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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

The cries a few weeks ago from Leeds supporters were for Helder Costa and Eddie Nketiah to start.

They’ve had one of those wishes granted with the Portuguese playing from the off in the last two league outings. However, the striker is still yet to be granted the same privilege in the league.

An injury to Pablo Hernandez finally granted Costa his first Championship start for the Whites against Charlton but he duly disappointed by losing possession 17 times. At times he’s felt rather cryptic and underwhelming, but in other moments, he’s looked a class above.

Supporters seemed pleased with him after a display against West Brom but you feel as though Leeds are still missing a trick with the 25-year-old this term, particularly in recent times.

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On the chalkboard

£15m is the fee Leeds will spend on Costa next summer to make him a permanent part of the furniture. At one stage it looked rather seismic given he hadn’t started for a few months.

This is a player who has 29 goal involvements in two Championship campaigns with Wolves so the potential is clearly there.

After all, he’s already been involved in four goals in 2019/20, despite only starting the same number of matches.

He was electric in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup, providing two assists and a goal but he’s yet to discover that in the league.

Why are Leeds fans the best in the country? Find out in the video below…

One player he’s gained a real understanding with is Eddie Nketiah. The pair combined for a strike against Salford in the cup before finding themselves at the centre of all things good late on versus Brentford.

The pair linked up in near-identical fashion as Costa got to the byline and then pulled the ball back for the Arsenal loanee to bury an opportunity.

Costa has rarely been afforded a chance alongside Nketiah despite this and as a pair, they’ve started just two matches and played a combined 240 minutes, according to Transfermarkt.

Bamford is the type of forward that is more likely to hold things up and expect players to play into him but Nketiah runs off the shoulder and his darting runs could prove particularly effective for someone like Costa.

He registered 14 assists for Wolves at this level with canny operators such as Ivan Cavaleiro and Rui Fonte beside him.

They were energetic forwards and that enabled Costa to contribute to 18 goals with both of them combined in all competitions.

Bamford has gone goalless for five games and despite his work rate earning praise from supporters, you can’t help but feel Leeds are missing a trick by not playing Costa alongside Nketiah.

They’ve shown they can be dangerous twice already this season and the added movement from the 20-year-old might allow his teammate to live up to expectation.

Things take time but this change could be one that ensures Costa thrives.

Some Manchester City fans have taken to Twitter to react after they heard the news that Benjamin Mendy has picked up yet another injury.

The France international has endured a tough time fitness wise since rupturing his cruciate ligament back in 2017 – he has suffered six other issues since that serious knee injury, not including the injury in which some fans have now reacted to.

Mendy – signed from Monaco in a £52m deal – only managed to make 10 Premier League appearances last season due to injury problems, and could only feature seven times in the league campaign before last.

Pep Guardiola has Angelino and Oleksandr Zinchenko to call on as back-up, but Mendy’s price-tag, coupled with his obvious quality, makes his frequent absence hard to take.

To emphasise just how good the former Monaco man can be, he grabbed five assists in just 10 Premier League appearances last season.

Let’s see how some Man City fans on Twitter reacted to the news…

Dean Henderson is in the England camp for the first time ever.

The Blades goalkeeper has a real chance to impress the Three Lions hierarchy in training this week, and a video uploaded to England’s YouTube page shows him doing just that.

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Henderson has to work hard in order to earn his first cap, and this clip shows him outperforming his peers in a three-ball challenge.

The clip shows Henderson, Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope all taking part in a training drill, and it’s hard to say that the 22-year-old wasn’t the most impressive of the bunch.

While Pope and Pickford had to parry a couple of the incoming balls behind for corners, Henderson managed to keep them under control.

Of course, there is more to being a keeper than just shot-stopping, and this clip isn’t a full representation of all three stoppers’ abilities, but it’s good to see the Manchester United loanee performing so well with the Three Lions, clearly not fazed by his first call-up.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Newcastle succumbed to yet another lacklustre defeat on Saturday but it was one that could have been avoided had Steve Bruce acted differently with his substitutions.

Off the bench

Rather unsurprisingly, the Magpies boss operated in a similar style which led to a 1-0 victory away at Tottenham a few weeks ago, and it was working for the majority of the match.

Whilst his side offered next to nothing going forward – with no shots on target in the entire match – they did reduce Chelsea’s opportunities, and that must be admired since the Blues had scored 18 goals in eight league games prior to kick-off.

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However, despite the fact things were level Bruce decided to switch things up, and showed some adventure by bringing on Andy Carroll for Miguel Almiron, but it was the wrong choice to make, and unfathomable given the position they were in.

It played a part in Chelsea breaking the deadlock and once that happened, there was no way back to Newcastle, who now find themselves in the bottom three with two wins from nine in the Premier League.

Lack of pace and energy

The exit of the Paraguay international meant Newcastle lost an edge up front, both on and off the ball, and that proved crucial in a defensive aspect.

Almiron worked tirelessly all game in closing down space and defending from the front, with the third most tackles of any player on his team, and Bruce’s side couldn’t replicate the work he did with two target men up-front in Joelinton and Carroll.

They were ultimately punished when Callum Hudson-Odoi found Marcos Alonso in too much space on the left-hand side – space which Almiron likely would have covered should he have been on the pitch, as Allan Saint-Maximin instead lacked the awareness to stop the Spaniard from scoring.

If Bruce was desperate for fresh legs, a like-for-like swap with Carroll replacing Joelinton would have been ideal, as the Brazilian once again struggled, leading to fan criticism of him and Bruce’s decision.

Loads of Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter are excited about the link to Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria.

Bild reported this week that Spurs are one of a number of top European clubs interested in the 22-year-old, who has been making waves for the German top flight leaders this season – according to Bundesliga.com the defensive midfielder has a passing accuracy of 88% this term.

The story adds that the north London outfit will face competition from the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Inter Milan if they want to sign the 22-year-old, who is rated at €50m (£43m).

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Mauricio Pochettino’s men have certainly been lacking when it comes to keeping the ball out of their own net – especially on the road – so far this term, so they could do with a reliable player in front of the backline.

The likes of Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier clearly aren’t considered to be up to the task given their lack of minutes this term, meaning Tottenham must look elsewhere.

Many Spurs supporters certainly seem happy at the prospect of the club targeting Zakaria, with one individual describing him as “a massive upgrade on Dier and Wanyama”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Everton fans can’t seem to get enough of Bernard after hearing his comments made in light of the win over West Ham United.

The Brazilian scored his second goal of the Premier League season when he dribbled through the Hammers defence to knock the ball under keeper Roberto. His performance was vital in helping the club register their first league win since September 1 when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It seems that after the 27-year-old scored and kissed the Everton badge, he has become a new fan favourite at Goodison Park. The supporters are loving his confidence in his own ability right now, and are hoping that he shows more of this willingness to win.

Bernard’s goal does indeed take him to the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts for the club this season, along with Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk man could have established himself as a mainstay on the left wing for Everton, as Alex Iwobi also had a fantastic game in the number 10 role.

With Theo Walcott on the right, Iwobi behind Richarlison and Bernard on the left, Marco Silva may have finally found his winning team.

Regardless, fans right now are loving Bernard’s confidence.

Here’s what some of them had to say in light of his recent comments…

It’s fair to say Ashley Young isn’t exactly the most popular of figures amongst the Manchester United crowd. The 34-year-old was the subject of boos from some of his own fans on the club’s pre-season tour earlier in the summer, but he continues to remain a key part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.The veteran has already made ten appearances across all competitions this season, with eight of them coming in the Premier League. He was once again involved in the Red Devils’ latest clash against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, and despite the fact their side fell to a 1-0 defeat, United fans appeared to take one silver lining.Young receiving a yellow card mid-way through the game meant he has now earned his fifth of the season – thereby invoking an automatic one-game suspension.After hearing the news, fans of the Manchester side took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation, and many expressed their absolute delight.Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Some Red Devils fans even hoped whether he could be booked for the rest of the season, and insisted that it is the only positive from their loss.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans 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… 

Wolverhampton Wanderers continued to be difficult to beat as they made it six games unbeaten with a point against Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.

Mexican striker Raul Jimenez cancelled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 21st-minute strike when he rose highest in the second half to head home Joao Moutinho’s whipped cross.

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Much of the talk this Premier League weekend has been surrounding Jamie Vardy and how he has reached double figures for the season before any other striker, but that’s a feat already managed by the Wolves forward.

His goal at the Emirates was his 11th of the season, granted he’s had Europa League qualification to aid him in reaching that number before Vardy, but still, it’s about time the £31.5m-rated (Transfermarkt) striker was spoken about in similar vein.

Jimenez has been one of Wolves’ most integral figures over the past two seasons, and his showing against Arsenal epitomised that.

Per SofaScore, he had a total of eight shots at goal, half were blocked and the other half were on target, while he also won six of his nine aerial duels and recorded one key pass.

No other player on the pitch in North London on Saturday had more attempts at goal, not even last season’s Golden Boot winner.

The 28-year-old has now taken his tally at Molineux to 28 from just 64 appearances, which is very nearly a goal every other game, via Transfermarkt.

Watch an interview with former Wolves and Wales hero Dave Edwards in the video below…

His 76th-minute goal was also the third time he’s come up clutch to earn his side a point in the top-flight this season, earlier in the year against Burnley and then against Southampton more recently.

Jimenez’s contribution last season undoubtedly was a massive part in Wolves creating history by finishing seventh in the Premier League, so maybe it is a surprise to see a lack of transfer interest in him from those bigger, more elite clubs.

But that’s only going to benefit the west Midlanders as their prized possession is quietly going about his business without any concerning distractions.

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…

Prior to West Ham United’s game against Sheffield United, Robert Snodgrass had not played a single minute in the three latest Premier League matches.

However, in the latest two games, against the Blades and Newcastle United, the 32-year-old has been one of the Hammers’ most influential players.

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The most obvious indication of this is that he scored in each game, as he clinically slotted the ball past Dean Henderson for the first, then hit a volley from outside the box in the latter to add respectability to the scoreline against Newcastle, even if the performance didn’t warrant it.

As indicated above, he also made an impact outside of his goal contributions, performing well in both an attacking and defensive sense.

2 goals from 4 shots, as per WhoScored, is a pretty prolific return, while his 7 key passes indicate that he is showing the type of creativity the Hammers should be utilising to get on the score sheet with greater regularity.

As well as playing passes in effective areas, Snodgrass kept hold of the ball well, maintaining a pass success rate of 88% and 81% respectively.

The former Scotland international also showed a willingness to work defensively, making 4 tackles across the two games, despite being dribbled past 5 times.

In addition to all of the above,  Snodgrass was the Hammers’ highest-rated player on WhoScored in each game, getting 7.6 and 7.9 respectively.

All of this indicated that Snodgrass has become an integral part of the team since coming back into the fold, offering a ray of light in what has been an underwhelming period for the club.

Since the international break is now already in full power, so are the numerous transfer rumours that are usually pretty active around those times of the footballing calendar.

And Barcelona, just like many other big clubs, are always linked with a plethora of different targets.

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Sport have come out with a story stating the Blaugrana are interested in Juventus outcast, Emre Can.

The 25-year-old midfielder has only managed to tally 150 minutes for the Bianconeri across all competitions this season, taking part in just four games in total.

But the same source claims the Catalans would be interested in case one of their own midfielders were to depart the club in the not so distant future.

And upon seeing this report, many of the Barcelona fans couldn’t believe that their club was once again linked with a player they are deeming sub-par.

Some of them were comparing this transfer to the ones of Arturo Vidal and Paulinho, and one fan would even prefer keeping Ivan Rakitic if it meant Can would not be on the agenda.

You can see some of their replies down below: