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Earlier this week, The Sunderland Echo reported on Sunderland’s interest in Aston Villa striker Ross McCormack, with talks between the two clubs said to be ongoing.

At Championship level, the Scotland international can be a fantastic asset, boasting 119 goals in the second tier throughout spells with Cardiff City, Leeds United, Fulham and the Villans.

But it’s incredibly curious that McCormack has never managed to fire any of his sides to the top flight and now on the cusp of his 31st birthday, he may never conquer that challenge.

Likewise, last season showed the other side to McCormack; a dispute with Steve Bruce at Villa Park leading to an unsuccessful loan spell with Nottingham Forest.

Nonetheless, Sunderland need more firepower if they’re to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, so we asked Black Cats supporters earlier this week whether they’d back a swoop for the 13-cap international.

And according to our poll, the majority of Sunderland fans would, with 74% voting in McCormack’s favour. It remains unknown how much Sunderland would pay for McCormack or even if he’d join in a permanent transfer, but Transfermarkt value the Villa misfit at £8.1million.

Recent reports from The Chronicle have claimed Newcastle United hope to sign a left-back during the final days of the summer transfer window, with first-choice No.3 Paul Dummett injured until November.

That saw Chancel Mbemba line up on the left against West Ham on Saturday and although it’s by no means the centre-back’s natural position, his performance defensively may just have Rafa Benitez thinking twice about whether he actually needs a new recruit.

On the ball, the 23-year-old wasn’t hugely convincing, creating one chance and recording two successful dribbles but completing less than 50% of his passes.

Defensively, however, the Congo international was nothing short of exceptional, notching up the most tackles, interceptions and clearances of any Newcastle player whilst ranking second for aerial duels won.

Of course, in an ideal world, Newcastle would sign a conventional left-back before the transfer window slams shut on Thursday evening.

But considering how limited funds appear to be at St. James’ Park and Benitez’s need to strengthen other areas too, Mbemba represents a potential solution that just might tide the Toon over until January.

If you’re telling The Sun that you deserve a better contract while stuck on the sidelines with injury, you’d better hope your understudy isn’t enjoying some of the best form of his career.

Ben Davies hasn’t convinced everybody since moving to north London from Swansea City three years ago but after Danny Rose’s season-ending injury in January, he was a permanent fixture in the Tottenham side that ended last term with a run of 13 wins in 15 games.

The Wales international has started the current campaign strongly too, most notably producing a vibrant attacking performance in a 3-0 win over Everton on Saturday, where both full-backs (Kieran Trippier on the other side) played an intrinsic role.

Tellingly of Davies’ impact going forward, he whipped 10 crosses into the box, two of which found their target, laid on five created chances, one of which was converted by Harry Kane, and had the most touches of the ball of any Spurs player.

Most Tottenham fans will argue Davies still isn’t at Rose’s level – the England international has, after all, twice claimed a spot in the PFA Team of the Season – but is the difference so great the Lilywhites will feel obliged to buckle to any wage demands the latter makes next time contract negotiations come around?

The sale of Kyle Walker this summer suggests probably not and while Davies continues to perform well in Rose’s absence, Daniel Levy will feel he has sufficient leverage around the negotiating table.

Rangers again find themselves in a situation where they are required to bounce back from a disappointing result. After last weekend’s derby defeat at home to Celtic, the Light Blues are back in action on Friday night when they travel to Hamilton Academical.

On paper it should be a routine win. Hamilton are without a win in their last four Scottish Premiership matches, losing three of them. However, the pressure is on Rangers and manager Pedro Caixinha and that could weigh heavily on the Friday night fixture.

Caixinha needs to ensure he gets his tactics and team selection spot on. With a few injuries to consider and some under performers in the match against their city rivals, there are more than few contenders to be dropped for the trip to Lanarkshire.

These are the THREE players we don’t think should survive from the derby defeat at Ibrox…

Wes Foderingham

Wes Foderingham didn’t directly cost Rangers any goals last weekend but there are definitely question marks about his contribution to the first team. His distribution was borderline awful, not coping well with the lively atmosphere the derby provides at Ibrox, and it meant that the Light Blues were on the back foot consistently from his balls forward.

Jak Alnwick is ready in waiting too and after a massively impressive performance in the League Cup against Partick Thistle, when he made two vital saves when the scoreline was still 0-0, it could be the right time for Foderingham to be reminded he has serious competition in the Scottish Premiership too.

Alnwick has patiently waited for his time to shine and in taking his opportunity to impress has shown he has a hunger to gain the number one spot. That makes him an tempting choice for the trip to Hamilton.

Carlos Pena

Carlos Pena’s Rangers career has been a strange one to judge so far. While he’s reached highs like scoring against Dundee at Ibrox, in other matches he’s looked well off the pace.

Against Celtic on Saturday he was tasked with shadowing Scott Brown and stopping the Hoops advancing from their deep midfield positions into the final third. However, he barely got close to the Celtic captain and was eventually hooked early in the second half after his loss of possession led directly to the corner that allowed the Hoops to net their opener.

The dilemma isn’t dropping Pena, but figuring out who to play in his place. Kenny Miller has hardly looked up for it this season, perhaps his age finally catching up to him.

Still, it’s a chance for someone to come in and impress and for Pena to focus on the basics and try and impress from the bench again.

Fabio Cardoso

Fabio Cardoso is another summer arrival who has shown glimpses of quality but at the vital moments and in the big matches has been found lacking. He struggled massively to compete against the Hoops attack on Saturday, even being outshone by rookie Ross McCrorie.

He was found in no-man’s land for the first goal and it was his error that led to Leigh Griffiths netting the second. The Portuguese should have anticipated the Scotland international’s run in behind McCrorie’s blind side but was powerless to stop what happened next.

Bruno Alves is reported to be making good progress with his calf injury, meaning he could be in line for a return and we can’t imagine Pedro Caixinha taking the decision to drop young McCrorie after his impressive first half showing in the derby.

If Alves is out, Cardoso is the man to drop out, there’s not question.

As reported by The Scotsman, Bayern Munich’s injury crisis has worsened in recent days with two more established first team players looking like they’ll miss the match against Celtic.

What’s the story?

The Germans were already without the influential Manual Neuer for Wednesday’s clash, with Franck Ribery and Juan Bernat also ruled out. With close to 800 appearances for the Bundesliga side between, it’s clear that being without all three is a major positive for the Scottish champions.

There’s further good news for Brendan Rodgers and his side though, with The Scotsman reporting that they’ll also be without World Cup winning defender Javi Martinez.

Combative midfielder Arturo Vidal is also a major doubt according to the paper, after missing the side’s weekend thrashing of Freiburg.

With five influential members of Jupp Heynckes’ squad missing then, is there a chance Celtic could pull off a shock result?

Chances still slim

Given the depth Bayern have in their squad, the chance of a Celtic result in Germany is still exceptionally small. The Germans will be able to call upon most of their attacking talent with the likes of Robert Lewandowski in blistering form, scoring 13 goals in 12 matches so far this term.

Still, the injury problems of Bayern are better than nothing and the Hoops will fancy their chances of picking up a shock result. Brendan Rodgers has instilled a real belief into his group of players and although most people are writing them off, that’s not something that’s likely to enter the heads of the Celtic players.

At the very least, they’ll be hoping to avoid the kind of heavy defeat they suffered against Paris Saint-Germain in the opening fixture of the group stages.

Christian Eriksen has become one of Tottenham Hotspur’s key players, but on a night when top talent had to shine, the midfielder was stuck in the shadows.

The Denmark international started against Real Madrid in Tuesday night’s Champions League group match at the Bernabeu.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men headed into the fixture as underdogs, but they held their own in the Spanish capital.

At times, the North London outfit were severely under pressure, but some goalkeeping heroics from Hugo Lloris kept them in the game.

Harry Kane, who scored 11 goals in all competitions for Spurs in September, forced open the deadlock, but the ball came off Madrid’s Raphael Varane.

Cristiano Ronaldo levelled up the scoreline to 1-1 by converting from the penalty spot after Serge Aurier brought down Toni Kroos in the box.

Tottenham managed to hold on for a point, which delighted the fans, but there was one man that the supporters felt was lacklustre on the pitch.

Sofiane Boufal’s reaction after scoring a wonder-goal against West Brom last month said it all – the Moroccan international is desperate to become a regular starter at Southampton.

But Mauricio Pellegrino handed him an opportunity last weekend and the 24-year-old – who Transfermarkt value at £13.5million – struggled to deliver. After plenty of huff and puff, he was eventually hauled off on the 72-minute mark without having any real impact on the 1-1 draw with Brighton.

And yet, Boufal’s natural talent remains undoubted. He was compared to Eden Hazard during his time in France and that gorgeous goal against the Baggies after coming on from the bench showed exactly why.

Southampton face a tough test in the Premier League this weekend when they host Sean Dyche’s Burnley, whose stunning start to the season has seen them unexpectedly rise to seventh in the table.

With Burnley likely to employ an incredibly tight and organised defence, Boufal’s tricky feet could be vital on Saturday – but do you think he should start or feature from the bench?

Let us know by voting below…

Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal has been voted the PFA Bristol Street Motors Fans’ Player of the Month for October.

In a poll run by fan engagement experts Snack Media, who are overseeing the monthly awards this season for the four top divisions in English football, the Spain international took 37% of the vote to claim the Premier League’s October accolade.

Monreal picked up just one clean sheet during his four top flight appearances last month but proved incredibly influential for the Gunners when in possession, completing the most passes of any Premier League player during October and popping up with goals against Brighton and Everton.

That appears to have not only been appreciated by Arsenal fans, who voted for Monreal ahead of team-mate Alexis Sanchez, but also members of the wider Premier League audience.

Indeed, the 31-year-old beat Manchester City’s illustrious duo Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne to October’s award, as well as Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha and Burnley’s heroic shot-stopper Nick Pope. The six nominees polled as follows:

Nacho Monreal – 37%

Kevin De Bruyne – 17%

Alexis Sanchez – 15%

Nick Pope – 12%

Wilfried Zaha – 10%

Leroy Sane – 9%

Voting for the Championship’s October award begins at 11am on Monday morning – click here to take part.

It was a comfortable night at the office for Liverpool, who recorded a 3-0 away victory against Stoke on Wednesday evening.

A brace for the in-form Mo Salah and a Sadio Mane goal handed the Reds a well-deserved victory.

Despite not scoring, one man who impressed was Dominic Solanke, who was making his first ever Premier League start. The young Englishman played a key role in the first goal of the night and was a constant menace to the Stoke defence.

Following the game, Jurgen Klopp spoke about his admiration for Solanke, who is valued at £4.5million by Transfermarkt;

“He should have scored! Fantastic boy, well-deserved, really happy he could do that. Fantastic player.

“He can improve in pretty much everything but he’s already a good player, so that’s probably the best news, so I’m really happy I could give him this opportunity tonight.

“He has to work like all the others but everybody who is with England thought tonight ‘that looks good’ – really good player.”

And Klopp wasn’t the only man impressed with Solanke’s performance. A number of Liverpool fans took to Twitter to express their delight at the young star’s performance…

Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles has suggested that he could return to the team for Saturday’s Premier League match against Leicester City at St James’ Park.

The defender has been on the treatment table for just over a month with an ankle injury.

In that time, Rafael Benitez’s side have lost three and drawn one, which has dropped the club to 15th in the table.

Lascelles has been a solid figure in the back line for the Magpies, and in the three games prior to his injury, the team conceded just twice compared to the 12 goals that they have had shipped past them in the last four outings.

Ahead of Leicester’s visit to the North East of England, the 24-year-old revealed that he is not ruling out a return to action this weekend.

The Shields Gazette quotes Lascelles as saying:

“I trained for the first time this week. I’ll see how I get on. It’s hard to watch, especially when the team is not doing great. I feel responsible. I’m trying hard to get back as soon as possible, and fingers crossed it can be Saturday.”

As expected, most of the fans are desperate for the centre-back to be in contention for a start against the Foxes, while some do not think he should be rushed.

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