Manuel Pellegrini’s decision to substitute Pablo Zabaleta for Ryan Fredericks at half-time on Friday evening could finally be the sign that the manager has more faith in Fredericks than the 34-year-old.

Zabaleta was poor in closing down Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon last time out at the London Stadium and the right-back was largely at fault for the Whites opening the scoring as early as the third minute.

The Hammers recovered well to win the match 3-1 in the end but Sessegnon was quite easily able to put a low pass behind Zabaleta, which Ryan Babel calmly pounced on and put away to give Fulham an early lead.

Fredericks, who started West Ham’s previous two league games against Liverpool and Crystal Palace looked much more composed and organised at the back in the second-half, making it difficult for the likes of Sessegnon to find space on the wing.

The 26-year-old showed in the matches against the Reds and the Eagles that he is well and truly capable of handling the pressures of the Premier League and looked very comfortable at right-back.

The victory over Fulham was West Ham’s first in five league matches and it certainly boosted their chances of making a strong finish to the league.

Pellegrini should continue with Fredericks as a regular starter for the remainder of the season and use Zabaleta as a substitute when needed.

The former Manchester City man’s experience can undoubtedly not be questioned but given Frederick’s good showings of late, he might be of higher value when used from the bench in critical times.

Fredericks showed against Crystal Palace that he is a modern day right-back, who is capable of attacking down the flank with pace, while making quick recoveries in defence when needed.

Fredericks, who is valued at £3.6 million (by Transfermarkt), will definitely add to the East London club’s lethal attacking threat.

أعلن مجلس إدارة النادي الأهلي برئاسة محمود الخطيب عن التعاقد مع الجنوب إفريقي بيتسو موسيماني ليصبح مديرًا فنيًا للفريق الأول لكرة القدم.

ووجه الحساب الرسمي للنادي الأهلي عبر موقع التواصل الاجتماعي “فيس بوك” رسالة ترحيب بموسيماني، وكتب: “رحبوا معنا بمدربنا الجديد موسيماني.. ننتظر معك مزيداً من البطولات”.

خاص.. الأهلي يعدل راتب ميشيل يانكون بعد استمراره مع موسيماني

وكان موسيماني يتولى قيادة صن داونز الجنوب إفريقي لكنه فسخ عقده لتولي قيادة الأهلي.

وكان الأهلي قد أعلن اليوم إقالة رينيه فايلر المدير الفني السويسري من تدريب الفريق بسبب عدم التوصل لاتفاق بينهما على تجديد التعاقد ورغبة المدرب في العودة إلى بلده.

ويستعد الأهلي لخوض مواجهة مرتقبة أمام الوداد البيضاوي المغربي في نصف نهائي بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا في السابعة عشر من أكتوبر الجاري، ذهابًا والثالث والعشرين من الشهر ذاته إيابًا.

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Chelsea have been given a transfer ban by FIFA and will subsequently be banned from signing new players in the next two transfer windows, per Sky Sports.

The Blues have been handed a £460,000 fine, in addition to the transfer ban, after being found guilty of 29 breaches of article 19.

Sky Sports state that in a Chelsea statement have confirmed that they will appeal the decision, saying that they “categorically refute the findings of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will, therefore, be appealing the decision”.

Chelsea will be able to sell players in the next two transfer windows but will not be able to acquire any new stars.

An 18-month deal was sealed for Gonzalo Higuain in January, as was a transfer for Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic. The USA international was loaned back to the German club and will link up with the Premier League giants in the summer.

The news is a blow to Maurizio Sarri’s side, who are having a number of issues on the pitch too. They are currently sixth in the Premier League, a point behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

Tottenham Hotspur fans, however, have taken great pleasure in the news. Indeed, Spurs have not signed a single player in the last two transfer windows, though they have not been under any sanction.

Their supporters on Twitter have had a field day with the latest news. Take a look at some of the best reaction below.

[ad_pod ]The Second City derby may have been all about a supporter punching Jack Grealish, but Birmingham’s Craig Gardner did his best to take the attention away from the earlier incident by missing two wonderful chances.Gardner failed to score two simple opportunities late in the game which would have cancelled out Grealish’s goal earlier in the match. The 32-year-old first smashed an effort over the bar and then put a header just wide of the post.It was two moments that brought great joy to Villa supporters, who took delight in seeing one of their ex-players miss the chance to rescue the game for his current side.Villa fans were able to laugh off the fact he’s now at Birmingham to acknowledge the player’s roots after he came through the youth setup at Villa Park, sarcastically applauding his display.Gardner spent the earliest parts of his career with the Villans, signing professional terms in 2005 before eventually leaving five years later to join Birmingham. He is now in his third spell with Blues.But his performance, which was as a substitute on Sunday, will likely not do anything for his chances in the first team going forward. Villa fans, however, will be hoping he puts in similar displays as their rivals bid for a play-off place.Here’s how Villa supporters reacted to his pair of big misses…

أكدت صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية، أن هناك تشاؤم في برشلونة بشأن طبيعة إصابة جوردي ألبا، ومدة غيابه المتوقعة.

ظهير البارسا تعرض لإصابة في مباراة برشلونة وإشبيلية التي انتهت بالتعادل (1-1) في الجولة الخامسة لليجا.

وقام رونالد كومان باستبدال ألبا وشارك سيرجينيو ديست بديلا له في الدقيقة 75، وأصدر برشلونة بيانًا بشأن إصابته، طالع البيان من هنا.

توضح “آس”، أنه بعد الفحص الأول في غرفة خلع الملابس، هناك خشية من إصابة ألبا بتمزق محتمل في العضلة ذات الرأسين الفخذية في الساق اليمنى.

إذا تم التأكيد، فسنتحدث في أفضل الأحوال عن أن ألبا سيغيب لمدة تصل بين أسبوعين إلى ثلاثة أسابيع.

توجد الآن فترة توقف دولية بسبب التزامات المنتخبات الوطنية، لذلك لن يتم استئناف الليجا حتى 17 أكتوبر.

هذا الموقف من شأنه أن يمنح ألبا وقتًا للتعافي، وفي الوقت الحالي تتمثل الأولوية في إمكانية استعادة ألبا في 24 أكتوبر من أجل الكلاسيكو أمام ريال مدريد، وقبل مواجهة يوفنتوس في دوري أبطال أوروبا، المقرر لها 28 من الشهر ذاته.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith will probably feel his team deserved a bit more than a single point after their 1-1 draw with Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.

The Villans dominated possession at the bet365 Stadium and had more shots on goal than the Potters, while their passing game was also more clinical.

Villa were presented with a number of good chances in both halves but they failed to make the most of them.

Indeed, the Midlands club did eventually equalise in the second-half as an excellent run down the wing by Anwar El Ghazi presented Albert Adomah with a shooting chance in the box, which the 31-year-old calmly converted.

Aston Villa dominated in the final 25 minutes of the match as they threw everything at the Stoke defence, forcing goalkeeper Jack Butland to come out and make a number of crucial stops to deny the likes of Tammy Abraham and Tyrone Mings, who both came very close of finding the winner.

Heading into the match, Villa would have had their sights set on securing all three points after winning only one of their previous ten encounters in all competitions.

It has been quite a while since Villa controlled a match like they did against Stoke and a draw was probably a very good result for Nathan Jones’ men, but for Smith it actually showed the type of football his team is capable of playing.

If the Birmingham club took all of their chances they could have easily won by three or four goals.

One man who Dean Smith relies on is Tammy Abraham, but he hasn’t looked himself in recent times.

It’s safe to say that Abraham’s recent rough patch has ruined Aston Villa’s play-off chances as the Englishman has failed to score in his last three games, despite being presented with a number of opportunities. Indeed, Bristol City currently occupy sixth position and are eight points above the Villans with two games in hand, so Villa’s hopes of securing a play-off spot have all but dried up.

The performance should, however, be encouraging to the manager and the players, which should provide them with a boost as they head into their next encounter with Derby County at Villa Park.

If players like El Ghazi, Ahmed Elmohamady and Jonathan Kodjia manage to keep hold of possession like they did at Stoke, then they will be able to dictate play against the Rams as well.

[ad_pod ]Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Lyden confirmed on Instagram that after 14 years he would be leaving the club, but it wasn’t news that left many followers of the Midlands club angry.

The Australian-born player has featured just four times for the club in what has been an injury-stricken career to date. However, many fans don’t think he was good enough anyway, suggesting that it made sense for all parties that he moved on to pastures new.

The fact he was always injured has led to one fan forgetting he was actually still at the club, with another individual claiming there were five better players ahead of him in the pecking order.

Lyden had spent a period on loan at Oldham but hasn’t done enough to warrant a new contract at Villa Park and as a consequence will be released. One supporter issued a statement based on his loan, claiming it spoke volumes about his quality that he couldn’t star even in League Two.

Thogden has ranked his top 5 sets of Championship away fans for Pl>ymaker FC. Did your club make the list? Find out in the video below…

However, despite some fans bemoaning the injury-prone man, one individual wished him luck for the rest of his career.

Here’s how some of the Villa Park faithful reacted.

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Rangers welcome Kilmarnock to Ibrox on Saturday afternoon, and Steven Gerrard should axe Joe Worrall from the side once and for all.

What’s the word?

The Gers may not want to admit it yet, but their quest for silverware this season is most likely over.

Arch-rivals Celtic only have to earn five more points in their final four games of the campaign to lock up their eighth league title in a row, and Gerrard has likely already got one eye on next season.

That said, the gaffer should axe Worrall from the team on Saturday, as the youngster is expected to return to Nottingham Forest at the end of the season, meaning it bears no benefit to the Gers to keep playing him.

Looking to leave?

When asked about his future back in February, Worrall said: “I believe I should be playing at Forest but to play under Steven Gerrard at Rangers is incredible.

“But as for signing permanently, if they want to buy me for £30m in the summer, then that would be fantastic!

“If not, I’ll be happy to go back to Forest. I want to win something here. It was the first thing the manager and the lads said to me when I walked in the door.

“I’m only here for a season but it’s vital for the club – because of what they’ve gone through – to get to finals and challenge for the league.”

Fans were right, it’s Katic time

Of course, Rangers do not have £30m to spend on a centre back, especially a centre back that can’t even be trusted – the last time the Gers faced Kilmarnock in the league they lost 2-1, with Worrall putting in a truly woeful performance.

While £30m is a light-hearted, exaggerated sum offered by the 22 year-old, he has been capped at multiple youth levels for England, so he would likely cost a hefty fee.

That said, Gerrard should focus on developing Nikola Katic, who at the start of the season looked set to form a dominant pairing with Connor Goldson.

The Croatian’s form faltered and he lost his place to Worrall, but the fact that he was never brought back in despite loads of poor performances from the Forest man is inexplicable, especially as fans continually fumed at Worrall’s disastrous showings.

Fans have previously said they would prefer to see the 22 year-old Katic partner Goldson than Worrall, and they were right. Gerrard must now recognise the chance to get a leg up on next season by developing the partnership between Katic and Goldson, accepting that the Ibrox faithful have proved him wrong on this one.

Liverpool will surely be dipping back into the transfer market after Naby Keita, the midfield maestro that never was, has surely earned himself flop status after a poor debut season in the Premier League.

More dropped points at the weekend mean Liverpool are slowly dipping out of the reckoning for the Premier League title, and as much as Klopp wants to blame anything and everything for their demise, one finger must be pointed at the evident creative void in the centre of the park.

The Merseyside club are certainly not short of quality in the forward positions, nor are they in defence, with two of the most formidable units in European football.

Their midfield, however, is distinctly average and has been propped up by the likes of James Milner and Jordan Henderson for far too long now.

Yes, the introduction of Fabinho has injected some much-needed talent into proceedings, but he’s very much a like-for-like player compared to who they already have.

Keita should have been the man to revolutionise their creative game.

Unfortunately for Liverpool fans, he has not lived up to expectations and as such the club will likely be back in the market for a playmaker this summer.

But who?

Chasing Houssem Aouar should be of paramount importance.

The Frenchman would not be Liverpool’s first major Lyon target having already failed to sign target Nabil Fakir last summer. But they should not be deterred.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called Aouar ‘incredible’ after his performance against his side in the Champions League, adding: “He’s always very calm with the ball at his feet, with an excellent technical quality.” (source: BBC Sport).

And that is very much his game.

The 20-year-old is a phenomenally talented player operating with a maturity beyond his years.

From what we have seen of Aouar matches in Ligue 1, he is an incredibly composed player whose distribution is second to none; his astute tactical awareness is complemented by an impressive ability to evaluate and analysis potential creative opportunities or threats from all areas of the pitch; and he is decent enough in front of goal as well with scoring six in all competitions.

Great player who surely become one of the world’s best.

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Sunderland fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was revealed that Chris Maguire would be out for up to eight weeks after breaking his leg.

The injury happened in the first half of the Black Cats’ 4-2 win over Gillingham on Tuesday night, and his absence will be a huge miss for Jack Ross as he attempts to guide his side back into the Championship at the first time of asking.

Maguire has been an excellent acquisition for the Wearsiders since arriving from Bury in the summer, scoring seven goals in 35 appearances so far this season to help his teammates sit third in the table.

Should the club make it into the Checkatrade Trophy final – they still have to face Bristol Rovers in the semi-final – Maguire is expected to miss the trip to Wembley as well unless he performs a minor miracle in his recovery.

Let’s take a look at how Sunderland supporters reacted to the news on Twitter…