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West Brom enjoy a welcome break from Premier League action as their FA Cup quest begins with a third-round clash this afternoon.

The Baggies head to League One outfit Blackpool, who are managed by former Liverpool academy guru Neil Critchley, and it will give Albion boss Sam Allardyce some respite from their dismal league form

It will also hand the recently-appointed chief an opportunity to assess several players on the fringes of breaking into that starting XI – they have every right to be considering a run of one win in 17 outings.

On the Chalkboard

It is thought that Big Sam is targeting the addition of a defensive midfielder, though he’d be wise to first take a look at Sam Field, whose season has been blighted by injury and testing positive for the virus.

The 22-year-old was on the cusp of starting under Slaven Bilic before the problems crept in and now it has been revealed that he’s back in training ahead of today’s encounter.

Field has only played 45 times for the Baggies, 22 of which in the Premier League, but has been earmarked by pretty much every manager that has come and gone since his debut in May 2016.

The man to hand him that maiden bow was Tony Pulis and he was a huge fan, once claiming: “I think he’s going to be a fantastic player for the club. Technically, he’s as good and as gifted as any footballer I’ve seen at that age.”

Pulis’ successor, Gary Megson, would also go onto wax lyrical over the midfield enforcer, adding: “In terms of Sam, I think he’s going to have a great future as a footballer. He’s got a lot of qualities.”

Likewise with Darren Moore, who said: “I think young Sam Field can step in and be a captain for this club” and in another interview dubbing him “an intelligent player.”

Bilic even kept hold of him in the summer amid further loan interest, so it is rather perplexing to see him not get much game time, though now the chance has arrived to give him a proper run-out.

In the Championship last season, no Albion player could match his defensive numbers, which should hardly be a surprise given he’s the only holding option at the club – 2.06 tackles, 2.41 clearances and 7.34x possession won per 90 minutes, via The Athletic, is impressive indeed.

So you can forget about skipper Jake Livermore’s potential return to action this afternoon, we must see Field unleashed from the off having played just 59 minutes all season.

AND in other news, West Brom can find their next YACOB in versatile £13.5m powerhouse…

James Pearce, The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent, seems to have dropped a huge hint regarding Liverpool and their transfer plans this month.

Pearce shows Reds’ hand?

The Reds have been heavily linked with a move for Lille defender Sven Botman in recent weeks, in light of their catastrophic injury crisis at the heart of their backline.

Both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were ruled out for a significant amount of time before the turn of the year with serious knee injuries, and Botman himself kicked off the cryptic Instagram hints this week.

Pearce has now added fuel to the fire, using his Instagram to follow both Botman and his agency, Muy Manero, which could be an indication that Liverpool are indeed in serious talks with the Dutch colossus and Pearce is getting in the loop (via The Anfield Buzz).

This comes after Muy Manero, a Dutch agency who also played a role in Takumi Minamino’s move to Anfield, was tagged in a video from Botman, in which the defender was sitting in their offices, posting a red heart and a handshake emoji. The agency themselves then ‘liked’ multiple posts from fans linking him with the Anfield move (via LFC Transfer Room).

Botman, 20, moved to Lille last summer from Ajax and has featured in every Ligue 1 game so far this season, averaging a match rating of 7.13 per game, winning 3.8 aerial duels and making 2.9 clearances per game (Whoscored).

Transfer Tavern Verdict

This will be an eye-opener for Liverpool fans. After hearing so many conflicting rumours about their January transfer plans, Pearce’s activity could suggest a deal is on the cards.

The Reds certainly need to sign a defender, with Joel Matip having been ruled out with an adductor injury after their goalless draw to Newcastle.

If Liverpool want to keep their Premier League title hopes alive, a fresh face in the defence would be a huge development, such is the dire situation Jurgen Klopp has been dealt with injuries.

In other news, Behind the scenes footage containing Klopp star sent many Liverpool fans wild.

Steve Bruce has landed a huge boost ahead of Newcastle United’s meeting with Liverpool on Wednesday night with Jonjo Shelvey set to make his return.

The Toon were without Shelvey for their 2-0 defeat at Manchester City on Boxing Day after Bruce opted to omit the 28-year-old from his travelling squad, with the midfielder showing signs of serious fatigue following last week’s Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat at Brentford.

But according to The Northern Echo, Shelvey should only miss the Citizens affair with the former Liverpool beast expected to be fit and ready to go for when Newcastle welcome the Reds to St. James’ Park.

Shelvey’s return will be a welcome boost for Bruce as he looks to orchestrate United’s first Premier League win in four games at home to the champions, following defeats to Leeds and Man City while settling for a point with newly-promoted Fulham.

Shelvey has started all eight of his top-flight appearances thus far this season and captained the Magpies on four occasions, but endured a horror show against Scott Parker’s Cottagers while his struggles at Brentford have since been put down to his chronic fatigue.

Nonetheless, the £13m-rated midfielder has been among Newcastle’s most influential players across the Premier League campaign, with only Matt Ritchie (1.6) playing a higher number of key passes per game than Shelvey (1.4) to date, per WhoScored.

Shelvey, who plays the most total passes per game (54) by Newcastle players, additionally ranks second only to goalkeeper Karl Darlow for accurate long balls with 6.5 a game, almost double third-ranked man Fabian Schar (3.3).

Bruce lauded Shelvey for his passing range toward the end of the prolonged 2019/20 season, with the Magpies chief only able to wax lyrical over the 6-cap England international.

“He can see a pass that other people can’t, he can deliver a pass, he can score a goal,” Bruce said, via quotes by the Chronicle. “Physically and mentally, he’s bought into everything we’ve tried to put over to him and fair play to him.

“At the minute, he’s reaping the benefits of how good he looks, and of course he’s playing at the top of his game, which is always good to see because he has been outstanding in the last few games.”

If Shelvey has overcome his fatigue with a week’s rest, Bruce should expect to see the 28-year-old’s recent struggles fade away and be able to utilise his ability on the ball against Liverpool.

AND in other news: Steve Bruce has been dealt a huge blow, leaving Newcastle United with a titanic task vs Liverpool.

A political development in the Middle East may excite Newcastle United fans amid speculation that the proposed £300m takeover of the St. James’ Park faithful by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium may still happen.

As per NBC News, the KSA and Qatar are expected to reach an agreement within a matter of days that will help ease a standoff between the latter and other countries in the Gulf region, which has existed since 2017.

The Chronicle have highlighted its potential relevance to the prospective deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA group, tweeting that the possible rapprochement is ‘being watched by takeover observers’.

In their corresponding article, the news outlet also highlighted the political dispute between the two countries involved added an extra element to the takeover debate, given that the Qatari broadcaster BeIN Sports were heavily against any KSA involvement with the Premier League.

The KSA consortium are also reportedly keeping their own eye on the political developments in the Middle East, and what it could mean for their chances of taking over the Tyneside club.

What does this mean for the Newcastle takeover?

This latest development may well excite members of the Toon Army given that the two countries seemingly have softened their disputes with each other, and this latest agreement could play a part as to whether the takeover of the Magpies could still go ahead, assuming that there are still any piracy issues that still need to be settled.

In other news, find out why takeover hopes have been boosted here!

Neil Lennon’s Celtic are struggling to find their feet again after a loss against Rangers rocked their form. The Old Firm derby saw the Hoops defeated on home soil, which has heavily impacted the team’s performance.

Celtic are currently being hammered left, right and centre by injury blows and positive cases of coronavirus. The latter has seen the likes of Odsonne Edouard ruled out of action, but he made a much-anticipated return during their clash against Lille in the Europa League.

Focus now shifts once again to Aberdeen, who held the Hoops to a 3-3 draw in the league last Sunday. The two sides will meet again tomorrow in the Scottish Cup and Lennon will be back at the drawing board and considering his options.

Leigh Griffiths looking to make changes

Due to injury and also more than likely the poor form, the manager has been chopping and changing his lineups heavily recently. Lennon has switched between a back three to a back four, and a front three to a double strike force. Star player Edouard was on the bench last time out, limited to less than half an hour of action in France.

One man who he could turn to though is Leigh Griffiths, although it will mean he will need to serve a generous plate of humble pie.

After the Hoops disappointed Lennon with a draw in their opening Veolia Trophy fixture, he let loose on the striker, who hadn’t travelled with the team.

“I’m not happy,” he told talkSPORT. “I think that’s fairly obvious by the fact that we’ve left him [Griffiths] behind. He’s come back out of condition and overweight. Any physical work we asked him to do he was coming out of saying he was injured. That’s going to be the case because he’s out of condition. So it would have been absolutely pointless bringing him with us. He wouldn’t have been fit to play.”

But Griffiths is on a mission to change the gaffer’s perspective of him. Despite making just three league appearances for Celtic this season, he has scored twice – both times from off the bench (via Transfermarkt).

Lennon is currently switching up his attack in desperate search for a winning combination. The £15,000 per week forward’s attitude is just short of waving his hands and the air and calling for his attention.

Griffiths expressed his desire to edge himself into the club’s top 20 highest scorers in a recent interview with the Glasgow Times.

This burning desire could be enough to transform the Hoops’ season and change Lennon’s mind. He will be hoping that he is given a chance to prove himself against Aberdeen tomorrow.

In other news, Diego Laxalt stood out for Celtic against Lille with impressive defensive display…

Having crumbled to a timid 4-1 defeat to Manchester United last time out in the Premier League, Newcastle United make the trip to in-form Wolves on Sunday afternoon.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have won their last two games by one goal to nil, and have flown up the table to eighth, two points ahead of the Magpies.

All eyes will be on how Steve Bruce sets his team up for the game at Molineux, with the Newcastle boss surely needing to show greater attacking intent than they did against United – that match saw them out-shot at a staggering ratio of four to one (28-7).

With that in mind, below is a look at just how the Magpies might line up when they take on Wolves on Sunday.

After taking a painful-looking knock against United, Karl Darlow’s status for the game is very much uncertain, with Bruce admitting that whilst he’s made a “huge improvement”, it’s very much touch and go to see if he plays. If he doesn’t, then third-choice Mark Gillespie will have to stand in.

In defence, the Newcastle boss is unlikely to make any changes, despite seeing them completely collapse in the final few moments of the game against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

The midfield areas could be an area in which Bruce does look to shuffle his pack, with Jonjo Shelvey someone who has come under criticism from club icon Steve Howey for his performances.

With Miguel Almiron pushing for a recall to the starting line-up, that could be the kind of attacking change that shows the fans Bruce is determined to push for a win.

And having once again come on as a substitute, Ryan Fraser will surely be given the chance to start from the off, thus replacing Joelinton. Up top, Callum Wilson will look to continue his hot streak, having opened up his Newcastle account with four goals in five Premier League games.

Newcastle’s predicted XI: Gillespie; Krafth, Lascelles, Fernandez, Lewis; Hayden, Hendrick; Saint-Maximin, Almiron, Fraser; Wilson.

Everton’s flying start to the 2020/21 Premier League season continued on Saturday as they continued their 100% winning record, overcoming Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park.

There were no prizes for guessing the goalscorers for the Toffees, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his incredible start to the season, while his strike partner Richarlison found the net from the penalty spot.

The two forwards were getting into good positions all day, managing to get five shots off between them, finding the net twice, meaning they had a conversion rate of 40%.

With those two in red hot form, it has come as something of a surprise to see the Merseyside club linked with another striker this week, with reports claiming that they’re in the race to sign Arkadiusz Milik from Napoli.

While the Pole would be a handy addition after netting 11 goals in Serie A last season, you can’t help but feel that Marcel Brands would be better off allocating the club’s remaining transfer budget towards other areas in the squad.

Yes, Everton could probably do with a backup to Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin, but it’s hard to imagine a Champions League regular who has his 28 goals in his last two seasons is going to come cheaply, and if the Toffees have one big transfer still up their sleeve, it should be used to plug another area.

Watch Everton Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Another centre-back wouldn’t go amiss, and with the club linked with the likes of Fikayo Tomori and Jean-Clair Todibo, it would be silly to go out and spend big money on Milik before that area is adequately covered.

Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin are one of the most deadly duos in England at the moment, and Everton shouldn’t be looking to upset the fine balance that they have struck there.

According to Football Insider, Southampton have opened talks to sign Newcastle defender DeAndre Yedlin on a loan deal before the close of the transfer window on Monday night.

What’s the word?

The USA international has yet to feature for Steve Bruce’s side this season, with Javier Manquillo and Emil Krafth both appearing to be ahead of him in the pecking order.

The 27-year-old has made just two appearances in this new campaign, with both of them coming in the Carabao Cup, whilst he hasn’t even made the match-day squad in three out of the four of Newcastle’s Premier League games.

Now, Football Insider claim Southampton are ready to take him off Steve Bruce’s hands for the season, and that the Tyneside club have given the green light for his loan exit.

Bruce needs to step in

On the face of it, calling for Bruce to jump in and intervene just when a fringe player looks to be heading out of the door, seems far-fetched. But there are two key reasons why the Magpies should really think twice before letting Yedlin make his way down to the south coast.

First, and most importantly, it doesn’t make sense financially – in the long-term at least – to let him leave on loan. Yedlin has just 12 months left on his £30k-a-week contract at St James’ Park, and if he were to move to Southampton for the season, then Newcastle would have to just watch him walk away on a free transfer come the end of the campaign.

Whilst his wages would be off the books, the Magpies will have missed the last true opportunity to actually get in some kind of money for Yedlin, and potentially have it reinvested elsewhere. He may not command big-money, but especially in this current climate, every little does actually help.

Then, there’s the footballing reason. Whilst Southampton and Newcastle aren’t exactly fierce rivals, they have shown early signs this season of being right in the mix for a top-ten finish, being separated by only one point and two places (9th and 11th respectively). Why would the Magpies want to strengthen a team who are competing for similar objectives as them? Letting Yedlin leave at least on loan does have its merits, but Bruce may be wise to just sit back and take stock.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping that winning their first game of the Championship season against Cardiff City is a sign of what is to come from their campaign.

They need to have a very good start as they already have a disadvantage after being deducted 12 points by the EFL, so they have to win three more games to be on zero.

Dom Howson tweeted out an article by Andy Hinchcliffe, who is a pundit for Sky Sports, who believes the Owls can make a push for the top-six this season.

It looks to have come as a bit of surprise to some that support Wednesday, and this is understandable for a couple of reasons. The main one being because they have the points deduction to battle and the other is due to the fact that it is only the first game of the campaign so to be making such a judgement before he has seen some consistent form from the season seems like a very early call.

However it does highlight that the Owls were very good against Cardiff last weekend, and if they can continue to play like this, there is no doubt that supporters of the club could be in for a good season.

Here is what fans said following the tweet:

Owls fans, what are your thoughts on these comments? Let us know down below!

Jose Mourinho is looking to offload right-back Serge Aurier this summer as he plans a defensive shake-up, according to the Mirror.

Spurs have already lost veteran centre-back Jan Vertonghen, and Kyle Walker-Peters is likely to follow with Southampton and Fulham after the young defender.

Both AC Milan and Monaco are interested in signing the Ivory Coast international, and he has been valued by Spurs at large £35m sum.

Aurier has not lived to up to expectations and has never became a reliable full-back for Spurs in place of his predecessor – Kyle Walker. Unfortunately for Aurier, he has ended up on the bad side of fans in recent months for a number of costly errors he has made in crucial games.

AC Milan have reportedly been in contact with Spurs over the possible transfer or Aurier, and it is speculated that a meeting point for a deal could be around the €20m mark according to football.london.

At just 27-years-of-age, the Ivorian is in his prime and still has lots to prove for any team he plays for. Across Spurs’ previous campaign, Aurier racked up 38 appearances in the Premier League and Champions League – scoring two goals and assisting seven.

Aurier sale is win-win for Spurs

The sale of Serge Aurier looks to be a win-win situation for all parties involved. Spurs would receive a solid fee for the right-back which Mourinho would be able to re-invest in his defence.

Either AC Milan or Monaco would be receiving an experienced right-back, and Aurier himself would be happy playing regular top-level football.

If he is to be sold by Spurs this summer, they must sign an established full-back who is ready to slot into their defence.

We have seen with Ryan Sessegnon that he is not up to the Premier League level as of yet, and it would be a shame if they sign another young defender who lacks the vital experience Mourinho needs.