Joe Hart’s position as England’s first-choice goalkeeper has rarely been up for debate until now.

Failing to impress Pep Guardiola at Manchester City has ultimately led to suggestions that he could be dropped for this summer’s World Cup in Russia.

After spending last season on loan at Torino, Hart moved to West Ham United on another temporary deal, but he has struggled to come out on top while jostling for a place with Adrian.

On Friday night, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford played in an international friendly against the Netherlands, which ended in a 1-0 victory for the Three Lions.

Most-capped England international of all time Peter Shilton believes that Pickford is likely to take the number one role in Russia, despite having made just two appearances for his country.

The 68-year-old has praised the stopper’s confidence, but has picked some holes in his performance against the Netherlands.

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In a piece for the Daily Mail, Shilton wrote:

“Jordan Pickford has given Gareth Southgate plenty to think about for the opening World Cup match against Tunisia. This was only his second international but he oozes confidence, which immediately transmits to the defenders in front of him.

“Overall I was impressed by Pickford’s confidence — so important in a goalkeeper — and especially with his command around his area. He seems comfortable with the ball at his feet, which has become so important in the modern game, and his distribution was excellent. There were mistakes and a couple of moments of uncertainty, especially when the Dutch came on to us more strongly in the second half.

“There was a moment of weakness in the first half at a corner, when he came for a cross that he wasn’t going to get. His starting position was wrong — too far from his line — and mistakes like that can be costly. You need to be aware of exactly where you are to make those judgment calls.”

Unsurprisingly, Everton fans are keen for Pickford to get the nod.

The next seven games for Southampton will be crucial in their Premier League survival fight.

At the moment, Mark Hughes and his men reside just two points from safety, and they have a very tough run ahead of them.

The coastal outfit will have to face Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in the closing stages of the campaign, while also trying to navigate their way into the FA Cup final.

First up for the under-pressure club is Arsenal at the Emirates, and it could not have come at a worse time considering that Arsene Wenger’s men will be on a high after overcoming CSKA Moscow 4-1 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.

With Chelsea due to follow the Gunners in Southampton’s fixture list, dropping six points could put Hughes’s side in further trouble.

Arsenal will be favourites heading into this weekend’s match, but the North London outfit have had struggles of their own this season, so perhaps a Saints scalp would not be the biggest shock.

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Southampton fans have been discussing the fixture on Reddit.

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Raheem Sterling’s impact on Saturday’s Manchester derby will be unfortunately remembered for the three glorious chances he missed in the first half. Had the former Liverpool forward netted just one of them, the game would have been over, Manchester City would have won the Premier League title and Manchester United wouldn’t have staged a stunning three-goal comeback after the interval – most probably, anyway.

And yet, in many ways, that analysis epitomises the negative narrative which always seems to accompany the England international. It’s true that Sterling could have put the game to rest, and his failure to do only emphasised his biggest and most discussed weakness, an often painstaking lack of composure in front of goal.

But it’s also true that City wouldn’t have gone two goals ahead of the Red Devils at the Etihad Stadium without Sterling’s influence; after an opening 15 minutes which left incredibly little to choose between the two sides and suggested a surprisingly uneventful Manchester derby, it was Pep Guardiola’s decision to swap the wide-man with Bernardo Silva – making him the new focal point of the attack as a false nine – that really pushed the home side into a higher gear and set Saturday’s game alight.

Shortly after, City’s pressure told as Vincent Kompany headed home from a corner. And shortly after that, Sterling played a direct hand in the scoreline linking up to great effect with Ilkay Gundogan, whose swivel and shot put the Citizens two goals up. Sterling continued to create chances  as the central attacker – in fact, he made the most of any City player on Saturday – while completing three dribbles and 86% of his passes.

Overall, aside from those misses, it was a strong performance from a young wide attacker utilised in a less familiar position, one which would have been instrumental to the victory had City not suffered such a lapsed 15 minutes that saw the visitors net thrice.

But perhaps because he’s already been on the Premier League scene for such a long time, perhaps because of all the negativity associated with his move from Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in 2015, perhaps because he’s English and therefore comes with that extra dose of expectation, we still seem to only judge a 23-year-old with 21 goals and eight assists this season on his mistakes.

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Admittedly, Sterling’s were costly on Saturday in terms of the result. But there are far more senior players in that team who made bigger mistakes against United, particularly the two centre-halves, and who failed to have anywhere near the same level of positive influence as the 37-cap attacker. It’s just become too superficial to make Sterling the villain of the piece every time he misses a convertable chance.

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According to a report in ESPN, Tottenham will have to battle Manchester United for the signature of Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon.

What’s the story?

Mauricio Pochettino is desperate to secure the signing of Fulham sensation Ryan Sessegnon, but will face competition from the Red Devils.

The report from ESPN claims Manchester United believe the 17 year-old would prefer to stay in London, but they are still putting together a mega money offer.

Sessengon, who has scored 15 times in the Championship this season, is also wanted by Liverpool.

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Perfect for Pochettino?

Jose Mourinho is a fantastic manager, but if Sessegnon wants to continue at the rate he is going, he would be much better suited to the management of Jürgen Klopp or Mauricio Pochettino.

Given the fact that he reportedly wants to stay in London, Tottenham is by far and away the best destination for the flying full back.

After breaking onto the scene as a left back this season, the speedy youngster has played in various positions down the left flank, and has even been deployed as an out-and-out winger more recently.

15 goals and seven assists at just 17 is truly remarkable, and Sessegnon has been a vital part of Fulham’s incredible push towards a possible automatic promotion. Across 43 Championship starts, he is averaging 1.5 tackles per game, 1.3 dribbles and 1.2 key passes.

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With Danny Rose likely on the way out, Tottenham are in desperate need of some extra quality to give them the push towards trophies next season, and Sessegnon could truly be the perfect summer signing for Pochettino.

Spurs fans, do you think Sessegnon would be a success? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…

Manchester United could be in for a big summer in the transfer market – especially from a defensive point of view – and one of the positions Jose Mourinho could prioritise is at right-back.

While Antonio Valencia has been a great servant for the Red Devils, he is getting no younger and his own fans on Twitter are split as to whether he has a future at Old Trafford.

One right-back that could be a potential target for them is Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, who impressed and scored in his side’s 2-1 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.

His display didn’t go unnoticed by United supporters on Twitter, so we decided to ask the fans to vote on our poll to see if they would want Kimmich to replace Valencia at right-back this summer.

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A huge 88% said they would want the Germany international to arrive at Old Trafford, and it will certainly be interesting to see what Mourinho intends to do this summer as it is clear that the club will probably need a new right-back if they are to compete with Manchester City for the Premier League title next term.

Former England forward Alan Shearer was pretty scathing in his criticism of West Ham United on Sunday night’s Match of the Day programme.

Indeed, the Hammers were thumped 4-1 by Manchester City at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon to leave themselves still very much in relegation trouble.

Shearer accused a number of West Ham players – namely Javier Hernandez and Cheikhou Kouyate – of lacking effort during the match at the London Stadium.

City are a wonderful football team, but Shearer was keen to stress that the Hammers made it easy for Pep Guardiola’s side by failing to close the space available to the English champions.

The West Ham fans are a very frustrated bunch at the moment, with many taking to social media to blast head coach David Moyes, who faces a battle to keep his job.

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The club’s supporters were in complete agreement with football pundit Shearer on Sunday night, however, following a disappointing performance from their team.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

According to El Gol Digital, Manchester United are prepared to sell Ander Herrera to Barcelona in this summer’s transfer window.

Herrera has made more than 150 appearances for United since a 2014 move from Athletic Bilbao, but is currently being linked with a move away from the club.

Indeed, it is being reported that a bid of £22m from Barcelona at the end of the season would be enough to convince the 20-time English champions to sell.

Herrera won the club’s Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award last season, but has struggled for consistency this term, and his contract will expire at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

The United fans have been offering their opinions on the situation, and a number do not want to see the midfielder sold. That said, there are also those that believe the Spaniard is not good enough to be a regular starter for the Red Devils.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

After this Saturday’s Champions League final, Liverpool will turn their attention to the transfer window, and a new goalkeeper should be on the agenda.

Simon Mignolet has lost his position as number one at Anfield, being forced down the pecking order at the start of 2018.

Manager Jurgen Klopp decided to promote Loris Karius, but he has also shown shaky moments in between the sticks.

Despite this, the stopper could end up being crowned European champion this weekend if Liverpool overcome Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kiev.

If the Merseyside outfit claim their sixth trophy in the competition, then their ability to land transfer targets will surely be boosted.

Gianluigi Buffon will be available this summer after ending a 17-year spell at Juventus, where he won 19 trophies, including nine Serie A titles.

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The 40-year-old is experienced at the top level, so could be a decent stop-gap for a season until Liverpool recruit a long-term option.

We asked you if the Premier League club should make a move, and the majority believe that Buffon is worth it.

Roma’s Brazilian international goalkeeper and Liverpool transfer target Alisson prefers Real Madrid as a destination this summer, according to Marca, via the Daily Mail. 

What’s the story, then?

The report claims that Liverpool are prepared to pay £60m for the stopper but he wants to move to the Bernabeu instead of Anfield and the departure of Zinedine Zidane in the Spanish capital raises the prospect of the Brazilian moving there this summer to replace Keylor Navas, someone the Frenchman staunchly defended.

It goes on to say that Florentino Perez wants a new big-name goalkeeper to upgrade on Navas and make a statement of intent and that Alisson fits the bill after a stellar season with the Champions League semi-finalists.

They also report that Alisson is prepared to wait for the managerial situation at Real to settle down and become clear, which is also frustrating for Liverpool who wanted to get the deal done before the World Cup.

Attention must turn elsewhere

Liverpool have seen how South American players can be drawn in by the lustre of the two Spanish giants in the past and if they wait around for Alisson, they face being disappointed and slightly embarrassed.

Thankfully for them, two other top goalkeepers – Jan Oblak and Jasper Cillessen – do not have the arbitrary World Cup deadline looming over them, allowing a deal to be thrashed out on Liverpool’s terms.

A left-field shout would be Gigi Buffon, another man who doesn’t have the Russian showpiece to worry about; but if Alisson wants to stall, Liverpool should move on.

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Nottingham Forest have plenty of work to do if they want to push for Premier League promotion this season.

For manager Aitor Karanka, the first task at hand is to recruit new players to kickstart the campaign.

It seems that the Reds will be replacing one right-back with another as Alan Hutton is believed to be a target, while Eric Lichaj could be heading out the exit door towards Hull City.

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As reported on Twitter by John Percy of The Telegraph, the Championship outfit have held talks with Hutton and are prepared to offer him a two-year contract.

The experienced defender will be out of contract next month, which means that he is eligible to join another club for free.

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Lichaj, who has been at the City Ground for five years, has been heavily linked with a switch to fellow Championship club Hull City.

With reports of Hutton’s transfer rumbling around, Forest fans have been tweeting their thoughts, and they have been fairly mixed.