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David Moyes’ West Ham United side ease themselves back into first-team football with a trip to Kidderminster Harriers in the fourth round of the FA Cup this afternoon, a fixture in which the 58-year-old Hammers boss will undoubtedly be looking to rotate his side.

Indeed, the Scotsman recently suggested that he could be set to hand Alex Kral – the Spartak Moscow central midfielder West Ham signed on a season-long loan deal last summer – just his third start since his temporary switch to east London, while the club’s only recognised centre-forward, Michail Antonio, is also unlikely to feature having only landed in England on Friday following his international duty with Jamaica.

So, how many changes will Moyes make to the side that started the 1-0 loss against Manchester United last time out? Here’s how we think West Ham could line up against Kidderminster, along with the latest team and injury news…

With the greatest of respect to Kidderminster, a National League North side should not be giving a team chasing a top-four finish in the Premier League a great deal of trouble this afternoon, something which leads us to believe that Moyes will make nine changes to the team which lined up at Old Trafford before the winter break.

Fours of these changes come in defence, with Ben Johnson taking the place of Vladimir Coufal at right-back, Arthur Masuaku starting ahead of Aaron Cresswell at left-back, while Issa Diop and 21-year-old Aji Alese – who West Ham podcaster Tom Edwards dubbed “gold dust” – being given the nod ahead of Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson at centre-back.

In the middle of the park, the rarely-seen £24k-per-week Alex Kral is indeed awarded a start, as is club captain Mark Noble, with both Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek being rested ahead of the visit of Watford on Tuesday.

In attack, Said Benrahma makes a return to the XI following his early exit from the Africa Cup of Nations with Alegria, taking the place of Jarrod Bowen on the right, while the £69k-per-week Nikola Vlasic gets the nod ahead of Pablo Fornals on the left – with Manuel Lanzini retaining his spot in the number 10 role.

Finally, the £100k-per-week Andriy Yarmolenko is given a chance to impress in the absence of Antonio up top, with Moyes certainty hoping for a clinical display from the 154-goal forward against Kidderminster – after the manager failed to bring in a backup striker for the first-choice Jamaican during the January transfer window.

In other news: “All I can say is”: Moyes finally addresses transfer failures, WHU fans won’t be happy

Many Crystal Palace fans have been left buzzing on Twitter after popular Eagles account HLTCO posted pictures of their players sporting the new home kit in their 3-1 friendly win over Watford on Saturday.

Bringing their pre-season preparations to a successful close, Patrick Vieira’s side comfortably swept aside divisional rivals Watford in an entertaining encounter which saw Wilfried Zaha bag a brace prior to a late strike from Christian Benteke, who had earlier deflected Troy Deeney’s strike into the Eagles’ net. [Mail Online]

Palace will now turn their attention towards the start of their Premier League season, which sees them make the trip to fellow London club Chelsea on Saturday, with a 3pm kick-off.

Aside from the weekend’s win over Watford, many Eagles diehards took to Twitter to discuss their opinions on the new home shirt, which features the traditional red and blue stripes in a diagonal sash pattern.

Crystal Palace FC fans react:

Replying to popular Crystal Palace page HLTCO on Twitter after they described the kit as a ‘belter’, here is what some supporters had to say about the images of the shirt, which one fan described as “really nice”:

“In about 2 days I went from hating it to loving seeing it in person at Watford (what a game that was as well)”

Credit: @AdamAdimi123

“Wasn’t keen until I realised it was the sash on steroids.”

Credit: @Sarf_London

“It looks 100 times better on the pitch than it did in the studio. Really grown on me”

Credit: @BenH11TON”Love it”Credit: @nialljclark”Actually really nice. The freak out for it was for no reason”Credit: @Bunds_”I agree 100%. Looks great on the pitch!”Credit: @TonyCpfc”If the shorts were red I think it would be top tier”Credit: @RussellMoleIn other news, Crystal Palace are set to miss out on a reported transfer target.

Aston Villa are now reportedly in talks to sign Cheick Doucoure before the summer transfer window ends.

The Lowdown: Villa not done yet

Following the sale of Jack Grealish to Manchester City, Villa do not seem to be done yet in terms of bringing new players in.

Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey and Danny Ings are the most notable arrivals at Villa Park so far, but there are still a few weeks to go for their ambitious owners to bring in even more new faces before the deadline.

The Latest: Doucoure talks

As per French GOAL correspondent Marc Mechenoua, AVFC as well as Atalanta are ‘studying’ Doucoure and ‘have contacted the player’s representatives’ ahead of a potential move.

However, RC Lens have not received an official offer yet for the central midfield player.

The Verdict: Avoid

While Doucoure could turn out to be another solid option in midfield for Dean Smith, he is a player that they do not really need right now.

They already have a number of centre midfielders on their books at the moment, and the Mali international has no previous experience of playing in the Premier League.

Thus, it would be a risk bringing him in, especially as he may demand a sizeable fee given that he is 21 years of age and being sought after by a Champions League club in Atalanta.

In other news, find out which Villa ace is now expected to say after exit links here!

Celtic have reportedly made a big-money bid for Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza.

The Lowdown: Hoops on the hunt for an Edouard replacement

It looks set to be a busy summer in terms of incomings and outgoings at Celtic Park.

One man who looks destined to leave the club is striker Odsonne Edouard. The French forward is thought to be edging closer to a move to Leicester City, where he would link up with former Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers.

Should a deal go through, you’d expect Celtic to make an attacking acquisition of their own to replace the 23-year-old, and it seems as if they’re already working on it.

The Latest: Offer turned down

According to Turkish newspaper Milliyet, cited by Glasgow Live, Celtic have had an offer turned down.

The outlet reports that a £6.5m bid has been rejected by the Super Lig side, with the Hoops still the frontrunners to land the 24-year-old who netted 22 league goals this season.

Negotiations look set to continue over a deal for Boupendza, who could end up becoming one of the club’s most expensive signings of all time.

The Verdict: McKay isn’t hanging around

It seems as if new Celtic CEO Dominic McKay isn’t hanging around when it comes to player recruitment, despite the Hoops not having a director of football or first-team manager in place.

You’d like to think that the club would run possible targets past a new boss, with reports suggesting Eddie Howe is the man who will be in the Parkhead dugout for the 2021/22 season.

Who knows, Howe may well be in the loop, and despite a rejected offer, it seems as if Celtic still haven’t given up hope on signing the Gabon international this summer.

In other news: Hoops U-turn emerges on Celtic loanee, find out more here. 

Despite having an average squad age of 26, Southampton have a handful of players who are in and around the twilight years of their careers.

One of those is 30-year-old midfielder Oriol Romeu, who signed for the club back in 2015 from fellow Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.

Since then, the Spaniard has made a total of 221 appearances for the Saints prior to their Premier League clash against Burnley this afternoon, scoring six goals and providing four assists in the process.

With the midfielder’s current contract at St Mary’s set to expire in 2023, we feel there’s a chance that Romeu could leave the club by that point, but we also believe that the Saints could already have an ideal replacement for him if he does leave.

That man is 18-year-old Ryan Finnigan, who has been described as an “excellent” player by the club’s academy director Matt Hale. A product of Southampton’s youth system, he has made 15 appearances for their under-18 side, scoring one goal, with one assist in seven games for the Saints’ B team.

Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is apparently a big fan of Finnigan, who has made one senior appearance for Southampton, which came during their 2-0 win over Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup back in January.

Moving forward, if the teenager can continue developing in Southampton’s youth sides and make the most out of any future opportunities he gets in the first team, we think he could well go on to become a regular for them in the future as a potential long-term replacement for Romeu. That might save the club millions of pounds in potential transfer fees trying to sign a new midfielder, as well as seeing him join a long list of players to come out of the club’s youth academy to go on and have big careers in the Premier League.

In other news: Southampton could already have their next Gareth Bale in “quality” 17 y/o starlet

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears to be on borrowed time at Old Trafford after a string of disappointing results in the opening weeks of the season.

What’s the story?

The Red Devils slumped to a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Liverpool over the weekend, condemning Solskjaer’s charges to their fifth loss of the campaign in all competitions.

It seemed as though the Norwegian tactician was set to be relieved of his duties in the immediate aftermath of the embarrassing result, but the United hierarchy have given the 48-year-old a final chance to prove his worth.

According to The Telegraph, Solskjaer now has three games to save his job and illustrate his credentials to the club’s chiefs, with potential replacements already being lined up.

The report states that: “Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has effectively been given three games to save his job as Manchester United manager.

“Although senior sources insist it is not ‘absolute’ that Solskjaer will be replaced if results continue to deteriorate before the next international break, the 48-year-old knows he is under serious threat, and more poor results would make the situation untenable.”

Man Utd fans will be intrigued

Solskjaer deserves a huge amount of credit for the work he has done at United over the last two-and-a-half years.

From overseeing a hugely successful squad rebuild to achieving consecutive top-four finishes in the Premier League for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the Scandinavian has undoubtedly progressed the 20-time English champions both on and off the pitch.

However, the club’s supporters will now be intrigued to see what happens to Solskjaer over the coming days and weeks – recent defeats to Liverpool and Leicester City have increased the pressure, with the Red Devils slipping outside the top six in the Premier League.

And tricky fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur, Atalanta and Manchester City offer him no easy way out of the current slump United find themselves in.

The Telegraph also list Antonio Conte, Zinedine Zidane, Mauricio Pochettino, and Brendan Rodgers as potential successors, although no contact has been made for any manager yet.

Only time will tell if Solskjaer is able to bring himself back from the brink and get his tenure in charge of the Red Devils back on track, but it’s certainly going to be an interesting time for everyone associated with United.

And, in other news…Ole may already have Man Utd’s dream Wan-Bissaka upgrade in “dynamic” 20 y/o prodigy

Flocking to Twitter, many Tottenham Hotspur supporters have erupted over a claim involving long-time target and Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu.

The 22-year-old has been heavily on Spurs’ radar since the very start of July with Sky Sports detailing a rejected bid of around £12.9 million (€15m) plus an extra £2.6 million (€3m) in add-ons.

Claims then emerged that a deal was close and terms were being finalised on a £15 million swoop for Tomiyasu (The Athletic), but his involvement in the Olympic games had somewhat stalled negotiations according to Alasdair Gold.

Now, The Athletic bring an update on the versatile player’s situation and it is great news for Tottenham.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-gossip/” title=”Tottenham latest gossip!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The reliable source (via The Spurs Web) back that Tomiyasu’a arrival is expected at Tottenham this summer following the conclusion of his time in Toyko – with many supporters going wild for this update on Twitter.

After the arrival of Cristian Romero from Atalanta, it appears Spurs fans may have more to celebrate soon depending on next developments – find all of their best reactions to this update down below.

Spurs fans flock to Tomiyasu claim…

“Absolutely massive. You’ll see”

Credit: @davidetumiati7

“What a day”

Credit: @raymder

“This day keeps getting better”

Credit: @tottalfie

“Yesssssss”

Credit: @thfcgr

“Tears in my eyes”

Credit: @DeleSZN_THFC

“We’re winning the league”

Credit: @Albie_thfc

“Another really solid defensive signing, Paratici really is cooking”

Credit: @stavrin

“Paratici the GOAT”

Credit: @xAlexTHFC

In other news: Bid made – Tottenham have already lodged offer to sign player with ‘gigantic buzz’, find out more here.