All posts by h716a5.icu

Celtic have been linked with a move for Hibernian goalkeeper Ofir Marciano in recent months.

The Hoops were reportedly monitoring the 31-year-old, who has turned down a new deal at Easter Road and is set to leave the club for nothing this summer.

No contact made by Celtic

The Daily Record has provided an update on a potential Parkhead move for the Israel international. They claimed that no contact has been made from the Hoops, with Hapoel Be’er Sheva thought to be leading the way for his services.

Marciano is close friends with Celtic’s Nir Bitton, but it doesn’t seem as if the Hoops have stepped up their interest in the Hibs ace, who has 24 caps for Israel.

Transfer Tavern take

Celtic have had their issues in goal this season, so we thought the club may have made a move for Marciano as a result.

He has outperformed both Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas in recent months, as per WhoScored. Marciano’s Scottish Premiership average match rating this season stands at 6.74 – a better score than Bain’s 6.61 and Barkas’ 6.49.

The Israeli has also picked up a man of the match award this season, something the two Celtic shot-stoppers have failed to do, so hopefully the Hoops will make their move for the 31-year-old before it’s too late.

In other news: Newcastle readying bid for Celtic star this summer, find out more here. 

Following the arrival of Gareth Bale on loan from Real Madrid in the summer transfer window, perhaps few would have predicted that Lucas Moura would still be playing a big role in Tottenham Hotspur’s team now that we’re in March.

Although the Welsh international endured a difficult start back in North London, he has found his feet in recent weeks, with six goals and three assists in his last six appearances in all competitions.

It is impressive, therefore, that Moura is still a regular under Mourinho, and he has also been revitalised in recent weeks, thanks to a simple tactical change from the Portuguese manager.

The former PSG man, who reportedly earns £110k per week at Spurs, was struggling out on the right-wing in the Premier League, as he has averaged a 6.51 rating across his 22 appearances in the top-flight so far this season.

However, since moving to a more central position behind Harry Kane, the Brazilian looks far more dangerous, as in four appearances in that position, he has contributed one goal and one assist, averaging an impressive 7.2 rating.

First, he played well there in the 2-0 win against West Brom, before being a big part of the superb 4-0 win against Burnley last weekend, firing an excellent finish past Nick Pope from a central position, somewhere he is unlikely to have been if he had been deployed on the right.

Whilst he didn’t score or assist against Crystal Palace in the 4-1 win on Sunday evening, he was instrumental in the opening goal, as he won the ball back high up the pitch and fed Kane, who squared for Gareth Bale to score.

The 28-year-old caused Palace all sorts of problems, with his direct running seemingly far more effective in a central position, evidenced by his mazy run on Sunday which was halted by Gary Cahill on the edge of the box, earning a dangerous free-kick for Spurs.

Moura was involved in 21 ground duels during the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and whilst he would win just nine of those, it was clear that he was a constant nuisance to the Palace defenders with his work rate.

Fans will know that Moura’s best Spurs performance came in Amsterdam with his memorable hattrick in the 3-2 win against Ajax in the Champions League, where he also featured centrally, and whilst he is yet to regularly produce the same sorts of numbers or performances under Mourinho, it is clear that this central-attacking position is really improving both Moura and Spurs’ overall game.

And, in other news… Jose suffers huge transfer setback with “very confident” CB who could’ve replaced Dier

David Moyes faces a potential goalkeeper crisis with Lukasz Fabianski and Darren Randolph both injury concerns ahead of West Ham hosting Leeds United in the Premier League on Monday night.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites visit the London Stadium to round out the weekend’s action, after the Irons landed a nine-day break between fixtures since losing 2-1 at Manchester City last time out.

The Hammers were strong for much of the Etihad Stadium affair but fell to goals from centre-backs Ruben Dias and John Stones, while a wait for action has seen the east London natives slip to seventh in the standings but with at least one game in hand on each of the sides above them bar Everton.

The Toffees visit fourth-placed Chelsea earlier on Monday night with a view to moving inside the Champions League place previously occupied by West Ham. So, as Moyes strives to keep West Ham in the top-four race, here’s a potential line-up that the Scot could field against Leeds…

Republic of Ireland international Randolph opened the action as West Ham lost 2-1 to Manchester City last time out after Fabianski was ruled unfit the day before, having developed an elbow injury following an accidental training ground collision.

Unfortunately for the Irons, Randolph suffered a minor recurrence of a recent thigh injury at the Etihad that has required further treatment, but Moyes was hopeful that at least one of his shot-stoppers will be passed fit ahead of tonight’s clash with Leeds.

“I think we’re pretty much as we were,” Moyes said on Friday while discussing his side’s fitness. “Lukasz Fabianski hasn’t trained yet [this week], but he’s got a chance of playing.

“Darren Randolph’s got a little bit of a problem with his hip. He’s doing a bit of work in the gym. We’ve got a little bit of a consideration with both of our goalkeepers, but I’m hoping that I’ll have one of them fit for the game on Monday night.”

Should both be deemed fit, Fabianski will be expected to take over duties between the sticks, having kept eight clean sheets in 24 Premier League games this season to Randolph’s one shut out in two top-flight outings to date.

Ben Johnson endured a challenging afternoon against Manchester City having returned to the starting line-up to occupy the left-back spot in Moyes’ five-man defence, and will be expected to fall to the bench at home to Leeds.

The versatile defender taking a seat on the sidelines will, in turn, see a return to the four-man defence of Aaron Cresswell, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Vladimir Coufal as West Ham continue to await the return of Angelo Ogbonna from a high ankle sprain.

Declan Rice and eight-goal top-scorer Tomas Soucek will anchor the midfield to continue their run of playing every minute of Premier League football this season.

Jesse Lingard has played all but eight of an available 450 minutes since joining West Ham on loan from Manchester United in January, and will strive to continue his run of scoring or assisting a goal in his last three outings in claret and blue.

The Red Devils-owned playmaker will be expected to feature more centrally against Leeds than he did against Manchester City, having offered little defensive support on the left-wing at the Etihad.

Lingard moving back into the central position would allow Moyes to recall £23,000-per-week playmaker Said Benrahma, who has not started either of the Irons’ last three league games despite penning his fifth assist of the season across all competitions in last month’s 3-0 win over Sheffield United.

Pablo Fornals will be expected to maintain his recent run in the starting line-up after returning at home to Tottenham Hotspur and impressing against both Jose Mourinho’s side and Manchester City.

Michail Antonio will hope to add his eighth goal of the Premier League campaign at home to Leeds after scoring in each of his last two outings.

AND in other news, West Ham are monitoring a nine-goal 21-year-old but face a huge hurdle to strike a deal…

It may be a new year but some things don’t change – including the GIVEMESPORT Fans’ Player of the Month awards, which are going full steam ahead into 2021.

And there’s plenty to mull over in the new year’s first edition with January being a typically strange month in the Premier League as Manchester United squandered top spot by losing at home to rock-bottom Sheffield United and reigning champions Liverpool incredibly went their first three games without scoring a goal.

Throw in Chelsea’s decision to dismiss Frank Lampard, West Ham doing their best impression of The Invincibles and relegation-threatened Brighton quietly winning the sixth-most points of any Premier League side, and January was a mad-cap start to 2021 in the top flight.

But let’s forget about clubs for a moment and consider some of the individual driving forces behind them. Here, we take a look at the six Premier League players who impressed us so much that they’ve earned nominations for the GIVEMESPORT Fans’ Player of the Month award.

All stats courtesy of Whoscored.

The Goalkeepers Nominee: Nick Pope

Are we being a bit harsh on Manchester City’s Ederson here? Perhaps – it’s not very often a goalkeeper will keep five clean sheets in as many games and go a whole calendar month without conceding a goal.

But having only actually faced seven shots on target in that time, you have to question how much of that was really down to the Brazil international, compared to how much was owed to Pep Guardiola’s side winning five games against considerably lesser teams in dominant fashion. Compare that to Burnley’s Nick Pope.

Now, there’s something to be said for Burnley’s uber-deep, ultra-organised low block making things as simple as possible for whoever’s between their sticks, but you still have to make the saves and Pope did that an incredible 29 times throughout January – including six saves to secure the Clarets’ only clean sheet of the month in a shock 1-0 win at Anfield.

Honourable mentions go to Emi Martinez, Brighton’s new No.1 Robert Sanchez, Vicente Guaita and Bernd Leno, who all had a decent balance between clean sheets and saves last month. Pope, however, was in a league of his own.

The Defenders Nominee: Craig Dawson

Considering summer loan signing Craig Dawson hadn’t even made his Premier League debut for West Ham until the last week of December, it’s quite incredible that he was a crucial part of the Irons’ four-game winning run in January which was only ended by reigning champions Liverpool.

Adding even more aerial presence to David Moyes’ already monstrous side, Dawson was pivotal in securing 1-0 victories over Everton and Burnley, while he scored what proved to be the winner against Crystal Palace and even netted a consolation goal against the Reds.

It was a fine month for Aston Villa’s Matt Targett as well, grabbing an assist against Burnley while producing an incredible nine tackles in a clean sheet win over Southampton, while Manchester United’s Luke Shaw has been nothing short of superb of late with 14 key passes in January alone, and Manchester City’s Ruben Dias continues to impress with his authoritative consistency.

Nonetheless, Dawson went from merely making up the numbers to being one of the first names on West Ham’s team sheet in the course of a single calendar month, and that deserves recognition in the form of a nomination.

The Midfielders Nominees: Ilkay Gundogan, Paul Pogba, Bukayo Saka

In truth, January’s nominees list could’ve been entirely devoted to midfielders, such was their collective impressiveness throughout January.

Jack Grealish once again shone with one goal and three assists, Leicester City pair James Maddison and Harvey Barnes notched up a whopping eight goal involvements between them, Tomas Soucek followed up last month’s nomination with three strikes and Matheus Pereira has almost single-handedly kept West Brom from disappearing into oblivion.

Nonetheless, three midfielders stood out most for slightly different reasons. First up is Ilkay Gundogan, who scored the most goals of any Premier League player throughout January with five in six games, many being absolute beauties.

Paul Pogba, meanwhile, has quite simply started playing like Paul Pogba again, and when the French World Cup winner’s in top form he’s without question one of the best central midfielders around. And finally we have Bukayo Saka, who might well be Europe’s most in-form teenager at this moment in time.

The Arsenal youngster’s influence seems to only be growing by the game and last month saw him net three times, including a goal as well as an assist in a 3-1 away in over Southampton. It’s incredible to think he doesn’t turn 20 until September.

The Strikers Nominee: Harry Kane

In stark contrast to midfielders, the Premier League’s striker cabal really didn’t give much to write home about at the start of the year. Of course it would be far too simplistic to exclusively determine a forward’s influence by their output, but goals are the main factor strikers are inevitably judged on and last month, only two in the Premier League actually scored more than twice.

Perhaps we should be giving a bit more credit to Alexandre Lacazette then, having netted three times and grabbed one assist, but with all four of his goal involvements coming in just two games, it wasn’t exactly a month of consistent brilliance from Arsenal’s French front-man.

So, almost by default, we can’t really look beyond Harry Kane here because, let’s face it, he’s definitely the best striker in the Premier League right now and arguably the best in the world. January was another solid month for him, scoring in three consecutive games and even looking decent against Liverpool until being forced off with a double injury.

Tellingly, Spurs lost that game 3-1 in Kane’s absence and couldn’t even score without him against lowly Brighton, which serves as a timely reminder of just how massive an influence the England captain is in north London.

Many Blackburn Rovers fans were left to slam the display of Everton loanee Jarrad Branthwaite in their 3-2 home loss to Watford on Wednesday night.

Goals from Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliot and Ben Brereton were not enough for the Lancashire club as Joao Pedro, Ismaila Sarr and Ken Sema made sure that the Hornets took all three points away from Ewood Park in the EFL Championship fixture.

A lot of BRFC supporters were not very impressed at all with the performance of Branthwaite, who lost the ball no fewer than 16 times in the game, the fourth-most out of any of his teammates to have set foot on the pitch (Sofascore).

The Goodison Park faithful will want to hear of better displays from the 18-year-old as he continues his development away from the Merseyside club.

Blackburn fan reaction to Branthwaite display

These Rovers fans slammed his performance on Twitter, with one fan even going as far to say that the English central defender is ‘tragic’:

“Branthwaite is one of the worst defenders I’ve seen”

Credit: @sambbrfc

“Harwood-Bellis and Branthwaite aren’t it! Simple basic defending and neither do it! Our own academy players could do better #rovers”

Credit: @StoneSourBRFC

“Take Branthwaite back to Everton please. He’s tragic.”

Credit: @RoversFC95

“Branthwaite shouldn’t play again.”

Credit: @chrisgregson123

“Mowbray out!!!!!! He’s clearly lost the dressing room since he parachuted in these loan signings ahead of experienced pros…. Branthwaite is the worst defender I’ve seen on a long time in a Rovers jersey”

Credit: @mossylyons

“Get Branthwaite out of this team. Absolute liability #rovers”

Credit: @BRFC4Life

In other news, find out what Farhad Moshiri news has got Toffees excited here!

Manchester United striker Anthony Martial had a shocker in what was a rare defeat for the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were previously unbeaten in their past 13 Premier League games but suffered defeat at the hands of a spirited Sheffield United to put a major dent in their title challenge.

United had the chance to overtake Manchester City in the title race but now find themselves a point behind their arch rivals after a damaging 2-1 defeat at home.

Kean Bryan put the visitors ahead with a fine header from John Fleck’s corner but Harry Maguire scored his first goal at Old Trafford to bring both sides level before Oliver Burke’s strike careered off the underside of the bar after taking a deflection off the unfortunate Axel Tuanzebe.

Despite the level of opposition, Solskjaer fielded arguably his strongest starting line-up with David de Gea returning between the sticks and both Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes earning a recall after their brief cameos against Liverpool as well.

Martial’s struggles have been well-documented this season – the 25-year-old has scored just twice in 16 top-flight appearances – and his woes continued as these frankly astonishing numbers help to paint the full picture.

Unless you live under a rock, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Frenchman has been out of form since the start of this season. He had bagged just three goals across all competitions for the club before the winter break, including a goal against the Blades at Bramall Lane, and the stats show just how far his form has continued to freefall since returning to the starting line-up.

It’s not like he’s not getting the chances, United had 16 shots on target and enjoyed the majority of the possession.

The problem is, he just can’t seem to find the back of the net as much as he was before, if at all.

Against the Blades, the £49m-rated ace offered little more than a damp squib. In fact, it’s fair to say that he was largely anonymous, evidenced by the fact he only won four out of his ten duels overall (40%).

His confidence is clearly at an all-time low as he managed just one shot in the entire game, which is far below his season average of 1.8 last year.

Though, just like Fernandes, he was careless in possession too, losing control of the ball 11 times – more than his teammates Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani.

On top of this, the France international took just 54 touches, which was the worst of any United starter besides Greenwood, and fewer than Marcus Rashford, as per SofaScore.

He even committed two fouls and was lucky to escape without a booking to sum up his frustrations on the night.

Valued at £49m via Transfermarkt, Martial simply can’t afford too many more displays like this with Cavani breathing down his neck. He let Solskjaer down badly after the club legend trusted him to start against Chris Wilder’s side and it may be quite a while before he’s given another opportunity to lead the line in the top flight after such a stinker.

AND in other news, Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes let Ole Gunnar Solskjaer down in 2-1 defeat…

Leeds United will face off against Brighton this afternoon in their next Premier League hurdle. Thanks to a humiliating FA Cup exit at the hands of Crawley Town, the Whites have a lot of work to put in.

If they want to bounce back from their shock 3-0 defeat to the League Two side, they simply can’t settle for anything less than three points on home soil later today.

Marcelo Bielsa will be without the reliable Kalvin Phillips due to a suspension, so he must choose his lineup carefully. Another man who has caused some concern is Helder Costa.

The out-of-favour Portugal international made his first senior start since November against Crawley last time out and was unable to capitalise on his rare chance to shine. According to Sofascore, the winger missed two big chances to find the back of the net and lost possession 15 times. He was amongst the Leeds’ players who lost the ball the most times, and he struggled to make any impact with his attempted long balls and crosses.

With new signing Raphinha on the scene and Ian Poveda eager for game time, Costa should be grabbing any opportunity he has with both hands. Sadly, his lacklustre display in the FA Cup has likely only dug him into a deeper hole.

What is most unsettling about the winger’s recent run of poor form is that he was a force to be reckoned with during Leeds’ promotion-winning campaign. According to Transfermarkt, Costa contributed four goals and six assists last season, featuring in all but three of his side’s Championship fixtures.

But this time round, he has fallen drastically down the pecking order. The 27-year-old has made just seven Premier League starts and was dropped completely on six occasions.

It will be a tender subject for Andrea Radrizzani and co, who only recently shelled out on bringing Costa to Elland Road on a permanent £70,000 per week deal. Less than a year in, whispers are surfacing over whether the club should cut their losses already.

Indeed, Bielsa is stacked with talent when it comes his options on the right and if an experienced player like Costa can’t make an impact against a side like Crawley, questions must be raised.

Yorkshire Liver reporter Conor McGilligan recently shared his thoughts that the winger has “regressed” since last season, which could very well spell an early exit from his chapter in Yorkshire.

In other news, Rodrigo could force Bielsa to stray from his comfort zone…

According to Football Insider, Newcastle are planning on offering a new contract to Jacob Murphy in order to block a potential January exit.

What’s the story?

After spending the last couple of seasons out on loan, the winger has enjoyed a renaissance in his Magpies career this campaign, coming back into the fold under Steve Bruce and becoming one of the first names on the team-sheet – he’s started the last four games in the Premier League.

However, with his contract expiring at the end of this season, there was speculation that interested sides like Rangers would swoop in, but Football Insider have now delivered a major update on his long-term future.

They claim that the Magpies plan to offer Murphy a contract extension to ward off a potential cut-price departure in the January transfer window, or even lose him on a free transfer next summer.

Steve Bruce deserves credit

Bruce may not be Mr Popular on Tyneside right at this moment given how he’s gotten his team playing, but there’s no questioning that he deserves a bit of credit for giving Murphy the chance to reignite his Newcastle career.

After the winger’s sparkling display in the Carabao Cup against Morecambe, the Magpies boss was absolutely adamant that he wouldn’t be going anywhere in the summer transfer window, saying: “I won’t be letting him out on loan! Not after a performance like that. He deserves to stay with us and he has improved enormously.

“I have been very, very pleased even though he didn’t make the squad for the weekend. We have 20 odd players to choose from. But at this particular moment I won’t be letting Jacob go on loan.”

Since then, Murphy has become one of the few bright spots and key performers in a struggling Newcastle side, netting a stunning last-gasp equaliser against Wolves for example. Having arrived for £10m back in the summer of 2017, the 25-year-old is finally proving why he’s been hailed for having “so much ability”.

West Brom have always had trouble keeping hold of their best youth prospects and it seems like it’s a trend that sporting director Luke Dowling isn’t going to buck anytime soon…

What’s the word?

According to The Scottish Sun, SPFL giants Celtic are eyeing up a loan move for young Baggies winger Kyle Edwards ahead of the January transfer window.

It’s claimed that the 22-year-old is already out of Sam Allardyce’s plans and is set to be made available to leave next month.

Current Bhoys chief Nick Hammond once held a similar role at the Hawthorns, so he knows the academy graduate very well, and with the player’s contract up in the summer, the move could be made permanent.

Fatally familiar…

Whilst we firmly believe that Edwards isn’t good enough for Albion, as you can read here, he shouldn’t be allowed to leave the club for free – a fatal problem that the Midlands outfit have had for years.

Several of their brightest prospects have departed the club for free, usually to a well-established giant.

This was always prevalent under former chairman Jeremy Pearce, who oversaw the high-profile departures of Izzy Brown to Chelsea, and both Jerome Sinclair and Yan Dhanda to Liverpool.

It’s continued in recent times with Louie Barry finding himself at Villa, via a stint at Barcelona, and Morgan Rogers swapping the then-Championship side for Premier League winners Manchester City.

All of these departures are effectively torching away potentially mega profit – case in point being Nathan Ferguson, who was mooted with a £10m sale to Crystal Palace last January before he joined the south-east Londoners for free at the end of his contract in the summer instead.

Surely Edwards is better off being sold now before he enters the final six months of his current deal at the Hawthorns. It’s not as if he won’t have any suitors as evident with Celtic’s interest.

He was also once dubbed an “unbelievable player” with similar characteristics as Lionel Messi by teammate Romaine Sawyers, having witnessed his emergence in the youth set-up.

On just £20k-per-week, he’d surely be a bargain for any willing club. West Brom just need to shift him on for a fee, rather than losing out financially for the umpteenth time.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Sam Allardyce tipped to sign former West Ham star in January swoop…

Amid all the excitement surrounding Arsenal’s deadline-day signing of Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid, some may have already looked at fellow summer arrival Gabriel as ‘yesterday’s news’.

After all, the Gunners had finally landed a truly world-class, dominant central midfielder in Partey, and naturally all eyes will have been on the Ghana international.

And whilst the former Atletico man has already taken to Premier League football like a duck to water, earning himself a man of the match award in the win over Manchester United, Gabriel has arguably outshone him in these first few weeks of the season.

The Brazilian arrived from French side Lille for just £27m, far cheaper than Partey, and who had attracted interest from Sunday’s opponents United as well.

But since technical director Edu stepped in to ensure that the Gunners got their man, he has produced the goods in every single game that he has played.

Speaking after Arsenal’s win over Sheffield United, Mikel Arteta couldn’t help but hail the £65k-a-week earning monster. He said: “I am very impressed because I have always said in this league one of the most difficult positions to play is centre-back. You get challenged, exposed many times and tested many times for 96 minutes.

“I saw on the first day he has a lot of personality, he has big courage to play. He’s very secure, very stable as well mentally throughout the game and I think he has the physical and technical attributes to adapt very well to the league. That’s why we signed him but credit to him because in this short space of time that’s a big thing.”

And on Sunday, he produced arguably his finest performance of the season at Old Trafford. As per Sofascore, his 7.5 match rating was only lower than that of Partey, as he made a team-high of five tackles, registered four clearances and won an impressive seven of his 11 total duels too.

That led to Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp to insist that he’s the “real deal”. Whilst Partey may be the headline grabber for now, it’s Gabriel who continues to prove why he might be the most important signing of the summer.