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Lee Johnson has guided this Sunderland side to fourth in League One and the good times should carry on this weekend.

The Mackems are getting ready to face a Rochdale side who occupy a relegation place in the division. They have only won one of their last 15 outings, so it should be an uphill struggle for The Dale at the Stadium of Light.

That being said, the Black Cats did need a rescue act last weekend against Crewe in order to salvage a point.

It’s also hard to look past a number of injuries with which Johnson is having to contend. With a succession of players still on the sidelines, how could their XI look on Saturday afternoon?

The Mackems are likely to be without Grant Leadbitter this weekend as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder.

Tom Flanagan is looking stronger in his bid to return to fitness but will miss out this weekend. The same goes for Ross Stewart and Denver Hume. Bailey Wright will unfortunately also be absent on Saturday afternoon.

As a result, the makeshift pairing of Dion Sanderon and Luke O’Nien occupy the central roles in the defence.

With Sunderland taking on weaker opposition, it could give the manager a chance to go more attacking, something he did in the second half of their clashes with Crewe and Swindon.

That sees two changes made from Tuesday night, with Chris Maguire and Aiden O’Brien coming into the side. Maguire replaces Lynden Gooch in the number 10 role.

Gooch starred against Swindon but went off with a minor calf problem. Johnson wasn’t too worried at full-time but, given the number of injury problems they have, they can’t afford to take risks. That means the £5,000-per-week winger is dropped from the XI.

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The other change is on the left, where Jordan Jones comes out of the team for O’Brien, someone who has been an influential member of the team since Johnson was given the job.

The winger started on the bench in midweek but scored 11 days ago against Fleetwood. With his importance in mind, it’s not beyond the realms of fantasy to suggest he could start again.

After all, Jones still appears to be struggling for match fitness; he was hooked after just an hour on Tuesday night.

AND in other news, Sunderland must unleash “top player” who Johnson once dubbed “Championship-class”…

Glasgow Rangers edged past ten-man Aberdeen at Pittodrie to move 22 points clear of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

Steven Gerrard’s side didn’t have it all their own way, though, as James Tavernier missed a penalty after Ryan Hedges was sent off for fouling Alfredo Morelos inside the box, before the Colombian striker spared his blushes by scoring both sides of the break.

However, the Dons pulled one back when Matty Kennedy finished low past Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

However, the Gers held firm and managed to hang onto their slender lead until the end to strengthen their bid for a first title since the 2010/11 season.

Rangers looked understandably jaded given that Gerrard named a largely unchanged team from the crunch Old Firm clash with Celtic, perhaps none more so than Tavernier, who has been linked with an exit to the Premier League in recent months. He reportedly earns around £14,000-per-week at Ibrox.

However, he had a night to forget at Pittodrie, as he suffered a defensive meltdown against the Dons .

SofaScore graded the 29-year-old with a miserable 6.4 rating – the worst out of any Rangers player on the pitch – as he lost possession 28 times, won just six duels from his 19 attempts overall, was dribbled past once and missed a penalty as well to sum up his frustrations.

It’s not very often we get the chance to point out the faults of the club captain but nobody can be exempt from criticism, with Glasgow Live giving him a 6/10 and claiming he ‘missed a penalty and wasn’t at his best for Kennedy’s goal.’

If that weren’t bad enough, it’s fair to say that Tavernier was a bit of a liability at the back, as he also committed two fouls as well, with his teammates Borna Barisic and Glen Kamara committing only one foul between them.

Unfortunately for Gerrard, it’s unlikely that Tavernier will be able to catch much of a break anytime soon as his understudy Nathan Patterson isn’t quite ready for the big stage.

But a trip to Motherwell next on the agenda, Tavernier could perhaps drop out to give a chance to Patterson to stake a claim and give himself a chance to rest his weary legs.

AND in other news, Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos was Steven Gerrard’s hero against Aberdeen…

MatériaMais Notícias

Findadas as turbulências nos bastidores do São Paulo e amenizada a pressão sob o elenco com uma vitória magra sobre o Rio Claro, no último domingo, no Pacaembu, outro questionamento veio à tona: a braçadeira de capitão é de quem? Na temporada, Michel Bastos foi quem mais usou a faixa, mas, na última partida, com o camisa 7 barrado por questões técnicas, Denis herdou o posto. Em entrevista coletiva nesta segunda-feira, no CT da Barra Funda, Carlinhos se mostrou incomodado com a pressão pela escolha de um líder.

– Tem que ter o capitão, tem que ter o líder, mas acho que cada um pode ser um pouco disso. Lógico que cada um tem sua imagem para o torcedor, mas dentro do grupo cada um fala um pouco, todo mundo vem tentando suprir isso de alguma forma – disse o jogador, que atuou como ponta esquerda na última partida.

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Os questionamentos sobre quem deve ser o capitão do São Paulo começaram justamente na última partida, quando o goleiro Denis assumiu a faixa na estreia de Diego Lugano, apontado para ser o grande líder do elenco na temporada. Quando perguntado sobre a escolha, Bauza justificou dizendo que o uruguaio não estará à disposição durante todos os jogos da temporada e, por isso, não tem motivos para assumir a faixa.

– Já tivemos três capitães esse ano, Michel, Denis, Hudson, a escolha eu deixo para Patón fazer, mas naturalmente a liderança vai cair sob Lugano, é normal – completou Carlinhos.

Lugano, que não foi a campo nesta segunda-feira, fazendo apenas trabalhos no Reffis, não deve ser titular na partida dessa quarta, contra o Novorizontino, no Pacaembu. Patón optará por poupar o zagueiro, que já adiantou que não tem condições de atuar quarta e domingo.

Michel Bastos, alvo de protestos das torcidas organizadas do São Paulo antes da partida no Pacaembu e vetado do jogo contra o Rio Claro por questões técnicas, deve retomar o posto de titular e, consequentemente, a faixa de capitão nesta quarta-feira.

Glasgow Rangers are back in league action this afternoon, as they play host to Scottish Premiership rivals Celtic in a crunch Old Firm clash at the top of the table.

Rangers maintained their Premiership lead over Celtic with a hard-fought victory over St. Mirren as they avenged their early defeat to the Saints in the Betfred Cup.

The 54-time Scottish champions can inflict Neil Lennon’s second Old Firm defeat of this season by beating the Bhoys at Ibrox.

However, Gerrard faces some tough decisions after midfield duo Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack were ruled out of today’s action due to injury.

With that in mind, here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up for Rangers this afternoon, which sees Gerrard make a couple of changes to the team that squeezed past the Saints.

Allan McGregor is expected to start in goal for Rangers this afternoon having been trusted for most Premiership and Europa League games this season.

It’s hard to imagine Gerrard making many changes to the back four, with Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson and James Tavernier likely to start.

Maybe Filip Helander could keep his place, but the Swedish centre-back was arguably the weakest link against Saints, so we’re backing 6 ft 3 colossus Leon Balogun to replace Helander in the heart of the defence.

As we mentioned earlier, both Arfield and Jack are unavailable for selection, which means Gerrard will most likely deploy a midfield three consisting of Glen Kamara, Steven Davis and Joe Aribo.

Having scored against Hibs, Ianis Hagi actually offered very little against Saints, so bringing Ryan Kent back to the left and switching Kemar Roofe to the right wing is surely a no-brainer, whilst Alfredo Morelos is likely to lead the line.

This means that Hagi will have to settle for a place on the bench – but don’t be surprised to see him feature as a substitute at some point in the second half.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must recall £18k-p/w star to face Celtic in Old Firm derby…

Tottenham Hotspur romped to a resounding victory in the Europa League on Thursday evening, defeating Ludogorets in their own back yard 3-1, and whilst Jose Mourinho will be happy with his side’s reaction, he himself is playing a rather risky game.

The north Londoners finally ended their hunt for a back-up striker after they brought in Carlos Vinicius on loan from Benfica, paying £2.7m in fees with an option-to-buy thought to be around €45m (£40.5m).

Although, the Brazilian powerhouse has struggled thus far but he isn’t the man to be blamed.

The 25-year-old scored 18 goals in 32 league appearances last season and has failed to get off the mark for his new club in three Europa League matches, per WhoScored.

On Thursday night, Vinicius was granted another opportunity – replacing Harry Kane at half-time – but failed to impress. Football.London’s Alasdair Gold graded his second-half display a 4/10, and said:

“Another 45 minutes for Spurs’ number 45, he skied an opportunity moments after the hosts’ goal which perhaps summed up his night. Worked hard but his quality was sorely lacking in the final third and this was the least promising of his three appearances so far.”

Well, it’s no surprise that he’s lacking in confidence after he was wrongly part of the four players that were hauled off during last week’s defeat to Royal Antwerp.

Mourinho launched a scathing attack on his squad, claiming that his future choices would now be “very easy,” It was a warning shot at the likes of Vinicius, Dele Alli and Steven Bergwijn.

The Benfica loanee would then be left out of their Premier League win over Brighton at the weekend.

At Ludogorets, Vinicius at three shots – none on target – and also won just 33% of his duels, was offside once and lost possession five times, via SofaScore.

Dubbed “exciting” by Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle on BT Sport (via the Daily Mail), Mourinho is on verge of making a huge blunder over his no.2 striker – they surely do not want another Dele Alli situation on their hands.

Nor will they want Vinicius to follow the same path of Roberto Soldado or Vincent Janssen. That would be inexcusable after Daniel Levy backed him to the hills this summer.

AND in other news, Spurs chasing “fearless” BEAST who has outperformed Milan Skriniar this season…

Tottenham Hotspur are seemingly about to revisit the Serie A in pursuit of their next signing…

What’s the word?

According to Calciomercato.it, the north Londoners are one of the teams keeping tabs on the future of Fiorentina colossus Nikola Milenkovic ahead of a potential move.

It’s claimed that the 23-year-old isn’t keen to renew his current contract in Florence with it set to expire in 18 months – with Spurs, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid hot on his heels, he could leave the club sooner rather than later.

London rivals West Ham United were in firm talks to sign the Serbian international during the summer, but David Sullivan baulked at their asking price of £25m plus £10m in add-ons, as per Jim White.

Better than Skriniar?

The Italian top-flight is evidently a hot-bed for defensive talent right now and Spurs have been here before, also during the latest window when they failed to secure a move for Inter’s Milan Skriniar.

Chief scout Steve Hitchen met with the Serie A giants but was unprepared to fork out €60m (£54m) upfront, according to Italian transfer guru Gianluca Di Marzio.

Well, that may have turned out to be a masterstroke as La Viola’s 6 foot 5 man-mountain has been the better performer this season.

In comparison to Skriniar, Milenkovic has averaged more tackles (2.2), interceptions (2.2), blocks (1.5) and aerial duels won (3.5) per game. He has even conceded fewer fouls (1.2) and has both scored and assisted this term, via WhoScored.

The Inter Milan star hasn’t even recorded a tackle in the league this season.

Given his nationality and imposing stature, the colossal defender has been likened to Nemanja Vidic, though journalist Dejan Stankovic believes he’s even more than that.

“Milenkovic is better than Vidic with the ball at his feet, and he is much calmer on the field. He is the most talented centre-back Serbia have had since Vidic, and they definitely have one thing in common – both are fearless.”

His former boss at Partizan, Ivan Tomic, speaks in a very similar nature about Milenkovic too, adding: “Milenkovic has [the] physical characteristics of a beast. He reads the game well, plays the ball, and should have a great career ahead of him.”

He could be available for slightly cheaper than Skirniar and he’s performed much better. This seems like a no-brainer for Daniel Levy to make this January – even after the addition of Joe Rodon.

AND in other news, Mourinho may regret the failure to land £18m brute who’s shades of Drogba…

Manchester United have only made one transfer so far this transfer window, and it was a very good one as highly rated Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek joined the club from Ajax.

However there seems to be a growing frustration from a lot of supporters of the club that there have not been more signings, especially when it seems like the news on their pursuit on the possible signing of Jadon Sancho varies from positive to negative on a daily basis.

According to Rob Dawson, who works at ESPN, and tweeted out by utdreport, Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seems to now be in the same boat as supporters of the club. He has been largely accepting of the financial implications that recent events have caused but now he is starting to become annoyed and impatient that deals he thought would happen have not materialised.

With their Premier League season getting underway as they play Crystal Palace at the weekend, all associated with the club will not want any rifts because it could affect the campaign, and hopefully Ed Woodward starts to bring in some more signings to please the manager and the fan base shortly.

Here is what fans said following the news:

Man United fans, what are your thoughts on this news? Comment below!

He may have just been around for one season at Newcastle, but Mikel Merino showed the kind of flashes of promise that convinced Rafa Benitez to bring him in from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

The Magpies activated a buy-out clause in the loan deal that was agreed to take him to St James’ Park, with Benitez waxing lyrical about his fellow Spaniard following confirmation of his permanent arrival.

He said: “I’m really pleased we have been able to bring Mikel to the club permanently. He has played very well since he joined us. He has settled in quickly, has a lot of quality on the ball and is keen to learn – that is a crucial part of his future development.

“He has made a great impression at the club, and he is a good professional. He has confidence, but he is still young and has things to improve. He has to keep working hard and playing well, and hopefully he can improve and enjoy playing here.”

Sadly for the Magpies, Merino’s stay didn’t last for much longer. Some untimely injuries kept him out of action, and when he returned, the likes of Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame in particular seemed to flourish as a midfield partnership.

Towards the end of his time at the club, the purported release clause in the Spaniard’s contract seemed to become the topic of headlines, with Benitez reluctant to offer any assurances or guarantees that he would stay for the next season and beyond.

In the end, La Liga side Real Sociedad swooped in to take Merino off Newcastle’s hands, and his rise to prominence since then shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise for those back on Tyneside.

His creativity and passing seems to have thrived in a more technical Spanish league, with the 24-year-old now having picked up five caps for Spain’s senior side.

His performances have seen his value sky-rocket to an incredible £31.5m, and it is surely one of Benitez’s biggest regrets that he couldn’t somehow convince Merino to stay at Newcastle.

And in other news, Newcastle missed a trick by not signing this midfielder in the summer transfer window.

What a start to the new Premier League season Everton have had thus far.

As well as all the great work the club have done off the pitch in signing the likes of James Rodriguez and co, they have been on fire on it too, with two wins from their opening two league games.

Now, The Express claim that Carlo Ancelotti’s side are still very much interested in reinforcing their squad, with an eye on bringing in a new striker to potentially compete with Dominic Calvert-Lewin for the starting spot.

How big of an Everton fan are you? Can you spot Mikel Arteta from Graham Stuart? This quiz will test your knowledge, try it if you’re brave enough…



World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

The report suggests Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik – who is also said to be on the radar of Premier League rivals Tottenham too – has been offered to the Toffees, and that they have entered the race to sign him.

The Poland international has been a prolific goal-scorer for the likes of Ajax and Napoli, netting 28 league goals in just 61 games in the last couple of seasons.

And Italian journalist Bruno Longhi has waxed lyrical about the striker’s abilities, saying: “He does wonderful things with the ball, even acrobatics and he is a great striker.”

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Milik – who reportedly earns around £80k-per-week – would give Ancelotti a proven goal-scorer to further bolster his strike-force, although judging by their 5-2 win over West Brom last weekend, perhaps that isn’t the biggest concern for the Toffees right now.

Either way, their interest in Milik suggests Everton are absolutely intent on making this season a memorable one for their supporters.

كشف إيهاب جلال المدير الفني لنادي بيراميدز عن برنامج الإعداد لمباراة عزام التنزاني في مستهل مشوار الفريق بكأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية.

ويلتقي بيراميدز مع نظيرة عزام التنزاني، في إطار دور الـ32 من بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية، بملعب عزام في العاصمة دار السلام.

طالع | إيهاب جلال يعلن موعد مباراة بيراميدز وعزام التنزاني في الكونفدرالية

وقال جلال خلال تصريحات للمركز الإعلامي: “بيراميدز سيدخل بداية من غد السبت، معسكرًا مغلقًا بأحد فنادق القاهرة يستمر حتى يوم 10 أكتوبر الجاري، على أن يتخلله تدريبات يومية بالإضافة إلى مباراتين وديتين لتجهيز اللاعبين بأفضل صورة ممكنة”.

وأضاف: “الفريق سيخوض المباراتين الوديتين يومي 6 و9 أكتوبر، على أن تكون المواجهة الودية الأولى أمام طلائع الجيش، فيما ستكون المواجهة الثانية أمام أهلي بني غازي الليبي”.

وأتم: “سأعمل خلالهما على تجهيز العناصر المسجلة بالقائمة الإفريقية لضربة بداية الكونفدرالية، في ظل غياب اللاعبين الدوليين خلال التجمع الدولي، على أن يسافر الفريق بجميع عناصره يوم 13 أكتوبر إلى تنزانيا لخوض المباراة”.