From Messi to Salah- The Best 11 Players of the 2020/21 season

The football season in Europe is almost over with just 1 more week left for the major leagues. There are sure to be some exciting finishes especially in Spain where either Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid will be crowned champions.

As for England, congratulations to Manchester City who are the new champions, and in Italy Inter finally ended Juventus’ domination of the league in style.

But which players have shone and proved themselves this season above all others? And did you have any of these stars in your fantasy teams? The formation used is a 4-4-2 one and the leagues used are the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A.

Goalkeeper: Jan Oblak- Atletico Madrid 116pts

Sometimes the points are very close between players but not a chance for Jan Oblak who has again underlined himself as one of the best goalkeepers in world football. Oblak has amassed 116 points and kept 18 clean sheets with only 24 goals conceded. He may just win the Spanish title this weekend too.

Defender: Achraf Hakimi- Inter- 92pts

Usually we see the same players in best teams of the season lists so it is refreshing to see the talent of Inter defender Achraf Hakimi make this list. Hakimi has certainly been one of the driving forces behind Inter’s title charge and was able to help to keep 13 clean sheets. However Hakimi has never been afraid to come forward and his stats are quite stunning- He has scored 7 league goals and also assisted in another 8. He made 23 points more than the next Inter defender.

Defender: Kieran Trippier- Atletico Madrid 90pts

Kieran Trippier has proven himself this season even if Atletico don’t win the league this weekend. He has been solid and superb and really grown as a player in defence. He hasn’t scored any goals but that isn’t his job, although he has set up six of them. But he has been part of a defence that has conceded 13 goals and has 16 clean sheets to his name. In short he has been Atletico’s best defender and few would have seen that coming.

Defender: Ruben Dias- Manchester City 75pts

Ruben Dias has just been named as the footballer’s writer’s defender of the season and really that came as no shock. Dias has been absolutely brilliant and his defending has been key as to why Manchester City were able to win back the title from Liverpool. An absolutely stunning season from Dias.

Defender: John Stones- Manchester City 75pts

John Stones, the revelation who upped his game several levels to keep his place in the Manchester City line up and won a title along the way. Possibly Stones’ best season as a professional player. Helped to keep 13 clean sheets and also scored 4 goals.

Midfielder: Mohamed Salah- Liverpool 118pts

Mohamed Salah is getting better by every year even when Liverpool dipped and saw their title easily taken away from them, Salah still scored the goals. 22 goals and 4 assists, Salah may just end up as top goalscorer for this season in the Premier League.

Midfielder: Bruno Fernandes- Manchester United 114pts

Bruno Fernandes hasn’t just had a terrific season he has changed Manchester United. If you want to know how and why United finished as runners-up in the league and are in the final of the Europa League look no further than the excellent Fernandes. He has scored 18 goals and assisted in another 12. Worth his weight in gold.

Midfielder: Marcos Llorente- Atletico Madrid 100pts

Atletico have been brilliant and consistent for the first time in La Liga since 2014 and Marcos Llorente has been outstanding in midfield with his anticipation and his superbly taken and timely tackles. Llorente has scored 12 goals and assisted in another 11.

Midfielder: Henrikh Mkhitaryan- Roma 92pts

For Roma this has been a season of what could have been but Mkhitaryan has had one of his best seasons of his career and has stayed reliable and consistent. He has contributed in an impressive 22 goals scoring 12 along the way.

Striker: Lionel Messi- Barcelona 130pts

Lionel Messi is one of the greats but did anyone really expect him to have the most points in European Fantasy League this season? At the beginning of the season he wanted to leave Barcelona but he stayed and they won the Copa Del Rey, not the best standard for the club. But Messi is Messi and he kept scoring and creating chances and has netted an amazing 30 goals and assisted in a further 9.

Striker: Cristiano Ronaldo- Juventus 117pts

The Messi and Ronaldo rivalry lives on despite their ages, they are ranked as the two best strikers in European Fantasy League. Ronaldo will end the Serie A season as top goalscorer and create a record- no other player has finished top of the goalscoring charts in England, Spain and Italy before. No league title for Ronaldo this time but he did win the Coppa Italia and will be raring to go next season. He has scored 29 goals and assisted in another 3.

Tottenham legend Harry Kane wants to leave the club- could the player that has propelled them now destroy them?

On reflection we all saw it coming, that Tottenham’s best player in a decade, Harry Kane, was going to announce that he wanted to leave the club.

There were hints of it last season, just faint rumours but perhaps having Jose Mourinho as manager and a decorated one at that convinced Kane to concentrate on his football. A month ago Mourinho was sacked by Daniel Levy and a month on Levy has learned that his absolute star player Kane wants out. How quick everything changes in football.

This season has had some bright moments for the club but let’s be honest it isn’t a season that will be talked about for too long when everything wraps up on May 23rd. But Tottenham have a chance to qualify for the Europa League and they reached this season’s latter stages of the competition, they also reached the Carabao Cup final. All of this would have been impossible without Kane. Just to show what type of impact the striker has made this season he has scored 22 goals so far in the league and assisted in a further 13. He has been involved in a staggering 55% of the club league goals alone. Take Kane out of the equation and Tottenham absolutely would be in the bottom half of the Premier League.

In the last four years Tottenham could well argue that they have stepped outside of the shadow of their more successful neighbours Arsenal. Finishing higher than them in the league and even reaching the Champions League final in 2019. And yet of course it is Arsenal who have picked up 2 FA Cup’s in that same time period. Tottenham have no trophies for 13 years now despite playing some of the best football in England. That of course was spearheaded by Kane and the worry is if he leaves, which certainly looks like when he leaves, how will Tottenham recover?

In these pandemic times it is unclear if Tottenham will get the £200m plus transfer fee they so desire and the figure may be close to £120m plus a few free transfers. But what deal will Tottenham get? It is very public that the club did not spend the £100m they received from the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid wisely. Tottenham aren’t the only victims of not knowing how to spend their money. The same has quite publicly happened to the likes of Everton and Barcelona recently. Buying a quality player doesn’t mean they will perform as you expect them too anymore.

What would appease the fans when Kane is sold? Is Neymar, Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland arriving? No they are not, and we know this because Tottenham will not be playing Champions League football next season. If any of those players were on the list the losing Kane saga may not seem as bad. But in losing Kane Tottenham won’t just be losing one player of immense quality who guarantees goals and knows the league inside out, they will be losing plenty of Premier League points too, and this could propel the club to move backwards. This would be an horrific situation for the club who have made such fantastic in roads lately and have a brand new stadium.

The next stage will be where will Kane end up. Tottenham would be foolish to sell him to an English club and at least Kane has hinted that he would be open to offers in Spain. But Barcelona and Real Madrid are in huge debt, so those moves look unlikely. Also Kane comes across like he loves English football and the Premier League and will probably not want to move from the country. In that sense and as long as he decides not to play for an English club anymore Kane could be on his way to either Manchester clubs. Surely his priority would lie with City, after all Kane is chasing trophies and time is running out.

For Manchester United they are getting better every season, but perhaps a league title is not on the cards for the club just now or in the next few years. There is also the chance to maybe play for Liverpool. Money plus a Mohamed Salah swap? You never can tell in football. These are exciting times for the neutral but for Tottenham fans there could be despair before hope.

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Premier League Game of the Week: Newcastle 3-4 Manchester City

There have been some brilliant games over the past week but nothing was quite like the game at St James’ Park where Manchester City were seemingly going to walk away with all 3 points without much fuss. In the end the newly crowned champions did have to work very hard for their victory in a game that witnessed 7 goals as Pep Guardiola’s team won 4-3.

The day of course belonged to Manchester City as they were crowned Premier League champions a few days earlier as Manchester United put out a weakened side against Leicester and lost that game, that gave City the title. So this was a game of celebration and it really lived up to that.

The game though belonged to Ferran Torres the 21 year old is going to be something else that is for sure and he scored a fantastic hat trick to seal a game that could have been lost or perhaps drawn at one point.

The first of what would be seven goals was scored by Newcastle through Emil Krafth after a corner and he headed it into the goal. But City would soon be level though not through the usual suspects, no this was from a shot by Joao Cancelo of all players, although in truth his effort did take a deflection.

There would be much excitement as the first half rounded up and Ferran Torres scored his first goal of the game to put City 2-1 up via a cheeky back heel. However there had to be a VAR review just to make sure someone’s shirt, nose or hair wasn’t offside, but the goal was rightly given. Newcastle though were not finished and soon got a penalty which Joelinton converted in a rare moment of glory for the Brazilian striker. The first half ended 2-2 and you could just tell that there would be more goals in this game.

This really was a game full of excitement and incident and on the hour mark Newcastle were awarded another penalty. Joseph Willock who has been in great form for the Magpies missed his initial penalty but was on hand for the rebound and tucked it away and the home side were now 3-2 up!

City as the new champions are simply relentless as we know and just two minutes after Newcastle had taken the lead, Torres had made it 3-3 after a great assist from Gabriel Jesus. Torres wasn’t finished and completed his hat trick just 120 seconds later for 3-4 and that is how this crazy but wonderful game ended.

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La Liga: Best 11 Players of Week 37

Barcelona are out of the title race! That was the biggest news of the weekend as the club lost yet another game at home this time to Celta Vigo by 2-1.

It means that La Liga is down to 2 teams and it should be an incredible tension filled ride for the final weekend of the season. In 1st place we have Atletico Madrid with 83 points and in 2nd Real Madrid with 81.

Atletico will be play Valladolid away from home and will be the favourites to win that match although it looks a tricky one. As for Real they will play Villarreal at home and be hoping that Atletico will lose or draw.

The relegation battle is also exciting as Elche in 18th place have 33 points but so does Huesca in 17th.

Let’s take a look at the players who shone the brightest in the penultimate week of the championship- did you have them in your team?- note some points also take in week 36 as that was played in midweek.

Goalkeeper: Sergio Asenjo- Villarreal 14pts

Two clean sheets in a row for Sergio Asenjo. But at the weekend Villarreal were able to conquer Sevilla 4-0 and no one quite expected that score. But Asenjo was made to have a busy night and pulled off some remarkable saves, and fully deserves to be included in the team of the week.

Defender: Pau Francisco-Torres- Villarreal 12pts

Two clean sheets for defender Pau who also assisted in a goal when the club played and beat Valladolid last week 2-0. It means that Villarreal are going to have a strong finish to the season and the defender earns a fantastic 12 points in less than a week.

Defender: Alvaro Odriozola- Real Madrid 9pts

Odriozola scored against Granada in midweek as Real Madrid smashed them 4-1. And has picked up a clean sheet at the weekend as Madrid beat Bilbao 1-0 away from home. He’s only played 8 times but has been overseen six clean sheets.

Defender: Raul Albiol- Villarreal 10pts

Villarreal have beaten Valladolid and Sevilla recently and in both matches were able to keep clean sheets and Raul Albiol has been at the heart of that. The veteran player has now helped to keep nine clean sheets so far

Defender: Alberto Moreno- Villarreal 10pts

Villarreal have been the team impressing everyone with 2 wins in a row and no goals conceded in those games as they rise to 5th place. Moreno’s brilliant understanding with Albiol in defence has helped to shape a strong relationship.

Midfielder: Carlos Soler- Valencia 10pts

Carlos Soler is a regular fixture in the team of the weeks now and if you have him you would have seen all the points accumulated by the talented midfielder recently. Soler scored a brilliant 2 goals at the weekend as Valencia beat Eibar 4-1.

Midfielder: Daniel Parejo- Villarreal 6pts

This is a team full of Villarreal players and Daniel Parejo is no exception and he has had a sterling season. Parejo has been involved in no less than 8 goals and with 34 points he is Villarreal’s best ranked midfield player.

Midfielder: David Silva- Real Sociedad 6pts

David Silva has scored just his 2nd goal of the season as Real Sociedad beat Valladolid 4-1. Silva scored a good goal and was absolutely delighted with that as his club try to finish in a Europa League position.

Midfielder: Manuel Trigueros- Villarreal 6pts

Manuel Trigueros scored at the weekend and that was the midfielder’s first goal of the season as Villarreal thumped Sevilla 4-1. The club are in great form now just ahead of their Europa League final meeting with Manchester United and the player will be hoping to star in that game too.

Striker: Carlos Bacca- Villarreal 14pts

You can’t beat the uniqueness of a hat-trick and Carlos Bacca did just that as Villarreal beat Sevilla at the weekend 4-0. Bacca now has 5 goals this season in a campaign which has been disrupted by injury.

Striker: Gerard Moreno- Villarrreal 10pts

Gerard Moreno keeps getting the goals and we have 2 Villarreal strikers in our team of the week. Moreno opened the scoring against Valladolid last week to propel his team forward. Moreno now has a fantastic goal tally of 23 this season and has 103 points and is ranked as one of the best strikers in Europe.

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Premier League: Best 11 Players of Week 36

It’s been another interesting week in the Premier League which has seen the top four open up more. The race for Champions League places is getting more exciting by every passing game. Chelsea may have slipped up as they lost against Arsenal and Liverpool could well get that final place. However Leicester are not home and dry yet and everything can change.

West Ham and Tottenham have the slimmest of chances but a top four spot looks beyond them now. What was remarkable was that Alisson, Liverpool’s goalkeeper scored the winning goal at the weekend.

Because of the FA Cup final there was a slightly reduced fixture list for the Premier League this past weekend but there was still plenty of goals and points up for grabs. Let’s take a look at which players earned the most.

Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale- Sheffield United 7pts

What a game from Aaron Ramsdale as he kept a clean sheet- only his 4th of the season- as Sheffield United beat Everton 1-0. It was a great performance from the Blades keeper in a very difficult season for him and his club.

Defender: Jack Robinson- Sheffield United 6pts

Jack Robinson has missed chunks of the season with injury but he earned 6 points at the weekend as Sheffield United stunned Everton with a 1-0 win. Robinson assisted in the only goal of the game which was his first assist of the season.

Defender: Toby Alderweirald- Tottenham 5pts

Tottenham beat Wolves 2-0 and the club had to be at their best to clean up in defence. Alderweirald has 10 clean sheets now to his name and earned another 5 points putting his total at 44 points.

Defender: Eric Dier- Tottenham 5pts

Eric Dier read the game so well as Tottenham were able to keep their top four hopes alive as they beat Wolves 2-0 and the defender now has 24 points for the season.

Defender: Diego Llorente- Leeds United 5pts

Another clean sheet for Diego Llorente means he has 4 for the season as Leeds played brilliantly well to beat Burnley 4-0 and they did so away from home.

Midfielder: Jack Harrison- Leeds United 10pts

Leeds beat Burnley 4-0 and Jack Harrison assisted in the last 2 of those goals to wrap up a fantastic match for the club and much needed 3 points. With a clean sheet also Harrison walked away with an impressive 10 points. He has 68 in total now and is ranked as the best midfielder for the club.

Midfielder: Mohamed Salah- Liverpool 8pts

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for Liverpool as they were able to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1. Liverpool has a real chance of finishing in the top four now. Salah has 22 goals and he is battling Harry Kane for the top goalscorer’s award this season.

Midfielder: Roberto Firmino- Liverpool 8pts

It was another great week for Roberto Firmino who is scoring goals and assisiting again and the Brazilian has been a real key figure into how Liverpool have won 3 games in a row and could qualify for next seasons Champions League on this form.

Midfielder: Pierre Hojbjerg- Tottenham 8pts

Pierre Hojbjerg scored Tottenham’s winner at the weekend as they beat Wolves 2-0. Hojbjerg also assisted for Kane’s first goal in the game and earned a huge 8 points.

Striker: Rodrigo- Leeds United 8pts

Rodrigo had a great game for Leeds United as the striker scored 2 goals in one game as Marcelo Bielsa’s side beat Burnley 4-0. Rodrigo hasn’t had a memorable season as he has only scored 6 goals but maybe he can finish in strong? He has a total of 23 points currently.

Striker: Harry Kane- Tottenham 4pts

Harry Kane scored his 22nd league goal of the season as he set up Tottenham to beat Wolves 2-0. Kane has been involved in an incredible 35 goals in the league from 63 that his club have scored, that is an incredible statistic. Kane has 113 points and his top of the Premier League fantasy standings and 3rd with all the leagues combined.

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Premier League Game of the Week: Manchester City 1-2 Chelsea

Don’t adjust your eyes the Champions League final does not take place for almost three weeks but the finalists of the 2021 edition did play each other over the weekend.

Chelsea came out as victors as they came back from a goal down to beat City 2-1 at the Etihad. Don’t be fooled to just brush off this match either just because it is inevitable that City will win the league this season. Arguably it is Chelsea who are the best side in England right now and they will want to extend that to the rest of Europe by the end of this month.

Manchester City’s 5th defeat of the season almost feels like it has been glossed over but this loss did feel important. Chelsea have been superb since Thomas Tuchel took over as manager from the sacked Frank Lampard at the end of January and the club have lost just 1 game in the Premier League since he took the job. Indeed Tuchel’s win rate is currently at 68% and he has won 17 games from the 25 coached so far.

As for the game City were installed as the favourites to win, being at home, wanting to lay down a marker before the Champions League final and of course a victory for City would mean the league title. All was going well until Sergio Aguero’s penalty….

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring on the 44th minute when he seemed to intercept an Aguero chance but took the ball himself and City were a goal up. It had been a dominant half from the home side and Chelsea had only managed 1 shot on target. In injury time of the first half it seemed that this game would be wrapped up when City were awarded what looked like a soft penalty.

Aguero put himself forward to take the penalty, here was the man who historically won City the league title with the final kick of the season a decade ago and could seal another with a penalty kick. However an over confident Aguero chose to use the method of the paneka and chipped the ball softly to the centre of the goal. When it comes off the striker looks super cool and the goalkeeper looks like a fool. When it doesn’t reverse that statement. Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who has been outstanding for the club this season simply stood his line and easily saved the spot kick. Aguero looked a tad embarrassed and the whistle went for half time. Chelsea should have been out of the game but were instead in with a chance of a comeback and that is what materialised.

This would be a game of two halves and in the 2nd half Chelsea showed all of their qualities and it is why City will be worried ahead of the Champions League final, because in that second period Chelsea were by far the better team.

The Blues equalised just after the hour mark through Hakim Ziyech. He shot from the edge of the area and found a sweet point to beat Ederson in goal and it was game on.

With 10 minutes to go Callum Hudson-Odoi thought he had put the visitors in the lead but his goal was rightly ruled out for offside. But Chelsea would get their winner.

Timo Werner set up the ball for Marcos Alonso in a clever move and Alonso’s beautiful shot wrapped up the game and Chelsea had won it.

For Chelsea they have been chasing a top four spot for the majority of the season but their fantastic form means they are in 3rd place now and will probably finish in that position. But there will be a lot of confidence within the squad when they face City again in a few weeks time for the grandest of all club prizes.

As for City they must wait for the title. It could be awarded to them tonight if Manchester United lose at home to Leicester or Liverpool in a couple of days time. Failing that City will play Newcastle United away from home at the weekend and they will be the favourites to win that match.

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La Liga: Best 11 Players of Week 35

Wow, just wow. The race for the La Liga champions is not for the faint hearted. The top 4 sides all drew this past weekend. First it was Atletico which seemed to let Barcelona in and then it was Barca and that seemed to hand the advantage to Real Madrid who had to beat Sevilla.

However Sevilla almost won that game and were leading Real Madrid 2-1 but Real found a way and the game ended 2-2. It means that with just 3 games left to play Atletico have 77 points and Real Madrid and Barcelona have 75. Sevilla are almost out of the title race now and if Atletico beat Real Sociedad in midweek then Sevilla’s title chances are officially over.

With all that excitement in the bag let’s take a look at the players who made the team of the week.

Goalkeeper: Jan Oblak- Atletico Madrid 7pts

Jan Oblak is believed to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world and he proved it yet again as Atletico drew 0-0 away to Barcelona in a crucial game for the league leaders. Oblak made some superb saves and in total Barcelona had 7 shots on target but couldn’t find a way through.

Defender: Jose Gaya- Valencia 7pts

Jose Gaya kept a clean sheet as Valencia cruised to a 3-0 win over Valladolid. But Gaya earned some more points as he assisted in one of the goals, that’s his 6th assist of the season so far.

Defender: Mario Hermoso- Atletico Madrid 5pts

Mario Hermoso made some vital tackles as Atletico’s back four was tested to the limit as they managed to keep a clean sheet against Barcelona. Hermoso now has 74 points for the season.

Defender: Serginho Dest- Barcelona 5pts

Serginho Dest has had a good personal season with Barcelona and when he was called into action he helped Barca to keep a clean sheet as they drew 0-0 with Atletico Madrid in a tense game. Dest has helped to keep 10 clean sheets.

Defender: Robin Le Normand- Real Sociedad 5pts

Le Normand helped Real Sociedad to keep a clean sheet as they beat Elche 2-0 at the weekend. That is the 11th time the club have been able to do that when he has been in the team.

Midfielder: Ivan Rakitic- Sevilla 6pts

This was an interesting game for Ivan Rakitic who scored the penalty for Sevilla which seemed to have condemned Real Madrid to defeat. It felt as though Rakitic had done his former club Barcelona a huge favour as he scored a penalty which put them 2-1 up against Real Madrid, but the game ended 2-2.

Midfielder: Jose Luis Recio del Pozo- Eibar 6pts

Also known simply as Recio the midfielder scored the only goal of the game as Eibar won 1-0 against Getafe. It was a tense time too as it was an 89th minute penalty but Eibar with the help of Recio got all 3 points in the end.

Midfielder: Carlos Soler- Valencia 4pts

Carlos Soler is in great form and he earned another 4 points as he assisted in the clubs 2nd goal of the game in which they beat Valladolid 3-0. That was his 7th assist of the season and he has been involved in 16 goals so far this season.

Midfielder: Fernando- Sevilla 4pts

Fernando opened the scoring for Sevilla as they nearly stunned Real Madrid in a game which in the end finished 2-2. That was only the midfielder’s third goal of the season.

Striker: Jose Luis Morales- Levante 8pts

What a great weekend for Jose Luis Morales who scored both of his clubs goals as they drew 2-2 away to Alaves. Morales scored the goals in quick succession but the final results wasn’t to be. He has an impressive 13 goals so far now.

Striker: Maximiliano Gomez- Valencia 8pts

Gomez was able to score 2 goals as Valencia beat Valladolid 3-0 and it was an important win for the home side as they recorded their first victory in five games. Gomez now has seven goals for the season and is valued at 7.5m.

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Premier League: Best 11 Players of Week 35

Somehow Manchester City blew the chance to win the Premier League this week as Sergio Aguero’s embarrassing ‘paneka’ penalty was easily saved. City were beating Chelsea 1-0 when Aguero had the penalty chance, but he blew it. Chelsea came back and won the game 2-1, will it foreshadow what happens in a couple of weeks in the Champions League final?

Chelsea look good for the top 3 now but Leicester lost 4-2 at home to Newcastle and the pressure is on them to make the top 4 after they blew that chance last season. West Ham though lost to Everton to dent their top 4 chances and Tottenham lost also. And alas suddenly we have the emergence of Liverpool who could well break into the top 4 if they can finish the season strongly.

It’s goodbye to West Bromwich Albion who were relegated after losing 3-1 at Arsenal and that means that manager Sam Allardyce has finally been relegated.

After another exciting week in the Premier League let’s take a look at the team of the week, did any of your chosen players make the grade?

Goalkeeper: Alisson- Liverpool 7pts

On the face of it Liverpool beating Southampton 2-0 seems like a straight forward home win for the Reds. But the truth is that goalkeeper Alisson was made to work hard and had 6 shots on target that he had to save. Alisson was kept busy and richly deserved his 8th clean sheet of the season to earn 7 points. He now has a total of 39 points.

Defender: Gary Cahill- Crystal Palace 7pts

Not only did Gary Cahill keep a clean sheet but he also assisted in Palace’s 2nd goal as they beat Sheffield United 2-0 away from home. Cahill was minus points but now he has 4 in a season which has been plagued by injuries.

Defender: Trent Alexander-Arnold- Liverpool 5pts

Alexander-Arnold put in an overdue solid appearance in what has been a disappointing season for the champions. He was able to keep a rare clean sheet for the club as they beat Southampton 2-0.

Defender: Michael Keane- Everton 5pts

Everton probably put in their best defensive game of the season as they denied West Ham and beat the Hammers 1-0 away from home. Michael Keane in defence set up a great partnership with Lucas Digne as they denied West Ham time and again. Keane has 9 clean sheets to his name and is ranked as the best defender for the club with 38 points.

Defender: Lucas Digne- Everton 5pts

Lucas Digne has 7 clean sheets now as Everton were under pressure against West Ham who were trying to win for a top four chance. Digne linked up superbly with Keane to build a wall and this actually led to West Ham having zero shots on target.

Midfielder: Sadio Mane- Liverpool 6pts

Sadio Mane has not been firing on all cylinders this season but he scored his 9th goal of the season against his former club Southampton as Liverpool won a vital game 2-0. Mane now has 63 points in total.

Midfielder: Bruno Fernandes- Manchester United 4pts

Fernandes opened the scoring as he converted a penalty for Manchester United who beat Aston Villa 3-1 away from home. Fernandes has been superb this season and those 4 points get added to his tally which stands at 109 points and currently he is the best midfielder in the Premier League with the fantasy rankings.

Midfielder: Bertrand Traore- Aston Villa 4pts

Bertrand Traore opened the scoring for Aston Villa against Manchester United and that was his 6th goal this season and he has been involved in 11 different goals in what has been a solid campaign for the midfielder.

Midfielder: Stuart Dallas- Leeds United 4pts

Stuart Dallas earned 4 points as he scored the opening goal for Leeds as they beat Tottenham 3-1 to dent the Londoners top 4 chances. Dallas has scored 8 goals so far and his value is just 6m which looks a bargain on reflection.

Striker: Callum Wilson- Newcastle United 8pts

Callum Wilson picked up a fantastic 8 points as Newcastle stunned Leicester away from home to win 4-2. Wilson scored 2 goals in 9 second half minutes and the talented striker now has 12 goals this season which is a superb return considering how Newcastle have overall struggled this season.

Striker: Dominic Calvert-Lewin- Everton 4pts

Calvert-Lewin has not been as good in the second half of the campaign compared to the first but he was the difference at the weekend for Everton as he scored the only goal of the game as Everton beat West Ham 1-0. The striker now has 16 goals and has a total of 63 points in arguably his best season with the club.

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Jose Mourinho is the new coach for Roma but club slip out of European contention

The only news that seemed to matter this week for Roma is that Jose Mourinho will be the new coach for next season. The ‘Special One’ will come in and try to take Roma to the next level just like he did with Inter and this will be the first time that Mourinho will return to Italian football in 11 years.

The last time Mourinho was in Serie A will never be forgotten. He won the treble with Inter including the 2010 Champions League and that was the clubs first European Cup since 1965.

His appointment has been met with mixed reaction though. Inter fans are not happy obviously but some of Roma’s fans aren’t quite sure either. He is welcomed and more so given that Paulo Fonseca the current coach has not done the required job. But are Roma getting vintage Mourinho or a coach who is to stuck in his ways and hasn’t moved on? That’s the problem and although Mourinho did win trophies at Chelsea and Manchester United both of those jobs quickly turned sour and he was sacked. Of course Tottenham sacked him just a month ago and he left empty handed. If anything his time at Roma is going to be roller coaster drama and his presence in Italy will be filling the column inches no doubt.

As for this season Roma have slipped out of a direct route into European competition. The Giallorossi lost their 11th game of the season this past weekend going down at Sampdoria 2-0 and that was their 2nd loss in a row. Indeed Roma’s last victory came back on April 11th and they are now in 7th place. That position is good enough to be entered into the qualifying stages of the Europa League but not the competition proper. The club are 9 points from that target with 4 games left so the best they can hope for will be the qualifying stages. Even then that is in doubt as they only hold a 2 point advantage over Sassuolo.

The defeat to Sampdoria would have hurt because Borja Mayoral had a goal disallowed and Edin Dzeko missed a penalty. This has clearly been a poor period for the club but they will hope that the announcement of Mourinho as coach will propel the team to have a strong finish in Serie A.

Today Roma will play their 2nd leg in the Europa League semi-finals although that tie feels like a dead rubber given that they lost 6-2 to Manchester United in the first leg. More than a miracle will be needed tonight to turn this game round.

Roma will play Crotone at home this weekend and they will be the odds on favourites to win that game.

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Super League sign up now fan invasion at Old Trafford how will the FA punish Manchester United?

Sometimes clubs get into trouble and face sanctions when, in essence, it’s not even their fault. Take Manchester United whose ground was invaded by protesting fans at the weekend which led to the postponement of their game against Liverpool.

Protesting fans and in some cases barbaric which included a police officer receiving cuts to the face stormed overwhelmed security at the ground and in droves fans were on the hallowed turf inside the stadium. One could question why the club should be sanctioned by the FA, and it would be a good one. United had security in place there were simply too many fans and one thing led to another. For the FA it is an embarrassment given that the game could  not go ahead and now they will have to find a date in a very congested fixture pile up with the league set to finish in just 3 weeks time.

Claim all the innocence they want United will be charged and they will surely be encouraged to ban the fans caught on CCTV and camera by TV reporters. What should that punishment be? It could well be a ban from playing at home for a few games, there will surely be a fine of some sort but that will be loose change to United. We must remember how the Glazers have stayed defiant and despite protests have said they are going nowhere. Instead they noted that the club were worth £2 billion and they were hoping to increase the value of United during their ownership to £10 billion, it was a classic predictable response from wealthy American owners.

Some have argued that the game should be forfeited and that Liverpool should be awarded 3 points. This would seem farcical given the current situation of the clubs chasing a top four finish. How unfair would that be on Leicester, Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham?

As for punishments when are Manchester United going to face one from the FA or UEFA over the Super League sign up? Is it even going to happen now. At one point UEFA said that clubs would feel the full force, the full force of what exactly? The one club that didn’t sign up to the Super League was PSG who have now been knocked out of the Champions League ensuring that the final will take place between two clubs who two weeks ago wanted nothing to do with the Champions League come next season.

The longer the FA and UEFA do not respond to what has been a chaotic and lack of due respect to football as a whole the longer they are looking like weak organisations and something certainly needs to be clarified.

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