Tottenham Hotspur had to dig deep to find all three points against Crystal Palace on Sunday, winning by a slender 1-0 margin at Wembley Stadium in the English Premier League.Son Heung-min was the goal hero of the afternoon, netting just after the hour mark with a superb shot from the edge of the box.After their exploits against Real Madrid mid-week, the home side were notably not at their peak with Roy Hodgson’s Palace providing a spirited performance that could have been rewarded with points on another day.Known for their attacking exploits in the top-flight, it was the turn of their defensive stars to shine with the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Eric Dier shining at centre-back, in front of a similarly impressive Paulo Gazzaniga, who was making his debut.Supporters were delighted with the contribution of their defenders and took to Twitter in the wake of the victory to pay tribute…

[ad_pod ]

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has struggled in front of goal of late, scoring just once in his last 10 matches.

It is stark contrast to the start of the season when the Belgian found the back of the net 11 times in his first 10 outings.

Lukaku is not in scintillating form at the moment, but he may not have a chance to rectify his goalscoring antics any time soon.

The Daily Mail reports that the United hitman could be issued with a three-match ban for an incident involving Brighton defender Gaetan Bong on Saturday afternoon.

Video footage showed the 24-year-old appearing to kick out at Bong with his right foot and then hitting him with his left.

The incident was not spotted by referee Neil Swarbrick at the time, but Lukaku could face retrospective action for violent conduct, which carries an automatic three-match ban.

If found guilty, the striker will miss Premier League games against Watford and Arsenal, as well as the derby clash against table-toppers Manchester City.

United fans have been tweeting their thoughts on the potential ban, and some would not miss him.

Leeds United moved back into play-off contention as they beat Queens Park Rangers 3-1 at Loftus Road on Saturday, but it wasn’t all good news as manager Thomas Christiansen told reporters that striker Caleb Ekuban may have suffered a recurrence of his previous injury, and Whites fans were quick to have their say on the news.

The Yorkshire outfit signed the 23-year-old centre-forward from FK Partizani during the summer, but he suffered a broken foot on his first Championship appearance for the club against Sunderland in August.

The striker missed 12 league games before making his return as a substitute in the win against Middlesbrough at Elland Road last month, while he had started their last three matches, including as a centre-forward at Loftus Road before being forced in the 38th minute with another potentially broken foot.

Leeds supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the update, and while one said he was “gutted”, another described it as “terrible news”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

[ad_pod ]

Everton posted quotes from new assistant manager Sammy Lee on their official Twitter account on Monday, and Toffees fans were quick to have their say on his comments.

The appointment of the 58-year-old to Sam Allardyce’s coaching team wasn’t met with particular acceptance from the Goodison Park faithful as they knew that Lee had not only played for arch-rivals Liverpool for 10 years, but had also been the assistant to Rafa Benitez between 2008-2010 before eventually leaving Anfield in 2011.

However, the former England international has now come out and said that “it’s an honour and a pleasure” to be working on the blue side of Merseyside, as he looks to improve his relationship with the passionate Toffees fans.

Everton supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the quotes, and while one said “I will take back what I initially said about him”, another said “he’s won me over there”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

An unconventional 3-1-4-2 system has been the driving force behind England’s march to the World Cup semi-final, but it would be naive to think the formation can work against every opponent.

And considering Croatia are the most challenging side England will have faced so far at the tournament in Russia, perhaps Wednesday is the opportune occasion for Gareth Southgate to try something a little different to cancel out their semi-final opponents’ strengths.

The predominant one is central midfield, through El Clasico duo Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric, and the obvious attempt to counter-act their influence would be toughening up England’s own engine room, bringing in Eric Dier for a more offensive-minded option like Jesse Lingard.

[ad_pod ]

As good as the Manchester United midfielder’s been at the World Cup, last time out grabbing an assist against Sweden, the priority is England’s progression through the tournament and which players are most suitable to the next game. Bearing that in mind, perhaps the sturdier Tottenham ace would have a more significant influence against Croatia.

England fans, which player would you start in midfield on Wednesday? Let us know by voting below…

[brid playlist=”4766″ player=”12034″ title=”World Cup 2018″]

Ex-Southampton and West Ham centre-back Jose Fonte is without a club after his contract at Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang was ended early by mutual consent.

What’s the story?

Fonte was sold by West Ham for £5m in February this year and played just nine games in all competitions in China, without winning a single league match.

Prior to joining the Hammers in January 2017, the 34-year-old had had spent seven years with Saints. He joined the club when they were in League 1 and achieved consecutive promotions to the Premier League, before being made captain in 2014.

According to Sky Sports, the Portuguese international would be keen on a move back to the Premier League, but Baggies boss Darren Moore may be able to convince him to move to the Championship as a replacement for Burnley target Craig Dawson.

Bags of experience

West Brom recently announced the capture of Swansea defender Kyle Bartley for what looks like a bargain fee of just £4m, but will most likely need to add more defensive recruitments after releasing Gareth McAuley and selling Jonny Evans to Leicester, especially if the wantaway Dawson gets his move.

Having started all four of Portugal’s matches at the World Cup this summer before they were knocked out by Uruguay and as a European Championship winner in 2016, Fonte would be a huge coup for West Brom if Moore could tempt him to the Hawthorns.

However, he has invaluable experience of the league and if he still has ambitions to play for Portugal, impressing in the Championship will do his reputation no harm. From a Baggies point of view, with no transfer fee involved, any attempt to sign him would seem relatively risk-free.

[brid playlist=”4766″ player=”12034″ title=”World Cup 2018″]

The Liverpool fans are happy with the business to sign Fabinho and Naby Keita but they still await a real partner for Virgil Van Dijk as Dejan Lovren has proven to be too inconsistent. 

The self-proclaimed “one of the best defenders in the world” Lovren has shown glimpses of his true ability during the World Cup leading Croatia to the World Cup final but his club form with the Reds have yet to reach those heights. One player who has been brilliant for club and country this season is Harry Maguire, a player that Liverpool should seriously look into signing. The £31.5 million rated defender was one of the stars for England as they reach the semi-finals of the World Cup and his form for Leicester was what earned him a call-up in the first place.

Maguire played every single minute of Premier League action for the Foxes, more than justifying his purchase from Hull City. The 25-year-old is rock-solid at the back but also loves to get forward with the ball to help build and support attacks, a real modern-day centre-back that could be a brilliant acquisition for Liverpool.

A partnership of Virgil Van Dijk and Harry Maguire would offer so much including pace, power, strength and passion. This centre-back pairing could cement their defensive woes of the past in order to allow the Reds to properly challenge for the Premier League title as well as domestic awards.

Liverpool, having got to the Champions League last season, are a few transfers away from being capable of building something special under Jurgen Klopp as the future is very exciting for sure. If they can land Maguire, it could be their best window in absolutely years.

Thoughts… Let us know!

Newcastle United fans are not experiencing the most exciting of summers with regards to the transfer window.

This time last year it was much the same, with club owner Mike Ashley failing to release significant funds for manager Rafael Benitez to spend in the market.

There seems to be a continuous sense of broken promises at St James’ Park when it comes to boardroom level.

The only activity that the Magpies have done so far is sign goalkeeper Martin Dubravka on a permanent deal, as well as recruit Ki-Sung yueng and Kenedy on a free transfer and loan respectively.

Questions have been raised over the future of Dwight Gayle following his disappointing season in front of goal.

The latest has come from The Chronicle’s chief Newcastle United writer Lee Ryder, who reported on Sunday that West Bromwich Albion have had a loan bid for the striker rejected.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”271323″ player=”12034″ title=”Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus on Football Manager”]

The news comes amid rumours that the Magpies are keen to sign the Baggies’ Salomon Rondon.

In the copy, the loan offer for Gayle was described as “cheeky”, which has sparked a reaction from some Newcastle fans on Twitter.

They feel that since their own club are trying to get cheap deals themselves, it is slightly hypocritical to criticise a rival for doing similar.

The West Ham fans are delighted with the clubs business so far but realise that a few more players need to be brought in to really allow a top 10 push at least. 

Having spent millions on seven new players, West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini are beginning to get set for their first Premier League campaign together. The Chilean has so far got all that he wanted, including record signing Felipe Anderson, who is sure to have an impact in London next season.

Now the Premier League winning manager is likely eyeing a bit of a striking improvement, and he’d struggle to find a better option than Divock Origi, who is valued at £9 million on Transfer Markt.

The Liverpool striker spent last season out on-loan with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, where he scored 6 league goals.

Despite finding life trickery thus far in England, a move to the Hammers could bring out the best in Origi as he could realise his true potential alongside a new attacking force of Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko, who would provide the wide support.

West Ham currently have limited forward options as Andy Carroll has once again been ruled out by injury and Javier Hernandez, a man they worked so hard to lure to the club last summer, simply hasn’t been good enough since he moved back to England. This leaves only Marko Arnautovic up-top who isn’t exactly a proper striker in the most obvious sense anyway.

Origi hasn’t had the easiest time of it at Liverpool, but his talent is clear. He has a great eye for a goal, and his pace, agility and technical ability collectively make him a standout talent. He’s raw, of course, he is, but a year under Mauricio Pellegrini could change that.

Clearly this demonstrates the need for another striker and Divock Origi fits Pellegrini’s criteria of being young and pacey at least.

Thoughts… Let us know!

With only three days left in the transfer window, it looks like there could be a couple of last minute deals still to happen.

While Arsenal have largely completed their transfer business already, Emery might be interested in bringing in one last player before the window closes.

News has emerged today that Arsenal defender Calum Chambers will be sent on loan to Fulham according to multiple reports.

Although the young defender recently signed a new four-year deal with Arsenal last month, he is apparently on the verge of joining Fulham on a temporary deal.

Adding to that, news has also emerged that Arsenal have joined Manchester United in the race for Bayern Munich defender, Jerome Boateng according to The Sun.

With Chambers leaving the club and Laurent Koscielny out with an achilles injury, Arsenal now have a defensive void they need to fill and Jerome Boateng could be the ideal man to fill it.

The Breakdown

In terms of Chambers, the young defender seems to be a part of Arsenal’s long-term plans but a loan away to a Premier League club could seriously help his development.

Sending him away for the season to improve his game and getting him back next year, seems a wise move if the club brings in a replacement for him.

Going into his first season with Arsenal, Emery could do with an experienced top class defender whom he can rely on as he embarks on his debut season in what looks like could be an extremely competitive top six fight.

What’s your opinion Arsenal fans?