توقع قائد واتفورد تروي ديني فوز ليفربول ببطولة الدوري الإنجليزي موسم 2020/2021، وذلك للمرة الثانية على التوالي.

وكان ليفربول قد فاز بلقب البريميرليج الموسم الماضي، بعد غياب دام 30 عامًا.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ميرور: جوميز قد يغيب عن ليفربول حتى نهاية الموسم

وانتهت حتى الآن 8 جولات من الموسم الحالي من الدوري الإنجليزي، حيث يتصدر ليستر سيتي بـ18 نقطة، ويليه توتنهام وليفربول بـ17 نقطة، ثم ساوثهامبتون بـ16 نقطة، وتشيلسي خامسًا بـ15 نقطة.

ورغم ذلك، فإن تروي ديني يتوقع نجاح كتيبة يورجن كلوب في التتويج بلقب النسخة الحالية من الدوري الإنجليزي.

وقال ديني في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ميرور” الإنجليزية: “من وجهة نظر شخصية، أعتقد أن الأربعة الأوائل سيكونون توتنهام وليفربول وتشيلسي ومانشستر سيتي، دون ترتيب”.

وأضاف: “مازلت أعتقد أن ليفربول سيفوز بلقب الدوري الإنجليزي، وسيحل مانشستر سيتي في المركز الثاني”.

وواصل: “وبعد ذلك سيكون هناك قتالًا بين تشيلسي وتوتنهام على المركزين الثالث والرابع”.

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Tottenham Hotspur have all but qualified for the Champions League.

They simply need to avoid an eight-goal swing in Arsenal’s favour on the final day to ensure that they are playing in the European competition next season.

Failing to qualify, however unlikely it may seem, would be Daniel Levy’s worst nightmare. The pressure on his shoulders has been exponentially rising during a period of time in which Spurs have endured something resembling a transfer sabbatical.

Lucas Moura has been the only player to arrive at Tottenham over an eighteen month period and fans are running out of patience with their non-existent transfer policy.

The building of the new stadium has naturally been a huge financial burden. It’s a state-of-the-art footballing cathedral designed both architecturally and financially for monumental Champions League occasions, so it’s absolutely imperative they earn their right to partake in the elite European competition again.

The consequences of failing to earn a place in next season’s competition could be absolutely catastrophic for the club, leaving Levy in a position where he cannot provide Mauricio Pochettino with the calibre of players he deserves.

Tottenham will receive a considerable cash injection for progressing to the showpiece final in June, but that in itself underlines the importance of qualifying once again this season.

Of course, even if they fail on the final day, they will qualify by winning the competition itself.

Despite the fact it seems impossible to envisage a scenario whereby the Lilywhites don’t qualify for the competition, fans could be forgiven for worrying about the fate of Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the top-flight.

After all, in the 2015-16 season, Spurs finished third in what many considered to be a two-horse race, having pushed Leicester City all the way in the year of their miraculous win.

The north London club lost their penultimate game of the season to Southampton but they still sat two points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League table.

Heading into their final game of the campaign, then, they knew that they merely needed to avoid defeat against Newcastle United, Rafael Benitez’s already-relegated side, to finish above the Gunners.

It would have spelled the end of St Totteringham’s Day, the tradition of Arsenal supporters celebrating the fact that Spurs can no longer finish above the Gunners. But then it all went wrong.

In a game in which Newcastle bade farewell to the Premier League, Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring in the 19th minute and then, amazingly, Aleksandar Mitrovic made it 2-0 before half-time, powering a phenomenal header past Hugo Lloris.

Erik Lamela sent an effort past Tim Krul just after the hour-mark, a bizarre effort that seemed to bamboozle the Dutchman from the left flank, and Mitrovic was then sent off for a horrific foul on Kyle Walker.

It appeared as though a comeback was in the offing.

Moussa Sissoko, now Spurs’ best midfielder, drove into the penalty area, though, and was brought down by Jan Vertonghen. Wijnaldum scored the spot-kick.

Spurs began to commit men forward as they attempted to reduce the deficit and Newcastle picked their moments.

A fine cross from the right flank saw Rolando Aarons send a venomous half-volley into the top corner. And then it was five. Daryl Janmaat surged forward on the right flank, collected a fine through ball and passed the ball into the bottom corner.

Arsenal, for their part, hosted another relegated side, Aston Villa, on the final day.

Olivier Giroud scored the opening goal and the Gunners appeared to play rather nervously thereafter until the Frenchman netted his second, firing home from close-range. He completed his hat-trick after a fine ball from Hector Bellerin and goalkeeper Mark Bunn then diverted a Mikel Arteta effort into his own net as Arsenal completed a comprehensive 4-0 victory.

There wasn’t a need for an eight-goal swing that season. Just points were enough. But that 92nd-minute own goal from the Villa stopper ensured that there was an eight-goal swing.

Just as Tottenham can’t be ruled out in the craziest Champions League season in recent memory, nor can their ability to self-destruct be overlooked.

If an unthinkable repeat of the eight-goal swing happens this weekend, they will have to win in Madrid to have any chance of qualifying for Europe’s elite club competition.

With Bournemouth pretty much not playing for anything, plans for the summer already seem to be in the works.

Football Insider reports the Cherries are plotting a swoop for Leeds United pair Kalvin Phillips and Jack Clarke, and it is not hard to see why — especially when it comes to the former.

All things considered, the 23-year-old looks a perfect fit for this Bournemouth squad.

This season, Phillips has been used as a defensive midfielder and central defender under Marcelo Bielsa after a campaign where he played further forward.

Looking at the various systems Eddie Howe has employed at the Vitality Stadium, Phillips’ versatility could end up going a long way for the Bournemouth boss.

Since guiding the Cherries to the Premier League, Howe has often alternated between using a four-man defence and five-man one, systems that the signing of Phillips alone could improve drastically.

The Leeds academy graduate has the necessary tackling ability to add some steel at the back and the passing skill to orchestrate in midfield, giving Howe the chance to continue being tactically flexible and perhaps produce even better results by doing so.

If Phillips can reproduce the sort of form he has been showing at Elland Road this season at the Vitality, then Howe could go on to do just that.

Getting Phillips out of Leeds will be difficult, however, especially if they end up winning promotion to the Premier League.

But looking at his versatility and skill set, he is still undoubtedly a player Howe and Bournemouth should be targeting in the summer.

Bournemouth fans, would you like to see Phillips join your club? Join the discussion by commenting below.

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It would be fair to say that Jordan Pickford divides opinion.

He is a goalkeeper capable of making outstanding saves, but his consistency is perhaps not quite what it should be for a player of 25.

A record of 12 clean sheets in 35 Premier League appearances this season is not too bad at all, but there have been some strange performances along the way – the one at St James’ Park against Newcastle United springs to mind.

Even so, the Everton fans reacted largely positively to a tweet from the 17-time England international earlier this week.

Indeed, Pickford was recently awarded a plaque having passed the 100-mark in terms of Premier League appearances.

There were a lot of opposition fans who poked fun at Pickford for some of the off-the-field trouble that the stopper has been involved in this season.

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However, the response from the Everton supporters was positive, suggesting that they are happy with how the former Sunderland man is performing.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Arsenal have made contact with Hoffenheim as they explore the possibility of signing attacking midfielder Kerem Demirbay, according to Bild.

The Gunners are looking to replace Aaron Ramsey, who will move to Juventus when the summer transfer window opens.

What’s the word?

Demirbay joined Hoffenheim in 2016 and has made 84 appearances for the club, scoring 12 goals and laying on 24 assists.

This season, in the Bundesliga, he has scored four times and laid on six assists.

And Arsenal, per the aforementioned report, have made contact over a possible summer move, with the player available for £22million due to a clause in his contract.

The release clause is within the Gunners’ budget as they look to bring in a successor to the Wales international.

Indeed, Demirbay would be a low-cost option in an inflated transfer market.

The 25-year-old has a contract that runs until 2022 and has won two caps for Germany.

Bargain bin

What a surprise.

Arsenal are scouring the bargain basement as they look to replace perhaps their most influential midfield player of the last five years.

Of course, they are not receiving a fee from Juventus for Ramsey but one would think that significant investment would be needed to replace him.

The midfielder is one of the hardest-working in the league, constantly looking to bomb forward while also remaining assiduous in defence.

It remains to be seen if Demirbay can offer those qualities but, as it is, it appears that Arsenal are only interested because of his release clause.

That alone should worry Gunners fans.

زعمت تقارير صحفية، أنّ نادي ليفربول الإنجليزي، اتخذ قرارًا بالتعاقد مع مدافع جديد، في نافذة الانتقالات الشتوية.

ليفربول، يفتقد لجهود الهولندي، فيرجيل فان دايك، الذي أجرى عملية جراحية وسيغيب حتى نهاية الموسم الجاري، إلى جانب جو جوميز.

اقرأ أيضًا.. نبأ صادم من ليفربول بشأن إصابة جو جوميز

وبحسب شبكة “فوتبول إنسايدر”، فإن ليفربول، قد قرر التحرك من أجل التعاقد مع الدولي النمساوي، ديفيد ألابا، مدافع بايرن ميونخ.

ألابا لديه عقد مع بطل الدوري الألماني ينتهي في 30 يونيو 2021، ويرفض التوقيع على عقد جديد حتى الآن.

وقرر رئيس النادي إيقاف المفاوضات مع ألابا ووكيله بيني زهافي، لطلب الأخير رفع الراتب السنوي المعروض من 11 إلى 15 مليون يورو.

وأوضحت الشبكة أنّ ألابا، منفتح كذلك على فكرة الانتقال إلى “آنفيلد”، ويرغب في خوض تحدٍ جديد.

Clearly, Celtic fans absolutely love their captain and midfield monster Scott Brown, but at the age of 33-years-old and with his 34th birthday coming up in June, the Parkhead skipper doesn’t have long left. As Neil Lennon, or whoever else takes on the Celtic job, is tasked with looking for a Broony replacement, they need only look as far as Callum McGregor.

Scott Brown may be one of the most iconic men in Scottish football. Everyone knows the scene, the veteran Scot has just scored, the Parkhead atmosphere is electric and the midfield man just stands there, arms aloft, screaming in delight. Soon, that will be just a memory and not a common occurrence, if Scott Brown scoring was ever common, but it could be set to get better for the Bhoys in his retirement.

Scott Brown has made a name for himself at the base of the Bhoys’ midfield, and whilst Callum McGregor has been going about his business much further up the pitch it could be a good opportunity for him drop deeper as he looks to fill the shoes of his surely soon to depart captain. Perhaps it’s not imminent but, obviously, Brown may have a couple of seasons left in him, but sooner or later it will be up to McGregor to replace the iconic Scot.

McGregor has plenty of time to learn the ropes of the deeper midfield base. He has featured there before but is more comfortable when playing further up the pitch in the #10 role in front of the Parkhead crowd. What he does have, though, that’s key for the role is reliability and durability. This season has seen the Scot feature 57 times for Celtic in all competitions, a remarkable stat in itself.

In those 57 appearances, he’s contributed six goals and 15 assists, and if he can carry on producing numbers similar to that whilst operating from Scott Brown’s deeper role then he’ll be well placed to not only act as his skipper’s replacement but also an improvement. There is no shame in admitting that Brown is starting to show signs of his age, and if McGregor can come into his position and add some life next season, slowly phasing out the 33-year-old it would be a step in the right direction.

Celtic fans, how long do you think Broony has left at the top of the Scottish game? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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When Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool last year he would have assumed he was going onto bigger and better things.

The possibility of winning a Champions League will likely have been at the forefront of his mind, but he’s now going to have missed two finals after Barcelona were dumped out of Europe’s premier competition by his former employers.

Coutinho was awful, as were many of the visiting players at Anfield on Tuesday night. And the Reds’ faithful took great comfort from seeing him lose.

They showed no sympathy whatsoever, ripping into the Brazilian on Twitter.

Many supporters decided to pick up on the irony of him leaving Liverpool to win a Champions League.

A further fan claimed that selling Coutinho was the best business the club had done, such was his woeful display. Another individual called it a wonderful sight.

The 26-year-old left for Barcelona in January 2018, concluding a whopping £142m deal. With the club using the money to sign the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, it’s no contest as to who came off better.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

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Fernando Llorente could yet have a future at Tottenham Hotspur.

Indeed, according to Sky Sports News, Spurs are considering opening contract talks with the experienced centre-forward.

Llorente’s current deal with the London club will expire at the end of next month.

It had been thought that the 34-year-old would be leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer in search of pastures news.

However, Sky Sports News have reported that Mauricio Pochettino’s side could yet hand the towering striker a fresh deal.

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Llorente has scored eight times in 34 appearances for Spurs this season.

Just one of those strikes have come in the Premier League, but he has netted twice in the Champions League and caused Ajax a lot of problems off the bench in their second leg of the semi-final.

The Tottenham fans have been on social media offering their views on the report.

And it would be fair to say that there are a lot of differing opinions:

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Sheffield United fans on Twitter are split on whether or not the club should keep hold of Gary Madine after his loan period at Bramall Lane ends this summer.

Madine joined the Blades in January and has scored three goals since his arrival at Bramall Lane, including a brace against Reading in February.

As a former Sheffield Wednesday player, the 28-year-old received a frosty reception at the Lane when he first joined the club, but fans have warmed to him due to his excellent performances.

United are now on the brink of promotion to the Premier League, and supporters have been debating whether or not the Cardiff City loanee should be a part of the squad next season.

Some individuals are hoping he lines up in red and white beyond his current loan in Yorkshire, whilst others have pointed towards his time with the Bluebirds as proof that he isn’t good enough for top flight football.

Here’s what Sheffield United fans have been saying on Twitter…