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West Ham United’s chances of qualifying for Europe were dealt a devastating blow as they were defeated by fellow hopefuls Everton at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Irons boss David Moyes will rue his side’s ineffectiveness in front of goal as the misfiring Londoners could’ve easily snatched something from the game considering they were only beaten by the solitary goal.

With all of the Hammers’ attacking options on the pitch, they really should’ve mustered up more of a threat in front of goal, especially as they dominated possession (68%).

Moyes was dealt an early injury setback in the first half which saw Manuel Lanzini forced off just before the break.

He was replaced by Jarrod Bowen, who was snubbed from the starting XI for the second successive game, so he surely had a point to prove to his manager.

However, he offered West Ham absolutely nothing in attack and as a result, he was graded amongst their worst performers (6.4) as per SofaScore ratings.

The Evening Standard’s Jack Rosser added further weight to this argument in his post-game column, where he claimed the former Hull City winger “made very little impact” from the bench and similarly, football.london suggested that he “missed a glorious chance to make it 1-1.”

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Aside from that one golden opportunity, Bowen struggled to assert his dominance on the Toffees’ back four, registering only 26 touches – the same number goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski managed throughout the game.

To make matters worse, the Polish shot-stopper made more passes (13) than the 24-year-old (ten), too, and that only goes to show how fruitless he was in the 47 minutes he was on the pitch.

His one shot off target resulted in one big chance missed, whilst he was caught offside once and lost possession ten times – once every 4.7 minutes, and once every 2.6 touches, as per SofaScore.

Bowen’s struggle with the visitors was further seen by the fact that he won just 50% of his duels, with Lucas Digne and Michael Keane often getting the better of him on the day.

Considering it was only the second time this season that the £27m-rated attacker had been out of the starting XI in back-to-back matches, Moyes would have been expecting to see a reaction when subbed on but frustratingly, he may want to think again about his involvement in the coming matches.

Bowen was just one of many Irons stars to be unproductive but his place is most at risk compared to say, a Michail Antonio.

There are three very winnable games left remaining in Brighton, relegated West Brom and Southampton but the likes of Bowen will need to vastly improve if the Hammers are to top off their fantastic season with European qualification.

AND in other news, £13.5m-rated West Ham lightweight who lost 83% duels badly let Moyes down again…

Liverpool were unbeaten in all competitions the last time they had a game in the Champions League. Since then, they’ve only lost to West Ham but made up for it in an incredible performance that saw the side score four goals against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

The Reds remain unbeaten and at the very top of the tree in their Champions League group, with the maximum 12 points and seven points clear of second-place Porto, who coincidentally are their opponents on Wednesday evening.

This unbeaten run in Europe has put Liverpool through to the last sixteen, and for this reason, we expect a much different side to the starting eleven we saw against Arsenal on Saturday evening.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed in his press conference that we would see changes in tonight’s game;

“We always respect the competition but we have to think about ourselves, our schedule and the situation of our players first,”

With that in mind, here is Football Fancast’s predicted XI for Liverpool vs Porto…

With seven changes to the starting line up, we predict that Liverpool will bring in many players that we only see in domestic cup tournaments, but Klopp will leave an element of first-team experience in each line of play, with Joel Matip, James Milner and Diogo Jota all starting.

The changes will see fan favourites like Sadio Mane, Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah axed from the line up, in an attempt to give them a rest before an important Premier League game against Southampton at the weekend, where Klopp’s side will look for an opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea and Manchester City.

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Taki Minamino will take the place of Mane, and will be hoping to have further impact on Liverpool’s season after he scored the fourth goal of the game against Arsenal at the weekend.

We expect to see some young players get minutes as well this evening, with Ibrahima Konate, 19-year-old Tyler Morton and Neco Williams predicted to join the side. All three will be hoping to make an impact to impress their German coach in the game.

Klopp will certainly not go into this game with the mentality of allowing a loss, so it is likely we could see him strengthen the side with more experienced players like Trent Alexander Arnold or Jordan Henderson in the second half, but only if the starting team is getting eaten alive by a Porto side who are in need of a win to push Atletico Madrid and AC Milan further away from qualification.

In other news: Liverpool must secure new deal for Sadio Mane

Newcastle United have made a ‘request for information’ about Lille’s Renato Sanches, according to Calciomercato. 

The lowdown

The 24-year-old helped Lille to see off Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title last season, but they have struggled so far this term. With just four games to go until the halfway point of the season, they find themselves down in 13th place, placing their hopes of European qualification in serious doubt.

The Portuguese maestro missed seven of the first eight games through a meniscal injury and has been limited to four league starts so far in 2021/22 (via Transfermarkt).

Another Premier League club in Wolves actually tried to sign the midfielder on loan in the final hours of the summer transfer window (via The Athletic).

The latest

According to Calciomercato, Sanches’ agent Jorge Mendes apparently wants to arrange a move away from Lille as soon as January. The Ligue 1 champions have set his asking price at €35m, which equates to about £29.8m.

Serie A giants AC Milan have identified the 24-year-old as a potential replacement for Franck Kessie, but Newcastle, who have made enquiries over the past few weeks, can offer him a significantly larger pay packet thanks to PIF’s lucrative takeover.

The verdict

Sanches would be quite a coup for Newcastle. He may be remembered on these shores as a Swansea City flop, but he’s come a long way since that ignominious spell in south Wales back in 2017/18.

He was hailed as ‘terrific’ for his performance against reigning world champions France at Euro 2020 and has continued to shine on the biggest stages.

Tutto Mercato Web (via Sempre Milan) showed him with praise following his display in last week’s Champions League victory over RB Salzburg, dubbing him a “giant” who was “physically and technically perfect”.

However, the worry for Newcastle is his alarming injury record, and that ought to make them think twice about a near-£30m move for the Portugal midfielder.

In other news, this £9m-valued ace could leave St James’ Park in January

A Newcastle transfer update has emerged, regarding Lille’s Sven Botman and Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard as PIF aim to seal the first signings of their era with the club.

What’s the talk?

According to Fabrizio Romano in The Guardian, the Magpies are hoping to land both players in January to bolster their squad in a bid to avoid relegation.

The report claims that Botman could cost them a fee in the region of £30m-£40m, whilst they are open to signing Lingard on loan or permanently.

Delight

Newcastle fans will surely be elated by this update from Romano as it shows that the club are making serious plans to strengthen Eddie Howe’s squad in the market.

They have identified two players with recent experience of thriving at the top level and both of them could come in and make a positive impact on the team. Transfermarkt value Lingard at £19.8m and Botman at £25.2m, which means that the club could bring in a £45m-rated duo to improve their side midway through the campaign.

The Magpies have conceded the most goals in the Premier League this season and the signing of a defender could be crucial in their efforts to remain in the division. Botman helped Lille to keep an outstanding 20 clean sheets in Ligue 1 last term as he averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.08, showing that he has the talent required to keep shutouts as part of an organised defensive set-up.

Fans would surely be buzzing to see a defender with an impressive, recent, record of performing consistently as a centre-back in Ligue 1. He has helped Lille to multiple clean sheets in France and he could now head to England to do the same for Newcastle, which the supporters – and Howe – would love to see if it helps them to pick up more points.

Last season, Lingard produced nine goals and six assists in 16 Premier League appearances. He averaged 1.1 key passes per game as he showed that he has the quality to produce consistent end product in the final third during his loan spell with the Hammers.

Therefore, he could potentially come in and be a match-winner for Newcastle as he has proven that he can score and create goals at this level. His finishing and playmaking could be the difference for Howe’s side in tight games and that is why fans would be delighted with his arrival too.

Overall, these two players would appear to be high-class potential additions and Newcastle simply must swoop.

AND in other news, Possession lost 110x: Howe must brutally axe “fantastic” NUFC dud with 66% pass rate…

The last few weeks have been a triumphant affair for Sunderland. Lee Johnson’s team are now fourth in the League One table and are unbeaten in their last eight matches, winning seven in that time frame.

It would seem that promotion could finally be on the cards for the Black Cats this season.

Before they prepare for the run-in, however, they face Tranmere in the Papa John’s Trophy final. The Mackems travel to the capital and Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon to face the League Two opposition in what should be a comfortable win on paper.

That being said, all form goes out the window when you play in a final. Sunderland have been at this stage before but tasted defeat to Portsmouth in 2019; they know they cannot afford any slip-ups.

With such a crucial match ahead, Johnson will have plenty of dilemmas to mull over in terms of his team selection. Here’s the XI we’re predicting him to pick.

Life at the Stadium of Light is never simple and that has been evident this week.

Sunderland defeated Portsmouth but, as the week drew to a close, it became apparent that injuries were going to bite them once again.

They are already missing a number of players including Denver Hume and Bailey Wright, but Jordan Jones is now a major doubt to play after suffering a minor injury. Both he and Aiden O’Brien are set to face late fitness tests but Johnson claims O’Brien is far more likely than Jones to play.

That being said, we suggest both could miss out. Consequently, Sunderland may make as many as four changes from the Pompey clash. Chris Maguire comes into the side for O’Brien while Conor McLaughlin, fit again after hernia surgery, is in for Jones.

He shifts into a central area in defence, with Max Power preferred at right wing-back in a five-man backline.

Wright is set to miss out while Dion Sanderson is cup-tied, having already played for Wolves under-21s in this competition. Fortunately, they have Tom Flanagan back, who can take the place of Sanderson.

The final replacement is in the middle of the park, where Carl Winchester has to sit out. The midfielder has already played for Forest Green in this year’s competition so, like Sanderson, he is cup-tied.

Johnson revealed that Grant Leadbitter is set to return from a dislocated shoulder, so he slots in for Winchester.

AND in other news, Dreyfus may be on the verge of repeating one of Donald’s biggest SAFC mistakes already…

In a recent article, Alasdair Gold criticised the performance of Tottenham Hotspur right-back Matt Doherty in Spurs’ North London derby defeat on Sunday.

The match was ultimately decided by goals from Arsenal duo Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette, whose respective strikes cancelled out Erik Lamela’s stunning opener for Spurs 33 minutes into the game, with Mikel Arteta’s side eventually running out 2-1 winners.

While none of the Tottenham players covered themselves in glory for their efforts at the Emirates Stadium, Doherty was arguably one of the worst performers on the day, with the £74,000-per-week Irishman earning a SofaScore match rating of 6.4 for his display, a rating better than only Son Heung-min – who was withdrawn due to injury after just 19 minutes – and Hugo Lloris.

Rather unsurprisingly, the 29-year-old was one of the players who came under fire in Gold’s article for football.london looking back at the defeat, with the journalist claiming that there is “no excusing” the way Kieran Tierney drifted past the Tottenham right-back shortly before Odegaard’s goal, suggesting that Doherty “might as well not have been there.”

Gold added: “Doherty was pulled all over the place and was left frequently out of position as Arsenal targeted his side of the pitch with overloads, knowing Bale would not be providing the same cover as Son and then Lucas would on the opposite flank for Sergio Reguilon.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Since joining Tottenham late last summer, Doherty has not endured the best of times in north London thus far, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.71 over his 15 Premier League appearances this season – ranking him as the club’s joint ninth-best performer in the top flight.

Following his latest display, which Gold has understandably criticised, and with Serge Aurier waiting in the wings, it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which Doherty spends the next few games on the bench for Spurs.

In other news: Tottenham have been sent a warning over Harry Kane – find out more here!

Eddie Howe has been handed a huge behind-the-scenes boost over Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier’s recovery from injury…

What’s the latest?

The Toon defender has been out of action since February and is now taking steps forward towards making his return to the first-team squad before the end of the season.

Journalist Miles Starford Tweeted: “Kieran Trippier close to injury ‘handover’.”

This Tweet was in relation to Howe’s comments on the defender’s current situation. Speaking about Callum Wilson and Trippier, the head coach said: “They’ll definitely be stepping it up.

“I don’t think they’ll be with us at all, so they won’t train with the group. There will be a handover period for Kieran, I think, where he’ll go with our sports science guys.”That might happen at some stage soon. It’s not happened yet. Both players are still with physiotherapists.” Howe will be buzzing

Howe will surely be buzzing with Trippier’s recovery and the pace at which he is going through it. These comments suggest that he is making good progress and stepping up the work that he is doing at Darsley Park to get himself back in contention to play in the Premier League.

The Toon boss will be keen to see him back out on the pitch in the coming weeks to make sure that he heads into the summer with a good base of fitness under his belt.

If he fails to play any minutes before the end of the campaign then that will mean that he will have gone around six months without competitive minutes by the start of 2022/23 and that is not an ideal way to start a season. Therefore, getting him back in for the last few matches would be a big boost ahead of the summer.

Howe will also be delighted with his return to action because of the quality he has on the pitch. In the top-flight this term, he has scored two goals in four matches and made a whopping 6.0 tackles and interceptions per game from right-back since joining from Atletico Madrid.

The England international has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.67 for the Magpies so far and this is why the head coach will be keen to have him back in the squad. He is a joy to watch with his sublime performances in defence, as he was able to showcase his attacking and defensive quality prior to his injury against Villa.

AND in other news, NUFC could finally axe shocking £80k-p/w flop with “insane” £40m “star in the making”…

Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting with delight to a video from Shaun Williamson, who played Barry in Eastenders.

This season has been fantastic for the Ibrox outfit so far. They currently lead the Premiership by a huge 21 points (BBC), and have lost just one game in all competitions (Sky Sports). After 10 years without a piece of major silverware, it looks like they might finally get their hands on a trophy at the end of this campaign.

This a season for the Gers supporters to really enjoy, especially when it comes at the expense of their fierce rivals Celtic. A video has popped up on Twitter of Williamson sending a message to “Neil, Broony and the Bhoys”, with the message coming from their friends from Edmiston Drive – where Ibrox is located.

As you can imagine, the Gers fans absolutely loved this message, which was relayed by Twitter account @Ruth_Less_Lady, and they took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Williamson video below

“that is utterly outstanding. Genuinely thinking of changing my ringtone”

Credit: @k_tinnin

“That is sensational.”

Credit: @screebs69

“I’m in tears, that is tremendous”

Credit: @ms_waits

“That might just be the greatest thing I have seen”

Credit: @gordyb1872

“That is absolutely outstanding”

Credit: @itstheLIKWID

“Outstanding. Well worth refreshing Twitter like it’s deadline day”

Credit: @official_garryg

In other news, Rangers fans react to this Ibrox news.

Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Tammy Abraham could become one of Aston Villa’s key players should he join them this summer.

The England striker has slipped down the pecking order under Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea and has been strongly linked away from Stamford Bridge in recent weeks.

Abraham is still the Blues’ top goalscorer having netted 12 times in all competitions but has scored just once under Tuchel and hasn’t started a Premier League game since February, with Timo Werner often preferred.

He’s been an unused substitute in each of Chelsea’s previous four Champions League matches, which has led to increased speculation surrounding his future.

Villa are one of several clubs interested in signing Abraham, who scored 26 times during their promotion-winning campaign two years ago.

And Bent told The Transfer Tavern that a return to the East Midlands would suit the 23-year-old frontman, although he also hinted at a possible move to West Ham:

“He spent a little bit of time at Villa and done quite well. But the price-tag they have put on his head is unbelievable for someone who isn’t playing.

“But again, those price-tags are getting thrown about everywhere. Of course, he wants to stay at Chelsea, but I think the best club for me would be Villa or West Ham.

“Villa, great stadium, great city and I think if he was to go there, he would be one of the key players for their stability and scoring goals. And that’s what players thrive on, and we know he can score a goal, he plays for his country, so Villa or West Ham for me.”

Speaking to Football Insider, pundit and Sky Sports regular Danny Mills has warned Tottenham Hotspur fans that they ‘won’t be happy’ if Rafael Benitez is appointed manager after Jose Mourinho’s dismissal.

The Lowdown: Levy eyeing Benitez

As revealed by the same outlet, Premier League and general top level experience is growing as a desirable trait for chairman Daniel Levy and co as the board eye Tottenham’s next manager.

This has led the club to set their sights on former Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle boss Benitez (Football Insider), who is also said to be keen on joining Tottenham.

The Latest: Tottenham fans warned over Benitez

However, while he has a glowing CV and a proven track record at the top level, having won the Champions League with Liverpool and Europa League with Chelsea, Mills has warned Spurs fans that they would not be happy if he was appointed manager.

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“Spurs fans have been moaning about the style of play,” the pundit explained to Football Insider.

“Is Rafa’s style of play exciting? No, not really, it’s counter-attacking football. He will defend, as Mourinho did, and then play on the counter-attack using pace in the wide areas.

“People will say ‘Oh, he was great when he was at Liverpool!’ He was, but he was still defensive and played counter-attacking football. He had weapons called Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Torres would run over the top and Gerrard would ping an eye of the needle pass 40 or 50 yards right onto his foot and allow him to finish.

“Yes, it’s a big name and you’d expect him to do well but Tottenham fans, if that happens don’t expect to play the ‘Tottenham way’ that we hear about. They won’t be happy about that.”

The Verdict: Mills bang on the money…

What we have heard consistently in the media is Tottenham’s desire to appoint an out-and-out attack-minded manager (The Guardian), with reports also suggesting they want someone young and dynamic.

Alasdair Gold says that the likes of Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter fit into this mould (football.london), but the same cannot be said of Benitez.

As explained by Mills, the 61-year-old’s counter-attacking style possibly wouldn’t draw favour with Spurs fans and is arguably more akin to Mourinho’s philosophy, with supporters possibly eager to avoid repeating the same mistake.

In other news: Tottenham favourites to appoint this ‘perfectionist’, find out more here.