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Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic head into Saturday’s Premiership clash in an excellent run of form, with the Bhoys having won five consecutive fixtures in all competitions, and the 56-year-old will undoubtedly be hoping for yet another positive result when Livingston visit Parkhead this afternoon.

With the Lions having picked up just 11 points over as many league fixtures so far this season, results which have left David Martindale’s side in eighth place in the top-flight table, the Hoops manager will know that today’s clash presents his team with a fantastic opportunity to close the gap on the current league leaders.

Will Postecoglou make any changes to the team which started the 3-1 win over Hibernian last time out? Here’s how we think Celtic could line up against Livingston, along with the latest team and injury news…

With Postecoglou recently confirming that Tom Rogic will miss the Livingston clash as a result of a hamstring injury, the 56-year-old will be forced into at least one alteration this afternoon. We predict that the Bhoys boss will make one other change to the side that started against Hibs in midweek.

The back five remains unchanged, with Joe Hart starting between the sticks, Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers lining up at centre-back and Josip Juranovic and Anthony Ralston starting at left-back and right-back respectively.

The first change comes in the middle of the park, with the aforementioned Rogic missing out due to injury and the £2.7m-rated James McCarthy set to be handed just his third league start of the season, while David Turnbull and Callum McGregor retain their starting berths.

In attack, £7.9k-per-week winger Mikey Johnston drops out of the XI, with Kyogo Furuhashi moving to the left of the front three, 26-year-old Giorgos Giakoumakis returning to the side in the centre-forward role and Jota keeping his place on the right wing.

In other news: Nicholson must sanction Celtic swoop for prolific 24 y/o beast, he’s Edouard’s heir

Manchester United are expecting Cristiano Ronaldo to leave Old Trafford in the summer, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Ronaldo’s return

The 37-year-old has enjoyed a fine individual first season back in Manchester following his move in the summer.

He has scored 18 goals and provided three assists in 33 appearances, with a hat-trick against Tottenham prior to the international break one of many Old Trafford highlights in recent months.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a season to remember when it comes to major honours, and a worrying update has emerged on the forward ahead of the clash with Leicester City this evening.

The Latest: Source’s reveal

Football Insider shared a story regarding the Portuguese star after being informed by a source close to Old Trafford.

They claimed that the expectation from United chiefs is for Ronaldo to move on over the summer in a potential free transfer, with his second spell at the club ultimately a short one.

The Verdict: Pros and cons?

There has been a huge debate all season on whether or not Ronaldo’s return was a good decision by the club and whether or not he is now actually a big problem at the club, and it seems as if he could be on the move over the coming months.

The pros to an exit, as FI mentioned, would be freeing up the wage book, with Ronaldo thought to be on around £25m-a-year at Old Trafford.

However, the cons are clear to see. The Red Devils would be losing the greatest goal scorer of all time, and with options fairly limited with Edinson Cavani out of contract in the summer and Marcus Rashford possibly wanting out, it could be a major gamble.

In other news: ‘Led to believe…’ – Insider now drops major claim on Bruno and Ten Hag following Man Utd talks. 

Former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has urged Issa Diop to embrace Kurt Zouma’s West Ham arrival and the challenge it has brought with it.

Zouma is likely to be West Ham’s first-choice central defender this season after joining from London rivals Chelsea in a big-money deal.

Diop has not always been a regular under David Moyes, failing to start a single Premier League game this campaign so far, and was linked with a move away from the club during the summer transfer window.

However, the Frenchman remained at the London Stadium and Palmer is now urging him to accept this added challenge his compatriot has brought with his arrival.

“He’s a talented, talented centre-back, isn’t he?” the ex-Leeds United player said to TT. “When they signed him he was a young player; they paid a lot of money for him. Listen, it’s always good to have competition. He’s got to work hard.

“He’s just got to get his head down and work as hard as he can to get back into the team and secure a regular first-team slot – always good to have competition for places because that improves your own performance.”

Diop played a lot in the second half of last season and was not sold during the summer transfer window so is a player still clearly in David Moyes’ plans. Perhaps the arrival of Zouma could help raise his game to the next level as he looks to win and then retain a place in the Hammers’ starting XI.

Former Premier League star Carlton Palmer insists Chelsea would never have sold striker Tammy Abraham to Arsenal in the summer transfer window.

The striker joined Italian club Roma from the Blues, as Thomas Tuchel looked to restructure his squad.

Chelsea, of course, secured the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, paying £97.5m to bring the Belgium international back to Stamford Bridge.

Abraham, as a result, was pushed even further down the pecking order, and he has subsequently been allowed to move to Italy to link up with Jose Mourinho in Rome.

He was also linked with a potential move within the Premier League, as both Arsenal and West Ham United were said to hold an interest in the forward.

But Palmer believes that Chelsea were always likely to send him to a club abroad, rather than allowing him to strengthen a rival, particularly Mikel Arteta’s side.

Speaking to Football FanCast, Palmer said: “I’m pleased the guy went and played his football. I don’t think Chelsea would have let him go to Arsenal, out of choice because of the rivalry and so forth.

“For Chelsea, from the club’s point of view, they’re happy for him to go abroad. I’m pleased for Tammy.”

With his current contract set to expire in the summer of 2023 and after scoring 15 goals in 12 appearances across all competitions so far this season, it’s been no secret that Liverpool have been trying to tie down Mohamed Salah to a new deal in recent weeks and months.

With this in mind and the matter still unresolved, football journalist Fabrizio Romano had something to share on the current situation, which we think should excite Liverpool fans a lot.

What’s the latest?

Appearing on a recent edition of Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE Podcast (via Empire of the Kop), Romano revealed that Liverpool are “optimistic” about the chances of Salah putting pen to paper on a new deal at the Merseyside club.

He said: “They are negotiating, they are in talks. Liverpool want to do it as soon as possible, not in April or May, they want to do it in the next weeks or months.”

Since joining the Reds back in the 2017 summer transfer window from AS Roma for a fee of £34m, the 29-year-old – who is currently valued at £90m by Transfermarkt – has made 215 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side across all competitions. In that time, he has comfortably cemented himself as a crucial figure for Liverpool, with 140 goals and 52 assists to his name.

Considering what Romano had to say and what Salah has delivered for Liverpool on the pitch since his arrival at Anfield, it would be safe to assume that Kopites would be delighted to see the winger sign a new deal at the club in the near future.

In our view, given how important Salah has proven over the years and how much of a consistent goalscorer he has been for the Reds, we feel that Liverpool and their owners should be doing all they can to make sure that Salah signs a new deal to keep him at the club and continue doing what he has been ever since he arrived.

If that means offering him more money in terms of his weekly wages, duly making him the highest earner at the club, we feel this is an expense worth taking if it keeps Salah at Anfield beyond 2023.

In other news: Klopp must unleash “important” Liverpool beast on Saturday, he’d terrify Brighton

West Bromwich Albion have been dealt a major blow in their bid to bring Okay Yokuslu back to The Hawthorns.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Sky Sports (via Football League World), who claim that, despite having a loan offer knocked back for the Celta Vigo central midfielder, Watford are in continued talks with the LaLiga side regarding a deal for the 27-year-old.

Previous reports had claimed that West Brom were also in discussions with the Spanish side over a deal for the Turkey international, with Yokuslu thought to be open to a switch to the Championship if no Premier League sides were interested in his services.

Ismael will be gutted

With the recent departure of Romaine Sawyers leaving Valerien Ismael extremely short of options in the middle of the park, the fact that a deal to bring Yokuslu back to West Bromwich this summer now looks to be out of the question is sure to have left the Frenchman gutted.

Indeed, not only would the 27-year-old have plugged a gap for the Baggies, considering just how impressive he was in the Premier League last season, the Turk’s arrival would have provided Albion’s promotion hopes with a significant boost.

Over his 16 Premier League appearances last term, the £6.75m-rated man provided one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 2.2 interceptions, 2.4 tackles, two clearances and winning a whopping 7.9 duels per game.

These metrics saw the man Kyle Bartley dubbed a “tenacious” player earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.99, ranking him as the club’s fourth-best performer in the league.

As such, with Yokuslu clearly having the ability to play for a Premier League side, should Ismael have managed to convince the £31k-per-week midfielder to join his Championship outfit, it would not seem to be an overstatement to claim that the 27-year-old would have gone on to be one of the best players in the division come the end of the season.

However, with Watford appearing the closer of the two sides to getting a deal for the Celta Vigo man done, Ismael will now have to turn his attention in what remains of the summer transfer window elsewhere.

In other news: Key West Brom figure drops update on “magnificent” £28k-p/w gem, it’d be a major boost

With on-loan defender Axel Tuanzebe leaving Aston Villa for a different loan spell away from his parent club Manchester United, this time to Napoli – as well as reports claiming that Wesley will be joining Brazilian club Internacional on a temporary basis until the end of the season after his loan spell with Club Brugge earlier in the campaign – Villa seem to have been more focused on getting players out of the club rather than bringing new ones in this month.

However, it seems as though the Midlands club could be set to welcome their first new face of the 2022 January transfer window imminently, which will surely excite a lot of fans.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report from The Athletic by journalists David Ornstein and Gregg Evans which was shared on Ornstein’s official Twitter profile, Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho is set to join Villa on a six-month loan deal after a number of Premier League clubs were apparently interested in signing him.

The report also claimed that the opportunity to play under Steven Gerrard was the key factor in the 29-year-old’s decision to return to the Premier League.

The move has now been confirmed by Villa’s official club website, which stated that “the agreement, which is subject to the player completing a medical and receiving a work permit, also includes an option to buy and Philippe will travel to Birmingham in the next 48 hours.”

During his time with Liverpool, Coutinho made 152 appearances in the Premier League, scoring 41 goals and providing 37 assists in the process, with 81 of those games seeing him play alongside Gerrard, who recently labelled the Brazilian a “serial winner” and a “special footballer”.

Even though Coutinho has only scored 25 goals and provide 14 assists in 106 appearances for Barcelona since he made his big-money move to the La Liga club back in January 2018, it is still an exciting piece of business for Villa and their fans to see Coutinho playing under his former teammate for the remainder of the season.

Moving forward, if Coutinho can hit the ground running at Villa and Gerrard can get the best out of his former Reds team-mate in terms of goals, assists and solid performances, this could be just what the Midlanders need in order to get consistent results under their belt after winning four and losing four of their eight Premier League games since the 41-year-old took over in November.

In other news – Imagine him & Ings: Lange can form scary AVFC duo with £30m beast who “has everything”

Leeds United are set to solve a long-standing issue this summer, according to transfer insider Dean Jones…

What’s the word?

Speaking to This is Futbol this week, the Eurosport journalist revealed that the Yorkshire outfit will finally sign a new striker during the off-season, helping to bolster a key area of manager Jesse Marsch’s playing squad.

In recent times, the Whites have struggled to provide backup to Patrick Bamford with the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Kevin Augustin failing to make their mark.

The England international has missed the majority of the season through injury and his presence has been sorely missed, and without a senior backup, both former boss Marcelo Biela and now the American have struggled to fill that void – that is set to change, though.

“Leeds are definitely going to look to sign a new striker. I think [it’s] irrelevant of whether Bamford is fit or not. We’ve seen that you have to have [a] backup for him,” Jones revealed.

Much needed…

After a 17-goal campaign last season, a lot of Leeds’ hopes would have been pinned on the 28-year-old forward to provide more goals this campaign. However, that’s been far from the case.

Out wide, Raphinha has had to bear the brunt of the club’s attacking fortunes, leading the way for both goals (ten) and creativity (58 key passes), with Bamford only managing 559 minutes of action in the Premier League.

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He has played only four times since September, in which none of those appearances lasted longer than 45 minutes, due to a string of injuries. The latest is a tricky foot issue that is set to rule him out for most of the rest of the season.

It leaves Marsch with only two strikers in the form of academy duo Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood, though the latter has emerged as a potential future no.10 instead.

If Leeds had a viable backup, then their league safety may have been confirmed by now, so it’s good to see that they know it’s a position they need to strengthen ahead of next season.

That should leave many, including the American head coach and the Elland Road faithful, absolutely delighted.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon drops 12-word Kalvin Phillips transfer update…

As confirmed by West Ham United and shared by the press, David Moyes has been dealt ‘another big injury blow’ as news comes out of the club.

The Lowdown: Injuries pile up…

Defensive mainstay Angelo Ogbonna, who was a fixture in Moyes’ starting XIbefore his ACL injury, has already been sidelined for the foreseeable future, with worries then mounting over Kurt Zouma and Ben Johnson.

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The latter pair limped off during West Ham’s epic 3-2 victory over Chelsea at the London Stadium last weekend as Moyes and the club’s fans were made to sweat over the players’ conditions.

This is amid their top-heavy run of fixtures as they attempt to maintain a fight on all fronts, currently still competing in the Carabao Cup and Europa League and continuing to battle for a Champions League finish in the Premier League top four.

News has now come out of West Ham on Zouma’s condition in what has been described as ‘another big injury blow’.

The Latest: Moyes dealt worrying news…

As relayed by The Guardian reporter Jacob Steinburg, West Ham have confirmed that Zouma suffered a hamstring tendon injury in ‘another big injury blow’.

The journalist tweeted:

“Kurt Zouma suffered a hamstring tendon injury against Chelsea. Another big injury blow in defence for West Ham who have already lost Angelo Ogbonna for the rest of the season.

“Increases need for a centre-back to arrive next month.”

The Verdict: Big blow…

Zouma was playing brilliantly under Moyes before his latest setback, dealing a big blow to the 58-year-old and West Ham, who now have just two senior centre-back options at their disposal.

Unsurprisingly, since this news emerged from east London, the club have been linked with signing a central defender urgently, with both Nathan Ake and James Tarkowski mentioned (Evening Standard).

Given the emergency state of affairs, 90min also claimed that Moyes could turn to the Championship in an effort to boost his options, with the likes of Dael Fry, Rob Dickie and Lloyd Kelly already being scouted.

Whether he opts to swoop for lower league or top-flight standard cover, there is little arguing that the need for a centre-half is now imperative for the Irons, especially considering the greater number of matches this season.

In other news: West Ham could already back Moyes with £17.1m bid to sign 6 foot 3 powerhouse in January, find out more here.

Leeds United pair Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford are officially out of the Whites’ Premier League clash with Tottenham, according to journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Leeds head to Spurs

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have shown signs of finding some form recently, having not lost in their last three league outings.

On Sunday afternoon, Leeds head to north London to take on a Spurs side now sure to invigorated by Antonio Conte, in what could be a tough challenge due to the hosts’ new manager bounce.

It will be a good indicator of whether or not the Whites have turned the corner but they will again have to do it without two key figures.

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The Latest: Hay rules out duo

Taking to Twitter on Friday, Hay confirmed that both Ayling and Bamford – previously a doubt – are unavailable for the game, delivering an eight-word verdict:

“Bamford and Ayling not available for the game.”

He also added that Bielsa “doesn’t want to give a timeframe on their return”, suggesting they won’t necessarily be back soon.

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The Verdict: Hugely important duo

While Leeds deserve criticism for some poor performances and results this season, not having Ayling and Bamford fit for a large chunk of it has played a part in their struggles.

The pair are hugely influential figures for the Whites, with Ayling not only providing quality from right-back – he has seven goals and 16 assists for the club – but also leadership.

Meanwhile, Bamford’s goals are precious, and without him, Raphinha is the top scorer with five league goals, with Jack Harrison and Rodrigo next up with just two.

In other news, a pundit has hailed the return of one Leeds player. Find out who it is here.