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Southampton will be looking to put distance between themselves and the relegation spots in the Premier League when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion at St Mary’s on Sunday afternoon.

The Austrian manager has welcomed back the likes of Kyle Walker-Peters and Ibrahima Diallo from injury recently, and after they were rested in midweek, it seems likely that they will come back into the starting lineup against Graham Potter’s side.

Hasenhuttl rotated his side for the trip to Manchester City in midweek and whilst his side lost 5-2, they played in a positive way and looked good going forwards in the absence of Danny Ings.

Brighton look in serious danger of relegation from the top-flight this season, so defeat against the Seagulls would potentially drag the Saints back into a relegation battle this season.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Hasenhuttl to line his side up on Sunday, with five changes from the team that started in midweek…

After shipping another five goals in midweek, Fraser Forster should come back in for Alex McCarthy, with the 32-year-old boasting an impressive record of just one goal conceded in six appearances so far this season.

There’s one change in defence, as Walker-Peters returns at right-back, with Ryan Bertrand switching back to left-back, meaning Mohammed Salisu drops to the bench.

There are two changes in midfield, as Takumi Minamino returns in place of Moussa Djenepo on the left-hand side, after the Malian came off with a knock at the Etihad, whilst Diallo comes back in for Jack Stephens, who deputised in a midfield role in midweek.

Finally, Nathan Tella deserves to start after his impressive performance in the 2-0 win against Sheffield United, which led Owen Hargraves to label him a “handful”, so he comes in for Nathan Redmond to partner Che Adams in attack against Brighton.

And, in other news… Forget Forster: Southampton can sign serious McCarthy upgrade in £8.6m beast

Glasgow Rangers winger Brandon Barker may well have played his last game for Steven Gerrard’s side, according to ex-Ger Alan Hutton.

What’s the word?

Despite his best efforts, Barker has found himself playing very little football this season and started just four times for the 54-time Scottish champions before being shipped out on loan to Oxford United for the rest of the season.

Hutton recently said that the 24-year-old has been given “more than enough chances” ahead of some of the club’s youngsters and doesn’t expect him to play for Rangers ever again.

Indeed, Oxford boss Karl Robinson struggled to contain his delight after landing his top target, and the U’s could therefore emerge as a legitimate contender to acquire his services for good when the transfer market reopens in the summer.

End of the road

It looks like Rangers could finally rid themselves of a player who has caused more problems than what he is worth.

His lack of physicality, work rate and technique has been a major source of criticism from supporters, whilst Gerrard has preferred the likes of Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi on the left wing, per Transfermarkt.

When Barker arrived on the scene on the Govan side of Glasgow after his arrival from Manchester City in 2019, the Ibrox boss billed him as “the type of player we’ve been looking for” following a successful loan spell with Preston North End.

However, despite scoring his first goal for the club in his league debut at Ibrox against Livingston, he has struggled to make much of an impression. In 26 games for the Gers, he’s managed a measly total of three goals, and hasn’t even provided a single assist – a woeful return for someone who plays in an attacking role.

Barker was named the Academy Players’ Player of the Year in the 2013–14 season and later signed his first professional contract with Manchester City that same year. But it’s been quite a dramatic fall from grace for the English left-winger, who currently earns around £8,500-per-week at Ibrox.

If Rangers can get him off the wage bill for good, that would free up funds for Gerrard to reinvest into other areas of his squad. Ross Wilson must be ruthless with the 24-year-old come the summer, and try and salvage some sense of pride from the disaster of his signing.

The fact Barker already finds himself out on loan after the Gers boss’ lofty praise that he was what they were looking for, just speaks volumes of how badly his move has gone. His time is up, and this summer should be his last as a Rangers player.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard should unleash Rangers defender Calvin Bassey against Hamilton Academical…

Many Arsenal fans were left to slam the display of Pablo Mari in the first half away at Leicester City in the Premier League at Sunday lunchtime.The central defender was partially at fault for the early goal that was scored by Youri Tielemans as he failed to close down the Belgium international in the box, who ended up having a free shot on goal and thus blasted the ball past Bernd Leno into the far corner of the net.It made Mikel Arteta’s quest of taking all three points away from the King Power Stadium that much harder as they found themselves 1-0 down very early on again, following an early goal conceded last week at home Manchester City through a Raheem Sterling header.Nonetheless, it is a piece of defending that Mari will not want to look back on. Arsenal fan reaction to Mari display

These Gunners supporters slammed his performance in the first half on Twitter, with one Gooner even going as far to say that the 27-year-old Spaniard was ‘abysmal’:

“@YankeeGunner one for the Mari haters that! Shocking goal to concede. Terrible from Xhaka, Willian and Mari”Credit: @BradleyPowell04″Mari man what are you doing brother?”Credit: @NotZuZmeister”Mari’s positioning was horrendous”Credit: @soundnajib”How do Mari and Elneny just watch Tielemans run 30+ yards and let him get a shot off?? Bad!”Credit: @capitalgunner”That’s abysmal by Mari and Elneny.”Credit: @afcsidd”Awful defending…. Elneny or Mari need to get out and shut that down… Xhaka is never going to catch him on that recovery sprint.”Credit: @DanArsenalHQ1In other news, find out whose display was slammed versus Benfica here!

With their prospects of an unbelievable 10-in-a-row in the Scottish Premiership looking bleaker than ever before, Celtic will be searching for crumbs of comfort over these coming months.

Neil Lennon’s side just need to hit the reset button and plan a rebuild, and the one thing that can always help is blooding some fresh, young talent.

The Hoops were forced into doing that last time out against Hibernian, with the likes of Stephen Welsh and Cameron Harper both getting an opportunity to start from the off.

And whilst Harper fluffed his lines on the day – he finished with the lowest match rating of any player on the pitch as per Sofascore (6.1) and couldn’t get involved in the game with just 30 total touches (no Celtic outfield player who started the game had less) – a second chance should be handed out to the 19-year-old.

The young American started the game up front against Hibs, but he can play on either flank too, and that can give Lennon an extra attacking weapon in the years to come.

In fact, sources have told The Athletic that “both Neil Lennon and the first-team core have been impressed by Harper’s work rate and technical quality in training”, showing how highly-rated he is behind the scenes.

And Harper hasn’t just been impressing those at club level either, with his coach for the USA U20s, Anthony Hudson, saying: “He’s different. You don’t normally get out-and-out wingers, players that really love to get down the outside and beat defenders and put crosses in, and he’s got the quality to be able to do it. He loves doing it.

“Not only has he got quality, but also he’s a great kid. He’s incredibly determined, incredibly focused. There’s something different about him.”

And that temperament is exactly what will be required for the rest of this season as Celtic scramble around for some positives to take away from what has been a horrible and difficult campaign.

If Harper can prove his worth amid these trying times, then the Hoops will know they’ve got someone for the future who they can actually rely upon when the going gets tough.

So whilst he did have a disappointing display against Hibs, Lennon should consider giving Harper another chance over these coming weeks and months so that one bad game doesn’t play on his mind for too long.

One bad performance doesn’t make a player, and certainly not a young one at that and before the Scottish Premiership season is over, Harper needs to have been given a proper opportunity to shine over a longer period of games.

كشف أيمن أشرف لاعب منتخب مصر عن كواليس حديث كارلوس كيروش المدير الفني مع اللاعبين قبل مواجهة السودان مساء اليوم في كأس العرب.

تمكن منتخب مصر من تحقيق فوز كبير على حساب السودان بنتيجة 5-0 في اللقاء الذي جمع بينهما ضمن منافسات البطولة الدولية.

وقال أيمن أشرف في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “الكأس”: “نحمد الله على الفوز اليوم أمام السودان، وكان مهم حصد الـ3 نقاط اليوم لأننا نفكر في التأهل كأول مجموعة، والأداء كان مطمئنًا اليوم وإن شاء الله نحقق الفوز في المباراة القادمة”.

وأكمل: “كيروش قال لنا استمتعوا في الملعب، والحمد لله استطعنا أن نستمتع، والأداء كان جيدًا على مدار الشوطين، الروح بين اللاعبين جيدة، كل اللاعبين سواء احتياطي أو أساسي، روح واحدة”.

وعن مواجهة الجزائر المقبلة، أوضح: “الجزائر بلد شقيق، الكرة بها تحديات كبيرة، نحن نفكر في المباراة القادمة بشكل إيجابي”.

طالع | موعد مباراة مصر القادمة في كأس العرب أمام الجزائر

واختتم: “منتخب مصر يُفكر في الفوز دائما، وكل تفكيرنا منصب على ذلك لنتأهل كأول مجموعة”.

Southampton were linked with signing Manchester United left-back Brandon Williams on loan before the summer transfer window shut and following the injury to Ryan Bertrand recently, it could be argued that the Saints made a mistake in not bringing him to St Mary’s.

Sky Sports suggested that Southampton made an enquiry for the 20-year-old towards the end of the transfer window, but a deal could not be concluded.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has subsequently lost regular left-back Ryan Bertrand to injury after he went off in the 4-3 win against Aston Villa recently with natural centre-back Jack Stephens filling in there in the recent 2-0 win against Newcastle United.

Williams has made just two appearances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side this season, both of which came in the League Cup, which suggests that his progress at United is being stifled and a loan to Southampton would have benefitted both parties.

The defender was praised heavily by his manager following United’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup last season, with him saying:

“You saw Brandon [Williams] and the character he showed. He played a square pass into Mount [which led to their second goal] and he probably felt a bit responsible, but for the rest of the half, he was absolutely outstanding. The kid has been out for a while and not played, and had the eye injury, but his character and personality out there was great, he kept going and kept going,” (per Manchester United).

Both of the games the 20-year-old full-back played in have resulted in 3-0 wins for the Red Devils, with the academy graduate earning impressive 7.37 and 7.22 ratings for his performances against Luton Town and Brighton respectively.

This shows that when the Englishman has played, he has impressed, so perhaps he would have been an excellent option for Hasenhuttl to have in his Saints side, especially when you consider the lack of options available to the Austrian manager in that position.

Sam McQueen is currently out injured with a cruciate ligament rupture, whilst 20-year-old Jake Vokins has just three senior Saints appearances to his name, so is perhaps not ready for a starting role in the Premier League.

Therefore, it would have been sensible for Hasenhuttl to recruit another left-back with slightly more experience, such as Williams, and it could be argued that Southampton chief executive Martin Semmens may have let his manager down by not securing a loan deal for the Manchester United man.

However, with United having recruited fellow left-back Alex Telles during the summer transfer window, you would imagine that Williams’ game time won’t be increasing any time soon, so perhaps we will see the Saints return for the 20-year-old in the upcoming January transfer window.

Luka Modric has revealed how close he was to signing for Newcastle United before joining Spurs instead.

Speaking to Four Four Two magazine (via The Chronicle), the Real Madrid star said:

“I heard a few rumours at the time that Newcastle were thinking about taking me there, like many other teams, but I don’t remember anything in particular.

“People were speaking about it and I think Kevin Keegan once gave an interview on the subject. I heard that.”

Modric could have been a great signing

Indeed, the St. James’ Park faithful were reportedly on the verge of signing Modric from Dinamo Zagreb all the way back in 2008 before he eventually signed for Tottenham Hotspur instead.

Nonetheless, he would have been a great signing for the North East club given what he has achieved in the beautiful game.

A true icon of the Premier League, Modric scored 13 goals and made a further 21 assists in 127 games over the course of four consecutive terms in the top flight (Transfermarkt).

Modric reached another level at Real Madrid

Despite his impressive play in north London, Modric has reached another level entirely for Los Blancos since moving away from England’s highest division.

The Croatia international has won the UEFA Champions League no fewer than four times, as he has also claimed two La Liga titles and won the Ballon D’Or in 2018 in recognition of his services (Transfermarkt).

Modric is also an international icon

Indeed, Modric is also an international icon for his country, scoring 16 goals in 129 appearances for Croatia’s senior team, as the 35-year old even captained them to a FIFA World Cup final in 2018, in where they lost out 4-2 to France (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, there would be a debate as to whether he would have reached the same heights at St. James’ Park, but there is no doubt that he would have been a class signing for the Magpies.

In other news, find out what Ashley’s latest approach to the takeover is here!

MatériaMais Notícias

A Chapecoense continua a apresentar novidades para o ano de 2016. Na tarde desta sexta-feira, o clube anunciou o acerto com o volante Moisés, que estava noAvispa Fukuoka (JAP).

O jogador de 24 anos, que já fará parte da pré-temporada do elenco em janeiro, despertou a atenção da equipe catarinense após sua passagem pelo Sampaio Corrêa, na Série B. Em sua carreira, Moisés ainda atuou por Bragantino e Boa Esporte.

RelacionadasChapecoensePor atacado! Chape anuncia Kempes e outros dois reforços para 2016Chapecoense17/12/2015

Com o anúncio do volante, a Chape confirmou seu sexto reforço para a próxima temporada. Desde a semana passada, foram contratados os laterais João Carlos, que defendeu o Paysandu, e Gimenez, que jogou no Goiás, o volante Josimar, que atuou no Botafogo-SP, e os atacantes Silvinho e Kempes, que estavam no Joinville.

Recent Chelsea signing and former Liverpool transfer target Kai Havertz seriously impressed for his country during Germany’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Switzerland on Tuesday. The UEFA Nations League clash saw the versatile midfielder dominate, coming up with a goal and an assist in 77 minutes.

The 21-year-old’s start to life in England was slow but he’s beginning to really flourish at Chelsea. Now, with his recent international performance, Liverpool will be cursing themselves for not stepping up talks whilst they had the chance.

Liverpool are missing a player like Havertz

The Reds have been crying out for a creative midfielder like Havertz ever since Philippe Coutinho left the club. The Brazilian’s skill on the ball and his no-fear shots from outside the box were the perfect antidote for a tough opposition defence. Liverpool may boast perhaps the best attack in the Premier League, but their midfield is in serious need of some electricity.

According to FotMob, Havertz led by example with his Player of the Match rating of 8.9. Not only did he get himself on the scoresheet but he created a whopping six goalscoring opportunities, the most in the match, and made five key passes. He also completed the most dribbles (4) and won the most duels (8) out of any other player on the pitch.

Havertz made a very brief cameo appearance the last time out, but the previous international coming together between Germany and Turkey saw him grab another two assists for his country (via Sofascore). He is becoming noticed by almost every sporting star on the planet, with Raphael Honigstein recently lauding him as an “outstanding” player.

If the German rising star can deploy these dominating performances in the Premier League, he will truly help to guide Chelsea to success. Liverpool will undoubtedly be wishing he was creating these chances for them though, as they take on a very fierce-looking Premier League to defend their recent title.

In other news, James Pearce reveals Adrian truth which may make fans change their view…

Slaven Bilic has secured Premier League football for West Bromwich Albion in the upcoming 2020/21 season. Now, however, comes the more difficult part and the Croatian coach knows his team will have to strengthen in order to compete with England’s best in the top-flight.

According to Sky Sport’s Rob Dorset, the Baggies are plotting Callum Robinson’s big return to the Hawthorns in the ongoing summer transfer window after he impressed on his last loan spell at the club.

This, of course, doesn’t exactly come as a huge surprise seeing how the 25-year-old has managed to net three goals in 10 starts for West Brom after arriving on loan from Sheffield United in the January transfer window. Now he’s back with the Blades but Bilic would be keen on his return, this time on a permanent contract.

But the same source does suggest that even though initial talks had been held already, there’s quite a lot interest from other teams as well, at least one of which is from the Premier League too. Needless to say, this could make the deal that much more complicated to get over the line.

At the moment, this is all we’ve gotten on this potential transfer and it will be interesting to see how things develop in the immediate future as the transfer window starts to heat up.

One way or another, we can definitely expect some new arrivals at the Hawthorns soon rather than later.

Verdict

Robinson has been a great addition to the Baggies’ team from January onward. He played his role perfectly and did his part to push West Brom towards promotion in the end.

For that reason, the fact that Bilic does indeed like the 25-year-old forward is not surprising. But following his good loan stint, Sheffield and Chris Wilder may want to incorporate him into their squad as well.

With that in mind, the stage is set for an interesting transfer battle between the two Premier League outfits.