The EFL Cup is seldom of interest to teams challenging for the title or threatened by relegation. Reserved for teams looking towards some early season silverware or clubs with little else to focus on in the season, it is a competition that can bring together some bizarre matchups with even odder results.

Manchester United and West Ham are two of this season’s greatest underachievers. Where the Red Devils believed this would be the season where they returned towards the very top of the league – as we all did – the Irons were expected to be bobbing along in the top half of the table, at the very least. Their eyes were probably on a late surge towards the European spots. In reality, Manchester United and West Ham are in mid-table and a relegation fight respectively. Both teams have has similar weaknesses too (the most prominent being an inability to finish chances).

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When they faced off on Sunday afternoon, expectation for Manchester United was high after another positive performance in the Europa League. But a curious team selection from Jose Mourinho yet again, with Anthony Martial completed excluded from the matchday squad, led to another disappointing couple of hours for the Old Trafford public. As a result, Manchester United are now closer to the relegation zone than they are to third-placed Manchester City. If they are not already in crisis, they are close.

West Ham, meanwhile, begun a challenging run of fixtures with a resolute performance, riding their luck along the way. Still in the sapping heat of the relegation battle, though, Slaven Bilic’s side have won just three of their opening 13 Premier League games – there’s still pressure on the Croatian’s shoulders, just as you would expect for any manager in his position.

So, where does this leave either club ahead of their rematch in the EFL Cup?

Manchester United host West Ham this week with the prospect of another home failure not worth considering for Mourinho. A positive performance on Sunday could have given room for rotation in the EFL Cup, but amplifies the potential consequences of any slip up. The inevitable comparisons to David Moyes are continuing and, whatever your view point, it is getting harder to justify Mourinho’s decision-making and the performances of this Manchester United team. So, for the home side, a positive result is now a necessity.

For the Hammers, victory would be a kind release from the poor start to the season, at least. Other than that, Bilic might see it as an opportunity to goad some form out of his underachieving summer signings. Having had their difficulties with injuries earlier this season, the Hammers will surely be wary of losing key players in a cup competition. And, despite only taking one point from the two games, the performances against Tottenham and against United at the weekend will give Bilic reason to believe that results will improve. Progression in the EFL Cup would be a bonus for West Ham, but they certainly have far less to lose.

Mourinho and Manchester United need a victory. Lifting some silverware, even if the rest of the season is a catastrophe, will at least buy Mourinho some time. West Ham’s performances, if not results, have taken an upwards turn that changes this game for them. As this is, perhaps, distraction from the woes of the Premier League, they are a danger to Manchester United’s entire season.

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As reported in an exclusive by The Sun, Manchester United and Manchester City are set to battle over Tottenham Hotspur’s red hot full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker.

What’s the story?

A hallmark of Spurs’ football this season has been the marauding presence of both Rose and Walker on each flank of Pochettino’s system. That may soon be a thing of the past if these reports are to be believed.

The Sun reckon that Jose Mourinho is considering a huge £60m move for both players.

However, the paper also say that Manchester City have been tracking the pair ever since Guardiola arrived at the club and are also prepared to spend big to land their men.

How effective are they?

Both players have been in exceptional form over the last 18 months, helping Pochettino transfer Spurs from also-rans to genuine title contenders.

Between them they have contributed 7 assists and 2 goals to the team this season but it’s not just their attacking attributes that will be impressing interested parties.

They both provide a tireless presence in defence on each flank, able to tackle effectively and intelligent enough to consistently intercept possession.

Landing either of these players would be a coup for either Manchester club but attracting both would transform both sides into a more effective outfit.

Having both been at the club for a very long time, it may not be so easy to lure them up North, with The Sun reporting they just signed five year deals at the club worth around £70,000 per week.

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Louis van Gaal will be remembered as one of the more divisive managers throughout Manchester United’s history.

Whilst everybody loved Sir Alex Ferguson and loathed David Moyes, LVG found himself somewhere in between, providing acceptable results yet being relentlessly criticised for a meticulously laboured style of football.

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Indeed, although the Dutchman was never far from a punditry swipe or raucous jeers from the Old Trafford faithful, he did get the Red Devils back into the Champions League (albeit somewhat briefly) and win the first major trophy of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era in the form of the FA Cup.

So amid news that Van Gaal has effectively retired – news that he has since attempted to water down to a year-long sabbatical followed by a final decision on his future – we asked Manchester United fans whether they viewed his two-year tenure at Old Trafford as a success.

Well, the results of our exclusive poll are now in and FootballFanCast can exclusively reveal, somewhat to our surprise, that 57% of those who voted believe LVG was successful at United. It makes you wonder whether the supporters actually wanted him to leave the club last summer, or whether the media simply forced him out.

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Paul Clement made his first signing as Swansea manager with the acquisition of Luciano Narsingh from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven for a reported fee of £4m.

26 year old Narsingh has played in Eredivisie for his entire career and has achieved his dream by signing to the English Premier League.

Quoted by The Guardian, he said:

“It is a dream to come true playing in the Premier League, playing for a big club like Swansea, it was not difficult to think about it. PSV was good for me, but I think it was time to leave.”

Swansea fans will have to wait to see their man with a minor injury ruling him out of the weekend’s action against Arsenal.

It’s an exciting signing for the Liberty Stadium faithful. Narsingh is a Dutch international, scoring 4 goals in 16 appearances for Oranje, the latest coming in a friendly against England last May.

He’s sure to add some badly needed attacking threat to their side with a massive relegation fight looming.

Swans fans took to Twitter to share their delight at the signing.

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Ridiculed in the Premier League after failing to win the Premier League title with Liverpool and then seeing the Reds falter, before being relieved of his duties, Northern Irish boss Brendan Rodgers has revived his reputation north of the border.Whilst you’d expect Celtic to win the SPL title every season, the fashion in which the Bhoys are storming towards another league crown this season is phenomenal- with Rodgers’ side proving to be unstoppable, with only Inverness taking points off them this season.

23 wins in 24 matches and 27 points clear of Aberdeen, Celtic have scored a phenomenal 65 goals this season, averaging 2.7 goals a game, and have conceded just 16.

In a difficult Champions League group against Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach, the Bhoys held their head high and have also already lifted the Scottish League Cup this season.

With a double now inevitable, Rodgers is on course to establish a long lasting legacy in Glasgow.

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Liverpool needed that win on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp’s men were on the verge of seeing their 2016/17 season descend into chaos with anything other than a victory at home to Spurs, with the Reds heading into the tie in search of their first league win of 2017 after falling below Manchester United into sixth spot.

There were worries before a ball was kicked, but those were swept away by the end of the first 45 minutes as the Merseysiders ran riot and raced onto a two-goal lead, both coming via Sadio Mane. In truth the margin could, and perhaps should, have been greater by the end of play, but the manner of the win has eased nerves among Kopites and kicked their love affair with their Senegalese attacker to a new level.

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But, was the summer signing really Man of the Match? Well, another recruit from the 2016 off-season gave him a run for his money: Georginio Wijnaldum.

The Dutchman was at his big-game best vs. Spurs, running the match from the centre of midfield, with 50 touches of the ball and 35 passes, 89% of which were completed. On top of this, he made four tackles (more than any of his team-mates) and played in Mane for his second goal, which effectively killed off the tie.

The pacey goal-getter may have earned the headlines, but Wijnaldum justified his selection over Emre Can and really did build the midfield bedrock for a massive three points.

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Last night marked another Celtic win and, naturally, another superlative performance from young striker Moussa Dembele.

The French forward has truly shown that he can adapt to higher levels of football this season as he switched Fulham for the Bhoys at the start of the .

He appeared to have a tough job in getting Leigh Griffiths out of the side initially, too, but things have surely been flipped in that situation now with the former Hibernian striker hardly getting a look in.

Dembele, then, is one of the hottest young properties in Europe right now and his two goals against Inverness – during a 4-0 win – demonstrated the kind of composure and natural talent he has available to him.

Celtic fans will be keen to see him stay as long as possible, then, but in the meantime there’s been plenty of praise sent his way after another fine display.

Here’s some of the best from Twitter…

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The feeling of optimism at Ibrox prior to the last time they visited Celtic Park was very real. Mark Warburton was still the man, Joey Barton had the potential to be a star and Rangers were poised to compete with Brendan Rodgers’ Bhoys.

How quickly that faded away when Moussa Dembele belted home a hat-trick on the Hoops’ way to a 5-1 victory, though.

Heading into a repeat of that fixture this Sunday, Rangers supporters must be fearful of what lies ahead at Celtic Park this time around. If anything Celtic have become a better side since then, whereas Rangers have, arguably regressed. They are currently leaderless and without serious guidance after the departure of Warburton.

However, Graeme Murty will organise his team to the best of his ability and put together a gameplan that he hopes to get a result, or one that at least ensures they are competitive.

Here are the THREE things Murty must instruct his team to do if they are to avoid another heavy defeat…

Shut down the left-hand side

After playing St Mirren on Saturday, Brendan Rodgers said that the Buddies were the best side he has come up against this season. Assuming he was talking about their performance and not their ability on paper, we can take from his comments that the tactics employed by Jack Ross’ side are the most effective in countering the threat Celtic carry.

What St Mirren did on Saturday was squeeze the space on the Celtic’s left-hand side, effectively leaving the door open on the right. That ensured that the Hoops consistently attacked on that flank, which is inferior to their strengths on the left in the form of Kieran Tierney and Scott Sinclair.

If James Tavernier and his team-mates can put in a similar shift on Sunday to try and keep Sinclair and Tierney out of the game, it could be enough to ensure Celtic have a tough time breaking the Rangers defence down.

Exploit over-confidence in the wide areas

Celtic are out for a big win on Sunday, you can sense it. After two narrow victories at Hampden and Ibrox, they’ll relish the opportunity to rack up another big score against their arch-rivals. They know that the last 5-1 game made them instant heroes with the Celtic supporters.

They’ll attack from the off and really put the Gers under pressure, most likely utilising their full-backs in an attacking role.

That could leave space for the likes of Barrie McKay to exploit. We know how tricky, quick and dangerous the young Rangers winger can be and he put in quite the shift against the Bhoys on Hogmanay at Ibrox.

For the first half an hour in that match Rangers had Celtic rattled and it was all about exposing the space between the full-backs and central defenders. Can they do it again? And, more importantly, can they do it over 90 minutes?

Swamp Nir Bitton

Nir Bitton is Celtic’s metronome in the middle of park, the man who recycles possession and ensures territory isn’t lost when the Hoops have the ball. However, he’s also arguably fairly weak when pressured and could be a part of the team ripe to be exploited if the likes of Andy Halliday can get in his face and ensure he doesn’t have the time on the ball usually afford to him in the Scottish Premiership.

There’s Scott Brown to contend with too of course and he’s likely to make it an ‘interesting’ battle in the middle of the park.

Bitton is the key, though, if they can get at him then Brown may follow. Keeping these two off the ball is the answer to Rangers’ possession problems in the three matches against Celtic so far this season.

Following successive away wins at automatic promotion rivals Brighton and Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town, it appears as though Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez is already starting to prepare for life in the Premier League.

The Magpies are currently 11 points clear of third-placed Huddersfield with 11 matches of the season left, and the Spaniard has been linked with a £12m move for Hull City defender Harry Maguire by The Sun. It appears to be a bid to try and tighten up a defence that was largely responsible for their relegation to the Championship last season.

In order to try and ensure that they don’t suffer the same fate again, Benitez looks to be making early plans to make sure his side are strong at the back, and supporters would certainly back a move for the former Sheffield United man.

The 24-year-old has been one of the highlights in what has been a tough campaign for the Tigers, who look to be in danger of dropping out of the top flight as they currently lie in 19th position, four points from safety.

In 20 appearances this season, Maguire has put in a number of brilliant performances at the back – making 34 tackles, 93 clearances and 50 interceptions, while he hasn’t made a single defensive error.

But one thing that the centre-back also has in his locker – and something that will impress Benitez – is his ability to bring the ball out from the back.

Maguire has completed 18 take-ons in the Premier League this term and has often proved to be a threat in the opposition penalty area too, going close on a number of occasions in his side’s defeat to Chelsea in January.

Last night saw England suffer a 1-0 defeat to Germany, courtesy of a parting gift from Die Mannschaft’s retiring icon Lukas Podolski.

The former Arsenal forward made his final appearance on the international stage last night and said goodbye in the best way possible, producing the kind of long-range, left-footed piledriver he’s become synonymous with to claim a win for Germany in a feisty and competitive friendly in Dortmund.

Podolski produced 19 goals in 60 Premier League appearances during his two-and-a-half campaigns in north London – a decent return for a wide forward who wasn’t always in the starting lineup – before being loaned to Inter Milan and subsequently sold to Galatasaray.

After his captivating final performance for Germany, sealing him third place in both their all-time appearance charts and top scorer rankings, some Arsenal fans have expressed their joy at watching Podolski’s historic evening on Twitter – whilst others have questioned why he was ever allowed to leave the club…