Watford came from behind against Crystal Palace to deal a massive blow to the Eagles’ hopes of Premier League survival.

Roy Hodgson’s men took the lead in the first half when Craig Cathcart diverted the ball into his own goal but the defender quickly made amends after the break, scoring the equaliser. Palace missed glorious opportunities to add to the scoreline, allowing Watford to take advantage. Tom Cleverley blasted home after coming on as a substitute to secure the points for Javi Gracia.

Once again, Palace’s lack of firepower cost them dearly. The Eagles have now scored just six league goals at home this season – only Huddersfield have netted fewer on their own turf. Hodgson has been vocal in his search of a new forward which must be a priority before the January window closes. Adding a regular goalscorer to the squad would help steer the club away from the relegation zone.

The perfect target would be RB Salzburg hitman – Munas Dabbur. Valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, the Israel international has been a regular goalscorer in Austria for a number of years and was crucial to Salzburg’s successful title bid last season, scoring 22 league goals as well as seven in the Europa League.

Dabbur has once again been in fine form, finding the back of the net 20 times in just 30 appearances during all competitions this season. The 26-year-old is the complete forward, with lethal finishing ability and expert runs – he would link up perfectly with Wilfred Zaha in the Palace attack. Not only does Dabbur excel at scoring, but he also brings his team-mates into the game, registering six assists in all competitions so far.

The forward is approaching the prime of his career and the former England manager should do all he can to lure him to England.

Crystal Palace fans, thoughts?

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Loads of Southampton fans have been running the rule over their continued resurgence, and they’re absolutely full of praise for Jan Bednarek.

Southampton grabbed an extremely impressive three points at Leicester City on Saturday, winning 2-1 despite playing most of the match with just ten men.

James Ward-Prowse gave the Saints an early lead from the penalty spot, and Shane Long doubled the lead on the cusp of half time, just moments after Yan Valery was sent off.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side held on for their dear lives in the second half, and a lot of the credit has to go to the boss for his continued use of Bednarek in a back three.

The Polish international barely had a look-in before Hasenhuttl arrived, but has been brought back into the fold and had perhaps the best performance of his young Southampton career at the King Power Stadium.

The 22 year-old won seven aerial duels and made a remarkable 12 clearances, and fans are full of praise for both the player himself and the manager for his faith in the young defender.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Manchester United had to sit back and watch one of their biggest European rivals land one of the most highly regarded young players in the game this week as Frenkie De Jong joined Barcelona.

The Dutch youngster joined the Catalan outfit in a mega money move from Ajax to put to bed murmurs of a move to England, and it once again represented just what the lure of playing for one of the big two in Spain can do to young players.

For United, whether they were ever in a position to sign De Jong remains unknown, but we here in the Tavern feel it’s a blow, and going forward they cannot afford to keep missing out on the top young talent.

That’s why we feel they should make their move now for Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, who has been in tremendous form for the Ligue 1 outfit this term and enhanced his reputation further than ever.

United can simply not afford to keep allowing the best young talent to slip through the net, and the £4om-rated star certainly falls into that category.

Aouar is a class act with the ball at his feet, and has added goals and assists to his game this year too, with the midfielder already notching six times this term and adding three assists too.

Capable of playing in the middle or drifting out to the left hand side if need be, the Frenchman is another exciting talent that comes from a long list of players of a similar nature in the last few years.

De Jong might have got away for now, but Aouar is there to be snapped up, and United should waste little time in adding him to their ranks.

United fans, what do you think? Good signing? Let us know in the comments!

In one of the more interesting Premier League clashes this weekend, Everton will be hosting Wolves at Goodison Park. The visitors sit in 7th, just one spot above their hosts by a margin of only two points. In this battle, we’ll be looking at two key men from each side in Andre Gomes and Ruben Neves to see how they might influence the crunch match.

The reverse fixture was one that took place early in the Premier League season when Everton travelled to Molineux. Ruben Neves was key that day as he scored a sublime free-kick to level the scores at 1-1 before the game eventually finished 2-2. However, a lot has changed since then and it will be interesting to see how Gomes and Neves compare in a game that could ultimately decide who finishes 7th.

RUBEN NEVES

You can ask any Wolves fan who their most influential player is and the chances are they’ll all come back with the same answer. Ruben Neves has become an icon at Molineux and at the age of just 21, it looks like he has a massive future ahead of him for both the West Midland’s club and with his national side, who will be competing with Andre Gomes for a spot in over the next few years.

Neves’ ability to score and create goals with his incredible technique and vision make him a player who is sure to be hotly coveted by a number of Europe’s top clubs if he keeps going the way he is. From central midfield, the ex-Porto man has scored nine goals and registered three assists in his 66 games for Wolves so far, and it’s fair to say that he never scores a dull goal, with his nine strikes already enough to make a pretty ludicrous high-light reel.

TT GRADE: A

ANDRE GOMES

Everton fans were all delighted, and rightfully so, when their club managed to pull off the loan signing of Andre Gomes from Barcelona on deadline day of the summer window. The Portuguese midfielder has all the talent and ability to succeed in the Premier League, even if he was poor and struggled for minutes whilst at the Nou Camp in his time with the Catalan giants.

At international level, Gomes has been a key staple of the Portugal side of the recent era. The midfielder has won 29 caps and is the current European Champion having been apart of the successful Portuguese squad from the 2016 competition. However, over the last few weeks, the 25-year-old has struggled as Everton’s form has been indifferent with losses to Millwall, Southampton, Leicester and Brighton marring their record.

TT GRADE: C+

TT VERDICT:

Whilst Gomes has got the experience of playing at a top club in Barcelona, his influence on this Everton side hasn’t been quite what the fans thought it would be. The 25-year-old has certainly been impressive, but he’s not a scratch on the sublime Ruben Nevez, who is destined to become one of the world’s very best. For those reasons, Neves simply has to win this battle.

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Dedryck Boyata could give Celtic a welcome injury boost by returning to face Hibs on Wednesday night after missing the Scottish champions’ last four matches.

Sunday’s win at St. Johnstone was a costly one for Brendan Rodgers with Mikael Lustig, James Forrest, Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard joining the list of the walking wounded.

Lustig’s Achilles injury made it a clean sweep of the first-choice back four with Boyata, Filip Benkovic and Kieran Tierney already sidelined.

Benkovic has been ruled out for at least another month but Chris Davies was able to deliver some good news on the fitness of his defensive partner.

“Boyata trained today having been out for a couple of weeks,” the Celtic assistant said, as quoted by The Evening Times. “We’ll see how he reacts to that and then see what his availability is like for Wednesday night.

“As he’s been injured for a couple of weeks we’ll have to see. He’d a slight groin issue so we’d [need] to get that right.”

Celtic fans will have to wait until 6.30pm to find out if Boyata is fit to make his second appearance since the turn of the year, teaming up with Jozo Simunovic in the centre of defence.

Jack Hendry or Nir Bitton are the other options available for the visit of Hibs, with either likely to be capable of keeping the Edinburgh side at bay.

Next week’s Europa League tie with Valencia is a different matter. The return of Boyata and any of the injured stars is desperately needed if the Hoops are to stand a chance of reaching the last 16 of the competition.

[ad_pod ]Tottenham Hotspur ensured they stay within touching distance of Liverpool and Manchester City in the title race as they ran out 3-1 victors over Leicester City on Sunday and, while their victory wasn’t as emphatic as the other that day – City battered Chelsea 6-0 – there were plenty of positives to take from the game.Having come under fire in recent weeks for some dodgy showings, captain Hugo Lloris put in a fine performance between the sticks and was deservedly named man of the match. The defenders in front of the World Cup winner were excellent too, namely Davinson Sanchez who also scored his first goal for Spurs – an emphatic diving header.Since completing a £42m move to White Hart Lane from Ajax in summer 2017, the Colombian has never looked out of place in a defence where he competes for a starting spot with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen – the Belgian duo are regarded by many as the best centre-back partnership in the Premier League.Harry Kane gets his hands on the Super Bowl and Dele Alli gets his hands on a superb owl in the latest episode After 90 below…Staking his claim in the starting XI this season, the 22-year-old has started 14 games this season, with one appearance coming off the bench and looks capable of walking into most defences in the league, if not Europe.Here’s how Spurs fans reacted to his performance on Twitter, with many keen to congratulate the number 6 on his brilliant goal…

All is not well at Everton.

Not only do they look to have lost all confidence under Marco Silva, but the bad form is apparently making some players rethink their future.

Indeed, according to reports (via AS), Richarlison is now looking towards a potential move away from the club.

Atletico Madrid are allegedly interested in the Brazilian, who’s had a topsy-turvy season with the Toffees so far. While he was excellent for Marco Silva’s team in their prolific first half, he’s been unable to stop their downfall since the New Year and has largely faded into the miserable background at Goodison Park.

The frustrations seem to be mounting on the Brazilian if such reports are to be believed, despite arriving in the summer for a huge amount of money.

Richarlison’s been Everton’s most potent attacking threat this season, having scored 10 goals from 25 appearances (stats via WhoScored). Despite having the reputation of being a winger, he slotted in as centre-forward really well for Silva’s side and proved his goal-scoring skills by finishing off chances effortlessly.

However, now goalless and winless in the last three matches, Richarlison seems to have lost his momentum. If things don’t improve quickly, he’ll surely push for a move away from Merseyside in the summer, dealing the club a huge blow in their ambitions to break into the top six.

Everton are in a bad place right now with a string of poor results and upsetting their best players is the last thing they want, making a mockery of the Farhad Moshiri project.

Losing a star like Richarlison could be a huge blow to their reputation. Not only will they be losing their best goal-scorer, but Everton will have to start from scratch in signing a suitable replacement and hoping he clicks as well as the Brazilian.

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…

Ralph Hasenhuttl believes that Danny Ings could be a good alternative for England manager Gareth Southgate.

What did he say?

The former RB Leipzig manager was talking ahead of Southampton’s match against West Ham at St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday evening.

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Talking about the 27-year-old, he said: “I don’t think I have to tell Gareth what to do.

“He has a very good view of all his players I think. Ingsy is a fantastic character and has a winning mentality.

“When he stays fit like this and scores like this it’s the best thing you can do as a striker, is to make it as difficult as possible for the manager.

“It’s good to maybe have him as an alternative.”

Needs to stay fit

During what has been a miserable season for the Saints – they are currently in the bottom three of the Premier League table, and have already suffered an embarrassing 9-0 loss at home against Leicester City – Ings has been one of the few bright sparks that Hasenhuttl can rely on.

In all competitions, he has bagged double figures for goals, and the nine he has plundered in the Premier League alone is half of all the strikes his team have managed in that competition, prior to their clash with West Ham.

Best of the decade: Quickfire Quiz on the last 10 years of Premier League football

On form, he has certainly put himself in the conversation for a call-up, even if there are a number of English strikers who are performing well this term – Tammy Abraham, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford have all scored at least as many as Ings, and Jamie Vardy, who has already retired from England duty, leads the top flight’s goalscoring charts. However, competition for places is not the only reason he may just eventually miss out.

It is his struggle to stay fit that should see him fail to add to his one cap. During his time at Liverpool, he made just 25 appearances in all competitions in three campaigns. That was due to him missing 85 matches due to injury – he ruptured his cruciate ligament and also had to have knee surgery.

Even in that quote about his Three Lions credentials, Hasenhuttl felt the need to add “if he stays fit”. That, in itself, says it all. If he wants to stay on the field for as long as possible, having two-week breaks at several points during the season could do him the world of good. International football, though, could come at a detriment to his club form. Whilst he has not lost his ability to score, it would be wise not to back him to receive another England call-up.

In other news, Southampton fans should not expect big business in January.

One of Neil Lennon’s most reliable performers this season, Callum McGregor has proven himself to be a vital part of Celtic’s impressive campaign thus far. The Scotland international has featured 34 times across all competitions already, and has shown his versatility by playing in a number of positions for the Hoops.

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The 26-year-old has played in central midfield, attacking midfield, holding midfield and even a stint at left-back against CFR Cluj in Champions League qualifying too. But against St Mirren on Boxing Day, he was used in the middle of the park by Lennon, and he duly rewarded his manager with the opening goal of the contest.

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And after seeing his performance, Celtic fans took to Twitter to discuss their thoughts on the versatile midfielder.

A couple of Celtic supporters were left raving about how good McGregor is, with one fan describing him as “world-class”, whilst another labelled him as the “best midfielder in Scotland by some distance”.

Another couple of Celtic fans discussed McGregor’s display in respect to what Lennon should do going forward with the side, with one fan suggesting that the midfielder is “too good to leave out”.

Having not scored in his previous nine games in the Scottish Premiership, McGregor more than most will have been relieved that he has finally gotten the monkey off his back. If he can chip with in with goals at important times for Celtic, then his place in the side will surely be unquestionable.

Meanwhile, Celtic fans have hailed this man after his display against Aberdeen.

Joe Lumley is no stranger to a bad goalkeeping error but his latest effort is quite startling and has understandably left many QPR fans fuming.

The 25-year-old has been number one under Mark Warburton for most of the season but his mistakes have been far too frequent for a side which is looking to break into the Championship top half.

The R’s have conceded with regularity this season and the last thing they needed while 1-0 up against Hull was for Lumley to palm a straight-forward catch straight into the path of George Honeyman to equalise.

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Many supporters are fed up with him continuing to let the team down, and they will perhaps be keen for Liam Kelly to play between the sticks when he returns from injury.

Considering it is Lumley’s second full season playing regularly one would have expected him to begin cutting out such simple mistakes, and the fact he can no longer be considered a young player means he must step up his level of performance.

On top of his errors the ‘keeper inspires little confidence in a backline which has conceded 47 goals in 25 league games this term, and therefore there is a clear need for improvement, either from Lumley or in the form of a new player.

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Some fans will likely want the latter as they are keen for the R’s to get rid of Lumley, and if he continues to make such errors it is difficult to see how the club can afford to hang onto him.

Interest in Ryan Manning is growing from Wolves, so our team of Football FanCast writers gave their verdicts on whether he could play in the Premier League.