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Mauricio Pochettino has adapted his Tottenham line-up in recent weeks to deal with a growing list of injuries to his side.

The loss of Chrisitan Eriksen, Serge Aurier and Jan Vertonghen saw Pochettino call on a three-man back line in the weekend’s win over Huddersfield.

Before that, Spurs had rolled out a 4-2-3-1 with a very attacking front line featuring all their big-hitters.

Playing four-at-the-back, however, failed to stop Inter Milan from coming from behind to snatch all three points at the San Siro in the opening game of this season’s Champions League.

For the visit of Barcelona to Wembley, Spurs will again be without Eriksen as the Danish creative-midfielder continues his recovery from a stomach injury.

But a majority of Tottenham Hotspur fans still believe Pochettino should rely on a four-man defence, as revealed in our poll.

Two-thirds of supporters feel a back line consisting of two, rather than three, centre-backs will be able to handle Barcelona’s world-class attackers far better than a make-shift trio with Vertonghen absent.

With Eriksen expected to be ruled out with injury, his place in the side is available for Erik Lamela to fill. But should Harry Kane start up front as the sole striker, or should he be rested on Wednesday night?

[ad_pod ]Loads of Tottenham fans have been giving their verdict on Saturday’s rather dull win, and they’re once again not happy with Hugo Lloris.Lloris has earned his status as Tottenham’s club captain, racking up over 200 Premier League appearances across six years with the club, but his recent performances are worrying to say the least.The 31 year-old didn’t have a poor game against Cardiff by any means, but he was bailed out by Toby Alderweireld after another bizarre mistake.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”304066″ player=”12034″ title=”Could Jadon Sancho Be England’s Neymar”]This comes just a few days after the Frenchman left the goal gaping for Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring for Barcelona, and fans are calling for Paulo Gazzaniga to take over.Gazzaniga was the third choice goalkeeper at the start of the season, but the injuries to Lloris and Michel Vorm opened the door for the 26 year-old.Gazzaniga was absolutely flawless during his brief spell in the team, and plenty of fans are calling for him to replace their captain.You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

The majority of Aston Villa fans that answered our recent poll would support Dean Smith in making a move for Celtic’sÂJozo Simunovic in January.Bhoys boss Brendan Rodgers recently told BT Sport thatÂhe had too many players in his squad and that it was ‘very, very bloated’, meaning Aston Villa could solve their current defensive shortage.

SimunovicÂjoined the Bhoys in the summer of 2015 from Dinamo Zagreb but is currently a long way from being first-choice partner to Dedryck Boyata at Parkhead and could be one of the players that is shipped out of the club in January.

The now 24-year-old is a formerÂCroatian U21 international, and considering Villa only have two recognised centre-backs in their squad he could be the perfect option. Under former boss Steve Bruce, central midfielder Mile Jedinak was forced to partner James Chester at the back as Manchester United loanee Axel Tuanzebe was shifted to right-back.

Now though, 65 per cent of Villa fans want the club to move for the Celtic man in January. Check out the full results of the poll below.

The majority of Leeds fans that answered our recent poll would value Kemar Roofe at somewhere between £10m-£15m after his fantastic start to the season.

The 25-year-old was signed for just £3m from Oxford United by Garry Monk in the 2016 summer transfer window, and has started this season with four goals in his first four league games after moving to a more central striking role under new boss Marcelo Bielsa.

Bielsa introduced his famed high-tempo, high-pressing style to the Elland Road outfit in the summer and, before he suffered his recent injury, Roofe was the perfect striker to fit the system as he hounded defenders constantly into making mistakes.

Without that workrate from Roofe in the past six matches, things have dipped slightly for Leeds after their blistering start to the season, and this seems to have only increased the value that Leeds fans would place on the Englishman. Check out the full results of our recent poll below.

The aim of sending young players out on loan is for them to rack up some much-needed minutes.

Liverpool sanctioned temporary moves for a handful of their talented academy stars, including Ben Woodburn.

The 19-year-old has been part of snippets of first-team action for the Merseyside outfit, but not enough to earn a regular spot in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

As a result, the teenager joined Sheffield United in the summer but has struggled to force his way into contention.

Woodburn had cameos in the Blades’ first six Championship matches, but since the team’s 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in August, the attack-minded star has played just 13 minutes of league action.

In fact, the Liverpool starlet recently played in a Premier League 2 match for his parent club in order to get some game time.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”310054″ player=”12034″ title=”Rafa’s Pub Facts Fake Madrid & Ross Barkley Emulates… David Ngog”]

Elsewhere, the likes of Harry Wilson and Ryan Kent are thriving at their respective loan clubs, so we asked you if Liverpool made a mistake in sending Woodburn to Bramall Lane.

The majority of fans continue to back the decision, but there are a handful that believe Liverpool have managed the youngster in the wrong way.

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Ivory Coast international Franck Kessie has become a transfer target at the London Stadium with Tuttomercatoweb suggesting West Ham have made a bid.

What’s the word?

The Italian publication is reporting that Manuel Pellegrini’s club has made a £35million offer for the Ivory Coast central-midfielder, who can also play a defensive role.

Kessie joined AC Milan on loan from Atalanta in July 2017, with the San Siro side holding an obligation to buy the 21-year-old next summer for £21.6million. At present, the Milan board are negotiating a new contract with him.

Tuttomercatoweb report that the offer from the previous board had been withdrawn by the new regime. In the old contract, it had been agreed for the Atalanta product to remain in the Italian fashion capital until 2023 on over €3million a year, compared to his current €2m.

West Ham’s offer to AC Milan would act as a possible get out should the new board have no plans to pursue with the purchase of the central midfielder, now valued by TransferMarkt at £31.5million.

Bad news for Mark Noble

The West Ham captain’s place under Manuel Pellegrini could be at risk should the east London club convince Milan to sell a promising addition of their squad.

Since making his senior debut in 2015, Kessie has featured in 133 competitive club level matches and 24 international outings for Ivory Coast. In every season in the Italian top division, the 21-year-old has consistently averaged more than one tackle per game, 0.8 interceptions and 0.8 clearances, according to WhoScored.

At West Ham he could dislodge the captain despite his improvement in recent weeks, although Noble showed his rash decision-making when he saw red for a poor tackle on Wilfred Ndidi against Leicester last time out.

The red card leaves his Chilean manager with a lack of options in the engine room, and his name potentially on the chopping list if new talent comes in.

Everton have made a decent start to life under Marco Silva.

The Toffees were long-term admirers of the Portuguese and initially targeted the former Watford boss to replace Ronald Koeman. Silva proved difficult to prise from the Hornets and Everton instead appointed Sam Allardyce. Following Allardyce’s popular departure, Everton finally got their man in the summer.

The Blues are slowly adapting to his methods with a number of summer signings starting to settle into life at Goodison Park. Lucas Digne looks like an excellent replacement for Leighton Baines while record signing Richarlison has been one of the signings of the summer. With Kurt Zouma also proving to be a solid addition, the future is looking bright for the Merseysiders.

To continue their decent start to the season, Everton should launch a bid for former Chelsea star – Thorgan Hazard.

Valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, the Belgian moved to Stamford Bridge alongside his brother Eden but failed to break into the first-team in London. After being loaned to Borussia Monchengladbach, Hazard eventually signed permanently for the Bundesliga side where he is now considered a crucial player. Bringing the playmaker back to England in January could prove to be an astute move.

Hazard has made a terrific start to the new campaign with eight goals and four assists in his first 11 appearances so far. The 25-year-old is known for his ability to unlock a defence, and his arrival would lessen the creative burden on the shoulders of Gylfi Sigurdsson. Hazard has averaged 2.3 key passes per game this season – only Sigurdsson has averaged more in the entire Everton squad so far (WhoScored).

Adding Hazard to their already impressive attack could be a fantastic move by Silva.

Everton fans, thoughts?

According to Italian website Sport Mediaset, West Ham have already made a bid for Inter Milan forward Gabriel Barbosa. 

The striker, known as Gabigol, is on loan currently at Brazilian side Santos from Italian giants Inter Milan. He is in terrific goalscoring form in Brazil, finding the back of the net 16 times in 31 appearances.

Should West Ham land the 22-year-old Brazil international, it will throw the career prospects of a couple of players into turmoil. One of those players whose time at the London Stadium may be numbered is Lucas Pérez.

The Spaniard only joined The Hammers in the summer from Arsenal, but has failed to make an impression so far under Manuel Pellegrini, and is yet to make a start in the Premier League. With the arrival of Gabigol, Pérez would find himself in the selection wilderness with Marko Arnautović and Javier Hernández already ahead of him in the pecking order.

The question will remain as to whether the 4-cap Brazil international will be able to work his way into The Irons’ starting XI, particularly with Arnautović playing so well this season. Even then, the Mexican Hernández is regarded as such a superb impact substitution that it may be hard for the Brazilian to even find his way onto the bench. What he will provide, however, is competition for places at West Ham, which will only improve the performances of players.

West Ham currently sit in 13th place in the Premier League after a horrendous start to their season. The addition of Gabigol in January will be another sign of their continued improvement.

According to a recent report from The Sun, Everton are interested in a summer move for defender Chris Smalling. The England international currently plays his football at Premier League giants Manchester United and has done so since leaving Fulham back in 2010, but with his contract up at the end of the current season, his future at Old Trafford is far from certain.

And reports suggest that Marco Silva’s Everton are keen on luring the £16.2 million-rated ace (as per Transfermarkt) to Goodison Park, but doing so would represent something of a Marcel Brands disasterclass given just how inconsistent and unreliable the centre back has been over the years.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Dutchman Brands took over as the club’s director of football earlier this year and oversaw what many deemed to be a highly successful summer transfer window at Goodison Park, with several shrewd additions made to help Silva in his quest to take the Toffees to the next level.

Brands was able to convince the likes of Andre Gomes, Yerry Mina, and Lucas Digne to leave Barcelona for the blue half of Merseyside, while the additions of Kurt Zouma and big-money man Richarlison are looking even more like Brands masterclasses with every passing day.

Thus, Brands has performed brilliantly for the club so far and shown genuine ambition in the transfer window to try and take Everton towards the top six in the Premier League – yet a move for Smalling, even if it would be on a free, doesn’t smack of that ambition.

The 28-year-old made the move to United back in 2010 after impressing at fellow top-flight side Fulham, with the Englishman going on to appear over 300 times for the Red Devils in the last eight years, helping them win two Premier League titles as well as the Europa League back in 2017.

And while there have been occasions whereby the England international has shone for the North West giants, there have been too many times whereby he simply hasn’t convinced in the heart of the United backline – there’s a reason manager Jose Mourinho wanted centre backs during the most recent summer transfer window.

And while Everton themselves aren’t blessed with too many options in that area of the field, especially with Phil Jagielka likely to leave at the expiration of his contract, it’s a signing which wouldn’t smack of the same level of ambition as those over the summer – for example, Smalling hasn’t proven to be any better than Michael Keane in recent times.

Yes, with Jagielka likely to leave and Zouma only on loan until the summer, it’s unsurprising that Silva is in the market for a centre back, but he shouldn’t be in the market for the unconvincing Smalling – it’s a move which would represent something of a deviation from the masterclass Brands produced over the summer.

Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Liverpool supporters have been reasonably upbeat in recent times after seeing their side enter the current two-week break for internationals off the back of a win.

Jurgen Klopp’s men went into their Premier League encounter with bottom side Fulham unbeaten in their opening 11 matches of the campaign, and going in search of a ninth win to keep the pressure on leaders Manchester City. And the Reds did just that as goals from Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri sealed a routine 2-0 success for the Merseyside giants, thus keeping them just two points behind Pep Guardiola’s City.

Thus, there have been many thrilled Liverpudlians up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have taken to Twitter recently to leap to the defence of striker Dominic Solanke, with plenty convinced that he will come good at Anfield.

But given how little game time he has had in recent times and the lack of impact he has made when on the pitch, those Liverpool fans’s optimism is astonishing and as such they must be prepared for disappointment, as it looks as though the striker simply isn’t good enough for Klopp’s team.

Ultimately, the 22-year-old made the somewhat surprising move to Liverpool back in the summer of 2017 after leaving fellow Premier League giants Chelsea – this all despite the Reds possessing a great deal of options in the final third of the pitch, all of which appearing to be much better than the one-time England international.

And so it proved last season given the striker failed to register his first goal for the club until the final day of the Premier League campaign, what with the likes of Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane producing the goods expertly and repeatedly for Klopp’s team.

Yes, many players would have struggled to get into the Liverpool team ahead of that trio last term given they scored over 90 goals between them in all competitions, but even when called upon to make a difference off the bench on those 16 occasions in the Premier League, he failed to do so – his five starts weren’t exactly memorable either.

And with no appearances at all this term, in fact no appearances in any of Klopp’s league matchday squads so far, that is probably the most damning indictment of exactly where the 21-year-old is currently at – he’s nowhere near good enough for the Reds.

And while with Daniel Sturridge, the other striker seeking to dispose the aforementioned trio in Klopp’s side, you know what you are going to get when he comes off the bench, one is still wondering what Solanke’s biggest strengths and traits are – he’s scored goals for fun in youth football, but hasn’t translated that onto the senior stage yet.

Yes, the Englishman is still very young and has plenty of time to develop into an asset to manager Klopp, but things don’t look particularly good for the striker as of now – he simply isn’t good enough for the Reds.

Liverpool fans… what do you think? Let us know!