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This summer might not have been exactly what Wilfried Zaha had in mind at the beginning of the transfer window, but for now he will have to stay put at Crystal Palace.

Of course, handing in that transfer request on the eve of the deadline day made things that much more obvious but his relationship with the squad and the club as a whole appears to be fine nonetheless.

And his latest social media activity might just confirm that as Zaha seems to be proceeding with his life at Palace as usual.

Recently, he shared an impressive

/B1HUhbCnBOW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram video from the training grounds at Crystal Palace that saw him make a lovely combination with Benteke and finishing the action off cleanly.

He even captioned it as “On a plate”, inserting an emoji of a plate with a fork and a knife instead of typing it out.

Even though we can’t say for certain what’s currently going on within the club, these kinds of video can maybe hint towards him still being focused on working hard for his current employers.

However, it remains to be seen what’s going to happen in the future.

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Arsenal face Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as both sides look to maintain their 100% records this season. In an attempt to get something out of the game, Unai Emery should make a key formation change, with David Luiz particularly in mind.

On the chalkboard

In both games against the Reds last season, the Gunners played with a 4-2-3-1 formation. In the first game, at home, they were able to get a 1-1 draw, but in the return fixture at Anfield they were easily dispatched 4-1.

On the whole, last season was a disappointment from an Arsenal point of view. They finished fifth in the Premier League and were easily second-best in the Europa League final against Chelsea. There were a host of new signings during the summer, including Luiz, who signed from west London. And his arrival could allow his manager to make a key formation change that would help the Gunners this weekend.

Could Gabriel Martinelli become Arsenal’s star striker in the not too distant future? Deluded Gooner thinks so in the video below…

Luiz can excel as part of three centre-backs

4-2-3-1 formation was used in both games against the European champions last season, and it was Emery’s favourite formation throughout the campaign. However, he did choose to play three central defenders on 18 occasions and the Gunners did well, claiming 13 victories. That included wins against Napoli, Valencia and Tottenham.

So clearly it was a formation that worked, and now it could be even more effective with Luiz. Since returning to Stamford Bridge from PSG in 2016, his best term was when he played as part of a trio under Antonio Conte. During that first season back in London in 16/17, Chelsea won the Premier League with an impressive haul of 93 points.

That set-up allows the former Benfica man to take risks whilst being covered by two teammates. His passing capabilities are well-known to fans in England and abroad – since 2015, he has registered a pass of accuracy of below 85% in just one season – and this line-up allows him to be slightly more adventurous.

A back three will also help combat Liverpool’s attacking threat. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino scored 68 goals in all competitions between them last year, but with an extra defender, Arsenal may just be a little harder to break down – eating up the central space Salah and Mane like to ghost into.

Three centre-backs may not be Emery’s preference, but it could help him get a result against Jurgen Klopp and co, and Luiz would be vital to its success.

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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…

After seeing all the excitement of an opening-day win over rivals Chelsea fade into a distant memory, Manchester United head to Southampton on Saturday with a lot to prove.

The Red Devils’ creditable 1-1 draw away at Wolves was overshadowed by the infamous penalty saga, and all sense of a good start to the Premier League campaign firmly disappeared with an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

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Heading into the game at St. Mary’s, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must contend with some serious injury concerns as he looks to kick his side back into gear. Keeping that in mind, here is a look at how United could potentially line up against the Saints.

Despite a costly error in the dying stages last time out, David de Gea will remain United’s number one. In front of him, the majority of the back-four should stay the same, but an injury to Luke Shaw will bring about an enforced change. The much-maligned Ashley Young came on as a substitute for the England international at Old Trafford last weekend, and barring an incredible show of faith in teenager Brandon Williams, will likely get the nod at St Mary’s.

For all the drama surrounding Paul Pogba at the moment, the Frenchman has been one of United’s better players in the opening stages of the campaign. He was imperious against Chelsea, and despite his penalty miss at Molineux, came out of the game with some credit. Alongside him, Scott McTominay should keep out Brazil international Fred once more.

Further forward is where Solskjaer could really ring the changes. Jesse Lingard has become a laughing stock for his lack of contribution to the side, and his anonymous performances could finally see him dropped. That decision could see veteran play-maker Juan Mata enter the fray from the start, whilst Anthony Martial’s injury will force a further reshuffle.

Marcus Rashford will surely get the nod to play as the side’s number nine, whilst Daniel James may switch over from the right-flank to a more familiar role on the left-hand side. As such, it could result in just a second league start for 17-year-old prodigy Mason Greenwood. The teenager stole the show on the club’s pre-season tour this summer and has already made himself a firm fan favourite.

If Solskjaer does make these popular changes for the clash on Saturday, there will be no doubting the travelling faithful will feel confident of getting a positive result.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

For quite some time now, one of Barcelona’s biggest concerns has been the question of the right-back position. Should it be occupied by Nelson Semedo or Sergi Roberto? A player with defensive issues or a player with attacking issues? Neither solution seemed ideal so Ernesto Valverde played them both.

Sometimes Roberto would start and sometimes it would be Semedo’s turn.

But this year, it was supposed to be different. This year, Barcelona would finally have their go-to right-back without any question.

The spot would belong solely to the Portuguese and this was already evident in the first three games Blaugrana played as the Spaniard featured in the middle of the pitch rather than in defence.

But Valverde seems to be forgetting that he also has a third option available: the young 20-year-old Moussa Wague, who was just recently officially promoted to the senior team.

He is still eagerly waiting for his chance to shine and unfortunately for him, the last game against Osasuna might have been a clear sign that Valverde doesn’t really count on him, for now at least.

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Wague wasn’t called up for the first two games in Barcelona’s new 2019/20 La Liga season and when he finally joined the squad on their trip to Pamplona to face Osasuna, he remained chained to the bench.

Usually, this wouldn’t be such a worrying thing. After all, he’s a newly promoted young defender with no real experience with the senior team and Barcelona also faced a tricky opponent. So in that way, Valverde does have an excuse of a sort. But what is worrying is what happened on the stroke of half-time.

Semedo was extremely poor in that game and he had to be substituted at half time. But instead of looking at Wague, who’s a natural replacement, Valverde decided to slot Roberto back into the right-back position, despite him clearly being just a make-shift defender. Wague sat patiently on the bench, pondering when his opportunity would arise.

Granted, it would’ve been a tough game for the 20-year-old to make his debut in the new campaign, but what kind of a message does this send to him?

If Semedo performs and impresses the coach, he will undoubtedly play; if he fails and is poor, Valverde will just put Roberto back into the fold despite the fact it’s not a natural position for him.

Either way, Wague can’t seem to win and Valverde is wasting the potential of such a talented young right-back. If he had no intention of playing Wague even when Semedo was withdrawn, then why pull him out of the B team?

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with him in the future but, so far, it seems that Valverde is very much missing a trick with a high-potential player who could bring something new to the table.

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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 Charlie Nicholas is ‘amazed’ that Crystal Palace have offered Christian Benteke a new contract.

Nicholas made the revelation in his Premier League predictions column for this weekend’s round of fixtures, in which he tips the Eagles to come out of their game against Aston Villa at Selhurst Park with a 1-1 draw.

Benteke has reportedly been offered a new deal along with James Tomkins, as the Belgium international has under 12 months remaining on his current terms.

What did he say?

Nicholas said: “I saw them win at Man United, but where did that come from? Jordan Ayew was so composed with the first goal, and they will always be well-drilled under Roy Hodgson.

“I am amazed that Christian Benteke has been offered a new contract.”

Has every right to be amazed

It looked like money well spent when Benteke hit 17 goals in his first season as a Palace player, following a club-record £27m move from Liverpool, although things have turned sour very quickly.

Since that campaign, the former Villa man has scored just four goals in red and blue, all whilst earning a reported salary of £120k-a-week to make him the south Londoners’ third-highest earner behind Wilfried Zaha, who gets £10k more per week, and Max Meyer who earns £125k-a-week.

Given his huge salary and minimal contribution over the last two seasons, Palace should probably just cut their losses on the forward and wave goodbye to him, even more so now that Jordan Ayew looks to have taken his place in the side – the Ghanaian was named ahead of Benteke for the win at Old Trafford.

To be in such dismal form – if you can ever call it form anymore, that is – and be rewarded with a new deal is a ludicrous move from the south London-based side, and Nicholas has every right to be amazed at their baffling decision.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Loan Watch series, which takes a closer look at those players who are aiming to galvanise their careers away from the spotlight of their parent club.

It’s been two years since Dani Ceballos originally joined Real Madrid from Real Betis. It was a big transfer for a young and talented midfielder who had plenty to prove in a much bigger team.

But somehow, the now 23-year-old never truly found his footing and in the last summer transfer window he was shipped off to Arsenal on loan.

And, since leaving the Spanish capital, something has clicked and the young Spaniard has been enjoying himself in north London.

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So far, he’s played four games for Unai Emery’s Arsenal in the new 2019/20 Premier League campaign, starting two of those and coming on as a substitute in the other two. But he’s been extremely proficient, too.

In those four games, he already tallied two assists and averaged 1.3 key passes, 1.8 dribbles, 86.7% passing accuracy and even 1.3 shots per game. These are impressive stats that illuminate his ascendancy since landing in England, and his dynamic-shifting impact from the bench in the north London derby also proved his appetite for the big occasion, as he recorded two shots, two key passes and 89.5% passing accuracy in an electric cameo.

Just for comparison’s sake, in 2018/19 for Real Madrid, he averaged one key pass, 0.6 dribbles, 92.6% passing accuracy and one shot per game. Granted, that’s over a much bigger sample of games but Ceballos is definitely off to a great start at the Emirates.

Particularly impressive was his first Premier League start against Burnley. In that game, he tallied two assists, three shots, three key passes, 90% passing accuracy and a total of four dribbles. By anyone’s standards, he was Arsenal’s top performer on the day.

He may not have found his groove at Real Madrid but this loan spell seems to be doing him the world of good thus far.

If he continues progressing and improving steadily, Zinedine Zidane might be looking at a serious reinforcement to restore to his ranks in 2020.

Maybe a spark of creativity and youth would do the current Real Madrid a lot of good.

Only time will tell, though.

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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 European transfer window closed at the beginning of September, and it was quickly apparent just how much competition for places there will be in Tottenham’s midfield these next few months.

Not counting the defence or the centre-forward position held by Harry Kane, Mauricio Pochettino has to pick his remaining options from Son Heung-Min, Lucas Moura, Ryan Sessegnon, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Giovani Lo Celso, Moussa Sissoko, Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Winks, Eric Dier, Oliver Skipp and even Victor Wanyama.

Alli was once guaranteed a spot in the north London outfit’s XI – 34 Premier League starts in 2017/18 and 35 in 2016/17 is proof of that – but it could be a very different story now.

Son and Eriksen – the latter of whom Pochettino hinted on Thursday deserves to be playing – look to be favoured options, while you would imagine that summer additions Ndombele and Lo Celso could be regulars seeing as the former is Spurs’ club-record signing and they have an option to buy the latter.

That still leaves Lamela – who has started all four of their Premier League matches in 2019/20 – and Sissoko and Winks, who have also been in the XI for every top flight match this term and who chalked up 85 appearances between them during the previous campaign.

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So where does all that leave Alli?

Well, the England international only made his return from a hamstring injury against Arsenal before the international break, where he had to settle for a place on the substitutes’ bench followed by a 30-minute cameo at the Emirates.

Another reason the 23-year-old could be in danger of being the odd man out is the fact he simply has failed to replicate the brilliant form he showed in 2016/17 with 22 goals and 13 assists, and 2017/18 when he scored 14 goals and provided a further 17 assists.

Seven goals and eight assists last term wasn’t disastrous, but it was nowhere near the previous standards the £81m-rated star had set for himself.

Now he faces a serious battle for a spot in the XI, and unless he really steps things up he could be the surprise odd one out with so many defensive and attack-minded options available to Pochettino.

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino will kill two birds with one stone if he hands Eric Dier his first start – and minutes – of the season against Leicester City on Saturday.

On the chalkboard

Spurs showed their defensive vulnerabilities again during the week as Olympiacos fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in Athens, and it has been a familiar theme for the north London outfit this season.

They did exactly the same against arch-rivals Arsenal earlier this month, while they also fell behind against Aston Villa and Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – they rescued a win in the former but suffered a shock defeat in the latter.

It is clear that the defence needs more midfield protection and that something needs to be done about it, and Dier could be the man to fix the issue.

Defensive shield

The England international appears to often divide opinion among the Spurs faithful, but there is no doubt that he would provide that backline with the protection it sorely misses when the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko play in central midfield.

He would also bring that positional discipline that can be missing from those players who aren’t out-and-out defensively-minded.

Yes, the 25-year-old needs to improve when in possession of the ball even if his average passing success was 84.9% in the Premier League in 2018/19 according to WhoScored, but he can also be important when it comes to making those all-important tackles and interceptions, 1.3 and 1.1 respectively per game on average last term.

More flexibility to change system in-game

As well as acting like a shield in front of the back four, the great thing about Dier is that because of his versatility, he can also drop back in-between Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen to form a three-man partnership at centre-back, with his presence allowing Danny Rose and Serge Aurier even more freedom to get forward as wing-backs.

The latter in particular was hugely effective against Crystal Palace last time out with one assist and another cross that Patrick van Aanholt put into his own net, but he may not have the same attacking freedom away from home against a side like Leicester if Winks and Sissoko were in central midfield.

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It would be a different story with the deep-lying Dier though, with the counter-attack a potentially useful option for Spurs at the King Power on Saturday.

Even though the transfer window is now firmly behind us, the titans of European football are always on the lookout for possible deals. And according to The Daily Mail, Barcelona might cast their gaze upon Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling in the future. If true, this could spell trouble for a certain 22-year-old winger already within Blaugrana’s midst.

What’s the word then?

Ousmane Dembele’s career at Barcelona has definitely been a strange one so far.

He is still Blaugrana’s second-highest transfer in the history of the club, only behind another failed project, Philippe Coutinho. But even though that meant he was supposed to be their next big thing, the Catalans are very much still waiting for his full arrival at the scene.

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This was, of course, highly affected by the constant injury woes that kept him from showing his true colours. Last season, the Frenchman missed out on a total of 13 games due to three different fitness issues.

But if those injuries won’t end his Blaugrana tale, Sterling just might as The Daily Mail state that Barcelona could up their interest for the 24-year-old winger once Xavi Hernandez takes over the team in the not so distant future.

The beginning of the end

Sterling wasn’t always this prolific forward that’s now tearing up the Premier League.

Earlier in his career, the 24-year-old Englishman was known for his troubles in converting the chances and slotting in the goals. Pep Guardiola himself addressed that issue back in November 2018 when he said:

“The first season, he was scared [in front of goal], he was looking [and thinking], ‘Who is the guy I am going to pass the ball to?’. “He was not looking [to score even though] the keeper was there. We spoke about that and said, ‘Try to score goals’.”

The numbers also don’t lie either – in 2015/16, Sterling only managed to net 11 goals to his name, and the season after that, in 2016/17, he tallied only ten.

While those are not bad numbers by any means, they do seem silly when we compare them to 25 just last campaign and his current tally of seven in a total of eight games across all competitions in 2019/20. His transformation from a goal-shy forward to a goal-machine has been extraordinary.

With all of that being said, it’s easy to see why Barcelona are interested in him, and how his potential arrival could push Dembele completely out of the picture.

After all, it was Xavi himself who once dubbed Sterling as one of the players who “can be the world’s best” in the future. For that reason, Daily Mail’s claim that the Spaniard might push for his transfer once he’s in charge of Blaugrana suddenly doesn’t seem like another generic transfer fairytale.

Can Dembele really compete with that when he’s already struggling for regular football at the Catalan capital?

Only time will tell.

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Leeds have been busy tying down players to new contracts at the club over the past couple of weeks.

Senior members Kalvin Phillips, Stuart Dallas and Liam Cooper all penned extended stays at Elland Road before Stuart McKinstry and Charlie Cresswell agreed to updated terms.

However, a further trio have now been handed new deals. The names in question are Bryce Hosannah, Pascal Struijk and Kun Temenuzhkov – three rising stars of the academy.

Leeds’ U23 side have been in great form this term and have only lost one game so far this season. They even thrashed Watford 6-0.

New contracts for the aforementioned trio provoked different reactions from Leeds fans as one described it as great news.

A further individual said they couldn’t wait to see Struijk get unleashed while another noted the difference between Andrea Radrizzani and Massimo Cellino, claiming the latter would have had them washing his car.

Temenuzhkov, meanwhile, earned a comparison to Sergio Aguero.

He and Struijk were signed from Barcelona and Ajax respectively. Hosannah joined from Crystal Palace in 2017.

Here’s the best of the reaction from Twitter.