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As reported by The Sun, Liverpool are ready to bid for Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope this summer, potentially ending their pursuit of Roma shot-stopper Alisson.

What’s the story?

After the UEFA Champions League Final horror-show from Loris Karius, Liverpool need to be on the hunt for an elite goalkeeper this summer that can at least compete with the German for the number one spot at Anfield.

The Sun report that Jurgen Klopp eyes Burnley man Nick Pope for that role, ready to bid £15m for his services this summer.

The paper say that he would be a far cheaper choice than the £70m-rated Alisson, with Burnley likely to let him leave due to having Tom Heaton also at the club.

Would Pope be a good signing for the Reds?

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Settling vs ambition

There’s no doubt that Pope has proven himself to be a capable goalkeeper in the English Premier League, conceding just 35 goals in 35 appearances for Burnley last season, also keeping 12 clean sheets.

He wasn’t just a bystander contributing to that record, making a string of impressive saves and showing good enough form to win a place in the England squad for the 2018 World Cup.

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It’s also true though that he wouldn’t automatically be first-choice at Liverpool should he make the switch, whereas Roma’s Alisson undoubtedly would be. The Brazilian shot-stopper carries a bigger presence and brings more confidence to goalkeeping than pope and is the prime choice for Liverpool this summer if they can push the boat out and pay the £70m it’s reported it would take to sign him.

It may be a more difficult negotiation and it may last all summer, but if Liverpool are to win major honours next season they need the very best at the club and Alisson represents that.

Manchester United are now a massive 15 points behind English Premier League leaders Manchester City after defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Wednesday night.

Spurs fully deserved their victory and ran out 2-0 winners thanks to a Christian Eriksen opener and a Phil Jones own goal.

Jose Mourinho’s side never really recovered from Eriksen’s early goal, which was scored after just 11 seconds, making it the third fastest goal in English Premier League history.

It was a result and performance that left Red Devils fans absolutely fuming and they had particular criticism for the likes of Paul Pogba after an ineffective midfield display.

The French international struggled to get to grips with the defensive side of the game and was eventually hauled off by Mourinho in the 63rd minute.

Did the Man United boss get his tactics wrong from the start, or was Pogba simply not good enough?

Regardless, supporters are looking for improvement and believe that if their star midfielder can’t do the midfield dirty work then Mourinho should play him further forward or as part of a three man midfield.

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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

Liverpool entertained Aston Villa at Anfield this evening in the Premier League’s late Saturday kick-off. The Reds had their eyes victory to maintain momentum in their Champions League push, whilst the points were the priority for the visitors – Paul Lambert’s side had claimed just four in their last seven league fixtures.

But it was surprisingly the Villians who came out of the blocks flying. Gabby Agbonlahor could have put them ahead in the first minute after finding himself alone in the Liverpool box, but the breakthrough eventually came via Andreas Weimann in the 24th minute, who applied a sliding finish to a low cross. Christian Benteke then found his second goal in successive games ten minutes later.

It seemed Liverpool would enter the interval 2-0 down, but a Daniel Sturridge goal before the break made Brendan Rodgers’ half-time team-talk a little easier. Early in the second half, Brad Guzan then brought down Luis Suarez in the box, with Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard converting the spot kick with a powerful effort.

Here’s how the key events unfolded on Twitter:

With less than a minute on the clock, Gabby Agbonlahor found himself through on goal, but put the effort wide…

 And after 23 minutes, Keiran Clark hits the right-hand post with a headed effort from a corner;

 A few minutes later, a great counter-attacking move sees Christian Benteke, Gabby Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann charge down the pitch. Agbonalhor puts in a low cross, the Austrian provides a sliding finish.

At the 35 minute mark, Villa won possession high up the pitch. Agbonlahor whipped in a curling ball from the right hand side fooling Simon Mignolet, leaving Benteke to comfortably nod home into an empty net and make it 2-0 to the visitors.

 It took until just before the half-time whistle for Liverpool to get back into the game. Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge combined nicely in the final third, Jordan Henderson applied an inventive flick and Sturridge produced a calm dinked finish;

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 The comeback continued when Luis Suarez was brought down inside the box by Villians ‘keeper Brad Guzan. There was some debate over the amount of contact actually made, but Steven Gerrard stepped up to convert the penalty with a drilled finish.

 Suarez nearly took the lead with a blistering free kick in the 76th minute. It beat Brad Guzan but wasn’t on target.

Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has told the Reading Post that he is happy with his team’s long ball footballing style.

Statistics provided by Opta have revealed that 17.65 per cent of the Royals’ passes have been more than 35 yards, more than any other club in the Premier League, leading some to criticise Reading of playing unattractive football.

McCarthy however is happy to play more direct as long as it provides results for the club, who are yet to win in the Premier League this season.

The shot-stopper told the Reading Post: “We like to put the ball in behind and turn teams around. Passing the ball around a lot and not getting anywhere is not our style of play.

“We like to turn teams behind and put it around the penalty area, so we’re happy to be a long-ball side.”

The young Englishman was brought into the Reading first team after poor performances from Australian keeper Adam Federici at the start of the season. Since then, the 22-year-old has managed to keep his place in the starting XI.

McCarthy is now looking forward to getting back into action when the Royals take on Liverpool at Anfield this weekend.

“It’s a massive game. These are the ones that you look forward to in your career so I really can’t wait.

“I’ve played at Anfield before in a youth game but playing in the Premier League with a full crowd will be unbelievable.

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“We’ve gone three games unbeaten so you could say that it’s a good time to play Liverpool. Hopefully we can take the positives out of the previous games and get a good result,” he added.

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Danny Rose was one of Tottenham’s best performers in 2016/17, establishing himself as a guaranteed starter for the England team as well, but last season was not so productive for the left-back.

The former Leeds United man angered Mauricio Pochettino on the eve of the season, arguing the case for expensive new signings, before a season in which he lost his starting spot to Ben Davies for much of the campaign.

That has led to links with Everton and Manchester United over a summer move as Pochettino can be notoriously ruthless when one of his players is on the wrong side of him, although he has integrated Rose back into the side to the extent that he has included in Gareth Southgate’s plans for the World Cup in Russia this month.

So, with Bayern Munich reportedly willing to listen to offers for left-back Juan Bernat among others, we asked Tottenham fans whether they thought the Spaniard would be a good Rose replacement.

The answer came back in favour of the England international with 64 per cent of the voters claiming that he is the superior talent, as you can see from the full results below…

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Everton may well be in the market to sign a new left-back before the January transfer window slams shut at the end of the month, and Toffees fans have urged them to get Jamal Lewis following his display for Norwich City in their FA Cup third round replay tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

The 19-year-old lined up as a left wing-back against the Premier League holders, but he impressed both defensively and from an attacking point of view, with his pace and his ability to take the ball forward particularly noticeable.

Meanwhile, summer addition Cuco Martina has been filling in at left-back for the Merseyside outfit in the absence of the injured Leighton Baines in recent months, with the Goodison Park faithful not particularly impressed with his performances.

Everton supporters were quick to have their say on Lewis’ showing for the Canaries via social media, and while one said he “looks far better than Martina”, another simply said “what a player”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has questioned Chelsea’s timing and motive in their sale of Juan Mata to Manchester United, the Guardian reports.

He fears that Chelsea’s short-term aspirations have clouded the Blue’s judgement in letting Mata move to a rival, albeit one that is struggling this season, and has warned Jose Mourinho he may later regret his decision.

Wenger believes the £40m was considered beneficial to Chelsea’s push for the title as the Spaniard will be helping United in upcoming fixtures with Arsenal and Manchester City, who currently sitting first and second respectively.

After Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over United last weekend, in which Mata was an unused substitute, Mourinho said with a smile that he now hopes the Red Devils “beat all of them [the top clubs] to finish fourth.”

“He [Mourinho] sums up what Chelsea’s thinking is,” Wenger said, in regards to Mata.

He went on to stress that Chelsea aren’t doing anything wrong but felt Mourinho was manipulating the market in an unfair manner.

“I am surprised because Juan Mata is a great player and they sell a great player to a direct opponent,” Wenger said. “It opens [up] again a little bit the opportunity of this transfer market because Chelsea had already played twice against Man United so they don’t play again. They could have sold him last week [before the United game].

“It opens, at least, the opportunity of the dates of this transfer window. Some teams have already played twice against one opponent and some others, not. If you want to respect the fairness for everybody exactly in the game, that should not happen. I just think you would want everybody on the same level. I can understand completely what Chelsea is doing. They do not do the rules but, maybe, the rules should be a bit more adapted to more fairness.”

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Wenger was however previously criticized for his sale of Robin Van Persie to Manchester United, who went on to win the title last season.

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England defender Ashley Cole has accepted the FA’s charges of misconduct, and will now be subject to punishment.

The Chelsea left-back could be in hot water, after he labelled the governing body a ‘bunch of twats’ when his defence of Blues team-mate John Terry in the ongoing racism saga was questioned.

With a new code of conduct for England players set to be installed, the footballing world will watch on to see what punishment the defender receives for the abusive outburst.

The FA have already stated that Cole will be allowed to play for England in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino on Friday night and Poland on Tuesday, with there no grounds for a ban from the national team.

Cole quickly apologised to FA chief David Bernstein in the wake of the comments, and has now accepted that he was in the wrong.

“Ashley Cole has admitted an FA charge in relation to a Twitter comment which was improper and/or brought the game into disrepute,” an official FA statement reads, which was published on the governing body’s website.

“Cole has requested a non-personal hearing, the date of which has yet to be set.”

It is believed that Roy Hodgson will rest the veteran full-back against San Marino, but will be reinstated to the Three Lions’ starting XI for the away game in Poland.

Chelsea have already fined Cole for his actions, as controversy seems to be awash at the club with John Terry and Ryan Bertrand also guilty of misdemeanours in the recent past.

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Newcastle fans have been debating a shock swoop for Arsenal man Santi Cazorla, and fans are split on the classy but fragile midfielder.

Santi Cazorla will not renew his Arsenal contract this summer, meaning the little Spaniard will be available on a free transfer.

The 33 year-old has had a torrid time with injuries in recent seasons, not playing a single minute for the Gunners this season.

Despite that, there is bound to be a whole host of clubs lining up to secure his services, as the crafty playmaker can dictate the tempo of a game at any speed he likes.

Newcastle have of course found a formidable pairing in centre midfield with Mo Diame and Jonjo Shelvey, but they are still lacking a little creativity, and Cazorla could play in any of the five midfield positions in Rafael Benitez’s 4-2-3-1.

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The Arsenal fan favourite’s injury issues mean he simply cannot be relied upon as the first option, but fans have been debating whether they’d take him for depth.

Cazorla will be desperate to get back to playing football as he reaches full fitness again this summer, and the Spaniard seems like the type who would relish playing in a passionate atmosphere with a manager like Benitez.

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Some fans are desperate for a player of Cazorla’s class, but others simply can’t look past his injury record.

Either way, some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…

According to reports in The Telegraph, Chelsea have opened talks with West Ham United about signing striker Andy Carroll, who is rated at £20m by the club according to Sky Sports, on a permanent deal, and Arsenal fans have been quick to mock their London neighbours.

Initial reports suggested that the Blues wanted to bring the 29-year-old to Stamford Bridge on loan until the end of the season to provide cover for Alvaro Morata, but now The Telegraph says they actually want the centre-forward on a permanent basis.

If they do get Carroll he would follow Ross Barkley through the door for the Premier League holders this month, and even though the Gunners look set to lose Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United their attention has certainly been caught to the potential deal involving their rivals from the capital.

Arsenal supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on Chelsea targeting Carroll, and while one labelled “Chelsea the new Arsenal”, another said their interest in him is “embarrassing”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…