Rangers faced Aberdeen yesterday in what was Steven Gerrard’s biggest game in management to date. The ex-Liverpool and England captain took a risk by rotating his lineup as he threw in Umar Sadiq for his first Rangers start at Hampden Park and unfortunately, it wasn’t a gamble that paid off

The usual suspects who start up front for The Gers are Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty. However, Gerrard opted to go for the unproven Sadiq and would have probably been hoping that Aberdeen knew little about him and that the on-loan Roma man could catch the Dandies off guard in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. It simply wasn’t to be, though, as Sadiq and co failed to dent Aberdeen and lost 1-0 in front of 50,000 at Hampden.

After watching the game peter out into defeat and with Kilmarnock on Wednesday, it’s unlikely that Sadiq will be given another chance so soon after the cup defeat by Gerrard and the Bluenoses will be looking forward to seeing either Lafferty or Morelos back in the side for the league. Umar Sadiq is yet to impress the Rangers fans and with yesterday being his first start it seems Gerrard showed a touch of naivety by thrusting him in from the start, even if the fans were pleased to see him starting when the teams came out.

You can read The Gers’ responses to Sadiq’s start here:

The Gers were initially pleased to see Sadiq getting a start and whilst he couldn’t influence the tie, the game time will have done him good.

According to Welsh football website Y Clwb Pêl-Droed, Swansea defender Joe Rodon has signed a new four-year deal. 

The 21-year-old’s contract was due to expire at the end of the season, with a host of Premier League clubs ready to snap up the centre-back. However, these suitors will now be forced to cough up and pay if they want to buy the Welshman.

The youngster has played 12 times for Swansea in the Championship so far this season, and has been an absolute revelation under new manager Graham Potter. His brilliant form has earned him a call-up to Ryan Giggs’ Wales team, as he continues to progress in his breakthrough season.

He is already proving to be vital to The Swans and will be crucial to their development this season and aspirations of making back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

However, while this will mean that other clubs will be forced to pay for the defender, it doesn’t necessarily keep him in south Wales for the next four years. If Swansea fail to make it back amongst England’s elite by next season, they will struggle to keep hold of the 21-year-old. This therefore gives the club an incentive to continue to improve this season, otherwise they may be waving goodbye to one of their star players. That, unfortunately, is the reality for many Championship clubs when they discover a talent like they have, however, it is still in their power to make sure he is still at The Liberty Stadium come next season.

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Curtis Davies made his return to action with Derby County on Saturday in the Rams’ 3-1 win over Birmingham City.

The 33-year-old had been sidelined since the opening day of the season against Reading, where the central defender picked up a hamstring injury that kept him out for two months.

Frank Lampard had brought the Leytonstone-born defender back into his plans via the bench in recent weeks, but did not feature for anything more than a five-minute run out against Sheffield United.

A two-month wait for regular action clearly took its toll on the 6ft 2in tall former Birmingham ace in his return against his former side. But after a sluggish display in the opening 45 minutes, Davies settled into the tie after the break.

The 6 foot 2 centre-back set WhoScored’s joint second highest rating of all Rams players on Saturday, having completed 93% of his 106 attempted passes while also winning six aerial duels and each of his three tackles – all coming in the second half.

His presence in the games was certainly noted by these Derby fans, who also noticed his improvements after the break.

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Crystal Palace, despite equalising via Andros Townsend in the second half, eventually succumbed to pressure from Chelsea as the hosts ran out 3-1 winners at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Blues forward Alvaro Morata scored a brace – the first time the Spaniard has scored more than one goal in a single game since September 2017 when he netted a hat-trick against Stoke City – and his countryman Pedro added a third to send Maurizio Sarri’s men on their way to a comfortable three points.

Eagles defender Patrick van Aanholt was largely at fault for the goal that sealed his side’s fate, with the Dutchman unable to track Pedro as he ran onto the end of a Marcos Alonso cross to fire past Wayne Hennessey.

Realising his mistake, the number 3 took to Twitter to apologise for his lack of focus and although many fans responded with kind words, some were not so forgiving.

Here’s what the Selhurst faithful had to say in response.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”326259″ player=”12034″ title=”Liverpool Or Chelsea For The Title Forget it!”]

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According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea will be willing to let Gary Cahill exit the club on loan in January ahead of his contract with the club expiring at the end of the season. 

What’s the word?

As per the aforementioned report, Southampton, West Ham United and Championship outfit Aston Villa are listed as the clubs thought to be interested in securing the experienced centre-back’s services.

Cahill certainly should attract plenty of suitors given his remarkable track record. Since joining the Blues in 2012, the defender has gone on to win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and one Champions League crown.

Check out Playmaker FC’s Joe Street’s unfiltered take on Wayne Rooney’s England legacy in the video above…

Cahill also racked up 61 England caps and captained both his club and his country.

Whilst he is no longer a first team regular at Stamford Bridge, the 32-year-old still has plenty to offer in the top flight. Before any of their Premier League rivals win the race for his signature, Crystal Palace would be wise to make a move for Cahill.

Survival boost

The Eagles have had a difficult start to the new campaign and currently sit in 16th place. Whilst scoring goals has proved a major problem for Roy Hodgson’s side, they could do with tightening up at the back too.

As the south London club approach what may be a gruelling and desperate relegation scrap, they ought to be looking to strengthen their squad as much as possible in January. The addition of an authoritative, experienced leader at the back would certainly give a big boost to their survival hopes, and he would be as influential for them as Wilfried Zaha.

What do you think, Palace fans – should the Eagles swoop to bring Cahill to Selhurst Park?

Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye has been an important cog in the club’s machine.

The holding midfielder rarely makes the headlines, but he does his job consistently well.

Judging by recent reports, it seems that Paris Saint-Germain have noticed his ability.

According to Paris United, the French giants are considering a move for Gueye, who also goes by Gana.

The Senegal international joined Everton in 2016 following a season-long spell at Aston Villa.

This season, the midfielder has been a regular in Marco Silva’s team having started all but one of the club’s 12 Premier League fixtures.

Playmaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

After the reports emerged, a handful of Everton fans discussed the validity of Paris Saint-Germain’s alleged interest on Reddit.

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Meanwhile, now that the international break is over, Everton will begin preparing for Saturday’s league match against Cardiff City at Goodison Park.

As it stands, the Merseyside outfit sit ninth in the standings, five points behind the top five.

According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has been linked with a move to Southampton. 

The Belgian is currently at Spanish giants Barcelona, but is finding it very hard to get regular playing time with the Catalan club. Now at the age of 33, he is in the twilight years of his career and will surely want to play as much as possible.

The Saints offer the perfect destination for the centre-back to not only play, but cement himself as a fan favourite and one that will go down in the annuls of the south coast club. Southampton are currently struggling this season, sitting in the relegation zone in the Premier League, level on points with bottom placed Fulham. They have won the fewest games in the league, and look to be in disarray. They are crying out for a player like Vermaelen to join their ranks.

What the club need is an experienced head of someone like Vermaelen who can bring his experience into The Saints’ camp. The Belgian has played all over Europe and has won titles at some of the biggest clubs; he will be able to steady the ship at a team where someone of his character is needed.

Summer signing Jannik Vestergaard and 2017 signing Wesley Hoedt still have a few question marks remaining over them as to their ability to play in the Premier League. They have been proven to be far weaker than their physiques suggest, and that has been duly noted by the Southampton faithful. Vermaelen is a player with experience to come in a potentially save Southampton’s troubled season.

According to a recent report from Calcio Mercato, Everton are interested in a move for forward Thorgan Hazard. The 25-year-old currently plays his football at Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach and has done so since leaving Chelsea back in 2015, with his fine efforts for the German side this season attracting interest from the Premier League.

And that’s because Marco Silva’s Everton are reportedly keen on the Belgium international, brother of Chelsea’s Eden, which is a deal that, were they to pull off, would be statement signing for a side that would then take some serious stopping.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the Toffees appear to be heading in the right direction under new manager Silva, what with his team up to sixth place in the Premier League table having won five of their last seven games, losing just once in that time.

And with the backline beginning to solidify and the front men continuing to produce the goods, the Portuguese appears to have struck the perfect balance, although one cannot help but think further reinforcements, especially in the wide areas, could help take the club even further.

While Richarlison has made a wonderful start to life at Goodison Park, and Bernard is slowly but surely building up to his best form, the same simply cannot be said of Theo Walcott, who hasn’t scored in the Premier League for the Toffees since August, and hasn’t laid on an assist since September.

But Silva appears somewhat reluctant to drop him in favour of someone like Ademola Lookman or Dominic Calvert-Lewin – if he had the option of Hazard though, the decision would be far easier.

The 25-year-old has enjoyed a stellar season for Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga so far with eight goals in just 12 appearances for the club, which added to his efforts in the cup means that he has netted 11 times in just 14 games so far this term – that’s already the same as his tally from last season.

And given he didn’t net in any of his first three league appearances this season, it goes to show just how good and influential the Belgian ace has been in recent weeks – he appears to be playing the best football of his career to date.

And while he appears most comfortable down the left-hand-side, just as much of his success in the final third this season has come from the right-hand-side – that added versatility would give Silva another hugely accomplished option in the wing ranks.

Significantly, being able to sign a player like Hazard, who is tearing it up in the Bundesliga, would be a statement signing from an Everton side seeking to force their way into the top six in the coming years – they are on their way to doing so, and Hazard’s arrival would only accelerate the process further.

Thus, the Toffees would take some serious stopping were they to lure the £22.5 million-rated star (as per Transfermarkt) to Goodison Park in the near future.

Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Moussa Sissoko has been reborn in recent weeks having been labelled as a flop during his first two years with the club.

The north London club signed the France international in a £30m deal from Newcastle United at the end of the 2016 summer transfer window, but he had failed to make his mark since then with the majority of his appearances coming from the substitutes’ bench.

The Frenchman’s first goal for the club came in his 44th outing for them against Huddersfield Town in September 2017, and Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has even admitted that he would have sold the 29-year-old if the right offer had arrived.

However, the Argentine boss will be glad that he didn’t cash in on the midfielder now as he continues to star in the centre of the park, including playing a key role in his team’s crucial 1-0 Champions League victory against Inter Milan on Wednesday.

As well as that, Sissoko has also started Tottenham’s previous six Premier League fixtures and is surely in contention to make the XI again in the north London derby against Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday.

Given he is showing he can be effective both from a defensive and attacking point of view in recent times because of the strength and his ability to break forward with the ball, we at Football FanCast think the 29-year-old is worth at least £40m.

Which team is the dominant force in London right now? Playmaker FC’s Tom Skinner has a very unpopular opinion on the matter. Check it out in the video below…

We want Spurs supporters to vote on our poll below to see how much they would value a player that still has two-and-a-half years left on his contract at.

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With Luke Ayling, Gaetano Berardi and Stuart Dallas all currently ruled out through injury, Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa started teenage midfielder Jamie Shackleton in the right-back role during Saturday’s 2-1 win against Queens Park Rangers at Elland Road.

The Argentinean boss was left with few other options following the latest blow for Dallas as he joined the ever-increasing defensive injury list, and after starting there on two other occasions already this term it was the 19-year-old who got the nod against Steve McClaren’s visitors.

Shackleton would have been keen to take his opportunity to impress having only featured for 136 minutes in the Championship this term before the weekend, and he certainly did.

On the chalkboard

When Bielsa is playing a formation that incorporates four defenders he will want his full-backs to be impactful from an attacking point of view, decent defensively and in general technically efficient when they have the ball.

Ayling was the undoubted first-choice for the 63-year-old prior to the knee injury he suffered against Nottingham Forest last month, and he appears likely to be out of action until the start of 2019 at the very earliest.

With Dallas ruled out for up to six weeks too, Bielsa needed to find a solution ahead of the busy festive period, and he might have just done it.

Is Shackleton the next Ayling?

The impressive teenager may naturally be a central midfielder, but he made a big impression at right-back against QPR, earning the praise of his manager in the process.

He not only looked calm, composed and comfortable from a defensive point of view despite coming up against tough opposition in Luke Freeman, but he also made an impact in the final third for the Championship high-flyers by having one shot and making one key pass, as per WhoScored.

He also showed his skill in possession with a brilliant passing accuracy of 89.2%, to suggest that while he may have come into contention for a first-team spot as a midfielder, his long-term home could be at right-back as the next Ayling.