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Southampton’s performance in their defeat to Manchester United was by far their best since Ralph Hasenhuttl took the wheel and they can feel aggrieved that they didn’t take more away from Old Trafford. One man, though, should feel particularly disappointed that he was unable to muster the kind of display that he has consistently produced in recent weeks.

On the chalkboard

Two pieces of individual brilliance had meant the Saints were level with their hosts with less than 10 minutes of regulation time to go, however Romelu Lukaku saved the day for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, thus breaking Southampton hearts.

For all their hard work in defence in the first half, the Saints sat off in the second and allowed United to dictate the tempo of the clash a little more after they were caught with their holding midfielders far too high up the pitch – Andreas Pereira drove into space and found the top corner superbly.

While the defence could not really do a whole lot about the three goals they conceded, the stats behind Jan Bednarek’s display are concerning and should surprise Hasenhuttl, who has rejuvenated the young Pole.

Bad day for Bednarek

The former Lech Poznan defender, having hardly had a look in under Mark Hughes, has been a revelation since Hasenhuttl took over and has surely become their best centre-back.

While others put in some of their best showings of the campaign to date, Bednarek’s was statistically his worst – the 22-year-old completed just 46% of his passes, 2 tackles and 1 interception.

Against one of the most form teams in the league, you have to be able to rely on your players to string a pass together and not lose possession in dangerous areas – Bednarek only hit the target with seven of his attempted balls.

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

Despite the huge improvements the defender has shown under new management, Hasenhuttl needs to have a word with Bednarek ahead of the Spurs clash this weekend; once again, this will be a game where mistakes are likely to be punished and the hosts are running out of time to secure Premier League survival.

A point or all three against Mauricio Pochettino’s men would be huge but every man in red and white will have to be near faultless.

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West Bromwich Albion manager Darren Moore has refused to rule out changing his preferred 4-3-3 system following the 4-0 defeat against Leeds United at Elland Road on Friday, and the potential decision would undoubtedly change the Baggies’ season for the better.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 44-year-old has largely been stubborn when it has come to his use of formations this season, even if it has seen summer arrival Dwight Gayle play out wide rather than through the middle – surely his preferred position.

The 4-3-3 has come up short in recent times though with the west Midlands outfit failing to find the net in the losses against Sheffield United and subsequently their Yorkshire rivals Leeds, and they have gone from serious automatic promotion contenders to being seven points adrift of the top two with just 11 Championship fixtures remaining this term.

However, Moore has suggested in quotes reported by The Express & Star that he is willing to be more flexible: “I’m not afraid to play players in different positions and different shapes in the systems and it is something that this year we’ve always alluded to.”

When asked if the result should signal the end of his current system, he added: “I don’t know yet.”

Switch on the cards?

It appears so seeing as he has said he is open to change, and has refused to rule out ditching the formation he utilises currently.

While the Baggies have largely done well this season, successive reverses against promotion rivals appear to have alerted the manager to the fact changes are need if the club is to stay in the race to finish in the top two.

More adaptability and using Gayle in his preferred position – potentially alongside Jay Rodriguez up top – would give West Brom the extra defensive cover they were completely missing at Elland Road.

The English football system is a cruel and unforgiving machine that chews up and spits out prospective talent at an industrious rate, something former Arsenal and Leeds player Sanchez Watt will know all about.

Look away prospective footballers and hopeful parents: children at football academies are apparently more likely to ‘get hit by a meteorite’ than make it as professionals, according to Michael Calvin, author of No Hunger in Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The dream” (via Business Insider).

Even then, when the few have passed through the incomprehensible challenges of achieving football stardom, they might find themselves diving through the football leagues quicker than they can boast “I made it!”

Sanchez Watt may not have uttered these words, but he has certainly experienced an immeasurable fall from grace since graduating from Arsenal’s youth system, first swapping the Emirates for Elland Road and now settling at sixth tier Hamel Hempstead’s Vauxhall Road.

We think it is fair to say that Sanchez Watt has actually done very little to be remembered in West Yorkshire other than being painfully average during his short and uneventful residency – however, sometimes this is enough; sometimes all it takes is for a player to be that dry and disappointing that they will be etched into the minds of all those who watched them play.

Watt spent two seasons on loan at Elland Road between 2009 and 2011 from Arsenal, helping the side secure League One promotion and Championship consolidation.

In 1.992’ minutes of football he provided a bang average one goal and six assists for Leeds United (statistics provided by Transfermarkt) – but that is not what makes the once described ‘whizzkid’ by the Daily Mail an interesting case – not by a long shot.

Rather Sanchez Watt is just one of the few names we can actually recall who are a part of the much larger and widespread systemic phenomenon of former prospects being unceremoniously disposed of like spent commodities.

Following a stint at Leeds, Watt was put through the misery of a further three loans at Sheffield Wednesday, Crawley Town, and Colchester United before being released at the end of his contract – like a child would forget about its former favourite toy.

Two seasons later Watt would find himself playing in India for Kerala Blasters, not as a player who was trying to squeeze out a last few paycheques, but as one who was desperately trying to revive his career.

Just a year later he was back in the melee of the football league, first for Crawley Town, then Billericay Town, a club renowned for recruiting Premier League ‘has-beens’ like Jamie O’Hara, Paul Konchesky and Jermaine Pennant.

But even this graveyard stage showed to be a fruitless proving ground and he has since been loaned off to sixth-tier Hemel Hempstead, and though a distant desire of the football league may sit lonely in his mind, Watt surely knows the dream is over now.

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A fairly turbulent debut season at Everton followed Michael Keane’s big summer move from Burnley back in 2017.

That the Toffees had three different managers throughout the campaign certainly did nothing to aid his transition.

The Manchester United academy graduate made 29 Premier League starts in his first season at Goodison Park, and was a constant presence in a backline that looked extremely weak under Ronald Koeman, equally as weak under David Unsworth, and a little bit more organised under Sam Allardyce.

Now, however, in far more settled circumstances under Marco Silva, Keane has been able to get his head down and show the Everton fans just why the club decided to splash out £30m on him.

In this era of ‘big 6’ dominance, has finishing 7th become as good as winning a trophy? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

He has been a near ever-present this season, starting all but three of the Toffees’ league games and to great effect – the only games he missed came as a result of a hairline fracture to his skull after a serious clash of heads with Idrissa Gueye.

As well as notching a goal and two assists this season, Keane has been a formidable presence at the back both in the air and in the tackle.

His club form has even been taken to international level, where Gareth Southgate clearly sees him as  a key part of one of the most exciting England squads in recent memory – the whizz-kids in attack, such as Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho, can attack at will knowing that brick walls such as Keane are marshalling the back-line.

Last time out, the 26-year-old made his second start for the Three Lions in the space of a week against Montenegro, where he managed to net his first goal for his country whilst impressing throughout – he now has seven caps.

Keane has had some setbacks with injuries which have always appeared to stunt his progress at a time where it looks as if he’s about to kick on.

Now, however, the former Burnley man has been granted consistent football for both club and country, and is beginning to look every bit like a £30m centre-back – best of all, his peak years are yet to arrive.

Should the dream finally become a reality this season, Jürgen Klopp will surely gain the allowance to make any demand he can imagine during the upcoming summer. Indeed, what an exciting time to be a part of Liverpool FC. 

With one hand on the title, and a favourable Champions League tie, what a time it is in and around Anfield. It can be argued that this is just the beginning of what could be a huge dominance period for the Reds, should Klopp manage to achieve the dream. It is with no doubt that a window of huge opportunity will open up for the German to create a side that can once again be labelled as a European powerhouse.

The 51-year-old will no doubt have a vision of the final product he wants at Liverpool.

Here we are going to take a look at a couple of the demands that Klopp should look to make.

Raise transfer budget 

After finally showing some real spending power during last season’s transfer window, Liverpool are beginning to show that they are not afraid to start bringing in some of Europe’s biggest names. It’s about time there aren’t anymore Andy Carroll situations, after all.

It is no surprise that the Liverpool back-up squad is nowhere near as strong as a few others in the league, so there should be a huge call for more options to come off the bench and with a rise in the transfer budget, Klopp could finally have a squad that will dominate throughout the course of an entire season, without suffering a dip in form.

They spent big summer in the summer of 2018 to huge success, so 2019 should be no different.

Invest in the youth academy 

With players like Trent Alexander-Arnold coming through the system, it is clear that Liverpool certainly have enough to bring in a strong youthful side. As a man who loves to expose senior football to the youngsters, Klopp would surely love nothing more than to increase the quality of the facilities within the academy.

Just imagine how strong Liverpool will become with players like Alexander-Arnold coming through the ranks every single season. Scary if you support any other club in the Premier League. The Reds truly are on the way up.

يلتقي فريق الزمالك مع نظيره وادي دجلة مساء اليوم الخميس على استاد القاهرة الدولي ضمن منافسات بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

الزمالك يواجه وادي دجلة في إطار منافسات الأسبوع 32 من عمر المسابقة المحلية.

ويحتل الزمالك المركز الثاني في جدول ترتيب الدوري الممتاز برصيد 64 نقطة، فيما يتواجد وادي دجلة في المركز الرابع عشر برصيد 34 نقطة. موعد مباراة الزمالك ووادي دجلة اليوم

وتقام المباراة مساء اليوم الخميس في تمام الثامنة بتوقيت القاهرة، التاسعة بتوقيت السعودية.

طالع أيضًا.. مباشر بالفيديو | مباراة الزمالك ووادي دجلة في الدوري المصري

طالع | تشكيل الزمالك أمام وادي دجلة القناة الناقلة لمباراة الزمالك ووادي دجلة

يُذاع اللقاء عبر قناة أون تايم سبورت 1 . يمكنكم مطالعة مواعيد ونتائج جميع المباريات لحظة بلحظة على مركز المباريات من هنا.

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Tottenham Hotspur fans have been going into a meltdown on Twitter, as their club heads to Spain for a warm-weather training camp.

Many Spurs supporters learnt of what many of them are branding as a “holiday” less than two days after the shock Premier League defeat to Southampton on Saturday afternoon, one that left them 13 points off league leaders Manchester City and effectively ended their title challenge.

Clearly some fans are visibly aggrieved at the players getting some time away to train in better weather conditions – perhaps due to what happened after the last time Spurs went away on a warm-weather training camp, prior to the loss to Burnley.

Since then, Tottenham have gone winless in four league games, losing three and drawing one, leading many supporters to lose faith in the art of the training camp.

However, given that warm-weather training is such a huge part of the modern game with some clubs taking several trips every year and proving its effectiveness, some of the opinions from Spurs fans after the club confirmed the players arriving in Spain on Twitter are nothing short of ridiculous.

Check them out below…

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Tottenham Hotspur came back from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw with their bitter rivals Arsenal in the north London derby at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. A second half Harry Kane penalty cancelled out Aaron Ramsey’s early strike.

However, for a long time, it looked as though the goal that Spurs so desperately needed would never come.

On the chalkboard

For much of the match the Gunners were able to contain Mauricio Pochettino’s side with relative ease. Spurs’ midfield pairing of Moussa Sissoko and Victor Wanyama brought plenty of defensive diligence and physicality to the middle of the park, but they lacked forward drive, creativity and penetration in the final third.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Ben Senior will never win the Champions League for one reason only. Find out what in the video below…

The hosts struggled to carve out genuine goalscoring opportunities and looked devoid of ideas. The back three system was hampering them as it deprived them of an extra attacker. However, in the 59th minute, with his side chasing the game, Pochettino made the chance that would turn the tide of the match by replacing Wanyama with attacker Erik Lamela.

Following this substitution, Lamela joined the front line and Spurs switched to a back four, with left wing-back Danny Rose taking up a central midfield berth and centre-back Jan Vertonghen filling in at left-back.

Changing the game

Rose is not known for his ability to thrive in the middle of the park. However, the 28-year-old brought the kind of pace, drive and dynamism that had previously been lacking for Spurs in this part of the pitch. 

All of a sudden, Spurs were able to commit more numbers forward, whilst in the midfield they had a player in Rose willing to surge forward with pace and directness. This transition into a more aggressive approach brought on the pressure that ultimately led to Kane’s penalty. It was all facilitated by Rose’s change in role though, which Pochettino deserves huge credit for instigating.

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Hopeful West Ham United fans have been reacting on Twitter to news that striker Andy Carroll could be leaving at the end of the season when his contract at the London Stadium expires, per The Daily Mail.

Post-match comments made by Manuel Pellegrini after the defeat to Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon suggest that the injury-prone striker has another knock, having been left out of the matchday squad, and it’s not known when he will return.

Carroll has made just three league starts this campaign under the Chilean and with fans getting increasingly impatient with the tall forward’s injury record and poor form, it’s understood that the club are not so keen on renewing his contract at the end of 2018/2019. Not least because it would involve giving the 30-year-old a substantial pay rise.

Since joining the Hammers at the start of the 2012/2013 season, initially on loan, the 6 foot 4 frontman has made just 142 appearances and frustrated the club no end with his continuing injury woes.

This, coupled with the pay rise and the fact that he’s netted just once in all competitions in the best part of a year, fails to make a contract renewal an attractive proposition for Pellegrini.

Check out some of the best Twitter reactions from mostly-joyous Hammers, below…

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has played down suggestions that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be facing another spell on the sidelines.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has not played for Liverpool’s first team since picking up a severe knee injury almost 12 months ago against Roma.

The Englishman represented the club’s Under-23 side on Friday, though, playing 40 minutes of their clash with Derby County Under-23s.

The former Southampton youngster was replaced before the interval after feeling his hamstring, but Klopp has insisted that he has no concerns over the 25-year-old.

It remains to be seen when the midfielder is ready to turn out for Liverpool’s first team, but the club’s fans have been left pleased with Klopp’s latest update.

Indeed, there was a genuine fear that Oxlade-Chamberlain could be heading for another spell on the treatment table, but those concerns have been eased.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Merseyside club’s fans can be seen below: