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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…

BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks has hailed Andre Gomes after his performance in Everton’s win over West Ham United, suggesting that the midfielder is an essential recipe for success at Goodison Park.

What did he say?

Andre Gomes played a helping hand in the Toffees returning to winning ways last weekend, as the former Barcelona man put in a 7.1 rating in midfield against the Hammers. The 2-0 victory was Everton’s first since Gomes last started for the Blues against Wolverhampton Wanderers seven weeks ago.

Crooks included the Portuguese in his Team of the Week and said, per BBC Sport: “This was an excellent performance by Everton against an in-form West Ham and the catalyst for this performance was Andre Gomes.

“The Portugal international has been badly missed by Everton because of injury but if he can remain fit and Theo Walcott stays focused then anything is possible at Goodison. It is still a great place to play football.”

The main man

In Gomes’ absence, the Blues lost all four of their Premier League matches, conceding nine goals and scoring just two of their own. Now that he has returned, Marco Silva’s team have moved out of the relegation zone and can perhaps finally start to piece together a positive run of form.

Against the Hammers, the 26-year-old made more passes (37) than any other Everton man in the side. Gomes, valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, achieved an 80% passing success rate and proved to be a vital injection of quality for the struggling outfit, completing one key pass and two interceptions on the way to victory.

Not only will the ex-Benfica man be an essential member of the starting XI moving forward, but his form may also be integral in determining Silva’s future.

Considering Everton lost all four games in his absence and immediately returned to winning ways following his return, it is fair to say his importance in the squad is almost unrivalled right now.

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… 

Sheffield Wednesday crumbled to their first defeat under the stewardship of Garry Monk on Tuesday night as Hull City ran out 1-0 winners.

Tigers striker Tom Eaves bagged his first for the club after coming on as a substitute late in the second half – the summer arrival met a floated Eric Lichaj cross having entered the pitch just six minutes earlier.

The Owls seemed to strongly feel the absence of five-goal striker Steven Fletcher as his injury came somewhat out of the blue.

Watch Sheffield Wednesday Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

That meant that Monk opted for Sam Winnall to partner Atdhe Nuhiu in attack as he continued to operate the 4-4-2 system which was seen against both Everton and Middlesbrough.

Sam Hutchinson shook off an injury of his own to start after being withdrawn early in that Boro victory while the likes of Kadeem Harris and Adam Reach kept their places on the wings.

But not for the first time this season, their long-serving winger failed to live up to the standards expected of him and his inconsistencies could suggest an underlying issue.

After scoring and assisting at the Riverside on Saturday, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were witnessing him living up to his true potential having cost a then club-record £5m back in 2016.

But on Tuesday night he followed it up with one of his worst performances this campaign.

In 90 minutes of football, the 26-year-old managed to get just 25% of his shots on target which included him squandering one big chance.

He also lost possession a shocking 18 times, which was one of the most in the Wednesday team.

Reach’s figures with the ball were particularly dire too, recording a passing accuracy of just 63% and an even worse crossing accuracy of 20%, per SofaScore.

Earlier in the season, the winger followed up an assist against Preston North End with a poor showing in the very next game, recording a WhoScored rating of just 6.41.

The 6 foot 1 man is entering a fourth year at the club, yet barring a couple of outrageous screamers, he’s never set the ground alight at Hillsborough.

Managers past and present have struggled to know his best position, even with Monk believing it’s out wide, but this performance would give reasoning to suggest otherwise.

Reach has scored 16 goals and assisted 24 more in 150 appearances in the blue and white stripes with last season being his career-best as he managed nine in all competitions – the best return of which came from central attacking midfield per Transfermakt’s recorded matches.

The constant curiosity surrounding Reach is just too much of a problem to be dealing with every week.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

QPR welcome Blackburn Rovers to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this Saturday, where they’ll be hoping to put two successive defeats behind them.

Mark Warburton’s side lost 2-0 to West Brom last Saturday, before travelling to Cardiff in the week where they suffered an even heavier defeat, losing 3-0 to Neil Warnock’s Bluebirds.

The R’s will be keen to get back on track against Rovers – Warburton’s men were on a four-game winning run before the West Brom loss – although Tony Mowbray has a few aces up his sleeve in the form of two danger-men who QPR must keep tabs on…

Bradley Dack

Arguably Rover’s most well-known player at present, Bradley Dack has made a name for himself as somewhat of a goalscoring midfielder, one who can also dictate the play in a No.10 role.

The 25-year-old has scored three goals in 10 Championship appearances so far this term, taking 2.5 shots per game while also making 1.3 key passes per game.

He seems to be on course to continue his fine form from last term, in which he hit 15 goals and recorded seven assists in 42 appearances.

Blackburn’s No.10 is a real danger-man in every sense, and Warburton should be making Dack a key talking point of his pre-match discussion.

Lewis Holtby 

When the 3-cap Germany international signed for Blackburn recently, a few eyebrows must’ve been raised given his pedigree in the game.

This was a player who was dubbed as something of a hot prospect having being named as his nation’s key player for the 2013 UEFA U21 European Championships by ESPN.

Now, however, the former Tottenham man finds himself at Ewood Park, impressing in his first three appearances for the club from the bench having played a grand total of 56 minutes.

The Evening Express report that the 29-year-old could be in line for his first start, and it would be well deserved.

In just 56 minutes of action, Holtby has completed four key passes and also taken four shots in games against Reading, Luton and Nottingham Forest, which serves to suggest he could cause trouble if started from the first whistle.

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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…

The Athletic’s Crystal Palace correspondent Matt Woosnam has hinted in a recent article at the one thing letting Wayne Hennessey down when it comes to being Roy Hodgson’s first-choice goalkeeper at Selhurst Park.

What’s he said?

Well, the Wales international often shared the burden with fellow stopper Vicente Guaita last term having made 18 Premier League appearances, but it has been a different story so far this term with his only outing coming in the Carabao Cup.

It appears as though the Spaniard is now Hodgson’s go-to keeper, and Woosnam decided to analyse the influence the 32-year-old is having, including a look at his strengths.

Woosnam wrote in The Athletic: “Of more interest, though, is his speed of thought in playing the ball out from the back.

“Against Aston Villa, it was apparent when he quickly rolled the ball out to Luka Milivojevic, who helped create the only goal of the game with a swift move. In a counter-attacking team, with pacy wide players who can get the team up the pitch quickly, the ability to get the ball to them as quickly as possible is crucial.”

Crucial trait

Woosnam added that Hennessey was brought in by former Eagles boss Tony Pulis for his ability to kick the ball further up the pitch to a target man, but of course things are a little different under Hodgson in what is often a counter-attacking team.

That means that a goalkeeper is needed who can distribute the ball quickly to players that can make a difference with a forward pass, as Guaita did with Milivojevic against Villa as mentioned above.

The Athletic writer has in turn hinted that Hennessey doesn’t quite have that same ability, and it is something that is letting him down in his bid to be the club’s undoubted number one.

At 32 years of age it remains to be seen whether it is something he can bring to his game or not, but it appears to be a neccessity while Hodgson is at the helm.

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Ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League tie with Napoli, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp revealed that Andrew Robertson was a doubt for the contest after sustaining a slight knock.

The 25-year-old ended up playing the full 90 minutes of the European clash, though, which Liverpool lost 2-0 courtesy of goals from Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente.

Robertson conceded the penalty that saw Napoli take the lead, whilst he also picked up a yellow card in the early stages of the second period.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

ESPN only gave the Scotland international a 5/10 for his performance in Naples, and it would be fair to say that a number of the Liverpool fans were also disappointed with what they saw from the left-back on Tuesday night.

Robertson was outstanding for the Reds during the 2018/19 campaign – contributing 13 assists from left-back.

The Liverpool supporters were not pleased with his outing in Italy, though, and many took to social media to reveal their disappointment:

[ad_pod ]Sheffield Wednesday are set to secure the first three signings of the Steve Bruce era, but are they panic signings or shrewd additions?

What’s the story?

Well, according to Dom Howson of The Sheffield Star, the Owls are working on a double swoop to sign Newcastle outcasts Achraf Lazaar and Rolando Aarons on loan.

Left-back Lazaar has made no senior appearances on Tyneside this season (per Transfermarkt) while Aarons has played 13 times on loan with Slovan Liberec (per Transfermarkt).

Howson also reports that the Owls will sign Dominic Iorfa on a permanent deal, as the promising 23 year-old has found playing time difficult to come by at Wolves this season.

Two Tyneside flops?

Newcastle fans will be happy to see the back of Lazaar, who if truth be told has been doing nothing more than collecting a wage packet for quite some time now.

The 17-cap Morocco international full back’s last Newcastle outing came in a League Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest back in August 2017, and he has made just ten senior appearances in two-and-a-half years on Tyneside.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

Aarons meanwhile has also taken stick from the Toon Army, as the 23 year-old winger is brimming with potential but has never shown the focus or desire needed to reach the next level.

The speedy youngster may well find his home in the Championship, but with just four goals and three assists in 27 Newcastle games he needs to improve his end product.

Versatility is king

In many ways, Iorfa looks to be the most promising capture of the three, as Bruce is certain to begin his Hillsborough revolution with a defensive overhaul.

Iorfa rose through the youth ranks at Wolves and has racked up 93 appearances for his club, per Transfermarkt, as well as a successful loan spell at Ipswich last season.

The 23 year-old is capable of playing any defensive position or even in midfield, but at 6 ft 4 in tall it may surprise fans to learn he is best at right-back, rather than in the centre.

Regardless of where he uses the Wolves ace, signing a versatile, powerful and athletic youngster with his first permanent move is a stroke of genius from Bruce.

So, Sheffield Wednesday fans, would you be happy with this triple move? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…

Celtic fans are likely on top of the world after beating rivals Rangers to move clear at the top of the table on Sunday, but Neil Lennon’s latest admission is slightly concerning.

What’s the word?

The Hoops have struggled with injuries in defence this season, meaning Nir Bitton has effectively been converted into a central defender.

That continued on Sunday as he partnered Christopher Jullien at the back, but the Israel internatonal was forced off with an injury of his own.

The gaffer has now cleared the air on his centre-back crisis, as reported by The Scottish Sun: “Nir will be three or four weeks, Ajer will be ten days. We are hoping to have him back for Hamilton.

“We will need to send Jozo to a specialist.”

Thank you international break

International breaks, the bane of every football fan’s existence, especially the first one of the season.

Almost as soon as the excitement of the new campaign kicks into overdrive the September international break punches you in the gut and sucks the fun out of your weekends again.

For the Hoops though, this might be the most convenient two-week break of all time.

Watch Celtic Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

If Kristoffer Ajer, Bitton and Jozo Simunovic are all out, Lennon has only Jullien, who is new and still adjusting to the football and culture in Scotland, and Jack Hendry to call on.

It’s fair to say fans don’t ever want to see Hendry in the first-team again after his utterly abysmal showings last season, and pairing the 24 year-old with new boy Jullien is an accident waiting to happen.

So, while the news that Simunovic needs to see a “specialist” is most definitely a major concern, fans can breathe a little easier thanks to the international break, as it will likely allow Ajer to return alongside Jullien for the trip to Hamilton.

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West Ham United are interested in a deal to bring Ben Brereton Diaz to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by ExWHUemployee, who revealed on a recent episode of The West Ham Way Podcast that David Moyes is interested in a deal to bring the Blackburn Rovers centre-forward in during the current transfer market.

However, the Hammers insider then went on to state that the Championship side are unlikely to want to part with the Chile international this month due to their lofty position in the second-tier standings – as selling the 22-year-old for a figure of around £20m would not be worth missing out on a shot at the Premier League.

On West Ham’s interest in Brereton Diaz, Ex said: “We like Diaz at Blackburn. I broke that [story] a month or so ago. [The fact that no move has materialised yet] doesn’t mean it wasn’t true, it just means that Blackburn – because they are right at the top of the Championship, having not been in the Premier League for years – why would they want to sell him at this point? You’ve got to factor that in.

“Getting up to the Premier League is worth more than £20m. If you get back into the Premier League the finances are huge. So these clubs will wait until the summer to see where they are before they make a decision on these players.”

Fans will be gutted

Considering just how impressive Brereton Diaz has been for Blackburn this season, in addition to the fact that West Ham are currently extremely short in depth at centre-forward, the news that the Hammers may not be able to get a deal over the line for the 22-year-old this month is sure to have left the London Stadium faithful gutted.

Indeed, over his 26 Championship appearances in the current campaign, the £9m-rated striker has been in remarkable form for Rovers, having already scored an astonishing 20 goals, registered one assist and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.8 shots and making 0.7 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £6.5k-per-week player who Tony Mowbray dubbed an “extraordinary” talent average a SofaScore match rating of 7.00, ranking him as Blackburn’s eighth-best performer in the second tier.

As such, with Moyes in desperate need of backup and competition for Michail Antonio in East London – with the injury-prone striker currently being the 58-year-old’s only option as an out and out centre-forward – a player who possesses the clear ability to find the back of the net such as Brereton Diaz would appear to be the perfect signing for the Scottish manager this month.

However, following Ex’s latest update, it would appear that, should Moyes indeed wish to pursue a deal for the 22-year-old, he will have to wait until the summer – something that will undoubtedly come as a gutting blow to the manager and his side.

In other news: Moyes can repeat Lingard trick with swoop for £6m “fighter”, he’d be “perfect” for WHU

When Leeds United travel to Selhurst Park later next month to take on Crystal Palace, there will be one player in the opposition ranks whom the club will wonder what could have been.

Michael Olise has been one of the shining lights for the Eagles this season in the Premier League as they continue to push up the table, but he could have been playing for the white of Leeds had the Yorkshire club acted on their interest.

Reports back in January 2021 suggested that then manager Marcelo Bielsa was very interested in landing the France U21 international, but a deal failed to materialise.

Then, according to TEAMtalk in the summer, Ligue 1 champions Lille put their name into the hat to take the teenager back to his native France, with the French side battling Leeds for his signature.

Of course in the end, it was fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace who won the race for him, and it’s been a debut campaign in the top-flight that has surely left Leeds thinking ‘what if’.

With seven goals and 12 assists, Olise was an absolute revelation in the Championship for Reading last term, and it’s no surprise that he has earned so many reviews for both his performances and incredible technical ability.

His Reading team-mate Sam Baldock said early last year: “Michael is a real talent, he’ll get on the ball in any situation. He’s fearless, if you ask him today I’ll guarantee that he had no nerves. He’s a lively character and one who I’ve noticed a real change in the last couple of months.”

Hailed as “super talented” by Reading boss Veljko Paunović, Olise’s former Royals manager Jose Gomes added: “Michael is really special. He can see, even before receiving the ball, more options than regular players. His technical ability and speed, decision capacity is really, really good.”

Signed for just £8m by Palace and becoming Patrick Vieira’s first signing in charge at Selhurst Park, the young Frenchman has come on leaps and bounds under the Arsenal Invincible, now being valued at a hefty £25m by CIES.

This campaign has seen him score four goals and provide an impressive nine assists in just 26 games across all competitions, including registering goal contributions against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League.

The 5 foot 9 star is really making Leeds pay for not taking the leap of faith last year.

AND in other news – Forget Joffy: Marsch can get Leeds rocking by finally unleashing “phenomenal” 20 y/o

Crystal Palace are having a great start to their season, picking up points from 13 of their 20 Premier League games so far,

There is no doubt that they will be hoping to continue to climb the table for a top-half finish in Patrick Vieira’s first season in charge, and now they are rumoured to make a new addition in the transfer window that could help them achieve it.

What’s the word?

The Daily Mail are reporting, that Crystal Palace are interested in signing Arsenal star, Eddie Nketiah, battling with Premier League rivals, Brighton and Bundesliga side, Bayern Leverkusen for his signature.

However, in the report, SportMail understands that Bayern Leverkusen are out ahead preparing a pre-contract agreement for the 22-year-old, so if Vieira is interested in swooping for the striker, he should do so as soon as he can.

The £9m-rated forward labelled “extraordinary” by current manager, Mikel Arteta, has refused several contract offers from Arsenal, which suggests that the young attacker is interested in making a move from the north London club, especially now that his contract his ending in the summer of this year.

Imagine him & Edouard

Crystal Palace have turned the tide from having the oldest squad in the Premier League to appointing Vieira last summer and adding several new young players to the side, who have all made an impact, especially Odsonne Edouard.

The French striker joined the Eagles in the summer and has definitely made his presence known since arriving just over four months ago, scoring five goals and bagging three assists in just 17 appearances so far.

The Palace manager has claimed that the 23-year-old is “getting to his best”, and with that being said, giving him a strike partner like Nketiah could unlock a deadly attacking partnership, with star loanee, Conor Gallagher, just behind them in midfield.

Nketiah has been compared to Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, according to Tony Cascerino who told The Times:

“He is agile with quick feet, much like his hero Ian Wright, which denies defenders the time to settle.”

The Gunners forward is yet to start a Premier League game this season, however, he has been given the opportunity to showcase his prolific goal-scoring talents in the Carabao Cup, where he has netted five goals in three games already, securing a semi-final challenge in the league cup against Liverpool.

Vieira’s clear vision is to build a side for the future with young players, meaning 22-year-old Nketiah fits the bill perfectly for the Frenchman’s future plans for the club.

Palace should be looking for ways to kill off games after picking up eight draws so far this season. As a result, securing a player who can add more goals in games can elevate the side’s chances to take three points and climb comfortably into the top half for a high finish this season.

In other news: Vieira must keep hold of Gallagher for the rest of the season