Back in January, Crystal Palace were believed to be keen on signing Rangers frontman Alfredo Morelos.

The Rangers hitman had bagged 28 goals before 2020 began, while also amassing nine assists, which appeared to catch the eye of Crystal Palace’s Sporting Director Dougie Freedman.

Of course, given his importance to the Gers, he wasn’t going to come cheap – Steven Gerrard even said that he wouldn’t sell the Colombian for £50m.

However, since the New Year began, the 23-year-old’s form – and discipline – has tailed off so much that Freedman has surely lost interest in him, if we were to presume.

Morelos has scored just one goal so far in 2020, and even that came against a Hamilton side who are currently sat second from bottom in the Scottish Premiership.

Rangers’ No.20 can’t even defend himself by saying that he’s been laying on the assists either, as he only has one of them to his name as well this year, which came in the same game as his only goal.

Aside from his performances on the pitch, he has been just as unattractive away from it.

He was left out of the squad by Gerrard for the Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat to Hearts for ‘disciplinary reasons’ – the Rangers boss later revealed that the striker had been allowed to return to Colombia for family matters, but came back to Ibrox 24 hours late and also failed to report for training. To make matters worse, the Gers went on to lose the game 1-0.

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So, as a result of that disciplinary slip-up, and also his terrible form on the field, surely Crystal Palace have been put off by the striker’s antics so far in 2020 – not just the Eagles, but we presume that any club who were previously interested in him won’t have been pleased to see how he has behaved this year.

In other news, this Crystal Palace player has ransacked Steve Parish’s pockets since arriving at Selhurst Park…

Anyone still remember Cameron Carter-Vickers?

The centre-back made his first-team debut for Tottenham all the way back in September 2016, when he was part of a side that thrashed Gillingham 5-0 in the third round of the League Cup.

Speaking after the game, Carter-Vickers declared: “I got a little nervous when I found out I’d be starting but I think that helped me. It kept me on my toes and it was good for me. Now I’m going to keep my head down, keep working hard at the training ground and try to push on.”

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Sadly for him, the now 22-year-old has struggled to do just that. In fact, since playing his first game for the senior side more than three years ago, he has featured just four times in total for Spurs’ first-team. Hardly the number of games for a player who the club may have had high hopes for.

Since the 2016/2017 campaign, Carter-Vickers hasn’t even had a sniff of the first-team back in north London, instead spending season after season on loan to the likes of Sheffield United, Ipswich, Swansea, Stoke and now Luton.

This campaign saw him start off at Stoke, before moving across to Luton in the January transfer window. He has played quite regularly in the Championship, making 19 appearances in the division, with his current manager whilst on loan speaking highly of him when he arrived on loan back in January.

Luton boss Graeme Jones said: “I’m delighted with the signing of Cameron. He can play anywhere across the back four, with centre-half being his preferred position. Graham Potter is one of my best friends and I spoke to him about Cameron, having had him on loan at Swansea last season. He said the character he’s got is incredible, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”

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Even Mauricio Pochettino himself spoke highly of the kind of potential he saw in Carter-Vickers back in 2016, several months before his debut. He said: “We have another youngster from the academy – Cameron Carter-Vickers. He is still young but has enough quality and he is training with us from the beginning of the season and playing for the Under-21s. It’s a good opportunity to stay with us now more consistently.”

The fact that he is spoken highly by managers then and now, suggests Carter-Vickers still has something to offer, and shouldn’t be considered a lost cause, even despite him falling from the radar in recent years.

But with numerous loan spells under his belt, this summer should be make or break in terms of his long-term Spurs career. Jose Mourinho should give him one final chance during pre-season to showcase his credentials and lay down a marker. If he doesn’t, then it might finally be the end.

Meanwhile, Spurs must be thankful they missed out on this superstar last summer.

Wolverhampton Wanderers fans have been drooling over one of their top young talents this week after the club’s official Twitter feed reminded them of a key landmark.

Oskar Buur became a 22-year-old on Tuesday, and both the club and supporters have been wishing him well on social media.

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The emerging Dane has become a part of Nuno Santo’s first-team setup this season, signing a contract extension in February. He has made four senior appearances across the Europa League, FA Cup and the EFL Trophy.

Buur provided the very assist that clinched Diogo Jota’s hat-trick against Besiktas earlier this campaign.

With Nuno deploying a small squad of players, the left wing-back has seen himself rise in the pecking order to play second fiddle to Matt Doherty, who one fan believes is the worse player of the two.

He’s clearly seen as one for the future as the club have tied him down until the summer of 2023, even despite landing Rochdale prodigy Luke Matheson during the January transfer window.

Here’s what supporters have been saying…

AND in other news, Nuno can make amends for January disaster with swoop for 20-goal STAR…  

Manchester United have relished in success and silverware over the years as they boast being one of the best clubs on the planet.

But like any other, there have been darker days – here are just three moments from the vault that really got Reds fans fuming…

Cristiano Ronaldo’s wink

A relic from both Man United and international football history. In the 2006 World Cup quarter-final between England and Portugal, Wayne Rooney was sent off after a stamp on Carvalho.

What looked like it would be a stern talking to or a yellow card at best, turned into a dismissal for the Englishman thanks to club teammate Ronaldo.

The Portuguese star can take credit for his side’s win after pleading with the referee to give Rooney an early bath. As if getting a teammate and friend sent off wasn’t enough, Ronaldo gave the famous wink towards the Portugal bench afterwards as if to say ‘got him’.

Not only did it rile United fans, but it had the English nation’s blood boiling after Portugal went on to knock the Three Lions out on penalties.

Gabriel Heinze’s Liverpool dream

United fans truly couldn’t forgive the Argentinian for this huge faux pas. Heinze joined Old Trafford in 2004 and claimed all his dreams had come true after signing on a five-year deal. However, those dreams didn’t last too long, considering he tried to force a move to arch-rivals Liverpool just three years later.

The last player to move from Manchester United to Anfield was in 1964 – it’s a completely unheard of notion. But Heinze was adamant he belonged on Merseyside and both he and Liverpool did what they could to make it happen.

Of course, it never did and Heinze moved to Real Madrid instead in 2011 but his relationship with the fans was completely broken and he will always be viewed as a Judas in their eyes.

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Paul Pogba’s fun with Kurt Zouma

In 2019, United’s controversial Frenchman was slammed for laughing and joking with Everton’s Zouma ahead of their match, which was literally about to unfold. In their kits and ready to go, the two were filmed together in the tunnel before going out and facing each other on the pitch.

Fans and pundits alike were baffled and irritated by the players’ exchange, with United fans especially annoyed with Pogba after recently sporting the captain’s armband.

International friendships can obviously blossom, but when battling it out in the top tier of English football, it really doesn’t go down well when it looks like your top players aren’t taking the game seriously.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jacques Kallis failed to survive a vicious bouncer from Sreesanth•Getty Images

India reiterated that they are no longer poor travellers by pulling off a series-levelling win in Durban, the scene of one of their worst Test defeats in 1996. Monday’s victory at Kingsmead, after a humiliating loss in Centurion, joined other famous successes over the past decade on some of the world’s fastest tracks – Headingley, Jamaica, Nottingham, Johannesburg and Perth.The match was even at the start of the fourth day but India’s bowlers barely sent down a bad ball in the morning session to seize control of the Test. A Sreesanth snorter to Jacques Kallis started South Africa’s slide, before two lbws – one a marginal decision and the other a howler, both sure to refuel the UDRS debate – hurt them further. Ashwell Prince tried to resist but India plugged away to remove the tail an hour into the second session and set up a decider in Cape Town next week.The ebb and flow of the match was matched by Sreesanth’s bowling form. The wayward, antic-loving Sreesanth was missing in the morning as he sent down an accurate spell of sustained hostility. The highlight was in the day’s seventh over – an unplayable bouncer that reared up sharply and jagged in towards Kallis, who had no way of avoiding it. He jumped and arched his back in an attempt to get out of the way but could only glove it to gully. It was the snorter needed to remove the kingpin of South Africa’s batting. There was no over-the-top Sreesanth celebration either, just a fist pump before getting back to business.That wicket put India slightly ahead, and there was no doubt who the front-runners were when AB de Villiers offered a half-hearted forward defensive against a Harbhajan Singh delivery from round the wicket. He was struck in front of middle, looked lbw and the umpire agreed, though Hawk-Eye suggested the ball would have bounced well over the stumps.Mark Boucher has, over a decade in international cricket, built his reputation as a scrapper and, with Prince also around, it wasn’t yet lights out for South Africa. Boucher, though, made only 1 before he was given lbw to a delivery that was angling across him and comfortably missing off stump .South Africa had lost three wickets, and there was still no boundary in the morning, a testament to the scarcity of bad deliveries. When the first four did come, from Dale Steyn, it was an edge to third man. Steyn had pinged Zaheer Khan on the helmet with a quick bouncer on Tuesday, and was the target of a string of short balls. After three of those, Zaheer slipped in a fuller delivery, which Steyn duly nicked to slip.At 155 for 7, with lunch 45 minutes away, the game looked set for a quick finish. Prince and Paul Harris, however, resisted with some dour batting and a couple of confident boundaries from Prince. They saw out the 10 overs to the break but a pumped-up Zaheer, chatting with the batsmen after almost every ball, ended the stand in his first over after the resumption with a peach that clipped Harris’ off stump.Prince and Morne Morkel then stood firm for an hour, reducing the required runs to double digits. India’s wait seemed to have ended when Ishant Sharma had Morkel wafting to gully, but that turned out to be his regulation wicket off a no-ball. In his next over, though, Ishant didn’t overstep when he found the edge off Morkel to Dhoni. Two balls later, an alert Cheteshwar Pujara threw down the stumps from short leg, catching the No. 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe short, and sparking celebrations. The Indians were ready to grab the stumps as souvenirs, when they realised the third umpire had been called for. The dismissal was confirmed moments later and there was no stopping the celebrations this time.India came into this Test with their No. 1 status questioned after the clobbering in Centurion and doubts over whether they had the bowling to take 20 wickets. They provided answers to both in Durban, handing South Africa their third straight defeat at the venue.

Overview

The Afghanistan team’s growth will get a boost when they play their second major international tournament over the next few weeks. Their matches against Pakistan and Australia earlier this year drew a lot of interest among cricket fans despite the contrasting calibre of both teams. But away from the mystique attached to a cricket team from a troubled land, and the live television coverage, they are a team that is simply a work in progress at a competition to which they bring an unmistakable spirit.Like other top Associate and Affiliate nations, Afghanistan’s enthusiasm for the game hasn’t been satiated by participation in the Intercontinental Cup and the World Cricket League Championships. After completing qualification for the Sri Lanka event, they were invited to take part in the Port-of-Spain Twenty20 tournament. They ended up as champions, winning $50,000 ahead of Bangladesh (playing as BCB XI), Barbados and the hosts Trinidad & Tobago. But these competitions are still a world away from the cauldron of the World Twenty20s where they have to get everything right against India and England, their group stage opponents.As can be expected from a team that relies on raw skill, Afghanistan have plenty of batsmen who take the aerial route. Mohammad Shahzad will get things rolling alongside the young Javed Ahmadi. Karim Sadiq, captain Nawroz Mangal and Asghar Stanikzai make up the middle-order, with all three capable of attack. Mohammad Nabi is the star big-hitter and has been recently used up the order to further their attacking ambitions.They missed fast bowler Hamid Hassan for eight months this year but his return as the team’s leading bowler would help the likes of Dawlat Zadran and Izatullah Dawlatzai who carried the attack in the interim, with left-arm pacer Shapoor Zadran also helping out. Samiullah Shenwari’s leg-breaks and the off-spin of Nabi bring variation but against the big hitters of England and India, the spinners’ eight overs would be heavily tested.Afghanistan should give their group A opponents, as strong as they maybe, reasons to worry. After all, England knows all too well what it’s like to lose to one of the smaller teams in the opening game of this competition.

Key player

Mohammad Nabi can hit the ball out of a stadium, as Xavier Doherty would know so well. Despite the big-hitting ability, he is still regarded mainly as an offspinner. He has form on his side though, having won the Man-of-the-Series award in the Trinidad tournament. And if the four sixes against Australia is any evidence – three belted down the ground and one high over midwicket – he could be a threat to a few reputed bowlers.

Surprise package

Though Hassan would roar in with the new ball, with or without the head-band, as the team’s most recognisable player, Mohammad Shahzad’s aggressive start with the bat could make him the headliner. He is the team’s leading scorer in ODIs and T20Is, with more than 1000 runs which includes three hundreds and six half-centuries. The 24-year-old Shahzad also doubles up as Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper.

Weakness

Afghanistan are still relatively an inexperienced side and are yet to get enough exposure at the highest level. They might have improved as a team, their batsman and bowlers have all the basic skills, but they lack the experience which other teams fall back on in times of distress.

World T20 history

Afghanistan began playing ODIs in 2009 and the next year they secured a berth in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. They were expectedly knocked out from the preliminary stages after losing to India by seven wickets and South Africa by 58 runs, though they did restrict the latter to a score below the 150-mark. They made it to this tournament through a long qualifying campaign held in the United Arab Emirates in March this year.

Recent form

Afghanistan has had a quiet build-up to the World Twenty20s after confirming participation in this tournament. They were beaten by Australia by 60 runs but it didn’t break their spirit. They won two games in the Trinidad tournament and also defeated Sri Lanka A in their first practice game in Colombo. They however lost to West Indies by eight wickets on Monday.

One of the major talking points heading into the summer at Tottenham is whether Jan Vertonghen will still be at the club once his contract expires.

Reports in recent weeks had suggested the Belgium international could be set to leave north London on a free transfer, but a recent update from Alasdair Gold suggested that Spurs may be inclined to keep him until this season finally reaches its conclusion.

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But speaking to Play Sports (via The Independent), Vertonghen himself seemed to open the door to a potential exit. He said: “I want to sign with the right club. It could be Spurs, or another club. It must be a club with ambition. I want to play in Europe as the national team is important for me.”

And after hearing about what the 6 foot 2 central defender had to say, Spurs fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation.

Some Spurs fans questioned their own club’s ambitions, with one supporter in particular urging Vertonghen to “get out” while he can.

This promises to be a saga that could go either way.

With the issue of contracts and player registrations being a contentious issue, Vertonghen could quite conceivably spend more time at Spurs than he might have originally anticipated.

Clubs are highly unlikely to let go of first-team players when things are so uncertain, and the campaign hasn’t even finished yet. Vertonghen may have his heart set on an exit, but it may not come as soon as he thinks.

Manchester City can clinch the Premier League title on Saturday evening with a win against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side have enjoyed a superb season, recovering after a slow start to effectively run away with the league title, although the Spanish manager came unstuck against the west London side in the FA Cup semi-final recently, so he will be wary of the threat that Tuchel’s side possess.

The game is also an early preview of the Champions League final later this month after both teams secured their place in the final with wins against Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid respectively earlier this week.

Here’s how we think Guardiola will line up against Chelsea on Saturday, with four changes from the side which started against PSG on Tuesday…

Ederson keeps his place in goal, with the Brazilian showing just how important he is to this team with a superb ball to Oleksandr Zinchenko in midweek, which led to Riyad Mahrez’s opening goal.

There are two changes in defence as Aymeric Laporte comes in for the suspended John Stones, whilst Joao Cancelo replaces Kyle Walker at right-back.

Despite another superb display against PSG, Fernandinho drops to the bench for this one, with Rodri partnering Ilkay Gundogan in midfield and Kevin De Bruyne in an attacking midfield role.

Phil Foden and Mahrez both deserve to keep their places on the wings, and they support Sergio Aguero up front, with Bernardo Silva dropped to the bench.

The £22.5m-rated Argentine “legend”, as hailed by Guardiola, has an excellent record against Chelsea in his career, with 15 goals in 21 appearances against the Blues, whilst he has history in games of this magnitude, so who better to start up front for City for this huge fixture at the Etihad?

In other news… Txiki can sign Pep his ideal Erling Haaland alternative with Man City swoop for £22.5m-rated gem

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Gulam Bodi scored a vital half-century for Lions•AFP

Gulam Bodi said at the half-way stage that his team, Lions, may have fallen around 15 short of their desired total but a spirited performance with the ball in favourable conditions was too much, even for a power-packed Delhi Daredevils batting line-up. Following up on Bodi’s half-century and Neil McKenzie’s death-over surge, Lions’ Chris Morris bowled an outstanding spell and, backed ably by his spinners, helped knock out the only remaining IPL team from the Champions League. In doing so, Lions also kept alive the possibility of an all-South African finale in this diverse franchise tournament.Lions managed a fighting 139 but Daredevils would have felt justified in their decision to bowl first in overcast conditions amid plenty of breeze. Their bowlers found swing, movement and good bounce, and the assistance lasted through the game. But Daredevils had the batsmen to counter that and they’d infused their line-up with more power up the order, with regular captain Mahela Jayawardene, surprisingly, sitting out again to make way for David Warner in the opening slot. Warner did attack, but briefly, and the early departure of Daredevils’ openers was key in Lions being able to keep the pressure on.They were helped by Virender Sehwag, who fell first ball trying to loft Sohail Tanvir over mid-on only to be caught, though Warner and Kevin Pietersen staged a counterattack. Both targeted Dirk Nannes, who was squeezed through extra cover for two boundaries from Warner and thrashed down the ground by Pietersen. But Morris, brought on first change, with his high-arm action, accuracy, minimal but unsettling movement and encouraging bounce tightened one end up. The bounce accounted for Warner, who top-edged a catch back to the bowler while attempting to jab one on the leg side, and that began a phase of stagnation.It coincided with the introduction of spin, and Unmukt Chand found it difficult to get a move-on. While Morris was probing away at one end, Aaron Phangiso and Jean Symes, both left-arm spinners, gave little away, slowing it up often as the batsman found it hard to connect desirably when often swinging across the line. Overs six to ten yielded just 17 runs, Chand tied down at one end before he went down holing out to long-on, desperately seeking a lift. Instead of Ross Taylor, out came Irfan Pathan and his promotion failed. Nannes returned in the 14th over, attacking Taylor at No. 6 with a slip and the captain followed that over, as Nannes reacted swiftly to his right to pluck a one-handed catch.Miscalculation was the feature of Daredevils’ game, as Pathan’s promotion followed the decision to send in Pawan Negi ahead of Ajit Agarkar. This, despite Agarkar’s spunky batting that helped his team beat Perth Scorchers in their previous completed game. Pietersen, stranded at one end, lost five of his partners in one over after another before there was too much for him alone to achieve. With 48 needed off 24, he perished in the sixth over after the collapse began, dismissed fittingly by Morris who had begun the choke with his miserly spell. With Pietersen’s fall, Daredevils’ fate was sealed.Bodi and McKenzie played influential roles after their team was put in. Bodi, the in-form batsman, was scratchy to begin with. His initial movement across gave him a hard time against the bounce from Morne Morkel and swing from Pathan.The innings was set back by a wicket-maiden from birthday boy Umesh Yadav and Daredevils had edged ahead with Lions 63 for 3 at the end of the 11th over. In the interim, Bodi had started to get going, playing to his strengths against Pietersen’s slow ones by lofting them past extra cover. He swung against Negi with the turn to launch him over deep square leg and built a solid association with the experienced McKenzie, who stayed on till the end. The pair ran well, McKenzie scored boundaries on both sides of the wicket, even pulled Morkel for six, in a stand worth 59 in 44 balls.Though the attempted surge in the final overs was curtailed by Yadav’s discipline, some indiscipline in the field earned Lions crucial runs. Yadav himself dropped a straightforward catch, so did Pietersen, and McKenzie squeezed as much as he could out of those two reprieves, eking out 46 off the last five. It proved more than sufficient.

Liverpool remain on course to land their first Premier League title after sealing a 4-3 win over Crystal Palace this weekend in a dramatic tie at Anfield.

The Reds saw off a firm challenge from the Eagles to snatch what could prove to be a massive three points in the title race, and the fans at Anfield will be getting genuinely excited that this is the year for their club.

However, a lack of January transfer window action will be of a concern to some Liverpool fans, especially with Champions League football just around the corner again, meaning injuries and suspensions could well mount up in the winter months.

That’s why we here at the Tavern think adding one or two players of massive quality would be a wise move for the club, and we think it’s not entirely unfeasible for the Reds to go out and make a move to re-sign former midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

The Brazilian has not shone at Barcelona like many thought he would do, and he seems to be overshadowed by the consistent brilliance of the likes of Leo Messi and Luis Suarez.

Coutinho would be welcomed back to Anfield with open arms, especially as his big money replacement Naby Keita has simply not come off as yet.

A loan move, or even a big money move but at a fraction of what Barca paid for the Brazilian is not out of the question for Jurgen Klopp’s men, and if he were to come back, then the title would surely be there for Liverpool to take.

Reds fans, what do you think? How good a signing would this be? Let us know in the comments!