Charlton Athletic will be looking to bolster their promotion chances with a win over Ipswich Town at The Valley this lunchtime.

The Addicks are unbeaten under Nigel Adkins and could move into the play-offs with three points in this crucial encounter. However, if they taste defeat, then the Tractor Boys could leapfrog them to deal a massive blow to their hopes of returning to the Championship.

Last time out, the south-east Londoners recorded an impressive victory over Sunderland, so they should come into this one in a lot of confidence.

Here’s our predicted XI and the latest team and injury news ahead of kick-off…

Adkins is dealing with a few knocks and bruises and, as a result, he could be forced into a few changes.

The backline is expected to largely remain the same barring one alteration at right-back as veteran Chris Gunter comes back into the side, taking the place of 29-year-old Adam Matthews.

It means that skipper Jason Pearce and Ryan Inniss continue their impressive partnership in front of Ben Amos, with Ben Purrington occupying the other flank.

Match-winner Alex Gibey suffered a knock at the Stadium of Light so he may not be risked from the off, but he should be fit enough to come off the bench at the very least.

Andrew Shinnie, who started Adkins’ first game in charge, is the likely replacement as he plugs the gap in front of defensive midfield veteran Darren Pratley and the industrious Jake Forster-Caskey.

The third and final change could see Liverpool loanee Liam Millar return to the starting XI in the absence of Chelsea starlet Ian Maatsen, who has missed a lot of training this week with an injury issue.

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He’ll be deployed on the left wing, with Diallang Jaiysemi keeping his spot but moving across to the right.

Conor Washington has been ruled out once again, and with further doubts over the fitness of Chuks Aneke, we should see Jayden Stockley lead the line on his own.

AND in other news, Charlton may have ideal Stockley successor in 21 y/o gem who has “energy and power”…

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara would like to see Marcelo Bielsa replace Jose Mourinho at the club, seeing him as the ideal candidate for the role.

The Argentine has become a legendary modern day figure at Leeds United, transforming the club’s fortunes.

Bielsa has masterminded the Whites’ return to the Premier League, also connecting with the fans unlike few other managers in the club’s history.

The thought of him leaving is a grim one for Leeds supporters, but it is something that can never be ruled out when he is only signing one year deals at a time, especially given the unpredictable nature of football these days.

[freshpress-quiz id=“351040″]

O’Hara wants Bielsa to replace Mourinho

Speaking on talkSPORT, O’Hara claimed Bielsa would be the perfect man to come in for Mourinho:

“I would say Bielsa. I think he’d be absolutely brilliant and the fans would love him.

“If you can try and prise him away from there it’d be unbelievable. The Leeds fans would be devastated and there would be uproar but Spurs are bigger than Leeds.”

Transfer Tavern take

O’Hara’s comments are unlikely to go down too well with Leeds fans, especially with Bielsa’s current deal expiring this summer, meaning there is a genuine possibility he could depart – he even publicly quashed rumours of him signing a new deal earlier this month.

The hope is that he will stay loyal to the Whites and extend his stay at Elland Road, but the lure of joining a club higher up in the table with potentially more money available to splash on transfers is undeniable for any manager.

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There is certainly a feeling that Bielsa still has another chapter to write at Leeds, however – the next aim could be European football returning to the club – and we hope the enigmatic boss stays in Yorkshire, as his side have been a real treat for Premier League fans this season.

In other news, one Leeds player is under scrutiny for two key reasons – find out who it is here.

Newcastle United’s prospective owners ‘would almost certainly have been less interested’ in a takeover had the European Super League (ESL) plans been realised.

That’s according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, who was speaking to Football Insider.

Super League would have ‘endangered the essence of the game’, says takeover figure

Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal had agreed in principle to become founding members of the new European competition for which they would have qualified automatically every year and whose fixtures would have been a highlight of your sports events betting guide.

The clubs were threatened with expulsion from the Premier League and would have been immune from the consequences of finishing outside the top four until the ESL was disbanded amid multiple withdrawals from the clubs involved.

Mehrdad Ghodoussi, a partner in the firm looking to buy Newcastle, accused the six English clubs of ‘endangering the essence of the game and its competitive nature’.

‘The Premier League as a product would have been significantly devalued’

The plans ended last Tuesday after Chelsea pulled out and their rivals followed suit. According to Maguire, that may just have kept hopes of the £300m Newcastle takeover alive.

“The rewards would have been substantially less for a club not in the franchise league,” he told Football Insider.

“We’re not sure what the vehicle for qualification to the Super League would have been in terms of the five extra spaces.

“But in any case, the Premier League as a product would have been significantly devalued.

“It’s a mess that decreases the incentives for anyone looking to buy a club.”

Newcastle have taken legal action against the Premier League in a bid to resurrect the deal.

Transfer Tavern verdict

The concern for the would-be buyers would be getting a return on their investment. Had the six clubs been kicked out, the value of the Premier League TV deal would surely have plummeted.

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Although the remaining clubs would have a better chance of qualifying for the Champions League, the UEFA competition would have been reduced to a pale, far less lucrative, imitation. Therefore, Newcastle fans ought to be hugely relieved that the ESL has been shelved.

In other news, could this be a transfer deal made possible by a takeover?

Many Wolves fans have been left to slam a managerial update as The Sun have reported that Jorge Mendes wants to get Nuno Espirito Santo to Tottenham.

As per the news outlet, Mendes, who is Nuno’s agent, has made contact with Spurs over a potential switch in the summer.

The super-agent is also believed to be working on bringing Bruno Lage to replace Nuno at the Midlands club should he move over to London.

While Lage is currently available having been out of the job since leaving Benfica last summer, several members of the Molineux faithful do not seem to be inspired about his potential appointment, and while they have endured a disappointing season so far, there is some confidence that Nuno can still turn it around in the next campaign given the return of Raul Jimenez and a good transfer window.

Wolves fans on managerial update

These WWFC supporters slammed the managerial update after it was shared on Twitter (via Talking Wolves):

“Bruno Lage is the last manager we should be looking at..”

Credit: @PaulBeest

“Just take Lage to Spurs! Simple as that”

Credit: @lauwolf79

“Bruno Lage will never get us anywhere”

Credit: @fowls21wwfc

“I am confident that Lage would be an absolute disaster appointment. Has a very underwhelming CV with limited experience. Started out well at Benfica before delivering their worst set of results in over 20 years. I would rather keep Nuno if this is the best they can come up with.”

Credit: @Kcb92

“Lol”

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Credit: @DaveRos63040177

“I beg this isn’t true but then again it’s the Sun”

Credit: @Harley_V12

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by Wanderers here!

Tottenham Hotspur have been offered a current Premier League boss, according to fresh reports this week…

What’s the word?

The Sun claim super-agent Jorge Mendes wants to take Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo to Spurs, and they report that he has made contact with the north London outfit over a potential switch this summer.

It could create a knock-on effect that’ll only benefit the Portuguese representative even further as he would then try to take Bruno Lage to Molineux to replace the 47-year-old ex-goalkeeper.

Mendes also brokered Matt Doherty’s £15m move to Spurs in August.

Mourinho 2.0?

Lilywhites chairman Daniel Levy must approach this with serious caution as he risks a repeat scenario with Nuno.

There’s no denying that the Portuguese tactician has masterminded Wolves’ rise in the last few years, going from Championship promotion to the Europa League quarter-finals. And understandably, his reputation has skyrocketed, as a result.

Arch-rivals Arsenal came close to appointing him before settling on Mikel Arteta, according to The Sun’s aforementioned report, too.

The Midlands outfit have found life tough this campaign, drawing many a similarity to Spurs under Mourinho.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-managerial-update-transfer-rumours-levy-mourinho-sacked-gossip” title= “Read the latest Spurs manager updates, transfer news, gossip and more!”]

Both teams have endured defensive mistakes and problems, and both seem to rely heavily on that one talisman – Harry Kane in north London, and Raul Jimenez at Molineux.

In the Mexican’s absence, Wolves have lingered in mid-table and haven’t looked like repeating their European exploits once.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Levy gets stung by an infamous super-agent either as Pini Zahavi, who is thought to have a close relationship with the Spurs chairman, was the man to clinch the ‘Special One’ a whopping £15m-per-year, which was double the amount paid to Mauricio Pochettino, who guided them to the Champions League final in 2019.

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Mourinho also walked away with a £20m compensation package, according to the Daily Mail, following his sacking two weeks ago.

Levy must remember that these representatives are looking out for their clients, rather than trying to help out Spurs, so this latest claim should be hugely worrying for the Hotspur faithful, who grew tired of Mourinho’s tactics and recently protested against the club’s ownership.

He’ll only risk opening a further can of worms if he trusts Mendes with this appointment.

AND in other news, Levy could fix major Spurs problem by hiring 51 y/o gem who “ticks a lot of boxes”…

Leeds United beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Saturday lunchtime to move up to ninth in the Premier League.

Stuart Dallas, Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo were all on target as they returned to winning ways following their disappointing defeat at Brighton last weekend.

And it was only Dallas (7.6) and Bamford (7.5) who earned higher SofaScore ratings than Robin Koch (7.4).

The numbers behind Koch’s Tottenham display

Koch was deployed in front of Leeds’ centre-backs Diego Llorente and Pascal Strujik, and the German won five of his seven ground duels and two of his four aerial battles, via Sofascore.

He also contributed two clearances, two blocks and three tackles and wasn’t dribbled past during the game.

Overall, Koch touched the ball 50 times and completed 29 of 35 attempted passes, an accuracy of 83%.

He had Leeds analyst Josh Hobbs backtracking – Hobbs tweeted that, in light of Koch’s ‘glorious’ performance, he may have to retract his argument that centre-backs shouldn’t play in the defensive midfield role.

Koch himself tweeted a celebratory message after the game, and here’s how supporters reacted to his six-word post which read: “Who you gonna call? Leeds United!”.

Leeds fans buzzing with Koch’s performance against Spurs

“Absolutely unbelievable performance from you today big man. Love having you back in this team. What a win”

Credit: @TonyLUFC28

“Can’t wait for that chant ringing out around Elland Road next season.”

Credit: @Anguini

“Love you big fella, class today”

Credit: @callumlufc

“You were Man of the match for me, had a great game in that role, long may it continue”

Credit: @CasperEngland

“You were absolutely immense today big man”

Credit: @Guysley

“Unbelievable in CDM mate”

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Credit: @Olijhulme

“Top game Robin, looked a natural there”

Credit: @petewoodhead99

“Never leave”

Credit: @lufcliam_

In other news, fans were less than pleased with this player’s efforts.

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has suggested that Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis will get his chance to shine against Everton in the Premier League.

What’s the story?

In what was a disappointing afternoon all-round for Dean Smith’s side on Sunday against Manchester United, Ollie Watkins received his marching orders late on in the game and will now miss the upcoming clash against the Toffees.

And, responding to a question in his post-match Q&A for The Athletic, Evans said: “Sure Davis will get his chance against Everton now. Will be good for him, but a shame for Watkins who would have liked to maintain his 100% attendance record.”

Time for Keinan Davis

With 15 goals in 37 games in all competitions in his debut campaign for the club, there’s no questioning that Watkins has been an absolute success story at Villa Park this season.

What has been even more remarkable arguably, is the fact he had played every single minute in the Premier League up until the point he was sent off against United on Sunday.

But with him now missing, Smith will surely turn to Davis to be his main man when the Toffees come to town in mid-week, with Wesley surely unlikely to be given a start just yet given the nature of his knee injury.

Davis has been restricted to just substitute appearances all season due to Watkins’ form, but has recently shown the ability to change a game off the bench, providing an assist against Fulham and then netting a late equaliser against West Brom.

The striker will surely be champing at the bit to make his mark on the side, and give Smith the belief that he’s someone who the manager can really rely upon going forward.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/villa-dean-smith-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-premier-league-buendia-berge-mcneil-trezeguet-villa-park” title=”Read the latest Villa transfer rumours and news!”]

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It’s exactly why Villa fans will be buzzing at finally seeing Davis get his reward of starting from the off when they take on Everton at home on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, this Villa ace had a shocker vs Man Utd…

Sheffield Wednesday need to be open to the idea of selling key midfielder Barry Bannan this summer, according to journalist Dom Howson.

The Lowdown: Superb servant for the Owls

The Scotland international has been one of the Owls’ best players in their recent history, making 258 appearances and also scoring 13 goals and registering 39 assists for good measure, gaining a reputation as a fans’ favourite at Hillsborough.

Wednesday’s relegation to League One could make it tough for the club to keep hold of the 31-year-old, however, with some Championship sides surely considering a move for him.

The Latest: Howson says Bannan should move on

Speaking in a Q&A for Yorkshire Live, Howson claimed that it was time for Bannan to end his stay at Hillsborough, assuming a bid comes in for him, with Josh Windass in the same boat. The journalist said:

“If offers come in for Barry Bannan, Josh Windass or anybody else this summer, it would be foolish in Wednesday’s financial position not to consider cashing in.

“Part of the reason the club have got themselves in this situation is because they haven’t sold players and then reinvested that money back into the team. They stockpiled players and knocked back a number of bids.”

The Verdict: Beneficial for all partiesIn an ideal world, Wednesday would be in a healthy financial situation and Bannan would be happy to stay put, but sadly that isn’t the case.The Scot is one of the club’s most prized assets, and as Howson alluded to, it would be reckless for the Owls not to accept a bid for him, especially given his age.It will be sad to see Bannan leaving Hillsborough, considering the contributions he has provided in the middle of the park for the last six years, but a fresh challenge makes sense for everyone concerned, and Howson is right to advocate taking the money for him this summer if an adequate offer is made.In other news, Sheff Wed have received a positive piece of news regarding the future of one player. Find out who it is here.

A number of Liverpool supporters have been reacting with glee to footage of Jordan Henderson continuing his injury recovery.

The Reds have had a disastrous season in the injury department, with the centre-back situation particularly dire. Jurgen Klopp has had to make do without Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip for many months, which has played a big part in their struggles during the campaign.

[freshpress-quiz id=“355458″]

Henderson has also been a noticeable absentee, with the captain not featuring since the 2-0 defeat at home to Everton back in February. The 30-year-old has been a huge loss, both in terms of quality and leadership, and he faces a race against time to be fit for Euro 2020 this summer.

However, footage has emerged of Henderson stepping up his recovery from his groin problem [via Watch LFC], working in the gym and returning to the training pitch.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/the-latest-liverpool-transfer-news/” title=”The latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

Liverpool fans love Henderson video

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to provide their thoughts on the video, with much positivity in the air at seeing the captain step up his recovery.

“Missed this earlier! So excited to see Hendo again!!!”

Credit: @lfccxt

“Ahhhhh yeahhhhh”

Credit: @LFCSai7

“Captain fantastic”

Credit: @satriafaisal

“My idol”

Credit: @Cellextine72

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“Nice to see the Cap on the road to recovery”

Credit: @red_klopp

“My captain”

Credit: @OJITRIPUOJI

In other news, Liverpool have been linked with a move for a world-renowned player with endless trophies. Find out who it is here.

Newcastle United are reportedly chasing Edin Terzic as a potential successor to Steve Bruce.

The Lowdown: Bruce future uncertain

A source from St. James’ Park has reportedly claimed that Bruce’s future in the North East would be uncertain if the proposed takeover by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group were to go through.

The former Aston Villa and Sunderland boss does not have the best relationship with the fans anyway, having been recently booed by several members of the Toon Army despite their 1-0 home win over Sheffield United, which may force him out of the Tyneside club.

The Latest: Newcastle chase Terzic

As per Bild (via Sport Witness), the Magpies are chasing Terzic, who is currently the manager at Borussia Dortmund.

However, they would likely face competition from both Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace to bring him to NUFC.

Terzic has turned down the chance to manage Eintracht Frankfurt, and has been praised by the news outlet, as they have described him as an ‘eloquent’ man who ‘knows the Premier League’.

The Verdict: Newcastle should hire Terzic

Newcastle should seriously consider hiring Terzic to succeed Bruce, given the latter’s poor relationship with his own fanbase.

Terzic is a much younger manager than Bruce for a start, at just 38 years of age, and so has a lot of potential to grow into one of the world’s best coaches.

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In his short spell at Dortmund, he has managed to get them from looking like a mile off qualifying for the UEFA Champions League to securing qualification with a game to spare (Bundesliga).

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The German has also won silverware in the domestic cup, which should give the Magpies hope of ending their long trophy drought.

Nonetheless, Terzic is a fresh face with a lot of promise, and somebody that the Toon can quickly get behind.

In other news, find out what promising insight from the takeover consortium on arbitration has been shared here!