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Lots of Arsenal fans have been slamming the performance of Nicolas Pepe in their 3-0 home loss to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday night.

Two goals from Diogo Jota either side of a Mo Salah strike were more than enough in the end to give Jurgen Klopp’s team all three points at the Emirates Stadium and thus aid their late Champions League qualification push.

Pepe was left very isolated on the right wing, having recorded fewer touches in the game (35) than his own goalkeeper Bernd Leno (37), as he also lost out on six of his duels and failed to record a single key pass or accurate cross, earning him a measly 6.3 overall rating on Sofascore.

Arsenal fans on Pepe display

These Gooners slammed the 25-year-old’s performance on Twitter, with one Arsenal supporter even going as far as to claim that the former Lille star is a ‘fraud’:

“Get rid of Auba, Laca, Pepe, Bellerin all been poor. Laca and Auba had spells of playing well but way too inconsistent for what we need. Also we need to bring in another 1st choice keeper as Leno is garbage mind made up with him now #afc”

Credit: @harleigh_e

“How many more chances does the guy need to come out of his shell? It’s been 2 years now, but I still don’t know what he brings to the team in spite of all the “Pepe will come good” tweets after one or two decent performances. Time’s up, man. #ARSLIV #AFC”

Credit: @SSaiyanWitcher

“In some matches Auba and Pepe are a waste of space #AFC #ARS #Arsenal”

Credit: @EdgeFarmer

“Pepe is dirt and no one will ever convince me otherwise #AFC”

Credit: @GavinHarries1

“#AFC As long as we keep relying on the likes of Auba, Pepe and Willian for goals, we’ll remain an average, mediocre club. They have absolutely nothing to offer. @Arsenal”

Credit: @9jahoncho

“Pepe is still a fraud of a footballer. Sell him and play Smith-Rowe or Nelson. #AFC”

Credit: @D0C_RAY

In other news, find out whose display was also slammed against Liverpool.

Newcastle United have a great chance to put distance between themselves and the Premier League relegation zone when they visit Burnley on Sunday after Fulham were beaten 1-0 by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Steve Bruce’s Magpies can move six points clear of the bottom three and retain a game in hand over the Cottagers with a win at Turf Moor, where Sean Dyche’s Clarets have failed to win their last six top-flight games.

However, Newcastle have struggled for results on their travels all season, with the St James’ Park outfit winning just three of their 15 away league games – only West Bromwich Albion (two) and Sheffield United (one) have won fewer.

Bruce faces a number of selection decisions as players return from injuries and some head for the treatment room. With that in mind, here’s a potential line-up the Toon may field at Burnley…

Newcastle will arrive at Turf Moor brimming with confidence after taking a point at home to Tottenham Hotspur last time out, but will be expected to make as many as four changes from the line-up which faced Jose Mourinho’s side.

Jamaal Lascelles opened the Spurs affair in central defence alongside Paul Dummett and Emil Krafth but has been ruled out of the Burnley game with a fractured foot, while Krafth is likely to be replaced after struggling in a centre-back role.

Ciaran Clark could come back into the team after watching last weekend’s game from the bench, while Federico Fernandez is expected to be available for his first appearance since January following a spell out with a calf injury.

Matt Ritchie came in for his first appearance since a training ground bust-up with Bruce to start at left-back against Spurs while Jacob Murphy thrived at right-back, and both will expect to retain their roles in front of Martin Dubravka’s net.

“Matty played very well. I never hold a grudge – our row is forgotten,” Bruce said after the Spurs draw, via quotes shared by The Guardian. “That’s the best we’ve played for a long, long time, so there’s a tinge of disappointment we didn’t win.”

Jonjo Shelvey and Sean Longstaff will be expected to retain their positions in midfield, with Joe Willock returning to the starting line-up to occupy the right-hand role of the three-man line after scoring the late equaliser against Spurs.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/the-latest-newcastle-news%2c-gossip-and-views-2″ title=”The latest Newcastle news, gossip and views!”]

Miguel Almiron started in a deeper role against Tottenham but will likely move back into an advanced position to pull the strings behind the strikers, with Bruce potentially able to field his first-choice front three for the first time since beating Southampton 3-2 on February 6.

Bruce lost Callum Wilson to a hamstring injury 36 minutes into the Saints affair and has been without Newcastle’s 10-goal top scorer since, but is hopeful the ex-Bournemouth frontman – who Kevin Phillips has described as “excellent” – has now overcome his issue.

“I’m sure everyone’s asking about whether Callum and Allan [Saint-Maximin] will be in the squad,” Bruce said on Friday. “We’ve still got two days of training – we train today and tomorrow [Saturday] – but Callum and Allan have trained all week, so that’s good news for us that they’re available.”

Bruce starting Wilson and Saint-Maximin will see Dwight Gayle and Joelinton drop out of the team, despite the latter scoring the opener against Tottenham for his first Premier League goal in 15 appearances.

However, Wilson can offer Newcastle a game-changing option, who Rob Lee exclusively told Football FanCast: “He makes a difference, it’s genuinely that simple. Out of all the clubs down the bottom, no one [else] has got a goalscorer [like him].”

AND in other news, Newcastle have landed a boost in the race to sign a £26m target backed to be “one of the best in Europe”…

According to a report from The Sun, coming as West Ham stars Declan Rice, Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell remain out through injury, the club are ‘concerned’ over the fitness of star midfielder Jesse Lingard who is being ‘hampered’ by aching legs.

Indeed, as per this report, the Englishman underwent intensive treatment to solve the issue throughout last week and West Ham are praying he doesn’t become the latest player to be ruled out of action.

West Ham dealt Lingard concern

As David Moyes’ men chase an unprecedented Champions League qualifying place, Lingard is apparently still struggling with the leg problem as a concern emerges he won’t be able to play against Burnley on Monday.

The 28-year-old has been a revelation since joining the Hammers on loan in January and Moyes reportedly would have ideally rested him against Chelsea if the likes of Rice, Antonio and Cresswell weren’t already ruled out.

In another injury concern, West Ham now appear to be slightly sweating over Lingard’s fitness.

Transfer Tavern take

If the Englishman is unable to play at Turf Moor it would be a major blow, without question.

He has been Moyes’ most crucial asset since his signing, having scored nine Premier League goals in 11 appearances for the Hammers this season.

Lingard is also the most threatening West Ham man in terms of shots per game, averaging an impressive three attempts on goal every 90 minutes (WhoScored).

It’s little wonder Vladimir Coufal called him ‘unbelievable’ in an interview with Sky Sports, Hammers supporters will be hoping that the concerns over Lingard don’t become any more serious.

In other news: West Ham fans react as club confirm ‘great news’, find out more here.

Glasgow Rangers defender Leon Balogun has slammed UEFA and FIFA amid the racism row involving Glen Kamara.

Balogun slams governing bodies

During the Gers’ 2-0 defeat to Slavia Prague at Ibrox in their Europa League round of 16 second leg, Kamara was the subject of alleged racist abuse from Ondrej Kudela.

Slavia have moved to deny those allegations (slavia.cz), while Kamara has released a statement backing up his claim. Speaking to German publication Kicker, Balogun has slammed the governing bodies’ lack of action, as he said:

“What is missing: That UEFA or FIFA will take action. I am no longer interested in these wretched campaigns. That is all well and good, but the campaign content must also be lived authentically and must not remain just empty words. Designing captain’s armbands with the label “No Racism” is of no use if racist incidents are not punished again in the end. I have the feeling that “People of Color” are used to promote the supposedly cosmopolitan and inclusive values ​​of the FIFA and UEFA brands. But when it is precisely these players that are attacked, far too often people are silent. I would like the expensive campaigns to be followed by action.”

Hard to disagree

It is hard to disagree with Balogun – it feels as though there is a distinct lack of desire from both UEFA and FIFA to make real strides in the battle against racism. Incredibly, the £80,000 fine Nicklas Bendtner received for showing Paddy Power on his boxer shorts at Euro 2012 was higher than all but one punishment dished out by UEFA for racism offences in the previous decade (inews.co.uk).

While campaigns such as Say No to Racism and even kneeling as part of the Black Lives Matters movement might raise a certain amount of awareness to the cause, it is nowhere near enough to eradicate this issue. UEFA and FIFA must both do more in this fight rather than hoping the problem goes away.

In other news, Rangers eye this defender as Filip Helander is linked with a move away from Ibrox.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has suggested that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is probably not too pleased with how his club have dealt with Virgil van Dijk’s injury.

Van Dijk has been out injured since October following a challenge from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and is expected to miss the rest of the season, with Liverpool unable to put a time frame on the defender’s return.

Since then, the Reds have gone on to sign Ben Davies from Preston North End and Ozan Kabak from Schalke in an effort to bolster an injury-plagued defence.

Palmer, however, believes Klopp would have been disappointed with the club’s failure to bring in a replacement of a similar calibre to Van Dijk during the January transfer window.

In an exclusive interview with FFC, the retired England international said:

“There are certain people that just can’t be out your team, and Virgil van Dijk is one of those players for Liverpool. He’s an outstanding defender. And so, you know, should they have replaced him at Christmas?

“From the way Klopp was speaking, I don’t think funds were available for him to do that. So I think he wasn’t too pleased about that.”

Given Van Dijk’s influence since arriving at Liverpool from Southampton, helping the Merseyside club to a Premier League title and Champions League trophy, Klopp certainly could have done with an elite centre-back coming in.

RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, who will join Bayern Munich in the summer, was one central defender that Liverpool were said to be interested in, with club legend Jamie Carragher having previously urged his old side to snap him up.

Airdrie manager Ian Murray has confirmed that winger Thomas Robert has had a trial with Celtic over the last two weeks, saying it is an ‘exciting’ time for the young talent amid links with the Hoops.

The 20-year-old, son of former Newcastle United star Laurent, was first linked with a move to Parkhead back in December when Neil Lennon was still leading the Celtic charge.

Nick Hammond reportedly watched the youngster in League One action prior to the New Year, and it seems as if he’s had a successful stint in and around the Hoops squad in recent weeks.

Robert has made 14 senior appearances for Airdrie, scoring four times and providing two assists.

Thomas at Celtic

Talking to the Daily Record, Murray said:

“I can provide clarity on Thomas being in with Celtic and training with them.

It’s brilliant for him personally and brilliant for the club because it shows that we are doing something right.

It was a no-brainer to let him go on trial with Celtic. It was a chance for Thomas to showcase himself and train with top level players and coaches.

He was in a top level training environment which is second to none. He was working with top players and for any footballer, it’s an exciting time to do that.

It’s testament to Thomas, his teammates and the club because we are starting to build those connections.

We are taking young players in and improving them which is our model. Thomas has grabbed lots of headlines and he’s a great asset to us.

Thomas is now back with us, he’s been tested and trained with us yesterday. He’s adapted to everything that we’ve asked him to do exceptionally well.”

Transfer Tavern take

The Hoops joined a host of sides in the race for Robert’s services before the January window, and it appears as if they may be at the front of the queue following his Lennoxtown trial.

He’s out of contract at the end of the current season, so Celtic could well take Robert to Parkhead on a long-term basis for a minimal fee.

The Frenchman appears to fit the bill in regards to the club looking to lure top young talent ahead of the summer window. A deal for Liam Shaw is already tied up, while Wigan Athletic striker Kyle Joseph appears to be another player of interest.

Robert may well be another youngster to make the move to Celtic Park, and it seems as if he’s done his chances no harm during his trial in recent weeks, going off Murray’s comments.

In other news, a former Hoops boss is advising on Celtic’s manager search, find out more here.

Miguel Almiron has dropped a quite worrying claim on his future at Newcastle United.

Speaking to Paraguayan radio station ABC Cardinal, the attacking midfield player said: “I would like to play in a team that fights more”.

Newcastle should be worried about Almiron

The fact that Almiron has suggested that the Magpies team does not fight enough should be a very big worry for the St. James’ Park faithful.

With the North East club lurking toward the bottom of the table in the Premier League and in serious danger of finding themselves relegated down to the EFL Championship, the least that the players can do is show some sort of fight to stay up.

If this continues to be the case, then the Paraguay international may want to look elsewhere for a new club, which would no doubt be detrimental to Steve Bruce’s side.

Almiron has scored five goals and made a further three assists in 30 games in total over all competitions across the 2020/21 term so far (Transfermarkt), and is certainly one of the Tyneside club’s better players going forward.

Alan Shearer even went as far to claim that the 27-year-old was ‘magnificent’ in a 3-2 home win over Southampton in the top flight back in February.

Nonetheless, the Toon Army will surely be worried by his latest comments.

In other news, find out what big double injury boost NUFC have received here!

Glasgow Rangers were busier than previously expected in the winter transfer window but their inability to shift Greg Stewart may represent a significant blow.

Stewart has fallen out of favour under Rangers manager Steven Gerrard and the 30-year-old has failed to make a single Scottish Premiership appearance for the 54-time Scottish champions since the start of the new year – in fact, he’s played just four minutes of football in the league for the entire season.

But what if they were able to sign an immediate upgrade?

In Oostende striker Fashion Sakala, Rangers have a transfer target who is capable of being exactly that.

With Sakala’s contract reportedly set to expire in the summer, the Zambian international has found himself at the top of Gerrard’s summer shopping list according to The Daily Record.

And now, they appear to be given a further boost in their pursuit of the forward after his club’s sporting director revealed that his agent is “no longer responding to our offers”.

His former teammate Toby Sibbick has recently expressed his admiration for the 5 foot 10 striker, saying: “I’m sure Fashion would be a great addition for Rangers.

“Fashion has a lot of pace and is direct on the ball.

“He can play as the main striker but also out wide and I know having played against Rangers last season they play with a front three so he can fill in on either wing because he likes to get on the ball and beat players one on one.

“He is quite tricky as well and is good in front of goal with the ability to finish with both feet, there’s no issue with that.

“He is powerful – not necessarily tall – but strong and quick so there’s a lot to his game.”

But how would he benefit the Light Blues if he joined?

We’ve previously spoken at length about his ability to find the back of the net, but it’s fair to say that he offers so much more than that.

In his last season alone, the 23-year-old has shown that he poses a great counter-attacking threat, as evidenced in his 1.1 dribbles per 90 during his time with Oostende in the Jupiler Pro League. A 57% success rate suggests that he is, on the whole, just as adept at bringing the ball forward and setting his side on the front foot.

A lively, powerful and energetic dribbler as well as being clinical inside the box, his work on the outside of it is equally impressive and should not, therefore, be left to go unnoticed.

His impressive passing stats, with 1.1 key passes per game, has shown that he is capable of controlling the ball and bringing others into play, and has got the creativity and guile to be a facilitator for his teammates – only Morelos out of Rangers’ existing forward options matches his tally.

Despite his duties primarily being preoccupied with leading the line, Sakala is also still chipping in with 17.3 passes at a completion rate of 72.3%, which suggests that, more often than not, he is successful at finding his teammates. With that in mind, he could allow Rangers to play on the counter attack more often and give them that extra cutting edge.

And, with Stewart’s contract at Ibrox coming to an end in the summer, and the fact that reports suggested the Gers were looking to move him in on the January transfer window, Sakala’s arrival would allow Gerrard to wave goodbye to Stewart.

Given Stewart’s measly record of just three goals in 29 games for the Gers, it’s fair to say he hasn’t really been a success of a signing for the club. But, Wilson can end his misery at Ibrox by letting him walk away on a free, and boost Gerrard’s striking options by bringing in Sakala.

AND in other news, Ross Wilson must secure the future of Rangers centre-back Leon Balogun…

Since joining from Bristol City, Luke Ayling has been one of Leeds United’s most consistent performers, playing well over 150 games in less than five seasons at the club.And under Marcelo Bielsa, the 29-year-old has been a beacon of reliability, figuring week-in and week-out for the Whites. This season has seen him split his game-time at both right-back and centre-back, and on Wednesday night against West Brom, he was once again used in the middle.Bielsa’s side ran riot at the Hawthorns, racing to a four-goal lead at half-time, before a Raphina strike mid-way through the second-half put the icing on the cake of an emphatic 5-0 win away from home in the Premier League.And whilst the Baggies hardly laid a glove on the visitors, there’s no questioning that Ayling looked absolutely supreme at the heart of defence, boasting a superb reading of the game and coolness in possession.As per Sofascore, he had 133 touches of the ball and made a whopping 109 passes too – both of which were team-highs. Added to that, he also won all eight of his duels on the night (four on the ground and four in the air), and completed nine of his 15 attempted long balls.His rapid progress under Bielsa has been something to behold, and a couple of Leeds fans on Twitter seemed to think so too, with one hailing his development over the past couple of years, and describing him as a “top-level” centre-back now.

Bielsa’s long and illustrious career has seen him work with some of the world’s best talents, but his coaching at Elland Road and improving Ayling in particular has been nothing short of fantastic.

Capable of playing in a back-four or a back-three, or as a full-back or as a centre-back, Ayling just seamlessly adapts to whatever his manager demands of him, and has been a consistently impressive presence for the Whites.

They may have missed out on Ben White in the summer, but Ayling is showing that they don’t really miss him at all.

When it comes to injuries and Sunderland in the last few weeks, the two have gone hand in hand.

The squad was ravaged by a Covid outbreak and now they are having to deal with a plethora of injury problems.

Danny Graham, Luke O’Nien and Conor McLaughlin are all absent, and there was further bad news on the fitness front this week.

That was regarding Denver Hume, someone who has received a setback in a bid to get fit again.

Manager Lee Johnson stated this week: “Unfortunately, Denver has had a recurrence of his injury during his rehabilitation. It’s bad news on that one. He’s got a grade three hamstring tear, which probably means somewhere between six and eight weeks out.”

Johnson continued: “I feel for him, first and foremost. He’d worked really hard and got up to top speed, which was good, and we thought he was probably a week or ten days away, but then a very innocuous stretch for a pass that was misplaced meant that the injury ended up recurring. We’ve sent him for a scan, and that’s ended up coming back not good. That’s a shame.”

Hume initially suffered the problem during the club’s 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic under caretaker boss Andrew Taylor so he’s been out for a number of weeks now.

However, what this will prompt, is a big dilemma for Johnson.

His left-back options beyond the £2.4k-per-week earner are enough to give him a selection headache. Calum McFadzean gave away a penalty in a shocking performance against Wimbledon a month ago. He lost possession 15 times during that game and also failed to make a single successful tackle in the entire match.

He did keep a clean sheet against Port Vale in the Papa John’s Trophy but this is why Johnson now has a quandary. After all, Dion Sanderson has also played on the left of defence and kept a clean sheet against Northampton.

In that game, the Wolves loanee won more tackles (5) than any player on his team. It was a competent display from the youngster who is vying competitively for more game time.

With Hume now ruled out for another two months, the manager has a major decision to make over who becomes his first-choice left-back.

AND in other news, Speakman can end Johnson’s big SAFC dilemma with swoop for “clever and skilful” 20 y/o…