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[ad_pod ]Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to slam Dejan Lovren, after the centre-back put in an unconvincing performance against Newcastle as the Reds scraped a last-gasp 3-2 win.The Croatian international’s last league start came in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City at the start of January, and he was inconceivably starting ahead of both Joel Matip – who has been superb in the second half of the season – and Joe Gomez.Chelsea fans were giving it large at Anfield on Sunday. Watch their afternoon get slowly ruined in the video below…Jurgen Klopp’s faith in Lovren was not repaid against the Magpies. The 29-year-old went walkabouts for Christian Atsu’s goal, and massively struggled to deal with the physical presence of Salomon Rondon throughout the match.The former Southampton man had a late Jamaal Lascelles own goal to thank for the Liverpool fanbase not blaming him solely for their title hopes collapsing, as some did after he performed badly in the aforementioned game against City.

Despite the win, loads of Reds supporters on Twitter have still slammed Lovren for making things harder than they needed to be…

It was a result Arsenal needed, and it was a result that can have a positive domino effect for the Gunners.

Last night’s 1-0 win away to Watford was a turning point for Arsenal’s season. It was the club’s first clean sheet on the road all season and was a victory not many fans expected to go into the match before kick-off, but the Gunners pulled it off, and in doing might have set up a chain of events for the team.

The weight and importance of winning away from home and getting a clean sheet has already been massive for Arsenal, injecting new confidence for the team as they head into their final few league games of the season with the belief that now they can genuinely achieve a top-four finish as well as find success in Europe.

Thursday’s game against Napoli will be another major test for Arsenal, but if Unai Emery can guide his side to a result over Carlo Ancelotti’s team in Italy, it will yet again add to the claim that the win over Watford has set in motion a chain of events leading to success for the Gunners.

Arsenal now have their destiny for this season in their hands, and with the win against Watford likely to motivate the team to go further this season, fans and players can look back at that win against their London rivals as the result that changed their fortunes for the better.

Arsenal fans, how important was the win against Watford? Let us know!

Obviously, Leeds United let a golden opportunity slip to pick up points on the road and strengthen their grip in the second spot on the Championship table after going down to Birmingham City 1-0 at St Andrew’s on Saturday.

It’s never easy supporting the Whites, is it?

Despite only having one shot on goal in the whole match, the Yorkshire giants somehow wasted a number of good chances to find the back of the net and pick up the valuable three points with striker Patrick Bamford, in particular, squandering three proper chances right in front of the Birmingham goal.

The homeside played some delightful football throughout the match and scored a good goal through Che Adams but if Leeds were to play in the Premier League next season, either through automatic qualification or through the play-offs, then they can’t afford to miss sitter opportunities like that on Saturday.

The 25-year-old, who is valued at £5.4 million (by Transfermarkt), has done relatively well since slotting in at centre-forward in place of Kemar Roofe and has scored some excellent and important goals for the Yorkshire club.

Consistency is, however, needed from the former Chelsea player and he should make some improvement on his composure in-front of goal, while also trying to remain calm under pressure.

Leeds are now currently in third position on the league table after dropping points at Birmingham, while Sheffield United moved back up into second spot after their win at Preston over the weekend.

The Blades, however, also face Birmingham at St Andrew’s on Wednesday evening, while Leeds travel to Preston on Tuesday in what will be an excellent opportunity to make up for this past weekend’s defeat and increase the pressure on United to get maximum points at the Blues.

Manager Marcelo Bielsa will hope his main striker can try and deliver a better showing on Tuesday to get them back to winning ways.

If Bamford makes up for all the chances he missed over the weekend and continues to work hard until the end of the season, then there is no reason why Leeds should not play in the top-flight next season. Right now, however, the former Norwich ace is ruining all the hard work.

Leeds fans, how annoyed with Bamford are you? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Leeds United fans have shared their anger at missing out on Swansea City star Daniel James in January.

The 21-year-old almost moved to Elland Road in the most recent transfer window but the deal fell through on deadline day.

The BBC report that James had completed a medical with Leeds and was actually on the club’s premises when the transfer collapsed.

The move would have been an initial loan which would have been made permanent if Leeds gained promotion to the Premier League.

Swansea backed out of the deal at the eleventh hour and are now reaping the rewards, to the chagrin of Whites supporters after James turned in a superb display in the FA Cup against Manchester City.

The winger was a livewire against Pep Guardiola’s outfit, a constant thorn in the side of the Premier League champions’ defence as Swansea took a 2-0 lead in the quarter-final tie.

City, of course, fought back to win 3-2 in controversial circumstances – their second goal came from a disputed penalty while their third, a Sergio Aguero header, appeared to be offside.

And Leeds fans, having watched their side lose 1-0 to Sheffield United earlier on Saturday, expressed their disappointment at James’ breakout display on Twitter. Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Portsmouth finally got back to winning ways in League One which has since rekindled hope they could gain promotion this season. As every Pompey fan reading this know, the South Coast side really don’t make things easy, do they? Painful. Oh so painful. 

Still, Kenny Jackett’s side remain in fourth position and have a real chance of still getting in the automatic places, having also made the Checkertrade Trophy final at Wembley.

That will delight manager Jackett, whose team have battled hard to earn a place at Wembley and stay in contention for promotion. Offered this at the start of the season, that surely would have sounded good. So, imagine just how bad things must have been of late to even ruin that.

Clear, although there is still so much to play for this season, Portsmouth need to start planning how they will get better next season. If they plan correctly, they can build on the obvious blocks in place to really mount a sustained return to the upper echelons of the English footballing system.

Transfers are the main way to do that and a player who’s now surplus to requirements at Derby is Ikechi Anya, a versatile player who would be a very good capture for Pompey. Anya, (who is valued at £1.3 million on Transfermarkt) has found game-time under Frank Lampard extremely hard to come by, which would be the reason behind a move away from Derby.

The 31-year-old at this stage of his career would have hoped to be settled with a club and helping them regularly but that hasn’t been the case this season. Pace and power, the Scotland international would thrill Fratton Park, bombing up and down the wings to lift backsides off seats.

With just four appearances this season, of which all were for the development side, Ikechi Anya has been cast aside and needs to move away to restart his career. Portsmouth are a team who would certainly be strengthened with the Scotsman’s arrival, seeing as he can play anywhere from left-midfield to left-back or even right-back.

Pompey must consider all the experience Ikechi Anya has and although he may be nearer the end of his career than the start, he could still make a brilliant signing and be a welcome addition at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth fans, would you back a move for Anya? If so, why not? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Arsenal are expected to make Emiliano Martinez their number two goalkeeper behind Bernd Leno for next season, after it was revealed by The Sun that they cannot afford to replace the veteran stopper after he leaves.

What’s the word, then?

It isn’t much of a secret that the Gunners don’t have a huge sum of cash to spend this summer – it has been reported that Unai Emery will have just £40m to spend if he does not achieve Champions League qualification.

As a result of that, it looks unlikely that the north London-based side will spend a large sum on replacing the retiring Cech, especially seeing as they splashed out almost £20m on German stopper Leno last summer.

Martinez has only ever made 14 appearances for Arsenal since arriving at the club back in 2012, and has been sent out on loan to six different clubs throughout his time in England – he is currently with Championship side Reading, who are in danger of relegation to League One.

Embarrassing for Arsenal

For a club of Arsenal’s size to be happy to embark on a season of football with Leno and Martinez as their only two goalkeepers is, quite frankly, embarrassing.

Given the fact that such a significant sum was spent on bringing Leno to the club, it is understandable why Emery is keen to make him the outright number one, but even then, the former Bayer Leverkusen stopper has been fairly error-prone this season.

Despite Leno’s recent run in between the sticks, Cech has still made 13 appearances this season, suggesting that Emery doesn’t have complete trust in Leno.

As for 26-year-old Martinez, there is no way that a player who has made such little impact since arriving, and had only limited influence on proceedings at other clubs whilst out on loan, should be rewarded with the understudy berth.

The Gunners even have David Ospina out on loan, who would be a significantly better option than Martinez to be Leno’s understudy – Arsenal’s current goalkeeping situation is a mess, and they will have no one else to blame other than themselves if it costs them next season.

علق أحمد حسام ميدو، المدير الفني الأسبق للزمالك، على إعلان إدارة القلعة البيضاء عن التعاقد مع جايمي باتشيكو، مديرًا فنيًا للفريق خلفًا للفرنسي باتريس كارتيرون.

وأعلن مرتضى منصور رئيس نادي الزمالك، عن تولي باتشيكو قيادة القلعة البيضاء رسميًا خلال الفترة المقبلة، بعدما فسخ كارتيرون تعاقده مع الفريق وتولي قيادة التعاون السعودي طالع التفاصيل.

قال ميدو خلال تقديمه لبرنامجه “أوضة اللبس” المُذاع عبر قناة “النهار”: “عند إدارة الزمالك في فترة التفاوض مع باتشيكو كان التخوف مسيطرًا لأنه منذ 3 سنوات وهو بعيد عن التدريب، ولكن مسؤولي الزمالك تأكدوا أن باتشيكو كان يعمل بشكل جيد جدًا على نفسه خلال الفترة الحالية، وجدد رخصته التدريبية الخاصة به العام الماضي”.

تابع: “باتشيكو تابع فريق الرجاء المغربي بشكل جيد خلال فترة التفاوض استعدادًا لقيادة الزمالك”.

وواصل: “باتشيكو لم يهرب من الزمالك، بل الظروف والصدام مع مرتضى منصور كان سببًا في رحيله وأي مدرب بدلا منه كان سيرحل، كارتيرون لا يتساوى معه، الأول هرب في ظروف جيدة، ولكن الثاني الظروف أجبرته على الرحيل”.

وعن الأنباء المترددة بشأن رحيل السويسري رينيه فايلر، المدير الفني للأهلي، قال: “القلق من رحيل فايلر ليس بسبب عبقريته، الأهلاوية والمسئولين في الأهلي قلقين بسبب التوقيت الذي سيهز استقرار أي فريق حتى لو سيتم التعاقد مع مورينيو، التوقيت مصدر قلق للخطيب وجماهير الأهلي”.

استكمل: “غدًا الخطيب سيعقد اجتماع مع فايلر وسيعطيه خيارين، الأول إلغاء البند الذي يسمح له بفسخ عقده مع الأهلي بداية من 1 اكتوبر، وإذا فاز بدوري أبطال إفريقيا يتم تجديد عقده تلقائيا”.

اختتم: “أما الخيار الثاني أن الأهلي يعلن رحيل فايلر إذا لم يوافق على إلغاء البند الذي يسمح له بالرحيل”.

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Nottingham Forest legend Kenny Burns has written in his Nottingham Post column that the club have one key advantage over Derby County ahead of their East Midlands derby next week.

Burns, who played for the club between 1977 and 1981, won the European Cup twice at the club, as well as the First Division league title, the European Super Cup and two League Cups.

What’s the word?

Forest face their arch-rivals on Monday, in what will be Martin O’Neill’s first derby as manager.

The clubs are currently seventh and eighth in the Championship, respectively, but Derby have two games in hand on Forest.

As a result, County face Millwall at Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday night, while Forest will not be in action this week.

And Burns believes that O’Neill’s men subsequently have the advantage over their bitter rivals, writing in the Nottingham Post: “It’s all about what Forest do on Monday; forget about them. There will be 11 battles going on all over the pitch, and how many we win will make the difference.

“Derby got hammered by Brighton in the FA Cup at the weekend, and they’ve got a game on Tuesday night, whereas we should be well rested after a week without playing.”

Indeed, Burns believes that Derby do not have the bottle to gain promotion and thinks Forest can win on Monday.

He added: “Overall, you have to say Frank Lampard has done well there,” he added. “But they will still choke when it comes to trying to get promotion. How many times have they been there or thereabouts and not gone up?

“Forest have got a good chance to put a dent in Derby’s chances of finishing in the top six – as well as help their own – if they can get the win.

“Derby have got some good players, like Harry Wilson, Mason Mount, Tom Lawrence… but they haven’t got a clue how to use them.

“We can beat them, no question about that, but we’ll have to wait and see how we do on the day.”

Rivals’ questionable form

Forest have not lost in their last three outings but they have drawn two of those, against West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End.

The latter was a dour goalless game, while Derby lost to Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup, drew with Ipswich Town and beat Hull City in their previous three games.

The pair, then, have not exactly been setting the world alight in the Championship and this is a key fixture as each team looks to climb the table.

Derby can build up some momentum by beating Millwall in midweek but Burns is right to claim that they may be tired when the one that the locals have all been waiting for comes around.

Form, it is said, goes out the window in these games and, often, so does fatigue, but both have been rudderless recently – this clash offers the perfect opportunity to get back on track.

According to The Liverpool Echo, Everton director of football Marcel Brands and head of recruitment Gretar Steinsson have both made personal checks this season on Jonjoe Kenny during his loan spell with Schalke.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 22-year-old joined the Bundesliga outfit on a season-long loan deal last summer, and it is a temporary switch that has worked out pretty well to date.

Bundesliga.com did an article five weeks ago where the Englishman thanked Schalke manager David Wagner for helping him to be a success in Germany – the Liverpool-born full-back had started all of the Gelsenkirchen-based side’s opening 19 top-flight fixtures before missing the previous two through illness and then injury.

The Liverpool Echo says that Dutchman Brands watched the right-sided player in action earlier in the campaign, while Steinsson has also flown over to Europe to see him in action.

Does he have an Everton future?

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens this summer.

Indeed, this Liverpool Echo article has originated after German media outlet Der Westen reported earlier in the week that while Wagner would like to sign Kenny permanently, the club believe it is unlikely because of the other parties interested in the player.

There are some other factors to consider here, too.

Did he really play for us?! No Everton fan has managed to name all of these obscure Toffees players….

While the 22-year-old clearly has plenty of years ahead of him to make his mark at Goodison Park, it has to be remembered that Everton also have an option to sign Djibril Sidibe for £12.7m this summer when his loan spell from Monaco comes to an end, as per The Liverpool Echo.

The Frenchman, along with club captain Seamus Coleman, are both currently vying for the right-back spot under Carlo Ancelotti, and should they both be in the squad again next term, Kenny would surely face an uphill battle for regular minutes in the starting XI.

That said, The Liverpool Echo also quote what Brands said about Kenny at last month’s club AGM: “He was ready to play but we had Seamus Coleman playing regularly in that position.

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“We needed to give Jonjoe, at this stage of his career, the opportunity to play regular football at a very good level. But we also needed two players in the right-back position.

“Schalke in Germany was a perfect loan move for Jonjoe and he is now playing every week.

“We are sure he will come back to compete in the first-team next season.”

Brands and Everton clearly like him then, but something has to give here.

In other Everton news, Moise Kean has posted an Instagram video of him wearing his Everton shirt in a Miami gym…

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Mauricio Pochettino faces something of a selection dilemma this weekend ahead of Tottenham’s clash with Manchester United.

The Argentine regularly rotates his full-backs, but he’d be best advised to stick with Danny Rose over Ben Davies this weekend after the England international made a strong return to form against Chelsea.

On the chalkboard

Rose has been in and out of the Tottenham team this season, making 11 appearances compared to Davies’ 16 in the league.

Rose has seen his game time significantly limited due to a groin injury that kept him out of five successive league encounters.

But the Englishman is a better attacking option, and a quicker defender.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals what Lasagne-Gate was really like for Tottenham’s food-poisoned stars – Check out the video below…

In fewer games, Rose has laid on two assists while Davies has yet to create a league goal. And the former’s performance against Chelsea in midweek suggests he is back to his best.

Despite having their backs pinned firmly against the wall, Tottenham kept a clean sheet and emerged from a scrappy game with a vital 1-0 first leg semi-final lead.

The 28-year-old performed admirably against the largely unheralded Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left flank, not allowing the youngster to push past him, and marginalising him to the point of substitution, as Olivier Giroud was thrown on by Maurizio Sarri in a bid to salvage the game.

Ruin United’s attack

United’s weakest position in attack is on the right flank.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has fielded Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata twice each in the position in his first four league games, and stuck with the Spaniard for the FA Cup clash with Reading.

Neither offer the searing pace of Marcus Rashford, who will either play through the middle or on the left, nor the brutish aggression of Romelu Lukaku.

Rose, then, should be able to nullify either of them and, crucially, then press forward in search of attacking options.

For as good as Davies is defensively – he enjoyed a renaissance at centre-back earlier this season due to a spate of injuries – he appears afraid of pushing too high up the pitch.

With this weekend’s clash likely to be settled by fine margins, having Rose as an attacking weapon could be all the difference for Tottenham.