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Having come through the club’s academy, James Forrest is simply Celtic through and through. The 28-year-old has been with the Bhoys since signing youth terms back in 2003, and has been a key player in their incredible domestic success.

Such was the promise surrounding Forrest, that the Scottish Football Association’s performance director in 2011, Mark Wotte, proclaimed the winger was a “light in the darkness” at the time.

Unfortunately for Scotland on Friday night, the 28-year-old was unable to illuminate proceedings as Steve Clarke’s side suffered a hugely disappointing 2-1 defeat to Russia in EURO 2020 qualifying.

Forrest’s ineffective display saw him attempt no dribbles or shots in his 62 minutes, and that saw fans of the national side flood to Twitter to slam the Celtic star.

Many Scotland supporters insisted he “offered nothing” to the side on Friday, and one claimed this is exactly why it is nonsense people think he is good enough to play for Liverpool and Manchester City – we don’t know where that has come from either!

Some fans suggested Forrest has been living off past glories in a Scotland shirt, and hasn’t produced anywhere near enough in recent games.

Check out some of the reaction of Scotland fans below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Liverpool’s trip to Napoli is an enticing clash and one reason for that is the matchup between Roberto Firmino and Kalidou Koulibaly.

Both sides have been in free-scoring form this season, with the Reds totalling 15 goals from five league games in comparison to Napoli’s nine from three.

From those stats it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect an improvement on the meetings between the pair last term, which both ended in 1-0 wins for the home team.

It is not yet clear if Jurgen Klopp has an eye on the trip to Chelsea on Saturday, and whether he will change his team accordingly, but after leaving Firmino out of the starting line-up last Saturday, he will know that it would be risky to do so again.

Within five minutes of coming on the Brazilian had played a key role in putting the Reds into the lead against Newcastle, and Koulibaly will likely be tasked with keeping a close watch on him for that reason.

The 2018/19 Serie A Defender of the Year could be up for the task, too, and the winner of the battle between them could be crucial to their side’s success.

As shown by Firmino’s and Koulibaly’s stats on WhoScored, both players are in fine form so far this season and it promises to be a great tussle in and around the Napoli box, providing Liverpool can get a foothold in a game in which Napoli will look to dominate the ball, having averaged 57% possession in Serie A so far.

Firmino has gained a lot of plaudits this season, including from teammate Virgil van Dijk. He was recognised by the Premier League with a nomination for August Player of the Month and he backed that up with a brilliant display of trickery against Newcastle, adding to his tally of assists by wonderfully teeing up Mo Salah.

Koulibaly will look to make life difficult for him as a result, and will have to keep tight to the forward in order to reduce his influence.

The Senegal international should have a good chance of handling him, as he has averaged 3.3 tackles so far this term, and has the physical attributes to make life difficult for the 27-year-old.

To minimize his involvement Napoli will have to reduce the service into him. Allan and Piotr Zielinski will be key in midfield, but Koulibaly reads the game very well and if he has done his homework he might be able to step in and stop Firmino before he receives the ball, with his impressive rate of interceptions this season suggesting that could be a viable method of defence.

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That could cause the Liverpool man to come short, and possibly look to exploit the pace of Napoli’s defenders by playing Sadio Mane or Salah in behind the defence, much as he did against Newcastle for the second goal, with his average of 1.4 key passes per game showing he is more than capable of pulling off such a trick.

The battle between the pair may, therefore, come down to the intelligence of the two rather than their playing ability, and if Firmino continues to display the skill and trickery he has shown so far, he could hand the Reds a victory.

أعلنت لجنة المسابقات بالاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم عن مواعيد مباريات فريق الكرة بالزمالك في بطولة الدوري المصري خلال الفترة المقبلة.

وكان اتحاد الكرة قد أعلن عن مواعيد الجولات المقبلة في بطولة الدوري المصري حتى الجولة 21 من عمر المسابقة. طالع التفاصيل

ويعتلي الزمالك صدارة جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 29 نقطة، وبفارق 6 نقاط عن أبرز ملاحقيه مصر المقاصة صاحب المركز الثاني برصيد 23 نقطة. مواعيد مباريات الزمالك القادمة في الدوري 

الزمالك أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا يوم الخميس 11 مارس في تمام الساعة 07:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

الزمالك ضد الأهلي يوم الأحد 18 أبريل في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

الزمالك أمام الإنتاج الحربي يوم الخميس 22 أبريل في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد السلام وي الأهلي.

ويواجه الزمالك نظيره البنك الأهلي يوم الإثنين 26 أبريل في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

الزمالك أمام المقاولون العرب يوم الخميس 29 أبريل في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

الزمالك أمام بيراميدز يوم الأحد 2 مايو في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

الزمالك أمام سموحة يوم الخميس 6 مايو في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

الزمالك أمام الأهلي يوم الإثنين 10 مايو في تمام الساعة 09:30 مساءً، على أرضية استاد القاهرة.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to The Daily Mirror, former Manchester United manager David Moyes has insisted that he believes the club would be in the Champions League right now if he was still in the Old Trafford dugout.

What did he say?

After taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson’s title-winning side, Moyes had the unenviable task of having to follow in the footsteps of the United legend.

However, Moyes’ time at Old Trafford ended in disaster as he failed to even last the full season. Now, the Scot has admitted that whilst he holds personal responsibility for the Red Devils’ plight in that year, he would be confident that they would be in European football’s elite competition were he still in charge today.

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He said: “I would have loved to have done much better. It was a great ­opportunity and a job I felt I fitted. I am more ­disappointed with myself that I didn’t make it work. I believe I am much better than what I showed. I had to do better. There were ­mitigating ­circumstances. When you look at it now, what Sir Alex got from the squad to win the league is remarkable.

“What I didn’t get was time. Do I believe United would be in the Champions League now? Yeah I do, if I had been in charge. Do I believe we would have a much more stable club? Yeah, I do. I have also got to admit in the short time I was there, I had to win more games. I didn’t think I was going to be under pressure after six or 10 months because that wasn’t the club’s values. Maybe I was naive and I should have realised that quicker.”

The wrong man at the wrong time

For all of Moyes’ success on the blue half of Merseyside with Everton, stepping in to try and fill Ferguson’s shoes at Old Trafford was going to be one hell of a task. Of course in hindsight it is easy to sit back and make claims and judgements, but the job arguably required someone with a bit more of a presence and aura.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Moyes struggled to inspire both players and fans alike and it made his appointment all the more confusing. The ‘United way’ of playing was not something he had really built up at Everton, and in the end, the club’s football lost its identity. Sticking with Moyes for the long-run could have been even more disastrous, and it was perhaps right that the club ended up cutting their losses.

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In what has been a topsy-turvy couple of months in the world of Paul Pogba and Manchester United, it appears we may have a fresh twist on the cards.

Reports in recent weeks had suggested the France World Cup winner was on his way out of Old Trafford this summer, and comments from his agent Mino Raiola echoed those sentiments.

However, in an update from The Guardian, Pogba’s hopes of leaving United are becoming increasingly “remote” as the club have yet to receive a bid from any interested parties.

The report adds that with the transfer window closing in less than a month, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side do not want to lose yet another midfielder this summer and that Madrid’s valuation of Pogba is “markedly lower” than United’s.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

After hearing the news Pogba could now be staying in Manchester for the foreseeable future, United fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter.

Many were seemingly relieved that the Frenchman was being kept at the club and praised the side for holding out for Pogba’s true valuation rather than just letting him go on the cheap.

Indeed, many suggested that the 26-year-old still remained one of their best midfielders and even claimed that losing the former Juventus midfielder would see them end up in a “relegation dogfight”.

Check out some of the delighted reaction of United fans below:

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Loads of Manchester United fans have been celebrating what seemed to be negative news, as they are set to miss out on Harry Maguire.

According to The Daily Star, Manchester City are now favourites to land Leicester City’s towering centre-back.

An impressive showing at the 2018 World Cup saw Maguire’s stock rise throughout the season, and the report claims Man City are set to win the race for his signature for a fee of around £65m.

In fact, the report even claims a medical is “pencilled in” for the Foxes star, and that the champions intend to complete a deal within the next week.

Could Harry Maguire be on his way to Old Trafford? Check out the video below to see why it would make so much sense…

Now, usually missing out on a transfer target, especially one in a position of need, is devastating for fans, but the Old Trafford faithful have had an extremely positive reaction to this news on Twitter.

While few would deny Maguire is a quality player, it seems his price tag turned many fans away, and City fans may not want to look at the Twitter reactions down below if they do indeed land the 26 year-old…

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Some Liverpool fans have identified Nathan Ake as the man bolster the depth in their defence.

Liverpool are expected to pursue a left-sided defender this summer, with Alberto Moreno all set to depart Anfield when his contract expires at the end of this month.

Andy Robertson is the clear first choice on the Reds’ left flank, but the Scottish captain played 48 matches this past season, and will likely need more rotation to survive another trophy charge in the next campaign.

With that in mind, some Reds fans have suggested moving for Ake, who could provide depth in multiple positions.

The former Chelsea youngster, who signed for Bournemouth for £20m last summer, can play centre-back or left-back, and also operate as a centre-back in a back three.

This would give Jurgen Klopp plenty of options to rotate his league-best defence without sacrificing too much quality.

Take a look at some of the Twitter reactions down below, where Reds fans are convinced Ake is their man…

After experiencing a shocking drop in form, David de Gea’s quickly gone from hero to zero at Manchester United. Well, not quite, but if there was at least one other world class player at Old Trafford who wouldn’t create such a void if he did depart, you’d imagine the reaction to some of his performances would be a lot worse.

So, despite seemingly having the club’s support for his form over the course of most of their troublesome years, he’s now plagued problems and is apparently making unreasonable demands.

The Spaniard only has just a year remaining on his contract and is unwilling to sign another one (reported way back in February by the Independent) unless he’s paid as much as Alexis Sanchez. Clearly, repeating the mistake with the Chilean isn’t an option for Ed Woodward, regardless of whoever the star is. As a result, United will have to draw up some sort of contingency in terms of De Gea’s potential replacement and according to reports from Duncan Castles on his Transfer Window podcast (via Daily Star), they have singled out Lille’s Mike Maignan as potentially their new #1.

The 23-year-old French goalkeeper’s the newest rising star in Ligue 1, having put in some impressive performances for Lille last season. Indeed, he kept 15 clean-sheets, putting in some stunning shifts in between the posts. Impressively, Maignan’s an excellent shot-stopper and is surely going to start to rival Hugo Lloris for the world champions’ custodian spot going forward but his inexperience’s the worrying factor.

Granted, when he arrived from Spain a skinny goalkeeper, the Spaniard also came under heavy criticism. However, his bad performances were covered up by Sir Alex Ferguson’s winning system and some impeccable senior defenders. Obviously, nobody needs telling that the Red Devils don’t have that anymore so taking a risk on an inexperienced figure could cause gigantic issues.

They should only replace De Gea with an experienced goalkeeper capable of withstanding pressure. The talented Maignan might be the next big thing, but the pressure of filling De Gea’s boots will probably end up ruining his potentially bright future.

United fans, do you think Maignan would be the ideal successor to De Gea? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

أعلن الاتحاد الإفريقي لكرة القدم “كاف” رسميًا تعيين الحكم الدولي الجزائري مصطفى غربال لإدارة ‏مباراة الأهلي والزمالك في نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا، على أن يعاونه المغربي رضوان جيد حكمًا لتقنية الـ‏VAR‏، وحكمًا رابعًا الزامبي ‏جاني سيكازوي.‏

يلتقي الأهلي والزمالك في التاسعة من مساء غد الجمعة، في نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا على استاد القاهرة، حيث سيكون النهائي الأول الذي يجمع بين فريقين من نفس البلد في نهائي البطولة الإفريقية عبر تاريخها.

اقرأ أيضًا.. رسميا.. كاف يعلن حكم مباراة الأهلي والزمالك في نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا 

الحكم مصطفى غربال ولد في 19 أغسطس 1985 بالجزائر، ويبلغ من العمر 35 عامًا، التحق بالتحكيم منذ يونيو 2011، وحصل على الشارة الدولية من الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم “فيفا” عام 2014. ويستعرض “بطولات” معلومات عن مصطفى غربال حكم مباراة الزمالك والأهلي في نهائي إفريقيا- المباريات التي أدارها مصطفى غربال في تاريخه

أدار مصطفى غربال 158 مباراة في مسيرته، بواقع 117 مباراة في الدوري الجزائري، أشهر خلالهم 450 إنذارًا و10 بطاقات حمراء عقب إنذارين و18 بطاقة حمراء مباشرة، فيما احتسب 48 ركلة جزاء، وأدار 13 مباراة في كأس الجزائر أشهر خلالهم 41 إنذارًا وطرد مرة واحدة عقب إنذارين، واحتسب 4 ركلات جزاء.

فيما أدار 8 مباريات في دوري أبطال أفريقيا، أشهر خلالهم 46 إنذارًا والكارت الأحمر عقب إنذارين مرتين، واحتسب 7 ركلات جزاء.

كما أدار 5 مباريات في الكونفدرالية أشهر خلالهم 18 إنذارا وطرد مباشر مرة واحدة واحتسب ركلتين جزاء، فيما أدار 5 مباريات في التصفيات المؤهلة لكأس أمم إفريقيا أشهر خلالهم 10 إنذارات واحتسب ركلة جزاء، كما أدار 4 مباريات في كأس الأمم الإفريقية 2019 أشهر خلالهم 16 إنذرا وطرد مباشرة مرة واحدة واحتسب ركلتين جزاء، وكذلك مباراتين فى كأس الأمم الإفريقية تحت 17 عاما عام 2017، أشهر خلالهم إنذار واحد.

وعن مسيرته الدولية فقد أدار مصطفى غربال 3 مباريات في كأس العالم للأندية تحت 20 عاما سنة 2019، أشهر خلالهم 11 إنذار وطرد مباشرة مرة واحدة واحتسب ركلة جزاء، فيما أدار مباراة واحدة في كأس العالم بين فريقي السد القطري وهينيجين، والتي انتهت بفوز الفريق القطري بثلاثية مقابل هدفين، واشهر خلالها إنذرين. – مصطفى غربال مع الأهلي والزمالك

أدار غربال مباراة للأهلي أمام تاونشيب البتسواني بمرحلة المجموعات من دوري أبطال إفريقيا عام 2018، وانتهت بفوز الأهلي بثلاثة أهداف مقابل هدف، واحتسب خلالها ركلة جزاء.

فيما أدار مباراة للزمالك أمام الترجي التونسي في إياب دور الثمانية من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا في النسخة الجارية، وانتهت بهزيمة الأبيض بهدف دون رد، إلا أن الأبيض تمكن من التأهل إلى دور نصف النهائي بمجموع مباراتي الذهاب والعودة، وأشهر خلالها 5 إنذارات.

وشارك الجزائري غربال كحكم رابع في عام 2014 من أبطال إفريقيا خلال مباراة الزمالك ومازيمبي الكونغولي، والتي انتهت بالتعادل السلبي، كما كان حكمًا للفار في مباراة الزمالك والرجاء في ذهاب نصف نهائي البطولة الحالية، والتي انتهت بفوز الأبيض بهدف نظيف.

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Tottenham Hotspur have been told they will have to pay €700million (£617m) to sign Real Madrid attacking midfielder Marco Asensio this summer, per El Chiringuito TV via Sport Witness.

What’s the word?

Spurs are scouring the transfer market for potential reinforcements this summer and Asensio has emerged as something of a surprise target.

The 23-year-old made 44 appearances in 2018-19, scoring six goals and laying on seven assists.

He remains a key part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans and that appears to be evidenced by Real’s stance to Spurs’ enquiry; the report claims that Real instantly referred the London club to the star’s release clause, which currently stands at £617m.

El Chiringuito also claim that Asensio intends to remain in Spain this summer, making any potential transfer incredibly unlikely.

Levy stance backfires

This comes amid news that Real Madrid are tracking playmaker Christian Eriksen.

Chairman Daniel Levy, of course, demands a pretty penny for his first-team stars and reports claim that he values the Denmark international as highly as £140m.

It seems here, then, that Real are simply playing him at his own game.

An enquiry has reportedly gone in for Asensio and it has been answered in perhaps the least surprising way possible.

He is a fully-fledged Spain international and a major first-team player at Santiago Bernabeu; a move was never going to be straightforward.

But, because it’s Levy, Real have appeared to up the stakes.

It remains to be seen, of course, if it will have an impact on their pursuit of Eriksen.