Month: April 2019

The Mail on Sunday claim that the Eagles are prepared to let the wantaway forward leave this summer, but only for the right price.

Zaha recently revealed he wants to leave Selhurst Park in order to realise his ambition of playing Champions League football.

And the former Manchester United man is likely to get his wish granted this summer, with a host of Europe’s top clubs chasing his signature.

Arsenal have shown a long-standing interest in the 26-year-old, with club representatives watching him on numerous occasions.

Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan have also expressed an interest in Zaha, while Tottenham are unlikely to afford a deal to sign the tricky playmaker.

PALACE'S RECORD WITH AND WITHOUT ZAHA

Palace have a win percentage of more than double when Wilfried Zaha plays compared to when he doesn’t, underlining his value to the Eagles side

 

WITH/WITHOUT:

GAMES: 59/13

GOALS: 20/2

DEFEATS:22/11

GOALS PER GAME: 1.3/0.5

WIN PERCENTAGE: 34/15

The ongoing situation with Zaha is likely to have an impact on team-mate Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s future.

The Palace right back, 21, is regarded as one of the best young talents in the world and is attracting interest from the Premier League’s elite.

There is, however, a huge reluctance at Selhurst Park to let both Zaha and Wan-Bissaka leave in the same summer, with club hierarchy fully aware of the backlash they’d receive from supporters.

Click:Snus Bag Packaging Machine

The Gunners host Roy Hodgson’s Palace on Sunday and are looking to maintain their push for a top-four finish.

While the Eagles have endured difficult spells during the campaign, Zaha and Wan-Bissaka have often stood out as star performers.

They both came through the ranks at Selhurst Park and have been linked with moves away this summer.

Emery singled them out for praise on the eve of the Emirates Stadium clash and explained how nurturing young talent is an important part of his job.

“They are two very good players,” he said of Zaha and Wan-Bissaka.

“They are improving a lot and giving Palace a big performance for their success.

“We have here also young players coming from the academy, training with us, playing some matches with us.

“My responsibility is to work with them and give them the possibility to train with us and show the capacity to get into the first team with regularity and also in the future show they can be important players for us.”

Arsenal return to north London having picked up two key away wins. They clinched a nervy 1-0 victory over 10-man Watford on Monday before securing progression into the semi-finals of the Europa League with another 1-0 success at Napoli.

Until then there had been questions about Emery’s side away from home but he believes they have provided the answer – especially after keeping consecutive away clean sheets for the first time since January 2017.

“I think we are being consistent and I think we are being consistent because we can find our best competitive way in each match,” the Spaniard added.

The Reds are keen to wrap up their pre-season schedule with a showpiece against Napoli in the UK – but Anfield is booked up with a series of concerts.

They will play three exhibition games in the United States in July before returning home – and negotiations are underway to use Tottenham’s new facilities, according to the Telegraph.

Ironically, Liverpool were meant to be the first visitors to the stadium last September, but a series of delays meant it wasn’t opened until earlier this month.

Anfield has secured a licence to hold varying events for the first time, with Take That and Bon Jovi among the acts due to perform this summer.

A ‘Bielsa is God’ banner flew over Elland Road ahead of the Whites’ huge Championship clash with Leeds.

From blue buckets to powerpoint presentations, ‘El Loco’ has endeared himself to the Yorkshire faithful and become something of a cult hero.

And that status would only grow if he were to end the club’s 15-year exodus form the Premier League.

United were helped when Forest had Yohan Benalouane sent off two minutes into the second half.

United went into the game on the back of just one win in their last four matches, desperately needing a victory to boost their chances of securing automatic promotion.

Oliver Norwood tried an early effort for the home side, sending a long-range shot wide of the target.

Claudio Yacob had the first sight of goal for visitors Forest when he saw his fierce drive miss the target from 25 yards.

Forest’s Jack Colback was then shown a yellow card for simulation when he went down in the area following a challenge from George Baldock.

The hosts had a decent spell of possession, with Stevens’ delivery from the left posing problems for the opposition.

First, Stevens whipped in a low, in-swinging cross, which just evaded Gary Madine.

Already without Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Serge Aurier, Harry Winks, and Erik Lamela, manager Mauricio Pochettino also lost Moussa Sissoko to injury, a groin issue forcing him off in the first half at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Spurs somehow managed to make it through the match, dropping Dele Alli into a deeper role and using Fernando Llorente as a target man, where the Spaniard made a vital contribution with their ‘winning’ goal in the tie, despite being relatively poor when he took to the field.

With Sissoko being assessed and unlikely to play, or start at least, Pochettino now must make some big decisions which could ultimately alter the course of the Premier League title.

Liverpool’s run-in leaves them as favourites, just, but should City get revenge on Tottenham Hotspur, the ball would firmly be in Pep Guardiola’s court.

The Reds and the Anfield faithful, though, may fear the team Spurs might turn out on Saturday afternoon as they possibly rotate.

The England star’s career in north London is hanging in the balance after a poor season following his World Cup heroics.

Trippier, 28, has been the weak link in Mauricio Pochettino’s side this campaign with an own goal against Chelsea and a missed penalty against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup just two of his worst moments, while injuries have also harmed his form.

This hasn’t deterred his suitors, according to Gianluca Di Marzio, though with Man United keen to add to their ranks at full-back with Antonio Valencia leaving this summer and Diogo Dalot still only 20 years old.

Napoli, meanwhile, may well be protecting themselves should they lose Elseid Hysaj, although they do already have Kevin Malcuit in their ranks to replace him.

The South Korea international has been sensational for Spurs this season and has 20 goals in all competitions this season.

He scored twice in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City as they made it to the last four.

The 26-year-old appears to be popular both on and off the pitch as he pipped Cristiano Ronaldo to the top of the FIFPlay poll.

The poll asked players which famous face they would like to see on this year’s instalment of the popular game.

There were 50 top names to choose from with both Son and Ronaldo achieving 17 per cent of the vote.

The Tottenham forward was chosen more than 207,000 times while the Juventus star has 204,000 votes.

Lionel Messi was not far behind with 192,000 votes while Neymar had more than 182,000.

Huddersfield and Fulham have been relegated but there is pride still to play for with both sides capable of finishing higher in the table than they currently are and avoid ending the campaign bottom of the table.

The duo aren’t the only ones fighting for position either with several sides still with at least a slight chance of shooting themselves up the standings and into the European reckoning.

At the top of the division, Manchester City and Liverpool have built up such a cushion they’re now guaranteed to be the top two, which leaves Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United battling it out for third and fourth places.

But what are the highest and lowest positions every Premier League can currently finish? Hasithappened.net has got it all worked out.

The big game will be live on talkSPORT 2 and here’s how you can tune in to catch it.

Leeds vs Wigan: How to listen

Full commentary from Elland Road will be live on talkSPORT 2, with our coverage getting underway from 2:30pm.

Ian Danter and Simon Grayson will bring you all the build-up and commentary and to tune in to the action just click here for the live stream or click the radio player below.

You can also listen through the talkSPORT App, on DAB Digital Radio or on MW 1053 or 1089.

For more information about how to listen LIVE on talkSPORT click here.

Leeds vs Wigan: Kick-off time

The Championship clash will get underway at 3pm on Friday, April 19.

Leeds won the reverse fixture in November 2-1 thanks to goals from Pablo Hernandez and Kemar Roofe.