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Leeds United youngster Sam Greenwood has confirmed that he is the latest player to pick up an injury, with The Athletic’s Phil Hay reacting to the news in frustrated fashion.

The Lowdown: Leeds suffer constant injuries

The Whites have had a disappointing season so far, and while performances have often been poor, injuries have played a huge part in their struggles.

Marcelo Bielsa has had to deal with an endless stream of fitness issues to key men, whether it be Luke Ayling, Kalvin Phillips or Patrick Bamford, among others.

On Monday, Greenwood confirmed on Instagram that he picked up an injury during the FA Cup defeat away to West Ham at the weekend, in a further blow for Leeds.

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The Latest: Hay reacts to Greenwood update

Taking to Twitter shortly after, journalist Hay reacted to the news with a frustrated four-word verdict that sums up the thoughts of most Leeds fans:

“This is beyond ridiculous.”

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The Verdict: Bad luck continues

Any team expects to suffer a few injuries during the course of a season but what Leeds have experienced since August is simply bad luck.

The number of absentees has made it extremely difficult for the Whites to find any sort of rhythm for weeks on end and aforementioned key figures such as Phillips and Bamford have been big losses – the former has missed eight games while the latter has been absent for 18.

Greenwood’s setback only further highlights the need for new faces to arrive in the January transfer window or risk a depleted squad getting sucked into a Premier League relegation battle.

In other news, Leeds’ long-term interest in one Premier League midfielder has been confirmed. Find out who it is here.

Everton have made another significant step in the construction of their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium after the sand infill process was completed.

What’s the story?

The Toffees are set to depart their spiritual home of Goodison Park from the 2024/25 season onwards as the club looks to modernise their stadia in order to keep up with football’s elite.

And their ambitious riverside project has reached another milestone this week, with The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland revealing the latest update.

He tweeted: “Everton confirm that the sand infill process at Bramley-Moore Dock has now been completed. Another milestone for stadium project”.

Everton fans will be excited

News that the construction process is making significant strides and is all going to plan will leave the Everton fans feeling extremely excited.

Fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur opened their magnificent new arena in 2019, allowing them to compete financially with the sport’s heavyweights, something the Toffees will be hoping they can do too in the near future.

And a report in the Liverpool ECHO went into more detail regarding the sand infill process that Boyland highlighted.

“A three-month process to bring in 450,000 cubic metres of sea-dredged sand is now complete with all the water displaced to form a solid bed on which the 52,888 capacity stadium can now be built with the first skeletons of the stands due to go up next year ahead of a scheduled 2024 opening,” it read.

“The dock infill, which forms a key part of the enabling works, has seen a dredger called ‘The Shoalway’ painstakingly make more than 130 round trips over 20 miles out into the Irish Sea to collect sand.”

With the new stadium expected to deliver a $1 billion boost to the city’s economy, and provide up to 15,000 jobs for local people, this latest revelation will delight fans of the club and local residents alike.

This comes in a week where things are beginning to look rosier for the Toffees again.

Although Marcel Brands has left, Everton secured their first win since September against Arsenal on Monday and now appear to be making significant strides in improving themselves both from a football club and business standpoint.

Farhad Moshiri is carrying out a careful review of the behind the scenes structure and that, coupled with a first win in months, the transfer window being on the horizon and a new stadium to boot suddenly makes this a more exciting time to support the Goodison outfit.

And, in other news…Forget Coleman: Rafa must seal EFC move for £25m “warrior” with “outstanding quality” 

Tottenham Hotspur could advance into the final four of the Carabao Cup with a win over West Ham United as the two Premier League sides go to battle in tonight’s quarter-final clash in north London this evening.

This competition could now represent Antonio Conte’s best chance at securing silverware for the trophy-barren Lilywhites, having been eliminated from the Europa Conference League this week after being forced to forfeit their postponed final group game against Stade Rennes.

At the weekend, Spurs held ten-man Liverpool to a 2-2 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, so they will be buoyed by plenty of confidence heading into kick-off tonight.

The Hammers meanwhile have suffered a dip in form amid a mounting defensive injury crisis and that is something that the Italian head coach must make the most of.

As such, he should look to Lucas Moura, who took a place on the bench on Sunday, with the likes of Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele being preferred.

David Moyes is without two key central defenders in Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma, whilst Vladimir Coufal is suspended, with doubts lingering over full-back duo Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson.

Unleashing a player with the pace and dynamism of Moura could be absolutely devastating to an already weak-looking backline.

Last year, Lilywhites teammate Eric Dier dubbed the £22.5m-rated Brazilian a “nightmare” to train against. “There’s no one worse to train against than Lucas Moura. He’s a nightmare. He’s so fast, so sharp,” Dier told the Premier League’s official YouTube channel.

Despite his omission at the weekend, Moura ranks as Spurs’ second-best performer in the top-flight this term, having managed an average WhoScored rating of 7.12, a feat only bettered by midfield mainstay Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Furthermore, only central defender Davinson Sanchez (2.7 duels) is winning more in the air than the 5 foot 8 dynamo (2.6), though it is his squad-leading 2.8 dribbles per game that could pose a threat to the Irons – Heung-min Son is next best, managing half that figure, which is quite telling.

Moura is also averaging 1.4 shots and 1.2 key passes per league outing, so he could certainly cause plenty of damage later this evening, should Conte bring him back into the starting fold.

Moyes and co must be absolutely fearful of the Brazilian if he is named in the XI at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight.

AND in other news, Talks planned: Spurs source drops major January transfer update, fans will be buzzing…

Jesse Lingard is still on the radar of West Ham United as he seems ‘certain to leave’ Manchester United in the near future…

What’s the word?

90min journalist Toby Cudworth delivered a fresh update on the 28-year-old’s situation earlier this week, although he may not be as big a priority as before.

“#WHUFC & Jesse Lingard as I understand it: Certain to leave Man Utd. West Ham interest remains. He’s not necessarily the priority,” he tweeted.

Cudworth added: “Hlozek interest v[ery] real and a better long-term option” and “Barca, Atleti & Milan options abroad for Lingz”.

It comes after The Times revealed that the England international had no intention of restarting negotiations with Manchester United because of his frustrations at the club’s behaviour during discussions earlier this season.

Get it done, Newman!

Whilst Lingard may no longer be a priority for David Moyes and co, it would be a wise decision to bring the Old Trafford outcast back to the London Stadium this January.

Nearly a year ago, the English playmaker joined the club on loan and provided a vital contribution in the Irons sealing Europa League qualification, having delivered nine goals and five assists across 16 appearances. Only Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio scored more goals for West Ham in 2020/21.

Summer signing Nikola Vlasic has flattered to deceive since replacing Lingard at the club, and given his versatility, he can not only be a no.10 but also play out wide and provide backup to Michail Antonio at centre-forward.

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Furthermore, Said Benrahma is expected to miss several games at the start of next year due to his likely contribution at the Africa Cup of Nations for Algeria. His absence on the left-flank will be sorely missed but the return of Lingard could certainly aid that.

Moyes and his assistant manager Stuart Pearce have never kept their interest a secret.

After the final game of last season, the Scotsman seemingly urged the £19.8m-rated star to remain at the Hammers. “I hope Jesse’s here, we’d like to keep him, he’s done an exceptional job for us but there’s no guarantees, he’s not our player,” he said (via the Evening Standard).

Pearce told talkSPORT back in August: “We would like him to come and join us. That has been an open secret. He was wonderful last year.”

A large majority of the London Stadium faithful also want his return, having reacted to similar reports earlier this month. As relayed by Hammers.News, many would be super excited and keen to see him back.

Similarly, in a previous poll conducted recently by Football FanCast, around 89% of more than 400 supporters claimed that they would be delighted if he re-signed for the club.

Therefore, this latest development should have a lot of the fanbase ecstatic. Lingard must return in January, especially as he has unfinished business here in east London.

AND in other news, Daniel Kretinsky could be key to West Ham landing January target…

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to add attacking quality to their side during the upcoming winter transfer window, especially now that Jordan Hugill is reportedly set to be recalled early by Norwich from his loan deal with the Baggies.

One player who has been linked with a move to the Hawthorns again is Josh Windass, who was previously tipped for a move to the club last year.

Windass currently plays for Sheffield Wednesday, despite signing a new contract in the summer and only recently coming back from injury, the 27-year-old has been linked to a number of clubs including Hull City, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, Stoke City and of course West Brom.

Since coming back from an injury a few weeks ago, the £1.8m-rated attacker has been making up for lost time by scoring twice and assisting once in his first three appearances, which will be pleasing to see for Valerien Ismael who really needs to find a player to add to his attacking third that can offer creativity and finds the back of the net confidently.

Sheffield Wednesday teammate, Barry Bannan, has already hailed the midfielder after speaking to the club’s media upon Windass’ return to the team after injury:

“Josh Windass is massive for us and a top, top player. He makes good runs, has pace and scores goals.” he said.

Ismael will be working to find solutions to the inconsistencies with goal scoring that the current West Brom side have been facing. Having scored just 29 times this term, 31 fewer than first placed Fulham, it has put them further back in the table with automatic promotion a big ask after a run of one win in their last five games.

However, the addition of Windass, somebody with 45 goals in the English Football League to his name, could prove extremely fruitful in turning their season around.

The Baggies have been linked with a number of attacking players already this season due to such a lack of goals, and have been reportedly scouting Windass since he has been back in action, which suggests he could be a strong candidate to be snapped up in January for the club.

West Brom have an important game coming up on Friday evening when they will host Reading at the Hawthorns, they will surely be hoping to stick to their winning ways from their 2-1 victory over Coventry City last weekend.

In other news: Ismael must unleash Reyes Cleary in the first team

Newcastle United are reportedly now interested in signing Juventus ace Adrien Rabiot.

The Lowdown: Midfielder eyed

After the appointment of Eddie Howe, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium are now looking at what reinforcements they could bring into the team, preferably in the January transfer window as they look to avoid relegation from the Premier League down to the EFL Championship.

Names such as Marcelo Brozovic and Philippe Coutinho have been thrown around in recent days, suggesting that a new midfield player is wanted.

The Latest: Rabiot interest

As per Tuttosport (via Sport Witness), The Old Lady now ‘hope’ that the St. James’ Park faithful can turn their interest in Rabiot into a ‘concrete proposal’ for the France international.

Juve would reportedly be happy to sell him, with no signals that they want to extend his contract, which expires in 2023.

However, if the North East club want to sign Rabiot, they will have to deal with his agent and mother Veronique first, who has been described as a ‘volcanic’ character.

The Verdict: For the right price…

Although money is not an object to the new mega-rich owners, they should still be sensible with how much cash they splash in the market.

Rabiot is a player that would come as a bit of a risk, given that he has suffered with injury problems and missed a combined total of 45 days over 2021/2022 so far (Transfermarkt).

He’s not exactly been prolific with Juve in midfield, with a mere six goals and five assists recorded in 95 games in total over all competitions across the last three consecutive seasons (Transfermarkt).

However, he would certainly be an upgrade on the Tyneside outfit’s current midfield options, averaging more shots, dribbles and pass success per game than Isaac Hayden, Jonjo Shelvey and Sean Longstaff in their respective domestic leagues so far this term (WhoScored).

France national team coach Didier Deschamps described him as a player who ‘has always had technical qualities’, and at 26 years of age, he has not reached his peak yet.

Nonetheless, Rabiot could be a smart addition to the squad, for the right price.

In other news, find out which ‘outstanding’ Premier League star NUFC are eyeing here!

Liverpool have enjoyed a rather successful start to their season with Jurgen Klopp’s side currently unbeaten across the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.

However, there is one player that has not been a massive part of Liverpool’s season so far that could be on their way out of the Merseyside club in the near future.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by The Mirror that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be looking for a way out of Liverpool to get more game time elsewhere and save his career.

Liverpool signed Oxlade-Chamberlain back in the 2017 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League side Arsenal for a fee of £35m.

Since then, the 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £16.2m according to Transfermarkt, has made 109 appearances for the Reds across all competitions in which he has managed to score 14 goals and provide 12 assists in the process.

So far this season, the Englishman, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £120k-per-week according to Spotrac, has made just five appearances across all competitions for Jurgen Klopp’s side, starting just two of them.

Time to move on

Taking into account how Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has been labelled as “outstanding” by Klopp in the past, has been very unlucky with his injury issues during his time with the Merseyside club, this is undoubtedly a factor that must be acknowledged regarding his lack of games since his arrival.

That being said, we feel that if Oxlade-Chamberlain thinks it would be a better option for him and his career to leave Liverpool and join a club where he would be playing regularly, then the Reds should definitely consider letting him go.

They must do so if they get a financial offer they deem suitable for the player either in the upcoming January transfer window or the next summer window. After all, they cannot continue to pay someone who has missed so much football.

The attacking midfielder has missed 72 matches during his Liverpool career, sitting on the treatment table for a period of 493 days. It’s been a sad few years for Oxlade-Chamberlain but unfortunately, now is the time for Klopp to wield the axe on his time in Merseyside.

Whether or not any club would be willing to take a gamble on a player like that only time will tell, but we feel it would be in Liverpool’s best interests to get his salary off their wage bill.

In other news: 100% ground duels lost: Klopp surely worried about “exceptional” Liverpool gem on loan – opinion

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side heading into Saturday’s Scottish Premiership clash on the back of securing their first away win of the season last time out, the 56-year-old Hoops boss would have undoubtedly been hoping for a similar result when the Bhoys made the trip to Motherwell.

And the Greek-Australian manager would not be disappointed, as goals either side of half-time from Jota and David Turnbull saw Celtic run out 2-0 winners against Graham Alexander’s side – with the victory seeing the Hoops move up to fourth place in the Premiership standings.

As is perhaps to be expected after such a result, a number of Postecoglou’s side fared extremely well in terms of match ratings, with only two of Celtic’s starting XI being awarded a SofaScore rating of below 7.00 on the day.

However, there was one player in green and gold whose performance at Fir Park particularly stood out – that of attacking midfielder, Tom Rogic.

“Orchestra conductor”

Having come back into the side after starting on the bench against Aberdeen, the 28-year-old put on an extremely commanding display from midfield, with journalist and Celtic fan Dominik Diamond dubbing the Australia international’s performance as like an “orchestra conductor” in the middle of the park.

Indeed, it is easy to see why Diamond described the midfielder’s performance this way, as, over his 73 minutes on the pitch, the £1.35m-rated man had 54 touches of the ball, made two key passes, created one big chance for his teammates and ended the match with an assist to his name.

The £16k-per-week attacking midfielder also completed four of his five attempted dribbles, won seven of his 13 duels and drew three fouls for his side.

These returns saw Rogic receive a SofaScore match rating of 7.3 for his efforts, statistically his best display for Celtic since the club’s 6-0 win over Dundee FC back in August.

So, while Jota and Turnbull may have stolen the headlines with their match-winning goals, Postecoglou will undoubtedly be just as delighted with the performance of Rogic, as the midfielder’s form appears to be very much on the up once more.

In other news: Fewer touches than Hart: “Positive” Celtic ace who made 7 passes let Ange down today

New Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard could get Villa Park rocking again by signing Rangers star Ryan Kent in the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the story?

The former Liverpool skipper made the switch from Ibrox earlier this month, and attentions naturally have already turned towards who Gerrard could look to lure away from his previous employers.

And, according to transfer insider Dean Jones, those north of the border at Rangers expect two players, in particular, to be touted with a switch to Villa.

He said: “Rangers think Glen Kamara will be linked very quickly. I think Ryan Kent as well is somebody that they’ll be expecting Villa to be linked with. So, we’ll have to wait and see on those two.”

Could get Villa Park rocking

Kent enjoyed an impressive campaign with Rangers last term, scoring 13 goals and setting up another 15, and has enjoyed a reasonable start to the current one too, providing five assists in just 11 games in all competitions.

Former Rangers star Kris Boyd has previously waxed lyrical about the former Liverpool man, saying: “There’s Ryan Kent who is phenomenal – he gets you off your seat. His numbers have increased season after season. Even if the team are not at the level we saw at the start of the campaign, he is still a threat. He is so comfortable with the ball – it is like has superglue in his boots!”

The £20k-a-week winger has earned rave reviews for his performances, not least from teammate Conor Goldson, who hailed him as “magnificent” and said: “He has got a lot of ability. (He is) 24-years-old, two-footed. It is not nice when he runs at you, I can tell you that personally from training. He has got everything.”

The £12.6m-rated flier seems to be the kind of direct, quick winger who Villa already boast in Leon Bailey, and the thought of the two of them lining up in the same team would be sure to terrify opposition defences.

Given the real lack of excitement at Villa Park this season amid a difficult run of form in the Premier League, the signing of someone like Kent who as Boyd says, “gets you off your seat”, would go a decent way to sparking a fire in the team.

And, with Anwar El Ghazi being linked with an exit, the Dutchman leaving and Kent arriving would be an exciting switch-up in players.

Meanwhile, Gerrard must unleash this star vs Brighton…

Liverpool’s recruitment in recent years has played an instrumental part in their rise to the summit of English and European football.

Several big-money signings such as Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah have helped to propel the Reds back to their former glory after years of treading water. However, it’s one of their lesser-heralded stars who arguably represents the best value for money in their modern history.

Centre-back Joe Gomez joined Liverpool for just £4.4m from boyhood club Charlton Athletic back in 2015 and has gone on to establish himself as one of the country’s top defenders since.

Despite several serious injuries, the England international has made 124 appearances for the 19-time English champions, earning 11 caps for his country as a result.

Gomez played a key part in Liverpool’s Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup successes in recent years, establishing a formidable partnership alongside Van Dijk at the heart of the club’s backline.

His impressive performances draw praise from manager Jurgen Klopp a couple of campaigns ago, with the German lauding the youngster’s overall game.

“He is a sensational footballer, which is good,” Klopp said in 2020. “He has outstanding speed, which helps us a lot to keep our last line high; he is a really good challenger; good in one-on-one situations; football-wise, I said already, good.

“The package is really nice. It was always clear in the moment he starts playing and can get rhythm again, everything will be fine – and that’s how it is.”

Gomez’s standout displays for club and country have seen his market value rise to £27m at this moment in time, dwarfing the fee that Liverpool paid for his services six years ago.

The Merseyside outfit can safely claim that they pulled off another transfer masterclass in signing the defender for as little as they did, showing why the club’s recruitment department is considered to be one of the best in the country.

In other news… Liverpool may get the chance to sign “formidable” £86m gem, fans would be buzzing