Rangers managed to put in a dominant performance against Kilmarnock in their Scottish Cup fifth round replay last night as they secured a 5-0 victory. 

The Bluenoses currently find themselves trailing in the race for the Scottish Premiership title, with the Hoops holding an eight point lead having been dominant in recent times.

One player who may be of interest to Rangers is Lawrence Shankland, who has been in sublime form in Scotland in the current campaign having produced an incredible 30 goals and eight assists in 30 games.

Interestingly, the 23-year-old told the BBC’s Off the Ball radio show that he would like a second shot at succeeding at Rangers after spending time at the club as a youngster. So, it would make perfect sense for Steven Gerrard to move in for the forward as his contract is set to expire at the end of the current campaign.

Gerrard has managed to secure a number of impressive signings since taking over as Rangers boss, including the likes of Jermain Defoe, Ryan Kent, Joe Worrall and Scott Arfield. So, many supporters will be eager to see what the 38-year-old’s next move will be, with Jordan Jones already set to rock up at Ibrox at the end of the season.

Indeed, the Rangers boss can pull off another masterstroke by securing the services of Lawrence Shankland on a free transfer as he’s arguably one of the most prolific attackers in Scottish football, and he has pretty much his whole career ahead of him so there’s still plenty of time for him to develop into a star.

What do you think Rangers fans?

Norwich City made it well and truly clear to Leeds United on Saturday evening that they will push them to the very end of the season to claim the Championship title and secure automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men were put to the sword by the Canaries at Elland Road, suffering a 3-1 defeat that saw Norwich move top of the league table with a better goal-difference than Leeds.

But, while the big defeat was probably a big wake-up call to the Whites that they still have a long way to go if they were to play top-flight football next season, the loss presents a good opportunity for the manager to push his players even further.

Leeds travel to Teesside this coming Saturday to tackle Middlesbrough in what could be another tough encounter.

Middlesbrough are currently fifth in the league and are more than capable of delivering a good performance against Bielsa’s team.

But, the manager should use the pressure to his team’s advantage and get Leeds to raise their game for the match and the rest of the campaign.

Leeds have shown the tremendous talent and desire they have in their squad and Bielsa has done a brilliant job at getting his players to deliver at just the right times this season.

The loss on Saturday was only their third one at home this campaign and would’ve been somewhat of a shock to the club, given how easily and poorly the conceded the three goals.

This should also motivate this current set of Leeds players to make sure such a result doesn’t occur again this season, while the defeat should also not see the club revert into a state of panic, because they now sit second on the table.

Leeds have proven on more than a few occasions this season that they know how to bounce back from a setback and this trip to Middlesbrough presents them with the perfect opportunity to show once again how committed and determined they are to play in the Premier League next season.

According to a recent report from The Daily Record, Lewis Morgan looks like opting for a January move to Sunderland. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Scottish giants Celtic and has done so since leaving St Mirren back in January 2018, although struggles for regular game time under Bhoys manager Brendan Rodgers has plunged his future at Parkhead into doubt.

And a recent report from The Daily Record suggests that the attacker, who has attracted interest from Jack Ross’ Sunderland and indeed Aberdeen, is set to choose the former over the latter this month in his bid for the regular first team football he simply isn’t going to get at Celtic Park.

And with Ross having worked with the highly-rated £675,000-rated sensation (as per Transfermarkt) at St Mirren, a reunion with the 42-year-old at Sunderland would go some way to enhancing the Black Cats’ League One promotion hopes.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, former St Mirren boss Ross swapped Scotland for the North East during the summer to take charge of a faltering Sunderland side who had just lost their Championship status – this all after only one season in the second tier.

As such, the 42-year-old was faced with a tricky task in arresting the slide and providing much-needed stability at the Stadium of the Light, and he has done that admirably given his team are currently sat fifth in the League One table, just four points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

And while his side have only suffered defeat on two occasions in the league this time round, their tally of 11 draws has very much hindered their progress in pursuit of the top two – in fact, four of their last five league matches have ended in draws.

As such, Ross may seek that star quality needed to turn those recurrent draws into more victories in the second half of the season, as doing so would see them climb the division and knock on the door of the promotion places – Morgan’s arrival might do just that.

The 22-year-old may well have struggled to break into Rodgers’ first team at Celtic this season, appearing just nine times in the Scottish Premiership for the seven-times defending champions, yet one mustn’t overlook his great form at St Mirren, under the guidance of Ross no less, to suggest that he has what it takes to seriously improve Sunderland’s attack.

The Scotland international, capped twice by his country last year, scored 18 goals and laid on 11 assists in just 42 appearances for the Scottish Championship side last term to help Ross’ men win promotion to the top-flight – only two players netted more than him (14) in the league.

And in bagging ten times and laying on six assists the campaign before for the Saints, it’s clear that Ross knew exactly how to get the very best out of the attacker – prior to his arrival, Morgan hadn’t shown even close to the level he produced under the 42-year-old.

Yet the Scotsman came on leaps and bounds under Ross to suggest that a reunion at Sunderland this season could be what Morgan needs to rediscover his best form – and from a Sunderland point of view, his arrival would give Ross another option in attack.

Significantly, such was the 22-year-old’s level under Ross in the past, reuniting with the Black Cats boss at the Stadium of Light would go some way to seriously enhancing Sunderland’s promotion hopes in the second half of the season.

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

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Jonny Hayes turned in his best ever Celtic performance in the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock with some fans pushing him for the Man of the Match award.

The late drama of a winning goal, red card and Timo Weah picking up a booking left Sky Sports racing after stories with the Man of the Match presentation appearing to be overlooked.

Hayes sat out the Europa League defeat from Valencia despite impressing last Sunday against St Johnstone but an ankle injury for Emilio Izaguirre opened the door for his return.

The former Aberdeen winger was never left exposed at left-back and looked confident as he pushed down the flank to support Scott Sinclair.

With Jeremy Toljan and James Forrest closely marked on the right, Hayes found space down the left to put in a few decent crosses as Celtic pushed for the breakthrough.

When the goal came and the final whistle blew Hayes was at the heart of the celebrations – after being on the edge of the side for so long he had finally been involved in a crucial win.

Kieran Tierney looks like returning to the side next weekend against Motherwell but after today’s display Brendan Rodgers will have no hesitation over putting Hayes into the side at left-back.

سقط ريال مدريد في فخ التعادل السلبي أمام مضيفه ريال سوسيداد في المباراة التي جمعتهما مساء اليوم الأحد.

وحل الفريق الملكي ضيفًا على ريال سوسيداد بملعب “انويتا”، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثانية من عمر الدوري الإسباني.

وارتفع رصيد ريال مدريد إلى نقطة واحدة قي المركز العاشر، مع العلم أن للفريق الملكي مباراة مؤجلة. 

في المقابل ارتفع رصيد ريال سوسيداد إلى نقطتين في المركز التاسع.

وللاطلاع على أحداث المباراة لحظة بلحظة اضغط هنــــــــــــــــــــــا

مهارة رائعة من بنزيما في مباراة ريال مدريد وريال سوسيداد

بنزيما يهدر فرصة هدف محقق أمام ريال سوسيداد

تصدي كورتوا الرائع ينقذ ريال مدريد من هدف محقق

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Dean Smith has been forced to face his first campaign as Aston Villa boss with just two strikers to pick from, and he has finally revealed the problem with Keinan Davis.

Villa have now picked up just one win in their last 11 games in all competitions, and the lack of quality up front has no doubt played its part.

Tammy Abraham has of course bagged 20 goals already this season, but Jonathan Kodjia has mustered just six strikes and Smith doesn’t really have any options after those two.

The third option would be the 21 year-old Davis, who impressed for England’s Under-20 side last year, scoring twice in three appearances.

The youngster has scored three goals and added four assists in 38 appearances for Villa, and Smith has now revealed what’s been keeping him out of the matchday squads.

What did Smith say?

“He has not trained this week because of a problem in his pelvis. It has been niggling away at him,” Smith told the Birmingham Mail.

“He has played through it at times and then found he is in too much pain. He has not been on the bench because of that.”

A long-term concern?

The youngster is by no means a Villa regular, but he was in the matchday squad for nine straight league games between December and February.

Davis has since not been included in the last four squads, with the Villans picking up just two points from those four games.

The youngster has a very high ceiling and would give Smith another option to call upon, so a persistent injury problem at such a tender age is a big concern.

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Everton boss Marco Silva is currently under pressure following his side’s poor recent form. The Toffees’ defensive record has left plenty to be desired, whilst seeing similar mistakes being repeated has caused frustrations to grow amongst the fanbase at Goodison Park.

One such error has been the Merseyside club’s inability to defend set pieces. They have conceded from set pieces on 12 occasions already in the Premier League this season –  giving them the worst record in the division.

On the chalkboard

Silva must address this chronic frailty if his side are to turn their poor form around and regain some confidence. A failure to remedy this situation could ultimately contribute to the Portuguese coach losing his job. 

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

In order to make his team more solid when it comes to defending set pieces, the Portuguese boss must abandon his preference for zonal marking. Whilst it may go against the manager’s instinctive principles, he must embrace a man-marking system, as his own methods are currently costing the club points.

Man to man

Zonal marking, as the name implies, charges defenders with the responsibility of looking after their own little zone, rather than any specific opposition player. If the ball enters that defender’s zone, it is their job to deal with it.

However, in practice, this throws up problems for the defending side. If defenders stick to their zones rigidly, they cannot contend with the unpredictable movement of attackers. They can easily become outnumbered or find themselves pitched into mismatched battles with attackers who have considerable physical advantages over them.

Man-marking alleviates many of these problems, as defenders assume responsibility for marshalling a specific opponent, rather than a certain area of their own box. They can then be assigned to attackers they can actually compete with, and if everyone does their job then becoming outnumbered ought to be impossible.

No defensive tactic is perfect, but Silva should give Everton their best chance of escaping their current set piece nightmare by embracing a man-to-man approach. 

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West Ham bounced back from their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Wolves last time out as they held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium on Monday night, with Michail Antonio cancelling out Sadio Mane’s opener with an inch-perfect finish into the bottom corner.

The Reds had taken a controversial early lead through their Senegalese winger – James Milner was definitely offside when Adam Lallana flicked the ball through to him, before the Liverpool number 7 fired into the feet of Mane, who turned and found the corner.

A clever set-piece routine, though, put the Hammers back on level terms and, from then on, the league leaders hardly had a clear chance at goal, as Manuel Pellegrini’s side worked tirelessly from back to front.

Who is West Ham’s worst ever signing? Check out the video below for a pretty strong candidate for the dubious honour…

Goalscorer Antonio has often been criticised for a lack of technique in the past, but showed that in abundance as he latched onto Felipe Anderson’s cheeky, round-the-corner pass to fire beyond Alisson despite having very little to aim at.

The strike was the 28-year-old’s third of the season in the Premier League and the power, pace and drive he displayed throughout gave the Irons fans flashbacks to his 2015/16 form – the former Nottingham Forest man chalked up eight goals and four assists in 26 appearances that year, but has scored just seven in the last two seasons.

Here’s how the West Ham fans reacted to his performance on Twitter…

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Tottenham are eyeing up a £50m move for Bournemouth sensation David Brooks, who has taken to life at Premier League level like a duck to water since his summer move from Sheffield United, as reported exclusively by The Express.

What’s the word, then?

The Welshman has excelled for the Cherries since signing in a £10m deal from the Blades, scoring six goals and recording four assists so far this season.

Tottenham are said to be willing to spend up to £50m to lure the Wales international to the new White Hart Lane in the summer, and he is well in with a chance of being named as the PFA Young Player of the Year.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Manchester United are also seriously interested in bringing the 21-year-old to Old Trafford, but Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to beat the Red Devils to Brooks’ signature and help him fulfil his huge potential.

Who could Brooks push out of the team?

The north Londoners have racked up a huge amount of debt from the construction of their new stadium, so any move for Brooks may have to be bankrolled by a significant sale.

Real Madrid were credited with an interest in signing Christian Eriksen recently, although they were quoted a huge £225m price by Spurs for one of their key players.

The Dane is, however, five years older than Brooks, and for a fee in that astronomical region or even slightly lower, Tottenham would be wise to cash in on Eriksen and mould Brooks into being his replacement.

Were he to arrive at Spurs with no departures having taken place, it is tough to see where Brooks gets into an attacking quartet of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eriksen and Heung-min Son, so a big sale may need to be made in order to lure the promising Welsh playmaker to north London.

The £50m figure is certainly an important one though as it would set a new club-record transfer fee at Tottenham, eclipsing the £42m spent on Davinson Sanchez two summers ago.

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has offered a frank assessment on injured duo Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack, as per BT Sport, with both midfielders looking unlikely to feature in the Scottish Cup replay against Kilmarnock at Ibrox on Wednesday night.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the starting XI regulars both missed the goalless draw at home to St Johnstone on Saturday with their respective issues, with Arfield having an issue with a calf muscle and Jack twisting his ankle in the original tie against Killie.

Gerrard was speaking about the duo’s chances of making the upcoming fixture to BT Sport, and he didn’t seem overly confident of welcoming the pair back.

The 38-year-old said: “Scott Arfield has a chance but Jack blocked a tackle at Kilmarnock last week and twisted his ankle, so he is a big doubt for Wednesday.

“Arfield has a chance – but it’s not a good chance.

“Scott has a couple of dead legs. One of them he actually picked up before the first Kilmarnock game, so Scott wouldn’t miss a game with a dead leg. It’s more of a flush in a calf muscle.”

Bad news?

It certainly is, with Ross McCrorie, Steven Davis and Glen Kamara looking disjointed in the centre of the park against St Johnstone.

Arfield and Jack are two of the bigger characters and leaders in the Rangers team, and there is no question that they were a big miss at the weekend as the Glasgow giants slipped further behind arch-rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race.

With their hopes in the league fading Gerrard will surely be keen to try and win the cup to get a trophy under his belt in his first season in charge at Ibrox, and he is at least boosted by the return of Alfredo Morelos from suspension should the midfield duo fail to make it.