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Arsenal’s woes continued this evening after they slumped to an eighth defeat in the Premier League.

The Gunners were beaten 2-1 by Everton at Goodison Park as pressure continues to mount on under-fire boss Mikel Arteta.

They fell behind to an early Rob Holding own goal as the visiting centre-back, and skipper for the night, had the ball bounce off him from a Dominic Calvert-Lewin flick-on.

Nicolas Pepe responded just after the half-hour mark with a strike from the penalty spot, but Yerry Mina nabbed the winner on the stroke of half-time, defeating the diminutive Ivorian winger to a header from a corner.

Once again, many of Arsenal’s biggest stars underperformed on the night – journalist Charles Watts at football.london accused Willian of ‘simply not trying’ during the break, but there was perhaps an even more anonymous player in the shape of David Luiz.

He is arguably the most experienced player in this Gunners’ XI and he badly let his manager down. You could tell from his body language that he just wasn’t bothered on his return to the side.

Calvert-Lewin left him for dead to practically score the opener, so the fault must lie with him rather than Holding.

Per SofaScore, the 33-year-old veteran failed to win a single duel in the 90 minutes he was on the pitch. Luiz also lost possession eight times and made only 25% of eight long balls.

Wasteful.

The fact that he was a mere passenger was summed up by his failure to record a single interception or tackle from 93 touches of the ball. In reality, the Brazilian was only there to pass out from the back.

Luiz was graded a four out of ten by football.london in their post-match ratings. They wrote:

“The Brazilian simply had no idea where Dominic Calvert-Lewin was for the opening goal and perhaps could have done more to go to the ball for the second.

“He is in the team, however, for his passing ability and given how much possession Arsenal had in the second period you would have hoped David Luiz could do more.”

The £100k-per-week star must be doing so much more to justify such extortionate wages in north London. Arteta ought to axe him ahead of Gabriel’s return.

AND in other news, KSE can land the Gunners a huge BARGAIN in January with swoop for “revelation”… 

Crystal Palace have been linked with Christian Kouame in the past, and reports suggest that they are still keen on the star ahead of the January transfer window.

The latest on Kouame

According to La Repubblica, via SportsWitness, Palace haven’t given up on the player, and signing Kouamé remains on their agenda. They tried to sign him before, but he suffered an injury which meant the deal was called off.

Apparently, Roy Hodgson’s side would have to make a ‘really impressive offer’ to get Kouamé as Fiorentina feel they will need to sign a replacement if they let him go.

Would this be a good signing for Palace?

The 24-year-old, who is valued at £15.75 million on Transfermarkt currently plays in the Serie A. He has a decent – albeit hardly prolific -record across his career so far as he has 33 goals and 29 assists in 192 appearances.

This season hasn’t been great for the player, however, as he has only managed to score one goal in 12 league appearances. The player has clearly been inconsistent this campaign as he has only started in five of these games, which is another reason why he  could potentially be on the move.

With Michy Batshuayi only on loan and with players like Conor Wickham proven to be injury-prone, bringing in another striker to strengthen the attack is a clever idea for the Eagles.

In other Palace news, many fans are reacting over some images of a barely-seen star. Have a read who it is here!

Despite a 2-0 loss to semi-professional minnows Chorley in the FA Cup this afternoon, many Rams were left wowed by the performance of young right-back and promising starlet Max Bardell after his display – with Derby fans claiming he looked ‘accomplished’ and was the ‘pick of the bunch’. 

Bardell, who started out wide in defence as manager Wayne Rooney had to improvise with a makeshift team, blew away some supporters who searched for a glimmer of light during an otherwise gloomy afternoon.

Chorley ran out 2-0 winners against the Championship side, and despite a heavily depleted squad due to coronavirus, this could still be billed as a classic FA Cup shock as the Lancashire outfit reach the fourth round for the first time in their history.

Picking out Bardell for praise, here’s what Derby supporters had to say regarding the youngster with ‘no fear’ – find all of their verdicts down below, where one fan picked the starlet out as a ‘Bogle replacement’.

Derby fans laud Bardell

“Stand out player for us first half”

Credit: @town_derby

“@MaxBardell If we ever wondered if there was a Bogle Replacement somewhere. I’m impressed. No fear. Loads of Tenacity”

Credit: @Monty19992

“Bardell at right back has been the pick of the bunch for me”

Credit: @Rams_Chat

“Bardell looks accomplished too”

Credit: @BusyPETEY

“Boys doing their best, unlucky with a penalty overturned and an offside goal. Overpowered at set pieces and not much sign of a midfield. Impressed with Bardell and Solomon so far”

Credit: @Derby_Dazzler

“@BBCDerbySport A shame it didn’t work out but credit to the young lads for working hard and battling, but clearly didn’t have the know how to beat Chorley. Hutchinson, Bardell and Ebosele look promising, but Duncan was surprisingly disappointing. All eyes on the league now.”

Credit: @JimmyDCFC

In other news: Derby fans flocked to this past takeover claim, find out more here.

West Brom may have picked up their first win under Sam Allardyce at the weekend, defeating arch-rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, but there is still so much work to be done to salvage their season.

And next up is the 66-year-old’s former club, West Ham United.

Indeed, the Baggies’ only second win of the campaign would have lifted spirits in the dressing room considering they’ve just seen off their local neighbours, though they were fortunate to be gifted two penalty decisions.

“But again we conceded poor goals and we cannot do that against West Ham,” said Allardyce after the game, he also added: “Our goals have been stupid mistakes in open play and allowing the opposition to capitalise on those mistakes and score.”

This is certainly the case as no other Premier League team has leaked as many as the 41 goals that Albion have this term. In fact, that’s seven more than Leeds United.

Big Sam needs to find a new way to help his backline, and that may well be through the introduction of a proper holding midfielder. We know the Midlands outfit are looking for one in the transfer market amid links to Hamza Choudhury, William Carvalho and Okay Yokuslu.

But maybe it’s time to finally unleash Sam Field now he’s back from injury?

The 22-year-old enforcer was a surprise name on the bench up at Molineux despite Allardyce practically ruling out him being involved, which means he’s surely fit enough to feature having been back in training for several weeks now.

Last season in the Championship, West Brom did not have a better option in the role statistically, as per The Athletic.

Since the start of the 2020/21 season, Albion’s midfield has been far too easy to bypass, summed up by neither Jake Livermore nor Romaine Sawyers managing an average WhoScored rating above 6.22 despite being the two usually sitting deeper.

As you can see above, Field offers far more stability as he outscored the duo (whilst on loan at then-league rivals Charlton) for every facet one might expect an anchorman to be good at.

He won possession back more than Livermore and put in more tackles than either of the duo too.

Once again, if Field were to perform at a similar output in the top-flight, he would still rank above both of them for tackles, clearances and blocks, per WhoScored.

“He is a proper holding midfielder,” said ex-boss Slaven Bilic in the summer, adding: “He’s very good tactically, he keeps his position, he’s very good at slowing the play down, very good at helping the centre-backs when they need it, he’s quite tall so is good at heading the ball and good at tackles, reading balls and opening attacks with a good range of passing.”

Whilst Tony Pulis, who handed Field his Premier League debut, once claimed: “I think he’s going to be a fantastic player for the club. Technically, he’s as good and as gifted as any footballer I’ve seen at that age.”

Also dubbed an “intelligent player” by Darren Moore, it’s a travesty that we haven’t seen Field play more than five times in the past 18 months.

He could well be the solution to Albion’s defensive problems, he must be unleashed against the Hammers this evening. He’d be a much better option than Sawyers, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Albion can kill two birds with one stone with Jan swoop for £9m-rated colossus…

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly one of the sides interested in signing Wigan Athletic striker Kyle Joseph this month and if he were to sign, it could prove to be a repeat of the excellent decision to sign Alfie Devine from the Lancashire side during the summer.

According to The Mirror, Spurs are battling it out with Celtic, Rangers and Sheffield United for the 19-year-old, who has impressed with his performances for the League One strugglers this season.

Spurs have already raided the Tics once in recent times, having signed Devine from them during the summer for a minimal fee, with the former FA Cup-winners forced to cash in on a lot of their players due to financial struggles.

The young midfielder became Spurs’ youngest ever player and goalscorer when he marked his substitute appearance against Marine with a goal earlier this month, so it is safe to say his signing has already proved to be a success.

Joseph has been a shining light on what has been a difficult season for Wigan, as they currently sit in the relegation places of the third tier.

In 12 league appearances, the 19-year-old has managed five goals and one assist, averaging a solid 6.88 rating. This also includes a hattrick in Wigan’s 4-3 win against relegation rivals Burton Albion, suggesting that he is establishing himself as a key player with the League One club despite his age, and he could well be important to whether they can stave off relegation to League Two.

However, his contract is set to expire at the end of the season, meaning that Spurs could sign him for a relatively small compensation fee in the summer.

Former teammate Kal Naismith was full of praise for Joseph earlier this season, saying:

“He’ll be a top player, a really, really good player and he works his nuts off not just in the games but all week in training as well, he has a great appetite for the game and a great attitude – I enjoy playing with him, he did a lot of work for me in what was my first game back after not having a lot of training.”

The Scottish U19 international has already shown he can score goals in a struggling side, so looks to have a bright future in the game, and this looks to be a risk worth taking by Daniel Levy and the Tottenham board, as if he can have anywhere near the impact Devine has had since signing, it will prove to be an excellent decision to bring him to the North London club.

And, in other news… Bye-bye Vinicius: Levy can land Kane’s Spurs partner in “outstanding” £18m-rated beast

It was another hugely worrying sign that Tottenham Hotspur are simply lifeless without Harry Kane as their shocking form extended to a third straight league defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Chelsea on Thursday evening.

In the absence of the talismanic Englishman, Jose Mourinho finally turned to the man he signed as backup in the summer, Carlos Vinicius, but he struggled to affect the game whatsoever.

But it wasn’t his fault.

Spurs were set up too defensively and rarely ever threatened to level the game let alone try to win it having been gunned down by a 24th-minute penalty from Jorginho.

As per SofaScore statistics, the home side mustered up a total of seven shots, only two of which were on target. On the other hand, the visitors managed a total of 18 and, of course, came away with all three points.

Vinicius, who is valued at €30m (£26m) by CIES, was starved of service as their sole striker.

Indeed, he managed only 21 touches in 90 minutes of action – the fewest of any Spurs player, even those that came off the bench and the goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris (35) too, via SofaScore.

Neither Tanguy Ndombele nor Steven Bergwijn could provide any sort of influence, both failing to contribute a key pass, which was below what is usually expected of the two. Both have averaged 0.9 key passes per 90 this campaign, as per WhoScored.

Heung-min Son did manage to deliver two key balls but to no avail, as neither were converted into firm chances created.

Only three members of the Spurs squad averaged a position inside the Chelsea half, and interestingly, it was Vinicius who was the deepest of the three as he evidently dropped back to try and create something of his own, as you can see in the map below, via WhoScored:

The 25-year-old colossus, on loan from Benfica, managed just one shot all match as a result of the sheer lack of creativity behind him, and also won just seven of 16 duels (44%), as per SofaScore.

Mourinho’s dire and defensive set-up on the night has cost the 6 foot 4 Vinicius a real chance to impress here as he was a mere passenger throughout the entire time he was on the pitch.

‘Battled away upfront but had little support,’ wrote football.london’s Alasdair Gold in his post-match ratings column, only emphasising how little service he had.

On the face of it, Vinicius’ display was rather pathetic, but it’s hardly his fault as Spurs, on the whole, were absolutely diabolical, and a lot of that comes down to Mourinho’s negativity.

AND in other news, Levy could land Mourinho his own Van Dijk in £35m Spurs swoop for 6 ft 4 “top talent”…

Lots of West Bromwich Albion fans have been fuming over the news that 22-year-old Baggies academy product Sam Field has left The Hawthorns and joined Championship side Queens Park Rangers on loan for the rest of the season, with a view to a permanent move.

Field has made under Sam Allardyce following his arrival at the West Midlands club in mid-December. 

After The Express and Star’s Joseph Masi relayed this news of Field’s departure via a tweet, his post got many West Brom fans talking.

So, how have these West Brom fans been reacting to this news? 

This news has drawn a negative reaction from many Albion supporters, with some indicating that they believe their club is making a mistake by doing this deal.

Allardyce’s side haven’t exactly shown fantastic form since he took over, with midfielders like Jake Livermore in particular drawing plenty of criticism, so it is perhaps not surprising to see fans baffled by Field’s departure.

“Fuming.”

Credit: @WBAPhillips

“Not a perm nooooo”

Credit: @Iiamwbav4

“Gutted about that one!”

Credit: @tr0y1291

“Shocking, such short term thinking”

Credit: @carterusm1477

“Stupid from us, absolutely stupid. Looked good when he played for us”

Credit: @albion_gaming

“Absolute shocker if he goes permanently. Got so much potential, this deal gives me the same feeling as when we let chris wood leave”

Credit: @chr1s_williamsc

“disgusting”

Credit: @takeahikeymikey

In other news, many West Brom fans have been raving over their Yokuslu signing.

Many Wolves fans hailed forward Pedro Neto during his side’s Premier League clash against Leeds United on Friday night.

The 20-year-old started on the right-hand side of the midfield where manager Nuno Espirito Santo opted to field an unchanged side.

Neto, who earns £50k-per-week at Molineux, spoke to The Athletic earlier in the week about how his mother has been telling him to shoot a lot more during games. Her message appeared to work as he was firing in efforts left, right and centre.

The Portugal international has been showered with praise in recent weeks, especially by Alan Shearer who described him as a “huge talent.”

Unsurprisingly, supporters were delighted with the way that he was performing and were quick to acknowledge that he had taken on the advice of those close to him.

Neto earns Molineux plaudits

“Neto listening to his mother’s advice… always good to see from a young man. Shots shot shots “

Credit: @northernwolf10

“Neto is loving these shots from outside the box at the moment.”

Credit: @kevtheman10

“Has Neto’s mom done the team talk? #shootonsight #wwfc #fwaw”

Credit: @nigelbolton

“Neto doing what his mom said and shooting”

Credit: @KVenmore

“Neto enjoying himself. Confidence sky high again.”

Credit: @CraigSpillard

“Neto has really come a long way”

Credit: @corky_jack

In other news, Wolves in with a chance of capturing wonderkid with bargain six-figure fee next summer.

Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard wasn’t at his best as West Ham lost 2-1 away to Manchester City on Saturday.

The Irons fell to only their second defeat in 12 Premier League fixtures after strikes from Ruben Dias and John Stones either side of Michail Antonio’s seventh goal of the season.

West Ham now have to hope Chelsea fail to beat title-hopefuls Manchester United on Sunday to remain inside the Champions League positions, with two points all that separates the east and south west London outfits in the Premier League standings.

Lingard has been a pivotal part of West Ham’s push for European football since arriving at the London Stadium in a £1.5m loan deal last month, with the £100,000-per-week maestro scoring three times and providing one assist in his prior four appearances.

The £9m-rated maestro doubled his tally for assists on Saturday when Antonio turned home Lingard’s mishit shot past Ederson late in the first half, having squandered a big chance to pull West Ham level but fortunate to have his teammate lurking at the back post for a tap in.

Being credited with an assist failed to prevent Lingard from marking a middle of the road performance in claret and blue, with the 28-year-old’s SofaScore match rating of 7.2 out of 10 achieved at the Etihad the third-best of his five games with the Irons.

This month’s goalless draw with Fulham had been Lingard’s worst performance with a 6.5 attained at Craven Cottage, while earning a 7.1 in last week’s London derby win over rivals Tottenham Hotspur. He also earned an 8.4 on debut thanks to a double against Aston Villa before later warranting a 7.7 against Sheffield United.

The England international’s display further ensured he performed worse than Ben Johnson, who Moyes had recalled to the starting line-up to allow for a return to five-at-the-back.

Johnson had dropped to the bench for the Spurs affair last Sunday after playing the full 90 at home to the Blades, marking only the second time this season that the academy product has seen out a full Premier League fixture.

But Moyes’ decision to recall the full-back did not prove a masterstroke, with Johnson caught out a couple of times and playing Ilkay Gundogan onside in the build-up to Stones’ goal having not pushed out in line with his teammates.

The 21-year-old also produced a string of sloppy passes and was fortunate to end his day with an 80% completion rate thanks to four misplaced efforts from 20 attempts, per SofaScore.

Lingard had plenty of opportunities to find the back of Ederson’s net to seal West Ham a result away to early champions-elect Manchester City, but could only direct one of his four strikes toward the Brazilian’s goal with two efforts blocked.

He also boasted a worse pass success rate (78%) than Johnson, with eight of the 24-cap star’s 37 attempts failing to find an Irons shirt helping toward losing possession 16 times – no West Ham player turned the ball over more often.

Lingard additionally failed to come out on top in three of his four attempted dribbles, scoring just a 25% success rate compared to his average 42% (1.6) in Premier League games this season.

The 2016/17 Europa League winner also performed below his usual standards for accurate passes (81%), for losing possession (14.6) and shooting accuracy – WhoScored data shows 1.8 on target efforts a game to just 0.4 off target and 1.0 blocked.

Moyes can forgive Lingard for having a somewhat off day given his importance since joining on loan and for his hand in Antonio’s goal, but will expect to see the Manchester United-owned playmaker bounce back against Leeds next time out.

AND in other news, West Ham have been given a potential boost in hopes to sign a 19-goal striker this summer…

A brave gamble from Jurgen Klopp with Trent Alexander-Arnold is still paying off for Liverpool years down the line.

In the midst of an injury crisis at Anfield during the 2017/18 season, with first-choice right-back Nathaniel Clyne restricted to the sidelines, the German made the decision to play the then 18-year-old in the team.

It was a bold choice from Klopp, giving so much responsibility to a player just fresh out of the academy, but it is a position that Alexander-Arnold is yet to relinquish, highlighting a piece of managerial brilliance.

Since making his first Liverpool appearance during the 2016/17 season during the tenure of Brendan Rodgers, the 22-year-old has gone on to notch 164 appearances for the Reds.

In that time, he has scored nine goals and provided a stunning 40 assists – almost revolutionising the expectations and demands of a modern, attacking full-back.

Gary Neville has even gone on to give a wonderful assessment of the defender. Taking to Twitter, the former Manchester United suggested that the £99m-rated Red has the potential to become the “best England right back ever”.

It’s a glowing evaluation from Neville, who having patrolled the right-flank for the Red Devils for the best part of 19 years, may know how to spot a quality defender.

To put Alexander-Arnold’s output into context, he now has just eight fewer assists that Neville himself provided throughout his glittering career for both Manchester United and England.

At just the age of 22, the youngster also has an impressive trophy haul.

He played a key role in the Reds’ UEFA Champions League success of 2018/19, even teeing up Divock Origi for a memorable winning strike against Barcelona – awareness that defied his tender years.

He wasn’t done there though as in the time since, he has managed to claim a UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, as well as of course lifting the Reds’ first-ever Premier League crown.

Just for his sheer contribution thus far, the decision by Klopp to keep his faith in Alexander-Arnold despite Clyne’s return to fitness looks more like a masterstroke with each passing season – and that is surely only going to be exemplified as the young full-back reaches his peak.

In more news, Dean Windass has urged Jurgen Klopp to swoop for a Roberto Firmino replacement…