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Leeds United will welcome Aston Villa to Elland Road this afternoon in a bid to recreate their emphatic 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture. The Whites are coming off the back of their 3-0 win over Southampton and morale will be sky high in camp. They will hope to add another three points to the bank in their bid to keep progressing up the Premier League table.

Marcelo Bielsa confirmed in his latest press conference that Rodrigo and Kalvin Phillips will not be available for the match, but he is uncertain over the fitness levels of Mateusz Klich. However, he stressed the importance of Diego Llorente’s return to action against Southampton.

Football FanCast has predicted how Bielsa will line up to face Villa this afternoon…

It’s not often a team that bags a 3-0 win gets altered, however, the boss may opt to make one change in his usual 4-1-4-1 formation. The match against Southampton saw Bielsa stray from his staple lineup, opting for a 3-3-3-1 instead. This saw Raphinha play on the left, Jack Harrison on the right and Tyler Roberts just behind Patrick Bamford in attack.

Roberts bagged himself an assist, pleading a strong case for his spot in the starting XI. It’s unlikely Bielsa will want to drop the playmaker, who is on the cusp of unleashing his full potential with the Whites. Accompanied by Stuart Dallas, he will have freedom to get forward whilst his teammate operates between attacking and tracking back to help defend.

£15,000-a-week man Harrison had an oddly quiet game against the Saints, managing just seven successful passes before he was hauled off after the break, according to Sofascore. The Manchester City loanee struggled to find his usual clinical groove and was replaced by Helder Costa. The 27-year-old winger also registered an assist, marking his second goalscoring contribution in his last three fixtures.

Costa could be rewarded for his hard graft these last few games by earning a spot on the team sheet ahead of Harrison. Villa are without a win for two consecutive games now and will be throwing everything at trying to get three points today. Leeds will need their most clinical attack to catch them out and Costa could make a huge statement by troubling their defence.

In other news, Leeds target Nicolas N’Koulou commits fewer fouls than Cooper & Koch…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United man has been speaking about Tottenham Hotspur and their reported interest in Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus.

Spurs have been linked with the German international in recent weeks, and he has been touted as someone who could potentially replace Dele Alli at the North London club, should he complete a loan move to PSG before next Monday’s deadline.

The 23-year-old has been solid in the Bundesliga so far this season, having contributed three goals and four assists in 17 appearances, which has seen him average a 6.94 rating.

He was also superb in Marco Rose’s side’s Champions League group stage matches, averaging a 7.28 rating across his six appearances in Europe’s most prestigious club competition, so it is no surprise that sides such as Spurs, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are taking an interest in the young midfielder.

Here’s what Lee had to say about Neuhaus when speaking exclusively to FFC:

“He’s a great player. He gets forward and scores goals. Maybe Dele’s going to go in the summer, which he probably should do. Maybe he could be a replacement for Alli.”

As Lee suggests, Neuhaus is developing a reputation for scoring goals from midfield, having now scored five goals in all competitions this season.

He has also managed six assists in that time, which means he is closing in on the nine goals and six assists Alli managed in all competitions last season, despite Neuhaus playing much more as a box-to-box midfielder.

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Should Alli join PSG on loan this month, or leave in the summer, Spurs may need to bring in a goalscoring threat to replace him, with only Tanguy Ndombele having scored more than once in the Premier League of Mourinho’s central midfield options this season.

Therefore, it seems as if the £25.2 million-rated man would be a strong addition to Mourinho’s side both now and for the long-term future, although Daniel Levy will have to see off some serious competition if he wants to bring him to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And, in other news… Forget Di Maria: Levy can sign Jose a goalscoring winger; he won’t cost a penny

Wolves have endured a diabolical period over the last couple of months.

Since Raul Jimenez suffered a fractured skull against Arsenal in November, they have won just four games.

Meanwhile, Nuno Santo’s men have kept only a solitary clean sheet in the Premier League since October. Fortunately, they returned to form in midweek.

It was a bizarre game of football as the Gunners had two players sent off and also conceded a penalty. Though, Wolves won’t care. All that mattered was returning to winning ways and they did that.

Though, there is no rest for the Old Gold who will face the visit of Leicester on Sunday. The Foxes have been sublime this term and heading into the weekend’s fixtures sat in third place.

So, how will Nuno choose to line-up?

With injuries plaguing Wolves at the moment, we’re tipping the manager to make just two changes to his team.

Jonny, Marcal and Rayan Ait-Nouri all missed out against Arsenal in midweek and it feels unlikely they’ll be fit enough this weekend.

Nuno revealed that the squad had injury troubles in his pre-match press conference before Daniel Podence took to social media on Saturday evening to claim he’d miss the next five to six weeks of action.

Consequently, the £90k-per-week Leander Dendoncker returns to the side.

He missed out against Arsenal with a midfield pairing of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves preferred. The former has been in poor form this term but scored his first goal of the campaign in emphatic fashion against the Gunners. He crashed home a long-range strike and thus, has to start alongside fellow goal scorer from that encounter, Neves.

Despite their problems at full-back, we think that Nelson Semedo should drop out. He’s been letting his team down for weeks and was at fault for Nicolas Pepe’s opening strike against Arsenal a few days ago.

Offensively, Semedo is vibrant, but when it comes to the defensive part of his game there are clear frailties, particularly in terms of physical strength. With that in mind, Ki-Jana Hoever could come into the XI.

We also reckon that the boss will favour Willian Jose ahead of Fabio Silva again in attack.

AND in other news, Wolves could finally axe Moutinho by signing “intelligent” £13m gem Keogh once bullied…

Former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips has said that he will be surprised if Branislav Ivanovic plays another game for a while.

Ivanovic set for axe

Ivanovic only signed on a free transfer during the summer, but he has struggled to really settle back to life in England upon his return to the Premier League.

Speaking to West Brom News, Phillips believes that Ivanovic’s time at the club may already be coming to an end. He said:

“It might just be a little bit too much for Ivanovic.

“He’s been an unbelievable player in the Premier League. He’s experienced but I think he’s struggled.

“I’d be very surprised if he plays again for a bit but unless they bring someone in, he might have to or they’ll jiggle it about a bit.”

Hard to disagree

Ivanovic has a fantastic track record in England. He made 377 appearances for Chelsea across a nine-year spell, netting an impressive 34 times, and his time at Stamford Bridge brought him three Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy.

However, he is now 36, and his age is clearly catching up with him. His lack of pace is starting to become a real issue, and his arrival has done little to help the Baggies’ backline – they have conceded 39 times already this term in the English top flight, six more than any other team. An overall WhoScored average rating of 6.25, the worst of all of Albion’s regular central defensive options, is another indicator of how poor he has been.

As Phillips said, it is hard to see Allardyce continuing to use a player who is so disappointing, and he may choose to give others a chance to help West Brom improve.

In other news, West Brom fans react to this worrying news on one star player.

Following Man City’s 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night, a result which means more dropped points in the Premier League, many Sky Blues ripped into one man after they couldn’t squeeze a last-gasp winner past Slaven Bilic’s side – with Benjamin Mendy at the centre of criticism from these supporters. 

Mendy, who started last night in place of usual makeshift left-back Joao Cancelo as the Portuguese was placed on the right, had been putting in some noteworthy performances recently – with the Frenchman scoring his first Premier League goal during a 5-0 romp at home to Burnley at the end of November.

The defender also played against Fulham as manager Pep Guardiola seems to call upon him regularly – appearing above fellow full-back option Oleksandr Zinchenko in the pecking order.

However, with the absence of his usual overlaps and powerful left-footed balls into the box on Tuesday evening, Mendy cut a largely ineffective figure – with Guardiola swapping him for Kyle Walker late on.

Criticising his performance, here’s what Sky Blues had to say on social media – find all of their verdicts down below.

Man City fans hammer Mendy

In other news: Man City fans buzzed over this ‘great news’, find out more here.

Dean Smith must unleash Ross Barkley against Wolverhampton Wanderers a week on Saturday amid reports Aston Villa could welcome the Chelsea loanee back from injury.

Barkley missed the Villans’ 2-1 defeat at West Ham United on Monday night after sustaining a hamstring strain inside the opening minute of last month’s loss at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.

The blow was expected to see the 26-year-old miss two fixtures but could sit out just the Irons affair, after Friday’s clash with Newcastle United was postponed amid an outbreak of coronavirus at the Toon’s Darsley Park training facilities.

Smith will gain the short-term benefit of having longer to prepare for next week’s Midlands Derby with Wolves as a result of Friday’s fixture being pushed back, and could receive some welcome news once Barkley undergoes further assessments on his hamstring injury.

According to the Express and Star, there is a chance the Chelsea midfielder will be passed fit to face Nuno Espirito Santo’s high-flying Wolves, who sit two points above the Villans in seventh ahead of visiting Premier League title-holders Liverpool on Sunday night.

Smith is mindful of the risk in rushing Barkley back from injury ahead of Villa’s packed festive schedule, which sees the Birmingham-based outfit play five games in 16 days between December 12’s derby with Wolves and a trip to Chelsea on the 28th.

Villa are hopeful scans over the next week will reveal Barkley has overcome his hamstring strain, allowing the £19.35-rated midfielder to earn his seventh Premier League start in claret and blue.

Barkley had started Villa’s last six top-flight fixtures and provided a hand in two goals (one scored, one assisted), having taken over duties in midfield from Conor Hourihane.

Smith accepts Hourihane was disappointed with being benched and left to play just 15 minutes before replacing Barkley at West Ham on Monday, but his reasoning for switching the Republic of Ireland international out for the Chelsea talent would justify doing so again at Wolves.

“Conversations can be difficult but if you’re just speaking to the players with honesty then you usually find a way through that,” Smith said, via quotes by BirminghamLive. “I wouldn’t say it’s easy but it’s part and parcel of your job.

“We’d played two, won two and Conor had come off in both games. We signed Ross and I felt we needed to go a different way against Liverpool given who we were playing against. I explained that to Conor and, yes, he was disappointed because he had been involved in the first two games, but we felt we’d brought in a real, high-calibre, different type of player.”

Smith will need to go in a different direction against Wolves than he did against West Ham, with Hourihane offering no tackles, interceptions, clearances, aerial duels won, dribbles attempted or key balls at the London Stadium while directing one of his two shots off target, per WhoScored.

Barkley, meanwhile, continues to rank highest among the Villans’ midfielders for his number of successful dribbles (2.18), shots taken (2.0), key passes (3.09) and second-most final third passes (14.55) per 90 minutes in the Premier League, per SofaScore, despite his injury.

AND in other news, Dean Smith must demand more from his “erratic” £75,000-per-week Aston Villa favourite.

Sunderland striker Aiden O’Brien offered an invisible display as he led Phil Parkinson’s attack in a 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood Town in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday night.

Parkinson rang the changes once more after bowing out of the FA Cup to Mansfield Town at the weekend, as the Black Cats boss turned to youth after already securing the Stadium of Light natives’ progression through to the EFL Trophy Round of 32.

O’Brien, 27, was the eldest member of the starting Sunderland line-up at Highbury, where the forward was joined by 26-year-olds Callum McFadzean and Jordan Willis, plus 22-year-old George Dobson, as the only visiting players aged over 21.

Former Millwall striker O’Brien could not utilise his years of experience to Parkinson’s benefit, however, as the Black Cats boss witnessed his summer arrival fail to build on his sole Sunderland effort to date – coming in an 8-1 demolition of Aston Villa’s U23s in the EFL Trophy.

Parkinson was delighted to have brought O’Brien to the Stadium of Light this summer, capturing the former Republic of Ireland international on a free transfer following his release by Championship side Millwall.

O’Brien was the first of the Sunderland boss’ arrivals during the off-season, and left Parkinson believing he had acquired a player keen to join the Black Cats for the right reasons.

“We’re really pleased with the signing of Aiden,” said Parkinson, via quotes by the Chronicle. “He’s a good age, he’s been promoted from League One before and he has experience playing Championship football.

“His hunger and desire to come and join us was key for me. I want players to come here for the right reasons and get ready to fight tooth and nail to help us have a great season. He has a real eagerness to be part of this club and he can’t wait to get started.”

But O’Brien’s hunger and desire was not on show at Highbury, as the forward’s pressure could not force the Fleetwood backline into creating opportunities for the five-time international to score.

O’Brien participated for the full 90 minutes at Fleetwood on Tuesday night yet could only register a single shot on Alex Cairns’ goal, though did not see his strike force the Fisherman’s goalkeeper into action with the effort marked as off-target by SofaScore.

Their data also shows the 27-year-old, who scored 44 goals and recorded 16 assists in 226 career appearances for Millwall, failed to play any key balls from a mere 10 accurate passes, while failing to complete his only attempted dribble, was caught offside twice and lost possession six times.

O’Brien further lost six of his eight attempted aerial contests and two of his six ground duels, committed one foul and penned fewer touches (27) than all Fleetwood players who started.

The forward’s efforts will have left a far from pleasing impression on Parkinson, who has only felt fit to start the London-born forward in four League One fixtures thus far.

AND in other news, Phil Parkinson has confirmed a major blow for a Sunderland gem he begged to “let his football do the talking”.

The Premier League may have breached confidentiality law by confirming their legal dispute with Newcastle United with regards to the failed takeover at St. James’ Park.

The Shields Gazette have reported that, according to sources, by confirming that the top flight are in a legal dispute with the Tyneside club, that represents an alleged breach of the confidentiality of the Magpies, with both said to be bound by privacy on the matter now that the case is actually running.

The confirmation by England’s highest division is also understood to have angered many close to the proposed £300m deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium.

The confirmation from the EPL was revealed in an official statement by the Newcastle Consortium Supporters Ltd (NCSL) that in turn was confirmed to The Shields Gazette.

When contacted by the news outlet, the Premier League refused to comment on the matter.

What does this mean for the Newcastle takeover?

Indeed, this means that the legal dispute between the Toon and the English top flight is likely to be taken to a court case if it cannot be settled by the two parties involved.

Ashley may possibly already have top lawyers Nick De Marco QC and Shaheed Fatima QC on standby to represent the chief executive of Sports Direct in court and it feels fair to predict the CEO of England’s highest division, Richard Masters, will already have his own army of lawyers at the ready too.

Nonetheless, the Premier League may have dug themselves a hole already if they are found to have breached the confidentiality law.

In other news, find out which key figure is concerned about one development in the takeover saga here!

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Noel Whelan has been wowed by Spurs and how strong they have been without Christian Eriksen – going on to drop a claim that they may not need him after all following rumours of a return. 

The Dane, who left north London for the San Siro last January after a long transfer saga, is struggling for game time under Antonio Conte in Serie A – resulting in reports suggesting he could look to leave.

Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed that Tottenham are interested in taking Eriksen back, with news emerging recently that the transfer is definitely possible.

However, as explained by Romano, Spurs won’t be able to bring him back on loan due to Inter’s unwillingness, but they could in fact secure a permanent deal. 

Eriksen claim dropped by Whelan

Whelan, speaking to Football Insider, has gone against the grain with Eriksen – claiming that Tottenham are in fact stronger without the playmaker and outcast Dele Alli.

“The defence isn’t the best but they are still good players,” explained the Sky pundit.

“This is a team that will score lots of goals. I can’t believe how they can freeze out Dele Alli and sell Christian Eriksen and be even stronger.”

Transfer Tavern take

While manager Jose Mourinho benefitted from a stellar transfer window, securing seven marquee signings including a return for club hero Gareth Bale, landing Eriksen would arguably be the icing on the cake.

Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso have been utilised in a more central attacking midfield role, but having Eriksen back would gift Spurs that extra creative spark.

In other news: Levy could bag this ‘massive signing’ in January, find out more here. 

Tottenham Hotspur have signed young centre-back Maksim Paskotsi on a three-year deal according to the official website of the player’s former club FC Flora Tallinn.

According to Estonian outlet soccernet, the 17-year-old had initially travelled to Hotspur Way to complete a trial period with the club in August and it seems he did enough to convince the north London outfit to secure his services.

He will now join up with Spurs’ youth academy and could compete in the U18 Premier League for them in the upcoming campaign. Speaking about the move, Paskotsi said: “I can’t describe how happy I am right now! It’s a very difficult, but also a powerful step in my career.”

Predominantly a centre-back, Paskotsi has played a total of 69 games for FC Flora at various different age levels, including two appearances for their senior team in the Eesti Karikas. In that time he has also shown versatility, having played a variety of other roles including defensive midfield, central midfield and right-back (Transfermarkt).

He has some international pedigree too, having represented Estonia’s under-16 team on five occasions before going on to play a further 12 games for the under-17’s.

Whilst this isn’t a signing that will immediately have an impact on the first team, there is clearly some potential there given his 17 youth caps and the fact that he also went on trial with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

Tottenham will hope that he now knuckles down and impresses in their academy. If he does that then who knows, he could be another talented prospect to emerge from the Spurs youth into the senior team, following in the footsteps of the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Ledley King.

Spurs fans, what do you make of this signing? Let us know in the comments below…