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The Premier League season is in full swing.

There have already been a fair few shocks and surprises in the top-flight, with Liverpool leading the way and Manchester City hot on their heels.

Norwich City, Aston Villa and Sheffield United are all adapting to life in the league following their promotion from the Championship and each of them have already notched their first victory.

Watford are the only team without a victory, while the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal have all tasted defeat.

There have been a number of excellent showings, though, so let’s take a look at the nominees for the PFA Bristol Street Motors Fans’ Player of the Month award for August…

Ashley Barnes

Barnes has been a terrific asset for Burnley in the first month of the season.

He has scored four goals for Sean Dyche’s side, including a brace on the opening weekend in a 3-0 victory over Southampton.

Barnes also netted the consolation goal against Arsenal in a 2-1 defeat, along with Burnley’s solitary strike in the 1-1 draw with Wolves.

Raheem Sterling

As ever, Sterling continues to grab the headlines.

Manchester City have begun the season in excellent fashion, thrashing West Ham United 5-0 and also beating Bournemouth 3-1, though they were held to a 2-2 draw by Spurs.

Nevertheless, Sterling has been exceptional throughout, scoring a hat-trick against the Hammers, then netting once against Spurs and once against Eddie Howe’s men.

As it stands, he is the joint top-scorer in the division with five strikes to his name.

Kevin De Bruyne

The Belgium international makes everything tick for the Premier League champions.

He has laid on a total of four assists already this season and has made 14 key passes.

While he is yet to get on the scoresheet, City may not have scored their 10 goals without him.

Mason Mount

Already trusted by new Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, Mount has taken to Premier League football like a duck to water.

A gifted attacking midfielder, he scored the Blues’ only goal in the 1-1 draw with Leicester City and was also on the scoresheet as they beat Norwich 3-2 in a thriller at Carrow Road.

In addition to his two goals, Mount also has seven key passes to his name; he could be a key member of Lampard’s team for the months and years to come.

Tyrone Mings

Signed in the summer following a successful loan spell, Mings is already showing why Aston Villa were so keen to tie him down permanently.

A mobile, strong defender, he has been so good in the opening three games – Villa have won just one of them, but Mings has caught the eye – that he has even been included in Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad.

When one considers that he has made 32 clearances and won 10 aerial duels already this season, it is easy to see why.

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Teemu Pukki

Perhaps the most in-form player in the Premier League right now, the Norwich City striker has been exceptional in the top-flight and is the joint top-scorer in the division alongside Sterling.

Pukki has scored in every game thus far, including a hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Newcastle United, and will be out to add even more as the season progresses.

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Alexandre Lacazette is reportedly waiting to see what sort of market there is for him before signing a new contract with Arsenal.

What’s the story?

Earlier on this year, the France international was said to be of interest to FC Barcelona. Whilst nothing came of that speculation, it could have played on the mind of the 27-year-old.

It is being reported that the former Lyon forward is waiting to see what the market for him is next summer before committing to a new contract with the north London outfit.

“They have the bigger mentality” – Spurs fans come to blows after the North London Derby in the video below…

Lack of playing time

It has been a good start to the season for Lacazette, and he has once again shown exactly what he is capable of. In his first three Premier League games, he has scored twice and notched up an average WhoScored rating of 7.14. His performance against Tottenham, in particular, galvanised his side as they recovered from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point.

There is a possibility he will be frustrated at the Emirates Stadium, and that is down to a lack of playing time. Last season, he started just 27 league games, and has already been dropped for once this term, against Liverpool of all teams.

Quite frankly, Lacazette is too good to be on the bench. Last season, he scored 19 goals and provided 13 assists in all competitions, despite starting just 36 matches. If that fixture against the Reds is anything to go by, he may once again be used sparingly this time around.

As such, he may be looking to move on to another top side in a bid to start more regularly, and there are a number of clubs in the Champions League who would surely be willing to take him. After all, he is a top class player. If he wants to keep him in north London, Emery should think about giving him a bigger role.

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Scotland play their second do-or-die game in the space of a week. After an abject performance in the 2-1 defeat to Russia on Friday, Steve Clarke is looking to make changes, according to The Sun. The story circulating is that it will be the midfield and attack where he makes the most changes.

With Scotland facing the FIFA number one ranked team, Belgium, it doesn’t come much harder. Their respective starts to the qualifying campaign couldn’t be more different with Belgium sitting on top of the group with maximum points and Scotland nine points behind in fourth on just six points from the opening five games.

A key area in which Clarke will freshen up will be midfield. So who are the men Clarke is looking to bring in?

Clarke is rumoured to be making four changes to his offensive players with Ryan Christie, Kenny McLean, Robert Snodgrass and Matt Phillips all set to start. The players likely to drop out, according to The Sun, will be James Forrest, Callum McGregor, John McGinn and Oli McBurnie.

In such an important game, it would be a bold move for Clarke to drop, arguably, three of his best players. Forrest, McGregor and McGinn are regular starters for Scotland when fit. Bringing in Christie to play with his Celtic team-mates makes perfect sense given their start to the season and his own prolific form. Christie has eight goals and five assists in thirteen appearances, numbers that dictate a starting place for a Scotland team that is struggling.

Playing McGregor in a deeper role with John McGinn in a double pivot would give the Scotland defence greater and much needed protection. McGinn and McGregor are key players with their clubs, Kenny McLean has just 111 minutes of league action this season.

There is also a sound argument for replacing Ryan Fraser with Robert Snodgrass. Not only is this Scotland team bereft of experience, which Snodgrass has, but it is also short of goals. Fraser has yet to show he is capable of reproducing his Bournemouth form for Scotland with just one goal in ten games. Snodgrass with seven goals in twenty-six games would also give a better balance as a natural left-sided player.

Playing the lone striker role for Scotland has never been an easy task and McBurnie was slated in some quarters for his part in Scotland’s defeat against Russia, especially by BBC pundit Michael Stewart. He is inexperienced at international level but his club form, with a goal almost every two games over the last two seasons demonstrates he is worth persevering with. On this occasion though the more physical Matt Phillips could be the man to turn to. McBurnie, despite his height, is a finesse player and needs support around him. Phillips will run channels, bully defenders and look to win cheap possession high up the park. Possession may be hard to come by against such a good team.

It remains to be seen how true the rumours are about Clarke’s team selection in such an important fixture. By dropping key players he may be seen as giving up on the group qualification. With the likely opponents of Scotland’s Nations League play-off being against Bulgaria, he may see that as the real “do-or-die” fixture. Clarke should play his strongest team and bring in Christie and Snodgrass to add much needed firepower to the Scotland attack.

Willems hasn’t messed about when it comes to getting back to work.

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He posted the snap pretty much as soon as his team got back into training, and his message was loud and clear.

The caption is pretty much everything a Newcastle fan would want to hear at this point. The player hasn’t got caught up on the past fortnight, which would be easy to do after two big wins for the Netherlands, rather he’s completely focused on the task at hand.

And that task is a big one as well. The Magpies have to face Liverpool this weekend, and with the Reds winning all of their Premier League games so far it will be a huge challenge to get anything against Jurgen Klopp’s side.

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Early on Thursday night, Celtic will take on Rennes in France. It is the first of their Europa League groups games, and a point would be a very good result.

It would set up Celtic’s home game rather nicely and give them a decent chance of going forward from the group.

Brendan Rodgers may have gone there and tried to play attacking football and damn the consequences, but Neil Lennon is a more pragmatic manager than his predecessor.

He has a number of tactical options available to him, but which one should he choose?

Let’s start with the basic 4-2-3-1.

It is an attacking system and based on the current makeup of the squad, this is the likely starting eleven.

That system is good enough to get goals – Ryan Christie, James Forrest and Odsonne Edouard have nine between them in the top flight this season – but it’s also more expansive than might be safe with four attacking players.

The Celtic defence is still settling in following the summer arrivals of Boli Bolingoli, Christopher Jullien and Hatem Abd Elhamed, and this would be a bad night for them to get exposed.

There is a system very similar to this which would give them more protection, and it might well be that Lennon decides to go with it instead.

It involves sacrificing the attacking midfielder, Christie, for another central midfield player and pulling Scott Brown back into a true defensive midfield role.

That’s a 4-1-2-2-1 system, or a 4-1-2-3.

This system has one major advantage and one major disadvantage.

The advantage is obvious; it puts Brown in a place where he can cover the backline and offer them protection.

The disadvantage is that gaping hole between the central midfield and the striker; against a decent defence and a good midfield you need that man in the hole, that link man, to create chances and get the ball forward.

Without him, you’re basically relying on the lone striker to do a lot of work, or you’re asking your wingers to be out of position in the transition phase.

If it’s a more structured approach Lennon wants, he can pull the wide men back, letting them help the full-backs, and play a more compact midfield.

The advantage of the 4-4-1-1 is that you still have the striker supported by the roaming midfielder.

But this does negate the two potent weapons they have on the wing and especially Forrest, who is in the midst of a great run of form with seven goals and five assists in all competitions.

He will almost certainly play as part of whatever system Lennon decides to play, and if the gaffer goes for a radically defensive team he would probably play behind Edouard in the hole, in a 5-3-1-1.

This would move Hatem Abd Elhamed to central defence and put Moritz Bauer on the right.

That would give Celtic an extra central defender as well as an extra man in the middle of the pitch.

The wide forwards would go, but Bolingoli and Bauer would play further up the pitch – which may actually play to the former’s natural game.

It would also let Lennon play Olivier Ntcham, who showed last season he can get forward and score goals with six in total.

We suspect Lennon will go with one of the systems here. It will be interesting to see which it is.

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Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has made his latest round of Premier League predictions ahead of the weekend, and has made a big claim by saying Tottenham Hotspur left-back Danny Rose isn’t happy.

What did he say?

Well, speaking ahead of Spurs’ trip to Leicester City on Saturday, the former Arsenal player has had his say on the north London outfit and the England international, who was omitted from the squad that faced Olympiacos on Wednesday night along with fellow full-back Serge Aurier.

Nicholas said via Sky Sports: “Tottenham, we were told, have calmed down after the Crystal Palace game. Christian Eriksen stays put and they have their private chat, but I don’t think that is the case. I don’t think Danny Rose is happy – how long will it be until he comes out and says he is not happy?”

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Is he right?

It’s difficult to say.

While the 29-year-old may not have been best pleased to have been left at home when his teammates travelled to Athens, Mauricio Pochettino did say he was going to rotate his squad and it appears likely that he is saving Rose and Aurier to start at the King Power Stadium this weekend.

In addition, he didn’t travel with the side on their pre-season tour of Asia in July either with a view to him being sold, but an exit failed to materialise even though a deadline day exit to Watford looked to be on the cards at one stage, as per The Sun.

Following a summer of speculation, the Englishman has established himself as Tottenham’s first choice left-back ahead of Ben Davies, and said in an interview with The Mirror earlier this month that he was “very happy” and that he was ready to fight for his spot.

In that respect him being unhappy would be a little strange, although Rose has always worn his heart on his sleeve and been honest.

An interesting few weeks ahead, then.

[ad_pod ]Some Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter have reacted following an outburst from a player Daniel Levy reportedly bid on during the summer – Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes.32 goals and 18 assists in 53 appearances in all competitions for the Portuguese club last season means interest in the 25-year-old from clubs during the summer was hardly surprising, with Sporting’s chairman confirming they rejected an offer from the north London outfit worth €65m (£58m) with add-ons, as translated from the club’s official website by Football London.Now, the Portugal international has ripped into the press and some of his teammates in a rant on news channel CMTV, as reported by Sport Witness.It appears as though Tottenham supporters below are impressed with the attacking midfielder’s attitude, and some believe someone with his mentality is needed at the club.Spurs have of course found it a struggle in the opening weeks of the campaign, not getting off to the best of starts in the Premier League or the Champions League, and being knocked out of the League Cup by League Two Colchester United.Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

While one said “he’d have bullied Eriksen so much, would have loved to see it”, another said “come on over to Spurs, we need people with heart”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Some Southampton fans have taken to Twitter to react after Cedric Soares posted an update regarding his absence in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.

The 33-cap Portugal international pulled out of the game against Spurs for unknown reasons; The Daily Echo revealed that manager Ralph Hasenhuttl didn’t even know why his full-back pulled out of the encounter.

The Athletic’s Southampton correspondent Carl Anka wrote: “It sounds as if Cedric got off the team bus and turned to his manager and said he can’t play.”

Anka also wrote of Hasenhuttl’s unhappiness with the full-back’s decision to withdraw himself from the action.

Now, it seems as if the 28-year-old has cleared up what the issue was after posting a tweet showing his leg to be in a recovery tube, while also throwing a thumbs up to the camera.

Cedric’s absence proved costly as the Saints ended up losing 2-1 to 10-man Tottenham.

One supporter wished the Saints No.2 a speedy recovery, while another said that it was “really odd” how Hasenhuttl didn’t know about the injury.

Let’s take a look at some more of the reaction to Cedric’s update from Southampton fans on Twitter…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Not satisfied with snatching Eden Hazard from Chelsea last summer, it seems Real Madrid are heading back to the Premier League to sign another London-based superstar in the coming months.

According to Diario Gol, Los Blancos are determined to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur as successor to Karim Benzema.

But where would that leave young Serbian striker Luka Jovic who only moved to the Bernabeu in July?

What’s the word, then?

We’ve been hearing about Real Madrid’s supposed revolution all summer long.

The media, especially from the Spanish capital, have been going on about Zinedine Zidane not having the squad he needs (or wants) to be able to fully compete in every competition.

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Of course, Hazard was a major signing and with the number seven shirt on his back, the Belgian might be looked upon as Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor.

But the Portuguese forward left for Juventus more than 15 months ago, and there are a number of other big name players who will soon need replacing in an ageing Galactico squad.

Benzema is already 31 years old. Sooner, rather than later, someone will have to take over his mantle, and who better to do that than Kane?

Unfortunately, that could end Jovic’s Real Madrid career before it has even begun.

A worrying sign

Tottenham Hotspur are not really firing on all cylinders right now.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men are struggling for form and were recently beaten 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They have won just three games this season – all in the Premier League and all at White Hart Lane.

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

Diario Gol states that the Galacticos believe €180m (£162m) would be enough to extract the English forward away from north London, especially if Spurs miss out on Champions League football next season.

That would be a deal-breaker for Kane and, if this were to happen, he is apparently prepared to leave his beloved Spurs.

But such a deal would also ask a huge question about Jovic’s position inside Real’s squad.

Why exactly was the young Serbian even bought if Kane is now on the agenda as well? After all, it is highly unlikely that Los Blancos were ready to splash the reported £53.2m sum just to add a bench-warmer to their squad.

Seeing how Jovic has only tallied 218 minutes so far, across all competitions in 2019/20, it would be unfair to compare him to a regular first-teamer like the English forward.

So let’s take a look at how they both performed last season in their respective domestic leagues.

Jovic scored 17 goals and assisted a further five, which is actually one assist more than Kane’s 17 goals and four assists in the Premier League. Interestingly enough, the young Serbian edges him out in some other categories as well.

While the Spurs man had a slightly higher tally of shots per game with 3.6, as opposed to the former Frankfurt ace’s three, Jovic had 1.4 dispossessions and 2.3 unsuccessful touches per game, compared to Kane’s 1.6 and 2.9 respectively.

By all means, when the Serbian is given a chance to perform, he can evidently do it to a really high level.

It seems, however, that he is bound to get even less game time if the signing of Kane goes through – which, we must remind ourselves, is nowhere near concrete by any means.

But if the original source is to be believed, Kane would be Benzema’s direct successor and, in that regard, is most likely to become their first-choice striker.

The young Serb is already struggling for continuity and if Tottenham do end up allowing their forward to head to the Bernabeu, it might just spell the end of Jovic’s Madrid career.

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…

Whilst it might sound a bit strange at first, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t treat it any less seriously.

According to Football Insider, Leeds United are ‘keeping tabs’ on Rangers boss Steven Gerrard in case they find themselves in a position where current head coach Marcelo Bielsa decides to leave Elland Road.

Indeed according to the report, they were looking at the possibility of signing him this summer gone by had Bielsa departed.

Whilst it seems like it is Gerrard’s destiny to manage Liverpool one day, with even current Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp more or less writing it in stone that it should be the former captain to replace him in the dugout in a recent interview with FourFourTwo, he has to earn his way there rather than being pushed to the front of the line just because of his history.

When Shaun Hutchinson joined Fulham back in 2014, he called the Championship ‘a step up’ from the Scottish Premiership, essentially calling the top tier in Scotland about the same level as League One in England.

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Keeping up that line of thought, it only seems right that someone like Gerrard should go through the divisions to prove himself.

So why shouldn’t Leeds at least consider him as an option? And at the same time, why wouldn’t Gerrard be tempted at the idea?

The Leeds fans might not be wholly convinced by the whole premise, but if he can have as big an impact with the Whites as he has done with Rangers, it’s only right he should be getting a look-in.

Gerrard has done an incredible job of turning the Gers around since taking over at Ibrox and has already enabled them to rise from what was a previously dark place.

He helped deliver their first victory over Celtic in 11 attempts and has taken Rangers from 12 points behind their Old Firm rivals in the league before he took over, to now sitting two points ahead of them.

Therefore, he has clearly shown that he has got some managerial ability in him and has a future in the game.

If he’s helped bring Rangers back into relevancy, why can’t he do the same with Leeds? It certainly seems the 39-year-old likes a challenge.

If there is to be that ‘next step’ for him to take before he eventually gets the Liverpool job as it seems inevitable he will get someday, then a ‘sleeping giant’ club like Leeds should be on his radar, and Gerrard must remain on theirs. That’s particularly if they’re in need of someone who can rebuild them.

That will, of course, depend on if they achieve promotion.