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Steven Gerrard’s Rangers face off against Hearts at Ibrox today in a huge clash at the top of the Premiership table.

A win for the home side would see them move four points clear at the top, whilst a defeat would see them drop down to second with the Jam Tarts overtaking them.

The Gers beat third-placed Hibernian 2-1 prior to the international break, as Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos’ second half goals secured the three points.

How many changes will Gerrard make to the team from that victory? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that he will make three changes to the side from the win over Hibs, with Jon McLaughlin, James Tavernier and Kemar Roofe all returning.

Firstly, we believe that McLaughlin will line up between the sticks. We published an article explaining why veteran shot-stopper Allan McGregor must be axed by Gerrard for this clash, and the former Liverpool captain could heed that advice and go with the 34-year-old today.

At right-back, captain Tavernier could return in place of Nathan Patterson. The teenage defender provided an assist against Hibernian and recorded a SofaScore rating of 7.6, which is why this is a difficult call to make. However, the experience (more than 300 appearances for Rangers) and leadership of Tavernier in a crunch game like this could be crucial for the Gers.

In midfield, Joe Aribo, Glen Kamara and John Lundstram could retain their places in the middle of the park. We published a piece detailing Steven Davis’ woes for Northern Ireland on international duty, which is why he could be watching on from the bench for today’s clash.

Finally, Roofe could come in for Scott Wright to line up on the left of the front three, with Morelos through the middle and Ianis Hagi out on the right. The former Leeds striker came off the bench and scored against Hibernian and we previously discussed why he deserves to start.

Wright and Hagi both caught the eye against Hibs and it is not an easy call on who to drop out of the pair. However, the latter created five chances in comparison to Wright’s four and that gives him the edge for this match, with the Romanian keeping his place in the side.

AND in other news, Wilson must avoid Rangers nightmare over “unique” beast compared to Yaya Toure…

With Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur side heading into Tuesday afternoon’s Premier League fixture against Southampton in an excellent run of domestic form, the 52-year-old will have been quietly confident of picking up yet another three points at St Mary’s.

However, despite Mohammed Salisu’s sending off in the first half today, Tottenham could not find the winning goal against Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side, with James Ward-Prowse’s spectacular 25th-minute strike and Harry Kane’s 41st-minute penalty being the only goals in a 1-1 draw.

As is perhaps to be expected after such a result, a number of Conte’s starting XI had an afternoon to forget against Saints, with Sergio Reguilon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Emerson Royal all turning in below-par displays on the south coast.

However, it will undoubtedly be Dele Alli who is most disappointed with his performance against Southampton on the Tottenham bus home, as the 25-year-old was once again ineffective in the middle of the park after being handed an opportunity to impress by Conte.

Lost 60% of his duels

Indeed, during his 62 minutes on the pitch, the £17m-rated midfielder failed to have a single shot at goal, completed just 17 of his 24 attempted passes (a success rate of 71%) and lost the ball on 12 separate occasions.

The £100k-per-week earner also failed with his one attempted dribble, was beaten by an opponent twice and lost six of his 10 duels, a failure rate of 60%.

These returns saw the player who Darren Anderton dubbed a “freak” receive a disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.6, the third-worst of any Tottenham player to step onto the pitch today.

As such, with it being widely reported that Dele could be on his way out of north London in the January transfer window, if this was the England international’s last chance to impress Conte, he certainly did not take it. Today’s draw with Southampton could well be the last time the 25-year-old ever pulls on a Tottenham shirt.

In other news: Conte can finally axe Spurs’ £25m-rated “joke” by signing “devastating” £69k-p/w beast

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish has pinpointed one key area which has made Celtic so impressive in the 2021/22 campaign so far. 

The lowdown: Domestic domination for Celtic?

Having relinquished a nine-year stranglehold on the Premiership title in 2021, the Hoops have regained their poise under Ange Postecoglou and appear to be heading towards a 52nd top-flight crown.

A mixture of smart recruitment at Parkhead, along with changes in personnel at Rangers, has meant that Celtic sit six points clear of their Glasgow rivals with five games to go, with the Scottish League Cup already in the bag too.

As the Bhoys prepare to do battle with their fiercest rivals in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, ex-Gers boss McLeish believes that the attacking prowess at Parkhead could ultimately be the deciding factor on Sunday…

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The latest: Too much firepower…

Speaking to Football Insider, the 63-year-old claimed that the wealth of options at Postecoglou’s disposal has been crucial to his success so far at Parkhead.

McLeish stated: “With Celtic, you don’t know where the next goal is going to come from. At Rangers, it’s ‘I wonder when Morelos or Roofe will get that chance’.

“That’s not the case at Celtic. There are five or six different goalscorers every week.

“The thing for Furuhashi is he will probably be wondering how he gets back in. I think he’ll either start or he will come on and that will bring the energy he has so much of. I think he’s ready for that.”

The verdict: Goals from everywhere

Going into the Hampden Park showdown, Celtic have nine players with five goals or more to their name this season, including Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Adaba and Jota with 10 or more.

In addition, January arrivals Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate have all hit the ground running in front of goal and will be staking a claim to start in Postecoglou’s side for the crunch semi-final.

Meanwhile, 16-goal top scorer Furuhashi will certainly be in line to make a first start since Boxing Day as Giorgos Giakoumakis faces a race against time due to a hamstring injury.

It’s little wonder, then, that McLeish is in awe of the attacking options at Postecoglou’s disposal.

In other news, one pundit has reaced to Ange Postecoglou’s transfer claim. Find out more here.

This is part of The Transfer Tavern’s Talking Tactics series, where we analyse two changes the manager should make in their upcoming fixture.

The Lowdown: Spurs return to action…

Tottenham take on Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup fourth round today after a near-two week hiatus as Antonio Conte’s side look to kick off February with a win.

Lilywhites supporters will be hoping that their side’s arguably lack-lustre January transfer window, in which the Lilywhites fell short of delivering Conte’s alleged demand of three major signings, won’t came back to haunt them.

The two signings Spurs managed to get through the door, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus, are in fact available but Conte has confirmed neither will start.

Regardless, if the latter man does get to make his debut off the bench today, we believe Spurs could finally unearth an heir to former club favourite Christian Eriksen if Conte takes a gamble and deploys Kulusevski in an attacking midfield role.

Kulusevski…Eriksen 2.0?

The Sweden international is highly versatile and has played in a variety of positions across midfield, both out wide and through the middle (Transfermarkt).

Conte himself as raved over Kulusevski’s ability to slot in many different roles, including as a number nine or number 10, whilst also hinting he could be deployed as a wing-back (Twitter).

We believe, however, that the 21-year-old could come as the surprise heir to Eriksen and replicate his creativity in an attacking midfield role.

While Conte hasn’t really chosen to use a 3-4-1-2 at Spurs, today could be the perfect time to revisit that tactic with Kulusevski’s arrival, especially considering the player himself admitted in 2020 that he sees himself as a ‘trequartista behind the strikers’.

Indeed, he has been described in past seasons as an ‘athletic phenomenon’ and ‘advanced playmaker’ with ‘above average intelligence and decision making’ in the final third by Football Talent Scout Jack Kulig.

As well as this, during his best season in Serie A for ex-club Parma over 2019/2020, the attacker averaged a brilliant 2.2 key passes and 2.1 completed dribbles per 90 according to WhoScored.

These numbers somewhat replicate that of Eriksen’s best years in north London, and taking this into account, a Conte gamble with Kulusevski as a 10 could end up being a huge win.

Lucas Moura…a RWB ‘monster’?

While Conte has hinted the Scandinavian could play right-wing-back after Tottenham missed out on Adama Traore for that specific role, we believe Spurs’ boss has actually had the perfect solution all along in Lucas Moura.

The Italian is clearly looking for a threatening outlet for Spurs in that area, as evident by transfer chief Fabio Paratici wanting Traore, who averaged a phenomenal 4.2 successful take-ons per 90 for ex-club Wolves in the Premier League (WhoScored).

This is a higher number than any of Conte’s current crop, but with current winger Lucas, Tottenham could also win the lottery with another gamble by trying him at RWB.

The Brazilian’s numbers in terms of completed dribbles, while not as impressive as Traore’s, still trump that of any Lilywhites man in the Premier League this season.

Indeed, Lucas has averaged a noteworthy 2.4 successful take-ons per match whilst also attracting the second-most fouls behind compatriot Emerson Royal (WhoScored).

The 29-year-old also ranks third in terms of shots at goal and key passes per 90 out of Spurs’ squad (WhoScored), highlighting his obvious threat.

Tottenham legend Graham Roberts has even endorsed him for this role before, and we believe Conte could certainly strike gold by utilising Lucas as a wing-back.

Leeds United playmaker Raphinha has even called Lucas a ‘monster’, coming as yet more evidence the South American potentially has what it takes for a makeshift new position.

In other news: ‘A question of when’…Source close to ENIC makes Spurs sale claim after what Levy has ‘said’, find out more here.

‘Celtic have knocked back an approach’ from Serie A side Udinese for centre-back Stephen Welsh, according to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph. 

The lowdown

Welsh came through the youth ranks at Celtic and has now played 41 senior games for The Hoops.

He’s featured nine times in the Scottish Premiership this season, including back-to-back starts prior to the winter break, and eight times in European competition (including qualifiers).

The 21-year-old is thought to earn £3,600 per week and is valued at around £1.3million by Transfermarkt.

The latest

‘It’s understood’ that Udinese approached Celtic over taking Welsh on loan with an option to buy, Joseph reports for Sky,

However, ‘Celtic are keen’ to keep hold of him and they’ve rebuffed the interest.

Joseph points out that Welsh signed a new four-year contract as recently as April 2021.

The verdict

It’s no surprise that Celtic are reluctant to potentially lose Welsh. The Scottish Under-21 international could well establish himself as a key player at Parkhead in the coming years if he continues to improve.

He’s performed reasonably well when called upon this season, averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.1/10 and winning just shy of 60 per cent of his duels overall.

The ‘excellent’ Welsh, hailed as such by pundit Paul John Dykes, will hope that he can earn even more frequent starting opportunities from Ange Postecoglou in the second half of the campaign.

In other news, a fresh update has emerged on an attacking target.

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Ben Davies has not featured for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League since the team’s 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United on January 13.

The Wales international has had a lot of criticism this season, but the Tottenham fans are pleased to see that the left-back has returned to the training field.

Indeed, after missing the games against Watford, Newcastle United and Leicester City, the Spurs supporters are now asking if Davies might be available to face Burnley this weekend.

Tottenham have won their last four games in all competitions, including a 3-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on February 13.

Jan Vertonghen has been playing left wing-back in the absence of Davies, but head coach Mauricio Pochettino now has another option in a key area of the field.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

Davies’ form this season has not always been terrific, but Tottenham need a strong squad at this stage as they are fighting on two fronts.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Spurs supporters can be seen below:

Newcastle journalist Liam Kennedy has dropped an exciting transfer claim, regarding the upcoming January window.

What’s the talk?

The reporter has claimed that he is anticipating the Magpies to pursue ‘flagships’ in the window to make people take notice of them. He has named Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale as an example, with Newcastle potentially targeting big names who are not in the peak of their powers.

He told GIVEMESPORT:

“Newcastle United, last summer there was a lot of talk of Gareth Bale. These players are damaged goods, but they are quality players who are the type of flagships that make people stand up and take notice.

“I would anticipate, as well as being some solid signings and levelling up in a lot of positions, I think they’ll want that feather in the cap. I think they’ll want one or two who really get people standing up and taking notice.”

Delight

Newcastle fans will surely be delighted with this claim for multiple reasons. For starters, it gives the supporters a reason to get excited ahead of the January window as this update tees up a busy month for PIF as they attempt to bolster the squad with new additions.

The Magpies are currently 19th in the Premier League table and are yet to pick up their first win in the division, with ten games already down the drain. This is why the St. James’ Park faithful need a reason to be cheerful and these quotes from Kennedy could provide one, with the prospect of a marquee signing arriving in January an exciting one.

Secondly, Kennedy names Bale as the type of player they could target. The Welshman has only played three games in La Liga this season, but enjoyed an impressive 2020/21 campaign on loan at Tottenham in the Premier League and could still have a huge influence on the side.

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He produced 11 goals and two assists in 20 league matches for Spurs, starting ten of those games. This shows that whilst he may be ‘damaged goods’ per Kennedy, he has the ability to come in at Newcastle and help them win games at this level.

That is why fans will be delighted at the prospect of a marquee, flagship, signing coming in during the January window, as they could inject some quality into the team. Whether that is Bale or another player with a similar profile remains to be seen, but supporters have a reason to be excited for now…

AND in other news, Willock 2.0: PIF must secure Newcastle saviour in “unique” £80k-p/w dynamo…

Sunderland moved up to third in the League One table on Tuesday night as they thrashed Morecambe 5-0 at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats were at their clinical best as they swept their opponents aside with ease, scoring two of their goals in the opening 17 minutes of the match.

Lee Johnson’s men are now two points off first place, currently held by Wigan, and two points behind second-placed Wycombe, who have played a game more than Sunderland.

Forget Broadhead

Nathan Broadhead scored two of the five goals and may take the plaudits for his fine performance, but another Black Cats star stole the show with a sublime showing on the night – Lynden Gooch.

The American winger was exceptional throughout the match and was pivotal to setting the tone with his direct running and ability on the ball.

He set up the first goal in the 13th minute with a sublime mazy run down the left wing, as he jinked past a number of challenges before firing the ball into Ross Stewart’s path for him to find the back of the net. Four minutes later, he produced a couple of stepovers to beat the full-back and clipped up a brilliant cross for Broadhead to find the corner of the goal.

On the ball, he was a threat all night down the flanks. As per SofaScore, he completed a whopping five dribbles, out of six attempts, and created three chances for his teammates – two of those resulting in the aforementioned assists for Broadhead and Stewart. He also completed three of his six long pass attempts and two crosses, whilst having 85 touches of the ball overall.

Gooch also competed out of possession. As per SofaScore, he won 60% of his ground duels (6/10) and made one clearance and one tackle. Given that Sunderland had 62% of the ball and he had little defensive work to do, this was a strong showing from him against the ball and shows that he can compete in physical battles to get the better of his opponents.

Therefore, the £5k-per-week wizard stole the show as he was able to win the majority of his battles off the ball and was a constant menace to the Morecambe defence on it. He was able to consistently cause problems for the opposition with his dribbling and chance creation, ultimately leading – directly – to two of the five goals and setting the tone for the night.

A number of Liverpool supporters have reacted negatively to a claim that Roberto Firmino hasn’t decided if he will stay put at Anfield or not.

The Brazilian has been a wonderful servant for the Reds, joining from Hoffenheim in 2015 and becoming one of the poster boys of the Jurgen Klopp era.

Firmino has made 311 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 94 goals and registering 73 assists, proving to be the perfect foil for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

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At 30, the striker is not getting any younger, however, and his current Reds deal expires in the summer of 2023, with little sign of a new contract being agreed.

According to journalist Florian Plettenberg on Twitter, Firmino will be the man to decide over whether or not he stays at Anfield, with talks taking place in the coming months.

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Liverpool fans react to Firmino claim

It suggests that a Liverpool exit isn’t out of the question and these fans reacted negatively to that possibility on Twitter.

“Never want to see Bobby leave, whatever his role in the squad becomes I hope he retires here”

Credit: @JoshuaKekana

“It will be a sad, sad day when Bobby moves on. He might not be quite what he was but the integral part he’s played can’t be overstated and his personality and selflessness has been invaluable to the culture and success of the side. One of my favourite ever #LFC players”

Credit: @reid1892

“I want Bobby to stay at Liverpool”

Credit: @JuniArga2

“Really hope we keep Bobby. Legend such a great player”

Credit: @MartinT_LFC75

“He’s a legend whatever decision he takes”

Credit: @supermanelfc

“HE CANNOT GO ANYWHERE”

Credit: @dantewillz

In other news, some Liverpool fans are excited after a transfer claim emerged. Read more here.

Alasdair Gold has delivered the latest on Tottenham’s plans for the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

During a Q&A for football.london, he said: “I think, with the current state of the game, Paratici will certainly be looking at free transfers and more loan to buy deals. He loves the latter in particular, as we’ve already seen at Spurs. Funnily enough I’ve just started watching the Amazon All or Nothing series on Juventus last season, where you see Paratici having to work within pandemic hit financial constrictions.

“I should stress that I do think Spurs will look to spend some money, not just frees or loan deals, although it’s also worth pointing out that they’re going to have to shell out around £65m on making Romero and Kulusevski’s deals permanent. It doesn’t make much financial sense to take the latter on his second season of loan rather than making him a Spurs man this summer.”

Great news for Conte

After seeing deals for the likes of Luis Diaz and Adama Traore fall through in the January transfer window, it was no surprise to see Antonio Conte express his disappointment at the club’s work in the market.

The 52-year-old said: “Four players left in January – four important players for Tottenham. Two have arrived, so even numerically, instead of reinforcing yourself you may have, on paper, weakened.

“Then precise choices were made for many reasons, but I certainly never expected that in January four players who I still considered important would change their shirts for a thousand reasons. This shows the difficulty.”

However, the north Londoners did manage to bring in Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, both of whom have managed to clinch a first-team place reasonably quickly, but the summer transfer window represents the big crossroads moment for both Conte and Daniel Levy.

The Italian will know that he has the fan support behind him to make strong demands of the club’s board, given that he is a marquee name in managerial terms and is a serial winner wherever he goes.

Gold’s news that Spurs will “look to spend some money” should be music to the ears of Conte, who will be keen to get this Spurs side challenging for trophies sooner rather than later.

AND in other news – Left in 2019, now worth £50m: Levy suffered shocking Spurs howler over “insane” star