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Leeds United have another chance to move further away from the relegation zone on Monday evening when they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in their latest Premier League outing.

Their previous league game saw the Whites secure a 3-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road thanks to goals from Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison.

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Heading into Monday’s showdown, it seems as though the Yorkshire club have been handed a boost regarding the fitness of one of their key figures.

What’s the news?

Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of the clash against the Eagles (via Phil Hay), Jesse Marsch had this to say about the current fitness of Kalvin Phillips.

He said: “He’s been great in training. He’s fully fit, he’s fully ready.”

Having not long recovered from a hamstring injury that kept him out of action for a significant period of time, the Englishman has made an appearance off the substitutes bench in both of Leeds’ two previous league games.

The Premier League results, particularly the defeats, Leeds picked up during Phillips’ absence between December and March highlight just how important the 26-year-old is for the team from a defensive point of view.

With 14 league appearances under his belt this season, the England international has won 29 tackles, made 30 blocks, 26 interceptions and 21 clearances, highlighting how key he is in the middle of the park.

Fans will be buzzing

Now that the Leeds boss has revealed that the midfielder is fully fit and ready to go in terms of potentially starting against Palace, this will surely be music to the ears of a lot of Whites supporters.

Furthermore, with Adam Forshaw recently picking up a season-ending knee injury, Phillips’ return to full fitness couldn’t have come at a better time for Marsch.

Heading into the game against Palace, the fact that Patrick Vieira’s side have scored five more goals than Leeds this season shows just how much they’ll need Phillips in the side for as long as he can take.

Looking beyond that, with the Yorkshire club having games against Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea left to play before the campaign ends, having Phillips in the team could be crucial for Leeds and their chances of securing a place in the top flight next season.

AND in other news: 150% hike: Leeds United hit the jackpot on “real technician”, he’s a “proper talent”

After a disheartening 2020/21 season which saw Sheffield Wednesday relegated from the Championship, Darren Moore’s side have had a mixed start to their League One campaign.

With nine games played prior to today’s clash against Oxford United, the Owls have won four, drawn three and lost two, with their latest match seeing them beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 at the DW Stadium.

Looking ahead to the game against Oxford, Owls manager Darren Moore revealed in his latest press conference that Sam Hutchinson and Lewis Gibson have both trained ahead of today’s clash but that George Byers will not be available. With this in mind, here’s how we feel the Owls will set up against Oxford, with two changes from the team in midweek.

Will Wednesday pick up another win this weekend?

In goal, Bailey Peacock-Farrell has been a regular for Wednesday so far this season and should continue there to face Oxford.

The defence could see full-backs Marvin Johnson and Liam Palmer retain their places in the team after the midweek victory, with the duo making a total number of seven tackles and five interceptions between them against Wigan, proving themselves to be useful defensive outlets for Wednesday.

There could be some change in the centre-back position, though, with Hutchinson taking Cheyenne Dunkley’s place at centre-back alongside Dominic Iorfa, who also impressed in midweek, earning himself an overall match rating of 7.1/10 (as per SofaScore).

This could then lead to Barry Bannan coming back into the squad after being an unused substitute against Wigan.

Elsewhere, the other change we think Moore should consider for the Oxford match would be to take Jaden Brown out of the team after failing to make an impact against Wigan from the left-midfield position, taking 27 touches and losing possession on 12 occasions, ultimately earning a rather lacklustre overall match rating of 5.8/10, making him Wednesday’s lowest-rated player on the day according to SofaScore.

In his place, we feel Moore should give Olamide Shodipo, who replaced Brown in midweek, a chance from the start to see if he can do a better job than the 22-year-old did against Wigan.

On the other side, Moore should stick with Dennis Adeniran on the right to see if he can have some sort of attacking threat, even though his two league goals this season have come from when he’s played in the centre of midfield.

Finally, Wednesday should continue with Lee Gregory and Callum Paterson, who scored against Wigan, as their two strikers to hopefully fire the club to another three points.

In other news: Sheff Wed handed big injury boost ahead of Oxford clash, fans will be delighted – opinion

Steve Howey has called for Aaron Ramsey to rediscover his best form by becoming a fan favourite at Newcastle United.

Ramsey departed the Premier League for Serie A as he joined Juventus from Arsenal on a free transfer two years ago.

The Wales international, who made four appearances at Euro 2020, has seen his progress hampered by injuries during his stay in Italy and been involved just 66 times for Juventus.

After missing out on last season’s Serie A title by 13 points, Juventus have been keen to offload a number of fringe players and Ramsey is among those deemed to be surplus to requirements.

The 30-year-old has been on the radar of numerous Premier League clubs throughout the transfer window but Newcastle have yet to make an enquiry for the former Cardiff City midfielder.

Ramsey’s Juventus contract is reportedly worth £400,000-per-week, which would price out most Premier League clubs, but Howey has urged the Magpies to negotiate a loan deal that would see the Italian side paying a large chunk of his wages.

The former Newcastle defender exclusively told Football FanCast: “Newcastle couldn’t touch him with his wages. He went to Juve on a free and if they thought we’d carry on paying £300,000 if you pay £100,000, then I suppose they could look at that.

“I think it would be amazing for him because playing in front of those fans is ridiculous. If he performed, they would absolutely love him.”

A number of Liverpool supporters are happy with the news that Nat Phillips is set to start the Reds’ upcoming Carabao Cup clash against Norwich City.

Jurgen Klopp’s side continued their impressive start to the season on Saturday afternoon, beating Crystal Palace 3-0 at Anfield in the Premier League. It means Liverpool have dropped just two points and conceded only once in their opening five league matches, suggesting that a title challenge is on the cards.

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Attention switches to Carabao Cup commitments on Tuesday evening, however, as the Reds make the trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich, where they won 3-0 at the start of the league season just over a month ago.

Klopp is expected to make a number of changes for the game, and according to The Athletic’s James Pearce [via Anfield Edition on Twitter], Phillips will make his first start of the season against the Canaries.

The 24-year-old had a prolonged spell in the first team in 2020/21, a defensive injury crisis helping to propel him into the side, and he repaid Klopp’s faith with some tremendous performances.

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Liverpool fans react to Phillips claim

These Liverpool fans on Twitter reacted positively to the update from Pearce, with the centre-back something of a cult hero after his efforts last season.

“Nat Phillips szn has started. We move”

Credit: @drivelikejesu

“PHILDINI IS BACK”

Credit: @Twoguaps

“I’m actually excited about it”

Credit: @quarterluke

“Norwich won’t know what hit them”

Credit: @LangatGodwin_LG

“Bolton Maldini”

Credit: @schkuba

“He deserves to play few games at least. He was so good for us last season”

Credit: @ajithf808

In other news, some Liverpool fans are worried after an injury update emerged. Read more here.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left fuming as some early team news emerged on Ryan Jack ahead of their game at home to Hearts on Saturday.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match at Ibrox, Steven Gerrard has now revealed that Jack ‘will be back in a couple of weeks’, meaning that he is going to miss yet another fixture.

These are words all too familiar to Light Blues supporters with regards to the midfielder, of whom Gerrard claimed was a ‘couple of weeks’ way from being integrated back into the group last month.

Jack is an important player for the Teddy Bears, making 19 appearances in the Scottish Premiership on their way to the title last term, scoring two goals and supplying one assist (Transfermarkt).

Thus, it is understandable to see several Gers growing more impatient with regards to when exactly he will back.

Rangers Fans on Jack Team News

These RFC fans fumed as the Team News from Gerrard regarding Jack was shared on Twitter:

“Friday ruined”

Credit: @smithy_1872

“Jack has been a couple of weeks away for the last 3 months”

Credit: @Ross_Herkes1

“Feel like I’ve heard this sentence for 3 months”

Credit: @JacobMcArthur18

“Jack back “in a couple of weeks” – that seems to be the update every time.”

Credit: @Ggoggsie

“Said it many times…. Horrendous decision to waste a Europa squad space on him! Rossiteresque”

Credit: @bluedougie

“Swear Jack has been a few weeks away from returning for about 6 months. The new Jordan Rossiter.”

Credit: @Shanksy1872

In other news, find out what club update has Gers gushing here!

Tottenham Hotspur begin their quest for glory in Europe with a trip to Nuno Santo’s home country to face Liga Primeira outfit Pacos de Ferreira in a UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier later this evening.

In order to make the group stage of the competition, the north Londoners must see off the Portuguese outfit over two legs, with the return fixture scheduled for next week.

Pacos, who are nicknamed ‘The Beavers’, played as recently as Monday when they recorded their first defeat of the season. Meanwhile, Spurs got off to the perfect start, defeating defending Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

However, none of the 11 that started the 1-0 victory are expected to start at the Estadio Capital do Movel Stadium, as the Lilywhites head coach confirmed during his pre-game press conference. He’ll also be without Harry Kane, who continues to ramp up his preparations following his late return to training.

In fact, Spurs are expected to travel with a relatively young crop of players and with some that are lacking game time. It leaves the 47-year-old with some interesting thoughts over his team selection but there’s one name he must start – to benefit the squad on the night, and for the remainder of the 20201/22 campaign.

Summer signing Cristian Romero made his brief debut from the bench on Sunday, replacing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the final minute of the game to help shore up the defence to guarantee three points.

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In the absence of Joe Rodon, who is out through injury, and of course, the expected exclusion of Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier, who started at the weekend, Nuno will need someone to step up in defence and lead the side.

After all, that’s kind of why the Argentina international has been brought in. A lack of cohesion and individual mistakes let the club down last season, so they cannot afford to continue that trend in a competition that could be there for the taking.

Romero led the Serie A for interceptions per game (3.1) in 2020/21, whilst his overall performance on the pitch saw him clinch the ‘Defender of the Year’ award in the competition.

“He has been phenomenal as he won the MVP award for the best defender in Serie A,” claimed Italian football expert Conor Clancy to This is Futbol. “When he has the ball, his distribution and passing is so, so good. Romero can pick out a 50-yard pass onto the foot of a striker perfectly but it’s something that goes a little bit unnoticed because his defensive work is so good and he is a top, top defender.”

A further game average of 3.6 aerial duels won, two tackles and a 86.2% passing accuracy, via WhoScored, makes the £31.5m-rated colossus a scary prospect for any side and this time on the pitch could be valuable towards his chances of becoming Nuno’s regular starter in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, the 6 foot 1 beast’s presence alone should be enough to strike fear into the Pacos frontline, one that has found the net six times in their last two home outings.

The 23-year-old must be unleashed from the off this evening. It could be the difference-maker for Spurs, who should be targeting silverware in this very tournament.

AND in other news, Spurs make “complete” £36m-rated beast their “top” target, Nuno would love him…

A number of Liverpool supporters have reacted in delighted fashion to a claim that the Reds won’t be investigated for possible false negative virus tests.

The Reds have suffered a difficult period in their season, like so many clubs, with numerous players having to isolate after testing positive for the virus.

The likes of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho have all been ruled out at different times recently and Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge has been affected as a result, with just two points taken from the last nine on offer.

The Reds also saw their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal cancelled last week, with the Emirates Stadium fixture instead moved to 20 January.

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On Monday, a story from The Athletic emerged claiming that the Reds could be investigated for reported false positives, in what was a worrying development for the club.

However, according to The Evening Standard [via Anfield Watch], that will not happen, with the EFL not planning to dig deeper into the issue.

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Liverpool fans delighted at investigation claim

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to react positively to the news, with one describing it as a “masterclass” from manager Jurgen Klopp, who himself was recently diagnosed with the virus.

“Salty Arsenal fans incoming”

Credit: @Seyjith

“Liverpool is so massive”

Credit: @Tokpenyulfc

“This is really good news for #LFC”

Credit: @9_khac

“Another masterclass from Jurgen”

Credit: @jackmartinez_

“ARSENAL FANS CRYFEST!!!”

Credit: @dkapoor_lfc

“Let’s gooooo”

Credit: @6_LFC_19

In other news, some Liverpool fans have laughed off one Reds transfer claim. Read more here.

Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips will sign a new long-term deal at Elland Road provided they are not relegated, according to Jacque Talbot.

The Lowdown: Manchester United interest

Phillips has attracted plenty of interest over recent months, with Aston Villa, Newcastle United and West Ham all keen on his services.

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Manchester United have now joined the race for the England international and are thought to be ‘working on a deal’ which would take Phillips to Old Trafford.

The 26-year-old last signed a new deal with Leeds back in 2019 and is in the process of changing agents ahead of the summer window.

The Latest: Journalist’s update

Talbot took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon shortly after the major update on Manchester United’s interest.

The journalist believes Phillips won’t seek a move away from Leeds and will sign a new deal after what he’s been told.

“The way I’ve been told is that Kalvin Phillips is not seeking a move away from LUFC and will be signing a long-term extension with the club in the summer once the club’s Premier League status is secured. The midfielder loves Leeds so chance of a move to a close rival is scarce.”

The Verdict: Marsch gets his way

Jesse Marsch admitted last month that he would love to keep Phillips at Elland Road, and it looks as if he’ll get his wish, providing the Whites remain in the Premier League.

Phillips looks set to play a key role in the club’s attempts to avoid the drop too after making a long-awaited return from injury last weekend, so perhaps his motivation will be doubled.

He’s in contention for a first start since December against Watford tomorrow, where a win could go a long way to ensuring the club’s safety.

In other news: 5 key passes, 1 goal: Leeds target produces stunning midweek display as Orta eyes move – opinion. 

Kevin Phillips has been left fuming at some news involving Antonio Conte and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Conte bans ketchup and mayonnaise

As per The Athletic, both ketchup and mayonnaise have removed from the food menu at Spurs after Conte decided to ban the two condiments.

He is thought to believe that some of his players are overweight, so he has taken a similar regime to one he enforced at Chelsea back in 2016, when he decided to ban ketchup as well as pizza, fizzy drinks and brown sauce.

The Latest: Phillips fumes over condiments ban

Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League striker Phillips was left fuming when he heard the news. The 48-year-old raged:

“When I look at what Conte has done, banning ketchup and mayonnaise, it’s ridiculous.

“How many times have I seen managers doing that? For me, it is complete and utter nonsense. Managers just want to make changes when they come in.

“It makes no difference whatsoever, banning sauces. It just annoys people. I’ve been at clubs when managers have taken something away and players’ backs are up straight away.

“You cannot tell me having a bit of ketchup on your lunch at dinner time will affect your performance.

“Some managers demand that though and you have to respect it.”

The Verdict: Stamping authority

The fact that Conte is implementing his own ideas and methods early in his reign, however ‘ridiculous’ Phillips thinks they may be, means that he is stamping his authority on the club, which can only be a good thing.

Just look at his track record. At Chelsea, after implementing his ban on certain food and drink, he won them the Premier League title in the 2016/17 season, and the FA Cup the year after (Transfermarkt).

It shows that his methods work, and there is no reason why he cannot enjoy success at the Lilywhites, who are desperate to secure another major trophy having not won one since 2008. If these are the small first steps to be taken towards lifting silverware, so be it.

In other news, Spurs are in ‘pole position’ to sign this ‘really crazy’ beast

Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Florian Grillitsch to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Daily Mail, who claim that Leeds have joined fellow Premier League sides Arsenal, Newcastle United, West Ham and Everton in the race for the Hoffenheim midfielder – who looks set to become available on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract with the Bundesliga outfit at the end of the season.

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The report goes on to state that the 26-year-old’s representatives have sounded out a number of top-flight teams regarding a potential summer switch, while several unnamed German and Spanish sides are also thought to be keen on a move for the Austria international.

Finally, the Daily Mail claim that Victor Orta has identified the defensive midfielder as a potential replacement for Kalvin Phillips, who has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Bye-bye Phillips

While it is undeniable that losing the services of Phillips this summer would come as a huge blow to Jesse Marsch and his side, should Orta be able to get a deal for Grillitsch over the line as the 26-year-old’s replacement, it would certainly ease the loss of the Whites’ academy graduate.

Indeed, over his 18 Bundesliga appearances this season, the £14.4m-rated midfielder has been imperious in front of the Hoffenheim defence, making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 2.1 tackles, two clearances and winning 4.9 duels – at a success rate of 60% – per game.

Furthermore, the £35k-per-week Austrian has also completed an average of 51.9 passes, 6.6 long balls, 4.2 chipped passes and 0.6 key passes per fixture – demonstrating his quarterback-esque distribution of the ball.

These returns have seen the 26-year-old average a quite spectacular SofaScore match rating of 7.21, not only ranking him as Sebastian Hoeness’ second-best performer in the German top flight but also the joint 17th-best player in the division as a whole.

As such, it will perhaps come as no surprise to learn that Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann is a huge fan of the midfielder, with the 34-year-old stating back in 2020:

“Grillitsch is one of the best players in the Bundesliga, and he’s a bit under the radar. He still has a few construction sites, he knows that, I’ve told him that often enough. But he is an exceptional footballer and has an incredible gift for setting the rhythm of the game.”

Indeed, with this description also quite easily being applicable to Phillips, it is not difficult to understand why Orta would be considering a move for Grillitsch to replace the England international this summer, although, a move for the Hoffenheim midfield marshal would all but confirm the £45m-rated man’s departure.

AND in other news: Sources: Victor Orta plotting Leeds bid for £42m “tank”, he “can be as good as Virgil”