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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…

Liverpool have taken a massive step towards a maiden Premier League title win after beating Manchester City 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. The defeat leaves the champions nine points behind the Reds in the table after just 12 games and places their credentials this season into serious doubt.

Throughout the game, Pep Guardiola’s men were second best across the pitch, but one area which was exposed in particular was central defence. The injury to Aymeric Laporte has caused problems at the back for City, with the club immediately losing to Norwich and then falling to defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers not long after.

Now, after the loss to Liverpool, it is clear – if it wasn’t already – that the champions made a massive error in not recruiting at the back in the summer window. The loss of Vincent Kompany was always going to be a miss, with the City legend’s 360 appearances helping collect four Premier League titles.

This has left Guardiola with only Nicolas Otamendi, John Stones and Laporte as his natural central defensive options, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis only just being promoted and Eric Garcia hugely inexperienced at 18.

Otamendi has struggled this season and was largely at fault for the defeat to Norwich, whilst Stones has looked lost without the Frenchman beside him. Last season at Anfield both Stones and Laporte were in incredible form and managed to keep the Reds at bay.

This time around, however, Stones’ performance simply shined a light on why City should have signed a centre-back in the summer.

The club’s failure to recruit a new defensive talent could ultimately prove to be their downfall as they bid to secure a hat-trick of Premier League titles.

Injuries happen all the time and as unfortunate as Laporte’s injury is, it is not exactly a surprise. Simply put, it is poor anticipation from City in that regard, who have clearly shown down the years that money is not an issue.

Whether the manager will spend in the January window remains to be seen.

However, he most definitely needs to open conversations with Txiki Begiristain about signing a new man at the back, regardless of whether he arrives in the mid-season window or next summer.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Greg Taylor has struggled for game time since joining Celtic in the summer, making just six appearances across all competitions.

If he is to play with greater regularity, the 22-year-old must overtake Boli Bolingoli in the pecking order, with the 24-year-old having made 22 appearances.

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He may not have had much luck at club level, but Taylor was given the chance to play for Scotland, due to both Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney being unavailable.

The Premier League pair were not missed in the end, as Taylor put in a superb performance to help his side to a 2-1 victory, while potentially giving Neil Lennon something to think about.

First and foremost, he was solid defensively, making 1 clearance and 1 interception, as well as making 2 tackles without being dribbled past at all and winning 5 of his 6 duels.

The left-back also made a difference going forward, as it was he who put in the cross to assist John McGinn’s winner, with what was his only delivery of the game while he also played 2 key passes and completed 2 dribbles.

In addition to the previous statistics, there was efficiency in the 22-year-old’s play, as he maintained a pass success rate of 88% throughout the match.

Overall, this was a brilliant performance from the 2-cap Taylor and he couldn’t have done much more to turn Lennon’s head.

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…

Jose Mourinho has been appointed as Tottenham Hotspur’s manager and one has to imagine that not everyone will be happy about it.

Mauricio Pochettino had built up some credit in the bank – spending over five years at the club and overseeing two Premier League title challenges and a run to the Champions League final – while also forging relationships with his players.

Now, though, all has changed. Some Spurs players only know of a time when Pochettino was manager but Mourinho will bring with him new ideas and a new way of doing things.

And that could mean some hard truths for a few players in the squad.

Football FanCast takes a look at the major losers from the appointment.

Hugo Lloris

Already out injured, Mourinho will have to play Paulo Gazzaniga from the outset, purely due to his availability, meaning Hugo Lloris faces an uphill battle to reclaim his spot.

More pertinently, Mourinho could well decide to strip the Frenchman of his captaincy to stamp his own mark on this Spurs team, especially as he won’t be back on the pitch for a while yet.

No armband depletes Lloris’ relevance to this side as it seemed to protect him from getting dropped after a howler against Southampton earlier this season.

Harry Winks

Mourinho has often preferred to have genuinely powerful midfield players in the centre of the pitch – think Michael Essien and Nemanja Matic – and Winks is not that.

He is lithe and skillful, instead of being the tough-tackling presence that Mourinho often prefers. That is offered by the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko.

It is likely that the England international will lose his spot in the short-term and could well face a significant battle to get back into the team.

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Giovani Lo Celso

Joined the club in the summer from Real Betis on an initial loan deal and now has to prove his worth all over again.

If Mourinho takes a liking to him, that deal could well be made permanent, but if not, he will surely be shipped straight back to Spain.

Add in that he reportedly joined the club because of his desire to work with Pochettino, per Sky Sports via the Daily Express, and one has to feel that he could be a major loser.

It’s never easy for recent signings when the manager who brought them in is suddenly axed.

Ryan Sessegnon

Sessegnon is in a similar boat to Lo Celso.

He moved to the club in the summer and could have been set for a stint in the first-team under Pochettino, who has a solid track record of developing young players – ranging from Luke Shaw to Harry Kane.

With Son Heung-Min already in front of him in the pecking order at left wing, the former Fulham ace has serious work to do to prove his worth to Mourinho.

There are very few instances throughout the Portuguese’s career in which he’s successfully improved results by giving chances to young players.

Versatility may help but Sessegnon doesn’t seem like Mourinho’s type of defender – his last title win had Cesar Azpilicueta at left-back – and he could end up with splinters from his time on the bench.

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has revealed the hardest right-back he has come up against in his career so far in an Instagram Q&A he has conducted, via Dugout.

The 27-year-old will have lined up against plenty of right-sided full-backs during his spells in the Premier League with the Eagles, Cardiff City and Manchester United, but it is actually a former teammate he has chosen.

Indeed, he believes that ex-Red Devil Antonio Valencia is the most difficult right-back opponent he has faced, describing him as “strong” and “fast”.

Hilariously obscure Premier League players – Can you name them all?

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Quite the praise for the Ecuadorian.

In other Crystal Palace news, lots of Eagles fans are fuming with one recent transfer link…

Although Leeds have been enjoying a blistering season in the Championship – with promotion looking promising at the end of this season – we can still put the team under a magnifying glass and pick out those who have fallen behind the pack.

Unsurprisingly, there have been a couple of players who haven’t been up to scratch…

Ouasim Bouy

The 26-year-old’s 2019/20 season perhaps couldn’t have gone any worse after he was reportedly told he would not be playing for Leeds again. Bouy has had a difficult career with the Yorkshire side but it seemed this season was the turning point for Marcelo Bielsa to call the final straw.

According to Phil Hay, the Dutchman is training at completely different times to the first team and Leeds are now desperate to get him off their books.

Bouy’s market value is also the lowest it’s ever been whilst with the Whites, extremely disappointing from a player whose agent also manages the likes of Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland.

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Jamie Shackleton

It’s always nice when English clubs can nurture homegrown talent and watch them grow into a top footballer. Frustratingly, this season hasn’t been a career-defining one for 20-year-old Jamie Shackleton.

In his first senior season for Leeds, the youngster managed to get himself two assists after playing an average of just 23 minutes in 19 games. However, with a bit more responsibility this campaign, it may have proven all too much for Shackleton.

The Englishman has started four matches out of 14 but hasn’t registered a single goal or assist for his side. In those four starting appearances, Shackleton lost the ball 29 times and made just three key passes.

Similar in age, West Brom’s Kyle Edwards is also being integrated into the first team and has scored two goals and has averaged a higher passing accuracy (84.6%) than Shackleton (83.2%).

Age is on his side, but if the 20-year-old wants to follow in similar paths to young English talent like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jadon Sancho he must pull his socks up.

What do you think, Leeds fans? Do you agree with the above or has there been worse performers this season?

Having failed to sign a striker in the January transfer window, Tottenham were left understandably short of options up front following the injuries to Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.

Reports towards the end of the winter deadline suggested Jose Mourinho was targeting a move for Chelsea forward Olivier Giroud, but a deal failed to materialise before the close of play.

But even with football at a standstill, clubs are seemingly still working towards securing transfer targets for next season.

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And according to Turkish publication Fanatik, Spurs are ready to meet Fenerbahce’s asking price for Vedat Muriqi.

English fans will of course be aware of Muriqi from his exploits at international level with Kosovo, and he has proven himself to be a monstrous centre-forward in his time in Turkish football.

This season, as per Transfermarkt, the 25-year-old has found the back of the net 15 times from just 28 games across all competitions, including providing an impressive six assists too.

At 6 foot 4, Muriqi is an absolute beast, and unsurprisingly, is a major threat in the air. As per Whoscored, he has won an astonishing five aerial duels per game in the Turkish Super Lig, and as Spurs fans will fondly remember, former striker Fernando Llorente was in that similar mould.

If Spurs can hang on to Kane this summer, they don’t need someone to be a first-choice number nine. They need someone who could potentially come off the bench like Llorente, or provide an alternative option like the Spaniard did in his time in north London.

And that’s exactly why Muriqi could be the perfect foil for Kane. If Spurs need to go more direct in their play, or simply ease the burden on their talisman’s shoulders, then the Kosovo international can be more than just an adequate fill-in.

It’s a move Daniel Levy would be shrewd to pursue.

Meanwhile, Alasdair Gold has revealed Spurs are keen on this centre-back.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have been calling for the club to make one out-of-contract star a Spurs player this summer – and it’s not Willian.

It comes after Football Insider revealed that AFC Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser has ‘told friends’ he would be keen on joining the north London outfit if they make a move for him.

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They also claim that a club of Spurs’ calibre would interest the 26-year-old whilst the club could appear to be keen on a deal given their potential transfer budget ahead of next season.

The Scotsman appears set to leave the Cherries when his contract expires having scored one goal and provided four assists for them in 28 Premier League appearances, via WhoScored. Fraser has also averaged 1.6 key passes, one cross and one shot per game this term.

Many of the Spurs faithful have been drooling over the prospect of landing a proven top-flight player like Fraser, describing the possibility as a “no-brainer.”

Here’s what has been said on social media…

AND in other news, Five youngsters Jose Mourinho should call upon next season to SAVE MILLIONS…

Time could be running out for one contracted Everton player at Goodison Park after fresh reports emerged over his unlikely future at the club.

According to Football Insider, the Toffees are prepared to part ways with winger Yannick Bolasie after telling him to find a new club, and they could be willing to cut their losses and sell him for as little as £3m just four years after splashing £25m on him from Crystal Palace.

The 30-year-old has been out on loan three times since the start of the 2018/19 campaign, enduring spells away from the Merseyside outfit at Aston Villa, Anderlecht and Sporting Lisbon.

Bolasie has played just 32 times for Everton, contributing to a total of six goals and this season for the Portuguese outfit, the winger has featured in 25 matches, scoring two goals and providing five assists.

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And it’s clear to see that many at Goodison Park wouldn’t be sad to see him go with some blasting him as being one of their worst-ever signings.

Here’s what supporters have been saying about the report…

AND in other news, Everton fans react over Carlo Ancelotti seeking reunion with former STAR…

Name: David Brooks

Club: Bournemouth

Age: 8 July 1997

Position: Winger (Right)/Midfielder

David Brooks – his career so far

At the age of 22, David Brooks can already boast with a pretty colourful career to date. The versatile attacking-minded ace is currently a part of Bournemouth’s first-team squad but has had his fair share of transfers, loans and various spell elsewhere before he finally settled at his current club.

Brooks’ first exposure to football and what would eventually open a pathway for him towards the big leagues was actually his stay at Manchester City’s academy when he was aged just seven. But in 2014, he already swapped shirts and joined Sheffield United, signing his first professional contract with the club the following year.

After spending some time in their U18 squad, Brooks quickly became part of the senior team, tallying 37 appearances for them and scoring three goals while also assisting further eight on the side as well.

We should also mention that there was an extremely short loan spell mushed in between his performances for Sheffield United as he recorded five appearances for FC Halifax Town between August and September 2015, scoring and assisting one goal in the process.

He ended up joining his current team, Bournemouth, in the summer of 2018 and has been at the club ever since. So far, he can boast with a total of 33 appearances with seven goals and five assists to his name as well.

Unfortunately, a large portion of the 2019/20 season has been a bust for the young player as a serious ankle injury sidelined him for a total of 35 games, basically derailing the whole campaign for both him and his club in the process.

But with football being put on hold anyway, he will get the time to heal and come back stronger once life also gets back to normal.

Transfer latest

There have been some transfer rumours linking Brooks with a potential exit towards none other than Manchester United but it seems that, according to some reports, Bournemouth have no intention of selling their gem just yet.

But interestingly enough, that is not the only piece of transfer news surrounding the young player, which is no surprise, especially now that there’s no football and various transfer rumours are coming thick and thin.

In fact, there were some completely contrasting reports that the Cherries have seemingly changed their mind and would actually be open to letting Brooks go for the right price.

Seeing how we’re talking about a big talent who’s wanted by the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Man United, this might not be the Bournemouth news the fans will like to see. Even though his 2019/20 was practically non-existent, losing such a big talent would undoubtedly be a big hit for the club.

Let’s see what ends up happening as he still has a valid contract until 2022.

Player profile

Unfortunately, with his long-term ankle injury, Brooks’ 2019/20 season has been completely scrapped, leaving him with some minutes in the pre-season tournament leading up to the new campaign back in the summer of 2019.

For that reason, we’ll have to focus on his 2018/19 season with Bournemouth and build his player profile according to that. His first season with the Cherries was still a very successful one since Brooks managed to present himself as a great finisher and a lethal presence in the opposition’s box.

Seven goals and five assists can attest to that statement and he seemed to be fairly selective in his shooting, often opting to let loose only when presented with a good opportunity to actually rattle the inside of the opposition’s net, as evidenced by only 1.71 shots per 90 minutes last season.

Brooks is also quite creative and technical on the ball, averaging 5.06 dribbles and 1.62 through balls per 90 minutes in 2018/19. He has a tendency of cutting inside and acting as more of an inverted winger, pulling defenders out of their shape and swapping places with his teammates.

This makes him tactically flexible as he is not chained to one specific area of the pitch, as also demonstrated by the fact he can be deployed on numerous different positions, both in wide and central areas.

Arsenal have won their last three games, and their season has gone from looking like a very disappointing mid table finish to now being close to a Europa League spot and only eight points from fourth, per BBC Sport.

Their emphatic 4-0 victory against Norwich will give them great confidence going into their next fixture, but it is a crucial and difficult game as they play high flying Wolves.

Their opponents have had another great season and sit sixth in the division and five points above the Gunners, so a win for Mikel Arteta would be a huge statement.

Here is the Transfer Tavern predicted Arsenal starting XI, which sees Arteta make three changes for the fixture.

The Gunners have kept clean sheets in their last two Premier League fixtures and looked very solid against Norwich, so Arteta will hope he can use the same three centre-backs he used for the last game. Shkodran Mustafi did limp off injured but it looked to just be a precaution so hopefully he should still be in the back line.

Since football has returned, Hector Bellerin has not been at his best and has faced some criticism. Cedric Soares finally made his first appearance for the Gunners since he signed in January and it looked like he has overcome his injury struggles as he was substituted on with around 15 minutes to go, and managed to score a great goal on his debut from outside the box and pick up a 7.8 rating from SofaScore. He could come in for the Spaniard here.

Meanwhile Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos both had great performances in the middle of the pitch, with Xhaka scoring whilst Ceballos was the third highest rated on the pitch, per SofaScore. There is no doubt that they will be in the starting eleven.

The front three is where Arteta probably has his biggest selection dilemma as he has an abundance of talent up front. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will definitely start after his two goals and one assist. Alexandre Lacazette seems to not be performing at his best currently, and he has not scored since football has returned, so the Spaniard could put the captain in his favoured position up front.

Nicolas Pepe should come back into the side as he provides more of a threat than Reiss Nelson which is highlighted by his stats this season as he has scored five and assisted six whereas Nelson hasn’t managed any goals or assists this season, per WhoScored.

With Wolves loving to attack down the right-hand side with Matt Doherty and Adama Traore, Kieran Tierney will need some support in defence, and Bukayo Saka, who has already featured at left-back this season, could be the ideal left-midfielder for this fixture.

Gunners fans, what are your thoughts on this starting eleven? Comment below!