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Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood is unsure over what role Ollie Watkins could have with England.

Watkins, who joined Harewood’s old side from Brentford last summer, has had a season to remember at Villa Park. The 25-year-old has already reached double figures for the campaign and there are now calls for him to be included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the European Championships this summer.

Another former Villa forward, Gabby Agbonlahor, is one of those eager to see a call-up for £27m-rated Watkins. Harewood, however, is not too sure.

When asked if he could see Southgate turning to Watkins, Harewood told FFC:

“I wouldn’t rule it out. But with the calibre of strikers that we have now, I can’t see him being ahead of majority of them that can play up there because you’ve [also] got the likes of Sterling and players like that can play up front now.”

Indeed, England have some good options in attack, with Southgate really spoilt for choice in the No.9 department.

As well as Sterling, who has been used down the middle at times by club manager Pep Guardiola, Southgate also has the likes of Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Southampton’s Danny Ings to call upon.

Then there is, of course, England captain and Tottenham’s leading centre-forward Harry Kane, who will no doubt be the Three Lions’ first-choice striker at Euro 2020.

When you consider all of that, the tournament may just come a bit too soon for Watkins.

Carlo Ancelotti has dropped a pre-FA Cup hint that could see Everton deliver Tottenham Hotspur a rare challenge when the two sides meet on Wednesday.

The Toffees beat Spurs when the clubs last faced one another in the Premier League with the Merseyside outfit running out 1-0 victors in North London last September, ending a 15-game winless run in the fixture.

Everton had not beaten Tottenham in any competition since December 2012 before this season’s win, and are now preparing to face the Lilywhites in the FA Cup for the first time since 1995 when the Blues won 4-1 to seal a place in the Final.

Tonight’s match will see Everton and Tottenham contest for a place in the Quarter-Final of this year’s edition, with Ancelotti also looking to maintain his unbeaten record in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

To do so, the Italian has hinted he may stick with the new formation he deployed at Old Trafford on Saturday, when Everton came from behind twice to hold Manchester United to a draw.

“Maybe it was difficult to adjust again to Goodison being empty but we could do better at this – and I am really pleased with how my players adapt to many things,” Ancelotti wrote in his programme notes ahead of tonight’s FA Cup tie with Tottenham.

“They can move to different positions and, like at Manchester United on Saturday, go into a new system. We had a diamond in midfield to give us one more body in an area where United are really strong.

“The plan worked, in my opinion, and even at half-time when we were 2-0 down, I was happy with the tactical aspect. But our passing in the first half was too safe. It can happen against a team that is strong on the counter-attacks and United are one of the best in the world at this.”

Ancelotti fielded Everton in a 4-3-1-2 system for the first time since his appointment in December 2019, with Richarlison joining Dominic Calvert-Lewin in attack but tasked with playing wider to afford James Rodriguez space to operate in a free role in front of Andre Gomes, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Tom Davies.

The Toffees boss noting that he felt the diamond system was working at Manchester United even when trailing would suggest he is considering utilising the formation against Tottenham in the FA Cup, which could help nullify the threat of Tanguy Ndombele like he sought to with Bruno Fernandes.

Only Harry Kane (20) and Son Heung-Min (17) have scored more often for Spurs than Ndombele (6) across all competitions this season, while Jose Mourinho has also seen the 24-year-old Frenchman provide three assists yet lauds him for his “magnificent” general play.

Everton lining up in a 4-3-1-2 on Wednesday night will also present Tottenham with a challenge they are not accustomed to facing, having yet played against a side using the formation in any of their 37 competitive matches played this season.

The closest Mourinho’s men have come is in their fixtures against sides using a 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1, which coincidently returned two defeats in their last three games with Brighton and Chelsea both running out 1-0 victors over the last two weeks.

If Ancelotti is to see Tottenham’s run of results stretch to three defeats in four and record a rare Everton win over the north London side, sticking with the 4-3-1-2 used at Manchester United may be the way to go.

AND in other news, Everton have been tipped to sign a £2m-rated veteran this summer after a 2020 deal collapsed…

Many Aston Villa fans are discussing Marvelous Nakamba following a tweet about the player from The Athletic journalist Gregg Evans.

The defensive midfielder was given a rare start against Leeds (this has only happened on three other occasions this season) but he impressed and was key to his side picking up a 1-0 victory.

The main takeaway from Evans’ tweet was ‘Villa don’t concede when he starts, so does he now get a run in the team?’, a question which a lot of the fan base wanted to answer.

Nakamba picked up a 7.2 rating as he won all five of his ground and aerial duels, made five interceptions, blocked one shot and won two tackles (SofaScore). If you are to reward players with further starts based off of good performances, then he deserves to keep his place.

It is crazy to think that, in the eight Premier League games in which he has featured this campaign, the club have won seven, drawn one and not conceded a single goal while he has been on the pitch (Transfermarkt). The £7.2m-rated ace was seen as someone who provides squad depth, but there is definitely an argument to suggest that he is now more than a useful backup player.

Here is what these Villa fans had to say about Nakamba:

“He was class in fairness protected our back 4 but I still don’t know if he’s good enough on the ball”

Credit: @Scottdip2208

“For me, he keeps the shirt for the next game, didn’t put a foot wrong. Its how you use the squad rather than first 11 and reserves. It was also good to see us play a more compact way rather than trying to outplay an opposition, shows that the management is tactically astute.”

Credit: @GPDecorating

“I’ve said for ages he should be the first midfielder on the team sheet”

Credit: @BernardKeavy

“We look better with a stopper in there for me .. more balanced”

Credit: @FowlerLegend

“Marvelous deserves to keep his place. The only change i would make is i would start Kaine on Wednesday night because (1) He deserves it + (2) I don’t think Elmo can play 3 PL games in a week at his age. See how Kaine plays at Sheff Utd + then evaluate who plays against Wolves”

Credit: @thallium_72

“Under rated by too many fans, the kid is class and always gives 100%. He never hides like some!! Well played!!”

Credit: @MichaelJEdwar14

In other news, these Villa fans reacted to Dean Smith’s latest comments!

Many Manchester United fans have been talking about Donny van de Beek’s situation as a claim about the midfielder has emerged from the Netherlands.

De Telegraaf columnist Valentijn Driessen has recently written about Van de Beek in an article for the newspaper (via Sport Witness). He urged the Man Utd midfielder to ‘pack his bags straightaway’ if the Dutchman doesn’t start for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in the upcoming League Cup semi-final against Manchester City.

The article also said that if Solskjaer continues to not use Van de Beek, then the midfielder’s spot in the Dutch national team for the rearranged Euro 2020 could become uncertain. It also talked about how other former Ajax stars are struggling in other teams in Europe.

Van de Beek joined United from the Amsterdam-based giants in the summer of 2020 for a fee of £35 million, plus £5m in add-ons. Since arriving, the 23-year-old has made 19 appearances in all competitions for United, scoring once in the Premier League. He also has one assist in the League Cup (as per Transfermarkt).

His last start for United came back in early December in the club’s 3-1 win over David Moyes’ West Ham. He last played the full 90 minutes in the club’s 3-2 comeback win over Southampton in November.

The claim about the midfielder from the Dutch newspaper was tweeted out by Mirror Football and it caught the attention of many Man Utd fans, who began talking about Van de Beek, and they were not too happy with the story.

What did Man Utd fans make of these claims about Van de Beek?

“The way Fred and Mctominay are playing .. can you blame Ole? VDB time’s will come longer term as a replacement for Pogba. He’s a part of the future.”

Credit: @athar0908

“Hope he doesn’t listen to them. Great player needs more game time.”

Credit: @MICHAELondoner

“Classic using Utd for clicks. Don’t fancy talking about the Pool loss then? Dead journalism.”

Credit: @KyleGodfrey1997″Utter nonsense.”Credit: @LawrenceRajesh”Sick of this poor Donny van de Beek carry on. Since joining he’s contributed 1 goal and 1 assist in 19 appearances for the club. Every other midfielder has contributed more than him. He’s been given chances to prove himself and hasn’t delivered so get over it.”Credit: @andrewglennn”Lol. He ain’t going nowhere. Once Pogba leaves, the team is his.”Credit: @Robert4KGeorgeIn other news, some Man Utd fans have been talking about a defender’s move away from the club – read more here.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin can benefit from Steven Nzonzi’s decision to remain at Stade Rennais for the rest of the season amid rumoured interest from Everton.

What’s the word?

According to Ouest France, it is considered a certainty among those close to Nzonzi that he will see out the season in Ligue 1 after speculation arose that he could quit Julien Stephan’s side.

Nzonzi was thought to have held discussions with AS Roma over terminating his loan spell early, as Arsenal and Everton closely monitored the situation with a view to forging a pursuit of the 32-year-old during the January transfer window.

Both Arsenal and Everton are understood to have held a long-standing interest in Nzonzi, with the Gunners’ position said to date back to Arsene Wenger’s tenure before the £9m-rated titan joined Roma and subsequently secured temporary moves to Galatasaray and Rennes.

Stade Rennais would be loath to lose Nzonzi this month were he to quit the Roazhon Park natives, for whom he has started for in 18 of their 20 Ligue 1 fixtures this term as Stephan strives to secure another season of European football in north-west France.

Rennes bowed out of the Champions League Group Stage without a win earlier this season, losing twice to Chelsea and Sevilla and once to Russian outfit FK Krasnodar, in which Nzonzi featured in five fixtures and missed one through suspension.

Gbamin’s time to shine

Nzonzi deciding to remain in the capital city of Brittany and see out the season with Rennes may be a blow for Everton having considered his services, but the 32-year-old’s choice will be seen as a positive for Gbamin as he looks to make his comeback from more than a year on the sidelines.

Everton are understood to be hopeful that Gbamin will be able to return to first-team training with the rest of the squad at the end of the month, to bring a curtain down on a miserable 18-months for the £65,000-per-week midfielder.

Gbamin only played 135 minutes of competitive football in the 2019/20 season following a £25m move from Bundesliga outfit 1.FSV Mainz 05 before he faced his first injury in royal blue, with a hamstring strain that led to two rounds of surgery and two relapses.

He then sustained an achilles tendon injury in a training ground incident last May that has kept him watching from the stands as Everton chase qualification for the Champions League, with a side now featuring Allan as the holding enforcer under Carlo Ancelotti.

The arrival of Nzonzi would only have further clustered an already packed engine room beside Tom Davies, Allan, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Fabian Delph and Andre Gomes, and make Gbamin’s route back onto the pitch even tougher.

But Gbamin may soon have his chance to shine and show Everton supporters why Marco Silva identified him as the Toffees’ heir to Idrissa Gana Gueye, and not just an injury-prone 25-year-old.

AND in other news, Everton have requested further information on the availability of a 21-y/o target who “has potential”…

Andrew Taylor gets his second bite of the cherry in the Sunderland hot seat this weekend.

His first game in caretaker charge of the Black Cats ended in a 1-1 draw with Burton, but now he has to prepare his side to face Wigan Athletic.

Taylor fielded a pretty similar team to Phil Parkinson in midweek, perhaps due to a lack of preparation time.

Therefore, now he’s had a few days to practise his methods, will we see greater change? Only time will tell.

Here’s the XI we’re predicting Taylor to select for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday.

Sunderland are stuck in a rut at the moment and could be without three key players this afternoon.

Lynden Gooch has been ruled out for around a month and it’s been reported that Luke O’Nien could miss as many as three months with a dislocated shoulder.

There are also fears over the fitness of Charlie Wyke who suffered a knee issue against Burton a few days ago.

As such, we think that Taylor will have to make two enforced changes. Will Grigg was unlucky not score against the Brewers, hitting the post, so he comes into the XI for Wyke, while the other change is at right wing-back.

Loanee Dion Sanderson replaced O’Nien for the final exchanges when he went off last Tuesday so looks set to replace the former Wycombe man out wide.

The final change we’re tipping Taylor to make is in goal. Remi Matthews had a howler for Burton’s goal, spilling it straight to Charles Vernam who was left with a simple tap in.

He’s not looked particularly assured between the posts so we reckon it’s time for an adjustment.

The rest of the side sorts itself out, but starting for a successive game is Elliot Embleton, someone striving to prove himself after a lengthy injury spell last season.

In other news, check out the XI that we think would play if Sunderland appointed Danny Cowley…

Talk about a rollercoaster of a year for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side had an impressive start to 2020, lifting both the FA Cup and Community Shield in the summer and making some impressive signings in the transfer window – Thomas Partey’s arrival in particular looked to be the start of a new revolution at the Emirates.

But since then, things have taken a turn for the worse, and the Gunners are facing an uphill task when the new year rolls around.

Before that though, just how much of 2020 do you actually remember? Whether it’s been highs or lows, Arsenal have had their fair share of excitement and entertainment on and off the pitch.

FootballFanCast have put together a quiz testing your knowledge of just closely you were following the Gunners. Consider yourself a real die-hard fan? Prove it!

What score do you think you’ll get?

Completed it? Why not share it with your friends and family and see who the real Arsenal fan is!

Liverpool fans will be considering themselves lucky that they haven’t been monumentally rocked by the absence of Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho so early on in the season. The Reds will be looking to retain their Premier League title and losing the Dutchman looked like it would have a detrimental effect on their reigning term.

But in a miraculous turn of both luck and good form, stand-in defenders Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams have done a superb job of keeping the ship afloat. Joe Gomez has arguably been one of Jurgen Klopp’s most important players during this time, stepping into the shoes of natural leader van Dijk.

Teenaged centre-back Williams has massively stepped up to the plate and is already shifting his attention to his future at Anfield.

Fighting talk from Rhys Williams

Following his performance against Atalanta in Liverpool’s midweek clash, the 19-year-old expressed his delight over making his debut Champions League appearance. He went on to thank Klopp for his recent flurry of opportunities and says he is determined to repay the manager’s faith.

“I want to become an irreplaceable piece of this side. It’s a great team with great players,” Williams said post-match (via Liverpool ECHO).

Such fighting talk despite only making his senior debut this season is something the manager simply cannot ignore. After Trent Alexander-Arnold’s astonishing success story, it’s inspired many other academy graduates to follow down a similar path.

Whilst this paints a vivid picture of what a workhorse Williams is, it could be bad news for Gomez moving forwards. Even with his hard graft these last couple of weeks, the nature of football is a cruel one and players get dropped to make room for new up and coming talents.

Should Williams prove to be an option that Klopp simply cannot ignore, there’s a big chance he could edge out the England international for his space alongside van Dijk in the future.

Alexander-Arnold himself has already been impressed by the 6 ft 5 powerhouse. Speaking to LFCTV GO, the full-back lauded his teammate’s ability to step up.

“We’ve got an amazing squad,” the Merseyside local said. “You’ve seen Rhys Williams stepping in and doing a world-class job, at a young age with such little experience. He’s got a bright future ahead.”

In other news, Liverpool given boost ahead of potential Ozan Kabak signing…

Celtic have been given a huge boost in their mission to restore their form this season. Neil Lennon’s latest batch of injury news confirmed that he expects centre-back Christopher Jullien to resume training and be in contention following the international break.

The Hoops have struggled in both the Premiership and Europa League as of late, with several players in particular failing to reach the standards set by Lennon. Odsonne Edouard has been unable to find his groove since his return from self-isolation. Shane Duffy is also underperforming and has been poor in defence for the last few games now.

With Jullien potentially available to start against Hibernian on the 21st, Celtic can look forward to pushing themselves back into winning ways.

Jullien crucial for the Hoops

The 27-year-old has been out with a back injury and has missed a total of 11 games so far. Coincidentally, Celtic’s form has dipped since he has been on the sidelines and they are now without Kristoffer Ajer too, who is struggling with a groin injury. Hatem Abd Elhamed has also just recently returned from a spell of absence after testing positive for coronavirus.

Lennon is suffering blow after blow at the moment and would hugely appreciate some stability in his team. Noel Whelan certainly believes that the return of Jullien will provide just that.

“I think maybe that’s the player that they’re missing the most,” he told Football Insider. “It seems to me that he’s he’s the one in that central defence that’s the leader, he’s the one that keeps all together.”

Options are running thin so any positive injury news will be a blessing for the Bhoys. But Jullien in particular could help repair the damaged backline and plug the leak to stop shipping so many goals as they fight back against Rangers for their top spot.

In other news, Celtic must consider revisiting talks with Ryan Sessegnon as attacking options become a worry…

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping that winning their first game of the Championship season against Cardiff City is a sign of what is to come from their campaign.

They need to have a very good start as they already have a disadvantage after being deducted 12 points by the EFL, so they have to win three more games to be on zero.

Dom Howson tweeted out an article by Andy Hinchcliffe, who is a pundit for Sky Sports, who believes the Owls can make a push for the top-six this season.

It looks to have come as a bit of surprise to some that support Wednesday, and this is understandable for a couple of reasons. The main one being because they have the points deduction to battle and the other is due to the fact that it is only the first game of the campaign so to be making such a judgement before he has seen some consistent form from the season seems like a very early call.

However it does highlight that the Owls were very good against Cardiff last weekend, and if they can continue to play like this, there is no doubt that supporters of the club could be in for a good season.

Here is what fans said following the tweet:

Owls fans, what are your thoughts on these comments? Let us know down below!