All posts by z3u9t.icu

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to stop a run of seven straight defeats when they welcome their local rivals to Hillsborough Stadium this evening.

Darren Moore simply has to start picking up victories otherwise his new Owls side will be preparing for life in the English third division for the first time since the 2011/12 season.

The performance against Championship leaders Norwich City on Sunday afternoon was encouraging, but ultimately it was another match without any return, meaning the Yorkshire giants are now seven points adrift of safety with only 11 matches to play.

So, what sort of side will we see against Huddersfield Town tonight? Here’s our predicted XI…

There could be as many as three changes from the weekend as Moore could revert back to his usual 4-2-3-1 formation that worked so well at Doncaster Rovers.

Veteran goalkeeper Keiren Westwood made a shock return to the starting XI last time out, and he should remain between the sticks over Joe Wildsmith, whilst Moore is now able to welcome back Julian Borner from suspension.

The 30-year-old comes straight back in to partner Tom Lees at centre-back in a move that sees Osaze Uhoghide switch to right-back, with natural left-back Matt Penney returning to the line-up over the versatile Liam Palmer.

It also means that Sam Hutchinson goes back into his natural midfield position, alongside Barry Bannan as Joey Pelupessy makes way in Moore’s second change.

Adam Reach and Kadeem Harris should occupy the wide positions but there may be no place for Josh Windass, who is among WhoScored’s worst performers with an average rating of 6.44.

Instead, top goalscorer Calum Paterson will come in behind Jordan Rhodes. The 26-year-old has bagged six goals this season and should be starting for the Owls and could be the third and final change.

AND in other news, Darren Moore must drop “explosive” Owls star tonight…

Fans of Glasgow Rangers have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which Rangers relayed footage of a recent interview with Alfredo Morelos.

Since joining Rangers from HJK Helsinki in what was a £1.08 million deal back in 2017, Morelos has gone on to prove something of an inspired signing by the Ibrox club, with the 24-year-old scoring an astonishing 93 goals, as well as providing 42 assists, over his 176 appearances for the club.

The centre-forward has been in impressive form for Gers once again this season, with his 11 goals and four assists over 25 league appearances – including three goals in three games throughout the month of March – helping Steven Gerrard’s side to clinch their first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years.

And, in reaction to being awarded the Scottish top flight’s Player of the Month for March, the Rangers Twitter account shared a short clip of an interview with the striker reflecting on his recent form, in which he said his goal against Celtic was his favourite of the month.

This led to many Gers fans flocking to have their say, with a great deal heaping a considerable amount of praise on the Colombia international.

So, what exactly did these Rangers fans have to say in reaction to the footage of Alfredo Morelos?

“What a man.”

@TrueBluesLoyal1

“I can’t explain the warm feeling I get in my heart when I watch this.”

@_nic__x

“Yessss Alfredo!”

@JFM1872RFC

“I know what’s he gonna say every time and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

@heyitsk_stew

“On loop for the rest of the day.”

@carsonritchie__

“Can’t help but absolutely love the wee man.”

@ironfists125

“You beautiful human being.”

@cris_poole

“Things you love to hear.”

@aliwilsbe

In other news: this ‘superb’ £6.2k-p/w star lifted the lid on talks with the Rangers hierarchy – find out more here!

Southampton fell to a disappointing 3-0 defeat against West Brom on Monday evening and Ibrahima Diallo’s poor performance was arguably one of the key factors behind Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side being overwhelmed by the relegation candidates.

The French midfielder has been a regular in Southampton’s side this season since joining from Stade Brest in an £11m deal in the summer transfer window, making 16 appearances in the Premier League and averaging a less than impressive 6.44 WhoScored rating for his performances.

With Oriol Romeu ruled out for the season with an ankle injury, the 22-year-old has been expected to fill in as his replacement, but he simply doesn’t offer the physicality or ball-winning attributes of his Spanish teammate.

This was clear to see on Monday as he was regularly on the losing end of battles in midfield against West Brom’s powerful midfield duo of Okay Yokuslu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

The physical nature in which West Brom play isn’t exactly a secret, yet Hasenhuttl opted to stick with his midfield duo of Diallo and James Ward-Prowse when an extra man in midfield could have allowed Southampton to dictate possession and win the midfield battle, which is arguably how they lost the game.

As per SofaScore, Diallo earned a 6.3 rating for his display at the Hawthorns, which was tied with Danny Ings as the worst of any outfield Southampton player who featured on Monday. The midfielder won just two of his 12 duels during the game, losing 83%, whereas Yokuslu and Maitland-Niles won 15 duels between them.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/southampton-saints-ralph-hasenhuttl-martin-semmens-st-marys” title=”Latest Southampton news, transfer rumours and more”]

Diallo won just one tackle during the game, which is less than the 1.5 he has averaged per game in the Premier League so far this season.

Whilst Hasenhuttl has very few options in central midfield, Romeu averaged 3.4 tackles per game in the top flight this season. Diallo has arguably not been the best replacement thus far, and perhaps someone such as Jack Stephens could have filled in on Monday, as he was utilised in that role against Manchester City last month.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431″]

Selecting the Frenchman as part of a two-man midfield always seemed destined to fail against a West Brom side in confident mood after their 5-2 win at Stamford Bridge recently, and Hasenhuttl needs to show more tactical nous if he wants to avoid his team being sucked back into the relegation battle.

In other news… Forget Williams: Semmens should seal Saints swoop for “special” £4.5m-rated dynamo

In recent comments made on Twitter, ExWHUemployee discussed the impact Kevin Nolan has had since his appointment as a coach at West Ham United.

The Irons have been one of the more surprising success stories this season, with David Moyes and his coaching team transforming a side which finished just five points above the relegation zone last term to one currently occupying fifth place in the Premier League, well in contention for Champions League qualification with just 11 games remaining of their campaign.

Following the Hammers’ most recent victory, a 2-0 win against Leeds United on Monday night, ExWHUemployee singled out Kevin Nolan for praise on Twitter, claiming that the former West Ham midfielder’s set-piece coaching is another thing to add to the list of reasons to praise the 38-year-old.

Transfer Tavern Take

Since being appointed as one of Moyes’ assistant coaches back in February 2020, West Ham’s league form has been rather impressive, with the club winning 18, drawing nine and losing 13 of their 40 Premier League games played since Nolan’s arrival.

However, five of these 13 losses came over the coach’s first six games at the club, a period in which it could be argued the 38-year-old had still not had enough time on the training pitch to implement his ideas.

With West Ham having scored a league-high 14 goals from set pieces so far this season – something which ExWHUemployee claims falls under Nolan’s remit – it would very much appear as if the coach is indeed deserving of a considerable amount of praise for the work he has done with this West Ham side.

In other news: Many West Ham fans responded to this club update, find out more here!

Aston Villa may rue not signing Josh King after the forward joined fellow Premier League side Everton on transfer deadline day.

What’s the story?

Reports ahead of the January transfer window suggested that King could still be on Dean Smith’s side’s radar, after it was revealed over the summer that they had put in a bid of around £16m for the Norway international.

But on deadline day, Villa didn’t join the race to sign their long-term target, with the Bournemouth man eventually joining Everton on a cut-price deal.

Smith won’t be happy

Whilst Villa have enjoyed a remarkable Premier League campaign thus far – they find themselves just seven points off the top four but with two games in hand – there are some areas of concern for Smith, most notably in the striking position.

Summer signing Ollie Watkins has been a revelation in his debut campaign for the club, bagging ten goals already, but Villa have already seen first-hand just what can happen when their main man isn’t firing on all cylinders.

In that two-month period where he didn’t score in the Premier League, Villa won just three of their nine top-flight games, and Smith still felt compelled to keep him on during games, even during his most difficult patches – in fact, he hasn’t missed a single minute of top-flight football all season.

In part, that is down to the real lack of other options that Smith has available to him, what with Wesley only just trying to return back to full fitness, and Keinan Davis still incredibly raw – he’s managed just five goals in 75 games for the club.

In the 5 foot 11 King, they would have got someone with plenty of experience in the Premier League (he’s played 161 times in the competition) and a player who could have eased the burden on Watkins, either off the bench or allowing Smith to completely rest his main man.

King would have brought what his previous manager Eddie Howe described as his “unique pace” to the table, and offered the Villa boss a different option up front.

The fact they weren’t able to get him for the second transfer window in a row, means Smith has been left desperately short in the number nine role, and an injury to Watkins could be catastrophic. The manager will be worried about such a scenario, but there isn’t a lot he can do about it now, other than to manage Watkins as best he can.

Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Nathaniel Clyne has suffered a fresh muscle injury which means he will play no part in Fulham’s visit to Selhurst Park, in what will be a colossal blow for Crystal Palace.

What’s the word?

Clyne signed a contract extension keeping him at Palace until the end of the season. The 29-year-old returned to his boyhood club after arriving on a short-term deal in October.

However, his latest setback leaves the Eagles a little light on the right-hand side of the defence ahead of Fulham’s visit to Selhurst Park on Sunday.

Joel Ward has admirably filled in at right-back in his absence but barring a coronavirus outbreak, an injury crisis could cause problems.

Hodgson also provided an update on injured stars Jeffrey Schlupp and Connor Wickham, both of whom have been absent due to injury.

“Jeffrey Schlupp and Connor Wickham took part in the early part of training with the team, they’ve also been with the rehabilitation specialists for a long period of time, so they were at least with us for an early part of the session – but they didn’t join in with the more intensive part and I don’t think they’ll be asked to do more with us until at least next week.

“And unfortunately Nathaniel Clyne has picked up a slight muscle injury as well so I think he’ll be out of the game as well. So the injury list is not better, in fact, it’s one man worse.”

Colossal blow for Crystal Palace?

Clyne’s fresh setback will come as a colossal blow for the Palace boss, who faces a shortage of defensive options in his position, as new signing Nathan Ferguson is yet to make his first appearance for the south London club.

And, while Ward has been such a loyal servant to Palace over the years, it’s a hard task to ask the 31-year-old, who himself has suffered from a fair whack of injuries, to continue to be a consistent and reliable performer for the Eagles against a Fulham side with renewed confidence.

While Clyne has copped a fair amount of criticism at times during his second stint at the club, it’s fair to say that he has continued to defy the critics for Hodgson’s side, making some great overlapping runs and working well in tandem with Andros Townsend.

The Englishman ranks joint-second for interceptions per 90 in the Premier League for Palace and seventh for tackles, with Ward just ahead of him in both categories.

But with Ferguson still working his way back to fitness, both players have had to share the workload, which is exactly why Hodgson will be concerned about his growing injury crisis.

With the Fulham game coming too soon for Clyne, it will be up to Ward – a player who has made over 250 appearances for Palace – to shoulder the burden alone and step up in his absence.

With the pacy and tricky Ademola Lookman up against Ward, Hodgson will be concerned about Ward’s ability to live with the former Everton star, but he has no real choice but to select him and hope that his experience is enough to get him through the game.

AND in other news, Talks held: Crystal Palace open discussions with Juventus defender Radu Dragusin…

Kevin Phillips has exclusively told Football FanCast that Portsmouth would be “crazy” to get rid of Kenny Jackett, but isn’t surprised by the pressure from the Fratton Park faithful.

Pompey topped the League One standings at Christmas following victory at Hull, but their league form has taken a dramatic turn for the worse in recent weeks, which has led to a number of supporters calling for Jackett to be sacked.

Having suffered another damaging defeat to Phillip’s former side Sunderland on Wednesday, the South Coast outfit have slipped 10 points behind the automatic promotion places, and are just about clinging onto their top-six place with the likes of Ipswich and Charlton breathing down their neck.

But Portsmouth will be given a welcome break from League One action on Saturday when they take on Salford City in their rearranged 2020 Papa John’s Trophy final.

Phillips told Football FanCast:

“I’ve been around football a long time. Am I surprised? No, not really. Football supporters are what they are. And a club the size of Portsmouth, a bit like Sunderland, having been in that league now for a while, they feel that they shouldn’t be there.

“Getting into the position they have done a few weeks ago to have tailed off in the last three four weeks, they will be disappointed. 

“So I’m not surprised. But I am little bit because he’s an experienced guy, they’re in the playoffs, they still have a great opportunity to get a good result this weekend to really kick on and find some form again.” 

But does the ex-Sunderland frontman believe that Jackett should be given time despite Pompey’s recent struggles.

He added:

“Definitely. Kenny’s an experienced guy. Who are they going to bring in that’s got as much experience as Kenny? He’ll turn it around, I’m sure he’ll keep them in the play-offs. I think it’d be crazy to get rid of him. Just go with it, and hopefully they’ll turn it around.”

Kevin Phillips will be a studio guest for Quest’s highlights of the Papa John’s Trophy Final on Sunday. Stream on discovery+

Leeds United will face off against Brighton this afternoon in their next Premier League hurdle. Thanks to a humiliating FA Cup exit at the hands of Crawley Town, the Whites have a lot of work to put in.

If they want to bounce back from their shock 3-0 defeat to the League Two side, they simply can’t settle for anything less than three points on home soil later today.

Marcelo Bielsa will be without the reliable Kalvin Phillips due to a suspension, so he must choose his lineup carefully. Another man who has caused some concern is Helder Costa.

The out-of-favour Portugal international made his first senior start since November against Crawley last time out and was unable to capitalise on his rare chance to shine. According to Sofascore, the winger missed two big chances to find the back of the net and lost possession 15 times. He was amongst the Leeds’ players who lost the ball the most times, and he struggled to make any impact with his attempted long balls and crosses.

With new signing Raphinha on the scene and Ian Poveda eager for game time, Costa should be grabbing any opportunity he has with both hands. Sadly, his lacklustre display in the FA Cup has likely only dug him into a deeper hole.

What is most unsettling about the winger’s recent run of poor form is that he was a force to be reckoned with during Leeds’ promotion-winning campaign. According to Transfermarkt, Costa contributed four goals and six assists last season, featuring in all but three of his side’s Championship fixtures.

But this time round, he has fallen drastically down the pecking order. The 27-year-old has made just seven Premier League starts and was dropped completely on six occasions.

It will be a tender subject for Andrea Radrizzani and co, who only recently shelled out on bringing Costa to Elland Road on a permanent £70,000 per week deal. Less than a year in, whispers are surfacing over whether the club should cut their losses already.

Indeed, Bielsa is stacked with talent when it comes his options on the right and if an experienced player like Costa can’t make an impact against a side like Crawley, questions must be raised.

Yorkshire Liver reporter Conor McGilligan recently shared his thoughts that the winger has “regressed” since last season, which could very well spell an early exit from his chapter in Yorkshire.

In other news, Rodrigo could force Bielsa to stray from his comfort zone…

Tottenham Hotspur target Wout Weghorst has been in fine form since being linked with a move to north London throughout the summer, and now his future is being discussed once again…

What’s the word?

According to German news site SportBuzzer, only one team has a genuine chance of securing Wolfsburg’s 6 foot 6 colossus and that’s Spurs.

The Bundesliga outfit’s managing director also commented on the situation, and said: “If there is a reasonable offer that Wout also considers interesting, then we will sit down and discuss it. That’s how we discussed it when he renewed his contract. But everyone knows that I don’t like doing transfers in winter.”

It is also claimed that it would take around €30m (£27m) to prise him away from the fifth-placed Wolves whilst it remains to be seen if Jose Mourinho will reignite said interest having brought in Carlos Vinicius on loan.

Colossal workhorse

Weghorst is in red hot form and would surely be open to sealing a dream move to the Premier League – he has bagged eight goals in 13 appearances in all competitions with four goals and one assist coming in Wolfsburg’s last three league outings, per Transfermarkt.

Given his sheer presence, he’d be an interesting ‘plan B’ for the Special One, almost in a similar vein to Zlatan Ibrahimovic during his time in charge of Manchester United.

Over the course of his career, the 28-year-old late-bloomer has drawn comparisons to Edin Dzeko, who himself had a pretty productive time in the English top-flight with Manchester City, and Bas Dost, who also has been linked with a move to Spurs in the past.

But perhaps the most intriguing likeness was made by The Athletic’s Bundesliga expert Raphael Honigstein, who wrote: “[Weghorst is] Holland’s taller, chunkier answer to Jamie Vardy — minus the bit with the electronic tag and the Skittles-flavoured vodka — still plays like he’s got a point to prove in every match. He flies into tackles, wins more headers than almost anyone and frequently tops his team’s charts for most distance covered.”

Indeed Daniel Levy could secure Spurs their own Vardy despite the difference in height. Both are clearly goalscorers who always play with that chip on their shoulder.

VfL captain Josuha Guilavogui has lauded Weghorst as “incredible” and “outstanding” whilst fellow teammate Admir Mehmedi once described the man-mountain as “crazy” but in a good way due to his impressive work-rate.

In some ways, that can be compared to Harry Kane this season, who has covered a ton of ground, as per the following SofaScore heat map.

If Mourinho isn’t convinced on Vinicius by January, then it wouldn’t hurt to throw the Dutch powerhouse into the mix, especially given his different skillset.

AND in other news, £35m January swoop by Levy could turn Spurs into genuine title contenders

Leicester City have a golden opportunity to go top of the Premier League table today as they prepare to host Everton at the King Power Stadium. Closest title rivals Tottenham and Liverpool are set to lock horns this evening in what promises to be a thrilling fixture.

If neither side can find a way to bank the win and the Foxes beat the Toffees, they will leapfrog both clubs and settle nicely at the top with a one-point lead.

All eyes will be on this possibility and Brendan Rodgers will want to hit Everton where it hurts. Here’s how Football FanCast has predicted Leicester to line up against Carlo Ancelotti’s side…

With Jonny Evans set to miss the match due to a yellow card suspension, Rodgers may be forced to drop his three-at-the-back staple. He did deploy a standard 4-3-3 on several occasions however, with the last time being against Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League.

If he reverts to this set-up, captain Wes Morgan could make a return to the starting lineup, with Christian Fuchs shifting along into his natural left-back position.

Both Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi are all but nailed on to start and they will play a deeper lying midfield role in this change in formation. This will allow maximum creativity behind Jamie Vardy – Rodgers should be looking to pile heavy pressure onto the Everton backline and could start all of Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Cengiz Under together.

Maddison has been in fine form this season, he scored two of Leicester’s three goals against Brighton last time out. However, the same can’t be said for Ayoze Perez, who has been rather inconsistent this season.

Putting Under and Barnes either side of the England international could cause serious problems for Everton, who will want to build on their shock 1-0 win over Chelsea. If the Foxes can hit them on the counter-attack, then the four attacking options could seriously hurt Ancelotti.

The £94,000 per week summer loan signing has made just five starts out of a possible 13 so far and is yet to start in the Premier League (via Transfermarkt). Tonight could the winger’s time to shine.

In other news, Luke Thomas did Rodgers proud in match vs Athens…