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Aston Villa return to Premier League action this afternoon following the latest international break.

This afternoon sees Steven Gerrard’s side make the fairly short trip to Molineux to take on Wolves, who are currently 10 points ahead of the Villans in the league table.

In terms of the current situation regarding the fitness of Villa’s players, especially those who have been on international duty over the past couple of weeks, it seems as though a clue has been dropped regarding how that could impact today’s match.

What’s the news?

In a recent tweet from Villa journalist Ashley Preece on Friday, he had this to say about the possibility of seeing winger Leon Bailey in action this afternoon: “I don’t suspect we’ll see too much of Leon Bailey tomorrow at Molineux given his 90-minute outing for Jamaica and nine-hour flight back on Thursday.”

Since arriving in the Midlands from Bayer Leverkusen last summer in a deal worth a reported £25m, the Jamaican has made only 14 appearances for the Villans in the Premier League, starting just four of them. In those appearances, the £27m-rated gem has netted one goal and provided two assists.

Having struggled with injuries and his fitness throughout the season, it will be frustrating for the Villa fans by this latest setback for the attacker.

With a higher average of shots on target than the likes of Danny Ings, Emi Buendia and Jacob Ramsey, potentially not having the 24-year-old involvedagainst Wolves will surely be a blow for Villa’s attacking force and their chances of securing a win against Bruno Lage’s side.

If the winger isn’t fit enough to start today, supporters may well be fuming over his latest absence, although he could still be a useful option for Gerrard to call upon from the substitutes bench if needed.

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Looking beyond this showdown, if the summer recruit can maintain his fitness for the remainder of the season and get some regular starts under his belt, he could be the difference between Villa ending the campaign in the upper half of the league table or missing out on the top 10.

In other news – Forget Konsa: Gerrard must ruthlessly axe £88k-p/w Villa “hypocrite”, he’s a liability

Leeds United begin the first of two successive matches against Premier League rivals West Ham United with a trip to east London in the FA Cup third round proper this afternoon.

And Marcelo Bielsa has plenty of decisions to make heading into kick-off.

In his pre-game press conference, he alluded to taking the competition seriously despite their rocky form in the top-flight leaving them on the cusp of a relegation dogfight.

“We always try to win in every official game we have. There is never a need for added motivation. Every time that the group plays, the desire is always the maximum and to win,” he said (via the club’s official website).

“We’re going to try that the characteristics of our play are expressed and that will allow us to beat them. Every competition is a possibility and we take it in that way. Every game we focus on it with the intention to win it.”

The Yorkshire giants were not blessed by the draw as the top-four chasing Irons were pulled out of the hat but they will be buoyed by plenty of confidence, having defeated Burnley last time out as that created some breathing room to the drop zone.

However, with doubts still lingering over Patrick Bamford and his injury, it remains to be seen how Leeds will line up down in the capital.

At Elland Road last weekend, Bielsa opted for Wales international Tyler Roberts to lead the line but that failed to pay off as he was withdrawn after just 58 minutes.

And whilst there is now an injury concern with the 22-year-old forward, he should have little involvement going forward as he is just not good enough.

“You know what you’re doing to get with Roberts with his attitude, his dedication and his application. But there’s no end product and there hasn’t been enough end product for a long time now,” claimed ex-goalkeeper Paul Robinson to MOT Leeds News.

“He does get himself in the positions but he snatches at chances and it wasn’t his best game in a Leeds shirt.”

A 90-minute performance may be too much to ask of Bamford on his return and having already come back, only to pick up another problem, Bielsa must be careful with his star man going forward.

But turning to Roberts in this time of need must not happen again.

If nine goals in 104 appearances isn’t enough to put you off, then his display last week should be.

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As per SofaScore, he failed to win any of his duels against the Clarets, nor did he have any sort of influence on the game, managing 11 passes and only 23 touches – the fewest of any Whites starter. Elsewhere, he was hugely wasteful as he failed to find the net from six shots, in which only one hit the target.

In the past, he is said to have left Bielsa “furious” for one poor performance against Arsenal, whilst Gabby Agbonlahor once deemed the £47k-per-week passenger “shocking” and “not good enough for Leeds or Premier League level” to Football Insider.

Therefore – fit or not – Bielsa must be ruthless in his decision-making. He needs to axe Roberts from Leeds’ lineup for the foreseeable future. He’s been poor for a very long time and that does not look like changing.

AND in other news, Reliable journo drops huge behind-scenes Thorp Arch update, Leeds fans will be buzzing…

Having been without Diego Llorente for the past couple of games in the Premier League, Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa must surely call upon him when his side take on Watford this afternoon.

The Whites have seen the Spaniard only briefly in action this season, playing more than an hour in the 1-1 draw against Burnley, before being forced off with injury early on in the game against Liverpool three weeks ago.

However, having confirmed that he is now fit and available for selection, Bielsa must throw him straight into the deep end when they take on the promoted Hornets at Elland Road.

The “imperious” Spaniard, as hailed by Adam Pope, became a regular Leeds’ defence in the final few weeks of 2020/21, starting 13 of the last 14 games in that top-flight season and coming up with some impressive performances, not least netting a late equaliser against Liverpool.

He earned a WhoScored match rating of 6.90, which marked him out as the Whites’ second-best centre-back after Cooper, who was also the only player at the club to win more headers per game than Llorente’s 2.2.

Former Leeds striker Noel Whelan raved: “He looked every bit that leader and that quality centre-half that we were all expecting when he signed for the football club. There was great excitement about him it took a long time to get to see him consistently.

“But when we did, we saw him grow and grow and grow. We saw him get stronger and better as the games went on. If you ask any Leeds United fan who watched him in that second part of the season and ask them who would be the first centre-half on the team sheet, they would say Llorente.”

Given the poor start Leeds have made to the new Premier League campaign, a bit of quality at the back and bringing in someone as composed Llorente could ease some of the concerns regarding the team’s defending.

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The £18m-rated ace could well be the game-changing return at the back which swings things back in Leeds’ favour heading into today’s clash with Watford.

Meanwhile, a journalist has dropped a Leeds United transfer update…

The Celtic Way’s Anthony Haggerty reckons that Cameron Carter-Vickers would improve Celtic’s defence.

According to the Daily Record, the Glasgow giants are hoping to bolster their backline with the signing of the centre-back from Tottenham.

Carter-Vickers, who’s valued at £5m, played in Spurs’ opening pre-season victory at Leyton Orient on Saturday, although that was only because Nuno Espirito Santo was without most of his first-team squad due to Euro 2020.

The 23-year-old hasn’t played a competitive game for the north London outfit for more than four years and has spent the previous four seasons out on loan in the Championship.

However, having entered the final 12 months of his deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, his days with the club are limited, with Spurs unlikely to let him leave for nothing next summer.

Celtic shipped 29 goals in the league last season, 16 more than runaway champions Rangers, and Haggerty told Football FanCast that the USA international would certainly improve them:

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“Cameron Carter-Vickers has earned some decent reviews at Tottenham, but just hasn’t been able to break into the first-team.

“Any defender would feel they can improve that defensive line, so, someone like Carter-Vickers – he hasn’t made the first team grade at Tottenham, but he’s training with some good players, he’s in an around watching guys at the top of their trade and he’s done well in the Championship.”

Paul Heckingbottom’s Sheffield United were unable to back up their 1-0 win against Everton with another away triumph on Wednesday night, as the Blades fell to a 1-0 defeat.

On-loan Arsenal man Joe Willock scored the only goal of the game for Steve Bruce’s Newcastle side, his sixth Premier League goal in six games, to consign the Blades to defeat.

Heckingbottom’s side had chances, mainly through David McGoldrick who should have done better when fed through by Enda Stevens in the first half, whilst he hit the bar from an excellent effort in the second 45.

One man who disappointed in the defeat against the Toon was Oliver Norwood.

As per SofaScore, the 30-year-old midfielder would earn a shocking 6.2/10 rating for his display, which was joint with Chris Basham as the worst of any player to feature in the game.

During the 90 minutes, the Northern Ireland international would complete 53/65 of his passes, resulting in an 82% pass accuracy rate, slightly below the 83.7% he has averaged in the Premier League this season.

He would contribute just one key pass, whilst only two of his nine attempted long balls would find their mark. In comparison, Norwood’s midfield partner John Fleck would manage four key passes and one out of two long balls, suggesting that the Scottish midfielder was more successful in keeping things simple and on the ground, which is reflected in his superior 7.1/10 rating.

Perhaps most disappointingly, the £6.3m-rated Norwood would win just two out of his nine total duels in the game, resulting in a less than impressive 22% success rate, which emphasises that the Newcastle players simply had the better of him.

Norwood also lost possession on 17 occasions, the most of any Sheffield United player, whilst he and Fleck suffered the ignominy of being dribbled past five times each, as they were both tormented by the game’s outstanding player, Allan Saint-Maximin.

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The Frenchman would impressively complete 13/14 of his dribbles on Wednesday night and earned a superb 8.1/10 rating for his performance, which suggests that he gave Norwood nightmares with his pace and dribbling ability.

Fortunately for Norwood, he won’t be coming up against too many players of Saint-Maximin’s ability when the Blades return to the Championship next season, where he will, hopefully, produce much better displays than he did at St James’ Park.

And, in other news… Sheffield United suffer huge blow as CL giants eye 7-goal beast

According to a report by Claret & Hugh, via West Ham News, David Moyes has named Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong as a priority signing for the Hammers – prompting many supporters to erupt at this news.

Armstrong has been prolific for Rovers in the Championship, scoring 19 goals in 33 appearances, and this has allegedly enticed Moyes as he puts the 24-year-old on his priority list alongside a permanent deal for Jesse Lingard.

West Ham fell flat in their pursuit of an out-and-out striker in the January transfer window, with Moyes seeing bids for the likes of Youssef En-Nesyri come to nothing (David Ornstein).

Ahead of the summer, Moyes has now placed Armstrong high on his agenda as the hunt for a forward continues – with one supporter believing he would be a ‘class signing’.

Given his record this season, it’s not hard to see why some supporters feel this way – find all of their verdicts down below.

West Ham fans erupt over Armstrong news

“Wow”

Credit: @Garry69914264

“Surprised at this.”

Credit: @HammerFromDevon

“Yes yes yes”

Credit: @ben_personal

“This is clever. Him & Antonio would be flames.

Jesse is essential.

No more risks”

Credit: @SizzleStevie

“yes please. This would be a quality signing”

Credit: @stephenlott

“Take him all day. Young, homegrown goal scorer who will be good competition for Antonio.”

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Credit: @Briggs0102

“Would be a class signing”

Credit: @TWHU77

“Striker we need”

Credit: @_westhamworld

In other news: West Ham fans also buzzed over this news, find out more here.

Glasgow Rangers ace Glen Kamara tends to let his football do the talking but the midfielder is becoming an integral part of Steven Gerrard’s side.

Despite Rangers throwing away a 2-goal lead to Benfica in the Europa League last night, the Gers are currently enjoying a 19-game unbeaten run, dating back to the 1-0 win over Aberdeen FC at the start of the season.

It’s been well over a year since Kamara put pen-to-paper to the pre-contract agreement that saw him sign for the Light Blues from Dundee. The £50,000 they paid Dundee looked like a bargain at the time. Now, with the Finland international a fully-fledged first-team regular starter, it seems like an absolute steal.

Now, Kamara arguably has an even bigger role to play for Gerrard, who has made it clear he is in no rush to sell the 25-year-old and would be reluctant to do so in January given the fact that the Gers are on course to regain the title for the first time since the 2010/11 season.

It looked like it could be a long night for the Light Blues after Benfica took to the lead thanks to an unfortunate own goal from Connor Goldson. But Gerrard’s side battled back before being stunned by two late goals from Rafa Silva and Darwin Nunez.

Whilst some players struggled, others shined – and it was Kamara who gave the Gers the lead, finishing a fine team move with a well-placed shot beyond the helpless Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachomidis.

If anything, it’s hard to pick holes in Gerrard’s side but it’s fair to say that the thing they’ve lacked the most is goals from midfield, which is arguably their one glaring weakness. James Tavernier has actually scored more goals so far this season than Kamara, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield, Joe Aribo and Ryan Jack combined. Alright, we get it, the club captain is the designated penalty taker, but that’s beside the point.

Per SofaScore, the Finnish international won four out of five duels overall, made 3 tackles and 2 interceptions whilst he took a whopping 112 touches of the ball, completed 93 out of 103 passes (92%), made one key pass and took one shot on target, whilst his heatmap shows that he was getting into attacking areas as well, particularly on the left flank.

Once hailed as an “excellent” colossus by former Rangers star Neil Murray, the defensive midfielder admitted he wanted to add goals to his game for the Gers. If this performance is anything to go by, he is showing he can do precisely just that and if he can add some more strikes then it could be a major boost to their titles hopes as they would finally have a midfielder chipping in with goals.

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Given his importance to the side, it would surely take a colossal offer to prise him away from the Ibrox outfit to allow Gerrard the time to find a suitable replacement for the right price.

The Rangers boss revealed in the summer that he was aware of interest in Kamara and is desperate to tie him down to a new contract. Is it any wonder, really?

AND in other news, No better than Arfield: Glasgow Rangers must resist urge to sign Sampdoria midfielder Jakub Jankto…

Everton fans have revealed the players they did not like seeing leaving the club over recent times with names such as Gary Speed and Duncan Ferguson being mentioned.

With football at a standstill due to current events, Toffees fans have been busy of late taking part in various club polls.

Reacting to a latest question from fan account @thetoffees_com, who asked: “Which player leaving the club hurt you the most?” – fans selected some of the club’s favoured former stars.

Duncan Ferguson was one of the most mentioned names by fans, having left Goodison Park in 1998 for Newcastle United, the Scottish striker left behind a successful five year spell with Everton.

Returning to the club in 2000, Ferguson would have a further six years at the club before taking up a coaching role which would eventually see him named caretaker manager for four games in December.

Former midfielder Speed joined Everton from Leeds United in 1996, but he would join Ferguson in making a move to Newcastle, a move that would see his perform to a very high standard, making 265 appearances for the Magpies.

Aside from Ferguson and Speed, Wayne Rooney was another name mentioned, having left Merseyside during the younger years of his career for Manchester United.

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Below are just some of the fan responses:

Everton fans, which departure hurt you the most? Let us know below…

Writing in his Team of the Week column for BBC Sport, Garth Crooks has raved about Manchester United star Marcus Rashford.

What did he say?

The England international continued his recent good form with a brace against Norwich on Saturday afternoon, meaning he has now taken his overall tally to 19 goals for the season, and 11 in his last 14 Premier League games.

And in his column for BBC Sport, Crooks paid tribute to the United academy product’s ruthlessness, and delivered a huge claim about where he could potentially have been playing had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer not arrived as manager.

Watch Manchester United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “The way Rashford nonchalantly took his first goal against Norwich told you all you need to know about his development. The casual manner in which he celebrated screamed ‘this is just what I do for a living’ and that it was simply business as usual.

“I can’t help but feel if Jose Mourinho was still at Old Trafford, Rashford would be playing for a club abroad or in the reserves – instead, he is now flourishing at the club he loves.”

Confidence

As with any striker or forward, goals give you confidence, and ever since he hit the back of the net against Liverpool back in October, there has simply been no stopping Rashford. The United star has been firing on all cylinders and is leading their charge to finish in the top-four this season.

The big fat United quiz of 2019 – how much do you remember about the last year at Man Utd?

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And Crooks’ claim that he could potentially have left Old Trafford or simply gone back to the reserves if Jose Mourinho was in charge, certainly under-lines just how much the forward has improved in his time under Solskjaer. He is well on course to break through the 20-goal barrier in the Premier League this season, something he hasn’t done since bursting onto the scene a few years ago. United simply need to keep feeding him the ball whenever they can.

Meanwhile, Manchester United have fans reacted to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s update on the club’s transfer plans.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

The agents of Tottenham Hotspur players are concerned that their clients should be paid more because of their participation in an upcoming Amazon documentary, per The Daily Mail.

What’s the word?

The club have signed up to the “All or Nothing” series, with cameras following their 2019/20 season.

Indeed, the documentary crew were reportedly in the Spurs dressing room following their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have struggled through the start of the 2019/20 campaign, winning just three league games, while they were also beaten 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League and knocked out of the Carabao Cup by lower-league Colchester United.

And agents of Spurs players, per the report, believe that their clients should receive extra money for partaking in interviews and on-camera activities.

A PR disaster

When Manchester City signed up for All or Nothing, they knew that they would be chasing the Premier League title throughout the 2018/19 campaign and, lo and behold, they won it.

Spurs, at this point, are treading water and sit 11th in the Premier League, with their only genuine hope of silverware coming in the FA Cup.

Now, certainly, they could win that; they could also repeat last season’s miracle and reach the Champions League final but that appears a 100/1 shot right now.

So what was the point of saying yes?

Amazon are surely paying for their access to the club and that money could well boost the coffers but all it has led to is stories like this.

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Rightly so, too; as they are attempting to get back to winning ways and right the wrongs of the start of the season, cameras are poking around in dressing rooms and at the training ground.

This season has been an unmitigated disaster already and if this form continues, and Spurs fail to finish in the top four, one feels that the documentary could well be attributed a portion of the blame.

One thing is for sure: Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham fans will love that final product if Spurs’ form continues.