for their efforts when the Czech Republic international headed home his second goal of the campaign.

West Ham should have stretched their advantage before the break with Pablo Fornals hitting the post and Sebastien Haller slipping after rounding Henderson, and were made to pay for their errors after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scrambled to bring on Bruno Fernandes.

The Portuguese helped flip the script with eight key passes in the second period alone, more than double any other player who featured over the 90 minutes with Haller the Irons’ best with three key balls to his name, per WhoScored.

The introduction of Marcus Rashford for Edinson Cavani and decision to move Mason Greenwood into a central position also played their role in Manchester United enjoying a 13-minute period of dominance to move up to fourth in the Premier League standings.

Solskjaer accepted his initial plans were failing after the opening 45-minutes and sought early changes, ultimately reaping the rewards despite an exceptionally woeful display.

“First-half, we had loads of the ball but couldn’t create anything,” Solskjaer said, via quotes by the Manchester Evening News. “Second-half, I thought we tweaked a couple of things tactically, just small little things, making the space bigger, a couple of runs that we made that created space for Bruno in the middle.

“The quality of the finish – the three goals were all an exceptional finish – and that was the difference between us and them today. They had chances as well in the first-half but they couldn’t score. The quality we had in the second-half was too high.”

Solskjaer’s decision to replace Donny van de Beek with Fernandes and the resulting impact will raise concerns in east London, as the early switch worked a treat and space opened across the West Ham defence for Manchester United to mount their comeback.

Coufal, Ogbonna and Masuaku will need to buck up their ideas from the second-half collapse if they are to avoid Moyes’ wrath, as each of them were found out.

Rashford’s pace allowed the England international to skin Coufal on multiple occasions after witnessing his teammate Anthony Martial struggle.

Ogbonna’s positional awareness saw the Italian drop deeper than his defensive partners and allow the Red Devils to make decisive runs between Moyes’ centre-halves, playing into Rashford’s hands when he broke free to net the third.

Much like West Ham’s overall first-half performance, Masuaku was miles better in the opening period than the last, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka able to silence the DR Congo international.

Only Fabian Balbuena and Coufal had a successful tackle to their name among West Ham’s defenders in the second-half, having been the sole members to attempt a duel, while neither of the five who started attempted a clearance or interception.

Moyes has shown this season that he will not rush into any unforced changes, but Coufal, Ogbonna and Masuaku face an anxious week in training knowing they must impress or see their place come under threat.

AND in other news, David Sullivan has landed a huge boost in West Ham’s pursuit of a “very unique” gem.

Leeds have reportedly held talks with the agent of rising Barcelona talent Riqui Puig, who emerged onto the scene with a bang. According to 90min, the Catalonians have offered the 21-year-old on loan to Marcelo Bielsa’s side ahead of the January transfer window.

This is a deal that would suit the Whites down to ground, considering that they already spent a hefty amount during the summer and Puig has a reported release clause of £88million.

However, should a loan spell convince Andrea Radrizzani to fork out for a permanent deal, the Championship winners will surely be able to negotiate a deal and raise the funds somehow. But this would all but certainly cause problems at Elland Road for Jamie Shackleton.

Shackleton at risk

Bielsa’s star player, Patrick Bamford, is 27-years-old. Whilst other Premier League clubs have exciting young talent coming through the system, Leeds are having to rely on a more senior player to produce the bulk of the magic in front of goal.

Only Ian Poveda and Shackleton have been given the opportunity to impress this season and the latter appears to have squandered his chance. Although he is currently out injured, the midfielder fell out of favour under Bielsa, who hauled him off at half-time against Leicester.

Signing a fellow 21-year-old who currently has three assists for Barcelona’s first team would surely only further hinder Shackleton’s chances of starting for the Whites.

Puig, who is currently on a £25,000 per week contract, has made 17 senior appearances for the La Liga giants and boast fives goals and 16 assists in their youth leagues (via Transfermarkt). He certainly caught the eye of many during his early years, with Premier League icon and fellow Spaniard Cesc Fabregas claiming he “can become like Iniesta”.

If Leeds sign a player with such high expectations and the ability to transform their midfield, the already struggling Shackleton only risks being elbowed further out of Bielsa’s squad.

In other news, Not signing Matty Cash saved Luke Ayling’s Elland Road status…

Glasgow Rangers crushed Celtic in a comprehensive 2-0 win at Parkhead to take all three points in the first Old Firm derby of the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership season.

For the first time since taking charge of the Ibrox outfit, it’s safe to say that Steven Gerrard isn’t exactly short of options. Glen Kamara, Scott Arfield and Steven Davis bullied their biggest rivals on the pitch, whilst Ryan Jack was a surprise substitute as Bongani Zungu was ruled out of the top of the table clash after being forced to quarantine upon his arrival in Scotland.

Competition for places isn’t exactly a bad thing, but it can cause a few headaches here and there, and it looks like there is a growing problem that could cause Gerrard a few sleepless nights.

Brandon Barker stakes his claim!

Rangers are absolutely stacked on the right wing, that’s for sure, after the addition of Ianis Hagi in the summer and the re-emergence of Jordan Jones in recent weeks but Brandon Barker gave a good account of himself after earning a rare start on Saturday, so you can see the problem that Gerrard faces. Both full-backs Borna Barisic and James Tavernier ran riot on the flanks, combining with Barker and Ryan Kent whenever they wanted to.

Per SofaScore, the 24-year-old, who earns wages of around £10,000-per-week, received a pass accuracy rating of 85%, won four out of seven ground duels, completed one successful dribble attempt, and made two tackles, which shows that the right winger put in a defensive shift too.

The Daily Record gave him a solid 6/10, whilst The Sun went one higher and awarded him a 7/10 for his efforts.

Tough choice

He is clearly highly rated by Gerrard as he was given the chance to show what he can do against Celtic instead of Hagi and Jones, but it’ll be hard to justify spending £4m on the 13-cap Romania international if he stays on the bench.

Jones could also be in with a shout. He received praise from Gareth McAuley after fighting back from the brink of an Ibrox exit, but was benched for the trip to Celtic Park. One thing’s for sure, with all three players competing for a space in the starting XI, one unlucky contender is almost always guaranteed to miss out on the matchday squad, as it is highly unlikely that there will be two spots on the bench for one position.

The ever-reliable Kent has started every game he has played this season so far, so that rules out any of them starting on the opposite wing anytime soon. Either way, we wouldn’t want to choose between the trio, so we’re glad it’s Gerrard’s decision at the end of the day!

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers show they are early favourites for the title but must avoid a repeat of 2019…

A number of Everton fans have welcomed a transfer link to Isco as the Daily Mirror have reported that the Real Madrid star wants to work with Carlo Ancelotti.

As per the news outlet, Isco is keen to link up with the Italian as well as his former Bernabeu teammate James Rodriguez.

The Spain international is reportedly not in Zinedine Zidane’s plans and Los Blancos will apparently put him up for sale in the January transfer window. The Spanish giants plan to initially send him out on loan for the rest of the 2020/21 season, with an obligation to buy set at £18m plus add-ons.

Real Madrid have also spoken with representatives of Isco in the hope that they can sound out possible buyers both in Italy and England. However, the idea of moving to the Premier League is appealing to the attacking midfielder, with the Goodison Park outfit reportedly the most likely candidate.

A four-time winner of the Champions League, and with a combined tally of 105 goals and assists for Real Madrid (Transfermarkt), Isco would seem a shrewd signing indeed by the Merseyside club.

Everton fan reaction to Isco transfer links

These Everton supporters on Twitter were excited by the links to Isco, with one fan labelling the 28-year old as an ‘absolute baller’:

In other news, find out which Toffees outcast Ancelotti has confirmed will stay next season here!

Aston Villa continue to be linked to new left-backs during this summer transfer window but there’s an emerging name that they must simply avoid…

What’s the word?

According to Le10 Sport, the Midlands outfit hold interest in out-of-favour Spurs left-back Danny Rose, who is also wanted by Serie A outfit Genoa along with West Ham.

They claim that Jose Mourinho no longer sees a place for the 30-year-old and he’s free to find a new club before next month’s deadline.

Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain have also entered the race following the injury to Juan Bernat. He could be available for just £5m.

Must avoid

Despite the relatively low price on offer here, it’s a move that Johan Lange and co must absolutely swerve at all costs.

The long-serving Lilywhites defender had to go out on loan to Newcastle back in January, but he failed to truly put himself on the market with a string of poor performances.

Per WhoScored, Rose averaged 1.9 tackles, one foul, 0.3 key passes and just 0.2 crosses per game at St James’ Park, which is hardly inspiring for any keen party.

Dean Smith’s first-choice Matt Targett managed the same amount of tackles but produced more clearances (2.4), interceptions (2) and key passes (1) per match last term.

Rose is also quite the outspoken figure having publically criticised ‘Project Restart’ as well as questioning his manager Jose Mourinho, which was broadcast during the ‘All or Nothing’ documentary.

In the past, Gary Neville has described the Englishman as “unprofessional” and this isn’t something Smith will want ruining his dressing room this season.

It also goes against their plans to recruit young homegrown talent. Lange shouldn’t even consider this even at £5m. It could become a nightmare to deal with.

AND in other news, Aston Villa must clinch “fearless” Dean Smith favourite before deadline day…