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Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has left Carlo Ancelotti in an ideal position ahead of Everton’s trip to St. James’ Park on Sunday.

Bruce has been full of praise for the defensive work of midfielders Ryan Fraser and Miguel Almiron in the Toon’s recent Premier League fixtures, and is likely to ask the duo to again aid efforts to thwart the Toffees this weekend to avoid a home defeat.

It was a tactic the Magpies opted for against Wolverhampton Wanderers in their last top-flight fixture, allowing the Molineux natives to enjoy 63.4 per cent of the possession before salvaging a 1-1 draw in the 89th-minute with only their second shot on target, per WhoScored.

Everton will arrive on Tyneside reeling from a first defeat of the season to Southampton last time out, but remain atop the league standings on goal difference to Merseyside neighbours Liverpool.

The Saints opted to go for the jugular against Everton with 13 shots, while enjoying more of the ball (54.3%), more passes (610 to 509), attempting more dribbles (26 to 21, with 18 successful) and restricting Ancelotti’s men to just two efforts on target, per WhoScored.

Nevertheless, Bruce is unlikely to try similar this weekend and instead, favour the relentless workrate of Almiron and Fraser.

“If you watch him [Almiron] week in, week out – it has been difficult to leave him out, because of what he gives you,” Bruce said, via quotes by the Chronicle. “I have asked him to play the left side of midfield at Wolves. He was tireless in his work.

“Him and Ryan Fraser ran themselves into [a] standstill. That’s what you have to do when they are playing the way they are.”

Bruce persisting with a defensive display will be a welcome relief for Ancelotti, as it will offer Everton the perfect chance to bounce back from a first defeat of the season by playing their own brand of football rather than trying to soak up the pressure once more.

Neither Fraser nor Almiron are superb defensively, either, with the former only winning 0.5 tackles a game in the Premier League this season, while the latter has been dribbled past on average 1.4 times a match.

Ancelotti will see the wide duo as the perfect players to exploit this weekend, especially if the Italian is able to call on James Rodriguez following the Colombian’s injury scare.

Rodriguez appeared to be struggling in the closing stages of the Southampton loss and was scheduled for scans this week, though Ancelotti was not overly concerned at the early prognosis.

“I think we have to check in the next few days,” he said, via quotes by the Liverpool Echo. “He was tired at the end, he felt his muscle a little bit. But I don’t think it’s a big problem. It’s true that the game was difficult for everyone.”

Rodriguez would be expected to play an instrumental role against Newcastle should he overcome the muscle issue, having thus far record Everton’s highest number of key balls (18), big chances created (five), accurate final third passes (70), successful dribbles (16) and taken their third-most shots (10) in the Premier League this season, per SofaScore.

The former Real Madrid ace’s 72.73% dribble success rate will also come in handy in attempting to exploit Fraser and Almiron, with Richarlison – who completes 84.21% of his dribbles – still suspended.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti has landed a big break but it comes as an unfortunate blow for a “talented” Everton ace.

Many Everton fans have been slamming the decision not to send Bruno Fernandes off in their 3-1 loss versus Manchester United in the Premier League.

Indeed, the Portugal international was a big influence on the result, scoring two goals and also making an assist as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team ran out winners at Goodison Park.

However, several EFC supporters thought that Fernandes should have been sent off in the match, given that he received a yellow card and also committed no fewer than five fouls, the most out of anyone on the pitch (Sofascore).

Indeed, the attacking midfield player could well have gotten a second booking for persistent fouling, but the referee did not deem this to be the case, and the 26 year-old ended up providing an assist for Edinson Cavani to kill the game off in added time.

Everton fan reaction to Fernandes decision

These Toffees slammed the decision not to give Fernandes a red card, with one Blue deeming it as ‘shocking’ and another even claiming that the midfielder is ‘protected’:

In other news, find out which Toffees player has been destroyed by fans for his display here!

After a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Atalanta in the Champions League in midweek, Jurgen Klopp must turn his attention back to the Premier League, as the Reds travel to Brighton and Hove Albion in Saturday’s early kick-off.

The German manager made a lot of changes for the Champions League tie, with the likes of Neco Williams, Divock Origi and Konstantinos Tsimikas handed rare starts but with very few players impressing in the defeat against the Italians, it is more than likely that none of those players will keep their place against the Seagulls.

The Reds were boosted by the news in midweek that Jordan Henderson has now returned to training after recovering from the knock that has kept him out of recent games, and we expect him to come straight back into the side for the game at the Amex.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Klopp to line his side up against Brighton on Saturday, with five changes in total…

The defence almost picks itself at the moment, with Fabinho and Joel Matip starting together at centre-back after their impressive performances against Leicester City in the last Premier League fixture.

Andy Robertson replaces Tsimikas at left-back, whilst the ever-reliable James Milner moves back to right-back after Williams’ poor display in midweek.

Henderson should add some much-needed leadership in the middle of the park, as that was something that was certainly missing against Gian Piero Gasperini’s side on Wednesday.

The “exceptional” Curtis Jones is perhaps unfortunate to miss out as he did well against Leicester City, but we feel Klopp will keep faith in the more experienced Georginio Wijnaldum for the game against Graham Potter’s side.

Unsurprisingly, the front four should consist of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota after the Egyptian winger returned from his brief absence in midweek.

Mane will be hoping to put in an improved performance to end his minor goal drought and Jota will be hoping that he can grab a Premier League away goal after scoring in four consecutive Premier League games at Anfield.

The Reds will need to put in a much better performance if they want to pick up three points against Brighton on Saturday, although they need just a point to move back to the top of the Premier League.

And in other news… Liverpool can sign their long-term Salah replacement in “incredible” in-demand 21 y/o

Tottenham Hotspur return to top-flight action this afternoon as they look to continue to assert their dominance at the top of the Premier League standings.

Jose Mourinho’s men qualified for the Europa League knockout stages with a table-topping victory over Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp on Thursday night whilst seven days ago, they put on a clinic in defeating arch-rivals Arsenal in the north London derby.

Now they head to Selhurst Park to face Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace, who themselves come into this one on the back of a 5-1 whitewash over West Bromwich Albion.

Speaking to reporters in his pre-match press conference, the ‘Special One’ hinted at rotation as we enter a hectic festive period, but there was always going to be a tweak from the XI that started in Europe.

Here’s the line-up we’re predicting later today…

There could be as many as nice changes with just two players keeping their place from Thursday evening, Sergio Reguilon, who was withdrawn early with this one in mind, and Giovani Lo Celso, who ran the show.

Club captain Hugo Lloris returns between the sticks, replacing back-up goalkeeper Hugo Lloris whilst Mourinho goes back to his usual league back for of Reguilon, Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld and Serge Aurier.

The Ivorian right-back has come on leaps and bounds this season, so much so that reports have emerged suggesting he is in line for fresh terms on his £120k-per-week current contract. He’s usurped summer signing Matt Doherty as the first-choice option in the role.

Defensive midfield powerhouse Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg comes back into the XI after enjoying a much-deserved rest in midweek and his influence could see Tanguy Ndombele and Lo Celso start together in the engine room as they look to punish the Eagles.

It means there is no place for Moussa Sissoko and the £36m-rated Harry Winks is axed.

Steven Bergwijn should get the nod over Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura, who both drop to the bench. The £64m-rated Dutch dynamo seems to have won the starting gig in the league at the moment.

And finally, the undroppable, red-hot, prolific pairing of Heung-min Son and Harry Kane will both start as expected.

In other news, “I don’t see him fitting in” – Exclusive: Pundit drops exit hint over £25m Spurs “nightmare”…

Glasgow Rangers will be secretly pleased with how their transfer window went in the summer, but if there’s one criticism to be made it’s the fact they failed to sign a genuine box-to-box midfielder.

What was the story?

Reports in recent times revealed that Rangers were interested in signing Patrik Hrosovsky from KRC Genk on an initial loan deal with the option to buy before the transfer deadline day.

According to Czech outlet iSport, Steven Gerrard’s side tried to secure his services in the summer. However, a move failed to materialise, as Genk rejected their advances.

It’s claimed that the Belgian giants refused to budge on their £3.5m as they were only willing to sell the Slovakian outright. Whether Rangers will return with another bid for the 28-year-old is currently unknown, as they ended up signing Bongani Zungu on loan from French Ligue 2 side Amiens in the end instead.

Van Bronckhorst 2.0

However, Ross Wilson would be wise to sanction a move for Hrosovsky as not only would he provide competition and cover for Steven Davis, but he’d also offer an alternative threat in attack, in a similar vein to Rangers legend Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Primarily a left-back for the majority of his career, Van Bronckhorst was deployed as a defensive midfielder during his time at Ibrox, as Dick Advocaat gave him the license to push forward and create chances.

Standing at 5 ft 6 in tall, the diminutive midfielder is only slightly smaller than the legendary Dutchman, and the similarities don’t stop there, either.

Like Van Bronchorst, Hrosovsky has a penchant for scoring goals from the midfield. Valued at £3.15m via Transfermarkt, in nine appearances in the Jupiler Pro League, the Slovakia international has scored one goal and supplied two assists so far this season, whilst he is averaging 1.9 tackles and 1 interception per game, via WhoScored.

By comparison, both Davis and Zungu are managing fewer tackles per game in the Scottish Premiership this season, as per WhoScored. The central midfielder, who is a former teammate of Ianis Hagi, has bagged two times and two assists in total for the Belgium club, which is more than Zungu managed during his time at Amiens.

These kind of numbers would be most welcome in Glasgow and if he becomes available again in the not too distant future, Wilson must strike while the iron is still hot.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard must bench Glasgow Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos for the foreseeable future…

Crystal Palace have had some hard fixtures in the last week as they have faced Tottenham and West Ham United. It doesn’t get any easier as they now face Liverpool at Selhurst Park and Roy Hodgson has spoke about any injury concerns before the clash.

Hodgson’s injury update

Speaking in his press conference before the Liverpool match, Hodgson said: “I don’t think there are any significant injuries other than the long term injuries we’ve had.”

He also said: “Each of the three players that missed the game against West Ham are back in the reckoning. They were just being rested.”

This is great news for Palace

With the club having a heavily congested fixture list, minimal injuries are a great bonus. There would have been slight concern following the West Ham match as key players like Gary Cahill and Nathaniel Clyne were not in the squad. However, this latest news highlights that Hodgson may well have been saving them to welcome the champions to Selhurst Park.

The Eagles picked up a great 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park last weekend to Tottenham Hotspur and if they can do the same against the Reds it will be another good result.

In other Palace news, have a read of a bizarre statistic about the club which fans aren’t happy with here!

This has been a wretched season to support Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls are staring down the barrel of relegation and not even sacking Garry Monk has helped them in their pursuit to beat the drop.

However, with fans hoping and praying for some festive cheer in an arduous year, Tony Pulis has now recorded encouraging results in two successive games.

His side defeated Coventry last weekend and on Boxing Day, they drew 1-1 with Blackburn Rovers. Given their league position of 11th place, that certainly wasn’t a bad result for Wednesday. Although, they do need to start picking up wins quickly in order to move out of the relegation zone.

That is unlikely to be achieved with someone like Liam Palmer in the side, though, a player who was particularly average against Rovers on Saturday.

It’s been difficult to conclude that the Scot has had a good campaign and on today’s evidence, it only proved why Pulis can’t afford to rely on him.

Although Joey Pelupessy arguably could have done more to prevent the equaliser, it was Palmer who provided the least amount of impetus in the entire squad.

On the right flank, he failed to provide a much-needed injection and going forward, failed to complete a single cross or key pass. Defensively, the Scotland international was also distinctly average.

He won just 33.3% of the duels he contested which included only two tackles. Palmer made one clearance but didn’t intercept a single attack and had fewer touches – 33 – than goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.

Having gone a goal ahead, this game was there for the taking but the football was languid and Sheffield Wednesday ultimately didn’t create many chances. Of course, that isn’t Palmer’s primary objective in this side but like a few players out there, including Pelupessy, he rarely offered anything positive to the team.

With Sheffield Wednesday in such dire straits, Pulis needs to work out whether Palmer is the right man for the job. On this showing, he isn’t good enough.

The right-back has to improve.

AND in other news, Pulis can end Sheffield Wednesday NIGHTMARE with 18 y/o gem who can “unlock defences”…

Leeds United are looking to broaden their horizons and indeed bolster their squad this January transfer window. Rumours are flying thick and fast at the moment and Adama Traore is one of the more intriguing names to appear on the radar.

According to Sport, Marcelo Bielsa is very keen on the Spaniard and he reportedly wants to bring him to Elland Road this month. However, the Leeds board would likely have to offload personnel before making a move, for more reasons than one.

Would Traore suit Leeds?

Several clubs are interested in signing the beast that is Traore, who earns £43,000-a-week according to Spotrac. He has been linked to the likes of European giants Liverpool and Real Madrid, as per The Mirror.

The 24-year-old would certainly bring pace and power to Leeds, but he would likely warrant a huge transfer fee. This is why the Whites would need to consider selling some players before considering a swoop.

SoccerLink reported in 2020 that Wolves were looking for as much as £75million for Traore, which is a figure that a club like Leeds would almost certainly flinch at.

Concern for Costa

However, money isn’t the only reason Victor Orta should be placing players on the chopping block. As it stands, the Championship title holders have as many as three options on the right wing, with teenager Crysencio Summerville also impressing recently.

To sign another right-footed winger would be foolish, given the options already at Bielsa’s disposal. Should Leeds opt to offload one of their attackers, it would likely be former Wolves man Helder Costa.

There has also been talk of Bielsa letting the recent signing leave in January if he continues to go under the radar with his performances, with Kevin Phillips believing that the boss would sanction an exit.

Despite playing a huge part in Leeds’ promotion and being lauded as “immense” by his former boss, the 27-year-old has fallen out of favour this season.

Costa has featured in just four of his side’s last ten Premier League fixtures, making way for Raphinha, as per Transfermarkt, and letting him leave could give the board the green light to bring in new personnel.

In other news, Marcus Tavernier would be an ideal Jack Harrison replacement…

When Raul Jimenez suffered a fractured skull against Arsenal last month, everyone at Wolves feared the worst.

Their star man was now out injured for a prolonged period of time and the player they had to rely on instead was just 18 years of age.

What’s the word?

The transfer window has come just at the right time for Wolves who are searching for reinforcements in the market, namely in attacking positions.

According to Eurosport FR (via Get Football News France) Jeff Shi and his recruitment team are eyeing up a move for Montpellier forward Gaetan Laborde.

They face competition from two unnamed Bundesliga clubs in a bid to sign him. Per Transfermarkt, the 26-year-old is valued at around £11.7m. Thus, a sizable fee seems unlikely.

His wages are also far from astronomical. Laborde earns £23k-per-week in Ligue 1, so this shouldn’t be a deal that sets Wolves back very much.

Ideal for Nuno

Laborde is far from a household name, particularly in English football, but he’d be an exceptional investment for a side who need cover for Jimenez.

When you look at the Frenchman, he plays in a very similar way to Wolves’ number 9 and that’s not just in terms of his goals.

The 6-foot striker – who stands just three inches smaller than Jimenez – is a commanding force in the air and has won a mammoth 70 aerial duels this season – 3.9 a match. Considering he’s of lesser stature than the Mexican, he’s actually more dominant in that part of the game. For context, Jimenez has only won 1.5 battles in the air a game.

That isn’t the only thing Laborde offers though. Like his potential new teammate, he is adept at bringing others into play and has five assists to go with his six goals in Ligue 1 this term.

A big part of Jimenez’s game is that he can hold the ball up and utilise others well, something that Laborde does to near perfection.

A cut-price option in January, the Montpellier forward looks like a handy player and would undoubtedly add valuable depth to Wolves’ frontline.

AND in other news, Wolves can land huge Silva upgrade in 9-goal beast, he’s on his “way to the top”…

According to Football.London, Arsenal starlet Kido Taylor-Hart is attracting transfer interest from clubs across Europe.

What’s the story?

With Folarin Balogun’s name dominating the conversation in recent weeks for Mikel Arteta’s side – reports in recent days have suggested he is close to joining a foreign team on a pre-contract deal – there has been less spotlight on some of the Premier League giants’ other academy starlets.

And according to Football.London, the 18-year-old has yet to sign a professional contract at the Emirates and is still registered as a scholar. It’s claimed that Hart has “attracted interest from a number of clubs in the Premier League, Championship and Bundesliga. The Gunners will be desperately hoping they can convince him to stay.”

Unforgivable from Edu

Losing Balogun would be bad enough given the young striker’s impressive performances for Arsenal’s first-team this season – he’s bagged two goals in four Europa League games and provided an assist too.

But if the Gunners were to wave goodbye to another exciting player who Football.London claim is “making waves” for Steve Bould’s U23s side, it would be tantamount to an unforgivable disaster from the likes of Edu, Mikel Arteta and academy manager Per Mertesacker.

Bringing through young talent into the first-team is such a shrewd way of making sure you get homegrown players playing for their boyhood sides, whilst also saving a tonne of money in the transfer market.

You only have to look at the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe to see the breath of fresh air and excitement that academy stars can bring to the first-team, and it would be a monumental disaster if Arsenal lost not only Balogun, but Taylor-Hart too.

Meanwhile, Arsenal must beat Spurs to this Bundesliga star…