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Many Kosovo fans on Twitter have been gushing over reported Tottenham Hotspur target Vedat Muriqi after he scored in his country’s 2-0 win against Montenegro on Monday.

Turkish media outlet Sabah first reported last month that Spurs had watched the Fenerbahce striker in action for his nation, and they got an even better glimpse of him when he scored one and assisted two more in a 5-3 win for England at St Mary’s a few days later.

According to Aksam, the north London outfit reportedly planned to scout the 25-year-old again on Monday, and they wouldn’t have been let down as he found himself on the score-sheet again, although he did also miss three gilt-edged chances, as per SofaScore.

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Should Muriqi end up arriving at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium he would be competing with Harry Kane for a spot in the starting XI, with Mauricio Pochettino not having a great deal of depth in that position following the departure of Fernando Llorente in the summer following the expiry of his contract.

Kosovo fans certainly seem to love their centre-forward, with one labelling him as “unstoppable” against Montenegro, and another individual calling him “world-class”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Barcelona have a pretty tough task ahead of them.

The Catalans have so far tallied mixed results along the way in the ongoing 2019/20 La Liga season, to say the least. But still, even with their apparent troubles, they are still second in the table, just behind the league leaders, Real Madrid, and one spot above Atletico Madrid.

Needless to say, the top three clubs in the competitions are slowly but surely regaining their dominance over the Spanish top-flight once again but even with that being said, these are still just early days and the campaign is rather long.

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But even though Eibar might not seem like a big challenge for a club of Barcelona’s stature, especially considering they’re currently sitting 14th in the table with just two wins under their belts, there’s more to this small Basque team than initially meets the eye.

In fact, they are unbeaten in the last three games and have won against the likes of Sevilla and Celta Vigo while tallying a draw against Real Betis.

By all means, they are a team on the rise and their only two wins of the season have come at their home ground of Ipurua. Not to mention that Barcelona have a dodgy record away from home this season, registering only a single win on the road from five games played across all competitions so far.

With all of that in mind, they cannot take this game for granted and if they needed an additional reason to give Jordi Alba some minutes this Saturday already, they definitely got one now.

The returning Spaniard has had some difficulties with injuries as of late.

Even though he played a total of four games and managed to already score a goal in La Liga in 2019/20, a hamstring injury back in September sidelined the pacy 30-year-old for four games overall.

But now, he is finally ready to return and after his inclusion in the official squad list, Barcelona should be looking to give him some valuable minutes ahead of a tough next week.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Alba’s presence has been sorely missed in these weeks that he had to take off.

After all, we’re talking about a player who has that special connection with Lionel Messi and a player who has a keen eye for setting up a goal from that left side of the pitch.

But even though it does sound a bit risky throwing him into the fire immediately after his return from a tricky injury, Valverde should seriously consider that option, even if it’s just a cameo appearance from the bench.

Barcelona have a mid-week Champions League clash after that game and even though El Clasico has been officially postponed to a later date, getting Alba game ready and sharp should be their priority moving forward.

The first couple of weeks in the ongoing campaign have been rather sloppy and it wouldn’t really be a stretch to say that the Catalans can’t afford any more slip-ups in the future fixtures.

Not to mention that with both Alba and Junior Firpo, his replacement, sidelined for a while, Nelson Semedo had to deputise and play on the opposite side of the pitch for a couple of games.

Luckily, the Portuguese right-back did just fine at times but now that the Spaniard is back in action, Semedo can return to his natural position opposite of Alba and Barcelona can proceed as planned.

Still, they will need their returning star to hit the ground running and for that reason, Valverde should seriously consider throwing him straight into the mix on Saturday afternoon already.

Let’s see what the Basque coach decides.

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Another international break has been and gone. Purists far and wide will tell you that the two week break provided just as much entertainment as club football could have done, but they’re not fooling us.

The Premier League threw up a host of intriguing sub plots at the weekend as Liverpool travelled to Manchester United in pursuit of Manchester City’s 18-match winning run, while Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs future seemingly hung in the balance as woeful Watford rocked up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Away from the elite tier of English football, the race for promotion in the Championship continued and La Liga’s inconsistent behemoths aimed to shift back into top gear.

There were plenty of talking points to emerge from the action, and our team of correspondents at Football FanCast have rounded up some of the key ones below…

[snack_break title="Phillips' act of god"]

As the Championship returned, so did Leeds to winning ways. A rather dismal afternoon against Millwall two weeks ago was put behind them thanks to “an act of God” as Marcelo Bielsa put it after the game.

Leeds marked their centenary on Saturday with various legends being seen at Elland Road. However, it was perhaps a future legend that turned in a moment that simply couldn’t have been scripted. Leeds’ very own Kalvin Phillips was the hero as he slid the ball under Lee Camp for what was a timely three points for the Whites against Birmingham.

The man dubbed the Yorkshire Pirlo was in supreme form as he also won a colossal six tackles throughout the match and showed signs of exactly why he attracted interest from the Premier League over the summer.

This was just their second win in five matches.

Matt Dawson – Leeds correspondent 

[snack_break title=”Solskjaer almost outwits Klopp“]

In what was considered a ‘must-not-lose’ clash, Manchester United did exactly that. For 85 minutes of their contest against Liverpool, Solskjaer’s side were heading for all three points.

And that was in no small part thanks to the Norwegian’s tactical surprise. The Red Devils shied away from their tried-and-trusted set-up this season, and opted for a 5-3-2 formation aimed at nullifying the Reds’ best attacking threats from out wide.

The masterstroke saw wingers Sadio Mane and Divock Origi combine to muster up just one shot on goal in the entire game.The United boss has been questioned in recent weeks for his tactical judgements. But against Liverpool, he showed a bit of ingenuity that completed rattled his more illustrious counterpart in Jurgen Klopp.

Vijievan Jeevathayalan – Manchester correspondent

[snack_break title=”Rodri the next Javier Mascherano“]

Pep Guardiola has been ceremoniously revered throughout world football for a multitude of footballing achievements and defining traits, not least of which is his ability to prise versatility out of individuals.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, for example, has been transformed from an attacking midfielder to a left-back and is now thriving in his new-look role, and the weekend victory over Crystal Palace hinted that another transition could be lurking in the back of Guardiola’s mind.

Rodri slotted into central defence and looked assured in the role alongside Fernandinho, banishing any Nicolas Otamendi-related nightmares in the process.

Javier Mascherano completed the transition from central midfield to central defence under Guardiola at Barcelona and, while it’s unlikely the £63m summer signing will undergo a similar process this season, he certainly provides a trustworthy option at the heart of defence while Aymeric Laporte remains sidelined.

Jack Saville – Assistant Editor

[snack_break title=”Barcelona back in business“]

Even though they experienced quite a rocky start to the ongoing 2019/20 season, Barcelona are finally back at the very peak of the mountain in La Liga. And while this is largely due to Real Madrid’s recent blip at Mallorca, it’s also thanks to their illustrious front three of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez finally finding their groove together.

All three of their forwards were on the scoresheet as Barcelona blazed past Eibar at Ipurua and if that game is any indication, that could mark a start of something huge for the Catalans moving forward. If Ernesto Valverde has finally found a formula to get the best out of his three superstars, it can only mean one thing – Barcelona are back in business.

Domagoj Kostanjsak – La Liga correspondent 

[snack_break title=”Forest’s strength in depth“]

Do Forest have enough strength in depth to compete across such a long season? The fact they had to put Grabban on the bench to start with symbolises their ‘load management’ of him, and that they don’t have sufficient backup for him to really compensate – Rafa Mir certainly could have done better given his number of opportunities.

The same point can be made across the rest of the XI, with Samba Sow also missing from the starting lineup at the weekend. Whilst they have a large squad, do they have the quality to go with it?

Matt Baldwin – Midlands correspondent 

[snack_break title=”Southampton’s leaky defence“]

In Southampton’s case, not much changed at the weekend – a couple of consistent themes from the Saints’ season so far reared their head once again. As we’ve already seen twice this season against Liverpool and Tottenham, Danny Ings capitalised on an error from the opposition to score his fourth Premier League goal of the campaign and his fifth in the last four games in all competitions.

However, we also saw Southampton’s fragility at the back again. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side actually conceded three goals to Wolves, although the first two were chalked off after VAR had a look at them.

The south coast side have kept just two clean sheets so far this season in nine league games – even those came against sides who finished the game with 10-men in Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton.

Southampton simply must shore things up at the back – they cannot rely on Ings to wait for the opposition to slip up in every game.

Billy Meyers – London and south coast correspondent

[snack_break title=”Sensational Grealish puts Spurs on alert“]

Aston Villa banished any doubts that their rampant victory over Norwich City before the international break was merely pot-luck as they were coming up against one of the more injury-stricken sides in the division after they defeated Brighton and Hove Albion at Villa Park.

Jack Grealish ran the show, scoring an equalising goal right on half-time before providing a match-winning assist in injury time, leading to calls that he is ready for the Champions League.

Well, he still has a long way to go to prove those claims considering he’s unable to break into the England squad, despite them clearly lacking some creative options in the final third, but this performance certainly puts him on the right track.

No other player on Saturday created more chances than he did with six – not even Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ricardo Pereira, Joao Cancelo or Lucas Digne, who all have their own international accolades to shout about.

Villa fans will need to be cautious going into January, could another Spurs-like episode be on our hands?

Lewis Blain – Midlands correspondent

[snack_break title=”Pochettino’s misplaced loyalty“]

Tottenham Hotspur’s woes continued at the weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by bottom-of-the-table Watford, but Mauricio Pochettino once again made a troubling call during the game.

Toby Alderweireld lost his man for the opening goal by the Hornets, while Jan Vertonghen was extremely fortunate not to concede a penalty for his coming together with Gerard Deulofeu in the penalty area.

Yet, it was the third centre-back on the day in Davinson Sanchez who was hauled off at half-time, which was confusing in more ways than one even if the formation change was needed.

Pochettino should have been sacrificing either Alderweireld or Vertonghen instead given their recent performances and the fact they are both out of contract next summer, rather than a man who could be a big part of this Tottenham defence for a number of years.

The Argentine’s loyalty to underperforming senior players must come into question.

James Beavis – Editor  

[snack_break title=”Henderson and Atkinson spark fury“]

There are only two names on Liverpool fans’ lips after this weekend, and neither of them are very popular.

Martin Atkinson has left fans fuming over his decisions in the clash with Manchester United, as not a single foul went the Reds’ way between the 22nd and 72nd minute, quite remarkable considering the intensity and fieriness of any clash between these two sides. Liverpool won the foul race 14 to six.

The other man in Reds fans’ bad books is Jordan Henderson, who was utterly abysmal in his 71 minutes on the pitch. The skipper has been substituted in the second half of each of his last three starts, two of which have gone from a draw to a win after his removal and now most recently from a loss to a draw.

Ben Goodwin – Editor

[snack_break title=”Silva’s Everton lifeline“]

Silva finally finds the formula

Everton are back to winning ways in the Premier League for the first time since they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of September, and it seems Marco Silva has finally found his formula. The 2-0 victory over West Ham United was Everton’s most comfortable of the season to date.

The biggest takeaway for the Toffees is that Silva has found his midfield duo after all. Gomes and Tom Davies were the best two on the pitch against the Hammers and they can finally give the Goodison Park faithful some confidence in the centre of the pitch.

Grant McQuillan – Everton correspondent

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Everton fans have taken to Twitter to express their love for Mason Holgate after the defender put in another impressive display for the Toffees against Watford.

Holgate stepped in for his first Premier League start of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion last week, where he registered an assist in replace of Yerry Mina. On Tuesday, however, was when the 23-year-old may have established himself as a starter after scoring his first goal for the club.

Holgate got on the end of a fabulous Theo Walcott cross to give the Blues the lead and ease the tension at Goodison Park. In doing so, and by keeping a clean sheet, the defender may have given Marco Silva some food for thought.

Fans are loving his performances of late with some of them hoping he starts the upcoming games. One fan even said he was “head and shoulders above the rest” against Watford.

The supporters may get to see Holgate much more often, as once again, Mina limped off injured in the game. It is unclear whether or not he will miss the Tottenham Hotspur clash, but perhaps it’s time for Holgate to step in and allow the Colombian some rest time.

Here’s what some fans have had to say…

Well, it would be fair to say that the Leeds United fans were not too impressed with the performance of Ezgjan Alioski against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday afternoon.

Quite how the Championship affair finished goalless is a bit of a mystery as both teams had excellent chances to score, particularly in the second half.

Alioski actually had a wonderful opportunity to send the visitors ahead in the latter stages but saw his header come off the post.

According to WhoScored, the 27-year-old only had a pass success rate of 66% on the afternoon, which is not exactly brilliant.

It was another incredibly frustrating game for Leeds as they missed the chance to move to the top of the Championship table, although a point away to Wednesday will not be seen as the worst result in the world, that is for sure.

Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…

A number of Leeds fans were disappointed with Alioski’s performance at Hillsborough, and a selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has revealed that he thinks Southampton could lose by more than nine goals when they take on Manchester City this Saturday.

As you’ll presumably have heard, the Saints suffered the joint-heaviest Premier League defeat of all time last Friday after enduring a crushing 9-0 loss to Leicester at St Mary’s, a result that equalled Manchester United’s 9-0 win over Ipswich from 1995.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men had to travel to the Etihad Stadium just four days after that defeat to take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, where they suffered a 3-1 loss – on Saturday, they will be back in that part of Manchester for the second time in five days.

What did Merson say?

Merson wrote in his Sky Sports column: “For Southampton, they have to pray that it rains that much that the game get called off in the next couple of days against Man City.

“Southampton were that bad against Leicester, and I’m not being horrible, but if Man City get going, that record is in danger. How many times have you seen Man City play and after the game gone ‘they could have won that 10-0’. They only have to have a game where they start finishing all their chances and Southampton are in trouble.”

Disrespectful to the Saints’ professionalism 

Southampton responded in fairly admirable fashion by suffering just a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday, and while the Citizens did play a few youngsters, players of real pedigree in Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez still featured.

It usually takes a rocket up the backside such as a 9-0 defeat to truly get a faltering side to realise the rut that they are in and begin to make amendments, and it is slightly disrespectful of Merson to say that they should be praying that the game is called off – these players are professionals – many of whom, such as Oriol Romeu, Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond, are well established at Premier League level – and will want to put things right.

The Southampton players are quite obviously aware of just how horrendous they were against Leicester having donated their wages from that day to the Saints Foundation, and Merson shouldn’t be so quick to brandish them as a side hoping for the game to be called off.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Sadio Mane has told France Football that Mohamed Salah is an “exceptional player” and, even though they have had their differences, it is a “pleasure” to play alongside him for Liverpool.

What’s the story?

Many Reds fans will remember the Senegal international’s frustration when he wasn’t passed the ball by Salah against Burnley in August.

Watch the moment Adam Lallana broke United hearts at Old Trafford in the video below…

Speaking to France Football, the former Southampton man has admitted that although the two have not always seen eye-to-eye, he still enjoys playing alongside the Egypt international. He said of his teammate: “A crazy goalscorer. And an exceptional player who knows how to do everything. We have had our differences, but it remains a great pleasure to evolve with him because I have the feeling that we speak the same football.”

They bring the best out of each other

27-year-old Salah will have known that he should have squared the ball for what would have been an easy tap-in at Turf Moor, but in the end, it didn’t effect the final result as the Anfield outfit prevailed 3-0.

Mane did score that day, whilst the former Chelsea man was unable to get himself on the scoresheet.

The 61-cap star was visibly frustrated by Salah’s perceived selfishness, but in the long run it will do the pair a huge favour in their quest to become the best they can possibly be.

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The incident showed one thing in particular: both players are desperate to score as much as humanly possible. This season, it is Mane who leads the way, with 1o goals in all competitions, but his fellow winger is just two behind with eight. Last season, they were joint-winners of the Premier League’s Golden Boot along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, ending the season with 22 strikes apiece.

Manchester City have a similar situation, with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero fighting for a starting spot at the Etihad Stadium. The former has even said that the rivalry between the two has made him a better player. And although they weren’t playing for the same team, Cristiano Ronaldo recently said that his rivalry with Lionel Messi during his time at Real Madrid made both of them better.

The two Liverpool stars are in the same boat. Since they started playing together, they have been amongst the top marksmen in England’s top-tier.

The competition and desire for goals is pushing them to new heights and, although there will be moments of frustration as one looks to out-do the other, it shows they have the fire and desire to be the best.

Above all, the big winners are Liverpool, as the Premier League table currently shows.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have trolled the club’s official Twitter account after their development side lost to Gillingham.

The two sides went head to head in the Leasing.com Trophy, with the senior Gills squad running out 2-0 winners at Priestfield.

The result means that Spurs’ development squad have subsequently been knocked out of the tournament and fans have reacted badly to the news, perhaps unsurprisingly.

Indeed, Spurs have struggled throughout this campaign, with the senior squad winning just three of their Premier League games thus far.

They are currently 14th in the table, 11 points off the top four, and reports have suggested that manager Mauricio Pochettino could be sacked if they lose to West Ham United following the international break.

Football FanCast understands that RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann is the first-choice to replace the ex-Southampton manager, should he leave.

And one fan suggested that the result could have been inflicted on the first XI by the League One club, while many more simply took to replying sarcastically.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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…

The January transfer window is just around the corner, and it looks as though Liverpool could be busy as they look to consolidate their place at the top of the Premier League table.

In recent weeks, they have been linked with the likes of Timo Werner and Sander Berge (Radio Punto Nuovo via talkSPORT), and now another name can be added to that list.

The Daily Star is reporting that the Reds are interested in signing Wigan Athletic’s Joe Gelhardt, with Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea amongst those clubs said to also be pursuing the youngster, who is believed to be valued at £5m by his club.

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The England U18 international has done well for the Latics this year during the short amount of time he has spent on the pitch, scoring once in six substitute appearances. On the international stage, he has also impressed, scoring 11 goals in 24 caps for the Three Lions’ various youth sides.

However, he is vastly inexperienced and, at the age of just 17 – he does not turn 18 until May next year – it is surely far too soon for him to make the move to Anfield and Liverpool, one of the biggest teams not only in England but Europe as a whole.

Not only that, but staying at Wigan could be the perfect place for him to develop, just as it was for Chelsea’s Reece James.

The 19-year-old right-back had failed to make a single appearance in professional football before moving to the DW Stadium, but he ended up playing 46 matches for the north-west team last term. Not only that, he was voted the club’s Player of the Year. His time there appears to be paying dividends this time out, with the teenager already appearing nine times for Frank Lampard’s side.

Liverpool will still be waiting for Gelhardt if he continues to impress, but that huge step up in quality may be too much for him at this stage of his career. In the Championship, he will be shielded from the intense scrutiny of the highest level, and could turn into the player this interest indicates he will be. Without even one start to his name, his advisors will hopefully help him make the right decision.

Nahki Wells is in fine form for QPR this season and if fans weren’t already pleased with him, they are now after hearing his desire to stay at the club.The striker is on loan for the second season running and given his form – with eight goals in 11 league starts – it wouldn’t be too surprising if Burnley were considering a recall.He has stated, however, that he wants to stay for the rest of the season. He is scoring goals and clearly having fun being part of the R’s entertaining style, while also keeping one eye on the play-offs, which he sees as a realistic possibility.Watch Queens Park Rangers Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Many supporters are pleased that Wells is enjoying his time at the club and have taken the opportunity to praise him, with one suggesting that his attitude is exactly what is needed from the players.

If he does remain for the entire season he could have a key role to play, as his efforts so far have contributed to QPR placing 10th in the league.

Here are some of the reactions from fans to his comments.