AFCON star Adingra can fill Mitoma’s shoes for Seagulls

Simon Adingra has enjoyed a superb 2024 for club and country so far.

The winger, 22, was a key man during Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph on home soil, grabbing two assists in the final against Nigeria.

He has continued that fine form since returning to action for Brighton, bagging an impressive brace in a 5-0 victory at Sheffield United.

And with fellow wide man Kaoru Mitoma ruled out for the rest of the season, Adingra looks set to become one of Roberto De Zerbi’s key forwards as the Seagulls fight on multiple fronts.

Ahead of their FA Cup fifth-round clash at Wolves, we turn the spotlight on the talented attacker.

Much like Ivory Coast did as a team, Adingra’s influence at the AFCON grew with each passing game.

Having missed the first two games through injury, he came off the bench to score in the quarter-finals against Mali, before starting both the semi-final and final.

And with the hosts 1-0 down in the showpiece against the Super Eagles, the Seagulls starlet proceeded to write himself into national folklore with two brilliant second-half assists.

The first came from an inswinging corner that allowed Franck Kessie to level the game with his head, before he brilliantly took on his man and teed up Sebastien Haller for a late winner.

With the jubilant celebrations now concluded, Adingra quickly turned his attention back to Brighton and returns to a side who certainly had been missing his presence.

He and Mitoma’s international engagements left De Zerbi with a lack of natural width in his forward line, resulting in some inconsistent performances.

But with the duo returning against the Blades, Brighton looked back to their fluid best as Adingra helped himself to a Bramall Lane brace.

Japanese star Mitoma’s season-ending injury therefore comes as a crushing blow to De Zerbi’s men, who have Europa League glory and further continental qualification in their sights this term.

But as is often the case on the South Coast, several young guns are ready to make themselves the club’s next breakthrough star.

Given Adingra is enjoying his first campaign in England following a productive loan with Union Saint-Gilloise, even he may not have expected to feature so regularly this term.

Yet his 25 appearances in 2023-24 across all competitions have spawned seven goals and a further three assists.

Full of confidence after his AFCON exploits, the Ivorian will back himself to add to that tally in the coming weeks.

With a fearlessness and willingness to take players on, it is easy to see why Adingra is a perfect fit for De Zerbi’s full throttle style of football.

He ranks just behind Mitoma for attempted take-ons this term (4.63 per 90 minutes) and will undoubtedly be the man now tasked with providing the flair in the Italian’s adventurous XI.

Added responsibility brings with it a new-found pressure to the young star ahead of a stacked schedule of Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup fixtures.

But having delivered on one of the biggest stages of all for his country, it should be yet another step up the AFCON winner takes in his stride.

What To Look Out For As Barcelona Take On Atletico Madrid In Huge La Liga Clash

La Liga’s best attack vs La Liga’s best defence

Saturday’s match sees La Liga’s best attack go up against the division’s best defence in a huge match between Hansi Flick’s wobbling Barca and a red-hot Atletico.

The Catalans giants have bagged 50 goals in just 18 games this season – making them La Liga’s most prolific attack – but they were surprisingly kept out by Leganes last time out.

Atletico will hope to do the same on Saturday as La Liga’s best defence – which has conceded just 11 goals – comes to Montjuic.

Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha will be the main goalscoring threats for Barcelona and will come up against a defence that may well include a familiar face.

Clement Lenglet is being tipped to start against his parent club as there’s no fear clause in his contract.

The Frenchman has made eight starts this season for Simeone’s side in La Liga, including last time out in the win over Getafe, and is enjoying life in Madrid at the moment.

The Yamal Factor

Barcelona will be without Lamine Yamal for the game which is a tremendous blow, particularly when you consider their poor record without the teenager this season.

The teenager is out with an ankle problem, giving manager Hansi Flick something of a headache ahead of the game when it comes to his line-up.

Yet it’s a game Flick really can’t afford to lose if his team are to go on and challenge for the title this season – as the stats show.

Ferran Torres currently seems to be the most likely option to come into the team after scoring four goals in five games since returning from injury. The only thing is, he seems much better as an impact sub than a starter.

The stats show that Atletico are currently the most in-form team in Europe after winning their last 11 games in a row, but they head to Barcelona with a terrible record. They have not won any of their last 18 away games against Barcelona and have not even scored in their last four games.

Watch out for Griezmann & Sorloth

Antoine Griezmann will take on his former club in spectacular form after scoring seven goals in his last six matches for Atletico. And some of those have been pretty special you have to say.

The Frenchman has never scored against his former team and will want to put that right on Saturday. In fact he’s scored against 29 of the 30 opponents he’s faced as an Atletico player in La Liga – with Barca the only team missing from that list.

Alexander Sørloth will also pose a threat, albeit most likely off the bench. The Norwegian has scored 24 goals in La Liga in 2024 – only Robert Lewandowski has more – and has netted more headed goals than anyone else in La Liga over the last 12 months.

Barca’s defence has looked a little insecure recently with Flick’s famously highline having been found out a little bit by opponents. Fatigue also appears to be an issue – but Barca know this is just one last push before a period of rest over Christmas.

European Leagues

David Moyes Drops Julen Lopetegui Sack Verdict As West Ham Prepare For Busy Festive Period

Ahead of the busy festive period of Premier League matches, former West Ham manager, David Moyes, has given his opinion on whether his successor, Julen Lopetegui, should be sacked by the Hammers after a poor start to his time at the London Stadium.

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The Scot left West Ham at the end of last season after the Premier League club had decided that there needed to be a fresh voice in the dressing room.

Julen Lopetegui perhaps wasn’t a universal choice and here we are a few months after his appointment with the West Ham manager one game away from the sack.

David Moyes’ strong opinion on Julen Lopetegui
David Moyes was almost Leicester City’s new manager, though in the end that job went to Ruud van Nistelrooy, and the Scot knows exactly what the pressure is like in the Hammers hot-seat.

It’s perhaps with that in mind that he’s given Lopetegui his backing.

“I watch West Ham all the time. Look, they’ve got a great group of players, a fabulous squad of players, lots of really talented players and I think they need to make sure they give everyone time, give the manager time to settle in there,” he said to Sky Sports.

“But overall you know, the league is difficult, the Premier League at the moment is so hard for, you know some of the teams that are doing so well this year are making it tough.

“But look, they’re beginning to pick up, they’re beginning to get some results West Ham so let’s hope that continues.”

Julen Lopetegui must turn West Ham’s form around

Moving forward, should West Ham continue to look to Lopetegui rather than replacing him in the dugout, the Spaniard has got to find the sweet spot and get things right with his team.

Though there’s no deadline that has been made public knowledge as to how long the club will give him before they decide to replace him, it’s clear results need to change sooner rather than later.

If not, Lopetegui could find that he goes the way of David Moyes and is eased out of the London Stadium exit door.

European Leagues

Manchester City In Injury Crisis As They Are Dealt Another MASSIVE Blow

Manchester City are officially in an injury crisis with five of their big stars now out for an unknown period.

The crisis deepened against St Polten in the Women’s Champions League with captain Alex Greenwood stretchered off the pitch with a suspected knee injury. Fans had to wait nervously for an update with concerns the injury is an ACL rupture.

However, the club have now confirmed Greenwood has had surgery on a medial collateral ligament in her knee which she is now rehabbing.

Manchester City: What has Gareth Taylor said about injuries?

City have also recently been without Bunny Shaw. Vivianne Miedema and Lauren Hemp are also out with knee injuries, while Chloe Kelly is returning to play after concussion.

Manager Gareth Taylor gave updates on the fresh injury concerns to Shaw and Greenwood.

Taylor said on Jamaica international Shaw: “I’m not too sure [what the injury is], we’ve had multiple scans on the area that she has the issue with, we’ll have to wait and find out. I don’t think we’ll see her until the new year which is a shame for us because she was in a really good vein of form.”

He had said on England international Greenwood, who won the Euros in 2022, before her injury was confirmed: “We’ll have to assess. Alex doesn’t normally come off unless it’s an issue, hopefully it’s nothing too bad because we could do without it, we’re missing so many players.”

City are also currently without Naomi Layzell and Sandy McIver. He added: “We’re really up against it player-wise.”

The club do not have anymore games left of 2024 with the WSL break now in place. The 14/15 December was the last round of the WSL until the league returns on 17 January.

The final games of 2024 saw City record back-to-back defeats to Everton and Barcelona.

The loss to Barca, which is FourFourTwo’s view would have been a lot worse had it not been for the saves of goalkeeper Khiara Keating, means City no longer top their group in the European competition.

The impact of this means they will face one of the group winners in the quarter-finals. The draw for those fixtures is taking place on the 7 February.

Barca are one of the group winners with Chelsea, Arsenal and Lyon the other three.