Category: RSS English

Tottenham willing to part ways with Trippier

Tottenham have reportedly slapped a rather large price tag on their main right-back, Kieran Trippier.

According to the Express, Spurs would be willing to part ways with Trippier for a fee of around £40m.

Trippier joined Tottenham in 2015 from Burnley for a fee less than £5m and had proved to be somewhat of a bargain.

The 28-year-old was particularly impressive for England at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Unfortunately for Spurs fans, Trippier’s form didn’t carry over into the 2018/19 campaign.

The full-back has had several poor displays this season and is often criticised by Spurs fans.

As a result, they would probably bite your hand off to get £40m for him.

Valencia replacement?

The main club Trippier has been linked with recently is Manchester United.

This isn’t too surprising as United will be short a right-back come the summer.

Antonio Valencia’s deal runs out in July and United chose earlier this year not to renew it.

Ashley Young can also play right-back but he too is getting on in years and his recent displays have been pretty poor.

This would leave Diogo Dalot as United’s main right-back next season. While Dalot is a solid player he is only 19 years of age.

Higuain’s future in doubt ahead of summer

Chelsea are ‘almost certain’ to cancel Gonzalo Higuain’s loan from Juventus early in the summer after a string of poor performances.

It hasn’t been an ideal first season in the Premier League for Higuain.

The Argentine has been a top-class striker for several years now and enjoyed some of his best moments in a Juventus shirt.

However, when Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club, Higuain was practically pushed out of Juventus.

As a result, he joined AC Milan and enjoyed a rich vein of form initially before his performances dipped somewhat.

His head was then turned by Chelsea and he joined Maurizio Sarri’s side in January.

The loan deal was until the end of the season with an option to extend the loan for another season, as well as an option to make his deal permanent.

Though, he hasn’t had the desired effect at Stamford Bridge.

Higuain has only scored three Premier League goals and Olivier Giroud has been preferred in the Europa League.

Now, it looks as though Higuain’s Chelsea career will come to an early end.

Juventus return ‘almost certain’

That is because according to Gazzetta dello Sport, as cited by Sport Witness, it’s ‘almost certain’ that the player will return to Juventus and Chelsea won’t exercise their right to sign him permanently or extend his loan.

That would be pretty bad news for Juventus.

With Higuain already 31-years-old, it will be difficult for Juventus to get a decent fee for the Argentine and will have to spend a chunk of their summer trying to offload him.

For the player, it will no doubt be a big disappointment and he may have to find a new club.

Though, there is still some time for Higuain to impress before the end of the season.

Eden Hazard’s Real Madrid move to be ‘finalised in the coming days’ – Marca

One player who also might not be at Chelsea for much longer is Eden Hazard.

That’s because reports have suggested that his move to Real Madrid is practically done.

Hazard targeted by Slavia Prague

Chelsea fans are not too happy with the treatment of Eden Hazard and want him substituted after the player was seemingly targeted by Slavia Prague.

Chelsea hosted a Slavia side who needed a big performance at Stamford Bridge to have any hope of progressing in the Europa League.

After the Blues secured a 1-0 win in Prague, Slavia needed to get on the front foot but it was Chelsea who struck first.

Chelsea turn on the style at the Bridge

Pedro scored the first goal of the game after just five minutes.

The Spaniard almost got a second five minutes later when he managed to strike the post from just a couple of yards out.

Thankfully for Pedro, his effort came off the post and deflected in off Slavia defender Simon Deli to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead and a three-goal cushion.

Just when you thought Chelsea would look to shut up shop, they added a third goal through Olivier Giroud.

That goal took the Frenchman top of the Europa League goalscoring charts with 10 goals.

Slavia then got one goal back through Tomáš Souček to raise a few concerns among the Stamford Bridge faithful.

However, those fears were quickly put at ease as Pedro got his second of the evening.

Despite the five goals in the first half, Eden Hazard was actually one of the biggest talking points and not necessarily for his performances.

Social media reacts to Hazard’s rough treatment

That’s because the Chelsea man was targetted by the Slavia Prague players from the off.

Slavia’s plan looked to be hitting Hazard hard in every tackle to put him off his game.

Clearly, it didn’t work, with Hazard playing a pivotal part in several goals.

Though, it did cause some serious worries for Chelsea fans and officials that Hazard would not finish the game without injury.

Has Ramsey played his final game for Arsenal?

Aaron Ramsey could have played his final game for Arsenal after the Welshman suffered a serious-looking injury during the clash with Napoli.

The Gunners travelled to Naples in hope of securing their place in the Europa League quarter-finals.

After securing a two-goal lead on aggregate following the first leg at the Emirates, Arsenal just needed one away goal to make things very difficult for their Italian opponents.

Safe to say, they did just that.

Lacazette stunner seals Arsenal’s place in semi’s

Unai Emery set Arsenal up perfectly to deal with the threat of Napoli and they particularly impressed in the first half.

The Gunners carved Napoli open several times and looked solid in defence too.

Though, they did have to wait until the 36th minute to make the breakthrough.

Alexandre Lacazette scored an incredible free-kick, meaning that Napoli would need to score four goals to go through.

Even for the Italian giants that was too big of an ask and Arsenal’s march to the final continued, securing a 3-0 aggregate win.

However, the Gunners suffered a huge blow during the match which could have huge implications in their hopes of winning the tournament.

Ramsey’s season could be over

That’s because Aaron Ramsey’s Arsenal career could have come to a sombre end.

The Welshman will join Italian giants Juventus on a free transfer in the summer after failing to agree a new contract with Arsenal.

Despite that, Ramsey has been one of Arsenal’s key players in recent weeks and has been incredibly important in the Gunners’ Europa run.

Though, Ramsey suffered a serious looking hamstring injury during the game against Napoli on Thursday.

The midfielder went down looking in some serious pain.

With only around a month left of the current campaign, it would need to be some recovery if he is to play again for Arsenal.

Should he not play again, Arsenal would be at a huge disadvantage in all remaining competitions considering his performances in recent weeks.

Spurs struggling with injuries

Tottenham’s injury problems are starting to mount up after another key player was forced off against Manchester City on Wednesday evening.

Spurs’ injury problems in recent weeks have been well documented.

Their biggest blow came in the form of an ankle injury for Harry Kane in the first leg of the clash with Man City.

The Englishman could miss the rest of the season but that wasn’t the last of Spurs’ worries.

Dele Alli suffered a break in his hand during the same City clash, missing the Huddersfield game but returning for the second leg.

Now, Spurs have suffered their latest big injury blow and it involves a player who has been impressive in recent weeks.

Big blow against Man City vs Spurs 3

That player comes in the form of midfielder Moussa Sissoko.

While the Frenchman has largely been ineffective during his time at Tottenham, he’s been unplayable this campaign.

Sissoko has been the driving force for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, driving from deep and being the player to get Spurs moving in the right direction.

However, Spurs could be without their midfield man for a little while after he suffered an innocuous looking injury at the Etihad on Wednesday.

Sissoko looked to have pulled his groin and despite trying to carry on, had to be substituted.

That’s when City started to really turn the screw, showing just how important the Frenchman is.

With Tottenham facing off against Manchester City again on Saturday, Sissoko will likely miss the clash.

Unexpected hero vs Manchester City

Another player who has found it difficult at times during his Spurs career is Fernando Llorente.

Though, he was the hero in the Champions League clash with Manchester City.

After an astonishing first half of football and one second-half goal, it was advantage Man City going into the final 20 minutes.

Then stepped up Llorente who scored with his hip to send Spurs through.

Safe to say, Spurs fans couldn’t quite believe it.

Manchester City vs Tottenham

Manchester City hosted Tottenham on Wednesday as they looked to come from behind and reach the semi-final.

Spurs came out on top in the first leg at their new stadium thanks to a 78^th-minute strike from Heung-Min Son.

City have been in much better form recently than Tottenham in the league but their UCL form is often questionable in the bigger games.

The winner of Wednesday’s tie knew they would face Ajax in the semi-final after the Dutch side beat Juventus in Turin on Tuesday.

Heung-Min Son to miss Ajax first leg

The second leg got off to an absolutely brilliant start for neutral fans.

Raheem Sterling put the home side 1-0 up inside four minutes.

Heung-Min Son then put Tottenham in the lead with goals in the 7^th and 10^th minute.

Football. Just Amazing.

Heung-min Son bends one in to score his and Spurs’ second in Manchester

Bernardo Silva would pull one back for City just one minute later before Sterling added his second in the 21^st minute.

What a game this is!

Kevin De Bruyne’s ball is inch perfect and Raheem Sterling gets his second

Sergio Aguero would then get in on the goals, putting Man City 4-3 up over the two legs.

AGUEROOOO!

From back to front, and smashed into the net!

Fernando Llorente would then make it 4-3 on the night with Spurs going through on away goals.

There was a VAR check to see if it came off Llorente’s hand from the corner but it looked a lot more like it came off his hip.

Despite the excellent result, Tottenham did suffer one huge blow on Wednesday.

Son was shown a yellow card in the 48^th minute. this means the South Korean will miss the first leg of the semi-final vs Ajax.

Nobody saw this coming!

In what was the most incredible first half of football this season, Manchester City and Tottenham scored five goals between them in 21 minutes.

It was always expected to be an incredible game at the Etihad this evening.

Tottenham had a 1-0 aggregate lead after the first leg in London and Pep Guardiola’s side had to score to get back into the tie.

With the attacking talent City have, it was always going to be difficult for Spurs to stand strong.

However, no one quite expected what would follow that first leg when the two met again on Wednesday evening.

Rolling with the punches

It all started when Raheem Sterling scored the first goal of the game in the 4th minute of the game.

After some brilliant work from Kevin De Bruyne, Sterling curled a brilliant shot into the bottom corner making it 1-1 on aggregate.

An amazing statistic has emerged online this evening, showcasing the lack of progression made by Manchester United on the personnel front over the last 8 years.

Barcelona vs Man United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men travelled to the Camp Nou tonight, for the 2nd-leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Barcelona.

Hosts Barca headed into proceedings in firm control of the tie, having emerged from Old Trafford last week with a precious 1-0 win.

As such, ahead of kick-off in Catalunya, the Spanish champions were viewed as clear favourites to secure their place in the competition’s final-4.

And, when the 90 minutes were said and done, not only did Barca advance, but they did so in some style.

Messi at the double

It took the hosts just 20 minutes to put the tie to bed as a contest, after Lionel Messi fired in an early double.

The Argentine attacker opened the game’s scoring with a trademark piece of individual brilliance, capitalizing on a mistake from Ashley Young to rifle home a wonderful effort from the edge of the box:

Lionel Messi 😱🤯

We are blessed to watch him play football 🙏

Another amazing goal… pic.twitter.com/4wbZ7uECuP

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 16, 2019

And it was 2-0 just minutes later, as Messi again found the net, this time with the help of an absolute howler from David De Gea.

A relatively tame right-footed effort from the Barca captain somehow managed to squirm under the body of the United shot-stopper, in a real moment to forget for De Gea:

United’s defensive woes

As such, Manchester United’s European campaign has come to an end for another season.

The Red Devils’ sub-standard squad, particularly defensively, was laid bare for all to see tonight, with Barcelona’s rake of attacking talent having made short work of the likes of Ashley Young and Phil Jones.

And, as showcased by an incredible statistic garnering plenty of attention online, the struggles of the United backline should not come as much of a surprise, considering all 4 of Young, Jones, Chris Smalling and David De Gea, 3 of whom have long been considered liabilities, were also plying their trade for the Manchester giants upon their elimination from the Champions League in 2011.

That’s 8 years ago…

Viewers of the clash between Manchester United and Barcelona have taken to social media in their droves this evening, to take aim at David De Gea.

Barca welcome United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils are currently locked in action with La Liga champions Barcelona at the Camp Nou, in the second-leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie between the clubs.

The tie’s first-leg at Old Trafford last week saw visitors Barca emerge with a crucial away win, courtesy of an early Luke Shaw own-goal.

As such, the Blaugrana headed into proceedings this evening as clear favourites to advance.

Messi at the double

And it didn’t take long for Ernesto Valverde’s men to all-but secure their place in the Champions League’s final-8.

After a blistering start from visitors United, during which Marcus Rashford rattled the crossbar, Barca soon settled, before a mistake from Ashley Young with a quarter of an hour on the clock saw Lionel Messi take full advantage.

After cutting in from the right in trademark style, the Argentine superstar unleashed an unstoppable low drive beyond David De Gea into the bottom corner of the away goal.

And, incredibly, it was 2-0 just minutes later.

This time, though, De Gea not only had the chance to save Messi’s brace-clincher, but very-well should have.

Another low effort, this time with the Barca captain’s weaker right foot, somehow managed to squirm under the body of the United shot-stopper, in a real moment to forget for De Gea.

Porto vs Liverpool

Liverpool and FC Porto will go head-to-head on Wednesday as they look to fight for a place in this year’s Champions League semi-final.

Jurgen Klopp’s side do come into the game with a big advantage as they beat Porto 2-0 in the first leg at Anfield.

Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino got the goals in that outing.

However, despite Porto having to overturn a 2-0 deficit, Liverpool fans may have been hoping for a few more goals in the home leg.

This is because Liverpool’s away form in Europe this campaign has been rather questionable.

Baring their round of 16 win over Bayern Munich, the Reds have lost all of their other away UCL ties this season.

Liverpool injury update

Prior to facing Porto, Liverpool have been handed some injury boosts.

Jordan Henderson picked up an ankle injury on Sunday as Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 to return to the summit of the Premier League table.

However, the England midfielder has trained with the main squad ahead of Wednesday’s game and now looks to be in contention to feature.

Adama Lallana has also returned to training with the first team after missing Liverpool’s last three outings.

Jordan Henderson trains despite picking up an ankle injury (vs Chelsea) on Sunday. Adam Lallana is also back with the group after missing the previous three matches due to a muscular problem. #LFC #FCPorto @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/QSKKajePQK

— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) 16 April 2019

Dejan Lovren was, however, left at home when Liverpool travelled to Porto.

Jürgen Klopp has explained why the decision was taken to leave Dejan Lovren out of our travelling squad to @FCPorto.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 16, 2019