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Burnley manager Sean Dyche has backed his squad to push for a Europa League place despite having to work with very limited numbers at Turf Moor.

The Clarets have won their last two matches to move up to eighth in the Premier League, level on points with Tottenham above them, and a seventh-place finish is highly likely to be enough to secure European football next term.

However, four senior players left the club this week upon expiry of their contracts and their sizeable injury list had Jack Cork and Matthew Lowton added to it following Monday’s win at Crystal Palace.

As per Lancashire Telegraph, Dyche said: “Having been through it (Europa League), it is very tough and you can’t really speak about it at the moment because you’ve seen how few players we’ve got so that obviously has to be addressed…It is not easy obviously but I think the players are open-minded and they will take each challenge as it comes.”

He added: “It is one of those things that is awkward now because of the player situation. If we had the players with us, I think we could go even stronger until the end of the season.”

Burnley qualified for the Europa League two years ago after finishing seventh in the Premier League but their domestic placing dropped to 15th last season, despite the Clarets’ European run lasting for just six qualifying matches in July and August.

As it is, Dyche is working with a very threadbare squad, being unable to even name the maximum permitted complement of nine substitutes for the game at Selhurst Park. He currently has 20 senior players at Turf Moor, seven of whom are either injured or, in Ben Gibson’s case, not being considered for selection.

The current Premier League season finishes on 26 July. If Burnley take the final Europa League spot, they will enter the second qualifying round of the tournament in mid-September just five days after the proposed start date for the 2020/21 Premier League campaign. While that would give the Clarets seven weeks of a break, it would also leave them with a hectic start to the new season.

Dyche is right to be ambitious, as teams and managers should indeed strive to achieve the best possible finish in a league season. If Burnley can qualify for Europe despite having such a threadbare squad, it would represent a fantastic achievement.

If they were to miss out, it would reduce the fixture burden on them for next season and may not be the worst scenario given how low they are on squad depth. Europe would be a bonus; no European football next season would not be calamitous for the Clarets.

Burnley fans, would you be disappointed if the Clarets missed out on European qualification given their current position? Share your views in the comments section below!

Frank Lampard insists Manchester United are Chelsea’s biggest rivals in the race to reach the Champions League. 

Man United have been in sensational form ever since the Premier League restarted last month, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have won four games in a row.

The Red Devils are now enjoying an unbeaten run stemming all the way back to the 2-0 defeat at home to Burnley in January.

Everyone seems to be playing their part, as Mason Greenwood has stepped up to the plate over the past week or so, while Bruno Fernandes continues to impress in the middle of the park.

Solskjaer’s side are currently fifth in the table, just five points behind the Blues with a game in hand, with five games remaining in their season.

The competition to finish in the top four is arguably hotter than ever before, as four teams are closely vying for two spots to qualify for the European tournament.

Lampard, who is Chelsea’s leading goalscorer of all time, has admitted Man United are the biggest threat he has faced as a manager so far, pointing to their recent track record as an example.

He told a virtual press conference, as per The Manchester Evening News, that “Manchester United are the closest threat, they are a very strong team, they’ve been in great form for a long period of time.

“They’ve got really got players and you see the momentum they have gained at this part of the season.

“Individuals across their front three are all scoring a lot of goals. They are the biggest threat from behind.”

In some respect, Lampard’s assessment actually works both ways.

Both clubs were in the middle of planning for a long-term rebuild before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in response to the pandemic in March.

More often than not, they have found themselves battling each other in the transfer market, as the two teams are in contention to sign Jadon Sancho and Kai Havertz this summer.

United have beaten the Blues in three out of the past four fixtures, including a 4-0 thumping at Old Trafford at the beginning of the season.

Nevertheless, Lampard’s side have bounced back from that defeat and have jumped ahead of the Red Devils.

As it stands, Solskjaer’s men trail their rivals by two points, with everything left to play for as the Premier League heads into the crunch stage of the competition.

United fans, do you think Chelsea are your biggest threat for a top four finish? Let us know down below!

Safe to say it’s been an incredible week for Leeds United and everyone associated with the club.

The Whites were crowned champions of the Championship, and can now look forward to Premier League football for the first time in well over a decade.

And already it seems, Andrea Radrizzani has set his sights quite high. The Italian recently admitted that he is a big fan of Edinson Cavani – the Uruguay international who recently left PSG after his contract had expired.

Can you name every one of the Leeds’ top goalscorers from the past 15 seasons? It’s a tricky one…

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Radrizzani said: “In addition to his quality, Cavani could contribute with his physicality and adapt here, but I’ve never talked about him with the coach. Having said that, we’ve certainly thought about him and we’ll see, given he’s still available on a free transfer.”

Make no mistake about it, Cavani’s arrival at Elland Road would go down as one of the biggest transfer coups in the club’s history, if not the biggest.

The Uruguayan front-man has been at the top of his game in European football for a number of years now, banging in the goals left, right and centre for the likes of Napoli and PSG.

He is a marksman of the highest order, and his goal-record speaks for itself. He found the back of the net 104 times in 138 games for Napoli, before scoring an incredible 200 times in just 301 games for PSG. That’s not to mention his haul of 50 goals in 116 appearances for his national team either.

It’s no surprise then that he has been widely lauded by his former teammates, with Marco Verratti hailing him as “exceptional”, and Marquinhos going one further by declaring him as a “genius as a goal-scorer”.

The kind of reputation that the 33-year-old would bring with him to Elland Road would be unparalleled, particularly for a side that has just been promoted from the Championship.

It would be the kind of stamp of approval of Leeds’ return to the big-time that would send shock-waves around Europe. If Orta, the club’s director of football, can negotiate a suitable contract with Cavani, then this will go down as history as one of the Whites’ most defining moments.

There has been a lot of talk about Odsonne Edouard’s potential exit from Celtic in the ongoing summer transfer window. Of course, the young forward is an extremely hot property on the market and it doesn’t surprise that there is essentially a queue building for his signature.

All of this has led to countless speculation about his immediate future but Kris Commons has offered his insight into the whole matter, potentially calming down the nerves of many Hoops fans in the process.

Speaking in his Scottish Daily Mail column (via Daily Record), the former Celtic playmaker said the following: “For me, there’s absolutely no chance that Celtic will even contemplate selling their star striker at this late juncture. That ship has sailed. The season is already underway. If they were of a mind to cash-in on Edouard, they’d have done it six weeks ago to give themselves time to find a suitable replacement.”

He goes on to mention how the signing of Albian Ajeti changes nothing in that respect and that he doesn’t believe in the rumour that Edouard’s future at the club depends on the team’s efforts to reach the group stage of the Champions League.

Of course, the France U21 star has been linked with various Premier League heavy-hitters including Arsenal, Leicester and Everton. However, if Commons is to be believed, that ship has already sailed.

As for Ajeti, it’s unlikely that Neil Lennon wants to replace such a prolific young forward with someone who couldn’t establish himself at West Ham United.

Verdict

If this opinion ends up being true, Celtic will have received a huge boost for the ongoing season. Of course, Edouard could still leave in the near future but Celtic will have to cross that bridge when they get there.

For now, all that matters is that he stays in the Scottish Premier League for the time being.

It has been a long ride that started even before the opening of the ongoing summer transfer window. Leeds United were adamant on going back for Ben White and this time, securing his signature on a permanent contract.

However, Brighton and Hove Albion stood their ground, eventually declining all three of Marcelo Bielsa’s bids, the final one believed to be in the region of £25m, and will keep their defender.

This has now been confirmed by the club, first through the player’s agent, Alex Levack, who explained that the transfer just won’t be happening. After that, Brighton’s chief executive Paul Barber put it all to bed and has also confirmed to talkSPORT the centre-back is indeed going nowhere.

“We had no intention of selling Ben White,” he said. “He’s a terrific young player, the whole point of him going out on loan was to develop him in League Two, League One and the Championship. Leeds did a fantastic job helping us to develop him, but we’re looking forward to Ben playing for us in the Premier League and certainly that’s what he’ll be doing.

“We haven’t got any interest in selling Ben, he’s in training with the squad and we’re looking forward to seeing him in action in blue and white stripes very soon.”

It seems that White himself is closer to actually penning a new contract with Brighton than he ever was to joining the newly-promoted Premier League outfit on a permanent basis.

This will undoubtedly be a huge blow for Bielsa who now has to turn his attention to other alternatives to bolster his defence ahead of the 2020/21 season.

Verdict

Even though it’s quite unfortunate the Whites couldn’t get their man, at least this saga has now been put to bed. With all of that behind them, Leeds and Bielsa can now fully focus on other targets who might be more attainable at the moment.

One way or the other, it does seem like they will add a new defender into the mix before the season starts.

Whether they like it or not, AFC Bournemouth are having a fire sale in the ongoing summer transfer window. With the squad heading down to the Championship for the 2020/21 season, they are bound to lose some of their players at least.

Of course, Jordon Ibe is already a free agent, having been released by the Cherries, and his future certainly lies away from Bournemouth. According to a new report from the printed version of The Mirror (via The Boot Room), however, he just might stay in the Premier League.

The same outlet states that both Newcastle United and Crystal Palace are looking to scoop the 24-year-old up this summer.

Neither the Magpies nor the Eagles have a lot of money to spend in the market so Ibe being released by Bournemouth is an excellent opportunity to land him on a free transfer.

Another thing that seems to appeal to both Steve Bruce and Roy Hodgson is the fact that Ibe has Premier League experience and is still quite young. Of course, once, he was a hot prospect at Liverpool before ultimately falling off and moving away from Anfield.

Still, five goals and nine assists in 92 games for the Cherries is also not a particularly attractive tally.

However, just the fact that they would be getting him for free means that he’s worth the risk for Bruce and could still play a part in their redemption campaign in the following season.

Verdict

Needless to say, Ibe won’t exactly be one of the most exciting signings for Newcastle if he does end up coming this summer. However, with their budget being extremely low and Bruce not exactly having plenty of quality options on the table, he will simply have to do.

If nothing else, the 24-year-old can still add pace and give the team some much-needed depth. And then, they can only hope he can still turn things around.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Daily Mirror writer Darren Lewis believes Tottenham and club chairman Daniel Levy will be ‘crying every night’ over their failure to land Man United star Bruno Fernandes – with the pundit going on to suggest he was in the ‘palm’ of Spurs’ hands. 

Fernandes, who excelled last season in all competitions for both Sporting Lisbon and United, scoring a combined 27 goals from midfield for both clubs, was bordering on a north London move before the Red Devils eventually sealed his transfer.

The Portuguese ace even admitted himself that Levy and co were ‘closer’ at one stage in the race, but Tottenham’s ultimate failure to land Fernandes has debatably resulted in United acquiring a superstar.

After selling playmaker Christian Eriksen in January to Inter Milan for just £16.9 million, it was arguably imperative for Spurs to replace him with an adept creative asset who could mimic the Dane’s influence.

Fernandes, who averaged a highly impressive 3.7 key passes per 90 in the Primeira Liga before his January switch (WhoScored), making his initial £47 million fee seem fairly reasonable, appeared to be the optimal target.

However, as Spurs contemplated a move, United leapfrogged them in the race for his signature and eventually secured a blockbuster deal – with the 26-year-old going on to score eight goals whilst assisting seven others in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Now, Mirror journalist Lewis believes Tottenham will be distraught over missing out on a world class asset – taking aim at the club and, by extension, Levy.

“Spurs can dither,” explained the writer on Monday’s talkSPORT Breakfast.

“I think they will cry every night over losing Bruno Fernandes when they had him in the palm of their hands and dithered over how much he would cost.

“They dither, ‘it’s got to be this, it’s got to be that’ – they can’t seem to get the players in to move the team on.

“Other clubs have made far more progress because they moved far more quickly.”

Given the current lack of creativity in midfield under Jose Mourinho, Spurs could have arguably done with a signing like Fernandes to give them that cutting edge as the 2020/2021 season gets underway.

Spurs fans, do you highly regret missing out on Fernandes? Have your say in the comment section below…

Liverpool were handed their first defeat of the Premier League season after Aston Villa dismantled the champions in spectacular fashion. The Reds were hit for an astonishing seven goals after the Villains made easy work of picking them apart on home soil.

An Ollie Watkins hat-trick and a brace from captain Jack Grealish were just two highlights from the home side’s emphatic win. Whilst Liverpool were able to grab two of their goals back, it wasn’t even enough to deem them a consolation. They return to Merseyside suffering a huge blow to team morale, as well as becoming the first defending title-winning side to concede seven goals in 67 years.

One positive from a 7-2 defeat

The scoreline doesn’t flatter Aston Villa one bit. Amazingly, they held just 30% of the game’s possession at Villa Park and still managed to win more than comfortably. Dean Smith’s side could’ve bagged even more goals if they weren’t a little wasteful with some of their shots. According to Sofascore, Villa tested Adrian 11 times, making smart use of their time on the ball.

Whilst Jurgen Klopp will be seething with such a heavy defeat, one slight positive can be taken away is the performance of Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian has opened up his away goal account for the season after netting both of the Reds’ goals last night. As a player who struggled to find the back of the net on the road last campaign, he will at least be pleased to get underway early on.

Salah’s impressive totally tally of 19 goals for the 2019/20 season saw just four of them come from on the road (via Transfermarkt). As one of Liverpool’s key players, opposition sides did well to figure out his style of play and keep him quiet during his visits to their home grounds.

Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy scored 11 of his 23 goals during away fixtures, something that may have spurred Salah on to be more clinical when away from home. He will hope to stay in this form as Liverpool take on bitter rivals and league leaders Everton at Goodison Park after the international break.

In other news, Jurgen Klopp proves why he is the best man for Liverpool after comments emerge…

With seven points from their opening four Premier League games, it’s been quite the start for Newcastle United this season.

The Magpies have put in some impressive performances, including some comprehensive wins over West Ham and Burnley in the top-flight, and a 7-0 record thrashing of Morecambe in the Carabao Cup too.

And whilst Allan Saint-Maximin’s star continues to shine at St James’ Park – the Frenchman returned from a brief ankle injury to put in a man-of-the-match display against Burnley last time out – there is one Magpies ace who has arguably been Steve Bruce’s unsung hero this season: Karl Darlow.

The goalkeeper has been the Newcastle’s boss’ go-to man in the opening weeks of the campaign, starting all four Premier League games, after first-choice regular Martin Dubravka was ruled out of action.

And it’s fair to say the 30-year-old has taken his chance with both hands, pulling off some incredible saves and ensuring the Magpies haven’t really missed Dubravka.

His performance against Tottenham in particular, in which he single-handedly kept the Tyneside club in the game as they eventually rescued a point, saw Jose Mourinho lead the tributes after the game.

The Spurs boss said: “I think at half-time, Bruce was super happy with the result at 1-0. He is a very intelligent guy, a very experienced guy and a good friend. He knows football up and down. He knew at half-time, it could have been 3-0 or 4-0. The only thing I wanted to say is my team played very well.

“I think the boy Darlow was the man of the match, unless you want to give it to some other people that are not a player. Their goalkeeper is there to save, he was fantastic.”

The fact that the veteran shot-stopper has been with Newcastle since 2015 when he arrived from Nottingham Forest, and has yet only played 69 total games for the club puts into perspective about how he’s had to wait for his chance to shine.

As the Magpies’ fellow Premier League side Arsenal saw with Emiliano Martinez’s rise following an injury to Bernd Leno, all it takes is a set of circumstances to catapult someone lying in the shadows, into the limelight.

Darlow has been that man for Newcastle.

And in other news, Newcastle can unearth their own Gabriel Martinelli in this starlet.

Glasgow Rangers moved six points clear of their arch-rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a comfortable 2-0 win over Livingston on Sunday afternoon. Goals from Joe Aribo and Jermain Defoe secured the victory, with Defoe scoring his 300th club career goal to add to Aribo’s opener.

Rangers are now enjoying a 16-game unbeaten run, stretching back to a 1-0 win away at Aberdeen at the start of the season, which means that Steven Gerrard’s side are early favourites to claim the title.

It seems Gerrard still isn’t satisfied, if recent reports are to be believed, as the Rangers boss still wants to sign an attacking midfielder sooner rather than later. However, he may not have to look very far at all, if Ianis Hagi’s impressive performance against Livingston is anything to go by.

Rangers have already scored 41 goals in 16 games this season, with the 14-cap Romania international contributing a tally of one goal and eight assists in all competitions so far, via Transfermarkt.

Per SofaScore, the 22-year-old won four out of seven ground duels (57%), made 4 key passes, completed 36 out of 47 passes overall, with a pass accuracy rating of 77%, and created one big chance, whilst he successfully completed one dribble attempt as well. A look at his heatmap shows a hub of activity in the opposition half, which suggests that he caused Livingston all sorts of problems.

SofaScore gave Hagi a high grade of 7.5 for his efforts, whilst GlasgowLive went one step further and rated his performance at 8/10, claiming he provided a “clever assist for Aribo’s opener and was popping up all over the place. Used the ball really well, and was one of Rangers’ best performers on the afternoon.”

Once hailed as an “outstanding” match-winner by the Rangers boss, Hagi sent Gerrard a timely reminder with his heroics at the weekend.

Let’s face it, Gerrard is hardly short of options on the right wing, as Brandon Barker and Jordan Jones have both started in recent weeks.

But Hagi once again showed that he should never be written off as the playmaker controlled the ebb and flow of the offensive play for much of the afternoon with a series of sublime passes.

AND in other news, Rangers’ Jermain Defoe gives Gerrard plenty to consider after Livingston masterclass…