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Simon Mignolet has told the Liverpool Echo that Liverpool have the squad depth to win the Premier League title.

The Belgian was involved in the Reds’ last title chase, in 2013-14, as the Reds came agonisingly close to winning the league, only to capitulate at the last, allowing Manchester City to become champions.

What’s the word?

Liverpool are currently four points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table, with 15 games still to play.

However, Mignolet has been in this position before, seeing Brendan Rodgers’ side dramatically fail to clinch the title, despite building a seemingly unassailable lead at the top of the table.

The Belgium international, though, says that there is more quality running throughout the entirety of the squad this time around, and believes they have the numbers to weather all but the most serious injury crisis.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, he said: “So much has changed over the past five years here.

FFC’s James Jones has identified the one thing that could cost Liverpool the title. Find out what it is in the video below…

“It’s only Hendo (Jordan Henderson), Studge (Daniel Sturridge) and myself still here from the last time we really fought for the title.

“Back then a lot of it was about Luis Suarez and Studge, whereas now the goals are shared about more. We had a really good team in 2013/14 but the moment we got one or two injuries it became difficult.

“We’ve got a broad squad now which means we can cope with injuries. That’s probably the biggest difference with last time.”

The Reds face Leicester City on Wednesday before a weekend meeting with West Ham United.

Depth is key

In 2013-14, Liverpool were all too reliant on the mercurial talents of Luis Suarez.

The Uruguayan scored 31 goals and provided 17 assists in the top flight, as per Transfermarkt, in what was undoubtedly one of the finest individual seasons in Premier League history.

However, this time around the Reds can call on Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, with the likes of Naby Keita, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum all too happy to chip in as well.

Jurgen Klopp is blessed with a fantastic array of talent on his bench; ironically, perhaps only Pep Guardiola can lay claim to having more in reserve than the Reds.

It is set up to be a fascinating run-in, particularly with the amount of talent packed in each squad.

One thing is for sure; if either side slips up, the other is certain to take advantage.

West Ham United may have already qualified for the Europa League knockout stages but they still have two more matches to play out in Group H, with the top spot still on the line.

David Moyes’ men head to Austria to face Rapid Wien knowing that a victory would see them finish the group stages in first place but they will need to perform better than at the weekend, having lost 1-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

The Scot has often rotated his starting XI in this competition and tonight should be no different, though he is contending with injury problems, with Hammers stalwart Angelo Ogbonna ruled out for the remainder of the season.

His absence at the weekend saw Craig Dawson come into the starting XI, meaning he is unlikely to resume his European duties at the Allianz Stadion this evening, not that he should, anyway.

Instead, Moyes could make a bold call to start one of the Irons’ most promising defensive talents in Jamal Baptiste, perhaps alongside Issa Diop, who will be hungry for minutes and a chance to impress.

With Ogbonna facing serious time on the sidelines, this encounter presents a solid opportunity to see what the 18-year-old gem can do at a senior level. He’s already playing for the U23s despite his age, so that’s an encouraging sign indeed.

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Baptiste has earned high praise from Hammers legend Carlton Cole during an appearance on the ‘Irons Inside’ podcast.

After describing him as a “massive prospect”, he added: “He’s going to be the next Anton Ferdinand hopefully or the next Rio, so hopefully we can these boys on the right track and help them transition into being a professional footballer full-time.”

Whilst former academy director Terry Westley described him as a “monster” who is “one of the finest young prospects at the club without any doubt” to Claret and Hugh.

“He’s got everything, height, power, pace and is already, at such a young age, making a serious impact on the under 23s,” he added.

The teenage sensation is certainly a player that is on the radar of Moyes’, too, having revealed his intention to include in first-team training back in August.

It’s time to see what he can do in the claret and blue, starting with the trip to Austria this evening. It could be huge for their season.

AND in other news, ExWHUemployee drops big transfer claim ahead of January transfer window…

Kevin Campbell has backed Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard to bring in Stuttgart left-back Borna Sosa, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Sosa links

The 41-year-old has reportedly been promised a huge January transfer budget, and it seems as if a new left-back could be in his sights following links to Rangers’ Borna Barisic along with Sosa.

German outlet Bild claimed earlier in the week that Gerrard is looking at a winter swoop for Sosa, who has 24 assists to his name during his career. The report said that a €30m (£25.3m) bid would be enough to land the 23-year-old, with Matt Targett and Ashley Young the current Villa left-back options.

The Latest: Campbell’s comments

Campbell, who features on BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider regarding Villa’s reported interest in Sosa.

This is what he had to say, higlighting the Croatian’s assist record and believing that he’d be a ‘brilliant’ addition at Villa Park:

“I’m sure he’ll be a brilliant player for Villa.

“An assist every four games is a really good record for a full-back.

“I don’t profess to know a lot about him but I’m sure he will have been on Steven Gerrard’s radar at Rangers but that transfer fee was probably well out of reach there.

“Now he’s at Villa he can probably think about bringing him in for that sort of money – because he’s certainly someone who Gerrard likes.”

The Verdict: Wait until the summer?

Football Insider have recently suggested that Gerrard wants to add to his centre-back and defensive midfield options in the New Year with two ‘big money’ acquisitions, and should he get his wish, it may be wise to leave a move for Sosa until the summer.

Gerrard is fairly well-stocked at left-back, with Targett and Young two solid top-flight options, so perhaps he should give the pair the chance to impress for the remainder of the season.

That would then give him an opportunity to bolster other areas of the squad in the short term, and if he still wants a new left-back, he can revisit the interest in Sosa at the end of the campaign.

In other news: ‘No way’ – Lots of Villa fans erupt as exit rumour emerges

Interest in West Ham United centre-back Issa Diop is growing ahead of the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Santi Aouna, with the Foot Mercato journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that the trio of AC Milan, Newcastle United and Watford have made contact with the Irons regarding a deal for the 24-year-old defender.

Meanwhile, manager David Moyes is believed to be interested in a number of centre-back targets of his own this winter, with Liverpool’s Nathaniel Phillips and LOSC Lille’s Sven Botman thought to be on the 58-year-old’s shortlist – something that the Daily Mail claim is down to the fact that there are ‘questions remaining over the reliability of Frenchman Issa Diop.’

Moyes can axe Diop with Botman signing

While Diop is undeniably a player who is an extremely useful squad member at the London Stadium, should Moyes have the chance to cash in on the former France U21 international this winter, and subsequently replace him with a centre-back of Botman’s ability, it is certainly a move that the Hammers boss must look to pull off.

Indeed, Diop has struggled to hold down a regular starting spot in the Hammers side since his then-club record £22m arrival in east London back in 2018, with the 24-year-old being typically used as a backup option under the management of Moyes.

This has been the case in the current campaign, in which the £10.8m-rated man has made just five Premier League appearances – which have come as a result of both Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna being sidelined due to injuries.

And, over these five league outings, the £61k-per-week defender dubbed a “colossus” by Stuart Pearce has hardly shone for the Hammers, averaging a disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.60 – ranking him as the club’s joint second-worst performer in the top flight.

Meanwhile, Botman has been in rather contrasting form over his 12 Ligue 1 appearances this term, helping his side keep two clean sheets, scoring one goal and providing his teammates with one assist, as well as making an average of 0.8 interceptions, one tackle, 51.5 passes and winning 68% of his duels per game.

These returns have seen the 21-year-old, who Kevin Phillips dubbed a “[Virgil] Van Dijk-like signing”, average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.02, ranking him as Jocelyn Gourvennec’s joint fourth-best player in the French top flight.

As such, should Moyes indeed have the chance to recoup a decent portion of the club’s initial £22m outlay on Diop next month, it would seem very wise for the 58-year-old to do so, before reinvesting the money in a move for the £27m-rated Netherlands U21 international.

In other news: Forget Bowen: £47k-p/w WHU monster who won 64% duels will be giving Watford nightmares

Newcastle United would like to sign ‘at least one’ striker during the January transfer window but ‘it’s proving tricky’. 

That’s according to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, fielding questions in a recent matchday forum.

The lowdown

Eddie Howe revealed following the shock FA Cup defeat to Cambridge United on Saturday that Callum Wilson was facing eight weeks on the sidelines after sustaining a calf injury against Manchester United in December.

The 29-year-old is the Magpies’ top scorer this season with six goals, and he also led the way in this regard last term, so their reliance on him is clear to see.

Newcastle’s list of centre-forward targets reportedly includes Liverpool’s Divock Origi, who is valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, and Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke, who’s valued at £12.6m.

The latest

In a Q&A on The Athletic on Saturday, Waugh was addressing the possibility of Newcastle bringing in attacking reinforcements this month, while also hinting that the club’s PIF ownership are dissatisfied with current reserve option Dwight Gayle, who was brought to Tyneside by Rafael Benitez in 2016 for £10m.

The journalist outlined: “In terms of strikers, they are very much actively looking to recruit at least one but, as you say, it’s a very difficult window and hard to secure one even during the summer, so it’s proving tricky, but they will keep attempting to lure one. I don’t believe anything is close, though, and I think they see beyond Gayle now.”

The verdict

Perhaps it’s difficult to persuade a quality striker to join the Magpies when they may fear playing second fiddle to a fit-and-firing Wilson once he returns.

One option might be for Eddie Howe to consider changing shape – over the course of his managerial career, he has favoured a 4-4-2 ‘double six’ formation.

When Wilson – who would have played in that system at Bournemouth – is back in action, the Newcastle boss could play him alongside a new recruit and keep both players happy. However, for that to happen, any prospective new centre-forwards must also be well suited to playing in a strike partnership rather than as a lone target man

In other news, Newcastle are ‘in talks’ over this potential addition in defence

Despite being just two points off the top spot in the League One table at the moment, Sunderland are in the midst of a big injury crisis with the likes of Niall Huggins, Denver Hume, Dennis Cirkin and Luke O’Nien all out.

One other injury concern they have is with winger Aiden McGeady, who suffered a knee ligament injury last month and isn’t expected to be back until the new year.

With this in mind, Sunderland manager Lee Johnson could now have the opportunity to unleash one of the club’s youth talents to see if he has what it takes to perform in the senior side on a regular basis while McGeady is out on the sidelines.

21-year-old attacker Benjamin Mbunga Kimpioka joined Sunderland’s U18 side back in the 2016 summer transfer window and has since gone on to make a total of 94 appearances for the club’s U18 and U23 sides, scoring 28 goals and providing ten assists in the process.

Labelled in the past as a “terrific” player by Elliott Dickman, Kimpioka has also had loan spells away from Sunderland with Southend United and Torquay United.

Even though he has made 16 senior appearances for the Black Cats, Kimpioka only made his first league appearance this season during their recent 5-0 win over Morecambe where he came on for a 15-minute cameo.

Despite predominantly playing as a centre-forward, Kimpioka has played on both the left and right wings throughout his career so far, racking up 14 goals and six assists in 47 appearances in those positions.

With this in mind and the fact that McGeady will be out for the next few weeks, this could be a great time for Kimpioka to have a consistent run in the team to show Johnson that he is ready to be a regular senior figure for the club given his clear talent in front of goal across numerous attacking positions and solve the predicament of having McGeady unavailable.

However, with the majority of Sunderland’s injury issues coming in the defensive positions, it seems likely that Johnson will be more concerned with that area of the pitch rather than the attack, especially with Nathan Broadhead and Ross Stewart scoring 14 goals between them in the league so far this season.

In other news: Johnson must seal Sunderland swoop for “aggressive” £1.8m-rated beast – opinion

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba appears to have extended his time out from playing for the club, after he was pictured on crutches after sustaining an injury in France training during the international break.

The Frenchman was already out of the side due to a three-match ban he picked up in the infamous 5-0 defeat to Liverpool a few weeks ago where he was sent off with a straight red when he directed a dreadful tackle at Naby Keita.

Despite Ole’s clear hesitation to start the 24-year-old midfielder, the Norwegian manager may not have a choice but to unleash Donny Van De Beek in his starting midfield.

The Dutchman has been benched more often than not for the Red Devils, but with the absence of Pogba and pressure from the fans to see him play, Solskjaer will need to make a career-defining decision as to whether he gives the former Ajax star a chance to shine.

If Van De Beek did get given the opportunity to start for the Manchester United side in Pogba’s predicted lengthy absence, it could be humiliating for Solskjaer who has snubbed the attacking midfielder on several occasions. That’s especially if he performs to the high levels we have seen for Ajax where he bagged 41 goals and 34 assists, but then leaves to play for another Premier League side in January, after being frozen out for too long.

It could be too little too late for Solskjaer to salvage a working relationship with the £100k-per week gem, as rumours grow more significant for high profile moves that guarantee the played dubbed “very clever” by Juan Mata, first-team football as both Newcastle and Everton become front runners for the players signature in January.

There is still no clarity of how long Paul Pogba could be out, with rumours that it could be months and that he could never play for Manchester United again as the star player is out of contract on a free transfer this summer, with Real Madrid looking likely to seal the deal with the French international.

Yet, in van de Beek, he has a perfect attacking replacement, and should he perform adequately, it might just buy the Norwegian tactician more time in order to save his job at the Theatre of Dreams.

In the meantime, Solskjaer will have some important decisions to make upon the return of the Premier League this week, as the next few results for the Norwegian could be the difference in leading Manchester United into the New Year or being shown the door at Old Trafford.

In other news: Lingard could be Pogba’s replacement long term

Newcastle United have been handed an encouraging transfer update in their quest to sign Reims starlet Hugo Ekitike…

What’s the story?

Speaking live on Sky Sports, Dharmesh Sheth revealed: “Talks are still ongoing between the two clubs, and there’s a will to get this deal done. I’m told today of some of the details of the proposed deal. It’s worth around €30m (£25m) – that’s €27m up front with additional add-ons making it around €30m.

“It will be spread over the proposed five-year contract. As it stands, there’s still a small gap over the valuation that Newcastle want to pay and what Reims want. Significantly, the player does want to come to Newcastle. He’s keen to make that move. I’m told that if he was to sign, such is his ability and how highly-rated he is, he would go into the squad for this season.”

Howe needs him

While saying Eddie Howe ‘needs’ a largely unproved 19-year-old from Ligue 1 might sound far-fetched, Ekitike could well be the kind of player who provides Newcastle’s attack with a sense of unpredictability heading into the second-half of the Premier League season.

In fact, writing on Twitter, journalist Graeme Bailey dubbed him an “outstanding talent”, and added that he would be a “huge signing for Newcastle if they get it done, many in France believe he could be the next Mbappe.”

Ekitike has scored an impressive eight goals in just 17 Ligue 1 games, while he’s also managed three assists too, showcasing a real ability to be a genuine finisher in and around the box and also be a intricate link-up player too.

While the likes of Chris Wood and Callum Wilson are tried and tested Premier League options who opposition defences will know all about, the X-factor that Ekitike could bring with him could add another exciting string to Newcastle’s attacking bow.

Whether it’s coming off the bench to provide a bit of spark, or catching other teams out by starting him from the off, the talented teenager is something Howe could really do with as he looks to rescue his side from relegation.

Meanwhile, Newcastle could save their season with this signing…

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has claimed that Everton’s recent financial figures are now a ‘real concern’.

The Lowdown: Figures published

The Merseyside club have now published their official accounts for the 2020/21 season on their website, which shows a total loss of £120.9m.

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This is the third year in a row that they have published losses of over £110m, and given the problems that they have had with Financial Fair Play (FFP), in addition to the real possibility of being relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season, the next few years certainly look bleak if you are a Toffees fan.

The Latest: O’Rourke reacts

Speaking to The Transfer Tavern, O’Rourke has now given his reaction to the news, claiming that the latest figures published are a ‘real concern’:

“It’s a real concern for Everton recording these heavy losses again, £120m this year, I think it was £111m the year before and £139m the previous season before that, as well.”

The Verdict: Worrying

These are certainly worrying times for the Goodison Park faithful, who need to concentrate on matters on the pitch, starting with their game away at West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, but may be distracted by the latest accounts.

If Frank Lampard’s team do go down to the Championship, it would be nothing short of disastrous, given the financial assurances that the top flight has to offer.

Nonetheless, if the Blues can stay up, they can at least look at becoming more financially stable for the next couple of seasons, with the long-term view of wiping out their losses.

In other news, find out what big EFC injury update has now emerged here!

Everton have not given their faithful supporters much to be positive about having won just seven Premier League games out of a possible 27.

With 11 league fixtures left to play and only three points above the relegation zone, Frank Lampard has a big job on his hands to keep the Toffees in the top division for another season.

One player that has not been particularly helpful for the team is midfielder Andre Gomes, someone who has certainly played his part in where the Merseyside club sits in the top-flight table.

With 12 league appearances under his belt, the Portugal international, who has been slammed for his “ridiculous” decision making on the pitch in the past by Garry Birtles, has failed to show exactly what he offers the team.

From an attacking point of view, the 28-year-old has only managed to make nine live passes that have led to a shot at goal, which is fewer than defenders Ben Godfrey (21) and Lucas Digne (22), who left Goodison Park back in January.

On the flip side, in terms of his defensive actions, or lack thereof, the former Barcelona figure has only won nine of the 15 tackles he’s attempted, fewer than the likes of Alex Iwobi, Demarai Gray and Richarlison.

His overall performances have earned him an uninspiring overall season rating of 6.21 from WhoScored, making him the lowest-rated Toffees player to have started more than one league game.

With these stats suggesting that Gomes has been of very little use to Everton, the upcoming summer transfer window could give Lampard the chance to finally get rid of the dud.

With that possibility in mind, Gomes’ potential exit could pave the way for the Merseyside club to finally land a transfer target they were after during the previous summer window.

A recent report from the Daily Mirror has claimed that on-loan Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who Everton were reportedly after in the previous summer, is set to return to England after his current loan deal with AS Roma comes to an end.

Given the drama around his exit from the north London club, it seems unlikely that they would want him back in their squad, meaning that they could be enticed into selling him on a permanent deal this time around.

If this would open the door for Everton to make a move for the midfielder, who has been described as being a “huge talent” in the past by Mikel Arteta, it could give Lampard the chance to build the £48k-per-week Englishman into an important figure for his side.

The Arsenal man’s potential arrival would surely also spell the end of Gomes’ period at Goodison Park, dislodging him in the middle of the park and supplying the Toffees with a more energetic and dynamic central option.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano relays huge behind-scenes Finch Farm update, great news for Everton