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West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has been speaking about midfielder Manuel Lanzini ahead of his side’s clash against Manchester City on Wednesday night, and the signs are that the Argentine star won’t be making his first start for the club since May.

What did he say?

After a long injury absence, the 26-year-old finally made his long-awaited return to action as a substitute in the 3-1 win against Fulham at the London Stadium on Friday, and no doubt Irons fans will be hoping to see their man back in the XI as soon as possible now.

Speaking prior to the perhaps daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium, Pellegrini looks to have dampened those hopes by telling whufc.com: “We must be careful with [Manu].

“He did very well in his 15 minutes and the important thing was that he was not afraid and remembering his knee, so we will see what the best way is to get minutes in every game. You must be careful when you give more minutes.”

Will he definitely not start?

While West Ham will want to finish in seventh position and as the best of the rest this season, taking a risk on a player of the calibre of Lanzini away against City would be a huge risk given he has only just returned, and his manager seems to acknowledge that.

Yes, Pep Guardiola’s men may have played 120 minutes in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and could be a little leggy just a few days later, but Pellegrini can’t risk potentially aggravating the injury given the South American ace isn’t 100% match fit.

Irons supporters will need to be more patient in their bid to see the London Stadium hero back in the side, and they now have the squad depth for that to be an acceptable thing.

[ad_pod ]The 21st March 2019 marked what would have been the 84th birthday of one of football’s greatest managers; Brian Clough.The former Nottingham Forest boss guided them through what was an unparalleled period of success in the club’s history. Throughout the 1970s he won two European Cups, a European Super Cup and a First Division title. Further triumphs were also to follow in the form of the League Cup.Reacting to a tweet wishing him happy birthday, fans flooded to pay tribute to their late manager.

There were plenty of superlatives for Clough, with supporters of the Reds labelling him the best manager of all time. One supporter found it fitting to leave a single goat emoji, symbolising his status as one of the greatest ever.

Another fan said he’d never be forgotten as tributes continued to pour in with one individual claiming that it was because of him that they found love for the club. One tweet used one of Clough’s famous quotes.

Here’s the best of the tributes.

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West Bromwich Albion forward Oliver Burke has hit the ground running for loan side Celtic after joining them during the January transfer window, but the Baggies’ big loss is actually a blessing in disguise.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the reported £15m addition has failed to make much of an impact at The Hawthorns since his move in 2017, scoring one goal and providing three assists in 21 appearances in total for the west Midlands outfit.

A lack of first-team minutes this term saw him shipped off to Scottish Premiership champions at the beginning of 2019, and he has found the net four times in eight league outings for Neil Lennon’s side to date.

Despite naturally being a winger he has largely featured as a centre-forward for the Glasgow giants, and his form may have led some to believe that West Brom have made a mistake letting him go – especially as they have failed to score in their previous two Championship fixtures.

Is that right?

In a word, no.

Who has been the Championship’s best player this season? The Pl>ymaker FC squad discuss in the video below…

Darren Moore has a wealth of quality attacking options available to him with the likes of Dwight Gayle, Jay Rodriguez, Jefferson Montero and Hal Robson-Kanu, and Burke wasn’t getting selected ahead of them based on what he had shown for the Baggies to date.

Rather than potentially looking on enviously and wishing they still had him for the run-in, Albion should instead see it as a blessing in disguise that he is performing so well north of the border.

It remains to be seen whether he has a future at The Hawthorns but if he doesn’t and he continues to perform for Celtic, either they or another club could choose to bid big for the 21-year-old in the summer which could allow West Brom to reinvest in their squad.

Rangers will be expected to once again see an influx of new players this summer, in the hope of bringing some silverware back to Ibrox. 

Steven Gerrard has done exactly that in his first season in charge and with hopes of catching Celtic increasing already, a few top signings maybe all they need.

Ultimately with them being eight points behind Celtic this season, that comes down to not having the quality consistently to see games through as draws have been too frequent.

With that in mind, another striker could be brought in to add even more quality to Rangers’ front-line.

Someone like Derby’s Mason Bennett is a player the Gers should consider because of his quality not being presented because he doesn’t play enough currently.

Bennett, (who is valued at £450k on Transfermarkt) is a player who’s been starved of action this season after Frank Lampard has persisted with using the likes of Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn instead.

So much so that Mason Bennett has made just seven starts in the Championship this season and although he has a contract until 2020, the Englishman may leave in search of regular game-time.

In total, the versatile forward has scored once and assisted his team-mates on three occasions this season, which doesn’t prove what a good player he could be.

Still, only at the age of 22, Mason Bennett has plenty of time to find himself another club, get adjusted to life there and then starting banging in the goals again.

He offers something completely different to all their current options and that could work in Mason Bennett’s favour whilst trying to get a move to a club like Rangers.

Do you agree… Let us know!

Aston Villa continued their fine run of form this weekend as another 3-0 win saw them move into sixth in the Championship table.

Dean Smith’s men are really beginning to motor at the most important point in the season, and there is every chance now they could well become the team to watch as we enter the most crucial part of the season.

Villa are looking like they are going to be that team that appear from the shadows and snatch a play-off spot, and we here in the Tavern think that they are going to be the ones who ultimately end up winning out come the end of the campaign.

The club’s attacking options for one are right up there with the best in the Championship, and in Tammy Abraham they have arguably the finest striker in the division when he is on song.

Add to that that Dean Smith appears to have finally stemmed the flow of leaked goals with the additions of Kortney Hause and Tyrone Mings, and Villa begin to look quite the threat.

The return of Jack Grealish too is a massive boost for the club, with the young midfielder proving in recent weeks just why he is classed as one of the finest talents outside of hre Premier League at the moment.

For all their disappointments this year and another change in manager, the season could well end on a hugely positive note for the Villans.

أكدت تقارير صحفية إسبانية أن نادي باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي دخل في مفاوضات مع نظيره برشلونة لضم أحد لاعبيه اليوم، قبل إغلاق نافذة الانتقالات الجارية.

وتغلق نافذة الانتقالات اليوم الاثنين، ويأمل النادي الباريسي في التوصل لاتفاق مع البلوجرانا.

وبحسب “موندو ديبورتيفو” الإسبانية، يتفاوض سان جيرمان مع البارسا للتعاقد مع البرازيلي رافينيا ألكانتارا.

مباشر.. صفقات اليوم الأخير من سوق الانتقالات الصيفية 2020

رافينيا لديه شرط جزائي في عقده بقيمة 16 مليون يورو، لكن باريس سان جيرمان يريد تخفيض هذا المبلغ.

ويشير التقرير إلى أن رافينيا أعطى موافقته لباريس، ويتوقف الأمر على توصل الناديين لاتفاق الآن.

من جانبه، يريد برشلونة بيع رافينيا لخروجه من حسابات المدير الفني رونالد كومان.

ولفت التقرير النظر إلى أن توماس توخيل، مدرب النادي الفرنسي، معجب برافينيا، بالإضافة إلى العلاقة الجيدة بين اللاعب ومواطنه نيمار، نجم باريس سان جيرمان.

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Leeds United fans have been on social media revealing their delight at the news that Kemar Roofe is closing on a return to first-team action.

Roofe, who has scored 14 Championship goals this season, has been on the sidelines since the middle of last month with a knee problem.

In that time, the 26-year-old has missed six Championship fixtures, including the 1-0 home loss to Sheffield United last time out.

The 5 ft 10 ace has given no indication when he will be available for the Whites, but has revealed that he is in the ‘final stage’ of his recovery from the ligament problem.

As expected, the Leeds fans are absolutely delighted with the update.

Thogden has ranked his top 5 sets of Championship away fans for Pl>ymaker FC. Did your club make the list? Find out in the video below…

Patrick Bamford has been in decent form in Roofe’s absence, but the return of their leading scorer entering a huge period of the campaign is very positive news for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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League Two outfit Stevenage emerged 2-0 victors over Swindon Town on Tuesday night with QPR loanee Ilias Chair scoring the decisive goal well into injury time to ensure all three points remained at Broadhall Way.

As Swindon surged forward looking for a last gasp equaliser, their goalkeeper came up to the half-way line – 21-year-old Chair was having none of it.

The young Moroccan won possession back and launched a rocket from his own half over the head of the helpless Robins’ keeper and into the net to bury any Swindon hopes of a comeback.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

The forward has chalked up two goals and two assists in five league appearances since signing for Stevenage on deadline day in January, although his Tuesday night strike will surely blow every goal he scores from now on out of the water.

His parent club have lacked that little bit of outstanding quality at times this season and plenty of Hoops fans on Twitter cannot wait to get Chair back at the end of the campaign…

أجرى بيستو موسيماني المدير الفني للنادي الأهلي تبديلًا اضطراريًا في الشوط الأول من مباراة الفريق أمام إنبي لإصابة اللاعب أيمن أشرف.

ويواجه الأهلي منافسه إنبي على أرضية استاد الأهلي وي السلام اليوم ضمن منافسات الجولة 32 من الدوري.

وخرج أيمن أشرف في الدقيقة 40 بسبب شكواه من الإصابة في كاحل القدم التي يعاني منها منذ وقت سابق، وشارك على حسابه عمرو السولية.

طالع.. مباشر بالفيديو | مباراة الأهلي وإنبي في الدوري

يذكر أن الأهلي أنهى الشوط الأول متقدمًا على إنبي بهدفين سجلهما المهاجم مروان محسن. لحظة خروج أيمن أشرف

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Liverpool fans have been drooling over a goal scored by their Under-18 side in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over Bury Under-18s in the quarter-final of the FA Youth Cup.

Paul Glatzel scored twice for the Reds, but had the opportunity to net a hat trick late on.

Indeed, the 18-year-old, who recently signed his first professional contract at Anfield, raced through on goal and looked likely to find the back of the net.

Instead, though, Glatzel slid a careful pass into 17-year-old Bobby Duncan, who simply could not miss.

It would be fair to say that there is a lot of excitement surrounding Liverpool’s Under-18 team, with Glatzel, Duncan & Co. continuing to impress.

Glatzel, in particular, has been in wonderful form in the Under-18 Premier League, whilst he has also found the back of the net in the Premier League 2 this season.

Upon watching the video on Liverpool’s official Twitter account, a number of the club’s supporters revealed their delight: