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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.

Real Madrid hosted Club Brugge at the Santiago Bernabeu in their mid-week Champions League clash and were held to an embarrassing 2-2 draw by their visitors.

But it was a half-time substitute who ended up saving the day.

Snapshot

Just like their opener in the European competition against PSG, the follow-up game proved to be another disappointment for Los Blancos.

Even though they were most likely expected to get the job done without too much trouble, Real dropped the ball completely, going 2-0 down before the first 45 minutes were even over.

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That made for a rather stressful second half as Zinedine Zidane’s troops looked to find a way back into the game.

And sure, with the efforts of Casemiro and captain Sergio Ramos, they clawed back and rescued a point.

But it was actually Alphonse Areola who pulled his weight and made sure Real exited Santiago Bernabeu without a chastening defeat.

Super-sub

Zidane revealed in the post-match press-conference that Thibaut Courtois had to be substituted due to some sort of discomfort. The Belgian simply couldn’t continue and the coach was forced to make the change.

But it was still a brilliant move and exactly what the doctor had ordered for the Galacticos.

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

Courtois conceded some sloppy goals in the first half, that much was even acknowledge by Zidane himself who called the first goal “a joke”, while Areola came in and made a brilliant save, making sure Real Madrid didn’t go 3-0 down.

If that had happened, it would likely have been game over for Los Blancos. But the loanee from PSG performed when he was called into action and this should already be posing some serious questions to the big boss on the sidelines.

Areola ended the game with one save from inside the box, 92% passing accuracy and with a total of 18 touches.

And even though Real conceded two, none rattled the inside of the net while the Frenchman was on the pitch, meaning he already has two clean sheets to his name in the two games he played so far for his new club across all competitions.

Courtois appeared to be turning a corner after back-to-back clean sheets having previously gone without one since February, but the contrasting fortunes of both goalkeepers on Tuesday night should really have Zidane thinking about who continues between the sticks for Real Madrid going forward.

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…

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has spoken to BBC Africa about his failed attempt to leave the club back in the summer.

The Ivory Coast international was the subject of interest from Arsenal and Everton, and was said to be ‘devastated’ after no such move materialised – Zaha had even handed in a transfer request.

Since then, the former Manchester United man has appeared in all eight of the Eagles’ Premier League games – Zaha hasn’t found the back of the net, but has registered one assist.

What did he say?

Speaking to BBC Africa after picking up an award for ‘Philanthropic Endeavour’, Zaha said: “I had to put my head down and play my football.

“I would have been hindering my own progress by moaning and not wanting to perform properly.

“I have too much respect for my manager, the fans and my team-mates to treat them that way. It was a thing where ‘OK, this hasn’t happened but I’ve got to get on with it’.

“I had to nail down and just get on with it because the team deserved that.”

Oozes maturity and understanding

Any Palace fan who was annoyed with the forward’s antics in the summer simply cannot maintain that ill-feeling after reading Zaha’s comments.

It is evident that he respects Crystal Palace and those at the club, a place where he has risen from an academy graduate into arguably one of the greatest players to have ever pulled on the shirt.

Zaha is spot on. If he had downed tools and moaned, his chances of getting a move away would’ve become even slimmer, so it is in his best interests to knuckle down and get on with things.

The 26-year-old wants to better himself and perform in the Champions League – that much is evident in this interview with the player.

That isn’t a problem.

Causing a stir amongst the squad because he didn’t get his wish would be a problem, and while Zaha may have been entitled to throw a tantrum given the fact that it appears he was misled by Steve Parish and the board, the attacker has handled things with great maturity and understanding.

Jamie O’Hara’s public image isn’t the best nowadays ever since his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother and his ill-fated move to Billericay Town.

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However, it’s easy to forget that the midfielder has played for some top teams in his day.

Indeed, O’Hara has turned out for Tottenham, Fulham, Portsmouth and Wolves in his career, and he’s played with some supremely talented players.

Based on the midfielder’s Instagram story, he’s set to appear on Sky Sports to name his best XI made up of players he’s played with throughout his career, and he gave a sneak peak at what to expect.

Unsurprisingly, no Billericay Town players make O’Hara’s team.

Instead, it’s heavily made up with Tottenham stars, and when you look at the calibre of talent he played with at White Hart Lane it’s easy to understand why.

Champions League winners such as Luka Modric and Gareth Bale make the squad, while Premier League stalwarts such as Robbie Keane, Aaron Lennon and Ledley King also earn spots.

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…

Tony Cascarino believes Jack Grealish should be playing at a higher level than he is, and suggested that Tottenham would be the ideal place for him to play his football.

What did he say?

Spurs have been long-term admirers of the 24-year-old, who has a £60m buyout clause in his contract according to The Mirror, and have attempted to sign him on numerous occasions, with the midfielder admitting that he could have joined the club in summer 2018.

Instead, he stayed with his boyhood club and captained Villa to promotion, and since then he has continued to impress.

A fine performance against Brighton at the weekend was commended by Cascarino, and Grealish now has two goals and three assists in nine league games, which suggests he is adjusting to life back in the top-tier rather well.

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Despite the interest from Tottenham seemingly fading, with a focus on other targets such as Isco and Bruno Fernandes, the former Villa striker believes he’d be a good fit in north London.

In his column for The Times, he wrote: “Grealish will test Aston Villa’s ambitions sooner rather than later.

“A midfielder with his talent should be playing Champions League football. He would not look out of place in midfield for Tottenham, who did not push the boat out to sign him in August.”

Champions League level?

Whilst Grealish has shown his quality on numerous occasions in the past, his failure to do it on a consistent basis is what will hold him back from the Champions League, and perhaps England too.

He is a wonderful player to watch because of his flair and ability to beat a man – with an average of two successful dribbles per league game in 2019/20 – but he lacks end product.

Last year was his most successful in that regard, with six goals and seven assists, but that came in the Championship.

Spurs are already struggling due to the drop in form of players like Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Lucas Moura – who have four goals between them this term – and therefore they can’t afford another player who lacks reliability like Grealish.

The Villa man works well as the big fish in a small pond, he is often to go-to man for his side and Dean Smith makes him the focal point of his plans – he receives an average of 29 passes per game – but he wouldn’t get the same luxury at Tottenham, so it is probably wise they chose not to sign him.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, John Hartson made comparisons between the recent success of Tottenham and the Arsenal side of the previous ten years, suggesting that both clubs deserve credit for what they have been able to achieve under immense financial strain.

The two teams have each moved into new, state of the art stadiums whilst continuing to build success on the pitch, and although Spurs remain without a trophy since 2008, they were able to record a world record profit of £113m despite the stadium build.

Despite that, some Spurs fans remain frustrated at Daniel Levy for what they consider a lack of spending, perhaps feeling that wage budget constraints limit the type of players they are able to sign, or hold onto.

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However, others have praised some of the work done by the Tottenham chairman, and Hartson believes that acknowledgement should also be given to their fierce rivals.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “If you praise Levy, you’ve got to praise one or two others for doing similar jobs as well.

“They’ve been able to manage the club and remain successful while they’ve built the new stadium. Like Arsenal did 10 years ago. It’s a carbon copy of Arsenal.”

A new stadium isn’t the only similarity they share with their neighbours. For all the improvements of recent years and the four consecutive years of Champions League qualification, they have no silverware to show for it.

The Gunners similarly went on a barren run between 2005 and 2014 yet qualified for Europe’s elite competition in each of those years.

“They won FA Cups but Pochettino hasn’t won anything. He [Arsene Wenger] continued to win FA Cups, he got the club in the Champions League for 22 seasons on the spin, which was remarkable. Arsenal were questioning Wenger about not buying anybody or spending any money, but they continued to be successful,” added the former striker.

“I think Spurs have been very unlucky not to win a trophy under Pochettino, who I think is a fantastic manager. But when you talk about Daniel Levy and what he tried to do, it’s exactly what the Arsenal board did with Arsene Wenger.”

There is still work to do for Spurs and Pochettino if they are to better the recent history of their north London rival, and until they win something the same questions and doubts will linger over the club.

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

Wolves failed to build on their impressive scalp of Manchester City last time out as they drew to Southampton at Molineux on Saturday.

Although, the result could have been very much in their favour after having two Raul Jimenez efforts chalked off due to VAR.

It was the visitors that opened the scoring eight minutes into the second half when Danny Ings capitalised on a Connor Coady blunder to rush through on goal and slot past Rui Patricio.

Wolves’ Mexican striker finally got on the scoresheet himself just after the hour mark as he dispatched from the penalty spot after Matt Doherty was felled by visiting skipper Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

But Nuno Santo limited the team’s attacking threat with one critical decision.

On the Chalkboard

In recent matches, Ruben Neves has faced the drop from Nuno’s starting line-up.

Following the 5-2 drubbing by Chelsea, the 22-year-old featured for 33 minutes off the bench in the dramatic draw with Crystal Palace and then played just three minutes in the Watford victory.

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He was recalled for the City win last time out and even managed to keep his place for this game, but he’s not been as influential as last season.

The reason for which could be down to just how deep Nuno is operating him this season, which is displayed through WhoScored’s heatmap below against Southampton.

As you can see, Neves barely crosses the halfway line, which seems daft for a player that has contributed ten goals and four assists from midfield over the previous two seasons.

The Portuguese boss needs to play him further forward again so that the team can reap the rewards from his attacking prowess.

His lessening impact is only further reinforced when delving into Understat’s xG model, where he has regressed in every single statistic, which is surely a consequence of him playing an anchorman role this season.

Last campaign, Neves recorded an xG of 3.39 at an average rate of 0.10 per 90 minutes, but now that has decreased substantially to 0.03 per 90 minutes, meaning it’s improbable that he will be able to improve on that total.

The same goes for assists per 90 minutes too, that is down from 0.06 to 0.04 while shots per 90 minutes have decreased from 2.21 to 1.47.

To add to that, his key passes leading to a shot per 90 minutes is down too, meaning his deeper presence is affecting his ability to impact games and thus is surely detrimental to the Wolves squad as a whole.

This is undoubtedly an area that Nuno needs to resolve as quickly as possible.

Everton fans are devastated after news broke suggest the recent injury to Bernard is worse than was initially feared.The club have confirmed that the Brazilian suffered a grade 2 medial ligament injury during the game against Brighton & Hove Albion.There is no set return date right now as the medical staff wait for a further diagnosis from the knee experts at the club to ensure his fastest possible return.Prior to the injury against the Seagulls, Bernard was one of the few Everton players who had finally started to hit some form. His goal against West Ham United was his second in the Premier League this season and gave a glimpse into what the 27-year-old can offer Marco Silva.

The injury just adds to the harsh luck Everton are enduring this season, as Yerry Mina was sidelined last week as well. Also, against Brighton, a controversial VAR call allowed the home side to equalise, shortly before an unfortunate own goal from Lucas Digne lost the points in the dying seconds.

Some Everton fans have claimed this new injury could run them into the relegation zone, whilst others suggested it sums up their troubles this season.

Here’s what a select few have had to say…

It ended up being a bitterly disappointing Sunday for Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, it looked as though they would be leaving Merseyside with all three points thanks to Dele Alli’s opener. However, things started to go wrong when Son Heung-Min was sent off following his challenge on the Toffees’ Andre Gomes.

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And then, in injury time, Marco Silva’s side leveled proceedings through Turkey international Cenk Tosun. The game therefore ended 1-1, meaning that Spurs are now without a win in their last four Premier League games.

As such, it was not the best atmosphere for Ryan Sessegnon to make his debut for the Lilywhites, but Mauricio Pochettino decided to throw on the 19-year-old as he desperately looked for a winner. He signed for Tottenham in the summer, but the £31.5m-valued former Fulham teenager – as per Transfermarkt – has not yet been able to play due to injury.

It is fair to say that the north London outfit’s supporters were perplexed by the Argentinian’s decision to throw him on so late into the game.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Charlton fans have taken to Twitter to react after Manuel Pellegrini delivered an update on Josh Cullen’s loan spell at The Valley.

The West Ham boss dismissed the idea of recalling the Republic of Ireland international and Grady Diangana from their loan spells at Charlton and West Brom respectively, when asked the question in his press conference ahead of the weekend’s action.

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Cullen has been in fine form for the south Londoners once again this season having shone in their promotion campaign last term, with some fans even calling for his arrival on a permanent basis when in fact being asked about Jonathan Leko – that just shows how much he is valued by the supporters.

In Diangana’s case, the forward has shone for the Baggies with eight goal involvements in ten starts – Pellegrini’s update will presumably delight both West Brom and Charlton fans.

Let’s take a look at how the Addicks supporters on Twitter reacted to the news…

Leeds United face another tough test this weekend as they host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

On paper, a home game against the side 16th in the league should be rather straightforward, but with the Rovers pushing Preston to the limit and beating Sheffield Wednesday in their last two games, they shouldn’t take this lightly.

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Marcelo Bielsa has a number of things to consider ahead of this game, and here’s the lineup we think he should go with at the weekend.

The first thing to note is that the three at the back formation without wingbacks continues after their impressive win over QPR last week.

A three at the back may be exactly what Leeds need to counteract the threat posed by Blackburn’s Bradley Dack.

Kiko Casilla remains in goal as the club have confirmed that he will be available for selection despite the allegations that he racially abused a Charlton player earlier this season.

The back three also remains the same, Luke Ayling was impressive in his role last weekend, while Ben White and Liam Cooper should continue alongside him.

The central midfield spots also have no changes considering the injury problems Leeds have.

Of course, the argument is there to say that Mateusz Klich needs a rest, but with Jamie Shackleton and Adam Forshaw still out with injury it’s hard to say that Leeds have a viable way of replacing him in this one.

Why being the away goalkeeper at Leeds is the toughest job in football in the video below…

However, the line of three just behind the striker does have a change.

Tyler Roberts and Jack Harrison retain their spots after goalscoring performances against the R’s, while Pablo Hernandez gets his first start since his injury against Derby as he’s had enough time to get up to speed. That means that the £10.8m-rated Helder Costa will be dropped to the bench.

Up top, Patrick Bamford starts as Eddie Nketiah’s ongoing injury concerns mean that he’s the only senior striker available for selection.