All posts by h716a5.icu

[ad_pod ]It seems so long ago now that Manchester United signed a young, up and coming Portuguese forward named Cristiano Ronaldo.16 years ago that same Portuguese kid already looked like a world-breaker and soon, he definitely proved to be one with his performances.When all is said and done, Ronaldo played 292 games for the Red Devils, bagging an incredible 118 goals and tallying an equally impressive 68 assists in the process.

During his time in England, he also put nine trophies in his cabinet, making him one of Manchester United’s most celebrated players.

And one other icon of the club, Patrice Evra, took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Portuguese superstar on his anniversary with the Manchester team, but he also did it in his own way.

Evra complimented Ronaldo by saying that “he’s a machine” but also took some time to rinse him as well, reminding everyone how he made the Frenchman work out when he was actually invited to lunch.

That just goes to show what a dedicated person the Portuguese actually is and how Evra is always ready for a joke or two, even with the best of them.

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Whilst Wolves will be travelling back to Molineux to face Torino with a one-goal lead and three away goals, last night wasn’t all about the positives. Adama Traore at right-wing-back seemed to play well, but Ruben Vinagre on the other side was lacklustre.

Nuno Espirito Santo got most things right in the 3-2 win, although his side would have come away with a 3-1 win and been in a much better position than they are now had Vinagre not given away a cheap penalty late in the game in Turin, which Andrea Belotti scored to make it 3-2.

Ultimately, Wolves still have a lead and are in the much better position in this tie ahead of the second leg, Vinagre was seemingly more harm than good in the tie, and perhaps it wouldn’t be a shock if Jonny Otto was the man called upon when Torino travel to Wolverhampton next Thursday, especially seeing as Vinagre only got a 4/10 rating in The Express and Star’s player ratings.

You can read the Wolves’ fans thoughts on Vinagre here:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

We may only be a matter of weeks into the season but injuries have already become a slight concern for Leeds.

Their squad is wafer-thin this term, as it was last campaign, but various formations and systems have had to be used to accommodate gaps.

That was specifically the case in both matches against Stoke with Liam Cooper missing because of a knock to the ankle.

Leeds had to revert to a three-man makeshift defence but one player who has plugged a gap is doing it in fantastic style.

On the chalkboard

The man in question happens to be Stuart Dallas who has taken on more defensive duties, playing at right back and as a right wing-back.

He did so on the odd occasion last term and stepped in confidently for Barry Douglas on the left in the playoffs, netting twice against Derby.

However, he’s now showing that he can be a key component in this Leeds team.

That is largely thanks to the injured Luke Ayling, who courtesy of Dallas, the Whites aren’t missing in 2019/20.

Ayling had surgery on his ankle last month in what would have been a bitter blow, but despite returning to training, he is still some way from a proper return.

This isn’t the first issue for the defender either who was out for a period of nine games last term.

He was hugely influential last season at both ends of the pitch, laying on six assists whilst making 2.2 tackles per game, according to WhoScored.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Yet, Dallas is proving astute in some key areas too.

The Northern Irishman scored against Stoke at the weekend, showing his qualities in the final third. He’s won 1.6 tackles each match but betters Ayling when it comes to dribbling and clearances.

The latter may offer a greater wall of defensive protection but in a fluid Leeds system, Dallas is proving every bit as good.

Heading into their weekend clash with Swansea, Marcelo Bielsa’s men have only conceded twice in the Championship.

That tells you all you need to know about both his and Leeds’ defensive contributions.

So far, he’s stepped into Ayling’s shoes with relative ease.

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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…

Crystal Palace’s 25-man squad for the Premier League was revealed on Tuesday following the closing of the various European transfer windows on Monday, and it included a whopping and unusual five goalkeepers.

New boy Stephen Henderson joined Wayne Hennessey, Vicente Guaita, Joe Tupper and Dion-Curtis Henry in the list of names, 17 of which must be home-grown.

Of course that doesn’t include their U21 players and scholars who are named on a separate list.

Watch Crystal Palace Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

While the Eagles’ summer transfer window may have ended on something of a high following the arrivals of Jordan Ayew – who has already hit some form – Victor Camarasa, James McCarthy and Gary Cahill, the south London outfit didn’t sort out two of their biggest issues with no striker or right-back arriving at SE25.

That caused a huge outburst of frustration from the Selhurst Park faithful on deadline day, although two successive Premier League wins in recent weeks including solid performances from Joel Ward and Ayew may have countered some of that anger – for now, at least.

The announcement does make the addition of Henderson look strange though given Palace had two other 21-year-old keepers available to them, who surely would have provided able back-up to Guaita and Hennessey if called upon.

The inclusion of five stoppers probably wouldn’t have happened if Palace got what they really looked to need during the summer, and while the wins against Manchester United and Aston Villa have been impressive, the latest squad list only goes to emphasise what we already knew.

Ultimately it wasn’t the best of summers, and the Eagles may well have some work to do in the market come 2020.

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Nketiah didn’t blow his own trumpet as he made no reference to the goals he had scored. Instead, he simply focused on the results the team were picking up, and after picking up six points in their European Championship qualifying group after two games he was seemingly very pleased.

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The Premier League have dealt Steve Bruce a worrying piece of news, after they announced that Andre Marriner will officiate Newcastle United’s trip to Liverpool on Saturday for their televised encounter with the current league leaders.

Liverpool go into the weekend encounter as the only side to have won each of their opening four Premier League games, in which they have also scored the second-most goals of any side, while Newcastle have taken four of a possible twelve points.

Marriner has so far officiated three top-flight encounters this season, after the Birmingham-born referee oversaw Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 0-0 draw in the opening weekend, before holding the whistle as Liverpool beat Southampton and during Manchester City’s win at Bournemouth.

From those encounters, the 48-year-old has called the third-least fouls per game and the 12th-most fouls per tackle of the 17 officials called on by the Premier League thus far, according to data collected by WhoScored.

Marriner has been keener than some to brandish a yellow card, however, as the West Midlands resident has issued three per game on average – treble that of Chris Kavanagh, the official to have issued the least cautions after refereeing three top-flight fixtures.

Marriner, who first officiated in the Premier League during the 2004/05 season, has also shown a tendency to caution the away side more than the home team this term by a ratio of 2:1.

Assistants Scott Ledger, Simon Long and fourth official Andy Madley will join Marriner at Anfield, while Mike Dean will be in charge of the VAR with Dan Robathan his assistant.

Marriner’s appointment as the referee for Newcastle’s trip to Anfield will spell bad news to Bruce, as Newcastle have lost their last four games with the 48-year-old in the middle (TransferMarkt).

Liverpool, on the other hand, head into the Magpies encounter having last lost a game with Marriner in charge back in October 2017 when Tottenham Hotspur beat them 4-1. Since then, the Reds have played eight, and won five while scoring 17.

One of the Merseyside outfit’s triumphs with Marriner in possession of the whistle also came against Newcastle last season, when Divock Origi struck an 86th-minute winner for Jurgen Klopp’s men at St. James’ Park in May.

Newcastle held Liverpool to a two-all draw the last time the two sides met at Anfield with Marriner in charge, however, although that fixture came in April 2016.

Newcastle fans, does Marriner’s appointment affect your expectations of the Liverpool encounter? Let us know in the comments below…

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It looked as though Arsenal would soon be back to full strength.

On Thursday, Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney returned to full training, while Rob Holding had also done so earlier in the week. Konstantinos Mavropanos, the only other member of the Arsenal squad recently in the treatment room, is also back with the first-team.

How do football vloggers afford to watch their team week in, week out? Find out in the video below…

However, there has been another setback for Unai Emery and co.

The club announced on Friday that Alexandre Lacazette is injured and will not return until October.

The statement issued confirmed that he has been playing with an injury for several weeks, and he has been advised to rest in order to return to full strength.

Fans of the Emirates Stadium outfit have been reacting to the news in their droves, and it is clear they are less than happy with the update.

They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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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…

Former Liverpool star Jason McAteer has predicted a difficult afternoon for Tammy Abraham on Sunday.

What’s the word?

The Chelsea youngster has been in electric form of late, smashing in seven goals over his last three league fixtures, but McAteer feels he is not the kind of front man who will trouble Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, in partnership with GentingBet, the 48 year-old said: “Players of that quality (van Dijk and Matip), they kind of thrive on that kind of challenge.

“I always feel the problem for van Dijk and Matip is these smaller players, the likes of (Lorenzo) Insigne and (Dries) Mertens, these players that drift into areas that van Dijk and Matip don’t want to go into, they drag them out wide and they create space for runners.

“They’re a handful in and around the box, they’ve got quick feet, they can shift from left to right. They’re the players I feel cause problems for the likes of Matip and van Dijk.

“I really don’t see Abraham being too much of a problem. I don’t know whether it’s going to be Abraham’s afternoon, I hope I’m not proven wrong, he’ll go and score a hat-trick now!”

Verdict

If Abraham were to score a hat-trick, it would take him to a truly ridiculous ten league goals just six games into the campaign. However, it’s hard to disagree with McAteer’s verdict on the Englishman’s clash with Liverpool’s towering centre-backs.

At 6 foot 4 and 6 foot 5 respectively, the Dutchman and Cameroonian win a combined 11.2 aerial duels per game in the league, so it’s hard to see Abraham’s 2.8 aerial wins per game serving him well on Sunday.

And McAteer’s concern about quick dribblers is spot on too – the likes of Lucas Moura, Leroy Sane and Lorenzo Insigne have troubled the Reds in recent times, yet taller attackers may struggle, as their strengths line up with the strengths of the defenders.

Abraham averages a measly 0.2 dribbles per game in the Premier League and for all his qualities he simply isn’t the kind of fleet-footed attacker that taller centre-backs typically fear.

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Some QPR fans have taken to Twitter to name Nahki Wells and Jordan Hugill as the Championship’s most ‘dynamic duo’, after a tweet from Sky Bet’s Twitter account called on supporters to reveal their choice.

Along with the prolific QPR pair was Charlton’s Jonny Williams and Lyle Taylor, Blackburn’s Bradley Dack and Danny Graham, as well as Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic and Tom Cairney.

In the R’s case, both of their frontman top the Championship scoring ranks with five league goals each, which bodes pretty well for the argument of them being the most dynamic duo.

Some QPR supporters certainly think they’re the best pairing.

One fan said anyone who doesn’t think the pair are the best duo in the league doesn’t “know football”, while another supporter asked how it was even a question seeing as Wells and Hugill are both at the top of the scoring charts.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

It is probably fair to say that Shkodran Mustafi does not always cover himself in glory.

The German hasn’t had the best of careers in north London and has this season fallen out of favour under manager Unai Emery.

Mustafi is yet to feature for the Gunners in the Premier League, but has made three appearances for the club this term – twice in the Europa League and once in the EFL Cup win over Nottingham Forest last month. In all three of those games, though, he has conceded no goals.

Last night, the 27-year-old put in a solid shift for the Gunners as they defeated Standard Liege 4-0 in the group stages of the Europa League, with WhoScored awarding him an overall rating of 7.35/10 for his efforts.

Mustafi has drawn praise from Arsenal fans on Twitter after last night’s match, with some now calling for him to be introduced in Unai Emery’s Premier League squad soon…

Arsenal fans, what did you make of Mustafi’s performance last night? Comment below!