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Southampton should attempt to hijack Celtic’s loan move for Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay, who is seemingly available this month.

What’s the word, then?

According to Sky Sports, Scottish champions Celtic are in talks with United over a loan move for McTominay.

McTominay has made eight appearances for United this term and 32 in total for the Red Devils since stepping into the first-team picture.

The 22-year-old has often been criticised by United fans, but he was certainly a favourite of Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho’s exit from Old Trafford seems to have changed McTominay’s situation though and it is difficult to imagine that the Lancaster-born midfielder will be in the plans of United’s next long-term manager.

There will not be a decision made over the Scotland international’s long-term future this month, but he is seemingly available on loan.

And with that in mind, Southampton should be looking to battle Celtic for a player who would certainly boost the Premier League club’s options in midfield.

Why should Southampton move for McTominay?

McTominay will find it difficult to become a first-team regular at United, but he has already made seven Premier League appearances this term.

The midfielder also has Champions League experience to his name and would bring plenty of qualities to the Southampton squad.

Indeed, standing at 6ft 4in, McTominay is a big presence, whilst his tactical understanding has improved since stepping into the first-team picture at United.

Bringing in quality is always difficult during the January window and Southampton will be reluctant to spend big at this stage of the campaign.

The Saints have certainly improved since Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived as head coach, but their squad is still in desperate need of a boost for the rest of the season and McTominay would be a clever signing by the club.

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Steven Gerrard’s first experiment with a 4-4-2 diamond formation, as per Transfermarkt, didn’t pay off as Rangers were beaten 2-1 by Kilmarnock on Wednesday, and while the 38-year-old should already be considering ditching it, he should give it one more run-out against Livingston on Sunday.

On the chalkboard

The Glasgow giants would have been full of confidence coming out of the winter break considering they’d beaten arch-rivals Celtic in the Old Firm derby to draw level with them at the table’s summit, but Gerrard had an added selection headache following the January addition of Jermain Defoe on an 18-month loan deal from Bournemouth, as per rangers.co.uk.

He may be in the latter stages of his career but the 36-year-old hasn’t moved north of the border to play a bit-part role, and with Alfredo Morelos being such an important player for Rangers it was no surprise that both made the starting XI against Kilmarnock.

The early signs were positive and especially when Defoe netted a 12th-minute opener, but things went downhill after that as they slipped to what could prove to be a costly defeat in the Scottish Premiership title race.

Stick or twist?

It may be very early days, but Rangers clearly lacked the width they had become accustomed to in Gerrard’s preferred 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 systems in recent weeks, and instead of having the quality of Ryan Kent out on the wing he was instead deployed in more of a No.10 role behind the aforementioned strike duo.

While the Liverpool legend may be tempted to twist against Livingston, he should stick with the formation for at least one more game. It may not have worked out completely at Rugby Park, but the chance to have a formation in which Defoe and Morelos can thrive in alongside each other is too good an opportunity to throw away during the season run-in.

Gerrard needs to ensure that his full-backs provide some much-needed attacking threat from the flanks on Sunday, but ultimately if the match does end in disappointment again then it should be the end of the experiment once and for all.

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Crystal Palace had some highs and lows in January, in what turned out to be a mixed month. 

The Eagles came very close to beating league leaders Liverpool, and overcame Tottenham in the FA Cup- both being superb performances.

Equally, this was going to be a significant month in the transfer window, as they entered it with some glaring deficiencies in their squad that needed to be resolved.

With that in mind, these are the two biggest mistakes Crystal Palace made over the transfer window:

Not signing a striker soon enough

The chronic lack of form from The Eagles’ strikers has forced manager Roy Hodgson to field wingers Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend in that position for most of the season so far. They desperately needed a new striker and it should have been a matter of urgency. Therefore, it is bizarre that they waited until Deadline Day to bring in a new player.

Palace signed Michy Batshuayi on loan from Chelsea in the final hours of the transfer window, in what may be a very good signing indeed. The Belgian had a wonderful time with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga last season, and while his loan at Valencia didn’t go to plan for the first half of this season, he still has undoubted talent.

But had Palace signed the 25-year-old, or a player of his ilk sooner, they may have avoided some troublesome results in January. The Eagles lost to Watford at home and drew with Southampton away. Had they had the striker that they were wanting, the results could have been different. They are only hovering four points above the relegation zone, and those sacrificed five points could prove to be costly.

Re-signing Bakary Sako

Now this is not necessarily saying that Bakary Sako is a bad player, but it is hard to see what he has done to warrant returning to Selhurst Park.

The 30-year-old was released by Palace at the end of last season, and was signed for free by Championship outfit West Brom. He started a total of two Championship games during his time with The Baggies, and while he may have worked his way back to fitness, he did not exactly take the team by storm.

He may thrive again at Palace, but this is a bit of a faux-pas by them signing a player that was deemed not good enough at the beginning of the season.

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Son Heung-Min is emerging as Tottenham Hotspur’s clutch player.

Having returned from the Asian Cup with South Korea, the 26-year-old has been thrown into the fire at Spurs, playing against both Watford and Newcastle.

The north London outfit won both games, and the winger has been integral to the victories.

He netted an 80th-minute equaliser against Watford prior to the winner by Fernando Llorente, before scoring a late decider against Rafa Benitez’s men on Saturday.

The results kept Mauricio Pochettino’s men in touch with the Premier League leaders Liverpool, as well as second-placed Manchester City. Prior to Monday’s game between West Ham and the Reds, Spurs are just four points behind Jurgen Klopp’s men.

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Of course, it remains to be seen if Liverpool will slip up any further, but Tottenham are in there, scrapping, and that is largely down to the performances of Son.

He has emerged as the club’s go-to player when it comes to needing to win a game, particularly with Dele Alli and Harry Kane both out injured.

Against the Magpies, the South Korean enjoyed a match-winning display and simply never stopped running.

Per Whoscored, he scored, his goal came after a total of five shots, he made one tackle and boasted a pass success rate of 90%. He also had four successful dribbles, continually running at the Newcastle backline and causing problems.

When needed, he stepped up with a goal that confirmed three vital points and has moved the club one step closer to both Champions League qualification and a title challenge.

With Kane and Alli both out, Spurs have needed a hero to step up; Son has done just that and should now be regarded as their most effective forward option when it comes to big games.

Lots of Liverpool fans are slamming Aston Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia, after the Ivory Coast international celebrated with a dance as he smashed a hat-trick past the Reds’ young Carabao Cup team.

With Jurgen Klopp’s first-team preparing for the Club World Cup in Doha, Neil Critchley was left to lead a young Liverpool side out at Villa Park on Tuesday night.

The young Reds were soundly beaten by Dean Smith’s side, with Kodjia grabbing a first-half hat-trick, but some of the Anfield faithful weren’t happy with what the towering striker did after his goals.

Kodjia got the faintest of touches on a Conor Hourihane free-kick to open the scoring before an unfortunate own goal from Morgan Boyes made it 2-0, and Kodjia then stabbed home his second after a mistake from Sepp van den Berg.

The 30 year-old then completed his hat-trick with a seasoned finish shortly before the half-time whistle, and Reds fans can’t believe how he celebrated, considering the inexperience of their squad.

Check out some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Watch Leicester V Liverpool Free with Prime on Boxing Day

Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action this weekend against Wolves.

Fresh from a Champions League dead rubber against Bayern Munich where he made a number of changes, Jose Mourinho is likely to shuffle his pack once again and return to his strongest potential XI on paper.

Here, Football FanCast takes a look at the team the Portuguese should select.

Paulo Gazzaniga is the current first-choice goalkeeper and that will surely continue this weekend.

Serge Aurier has been in excellent form for Spurs throughout Mourinho’s first few games – averaging a rating over seven for the Portuguese – and ought to be given licence to roam up and down the right flank from his position at right-back.

At centre-back, Toby Alderweireld should partner Davinson Sanchez, allowing Jan Vertonghen to play at left-back. He thrived in the role against Burnley last weekend as Spurs won 5-0 and it makes sense to continue the experiment.

Eric Dier has been a major beneficiary of Mourinho’s management thus far and he ought to be picked in midfield, providing a tough-tackling base to Spurs’ attacks.

That would, in turn, allow Moussa Sissoko to thrive and push forward, having scored two goals in his last two home appearances for the club after netting the fifth in last weekend’s thrashing.

Lucas Moura has been in mixed form throughout the season but he is the natural right winger in the squad and should play, while Son Heung-Min has to be picked after his phenomenal showing last weekend. He scored a Goal of the Season contender; Mourinho can’t drop him.

That will then leave Dele Alli in the No.10 role, providing support to striker Harry Kane, as they both look to build on solid starts under Mourinho.

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The former has three goals and three assists to his name in the league under the Portuguese, while Kane has three goals and one assist.

This is perhaps Spurs’ best available XI at this point in time.

Meanwhile, one Spurs ace could become unstoppable under Jose Mourinho.

West Bromwich Albion were held to a 1-1 draw on Boxing Day as Barnsley’s Aapo Halme struck late to prevent the visiting side from extending their lead at the top of the Championship.

It was the third 1-1 draw in four league fixtures for the Baggies and their recent dip in form has raised some minor question marks about their promotion credentials.

What’s the word?

Slaven Bilic’s side are hardly in a rut right now but their most recent four games haven’t been as impressive as fans have come to expect.

Six straight victories preceded the club’s trip to Wigan on December 11th but they’ve only collected six points from the last available twelve.

That West Brom failed to pick up a victory over two relegation-threatened sides in Wigan and Barnsley have seemingly evoked cause for concern amongst some supporters.

In Steve Madeley’s Q&A on The Athletic, one fan suggested that they have been lucky to boast more than a solitary point from the last four games.

Madeley, however, took a more measured outlook on the current situation and suggested two players could hold the key to an improvement in form.

“I think ‘awful’ is harsh. But they have been well below the high standards set previously. It’s a cliché and a truism that all teams go through a tough spell in a Championship season, so if Albion can come through theirs with the minimum damage, that is a bonus. Need to get Sawyers and Livermore back to bossing games.”

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Key partnership

The budding relationship between Romaine Sawyers and Jake Livermore has formed a key component of the club’s early season success.

The former Brentford midfielder was described as a “breath of fresh air” by Darren Fletcher last month, while the same man described Livermore as “fantastic”, per Birmingham Live.

Both players have been regulars and highly influential in the midfield but they need to ensure their early season progress continues over the course of the entire campaign.

One of football’s most commonly uttered cliches argues that games are won and lost in central midfield. That phrase has only become cliched by virtue of its pertinence in the game, and Madeley’s name-checking of West Brom’s two midfield generals is only natural on current form.

Sawyers’ passing accuracy this season has averaged at 90.8% but against Barnsley it was down at just 78.3%, which was his second worst success rate of the season, per Whoscored. His worst, meanwhile, arrived two games ago against Birmingham City.

In the same fixtures, Livermore also recorded his two worst days in terms of passing accuracy in the Championship this season with 57.5% at Birmingham and 65.9% against Barnsley. His average for the season stands at 80.9%.

Clearly something hasn’t been clicking for Bilic’s midfield duo of late – the key to rejuvenating his side is likely to be synonymous with the form of Sawyers and Livermore.

David Moyes has been confirmed as West Ham United’s new manager following the sacking of Manuel Pellegrini, meaning he will be back in the London Stadium hot seat for the second time.

His first game will come against AFC Bournemouth, with the Hammers hovering just one point above the relegation zone.

The Scotsman will be looking to make an immediate impact in east London with the new squad of players he has inherited, especially as many Hammers fans were unimpressed with him being recruited in the first place.

Watch West Ham United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

With that in mind, here is FFC’s predicted XI for his first game back in charge, which includes three personnel changes from the game against Leicester City and a different formation to the one used under Pellegrini.

No matter who the manager is, it seems pretty inevitable that Lukasz Fabianski will be the first-choice goalkeeper when available, after winning Hammer of the Year last season. Therefore, having made a penalty save against Leicester, he should start here.

Moyes used a back-three in 22 of his 31 games as West Ham manager last time around, so there is a possibility that he could return to this formation. Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena seem the most natural options to fill the backline.

Mark Noble and Declan Rice are deployed in the midfield, as has often been the case this season, starting 16 and 19 games respectively.

Ryan Fredericks takes his place on the right hand side, but in a right-wing-back role, rather than at right-back as he has grown used to this campaign.

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The left-wing-back role option could be the most difficult for Moyes, with Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku as options, but Felipe Anderson could be used there. In 16 starts and one appearance off the bench, the Brazilian has no goals but has managed four assists.

He has also displayed defensive capabilities this season, averaging 2.4 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game, so this position could help fit him into the team.

Considering Pablo Fornals’ recent form of one goal and three assists in his last six games, it would be pretty harsh for Moyes to leave him out.

A 1-0 win over Chelsea, arguably Moyes’ most prestigious victory as West Ham manager, came with Michail Antonio partnering Marko Arnautovic in a front two. It is likely the Scotsman will now look to use the 29-year-old alongside Sebastien Haller.

In other news, one man included in this lineup was slated by Hammers fans for their performance against Leicester.

New reports coming from El Desmarque suggest that Real Madrid are ready to bin Luka Jovic and replace him with RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner.

The young German has also been linked with Chelsea in recent weeks.

What’s the word, then?

If the same source is to be believed, Zinedine Zidane has had it with experiments, namely with Jovic himself, and is now willing to bet on security, even if it means splashing around €80m (£68m) to land Leipzig’s young hitman.

Los Blancos need someone to accompany the ageing veteran Karim Benzema, and with just one goal to his name in the ongoing 2019/20 campaign, Jovic is not really doing his part.

But Chelsea are also interested in the striker and the Spanish giants could face some competition from the Blues.

At the end of the day, however, despite Jovic’s mishaps this season, if they can even be called that, they shouldn’t give up on him just yet.

Misjudged

It would be easy to deem the Serbian unworthy and ship him off without remorse – after all, having just one goal in the current season is nowhere near enough for a Real Madrid striker.

But seeing how he has only been given 327 minutes in La Liga so far, his low figures don’t really come as a surprise.

Of course, Werner’s tally of 18 in 17 Bundesliga games is simply outstanding but this is not really a fair comparison. When both of them were playing in the German top-flight in 2018/19, however, things looked much different.

Jovic outscored Werner with 27 goals across all competitions compared to 19 for Leipzig’s striker, stats which suggest he can definitely offer the final product in the right environment.

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El Desmarque claim Zidane is tired of experimenting but with just 327 minutes given to the young forward, he’s clearly not handed him a proper chance.

Chelsea, on the other hand, might be willing to spend some money now that their transfer ban has been cut short and they can dip their toes into the market in January.

Of course, they do have Tammy Abraham in the squad who’s been impressive with 14 goals across all competitions already, but maybe adding another prolific goalscorer wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

After all, beyond the 22-year-old striker the only player boasting a similar output is Christian Pulisic, who has five Premier League strikes to his name.

Frank Lampard’s squad might pose a real threat to Real Madrid in this reported deal and that may be another incentive for Los Blancos to abandon the chase.

Meanwhile, Chelsea should resist the urge to cash in on their veteran star in January…

The only thing on anyone’s mind at the moment is transfers.

The January window is in full swing, and Leeds United’s plan for this month has been clearly outlined.

Indeed, Phil Hay has stated that the Whites need to strengthen in three positions this month.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

According to The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent, the Yorkshire club are looking for a goalkeeper for if Kiko Casilla is banned, a winger to replace Jack Clarke and a striker to come in for Eddie Nketiah.

We already have an idea of who the goalkeeper could be, and numerous strikers have already been linked, but we’re still yet to hear of many winger targets.

However, it does seem as if Leeds have someone lined up in their sights as Beren Cross dropped a huge hint on how United plan on replacing Clarke.

What’s been said then?

Beren Cross was hosting a Q&A session on LeedsLive, and understandably he was asked about United’s transfer plans this month.

“Adams is still the top striker target. Billy Sharp is mooted as a back-up. Rhian Brewster has gone to Swansea City now. Dwight Gayle was, as ever, asked about, but Newcastle United are asking for massive wage contributions and an obligation to buy in the summer for more than £20m when he has barely had a kick this season,” Cross wrote.

“The goalkeeper has been just about covered now. The Italian Elia Caprile while they want a young winger from a Premier League side on a permanent deal with his contract expiring in the summer.”

Interesting

How very cryptic.

The journalist has given us enough clues to try and figure out who this is, but he’s withheld enough information to make it almost impossible to narrow it down to just one name.

The most interesting part of this is that Leeds are looking to replace Clarke with a permanent signing rather than another loanee.

The teenager played just one league game for Leeds this term before being recalled by Tottenham, so there was an argument to be made that he didn’t need replacing at all. But now it seems as if the club are going to make a longer-term commitment to whoever his successor is.

Depending on who the name is this could have huge repercussions on Marcelo Bielsa’s squad, but for now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, one Leeds man’s Elland Road career could be under threat if United complete a signing.