Even though David Ospina and Arsenal slumped to a disappointing 3-1 Champions League home defeat to Monaco in midweek, the Colombian shot-stopper, who has been in fine form recently, has done himself no harm in retaining the No. 1 jersey at the Emirates Stadium.

Ospina has come into the side after Wojciech Szczesny’s horror show in the Gunners’ 2-0 defeat to Southampton on New Year’s Day. Since then, the ex-Nice keeper, who signed for a £3m fee from the French club in July, has enjoyed an extended stay in the starting XI and hasn’t looked back. The 26-year-old has dominated his box, made some excellent saves, and proved to Arsene Wenger that he’s more than worthy of keeping Szczesny out of the side.

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Ospina has recently admitted that his inclusion in the team of late, could have made life a little awkward between himself and the Polish goalkeeper. In an interview with the Evening Standard, the Colombia international said; “Unfortunately for us goalkeepers, that’s just the way it is.

“The rest of the players have got more possibilities of playing. But we do maintain a good relationship and we have to in the training sessions because otherwise it becomes difficult for the team and for the coach.”

Szczesny had been the regular Arsenal No. 1 since the 2011-2012 season, when he played all 38 of the Gunners’ Premier League games. Some may feel his omission from the first team is a little harsh on a player, who’s served the north London club pretty well over the last few years.

Having said that, the Poland international hasn’t covered himself in glory in recent months – as well as some shaky performances in the Arsenal goal – his error-filled display against the Saints, was followed up by being caught smoking in the changing room showers after the defeat, the Mirror reported. Wenger obviously didn’t take too kindly to the 24-year-old’s poor error of judgment, and Szczesny has yet to feature in the league since.

It’s still unclear whether the ex-Legia Warsaw keeper is still being punished by his spell on the sidelines, but nonetheless, Ospina has come in and proved to be a more than capable replacement for Szczesny. In the six Premier League games Ospina has featured in, he’s only conceded four goals, and kept an impressive three clean sheets in the process.

The Gunners may have an awful lot of work to do to turnaround their 3-1 deficit against Monaco in the Champions League, but they are still on course for one of the much-coveted top four places, and are still fighting strong in the FA Cup. With Wenger opting for his Polish stopper in the last two FA Cup games, it proves that both keepers are going to play vital roles in the way Arsenal’s season is going to pan out.

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If Szczesny previously found life easy at Arsenal prior to Ospina’s arrival, then he’s certainly being kept on his toes now. For the first time in a long while, Wenger now has two top class goalkeepers at his disposal, and the commanding Colombian is doing no harm in keeping the No. 1 spot at the Emirates for the foreseeable future.

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Speculation has been changing daily as to whether David de Gea will be leaving Manchester United at the end of the season.

United’s No.1 has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid as a long-term replacement for 33-year-old Iker Casillas who has been linked with possible moves to fellow Premier League sides Liverpool and Arsenal this summer.

de Gea signed for the Red Devils in 2011 and after a shaky start – which saw many slate him as he couldn’t match up to the brilliance of Edwin Van der Sar. Since then, his form has greatly increased and this season he has helped United into the top three which has sparked the interest from Spain. Superb goalkeepers are hard to find the two best in the world Casillas and Gianlugi Buffon have split the goalkeeper spot in the FIFA World XI for the last seven years.

It was previously thought that Buffon would be retiring in the summer with Juve starting to look for a replacement but the 37-year-old has insisted he isn’t ready to hang up his gloves just yet. He told the press, “If I continue at this level physically and mentally, I can guarantee another two or three years at the top level. I’m not a number two, I want to be a 40-year-old who is still number one.”

Whilst the goalkeeper has been one of the best in the world for some time he may not be the right signing for United.

The Red Devils’ reserve shot stoppers, Anders Lindergaard and Victor Valdes are 30-years-old and 33-years-old, respectively. This means that signing Buffon would leave them with three goalkeepers over 30 and no youngsters to develop. There are plenty of young talented players out there in Europe and maybe United need to look at the upcoming talent like Jack Butland.

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The 22-year-old Stoke player has had a mixed season so far. In October he joined Derby on loan where he was an immediate success; he was soon called back by Stoke and has since been back-up for Asmir Begovic. Since returning to Stoke he has only played in FA Cup and League Cup matches but he has recently signed a contract extension to keep him at Stoke until 2019. Despite this Butland is regarded as a superb goalie and while it was believed Begovic may leave the Potters at the end of the season it looks like this might not happen.

Butland began his career at Birmingham City and established himself as a well-renowned player; he has represented England at all age groups and in 2012 he became the youngest goalkeeper to play for the senior England team. With strong reflexes and a big frame he was once one of the most sought after English players with many expecting him to be Joe Hart’s main challengers for the Three Lions but his career seems to have hit a slump and maybe a move to a club where he can develop under some of the best coaches in the world is what he needs.

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There are a lot of ifs and buts about Man United’s goalkeeper situation but if de Gea leaves and they end up on the lookout for a new goalie a lot more research needs to be done about just what they need. Do they want a straight replacement or will they let Lindegaard or Valdes step up the plate and bring in a protégée?

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Without a league defeat since the 14th December, Liverpool have now lost their last two games. Brendan Rodgers’ side’s phenomenal run had seen them harbour hopes of Champions League football again next year, and another crack at a competition they failed to convince in this season.

But the Champions League looks so far away just now, and the defeats that stopped the run were against the worst opponents possible – Manchester United and Arsenal are sitting in the Champions League so coveted by the Reds, and both those games were veritable ‘six-pointers’.

The saving grace this weekend for Liverpool is that both Southampton and Tottenham had poor results too, and neither could overtake Liverpool in fifth spot.

The issue now for Liverpool is to regroup in time for their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Ewood park against a Blackburn side who stifled the Reds at Anfield, and looked dangerous on the counter-attack with the power of Rudy Gestede causing untold problems for the Liverpool central defenders all game.

The FA Cup represents Liverpool’s only hope of silverware this season, but it has taken on extra significance in the wake of their Easter weekend. Defeat at Arsenal added to the defeat at home to Man United and out paid to their hopes of the Champions League, their unbeaten league run is gone, and momentum surely gone with it, and all the while Raheem Sterling has been hitting the headlines for his refusal to sign a lucrative new contract on the basis that he doesn’t think Liverpool is the place to be to win trophies.

Liverpool’s season is in danger of very much unravelling, and defeat on Wednesday night is as unthinkable as it would be devastating – relinquishing their last hope for glory to lower league opposition is unthinkable, and a third defeat in a row would be devastating.

But the effects could be felt further on than just this season.

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Momentum is a huge word in football, and Liverpool are a team who can vouch for that. Last season Liverpool came so close to winning the league after putting together an amazing run. It was their momentum that almost carried them over the line, they believed they could win every game and they almost did, but they came from too far back. They just couldn’t manage the amount of wins they needed.

But this time, if their momentum leaves them, it won’t just stop their charge up the table this season, but could have a knock-on effect next season too. Hull City put together a great run at the start of last season, and that’s what kept them safe. They did well in the FA Cup too, and brought themselves into Europe, but their poor run in the league at the end of last season may have cost them. They lost momentum, and got stuck in a rut. Throwing away a two-goal lead in a cup final won’t have helped, but that loss of momentum has stopped them from firing at the start of this season, and they crashed out of Europe and have struggled in the league.

For Liverpool, given the poor start, a loss of momentum would make it conceivable that Liverpool don’t even make the Europa League if Spurs and Southampton can put runs together, and Liverpool don’t make the cup final.

Not getting into Europe would be awful. It might not cost Rodgers his job – the board would surely be understanding following the tough start to the season and the sale of Suarez who the Reds struggled to replace. They would also be encouraged by the progress they’ve made since December, but is 7th place and no FA Cup acceptable? Such a scenario would leave Liverpool right back to where they started under Brendan Rodgers.

And then there’s the transfer market.

I still think that Liverpool invested well over the summer, and even though they’ve lost two games, they were against tough opposition. They can be forgiven for losing, but it’s just not the time of the season where you can afford to lose those games. Yet it was the poor start that gave the Reds too much to do, and the new signings hadn’t gelled.

They look to be gelling better now, and will next season, but if Brendan Rodgers harboured hopes of getting Raheem Sterling to sign a new deal and maybe to add to his squad in the summer, a lack of Champions League football could certainly scupper that.

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After the Suarez sale, Liverpool accrued a significant windfall, and invested the money into the side, but without Champions League next season, will Rodgers have a similar kitty to reinvest? Even if he does, will top players want to come to a club not playing in the Champions League?

These are the perils lurking for Liverpool if they fail to regain their momentum before the end of the season. The Champions League may be gone, and they may still face the fallout of failing to qualify for that, but winning the FA Cup might ease the pain and persuade Sterling to stay.

They need to learn from the mistakes of Hull last season and really try to kick on at the end of the season. A bad start to the last two seasons has cost them dearly, and they can’t afford another one.

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2014/15 has certainly been a season to forget for Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool. Be it through their distinct domestic shortcomings this term, failure to assert themselves in the Champions League – or the overall disappointment of not living up to last year’s heroics – change is being called for at Anfield this summer, and swiftly at that.

As a result, several rumours have begun to circulate of late, placing Rodgers’ future at the club in a somewhat murkier light than usual in the run up to the new season. The Northern Irishman is nonetheless likely to remain in charge of Liverpool as 2015/16 begins, but for how long remains anyone’s guess at the moment…

So then, does the 42-year-old former Chelsea coach still deserve more time at Anfield, or does his potential departure from the Reds seem nothing but inevitable in the cold light of day?

A discussion such as this one always remains tricky to decipher, for the problems at Liverpool have certainly not been exclusive to Brendan Rodgers this season. First and foremost, his players have simply lacked the same level of enthusiasm and determination that aided their cause all so well last season.

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The usual Red’s regulars seemingly failed to deal with the added responsibility of playing European football this season, looking uncharacteristically slow and lethargic as the 2014/15 campaign played out. With the likes of Raheem Sterling also being reportedly tempted by moves away this term – it seems not everyone on board the ship at Anfield have been pulling in the right direction in recent months.

Rodgers has also paid witness to some rather unfortunate luck throughout the course of this season. Daniel Sturridge’s injury problems simply couldn’t have arrived at a worse moment for the Liverpool boss, as with Luis Suarez publically moving on from the Premier League last summer, the current Reds manager was left to perform without last season’s two main recognised strikers available for selection.

The Suarez/Sturridge partnership of 2013/14 ultimately proved the defining reason behind Liverpool’s progress last year, and without such a deadly weapon on board, the long standing Premier League club have looked a complete shadow of their former selves.

Having said that however, any manager in the English game has to deal with unlucky situations and unfortunate scenarios – that’s just the way it goes. If Brendan Rodgers still has to blame bad luck as the main reason why his side failed to perform this season, then something really is seriously wrong behind the scenes at Anfield.

Whether or not the Liverpool manager himself, or his respective scouting department, are truly to blame for what took place last summer – the Red’s transfer activity in the run up to the 2014/15 campaign ultimately failed rather dramatically with all things considered. The players were seemingly not good enough, the expectations placed on their heads were largely overvalued, and as for the obscene amount of money wasted at the club throughout the summer window, it seems Liverpool simply received more cash than they truly knew what to do with after selling Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

The likes of Lazar Markovic, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren – whilst likely still possessing a great deal of the potential that got them signed at Anfield in the first place – were never going to perform after the club clearly over spent on their services. These a good players for sure, but they are simply not in the world class category that Liverpool need to re-establish themselves in the modern era. Mario Balotelli’s ill-fated move also proved a gamble for Rodgers that has truly backfired in hindsight.

Away from the transfer market however, Liverpool’s Northern Irish boss has also looked somewhat baffled on the touchlines this season when it comes to tactics and being able to guarantee the three points. Rodgers has seemingly never settled on a preferred formation this year, opting to play a whole manner of different names in the striking department, but subsequently causing his side to lack consistency on a week-to-week basis.

He therefore seems like a mere former Swansea City boss who maybe made the step forward to Liverpool slightly prematurely. The success his side achieved last campaign was down to Luis Suarez above all else – yet as the Reds need to build on the progress made in the last few years rather than detract from it – the Anfield hierarchy ultimately have no choice but to stick with Rodgers and hope for the best next season.

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He still offers the club a certain potential as a young, up and coming manager, but if the results don’t come in early next term, the Liverpool faithful may end up losing patience with Brendan Rodgers indefinitely.

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With Angel Di Maria departing Manchester United and Pedro reportedly set to replace him, our Red Devils fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are questioning just where he belongs on a list of all-time United flops.

In truth, United’s record signing actually started quite well and will most fondly be remembered for that sumptuous goal away at Leicester City last term despite going down 5-3 in one of the most entertaining games of the season.

From there on in however, it was a steady decline for the former Real Madrid winger who got sent off against Arsenal in the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford before becoming a high profile substitute behind the likes of Ashley Young at the tail end of the campaign.

Despite turning out to be an incredibly disappointing signing given the lavish fee that was splashed on his talents, our United fans agree there have been a series of other players who were that much worse than the Argentine during their respective spells at Old Trafford.

Before we reveal too much, our United supporting punters have put their heads together while devising their five worst Manchester United players of all-time.

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Click on the image below to reveal what we believe to be the 5 worst Manchester United players of all-time.

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Massimo Taibi

Just the utterance of ‘Massimo Taibi’ strikes up nightmares for Manchester United fans who in association with his pronunciation comes not so fond memories of a home fixture with Southampton in September 1999.

Turning out to be the game which defined his short and not so sweet spell at Old Trafford, the Italian stopper endured an absolute nightmare between the sticks on that day where he let a long range strike from Matt Le Tissier slither from under his grasp.

In one of those moments that will forever adorn own goals and gaffes-type DVDs, Taibi was later branded the ‘Blind Venetian’ by the press and he exited Manchester United having only made four Premier League appearances.

Kleberson

Part of the star studded Brazil squad that won their fifth World Cup in 2002, Kleberson was a key member of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team and this was enough to persuade Sir Alex Ferguson to splash £6.5 million on his services for the 2003/4 season.

To cut a long story short, Kleberson ended up departing Old Trafford in 2015 and in that time, he had only made 20 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils.

In fairness, it could’ve all been so different for the midfielder but in his second appearance for United he was injured and dramatically lost his way thereafter.

Signed as a replacement for another high profile United flop who we’ll reveal in our next few slides, central midfield proved a problem area for some time for Fergie down the years.

Bebe

The mother of all Premier League flops, let alone at Manchester United, Bebe was brought into Old Trafford as one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s worst ever signings.

Infamously signed by Fergie who didn’t even see DVD evidence of Bebe’s potential or lack thereof, blink and you would’ve missed the Portuguese attacker’s spell at the club.

Playing just two times for United in the Premier League over a four-year period, if you were at Scunthorpe’s Glanford Park ground for a League Cup fixture in September 2010, you would’ve been lucky – or unlucky – enough to witness this flop in the flesh.

Sent packing to conclude loan spells with Besiktas, Rio Ave and Pacos de Ferreira, eyebrows were raised when Bebe managed to secure a permanent switch to Benfica a year ago but since then, he’s suffered the same fate of making a lack of impact at a top club and is now on loan with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.

Eric Djemba-Djemba

Still playing to this day, in the Indonesian Super League no less, Eric Djemba-Djemba will forever be recalled alongside the likes of Kleberson as one of the worst ever midfielders to grace the club.

Arriving as a relatively unknown prospect in English football back in 2003, it’s rather apt that like the aforementioned Kleberson, the Cameroonian also only went on to make just 20 Premier League appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson.

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An incredibly aggressive customer, Djemba-Djemba was often unpredictable and was initially attacked by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger who had claimed the Cameroonian made an ‘obscene’ tackle on Sol Campbell during the FA Community Shield of 2003.

Not content with giving up on making it in England after his United departure, Djemba-Djemba later moved to Aston Villa but given the fact the Villains ended up loaning him to Burnley, this tells you all you need to know about his time spent in this country.

Juan Sebastian Veron

With Kleberson being signed as a replacement for this man, that only serves to tell you just how bad Juan Sebastian Veron’s spell was at Old Trafford.

One of the most famous Argentine exports of all-time of course, Veron can’t add cracking England to his CV and was one of those players who simply didn’t live up to his £28.1 million fee after signing in 2001.

An incredibly lot of money in those days, the fact Veron didn’t live up to the billing didn’t sit well with United supporters and this is why it was all the more surprising that Chelsea moved to sign him thereafter in 2003.

With Chelsea just getting seven Premier League appearances out of Veron compared to the 51 he endured at Old Trafford, the Argentine was a flop in England, no matter which way you paint the picture.

Everton gaffer Sam Allardyce has made it clear Ross Barkley is available to the Premier League’s top clubs this month, claiming the Toffees are expecting offers to arrive before the end of the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old is one of the top talents at Goodison Park but hasn’t featured for the Merseysiders since his move to Chelsea collapsed during the final days of the summer window due to a long-term injury.

It seems Allardyce is already planning for life without the 22-cap England international but could the attacking midfielder still make one final outing for his boyhood club?

Everton travel to Anfield this weekend to take on local rivals Liverpool in the Third Round of the FA Cup, when we usually see Premier League managers make significant changes to their starting line-up following a hectic Christmas period.

And while it may seem wasteful to start a player who looks set to leave before the end of the month, an outing at Anfield could be just the ticket for reminding potential suitors of Barkley’s abilities.

So, should Barkley make a shock start against Liverpool on Friday night? Let us know by voting below…

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According to reports in the Daily Mail, Swansea City have made an enquiry to sign out of favour AC Milan striker Andre Silva having been rebuffed in an attempt to bring Atletico Madrid’s Kevin Gameiro to the Liberty Stadium.

New Swans boss Carlos Carvalhal is keen to bring in a new centre-forward before the January transfer window slams shut, with his team bottom of the table and four points from safety having only scored 14 goals in 23 Premier League matches this season.

Silva only joined AC Milan in a £32m deal from FC Porto last summer, but while he has impressed during their Europa League campaign he has struggled in Serie A, with French media outlet Le10Sport reporting in December that the 22-year-old has failed to live up to expectations since his move to the San Siro.

Meanwhile, Southampton are another team in danger of dropping into the Championship as they only lie one place and one point above the relegation zone following a disappointing campaign under Mauricio Pellegrino.

The Argentine boss will be desperate to boost his squad before January 31 – especially after losing out to Everton for top target Theo Walcott – and bringing Silva to St Mary’s could prove to be a shrewd move.

Here are three reasons Saints must hijack Swansea’s bid to sign the Portugal international…

They need a centre-forward

With Charlie Austin absent with a hamstring injury and expected to be sidelined for the foreseeable future, Southampton are missing a target man in their side with Shane Long and Manolo Gabbiadini struggling to make an impact in that role.

Bringing Andre Silva to St Mary’s would certainly go some way to solving that issue as the 6ft 1in striker has proven he can perform well in the centre-forward spot for FC Porto, AC Milan and Portugal, and he looks to be available this month.

Goals

While Silva is yet to score a Serie A goal for AC Milan – although the majority of his 12 appearances have come from the substitutes’ bench – he has netted eight times in 10 Europa League outings.

Having found the net 24 times in 58 games for previous club Porto and with 11 in 18 caps for Portugal, the 22-year-old is decent in the air and has shown that he can score on a regular basis if he is given opportunities.

Southampton need a striker that can score consistently in the absence of Austin, and Silva may fit the bill.

Point to prove

Considering his impressive goal record in the Europa League, Silva will certainly feel hard done by that he has often found himself behind Nikola Kalinic – and sometimes youngster Patrick Cutrone – in the pecking order in Serie A.

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If the 22-year-old does move on this month – either on loan or on a permanent basis – he will certainly have a point to prove to AC Milan, and he will want to get on the goal trail before the World Cup this summer.

That is something that could be vital for Southampton as they look to secure their Premier League status this season.

Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.

West Ham United manager David Moyes was spotted in the crowd as Chelsea hosted Norwich City in their FA Cup third round replay tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, and Irons fans have urged him to sign Canaries attacking midfielder James Maddison, who is also a reported £20m target for rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The east London outfit have been heavily linked with a move for Michy Batshuayi in recent days with Andy Carroll said to be wanted by the Premier League holders, but Moyes may have been more impressed with what he saw from Maddison even though the Belgium international was on the score-sheet.

The Evening Standard reported earlier this week that Spurs are keen on the 21-year-old, who has scored eight goals and provided a further eight assists in 30 appearances in all competitions this season, although any club that wants him this month will have to pay £20m.

West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on his display at the Bridge via social media, and while one said “would love him at West Ham”, another labelled him as the “next big talent”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

According to The Sun, Juventus are interested in signing Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere on a free transfer at the end of the season.

What’s the story?

Wilshere has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround at Arsenal over the last few months. The midfielder struggled to break into the first team in the early stages of the 2017-18 campaign, but has been a key player for the Gunners in recent weeks.

Indeed, the 26-year-old has gone from surplus to requirements at Bournemouth to being mentioned as a potential captain for the London club next season.

The fact of the matter is that Wilshere is yet to agree a new contract with Arsenal, however, meaning that – as it stands – he will be a free agent at the end of the season.

According to The Sun, Juventus are well aware of the situation at the Emirates Stadium, and the Italian champions believe that they could turn Wilshere’s head with an offer.

Arsenal are said to be confident of signing Wilshere to a new deal, but the Alexis Sanchez situation will be worrying a number of the club’s fans at this stage of the campaign.

How is Wilshere performing?

Wilshere’s talent has never really been questioned. His temperament and ability to stay free from injury? Sure. But there has never been a question over his qualities on the field.

The 26-year-old has scored once and provided two assists in 13 Premier League appearances for Arsenal during the 2017-18 campaign.

He also scored once and provided two assists in six Europa League group fixtures, and has been one of Arsenal’s better players during a difficult period for Arsene Wenger’s side.

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Wilshere, who is valued at £16.2m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has been involved in every Premier League game for Arsenal since their 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at the start of December, suggesting that his injury problems are behind him.

Arsenal simply have to agree a new deal with Wilshere in the coming weeks, but Juventus will be waiting in the wings as they look to sign a player that could thrive in Serie A.

On Sunday evening, one of the most dramatic finales to a Premier League game this season finally ended with Harry Kane scoring his 100th goal in the Premier League.

It was an achievement of some repute, and not just because he’s managed to join the 100 club faster than all but one player in the league’s history, nor because he’s managed to do it by scoring in just 63 games. It’s impressive for the way he did it at Anfield alone.

Kane stepped up to take a highly controversial penalty in front of the Kop end after having missed one just minutes earlier and seen his mistake apparently punished by Mohamed Salah’s special goal at the other end. If the stakes weren’t obviously clear the first time he stepped up, they were crystal clear by the time he was taking the second.

Then there’s the fact that it wasn’t just the missed penalty earlier in the game which would have been weighing him down. Kane was simply off form, touching the ball barely enough times to get him into the double digits in terms of stats. He touched the ball fewer times than any other starter, and completed fewer passes, too.

There were one or two chances missed in a game which simply didn’t go his way, and when he was faced with a penalty which looked at the time as though it could be a winner at the end of normal time (and before all hell broke loose afterwards) it was actually little surprise he missed it.

It had looked as though he was off form. It was a sub-par performance whose problems had nothing to do with application or effort, he was quite simply unable to get it right. It happens sometimes, especially when you’re as prolific as Kane is – it would be unreasonable to expect greatness every game.

To be clear, no stats back-up any assertion that Kane was about to hit a goal drought. He had scored 12 in his last eight starts before the trip to Anfield and was only one shy of that 100 milestone, and such records are often enough to weigh on your mind in the first place.

But he hadn’t scored against Manchester United at Wembley, nor had he scored against Liverpool right up until the pressure penalty at the end. And with things not going his way I was certainly starting to wonder whether we were experiencing the first few moments of a loss of form.

Which makes me now wonder whether that penalty was actually one of the most important goals he’ll score for Tottenham.

The upshot of such a thrilling game is fairly banal. It doesn’t really matter that much to the table. Neither team lost, which means neither gained a huge advantage over the other in the race for a top four spot, and there is now quite a bunching-up between third and fifth after Chelsea’s defeat on Monday night. Indeed, even sixth place Arsenal are still in with a shout.

But it did mean a lot more than that.

This is a run of fixtures where Tottenham are having to dig deep. To face Manchester United and Liverpool in successive Premier League fixtures is one thing, but to have Arsenal at the weekend and then Juventus straight after that is a cruel and unusual run of fixtures, especially for a club like Spurs, who haven’t done well in top six games of late. Throw into the mix an FA Cup replay against Newport County – which should be fine but is a potential banana skin to take as seriously as stretched resources will allow – and it’s a period where Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be revved to the max.

And that suggests that Kane’s goal might well turn out to be the most important of all the 100 top flight goals he’s scored for Spurs.

Why? Because if he was to go another game without scoring, and if his side were to slump to their first defeat since mid-December away to a rampant Manchester City, then Tottenham’s momentum would have been clipped at the worst possible time. Form, too, is not like a tap that you can just turn on and off – to be a striker off form is to be struggling with a psychological and emotional issue from which it can be difficult to extract yourself.

All of that is to say that had he not scored, it would at least suggest that Spurs would be in a bit of trouble this week, sweating on the current goalscoring abilities of the one player who appears to guarantee them goals.

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That’s not to proclaim everything well, of course. Kane has played a full 90 minutes six times in less than a month, and all six times in a row. It would be understandable if he’s feeling tired and off form. And then there’s the question of how much that penalty will actually stop him from losing that form anyway: if the problem is deeply rooted enough, just scoring a penalty at the second attempt when the keeper dives the wrong way isn’t necessarily proof of a return to form.

But the emotion, and the importance of the goal, not to mention the psychological effect it will have, are also important factors.

This won’t be the most important game Harry Kane ever plays for Tottenham. A last-minute escape against Liverpool keeps Spurs closer to the top four than they would otherwise have been, but they’re only one point behind Chelsea today. Had he missed, they’d be just two.

But the real power of that goal might just come in stopping a terribly-timed goal drought just when Tottenham feared it most.