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As England prepare to take on Lithuania at Wembley in this evening’s Euro 2016 Group E qualifier, there’s only one question the public want answering; will there be a starring role for Tottenham’s prodigious striker Harry Kane?

In just a matter of months, the 21 year-old has moved from the fringes of the Spurs squad to the peripheries of greatness, a hat-trick against Leicester City last weekend seeing him rise to the top of the Premier League’s scoring charts with 19 goals, alongside Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero. Les Ferdinand has even described him as a mix between Teddy Sherringham and Alan Shearer – high praise indeed.

More than just his goals and recent form, there’s something uniquely captivating about the young forward. His relentless enthusiasm for the beautiful game, and particularly Tottenham, constantly shines out, especially amid a Premier League era dominated by foreign stars and billionaire owners. He’s a throwback to simpler times; of local lads coming good for their hometown clubs; of Roy of the Rovers – or Kane of the Lane – fairytales; before supranational corporate sponsors began pouring unprecedented fortunes into all sectors of top flight football.

The chant “he’s one of our own” is by no means exclusive to Tottenham fans. Along with the Lilywhites fan base, the majority of England supporters will want to see the country’s latest potential hero in action tonight. It feels only fair, considering the orgasmic goalscoring pleasure he’s brought us all this season.

International minnows like Lithuania, however, throw up a rather bemusing proposition. In theory, facing a 94th-placed FIFA-ranked team in front of a supportive Wembley crowd should be the perfect opportunity for Kane to get his first taste of competitive senior international football, but in practice, such matches never quite pan out as expected – especially for a fatally flawed, over-pressurised England side.

Whilst Kane’s found superfluous form in the Premier League, a division defined by it’s up-down pace, chaotic defending and sweeping counter-attacks, the Lithuania fixture will offer none of the aforementioned. More simply, all eleven men behind the ball, camping in their own defensive third, trying to keep the score at nil-nil for as long as possible, knowing that the Wembley crowd will eventually get restless. Does Kane, although clearly a prominent young talent, possess the temperament and composure not become overawed by the unnecessarily apprehensive circumstances England will likely face tonight?

It may seem like a rather boring alternative, but in a qualifier that could see England move nine points clear of the competition in Group E, it’s likely Roy Hodgson will reserve the striking role for his captain Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United star has, after all, claimed 46 international goals almost exclusively against this calibre of opposition, and will enter tonight firmly in the knowledge he’s only three strikes shy of Bobby Charlton’s all-time top scorer record – a huge source of personal motivation.

Of course, it largely depends on how Hodgson sets up his side this evening. If he opts for the midfield diamond that secured a 2-0 win over Switzerland in September and gave England a refreshed sense of their industrious identity, then Kane should be starting. After all, he’s almost matched the Premier League career haul of the only other striker in the England squad, Danny Welbeck (with 24 goals) in the space of a single campaign, and unlike the bit-part Arsenal star is amid a run of 20 consecutive Premier League starts. On the back of a hat-trick at the Lane last Saturday, he’s fresh, sharp and at the top of his game.

Yet, fearing an ever-conservative Roy Hodgson, a cameo role seems the likeliest scenario for Kane this evening. That may not be the most popular choice but probably a sensible one, not only sparing the debutant from a potentially tepid opening atmosphere, but furthermore resting him for a starting berth in the friendly against Italy next week. Hurrikane will get a few minutes – but probably not enough for his forceful breeze to start uprooting Wembley trees.

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Arsenal have joined the list of clubs monitoring Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez, according to the Daily Mail.

The Chilean international has rotated in and out of the starting XI for the Catalan giants, and is understood to be willing to listen to offers in the summer.

Joining Arsenal in the race to sign Sanchez are Inter Milan, Liverpool and Serie A champions Juventus. The 24-year-old joined Barcelona from Udinese in 2011 for £22million, after rejecting offers from Premier League clubs Manchester United and Manchester City. Fabrizo Larini, the sporting director at former club Udinese, believes Sanchez would fit the style of football seen at the Emirates.

“Sanchez needs to play the ball on the ground, just like Arsenal. That would be his ideal game,” Larini said.

“The only thing that these teams will have to consider is that he is a player who needs freedom to play his way. In teams that particular rigid patterns of play he might have a few problems.”

Arsenal are looking at several attacking options for the summer transfer window, after being one of many clubs to scout St Etienne’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon international has been one of the players of Ligue 1 this season and could be receiving a bid from Arsene Wenger when the window reopens.

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For now, Wenger will just be hoping to get all of his players back injury-free after the international break, ahead of the club’s next game against Reading at The Emirates at the end of March.

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Chris Coleman hasn’t had much in the way of resources with which to overhaul his Sunderland side this season so his work has largely been on repeatedly shuffling the pack to see if he can find a winning formula.

For the Good Friday trip to Derby County, Lynden Gooch got the nod for the first time in nine matches and he proved to be something of a joker in the pack for the former Wales manager.

The American playmaker showed passion and craft as the Black Cats thrashed Gary Rowett’s promotion chasers 4-1 at Pride Park to haul themselves into 23rd in the Championship and to within three points of safety.

George Honeyman, Ashley Fletcher – his first for the club – Aiden McGeady and captain John O’Shea might have got the goals but nobody impressed the travelling fans more than Gooch.

All they want is for the midfielder to keep it up in the last seven games of the season to give their side the best possible chance of survival and we’ve taken a look at the best of the reaction…

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Since first signing for Manchester United back in 2010, after an impressive World Cup campaign with his native Mexico, Javier Hernandez has been a player many fans of the Premier League could fail to forget. Whether it be through his excellent movement in the box, his uncanny ability to find the right place at the right time, or just his somewhat unique nickname, ‘Chicharito’ has found himself many genuine supporters throughout his time at Old Trafford.

His subsequent loan move to the Bernabeu indicates just how highly valued the Mexican really is, as with Carlo Ancelotti seeing fit to include him in a squad already boasting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the quick-footed no. 14 really does deserve credit.

However, much of Hernandez’ praise has developed around his status as a ‘super-sub’ and an impact player from the bench. As every player wants to be starting games as a nailed on first choice asset, does Chicharito deserve more than his ‘super-sub’ status in club football, or is a place on the subs bench all Javier Hernandez can realistically expect these days?

In true reminiscent style of Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford, the £8million Mexican has developed a reputation with Manchester United for impacting his respective matches late on in the proceedings, rather than starting from the outset. Hernandez is capable of baffling somewhat tired defenders with his impressive runs, as well as displaying an often unmatched desire to get on the end of loose balls and seemingly fruitless passes.

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Many of his goals would come from unexpected scenarios, from which the former Guadalajara star would put the ball in the back of the net when most other onlookers thought the chance had gone. He is capable with scoring with either foot, has become very adept in his link-up play, and quite surprisingly for someone of his size, is able to leap up in the air a send the ball home with his head in real style.

The Mexican’s form has never been entirely consistent however, with some games passing him by without many even noticing his participation on the pitch. Yet as more often than not he would record a priceless goal for United, his seemingly little contribution often turned out to be very significant.

With the somewhat endless collection of world renown stars turning up at Old Trafford in recent years however, Javier Hernandez simply could no longer command a place in the starting XI, having to except his status as a ‘super-sub’ with very little choice. The same fate seems to have reached Chicharito at Real Madrid as well. Despite scoring four goals from almost as many starts in the Spanish campaign, most of the Manchester United loanee’s time at the Bernabeu has once again been spent warming the subs bench.

It seems that Carlo Ancelotti may have even recruited Hernandez simply for his role as an impact player, despite what may have initially been agreed between the two parties in the summer.

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So then, with everything taken into account regarding Javier Hernandez’ role in club football, it seems that at the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, the substitutes bench is simply the best option available for the little Mexican. He will never be able to oust the likes of Ronaldo, Bale or Benzema, but maybe at a slightly smaller club where expectation and competition is not as intense, perhaps Hernandez may just find himself a new place to become a first team starter.

Until then however, the Chicharito we know is simply going to have to resume his role as Europe’s favourite ‘super-sub’ for now.

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Arsenal’s north London derby defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday has been hailed as a true turning point in the balance of power in the area and between both clubs for the first time during Arsene Wenger’s tenure as manager, but is it all as easy to rectify as simply spending more money in the summer or do the problems go deeper than that?

The term ‘sterile domination’ is one that’s been coined to describe the Arsenal we see before us this season and their record against the top four, which reads played seven, won one, drawn one and lost five, on top of defeats in Europe to the likes of Bayern Munich and Schalke just highlights that they are struggling against better quality opposition this term. Losing Robin van Persie to Manchester United in the summer and bringing in Olivier Giroud as his replacement sums up the transfer policy and the sharp fall in quality better than any words can. Giroud is a perfectly serviceable option to have in your squad, but he shouldn’t be the only option to call upon and the club looks desperately short of options in key areas.

Former Gunners defender Sol Campbell urged Wenger to re-think his transfer policy of recent years, pointing to Sir Alex Ferguson as the model to follow for the future, telling The Mirror: “You have to give him (Wenger) immense credit for what he has done and it has been overlooked that while they have not done well in the cups, they have been consistent in the league.

“But maybe there has to be a change regarding transfers. It should be done on a more case-by-case fashion. I think the fans deserve that. Sir Alex Ferguson clearly looked at what United could win if they had Van Persie and decided that if they succeed, that would justify the fee.”

Before we get ourselves into a tiresome net spend argument, which is obviously inflated due to the sales of van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in recent campaigns, that doesn’t detract from the fact that Arsenal have spent significant funds, but their replacements have all been purchased from the bargain bin in an attempt to reign in costs. Liverpool have been guilty of the same needlessly cheap exercise for years and all it does is plug your squad full of decent players that are incapable of performing to the standard required of a side chasing top four football.

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The respective run-ins that both Tottenham and Arsenal have mean that the seven-point gap can yet be made up, while they still sit just five points behind Chelsea in fourth with ten games left to play, but the run they went on this time last season was only made possible by the presence of van Persie, and they look short of not only leaders but players to look toward for inspiration when everything isn’t going according to plan.

Wenger essentially answered his own poser during the post-match interviews yesterday, telling the BBC: “In the first half there was nothing [in it] and then we were 2-0 down. I don’t know how it happened. We produced a great energy level from the first to the last minute, but we were not decisive enough in our box or their box.” That crucial lack of quality at either end of the pitch is ensuring this is perhaps the most difficult season they have had in qualifying for next year’s Champions League and the odds are stacked against them, even if it is still not an impossible feat.

When things are going badly, former players are always quick to label what the manager at the helm should be doing, despite not having any real experience in the game other than their success on the pitch. Everyone is a critic, but when it comes to Wenger and his reluctance to spend big money when needed, it’s an opinion that’s almost universally held and should they fail to make the top four this season, all of their hard cost-cutting work in preparing the club for Financial Fair Play will have been in vain; they simply won’t be in a position to capitalise on the levelling of the playing field that they hope will happen from Europe’s second tier competition and therefore will struggle to attract the players required to close the gap.

Given his recent failings in the transfer market, there’s no reason to suggest that throwing money at Wenger would guarantee success at all, while the reports of him being handed a budget upwards of £70m in the summer always appear to coincide rather neatly with the club putting up ticket prices – the cynic in me would suggest that they are more than linked.

What is clear, though, is that something has to change, whether that be the club’s bean-counting approach, the man in charge or an overhaul of the playing staff. The club is clearly on the way down at the moment, incapable of stopping the rot, while on the other side of the street, Tottenham under Andre Villas-Boas are a club on the up.

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Wenger’s greatest downfall, even larger than his stubbornness to accept that he’s wrong and that he may need to adapt at times, is his trust in his players and across the squad, there are plenty that deserve a swift exit and it’s actually quicker to count on one hand the ones that need to be kept than not.

Just so long as Wenger continues to define finishing in the top four as akin to success and a ‘trophy’, then they will continue to accept second best and even by those standards the club is underperforming this season. Changing the culture of the club and approach behind the scenes is just as important as spending money, even if Campbell has a point that quality rather than quantity on a case-by-case basis should be keenly looked at in the summer. This isn’t quite a time of crisis yet, more a day of licking wounds, but Arsenal need to get their house in order or they run the risk of falling short precisely at a time when their financial future dictates they must succeed.

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Former Arsenal Striker Nwankwo Kanu, has reportedly announced that he will run in the Nigerian presidential election in 2019.

Kanu has been inspired by former footballer George Weah, who successfully ran in the 2017 Liberian elections. He has vowed to do his best to wrestle corruption in Nigeria.

The former Arsenal striker also had spells at Portsmouth, Ajax and Inter Milan. He won the 1995 Champions League with Ajax.

He captained Nigeria for 16 years and was named African player of the year twice. He also won several trophies, including the Premier League, FA Cup UEFA Cup and Olympic Gold Medal.

The striker is best known in England for his time at Arsenal, where he scored 44 goals in a 198 games. His appearances slowly declined due to the emergence of French striker Thierry Henry. Despite this he was still a key member for Arsenal’s ‘invisibles’ squad.’

The striker made the third most substitute appearances in the Premier League and will be hoping to substitute a career in football for one in politics.

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Here is the twitter reaction below:

January has been a quiet month for Liverpool. Only the re-arrival of Jordan Ibe – he had been on loan at Derby – has pierced the transfer silence on the red half of Merseyside, despite the club having entered the window with areas of concern in their squad. One of those ‘zones of worry’ has been up front, where the absence of Daniel Sturridge – who last played for the club in August – through injury has increased the focus on the failing of new duo Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert, as well a Fabio Borini.

But, reports over the last 24 hours have indicated that the area is set to be addressed with a move for Danny Ings of Burnley. Although many fans want the ‘box office’ name, the Clarets forward actually does make some sense for the Reds, even though any swoop would see him spend the rest of the season at Turf Moor.

We all known that Balotelli, Borini and Lambert have been awful so far this season, and when compared to Ings their stats are even worse than expected. That’s no dig at the Burnley man, though, who has been impressive since stepping up from the Championship – where he netted 21 goals last season – with seven efforts showing his deadly edge. He also strikes more shots from inside the area than any Liverpool striker, and hits the ball goalwards more often – albeit with more game time under his belt.

Per 90 minutes his numbers aren’t quite so domineering, but he certainly of more use than Balotelli in terms of creativity.

Opinion seems divided on the 22-year-old, with Sky Sports’ poll – albeit vague – showing a new 50/50 split on the worthwhile nature of a deal. And it appears voices on Twitter are similarly polar… 

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Alan Pardew thanked the Newcastle board for their investment in new players following his side’s 2-1 Premier League victory over Aston Villa.

The Magpies have brought in five new faces this month, after a disappointing start to the season left them perilously close to the relegation zone.

Mathieu Debuchy, Moussa Sissoko and Yoan Gouffran all started against the Villains, whilst Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa came on as a substitute.

They all contributed to an important victory, and Pardew paid special thanks to the club’s hierarchy after the game:

“There has been a lot of work and effort to get that win, not just from the staff and the players, but the directors and (Newcastle managing director) Derek Llambias.” He told Sky Sports.

“Sissoko was magnificent in the first half. He is going to be a powerful player in the Premier League.

“Sissoko made a difference today with his power and control, and he helped Papiss, who has been a bit isolated, especially since Demba (Ba) left.

“I have always had my eye on him. That’s a nice little aperitif that he showed tonight.”

Papiss Cisse gave the visitors the lead after 19 minutes, before midfielder Yohan Cabaye doubled their advantage with a fine half-volley.

Villa pulled one back in the second-half through Christian Benteke, but Newcastle held firm to secure a vital win.

Pardew was happy with his side’s display throughout the game:

“In the first half we were magnificent,” Pardew added. “We would have given anyone a game with that performance. We played as well as we have played all year.

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“In the second half, we had to show another side to our game – to battle, to fight – and everybody played their part.

Despite the result, Pardew feels that his side are some way from being out of relegation danger:

“It was our day today. It is by far not over for us. We have got 14 cup finals to come, but it’s a start.”

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Trent Alexander-Arnold’s football career is on an upward trajectory as he is now a regular feature in the Liverpool first-team squad.

It appears that his international future is also looking positive as he trained with the England senior squad on Tuesday.

According to Sky Sports, the full-back has not been added to Gareth Southgate’s setup for friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy, but was invited to train with the players at St George’s Park.

Alexander-Arnold is expected to play for the England Under-21s against Romania this week.

The 19-year-old has become a more regular figure at Anfield having started 18 matches in all competitions, including 13 in the Premier League.

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The Merseyside-born teen has already built up a good relationship with the fans, and that was evident when they gave him words of encouragement following his disappointing display against Manchester United.

After hearing that Alexander-Arnold had been welcomed into senior training with England, Liverpool fans could not hide their joy.

Robert Green believes that QPR’s current side has more spirit and “heart” than the star-studded one he was a part of in the 2012-13 campaign, which ended in relegation.

The Super Hoops bounced straight back up to the top tier last season via the play-offs after sliding out of the division on the back of some limp showings.

QPR’s relegation season was one in which the club were criticised for possessing a number of overpaid and under-motivated players, with big names such as Julio Cesar, Jose Bosingwa, Djibril Cisse and Park Ji-Sung – who all had Champions League winners medals in their possession – in the squad

WANT MORE? >> QPR transfer news | Latest transfer news

Nowadays the Londoners boast a set-up with less glamorous names in the starting XI on a weekly basis.

And Green – a regular this term – believes that the new attitude makes this side a tougher proposition than the one he used to be in:

“In terms of what people have done, there were more medals in that 2012-13 squad, but there is undoubtedly more heart in this team. I know which camp I’d rather be in.” he told the London Evening Standard.

“The caring and the willingness to do well for each other, the club and yourself is there. You can’t buy that as proved by a couple of years ago. When you’ve got a group of 20 lads, inevitably over the year people will fall by the wayside sporadically. But if you have the majority all pushing in the same direction, like we are now, you need that movement to keep pulling everyone along.

“When you’ve got 20 lads and just five or six pulling in one direction and 14 in other, it’s nigh on impossible. It’s like herding cats. You can’t get everyone in the same place let alone in the same direction. It sounds simple, but when it goes wrong like it did back then, it’s very hard to drag back.

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“We had such an awful start last time (it took a Premier League record 17 games to record their first victory), we never recovered from it.

“On paper the team was good. We fell under the impression that ‘of course we are going to win games’. It hardly happened. Credit to the manager (Harry Redknapp) it was recognised and through a lot of hard work, fire-fighting and transfer windows, it’s been turned around.”

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