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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… 

Nottingham Forest finally got their first win of the season last weekend, seeing off fellow Midlands outfit Birmingham City at the City Ground.

Joe Lolley capitalised on a quickly taken free-kick to open the scoring before a brace of headers from both Lewis Grabban and Michael Dawson meant that Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi picked up his first Championship victory.

The Frenchman was quickly drafted in as their new boss following the sudden sacking of Martin O’Neill in June whilst the club made no fewer than 12 new summer signings to accompany their new man.

One of which was Carl Jenkinson from Arsenal in a £2m move on deadline day, though, the 27-year-old is yet to feature for his new team in the Championship – he did play 90 minutes in their 1-0 Carabao Cup victory over Fleetwood Town.

On the Chalkboard

The man keeping Jenkinson out the side is Matty Cash – who in the past has primarily played in midfield either on the right-hand side or through the middle.

His performances this season have been the best in the squad if his WhoScored rating is anything to go by, averaging 7.45 for the three Championship matches – the highest of any Forest player.

From the right-back position, he’s yet to record a foul this season, is averaging the most clearances per game at 5.3, is third for dribbles per game at 1.7 and is averaging 1.3 key passes per game – you’re not dropping a man in that sort of form.

That means Jenkinson is going to have to be patient, something he may not be willing to do after making just 70 appearances for the Arsenal first-team in eight years – an average of under nine games per season.

Thogden ranks all 24 Championship home kits in the video below…

Cash’s latest showing against Birmingham was arguably his best yet as he recorded more passes than any other Forest player with 59 in the game. He also made four clearances and four blocks as well as winning five aerial duels – the same as central defender Michael Dawson.

The position is surely Cash’s to keep with the 6 ft 1 natural right-back likely to only feature in cup games going forward.

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Some Tottenham fans have taken to Twitter to criticise Davinson Sanchez for his performance in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

The Colombia international was starting his second game of the season in the absence of Jan Vertonghen, who was once again left out of the matchday squad with Mauricio Pochettino said to have previously been concerned by his fitness.

Sanchez, 23, had his work cut out for him up against the likes of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero, and couldn’t do enough to stop both of them scoring as Spurs conceded twice.

The former Ajax man did however make eight clearances, two tackles and blocked two shots, but some Spurs fans on Twitter still think that he let them down with a poor performance against the Citizens.

The 6 foot 2 centre-back made 22 starts in the league last term, but still seems to be struggling based on the Spurs supporters’ comments about him below.

Let’s see what they’ve been saying about the centre-back…

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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…

After selling Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United in a deal worth £50m this summer, you would’ve expected Crystal Palace to sign a replacement.

However, the Eagles opted not to splash the cash on a new face to replace the academy graduate, and instead decided to go into the new campaign with Joel Ward as the only right-back at the club – a bold decision, to say the least.

The Englishman has played every minute of the Premier League campaign so far, but was an injury doubt for the visit of League Two side Colchester in the Carabao Cup, with academy centre-back Sam Woods deputising for him in an unfamiliar position at right-back.

At just 20 years of age, you could forgive Woods for turning in an average performance in a position that he isn’t accustomed to.

However, the man with just one first-team appearance prior to Tuesday evening’s fixture impressed and showed signs that he can deputise for Ward at right-back on a more regular basis.

Woods almost scored a fantastic goal on his first ever start for the south Londoners after a nice exchange with Connor Wickham and Christian Benteke inside the box, whilst also delivering a solid performance from a defensive aspect.

The youngster, wearing the No.35 shirt on the night, won four aerial duels and made three clearances.

He also managed to complete one dribble as well as one tackle on a night where he enhanced his first team prospects.

Of course, one may suggest that the quality of the opposition must be taken into account on this occasion.

However, you could also argue that the League Two side performed above their expected ability with Colchester more than holding their own against the likes of Benteke, Max Meyer, Andros Townsend and Victor Camarasa.

This makes Woods’ performance even more impressive given how difficult Colchester made the fixture, and whilst it wouldn’t be wise to jump to conclusions and say Woods will go straight into Roy Hodgson’s thinking for the Premier League, there were plenty of encouraging signs from the defender to suggest that he could be a promising understudy to Ward.

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Arsenal’s season has so far been mixed.

They started off in promising fashion, beating Newcastle on the opening day of the Premier League campaign 1-0, before defeating Burnley 2-1. However, they were then easily brushed aside by Liverpool 3-1, before needing to come back from a 2-0 deficit against Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby to earn themselves a 2-2 draw.

Throughout, though, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has impressed. In the first four games of the campaign, he has scored three times, averaging a 7.02 rating on WhoScored.

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

It is therefore not too much of a surprise to see him included in the vote for the Gunners’ Player of the Month. The others players in contention are Joe Willock, Dani Ceballos and Matteo Guendouzi.

As it stands, it seems that the Gabon international is the favourite for the award amongst a majority of the club’s supporters. They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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After the sale of Kieran Trippier this summer, Tottenham currently find themselves slightly short in the right-back department.

Serge Aurier has failed to cement himself in the first-team, leaving 22-year-old Kyle Walker-Peters as the club’s first choice full-back, despite him only making six league appearances for the club last season.

The England U21 international started all three of Spurs’ opening league fixtures, but missed the recent north London derby with a hamstring injury sustained against Newcastle at the end of August.

He is expected to return to the fold for the club’s visit of Crystal Palace this Saturday (as per The Sun), however, in a game Mauricio Pochettino’s men desperately need to win considering they haven’t picked up three points since their opening day victory against Aston Villa.

@HotspurRelated tweeted that Walker-Peters is set to return to first-team training this week ahead of Saturday’s match, though news of his potential return didn’t exactly go down too well with some fans on Twitter, who clearly feel like Aurier should be given more of a chance to prove himself this season.

Spurs fans, would you like to see Aurier given a chance this season or have you been impressed with Walker-Peters? Let us know by commenting below!

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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… 

Nottingham Forest head back into domestic action this weekend as they face a trip to the Liberty Stadium to face league leaders Swansea City.

Sabri Lamouchi’s side are 11th in the Championship table having gone unbeaten ever since their opening day defeat to West Brom.

They’ve recorded some impressive results in that time, including a win at Craven Cottage against Fulham, who currently occupy a playoff spot.

There is no doubt that this fixture presents their toughest challenge yet as the Swans are unbeaten and have scored more goals than any other team in the league.

On the Chalkboard

One of their key danger men is Bersant Celina, formerly of Manchester City, after featuring in all six of their Championship games, scoring two goals and an average rating of 7.11 which is amongst the top four of Swansea players who have played a similar amount.

Forest’s defence will have to be on their game if they want to get a result from this match because of Celina’s influence.

He is averaging 2.3 shots per game, on top of 2.2 key passes and 1.7 dribbles – this shows how involved he is all over the pitch.

The 23-year-old is not only a goal threat but also contributes to the passing game. Celina also averages 0.8 crosses per game.

His opposite number this weekend is likely to be Carl Jenkinson at right-back, and he’ll need to improve in order to help contribute towards a clean sheet.

Watch Nottingham Forest Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The former Arsenal man has only recorded an average of 0.3 interceptions per game while racking up 2.3 fouls per game, which will work in Celina’s favour having been fouled 0.8 times per match.

Swansea’s left-winger will also get the better of Jenkinson a lot with him being dribbled past at least once per game, so he could have his work cut out.

This battle out wide could well be the defining factor on whether the Reds have a successful trip over in Wales on Saturday.

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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…

As quoted by The Evening Standard, Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has admitted to feeling slightly jealous at seeing other clubs spend big money in the transfer market.

What did he say?

The Eagles were amongst the lowest spending sides in the Premier League this summer, and despite making £50m from the sale of England U21 international Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the club did not reinvest that money into first-team signings.

Now, Hodgson has bemoaned the level of attention on other clubs, and pointed at the coverage of Newcastle in particular as a key example.

Watch Crystal Palace Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “A lot of teams who claim they don’t spend much money, actually do. Every year I had to read that poor Rafa Benitez, Newcastle don’t spend any money. Of course they spent something like ten times more than we did during that period of time. No one used to write often ‘what a pity Roy Hodgson doesn’t get a lot to spend!’ It was all Rafa and Pochettino. In that respect, I have a certain element of jealousy.”

Miracle worker

Hodgson’s sentiments are certainly understandable. Despite getting that £50m fee for Wan-Bissaka, the Eagles spent a total sum of £6.8m on new arrivals this summer, according to Transfermarkt. Much of the talk surrounding the club revolved around the futures of Wan-Bissaka and Wilfried Zaha, and never really about who the club could actually bring in.

It speaks to a certain level of disrespect about Palace as a club. Newcastle and Benitez and Spurs and Pochettino are the more glamorous names and are likely to receive greater sympathetic coverage. Hodgson’s side simply have to go about their business, and avoid the idea of self-pity.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Keeping the London side in the Premier League with his hands tied behind his back has been the very definition of a miracle job from the former England manager, and it will be up to Steve Parish to reflect on Hodgson’s words and act accordingly in future transfer windows.

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Today’s West Ham United roundup takes a look at the latest news surrounding the Hammers. Fans will be happy about Manchester United’s injury crisis, the club are monitoring Jack Clarke’s situation, and Winston Reid is on the comeback trail.

Man Utd injury disaster ahead of Sunday

Report: As per ESPN, Man United are set to be without Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial for their trip to the London Stadium on Sunday. All three have missed the last two games, with Shaw’s hamstring injury keeping him out, whilst the French stars have not yet returned to training.

Verdict: This can only be good news for West Ham. Pogba, despite his poor form, continues to be United’s main creative output bagging two assists in the four games thus far, just as Martial has netted twice and provided one assist in the three games he has played.

Ashley Young is expected to come in for the injured Shaw at left-back, which may play in the Hammers’ favour. Young has been a weak link in United’s side over the past year, and the 34-year-old has averaged just 0.3 tackles per game in his three Premier League outings this season.

Club ready to pounce on Clarke

Report: As reported by the Express, Tottenham Hotspur are poised to bring back Jack Clarke, who is on loan at Leeds United, with the Lilywhites set to immediately loan him back out. West Ham, amongst other Premier League sides, are keeping a close eye on the 18-year-old’s unhappy time with the Yorkshire club and are ready to pounce should he become available.

Verdict: Clarke burst onto the scene last season with Leeds winning the Young Player of the Year after bagging two goals and four assists in 22 Championship appearances. The teenager has returned to Elland Road on loan this season having signed for Spurs on a permanent basis, although, he has not yet been involved in a squad for a Championship fixture and has appeared just twice for the Whites in the League Cup.

Clarke may not boast the best goalscoring record as of now, but at 18, winning the Young Player of the Year for Leeds is both prestigious and proof of how important he can be. Indeed, the Hammers are certainly not lacking firepower on the wings this year, with Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko both starting the season in great form. However, Clarke could certainly come in as an alternative.

Reid set for U23’s test

Report: As reported by the Evening Standard, centre-back Winston Reid is set to play for the Under-23s as he steps up the recovery from a knee injury. The 31-year-old has been out of action since March 2018.

Verdict: Reid would be a welcomed addition back in the West Ham squad after he proved his importance time and again for the Hammers prior to his injury. Since 2012-13, when Reid became a regular at the back, he has averaged a performance rating of a 7 or above, and also won the Hammer of the Year in 12-13.

Despite Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna building a decent partnership this season, the New Zealander will certainly come back into the setup and provide admirable backup if one of them were to be sidelined.

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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… 

Liverpool’s 100% Premier League record may still be intact but an underwhelming second-half performance against Chelsea almost ended their run, and much of that was due to their deficiency in possession.

On the chalkboard

The Reds have had the majority of possession in all but one of their league matches so far – Chelsea – but in each of those matches they have failed to use the ball effectively in the final third.

Last Sunday’s game was a fine example of that. They had a pass success rate of just 63% in Chelsea’s final third, so it is not surprising that they were unable to produce their usual free-flowing style in open play, instead resorting to goals from set-pieces.

Whilst an effective avenue of goals for Liverpool, with 20 goals last season, set-pieces will only go so far, and against teams more organised than Chelsea they will struggle to find a breakthrough if failings in the final third continue to occur.

In fact, they were uninspiring with the ball in all areas. A pass accuracy of 73% led Chelsea to dominate the ball with 55% possession, and but for a strong defensive display from Joel Matip and fine goalkeeping by Adrian, the Blues would have turned that pressure into an equaliser.

Using the ball effectively

Jurgen Klopp’s side are often so effective with the ball because of the care his midfield trio take when in possession, but in recent games Jordan Henderson has faltered slightly.

The Reds skipper started the season well but performances in his last two away league games against Burnley and Chelsea, in which his pass accuracy was 72% and 59% respectively, show that he is in need of improvement.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A solution could be more patient play, with Liverpool often frantic and turnovers happening frequently, a combined total of 135 recoveries in their trip to Chelsea is evidence of that.

That is partly due to Liverpool’s effectiveness on the press which often means they dont have to rely on intricate play in the final third, but over the course of the season they will face a variety of opponents, and they will need to be effective in all aspects of their game like Manchester City are – with their rivals boasting a pass success rate of 89% compared to Liverpool’s 82%.

Some of Manchester United’s supporters have been very critical of Marcus Rashford following his performance against Arsenal on Monday.

The England international is really struggling for form at the moment, and he has now managed to score just once in his last six league appearances – and that was a penalty against Leicester City.

He was once again far from his best against the Gunners. Although he did manage to provide an assist, he also had three unsuccessful touches, which was more than any other United player, while also getting just one of his three shots on target and finishing the night with a poor passing accuracy rate of just 63.2% (via WhoScored).

Having also finished last season poorly, netting once in his final 11 Premier League appearances of that campaign, some fans are beginning to become concerned about his form whilst some have lost patience with him altogether.

There are United fans who now want to see the 21-year-old dropped from the first team.

With Mason Greenwood having scored in both of his starts against Rochdale and Astana, he is a possible replacement, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears reluctant to start him in the Premier League, having given him just a handful of substitute appearances thus far.

Here is what these Manchester United fans have had to say about Rashford’s poor recent form on Twitter, with some drawing comparisons with the club’s former striker Danny Welbeck…

Do you think Rashford’s recent performances have been substandard? Let us know your views by commenting below!