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O Bahia terá que situação inusitada esta semana. O clube vai disputar duas partidas no mesmo horário, nesta quarta-feira. O Esquadrão de Aço encara o Galícia, na Fonte Nova, pelo Campeonato Baiano, e o Juazeirense, pela Copa do Nordeste, fora de casa. De acordo com o técnico Doriva, o Tricolor baiano não tem dois times e terá que usar jogadores das divisões de base.

– Jogamos no fim de semana e vai ter um treino hoje (terça-feira) definindo os atletas que vão participar dos jogos. O elenco está reduzido e estamos num momento com muitas lesões, não temos dois times. Teremos de usar juniores – disse o técnico em entrevista ao programa Bate-Bola, da “ESPN”.

O treinador voltou a lamentar o fato de o time ter que jogar duas partidas no mesmo dia. Isso aconteceu por conta do amistoso que o clube fez contra o Orlando City, nos Estados Unidos. Para isso, teve que adiar a partida pelo Baiano.

– Enfim, vamos ter dois jogos e infelizmente não posso estar em um jogo em Salvador e outro em Petrolina. Vamos buscar uma alternativa e por dois times em campo. Fato lamentável, tinha de ter revisto isso antes, mas aconteceu isso com a gente – declarou o técnico.

Doriva também lamentou a lesão do atacante Hernane O atacante, que vinha fazendo muitos gols, lesionou o joelho e deve desfalcar o Bahia de 60 a 90 dias.

– Sem dúvida estava num momento espetacular e nos ajudando muito com os gols e com o estilo dentro e fora de campo. A gente lamenta muito ele ter de ficar fora no momento. Felizmente a lesão não foi das piores e espero que ele se recupere para nos ajudar no Brasileiro.

Tottenham Hotspur suffered a fourth defeat in five league outings on Saturday night after they were well-beaten by Premier League leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Jose Mourinho’s men were more than holding their own until the 23rd minute and once again, a defensive mistake swung the game against them completely.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg brought down Ilkay Gundogan inside the area before Rodri stepped up to slot home the opener despite Hugo Lloris getting a palm to it – the German would go onto complete the rout with a second-half brace.

The Spurs boss kept his faith in Erik Lamela after an encouraging pair of matches in the past week – indeed, the Argentine had been a rare positive amid their rotten form but the 28-year-old winger failed to repay his manager as he put in an abysmal showing in Manchester.

Lamela drew the second-lowest rating of any player to feature in the match, being graded a 6.1 by SofaScore, and it’s easy to see why.

No Spurs player lost as many battles as he did.

The €30m (£26m) ace could only win three of 11 duels at a success rate of 27%, which means he was largely dominated by the City midfield as he was initially deployed in the no.10 role before switching to the right at half-time.

Every City player on his side of the pitch was graded at 7.5 or better by SofaScore and that tells the whole story.

Though he wasn’t just lightweight and weak – at times, you could be forgiven for thinking that Lamela was playing in blue instead of Spurs’ dodgy undertones of green.

Lamela committed four fouls, which was double what anyone else on the pitch could manage, meaning he proved to consistently be a liability as he was handing City golden opportunities from set-pieces.

As described perfectly by the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, it was a ‘typically chaotic and infuriating Lamela display’ – both he and football.london’s Alasdair Gold rated him a measly 5/10.

Given the 25-time Argentina international is among the club’s highest earners at a whopping £85k-per-week, he really should be doing better, especially as he was trusted to start only his fourth league game of the campaign.

Lamela badly let Mourinho and Spurs down on the night with an absolutely shambolic display.

AND in other news, £60k-per-week Spurs calamity endured nightmare display vs Man City…

Manchester City travel to League Two side Cheltenham Town on Saturday afternoon in the FA Cup and it could be the perfect opportunity for Pep Guardiola to start Liam Delap.

The 17-year-old made his first start for the Citizens earlier in the season and marked it with a goal in the 2-1 Carabao Cup win against Bournemouth, but has been limited to just two substitute appearances since then, per Transfermarkt.

Delap has been prolific with the U23 side this season, despite being so young, as he has managed nine goals in just nine games in the Premier League 2.

His last appearance saw him notch a hat-trick in the 4-0 win against Derby County, so he is clearly in confident form, and therefore Guardiola should consider handing him a start against Cheltenham on Saturday.

Gabriel Jesus has struggled for goals this season – he has four in 15 matches in all competitions – and whilst Delap is unlikely to be a regular in the first-team in the Premier League any time soon, he certainly has an eye for goal so should be utilised whilst the Brazilian is out of form.

Sergio Aguero will also miss the trip to Whaddon Road after testing positive for the current viral outbreak, meaning Guardiola is low on striking options.

After Delap’s goal against Bournemouth, the Spanish manager was full of praise for the teenager, saying:

“He’s a different striker to what we have in terms of physicality.

“We see in training how good a finisher he is. Now he has to be calm and keep working.”

Therefore, he clearly has confidence in Delap’s ability in front of goal, and for a game in which you would expect City to create plenty of chances, he could prove to be the difference between this being a nervy and a comfortable cup tie for the Citizens, so he should unleash Delap on Saturday.

And, in other news… Txiki must seal MCFC swoop for £80m-rated “top goalscorer” better than Gabriel Jesus

علق السيد حمدي لاعب الأهلي السابق، على اختيارات البرتغالي كارلوس كيروش، في القائمة المبدئية لمنتخب مصر في كأس أمم إفريقيا.

وأعلن كارلوس كيروش القائمة المبدئية لمنتخب مصر بضم 40 لاعبا، على أن يدخل معسكرًا يوم 27 ديسمبر الجاري، ويتم تصفية اللاعبين حتى يصلوا لـ28 لاعبًا فقط يخوض بهم نهائيات أمم إفريقيا، والمقرر إقامتها في الكاميرون.

وقال السيد حمدي في تصريحات لبرنامج “بوكس تو بوكس” عبر فضائية “ETC”: “لا يمكن انضمام أي لاعب يجيد في الدوري المصري للمنتخب الأول، لأن الأمور ليست بهذه السهولة، بعض اللاعبين يعترضوا على تواجدهم كبدلاء، رغم أنه في جيلي مع حسن شحاتة كان هناك بعض المحترفين يجلسون على مقاعد البدلاء للاعبين في الدوري”.

وأضاف: “كيروش يبالغ في ضم عدد من اللاعبين الجدد، يجب أن يكون لديه قوام أساسي، رغم أن هناك من تألق منهم، وأبرزهم أحمد رفعت، الأخير لديه شخصية إيجابية وإمكانيات رائعة، ولا أعلم لماذا تم استبعاده من بعض المباريات في بطولة كأس العرب”.

طالع أيضا.. باكيتا: منتخب مصر يمتلك ميزتين رائعتين مع كيروش.. والزمالك لم يمنحني الوقت الكافي

وأشار: “لم أر أي لاعب حزينًا بعد الخروج من بطولة كأس العرب، أين الروح التي كانت تميزنا؟”.

وبسؤاله عن مصطفى فتحي: “لا أعتقد أنه سيستمر مع كيروش في منتخب مصر، أتمنى تواجده لكن مركزه سيكون به العديد من النجوم، وبعد مستواه في كأس العرب، لم يثبت نفسه”.

وعن استبعاد طارق حامد: “لا أعلم كواليس ما حدث، ربما اعتراضه لم يكن مقبولًا للمدرب، الذي يقيّم بالموقف ولا ينظر للتاريخ لأنه ليس مصريًا، واستبعاده مستحيل أن يكون فنيًا، لأن طارق لاعب مقاتل ولديه شخصية قوية ومن أفضل اللاعبين”.

واختتم: “لا أتوقع تأهل منتخب مصر للأدوار النهائية، لسنا مؤهلين لذلك، أعتقد أننا سنخرج من دور الثمانية”.

Noel Whelan has urged Leeds United to sign Julian Draxler after Fabrizio Romano revealed that they were ‘looking’ closely at him.

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Whites striker claims that the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner should be right at the top of Marcelo Bielsa’s transfer wishlist:

“Yeah, I don’t think you should ever go for the second choice. It’s the same with marriage.

“You’ve got to be sure about it. Why have number two if you can’t have number one? That’s not gonna make you happy, is it?

“So what you’ve got to do is make sure this transfer window is the right one. If it’s a specific target you’ve got, you’ve got to make sure you got out hell-bent to get him because he’s gonna make the team better.

“Now, Draxler’s been rumoured at the beginning of the season, he’s now been rumoured again. He’s only got six months left on his contract. For £10million, a 27-year-old coming into his best years of football, who wants to get back into the Germany squad. That excites me.

“That’s what should excite the manager as well, getting this quality and calibre of player in. And we do know that we have a very good relationship with PSG, with the owners. So maybe it’s a real possibility. He would definitely add to the quality of the side.”

Draxler would be a ‘quality’ signing for Leeds

As Whelan points out, Draxler would be a ‘quality’ signing for the Elland Road faithful, and given that he only has six months left on his current deal at PSG, a transfer fee of £10m could be a very good deal.

The attacking midfield player has fallen out of favour at the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League finalists, being limited to just 11 games in Ligue 1 so far in the 2020/21 term, having only completed the full 90 minutes on two different occasions (Transfermarkt).

Thus, a deal with Paris Saint Germain may be possible, and signing someone of the calibre of Draxler, given that he has won the World Cup, is a full German international and has played at the highest level with the likes of Schalke and Wolfsburg as well, may also have a knock-on effect of attracting other big names to the Yorkshire club.

Nonetheless, the 27 year-old would certainly be a statement signing by the Peacocks if they can get a deal done this month.

In other news, find out whose return from injury has been deemed ‘massive’ here!

Two weeks ago, Haber Turk fuelled speculation that Galatasaray’s Egyptian star Mostafa Mohamed could be on his way to Crystal Palace in a £22 million summer move, and he could be the perfect partner for Jean-Philippe Mateta.

What’s the word?

Mohamed joined the Turkish club on loan from Zamalek in January, and has scored five goals in five league appearances for Galatasaray, with Sabah Spor reporting that Egyptian legend Amir Zaki has urged the youngster to seize an opportunity of making a Premier League move.

The former Wigan Athletic and Hull City man said: “I spoke with Mustafa six days ago. I congratulated him. I assured him Galatasaray is a very big club.

“I told him he has to go to the Premier League in two seasons. He also stated that his target is England.

“He’s a great player and has now become the number one forward for the Egyptian national team.

“He’s in a great club right now and Mustafa will definitely take incredible strides in his career.”

Galatasaray are expected to seize the chance to make that deal a permanent one in the summer, but a large bid from Palace could reportedly be enough to take him to south London.

Mohamed’s arrival could lead to a tantalising reboot of the Palace forward line, which was bolstered by the arrival of Mateta at Selhurst Park on an 18-month loan deal in January.

A fearsome looking frontline

Mateta has shown glimpses of his undoubted talent with an audacious back-heeled finish in a 2-1 win away at Brighton & Hove Albion last month.

There is definitely scope to include both Mateta and Mohamed in what would be a fearsome-looking frontline, one that would be the envy of many sides in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Roy Hodgson deployed a 4-3-3 shape in that aforementioned win at Brighton, a formation that could accommodate both Mateta and Mohamed going forward if required.

There is also a possibility to deploy both players in a 4-4-2 formation as well, and with both Michy Batshuayi (1 in 16) and Andre Ayew (1 in 22) consistently struggling for goals this season, a move for Mohamed should be something Palace push for as they are in need of another reliable forward.

And in other news, Crystal Palace fear losing Wilfried Zaha in the summer

West Brom have sanctioned the temporary departure of Rekeem Harper this week…

What’s the word?

The out-of-favour midfielder has joined Championship outfit Birmingham City on loan until the end of the season, following in the footsteps of former Baggies attacker Jonathan Leko, who made a permanent switch in the summer.

Harper signed a new three-year deal upon Slaven Bilic’s arrival at the Hawthorns in the summer of 2019 despite reported interest from European giants Liverpool and Juventus among others.

Last chance saloon

The 20-year-old academy graduate has struggled for game time since making his debut in 2017, which was also the year of his first and only other loan spell away from the Midlands club.

Which means for the past two to three seasons, he’s pretty much been restricted to U23s football, even despite being earmarked as a future star by many former Albion manager – if those transfer links weren’t anything to go by above.

Indeed, Harper has only played 42 times for the first-team, of which only 17 have come since the start of the 2019/20 campaign, per Transfermarkt.

This could well be the last chance saloon for the former England U20 international as it’s hard to envisage him breaking into Sam Allardyce’s plans if firstly, he’s not currently in them despite their ongoing struggles and relegation battle, and secondly, if he fails to hit the ground running at St Andrew’s Stadium.

After Tony Pulis first promoted him into the senior fold, then-academy coach Jimmy Shan likened his ability to Premier League great Patrick Vieira, he told reporters:

“He can be a classic box-to-box midfielder like Patrick Vieira, he can play in a two or a three. He can play holding midfield, number 10 or number eight. He really is a talent who has got a lot of potential and the good thing is he’s working hard at his game.”

Similar thoughts were echoed by ex-boss Darren Moore, who said: “He excites the fans, he’s young, energetic, fresh, he’s enjoying his game, fearless – all the components of a really good player,” and then Bilic too: “I never denied that I love him as a player – I love those kind of players, who are powerhouses but can pass the ball, that’s great.”

Evidently, he now needs to prove that talent otherwise it’s going to be another case of unfulfilled potential at West Brom, another Saido Berahino, perhaps.Aside from all the transfer controversy, the former Baggies striker was clearly an impressive prospect as he bagged 14 goals in 38 appearances during the 2014/15 Premier League season.Though, now still only 27, he finds himself trying to salvage his career over in Belgium, playing for Charleroi on loan from Zulte Waregam.If Harper isn’t careful, then he’s in grave danger of becoming the next Berahino. He must deliver at Birmingham in these next six months. Those links to Liverpool and Juventus are a mere memory for the time being.

AND in other news, Dowling must avoid Rickie Lambert 2.0 in “full-blooded” £9m-rated colossus…

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a fresh injury blow ahead of tonight’s Premier League encounter with Liverpool.

According to the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, first-choice left-back Sergio Reguilon will miss the match with a muscle injury.

It’s claimed that the 24-year-old is set to miss ‘around three weeks’ which will come as a major blow to Jose Mourinho and his squad.

Reguilon was an unused substitute during their 4-1 win over Championship strugglers Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup fourth round on Monday night.

He underwent a scan on Wednesday to determine the extent of the problem.

This news comes at the worst possible time as Spurs not only have a difficult fixture against the defending champions, who they could leapfrog into fourth place this evening, but they also have London rivals Chelsea, a fifth-round tie with Everton and the league leaders Man City on the horizon.

As Kilpatrick says, he’s likely to be out for three weeks which means he’ll miss all of the aforementioned quartet of fixtures.

To make matters worse, Mourinho could even be without Ben Davies, the likely replacement for the Spaniard, as he was forced off with a knock in injury time earlier this week, though he’s hoping to be passed fit, as per the same report.

That leaves the Spurs boss with a mounting problem and a crucial decision as to who will fill the void. It could mean the relatively inexperienced Japhet Tanganga is thrown into the deep end in the role for only the fourth time in his short career.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-spurs-news-and-transfer-rumours” title= Read this week’s latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more…”]

And even if Davies makes it, he has been wildly inconsistent, surpassing a mediocre 6.8 WhoScored average only twice in his eight league starts and in the last encounter with the Reds, he managed a disappointing 6.48.

Whoever is selected by Mourinho is going to face a tough evening with Mo Salah likely to line up on the right flank for Jurgen Klopp. The Egyptian winger has contributed towards 16 goals in 16 league starts this term.

After signing from Real Madrid alongside Gareth Bale for £25m in the summer, Reguilon has set the ground alight for Spurs this campaign.

He has started 12 of his 13 top-flight appearances and has featured a total of 20 times in all competitions, providing five assists, via Transfermarkt.

The five-time Spain international has been Spurs’ best left-sided defender as per WhoScored ratings (6.87), which also ranks him seventh in the whole squad of all players who have started ten or more matches in the Premier League.

Only Harry Kane (14) and Heung-min Son (ten) have contributed more assists than Reguilon this campaign, so clearly his influence in attack is just as valuable as what he can do defensively.

Even then, he’s performing better than Davies – per FBRef, the 24-year-old is averaging double the number of tackles per 90 (2.37) as well as double the number tackles and interceptions combined per 90 (3.47) than the Welshman, proving to be the tougher defender to get past on that flank.

Therefore, in his absence, Spurs are likely to be a far weaker team – both in attack and defensively. And there’s no guarantee that Davies is in full fitness, as suggested by Kilpatrick.

Mourinho has plenty to ponder before kick-off tonight.

AND in other news, Mourinho must unleash “unplayable” Spurs beast on Liverpool tonight…

David Moyes is hopeful that goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski will be fit to make his return from injury when West Ham United host Leeds United a week on Monday.

The Poland international sat out Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to title-elect Manchester City with an issue in his arm, after being stood on during training late in the week while making a save.

Republic of Ireland international Darren Randolph stood-in for the ex-Arsenal and Swansea City shot-stopper at the Etihad Stadium, though he aggravated a prior thigh strain in the defeat.

Randolph’s kicking was impacted by his injury but he remained on the field to play out the full 90 minutes, as he earned only his second Premier League appearance of the campaign so far.

The 33-year-old had returned to the bench at home to Tottenham Hotspur six days prior after missing three weeks with a thigh issue, but Moyes is hopeful that both he and Fabianski will both be fit for selection when Leeds visit the London Stadium on March 8.

“Fabianski was injured today,” Moyes said following the loss to Manchester City on Saturday. “Unfortunately, somebody stood on his arm in training as he made a save.

“It was an accidental collision, and I don’t think it’s too bad.

“Darren Randolph has been out in recent weeks with a bit of a thigh strain. He’s been back in training for a week or two, but I think he felt the effects of his thigh again.

“Thankfully, we got him through to the end of the game. We were ready to make a change, but we found a way for him not to have to take the kicks. Hopefully, he’ll get over it and we’ll also get Lukasz back.”

While Randolph may argue he could have done little to prevent either of Manchester City’s goals on Saturday, the £2m-rated outcast proved he was not the one Moyes’ needs to stand-in for Fabianski on a longer-term basis.

The Citizens only struck three of their 10 shots on target with West Ham blocking five efforts and two missing the mark, per WhoScored, but made those rare chances count to deal the Irons only their second defeat in 12 Premier League games.

Manchester City’s chances were not of a high-calibre, either, with Pep Guardiola’s side only boasting an expected goals score of 0.6 to the Hammers’ 1.6, per FBref.

That is also the Sky Blues’ worst rating during a top-flight fixture all term, taking the benchmark down from the 0.9 recorded in defeat to Leicester City in September and in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace last month.

Randolph now has an average of just 0.5 saves from shots taken inside the box per league game this season, as well, while Fabianski stops 1.46 of efforts taken in the penalty area, per SofaScore.

Potentially having Fabianski back fit to face Leeds a week on Monday will be a huge boost for Moyes and West Ham, who will not want to rely on 33-year-old Randolph too often.

AND in other news, West Ham have been given a potential boost in hopes to sign a 19-goal striker this summer…

According to France Football, Tottenham Hotspur are one of the sides eyeing up a summer swoop for Sven Botman…

What’s the word?

It’s claimed that the north London outfit will try to convince the Dutchman into a move to the Premier League, though nothing has been agreed with either the player himself or his representatives.

Liverpool and Inter Milan are also mooted with interest in the 21-year-old defender.

Having signed Botman from Ajax for just €9m (£7.8m) as per De Telegraaf, via GFFN, it is thought that he’s now valued in the region of €30m (£25m).

Is Botman worth it?

If a new centre-back isn’t the top priority for Jose Mourinho and co this summer, then something is seriously wrong at Hotspur Way.

Last season, the club held the second-worst defensive record of any top-seven team in the Premier League and that problem has continued into this season, where a catastrophe of errors in the backline has been Spurs’ major Achilles heel.

Mourinho’s men have leaked more goals (27) than Aston Villa (26) and even Chelsea (25), who sacked Frank Lampard amid a run of poor form – how things change.

The Spurs boss has frequently chopped and changed his central options, though one player has remained constant in Eric Dier, who has started 21 of their top-flight outings, including four of their last five defeats as per Transfermarkt.

Botman, who has played only four more domestic matches than the Englishman this term, would be a major upgrade and should be signed at all costs this summer.

The Dutch gem, rated at £22.5m, is enjoying quite the season for the Ligue 1 leaders – indeed, according to WhoScored, no centre-back has contributed towards more clean sheets than Botman (13 total).

By comparison, Dier has only guided Spurs to six clean sheets in the Premier League, the last of which coming nearly two months ago at the turn of the year.

And when breaking down Botman’s defensive returns, he outranks the Spurs star considerably too.

In terms of work-rate off the ball, the 21-year-old is beyond clear, averaging more tackles (one) and interceptions (1.7) per game. At a tackle-success rate of 77%, it’s clear that many of Ligue 1’s attackers find Botman a difficult man to get past – the same cannot be said for Dier (0.8 tackles per game).

Whilst his positioning is ten times that of Dier, who only manages 0.9 interceptions per game.

This is often what lets the Englishman down – having moved into defence from midfield last term, he still cannot get in the right places at the right time, meaning his spatial awareness is actually quite shocking.

The Lille colossus is also a bigger and better threat in the air, managing 0.5 more aerial duels won per outing, via WhoScored.

Spurs rank 11th for this ability while six of their 27 conceded goals have come from set-pieces, so clearly there’s work to be done and Botman can help alleviate such a weakness.

At 6 foot 4, that’s hardly a surprise but given Dier is the same height, you can see why the Tottenham star should be doing better and it’s also no wonder that ex-PL defender and current Lille partner, Jose Fonte, “describes him as a machine and a man who doesn’t make mistakes,” according to The Times’ Duncan Castles on the Transfer Window Podcast.

That should be music to Spurs supporters’ ears as Dier has been as calamitous as anybody in the English top-flight this season, as seen by him conceding a clumsy penalty to Chelsea and then being caught out of position against West Ham at the weekend.

Also dubbed a “leader” by Les Dogues boss Christophe Galtier, it’s evident that Botman would not only be an instant upgrade but a massive one at that too for Spurs.

Mourinho desperately needs a new centre-back and the Lille sensation should, quite rightly, sit atop their shortlist ahead of the summer transfer window.

AND in other news, Levy can kill two birds with one stone in Spurs swoop for “insane” £40m-rated colossus…