According to The Sun, Crystal Palace are interested in signing Tammy Abraham on loan in January. 

The striker is currently on loan at Aston Villa from Chelsea, where he has lit up the Championship so far this season. He has already scored 12 goals for The Villans this campaign, and has clearly caught the eye of Crystal Palace,

However, The Eagles should be warned that the England striker may not be the answer to their problems this season.

Currently, Palace are 15th in the Premier League, but are chronically lacking a striker. Christian Benteke, Jordan Ayew and Alexander Sørloth have failed to score between them in the league this season, meaning manager Roy Hodgson has turned to Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend as strikers so far this season.

While Abraham looks like he could be a short-term answer, this would be a risk by Palace. While the striker has impressed in the Championship this season, he only managed five goals for Swansea last season as they were relegated from England’s elite. He is yet to prove himself in the Premier League, and would, therefore, be a major risk by Palace.

By looking for a loan deal, The Eagles are simply looking for a short-term option to alleviate their attacking concerns. Consequently, they would want a signing that is proven in the league rather than a gamble, and Abraham just hasn’t proven himself enough to be the person for Palace to solely rely on for goals. If it backfires, Palace could find themselves in more trouble than they currently are.

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Manchester City fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was announced that their bitter rivals Manchester United have sacked faltering boss Jose Mourinho, with a caretaker manager set to see out the current campaign.

The Citizens are currently light years ahead of their fellow side from Manchester, a feat which they are enjoying having spent years in their shadow when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge.

Pep Guardiola’s side are one point off the top of the table, and are an astonishing 18 points ahead of the Red Devils who are lumbered in sixth – United are closer to bottom-placed Fulham than they are to league leaders Liverpool.

Having endured years of torture at the hands of the red side of Manchester, City fans are thoroughly enjoying the crisis that United find themselves in right now.

And, as a result of the latest news, they have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts…

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According to Sky Sports, Crystal Palace are said to be eyeing up Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke and Eintracht Frankfurt forward Luka Jovic to strengthen their attack – if they get both of them, the Eagles will become a side to be feared.

What’s the word, then?

It is quite apparent that there is a lot of quality running through Roy Hodgson’s starting eleven. Those who appear on the substitutes bench more often than not, their credentials are definitely in question, but those who starts most games are undeniably talented – just take a look at their recent win against Manchester City at the Etihad to see what they’re capable of.

A well documented reason why they perhaps don’t reach the levels that they can on a consistent basis is their lack of a goalscorer, but in the aforementioned duo, there are two young players who definitely know where the back of the net is.

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How good are they?

Well, Solanke is perhaps the more realistic option for the south London club to acquire. The 21-year-old is out of favour with the Premier League leaders, but has been impressive in his showings for the England Under-21 side – there is definitely a player in there somewhere, and it’s obviously hard to get in ahead of Mohamed Salah of course.

Aside from the former Chelsea striker, Jovic is the one who has Palace fans salivating. If the Eagles can pull this off, it will surely be a very expensive move, but will cement them as one of England’s most dangerous sides.

The 21-year-old Serbian, who would have a fellow countryman in Luka Milivojevic should he move to Selhurst Park, has been one of the sensations of the season. He has 12 goals in just 11 Bundesliga starts, as well as five goals in just three Europa League starts.

Jovic, up top with Wilfried Zaha with Max Meyer in behind them, and the likes of Mamadou Sakho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the back, would undoubtedly propel Palace up the table.

Newcastle United dropped further points away to Watford on Saturday, as Abdoulaye Doucoure found the net late into the second half to heap misery on Rafa Benitez.

The Magpies had stormed into an early lead when on-the-day left-back Matt Ritchie assisted Salamon Rondon’s fifth goal of the campaign, with the Venezuelan finding the net with a powerful header.

Chances after that proved hard to come by for the visitors, who took a combined eight shots but only two found their way towards Ben Foster in an otherwise defensive display for Benitez’s side.

Despite taking a total eight efforts as a side, only three outfield players failed to lash the ball in the general direction of the goal, with Ayoze Perez, Paul Dummett and Federico Fernandez failing to test the Hornets’ resolve.

Saturday’s affair was a particularly poor display by Perez, with the attacking midfielder favoured on the right of a four-man line with Ritchie filling in at left-back.

The Spanish and Scottish midfielders have been key to any strong play Newcastle have managed so far this season, with the duo setting a combined 51 key passes over the opening 20 games – Jonjo Shelvey has the third most with 19 in ten outings.

A majority of Perez’s key passes may have gone to waste, with the 25-year-old only holding one assist, but his chance creation has been key to Newcastle harbouring any hope of picking up results.

Against Watford, Ritchie lived up to the task with his assist for Rondon’s opener, but WhoScored statistics show Perez failing to record a single key pass from right midfield, and instead cut a lost figure as play missed him by in favour of Isaac Hayden, who was later hooked in the second half for Jonjo Shelvey.

Perez saw the ball the least of any Newcastle midfielder, with only Fernandez, Jamaal Lascelles and Martin Dubravka actually recording fewer touches. The Spanish midfielder also attempted fewer passes than all Toon starters bar Fernandez.

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The lack of service came coupled by the 5 foot 10 creator failing to beat any Watford player with a dribble, but four Hornets were able to make their way around the former Spanish U21 international.

Dropped points at Vicarage Road ensured Newcastle remained close to the relegation zone, and were not helped by Burnley thumping West Ham to move close to safety heading into the New Year.

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Harry Winks must come of age and nullify the much-improved Paul Pogba at Wembley in Sunday’s crunch clash against Manchester United – if he can manage to do so, Spurs have a great chance of keeping their heads above water in the title race.

His importance to the side

The 22-year-old is a significant member of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, having made 28 appearances across all competitions so far this season, but his role on Sunday will be paramount to the north Londoners getting anything off the Red Devils.

Winks has started eight of Spurs’ last ten games, and played the entire 90 minutes in all of those matches. However, his importance has gone up a notch as a result of the current midfield crisis that Pochettino is attempting to manage.

It is highly likely that Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama will miss out on Sunday as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men travel to the national stadium, as they recover from Appendicitis and a knee injury respectively. Add that to the fact that Mousa Dembele looks close to leaving the club, and Winks could potentially be the most important man in the middle of the park against the Red Devils.

His role and his opponent

Last time out in the Premier League for Spurs, the 5ft 10in Winks played in a deeper role behind Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko, with Dele Alli in a centre-attacking midfield role as Pochettino opted for a diamond in the middle.

Whilst Cardiff are incomparable to United, the system clearly worked as Spurs strolled to a 3-0 lead after just 26 minutes – having said that, Victor Camarasa and Harry Arter won’t have troubled Winks nearly as much as Pogba will.

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The French international and World Cup winner looks a man reborn under Solskjaer, to say the least. Since the Norwegian replaced Jose Mourinho, the 25-year-old midfielder has scored four goals and recorded three assists in just four league games, and will be a formidable opponent for Winks to contend with, undoubtedly.

The pair do not compare if you were to discuss their physicality, as Pogba will easily be able to dominate the Spurs academy graduate both aerially and in any 50/50 challenges for the ball. Having said that, Winks is far better at patrolling the midfield and keeping play ticking over than Pogba, so he will have to outsmart the former Juventus man with his footballing brain if Winks, and Spurs, are to come out on top this Sunday.

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Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly eyeing a new right-back at Tottenham Hotspur to offer his defence an improvement on the likes of Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Matt Doherty is the man currently tipped to be chased by Spurs, while the Molineux outfit are preparing a new bumper deal for the Irishman that would see him net close to double his current £20,000-a-week wage.

The issue with Trippier has been a distinct lack of defensive talent when tasked with stopping the opposition, and he has hardly excelled as a wing-back for much of the season, either.

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Unfortunately for Pochettino, the Wolves wing-back has not showered himself in the kind of glory that would make him an attractive proposition, either.

Doherty particularly struggled against Manchester City on Monday night, as the 26-year-old could not cope with the Sky Blues’ elite attack.

Pep Guardiola’s side often drifted in from their left-flank to test Rui Patricio, and earned a penalty six minutes before the break when Ryan Bennett clipped Raheem Sterling’s heel after the Irishman let the England international into the box without offering much opposition.

Statistically speaking, only second-half substitute Adama Traore presented a better performance on Monday than Doherty, but the 22-year-old only edged his defensive colleague’s match rating by 0.3.

The 5-cap Republic of Ireland international’s 6.6 rating also does not paint the full picture, as the £9million rated talent could only complete a horrific 55% of his passes. Altogether, Doherty only tried 22 passes throughout the 90 minutes, which was just two more than Man City’s Ederson.

Defensively, where Spurs would need the 26-year-old to shine the most, the wing-back won both of his two attempted tackles and cleared the ball five times, but that is still fewer challenges than Trippier managed when Guardiola’s side left Wembley with all three points back in October.

The performance put on by Doherty against City was a far cry from the figure he cut against Chelsea on December 5, when he assisted Diogo Jota’s winning strike and completed 91% of his 33 attempted passes.

Doherty even let Spurs know all about his potential when Wolves travelled to Wembley on December 29, as he assisted Helder Costa’s 87th minute goal to secure a shock win, along with completing four of his five attempted tackles – the most of anyone on the pitch.

Going on Monday’s evidence though, a deal for Doherty would only maintain the status quo amongst Tottenham’s No.2 berth – plenty of offensive quality, but limited in defensive awareness.

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Tottenham Hotspur should make a move for Munas Dabbur with the centre-forward announcing his intention to leave Red Bull Salzburg this month.

What’s the story?

In quotes carried by Estadio Deportivo, Dabbur revealed that he would be leaving Salzburg this month in search of pastures new.

The 26-year-old has scored an impressive 20 times in 30 appearances for Salzburg this season, whilst he has 55 goals in 110 appearances for the Austrian club in all competitions since a 2017 move from Grasshoppers.

Estadio Deportivo have claimed that Liverpool, Fulham and Valencia are interested in signing the striker during the January transfer window.

However, Tottenham must ensure that they are in the race for a player who would be the perfect Fernando Llorente replacement.

Llorente is widely expected to leave Spurs either this month or at the end of the season and Dabbur would be brilliant back-up and indeed competition for a certain Harry Kane.

What are Dabbur’s credentials?

As mentioned, Dabbur has netted 20 times in 30 games for Salzburg this season, including six in six Europa League matches.

The attacker is also an 11-time Israel international and was a regular goalscorer for both Maccabi Tel Aviv and Grasshoppers before moving to Salzburg.

Dabbur has a contract with his Austrian club until the end of the 2020-21 campaign, but is seemingly intent on leaving in this month’s transfer window.

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Capable of playing as a number 10 or a wide forward in a 4-3-3, Dabbur would be the perfect January arrival for a Tottenham team still competing on four fronts.

It is unlikely that the capital outfit would have to break the bank to secure his signature, meanwhile, which makes him even more attractive.

Mohamed Salah netted his 50th Premier League during Liverpool’s thrilling 4-3 victory against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

The Egyptian international was on hand to dig the Reds out of trouble yet again, reacting to Virgil van Dijk’s deflected shot to finish expertly past Julian Speroni. Salah was a constant threat to the Palace defence and netted his brace, slamming home after James Milner’s cross was spilt by the Palace keeper. His goals mean Salah becomes the fourth fastest player in Premier League history to reach 50 goals, behind only Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Jurgen Klopp has utilised the former Roma man as the lone striker for the majority of the season and has found great success. It’s unlikely to see Salah return to his right-wing role due to his goal scoring exploits which could see Sadio Mane move back on to his favoured flank. Despite Xherdan Shaqiri impressing since joining from Stoke, signing a world-class left winger would truly take Liverpool to another level.

One man Klopp should target is Napoli superstar – Lorenzo Insigne. Valued at £67.5m by Transfermarkt, the winger is a graduate of the club’s youth academy and has been a key player in the starting 11 for a number of years. One of the most consistent performers in the Serie A during recent seasons, Insigne been at his brilliant best yet again under Carlo Ancelotti.

The 27-year-old has already found the back of the net ten times in all competitions as well as registering five assists for his team-mates. The Italy international possesses frightening pace and close control which makes him a nightmare for defenders to deal with. Insigne’s ability was on show for Klopp during Liverpool’s Champions League group games – scoring the winner in Naples against the Reds.

With Insigne on the left, Mane on the right and Roberto Firmino behind Salah; they have an attack capable of challenging for honours in years to come.

Liverpool fans, thoughts?

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Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after Andros Townsend won the club’s player of the month award for the second time in a row, following another blistering run of form in a red and blue shirt, as revealed by the Eagles’ official website.

The England international helped Roy Hodgson win three of the club’s five games in January, scoring two goals and assisting once.

Townsend received 50 per cent of the votes, with club-legend Julian Speroni in second place despite playing just two games throughout the month.

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The former Tottenham winger said: “I’m pleased to have won it for the second time in a row. Thanks to all the fans that voted, it’s nice to know that my hard work is being appreciated by the people that matter the most.

“I’ll try to keep my performances up and keep having chances to win this award again!”

Let’s see how fans of the south London club reacted on Twitter…

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Mauricio Pochettino regularly employs rotation at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Argentine continually swaps his full-backs around, with Ben Davies and Danny Rose at left-back and Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier at right-back, but with the season approaching a crunch period, he may have to rethink his priorities.

On the chalkboard

Spurs’ full-backs have all played over 10 games in all competitions for the club thus far this season.

Aurier is perhaps the least trusted under Pochettino, playing 14 times, with Kieran Trippier making 26 appearances. Davies, too, has 26 games under his belt, while Rose has played 19 times.

But the latter has excelled in recent outings, particularly against Watford, laying on a key assist.

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The last two games in which he has been rested, however, came against Wolves and Manchester United. Spurs lost both.

Pochettino’s men are third in the Premier League and remain in the title race – they are just five points behind leaders Liverpool.

Playing Rose continually between now and the end of the season makes sense, then, provided that he does not pick up any injuries.

Better than Davies

Davies, quite simply, is not really good enough for Tottenham.

The Wales international has played in five of the club’s six Premier League defeats thus far this season – only missing the loss to Liverpool.

He has not scored a goal nor provided an assist in the league, compared to Rose’s three assists.

The England international is also better going forward, routinely looking to cross the halfway line and affect the game in the final third.

Pochettino should drop his 25-year-old teammate permanently, install Rose as his first-choice left-back and reap the rewards.

Spurs, quite simply, can’t afford to fall victim to more Davies-related defeats as they look to chase down City and Jurgen Klopp’s men.