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Gylfi Sigurdsson emerged as Carlo Ancelotti’s real hero as Everton beat Southampton 1-0 on Monday night to edge closer to the Champions League positions.

The Iceland international was given the nod to open the action at Goodison Park in favour of star summer signing James Rodriguez, who failed to make the matchday squad due to a minor knock.

Rodriguez had registered his fourth assist of the Premier League season at Anfield, as the Colombian’s perfectly weighted pass found Richarlison to open the scoring against Liverpool inside the third minute of the Merseyside derby.

Sigurdsson wasted little time in filling Rodriguez’s boots at home to Southampton, with the £16m-rated playmaker feeding the ball through to Richarlison to net his third goal in as many top-flight fixtures.

It is the Brazilian’s best run in front of the net all term, having previously failed to score in successive league ties since hitting home against Crystal Palace and Arsenal in February 2020.

Richarlison struck his fifth goal of the Premier League season and 11th in all competitions after rounding Fraser Foster inside the ninth minute, having been found by Sigurdsson with an inch-perfect pass through the Southampton backline.

Everton are now level on 43 points with sixth-placed Liverpool and could move inside the top-four of the Premier League standings with a win over relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion on Thursday night, during what is the Blues’ game in hand.

The Toffees often struggled to establish any momentum during Monday night’s win over the Saints, yet Sigurdsson regularly found pockets of space to operate in and prove a creative force.

No player for either side offered close to the level of creativity that Sigurdsson provided, with the 31-year-old delivering four of Everton’s five key passes. His efforts further accounted for double the tally offered by the visiting outfit (2), per WhoScored.

Rodriguez has only provided more than three key passes in two Premier League fixtures since making his Toffees debut at Tottenham Hotspur in September, with five in the north London affair and an additional five registered in defeat to Leeds United in November.

With two of Sigurdsson’s four key passes also leading to big chances created, the £100,000-per-week maestro was additionally named as SofaScore’s Man of the Match with an eight out of 10 rating – no other Everton player created a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Rodriguez last achieved a SofaScore match rating above Sigurdsson’s 8/10 during a Premier League fixture in November’s 1-0 defeat to Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites, when the 29-year-old was awarded an 8.1 rating.

Sigurdsson making sure Everton were not left wanting more without Rodriguez on the field ensured he emerged as Ancelotti’s real hero, and not goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

The England number one was called on to produce a string of strong saves in the second half as Southampton sought to salvage a draw, denying the likes of Jannik Vestergaard to the misery of Danny Ings who kicked the post in frustration.

AND in other news, Everton are tracking a prolific 15-goal winger backed to reach another level…

Southampton have been linked with a move for Celtic centre-back Leo Hjelde and if he were to join Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side this summer, it could prove to be a repeat of the deal that saw the Saints sign Virgil van Dijk from the Hoops in 2015.

According to The Scottish Sun, Southampton are keeping tabs on the teenage centre-back, who is impressing out on loan at Ross County this season.

The 17-year-old joined Celtic from Rosenborg in the summer of 2019 and whilst he is yet to make his senior debut for the Hoops, the fact he has been a regular in the Premiership this season at Ross County highlights his obvious potential.

The centre-back has made nine appearances in total for John Hughes’ side since joining in January, which is impressive when you consider that they are currently embroiled in a relegation battle, which is when you would normally expect a manager to call on some of his more experienced players, rather than a 17-year-old loanee.

However, Hughes has clearly been impressed with Hjelde this season and was full of praise for him after he scored in their 3-2 win against Kilmarnock in March, saying:

“I’m delighted for Leo. He found himself out of the team a little bit, then came on there and got his goal. He’s destined for big, big, big things. He won’t be far away from the Celtic first-team when he goes back.”

Whilst Hjelde is just 17-years-old, and it is impossible to predict whether he will go on to have a successful career or not, there are obvious similarities to the deal that saw Van Dijk join Southampton six years ago, as he is a centre-back who would be joining Southampton from Celtic.

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The Dutch superstar joined for £13m and impressed on the South Coast before joining Liverpool and going on to become one of, if not the world’s best, centre-back with the Reds.

The Norwegian defender also already stands at 6 ft 2, so could easily keep growing, and it is clear that he has not been overawed playing men’s football at such an early age, which is certainly promising for his future.

The fact he has been tipped to play a part for Celtic next season suggests that he has a lot of potential and perhaps wouldn’t look out of place in the Premier League in the not too distant future.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431″]

Therefore, if Southampton can snap him up before he starts to attract heavy interest, there’s no reason why they couldn’t have another player similar to Van Dijk on their hands again if Hjelde can realise his potential with the Saints.

And, in other news… Forget Winks: Southampton should swoop for “outstanding” £16.2m-rated beast 

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to bounce back from mid-week embarrassment when they head to the south coast to face Brighton in the Premier League this evening.

And Jose Mourinho has plenty to ponder as his side have slipped to sixth place, some four points adrift of the top four.

Despite deploying three centre-backs and two wing-backs against Liverpool only three nights ago, Spurs still leaked three goals to a side that had failed to score in four straight league outings.

Something must be done defensively, and one decision could be to take away Matt Doherty’s place in the starting XI…

On the Chalkboard

The summer arrival started at left wing-back before reverting back to his natural right-sided position during the second half against The Reds but he still endured a nightmare evening against the defending champions.

And Mourinho let him know about it as he was playing on the side of the dugout in each half.

According to journalist Julien Laurens on ESPN FC, the Spurs boss was “roasting him the whole game.” He added: “Mourinho had a go at Matt Doherty pretty much from minute one to minute 90. He had him in his ear all the time because he made mistakes because he was not very good.”

Indeed, the 29-year-old’s performance was far from pretty, which is why he must be facing the axe tonight.

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As per SofaScore ratings, the Irishman graded as Spurs’ worst player (6.1).

In 90 minutes of action, he lost possession 17 times from 55 touches, meaning he handed the ball back to the Reds once every five minutes. It also meant that, on average, he lost the ball once every 3.2 touches.

Sloppy and wasteful returns.

In addition to that, Doherty was hugely lightweight against the tricky exploits of Saido Mane, Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson as all four received better ratings whilst the Spurs defender managed to win just one of his five duels (20%) on top of committing two fouls and being dribbled past twice, via SofaScore.

No other Tottenham player managed more fouls, so clearly he was a bit of liability and this cannot be risked tonight as the north Londoners need to get back on track against a side battling against relegation.

The right wing-back, valued at €40m (£36m), must be dropped.

Mourinho’s constant berating of the calamitous defender on Thursday night is surely enough to see either Serge Aurier or Japhet Tanganga utilised instead.

AND in other news, Levy must sanction Spurs move for £45m “warrior”, he offers something Ndombele doesn’t…

Xabi Alonso reportedly has a "verbal promise" from Bayer Leverkusen that the Spaniard can leave if he has an offer from Liverpool or Bayern Munich.

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• Alonso courted by both Liverpool & Bayern
• Leverkusen want to be fairly compensated if he decides to leave
• Might demand around €25m from his potential suitor

• (C)Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  According to Alonso has a verbal agreement with his current employers that he will be allowed to shift base if he gets an opportunity to take charge at Anfield or the Allianz Arena. However, his potential move comes with a price tag, as there is no written exit clause in his contract, which runs until 2026.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  It is reported that any potential suitor must negotiate a transfer fee with Bayer Leverkusen, who are likely to demand between €15 million ($16.25m/£12.83m) and €25 million ($27.1m/£21.39m). However, an exit clause will allegedly come into force in 2025 which should be around €15 million.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  While Alonso remains the preferred candidate, Bayern are also monitoring other options as well, in case they miss out on their primary target. Bayern's new sports director, Max Eberl, and sports director, Christoph Freund, hold Brighton manager, Roberto De Zerbi, in high regard and could push for him as well.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Amid potential interest from the two European heavyweights, Leverkusen remain calm about Alonso's future. Sporting director Simon Rolfes strongly believes that the Spaniard will remain with the team after this season and is still unfazed despite the intense speculation.

Details have been shared on a key Premier League decision in the potential takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

As per the British and Irish Legal Information Institute website (via The Chronicle), the English top flight were ‘provisionally minded’ to conclude that the Gulf country would become a director at the St. James’ Park faithful as part of a proposed takeover in 2020.

This is despite insistence from the prospective buyers that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be in charge instead of them, insisting the two parties are separate entities.

The league wrote a letter to the Magpies on June 12th after the division’s governing body concluded that the KSA ‘would become a director’ at the North East club. The latter disputed this conclusion which is why an arbitration hearing is needed.

There were a list of reasons why the PL were ‘provisionally minded’ to come to the conclusion, in which Judge Mark Pelling says is ‘the sole issue’ that needs to be settled in the upcoming arbitration case, to see ‘whether this conclusion is correct’.

Arbitration should make things clearer

There is clearly a stand-off between the Tyneside club and the Premier League over whether the KSA government and PIF can be considered as separate entities or not.

The pending arbitration case should settle this dispute, and thus make things a little bit clearer as to what direction the potential takeover is heading.

Nonetheless, members of the Toon Army will be hoping that NUFC win the case, which could prove to be a step further in potentially reviving the original deal between Mike Ashley and the consortium.

In other news, find out what PIF claim has been dropped by a finance guru on the potential takeover here!

The Brazilian marked his first start since early January with the opener as the Blaugrana marched to victory

Raphinha staked his claim for regular minutes in a Barcelona shirt, while the rest of the Blaugrana hummed around him as they swept to a comfortable 4-0 win over Getafe on Saturday.

The Brazilian winger, filling in for the rested Lamine Yamal, showed exactly why he could yet play a part for the Catalans both this season and beyond as he scored the opener and turned in a compelling performance.

Raphinha's goal saw him dart behind the backline and tuck the ball comfortably into the bottom corner. The Brazilian could have made it two shortly before half-time, too, but blasted over after running through on goal.

Fellow forgotten man Joao Felix made it two shortly after the break, as he finished off a well-constructed move with a side-footed finish. They added a third after an hour, Frenkie de Jong tucking the ball in after a fine piece of set-up play from Raphinha, and Fermin Lopez capped off an encouraging afternoon in stoppage-time.

In truth, this was too easy for Barca, as Getafe offered little fight. Still, if the remainder of Xavi's reign is about signs of encouragement, then this game was full of them.

GOAL rates Barcelona's players from the Olympic Stadium…

• Goalkeeper & Defence

  Marc-Andre ter Stegen (7/10):

  Made one crucial stop at the end of the first half, and another in the second. Little to do, otherwise.

  Jules Kounde (6/10):

  Solid at the back, moved the ball well. His second straight encouraging performance.

  Pau Cubarsi (8/10):

  Impressive once again. Won his tackles, looked good in the air and pinged it around. Another La Masia gem?

  Ronald Araujo (7/10):

  A quiet afternoon as a left sided centre-back. A few nice long passes caught the eye. Kept Greenwood quiet.

  Joao Cancelo (5/10):

  Dangerous down the left with his usual clever runs and incisive passes. His final ball was lacking, though. Still not quite figured it out.

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• Getty Images
  

  Midfield

  Andreas Christensen (7/10):

  Held it down at the base of midfield. Talllied an assist, too, striding forward to setup Felix's goal.

  Frenkie de Jong (8/10):

  Marauded forward more so than usual. Got on the scoresheet, too. Getafe were poor in central areas, and he capitalised well. He's always wonderful to watch.

  Ilkay Gundogan (7/10):

  Ventured into the final third with regularity, but missed a good chance or two. Really should have scored from a free header in the first half.

  Joao Felix (6/10):

  Tried to do a lot of the ball, but not much of it came off. Couldn't miss from 10 yard as he grabbed himself a goal.

• Getty Images
  

  Attack

  Raphinha (8/10):

  Replaced Yamal, and staked his claim for regular minutes. Came close with a cheeky flick early on, took his goal well, and created chaos throughout. It wasn't all smooth; he missed a glaring chance, and overhit a pass to Felix when he should have scored himself.

  Robert Lewandowski (5/10):

  A few neat flicks and nice moments, but ended the game with just two touches in the opposition box.

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  Subs & Manager

  Fermin Lopez (7/10):

  A lively cameo from the homegrown midfielder. His work-rate has been exemplary this season, and was rewarded with a late goal.

  Vitor Roque (6/10):

  Should have scored late on.

  Oriol Romeu (N/A):

  No time to make an impact.

  Pedri (N/A):

  No time to make an impact.

  Hector Fort (N/A):

  No time to make an impact.

  Xavi (8/10):

  Benched Yamal, gave Raphinha a shout, and stuck with Cubarsi. It all amounted to one of Barca's better performances in recent memory. A comfortable win, with some standouts throughout the side. One of the good days…

Many West Ham United fans have been reacting to comments from Angelo Ogbonna his omission from the Italy squad for the European Championship.

The 33-year-old has enjoyed a good season with West Ham in 2020/21. He made 28 appearances in all competitions (Transfermarkt), helping the Hammers to finish sixth in the Premier League and qualify for the Europa League in the process.

His average of 4.1 clearances per game was the second highest in David Moyes’ squad, while 2.3 successful aerial duels per match also highlighted his defensive prowess (WhoScored). He scored three league goals as well, a decent return for a centre-back.

He has 13 caps to his name for Italy and, after such an impressive campaign, he will have been hoping to be included in the Azzurri’s squad for the Euros this summer. However, Roberto Mancini has decided against calling him up to his 33-man preliminary squad. Ogbonna clearly wasn’t happy with the decision, with him slamming the national team coach for omitting him.

The West Ham defender fumed: “I’m amazed and also bitter. Maybe he hasn’t taken into consideration West Ham’s season, even though we fought until the final day for a Champions League spot. In sport, meritocracy should prevail.”

The comments were shared on Twitter by @WestHam_Central, and it attracted plenty of reaction from Irons supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts on Ogbonna’s omission from the Italy squad.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about the comments from Ogbonna

“Ogbonna also on Mancini “Mancini? Yeah that guy works for me. He tells me he has posters of me on his wall””

Credit: @OlliePaoloWHU

“Criminal he didn’t go what a 2 seasons he has had – we look a complete different defence with him in it. Unreal player”

Credit: @harrythills

“Deserves to go, he’s so good”

Credit: @TomQuirkeJourno

“Disgraceful how Ogbonna hasn’t been picked”

Credit: @SoucekSenor

“Feel for him tbf”

Credit: @westham_hub

“King Og too good for Italy”

Credit: @callumwhu123

In other news, many West Ham fans are also unhappy over this man’s snub.

As relayed by the Evening Standard, via West Ham Central, the Hammers are apparently set to announce manager David Moyes’ new deal next week – with many supporters flocking to this development as one calls it ‘huge’ and the ‘biggest news’ for West Ham this year.

Moyes has guided the Irons to a season of surpassing expectation in east London, with West Ham, at one point, even in contention to qualify for the Champions League.

Mathematically, West Ham still have a slim chance to qualify for the Europa League if other results go their way, but Moyes’ side are now arguably in the running to make UEFA’s new competition called the ‘Europa Conference League’.

Regardless of the slight drop off towards the end of this season, Moyes has overachieved somewhat with this West Ham team overall – especially considering the lack of a striker signing in January and the fact they finished 16th last season.

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As Moyes looks set to pen a new contract at the London Stadium, many Hammers supporters have flocked to the development on social media as a result.

Find all of their best verdicts down below.

West Ham fans flock to Moyes contract development

“This is huge, the biggest news for us this year”

Credit: @RossAnsell1608

“100% deserved”

Credit: @GWatts98

“I hope they promised him good backing”

Credit: @whujoe

“Deserves it so much. If you disagree you’re just a troll”

Credit: @OwenJPitts

“Nice”

Credit: @callumder123

“We’ve got to have signings in place now, surely wouldn’t sign a long term one if they didn’t promise him what he wants”

Credit: @Connor29212642

“He deserves it”

Credit: @RokasWHU

“Def means there’s signings in place or the board are backing him btw”

Credit: @NoContextWalker

In other news: West Ham fans erupt over this Lingard news, find out more here.

Crystal Palace have been handed a fresh blow in their quest to find their next manager…

What’s the word?

According to former Celtic winger Davie Provan, Eddie Howe won’t be going to the Eagles this summer as his move to Parkhead is a “done deal.” He told Go Radio (via Daily Record):

“I don’t think for a moment Dermot Desmond would have exposed himself to the possibility of being embarrassed by Eddie Howe. And Eddie Howe himself has chosen not to rule himself out. So reading between the lines I think there’s an agreement, I think it’s a done deal,” he said.

Provan later added: “I don’t think for a moment that Eddie Howe is going to take a Crystal Palace, I don’t think Dermot Desmond would leave himself open to that embarrassment.”

Huge blow

Only last month, Football Insider reported that the former Bournemouth manager was on Palace’s three-man shortlist and had even held talks with Steve Parish and the club’s hierarchy. If that’s true, then the Selhurst Park owner and CEO is in line for a devastating blow following these fresh claims that Howe is heading for the Glasgow giants.

The Eagles still do not know who will be in charge next season, as with Roy Hodgson’s contract set to expire, the 73-year-old veteran seems likely to be heading for the exit.

Palace were set to be boosted by the fact that Howe was ‘not close’ to any club and was waiting until the summer to decide his future, but the comments from Provan are hard to ignore.

The 43-year-old was largely the mastermind behind the Cherries’ rise through the leagues – across two stints on the south coast, he took charge of 454 matches, winning 42% of those. That is a better return than Hodgson at Palace, with the former England boss managing a poor win rate of just 33%.

Howe, a three-time winner of the Premier League’s ‘Manager of the Month’ award, managed to keep Bournemouth in the top flight for four straight seasons until their unfortunate relegation last year, but in reality, they were always punching above their weight under him.

To lose out on him is certainly a blow to Parish considering he was amongst his top three options. He will likely be gutted that the 43-year-old appears Celtic-bound.

AND in other news, Fresh twist emerges in Crystal Palace managerial hunt, it’s bad news for Parish…

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to clinch their first trophy in 13 years when they face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup later this evening and interim boss Ryan Mason has plenty to ponder ahead of kick-off.

Aside from the uncertainty surrounding Harry Kane’s involvement at Wembley Stadium – he is being monitored “hour by hour” – the 29-year-old caretaker is facing a huge task as the Premier League leaders have won this very competition each of the last three seasons, and five of the last seven, too.

Mason took over from the sacked Jose Mourinho on Monday and won his first game in charge at Southampton, coming from behind to clinch all three points. It wasn’t the greatest performance by any means, though he can be forgiven as he had less than 48 hours with this squad.

Now, having had a little bit more time with the team, Mason should be able to implement his ideas and that now leaves him with a big decision to make.

Against Southampton in midweek, Spurs’ midfield was overrun and outplayed – the trio of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso just did not work, with the Dane sitting a little deeper behind the two big-money 2019 summer signings.

It was the latter, Lo Celso, who was arguably the poorest of the lot. It’s no wonder he was hooked by the 79th minute and given the lowest rating (6.3) by SofaScore.

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The £36m-rated dynamo has frequently been lauded behind the scenes since his move from Real Betis last season but a combination of injuries and poor performances should certainly put his place in the line-up at risk.

“He is a technically gifted player. But he is not afraid to get stuck in when he needs to as well,” claimed Harry Winks to the Guardian, whilst Mourinho once dubbed him “phenomenal.”

But the fact of the matter is, Lo Celso has delivered just one goal and one assist in the Premier League all season and sits amongst their worst performers, with an average WhoScored rating of 6.55.

By comparison, even Matt Doherty (6.71) and Serge Aurier (6.97) have managed better and that’s a telling story in itself as the pair are often the target of criticism from the fanbase.

On Wednesday night, Lo Celso proved to be weak – losing 82% of his midfield battles – and completely wasteful – losing possession 14 times, as per SofaScore.

That merely continues a recurring trend with the £100k-per-week star, as he hasn’t been rated above a 7/10 since November in the top-flight. Indeed, he’s been rather shocking for weeks now.

Mason must show no mercy and ruthlessly axe the Argentine from his starting XI this evening. A bold, but necessary, call.

AND in other news, Levy could revolutionise Spurs by securing landmark double swoop…