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Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn will miss the club’s next two Championship fixtures against Stoke City and Derby County respectively after accumulating his 10th booking of the season in the 2-0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion last weekend, and it could provide fringe man Birkir Bjarnason with a big opportunity.

On the chalkboard

Well, McGinn has been a key player for the Midlands outfit following his summer move from Hibernian, with the 24-year-old scoring two goals and providing a further eight assists in 31 appearances in all competitions this term.

However, while he has been impressive in the middle of the park his disciplinary record has been the complete opposite, with his latest yellow card ruling him out of Dean Smith’s men’s upcoming brace of important matches.

The former Brentford boss increased his central midfield options with the loan addition of Tom Carroll during the January transfer window, and with the likes of Conor Hourihane, Glenn Whelan and Mile Jedinak to pick from competition for places has been rife – Bjarnason has been one of the big losers.

Is this a chance to prove Smith wrong?

It might well be, yes.

The Iceland international started three successive league matches in January before being left out of the squad completely for the subsequent game against Ipswich Town, with Smith admitting after the final whistle that the 30-year-old wasn’t injured.

He has been on the bench twice since then but again missed out on the 18 against the Baggies last weekend, although he may well now have been handed a reprieve by McGinn’s impending absence.

With little over a year remaining on his contract Bjarnason will be out to prove to Smith that he deserves a spot in the starting XI if given a chance, and to secure his future at Villa Park.

This season, Dusan Tadic has been in top form at Ajax after leaving Southampton last summer for the Eredivisie giants.

The 30-year-old has been performing exceptionally well both in Dutch football’s top flight and the Champions League and has recently spoken about why he felt a change of scenery was needed.

The Breakdown

“For me, it was enough in England because I was a little bit tired of everything,” Tadic said when speaking on Andy van der Meijde’s YouTube channel (via Daily Echo). “I played all the time for four years.

“In Southampton, for the first two years, we had a great team with [Ronald] Koeman and we had very good seasons. We finished number six and number seven, which is the best in the history of the club and we had very good players. Then after that, in the third and fourth year, we were getting worse and worse.”

Having ditched St. Mary’s last June, Tadic joins a list of star players who have also left the south coast in recent seasons.

The likes of Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama are just a few names to come to mind, and their departures are finally starting to take a toll on Southampton as a club.

As alluded to by Tadic, having once been a Premier League team who were capable of finishing as high as sixth, the Saints now find themselves fighting for survival in successive campaigns.

If things do not change, they risk losing even more players like Tadic, whose decision to jump ship is starting to look like a better one as each day passes.

Amid an impressive season at Crystal Palace, Aaron Wan-Bissaka has attracted interest from a host of clubs in England ahead of the summer transfer window. 

And if latest reports are to be believed, Arsenal are just one Premier League outfit who appear to be interested in the 21-year-old’s services.

The Breakdown

According to The Sun, the north London club are leading the race for Wan-Bissaka and have not been put off by the £40m fee Crystal Palace are said to be demanding in a development which could be huge for Unai Emery.

Defence has been a real problem for Arsenal this season — as it has been for some time now — but the addition of Wan-Bissaka could end up helping them massively in that department.

During this campaign, there probably has not been a better right-back than the Crystal Palace man. When it comes to defending 1v1, Wan-Bissaka looks unbeatable at times, rarely letting the opposing winger get past him.

It is that sort of solidity Arsenal need at the back if they are to become genuine title challengers under Emery.

The Gunners, of course, already have Hector Bellerin, who is by no means a terrible option for that right-back position.

However, looking at what Wan-Bissaka can bring to the table, the opportunity to sign him is too much of a good one to turn down.

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Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden have formed a formidable yet unlikely midfield partnership in recent weeks, but the former looks set to be sidelined for the foreseeable future after picking up an injury against West Ham on Saturday.

On the chalkboard

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Longstaff is set to see a specialist on Wednesday regarding the knee injury he sustained at the weekend.

The report also claims that an initial scan on Monday showed no rupture, but the severity of his injury should become clear after he sees the specialist.

Just as the 21-year-old was beginning to earn recognition throughout the wider media for his performances this season, it seems he has suffered a cruel blow. Unfortunately that is the nature of the game and Rafa Benitez will now be faced with a fresh selection dilemma in midfield.

Jonjo Shelvey’s return to goal scoring form for Newcastle’s U23 side on Friday evening was certainly a timely boost, while Mo Diame is fully fit and an obvious short-term replacement for Longstaff.

However, there is ample evidence to suggest that Benitez may be inclined to chop Isaac Hayden from his starting eleven to make room for both Diame and Shelvey in the coming weeks, despite Hayden’s surprising and refreshing performances since the back end of December.

Lessons from 2017/18 season are key

Hayden is emerging as a strong candidate for the Magpies’ most improved player of the season award, and rightly so. The 23-year-old has defied his critics by stepping into the first-team with a series of solid displays in 2019, including a disciplined showing in the win over Manchester City in January.

But, for all of Hayden’s impressive work, it’s fair to say that the dynamic, understanding and familiarity between a midfield duo is often conducive to a positive result.

Does Newcastle’s infamous title collapse of 1996 mirror what is happening at Liverpool right now? The Magpie Channel discuss in the video below…

The relationship between Shelvey and Diame blossomed as the 2017/18 season developed and their understanding formed a solid foundation of Newcastle’s survival bid, so Benitez should restore both players to his starting eleven in the absence of Longstaff.

It would be tough on Hayden, who has been a genuine surprise package this season, to drop him in favour of the returning Shelvey, but with the club’s Premier League status on the line it’s a decision which the Spaniard could be inclined to make.

It was another depressing day for Everton fans on Saturday, wasn’t it? After the draw against Liverpool last week, you’d have thought it might kick start a vein of form, but that’s clearly not the case.

Losing a game after earning a two-goal lead is unforgivable, whether it’s a World Cup final or a pub league match. Everton lacked composure and bottle yesterday and that was clear, but it’s the ironically consistent inconsistency of it all that will have Evertonians banging their heads against walls.

This season, they’ve shown their capable of playing fast-paced, attacking football that can please the Goodison faithful, but they’ve just not shown it enough. On other occasions, they look devoid of any promise at all and that switch can happen as quickly as it did against Newcastle on Saturday.

Everton have big plans for the future, with a new 50,000-capacity stadium being built and a clear aim of playing European football inside it, but if the team can’t be consistent on the pitch they will never reach their goals. How can a club build momentum financially and grow into a major English power if the team play well one week and then woefully the next?

The modern football fan now demands more than just results, and that’s why they employed Marco Silva. Supporters want to be entertained, so if a consistent balance between exciting football and results can’t be found in the next year or so, the manager won’t last long.

Yes, they need to spend money in summer, but Everton already have the quality to play better than they did at Newcastle, and they showed it to go 2-0 up. That’s what will frustrate Evertonians most, and rightly so.

Everton fans, who do you feel your club should sign this summer? Join the discussion by commenting below…

Does Alexis Sanchez have a future at Manchester United? It looks extremely unlikely right now.

Indeed, the Chilean is currently out with another injury and might not get back into the starting line-up anymore this season, considering  However, the Red Devils don’t want to give up on their prized possession anytime soon.

According to reports from the Sun earlier this week, United are ready to let him go out on loan next season. Apparently, United are convinced it’ll be difficult to sell such a high-earning player and want to loan him out instead. Well, Sanchez isn’t some up and coming youngster who will gain many suitors to sign him on loan.

The European heavyweights have tracked his disappointments at United and he won’t fit into any prominent side anymore. The relatively mediocre sides cannot afford him even if he takes a pay-cut, as the Chilean’s now stuck in a weird limbo at United.

So, in light of such reports earlier this week, Ed Woodward needs to make a crucial decision in the summer.

Be it talking Sanchez into respectfully leaving the club or just somehow finding a suitor for him in some far-flung corner of the footballing globe, the Red Devils cannot hold onto him after this season. Sanchez’s overpaid salary is already causing others to want hiked wages and destabilizing United’s financial structure.

He’s not being able to make any impact, form any chemistry with his attacking compatriots or show any signs of his old self.  The Chilean’s slowly turning into a liability and just loaning him out won’t end United’s nightmare with the whole Sanchez fiasco.

Woodward needs to launch a charm offensive to stop a potentially messy saga.

United fans, would you be affected by Sanchez’s potential departure next season? Join the discussion by commenting below. 

Ravel Morrison is a name that sticks in the mind of Manchester United fans, not because he turned out to be a quality player, but because he was one of the most disappointing cases of unfilled potential.

Breaking onto the scene alongside Paul Pogba, Ravel Morrison was considered to be a part of a golden crop of players – those who would rise out of the academy system to emulate, even in part, the success of the iconic Class of ’92.

However, in football, there are two key trials a fledging must face if they wish to be initiated into stardom, and Ravel Morrison failed in the most important.

Having joined Manchester United’s ranks aged eight, scouted from the illustrious Fletcher Moss Rangers, the same side who produced Marcus Rashford, signing a scholarship in 2009 shortly followed by a professional contract with the club in February 2010. Though, at 17-years-old, and within a week of fulfilling the dream, he found himself arrested by local police and later convicted for intimidating a knifepoint robbery witness, whom he seemingly believed was due to testify in the trial against his friends.

Shortly after Morrison found himself back in court, this time for a violent dispute with his girlfriend, in which he was accused and convicted of criminal damage and referred to Salford’s youth offending team.

Like the calm at the eye of the storm, all this mayhem occurred outside of his contrastingly beautiful performances on the pitch.

Indeed, the former United man strutted his stuff so capably alongside Jesse Lingard and Pogba on their journey to the FA Youth Cup final, drawing exciting similarities to club legend Paul Scholes – a man, ironically, known for his anonymity off the field.

Morrison helped himself to a goal in his side’s comeback against Chelsea overturning a 3-2 aggregate, before providing a brace in the final at Bramall Lane to help bring home the FA Youth Cup for the first time since 2003.

His success should have promised so much; like Giggs, Scholes and Beckham, the FA Youth Cup had proven to be the right of passage into the dizzying heights of Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams.

It proved to be anything but for Morrison.

The once highly thought of prospect watched his opportunities slowly dissipate into the squalor of obscurity, and with the time on his contract slowly running out, with scant chance of renewal, he parted ways with his boyhood club to join West Ham.

“Sadly, there are examples of players who have similar backgrounds to Giggs or Cristiano Ronaldo, who, despite enormous talent, just aren’t emotionally or mentally strong enough to overcome the hurts of their childhood and their inner demons. Ravel Morrison might be the saddest case,” Ferguson wrote in his 2015 book, Leading (via These Football Times).

“He possessed as much natural talent as any youngster we ever signed but kept getting into trouble. It was very painful to sell him … he could have been a fantastic player. But, over a period of years, the problems off the pitch continued to escalate and we had little option but to cut the cord.”

Now 26-years-old, Morrison has managed brief periods playing on loan for Birmingham, QPR, Cardiff, before moving to Lazio permanently, and though Italy proved to be just as fruitless, spending time on loan in Mexico for Atlas, his most recent move to Ostersund in Sweden could be the start of something new.

Leeds United will have one eye on the summer transfer window and Manchester United man Andreas Pereira should be considered an unlikely, but quality, option.

There is no love lost between Leeds United and Manchester United, that much we know for certain.

The two sides bitter rivalry goes way back before the birth of the Premier League into the 20th Century and beyond. It is fierce, it is unrelenting, and it is not slowing anytime soon – especially if Marcelo Bielsa mounts a successful push into the top flight.

But could there be the briefest respite if United loan out one of their brightest talents to West Yorkshire?

Andreas Pereira has been one of the standout prospects in Manchester United’s revival under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has recently been rewarded with an extension on his current contract, pending a four-year deal which could include a promise to go out on loan as makeweight (as per The Sun).

That being said, a move to Elland Road to help Leeds, should they achieve promotion, would be an ideal move for both parties.

The 23-year-old featured in their behemoth win over Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League and has continued to play a key role in midfield when replacing the missing Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba.

He has experience at the top level, as well as sufficient enough dynamism, skill, technical ability, and energy, to make a switch into a considerably more challenging environment under Marcelo Bielsa.

Indeed, as far as we are concerned the move would make perfect sense.

A loan deal would be significantly less of a burden should Leeds be relegated the following season – helping to avoid the tumultuous drop into financial instability, and it would inject serious quality into the forward areas of the pitch Leeds – an area where Leeds are undoubtedly struggling.

Leeds United fans, despite the rivalry, would you take Andreas Pereira on loan next season in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments below…

Any Newcastle fan who witnessed Fabian Schar’s clash of heads during the Georgia versus Switzerland game on Saturday will have been dismayed to see him lying on the ground with players from both sides rushing to his aid.

Even more remarkable was seeing him back on his feet after treatment and ready to resume playing.

Anyone who has played football will tell you it is an automatic response from a player to want to carry on.

But this is 2019, and such decisions should be, and usually are, taken out of a player’s hands and placed firmly in those of the medical staff.

The fact that he was allowed to carry on following the incident does not reflect well on the Swiss doctors, and if any long-term damage was sustained by the player, Newcastle United could quite rightly take action against them and the national team.

Concussion is something of a buzzword in modern sporting circles. It has been highlighted as something that should never be taken lightly and players’ well-being should never be put at risk with any injury to the head.

It was, frankly, shameful of the officials and medical staff to not withdraw Schar from the game immediately, given the apparent serious nature of the clash — regardless of the player’s insistence that he was okay.

BBC Sport report today that a brain injury charity, Headway, wants UEFA to investigate the decision to let the player stay on the pitch, rightly querying what it will take for football to take concussion seriously?

He has, subsequently, been withdrawn from the Swiss squad for their next game against Denmark this week, and it remains to be seen whether UEFA take any action regarding the incident.

The news will come as a relief to Newcastle and Rafa Benitez, and it is probably a good thing that the defender is ineligible for next Monday’s game at Arsenal through suspension anyway.

Toon fans were quick to take to react to news of the player’s withdrawal from the squad. Here are a selection of the comments:

It seems that being suspended for the game at Arsenal is a good thing for Schar, but what are your thoughts of the way his injury was dealt with by the officials. Newcastle fans? Let us know…

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Last week’s Fixture in Focus wasn’t exactly a thriller but it didn’t disappoint either: Tottenham pushed Liverpool all the way in an Anfield affair that was played at exciting pace but lacked moments of pure final-third quality.

Nonetheless, there was plenty for the Fixture in Focus crew to get stuck into, ranging from Liverpool’s lust for lady luck to Tottenham’s sudden lack of confidence and continuity at the back.

After that, the #FIFpod team switched their attentions to this week’s Fixture in Focus – Chelsea vs West Ham. The Hammers have a knack of only turning up when the cameras are showing, so Monday night’s encounter at Stamford Bridge should be an intriguing clash.

West Ham’s inconsistency this season, and their return of just four points against the teams in the seventh-place-mini-league, is a key part of this week’s agenda, as well as Declan Rice’s prospects of becoming a world-class talent and Chelsea fans turning on Maurizio Sarri.

If you love what we do and don’t want to miss another episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform by clicking here – but you can check out the latest episode below!