All posts by n8rngtd.top

When Kyril Louis-Dreyfus walked through the door as Sunderland’s proud new owner, there was a huge sigh of relief from many supporters.

After all, Stewart Donald’s time at the club was marked with overspending and, ultimately, a failure to get promoted.

It was the perfect Christmas present for the Mackems, as Louis-Dreyfus was announced late on 24th December.

Since he entered the Stadium of Light, he has had some very clear policies. One of them has been to improve the club’s academy and the pathway to senior level.

With the likes of Sam Greenwood, Bali Mumba and Joe Hugill all exiting the northeast in recent years, it’s led to an unhealthy academy. The under-23s didn’t win a single game last term, for instance.

However, we are already seeing the fruits of the new owner’s labour. In the Papa John’s Trophy final, young talents Dan Neil, Benji Kimpioka, Jack Diamond and Ollie Younger all appeared on the bench.

Diamond has received plenty of minutes this term but we believe Younger is now ready for a few more opportunities.

The 21-year-old played three times during the Black Cats’ run to Wembley in the EFL Trophy and has recently earned his league debut. That came in a 2-0 win over Rochdale, a match where Younger didn’t really put a foot wrong.

Traditionally a centre-half, the academy gem played at right-back on that occasion. Younger didn’t look out of place, winning 50% of his defensive duels and completing 80% of his passes. The defender also helped his side to record a clean sheet.

Speaking before that game, Lee Johnson waxed lyrical about the youngster, saying: “I do trust Ollie Younger, I think he is a great kid.

“I haven’t seen him enough in games yet to know whether he can handle that situation, but as a personality and in terms of his performances in training, he has been really impressive.”

With defensive injuries still plaguing the Sunderland squad – Jordan Willis, Bailey Wright and Tom Flanagan are all out – he should be entrusted more often.

That starts with the clash against Bristol Rovers on Saturday. They currently sit in the relegation zone, so on paper it’s a good match in which to trust Younger.

AND in other news, Sunderland must swoop for £1.2k-p/w “danger in the box”, he’s shades of Bergkamp…

Crystal Palace have been linked with a potential summer switch for Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.

The youngster, currently on-loan at West Bromwich Albion, is reportedly being considered for a summer move to Selhurst Park according to The Express.

The 21-year-old would be the perfect arrival to regenerate and rejuvenate an ageing Palace squad.

At the current time in the Premier League, Roy Hodgson possesses, on average, the oldest squad with an average age of 28.8 months. As a matter of fact, a whopping 13 players in the current squad are over the age of 30, a huge reason as to why the Eagles desperately need some younger recruits.

Gallagher is exactly what the club need then, should he elect to leave Chelsea.

He has impressed in his debut Premier League season with the Baggies having also caught the eye in previous loan spells with Charlton Athletic and Swansea City.

So far this season, the central midfielder has made 22 appearances in the league, racking up two goals and two assists. As a matter of fact, only current Baggies top scorer Matheus Pereira has been more productive than Gallagher this season in what has been a thoroughly forgettable campaign for the club.

One of the bright sparks, his adaptation and trajectory have been noticed, too, with former boss Slaven Bilic admitting that the youngster is “going to be big”.

Despite that, he may find it tough to break through at parent club Chelsea considering the immense competition he’d have in midfield positions including from fellow academy graduate Mason Mount, meaning a move could benefit his career.

Rated at just £9m at the current time, Gallagher looks to have the talent, and also potential, to give a spark to a declining Crystal Palace side.

His arrival is one that chairman Steve Parish should certainly look to prioritise in the summer.

AND in more news, take a look at our closer analysis of Wilfried Zaha’s poor return to the Palace squad against Spurs…

Manchester City’s hopes of completing a historic quadruple are still alive as they prepare to face Everton in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday evening.

Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Goodison Park hoping to secure a place at Wembley for the semi-finals with a win against Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees.

The Merseyside outfit have suffered back-to-back losses against Chelsea and Burnley recently, whilst the Citizens are on an unbelievable run which has seen them win 24 of their last 25 games in all competitions, which included a 3-1 triumph at Goodison Park in February.

With all of his players back fit, Guardiola is likely to rotate from the side which beat Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek, although he will still obviously want a strong side out to continue City’s impressive form in the FA Cup in recent years.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the manager to line his side up on Saturday, with five changes from the side which started in Hungary…

Although Zack Steffen featured in earlier rounds, it seems likely that Ederson will keep his place in goal ahead of the American for a game of this importance for City.

There are two changes in defence, as Oleksandr Zinchenko comes in for Kyle Walker, with Joao Cancelo moving to right-back after featuring on the left in midweek. John Stones is handed a rest with Aymeric Laporte replacing him at centre-back alongside Ruben Dias.

Fernandinho has shown his qualities in recent months and deserves a start ahead of Rodri in midfield, where he is partnered by Ilkay Gundogan.

Riyad Mahrez starred on City’s last trip to Goodison Park so he keeps his place on the right-hand side, with Bernardo Silva, who reportedly earns £150,000 per week at City, dropping out to welcome Raheem Sterling back in on the left.

Finally, Gabriel Jesus replaces Phil Foden and offers City a more natural centre-forward option up front, although the Brazilian has the added pressure of a fit Sergio Aguero waiting in the wings to replace him, so hopefully he can start scoring goals on a more regular basis.

In other news… Forget Haaland: Txiki should swoop for “outstanding” £100m-rated maestro

Sheffield Wednesday are still likely to be without the services of Massimo Luongo this evening as the Owls squad look to bounce back from two successive league defeats…

What’s the word?

Owls caretaker boss Neil Thompson had ruled the 28-year-old ahead of their loss to relegation rivals Birmingham City on Saturday and now reliable Yorkshire Live reporter Dom Howson claims the midfielder is unlikely to be involved tonight.

‘Influential midfielder Massimo Luongo (thigh) and winger Andre Green (Achilles) are unlikely to be involved,’ wrote Howson.

It is thought that he could return at the weekend, in time to face Luton Town, instead.

Bad news for Thompson

The £1.8m-rated Australian international has played only 22 minutes in the Championship since the start of December but still remains a key and integral member of that Owls engine room.

When he has played, Luongo has been decent, ranking fifth for average WhoScored rating (6.65) among Owls players with ten or more starts.

Similarly, no Wednesday star is averaging as many tackles as the industrious central midfielder, who currently sits on 3.1 tackles per 90 minutes at a success rate of 66%, via WhoScored.

It leaves Thompson with a tricky dilemma to solve – he could revert back to a three-man defence, of course, but following the suspension to Liam Shaw, he will need to make changes in the middle either way.

Luongo would have been a nice option to have, as evident above, his work-rate is second to none, so it will come down to either Joey Pelupessy or Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown.

The Dutchman hasn’t started any of the Owls’ last three league games, which is understandable given his paltry average WhoScored rating of 6.37, which sees him sit 19th overall – or second-bottom for those starting 12 or more matches this term.

Pelupessy hasn’t managed above a 6.5 rating more than once in his last seven appearances, in which he’s been dribbled past eight times and has committed nine fouls.

Then there’s the conundrum over Brown, who has been restricted to just three starts all term and only 57 minutes since November. He has not been involved in any of their last six league games either, per Transfermarkt.

You can see why Luongo’s persistent absence is bad news for Thompson, though he should be used to it by now considering the length of time the Aussie maestro has been on the treatment table this season.

No Shaw and no Pelupessy, it’s not looking good for the Owls as they face the promotion-chasing Bees tonight.

AND in other news, Thompson handed perfect opportunity to unleash “whole-hearted” Sheffield Wednesday gem TONIGHT…

Manchester United completed a remarkable turnaround to their tricky start to the season with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa, a win which saw them move level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deserves immense credit for the way he has transformed the team’s fortunes The hosts prevailed at Old Trafford, earning them their tenth win in the top flight this season thus far, which extended the Red Devils’ unbeaten run to seven consecutive games in a row across both domestic competitions.

Despite their good run, Solskjaer will no doubt be looking to strengthen in January to try to keep them in the title race.

Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho is one transfer target who has become synonymous with Solskjaer’s time in charge.  The winger was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford in the summer, but the Red Devils refused to meet Dortmund’s demands, and a move failed to materialise.

United are reportedly still eyeing up a move for Sancho and it’s claimed that the club are confident that their gamble may pay off.

The 20-year-old has provided 39 goals and 52 assists in 118 appearances across all competitions, via Transfermarkt.

Goals have not been easy to come by this season thus far for the ex-Manchester City youngster however, as Sancho had scored four goals in 18 games prior to the Bundesliga clash with Wolfsburg at the weekend.

However, as the old adage goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Questions had been asked of Sancho as he’d failed to score in his previous 11 top-flight appearances but he passed the test with flying colours.

Dortmund have enjoyed the talents of a number of a number of exceptional players over the years, including now-Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, but one that has remained steadfast in recent years especially is Sancho, who earns around £190,000-per-week at the Signal Iduna Park.

Described as a “fantastic” footballer by his teammate Erling Braut Haaland, he delivered a masterful performance against Wolfsburg.

He proved to be a constant threat and completed a staggering six dribbles successfully from eleven attempts. By comparison, Daniel James has only managed one dribble per game, as per SofaScore.

Sancho didn’t stop there, either, as he scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season and set up another to start his New Year with a bang with a 2-0 victory over Wolfsburg. He also made four key passes and created one big chance as he tried to dictate play and bring others into the game.

Valued at a whopping £100m by Dortmund, it remains to be seen if Ed Woodward will be able to drive down their colossal asking price at the second time of asking. However, he simply cannot afford to let Sancho slip through his fingers again. The board must go back to the drawing board and try to get a deal over the line in the coming weeks.

AND in other news, Manchester United may forever regret not signing Aston Villa star man Jack Grealish…

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that his squad are carrying several knocks ahead of the London derby with West Ham at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night.

The Palace boss faces late calls on the fitness of Wilfried Zaha and Cheikhou Kouyate ahead of the game with David Moyes’ side. Zaha missed the match with Manchester City while Kouyate, who has made 18 top-flight appearances in the Premier League this season, was also absent from the matchday squad after he picked up a knock against Arsenal.

Hodgson said in his post-match press conference on Sunday evening: “Wilf, unfortunately, picked up a knock in the game against Arsenal.

“The turnaround has been quite quick, and we haven’t been able to turn him around in time.

“Every time Wilf doesn’t play it’s a miss, that’s been well documented. We’d have loved to have him here – and we’d have loved to have had Cheikhou [Kouyate] here – but these things happen in a game of football and we’re fortunate that with a couple of days between the games we haven’t picked up more injuries than the one Wilf picked up.”

The manager will be without Jeffrey Schlupp for the game on Tuesday as he continues his rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury against Sheffield United and is expected to be out until at least March.

With all that in mind, here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting XI for this evening, which sees Hodgson make four changes from the humiliating trip to the Etihad.

Hodgson is expected to ring the changes for his side’s crunch Premier League clash with West Ham on Tuesday night. The Eagles changed their back four for the game against Manchester City which backfired almost immediately after John Stones scored two goals either side of the break.

Palace managed to start without Patrick van Aanholt, Nathaniel Clyne or Scott Dann last Sunday, but all three should be back this evening. This means that Gary Cahill, Tyrick Mitchell and Joel Ward will have to drop to the bench, the latter having endured a night to forget at the Etihad.

Eberechi Eze, James McArthur, Luka Milivojevic and Andros Townsend started on Sunday, and we’re backing the quartet to start again today.

We have resisted the temptation to bring back Zaha as we feel this game may come too soon for the Ivory Coast international, meaning Christian Benteke will start for the first time since the draw with Arsenal at the Emirates.

Benteke was rested against Pep Guardiola’s side after he was left as an unused substitute on the bench, but we reckon he will be back today, joining Jordan Ayew up front.

Hodgson will be hoping that Benteke can rediscover the form that saw him score three goals in three games last year, including a goal against West Ham at the London Stadium last time around.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace still want to sign Ismaila Sarr despite Watford demands…

Everton loanee Moise Kean suffered a step back in his start to life with Paris Saint-Germain against FC Nantes on Saturday, with Thomas Tuchel forced to haul the Italian off at half-time.

Kean joined PSG on a one-year loan this summer that features an agreed €20million (£18m) option to buy at the end of the season, after struggling to establish himself at Goodison Park following Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment.

The striker started just five of his 21 Everton appearances under Ancelotti, with Kean’s compatriot often reluctant to favour the 20-year-old signed from Juventus by Marco Silva in 2019 for £25.1m rising to £27.5m.

Tuchel has been vastly more forthcoming with minutes since Kean’s move to the Parc des Princes, with the German coach starting the Everton outcast in four of his five outings to date.

Kean opened his account for PSG with a brace at home to Dijon FCO last week before netting a double in the Champions League Group Stage away to Istanbul Basaksehir FK, and would have hoped to continue his record at Nantes on Saturday.

Unfortunately, that was not to be the case, as Kean endured a step back in form just a day after Tuchel had called for the eight-cap international to deliver consistent performances, with his up and down displays appearing to be a major flaw in his game.

“The best thing to integrate at a new club and a group for a striker is to score,” Tuchel told PSG’s official website. “The most important thing is that he continues to show the same desire and to put the same intensity on the pitch.

“He has a great physical capacity, [but] he must absolutely continue like this. It’s weighing on the defences, and that’s what we need.”

Tuchel will need Kean to rediscover his form ever more so now, having lost star forward Neymar until after the November internationals to an adductor injury sustained in the Champions League.

Kean endured a torrid evening away to Nantes on Saturday before Tuchel ultimately sought changes at the break, with the 20-year-old failing to register a single shot – on target or otherwise – failed with 50% of his dribbles, misplaced 43% of his mere seven passes, took just 13 touches, lost three of his five duels, turned over possession six times and was caught offside once, per SofaScore.

Tuchel opted to replace Kean with 18-year-old prospect Kays Ruiz-Atil in the hopes it would change PSG’s fortunes at the Stade de la Beaujoire, and while the teenager did not score, the Ligue 1 behemoths eventually secured a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Ander Herrera, Kylian Mbappe and Pablo Sarabia.

AND in other news, an “intelligent” maestro may have played his final game for Everton already after his recent comments.

If we’re being completely honest, we can’t remember the last time that Crystal Palace had one of the best players in the world on their books.

Whilst some will argue that Wilfried Zaha falls into that category, Ian Wright was probably the last truly world-class star who plied his trade at Selhurst Park, before the club’s greatest ever striker ended up signing for local rivals Arsenal in 1991.

However, things may have panned out very differently indeed if they had played their cards right a few years ago.

According to Sky Sports, Palace missed the opportunity to sign Ferland Mendy from Le Havre in the summer of 2017, as it seems the Eagles weren’t willing to pay the same price as Lyon.

The French Ligue 1 side spent a mere €5m plus €1m in additional add-ons to prise him away from Le Havre (£5m), which is hardly a colossal amount, especially when you consider the fact that Palace signed Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool for £26m in the same year.

Obviously, it’s easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight, but if the Eagles had pulled the trigger, they could have had a true world-class talent on their hands.

Mendy is arguably one of the best full-backs in the world at the moment, as he has already won the La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid, having made 25 appearances in the Spanish top flight last season, via Transfermarkt.

Once hailed as a very “talented” beast by club legend Zinedine Zidane, the 25-year-old has even started to usurp legendary Brazilian left-back Marcelo – the French international has played more league games than his teammate so far this season.

Mendy averaged 1.3 tackles, 1 clearance and 2 dribbles per league game last term, whilst he scored one goal and supplied two assists, via WhoScored. By comparison, even Patrick van Aanholt only managed fewer than one dribble per game in the Premier League last season, as per WhoScored.

With Tyrick Mitchell working his way back to fitness, and van Aanholt only recently returned from a spell on the sidelines, it looks like Palace missed an opportunity to land an absolute bargain back then who surely would’ve been in contention to start right now.

Steve Parish wasn’t prepared to part ways with such a small amount in 2017, which now looks like it was a terrible mistake, as he’s now valued at £36m via Transfermarkt, and Palace could have signed him for £5m. Even in the unlikely event a transfer hadn’t worked out as well as planned, they could’ve still sold him for a greater profit. It almost doesn’t bear thinking about.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace dynamo Eberechi Eze was Hodgson’s most vital cog against Leeds United…

Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday night to bring an end to their perfect start to the 2020/21 European campaign.

The Reds had won all three of their opening games in Group D, including a 5-0 win against the Serie A side away from home.

However, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were clearly out for revenge on Wednesday night and produced a superb display to take all three points, after goals from Josep Ilicic and Robin Gosens.

One man’s performance that will have concerned Jurgen Klopp was that of Neco Williams, with the Welsh international struggling throughout the game.

As per SofaScore, the 19-year-old picked up a 6.5 rating for his display, with only Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and Konstantinos Tsimikas rated lower of the Liverpool players who started the game.

The right-back lost possession a remarkable 27 times during the game, which was the most of any Reds player on the pitch.

Williams has established himself as a trusted member of Klopp’s side in recent seasons, having made 16 appearances (ahead of Wednesday’s game) for the first-team now, in which he has contributed no goals and two assists (per Transfermarkt).

Considering Trent Alexander-Arnold is currently sidelined through injury, Williams is likely to have a lot more game time in the coming weeks, but he will need to improve on this performance if he wants to keep his spot in the starting 11.

The Welshman saw a lot of the ball against the Italian side but was unable to have much impact going forward, as none of his three crosses on the evening found their mark, whilst only two of his 11 attempted long balls found a Liverpool shirt.

54 of Williams’ 70 attempted passes found their target, resulting in a pass accuracy rate of 74%, suggesting that his passing could have been a lot better on the night too.

The right-back wasn’t too bad defensively, however, as he won five out of nine of his ground duels, whilst he also made five interceptions during the 90 minutes.

Alexander-Arnold was full of praise for the academy talent earlier this year, saying:

“Neco is an amazing talent, he is someone who we all look to as being someone who can play for the club for a long amount of time and will have a bright future no matter what.”

“I think he is on the right path, for sure. Mentally, he’s ahead of people his age, he’s getting the right experience in training; playing against the best players in the world can only improve you.” (per Liverpool FC)

However, he did little to repay the England international’s faith in him on Wednesday night and it will perhaps not be a surprise if Klopp opts to start James Milner at right-back in the Reds’ next game, after his impressive performance in the win against Leicester City last weekend.

Crystal Palace’s progress has been stopped in its tracks by the embarrassing defeat to Liverpool at Selhurst Park earlier this month.

Jurgen Klopp’s side utterly dominated proceedings from start to finish, leaving the Eagles trailing in their way as they surged to the top of the table.

With Leicester City on the horizon, Roy Hodgson faces some tough decisions to avoid a repeat of the 3-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium towards the latter stages of last season.

Hodgson’s side have rarely been so badly humiliated but they were put the sword as the Reds ran riot over their helpless defence.

Vicente Guaita was called into action almost immediately from the get-go but the veteran goalkeeper was largely forced to sit and watch as Liverpool took an astonishing 14 attempts on goal, including eight shots on target, as per SofaScore. The final score finished 7-0 with the 33-year-old failing to register a single save or punch a single shot on target.

However, he can’t be solely to blame for their problems at the back, as Gary Cahill, Nathaniel Clyne and Cheikhou Kouyate were mostly at fault for the poor defensive performance. Clyne particularly caught the eye for all the wrong reasons as he was caught out of possession time and time again by Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, losing 100% of his duels overall.

There’s no denying the fact that Palace need to stop the rot from spreading even further, at least until new summer recruit Nathan Ferguson has recovered from his latest injury setback.

Hopefully cooler heads prevail and Hodgson hands Joel Ward his second consecutive start to face the Foxes, as they arguably need all the experience they can get to shut up shop and plug the gap in their leaky defence. The Eagles have conceded more goals than Burnley, Brighton and Premier League strugglers Sheffield United so far this season which makes for pretty grim reading.

Although he started against Aston Villa, Ward, 31, is an experienced campaigner who knows what it takes to stop the Foxes in their tracks. After all, he has won four and drawn one out of nine games in the top flight against the one-time Premier League champions, via Transfermarkt.

Standing at 6 ft 1 in, he’s certainly a force to be reckoned with, but has made just six starts across all competitions this season so far, and was left as an unused substitute on the bench as Palace were dispatched by Liverpool.

Valued at £2m via Transfermarkt, in six appearances in the Premier League so far, Ward is averaging 1.8 tackles, 1.7 interceptions and a staggering 4.3 clearances per game, via WhoScored.

WhoScored lists some of his strengths as his ability to intercept the ball, win individual battles in the air, and his strong tackling, which shows that he is armed with the tools to deal with the likes of Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy, and is more than can be said for Clyne, who has done very little to justify his valuation. Transfermarkt value him at £3.6m.

Granted, Hodgson doesn’t exactly have the best of options, but it’s now up to the Palace boss to put his faith in Ward and unleash him on the right flank as he will have a tough task trying to contain the attacking duo who have scored 14 goals between them in the Premier League at the time of writing.

AND in other news, Steve Parish must look to cash in on Crystal Palace defender James Tomkins in January…