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Gio van Bronckhorst will be looking to lead Rangers into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup as the Ibrox side head into a quarter-final clash today.

The Gers won 3-0 against Annan Athletic in the previous round, with Filip Helander, Kemar Roofe and Fashion Sakala all getting themselves on the scoresheet in that match.

They now face Dundee FC away from home and come into the game off the back of a 3-0 win – thanks to goals from James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos and Leon Balogun – in the Europa League.

How many changes will Gio make to the side? Here is our predicted XI…

McLaughlin, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Sands, Jack, Ramsey, Diallo, Kent, Roofe (4-1-2-3)

We are predicting that he will make seven alterations to the team, with a number of players coming in for this cup clash.

Starting off between the sticks, Jon McLaughlin may replace Allan McGregor. The ex-Sunderland man kept a clean sheet in the last round and, therefore, deserves to keep his place as the cup goalkeeper.

At the back, we are predicting that Filip Helander and Borna Barisic will come in to make up the defence next to James Tavernier. Both players played against Annan Athletic and this match is a chance for them to get out on the pitch.

In midfield, van Bronckhorst could be forced into at least one change. John Lundstram is an injury doubt and we are predicting that Aaron Ramsey will replace him in the middle of the park. The Welshman’s only start for the club to date came in the last round of the competition and this is a big opportunity for him to get some minutes under his belt, with James Sands – who also played in that game – coming in for Glen Kamara.

Out wide on the right, Joe Aribo may drop out due to an injury and this would allow Amad Diallo to make his return on the wing. It would be a huge chance for him to showcase his quality and prove that he can make his loan from Manchester United a success before the end of the season.

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Finally, we are predicting that Alfredo Morelos will be given a rest. He has played nine times since the start of February and van Bronckhorst may axe him from the XI to give him a break, whilst offering a starting berth to Kemar Roofe.

Ex-Gers boss Steven Gerrard previously dubbed him a “Duracell bunny” and he recently came off the bench to score the winner against Aberdeen. He must step up and show that he can fill in for Morelos in the number nine position and help Rangers land a place in the final four of the competition. 

Tavernier, Goldson, Ryan Jack and Ryan Kent are the players we are tipping to remain in the side from the one that beat Red Star Belgrade on Thursday.

AND in other news, Cost £2.2m, now worth 145% more: Rangers struck gold on “consistent” £18k-p/w dynamo…

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has remained in Argentina without permission from the club, despite the fact that the Etihad Stadium outfit requested the attacker return to England by Monday.

The South American forward decided to return to Argentina last week regardless of the fact that a request for leave was rejected twice, and has refused to return to the Premier League club.

A representative of Tevez’s camp has revealed that discussions are ongoing regarding the player’s future, and a potential return to training.

“Over the weekend there have been a series of meetings and conference calls,” a spokesman for Tevez stated.

“Carlos is still in Argentina. However, both sides are in agreement that they want a resolution as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

“Discussions will probably be ongoing for the foreseeable future,” he concluded.

Tevez’s behaviour has been damned by PFA chief Gordon Taylor, as the latest scandal looks sure to ensure a transfer for the wantaway forward come January.

City have as yet refused to comment on the latest event in the Tevez saga.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has slammed his UEFA improper conduct charge following their 3-1 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League.The Londoners were level 1-1 with the Catalan giants, and ahead 3-2 on aggregate at the Camp Nou on Wednesday when star Robin van Persie was given a second yellow card for time-wasting following an offside flag.The French boss was furious with the decision, approaching referee Massimo Busacca after Arsenal were eventually ousted from the competition courtesy of a 3-1 loss following van Persie’s sending off.Wenger has followed up his outburst by denying he was at fault to protest the decision.”I deny completely any charge. I do not understand where that comes from,” he said.”It is a shame for me that the referee took the decision to send Robin van Persie off. It was the wrong decision.””The first leg was a fantastic advert for football and the second game has been destroyed. People now will only remember the sending off.””It would be good for UEFA to show some humility, to apologise for what has happened, not charge people who have done nothing wrong.”Midfielder Samir Nasri has also been charged by the European football body for inappropriate behaviour at the final whistle, with punishments yet to be decided upon for the pair.

West Ham have now reached a crossroads in what direction they head in next season when it comes to signing players. Do they go for big names in the hope that it can lift the team and at the same raise the club’s profile? Or do they go for players who could potentially be big players in the future? Both methods have their ups and downs and it’s going to be difficult for them to decide what do.

The Hammers have recently been knocked back in their attempts to sign young Barcelona defender Andreu Fontas. The Spaniard has a release clause of just £2.5m in his contract, and with West Ham offering that amount Barcelona had to allow them to discuss terms with the player and they were set to conclude a deal for him. However it now appears that Barcelona have persuaded the 20-year-old to stay at the Nou Camp as he is set to sign a new deal in the coming days.

Although it may come as blow to West Ham fans it may not be the worst thing in the world that this deal didn’t happen, remember Savio Nsrenko? The German midfielder was signed by the East London club for a record fee of £9m from Brescia. However he failed to settle at the club and looked off the pace in the Premiership, just six months later he was sold to Fiorentina. You could argue that West Ham didn’t give him a fair chance as at the time he was just 19-years-old and had only just moved to London. He would have taken a lot of time to settle not just on the pitch but off it as well and even experienced players can take a year to settle, but whether West Ham made a mistake in getting rid of him or not will only be proven in years to come.

The other route for West Ham to go down is trying to make some marquee signings like David Beckham and Thierry Henry who the club have previously been linked with. Players like Beckham and Henry despite their advancing years still have a lot left in them, and because of their quality are still capable of producing moments of magic. Having players like them around would give a massive lift to the dressing room and could have a big effect on the whole team as well. From a commercial point of view marquee signings would also generate more income for the club due to shirt and ticket sales. But signing big name players doesn’t always work and West Ham know this all too well after they decided to sign Freddie Ljungberg from Arsenal. The Swedish winger was a great player for Arsenal but couldn’t replicate the form at West Ham, after just one season at the club they paid him £6m to terminate his four-year contract early.

Whatever approach West Ham decide to take they will need to weigh it up carefully as both have positives and negatives, and the last thing they want to do is spend a fortune again on players who don’t make an impact like Savio and Ljungberg. David Gold and David Sullivan surely won’t let the same mistakes happen again; and they should be able to come up with an effective transfer strategy alongside new manager Avram Grant to take the club forward.

What type of signings do you think West Ham need to make?

Message me on Twitter with your thoughts

Get the latest West Ham news on Twitter

**

Click image below to see a gallery of the German babes at the World Cup:

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It must be difficult when your brother is a multi-millionaire footballer who all the fame and fortune in the world when you are a run-of-the-mill footballer just trying to get by in the lower leagues.

There are many brothers in football who have had equal amounts of success as each other and have made it to the top of their game but what about the players whose brother has dwarfed their own success. These footballers remain forever in the shadow of their famous brother and some struggle to make a career for themselves.

This is a list of players who had to take a back seat while their more famous brother developed into a household name. We’re sure that their parents love them just the same…

Click on Stephen Jagielka to unveil the top 10

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Tottenham will not die wondering in the Champions League with manager Harry Redknapp pledging an attacking mindset against AC Milan.

Spurs face the Italian giants at the San Siro on Tuesday in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash as they look to secure a place in the quarter finals of Europe’s premier club competition for just the second time.

The north Londoners were the joint-top scorers during the group stage this season, and Redknapp said they would continue to attack against Milan.

“Attacking football is what got us here in the first place,” said Redknapp.

“We have had a go all through this competition so we will have a right go again at San Siro.”

“We can score here. I don’t want to concede bags of goals for sure. We can’t afford to make the same mistakes (as we made against Inter) and can’t start like that again.”

“But as far as shutting up shop goes it’s a non-starter because we don’t have the players here.”

It will be an injury-hit Spurs side which lines up at the San Siro following the news winger Gareth Bale would be unavailable because of a back injury.

Central midfielder Luka Modric is also missing, as are Jermaine Jenas, Younes Kaboul, Tom Huddlestone and Ledley King.

In better news for Redknapp, striker Peter Crouch (back) and forward Rafael van der Vaart (calf) have been deemed fit to play.

“We can’t come out and be completely gung-ho but what I’m saying is that I do have a problem setting a team up to defend,” explained Redknapp.

“Rafael van der Vaart plays the way he plays. Niko Kranjcar and (Aaron) Lennon – we haven’t got defensive players to play with five across midfield and soak it up.”

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“If I had two wide men who could do a job and sit there and just be solid, I might think about it. But those type of players are not at this club.”

“The only two midfielders we have who are fit are Sandro and (Wilson) Palacios for the middle of the park. There is no one else.”

“Sandro is not a Luka Modric, he plays differently. He has hardly been in my team all year. It’s a big ask but he is up for it.”

Manchester United have decided against signing a replacement for reserve goalkeeper Ben Foster, who was sold last month to Birmingham City last month, choosing instead to use Tomasz Kuszczak as Edwin van der Sar's understudy and 20-year-old prospect Ben Amos as their third-choice shot-stopper.

Former West Brom keeper Kuszczak was arguably the number two in the season just gone, playing 14 games to Foster's 13, but the announcement that Amos is to be his back-up puts extra pressure on the Poland international and will have United fans monitoring van der Sar's fitness intently.

United's goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, has backed Amos to progress next season, telling the official club website:"We'vethrown the gauntlet down, so it's up to him now to fulfil his potential.

"The challenge is for us to continue his development, but also for him to take the opportunity and make the most of it.

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"Hopefully he might gain some experience and exposure in matches like the pre-season friendlies and the Carling Cup. That's probably a realistic target for 2010-11."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has labelled his side’s 4-3 defeat to Blackburn on Saturday as worse than their 8-2 humiliation to Manchester United, and has stated The Gunners must improve.

The Emirates outfit were defeated by struggling Blackburn, which cancelled out the positive performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek, and Wenger is lost for explanations after the loss.

“There are no excuses,” he told The Daily Mail.

“We dominated but in our weak moments we were not strong enough to resist. This is not more humiliating (than United). They are two different results. It is more frustrating because we had the potential to win,” he stated.

Arsenal have now conceded the most goals in the division, 14 from five games, and pressure is mounting on the French coach to turn the slump around.

The Gunners are already eleven points behind Premier League leaders United, and pundits are writing the London side’s chances of a top four finish off.

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Arsenal take on Shrewsbury in the League Cup on Tuesday night, before hosting Bolton at the Emirates next Saturday.

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Blackburn Rovers hope to welcome back club captain Ryan Nelsen to their squad for Wednesday’s meeting with Tottenham at Ewood Park.

The New Zealand defender, who recently committed his future to the English Premier League club, has returned to training after shaking off the knee injury which ruled him out of Rovers’ last two games.

Manager Steve Kean will be without star striker Roque Santa Cruz, however, after the Paraguay international limped out of Saturday’s FA Cup defeat away to Aston Villa.

On-loan Manchester City man Santa Cruz suffered a groin strain in the early exchanges at Villa Park and is expected to be out of action for up to two weeks.

Gael Givet is also likely to miss out with a groin problem he picked up in training.

The French full-back will have a late fitness test before being considered for selection.

Rovers are bolstered by the return of Brett Emerton after his Asian Cup duties with Australia came to an end, while fellow midfield trio Steven Nzonzi, Keith Andrews and Vince Grella will all be hoping to get more match time under their belts after lengthy lay-offs.

New signings Mauro Formica and Ruben Rochina – who agreed long-term deadline day deals from Argentina outfit Newell’s Old Boys and La Liga powerhouse Barcelona respectively – are not expected to feature due to a lack of match practice.

“I’ve got a big squad and a lot of selection issues to deal with as we go in search of a fourth-straight home win,” said Kean, whose side has beaten West Brom, QPR and Liverpool in their last three games at Ewood Park.

“I went to see Tottenham in action at Fulham the other day (which Spurs lost 4-0) and I would expect (Spurs manager) Harry Redknapp will be looking for a reaction from his side.”

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“So we will have to be wary of that and stand up to the challenge.”

“However, no team gets an easy game at Ewood Park and we will be looking to protect our proud home record.”

“It should be an attacking and exciting game, and one that the players and the fans are all looking forward to.”

Chelsea have made a £5 million bid for Cesar Azpilicueta, but Marseille have rejected the offer according to The Sun.

The Blues are on a mission to revamp their squad this summer and have already brought in some exciting young talent from the continent.

A right-back is said to be on Roman Abramovich’s wishlist, with Jose Bosingwa leaving the side on a free transfer this summer.

Paulo Ferreira is the only recognised right-back at the club currently, and versatility man Branislav Ivanovic would prefer to play centre-half.

Despite considering a move for France international Mathieu Debuchy, the Spanish defender has emerged as the Stamford Bridge club’s number one choice to fill the position.

Marseille are holding out for £8 million for Azpilicueta, and it remains to see whether the Champions League winners will pay the Ligue 1 side’s ransom.

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By Gareth McKnight

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