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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… 

Leeds have had a flying start to the season and currently sit top of the Championship after the opening four games.

The Whites have begun with three wins and a draw, snatching a win against Brentford on Wednesday evening courtesy of a debut home goal for Eddie Nketiah.

His fellow striker Patrick Bamford only mustered two attempts but it was a recurring trait that came back to haunt him against the Bees.

On the chalkboard

Just how Marcelo Bielsa chooses to play Bamford and Nketiah this term will be interesting.

The former struggled to get involved, having just 28 touches of the ball, the fewest number of any Leeds man in midweek.

The striker has got off to a flyer in terms of goals, netting three in four games, even if he did miss six shots against Nottingham Forest on the second weekend.

Bamford has a tendency to miss chances on the evidence seen against Forest but it’s another trait that’s causing him difficulties and served as a particular cause for concern against Brentford.

Considering he had so few touches, the fact he was dispossessed five times on Wednesday is incredibly alarming.

To add to that, the 25-year-old was unsuccessful with three touches in total as he endured a completely ineffective evening at Elland Road.

But this isn’t the first time he’s had a torrid time in this department.

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He was dispossessed three times during Leeds’ opening match with Bristol City which carried across from the previous campaign.

Throughout 2018/19, Bamford was unsuccessful with 4.3 of his touches every 90 minutes whilst he lost the ball to a member of the opposition 1.7 times on average across the same metric, per WhoScored.

Bringing someone closer to him like Nketiah could prove fruitful, therefore, as he may find himself holding onto the ball less. However, if he doesn’t improve this aspect he could still be found wanting at times this season.

As seen, that was the case earlier this week.

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Former England international Dean Ashton has been speaking to Football League World about Charlton’s impressive start to the season, although he has one concern regarding the Addicks.

Lee Bowyer has overseen a wonderful return to life in the Championship for the south Londoners, guiding them to four wins and two draws from their opening seven games having won the League One playoffs last term.

Their unbeaten start to the campaign was ended by Birmingham at The Valley last time out thanks to 16-year-old Jude Bellingham’s goal, a match in which Ashton’s one concern was evidenced.

What did he say?

Ashton said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if Lee Bowyer did manage to keep them there.

“The way he’s built the team and got them playing is good, and I think a lot will just come down to Lyle Taylor.

“If they can keep him fit to score the goals to keep them up there they’ll be looking strong because defensively they’ve looked pretty good as well.”

Ashton’s concern evidenced vs Birmingham 

In the 1-0 loss to Birmingham, Lyle Taylor was missing after sustaining an injury while on international duty with Montserrat.

Ashton states that “a lot” will come down to the 29-year-old staying fit and scoring the goals, and that much was certainly evident against the Midlands-based side.

With Tomer Hemed starting in Taylor’s absence, the Israel international struggled to replicate the former Millwall man’s impact.

Taylor has five goals and an assist in six Championship games so far this term, and his efficiency in attack will be key to Charlton’s hopes of success this season.

Bowyer’s men don’t often have unlimited chances – they managed just three shots to Brentford’s 21 in the 1-0 win over the Bees earlier this term – so having someone to finish off a rare chance is vital.

Against Birmingham, they didn’t have that man in Hemed, whereas his strike partner Jonathan Leko had no shots on target.

Taylor is unquestionably the side’s talisman, and Ashton is spot on in saying the Addicks need to keep him fit – the dire attacking performance against Birmingham proved just how key the 29-year-old is.

تحدث حمدي النقاز لاعب فريق الترجي التونسي عن مباراة اليوم أمام الزمالك والتي جمعت بينهما ضمن منافسات دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وسقط الزمالك بنتيجة 3-1 أمام الترجي التونسي، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما ضمن منافسات الجولة الثالثة من دور المجموعات بالبطولة القارية.

وقال حمدي النقاز في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورتس2”: “مباراة كانت جيدة، كنت ألعب في فريق الزمالك وأحترمه وأعرف كل اللاعبين، وعقب المباراة ذهبت إلى غرفة الملابس الخاصة بهم لتحيتهم، الكرة بها مكسب وخسارة وبالتوفيق لهم في ما هو قادم”.

وأضاف: “درسنا الزمالك بشكل جيد وكنا نعلم نقاط القوة والضعف، قدموا مباراة ممتازة ولكن الهدف الثاني هو الذي أعطانا الأفضلية في الشوط الثاني بعد تصحيح الأخطاء”.

طالع | ميدو عن هزيمة الزمالك أمام الترجي: اللاعبون لا يسيرون إلا بـ”قلة الأدب”

وأردف: “الحمد لله وُفقت في الشوط الأول بصناعة الهدف الأول، وأهم شيء في دور المجموعات هو الفوز داخل ميدانك أكثر من خارجه”.

واستطرد: “لاعبو الزمالك يحبونني، ولم يكن لدي مشكلة معهم أو مع الجماهير”.

واختتم: “الحمد لله على كل حال، أنا الآن محترف وألعب في فريق كبير، وعقب المباراة صافحت لاعبي الزمالك”.

In modern times, social media plays a big part in the sport’s world. Many clubs have pretty active accounts on Twitter where they regularly post updates, news and interviews.

But there seems to be a trend building in which those official accounts interact with their fans more than usual and often post funny and relaxed tweets that sometimes resemble something an ordinary fan would post.

Some clubs, like Roma, for example, are really popular and mostly beloved for that and it seems that Barcelona have been trying to replicate that but with mixed success, to say the least.

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Their latest tweet of that kind, however, was not really amusing to the fans and many were quick to slam whoever posted it. Some urged the club to delete the post as soon as possible.

That attempt backfired for the Catalans and it seems that this technique might be a little hit and miss.

You can see some of their replies as they voiced their confusion and disbelief in the collection of tweets down below:

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According to The Mirror, Paris Saint-Germain are considering a £100m swoop for Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha before the European transfer window closes.

Indeed, the report claims that the French champions view Zaha as a potential replacement for Neymar, who continues to be linked with a return to Spain.

The Eagles forward had been tipped to join either Arsenal or Everton during the summer transfer window before ultimately remaining at Selhurst Park.

However, The Mirror claim that PSG are preparing to send a delegation to London with the view to discussing a swoop for the Ivory Coast international.

Zaha helped his side record a 2-1 win over Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

However, the 26-year-old is yet to get off the mark in terms of goals or assists in the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign.

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The Palace fans have been reacting to the transfer rumour on social media – a selection of which can be seen below:

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Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to say how impressed they were with Leicester City centre-back Caglar Soyuncu in his side’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Having sold Harry Maguire to Manchester United during the summer, the Foxes are looking for a player to step up in the England international’s absence, and the early signs this season are that the 23-year-old may well be able to do exactly that.

The former Freiburg man partnered Jonny Evans at the heart of the backline, and looked largely calm and composed throughout against Frank Lampard’s men.

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It was something that clearly didn’t go unnoticed by Reds supporters watching on as they took to the popular social media platform to give their views on the Turkey international.

While one labelled him as being better than Maguire, another went a step further and said that he “reminds me of VVD pre-Liverpool in a sense”.

Big words indeed given how successful Virgil van Dijk has gone on to be at Anfield following his move from Southampton in January 2018.

Given the Merseyside outfit are willing to sell Dejan Lovren permanently and only have the imperious Dutchman, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip as senior options – although they do have promising summer arrival Sepp van dern Berg too – it may not be out of the question that they will look to sign another centre-back within the next year.

Whether that could be Soyuncu or not remains to be seen, but the club’s fans have certainly made their feelings known.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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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…

QPR boss Mark Warburton has defended his ever-changing team selections following the midweek loss to Portsmouth.

The former Rangers manager has used 22 players already this season, and has overseen a mixed start to the campaign with the R’s winning two and losing two of their opening five Championship games.

Warburton also watched his side drop out of the Carabao Cup at the second hurdle following a 2-0 loss at home to League One Portsmouth, having overcome Bristol City on penalties in their first outing of the competition, but he has defended his decisions.

What did he say?

Warburton said: “We made eight [changes in the previous round] and won, we made six at the weekend and won. I’m a bit bemused when I hear about Watford making 11 [against Coventry on Tuesday], other teams making ten.

“You’ve got a squad of players – so when do they play? When do these players play? If you don’t think they’re good enough, don’t have them in your squad.

“If they don’t play, then when they do come on people say, ‘Oh, he lacked match sharpness’. Well he hasn’t played for six weeks.”

Has every right to defend his decisions 

Football is a team game and managing a sizeable squad is often an unenviable and impossible task.

It is Warburton’s job to make those types of calls and also to keep everyone in the squad as happy as he possibly can.

Cup games are usually the best opportunity to give fringe players a run out, and if the Londoners had picked up some better results it would be safe to assume that he wouldn’t be facing this type of criticism.

Additionally, the Championship is one of the most gruelling divisions around with 46 hard-fought matches on the fixture list throughout the season, in which players face trips all over England against some determined opponents.

It is imperative that Warburton does what he can to keep everyone fresh and injury-free, but also ensure that his charges are match fit so that they are able to be called upon when needed.

He isn’t going to be able to do that without making changes, so he has every right to defend his decision making.

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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…

Real Madrid proved many wrong with their impressive display against Sevilla, as they won 1-0 in Andalusia.

The build-up to the game was definitely not in their favour.

In the four seasons prior to the weekend’s match-up, they had lost every away league game they played in Sevilla but their triumph at the weekend has now moved them joint-top of the table, alongside Athletic Bilbao. They are second due to goal difference.

Of course, this was their first clean sheet in the ongoing 2019/20 La Liga season, and no one contributed to it as much as Daniel Carvajal did.

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The 27-year-old defender couldn’t contain Angel Di Maria last week when Real Madrid lost 3-0 to PSG in the Champions League.

However, he redeemed himself on Sunday; Carvajal registered three tackles, four interceptions and four clearances on the night, completely shutting down Sevilla’s left flank and making it his own.

But that wasn’t everything he did. According to Whoscored’s ranking system, the Spaniard was awarded the Man of the Match award with a total rating of 8.11. Apart from his obvious defensive contribution, Carvajal also registered one assist, one key pass and 87.5% passing accuracy, completely dominating the game.

Not to mention that his assist ended up being the game-winning one, with Karim Benzema on the end of it to score the only goal of the encounter.

Carvajal’s gigantic performance, then, proved critical as Real ended the week in a far better position than they started.

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Giovani Lo Celso made his third appearance for Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday afternoon’s Premier League clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

The summer arrival from Real Betis has actually only played 44 minutes of Premier League football this season as he is eased into the action.

Lo Celso played the final 11 minutes of Sunday’s North London derby – helping his side deal with some late pressure to claim a point in a 2-2 draw.

And despite the fact that the Argentina international was not given too long to make an impression, the Spurs fans were pleased with what they saw.

According to WhoScored, the attacker actually had a 100% pass success rate during his time on the field, which is very impressive in that sort of atmosphere.

And the Tottenham fans are looking forward to seeing much more of the 23-year-old, who enjoyed a terrific 2018-19 campaign for Betis.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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According to Football Insider, former Scotland international Alan Hutton has revealed he could have re-signed for former club Rangers a few years ago.

What’s the story?

Hutton, now 34, is currently without a club having been released by Aston Villa upon their promotion to the Premier League. After turning down several English sides, the marauding full-back is now contemplating retirement, stating that he’d find it difficult to join a Scottish club other than Rangers.

He told Football Insider: “Not so much but I find it tough to go back to Scotland. Rangers is my team, I came through at Rangers and I just think to go anywhere else would be really difficult for me and I don’t think I would want to.

“Maybe a few years ago there was a chance at Rangers but again it’s probably a position that they’re not in a hurry to fill.”

Of course, Hutton’s regular right-back berth is currently occupied by captain James Tavernier, who ended last season with 17 goals and 20 assists across all competitions. But when asked whether he could rival Tavernier for a place in the side, Hutton cheekily replied: “I don’t see why not, I don’t see why not.”

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Would a nostalgic return have been worthwhile?

The Alan Hutton of 2007/8 was the very definition of the modern full-back – aggressive, powerful and forward-thinking. His performances earned him a £9m move to Tottenham Hotspur and the Premier League where he would go on to make over 150 appearances with Spurs and Villa.

However, Hutton never quite hit the heights expected in English football. He never made more than 14 appearances in a single Premier League season for Tottenham and registered just seven assists in total from his top flight spells with the Lilywhites and Villa.

While the former Scotland man wasn’t too specific about when he could’ve returned to Ibrox, there’s also the small matter of the aforementioned Tavernier. He joined Rangers four years ago and has flourished in Glasgow, earning the captain’s armband while contributing to more than one Rangers goal every two games.

For all the nostalgia of having Hutton back at Ibrox, that scenario could well have prevented Tavernier from becoming the crucial creative force he is today, while Rangers could currently be stuck with a 34-year-old full-back rather than a 27-year-old about to enter his prime years.

Maybe it’s for the best then that Hutton’s homecoming never came off.