Leeds fans lavish praise upon Jack Harrison after double accolade

Leeds United fans on Twitter have been lavishing praise upon Jack Harrison after he received two accolades after being named in the EFL Team of the Week as well as Quest’s Championship Player of the Weekend award.

The winger certainly deserves this nod as he scored and assisted in the Whites’ 2-0 win against QPR on Saturday.

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The Man City loanee has been excellent in recent weeks as he’s assisted four goals in his last five games for the Yorkshire club.

His good form has clearly pleased the fanbase as the reaction to him earning a couple of accolades has been largely positive, and of course, some fans have got carried away with their reactions.

One fan even went as far as to compare the 22-year-old to Lionel Messi, and while that comparison may be hyperbolic it shows just how highly-regarded he is amongst the fanbase right now.

Here’s what United fans have been saying on Twitter…

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa should be sparked into life by Eddie Nketiah recall reports

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Sun, Arsenal are considering the possibility of recalling Eddie Nketiah in January and send him out on loan to Bristol City, with the youngster struggling for starts at Leeds.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Nketiah was meant to arrive at Ashton Gate in the summer for talks over a move to Bristol City, but the 20-year-old never turned up and eventually decided to join Leeds on loan.

He has impressed for the Championship promotion hopefuls with four goals in nine games, but he is yet to start a game in the Championship – Nketiah has made just seven substitute appearances in the league.

The Gunners want Nketiah to get regular first-team action, hence the report suggesting that they could recall him in January and send him on loan to Bristol.

News should spark Bielsa into life

Bielsa must keep hold of Nketiah as he embarks on another attempt to guide Leeds into the Premier League.

The England U21 international scores goals, a trait which will surely be pivotal to Leeds throughout the season – Nketiah has the ability to strike out of nowhere and win crucial points for his side.

The man ahead of Nketiah at Leeds right now, Patrick Bamford, has the same amount of goals as the on-loan Arsenal man has in all competitions with four, so there really isn’t too much between the pair.

If anything, the news that Arsenal could be set to take Nketiah away from Leeds should spark Bielsa into life in regards to giving the young forward more starts in the Championship, where he can prove himself from the first whistle.

It would be a real gut-punch to lose a player who knows where the back of the net is, especially if it was a self-inflicted exit.

Aston Villa star Jack Grealish’s chances of getting England recognition assessed

Aston Villa have adapted quite well to life in the Premier League considering all the doubts they faced as their manager Dean Smith splashed over £140m on 12 new players over the summer.

Going into this weekend’s matches, the west Midlanders currently sit 12th with just as many victories as Tottenham Hotspur and one more than Manchester United.

That really puts things into perspective.

The likes of John McGinn, Tyrone Mings, and Jack Grealish have played in all nine league matches, but can you tell who the odd one out is between the trio?

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Villa’s skipper is the only one not to have been called up to international duty yet this season, in fact, not ever as Grealish still awaits his first senior cap after being neglected by Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions.

In the Brighton victory, the 24-year-old was the catalyst to their success as he scored the equaliser before assisting Matt Target’s 94th-minute winner, and since then, there have been calls for him to be a part of England’s final two Euro 2020 qualifiers next month.

Former Villa man Lee Hendrie certainly thinks so, but what do our writers at Football FanCast believe?

Matt Dawson

“Do I think Jack Grealish deserves an England call-up at this current time? Absolutely not. Do I think he could make it into the squad for the Euros? Quite possibly. That being said, I simply cannot find a role for him in the current team at the moment. Lest we forget that James Maddison hasn’t even earned a cap yet, so that tells you that Grealish’s chances of securing a place in the middle are slim.

“Mason Mount’s emergence on the Premier League scene, scoring four goals, won’t help his cause either while the wide position he’s flourished in for Villa in recent times is stacked with quality. To put it simply, there is no dispossessing Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling or Jadon Sancho from those roles. Grealish is a fabulous player and his displays on the left flank have been outstanding, scoring twice and assisting a goal in three outings this season.

“However, for the time being, Southgate would be wrong to include him in a team where he isn’t going to get game time. Yes, there are gaps and holes to plug in the Three Lions, but Grealish isn’t the answer. Fortunately for the 24-year-old, he has time on his side. A call-up will eventually come, but a breakthrough might have to wait until next year.”

Charles Jones

“I honestly think that Jack Grealish should have already had his first England cap.

“Even when he was in the Championship, you could see that he was a top player, contributing to double figures in terms of goal involvements last term and now that he’s doing it in the Premier League, his first call-up must be coming soon.

“Gareth Southgate surely can’t continuously ignore a player of his immense ability. However, I think that there may be deeper problems.

“Southgate has always emphasised how important it is for his squad to be close and to have a good team spirit, and with Grealish having a little bit of a reputation, perhaps he doesn’t want him in the team for that reason.

“Should he be in the England squad? Absolutely, will he get in anytime soon? I’m not confident enough to say yes.”

Viji Jeevathayalan

“It’s a testament to Jack Grealish’s perseverance that he once again finds himself in the England reckoning.

“A failed high-profile move to Tottenham may have scuppered those hopes for some players, but the 24-year-old has simply got stronger since. His return to the Premier League stage has seen him score twice and provide a further three assists, while he is also averaging an impressive 2.8 key passes per game.

“For all of Gareth Southgate’s attacking riches with the Three Lions, central midfield is an area sorely lacking in imagination. Grealish has shown he can provide that creative spark. Against teams that want to sit back, the Aston Villa man’s ability to run with the ball (two dribbles per game this season) can help unlock the door. Euro 2020 may still be a long way away, but the 5 foot 9 star should be amongst the first on the plane next summer.”

Lewis Blain

“I don’t quite understand why Gareth Southgate has never given Jack Grealish the opportunity on the international stage. Especially when you look at some of the names that have donned the Three Lions shirt in recent years, I’m thinking Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone. It’s just quite baffling – what’s the harm in giving him a chance?

“This season he has been one of, if not, the best midfielders to grace the top-flight. WhoScored currently have him topping the form charts ahead of Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, and England international Raheem Sterling while only two players have made more key passes than he has, one is the aforementioned Belgian and the other is Trent Alexander-Arnold.

“Last Saturday, he even created the most number of chances of any other player on the day, which includes Chelsea’s rising star Callum Hudson-Odoi. As you can see, he is in elite company as well as keeping up with those in the current England squad. What more does he have to do? It’s time to give him a shot, then if it doesn’t work out, we can stop asking these questions.”

What do you think? Take a vote in our poll below…

Liverpool’s Gini Wijnaldum shows his excitement as youngsters star in cup win

Wijnaldum says he was excited to see the new breed of players being ushered into the squad, and he singled out two individuals who particularly impressed him.

The Dutchman paid tribute to Harvey Elliott and Ki-Jana Hoever in his post, as he congratulated 16 year-old Elliott on being crowned Man of the Match by the club and 17 year-old Hoever for scoring his first goal for Liverpool.

Exclusive: John Hartson foresees scenario where Pochettino will consider Spurs future

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Arsenal striker John Hartson has had his say on what the future holds for Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino.

The pressure certainly appears to be building on the Argentine following a disastrous few weeks in which they have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a team in League Two, and beaten 7-2 by Bayern Munich on their own patch in the Champions League.

While the former Southampton boss has to take some of the flak when things don’t go right on the pitch, you can’t help but feel that the uncertainty over a number of key players’ futures is having an impact – something Harry Kane has hinted at in recent times.

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Hartson believes that Pochettino is still a popular manager among Europe’s elite clubs despite his failure to do one thing during his spell in north London, and foresees a scenario where he could choose to move on should one of those sides approach Spurs over his availability.

The Welshman said: “A club could come for Poch tomorrow. And all of a sudden, he thinks well, maybe I’m not appreciated at Spurs and I’m not getting the credit I deserve.

“He’s a very good manager and one of the superclubs could come in for him. But there is this feeling around the football fraternity that he needs to win a trophy.”

Given some of the calls from fans on Twitter for new managers such as Jose Mourinho and Julian Nagelsmann in recent weeks, Hartson may well have a point.

Those Tottenham supporters need to consider that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and perhaps they would be better off keeping the faith with the man who has brought them on leaps and bounds since his appointment in 2014.

Liverpool fans have their say on Callum Hudson-Odoi after Chelsea goal

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Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi made a rare start and scored a good goal in his side’s 3-0 Europa League victory against Malmo at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, and fans of Premier League rivals Liverpool were quick to react.

Despite the west London outfit’s struggles in recent weeks and the obvious talent the 18-year-old has, he has only played 74 minutes of Premier League football under Maurizio Sarri this term, compared to 311 minutes in Europe.

While he may not have had the minutes on the pitch he perhaps deserves, he has shown that he can deliver when he has an opportunity – as he did against the Swedish club with some brilliant control on the right, before he fired a low shot past the goalkeeper – scoring three goals and providing a further three assists in 14 first-team outings.

The England U19 international was heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich in January and should their Champions League last 16 opponents ever make a move, then it would be with a view to him competing with stars such as Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri for a spot in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI at Anfield.

Liverpool supporters took to social media to have their say on the talented teenager, and while one said “Klopp would make Hudson-Odoi a monster”, another said “Klopp could take him to the next level”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Mixed fortunes for English sides in the Champions League so how far off are they from dominating Europe’s top table? The Pl>ymaker FC squad discuss in the video below…

Crystal Palace may have dodged a bullet with Ruben Aguilar after early Monaco days

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Back in the summer, Crystal Palace lost their first-choice right-back and Player of the Season Aaron Wan-Bissaka, with the academy graduate joining Manchester United in a deal worth £50m.

That left Roy Hodgson with just Joel Ward as his only senior right-back option, and amazingly, the Eagles didn’t sign a replacement for Wan-Bissaka despite numerous links.

Who were they linked with?

As well as putting in a reported £25m bid for Chelsea right-back Reece James – which was rejected – the south Londoners were reportedly going toe-to-toe with arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion for the signature of Montpellier’s Ruben Aguilar.

However, the Frenchman eventually opted to stay in Ligue 1 and join Monaco, signing a five-year contract with the 2017 champions.

A bullet dodged?

Whilst it’s never nice to lose out on a transfer target, the Eagles may well have dodged a bullet with Aguilar – if his start to life at Monaco is anything to go by, at least.

The 26-year-old has made three Ligue 1 appearances for Leonardo Jardim’s side so far this term but has started his career at the club in terrible fashion.

In his first-ever start for Monaco, Aguilar was involved in a 3-0 loss at home to Lyon and that isn’t even the worst of his three appearances so far.

In his second game, the right-back was handed a straight red card in the 34th-minute, with his side already 1-0 down to Metz – Monaco went on to lose that game 3-0 as well.

Additionally, in his first game back following his suspension, Aguilar was involved in a defensively chaotic 4-3 loss to Marseille, a game in which he also picked up a yellow card.

Of course, you can never truly say how Aguilar would have adapted to Premier League football, but on the basis of his start to life at Monaco, it seems that Palace have dodged a bullet here.

Lampard’s first Everton predicted XI

Everton will return to action today at Goodison Park hosting Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round, with newly appointed manager Frank Lampard leading his first starting eleven out in front of the home fans.

There are a number of injuries to take into consideration, with both Abdoulaye Doucoure and Fabian Delph confirmed to be out for at least a month in a club statement and in his pre-match press conference the new Toffees boss has revealed the first blow to his squad as Dominic Calvert-Lewin has picked up a knock and won’t be available for the game this afternoon.

Lampard also faces another blow to his squad, as both Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli remain cup tied, but it could be a blessing in disguise as they will be raring to go when the side take on Newcastle United in the Premier League on Tuesday night.

With that being said, this is how Football Fancast expects Lampard to line up his first team against Brentford…

We expect to see four changes from Duncan Ferguson’s line up that lost to Aston Villa in the Premier League before the winter break, with Jonjoe Kenny axed from the side in place of youngster, Nathan Patterson.

Patterson, who was hailed “amazing” by his Scotland team mate Che Adams, could make his debut in the first team for Everton today after he was spotted in Lampard’s initial training sessions this week.

This could be the perfect opportunity for the 20 year old to make his mark on the team and make a good first impression on his new manager, who is renowned for developing and giving debuts to young players with potential.

We predict that due to the two cup tied new signings being unavailable, Andre Gomes will play alongside Allan in the deeper midfield roles to cover for Doucoure’s absence through injury and Anthony Gordon will take the 10 role behind Richarlison who is pushed up front in place of an injured Calvert-Lewin.

This season’s joint top goal scorers for the Toffees so far, Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, are expected to be on hand to link up with Richarlison to seal goals and cause problems for the Brentford defence today.

Lampard will be hoping he can give something to the fans that they can be happy about after a number of protests took place just before his arrival and progressing in the domestic competition could really help to build confidence in the players going forward ahead of important must win Premier League games, where they need to pick up points to avoid a relegation battle.

In other news: Lampard must unleash Anthony Gordon against Brentford

Brighton eye Rangers ace Wilson

A club from the Premier League are reportedly now in talks to sign Rory Wilson from Glasgow Rangers.

The Lowdown: Contract rejected

It has been reported that Wilson has rejected a lucrative contract offer at Ibrox, despite meeting with Ross Wilson and Giovanni van Bronckhorst for talks about his future in the first-team at Ibrox.

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He has been linked with a move to Aston Villa to play under former Teddy Bears manager Steven Gerrard, but now another English top-flight team has emerged into the frame for his signature.

The Latest: Brighton talks

As per Football Insider, Brighton and Hove Albion are now ‘in talks’ over signing Wilson, and have made their move ahead of other sides in the Premier League.

The striker has made it clear that he would like to leave the Light Blues, and a source from the Seagulls has revealed that they are ‘pushing hard’ for his signature.

Wilson is out of contract in the summer, and a deal to take him to the Amex Stadium would only cost in the region of £300,000 in development costs.

The news outlet describes the prospect of losing him as a ‘major blow’, given that he is set to suffer the follow a similar path to now fully fledged Scotland international Billy Gilmour.

The Verdict: Shame

It would certainly be a shame if the Gers were to lose Wilson, but it looks like his fate is already sealed.

Unfortunately the call from the English top flight is one that is very hard to turn down, and the 16-year-old now looks destined to sign for Brighton.

Nonetheless, RFC will now be looking to hold on to some of their other promising youngsters, and not let lightning strike twice.

In other news, find out who Rangers are now fighting Manchester City to sign here!

Journalist talks up Leeds signing Knight

Leeds United could still make a move for Derby County midfielder Jason Knight in the January transfer window, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Knight impressing at Derby

The Rams may be experiencing a torrid time off the pitch at the moment, with the future of the club even in doubt, but Knight has been a rare positive this season.

The 20-year-old has become a key figure at Pride Park, scoring two goals and setting up another two in 20 Championship appearances, not to mention captaining the team on a handful of occasions.

Leeds have been linked with a move for the Republic of Ireland international as they eye up midfield reinforcements this month.

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The Latest: Journalist talks up Leeds move for Knight

O’Rourke believes that this motted transfer could potentially happen, telling GiveMeSport that Knight could be a player who flourishes under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds.

The journalist claimed: “He’s one that maybe could fit the bill for Leeds. If they get him now, they could then mould him into the type of player that Bielsa wants.”

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The Verdict: Strong long-term addition

Knight may not be the big-name midfield signing that Leeds are seeking in the final week of the transfer window, but he would be a long-term addition who can already add quality to the squad.

Derby manager and England’s all-time record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has even compared the youngster to himself as a player, which speaks volumes, and the fact that he is already captain of a Championship team at 20 says a lot about his maturity. Indeed, the Rams boss quipped of the youngster: “His attitude in training and his performances have been first-class.”

Knight is someone who could initially come in and make up for the loss of Kalvin Phillips to injury, perhaps becoming an eventual replacement for the England midfielder further down the line.

In other news, Phil Hay has confirmed a serious injury for one Leeds player. Find out who it is here.

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