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Unfortunately, racism has made headlines in the beautiful game once again this week.

The treatment of England players during their game against Bulgaria on Monday evening has been all over the news, and that isn’t the only story regarding racism to have come out of the international break.

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Lazio are a club that have huge right-wing ties, and unfortunately, a number of their supporters are quite simply living in the wrong decade.

The Rome club have once again been punished for racial abuse, but the sanctions that they have been given are quite simply embarrassing.

Carlton Cole took to Instagram to talk about this issue, and he put it into perspective quite well.

The former West Ham striker compared Lazio’s €20,000 fine to the £200,000 fine that Leeds received for spygate and the £50,000 fine that Huddersfield received for their spoof kit earlier this year.

He’s absolutely right. Racism isn’t punished harshly enough in football, especially when you consider the types of punishments handed out for other things. Although Cole didn’t list this one himself, one that immediately springs to mind is Nicklas Bendtner’s £80,000 fine for wearing a pair of sponsored underpants.

Lazio will also have to play against Celtic in a partially closed stadium, but that still doesn’t seem like a strict enough punishment.

Cole is right to point out this discrepancy, and hopefully, this is an issue that is addressed sooner rather than later.

In today’s Liverpool roundup, we take a look at what news has been making the headlines surrounding the Reds. Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes the club must target 100 points, Trent Alexander-Arnold discusses how he and Mohamed Salah came up with the free-kick against Chelsea, and young keeper Caoimhin Kelleher could be in line for his debut.

‘Target has got to be 100 points’, says Carragher

Report: Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports after Liverpool’s victory over Chelsea said: “I think for both sides, whether they get there or not, the target has got to be 100 points. City got 100 points two years ago, 98 last season, and you can only drop 14 points then, so a draw is not a good result.

“In the past, 10 or 15 years ago, you go away to United, Chelsea, Arsenal, you get a point and your happy but City have changed that in the last few years, so actually coming away and drawing is not a good result

“To actually get to the three points, and don’t forget the record of Liverpool in these games last season, that’s where they lost the league because City came to these grounds and won, so it is a big one.

Verdict: Considering Liverpool scored the third-highest total in Premier League history last season with 97 and still didn’t win the league, it’s fair to say Carragher has a point. Indeed, Manchester City are the only team to better Liverpool’s 97 points in a league campaign, scoring 98 last year and 100 the season before that. Truthfully, whoever claims the prestigious title this year will have to get close to these numbers, with both sides constantly pushing each other on.

Currently, Liverpool have 18 from 18 available, and the 100 mark is a realistic target for Jurgen Klopp to achieve, and, considering City’s relentlessness in recent years, it is perhaps a must if they are to finally win the Premier League title.

‘Hendo wanted it at first’, says Alexander-Arnold

Report: Trent Alexander-Arnold spoke to Liverpoolfc.com to discuss his special free-kick against Chelsea, which gave the Reds the lead early on at Stamford Bridge. The right-back said: “Hendo wanted it at first and then I think he thought it was a bit too close for him.

“I discussed with Mo that I wanted it rolled to make the angle a little bit better and maybe confuse the ‘keeper a little bit, and I’ve been able to put it away.

“I thought it was too close to go over the wall, I didn’t know if the wall was going to jump so I couldn’t go under it, I had to go ‘keeper’s side. It was a good roll and I just tried to put it as hard as I can that side with a bit of placement.”

Verdict: Perhaps there was little doubt that the free-kick was more suited to the young right-back than it was Jordan Henderson. Alexander-Arnold has been known for his magnificent crossing ability, something Danny Murphy suggested he could be as good as Beckham at. As a result, he has the curling, powerful strike on the ball that others do not have, and perhaps this could be the first of many free-kicks he lines up to take.

This was the Englishman’s fourth goal for his boyhood club since breaking onto the scene three years ago, and he has definitely established that Beckham-esque ability about him already, picking up 15 assists last season and averaging two crosses per game (as per WhoScored).

Kelleher in line for debut against MK Dons

Report: As told by Goal, Liverpool are ready to hand 20-year-old goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher his Liverpool debut against MK Dons in the Carabao Cup this week.

Verdict: Currently, Liverpool’s no.1 Alisson Becker is out injured, after leaving the field on the opening day win against Norwich City. As a result of the Brazilian’s injury, summer signing Adrian has had to come in as Klopp’s main man between the sticks, forcing Kelleher to become the backup.

Adrian would have most likely played this game, had Alisson been fit. But, because of the injuries, Adrian is expected to have the night off and bring in the youngster instead. With Alisson out, Kelleher has been on the bench so far this season and has played just twice for the reserves as a result. However, the keeper is already a Republic of Ireland U21 international and has been with the Red’s academy since 2015.

Celtic return to Europa League action tonight and will continue their search for a first group stage win as they host CFR Cluj.

The visitors won the Romanian league last season but failed to qualify for the Champions League, though a victory over Lazio in the first round of fixtures will have been a great confidence boost.

As a result of that win they now sit top of Group E, two points ahead of the Hoops after Neil Lennon’s men drew away with Rennes two weeks ago.

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However, tonight’s clash promises to be a tough task as the only game Celtic have lost from their 18 matches this campaign came at home against Cluj in a Champions League qualifier.

Lennon will hope his side have learnt from their naivety in that match, but will likely trust most of the same players who have otherwise served him so well so far.

Here is how we think Celtic will line-up this evening, with Lennon making two key changes from the weekend.

The Scottish champions will be eager to put Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Hibernian behind them, and therefore Lennon may look to inject a bit of energy into his team with the inclusion of Mohamed Elyounoussi.

It would be a bit of a gamble considering the on-loan Southampton man hasn’t featured too often yet, but he does have two assists from three games and started against Rennes, indicating he may be preferred for European competition by his manager.

Another who could return to the starting line-up is Hatem Abd Elhamed.

So far this season he has been rotated with Moritz Bauer and after his last showing against Cluj he will be eager to impress.

When the sides met before he slotted in as the third centre-back but could do little to stop four goals flying past Scott Bain, and therefore an improved performance will be needed for Celtic to come out with the points.

Lennon will be confident in his team’s ability going forward. Odsonne Edouard has started the season in fine form with five goals in six league games and this promises to be a good test of his ability, but with the likes of Ryan Christie and James Forrest playing behind him he should have some joy.

Christie, in particular, will be key. He has 11 goals and five assists already this season, and along with Edouard has already found the net against Cluj, so if they can find top form they could earn Celtic the win needed to kick-start their Europa League campaign.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Harry Winks insists that Christian Eriksen is fully committed to Tottenham Hotspur, per The Independent.

What’s he said?

Eriksen, of course, could still leave the club, with many European transfer windows still open.

His contract expires at the end of the season and numerous reports state that he has set his heart on a potential move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

He was left out of the starting XI on the opening weekend against Aston Villa and was also on the bench for Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.

But Winks insists that the Denmark international is fully focused on life in north London.

He said: “Yeah, of course (he’s committed). Every player is 100 per cent committed to the club, every player wants to do well and do big things at Tottenham and that will never change.”

Propaganda

Winks has to say this.

But, quite simply, it doesn’t look to be very accurate.

Eriksen has been left out for two of the three games thus far this season and one has to assume that it has something to do with his attitude.

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Mauricio Pochettino, surely, would not just leave the Dane out for no reason whatsoever. It just doesn’t make any sense. The 27 year-old has enjoyed a stunning spell in north London and any team in the world would be lucky to have him.

Winks’ words probably shouldn’t give fans any great degree of comfort.

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Scotland suffered an embarrassing 4-0 loss at the hands of FIFA’s number one ranked team Belgium on Monday night. This in itself isn’t much of a surprise given that Belgium have only conceded one goal in qualifying so far and even before the thumping of Scotland were averaging three goals per game.

What was surprising was manager Steve Clarke’s decision to drop not only Scotland’s goal scorer from the defeat against Russia but also Scotland’s clear man of the match with a  6/10 rating on the BBC Sport website.

John McGinn has started the season well with Aston Villa in the Premier League with one goal and one assist in four games.

But McGinn was dropped from the Scotland team to make way for Norwich City’s Kenny McLean on Monday night, a player with just 111 minutes of league action under his belt this season. McGinn has yet to miss a minute, highlighting his importance to Aston Villa.

Dozens of fans from both north and south of the border took to Twitter to display their disgust at Steve Clarke failing to pick McGinn, a player who would be on a high after scoring his first international goal. There was no mention of an injury and McGinn then came off the bench for the last five minutes.

If he was fit to play, surely he should have been on from the start. These fans certainly thought so…

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Filip Benkovic’s ankle injury looks like calling a halt to Jack Hendry’s hopes of going out on loan, according to the Evening Times.

What’s the word?

The former Dundee man has slipped to fifth choice for a place in central defence but that has changed, with Benkovic out of action for at least a month while Dedryck Boyata has missed the last three games.

Jozo Simunovic and Kris Ajer were paired up for Thursday night’s 2-0 win over St Johnstone with Rodgers set to carry out a head check this morning at Lennoxtown.

“Filip’s injury could change the plan for Jack,” the Celtic boss told the Evening Times. “We wanted to get him out for games but I need to ensure our squad is covered – before anyone else’s. We will assess that on Thursday morning and see where it is at.”

Catch 22

This is a real Catch 22 decision for Rodgers – by the middle of March, Benkovic and Boyata could be reunited with Hendry left watching from the stand. On the other hand, an injury to Ajer or Simunovic in the next couple of weeks would make Rodgers look foolish if Hendry is impressing out on loan.

Since joining Celtic exactly a year ago, the three-cap Scotland international has had the unfortunate knack of playing in some of the worst performances of 2018 with his stats seized upon by the critics.

Getting a dozen or more games out on loan at an English Championship side would do his game the world of good. Before joining Dundee in July 2017, Hendry had barely sampled first team football.

It is probably in Hendry’s best interests to go out on loan but to Celtic’s benefit that he stays on as cover. Ultimately Rodgers will have to act in Celtic’s interests to provide insurance against any further injuries, but both potential outcomes have their own set of negatives.

Real Madrid are going through some tough times at the moment. They have officially confirmed that Isco has also suffered an injury and their options within the squad are getting thin. But while looking at the market might be expected of such a big club, there is still one player that Zinedine Zidane can use to solve this tricky situation: Vinicius Junior.

On the chalkboard

The situation at the Santiago Bernabeu has been dire in the last couple of weeks. The number of injured players seems to be growing with each passing day and Los Blancos now have a total of six sidelined by injuries – including Isco, Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard.

And looking at their squad and the positions that are now in need of filling, the middle of the park and the left-wing stand out as the most alarming of the bunch, the latter one in particular as it is the natural position of many of the injured players. Of course, Zidane can always shift the entire formation, make some bigger tweaks to the lineup and somehow compensate for the lack of attacking players in that way.

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But that’s a risky approach that could prove to be too big of a change in such a short amount of time. Can Real Madrid really afford to experiment now or even if they decide against it, can they find a suitable name on the market before the window closes on 2 September? Either way, the clock is against them and besides, they already have a solution in-house.

Old problems, new solutions

A lot has already been said about Real Madrid using the same old faces all over again, hoping that something clicks along the line. But as much as there is still life in the Spanish capital, there are also concerns about those same faces bringing the same old problems back.

But what if Zidane were to put his trust in a young star who was supposed to take the stage by storm but was, ironically, also stopped by a serious injury? The Madrid media have already been sounding the alarms, emphasising how Vinicius is being played out of position.

But now is the perfect chance for Zidane to push him to that left wing role where he belongs and give him a chance to prove himself once again. The 19-year-old had a brilliant 2018/19 season despite that injury. He played in a total of 33 games for the Galacticos, scoring three goals and assisting further 12.

That proves he can be a valuable asset when used properly and Zidane should trust him to be exactly that. With so many alternatives out wide currently injured, his time is now.

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According to ESPN, Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is eyeing a major overhaul behind the scenes as he holds private meetings with club chiefs and makes a decision on midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.

The Lowdown: Conte ‘evaluations’ made…

The Lilywhites manager, as he candidly admitted to the press, has been making ‘evaluations’ on his Tottenham squad as he decides who stays and who goes this January and beyond.

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Spurs’ head coach recently finished his assessment of the Hotspur Way squad with many players currently linked with a possible move away from north London.

The likes of Matt Doherty, Giovani Lo Celso and Dele Alli are mentioned as possible departures with yet more news emerging on who could leave Spurs.

The Latest: Conte makes Ndombele call…

According to ESPN, club record signing Ndombele is one of six players Conte is now ‘willing’ to part with as he holds ‘private meetings’ with Spurs chiefs.

Chairman Daniel Levy is ‘expected to back’ the Italian’s exit decisions but club hierarchy recognise the difficulty in facilitating these deals mid-season.

As well as Ndombele, other players at risk of being sold are indeed Alli, Doherty, Lo Celso, Steven Bergwijn and even Japhet Tanganga.

The Verdict: Right call?

Given his arguable lack of application at N17 despite his obvious ability, with Conte publicly questioning it, perhaps may be the right time to entertain offers for the Frenchman.

As ever in January, the difficulty lies in finding a suitable offer for Ndombele but given the player’s pedigree, you would believe it is a possible a big club could register interest.

Described as ‘unbelievable’ by insider John Wenham, the midfield ace completed more dribbles per 90 last campaign than any Spurs player in the Premier League (WhoScored), with former boss Jose Mourinho hailing his turnaround at one point.

Alas, his bright flashes have come at an inconsistent rate and Conte will want players who can perform at a high level more regularly in his side.

In other news: Tottenham ‘working strongly’ for ‘phenomenal signing’ as reporter drops Twitter claim, find out more here.

To suggest Tottenham’s transfer window has been a rather torrid affair would be putting things lightly.

Antonio Conte’s first market with the Lilywhites has been somewhat of a disaster with the north London club.

What’s the word?

Spurs have now missed out on Adama Traore, Luis Diaz and are also thought to now be unlikely to sign Franck Kessie.

The first two players in question have decided to sign for Barcelona and Liverpool instead but there is good news on the transfer front at last.

It might not captivate or enthral fans too much, but it looks like Tottenham are close to sealing a signing.

According to The Athletic, they have had a bid accepted to sign Ollie Tanner from non-league side, Lewes.

This comes after the club began negotiations to sign Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus.

Les Ferdinand 2.0

After seeing moves for the likes of Traore and Diaz fall through, the idea of signing a player who lacks the quality to come in and be an instant first-team threat for Spurs is not likely to go down well.

However, that’s not to say that Tanner, who is just 19 years of age, won’t be a successful acquisition.

There have been plenty of fairytale success stories of non-league conversion with players earning a move to a higher level and then thriving. A famous example is Jamie Vardy, somebody who is now a top-flight golden boot winner and the holder of a Premier League title.

Spurs supporters also revere a player who first starred in non-league football before going on to become a legend of English football; Les Ferdinand.

He played for Southall and Hayes before QPR gave him his big break in the Football League. What followed were moves to Newcastle and Tottenham, who helped him become one of the all-time leading scorers in Premier League history, bagging 149 in 351 outings.

Now, we’re not saying that Tanner will become as big a legend as Ferdinand but it shows that it’s wrong to discount a player of his calibre before he’s officially signed.

After all, this is a young individual that’s previously been compared to Gareth Bale. With that in mind, he’s worth seeing out on the pitch before making a thorough assessment of his qualities.

AND in other news, Talks underway: Sky Sports reporter drops Spurs transfer update, Conte will be buzzing…

Tottenham Hotspur continued their impressive Premier League form under the management of Antonio Conte with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, making it six league games unbeaten for the 52-year-old Spurs coach.

And, the performance against Patrick Vieira’s side was arguably one of their most impressive under the Italian, with goals from Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son sealing a dominant win for Tottenham – a result which sees the club climb to fifth place in the Premier League standings.

However, despite a number of impressive individual displays, one player who once again failed to live up to expectations was Tanguy Ndombele, with the 24-year-old failing to make any real mark on the match after being introduced in the second half.

Lost 100% duels

While it is indeed true that the France international was only on the pitch for 11 minutes against Palace, the central midfielder’s returns will nevertheless be something of a cause for concern for Conte.

Indeed, the £25m-rated man managed a grand total of just nine touches of the ball, completed a mere eight passes, was dribbled past by an opponent on one occasion, conceded one foul and lost all three of his attempted duels.

These returns saw the £120k-per-week midfielder earn an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.3, ranking him by far and away as the worst performer of any Tottenham player on the day.

As such, while it may be slightly harsh to judge the Frenchman on such a limited amount of time on the pitch, it is undeniable that Ndombele will have done nothing to convince his manager that he is deserving of a start when Spurs visit Southampton on Tuesday evening.

If the 24-year-old’s second-half stint was a test run, it was certainly one which the former Olympique Lyon midfielder failed.

In other news: Forget Moura: £62k-p/w THFC gem with 4 key passes proved he’s no longer “miles off it”