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Chelsea’s season is already threatening to be derailed somewhat, as the Blues struggle to find any sort of consistency in their game.

Mauro Sarri seems to have lost the will of some of his squad, and he needs to get things back on track in a big way if the club are to cement a top four spot.

There’s plenty to think about off the field too, with the futures of a number of players up for debate, especially that of Eden Hazard, who looks more and more like he could be on his way.

With that, the club need to be planning replacements, and here in the Tavern, we feel there a number of players out there who could fill the Belgian’s boots.

We took a look then at TWO players who Chelsea should be eyeing to replace the brilliant Hazard…

Philippe Coutinho

The Brazilian has struggled to hit the heights of his Liverpool days since making the move to Barcelona, and a move back to England is not out of the question.

Coutinho is a world class talent on his day and would be a big coup for the club if they do indeed lose Hazard.

Skilful, clever, and capable of the spectacular, we think Coutinho would be ideal.

Nabil Fekir

The French winger has been in fine form once again for Lyon, and he is bound to be linked with a move away come the summer.

Fekir would fit the bill at the Bridge, with his speed, capability to play across the front four, and age, all playing into Chelsea’s hands.

A superb player, Fekir would have a big impact in the Premier League if given the chance.

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Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has returned to first-team training ahead of this weekend’s clash with Burnley, per the London Evening Standard.

The England captain sustained ankle ligament damage in January’s loss to Manchester United.

The BBC subsequently claimed that he could be out until March, but the aforementioned London Evening Standard report claims that he could even feature this weekend.

The London Evening Standard claim that Kane has been reminded previously that he must not push himself too hard and manager Mauricio Pochettino may subsequently start him on the bench, particularly with back-to-back derbies against Chelsea and Arsenal looming.

Indeed, Spurs have not lost a Premier League game since the forward was ruled out, beating Fulham, Watford, Newcastle United and Leicester City. They were eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup but beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie last week.

Nevertheless, Spurs are delighted that Kane is readying himself for a comeback. Take a look at the best reaction on Twitter below!

Arsenal have a lot of work to do if they want to secure Champions League football this season, something that at the moment seems unlikely. 

Unlikely, mainly due to the incredible form of Manchester United, who have come surging up the table and hence damaged Arsenal’s top four chances.

Unai Emery, though, will hope for a strong end to the season and knows that anything can be possible with the strong group of players he has available to him.

Though seeing as a high-place finish in the Premier League has again been hard to come by, the former PSG boss will surely look to spend some money during the summer transfer window to improve their chances next season.

Ideally, Arsenal would want proven stars but if that isn’t possible, recruiting up-and-coming talents would also be a good strategy.

An example of the kind of calibre Arsenal may look into signing is Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon.

Sessegnon, (who is valued at £31.5 million on Transfermarkt) remains a raved about youngster, who has all the potential to succeed in the Premier League and football as a whole.

The left-sided player, like the rest of his team-mates, has found making the jump from Championship football to the Premier League is hard.

The 18-year-old missed just one Championship game the season they were promoted as he went on to score 16 goals.

This season, Sessegnon has two goals and five assists to his name so far, which may not seem a lot but his talent is obvious for all to see.

With Nacho Monreal not getting any younger and Sead Kolasinac failing to deliver consistency, Ryan Sessegnon could fit in very nicely deployed in a left wing-back position.

Do you agree… Let us know!

It has been well over a year since Michael Emenalo left Chelsea, leaving the club without an official technical director.

Since then, Roman Abramovich’s right-hand woman Marina Granovskaia has been overseeing player recruitment with quite a few underwhelming deals sanctioned under her watch.

The Blues, though, could finally be about to step up their search for a permanent successor to Emenalo in a potentially huge development for the club.

The Breakdown

According to France Football (via Sport Witness), Chelsea have spoken to Luis Campos about taking up the role with other clubs also said to be interested in his services.

Campos, who currently holds a similar position to the one Chelsea are willing to offer, has not had the most successful of times at Lille.

However, his track record still remains a strong one having helped assemble the AS Monaco team that went on to win the 2017 Ligue 1 title with the likes of Bernardo Silva and Kylian Mbappe starring.

Ultimately, it is that sort of eye for talent Chelsea need with some of the signings the club have made in recent transfer windows being absolutely atrocious.

The likes of Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater, for example, have failed to make the cut at Stamford Bridge, leaving question marks surrounding the west London club’s recruitment strategy — even during Emenalo’s tenure.

A transfer ban handed by FIFA complicates things in some aspects, but Chelsea would be foolish not to go all out for Campos and carry on with their same unconvincing regime.

Chelsea fans, do the Blues need a new technical director like Campos or are you happy with how things are under Granovskaia? Join the discussion by commenting below.

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Nottingham Forest left-back Jack Robinson will miss the upcoming home Championship clashes with Hull City and Aston Villa after picking up his 10th booking of the season in the 2-0 defeat against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, with Ben Osborn likely to fill in.

On the chalkboard

The versatile Robinson, who has also played at centre-back on occasions this term, picked up the caution after arguing a referee’s decision, before being replaced in the 71st minute by Leo Bonatini and reacting in a frustrated manner.

It was the Reds’ first loss in five league matches and it now means that manager Martin O#Neill has a dilemma on his hands ahead of two huge City Ground fixtures.

However, more often than not when the 25-year-old has featured at the heart of the defence, it is Osborn who has stepped in to cover at left-back, as he has done against Bristol City, Wigan Athletic and Brentford since the former Republic of Ireland boss took charge.

Unpopular decision?

It will be with some, yes.

The 24-year-old may be Forest through and through and made 221 appearances in all competitions for the club, but the following fans on Twitter were unimpressed with what they saw from him from the left-hand side against the Potters.

Nevertheless, O’Neill looks to have been left with little choice but to play the Derby-born player at full-back as the east Midlands outfit look to keep their play-off hopes alive, and supporters will be praying that the gamble pays off against tough opposition.

What a performance Nottingham Forest put in on Saturday. Their 3-0 win at home against Hull proved they have the quality to make the play-offs, but only if they replicate their home form on the road.

The Reds have won their last four at the City Ground, scoring ten goals in the process, so if they played all their league games there, they’d probably already have secured a play-off spot already. Of course, they can’t do that so they’re sitting two points off the coveted sixth spot in eighth.

There are only eight points separating them and fourth so there’s a huge opportunity to sneak into the play-offs before the end of the season. Their away form could hamper that chance though, because they’re now without a win in seven away games. That’s certainly not promotion material.

That’ll be so frustrating for Forest fans because every other week they see what their players are capable of but as soon as they leave the comfort of Nottingham everything seems to fall apart. That signifies that it’s not a lack of ability that’s preventing Forest moving up the table, but a lack of composure and grit when they’re not in their comfort zone.

Solid home form is always the key to staying in a division, but the difference between that and earning promotion is going to your opponent’s ground and picking up wins where you aren’t be expected to. That’s eluding the Reds this season, and it could prove costly.

They play in-form Villa at home on Wednesday, but their next away game is against rock-bottom Ipswich Town at the weekend, and that’s the ideal time to get back to winning ways on the road and begin a vein of away form that could push them into the play-offs.

Forest fans, where do you think your side will finish this season? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Crystal Palace make the short trip to Watford this weekend for their FA Cup quarter-final clash. Many Eagles fans surely thought, prior to the former England boss’ Thursday press conference, that Roy Hodgson would continue to prioritise the league instead and thus rest some of his big hitters on Saturday.

The 71-year-old has previously stated that the league remains the priority although he felt it necessary to address the subsequent assumptions made, saying in his presser:

“I see no reason why we can’t do both [play at full capacity in the league and cup].

“Luckily our position in the league – it’s not as good as we’d like – but it’s not precarious at this point in time. There’s no reason why we can’t play on both fronts.

“Even though it’s ridiculously hypothetical, it’s like saying, ‘someone has decided you can have one of these two things: walk away with the trophy and play in the Championship next year or you can miss out on the trophy and still be in the league, what do you want?’

Watch the best fails from the world of indoor football in the video below…

“In that, I say I want the latter, to be in the league. What I really want is to be in the [Premier] League holding the trophy next year.”

Some may believe Hodgson lacks ambition in his team selection most weeks, with the midfield choices particularly uninspiring on occasion, although you can feel reading his comments above that the Premier League’s oldest manager would love to take Palace all the way in the cup if he can.

Not, though, if it means sacrificing top flight status. Luckily for the former Liverpool manager, the two-week break thereafter represents the perfect opportunity to give the cup clash absolutely everything and Palace fans will surely expect nothing less after the abysmal performance at home to Brighton last week.

The Eagles faithful will love Hodgson’s answer and, considering the quality at his disposal, there is no reason why he cannot take his side to Wembley and steer them clear of the drop zone.

Celtic fans will be jubilant now that the news has been confirmed that Kieran Tierney has pulled out of the Scotland squad. The young left-back didn’t feature in yesterday’s embarrassing 3-0 away defeat to Kazakhstan and after watching that game you can’t blame him for wanting out, and he’ll be on the first plane back to Glasgow.

As far as the Hoops are concerned, whilst the Scottish National Team continues the way it’s going there really is no point in letting their Scottish players go and play. Risking an injury whilst playing on a plastic pitch in obscure Eastern European countries is not the way to go, and the Bhoys will now just be hoping that the likes of James Forrest, Scott Bain and Callum McGregor will follow suit.

Tierney is one of Scotland’s brightest young talents and when he plays for the Hoops they are a much better side, and the same usually goes for Scotland too. However, injury problems have already haunted the young full-back this season and the last thing that the Bhoys want to have to deal with is a game against Rangers after the international break without young KT because he suffered an injury whilst playing against a team of teachers, plumbers and firefighters from San Marino.

You can read the Hoops’ thoughts on Tierney’s Scotland drop out here:

The Hoops are all pleased to see that Tierney has dropped out and will be hoping the youngster is fit for their next game against Rangers on March 31st.

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David Prutton has given his verdict to Sky Sports on some of the key fixtures in the Championship this weekend with his opinion on Sheffield United’s promotion hopes a key topic.

What’s he said?

The former Sheffield Wednesday man gave his verdict on his ex-rivals’ hopes for the rest of the season, suggesting the equation was simple if they are to get promoted.

He also commented on the Blades’ next match as a whole. The Yorkshire club take on Bristol City at Bramall Lane but despite the visitors being able to gather their thoughts over the international break, he thinks they will struggle to get a result.

Here’s what Prutton said to Sky Sports:

“It is simple enough for Sheffield United now. Win eight games and they will be a Premier League side next season. But that is much easier said than done at this stage of a campaign!

“Bristol City will probably be glad the international break came when it did, because it will have given Lee Johnson the opportunity to arrest one of their trademark dips in form. I do not think they will have enough to claim anything here, though.”

Prutton hits the nail on the head

Sheffield United go into the final few months of the season sitting a point above Leeds in the automatic promotion places. Therefore their fate is entirely in their own hands. As Prutton says, all they have to do is win their remaining games and they will be promoted.

The momentum is all with the Blades right now too. They’re ten games unbeaten and after beating Leeds, their main rivals for the final automatic spot, they will be full of confidence.

Chris Wilder’s men have only tasted defeat at Bramall Lane four times in the league this season so Prutton’s claims that Bristol City won’t have enough is difficult to disagree with. However, the Robins did claim victory over their opponents on Saturday earlier in the season.

That win came all the way back in September though and Sheffield United are now a different beast.

Newcastle manager, Rafa Benitez held his usual pre-match press conference this afternoon, during which he admitted talks about a new contract with the club have taken place, and stressed his eyes are firmly on The Magpies and nothing else.

It will be a relief to fans to hear that finally there is dialogue between the manager and Lee Charnley, particularly with the speculation building up day by day as the process keeps dragging on.

When asked about the rumours of approaches from the likes of Celtic and the Chinese Super League, Rafa quipped: “I can read the same as you.”

He added that there has been “some contact” with Charnley and that talking to Newcastle is his “priority”, but stressed that his main focus was on the games ahead.

The Spaniard said: “I can read what is going on in press. My priority is to keep talking Newcastle and see where we are. I’m not thinking about anything else.

“We have some contact, I see (managing director) Lee Charnley sometimes. It’s too early (to talk). We have to concentrate on the games.”

Newcastle travel to Arsenal on Monday Night Football this week, and Benitez confirmed that skipper Jamaal Lascelles is fit for the game, and added that, although he is suspended for Monday’s game, Schar is now fine, following the head injury he picked up in Georgia playing for Switzerland last weekend.

Benitez knows his side are just one win away from reaching the self-imposed target to be considered safe, and the speculation surrounding his future is an unwanted distraction.

He, naturally, wants to concentrate purely on the football, for now, and says that the key is to stay calm for the run-in, especially if they don’t get the win he wants at the Emirates on Monday.

He said: “We know we have to win maybe just one more game.

“But if we can’t win the next one, we just have to keep going.

“I will not put us under pressure.

“We just need to stay calm and focus on the next game, then see what happens.

It is, obviously great news for Newcastle fans that he and Charnley are talking about the future now, but as we stated in an earlier article, Rafa putting all talks off until safety has been guaranteed is, in many ways applying added pressure to the survival race.

That said, once the three points Benitez craves have been pocketed, there will be no more excuses, and no more hiding from the barrage of questions coming his way until a definitive decision is made and announced.

Everyone associated with the club — including Rafa himself by all accounts — hopes for a positive conclusion to the saga that seems to have been going on for an eternity.

What do you think Newcastle fans? Is it good news that Rafa and Charnley are talking? Will he be able to convince him to stay? Or have you lost all trust in Charnley to get any deal done? Let us know…