Aston Villa’s recent victories over Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League has propelled them from a side who could potentially break into the top six to a club who could secure a place in the top four and, with it, a Champions League berth.

Unai Emery’s side have also secured progression to the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League as they prepare to take on Bosnian outfit Zrinkjski on Thursday evening.

A point will secure the Midlands side top spot in the group and this will ensure they face a slightly weaker side in the knockout rounds, so there is plenty of incentive tomorrow evening to secure a positive result.

Emery could still make a few changes to his squad, however, with a few players requiring a rest following their exertions against City and the Gunners over the previous seven days.

Related Latest Aston Villa transfer news: Unai eyes £40m deal; Saudi club want star

It’s a huge summer for Aston Villa and Unai Emery as they prepare for the Champions League.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini Jul 11, 2024

With this in mind, we at Football FanCast have predicted the Villa starting XI which will take to the field in Bosnia for their final group stage tie, with six changes to the one that started against Arsenal.

1 GK – Emiliano Martínez

The 31-year-old started the first four group stage matches of the campaign but was given a rest in place of Robin Olsen for the previous outing against Legia Warsaw.

Following consecutive clean sheets against the Champions and Mikel Arteta’s men in back-to-back 1–0 victories, Emery will stick with the ‘keeper ahead of the trip to Eastern Europe.

2 RB – Matty Cash

The defender has missed just one match all season – against City last week – and has been in wonderful form on the right side of the defence.

He has provided Emery with a solid attacking outlet from the back, scoring three goals along with chipping in with two assists, and he will be unleashed once again in the starting XI tomorrow evening.

3 CB – Ezri Konsa

The centre-back has taken full advantage of the injury to Tyrone Mings by becoming a mainstay in the Villa defence this term, only missing the away tie against AZ Alkmaar back in October.

The Englishman was a titan at the back while keeping City and Arsenal at bay and this renewed confidence is allowing him to thrive under the Spaniard, and he will keep his place for the Conference League tie.

4 CB – Clement Lenglet

Emery will likely keep Pau Torres and Diego Carlos on the bench for the tie tomorrow and this means Lenglet will be unleashed for the sixth straight European match this term.

The former Arsenal boss appears to be keeping the Frenchman specifically for the continental matches as he has yet to make an appearance off the bench in 13 Premier League matches so far during 2023/24.

5 LB – Lucas Digne

Alex Moreno returned from a long injury layoff during the previous Conference League tie against Legia Warsaw and marked his return by scoring the winner during the 2-1 victory.

Digne replaced him for the final ten minutes before subsequently starting the previous two league matches.

However, the Frenchman is suspended for the upcoming domestic clash against Brentford and this means he will start tomorrow evening, as Emery will keep Moreno fit for the league tie.

6 RM – Moussa Diaby

The £130k-per-week wizard has been benched for the previous three Premier League matches, but it is time he was given a start against the Bosnian side.

Villa’s record signing has been in decent form so far this term, scoring four goals and grabbing five assists, but there is certainly more to come from the French winger.

Hailed as “fearless on the ball” by journalist Arron Stokes prior to his move to England, Diaby will be unleashed tomorrow evening.

7 CM – Leander Dendoncker

The midfielder has played just ten times for the club this term, with three of those coming in the Conference League.

With a hectic spell to come, Emery may give the Belgian just his third start of the 2023/24 campaign, and it would allow the manager to rest players such as Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn.

8 CM – Douglas Luiz

The Brazilian has been in wonderful form this season, emerging as one of Emery’s most important players.

He has yet to miss a game either in Europe or domestically this term and has registered ten goal contributions – six goals and four assists – showcasing his attacking capabilities for the club.

Along with Digne, Luiz is suspended for the clash against the Bees on the weekend and this will mean he is deployed from the first whistle against Zrinkjski tomorrow evening.

9 LM – Nicolo Zaniolo

The on-loan Italian has not hit the ground running since his temporary switch from AS Roma in the summer as he has failed to score or register an assist in 17 appearances for the club.

Being utilised in a few different positions perhaps has not helped his cause, yet Emery will need to see more from him during the festive spell as he looks to maximise his entire squad.

The 24-year-old forward could replace McGinn for the European clash on Thursday evening as Emery will be keen to have the Scot fresh for the domestic tie on the weekend.

10 AM – Youri Tielemans

The Belgian midfielder is another player who has not quite demonstrated his true talents since arriving on a free transfer in the summer.

In Europe, however, the 26-year-old has produced one goal and one assist in his previous five matches and Emery may continue to utilise him in a more advanced role.

The former Leicester City gem was deployed as a number ten against City and Arsenal, and it worked rather well, therefore the Spaniard will continue with this system tomorrow evening.

Tottenham are ready to rival a top club and sign an exciting new centre-back who's even been likened to Arsenal star William Saliba.

Lange chases new Spurs defender

After recruitment meetings in the last week, new sporting director Johan Lange has reportedly identified a left-sided defender as one of Tottenham's main priorities for the January window.

This comes after centre-back Micky van de Ven sustained a hamstring injury in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea earlier this month, with defensive partner Cristian Romero also suspended right now. Ange Postecoglou has been forced to play both Ben Davies and Emerson Royal as the centre-back pairing most recently, with Spurs' head coach seemingly not having any faith in Eric Dier.

Tottenham have been linked with the likes of Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly and Crystal Palace Marc Guehi, while other options are finding their way on to Spurs' list of January targets fairly regularly.

Centre-back is a position Spurs quite simply need to reinforce, with former defender Alan Hutton backing them to make a "top signing" in the winter window recently.

“It’ll be very interesting to see who they bring in, and I think it will happen, a top signing, for sure," said Hutton to Football Insider in mid-Novemberm, commenting on Tottenham's links to Kelly.

"They do need defensive reinforcements as we’ve seen after a number of injuries. They look thin at the back so it’s something they will look at. Kelly’s got lots of experience in the Premier League.

“He’s a good size, good with his feet and ticks a lot of boxes. He’s somebody they’ll have an eye on but I’m sure there’ll be lots of players that are working hard in the background to see if they can make the squad better.”

Spurs eyeing Jean-Clair Todibo

Now, according to The Evening Standard and journalist Nizaar Kinsella, Tottenham are "ready to rival" Liverpool in the race to sign Jean-Clair Todibo.

Indeed, Spurs have joined the race for Todibo as they prepare to sign another defender in January. He'll apparently cost around £39 million to prise away from current club Nice, where he has seriously impressed in Ligue 1.

The France international is apparently keen on a move to the Premier League as well, with Man United also in the hunt for his signature amid their desperation for another centre-back.

Todibo, interestingly, has been likened to Arsenal star Saliba in playing style by Football Transfers, while former Bayern Munich defender and Brazil star Dante called him a "very strong" player.

“Of course, we would like Todibo to stay," said Dante when speaking in a recent press conference (via Football Transfers).

"But it can be complicated. We have to wait to see who will want to buy him and if everyone finds himself there. He is a leader, a very strong player mentally, he has improved a lot and he is ready to reach the very top level."

Still just 23-year-old, Todibo would have many years to justify his price tag at Spurs, but it remains to be seen whether he'd be willing to compete with van de Ven or Romero as the starting centre-back.

India captain becomes the first to win all three top honours in a year, while also being named captain of the Test and ODI teams

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2019Virat Kohli’s prolific 2018, especially as a batsman, has been reflected in the ICC awards with the India captain winning the year’s three biggest prizes: the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year, the Test player of the year and the ICC men’s ODI player of the year.Kohli, whose India are No. 1 in the world in the ICC Test rankings and at No. 2 in both ODIs and T20Is, scored runs across formats: 1322 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 55.08 with five centuries, and 1202 runs in 14 ODIs at 133.55, with six centuries. He also ended the year at No. 1 in both the rankings for Tests and ODIs.Teams of the year

Test: Virat Kohli (capt), Tom Latham, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Rishabh Pant (wk), Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Abbas.
ODI: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ross Taylor, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Mustafizur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

His performance is put into sharper context by the fact that India played most of their cricket in 2018 away from the subcontinent – there were tours of South Africa, England and Australia, apart from the home series against the West Indies.”It feels amazing. It’s a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year. I feel really grateful and very, very happy with the team doing well at the same time myself performing,” Kohli told the ICC.”Having recognition at the global level from the ICC is something you feel proud of as a cricketer because you understand that there are many players playing the game.”Also read: Ian Chappell: Will Kohli end up the Bradman of ODI batting?The 36-member voting panel was unanimous in picking Kohli for the Sobers award, with Kagiso Rabada finishing second both for the overall category and the one for Test players. Rashid Khan, meanwhile, was the runner-up for the ODI award.Among the other major winners were Rishabh Pant, who was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year. The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman made his Test and ODI debuts in 2018 and put in a number of noteworthy performances, especially in the longest format. In eight Tests in the year, Pant scored 537 runs, with a century – 114 in the second innings against England at The Oval. He was also good behind the stumps, grabbing 40 catches and pulling off two stumpings.Aaron Finch was in supreme touch•Associated PressAaron Finch’s 172 off just 76 balls in Harare against Zimbabwe in July was chosen as the best T20I knock of the year. It was also the highest score in the format, and Finch broke his own record of 156, scored against England in Southampton in 2013, to claim the mark.”It was just one of those days that things seemed to go my way, so it was nice to break my own record and get a 172. After I got a hundred and I started to middle consistently, that is when I knew it was going to be a big one. It all happened pretty quick,” said Finch of the score that ended just three runs short of Chris Gayle’s 175, the record for all T20 cricket.Scotland batsman Calum MacLeod, meanwhile, won the Associate Cricketer of the Year award. His unbeaten 157 against Afghanistan in the World Cup qualifiers and then the match-winning unbeaten 140 against England in Edinburgh were among the most memorable knocks of the year in ODI cricket.Kumar Dharmasena was named the Umpire of the Year, while Kane Williamson won the Spirit of Cricket award, and India’s victory in the Under-19 World Cup was voted as the Fans’ Moment of the Year.

MatériaMais Notícias

Fundada em 1987, a Red Bull não tem demonstrado ganho técnico e competitivo apenas com as equipes que patrocina pelo mundo. Um dos pontos de sucesso e considerado como referência por especialistas está associado à estratégia de marketing idealizada pela empresa, com objetivo claro de levar a mensagem principal a um público mais jovem, focado principalmente em adolescentes.

+ CONFIRA A CLASSIFICAÇÃO DO CAMPEONATO BRASILEIRO

O que era apenas algo publicitário e teve início na Europa durante a década de 90, se transformou em investimento pesado para o esporte. Inicialmente, a empresa investiu forte em comerciais publicitários, distribuição de produtos em universidades, bares e casas noturnas, além de modelos em pontos estratégicos das cidades para promover a marca.

O sucesso fez com que a Red Bull migrasse para projetos próprios em esportes considerados radicais – que era onde os jovens estavam – casos de lutas marciais, motor e consequentemente o futebol, este abrangendo diferentes públicos, é verdade, mas com um alcance inimaginável.

O carro-chefe da empresa era a realização ou o aporte a eventos considerados tops a nível mundial, casos da Nascar e XGames, além de equipes de Fórmula 1, como a Red Bull Racing. O outro salto, que sacramentou o nome da empresa no esporte, se deu quando o investimento migrou para a compra de times próprios de futebol, o primeiro deles o RB Leipzig, da Alemanha, em 2013. Desde então, foram adquiridos mais quatro clubes, sendo dois no Brasil: o Red Bull Bragantino, que faz boa campanha na Série A do Campeonato Brasileiro, e o Red Bull Brasil, que está na Série A2 do Paulista. Os outros são o New York Red Bulls, que disputa a Major League nos Estados Unidos, e o FC Red Bull Salzburg, na Áustria.

“O caso da Red Bull é bastante particular: é uma empresa que colocou no centro de sua estratégia de negócios a produção de conteúdo em torno de sua marca e é neste contexto que as equipes de futebol são enxergadas: tratam-se de um conteúdo Red Bull, que existe para transmitir os valores Red Bull e gerar engajamento em torno deles – da mesma forma como uma corrida de avião ou o salto de um paraquedista da estratosfera”, aponta André Monnerat, diretor de negócios da Feng, empresa especializada em programas de sócios-torcedores e captação de patrocínios.

+ São Paulo em 8º, Flamengo em 10º… Confira a classificação do returno do Brasileirão

Marcelo Palaia, especialista em marketing esportivo e professor do segmento pela ESPM-SP, afirma que o conceito da Red Bull sempre foi muito definido e tem atingido resultados que devem servir de exemplo para outras empresas da área.

“Desde o princípio ela focou no investimento em um público adolescente e entendeu que estar dentro do esporte, com planejamento estratégico e conteúdo, traria ganhos diversos não apenas de vendas, mas do valor da marca como um todo. Essa organização e agressividade na capacidade de investir fazem dela uma referência não apenas de marketing, mas de ganho técnico. O reflexo dos bons resultados nas equipes que controla, mesmo em pouco tempo, não são por acaso”, explica.

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Aston Villa continued their wonderful Premier League form with a comeback win over Brentford over the weekend.

Unai Emery’s men now face ties against Sheffield United, Manchester United and Burnley before 2023 draws to a close and with the way they are playing, nine points is certainly a realistic ambition.

While these three clashes are his priority right now, Emery will soon turn his attention to the January transfer window and the chance to further bolster his squad.

Aston Villa transfer news – Bundesliga raid planned

According to TEAMtalk, the Midlands side are currently in the race to sign Stuttgart centre-back Waldemar Anton in the upcoming January window.

Arsenal and West Ham United are also showing interest in the German defender as the chase heats up to see who could secure his signature.

The 27-year-old is the captain of the Bundesliga side and with just 18 months left on his current contract, Emery may be able to land the player for an affordable fee.

The Spaniard has enjoyed some success by raiding the Bundesliga since arriving at Villa Park, with Moussa Diaby emerging as one of his key players this season following his move from Bayer Leverkusen.

Waldemar Anton’s statistics this season

Diaby cost Villa a club record £51.9m deal in the summer after he had registered 25 goal contributions last season for the Bundesliga club – 14 goals and 11 assists – and he has looked impressive in the Premier League so far.

In 17 top-flight matches, the Frenchman has scored three goals and grabbed five assists and these figures should only get better over the next few months.

Making a move for Anton could see Emery secure yet another gem from the German top flight, and he has been in wonderful form for Stuttgart thus far during the current campaign.

The 5 foot 11 gem currently ranks first across the squad for accurate passes per game (65.8) in the Bundesliga, along with ranking fourth for interceptions (1.3) and first for clearances (4.5) per game, and he has been an integral member of the team which currently occupies fourth spot in the league table.

His manager, Sebastian Hoeneß, has recently praised the defender and claimed he deserves a call-up to the senior German side.

He said: "Waldi flys a bit under the radar. He plays incredibly consistently, is an unbelievable stabilizing factor, and makes very few mistakes. That's a very important characteristic for a defender. Both on and off the ball, Waldi has delivered performances that render him worthy of a look [for the national team]."

High praise indeed and while Emery has a few options at centre-back, signing the 27-year-old could certainly add some strength in depth to his squad.

With knockout European football to come in the spring alongside maintaining their current league form, having plenty of options to call upon could be vital for Emery.

Anton is currently playing some of the best football of his career and Villa have already enjoyed some success from Germany recently. Could the Stuttgart captain continue this trend?

Premier League CEO Richard Masters has provided an update on when the hearing into Manchester City's 115 charges will take place.

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City charged with 115 FFP breachesTreble winners deny any wrongdoingCEO Masters provides hearing updateWHAT HAPPENED?

City were hit with 115 financial fair play charges by the Premier League in February 2023 relating to financial irregularities between 2009-2018. It was thought the verdict for any punishment would not come out until late 2025 but Masters' update may mean the treble winners, who strongly deny the allegations, could find out sooner than then.

AdvertisementWHEN IS THE HEARING?

Telegraph reporter Ben Rumsby relayed that Masters said City's hearing over the charges would take place soon but did not specify a date. He was appearing at a European Leagues press conference in London on Friday.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Everton and Nottingham Forest were docked points this season for financial fair play breaches and due to the severity of the charges, City could be hit with bigger points deductions; with talk of trophies being stripped and relegation mooted – although the latter may be unlikely.

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GettyWHAT NEXT?

While this huge matter will continue behind the scenes, defending Premier League champions City, who sit second behind Arsenal, are away to relegation-threatened Forest at City Ground on Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are “desperate” to sign one player this summer, with Wrexham’s transfer plans being confirmed.

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• Dragons have secured back-to-back promotions
• Ready to add again in summer window
• On-loan goalkeeper figures prominently on wish list

• Getty/GOAL
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Dragons have wrapped up back-to-back promotions, meaning that they will be playing League One football in 2024-25. Phil Parkinson has plenty of quality at his disposal, but the intention is to bolster the ranks at SToK Racecourse ahead of a completely new challenge in the third tier of English football.

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• WHAT KER SAID

  Executive director Humphrey Ker has told the podcast of the recruitment blueprint, with Wrexham aware that they are no longer a big-spending fish in a small pond: “It’s just the quality of opposition. The jump from National League to League Two is big. The jump from League Two to League One is even bigger, I think. There is also a jump from the bottom half of League One to the top half. There is the danger of a Birmingham or a Huddersfield – big, big clubs with 25,000 or 30,000 crowds that are well resourced, well backed, well backed, well established. Eighteen months ago, to get a player out of a League One club was a huge coup for us. We are going to have to fight for every point we get – I don’t think there are going to be many 6-0s on the cards for us next season. Our approach will be, as it has been every summer and every winter, we will look to improve the squad. We will look to refresh and renew the playing squad. I think there is the core of a great League One team that we have got here and we’ll look to make additions to that.”

• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  One of the players that Wrexham are hoping to see in North Wales next season is Arthur Okonkwo, who has starred for the club on loan from Arsenal this term, with Ker adding on efforts at the recent EFL awards show to ensure that rival interest is not allowed to turn the 22-year-old goalkeeper’s head as he prepares to hit free agency: “I went to the EFL awards, we had two players nominated in the EFL League Two Team of the Season in Arthur Okonkwo and Elliot Lee. I had to go and man-mark Arthur because we knew there would be lots of people from other football clubs there and as we’re desperate to retain him this summer, we’ve got to make sure he doesn’t have too much polite chit-chat with people, without me appearing over his shoulder like ‘what are you guys talking about? I’m here too!’”

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• WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

  Hollywood co-owners Reynolds and McElhenney are expected to make the funds available that will allow Parkinson to dip back into the transfer market, with plenty of movement expected once the playing staff have returned from another promotion-winning trip to Las Vegas.

أعلن نادي ليفربول الإنجليزي، رحيل لاعب آخر عن صفوف فريقه، خلال سوق الانتقالات الصيفية الجارية.

وكان ليفربول أعلن اليوم الخميس في بيان رسمي انتقال لاعبه بوبي كلارك، إلى سالزبورج النمساوي.

وقبل قليل، أعلن ليفربول أيضًا رحيل لاعبه سيب فان دن بيرج إلى صفوف برينتفورد الإنجليزي.

وغادر فان دن بيرج صفوف ليفربول بعد أكثر من خمس سنوات من انضمامه إلى الريدز.

وظهر فان دن بيرج في أربع مباريات مع ليفربول، خلال موسمه الأول 2019-20 تحت قيادة يورجن كلوب.

ولعب فان دن بيرج لفترات إعارة مع بريستون نورث إند (مرتين)، وشالكه، ومؤخرًا في ماينز.

وهذه ليست الصفقة الأولى بين ليفربول وبرينتفورد، حيث سبق وتعاقدوا مع فابيو كارفاليو هذا الصيف.

Aston Villa's rise to prominence in recent seasons has been astonishing, from hanging onto their Premier League status on the final day in 2020 to finishing seventh by the end of the 2022/23 campaign and earning a spot in this season's Europa Conference League group stage.

However, player recruitment has arguably been the most impressive component of Villa's success. It took a couple of years to get right but Villa are now seeing their intelligent acquisitions in the transfer market bearing fruit.

The likes of Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara were signed for relatively cheap and have become mainstays in the first-team.

Nevertheless, the club have also invested in talent for the future and one player in particular is knocking on Unai Emery's door looking for a regular first-team spot.

How much Aston Villa signed Jhon Duran for

The Midlands club managed to win the race for Chicago Fire starlet Jhon Duran last January after the teenage sensation found the net eight times in 27 MLS appearances. Additionally, Duran had registered 14 goal contributions in 28 games in all competitions with the Fire, which is quite an impressive feat for such a young player, and even earned himself three caps for Colombia.

Duran had been tipped for stardom for a number of years before the striker made his way to Villa Park, having been named on The Guardian's list of the top 60 best youngsters in the world in 2020 during his time with Envigado back home.

English giants Liverpool were even linked with Duran at one point but it was Emery's emerging army that won the race in the end, completing his move to Aston Villa for a fee worth up to £17.5m.

The youngster featured just 12 times in his debut half-season in English football and failed to bag a single goal. However, the Colombian still earned himself huge plaudits from the likes of TV pundit Clinton Morrison, who admitted that Duran looks "outstanding".

Jhon Duran's stats this season

Already this season, Duran has outperformed his tally from the previous term. The 19-year-old has converted four times in 11 appearances under Emery this season, including twice in the Premier League, although Duran has yet to start a single game for Villa in the top flight in the current campaign. All six of his appearances in the league have been as a substitute.

Recently, Duran came off the bench during a home game against Crystal Palace with the game locked at 1-0 to the visitors. The starlet scored a sensational half-volley which sparked a 3-1 comeback for the hosts.

The rest of his goals have come in the Europa League, but it's now time for Emery to start trusting the expensive, young attacker to start games in the league and the Spanish coach could push Duran up the pecking order surprisingly above summer signing Moussa Diaby.

Emery has often opted to deploy a 4-4-2 this season, with Diaby or Leon Bailey being utilised in a front two alongside Ollie Watkins. However, despite Diaby receiving three times more minutes than Duran this season, the latter has scored more goals and has statistically performed better for Villa when it comes to overall threat inside the penalty box.

Duran is more of a goalscorer as opposed to a creator but has been much deadlier in the final third than Diaby this season despite the Frenchman being signed during the summer for £51.9m. Starting Duran would also ease the burden off Watkins to score Villa's goals and could make the Midlands even more potent up top than they already are.

After a successful season last year, one that saw them lift the League Cup and qualify for the Champions League, Manchester United are now enduring a tumultuous campaign on both the domestic and European fronts.

A 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth over the weekend, labelled as "one of the worst results in the post-Ferguson era" by The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell, obliterated any positive momentum that was building from their 2-1 win over Chelsea. With Bayern Munich coming to Old Trafford on Tuesday, any hope of progressing in Europe seems almost non-existent.

However, if United are to mount a fightback and potentially claw their way into the knockout rounds, Erik ten Hag must drop one of the worst performers from the defeat on Saturday, Anthony Martial.

Anthony Martial's game in numbers vs Bournemouth

The French forward was selected to start over Rasmus Hojlund in the game on Saturday, and while the Dane has yet to score in the Premier League, there is no doubt that he would have been a far more useful player to have on the pitch.

The 28-year-old's performance was so poor that Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News gave him a 3/10 – the lowest rating of any player – and described him as a 'dire downgrade on Rasmus Hojlund' and that his substitution was cheered by the fans – never a good sign.

His individual statistics for the match were just as poor, with the stand-out one being that he lost the ball 12 times during his 56 minutes on the pitch, meaning he lost it once every four and a half minutes – shocking.

Man Utd could sign "terrifying" £75m Hojlund upgrade in 2024

The Belgian could carry the Red Devils back into the Champions League places.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Dec 11, 2023

Some of his other less-than-stellar figures from the match include an expected goals number of 0.04 and an expected assists number of 0.02, meaning that he offered essentially no threat whatsoever when he was on the pitch.

Minutes

56

Expected Goals

0.04

Expected Assists

0.02

Shots

1

Shots on Target

1

Touches

35

Passing Accuracy

76%

Possession Lost

12

Crosses (successful)

0 (0)

Dribble attempts (successful)

0 (0)

In fact, he was so ineffective that even Harry Maguire registered a higher expected goal threat than him, with the defender coming in at 0.06 – 50% more dangerous than the former Monaco man.

Rasmus Hojlund must start against Bayern

When the German giants make their way to Old Trafford on Tuesday night they will be hoping that they see Martial lining up opposite them in the tunnel, but if Ten Hag wants to get anything out of this game, he must start Hojlund.

Where the Dane has struggled in front of goal in the Premier League, he has flourished in the Champions League, and as things stand, is the current joint-top scorer this year.

His performances in Europe have been some of the few bright sparks in an otherwise bleak campaign for the three-times champions, as was his performance away to Copenhagen last month.

While the team managed to lose the game 4-3, the former Atalanta striker put in a brilliant performance, scoring two goals, accumulating an expected goals value of 1.93, and registering three shots on target.

Minutes

84

Goals

2

Expected Goals

1.93

Shots on Target

3

Touches

22

Possession Lost

8

Ground Duels (successful)

5 (3)

In his post-match player ratings, Lukhurst gave the youngster an 8/10 – the joint best – and described his performance as 'perfect' and a glimpse of what United could be when they 'perform efficiently.'

Ultimately, the team will likely miss out on the knockout rounds regardless of how the game finishes on Tuesday night, but with Hojlund up top, at least the fans can watch the club's future in action instead of watching a failed past in Anthony Martial.