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Southampton travel to north London this Saturday to take on an Arsenal side who aren’t in the best shape, to say the least.

Unai Emery’s side currently sit sixth in the Premier League table – one place behind Sheffield United – having won just four of their 12 league games so far this season.

Having said that, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side would be sat bottom of England’s top-flight were it not for Norwich’s ineptitude. The Saints have won just twice this season, while also conceding the most goals in the division with 29 in 12 games.

Hasenhuttl, formerly of RB Leipzig, can’t seem to settle on a consistent starting XI, while also shoving square pegs in round holes on numerous occasions – the Austrian played Stuart Armstrong, a natural midfielder, at right wing-back last time out.

In that respect, here’s the XI that we think Hasenhuttl should put out against an Arsenal side with definite weaknesses…

To begin with, we feel that Hasenhuttl has to bring Ryan Bertrand straight back into the starting XI following the end of his three-match suspension, purely due to the lack of left-back options at the club.

On the other side, Cedric Soares, who recently revealed his intention to leave at the end of the season, played at left wing-back last time out, although Hasenhuttl must restore him to his natural position on the right – again due to the lack of quality options in that area.

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Ahead of the back four, a defensive-midfield duo of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Oriol Romeu should provide enough cover for the backline.

In attack, we outlined how Sofiane Boufal will cause Calum Chambers some problems on the left flank given how much the Arsenal man – a graduate of Southampton’s academy – struggled against another tricky winger in Wilfried Zaha a few weeks ago.

Danny Ings – the Saints’ top-scorer with seven goals – must start up top, while £15m summer signing Moussa Djenepo should be given the nod out on the right flank having scored two Premier League goals this season.

Nathan Redmond – who has started ten Premier League games this season – should be dropped having seemingly reverted to type this term, having scored just one goal amid a string of ineffective performances.

Both Boufal and Djenepo seem like much more of a handful for defenders to contend with, and for that reason, Hasenhuttl should take the former Norwich man out of the firing line and stick him on the bench.

What a difference a month can make.

Having been more or less public enemy number one a little over a month ago at St Andrew’s, it looks as if things have started to turn themselves around for Pep Clotet.

There’s isn’t a better example of that, than for him to be nominated for the Championship Manager of the Month award, predominantly based off the team’s home form where they won every game in front of their fans during the month of October.

You do wonder if this is going to be big enough for him to finally be able to shake off that word ‘caretaker’ at the beginning of his job title?

Most people would see this as a positive for their club, but not all Birmingham supporters decided to take it that way because there were some rather contrasting views when his nomination was announced.

Whilst there were some who took the news for what it was, a sign of just how well Clotet did this month, others were less enthusiastic and somewhat shocked to see his name mentioned.

Find out a how a world-record-holding freestyler got on with the worst football in the world in the video below…

Odd how something as small as this can cause such divides amongst a fan base.

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…

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.

Of West Ham United’s defenders, it is understandable that Aaron Cresswell was the man to get the most attention following the victory over Manchester United.

The 29-year-old scored a sublime free-kick that beat David de Gea despite the Spaniard getting his hand to it, having not played a single Premier League minute since the opening day of the season, as per WhoScored.

However the full-back on the opposite side, Ryan Fredericks, also made an impact on the game before being replaced by Pablo Zabaleta in the 80th minute.

Fredericks worked well defensively, making 1 tackle, 2 interceptions and 2 clearances, as he came up directly against Daniel James for large parts of the game, with the Welshman having already scored 3 goals before this encounter.

It was important that the 26-year-old was defensively sound, as Issa Diop often struggled whenever he was pulled out into wide areas, as shown by the moment he toppled over James, having let the 21-year-old get in round him to nip the ball away – Fredericks’ impact ensured the Frenchman wasn’t put in this awkward situation too often.

He was also effective on the ball, completing 1 dribble and 81% of the passes he attempted throughout the match, which included some good link-up play with Andriy Yarmolenko.

The Hammers put in a brilliant performance against Man United, so there were various unsung heroes in this match, with Fredericks certainly being among those.

West Ham fans, how do you think Fredericks has started this season? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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West Brom will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to a ninth straight Championship game as they head to Loftus Road to face Queens Park Rangers.

It wouldn’t be too much of a shock to see plenty of goals in this fixture given that West Brom are yet to keep a clean sheet and the Rs have conceded in 88% of their matches.

Mark Warburton’s side are one place behind the Baggies in the table with only goal difference separating the two teams.

Neither team played in the Carabao Cup in midweek so they will be raring to go for this encounter.

But will Slaven Bilic make any significant changes to the side that is yet to taste defeat?

The Croatian will be buoyed by the returns of Kieran Gibbs, Hal Robson-Kanu and even Ahmed Hegazi from their respective injuries this weekend, but it is unlikely that any break into the starting XI.

Gibbs, in particular, faces a tough task to do so as academy graduate Nathan Ferguson has deputised emphatically, so much so that he could stake a claim on that position being his own – he has recorded two straight ratings above 7.00 by WhoScored.

Filip Krovinovic was drafted in against Huddersfield, but that appeared to be a mistake as Bilic hauled him off at half-time for Grady Diangana, who became the game-changer for the second time this season.

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The West Ham loanee is likely to start here this weekend which means Matheus Pereira is pushed back into the number ten role at the Croatian’s expense.

Upfront, bit-part man Kenneth Zohore could return to the fold as Charlie Austin still searches for his first league goal in a Baggies shirt.

The £8m summer arrival has started four of his seven appearances.

The rest of the squad is likely to remain very much the same as six players have started all eight of their Championship matches.

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Christian Eriksen produced an awful display only worthy of a 3/10 rating from Football London for Tottenham Hotspur in their midweek Champions League draw, and even though it should put him at risk of being dropped against Leicester on Saturday the truth is that Spurs can’t afford not to start him right now.

On the chalkboard

In recent seasons the north London outfit have often looked to the Dane and Dele Alli to provide that creative spark from the attacking midfield positions, with the former providing 86 assists and the latter 49 during their time with the club.

However, Alli only provided eight in 38 appearances in all competitions last term before missing the start of the current campaign through injury, while Eriksen’s future was firmly up in the air throughout August.

Still, neither player is at the top of their game now as their respective performances against Olympiacos on Wednesday showed, which leaves Mauricio Pochettino with a dilemma.

Eriksen must start

With the former MK Dons man still getting back to full fitness, his 27-year-old teammate has to continue being picked in the starting XI.

On the opening day of the season against Aston Villa for example, Eriksen was left on the substitutes’ bench before being introduced in the 64th minute when his side was trailing 1-0.

They went on to win 3-1 and the midfielder had three shots, made three key passes and put in eight crosses, according to WhoScored.

Likewise at home to Newcastle United he started from the bench, before being introduced just after the hour-mark with the hosts once again 1-0 behind.

This time he couldn’t influence the result, but two shots and two key passes were an indicator of the quality he has, which was backed up again when he found the net away at arch-rivals, Arsenal.

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Tottenham fans may well be getting frustrated at him when he doesn’t perform given his reported reluctance to stay at the club beyond his contract expiring next summer, but the simple fact is that because of the impact he can make, Spurs need him.

نجح فريق تشيلسي الإنجليزي في تسجيل هدف التقدم في مباراته الجارية حاليًا أمام أتلتيكو مدريد الإسباني في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويلتقي الفريقان في الوقت الحالي في إطار منافسات ذهاب دور الـ16 من البطولة.

وتُقام المباراة في العاصمة الرومانية بوخارست بدلًا من إسبانيا، بسبب قيود فيروس كورونا.

واستمر التعادل السلبي مسيطرًا على المباراة حتى الدقيقة 68، حيث سجل أوليفيه جيرو هدف تشيلسي الأول، بعد أن سدد الكرة بطريقة مقصية رائعة.

وألغى الحكم هدف جيرو، ثم لجأ إلى تقنية الفيديو للتأكد من صحته، ليتم احتسابه في النهاية. هدف جيرو الرائع أمام أتلتيكو مدريد

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Having clinched two new signings early on in the window in the shape of Swansea’s Daniel James and Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, things have quietened down on the Manchester United transfer front.

The Red Devils have reportedly been in talks to sign Harry Maguire and Sean Longstaff in recent weeks, but neither deal seems relatively close to being completed.

Now, speaking in his press conference, United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that if the club failed to make any new signings before the end of the window next month, he would believe in his current players to improve and would be sure that they could “do well”.

After hearing Solskjaer’s comments, United fans took to Twitter to voice their concerns and many were seemingly frustrated by the Norwegian’s stance.

Many expressed their frustrations that the Norwegian has simply become a “puppet” of the Glazers and felt that it was actually one of the main reasons behind him being hired as the new gaffer.

Some felt that Solskjaer’s words are “worrying” and that the side is “set up to fail” next season.

Either way, check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

كشف أحمد أبو عبلة، طبيب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، عن التشخيص المبدئي لإصابة علي معلول الظهير الأيسر، والتي منعته من استكمال مباراة بايرن ميونيخ اليوم في نصف نهائي كأس العالم للأندية.

وكان الأهلي قد خسر على يد بايرن ميونخ الألماني، بهدفين دون رد، ليضرب موعدًا مع بالميراس البرازيلي الخميس المقبل، لتحديد صاحبي المركزين الثالث والرابع بمونديال الأندية.

أول تعليق لـ محمد أبو تريكة على هزيمة الأهلي أمام بايرن ميونخ في كأس العالم للأندية

وأضاف: “فضلنا استبدال اللاعب في الشوط الأول بعد أن اشتكي من آلام الخلفية حتى لا تتفاقم الإصابة”.

وتابع: “الإصابة التي يعاني منها علي معلول الآن هي ثقل في العضلة الخلفية”.

وأوضح أن عملية تجهيز اللاعب بدأت عقب انتهاء مواجهة اليوم مباشرة، من أجل اللحاق بمباراة تحديد المركزين الثالث والرابع أمام بالميراس البرازيلي.

يذكر، أن الأهلي سيواجه بالميراس مساء الخميس المقبل، طامحًا في حصد ميدالية برونزية للمرة الثانية في تاريخه.