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It was another starting XI decision that baffled Arsenal fans, and it proved to be another episode in weird Unai Emery team selections.

After coming off at half-time against Everton in a 1-0 loss to the Toffees two weeks prior, many thought we had seen the last of Mohamed Elneny in an Arsenal starting XI this season, but when the Egyptian midfielder was picked in the Gunners must-win match against Crystal Palace, a hint of what was to come was already predicted by supporters.

In a disjointed midfield duo again with Matteo Guendouzi, Elneny and the French youngster just didn’t click together as the Gunners succumbed to a 3-2 defeat at home to the Eagles, with the former FC Basel man coming off in the 68th minute for Lucas Torreira after Arsenal went 3-1 down.

Elneny’s fall from a decent squad player to a figure many fans can’t wait to see the midfielder be shown the exit door this summer, and for the remainder of the season with each game suddenly becoming as important as the next, Emery might be smart to avoid using the Egyptian for the remaining matches.

With Aaron Ramsey out for at least three weeks, Elneny might yet again find himself in an Arsenal starting XI this season, but with Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira being rested for the bigger games, Emery needs to realise that playing his two strongest midfielders in each remaining game is a risk he has to take if the Gunners are to secure Champions League football.

Elneny has been a good servant for Arsenal considering the number of games he has played for the club at the price Arsene Wenger signed him for, but with matches becoming way too important and better options waiting on the wings, the Egyptian shouldn’t be considered an option for the rest of the season.

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Arsenal fans, should Elneny be sold this summer? Let us know!

Manchester United will surely return to sign a new defender when the transfer window reopens in the summer.

Adding defensive reinforcements was a priority for former boss Jose Mourinho over the summer but the Red Devils tried and failed to appease the Portuguese. United’s woeful form ultimately cost the former Chelsea manager his job. United have been completely transformed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, remaining unbeaten in their first eleven Premier League games under the Norwegian.

Despite their improved form, a new defender should remain top of their shortlist in the summer. Regardless of whether Solksjaer is given the job permanently or a new man is installed, signing a world-class defender would get United challenging for the title yet again.

Therefore, the Red Devils should break the bank to land Porto wonderkid – Eder Militao. Valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, the 21-year-old is a new arrival at the club having signed from Sao Paulo in the summer for just £3.6m. The Brazilian has been one of the most consistent performers in Liga NOS and has attracted interest from all across Europe.

Militao is comfortable at centre-back, right-back and even defensive midfield due to his composure on the ball. The youngster is a fantastic defender winning 1.7 tackles and 2.3 interceptions per game in Portugal. As well as his defensive abilities on the ground, Militao is also a dominant force in the air, winning 3.5 aerial duels per game, meaning the physicality of the Premier League should be no issues at all (WhoScored).

The Brazil U21 international has the potential to be one of the world’s best defenders and United should do everything in their power to lure him to Old Trafford.

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Manchester United fans, thoughts?

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Everton fans are eying up potential striker targets for the January transfer window, and 55 per cent of fans polled want to move for Tottenham target Borja Iglesias.

According to El Gol Digital, Tottenham are eyeing a move for Espanyol striker Iglesias, who has six La Liga goals so far this season.

The 25 year-old has a £25m release clause, and the report claims Tottenham are willing to meet it.

However, the Spaniard would spend most of his time on the bench in North London, serving simply as a deputy to Harry Kane.

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Everton meanwhile are in need of a natural goalscorer to take some of the pressure off Richarlison, and Iglesias could be the perfect signing.

The 6 ft 2 in ace has scored remarkable 56 league goals over the last two seasons in Spain’s second division, and has kicked off this season in the same form with six goals and two assists in his first La Liga campaign.

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A slight majority of fans think he could be the man to finally replace Romelu Lukaku’s goals, as the likes of Cenk Tosun and Oumar Niasse have just never been good enough.

You can view the full poll results down below…

Former reported Arsenal target Jean Seri played for Fulham in their 3-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Saturday, and Arsenal fans were quick to have their say on the display of a player who Unai Emery reportedly rejected in the summer.

The Ivory Coast international was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates during the previous transfer window, but a deal never materialised with the player instead joining the Cottagers, with Italian journalist Gabriele Marcotti claiming that the big clubs didn’t move for him because of his size.

That is certainly confusing in a way seeing as Emery and Sven Mislintat snapped up Uruguay international Lucas Torreira who is of a similar height, and while Seri did play some nice passes against Spurs, he also cheaply lost possession at other times.

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Arsenal supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on Seri’s latest display, and while one said “thank God we didn’t sign Seri”, another said “bin Elneny and Xhaka, sign him up imo”.

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Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Southampton’s fears of English Premier League relegation ramped up on Sunday after they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at St Mary’s.

With Huddersfield Town picking up a big win at home to Bournemouth earlier in the afternoon, Southampton knew that picking up some sort of result against the Reds was a must.

However, they were powerless to resist Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, both scoring in the first half to send Mauricio Pellegrino’s side into the relegation zone with just 11 games remaining before the end of the season.

Fans were left frustrated with the result and the collective performance, also bemoaning individual errors from players like Wesley Hoedt.

Hoedt has been coming under increasing criticism this season after a series of under par performances and he failed to deal adequately with the Liverpool attack on Sunday.

Is it time to drop the Dutch international?

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Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his performance…

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According to reports in the Daily Mail, Aston Villa’s arch-rivals Birmingham City have tabled a £5m bid for Bristol City duo Aden Flint and Joe Bryan.

The Robins signed Nathan Baker from Villa last week and the Daily Mail suggests that they could now be willing to listen to offers for 28-year-old Flint, who has been an impressive performer over the course of the last few seasons.

Harry Redknapp is keen to bring the centre-back to St Andrew’s to pair up with fellow new boy Marc Roberts at the heart of the defence before their season opener against Ipswich Town at Portman Road this weekend.

Villa boss Steve Bruce has already strengthened his defensive options this summer by bringing in John Terry and Christopher Samba as he looks to secure a return to the Premier League, but he may feel that Flint could add something to the backline, too.

Here are three reasons Villa should join the race to sign Flint…

Centre-back options

While Steve Bruce has five potential options at centre-back right now – Terry, Samba, James Chester, Tommy Elphick and Micah Richards – even after the departure of Baker to Bristol City, the latter two may not be at the club by the end of the transfer window with Elphick in particular linked with a move away.

If that proves to be the case Bruce would be relying on Chester, a 36-year-old Terry and a 33-year-old Samba to get him through to the January transfer window, and it would probably be something of a risk – especially if one of them was to get injured.

The former Hull City boss would know that he would be getting a reliable Championship performer in Flint, and they may have easier negotiations with the Robins having only recently sold them Baker.

Goal threat

One of the reasons Aston Villa failed to challenge for the Championship play-off positions wasn’t actually their defensive record – they conceded just 48 goals in their 46 league games – but it was their failure to find the net at the other end – they scored just 47 times.

Strangely, even though he is a centre-back Flint has proved over the course of the last few years that he may be able to help in that department.

The 28-year-old stands at just under 6’6” tall and has proved to be a menace in the penalty area from set pieces, scoring 25 league goals in the previous three campaigns.

If Villa are struggling to break down opposition – as they did at times last term – Flint’s aerial presence could be the different between three points and one.

The future

While the likes of Terry and Samba may well be experienced and impressive in the upcoming Championship season, Bruce does need to have an eye on players that will be able to make the step up to the Premier League this time next year – ultimately, promotion is the aim this season.

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The duo will be 37 and 34 and the club may certainly need some younger centre-back options on their return to the top flight.

While he has never played there, Flint has certainly done enough in his time in the Championship with Bristol City to show that he has the physical presence to make an impact in the Premier League, and Villa would be better off targeting him now rather than next summer.

Do you agree, Villa fans? Let us know below.

“I have never seen a man get so many massages. I’m sure he spent more time getting massages than he did training, guaranteed.”

That was Brede Hangeland’s experience of Dimitar Berbatov, as told to the Heia Football podcast in Norway, as reported by the English-speaking media last week. He was asked about his all-time laziest XI and answered accordingly.

It is the kind of impression you might actually expect a player like Dimitar Berbatov to have on teammates – especially the defenders he came up against in training. His nonchalant swagger meant he never really looked much like a top footballer – more like a stroppy rock star. With his demeanour on the pitch, stick a hat on his head and strap a guitar around his back and his trudge creates the rest of the image by itself.

But if you’re going to be lazy, you have to be very good indeed.

Last season, when Dimitri Payet was still West Ham’s wonder boy, there was a theory: Payet’s innate inability to work hard for his team was offset by his brilliance and the fact that his teammates saw it. They saw he could do more for them the more they did for him. So they did his dirty work, and he came up with the magic.

With hindsight, it’s easy to see how such a situation ended in tears rather than trophies.

Berbatov has similar tendencies, even if he is a very different player.

The gait and demeanour are part of a wider image from a player whose image was almost everything. He could be as frustrating as he was brilliant – and he could certainly be frustrating. Imagine how brilliant he could be, then.

As with every enigmatic genius on a football pitch, though, there is a touch of the tragic about Berbatov – he was chronically underrated, partly due to his lack of explosivity and partly because he was chronically under-bothered.

And if there is one goal to sum up the Bulgarian’s approach to football it is surely his lob for Monaco against Nice in Ligue 1 in 2014.

https://vine.co/v/M13WxqFl6hg

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That goal wasn’t born out of skill, nor was it born out of seeing a keeper off his line. It wasn’t born out of magic, magnificence or even some makeshift necessity. It may well have become all of those things. But it was born out of laziness.

The cross from which the ball was cleared initially was hit with laziness, and the motion used to send the ball over the goalkeeper was the same as the cross: lethargic and lazy.

And yet it was perfect. The laziness, the nonchalance and the fact that he didn’t seem to care if it went in or not, he just didn’t want to have to put any more thought or effort into that action. And instead of thinking about it, he just sent it into the net.

No goal epitomises the surly Bulgarian more than that goal. It epitomises his entire attitude towards football – the laziness and the genius. This golden goal is a lazy lob.

It’s safe to say that those who tuned in to watch Norwich City and Liverpool kick off the Premier League’s weekend action have been treated to an absolute thriller of a football match at Carrow Road.

Indeed, there’s still plenty of time left on the clock but we’ve already seen a bit of everything in this fixture; seven goals, one of which was a backheel, a debut strike from £8million signing Steven Naismith and probably the most ridiculous challenge to give away a penalty, courtesy of Alberto Moreno, you’ll see this weekend.

But arguably most spectacularly of all, Liverpool have fought their way back from going two goals down to claim the lead. They took an early lead courtesy of Roberto Firmino but found themselves 2-1 down at half time and 3-1 down soon after the restart.

But some harsh words from Jurgen Klopp at half time and the introduction of Adam Lallana from the bench appears to have done the trick. Jordan Henderson ghosted into the box to claw one back on 55 minutes, Firmino quickly drew level with an exquisite dink over Declan Rudd and James Milner has just completed the comeback by taking advantage of a horrendous Russell Martin backpass to slot simply into the net.

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Needless to say, Liverpool fans on Twitter are buzzing at the moment. Here are some of their best reactions:

Ross Barkley believes that he can step into the void to be left in the England set-up by the potential losses of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

The Liverpool and Chelsea pair have been ever-present for the Three Lions for the best part of 15 years, and have widely been lauded as two of the country’s best ever midfielders.

However, the latter looks likely to head out of the action at the age of 36, while the England captain, two years his junior, is rumoured to be also be considering his role as he looks to prolong his club career.

With the pair having been so influential, there is naturally some worry among the fans that there are a lack of replacements coming through, but Barkley – who was impressive in a dismal Wold Cup campaign – says that he, and other youngsters, can push on and fill their boots:

“I want them [Gerrard and Lampard] to carry on, but it’s their decision. I hope they do stay on, but if they don’t it’s up to the young lads to step up.” He is quoted by talkSPORT.

“I believe I can do that. I believe in myself and I’m confident. This tournament has been a big disappointment but I’ll learn from it and it will help me in the future.

“You’ve got to have these type of things to learn from. I think I’ve benefitted from this tournament, and I think all the young lads will have done. We didn’t do well on the pitch but being around all the experienced players has been good for me.

“We’ve got young lads coming through who are showing what they can in the Premier League week in, week out so we have to do that at international level and hopefully we’ll be ready for the Euros.

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“In two years’ time we’ve got to be confident we can do well in that tournament.”

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Everton boss David Moyes is set to add more firepower to his forward line in January with the addition of Dynamo Kyiv striker Admir Mehmedi, according to talkSPORT.

The Swiss international was a hit with local side FC Zurich in his youth, but a move to Kyiv last January has seen his form dip and it is reported that Mehmedi could be available for just £2.5million in the January transfer window.

Moyes was able to bring in Nikica Jelavic last January for a fairly small price and his success at Goodison Park has been obvious, so the Everton boss is happy to take another gamble with Mehmedi.

Mehmedi is just 21 and made his Switzerland debut against England in a Euro 2012 qualifying game from which he has gone on to earn another 10 caps.

Moyes has three main strikers at Everton at the moment with Jelavic, Victor Anichebe and Kevin Mirallas all vying for the forward position but added competition cannot harm the squad and if Mehmedi can replicate last January’s signing, Moyes will be laughing.

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