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After a huge summer spend, Liverpool are now the main contenders to challenge Man City for the Premier League crown.

The Reds have made a solid start to their Premier League season and remain just two points behind Manchester City at the top of the table. Along with Chelsea and City, Liverpool have gone unbeaten this season and although their European campaign hasn’t gone as well, Liverpool look set to push Pep’s side all the way for the title.

At the back, Liverpool are a completely different side and up front, they still have one of the best trios in world football.

In midfield, Liverpool haven’t quite lived up to standard and although Naby Keita and Fabinho joined the club, the midfield has been the weakest area for Liverpool.

According to the Mirror, Klopp is ready to sell new man Fabinho in order to fund a move for Borussia Dortmund Christian Pulisic.

The Breakdown

Klopp has been linked with a move for the Borussia Dortmund winger in the past and is one again to keen to bring him to the Premier League.

The 20-year-old was the USA’s best player in their defeat to England on Thursday and with his current deal running out in 2020, he will no doubt have interest from multiple clubs.

While he is one of the best prospects in Europe, selling Fabinho in order to fund the move would be a terrible decision by Klopp.

He may not have started his Liverpool career well but he is going to be essential in their title hopes this season.

Thoughts Liverpool fans? 

Last season, Liverpool blew teams away with their attacking, swift movement on the ball.

Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane scored goals for fun, but it has been a different story this time around.

The front three have performed well at times individually, but collectively they are yet to reach the heights of the 2017-18 campaign.

In fact, the team as a whole have lacked creativity, and ironically the defence, which caused Liverpool many problems for years, has been the shining light in Jurgen Klopp’s setup.

That is not to say that the Merseyside outfit have been terrible as they remain unbeaten in the Premier League and second in the table, two points adrift of leaders Manchester City.

However, Klopp has tried to find different ways of winning and on a handful of occasions has switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

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Against Fulham before the international break, Xherdan Shaqiri, Firmino and Mane sat ahead of Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho, while Salah lead the line.

Liverpool earned a 2-0 victory, but the performance still failed to convince the fans.

Given how Klopp has been open to tinkering with his system this season, we asked you which was the best formation, and it seems that most supporters want the manager to stick to what he knows.

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Arsenal should make an audacious move for Chelsea’s out of favour left-back Emerson Palmieri as they look to solve their issues on the left side of defence, although it won’t be an easy deal to negotiate.

What’s the word, then? 

Since arriving at the club from AS Roma back in January for a fee of £17.6m, the Brazilian-born Italy international has struggled for game time under both Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri. He has made just 10 starts for the west London based club since his move, mainly due to the consistently brilliant form of Marcos Alonso.

The 24-year-old does, however, have a goal to his name this season – a crucial equaliser against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. Despite his lack of action, the full-back is still held in high regard by Blues fans, who would probably not want to see him depart Stamford Bridge.

Why would Arsenal want him? 

Well, the Gunners have a bit of an issue in the left-back department. Nacho Monreal is approaching his 33rd birthday and has struggled for fitness so far this season, and has delivered some sub-par showings in his 10 starts across all competitions.

Unai Emery has opted to deploy summer signing Stephan Lichtsteiner, who is a natural right-back, in the position, although the 34-year-old hasn’t convinced, while Sead Kolasinac has started their last two Premier League matches there – even Granit Xhaka has featured at left-back at times.

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The north Londoners’ last Brazilian left-back will have undoubtedly caused nightmares on more than one occasion for those who often travel to the Emirates, so another one coming through the door may trigger some scary memories – for those readers confused, the last one was Andre Santos, and he was abysmal.

In Emerson, however, there is a good player who has a tremendous engine on him to get up and down the flank, whilst his delivery into the box is almost always a good one.

Chelsea may not want to sell to a rival, nor will they want to leave Alonso’s role unchallenged in case of an injury; having said that, the Gunners could do worse than at least test the waters with an opening bid.

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West Brom boss Darren Moore should target in-form Blackpool defender Curtis Tilt in January so that he can return to his three at the back formation that worked so well earlier in the season.

What’s the situation?

The Baggies have had a reasonably strong start to life in the Championship after their relegation from the top tier of English football, and they currently sit fourth in the league table after 19 games.

Moore was given the job on a permanent basis in the summer and went on to make 10 signings, although some have been more successful than others.

Centre-back Kyle Bartley arrived from Swansea for a fee of £4m, but before his recent injury he struggled on the left-hand side of a back three as he didn’t have the pace or the technical ability to step out with the ball.

Moore though clearly favours the 3-4-1-2 formation to the 4-3-3 he is now being forced to play, and the Baggies were impressive earlier in the season.

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Wanted man

Tilt has also had an impressive start to the season with Blackpool, and his form has helped The Seasiders to eighth place in League One after 19 games.

During the summer, the 27-year-old was heavily linked with a move to both Ipswich and Rangers, and the Scottish Sun reported that at one point he was Steven Gerrard’s number one target for the Glasgow club.

If Moore was to target the Blackpool defender in January though, he would be able to revert back to his 3-4-1-2 formation with confidence, with Tilt replacing Bartley in the side.

So, West Brom fans, would you back a move for Tilt in January? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

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Loads of Tottenham fans have been reacting to some comments from Danny Rose, as the 28 year-old said he is fed up of the wait for the new stadium.

Only 33,012 turned up to watch Tottenham take down Southampton at Wembley on Wednesday, and the lack of atmosphere certainly had an effect on the players.

Despite a comfortable 3-1 win, Mauricio Pochettino’s side weren’t exactly zipping across the Wembley turf like they were against Chelsea and Inter Milan, and Rose has finally said what some fans are already thinking.

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“It’s just not nice any more,” the left back said. “It’s lost its … I don’t feel it’s an honour to play at Wembley. We’re all itching to get in the new stadium and hopefully it’s not too much longer.

“We’re disappointed it’s taken longer than expected but we know everybody is putting in the hours to make sure the stadium is as good as possible.

“It’s not that much longer now, so hopefully over the next couple of months we’re going to be in there.”

The new stadium is not expected to see any action until around February, with the club confirming all home matches will be played at Wembley until at least the end of December.

Rose has become quite a controversial figure amongst fans after his efforts to force a move to Manchester United last summer, and plenty of fans are unhappy with his analysis.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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West Ham United are set to welcome Watford to the London Stadium this weekend, with the Irons looking to take their Premier League winning streak to five consecutive games – following victories over Newcastle, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Fulham in recent weeks.

The Hammers will be full of confidence heading into this clash, but Manuel Pellegrini will know that his side will have to be at their best in order to take three points from the Hornets.

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The Chilean boss also has some big selection calls to make, especially in the attacking department. Javier Hernandez has been leading the line for the Irons in recent weeks in Marko Arnautovic’s absence, and has registered three goals in his last four games.

However, the Austrian now appears ready to return, and the club’s 6’4” No. 9, Andy Carroll, has also recently gotten back to full fitness. Finally, former Arsenal man Lucas Perez will feel that his recent performances deserve to be rewarded with a start. 

With so many talented attackers vying for one place, Pellegrini has a tough call to make, with plenty riding on his decision. Given his exploits in recent weeks though, and the fact that Arnautovic may still be a little fragile, Hernandez ought to retain his place in the starting XI.

What do you think, West Ham fans, who should lead the line against Watford on Saturday?

Marcelo Bielsa has consistently made it clear that he is not interested in adding to his squad in January, but Jamal Blackman’s unfortunate injury last month may well force him to sign a new stopper in the winter window.Â

Just at the moment in which Bielsa had planned on giving Blackman a chance to shine in the first-team, the Chelsea loanee picked up a serious injury and was forced to return to west London.

Back to the drawing board and perhaps over to plan B. Blackman had played the role of Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s understudy up until the point of his injury, but his return to Chelsea has left Bielsa short of a senior back up goalkeeper.

That realisation has stimulated interest in Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow, according to the Daily Mirror. However, a report from The Sun earlier this month detailed Aston Villa’s rival interest in Darlow amid an unconvincing start to the season from Orjan Nyland.

With rival interest potentially blocking their path to Darlow’s signature, Leeds had reason to believe they would face an uphill battle to secure the Newcastle outcast, but a recent tweet from the Midlands reporter for the Daily Telegraph John Percy suggests Villa’s interest lies elsewhere.

That Villa have reportedly agreed a fee worth €6 million (£5.4 million) suggests that a deal could be just around the corner, leaving Leeds in the clear to sign Darlow in January.

Naturally other rival bidders could yet scupper Leeds in their bid to sign the Welsh stopper, but Villa’s decision to pursue Kalinic’s signature will certainly be greeted with enthusiasm by the club’s hierarchy.

Whether Leeds can afford the reported £4 million asking price Newcastle are demanding for Darlow’s services remains to be seen, but with Villa’s potential interest out of the fold they might just be able to drag that price down.

Leeds fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Liverpool have had a brilliant few weeks. There is now some clear daylight between them and Man City at the top of the table, and it’s looking increasingly clear that they’ll be challenging for the Premier League title this season.

Fortunately, the good news has yet to stop, too, as Jurgen Klopp has been handed a rather significant boost ahead of Liverpool’s Boxing Day tie with Newcastle.

As per the official Liverpool website, both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Naby Keita will be fit to feature for Liverpool on the 26th after a spell on the sidelines.

Of course, an injury return is good at any time, but right now – particularly for the players in question – the timing could not be better for Liverpool.

We are, of course, in the busiest period of the season, and so it’s important to have as many bodies as possible. Between festive and new year fixtures, strength in depth is essential, and now Liverpool have it in droves.

The return of Alexander-Arnold is huge news, in particular. Both Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are out of the game, and so Liverpool have been really short on defensive depth. They’ve had to play James Milner out of position, for example, and that’s the last thing they need given how good he has been in the midfield. Alexander-Arnold will come straight into the team, you’d expect, and he’ll add some real solidity to the Anfield defence – and that’s just what they need.

You get the feeling that, with yet another piece of good news, Liverpool just seem to be hitting all the right buttons at the moment. Things are going so well, and with a stroke of luck like this, it’s hard to see their fine run not continuing.

Thoughts?

Sheffield Wednesday fans have been going berserk as their club names Steve Bruce as their next manager.

Bruce has been out of employment since being sacked by Aston Villa in October, and will replace Jos Luhukay in the Hillsborough dugout after the Dutchman was relieved of his duties before Christmas.

The Owls announced, however, that Bruce will not take charge of the club until February 1, with the 58-year-old’s long-time coaching assistants Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence placed in a caretaker capacity for January.

The club’s official statement failed to mention why he would not be taking full control until February, though, leading to contrasting reports emerging.

The Mail suggested that the wait is due to the former Manchester United player having pre-arranged plans for a family holiday, while the Telegraph reported that Bruce requested time away from the club as he continues his rehabilitation from an operation on his knee.

Either way, Bruce will take charge of Sheffield Wednesday having led Villa to the Championship Play-Off Final last season, losing to Fulham at the final hurdle.

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The 58-year-old also recorded the second-best win percentage of his career while at Villa Park – only Bruce’s stint with Crystal Palace in 2001 returned a greater percentage of victories.

The appointment has certainly upped the fans’ levels of joy, with their club residing in 16th place after 26 games, winning just eight times.

Here’s the best of what Owls fans have been sharing on Twitter…

Everton are in desperate need of a new right back, so should the Toffees make a shock move for England World Cup star Kieran Trippier?

Marco Silva and new director of football Marcel Brands upgraded 75 per cent of the Toffees’ defence this summer, signing Lucas Digne, Yerry Mina and Kurt Zouma to replace their ageing back line.

Seamus Coleman is the sole survivor of the defensive unit that feels like it has been at Goodison for decades, but the Irish international has struggled massively this season.

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After two serious injuries, the 30 year-old looks a step too slow to bomb up and down the wing in his typical fashion, and defensively he has been a liability.

Trippier meanwhile has fallen out of favour in North London after his incredible World Cup campaign, with Serge Aurier now the clear first choice for Mauricio Pochettino.

The presence of 21 year-old Kyle Walker-Peters means Trippier is now in a three-horse race for that right back spot, and the 28 year-old may soon be forced to look elsewhere for guaranteed playing time.

His ability to fly down the wing and whip in dangerous crosses will remind Goodison of a younger Coleman, so should the Toffees make a surprise move?

Everton fans, let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…