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Aston Villa’s play-off hopes have gathered momentum at just the right time with the club winning their previous five games in the Championship.

In recent wins over Middlesbrough and Blackburn one man, particularly, has stood out; Anwar El Ghazi.

As a result, Villa fans have been discussing the player, reacting to a tweet on the club’s official Twitter account.

There was a mixed response to the player, with some absolutely loving the displays the winger has turned out of late; saying he was on fire and that he’d been amazing.

However, other fans of the Villans were a bit calmer in their response. One claimed he never gets enough credit whilst another added that he needed to find consistency.

Despite that, some supporters urged the club to sign him permanently.

El Ghazi is currently on loan at Villa Park from Lille after arriving in the summer.

The Dutchman has managed a goal and an assist in his last two games which has taken his tally for the campaign to four assists and five goals.

Here’s the best of what Villa fans have been saying.

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Jack Grealish has revealed via his official Twitter account that he is raring to go ahead of Aston Villa’s return to Championship action this weekend.

The Midlands outfit will be looking to put their fifth straight Championship win on the board when they welcome Blackburn Rovers to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.

Grealish has been in outstanding form since returning from injury and the Villa supporters are hoping that the 23-year-old will put in another impressive performance against Rovers.

There continues to be speculation surrounding the future of the attacker, which is not a surprise when considering his talent.

Grealish is currently leading his side’s charge up the table, however, and he will be fully focused on helping his team secure at least a playoff spot in the coming weeks.

To be honest, the Villa fans absolutely adore the 5 ft 9 ace and a selection of their Twitter reaction to his post on social media can be seen below:

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Arsenal fans on Twitter have been left dumbfounded as it was announced that academy product Gedion Zelalem had departed the club on a free transfer.

The 22-year-old has moved to MLS outfit Sporting Kansas City, bringing a six-year association with the club to an abrupt and unfulfilled end and leaving many fans frustrated.

When the midfielder became the youngest Gunners player in FA Cup history in January 2014 by making an appearance against Coventry City, there was much excitement among Gooners, who believed that the club had a genuine talent on their hands.

The belief that Zelalem would one day break through and become a first-team regular is clearly one that was still held by fans up until he moved on to his native USA on Monday.

However, the relevant internal parties at Arsenal seemingly felt something different and have allowed Zelalem to switch North London for Kansas.

Check out some of the best reactive Tweets from the Emirates faithful, below…

Is Clint Dempsey the greatest American footballer to play in the Premier League? If you were to ask Fulham supporters that question, their unanimous response would be to say yes.

The forward began his career in his native country with New England Revolution after being drafted by the club in 2004 and immediately began to send shock-waves through the MLS. Despite only being 21-years-old at the time, he enjoyed a fruitful debut campaign, scoring seven goals in 21 appearances for the Revs.

The following season saw him play an integral role in his club’s route to the MLS Cup final as he recorded nineteen goal contributions in just 26 games. However, New England would end up losing the final to LA Galaxy before being defeated at the same stage in 2006 by Houston Dynamo.

Needing a fresh challenge, Dempsey decided to join Fulham later that year in a deal that according to the BBC was worth £2m, which was a Premier League record-fee for an American-born player at the time. His first season at Craven Cottage was a relatively quiet one compared to his MLS escapades yet he did play a key role in saving his new side from relegation.

With two games to go, Fulham were in desperate need of a hero to ensure that they would keep their top-flight status for another season and Dempsey stepped up to the plate, scoring the winner in their game against Liverpool. If the Cottagers had lost or drawn this particular game, they would have been playing Championship football in the following campaign.

Dempsey added to his legacy at the club by contributing to what is arguably Fulham’s greatest modern-day achievement in 2010. After securing Europa League football for the very first time in their history in the 2008/09 campaign, the Cottagers faced Italian giants Juventus in the last-16 of the competition.

A 3-1 defeat on their travels in the first leg left Roy Hodgson’s side with a mountain to climb at Craven Cottage yet they had levelled the tie by the 60th minute at 4-4 on aggregate courtesy of a brace from Zoltan Gera and a goal from Bobby Zamora which cancelled out David Trezeguet’s early strike for I Bianconeri.

With the game heading for extra-time, Dempsey produced a sublime piece of skill to lob Antonio Chimenti in the Juve goal from just outside of the penalty area. It was a goal which will be forever remembered by the club’s supporters as the moment where they started to believe that their side could go far in the Europa League.

Victories over Bundesliga sides Wolfsburg and Hamburg in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the competition set up a meeting with Atletico Madrid in the final. However, despite playing an integral role in Fulham’s success in the competition, Dempsey only featured as a substitute against Los Rojiblancos as the Spanish side defeated their spirited opponents in extra-time thanks to a brace from Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan.

Despite their heartbreaking defeat, the Cottagers’ players returned to England as heroes for their exploits in Europe with Dempsey leading the way. In the following two seasons for the club, the former New England player top-scored with 12, and 17 Premier League goals before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in 2012.

Although he did make a brief and albeit unsuccessful return to Craven Cottage in 2014 on loan from MLS side Seattle Sounders, his first spell is what he will be remembered for by the club’s supporters. By scoring 60 goals in 225 appearances, Dempsey changed opinions regarding American players in England and ultimately secured his place as a modern-day legend for Fulham.

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Newcastle United’s young lads continued their fine season with a fantastic 3-2 win at the Bet 365 Stadium to secure a play-off spot in Group Two of Premier League 2.

The Toon found themselves two goals down at half-time but a double from captain Owen Bailey and one from Yannick Toure secured a wonderful win for the team in black and white.

Owen Bailey had missed a penalty in the first half but he picked himself up to score two bullet headers, the result leaves Newcastle third in the table with two games of the season remaining.

The team manged by Ben Dawson; who took over after Peter Beardsley was sacked for bullying and racism, have had a brilliant season with Elias Sorensen second top goal scorer and Sean Longstaff making a breakthrough into the first team and excelling.

This result has led to many Toon fans heaping the praise on what appears to be a talented set of youngsters on Tyneside.

أكد وليد صلاح الدين لاعب الأهلي السابق والمحلل الرياضي الحالي أن مصر تمتلك أفضل لاعبين وأندية على مستوى القارة الإفريقية، مُشيرا إلى تفوق قطبي الكرة المصرية على الوداد والرجاء في ذهاب نصف نهائي دوري الأبطال.

وكان الأهلي قد نجح في الفوز على الوداد أول أمس بثنائية نظيفة على ملعبهم بالدار البيضاء، قبل أن يلحق الزمالك هزيمة بالرجاء بهدف دون رد على نفس الملعب.

وقال وليد صلاح الدين خلال مداخلة ببرنامج “وان تو” عبر أثير “أون تايم سبورت”: “نحن أقوياء جدا ولدينا أفضل كرة وأفضل أندية ولاعبين ولكن دائما لا ننظر إلا للسلبيات ولدينا جلد ذات كبير”.

وتابع: “إن شاء الله نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا يكون مصريًا بين الأهلي والزمالك على ملعب استاد القاهرة، ويحصل بيراميدز على لقب الكونفدرالية وتعود الكرة المصرية للسيطرة على القارة”.

وأضاف: “الناس جميعا في الوطن العربي وأنحاء العالم يعرفون أننا كبار، وأننا نمتلك أفضل منتخب في إفريقيا والزمالك قاهر إفريقيا والأهلي نادي القرن ولكن نحن لا نشعر بذلك، أتمنى أن يتخطى القطبان عقبة مبارتي الإياب”.

وأتم: “نحن متفوقون في كل شئ حتى أن الأهلي والزمالك هما فقط من كانا ينافسان على لقب نادي القرن الإفريقي”.

وتقام مباراة الإياب بين الأهلي والوداد يوم الجمعة المقبل على ملعب استاد القاهرة الدولي، فيما يقام لقاء الزمالك والرجاء في اليوم التالي على الملعب ذاته.

Former Whites boss David O’Leary wasn’t afraid of the transfer market between 1998 and 2002, and though his exuberant spending may have later financially crippled Leeds United, it gave birth to one of the finest players to ever grace Elland Road, Mark Viduka.

Simply put Mark Viduka was one of the best bits of business Leeds United and David O’Leary have done in recent memory. We say that not because he was a particularly cheap player – he arrived for a club record fee £6 million (as per the club’s official site) – rather the Australian was a great bit of transfer wizardry because he was an absolutely sensational player who provided plenty of priceless memories. You know, the kind neutrals tend to remember because they’re actually just very good at kicking a football.

After dominating the Scottish Premiership and scoring 27 goals for Celtic in the single season he played at Parkhead, O’Leary saw fit to release the beast from his Scottish confines onto the poor and unsuspecting Premier League. Alongside a young boy wonder, Alan Smith, Viduka collected 22 goals during his debut campaign, hoisting Leeds United into fourth position and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. Not to mention the utter madness that unfolded in November 2000 with the forward claiming all four goals in Leeds United’s 4-3 victory over Liverpool at Elland Road.

However, even some of the worst players can have random splurges of genius. It takes real talent to turn up over and over and perform at the highest level, which is exactly what the beast did during the 2001/02 campaign – collecting a cool 16 goals in all competitions, including a winner against the Gunners at their Highbury fortress.

Indeed, to spindle the same sort of footballing magic Viduka managed on such a consistent basis despite Leeds United slowly making their ill-fated descent toward Premier League relegation is truly remarkable, and the 11 League goals he bagged in his final year at Leeds proved to be some of the clubs last in topflight thanks to an ongoing absence.

Following Leeds’ drop, Viduka moved to Middlesbrough where he played a pivotal in their run-in to the 2006 UEFA Cup final, before retiring at Newcastle United.

What a player, what an icon and what a career.

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John McGinn. He can play a little bit.

The 24-year-old followed his brace against Nottingham Forest during the week by scoring once in Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon.

Villa signed the midfielder from Hibernian last summer and he has proved to be outstanding in the second tier of English football.

According to WhoScored, as well as scoring and assisting Anwar El-Ghazi at Boro, McGinn had four shots, three dribbles and boasted a pass success rate of 90%.

As expected, the Villa supporters were absolutely delighted with what they saw from the 13-time Scotland international on the afternoon and many took to social media to lavish praise on him.

Villa are now sixth in the Championship following an excellent run of form and if McGinn continues to produce then Dean Smith’s side will certainly take some stopping.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Villa fans can be seen below:

Not even the most optimistic of Sheffield United supporters w0uld have believed at the start of the season that their side would be within touching distance of automatic promotion with just eight games to play.

Yet, after their dramatic victory at Elland Road on Saturday against Leeds United, the Blades have put themselves in a fabulous position in the Championship table.

Currently second and one point ahead of the Whites, Chris Wilder’s side are now in control of their fate and know that a continuation of their recent form will all but guarantee Premier League football next season.

However, in order to achieve this goal, the former Oxford United boss will have to sacrifice the experiment of playing central defender Chris Basham in the heart of midfield.

Although the 30-year-old was responsible for the winner at the weekend, his inclusion in an unfamiliar role affected the usual attacking prowess which has propelled United into the promotion hunt this season.

With the Blades facing Bristol City, Birmingham City and Preston North End over the course of the next month, Wilder will know that he needs more creativity in his midfield to ensure that the club’s momentum continues and therefore either Kieran Dowell or Mark Duffy should return to the starting eleven in place of Basham.

Also, it is extremely unlikely that United will surrender as much of the ball in any of their remaining fixtures compared to their approach against Leeds and so there will be more of an emphasis of controlling the tempo rather than setting up to counter-attack.

A return to defence for Basham could suit United as he fits the unique mold of a centre-back who can provide an attacking threat However, with both Martin Cranie and Jack O’Connell producing brilliant displays at the weekend, it may prove to be difficult for him to force himself back into his favoured position.

What do you think Blades fans? Is Basham good enough to keep his position in central midfield? Or should he return to his usual role in defence to accommodate Duffy or Dowell? Let us know below.

It can be all too easy to look at two teams league positions and make some false prejudices. That’s the exact case here too, as with Swansea hosting Middlesbrough later today, the side 15th in the Championship is surely going to be the favourites over the 8th placed bottlers, especially when you factor in the recent form.

At times this season, we’ve seen Swansea playing some incredible football under Graham Potter. It may have taken the ex-Ostersunds manager time to adapt to the Championship, but his brand of football is much better than Tony Pulis’ anti-football.

As the two sides clash, it will be an interesting match-up, and one that if Potters’ side gets going in then they will surely edge it.

TONY PULIS

Tony Pulis is undoubtedly the more experienced gaffer going into this clash, but with experience doesn’t always come advantage, and it’s easy to argue that the Welshman’s football is stagnant and behind the times. Stints with Stoke City, Crystal Palace, West Brom and now Boro in recent times have all brought the same set-piece orientated football, and it’s time he had a rebrand or got out of the game.

In a world where the likes of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are passing teams off the park, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds are high-pressing their way to glory and Mick Harford’s Luton Town are playing scintillating stuff in the third tier, hoof-ball has no place anywhere in the football league. The EFL is starting to see beautiful football, and whilst Pulis can’t adapt his sides will struggle, as we’ve seen with Boro losing their last four games.

TT GRADE: D

GRAHAM POTTER

There was very little hype and media attention around Graham Potter when he came to Swansea City, especially considering how well picked up on his time at Ostersunds was. The once-unheard of 43-year-old made his name in Sweden, where he miraculously took Ostersunds from a fourth tier club all the way through the Swedish footballing system, into the top flight and even into the Europa League, which he qualified for through winning the Svenska Cup.

His achievements have been incredible, and whilst he may only have Swansea in 15th, the signs have been there. Consistency has been his side’s problem, although he’s shown that his Swans can roll with the punches against the best sides in the country, with their recent FA Cup clash with Manchester City, an unjust 3-2 loss, proving just that. It’s the football that has them standing out, though, and should he add consistency then promotion is a real possibility next season.

TT GRADE: B

TT VERDICT

When comparing Potter and Pulis, it quickly becomes apparent that league position is never a safe barometer with which to compare managers in the Championship.

If given the chance, plenty of Boro fans would be rid of Tony Pulis in a heartbeat, and whilst Swansea may be taking their time to adapt, Potter is certainly the man for the job and is certainly a more apt manager given the current footballing climate than the dinosaur that is Tony Pulis, and that’s why he wins this battle.