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A number of Liverpool supporters have been left bemused by a “horrendous” update regarding Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hopes of playing for England at Euro 2020.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise at Anfield, going from academy hopeful to one of the world’s best full-backs in the space of several years. While Alexander-Arnold’s form hasn’t been consistently great this season, he has been magnificent since being left out of England’s squad back in March.

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The right-back has been one of Liverpool’s best players in that time and it was his pinpoint corner which allowed Alisson to memorably head the winning goal away to West Brom on Sunday. Alexander-Arnold’s all-round display was impressive, defending doggedly and producing consistent quality in the attacking third of the pitch, delivering five key passes and winning one tackle.

Despite this, The Athletic’s David Ornstein claimed that the youngster still looks likely to miss out on Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euros. He wrote:

It is evident that Southgate wants his full-backs to show strong defensive qualities alongside their attacking instincts and there appear to be reservations over Alexander-Arnold’s ability to strike that balance as well as he believes the other candidates for the position are able to.

Although the door is not closed on the 22-year-old Liverpool academy graduate and the Football Association very much envisages him being part of its’ set-up in the future, it is understood to be improbable that he forces his way into this summer’s plans barring injuries or a change of heart.

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Liverpool fans react to Trent update

It is an update which has left many Liverpool fans baffled – some of those not of a Reds persuasion will no doubt be feeling similar – with a number of them providing their thoughts on Twitter.

“If Trent isn’t in England’s 26 man squad for the Euros Southgate has lost the plot”

Credit: @_lfcleanne

“Good for Liverpool if he didn’t go, but what a horrendous decision not to take him would be”

Credit: @JDaneH94

“Southgate is a clown”

Credit: @LeeHuddddy

“Absolutely Absurd”

Credit: @IbrahimOduro10

“I’d rather Southgate didn’t misuse Trent, so if the plan isn’t to play to his strengths then fair enough leaving him out of the squad. But he’s a match-winner who can singlehandedly change a game. You need those players in knockout football. Odd not to build around him”

Credit: @SamMcGuire90

“Southgate will take James, Trippier and Walker instead, man is a fraud in a waistcoat but hey a nice break for Trent”

Credit: @DarthMoaner

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been left angered by another update regarding a Reds player. Find out who it is here.

Taking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans slammed the performance of winger Jarrod Bowen as they dropped yet more points in the top four race.

David Moyes’ men took to the London Stadium against Brighton aiming to put two losses on the trot behind them and get back to winning ways, but it didn’t quite pan out that way despite a promising start.

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Tomas Soucek opened the scoring just five minutes into the contest but West Ham couldn’t put the game to bed, spurning a plethora of chances throughout the 90 minutes before Neal Maupay equalised for the visitors late on.

As a result, London rivals Arsenal could leapfrog West Ham if they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow, and Moyes will be ruing a missed opportunity to strengthen their grip on fourth spot.

West Ham fans slam Bowen…

One man who attracted criticism for his performance in parts was Bowen, with the Englishman showing a threat but also spurning opportunities to extend West Ham’s lead.

As per SofaScore, the 24-year-old missed one big chance and was also wasteful in possession, giving the ball away 18 times in total on the night.

Losing more than half of his ground duels, winning just one battle in the air and ranking in as joint-lowest rated West Ham starter with a 6.5 (SofaScore), it’s safe to say that Bowen had a game to forget.

Here’s how these Irons fans reacted to his display:

“Bowen’s finishing recently has been abysmal, we don’t deserve to win this game. Such a joke, yet again. Brighton must love playing us.”

Credit: @_thejacobbc_

“I think Bowen is allergic to goals.”

Credit: @veryupsetfan

“Bowen is the most frustrating player to watch”

Credit: @_theanne

“Bowen finishing is atrocious at times. Another game where Lingard would shine Matty.”

Credit: @Joe_BM6

“Bowen can’t hit a barn door”

Credit: @GoanWHU

“Is Bowen even playing @westham, so far very invisible”

Credit: @WHU_AD

“One point from nine. Nowhere near good enough. Conceding at the end of the game against 10 men, utter joke. Diop for Dawson and Lanzini for Benrahma are NEEDED for Saturday or Moyes has lost it. Also, why is Bowen such a terrible finisher now? He’s been so wasteful.”

Credit: @AndrewKane221

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Tears’, ‘Siuuuu’ – West Ham fans rave over ‘massive news’, find out more here.

Patrick Vieira has a very important game coming up this weekend at Selhurst Park against Everton, where the Eagles could really do with taking all three points after losing their last three games.

The south Londoners currently sit 14th in the Premier League table, just six points clear of the relegation zone. Whilst not appearing to be in immediate danger of the drop currently, it would be reassuring for Vieira if his team could pick up a few more points to go into the New Year full of confidence.

One player who will be hoping to come in and make a positive impact on the team this weekend is Will Hughes. The next game against Everton could be the perfect opportunity to refresh the side and offer starts to players who haven’t had much chance to make an impact. Especially during the current losing streak, making some changes could inject a new lease of life into Vieira’s side on Sunday.

Hughes was signed this summer, completing a move from Watford to Palace in a three-year deal believed to be between £6m and £10m, but he has failed to get much game-time so far with only one appearance in the Premier League this term.

The £6.3m-rated gem sustained a minor back injury in early November and also competes with James McArthur for a spot in the team. However, the Scot has picked up a hamstring injury, so Vieira will need to shuffle the pack and could give Hughes a rare start this weekend.

Vieira has been full of praise for the 26-year-old upon his arrival to the club, saying: “He’s a player that we know quite well. He’s really comfortable on the ball. He’s a really good link with the play going forward. I’m really glad and really pleased to have him in the squad.”

Unfortunately for Palace, if they lose to Everton they could fall as far as 16th, should Southampton and Leeds take at least a point from their games this weekend, and this is a position that Vieira will be hoping to avoid, especially with the advantage of being at home.

Hughes could offer a fresh impetus to the midfield for the Eagles this weekend, and if picked he would have a point to prove to his manager as he seeks to gain a more regular spot in the team.

In other news: Vieira must axe this Palace player in January

After falling to a 3-1 home defeat against Chelsea on Boxing Day, Aston Villa’s next Premier League outing sees them take on Brentford at the weekend after their midweek clash against Leeds United was postponed due to a virus outbreak within the Yorkshire club.

Looking ahead to the match against Thomas Frank’s side, against whom Villa could only secure a 1-1 draw in their previous league meeting back in August, it seems as though Steven Gerrard’s side could welcome back a player who was not involved in the weekend’s defeat to the Blues.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report from The Athletic by Gregg Evans, Villa midfielder John McGinn missed the Chelsea game through illness “but is expected to be back” for the match against Brentford next weekend.

Given how McGinn has started in each of his 16 Premier League appearances this season, with three goals and two assists in the process, it shows just how important he is to the side.

Also, the 27-year-old’s overall performances have proved what a crucial figure he is for Villa, with WhoScored listing him as their highest-rated player with a season rating of 7.18 based on his league performances throughout the campaign.

A welcome return

With all this in mind, it would surely be a big boost for Villa to have McGinn, who Evans said “can help make a difference,” back in the side for the match against Brentford, which would duly delight the supporters as well.

Gerrard has also previously shared his admiration for the Scotland international by saying that he feels like he is  “the lucky one that’s able to work with him and try to improve his game.”

Moving forward, with the Brentford match on the horizon, this would be a great opportunity for Villa to put their defeat against Chelsea behind them and secure another win to help push them further up the table.

If McGinn is ready to play again, he would surely give his side a better chance of securing all three points, as they haven’t won either of the two league games that he’s missed so far this season – one of which was against the Bees four months ago.

In other news: Luke Hatfield reveals his big transfer “worry” for Villa in January, fans must be scared

Former Tottenham defender Gary Mabbutt has exclusively told Football FanCast that Mike Dean was right to award Harry Kane a penalty against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Midway through the second-half of Spurs win at Villa Park, a careless sliding tackle from right-back Matty Cash allowed the England to hammer home his 17th consecutive penalty in Tottenham colours.

Having latched onto Lucas Moura’s pass, Kane looked certain to cut back onto his right foot. But after seeing Cash about to recklessly dive in, the Spurs striker allowed the ball to trickle out of playing, and waited for the contact.

Dean then needed no second invitation in pointing to the spot, leaving Kane with the task of converting past ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to seal a much-needed three points for Jose Mourinho’s side following Carlos Vinicius’ first-half opener.

And Mabbutt agreed with Dean’s decision. He told Football FanCast:

“Cash has just come back into the side and I think that showed. In that particular situation, all Kane could do there was to get the ball into the box, and all Cash had to do was to try and block what Kane could have crossed into the box – he only had a small area to cover, which could have been done by staying on his feet.

“He decided to slide in and Harry saw the challenge coming in, and the referee saw what everyone else saw, a player taking Harry’s legs.

“It was quite clear that Harry wouldn’t have got the ball into the box and seeing the challenge coming in, Harry didn’t go ahead with what he was planning to do. He took a heavy challenge and I thought the referee was correct in giving a penalty.”

As Manchester City earned a hard-fought place in the FA Cup semi-final draw by clinching a 2-0 victory away to Everton on Saturday, creating a new club record of 17 consecutive away matches unbeaten, some supporters weren’t impressed with the performance of Gabriel Jesus.

Pep Guardiola’s side travelled to Goodison Park aiming to keep their quadruple hopes alive after they breezed past Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek, but the Toffees made City work hard for an important win.

The Sky Blues had to wait until the last ten minutes to finally clinch a breakthrough, with Ilkay Gundogan on hand to convert a rebounded effort from Aymeric Laporte for the opener. Substitute Kevin De Bruyne then sealed an important victory for City in the last minute, bearing down on goal from Rodri’s through ball to smash an effort past Joao Virginia.

During the match, however, some Sky Blues supporters didn’t seem impressed by Jesus’ performance, with one even branding him a ‘headless chicken’ despite the Brazilian working hard.

According to SofaScore, the 23-year-old lost possession 19 times against Everton whilst completing just three out of seven dribble attempts, perhaps highlighting why some were frustrated with his display on Merseyside.

Here is a flavour of the reaction from Man City fans on Twitter:

Man City fans slam Gabriel Jesus

“Gabriel Jesus is a good striker because he works hard for the team? Doesn’t cut it for me, cash in on him in the summer! Sad to see what’s happening with one of our greatest ever players, wasting away his potentially final months with us on the bench over ‘runs a lot’ Jesus”

Credit: @Mcfcshane

“Gabriel Jesus is honestly the worst striker I’ve seen. Can’t finish and has no awareness in the box. He scores a tap in and our fans think he’s the second coming of R9 it’s time to bin him”

Credit: @trevsempai

“I don’t think we can win the UCL with Gabriel Jesus as our centre forward”

Credit: @kankia_

“Well done Gabriel Jesus, you are definitely useless”

Credit: @Achillaes

“There’s no way Aguero couldn’t have played today Jesus is god awful”

Credit: @ManCityKD

“Gabriel Jesus is a squad player. He is not good enough to start for City.. Just runs around like headless chicken..”

Credit: @MCFC_Vision

“Sterling and Jesus were very very poor as usual.. how I wish City sells both of them”

Credit: @mpumibalisani

“Sterling and Jesus. atrocious”

Credit: @j0sh_P1dc0ck

Read more: lots of Man City fans adored this news, find out more here.

Premier League safety is within touching distance for Leeds United but by no means is it guaranteed.

The Whites’ 0-0 stalemate with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday night moved them five points clear of Frank Lampard’s Everton, meaning their destiny is firmly in their own hands with five games left to play.

They won’t be easy fixtures either as the Yorkshiremen face league leaders Manchester City this weekend before heading to north London to face a red-hot Arsenal side, with Chelsea to come after that.

Failure to pick up any points during that run, combined with the possibility of the Toffees and Burnley making up ground, could leave manager Jesse Marsch sweating heading into the final few weeks of the 2021/22 campaign.

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He could do himself a favour, though, by axing two of his faltering stars in Mateusz Klich and Daniel James.

Both players were hooked prematurely on Monday.

The Poland international lasted until half-time before being replaced by Robin Koch, largely due to him being left an absolute passenger, whilst the Welsh winger was taken off for academy gem Sam Greenwood, a rather damning indictment on his performance.

Leeds’ disastrous duo have struggled for form throughout the season, and perhaps one is more worrying than the other given he is the club’s record £30m signing.

During his time at Manchester United, pundit Darren Bent described the winger as “headless” in his decision making and with only three direct goal contributions in the last 11 games, we’re starting to see that – none of which have been him finding the net either.

Some of his poor form can be attributed to the fact that he’s been filling in for the injured Patrick Bamford but apart from his speed, he has offered very little threat otherwise. Indeed, he currently ranks 12th for average WhoScored rating. Eight players are managing more successful dribbles per game than him, too.

Meanwhile, Klich ranks 17th, which is the worst of any player to have started 21 or more league games this term.

Earlier in the year, Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison described the Pole as being “non-existent” in midfield and we caught another glimpse of that earlier this week as he managed only 26 touches and 13 accurate passes in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch, per SofaScore.

It’s hard to make a case for either of the two stars to keep their place amongst the starting XI heading into some tough encounters. City, Arsenal and Chelsea all possess the firepower and strength to devour the struggling duo.

As such, Marsch must look to axe the pair of them as they continue to hold back his side during this relegation dogfight.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon: Leeds plot bargain bid for “special” 18 y/o, he could be the next Cancelo…

After picking up a morale-boosting 2-0 win against bottom side Hamilton, Celtic entertain St Mirren on Saturday afternoon looking to pick up back-to-back victories in the Scottish Premiership for the first time in 2021.

Neil Lennon’s side are out of the title picture, with Rangers running away with it at the top, but the Hoops boss will be keen to ensure they can get some much-needed momentum going.

A home game against seventh-placed St Mirren offers them the perfect opportunity to do just that, so Lennon is likely to keep faith in many of his first-team stars.

With that in mind, below is a look at how Celtic might line up on Saturday.

In goal, Lennon sprung a surprise last time out against Hamilton by dropping Vasilis Barkas and giving Scott Bain a chance, and the 29-year-old should keep his place in between the sticks.

The back-four could be the area that sees the Celtic boss make some major changes. Jeremie Frimpong’s confirmed move to Bayer Leverkusen in mid-week has robbed the Hoops of their starting right-back, and whilst Kristoffer Ajer filled in there against Hamilton, they might be better off going with a more natural fit in there.

Anthony Ralston will surely be hoping to get his chance, and that could see Ajer move into the centre of defence alongside Stephen Welsh, with under-performing duo Nir Bitton and Shane Duffy finally dropped.

The one change in midfield could see Ryan Christie make his return to the starting line-up in place of the “very dangerous” Mohamed Elyounoussi, whilst Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths will be hoping to find the back of the net again after netting a goal piece last time out.

Predicted XI: Bain; Ralston, Ajer, Welsh, Taylor; Soro, McGregor, Christie, Turnbull; Edouard, Griffiths.

Meanwhile, Lawwell can deliver a final parting gift to Celtic with this 6 ft 1 beast…

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie believes Tom Heaton is too good to be Manchester United’s back-up goalkeeper.

Heaton is considering joining Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, according to The Athletic, with his contract at Villa set to expire.

With Dean Henderson’s future at United uncertain, Heaton could end up getting more game time than he would have initially expected.

Unlikely to displace David de Gea, though, Hendrie has questioned such a move, suggesting that Heaton is still capable of fulfilling a more prominent role.

On the 35-year-old shot-stopper, the ex-Villa player told TT in an exclusive interview:

“Tom Heaton’s such a fabulous goalkeeper and goalkeepers can continue to be at a level and obviously go on a little bit longer than players playing outfield. 

“It’s whether Tom Heaton wants to actually go and truly be just a back up to whatever Manchester United have got. I think he offers a little bit more than that if I’m being quite honest because he’s a fabulous goalie.”

Having probably zero chance of breaking back into Villa’s starting XI given Emiliano Martinez’s form this season, a move away from Villa Park makes sense. But at United, the likelihood is that Heaton will find himself in exactly the same situation.

Furthermore, perhaps the English goalkeeper would be better off considering another option.

Reported Celtic target Siriki Dembele is set to be transfer listed by Peterborough United, according to the Daily Record.

The lowdown

Dembele, the older brother of Celtic player Karamoko, was instrumental in Peterborough’s promotion from League One to the Championship.

He was the Posh’s third top-scorer with 12 goals and ranked second for assists with 10.

Dembele was hailed as a ‘destructive’ frontman by manager Darren Ferguson, and former Scottish international Alan Hutton says he would be ‘an unbelievable signing’ for Celtic.

According to Football Insider, the Hoops are battling with sides like Rangers, Fulham and Crystal Palace for his signature.

Crucially, Dembele only has one year left on his contract, and Director of Football Barry Fry admits there’s little prospect of renewal (via This is Futbol).

The latest

Peterborough will apparently look to sell Dembele after he turned down a new deal, the Daily Record reported on Monday (14:06).

It’s Fry’s policy that any player in the last 12 months of their deal will be placed on the transfer list to ensure they don’t walk away on a free transfer.

As a result, Dembele ‘looks set for a move away in the coming weeks’.

The verdict

According to The Scotsman, Eddie Howe will look to green-light three transfer deals almost immediately after taking over at Parkhead – one has to wonder if Dembele could be one of them given these favourable circumstances.

What is clear, though, is that they must move fairly quickly, because another suitor will surely pounce on a cut-price talent who has performed so well this season, is still young, and can player in a variety of positions across the attack.

In other news, read about the other appointments that could be made at Celtic this week.