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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp may have something of a striker conundrum should Roberto Firmino be ruled out with the issue that saw him substituted off against Manchester United after half-an-hour on Sunday, but there might be one surprise solution.

On the chalkboard

The Reds have crucial fixtures against Watford and Everton this week as they look to keep their Premier League title hopes alive and kicking, but they could easily be without their Brazilian talisman.

Klopp of course could call on Daniel Sturridge – as he did on Sunday – or Divock Origi to fill the centre-forward role, or the German boss could choose to use Mo Salah through the middle – something he has done when he has preferred a 4-2-3-1 system.

However, one left-field option could be to use Sadio Mane there, in the hope of aiding the Senegal international’s personal development.

Make him less selfish

While the 26-year-old is clearly a great attacker who provides a huge threat for his team in the final third, there have been examples on more than one occasion this term where he has been too selfish.

It is a trait that perhaps could have been attributed to Firmino prior to him being used through the middle too, but since he moved to the centre-forward role he has clearly become much more of a team player and taken the responsibility on his shoulders.

The South American star has excelled when it comes to holding the ball and bringing his teammates into play, and basically giving Mane and Salah more time and space to thrive.

It is certainly an unselfish role that the Brazilian is playing, and Mane could learn a thing or two by taking on the same one – with last season’s top goalscorer and Xherdan Shaqiri available they wouldn’t lose quality on the wings either.

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Southampton take on newly-promoted Cardiff City at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday with both sides heading into the encounter looking to increase their chances of Premier League survival with a win.

The Welsh club are underdogs to avoid the drop this year, but as they proved with their 2-0 win over Bournemouth last time out, they’re capable of providing a stern test for the Saints.

On the chalkboard

Cardiff are an unashamedly physical outfit. Neil Warnock has embraced long-ball football and has built a side that are unafraid to put their bodies on the line and make life very uncomfortable for their opponents. 

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

In the past, this is exactly the kind of approach that would regularly rattle Southampton. In order to prove that things really are different under Hasenhuttl, the Austrian coach must encourage his side to meet the challenge of Cardiff head on and make sure that they don’t give their opponents an inch.

A physical approach

Hasenhuttl should deploy a pairing of Oriol Romeu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the base of his midfield, with Stuart Armstrong stationed just ahead of them and with the license to drop back to form a midfield three when needed.

This trio ought to be able to match Cardiff physically. If they can win that battle, then their superior technical quality can give the Saints a platform from which attacking pressure can be applied to the visitors’ defence.

Further up the pitch, the likes of Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings – if fit -, Shane Long and Charlie Austin cannot allow themselves to be bullied either, and must diligently track back to aid the midfield throughout the match, to ensure that Southampton aren’t overrun in the middle of the park.

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Manuel Lanzini has been sidelined for the entirety of the season so far, depriving Manuel Pellegrini of an incredibly talented playmaker in the process.

West Ham have plenty of quality players within the squad but the presence of a fully fit central attacking midfielder continues to elude them.

Samir Nasri’s January arrival was presumably made with that problem in mind, but he has suffered from a calf injury of late.

However, according to quotes from Manuel Pellegrini last week, Lanzini could be in line to return to the squad to face Fulham on February 23rd.

The Chilean’s admission has already got supporters eagerly anticipating his return, and they took to Twitter on his birthday on Friday to heap praise on the 26-year-old midfielder.

Indeed, plenty of fans believe that he has been a huge miss this season, and the prospect of seeing him link up with the likes of Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic is naturally evoking huge reason for them to feel optimistic for the future.

After such an extended period of time on the sideline there’s no doubt it will take the Argentine a few weeks if not months to reach top form, but once he’s back in full flow Pellegrini will have an exciting set of midfield options at his disposal.

Here’s what the Hammers’ faithful have had to say about Lanzini’s return:

Tottenham Hotspur fans have reacted to the net spend statistics of Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge of the club.

Sky Sports claimed earlier this week that the Argentine had a net spend per season during his reign of £19.83m, compared to a total of £30.45m at Southampton.

Pochettino, of course, was sacked in November after spending five years at the club, guiding them to two Premier League title challenges as well as the Champions League final. He also achieved four consecutive top-four finishes in the league.

And a number of Spurs fans believe that chairman Daniel Levy held him back throughout his reign.

A football legend: Can you get over 80% on this Gazza quiz? Find out now…

And a couple of other supporters are concerned at the prospect of Pochettino joining Manchester United with his next appointment.

The Red Devils have been consistently linked with a move to hire the Argentine and they have almost endless reserves of wealth.

Indeed, per Transferleague, their net spend over the past five seasons is £133.2m, dwarfing the numbers of Pochettino at Spurs.

With Pochettino currently out of work, it is likely that he will soon be back in the dugout, likely with a great deal more money to spend.

Meanwhile, Spurs have missed out on this superb ace!

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Arsenal fell to a 3-1 defeat to bitter rivals Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night in an FA cup fourth round clash.

The Gunners have been dumped out of the cup, and also saw centre-backs Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis forced off the pitch with injuries. In his post-match press conference (arsenal.com), Unai Emery could not be certain as to the extent of these injuries, but both could certainly be absent for Tuesday’s Premier League meeting with Cardiff City.

If Sokratis and Koscielny are to be on the treatment table with fellow defenders Rob Holding (arsenal.com) and Hector Bellerin (Sky Sports), then Emery will have to devise a plan for protecting his weakened rearguard.

Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin may be out for the season but it’s given him a chance to show off his new accesory. Check out the video below to see for yourself…

On the chalkboard

Arsenal need to pack their midfield in deep areas to ensure they win the battle against Cardiff in the middle of the park. In doing so, they shall also offer their defence a much-needed layer of protection.

Emery employed this tactic for his side’s recent 2-0 triumph over Chelsea. On that occasion, he fielded a central trio of Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. The same three ought to be called on again to reprise this system against the Bluebirds.

Emery has taken stick for setting his side up too defensively at times this season, and fans may not want to see three defensive midfielders start at home against a side locked in a relegation battle, but the boss simply must protect whatever makeshift back four he selects.

Maintaining an edge

Packing the midfield does mean that Arsenal lose a man from their attack. However, Emery ought to be able to place his faith in the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to be able to find a way through Cardiff anyway.

What’s more, playing with three deep midfielders, all offering cover for any vacated spaces at the back, gives the Gunners’ full-backs license to push forward into attacking areas with security. Sead Kolasinac can then be effective for Arsenal in the final third, ensuring that Emery’s side maintain their attacking edge despite being an attacker short. 

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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. 

Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to the Matej Vydra’s move to Burnley, and the overwhelming consensus is that the club is better off without him.Vydra completed a move to Burnley on Tuesday, bringing the exhausting links to Leeds to an end.The Czech striker was always destined to leave Derby County this summer as they look to trim their wage bill, after he scored 21 Championship goals last season.Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa have been absolutely desperate to sign a proper goalscorer, and for a long time it looked like Vydra would be that man.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”273047″ player=”12034″ title=”Power Ranking the 1819 Premier League kits”]As with Abel Hernandez, the deal stalled over the player’s wage demands, and Bielsa opted for Bamford instead.While the ex-Boro striker didn’t play in the win against Stoke, the opening day win has got everyone feeling optimistic about the season, and they’re certain missing out on Vydra was a bullet dodged.Fans want players that want to play for their club, and the fuss over the striker’s wage demands has turned everyone against him.You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

After a weekend of Premier League action, attention now turns to Europe for England’s elite clubs.

Chelsea, whose sole focus was domestic football last season, are one of the clubs that will get their Champions League campaign underway this week.

Antonio Conte and his men will face Qarabag FK at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to kick off the group stage of the tournament.

The Blues have very competitive opponents in Group C, with matches against Atletico Madrid and Roma to come.

No disrespect to Qarabag, but they are arguably the easiest team for Chelsea to take on in their opening encounter.

Conte proved in his first season that he is capable of guiding the team to domestic glory, but this will be his first taste of European football with the Blues.

The Italian has experience winning the Champions League as a player when he was at Juventus, but he has never before lifted the trophy as manager.

Ahead of tomorrow’s fixture, Chelsea fans are feeling confident that their team will deliver.

Fresh from scoring a late equaliser in Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United, Tom Cairney responded to claims on Twitter that he and his family were verbally abused by fans during the game.It was an important match at Craven Cottage, with Fulham attempting to break into the playoff places and Leeds trying to consolidate their position in the top six.It was the perfect start for the visitors, albeit it slightly lucky, as Tim Ream sent the ball into his own net in the fifth minute.Fulham dominated the match, though, as they kept plenty of possession and created numerous goalscoring chances.It looked as though the Cottagers were going to have to relinquish all three points, but Cairney stepped up in injury time to seal an equaliser.After the game, the 26-year-old midfielder, who spent part of his youth career at Leeds, responded to a fan on Twitter who claimed to hear abusive comments about the players during the train ride home.Cairney tweeted that a group of supporters – presumably part of the Leeds following – targeted the players’ families during the match.

As it stands, Fulham remain seventh, five points adrift of the playoff spots, while Leeds sit fourth with an eight-point advantage.

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Few words can describe the emotions of England fans right now. A deserved win, for sure, was snatched away from the Three Lions in the most horrific of circumstances, an injury time equaliser after all the hard work that Roy Hodgson’s men had put in.

England’s line up was pretty much the expected XI. There had been reports that Jamie Vardy would be left out of the side so it was no surprise to see him dropped to the bench. England, as per usual, started with Joe Hart in goal and the solid back four of Walker, Cahill, Smalling and Rose.

Eric Dier started in defensive midfield alongside Dele Alli and captain Wayne Rooney, while Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and Harry Kane started as a forward three.

It was a strange game to say the least, as have all the games at EURO 2016 been so far. Roy Hodgson seems to have completely lost the plot with some of his decisions.

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Firstly, it is utterly ridiculous for a striker of Kane’s quality, a striker who won the Premier League Golden Boot, a striker who stands at 6ft 2inches, to take corners. Kane should be in the box on the receiving end of corners, not taking them!

Kane, however, did not exactly have a great game himself. He received little service from his team-mates but never really looked like a threat to the Russian goal. In fact, the Spurs striker did not have a single touch of the ball inside the Russia box.

Another bizarre decision that Hodgson made was the decision to substitute Wayne Rooney. The England captain has come under lots of criticism for his performances in recent years but he really showed his class tonight, perhaps the best player on the pitch. It is always a luxury to have an exciting, attacking player such as Jack Wilshere on the bench, but Rooney was playing far too well to be subbed off.

England couldn’t have been more England. The Three Lions looked so exciting as the match began, testing Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev on numerous occasions. But England were simply not clinical enough throughout, as Adam Lallana and Wayne Rooney missed some glorious chances, whilst Akinfeev kept England at bay too.

England had complete control throughout the match. In the first half England had nine shots at goal, and they bossed the midfield and possession throughout – so they thoroughly deserved to take the lead in the 73rd minute through Eric Dier’s surprise free kick.

But as per usual, England failed to keep their heads and let in a sloppy goal in the dying moments of the game through a header from Berezutski, Russia’s first shot on target since the 17th minute.

The defence was all over the place. England could have dealt with the ball but it was a fantastic header that beat Joe Hart, who could get nowhere near it, but there will be question marks over Danny Rose and Chris Smalling.

This is what happens when you don’t take your chances and England fans should be very fearful for Thursday when they face a jubilant Wales side, led by the world’s most expensive player Gareth Bale.

England have made it very difficult for themselves and have it all to do over the course of the next two matches, and if they fail to beat Wales, Roy’s boys could be on the plane home in no time at all.

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