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Everton will return to action today at Goodison Park hosting Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round, with newly appointed manager Frank Lampard leading his first starting eleven out in front of the home fans.

There are a number of injuries to take into consideration, with both Abdoulaye Doucoure and Fabian Delph confirmed to be out for at least a month in a club statement and in his pre-match press conference the new Toffees boss has revealed the first blow to his squad as Dominic Calvert-Lewin has picked up a knock and won’t be available for the game this afternoon.

Lampard also faces another blow to his squad, as both Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli remain cup tied, but it could be a blessing in disguise as they will be raring to go when the side take on Newcastle United in the Premier League on Tuesday night.

With that being said, this is how Football Fancast expects Lampard to line up his first team against Brentford…

We expect to see four changes from Duncan Ferguson’s line up that lost to Aston Villa in the Premier League before the winter break, with Jonjoe Kenny axed from the side in place of youngster, Nathan Patterson.

Patterson, who was hailed “amazing” by his Scotland team mate Che Adams, could make his debut in the first team for Everton today after he was spotted in Lampard’s initial training sessions this week.

This could be the perfect opportunity for the 20 year old to make his mark on the team and make a good first impression on his new manager, who is renowned for developing and giving debuts to young players with potential.

We predict that due to the two cup tied new signings being unavailable, Andre Gomes will play alongside Allan in the deeper midfield roles to cover for Doucoure’s absence through injury and Anthony Gordon will take the 10 role behind Richarlison who is pushed up front in place of an injured Calvert-Lewin.

This season’s joint top goal scorers for the Toffees so far, Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, are expected to be on hand to link up with Richarlison to seal goals and cause problems for the Brentford defence today.

Lampard will be hoping he can give something to the fans that they can be happy about after a number of protests took place just before his arrival and progressing in the domestic competition could really help to build confidence in the players going forward ahead of important must win Premier League games, where they need to pick up points to avoid a relegation battle.

In other news: Lampard must unleash Anthony Gordon against Brentford

Flocking to Twitter, lots of Manchester City supporters have gone wild as a £59.3m claim emerges involving wantaway forward Ferran Torres.

Sporting director Txiki Begiristain secured his signing in the summer of 2020, with Torres moving to City for an initial £21m, arguably a bargain fee for one of Spain’s most promising stars.

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The forward, who impressed this season before his recent injury lay-off, has averaged more shots on goal per 90 than any Sky Blues player (WhoScored), often being utilised as a makeshift out-and-out centre-forward by Pep Guardiola.

Despite playing a more prominent role at Eastlands when available, big news over this last week indicates that Torres could now prematurely move back to La Liga, with reliable reporter Sam Lee of The Athletic backing the 21-year-old’s desire to join Barcelona as they eye a move.

Many updates on the situation have emerged since then but one claim from journalist Gerard Romero has had many Citizens talking.

Taking to Twitter, the Twitch reporter claimed that City have slapped a €70m (£59.3m) price tag on the player as Begiristain looks to make nearly triple what was originally paid to sign Torres. Barca are only offering €50m (£42.4m), with the Citizens showing no sign of letting their starlet leave Manchester easily.

Man City fans go wild…

The former Valencia man shone at Euro 2020 in parts, getting on the scoresheet and providing an assist for Luis Enrique’s side in their epic last 16 win over Croatia.

He’s also been playing more centrally for Spain at times this season, bagging a brace and putting in a Man of the Match display against Euro 2020 winners Italy in their 2-1 UEFA Nations League semi-final victory last month.

Thriving on both the international and club stage over 2021/22 so far, it’s little wonder that City value him at £59.3m, especially considering that he is still just 21 and has huge sell-on potential.

As City make their stance clear in negotiations, with only a sizeable fee enough to part ways, many Sky Blues have gone wild on Twitter as they praise Begiristain and the club for not being pushed around.

Check out some of their best reactions below:

“TXIKI ACTUALLY TRYING TO SELL FOR A GOOD PRICE”

Credit: @misfermo2

“Perfect”

Credit: @JDesrochers_

“Finally some good negotiations”

Credit: @MCFC_Liban

“Well this is awesome ngl”

Credit: @kae_saret

“Aaaaaah! Finally we are negotiating at right price. This will help us with balance for Striker – either in summer or Jan window”

Credit: @guraj_vaish

“Finally getting a good price for a player, in Txiki we trust”

Credit: @Irish_cityFan

“Siuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu he’s staying”

Credit: @Weezy_ef

“We might actually get a good deal”

Credit: @DabboGaming

In other news: ‘Yessss’, ‘We are back’, ‘Ain’t going nowhere’…Man City fans erupt over ‘lovely news’ out of Eastlands, find out more here.

West Ham United will be looking to bounce back from successive Premier League defeats when they return to the London Stadium later this evening.

David Moyes’ side welcome Brighton and Hove Albion to east London with their spot in fourth place still intact but he will need to see a reaction, having lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers and defending champions Manchester City in the past week-and-a-half.

It is, however, the Irons’ third game in the space of seven days, so there could be some tired legs and they do have the tough test of rivals Chelsea on Saturday to contend with, too.

The Scot has plenty of selection decisions to consider heading into kick-off, one of which is surely whether or not he includes Jarrod Bowen in his starting XI after axing him at a wintery Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Bowen, valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, has been in mixed form as of late, but on his day, he is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous players in this Hammers squad.

He has scored three goals and provided five assists in 18 appearances across the top-flight and Europa League this campaign, and only ranks second to Declan Rice (7.35) for average WhoScored rating (7.25) in the league.

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No player has provided more assists (four) and he also leads the way for dribbles (two per game), as he proves to be a threat in the final third.

During his time at Hull City, the side he signed from in a £22m deal back in January 2020, he was labelled an “unplayable” attacker on his day and since then, he has earned even more praise, with talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan dubbing him a “world-beater”.

Interestingly, 40% of the Seagulls’ attacks come down Bowen’s side on the right flank, so he could expose the gaps left behind by Graham Potter’s left-sided wing-backs, and that has got to be a mouth-watering prospect for Moyes ahead of kick-off.

In addition to that, 15% of all their shots conceded are from that side too, and with the 24-year-old averaging 2.2 attempts per outing, he could well feast at the London Stadium tonight.

Recently lauded as “an absolute manager’s dream” by Paul Merson, Bowen must be let off the leash against Brighton this evening.

AND in other news, West Ham handed January transfer boost over £9m-rated “real force”…

Newcastle put in a valiant display on Monday night as they held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park in the Premier League.

It was a result which ended a run of three successive defeats for the Magpies, having lost to Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester City in recent weeks.

Allan Saint-Maximin handed Eddie Howe’s side the lead in the first half as he improvised a stunning finish into the top corner whilst falling off balance. However, Edinson Cavani equalised in the second half for the away side as he collected a rebound from his own shot to slice an effort into the corner, with Martin Dubravka given no chance to save it.

Both teams had chances to win the match, with Jacob Murphy hitting the post and David de Gea producing a stunning save from Miguel Almiron, whilst Cavani fluffed an opportunity to score after Dubravka dropped the ball at Jadon Sancho’s feet in the penalty box.

Lightweight

Despite an impressive showing from the Magpies, one player who let Howe down on the night against Ralf Rangnick’s team was Javier Manquillo, who lined out at left-back.

For the equalising goal, the Spaniard was dragged out of position initially by Cavani and was left scrambling to get across to Diego Dalot on the switch. He then failed to stop the cross as he turned his body and allowed the Portuguese full-back to produce a cutback to the Uruguayan striker, who eventually turned the ball into the back of the net.

This shows that the 27-year-old was partly to blame for Newcastle failing to pick up all three points as he was unable to stop Dalot from creating the goal. However, this was not the only error in his game as his all-around performance was lacking in quality.

Defensively, he was poor throughout. As per SofaScore, he lost six of his 11 duels and was dribbled past a whopping four times in the match. This shows that he was a lightweight in his physical battles and was nowhere near good enough in his defending as he allowed himself to be beaten in the dribble on four separate occasions.

He also offered little in possession. As per SofaScore, he only completed 72% of his passes, with a mere 13 overall. He also failed to complete a single cross and failed with two of his four attempted dribbles. This aspect of his performance could be excused as he was playing on his weaker side, usually lining out at right-back, but it was a disappointing display from Manquillo all the same and he let Howe down with his performance.

AND in other news, Forget ASM: Newcastle’s “unplayable” beast who won 8 duels stole the show vs Man Utd…

Celtic were linked with a summer move for ADO Den Haag defender Milan van Ewijk earlier this month.

Reports from the Netherlands claimed that the Hoops, along German trio Schalke, Hamburg and Darmstadt and Belgian side Gent, were all keen on the 20-year-old.

Van Ewijk to Celtic latest

Voetbal International, cited by Sport Witness, has now provided an update on the situation. They claim that Celtic, who have ‘expressed their interest’ over van Ewijk, will now have to move quickly if they want to get him.

That’s because Dutch side Heerenveen are now ready to move for the youngster to fill their right-back void.

Transfer Tavern take

It seems as if a new right-back is required at Parkhead this summer after Jeremie Frimpong and Hatem Elhamed left earlier this year.

Voetbal International have labelled van Ewijk’s development as ‘stormy’ and describe the youngster as ‘one of the few bright spots’ at the club.

The right-back, who has also played as a centre-back, has missed just 51 minutes of Eredivisie action this season.

He currently holds a £675,000 Transfermarkt valuation and is out of contract in June 2022, so, if the Hoops are quick, they may well land an exciting talent who appears to be getting better with each passing month.

In other news: Premier League club readying bid for Celtic ace over double his market value, find out more here. 

Liverpool are plotting a summer move for West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice, and he could make the perfect partner for Fabinho.

What’s the story?

According to journalist Dean Jones (via GIVEMESPORT) Liverpool are ‘going to be interested’ in Rice when the transfer window opens this summer.

He said: “Of course, they’re going to be interested in Declan Rice because if Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have had that player on their radar, then you kind of at least have got to consider whether you’re going to need him.”

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They are among a number of Premier League clubs who are interested in signing the Englishman to bolster their options in the middle of the park.

The report says that Rice has recently turned down a contract offer at the London Stadium and would be open to a move. However, his contract doesn’t expire for another two years, and the Hammers are said to have the option to extend that by a further year, so he would fetch a high price. The Daily Mail have reported that the club would be asking for a British record £150m fee for him.

Imagine him and Fabinho

Although Liverpool supporters shouldn’t get too excited as they will face stiff competition for his signature, he would be the perfect signing for them and would partner Fabinho extremely well.

Earlier this month it was reported by Football Insider that Jurgen Klopp has his sights set on signing a ‘world-class’ midfielder, and that Rice was on the list of options. With Jones now confirming this, he may be the Reds’ priority, especially when you consider that he’s been described as “world-class” already by reporter Toby Cudworth and many others.

He has been key for West Ham in the league this season appearing 32 times with one goal and four assists from defensive midfield. He also often captains the side when Mark Noble isn’t playing, so has great leadership qualities as well.

The England international ranks in the top 3% amongst Premier League midfielders this season when it comes to his pass completion percentage and the top 2% for interceptions.

Liverpool already have two incredible midfielders in Thiago and Fabinho, if they added a third the team would be complete with a stellar player in every position.

Klopp is famous for the constant pressure he likes his teams to put on their opponent, and Rice would fit perfectly into that. His percentage when it comes to successful pressing this season is 33% which is almost identical to Fabinho’s 32%.

The fact he came through the youth setup at Chelsea may well have an impact on which club he ends up moving to, but the chance to win with Liverpool and play under Klopp must be an attractive option.

IN other news: Sky Sports: Liverpool will need mega £55m to sign “unstoppable” gem, he’s Salah 2.0…

Marcus Rashford’s hot streak continued as he put on a masterclass to help Manchester United come from behind to beat Liverpool and progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Inspired by the spirited Rashford, who earns wages worth £200,000-per-week, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side claimed one of their biggest scalps of this season so far.

Goals from Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Rashford gave the Red Devils victory in a thrilling FA Cup clash against the defending Premier League champions at Old Trafford.

After Greenwood drew the Red Devils level, the Rashford scored shortly after halftime to put them within touching distance of a place in the next round of the competition.

While Fernandes will be the name in the headlines, it was Rashford who stepped up to derail the Reds’ pursuit of silverware. Mo Salah opened the scoring for Liverpool at Old Trafford but United bounced back in style after a cross-field diagonal ball from Rashford found Greenwood on the right, who coolly slotted home past the helpless Alisson.

But he saved his best moment for later in the game as he latched onto a through ball from Greenwood and found the back of the net.

As per SofaScore, the monstrous Rashford earned a 7.8 match rating for his display, that being the second-highest out of any United player on the pitch, bettered only by a certain Greenwood, which was significantly higher than his season average of 6.96.

Against Liverpool, he would take two shots on target, which was the most of any player from Solskjaer’s squad, including Fernandes.

He’s still not the finished article, that much is obvious, but he’s started to show a maturity far beyond his years both on and off the pitch.

The England international also took more touches (38) than Edinson Cavani as he showed a willingness to bring the ball out from inside his own half to put his team on the front foot, as evidenced by his two successful dribbles from three attempts per 86′ minutes.

He would also win four duels, which is on par with his average of 4.5 in the Premier League, whilst Georginio Wijnaldum and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who were tasked with the job of keeping the left winger at bay, received below-par ratings of 6.4 and 6.7 respectively, as per SofaScore, which goes some way to show that it was the United forward who got the best of his direct opponents on the day.

If the Red Devils are to regain the title for the first time since the 2012-13 season and go far in the FA Cup too, United fans will be hoping that he can maintain his impressive run of form, which has seen him score 15 goals in 31 appearances so far this season.

AND in other news, Manchester United should consider January loan exit for Donny van de Beek…

Yerry Mina was a disappointment for Carlo Ancelotti despite Everton’s amazing 5-4 FA Cup victory at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.

The Colombian was recalled to the starting line-up for the Goodison Park affair having been rested at Manchester United last Saturday, but was unable to demonstrate why he was right to be brought back into the side.

Everton were far from a resolute unit in defence against Spurs and needed goalkeeper Robin Olsen to produce two sublime saves to deny the visitors a 3-0 lead in the first-half, having seen those in front of the AS Roma loanee frequently leave him wanting more.

Mina was particularly suspect in the second period when he gifted Erik Lamela a chance to test Olsen once again, with the Argentine maestro able to play a quick one-two with Heung-Min Son to get in behind and lift the ball into the back of the Blues’ net.

The former FC Barcelona defender positioned himself to go with Lamela’s run only to be caught flat-footed when Son played an instant pass through, leaving the towering 6 ft 5 titan desperately trying to stick a foot out to no avail.

Gylfi Sigurdsson had found himself at fault for two of Tottenham’s goals on Wednesday night when he failed to contain Davinson Sanchez at corners, yet atoned for his errors by producing a vastly influential display to have a hand in four of the five goals Everton struck.

Alex Iwobi also left supporters underwhelmed by his performance, as a quick search of his name on Twitter shows, with the Nigerian unable to create many chances and eventually taken off for Bernard moments after Richarlison put the Toffees 4-3 up.

Yet Mina was worse than Iwobi, having failed to make amends for his role in Lamela’s strike and often prove to be a target for Tottenham to exploit.

Mina and Iwobi shared SofaScore’s lowest match rating among those who started for Everton at 6.2 out of 10. Yet the £18m-rated Colombian saw his night end with even less merit with WhoScored, who marked him at a game-low 5.4 thanks partly to his role in Lamela’s goal.

That’s because he also failed to offer any successful tackles having not attempted to win possession in a challenge once, and made no interceptions while Lucas Digne broke up Spurs’ play on three occasions, Michael Keane once, Ben Godfrey twice, Abdoulaye Doucoure once and Tom Davies twice.

Ancelotti can usually rely on Mina to at least attempt one tackle a game with the £120,000-per-week centre-half winning 1.1 of 1.3 per outing in the Premier League this season, along with offering 1.1 interceptions.

Mina additionally lost four of his five total duels in the midweek affair, with the 26-year-old unable to live up to his usual standards of 4.9 won a game with a 63% success rate in the top-flight over 18 outings thus far this term.

The defender now faces an anxious few days before Everton host Fulham on Sunday, when his place in the side could once again come under threat.

AND in other news, Everton face heightened competition for a 17-y/o talent seen as the heir to a £101k-p/w colossus…

Speaking in a football.london Q&A, reliable Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold has dropped a claim on Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag.

The Lowdown: Ten Hag linked to Spurs…

The Dutchman has been touted as a name on chairman Daniel Levy’s list of Tottenham managerial candidates for some time, with reports as far back as last month detailing him as a possible appointment (Fabrizio Romano).

This came after Spurs suffered setbacks in regards to former top targets Julian Nagelsmann and Brendan Rodgers, with the former officially set to become the next Bayern Munich manager and the latter publicly dismissing a move to north London.

Ten Hag is a manager who fits the mould of an attack-minded, possession-favouring coach allegedly wanted by Tottenham as they seek an heir to Jose Mourinho.

The Latest: Gold drops Ten Hag claim…

Amid the noise surrounding Mauricio Pochettino and a potentially sensational return to Tottenham, reliable correspondent Gold has provided an update on Ten Hag.

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Indeed, the 51-year-old is apparently seen as an alternative, with the journalist refusing to rule him out of the running.

“Everything depends on how willing PSG are to let Pochettino go and perhaps how their fans feel about the Argentine,” explained Gold (via football.london) when asked for the latest.

“It’s certainly not a done deal in any shape or form. I wouldn’t rule Conte out of the Tottenham job either or Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, who has similar characteristics to Pochettino.”

The Verdict: Exciting alternative…

The notion that Ten Hag is ‘similar’ to Pochettino, as explained by Gold, makes him the perfect alternative should PSG make life difficult for Spurs to appoint their former manager.

Recently lauded as ‘one of the most exciting coaching talents in Europe’ by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, Ten Hag is also famed for his ‘Cruyffian influence’ (Planet Football).

Given that Spurs are after somebody who can reinstall an exciting brand of football at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, this claim on Ten Hag could come as music to the ears of some supporters.

In other news: Alasdair Gold also says Spurs could now swoop for this ‘incredible’ colossus, find out more here.

A number of Liverpool fans have been reacting negatively to training ground footage which emerged over the weekend.

The Reds are in the middle of a 20-day break without a game, having won 1-0 away to Wolves last Monday night.

With Jurgen Klopp’s men no longer in the FA Cup, and with an international break to come next week, they won’t play again until the meeting with Arsenal. The date and time for that match hasn’t yet been confirmed, but it appears likely to be Saturday April 3rd, due to their Champions League clash with Real Madrid the following Tuesday.

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Liverpool have been working hard on the training ground despite their lack of action, looking to find some freshness and confidence after a hugely disappointing campaign.

On Saturday, training footage emerged of a number of players competing in a football tennis game, with the likes of Andy Robertson, Thiago and Mohamed Salah involved, among others.

Liverpool fans react to training ground footage

While the video is both highly entertaining and impressive, some fans believe it is bordering on reckless, highlighting the risk of injury through playing it amid the backdrop of a campaign which has seen the Reds lose a number of key players to long-term setbacks.

Here are some of the standout reactions on Twitter, with negativity the order of the day.

“Watch someone get injured from this lol”

Credit: @LFCPierre18

“This is why we have injuries”

Credit: @EliasYusuff

“Injuries man injuries!!!! What the hell you doing!?!?!”

Credit: @Theman_shaq

“Stop trying to kill our players”

Credit: @lfcsonny

“We wonder why our players get injured”

Credit: @LFCRosser

“Then Thiago got injured…”

Credit: @kandill86

In other news, Liverpool are eyeing up a move for a striker with an amazing international record this summer. Read about it here.