All posts by n8rngtd.top

Manchester City will be looking to continue their hopes of winning the quadruple this season as they take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night.

Pep Guardiola’s side take on the Bundesliga outfit in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday and will be confident of a positive result ahead of the return fixture next week.

Erin Tedzic’s side have slipped to fifth place in the Bundesliga in recent weeks after a poor run of form, and will seemingly be without Jadon Sancho for the game against the Premier League leaders.

The Citizens have won five games in a row following their surprise 2-0 defeat in the Manchester derby last month and look to have a fully fit squad to choose from for this Champions League clash.

Here’s how we think Guardiola will line his team up on Tuesday, with four changes from the side which started in the 2-0 win against Leicester at the weekend…

Ederson retains his place in goal after keeping another clean sheet in the dominant 2-0 win against Leicester last time out.

There are two changes in defence, as John Stones returns in place of Aymeric Laporte to continue his partnership with Ruben Dias in central defence, whilst the “amazing” Joao Cancelo seems likely to start after being rested against Leicester, and he replaces Benjamin Mendy at left-back.

In midfield, Ilkay Gundogan comes back in to partner Rodri, with Fernandinho dropping out despite his impressive performances of late, with the German international also sitting out the win at the King Power Stadium.

Finally, after a worryingly poor display at Leicester, Sergio Aguero is benched by Guardiola, with Gabriel Jesus replacing him up front after featuring on the wing against Brendan Rodgers’ team. That allows Bernardo Silva to come back in on the left-hand side, with Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez completing the attack.

In other news… Man City handed huge boost ahead of tonight’s clash as “perfect” Dortmund star is ruled out

Crystal Palace face a tough assignment this weekend in the form of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.

The Eagles come into the game fresh off the back of a 1-1 draw with Everton last Monday, a game in which Michy Batshuayi came off the bench to net a late equaliser.

Could Roy Hodgson be tempted to switch up his side for the visit of the  west Londoners to Selhurst Park this evening?

We are expecting just two alterations from Palace this weekend, both for tactical reasons.

Vicente Guaita will continue in goal but their will be a slight switch in the defence in front of him.

Cheikhou Kouyate could be moved back into midfield against the Blues, which leaves an absence at centre-back. Experienced campaigner Scott Dann could be recalled to partner Gary Cahill at the heart of defence, whilst the likes of Patrick van Aanholt and Joel Ward will once again be named on either side.

With Kouyate moved back into the centre of the park, this could see Jairo Riedewald, who has started the Eagles’ last three Premier League matches, dropped to the bench. The Dutchman was ineffective against Everton, having the fewest touches of anyone in Hodgson’s starting XI on Merseyside.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-crystal-palace-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more” title=”Latest Crystal Palace news, transfer rumours and more… “]

James McCarthy’s return has certainly given Hodgson something to think about in regards to the midfield but he is also likely to make do with a place amongst the substitutes. Elsewhere, Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze will be selected on the flanks.

Following his goal at Goodison Park, there may have been calls for Batshuayi to start this game, but he is ineligible against his parent club.

Christian Benteke will likely lead the line but his partner Jordan Ayew, who has scored just once in the league this season, might be replaced by £13.5m-rated on-loan Mainz forward Jean-Philippe Mateta.

AND in more news, find out why a former Chelsea boss could be providing a big clue as to who could be the next manager in the Crystal Palace dugout…

After scoring the second goal for Inter Miami Wednesday evening, Diego Gomez's agent has revealed he has "no price" heading into the summer.

Exclusive coverage

MLS Season Pass

Log in to the MLS Season Pass with your Apple ID or create a free account today.

Coverage: 7 minute recaps, full 90 minute matches

Languages: English, Spanish

Free trial: 1 month

Monthly from

$14.99

Get MLS Season Pass

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Diego Gomez touted for Europe move
• Scored winner for Inter Miami Wednesday
• Led Paraguay squad to Paris Games

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  According to in Paraguay, Gomez's agent Renato Bittar has revealed that the 20-year-old has a dream to move abroad this summer. He added that he would be "surprised" if the Paraguayan stays in MLS and does not move to Europe this summer.

Advertisement

• WHAT BITTAR SAID

  The player's agent revealed: “There is no clause. He is not a player to stay in Miami for a long time…. It will not be a surprise if we have an offer in the European summer and it can leave. The club is not going to put a price on him.”

• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Gomez has impressed for both club and country in 2024, netting the second for Miami in their home-opener against Real Salt Lake Wednesday evening, but also on the international stage for the Paraguay U-23 Olympic side.

  He had five goals and two assists in the CONMEBOL pre-Olympic tournament across January and February that saw him lead his country to the top of the table and qualify for the Paris Games this summer.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• LA Galaxy
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR DIEGO GOMEZ AND INTER MIAMI?

  The Herons take on the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday evening in a cross-conference clash. The Western Conference club will host Inter Miami in their season-opener.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals for Wolves during his career, believes Rayan Ait-Nouri is out of his depth in the Premier League and has bemoaned his lack of strength.

Ait-Nouri has made 13 Premier League appearances for Wolves this season, and managed to score his first senior goal of his career on his Premier League debut in a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace.

The 19-year old has started just eight league games this term though despite regular left-back Jonny being injured for a lot of this season, which has seen him average a 6.43 WhoScored rating as Wolves continue to think about signing him permanently.

Speaking on if the 19-year-old has been a good addition for Wolves and what he is lacking to succeed in the Premier League, Bull told FFC:

“In my eyes, he just looks a bit out of his depth.

“I’ve watched him a few times and he does get up and down the wing a bit, but he just looks a bit lightweight to me and I don’t think he’s getting a lot of chances so his confidence is low.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/exclusive-andreas-sondergaard-wolves-premier-league” title=”Exclusive! Andreas Sondergaard talks all things Wolves”]

“Whether they keep him or not beyond the end of the season I don’t know because he just looks young and a bit immature.

“In a team, you need someone who is a like-for-like replacement when somebody else drops out the side like and he just looks a bit lightweight to me.”

Ait-Nouri had only played 23 senior games of footballer before his loan to move to Wolves this season and they may think there are better options than the £36k-p/w full-back.

In total, the French defender has made 16 appearances this season but has failed to offer a consistent attacking threat as he’s returned to just one goal and assist.

Leeds United are set to face off against Arsenal this evening in what promises to be a very tasty event. The two sides are pretty much neck-and-neck in the middle of the table, with the Whites just ahead with the one-point lead. A win for either team tonight will be a huge boost in their respective campaigns, but Leeds have the upper-hand in terms of form.

They are coming off the back of a convincing 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, whereas the Gunners have continued to struggle. Their last two fixtures ended in defeat and both Bernd Leno and David Luiz were given their marching orders against Wolves.

Despite their win last time out, Leeds do have some problems of their own. On top of the long-term injuries to Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, both Rodrigo and Kalvin Phillips are also out of action. The latter picked up a muscle problem against Palace and Marcelo Bielsa admitted that there is uncertainty over whether or not he will be fit enough to start against Arsenal.

Here’s a look at how the Whites might line up this evening with their star midfielder potentially out of action…

With a spot in midfield to occupy due to Phillips’ injury, Bielsa could try his hand at fielding a 4-4-1-1 formation. The Argentine has opted for this choice on a few occasions this season, with the last coming against Chelsea in December.

Mateusz Klich played just behind Patrick Bamford in an attacking midfield role, but this time round, Bielsa may take a risk and start Tyler Roberts, who is desperate for some game time. The 22-year-old has made just 11 Premier League appearances so far this term and was selected to start on only two occasions, as per Transfermarkt. Tonight could be a golden opportunity for him to work with Bamford and really punish Arsenal.

With Rodrigo out, Roberts could really plug a gap if he turns up to the Emirates with his creative boots on.

With Phillips out, Leeds will need more support for the backline. Therefore, Luke Ayling may once again slide into central defence with Stuart Dallas moving from midfield to right-back. This leaves space for young Jamie Shackleton to ply his trade in the engine room again and fight for a more regular spot moving forwards.

A win today will see Leeds pull further away from Arsenal and close the gap on Spurs and therefore, increase their chances of securing Europa League football for next season.

In other news, Gaetano Berardi injury news may not be the boost many believe it is…

Wrexham are fuming at the “ridiculous” ban being served by Paul Mullin, with Phil Parkinson hitting out at the new EFL yellow card directives.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• EFL looking to cut down on time wasting
• More cautions handed out as a result
• Welsh outfit see key men pick up bans

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Football League has implemented new rules for 2023-24 that are intended to keep the ball in play for as long as possible and cut down on time wasting. Dragons striker Mullin has been a victim of those protocols, with the prolific frontman currently serving a suspension after collecting five cautions.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  WHAT THEY SAID

  Wrexham are not happy at how cards are being dished out – with James McClean also banned – and Parkinson has told after meeting with the EFL’s head of refereeing, Mike Jones: “A lot of bookings I discussed were the ones for delaying the restarts and that was a directive to get the ball in play more – anyone delaying the restart would get a yellow – but they've just gone too far. The Mullin booking, when he ran to take a throw-in against Sutton was ridiculous. He ran to pick the ball up to take the throw – George Evans had just passed the ball off the pitch and it was never a booking. But once refs get it in their mind that they've been told to clamp down, certainly in the first third of the season, they go overboard and I think that's what you're seeing and it's not just us.

  "Of course within those bookings there are ones that can be avoided, but equally there are ones which, if you look at James McClean against Sutton – where he's got fouled and in the action of him getting fouled James clears the ball and he books him for time wasting – never in a million years. It's something we've got to deal with. Every manager has got frustrations with officials at the moment.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Parkinson went on to say of an issue that has clearly annoyed him: “It's a big discussion point at the moment. I think there's work to be done for the powers that be. We prided ourselves on not getting too many bookings last year and we were top of the fair play league across the divisions apart from the Premiership. But it's so easy to get booked, it really is.

  "The refs are giving out (too many) yellow cards. I went through a lot of the yellows with the head of the referees, Mike Jones, and he agreed with me that a lot of them shouldn't have been given. So I think the refs have been too eager at times and there has been an inconsistency, that's not just at this level, it's the Premiership level as well.”

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty/GOAL
  

  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

  Wrexham have fared admirably this season despite collecting cards on a regular basis, with an unbeaten run across all competitions that has reached 10 games helping the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney co-owned outfit to third place in the League Two table and a shot at back-to-back promotions.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner was thrilled with his side's 3-0 win over Burnley and how their attack "forced" their opponents to go a man down.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Palace beat Burnley 3-0
• Brownhill sent off for Clarets
• Glasner thrilled with victory

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Eagles got Glasner's tenure at Selhurst Park off to a winning start thanks to second-half goals from Chris Richards, Jordan Ayew, and Jean-Philippe Mateta. Their pressure eventually told after Josh Brownhill was sent off in the 35th minute, with former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Glasner praising the performance and the way their attack led to the midfielder's dismissal.

Advertisement

• WHAT OLIVER GLASNER SAID

  He told : "Sometimes the players forget about keeping the balance in the game but how we forced the red card was brilliant and we attacked very high. It was really nice to see. We had a great spirit from the beginning and the players tried to do everything that the analysts prepared for them. Also thank you to my staff because we were only here for three days. My feeling was the fans were happy to see the players attacking and fighting, they were very loud, this is what we want. They had a great afternoon and now they can go somewhere in a pub and enjoy one or two beers."

• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Ex-Wolfsburg manager Glasner replaced Roy Hodgson as Palace boss earlier this month after the latter agreed to step down from his role following a health scare and a poor run of results. While this win over relegation-threatened Burnley will not solve the club's issues, it does put them eight points clear of the bottom three. Conversely, Clarets boss Vincent Kompany will be under intense pressure to keep his job as they are 19th and eight points from safety.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• WHAT NEXT?

  Glasner's Palace side, who are up to 13th in the table, travel to London neighbours Tottenham in their next Premier League outing on March 2 whereas Kompany's Burnley host Bournemouth in the English top-flight a day later.

Nottingham Forest continued their good form in the Championship as of late, with a 1-0 victory away at Rotherham on Tuesday night.

Chris Hughton’s side took home all three points thanks to a goal from Ryan Yates in the second-half, but while the midfielder may take a lot of the headlines for his match-winning strike, it was Cyrus Christie who arguably his manager’s true hero.

The right-back, who arrived on loan from Fulham back in the summer, has been a permanent fixture for the club, playing the full 90 minutes in all but two Championship games this campaign.

And on Tuesday, he looked at his formidable best, being a really strong presence defensively, and getting forward time and time again to try and test the Rotherham back-line with his crossing.

As per Sofascore, he sent in four crosses on the night, which was the most of any player for Forest, while his total of 86 touches was by far a game-high – the man in second, Gaetan Bong, had just 57.

It was a testament to just how much of an influence Christie had on proceedings, with a lot of Forest’s good work on the night coming down the right flank as the full-back charged forward.

But it wasn’t just offensively that the £20k-a-week earning ace stood out, instead also sticking to his task defensively. He won an impressive ten duels, which again was the most of any Forest player, while he also put his body on the line by blocking two shots, another team-high.

After the game, Rotherham boss Paul Warne couldn’t help but express his admiration for Christie, saying: “‘Wowza, their right-back can run. What a game he had.”

Yates may have scored the match-winning goal, but it was Christie’s contributions that really stood out for Hughton.

In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, former Rangers defender Michael Ball has heaped praised on Ross Wilson.

Wilson was appointed as sporting director at Rangers back in 2019 after leaving Southampton and has spearheaded the Glasgow club’s recruitment drive alongside manager Steven Gerrard.

Under his direction, the Gers have signed the likes of Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe, who made significant contributions in their side’s Scottish Premiership title triumph this season.

It is a triumph that has seen Gerrard win a lot of plaudits – and rightly so after Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football was finally brought to an end. However, Ball believes Wilson, who is also rated highly by Kris Boyd, deserves credit too.

Speaking exclusively to TT about the Rangers sporting director, the retired full-back said:

“I think Steven, Ross Wilson, Steven’s backroom staff have been fantastic since they’ve come to the club.

“Ross Wilson, fantastic record under Les Reed at Southampton. He’ll have all the credentials and all the data on the players that Rangers could be able to afford going forward.”

Gerrard and Wilson have already got to work ahead of next season after signing striker Fashion Sakala from KV Oostende.

And with a title to defend, as well as Champions League football, you would expect a few other new names to follow the Zambia international to Ibrox.

Barry Fry has told The Transfer Tavern that he was left confused by Jose Mourinho’s treatment of both Dele Alli and Gareth Bale during his time at Tottenham Hotspur amid their returns to the team.

Both players played against Sheffield United on Sunday night, with interim coach Ryan Mason selecting them both in his starting XI.

His faith was rewarded as Bale scored a hat-trick and Alli helped bamboozle the Blades players with his clever dribbling and hard running.

Spurs ultimately won the game 4-0 to keep their hopes of finishing in the top four alive – they are now five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

Fry believes that Mourinho, who was sacked prior to the games against Southampton in the Premier League and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, got it wrong with both Alli and Bale.

And he has questioned whether or not the Portuguese actually wanted to sign the Wales international, such was his lack of desire to play him.

Indeed, under Mourinho, Bale made six starts, while Alli made two.

Speaking exclusively to TT, Fry said: “He’s obviously fallen out with so many players, and also, talking to a lot of Tottenham fans like I do, there’s a lot of players that the Tottenham fans rate very highly that didn’t get a look-in under Mourinho.

“Alli to name but one, and even Bale.

“They got Bale in, the question for me is did Daniel Levy fetch Bale back or did Mourinho really want Bale? If Mourinho really wanted Bale, why didn’t he start in more games?”