Felipe Anderson returned to West Ham United’s starting lineup to face Liverpool on Monday evening following a five match Premier League absence. 

Barring some kind of mind-boggling miracle, which did, for a fleeting, scarcely believable moment in time, represent a genuine possibility, the Brazilian was always destined to sink into the shadows of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane. 

But prior to Lukasz Fabianski – or Flappianski, the imposter who slipped into the West Ham gloves on Monday night – conspiring to give Liverpool a literal helping hand in their bid to topple every record known to man, Anderson did much more than fade into the shadows.

Of course, he was not without fault. The 26-year-old was lambasted by David Moyes on the touchine for shirking a 50-50 challenge inside the first half and statistically he left plenty to be desired. He failed to complete a single key pass before he was substituted after 65 minutes, was dispossessed on three separate occasions and twice his touch let him down, surrendering possession for the visitors, per Whoscored. 

Watch West Ham United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Yet there existed an aura about Anderson which hinted the Hammers were capable of pulling off the unthinkable. In possession of the ball he was composed and dynamic, gliding past dumbfounded Liverpool players with the conviction of a five-a-side player who is all too brashly aware of his devilish superiority to those attempting to dispossess him.

Five times Anderson pulled off a successful dribble – more than any other player in claret and blue – and on each and every occasion his agility and immaculate control seemed to add an extra five yards of width to the pitch. 

His teammates undoubtedly benefited and it’s no coincidence that Declan Rice had the time and space to swivel and deliver a cross Trent Alexander-Arnold would have been proud of to give Pablo Fornals the chance, which he took with aplomb, to put the relegation-threatened side ahead.

There was no direct involvement from Anderson but his presence gave West Ham a cutting edge, one distinctly absent from their play when he was replaced by Seabstien Haller after 65 minutes. The gravitational swing alluded to Anderson’s importance to the Hammers’ attacking impetus, and the statistics from a thoroughly disastrous season so far equally underline how imperative he is to the club’s survival bid.

The £40.5m-rated star, per Transfermarkt, is fundamental to the club’s success. West Ham have won 6 of the 20 games he’s started in all competitions this season and just two of the 11 games they’ve played without him in all competitions. 

The win ratio of 30% with him in the team, compared to just 18% without, per Soccerbase, tells its own story but the fact the Irons have scored less than a goal per game without him speaks volumes about how his importance in the final months of the season. 

Anderson may not have been at his blistering, pulsating best at Anfield but his showing, coupled with West Ham’s dip following his omission, sent his manager a timely reminder of his mercurial talent.

As is the case with most flair players, Anderson can be equally as frustrating as awe-inspiring.

If Moyes can find a way to get Anderson to induce the latter emotion on a regular basis between now and May 17th, he might just get the club out of jail. 

Sunderland’s ownership troubles have been going on for quite some time.

Stewart Donald has attracted widespread criticism from supporters for the vast majority of the season and not even putting the club up for sale was enough to provide a ray of positivity.

They slammed him mercilessly after that decision, but in the same statement, he revealed that sufficient funds would be placed towards building the squad.

However, the Black Cats refused to really splash the cash, bringing in players on loan and on a free transfer in January.

It was the opposite of what was promised but Donald’s finances did at least help bring in one hand-wrapped gift for Sunderland supporters to get giddy over.

That happened to be Bailey Wright, a player who has been an immense performer at the back for the Black Cats.

After arriving on loan from Bristol City, the Australian had a hand in keeping four clean sheets in five games. The only match he failed to register a shut-out was when the Mackems lost 2-0 to Portsmouth.

An imperious figure, he established an instant connection and affection with Phil Parkinson’s system.

The trouble is, he’s now out for an extended period of time. The club confirmed he could miss as many as 12 weeks of the campaign with an ankle problem, delivering a potentially season-defining blow to Sunderland given his instant success at the Stadium of Light.

Will Wright end up playing for Sunderland again? Only time will tell, but it’s certainly not something that Parkinson has ruled out. The 27-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and should they be interested in doing so, he could arrive on a free transfer.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of the clash with Bristol Rovers he commented: “We’ve made no decisions on his long-term future at the moment because there’s a lot of this season left. He’s going to stay with us for his rehab because he’s moved up into the area, so we will have plenty of opportunities to chat with him.”

That suggests the door could be open for a permanent switch in the summer – cue another shiny gift from the Sunderland owner.

For away day veterans only: Can you name all of these defunct stadiums?

If he really is to sell the club in the future then sorting a permanent deal for someone who’s had such a large impact on the squad would be a fine way to end his tenure.

Donald hasn’t got an awful lot right on Wearside but this is a small opportunity to ensure he leaves in fans’ good books. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Meanwhile, Sunderland could have ANOTHER Laurens De Bock on their hands…

Leeds are back in business and in some style too. Amid the negative news surrounding Kiko Casilla’s ban for racism, they failed to take their foot off the peddle and swept Hull City aside in brutal fashion.

A first-half strike from Luke Ayling saw the visitors head into the second half just a goal to the good. However, they came alive in a devastating display of counter-attacking football, adding three more goals in the second 45 minutes.

The Whites have become famed for missing chances this season and heading into the weekend they should have scored 14 more goals according to Experimental 361’s xG table.

This result, though, will have done Marcelo Bielsa’s men the world of good. Pablo Hernandez was also on the scoresheet while there was a brace for the injury-stricken Tyler Roberts.

However, despite the obvious praise that surrounded some players, there was criticism for another – Helder Costa.

The winger did claim an assist during the game but before that happened, he was ripped into by certain supporters who thought he’d gone missing and was anonymous.

This isn’t anything new for the summer arrival who has been tormented by the Elland Road faithful on a few occasions this season.

After arriving on an initial loan deal from Wolves, the wide man has scored just three times in the Championship. His assist for Hernandez’s goal on Saturday, meanwhile, was only his second of the campaign.

Fears over his general ability are understandable as one fan claimed he just didn’t look dangerous throughout the clash with Hull. Two fans were quick to recognise the quality he possesses but they still weren’t pleased with his general output.

Considering the Portuguese will arrive on a permanent deal in the summer they’ll be hoping he improves his output of five goal contributions in 2019/20. Further sentiments suggested he was the worst player in their squad.

Another supporter described Costa as ineffective while similarly, one fan added that he simply doesn’t do enough.

Besides the assist, the 26-year-old was relatively poor on Saturday lunchtime. He failed to score from four shots while he also completed just one dribble and was dispossessed twice.

Calling all EFL experts: Can you get full marks on this stadiums quiz?

Costa looked keen to make things happen but it didn’t always pay off for him.

Consequently, one supporter wanted to see Jordan Stevens or Ian Poveda given a shot ahead of him. The latter has yet to play a single first-team minute for Leeds after arriving on a permanent transfer from Manchester City in January.

Stevens, meanwhile, has been favoured on the bench.

One final supporter took issue with the £15m Leeds will have to spend on the attacker next summer. Leeds initially brought the player in for a temporary stay but as part of the deal, agreed an obligation to buy him permanently.

Based on his performances so far this term, claims that he’s a waste of money are certainly fair.

Meanwhile, Leeds fans were BUZZING with their ‘underrated’ star on Saturday…

Frank de Boer’s ill-fated reign at Crystal Palace is all but a distant memory.

The former Netherlands international was hired in 2017 to take over the vacancy at Selhurst Park, but in the end it was an appointment that turned into a nightmare rather quickly. Incredibly, he lasted just 77 days at the club, which saw him manage just four Premier League games – they all ended in defeats in which Palace failed to score.

Watch Crystal Palace Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

That did give him enough time to make a few signings though, and former Ajax player Jairo Riedewald was one of them. The then-20-year-old came from the famed academy of de Godenzonen, having already made 93 appearances there by the time he made the switch to the Premier League.

Unfortunately, it is a transfer that hasn’t gone the way Steve Parish and co. will have hoped, much like De Boer. He has featured a paltry 31 times during his time at the club, failing to put together a consistent run of games. Injuries haven’t helped the matter, but still – for the £7.9m they paid for him, they will have expected at least a bit more.

Even despite him signing at such a young age, that didn’t stop Palace giving him a considerable wage of £55,000 a week. For context, only seven players were on higher wages at the time of his arrival. Plenty of others have overtaken him now, but that is still a considerable amount of money.

Two years and 33 weeks at the club have seen the 23-year-old pocket £7.5m. Combined with his transfer fee, he has cost Parish £15.4m, which works out at just shy of £500,000 per Premier League appearance – a huge amount of money for a side that has spend just over £17m in the last two seasons.

Now, Riedewald continues to find himself on the fringes of Roy Hodgson’s starting XI, but it is hard to imagine him breaking into the side on a regular basis as it stands.

Much like De Boer’s arrival, this is a recruit that Parish must answer for.

Meanwhile, Palace continue to track this centre-forward.

West Brom’s success this season has been heavily built around the good performances of their loanees.

Callum Robinson and Filip Krovinovic have both been key players. The Sheffield United loanee has contributed to three goals since his arrival in January while the Croatian has appeared in 31 games.

However, it’s hard to argue that either of those have been half as important as the duo of Grady Diangana or Matheus Pereira.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

We’ve already been over the fact that they’re the two standout Signing of the Season contenders at the Baggies, but a lot of eyes have been on the potential permanent signing of Pereira due to Albion’s option to buy.

However, there is an argument to make that the Baggies’ priority should be landing the West Ham loanee permanently instead.

Away from the fact that Diangana has contributed to 10 goals in 21 appearances this term, the Baggies are quite clearly a better team when he’s on the pitch.

The winger has the best points per game record of any player who has played at least five matches this term, and he’s only been on the losing side twice in the league.

The Baggies are rampant when Diangana appears. With him they have a +20 goal difference from the 21 games he’s featured in. For context, they have a +26 goal difference from the 37 matches they’ve played all season, so you can see that they’re simply a weaker side without their loan star on the pitch.

They’ve won just five out of the 15 league games he’s missed since joining the club, and you dread to think where they’d be if he wasn’t at the Hawthorns.

Unfortunately, the 21-year-old is due to return to West Ham at the end of the season, so unless they sign him permanently, they could decline without him – after all, the stats suggest he’s so pivotal to the team.

Albion quite simply can’t let that happen, and they must pull out all the stops to make sure he’s still at the club next year.

In other news, West Brom could have a future star on their hands.

At the beginning of the summer, promotion to the Premier League seemed a tough task for West Brom.

It’s not that they weren’t a talented outfit with a good manager, but they’d just lost 46 goals worth of talent as Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez both departed the club.

Somehow, it seems that the Baggies are in a great position to pull it off – they’re six points clear of third place with nine games to go, and they’ve been brilliant all season, losing just five league games.

They’re the joint-highest scoring team in the division, but despite that fact their top scorer has just 10 goals.

Indeed, the Baggies have relied heavily on spreading the goals throughout the side, with the likes of Matheus Pereira, Semi Ajayi and Grady Diangana all chipping in with at least five each.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, in the Premier League, Albion won’t be the same dominant force, and their style of play will likely have to change.

Chances will be much harder to come by as they come up against some of the world’s top defensive talent, and they need to make the most of any opportunities they carve out.

They need players in the mould of Gayle and Rodriguez who are natural finishers and will put away any chances they get, and at the moment they don’t have that in their squad as their top-scoring striker is Hal Robson-Kanu who has hit just 10 goals.

The Darren Moore favourites were never adequately replaced at The Hawthorns with Kenneth Zohore and Charlie Austin netting just 11 league goals between them after arriving this summer, and that is something that needs rectifying.

The Baggies’ chances of staying up in the Premier League will be greatly increased if they have a player they can rely on to put the ball in the net week in week out, and that should be their priority this summer.

In other news, promotion could be worth less to both Leeds and WBA.

Despite his recent success in bringing world-class talent to Anfield, Liverpool’s sporting director hasn’t always reaped the glory and is held responsible for some pricey unsuccessful signings. 

According to Bleacher Report, Michael Edwards hit a few dips in the road during his early days at Liverpool and is reportedly held accountable for the failed transfers of the likes of Iago Aspas, Lazar Markovic and Christian Benteke. Indeed, the latter pair cost over £20m each, per Transfermarkt.

Whilst Brendan Rodgers was still at the hilt, he and Edwards reportedly had their fair share of tensions. The Northern Irishman fully believed he should be the only one to oversee any footballing strategies. “I always think the manager is the technical director,” Rodgers explained.

Despite Edwards’ more recent wonder signings including Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, he has had to grow into his position like any other and his early days didn’t sit well with fans. One supporter started a petition to remove Edwards as the club’s sporting director after the flop of Markovic and others.

Like many other members of a club’s hierarchy, growing pains are an inevitable part of the process. Fans felt the struggles of bringing in subpar players whilst trying to bolster the squad. The arrival of Benteke cost Liverpool £32.5million and the Belgian striker managed just 10 goals in 42 games (via Transfermarkt).

Benteke arrived from Aston Villa a month after Roberto Firmino was poached from Hoffenheim (via BBC Sport). The chasm in quality between the two strikers is stark – the Brazilian was kept on by Jurgen Klopp after he succeeded Rodgers, whilst Benteke was shipped off to Crystal Palace where he has struggled with just one goal this season.

Firmino currently has 77 Liverpool goals and 59 assists to his name (via Transfermarkt) and is the highest ever scoring Brazilian to grace the Premier League. The 28-year-old’s market worth has also spiked since his move to Merseyside – valuing at £22.5million in 2015, Firmino is now worth a hefty £81million (Transfermarkt) thanks to his success under Klopp and Edwards’ keen eye to bring him in.

Former Liverpool sporting director Damien Comolli headhunted Edwards from Tottenham Hotspur to help with a new data-led approach to Anfield tactics. “You are struck with how intelligent he [Edwards] is,” Comolli said in an interview last year.

The Reds have definitely had some faux pas signings, but no one can take away the way Edwards has recently transformed this Liverpool squad when they truly needed it most.

What do you think, Reds? Has Michael Edwards redeemed himself for some of his questionable transfers? Join the discussion in the comments below!

Wolverhampton Wanderers didn’t make too many additions during the summer transfer window, but it is awfully telling that two of the players that joined have already seen the exit door at Molineux.

One of which was Jesus Vallejo, who ultimately struggled with the demands of the Premier League. After dropping one clanger, he was rarely trusted by Nuno Santo ever again as he made a total of just seven appearances, only one start was in the top-flight, and that was in their biggest defeat of the season – a 5-2 to Chelsea.

The Greatest Bargains in Premier League history – How much did they cost?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

It’s clear to see that English football is a different ball game as the 23-year-old arrived with experience in La Liga for parent club Real Madrid and in the Bundesliga for Frankfurt.

This week, the west Midlands outfit have been linked to what could become a similar case, should they win the race for the player.

According to Sdna, Wolves along with West Ham, Palace and Sheffield United are all interested in Olympiacos’ 6 foot 6 colossus Pape Abou Cisse this summer, and any move could cost the club around €20m (£17.5m).

However, this is something Nuno must avoid otherwise he’ll be staring down the barrel at yet another transfer mistake at the club.

The 24-year-old is capped on the international stage for Senegal and has been playing in Greece’s top tier – but just like with Vallejo, he’d arrive with no experience in England.

Despite Cisse finding the net against Arsenal in the Europa League, and subsequently earning him a place in the Team of the Week, it isn’t enough to suggest that he could deal with the step-up in quality that a switch would bring.

And thus, the Portuguese boss must rethink his thoughts behind this one as there must be far better options than this Olympiacos titan.

While in other news, Fernandes and Dias react to Joao Moutinho on Instagram…

Having joined from Scottish giants Celtic last summer, it hasn’t been the most enjoyable of debut campaigns for Kieran Tierney at Arsenal.

The Scotland international has struggled with injury problems all season, and it has meant that he has only featured 11 times across all competitions for the first-team at the Emirates.

Reports in recent months had even suggested fellow Premier League side Leicester were interested in signing him, but judging from his latest comments, it appears he has his heart fully set on staying with the Gunners.

Hilariously obscure Premier League players – Can you name them all?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

When asked about what his favourite thing about living in London was during an Ask Me Anything session, Tierney replied: “Playing for Arsenal. I didn’t move to Arsenal to live in London. I came here to London so I could play for Arsenal.”

Naturally, once Gunners supporters had heard of his answer, they took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the left-back.

A couple of fans even called for him to be given the captain’s armband – an honour currently held by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Some simply praised the kind of attitude he showed with his words, with one fan in particular saying it’s exactly the kind of personality an Arsenal player should have.

If he can stay clear of injuries for next season, then the £22.5m-rated Tierney could form a tantalising full-back partnership with Hector Bellerin on the right-flank.

The Gunners have been blessed with a couple of Premier League greats in that position in Nigel Winterburn and Ashley Cole. Tierney will no doubt be hoping he can follow in those footsteps too.

Meanwhile, Arsenal can land their new Santi Cazorla with this ace.

Mahela Jayawardene has admitted his side faltered under pressure in their World Twenty20 final loss to the West Indies in Colombo, after having made an exceptional start to the match in the first 12 overs. The loss is Sri Lanka’s fourth in major finals since 2007, and they have now been bridesmaids in two World Cups and two World Twenty20s in the last five major tournaments.Sri Lanka had surged through the Super Eights and secured a tough victory over Pakistan on a dustbowl to progress to the final, but could not quell a West Indies resurgence in the title match. With West Indies mired at 48 for 2 after 12 overs the title seemed in Sri Lanka’s grasp before Marlon Samuels bludgeoned three sixes off Lasith Malinga’s second over on his way to a match-winning 78 from 56 balls. Jayawardene, who announced he was standing down as T20 captain, felt Sri Lanka should not have allowed West Indies, who were also 87 for 5 in the 16th over, to reap 89 from the last eight overs.Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second over in pursuit of 138, and were never able to catch up to the asking rate. Jayawardene did not see a trend in Sri Lanka’s inability to win finals, but said his side had responded poorly to West Indies’ middle-over onslaught, and marked out the three-over stretch between the 13th and 15th over, which cost 39, as the turning point of the match even though Ajantha Mendis took three wickets.”I think we tried very hard, but this match changed in three or four overs in the middle,” he said. “In the pressure situations we couldn’t control the match. Marlon Samuels batted really well and he took it away from us a little bit. But when we were put under pressure, we didn’t react well to that. When those small mistakes add up, that’s where you lose a match like a final, and that’s what happened to us.”Jayawardene has been at the helm for two of those four finals losses, while Kumar Sangakkara, Dilshan and Malinga have also played in each loss. In this tournament, Sri Lanka had lost only a seven-over match against South Africa in the group stage, and arrived in the final as the form team, and favourites with home advantage. Jayawardene said this defeat was different from finals failures in the past, because Sri Lanka had dominated the opening exchanges.”We played well right until the final. Every defeat has been different. How we approached a couple of the finals, we did not start well and we kept chasing the game and it was tough for us to get back into it. I thought today we started well. Marlon took a gamble after the 12th over and it paid off for him. Those were individual performances that you have to give credit to. Under pressure he put his hand up and performed and that crucial moment he controlled.”Samuels was dropped on 20 by Nuwan Kulasekara as he attempted a difficult running chance on the long-off boundary in the tenth over. Samuels made 58 from the next 22 balls he faced and propelled West Indies beyond a run-a-ball – a run rate they had not looked like achieving in the early stages. After Samuels’ demise in the 18th over, Darren Sammy propelled West Indies towards 140 with 26 from 15 balls.”We dropped a half chance and then they played well in the next three overs,” Jayawardene said. “I think that 20 or 30 runs was the difference. If we had kept them to 110 or 120 on this pitch we could have competed better in this match.”Jayawardene admitted that despite falling away in the field Sri Lanka were capable of chasing 138, but needed a strong start to do so. Ravi Rampaul’s superb delivery to uproot Dilshan’s off stump forced the hosts to be more conservative during their Powerplay, and the middle order were unable to reverse a flagging run rate amid a clatter of wickets.”We wanted to attack. The first six overs, it was crucial for us to get a good start, particularly with the hardness of the ball. But when Dilly got out in the first ball of the second over, that kept us back because Kumar and I knew we had to consolidate and we couldn’t lose another wicket in the first six overs.”We were looking at 45-50 runs in the first six to put pressure on them, but that didn’t materialise. They bowled really well and took pace off the ball. They didn’t bowl their quicks and kept bowling their spinners. We never had momentum going in that chase. We had to make sure we had a good start going and we lost wickets regularly.”Malinga’s second over disappeared for 21, but Jayawardene defended his decision to bring him back into the attack. Malinga’s two remaining overs went for 29, and he finished with his worst ever Twenty20 figures, having taken no wickets for 54 from his four overs. Jayawardene still had overs from Akila Dananjaya and Nuwan Kulasekara at the finish in addition to Thisara Perera, who has barely bowled throughout the tournament.”After the first 12 overs, Malinga had only bowled one over. I knew that they would have to play some shots, so I gave the ball to my number one bowler to take wickets. But they played well in that period and Lasith couldn’t bowl two good overs then, but that’s cricket. I thought we’d have a chance to take wickets if Lasith bowled because Marlon didn’t play Lasith well in our match in Kandy, so I had thought about that when I gave him the ball.”If I knew the script was going to be like that, I probably wouldn’t have bowled him.”Jayawardene said the loss would be particularly painful for having come on their home turf, in front of a hugely expectant crowd of 35,000. Sri Lanka had defeated West Indies by nine wickets in the Super Eights – their most comprehensive win over top-eight opposition – in addition to having defeated them by the same margin in a practice match.”As a team we gave everything we had. In a big tournament, we wanted to win to give something to the fans who have been cheering us. I’m very disappointed, we had a full house here as well. We just didn’t execute a good gameplan and we weren’t ruthless enough. So we’re very disappointed that we couldn’t give the fans what they wanted, and that hurts a lot.”