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Arsenal’s winning run came to an end at the weekend as after 11 wins in a row, the Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace. 

In a fairly sloppy game, Arsenal couldn’t get into a rhythm and although they did well to shackle Palace’s attacks for most of the game, the Gunners struggled to create many clear-cut chances.

Although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continued his scoring streak while Alex Iwobi put in another solid performance, Arsenal do lack a quick and direct winger up front.

According to Spanish news outlet RAC1 via the Express, Barcelona have reportedly put the French winger up for sale which has alerted the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. He’s a talented player but Arsenal should be looking elsewhere for their winger.

The Breakdown

Dembele was left on the bench for the club’s recent Champions League match against Inter Milan and has so far not lived up to the hype since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund last year.

The former Borussia Dortmund man scored three goals to go along with seven assists in 17 games for Barcelona in the league and has so far only scored three in 10 this season.

Valued at £72 million, there’s no doubt that Dembele has incredible talent but with Arsenal’s budget and Emery’s system, Dembele just doesn’t fit.

Dembele thrives in a system where he’s allowed to have a free roam and at Arsenal under Emery, he just wouldn’t be given that.

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Moreover, in defence, Emery wants his players to come back and help out at the back, that’s something that Dembele won’t do.

Arsenal fans, what do you think? 

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Newcastle United’s defeat to Brighton last time out saw them slump to the very bottom of the Premier League table with nine matches played. The Magpies are still without a win to their name and have amassed a paltry two points at this stage.

Whilst the north east club could point to a cruel run of fixtures in the opening exchanges of the season, failure to beat any of Brighton, Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Cardiff City has seen them run out of excuses for their dreadful start.

The problems that Rafa Benitez’s squad face generally come in the attacking department. Defensively, Newcastle remain relatively solid. However, just the six goals scored at this stage is far from good enough.

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Benitez did seek to bolster his attack in the summer. Yoshinori Muto came in from Mainz, whilst Salomon Rondon was the subject of a loan swap deal with West Brom which saw Dwight Gayle head in the direction of the Hawthorns. Meanwhile, Aleksandar Mitrovic was sold to newly-promoted Fulham for an initial fee of £22 million.

So far this season, Mitrovic has bagged five Premier League goals, whilst on-loan Gayle has struck eight times in the Championship already. On Tyneside, all of Newcastle’s strikers – Rondon, Muto, Joselu and Ayoze Perez – have produced just three league goals between them (with Rondon and Perez yet to get off the mark).

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With the Magpies in desperate need of goals, Benitez ought to back Joselu to maintain his decent start in this weekend’s crunch clash with Southampton. However, the wisest course of action would have been keeping Gayle and Mitrovic at the club in the first place. The failure to do so could see Newcastle slip into the second tier once again come the end of the season.

What do you think, Newcastle fans – who should lead the line against the Saints?

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As reported by The Sun, Bournemouth are preparing a January bid for Brentford centre-back Chris Mepham.

However, before the Cherries can land their man, Southampton would be wise to fight them for the 20-year-old’s signature.

The 6’3” defender broke into the Bees’ first team last season and has since made himself a reliable, regular stalwart of their backline. 

The Saints’ defence is in desperate need of an injection of quality strength in depth, and offering the young Wales international the opportunity to step up to the top tier would be a smart way for Mark Hughes to add to his ranks at St Mary’s Stadium. 

Whilst Mepham may lack top level experience, he has shown enough quality in the Championship to demonstrate that he has what it takes to thrive in the Premier League. 

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Plenty of Saints fans agree that the Brentford man would be a fine January addition to the squad. 65% of those we asked stated that they’d be in favour of a winter pursuit of Mepham’s signature. See the full results below.

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On October 4 in 2015, Liverpool sacked manager Brendan Rodgers, which paved the way for Jurgen Klopp to come in and transform the team.

Rodgers came close to guiding the club to their first ever Premier League title, but it was not to be.

Aside from the surprise title charge, the Northern Irishman failed to lead the club to a trophy during his three-and-a-half-year spell at Anfield.

Klopp took over from Rodgers four days later, and even though he is still yet to clinch silverware, the team look in a much better state.

The German coach has guided the club to three cup finals, albeit in all of those the Reds were beaten, and he has shaped a team that are worthy of challenging for the title.

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It is safe to say that the majority of Liverpool fans are happier with Klopp at the helm than Rodgers, who is currently in charge of Celtic.

On October 4, fans were reminded of the managerial change, and a few offered their thoughts.

Rangers supporters have been very quiet in recent times after seeing their side suffer a second Scottish Premiership defeat of the season at the weekend.

Steven Gerrard’s men went into their trip to Livingston off the back of thumping victories over Ayr United and St Johnstone, and thus full of confidence ahead of their clash with Gary Holt’s side on Sunday. Yet it was the newly promoted outfit that had the last laugh at the weekend as a Dolly Menga strike 11 minutes before half time was enough to secure the hosts a 1-0 victory at the Almondvale Stadium, thus inflicting just a second defeat on Gerrard since his arrival as Rangers boss during the summer.

Thus, there have been many frustrated Light Blues supporters up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have taken to Twitter recently to slate the efforts of defender Joe Worrall in their team’s loss on Sunday.

And while the 21-year-old was by no means the only Gers player to underperform at the weekend, that alongside prior unconvincing displays underlines the fact that he seriously needs to buck up his ideas.

Ultimately, the centre back, valued at £7.2 million by Transfermarkt, made the move to Ibrox on loan from Championship side Nottingham Forest at the end of August in a bid for regular first team football, having made just 28 league starts for Aitor Karanka’s Reds last time round.

Yet things haven’t quite got going for the England Under-21 international north of the border with just three appearances to his name so far, and it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be adding to that tally too much in the near future after another unconvincing display on Sunday.

The young defender struggled aerially and maybe didn’t inspire a great deal of confidence to those around him – it was something of a surprise to see him picked ahead of fellow centre back Nikola Katic, who has enjoyed a decent start to life at Rangers.

And factor in Worrall’s very nervy display in their 2-2 draw with Villarreal in their opening Europa League group stage match last month, and the 21-year-old simply isn’t at the races at present, and has so far done little to suggest that he should continue to command regular football.

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Yes, there is still a long way to go in the season and Gerrard will need the full array of his squad to deal with the demands of domestic and European competition, but in struggling in two of the three games he has started for the club so far, 21-year-old Worrall seriously needs to buck his ideas up if he is to become an asset to the Rangers chief this term.

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

Liverpool have turned into a European powerhouse again thanks to the magic of Jurgen Klopp, who has continually been able to get the best out of the players at his disposal. Inspiring and passionate, it’s hard to not watch the German on the sidelines and feel inspired.

Klopp has made a career at Anfield out of transforming the team and improving the state of the club, and he’s had yet another major success story this season – Daniel Sturridge.

Sturridge’s Liverpool career looked as good as over last season after a loan to West Brom, and he may have even left over the summer. He wouldn’t have been a huge loss based on his then-recent form, that’s for sure.

However, that’s all changed this season. The Englishman has been lethal this term, and he’s quickly emerging as an important rotational option on Merseyside. He’s a game changer for the club, and he proved that against Chelsea last week.

Sturridge’s contract, though, expires next summer – meaning that Liverpool could lose him on a free at the end of the season. On current form, it’s fair to say that would be a very bad thing for the Reds.

Instead, then, it may be time for Liverpool to renew his contract – and here are TWO reasons why…

Explosive Start

Make no mistake, Daniel Sturridge is one of the most in-form forwards in the Premier League at present. Including their pre-season games, Sturridge has got a whopping 9 goals in just 12 games, and he’s done particularly well over the last week or so – with two goals in two games against Chelsea.

He’s always been a lethal finisher, and he proved that during his early days, but as of late he’s struggled in that regard. Indeed, he was pretty ineffective at West Brom last season.

However, he’s found his scoring boots this year, and Liverpool will now be hoping that keeps them on. On current form, hanging on to him is a no-brainer.

Liverpool would be hard pressed to find someone better.

Alternative To Firmino

Liverpool are blessed to not just have one great forward in Daniel Sturridge. They’ve also got Roberto Firmino, who has turned into one of their most important players over the last year or two.

He’s a regular starter under Jurgen Klopp, and there’s no doubting that he’ll continue to be so over the next few years. However, that doesn’t mean that he can do it all alone.

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The Brazilian’s injury record is pretty good, but problems can occur at any time, and that was proven when he suffered an eye injury earlier this season.

With Liverpool playing so many games, it’s vital that Klopp has a worthy alternative to Firmino, and he’s clearly found that in Sturridge. In truth, he’s even showing signs that he could go one better and replace Firmino altogether.

Whilst that’s unlikely, a role alongside the Brazilian may make sense at some point, and so hanging on to him would be a wise move.

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Each week on Football FanCast we will be celebrating those special breed who lit up the Premier League with their unique brand of utter genius. This time out we pay homage to a striker who was easy listening music for the eyes.

Amidst the hi-octane hurly-burly of top level football Dimitar Berbatov played even the most knife-edge game as if it were a testimonial; as if everyone had come to see him and him alone. The elegant Bulgarian caressed every pass and shot, believing a thwack to be the reserve of a brute. A simple drift into space was a softly spoken rendition of a favourite poem. A give-and-go meanwhile was avante-garde performance art. Just to be clear, Berbatov was always the recipient of the one-two. Being the goer would have meant movement.

It is hard not to be pretentious when describing the football played by the boy from Blagoevgrad because the football he played was pretention itself. It was all swooshes and swoons and nonchalant allusions to greatness. Unlike so many of his Premier League peers his highlights reels on YouTube are not sound-tracked by ear-bursting hard NRG and nor should they be. Easy listening would suit him best, with cigar smoke wafting from a nearby ashtray and a dog-eared copy of Being And Nothingness next to the laptop.

In case there is no opportunity to include this later on let’s get to it now: at no point during his 20-year career did Dimitar Berbatov compromise one iota. Partly he deserves an enormous amount of credit for this. Partly though it was because the good side to his game was so good that the bad could be over-looked, and over-looked by some managers who didn’t usually cede to half-measures.

Sir Alex Ferguson was one such man, a coach who thought nothing of drumming out quality fare the moment their commitment dipped a few per cent. Yet he loved the rakish forward. Hristo Stoichkov, his international gaffer, wasn’t exactly slow to air strong opinion either. The former Barcelona ace always had Berba’s back.

What they responded to was what we responded to: an economy of movement counter-weighted by an abundance of thought. Berbatov was a chess grandmaster in boots so why waste energy and yardage when the ball can do the work for you?

He arrived on British shores in 2006, signed by Tottenham for £10.9m from Bayer Leverkusen. An instant hit, he scored 12 goals that season and won the club Player of the Year award by a fine margin. Additionally too he struck up a harmonious partnership with Robbie Keane that worked beautifully well with one quick-witted and agile, the other cerebral and dropping deep.

A second season of cultivated forward play at the Lane was enough to convince Ferguson to go all-out the following summer, with United eventually splashing out an inflated £30.7m to secure his services ahead of an interested Manchester City. Yet initially Berba struggled with mixed displays not helped by the expectation of many that here was another Cantona in waiting.

In time he settled – because class always does – and when his precision passing and expressive craft began to click, aiding and abetting an array of strike partners ranging from Tevez to Welbeck, United had themselves a luxury to revel in, a rare slice of genius.

This was no better illustrated by an outrageous piece of skill shown off against West Ham in October 2008. With the Reds already one up the ball is slid by Anderson into the channel; an adroit pass if somewhat over-hit. It looked for all the world like it would run out for a goal-kick and even if it didn’t James Collins was there shepherding. But Berba had other ideas. In one movement he stood on the ball, pirouetted, and flicked the ball over the perplexed Hammer. Without hesitation – and frankly no-one would have blamed the Bulgarian for pausing and admiring his work – he then scampered alongside the goal-line and squared to Ronaldo to finish from close range.

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It was mesmerizing. It was inventive. It was Berbatov in a nut-shell.

His laid-back style is deceptive when the stats are totted up. During four years at Old Trafford Berba scored 56 goals (including five in a single game v Blackburn) and contributed 22 assists. And then he was off, coolly and on his own terms as always, to the sunset over Fulham.

We may never see his like again.

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According to Martin Keown, Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah might be struggling to replicate last season’s form in the early weeks of the 2018-19 campaign due to the shoulder injury that he picked up in the 2018 Champions League final.

Keown, in his column for the Daily Mail, has claimed that the shoulder dislocation Salah suffered in a tangle with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos has made it difficult for the Egypt international to show his best form this term.

Salah was outstanding for Liverpool last season, with the attacker scoring 44 times in 52 appearances in all competitions.

The 26-year-old has netted twice in six appearances this term, but there is no question that his overall performances have been below the level of last season.

The Everton fans have been quick to react to an article from the Liverpool Echo, which carried the quotes from Keown.

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And as expected, the fans from the blue part of Merseyside have taken the chance to poke fun at the attacker for his struggles in the early weeks.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Everton supporters can be seen below:

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Kevin Mirallas has told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he was forced out of Everton, and the English club’s supporters have been reacting to his quotes on social media.

Mirallas joined Everton from Olympiacos in 2012, and has played close to 200 matches for the Toffees in all competitions.

The attacker spent time on loan at Olympiacos last season before sealing a loan move to Fiorentina last month, and the Belgian is unlikely to represent Everton again.

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Mirallas has claimed that the Merseyside outfit forced him to leave during the summer, and a whole host of the club’s fans have been on Twitter offering their views on the situation.

Mirallas actually scored 28 times over his first three seasons at Goodison Park, but his attitude has been questioned over the last couple of years.

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It would be fair to say that the Everton fans do not miss the winger, and a selection of their Twitter reaction in relation to his quotes can be seen below:

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Celtic announced their 43-man squad for the Europa League this season earlier this week, and there was one surprise omission in the form of summer signing Daniel Arzani.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the highly-rated 19-year-old was brought to Celtic Park on a two-year loan after he joined Manchester City from Melbourne City this summer, and having shown plenty of glimpses of quality for Australia at the 2018 World Cup it would have surely been hoped that he could hit the ground running with the Bhoys.

However, the talented teenager won’t feature in Europe for the Scottish Premiership holders this term, with assistant manager Chris Davies suggesting that he still needs time to settle in to his new surroundings.

According to an interview as reported by STV, Davies said: “He is two weeks into his training program here, which is, in normal terms, still early pre-season.

“He still has a way to go to get up to speed but he has a two-year loan and we are going to support his development.”

Was signing him a mistake?

In the short-term, it seems it absolutely was.

When Celtic were signing an exciting young player from Man City they would have been hoping that he could make an instant impact for them out wide – especially having seen Patrick Roberts and Charly Musonda return to City and Chelsea respectively following loan spells last season.

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Given his performances in Russia this summer, Arzani could have been a real dangerous weapon for the Bhoys in the Europa League, and the fact that he isn’t yet ready for action suggests that Celtic should not have signed the 19-year-old – or at least waited until January when he may have been ready and prepared.

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