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David Moyes may soon have improved competition for places at West Ham United as Andriy Yarmolenko has returned to training after sustaining knee ligament damage.

That’s according to images shared on the Irons’ official club website, which have since been picked up by the Ukraine Football Federation, after it was noted that the 31-year-old is back amongst the action at Rush Green.

Yarmolenko has missed the Hammers’ last five Premier League fixtures after suffering damage to his knee during last month’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Manchester United.

The Ukraine international had started the action at Old Trafford in a centre-forward role in the absence of Michail Antonio, who had been rested due to showing serious fatigue against Fulham.

Yarmolenko now appears to be stepping up his rehabilitation with a return to the grass pitches at West Ham’s Rush Green facilities, having joined his teammates as they prepared for last Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to the Red Devils.

Moyes did not address Yarmolenko’s road to recovery when discussing the fitness of his squad last week, but offered updates on Angelo Ogbonna and Arthur Masuaku after they returned to training and showed positive signs of progress.

The Irons boss had opted against putting a time scale on Yarmolenko’s return in the immediate aftermath of his injury, instead noting that he hoped “that the damage is not serious”.

Images of Yarmolenko now working with the West Ham squad would suggest the forward is nearing a potential return to selection alongside Ogbonna and Masuaku. He was also recently named in Andriy Shevchenko’s expanded Ukraine squad for the upcoming international break.

Having Yarmolenko available for West Ham’s run of fixtures beyond the March internationals will come as a boost to Moyes, with the east London outfit still to face a few of their rivals for a European qualifying berth in Leicester City, Chelsea and Everton.

Yarmolenko may be unlikely to feature in Sunday’s London derby with Arsenal, given Moyes did not address his progress when speaking to the media while discussing Ogbonna and Masuaku last week, but the Ukraine winger’s return could soon be a boost.

Moyes has previously dubbed Yarmolenko as offering “good competition” for places at the London Stadium, and has praised the £7m-rated forward as being a “very talented player”.

That competition can come in both his natural wide role to challenge Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma for minutes, but also in providing depth behind Antonio given the striker is Moyes’ only recognised centre-forward after Sebastien Haller’s winter exit.

Yarmolenko started two of West Ham’s FA Cup ties this season in a striker role and netted with composure in the fourth-round win over Doncaster Rovers, after which West Ham assistant coach Alan Irvine praised his performance.

“It was very encouraging the way Yarmo performed. He has played there before and we know the ability he has got and we know that if we get him through in those kinds of situations one v one with the goalkeeper, he is a very, very good finisher,” said Irvine, via quotes by football.london.

Goals have not been an issue for Antonio in most throughout Yarmolenko’s spell on the sidelines, netting against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, but the 30-year-old was often invisible at Old Trafford on Sunday and helped to leave Moyes feeling underwhelmed with his offence.

Yarmolenko is not the ideal option to offer cover and support at striker, but he has proven to be an adept back-up who may soon provide Moyes a welcome boost upon his full return.

AND in other news, West Ham in four-way Premier League battle for 13-goal striker who is “annoying to the defender”…

Upsets are a common theme with sports and we’ve seen plenty of these that even become films. But no sport does it better than football and 2010 saw a good number of epic upsets that literally no one outside diehard fanatics saw coming.

This is the appeal of betting on soccer online or football as being on the right side of a longshot overcoming the odds is unmatched. But for backers of the chalk, it’s the stuff of nightmares.

Here are the five biggest betting upsets of the last decade:

Leicester Win the Premier League (2016)

Leading off with the most stunning betting upset in the last decade and possibly the last century, LCFC made a mockery of sportsbooks everywhere by winning the EPL as 5,000/1 underdogs.

The Foxes had never even come close to the top flight title let alone win it. Their best result was a second-place finish back in 1929, when most sports bettors were not even born yet.

Leicester were led by Jamie Vardy who was a man possessed and scoring 13 goals in 11 consecutive matches. It took a bit of luck too as the ever-disappointing Tottenham blew a 2-0 lead against Chelsea as the Foxes clinched the title on May 2, 2016.

Several oddsmakers offered the odds as a joke similar to betting odds with Kim Kardashian winning the US Presidency. No one is laughing now as Leicester proved that in football, nothing is impossible.

Iceland Stun England in the Euros (2016)

It’s not a betting upset list without England in it and Iceland just added to the national side’s long list of unfortunate international debacles. England was a 2/1 favourite to eliminate Iceland, the underdogs of Euro 2016. Iceland was around 8/1 to win and a draw was 3/1.

Iceland fought back after trailing 1-0 almost immediately. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson scored the go-ahead goal before the 20-minute mark and that’s all she wrote.

This would be the country’s biggest international sporting event result. And as for England, manager Roy Hodgson quit within minutes of the result much to the nation’s relief.

If your highly-touted squad lost to a fledgling team with a part-time dentist in it, you’d quit too.

Wigan Shock Manchester City in FA Cup Final (2013)

2013 was a turning point for Man City and Wigan Athletic helped play a role in that in what would be one of the FA Cup’s most improbable championship performances.

Man City entered the match favored at 4/11 or -250 per moneyline odds. Wigan was 7/1 and a draw was nearly 4/1. The English squad boasted a stacked roster featuring not one, not two, but three players with ten or more goals in the Premier League.

But none of that mattered as the Citizens couldn’t find the back of the net for over 90 minutes. And in extra time, Ben Watson’s header would clinch the “greatest upset in FA Cup Final history in a quarter of a century.”

This would become Wigan’s first FA cup victory and City would sack manager Roberto Mancini just two days after.

FC Barcelona Hijack Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League Dreams (2017)

It’s not often we find the mighty Barca as an underdog and it’s even rarer to spot them as a 200/1 underdog. But the Catalans were staring at a 4-0 hole against the equally talented French squad.

Barca entered the game as 8/1 underdogs to advance to the next stage. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and an own goal pushed the Catalans to striking range but Edinson Cavani scored for PSG to seemingly put it out of reach.

Luis Enrique’s boys’ odds jumped up to 200/1 as they were now behind 5-3 on aggregate with the clock ticking. But Brazilian wunderkind Neymar would score two quick goals to bring barca within one and Roberto would notch the clinching goal in extra time.

This improbable victory would be the Champions League’s biggest comeback.

South Korea Sends Germany Home in the World Cup (2018)

Koreans have been pulling shockers at the World Cup since before half of us were born. In 1966, the North Koreans upended the Italians and nearly half a century later, their southern counterparts did the same thing. In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, South Korea did it again. Oops!

The defending champions needed to beat Korea to advance to the knockout stage and oddsmakers pegged them as 1/5 favorites while South Korea was as large as an 18/1 underdog (a draw was 6/1).

For 90 minutes, it was Germany pushing Korea back and dominating ball possession. It seemed inevitable they would score. But don’t tell the Koreans that!

King Young-gwon chipped it past German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to give the Koreans a 1-0 edge and they’d add another when Neuer joined Germany as an attacker to officially eliminate Germany and keep them from advancing past the group stage for the first time in 80 years.

MatériaMais Notícias

Em casa, o Vasco conseguiu se impor e mandar em grande parte da partida. Em tarde em que Nenê foi alvo de forte marcação, Andrezinho e Jorge Henrique foram os grandes destaques do time cruz-maltino na vitória, por 2 a 0, sobre o Bangu. A dupla de zaga também foi bem, e Luan chegou a balançar a rede. Pelo lado do Bangu, Almir não teve muito sucesso. Junior foi o jogador que levou mais perigo ao adversário, em chute de longe, ainda no primeiro tempo.

VASCO

6,5
Martin Silva
Pouco acionado durante o jogo, foi quase um espectador. Quando necessário, fez defesas seguras.

6,0
Madson
Não esteve nos melhores dias, mas acertou o cruzamento para o gol marcado por Jorge Henrique.

7,5
Luan
Um dos destaques do jogo. Mostrou segurança na defesa, com cortes certeiros. Ainda balançou a rede.

7,0
Rodrigo
Outro defensor que também foi bem. Comandou a zaga e deu assistência ao companheiro Luan.

7,0
Julio Cesar
Mais preso ao campo de defesa, quando subiu, conseguiu criar coisas boas.

6,5
Marcelo Mattos
Com a marcação mais à frente, organizou a saída de bola e teve atuação positiva. Fez algumas faltas desnecessárias.

6,5
Julio dos Santos
Teve algumas falhas na marcação e forçou jogadas, mas apareceu bem quando chegou à frente.

7,0
Andrezinho
Com Nenê bem marcado, foi o jogador mais ativo no meio de campo, principalmente na ligação entre defesa e ataque.

6,0
Nenê
Sofreu com a forte marcação que teve. No fim do jogo, quase marcou ao acertar uma bola na trave.

7,5
Jorge Henrique
Fez, talvez, seu melhor jogo na temporada. Criou boas jogadas, roubou bola no meio e ainda balançou a rede.

6,0
Thalles
Continua mostrando evolução, mas errou algumas oportunidades que um camisa 9 não pode desperdiçar.

–
Caio Monteiro
O atacante entrou no fim e compôs mais o meio, deixando Nenê um pouco mais avançado. Não teve muito tempo.

–
Mateus Pet
Assim como Caio Monteiro, também entrou no fim e pouco pôde fazer para mudar a história da partida.

–
Matheus Índio
Entrou antes do último lance da partida. Pisou no gramado e o árbitro apontou o meio de campo.

7,5
Jorginho
Armou um time que mandou na partida durante os 90 minutos e saiu com a vitória sem sustos.

BANGU

7,0
Célio Gabriel
Fez, ao menos, duas grandes defesas no jogo.

5,5
Paulo Barrach
Cometeu erros bobos na marcação.

4,5
Anderson Penna
Sofreu com a troca de passes em frente à área do Bangu.

4,5
Marlon
Também não esteve em uma boa tarde e falhou algumas vezes.

4,5
Guilherme
Não conseguiu ir ao ataque e nem parar Madson.

6,5
Magno
Teve a função de marcar Nenê e foi bem.

6,0
Júnior
Foi o que levou mais perigo, ainda na etapa inicial. Mas abusou das faltas.

4,5
Ives
Mostrou-se meio perdido na hora de fazer a marcação por pressão.

5,5
Almir
Tentou organizar o time, mas não teve muito sucesso.

5,5
Giovanni Carioca
Teve de recuar para buscar o jogo, mas não foi bem.

5,0
Tiago Barreiros
Ficou isolado no ataque. Arriscou alguns chutes de longe.

4,5
Igor Goulart
Entrou com a intenção de ajudar na frente, mas não aconteceu.

5,0
Willam Amendoim
Chegou duas vezes, mas não finalizou bem as jogadas.

5,0
Magnum
Ficou preso na marcação do meio de campo do Vasco.

4,5
Emanoel Sacramento
Viu seu time ser completamente dominado.

Jurgen Klopp looks to have been handed another injury blow ahead of his side’s trip to Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday, with Jordan Henderson reportedly unlikely to feature through injury.

The Liverpool captain was ruled out of the game in midweek against Burnley with a muscle strain and was certainly missed, as the Reds saw their long unbeaten home run come to an end at the hands of Sean Dyche’s side.

Goal have now reported that the 30-year-old is unlikely to feature against Manchester United this weekend, which is undoubtedly a huge blow for Klopp’s side.

The Reds lacked any sort of real fight or leadership against Burnley on Thursday, something you surely feel that Henderson would have provided himself, and would have demanded from his teammates if he were on the pitch.

In the absence of Virgil van Dijk, it could certainly be argued that the Reds are lacking any leaders on the pitch when the former Sunderland man doesn’t play, so not having either at Old Trafford could be a recipe for disaster.

The England international played as a centre-back for the visit of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side earlier this month and impressed against the dangerous front three, but it appears the Reds will be without his experience in midfield for the FA Cup tie.

Fortunately for Klopp, he does now have Joel Matip back fit, so he can partner Fabinho in defence, but the Reds will certainly miss Henderson’s experience in midfield if he cannot feature on Sunday.

The German manager has emphasised the importance of his captain in the past, saying:

If anybody who is with us still doesn’t see the quality of Jordan Henderson, then I cannot help them.

“Is Hendo the perfect football player? No. Do I know anybody who is? No. But is he unbelievably important to us? Yes.”

Therefore, it comes as a huge blow for Liverpool that he is unlikely to feature at Old Trafford on Sunday, as he could have been the catalyst for the Reds turning their disappointing form around with a morale-boosting FA Cup win against their old rivals.

And, in other news… “Of course he would” – Exclusive: Pundit claims PL beast would love to join LFC

When Leeds failed to get Kemar Roofe’s contract wrapped up in time, it was a bitter blow for Marcelo Bielsa.

Roofe finished the 2018/19 campaign as the club’s top scorer on 15 goals but then left for pastures new.

He picked up the phone from a certain Vincent Kompany and joined the former Manchester City captain at Anderlecht. His spell ended after just a year, however.

The striker is now at Rangers and in the process of scoring ten strikes, he has put the Gers in a position to usurp Celtic and win the Scottish Premiership.

Arguably, Leeds have never been able to replace what he brought to their attack. They have attempted to do so with both Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Kevin Augustin, but they started a combined two league games for the Whites.

One of Roofe’s key qualities was pace. He used ruthless speed and quick thinking inside the penalty area to fashion goal scoring opportunities. The 28-year-old, unlike Patrick Bamford, could play on the shoulder. He also had eye-catching dribbling skills and close touch control.

It was these aspects that Eddie Gray thought Bielsa’s team would miss when he was injured in February 2019. He said: “It’s a blow for a number of reasons, goalscoring obviously. He’s lead the line well, but he’s got that little bit of pace. It is something we [Leeds] have not got in abundance. Real pace. I’m talking about, like Norwich pace.”

Indeed, despite Raphinha, it’s hard to say Bielsa has much speed in the final third. Of course, they move the ball incredibly quickly but in terms of athletic abilities, there isn’t a great deal in Leeds’ current squad.

That being said, they could finally make moves to finding their new Roofe in the January window.

United have been linked with a move for Montpellier forward Andy Delort, someone who could improve their forward line in a whole host of different ways.

For starters, he is a goal scorer. Delort has found the net on nine occasions this term and has also helped himself to six assists in the process. “He [Delort’s dad] always wanted me to be a striker,” the ten cap Algerian admitted last year.

Delort continued: “I wouldn’t say he forced me, but he pushed me towards that and helped me develop that love of scoring. I used to practice with my Dad and he’d say to me ‘if you miss the target two more times we’re going home’ and that threat ensured I kept hitting the target.”

Certainly this season he is demonstrating that love for beating the goalkeeper. Though, it’s his remarkable pace and dribbling that provide us with the closest similarities to Roofe.

The £27k-per-week earner has performed one dribble per match this season – just 0.3 more than the former Leeds striker’s career average, but crucially he can get beyond a defender. Delort was clocked as the fastest player in Ligue 1 last term, usurping even the likes of Kylian Mbappe.

He is a ruthless striker and life Roofe, would offer Bielsa the ability to run in behind. Having a different option to Bamford as the season goes on cannot be underestimated.

AND in other news, Leeds can fix one of Bielsa’s big problems with swoop for “powerful” £41k-p/w titan…

أحرز العربي هلال لاعب منتخب الجزائر الهدف الرابع لفريقه في مرمى السودان بالمباراة المقامة حاليًا في بطولة كأس العرب.

ويستضيف ملعب أحمد بن علي المونديالي أحداث مباراة الجزائر والسودان التي تقام في الجولة الأولى من بطولة كأس العرب.

بطولة كأس العرب تقام في دولة قطر، وانطلقت أمس الثلاثاء، وستستمر منافساتها حتى يوم 18 ديسمبر، بمشاركة 16 منتخبًا عربيًا.

طالع أيضًا.. فيديو | بخطأ من الحارس.. بغداد بونجاح يسجل الهدف الثاني لـ الجزائر أمام السودان

واستغل العربي هلال خطأ فادحًا من مدافع السودان الذي لم يستطع التمرير ليحصل لاعب الجزائر على الكرة ويضعها في المرمى بسهولة، في الدقيقة 46 من عمر المباراة. الهدف الرابع للجزائر في مرمى السودان

وسجل بن العمري هدف الجزائر الثالث في شباك السودان في الدقيقة 43 من الشوط الأول، بينما أحرز بغداد بونجاح الهدفين الأول والثاني في الدقيقتين 11 و37، وكان الهدف الثاني له من خطأ فادح أيضًا لحارس مرمى صقور الجديان، الذي لم يستطع الإمساك بالكرة لترتطم بيديه وتدخل إلى الشباك.

Harry Kane and Heung-min Son combined once again to steer Tottenham Hotspur back to the top of the Premier League table.

Spurs’ prolific double act were at the heart of another impressive and crucial victory, this time over arch-rivals Arsenal in the north London derby.

It took just 13 minutes for the mercurial South Korean to curl a long-range effort past visiting goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, much to the delight of the home supporters, who were inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in 277 days.

They were soon celebrating a second when the talismanic Kane rifled home from a blistering counter-attack right on half-time.

But for all the plaudits that the lethal duo deserve, there was another name who perhaps went under the radar, even more so as he came straight back in from injury.

That, of course, being Toby Alderweireld.

The Belgian titan went down with an injury in their phenomenal victory over Man City just a few weeks ago and was surprisingly named in the starting XI this evening having only just returned to training this week.

And what a solid display it was, shutting the Gunners out to make it four straight clean sheets in the top-flight.

Alderweireld, who earns £85k-per-week in N17, was colossal at the back alongside Eric Dier as he won five of six duels (83%), made a whopping 11 clearances and also blocked one of Arsenal’s 11 shots at goal, via SofaScore.

The 31-year-old powerhouse did ever so well to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quiet, and that much was eptimoised in his impressive last-ditch block when the visitors were mounting the pressure during the second period.

Alasdair Gold at football.london graded the €30m (£27m) centre-back’s performance a nine out of ten, only bettered by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and claimed:

“Back in the defence and he showed why Mourinho threw him straight back in. Made a great sliding block to deny Aubameyang in the final 10 minutes.”

Indeed that was certainly the case and whilst Son and Kane rightly deserve the accolades, you cannot underestimate the calming presence of Alderweireld in that back line.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Pundit makes huge claim about Dele Alli at Spurs training…

Liverpool may have just shifted a new plan into place after finalising a loan move for outcast winger Ben Woodburn. The Wales international joins Blackpool on a short-term deal, joining former youth coach Neil Critchley in League One.

The 21-year-old has spent the last season-and-a-half away from Anfield, representing Sheffield United and Oxford respectively. Woodburn has made five appearances for the Liverpool U23s so far this campaign, bagging himself a goal against Manchester United in the league (via Transfermarkt).

Future plans for Ben Woodburn

After rising through the ranks an impressing Jurgen Klopp alongside close friend Trent Alexander-Arnold, the forward man fell off the map. Unlike his fellow academy graduate, he has been limited to just 11 senior appearances for the Merseyside outfit. Woodburn’s last appearance for the Liverpool first team was in 2018 – a six minute cameo against Brighton in a 4-0 Premier League win.

Since then, his future has looked sure to indicate a permanent move away from Anfield. However, Michael Edwards’ recent negotiations with Blackpool could be part of a much bigger picture.

Critchley left the Liverpool set-up to take charge of the Seasiders back in March, finishing off the 2019/20 season with a 13th place finish. This campaign has seen the club struggle, as they currently sit in the lower reaches of League One. Acquiring a pacy winger like Woodburn could help pull Blackpool out of a rut and see them start to climb the table.

Operating under a manager he knows well could be the making of the Welshman, who made history with Liverpool as their youngest ever goalscorer back in 2016. With attacking options limited this season, Klopp may be hoping to integrate Woodburn into the first team and serve as back-up to the front three.

Indeed, the German waxed lyrical over the youngster just last year, hailing him as an “outstanding talent” (via Liverpool ECHO).

Sadio Mane was recently ruled out of action due to a positive Covid-19 test. Diogo Jota has the left-wing covered but an injury to Mohamed Salah could be detrimental. Klopp and Edwards may be working on a clever ruse to flip Woodburn’s career on its head and see him become a regular senior player.

In other news, Michael Edwards pulled off some of his best work with Liverpool’s Christian Benteke sale…

Leeds United fans have every right to feel miffed after their move for Michael Cuisance collapsed at the 11th hour.

The Whites looked to be on to a winner when trying to sign the former European Golden Boy nominee, but the deal fell through due to problems with his medical.

We don’t have all of the information at the moment about why his medical went awry, but we can only assume that Leeds had a good reason to pull the plug.

While missing out on Cuisance is something of a blow, the fact that the club haven’t jumped the gun and signed a player who may have fitness problems is a good sign.

The Whites have been stung before when signing a player who wasn’t fit enough to come into the team with Jean-Kevin Augustin’s fitness being questioned by Marcelo Bielsa almost immediately after he signed, and a string of further problems meant that the RB Leipzig man failed to start a single game during his loan spell.

Perhaps a medical that didn’t take place in a hotel room would have seen these problems come to light before Leeds agreed to sign him, giving the Whites time and money to spend on another striker who could’ve made more of an impact.

In the end, it didn’t matter too much, as Patrick Bamford proved to be good enough to lead the line in United’s promotion push, but Augustin’s failing still has to go down as a black mark on Leeds’ recent transfer record.

Luckily, Leeds seem to have been a lot more stringent this time around, and they may well have just avoided another Augustin-type scenario by doing their due-diligence on Cuiscance’s medical.

MatériaMais Notícias

Mano Menezes não vai embora do Cruzeiro. Ainda. Pelo menos, é isso que se pode depreender da entrevista do treinador no programa “Bem, Amigos”, do Sportv, nesta segunda-feira (30). Mano confirmou que recebeu uma sondagem do Shandong Luneng, da China, mas negou que já tenha recebido uma proposta oficial do clube. Por isso, o técnico afirmou que não tem qualquer encontro marcado com a diretoria cruzeirense para definir o futuro. No entanto, revelou ter conversado com a direção sobre a procura dos asiáticos e preveniu o clube: vai ouvir a proposta, quando ela vier, e analisar a possibilidade de deixar a Toca da Raposa.

-Passei ontem (domingo, 29), depois do jogo, para a direção do Cruzeiro que tinha recebido uma sondagem. E que essa sondagem colocava a possibilidade de ser feita uma proposta oficial no começo da semana. Eu disse que ouviria a proposta. E, como eu sempre faço, disse que não ouviria a proposta enquanto o clube (Shandong Luneng) tivesse treinador. Essa foi a ordem dos fatos. Não acho correto eu ficar falando de sondagem, porque essa procura existe a todo momento para nós treinadores. Não acho legal, porque seria um desrespeito à torcida do Cruzeiro, que me acolheu maravilhosamente. Não tenho nenhuma reunião marcada com o Cruzeiro porque não existe nada objetivo. Não tem proposta oficial. Então, não tem conversa.- contou o treinador.

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Com a possibilidade de saída em aberto, Mano Menezes colocou todos os pesos que atuam na balança entre permanecer e partir. E, aparentemente, o dinheiro e a estrutura atual do futebol brasileiro pesariam bastante para um possível adeus do técnico.

– O que se leva em consideração nesse momento são vários fatores. Não é só a parte econômica, mas também é, dependendo do quanto é. O futebol brasileiro está muito estranho. Há quatro meses eu estava sendo visto como quase um ex-técnico. Estavam me colocando como dinossauro. Eu estou só com 53 anos. Bastou eu sair daqui e fazer um curso e uma retomada de trabalho e parece que eu estou maravilhoso, que voltei a ser um técnico de ponta. As análises estão proporcionais à nossa segurança no cargo – finalizou Mano.