Newcastle United will be desperate to climb even further away from the relegation zone, with consistency being the main focus from here on in until the end of the season.

Indeed, one thing that has been playing on fans’ minds in recent times is the lack of support that Salomon Rondon has received at the pinnacle of the attack, as he has had to fend for himself.

However, it appears as if the the Magpies have their sights set on a possible summer swoop as they’ve reportedly (as per Teamtalk) scouted Che Adams in recent times, and Birmingham City want £20 million for his services, while Newcastle will have to put together a package worth £16 million if they want to sign Rondon permanently.

So, Mike Ashley should set his sights on securing a double summer swoop that involves bringing Rondon to the club on a permanent deal and Che Adams as well for a potential combined £36 million.

Che Adams has established himself as one of the most dangerous forwards in the Championship this season, having scored an impressive 21 goals already. And, he has plenty of potential and bags of pace, which has been missing at the pinnacle of the attack for the Magpies in the current campaign.

Meanwhile, Rondon has been the standout performer at St James’ Park this season, with seven goals and three assists to his name up until this point, so he’s done more than enough to warrant a permanent switch.

Of course, Mike Ashley hasn’t really been known to splash too much cash over the years at St James’ Park, but it’s safe to say that this potential double raid is definitely needed as they’d be lost without Rondon and Che Adams’ pace and constant goal threat would work wonders.

What do you think Newcastle United fans?

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Tottenham Hotspur again fell at the penultimate hurdle on Thursday, as they were beaten on penalties by Chelsea in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, as per the BBC.

It marks their third semi-final defeat in cup competitions in a row.

Spurs headed into the game with a 1-0 aggregate lead thanks to Harry Kane’s penalty at Wembley in the first leg.

But the striker was absent for the deciding tie through injury, along with the likes of Dele Alli and Victor Wanyama. Son Heung-Min, so electric on the wing this season, was also away at the Asian Cup with South Korea.

With a squad stretched to its very limit, Spurs almost capitulated, with Chelsea taking a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge through N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard.

CheekySport’s Joel claims Spurs badly need to invest in January after not having “the balls” to beat Arsenal. Check out his uncensored opinion in the video below…

Fernando Llorente, Kane’s replacement, pulled a goal back for Spurs and levelled the tie on aggregate but Mauricio Pochettino’s men were unable to find a killer second goal.

Eric Dier, the shootout hero at the World Cup when England beat Colombia, scooped his effort over the bar, while Lucas Moura’s kick was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga. David Luiz then notched the winner to send the Stamford Bridge crowd into raptures.

Spurs fans were subsequently left to fume on social media as, yet again, a thin squad proved their undoing, with many calling on Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to step down after failing to buy a player in the last two transfer windows.

Vincent Kompany has had to face quite a few injury demons over the years but has inherited incredible support from Manchester City. While the City captain’s barely featured this season, the defending champions are not going to lose faith in him.

With his contract running down in the summer, Kompany is set to be handed a new one-year deal (according to Daily Mail). The love for each other is quite mutual, as Kompany is set to take a pay-cut in order to stay at the blue side of Manchester. While City have enough cover for Kompany, they’ve earned the respect of many with their devotion towards him.

Kompany’s only made nine appearances for City and keeping one clean sheet (stats via Premier League). Ravaged by injury problems, Kompany’s doubtful to regain full fitness anytime soon, in terms of ever getting back to his absolute best. However, being a reliable leader, he still has much to give to City both on the field and off it as well.

With his incredible knowledge of the Premier League, he can be a guiding figure for improving young defenders Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, who’ve formed a formidable partnership. He’s also the ideal ambassador for City and has the dedication to increasing their popularity all over the world.

Despite his age, Kompany is still a rock-solid figure at the back when he’s completely fit and raring to go. With City looking to maintain their stature as a European giant, retaining a vital figure like Kompany is key to forming traditions for the future.

يرى النجم الإنجليزي السابق، مايكل أوين، أن لاعب مانشستر سيتي جابريل جيسوس لديه فرصة المنافسة على جائزة الحذاء الذهبي، للموسم الحالي من بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وانطلقت منافسات الموسم الجديد من بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، يوم السبت الماضي.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ترتيب هدافي الدوري الإنجليزي بعد نهاية الجولة الأولى

وقال أوين في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “manchestereveningnews” الإنجليزية: “بداية مشرقة للموسم من قبل بعض المتنافسين على الحذاء الذهبي”.

وأضاف: “محمد صلاح، كين، فاردي أوباميانج، أجويرو، كل هؤلاء يتحدثون عن أنفسهم ولكن لدي شعور بأن جيسوس يمكنه الانضمام إلى هذه المجموعة من النخبة هذا الموسم”.

وكان محمد صلاح قد حصل على جائزة الحذاء الذهبي موسم 2017/2018، وكذلك في موسم 2018/2019 بالتساوي مع بيير إيميريك أوباميانج وساديو ماني، بينما فاز جيمي فاردي بها الموسم الماضي.

[ad_pod ]Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane has told LiverpoolFC.com that the team aren’t putting any pressure on themselves in the Premier League title race, and Reds fans have been quick to react to his comments on Twitter.

The Merseyside outfit recovered from the minor blip of losing consecutive fixtures against Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers – in the top flight and FA Cup respectively – at the beginning of 2019 to record successive victories against Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace.

The latest thrilling 4-3 win against the Eagles left them four points clear of City at the summit, while they are also nine above third-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the standings ahead of the final 15 fixtures of the season.

Speaking to LiverpoolFC.com, Mane highlighted the professional mentality in the dressing room:

“We have experience now.

“Of course we are confident if we’re winning – but not too much, we know what can happen. We are still professional footballers and we’re still going to try to take it game by game.

“The season is long and we have many games. Making pressure for ourselves doesn’t help. Why not just try to win games until the end of the season?”

The FA Cup exit to Wolves means Jurgen Klopp’s men have an 11-day gap to prepare for their next Premier League fixture against Leicester City at Anfield on Wednesday, where they will hope to pick up their 20th top flight win of what has been a brilliant campaign to date.

Liverpool supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on their 26-year-old attacker’s defiant message, and while one said he’d “better tell Lovren and Lallana that”, another said the Senegal international has an “elite mentality”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

أعلن مدرب فريق مانشستر سيتي بيب جوارديولا، التشكيل الأساسي لمواجهة وولفرهامبتون في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز مساء اليوم.

ويلتقي الفريقان في تمام الساعة الـ 9:15 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، في الجولة الثانية في ملعب مولينيو معقل الذئاب.

وكان وولفرهامبتون قد فاز على شيفيلد يونايتد بهدفين دون رد في الجولة الأولى، بينما لم يخض مانشستر سيتي مباراته أمام أستون فيلا حيث تأجلت نتيجة مشاركته في دوري أبطال أوروبا، الموسم الماضي. تشكيل مانشستر سيتي الأساسي أمام وولفرهامبتون

 إيدرسون، ووكر، ستونز، آكي، ميندي، رودريجو، فرناندينيو، دي بروين، فودين، ستيرلينج، جيسوس. بدلاء مانشستر سيتي أمام وولفرهامبتون

ستيفين، توريس، محرز، أوتامندي، ديلاب، دويل، برنابي.

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Southampton came within seconds of picking up another vital three points and a clean sheet in their battle against relegation before the last-gasp penalty they conceded in their 1-1 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.

The south coast outfit looked on course to pull away from the bottom three following Nathan Redmond’s superb second-half strike, but after Jack Stephens handled in the area Ashley Barnes calmly converted from 12 yards with what was pretty much the last kick of the encounter in Lancashire.

The guilty party for the goal was once again deployed alongside Jannik Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek in a three-man defence against Sean Dyche’s men, and it was the latter that once again caught the eye having been a regular fixture in the starting XI since Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived at St Mary’s at the beginning of December.

The Poland international is clearly benefitting from the number of minutes he is getting on the pitch and appears to be getting better and better every match, and it was no different against the Clarets.

From a defensive point of view, the 22-year-old was certainly faced with plenty of balls over the top and crosses into the box, but he dealt with them admirably and provided another mature performance across the 90 minutes.

His showing was made even better by the fact that he also provided the assist for Redmond’s strike with a fine pass to the attacker from deep, and that wasn’t his only key pass of the game, as per stats-based website WhoScored.

Bendarek also won eight aerial duels and made two interceptions and five clearances, and you would be hard pressed to find a Southampton fan that doesn’t think he is the club’s best centre-back option right now.

If he can start to impact the match in the final third with clever incisive passing as he did against Burnley, then there is no doubt that he can be the team’s key player in their battle against the drop – one which is very much alive as their next opponents Cardiff City’s win over Bournemouth at the weekend means Hasenhuttl’s men are just two points above the drop-zone despite their recent good form.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

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Arsenal secured a 1-1 draw against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners went ahead in the first half through Aaron Ramsey, but Harry Kane levelled the score from the spot in the second half. 

Aside from the penalty, the Gunners were otherwise successful in keeping the home side’s talismanic striker quiet. Arsenal centre-back Sokratis emphatically won the physical battle against Kane. The 30-year-old defender was diligent in performing his duties and succeeded in ensuring that Kane didn’t hurt Arsenal in open play.

Arsenal signed the 6’1” Greek ace from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window. He has since become a regular feature in the Gunners’ rearguard with his experience, strength and aggression proving to be huge assets for the north London club.

After the derby, plenty of Arsenal fans took to Twitter to praise the 85-cap Greece international’s domineering display against Tottenham…

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The arrival of Steve Bruce had an instant impact after officially taking the reins at Sheffield Wednesday as his side recorded a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon.

It was a dream start for the 58-year-old after the weeks of anticipation which preceded his arrival. A typical, solid and Bruce-esque defensive performance provided the foundations for victory, but the entirety of the fanbase are not fully convinced by loyal servant Liam Palmer.

Indeed, the club’s official Twitter account paid tribute to the 27-year-old on Tuesday now that he has surpassed 200 appearances for the club.

Some of his admirers eulogised over his commitment to the cause and the quality of his performances in recent weeks, but not everybody shared that enthusiasm.

Palmer’s contract is due to expire this summer and Bruce will have plenty to think about due to the size of his squad, with a handful of supporters urging him to offload the academy product rather than offer him a new deal.

Considering his relative popularity amongst large sections of the supporters and the fact he has spent his entire career at Hillsborough, it would take a strong call from the boss to release him in the summer.

Here’s what a handful of Wednesday fans have had to say about Palmer’s future:

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Nottingham Forest produce a battling, determined display on Saturday to earn a 0-0 draw with Preston North End at Deepdale Stadium.

Martin O’Neill can be proud of his side, but may be rueing a few missed chances to snatch a victory. At the back, though, the Reds were solid throughout. At the heart of this sturdy resistance was centre-back Yohan Benalouane.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

The 31-year-old only arrived at the City Ground in the January transfer window from Premier League outfit Leicester City. He has settled in well at Forest and demonstrated his understanding with his defensive partners on Saturday.

The 5-cap Tunisia international already looks to have struck up a solid relationship with fellow centre-back Alexander Milosevic, the effectiveness of which was in evidence at Deepdale.

Benalouane demonstrated his experience and authority against the Lilywhites, and played a vital role in preserving Forest’s clean sheet. According to WhoScored’s stats, he used his 6’1” frame to great effect, winning seven aerial duels. He also contributed two tackles, two interceptions and seven clearances to his team’s cause.

However, on the ball, Benalouane’s game left plenty to be desired. All too often his distribution was found wanting. His pass accuracy rating of 57% meant that pressure was allowed to build on the Reds’ defence as he persistently gave the ball away.

This lack of quality in possession is a key weakness in Benalouane’s game that must be addressed. If he can improve in this regard though then his game will take on a fresh dimension, and he’ll be the complete defender that Forest need.