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Despite their recent good form, Tottenham Hotspur fell to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were the better team for the majority of the match but a mix up at the back involving Kieran Trippier allowed Marcus Rashford to fire the Red Devils ahead in the first half, and the visitors were able to cling on to that slender advantage. 

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Aside from that momentary lapse, United caused few problems for the home team’s rearguard, but it was telling that when Spurs did come under pressure it was usually Toby Alderweireld who was on hand to bail them out.

The rest of the back four – left-back Ben Davies, centre-back Jan Vertonghen and right-back Trippier – all had shortcomings in their game. Davies struggled with the pace of Martial and Rashford, Vertonghen was too often on his heels and unable to get to grips with the pace of the game, and Trippier was at fault for the goal.

Alderweireld, though, was solid and reliable. His classy performance was typified by how little he actually had to do. Over the course of the ninety minutes, he made no tackles and no interceptions. However, he was always well positioned to ensure that United couldn’t manoeuvre the ball beyond him and into dangerous areas. 

His three clearances exemplify the quality of his positioning as he was so often on hand to deal with a loose ball. He would, however, have expected to win more than the one aerial duel.

On the ball, the 29-year-old was just as trustworthy. His pass accuracy rating of 85% would have been much higher had he not been forced to play some long, searching balls into United’s defensive third as Spurs went in search of an equalising goal.

All in all, whilst question marks remain over the rest of Pochettino’s defence, the 84-cap Belgium international remains reassuringly consistent.

According to The Mirror, Everton face a dilemma as to whether they sell midfielder Idrissa Gueye in order to sign a striker this January. 

The article says that French giants PSG offered £25m for the Senegal international, but Everton declined, hoping for a deal in the region of £40m. This would allow them to sign striker Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea.

This whole debacle does not cover Everton in glory, as many would have thought that after a huge summer of spending, they would not need to sell a player in order to bring a striker in. However, this has been a perennial problem of The Toffees’ this season, as manager Marco Silva has been unable to find a suitable player to lead the line.

Winger Richarlison has primarily been used as a striker this season, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin has also been used, but there is the feeling that the club will still need to bring in a high-profile striker. With Cenk Tosun consistently underperforming, as well as Oumar Niasse leaving this January, a striker must be a priority.

But this should have been a priority of Everton’s in the summer when they spent a huge amount of money. They overlooked this deficiency and now are backed into a corner whereby they need to sell one of their better players to facilitate a move for someone like Batshuayi.

Everton fans surely cannot think that progress is being made by a move like this, as while it does fix one problem, it potentially creates another for Everton.

Liverpool are looking like the real deal this season and currently sit top of the pile in the Premier League at the moment.

The Reds are putting in some superb displays for manager Jurgen Klopp, and if they do indeed manage to snatch the title, it will be fully deserved based on their performances this term.

However, with only a few days of the January window remaining, it is a little concerning that the Reds haven’t moved to add any new players to the ranks, and almost build on what is already a massively successful team at Anfield.

And one man we here in the Tavern feel could have been a superb signing for Liverpool is PSG midfielder Julian Draxler.

17 appearances this term along with three goals have meant that Draxler has not quite lived up to the hype in France, but he remains a class act, and the German star would be a superb signing for a club like Liverpool.

Draxler is very flexible in terms of the positions he can play, and he’d slot in nicely either to the middle of the park or even in one of the advanced wide forward areas.

Liverpool need that bit of extra quality now more than ever really, and with the title in touching distance, signing someone like Draxler would be a superb addition to the ranks.

Liverpool fans, what do you think? Would you take Draxler? Let us know in the comments!

[ad_pod ]West Ham were rocked by an injury to Marko Arnautovic on Tuesday evening, with reliable club insider @ExWHUemployee stating on his official Twitter account post-match that the 29-year-old was due to have a scan on what could be a potential broken foot.

Fresh from signing a new contract, as per whufc.com, Arnautovic returned to the starting XI in the club’s 3-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

However, the Austria international – who had been linked with a move away throughout this month after the club received a £35m bid from Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG, as per BBC, prior to putting pen-to-paper on a new deal – was caught by a follow-through from Ruben Neves’ clearance in the 72nd minute and was subsequently replaced by Javier Hernandez.

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Arnautovic was pictured leaving the stadium in a protective boot and on crutches, sparking fears that he could have broken a bone in his foot.

Reputable West Ham insider, ExWHUemployee, claimed after the game that Arnautovic would have scans on his foot amid fears that it is broken, a claim that has since been backed up by Sky Sports News.

And West Ham fans on Twitter have reacted with typical disbelief at the latest piece of bad news surrounding the club.

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Swansea City boss Graham Potter has confirmed that the Welsh club are in contract renegotiation talks with a trio of first team players – Daniel James, Leroy Fer and Mike van der Hoorn – as reported by Wales Online.

All three have played key roles for the Swans so far this season, so Potter will be glad to get their futures at the Liberty Stadium tied down. Both Fer and van der Hoorn’s current deals are set to expire at the end of this campaign. 

However, there does seem to be a concern amongst Swans fans that these deals are being offered simply so that the Welsh club can sell them for cash in the summer, rather than lose them as free agents. 

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Many of these frustrations will be aimed at the club’s American co-owner, Jason Levien. He has the ultimate say in these decisions being made by the club.

After the story of the new contract talks broke, plenty of Swansea fans took to Twitter to give their reactions…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Leeds were sailing towards an eighth consecutive win on Saturday before two disastrous substitutions by Marcelo Bielsa led the team to collapse and concede two more goals against Cardiff.

Off the bench

The Argentine doesn’t often make costly mistakes but there is no doubt that the Whites’ performance dropped off when Patrick Bamford and Gaetano Berardi departed the pitch.

Bielsa was keen to hand minutes to young defender Pascal Struijk once again, but the 20-year-old’s lapse defending allowed the visitors through on goal to equalise, and that wasn’t the only defensive issue.

Bamford provides such hard work for the team and often defends from the front, offering the team an added protection which is missing when Eddie Nketiah is playing.

Supporters discussed the poor decision-making by their manager in their own post-match analysis, with a repeated suggestion being made that Leeds would have more than likely retained their 3-1 lead had the two key men stayed on.

Composed and experienced

Bamford struck twice in the match to take the Whites’ lead to 3-0 at one point, while Berardi has also shown improvement this season in his recent run of games – winning five out of five prior to the visit of the Bluebirds.

It is some turn around for both players, as the pair were each subjected to criticism for their performances last season, and this term, too.

Fans frequently blasted Bamford for his poor finishing and questioned why he was starting ahead of Nketiah, while the Swiss defender has often been guilty of a lack of discipline and been criticised for that as a result.

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However, it was discipline which was needed on Saturday, and it was what Berardi was providing in the heart of the defence.

A two-goal lead always looked a little precarious following Kiko Casilla’s error which led to Cardiff’s first goal, and therefore the right move would have been to keep the most experienced players on the pitch, particularly in defence.

Bringing on a youngster for only his second professional appearance was a disastrous move, one which certainly backfired, and one which Bielsa must learn from by not repeating in the future.

Had the pair stayed on Leeds would have, in all likelihood, been more likely to win the game and extend the gap over the third-placed team, so it was a certainly a missed opportunity by the Yorkshire side.

Some fans also feel the absence of captain Liam Cooper was sorely missed in the Cardiff draw, and feel his presence could have made a significant difference.

Sheffield Wednesday could be set for a busy January, according to The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, even despite the club facing rising uncertainty over how their season could actually pan out.

What’s he said?

The Owls are in a rich vein of form currently, going five unbeaten to move into playoff contention. However, all of manager Garry Monk’s plans could be put to bed after the club were charged by the English Football League for financial misconduct.

A resulting punishment is yet to be concluded but there are reports suggesting that owner Dejphon Chansiri could be banned from the sport entirely while on the pitch, Wednesday could be slapped with a huge 21-point deduction.

For now, though, it’s business as usual and that certainly appears to be the case with the transfer window reopening in less than a month.

Nixon believes Monk wants to target cover for three key areas with a busy 2020 schedule ahead, he said:

Cover and depth

The Owls have quite a large first-team squad, so far in the Championship this season, 22 of their 26 members have featured. That’s two whole starting XIs.

Monk appears to be rich in numbers in several areas, although, the entire side was assembled by his preceding managers. For strikers, he has Steven Fletcher, Jordan Rhodes, Atdhe Nuhiu, Sam Winnall and even Fernando Forestieri – all for just two places.

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At centre-back, there’s Julian Borner, skipper Tom Lees, Dominic Iorfa and David Bates – even Sam Hutchinson and Jordan Thorniley can play the role.

So maybe the 40-year-old doesn’t believe he has much strength and quality in his depth options, but you’d imagine a few players will have to be shifted out in order to accompany any incomings due to the squad being so big.

The mounting worry off the pitch may also dissuade any potential targets to come to Hillsborough.

And in other news, might one area be in the attack? Wednesday could miss out on a key target if so…

Odsonne Edouard is one of the hottest young prospects currently plying his trade in the Scottish Premiership.

Steve Bruce opted to play a strong Newcastle United lineup against Rochdale in the FA Cup, with the hope of progressing to the next round.

One of the notable men included in the team was Joelinton, as the Brazilian striker lined up alongside Yoshinori Muto.

While the expectation was probably that Joelinton could help the Magpies progress, Bruce was also likely hoping that his striker’s confidence could get a boost against League One opposition.

That comes with the striker having managed just one goal from 20 starts and a substitute appearance in the Premier League this season.

However, neither of those eventualities were to come to fruition – if anything, it was the complete opposite.

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The 23-year-old had a total of six shots throughout the match, with none of those hitting the back of the net on the way to a frustrating 1-1 draw.

It is not just the volume of efforts that is troubling though, as the nature of his misses will be concerning with just one of those six strikes going on target.

Even the one that did force Robert Sanchez into a save was a tame attempt, allowing the goalkeeper to get his left hand down to keep it out.

Outside of that, there was a specific scenario that summarised his lack of clinical edge, as he ran through and got himself into a brilliant position, but once he had got inside the box the Brazilian rolled the ball harmlessly wide.

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With the aforementioned point about confidence, the lack of it showed towards the end of the game, following Aaron Wilbraham’s equaliser, with all of the previous mishaps likely having taken their toll on him.

Federico Fernandez had won the header well from Matt Ritchie’s delivery to the back post, dropping the ball just outside the six-yard box. It was the sort of delectable opportunity that in-form strikers would have been onto in a flash and sent crashing into the back of the net.

However, Joelinton is not an in-form striker and instead of doing that, he stuttered, watched the ball go past him, then stood with his arms out in disbelief.

It is this moment, as well as the big miss earlier in the game, that indicates just how big a problem Joelinton is enduring.

If anything, the game against Rochdale only made his problems clearer.

In other news, FFC has suggested that Newcastle should trust Bruce’s judgement of 23-year-old striker.

Charlton Athletic have made a bid for Birmingham defender Harlee Dean, as reported by Vital Charlton.

What’s the story?

The Addicks are looking to sign the 28-year-old, who has 224 appearances at Championship level, during the January transfer window for £1.9m.

There is scepticism about whether their advances will be accepted though, as the centre-back has been a key figure for Birmingham, having made 23 league starts and one substitute appearance.

This comes with Lee Bowyer’s side going 15 games without keeping a clean sheet in the Championship –  the most recent of those came in the 3-0 win over Derby County in October.

Looking in the wrong area

Despite the shocking nature of that statistic, it can be suggested that a centre-back should not be the priority for Charlton’s recruitment team.

That is because it is one area where there are a variety of strong options, and more importantly those who are fit – this is signified by the fact that captain Jason Pearce was confined to the bench against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, despite a back three being deployed.

With that considered, while Dean definitely has the potential to be an astute signing for Charlton given his Championship experience this term, they should be prioritising other areas of the team during their January recruitment drive.

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Jonny Williams and Tomer Hemed came off the bench against the Baggies, but it can be suggested that the midfield and attacking areas are in far greater need of reinforcement than centre-back.

The case for this is particularly strong up front, with Lyle Taylor and Macauley Bonne both out injured.

Following East Street Investments’ arrival, there seems to be a much greater willingness to move into the transfer market in order to strengthen the squad at Bowyer’s disposal.

However, if those efforts are to be optimised, Charlton need to ensure they are prioritising the right areas.

Meanwhile, Charlton fans showed their appreciation for one of the club’s key figures.