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Heading into the final stretch of an excitingÂfirst campaign back in the Premier League, the principal objective for Leeds United was always to secure their position amongst the English elite. Another couple of wins would probably be enoughÂas the club starts to look ahead, weighing up how to build upon solid foundations, ready to continue making progress next season.One area planned for reinforcement is the defensive unit, both in terms of manpower available to Marcelo Bielsa, and to afford him additional tactical options. With this in mind, sources in Spain inform that Leeds United have been monitoring the situation of Domingos Duarte, the Portuguese international centre-back at Granada CF.26-year-old Duarte has been a revelationÂover the last two seasons atÂGranada, as they continue to defy the 2021 Europa League betting odds, having now reached the quarter-finals of the competition. The consistency and reliability of his form has been a key contributing factor, which has inevitably caught the attention of bigger clubs in Spain and around Europe.

Duarte offers power and precision

Tall and powerful, standing at 6 feet 4 inches, Domingos Duarte combines an impressive physical presence with superb technical ability, which is underpinned by sound tactical and positional awareness. Often seen making perfectly timed challenges and quickly recycling possession, Duarte is also confident with the ball at his feet, able to distribute passes of any range with great accuracy.

Such a multi-faceted centre-back would be a hugely attractive addition for Bielsa, ideally suited to his coaching methodology and tactical ideas. Duarte is also capable of adapting quickly to those concepts and to English football, although Leeds would face tough negotiations to get their man.

According to current Transfermarkt estimates, Duarte has a market value of around €12 million. However, Spanish sources informÂthat Granada would be unwilling to let him go at that price. The existing contract of Duarte runs until June 2023, including a minimum release clause valuationÂof €30 million, and that will beÂthe starting point of any haggling over price.

Possible cash plus Casilla option

Some hard bargaining could reduce the price-tag for Duarte, while there’s also the possibility that Leeds could offer one of their players in part-exchange. Granada will have to replace their excellent goalkeeper Rui Silva this summer, who turned down a new deal and will head to Real Betis next season.

This means that Granada are in the market for a new shot-stopper, making 34-year-old Kiko Casilla the ideal makeweight in any potential move for Duarte. Despite being first choice in the Championship last season, Casilla has only appeared once in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup this term, both of which came in January.

However, the key stumbling block in such a scenario would be contract negotiations. Casilla is currently on a deal worth £1.67 million per season at Elland Road, which lasts until 2023. This would leave him faced with a tough choice to make, whether to remain at Leeds United or join Granada as their first choice keeper, albeit on roughly half the annual salary.

West Ham United would be throwing money away if David Sullivan were to sanction a mid-season loan for FC Barcelona outcast Junior Firpo.

What’s the word?

According to Calcio Napoli 24, Firpo’s representatives have been in contact with a clutch of potential suitors to sound out their interest in signing the left-back in the January transfer window.

West Ham have reportedly not responded to the approach as of yet, but if they do want to sign the player, they will face competition from SSC Napoli, who Gianluca Di Marzio adds have asked for further information on the terms of any temporary deal for the £38,000-per-week defender.

Firpo is believed to favour a move to the Premier League if he is to leave the Camp Nou this winter, but Napoli remain in the hunt in case they manage to offload one of Kevin Malcuit, Elseid Hysaj or Faouzi Ghoulam.

West Ham were credited with an interest in signing Firpo last month following Arthur Masuaku undergoing career-saving knee surgery, with it noted at the time that Barcelona were eager to offload the defender as they strive to reduce their enormous wage bill.

Firpo has continued to live life on the fringes under Ronald Koeman since the Irons’ interest was previously claimed, playing just nine minutes of La Liga football in 2021 to bring his record over 10 appearances to 351 minutes across all competitions.

The last of his league outings even came at right-back as a late substitute for Sergino Dest, to continue a trend of playing out of position with no appearances in his natural left-back role during a La Liga game thus far this season.

Throwing money away

West Ham moving to sign Firpo on loan in the January transfer window would likely only serve to see Sullivan throw his money away by taking on the Barcelona outcast’s wages, as David Moyes already has options at full-back who warrant minutes.

Koeman was willing to field Firpo in his natural left-back role during stages of Barcelona’s Champions League Group Stage campaign, which saw the 24-year-old offer just 0.2 key passes and 0.4 shots while completing a mere 0.6 dribbles and making 0.6 successful tackles, per SofaScore.

Moyes would struggle to see those type of numbers match up and better those of Aaron Creswell at the London Stadium, who has put his initial rustiness to the side to begin shining at full-back once more in place of the injured Masuaku.

Cresswell has continually been defensively solid over the festive period and strong going forward, particularly from set-pieces with his ferocious power, and helped West Ham to begin setting their own tone at Chelsea after the Blues started the stronger of the two sides.

The £6m-rated star’s efforts have helped him to deliver seven crosses a game in the Premier League when fielded at left-back, with Cresswell finding a West Ham player with two of his efforts, per WhoScored. Comparably, Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson – considered as one of the best left-backs in the world – offers 2.2 accurate crosses from 9.4 deliveries a game.

Cresswell also produces 0.7 shots and the joint-most key passes per league game (1.4) by an Irons player with Tomas Soucek, among those who have played more than five times under Moyes this term.

Defensively, Cresswell is further successful with half of his 1.4 tackles a game, offers 1.3 interceptions – more than Masuaku had (0.5) – and makes 1.9 blocks, while offering at least twice as many assists (4) so far this season than anyone else in the Hammers squad.

Moyes also has Ben Johnson who can provide cover for Cresswell, and he did little wrong when fielded in the FA Cup earlier this month with a solid defensive showing from the 20-year-old.

West Ham might be eyeing new additions this month but a cast-off left-back isn’t needed at this time.

AND in other news, a £4.5m-rated brute was West Ham’s true star of the show vs Burnley.

Chelsea have sacked club legend Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge following a mixed bag of results. His final game was the Sunday’s fourth-round win over Luton in the FA Cup.

Roman Abramovich has never been one for hanging around as former Paris St-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel has been named as Lampard’s immediate successor and he will be in charge when they play host to Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Here at Football FanCast, here’s what we think the starting XI will look like for the big game.

We’re backing Edouard Mendy to keep his place in goal for the Blues this evening, having played most Premier League games this season.

In terms of defence, things look rather straightforward, with much of Lampard’s former side remaining intact. Tuchel will most likely stick with the tried-and-tested partnership of Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva, who played under the German at Paris Saint-Germain.

Reece James will probably keep his place at right-back while Cesar Azpilicueta will be forced to settle for a place on the bench, and Ben Chilwell will almost certainly replace Emerson Palmieri at left-back.

The new coach knows he needs to get Timo Werner and Kai Havertz firing again, with the dup having initially struggled for form since the start of this season, which partly led to Lampard’s sacking.

Using Havertz as a No.10 makes most sense, so he’ll probably resort to using Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic as the holding midfielders whilst N’Golo Kante recovers from injury.

Out wide, the options pretty much pick themselves, as Tuchel is set for a reunion with his former charge Christian Pulisic, with Callum Hudson-Odoi on the opposite flank. Don’t be surprised to see Hakim Ziyech feature at some point in the second half, though.

Leeds United have made an admirable start to their first season back in England’s top flight after 16 years of waiting.

The Whites have already banked impressive results including a win over Everton and a surprise 1-1 draw against Manchester City.

However, Marcelo Bielsa seems to rely too much on star striker Patrick Bamford and this has been made clear on several occasions this campaign.

Indeed, the 27-year-old is the club’s top scorer this term by some margin with eight goals. The next highest scoring Leeds player is Mateusz Klich, who has just two to his name (via BBC Sport).

The gap in stats in worrying for the Whites, who are in need of an extra injection of creativity.

Rob Lee spoke to Football FanCast about this and he believes that Victor Orta must take to the market in January and recruit a partner for Bamford.

“Patrick Bamford has done brilliant, I think he’s done a fantastic job,” the ex-midfielder said. “He’s their focal point, he plays every game, he’s scoring goals – which people probably questioned whether he would in the Premier League. But I think they need someone who can help him.”

Whilst Leeds aren’t in any danger right now, they risk slipping into extremely hot water if Bamford is to pick up an injury at all throughout the season. Bielsa also risks over-working him as he is currently the only source of the team’s goals.

Come January, Orta and Andrea Radrizzani must put their heads together and poach someone who can lighten the load on Bamford’s shoulders and help the Whites develop their attack.

In other news, Signing Dean Henderson will only hinder growth of Illan Meslier…

Chelsea will look to kickstart 2021 in style when they play host to Manchester City in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

After tasting defeat at Arsenal, the Blues bounced back with a hard-fought draw at home to Aston Villa and Frank Lampard’s side will want to get back to winning ways when they take on the Citizens in a crunch clash in the top half of the table.

Lampard has confirmed Reece James has been ruled out due to injury. However, the Blues boss is hopeful Hakim Ziyech will be in contention to start on Sunday after working his way back to fitness.

Here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up for this afternoon’s action, which sees Lampard make four changes to the team that drew with Dean Smith’s side.

Lampard faces some tough decisions as he’ll be desperate to start the year with a bang and will not want to let the disappointment from the defeat to Arsenal fester for any longer.

It’s hard to tell exactly where the changes will be made, but what’s certain is he’ll likely bring first-team regular starters Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma back into the fold after Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger were noticeably poor at the back.

Despite the fact he has failed to keep a clean sheet in his past two appearances, new summer recruit Edouard Mendy will keep his place in goal at the Bridge behind a back four of Ben Chilwell, Cesar Azpilicueta, Silva and Zouma.

Lampard will probably deploy a midfield three consisting of Mason Mount, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.

Maybe Ziyech could come back in, but Callum Hudson-Odoi has been in such fine form in recent weeks, we’ve given the Blues academy graduate our backing, with the ever-reliable Christian Pulisic keeping his place on the left wing.

Upfront, things get a little more interesting, as Tammy Abraham is likely to lead the line, which means there is no room for Olivier Giroud despite the Frenchman getting on the scoresheet against Villa. Both Giroud and Timo Werner will have to settle for a spot on the bench, such is the strength in Lampard’s squad.

According to The Daily Mirror, Newcastle are one of a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing Burnley midfielder Jack Cork.

What’s the story?

The 31-year-old’s contract expires at the end of this current season, and with the Clarets involved in rumours of a potential takeover, his long-term future at Turf Moor is up in the air.

The Daily Mirror claim that along with Newcastle, the likes of Brighton and Sheffield United are also keeping an eye on developments, with a view to potentially landing him on a free transfer.

He’d be an Isaac Hayden upgrade

Having missed Burnley’s clash against the Magpies earlier this season, the last time Cork took to the field against the Tyneside club was back in February, when the two sides played out a rather drab 0-0 draw at St James’ Park.

One man who stood out was the Clarets’ 6 foot 1 machine, who dominated the midfield battle against Jonjo Shelvey. Playing that screening role against Ashley Westwood, Cork was a constant menace in shutting down the Newcastle engine room, and he finished the game with eight duels won and having made seven defensive contributions.

He completely bullied Shelvey in the middle of the park, who was one of the Magpies’ poorest performers – according to Sofascore, his 6.6 match rating was only better than that of Joelinton. He lost possession 19 times and averaged a shocking 61% pass accuracy, thanks in part to the way in which Cork pressed him non-stop.

Newcastle already have an anchor man in Isaac Hayden, but Cork could be a real upgrade on the 25-year-old. Whilst both averaged similar numbers for the key defensive areas last season in the Premier League, the Burnley man outshone him in possession. He boasted more touches per match, had a far greater accuracy when it comes to forward passes into the opposition’s half, and had a significantly better dribble success rate.

Cork would give Newcastle a solid shield to their back-line, but also offer them a little more in way of moving the ball forwards and starting attacks.

Leeds United and their fans will be delighted with their recent Premier League result which saw them come away from Goodison Park with a hard-fought three points. The victory lifts them higher up the table, just one point behind Manchester City.

It was winger Raphinha who came to the rescue with a late goal to tip the scales in his side’s favour. Marcelo Bielsa was thrilled with his performance and lauded Victor Orta for signing him in his recent post-match press conference.

However, the boss didn’t have praise for all of his players and targeted Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas and Mateusz Klich for their struggles to keep James Rodriguez in check.

“We made a conscious effort to have someone close to him throughout so that he was not able to do the thing he likes to do the most,” Bielsa said. “And despite the efforts of Dallas, Cooper and Klich, he was a player who was very difficult to neutralise.”

Indeed, Rodriguez was Everton’s most dangerous player and he caused the Whites a lot of trouble. According to Sofascore, the Colombian completed five key passes and created a big chance for the Toffees to score. He also had two shots on target and was successful in 100% of his attempted dribbles, highlighting just how much of a thorn in the side he was for the Leeds defence.

Bielsa and his men will face Chelsea in their next outing and will need to tighten up their defence if they want to keep the likes of Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham at bay. The Blues pose a huge threat in front of goal and Leeds simply cannot afford to be lax at the back.

Skipper Cooper will particularly be disappointed and he must improve his and his defensive teammates’ game to stand a chance next weekend.

In other news, This Leeds ace was Bielsa’s star man against Everton…

Glasgow Rangers dodged a bullet by not signing Juninho Bacuna from Huddersfield Town in the summer…

What’s the word?

Recent reports had revealed that Rangers were interested in a move for the 4-cap Curacao international, with the club keep to take him on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy.

The Sun’s Alan Nixon added that Steven Gerrard was searching for an attacking midfielder, as the Ibrox outfit had enquired about Bacuna’s availability, but their request had been rejected, and they ended up bringing in Bongani Zungu on a season-long loan deal from Amiens instead.

Rangers dodged a bullet!

Bacuna clearly has bags of potential, that much is almost obvious, but his inexperience would’ve made this a hard sell with supporters. He broke through the ranks at FC Groningen after scoring 13 goals for their academy teams, via Transfermarkt. Since then, it’s fair to say that he has struggled for consistency so far, as he has only managed to score seven goals in 68 appearances for the Terriers in all competitions.

When you consider that Glen Kamara, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield have been in such fine form in recent weeks, and that’s without even mentioning Ryan Jack, it’s difficult to see which player would’ve been forced to make room for him in the Rangers midfield.

Coupled with the fact that the 23-year-old earns weekly wages worth £17,000, which is more than what Arfield earns every week, it’s safe to say that it would’ve been a nightmare move for the Gers. The last thing that Gerrard needs is an inconsistent, inexperienced midfielder, who would cost a fair amount of money. It almost doesn’t bear to think about.

Former Terriers striker Dale Tempest once criticised the £4.95m-rated ace for his inability to concentrate during a game, saying he often “falls asleep”. He told The Examiner: “He is a technically brilliant player and physically fantastic, but tactically and mentally he falls asleep and doesn’t fully fulfil his responsibilities in a central role.

“Every time I watch a Town game, I swear to myself and to anyone I am with – I wish Bacuna would stop rolling his foot over the ball!!”

Hardly the stuff that legends are made of, that’s for sure. Rangers will be glad that they signed Zungu instead. Now they just have to make sure that he is fully fit and firing on all cylinders.

AND in other news, Rangers must watch out for Standard Liege’s Mehdi Carcela in Europa League…

Leeds United have a number of talented young players on their books, but with the club now battling it out in the Premier League, some of these players have had to be loaned out in order to earn some first-team experience.

Robbie Gotts is tipped to join Huddersfield or Hull in the coming days, while Alfie McCalmont and Jordan Stevens have already departed on a temporary basis.

Stevens made his first start for Swindon Town on Saturday, and his career for the Robins got off to the best possible start.

Seven minutes into his first game Stevens scored an absolute cracker that would have certainly caught Marcelo Bielsa’s eye.

In a very Bielsa-esque phase of play, Stevens showed exactly what he’s about sliding in to win the ball back high up the pitch before playing a one-two that saw him free on the edge of the Burton box.

The winger then took aim, firing the ball low towards the far post, with the ball nestling in the bottom corner to put his new side 1-0 up.

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The move had Bielsa’s fingerprints all over it with Stevens’ pressing intensity and work-rate directly leading to the goal.

Unfortunately, things quietened down after that goal, with the 20-year-old not having another shot for the rest of the game.

However, his defensive stats throughout the whole match do stand out, especially when you consider he was playing on the wing.

The youngster made two tackles and one interception during the match, and with Bielsa emphasising pressing and defensive output from his attackers, it’s good to see that his influence has seemingly rubbed off on Stevens.

It’s a long season, but if the Leeds loanee can keep this form up throughout the campaign he could be one to watch.

Crystal Palace cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win over Leeds United at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Roy Hodgson’s side took the lead when Scott Dann headed a corner from Eberechi Eze into the back of the net, with Eze scoring his first goal for the club in sensational style with a sublime free-kick shortly after Leeds striker Patrick Bamford was denied an equaliser after his effort was ruled out by VAR due to the fact that his outstretched arm was offside.

Bamford pulled one back by finding the bottom corner, but his efforts were ultimately in vain as an own goal from his teammate Helder Costa and a goal from Palace striker Jordan Ayew secured the victory.

Patrick van Aanholt put in an impressive performance, Ayew was magnificent, but Scott Dann sent Hodgson a timely reminder with his defensive masterclass.

Reports in recent times revealed that several Premier League clubs are keen to make a cut-price move for the defender in the winter transfer market.

SofaScore gave Dann a high grade of 7.7 for his efforts (only Eze scored higher) – the centre-back completed 19 out of 21 passes at a pass completion rate of 90%, blocked one shot, made one interception and a staggering eight clearances, whilst he also won four out of five duels overall (80%), took 33 touches of the ball and wasn’t dribbled past once, which suggests that he managed to keep Bamford at bay for most of the game.

Similarly, the 33-year-old received a higher rating of 8/10 from Sky Sports, whilst football.london went one below, claiming he scored “a great header to open the scoring” and “maintained control for much of the game”, although he “lost Bamford for Leeds’ opening goal, however”, which is perhaps a little unfair. 90Min awarded him with the same score, saying he “led the line excellent and scored an outrageous header to give his side the lead as well.”

Palace have often been accused of lacking leadership in the past but Dann showed that he is both comfortable on the ball and confident without possession as he marshalled the defence in the absence of Gary Cahill and James Tomkins.

It’s worth pointing out that Leeds enjoyed a whopping 65% possession of the ball but they couldn’t make their overwhelming majority of possession count where it mattered the most. Once again, the wily veteran has shown that he is more than capable of delivering the goods, having started three wins out of four so far this season. So, Hodgson must keep the £2.5m-rated beast at all costs, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Tyrick Mitchell’s injury is a timely boost for Patrick van Aanholt’s Crystal Palace career…