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A selection of Aston Villa fans took to social media during their Premier League meeting with Liverpool on Saturday to share their thoughts on the Video Assistant Referee denying Roberto Firmino an equalising goal.

Dean Smith’s Villans had taken a surprise lead in the 21st-minute, when Trezeguet opened the scoring with a tap-in after VAR Martin Atkinson overruled a decision to call Tyrone Mings as offside before the Egyptian tapped home at the back post.

Referee Jon Moss had initially sought to chalk off the volley, as Mings had made advances from an offside position, but the goal was given as Trezeguet was arguably the only home player not beyond the last man when the free-kick was taken.

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Villa have seen goals taken off the board in incidents where the video assistant could have been used this season, with strikes at Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion disallowed, as well as not seeing a penalty awarded at Arsenal.

Atkinson ensured the shoe was on the other foot on Saturday, though, as Liverpool were denied an equalising goal in the 31st-minute when Firmino was adjudged to have been offside.

The decision appeared to be extremely close to call, with a hair’s width potentially the difference between the Brazilian being onside or not.

Being on the other side of the decision saw one Villa fan note that their side were due a decision going in their favour, having felt there was ‘no way’ Firmino was offside.

Here are some of the messages shared on the key decision from Villa’s clash with Liverpool…

He uploaded an image of him with the match ball while holding three fingers up, and he captioned the post ‘First ever hat-trick’.

The 24-year-old didn’t state that he was buzzing or that he was over the moon, his post was straight to the point and didn’t have much emotion attached to it – maybe he’s just becoming such a goalscoring machine he’s just used to it now?

With all due respect, San Marino aren’t the best of opposition, so perhaps that’s why McGinn’s post after netting three times was so subdued.

Normally when Juventus only win a game 2-1 against a side such as mid-table Bologna, an attacker who hasn’t registered a goal or an assist wouldn’t be worthy of being the ‘unsung hero’ of the week.

However, it was Gonzalo Higuain’s impressive performance that went under the radar.

The 31-year-old Argentinian is known for his great finishing ability, but he wasn’t able to convert any of the five shots he had in the game, with three being on target – the joint-most in the match – and the other two being blocked (WhoScored).

Higuain’s link-up play was also impressive. The forward made 34 passes overall with a success rate of 88 per cent, as well as making two key passes in the game, which helped contribute to Juve’s domination of the ball, with the Old Lady having 65% of possession (ESPN).

It wasn’t just WhoScored that recognised Higuain had a really polished match, with 90Min giving the forward a healthy 8/10 for his match against Bologna – only being matched by Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo – while Miralem Pjanic went one better with 9/10 to win the outlet’s Man of the Match award.

While it is hard to imagine whether Juventus would have been better off starting Paulo Dybala after his good start to the season (with an average rating in Serie A of 7.1 so far this year from WhoScored), Higuain showed just why Maurizio Sarri is using him by putting in a well-rounded performance which helped his side win the three points.

It was far from a classic performance from the Argentinian, but he was still able to register a lot of shots and pop up in the right spaces, as well as make a lot of runs which created space for the other creative players within this Juve team.

Juventus fans, are Higuain’s performances going underrated? Let us know in the comments below!

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The Carabao Cup may be seen as a bit of a second-rate competition to many, but for footballers on the fringes of the starting XI it’s a vital opportunity to impress their manager in a first-team environment.

One man who has been attempting to do just that is Conor Hourihane, and he believes that his performances in the cup have been enough to warrant a starting spot at Villa Park.

“I’ve been frustrated with the minutes that I’ve got, and I’ve had to take every opportunity I get, and I feel like every opportunity I’m getting I’m taking.” Hourihane said.

The Irishman is spot on with his opinion as well. It may sound a bit big-headed coming from his own mouth, but he’s been brilliant in the cup this season.

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Against Crewe, he netted twice, and he added another strike to his tally on Wednesday as he scored Villa’s second goal against Brighton.

It remains to be seen whether or not Hourihane’s prayers will be answered, but he’s certainly making a great case for being a starter.

Rangers continue their Europa League campaign with a trip to Switzerland tonight and will hope to beat Young Boys in an attempt to overtake Porto as leaders of group B.

Other than a 2-0 loss to Celtic the Gers have started the season in good form, remaining undefeated in their other 17 matches, dating back to July for the Europa League qualifiers.

Steven Gerrard is rightly in a confident mood, and believes his side can “hurt Young Boys”, a comment which brought much amusement on social media.

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The team should be buoyed by the fact they have already equalled the amount of wins they picked up in last year’s group stage – one – with an assured performance over Feyenoord in which they had 20 shots, suggesting they are better-placed to qualify this time around.

However, a key factor in their early exit last term was their poor away form, failing to pick up a win in visits to Villareal, Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna – so tonight could prove troublesome.

Here is our predicted line-up for the visit to Young Boys.

Consistency has been key for the Glasgow outfit this season, and that is reflected by the fact eleven players have made 12 or more appearances so far, despite the often quick turnaround in matches.

With that in mind, it is unlikely Gerrard will make too many changes to the side which demolished Aberdeen 5-0 last weekend, although Glen Kamara could come back into the side after featuring in their last European fixture.

The 23-year-old should provide greater defensive cover in midfield than what Greg Stewart offers. From his 11 games this season he has averaged 2.7 tackles per game and 7.5 recoveries in the opposition half.

That highlights the energy he provides in midfield, which will be essential to combating Young Boys’ threat, particularly Jean-Pierre Nsame who has 12 goals in 14 appearances this term.

Going forward, the front three have been effective in most of the matches they have played this season, with 20 goals and nine assists between them.

Morelos will typically have the responsibility of putting away chances, but after his stunning winner against Feyenoord at Ibrox, Sheyi Ojo could have another key role to play.

If the winger can find his best form he should prove tricky to deal with, as his record of 4.2 successful dribbles attests to, and should he combine with Morelos to get Rangers firing, then they have a good chance of taking something from the match.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking on talkSPORT, Harry Redknapp has delivered a damning verdict on the state of the current Manchester United squad.

What did he say?

The Red Devils slipped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday, and the poor performance saw many ask questions being asked of where the club currently stands.

Now, Redknapp has insisted the players available to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are the worst of the Premier League era, and revealed United are in for some long-term pain.

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He said: “It’s a long way back for Man United, the team is nowhere near good enough. You looked at Man United before that game and you thought, ‘what an average looking team’. West Ham looked a better team, that’s where United are, they’re a very average bunch at the moment I’m afraid.

“The fans are going to have to suffer that unless they go and buy another four or five good players over the next year or two. That’s where they are, they are just not good enough.

“Fergie never had a bad team in all his years in the Premier League. All of his teams were amazing, so yes, this current team probably is (their worst side of the Premier League era). The players they’ve got now, they will struggle. I don’t know about making the top four, they could even fall out of the top six if they’re not careful.”

Fall from grace

Anyone still remember United’s 4-0 win over Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the season? No? Neither do we. The Red Devils’ dominant victory over the Blues feels like it happened in another universe never mind another season, and both the performances and results since that day have been unacceptable.

Whether Solskjaer is the right man for the job is up to debate. But there can be no question he didn’t receive the full support of the board over the summer, and is attempting to make do with what he has been given. No easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. Just like the flu, it appears it will have to get worse for United, before it gets any better.

Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on the signing of Sofyan Amrabat this January transfer window…

What’s the word?

Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano delivered a fresh update on Spurs’ pursuit of the Fiorentina midfielder, who is currently excelling for Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations, very early on Wednesday morning.

He said:

“Sofyan Amrabat to Tottenham, advanced but not a done deal yet. [Antonio] Conte and [Fabio] Paratici both want him – he’s also doing great at AFCON.

“But Spurs are waiting to complete [Tanguy] Ndombele deal [to Paris Saint-Germain] before Amrabat (loan with buy option). Player side, not a problem: he only wants Spurs.”

Closing in

At the moment, this would be the Lilywhites’ first signing this month as a swoop for Adama Traore continues to rumble on without much success.

It appears as if Conte’s attentions have quickly turned to sorting out the engine room because you don’t make the likes of Ndombele, Dele Alli and Giovani Lo Celso all available for an exit if you’re not going to try and reinforce such a key position, especially with less than five days of the window remaining.

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Amrabat isn’t a signing that is going to thrill much of the Spurs fanbase but if the Italian head coach wants him, then he must be backed.

The 25-year-old midfielder has been restricted to only 211 minutes in the Serie A this season but has featured in three full 90-minute games for his country in Group C and the round of 16 at AFCON.

Conte has lacked someone capable of driving the ball forward from midfield and he could well find that in Amrabat. Of the 39 players to have attempted 150 or more dribbles since the start of the 2019/20 campaign,  only one player (Ismael Bennacer, 79.6%) has managed a better dribble success rate than the Viola enforcer (70.3%), per WhoScored.

That is also above every single one of Spurs’ current central options with Oliver Skipp leading the way on 66.7% and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg not too far behind on 62.2%. Ndombele – who is supposed to be the ideal fit for the role – sits down at 55%, which is rather telling.

He is also solid at delivering long balls and is aggressive in the tackle, so whilst his lack of game time is a worry, there are certainly credentials there that make him fit for Conte, who must be absolutely delighted that a deal is very close. to happening.

Somewhat of a perfect signing for the Spurs boss, the north London outfit are in for one busy few days ahead of Monday’s deadline.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold hints at Adama Traore twist for Spurs…

Ex-Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson has suggested St Johnstone’s Zander Clark as a potential replacement if Allan McGregor leaves the club at the end of the season. 

The lowdown

McGregor, who turned 40 at the end of January, is out of contract at the end of the current campaign.

At the start of the season, Steven Gerrard rotated his ‘keepers, handing chances to Jon McLaughlin and Robby McCrorie, but McGregor has now started every league game since Halloween.

The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell recently wrote that he was expected to depart Ibrox in the summer, along with Connor Goldson and Steven Davis.

Significantly, Clark is also set to be free agent in five months’ time, meaning Rangers could snap him up on a free.

A report from The Daily Record in November revealed that The Gers were ‘closely’ monitoring the 29-year-old.

The latest Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show (via Glasgow World), Ferguson said he’d like to see McGregor stay for another year, but backed Jon McLaughlin and Clark to be able successors.”Jon McLaughlin is a really good backup keeper, I really like him,” he said.”Zander Clark is another, St Johnstone have had a poor season but Zander is still performing at a high level.”I’d like him to stay. He’s old enough to make his own mind up but I still think there’s football left in Allan McGregor.” The verdict

While he can’t compete with McGregor, who’s played more than 400 times for Rangers, Clark does at least have plenty of experience.

He’s one short of 150 games in the Scottish top flight, and he’s kept an impressive 51 clean sheets along the way – that ratio of 0.34 is not far off McGregor’s top flight ratio of 0.46, when considering the quality of the squads they are playing in.

It also bodes well that Steve Clark has called him up to the Scotland squad twice this season, and that St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has dubbed him ‘phenomenal’.

The £405,000-rated ‘keeper does have some weaknesses – WhoScored say he could improve when it comes to long passing and claiming crosses – but perhaps the opportunity to snap him up on a free will prove too good to turn down.

In other news, Danny Mills reckons this 21/22 signing could soon be headed for the PL.

Lots of Everton fans have been flocking to reports that former Toffees manager Roberto Martinez has emerged as the frontrunner in the search for a replacement for Rafael Benitez.

On Sunday, Everton announced the departure of the 61-year-old as first team manager, putting an end to his seven-month tenure at the club. This news did not come as a surprise – the Toffees have produced one of their worst starts to the league for many years, as they sit 16th in the table beyond the midway point of the season, winning just one of their last 13 top-flight matches.

The final nail in the coffin for Benitez came as Everton embarrassingly lost to relegation-threatened Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday. The defeat came amid a toxic backdrop of fan protests demanding his sacking and even saw one spectator invade the pitch to try and confront the ex-Newcastle boss.

Following the Spaniard’s departure as manager, numerous candidates have been linked with the job. However, the most shocking reactions have arisen following the most recent news regarding former Toffees boss Martinez.

These Everton fans flock to Martinez manager news

According to Dominic King of the Daily Mail, the 48-year-old has emerged as the frontrunner for a return to Everton, less than six years after he was sacked by Farhad Moshiri.

Numerous Toffees fans flocked to the news of this report on Twitter, with many furious at hearing that Belgium would be due £2m in compensation if Martinez completes his Goodison Park return.

Here’s what these fans said, with some deploring the prospective £2m outlay and others unconvinced by the Spaniard given how badly his previous spell on Merseyside ended in 2016. One angry Evertonian even raged that re-hiring Martinez would be a “braindead appointment”:

“This would be another braindead appointment that would end in inevitable disaster with most fans, again, saying we told you so.”

Credit: @JMoran1982

“Tragedy becomes farce”

Credit: @RobertoBirquet

“Martinez not welcome. His teams cannot defend!”

Credit: @DoEfc

“This would be the most Everton thing ever! Well at least Benitez sold Digne so we could afford his severance pay! #27years”

Credit: @l4efc1

“Fold the club”

Credit: @MichaelHilditc5

“Disgrace”

Credit: @matt8820

In other news: This prospective Benitez successor would be a far more popular choice among many Everton fans

Tottenham Hotspur was at least three additions before transfer deadline day on January 31st…

What’s the word?

That’s according to ever-reliable Daily Mail journalist Sami Mokbel, who delivered an exciting claim to GIVEMESPORT this week.

“My understanding is that Conte wants a new right wing-back, he wants a new striker to supplement [Harry] Kane and a central midfielder,” he said. “Whether they can do all of those, I’m not sure they will, but that’s what they’re aiming for.”

One name heavily linked with the north London outfit has been Adama Traore, who fits the bill as their potential new right wing-back, though Wolverhampton Wanderers reportedly knocked back Spurs’ initial offer of £15m this week.

Meanwhile, the Lilywhites could look to seal a move for AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie now, rather than the summer, when he’s out of contract at the San Siro.

Hugely exciting news

Spurs remain unbeaten under the Italian in the Premier League, which already displays the sort of magic he’s been able to pull off at Hotspur Way. However, he needs to be backed to truly elevate the club to the next level.

There have already been fears behind-the-scenes that he could walk should he not get such financial support during the transfer window. Not only is Conte dealing with injuries but largely, they lack the strength in depth that those in the top four possess.

The former Chelsea boss seemingly doesn’t trust summer signing Emerson Royal at right wing-back, particularly in the final third, so it’s easy to see why they are targeting Traore, who on his day is “unplayable” in the final third, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

And whilst the north Londoners are well-stocked in the engine room, it’s believed that Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli are free to leave and there isn’t much quality behind the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skip anyway.

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As talented as he is, it’s rather telling that the 21-year-old gem has walked straight into the starting XI after a loan spell in the Championship last season.

Then there is the striker issue – it’s a catch-22 for Spurs. They need an alternative to Kane but no one in their right mind will want to play second fiddle to him. Although, there’s a chance that Conte reverts to his title-winning tactics at Inter Milan, where he played two up top.

Either way, this exciting revelation from Mokbel should leave much of the Lilywhites faithful absolutely buzzing heading into the final ten days of the transfer window.

It’s time for chairman Daniel Levy to open the chequebook. They now have a world-class manager capable of giving this club the silverware they are desperately craving but he needs to be backed, starting with this current window.

AND in other news, “Tottenham will”: Sky Sports reporter issues “exciting” transfer claim…