Month: April 2019

Arsenal will make a late attempt to sign Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera. The 29-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the season and he is thought to be on his way to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. (L’Equipe)

Liverpool are in advanced talks with Nike over a new kit deal which would surpass Manchester United’s £750million deal with adidas as the biggest struck by any Premier League club. (ESPN)

Real Madrid want £112million for Gareth Bale this summer, with Manchester United believed to be interested. The Welshman is not part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans next season. (AS)

In a Snapchat video shot during the Europa League quarter-final clash at the Emirates, the culprit can be heard using the ‘n-word’ to refer to Koulibaly – with the word also written across the screen for part of the 15-second recording.

The Gunners beat the Italian club 2-0, but much like Chelsea’s victory over Slavia Prague, the result has been marred by racism.

On the same night, Blues fans filmed themselves chanting ‘Salah is a bomber’ in a Czech pub.

There are going to be a number of twist and turns as we enter the final stages, but who will be the winners and losers?

This weekend the title tussle continues as Liverpool, who sit top, take on Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, just moment after rivals Manchester City play Crystal Palace – live on talkSPORT – as they seek to regain first place.

Meanwhile, Tottenham face Huddersfield, without the injured Harry Kane, Manchester United clash with West Ham – live on talkSPORT – while at the other end of the table Burnley take on Cardiff and Bournemouth go head-to-head with Brighton & Hove Albion.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2…

• Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT

But how could the table look by the end of the weekend? Using data from sportsvisualized.com, talkSPORT.com reveals the highest and lowest potential position for each team at the end of this round of fixtures.

You can see the results, below…

United failed to register a shot on target in their 1-0 quarter-final first-leg loss, and have their work cut at the Camp Nou if they are to advance to the last four of the Champions League.

Durham felt the Scotland international was ‘okay’ on the night, but insists he is ‘not the answer’ in terms of the long term for the Red Devils.

Speaking on Drivetime, he said: “Scott McTominay did okay, but did he have that much of an impact? He wasn’t that influential.

“It all seems a bit like clutching at straws. People are just over glorifying the performance.

“He was probably United’s best player on the night, but they lost at the end of the day.

“Did he make any defence splitting passes? Did he take the game by the scruff of its neck? No.

Scott McTominay v Barcelona

100% defensive aerials won
100% tackles won
80% pass accuracy
5 ball recoveries
3 fouls in middle third
2/3 take-ons

“McTominay is a CBeebies version of Roy Keane. He’s a Power League version of Michael Carrick. And the Strawberry blonde equivalent to Paul Scholes.

“He is not the answer for Manchester United.”

Durham, as well as co-host Darren Gough, were both mystified at the plaudits that came United’s way on the back of the 1-0 defeat.

“I was very surprised by United’s performance and the reaction to it,” explained Durham.

“Is a 1-0 defeat suddenly good? If it is you’re losing perspective of what United needs to be.

“If you were listening to the commentary you’d think it was a brilliant performance from Manchester United and they were 5-0 up!

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2…

• Slavia Prague vs Chelsea (Thursday, 8pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT

Full-backs Ashley Young and Luke Shaw are suspended, while Antonio Valencia is not fully fit.

It means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could be forced into playing centre-halves Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo out of position.

Two defeats in their past three Premier League games have seen United drop to sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.

Red Devils boss Solskjaer told MUTV: “We don’t have full-backs this week.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2…

• Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT

“Not too many as we’ve lost Luke and Ashley through suspension. Antonio is still not fit.

“Maybe Matteo [Darmian] will be available for the bench and Rojo has been training for a while.

”He’s available and we’ve got Jonah [Phil Jones], who could also play there.

“Rojo needed to get out on the big pitch [in the Under-23s’ game against West Brom last Friday] so he could have that game but we’ve had a couple of practice matches so let’s see what we decide.”

Meanwhile, United are set to still be without midfielders Ander Herrera (thigh) and Nemanja Matic (illness).

This week we have a Friday fixture, which means the transfer deadline is tonight at 7pm, while Brighton and Cardiff City are in a double gameweek.

It is also worth noting that next week sees eight teams with two fixtures so this means you will need to be smart with your transfers and possibly even get your wildcard ready to get the most out of it.

You’ll need to make the right moves in the market if you’re going to have any success this weekend.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2…

• Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT

Managers are only allowed a maximum three players from one Premier League team, so this week we’ll be giving our top tips rather than our ins and outs.

So here at talkSPORT.com we’ve picked out the players you should be looking at, featuring some fresh faces as well as trusty old favourites.

Cardiff head to Burnley on Saturday and then face Brighton, who are five points above them, next Tuesday in a crunch stage of their season.

“We are running out of time and points,” Warnock said.

“We need 10 points, really, to have any chance whatsoever.”

Warnock has no doubt that his players are ready to fight for everything during a run-in that also includes clashes with Liverpool and Manchester United.

He added: “I’ve never seen anything other than a fighting spirit.

“I saw the desolation after the Chelsea game (in which Cardiff suffered a controversial 2-1 defeat), where we all felt we could have had more points on board. You can’t take that away.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2…

• Slavia Prague vs Chelsea (Thursday, 8pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT

“The dressing room has not been like that this season, even when we have had poor results, but training has been good and they’ve really picked up. It’s been bubbly again.”

Warnock, meanwhile, underlined a sense of loyalty to the Cardiff fans that fuels an ambition to stay at the Welsh club next season.

“I just feel as long as Vincent (Cardiff owner Vincent Tan) wants me to stay, no matter what division we are in, I think I owe it to the fans to stay,” he said.

“I changed my mind in the last couple of months with the Emiliano (Sala) tragedy. It brought a lot home.

The Manchester United midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and is set to leave the club.

United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, chose to activate a year-long extension on Herrera’s contract last summer instead of negotiating a new deal.

It had previously been reported that Paris Saint-Germain were set to sign the 29-year-old.

According to French publication, L’Equipe, Arsenal could make a late move for Herrera as Unai Emery is a big fan of the midfielder.

Herrera’s protracted signing from Athletic Bilbao was completed in 2014 when United met his £28.85million buyout clause.

He has gone on to make 187 appearances for the club and won the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.

United lost 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Barca, whose defence contained Marcus Rashford and co at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils failed to register a single shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since 2005, when they lost by the same scoreline to AC Milan.

Rashford skewed a volley wide of the target, while Romelu Lukaku, as well as substitutes Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial, struggled to threaten Barca.

Solskjaer said: “There are pluses and negatives. I thought we started sloppy.

“We did as well as we could against [Lionel] Messi, kept our shape well. It could have gone both ways.

LIVE ON talkSPORT

talkSPORT is your home of live football! Here's what's coming up on talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2…

• Slavia Prague vs Chelsea (Thursday, 8pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Southampton vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Manchester United vs West Ham (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Wigan vs Norwich (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Sunday, 2:05pm) – talkSPORT

“I don’t think we hit the target and that’s a disappointment.

“After their goal we settled, we played well, we had some very good performances from some individuals in midfield.

“At times it felt like a proper Manchester United team, the crowd was behind us. We go there with work to be done but chances.

“We’re still in this tie. We’ll go there with the knowledge we can score.”

Solskjaer admits his side must do better in front of goal if they are to upset the odds once more in the return leg at the Nou Camp next Tuesday.

United have pulled off impressive victories at Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain this season.

Solskjaer said: “We’ve scored goals at the Nou Camp before from corners and crosses.

“Of course the PSG performance away gives us hope and belief that we can do it. But we know that we are playing against the favourites in the tournament.

“Going to the Nou Camp is going to be a challenge and it will be a greater achievement winning that one because with the history of Barcelona as well, they’re not used to losing at home.

And judging by their goalscoring exploits in Europe’s most prestigious domestic competition, the Champions League, few could argue with that assertion.

Since Ronaldo’s debut in the competition in 2003 he has scored an incredible 125 goals, 17 more than his former LaLiga nemesis, Messi.

In all UEFA club competition action, the scoreline is also 128–111 in Ronaldo’s favour.

Real Madrid legend Raul is third in the pecking order with 71 strikes, notching 66 of his goals for Los Blancos, while the other five came for Schalke.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TOP SCORERS 2003-2019

It has been 16 years since Ronaldo first appeared in the Champions League and one thing has defined him: goals. And lots of them…

Cristiano Ronaldo – 125 goals

Lionel Messi – 108

Raul – 71

Karim Benzema – 60

Ruud van Nistelrooy – 56

Robert Lewandowski – 53

Thierry Henry – 50

Andriy Shevchenko – 48

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 48

Filippo Inzaghi – 46