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West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has been talking about Saturday’s huge clash with Newcastle, and he is absolutely full of praise for January signing Miguel Almiron.

Newcastle will look to make it three wins in a row on Saturday evening, as they travel to London to take on the Hammers.

The Magpies have won their last two contests 2-0, against Huddersfield and Burnley, although both of those matches were at home.

They will face a different test in the London Stadium, as the Hammers continue to be one of the most confusing and inconsistent sides in the league, swapping from good to bad performances on a weekly basis.

They beat Fulham 3-1 in their last home contest, but Pellegrini is clearly expecting a much sterner test this time around.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

What’s he said?

“When we went to Newcastle and beat them, they had won some games in a row,” he said at his Friday press conference, as reported by The Mag.

“Now though, they’re more consistent and have won their last two games.

“(They) have signed Almiron too, so we know we need to play a very good game if we want to get points here.

“He (Almiron) is a very good player and will be successful for Newcastle.”

A record-breaking threat

Almiron joined Newcastle in January for a club-record fee of about £20m, and the 25 year-old has impressed the Toon Army already with incredible pace and audacious skill.

Pellegrini is known to have a good eye for South American talent as well, so it is perhaps no surprise to hear the West Ham boss speak so highly of Almiron.

The Chilean’s comments also reveal how much Newcastle have improved, partly due to Almiron’s arrival, as the Magpies’ consistency in both results and performance levels has been superb recently.

Pellegrini knows his side are in for a fight, and judging by his admiration for Almiron, the Hammers may be tempted to set up a little deeper than usual to thwart the Paraguayan international’s pace.

Pundit Danny Murphy has claimed that Philippe Coutinho would not be welcomed back to Liverpool by the Merseyside club’s supporters.

What’s the word?

Murphy has addressed previous rumours that Coutinho could return to Liverpool having struggled to make his mark since arriving at Barcelona in January 2018.

Indeed, the former Liverpool midfielder told Sportingbet:

“Coutinho would never be welcomed back at Liverpool. It hasn’t worked out for him at Barcelona, but he made his bed by declaring how much he wanted to leave and now he has to sleep in it.

“I think even if Liverpool thought it was something they wanted, the fans would make it perfectly clear it wasn’t acceptable and would force them to pull the plug.

“The fans didn’t necessarily begrudge him his move to Barcelona, but he left himself no way to come back.”

Coutinho arrived at Liverpool from Inter Milan in 2013 and spent five years with the Reds, scoring 54 times in 201 appearances.

The Brazilian pushed for a move to Barcelona in the summer of 2017, before ultimately getting his wish last January as the move was completed.

There is no question that Coutinho was a star at Anfield, but according to Murphy, the Liverpool fans would not be interested in having him back.

Is Murphy right?

It’s a tough one. But he probably is right when considering the finances that would be involved to bring the South American back to the club.

Whilst Coutinho is a talent, Liverpool received £105m up front for the attacker and the deal could eventually rise to £142m.

Check out the video below to see how Brazil fans reacted to being asked how Cristiano Ronaldo would perform for them in a hilarious prank by Pl>ymaker FC…

Barcelona would expect a fair chunk of that back if they were to sell him, but Coutinho’s performances for the Spanish champions have been disappointing.

A record of 18 goals and 11 assists in 58 appearances for Barcelona is not disastrous, but he has had too many poor games for the club this season.

Liverpool have not exactly been at full flow in recent weeks, but it would still be a huge surprise if they made a move to re-sign the 5ft 8in ace.

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin enjoyed an excellent display as Everton earned a 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Goodison Park.

The result extended Everton’s run of games without a win over the Reds – they last defeated them in 2010.

However, Marco Silva’s side have ensured that Liverpool have lost significant ground in the title race – they are now second, one point behind Manchester City having played the same number of games.

Calvert-Lewin was matched up with Virgil van Dijk, challenging a player who is widely regarded as the finest central defender in English football right now.

Per WhoScored, the 21-year-old had two shots on goal, one of which was on target, and also won six aerial battles, second only to the Dutch centre-back.

Calvert-Lewin also completed both of his attempted dribbles and generally ran himself into the ground, leading to effusive praise from a number of Everton fans.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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Sheffield Wednesday took a step closer to the play-off places with an impressive 2-0 away win against strugglers Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday.

The win meant that Owls boss Steve Bruce remains unbeaten in his time in charge at Hillsborough, having now taken charge of nine games. 

Steven Fletcher’s fine form continued too. The 31-year-old Scot opened the scoring, marking his fourth goal in his last five Championship outings, as per Transfermarkt’s stats. Wednesday’s second goal came courtesy of a newer addition though, as Newcastle United loanee Rolando Aarons opened his account for the club.

The 23-year-old winger arrived on loan from St James’ Park in January, and has since established himself as a regular in Bruce’s side. In recent weeks, the young Englishman looks to have grown in confidence and his goal comes as a reward for his consistently impressive performances.

After the match, plenty of Owls fans took to Twitter to congratulate the attacker on his fine display…

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Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has demanded that Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino becomes more selfish in attack for Liverpool, and has suggested that his unselfish work for the team is affecting his personal goal tally.

The former Chelsea striker scored 200 goals throughout his career, which implies that he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to forward play and what an attacker needs to do – however, on this occasion, he might not have hit the nail on the head regarding Firmino’s form.

What’s he said?

Hasselbaink wrote in his column for the BBC: “What you also need as a traditional striker is a selfish streak. When I played, I always wanted to score goals and I would love to play in this Liverpool side because they create so many opportunities.

Jurgen Klopp has gotten quite inventive with his excuses this season. FFC’s James Jones think he has no one but himself to blame for Liverpol’s poor form in the video below…

“With 13 goals in all competitions this season, Firmino is not doing badly, but he ended up with 27 in 2017-18 and at this stage he already had 23.

“Salah is struggling for goals too, but Mane is making up for that with 11 goals from his past 11 games, and he is on fire right now. At the moment Liverpool do not have a big problem, but if Mane stops scoring they could have because they rely so heavily on their front three.”

Firmino simply has to sacrifice his personal goal tally

As Hasselbaink said, the Brazilian’s goal tally isn’t too bad and whilst it could be better, the role that Firmino plays right now is vital for Jurgen Klopp and the Reds.

It is abundantly obvious that Liverpool’s midfield is lacking creativity and has done ever since the departure of Philippe Coutinho – the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho, Adam Lallana and Gini Wijnaldum have contributed just seven goals and six assists in the league throughout the entirety of this season.

What Firmino does is vital to provide any sort of link between the midfield and attack. Yes, at times he does end up far too deep in positions that make you wonder what on earth he’s doing, but he simply has to do that in order to keep things ticking over nicely.

The former Hoffenheim forward is the epitome of a team player, and is perhaps the only member of the squad who will be bought a pint from each and every one of his teammates should Liverpool secure a maiden Premier League title.

Hasselbaink is wrong – whilst Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are finding the back of the net, Firmino can pat himself on the back for making it all happen.

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Reiss Nelson is one of the most exciting academy products to have emerged at Arsenal in recent years. The 19-year-old is widely considered as a future first-team talent, but his time in Germany has not been as fruitful as fans expected at the start of the season.

Initially, Julian Nagelsmann slowly introduced Nelson into the first-team and his faith in the youngster paid dividends.

The loanee notched six goals and provided one assist in his first seven Bundesliga appearances, impressing fans of both his temporary and parent club in the process.

But the hype which surrounded the early phase of his loan spell diminished after he struggled to maintain his early season form.

First-team opportunities have been at a premium and he has now gone 11 games without providing a single goal contribution.

However, a change of scenery seemed to do the trick for the struggling youngster on Thursday evening, as Nelson provided an assist for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to give England’s Under-21s the lead against Poland.

It was a moment of relief for the goal and assist-shy attacker, and plenty of the Gunners faithful on Twitter took the opportunity to laud his contribution.

And fans of the England national side and the north London giants will surely be hoping he can use his international impact to transform his form at Hoffenheim during the final weeks of his season-long loan deal.

Here’s what the Arsenal fans had to say about Nelson’s Under-21 display:

Bailey Peacock-Farrell was at the heart of Northern Ireland’s impressive victories over Estonia and Belarus last week and his showings might have been a sign to Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa that he is not a forgotten man.

Thank the high heavens for that.

The two victories mean Northern Ireland are top of Group C as they hope to repeat the heroics of the 2016 UEFA Euro competition in France, where they made it all the way to the Round of 16 before losing to Wales. Indeed, Peacock-Farrell has obviously been playing second fiddle in-goal since the start of the year after the Whites completed the signing of Kiko Casilla from Real Madrid, but a rebirth may be on the way.

The 32-year-old hasn’t done much wrong in his time at Elland Road but Leeds have looked a bit more vulnerable at the back during that time, which saw them drop down to third on the Championship table.

Casilla also got a red card in Leeds’ previous match at home against Sheffield United, suggesting that the wheels might be starting to come off for Bielsa and his team. Peacock-Farrell, however, proved in the two qualifying matches for Northern Ireland that he still has a lot to offer to the team and could be just the man to get their fight for automatic promotion to the Premier League back on track.

During the first-half of the season, Peacock-Farrell was immense for Leeds and was a rock in goal for the team that saw them take an early lead on the league table. If he can get back to that level, every White reading this may well have a new hero to look to as one of the most nerve-wracking ends to a season in recent Leeds memory ramps up.

The Yorkshire club now has to launch a massive fight until the season concludes if they were to play in the Premier League next season and the recall of Peacock-Farrell could be instrumental if that is going to happen.

Leeds fans, do you back the ‘keeper to come good? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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English football may finally be waking up to the talent on its own doorstep, and it’s all thanks to Germany.

The Bundesliga has long been compared to the Premier League when it comes to style of football, the speed of the league and the rabid, noisy fans, but there are a number of very obvious differences: fans can regularly afford to watch their team, while clubs in the German top-flight do not boast the same resources as those in England.

Those resources, however, are currently being funnelled into one mission: snapping up the best talent from English shores.

Jadon Sancho has blazed the trail, leaving Manchester City to join Borussia Dortmund in a deal that was worth £8million in 2017. He has been a revelation in Germany, playing regularly, making 47 appearances in total and scoring 10 goals, while also providing 21 assists. He has played four times for England and is routinely linked with Manchester United. That transfer fee could come to £100m or more.

Trusting one’s harvest often yields the best fruit and yet English football has consistently shied away.

Indeed, it took interest from Bayern Munich for Chelsea to start playing Callum Hudson-Odoi and even he has yet to start a Premier League game. He made his first start for England on Monday and turned in an exceptional performance in the 5-1 thumping of Montenegro, even laying on an assist to club-mate Ross Barkley. He may or may not be in the team to face Cardiff City this weekend.

Bayern, though, appear to believe that he has the talent to slot straight into their starting XI. Hudson-Odoi is 18 and was the subject of a bid worth over £30m in January. Chelsea resolved to keep hold of him and, ultimately, that may prove to be the correct decision; the club were handed a transfer ban by FIFA recently and will not be able to acquire any new players in the summer.

These two transfer stories, even when taken in isolation, prove something. There is a massive amount of talent on the Premier League’s doorstep and yet for too long it has been ignored.

It appears that this inexplicable trend might be changing. Gareth Southgate picked Hudson-Odoi and Sancho in his England squad, along with the likes of Declan Rice and Ben Chilwell. Two of those mentioned are teenagers; Chilwell was still eligible to play for the Under-21s in December and Rice only turned 20 in January.

It filters down, too. In the Under-21s, the likes of 18-year-old Ryan Sessegnon and 20-year-old Tom Davies are regulars for both Fulham and Everton. Phil Foden, the same age as Sessegnon, is the jewel in Manchester City’s academy and is surely set to make a first-team breakthrough next season.

Marcus Rashford, an undisputed starter at Manchester United, is still eligible for the Under-21s, along with the likes of Liverpool’s best right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Arsenal’s utility man, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Chelsea’s next great midfield hope Mason Mount, on loan at Derby County.

There is a golden generation waiting to break out and now there is no excuse not to give them the chance to thrive.

In recent years, there has been little consequence to leaving players in the reserve teams or sending them out on loan spell after loan spell after loan spell. Tottenham striker Harry Kane, now England’s captain, went on four loan spells across three years during his development. That he made it was more a happy accident than a foolproof plan. Now, though, there are more than a few interested spectators monitoring England’s best young players.

After Sancho proved such a valuable export, it is a realistic proposition for elite foreign clubs to target the players left banging on the glass ceiling in the youth teams.

Dortmund’s technical director, Michael Zorc, even claims that England now produces better youngsters than Germany; for so long the inverse has been true, with the youth systems of Bundesliga clubs feted as an example to follow.

Zorc told the Daily Telegraph: “The [English] teams don’t only spend much money on transfers or salaries but also on infrastructure. When you see these youth academies – for example, Man City – you can’t compare it with the German standard. It’s much higher, much higher.

“And also it seems to me that it’s something like a business model for them because even if they don’t succeed in their own teams they sell them for higher prices. I just read a figure of Man City – I think they’ve sold young players for more than €150 million within the last three to five years.”

England, of course, have a culture of winning at youth level. The Under-17 and Under-20 teams both won their respective World Cups in 2017.

Finally, now, it appears that there is a genuine pathway for the players in those teams to not only make it but to thrive at both club and international level.

Perhaps for the first time, English football owes Germany a huge debt of gratitude.

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Tottenham fans have been urging the club to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace after his performance on Wednesday night.

Despite Spurs winning 2-0, fans of the London club were impressed by the defender’s ability and have been sounding their appreciation on Twitter.

Wan-Bissaka has been incredible for Crystal Palace this season, catching the eye of one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League due to his commanding performances at right-back.

Full-back has been a real problem position for Spurs this season as Kieran Trippier has failed to replicate the form that saw him star for England at last summer’s World Cup.

The 21-year-old would be the perfect solution for Spurs’ full-back conundrum as he has helped Crystal Palace on their way to 10 clean sheets this season.

Fans on Twitter have been full of praise for the 21-year-old defender and they have been encouraging their club to make a move for him in the upcoming transfer window.

Here’s what Tottenham fans had to say on Twitter.

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Manchester United meet with old foes Barcelona for the first time since the 2011 UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday night, at the quarter-final stage of this year’s competition.

What was the key to defeat on that night?

United won’t want to remember that May evening at Wembley but the reason they were defeated eight years ago holds the key to how they can avoid lightning striking twice this time around.

On that night a much younger Lionel Messi absolutely ripped apart Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, like he had done in the same final two years earlier.

The Argentine may have only come away from the huge match with one goal to show for his efforts in a 3-1 win, but everyone knew he had pulled the strings of the whole Barca team throughout.

Nearly a decade later and not much has changed in the Catalan capital as the man considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time is still doing it week-in-week-out at the Camp Nou.

So, similar to how he had been in 2011, Messi is the one the Red Devils have to stop and if they can they will severely cripple their opponent’s capabilities. Though there’s one obstacle, how that’s much easier said than done.

Learning and stopping Ernesto Valverde’s men

Man United may not have been able to stop Messi’s Barca freight train eight years ago, but they can now if they learn lessons from Ferguson’s failure and taking another step towards lifting the famous trophy for the fourth time.

In the 2011 final, the Manchester side failed to recognise the importance of going back to the basics of man-marking to drown “The Magician” out from the defence, lining up with a back four.

The United of today have it in their power to switch to a formation of three centre-backs within a back-five without disturbing any defensive harmony.

Who is your club’s worst ever January signing? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have picked theirs in the video below and they didn’t disappoint…

If United single out Messi, of course Barca do have other key players, they can keep a lid on him with a trio of centre-backs and worry about the others after.

He creates as well as scoring goals with most of Valverde’s men’s play often flowing through the Argentina legend, so if Solskjaer fields Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof and Phil Jones in defence together he can severely weaken Barcelona’s supply line.