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Leeds United were distracted from their Championship exploits during the week as they faced Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge.
The Whites took the lead through Mateo Joseph's early goal but first-half strikes from Nicolas Jackson and Mykhaylo Mudryk put the hosts in front at the break.
Joseph then scored his second of the night to make it 2-2 with a header at the back post, only for Conor Gallagher to score a late winner for the Blues to secure their progression through to the quarter-finals.
Daniel Farke's side now turn their attention back to the Championship as his team travel across Yorkshire to take on Huddersfield Town this afternoon.
The German head coach could make some changes from the XI that started the game against Chelsea. One player, in particular, who must be unleashed is Georginio Rutter, who must replace Joel Piroe in the line-up after a poor display from the Dutchman that should see him ruthlessly ditched.
The former Swansea star was selected to play with Joseph in the attack at Stamford Bridge but was completely outshined by the U21s dynamo.
FFC picked him out as being even worse than Junior Firpo, who stepped out and completely missed the ball and player for Gallagher's winning goal, due to his disappointing contributions in and out of possession throughout the match.
Piroe played 79 minutes on the night without making a significant impact on the game as he struggled at the top end of the pitch and off the ball.
The 24-year-old whiz lost six of his nine duels on the night, including five of his eight on the ground and his one in the air, which shows that Chelsea's players found it far too easy to get the better of him in physical battles.
Unfortunately, the Dutch finisher did not make up for his lightweight play out of possession with quality on the ball. He did not muster a shot on target or a 'big chance' created for his teammates in his 79 minutes on the field.
Both of his attempted shots were blocked by the opposition before they could reach Robert Sanchez's goal, and he made one key pass for the side.
These statistics illustrate the lack of threat he provided in the final third as Piroe failed to showcase his attacking quality against Premier League quality, which may be a concern ahead of a possible promotion to the top-flight next season.
Leeds splashed out a fee of more than £10m to sign the striker from Championship rivals Swansea last summer, after he scored 19 goals in 43 matches in the second tier for the Welsh outfit during the 2022/23 campaign.
The left-footed marksman has enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular, season with the Whites so far this term as he has not been entirely convincing with his performances at the top end of the pitch.
Piroe was brought in to score goals, given his record at Swansea last season, and only Crysencio Summerville (15) has scored more Championship goals than the Dutch gem (11) for Leeds so far this year.
In that sense, you could argue that he has been a success as the 24-year-old forward has provided the team with a decent amount of goals.
However, his 11 goals have come from an Expected Goals of 11.69 and he has missed seven 'big chances' in total. This shows that the Leeds attacker has slightly underperformed in front of goal with wasteful finishing at times.
Piroe has also left a lot to be desired when it comes to creativity. The Dutchman has made 0.8 key passes per game, created two 'big chances', and registered two assists in 33 league outings in the Championship this season.
His lack of physicality has also caused him issues at times as opposition players have beat him in 62% of their duels, which shows that the 6 foot 1 gem has been a lightweight on the pitch for his team.
Farke must now unleash Rutter from the start in the attacking midfield position after the manager confirmed that the French ace is back in training, after missing out against Chelsea through injury.
The 21-year-old magician, who was once hailed for his "blistering" speed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has been in phenomenal form in the Championship this season and could create the chances Joseph needs to find his first league goals, after a brace on Wednesday night in the FA Cup.
Leeds' 20-year-old striker showcased his finishing quality with a composed right-footed effort past Sanchez for his first and a well-placed header at the back post for his second.
|
23/24 Championship |
Georginio Rutter |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
33 |
|
Key passes per game |
2.2 |
|
Big chances created |
20 |
|
Expected Assists |
9.23 |
|
Assists |
11 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
Rutter, as you can see in the table above, has been a constant creative threat for the Yorkshire-based side with his ability to consistently unlock opposition defences.
Only Leif Davis and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12) have registered more Championship assists than the ex-Hoffenheim gem, whilst only Abdul Fatawu (24) has created more 'big chances' than him.
These statistics show that not many players in the division are better creators than Rutter, who could be perfect to play in the number ten role behind Joseph.
However, the French star's finishing does need work. He has been wasteful in front of goal, like Piroe, with a return of six goals scored from an xG of 10.24 in the Championship.
Overall, though, Rutter has been directly involved in 17 goals compared to the Dutch striker's 13 in the league, which suggests that he has made a greater impact on the season for Leeds so far.
The £34k-per-week whiz also heads into today's match in form as he has produced two goals and three assists in his last five matches in all competitions, whereas Piroe is coming off the back of a disappointing display against Chelsea.
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Taking all of these statistics into account, Farke must unleash Rutter from the start – and ruthlessly ditch the Dutch forward – as the attacking midfielder behind Joseph due to the immense creative quality that could be used to put the Terriers to the sword in Yorkshire this afternoon.
An impressive young manager has already been identified as a potential Rangers manager after Philippe Clement, according to a new update.
The Gers are in the midst of a highly impressive season currently, but it is one that looked bleak earlier in the campaign when the doomed reign of Michael Beale was in full swing. Since Clement replaced the Englishman in the Ibrox hot seat back in October, however, their fortunes have changed for the better, and there is now the prospect of multiple trophies being won.
|
Philippe Clement's managerial career |
Matches |
Points per game |
|---|---|---|
|
Rangers |
31 |
2.55 |
|
Monaco |
73 |
1.73 |
|
Club Brugge |
127 |
1.96 |
|
Genk |
82 |
1.96 |
|
Waasland-Beveren |
22 |
1.41 |
They have already lifted the Scottish League Cup, following a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen in the final, they lead Celtic by two points at the top of the Scottish Premiership and are still in the Scottish Cup. There is also the chance of going deep in the Europa League, ahead of Thursday's last-16 second leg clash with Benfica at Ibrox, having drawn 2-2 in Portugal last week.
This all highlights what an excellent job Clement is doing, and the fact that he is contracted at Rangers until the summer of 2027 suggests that he isn't going anywhere for a while. That being said, it looks as though there is already potential long-term planning in place when it comes to his successor.
According to a new update from Football Insider, Steven Naismith is seen as a possible future Rangers boss, being considered a candidate to eventually replace Clement at Ibrox.
It is claimed that the 37-year-old is "admired in Scotland and is considered to be a future Rangers manager", having "attracted interest from several clubs". He famously spent five years as a Gers player, winning three league titles, two league cups and one Scottish Cup.
Rangers are of course happy with Clement but "view Naismith as a future manager once he gains more experience".
Naismith is an impressive young manager currently, doing an excellent job with Hearts since taking charge back in September, guiding them to third place in the Scottish Premiership table, as things stand. He recently masterminded a 2-0 win at home to Celtic, which was a huge boost for Rangers in the title race.
It would be a big surprise if those high up at Ibrox were even considering disposing of Clement any time soon, however, with the Belgian thriving in charge and also being hailed by Scott Wright, who felt a training camp abroad worked wonders earlier in the campaign:
"The break in La Manga has been great for us. It was absolutely critical for us, to be honest. He has been able to implement more of his ideas and a bit of his style and you can see that on the pitch, the things he wanted to change."
If Naismith continues to impress in management, however, he has every right to be considered a possible replacement for Clement further down the line, with his Ibrox ties meaning he already knows the club inside out from his playing days.
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Everton, like most clubs, have had their fair share of dodgy transfers over the years, with players such as Dele Alli and Moise Kean each springing to mind.
However, in the case of the Toffees, a bad transfer can be what makes or breaks their season. Since the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, the club have been in something of a downward spiral and have failed to finish inside the top ten of the Premier League.
To rub even more salt in their wounds, near the start of the 2023/24 term, Everton were handed the most severe points deduction in top-flight history. However, as of Monday 26th February, the deduction has been scaled down somewhat to six points.
Although these additional four points have allowed Sean Dyche's men some breathing room in regard to the relegation dogfight, they are still not performing to the standards expected of them on the pitch.
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Their top goalscorer is Abdoulaye Doucoure with six goals across all competitions, whilst Dominic Calvert-Lewin has the joint second-most with four.
Although, for Doucoure, these numbers are more than acceptable, the fact that Calvert-Lewin is two behind him should strike worry across fans.
If their form doesn't pick up soon, it is unlikely that they will manage to find their way out of the relegation battle.
One player who hasn't been much help in keeping the Toffees up is that of Andre Gomes. The Portugal international joined the Merseyside club in 2019 for a reported fee of £22m but hasn't yet made much of an impact in recent years.
Any player arriving from Barcelona in the late 2010s is likely to have been on an extortionate amount of money and would be expecting similar with each new club that they join.
In the case of Gomes, as per Capology, the midfielder is remarkably the third-highest paid player at the club with a salary of £112k-per-week, behind only Jordan Pickford and their top scorer, Doucoure.
For any player, that is an awful lot of money, but for a player who has impacted Everton as little as Gomes has, that weekly wage is fairly concerning.
|
Andre Gomes XI on his Everton debut |
|---|
|
Everton 2-0 Palace: October 2018 |
|
GK – Jordan Pickford |
|
RB – Seamus Coleman |
|
CB – Kurt Zouma |
|
CB – Michael Keane |
|
LB – Lucas Digne |
|
CM – Andre Gomes |
|
CM – Idrissa Gueye |
|
CAM – Gylfi Sigurdsson |
|
RW – Theo Walcott |
|
LW – Bernard |
|
ST – Richarlison |
Since arriving at the club, he has played a total of 106 games with just three of those appearances coming this season. During that time, he has amassed a mere 11 goal contributions, which, from a midfielder, is not the sort of return you want to see.
In comparison, Doucoure, who has represented the blue of Merseyside for two years fewer, has had 15 additional goal contributions which puts into perspective how poorly he has played.
Indeed, Gomes has had his fair share of injuries as he has missed a total of 53 games whilst employed by the Toffees, but, his returns still should have been better.
As Gomes earns £112k-per-week, this salary puts him on a much higher amount than that of Everton star-boy, Jarrad Branthwaite.
The defender has had something of a breakout in 2023/24 and has cemented himself in the Toffees' starting XI, with some valuing him around a mega £100m ahead of a potential summer move. That said, despite being one of their key players, he only earns a slender £35k-per-week.
|
Everton's top earners |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Weekly Salary |
|
#1 Abdoulaye Doucoure |
£130k |
|
#2 Jordan Pickford |
£125k |
|
#3 Andre Gomes |
£112k |
|
#4 Dele Alli |
£100k |
|
#5 James Tarkowski |
£100k |
|
#6 Amadou Onana |
£100k |
|
Data via Capology. |
|
This is nothing short of incredible and shows that he earns just over a third of what Gomes does despite playing each week-in and week-out.
In addition, in just this season alone, the 21-year-old has played in more games than the Portugal international has over his last two seasons in Merseyside.
Hence, why, in the summer, Dyche needs to find a way to bring Gomes' time at Goodison to an end. It would free up some crucial room in their wage budget in order to strengthen their team in the areas it needs to do so, especially if they manage to retain their Premier League status.
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Everything is coming together for Arsenal at the moment.
Mikel Arteta's side are through to the Champions League quarter-finals following their incredibly dramatic win over Porto, and sit atop the table thanks to the draw between Manchester City and Liverpool last weekend.
The Spaniard's team have finally grown from top-four hopefuls to title challengers, and it's been achieved through intelligent signings and the promotion of youth.
For example, one of the stars of the team has seen his wage increase by a rather remarkable 1,850%.
The star in question is none other than Bukayo Saka, the poster boy of this new Arsenal team.
Saka's first minutes for the first team came in a Europa League clash against Vorskla Poltava in November 2018, but his full debut came just a month later against Qarabag FK, in which he played the full 90.
|
Starting XI on Bukayo Saka's full debut |
|---|
|
Arsenal 1 – 0 Qarabag: December 2018 |
|
GK – Emiliano Martínez |
|
RB – Carl Jenkinson |
|
CB – Sokratis Papastathopoulos |
|
CB – Laurent Koscielny |
|
LB – Ainsley Maitland-Niles |
|
CM – Joe Willock |
|
CM – Mohamed Elneny |
|
CAM – Mesut Ozil |
|
LM – Bukayo Saka |
|
RM – Eddie Nketiah |
|
ST – Alexandre Lacazette |
It was in the following season that he really got his chance in the first team, making 38 appearances across the campaign, scoring four goals and providing 12 assists, although 17 of his appearances came at left-back.
The "incredible" youngster, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, slowly moved up the pitch during the 2020/21 season before settling into the right wing position over the course of the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns, where he's played ever since.
|
Bukayo Saka: Career by position |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Position |
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
Goal Involvements per Match |
|
Right-Wing |
86 |
30 |
24 |
0.62 |
|
Right-Midfield |
55 |
18 |
16 |
0.61 |
|
Left-Midfield |
35 |
4 |
8 |
0.34 |
|
Left-Back |
21 |
1 |
5 |
0.28 |
|
Left-Wing |
8 |
0 |
1 |
0.12 |
|
Central-Midfield |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0.28 |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
||||
In all, the Ealing-born gem has made 216 appearances for the Gunners, played six different positions, scored 54 goals, and provided 55 assists, all while personifying what the club want to be going forward, so it'd be fair to say developing him has been worthwhile for Arsenal.
Saka is arguably Arsenal's most important player, both for what he can do on the pitch and his image off of it, and so it would make sense that he's earning a hefty wage at the Emirates, and while he is, it hasn't always been that way.
When the Hale End graduate broke into the first team in the 2018/19 season, he was on a modest salary – by football's standards – of £10k-per-week.
The 5 foot 10 sensation remained on this contract for the first two seasons that he was a part of the first team, before earning a new deal in July 2020, which saw his wage increase 700% to a cool £70k-per-week, which also only lasted two years.
After a stunning 2022/23 campaign that saw him score 15 goals and provide 11 assists, Arsenal's 'little chilli', as former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang named him, was given a bumper £195k-per-week deal, which represents an immense 1,850% increase on his first contract.
Therefore, when adding up his earnings since his first season with the club, the 32-capped Englishman has cost Arsenal a whopping £26.6m.
|
The Finances of Bukayo Saka's Arsenal Career |
|
|---|---|
|
Total Wages |
£26.6m |
|
Appearances |
216 |
|
Cost per Appearance |
£123k |
|
Minutes |
16,558 |
|
Cost per Minute |
£1.6k |
|
Goals |
54 |
|
Cost per Goal |
£492K |
|
Assists |
55 |
|
Cost per Assist |
£483K |
|
Goal Involvements |
109 |
|
Cost per Goal Involvement |
£244k |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt & Wages via Capology |
|
When broken down, that means the academy gem has cost the club £244k-per-goal-involvement, £123k-per-appearance, or just £1.6k-per-minute.
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Ultimately, it sounds like an enormous sum of money because, well, it is, but for what Saka has been able to give to Arsenal over the years and the likelihood that he'll stay at the club for several more, it's hard not to see his contracts as a worthwhile investment.
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Everything you need to know about the new Newcastle kit, including leaks, where to buy and more.
Newcastle United have traded Castore for Adidas from the 2024-25 season, after a £40 million ($50 million) per year deal for five years was announced in September 2023.
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The Magpies reportedly ended the kit deal with the British manufacturers after repeated complaints from the club's fans, while the German sportswear giants have promoted Newcastle to one of its 'Elite' teams alongside powerhouses Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
adidas previously designed Newcastle’s shirts for 15 years between 1995 and 2010 with the likes of David Ginola, Alan Shearer and Faustino Asprilla featuring in them.
Here, GOAL brings you everything you need to know about the new Newcastle United kits, including where to buy, prices, leaks, rumours and more.