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Crystal Palace are unlikely to make a move for out-of-favour Manchester United forward Anthony Martial, according to journalist Tom Barclay.

The Lowdown: Martial struggling for minutes

The Frenchman has struggled to force his way into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans at Old Trafford this season, making just two Premier League starts prior to the Norwegian’s departure from the club this morning.

The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and Jadon Sancho all appear to be ahead of Martial in the pecking order, so he could leave the Manchester club soon.

Palace have been linked with a move for the 25-year-old, who has scored 94 goals in his career during spells with Monaco and United.

The Latest: Barclay plays down Palace move for Martial

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Barclay played down the idea of Martial heading to Crystal Palace, admitting that the Eagles likely couldn’t afford his wages.

The journalist said: “Would he even want to go to Crystal Palace? He’s obviously out of favour at United, and they probably are looking to let him go, but I would be pretty shocked.

“He would either have to take a massive pay cut or Palace would have to go down a massively different route.”

The Verdict: Highly unlikely

Martial is a talented footballer who has had good times at United – his record of 79 goals in 266 appearances is not to be dismissed – but as Barclay says, it is hard to see a move to Palace ever materialising.

The France international earns an eye-watering £250,000 per week at Old Trafford, which is almost double that of Palace’s highest-earning player Wilfried Zaha (£130,000). Also, Martial’s current United deal doesn’t expire until the summer of 2024, so Patrick Vieira couldn’t even snap up his compatriot on the cheap.

Besides, it’s not as if the Eagles have been stuck for goals this season either – Christian Benteke, Wilfried Zaha, Conor Gallagher and Odsonne Edouard have already netted 15 times between them in the Premier League alone – so Martial isn’t a player that Palace desperately need.

In other news, some Palace fans criticised one player’s performance against Burnley. Find out who it is here.

David Moyes’ West Ham United side got 2022 off to a perfect start against Crystal Palace on Saturday evening, with the Hammers running out 3-2 victors at Selhurst Park.

The fixture looked to be done and dusted at halftime, with Michail Antonio’s 22nd-minute opener and Manuel Lanzini’s brace giving West Ham a 3-0 lead at the interval.

However, Palace did come extremely close to levelling the scores right at the death, as Jean-Philippe Mateta’s spectacular bicycle kick flew just wide after Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise had pulled two goals back for the hosts.

Nevertheless, the Hammers hung on to all three points, a result which – coupled with Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Manchester City – sees Moyes’ men well and truly back in contention for a top-four spot.

Aside from the result, the displays of a number of his starting XI will have been extremely encouraging for the 58-year-old manager – particularly that of Declan Rice, who ran the show after returning to the side following his suspension.

12 defensive actions

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch on Saturday evening, the defensive midfielder enjoyed 60 touches of the ball – the joint second-most of any West Ham player – completed 41 of his 46 attempted passes – one of which was key – found his man with two of his four attempted long balls and ended the fixture with an assist to his name – setting up Lanzini’s stunning first goal.

The £67.5m-rated man also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making three tackles, three interceptions, two clearances and winning four duels, totalling 12 defensive actions.

These returns saw the £62k-per-week 22-year-old earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.2 – ranking him as West Ham’s third-best performer on the day.

Football.London journalist Tom Clarke also appeared to be impressed with the performance of the England international, awarding Rice a seven in his own player ratings, as well as stating of the midfielder’s display: “Back in the team and back to running games. Drove forward well and got West Ham on the front foot after a sloppy start.”

Indeed, it is clear for all to see that the academy graduate did run the game for Moyes’ side against Crystal Palace, something which Rice will have to maintain going forwards should his team have any chance of securing a Champions League finish in the top flight this season.

In other news: Forget Dawson: £61k-p/w flop who lost 66% duels may have played his last game for WHU

A source from Everton has revealed that Farhad Moshiri is now plotting a ‘major’ overhaul of the squad in the summer.

The Lowdown: Change coming?

After the season that the Goodison Park faithful have had, big changes are needed on the pitch to ensure that they do not find themselves in a relegation battle again.

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The likes of James Tarkowski and Florian Grillitsch have recently been linked as potential incomings, while Jarrad Branthwaite has been linked with a move away from Merseyside.

The Latest: Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison out

As per Football Insider, a source with knowledge of their recruitment has revealed that Moshiri is now ‘plotting’ a ‘major’ overhaul for the Toffees this summer, and both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison could be two ‘star’ names that may leave in a mass exodus.

They are thought of as the Blues’ ‘most valuable’ assets, as evident by their market values compared to the rest of the squad.

The Verdict: Sell one, keep one

Given their values, Frank Lampard’s team could potentially afford to sell one of them for a premium price, but if they were to lose both, they would be very difficult to replace.

Despite the miserable season, Richarlison still remains their joint-top scorer with seven goals in total over all competitions, while in an injury-hit campaign, Calvert-Lewin managed to score previous seasons his scoring credentials for the club.

Nonetheless, EFC could sell one to raise funds for strengthening in other key areas of the pitch, and keep the other to hopefully get them firing again.

In other news, find out what big Everton update before Leicester City now has this ex-BBC man fuming here!

Trent Alexander-Arnold could be fit for Liverpool’s vital Premier League clash with Manchester City, according to journalist James Pearce.

The Lowdown: Liverpool suffer Trent blow

The Reds are firing on all cylinders at the moment, with their quadruple chances still alive going into April, in what could be a legendary season at Anfield.

They suffered a blow recently, however, with Alexander-Arnold suffering a hamstring issue in the 2-0 win away to Arsenal in the Premier League.

It was reported that he would miss ‘weeks’ and therefore the potentially season-defining trip to City on April 10th, but that may have changed.

The Latest: Promising update emerges

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, The Athletic‘s Pearce claimed that Alexander-Arnold could now be available, in what is a significant update:

“Trent Alexander-Arnold’s rehab progressing well. Chance he could be fit for crunch clash at the Etihad on April 10 – but that would be a quick return. Important hurdles still to clear. (Includes an update on Naby Keita too).”

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The Verdict: Potentially result-defining

Alexander-Arnold’s influence is absolutely enormous, so him starting at the Etihad a week on Sunday has the potential to alter Liverpool’s title chances.

The 23-year-old is the Reds’ main creative force, registering 15 assists this season, with so much of their play coming through his wand of a right foot, in terms of his passing, crossing and energy down the flank.

Alexander-Arnold being fit would give City so much more to worry about than if Joe Gomez plays at right-back, with all due respect to the makeshift full-back, and it would enhance Liverpool’s hopes of picking up one of their biggest Premier League wins of all time.

In other news, Fabrizio Romano has dropped a key Liverpool transfer claim. Read more here.

Everton have now officially sold Lucas Digne to Aston Villa, and in return are set to take one of their players off their hands and a fresh update on the move has been revealed.

What’s the word?

Fabrizio Romano has revealed an update on Everton’s signing of Anwar El Ghazi.

The Italian transfer insider tweeted in the early hours of this morning:

“Anwar El Ghazi has signed his contract as new Everton player, deal sealed and here-we-go confirmed. Medical completed, official announcement will be today.

“El Ghazi joins on loan from Aston Villa. Buy option clause [not mandatory] is also included in the deal.”

Fans will be furious

The move for El Ghazi to Everton is one that will come tinged with negativity, as he is signing at the cost of fan favourite, Digne, and when you look at Everton’s team, the signing of a winger doesn’t seem to be a priority position to fill in the team.

After all, they already have the likes of Andros Townsend, Demarai Gray, Anthony Gordon and Alex Iwobi at their disposal in that area of the pitch.

Toffees fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts and their confusion on the signing of the Dutch attacker, with one fan exclaiming:

“We’re wasting money to replace players who don’t get a game then? El Ghazi to replace our 5th choice winger? Clearly the priority should have been a CDM/CM to replace Allan, one of our best players, essential to breaking up play, who Rafa seems determined to drive out next.”

Another furious fan tweeted:

“Gone from Carlo, James, Digne to Rafa, Rondon, El Ghazi. Biggest downgrade in history.”

Indeed, it’s easy to see why they’re so angry about proceedings. The club seems to have not learned their lesson about wasting money on players that they don’t need, with owner Farhad Moshiri making a large number of signings in his time as owner of the club.

He has spent over £500m without the Toffees progressing or winning any trophies in the process, and as a consequence, they now that they sit 15th in the Premier League, just six points off relegation.

Therefore, the idea of signing a player who isn’t even a regular at one of their league rivals is a puzzling one as it’s unlikely to take them to the next level at all.

It will be interesting to see how Benitez will fit the Villa man into his line-up and whether he will become a first-team player, replacing a starter already in the side.

In other news: Everton should land Dele Alli

A number of West Ham fans have been showering Ben Johnson with praise after his performance against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

The Hammers picked up a sweet win against Spurs at the London Stadium, prevailing 1-0. Michail Antonio was on the scoresheet, and the Irons have now moved up to fourth place in the Premier League table. David Moyes and co will surely be confident of improving on their sixth-place finish last season after this result.

Johnson was included in the starting line-up for his third league outing of the campaign (Transfermarkt) as he continued to deputise for the injured Vladimir Coufal. Once again, the 21-year-old helped the Irons keep a clean sheet as he kept the likes of Heung-Min Son and Sergio Reguilon quiet down his right flank, and lots of fans were absolutely delighted with what the youngster had to offer.

West Ham have not conceded a goal whenever he has been on the pitch this season (Transfermarkt), with Johnson starring as he won all seven of his duels and made five tackles in a tremendous defensive display (Sofascore).

These Hammers fans took to social media platform Twitter in their droves to share their thoughts on Johnson’s “class” performance.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Johnson

“Ben Johnson has been wonderful this season. 5 games he has started in he has kept a clean sheet in every single one of them. Still a few things to work on going forward but he kept Son quiet expertly today, his awareness and urgency is superb.”

Credit: @AzamWHUFC

“Ben Johnson was immense today.”

Credit: @aldredtj

“Ben Johnson ain’t put a foot wrong defensively yet, been class”

Credit: @DraigCawson

“Remember when we were all fuming when we let Ngakia go? Moyes got it spot on once again. Ben Johnson unreal talent”

Credit: @antonymmartin84

“How amazing has Ben Johnson been by since he has come into the side the way!? I thought he was so good yesterday. Never thought I’d say this but Coufal might not even get back in straight away”

Credit: @W_Bellow

“Ben Johnson was superb – but can’t underestimate how the arrival of Zouma has improved confidence and skill of whole back line”

Credit: @Tony_McNulty

In other news, many West Ham United fans loved this Jesse Lingard news

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Tottenham Hotspur face a tough visit to Turf Moor to take on Burnley on Saturday in a Premier League encounter. Realistically, Spurs have to win in order to maintain their status of title contenders.

On paper, Mauricio Pochettino’s men will be heavy favourites, but Sean Dyche’s team can be extremely hard to beat, especially on their own patch.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

The Clarets are very physical, and with the likes of Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes and Peter Crouch in their ranks they pose a serious aerial threat in the final third. For that reason, Toby Alderweireld must retain his place in Spurs’ starting XI.

The 29-year-old centre-back started against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last time out, but did not start the previous league outing against Leicester City. Pochettino has rotated his defence frequently recently and having huge games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Dortmund on the horizon – along with the return to fitness of Danny Rose, which could allow Jan Vertonghen to resume his favoured central berth – could tempt the manager into resting Alderweireld against Burnley.

That would be a mistake though, as the Belgian’s experience and aerial prowess make him better suited to dealing with this specific opposition than the likes of Juan Foyth or Davinson Sanchez. Without him, Spurs will struggle.

Newcastle United tasted their second successive defeat in the Premier League as they fell 3-1 to Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday night.

Eddie Howe’s side took the lead thanks to a superb strike from Jonjo Shelvey, before goals from Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold saw the Reds clinch all three points.

One man who’s certainly given the Newcastle boss some food for thought going forward, is Matt Ritchie.

The Scotland international found himself on the bench again before the game – he’s been out of the starting line-up since the clash against Arsenal – but following Jamal Lewis’ injury, was forced to come on very early in the first-half.

While having to deal with the likes of Salah and Alexander-Arnold was always going to be a thankless task, Ritchie just couldn’t get to pace with the game.

As per Sofascore, he made no tackles whatsoever and didn’t win a single duel in the time that he was on the pitch – compare that to the likes of Jacob Murphy and Joelinton who each won eight and nine respectively.

Ritchie also couldn’t get going the other way either, failing to attempt a single cross and actually having fewer touches than even goalkeeper Martin Dubravka too – a sign of just how much he was penned back.

And, Ritchie’s situation is made all the more pressing by the news that Lewis’ injury is said to be a “bad” one according to Howe.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Newcastle boss added: “It’s a hamstring injury, which is a surprise with Jamal because he’s obviously so athletic.

“He’s been excellent in terms of his athletic work for us so far, so for that to happen so early in the game, I was surprised.”

With Paul Dummett still not fully fit, and Lewis seemingly set for an extended period out on the side-lines, it appears Newcastle have no choice but to stick with Ritchie in that left-back role for the time being.

It’s another major headache for Howe and one that he would have been desperate to avoid, no doubt hoping to focus his attentions elsewhere.

The January transfer window has already seen them linked with a number of players, including Sven Botman at Lille and a potential new central midfielder too.

But, having Lewis and Dummett out, and Ritchie having to once again play in an unfamiliar role, a new left-back may be something for the Magpies boss to consider.

Ritchie’s performance certainly didn’t show anything like the quality that would suggest he can be a short-term answer, let alone a longer-term one.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have suffered a major injury blow…

A number of Liverpool supporters are happy after journalist Neil Jones claimed James Milner would leave the Reds in the summer.

The 36-year-old has proved to be a fantastic servant for Liverpool since arriving on a free transfer from Manchester City back in the summer of 2015.

Milner has made a total of 272 appearances for the Reds, using his experience to great use and winning both the Premier League and the Champions League.

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The midfielder’s current deal expires this summer, however, and it may be that his time at Anfield comes to an end at that point.

That certainly seems to be the opinion of Goal‘s Jones [via Anfield Watch on Twitter], who claims that Milner is ‘expected to leave’ once the season reaches its conclusion.

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Liverpool fans react to Milner claim

It’s fair to say the versatile veteran hasn’t been at his best this season, and these Liverpool fans reacted to the news positively on Twitter, claiming it is the right time for him to move on.

“Great news”

Credit: @2kelo_tuks

“Thank you Lord”

Credit: @charmokwana

“This is the best news of the year so far. Strip #7 off of him and give it to Harvey or Diaz”

Credit: @Sabista_

“Good”

Credit: @Smartooski

“Milner off to Leeds where he’ll be a player-coach”

Credit: @yemoisakop

“Give Diaz no.7 then I beg”

Credit: @BSSLFC

In other news, Liverpool have reportedly made an ‘official proposal’ for one player. Find out who it is here.

West Ham could be facing a losing battle in their bid to keep Declan Rice at the club for the long term after an intriguing claim emerged this week…

What’s the word?

According to ever-reliable Hammers insider ExWHUemployee, who is one of the most trustworthy when it comes to all things at the London Stadium, claimed that the 22-year-old midfielder would be tempted by Chelsea, should they reignite their interest in 2022.

He told ‘The West Ham Way’ podcast this week:

“The thing is, though, like realistically, I mean, I know Declan would be tempted by offers but Chelsea at the moment, are they going to pay that much fee of money for him? I don’t know. But they are probably the club that would most tempt him, I would imagine.

“Manchester City, possibly. Manchester United, possibly.”

Rice has regularly been linked with a move away from the Irons, especially as he is yet to sign a new deal, with talks over that prospect shelved until the summer, as per fellow insiders Claret and Hugh.

A losing battle?

This suggestion should come as a major concern to David Moyes and West Ham as Rice is perhaps one of the most crucial cogs to their success, particularly over the past 18 months.

For example, right now, the England international sits atop of the WhoScored rankings for average rating (7.54), even ahead of Michail Antonio, having sat fourth overall last term.

Unlike most campaigns, Rice leads the way for assists (three) and is just one of four players to have featured in all of the 900 minutes available from the opening ten league games.

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Aside from Ben Johnson, who has only started three games, the £63m-rated beast also ranks first for tackles (2.5), interceptions (two), average number of passes (60.8) and passing accuracy (91.8%) per game, as per WhoScored.

This shows just how important he is, both defensively and in the final third. Pretty much everything the team does runs through him throughout the game.

Recently Moyes laughed off the Hammers’ previous £100m asking price when asked if he was worried about potential bids for his star man. “No, I don’t, because there was a bargain to be got with Declan at £100m. That bargain’s now gone,” he told Sky Sports (via the Metro).

However, suggestions that teams like Chelsea couldn’t afford him are a little far-fetched seeing as they splashed €115m (£97.7m) on bringing Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Therefore, the 58-year-old Scotsman and those concerned with the east London outfit should be massively concerned by Rice’s likely temptation for the Blues, with January and then the summer on the horizon.

AND in other news, Zero-to-hero: Moyes has totally transformed “unbelievable” £18m-rated West Ham dynamo…