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Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi was excellent for England U21s as they scraped past Andorra in their Group G European Championship qualifier.

A well-taken goal from Arsenal youngster Emile Smith Rowe was all that separated the two sides at the final whistle after an underwhelming display from Lee Carsley’s Young Lions saw them win 1-0.

The attacking midfielder raced on to Curtis Jones’ pass to slot the ball into the bottom-left corner, finishing off a counter-attack following an Andorran corner on the 67-minute mark.

Smith Rowe’s finish secured all three points, keeping England in third position in the group, but it was a tougher night than expected.

Sheffield United’s Rhian Brewster was harshly sent off after collecting a second yellow card ten minutes into the second half, leaving the likes of Guehi with more defending to do than he had perhaps planned for.

The 21-year-old stood up to the test well, though, denying Andorra a single shot during the game as he captained them to victory.

As per SofaScore, Guehi received a match of 7.5 out of 10, the joint-second highest total awarded to any player on the pitch.

And when looking at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why. The stocky centre-back dominated his striker throughout the 90 minutes, winning three of his four duels (75%) to deny the opposition attack on multiple occasions.

But Guehi was equally as impressive with the ball at his feet. He constantly kickstarted England attacks from the heart of his defence, having 96 touches and achieving a passing accuracy of 90% after finding a teammate with 17 of his attempted 19 long balls.

With the tricky trip to Arsenal coming up next at club level for Guehi, Palace manager Patrick Vieira will be hoping his summer signing can replicate this sort of form at the Emirates Stadium, inspiring the Eagles to a memorable result.

And, in other news…Journalist provides encouraging Crystal Palace injury update, fans will be delighted 

Crystal Palace will look to make it back-to-back wins when they take on Liverpool at Anfield this afternoon.

The Eagles shocked Tottenham Hotspur last time out, securing an impressive 3-0 victory following Japhet Tanganga’s petulant red card, and new manager Patrick Vieira will be hoping to build on that result against the Reds.

However, Palace’s chances of doing exactly that suffered a blow when the Frenchman that confirmed Jeffrey Schlupp is ruled out of action through injury.

“Jeffrey Schlupp is getting better but is not going to be involved tomorrow,” Vieira revealed in Friday’s press conference.

“He didn’t have enough training with the squad, so will stay behind and do a session tomorrow, before getting with the team on Monday morning.”

At least the versatile midfielder is currently the only player sidelined through fitness concerns aside from long-term absentees Eberechi Eze and Nathan Ferguson, providing Palace hope of pulling off another surprise result this weekend.

With that in mind, here’s how Football FanCast expects Vieira to line up at Anfield, with two changes from the side which started against Spurs…

The dependable Vicente Guaita will keep his place between the sticks after a strong start to the season, ensuring that Jack Butland remains on the bench.

In front of the Spanish shot-stopper is set to be a back four which has shown plenty of promise over the last three Premier League fixtures.

Tyrick Mitchell, Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen and Joel Ward have kept two clean sheets in the three games that they’ve started together, showing signs of a potentially formidable defensive unit.

The midfield may see one change made from last weekend’s win, with Luka Milivojevic coming in for the £5.4m-rated Cheikhou Kouyate – who came in for criticism from some fans for his performance against Spurs – completing a hard-working trio including Conor Gallagher and James McArthur.

Completing the starting XI should be talisman Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew and summer signing Odsonne Edouard after the Frenchman bagged a brace against Spurs despite coming on as a late substitute. He should start today in place of former Liverpool marksman Christian Benteke.

In other news… Signed for £26m, released for free: Parish endured a Palace nightmare over 31y/o dud 

Some Manchester United fans have been slamming the performance of Jadon Sancho despite their 2-1 win at home to Villarreal on Wednesday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team were bailed out at Old Trafford once more by a very late winner from Cristiano Ronaldo after a fine volley from outside of the box by Alex Telles cancelled out the opening goal from Paco Alcacer.

The Red Devils did not perform particularly well over the course of the game, and Sancho was no exception, as he lost out on seven of his duels and also failed to record a single key pass or accurate cross (Sofascore).

The former Borussia Dortmund winger also lost possession of the ball on 12 separate occasions in the match, earning a mere 6.4 overall rating on Sofascore, the lowest out of any of his teammates to have started.

Man Utd fans on Sancho display

These Man United supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that the 21-year-old looks ‘weak’:

“Dalot and Sancho should just get a new job please”

Credit: @kogi1stborn

“Sancho needs to step up!!!!!”

Credit: @SAKhaaan

“SANCHO. WHAT A FLOP.”

Credit: @LiciousRyan

“Sancho looks so weak and shy as well as if everything is too much for him already……..”

Credit: @walkeradam1

“Cavani needs to start ahead of Sancho. Sancho is not delivering”

Credit: @Sanelesiba

“I do feel like Sancho hasn’t earned the shirt. He needs to be benched. No disrespect but at the minute, there are players more deserving”

Credit: @bethyjj18

In other news, United have moved on from signing this Premier League star

Some Liverpool supporters are delighted after journalist Fabrizio Romano shared a claim from David Ornstein on Twitter that Jordan Henderson is close to signing a new Reds contract.

Jurgen Klopp’s side picked up a solid 2-0 win at home to Burnley on Saturday afternoon, continuing their 100% start to the season in the process. Diogo Jota opened the scoring with a precise header and Sadio Mane fired home an impressive second goal after the interval, putting the game to bed.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359326”]

There were a number of standout performers for Liverpool and Henderson caught the eye in the middle of the park on his first start of the season, completing a team-high 66 passes against the Clarets and executing six accurate long balls (Sofascore).

The 31-year-old is a key figure on and off the pitch, and according to Romano on Twitter – with attribution to Ornstein – he is close to extending his stay at Anfield until 2024.

The journalist tweeted: “Jordan Henderson will soon sign his contract extension with Liverpool. He’s discussing final details and clauses with the club – then everything will be completed. All parties confident. #LFC New deal will be until June 2024, approved by Liverpool – as per @David_Ornstein”.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/the-latest-liverpool-transfer-news-10/” title=”The latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans ecstatic with Henderson update

These Reds fans took to Twitter to express their happiness at the update on Henderson’s contract status at Anfield, with one Kopite describing it as “great news”.

“Rightly so..top class yesterday..and a fantastic captain”

Credit: @S7G7S

“Yes yes yes please!!!”

Credit: @cobkop

“Let’s gooo! The skipper is staying “

Credit: @Football__433

“Yessss! The skipper is essential”

Credit: @Kikiin_97

“Great news”

Credit: @apakoyan

“Love to see this! Really enjoyed Hendo’s performance against Burnley, thought he was a controlling presence and was great on the ball.”

Credit: @Valiant_Virgil

In other news, some Liverpool fans criticised one Reds player during the 2-0 win over Burnley. Find out who it is here.

Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge has told Football FanCast that he thinks Crystal Palace will sign a striker before tonight’s transfer deadline.

Palace look to be closing in on Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard, with Sky Sports reporting a deal worth £15-20m is close to being agreed.

Prior, the south London club had been heavily linked with Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah.

According to The Athletic, Palace were hoping to conclude a £10m deal with Arsenal for the 22-year-old. However, with the Gunners wanting significantly more, they decided to turn to Edouard.

A lot could still happen before the 11pm deadline, but Bridge fully expects the Eagles to swoop in and bag at least one No.9.

“I’m going to stick my head on the line and say I think they’ll sign a striker,” the Sky Sports reporter said to FFC. “I’ll go out and say they’ll bring a striker in.”

That has to be the priority for Palace today. While Christian Benteke did manage to reach double figures in the Premier League last season, his overall record in front of goal at Palace has not been great.

And even if it had been, you get the feeling that Patrick Vieira would have still needed another centre-forward anyway, with the Frenchman not currently blessed with too many other options.

Liverpool are reportedly rivalling Barcelona for a deal to sign Lille midfielder Renato Sanches, according to Fabrizio Romano. 

The lowdown

Liverpool have reportedly held an interest in signing Lille midfielder Sanches this summer, and the midfielder could be available if the French club’s valuation of the 23-year-old are met.

Sanches has been with Lille since 2019, and has made 60 appearances in total for them. The Portugal international played his part in the club’s title-winning campaign last term, and it appears as though his showings haven’t gone unnoticed.

Liverpool will be looking to add depth to their midfield options in the near future, with the Reds struggling with injuries last season and having lost Georginio Wijnaldum this summer.

The latest

Speaking on the ‘Here we go podcast’, Romano has confirmed that Liverpool and Spanish giants Barcelona are interested in a deal to sign Sanches this summer.

Romano has also claimed that the price tag that Lille are looking for is in the region of €40million, with Liverpool having to sell players to fund new signings ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

“It’s Barcelona and Liverpool that are interested in Renato Sanches – but the price tag is around 40 million euros so we will see what happens in the coming days. For Liverpool, it’s important to sell players to sign new players.”

The verdict

Sanches could be the ideal replacement for Wijnaldum, who departed Anfield in favour of a move to French giants PSG.

Additional strength in depth is certainly needed within the Liverpool squad this term, as injuries were a major reason as to why they failed to retain their Premier League title from the 2019/20 campaign.

Sanches had an average Whoscored rating of 6.41 from the 2020/21 season, and at the age of 23, he could turn out to be a shrewd signing for the Reds in the long-term.

Former Liverpool defender Jose Enrique labelled Sanches as a ‘great player’, before predicting that Jurgen Klopp could help him become a ‘world class’ player in the future.

“He always been a great player. If I’m not wrong he was named best player of the Under-21 tournament that he was involved.

“The problem he had is like many young players he had everything too quick and until he settled it took him few years, but it looks like the type of player that I believe Klopp can help him become a world class player.”

Derby County have been dealt a major injury blow regarding Colin Kazim-Richards.

What’s the latest?

Speaking after Derby’s 2-1 defeat against Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon, a game in which Kazim-Richards was carried off on a stretcher following an awkward landing, Wayne Rooney stated his concern that the centre-forward could well be set to sit on the sidelines for a considerable amount of time.

As cited by Derbyshire Live, the 35-year-old said: “We will do all the right tests over the next few days to see what it is, but it is not going to be a short one, I think.

“I don’t know the extent of the injury but I don’t think it is going to be a quick fix. So we will lose him for a while. We will do tests to see how long that is.”

Rooney will be gutted

Considering just how short Rooney’s Derby County first-team squad already is, with the manager currently having just 18 outfield players at his disposal – two of whom, Krystian Bielik and Jason Knight, are currently injured – the fact that his only senior centre-forward looks likely to miss a substantial amount of action due to injury is sure to have left the Rams boss gutted.

While the 34-year-old’s replacement, Jack Stretton, did manage to find the back of the net in the Peterborough fixture, it is hardly an ideal scenario for a 19-year-old with just six first-team appearances to his name to be leading the Rams attacking line in what could well be a relegation fight this season.

Indeed, over his 38 Championship appearances for Derby last term, Kazim-Richards played an influential role in ensuring his side remained in the division, scoring eight goals, registering two assists and creating five big chances for his teammates.

As such, unless Rooney can bring in a replacement for the player he dubbed a “massive leader” in what remains of the summer transfer window, the former England international’s chances of beating the drop this season appear to have taken a massive hit.

In other news: Lost possession 23x: “Appalling” dud who lost 66% of duels cost Derby big time vs Posh

Noel Whelan reckons that Derby County left-back Lee Buchanan could quadruple his value inside two seasons, should he make the move north of the border to Celtic [Football Insider].

The Lowdown: Celtic gear up for 2021/22

Looking to plug the gaps across the squad, new Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou will undoubtedly be searching high and low to secure the most promising talent available for purchase.

Signing established senior players will be key to success this season, but bringing in young stars with potential for years to come will also take equal precedence for the Aussie as he looks to put the Hoops back on their perch long-term.

One man who would fall into the latter category would be Buchanan, who has been linked with Celtic in recent days as a solution to their conundrum on the left-side of defence [Daily Record].

The Latest: Whelan reckons could be worth ‘four times’ his value in two years time

Impressed by the potential deal, popular ex-pro turned pundit Whelan dropped his verdict on recent developments in an exclusive interview with Football Insider, stating: “They need younger, better players in their team that they had last year.

“That’s why they’re looking at these sorts of players now because last season it was woeful. It let them down massively.

“They were inconsistent, never got the right partnerships at the back, didn’t know whether they wanted to play four or three at the back.

“There was no leaders out there and far too many mistakes, especially from set pieces.

“So they need a breath of fresh air and getting a 20-year-old in gives you that, that longevity.

“You can really work with him and get to grips and improve him as well.

“For the fee they’re looking at, you could have a fantastic player who in two or three years time is worth four times that. You’ve got to look for that.“

The Verdict: Celtic should look to sign up Buchanan to bolster left-back depth

Correctly, the 46-year-old points out the room for development someone like Buchanan could provide in a Celtic jersey.

In 2020/21, he was ever present for current employers Derby County, registering three assists in 37 appearances in all competitions [Transfermarkt].

Furthermore, the youngster showed courage in preventing dangerous situations, managing to record 2.3 clearances per 90 minutes [WhoScored].

Progressing towards the latter stages of the transfer window, Celtic should look to sign Buchanan to add depth in the left-back area and a potentially major profit in the future if Whelan is correct.

In other news, a Celtic target has had a decision made on his contractual status.

Sunderland have pulled out of a deal which would have seen Tony Gallacher move to the Stadium of Light this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Daily Mail, who claimed that, after agreeing terms with Liverpool for the transfer of the left-back, Lee Johnson’s side pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour, with the defender now assessing other options in the market.

The report added that Jurgen Klopp’s side were prepared to cut short the 22-year-old’s contract in order for him to move to the League One club as a free agent, although the Reds would have had a sell-on clause in his contract.

However, with the deal now appearing dead in the water, Johnson will need to turn his attention elsewhere in the market if he is to bring in a new left-back ahead of the new season.

Silver lining

With Johnson having previously seemed very keen to bring in a new left-back this summer, most likely down to the fact that Denver Hume has still not put pen to paper on a new deal following the expiry of his contract at the end of June, the news that Sunderland have pulled out of the Gallacher transfer could provide a hint on the situation of the out-of-contract Mackems defender.

Indeed, Johnson had previously claimed that “it’s Denver or another” regarding who the club will sign at left-back this summer. Therefore, if Kyril Louis-Dreyfus feels he no longer requires the services of the £360k-rated Gallacher, Hume may well have informed the club that he intends to sign a new deal in the coming days.

This would very much be a silver lining to the Gallacher news for Sunderland fans, as the 22-year-old was one of the club’s more reliable players last season, averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.94 over his 24 League One appearances, ranking him as Johnson’s 11th-best performer in the division.

As such, while missing out on a new signing may be disappointing for fans, the regret shouldn’t last long at all if it means that Hume has agreed to extend his stay at the Stadium of Light, .

In other news: KLD dealt another transfer blow over £540k-rated “threat”, he’d be a big miss for SAFC

Many Glasgow Rangers fans were far from happy with the performance of Jordan Jones during their 1-0 pre-season defeat to Tranmere Rovers.

The Gers continued their pre-season plans with a match against Tranmere, who currently play in the English League Two. The Ibrox outfit beat Partick Thistle 1-0 in their first warm-up game last Monday, but they succumbed by the same scoreline on Merseyside as Kieron Morris scored the only goal of the game.

Jones played for the Gers against on Saturday, and it was fair to say that he did little to impress Steven Gerrard in this clash. Aside from creating a half-chance for Cedric Itten, the Northern Irishman appeared to have little impact on proceedings at Prenton Park (rangers.co.uk).

The 26-year-old spent the second half of last term on loan at Sunderland after he was banned for seven games for breaking lockdown regulations (BBC), and he has done little to repair his reputation so far.

These Rangers fans were disappointed with what the Northern Ireland international offered against Tranmere, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Jones

“I might get some stick for this but Jordan Jones will never be good enough to play for Rangers”

Credit: @HWGTerryMunro

“Kelly’s loan has clearly done him a world of good. The others not so much. Jones, Middleton, Edmundson, Barker, don’t see a future for any of them at Rangers”

Credit: @SasaHans89

“Jones and Barker didn’t show much again. Will be surprised if they are still Rangers players going into the season.”

Credit: @Conroy24948717

“I’d definitely agree. Jones, Edmunson, Barker and Itten all very wasteful.”

Credit: @DavRfc

“I would take that, Middleton shouldn’t be getting wrote off but Jones, Barker and Edmundson should definitely be sold”

Credit: @PocaDolly

“Again laid out for all the ‘give him a chance’ patrol. Jones – Not Good Enough Edmundson – Not Good Enough Barker – Not Good Enough”

Credit: @BMCRangersRants

In other news, Dave King slams some Rangers fans after this development.