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Liverpool made no problem in securing a win in their previous Premier League outing after the latest international break with a resounding 4-0 win over Arsenal after losing to West Ham United earlier in the month.

Their next match sees them take on FC Porto in the Champions League once again after beating them 5-1 away from home earlier in the season.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Jurgen Klopp could select in his starting XI for this match in midweek, one player that should definitely be in the team is Takumi Minamino.

After replacing Diogo Jota in the second half of the match at the weekend against the Gunners, it didn’t take long for Minamino, who has been described as being an “intelligent” player by Klopp in the past, to find the back of the net and add to Arsenal’s misery and Liverpool’s overall league goal tally for the season.

Including this latest goal, the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of seven appearances for the Reds across all competitions, only starting two of them in the Carabao Cup, chipping in with four goals in total, showing that he has what it takes to be a useful attacking option for the Reds when called upon.

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Taking this into account, with Roberto Firmino still out with a hamstring injury, Divock Origi missing the Arsenal game through illness with no certainty that he’ll be fit to face Porto and the fact that Jota took a knock to the knee at the weekend, he’s arguably exactly what the team needs right now.

This could be the perfect opportunity for Klopp to reward Minamino for scoring against Arsenal and giving him his first Champions League start of the season after appearing off the substitutes bench in the first game against Porto and their home win against Atletico Madrid.

If Minamino does start against Porto and manages to put in an impressive performance, then he should definitely be in consideration to start against Southampton, who he spent a loan spell with last season, in Liverpool’s next Premier League game at the weekend to help push them closer to the top of the league table.

In other news: Liverpool struck by another potential fitness setback pre-Porto, Klopp will be gutted – opinion

Liverpool were unbeaten in all competitions the last time they had a game in the Champions League. Since then, they’ve only lost to West Ham but made up for it in an incredible performance that saw the side score four goals against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

The Reds remain unbeaten and at the very top of the tree in their Champions League group, with the maximum 12 points and seven points clear of second-place Porto, who coincidentally are their opponents on Wednesday evening.

This unbeaten run in Europe has put Liverpool through to the last sixteen, and for this reason, we expect a much different side to the starting eleven we saw against Arsenal on Saturday evening.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed in his press conference that we would see changes in tonight’s game;

“We always respect the competition but we have to think about ourselves, our schedule and the situation of our players first,”

With that in mind, here is Football Fancast’s predicted XI for Liverpool vs Porto…

With seven changes to the starting line up, we predict that Liverpool will bring in many players that we only see in domestic cup tournaments, but Klopp will leave an element of first-team experience in each line of play, with Joel Matip, James Milner and Diogo Jota all starting.

The changes will see fan favourites like Sadio Mane, Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah axed from the line up, in an attempt to give them a rest before an important Premier League game against Southampton at the weekend, where Klopp’s side will look for an opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea and Manchester City.

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Taki Minamino will take the place of Mane, and will be hoping to have further impact on Liverpool’s season after he scored the fourth goal of the game against Arsenal at the weekend.

We expect to see some young players get minutes as well this evening, with Ibrahima Konate, 19-year-old Tyler Morton and Neco Williams predicted to join the side. All three will be hoping to make an impact to impress their German coach in the game.

Klopp will certainly not go into this game with the mentality of allowing a loss, so it is likely we could see him strengthen the side with more experienced players like Trent Alexander Arnold or Jordan Henderson in the second half, but only if the starting team is getting eaten alive by a Porto side who are in need of a win to push Atletico Madrid and AC Milan further away from qualification.

In other news: Liverpool must secure new deal for Sadio Mane

Queensland are missing the class that it carried over the past decade and will call on their lesser names this summer

Peter English07-Oct-2009

Once again bowlers across Australia will have pinpointed Queensland as the most likely place for Shield wickets this season. But not only is the Gabba a fun ground for the quicks, the Bulls’ line-up is missing the class that it carried over the past decade and will call on lesser names to beef up their totals.The off-season exit has been busy in Queensland, with Martin Love taking his 10,132 Shield runs into retirement, Shane Watson moving to New South Wales and Ashley Noffke flying to Western Australia. Andrew Symonds is now a Twenty20 bat for hire. Without four major players the Bulls have been forced into a premature regeneration and if they match their FR Cup win and Shield runner-up place of 2008-09 it should turn Trevor Barsby and his coaching staff into state heroes.During their first four-day game, which starts at the WACA on Tuesday, the top six is expected to read Ryan Broad, Nick Kruger, Greg Moller, Lee Carseldine, Glen Batticciotto and Chris Hartley. There is not much fear for interstate bowlers there and it is something Barsby acknowledges.”You look and go wow, where’s the 1000-run player? We don’t have a 1000-run player,” he said. “If our top six can combine and put good performances on the board we’ll win games. If we don’t bat well, this year it’s very important to bat well, because if we don’t the likes of [the legspinner] Daniel Doran can’t play. He’s started some real good improvement with his bowling and I’d like to play him as much as possible, but it really hinges on our batting. If we don’t score enough runs and he’s in the side, it’s going to be history repeating itself, where he’s a specialist batsman at No. 10.”Barsby knows the limitations in his ranks and during the off-season spoke to Mark Thompson, the premiership-winning Geelong AFL coach, about how he rebuilt his squad. “I just like the story of the Geelong football team,” he said. “When Mark took over in 2001, he sort of cleaned the decks, which we did as well. We’ve moved on Clinton Perren, Aaron Nye and Scott Brant.Form guide: Queensland in 2008-09

Shield – 2nd

FR Cup – 1st

Twenty20 – 3rd

“Ryan Broad is one guy who we need to lead off and with Nick Kruger they started to get a good partnership last year. With Broady, it’s either none or a gut full and if he can get through that first half hour he’s going to score runs.” Trevor Barsby”He went in with a blueprint and started working with all the young kids. For me, it was just sitting and watching and learning about how he coaches his team. He seems unflappable, he’s got confidence in his players, and I just like the style.”There are few stand-out players in Queensland’s squad, especially when James Hopes, Australia’s one-day allrounder, is away, but they will forage in every competition. “All 20 in the squad have to become a champion team, because we’re not a team of champions,” Barsby said. “We don’t have the Borders, Laws, Mahers, Loves, all those sorts of guys. This group here is a group that everyone needs to work together and contribute.”The beauty of this season is everyone is going to have an opportunity. There are no more excuses, like Martin Love stopping me from getting a game, or Andy Bichel or Ashley Noffke. Sullivan, Cutting, McDermott, everyone has got an opportunity in all forms.”Next week there is also a remote possibility the Western Australia attack will be full of Queensland-raised bowlers. Steve Magoffin and Ben Edmondson, who is no longer quite as potent, crossed the country to escape the long line of pace men in their home state and started productive Shield careers while Mitchell Johnson is still waiting for his first match with the Warriors after moving to be closer to his fiancée.”It’s quite funny really, there’s talk Mitch is going to be playing the four-day game,” Barsby said. “It could be Noffke, Johnson, Edmondson, Magoffin: Queensland A versus Queensland B.” He doesn’t say which outfit is which, but the Warriors have the more enviable pool. Barsby’s fast-bowling squad includes Ryan Harris, Alister McDermott, Ben Laughlin, Nathan Rimmington, Grant Sullivan, Ben Cutting, Chris Swan and Scott Walter.Queensland’s chances of success are better in the one-day and Twenty20 competitions and they will hope the batsman Lee Carseldine can repeat his form of last summer, when he excelled in all three formats. For success in the Shield the players will have to reach new peaks of performance.”This team has got very good skills in the shorter versions, if not better than the other states,” Barsby said. “In four-day cricket we need to close the gap between our good days and our bad days. Last year it hurt us a couple of times when we had a bad hour and the game got taken away from us. We have to improve so we can have a bad day and it doesn’t hurt too badly. Then we’ll become a good side.”

Many Everton fans have been left rejoicing as some news emerged involving Anthony Gordon.

As shared by the official website of the Goodison Park faithful, Gordon has received his first call-up to the England U21 squad by former Toffees player now manager Lee Carsley for a couple of games against Czech Republic and Georgia later this month, the former being a qualifier for the European Championships.

Rafa Benitez has recently shared his thoughts on the midfielder and his call-up, claiming that ‘he’s growing and getting better’, and ‘will be an important player’ for the Merseyside club in the future (The Liverpool Echo).

He has already played in 28 senior matches for the Blues, including eight appearances so far this season (five assists in those games shows that he has contributed to the team.

Nonetheless, Gordon’s call-up is fully deserved, and he will eventually be hoping that he can catch Gareth Southgate’s eye with more good performances in the first team.

Everton fans on Gordon news

These EFC fans rejoiced as the news was shared on Twitter:

“STAR BOYYYY”

Credit: @EFCOliver7

“Deserved. Hoping he’s gonna flying high from here. Congrats, Gordon!”

Credit: @roonpr

“Is right scoop”

Credit: @__GS2__

“Not surprised. Lad’s on fire”

Credit: @leemitch57

“Yessss Anthony!”

Credit: @MollyOHarrison

“W”

Credit: @Georgeharper250

In other news, find out what manager link has Evertonians fuming here!

Gary Kirsten, India’s coach, has joined the debate on IPL’s threat to Test cricket and said if players are paid substantially more for playing in the Twenty20 league then there will be others like Andrew Flintoff who will quit Tests.”It’s a natural progression that the guys are then going to say ‘I’m not interested in bowling 25 overs in a day when I can bowl four overs in a six-week period and earn three times as much’,” Kirtsen said. “The worrying side that I’m seeing is that a guy like Andrew Flintoff, a high profile cricketer, has now made the decision to leave Test cricket, because he feels that he can get more out of his body and earn much more money by moving away from Test cricket and playing ODIs and Twenty20 cricket. He’s perfectly right in his decision. Why not?”Kirsten said if countries wanted Test cricket to remain as the No. 1 format then priorities had to be sorted. “India plays six Tests this year. Is that sufficient or are there other priorities? I don’t know.”Kirsten also said the number of Twenty20s per tour should be increased in place of ODIs. “It’s quite interesting that we’ve got a Twenty20 World Cup in April next year in the West Indies and Team India don’t play one Twenty20 game until that tournament starts. What should be happening is that we should be going on tour and playing six Twenty20 games and one or two 50-over games. I think that’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time.”New Zealand players have decided to forgo next year’s IPL for a Test series against Australia at home. Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, said while the national side had to be the players’ priority, it was difficult for them to continue to turn down the money.

James Tarkowski is one of the players that Newcastle United have a realistic chance of signing in January, according to The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards. 

The lowdown

Edwards and Telegraph colleague Mike McGrath reported in October that Newcastle would have a budget of around £50m for the mid-season transfer window.

The Magpies find themselves 19th in the Premier League after picking up only five points from their first 11 matches and Eddie Howe, whose appointment was confirmed on Monday, has been tasked with keeping them in the top flight.

The latest

Tarkowski will be into the final six months of his contract in January and has been told that he can leave if Burnley’s valuation is met.

Edwards also names four other potential options, including Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard, who he feels would be an ‘excellent addition’. Meanwhile, Harry Winks is ‘the sort of defensive midfield player Eddie Howe liked at Bournemouth’ and is a peripheral figure at Tottenham Hotspur.

A loan move for Chelsea’s Ross Barkley could also interest the new manager, while Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier is ‘very keen’ to come back to England and would represent a ‘major upgrade’ on the existing full-back options, according to Edwards.

The verdict

If you add up the Transfermarkt valuations of the five players mentioned, it comes to £93.6m.

Loan moves for players like Barkley and Lingard could be possible, but it’s clear that the Mapgies will need to prioritise if they are to keep to that aforementioned budget.

Their biggest concern should be strengthening defensively given that their goal concession record is the second-worst in the Premier League. Adding top-flight proven players in Tarkowski and Trippier, as well as the protection of Winks, could be enough to keep them up if they can provide greater solidity to Newcastle’s back line.

In other news, one of Newcastle’s top Director of Football targets has reached a decision

Leeds failed to build on their first Premier League win of the season against Watford as they lost 1-0 to Southampton at the weekend.

Marcelo Bielsa was without Raphinha, Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford as Armando Broja’s goal was enough to secure the points for the home side.

The Whites clearly missed their key players as they failed to register a single shot on target in the entire match, managing three efforts overall – all off-target.

This is despite £24m summer signing Dan James playing out wide on the left. He created zero chances in the game as he completed 25% of his attempted crosses and missed one ‘big chance’, with the Welshman yet to score or assist a goal in six appearances.

James was unable to provide the spark for Leeds that Raphinha often produces from out wide. The Brazilian has nine goals and nine assists since the start of last season, demonstrating that he can show up in key moments to deliver the goods for Leeds. Unfortunately, James has come in and, so far, failed to do the same, and this suggests that Victor Orta could need to dip into the market in January to rectify the situation.

Leeds reportedly sent scouts to watch Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma earlier this month and he could be the ideal player to come in and solve this problem. Orta could land a Raphinha alternative, or Raphinha 2.0 if you will, by bringing the Dutch international in to bolster Bielsa’s options out wide and that is why he must strike in the next window.

Clinton Morrison lauded the ex-Bournemouth man when speaking about him on Quest, via Football League World, saying: “Danjuma is an excellent player. Whatever happens, he will be playing Premier League football next year, whether it’s with Bournemouth or without them. He’s an exceptional talent.”

Danjuma has produced five goals and one assist in six starts since moving to Villarreal across the Champions League and La Liga this season, after managing 17 strikes and seven assists in the Championship for the Cherries last term. This shows that, like Raphinha, he has the ability to bully defenders.

Therefore, the £22.5m-rated man could be the Raphinha 2.0 Bielsa needs at Elland Road. Not only could he help Leeds cope without the ex-Rennes man when he is unavailable, but he could also link up with his fellow winger to terrorize opposition defences in the top-flight with their combined ability on the ball.

He has already shown that he can perform in England, albeit in the second tier, and is now proving himself at the very top level for Villarreal. This is why Orta must bring him to the club in January to improve the team and ensure that Leeds do not become unstuck at Premier League level because of Raphinha’s fitness or availability in the second half of the campaign.

AND in other news, oncerning injury update emerges on £35k-p/w Leeds powerhouse, fans surely devastated…

Marcelo Bielsa is weighing up the idea of using Raphinha in a number 10 role for Leeds United moving forward, according to journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Raphinha shines for Leeds

The Brazilian has been a superb signing for the Whites, joining from Rennes last year and scoring nine goals in 38 appearances to date.

Raphinha has generally shone as a right winger, cutting inside onto his deadly left foot and wreaking havoc with his dribbling quality.

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The Latest: Number 10 role mooted

It could be that Bielsa looks into using the 24-year-old in a more central number 10 position, however. Speaking in a Q&A for The Athletic on Saturday following Leeds’ 1-0 win at home to Watford, Hay outlined the possibility of Raphinha’s role changing.

When asked by a supporter if Bielsa would try Raphinha in a role behind the centre-forward, the journalist replied:

“I’m told that they have been discussing the possibility of Raphinha as a 10 but it’s not something Bielsa wants to rush into without working on. I can see aspects of Raphinha which would suit 10 although a Bielsa 10 needs to do a lot of defensive work too.”

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The Verdict: Interesting move by Bielsa

It would be an ultra-attacking move to play Raphinha as a number 10, allowing both Jack Harrison and Dan James to start out wide, forming a speedy three-pronged attack behind Patrick Bamford or Rodrigo.

As Hay hinted, though, the Brazil international would need to produce a strong work ethic to thrive in that position, with Bielsa simply not accepting a luxury player there.

It still feels like Raphinha is best out wide – he has registered nine assists for Leeds – but it would be intriguing to see how he fares more centrally if the manager considers redeploying him.

In other news, one Leeds transfer target has a £10million release clause in his contract. Read more here.

Tottenham Hotspur will still be without Steven Bergwijn this weekend, according to reports…

What’s the latest?

football.london claim that the 23-year-old winger is “unlikely” to feature in Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal in the Premier League.

The 13-cap Dutch star missed the midweek trip to Wolves, where Spurs boss Nuno Santo revealed the extent of the injury he picked up during their 2-2 draw with Rennes in the UEFA Europa Conference League last week.

The manager revealed: “He has an injury on his foot, a sprain, he twisted his ankle. It’s very, very painful and the decision was to protect his foot and at the same time keep doing upper body workouts and try to maintain as fit as possible.”

Lilywhites insider John Wenham has since provided a further verdict on the situation, claiming that it is a “massive blow” to Spurs and that the first-choice right winger is likely to be out for over a month.

“When you see a protective boot, you are really looking at a month on the sidelines minimum,” he told Football Insider. “For us, that is a huge blow. You only have to look at our bench against Chelsea.”

Massive blow?

Indeed, with Lucas Moura also facing time on the sidelines, it is a gutting setback for Nuno and Spurs, especially ahead of such a huge occasion.

Bergwijn may not have set the world alight this season but his importance to the Portuguese head coach must not be understated as he started their opening three league games, in which they recorded successive 1-0 victories.

In his absence, the north Londoners are yet to win, having registered back-to-back 3-0 defeats in the league to Crystal Palace and Chelsea. It may be a mere coincidence but the £19.8m-rated dynamo does a lot more than just provide goals.

Despite not playing in their last two outings, Bergwijn is currently Nuno’s most creative option in the squad, having averaged 1.3 key passes per game, via WhoScored. He has also managed an average of 1.3 dribbles and 2.3 shots, which actually more than Harry Kane at the moment.

Earlier this week, The Athletic revealed that Spurs had the lowest expected goals (4.42 xG) of any team in the English top-flight, even lower than the likes of Norwich City and Burnley in the relegation zone.

Nuno’s side has also recorded the second-fewest shots and created only two big chances from those opening five games, so for Tottenham not to have one of their most creative outlets available is certainly a killer blow.

It should leave the Portuguese coach extremely worried heading into the derby, even more so with the Gunners back in form.

AND in other news, Spurs fans will be furious as major Fabio Paratici claim emerges…

Football Insider and talkSPORT pundit, Gabby Agbonlahor, has been reacting to news on Celtic midfielder James McCarthy.

The Lowdown: Devlin’s claim

Devlin, Celtic’s correspondent for The Athletic, shared news from a dressing room source regarding summer signing Giorgos Giakoumakis.

Prior to the Hoops’ 1-0 defeat to Livingston, Devlin claimed that Giakoumakis is ‘quite far off it in training’.

Devlin then shared another dressing room source claim less than 24 hours later, revealing McCarthy has struggled in training with the pace and intensity of Ange Postecoglou’s sessions.

The Celtic boss nor the club’s scouts had meaningful input into signing McCarthy, who failed to shine on his first start in green and white.

The Latest: Agbonlahor reacts

Agbonlahor was talking to Football Insider regarding Devlin’s claim on McCarthy.

He didn’t hold back on the midfielder, labelling the 30-year-old as ‘average’.

“He’s an average player, to be honest. I played against him a few times while he was at Wigan and he’s an average player. He does some things well but Celtic for me have got better midfielders.

“Maybe he’s one that comes out the team and is then in and out of the side.

“It’s worrying times for Celtic.”

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The Verdict: Next few months crucial

There has been speculation that the Irishman has suffered from Covid, so that could explain his struggles at Lennoxtown, particularly in terms of cardiovascular fitness.

Hopefully, we will see the midfielder improving prior to the New Year as he gets back to full health and match sharpness.

However, with Postecoglou not contributing to McCarthy’s transfer, if he continues to struggle, it might mean he falls down the Parkhead pecking order relatively quickly if things don’t improve.

In other news: Celtic now working on ‘top’ transfer without McKay; 48 y/o says he ‘would shine’ in Glasgow.