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Southampton fell to a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday night, although Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were perhaps unfortunate not to take a point, as they missed some guilt-edged chances before Thiago’s late goal gave the scoreline a more comfortable look for the hosts.

Although they ended up leaving with nothing, there were some promising performances on show from Southampton’s starting eleven, with Nathan Redmond, in particular, impressing on the left-hand side.

The former Norwich City man, who joined Southampton for £10m back in 2016, has enjoyed a resurgence of form over the past couple of months, having seriously struggled to impress in the first half of the campaign.

He looked dangerous at Anfield as he regularly ran at Liverpool’s defence and caused them problems, which is when he is at his best.

As per SofaScore, the English winger would earn an impressive 7.6/10 match rating for his display, which was comfortably the best of any Southampton player who featured in the game.

Redmond would complete 37/45 of his passes at Anfield, which was significantly more than Theo Walcott on the opposite flank, who managed just 10, and it was also far more than the 22.7 passes he has averaged per game in the Premier League so far this season.

The 27-year-old was also successful in all three of his dribble attempts against the Premier League champions and created a huge chance for Nathan Tella, who unfortunately headed straight at Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

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He was certainly Southampton’s main attacking threat throughout the game, managing one shot on target and three off target during the game, and was arguably unfortunate to be on the losing side.

Therefore, you could argue that he was let down by Saints striker Che Adams, who missed two glorious opportunities in the game, most notably when Alisson gifted him the ball but he could only shoot straight at the Brazilian ‘keeper when under no pressure.

Redmond deserved something from the game but his striker’s inability to put away two great chances cost both him, and the entire Saints’ side.

Hampshire Live journalist Tom Leach was also complimentary of Redmond after his display, writing:

“He’s at his very best when he runs at people and he did that over and over again early on, with a fair amount of success. He was unlucky not to get an assist just before the break when he crossed perfectly onto Tella’s head – but his nod was saved.”

You could definitely argue that Redmond is close to being back to his “very best” after some impressive displays in recent months but unfortunately for the winger, his promising performance was not enough to earn Southampton a share of the points at Anfield.

And, in other news… Southampton dealt devastating transfer setback to “exciting” £9m-rated gem, Ralph surely fuming

Celtic are interested in bringing Shamrock Rovers star Danny Mandroiu to Parkhead, The Scottish Sun reported late on Monday night.

The Lowdown: Mandroiu profiled

Mandroiu is 23 years of age and is primarily an attacking midfielder but he’s extremely versatile. The Irishman has also played as a central and defensive midfielder, on both wings and even as a centre-forward during his career. [Transfermarkt]

He’s netted 15 goals and provided six assists in 2021, with the former Brighton and Bohemian man labelled as ‘unbelievable’ by Shamrock boss Stephen Bradley.

Bradley also stated earlier this year that Mandroiu is ‘the fittest’ he’s ever been, and it seems as if Celtic will be making their move very soon.

The Latest: January move?

The Scottish Sun shared a story late on Monday evening, suggesting the Hoops are confident a deal can be struck.

Celtic have been keeping tabs on Mandroiu since the summer and it appears as if they will firm up their interest over the coming months.

The Verdict: Desmond or Nicholson’s decision?

Celtic brought in defender Liam Scales from Shamrock Rovers over the summer, however, Scales is yet to start a game under Ange Postecoglou.

Rumours have since emerged that Desmond may have brought Scales to Glasgow to balance the books at Shamrock, a club he has a 25% stake in, so hopefully, this isn’t the same.

Mandroiu appears to be making a real impact in Ireland and could bolster Postecoglou’s midfield options, so hopefully, he’s a target Michael Nicholson and Postecoglou want, and not a signing purely for Desmond’s benefit, as Scales’ was alleged.

In other news: Celtic now lining up January move for 6 ft 4 international. 

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!

Bruno Lage has made it clear that Wolves are open to making changes if needed in the upcoming transfer window, with players already being linked with moves away from Molineux and plenty of incoming transfers rumoured to be making a mid-season arrival to Lage’s side.

One player that has been heavily touted with a move to the club is Renato Sanches, who was set to join the side in the summer on a loan deal from Lille, but the talks hit a bump and Wolves were unable to secure the deal in time.

Since then, Sanches has now been linked with other Premier League clubs including Arsenal, which could really ramp up the competition for securing the Portuguese star’s signature.

Instead, Bruno Lage could revisit the potential signing of another player Wolves reportedly came close to signing in the summer, Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara.

He could be a potentially inspiration signing, especially when assessing the words of former teammate, Rolando, in an interview with RMC Sport:

“This kid is a phenomenon,” he began.

“He is full of qualities and, above all, he works, he listens. It is out of the ordinary.”

When comparing the pair from the French Ligue 1, Sanches and Kamara, despite playing in different roles, have very similar statistics this season, with Sanches offering an assist ahead of Kamara. However, with a more defensive role, the Marseille midfielder matches Sanches on goals and has better a better pass success percentage than his Lille counterpart.

When it comes to what Lage will be looking to improve, possession is a key issue for this current Wolves team, who have an average of 53.2% possession in the Premier League, and 9.1% less possession away from the Molineux this season.

Adding a player like Kamara, who has an impressive record on the ball, winning 15 aerial duels and 35 tackles as well as having an 89.8% pass completion record in 22 appearances for Marseille this season, who currently sit second in Ligue 1, could be a great asset for the Wolves team.

Lage will need to swoop quickly for the £25.2m-rated youngster, as he has now been linked with moves to European super clubs like Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona too, so it will be important to identify what he can do to ensure they can secure the signing and him Molineux in January before he becomes a free agent next summer.

In other news: Lage must axe Trincao after poor performances

Swansea will be looking to move into the automatic promotion spots when they take on Luton Town in Saturday’s early kick-off in the Championship.

Steve Cooper’s side were held to a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers in midweek, with Andre Ayew finding the net from the penalty spot once again, with the Swans having struggled to score from open play in recent fixtures.

Swansea are currently level on points with second-placed Watford in the table, although they have a game in hand on the Hornets.

With Norwich City running away with it at the top of the league, it is imperative that Cooper’s side pick up three points against a Luton side who are well in the bottom half of the Championship.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Cooper to set his side up against Luton on Saturday, with three changes from the team which started against Blackburn…

Despite the lack of clean sheets in recent fixtures, Freddie Woodman keeps his place in goal, and he should perhaps be confident of a shut-out against a side who have just 28 goals in the Championship so far this season.

There are two changes in defence, as after returning to the bench in recent fixtures, Ryan Bennett comes back into the side in place of Ben Cabango, with Cooper perhaps taking the opportunity for rotation amid the glut of fixtures.

Meanwhile, Ryan Manning comes in for Jake Bidwell at left wing-back, having impressed there in the 2-1 win against Stoke City recently.

There is one change in midfield as Korey Smith replaces Jay Fulton, whose ineffective display against Blackburn was characterised by a team-low 14 passes, and he features alongside the more attack-minded Matt Grimes and Conor Hourihane.

Ayew keeps his place up front but the Swans will have to start sharing the goals around more if they want to go up automatically, so Jamal Lowe will be hoping to end his rotten streak with a goal against the Hatters.

Rangers have been linked with a move for Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza recently and, should he make the move to Ibrox in the summer, he could be the perfect man to replace Jermain Defoe in Steven Gerrard’s side.

According to a report from 90min, a host of clubs including Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester, West Ham, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Southampton and Wolves are all interested in signing him after an impressive debut season in the Turkish top flight.

The report suggests that Russian side Krasnodar saw a move break down despite having a £7m bid accepted, as it is Boupendza’s priority to move to the Premier League, although perhaps the pull of playing in the Champions League could see him move further north to join up with Gerrard’s side.

Rangers look set to lose Defoe in the summer when his contract expires, whilst there is also speculation about Alfredo Morelos’ future at Ibrox, so it is easy to see why Rangers are seemingly in the market for a striker.

In his first season with Hatayspor, Boupendza has seriously caught the eye, having notched 18 goals in 26 appearances in the Süper Lig.

This has seen his Transfermarkt value soar from £405,000 to £6.3m this season alone and it seems likely that the Gabonese international won’t be plying his trade with Hatayspor much longer.

Other than a spell with Pau FC in Ligue 2, Boupendza has never really been able to find the net on a regular basis before his time with Hatayspor, although he was never really given much of an opportunity at other clubs.

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He has shown this season that he can be a serious attacking threat with a regular run in the team, and therefore could be a great addition to Gerrard’s side if he is given a chance to impress with the Ibrox outfit.

Boupendza has also featured as a left winger for Hatayspor at times this season, which suggests that he could fill in for Ryan Kent in Gerrard’s line-up if required.

This season has seen Defoe average 1.3 shots per game in the Premiership, whereas Boupendza averages 2.8 shots per game in Turkey, so he could definitely offer a goal threat should he make the move to Rangers.

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Therefore, Ross Wilson should certainly look at bringing the 24-year-old to Ibrox this summer, as he could prove to be the ideal man to replace Defoe in Gerrard’s squad.

And, in other news… Let down by Roofe: £4.05m-rated Rangers dynamo who played 3 key passes deserved better vs Slavia

Callum Wilson may not be a ‘main player’ at Newcastle United going forward, insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport. 

The lowdown

Wilson hasn’t featured for Newcastle in 2022, having sustained a calf injury in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the end of December.

Prior to that, he’d started every game for which he was available in the early months of the campaign.

Despite his lengthy absence, Wilson remains the Magpies’ top scorer with six goals, and he also led the way last season with 12.

The Englishman said recently that he hoped to be back in action by the end of this month, or the beginning of May.

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The latest

Jones says that Newcastle are keen to get Wilson back in the side, but raised doubts about his longevity at St James’ Park.

“They obviously want him back, but I don’t think Callum Wilson is going to be a main player in this team next season, to be honest,” he said.

The verdict

This comes as something of a surprise given Wilson’s goalscoring exploits.

Graeme Jones, who took charge of Newcastle in the brief period between Steve Bruce’s sacking and Eddie Howe’s arrival, has labelled the ‘fantastic’ no. 9 ‘the best matchday finisher’ he’s coached.

What’s more, his £25million replacement Chris Wood has struggled, scoring only one non-penalty goal across his first 14 appearances.

However, the Magpies seem to have their eyes on recruiting younger talent in the position.

They’ve been linked with 19-year-old Reims striker Hugo Ekitike and 22-year-old Benfica hitman Darwin Nunez, and these may be the kind of forwards they want to build around.

In other news, Chris Waugh has a key update on Matt Targett.

Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed recently that Liverpool have been offered the chance to sign Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and the Reds would be making a huge mistake if they were to sign the Greek centre-back.

What’s the word?

Romano revealed on his Here We Go podcast that the Merseyside club have been offered the 32-year-old defender this month, as the Gunners look to get the former Borussia Dortmund man off their books.

The Reds are, of course, currently low on defensive options following injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez earlier in the season but they would still perhaps be best served by avoiding Sokratis, considering he hasn’t played a single minute of senior football this season.

Worse than Lovren?

Liverpool will surely be rueing their decision to sell Croatian centre-back Dejan Lovren in the summer transfer window and not signing a replacement, as Jurgen Klopp has been forced to play Fabinho, usually alongside youngsters Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips in his defence for much of this season.

The 31-year-old averaged a very solid 7.09 rating for his performances in the Premier League last season when called upon by Klopp, whereas Sokratis earned a much less impressive 6.82 rating for the Gunners, suggesting that he would’ve been a much better option to have than the Arsenal man.

Whilst the experienced defender is well-known to Klopp, having featured 73 times under the German manager during his time at Dortmund, he is clearly well past his best, evidenced by Mikel Arteta leaving him out of his Premier League squad for this season.

Therefore, whilst the Greek international would provide a short-term solution in terms of being an available centre-back in Liverpool’s squad, in the time we would see him build his fitness, Matip would probably return from the injury that has kept him out recently, so he would only be useful if the Cameroonian suffered another injury.

Even then Klopp may prefer to keep faith in Phillips and Williams, so signing Sokratis who earns £92k per week at Arsenal would be a rare error from Michael Edwards and the Liverpool board, given the success they have seen from signings such as Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago and Sadio Mane, to name a few, in recent years.

And, in other news… Bye-bye Matip: Edwards must swoop for £50m titan tipped for “an amazing future”

Nottingham Forest left-back Yuri Ribeiro looks set to leave the City Ground this summer.

What’s the talk?

Despite the fact that a recent report by The Telegraph claiming that the left-back looked to be the only of Forest’s out of contract players to receive the offer of a new deal this summer, a recent post on Twitter by the 24-year-old himself appeared to suggest otherwise.

Ribeiro said: “Playing in England has always been a dream. Thanks [Nottingham Forest] for allowing me that. We wanted more this season but it’s not always possible. I’m sure this club will achieve what it deserves in the future. For me, it was an incredible experience! I’ve learned a lot this year! Thank you all for the support!”

Worrying news

While Ribeiro has in no way enjoyed the best of seasons for Forest this term, as has been the case for a number of their players throughout a disappointing league campaign, the £7.3k-per-week defender has proven in his time at the City Ground that he is more than capable of doing a job in the Championship.

Over the 24-year-old’s 25 league appearances last season, he helped his side keep seven clean sheets, as well as making an average of one interception, 0.8 tackles and 0.7 key passes per game, culminating in a respectable average SofaScore match rating of 6.71.

In the season prior, in which the Reds narrowly missed out on securing a play-off place, the left-back also returned decent metrics, helping his side keep nine clean sheets, providing three assists and creating four big chances, as well as averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.77.

As such, the former Portugal U21 international has been a reliable option for Forest at the back as well as going forwards, and his apparent departure seems to have left a number of the club’s fans gutted, with some taking to Twitter begging Chris Hughton to “give him a contract,” while others stated their belief that Ribeiro “should be staying” as he is a “brilliant player.”

Indeed, with the 62-year-old Forest manager also reportedly telling fellow left-back Gaetan Bong to find a new club this summer, releasing Ribeiro would seem to leave the club short of options in the position ahead of next season, and could be something that Hughton comes to regret.

In other news: Encouraging update emerges on Forest’s “leader” that’ll surely have fans buzzing – opinion

Newcastle United could help transform their club’s defence by signing Fulham centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo this summer.

What’s the story?

With Steve Bruce’s side having sealed Premier League safety this season, all eyes will be on how the club will look to strengthen the squad ahead of the new campaign.

And, according to The Athletic, the Magpies have got their eye on the 23-year-old Adarabioyo, with the former Manchester City defender understood to be open to leaving Craven Cottage following his side’s relegation.

The report does add, however, that Newcastle could face significant transfer competition for him from fellow Premier League side Arsenal.

Premier League proven

With the Magpies having conceded 62 goals this season in the Premier League – only Southampton and bottom side Sheffield United have let in more – it’s no surprise the club are eyeing a move for Adarabioyo this summer.

And while the centre-back might have been playing for a Fulham side that got relegated, that certainly doesn’t take away from how impressive he has been at Craven Cottage, or how good he could potentially become at Newcastle – you only have to look at Liverpool’s poaching of the Magpies’ own Gini Wijnaldum to see that there is plenty of top talent at sides who go down.

Having been described as a “high quality, class player” by his former boss at Blackburn, Tony Mowbray, Adarabioyo has got the kind of pedigree that could really help the Magpies out.

Mowbray said: “The reason we brought him was because of his attributes. He’s 6ft 5in, he’s very very quick, his distribution is as a good as any centre-back in the division.”

And, when you look at his performances this season for Fulham and compare him to what Newcastle have currently got in terms of their centre-back options, then Adarabioyo simply blows them all away.

As per Whoscored, his combination of 1.2 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game in the top-flight is better than the likes of Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Ciaran Clark and Federico Fernandez, with the latter being the only one to better his tackling stats.

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The former City starlet is also significantly better than any of Newcastle’s defensive options when it comes to playing out from the back, and even anyone in the entire Magpies squad – his 56.7 average passes per game at an accuracy of 85.9% would rank him top among all of the Tyneside club’s players.

It’s exactly why Bruce could help transform the Newcastle defence with the signing of the 23-year-old.

Meanwhile, Steve Bruce is eyeing a move for this Premier League starlet…