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Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to end a winless run of eight straight matches this afternoon, though standing in their way are not just their arch-rivals but a team vying for a spot in the playoffs too.

The Owls make the short trip to Oakwell to face Barnsley in the south Yorkshire derby in a game that is second-bottom against fifth place.

Darren Moore has plenty to ponder over team selection, so with that in mind, here’s the XI we’re predicting today…

There could be as many as three changes from the side drew to Huddersfield Town in midweek.

Moore will be sweating on the fitness of Sam Hutchinson, who has been filling in at centre-back amid the Owls’ mounting injury problems. Joost van Aken, Chey Dunkley and Dominic Iorfa are all sidelined through injury.

Hutchinson was withdrawn early at Hillsborough after picking up a knock and according to the 46-year-old,  his potential involvement is “an eleventh-hour decision,” so we’re expecting the 31-year-old veteran to not be risked.

That would mean a recall for Osaze Urhoghide, who comes back in to partner Tom Lees and Julian Borner, in front of goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.

Adam Reach is expected to continue at left wing-back, with Kadeem Harris dropping back into a similar role to allow a change further up the pitch.

Skipper Barry Bannan should also remain from midweek, though this time he’s joined by Celtic-bound 20-year-old Liam Shaw, which means Joey Pelupessy is axed. The Dutchman’s display on Wednesday was rather poor, as we outlined here, so he’s an obvious casualty from the starting XI.

Calum Paterson could return to the line-up in the third and final change, replacing Liam Palmer. He may have scored an own goal against the Terriers, but is still their joint top goalscorer.

Moore may also continue with a front two of Josh Windass and Jordan Rhodes, meaning Elias Kachunga and Jack Marriott will have to continue to wait for their opportunities.

AND in other news, Sheffield Wednesday have another Almen Abdi in £18k-p/w flop…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who scored 34 Premier League goals, claims Newcastle United fans being in attendance for their final home game against Sheffield United could prove to be either very good or very bad for the team.

Newcastle have been labelled as “wild” by former manager Graeme Souness and Lee claims every team knows if you can silence the crowd for the first 10-15 minutes then the Newcastle fans can turn on their team.

There have not been any fans inside St James’ Park for over 12 months now as they’ve had to sit and watch their team freefall closer to the relegation zone on their TV screens every week, but the Premier League are hoping they will be back for the clash against the Blades in May.

Speaking on how having fans back could impact the Newcastle players and the one bit of advice Kevin Keegan used to give his players, Lee told FFC exclusively:

“I think it could go either way but the fans will 100% be behind the team from kick-off. However, Sheffield United will know if they go there and can quieten the crowd then it could be detrimental to the Newcastle players.

“Kevin Keegan used to say to us in the first 10-15 minutes go out and entertain the crowd and get them on your side and then they’ll be behind you for the entire match.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/rob-lee-exclusive-newcastle-united-premier-league-steve-bruce” title=”Exclusive! Rob Lee’s thoughts on Newcastle”]

“That’s what Newcastle fans want to see right from the off their team flying into players, pressing the opposition and creating chances and then they’ll get behind you.”

Newcastle fans will be looking at their final two games of the season and will be hoping they are safe before that as they face the Blades and Fulham.

The relegation battle appears to be between Fulham, Newcastle, Brighton and Burnley, with the latter two starting to put positive results together when it matters.

David Sullivan must block all approaches for Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek this summer, after Keith Gillespie claimed the West Ham duo are perfect for Manchester United.

The Red Devils product has been speaking with This Is Futbol, and suggested the Irons duo would “walk into” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad.

Reports by 90min have linked the Old Trafford natives with a move for Rice this off-season, but the England international is a player of interest for a host of top Premier League sides.

Manchester United have allegedly revived their interest in Rive over recent months, as club chiefs believe the 22-year-old can fill a hole in midfield and provide cover at centre-back.

Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea – who were quoted £80m last year – are also said to be tracking Rice, but Gillespie agrees with talkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara in that he can see the West Ham product wearing the red of his former side in the future.

“I’m really impressed. I probably agree, they probably would walk into Man United’s team,” Gillespie said. “That probably shows how badly they need midfielders.

“You’ve got [Nemanja] Matic, who’s coming towards the end. You’ve got Fred, who – for all his hard work and endeavour – gives the ball away too much. You’ve got [Scott] McTominay, who at times looks the part and at times doesn’t.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/the-latest-west-ham-news-and-views-2″ title=”The latest West Ham news and views!”]

Any side wishing to sign Rice this summer faces having to pay £100m, while Soucek is expected to have a list of suitors after proving to be a crucial part of West Ham’s surprise push for a European qualifying berth.

But even at £100m for Rice and however much the Irons demand for Soucek – who has a TransferMarkt valuation of £36m – Sullivan should be blocking all approaches, as the pair are too key to what David Moyes is building at the London Stadium.

The reports of Manchester United’s interest in Rice also claimed that players like Nemanja Matic and Phil Jones had come up in discussions of a part-exchange potentially involving Jesse Lingard, but West Ham would be taking a step back by accepting those terms.

“When you look at say, Liverpool, and you had Fabinho that would play that role for Liverpool and do that really well – sit and let other people go forward. I’d put N’Golo Kante in that bracket, that’s what Declan Rice does for West Ham,” Tony Cascarino told talkSPORT following news he had sustained a lateral knee ligament injury.

“He sits, he picks things, he can see things, the players trust him around him and he does the A,B,C’s of football – the simplistic things that affect a team – really well. He keeps the ball, so it is a huge blow; it is that N’Golo Kante, it’s that Fabinho role that he does brilliantly well. Fine lines, small margins make massive differences.”

Meanwhile Soucek has helped to transform the engine room at the London Stadium by adding a box-to-box machine, capable of offering defensive support and the final touch with a team-high nine goals in 30 Premier League games this term.

“He has been awesome. He has transformed West Ham, he really has. What a player he’s been for them,” O’Hara told talkSPORT last month. “A great signing that went under the radar, but his performances have been absolutely exceptional.

“If you’re Soucek and you’re having the season you are and say Man United come along, because Man United need a player like him, he’d walk into their team with his energy, his runs and scores goals.”

But no matter how much Manchester United need players like Soucek and Rice, Sullivan should put an endless stream of hurdles between them as cashing-in would no doubt break Moyes and the plans he has developed.

AND in other news, West Ham land major boost in race to sign “complete” £11m-rated target for free…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee had no sympathy for Newcastle United with their record of bringing in players claiming you get what you pay for in football.

Lee does give an exception to Joelinton however, who cost the club £40 million, but knows for sure that fact will never change in football. If you want good players you pay big fees.

Mike Ashley has kept the purse strings relatively tight during his years at Newcastle and that has been reflected on the pitch with Newcastle finding themselves at the wrong end of the table most seasons.

The former Magpies midfielder acknowledges there are bargains to be found, however, he claims you need the right recruitment and gave praise to Leicester City’s transfer business.

Lee played over 300 times for the Toon and in an exclusive interview with FFC, he bemoaned Newcastle’s poor transfer business in recent years.

“It will never change,” Lee said when asked about good players costing top money in football.

He added: “Every now and again, you’ll be lucky with somebody but nine times out of 10, you get what you pay for.

“If you want quality it costs money and at the moment we haven’t got the money so, you do have to search around.

“You look at Leicester City. They get the young players and they ease them in. They pay what people would say is over the odds but Brendan Rodgers gets them playing and he gets the best out of them.”

Like many clubs, Newcastle will be looking to spend little this summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic and having over a year with no fans attending games.

This could signal another season fo struggle if Steve Bruce guides the Magpies to safety this season.

Mike Ashley must end Achraf Lazaar’s stay at Newcastle United during the January transfer window amid speculative interest from Serie A leaders AC Milan.

What’s the word?

According to Sport Mediaset, the Rossoneri are exploring a potential deal for Lazaar to move to the San Siro in the closing stages of the mid-season market to provide cover for Theo Hernandez.

Lazaar’s agent is currently negotiating his release from the Magpies ahead of the £9,000-per-week dud becoming a free agent at the end of the campaign, and the player is therefore seen by Milan chiefs as a cheap option who would likely accept a back-up role in Stefano Pioli’s plans.

Milan are not thought to be the only side interested in signing Lazaar if he is released this month, following claims by TuttoMercatoWEB that the Moroccan will be allowed to secure a free transfer as his agent, Mohammed Sinouh, shares a good relationship with Newcastle.

Lazaar is yet to play a single minute of first-team football this season after being omitted from Steve Bruce’s 25-man Premier League squad. He last featured for the Toon’s Under 23s side during a 3-2 EFL Trophy defeat at League Two Bolton Wanderers in November after three outings in the PL2.

A thigh injury thwarted parts of Lazaar’s one-year loan spell with Serie B outfit Cosenza Calcio last term, where he featured just nine times, meaning that the £300,000-rated outcast last made double-figure league appearances in the 2015/16 campaign with Palermo FC.

Newcastle must get rid

Newcastle appear to have grown resigned to the fact that they will not make back any of the £2m spent to sign Lazaar from Palermo in the summer of 2016, and thus, they have no reason to stand in the 18-cap Morocco international’s way if Milan look to sign him before Deadline Day.

Lazaar was brought to St. James’ Park with a view to helping the Toon get back into the Premier League but failed to cut the grade in the Championship, and never looked likely to be given a chance in the top-flight thanks to a string of failed loan moves.

A year with Benevento returned just nine appearances, a move to Sheffield Wednesday gave four and a spell in the Italian second-tier with Cosenza again just nine. All the while failing to feature on Tyneside and he is now likely to leave having played just 10 games in four-and-a-half-years across all competitions.

Bruce was even in charge of Sheffield Wednesday when Lazaar signed for the Owls, yet omitted the 29-year-old from 10 squads despite claiming to be “delighted” with how the Newcastle flop had taken to life at Hillsborough.

Had Lazaar been given anything more than a £9k-p/w contract when signed in 2016, totalling £2m spent on his wages to date, he may have been even more costly to Newcastle but the fact remains, he has been a waste of £4m when combining his transfer fee and wages.

Now, January simply must spell the end of the road for the left-back whilst someone is willing to take his services off the Toon’s hands.

AND in other news, Newcastle may have found Steve Bruce’s ideal midfielder in a £1.9k-p/w target.

Glasgow Rangers interim right-back Leon Balogun badly let Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard and his side down on Thursday night despite reaching the Europa League last 16 for the second successive season.

The 32-year-old, who earns a reported £12,500-per-week at Ibrox, was once again called into action on the right-hand side of the defence in the absence of the injured James Tavernier.

After a frenetic start, Balogun endured a difficult opening as he struggled to gain a foothold in the game in the first half, and it was no surprise to see him replaced by Nathan Patterson at the break after being booked for a clumsy challenge.

Writing in his post-match review, The Daily Record’s Gavin Berry gave his performance a low grade of 4/10 and noted the ‘Nigerian international was beaten by Jordan Lukaku for Antwerp equaliser and struggled with a booking that rules him out of last-16.’

As per SofaScore ratings, the veteran defender, who is traditionally a centre-back by trade, was graded as one of Rangers’ worst defenders (6.3) – in fact, only four other players received a lower rating from either side.

Balogun has usually been a colossus at the back for Gerrard’s side this season thus far but against the Belgians, he was uncharacteristically lacklustre and lightweight, winning just five of his duels overall (45%).

He was also rather ineffective in possession, only producing 60% of his 15 attempted passes, while he also lost control of the ball 12 times, that being the most of any defender for Rangers barring Borna Barisic on the opposite flank. For context, Filip Helander, who otherwise endured a frustrating evening against Antwerp, only lost possession three times by comparison.

This also meant that Balogun managed to lose possession once every 2.75 touches, which further emphasises just how anonymous he was throughout the first half.

It’s no wonder, then, that he was the first player to be hooked off at half-time when replaced by Patterson on his return to action.

He was also caught out of position on several occasions as he was dribbled past twice more than any other Rangers defender, including Barisic and Helander, which was well above that of his season’s average of 0.7 times per game since arriving at Ibrox from Wigan Athletic.

The Nigerian let his manager down big time on the night, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Ryan Kent was exceptional once again in Rangers win over Royal Antwerp…

In an exclusive with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey has urged Jurgen Klopp to shake things up at Liverpool, specifically in the final third.

Liverpool had previously gone 68 games unbeaten at Anfield but they now find themselves on the end of a six-game losing streak at home in the Premier League, in which they’ve scored just one goal and conceded 10 times.

Mohamed Salah is still the Premier League’s top scorer with 17 goals this season, however, with Diogo Jota back fit Klopp may be forced into giving the Portuguese some starts ahead of one of the traditional front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Salah.

The Reds currently find themselves eighth in the league and seven points away from the top four so, Klopp may look to freshen things up all over the pitch.

Speaking on Liverpool’s struggles at home in recent months and what Klopp could do as he looks to find a way to halt their slide of poor results, Howey spoke exclusively to FFC:

“Obviously, he’s got to freshen it up. They hadn’t been beaten in 68 games and now it’s six [home league] defeats on the bounce.

“So, something needs to change. Of course, they’ve had bad injuries but so have every other team.

“Yes, it’s been to key players but everyone else has had to cope and you’d think Liverpool would be more than capable to cope with those injuries.

“They’ve still got good players who can deputise and come in to do a job.”

Liverpool have Fabinho back from injury now after he started in the 2-0 win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening who will be able to do a job at the back if required.

Klopp will be desperate to get both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez back from their long term injuries if they are to bounce back next season.

Some Everton fans were left slamming the display of James Rodriguez in their FA Cup tie versus Rotherham United.

Despite the attacking midfield player grabbing himself an assist for the winning goal scored by Abdoulaye Doucoure, some members of the Goodison Park faithful did not think that he had a good game before the extra time period, in a game where the Merseyside club managed to hold out for a 2-1 win in the end after being held 1-1 in normal time by the EFL League Two team at home.

The Colombia international managed to lose possession of the ball no fewer than 22 times in the match, and also lost out on seven of his duels, while failing to register a single shot on target or successful cross, earning him a quite measly 6.6 overall rating on Sofascore.

Everton fan reaction to Rodriguez display

These Toffees supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one Blues fan even going as far to say that the 29 year-old is a ‘liability’:

“Thank goodness that’s over. Never ending game. We were better once Doucoure came on. James was awful. Albeit setting up a goal. Didn’t think Tosun’s second was offside. Won’t do us any favours playing extra time with Wolves on Tuesday. #EFC”

Credit: @davidleatham

“James falling over after having being fouled by the invisible man kind of sums up this garbage so far. We need another 5 decent players at least. #EFC”

Credit: @allkickingoff

“James has been disappointing. #EFC”

Credit: @ParrettGost

“Rotherham are pressing more effectively than Everton and deserve to be level. They are passing more accurately and finding space and Everton are second best at present. James looks unfit and is doing little in midfield.”

Credit: @RogerWi33581994

“Someone tell James to take that Everton shirt off, fella showing why he came to us for one last payday”

Credit: @Marty_Logue

“Guy’s a liability. Gomes couldn’t find another blue shirt if his life depended on it. Need some new signings”

Credit: @mattwal00831818

In other news, find out a transfer update that Fabrizio Romano has dropped on one reported EFC target here!

After a summer that saw Aston Villa splash out around £20m to bring in Emiliano Martinez from Arsenal, Dean Smith has an abundance of riches in the goalkeeping position.

Villa of course had to contend with an unprecedented injury crisis in that area last season, so it was perhaps no surprise to see the club go out and target a new number one.

But with Tom Heaton nearing a return to first-team action – he completed the full 90 minutes for the U23s against Stoke City recently – it’s a position that poses major problems for Smith in terms of man-management.

As well as both Martinez and Heaton, Villa also have the likes of Lovre Kalinic and Jed Steer on their books, ready to call upon if needed.

Steer has been with the club for around seven years now after initially arriving from Norwich City back in 2013, and The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has questioned how long the now 28-year-old can be happy playing second and third fiddle when he could be playing week-in and week-out elsewhere.

Whilst he’s been a loyal servant in his time at Villa Park, surely the club have to be ruthless with the £20k-a-week ace. With Evans adding that Villa have found it very difficult to move on Kalinic, they should potentially refocus their attention on Steer, and allow him to be the man to go.

Both Tony Xia and now Nassef Sawiris can’t be happy with the goalkeeping situation at Villa right now, and it appears best for all parties involved that they make a ruthless call on Steer and cash in on him in the upcoming transfer window.

Tottenham Hotspur left-back Sergio Reguilon has indisputably been one of their standout performers so far this season, but on Thursday evening he endured a rare night to forget.

Jose Mourinho’s side defeated Royal Antwerp to leapfrog them into first place in Group J, meaning they’ll be seeded for the Europa League round of 32.

Whilst Spurs were victorious in north London, it wasn’t the most thrilling, entertaining or even best display and that much was summed up by the Spaniard’s performance.

Valued at €70m (£64m) by CIES, Reguilon was one of the few who kept his starting place from Sunday’s win over arch-rivals Arsenal, though by half-time, he was hauled off by the Portuguese boss.

Indeed, he received the lowest rating of any Spurs player (6.5) and was awfully lightweight in possession.

Per SofaScore, Reguilon won just 33% of his duels, lost the ball eight times and made just five passes. Even Joe Hart recorded more touches than the 23-year-old despite playing between the sticks, a role that shouldn’t see him more involved than the industrious left wing-back.

The Evening Standard graded him a five out of ten, claiming that Regulion “didn’t get forward enough” before he was replaced at half-time.

Whilst some will believe that the decision was down to keeping an eye on Crystal Palace this weekend, the former Real Madrid ace was still woefully poor for perhaps the very first time this season, and it would have left his manager fuming.

Reguilon has been a popular figure on and off the pitch as football.london’s Alasdair Gold revealed earlier in the season that “everyone loves him” in training whilst the £25m signing has quickly become a fan-favourite with supporters.

With Ben Davies pulling off an impressive display at left centre-back and then at full-back, it could give Mourinho plenty to ponder in terms of team selection, especially when coming up against Wilfried Zaha and then Mo Salah.

The Welshman would offer a more defensively-sound presence, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Spurs could find their own Timo Werner in “stone-cold” EFL star…