Manchester United secured victory over Leicester City in the Premier League’s opening fixture last night. Goals from Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw were enough to bring about a 2 – 1 win over the Foxes.

After a tricky summer, during which Jose Mourinho looked to miss out on several key targets, this early success appears to have lifted the mood at Old Trafford.

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The Portuguese boss was an animated figure on the touchline throughout the match, relentlessly urging his Red Devils on. His passionate antics and celebrations delighted many United fans who want to see more of the same now from the manager. 

With a long, hard season ahead, and a big task in chasing down Manchester City facing them, this good start was vital. Mourinho will hope that both Pogba and Shaw can now kick on in their United careers after getting on the scoresheet early on.

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Plenty of United fans were quick to get on Twitter after the match to voice their support for Mourinho and wish him well for the campaign ahead.

After a fairly busy transfer market, Liverpool can be pretty pleased with the business they’ve completed over the summer.

Although they only brought in four new players, three of those will be instant starters while Xerdan Shaqiri will be a crucial player to come off the bench to fill that hole left by Philippe Coutinho.

Moroever, Jurgen Klopp will’ve been ecstatic with Liverpool’s first game of the season which saw them demolish West Ham 4-0.

Within that performance, Naby Keita was outstanding. If he can keep that level of performance up over the season, The Reds look set to have got one hell of a player on their hands.

While the club have sorted their short-term future with those four signings over the summer, Liverpool already have one eye on the future.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool have beaten Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City to the signing of Ajax youngster, Ki-Jana Hoever.

The Breakdown

The 16-year-old full-back hadn’t signed a professional deal with Ajax meaning that Liverpool will only have to pay a compensation fee for the youngster.

Hoever was highly-rated at Ajax and although he has played most of his games at right-back, according to the report his future is in the middle of defence.

With both Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Virgil Van Dijk approaching 30, Hoever may have a clear pathway to the first-team in the next few years.

While it’s a great signing for the future, it’s not one that’s going to affect the first-team’s chances of winning silverware this season.

Liverpool fans- thoughts? 

Leicester have played well this season and certainly look like continuing in a strong fashion, though there are some obvious problems in their side. 

Their new signings look to fit straight into the team as Leicester continued to go at Manchester United from the start. Results will soon come for Claude Puel and his team because of their quality but their team could have been even stronger this season, should they have kept Harvey Barnes as a squad player. 

The midfielder was shipped out on-loan to Championship side West Brom this summer, a move that has so far been extremely successful.

The 20-year-old has been in fine form on his way to scoring 2 goals in his first 3 league appearances, a record brilliant for a player just getting used to the league. One of those goals includes an early contender for goal of the season as his long-range strike on the opening day against Bolton was simply outstanding and a testament to his ability and potential. 

Last season Barnes really began to show Leicester what a talent he could be, having firstly scored 5 goals in 7 U23’s games and then when sent out on-loan to Barnsley, the productive midfielder scored 5 goals and provided 4 assists in 23 outings.

Given the way he has conducted himself and proven his potential in the Championship thus far, maybe Harvey Barnes could have been a top youngster to utilise within the squad. Leicester do have an array of attacking talent but another homegrown player could do their side no harm. 

Do you agree or is a loan spell the best thing for Harvey Barnes… Let us know! 

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has said that want-away defender Dedryck Boyata could play in the club’s Europa League play-off tie against Suduva on Thursday, and Bhoys fans have been quick to react to the news.

The Belgium international has been heavily linked with a move away from the club following an impressive World Cup campaign for Belgium, and Rodgers hinted that the 27-year-old refused to play in their Champions League tie against AEK Athens last week even though Boyata said he was not fully fit.

The actions of the centre-back and his agent mean he is not very popular among the Celtic Park faithful right now, but the situation has certainly been made more complicated by the fact that the likes of Kris Ajer, Jozo

Simunovic and Jack Hendry are really struggling at the heart of the defence in Boyata’s absence.

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Celtic supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on Rodgers’ comments, and while one said “he must go” when talking about Boyata, another said “we need to get him on a 3-year contract and then punt him”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

The majority of Liverpool fans were satisfied with the club’s summer transfer business.

However, it seems that some supporters would like a new defender to join Jurgen Klopp’s revolution.

Virgil van Dijk has certainly improved the back line following his January switch from Southampton, but the centre-back pairing is still far from secure.

Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are the current options for Klopp, but some Liverpool fans think that he can do better by making a move for Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles.

The centre-back has been linked to the Merseyside outfit before, but a group of supporters believe that a deal could be sealed in January due to the fact that the defender was left out of Rafael Benitez’s squad against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

According to the Daily Mail, Lascelles was dropped from the squad after he disapproved of Benitez’s decision to play three at the back for the visit of the Blues.

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The report claims that the Englishman wanted to be in the centre of the back three and took issue with being told to play on the right.

On Twitter, some Liverpool fans believe that their club should jump in when he transfer window reopens in January.

Everton ended the summer transfer window with a flurry of impressive signings, but who was the Toffees’ best signing?

Everton fans were fearing the worst as the transfer window drew to a close on the dawn of the new season, as going into the final few days of the window the Toffees had signed just two players.

The deadline day rush brought Yerry Mina, Bernard, Andre Gomes and Kurt Zouma to Merseyside though, following the earlier deals for Richarlison and Lucas Digne.

Richarlison has no doubt made the best start to his Everton career, despite his red card against Bournemouth, but who will prove to be the best signing of the summer?

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Lucas Digne will certainly be in with a shout if he becomes the long-term successor to Leighton Baines, while Yerry Mina and Kurt Zouma will definitely have a part to play this season with how thin the centre back ranks are.

One player who may not find a spot is Bernard, as the Brazilian is unlikely to dislodge Richarlison from the left wing and equally unlikely to take Gylfi Sigurdsson’s spot as the number ten.

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So, Everton fans, what do you think? Who is your signing of the summer? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

According to TEAMtalk, Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis wants to bring free agent Bakary Sako to the Riverside Stadium, but will face competition from Aston Villa.

What’s the story?

Boro were said to be confident of securing a deal for Yannick Bolasie during the summer, but ultimately missed out to Villa in the race to sign the attacker.

Pulis is believed to want another forward to boost his squad, and according to TEAMtalk, the experienced boss is eyeing a move for Sako.

The 30-year-old has been linked with a number of clubs since leaving Crystal Palace on a free transfer at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

The majority of the interest has come from the Championship, and it is not a surprise that Boro want to sign the experienced attacker for the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign.

Should Boro move for Sako?

The Mali international moved to the English game in 2012 – joining Wolverhampton Wanderers from Saint-Etienne.

Sako scored 38 times in 124 appearances for Wolves before joining Palace, and he netted twice in 20 Premier League matches during his first season at Selhurst Park.

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The attacker actually scored six times in 19 appearances for Palace last term, which is a strong record, but was deemed surplus to requirements at the end of the season.

Sako might not be on the radar of Premier League clubs, but he has a record of 24 goals and 21 assists in 78 Championship appearances, and there is no question that second-tier defences would fear coming up against the powerful attacker.

It remains to be seen whether Boro – second in the Championship to Leeds United – can secure Sako’s signature, but it could well make them favourites for the title if they manage to pull it off.

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Rangers have enjoyed an impressive start to the new season, although their momentum was halted prior to the international break following a narrow defeat in the first Old Firm game of the season.

That loss to Celtic should not dampen the spirits of Steven Gerrard’s side though and the fans can be encouraged by some positive performances during the international break, where one player, in particular, caught the eye.

Goalkeeper Allan McGregor was named as the starter for Scotland for their inaugural UEFA Nations League clash against Albania, replacing Craig Gordon from the friendly drubbing at the hands of Belgium, and played a key part in the result.

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McGregor kept a clean sheet as Scotland secured a 2-0 victory to get their campaign in the competition off to the ideal start and Rangers fans took to social media to praise the display from the 36-year-old.

We have gathered some of the best reactions to his performance below.

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According to Le 10 Sport, Manchester United are amongst the number of big name European clubs to have made contact with Flamengo over Lucas Paqueta.

What’s the story?

The aforementioned report claims that PSG, Barcelona and AC Milan are all also in the hunt for the 21-year-old.

The attacking midfielder has been in stellar form of late and is beginning to add end product in terms of goals and assists to his game too. 

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The youngster already boasts exquisite technique and no shortage of confidence. His dynamic, attacking style, combined with his flair and fearlessly tricky dribbling could see him have a huge impact in the Premier League.

There are flaws in his game to iron out – occasional selfishness and inconsistent finishing, for instance – but Paqueta is certainly a potential star of the future. United would be wise to do all they can to beat off the competition and secure the Brazilian’s signature for themselves.

Gambling on Paqueta

Paqueta’s arrival at Old Trafford could provide an injection of a lot of the qualities that are currently in short supply in Jose Mourinho’s squad. A young, explosive No. 10, able to forge something out of nothing, is currently missing from the Red Devils’ ranks, while he is also capable of challenging Alexis Sanchez given he has played on the left side during his short career as well.

Equally, a switch to the Premier League giants would represent a huge step forward in Paqueta’s career. The opportunity to train, play and learn alongside the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku should aid the youngster’s development. 

Signing any young prospect is a risk, and with a Transfermarkt valuation of £13.5 million Paqueta likely wouldn’t come cheap. However, United have the financial might to be able to roll the dice on the playmaker’s potential and should do so.

According to The Evening Standard, Tottenham defender Danny Rose has claimed that his club have turned a corner after their victory over Brighton on Saturday evening. 

The victory ended a three match losing streak for The Lilywhites, something that manager Mauricio Pochettino has not endured since joining the club.

However, despite the victory, Tottenham players and fans should not get too ahead of themselves. After all, Brighton still had plenty of chances to draw, or even win the match at the Amex Stadium.

Furthermore, some Tottenham players still seem to be struggling for form. While it was an improved performance from the likes of Eric Dier and Harry Kane, the England captain still spurned some chances, which suggests that he is still not hitting the standards that he hit last season.

Rose certainly showed an improved performance from his early season form, but there is still the indication that this will be a testing season for The Lilywhites, as their players do not seem particularly energised after so many featured in the World Cup. In fact, it is players like Lucas Moura and Érik Lamela, who did not feature at the World Cup, who are making the greatest impact at the club this season, which could be an indication as to the state of the other players in the squad.

Tottenham face Watford in the League Cup on Wednesday, before travelling to Huddersfield at the weekend, hoping to build some momentum before hosting Barcelona in the Champions League next week.