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أعلن مدرب فريق مانشستر سيتي بيب جوارديولا التشكيل الأساسي لمواجهة وايكومب، مساء اليوم في كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية.

ويلتقي الفريقان في ملعب الاتحاد في كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية، وذلك في إطار منافسات دور الـ32 من البطولة. تشكيل مانشستر سيتي أمام وايكومب

حراسة المرمى: زاك ستيفين.

خط الدفاع: إيجان ريلي، بارنز، لوك تابو، جوش ويلسون.

خط الوسط: لافيا، كيفين دي بروين، فيل فودين.

خط الهجوم: رحيم ستيرلينج، فيران توريس، رياض محرز.

Heading into Jose Mourinho’s first summer in charge of Tottenham, the Portuguese man will no doubt be hoping to bring in some more of his own players to help rebuild the squad in his image.

Steven Bergwijn of course was the only permanent signing made by the Lilywhites back in the January transfer window, and now according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, Spurs are now the front-runners in the race to sign Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

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The report reveals that the Croatian has been linked with a move away from the Catalan giants after failing to agree a new contract with the club.

And after hearing about the update on their swoop for the play-maker, fans of the north London side took to Twitter to voice their thoughts about their latest transfer target.

A couple of Spurs fans insisted that Rakitic is better than current midfielder Harry Winks even at his age.

Despite being 32-years-old, Rakitic would bring a wealth of experience to Mourinho’s side, and give them someone who has been a cornerstone of a Barcelona midfield for the past few years.

He has played 299 times for the Catalan outfit, scoring 34 times and providing 41 assists, and has of course played Champions League football year-in and year-out.

A move for the Croatian could be a shrewd move by Spurs this summer.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans discuss an update on their swoop for this goalkeeper.

According to Foot Mercato, Wolverhampton Wanderers have made an offer of ‘over €50m’ (£47.2m) for Lille anchorman Boubakary Soumare, and it’s a move that would benefit Nuno Santo greatly.

What’s the word?

Reports from France claim that Wolves have made the 20-year-old a ‘priority’ target with Premier League rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur also keen.

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Although, it has been the west Midlands outfit to make the first move for Soumare with them offering to pay out the remainder of his current contract, in addition to loaning him back to the Ligue 1 side.

The same source states that Wolves had a lower bid rejected during the summer.

Neves impact

It is widely known that Nuno wants to bolster his squad options in January, but this case offers an interesting long-term plan with the club reportedly planning to send him back to Lille until the summer.

Regardless of whether that happens, Soumare’s arrival can only spell wonderful things for Ruben Neves.

A few months ago, BirminghamLive claimed that the club were pursuing central options in midfield, and that has to be in order to allow the Portugal international to thrive further up the pitch – Neves’ xG is down from last year, decreasing to 0.04 from 0.1, per Understat.

That has been something done in recent weeks, but by only playing a two-player midfield, Nuno could do with greater defensive stability, and that’s what Soumare brings.

His former teammate, Arnaud Luzayadio, once said: “He has always been above our generation. He managed to do high-level things for his age. It was easy for him. All of his matches were great matches.”

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While another ex-Paris Saint Germain player, Metehan Güclü, believed his career could “go a long way; a Pogba-like trajectory.”

This season in Champions League, the young Frenchman is averaging three dribbles, two interceptions, 1.5 clearances and one tackle per game, via WhoScored.

It only goes to show he can do it on the big stage and thus would be a very welcome addition at Molineux.

In other news, this Wolves ace has quadrupled his transfer value according to club legend Kenny Hibbitt

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

How times change. When Manchester United were pursuing a move for Harry Maguire in the summer, there was always bound to be a casualty from the Red Devils’ centre-back department. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer even remarked that he had “too many” in that position, and in the end, the casualty of their new £80m signing, proved to be Chris Smalling.

The former Fulham ace joined Italian giants AS Roma on a season-long loan and he has quickly established himself as a mainstay of the team. He has played ten times already, and has scored one goal in Serie A too. United’s forgotten man is beginning to revive his career, and he can count himself desperately unlucky to have missed out on Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this latest international break.

The Three Lions boss previously alluded to leaving the 29-year-old out because he was not as good as some of the other centre-backs in bringing the ball out from defence. He said: “We have players like Stones and (Eric) Dier and Maguire who are even better. Chris has got 30 caps, he plays for Manchester United, so I know what he can do. The other guys I want to see and want to look at and that’s an important part of how we want to play, building from there.”

Well if that is Southgate’s main concern over the United loanee, then he should perhaps take a closer look at how the defender has been getting on this season. He has averaged an impressive 52.1 passes per game in Serie A, at a splendid accuracy of 90.4%. Compare this to his measly 39.8 passes per game in the Premier League last season shows how the 29-year-old is becoming increasingly confident of finding himself in possession.

The quality and incisiveness of his passes have gone up too, with Smalling now making 0.3 key passes per game compared to just 0.1 last year. His major improvements means that he can rightfully be annoyed not to have forced his way back into the England set-up.

A selection of Aston Villa fans took to social media during their Premier League meeting with Liverpool on Saturday to share their thoughts on the Video Assistant Referee denying Roberto Firmino an equalising goal.

Dean Smith’s Villans had taken a surprise lead in the 21st-minute, when Trezeguet opened the scoring with a tap-in after VAR Martin Atkinson overruled a decision to call Tyrone Mings as offside before the Egyptian tapped home at the back post.

Referee Jon Moss had initially sought to chalk off the volley, as Mings had made advances from an offside position, but the goal was given as Trezeguet was arguably the only home player not beyond the last man when the free-kick was taken.

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Villa have seen goals taken off the board in incidents where the video assistant could have been used this season, with strikes at Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion disallowed, as well as not seeing a penalty awarded at Arsenal.

Atkinson ensured the shoe was on the other foot on Saturday, though, as Liverpool were denied an equalising goal in the 31st-minute when Firmino was adjudged to have been offside.

The decision appeared to be extremely close to call, with a hair’s width potentially the difference between the Brazilian being onside or not.

Being on the other side of the decision saw one Villa fan note that their side were due a decision going in their favour, having felt there was ‘no way’ Firmino was offside.

Here are some of the messages shared on the key decision from Villa’s clash with Liverpool…

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson has teased Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a backhanded compliment after the forward hit the Reds’ winning goal against KRC Genk on Tuesday night.Robertson was benched for the Champions League tie as Jurgen Klopp seemingly kept one eye on Sunday’s Premier League showdown with title-rival Manchester City, but started Oxlade-Chamberlain as his de facto striker.According to those matches where his position has been recorded by Transfermarkt, Oxlade-Chamberlain had never played as the designated striker or as a false nine before in his senior career, yet was able to live up to the task by striking the match-winner on the turn when he drilled the ball home in the 53rd-minute.It was the Portsmouth-born winger’s fourth goal of the season across all competitions, after he fired home from range the Reds’ third of the night against his former side Arsenal in the Carabao Cup last week.His brace against Genk when Liverpool travelled to Belgium towards the end of October also featured a wonder-strike from the 26-year-old, when he scored with the outside of his boot.Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal against Genk on Tuesday night was relatively subdued compared to his effort last month, while also being the 33-cap England international’s first from inside the box this season.Robertson clearly noticed that, as well, as the Scotland left-back took to Twitter after the win to tease Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday looking to stretch their advantage over the reigning Premier League title holders, as Klopp’s men can open a nine-point margin should they triumph at the weekend.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Ben Davies has struggled to get into the Tottenham team so far this campaign with only three starts to his name, but his performance against Croatia for Wales will certainly give Mauricio Pochettino something to think about.

Danny Rose has been the preferred choice at left-back for much of the season but with no end in sight of Spurs’ defensive woes – with 13 goals conceded in their last five games – a change may be in order.

Added to that, Rose didn’t exactly impress for England on Friday night with a SofaScore rating of 6.1 in defeat against the Czech Republic, and therefore Davies is deserving of a recall.

As well as providing a defensive improvement, the Welshman could also provide more energy and impetus going forward, as he showed bravery and ambition against the World Cup runners-up, and that could help to end Tottenham’s bad run of form.

The 26-year-old’s commitment was on show in everything he did on Sunday, and if the level of desired he showed was replicated throughout the team then Spurs would get the lift they need.

He put in a strong defensive performance, helping the young Ethan Ampadu and leading by example, as well as making one tackle, as per SofaScore.

However, it was going forward where he really excelled, linking up with Gareth Bale frequently, including a great run which set up a chance that the Real Madrid man couldn’t miss to level things up.

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Wales could have had more thanks to his efforts, too, and if he is able to repeat the two key passes he made this weekend against Watford, then a top striker like Harry Kane is likely to put them away.

Davies sometimes lacks the skill and physicality to attack effectively, as his rate of 0.1 successful dribbles per league game last season suggests, so the fact he managed two against Croatia suggests he did so because of a determination to help his team.

Spurs need that kind of team player currently, someone who isn’t afraid to put their body on the line – as his four out of seven duels won indicates – and therefore Pochettino should show some faith in Davies by giving him a run in the team.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

Quite often, the academies of Aston Villa and in particular, West Brom, gain the most attention in the Midlands so much so that Wolves’ cohort of next stars goes under the radar.

And that’s rather harsh considering the array of talent that’s on offer at the club.

You’ve got a pair impressing on loan at Doncaster Rovers in Niall Ennis, who has scored and assisted one goal in five starts, and Cameron John, who has attracted the interest of several Premier League rivals.

Then there are prospects plucked from elsewhere like Bruno Jordao from Lazio and Meritan Shabani, who has featured three times for Bayern Munich’s senior side – both have been making their presence heard for the U23s.

But earlier this week, Benny Ashley-Seal fired his name into the limelight as he netted a hat-trick past League Two outfit Carlisle United in their EFL Trophy opener on Tuesday night.

The fact he scored three past full-time professional footballers instead of fellow youngsters is a key moment as it suggests he is up to the standard of the men’s game, albeit against a team lower down the English pyramid.

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Fosun’s plans to build a successful academy have been clear in the past and this season it may finally be coming to fruition, particularly after this promising display from a young player against senior opposition.

They just need a few players to break into Nuno Santo’s first-team plans and the way their season has gone, who knows, it could well happen.

Back in 2015, the young striker was named as one of the best twenty prospects to look out for in his age group by The Guardian.

Since then, he’s gone on to score 12 goals in 28 appearances for the U23 side and has also been out on loan in Portugal.

In his early years, he passed through the books of north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, which can typically be a good indicator of how talented a player actually is as both youth setups are up there with the best in England.

If Ashley-Seal can continue to impress and build on this, then he could become a serious option amongst their ranks. Not only that, but he could help Fosun’s ambitions ring true.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Liverpool could be forced to replay their Carabao Cup clash with MK Dons, which may be an even worse outcome than just getting kicked out of the competition.

What’s the word?

According to The Times, the Reds may have to play the League One outfit again due to the issue surrounding Pedro Chirivella’s eligibility.

The report claims Jurgen Klopp is horrified by the possibility, and it’s easy to see why.

Excluding the international break, the Reds are currently set to play two games a week until the next round of Carabao Cup fixtures, so they would either have to squeeze the replay into a three-match week, or even worse, push the next round back and play the replay when other teams play in the next round, forcing the potential clash with Arsenal deeper into the busy festive period.

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Worst possible outcome

It has long been a joke amongst Liverpool fans that Klopp does not care about domestic cups.

Maybe it’s because of the line-ups stacked full of fringe and youth players he deploys, or maybe it’s because he hasn’t won one in England yet, but you only need to look at the reactions to the news of the ineligible player dispute to see what fans think, as one even said: “Klopp will be happy!”

Joke or not however, there is definitely an argument to be made that the Reds would be better off out of the competition than face another away trip against a tough-tackling lower-league team in the midst of some huge Premier League and Champions League fixtures.

Let’s not forget when Klopp’s side slipped up in the league last term, as they drew four out of six games between January and March and scored just two goals in those four draws, a sure sign of fatigue after a hectic winter schedule.

Sure, Liverpool are a massive club and want every trophy they can get their hands on. But, if it’s a choice between sacrificing the proverbial Mickey Mouse cup or letting it affect the push for Premier League and Champions League glory, then getting dumped out of the competition may just be the best possible outcome.

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Having signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer of 2018, Fred endured a difficult first season at Manchester United.

The Brazil international managed just 25 appearances across all competitions last season, and his future at the club was in doubt earlier this summer. Reports had suggested the midfielder could be set for a loan move to Turkey, but a deal failed to materialise by the end of the transfer window.

After being handed his first start of the new season against Astana in the Europa League, Fred delivered a performance that reminded the club just why they splashed the cash on him in the first place.

The 26-year-old led the team in touches (154), passes (137) and accurate long balls (11), as he dictated the game from the middle of the park.

After seeing the Brazilian’s display, United fans took to Twitter to hail the former Shakhtar star.

Many Red Devils supporters hailed him for always wanting to receive possession, and revealed they expect him to come good over the course of the season.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below: