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Some Liverpool supporters are fuming after it was revealed that Alisson and Fabinho are likely to miss Reds action this month, due to international duty.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are on Premier League duty this weekend, with Manchester City heading to Anfield for a huge meeting on Sunday.

Liverpool are top of the league currently but are only one point ahead of Pep Guardiola’s side, as the title race continues to hot up.

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Two players who will be vital for the Reds against City are Alisson and Fabinho, with the duo both proving to be modern-day Anfield heroes.

According to This is Anfield [via LFC Transfer Room on Twitter], however, they will both head out on Brazil duty later this month, meaning they will likely miss the league clash at Watford on October 16th, due to having to quarantine.

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Liverpool fans react to Alisson and Fabinho news

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to show their dissatisfaction with the news.

“Genuinely who even likes international football. Just scrap it.”

Credit: @chielinilooked

“Great. Aerial assault incoming from Watford”

Credit: @rylands72

“Wish international football would just do one”

Credit: @footyfiend1

“What a joke, stop this madness”

Credit: @StannisTheGod

“Oh no”

Credit: @TrentXtraa

“Someone throw international football out the window please”

Credit: @Sundinho6

In other news, some Liverpool fans love a video that has emerged at Anfield. Read more here.

West Ham United have joined the race to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, according to reports in Spain. 

The lowdown

Kondogbia, 29, joined Atletico from Valencia less than 18 months ago for a fee of £13.5million (which remains his estimated Transfermarkt value).

He has just over two years left on the £107,000-per-week contract he signed on his arrival at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Kondogbia, who’s started four of the last six games following his return from a muscle injury, is predominantly a defensive midfielder but he can also operate as a centre-back.

A summer transfer ‘revolution’ could apparently take place at Atletico as a result of their disappointing title defence. They currently sit fourth in La Liga, a full 15 points behind pace-setting city rivals Real Madrid.

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The latest

Diego Simeone is reportedly reluctant to let Kondogbia leave, but interested clubs are queuing up.

‘The siren songs have already begun’ from the Premier League, with West Ham one of the most recent additions to the ‘list of candidates’.

Reigning champions Manchester City are also interested as they scout potential replacements for Fernandinho.

The verdict

Kondogbia could potentially serve as a replacement for Declan Rice, should he leave the London Stadium in the summer.

Indeed, transfer insider Dean Jones believes that Rice will be ‘gettable’ in the upcoming transfer window and says he’s ‘willing to consider his options’.

Alternatively, David Moyes may view him as a competitor for Rice and Tomas Soucek in the middle of the park, and as potential cover at centre-back. From that point of view, the signing would significantly boost West Ham’s squad depth.

The Central African has already shown how good he can be against PL opposition, having ‘absolutely devoured’ the Manchester United midfield in the Champions League Round of 16 (in the words of La Liga TV presenter Phil Kitromilides).

In other news, The Athletic have broken a big West Ham story. 

Leeds United and Newcastle United are two of the clubs who have been linked with a move for Derby County midfielder Jason Knight, as per a report from Football League World.

The Lowdown: Knight profiled

Knight is a Republic of Ireland international who is primarily a central midfielder but can also play on the right or in an attacking role.

The 20-year-old was labelled a ‘manager’s dream’ by Wayne Rooney and has been a regular for the Rams in recent months in a variety of positions. He has made 93 senior appearances for Derby in total, scoring on 11 occasions, but it seems as if he could be one player set to leave Pride Park, with multiple clubs interested in his services.

The Latest: January move on the cards?

Football League World shared a story on Wednesday regarding a number of Derby youngsters possibly leaving due to the club’s financial issues.

When it came to Knight, they claimed that Leeds, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Everton, Leicester City, Newcastle and Wolves are all keen, with the midfielder the prime contender to depart.

The Verdict: Similar to Gelhardt?

Leeds pounced on Wigan’s financial issues last year by bringing Joe Gelhardt to the club in a deal worth just £900,000. The youngster has gone on to star for the club’s under-23s and is now starting to get a chance in Marcelo Bielsa’s first team, so Victor Orta could well strike gold again when it comes to Knight.

He is capable of playing in multiple midfield positions so he could appeal to Bielsa, who is quite short of midfielders at this moment in time.

Knight already has plenty of experience in the Championship, especially for his age, and you’d expect that he’ll only get better, so a cut-price move could be another Leeds masterclass should they win the race.

In other news: The stats show that these were Leeds’ three worst players against Crystal Palace

Newcastle United reportedly ‘reckon’ that they now have ‘a chance’ of signing Timo Werner, according to Christian Falk.

The Lowdown: A disappointment

For a player that promised so much after scoring £47.7m move to Chelsea in July of last year.

Considering the money that they have spent on him, the striker has only managed to score 17 goals in 66 games in total over all competitions for the Blues, including just five so far this season (Transfermarkt).

Thus, given that he is still at a good age at 25, Thomas Tuchel’s team may want to consider selling him now in order to recoup as much of that money back as possible.

The Latest: Newcastle swoop?

Speaking to BILD (via Sport Witness), Bundesliga journalist and transfer expert Falk has now revealed the latest on the St. James’ Park faithful’s hope of signing Werner in the January transfer window:

“With Werner, they reckon they’ve got a bit of a chance. They’ve got contacts with the management. One of their players (Fabian Schar) is also managed by the German agency that represents Werner.

“Whether Werner will end up feeling so frustrated at Chelsea and then say ‘I’ll give it a go in Newcastle’ is the big question.”

The Verdict: Avoid

The move for Werner to English football has clearly not worked out thus far, and so he may struggle even more in the North East compared to title hopefuls Chelsea.

Even though the new Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium have the money to spend, Werner is simply too inconsistent to justify paying his whopping £268,000-per-week wages, on top of a potentially hefty transfer fee given his age and position.

Nonetheless, their attack is not the main problem, with their 41 goals conceded by far the most in the top flight so far this term, and so the Tyneside outfit should be looking to prioritise strengthening the defence first of all.

In other news, find out what ‘worrying’ NUFC injury claim has now been dropped here!

West Ham United will not look to secure a deal to bring Alex Kral to the London Stadium on a permanent basis.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Claret & Hugh, with the club insider revealing that David Moyes will not look to take up the £12m option-to-buy clause for the defensive midfielder. Indeed, they may even look to terminate the 23-year-old’s loan deal before the end of the January transfer window.

In the update, Claret & Hugh said: “West Ham look likely to allow Alex Kral back to Spartak Moscow after the midfielder has been found himself unable to make any impact at the London Stadium so far this season.”

They later added: “The Hammers organised a loan with a permanent deal option at around £12m but given his shortage of any real action, one wonders why the boss agreed to such a move in the first place. Now it looks likely that he could even be back in Russia before the current season comes to an end.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering how little impact Kral has made at West Ham since making his temporary switch from Spartak Moscow last year, the news that Moyes is not planning to sign him on a permanent basis is sure to have left the London Stadium faithful buzzing.

Indeed, so far this season, the £7.2m-rated Czech international has made just one Premier League appearance – coming on for the final minute of the 4-1 win over Watford – in the current campaign, as well as making three appearances in the Europa League and one in the Carabao Cup.

It is not difficult to see why Moyes is so reluctant to afford the 23-year-old more regularly game-time, as, over his three European outings, the £24k-per-week midfielder has averaged a disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.63 – ranking him as the Hammers’ joint fifth-worst performer in the competition.

As such, it is clear to see that the player who Moyes claimed has “bags of energy” is simply not of the standard required to be a first-team regular at the London Stadium. That leads us to believe that the 58-year-old simply must send the Czech Republic midfielder back to his parent club this month.

In other news: Moyes could finally replace Haller as West Ham plot bid for “complete” £13.5m-rated machine

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Championship side Stoke City have identified Barnsley’s ace centre-back Liam Lindsay as a late January transfer target, per The Sun’s Alan Nixon.

What’s the word?

The Sun’s transfer expert Nixon has claimed that while Stoke are looking to complete a deal for Portsmouth’s Matt Clarke, they may be put off by his £5million valuation.

As a result, the Potters may turn their attention to other young defenders in League One, such as Barnsley’s Lindsay, who remained at Oakwell in the summer despite the Tykes’ relegation.

The Potters would benefit from a new centre-back, as Nathan Jones’ side have won just once in their last eight games in all competitions and conceded 14 goals. Clearly, a leaky defensive line is a problem Stoke’s new manager will need to address in the coming weeks.

Barnsley, though, would be losing the services of a defender who has featured in 25 of their 28 League One fixtures so far this season, and would be forced to hand 10% of any transfer fee to Partick Thistle, who The Sun claim hold a sell-on clause from the deal that saw Lindsay move to Oakwell in 2017.

One of English football’s lesser known rivalries was reignited on Saturday thanks to an unlikely source. Check out the video above to find out which one…

Could it happen?

Unfortunately for Barnsley fans, Lindsay’s fate at Oakwell remains uncertain until Stoke decide whether they wish to pursue Portsmouth’s Clarke or not.

Should the Potters dig deep and pay Pompey’s £5million valuation, any Tykes supporter can then rest easy as Lindsay would likely remain one of their players, at least until the next transfer window opens.

But if Jones is not convinced that Clarke is worth the figure the Fratton Park outfit demand, Barnsley supporters will have to hope the 23-year-old defender is confident in their chances of gaining promotion back into the Championship this season.

With Ashley Williams and Ryan Shawcross both over 30, and struggling to produce the form that made them amongst the most consistent centre-backs in the Premier League during prior stages of their career, Lindsay would be a welcome addition at the bet365 Stadium.

He could be key in not only getting the Jones revolution underway in the second half of this season, but also the long-term rebuild of this Potters team.

On Thursday night, David Moyes handed yet another professional debut to one of West Ham’s promising youngsters – something which has been a recurring theme since he returned for a second stint at the club.

The Irons continued their impressive form in the Europa League with another win and clean sheet, taking them way clear at the top of Group H.

Genk threatened early on in the match but the tide turned just before the break when Craig Dawson nodded home from an Aaron Cresswell delivery. The left-back provided again in the second half, this time Issa Diop heading to the net, before Jarrod Bowen wrapped things up with a fine solo strike.

With the game more or less over by the hour mark, the Scotsman made changes to his starting XI, in which young academy gem Dan Chesters came on for his maiden senior appearance.

The 19-year-old midfielder came on for Manuel Lanzini in the 89th minute, joining a whole host of names to make their debut since Moyes’ comeback, including Harrison Ashby, Emmanuel Longelo, Jamal Baptiste, Nathan Trott, Oladapo Afolayan, Aji Alese, Mipo Odubeko and Jeremy Ngakia.

Chesters is an exciting attacking midfielder, who offers pace and creativity in the final third.

West Ham’s official website describe him as ‘a livewire attacking midfielder capable of opening up the tightest of defences’. He is also capable of playing as a no.8, no.10 or out wide.

His impressive form for the U18s earned quite a lofty comparison to one of the Premier League’s very best.

“He’s a bit similar to Jack Grealish, claimed ex-Hammers midfielder Jack Collison to The Athletic.

“He takes people on and he’s lovely on the ball; really nice to watch. He’s one of the most exciting kids to watch in terms of what he can do when the ball’s at his feet.”

Meanwhile, Moyes waxed lyrical about his potential after the game. He told reporters, via football.london: “He has speed, he has trained well with the first team last week, when we were in the international break and he’d been quite impressive.

“We were a little bit short of attacking players today so it gave us a chance to get a couple of young players on the bench. Dan has been doing well and when he came on he showed his endeavour to stop them a couple of times.”

Perhaps he could go on to become the next Joe Cole at the London Stadium. His versatility and skillset certainly provide clues into the two having plenty of similarities.

With the Irons still in every domestic cup competition, we should expect to see Chesters’ name on the teamsheet more often as Moyes looks to deal with a congested workload over the coming weeks and months.

The 58-year-old may have just discovered the club’s next Cole.

AND in other news, 97% pass accuracy, 89 touches: West Ham’s £60k-p/w “freak” stole the show against Genk…

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Pete O’Rourke has shared a transfer claim involving Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

The Lowdown: Rashford unsettled…

The Red Devils forward is thought to be unsettled at Old Trafford, according to recent reports.

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Football Insider made a pretty big claim at the end of March, saying Rashford has already told friends he wants to leave Man United as Tottenham striker Harry Kane is linked with a move to his club.

Ralf Rangnick’s side are apparently considering a fresh approach to sign Antonio Conte’s key man this summer, coming after their arch rivals Man City failed in a bid to take him last year.

Amid these claims, O’Rourke has now backed the possibility of a head-turning Tottenham deal.

The Latest: O’Rourke makes Rashford/Kane swap deal claim…

Speaking to GMS, when asked if Rashford being offered in a deal for Kane could entice Spurs, the reporter explained:

“Maybe the potential availability of Marcus Rashford could be interesting to Tottenham because he hasn’t really figured much for Manchester United, especially in the second half of the season, and is meant to be unhappy at Old Trafford.”

The Verdict: Something to consider?

Apparently valued at around €80 million (£67m) by Man United transfer chiefs (Sport), Fabio Paratici could feasibly bypass that fee entirely with Kane moving the other way.

However, given just how integral the latter man is to Spurs, we believe the deal would simply not be worth it unless a huge fee comes to north London alongside the player.

Called the ‘poster boy’ of Old Trafford (Frank McAvennie, Football Insider), Rashford’s impressive 2020/2021 rate of 2.1 shots and 2.2 successful take-ons per 90 in the Premier League simply hasn’t been matched this campaign.

According to WhoScored, Rashford has played half the minutes he did last campaign – managing just four goals and two assists so far.

When taking into account the 11 goals and nine assists he bagged over 20/21, his drop in form is evident, and it could arguably be a controversial Paratici call to swap Tottenham’s prised asset for the attacker.

In other news: In recent weeks: Tottenham step up chase to sign ‘incredible’ player as club brace for their bid! Find out more here.

Wolves will allow Adama Traore to join Tottenham in the January transfer window if a suitable offer arrives, according to journalist Luke Hatfield.

The Lowdown: Traore linked with Wolves exit

The Spaniard has again proven to be a hit-and-miss figure for Wanderers this season, making just 10 Premier League starts and not registering a single goal or assist.

Bruno Lage seemingly doesn’t see Traore as a regular starter and he has been linked with a move away from Molineux this month, with Spurs thought to be keen on snapping him up.

The 25-year-old’s current deal expires in the summer of 2023, so Wolves are running out of time before they risk losing him on a free transfer.

The Latest: Hatfield talks up Spurs move

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Hatfield admitted that he could see Traore joining Spurs in the January transfer window, should the right offer come along. He outlined:

“It’s a situation where I do think it would work best for Wolves, if they were to get a suitable offer, to cash in on him.

“They obviously won’t undercut themselves in terms of the price that they get for him but, ultimately, if he’s not playing games and the contract situation is continuing on then it makes more sense for Wolves to sell.”

The Verdict: Time to move on?

Traore has had long enough now to prove himself at Wolves, having been at Molineux since 2018, and while there have been moments of quality – Tim Sherwood has hailed him as ‘fantastic’ in the past – now is the time to accept an offer if a lucrative one comes in.

Wanderers should be able to receive a decent sum for the Spain international, which could then help go towards signing a top-quality replacement this month.

The returning Pedro Neto will also provide Lage with another attacking option, so Traore shouldn’t be a huge miss if he does move on during the current window.

In other news, Tim Spiers has made a big Wolves injury claim. Read more here.

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side heading into Sunday’s Scottish Premiership clash very much on a high after an exceptional performance in the Europa League on Thursday evening, the 56-year-old Bhoys boss will undoubtedly be hoping for yet another positive result and display when the Hoops visit Dundee this weekend.

And, in more positive news for Celtic, James Forrest appears to be nearing a return to full fitness after getting another 20 minutes of first-team football under his belt in the 3-2 win over Ferencvarosi TC, having made his first appearance since August in the 0-0 draw with Livingston last weekend.

The return of the winger, who has been sidelined as a result of an unspecified injury, will certainly come as a major boost to Postecoglou, as the 30-year-old has proven to be one of the Bhoys’ most creative and attacking outlets in recent seasons.

Indeed, over his 58 appearances in all competitions back in 2017/18, the £5.4m-rated forward scored 17 goals and registered ten assists, before bagging 18 goals and providing 20 assists over 56 appearances in 2018/19, and scoring 16 times and registering 22 assists over 47 games in 2019/20.

And, with both Jota – four goals and five assists over 13 appearances – and Kyogo Furuhashi – 11 goals and three assists over 17 fixtures – already well and truly firing in the Celtic front three, the further addition of Forrest to the 56-year-old manager’s attacking lineup would appear to bode extremely well for the Hoops’ chances of going on to reclaim their Scottish Premiership crown come the end of the season.

As such, in order to get the £15k-per-week Forrest back up to speed as quickly as possible, it would appear highly advisable for Postecoglou to unleash the player who Neil Lennon dubbed “priceless” from the off against Dundee, as the Premiership strugglers could act as the perfect foil to help reestablish Forrest as a regular in the Celtic first-team – something that is surely a terrifying prospect for the rest of the division.

In other news: Nicholson must finalise Celtic deal for “clinical” £7.1k-p/w gem, he’d be a major coup