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Glasgow Rangers’ strong start to the season continued on Sunday afternoon as Steven Gerrard’s side cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership at Ibrox to move 11 points clear of Celtic at the top of the table.

Rangers have won 18 out of their last 21 games in all competitions as they aim to stop Celtic from winning ten titles in a row. But they came dangerously close to losing their unbeaten streak after they shipped two late goals to draw with 10-man Benfica in the Europa League at the beginning of the month.

Sam Cosgrove, Ryan Hedges and Matty Kennedy all had their chances at times for Aberdeen but they failed to take the opportunity to put pressure on the 54-time Scottish champions.

However, the Ibrox boss should be concerned by the fact that only valiant efforts from Allan McGregor and Connor Goldson were enough to ensure that the Gers kept a second consecutive clean sheet.

Gerrard deployed Ryan Jack in the centre of the midfield, his fourth straight start and 13th appearance of the campaign in all competitions which could have backfired horrendously had the Dons been able to find the back of the net, as he was uncharacteristically lacklustre.

Per SofaScore, he received the joint-lowest rating out of the entire starting XI, having lost possession nine times, committed two fouls and only won 50% of his ground duels overall as well as only making one tackle, whilst he failed to register a single clearance or interception, so it’s perhaps hardly surprising he was replaced by Steven Davis in the second half.

Quite why Davis didn’t start we’ll probably never understand, although it may have had something to do with his withdrawal from the Northern Ireland squad last week.

The defensive midfielder, who earns wages worth £18,000-per-week, hasn’t been named in the starting line-up for the past couple of games, which is quite simply baffling as he has been one of the club’s best players in recent weeks, especially when you consider the fact that the Gers are getting ready for the Benfica rematch on Thursday night.

Glen Kamara is the only Gers midfielder who has been given a higher statistical score by WhoScored than the 35-year-old for his performances in the Europa League.

In two appearances in the European competition, Davis is averaging 3 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game, which is some way above what Jack has managed, whilst he has also mustered 1.5 shots, via WhoScored, which shows that he is a useful attacking asset as well.

Davis is a player who performs well in the biggest occasions, that’s for sure, with former Gers manager Alex McLeish calling him “incredible” for becoming the most-capped player for his country in the Euro 2020 playoff semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina last month.

Therefore, Gerrard must ensure that the enforcer is recalled for the home game against Benfica on Thursday night, as he was named the Man of the Match for the away trip to Lisbon last time out.

AND in other news, Ross Wilson must secure Glasgow Rangers winger Ryan Kent amid interest from Leeds United…

According to The Daily Mail, Tottenham are one of the clubs who are interested in potentially signing James Rodriguez from Real Madrid this summer.

What’s the word?

The Colombia international endured a difficult 2019/2020 campaign, making just 14 appearances across all competitions for Los Blancos. Now, The Daily Mail claim that Rodriguez could be leaving the Santiago Bernabeu this summer, and that his struggles to nail down a starting spot could see him bring the curtain down on his career in Madrid.

Is it Mido or Pedro Mendes? This Spurs quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…



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The report adds that “plenty of Premier League clubs are tracking his on-going situation and Rodriguez himself appears keen on a move to England”, with Spurs one of the sides mentioned as being interested.

Christian Eriksen successor

Whilst Gareth Bale has been touted with a sensational return to north London this summer, Rodriguez may be the smarter option for Spurs.

The £200k-a-week star has the creative talents that can truly replace what they lost with Christian Eriksen when the Dane move to Inter, and whilst his performances for Madrid last season weren’t up to scratch, he can still give Spurs a bit of magic in that number ten role.

As per Whoscored, despite playing just eight times in La Liga last season, he still averaged an impressive 1.8 key passes per game, whilst the two campaigns before at Bayern Munich, he managed 2.6 and 2.8 respectively – to put those figures into context, Heung-min Son led that particular statistic for Spurs, and he only averaged 1.4 per match in the Premier League.

Jose Mourinho has previously gone on record to slate one of Rodriguez’s performances, slamming him after Bayern’s Champions League defeat to Liverpool. He said: “James Rodriguez absolutely lost, incapable of making any kind of pressing, any kind of game in between the lines or connection with the three attacking players.”

But whilst he may have criticised him before, Mourinho may feel he can be the man to bring the best out of Rodriguez again in north London.

West Ham United have less than a month to complete their summer transfer business, something they are yet to do, but it appears that David Moyes is keen on a new full-back or two…

What’s the word?

According to the ever-reliable David Ornstein at The Athletic, the Irons are keen on signing Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac, though it remains to be seen whether that is permanently or on loan.

He claims that Moyes has a primary focus on bolstering his defence, which is perhaps hardly a surprise after they were played off the park by Newcastle United on Saturday night, losing 2-0.

The Scotsman also wants a central defender and to keep hold of in-demand defensive midfielder Declan Rice. The window slams shut in just over three weeks time.

Worse than Cresswell?

Whilst Moyes is certainly looking to add players in the right areas, a move for Kolasinac very much would flatter to deceive many at the London Stadium.

Based on performances from the 2019/20 campaign, the 31-time Bosnian international appears to actually be a worse option than Aaron Cresswell, which some of the Hammers faithful may find hard to believe after his shocker versus the Magpies.

The 30-year-old regular was ahead for clearances (1.9), tackles (1.4), crosses (0.8), key passes (0.8) and even shots (0.5). Cresswell even bagged himself three goals, per WhoScored.

Despite being the more physically imposing monster, Kolasinac even won fewer aerial duels (1.1) per game than the Irons left-back.

The Gunners misfit is valued at £14.4m by Transfermarkt and is on a whopping £100k-per-week reportedly, so it’s one hell of an expensive gamble to make.

BBC pundit Garth Crooks claims that the 27-year-old is “built like one of those North London brick toilets that withstood bombing raids during the Second World War” whilst former teammate Theo Walcott once described him as an “absolute tank” and an “absolute animal”.

However, it’s clear to see his footballing abilities in the Premier League aren’t very good, and thus, Moyes should steer well clear of this potential financial nightmare.

AND in other news, West Ham colossus was a rare positive against Newcastle…

Somehow Arsenal have found themselves in a nightmare scenario with their star player’s contract again.

You’d think they would learn their lesson after losing both Robin van Persie and Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United in the final year of their contracts, but once again, arguably Arsenal’s most important player’s contract is running down.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has just a year left on his deal, and with the striker yet to put pen to paper, the Gunners need to have a plan for if he does leave.

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Fortunately, Arsenal have been linked to a few alternative options.

What’s the story then?

Le10Sport are reporting that Arsenal have their eyes on a plethora of new attacking options such as Raul Jimenez, Moussa Dembele, Memphis Depay and most interestingly Allan Saint-Maximin.

Jimenez is apparently their top priority, but if they do end up landing Saint-Maximin, you have to wonder if that’s going to work.

Square peg, round hole

Now, we’re not saying that the Newcastle winger isn’t a fantastic player, his hat-trick of assists earlier this month proved that he’s dangerous when he’s on form, but we just can’t see how he replaces Aubameyang.

The Gabonese forward’s game is all about goals, he’s hit 50 Premier League goals quicker than any other Arsenal player while also picking up a Golden Boot last season, and Saint-Maximin just doesn’t have that type of end product.

With just three league goals to his name this term, it would take around 17 seasons for him to hit 50 Premier League strikes if he continues at this rate, in comparison, Aubameyang did it in just two and a half terms.

Saint-Maximin would certainly add something to Arsenal’s side, he’s the second-most proficient dribbler in the Premier League and he’s incredibly exciting to watch, but you can’t help but feel they’d be making a grave error if he was signed as Aubameyang’s replacement.

Leeds United appear to be on the hunt for an additional striker this summer and a new name has been mooted by The Athletic’s Phil Hay…

What’s the word?

On the latest episode of the Phil Hay Show, he said: “One that’s definitely of interest is Michy Batshuayi down at Chelsea. Bielsa knows him from Marseille and he knows a lot about his game. He wouldn’t have to adapt massively. Despite it not happening for him at Chelsea he’s at a prime age, 26. Leeds will want to see progress in the next week or two.”

It’s not the first time that the Belgian has been mooted with a switch to Elland Road with Football Insider claiming he could cost less than £25m earlier this month.

Batshuayi is entering the final year of his contract at Chelsea and has started just one game all season across the Premier League and the Champions League.

Super-sub

Despite having Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham in front of him in the pecking order, a swoop for the 26-year-old would be perfect as Marcelo Bielsa needs a viable back-up to Patrick Bamford – especially with the Jean-Kevin Augustin saga up in the air.

One of the biggest problems surrounding the Yorkshire giants has been their tendency to suffer from burnout, it may have been what caused them to stumble last season and this year’s stop-start campaign, may have helped push them over the line finally.

This can’t happen in the top-fight otherwise they’ll be at risk of becoming a one-season wonder, which is why squad depth is needed. Batshuayi can provide that.

Over the last few seasons, he’s become widely known as the ‘super-sub’ for the Blues, so he’d be perfect for Bielsa to throw on when Bamford is in need of a break.

The Leeds boss helped Batshuayi to break onto the scene in France whilst Frank Lampard believes he’s “top class” and “hard-working”.

Victor Orta must push ahead with this move if United are to truly compete in the top-flight next season.

AND in other news, Leeds may have found the next Trent Alexander-Arnold…

West Ham United hope that both Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Lanzini will be fit enough to play against Crystal Palace, that is according to Claret & Hugh.

The Hammers do not have a game this weekend due to Liverpool’s involvement in the Club World Cup, meaning that their next fixture is against the Eagles on Boxing Day.

And it seems that they could be boosted by a return to action for the duo who are key players in the West Ham squad.

Fabianski, in particular, has been a huge miss for the club and their poor form has coincided with the Polish international’s absence.

Indeed, he played 90 minutes in each of their first six league outings of the season, keeping three clean sheets as they won three and drew two of those matches (Transfermarkt).

He then got injured at Bournemouth on 28th September and since he has been out the Hammers have endured a torrid run of form which has seen them lose seven in 10 (Transfermarkt).

As for Lanzini, he has missed their last five Premier League matches due to a shoulder injury (Transfermarkt).

Most West Ham fans are delighted with the news that the pair are set to return, particularly Fabianski, whose absence has certainly been felt in the last few months.

Here is what some have said on Twitter…

Watch Crystal Palace V West Ham Free with Prime on Boxing Day

Former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater believes that “serial winner” Pep Guardiola will not be content to let the rest of the Premier League season play out, even with his team seemingly having little at stake in the competition this season.

The champions of the past two years are almost certain to lose their title to runaway leaders Liverpool, who hold a 25-point lead at the top of the table, while a gap of 12 points to fifth-placed Manchester United means that they are highly likely to finish in the top four. Even that won’t see them into next season’s Champions League, though, if their upcoming appeal against a two-year ban from UEFA competitions is unsuccessful.

Guardiola’s team are only four points ahead of Leicester in third, though, and Goater believes that the thirst for success from a manager who has won 29 trophies in his career will ensure that he doesn’t allow his team’s league season to peter out.

The Bermuda native told Sky Sports [via Manchester Evening News]: “Pep Guardiola is a serial winner and it seems very odd that we’re talking about solidifying second place, and what a win could do in terms of creating that gap and solidifying that.

“This seems very odd to be so far behind but that just shows the amazing season Liverpool have had. [Guardiola] will without doubt want to finish second. He will look at this as a bad season and think ‘Yeah we’ve got some way to go, we’ve had some inconsistencies but we want to improve on that’, but no doubt he wants to finish second.”

Goater is right to emphasise just how important it will be to Guardiola not to let Manchester City’s league position slip any further – only once in 11 seasons as a manager has he finished outside the top two, and that was a third-place finish in his first year at the Etihad Stadium in 2016/17 (as per TransferMarkt).

It appears that, league pride aside, there will still be plenty of incentive for the Cityzens in the remaining weeks of the season. The FA Cup and Champions League, both of which they remain involved, are set to resume over the coming weeks, so Guardiola will surely be eager for his team to maintain winning momentum in the Premier League to support their bids to win those two competitions.

As per Manchester Evening News, the Spaniard is on record as saying that winning those two competitions along with the Community Shield and Carabao Cup that have already been secured would still be inferior to Premier League triumph because the latter is “the most beautiful and the most difficult” to win.

Considering that Guardiola is a manager who once berated his team for a substandard warm-up not long after they clinched the league title two years ago (as per the Amazon Prime All or Nothing series), Goater is quite right in saying that the 49-year-old will be determined to at least secure second place in the division this term if, as seems inevitable, a third successive title is beyond them.

Man City fans, how seriously do you think Guardiola will take the rest of the Premier League season? Let us know in the comments section below!

It may not have lasted long, but you can’t fault Unai Emery for not trying something different on Thursday night.

The Gunners have endured a miserable season so far, finding themselves in eighth in the Premier League table after 13 games. And with reports suggesting he is on the brink of losing his job, Emery threw caution to the wind.

The Spaniard employed David Luiz in the holding midfield position against Eintracht Frankfurt, and it certainly seemed like an intriguing proposition. The Brazilian covered the ground well and hurled himself into challenges, and as per Sofascore, made two tackles, won three duels and completed two long balls.

Sadly for both the Gunners boss and Luiz himself, his time in that new role lasted just 31 minutes, with the former Chelsea man forced off with an injury.

Having seen Emery’s use of the 32-year-old, Arsenal fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the decision.

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Many supporters of the north London side hailed their under-fire manager for the “masterstroke”, with one fan in particular claiming that it is the “best thing Emery has come up with this season”.

Check out some of the reaction of Arsenal fans below:

Meanwhile, Arsenal fans are fuming with links to Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was revealed that academy prospect Brandon Pierrick had signed his first professional contract with the club, on the day of his 18th birthday.

Pierrick has been with the Eagles since U9-level, rising through the ranks to become the only player so far this season to start all 15 U23 games, scoring four goals – including an impressive hat-trick against south London rivals Millwall U23.

The teenager also scored a double in Palace’s pre-season friendly against AFC Wimbledon, in an XI featuring first-team players such as Mamadou Sakho, Jairo Riedewald and Connor Wickham.

Apart from the progression of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, it has been years since the south London side saw a gem rise out of their academy – Jonny Williams and Wilfried Zaha were the last real prospects to make an impact on the first-team.

The Selhurst Park faithful can only hope that Pierrick becomes the next big thing in SE25, and judging by his performances so far this season, there is no reason why he cannot take that next step.

This supporter said that they had “been waiting for this” news, and called for Pierrick to be involved off the bench against arch-rivals Brighton on Monday evening.

Additionally, this fan went even further than the Brighton game on Monday and instead asked for the U23 star to be on the bench for a few games.

Elsewhere, ‘Oscar Nicholson’ made the extremely bold claim that Pierrick is the “new Wilf” and that the reincarnate of the Ivorian is “inbound” after the signing of his first professional contract.

Meanwhile, ‘Royce Coolidge” said that they hope the Eagles actually give the 18-year-old some game time.

Lastly, these two supporters demanded that Pierrick is involved in the FA Cup third round tie against Derby at Selhurst Park on the 5th January – the latter fan said that he needs to feature against the Rams at the “very least”.

In other news, this Crystal Palace player was lucky not to have seen red against Watford last time out for one reason…

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

There’s a space waiting for him.

Matty James has had a number of injuries that have kept him from flourishing at the King Power Stadium in recent years. So much so that he failed to appear in the league at all last term.

Speaking in his press conference yesterday, Brendan Rodgers gave an update on the 28-year-old and said that although he hasn’t been able to see much of the pitch this season, that doesn’t mean he’s completely out of Rodgers’ plans:

“He is a miss, Matty, he’s just been so unfortunate. In terms of how I want to work and my ideas for the team, he gets it 100 per cent. He’s just been really unfortunate with injuries and that’s affected his physicality.”

So whilst it looks like he’s got a chance to make an impact at some point in the near future, do the numbers give him a chance?

On the chalkboard

As a central midfielder, his biggest competition for places is going to be Youri Tielemans and James Maddison, both of whom have more or less established themselves as the first-choice central midfielders this season (all stats provided by WhoScored).

Let’s first look at his passing numbers, and he manages to split his two main competitors almost right down the middle, with a completion percentage of 82.1, compared to Maddison’s 82.6 and Tielemans 81.8.

He does trail them significantly when it comes to his average number of passes per game though, coming in at 36.6, compared to 54.5 and 47.1 of Tielemans and Maddison respectively, but hopefully, he’ll be able to get those numbers up once he’s more integrated to a Rodgers system.

The only saving grace for him would be his defensive capabilities, where he again has the edge over Tielemans, averaging 1.7 tackles and 1.5 interceptions compared to 1.2 and 0.6 for the Belgian.

However, with Maddison averaging 2 tackles per game and 0.5 interceptions, he gives him a run for his money on that side of the ball.

So it’s really going to come down to how Rodgers intends to play him, will he be helping the attack going forward, or the likes of Wilfred Ndidi at the back?

Perhaps it will dictate what kind of game Rodgers wants to play on a given day. Either way, it would be harsh to say that his Leicester career is over just yet.