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Manchester United fans knew they were going to lose to Derby County the moment they saw defender Phil Jones walking up to take the eighth penalty kick of the shootout.

That is the feeling of many United fans on Twitter as they try to process the result from the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening that saw José Mourinho suffer defeat to Frank Lampard’s Rams.

The match headed to penalties after it finished as a 2-2 draw. A 95th minute equaliser by Marouane Fellaini kept United alive after it looked that Derby had snatched a victory with Jack Marriott’s late goal.

After eight successful penalties by Derby, Jones stepped up to try and make it 8-8 but goalkeeper Scott Carson kept the England international out, giving the Championship side a historic victory at Old

Trafford.

United fans, however, weren’t comfortable at all when Jones lined up the penalty and some even expected him to miss.

Here are some of the reactions to the miss from United fans on Twitter…

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Lots of Leeds fans have been discussing their injury problems ahead of the clash with Brentford, and fans are split on who should start at left-back.

Leeds’ lack of squad depth was a major concern at the end of the transfer window, and they have now suffered five first-team injuries.

Patrick Bamford is out until after Christmas with a knee problem, while Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernandez and Gaetano Berardi have been missing since the last international break, and now Barry Douglas is on the list as well.

The former Wolves wing-back has been exceptional since moving to Elland Road, grabbing three assists already this season, but left Tuesday’s win at Hull with a muscle problem.

Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed the Scottish international will not be available to face Brentford, which leaves the gaffer three options at left-back.

Stuart Dallas’ versatility could see the veteran midfielder shift back into defence, while Tom Pearce was very impressed when he emerged towards the end of last season.

Ezgjan Alioski is an outside shout as well, having played left back several times for Macedonia.

Bielsa’s decision could be crucial against Brentford’s pacey attack, but fans seem completely split on who should get the nod, and

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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Having only scraped to Premier League survival by the skin of their teeth last time out, Southampton needed to conduct some impressive summer business in order to ensure a smoother ride this season.

The Saints brought in five fresh faces this summer but have failed to make a bright start to the new campaign. The south coast club currently sit 16th in the table with just five points and a single win to their name. Mark Hughes needs his team to find form soon or else they could be condemned to another relegation scrap.

We asked Saints fans to rank their summer signings, and the top three emerged as follows…

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3. Stuart Armstrong

Southampton paid Celtic £7million in June to sign Armstrong on a four-year contract. The midfielder has since made himself a regular feature in the matchday squad at St Mary’s Stadium but has just made the one start in the Premier League so far.

A hard working and creative player, the 26-year-old Scotland international ought to make himself an asset to the Saints this season but whether he can greatly impact their fate in terms of survival is doubtful.

2. Jannik Vestergaard

After last season, Southampton needed to tighten up at the back. The arrival of the 6 foot 7 Dane has certainly made Hughes’ rearguard a more formidable proposition. Signed from Borussia Monchengladbach, the 26-year-old has immediately integrated into the starting XI. A big £18m fee for a big man; this deal demonstrated that the Saints were serious about improving their first team.

1. Danny Ings

It was always going to be Ings at the top of this list. The striker has joined Southampton on loan initially, but the switch will become permanent next summer. That’s big money well spent though, as long as the 26-year-old can stay fit. An in-form Ings could certainly fire the Saints to safety this season, but from the treatment room he can have no impact.

Fans are behind the once-capped England international though and he ran away with our vote, amassing almost 200 points more than the second-placed Vestergaard.

See the full results below

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The Daily Star reported earlier this month that Tottenham Hotspur were interested in signing Bournemouth centre-back Nathan Ake, with continued doubts over the future of Toby Alderweireld.

The Cherries star is one of the most in-form players in his position in the Premier League right now, having played a big part in their rise to sixth position in the top-flight table.

The Daily Star reports that the south coast outfit would likely demand at least £40m – double what they paid to sign him from Chelsea in 2017 – to even consider selling him, and it remains to be seen whether Daniel Levy and the club would be willing to pay that fee.

Meanwhile, Chelsea fringe man Andreas Christensen has been expressing his frustrations over a lack of first-team football under Maurizio Sarr, and suggested that he will need to evaluate his future if he continues to not be picked in the starting XI – he hasn’t played a single minute of Prmeier League football this term.

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The 22-year-old showed during the previous campaign under Antonio Conte – as well as during a loan spell with Borussia Monchengladbach – the defensive qualities that he has and how good he is in possession, and he would surely be a brilliant buy for someone if he did end up leaving Stamford Bridge.

We at Football FanCast suggested that he would be a better signing for the north London club than Ake and wanted Spurs fans to vote on our poll to tell us whether they agreed with our view, but remarkably a majority 55% would rather get the Dutchman, as you can see from the results below.

It is certainly confusing in many ways given Christensen has plenty of Champions League experience in his locker, but Tottenham supporters obviously like what they have seen from Ake and feel he has a bigger future ahead of him.

According to a recent report from Goal, Alberto Moreno could be set for a move away in the near future. The left back currently plays his football at Premier League side Liverpool and has done so since 2014, although he has slowly but surely been pushed out of first team reckoning in recent times by the brilliant Andrew Robertson.

And reports suggest that the four-times Spain international is no closer to agreeing a contract extension beyond the expiration of his current one at the end of the season, thus leaving him available on a free transfer come the summer, or potentially a cut-price deal in January.

And Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and manager Rafa Benitez should be very interested in these recent reports, as the former could help the latter solve a key problem in his Magpies squad by luring the linked-away Moreno to St James’ Park.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the full back department is one area of the Newcastle squad which appears to be lacking in genuine quality – the likes of Paul Dummett and DeAndre Yedlin are solid Premier League players, but not really anything more than that.

Add in the likes of Javier Manquillo and Achraf Lazaar, and it’s clear that further strength and quality is needed in those ranks if Benitez is to indeed take the Magpies forward, and perhaps improve upon their tenth place finish in the top-flight last season.

And while Moreno hasn’t always shone during his time at Liverpool, there is little doubting that the Spaniard would be an upgrade on the current full back options, not least fellow left backs Dummett and Lazaar.

The 26-year-old was a regular feature under ex-Reds boss Brendan Rodgers upon arrival at Anfield back in 2014, appearing 28 times in his first season in 2014/15 before adding four more to his tally to finish the 2015/16 campaign with 32 Premier League appearances to his name.

Yet the arrival of Jurgen Klopp saw the Spaniard fall away somewhat, to the point that midfielder James Milner filled in at left back instead of Moreno for much of the 2016/17 season, only for the latter to fight and win back his place in the early stages of the 2017/18.

Thus, the fact that he has continued to be in and around the first team picture at Anfield underlines that Moreno does indeed have the quality needed to succeed in the Premier League – he does have some defensive vulnerabilities, but he’s also very good going forward.

And in a Newcastle side that sometimes struggles for dynamism from the full backs, and overall are in need of further quality to pull themselves away from the relegation mire, a cut-price deal for Moreno in January should be of interest to manager Benitez, and indeed owner Ashley.

As such, the latter must seek to help the former solve a key problem in his Newcastle squad by luring Moreno away from Anfield come the New Year.

Newcastle fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Fulham slipped into the relegation zone of the Premier League after being soundly beaten by Cardiff City at the weekend. 

The Cottagers took an early lead through Andre Schurrle who struck from long range, but they were behind just ten minutes later after Josh Murphy and Bobby Reid found the back of the net. Ryan Sessegnon equalised soon after before goals from Callum Paterson and Kadeem Harris secured a valuable victory for the Bluebirds. Defeat sees Fulham slip into the bottom three in the Premier League table.

Fulham simply must improve defensively if they are to avoid a swift return to the Championship. In their previous two matches, the Cottagers had conceded eight goals, and their woes continued against a side who had previously been struggling to find the back of the net. Slavisa Jokanovic needs to identify potential targets who can improve their fortunes in the New Year.

One man he should shortlist is former Manchester United defender – Rafael. Valued at £8.1m by Transfermarkt, the Brazilian is currently playing in Ligue 1 with Lyon and made over 30 appearances last season. Rafael remains a useful rotation option for his club but has less than one year remaining on his contract with reports in the summer suggesting the French side were open to his sale.

With Timothy Fosu-Mensah sidelined with an injury, Rafael could be the perfect replacement for Ryan Fredericks who left for West Ham in the summer. The 28-year-old reads the game well, averaging 1.8 interceptions per game last season. His defensive ability, averaging 2.3 tackles per game in the league last year, could seriously help Fulham stop leaking goals (WhoScored).

Rafael already has experience of playing in the Premier League making him the ideal January addition.

Fulham fans, thoughts?

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Arsenal’s 11-game winning streak in all competitions came to an end this weekend with a draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The Eagles came into the match yet to score at home this season but two Luka Milivojevic penalties opened their account in front of their own fans and proved enough to earn a 2-2 draw against the in-form Gunners.

Unai Emery’s side certainly looked to be struggling with the effects of playing three games in the space of just six days, having faced Leicester City on Monday night before travelling to Portugal to meet Sporting in the Europa League. The clash with Palace on Sunday looked to be a game too far, especially considering that Emery had not rotated his squad especially heavily between fixtures.

One player who particularly failed to hit his recent heights against the Eagles was Alexandre Lacazette. Playing a central role, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again forced out to the wing, the Frenchman failed to spearhead his side’s attack with any potency, nor could he effectively hold up the ball in order to relieve the pressure building up on his team.

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In an attacking sense, the No. 9 was unable to muster more than a single shot on target, which sailed harmlessly wide. He also struggled to effectively bring his teammates into the game, managing just the one key pass.

In general, the 27-year-old’s distribution was poor. His pass accuracy rating of 72.4% was amongst the worst of the Arsenal starters. It was, in fact, Lacazette’s misplaced pass that launched the Palace counter attack that led to their second penalty and, ultimately, equalising goal. What’s more, he was dispossessed twice and committed four unsuccessful touches – no player on the pitch was guilty of more.

However, defensively, Lacazette put a real shift in for his side, making four tackles and one interception as he excelled in closing down and harrying the Palace backline. In the full context of his position, though, the 16-cap France international’s defensive efforts were by no means enough to justify him being deployed through the middle ahead of Aubameyang. 

Liverpool supporters have been pretty downbeat in the last few hours after seeing their team suffer a surprise defeat in the Champions League to leave their qualification hopes in the balance.

Jurgen Klopp’s men went into their clash with Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday night top of Group C having picked up six points from their opening three matches, and thus were in a healthy position ahead of their trip to the Serbian capital. Yet the Reds produced a very poor performance to go down 2-0 on Tuesday thanks to a brace from Milan Pavkov, thus leaving the Merseyside giants second in the group with clashes against Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain to come.

As such, there have been many disappointed Liverpudlians up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have taken to Twitter in recent times to slate the move made by manager Klopp at half time to make a double substitution, in which he brought Joe Gomez and Roberto Firmino on for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Daniel Sturridge.

And while those particular calls were somewhat questionable, given it left the hugely ineffective Adam Lallana on the pitch, it wasn’t just at half time in which Klopp made a big error, what with the manager only making a handful of changes to the side that played an intense match against Arsenal a matter of days earlier.

Ultimately, the Reds put a lot into their 1-1 draw with Unai Emery’s Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to suggest that several of those that started that match were likely to be mentally and physically jaded after such an intense battle, and while Klopp did make three changes to his starting line-up, it’s arguable that it simply wasn’t enough.

Obviously, it’s easy in hindsight to make such a judgement, but Klopp has until this point done a fine job this season of rotating his squad and keeping them fresh for every match they play – but they were certainly lacking that sharpness we’ve all come to expect from the Reds in recent times.

The likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane simply didn’t carry the same attacking threat seen from the duo in recent times, while even James Milner had an off-night to suggest that maybe he may have benefited from a rest – Naby Keita was on the bench on Tuesday night, yet didn’t play a part at all at Arsenal at the weekend.

Additionally, Alexander-Arnold has endured a testing run of form in recent times, which culminated in a very poor display against the Gunners on Saturday, and the England international again looked off the pace against Red Star to suggest that he also may have benefited from time out of the side – there’s a reason he was hauled off at half time by Klopp in a decision which was perhaps the right one.

After all, it was certainly an off-day for a Liverpool side that have still made a very bright start to the new season, and as such there shouldn’t be too much of an overreaction, but one wonders whether Klopp got it right to begin with in making so few changes to the team that produced an intense display against Arsenal at the weekend – add in that Alexander-Arnold and even Salah haven’t quite been at their best recently, and maybe more changes should have been made.

So while those Liverpool fans were right to call into question his substitutions at half time, it wasn’t the only error Klopp made on what proved to be a desperately disappointing night for the Merseyside heavyweights.

Liverpool fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Mark Noble certainly divides opinion among the West Ham United fanbase, but one thing is for certain – he is hugely loyal.

The midfielder has been part of the East London outfit since he became a professional footballer, but at the age of 31 he is reaching the latter stages of his career.

This season under manager Manuel Pellegrini, Noble has had a place in the team.

The club captain initially worked alongside Jack Wilshere in the middle of the park, but since the former Arsenal star’s injury, he has been alongside Declan Rice and Pedro Obiang.

At the weekend, Pellegrini was forced into fielding a new-look midfield due to Noble’s suspension.

The experienced star was sent off during the previous match, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

Instead, Robert Snodgrass joined the party and he performed well in the Hammers’ 4-2 triumph over Burnley at the London Stadium.

Ahead of Noble’s return, we asked you if he should be welcomed back into the lineup, and the majority of fans believe that he should stay away.

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One of Liverpool’s biggest signings of the summer was the arrival of goalkeeper Alisson from Roma.

According to BBC Sport, the Merseyside outfit parted with £66.8m to land Brazil’s number one, and it was a transfer that was warmly welcomed by the fanbase.

The Reds had lacked a world-class keeper for years, and many supporters believed that they had finally signed one when Alisson touched down on Merseyside in July.

The fee paid made the 25-year-old the world’s most expensive keeper, but that figure was later eclipsed by Chelsea, who spent £71m on Athletic Bilbao stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

After Loris Karius’s mistakes in Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, it was swiftly made clear that a new keeper was needed.

As expected, Alisson has had the number one role since he joined the Reds, but there have been some moments of concern.

The Brazilian is good with his feet, as well as his hands, but there have been times when his attempts at fancy footwork have been almost costly.

In 16 appearances in all competitions, Alisson has conceded 10 goals, which is a decent record, but has he proved that he is worth the money paid for him?

Let us know by voting below.