تعرض فريق نابولي الإيطالي للهزيمة أمام نظيره إي زد ألكمار الهولندي، بهدف دون رد في منافسات الدوري الأوروبي.

وحل ألكمار ضيفًا على نابولي بملعب “سان باولو”، ضمن مواجهات الجولة الأولى للمسابقة الأوروبية.

وسجل جاسبر كارلسون هدف الفوز لـ ألكمار في الدقيقة 57 من الشوط الثاني للمباراة.

في المجموعة ذاتها، فاز ريال سوسيداد على ريجيكا الكرواتي بهدف دون رد، سجله جون باوتسستا في الدقيقة الثالثة من الوقت المحتسب بدلاً من الضائع.

Leeds United’s left-back woes just continue to spiral, don’t they Whites fans?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side lost Ezgjan Alioski to injury during the club’s 2-0 defeat at Griffin Park to Brentford with his replacement Stuart Dallas having to play in a position that he is extremely unfamiliar with.

The Macedonian international had been covering in the absence of Barry Douglas who was ruled out for the rest of the campaign earlier this month after suffering knee ligament damage during the Whites’ 3-2 over Millwall (via the Yorkshire Evening Post).

Although Alioski is primarily a winger, he has delivered several impressive performances for Leeds at full-back and so the news that he will no longer be able to play a role for the club this season (via BBC Sport) will have been greeted with immense disappointment at Elland Road.

Losing any player at this stage of the year is far from ideal but in this particular situation, the consequences could be disastrous. With the Whites already facing an uphill task to overcome Sheffield United in the race for the top-two in the Championship, Alioski’s setback could all-but kill off any hopes that they had of a miraculous turn-around in May.

With the play-offs now looking like the most likely destination for the Yorkshire-based side to secure promotion this season, they will need to find a replacement for their stricken defender as soon as possible. Whereas Dallas has featured there on occasion, Bielsa may turn to Gaetano Berardi or Jamie Shackleton who have both appeared in numerous positions for the Whites this year.

In what has been a dramatic switch of fortunes for Leeds over the past week, the problems for their Argentine manager continue to pile up and if he cannot find the right solutions, all of their hard-work this season could be thrown away in an instant.

What do you think Leeds fans? How big of a blow is it to lose Alioski at this stage of the season? Who do you think should be brought in to replace the Macedonian? Let us know below.

أبدى حارس مرمى فريق مانشستر يونايتد ديفيد دي خيا حالة من الرضا بعد تعادلهم اليوم، مع تشيلسي في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وتواجه الفريقان في الجولة السادسة من البريميرليج، في ملعب الأولد ترافورد، حيث تعادلا سلبيًا.

وقال دي خيا، في تصريحات لشبكة “بين سبورتس” القطرية: “كان من الرائع إنهاء المباراة بشباك نظيفة اليوم، تلقينا بعض الأهداف في المباريات الأخيرة، لم يصنع تشيلسي العديد من الفرص، ودافعنا جيدًا”.

وأضاف: “كانت لدينا أفضل الفرص للفوز بالمباراة، علينا أن نتأكد من فوزنا بالمباراة القادمة في أولد ترافورد، لقد خضنا مباراتين أو ثلاث مباريات دون أن نفوز، لذا حان الوقت لبدء الفوز على ملعبنا، اليوم أعتقد أننا استحقينا الفوز”.

واختتم: “لماذا يختلف مستوانا على أرضنا عن خارجه بشكل كبير؟ لا أعرف، ربما يكون ذلك بسبب الجماهير، ونحن نفتقدهم كثيرًا”.

Is anyone going to land the final blow in this year’s race for the top two in the Championship?

Whereas Norwich City look almost certain to secure their return to the top flight of English football, Leeds United and Sheffield United have switched positions in the league standings on four occasions in the last 25 days. The latest momentum swing occurred on Wednesday night as the Blades were held to a 1-1 draw at Birmingham City, a result which saw Chris Wilder’s side fail to regain second place from the Whites.

Whether this will prove to be the decisive moment in this almighty battle between the two Yorkshire-based clubs will depend largely on if Leeds can maintain their composure over the coming weeks.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side currently hold a one-point advantage over United and are just five games away from securing the historic achievement of promotion to the Premier League. However, in order to realise their dream, they must first overcome clashes with Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa who have both experienced a resurgence in recent months under their respective managers.

With both fixtures occurring at Elland Road, Bielsa’s side will be confident of securing maximum points if they can produce a similar level of performance which has seen them light up the Championship at times this season. However, if they slip-up in either match, they could hand the advantage back to the Blades at the worst possible stage of the year.

Ideally, Leeds will want to embark on a run of five victories which will guarantee their passage into the top flight yet if they cannot achieve this, they must try to accumulate as many points as possible between now and May.

What do you think Whites fans? How many points do you think your club needs to overcome United? Does your club have what it takes to maintain their composure between now and the end of the season? Get in touch below.

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Loads of Newcastle fans have been reacting to the week’s big Premier League news, as Fulham’s relegation was confirmed.

There is just one relegation spot left up for grabs after this week’s Premier League action, as Fulham will now join Huddersfield in the second tier next season.

Scott Parker’s side were well beaten by Watford at Vicarage Road on Tuesday after losing to Manchester City at the weekend.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

The Cottagers went full Football Manager mode last summer, spending huge sums of money on players no one had ever heard of, such as the £30m they splashed on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has started just 11 league games.

The Magpies meanwhile were forced to watch on while the likes of Wolves and Fulham went shopping all summer, with Mike Ashley being his usual self on Tyneside.

And yet, it is the Craven Cottage outfit that are going down, and Newcastle fans are rubbing it in their faces after they unearthed a tweet from 2016, in which the official Fulham account mocked the Magpies’ presence in the second tier.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where it appears the Toon Army do believe in karma…

Sheffield United lost ground this weekend in the race for promotion as they saw Leeds win while losing at home Bristol City themselves.

The Blades, who have been in fine form for much of the season in the Championship, will be hoping to land a top two spot, but will still know a play-off place is a massive bonus for a club who are only in their second year back in the Championship.

With the summer bound to be another big one regardless of their league, the Blades are today being linked with a move for Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie.

The 27-year-old has developed into a fine central midfielder in the Scottish league, and with his contract running out, the Blades are looking to swoop and add the impressive all action midfielder to their ranks over the summer.

And we here in the Tavern feel it would be a shrewd move by the Blades to land Shinnie, who would fit in well with the club ethos at Bramall Lane.

In Shinnie, United would be getting a player who is all action and plenty of heart, something that manager Chris Wilder loves to see in his players.

Add to this their lack of options in the middle of the park outside of John Fleck and Oliver Norwood, and Shinnie’s arrival would appear to make massive sense for the club.

The Blades don’t and never will have the biggest budget in the Championship, so signing someone on a free with the ability, drive, and will to win like Shinnie has could well prove to be a brilliant move by the club.

While others are interested, it has to be said that Shinnie and the Blades look like a match made in heaven.

Modern football is a disaster, and Tottenham Hotspur are the evil purveyors of all things wrong in our game.

Picture this: the year is 2030 and the final reasonably priced blocks at *insert any Premier League stadium* have been replaced by cheese rooms, cinema screens, hotel suites, theme parks and gyms. Football has ceased to be about watching the sport and has devolved into a corporate playground within which the fans have become secondary to complimentary drinks and gift bags.

An array of all things sanitised have exploded onto the beautiful game stripping away the pure, unadulterated essence of what makes football so great.

Spurs’ new stadium may be a thing of beauty, and believe us, it is, but it has become a flagship for everything disastrously wrong in the modern game.

The “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” – until it is otherwise named after some sort of deodorant, coffee brand, energy drink or airline company – boasts a number of pointless gimmicks.

Consisting of a cheese room, a “tunnel club” – where fans can gawp at players through a glass pane like a zoo, a microbrewery because, hey, clubs love fans drinking at games, an in-house bakery (?), a sky-lounge, and the feature we all have not been waiting for: USB ports bedded into the seats – ideal for those wanting to document their experience on social media.

Yes, Tottenham’s new project has become a hotbed for modern ploys. The stuff average lifelong fans never asked for but must suffer the consequences of.

According to TalkSport, most matchday tickers at £10 more than they were at Wembley, whilst Category B and C tickets are 30 to 50 per cent more expensive than they were at White Hart Lane. Fans being priced out of the game. Again.

If the aforementioned did not shock you enough, however, brace yourself for Spurs most recent announcement.

The Sun have reported that Tottenham are keen on hosting the Super Bowl and want to be ‘home the first NFL team outside the US’

“From the start we’ve had NFL  in mind,” said the club’s head of business development Aidan Mullally.

“The anchor tenant is Tottenham Hotspur, but this is designed to be a permanent home for the NFL outside the US.”

But why? What benefit will this bring to the lifelong fans of Tottenham? What will the average supporter gain from their increased ticket price? Why are Tottenham so utterly obsessed with satisfying the needs of other fans before their own?

There are so many questions that need answering.

Tottenham fans, what do you make of the NFL news? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

Celtic’s transfer negligence will surely cost them dearly in the summer market.

Dedryck Boyata has been primed and ready to leave Parkhead for some time now and Celtic fans may feel slightly aggrieved with the news that their wantaway defender could have been sold for £4.5 million before the start of the season (as per The Scottish Sun) – a sum which could’ve gone some way towards recruiting a long-term replacement. Instead, he will likely leave on a free.

Hertha Berlin are said to be the front-runners for the former Manchester City man’s signature and could offer as much as £2 million a year – which would be a huge increase on the deal he currently commands at Celtic.

Since their £4.5 million interest was rejected last summer, Hertha Berlin are said to have been keeping tabs on Boyata’s situation and, having bided their time, they can now offer personal terms, with no fee required.

The Belgium defender is set to become one of Die Alte Dame’s highest earners, alongside former Premier League and Chelsea star Salomon Kalou.

Though Neil Lennon is reportedly keen on keeping the player under his rule next season, we can surely pretty much guarantee that the allure of Bundesliga football and higher wages will far outweigh what he has to offer.

The fact that Celtic sacrificed a sizeable transfer fee to needlessly prolong his career in Scotland will surely frustrate supporters and Neil Lennon, who, undoubtedly, would’ve preferred to have blooded a fresh and willing talent committed to serving the club for years to come – not one with two eyes set on leaving.

Celtic fans, do you agree with the decision to keep Boyata on? Let us know in the comments below…

[ad_pod ]It will certainly be a quiz question in the future – who scored the first official goal in Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium?The answer is Son Heung-min, with the 26-year-old making the breakthrough in the 55th minute of Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.After a cagey first period, Son opened the scoring early in the second period, before Christian Eriksen struck late on to secure the points for Mauricio Pochettino’s team.As if the Spurs fans needed another reason to lavish praise on Son.The attacker – a 2015 arrival from Bayer Leverkusen – is adored by the club’s supporters having gone from strength to strength over the last couple of seasons.

According to WhoScored, as well as his goal, Son had a pass success rate of 88%, whilst he also had four dribbles against the Eagles.

Unsurprisingly, a whole host of the Tottenham fans took to social media after the Premier League match to hail the South Korean – a selection of which can be seen below:

Wolves have largely shocked the majority this season, currently sitting 10th in the league.

They have beaten the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United this season. But amongst all the shock, Diogo Jota has perhaps emerged as the surprise bargain of the season.

Jota, 22, was instrumental in Wolves’ rise to the Premier League, scoring 17 goals in 44 league appearances in the Championship. Certainly a good return, but the quality needed for Premier League football often proves a step too far.

Not for Jota, however.

After initially being brought in on loan from Athletico Madrid, Wolves signed Jota for just £12m after an impressive season. In the current market, a 22-year-old who has shown he is more than capable of playing in the Premier League will now be worth a lot more.

After a tricky start to the campaign, the Portuguese forward has scored seven goals, while providing four assists this season in the Premier League. His highlights include a hat-trick against Leicester and a man of the match performance against Manchester United.

His form has fully justified both his transfer fee and his own decision to come to Wolves. He has spoken of the questions he received upon his move. He said on Sky: “you are going from a Champions League club to a lower division in another country, are you crazy?”

Well, it seems he wasn’t crazy after all. After building a solid reputation in the Premier League. If Wolves aim to continue to progress and compete for the European places, they will have to hold on to the likes of Jota.

Whether he stays or goes, however, Jota but be deemed as one of the bargains of the season. At the age of 22, the forward has the potential to become a formidable attacker. Linking up ever so well with Raul Jiminez, he has exceeded all expectation. How he will progress remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – Wolves have a top quality player in their ranks.

Wolves fans – how good can Jota become? Should he be regarded as the surprise bargain of the season?