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Marcelo Bielsa bizarrely admits “I’ve already given up” ahead of Leeds United’s Premier League clash with Manchester City this weekend.

The Whites make the trip to the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime, with Pep Guardiola’s side on the verge of winning another league title.

It will arguably be the biggest test of Leeds’ season so far, but they showed they can hold their own with them earlier in the campaign, drawing 1-1 at Elland Road back in October.

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Bielsa rules out Man City shock

Bielsa isn’t exactly one to mince his words and it appears as though he has written off his side’s hopes of picking up a shock result in Manchester.

Speaking to DAZN [via Sport Witness], the Leeds praised the job Guardiola is doing, seemingly saying his team have no chance this weekend:

“Interpreting the innovative decisions that Guardiola incorporates into a game is already a way to fall in love with football. He is a magical man.

“What he knows how to do, it is enormously difficult for me to try and I’ve already given up.”

Transfer Tavern take

Deep down, Bielsa will surely believe Leeds can leave the Etihad with something on Saturday – he is likely giving Guardiola such great praise as a way to take pressure off his own team.

That being said, it is going to take a mammoth effort to avoid defeat against a team who could potentially win an unprecedented quadruple this season.

In other news, a reported Leeds target has hinted at an exit from his current club this summer. Find out who it is here.

Former Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday could be relegated to League One this evening.

The Owls host Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough Stadium tonight knowing that a defeat plus a win for relegation rivals Derby County would see their fate sealed.

In the absence of manager Darren Moore, assistant coach Jamie Smith will once again lead the side out and he will want to see a reaction after the south Yorkshiremen were held by ten-man Bristol City at the weekend.

But what sort of XI could we see selected? Here’s our prediction along with the latest news from the Wednesday camp…

There could be as many as three changes from the weekend.

Moore and Smith have a big decision to make in attack as the Owls looked toothless against the Robins despite having a player advantage, so we’re banking on a recall for Jordan Rhodes after he was axed for Saturday.

He’ll replace Callum Paterson upfront, with Josh Windass keeping his place just in behind and he could be joined by Andre Green, who is pushing for a start after an impressive cameo from the bench and a recent goal for the U23s.

The 22-year-old dynamo comes in for Kadeem Harris.

Out wide, both wing-backs Adam Reach and Liam Palmer should remain as they have done throughout the last few weeks, whilst Sam Hutchinson could move back into midfield, having been utilised at centre-back for the past two matches.

He’ll join skipper Barry Bannan in the engine room, with Osaze Urhoghide likely to return in a three-man defence after being snubbed in successive games for the first time since his opening league game of the season against Preston at the end of January.

Saturday’s goalscorer Julian Borner and vice-captain Tom Lees should partner the 20-year-old gem in front of veteran shot-stopper Keiren Westwood.

AND in other news, Worrying update emerges on £20k-p/w Sheffield Wednesday “leader”, Moore will be gutted…

Aston Villa could be facing a huge nightmare over Emiliano Martinez, with Manchester United said to be interested in making a move in this summer’s transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Argentine has been an absolute revelation for Dean Smith since joining from fellow Premier League side Arsenal last summer, keeping the second most clean sheets in the division with 14.

According to Football Insider, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have set their sights on Martinez after having been impressed with his performances in his first season at Villa.

The report claims that the 28-year-old is at the top of their target list as they look to strengthen the goalkeeping department, with the futures of David de Gea and Sergio Romero uncertain at this moment.

Dean Smith will be fuming

Described as a “phenomenon” and someone who “guarantees ten points per season” by Argentinian World Cup winner Daniel Bertoni, Martinez has been nothing short of outstanding for Villa since arriving from the Emirates in the summer.

It’s no surprise then that rival clubs have sat up and taken notice of his performances, and United’s interest is a massive compliment to just how well he has done.

While Villa have enjoyed a remarkable season thus far – they currently lie in the top half of the table – qualification into the Europa League or Champions League still isn’t a guarantee.

United meanwhile find themselves in second, and are into the quarter-finals of the Europa League, and look set to clinch Champions League football one way or the other, and that will no doubt be very appealing to Martinez.

The Argentine would fancy his chances of keeping out Dean Henderson as United’s number one goalkeeper, and the lure of competing for trophies and in European competition year in and year out may be too good to turn down.

It’s exactly why Smith will be very worried if United launch an official bid for the £22.5m-rated Martinez come the summer.

Meanwhile, Villa heading for unforgivable mistake over this £18m-rated flop…

Many Manchester United fans were left slamming the display of Aaron Wan-Bissaka despite their 4-0 win over Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League.

Although there were some very good performances for the Old Trafford faithful, the 23-year-old flattered to deceive.

He got off to a bad start with a yellow card inside the first eight minutes of the game and his overall display was not the best by his standards.

The right-back lost out on 100% of his duels and also failed to record a single dribble, tackle, key pass, cross or accurate long ball in the match (Sofascore).

Wan-Bissaka lost possession of the ball no fewer than 11 times, the third most out of any of his teammates to have set foot on the pitch, earning him a very measly 6.4 overall rating by Sofascore.

Manchester United fan reaction to Wan-Bissaka display

These Red Devils slammed his performance on Twitter, with one MUFC supporter describing it as ‘poor’:

“Wan-Bissaka plays like he’s scared of the ball.”

Credit: @isaacwalex

“Genuinely had no idea Wan-Bissaka was on the field”

Credit: @_Langaman

“The once great Manchester United are currently playing in the Europa League with a right hand side that consists of Scott McTominay, Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. This club is finished”

Credit: @Corpdelite

“Dan James and Wan-Bissaka has to be the deadest right hand side”

Credit: @UtdSam5

“I’m done with Wan-Bissaka. Get him out of the club.”

Credit: @CDotRodriguez

“Poor by Wan-Bissaka there”

Credit: @RamoneMurdock

“Get Bailly and AWB off they are nightmare to watch..”

Credit: @HashtagKunal

In other news, find out which United man was slammed for his display versus West Ham United here!

Andre Gomes badly let Carlo Ancelotti down as Everton lost 2-0 at Chelsea on Monday night, having produced a passive performance at Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese maestro retained his role in the Toffees’ engine room for a fourth successive Premier League match, having now failed to start just one of his side’s last eight.

But Ancelotti failed to see that faith repaid with a promising performance in south west London, as Thomas Tuchel’s Blues were easily able to bypass Gomes on route to a comfortable victory.

Chelsea took the lead on the half-hour mark when Kai Havertz’s shot was turned in for an own goal by Ben Godfrey, who could do little about the German’s attempt other than leave goalkeeper Jordan Pickford helpless.

Havertz later won his side a penalty, converted by Jorginho, in the second period after being brought down by Pickford, to seal a 2-0 win and maintain Tuchel’s unbeaten reign as Chelsea boss after eight wins and three draws in all competitions.

Gomes would remain on the field for a further 11 minutes after Jorginho’s strike beat Pickford before Ancelotti would replace the £18m-rated midfielder with Bernard, after he failed to offer much quality on the Stamford Bridge pitch.

The 27-year-old covered a vast area of the ground with his 47 touches taken across the middle third, per SofaScore, but he could not make his presence count despite boasting the Toffees’ only on-target effort of the night.

Gomes tried his luck from 25-yards out in first-half stoppage-time, although his low attempt on goal was easily saved by Edouard Mendy as he achieved his 13th clean sheet in 23 Premier League outings since a £22m move from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais in September.

The result saw Chelsea stretch their lead over Everton in the race for Champions League qualification to four points, albeit having played a game more. The Goodison Park natives also slipped behind West Ham United, after the Irons beat Leeds later on Monday night.

Despite boasting his side’s only on-target effort with his only shot of the game, Ancelotti will have been disappointed with how poorly Gomes performed his defensive duties at Chelsea having struggled to cope with the man-marking system the Italian tactician initially utilised.

Gomes was a bystander whenever the hosts were in possession and rarely managed to take the ball from a Blues player, with the ex-FC Barcelona midfielder dribbled past six times – Allan (3) was beaten on the ground the second-most times by any player, per WhoScored.

Being dribbled past so frequently further saw that Gomes could only register a 14% tackle success rate, thanks to winning possession once, while also offering one interception but no clearances.

The 29-cap international is not generally a defensive powerhouse but has averaged 1.5 successful tackles a game in the Premier League this season, while being dribbled past just 1.6 times, making 0.4 interceptions and 0.5 clearances.

His struggles on the ground additionally ensured that Gomes lost 11 of his 14 ground duels – Richarlison lost the second-most by an Everton player with success in only five of his 10 contests, per SofaScore. Gomes averages 3.4 challenges won with a 40% success rate.

Altogether, Gomes’ performance meant he earned SofaScore’s worst match rating for a player who featured for either side at 5.9 out of 10 – the sixth time this season that he has scored below a base 6/10.

The Liverpool Echo also graded Gomes at 5/10, the same as Alex Iwobi but noted how the ex-Arsenal winger ‘couldn’t effectively get himself into the game’ while the Portuguese playmaker briefly improved after the break.

Yet Gomes was worse than Iwobi throughout the match and will have left Ancelotti wondering if he should start when Everton host Burnley on Saturday.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti can delight an unsettled Everton ace with a summer swoop for his £13.5m-rated ex-teammate…

According to a report by Corriere dello Sport, via Sport Witness, Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho ‘doesn’t survive’ in north London after having played ‘all his credits’ – with the Italian outlet explaining that chairman Daniel Levy is still keeping tabs on Julian Nagelsmann to ‘immediately’ replace him should he be sacked.

Nagelsmann, who has been very heavily linked to the potential manager’s job at Tottenham, coming amid mounting pressure on Mourinho, is now at the centre of another update linking him with the position – this time from Italy.

Tottenham eyeing immediate Jose successor in Nagelsmann

Corriere dello Sport explain that Serie A giants AS Roma ‘would have preferred Nagelsmann’ when commenting on their links to Massimiliano Allegri, but their fondness for the exciting RB Leipzig boss is thwarted by both Bayern Munich and Tottenham’s interest.

Sport Witness relay this report that Spurs are indeed still keeping tabs on the 33-year-old, recently hailed as ‘fearless’ and a ‘trailblazer’ in an ESPN profile, and it is shared that his appointment would be ‘immediately’ post-Mourinho.

Providing a bleak view on the Portuguese boss’ future in north London, this report believes he ‘doesn’t survive’ after having played ‘all of his credits’ – with these phrases painting a serious picture amid the pressure on Mourinho.

Transfer Tavern take

Tottenham are already out of the Europa League after a humiliating Last 16 second leg defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, blowing a fairly comfortable two-goal cushion as they crashed out 3-2 on aggregate.

There is hope for the Lilywhites, however, as they remain in contention for a Champions League qualifying place and have a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in April.

A strong finish to 2020/2021 could turn the tide, but as it stands, reports continue to link Nagelsmann with Mourinho’s seemingly tenuous Tottenham position.

In other news: Levy is also plotting this Vinicius replacement for Spurs, find out more here.

After suffering a disappointing FA Cup fourth round exit to Southampton at the weekend, Arsenal bounced back in style with a Premier League win over the same opponents on Tuesday night.Mikel Arteta recalled a number of his key first-team stars for the repeat clash against the Saints, and was rewarded with a fine team performance that saw the Gunners run out 3-1 winners.And whilst teenage talent Bukayo Saka added to his burgeoning reputation with a well-taken goal and then a superb assist for Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka produced a stand-out display as well.The Switzerland international has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround since the Crystal Palace game last season, and Arteta himself has previously spoken about just how much of a leader he is.He said: “Yeah, he’s a natural leader. He’s someone who is always 1,000 per cent committed, not just for himself but to help all his teammates all the time.”And on Tuesday, that leadership was needed that much more, against a Southampton side bouncing from beating the Gunners at the weekend, and confident of doing it again in the Premier League.Xhaka looked cool, calm and collected on the ball all night, dictating the tempo with his controlled passing and ensuring the Saints didn’t have too many counter-attacking opportunities with some expert positioning – it led to Goal journalist Charles Watts to declare that he was “running the show”.

Giving him a match rating of 8 for The Evening Standard, Simon Collings said: “Another good game from the Swiss midfielder, who has been reborn since his red card against Burnley last month. Setup the opening goal with a nice pass.”

The £100k-per-week earning star boasted a 92% pass accuracy, and completed the most amount of passes of any Arsenal player on the pitch with 34.

He also created the most amount of big chances with two, even more than the likes of Saka and Smith Rowe. And perhaps crucially, his ability to switch play and be accurate with his longer passing (he completed all five of his attempted long balls) meant that Southampton couldn’t press too high or risk getting exposed in behind.

It’s been telling that amid Arsenal’s plethora of options in central midfield, Xhaka has been the one constant, playing in 16 of the Gunners’ 20 Premier League games, and starting and completing the full 90 minutes in the last six.

Being left-footed and with his increasing defensive discipline, he seems to be the one man in that Arsenal midfield who looks to be irreplaceable for Arteta.

Meanwhile, Arsenal could sign their next Ashley Cole in this starlet…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Sheffield United striker Dean Windass has dropped a bombshell over the future of Chris Wilder at Bramall Lane.

This afternoon, the Blades looked on course to achieve their first win of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion despite going down to ten men before Danny Welbeck came off the bench to score a late equaliser.

It means the Yorkshiremen remain rock-bottom having picked up two points from their opening 14 matches – the worst start of any top-flight English team in history.

Windass has urged the hierarchy at United to stick with him through the troubles, even though he claims that they will get relegated this season.

The ex-EFL talisman has backed the 53-year-old to bring them straight back up.

He told FFC:

“Sheffield United are finding it tough at the minute. Chris is finding it tough.

“What’s the point of sacking Chrissy Wilder? He’s done an unbelievable job, he’s a local lad, you know he’s played for the football club. There’s no point. There is no point sacking him. Who is going to come in and change it?

“I hope they keep hold of him. Yes, I think they’ll get relegated, and then hopefully next year he can bring them back up again but there’s no point sacking him now.”

Wilder has been in charge of the Blades since May 2016 having started his playing career as a right-back at the club in the late eighties.

In 209 matches, he’s guided United to 99 wins (47.3%) and has averaged an impressive 1.63 points per game, as per Transfermarkt.

It remains to be seen whether the long-serving manager is on the hot seat at all, although last month, he did admit he was feeling the pressure.

After all, even that Derby County side started their season better than this.

AND in other news, Chris Wilder admits ex-West Ham target could leave Sheffield United…

Premier League side Everton have been backed to sign Leicester City’s Demarai Gray in the summer transfer window.

As transcribed by Sport Witness, an unknown Premier League scout has backed Everton to move for Gray, describing him as a very good winger for the current generation.

Everton could move for Gray

The unknown scout was recently talking to French outlet Le Phocéen and he was asked about Gray and his abilities. The scout had praise for the Englishman, saying that Gray has an ‘excellent’ rating in England and that he is a quick winger who knows how to go past people.

The scout was sure that Everton will face competition for Gray and tipped Tottenham and Southampton to look at him as well.

He said (via Sport Witness):

“He is a very good player who keeps an excellent rating in England. He is still one of the very good wingers of his generation, even if his contractual situation at Leicester means that he is being ruled out by Rodgers and the managers.

“He is very quick and skilful at knocking out his opponent in the middle of the race, as well as against goalies with a tendency to open his foot to find the opposing side of the net. There will surely be competition, as I think good English clubs will move, like Everton, Tottenham or Southampton.”

Gray’s current contract at Leicester runs out at the end of the 2020/21 season, but the winger will be able to speak to some clubs to sign a pre-contract agreement this month. Benfica, Marseille and Monaco have also been linked with a move for the 24-year-old (As per the Sun).

Gray could be a good option for Everton

In the current campaign, Gray has made just one Premier League appearance and has played just as many times in the League Cup. In the 2019/20 league campaign, Gray contributed to five goals while playing only 609 minutes of Premier League football for The Fixes.

This suggests that Gray can contribute to goals for his team if given a chance to shine. Everton’s Bernard has been linked with a move to Roma and he is a left-winger by trade. Gray can also play on the left-wing and also on the right, so if Bernard goes, Gray could be a potential replacement for the Brazilian. In this scenario, a move for the 24-year-old would make sense.

In other news, Everton are leading the race to sign a Championship star – read more about it here.

Connor Goldson was Steven Gerrard’s unsung hero as Glasgow Rangers ground out a routine victory over St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership.

Gerrard’s side now need just six more wins to claim their first league crown in a decade after an inspired Ianis Hagi scored in the second half to give Rangers a 1-0 win over Callum Davidson’s side.

Hagi looked back to his very best as he ran the Saints ragged at Ibrox, while Borna Barisic also had a big part to play on the left-hand side of the defence, but the man who caught the eye the most was Goldson.

Goldson was nothing short of immense on the night, as he cut an imperious figure for the Gers, helping them to a third successive victory across all competitions.

Under Gerrard, the 28-year-old has been colossal at the back, and was hardly troubled at all as he put in a tremendous shift in a show of physical strength and exertion.

In total, he won 81% of his duels overall, including seven from eight individual battles in the air – that being the most out of any player from either side.

He also emerged victorious from one tackle, one clearance and three interceptions, while he wasn’t dribbled past once, such was his level of dominance. The next few months are going to be very demanding and Goldson has shown he is the sort of player who can compete and lead by example.

All credit to the Rangers manager Gerrard, as he has played a huge part in transforming the career of a player whose life-threatening heart condition threatened to derail his career entirely.

Goldson also took 119 touches, that being bettered by none other than James Tavernier himself, and also won more aerial duels than any other player on the pitch.

In fact, it was the Rangers defender’s all-round display that overshadowed the performance of Barisic. He may not possess the ball-carrying ability of Barisic, but his no-nonsense attitude has kept them out of many a tight spot on multiple occasions so far this season.

He may not be the most naturally-gifted centre-back at the club, but he’s certainly become Mr Dependable.

AND in other news, Ianis Hagi stars in Rangers’ 1-0 win over St Johnstone…