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In what was a close encounter at Villa Park on Monday night, West Ham United looked to have a good chance of nicking the three points – until Arthur Masuaku’s second-half red card changed their approach.

Off the bench

With the score tied at 0-0, the Frenchman was handed a harsh-looking second yellow card by referee Mike Dean in the 67th minute, leading to him getting his marching orders.

Losing one of his full-backs left manager Manuel Pellegrini in a bit of a predicament, and he decided the best option at that point was to replace Felipe Anderson – who is arguably the visitors’ most dangerous attacking player – with experienced defender Pablo Zabaleta.

It was a move that worked from in terms of keeping it tight as they held onto a point and a clean sheet, but from an attacking sense it ultimately killed off any threat they could have in the final 20 minutes or so, and it didn’t go down well with some of the London Stadium faithful on Twitter.

The sub Pellegrini should have made

While it wasn’t necessarily wrong to play it safe by bringing the Argentine on, taking his South American teammate off was a mistake.

The 26-year-old has shown throughout his time with the Irons – he has 10 goals and seven assists in 45 appearances according to Transfermarkt – that he can produce that piece of magic in the final third and be a threat on the counter-attack, and there was a good chance West Ham could have utilised that even when they went down to 10 men on Monday.

The former Manchester City manager should have taken Manuel Lanzini off instead, before deploying a 4-3-1-1 formation which saw Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Pablo Fornals stay deeper in midfield, and Anderson given something of a free role off of target man Sebastien Haller.

At least with that system they would have still posed some sort of goal threat, because as it was Pellegrini essentially settled for a point as soon as the red card came out of Dean’s pocket, rather than taking a risk and trusting in his team.

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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.

Manchester United recorded a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

There was huge pressure on the Red Devils after a tough start to the 2019-20 campaign, but Marcus Rashford’s early penalty secured all three points.

Snapshot

United entered Saturday’s clash with the Foxes having recorded just one win in their four league matches at the start of the season.

Rashford’s early penalty gave the home side the advantage, but it was not all plain sailing as Leicester put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side under huge pressure.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

David de Gea had to make two big saves to keep out James Maddison and Ben Chilwell in the first half, with the hosts slightly fortunate to go into the interval with the lead.

It was also a difficult second half with Leicester enjoying plenty of the ball as they looked to level the scores at the Theatre of Dreams.

Solskjaer made a change in the 67th minute, though, introducing Fred for his first minutes of the campaign. And the Brazilian went on to play an important role for his team as the Red Devils came under pressure.

Off the bench

Fred’s contribution was telling.

The Brazil midfielder replaced Nemanja Matic, who had only boasted a 68% pass success rate during his time on the field.

Fred, however, ended with passing statistics of 86%, whilst he also made three clearances, one interception and one tackle during his 23 minutes on the field.

At the time, it appeared that the change had not altered too much. Fred helped United keep the ball during a period of the match where they needed it most, though, and his energy was also imperative as Matic’s legs had tired.

Solskjaer’s failure to use Fred this season has been a talking point, but the former Shakhtar Donetsk ace proved on Saturday that he can certainly play an important role, particularly with the team needing to improve their use of the ball in the middle.

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Paris Saint-Germain got their 2019/20 Champions League campaign off to the perfect start with a 3-0 win against Real Madrid. 

Thomas Tuchel’s side produced a fantastic display to beat the 13-time winners at the Parc des Princes and, in doing so, it means they have taken control of Group A.

Former Los Blancos winger Angel Di Maria was the star of the show, netting a brilliant first-half brace to put the French side in charge. Then after a Gareth Bale goal was ruled out by VAR, Thomas Meunier secured the three points with a well-worked goal in the dying minutes.

The victory was made even more impressive due to the fact that PSG managed to win the game without their trio of attacking stars – Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar – who were responsible for 85 goals last season.

Tuchel was extremely impressed with his side, saying: “It was a great team performance and this for me is the biggest thing – we were the better team and we won deservedly. Everyone worked together, we never lost the structure and we attacked brave.” (Via Daily Mail)

The German manager also believes that the club have made significant strides forward from last year’s disappointing Champions League campaign. In their first group game last term they were beaten by Liverpool and then eventually were eliminated by Manchester United in the round of 16.

It was not just the manager who was impressed with their performance either, with plenty of their fans taking to Twitter to express their delight at the result.

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It was a pretty horrific showing from Newcastle United against Leicester City.

The north-east outfit lost 5-0 to the Foxes, with the goals coming from Jamie Vardy – twice – Ricardo Pereira, Wilfried Ndidi and an own goal from Paul Dummett. From start to finish, it was one-way traffic, with Steve Bruce’s side failing to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

Of course, they weren’t helped by Isaac Hayden’s horrible tackle on Dennis Praet, which resulted in a red card, but it was still far from good enough from the St James’ Park side.

It was a particularly bad day for Yoshinori Muto. The Japan international was making his first league start of the season for the Toon, but he was subbed off at half-time to make way for Ki Seung-yeung. His play when he was on the pitch was not exactly good either.

The club’s supporters were far from happy with his performance, and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts. You can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Wolves’ trip to Manchester City is likely the last thing they would have wanted after the trip to Istanbul on Thursday, but they should be feeling confident after securing back-to-back wins.

Willy Boly was the hero against Besiktas but the goal came due a moment of quality from Ruben Neves, and Nuno Espirito Santo will need him to be on top form if his side are to get something from the match.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

With the Citizens in goal scoring form Wolves are likely to spend long periods without the ball, and though their structured 5-2-3 formation should come in handy, it is vital they have an outlet with which to counter.

Considering that, here is how Wanderers could line up at the Etihad.

The inclusion of Adama Traore is vital if they are to get anything from the match.

The Spaniard, who cost £18m, should prove useful as a source of relief to Wolves when they’re on the backfoot, as his ability to run with the ball and carry it upfield will help to prevent his side from sitting too deep and stop City coming onto them.

Compared to his teammates he has fresher legs after only playing 45 minutes on Thursday, and if he can match his average of 2.8 successful dribbles per game this term then Wolves may have some joy going forward.

He has also improved in the final third, too, with an average of one key pass per game and 1.3 successful crosses, but whether he and Wolves can be clinical enough is yet to be seen.

Kevin De Bruyne has been a key threat for City with two goals and nine assists but his absence could lead Nuno to be more ambitious, and that could result in Neto getting the nod ahead of Leander Dendoncker, who may otherwise have had the role of keeping a close watch on his compatriot.

Neto has started just one league game and he is yet to show his best quality, with 0.4 successful dribbles and 0.4 key passes, but his assist last weekend against Watford shows he is adapting.

The trip to Manchester could be a great learning experience for him, particularly as it is a game where there is little pressure on Wolves to get a result.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Jamie Carragher believes that Trent Alexander-Arnold could have a future in midfield as he has already proved he has the quality and creativity to match the best in the Premier League.

What did he say?

The former Liverpool defender spoke about the 21-year-old and how he and Andy Robertson bring a different aspect to the club because of their attacking intent.

Both full-backs made 13 or more assists last term and have shown no signs of slowing down this season, prompting Carragher to suggest Alexander-Arnold could play further forward.

Many of the right-back’s assists come from crosses and corners, reminding the pundit of Kevin De Bruyne. The Man City man hass already tallied nine assists in this campaign, with a lot of success coming via whipped passes from the right, as assists against Everton and Watford evidence.

Carragher, speaking on talkSPORT, said: “I was just thinking about in the future it could be something for Liverpool to look at [playing in midfield]. But, in terms of his creativity, he’s still probably getting as many assists or is just behind [Kevin] De Bruyne.

“You could imagine him in that De Bruyne position – just tucked in on the right. You see the assists De Bruyne has from a different position than Trent, he’s obviously wider and he’s crossing it, De Bruyne is more passing it really.

“So he is massively involved but I definitely see, going forward, if he wanted to play that role or if Liverpool have another right-back coming through or Liverpool wanted more creativity, there is no doubt.

“On the ball, he is probably better than what Liverpool have in those players.”

Future midfielder?

Liverpool’s attacking full-backs are a big factor in their goalscoring, but it is possible Jurgen Klopp could look to alter his team in future, and there are two key reasons for that.

Firstly, as Carragher notes, the Reds have a promising right-back coming through the academy in Ki-Jana Hoever, who made his debut for the club at the age of 16 back in January and has impressed U23 manager Neil Critchley.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

More urgent, perhaps, is the fact that the England international currently offers more in the way of creativity and chances created than his midfield teammates.

Alexander-Arnold’s record of three assists this season is no surprise considering he averages 3.5 key passes per game, and the quality of his crossing often puts opposition defences under pressure, whether from a set-piece or open play.

By comparison, of Klopp’s regular midfield trio of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum, the highest average key pass per league game is 0.5, with only one assist between them this term.

Against opposition who are likely to defend deep it may be worthwhile for Alexander-Arnold to play further forward and replace one of those three, as he possesses not only the necessary quality on the ball but intelligence with his runs, almost scoring against Newcastle as the result of one.

That could be because he has experience playing in midfield, having been utilised there in various Liverpool youth teams, and therefore it may not take too long for the youngster to adjust to a new position.

Liverpool’s Ben Woodburn has been ruled out for up to three months with a fractured metatarsal, which he picked up whilst playing against Accrington Stanley for Oxford United.

It is a disappointing development for fans, who were hoping to see Liverpool’s youngest ever goalscorer progress during his stint in League One.

Instead, he has yet to get firing with only one goal and in 12 appearances, and with yet another injury picked up his development could endure a setback.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Supporters have been showing sympathy towards the 19-year-old, with one fan stating he feels gutted for the winger whilst others feel sorry that he has already endured several injuries in his short career.

To make matters worse, there was little he could have done to avoid the injury to his foot, as it occurred as a result of a heavy challenge when he had the ball.

Here is some of the fan reaction to the news of Woodburn’s latest blow.

Moise Kean has endured a troubling start to life in the Premier League ever since he swapped Turin for Merseyside this summer.

The Italian burst onto the European scene with Juventus in the last season, scoring six times in 13 games for the Serie A champions, seemingly establishing himself as one of the potential stars of the future. However, at Everton so far, the 19-year-old has failed to score, nor looked like doing so by averaging just 1.1 shots per game for the club in the Premier League.

The Blues fans would have been hoping their forward could find some form on international duty, but the former Juventus man only added to the woes he and Everton are currently enduring, after seeing a straight red against the Republic of Ireland U21s.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Kean was seen to have raised his hands and push Tottenham Hotspur youngster Troy Parrott, and whilst the Toffees man was given his immediate marching orders, the Irishman was handed a second yellow card for the confrontation between the two.

By the IFAB Laws of the Game, violent conduct as such is indeed a sending off, as law 12 states that “violent conduct is when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball”.

However, here’s what the fans have had to say…

It seems that the Paul Pogba to Real Madrid rumours are still going strong.

Daily Mirror have come out with some exclusive images that show Zinedine Zidane meeting with the French midfielder in Dubai during the international break.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And of course, this has only served the purpose of fueling the speculations of a possible transfer in the not so distant future.

Mirror go on to remind us how Los Blancos and Zidane, in particular, wanted to get Pogba during last summer’s transfer window but Manchester United were adamant in not letting their star go.

And it seems that many of the Galacticos’ fans are also not fully on board with this potential piece of business.

Some of them are annoyed with Zidane’s obsession and others were quick to point out that Pogba is not really that good enough and definitely not worth the big bucks Real Madrid could spend on him.

You can see some of their reactions down in the tweets below:

Leeds United have finally announced their third kit for this season.The Yorkshire club’s third strip is a tidy powder blue number, and it does look quite nice.However, it wouldn’t be a kit announcement if there weren’t some complaints to go alongside it.Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

While it seems as if a number of fans don’t actually have a problem with this strip, the supporters have made it clear that they wanted a yellow and blue kit this season.

You can’t blame them either, some of the club’s most iconic attires have been in those colours, and it would’ve been nice for Leeds to have released a strip in that scheme to celebrate their 100th anniversary.

At least this kit launch hasn’t gone down as badly as the grey and pink away kit did in the summer as that was pretty much universally hated throughout the fanbase.

Here’s what the Elland Road faithful have been saying on Twitter…