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Manchester City are back in action in the Premier League on Monday night, as they face a tricky trip to Goodison Park to face Everton.

The Citizens picked up a comfortable 2-0 win against Newcastle United last time out but they could and should have scored more, whilst Everton picked up another three points against strugglers Sheffield United.

Considering City’s last game was just two days ago, it seems likely that Pep Guardiola will make use of the squad depth available to him, although, considering the gravity of this game against the Toffees, who currently sit second in the Premier League, you also expect that the Spanish manager will go full strength.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Guardiola to line his side up against Everton, with two changes from the starting team that beat Newcastle…

Unsurprisingly, Ederson keeps his place in goal, whilst City’s defence also remains the same after picking up another clean sheet in the win against the Toon on Boxing Day.

Rodri was substituted shortly before the hour-mark against Newcastle, perhaps to give him some rest ahead of the game against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, so he should keep his place alongside Ilkay Gundogan in midfield.

There’s one change on the wing, as Riyad Mahrez replaces Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese winger, who reportedly earns £150,000-a-week, is still yet to find the back of the net so far this season, and City will need to be more clinical than they have been in recent matches if they want to pick up three points at Goodison Park.

Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne keep their place, whilst Sergio Aguero replaces Ferran Torres up front, as despite the Spaniard’s goal against Newcastle, City may be better served by going with the legendary Argentinian for this important fixture, where three points could put City within touching distance of leaders Liverpool.

And, in other news… £80k-p/w gem with “incredible quality” has become Pep’s most important player at MCFC

Manchester City return to Premier League action with a game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, and Pep Guardiola can give the Citizens a much better chance if he restores Rodri to his starting line up.

The Spanish midfielder was left out of the squad that comfortably beat Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday, but it seems as if that was a minor fitness issue, so it would be a surprise to not see him make the squad that travels to Old Trafford.

So far this season, the 24-year-old has made 10 appearances in the Premier League, averaging a very solid 6.91 rating, suggesting that he has been a big part of City’s impressive defensive record in recent weeks.

Guardiola’s side have kept eight clean sheets in their last ten fixtures in all competitions and will be hoping for a similarly impressive defensive display when they travel to Old Trafford, especially with United having gotten the better of City in recent seasons under Solskjaer.

If City unleash Rodri in a defensive midfield role against United, then perhaps he could be the man to stop Bruno Fernandes, with the Portuguese midfielder undoubtedly the danger man ahead of the derby, when you consider his incredible start to the season.

In 10 appearances in the Premier League, the former Sporting Lisbon man has contributed an impressive seven goals and four assists, resulting in an average rating of 7.65.

This is enough to see him ranked as the fifth-best player in the top-flight so far this season, suggesting that if City can keep him quiet on Saturday, they give themselves a great chance of winning the game.

However, Rodri, who is valued at £57.6 million by Transfermarkt, has shown on occasions this season that he can bully opposition attackers out of the game using his height and strength, so if he sticks to the Portuguese attacker during the game, perhaps he can prevent him from having much influence.

Back in 2019, Guardiola was full of praise for the Spanish international, saying:

“Rodri was incredible today. We knew it but today I can assure you we have an incredible holding midfielder for the next decade or at least the years he will be here with a contract.”

Therefore, it seems clear that he is highly rated by the City manager, and if he is fit, he should definitely start at Old Trafford on Saturday.

And, in other news… Pep’s latest decision could spell trouble for 23 y/o tipped for a “long career” at City

Tottenham Hotspur secured their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League by drawing a six-goal thriller in Austria.

Jose Mourinho’s men twice took the lead and substitute Dele Alli’s 86th-minute penalty looked to be enough to seal it until Mamoudou Karamoko fired home in injury time to make it 3-3.

Both Gareth Bale and Heung-min Son got themselves on the scoresheet before being withdrawn with this weekend’s north London derby on the Special One’s mind.

Despite scoring three times, not all of Spurs’ attacking players were at the races against LASK Linz, particularly Lucas Moura, who was abysmal during his 65 minutes.

He was likely taken off because of his display rather than that being a sign of his potential selection on Sunday afternoon.

The £22.5m-rated Brazilian was lightweight in his battles, winning just two on the ground and two aerial, meaning he won only 36% of all duels attempted against the Bundesliga outfit, as per SofaScore.

He also was all over the place in terms of passing, making just nine of 14 touches (64%). An embarrassing number considering goalkeeper Joe Hart managed three more.

This was backed up by the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, who claimed the wide man “frequently gave the ball away in the first half.”

Moura, who earns around £80k-per-week in N17, failed to record a single shot or cross from the left flank and even lost possession eight times.

The 28-year-old has not started in any of Spurs’ last four Premier League fixtures, being restricted to a total of 30 minutes from substitute appearances, and now he’s going to find it even tougher to break into the XI having let his manager down immensely with his display tonight.

Even in leaking three goals, £42m liability Davinson Sanchez was better, earning a rating of 6.9 compared to Moura’s 6.4. The Colombian colossus also enjoyed a better pass success rate (75%), won 87.5% of his duels and recorded eight clearances, via SofaScore.

In fact, only two players scored a worse rating than the struggling Ajax hero. It would be a surprise to see him involved from the off in a few days time.

AND in other news, 16 y/o record-breaker could become Levy’s biggest success since Harry Kane…

Big things were expected of Dominic Solanke when he joined Liverpool from Chelsea’s academy side in 2017, with the striker regarded as one of the hottest young talents in English football at the time.

However, fast forward three years and the 23-year-old looks to have perhaps found his level in the Championship with Bournemouth, having started the 2020/21 season in impressive form, with two goals and three assists in 11 appearances in the second division, resulting in a strong average rating of 7.11 (per WhoScored).

Liverpool seemed to sell the youngster at precisely the right time, as despite a disappointing spell with the Reds, Michael Edwards was able to convince the Cherries that he was worth £19 million in January 2019 (per BBC).

During his time with the Anfield outfit, Solanke would make 27 first-team appearances, culminating in just one goal and one assist (per Transfermarkt).

Since joining the Cherries, the 23-year-old striker has made 58 appearances, with an uninspiring return of just six goals and five assists, although his decent form so far this season shows he may be on the right track towards realising the potential he obviously had during his time with Chelsea and Liverpool.

Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for the youngster back in 2017 when Celtic were linked with the frontman, saying:

“I took Dominic into Chelsea when he was eight years of age. I am delighted for him and the career he has had up until now as a young player, he is a fantastic talent.” (per Sky Sports)

Solanke’s time with Liverpool was obviously less than successful and Edwards should get a lot of praise for being able to make such a profit on him when he sold him to Bournemouth.

However, we’re sure that the majority of Liverpool fans will be hoping to see the striker really kick on with Bournemouth this season and hopefully he will be able to showcase his talent more effectively in the Premier League in the future.

It remains to be seen just how long Slaven Bilic will get as West Bromwich boss amid reports that his future is under intense scrutiny whilst one name has emerged as a potential successor during the past week…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mirror, the Baggies hierarchy will eye Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer as their next man if the Croatian is axed at the Hawthorns.

It’s claimed that the relationship between Bilic and the Albion board has been rocky in recent months and that the Addicks’ chief would be among their top choices to succeed him.

The 43-year-old, who used to play in midfield for Newcastle and Leeds United, has spoken about the speculation too, he said: “It’s nice to be recognised. It happened a few times last season and the season before. If you do well then people recognise you do well.”

Baggies boost?

There is only one downside to Bowyer and that is his lack of experience managing in the Premier League, especially with a side battling relegation but you only have to look at Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United side last season – or Nuno Santo at Wolves the last two years – to see that it is not the be-all and end-all.

He’s worked under tough conditions before, though, having had the pleasure of dealing with controversial Charlton owner Ronald Duchatelet.

Bowyer guided Charlton to the Championship, via the play-offs in 2019, and were only relegated last term on the final day without their wantaway striker Lyle Taylor, who refused to play after the restart.

The Addicks are now at the top of the League One standings once more, sitting in third place, three points behind the league leaders with a game in hand too.

What is most interesting about his potential candidacy is the fact that he’s worked with both Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher and summer arrival Karlan Grant before.

Bowyer once claimed that the £15m signing “causes problems and scores goals,” and you’d have to believe him considering the 23-year-old bagged 14 goals in just 29 appearances under him at The Valley.

Whilst Gallagher was lauded as an impossible-to-replace “jewel” who also has “unreal” work rate.

Sacking Bilic would be a mistake in itself, as outlined here, but if that were to happen, then the Baggies must consider Bowyer a genuine and serious candidate for the short-term.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Chris Kirkland tips Lai to make an imminent call…

They may have continued their unbeaten streak, but Rangers will surely feel their 2-2 draw against Hibernian on Sunday was two dropped points.

The Gers enjoyed 70% of the possession at Easter Road, and took 12 more total shots than the home side (19-7). And yet, even despite the dominance, they couldn’t convert their opportunities in front of goal, and a couple of defensive lapses at the other end cost them big time.

Are you a massive Rangers fan? Know everything about the club? Well do you know your Gary Stevens from your Michael Ball? This quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

And whilst Ianis Hagi played a key part in Scott Arfield’s lovely team goal, the Romanian struggled to impose him on the game, and ended up losing six of his nine total duels.

After seeing his performance, Rangers fans took to Twitter to share their reactions about the attacker.

A couple of Rangers fans insisted Hagi was miles off the pace, and urged Gerrard during the game to take him off.

The 21-year-old has scored just the once in nine games for Rangers this season, and there’s no doubt Steven Gerrard’s side need a lot more from the talented Romanian.

Getting him to be consistent even during a game could be key to whether the Gers can finally lift the league title, and if he can add goals to his locker like his manager did, then the Ibrox side will fancy their chances of ending their long wait.

Inter Milan have signed Alexis Sanchez from Manchester United on a three-year deal, reports say. 

Sanchez, 31, has spent the past season on loan at the San Siro since joining the Serie A side in August 2019. The 132-cap Chile international scored four goals for Antonio Conte’s side in all competitions.

Man United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed he will move to Milan on a permanent deal.

Speaking after United’s Europa League win over LASK, Solskjaer said the deal would be announced today.

According to the BBC’s Simon Stone, Inter expect to be able to use him for the Europa League last eight. Goals from former Premier League players Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen saw the Nerazzurri reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday night.

“I can confirm that he’s agreed and we’ve agreed,” Solskjaer said. “Alexis enjoyed his time there.

“They’ve liked him, so of course that’s a good move for him. Wish him all the best. He’s a top player, that we want to see play his best football.

“For whatever reason we didn’t see the best of Alexis, but he’s a top professional and we just wish him all the best.”

The Chilean will receive a payout from the Red Devils for cancelling his contract at Old Trafford, which still has two years left to run in theory.

His departure will bring to an end the long-running saga which has plagued the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward for years.

United beat Manchester City to his signature, signing him from Arsenal on a four-and-a-half year deal with wages worth £400,000-a-week.

Sadly Sanchez failed to live up to expectations, having only scored five goals in 45 games for the Red Devils, and the board will be glad to get him off the books for good.

The veteran was involved in a bust-up with academy graduate Mason Greenwood during pre-season training (The Sun).

However, Sanchez has shown early signs of a revival under Conte, scoring in the 3-0 victory over Genoa last month.

Regardless, finally ridding themselves of a player who has done more harm than good could pave the way for United to sign Solskjaer’s top target Jadon Sancho instead.

United fans, are you happy to see Sanchez leave? Let us know down below!

Aston Villa finally had something to cheer about on Sunday as they clung onto their hopes of retaining their Premier League status by picking up a valuable three points against Crystal Palace.

Their 2-0 win came courtesy of a Trezeguet brace, but it was another Egyptian who got the fanbase talking.

Indeed, Ahmed Elmohamady had a big impact coming into the team from right-back. The full-back had a hand in the first goal, nodding on a Conor Hourihane free-kick before his fellow countryman applied the finish at the far post.

Watch Aston Villa Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

His attacking influence didn’t end their either, he was also a key creative force for the Villains, playing three key passes, the joint-highest of any player alongside Jack Grealish and Wilfried Zaha.

Understandably, the fans were full of praise for the full-back, and they took to social media to give him the credit he deserved.

Despite looking like one of Villa’s best players against Palace, the former Hull City man hasn’t been one of the first names on Dean Smith’s team sheet, playing just 58 minutes since the restart before completing a full 90 against the Eagles.

After his strong showing on Sunday, fans called for him to start more often.

With Villa still four points from safety, you can excuse some members of the fanbase being a little more pessimistic, and even though these supporters were thrilled with how Elmohamady played, they were left questioning why the manager wasn’t starting him more regularly.

It remains to be seen if the 32-year-old will be given more chances between now and the end of the season, but the Birmingham-based outfit need to be at their very best if they’re going to stay up, and if Elmohamady continues to play like this, their chances will improve exponentially.

Newcastle United could well be in for a huge windfall if their prospective takeover goes through.

The Saudi Royal Family have been linked with the purchase of the north-east outfit for the last few months, and should the deal go through, it would see the Toon become arguably the richest side on the planet. The transfer rumour mill has been going into overdrive, and the Magpies have been linked with a whole host of world class players – Kylian Mbappe and Kalidou Koulibaly are to name but two.

However, Dan Barlaser does not seem too fazed by the speculation – he appears to be relishing the chance to return to St. James’ Park. He has been playing for Rotherham this term in League One, and has impressed with an average WhoScored rating of 7.24, and he has taken to Instagram to share that this was the best year in his career and that he is leaving the club as a better player.

The Chronicle has picked up on the post and asked their supporters whether they believe Barlaser has a future at the club – the Toon supporters don’t appear to think so.  One even said that there ‘must be no takeover’ if Barlaser is being considered – they are probably right in as much as the midfielder probably wouldn’t get an opportunity if the new owners came in.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Let us know what you think!

Wolves have taken to the Premier League like a duck to water and are arguably one of the top eight clubs in the country right now, if not the top six.

The incredible work in the transfer market, ably assisted by Jorge Mendes’ client list, has seen Nuno Espírito Santo create an exciting, vibrant team and a squad that is the envy of many within the Premier League. There really is no end to what this team can achieve, providing they can keep this whole setup together.

Like all clubs, Wolves’ journey has been a work in progress and for every successful signing like Raul Jimenez, there has been a Jamie O’Hara that hasn’t duly delivered over the past 10 years.

In the latest Wolves quiz, we are challenging you supporters to see if you can remember how much you spent on a collection of players; some that were good, some that were bad and some that were damn right ugly.

There are 15 transfer fees to navigate, let’s see how good your Wolves knowledge is…