Newcastle manager Alan Pardew believes that a loss to QPR in Saturday’s Premier League encounter could lead to fear of relegation.
The Magpies have endured a tough start to the campaign, with the act of balancing Europa League football and domestic games weighing heavy on the squad.
This has seen the St James’ Park outfit slip down to 15th position, just two points from the relegation zone.
Pardew believes that their weekend clash with second-bottom QPR could be a tricky one:
“We’re going to have a lot of pressure this week,” he is quoted by The Mirror.
“QPR will be expected to lose, so they can come and play with a little bit of freedom – but not us.
“We’re going to have to play under monster pressure.
“The fans need to be right on our side, whatever happens – even if QPR go 2-0 up.”
Newcastle face back-to-back trips to Manchester United and Arsenal before hosting Everton in the coming weeks, and Pardew feels that points must be won ahead of this tricky set of fixtures:
“It’s going to be one of those days when we must win,
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“Usually, people say it’s a must-win game – but I’m telling you it’s must-win.
“That’s what we need to do.
“We’ve always been about the next game. It’s the next game because that’s the only thing that you can legislate for. Already, I’m looking forward to it and it can’t come soon enough.”
Marouane Fellaini was recalled to the Manchester United starting line-up for the first time since his return from injury for the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Sevilla.
The divisive midfielder failed to impress in the hour he was on the pitch as United put in an insipid performance and were eliminated in embarrassing circumstances, going down 2-1.
Paul Pogba replaced the 80-cap Belgian international, showing signs that he is over the gashed leg that kept him out of Saturday’s victory over Liverpool and that gives Jose Mourinho a midfield selection dilemma.
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That is something the Portuguese manager has not had for a while given the spate of injuries that have limited his midfield options in recent weeks.
The Sevilla defeat has added even more importance to Saturday’s FA Cup quarter final showdown with Brighton at Old Trafford so it is imperative that Mourinho gets it right in his engine room.
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That’s why we’re asking you; should Fellaini keep his spot in the side for the visit of the Seagulls? Let us know by voting in the poll below…
Aston Villa seems to be heading for the Premier League trap door quicker than Usain Bolt can run the 100 metre race. Had it not been for their three wins and a draw in their opening four games, they would be rooted to the bottom of the table right now with nowhere to hide.
They have lost their last six games on the bounce, ironically just after their boss signed a new five year extension on the back of his side’s great start to the campaign. The ten points they accumulated in four games was an impressive start without a shadow of a doubt. Since then, they have been in rapid decline, losing five out of their last six games without even a goal to show for their troubles. It took them until their latest defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur to score a goal, but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat.
They now face an in form West Ham in their next match, an away game which will be made even more of a daunting prospect for the Villa considering the suspension of key player Christian Benteke after his sending off against Spurs for “punching” (more like stroking) Ryan Mason.
After West Ham, they then face a home tie against an even more in form side in Southampton who have been nothing short of perfect so far this season, and find themselves sitting in second place behind league leaders Chelsea. On paper, it is hard to see past another two defeats in their next two games, which would see them having lost a massive eight games on the trot.
Their only reprieve comes after the game against Saints, a relegation crunch match and six pointer against fellow strugglers Burnley who are about the only team worse than Villa at the moment.
Villa are leaking goals for fun this season and not scoring many at all, so they are facing issues at both ends of the pitch, a worrying sign that you are in big trouble. They have the joint second worst goal difference in the whole league and they don’t look like they can find a solution.
Normally if a team is defending well, they might be struggling to score and are perhaps drawing too many games. Or a team is scoring well but are also conceding and at least then a team in that position can look to outscore the opposition and would have a few more points on the board.
It has to be said that on paper, Villa haven’t got the type of team that you would consider a relegation scrap candidate. They should be finding themselves in the top half of the table, and quite a tough team to play. However at the moment they are everyone else’s team of choice to play after Burnley, the Premier League’s newest whipping boys.
It is hard to see where manager Paul Lambert is going to find the motivation and inspiration from to lead his team to victory in their next couple of games. It is vital that they pick up something from these next two games, or they will be dragged a lot further into trouble and potentially end up in the bottom three come the end of the season.
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One team they can draw inspiration from will be Newcastle, who after finding themselves in similar peril went on a winning spree and find themselves out of trouble (for now) and even managed to defeat Spurs away and Liverpool at home.
Aston Villa will be hoping for similar joy in their next few games, or it will be hard for them to dig themselves out of trouble. It could well be that this is the season that sees them finally fall through the trap door into the Championship!
When Andy Carroll arrived at Upton Park on the last day of the summer transfer window many people were shocked at how a so-called £35 million player had ended up at a newly promoted side in the Premier League.
His transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool was equally as shocking considering he only really had one good season at St. James’ Park. But the big question now is whether West Ham should take up the option of first refusal at the end of the season or send him back to Liverpool where he clearly isn’t wanted.
The striker’s impact at West Ham was immediate after he was involved in Kevin Nolan’s 1st minute opener in the 3-0 home win over Fulham in September. He continued to be a handful up front and he seemed to fit perfectly into Sam Allardyce’s style of play.
However, just one goal in 10 appearances wasn’t the contribution West Ham were expecting. Many believed a new club with new surroundings and the opportunity to link up again with best friend Kevin Nolan would see Carroll re-discover the goal scoring form that earned him that big money move to Liverpool in the first place.
But should we be looking beyond his lack of goals and be appreciating the extra dimension he gives the Hammers up top? There’s no denying he plays a major part in West Ham’s attacking threat and his aerial presence was un-rivalled in the Premier League before injury struck a few weeks ago.
During his absence, West Ham have struggled to pick up results and are clearly missing him. That makes you wonder whether he is imperative to West Ham’s success in the Premier League regardless of how many goals he scores.
Is he worth the money? Seventeen million quid is a hell of a lot of money for a club like West Ham to be paying for one player, but if he can remain fit and continue building up an understanding with his new team mates then it’s a sacrifice I think West Ham must make.
With him due to return to action in mid-January, he will no doubt have another striker to compete for a starting place with. Allardyce is not likely to play 4-4-2 so we shouldn’t expect to see him being partnered up front with an old fashioned goal poaching forward, but the extra competition for places will help him improve and try harder to impress. After all, the pressure that huge price tag has given him will urge the striker to prove the country that he was worth every penny.
From West Ham’s point of view, and especially Sam Allardyce, it will all depend on how well he does in the second half of the season. If he gets a few assists on the board and scores some important goals then there will be a case for the club to spend a lot of money to keep him there. We all know he is the perfect fit for West Ham and their style of play, but if he can’t prove it then taking a punt on the hope that he’ll be better next season is risky.
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With Andy Carroll, he will need to make a decision on whether he wants to remain at West Ham or not. There’s no point playing at a club when your heart is elsewhere and it’s clear he dreams of a return to Newcastle. Captain Kevin Nolan will play a huge part in that decision, I’m sure, and he’ll be eager to keep Carroll in London, but if he doesn’t feel it’s right for him here then the club or the fans wouldn’t begrudge him turning down a permanent move.
It is a lot of money but, in my opinion, he will be worth every penny. He works hard and fits in well at Upton Park and with the support of the fans, Allardyce and his team mates can give him, he’ll soon realise West Ham is a perfect place for him to justify the money Liverpool paid for him. Dig deep, Gold and Sullivan, because Big Andy is what we need to continue improving in the Premier League.
Do you think West Ham should splash the cash on Andy Carroll? Or is £17 million too much for a player who we are still waiting to see the best of in the Premier League?
Leonardo Bonucci is an experienced winner having won seven league titles in his career, and now he is being linked with a move to the Premier League.
According to Calciomercato, Manchester City are one of a handful of clubs that are interested in recruiting the veteran defender.
Pep Guardiola already has a strong team at his disposal, and not a huge amount needs to be changed following last season’s title triumph.
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However, it seems that the recent two-year European ban implemented on Milan by UEFA has led City to consider a swoop for Bonucci as he is now believed to be considering his future.
Calciomercato reports that along with City, the club’s arch rivals Manchester United, as well as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are tracking the defender.
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Guardiola are not in desperate need of a new centre-back, but there are concerns over injury prone Vincent Kompany.
Judging by the reaction on Twitter, though, City fans would rather the club did not make a move for the 31-year-old.
Mohamed Salah has been in a class of his own this season, scoring 23 goals and only failing to score twice in his last 10 Premier League games.
He’s not the only Liverpool player to make an impact since signing in the summer, though, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson and Dominic Solanke all making a name for themselves after arriving at Anfield either in the summer or the January transfer window.
Centre-forward Dominic Solanke has, at least quantitatively, probably been the least effective signing – with the Chelsea youth graduate appearing 16 times for Liverpool in the league this season but only earning the one assist to his name.
Left-back Andrew Robertson has fought his way into the side after barely seeing the field in the first few months of the season, and the left-back is now a first-team regular with two assists in the record books this season.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Virgil Van Dijk have had the most expectation attached to them out of the new signings, with the former arriving at Anfield for £34m in the summer and Van Dijk transferring from Southampton on a £70m fee in January.
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The formal Arsenal midfielder has chipped in three goals and four assists, while the ex-Southampton centre-back has kept two clean sheets in the league since joining the club, but has either player been worth their inflated price tag?
We’ll let Liverpool fans decide who has been the best signing at the club this season – have your say by voting below…
Roy Keane has defended former Manchester United manager David Moyes, claiming the Scot was ‘snookered from the first few weeks’ at Old Trafford, reports the Daily Mirror.
Keane was speaking about his new autobiography, in which he has made controversial claims about former boss Sir Alex Ferguson. But the Irishman also spoke of David Moyes in his book, and insists he felt sorry for the former Everton boss who he claimed was let down by a ‘weak dressing room.’
“There were certainly circumstances going back to when he took over, you’re still taking over a good team and at the time probably at the time a decent dressing room. But what you don’t need, and Man United were always pretty good at it, you didn’t need that uncertainty and there was obviously that with Vidic, Rio, Evra and Giggsy coming to the end , so all that stuff didn’t help,” Keane said.
“What you need in football, more than anything else, is a couple of victories, some momentum and they never seemed to get that. There was always going to be a downturn with Ferguson leaving.
“I wouldn’t be critical of Ferguson but sometimes when you’re leaving, it gives the manager a chance to make their own mark and he brought in one or two players, didn’t get the players clearly that he was after in the summer but I don’t think that’s the manager, it’s the chief executive who can probably look at himself. I’m sure if you ask the chief exec he will say ‘yeah, we missed out on a few deals’.
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“There were two or three lined up that fell through and they ended up getting one or two on transfer deadline day, Mata in January but maybe the damage was done then. I was going to Old Trafford and there was a lot of negativity around. They got no momentum and it was as if David Moyes was snookered from the first few weeks. “That negativity can get into the dressing room and that’s why I felt it was a weak dressing room. They should have dealt with that and the player should have done better. I saw and number of games and whatever has gone on, politics, managers leaving, lack of players coming in, they should have done better and they did let him down, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew believes his side didn’t deserve to lose their Premier League clash with Stoke.
The Magpies appeared to be on course to end a run of three straight league defeats, but the Potters came back from 1-0 down with two late goals.
Pardew was disappointed with the result and felt that his side deserved to leave the Britannia Stadium with all three points:
“The improvement from Sunday was immense and we deserved to get something from today and we certainly didn’t deserve to get beat that’s for sure, we were the better side,” Pardew told SkySports.
“There is a crucial moment in the game at 1-0 where I thought we had a handball and I just looked again and I think it is a penalty and then two sucker punches really and we have got beat,” he said.
“Their keeper has made two good saves, and it is galling really as we are on this run and we are having setback after setback and I feel sorry for the players today as they were brilliant,
“Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve and we certainly didn’t today.
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“We made a couple of errors in those goals and that has cost us. We do not make many errors but we have tonight.”
Papiss Cisse gave Newcastle the lead just after half-time, but goals from Jon Walters and Cameron Jerome in the final ten minutes swung the tie.
According to a report from Sport1, Tottenham attacker Son Heung-min could be on his way out of the Premier League club this summer. The South Korea international enjoyed a fine season in North London last term, and were Spurs to indeed sanction his departure this summer, they can wave goodbye to a possible title challenge this time round.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the 25-year-old has become an increasingly important member of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad in the last few years, not least last season in netting an impressive 18 goals and laying on 11 assists in 53 appearances for Tottenham.
Only Harry Kane (41) scored more goals for the North Londoners last time round to further underline the importance of Son to this Spurs squad, while his tally of 11 assists was only bettered by Dele Alli (13) and Christian Eriksen (17).
Thus, it’s evident that, while the likes of Kane, Alli, and Eriksen often get the plaudits, Son is equally as important to Pochettino’s side and as such will play a key part in inspiring the side to a Premier League title challenge next term.
Significantly, take Son out of the Tottenham side, and the replacements simply haven’t shown the level of form he has in recent times, with neither Erik Lamela nor Lucas Moura doing enough down the flanks, while Fernando Llorente certainly hasn’t proven his worth to be Kane’s deputy up top.
And losing Son, who can play in a more advanced central role, would further pile the pressure on Kane to get the goals for Pochettino’s side, at the same time taking a key cog of the attacking ranks out of the side.
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Arguably, the 25-year-old is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League at present such is the focus on messrs Kane, Alli, and Eriksen at Tottenham, but Son is just as important, and as such his departure would significantly weaken them heading into the 2018/19 season.
Ultimately, if Tottenham are serious about bridging the 23-point gap to champions Manchester City this term, and thus challenging for the title, not only do they need to make additions, but they absolutely have to retain their most prized assets – Son is in that category.
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Thus, the North Londoners can wave goodbye to a possible title assault if they do indeed sanction the £45 million-rated (as per Transfermarkt) star’s departure this summer.
Aston Villa fans have every right to feel confident at the moment as the club have suffered defeat just once in their last eight Championship matches.
As it stands, Steve Bruce’s side are third in the table, four points adrift of the two automatic promotion places.
Their most recent outing was a frantic one as they came from behind twice to earn a 4-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on away soil.
The club have been hit with some injury problems in recent weeks, with Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah among those on the treatment table.
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On Tuesday evening, the Midlands outfit will take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, and they have had plenty of preparation having had last weekend’s match against Queens Park Rangers called off due to the snowy weather.
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Villa are overwhelming favourites to nab all three points given that the Black Cats are rooted to the bottom of the table having won just five of their 35 league fixtures.
Ahead of the contest, Villans have been tweeting their predictions.