Celtic have missed out on a huge prize pot after being knocked out of the Champions League.

The Hoops have failed to secure a place in the Champions League group stage for the first time under Brendan Rodgers’ leadership following a 3-2 aggregate defeat to AEK Athens. Celtic failed to gain the advantage during the home leg at Celtic Park and paid the price with Athens winning the return fixture. Rodgers will not benefit from the considerable prize money on offer to clubs who reach the group stage and will instead drop into the Europa League.

One man who faces an uncertain future after the defeat is Dedryck Boyata. The Belgian was targeted by Fulham earlier in the window and was declared fit to play by Rodgers. However, Boyata claims he was injured, but fans aren’t convinced and are eager to see the defender leave the club.

To replace him, Rodgers should launch a bid for Everton youngster – Mason Holgate. Valued at £6.3m by Transfermarkt, the 21-year-old made 15 appearances in the Premier League last season during a disappointing season for the Toffees. Marco Silva has strengthened his defence significantly, adding Yerry Mina and Kurt Zouma to his squad. As a result, Holgate has fallen down the pecking order, and a loan move could be best for his development.

Rodgers is known for bringing the best out of young players, and the Northern Irishman could bring the best out of the defender. Holgate impressed when called upon last year and would be a serious upgrade on Boyata. His presence in the back four would provide some much-needed solidity to the Celtic back line.

If Celtic can land Holgate on a temporary basis, they would get their season back on the right track.

Celtic fans, thoughts?

Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to Manchester United’s shock defeat on Sunday, and they’re all bashing the performance of Eric Bailly.

Of all the bizarre phenomenon to emerge from social media’s incredible impact on sport, one of the most prevalent is the constant comparison between rival players.

It’s almost impossible to comment on a player these days without comparisons being drawn to a rival player in that position, and Liverpool fans are bashing Manchester United fans for putting Bailly in the conversation with Virgil van Dijk.

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Manchester United fans would be the first to admit their centre back options are not up to scratch, but many feel that Bailly is a star in the making.

The 24 year-old has excellent pace and strength, and his reading of the game is improving from week to week.

However, he had an absolute nightmare in the 3-2 defeat at Brighton, caught out of position on several occasions before giving away a penalty with a really rash challenge.

Liverpool fans don’t think the Ivorian international belongs in the same conversation as their towering Dutchman, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Loads of Celtic fans have been reacting to a shock transfer rumour, as reports claim Moussa Dembele has missed training amidst exit links.

According to The Daily Record, Dembele was absent from Celtic training on Wednesday morning ahead of the Hoops crunch clash in the Europa League.

Brendan Rodgers side welcome Lithuanian side Suduva to Celtic Park on Thursday, after a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

Fans have of course been growing impatient with the lack of transfer activity, but this is definitely not the sort of activity they wanted.

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According to the report, both Marseille and Lyon are chasing the French striker, with Lyon in particular considering a bid of more than £15m.

Dembele has scored nearly a goal every two Premiership games since joining Celtic, as well as some memorable Champions League goals, and losing him on the eve of the transfer deadline would be a huge blow.

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Fans are relating his absence from training to Dedryck Boyata’s refusal to play in the Champions League clash against AEK, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Manchester United’s miserable start to the season continued last weekend as they were well and truly humbled by Spurs at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils look all at sea at the moment, and preparing for a crucial game at Lancashire rivals Burnley today, manager Jose Mourinho will be well aware that the pressure is one to start getting some results and climbing the Premier League table.

Even though the window has only just closed in England, eyes from some United fans will already be on the January market, and here at the Transfer Tavern, we think that a defender has to be on the agenda for the Old Trafford club.

One man we think they should be looking to sign is AC Milan ace Alessio Romagnoli, who is valued at a hefty £40m by Transfermarkt.

The former Sampdoria man has become a mainstay of the team in Milan, and with nigh on 100 appearances to his name for the Rossineri, he has become one of the most well respected defenders in Europe.

Unfortunately for United, the likes of Jones, Smalling, and Lindelof just don’t see up to scratch, but signing someone like Romagnoli would go a long way to plugging that leak at the back.

The Italian is a quality operator, and would be exactly the sort of defender who Mourinho would love to welcome to his squad.

United fans, what do you think? Good signing? Let us know in the comments!

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Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground is fairly bare at the moment, with a number of the club’s players away on international duty.

However, those not included are currently working hard as Tottenham build towards their next Premier League match against Liverpool on September 15.

Harry Winks, Victor Wanyama and Erik Lamela have all had their injury problems, but all three were present in the training-ground pictures posted on the club’s official Twitter account.

Winks might have been in with a shout of making the England squad had be been fully fit, but the midfielder is still recovering from an ankle problem.

Wanyama’s knee troubles are a concern, meanwhile, and he has been ruled out of Kenya’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana.

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Lamela has also only played once for Tottenham this season due to injury, but the Argentine was present during training on Thursday afternoon.

The Spurs fans have been on social media expressing their views on the images, and a selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Liverpool made a bold move into the transfer market last summer as they parted with £35 million to secure the services of Alex Oxade-Chamberlain from Arsenal. 

Despite a bumpy beginning to life at Anfield which culminated when Oxlade-Chamberlain was ridiculed on social media following a woeful performance against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup, Liverpool’s decision to sign the Ox turned out to be incredibly shrewd.

The promise which the England international had sporadically flashed in glimpses throughout his Arsenal career became a thing of the past and his unpredictability was replaced by a series of consistently excellent displays in the centre of Liverpool’s midfield.

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s attitude both on, and off the field – where he honourably defended Philippe Coutinho in a post-match interview when questioned about his future – has made him a firm fan-favourite on Merseyside.

Although it’s a decision which would certainly raise a few eyebrows, Liverpool should consider emulating the success they have enjoyed since signing Oxlade-Chamberlain by signing another Arsenal player in 2019, namely Aaron Ramsey.

The 53-cap Wales international has been a mainstay in Arsenal’s midfield in the past half-decade but with less than 1-year remaining on his current contract there is plenty of reason to believe that he is ready to embark on a new challenge.

Ramsey will be 28 by the time his contract expires next summer so there’s no doubt his decision will be at least partially based on the potential of claiming silverware.

And whilst Liverpool are in the ascendancy in their bid to usurp Manchester City at the summit of English football, it’s fair to say the Reds’ silverware credentials are far stronger than Arsenal’s.

The only grievance Ramsey may have regarding a move to Liverpool is the breadth of options which Klopp currently has available but, James Milner will be 33 next summer and the Welsh playmaker is clearly a notable upgrade on both Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson, so plenty of opportunities would be forthcoming if he was willing to fight hard for his place.

Liverpool pulled a masterstroke by signing Oxlade-Chamberlain last summer and they should use their past success as motivation to add another fantastic box-to-box midfielder to their ranks by offering generous terms to Ramsey when his contract expires in 2019.

Liverpool fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Everton fans on Twitter didn’t have much to be happy about after their 3-1 defeat at home to West Ham on Sunday, but some at least did find solace in the wonderful header scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson on the stroke of half-time.

The Toffees had gone two goals down thanks to two strikes from West Ham’s summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko on his first start for the club, and although his second was an impressive finish it was largely thanks to a mistake by Jordan Pickford, piling more misery on for Everton fans.

However, when young right-back Jonjo Kenny swung in a cross after two minutes of added time in the first half Sigurdsson was there to power home a header from beyond the penalty spot past the helpless Lukasz Fabianski in the Hammers net.

Unfortunately for Everton, West Ham again came out firing in the second half and Marko Arnautovic got the goal that killed the tie. Check out some of the best tweets below in reaction to Sigurdsson’s header.

[ad_pod ][ffc_insert title=”Check out the Big Interview with Ben Dinnery & Johnny Wilson” name=”Fixture In Focus Podcast Special” image_ link=”https://fixtureinfocus.podiant.co/e/369d9b4fb86294/” link_text=”Click here to play”]Arsenal fans have reacted to new signing Bernd Leno’s first performance for the club. Leno started in goal on Thursday evening in Arsenal’s 4-2 win in the Europa League over Ukrainian side Vorskla.Gunners fans expected the 6ft 3in tall 26-year-old to get the nod ahead of Petr Cech at the start of the season but Cech has been captaining the side in all five of their Premier League matches so far.Leno looked comfortable with the ball at his feet on Thursday, although he wasn’t really tested until the final 15 minutes of the game. Despite conceding two goals in that final stage of the game, the club’s fans have continued their support for the German, saying he should be used in the Premier League as well.Cech has been struggling to adapt to manager Unai Emery’s tactics of playing out from the back, where as Leno looks as if he is used to playing that style of football.Here are some of the Twitter reactions by Arsenal fans, following Thursday night’s match:

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According to a recent report from The Daily Mirror, Aaron Ramsey looks set to leave Premier League giants Arsenal this summer. The midfielder made the move to North London back in 2008 after coming up through the ranks and beginning his youth career at Cardiff City, and he has since gone on to become an influential member of the squad at the Emirates Stadium.

However, reports suggest that there is no longer a contract offer on the table for the Wales international to thus suggest that he will leave the club at the end of his current deal in the summer, which could prove to be manager Unai Emery’s first big mistake since taking over at Arsenal.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Spaniard Emery has big shoes to fill having replaced Arsene Wenger during the summer, although he has made a reasonably solid start to life at the Emirates Stadium in embarking on a current five-match winning streak in all competitions.

And while some of his decisions, not least in implementing a style of play that asks goalkeeper Petr Cech to be better with his feet, have been questioned by some, he has on the whole made a fine start to life in the Gunners hotseat.

But were he and the club’s hierarchy fail to tie Ramsey down to a new contract, that would without doubt represent his first huge mistake since taking the reins of the North London giants, as the Welshman has been a key cog in the Arsenal midfield in recent years.

The 27-year-old took time to make his mark at the Emirates Stadium, with injuries certainly stalling his progress following his move from Cardiff a decade ago, yet the midfielder has in the last few years clearly proven his worth to the Gunners – there’s a reason he won their Player of the Season award last term.

The Welshman has scored 59 goals and laid on 59 assists in 338 games for the North Londoners in the last ten years, 11 goals and 12 assists of which coming last term as the Gunners finished sixth in the Premier League, and indeed reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

In fact, last season was the third time in his Arsenal career that Ramsey reached a double-figure goal return, thus underlining his influence in Wenger’s midfield, and with two assists already this term in the league, it’s clear that he is again going to play a part under Emery.

Yes, some may feel that the 27-year-old doesn’t necessarily suit Emery’s style, but there is little doubting that Ramsey remains one of the better players at the Emirates, and at a time whereby the club are seeking to build again after a turbulent few years, letting one of their best players leave seems an odd decision.

Thus, failing to agree a new deal with Ramsey, and thus letting him leave on a free in the summer or a cut-price deal in January, could prove to be Emery’s first huge mistake since taking charge at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal fans… what do you think? Let us know!

As Jurgen Klopp’s third anniversary at Liverpool approaches, recent games have proved that the German boss has finally solved one of the biggest problems in recent memory at the Merseyside club – the ability to bring on a substitute or two that can change a game when things aren’t quite clicking.

On the chalkboard

Klopp has been widely praised for the high-tempo style of play that he has instilled at Liverpool over his tenure, but it is yet to yield a trophy despite the Reds competing in two major European finals over the years.

However, the Gegenpressing system clearly takes its toll on the players and Klopp’s side have struggled to play every game with the same tempo in the past three seasons. This has not been helped by the fact that the former Borussia Dortmund manager has not had a strong enough squad to rotate players, and when games weren’t going well he had no impact players on the bench to turn to.

This season though things seem different. The signings of central midfielders Naby Keita and Fabinho allow Klopp to inject fresh legs at the heart of his team and former Stoke man Shaqiri has looked dangerous every time he has come off the bench in a red shirt.

The difference

As well as those options, Klopp also finally has a fully fit Daniel Sturridge available to bolster his strike force, which has been carried by Roberto Firmino for so long now.

Against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Sturridge started and scored Liverpool’s opener, before Firmino came off the bench to net a dramatic late winner.

The roles were then reversed against Sturridge’s former club Chelsea on Saturday, as the former England international was called upon by Klopp to partner the Brazilian with the Reds chasing the game with four minutes to play. Sturridge’s stunning strike then equalised for Liverpool, and proved just how important the bench will be for Klopp this season as he looks to end the trophy drought.

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