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Leicester City could not halt Manchester City’s relentless charge to the Premier League title as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s troops at the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening.

It was not a Foxes’ performance that would have inspired much praise, with Brendan Rodgers’ men struggling to lay a finger on their illustrious visitors.

Particularly, Marc Albrighton endured an extremely frustrating personal performance during Leicester’s defeat.

Started at wing-back, the former Aston Villa man struggled to deal with the threat of Gabriel Jesus and Benjamin Mendy down the Foxes’ right-flank.

According to WhoScored, he could only contribute a single interception throughout the game, whilst also not managing to produce a notable tackle, interception, block or even win an aerial duel.

Albrighton also made it far too easy for opening goalscorer Mendy to find the net, charging out to the French left-back in the box before being side-stepped and seeing the Manchester City man slot home with his right foot.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-leicester-city-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more” title=”Latest Leicester City news, transfer rumours and more…”]

Whilst the 31-year-old’s defensive performance wasn’t all too inspiring, Albrighton also found it extremely difficult going forwards.

He completed just 22 passes throughout the game at a 50% success rate. For comparison, this was the worst of players to take to the pitch including goalkeepers Ederson and Kasper Schmeichel.

Defender Daniel Amartey – who is not usually Brendan Rodgers’ first choice – almost doubled that with a 98% accuracy rate of his own. The 26-year-old, playing out of position still graded better than the veteran wide man, as per the Leicester Mercury, too.

Only one of Albrighton’s few passes were key, whilst he also did not have a shot either. Although, that was not uncommon after the Foxes were limited to just five throughout the entire game.

His frustrating evening was brought to an end on the 70th minute as he was replaced by the returning Ricardo Pereira. Overall, it was an absolute disasterclass from the usually-reliable Albrighton.

AND in more news, the Foxes have been linked with both Odsonne Edouard and Raul de Tomas but which striker should they sign?

Premier League side Aston Villa are reportedly braced for offers for their goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Martinez arrived at Villa from Arsenal in the summer transfer window for a fee of £15.66 million. After just one season though, Dean Smith’s side are going to have fight off intense interest in their shot-stopper – his Transfermarkt value has already increased to £22.5m.

Man Utd interested in Martinez

Football Insider have recently reported about Martinez’s situation, saying that Man Utd are currently leading the chase for Martinez and claiming that a Villa source has detailed how they are braced for a ‘monster’ offer from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, who are looking to overhaul their goalkeeping ranks.

Man Utd have set a separate budget aside for signing a goalkeeper, with Martinez expected to be in the Premier League Team of the Season while the Red Devils plan to replace at least one of David De Gea and Dean Henderson.

Interest in Martinez should alarm Villa

Martinez has been praised heavily for his performances this season, with Smith stating that the goalkeeper has exceeded the expectations in the campaign and he brings a certain personality and calmness to the table.

Pundit Michael Brown has also praised Martinez and said: “He’s going so well, he’s got that confidence and it just looks like a brilliant signing.”

In the current campaign, only Ederson has kept more clean sheets than Martinez, who has overperformed the most on his Post-Shot Expected Goals metric in the Premier League. This stat is a measure of whether a goalkeeper is saving more or less shots than they are expected to, based on the quality of the shot.

That is a clear sign of how important Martinez is for Villa and that’s why they can’t lose him.

In other news, ‘Should have had him last summer’ – Many Aston Villa fans fume as transfer comments emerge

Charlton Athletic midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey endured a disappointing evening at The Valley on Tuesday, as Nigel Adkins’ side slipped up in their push to secure a top-six finish in the league.

Knowing that a win would have significantly boosted their chances of securing a League One play-off spot come the end of the season, the Addicks ultimately failed to see the game out against a mid-table Crewe Alexandra side, as, despite taking the lead twice on the night, a last-gasp Owen Dale strike saw David Artell’s team leave southeast London with a share of the spoils, with the fixture ending 2-2.

The result means that Charlton remain in eighth place in the league standings, two points behind Portsmouth in sixth, albeit with a game in hand on their promotion-chasing rivals.

In the fixture itself, Forster-Caskey was one of the poorer performers for Adkins’ team, with the midfielder winning just four of his 14 duels, totalling a mere 29% success rate.

The £6,000-per-week man also completed just three of his 10 attempted long balls in the match, as well as three of his seven attempted crosses.

The former Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder did see a large share of the ball for his side, with his 64 touches ranking as the most out of any Charlton player on the night, however, the 27-year-old also managed to lose possession for his side on 17 occasions, with no other Addicks player doing so more.

Overall, Forster-Caskey earned a SofaScore match rating of just 6.5 for his efforts over the 90 minutes, the joint-lowest of any Charlton player to start the fixture.

As such, considering just how important the former England U21 international has been within Adkins’ side so far this season – with the midfielder’s seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.31 ranking him as the club’s best performer in the third tier – it is essential that Forster-Caskey ups his game once again over the three remaining games of Charlton’s league campaign, or else they could be set to face another season languishing in League One. He let his side down on Tuesday, he can’t do that again in the upcoming fixtures.

Sheffield Wednesday have never really got it right when it comes to their emerging youth prospects.

Once upon a time, Jamie Vardy was let go far too early, though no one could have envisaged him forging the career he has and similarly, George Hirst has ended up at Leicester City too.

He left for Belgium in 2018, rejecting a deal to link up with Nigel Pearson before finding his way to the Premier League. The 22-year-old has now impressed in a loan spell at the Owls’ local league rivals Rotherham United, where he has been dubbed “very promising” by local press.

The latest name to leave is Liam Shaw, who will swap Hillsborough Stadium for SPFL giants Celtic in the summer.

Wednesday now have another potential future star making waves in the academy set-up in Bailey Cadamarteri, son of former Blades frontman, Danny.

Despite only being 15, the young striker has caught the eye for the U18 squad after being offered a two-year scholarship. Most recently, he bagged a hat-trick in their 5-1 win over Ipswich Town.

Danny, who used to be in charge of that very Owls squad, spoke to The Star about his son’s potential. He said:

“He’s a young U16 – he’s not 16 until May… It’s great for him, and physically he can cope because he’s quite a big boy for his age. It’s nice experience for him.” Before adding: “He started to get a bit more credit for his own performances then, rather than people thinking it was because of me.”

As he approaches his 18th birthday in the next few years, Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri must ensure that Catamarteri is tied down to the club’s future, rather than leaving it too late, and following the same path as Hirst.

Goalscoring has long been a problem for the Owls – particularly this season as no one has scored more than six all campaign – so keeping hold of a kid with so much potential up top will be imperative in the long run, especially under a progressive manager like Darren Moore, too.

As soon as it can happen, the 15-year-old must be offered a professional contract. The Owls cannot afford to keep letting this happen.

AND in other news, Owls must wave goodbye to 2017 flop this summer, he’s not good enough…

Aston Villa transfer target Michael Olise delivered a masterclass in Reading’s Championship clash against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.

Reports back in January suggested that the France U18 international is in the sights of Dean Smith as he looks to rejuvenate his squad with younger talent.

And on Saturday against the Owls, the £7.2m-rated Olise showed exactly why Villa must be firmly after him in the summer transfer window.

Aside from opening the scoring with a spot-kick in the first-half, the 19-year-old showed off his impressive creativity and ability to beat players with his close control and trickery.

He completed two out of the three dribbles that he attempted – the highest of any Reading player – and also provided three key passes too – again, the highest of any Royal.

The teenager also showed he could do his work defensively, making two tackles and three clearances, while he showed he’s not someone who will get easily bullied off the ball either, winning an impressive five of his six ground duels – only Reading’s left-back and holding midfielder won more.

Writing in his post-match player ratings for Berkshire Live, Jonathan Low noted: “Kept his cool from the spot to give Reading the lead. A constant menace for Wednesday as he delivered plenty of teasing crosses into the box from open play. His set-pieces, although better than in previous weeks, still need improvement.”

Hailed as “super-talented” by Reading boss Veljko Paunović, the 19-year-old has already earned rave reviews for his ability, with his former manager at the Royals, Jose Gomes, adding: “Michael is really special. He can see, even before receiving the ball, more options than regular players. His technical ability and speed, decision capacity is really, really good.”

With Barkley woefully out of form in recent weeks, Olise appears to be showing just what Villa could get if they opted to make a move for the young Reading man this summer instead of completing a permanent deal for the Chelsea star.

Meanwhile, this Villa man was shocking vs Wolves…

For Leeds fans who were paying close attention to the team-sheet yesterday for the Premier League clash against West Ham, there was one notable omission from the substitutes bench: Kiko Casilla.

The goalkeeper has been ousted as the Whites’ number one goalkeeper by Illan Meslier, and has served as the Frenchman’s back-up in the top-flight. But instead of his name, fans saw the 19-year-old Elia Caprile on the bench.

And, in his post-match press conference, Bielsa confirmed that the Spaniard’s absence from the match-day squad was fully down to him, revealing: “Casilla today was a decision that I made to include Caprile on the bench and Casilla is not injured.”

With reports back in December and January saying that the club are interested in the likes of Sam Johnstone and Seny Dieng, it’s clear that the goalkeeping department is something Leeds would like to strengthen.

The £35k-a-week earning Casilla has lost his way at Elland Road after Meslier’s emergence onto the scene, and when he has been called upon this season, he hasn’t delivered the goods.

Speaking after Leeds’ FA Cup defeat to Crawley Town earlier this year, journalist Daniel Storey, said: “I think Kiko Casilla was the other game-changer in a negative sense because I don’t think he should be playing for Leeds for non-football reasons, but he probably shouldn’t be playing for Leeds for football reasons after today.

“He just looked so short of confidence that the second goal just completely went through him at his near post. I think it was disappointing that he was picked and I kind of saw it as karma doesn’t really have a sell-by date and two or three years down the line, he’s come undone maybe.”

Bielsa’s pre-match call on leaving Casilla out and promoting Caprile could be the writing on the wall for the Spaniard’s future at the club, especially with those transfer links to other goalkeepers.

And given how he arguably should have been sold in January, it surely can’t come soon enough.

Meanwhile, this man let Leeds down against West Ham…

Newcastle United are reportedly preparing a bargain deal to sign Kristoffer Ajer, according to the Daily Mail.

As per the news outlet, the Magpies are preparing to launch a bid of £8m for the Celtic defender, who only has one year left on his current deal with the Hoops and has been urged to leave Parkhead by Stale Solbakken, his international manager with Norway.

The Celts believe that Ajer is worth closer to £35m, but the 22-year-old will be able to talk to foreign clubs over a permanent transfer in the January window of 2022, meaning that the Bhoys face losing him for a mere fraction of what they had originally hoped to recoup.

Ajer has reportedly set his sights on a move to the Premier League, which will no doubt have alerted the Magpies, although there is also interest in signing him from Italy.

Newcastle have admired Ajer for a long time but must avoid being relegated from the top flight at the end of the current campaign to stand a realistic chance of securing his signature.

Newcastle must sign Ajer

If they do end up staying in the Premier League come the end of the season, the Tyneside club must try and sign Ajer at all costs. With a mammoth 6 foot 6 frame, the centre-back should have no problems at all coping with the physical and aerial demands of the English top flight.

He has received very high praise in the past, with former Toon ace Lee Clark claiming that he is an ‘outstanding’ player when asked about him earlier this month, while former Scottish Premiership winger Neil McCann likened him to footballing legend Cafu back in 2019, despite him primarily being a centre-back by trade.

Nonetheless, Newcastle should do all they can to sign Ajer in the summer, providing that they can preserve their Premier League status, of course.

In other news, find out takeover claim Lee Ryder has dropped on Mike Ashley here!

Steven Gerrard should unleash Calvin Bassey in Rangers’ Scottish Premiership tie with Hamilton Academical on Sunday to see if he can deputise for Borna Barisic.

First-choice left-back Barisic has barely been able to catch a break this season, having made 35 appearances across all competitions, that being bettered only by the likes of Connor Goldson, James Tavernier and Ryan Kent respectively.

A Rangers victory over the Accies at New Douglas Park will see the 54-time Scottish champions widen the gap between themselves and the chasing pack, and take one step closer to their first title in a decade.

Barisic has played more often in the top flight than any other Rangers defender bar Goldson and Tavernier, with the 28-year-old featuring for 2,047′ of a possible 2,405′ minutes after starting the majority of their games so far.

The £6k-a-week earning Bassey, on the other hand, has hardly featured at all so far this season, with the former Leicester City youth prospect having the eighth-lowest playing time out of the entire Rangers squad.

The last of the 21-year-old’s three Premiership starts came in the 4-0 win at Ross County, with the youngster playing the full 90′ minutes.

But it is in the Europa League where he has made the biggest impression, with Gerrard heaping praise on his young charge for his performance against Standard Liege in the group stages.

Speaking after the game, Gerrard said, as quoted by the club’s official Twitter account.: “I thought he was outstanding, coming into a game of that level with so little experience. We are all proud of him and with time we believe we can develop him even further. He is in a good place and he is ready, every time he has been called upon he has produced.”

However, since then he has found his chances hard to come by, with his last appearance and fifth start of the season coming by way of the 3-2 defeat to St Mirren in the Betfred Cup.

But it’s fair to say that Barisic, given the sheer amount of volume this season, has earned a well-deserved rest and Gerrard may not get a better opportunity than against the Accies, who are rock-bottom of the table. And, should this prove to be the case, Bassey should be the one to step in and fill his boots.

By the numbers, in terms of the statistics at least, there actually isn’t that much to choose from between them. Like Barisic, Bassey attacks the byline and looks to put the ball in dangerous areas – his 33.4 passes per 90 is only slightly less than the veteran’s 44.7.

Defensively, he’s also shown that he’s prepared to put the graft in to deny opponents, as evidenced by his 1.7 tackles and one interception per game, via WhoScored. For context, that’s more tackles than Barisic himself has managed this season (1 per 90).

Bassey started the last time the two sides met in the top flight, and thus he must be unleashed against a side who sit bottom of the Premiership. Otherwise, Gerrard may risk hindering his development. It’s the perfect chance to rest one of his key stars, and simultaneously hand out an opportunity to a player who’s on the fringes.

AND in other news, Exciting Rangers wonderkid Kai Kennedy is making waves in the Championship…

It doesn’t seem to matter what Celtic do at the moment, Rangers still have the advantage.

The Hoops have now won six matches in a row in all competitions and more positive signs are starting to arise at Parkhead.

It has been a brilliant turnaround from Neil Lennon who felt the full brunt of a fan protest in Glasgow a matter of weeks ago.

Peter Lawwell came out and backed the manager, something which now looks like a wise decision. Of course, the Bhoys are still considerably off the pace in the SPFL but all they can do at the moment is win, and they’re doing that to perfection.

Since introducing Ismaila Soro and David Turnbull into the line-up, their fortunes have changed significantly but Lennon now needs to understand one thing – Diego Laxalt is a bit of a liability.

The Uruguay international was an eye-catching signing when he first arrived in Scotland. That wasn’t because of his rather intriguing hair, but because he was a fully-fledged international with experience of playing at World Cups and major tournaments.

However, he has been nothing short of inconsistent since signing on loan from AC Milan and his performance against Dundee United on Wednesday afternoon was rather lacklustre.

Celtic may have won 3-0 but the left-back was poor, spurning possession and being caught out of position on a regular basis. If there was any weak link for Lennon, it was Laxalt.

He won just a solitary duel in the whole match, meaning he lost 83.4% of those he contested. As a result, the 27-year-old committed three fouls but somehow managed to escape a yellow card.

On top of that, the full-back lost the ball a whopping 18 times. It’s fair to say this wasn’t his best 90 minutes, as he did his utmost to look particularly uninterested.

Laxalt did have better fortune in attack, providing one key pass, but his best moment of the match was arguably a goal-bound volley which unfortunately struck Mo Elyounoussi ferociously.

The speedy defender is competent in the final third but he is anything but in defence. This was a pretty horrific afternoon for the loanee and he will have to get better.

Laxalt betrayed Lennon today.

AND in other news, Celtic brute who faced “incredible” flak can save them MILLIONS in January…

Many Liverpool fans were left frustrated once again by Joel Matip and his ongoing fitness issues.

According to the Liverpool Echo, the 29-year-old is yet to take part in group training and continues to work alone to a specifically tailored programme following his adductor injury. Paul Joyce has since confirmed that the defender “might” return to proper training on Friday.

*Since this article was published, the club have released images confirming Joyce’s report, with the defender pictured in training on Friday evening.

Nonetheless, Sunday’s table-topping clash against Manchester United may come too soon, as James Pearce raised doubts over Matip’s chances of making the match in what is a “big decision” for Klopp.

Manager Jurgen Klopp currently has no established centre backs to choose from for the game. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez picked up serious knee injuries at the beginning of the season and the Cameroonian defender was the only man with any experience left, which could mean that Fabinho and Jordan Henderson may deputise in the role once again.

Unsurprisingly, supporters were, once again, angry about the update. Replying in droves when the news was shared by @AnfieldWatch – many are adamant that signing a centre half this month is a priority.

Fans gobsmacked by Matip latest

“Embarrassing not to have a CB in by now. Club owners care only for their yachts and champagne it seems”

Credit: @LFCDGSx

“We’re actually finished aren’t we?”

Credit: @PsalmKirk

“Unbelievable. I can hardly believe it….”

Credit: @AliDouglas1892

“Can never depend on this bag of sticks”

Credit: @Mr_wayd

“Let’s just fight for top 4”

Credit: @am_gxxx

“Surprise surprise”

Credit: @KellyO_

In other news, Journalist revealed that Virgil van Dijk could feature in a Liverpool shirt again this season.