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Queens Park Rangers were dumped out of the Carabao Cup last-16 after losing to League One outfit Sunderland on penalties following a 0-0 draw in the 90 minutes.

The west Londoners were denied a place in the quarter-finals of the competition after a hugely controversial offside decision went against them in the closing stages of the match.

Substitute Charlie Austin headed the ball into an empty net, but his effort was disallowed despite Dennis Cirkin clearly keeping the 32-year-old and Albert Adomah onside.

Both sides had chances to break the deadlock at Loftus Road, though. Sunderland goalkeeper Lee Burge kept out Yoann Barbet’s half-volley and Lyndon Dykes’ shot after he latched on to a misplaced pass.

While Carl Winchester failed to capitalise on two decent chances at the opposite end for the Black Cats before Aiden McGeady went close to stealing the victory for the visitors in the final minute.

Austin, Ilias Chair and Barbet then missed their spot-kicks for QPR in the shoot-out, condemning the west London outfit to a disappointing defeat.

However, one player let Mark Warburton’s charges down more than most.

So often, creative midfielder Chair is the one charged with providing the spark to unlock stubborn defences, but he was woefully below his usual best on Tuesday night.

As per SofaScore, the 23-year-old was awarded a match rating of just 6.0, the lowest total received by any player on the pitch. And the lowest of any Rs player by quite some margin, even despite their defeat, highlighting just how much poorer he was compared to the rest of his side.

And when taking a closer look at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why.

Chair found a teammate with just two of his nine attempted crosses, lost possession a whopping 22 times (the most in the match) and failed to win any of his eight duels.

It was certainly a night to forget for the Morocco international, but with Nottingham Forest coming up on Friday, he won’t have to wait long before getting a chance to make amends.

And, in other new, Alan Nixon drops QPR claim on “outstanding” £4k-p/w beast that’ll surely have fans buzzing…

Gabriel Martinelli endured an absolute nightmare for Arsenal as they defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League and his sending off only told half of the story.

The Gunners held out for their first win of 2022 after the Brazilian was sent off in the 69th minute in an unusual and quickfire fashion. He was shown two bookings within seconds – one for blocking a throw-in and one for a late foul on Chiquinho.

Mikel Arteta would’ve been glad that his side took an early lead after centre-back Gabriel poked home new captain Alexandre Lacazette’s flick-on in the 25th minute.

Arsenal’s first win in six outings moves them into fifth place, just one point outside of the top four, with two games in hand.

Martinelli’s red card was the 12th of the Spaniard’s reign at the Emirates Stadium and fourth of the year so far, and for once, it wasn’t Granit Xhaka, though he was still booked, of course.

The 20-year-old shoved Daniel Podence as he was trying to take a throw-in and referee Michael Oliver let play continue and the Arsenal gem ran down the Wolves substitute and fouled him.

Oliver immediately showed him two yellow cards and he was sent off.

But truth be told, Martinelli was struggling throughout the entire match, so even if he remained on the pitch, he would’ve struggled to contribute – if Arteta wasn’t planning to hook him at some point.

The £34m-rated dynamo was awfully lightweight and weak, so there’s some irony in the fact that he was booked for actually putting in a challenge as he won only two of his 13 duels (15%).

He also lost possession a whopping 16 times from only 34 touches, meaning he gave away the ball once every 2.1 times he had it, as per SofaScore, who also graded him as the worst player on the pitch (5.3 rating).

His lacklustre presence in the final third was evident by the fact that even the goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, had more touches of the ball (40).

The Brazil international also failed to have a single shot, couldn’t register a successful dribble from two attempts and was dribbled past on four occasions.

All in all, it was an absolute nightmare outing from the young winger and he’ll now have to earn Arteta’s trust back once he serves his one-game suspension.

AND in other news, Forget Patino: Arteta could discover Arsenal’s next Saka in “phenomenal” Hale End gem…

Many Wolves fans have been left raging as an update emerged on the Graham Hughes Stand.

As shared by Tim Spiers, the temporary stand, which can hold around 800 seats, is currently being rebuilt at the moment because of ‘severe’ issues with its structure.

It has not been used so far this season, and will now be out of action for ‘a number of games’.

The timing of the news has certainly not gone down well with several members of the Molineux faithful, given that the summer transfer window has just shut.

Many supporters of the Midlands club were left fuming that Morgan Gibbs-White was allowed to go without bringing in a suitable replacement, while others were unhappy that more players were not brought in before the deadline, notably Renato Sanches.

Thus, the news that money now has to be used to rebuild the stand has made matters worse.

Wolves fans on Spiers’ update

These WWFC fans fumed as the update was shared on Twitter:

“What’s going on at the club?!”

Credit: @MrPauloGoodman

“It’s not like they had 18 months to sort it. One mistake after another”

Credit: @ry_mcflyy

“Bunch of amateurs. Can’t even sort a small stand out, never mind run a professional transfer policy. Get out of the club and let Fosun bring in some professionals”

Credit: @Ianph61

“More negative news.. have you got anything positive to report?”

Credit: @goldandblack17

“You have to ask how this was allowed to happen. The person in charge would have some very different questions to answer if he reported to me. Reeks of amateurism to me. PR disaster and enormous revenue losses to boot. Doesn’t look good …..”

Credit: @Wolfster45

“And the circus continues”

Credit: @schambers1976

In other news, find out whose exit has Wanderers fuming here!

The 2021/22 season has not been kind to Wolverhampton Wanderers so far with Bruno Lage struggling to engineer many successful results since being appointed as manager.

Wolves have created plenty of goalscoring opportunities but only have two strikes to their name in the league.

The Carabao Cup has been a little kinder to the Molineux outfit, though.

They demolished Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the last round but will face a much tougher test in former manager Nuno Santo’s Tottenham.

With such a stern encounter to come, it’s unlikely Lage will want to take out too many of his star men.

However, we are anticipating some changes to be made. Here’s our predicted XI for the game…

We are tipping the Portuguese coach to make as many as six changes to the side that lost to Brentford last weekend.

Cup goalkeeper John Ruddy comes back into the side at the expense of Josa Sa while £46k-per-week Willy Boly makes his first appearance for Wolves since the final day of last season.

There are changes on the flanks where Rayan Ait-Nouri dislodges Marcal in the starting XI. The latter has impressed at times this term but gave away a strange penalty on Ivan Toney a few days ago.

Ki-Jana Hoever is also afforded a chance on the right where he comes in for the more experienced Nelson Semedo.

Raul Jimenez keeps his place in attack despite Fabio Silva’s need for more minutes. He is joined by Adama Traore again but summer signing Trincao drops out in favour of another recent acquisition in Hwang Hee-chan.

The South Korean is the only member of the Wolves squad to find the net in the top-flight this season so has to start against a team like Spurs.

The final change is in the middle of the park where Joao Moutinho is given the night off. That means Ruben Neves partners Leander Dendoncker at the base.

This selection gives Wolves a nice blend of youth and experience in a match where both teams are likely to field under-strength starting XIs.

AND in other news, Lage must unleash £16.2m-rated Wolves beast on Spurs, he can create “danger”…

While results under the new leadership of Ange Postecoglou were somewhat mixed in the early stages of the season – with Celtic being dumped out of Champions League qualifying in the second round, as well as losing three of their opening seven Scottish Premiership fixtures and both of their opening two Europa League group stage games – things are finally starting to look on the up for the 56-year-old at Parkhead.

Indeed, the Bhoys are now on a run of three straight victories in all competitions, a series of games that has seen the club secure their first and second domestic away wins of the season, as well as a crucial 2-0 victory over Ferencvarosi TC in the Europa League – a result which keeps Postecoglou’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition alive.

However, while results are ultimately the most important metric a manager is judged on, it is not only Celtic’s accumulation of points that has improved for Postecoglou in recent weeks, but also the implementation of the Greek-Australian’s much-fabled brand of football.

Upon his arrival at Celtic this summer, Postecoglou’s appointment promised Celtic fans a style of play that was possession-based, relentlessly high intensity and extremely attacking – and, while there was some evidence of this during the early stages of the season, with the Bhoys typically dominating possession of the ball, the results did not always follow.

Indeed, in the 2-1 defeat to Heart of Midlothian back in July, Celtic enjoyed a whopping 73% of the ball and completed 429 more passes than their opposition, however, despite this domination, Postecoglou’s side created just one big chance over the course of the 90 minutes – the same number Hearts managed.

It was a similar story in the 1-0 loss to Livingston, with the Bhoys having 79% possession and completing 497 more passes than the Lions, although this time the Hoops failed to create even one big chance in the match.

However, the tide has certainly turned during the last three fixtures, with Celtic enjoying 61% possession, creating four big chances and completing 217 more passes than Aberdeen in the 2-1 win. They then boasted 73% of the ball, created one big chance and completed 443 more passes against Motherwell in the 2-0 victory, and had 67% possession, created seven big chances and succeeded with 371 more passes than Ferencvarosi in the 2-0 win.

And, while FBref does not track data for Scottish Premiership fixtures, there is a clue in the Bhoys’ Europa League win as to how Postecoglou has managed to improve his side’s creativity.

Indeed, when looking at Celtic’s pressing in the early stages of the season, the Hoops often applied pressure to opposition players in their defensive and middle thirds a greater number of times than in their attacking third – something that is not surprising, as Postecoglou likes his side to apply pressure extremely high up the pitch.

However, against Ferencvarosi, it would appear as if the 56-year-old instructed his side to change tact somewhat, with Celtic registering the most pressing in their own defensive third – 23 pressures were made in the defensive third while 46 in the middle third and then 61 in attacking third. That’s something that would suggest the manager wanted to draw the Hungarian side out of shape by allowing them to have more of the ball, before springing a counter-attack to catch them on the break.

And, considering both the result and display on Tuesday afternoon was arguably Celtic’s most impressive of the season, perhaps this is something we will more of from the Hoops in the coming weeks – as, with the Bhoys creating seven big chances against Ferencvarosi, it is certainly a tactic that appeared to work.

In other news: McGregor 2.0: Celtic’s 20 y/o “gem of a player” may cause Ange real problems next term

Tottenham Hotspur stalwart Moussa Sissoko completed his move to newly promoted divisional rivals Watford on Friday evening [Sky Sports].

The Lowdown: Nuno means business

With the new era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium well underway, Lilywhites boss Nuno Espirito Santo has wasted no time in re-shaping his roster as he bids to restore his sides’ place amongst the elite in English football this campaign.

Holding no place for sentimentality, the ex-Porto coach has cut loose experienced figures at the club this summer such as Toby Alderweireld, Joe Hart and Danny Rose [Transfermarkt].

Now, another casualty has been added to his list after news of Sissoko’s next move was confirmed ahead of the weekend’s top flight fixtures.

The Latest: Sissoko completes move to Watford

Sissoko has swapped North London for Hertfordshire to join Watford on a deal worth just £2.5 million [Sky Sports].

Despite having two years left to run on his contract at Spurs, he was not deemed to be part of the management team’s plans this season, prompting them to cash in on the France international.

The former Newcastle United anchor man brings the curtain down on five years at Tottenham, following a £30 million move from the North-East in 2016 [BBC].

The Verdict: Best scenario for player and club

Unlikely to be a regular fixture in Nuno’s line-up in 2021/22, recuperating some form of income for 6 foot 2 Sissoko may prove to be a wise move by Spurs chiefs as they seek to blood a younger squad – all of their outfield arrivals this summer are 23 or younger.

Over the course of his time at the club, the 32-year-old was a reliable figure despite his lack of end product – he managed to add 21 goal contributions in 202 games for the club; five goals and 16 assists [Transfermarkt].

Last term Sissoko was particularly efficient from a defensive standpoint, managing to obtain a tackle success rate of 73%, something Tottenham will miss in the forthcoming months [Premier League].

Once labelled as ‘fantastic’ by Mauricio Pochettino, his impact during his five years will be appreciated by supporters after plenty of ups and downs [SB Nation].

Having seemingly already replaced his energy and endeavour by signing FC Metz midfielder Pape Matar Sarr, Spurs look to be adopting a long-term vision of success.

Sarr will remain on loan with Ligue 1 outfit FC Metz in 2021/22 however, signifying that Tottenham may need to add another midfielder to their ranks before Tuesday’s deadline.

In other news, Tottenham Hotspur have received a huge boost in a transfer chase. Find out more here.

Many Liverpool fans have been criticising the performance of Diogo Jota despite their 3-0 win at home to Brentford in the Premier League this afternoon.

It was a comfortable game in the end for Jurgen Klopp’s team at Anfield, with goals from Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino more than enough to give them the three points.

However, while there were some great performances in a Reds shirt, Jota may not have been pleased with his own display, as he squandered a couple of very good opportunities to score.

The former Wolves ace failed to find the back of the net with any of his six shots, while he also lost out on nine of his duels and failed to record a single successful dribble, key pass, accurate cross or long ball (SofaScore).

The 25-year-old also gave the ball away 13 times, the joint-fifth most out of his teammates, in what was a below-par performance by his standards. He is now without a goal in four matches, having scored in each of his last three before Christmas, as per Transfermarkt.

Liverpool fans slam Jota

These Liverpool fans slammed Jota’s display on Twitter, with one Kopite going as far as to claim that the forward was ‘non-existent’ this afternoon:

“#LFC so 1 dimensional yet again. Jota and Firmino non-existent”

Credit: @Jabbs2Jamie

“Jota is so not focused”

Credit: @I_am_aMarvel

“Jota been totally bad”

Credit: @Galjundi

“Jota DISASTERCLASS”

Credit: @burhan7i

“Get Jota off”

Credit: @Vinny_lopez89

“Jota.. you cannot be finishing like that.. just cannot.”

Credit: @Ituralde

In other news, Liverpool are now willing to pay big money to sign this midfield beast

Taking to Twitter, journalist Nathan Gissing, a contributor for Sky Sports’ Gianluca Di Marzio’s website, has made a Southampton transfer claim involving Chelsea defender Levi Colwill.

The Lowdown: Saints looking to summer?

As the Saints seem to successfully navigate relegation for another year, transfer chief Martin Semmens and manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will be looking ahead to the summer window.

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Links have already emerged to possible targets with Union Berlin forward Taiwo Awoniyi and West Brom shot stopper Sam Johnstone reportedly having been earmarked.

Conducting much business with European giants and Premier League rivals Chelsea over the last few seasons in particular, news has now come to light involving another player from the west London club.

The Latest: Saints enter mix for Colwill…

As per Gissing, Southampton are now in the mix for promising centre-back Colwill – who is currently enjoying a fruitful spell on loan at Huddersfield Town.

He explained (via Twitter): “Levi Colwill has interest from many clubs including Leicester, Fulham, Southampton, Everton, Huddersfield (if promoted) & European clubs

“Chelsea will assess Levi in pre-season and make a final decision there.”

The Verdict: Make a move?

The 19-year-old, a key player for The Terriers over his temporary stint, has certainly impressed those around the club.

Steven Chicken for example, a Huddersfield Town reporter for Yorkshire Live (via Chelsea Loan Army), branded Colwill ‘sensational from day one’ and ‘flawless’ since joining.

The England Under-19 international has been a mainstay under Town boss Carlos Corberán, making 26 Championship appearances this season and even pitching in with two goals (Transfermarkt).

Widely regarded as a top emerging talent, Colwill can be deployed at left-back as well as in the centre of defence, potentially backing why the Saints hold a firm interest.

Amid all the competition, perhaps Southampton’s past dealings with Chelsea could put them above other clubs in the pecking order.

In other news: Sky Sports: Southampton also in mix for ‘world class’ international! Find out more here.

The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has delivered a promising update on the future of Aston Villa starlet Carney Chukwuemeka.

What’s the story?

The 18-year-old has been involved in the past two Premier League games for Steven Gerrard’s side this season, and now, Preece has claimed that he still expects Chukwuemeka to commit his future to the club.

He said: “A fantastic point; it was all set to be done but Smith wasn’t bringing him on in games prior to him leaving. Pressure was mounting at that time. Carney’s reps said they were in no rush knowing his current deal runs to 2023. I was the reporter who asked Gerrard about his situation last week post-Man City and his reaction was telling, as if he had a direct message to Carney’s agents saying to keep quiet and let him get on with his footy.

“I still expect Carney to commit, though.”

Villa fans will be buzzing

Given that reports from earlier this year had suggested that some of the biggest clubs both in the Premier League and from abroad were keeping an eye on Chukwuemeka’s contract situation at Villa Park, news that he is still expected to put pen to paper on a new deal is sure to leave Villa fans buzzing.

In fact, speaking after he made an appearance against Manchester City, Gerrard himself said: “I think we just need to let the kid play football, let him evolve, let him grow. I think we’ve shown what we think of the kid (on Wednesday night), shown our belief and confidence in him at this level of game.

“But we believe this is the right place for him and if anyone else thinks it’s not I’d like to sit in front of them and discuss that because he’s a local lad and he’s enjoying it. He’s enjoyed the last two weeks – I spoke to him face-to-face and we’ve told him that if he keeps performing he’ll be very much part of the first team set-up so I don’t foresee a problem and I certainly don’t want a problem to brew in the background. And, for me, I don’t think it will.”

With the teenager now being given more of a taste of first-team football under Gerrard, there really isn’t any more reason for Chukwuemeka to feel he would be better served by leaving for elsewhere.

He is an exceptional talent, once dubbed as one of the best in his age group in the country by Christian Purslow and his underlying numbers reveal why.

In just five Premier League 2 appearances this term, he has registered two goals and two assists while his ten strikes and eight goals in only 28 outings for the U18 side is something to be marvelled at.

With those statistics in mind, it’s clear that the teenager possesses an abundant amount of potential, meaning if he does stay in the Midlands, the Villa Park faithful will be delighted.

Meanwhile, Ashley Preece has dropped an Aston Villa transfer update…

Rumoured Leeds United transfer target John Swift is likely to leave Reading at the end of the season, according to journalist David Anderson.

The Lowdown: Midfielders wanted

The 26-year-old is enjoying a hugely impressive campaign for Reading in the Championship, scoring eight goals and registering nine assists from midfield.

Swift has been linked with a move to Leeds in the recent past and the Whites are of course in need of midfield additions – they are also in talks for RB Salzburg starlet Brenden Aaronson.

Victor Orta reportedly wants two midfielders signed – one attacking and one defensive – and although both of these players fit the former category, perhaps the opportunity to get both will be too good to pass up after the latest news on Swift.

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The Latest: Journalist backs summer transfer

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Anderson claimed a summer exit from Reading is on the cards rather than this month, at which point Leeds could swoop:

“The only thing I have been told about him is that he would prefer to leave it until the summer and then obviously take his pick of clubs.

“Obviously, if you leave on a Bosman, it means you get a bigger salary compared to if you were to move now.

“What I’m being told is he’s prepared to see the season out with Reading and then, whether they get relegated or not, move in the summer.”

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The Verdict: Good squad option

Swift wouldn’t exactly be a marquee signing for Leeds in the summer but he is someone who Marcelo Bielsa has openly admitted he admires in the past, calling him a ‘great player’.

That speaks volumes about the midfielder’s ability and his end product from the middle of the park is something that has been lacking at Elland Road this season, with Mateusz Klich and Stuart Dallas (one apiece) their top-scoring central midfielders in the Premier League.

Swift could come in as a strong squad option and someone who could improve further under Bielsa, so signing Aaronson for a fee now and Swift when his contract expires in the summer feels like a no brainer.

In other news, Leeds have been boosted in their efforts to sign one player. Find out who it is here.