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Many Everton fans have been left fuming over a fixture change that has been shared by the Goodison Park faithful.

As per the official website of the Merseyside club, their Premier League game away at Tottenham Hotspur is now scheduled to take place on Monday 7th March at 8pm to be shown live on Sky Sports, after originally being scheduled for Saturday 5th March at 3pm.

Of course, this now makes it a lot more difficult for away supporters to attend the match, given the travel restrictions for a midweek fixture with a late kick-off time, and the fact that the majority would have work the next day, so it is no surprise at all to see so many Toffees left furious after reading the update.

Everton fans on fixture change

These Blues were raging as the news of the fixture change was shared on Twitter, with one EFC supporter even going as far as to claim that it was ‘disgusting’:

“Absolute disgrace that”

Credit: @efcjosh___

“Joke”

Credit: @FitzyA83

“Rotten”

Credit: @jackfairhurst17

“Absolute weekend wrecker”

Credit: @bennywel999

“Disgusting”

Credit: @NolanBarnes75

“Unbelievable when the last train back has well gone before the game ends. Don’t know why it angers me anymore, known for years the match going supporter is worthless these days”

Credit: @priceyefc1

In other news, find out what big Everton manager update has emerged here!

Nathan Patterson may be open to leaving Rangers and joining Everton as he struggles to dislodge James Tavernier. 

That’s according to BBC Radio pundit Noel Whelan, who was speaking to Football Insider.

The lowdown

Patterson has been limited to just two starts in Rangers’ first 20 Premiership matches this season, with Tavernier selected for the other 18. Indeed, more than a quarter of his total game-time so far in 2021/22 has come in the Scottish League Cup.

The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell has written that ‘figuring out how to use Nathan Patterson’ is one of the key challenges facing Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Ibrox. The youngster has started just two of the Dutchman’s nine matches in charge so far.

Everton made two attempts to sign the 20-year-old last summer and are expected to renew their pursuit when the January transfer window opens next week (via The Guardian).

The latest

Whelan reckons that Patterson could succeed 33-year-old Seamus Coleman at Goodison Park or even slot in at left-back after Lucas Digne reportedly fell out with Rafael Benitez.

The former Aberdeen striker added that, while the youngster has looked a ‘top talent’, the presence of Tavernier limits his prospects at Rangers.

Whelan told Football Insider: “Obviously we know that Seamus Coleman isn’t getting any younger in that right-back spot. There’s also an opportunity for him on the left with the Lucas Digne situation, he could fill in there.

“He’s played there for Rangers recently. Even though he’s a top talent, it’s bound to be hard to get in the side ahead of the skipper, James Tavernier.

“We’ve seen him really impress for Scotland as well and he’s shown he can be a brilliant attacking talent as well on international duty. From what I know, he’s got a lot of potential.”

The verdict

You can see why Van Bronckhorst may be reluctant to leave Tavernier on the bench or alter his position. The skipper has recorded more goal involvements (14) than anybody else in the Gers squad from his right-back berth.

Indeed, if you go by WhoScored metrics, he has been Rangers’ highest-performing player this season, averaging a rating of 7.79/10.

Intriguingly, Van Bronckhorst managed to fit both players into the team against Dundee United recently by selecting Patterson on the left. Perhaps he’ll need to do that more often in the interests of the youngster’s development and indeed his transfer value.

In other news, many Rangers fans gushed over this Allan McGregor claim

Newcastle United journalist Luke Edwards has offered his reaction to the news that Magpies target Chris Wood may have a release clause in his contract. 

The lowdown

Edwards broke the news on Sunday that the Tynesiders had approached Burnley over a deal for the 30-year-old.

Eddie Howe’s side are set to be without their top scorer Callum Wilson for up to eight weeks after he picked up an injury, although Newcastle fans may have doubted whether a move for the New Zealand international was realistic given that the two clubs are relegation rivals – the Clarets are 18th, level on points with the Magpies (albeit with two games in hand).

However, Edwards then said that he was ‘hearing Chris Wood might have a release clause’, before expressing greater confidence in the information in a follow-up tweet in which he described the £5.4m-rated striker a ‘priority target’ for the Tynesiders.

The latest

After learning of the development, The Telegraph journalist tweeted: “Oooooohhh hearing Chris Wood might have a release clause in his contract. Haven’t had it confirmed yet but that would explain why #nufc have pursued it when it didn’t immediately make much sense given Burnley would be selling to a relegation rival.”

He signed off the tweet by adding: “More to follow? Perhaps.”

It remains to be seen just how much Newcastle will be required to pay for the £50,000-per-week striker.

The verdict

Newcastle’s shock FA Cup defeat at the hands of League One Cambridge United laid bare the importance of adding cover for Wilson. On Saturday, Howe deployed the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin, Joelinton and Ryan Fraser, but his team still couldn’t find the net; and after the game, the manager admitted that the absence of a ‘focal point’ cost them.

Signing Wood, who has hit double figures in each of the last four full Premier League seasons, would fill the gap left by Wilson’s enforced absence. It would have the significant added benefit of weakening relegation rivals Burnley, who would be left without their leading marksman from 2020/21.

Therefore, this potential transfer has the ability to greatly alter the picture at the bottom of the table between now and the end of May.

In other news, this Premier League centre-back is also a potential target for Newcastle

With Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips out for an extended spell, Marcelo Bielsa will be desperately searching for ways to ensure his side doesn’t miss their midfield talisman too much.

While it may be a bit of a leap for the Whites boss to chuck in a wholly unproven 19-year-old, Lewis Bate could well be the surprise answer to Leeds’ problem.

In fact, according to Ram Srinivas, co-founder of football analytics consultancy MRKT Insights, Bate has all the hallmarks of being someone to take over from Phillips in years to come.

He said: “Bate is a well-rounded deep-lying midfielder; he’s well capable of helping a team control possession, acting as a metronome to keep things ticking over as well as being very productive in build-up. He’s very positive in his passing and shows good awareness of the spaces opening up around him and team shape, which helps his team play out of a press and also attack the opposition in transition.

“All in all he’s just a multi-faceted midfielder whose biggest weakness is probably just his size but he more than makes up for it with his other qualities. He’s very well-suited to Bielsa-ball and probably capable of serving as an understudy to Kalvin Phillips.”

Dubbed as “very gifted” by The Athletic’s Phil Hay and as a “lovely passer” too, the 5 foot 8 Bate has predominantly spent the most of his time this season with the club’s U23s side in the Premier League 2 – out of the 14 games the Whites have played, the midfielder has completed the full 90 minutes in all but one.

The 19-year-old has featured mainly as either a central midfielder for the U23s and in a more holding role, and with a busy festive schedule for the first-team, may well fancy his chances of making the step-up.

While the January transfer window gives Bielsa the perfect opportunity to bring in players from the outside to strengthen his options in the middle of the park, giving Bate the chance to shine could turn out to be a masterstroke.

Meanwhile, Leeds could sign a Rodrigo upgrade in this star…

Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore is attracting interest ahead of the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Matt Law’s recent report for The Telegraph, with the journalist claiming that Tottenham Hotspur – who reportedly saw a season-long loan deal for the winger rejected by Wolves this summer, as well as being linked with a £40m permanent move for the Spain international – are once again interested in a move for the 25-year-old this winter.

Fans will be buzzing

While Traore has undeniably been a – quite literally – huge player for Wolves in recent seasons, when taking into account his continuous links with a move away from Molineux, as well as the fact his contract negotiations with the club are reported to be at a stalemate, the news that Spurs are interested in a deal for the winger this winter is sure to have left Wolves fans buzzing.

Indeed, despite the fact he is yet to contribute to a single league goal this season, the £27m-rated man has nevertheless impressed over his 15 Premier League appearances Bruno Lage’s side, creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.1 key passes, completing a whopping 5.1 dribbles, taking 1.4 shots and winning 7.9 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £43k-per-week forward average a SofaScore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Wolves’ third-best performer in the league.

As such, with his stock still being high, January would appear to be a very sensible time to cash in on the Spaniard, with a fee in the region of £40m not seeming to be an unreasonable figure to demand for a player of Traore’s undoubtedly ability.

Furthermore, in a recent poll ran on Football FanCast, the vast majority of Wolves fans agreed that this winter would indeed be the perfect time to wave goodbye to Traore, something it would seem very wise for Jeff Shi to take note of.

In other news: Lage could save Fosun millions with “quality” 19 y/o who “ticks the boxes” for Wolves

Newcastle United are reportedly now interested in signing Juventus ace Adrien Rabiot.

The Lowdown: Midfielder eyed

After the appointment of Eddie Howe, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium are now looking at what reinforcements they could bring into the team, preferably in the January transfer window as they look to avoid relegation from the Premier League down to the EFL Championship.

Names such as Marcelo Brozovic and Philippe Coutinho have been thrown around in recent days, suggesting that a new midfield player is wanted.

The Latest: Rabiot interest

As per Tuttosport (via Sport Witness), The Old Lady now ‘hope’ that the St. James’ Park faithful can turn their interest in Rabiot into a ‘concrete proposal’ for the France international.

Juve would reportedly be happy to sell him, with no signals that they want to extend his contract, which expires in 2023.

However, if the North East club want to sign Rabiot, they will have to deal with his agent and mother Veronique first, who has been described as a ‘volcanic’ character.

The Verdict: For the right price…

Although money is not an object to the new mega-rich owners, they should still be sensible with how much cash they splash in the market.

Rabiot is a player that would come as a bit of a risk, given that he has suffered with injury problems and missed a combined total of 45 days over 2021/2022 so far (Transfermarkt).

He’s not exactly been prolific with Juve in midfield, with a mere six goals and five assists recorded in 95 games in total over all competitions across the last three consecutive seasons (Transfermarkt).

However, he would certainly be an upgrade on the Tyneside outfit’s current midfield options, averaging more shots, dribbles and pass success per game than Isaac Hayden, Jonjo Shelvey and Sean Longstaff in their respective domestic leagues so far this term (WhoScored).

France national team coach Didier Deschamps described him as a player who ‘has always had technical qualities’, and at 26 years of age, he has not reached his peak yet.

Nonetheless, Rabiot could be a smart addition to the squad, for the right price.

In other news, find out which ‘outstanding’ Premier League star NUFC are eyeing here!

Flocking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans have been left buzzing after hearing a major development in their bid to sign Manchester United star Jesse Lingard.

As widely reported, the England international’s future at Old Trafford has now been plunged into major doubt as the player’s talks over a new contract break down (BBC).

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Indeed, the 28-year-old’s decision to shelve contract talks could mean he has placed one foot out the exit door, with his current deal set to expire in 2022.

This means he is set to leave Manchester as a free agent at the end of this season as a host of clubs reportedly take note, including the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, Everton, Newcastle United, Tottenham and the Hammers (ESPN).

Dropping a teasing West Ham transfer hint on Instagram, Lingard has already added fuel to the fire of a possible reunion with manager David Moyes after his 2020/21 loan spell at the London Stadium.

In a major development, The Sun have now shared a rather promising update, claiming that he ‘looks to be on his way’ to West Ham in a ‘£10 million move’. They added that the attacking midfielder has ‘already begun’ making ‘personal arrangements’ for a return down south, with his club looking to agree a permanent move in January rather than a loan.

West Ham fans buzz…

As this exciting claim drops, you can understand why a plethora of Irons supporters are absolutely overjoyed.

Lauded as ‘absolutely phenomenal’ and the best player on form in the Premier League during his time at West Ham earlier this year (Adrian Durham, talkSPORT), his haul in the final third showcases just what he can bring.

Racking up nine goals and setting up four others in 16 top-flight appearances over the second half of 2020/21 (WhoScored), if Lingard does end up back at West Ham, many supporters will be optimistic that he can replicate such sensational form.

Check out some of their best verdicts from Twitter below:

“nah this is getting too much bc I’m getting excited”

Credit: @taylacawsey

“He’s coming home”

Credit: @jack_dockers

“please Please PLEASE let this be true!!!!”

Credit: @_samhowell

“Welcome Home Lad”

Credit: @michaeljohnbad1

“Brilliant news!!!”

Credit: @Beefy751

“Hope that’s true. It would be massive!”

Credit: @CraigardH

“Great news, let’s hope it happens”

Credit: @happy_hammers

“I so hope this is true”

Credit: @MrsPCB

In other news: 6 foot 3 powerhouse now open to joining West Ham, talks have already ‘taken place’…find out more here.

Rangers put their early Europa League group stage woes to bed as they ran out 2-0 winners at Ibrox against Brondby on Thursday night.

Steven Gerrard’s side were beaten 2-0 and 1-0 by Lyon and Sparta Prague respectively in their first two matches, but they finally got off the mark against the Danish outfit this week.

Kemar Roofe and Leon Balogun scored the all-important goals for the Gers as they put on a dominant display in front of their home fans at Ibrox.

However, it was not all sunshine and rainbows as one player in particular struggled to show off the best of his abilities on the night – John Lundstram.

The summer signing from Sheffield United endured a difficult night on a personal level as he struggled to make his mark on the game. He lined up alongside Steven Davis and Joe Aribo, taking up the central position in the midfield as he looked to dictate the flow of the game.

However, he offered next to nothing defensively. As per SofaScore, he lost 100% of his contested duels in the match. He ended the game with one interception and zero tackles, blocks or clearances as he failed to provide defensive steel in the middle of the park.

In comparison, his midfield companion Aribo won 10 of his 15 duels and made four tackles and one interception against the Danish side. This shows how slack Lundstram’s defending was as the Nigerian was able to stand out by imposing himself on the opposition and winning the ball back to keep Rangers on the front foot.

Offensively, the 27-year-old did not fare much better. As per SofaScore, he failed with 100% of his dribble attempts and did not manage a single effort on target. He did, however, complete 97% of his passes and create one chance in the match, showing that he was reliable on the ball, albeit unimaginative.

Lundstram showed that he has the quality to perform well at this level in the defeat to Lyon earlier this season. As per SofaScore, he won five of his eight duels, made three tackles, three interceptions and completed 100% of his attempted dribbles that night.

Therefore, he let Gerrard down with his performance as he was unable to stand out in midfield like he did in the clash with Lyon. His manager will surely want consistency from the player and the 27-year-old’s display against Brondby was far from his best.

In other news – Gerrard masterclass: Rangers dynamo has seen his value soar 420% since January…

Rafael Benitez has rejected criticism of Everton’s ‘shape’ in their 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night. 

Instead, the Spaniard told Sky Sports (footage via Football Daily) ‘it was a question of character’ as the Toffees fell to their third straight Premier League defeat.

Everton’s second-half improvement not enough

Everton went down the tunnel losing 2-0 after goals from Max Kilman and Raul Jimenez in a four-minute spell either side of the half-hour mark. The visitors were only able to muster three shots during the first half.

They did improve after the break, with Alex Iwobi reducing the arrears on 66 minutes and Jose Sa facing a further 11 attempts, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a loss that sees them slip to 10th in the table.

Sports journalist Josh Bunting says Benitez ‘needs to be questioned’ in the wake of the result, having apparently failed to learn from the Watford game.

Fan feed Toffee TV relayed the footage from his Sky Sports interview, and here’s what supporters made of it.

These Everton fans critical of Benitez

“The more he talks like this the more I’m worried. Again this says I’m stubborn and I’m right and it wasn’t anything to do with me. Poor”

Credit: @michaelhilditc5

“two things, in his role as a Manager, he has the responsibility for …”

Credit: @jeffwbee

“Not my fault it was the players then basically, he needs to take responsibility for the set pieces I’m afraid”

Credit: @burrowes6joey

“Nonsense. Look at the stats. Are we winning ‘one on one’ tackles more than 50%. If not acknowledge, work & improve it!”

Credit: @stergio1878

“Deflecting blame”

Credit: @EFCOliver7

“What a joke of a manager. He took the job to fire James and we get this after.”

Credit: @ManyDarin

In other news, fans ripped into this man against Wolves. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold could miss Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Manchester City through injury.

The Lowdown: Huge game awaits

The Reds face a potentially season-defining game on Sunday afternoon, with City heading to Anfield for a top-of-the-table meeting.

Liverpool are one point clear of Pep Guardiola’s side going into the game, but already without Thiago due to a calf problem, and they have now been hit by more troubling news.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359326”]

The Latest: Trent could miss out

Alexander-Arnold missed the Champions League clash with Porto on Tuesday evening, and according to Doyle, who took to Twitter late on Monday night, the right-back could also be ‘a doubt for City’.

It remains to be seen if he will be fit in time, but Jurgen Klopp has admitted ‘it doesn’t look great’ for the weekend.

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The Verdict: Massive potential blow

Alexander-Arnold’s vast influence at Liverpool is undeniable, so the thought of him not facing City on Sunday doesn’t bear thinking about as far as Reds fans are concerned.

His attacking quality from right-back is arguably unrivalled in Europe – he has registered 47 assists for the Reds – and it could be James Milner who has to fill in, which is far from ideal.

Granted, Milner did superbly against Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha earlier this month, but he may find it far more difficult against a City attack that interchanges and could feature the likes of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus.

In other news, some Liverpool fans are excited by a transfer story that has emerged. Read more here.