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This has been a topsy-turvy spell for Wolverhampton Wanderers, one filled with change rather than familiarity.

It’s not often we can say that about Nuno Santo’s team but he’s been forced into making a few switch-ups over the last month.

For the first time during his spell at Molineux, he moved to a four-man backline against Southampton. With that formation he engineered a draw with the Saints and a win over Arsenal but things quickly unravelled against Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Reverting to a three-man backline did the trick versus Chelsea last time out as the Old Gold secured a 2-1 win.

In some senses, a trip to Turf Moor could be trickier, though. Here’s the XI we’re predicting Nuno to pick on Monday evening.

As you can see, the Wolves coach could prefer his tried and test system once again – using an unchanged formation from the one that defeated the Blues.

However, there are two changes to the side that won last week.

The first to note is that there is no Ruben Neves. The Portuguese started just his third game in the last five against Chelsea in place of the suspended Joao Moutinho but with his fellow countryman set to return on Monday, Neves drops out.

For one reason or another, Nuno doesn’t see the young central midfielder as one of the first names on the team sheet anymore.

The other change is in attack where the £22.5m-rated Fabio Silva is axed from the XI. It may seem harsh but the teenager may struggle against a bullish Clarets backline.

He hasn’t scored in the Premier League yet and consequently, we’re tipping Adama Traore to be recalled and start next to the lively Pedro Neto.

Given his physical qualities, Traore could be the right man to upset the likes of James Tarkowski and Ben Mee.

We think that Wolves’ defence will be unchanged with Marcal keeping his place ahead of Rayan Ait-Nouri. Unfortunately, Raul Jimenez is still out and recovering from a fractured skull.

AND in other news, Shi could land Wolves their next Saiss in “incredible” 35-cap talent…

After Sergio Reguilon’s arrival from Real Madrid in the summer, Ben Davies would have been forgiven for being concerned over how his future at Tottenham would look like.

The Lilywhites’ summer signing had impressed for Europa League winners Sevilla before joining the north Londoners on a permanent deal, and at just 24, seems primed to enter his peak years at the club.

But on Sunday night against Wolves in the Premier League, Davies showed that he can still play a huge role for Spurs both this season and in the future.

Playing on the left-hand side of a back-three – a job he has done for Wales – the 27-year-old looked assured in his defending and dealt admirably with the unenviable task of having to deal with Adama Traore.

Aside from perhaps being at fault for Roman Saiss’ equaliser, Davies was undoubtedly one of Spurs’ better performers of the evening. As per Sofascore, he won eight of his 13 total duels, made two tackles and two interceptions apiece, and also provided two key passes too – not to mention setting up Tanguy Ndombele for his 1st minute strike.

His ability to play as both a full-back and as part of a back-three is something the Spurs boss has previously talked up, saying: “Ben and Reguilon is a little bit the same. Can they play together or for one to play and the other one has to be on the bench? Yes, they can play together and that’s a very good thing for us.

“Ben is very intelligent. So that’s why it’s quite easy to understand the difference between playing left-back, centre-back with five or centre-back with four. Of course left-footed there are not many centre-backs with a left-foot. Some clubs have them but the majority don’t. To have him as an option is also good because to attack, the build-up is also important.”

That versatility is crucial to the way Mourinho can set his team up, not only in his pre-match briefings, but also how he can adapt on the fly during a game too.

They may not have come away with all three points, but Davies’ impressive performance at Molineux has given Mourinho some serious food for thought going forward about how best to use him.

Manchester City’s impressive recent form has seen them rise to fifth spot in the Premier League table, now just four points behind leaders Liverpool, with two games in hand on last year’s champions.

A depleted Citizens side showed their mettle at Stamford Bridge in the 3-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon with Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne starring for Pep Guardiola’s side.

However, the performance of Rodri should not go unnoticed, as the Spanish midfielder produced an excellent display which will reassure Manchester City fans that he is more than capable of stepping up to replace Fernandinho, with the 35-year-old seeming likely to leave the club this summer when his contract expires.

As per Squawka football, during the game against Frank Lampard’s side, Rodri enjoyed the most touches (108), the most successful passes, the most duels contested, the most recoveries and the most tackles of any player on the pitch, in what was a dominant all-round display.

The Spanish international has faced criticism at times since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, with former City star Micah Richards certainly not happy with his performance against Leicester earlier this season, saying:

“I’m not blaming it [the defeat] just on Rodri, there were loads of bad performances in there.

“But in the middle by himself, the way he turns, he doesn’t read danger like Fernandinho [does], and the back line gets exposed.”

Since that 5-2 defeat, however, City have shown themselves to have one of the best defences in the league, with the partnership of John Stones and Ruben Dias working wonders at the back, although Rodri’s influence on this upturn in form should not be forgotten.

The 24-year-old has averaged a solid 7.01 rating for his performances in the Premier League this season and whilst Richards might not believe that he reads the game in the same way Fernandinho does, he has averaged 1.1 interceptions and 1.7 tackles in his appearances in the top-flight this season, whereas the Brazilian has managed just 0.5 interceptions and 1 tackle per game on average.

The Spaniard is also still just 24-year-old, so there seems no reason why he can’t get better and achieve the same sort of status Fernandinho has achieved amongst the City faithful during his time with the club.

And, in other news… Guardiola can sign Mendy upgrade in PL beast with a taste for goals

Alex Iwobi was Carlo Ancelotti’s real midweek hero having played an influential role in Everton’s 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night.

Ancelotti was forced to be resourceful with his options at Molineux having decided that Richarlison and Cenk Tosun were only fit enough for seats on the bench, despite top-scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin being sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin’s absences were felt hard by the Blues, who have built a resilient defensive line this season, but proved their grit by securing the result through goals from Iwobi and Michael Keane.

Everton started brightly in the Black Country when Iwobi fired home his first goal in 38 Premier League appearances after a wonderful piece of build-up play involving the Nigeria international, James Rodriguez and Lucas Digne in the sixth minute.

Wolves struck back swiftly with Ruben Neves finding the back of Jordan Pickford’s goal with a sublime sidefoot finish, and looked the stronger side until Keane rose highest in the area to meet Andre Gomes’ teasing cross with just under a quarter of an hour left to play.

Iwobi clearly took confidence from his rare strike in the West Midlands, with the £50,000-per-week dynamo behind much of Everton’s creativity by linking up well with the likes of Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucoure, and coming close to beating Rui Patricio again.

The Arsenal product’s willingness to run further helped Everton in a fast-paced environment at Molineux, even if a toothless frontline meant Wolves were able to stay in the tie and caused Ancelotti’s men issues as they moved back inside the top-four of the table.

Iwobi continually put himself in positions to threaten Wolves and his link up with Rodriguez saw the 24-year-old prove to be Everton’s most important player at Molineux, despite Keane taking the credit for sealing the Blues’ 10th win of the league season.

His crossing could have been better, with Iwobi failing to find a teammate with any of his three recorded attempts, yet kept his head held high to take 60 touches, complete 36 of 41 passes, attempt three shots and be successful with three of his five dribbles, per SofaScore.

Iwobi’s drive on the ball saw the 44-cap forward attempted a game-high tally with 27% of Everton’s total 18 dribbles, with an improved showing to his season-average of 1.9 successful efforts per league appearance.

Taking three of the Blues’ total five shots was also a clear improvement, having averaged just 0.3 efforts a game so far this season.

The £23m-rated winger further won an impressive seven of his 10 ground duels and helped defensively with four successful tackles and one clearance, while never being dribbled past, to offer Mason Holgate support on the right-hand channel in a heroic showing against Wolves.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti must cash-in on a £6.5m-rated outcast unfit for Everton…

Southampton are back in Premier League action on Saturday evening as they take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium and Ralph Hasenhuttl should consider starting Dan N’Lundulu.

Danny Ings has been ruled out of the game against Brendan Rodgers’ side after testing positive for the current viral outbreak, leaving the Saints short on attacking options ahead of the game.

Wingers Moussa Djenepo and Nathan Redmond are also sidelined through injury, meaning Theo Walcott is perhaps likely to keep his place on the wing, rather than moving up front, as we have seen on a few occasions so far this season.

Hasenhuttl is perhaps likely to hand Shane Long another start alongside Che Adams, with the Irish striker having seen a lot more game time in recent weeks as a result of the injury problems at the South Coast club.

However, considering he has found the net just twice in his last 36 Premier League appearances, the Austrian manager should consider putting his faith in 21-year-old N’Lundulu instead.

The striker has made six appearances from the bench in the top-flight so far this season – including a late cameo in the win against Liverpool last time out – having impressed with David Horseman’s B team, for whom he has 12 goals and three assists in 29 appearances.

This season alone has seen the young forward grab five goals and one assist in just seven Premier League 2 appearances, so he is more than deserving of a chance to show what he can do in the top-flight, as unfortunately, his six substitute appearances have totalled just 28 minutes.

That said, he has shown in those few minutes that he is strong, athletic and adept to the pressing game, and he could prove to be a great foil for Adams at the King Power Stadium.

Whilst he doesn’t have the experience of Long, he is definitely in better goalscoring form at the moment and considering the Saints’ lack of goals in recent fixtures, as well as the absence of Ings, Hasenhuttl must put his faith in N’Lundulu for the game against Leicester City.

And, in other news… Saints handed huge blow ahead of Leicester game as “outstanding” gem ruled out

Leeds United managed to bank an important win on the road last night thanks to goals from Raphinha and Jack Harrison. The Whites narrowly scraped through and kept the spoils for themselves against Newcastle at St James’ Park.

The win will have undoubtedly lifted morale around the Leeds camp after breaking their three-game streak of defeat. However, not everything that came out of that match was a positive.

Elusive summer signing Diego Llorente started just his second match for his new club but was forced off the pitch after ten minutes with an injury. This will be massively frustrating for everyone involved with the club and Marcelo Bielsa, but the Argentinian must take some responsibility upon reflection.

Huge Llorente blow for Leeds

With the Whites currently without Robin Koch, they are struggling for options in defence. Liam Cooper has recently been paired up with Luke Ayling due to their lack of fit centre-backs.

Having Llorente back in action was a huge boost for Leeds, who are still a way away from having Koch back in the squad. However, it seems Bielsa got too eager to bring the former back into the squad and as such, he has now suffered yet another injury setback.

According to Phil Hay, Leeds doubled up on their doses of Bielsa’s trademark Murderball last week and Llorente was involved in these sessions. This in itself is hugely risky given the demanding nature of the training game, never mind when it involves a recently injured player.

The £22,000 per week new signing will have Leeds fans hugely frustrated right now. Llorente has missed a total of eight matches so far this season due to muscle injuries and could now be set to spend even longer on the sidelines, as per Transfermarkt. For an exciting £23million summer signing, not a lot of positives are surrounding him right now.

Starting Llorente was a huge risk from Bielsa given the issues they’ve had in that position, and one that did not need to be taken given they are comfortably sitting in mid-table in the Premier League standings.

Considering the Spaniard played just ten minutes against Newcastle before being forced off, it can’t be said that he played any part in the win either. The manager did not have to risk his fitness at all.

In other news, Signing Julian Draxler could be the end of Hernandez at Leeds…

Leeds are currently enduring a topsy-turvy 2021. They suffered three straight defeats at the start of the New Year but bounced back emphatically with wins over Newcastle and then more impressively Leicester.Though, their loss to Everton has set Marcelo Bielsa’s men back a bit.On the chalkboardMuch of Leeds’ inconsistent form in recent months can be attributed to injury problems. Liam Cooper, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente have all had spells on the sidelines.As a result, Bielsa has had to patch various parts of his squad together. It’s a period that’s seen Luke Ayling and Kalvin Phillips play at centre-back while Pascal Struijk has also deputised in defensive midfield.The Dutchman bizarrely played in a more forward role than Phillips when Leeds lost to Crawley in the FA Cup before featuring in the same role during the defeat to Brighton.In both games, he disappointed.Struijk was dragged off at half time versus Crawley having failed to win a single ground duel. Considering that’s a fundamental aspect of playing in holding midfield, it didn’t bode well.Though, a game later he was also somewhat of a passenger. The defender lost possession of the ball 13 times and completed 80% of his passes – a tally that was down 8% from his season average at the time.Consequently, the youngster was given fierce criticism: “I think Struijk looks out of place, playing Kalvin’s role. I’ve got to say I don’t think there’s anyone that can play Kalvin’s role in the team which is worrying for me. When he’s out we don’t seem to have that flow in our game going forward and the discipline in the defensive role,” Noel Whelan told Football Insider a few weeks ago.The solutionReplacing Phillips’ influence on this Leeds squad is an incredibly hard job. Therefore, whoever plays in his role when he’s absent is likely to underperform in comparison.Though, a better suitor in the middle of the park than Struijk would surely be Jamie Shackleton. The 21-year-old has started just once in the top-flight this term but can bring plenty of qualities to the table that Bielsa loves.For starters, Shackleton is versatile. He has played at right-back, right-wing and in central midfield for the Whites this term.The youngster is a defensive midfielder by trade and has already caught the eye in the last few months. He replaced Struijk in midfield after just 21 minutes when the Whites beat Aston Villa 3-0 back in October.He won 66% of his defensive duels and was assured in possession, completing 84% of his passes. At full-time, Shackleton earned the following review from Leeds Live reporter Beren Cross:“The best we have seen from Shackleton in months. Settled in so quickly and linked up the play between midfield and attack beautifully. So important for his confidence and visualising himself in this team going forward. Tireless running and helped Klich win that midfield battle with McGinn and Barkley.”It’s clear that the young Leeds prodigy is more mobile than Struijk and that’s one of the primary reasons he should be unleashed ahead of his fellow academy graduate in midfield.Shackleton is evidently adored by Bielsa too. The Argentine waxed lyrical about his qualities following a brief cameo in the 5-0 win over West Brom.“Good organisation, energetic, he’s quick, he can surprise opponents, plays in a position which has many varieties as a box-to-box midfielder.”Those are certainly appealing traits for a midfielder and if Bielsa can call upon him more regularly, it will give the manager a chance to finally end the torrid experiment of Struijk in midfield.AND in other news, Leeds could have their new Sam Byram in rarely-seen 19 y/o who’s a “box of tricks”…

Former Premier League striker Emile Heskey has urged Ezri Konsa to avoid a move to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

Konsa should avoid Spurs move

Spurs have been linked with an approach for the Aston Villa defender, who is also said to be attracting interest from Liverpool (The Athletic).

Speaking to HITC, Heskey believes Konsa should not make the switch to north London, pointing out that the grass isn’t always greener. He said:

“When you have a club like Tottenham coming in for you, you’ve got to look at it. Is he ready? You’ll only know when you put yourself in that position.

“He’s done fantastic – he’s actually scored a few goals as well – and he’s forming a partnership (with Tyrone Mings).”

“The only thing I would say is that Villa look like a team on the up. From where they were to where they are and where they’re going, Dean Smith has done a fantastic job,” the 56-time England international adds.

“Tottenham have got some wonderful players who are not playing as a team – it’s very, very individual. If you’re looking on paper, they should be in the top four but paper doesn’t mean anything.

“They’re in a bit of a rut at this time.”

Better in the long run

At the moment, there does seem to be little to separate Tottenham and the Villans – Dean Smith’s men are actually above Spurs on goal difference in the Premier League table with a game in hand (Sky Sports). However, in the long-run, Jose Mourinho’s side can provide a bigger chance of success.

Villa can only dream of having players such as Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, while Tottenham have the funds to add real quality to their squad. In recent years, they have been a regular Champions League outfit – just two seasons ago, Villa were in the Championship. A move to Spurs would still be a step up for £10.8m-valued Konsa (Transfermarkt).

Dubbed a ‘real talent’ by Villa podcaster Dan Rodgers back in December, Spurs could land a real star for the future in the 23-year-old.

In other news, one pundit believes Jose Mourinho is “sucking the life” out of this Tottenham duo.

Lots of Everton fans have been left happy with a transfer update involving Josh King.

As per Football Insider, the Goodison Park faithful are looking to sign the former AFC Bournemouth striker on a long-term deal in the summer transfer window.

His current contract at the Merseyside club expires at the end of the 2020/21 term, with Carlo Ancelotti’s team looking to extend it before the season finishes.

King has not been able to make much of an impact for the Toffees so far since his Deadline Day arrival from the Cherries, with a mere five games and 67 minutes of football in total played for his new side (Transfermarkt).

However, a player with a proven pedigree in the Premier League, the Norway international can be useful as a back-up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and so signing him on a long-term contract makes a lot of sense for the Blues.

Everton fan reaction to King transfer update

These EFC supporters were happy with the update on the 29-year-old on Twitter:

“Ancelotti has had time to judge him, if he wants to keep him then go for it”

Credit: @Monolini

“He’s done it in the Prem and at the very least can be good for rotation if we’re in Europe next year.”

Credit: @carson628492

“If Carlo and Brands want him it’s good enough for me”

Credit: @jamie_byrom

“If Carlo sees value in him, then yeah. With system now seeming to rely on the counter attack, it seems like his speed would be useful… if he gets the minutes to flex it.”

Credit: @JonCrisafi

“Yeah, Ancelotti clearly rates him, and it takes one position off the summer shopping list.”Credit: @corg1k1ng”YES PLEASE.”Credit: @danexadmirerIn other news, find out what transfer swoop Everton are reportedly eyeing here!

Many Liverpool fans were overjoyed by news The Times journalist Paul Joyce shared on Wednesday afternoon.

Manager Jurgen Klopp was speaking ahead of Thursday’s crunch clash against Chelsea in the Premier League – a game that could play a huge factor in who finishes inside those illustrious top four places this season.

In light of the Reds’ catastrophic injury crisis that has hampered their progress during the 2020/21 campaign, the German tactician provided some good news on this front with the return of two crucial first-team stars.

Brazilian duo Alisson Becker and Fabinho will be ready for the squad at the bare minimum, per Joyce, with Alisson expected to start when Thomas Tuchel’s side arrive on Merseyside, as Liverpool attempt to rescue what has been a forgetful domestic campaign.

With this in mind, supporters were delighted with the update and flocked to Joyce’s Twitter to express their feelings.

Joyce sends these fans wild

“Yep title race back on lads”

Credit: @lfcfamz

“WE’RE WINNING THE LEAGUE”

Credit: @lfcthursto

“Title charge back on”

Credit: @Md_Arif02

“Winning the league”

Credit: @Primealfonsoo

“YESSSSSSS”

Credit: @BGrunds_8

“LETS GOOOOO”

Credit: @GerrardThings

In other news, Liverpool fans left in awe by official club announcement.