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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…

QPR lost their second game on the spin after suffering defeat to Cardiff on Wednesday night, following a 2-0 loss to West Brom on Saturday.

Goals from Sean Morrison, Marlon Pack and Callum Paterson gave Neil Warnock’s side a 3-0 win over the Cardiff boss’ former side, but one early moment saw Mark Warburton’s game plan unravel – a moment that witnessed two players’ best traits utilised to perfection.

The danger men

As previously detailed by us, Sean Morrison and Aden Flint are dominant players in the air, and we suggested that the former Brentford boss avoids long balls against the Bluebirds as the Cardiff duo would simply win the majority of the battles.

While Warburton seemingly followed our advice with a free-flowing performance that saw his side complete 483 passes to Cardiff’s 184 – with 458 of them being short passes as per WhoScored – his sensible gameplan began to come apart after one early moment in which the pair’s aerial dominance stood out in a more offensive capacity.

What happened?

After just 11 minutes they combined for the opening goal. Flint leapt highest to win the first ball, before Morrison threw himself at the second ball to head home into the net.

And that was a bit of a theme – Flint grabbed the assist for Morrison’s goal and in total won three aerial duels in QPR’s half, highlighting Cardiff’s propensity to use his best quality. Morrison was clearly a huge beneficiary, having scored the opener.

Flint, formerly of Bristol City, has won 5.6 aerial duels per game in the Championship this season, whereas Morrison has averaged 5.4 – the latter won the WhoScored Man of the Match award for his performance against QPR.

Warburton did well to ensure that his side kept the ball on the ground for the majority of the game, but that 11th minute moment saw Cardiff’s aerial might come to the fore in a different manner, and QPR weren’t able to deal with it.

It gave the R’s an uphill battle for the remaining 79 minutes of the game, allowed Cardiff a foothold to eventually secure a 3-0 win.

Ben Woodburn is due to return to Liverpool from his loan spell at Oxford for treatment on a metatarsal injury sustained last weekend.

The Evening Standard reported that the 19-year-old is set to go for surgery on a fractured metatarsal and could be out of action for the next three months, depending on the results of the scan.

According to the Evening Standard, the teenager is likely to return to Liverpool to undergo rehabilitation from the injury if an operation on the fracture is required.

It has now been nearly three years since Woodburn burst onto the scene at Liverpool with a goal against Leeds in the EFL Cup on just his second senior appearance, which made him the club’s youngest scorer of all time, as noted by The Guardian.

The teenager had nine first team appearances to his name by the end of that season, but made only two more in 2017/18 and has since had loan spells in the Football League at Sheffield United and Oxford.

Neither of those spells have gone especially well for Woodburn, having failed to score in an injury-hit spell at the Blades, for whom he played only eight times and started just twice. [via TransferMarkt]

He had been getting more frequent gametime at Oxford in recent weeks, his start against Accrington Stanley at the weekend his 11th for the club in League One, but his only goal came against Bristol Rovers in late August.

Woodburn is still only 19, so time is very much on his side to bounce back from his metatarsal injury and build on the promise that he showed in getting a run of games in Liverpool’s first team in 2016/17.

However, his career hasn’t really progressed from that breakthrough campaign, whereas another young Reds forward in Rhian Brewster excelled in pre-season with four goals and has been involved with the first team in recent weeks.

Liverpool also have Harry Wilson to come back from his loan spell at Bournemouth, where he has already scored three goals in seven Premier League appearances on top of the 18 he netted on loan at Derby last term.

2020 could be a definitive year for Woodburn’s Liverpool career. Having been deemed dispensable enough to be loaned out twice, and having not been prolific in the Football League, right now it’s hard to see him ever making it at Anfield.

Liverpool fans, can you see Woodburn bouncing back from his latest injury to establish himself in the Reds’ first team squad or do you think the club will look to sell him next year? Share your views by commenting below!

Despite Newcastle’s many defensive frailties evident in their big losses to the likes of Norwich and Leicester City this season, Fabian Schar seemingly retains the support of supporters online.

The Swiss defender has been a mainstay in the Newcastle side for the past two seasons, even being linked to an array of top-flight clubs including Arsenal and Tottenham according to the Mirror.

Schar’s defensive ability is only complimented by his contribution going forward, with WhoScored.com outlining his five goals in two seasons for the Magpies – including being awarded an impressive seven Man of the Match awards in that time.

Although Steve Bruce’s men have leaked 13 goals already this season, Schar leads the way in terms of interceptions per game this season, so is clearly making an impact on Tyneside.

The 27-year-old, who is valued at £10.8 million (as per Transfermarkt), is also performing on the international front for his country, helping to spearhead a Euro 2020 qualification race where Switzerland are only four points off a top-two spot with a game in hand.

Understandably, some Newcastle fans have been praising the defender whilst debating over the best assets of the squad.

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…

BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks has hailed Andre Gomes after his performance in Everton’s win over West Ham United, suggesting that the midfielder is an essential recipe for success at Goodison Park.

What did he say?

Andre Gomes played a helping hand in the Toffees returning to winning ways last weekend, as the former Barcelona man put in a 7.1 rating in midfield against the Hammers. The 2-0 victory was Everton’s first since Gomes last started for the Blues against Wolverhampton Wanderers seven weeks ago.

Crooks included the Portuguese in his Team of the Week and said, per BBC Sport: “This was an excellent performance by Everton against an in-form West Ham and the catalyst for this performance was Andre Gomes.

“The Portugal international has been badly missed by Everton because of injury but if he can remain fit and Theo Walcott stays focused then anything is possible at Goodison. It is still a great place to play football.”

The main man

In Gomes’ absence, the Blues lost all four of their Premier League matches, conceding nine goals and scoring just two of their own. Now that he has returned, Marco Silva’s team have moved out of the relegation zone and can perhaps finally start to piece together a positive run of form.

Against the Hammers, the 26-year-old made more passes (37) than any other Everton man in the side. Gomes, valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, achieved an 80% passing success rate and proved to be a vital injection of quality for the struggling outfit, completing one key pass and two interceptions on the way to victory.

Not only will the ex-Benfica man be an essential member of the starting XI moving forward, but his form may also be integral in determining Silva’s future.

Considering Everton lost all four games in his absence and immediately returned to winning ways following his return, it is fair to say his importance in the squad is almost unrivalled right now.

Tottenham Hotspur captain and France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has been named on the 30-man shortlist for the upcoming Ballon d’Or ceremony.

The winner of the prize will be named in Paris at the start of December, and it would certainly be some turn-up if Lloris picked up the honour.

The 32-year-old played a key role in Spurs reaching the 2019 Champions League final – keeping four clean sheets in 11 European outings last season.

Lloris has made a number of high-profile errors recently, though – the latest against Brighton even forcing him onto the sidelines with a serious elbow injury – and it is difficult to imagine that he will seriously challenge for the award.

And even the Tottenham fans were surprised to learn that the 2018 World Cup winner – who also suffered a howler in the competition’s final when he gifted a goal to Mario Mandzukic – had been named on the list.

Indeed, many of the London club’s supporters took to social media to laugh off the announcement, and a selection of their Twitter reaction can be seen below:

This Wednesday night Barcelona are travelling away to Slavia Prague for their third Champions League fixture of the ongoing campaign.

After the first two clashes, the Catalan giants have a draw against Borussia Dortmund and a win over Inter Milan under their belts.

But their upcoming rivals are definitely not to be underestimated.

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Even though they lost 2-0 to Dortmund, they managed to secure a draw against the Nerazzurri on the road, which shows that they are quite capable themselves.

After a long while, Ernesto Valverde will have the majority of his squad ready and at his disposal so we can expect a full-strength Blaugrana to be deployed in Prague come Wednesday night.

With that in mind, here’s how we think their starting XI will look as two key changes are made from the 3-0 victory over Eibar last weekend:

Marc-Andre ter Stegen is once again bound to start between the sticks seeing how he has played in every game so far this season.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Gerard Pique will also be making his return to the lineup after having to sit out Barcelona’s last clash against Eibar due to yellow card accumulation. It’s likely that Valverde will slot him next to Clement Lenglet and flanks his centre-back duo with Jordi Alba and Nelson Semedo.

The latter will be deputising for Sergi Roberto who picked up an injury in his last outing and will most likely be out of contention.

As for the rest of the squad, however, there are not really likely to be any changes at all.

The midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Arthur Melo and Frenkie de Jong are already set in stone when it comes to big matches and especially in the Champions League so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that we’re bound to see them feature once again.

Moving to the final third, the same can be said for the forward trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann, all of whom were on the scoresheet in the last game.

It’s likely that Valverde will keep all three of his big guns in the lineup for the trip to Prague and leaves nothing to chance.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Marcelo Bielsa is almost impossible to criticise most of the time.

Indeed, the Leeds United manager is such a beloved figure at Elland Road, to the point where fans daren’t say a bad word about him.

However, if there is to be one complaint about Bielsa it’s that he’s stubborn.

Time and time again he’s been described by the fans in this manner, and this is down to the faith he shows his players.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Many fans have had bones to pick with Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford this season. Both players have started every single match – even if they don’t deserve to.

Harrison went on a run of six games without completing a single accurate cross while Bamford has now gone nine matches without hitting the back of the net. Bielsa’s faith in the pair, therefore, have hardly been vindicated at times.

On a similar note, there were many calls for Kiko Casilla to be sold this summer, but he remained at the club, and he’s now proving his doubters wrong.

After a couple of clangers in the playoff semi-final against Derby County last term, the Spaniard was public enemy number one at Elland Road, but now he’s looking like the player Leeds expected when he arrived.

United have kept the most clean sheets in the Championship, as well as conceding the fewest number of goals, and that’s in no small part down to Casilla.

His performance against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday further vindicated Bielsa’s faith in him as he made four saves and three high claims on his way to another clean sheet.

Why being the away goalkeeper at Leeds is the toughest job in football in the video below…

The former Real Madrid man has reacted brilliantly to the faith placed in him from the Argentine, and now it’s time for some of the other heavily criticised members of the squad to do the same thing.

This isn’t blind stubbornness from Bielsa, this is a manager who sees these players train every single day, and he knows what they’re capable of.

This isn’t an inability to adapt, this is good man-management, and Casilla is evidence that this type of trust can be repaid.

Many Liverpool fans are starting to grow concerned by Naby Keita’s injury record, and wonder if things will work out for the Guinea international at Anfield.

Keita was taken off in the 55th minute of the Reds’ Carabao Cup win over Arsenal on Wednesday night, with Jurgen Klopp confirming after the game that the 22-year-old would be assessed after sustaining an issue when slipping early in the second-half.

Teenager Curtis Jones replaced Keita against the Gunners, and went on to score in the subsequent shoot-out which booked the Merseyside outfit a Quarter-Final date with Aston Villa.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Keita’s starting call for the midweek clash was his third of the campaign across all competitions, having overcome an early-season torn muscle that denied the 30-cap midfielder from featuring in six games.

The 24-year-old was frequently omitted from matchday team sheets last term, as well, with Keita missing a spate of games throughout the season through a muscular problem, knock and a groin injury.

He would play a total of 1,817 minutes for Liverpool last season following his summer arrival from RB Leipzig, where he also spent 71 days in the physio’s room during his final campaign with the Bundesliga outfit.

Fans have been sharing their thoughts on Keita following his appearance against Arsenal, where he completed 30 of 31 passes, fashioned two shots, and won possession with his two tackles although both came inside the opening ten minutes, per WhoScored data.

Here are some of the messages shared…

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.

Barcelona continued their bad streak of games against Slavia Prague a couple of days back when they were held to a goalless draw at the Camp Nou. That game also saw Jordi Alba subbed off due to an injury, and even though he was signed for exactly this kind of situation, Junior Firpo was nowhere to be seen.

Snapshot

By all standards, the midweek Champions League clash against the Czech side was nothing the Blaugrana faithful expected it to be.

After a rather surprising and disappointing 3-1 defeat to Levante in La Liga the weekend before, this was Barcelona’s chance of retribution and a statement victory.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

In the end, they did make a statement but it was a rather bad one instead.

But what’s even more worrying is Ernesto Valverde’s baffling approach with the club’s new signing, Firpo, who was left in the stands when the team needed him the most.

And it wasn’t the first time this happened, either.

An outcast already

Back when Firpo was signed from Real Betis in the summer, one thing was clear – he would come as a replacement for Alba in the long run and someone who can offer the Spaniard some much-needed rest throughout the season.

Saying that he would immediately usurp his place in the starting line-up would be crazy but not many expected the 23-year-old left-back to be completely shunned out of the squad.

So far, Firpo has only four games across all competitions under his belt, tallying 234 minutes in total and being left out of the squad five times already.

He also spent three full games on the bench and three out with an injury.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

And in the game against Slavia, Alba suffered a relapse in his injury that forced him out and Firpo, who was bought precisely for that kind of a situation, was out in the stands, just like he was in the previous two games.

It seems that Valverde would rather slot Nelson Semedo, his right-back, over to the left than play his natural left-back when the situation calls for it.

In the game against Levante, Alba was rested and spent the game on the bench, but instead of giving Firpo a shot, Roberto was thrown on in the right-back position while Semedo deputised on the left.

The same thing happened the game before that, against Real Valladolid – Alba was subbed off but instead of the 23-year-old former Real Betis man getting some minutes, the Spaniard was replaced by Roberto again while Firpo was in the stands.

This baffling approach by Valverde could indicate that he is either not satisfied with the club’s new signing or that he never even wanted him in the first place.

After all, Firpo has hardly had any game time to speak of so making a verdict on his ability doesn’t seem justified.

This starts making even more sense when we factor in that this is highly reminiscent of Malcom’s situation – a player who left for Russia barely a year after he had joined Barcelona, and with almost no minutes to speak of at all.

For some reason or the other, he was rarely picked, spending most of his time in Catalonia either in the stands or on the bench, never actually getting a proper chance to show his abilities.

The same thing is happening to Firpo as Valverde decides against playing him even when the man he’s supposed to be replacing is not available or simply being subbed off.

By all means, it’s a rather baffling approach by the Ant and it could signal a big issue in the squad and their transfer policy as a whole.

Karim Benzema has been one of the most important players in the ongoing 2019/20 season for Real Madrid.

The experienced Frenchman has so far bagged nine goals and managed to get a further three assists under his belt in La Liga in addition.

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But he is now 31 years of age and evidently he won’t go on forever.

Interestingly enough, Juninho Pernambucano, the sports director over at Olympique Lyon, recently spoke about Benzema and how he wishes to incorporate the striker in the not so distant future, as was quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

He even goes on to say that they even exchanged messages so there might be something in that story after all.

But upon seeing this update, many Real Madrid fans were divided and couldn’t really get on the same page about it.

Some would seemingly sell the striker, who has scored 233 goals in 480 games for the La Liga giants, in a heartbeat, while others don’t want to let him go at all.

You can see some of their replies and reactions down in the collection of tweets below.

Check them out…