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Glasgow Rangers ran riot over Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday to move four points clear of their Old Firm rivals at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

Steven Gerrard’s side dominated the derby from start to finish to record a 2-0 win at Celtic Park, and they are currently enjoying a 14-game unbeaten streak as a result – dating back to the 1-0 win away at Aberdeen – meaning they are early favourites to reclaim the title.

The Light Blues took an early lead when Connor Goldson headed them in front and the centre-back doubled the lead after the restart. But one player stood out from the rest.

James Tavernier put in a performance to remember as Rangers romped to victory over their arch-rivals. It was announced last month that the club captain had been named Premiership Player of the Month after scoring three goals in September.

And Tavernier certainly lived up to pre-match expectations as he ran up and down the flank with abandon, combining with Brandon Barker and Ryan Kent on multiple occasions.

Per SofaScore, the 28-year-old showed exactly what he has to offer, as he won 66% of his aerials duels whilst he supplied the assist for the opening goal and provided one key pass, as well as made two clearances, two tackles and one interception. A look at his heatmap shows the workhorse put in a shift with acres of space down the right wing.

As is often the case, a workmanlike performance can often go unnoticed, especially when a player like Goldson steals the limelight. But his contributions cannot be ignored, especially when you consider the fact that his sublime free kick enabled his teammate to open the scoring after just eight minutes on the clock.

Moreover, Celtic failed to muster a single shot on target, which speaks volumes. Whilst Neil Lennon’s side may argue that they were without Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie, it’s hard to deny the fact that they were outclassed in almost every area of the pitch.

It’s perhaps hardly surprising that Tavernier attracted interest from West Ham in the summer. One thing is for sure, the Gers must keep the £4.5m-rated ace at all costs, as it is highly unlikely that he will be short of suitors in the winter transfer window.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must keep Glen Kamara at all costs after Pukki comments…

A journalist for the Daily Mirror has made a rather big claim about the proposed takeover of Newcastle United, saying that ‘my guess is that it will go through. Soon.’

However, he also voice his frustrations at the delays that have come with the whole saga, and has urged both the Premier League and its chief executive Richard Masters so make their final decision soon.

As per the Mirror, the CEO of the top flight was put forward questions by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCSM) earlier on in the week as to whether he had any updates on the prospective £300 million deal between Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley’s Kingdom of Saudi Arabian (KSA) led group.

However, Masters did not really offer any more clarity on the situation, leaving members of the Toon faithful to wait just that little bit longer before they know what exactly is going on higher up in the Tyneside club.

Indeed, the buying side are also still waiting for the result of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test (ODT) set out by England’s highest division, which will determine as to whether the consortium are deemed both fit and proper to take over the Magpies.

The would-be owners looking to move in alongside Staveley are KSA crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) and his country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the billionaire Reuben brothers, who are based in London but are originally from India.

Still, it is anyone’s guess as to when an official announcement will be made by the league, leaving NUFC supporters twitching their thumbs. However, hearing from a reputable national newspaper journalist that they believe it will go through will surely encourage plenty of the Toon faithful.

Geordies, will the takeover decision be announced soon? Comment below!

Leeds United have spent the last few years signing a plethora of young players who they hope will come good in the near future.

The likes of Rafa Mujica and Guille Amor both came from Barcelona last year, while Tyler Roberts has been making waves in the first-team after joining from West Bromwich Albion.

However, despite having players from the likes of Barcelona in their youth setup, Phil Hay believes that there is a 16 year-old recently brought in from Linfield that everyone should be looking out for.

What’s been said then?

The journalist was answering fans’ queries in his column on The Athletic, and one supporter wanted to know his view on the next breakout star in Leeds’ youth set-up.

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The reporter wrote a detailed answer namedropping the likes of Pascal Struijk and Stuart McKinstry as two players with the potential to make a breakthrough, but he signed off his reply with an interesting comment on Charlie Allen.

“Look out for Leeds’ new signing Charlie Allen, a striker from Linfield. He’s only 16 but people can’t speak highly enough of him,” Hay wrote.

Interesting

There’s very little for us to go off in terms of judging Allen’s potential ability as he’s only played a handful of first-team games and they’re in Northern Ireland, but if a 16-year-old is being raved about that is incredibly exciting.

A striker is something Leeds have desperately been lacking for some time now, and if Allen can come through and make an impact in the coming years, not only could he be a great asset in the team, but he could save the club millions in the transfer market chasing the right attacker.

Fingers crossed the people Hay has spoken to are right about this young man.

Former Charlton player John Salako has commented on the Addicks’ current season and Lee Bowyer’s influence as manager. 

The club have been dropped in a sticky situation after three senior players, including Lyle Taylor, announced they would not be playing for Charlton again this season. Bowyer spoke to talkSPORT about the difficult news and revealed the striker is worried about the ‘risk of injury’.

Championship sides have returned to training ahead of a proposed June 20 resumption. Salako has praised the manager’s performance at the hilt of the club so far this season.

“Lee has done an incredible job, he really has,” the 51-year-old told London News Online. “He is a passionate lad who has done an amazing job with a strict budget.”

The Addicks are currently in the relegation zone after a promising looking season took a steep turn and the club tumbled down the table. When the games resume, Charlton must try to climb their way out of the drop-zone, without influential goalscorer Taylor.

“Lee needs some reinforcements, he needs some quality players coming in, they have got to spend money,” Salako said. “He is in a tough job and it will be disastrous if they go down because League One is a tough place to be.”

As it stands, Bowyer could risk losing ten players in the summer, including Taylor and Chris Solly. It will be a tough ride for the Addicks this season as they try to secure their survival in the Championship.

But there is no doubt that Bowyer has done a fine job to keep the club competitive in trying circumstances. Indeed, they have spent just £203,000 on new players this season (Transfermarkt) which is nothing compared to the majority of other clubs in the second tier, for example Leeds have spent over £27m.

How are you feeling ahead of the return of the league, Charlton fans? Join the conversation in the comments below!

Chelsea welcome Watford to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a crucial match at both ends of the table, with Frank Lampard’s side looking to recover from their difficult midweek defeat to West Ham United.

The West London side will be looking over their shoulder as Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers continue their chase for Champions League football, with anything less than a win potentially seeing Chelsea drop out of the top four.

Watford also need a result as they look to build on their one-point gap to the bottom three, with Bournemouth and Aston Villa close behind if they continue to slip up.

The return of football has been difficult for Nigel Pearson’s side and he will hope to cause another upset like their 3-0 win over Liverpool in February.

Form

Chelsea come into the match on a decent run of form despite their 3-2 defeat to West Ham and have won four of their last six league fixtures.

They have also won their last three matches at Stamford Bridge, with top-four rivals Manchester United the last side to get the better of them.

Watford on the other hand have been in wretched form, losing four of their last six Premier League matches and their last two in a row.

Away from home, the story isn’t much better, with the Hornets winless in their last five and on a run of three consecutive defeats.

Team news

Long-term absentees Marco van Ginkel and Fikayo Tomori will be both continue to miss out on Saturday, but otherwise Chelsea have no fresh worries.

Lampard will have been disappointed to concede three times against West Ham, though, and could look to rotate his backline.

Like Chelsea, Watford will be without their long-term injury absentees, with Isaac Success, Gerard Deulofeu and Daryl Janmaat all unlikely to feature again this season.

Andre Gray, Nathaniel Chalobah and Domingos Quina have all been disciplined by the club following a breach of lockdown, but it remains to be seen whether this will influence their selection.

How to watch

A huge match at either end of the table, Chelsea vs Watford kicks off at 20:00 UTC at Stamford Bridge.

The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, and if you live stream football you can also do that online.

Hands up if you remember Clinton N’Jie.

The Cameroon international signed for Tottenham back in the summer of 2015 during Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge, penning a five-year deal in north London.

And based on his comments immediately after signing, N’Jie seemed to think that big things were destined for him. He said: “I‘m very happy to join Tottenham, such a big club in England. I’m still young, still growing up and it’s a big challenge – the Premier League is one of the biggest leagues in the world.

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“The club is ambitious and I’m ready to give my best to help the club achieve its aims. Like I said, I’m still learning and I’m here to give my best. I just hope I get the chance to give (back) to the club what they are giving to me.”

Unfortunately for him, things just didn’t work out so well for him.

As per Transfermarkt, the now 22-year-old played just 14 times in total for the Spurs first-team, scoring no goals whatsoever and providing just one solitary assist.

A knee injury in December 2015 that ruled him out for the best part of three months did nothing to help his cause, and he struggled to really make it back into Pochettino’s squad thereafter.

In the end, he was shipped out on loan to French side Marseille before making a recent move to Russian outfit Dinamo Moscow. With Pochettino helping to develop the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane amongst others, seeing N’Jie fall by the wayside is surely one of the few failures on the part of the former Spurs boss.

Speaking a couple of years ago, the striker remained adamant that he didn’t regret his time at Spurs. He revealed: “It’s a choice I needed to make. The club was OK with it. Everyone thought it was a good solution. I acquired a lot of experience during that adventure at Tottenham. It really helped me afterwards, and it still does. Therefore, I have no regrets.”

Now valued at a measly £2.52m, N’Jie’s decline since making the move from Lyon is a blight on Pochettino’s track record. The Argentine had some major success stories in the transfer market – the likes of Heung-min Son and Alli for example – but the Cameroonian will go down as one of his biggest Spurs disasters.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans react to Victor Wanyama’s admission.

A group of celebrities, including former-sports stars, comedians and actors, have signed up to compete in the NHS Charities Together Cup, which aims to raise £100m in support of the current Covid-19 crisis.

The FIFA 20 competition will involve eight all celebrity teams, with three celebrities per team, going head-to-head in 12-minute long FIFA 20 matches. Fans will be given the chance to vote for who they want to see compete from every team in each round.

Everton legend Tim Cahill will be joined by the likes of Cricket stars Joe Root and Ben Stokes, fellow former footballers Joleon Lescott, Fabrice Muamba and Shaun Wright-Phillips, golf’s Justin Rose and boxer Dilian White.

The competition’s organisers, Celebrity e-Sport, hope to raise a huge £100m for NHS charities together during these desperate times for all the care workers on the frontline, who are putting their own lives at risk to help save ours.

For more information on the event and how you can donate, click here.

Liverpool have announced that teenage midfielder Matteo Ritaccio has signed his first professional contract with the club.

The news was posted on their website liverpoolfc.com and also shared on official Twitter channel @LFC.

The New York-born 18-year-old has been involved with Barry Lewtas’ under-18 squad since the beginning of last season, with a goal and two assists to his name from five appearances so far this term.

Ritaccio is among a number of young prospects hoping to establish themselves at Anfield, with teenagers such as Ki-Jana Hoever, Harvey Elliott, Rhian Brewster and Curtis Jones all being given chances in the Carabao Cup this season.

Liverpool’s next fixture in that competition takes place away to Aston Villa on December 17th, the day before the Reds play in the Club World Cup semi-finals in Qatar. [via liverpoolfc.com]

The club confirmed last week that they will field two separate squads for those games, as reported by The Telegraph, which will likely see numerous youngsters being handed a rare first team opportunity.

These Liverpool fans on Twitter have hoped to see Ritaccio being given a senior debut in next month’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at Villa Park – seemingly unaware that the midfielder currently has a leg injury that is set to keep him out until January:

Do you think Ritaccio would be in line to play against Aston Villa next month if it weren’t for his leg injury? Comment below with your views!

After making his long-awaited return from injury, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will no doubt be intent on really kick-starting his Liverpool career. The former Arsenal man has shown glimpses of the potential he has, not least his stunning goals in the Champions League against the likes of Manchester City and Genk.

But his wretched luck with injuries, and the sheer brilliance of both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane (the duo were the joint Golden Boot award winners last season in the Premier League) has meant Oxlade-Chamberlain’s chances in the first-team have been fairly restricted.

But in recent weeks, he has seen his game-time increase, and he was given the nod over Salah in the clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. Deployed from the wing, the England international struggled to get involved in the game, and as per Sofascore, achieved a match rating of 6.3 – the lowest of any Liverpool player who started the game.

Having seen his below-par display, Liverpool fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation surrounding the 26-year-old.

Many Reds supporters seemed to insist that the problem behind his poor performance was down to Jurgen Klopp not using him from central midfield, and they criticised the Germany for failing to recognise that to be the case.

Check out some of the disgruntled reaction of Liverpool fans below:

Arriving on a four-year deal back in 2016, Kristoffer Ajer is slowly but surely developing into an impressive player at Celtic.

The Norwegian joined the Bhoys at the age of just 17, but is now beginning to stamp his authority at Celtic Park. Already this season, he has made 20 appearances across all competitions, only missing the clashes against Kalju Nomme and Rangers.

Against Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon in the Scottish Premier League, the 21-year-old delivered an assured display for Neil Lennon’s side, as Celtic ran out comfortable winners away from home.

As is becoming a staple of his game, Ajer went on numerous trademark runs from the heart of defence, and at 6 foot 5, certainly catches the eye with them.

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In an impressive team performance, Celtic fans flooded to Twitter to share their thoughts about Ajer’s personal display.

Many supporters hailed the Norway international’s ability to bring the ball out of defence, with one fan in particular calling him “majestic”.

Check out some of the reaction of Celtic fans below: