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Arsenal look set to be without club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for tonight’s Europa League clash against Slavia Prague.

The Gunners have got their work cut out in the Czech Republic, with Mikel Arteta’s side conceding a late away goal at the Emirates to leave the tie finely poised at 1-1 after the first leg.

The north Londoners have a few concerns heading into the game on Thursday night, including Aubameyang, and Arteta delivered a worrying update on the Gabon international’s chances of featuring in his pre-match press conference.

He said: “I don’t know we have to see today how they are. Depending how they wake up. If they wake up better yes. Yesterday none of them could train. Hopefully today it’s a sunnier day so maybe it’s better.”

Since then however, pictures from the club’s final training sessions ahead of the Slavia clash have emerged, and there were no signs of either Aubameyang or fellow injury concern Martin Odegaard.

The £31.5m-rated Aubameyang is the man who wears the armband for the Gunners, and the player who others rally behind, and while his current campaign hasn’t seen him hit his usual heights – he’s scored just 14 goals this season – he’s still a big-name player for Arteta.

Speaking after the 3-0 win over Newcastle earlier this season, teammate Granit Xhaka made it clear just how influential Aubameyang is for the team, and that he is a vital presence in the changing room too.

He said: “Everyone knows how important he is for us – not only on the pitch, but off the pitch as well. Of course, every player has these moments where it is not going well for them. But he has kept going and training hard.”

His goal-scoring record over the years is second-to-none – after all, he was the Premier League Golden Boot winner a couple of seasons ago and just missed out last year – and when he’s on song, he’s a devastating threat.

It’s exactly why Aubameyang’s absence tonight would be a major blow for Arsenal, and will leave Arteta hugely disappointed to be without his talisman and captain.

Meanwhile, Edu could sign Arsenal’s dream Lacazette successor in this star…

Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has stressed the importance of Raphinha’s availability to face Manchester United this weekend.

The Whites host Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon, looking to kick on from their impressive recent results against Manchester City and Liverpool. There are fitness concerns over Raphinha ahead of the game, however, with Marcelo Bielsa seemingly ruling him out during his press conference on Friday.

There is still time for the Brazilian to prove his fitness on Saturday, though, and him being available would clearly be a huge boost for the Yorkshire outfit.

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Whelan desperate for Raphinha to face Man United

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan claimed that the 24-year-old’s availability holds the key to Sunday’s game, with Leeds’ wingers tussles against Manchester United’s full-backs a mouthwatering prospect. The former Whites striker said:

“They’ve got fantastic full-backs in Shaw and Wan Bissaka.

“We know Shaw’s had a turn in fortunes the way he is playing. Meanwhile, Wan Bissaka is one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

“It’d be a great challenge for all the wingers against two fantastic full-backs.

“For Raphinha and for Leeds United, I think it’s massively important. We saw the other night how much we missed him.

“We desperately need Raphinha to be fit if we’re going to penetrate and hurt them at the back, that’s for sure.”

Transfer Tavern take

Raphinha has arguably been Leeds’ best player this season, enjoying 12 goal contributions in the league and being hailed for his ‘spontaneous’ qualities by Bielsa, and he has the quality to the scare the life out of Shaw if he is fit to feature on Sunday.

The Englishman has enjoyed an excellent campaign of his own, but he would have to think twice about his attacking forays with the 24-year-old looking to pounce at the other end.

It looks more likely that Helder Costa will again start, however, so there will be pressure on him to fill the Raphinha-shaped void against the Red Devils.

In other news, a pundit has talked up the idea of Leeds signing an experienced defender this summer. Find out who it is here.

A number of Liverpool supporters want to keep hold of Harry Wilson this summer following fresh reports surrounding his Reds future.

The 24-year-old is currently on loan at Cardiff City, where he has made 35 Championship appearances this season, scoring four goals and registering 11 assists.

Wilson was deemed surplus to requirements by Jurgen Klopp last summer, not promising him regular football, but it remains to be seen what happens this time around.

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According to the Liverpool Echo’s Paul Gorst, the Reds are willing to sell the Welshman for between £10m and £15m, bringing an end to his time at Anfield. He has still only made two competitive appearances for Liverpool, and if this update is to be believed, a permanent move could finally be sealed in the coming months.

Liverpool fans want Wilson to stay

Despite this, some Reds fans want to see Wilson stay put moving forward, taking to Twitter to provide their thoughts. One Kopite believe he is better than fellow Anfield loanee Takumi Minamino, who has managed just four goals in 31 games for Liverpool thus far.

“He is better than Minamino, Origi and Ox, and with the Gini departure I think he deserves a chance”

Credit: @QendrimSadiku

“Better keep him. We are going into UEL and will be competing in cup games and will want to qualify for UCL”

Credit: @Alexand36742345

“Sell Origi, Shaqiri and Keep him”

Credit: @TheRealDolch

“He’s better than Minamino so I expect Minamino to go as well then”

Credit: @LFCJadenV2

“Sale Ox and Keita, give Harry Wilson a chance”

Credit: @kamatshawila

“Can’t wait to see Harry Wilson stood over free kicks at home to Norwich next year in front of 15,000 fans”

Credit: @davew97

In other news, a Liverpool player has called for his agent to push through a move away this summer. Find out who it is here.

Former Premier League Golden Boot winner Kevin Phillips is unsure about the prospect of Leeds United signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles this summer.

Sunday’s 0-0 draw at home to Manchester United leaves the Whites sitting in ninth place in the Premier League table following a hugely impressive first year back in the top flight. Leeds could be looking at a number of additions in the next transfer window, however, in order for Marcelo Bielsa to keep improving his squad.

Maitland-Niles has been linked with a move to Elland Road recently, with the youngster currently on loan at West Brom from Arsenal.

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Phillips unsure about Leeds signing Maitland-Niles

Speaking to Football Insider, Phillips admitted he isn’t sure that the midfielder would be the right fit at Leeds, with Bielsa already blessed with options in the middle of the park. The ex-Sunderland striker said:

“It does surprise me a little bit. He hasn’t been fantastic at West Brom, he’s had the odd good game here and there.

“For Ainsley, he undoubtedly has good talent. Wherever he goes next season he has to play regularly. Credit to the kid, when he came to West Brom he wanted to play and he has, he has progressively got better.

“You just wonder where he gets in that Leeds side at the moment, the midfield area possibly.

“Maybe that right back spot, I don’t know. I’d be surprised if [Marcelo] Bielsa went for him, he’s got the legs but he’s more of an industrious player than a technical one.”

Transfer Tavern take

While Maitland-Niles perhaps doesn’t look ready to be a regular starter for Leeds, he could still be worth a punt, such is his quality. West Brom manager Sam Allardyce has described aspects of his game as ‘excellent’ and he already has five caps to his name for England.

He has averaged 1.9 tackles per game since joining the Baggies, a figure which suggests that he could be a solid partner for, or alternative to, Kalvin Phillips in Leeds’ midfield – the 25-year-old is the only Whites midfielder with a better tackling average than Maitland-Miles.

Granted, it hasn’t yet worked out for the 23-year-old at Arsenal, hence his loan move to The Hawthorns, but he possesses quality, versatility and long-term worth; and working under Bielsa could see him go up another gear.

In other news, one Leeds player is being tipped to make a summer exit – find out who it is here.

Many Wolves fans have been left to slam a managerial update as The Sun have reported that Jorge Mendes wants to get Nuno Espirito Santo to Tottenham.

As per the news outlet, Mendes, who is Nuno’s agent, has made contact with Spurs over a potential switch in the summer.

The super-agent is also believed to be working on bringing Bruno Lage to replace Nuno at the Midlands club should he move over to London.

While Lage is currently available having been out of the job since leaving Benfica last summer, several members of the Molineux faithful do not seem to be inspired about his potential appointment, and while they have endured a disappointing season so far, there is some confidence that Nuno can still turn it around in the next campaign given the return of Raul Jimenez and a good transfer window.

Wolves fans on managerial update

These WWFC supporters slammed the managerial update after it was shared on Twitter (via Talking Wolves):

“Bruno Lage is the last manager we should be looking at..”

Credit: @PaulBeest

“Just take Lage to Spurs! Simple as that”

Credit: @lauwolf79

“Bruno Lage will never get us anywhere”

Credit: @fowls21wwfc

“I am confident that Lage would be an absolute disaster appointment. Has a very underwhelming CV with limited experience. Started out well at Benfica before delivering their worst set of results in over 20 years. I would rather keep Nuno if this is the best they can come up with.”

Credit: @Kcb92

“Lol”

Credit: @DaveRos63040177

“I beg this isn’t true but then again it’s the Sun”

Credit: @Harley_V12

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by Wanderers here!

Oliver Skipp looks set to miss a significant portion, if not all, of Spurs’ pre-season after suffering a disappointing injury blow this week.

What’s the latest?

The 20-year-old Hotspur Way academy graduate has enjoyed a brilliant season on-loan at Norwich City, where he has helped deliver their second promotion to the Premier League in three years.

On Tuesday night against Reading, Skipp limped off in stoppage time with what seemed to be a foot problem, and now the extent of the injury has been revealed.

His season is now over.

Speaking to local reporters, Canaries boss Daniel Farke said:

“[It is] a big concern. It was pretty painful for him and our physios’ first assessment was they are not that optimistic for him. It seems like a major injury. Right now, too soon to give a firm prediction. We have to continue to assess him over these coming days but it was pretty sore.

“It is a shame because he was unbelievable this season. One of our outstanding players. All our thoughts are with him and we hope he is capable of being fit for the new season.

“It is an issue with his foot. We think it could be broken.”

Spurs themselves have since confirmed that Skipp did indeed fracture his metatarsal and that he’s had surgery to repair the broken bone.

Could impact plans

Given that he’s gone under the knife, it’s highly likely that Skipp will be in recovery and rehab for most of the summer and that will surely hinder his chances of making the Tottenham senior fold next term.

The young midfielder has been lauded as the “future captain” of the club and has hugely impressed at Carrow Road this term.

He is widely expected to be a first-team presence in the near future and you would imagine that whoever is in charge of Spurs come the summer would like to take a good look at him to assess if he truly does have the potential to step up into the Premier League.

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Skipp has played the second-most minutes (3,863) for Norwich this season, so that only tells you just how crucial he has been to their fortunes. Additionally, his teammate Kenny McLean, explained just how integral he has been to the side, he told Sky Sports:

“He makes my job a hell of a lot easier, I’ll tell you that. He’s been outstanding all season and we’re lucky to have him to be honest. For this level, he’s very outstanding and he’s got a huge career ahead of him.”

The 5 foot 9 dynamo could be an ideal partner for the ever-present Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the heart of Spurs’ midfield.

There are doubts over the futures of Harry Winks and Dele Alli; Moussa Sissoko is getting no younger at 31 and both Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso are better deployed in more advanced roles.

However, if Skipp does miss pre-season – or at least the start of the next era under Daniel Levy’s next appointment, as is now expected after his surgery – then Spurs may well want to seek reinforcements in the transfer market and that would deal a crushing blow to his prospects in N17.

Skipp has featured 23 times for Spurs since his debut in October 2018 and should undoubtedly be a big player for the Lilywhites in years to come.

This injury is obviously unfortunate for the player but it is also a cruel setback to the next manager of Spurs, whoever that turns out to be, as he may not be able to take a proper look at Skipp’s credentials, which in turn will impact his plans for next season.

A new manager will always be keen to get a good look at his new players in person, especially a highly-touted youngster but it looks like whoever takes over the Spurs hotseat may have to wait a while before he can assess Skipp close up.

That’s a blow to the incumbent manager as he would want to have as much information as possible about his players and his squad going into his first season in the dugout, but alas, it looks like he’ll have to settle for watching replays of Skipp’s Norwich’s performances to make a decision on whether he feels he is good enough, or if he needs to go into the transfer market.

AND in other news, In-house hire could be Martin Jol 2.0 at Spurs…

West Ham United could revisit one of their January targets in a bid to bolster David Moyes’ frontline this summer…

What’s the word?

According to ActuSport (via Arena Napoli), the Irons are willing to bring the Reims striker to the Premier League but they face competition from Serie A duo Napoli and Fiorentina.

At the turn of the year, Sky Sports reported that Dia was being targeted as a possible replacement for Sebastian Haller, who left for Ajax and is a player to whom the Hammers are yet to find a viable successor.

The 24-year-old forward is allowed to leave the Ligue 1 outfit this summer, as revealed by club president Jean-Pierre Caillot to Canal Plus. It is thought that €15m (£13m) would be enough to secure his signature.

Antonio 2.0?

A new signing in the striker department must be paramount to West Ham’s plans this summer and given that their target man experiment with Haller failed so dismally, they could do no harm in finding a like-for-like forward to play second fiddle to Michail Antonio.

In Dia, they could well be getting an exact prototype. The Senegal international is powerful, has explosive pace and can be a real nuisance for the opposition’s defence – very much like the 31-year-old is for Moyes in the Premier League.

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He has enjoyed an impressive campaign for Reims this term, scoring 16 times in 36 domestic appearances, via Transfermarkt, which is seven more than any player at the London Stadium right now.

Former Irons forward Marlon Harewood backed the club to sign him in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast back in January, claiming that he could be “another Antonio.”

He added: “That’s the sort of player that West Ham need upfront, to help him out by playing both of them or when Antonio’s not playing, he’s the same type of player that West Ham need running the frontline.”

Indeed, the 5 foot 11 dynamo is no towering presence up top and is the same height as Antonio. He has averaged 1.4 dribbles and 1.7 shots per game in Ligue 1 this campaign, via WhoScored, which isn’t too far away from the West Ham star’s 1.6 dribbles and 2.4 shots per match, especially considering he’s the one playing in the better team.

Ligue 1’s official website adds further weight to the argument, claiming that Dia is very direct and likes to play off the shoulder of the defender. Again, that’s just like Antonio.

For just £13m, Sullivan and co could land Moyes an absolute bargain and an ideal solution to their striking problems.

AND in other news, Sullivan must seal West Ham swoop for “silky” 10-goal “genius” who’s shades of Payet…

If you’re a Leeds United fan, you’d be forgiven for not wanting the Premier League campaign to end just yet, with the side firing on all cylinders in these final couple of weeks of the season.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side continued their hot form with a 2-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday night, to follow up their victories over both Burnley and Spurs in the previous games.

And while the Whites clinched all three points at St Mary’s, one man who had a rare off-night was Jack Harrison.

The 24-year-old was superb in the 4-0 thrashing of Burnley at the weekend, scoring once and setting up two more, but against Southampton, he was much more quiet.

As per Sofascore, he finished with the lowest match rating of any Leeds player and when you look at some of his key numbers you can see why.

He made just successful passes over the game, far fewer even than goalkeeper Kiko Casilla who returned to the starting line-up in place of Illan Meslier.

Harrison also lost a whopping 12 duels, spending a lot of his time trying to ensure the Whites were well protected in defence rather than being able to do the damage at the other end.

When he did have the ball, he looked more wasteful, and his tally of losing possession a staggering 26 times was by far the highest of any player on the pitch.

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And, writing in his post-match player ratings for Leeds Live, Beren Cross gave him a six, saying: “Very quiet match for Harrison by Saturday’s standards. Spent more time tracking back with Kyle Walker-Peters than running at him and driving for the byline.”

Everyone’s entitled to a bad game, and after the superstar performance that Harrison put in against the Clarets, he was certainly someone who could be given a pass for having a rare shocker.

Meanwhile, a journalist has dropped a major Leeds United update…

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to qualify for a place in Europe next season with a win over Aston Villa this evening.

Interim manager Ryan Mason can guide his side to no worse than seventh place if they manage to clinch three points in North London and they head into kick-off on the back of a much-needed victory over Wolves last time out.

It leaves the 29-year-old caretaker with a lot to ponder, especially as there are a few injuries to contend with.

So, what sort of Spurs XI could we see tonight? Here’s our predicted line-up, as well as the latest team and injury news from N17…

Mason could make as many as three changes from Sunday’s victory.

In his pre-game press conference, the temporary boss hinted that Gareth Bale may not be fit to feature, whilst Ben Davies is still on the sidelines, so there is a decision to be made in attack – who joins Harry Kane and Heung-min Son?

There are a few contenders but we’re expecting Lucas Moura to get the nod over both Erik Lamela and Steven Bergwijn.

Mason will also have another big call to make on Dele Alli, who has now started three straight Premier League games for the very first time this campaign.

The 25-year-old playmaker is likely to remain in the no.10 role in an exciting front four.

Further back in midfield, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg should keep up his record of starting every single top-flight game this term but there could be a huge temptation to turn to Tanguy Ndombele over Giovani Lo Celso.

The £27m-rated Argentine doesn’t seem like the best partner for the great Dane, at least compared to the relationship the Frenchman struck up with him earlier in the season.

Both of them, along with Alli, should help fill the likely void left behind by Bale.

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The defence pretty much selects itself with Davies absent.

Mason is yet to turn to summer signing Joe Rodon, so Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld are likely to remain in the heart of defence, along with Sergio Reguilon.

But they could be joined by Serge Aurier in the third and final change, as the Ivory Coast international has been back in training this week following his surprise absence on Sunday.

He’ll replace Japhet Tanganga at right-back.

AND in other news, Mason must ruthlessly axe “exciting” Spurs gem tonight, Grealish could tear him apart…

In recent weeks, Rafa Benitez has confirmed that he wants to return to the Premier League and it would not be a surprise to see Wolves move for the Spaniard, according to former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey.

Nuno Espirito Santo shocked the entire Premier League as he announced just two days before the club’s final game of the season, that the match against Man United would be his last as Wolves manager.

The Portuguese manager arrived from FC Porto in 2017 and managed to get Wolves out of the Championship as champions which was also his first season managing in England and after some smart signings such as Raul Jimenez and Joao Moutinho, Wolves qualified for the Europa League in their first season back in the top flight.

Since leaving Newcastle United in 2018, Benitez had been managing in China, but left earlier this year because of the COVID situation. Wolves could be a good club for the Spaniard, who’s managed 340 Premier League matches previously, according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“I would imagine that somebody like Rafa Benitez will be inundated with offers, but whether they are offers from Premier League teams, I’m not too sure.

“It’s obviously a club that has turned around its fortunes brilliantly and they seem to be quite a well run club who appear to have some financial backing. So again, I wouldn’t disregard that idea of somebody like Rafa going there.”

There was talk of Benitez returning to Newcastle if their proposed takeover, backed by PIF, eventually got approved by the Premier League as Amanda Staveley is very fond of the Spaniard.

Wolves have traditionally had a solid defensive base since returning to the Premier League whenever Romain Saiss, Conor Coady and Willy Boly have been fit and Benitez loves to build his sides from back to front.