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Former Premier League striker Marlon Harewood has given his backing to Crystal Palace forward Christian Benteke in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.

Benteke has had some difficult spells during his time at Selhurst Park, enduring campaigns where finding the back of the net proved to be a huge challenge.

Last season, the 30-year-old only managed to score two goals in the Premier League as Palace went on to finish in 14th place. His numbers the season prior do not make for good reading either, with Benteke only managing to score once.

Despite his struggles, Harewood has hailed the Belgium international, stressing just how difficult it can be to lead the line. Speaking exclusively to FFC, the ex-West Ham and Aston Villa No.9 said:

“As a striker it’s so hard really because you’re there to score goals. And if you’re not getting that, that’s what you’re judged on. Benteke is a very, very good player when he gets given the service, so it’s just very hard for him as a striker.”

Speaking on Benteke further, Harewood added: “I think he’s a top-class player and hopefully he gets back to his [old] form.”

It has been quite the decline since the 2016/17 Premier League campaign, where Benteke was excellent. He scored 15 goals that term as he reminded English football of his ability after enduring a hard time at Liverpool.

Benteke’s £120,000-a-week contract expires in the summer, so it will be interesting to see what happens regarding his future at Selhurst Park, especially if manager Roy Hodgson, whose contract is also set to expire, ends up departing. The 73-year-old has constantly backed the former Villa striker during his time in south London.

Celtic continue their winning form after delivering a 4-0 demolishing to St Mirren on the road last night. The emphatic win is their third consecutive victory and they have scored ten goals in the last three matches.

After a difficult season which sees them in Rangers’ shadow, these wins will be hugely appreciated by both the team and the fans. Neil Lennon has been experimenting with his squad in the back-end of this 2020/21 season. He has taken punts on the likes of Ismaila Soro and Stephen Welsh, as well as integrating summer signing David Turnbull into a regular first team performer.

But with Lennon’s decisions to rotate his squad, players like Ryan Christie have been demoted to substitute status. Last night though, the Scotland international contributed a solid performance from off the bench and was arguably one of Celtic’s star performers.

Ryan Christie vs St Mirren

Despite being a stalwart in the Hoops engine room, the 25-year-old has somewhat slipped down the pecking order amid the recent Lennon shuffles. Christie has just three goalscoring contributions in his last ten appearances (two goals and one assist) and because of this, many fans have turned against him.

A lot of Bhoys supporters have aired their frustrations over his inconsistent performances in recent months, taking to social media to lambast the midfielder. However, his cameo appearance against St Mirren may have won a lot of his doubters over.

According to Sofascore, Christie popped up with Celtic’s third goal of the match and kept a 91% passing accuracy. For comparison, this was considerably higher than any of the midfielders to start the match, as well as his amount of clearances (2) compared to Scott Brown, Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor with 1.

Despite their disappointing season, it is hugely important that Celtic have depth in their squad. The £8,000 per week creator has proven he is a dangerous option coming off the bench and his influence doesn’t go unnoticed.

Chris Sutton recently wrote in his Daily Record column that he thought Christie was a “manager’s dream” with an impressive attitude. Because of this, he will always be a potential game-changer for Celtic and those fans who have criticised him will be forced to eat humble pie as long as he is performing.

In other news, James Forrest injury boost is huge for Celtic…

Many Crystal Palace fans are reacting to the latest comments from manager Roy Hodgson in which he discusses not utilising striker Jean-Philippe Mateta against Fulham.

According to The Athletic journalist Matt Woosnam, Hodgson was asked about the decision not to bring on Mateta and said: “Benteke was doing an excellent job & plays a role for us defensively, especially from (set pieces) I didn’t see what JP could do to make a difference in us seeing the game through as we did”

No matter how well a defensive role Benteke was playing, he is a striker and the attacking players are really struggling under the manager this season.

This was highlighted in the game against Fulham at Selhurst Park by the fact that the South London side did not even manage one shot on target (SofaScore), while the Eagles have only managed 29 league goals this season. With the Frenchman scoring a delightful goal in the 2-1 win over Brighton last Monday, it seemed like a weird choice to not even give him a go against Fulham.

The games are coming thick and fast at the moment, and now the Eagles have a very tough week as they face Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Here is how Palace fans reacted to Hodgson’s comments on Mateta:

“Imagine being an emerging young player at Palace – hearing these carefully chosen words must really take the wind from your sails.”

Credit: @PalaceBySea

“It is little wonder that we struggle to attract new talent. There’s always going to be a more attractive proposition than participating in the ongoing decay that seems to the current game plan”

Credit: @AndyCamroux

“Beginning to wonder whether Roy is at the same games as we are”

Credit: @Paul_Romain

“He does know we are supposed to at least try and score occasionally, right”

Credit: @danofthesouth

“Says it all doesn’t it, but I don’t think the pundits do us any favors as they keep saying that Roy keeps you up playing boring football so not sure what else they expect really, without Wilf and Schlupp that’s how we play I’m afraid #CPFC”

Credit: @w9ole

“Seeing the game through, for a 0-0 draw with the team in 18th. Get this man out of my club.”

Credit: @_YTCP

“I hate the mentality Roy is sending the team out with. I miss us being exciting to watch.”

Credit: @LukeRemnant

In other news, Roy Hodgson discussed the contract situation at the club!

Manchester United could land their next Gary Neville in Norwich City starlet Max Aarons.

What’s the word?

United endured a difficult start to the season, dropping their first game against Crystal Palace, but they have transformed their fortunes as they find themselves second in the table behind defending champions Liverpool with a game in-hand over their arch-rivals.

According to The Daily Mail, the Red Devils remain interested in Aarons, who was heavily linked with the Carrow Road exit in the summer.

The 20-year-old has dazzled in the Championship as Norwich have claimed top spot ahead of promotion rivals Brentford and Swansea City.

It’s recently been claimed by The Sun that he would ‘jump’ at the chance of a move to Old Trafford which is exactly why Ed Woodward must sanction a swoop for the fleet-footed speedster.

Gary Neville 2.0?

Ever since Gary Neville hung up his boots for the final time, it’s fair to say that United have struggled to find someone who can come close to the former England international. In Aarons, the Red Devils could find a young player who could do precisely just that.

The 7-cap England U21 international is highly-rated by Canaries chiefs, having scored one goal and supplied three assists across all competitions, via Transfermarkt, while he is averaging one clearance, one interception, 1.3 key passes and 1.3 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

For the record, that’s three assists more than Aaron Wan-Bissaka has managed in 13 appearances in the Premier League this season, despite the fact he currently earns around £90,000-per-week at Old Trafford.

The £18m-rated ace has already received rave reviews for his performances in recent weeks with Norwich boss Daniel Farke effusive in his praise for the young prospect. He said, as quoted by The Pink Un: “In my eyes he is not the young Max Aarons, he is just a special player and he has an unbelievable future.

“I know he has been labelled as one of the best young players in this league. Well I told him we can reject this label now because he is no longer one of the best young players, he is one of the best players.

“When you are close to 100 appearances you are already an experienced lad. He is so young and he has to improve, and he will, but what he has done in the past two years is amazing. I cannot praise him enough.

“The good thing with him is he can handle this praise. He is also a player who never gets annoyed when I have to criticise or ask him to do something else. For me it is not just what he has done on the pitch. It is his development as a person. He is so balanced and level-headed.

“So humble. I remember he played in the derby and produced a fantastic performance and from this moment he has more or less grown on a daily basis.”

Just imagine him and Mason Greenwood bombing up and down the right wing – United could discover a new pairing akin to the telepathic partnership between Neville and David Beckham themselves.

AND in other news, Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire stole the show vs Wolves…

After being held to a 0-0 draw against Livingston last weekend, Celtic have an immediate chance to claim a win against David Martindale’s side when they face them again on Wednesday night.

Their Scottish Premiership title defence may be all but over, but Neil Lennon will be hoping to get back to winning ways to try and ease some of the pressure on his own managerial future at Celtic Park.

The Hoops boss will be boosted by the return of some key first-team stars who have had to miss the past couple of weeks due to quarantining, and a clutch of them could all return for tonight’s game.

And with that in mind, below is a look at how Celtic might line up for the visit of Livingston.

In goal, Lennon may wish to stick with Conor Hazard in goal even despite the potential availability of Vasilis Barkas, with the 22-year-old earning his sixth league start in just eight games.

The back-line could see considerable changes, with Jeremie Frimpong returning to a more natural role at right-back, and Diego Laxalt joining him on the opposite side.

In the middle of defence, both Kristoffer Ajer and Stephen Welsh will certainly be pushing for both a recall and opportunity respectively, and end Lennon’s reliance on the more experienced campaigners like Nir Bitton and Shane Duffy.

Ajer – described as being a “top class central defender ” – has has to miss the past couple of games in the league due to having to quarantine.

If the Celtic boss opts for a diamond set-up in midfield, then Ismaila Soro should took his place as the anchor man, with Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor operating slightly further forward.

David Turnbull should take his place in that all-important number ten role, behind the returning Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard.

Predicted XI: Hazard; Frimpong, Ajer, Welsh, Laxalt; Soro, McGregor, Christie, Turnbull; Griffiths, Edouard.

Meanwhile, Celtic must play this exciting prospect against Livingston…

Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action this afternoon on the back of qualifying for the Europa League knockout stages in midweek, though they’ll have to do better with arch-rivals Arsenal in town.

Spurs were pegged back twice by LASK Linz on Thursday, drawing 3-3 in Austria in the end whilst the Gunners thrashed their opposition, Rapid Wien, 4-1 at home.

Jose Mourinho has remained coy over the fitness of several of his key stars, but you’d imagine there will be wholesale changes to the starting line-up.

Here’s the XI we’re predicting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first north London derby in the 2020/21 campaign…

There may be as many as eight changes to the side that drew just three days ago.

Between the sticks, Spurs captain Hugo Lloris returns, taking the place of back-up goalkeeper Joe Hart whilst a whole new back four is named among which, there is a shock return.

Toby Alderweireld returned to training last week ahead of schedule and has an outside chance of featuring in north London today. He may well come straight back in to partner Eric Dier given Joe Rodon’s inexperience and Mourinho’s lack of faith in Davinson Sanchez.

At full-back, Serge Aurier is set to continue his fine form, getting the nod over Matt Doherty with Sergio Reguilon also coming back in for Ben Davies, who was rather abysmal on Thursday night.

One of the players to keep his place is Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but this time he is partnered by Moussa Sissoko instead of Giovani Lo Celso or the snubbed Harry Winks.

Tanguy Ndombele also remains, as does Heung-min Son, who reverts back to his place on the left flank.

Mourinho is likely to axe Gareth Bale as his fitness levels are still not at the required levels, but as an experienced head in this derby, expect him to feature from the bench at some stage.

Instead, we may see Steven Bergwijn get the spot on the right over Lucas Moura, who was another that underperformed in midweek whilst Erik Lamela is still out with injury.

Harry Kane is in line to start too despite the mind games coming from the ‘Special One’ throughout the week.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Pundit makes huge claim about Dele Alli at Spurs training…

Former Premier League centre-forward Dean Windass has slated sections of the Rangers fan base and claimed that an empty Ibrox may be to thank for the Glasgow club’s incredible start to the 2020/21 campaign. 

Rangers currently sit atop the Premiership table, 16 points clear of their Old Firm rivals, though they have played three games more than the Premiership’s second-placed side. Rangers also finished in first place in their UEFA Europa League group and have impressively suffered just one defeat in all competitions so far this term. 

What did Windass have to say about Rangers fans and the club’s form?

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, Windass – an antagonistic figure amongst fans of the Glasgow club, having clashed with Rangers fans on social media over his son, Josh, who previously played for the Gers – had this to say about the impact of Rangers fans being unable to attend games:

“There’s no pressure on the players because they’re not getting pelters from the stands. I’ve witnessed it when Josh was there and they’re getting beat – they are ruthless.

“So when the supporters are allowed in we’ll see how good they are, like when they got beat by St Mirren, they’d have got absolute pelters from the supporters.

“So then they go into the next game with more pressure on the next game because the supporters have put more pressure on them.

“But there’s no supporters to put pressure on them, so they go out there, there’s no screaming and bawling and getting slagged off.

“So yeah, I expect them to win the league.”

Rangers preventing their rivals from making history 

Gers fans can surely see it as a positive that despite his feelings about the way his son Josh was treated, Windass believes that they will win the Premiership this season. With the Gers attempting to prevent Celtic from winning what would be a historic 10th straight Scottish top-flight title in a row this term, perhaps that’s the most important thing of all for fans of the Glasgow club. 

However, the reason behind Windass’ faith in their title charge will still ruffle a few feathers amongst the Ibrox faithful, even if some may agree that the often amazing atmosphere can turn into a cauldron of pressure for the players under the wrong circumstances.

Time will tell if this current crop of stars can indeed cope with the pressure when fans eventually return, but if Windass is right then it could be a blessing in disguise for Steven Gerrard and his side that the famous Ibrox will remain silent for now.

In other news, some Rangers fans have been reacting to their club’s tweet sharing ‘amazing’ Itten footage.

Several Glasgow Rangers players are away on international duty but one summer signing stood out over the weekend.

According to Goal’s African football correspondent Seye Omidiora, although Nigeria lost 1-0 to Algeria, Rangers defender Leon Balogun was solid in his first start for the Super-Eagles since the African Cup of Nations. Whilst Balogun had originally formed a formidable partnership with William Troost-Ekong as the established centre-back pairing, he found himself dropped from the squad after a run of poor form and fitness.

However, lining up alongside the West African nation’s skipper, he looked like he had a point to prove to Gernot Rohr. In fact, we’d even go so far as to suggest the Super-Eagles should stick with the ‘Oyibo Wall’ for the foreseeable future.

Bargain signing?

Balogun has been in fine form for Steven Gerrard’s side since his arrival from Wigan Athletic in the summer. And it’s fair to say the free agent has turned out to be an absolute bargain so far.

His ball-carrying, which has become a familiar sight at the Ibrox outfit, once again caused Algeria all sorts of problems. Defensively, he coped fairly well with aerial and ground duels, while he was the first man to the ball on multiple occasions.

If there’s anything Gerrard will have learnt from last year, it’s the fact that strength in depth is so, so important. He could barely contain his delight after Balogun impressed on his first-team debut for the Gers, saying that you won’t win anything without “warrior” like the 32-year-old in your side.

The Nigeria international was somewhat thrown in at the deep end against Aberdeen, although he managed to survive relatively unscathed as the away side came away with a win thanks to a goal from Ryan Kent.

Last season, Balogun appeared in eleven games in the Championship for the Latics, keeping four clean sheets, whilst he averaged 1.3 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and a staggering 3.9 clearances per game, as per SofaScore.

A dependable centre-back is certainly a useful asset for any side. The stats show he looks comfortable on the ball and is dominant at the back, so supporters should be excited to see him in action throughout the rest of the season.

AND in other news, Rangers must keep James Tavernier at all costs amid interest from West Ham…

According to The Daily Mirror, Newcastle are one of a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing Burnley midfielder Jack Cork.

What’s the story?

The 31-year-old’s contract expires at the end of this current season, and with the Clarets involved in rumours of a potential takeover, his long-term future at Turf Moor is up in the air.

The Daily Mirror claim that along with Newcastle, the likes of Brighton and Sheffield United are also keeping an eye on developments, with a view to potentially landing him on a free transfer.

He’d be an Isaac Hayden upgrade

Having missed Burnley’s clash against the Magpies earlier this season, the last time Cork took to the field against the Tyneside club was back in February, when the two sides played out a rather drab 0-0 draw at St James’ Park.

One man who stood out was the Clarets’ 6 foot 1 machine, who dominated the midfield battle against Jonjo Shelvey. Playing that screening role against Ashley Westwood, Cork was a constant menace in shutting down the Newcastle engine room, and he finished the game with eight duels won and having made seven defensive contributions.

He completely bullied Shelvey in the middle of the park, who was one of the Magpies’ poorest performers – according to Sofascore, his 6.6 match rating was only better than that of Joelinton. He lost possession 19 times and averaged a shocking 61% pass accuracy, thanks in part to the way in which Cork pressed him non-stop.

Newcastle already have an anchor man in Isaac Hayden, but Cork could be a real upgrade on the 25-year-old. Whilst both averaged similar numbers for the key defensive areas last season in the Premier League, the Burnley man outshone him in possession. He boasted more touches per match, had a far greater accuracy when it comes to forward passes into the opposition’s half, and had a significantly better dribble success rate.

Cork would give Newcastle a solid shield to their back-line, but also offer them a little more in way of moving the ball forwards and starting attacks.

Leeds United had the best defensive record in the Championship last season, but after two games in the Premier League, they have the joint-second worst record in the division.

Indeed, Marcelo Bielsa has watched on as his side have conceded seven goals in their opening two games, including three penalties, and if these sort of defensive lapses continue, they will be punished week after week.

The Whites bookmarked their defence as an area that needed strengthening this summer after Ben White returned to Brighton, and they made that happen with the signing of Germany international Robin Koch.

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However, Koch’s first two games haven’t quite gone to plan, he’s played every minute for Leeds so far, and he’s been nothing short of woeful, giving away a penalty in each game he has played, while picking up an average WhoScored rating of just 6.38.

Koch may still end up being a quality player, after all, he has been picked for the German national team by Joachim Low, but something seemingly needs to change for him to realise his full potential.

Perhaps a bit of meaningful competition would push Koch to that next level, and Leeds landing €25m-rated (£23m) Josko Gvardiol could provide that.

The Whites have already had a €22m (£20m) bid knocked back, but the interest is quite clearly there and they should splash the cash to make it happen.

At the moment the number one understudy below Liam Cooper and Koch is Pascal Struijk, and while the youngster looks like a good prospect, he only has a handful of senior appearances to his name, and while the same could be said for Gvardiol, the pricetag will make him seem like a real competitor for a starting spot.

Away from the fact that this signing could push Koch up a gear, Gvardiol arriving could be vital in replacing either Koch or Cooper, after all, conceding seven goals in your first two games is relegation form, no matter how good you have been going forward, so that may be a change Bielsa looks to implement a little further down the line.