[ad_pod ]
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
So after a summer in which Christian Eriksen looked likely to depart Tottenham, the north London side have gotten the season underway with the Denmark international still amongst their ranks.
The 27-year-old has been linked with a move away from the club after revealing that it could be time for a new challenge, but is not any closer to getting that wish.
Instead, Mauricio Pochettino had to drag him off the substitutes bench against Aston Villa last weekend in order to inspire his side to a comeback victory.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
A report from The Evening Standard claimed that Pochettino has assured his squad that he will still pick players for his first-team regardless of whether their future at the club is certain or not. If that truly is the case, then the Argentine simply must play Eriksen from the start against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
Against Villa, Spurs seemed to run out of ideas until Eriksen’s timely arrival. The Dane livened things up for the home side and helped add a much-needed dose of creativity and spark from midfield. In his 26-minute cameo, the playmaker registered three shots and three key passes, and was a huge reason behind the side’s greater intensity going forward.
The Lilywhites are simply a better team with Eriksen in it, and it gives them an added string to their bow with him as their number ten. His ability to both provide and score goals mark him out as one of the Premier League’s most dangerous players in his position.
Coming up against Guardiola’s rampant City side, Spurs will need all of their attacking weapons on the pitch to lay a hand on the Etihad juggernaut. So whilst all the talk surrounding Eriksen this summer has been whether he will stay or go, one thing is for sure on Saturday; the great Dane needs to start.
[ad_pod ]
[ad_pod ]
This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Leicester will look to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to a fourth straight match when they host Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Foxes picked up their first win against Sheffield United last weekend after a Harvey Barnes volley won it late on. Previous to that they had drawn with Chelsea and Wolves, who are both likely to be contending for a spot in the top six this season.
Watch Leicester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Meanwhile, the Cherries can’t really complain after their only defeat was dealt at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Just one point separates the two with it still being so early in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign – but where will this battle be won or lost this weekend?
On the Chalkboard
Brendan Rodgers’ men have scored just three times this season, two against Sheffield United and one against Chelsea.
Two of those goals have come from set-pieces which puts them joint-first in the league for scoring via this method.
Wilfred Ndidi headed home the equaliser at Stamford Bridge whilst Harvey Barnes was able to let rip from the edge of the box following a corner last weekend.
This appears to be a weakness of Bournemouth’s having conceded two goals from set-pieces this season – the joint-most in the league.
Chris Mepham poked home from a corner in their game against the Blades and Douglas Luiz smashed home a scorcher following a clearance from a corner.
Their vulnerability may suit Leicester seeing as 63% of their shots have come from outside the box, which means another scenario like Barnes or Luiz could happen.
On top of that, Caglar Soyuncu could relish their weakness on corners as he will be able to get his 6 foot 1 frame amongst the action and cause problems.
This season, he is winning an average of 5.7 aerial duels per game, so he has every chance to be the difference-maker here this weekend.
That figure is the most of anyone between the two teams with Bournemouth centre-backs all recording less – Steve Cook (3.7), Nathan Ake (1.3) and Mepham (0.5), per WhoScored.
According to Understat, Soyuncu’s expected goals with his head sits at 0.95, more than any other part of his body.
That means that the Cherries could struggle to outmuscle the imperious Turk this weekend in headed scenarios.
[ad_pod ]
Loads of Sunderland fans have been responding to Luke O’Nien’s message after his red card against Peterborough was rescinded.
The Black Cats’ brilliant start to the season collapsed in the space of 45 minutes at Peterborough last weekend.
Jack Ross’ side would have fancied their chances of making a comeback at half-time with the score at 1-0, but were three goals down by just after the hour mark, and subsequently lost their discipline.
Both O’Nien and Charlie Wyke were shown red cards, though on second glance the former’s dismissal appeared to be very harsh indeed.
The 24 year-old definitely lashed out at Ivan Toney, but the contact was with the striker’s chest, and he grabbed his face to influence the referee.
Sunderland have now confirmed that O’Nien will be cleared to return to action immediately, and the versatile ace shared a “thank you” message on Twitter, accompanied by some red and white emojis.
It is quite rare for a player to publicly address such a matter on social media, and lots of fans have been reacting to the player’s response.
You can find some of the best comments down below…
[ad_pod ]
[ad_pod ]
Some Southampton fans have taken to Twitter to hurl abuse at Mario Lemina, after he harmlessly posted a tweet about his first training session with Galatasaray.
The Gabonese midfielder recently joined the Turkish giants in a season-long loan move, after his Saints career turned sour under Ralph Hasenhuttl.
The former Juventus man was axed by the Austrian boss and was taken off the first-team schedule at St Mary’s along with Charlie Austin.
Lemina’s exit comes after the 26-year-old uploaded a montage of his best bits in what appeared to be a come-and-get-me plea to other clubs this summer, and his general attitude on the South Coast seems to have placed him in some supporters’ bad books given their reaction to his seemingly harmless tweet.
One fan said that the £18.1m man has ‘no backbone’, whilst another told Lemina that he has ‘failed massively’.
Let’s take a look at what some Saints fans on Twitter have been saying on Twitter…
[ad_pod ]
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has returned to the club’s training ground in Cobham, as he ramps up his recovery from an achilles injury sustained against Sheffield United last weekend, via football.london.
[ad_pod ]
The Croatian was sent home early from international duty on Monday, after medical examinations revealed that he has an inflamed achilles and will not be able to play a part in his national side’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Slovakia and Azerbaijan.
The 25-year-old will hope to be fit for Chelsea’s trip to Wolves on 14 September, though an official date has yet to be placed on his return to action.
Kovacic’s injury will come as a blow to Chelsea, who are already missing Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo Kante through injury, though the latter two names on that list are expected to return to the first-team fold after the international break, per football.london.
Hudson-Odoi could return at the end of this month, however, which will come as extremely welcome news to the Blues, who are yet to see the 18-year-old in action this term. Loftus-Cheek is making a steady recovery from the achilles injury he sustained at the end of last season, but won’t be fit enough to play until earliest November, according to Physio Room.
Kovacic has started this season promisingly for Chelsea, providing one assist for the west Londoners in his opening four Premier League appearances.
The former Real Madrid man has also averaged an 87.7% pass success rate, alongside 2 tackles and 3.3 dribbles per match so far (via WhoScored), so will be sorely missed if he does not make a recovery in time for the Blues’ trip to Molineux on 14 September.
Chelsea fans, just how important is Kovacic for you this season? Let us know in the comments below!
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…
Real Madrid were successful in claiming all three points over the weekend when La Liga returned after the international break.
And it was really a hard-fought victory for Zinedine Zidane and Los Blancos who, at one point in the game, had a 3-0 victory seemingly in the bag.
But Levante’s second-half heroics took them to the brink of salvaging a point at Santiago Bernabeu after clawing their way back to end the game 3-2. A seemingly certain victory almost turned into a catastrophe for the Galacticos.
Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Luckily for Los Blancos, Karim Benzema’s brace and Casemiro’s effort in the first half were enough to see the game through, regardless of the second half slips.
But one other player, in particular, had a brilliant game and showed Zidane what he’s capable of when given a proper chance.
The 28-year-old James Rodriguez returned to Madrid in the summer, having spent some time in Germany, at Bayern Munich, on loan. And for that reason, it seemed like there would be no place for the Colombia international in the squad.
Or at least, everything was pointing towards that until the clash against Levante. But now, James has certainly given Zidane some food for thought going forward.
Not only did he register an assist but he also tallied a game-highest five key passes along with four out of five attempted long balls and two out of two through balls.
But that wasn’t all; he also attempted seven crosses, three tackles and warranted an 8.11 rating according to Whoscored’s rankings for the game.
This was James’ second brilliant performance in the new 2019/20 La Liga season since his return from Bayern Munich. The first time around, he got a standing ovation from Santiago Bernabeu following his display against Valladolid.
If he continues like this in the future, Zidane might face another conundrum: how to get James into his starting line-up when everybody is fit and available.
The 28-year-old certainly deserves his selection after this showing.
[ad_pod ]
[ad_pod ]
This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Despite a return of only two wins from five league games there have been some positives to draw from Everton, but there is a sense that Marco Silva is holding back his own team.
On the chalkboard
Since arriving Silva has solely operated with one type of system, leading us to suggest that a change in formation could lead to greater improvement in a number of areas for the Toffees, from the defence to the attack.
However, if the Portuguese is going to be stubborn and stick to his 4-2-3-1 formation, then he should consider a subtle change which could make a great deal of difference to Everton’s attacking threat.
It was likely hoped that Moise Kean and Alex Iwobi signing would have a significant effect, and although the latter has chipped in with two goals not much has changed in Everton’s approach, with their average of 3.4 shots on target per game showing their threat is too easy to nullify.
As a result, the three attacking midfielders, which often includes Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson alongside Iwobi, need to be given greater freedom by their manager.
Attacking presence
Everton’s lack of attacking threat, underline by their five goals in five games, has often led criticisms of the main striker, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin often the target.
However, he can only rely on the service behind him, and midfielders should be contributing goals too if Everton are to be unpredictable and difficult to contain.
All three of the Toffees’ attacking midfielders have shown they are capable of being effective from different areas of the pitch, with Iwobi particularly significant due to his ability to take the ball past defenders, as evidenced by his average of two successful dribbles per game.
Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Richarlison took up great positions against Bournemouth, striking the bar after a run from the left-side of the pitch, having already displayed against Wolves and Lincoln that his late runs into the box from the right-wing can result in goals.
Sigurdsson, too, can provide from out wide. His crossing is one of his best assets and that was highlighted by his role in Everton’s third goal at Lincoln, as well as his assist for Iwobi’s header against Wolves.
Those two have proved useful in a number of positions, and if given great license to roam they will be able to take up threatening positions, which is why restricting their movement comes at a cost to the team.
Leeds United could not return themselves to top spot in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday afternoon as they ran into a determined Charlton side at The Valley.
The Whites, as they often do, went into the game as favourites for the win and started the game with plenty of possession – with that theme continuing throughout the match.
However, they did very little with the ball – something we’re not used to always seeing with United – and when Charlton went 1-0 up, it looked as though that might well be the way it would stay.
So it would prove, too, on a frustrating afternoon for the side from Elland Road and a fair few members of the Leeds team that played on the day came in for criticism and debate around them on social media thereafter.
As Leeds’ number 9, Patrick Bamford came in for scrutiny, with fans debating his performance and merits on Twitter.
Let’s take a look at what some Whites fans have said about the striker since the full-time whistle yesterday…
Barnsley defender Dimitri Cavare is set to miss Sunday’s clash against Brentford but could return for next week’s meeting with Derby.
[ad_pod ]
The Star reported that the 24-year-old is nearing a return from the hamstring injury he picked up in the recent defeat to Leeds, with Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel believing he could be back for next Wednesday’s home clash against Derby.
Stendel told The Star: “He had an injury in the Leeds game. He tried to play until the end, but he had a muscle injury in the hamstring. We hope he can play against Derby maybe but we are not sure.”
Guadeloupe international Cavare has had a frustrating, stop-start beginning to the 2019/20 season for Barnsley.
Having played for the entirety of their first two Championship games of the campaign, he then missed their next four matches in all competitions before being brought back into the team against Wigan at the end of August. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
He kept his place for the 0-2 defeat to Leeds, during which he had a hamstring injury, and consequently was sidelined for last weekend’s defeat at Nottingham Forest. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
Barnsley have only kept two clean sheets this season, both with Cavare in the side, while the Reds have conceded four goals in as many games with him in their defence (one per game). In the five matches that he has missed, Stendel’s team have let in 11 goals, an average of 2.2 goals per game. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
Cavare has shown that he can adapt to either full-back position, although he has been the preferred option in neither, with Ben Williams starting four games from left-back to Cavare’s two and Toby Sibbick starting at right-back in all but one Championship game this season.
While the Guadeloupe defender is quite versatile, he has trailed his fellow full-backs for some key metrics this season. His tackling average of 1.8 per game is lower than both Sibbick (3.6) and Williams (2.5), while the former also has a higher passing accuracy of 72.5% to Cavare’s 66.7%. [via WhoScored.com]
However, Cavare has recorded more interceptions (1.8) and dribbles (1.5) per game than Sibbick (1.1 interceptions, 1.4 dribbles) and Williams (1.3 interceptions, 0.8 dribbles), while his passing accuracy is much better than Williams’ 56.9%. [via WhoScored.com]
Cavare’s inferior tackling and passing statistics when compared to Sibbick indicate why Stendel has gone with the latter as his preferred right-back option this season.
However, with the 24-year-old outperforming Williams for interceptions and passing accuracy, as well as demonstrating in recent weeks that he can play at left-back, maybe Stendel should restore Cavare to that position for the Derby game if he is fit by then.
With Barnsley conceding far fewer goals with Cavare in the team than without, the Guadeloupe man deserves a more sustained run in the side once he has returned from injury.
Barnsley fans, do you think Cavare should be in the starting XI more regularly? If so, in what position would you like to see him playing? Join in the discussion by commenting below!