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Chelsea’s hard work against Wolves paid off as they secure their spot in next season’s Champions League.

The Blues ended the Premier League season fourth in the table on 66 points and round off the term on level points with Manchester United, behind the Red Devils only on goal difference.

Mason Mount and Olivier Giroud were on target as Frank Lampard’s side bagged their 20th league win of the season yesterday. However, one man perhaps went under the radar despite putting in a strong shift in midfield.

Mateo Kovacic impressed with his well-rounded performance which saw him complete both the most dribbles (3/3) and tackles (5/6) out of anyone else on the pitch (according to FotMob). The Croatian also made light work of creating chances for Chelsea, completing 100% of his attempted long balls and winning 11 duels. Additionally, he completed 91% of his passes in his 85 minutes on the pitch.

Kovacic isn’t as potent a presence in front of goal like fellow midfielder Mount, who scored eight goals this season to the Croatian’s two, but he is exceptional at keeping the midfield ticking. His record for the 2019/20 season saw him average two tackles per game and maintain an 89.7% passing rate (via WhoScored).

His performance against Wolves saw him complete more dribbles than all of Chelsea’s starting front three.

Kovacic has been part of Lampard’s ever-changing midfield this campaign, but with his consistent performances, it’s hard to imagine that he won’t be a guaranteed starter next season.

How would you describe Kovacic’s form this season, Blues? Have your say in the comments below!

There has been a notable development in the transfer saga surrounding James Tarkowski’s potential exit from Burnley.

Football Insider reported that the Clarets have lowered their asking price for the defender to £35m, having this week rejected a £28m bid from West Ham, who along with Leicester are keen on the 27-year-old.

That reflects a significant comedown on the £50m price tag which Burnley had initially applied to the England international, as per the Daily Mail, with the Daily Star stating that the Turf Moor outfit are ‘strapped for cash’.

Tellingly, Football Insider claimed that Tarkowski has his sights set on a move to West Ham, who he perceives to be a more ambitious club despite finishing six places and 15 points behind Burnley in last season’s Premier League.

The report added that the 27-year-old wants to establish himself at international level – the Hammers have the same number of players as Burnley in Gareth Southgate’s current England squad – with the London club set to offer him a substantial increase on the £50,000-a-week that he is currently earning at Turf Moor.

Tarkowski turns 28 in November and has been with the Clarets since February 2016, so perhaps he feels that the time is right for a new challenge now that he is in the peak years of his career. His ever-present status in the 2019/20 Premier League suggests that he may be at the height of his game now, with the defender very much proven at top-flight level.

With Sean Dyche clearly having huge faith in Tarkowski by starting him in every league match last season and handing him 143 appearances for the club, the Burnley manager will naturally be reluctant to lose one of his most trusted stalwarts.

However, the Clarets’ significant shift in their asking price for the defender hints that they may be willing to do business, especially given his reported interest in a move away from Lancashire, while West Ham need only to add £7m to their previous offer to meet Burnley’s revised valuation.

These latest developments in the Tarkowski transfer tale hint that the Turf Moor outfit could be getting closer to agreeing a parting of ways with the 27-year-old – but then comes the task of finding a centre-back who can adequately fill the vacancy that he would leave in Dyche’s line-up.

Burnley fans, do you think Tarkowski will be sold in this transfer window? Comment below with your views!

Newcastle United may have had a lucky escape as former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager André Villas-Boas has reportedly turned the Tyneside club down, according to L’Equipe (via Sport Witness).

As per the outlet, the Marseille boss has turned down an approach from the North East, despite an offer to ‘significantly’ increase his wages.

The Magpies are believed to be on the hunt for a big-name manager to replace Steve Bruce should their prospective takeover by the Saudi Arabian investment group go through at St. James’ Park.

Villas-Boas is one of the names who is on their list, and it has been widely rumoured he could be leaving Marseille after the departure of director of football Andoni Zubizarreta, as the Toon was touted as a possible destination.

However, a move to NUFC will not be happening as he has already turned down their advances.

Perhaps they are rather lucky that Villas-Boas has said no given his failings in the Premier League. Taking charge of Chelsea in the 2011/12 season, the Portuguese man was sacked in March after some poor results which eventually saw the Blues finish in sixth place in the league table.

AVB switched to bitter rivals Spurs the following campaign, but was eventually sacked again in December 2013. His overall winning percentage in the top flight arguably does not bode well, as he won 42 out of 81 games, giving him a win ratio of 51.9 per cent, according to Transfermarkt. This is relatively low for two big clubs hoping to continuously finish in the Champions League places.

If the would-be owners are ambitious about where Newcastle could finish under them, then not having Villas-Boas at the helm may be a blessing in disguise given he has already failed twice in England.

Geordies, what do you think of AVB? Comment below!

Tim Cahill is reflecting on Everton’s fourth place finish this time 15 years ago and hopes the club can repeat history in the next few seasons. 

The former Evertonian has posted a throwback video of his goal against Newcastle in 2005 which took his side within one point of Champions League qualification. That season, the Blues went on to pip Merseyside rivals Liverpool of a top four spot as they finished their campaign in fourth place on 61 points.

Cahill has posted the clip of the goal and said: “What I’d give to see my club do this again very soon,” which many Everton fans loved.

Under the short reign of Carlo Ancelotti, the Toffees have already vastly improved their form compared to the problems they were having earlier this season. As they currently sit just six points away from sixth place, there’s a chance that Everton could push for Champions League football in the next couple of seasons.

One joyous Toffees supporter has predicted that the ‘glory days are coming back’. Read some of the best replies to Cahill’s tweet here:

Everton fans, what is your fondest memory of Tim Cahill at the club? Let us know in the comments below!

Sheffield Wednesday’s poor fortunes continued on Wednesday evening as they succumbed to a fifth straight game without a victory.

The Owls needed late heroics, from themselves for once, as Kadeem Harris’ 20-yard strike nine minutes from time somehow squirmed its way in past the visiting goalkeeper to cancel out Alvaro Gimenez’s early second-half opener.

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Garry Monk’s side have now slipped to tenth place in the standings, some four points behind the play-off zone – a 12-point deduction now would see them second-bottom in the division.

Despite all of the negatives surrounding the performance, several of the Hillsborough faithful were quick to point out the performance of Dominic Iorfa in defence.

One supporter claimed the colossus was ‘too good’ for a mid-table Championship side, while another believed the 24-year-old was the best player on the pitch last night.

‘Class,’ ‘incredible,’ and ‘quality’ were just three other words to describe the centre-back’s performance as a further fan went as far as comparing him to Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

In other news, Garry Monk has spoken about the difficult challenge ahead for the very first time…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Fotomac, Besiktas officials are to travel to Liverpool to try and complete a permanent transfer for goalkeeper Loris Karius.

What’s the story?

The 26-year-old was signed from Mainz 05 in 2016 before moving to the Super Lig side in 2018 on loan. Since then, he has made 49 appearances for the Turkish club.

It appears that the side from Istanbul want to sign the former Germany U21 international in January. They will travel to England to speak to the Reds, with a fee of €8.5m (£7.2m) mentioned.

Miracles do happen

Karius only cost the Merseyside outfit £4.7m, but even that has been too much of a price to pay for the way the German performed during his time at Anfield. At Liverpool, he averaged a save percentage rate of just 66.2%, which is not good enough for a goalkeeper at a top team. The stats, though, only tell part of the story.

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He made several high-profile mistakes during his time with the Reds, but it is his performance in the 2018 Champions League final that will remain long in the memory. Gareth Bale did score one absolute stunner that no goalkeeper on the planet would have stopped. However, both of the other goals in a 3-1 loss were the goalkeeper’s fault.

Firstly, he inexplicably threw the ball at Karim Benzema’s foot, with it then ending up in the net, whilst he somehow fumbled Bale’s long-range effort as well. It may have been hard to see him in tears after the match, but there was no way back for him from that.

It is not as though he has even been that impressive in Turkey. In those 49 matches, he has conceded 69 goals and kept just 11 clean sheets. The high-profile errors haven’t stopped, either, as we saw in Besiktas’ Europa League fixture with Slovan Bratislava.

All of this, therefore, makes it absolutely flabbergasting as to how they could now be in line for a £7.2m transfer fee.

That would be an increase of £2.6m, and it is hard to see what Karius has done to warrant that rise. Michael Edwards deserves a medal if he can get this deal through.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Manuel Neuer’s legacy will most likely never be surpassed at Bayern Munich.

The now 33-year-old German goalkeeper needs no special introduction.

After all, we’re talking about a player who’s won everything there is to win: from the World Cup to the Champions League, Neuer has done it all and has achieved it all.

But just like every other legend of the game, there will come a time when his performances will simply not suffice anymore, especially given Bayern Munich’s appetite and their aspirations in the world of football.

The Bavarians only have the best and will only accept the best.

For many years, Neuer was exactly that and most likely, he was the very best at what he does in his peak as almost no one in the world could compare to the fantastic German.

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But time is cruel and he is already 33 years of age and quite frankly, it is showing.

Of course, injuries have played their part and Neuer has been on the wrong side of them for years now, suffering from multiple setbacks going multiple campaigns back.

And just recently, Bayern were actually linked with a man that could potentially take over the mantle and dethrone Neuer from his spot between the sticks – Bernd Leno.

Arsenal’s shot-stopper, for all his qualities, has also struggled in recent times but his misfortune doesn’t really stem from individual errors.

The Gunners are a shadow of what they used to be back in the day and despite having the 27-year-old in goal, they just can’t seem to stop conceding, having done so 17 times in the ongoing campaign already.

But even with all of that being said, Leno still managed to average 4.1 saves per game, which actually even edges out Neuer’s 2.8.

The quality is certainly there and even though the 27-year-old is not the first name on Bayern’s list – that spot being reserved for Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen if The Sun’s report is anything to go by – he definitely has what it takes it to start a new era with the Bavarians.

Overall, he has 11 clean sheets in 48 games with Arsenal but as we’ve already said, that is mostly down to their issues as a team rather than his individual struggles.

If Bayern really do pull the trigger, they will not be disappointed.

And neither will Leno, who might also want to abandon a sinking ship while he still can.

Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace to the Emirates on Sunday, where the Gunners will be hoping to get back on track in the Premier League.

Unai Emery’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United in their last Premier League outing, and needed Nicolas Pepe’s magic against Vitoria in the Europa League to overturn a 2-1 deficit with just ten minutes remaining.

Roy Hodgson’s side are just a point behind Arsenal in 6th as things stand, and got one over on the north Londoners at the Emirates towards the end of last season with an impressive 3-2 win – another three points on Sunday will take them above their London rivals.

Let’s take a look at the XI Hodgson should put out against the Gunners…

Only a couple of changes from the 2-0 loss to Manchester City, but two that Hodgson really should make.

We’ll start with Benteke.

The 36-cap Belgium international was the star of the show in that aforementioned 3-2 win from last season, winning the WhoScored Man of the Match award after grabbing a goal and an assist.

The 6 foot 3 striker won seven aerial duels that day, and we feel that the former Liverpool man would be better suited to do a job against David Luiz and Sokratis rather than the less aerially dominant figure of Jordan Ayew.

Elsewhere, the only other change would see Andros Townsend come in for Jeffrey Schlupp. The 13-cap England international’s pace on the break and solid defensive contribution ahead of his full-back, Joel Ward, may prove significant on the day – especially if the tricky Bukayo Saka lines up down that flank as he did against the Blades.

Both Townsend and Wilfried Zaha may not see much of the ball given Arsenal’s usual dominance of possession, so getting them close to Benteke where the Belgian can win knock downs is crucial to Palace – it was a Benteke flick-on that saw Zaha score his goal at the Emirates last season.

With these two changes, Palace could surprise their hosts with some brilliant counter-attacks and give themselves a great chance of getting a result.

Some West Ham fans have taken to Twitter to express their concerns over Manuel Pellegrini, after the Hammers suffered a 2-0 defeat to Everton.

The Londoners have won just three Premier League games out of nine so far this season, with those victories coming against a struggling Watford side, Daniel Farke’s Norwich and another underperforming team in Manchester United.

On the contrary, there has been an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Oxford United in the Carabao Cup, while West Ham have also lost their last two league games against Crystal Palace and now the Toffees.

It clearly hasn’t all been plain sailing for the Irons, and some West Ham fans below have pointed the finger at Pellegrini.

One supporter said that the Chilean makes “strange” substitutions, and is also tactically inept at times, whereas another said that the former Manchester City boss needs to have a serious rethink.

Let’s take a look at what some more of the concerned West Ham fans on Twitter think of the Hammers boss…

Some Charlton fans on Twitter are torn over Josh Cullen’s performance against Swansea on Wednesday night.

The Republic of Ireland international was making his ninth Championship start of the campaign against the Swans, on a night where the Addicks lost 2-1 at The Valley.

Lee Bowyer’s men took an early lead through Jonathan Leko, but were pegged back after goals from Yan Dhanda and Andre Ayew.

Cullen in particular seemed to impress judging by the statistics, making the joint-most amount of key passes out of any player on the field, with three to his name.

The 23-year-old also completed three tackles, drew two fouls and embarked on one dribble – it certainly seems as if the 5 foot 9 midfielder held his own against one of the best sides in the league.

For some reason, however, not every Charlton fan on Twitter thought he played well.

One fan said he was the south Londoners’ best player by a country mile, whereas another thought the on-loan West Ham man wasn’t his usual self.

Let’s take a look at more of the Twitter reaction from some divided Charlton fans…