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With the latest international break currently in full flow, there is still an obvious exclusion from the latest England squad.

That man is Leeds United frontman Patrick Bamford.

The former Crystal Palace loanee has enjoyed a tremendous season in front of goal in the Premier League, scoring 14 goals and providing seven assists for Marcelo Bielsa’s men – form which has seen Clinton Morrison label the striker as “unplayable”.

Whilst Leeds will be thrilled with Bamford’s lethal goalscoring touch throughout the 2020/21 season, Palace will be tinged with slight disappointment having seen the striker flop miserably in a period at Selhurst Park, especially considering that two of his goals this term have come against Roy Hodgson’s men.

Joining on loan from Chelsea in 2015, the then-21-year-old was fresh off the back of a stunning season in the Championship, having plundered 17 goals with Middlesbrough and also scooping the division’s Player of the Year award.

He displayed no such form for the Eagles, though, with Bamford’s only contribution in a Palace shirt being a solitary assist in a 4-1 League Cup thumping of Charlton Athletic.

In all, the striker made just nine poor performances for Palace in a miserable five months at Selhurst Park before he was recalled by parent club Chelsea, then subsequently joining fellow Premier League outfit Norwich City on another temporary deal. He also made another seven appearances in Norfolk, once again failing to get on the scoresheet.

To Bamford’s credit, he was only afforded four starts in all competitions across those two loan spells, so his talent might not have been fully justified by his performances.

Now, with the Leeds striker firmly in the conversation for England recognition due to a spectacular season, Palace might well be frustrated that they did not spot that potential whilst he was donning an Eagles shirt.

AND in more news, read about which Championship starlet is apparently interesting Steve Parish…

Norwich City host Brentford at Carrow Road looking to extend their lead at the top of the Championship to ten points.

The Canaries have won their last five games to build up a seven-point gap between themselves and Thomas Frank’s side, who have recovered from a recent slump with back-to-back victories over Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City after three consecutive defeats.

But what is more important is the ten-point gap to third-place Watford, which puts the Norfolk side in a commanding position to make an immediate return to the Premier League.

At present, the biggest threat facing Norwich’s automatic promotion prospects is from Swansea City, who could move to within five points of Daniel Farke’s men should they win their two games in hand.

Farke’s side head into tonight’s contest hoping for an improved performance after labouring to a 2-0 victory away at Wycombe Wanderers on Sunday.

Second-half goals from Teemu Pukki and Adam Idah were enough to overcome a spirited Chairboys side that were still in contention to get a surprise result until the latter’s 87th-minute strike.

So how do we expect Norwich to line up?

Todd Cantwell is set to miss out on this top-of-the-table clash with a calf problem, in what is the only real injury concern for Farke.

We are tipping Przemyslaw Placheta to make a return to the side at the expense of Onel Hernandez, but we expect Norwich to field a largely similar line-up to the one that beat Wycombe on Sunday.

The Polish winger has 21 Championship appearances to his name so far and Farke described him as an “unbelievably interesting” player upon his arrival from Slask Wroclaw in the summer.

There is expected to be very little between the sides on the night and after a 1-1 draw in this season’s reverse fixture at the Brentford Community Stadium, this could be another cagey encounter.

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to build on their recent upturn in form with another three points against Crystal Palace on Sunday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s side have impressed in recent wins against Wolfsberger and Burnley, before picking up another hard-fought win and clean sheet in their game against Fulham earlier this week.

The top four is still a possibility for the North London club but they must win games like these if they are to be in with a chance of securing a strong finish in the Premier League this season.

Here’s how Football FanCast thinks Mourinho will line his side up at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, with three changes from the side that started against Fulham…

Hugo Lloris unsurprisingly keeps his place in goal after recording back-t0-back clean sheets against Burnley and Fulham.

There are two changes in defence, as Mourinho once again rotates his full-backs, as Sergio Reguilon replaces Ben Davies at left-back, whilst Serge Aurier has recovered from his injury and is likely to come in for Matt Doherty.

The midfield duo of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele stays the same after some impressive performances in recent games.

There is one change in attack, as despite playing a big part in the winning goal in midweek, Dele Alli drops to the bench in place of Lucas Moura, as after not starting in the Premier League for so long, Mourinho may not trust the Englishman to start consecutive games in such quick succession.

When the Portuguese manager first took over, he dubbed Alli “fantastic” for his performances and whilst he is starting to show glimpses of rediscovering that form, he is unlikely to play every game considering the number of options Spurs have in his position.

Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Gareth Bale complete the attack, and they will be hoping to show a similar level of understanding and potency in attack as they did in the 4-0 win against Burnley in their last home fixture.

And, in other news… Jose must unleash “aggressive” beast vs Palace; he can be the game-changer

It might have been a nerve-wracking win for Leeds United, but it was a win nonetheless.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side clung onto a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League on Tuesday night, courtesy of strikes from Raphinha and Jack Harrison.

Raphinha in particular looked dangerous, scoring one and then setting up Harrison’s winner with a delightful ball in behind the Magpies defence.

But whilst the Brazilian showed why Leeds spent big money to bring him in from Ligue 1 side Rennes in the summer, it was Illan Meslier who really produced a match-winning display for the Whites.

The Frenchman, who joined on a permanent basis last summer, was in inspired form in between the sticks, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that particularly in the second-half, he was the sole reason why Leeds kept a hold of all three points.

The £10.8m-rated ace made a number of crucial stops, not least an acrobatic stop to tip over a thumping Jonjo Shelvey header from an inswinging corner.

And then, with just ten minutes to go, he made a sprawling one-handed save to deny Fabian Schar from equalising and snatching a point for the home side.

It was a credit to the giant French stopper that he took a couple of hefty blows to the face – including a really painful looking knee to the jaw from Jacob Murphy – and still kept strong.

Writing for The Yorkshire Evening Post, Graham Smyth gave Meslier a match rating of 8, saying: “One or two dicey moments but he made some really important saves to keep Leeds ahead in the game. The one from Shelvey was top class”.

Described as “incredible” by former Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford, Meslier once again proved on Tuesday night why he seems to be a “remarkable” piece of business from Victor Orta and co.

Smyth said: “He’s been great, hasn’t he? For a 20-year-old, for £5m, I mean Victor Orta – it feels almost illegal what he’s done getting a player of that quality at that age for £5m, remarkable business.”

Orta must be absolutely buzzing with how his bargain signing continues to fare. Leeds struck a dream deal in bringing Meslier in permanently in the summer, given how cheap they got him for. And after he came back into the line-up against Newcastle, and produced some match-winning saves, it’s so clear that he seems to be worth every penny.

So whilst Raphinha may take a lot of the headlines for being involved in both of Leeds’ goals, but it was Bielsa’s titan at the back that really sealed the Whites three points.

Meanwhile, Leeds United are facing a transfer disaster that could frustrate Marcelo Bielsa…

When Steven Gerrard confirmed five players had been removed from the Rangers squad after a Covid breach, there was a collective groan from most supporters.

Rangers are flying right now with the 54-time Scottish champions four wins away from claiming the club’s first league title in a decade.

After finishing second for the second time in as many seasons, there was a sense that the club would have to be brave and daring in the transfer market last summer.

And the Gers did not disappoint, signing the likes of Calvin Bassey, Leon Balogun, Jermain Defoe, Cedric Itten, Jon McLaughlin, Kemar Roofe and Bongani Zungu, before bringing in Nnamdi Ofoborh, Jack Simpson and Scott Wright in the latest transfer window.

With Gerrard’s side 15 points clear of Celtic, the club should be brimming with a sense of belief, yet they have been brought crashing back down to earth after two of the aforementioned players breached coronavirus protocols.

Another one was Nathan Patterson, who has been a fringe player for the Gers this season and was briefly linked with a loan move away from Ibrox in January.

Patterson has shown glimpses of his quality during his limited time with the first team since breaking through the academy ranks.

He played 66′ minutes against Lech Poznan in the Europa League and followed that up with 22′ minutes against Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.

And although he has since been relegated to the fringes of Gerrard’s squad this season, his temporary absence will still leave Rangers short at right-back.

James Tavernier is the club’s only other recognised player in that position and at 29, is arguably Gerrard’s most trusted lieutenant, having started every Premiership game so far this season with 11 goals and 10 assists to show for his 29 starts.

Unfortunately for Gerrard, however, Tavernier was forced off in the first half of the 4-3 win over Antwerp and this has posed some awkward questions for Ross Wilson and co, as it has left the right flank looking rather vulnerable. Patterson could still prove to be a fine player, but Rangers clearly need reinforcements in the summer.

And so it is baffling that they didn’t bolster an area where they evidently lack depth, as they failed to add a single player in this position. Beyond Tavernier, Rangers currently do not have another reliable right-back near the peak of their game. Now they will have to cling to the hope that he hasn’t suffered a long-term injury or at the very least one that will have a significant impact on his performance levels between now and the end of the season.

AND in other Rangers news, Rangers receive James Tavernier injury boost before Antwerp Europa League clash…

Manchester United prevented Liverpool from recapturing first place in the Premier League with a goalless draw at Anfield on Sunday.

The result extended the Red Devils’ unbeaten league run to 12 games stretching all the way back to the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, but after winning three of their previous four, their momentum has somewhat stalled.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remain three points clear of the Reds at the top of the table but it was a game that utterly failed to live up to the pre-match hype and build-up.

However, their remarkable turnaround in form after a difficult start to the season has since led to some, including club legend Paul Scholes, proclaiming them as worthy title challengers and, in that regard, this was a significant milestone, as they kept a clean sheet against a side that have scored the highest amount of goals this season so far.

It was a game dominated by the defences that ultimately came down to one kick. Paul Pogba came closest to securing a vital three points from close range, only to be denied by the outstretched arms of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson in the dying stages of the game. Perhaps his late miss could prove costly in the title race as the two teams find themselves separated by a mere three points.

Apart from that, the Frenchman will have done himself no harm whatsoever with his latest display, earning the following review from The Manchester Evening News: ‘an unusual choice on the right-hand side but performed respectably. Was never going to boss the game in that role but almost won it.’

Everything Pogba does either on the pitch or off it brings attention; attention which brings scrutiny when the focus should be on Harry Maguire instead – for all the right reasons.

The club captain was a colossal at the back for Solskjaer’s side in his 17th top-flight appearance of the season.

Having arrived at Old Trafford from Leicester City for a world record fee for a defender in 2019, the England international hasn’t had the easiest of starts at the Theatre of Dreams but he’s finally starting to look the part at United, and slowly but surely, he’s living up to his colossal price tag.

Solskjaer has struggled to find a defensive partner for Maguire, who earns around £189,000-per-week at Old Trafford, with Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly battling to bag the spot and there are still question marks over both. However, the club legend’s decision to start Lindelof alongside the captain paid off almost immediately.

Maguire blocked more shots (5) and made more clearances (6) than any other player on the pitch, showing he put up a strong fight in the defence as he largely neutralised Liverpool’s attack, as per SofaScore.

The 27-year-old won every battle there was to win at the back, winning five from five duels overall (100%), and it was a dominant performance from the skipper. His control at the back and on the ball set the tone for the rest of the match as he took 53 touches of the ball and tried to spray long balls (4) over the top, the second-highest amount out of any United player, which shows he was a useful asset in attack as well.

Such was his level of dominance that Jurgen Klopp’s side only managed three shots on target from a whopping 17 attempts as they resorted to several hopeful potshots.

It’s the kind of performance that United fans have recently come to expect from the club captain, and there’s no doubting the fact that Solskjaer will be delighted with his defensive shift.

AND in other news, Woodward must sanction Man Utd swoop for West Ham’s Declan Rice…

After avenging their defeat to St. Mirren last time out, Glasgow Rangers play host to Celtic at Ibrox Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Premiership league leaders wasted no time at all to exact their revenge over Saints, and find themselves in a hot streak heading into the clash with Celtic.

Steven Gerrard faces some tough decisions before the second Old Firm derby of the season, namely whether to recall Ryan Kent, while Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack have been ruled out due to injury. Kent’s struggles have been well-documented in recent weeks, with the 24-year-old failing to find the back of the net in each of his past five appearances.

The Light Blues boss opted to snub Kent against St. Mirren after his recent run of form to give him some brief respite and allow him to recharge his batteries.

But if he is fully fit and firing on all cylinders, he simply has to be one of the first names on the team sheet to face Celtic.

There’s no denying the fact that Kent is still one of the biggest creative influences on the flanks – only James Tavernier has contributed to more goals across all competitions than the left winger this season.

He’s levels above the rest in terms of his passing ability – since the start of the season, the former Liverpool academy player has averaged 2.3 key passes per game in the Scottish Premiership, via WhoScored.

It would be a heinous mistake from Gerrard to leave him out from the off, as he underlined his credentials after opening the scoring in the 2-0 victory over their arch rivals in the Old Firm derby in 2019.

The Ibrox boss reserved special praise for Kent after he claimed the Scottish Premiership Player of the Month earlier this season, saying: “Ryan Kent has been top class and hasn’t let any noise affect him, he is scoring goals and looking very dangerous. He is really taking it to opposition teams and he’s settled and enjoying his football.

“Kent deserves to be Player of the Month and has been in sensational form. He has been fantastic to work with.”

Similarly, his former manager Tony Mowbray was equally effusive in his praise for his young charge, adding he has a “fantastic ability to pick the ball up and run our team 60 yards up the pitch.”

If Gerrard does decide to bring Kent back into the fold, he simply has to start against Celtic.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard dealt huge blow as Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield ruled out of Old Firm clash…

David Moyes has raised doubt over Fabian Balbuena’s involvement in West Ham United’s starting line-up for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Sheffield United, where Michail Antonio could make his return from injury.

Balbuena was the last of the Irons first-team to return from the November international break having travelled to South America to represent Paraguay in their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying campaign, clocking a 12,500-mile round trip.

The centre-half added a further 3,000-miles to his odometer by flying to Buenos Aires and back for a showdown with Argentina, leaving Moyes questioning whether or not the 29-year-old should feature at Bramall Lane.

“There is a concern with how long he has been away and he wasn’t arriving back until very late in the afternoon [on Thursday], so it is something we need to look at,” Moyes told football.london. “The one good thing is that we do have an extra day to prepare as we are playing on Sunday so that gives us a little bit of extra time.”

So, with doubt over Balbuena’s involvement, here’s a predicted line-up Moyes could favour as he strives to win successive Premier League games for the second time this season…

While addressing Balbuena’s situation, Moyes confirmed that Issa Diop or summer arrival Craig Dawson will start in place of the 16-cap international if he is not fit to play.

Diop lost his place in the side earlier in the season after testing positive for coronavirus and has featured for just 27-minutes since, with Moyes persisting with a backline of Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell beside Balbuena with Lukasz Fabianski in goal.

That pairing returned wins over Leicester City and London rivals Fulham and draws with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, while restricting Liverpool to nine shots – five on target – in defeat at Anfield, far below the Reds’ division-high average 16.6 a game.

Dawson, meanwhile, is yet to feature outside of the EFL Cup since joining the Hammers from Watford on loan in the summer, but will find himself facing an uphill struggle to start ahead of Diop, who Jose Mourinho lauded as “a monster who dominated in the duels” after a 3-1 defeat while in charge of Manchester United.

Moyes is unlikely to favour wholesale changes to his starting line-up after just one defeat in their last six Premier League games, meaning continued roles at full-back for Arthur Masuaku and Vladimir Coufal while Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice continue at centre-mid.

Rice excelled during the international break while representing England in the UEFA Nations League, with the 21-year-old producing a goalscoring display while earning his 13th-cap at home to Iceland that more than caught Moyes’ attention.

“The big thing is that he’s improving with the team here – It’s been great,” the Hammers boss said. “He’s learning an awful lot from the people he’s around. His performance for England was exceptional – there were a lot of young England players on the pitch but his performance was so good.

“He’s maturing. He’s picking up from good people, like Mark Noble. I think from Declan’s point of view it’s continuing to learn – see what good leaders look like. We’re trying to get him to take more leadership, more responsibility, and he’s certainly doing that.”

Moyes has also been full of praise for wingers Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen, stating that the pair are playing too well to be dropped so that he can offer Said Benrahma his first start.

“The boys in the team are playing really well [so] it’s not easy to say sorry, we’re bringing someone else in,” said Moyes, via quotes by the Evening Standard. “So, I think still bringing him in gently, slowly is the best way, and he’s been away for a couple of weeks with Algeria, so we’ve not had him on site all the time.”

Fornals has provided two goals and two assists so far this season, while Bowen ranks as West Ham’s join-top scorer in the league with three strikes but has not fired home since October’s win away to Leicester, failed to register any shots against Man City or Liverpool and missed the target with three of his four shots versus Fulham, per WhoScored.

One change Moyes could not rule out while speaking to the media ahead of facing Sheffield United was the return of Antonio, with the striker making good progress in training as he strives to recover from a hamstring injury that forced his withdrawal at home to Man City.

“He’s back doing training. We’ve got a couple of days yet to see how he is. The truth is I couldn’t give you a complete answer, but he’s getting much closer that’s for sure,” said Moyes.

West Ham supporters will be hopeful that Antonio can be passed fit to start with the 30-year-old joint-top scorer with Bowen and responsible for the joint-most shots (18), most shots on target (9), second-most successful dribbles (13) and aerial duels won (17) by a West Ham player in the league this term, per WhoScored.

Sebastien Haller was unable to prove himself in Antonio’s absence to warrant another start under Moyes, who saw the £115,000-a-week man signed by Manuel Pellegrini for a club-record £45m offer zero shots against Man City or Liverpool, one shot on target against Fulham, no successful dribbles in any of his seven appearances and misplace at least 40% of his passes in each game featuring more than two minutes this season, per WhoScored.

AND in other news, GSB would be heading for disaster replacing a key David Moyes player with a “fantastic” prospect.

Takumi Minamino once again failed to impress when given a rare opportunity to start against FC Midtjylland on Wednesday night and those at the club should now admit their transfer mistake and let him go.

The Japanese international joined Liverpool from RB Salzburg in January but has struggled in his first year with the Reds, having made 27 appearances for the club, contributing just three goals and one assist (per Transfermarkt).

His performances this season have been less than impressive too, as in six Premier League appearances, he has averaged a shocking 6.10 rating, whilst his appearances in the Champions League have resulted in a poor 6.32 rating (per WhoScored).

However, Wednesday night’s performance should be the final nail in the coffin for the 25-year-old, as Jurgen Klopp would have been hoping to see him step up as one of the few senior players on the pitch but instead he was dominated by Midtjylland’s midfield.

As per SofaScore, Minamino picked up a 6.5 rating for his performance against the Danish side, which was better than just Leighton Clarkson and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s match ratings.

The former Salzburg man enjoyed just 42 touches of the ball during his time on the pitch, completing 20/25 of his passes, resulting in a pass accuracy rate of 80%.

He also won just 5/14 of his duels on Wednesday and was dribbled past on four occasions, suggesting that he was second best on a number of occasions.

Although he was unfortunate that his late goal was ruled out due to a baffling VAR call, the midfielder’s overall performance was far from good enough.

When you consider that Minamino earns £75k per week at Liverpool but struggles to impress on his rare starts, usually against inferior opposition, you wonder how much longer the Japanese international has at the Merseyside club, as it could definitely be argued that he is bleeding Michael Edwards dry at the moment.

Earlier in Liverpool’s Champions League campaign, Klopp praised the 25-year-old for his performance against Ajax, saying:

“Taki is a machine. He’s everywhere, he defends like a devil and then offensively he’s really involved. Nice one-twos together with Diogo on the side where they came into the box.”

However, Minamino was clearly not at his best again on Wednesday and at times it is difficult to see what he really offers to this Liverpool side, so it will be interesting to see how long the German manager continues to keep faith in him.

And, in other news… 11 duels won: “Incredible” LFC beast was Klopp’s surprise star man on Wednesday

Wolverhampton Wanderers head into the international break knowing that several of their key stars will be in action for their respective countries, mainly Portugal.

Although a surprise name has been called up to the senior side for the very first time in his career as young midfield prospect Owen Otasowie is in line to feature for the USA when they face Wales and Panama.

The 19-year-old, born in New York City, will join the likes of Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson for their November camp across Europe.

Otasowie has only featured once under Nuno Santo since his emergence in the academy set-up, coming on as a substitute during their 4-0 win over Besiktas in the Europa League last season, but his recent presence in the matchday squad for two Premier League fixtures suggests he could add to it soon enough.

And being recognised on the global stage will only do wonders for those chances.

The young American talent primarily played as a central defender last season in the Premier League 2, but has since shifted into midfield recently and it is in this role, some think he could thrive most.

His former U20 coach, Tab Ramos, who is now in charge of MLS outfit Houston Dynamo, compared his ability to Paul Pogba – he said:

“He had great athleticism, he was confident on the ball and he always wanted the ball. He never shied away from the ball and was very strong. He had a good hold up play, similar traits to Pogba in that he knows how to protect the ball. He always played midfield for us. He’d always boss it and control the game.”

“He reads the game very well and he also has great technique. I like to have teams where the central defenders are important in the development of the play out of the back. He has excellent feet for that.”

Otasowie certainly seems like the perfect player for not just Nuno Santo but Fosun too as they aim to build from within and as such, might he one day usurp Ruben Neves in the first team?

It’s possible. No Wolves star is safe following the sale of Diogo Jota to Liverpool. If the price is right, Jeff Shi will pull the trigger. At Molineux, it’s more about finding the right profile of player rather than the name on the back of the shirt.

If Otasowie impresses in that no.6 role, then he could be fast-tracked into the Portuguese’s plans.

The Reds may one day come back in for their mooted target, Neves, but with the 19-year-old breaking ground, the Wolf Pack could be in safe hands indeed.

AND in other news, Wolves must rue missing dream Jimenez partner in £36m-rated ‘next Ronaldo’…