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Tottenham Hotspur made a huge statement in the Premier League on Saturday night with an emphatic win over heavyweights Manchester City. The six-time title winners struggled to find their groove as Spurs punished them through Son Heung-min’s fifth minute goal.

Giovani Lo Celso came on in the second half to double the lead and send Spurs top of the table. But amid the celebrations, Jose Mourinho delivered some worrying news as he revealed that Toby Alderweireld had suffered a groin injury.

The Belgian came off in the final ten minutes of the match after a solid performance in defence. Speaking after the surprise victory, the manager said: “It’s bad. It’s a muscular injury in the adductor. The dimension of course we don’t know, we have to wait, but it’s a difficult injury for sure.”

With new signing Joe Rodon not registered for Tottenham’s Europa League squad, Mourinho will be without the Welshman for their next group stage match against Ludogorets. The 23-year-old talent replaced Alderweireld last night but as one of only three fit centre-backs, Mourinho is now short on options.

Unless he drastically changes his approach for Thursday, the 57-year-old will have to pair Eric Dier up with out of favour Davinson Sanchez, who has been dropped for the last four Premier League fixtures.

According to Football Insider, the Colombia international could be on the verge of being sold following the signing of Rodon and rising starlet Japhet Tanganga. Naturally, the younger talents have seen Sanchez fall down the pecking order and he is struggling for game time. However, with Alderweireld sidelined for potentially a long period of time, this could be his golden moment to resurrect his Spurs career.

The Lilywhites are currently top of their Europa League group on six points, but Antwerp and LASK are breathing down their neck on the same amount. Whilst Ludogorets are bottom and yet to bank a single point, Spurs will be viewed as the clear favourites. But they cannot take the fixture for granted and Sanchez must pull off a solid performance in order to catch Mourinho’s eye.

Former boss Mauricio Pochettino thought highly of the £75,000 per week defender and labelled him the “beast” in the team. But Mourinho is renowned for being a lot more cut-throat, as shown with his freezing out of Dele Alli.

In other news, Serge Aurier impresses as Spurs thwart Man City to go top…

Leeds United are reportedly ‘hanging on’ in the race to sign one of the Premier League’s promising youngsters and they’ll certainly want to land his signature ahead of their rivals…

What’s the word?

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, the Championship winners are chasing a loan move for young Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher but they face competition from Crystal Palace.

However, it’s claimed that the Eagles are also interested in Michy Batshuayi and they would only be able to sign one of the two players from the Blues.

Roy Hodgson’s men beat United to QPR star Eberechi Eze, a player who plays in midfield like Gallagher, so perhaps the Yorkshire giants are now leading the race for the 20-year-old.

Goalscoring midfielder

Leeds’ engine room is set to be a thoroughly competitive spot next season with Adam Forshaw set to return from a long-term injury. He’ll accompany the likes of Kalvin Phillips, Mateusz Klich, Stuart Dallas, Jamie Shackleton and Pablo Hernandez.

Whilst a move for Udinese’s Rodrigo De Paul isn’t completely out of the question either, so on the face of it, another midfielder isn’t really necessary.

But Gallagher would thrive under the stewardship of Marcelo Bielsa and he’d add something quite different in the fact that he scores goals – Bamford was clear with 16 last season with the next best coming from the veteran Spaniard with nine, and he’s not going to be playing every single week.

During loan spells in the Championship with both Charlton and Swansea last season, the 20-year-old provided six goals and 11 assists whilst averaging 1.8 tackles, 1.7 shots, 1.2 key passes and 1.2 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

He put in a pretty solid performance against Leeds in September, keeping Helder Costa quiet on the right flank. The winger won just four duels while the Chelsea loanee notched double that along with four tackles too, as per SofaScore.

Sky Sports pundit Keith Andrews likened him to both Lee Bowyer and Frank Lampard in playing style, claiming “What we are seeing in glimpses from Gallagher, he has to be given the licence to get forward and he times his run into the box so well. When he gets in there, he’s got that composure in front of goal. But for me, he’s a classic No 8; he has an unbelievable energy, he does the ugly side of the game, but you have to let him off the leash and let him get forward.”

He seems a perfect fit for Bielsa and everything must be done to secure him on loan this season, he could save millions in comparison to De Paul.

AND in other news, Leeds fans tear into divisive figure after his latest pre-season display…

After suffering a disappointing opening day defeat to Leicester last weekend, West Brom fell to a 5-2 loss to Everton in their second Premier League game of the season on Saturday afternoon.

The Baggies took the lead thanks to a wonder strike from Grady Diangana from outside the box, but following an equaliser from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Kieran Gibbs cost his side big time with a mindless red card.

Slaven Bilic’s side inevitably struggled in the aftermath of it, and ended up shipping another four goals to the Toffees. But whilst Gibbs will of course be the talk of the town at the Hawthorns – fans even took to Twitter after the game to voice their frustrations with the left-back – he wasn’t the only disappointment on the day.

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Callum Robinson produced a fairly anonymous performance last weekend against Leicester, making just seven total passes in his 60 minutes worth of action.

And the clash against Everton was pretty much more of the same from the former Sheffield United ace, with the Baggies not getting anywhere near enough from their front man.

As per Sofascore, he had just 35 touches of the ball, and only managed one shot on goal in the entire game. Of course, Robinson’s task was made that much harder particularly in the entirety of the second-half after Gibbs’ red card, but he still didn’t make enough runs into the channel or hold the ball up for his teammates.

The striker struggled to get the better of Michael Keane and Yerry Mina at the heart of Everton’s defence, and in the nine total duels he contested, he won just one. Bilic needed Robinson to be more of a presence, or at least offer an outlet on any potential counter-attacks, but instead, he just disappeared from the game.

Gibbs may take a lot of the flak, but Robinson didn’t cover himself in glory either.

Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero is wanted by Everton and Premier League newcomers Leeds United, reports say. 

According to ESPN, as per @utdreport, Everton are trying to find competition for Jordan Pickford while Leeds are preparing for their first season in the English top flight since 2004.

The Red Devils signed the Argentina ‘keeper as a result of the uncertainty over David de Gea in 2015.

Romero, who was a free agent at the time, finds himself in a similar position, although now questions remain over De Gea’s future at Old Trafford for all the wrong reasons.

The Spaniard has come under pressure after making a string of high-profile mistakes but the Argentine has still found himself on the bench.

He has not played a single game in the Premier League this season, and was surprisingly left out of the squad that slumped to the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea at Wembley last weekend, despite the fact he had played in every other round up until then.

While Romero has patiently bided his time, as he has only made 59 appearances for the Red Devils overall, he could leave the club in search of more game time in the summer. Remarkably, he has still managed to keep 38 clean sheets.

Unsurprisingly, lots of United fans lauded the loyal “servant” on social media, with one supporter dubbing him “amazing,” and another adding he is “better than De Gea” in reference to the number one keeper’s struggles this season.

Scroll through some of the glowing reactions so far…

United fans, should Woodward sell Romero in the summer? Let us know down below!

West Ham appear to be edging closer to their first signing of the summer as their latest bid is being mulled over.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mirror (page 54, 12th August), Championship outfit Nottingham Forest may accept the Hammers’ £10m bid for their right-back Matty Cash.

It’s claimed that they want an extra £5m for his services after knocking back a similar offer from Premier League rivals Sheffield United.

But David Moyes’ side aren’t prepared to budge, meaning Forest may have to sell the 23-year-old for a lower fee than expected if they want to cash in on their first-choice defender.

Bye-bye Fredericks

Whether the Irons get their man for £10m or are forced to pay that extra amount remains to be seen, but it does spell bad news for Ryan Fredericks.

The 27-year-old has been wholly underwhelming from an attacking standpoint this season, averaging a mere 0.8 key passes and 0.6 crosses per game, via WhoScored.

In fact, West Ham rank third-worst for attacking the right flank in the Premier League this season with just 35% of their advances coming from Fredericks’ side.

This is where Cash can elevate Moyes’ side onto a new level next term. He’s provided three goals and five assists whilst averaging 1.1 key passes, 1 shot and 0.7 crosses per appearance in the Championship.

The Times’ chief football writer Henry Winter claimed back in November that the Forest man “looks Premier League class” whilst Quest TV pundit Sam Parkin has described his season as “outstanding”.

If the Irons want to progress further under Moyes next season, then a swoop for the attack-minded Cash makes the world of sense – they just need to stump up the cash to land their man.

AND in other news, Hammers preparing new £8m offer for seven-goal forward…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

When Everton caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson said last week that he hoped to have defender Seamus Coleman back in contention for the clash against Manchester United on Sunday, it’s fair to say some Toffees fans weren’t impressed and took to Twitter to slam the 31-year-old.

One individual described him as a “tea boy”, while others suggested he should be left on the training ground rather than being involved on a matchday.

The Republic of Ireland international’s game time has been limited in recent months because of injury issues, with his last outing coming in the home defeat by Norwich City last month.

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He probably wouldn’t have started at Old Trafford this weekend either had Djibril Sidibe not been ruled out through illness ahead of the short trip east on Sunday, given the Frenchman had provided three assists in his previous five Premier League appearances.

However, with the Monaco loanee absent it meant that Coleman came straight back into the starting XI and captained the Merseyside outfit against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, and he certainly didn’t let anyone down on this occasion.

The right-back has been criticised by the Goodison Park faithful this term for some of his performances, but he stepped up to the plate well against an attacker in Marcus Rashford who had caused Manchester City all sorts of problems just a week earlier.

The Irishman, rated at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, made five tackles – more than any of his Everton teammates on the day – as well as one clearance and two interceptions as per WhoScored – only Tom Davies could better him with the latter.

Coleman also blocked one shot and was largely successful with his long-ball distribution which needed to be on point to relieve the pressure on Ferguson’s men – he completed three of the five he attempted.

The 31-year-old may not be able to get up and down the pitch like he once used to for Everton, but this was a clear sign that he can still do a brilliant job – especially defensively – for the club at this level, and he proved those supporters who doubted him last week completely wrong.

Did he play for Everton? Simple question but a lot tougher than you think…

Sidibe was really impressing prior to illness, but on this display he faces an almighty task to oust his teammate from the starting XI now.

For Ferguson or any other potential incoming manager at Goodison, they may well now have a huge selection headache on their hands.

In other Everton news, The Athletic have dropped a bombshell about the Toffees & Moise Kean in the aftermath of Sunday’s controversy…

Liverpool will be hoping to build on their 2-0 win against Aston Villa and completely bury their previous away loss to Manchester City.

The Reds, who have already been crowned Premier League champions, got back to winning ways after their victory against a struggling Villa side on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp and his men will now gear up to for their next fixture, a trip to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton and Hove Albion.

Since Liverpool clinched the title, a few players haven’t been performing at their usual standards, which could suggest that a switch-up is on the cards for the starting XI that Klopp picks to face the Seagulls.

Transfer Tavern have predicted how the champions might set up this evening…

The team may welcome back Roberto Firmino after he was benched in favour of Divock Origi against Villa. However, the Belgian struggled to make much of an impact, failing to record a single shot, so it could be a good time to reunite the usual front three and push for maximum points.

Sadio Mane bagged himself a goal so there’s no reason why he should be dropped and Mohamed Salah is chasing this season’s Golden Boot. After Jamie Vardy’s brace against Crystal Palace, the Egyptian find himself playing catch-up on the Leicester man in the scoring charts.

Liverpool’s midfield continues to be a conundrum but Jordan Henderson should start in order to assert some structure. Naby Keita had a great game last time out, providing an assist and making two key passes, and deserves to keep his spot, with Fabinho also featuring again in order to anchor the midfield.

The back four will likely see a change or two and, in this case, it could be the two full-backs, who between them lost possession 45 times against Aston Villa (via Sofascore). For Premier League champions, that is far too high of a statistic. Trent Alexander-Arnold could drop to the bench for some overdue rest whilst Neco Williams, a substitute in the last three games, earns a spot in the starting lineup.

Andy Robertson hasn’t looked himself in the past two games, earning a woeful rating of 5.9 against Manchester City. James Milner didn’t feature on the bench on Sunday as he continues his recovery from a thigh injury so it could be a big opportunity for young left-back Yasser Larouci to step up for what would be his Premier League debut.

How do you think the Reds will set up against Brighton? Join the discussion in the comments below!

Well, it seems that a number of Newcastle United fans are just starting to lose faith in Miguel Almiron as the attacker continues to struggle.

Many of the supporters hoped that his goal for Paraguay over the international break would inspire the January arrival against Aston Villa on Monday night.

However, it proved to be another disappointing performance from the South American, who only managed one shot before being substituted late on, according to WhoScored.

Almiron has now made 13 Premier League appearances for the Magpies this season without contributing a goal or an assist.

More worryingly, though, Monday’s clash with Villa proved to be the attacker’s 23rd outing for Newcastle, and he has not managed a goal or an assist.

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Something surely has to give when it comes to Almiron’s spot in the side.

And it does appear that many of the club’s fans are fast losing patience, as can be seen by the selection of tweets below:

Earlier this month, a number of Newcastle fans insisted that they were very much behind Almiron despite his troubles, but it remains to be seen whether that is still the case.

West Ham United have given an update on their official channels regarding player fitness ahead of their game against Southampton.

There was the news that Manuel Lanzini and Lukasz Fabianski are continuing with their recovery, while Winston Reid is playing and working without any problems, though that is not what most Hammers fans were focusing on.

That is because of the update regarding Jack Wilshere, whom the fan base are growing impatient with as they wait on his return to action.

So far, the England international has managed two Premier League starts and four substitute appearances, as well as two Carabao Cup starts.

However, he has now been unavailable for seven consecutive matches, having made just four league starts and another four substitute appearances last term.

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There are plenty of fans who clearly aren’t impressed with him, one going as far as to call him “a disgrace to football”.

This has got plenty of Hammers fans questioning why the midfielder was signed in the first place.

He joined the club on a free transfer when his contract with Arsenal came to an end, with there having been warning signs regarding his fitness.

That is because he had consistently sat out of games through injury during his Arsenal days, with the number of outings missed totalling 150.

Therefore, there is the feeling that this scenario shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

In other news, David Martin has spoken about the values he feels the team needs to play by.

Sunderland’s season is not going to plan at all and that has led some fans to discuss what areas the club should look to strengthen, even though the window doesn’t open for almost two months.

The Black Cats have looked lacklustre in several departments this term and that hasn’t changed much since Phil Parkinson took over, as he has overseen four defeats in six games.

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The summer transfer window was a fairly busy one for Sunderland, with seven additions, but with the team currently outside the play-offs owner Donald Stewart may be willing to make additional funds available.

If he does, many fans hope that Parkinson chooses to strengthen the midfield, with many crying out for a more creative midfielder than Geroge Dobson or Max Power.

Both are without an assist this season, and that has contributed to the club only scoring 22 goals in 15 league games, as well as recent away defeats to Shrewsbury and Wycombe, with the Black Cats failing to find the net on both occasions.

Here are some of the calls from supporters requesting a January midfield addition.