All posts by h716a5.icu

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Tottenham Hotspur were beaten on penalties by Chelsea in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday night, as per the BBC.

Spurs headed into the game with a 1-0 lead, afforded to them by a Harry Kane spot-kick at Wembley.

But without the likes of Son-Heung Min – away at the Asian Cup with South Korea – Dele Alli and Kane – both injured – Spurs were vanquished by Maurizio Sarri’s Blues.

Chelsea will now face Manchester City in the final at Wembley after Pep Guardiola’s side beat Burton Albion 10-0 on aggregate in the other last-four tie.

The west London outfit took a 2-0 lead in the second leg at Stamford Bridge through N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard, but a goal from Fernando Llorente sent the tie to penalties, where both Eric Dier, who had scored the winning penalty for England against Colombia at the World Cup, and Lucas Moura missed. The hosts scored all four of their efforts from 12 yards.

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Nevertheless, the performance was a gutsy one from a depleted Spurs, with captain Jan Vertonghen at the heart of their fightback.

The centre-back played with calmness and accuracy, distributing the ball as well as he tackled it, and made one goal-saving challenge on Hazard in the second-half.

And Spurs fans on Twitter were impressed with the Belgium international’s performance, even in defeat.

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West Ham are lining up a deadline-beating loan move for Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater, according to the Daily Mail.

The Hammers are keen to reinforce their midfield and have reportedly identified the former Leicester City star as a potential addition.

What’s the word?

Drinkwater moved to the Blues from Leicester City in 2017.

Chelsea paid £35million, per BBC, to bring in the title winner but he has struggled at Stamford Bridge.

Per Transfermarkt, Drinkwater has played just 30 minutes of football this season, in the Community Shield.

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And a number of clubs, including the Hammers, are now said to be keen to offer him a way out of Stamford Bridge.

Fulham, Burnley and Bournemouth are also said to have enquired after the player’s availability, per the Mail’s report.

A move to avoid

West Ham have a history of bringing in cast-offs from top Premier League clubs, most recently securing a deal for Jack Wilshere in the summer.

Drinkwater is a similarly risky prospect, such has been his lack of football in recent months and his lack of form when he has played.

The Blues flop has played just 23 times for the club and has been a shell of the player who helped Leicester win the Premier League title.

The Irons may see the value in taking him from Chelsea on a short-term deal, but he would do nothing to improve the club and has shown no signs of actually wanting to depart Stamford Bridge despite his lack of playing time.

West Ham should steer well clear, with Drinkwater seemingly happy to collect his wage packet every week until his deal expires in 2022.

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Everton signed Lucas Digne from Barcelona in the summer for £18 million, as reported by the BBC.

The left-back came to Goodison Park to serve as the successor to the veteran Leighton Baines, who at 34 years of age can no longer play week in, week out at the highest level.

As a Toffees hero, Baines left big boots to fill as the club’s first choice left-back, but Digne has quickly become a fan favourite on Merseyside.

His role

The 25-year-old has become an integral part of Marco Silva’s starting XI. The 23-cap France international has now made 23 Premier League appearances for the Toffees, 21 of which have been starts. In that time, he has racked up three goals and three assists, as per Transfermarkt’s stats.

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Aside from end-product going forwards, Digne has also brought some extra top-level experience to the Everton rearguard, and he is one of the most consistent and reliable defenders at Silva’s disposal.

His importance

Digne’s ability on the ball, honed in his years spent playing with PSG and Barcelona, make him a truly dynamic and modern full-back.

According to WhoScored’s stats, he has averaged 1.1 shots and 1.8 key passes per Premier League game this season. His average record of 2.2 accurate crosses and 1.6 successful long balls per match only serves to further highlight the impact he can have in the final third. 

Digne has been equally impressive defensively. His average of 2.1 tackles, 1.7 interceptions and 2.2 clearances per game demonstrates what a vital contribution he makes for his side at the back.

In what has been a fairly underwhelming season at Goodison Park so far, Digne’s form has been one of the highlights, and Everton fans will hope that they can look forward to watching the French full-back impress for many years to come.

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Despite producing a battling, determined performance, Queens Park Rangers fell to a 1-0 defeat to Premier League side Watford at Loftus Road on Friday night. The defeat saw Steve McClaren’s Championship side eliminated from the FA Cup.

The hosts fought hard, but could find no response to Etienne Capoue’s first half strike. The closest the Rs came was when centre-back and club captain Toni Leistner slid in to meet a fizzing cross at the far post, but from only a few yards out the 28-year-old could not turn the ball into the unguarded net. 

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It was a horrible miss, and one that the German defender won’t forget about in a hurry. The Hoops will feel that they did enough to deserve a goal, and a way back into the game, but Leistner could not apply the finishing touch at the vital moment.

Aside from the miss, Leistner contributed to an impressive and dogged defensive display. After the match, plenty of QPR fans took to Twitter to discuss the captain’s contribution against Watford…

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With a 3-0 lead by the 31st minute on Saturday, Portsmouth were in good shape to cruise to a comfortable victory over Southend United. However, the home side rallied to pull off a spectacular comeback and earn a point with a 3-3 scoreline. 

Pompey are now without a win in their last six matches in all competitions – a run which has seen their chances of automatic promotion out of League One suffer a real blow. Kenny Jackett’s side are now third in the table, five points behind second-placed Barnsley and eleven short of Luton Town in top spot.

Given this setback, there has been rising frustration amongst a section of the supporters at Fratton Park. The bad results have brought to light many issues that fans have with the industrial, pragmatic football that Jackett’s team play. 

In the wake of the weekend’s disappointing result, plenty of Pompey fans took to Twitter to debate Jackett’s future…

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Crystal Palace have had a pretty unremarkable season so far and while there have been some spectacular high points – see the 3-2 win over Manchester City and Andros Townsend’s thunderbolt volley – the Selhurst Park faithful can feel disappointed that they have been unable to break their season-after-season relegation battle, considering the quality they have in all areas of the pitch.

Roy Hodgson is sometimes guilty of choosing the wrong approach or making peculiar tactical decisions but he and his players deserve credit for the extraordinary turnaround during the 17/18 season, in which a number of players stepped up to the plate and proved their value.

This season, though, there have been few remarkable performers and arguably more who have declined. Who, then, are Palace’s most improved and far removed players?

Most improved: Jeffrey Schlupp

While Aaron Wan-Bissaka has certainly been the Eagles’ most impressive and consistent player this season, the 21-year-old has been that good since his debut in February last year, while Jeffrey Schlupp has come on leaps and bounds since last campaign.

The Ghanaian is taking the label of ‘utility man’ to a whole other level – deployed at left-back, left-midfield and, more importantly, central-midfield, the former Leicester man has been the surprise package of Palace’s season.

Tucked into a three, the 26-year-old has brought rare pace and a quality finishing touch to the Palace midfield, scoring five goals – a tally that brings him level with Wilfried Zaha.

Far removed: Patrick van Aanholt

Previously keeping Schlupp out of the lineup, van Aanholt was hugely impressive last season and struck up a dangerous partnership with Zaha on the left-flank, although this campaign he has looked less confident on the ball and his defensive shortcomings are being exposed far more often.

In the 17/18 season, the nine-cap Dutchman was a scoring threat for the Eagles, striking five times in 28 league appearances – however, he has netted just once in 26 appearances in 18/19.

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When he isn’t contributing going forward, the reasoning behind starting the 28-year-old is far less convincing considering his often poor positioning on the back foot can be a liability. He can undoubtedly bounce back from this disappointing six months, although he needs to get his act together sooner rather than later.

Liverpool were able to reclaim top spot in the Premier League following their 0-0 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford over the weekend, though pressure looks like it is starting to take its toll.

The Independent reports in detail Jurgen Klopp and Jordan Henderson’s touchline row following the England midfielder’s initial refusal to shake his manager’s hand after being substituted off.

Klopp, however, remains adamant that whatever pressure Liverpool are currently feeling is a positive kind. “Of course there is pressure. Actually, from my point of view, it is a very positive pressure, but I don’t have to play – I only sit here and say dumb things, so that’s easy,” the Liverpool boss told Sky Sports after the game.

Whatever the case, following their touchline incident, here are two potential replacements for Henderson as Liverpool captain should Klopp ever decide a change is needed.

Virgil van Dijk

There have already been calls from some sections of Liverpool’s support for Virgil van Dijk to be made club captain, and it is not hard to see why.

Van Dijk, who is currently the captain of the Netherlands national team, is a real leader at the back.

The 27-year-old can often be seen marshalling the rest of Liverpool’s defence while instructing goalkeeper Alisson when and where to play it short and when to get rid of the ball.

Ultimately, van Dijk is both the model central defender and leader. The former Southampton man looks destined to one day lead Liverpool as a permanent skipper.

James Milner

Already the vice-captain in the squad, Milner would probably be the natural choice as successor if it ever came to Henderson being stripped of the captaincy.

The 33-year-old has earned his stripes as vice-captain and certainly deserves to be in the conversation for the honour above given all of the experience he has amassed down the years as well as his displays on the pitch.

Milner works extremely hard whenever given the opportunity to play, making no complaints about being used as a makeshift right-back, left-back or wherever Klopp has deployed him.

If van Dijk is the model player when it comes to central defenders, then Milner is the model professional when it comes to all footballers.

By no means should Henderson be removed as Liverpool captain after a small incident such as the one at Old Trafford. But if he is — now or in the future — Liverpool have more than one player ready to come and step in.

Newcastle United looked to have played a blinder last summer after they re-signed Chelsea’s Kenedy on another loan deal.

The 23-year-old spent the second half of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign at St. James’ Park where he impressed, giving supporters reason to be excited about his swift return to Tyneside.

And fans were not the only ones who were glad to see Kenedy return with Rafael Benitez also unable to contain his delight.

“I’m really pleased to have Kenedy back with us. I’m sure every fan will be happy with this signing,” the Newcastle boss told the club’s official club website. “Hopefully he can keep playing at the same level that he reached with us last season. I wish him all the best for his time here.”

Unfortunately for Benitez and co, though, Kenedy has been unable to live up to all of that expectation.

Having scored just one goal and provided a sole assist in the Premier League this term, the Brazilian has been extremely disappointing and now finds himself far from the starting XI.

At 23, Kenedy still has plenty of time to find some consistency in his game, while he has already shown he is capable of performing in English football’s top flight.

Newcastle, however, no longer looks to be the place where he can achieve that.

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Tottenham Hotspur launched a loan move for Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale, according to BBC Sport journalist Guillem Balague.

Chairman Daniel Levy, per the report, attempted to bring the Wales international back to the club where he made his name.

What’s the word?

Bale left Spurs in 2013, joining Real in a then-world record deal worth £85million.

He has won four Champions League titles in Spain but has endured a difficult season at the Santiago Bernabeu and has routinely been booed by his own supporters.

Real, of course, were eliminated from Europe’s premier club competition last week, as they were thumped 4-1 by Ajax in Spain.

They are also effectively out of the running in the Liga title race and Balague claims that Spurs wanted to capitalise by launching a loan bid for Bale.

However, so low was the proposal that it never actually reached Real, as Levy was hopeful that his current would subsidise the majority of his reported £650,000-per-week wages.

Classic Levy

This is an opportunistic move that could well have been a masterstroke.

Bale was an icon at Spurs, making his breakthrough at the club and becoming a genuinely world-class player in north London.

A return is a romantic notion that fans continue to dream of but it is perhaps unlikely to ever come to fruition.

Such are his wages, Real would have to keep paying him, but it cannot hurt to ask the question.

Levy, it seems, did just that.

Real may well have said yes, just to help Bale avoid the prospect of yet more criticism in Madrid; that they didn’t is nobody’s fault, the chairman made the only bid that was possible for Spurs from a financial perspective.

Fulham were just 10 minutes away from recording an unlikely draw at Craven Cottage against Liverpool on Sunday.

Following Ryan Babel’s equaliser against his former side, it was looking like Scott Parker’s side were heading for arguable their best result of the season. Yet, in typical Cottagers fashion, they let themselves down once again.

Following a harmless strike from Reds forward Mohamed Salah, Sergio Rico somehow managed to drop the ball at the feet of Sadio Mane before unnecessarily tripping the Senegalese star up in the penalty area. James Milner stepped up to take the spot-kick and duly scored the winner, condemning the Cottagers to their 22nd defeat of the season.

However, despite many fans rightfully blaming Rico for his error, he should still keep his place in Parker’s side as he is clearly the best goalkeeper at the club once you look closer at the stats for this season in the Premier League.

In the 22 games that the Sevilla loanee has been involved in, he has conceded 45 goals which averages out at 2.046 per game which is a better ratio than both Fabri (2.5 goals) and Marcus Bettinelli (2.86 goals.)

Furthermore, Fulham’s only clean sheets this season, which came in fixtures against Newcastle United and Huddersfield Town, have come with Rico in between the sticks.

It could be argued that no matter who Fulham have in goal, it simply does not matter as the main reason for why they will be relegated to the Championship at the end of the season is their horrendous defence.

By letting their opponents score 70 goals in the Premier League in just 31 games, they are already well on course to record one of the worst defensive records in recent top-flight history.

Therefore, whilst it would easy for Parker to drop Rico for the Cottagers’ clash against Manchester City on March 30th, he should instead be making alterations to his back four who have been woeful throughout the 2018/19 campaign.

What do you think Fulham fans? Should Rico be dropped by Parker for his error against Liverpool? Or is it the defence who are ultimately to blame for this season? Let us know below.